Incidents: A Sophitz Story

Incident 1

So I am not Shannon Messenger... otherwise Sophitz would have been a thing wayyyyy sooner and not whatever it has become... anyways I reserve no rights to this blah blah blah characters aren't mine etc... happy reading!

Italics are Sophie POV, normal is Fitz, bold is Sandor. This holds true for the whole story.

While Sophie and her friends were hiding from the Neverseen, there was one safe house Sophie became very at-home in. It was on a lake, Mr. Forkle refused to specify which lake it was, but Sophie still loved it. The house had multiple doors, one of which led to a short boardwalk. The boardwalk led to a dock that was absolutely perfect for sitting on the edge and dangling your feet into the water. Sophie loved going down there after everyone else was sleeping, as it was a calm place that Sandor actually let her go alone to. Soon enough, it became a nightly habit. However, her secret was not to last long.

One night, Fitz was having trouble falling asleep, and heard Sophie going out to the dock. He figured that it was one of the goblins going out to check the grounds, but when he glanced out, he saw Sophie walking down to the dock. So Fitz decided to head down too. It was as calm a place as any, and she would give him some company during this restless night.

Sophie heard the door creak up at the house, and assumed that it was just the house shifting. It did that a lot. However, when the boards on the dock began to shift and squeak with weight, she turned around to see who had come down.

As Fitz walked to the door, he was detained by Sandor, who wanted to know what he was doing up so late at night. Fitz responded with the truth, that he was unable to fall asleep, saw Sophie go down to the dock, and thought that he might join her. Fitz then opened the door and started walking down to the dock. He saw Sophie turn around, saw her eyes widen in surprise for a split second until she recognized him, then turn around again to look out at the lake.

At first, Sophie didn't recognize the figure who had come down to join her. But she quickly realized that it was Fitz, just more bundled up than normal. She turned back around to look at the full moon reflecting off of the lake, as it only happened once a month. This moon was one of the most beautiful sights she had ever seen, especially reflecting off of the calm lake. Fitz closed the distance between them, and asked,

"Can I join you?"

"'Course you can," she responded. "I'm in the mood for company tonight."

Fitz sat down next to her, and dangled his bare feet into the water. They sat there for a while, and Fitz ended up breaking the silence with a quiet question.

"Why are you awake so late tonight?"

"I'm awake late every night," Sophie responded. "In fact, I should ask you the same question. Why are you up late tonight?"

"You never fully answered my question," Fitz said. "I'll tell you once you answer my question," he added. He hoped he wasn't pushing her too hard.

Sophie sighed. "I'm awake late for all of these nights because I'm so scared for what would happen if the Neverseen were to catch us. We're switching safe houses every few months, never allowed to do anything other than Cognate training or reading, and it's all so hard. I want a day of fun where I can goof off with all of you guys, not worrying about what might happen if they caught us. Along with all of that, I've lost my Spyball, and so I can't keep an eye on my human family. I don't know if they're safe anymore." Sophie began to cry a little.

"Hey, hey," Fitz said. "I'm so sorry that all of this has been going on for you." Fitz reached out and gently took her hand. "But I actually have a potential solution to one of your problems. When we were playing Base Quest at Everglen a while back, I found a Spyball on the ground. Do you think that it's yours?"

Sophie laughed, or as well as she could through her tears. "That's actually about the time I lost it. Could I get it from you tomorrow?"

"Of course," Fitz said. "And now I'm going to hold up my side of the bargain." He sighed inwardly. No way was he telling her the real reason. "I was up late tonight because, um, Keefe stole Mr. Snuggles again and I don't know where he's hidden. It's kind of pathetic."

Sophie smiled, a real, full, smile that lit up her whole face and made her eyes sparkle. "It's not pathetic at all. I can't sleep if Ella is facing the wrong way in my arms, much less if she had been stolen from me by Keefe." She yawned.

Sophie was getting really tired. She unknowingly began to lean against him. When she did realize that she was leaning on him, while holding his hand, the only thing that happened was her feeling completely calm and safe for the first time in a while. She adjusted slightly, yawned again, and drifted off to sleep completely content, thinking all the while, "The moon sure looks beautiful tonight."

Fitz looked over at the beautiful girl now asleep on his shoulder. He could never tell her the truth about how he felt about her, but he could certainly stay a good friend and carry her up to bed. As gently as he could, he pulled his feet out of the water, supported Sophie as he got into a position where he could pick her up and stand at the same time, and carried her up to her bed.

Sandor saw that she was asleep, and because he knew that Fitz would make sure she got into bed okay, he took a moment (or five) to admire the moon that night.

Fitz laid Sophie in her bed after he used telekinesis to pull her bed covers down to the bottom. He pulled the covers up, tucked Ella in her arms, and, after a moments hesitation, leaned down and gave her a feather-light kiss on the forehead.

As light as it was, Sophie woke up a little, but not even close to being fully coherent, and mumbled quietly, "Love you Fitzy." The last thing she thought she saw was him smiling to himself as he left the room.

As Fitz pulled away from Sophie, he could've sworn he heard her mumble, "Love you Fitzy." He smiled to himself as he left the room, and thought, "Maybe I could tell her sometime."

A/N: HOLY CRAP OVER 1000 WORDS ON MY FIRST EVER CHAPTER OF MY FIRST EVER FANFIC. Hope you liked it! Constructive criticism is appreciated if you're able to give any.