How It Should Have Been: Sokeefe AU

Episode 3

"Sophie!"

Sophie groaned and rolled over. She could feel someone shaking her shoulder, but she pawed at it in annoyance. Maybe if she didn't move, it would go away...

"Sophie! You gotta wake up!"

She pulled the covers over her head. The person shook harder.

"Sophie! The house is on fire!"

Sophie bolted upright, blinking the sleep from her eyes. "WHAT?" she shrieked.

"Ah, good, she's awake." Edaline crossed the room from the doorway to Sophie's bed, patting her daughter's shoulder gently.

"What? What fire?" Sophie asked, scanning her mom for signs of smoke.

"No fire," Edaline reassured her. "Jolie was just trying to get you up, and she chose to scare you awake." She glared playfully at her other daughter.

Jolie shrugged. "I had to get her up."

"Why?" Sophie groaned, lifting her head.

"Because the dress fitting is today! Did you forget?" Jolie didn't give her time to respond, saying, "We don't have lots of time, so hurry up and get ready, because we're going to Atlantis!"

...

Sophie lowered her arms with a sigh, only to lift them again as the elf measuring her forearm length let out an aggrieved yelp. She channeled energy to her tired limbs, trying to hold them up so Cyrah's assistant could continue taking her measurements. Lady Orla made a tape measure float around Sophie's body with telekinesis, while flashing different lights around her head to try to decide what makeup, style, and color would work best with Sophie's skin tone, hair, and eyes.

"Can I put my arms down now?" Sophie asked, uncomfortably waving them around.

"Not yet," Lady Orla told her, snapping her fingers to make the yellow ball of light disappear from Sophie's waist. "No, not right..." She mused, tapping her fingers together thoughtfully. "Oh, I know!" She snapped again, summoning a blue sphere to replace the yellow.

"Don't you already know the color scheme of the wedding? Doesn't the whole family have to be wearing similar colors?" Sophie directed her question as Edaline, who was standing nearby, enduring her own fitting.

"Of course not!" Edaline seemed shocked at the thought. "I think you've been watching too many human movies with Dex. Everyone's style is unique, so why should we force them to wear the same thing? There are also no (what do you call them? Bridesmaids?) in Elvin weddings. The focus should be entirely on the bride and groom, not the friends competing for the best spot or dress."

"I guess I have watched too many human movies," Sophie admitted, wincing as Orla pinched her aching shoulder.

"Okay, done!" Orla declared, stepping back with satisfaction.

"Umm... done with what?" Sophie had to ask, gesturing at herself, which was still in her skintight clothes, so that they could measure accurately without her being naked.

"Done with measuring and finding out your colors, of course!" Lady Orla beamed. "Now, let's look at the dresses we have with that color, yes?"

"What is my color?" Sophie asked.

"Well, we can't use lavender, because we don't want you to match Jolie! So it's turquoise."

"All that, for you to tell me my eye color?" Sophie demanded.

"Oh, calm down! I had to measure you too!" Orla sounded a little too enthusiastic for the amount of torture she'd just put Sophie through, but she led Sophie past Edaline into a room filled with stunning dresses and fabric, all some shade of turquoise. No two articles of clothing were alike, and all were completely gorgeous.

"Oh, wow," Sophie breathed. Fancy things weren't her favorite, but she didn't mind them, and she loved jewels. "Biana would love this," she commented, turning in a slow circle to take it all in.

But one dress caught her eye: It had short, loose sleeves, and a rounded neckline that didn't go too far down. It had a fitted waist, but not too fitted, and the skirt swept out in an elegant stream, flowing to the floor. It wasn't poofy, with no train, hardly any ruffles, and a sparkling sash, which glimmered and shone like a glistening river. The skirt was dotted with hundreds of minuscule diamonds, giving it an iridescent effect.

"That one." Sophie pointed to the dress. "May I- may I have that one?"

Lady Orla followed her gaze. "That one? Are you sure you don't want to look around more? You may find something you like."

"No, I'm sure," Sophie said firmly.

"Okay," Orla shrugged, getting the dress down.

A couple of hours later, everyone in the immediate family had their clothes.

Edaline got a smoky blue gown with gold patterns that reminded Sophie of stars, and looked a lot like the night sky, with a matching cape.

Grady chose lighter blue clothes with gold designs that complimented Edaline's, with fancy black pants and a matching cape.

And, of course, Jolie didn't allow anyone but Edaline to see her dress, veil, and jewelry. That would wait until the wedding day.

...

The passing weeks went by in a blur of wedding preparations, school, and games until finally, it was the day before the wedding.

Jolie and Edaline were running around like crazy people, making sure everything was working perfectly and setting up and basically taking over. Grady and Sophie watched from the sidelines, helping when needed, but mostly content to allow Edaline and Jolie to finish up.

The family went to sleep (Jolie took slumberberry tea to make sure she didn't have bags in the morning), and as Sophie snuggled into her bed with Iggy on her pillow and Ella in her arms, she swore that nothing was going to go wrong with the wedding the next day.