KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Nightmare

The nightmare was so real.

Every detail vivid and horrifying.

Sophie didn't realize she was dreaming.

She was being brought to the Wanderling Woods for a planting. She didn't know whose planting it was, but she hadn't been able to find Keefe anywhere.

All her family and friends were gathered, crying and hugging each other, and looking at Sophie with deep pity and grief in their eyes.

No. No, this can't be happening. Not Keefe. Please, not Keefe.

It was Keefe.

No one would tell her what had happened. No one offered insight into how, when, or why he had died. Desperate for answers but receiving none. The sapling coming up with ice blue flowers. Precisely the same shade as Keefe's eyes.

Those eyes she would apparently never see again. And no one would tell her why.

Everyone began to leave, one by one, but Sophie remained. Begging someone to tell her what was going on. Begging Keefe not to be dead, to show up and surprise them all with an adequate explanation as to the misunderstanding. Darkness closing in as some unseen enemy approached.

"NO!" Sophie shouted, sitting bolt upright in bed and waking herself up.

Sandor came tearing into the room, turning on the lights and looking for the source of her shouting. After a few seconds, he realized she had had another nightmare. He crossed the room and crouched down to look at her.

"Sandor..." Sophie started crying.

"What do you need? Should I wake your family?"

Sophie shook her head. "There's no point. It was a dream, just a dream." But she couldn't stop trembling.

"What happened?"

"Keefe was...dead." Sophie shuddered. She knew it was a dream but couldn't shake the feeling. It felt so real. She'd lost him again, for good this time. It felt so incredibly real.

"I should get Edaline. I know you don't like sedatives, but maybe something else? Somnalene would chase the nightmares away, right?"

Sophie just stared blankly for a moment before slowly shaking her head, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "It felt so real," she said aloud. "I don't want to go back to sleep."

Sandor studied her for a moment. "Hail him. Seeing that he's okay might help you."

"It's the middle of the night."

"You and I both know he'll come running the moment he knows you need him. Sophie, you are my charge. I can protect you from physical enemies but I can't protect you from the trauma you've already endured. You need to lean on the ones who can." He grabbed her Imparter from the bedside table and handed it to her.

"Foster, what's going on?" Keefe answered in a tired voice after a moment. Just seeing his face, sleepy and confused as it was when he answered, helped loosen the knot of terror inside her. But when his eyes focused on her his expression switched from sleepy to concerned. "Sophie, what's wrong?" he said sharply.

She tried to answer him, but all that came out was a sob.

"Sophie, you're scaring me. I'm coming over." He clicked off the Imparter but was there within seconds, striding quickly but quietly into the room. Sandor whispered to him about Sophie's nightmare. The fear on Keefe's face switched first to relief, then to compassion as he approached Sophie's bed. He sat down gingerly beside her and pulled her into his arms.

"It's okay, Sophie. It was just a dream. I'm right here. I'm fine. You're fine."

Sophie sank into the hug, clinging to him. "I'm so sorry."

He held her even tighter. "Sorry for what?"

"For reacting like this. It was just a stupid dream. It makes no sense for me to be freaking out like this." But a few more tears escaped her eyes all the same.

Keefe took her face in his hands and waited for her to look at him. "Sophie, listen to me," he said kindly but sternly. "No one has been through more than you have. You're still the strongest, bravest person I know. But no one can be strong all the time. You can't control your dreams. I'm glad you called me and didn't just suffer through this quietly."

"Even though it means being woken up in the middle of the night...the night before Foxfire starts back up?"

Keefe shook his head. "I don't care about that, I care about you."

Sophie's breathing was beginning to slow down slightly. She nodded. "I know. And I love you for that." She snuggled in as close as she possibly could, and he responded by tightening his grip on her.

"It's okay," he whispered. "I'm here. I love you. I'm not leaving you, not ever again."

"I'm scared to go back to sleep."

Keefe looked up at Sandor, thinking hard. "Even with Gigantor here, I don't think your parents would want me to just stay here with you in your bed the rest of the night." Panic at the thought of Keefe leaving again began to rise in Sophie's heart. But Keefe leaned down and swiftly kissed her. "No, don't panic. I won't leave with you feeling this way. But...what if we went outside?"

"Outside?"

"You know the Panakes tree has helped you sleep many times. Plus Gigantor can come out there if he wants, and Flori and the other gnomes are nearby. Your parents might not mind so much, just this once, if I stay with you the rest of the night, if we are out there with others and not just alone in here." He looked up at Sandor for confirmation.

Sandor looked impressed with Keefe's clearly good intentions. "I think that would be more appropriate, yes. And once the Ruewens wake, I can go tell them what has happened so they aren't caught off guard."

So Sophie grabbed a blanket and quietly headed downstairs and out the door, clinging to Keefe's hand. Sandor headed to the Grove to speak with the gnomes.

When they reached Calla's Panakes tree, Keefe took the blanket from Sophie and set it down before wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight. "This is what's real," he whispered. "I'm right here." Sophie focused on that truth as she clung to him. She took a shaky breath and pulled back just enough to bring her face to his for a kiss.

Her hands slowly crept from his face into his hair, normally so carefully mussed, but currently messy from sleep. She pulled gently on the back of his head, bringing him somehow even closer.

And she drank it all in. Taking stock of everything she felt, saw, and heard, reminding herself again that this was what was real. Keefe was alive. The feel of his lips on hers. Of his hands, warm and strong and steady against her back, pressing her close to him reassuringly. The sound of his voice, quiet and rough, as he broke the kiss and muttered "everything's okay, we're safe". The heat in his eyes as he pulled back to study her face, slightly out of breath.

"Come on," he said after a moment. He sat down with his back against the tree and pulled her next to him and covered her with the blanket, making sure she was warm enough, and wrapping his arms around her.

Sophie took a deep breath, no longer shaky, as she buried her head in his chest. Finally, finally starting to calm down and relax enough to feel sleepy again.

Keefe nodded at Sandor, who had reappeared nearby, then began gently running his fingers through Sophie's hair as he felt her emotions even out and return to normal.

But he continued whispering "I love you" and "I'm right here" until she fell asleep.