The Lost Legacy

Chapter 13: Forever Goodbyes

The day started for the mentor and his child long before the sun rose. Four pots of coffee was put up, always ready for any circumstance that would come their way. Chad and Sophie sat in silence for seconds that passed into minutes as they realised how different their lives could have been if they had simply known who they were and who the other were. 

But this was a short time that they would have to cherish as much as they could.

"Everything keeps changing. I know that I keep saying that but if....I mean, when I go forward with this wedding, I will be changing the main part of who I am. I love him. There is absolutely no doubt there and I don't have cold feet, of course. It's just...." Sophie sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"Drink," Chad said, pouring more coffee.

"Am I only being paranoid?"

"I've never been married, kiddo. You are climbing the wrong tree here."

"But what do you think?"

He cocked his head at her. "I've never seen you like this before. You are always so sure of yourself. You wouldn't care for other people's opinions, at least not in the way that you just asked me."

She leant back in her chair, exasperated at that observation of his and bit her inner cheek. "Yeah, well, that was before I found out that I was the Heir to an entire magical country. I haven't been preparing for this. I wanted to study at Stanford and join the FBI. This is not what I was looking forward to. I don't know what to do. How did my parents get through this?"

He held up one finger. "One second." He set the cardboard shoe box beside him on the table in between them. "I was expecting this question ever since I realised who you were." He opened the lid and she snuck a peek inside. "I know that these may seem like crap to you but I have a lot of memories attached to them."

Sophie zipped her mouth. "I never said anything."

The two of them weren't hoarders, but the little things that mattered, they saved. 

Chad's box of memories contained items from all the eras, making Sophie wonder how old he really was. She knew that he had a secret skin-care routine but never thought that he would be an immortal super being. He brought out a picture and handed it to her. She took it reluctantly but a weight formed in her chest when she saw what it was. 

"Frank and Helen treated me as their own. They gave me a place to stay with them and they always asked for my opinion."

Sophie stared at her parents' picture. It was definitely from a time where they were originally from. It was before the War and it was a time that she always wished herself to live in. But she guessed that Narnia was fulfilling that wish for her. This was the first time she was seeing them as if they were right with her. Her father had brown skin and jet black hair. Her mother had olive skin and earth green eyes. 

"They gave me this photo when I had to cast the spell over you. I never wanted to betray them. But I had to. I needed to protect the stars because if I hadn't, the entire world would have crumbled. I am so sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

Sophie sniffed, taking her gaze away from the picture. "Were they happy? Were they....were they always there for each other?" She had nothing to ask him. All the questions that she had kept in mind flew right out when she saw my parents. Coriakin was right. Sophie looked like her mother and had her father's personality.

"They were." He smiled. "They were the happiest once you were born. They had been waiting for months before Helen found out that she was pregnant. You were a fussy child!"

Sophie laughed. "Stubborn once, stubborn always."

He smiled. "You were always shouting if you didn't get the attention that you wanted. You held all of us in your wee little hand. It's...." He pursed his lips. "It's not hard to see that you haven't changed at all."