Sophie stirred in her sleeping bag. She rolled over to feel hot breath on her face. She opened her eyes. Keefe was snoring beside her.

It was the third day of the trip. Outside, she could see golden rays through the crack in the tent flaps. The sun was just starting to come up. That gave her an idea.

She shook Keefe awake. He grumbled for a moment before asking, "What do you want."

"Come on," she told him. "Let's go watch the sun rise."

He seemed reluctant to get up, but he crawled out of his sleeping bag anyway. Sophie grabbed his arm and dragged him outside to the beach.

They sat down in the sand, Sophie moving to wiggle into his arms. Despite his drowsiness, he tightened his hold on her. Together, they watched the sun rise over the horizon. The rays shimmered across the water, making it sparkle in the early morning light.

Keefe face suddenly lit up. He stood and raced down to the edge of the water, waving Sophie over.

She hesitated at first. She was still in a tank top and shorts. After a moment, she decided that it didn't matter and went to join her boyfriend.

What really caught her off guard was Keefe pulling off his shirt and throwing it on the sand before heading into the water. That was definitely a new development for him.

She studied his fisique before her eyes landed on his scar. It was more noticeable due to how recent it was. It hadn't had as much time to fade. What had changed to make him decide to show it?

When he blushed and crossed his arms over his chest, she leaned up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. He smiled, placing his hands on her shoulders.

The last thing she was expecting when he deepened the kiss was to get shoved. She lost her footing and fell backward into the water.

When she resurfaced, she narrowed her eyes into slits at him. He started paddling away, but Sophie pounced anyway. That send both of them splashing into the water, laughing.

When they finished up with their swim, they headed back to the campsite to find the others around the campfire.

"Where were you two?" Fitz asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Swimming," Keefe told him.

"I made him come watch the sunrise," she explained.

"Well, what's the plan going to be for today?" Dex looked around at the others.

"You guys wanna go to the board walk? It's on the other side of the beach." Marella pointed across the shore.

"I'm cool with that," Tam shrugged. "We all good with that?"

Once everyone had agreed, Sophie quickly ran to change out of her sopping clothes into a bathing suit with a cover and jean shorts. Keefe seemed to have had the same idea. He was in another pair of shorts, but still no shirt, like the other guys.

She was glad he was embracing it rather than hiding it. But still, what caused the change?

She decided to ask him about it when they had fallen a little behind from the rest of their group.

"So what made you change your mind?" She finally asked.

He tilted his head. "About?"

"About..." Her gaze flicked down to his scar.

"Oh." She was about to think asking him was a mistake when he held his arms to himself. Thankfully, he responded. "Well... that little boy that we met in the hospital. I figured if he could be proud of it, I could be too. That and Biana hasn't even seemed to think about her scars since we've been here. I figured I could at least try."

Sophie felt her lips quirk up. She gently ran her finger down the scar. "How's it working out?"

He shrugged. "No one seems to be staring, at least."

"I'm telling you. People aren't going to care. They'll probably be in their own world and not even notice."

He shrugged.

That night, after the sun had gone down, everyone gathered around the campfire, making smores.

"Would it be cool if we all ended up going to the same college?" Biana asked.

"It would!" Dex exclaimed.

"I'd be up for it," Keefe agreed.

"That'd be fun," Linh also designed, speaking through the gooey marshmallow I'm her mouth.

"So do guys want to try and all go to Foxfire University?" Sophie looked out at the others.

(Sophie POV)

Sophie frantically searched through the fields with her friends. The battle was over. The Neverseen was defeated. But Keefe was still nowhere to be found.

Giselle was dead, Gethen, and the others were captured. Where was Keefe? He had to be somewhere! When she heard a pitiful moan, her heart dropped.

"KEEFE!" She yelled, running towards the noise. "KEEFE! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Her worst fear was confirmed when she crested over a hill. Keefe in a pool of blood. She could see the side of his shirt where he was stabbed.

She got on her knees beside him, applying pressure to the wound. "Guys, he's over here!" She called to her friends.

She met his exhausted eyes. "Hey. Come on, you need to stay awake for me. We can still get you to Elwin!"

She moved to go pick him up, but he stopped her. He took in a ragged breath before shaking his head.

"It's... it's not going to help. Too deep," Keefe rasped.

"Of course it'll help!" Please," she begged. "You can't die! The Neverseen is gone. You can't die now!"

He gave a weak smile. "Good. Then you'll all be safe now." It quickly faded, though. "Will you stay with me? Please?" He asked as their friends joined them. "I don't want to be alone," his voice broke.

Sophie pulled him in her lap. "Of course."

She pressed her forehead to his as tears fell down her face. Their friends crowded them, taking in the scene in stunned silence.

Several minutes passed, Keefe growing weaker, before his horse voice whispered, "I love you, Sophie. I'd always swore I would until the day I die. I just never thought..." His voice trailed off as his gaze fell to their intertwined hands, pressed against the wound.

She let out a sob. "I'll always love you, Keefe. I can swear to you that."

She gently kissed him, hand lingering on his cheek. When they pulled away, Keefe let his eyes flutter closed, exhaling a slow, seemingly content, breath. He never took another.

(Three months later)

Sophie wound through the path she'd become accustomed to taking through the wandering woods. She stopped at a pale sapling.

Its leaves we're a pastel yellow in color, growing in direction of no rhyme or reason. The small buds of flowers were ice blue. They hadn't bloomed yet, but it was apparent a few would soon. The little wanderling didn't grow in the correct direction. It was, however, growing sideways, tilting to one side.

Sophie slid onto the ground next to it. She clutched a small stuffed gulon in her hands.

"Hey, Keefe," she whispered. "It's official, they've gotten statues of all of us up in Enternalia. They did a dedication ceremony for it. Everyone seemed really impressed." She chuckled a little. "If you were there, your ego would've gotten about twenty times bigger."

She raked her fingers through the dirt near the root of his tree. "Speaking of which. The council talked about you. A bit of a mini memorial of sorts, I suppose. They said that despite you being the son of a Neverseen leader, you died a hero. You helped save everyone."

She eased herself to lay on the dirt beside him. She curled her knees into her chest, her green dress fanning around her.

"And they're right," Sophie's voice cracked. She waited a second before saying, "I'm so proud of you. You did so well during that battle. No one ever got to tell you, but thank you. For your sacrifice. For being you. Being amazing." She sniffled. "Being my friend. Being more.... You deserved so much better than this."

She hadn't slept in what felt like days. It was too much. The nightmares were overwhelming. Horrific scenes replayed over and over in her mind whenever she closed her eyes.

But for some reason, with the rustling of leaves, the tickling of wind, and her grip on Mrs. Stinkbottom, she felt her eyes growing heavy. A sense of comfort washed over her, almost like Keefe was still beside her. The wind seemed to be sending her calming blue breezes.

She closed her eyes, falling asleep. She didn't have a single nightmare.

(Twenty years later)

Sophie sat against the trunk of Keefe's wanderling.

"Hey, I'm back," she murmured. "Sorry I haven't visited in a bit. Life's been a little hectic."

She blew the hair out of her face before gathering it in a ponytail. She stared up at the beautiful blossoming flowers.

"Dex and Biana just had a baby. He's the sweetest thing in the world. His name is Dennis. They wanted him to have a more human-ish sounding name to break the norm." She chuckled. "Well... that's his first name, at least. His full name is Dennis Keefe Dizznee."

Sophie had to wipe her eyes. "They wanted to honor you. I think it fits pretty well, actually. You can already tell he's going to be a little troublemaker. He keeps trying to hide his binky. You'd be pround."

She sat it the quiet for a while, drinking in the sereneness.

Eventually, she whispered, "You would've made a great dad. Despite your own parents, you would have. I have zero doubt about it."

Instead, he was six feet under. Sophie's heart felt heavy. Every time when she thought she might finally be able to move on...

"I'll just have to tell Dex and Biana's kids about you," she decided. "They'll love your funny antics. I just wish they'd have been able to meet you."

She rested her head against his tree and closed her eyes. "I love you."

(One hundred years later)

"The humans are being reinstated as an intelligent species!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Amy's great grand daughter is the representative for humans. She's an awesome spokesperson. I just wish... that Amy could still be here to see everything come together. She died a few decades ago."

She glanced up at the yellow leaves swishing in the breeze. "But, I guess you already know that, don't you?"

She smudged away a few of her tears. "Tell her I love her, will you? And I miss her. I miss the both of you."

Now that she was thinking about it... "Are you with Calla up there, too?" She gave a shaky smile. "I hope so. Have some of her Starkflower stew with her for me. What about Forkle? And Kenric? Let them know everything is ok down here. Everything they sacrificed paid off. Things are slowly getting better."

(Two thousand years later)

Sophie brushed her hand against the pale tree bark. She gave a gentle smile.

"Hey Keefe, guess what? I was just enstated as councilor. Oralie stepped down, and I was nominated. I accepted."

She tucked her hair behind one of her pointed ears. "I'm going to try and put a few laws into place for you. It's so no other kids have to deal with what you had to with your parents. The meeting for it will be on Thursday. I've got high hopes for it. I also plan on finding a better matchmaking system."

Shr kicked the dirt. "I still haven't figured out who my father is. I don't plan to keep looking. I haven't in a while. I have no reason for matchmaking anymore. Well... I haven't in a few thousand years, I suppose," she chuckled.

"I know you would've been ok with me finding someone else, but... it doesn't feel right. It wouldn't be fair. For either me, or them. I know I wouldn't be able to fully love someone again, and they should deserve my full heart. But I just can't. At least not like I love you.

She pressed her forehead against the trunk. "When I gave you that promise, I meant it. I'm always going to love you. No matter what."

The blue breezes in the air picked up, wrapping around Sophie it what felt to be a hug. She hadn't felt that physically close to Keefe in a few millennia. Now, it felt like he was right there.

The wind seemed to whisper in her ear. She could've sworn she heard words in it.

'I love you too, Foster.'