KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Scared (Edaline POV)

"It was kind of you to offer to help Keefe train in this new ability of his," Edaline told Grady as they were getting ready for bed. "It does sound like it's similar to what you can do as a Mesmer."

Grady let out a long sigh. "I don't know how much I'll be able to help him, and I wish I hadn't let him leave a few weeks ago. He's obviously been deeply traumatized and I just let him go."

"I have a feeling there's no stopping Keefe when his mind is set on something," she reminded him, smiling.

Grady had told her how he'd insisted that Sophie was going to need Keefe, but that Keefe had still left.

Edaline figured that if the thought of Sophie needing him hadn't kept him here then nothing would have kept him here.

And she'd seen firsthand how hard those weeks had been on Sophie.

Truthfully, it seemed like the dynamic of that whole friend group had changed while he'd been gone. Keefe was far more integral to that circle of friends than he realized.

She looked Grady in the eye. "You know you're going to have to start calling him by his name, right?"

Grady narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

"You know why."

He groaned. "Don't tell me they're together. Wasn't she just dating Fitz Vacker? Shouldn't she just...take a boy break? Preferably for a few hundred years?"

Edaline rolled her eyes. "You and I both know that isn't going to happen. And I didn't really expect Fitz to last. And I don't think you did either. But as far as I know, no, Sophie and Keefe aren't dating...yet. But it's only a matter of time, and you know it. Isn't that why you've always been so hard on him? You knew as well as I did that their friendship was likely to grow into something more."

"I knew That Boy was sniffing around chasing after my daughter, if that's what you mean," Grady said irritably, sitting down on the bed. "Getting her into trouble, leading her into danger, hurting her--"

"Looking after her, cheering her up, helping fight for her and with her, risking himself to protect her, earning her trust, confiding in her, protecting her secrets," Edaline said, cutting Grady off. But she sat next to him on the bed. "He's made some mistakes, but Grady...he's a teenage boy who didn't have parents setting a good example for him. These mistakes he's made have been the honest attempts of a good-hearted kid who just wants to undo the damage Lady Gisela has caused."

"Do I have to remind you of the state Sophie was in when she leapt home after he ran off to join the Neverseen--putting her in danger in the process? Do you remember how much she cried? How betrayed she felt? Yes, I know she has feelings for him, I've known that since that day, since I saw how badly his betrayal hurt her. But that is not to his credit."

"Of course I remember. I also remember the way he protected her when they flew on Silveny to fix her abilities, the way he found us after what happened in Lumenaria, and the way he helped pull Sophie out of her emotionally numb state while her human parents were in Nightfall, the way he sat by her side for days and monitored her while she was unconscious after having her abilities reset again, and the way he has shown up for her again and again."

"You think I don't know that?"

"I think you're scared."

Grady suddenly looked much older and much more exhausted. "Of course I'm scared. I've been suspecting it would be Keefe, and for a long time, he was the last kid I wanted our daughter around. He wasn't careful enough, didn't take life seriously enough. Eda, I can't..." his voice cracked. "We can't lose another daughter. It's hard enough letting her take all these risks for the Black Swan. I can't stand the thought of her taking any more risks."