Book Two: KOTLC One-shots and More

I Thought I'd Lost You

A/N: This last (for now, anyway) installment of my AU storyline depicts chapter 42 of "Stellarlune".

"Today's the day," Sophie told herself firmly as she walked out Havenfield's front door.

Today, she was going to have a difficult conversation with Keefe. She had--maybe foolishly--assumed that when he'd broken up with her in his goodbye note, it had merely been because he'd thought he'd never see again. That once he did come home, they would pick up where they'd left off.

But then when she, Dex, and Tam tracked him down in London, he had acted...very strangely. Avoided contact with her. Kept his distance. He had barely even teased her.

Almost like he was trying to gently convey that things had changed for him while he'd been away.

It was the comment about how being in the Forbidden Cities helped him "get over it all" that had pierced her heart.

He'd had to go somewhere new to overcome what had happened to him. But in the process...he'd moved on.

From her.

But then she would think about their relationship, and all the sweet things he'd said, the promises and confessions and kisses and most of all, the "I love you" he'd delivered in Loamnore.

And she'd never even gotten the chance to say it back.

Was it really too late?

Could he really have gotten over that so quickly? Or was he still harboring feelings for her, but unsure of how she felt?

She'd been hiding from him and moping around the house after school the last couple of days. And when Edaline had come in to ask her what was going on between her and Keefe, and Sophie had given her a tearful account of everything, Edaline had insisted that she and Keefe needed to talk it out.

If they were on the same page, they could pick up where they left off. If they weren't, then Sophie would know and would be able to work on getting over him. This, ultimately, would save their friendship. Edaline told her that the unspoken words between them would be guaranteed to pile up and build a wall that they may never be able to tear back down.

So...today, they were going to talk about it.

Except he wasn't there. Wynn and Luna showed her images of Keefe and Silveny, flying off into the void.

Well, he'd have to come back eventually. Sophie settled under the Panakes and waited.

And waited.

Finally, the sky split open and Silveny and Keefe reappeared, with Silveny's usual chants of SOPHIE! SOPHIE! SOPHIE!

"Is everything okay?" Keefe asked as he hopped off Silveny's back and made his way over to her.

Sophie nodded, trying not to notice how good he looked with his hair all wild and windswept from hours of flying. "Yeah, I was just...waiting for you--and I was starting to think you weren't coming back."

Keefe dropped his gaze, fidgeting with his cape. "Sorry. I wanted to see what would happen if I had Silveny fly me around in the void while I talked in my mom's voice. I thought maybe if I managed to say at least a couple of the right words while I was in there, whatever she hid would come crashing toward me."

"Did it work?"

"Not particularly. And in case you were wondering, the void never gets any more exciting. It's just darkness and more darkness--and oh, hey, even more darkness! I'm sure Tammy Boy would love it, but man, I'm glad to see color again."

His eyes shifted to the vibrant red of her tunic--then quickly away. Sophie tried not to read too much into that, but in truth, she'd worn red because of the number of times he'd told her how much he loved her in that color.