A Whole New Life

Chapter 13

The darkness didn't consume him, though it threatened, beckoning him to come deeper into the darkest corners of his mind. His name was repeated over and over again.

Keefe.

Keefe.

KEEFE!

The cries grew more urgent and with them, he felt something click. His mind was swirling and swirling until it just stopped. The darkness hadn't left him unchanged, there was something new within him.

Slowly Keefe's eyes fluttered open and he saw Sophie leaning over him, still saying his name.

"Foster?" he croaked.

"Oh, Keefe, you're ok!" She threw her arms around him, pulling away when she realized something might be wrong. "What happened?"

"I... don't know..." but then he felt it. There was an extreme sense of worry and anxiety in the air, but it wasn't his. Somehow he immediately knew that those emotions were Sophie's, and they felt so familiar. "I'm not sure how, but I know I'm feeling your emotions."

Her eyes lit up, "That means your empathy was triggered when I said your name! Which means... you must have another ability too, after the whole coma thing. Do you feel anything... new?"

Keefe definitely felt something new. He felt Sophie's emotions, of course, but it was like he could feel something else in the air. He felt electricity coursing through his veins and woven in the air, like it was tangible. He tried to grasp it, but when he put his hands in front of him tiny lightning bolts were flashing on his hands.

Sophie jumped back from the sudden electricity. "You're a Charger?"

Keefe smirked when he realized something else. Not only could he feel Sophie's emotions and the electricity in the air, but he also remembered something. He closed his eyes and he saw something.

Fitz.

Biana.

Dex.

Linh.

Bangs Boy.

And he remembered them. He remembered all of the times they were together and he knew so much about each of them. He had seen Linh and Bangs Boy when they were akumatized, but now he remembered all of his friends. He remembered Foxfire. He remembered his awful parents. He remembered his entire life!

Everything.... except for one thing.

"Foster... why don't I remember you?"

"Keefe, what are you talking about? You had-" she stopped when she saw the look on his face. "You remember everything, don't you?"

He slowly turned to look at her. "Everything except you."

She hid it from her face well, but feeling Sophie's emotions he could feel that she was hurt by it.

"Oh..." her voice trailed, trying to find the right words, "but you remember everything else?"

"I think so... this is all so overwhelming..."

"I'm sure it is..." through the madness of getting his memories back, he held on to one emotion Sophie was having a hard time getting rid of.

Hope.

Through it all he felt her hope that maybe he'd remember her, maybe they just needed more time, but at this point no more memories came. But there was still something he could hold on to.

"Foster, I may not remember you, but there's something you can count on." He waited for her to face him before he smirked, "Keefe Sencen is back, baby!"