Torment-A KOTLC Fanfic

Chapter 34

*sings* If you cringe at your own writing clap your hands *clap* *calp*. I was re-reading some of my old stuff and...bleh. Anyways, how have you guys been? I've been fine. Nothing too special. Anyways, I know the last two chapter were a bit shorter, so here's a really long one! Including some of Grady and Edaline being the most thoughtful parents ever. And be ready for some Keefe humor coming up next chapter (;.
As always: Enjoy!
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Once Sophie reformed on her home property she went inside to find Grady sitting on the couch and reading a scroll. He glanced up at her and smiled.
"Hey Sophie. What took you so long?" He tried to keep a happy expression on his face, but she could see the concern in his features.
"I’m fine. Some...stuff got in the way so we had to stay a bit later." Grady raised a suspicious eyebrow at her.
"Is everything okay?" He asked, rolling his scroll back up and walking over to her.
"Yeah, or it will be." She answered, and she could tell the worry had returned. "I’m okay. It’s just...can I wait to tell you until Edaline is here too? That way I only have to explain it once?"
    "Sure." Grady smiled again and started walking to the dining room. "Speaking of Edaline, she’s waiting for us in the kitchen. We thought we should have dinner together before we have to leave for the Council’s mission." 
"Sounds good." Sophie grinned back. She went with Grady to the dining room and waited at the table for her parents to come join her. Sure enough, they joined her seconds later, and Edaline gave her a huge hug before taking her seat and conjuring up their food. It was some kind of weird purple pasta-looking food with a fiery-orange roll off to the side of the plate. Sophie eagerly ate a forkful of the purple pasta that impeccably resembed lasagna, but better. Why was Elvin food always better? Just as she was about to try to orange roll Grady spoke.
"Now we’re both here, what happened that kept you late?" He asked. She looked up from her plate to see her mom and dad looking at her with troubled looks on their faces.
"Well, when Fitz and I were walking to the Leapmaster, he kind of collapsed. When he tried to sand back up he failed and was shaking, sweating, and he had a pretty high fever.  He tried to promise me that he was fine, but if he had leaped like that...I don’t want to think about what would have happened. So I took him to the telepathy room that was nearby so he could rest. When he fell asleep I kinda dozed off too, and after we woke up he still had to rest a bit before he could stand. How long were we gone anyway?"
    "Basically all day. You left around noon. So, maybe 9 hours?" Edaline answered, and it made Sophie wonder how long they had been sleeping. "Anyways, is he okay? Do you two know what was wrong?" She asked, with a major concern in her tone. 
"He’s recovering back at Everglen right now, but he’s fine. Or, will be. Once he rests a bit more he’ll be fine. And we never asked Livvy and Elwin to check him over, so we don’t know for sure whats wrong. But from what I could tell it was probably a mixture of dehydration and exhaustion." A twinge of guilt fired up in her stomach as she said the last word. She hadn’t mentioned the sparring match to them, and had no plans to tell them anytime soon.
"Since when did you have so much medical knowledge?" Grady asked teasingly, but with a bit of surprise in his voice.
"Since after Tam was kidnapped." She answered sheepishly. "I asked Elwin to give me some basic training after he was taken, that way I could help if it were needed."
"That’s smart Sophie." Edaline grinned. "You should bring your friends to your next session, they would benefit from it as well. We all would." She glanced at Grady with her last sentence, and he gave her the most subtle nod ever. 
They continued eating and speaking about random subjects when she looked down at her plate to find it empty. She stood and excused herself, getting a few steps away before Edaline spoke.
"Don’t you want dessert?" Her mom asked, giving a mild smirk. She snapped her fingers and their empty dinner plates disappeared, being replaced with trays of Mallowmelt and Custard Bursts. Sophie felt her eyes widen as she went back to the table and raced Grady as they both reached for the biggest piece of Mallowmelt. He managed to grab it first, causing her to roll her eyes and grab the piece that was only slightly smaller. 
They all devoured their desserts, Edaline had really outdone herself this time. The next thing they knew, the dishes and plates were empty and it was time for bed. But that wasn’t what bothered Sophie. It was the fact that they were leaving, for some mysterious mission for the Council, first thing the next morning. 
"Hey, Sophie?" Grady asked, gaining her attention. "I know we’ll be gone a while, and I know it may be hard, but try to enjoy it. You’ll be here, with all of your friends. Please don’t worry about us too much. Besides: the less you think about it the faster time will seem to pass, and the next thing you know we’ll be back again." Sophie just nodded back, knowing it was impossible for her to promise. Edaline then pulled a small royal blue box out of her cape pocket and handed it to Sophie.
"What’s this?" She asked, looking up at Edaline and trying not to seem too confused.
"Well we had an idea, and talked to Dex about helping us and he graciously agreed." Sophie had already begun to open the box when her mom started talking, inside was a slim silver bangle bracelet. The bracelet had an intricate design wrapping around the center that looked like a vine of ivy had been engraved into the middle. 
"It’s beautiful." She remarked while sliding it onto her wrist. "But why did you need Dex’s help?" Grady and Edaline shared a look, then held out their wrists to  reveal similar bracelets on their wrists. Grady’s seemed to be made of gold and was a lot thicker, with a bolder vine snaking down the middle. Edaline’s was made of bronze and had a line of gorgeous flowers rigning around the center. She traced the vine with her other hand, which made it glow, along with Sophie and Grady’s bracelets. Sophie’s glowed a teal shade, Grady’s was red, and Edaline’s was a soft lavender. As the bracelets glowed they sent a soft vibration through the accessory, making Sophie grin uncontrollably.
"We asked him to make these so if one of us was missing the others we could just run our finger along the design the others would know they were thinking of each other. It takes less time and is easier than a hail, and they don’t have a range. They’ll work anywhere, anytime." Sophie could feel her eyes watering, why were her parents so considerate? She gently traced the ivy on her bengal with her finger, making all three bracelets glow and vibrate.
"Thank you." She said, pulling the two of them into a hug. 
"Sophie?" Edaline spoke after they all leaned back. "We’ll probably already be gone by the time you wake up. So we just want to say we love you, and you how to contact us if you need us." She gestured to their bracelets.
"Love you mom." Sophie smiled back. She was still not entirely used to calling Edaline her mom, but it was true and it felt right.
"Love you kiddo." Grady smiled while ruffling her hair.
"Love you too dad." She chuckled back. They came together for another embrace before heading their separate ways for bed, all of them with misty eyes.