KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Stellarlune 42 (Keefe POV)

It took Keefe's eyes a moment to adjust to the light when he and Silveny came crashing back into the pastures at Havenfield. But his heart leapt when he saw Sophie--having just been startled awake from a nap under the Panakes, by the looks of it.

"Is everything okay?" Keefe asked as he hopped off Silveny's back and made his way over.

She looked really good. She knew how much he liked seeing her in red, didn't she? But she looked nervous, too.

Sophie nodded. "Yeah, I was just...waiting for you--and I was starting to think you weren't coming back."

Keefe fidgeted with his cape. Crap. But he probably deserved that. Deserved to know that Sophie would be afraid he had run away again any time she couldn't find him.

"Sorry. I wanted to see what would happen if I had Silveny fly me around in the void while I talked in my mom's voice. I thought maybe if I managed to say at least a couple of the right words while I was in there, whatever she hid would come crashing toward me."

"Did it work?"

"Not particularly. And in case you were wondering, the void never gets any more exciting. It's just darkness and more darkness--and oh, hey, even more darkness! I'm sure Tammy Boy would love it, but man, I'm glad to see color again."

His eyes shifted to the vibrant red of her tunic--then quickly away. The last thing he needed was for her to catch him staring like an idiot.

A lovestruck idiot who ran away when things got hard.

But when he looked at her face, she was blushing. UGH. If his empathy were working, he would know what emotion caused that blush. And he could tease her for it, and things could feel normal again.

"You could've taken me with you, you know," Sophie said softly. "Or at least left me another note telling me where you went."

They both froze.

The note. Crap, crap, crap. She hadn't mentioned the note, not once since he'd been back. And she'd been acting strangely. Now, suddenly, he thought he understood why. She wanted him home--was glad, even, to have him home, because she was his friend--but she also wanted him to know that they were just friends.

His heart sank at the realization. But...but why was she here, waiting for him for so long she fell asleep?

He was so busy mulling over all of these thoughts that he almost didn't hear when she asked, "Do you want to go for a walk?"

Curious, Keefe agreed.

"Are we heading anywhere in particular?" he asked as she led him into the pastures. As she started moving, he thought he caught a whiff of perfume, the one Dex had made for her. Sophie rarely wore perfume. She was wearing his favorite color on her, and perfume. Hope flared up in his chest, wondering if she'd been thinking of him when she did this. But experience told him that was never the case, so he squashed the feeling back down.

"Not really. I just need to move. I've been stuck in one place for way too long."

"I know the feeling. And if you don't have a specific spot in mind, then follow me--I found the coolest place the other night after training with Grady."

That clearing was breathtaking. When he saw it, his first thought was how amazing it would be to take Sophie there. Not that anything would come of it.

He led her into the Grove and pointed out which of the strange, bulbous trees he'd tried sleeping in. His favorite had all these tiny glowworms inside, covering the walls with flecks of blue light.