KOTLC After Stellarlune-A Sokeefe Story

Manifesting

A/N:

Okay guys, remember how I said I'm terrible at wrapping up a story and even in school, my papers were always too long? I wasn't kidding. This was supposed to be the next to the last chapter. I figured I'd take two chapters to tell this final part of the story, but two has somehow turned into FIVE. And even that took some editing (and I'm not quite done so who knows, really). I like to talk a lot. And write a lot. And say essentially the same things, framed in different ways, over and over again. Oh well. Happy reading!

Years passed. Emma entered Foxfire and manifested as both a polyglot and a telepath at the young age of eleven.

Tiergan agreed to once again come back to Foxfire to Mentor her, because her telepathy seemed to be remarkably powerful—just like Sophie's. And Sophie wanted the best mentor for Emma.

Amy manifested as an empath during her second year at Foxfire. Naturally, Keefe became her empathy mentor.

No one was very surprised when she also ended up manifesting as an enhancer.

If Sophie could have five different abilities, and Keefe had four...it wasn't surprising that their kids would have more than one.

Will manifested as an empath at only ten years of age—before he had even entered Foxfire. His ability was very strong, just like Keefe and Cassius.

As each child reached the end of their manifesting age, Sophie and Keefe both breathed a sigh of relief. Neither girl had manifested either of Keefe's unconventional abilities.

Their kids knew he had some abilities he refused to use, and knew they hadn't manifested the normal way. But they didn't have the full story.

Sophie and Keefe had long since decided that if they talked too much about these abilities or how he got them, it would give them too much credence—cause their children to be fearful.

But they didn't want them to be completely blindsided either, in case one of them did end up manifesting one of the abilities. So they told them that there was a possibility of manifesting powerful and uncommon abilities, and a brief description of what they did, but decided they wouldn't share the full story of what had happened to Keefe until they were all past manifesting age.

Especially because it would also mean telling them how Cassius hadn't been a kind or protective presence during his childhood. He was so different with his grandchildren, and Keefe was trying to respect that and not do anything to sour his kids' opinion of Cassius.

Of course, as they grew, they were able to perceive that their parents' relationship with Cassius was not quite as easy as it was with Grady and Edaline. Especially once Amy and Will manifested and could more easily discern their emotions when they were all together.

But when they asked about it, Keefe merely told them that his relationship with Grandpa Cassius was complicated, but that Grandpa loved them very much. Cassius wasn't as playful with them as Grady had always been, but he had finally learned to express his love for his family, and the change in him was palpable.

Emma once confided in Sophie that if she hadn't known better, she would have assumed Grady was Keefe's father rather than Cassius. "He just acts a lot more like Grandpa Grady than he does Grandpa Cassius," she told her.

One day, many of Sophie and Keefe's friends had gathered at Aeternum for a back-to-school celebration. Not everyone could make it, but Dex and Biana were there (plus Alvin, who was a technopath like his dad, and their daughter Alma, who had only recently manifested as a hydrokinetic). Fitz and Linh (Naomi and Akira having manifested as a telepath and a psionipath, respectively, then their younger sister Anna, who was a vanisher), and Tam and Rayni had also come.

Tam and Rayni had eventually married and--despite Keefe repeatedly insisting that they select a musical last name--had chosen to revert to Tam and Linh's original family name of Tong. They had a two year old little boy named Kai.

Emma was beginning her final year in the Elite levels, and Amy was beginning level six.

Amy and Emma had, naturally, both grown up close friends with the Vacker girls and the Dizznees. But lately, Sophie and Keefe couldn't help but notice that Amy and Alvin's friendship seemed to be changing.

Keefe was torn between being okay with it because he knew Al was a good kid, and still having the burning desire to channel his inner Grady and start calling him That Boy.

Will was fourteen years old and entering level five at Foxfire. He had a photographic memory like his parents, and, like Keefe, had tested out of level one.

His personality was very much like Keefe's--loyal and funny and mischievous--but a bit of Sophie's more cautious attitude had also come through. And the older he got, the more he looked like Keefe.

Emma continued to look more and more like Sophie, and Amy was a perfect blend of both of them.

Most of their kids were in their teens--though Dex and Biana were considering getting pregnant again soon.

Sophie and Keefe weren't entirely sure they were done, either, but were content for the time being.

Will had been chasing Kai all around the property, having fun with his favorite little toddler friend and letting Tam and Rayni relax a bit.

His sisters had told him that girls loved a boy who was good with kids, and there was a certain girl who had caught his eye, so he'd started offering to help Tam and Rayni wrangle Kai anytime the group got together.

Will wasn't fooling anyone when he tried to hide what girl he was crushing on--the way he stared at Anna reminded Keefe very much of the way he had always stared at Sophie. Anna looked like her aunt Biana, with the dark hair and teal eyes, but her demeanor was just like Linh's--quiet, sweet, but fierce.

And Will--who looked just like his father--definitely wasn't escaping Anna's notice as they got older either.

So naturally, Will was trying to show Anna how good he was with kids by playing with Kai. And, he really did love the little guy.

Sophie and Keefe had just gone inside to fetch more snacks and drinks for everyone, lamenting the fact that they had this many elves and not one of them was a conjurer who could have gotten the snacks with a snap of their fingers.

Looking out the kitchen window, Sophie saw Kai running straight towards the deep end of the pond, apparently having the time of his life and not thinking about what was ahead of him. Will looked amused at first. No one else was near the pond at that moment. Alma in particular was steering clear of the pond unless Aunt Linh was by her side to help her if she fell prey to the call of the water. Most of them were spread around the grounds, or inside watching a movie.

As Kai got closer to the pond, Will seemed to get worried and sped up to try to catch him.

And suddenly, the whole world shifted.

It looked like Will had called out to Kai, but whatever he said only made Kai run faster, squealing with laughter.

Until Will shouted again.

Then Kai stopped so abruptly that he froze midstride--falling over into a crumpled heap in the grass.