kotlc oneshots [completed]

Chapter Two: Missing You

Prompt #4:

"I wish you were here."

~~~

It was centuries after the Neverseen had been defeated.

But Sophie could still feel the loss she had suffered every single day.

A hollow hole in her heart, a place that had once belong to a boy.

A boy she loved.

But she was foolish enough to deny those feelings.

Sophie trudged up the hill where she knew his Wanderling lay. They hadn't even been able to recover his body, and he hadn't even gotten a proper funeral, the way he deserved.

After all, it was thanks to his sacrifice that the Neverseen weren't ruling the world at this moment.

Sophie finally saw it. The boy she was looking for.

Or rather, what remained of him.

The tree had spiky yellow leaves, representing his perfectly styled hair. The ice blue flowers scattered throughout were the same color his eyes had been. The pale bark and overall lopsided figure mirrored his crooked smirk.

Keefe Sencen.

There wasn't a moment when she hadn't thought about him. And yet, the elvin population would never know what had happened to him.

They wouldn't ever honor his actions.

If Keefe were here, he would have made a joke about how everyone would love him anyway.

But the thought couldn't make her smile.

Sophie sat down next to him and placed the stuffed gulon shed brought next to her. Of course, it wasn't the original Mrs. Stinkbottom, but she always brought a new one every time she came to visit him.

He would've loved that.

"A lot's changed since you were here," Sophie murmured tracing the bark of the tree. "Heck, I think everyone we knew changed."

"Remember the Vackers? And the Songs and the Dizznees? I never see any of them anymore. They all have their own families and jobs and lives."

"I guess it's just you and me then, isn't it?"

A lump formed in Sophie's throat, and she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. "Remember that time we saved Atlantis?"

"Or when we ate those cookies from London?"

"And Glitterbutt?"

"And E. L. Fudges?"

"And.." Sophie couldn't go on.

It hurt too much.

She wanted him. She ached for him.

She missed him.

More than he would ever know.

A sob escaped her lips, and Sophie didn't even try to keep quiet, hugging the trunk of the tree.

The wind swayed the leaves, and they gently brushed against her cheeks.

Almost as if he were trying to comfort her.

The way he had when they were young.

He had always been there for her whenever she needed him.

And yet, Sophie hadn't been there for him in his last moments.

She should've been there to help him, to comfort him,

to save him.

And Sophie couldn't live with her guilt.

Not like this.

"I'm sorry," she croaked to no one in particular.

She was being silly. Keefe couldn't hear her.

The dead couldn't come back.

And yet, she felt warmth wrap around her, almost as if he was there to comfort her.

She loved him.

But she was realizing it much, much too late.

Sophie stood to go, but turned around almost immediately.

It felt like she was leaving him behind.

The chimes at the top of the tree made gentle noises, and Mrs. Stinkbottom #12848972348 stared at her pitifully.

Sophie forced herself to breathe. No, she wasn't leaving him behind.

Memories were a beautiful thing.

A part of him would always be with her.

And nothing could change that.

Keefe was always there for her.

And she wouldn't let his memory die.

She wouldn't.

And that was a promise she knew she would keep.

~~~~~~~~

im crying--

- Riya

6/15/20