KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

The Clearing

"When did you know?"

It had been a beautiful weekend day. Keefe had come to Havenfield first thing that morning and they had spent the morning quietly sitting under the Panakes tree studying.

Not that Keefe was ever able to focus on schoolwork for very long.

But he seemed to enjoy sketching Sophie focusing on her work after he got bored with his own.

Never mind the fact that even his minimal effort at studying would still earn him great marks.

One of the perks of being an incredibly smart person who also happened to possess a photographic memory.

After lunch, they spent the afternoon with their friends. Talking, laughing, eating ridiculous amounts of mallowmelt and custard bursts.

And of course, Keefe keeping everyone in hysterics with his stories of the antics he was getting into living in the Gold Tower, and how much harder it was to get detention when the headmaster liked you. With Fitz good-naturedly muttering "how are we even friends?" under his breath.

But now, evening was here and it was just Sophie and Keefe in their favorite little clearing in the Grove at Havenfield.

They were lying in the grass in the fading light. Enjoying the beauty of the clearing. Sophie's head was resting on Keefe's chest and he was idly running his fingers up and down her arm.

They had been silent for a few minutes and it took Keefe a moment to realize that Sophie had asked him a question. "When did I know what?"

"That you loved me. You told me once that you liked me from the start, but when did you know you loved me?"

Keefe was quiet for a moment, thinking. "That's kind of hard to know for sure, to pinpoint exactly when "like" turned to "love". Like I told you, every moment I spent with you made my feelings grow. But I think maybe...I think maybe when we were all living at Alluveterre."

Sophie moved so that she was lying on her side facing Keefe in order to see him while he spoke. He mirrored her action, facing her, his face thoughtful.

"I already had so many reasons to be crazy about you. But then in Alluveterre, that period of time was a really hard one for me. My mom..." his eyes hardened. "Well, you know. But you didn't push me away like I thought I deserved. No matter what we learned. You just held me closer and worked that much harder to make sure I was okay. No one has ever taken care of me like you have. I think that's when I knew—I'm in love with this girl. And she has no idea."

Sophie smiled and reached for his hand. "No, I didn't."

"And that was when Fitz's feelings started to change. He'd always been impressed with you and cared about you, but he started to realize it was more than that. And I just had to sit back and watch."

Sophie remembered seeing the drawing of her and Fitz in Alluveterre in Keefe's sketchbook of hard things. She smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry I was so blind."

Keefe pulled their clasped hands up to his face, kissing the back of her hand. "We got there in the end."

"So...you knew you loved me when you left to join the Neverseen?"

Keefe looked away. "Knowing what I was about to do was the only thing that kept me from telling you how I felt that day. When I gave you this," He reached out and touched the beaded necklace he'd given Sophie. His hand lingered a moment before he returned it to the grass between them and took her hand in his again.

"I remember. I thought my heart was going to jump out of my body from how close you were standing and the way you were looking at me."

A ghost of a smirk played on Keefe's lips. "I know. Trust me, I lived for those moments when your emotions would get fluttery around me. Sometimes I even tried to encourage it." He sighed. "And then when you accidentally came with me..." he shivered. "I thought I was going to watch them kill you and it would have been completely my fault. And you'd have died thinking I had done it on purpose."