Keeper of the Great Adventures

Chapter 6

"I think you are ready to go home," Elwin said. Sophie squealed with joy, happy to get out of bed. She had been in the same Foxfire office for what felt like years but was only a week. Keefe was at her side the whole time, trying to distract her or calm her.

"But I haven't pulled a prank yet!" Keefe wined. Sophie rolled her eyes and got out of bed. She looked like a mess - from her hair to her crumpled clothes. She got up and instantly fell over, into Keefe's arms.

"Aww, Foster, are you falling for me?" Keefe laughed. Sophie rolled her eyes and regained her balance.

"Will you ask everyone to meet us at Havenfield in one hour?"

"I mean sure, but why?"

"We need to start training,"

"What?"

"We need to start training again. I don't mean how to use a sword, but training our skills. You could help us since you trained at..." Sophie started. Keefe looked away, trying to hide his regret.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up," Sophie said with an apologetic glance.

Keefe shook his head and said, "No, it's fine. We may as well put what I learned to good use." She knew it bothered him, more than he showed.

"I'm going to go home and get ready. Meet you there in an hour?" Sophie asked.

"Sure," Keefe said. He gave her a smile, though she could tell it was fake, and leaped away. Sophie collected her things, which was only some clothes, and Ella, then leaped home. She was greeted by Grady and Edaline at the door, and then went upstairs to her room. The first thing she noticed was Iggy.

"Dex came by a few days ago and changed him to be bright blue," Sandor said, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, okay," Sophie sighed in relief. She took a quick shower, got dressed, and went downstairs just in time to meet Keefe and the others.

----------

"... we start tomorrow." Sophie finished. Their plan was to train every day for 2 weeks and then ambush the Neverseen. Everyone agreed to meet in the forest near Everglen around noon. Sophie said goodbye to everyone and was about to go upstairs when she heard her name being called.

"Hey Sophie, can I talk to you?" She turned around, and there stood Fitz. She glanced at Keefe, who was just leaving, and he gave her a smile that seemed to say it'll be okay. Sophie gave him a small nod and turned towards Fitz.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Can we talk outside? I need some fresh air,"

"Oh, sure."

They walked outside and ended up sitting near the panakes tree. The sun went down, and there were thousands of stars filling the sky. Fitz had his arm around one knee and was looking at Sophie with an intense look on his face.

"Sophie, I'm so sorry for how I reacted last week. That was stupid of me, and I feel like if I had just been nicer, none of this would have ever happened." Fitz said, looking away.

"Fitz, this isn't your fault. Sure, you said some hurtful things. But I was the one that inflicted on you. I was so scared I killed you or badly injured you. I didn't want things to end between us that way." Fitz looked at Sophie, then leaned in for a kiss. She immediately backed away and scooted away from Fitz, who had become uncomfortably close to her. Fitz looked hurt, angry, and confused.

Before he could do or say anything, Sophie said, "I'm sorry I don't like you that way," and ran into the house. A minute later, the door opened, and someone came in looking for her.

"Foster?"

"Keefe? What are you doing here?" Sophie asked, wondering if he had spied on them.

"I.. I promised you that no one would ever hurt you again. And Fitz hurt you the last time you saw him. When I saw him try and kiss you, well, I really thought you were going to kiss back. I was about to leave, but then you ran inside, and Fitz was feeling mad and upset. So here I am, making sure you are okay." Keefe said, not looking at Sophie but rather the floor. She didn't know whether to be mad or grateful.

"Follow me," She said, leading him up to her room. Keefe looked confused but followed her anyway. Sophie looked through her books until she found the scrapbook she had from when she was human. She flipped to the very last page of the book, which had the drawing Keefe had given her of them and all their friends.

"Why are you showing me this?" Keefe asked.

"I don't know," Sophie paused, looked up at Keefe, who had a confused expression on his face, then said, "Whenever I'm upset, I look at this and feel better. It's the same with you. Whenever I am with you, I feel better."

All Keefe said was, "Oh,"

"Like you said, you'd never hurt me. I feel safe around you. And happy." She was going to say something else but stopped.

Keefe stayed silent for a while, then asked, "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Thank you," She said. She pulled him in for a hug, and her heart fluttered.

Every time...  Sophie thought.

Keefe cleared his throat and said, "Well, I better get going. I'll see you tomorrow, Foster."

"See yah," She said. She crawled into bed, snuggled with Ella, and had dreams of flying with Silveny.