Leap Of Faith

|Chapter 23| Death of Their Past Selves

Sophie was in her room, staring off into space lost in thought.

It had been a week since the reveal, and tomorrow the Councill and UN would start peace negotiations. Sophie was glad that she was not needed for those meetings.

A nock at the door drew her attention to the doorway.

There stood Biana Vacker, a small grin on her face. "May I come in?" She asked.

Sophie wavered her over, and Biana sat opposite her. They watched the outside fields for a few moments before Biana spoke, "How's life?"

Sophie shrugged, "It's okay. There's a lot going on, but things are going to settle back down soon enough."

"I get it. Has Amy talked to you at all?" Biana asked.

Sophie rubbed the back of her neck, "Yeah she did."

"And?"

"She's inviting me over to dinner a few weeks from now, with our," she swallowed "parents."

"And how do you feel about that?" Biana asked, leaning back into her chair.

Sophie shrugged, "Not sure. I'm a bit scared, I'm nervous, and worried. I mean, I haven't seen them in years. I wiped their memories of me. I hardly consider them my parents anymore. Its..." she paused, "It's going to be weird."

"Hey, it's going to be okay, you know that right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts Foster, it's going to be okay."

Sophie rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Biana straighten up, then grin.

"Let's take a girls day," Biana said, standing up.

"What?" Sophie said, confused by the sudden statement.

"You heard me. Let's take a day, chillax, just us two." Biana grabbed her arm and dragged her up. Sophie gave a shake of her head, grinning all the same.

Biana looped her arm in Sophies, and dragged her down to the leap master. She called out Atlantis, and the girls were whisked away in a beam of light.

An hour later found them strolling the streets of the underwater city, each carrying a few bags.

It felt nice, and for a moment Sophie could relax in the normality of being out and about with her best friend, with no big threat hanging over their heads. It was strikingly normal for the strange state of the world.

Biana pulled Sophie into a shop, a small Jewellery shop.

Biana seemed to know the place well as she addressed the shopkeeper by name, "Hello Kelani!"

Kelani was a woman around their age, with dark skin and long braids that hung down her back. Her eyes were a dark blue, and she had a light dusting of freckles on her face.

Biana flitted around the shop for a few minutes, looking in the display cases. However, it did not go unnoticed by Sophie the amount to which Biana would glance at the shopkeeper, and the way those glances would be returned.

Interesting.

Biana bought a few rings and necklaces, and as Kelani was handing Biana her bag, their hands touched. Biana smiled, before ducking her head and rushing out of the shop followed closely by Sophie.

Biana gave a small groan as they walked away, "I was super obvious wasn't I?"

Sophie laughed, "Biana, dear, you both were. Ask her out!"

Biana grinned, "I think I'm going to soon. She was one of the top picks on my matchmaking list. And she's so sweet, you know?"

Sophie gave her friend a grin, "I could tell. You two would be great together."

"Oh, so you're suddenly an expert on romance, eh?" Biana teased, elbowing her friend.

Sophie just rolled her eyes, and the two girls entered a small cafe. They grabbed a table and sat down, ordering some drinks as they did.

Biana sighed as she looked out the window, at the towing buildings of Atlantis. "I'm sort of wishing all this is some fever dream, and I'll wake up and we aren't openly revealed to the human world."

Sophie was taken aback by the sudden swerve in the topic, but gained her wits soon enough. She sighed as well, "I think that's how a lot of people are feeling. Not that being revealed is necessarily a bad thing, it's just that everyone's so used to not being revealed, the sudden change is giving everyone whiplash."

Biana gave a sad sort of grin. "Fitz was telling me, right after we escaped that compound, that he really regretted not being closer to me when we were younger. Not savouring all the little moments we had."

She continued after a few seconds of silence, "I think after you and Dex's kidnapping, all of us really changed. We were suddenly being asked and interrogated about when we had last seen you and Dex, our final conversations. Sometimes I still have nightmares where Fitz didn't get to you in time, or he just ignored your calls, and we couldn't save you."

Sophie shuddered, and squeezed her eyes tight, dispelling the memories. Biana gently took her hand, and Sophie squeezed, glad to have a friend.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and spoke, "I hate that your right."

Biana took a sip of her drink, "I do too."

Well that chapter did not go how I expected it to. Oops. 

Anyway, Kelani, in case y'all couldn't tell for some reason, is Bianas main love interest. She'll show up again in the final chapter, so yeah. Anyway I should probably go to sleep or something.