Some Sokeefe for the Shipping Soul

The Reckoning: Part 3

Sophie woke up suddenly, the golden morning sunlight searing through the window and into her tired eyes. She blinked rapidly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the light. She was in a bed, probably in a hospital, and there was what seemed to be a kitten resting in her lap. That was strange, she didn't know animals were allowed near patients in the ICU. As she stared at the kitten for a bit longer, she noticed it start to less like a kitten, and more like a demented ferret. She petted it softly, watching as it's purple and grey eyes slowly opened, only for it to rearrange itself on Sophie's lap and go back to sleep. Sophie looked at her arms again to realize that there was no IV tube inside her arm. Where were the fluids that were supposed to keep her alive while she was unconscious? What kind of odd hospital was this anyway?!

She looked down at the animal and noticed it looking at her silently. As she stared at it's beautiful eyes, a single name drifted into her mind.

Bullhorn.

Suddenly memories came flooding back of her time in the Healing Center center spent with the banshee, when she learned that he would shriek whenever a person was in mortal danger and sleep by them whenever they were very near death. She realized that she was in fact, in the Healing Center, which meant something even worse.

She was in the elven world.

Sophie looked around the room for a door, expecting Councilor Alina to burst the door down and make good on her promise of killing Sophie if she ever returned. When the door didn't open, she relaxed, but only slightly, searching around the room for any way of escape.

There was none. Not unless she wanted to jump out of the window and risk reopening her wound.

Sophie sighed, burying her head in her pillow in frustration. She decided that if she was going to be executed later, she was going to be executed after she got a good sleep. She turned on her side to see a blonde boy sitting a chair beside her bed, his head resting on her bedsheets softly as he let out soft snores.

Keefe.

She tentatively ran a hand through his blonde hair, surprisingly unstyled and laying flat on his head. Her hand traveled down his face and back up to his hair, petting him as she had done to Bullhorn mere moments before. She looked down at herself as she was "petting" Keefe and realized that she was still wearing the same red bikini from the beach, minus the bloodstains, the provocative strapless bathing suit wrapping around her chest like a tube top and the high waisted bottoms starting just under her belly button. She quickly started to panic, not wanting Keefe to see her so exposed, retracting her hand from his hair quickly only to have her arm grabbed in a strong grip. Sophie looked down to find two ice blue eyes staring at her, his trademark smirk unchanged since the last time she had seen him.

"Couldn't keep your hands off of me could ya?" He asked teasingly.

Sophie groaned, her cheeks flushing until they were almost the same shade as her swimsuit, which Keefe spent an awful lot of time eyeing for someone who had just woken up.

"How did I end up here?" She asked softly. "The last thing I remember is Carson shooting me and everything went black. I honestly thought I was going to die." Sophie grimaced as she sad the words, turning to find Keefe with a sad expression on his face.

"We were watching you Sophie." Keefe said finally, watching her to carefully gauge her reaction.

"What do you mean we?"

"Me, Fitz, Dex, Linh, Biana, Wylie, Marella, Tam, Grady, Edaline, the Black Swan, and the council." He said slowly,"After you left, the councilors quickly realized that Alina had it out for you from the start. They questioned her and realized that she had started the rumors and used her Beguiler ability to turn most of the council members against you. After she was kicked off the council, she was forced to work as a working class citizen with the Talentless. After she was gone and they picked a new council member, Mr.Forkle, the council, your parents, and the rest of us decided we needed to keep tabs on you. So we've been watching you ever since." Keefe said, shrugging,
"We watched you today as you took down the human terrorist organization. Those "heat waves" you kept seeing were the obscurers doing their job. We watched you up until the point you fell unconscious, but Mr.Forkle said we couldn't move in until you fell unconscious." Keefe shuddered, as if reliving the memory. "When you got shot , everything stopped for me. I wanted to punch that guy in the face, but Fitz and Tam held me back. There was so much blood, I was so scared." Keefe shook his head, smiling to lighten the mood.

"Well on a happier note, great swimsuit choice by the way! I definitely approve." Keefe said, smirking as Sophie's face flushed again.

"Time to change the subject. How are you guys doing, and what's going on with you guys?"
Sophie said curiously.

"Well, believe it or not, Linh and Fitz ended up dating, and they are engaged now. I get to be Fitz's best man, and Linh will probably pick Biana, and I hope you decide to stay to see it," Keefe said quickly.
"Anyway, Biana and Tam are doing well together too. The council also passed a law that allows Pyrokinetics the same rights as all other special abilities. Now Marella can practice her abilities in the open. Annnnnd that's pretty much it."
Keefe said finally, resting his head in his arms on Sophie's bed.

"What about you?" Sophie said teasingly, "I thought you had great game with girls, so where's your girlfriend?" She sad, the remark sounding more bitter than she had meant it to.

"There's one girl who's won my heart," Keefe said firmly, looking Sophie straight in the eyes.

"Oh." Sophie said quietly, trying to conceal her disappointment. She had gotten her hopes up whenever Keefe hadn't mentioned a girlfriend, but her heart sank as she realized he like someone else.
"What's she like?" Sophie asked quickly, trying to make her face seem unfazed.

"Well, she's got gorgeous blonde hair and beautiful eyes, she's a really talented Telepath, and she's got other special abilities too. She has a really big heart and was there for me when nobody else was, even when I betrayed her, even when I told her I wasn't worth it. Plus, she's easy on the eyes if you know what I'm saying!" Keefe said teasingly.

"Wow, she must be quite a lucky girl. Good luck with her." Sophie said, her heart sinking down toward her feet.

"Yeah too bad she's completely oblivious, I 'be been dropping her hints all over the place and she's completely unresponsive." Keefe said quietly. "I even have special nicknames for her and she doesn't acknowledge them."

"Oh really? What are her nicknames?" Sophie asked absentmindedly.

"Well I like to call her Foster, but I've been known to call her the Mysterious Miss F."
Keefe said looking Sophie straight in the eyes.

Sophie nodded, filing the information away for later when she realized something. Those were the names Keefe called her. She turned to fully face Keefe, her eyes widening as he slowly nodded.

She smiled, happiness filling her heart as she leaned forward to give Keefe a kiss on the cheek. As she pulled away, she noticed a light blush coloring his cheeks and a slow smile spreading across his lips. Before they could say anything else Keefe stood up from the chair, holding out his hand for Sophie. Sophie stared dumbly at his arm, awaiting his explanation.

"C'mon Foster, everyone is waiting for you out there. Believe it or not, there is a door in this room." He said teasingly, his smile turning into a smirk.

Sophie rolled her eyes. Grabbing his hand and stepping tentatively out of the bed. She turned to face Keefe, a happy smile spreading across her face.

She was alive, she was back, and she was going to see her family again.

Chew on that Alina.