Return Of The Neverseen - A KOTLC fanfic

Chapter One - Sophie and Keefe

"You're alright Sophie." Keefe whispered, slowly pulling Sophie close as she began sobbing uncontrollably.

"T-the nev-neversee-seen. Th-they, everyone-" Sophie stuttered, trembling in Keefe's arms.

"Shh...calm down Sophie." Keefe whispered, calmly stroking Sophie's tangled hair. Sophie's breaths started to slow as reality seeped in. Everything was okay. Keefe was alive, as were her family and friends. The Neverseen were defeated years ago. Everything was fine. "Don't worry. They can't hurt anyone now."

"Now you sound like Alden." Sophie said quietly, smiling up at Keefe. He gave her a weak smile back, and that's when she noticed beads of sweat that covered his forehead. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just you worried me there Foster." He said trying to crack a joke, but his voice was laced with too much fear and something else that she couldn't quite identify, that it was hard to smile. "Hey, why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's just hard to really believe that everything's safe again." Sophie shivered from the memories that resurfaced through the simple words.

"I guess so. I still have to keep reminding myself that the Neverseen are truly gone." Keefe whispered. "I can't believe it's been 17 years."

"Yeah, so much has happened since then." Sophie and her friends had defeated the Neverseen years ago, when she was 24. Now, 17 years later, she and her friends were all emissaries for the council, having finished their elite levels. They also now had their own families, and naturally Sophie and Keefe had ended up together. Dex and Biana had gotten married too. As did Fitz and Linh, and Marella and Tam. Everything was normal, or so it seemed. Or maybe Sophie was just being paranoid. She didn't know what to think. But Sophie loved the life that she had. Days with Keefe flew by, and life seemed so perfect.

Keefe cleared his throat, "Anyway, we better get back to-"

He was interrupted by a creaking of the door as light slowly spilled into the dark room.

A small voice quietly whispered, "Mommy? Daddy?".

"Amy? Why are you up so late?" Keefe asked the little blond girl.

"I heard someone scream and it scared me." She said softly.

"Oh sorry sweetie, mommy had a bad dream." Sophie replied.

"Then why does daddy look like that?"

Sophie turned to look at Keefe, who now turned red. His disheveled hair, dark circles, and sweaty forehead didn't exactly seem to give a peaceful night's sleep vibe. But she didn't want Amy to worry so she quickly said, "Let's get you back to bed." Hoping Amy didn't notice the subject change, she quickly slipped out of bed and scooped up the small girl. Amy's pink nightgown swished over Sophie's arms as she carried Amy back to her room. Quietly walking in hallways, they soon tiptoed into Amy's room. After tucking her back into bed, Sophie kissed Amy's forehead before slowly stepping out and closing the door.

Sophie quickly peeked inside her other daughters' rooms, to find Emma Kate sound asleep, her strawberry blond hair running wildly in all directions across her pillow. In the next room, she found Violetia, her 11 year old daughter, sound asleep at her desk, her long wavy blonde hair sprawled across it, and her arm resting over her open elementalism textbook. Tomorrow she would have her first midterms exams for Foxfire, and she'd been studying non-stop for more than a week now.

Sophie could remember doing the same, but at the time, much more pressure had been added, for not only was she fighting for her chance to stay at Foxfire, but to also prove that an elf born among humans could do just as good.

Both her and Keefe tried not to put too much pressure on their three wonderful daughters, but Violetia studied like crazy nevertheless.

Keefe came down the hall after rubbing his eyes awake, and placed an arm around Sophie's shoulders.

"She's so cute! Reminds me of you when you had your first midterms." Keefe said, smiling.

"Shh." Sophie put her fingers to her lips, signaling him to whisper. "Do you think you can tuck her into bed? I'm gonna get a drink of water from downstairs"

"Okay." Keefe walked up to Violetia's desk and slowly picked her up and put her into her bed. Carefully tucking her under the covers, he kissed her goodnight before heading back to his and Sophie's room.

Soon, the sound of Sophie's quiet footsteps echoed the halls as she came back upstairs, stumbling over the last step. Luckily, no one woke up and Sophie continued into her room and found Keefe on the balcony inside. She stepped out onto the balcony too, and stood next to Keefe, who appeared to be lost in thought.

He didn't even notice her arrival until she said, "What're you thinking about?"

Keefe turned his head to look at her, and it took a second for him to register what she said. He replied softly, "Nothing, just-I'm glad our kids won't have to go through what we had to."

"Me too, Keefe." Keefe slid his arm around her waist and held her against his chest, and she leaned into him, the cool breeze blowing her hair softly. They stood there for a few minutes taking in the beautiful night. Keefe mindlessly played with Sophie's hair, curling and uncurling it around his finger. It felt like this moment could last forever until Sophie remembered about the council meeting tomorrow morning, and reluctantly whispered, "We should sleep. Remember, we have the meeting tomorrow."

"Stop worrying Foster." Keefe smirked and looked at Sophie. "I'm enjoying this too much."

"Keeeeeefe." Sophie whined, trying to break free of his hold, but he only wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"Foooooooooster." Keefe whined, mimicking Sophie's tone.

"Let go of me!" She whisper-yelled at him.

"I'll never let you go. I love you too much. Plus, you're cute when you're feisty!"

"I'm serious Keefe."

Keefe acted offended as he said, "You thought I wasn't! I am hurt!" Sophie rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. Keefe slowly pulled her in for a kiss, and she slipped her arms behind him.

After they pulled apart though, Sophie took a better look at Keefe. She tousled his messy hair playfully, but took a closer look at the dark bags under his eyes. His forehead and back still looked damp from sweat.

"What's really going on with you?" She whispered, noticing the slightly pained look in his eyes.

"Nothing that needs to be worried about tonight. Like seriously, you're hitting me with an epic wave of worry." Keefe fanned the air around him, and put an arm around her shoulders, and she let him pull her back into bed.

Now that they were back in bed with the soft covers curling around them, Sophie felt safe. Everything was okay and would stay that way. But even as she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't stop thinking about the look in Keefe's eyes when she woke up screaming, or the way that his heart raced even after minutes of calming breaths. Something was wrong, and even if it was something as simple as nightmares, she was going to find out what.