KOTLC Sokeefe One-Shots, Alternate Endings, etc

Alternate Ending: Lodestar 80

"You stole the caches?" Sophie whispered, watching them roll around his palm.

Together, the two gadgets contained sixteen Forgotten Secrets.

"It was the only thing that went right with my escape. And I was so smug about it. But who cares? I mean, seriously--who cares about a bunch of dusty old secrets when people can do that?" He gestured behind her, to the ruined castle.

"It's still huge," Sophie promised. "I know it doesn't feel like it--but the secrets in those caches have to be important. That's a victory!"

"A pretty weak one," he grumbled, trying to look away.

She reached up and turned his chin back, waiting for him to meet her eyes. "You have to let this go. Don't let this ruin what we have here."

"What do we have?"

She ignored the darkness shredding his tone. "We have a new start. A new lead. A new weapon in this fight."

Also a new world.

At the thought, Sophie forced herself to finally look back at the destruction. The majestic castle was nothing more than a few jagged pieces. When she squinted at it, she could almost imagine it was a giant gnarled hand, reaching out of the ground as the beast it belonged to tried to claw its way to freedom.

It also looked like a message. The Neverseen had just told the whole world that they were the ones to be feared.

"You should probably transmit to Fitz that you're okay," Keefe said quietly. "I hadn't found you when I saw Biana." He looked away again, swiping at his eyes. "If you hadn't been okay--"

"But I am," she assured him.

She closed her eyes and sent a quick transmission to Fitz, letting him know that she and Edaline were safe--and asking him to pass that on to Grady--then returned her attention to Keefe.

"I'm okay," she repeated, reaching out to wipe a tear off his cheek.

"I swore," he whispered. "I swore I was going to protect you. Instead I've endangered you. You don't know how scared I was when you leapt with me to the Lake of Blood...and when you showed up in that hideout with Fitz and Tam...and then today, watching Lumenaria fall, knowing you were in there somewhere..." his voice hitched and he stopped, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I've never been so scared in my life."

"I'm fine," she reminded him. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Yes I do," Keefe mumbled, mostly to himself.

Then realization hit her.

Keefe was home.

After months of worrying, of begging, of crying over him. 

He'd made it out alive.

She threw her arms around him, a few tears of her own slipping down her cheeks. "You're home," she whispered, holding him tightly. "You're home."

Keefe's arms wrapped around her waist and he chuckled softly in her ear. "You sound like me," he muttered, a hand stroking her hair as he hugged her. "When I found you—and saw that you were breathing, I just sat here and whispered, 'she's okay, she's okay' over and over before I woke you."

Sophie smiled at that.

And worried that if she didn't let go of him and back away soon, it might get awkward.

But...she couldn't stop thinking.

The last time she'd seen him...Tam had tried to convince him to come back and focus on what mattered before he lost her.