KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Worth It (Fitz POV)

A/N: A Fitz POV of Fitz and Linh's first kiss from my main story, as witnessed in "Waiting" and described in "Trust (Keefe POV)"

Fitz knew he should be thinking about Kenric. Stressing about it while they waited on Dex.

But right now, all he could think about was the way Linh had squeezed his hand after he mentioned Alvar, and then confirmed that she wasn't harboring romantic feelings for Wylie.

And he was allowing himself to hope.

Beginning to name the attraction and interest he'd avoided naming for so long.

It had been there from the start.

He'd talked himself out of it, because he was so wrapped up in Sophie, picturing her becoming a Vacker.

Then when they'd split up, it had taken him a long time to get over it—and even longer to realize he was still drawn to Linh.

He'd tried to hide it even from himself, but Sophie had seen it.

Sophie was a bit...slow on the uptake, when it came to perceiving romantic feelings. So if she saw it...he really wasn't hiding it very well.

Unless her lack of perception only applied to her.

He sat in the grass at Aeternum, by the pond—but intentionally nowhere near Keefe, in case Keefe decided to shove him in again—watching as Linh absentmindedly played with the water. She'd made very realistic birds, which were even flitting around.

So when everyone decided to go inside and watch a movie, and Linh opted to stay outside, Fitz couldn't help but ask if she minded having his company.

And had to suppress a grin when she said she'd love for him to stay.

They sat in comfortable silence while the others walked back toward the house.

Fitz was content, for a while, just to watch Linh use her hydrokinesis. It was mesmerizing.

"So...your dad was...is?...good friends with Councillor Kenric?" she asked quietly after a moment.

Fitz nodded. "Though I guess...do we call him a Councillor now? We all thought he was dead and Alina replaced him. So once we get him home, he'll just be...Kenric."

"A lot for him to adjust to." She looked thoughtful. "I was only banished for a few years and Tam and I have had a hard enough time acclimating to being allowed back in the Lost Cities. But this? This is so much more than being banished. He'll have to come to terms with being presumed dead, with everything that has happened while he was gone, with having had his memories washed."

"Not to mention whatever horrors he faced at Fintan's hands before they washed his memories," Fitz added with a shudder.

She smiled sadly. "He won't be alone there, at least. Wylie has come back from it. And Sophie and Dex too. Wylie told me that's part of what gave him hope, actually, that he'd be able to come to terms with it. If Sophie and Dex could recover and move forward and even continue fighting—when they were several years younger—then so could he."

Fitz scooted closer to her. "You helped him a lot too. Saw him through the worst of it. And you didn't even know him."

She smiled. "You guys did the same for me and Tam. You know Sophie helped me with the breath control training at Exillium, when we hadn't even met? I'd have completely lost my head if it hadn't been for her."

"I remember."

"I remember being shocked to find out that we had two Vackers at Exillium and wondered what on earth you'd done to get there."