a/n: hello lovelies!
since this has not been updated in what, like a literal year? things are going to be a little bit different from here on out! my style of writing has slowly been developing and may not perfectly align with my old writing. that being said, it's not a bad thing - and i'm not saying that i've changed the plot or characters or than anything won't make sense anymore or something crazy like that.
i'm just saying i hope you can see some tiny improvements from here on out :)
also, because i've grown older since i first began this fanfiction, you will probably also notice the increased amount of cursing. hope you don't mind, lol.
love u!
IRIS PLAYED WITH IZZY in the background, completely unaware of how quiet it had just gotten. All the teens bodies had gone rigid at the news Sophie had shared. Sophie refused to make eye contact with anyone, her eyes welled up with tears as she chewed on her lower lip.
"I. . ." She cleared her throat. "I got to say goodbye, though. So that's. . . Good, I suppose. Most people don't get to say goodbye." The last part came out softer.
Everyone began mumbling their apologies, saying they were extremely sorry for everything she'd endured while they were gone, but she shook her head quickly, waving her hand to cut them off. "Please. . . Please don't. I'm fine, okay? I know my Mom went peacefully. It didn't hurt and she got to say goodbye." She cleared her throat. "Besides, I wouldn't have Iris if things hadn't. . . changed. I don't like that I lost my mom, but I don't want to dwell on that. I don't want to get sad when I think about her. That's pointless. We had. . . An amazing time together, while it lasted."
She shook her blonde head, the ringlets brushing across her shoulders. "I don't know," she mumbled, looking tired and defeated.
Dex cleared his throat. "What does the Sickness do?"
Sophie rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. She shot a glance to Iris. "Ed, I. . ."
"Got it," the guy answered, going over to Iris and scooping her up. The dog, Izzy, followed in tow over to the bed, where they sat down. Edwardos worked towards occupying Iris, ensuring she wouldn't hear any of the conversation.
Sophie watched her daughter for a few more seconds, eyes lingering on her pink-cheeked innocence before she turned back to her friends. "The Sickness kills you when you reach a certain age," she finally confessed. "It's rare for someone to age past twenty. We assume it has something to do with the fact that our bodies are still growing and we have a lot more imbalanced chemicals in youth. But once that fades. . ." She snapped her fingers bluntly, looking back at Iris.
"I just. . ." Sophie sighed. "I can't do it all. It's too much. I don't know what to do, where to start. . . I've spent around two years trying to figure out how this disease works, why it attacks the body. . . And there's been practically no answers to bear. The only things we know are the symptoms a victim shows when it strikes during their last hours and that the disease is probably air-borne and - we assume - genetically transmitted."
Sophie furiously wiped her eyes. "I just don't want Iris hurt," she muttered, voice cracking. It was obvious she was trying her best not to break down in front of them. Her arms were crossed and she rocked on the balls of her feet, squeezing her eyes shut every now and then as if it would make the tears magically dissolve. "I'd rather die than see her go through that. Than know she's going to have that fate."
Biana, Dex, Keefe, and Fitz were all equally stunned into silence, unsure of how to properly comfort their agonized friend.
"And you're sure there's absolutely no way to stop it?" Dex asked, prodding. She looked him in the eyes for the first time since they had arrived, and everyone knew that meant she was being very serious when she flatly admitted, "Yes."
Sophie was well aware that Dex had often been considered the genius of the group - and he was a genius. But Sophie knew in her heart that no matter how many other overly intelligent elves they pulled into the ring, it wouldn't make a difference. The research had met its ends point.
Sophie turned to Iris again, watching her daughter with that unfaltering adoration. But there was something else mixed in there, too. Determination, perhaps?
"I'm hoping that it's just affecting one generation. Maybe Iris and the few other younger ones will be okay." She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Of course, there's always the possibility that the virus could mutate, even if it did manage to spare a few kids. It could adapt and. . ."
She didn't need to finish that sentence.
It was quiet for a bit, save the noise of the dog and Edwardos and Iris on the bed, chatting. Edwardos had taken a cloth and had begun to wipe all the paint and charcoal smudges off of Iris' face, tenderly, and Sophie crossed her arms and bit her lip as she watched the spectacle.
Keefe finally cleared his throat. "We've taken down a plague before. Why not do it again?"
Sophie sighed. "The last time that happened, the plague was created intentionally and there was a confirmed cure that we had to bargain for. That we had to lose for."
She looked him directly in the eyes as she said the last part, and shame crept over his body as he envisioned Calla's tree, sitting all alone on the hill back at Havenfield. If Havenfield was even still standing, to this day, that was.
She shook her blonde head. "Point is, this isn't something that we can easily defeat. It's taken out thousands and it's only continuing. It's killing one hundred percent out of one hundred percent. People are scared - no one wants to reach their eighteenth birthday because that's as early as it can get you. I just. . . I don't know."
Fitz nodded, but didn't dwell on her answer. He swiftly jumped to the next question, as if he were in some sort of rush or as if they didn't have much time. "When did you start running things?"
There was some sort of edge to his voice that reminded her of a glint of teasing mirth, even though his face was fully serious. For the first time since she'd seen him, she actually felt a tiny stir in her stomach at the tone of voice. She'd forgotten how insane he'd used to drive her and her naive little heart - not that it had exactly learned its lesson with love over the past three-and-a-half years.
She kept her arms casually crossed as she bluntly explained, "Everyone started dying. And when Oralie. . ." Sophie had to pause for a moment to blink heavily in some attempt to keep her tears at bay. "I don't even really know how it happened. I was just messing around, if I'm being honest."
Everyone looked at her proddingly, practically begging for her to elaborate because what she was cluing them in on was too cryptic. She shrugged shyly after a few seconds of piercing eyes, not really knowing what she was supposed to say.
That was when Ed, from over on the bed with Iris, piped up, "She started protesting here and there, at first. Different things, not all the same. And then she began going around and doing such heroic things - it was really cute. And-"
"I swear if you don't shut up before you go too far," Sophie growled, pointing a finger. Iris laughed in amusement on the bed, causing Edwardos to crack a tiny smile and snicker. "What? I'm being serious. It was cute. You were like a little mediator. A peace-keeper. You got in between all the fights, saw both sides, and always managed to come up with some solution that benefited everybody. I was impressed."
"Stop, you corndog."
"Stop what?"
"I don't know. Being a sap," Sophie snapped. She glared at him for a few seconds longer than necessary. Her facade dropped for a moment, however, as her lip betrayed her, twitching lightly when they locked eyes.
Edwardos gave a look at her that practically voiced, ah, yes - sue me for being a sap, and Iris giggled and rolled over on the bed, her tiny chest bouncing with giddy laughter. Edwardos chuckled as Izzy's ears perked up at the spectacle, her tiny snout rested on top of her folded paws.
Sophie's cheeks bloomed with a soft, somehow subtle rosy colour as she watched Ed and Iris and the dog, rolling her eyes through her smile. She turned back to her old friends, shaking her head as her smile slowly faded, and her composure returned. "Anyway, uh. . . I think I should get Iris to bed. It's really late. And we can talk more about this in the morning. If you don't mind I just need to help her get to sleep and I can walk you to your rooms-"
"If they're fine with it," Edwardos interjected, waiting for Sophie to look at him, "they can stay here. All of us can. I'll can prop out the little couch so it can turn into another bed, someone can take this one, I have some extra blankets for anyone who's willing to take the floor. . ."
"Where will you go?" Iris asked, pouting.
Ed smiled brightly, leaning down and kissing Iris on the forehead. "On the balcony, princess."
Sophie did another round of eyerolls as Iris immediately began begging to sleep outside with Edwardos, to which Biana cracked a smile at.
"You know what, if you guys are okay with that, you can stay here. Otherwise I'll walk you to your rooms. Or you can walk yourselves if you feel you don't need an escort. Just choose whatever you'd like while I. . ." She sighed, peeking back at Iris. "Wrangle this one."
Sophie stood in the doorway that led out to the balcony, watching as Edwardos shuffled around outside, trying to put up a hammock. All his attempts were failing, though, as Iris kept jumping up too early at the last second, thinking the hammock was secure and that she could jump in.
Sophie bit her lip, her lips breaking into a smile as she watched it happen for the third time. Iris snickered in the mess of sheets and the singular pillow as Edwardos shook his head, scooping up Iris. "You little monster," he teased, peppering kisses and blowing raspberries into the crook of her neck.
Iris squirmed and flailed, whooping and hollering from the tickling in his arms. Sophie laughed, waving her hand out to Edwardos to signal that it was time to be done. Ed grinned at her, stepping over the mess of the hammock and into the doorway, passing Iris into Sophie's arms.
"Okay, bugaboo," Edwardos said, his voice dropping lower and softer as he combed a hand through Iris' hair, kissing her forehead. "Time for bed."
Iris whined and tried to start complaining, but Edwardos straightened and pulled Sophie into his embrace, enveloping the two of them. Iris started giggling and comparing the hug to a sandwich. Edwardos laughed a little as Sophie's mouth twitched, and lifted his hand and cupped her face before pecking her mouth sweetly. Sophie leaned a little in to his lingering touch, cheeks growing rosy.
With that, Edwardos departed back out onto the balcony to try and get the hammock set up, while Sophie turned into the room and surveyed the area to see where everyone had chosen to bed. Her friends didn't seem to have chosen a places for one another, yet, as the only thing that had happened while she had been watching outside was the beds had gotten set up. The couch was propped out, and blankets and pillows had been added. The actual king-size bed in the room had simply had the sheets pulled back to allow anyone to climb in.
Biana was smoothing down the bed sheets on the couch with Dex, while Fitz and Keefe both sat around the room, casually leaning against different items. They appeared to have been watching her because when she flickered her eyes over them, they ripped their eyes away frantically and tried acting like nothing had happened.
Sophie sighed, walking Iris over to the bed and setting her down on the edge. Sophie looked to Keefe, who was closest to the bed. "Sorry, could she fall asleep here? I'll move her once she's out so that you can-"
"Hey, it's all good, Foster," Keefe assured, noticing the way Sophie's face began to flush and how he felt moderate waves of embarrassment rolling off of her. He assumed it was because she was internally wondering if they were all judging her for having a kid, or something insane like that.
Maybe even the fact that she'd seemed to move from their old crew almost entirely.
Sophie chewed on her lower lip a little, nodding before pointing to the bathroom near Fitz. "Fitz, could you do me a favor? If you go into the bathroom and look in the last drawer underneath the counter, you'll find a few extra pairs of PJs for Iris. Could you grab some for me?"
Fitz blinked at her, once, twice, before bobbing his head in confirmation and disappearing into the bathroom briefly, before popping back out and handing Sophie the patterned pair of pajamas. Sophie helped Iris change into them, lifting her arms above her head to pull off her dress and tug on the star-covered pajama shirt. Then she helped her wriggle into her pants, her daughter grinning as she curled up in the center of the bed, nuzzling into the covers and hugging Mr. Flopsy. Sophie smiled tenderly, hopping into the bed beside her, spooning her and snaking an arm around her waist to tug her into the curve of her body. Iris beamed up at her mother, eyelids already blinking lazily and growing heavy.
Izzy hopped up on the bed next, without warning, but neither Sophie nor Iris flinched as the dog panted before curling up and finding a nice spot on the edge of the bed to sleep. Dex, Biana, Keefe, and Fitz all assumed this was a sort of routine they'd had.
But then Sophie flicked her eyes up towards all of them, patting the bed. "Come on," she sighed. "There's room for all of us to sit down and talk a little before bed."
Hesitantly everyone shared a look before creeping towards the bed and figuring out a way to effectively arrange themselves. Iris peeked up at Sophie. "Me too?" she asked.
"No," Sophie said simply, though it wasn't firm. "You need to go to sleep. You know it's bed time."
Iris pouted briefly before snuggling more up against her mom's side, accepting that she wasn't going to get to listen in and that she was actually tired herself.
Sophie combed her fingers gently through Iris' hair for a few minutes as Dex and Biana adjusted themselves on the end of the bed near Izzy. Fitz took the middle section of the bed, while Keefe sat near the headboard, up next to Sophie.
Izzy was to Fitz's right, on the corner of the end of the bed, and Fitz reached out with a tiny smile, allowing Izzy to sniff and lick his palm.
Everyone seemed to understand that it was best if they stayed quiet until Iris fell asleep, so they sat on the bed quietly. Mostly they watched Sophie lull Iris to sleep by brushing her hands through her daughter's hair, but occasionally they'd peek at each other or Izzy or even Edwardos on the balcony outside.
Just when they were getting used to still silence, though, soft snoring noises began to reverberate around the room. Sophie's lips twitched and cracked into a smile.
Beside her, Keefe lifted his hand and reached out towards Iris, and Sophie almost instinictually flinched until she realized it was only him. Keefe tentatively touched Iris' forehead, brushing his fingers off to the side and sweeping some strands of hair out of her face.
Sophie nodded at Keefe, mouthing a quick, Thank you.
Keefe's lips painted into a smile on his face and he retracted his hand leizurely, gazing down at the bundle curled up against Sophie.
Sophie began internally debating where she was going to put Iris down to sleep and where she was going to bunker down for the night, as well. She could always sleep on the floor inside or on the balcony. And Iris could probably squish in with Edwardos. It wouldn't be all to comfortable, probably, but it was only for one night.
Maybe-
"I still can't believe you have a daughter," Dex marveled quietly. Sophie looked up at him in amusement, taking her focus off her daughter for a second. Then she turned a little pink and turned back to Iris. A few others mumbled their agreements, while the rest - like Keefe - just watched in silent amazement as Sophie brushed her fingers across Iris' forehead, getting the hair off of her tiny, peaceful face. Sophie's cheeks flushed lightly as she nodded, not taking her eyes off of Iris.
"What was it like?" Biana piped up, adding to the comment.
Sophie fluttered her eyelashes, looking over at them. "What do you mean?"
Biana shrugged, grabbing a pillow and hugging it. She seemed to be getting comfortable, as did the others, who were readjusting their positions to face her while still relaxing. Sophie didn't quite understand why they were paying so much attention, though - she didn't exactly have a thrilling story to tell.
"Just. . . Everything," Biana finally said. Though, from the light tinge on her cheeks, Sophie could only guess she specifically wanted to hear about her pregnancy.
So, Sophie opened her mouth for another round of 'what do you mean?' for further clarification, but Keefe noticed and added, "We've been apart for a long time, Foster. And obviously a lot has changed." He gestured to Iris.
Sophie cleared her throat, looking down at her little girl again. "So. . .you want the details?"
She looked around at the group, waiting for everyone to nod before she blew out a steady breath, combing gentle fingers through Iris' hair. "It was. . . Really weird getting to the city for the first time. Edaline and I got an apartment — which is long since gone, trust me. It was in the Uptown, which we obviously don't own anymore."
Her mind flashed to visions of the Uptowners — the freshly proclaimed rebel group — and she swallowed the bile rising in the back of her throat, thinking of how Tam and Linh were in that part of town as they spoke.
Her friends faces held no indication of that, though, and she felt a stab of guilt. She knew she probably shouldn't have been in their heads, holding back the memories of the two twins — a new skill she'd acquired over the years — but she couldn't have them asking questions. Couldn't have them pestering her about the awful thing that had occurred.
"Anyway, we spent a year there. And obviously there was the whole. . . Guy. . . Situation." She waved her hand in a vague gesture and winced, not having any motivation to continue the conversation. "The first outbreaks of the Sickness began and he went into the hospital and just. . . Never came back out. At that time I was about two-ish months into my pregnancy, which I still didn't know about. Then, though, like I said, I went in for a blood test and figured it out."
She curled a strand of her daughter's hair around her finger. "Edaline helped me out a lot, during the next few weeks. But she. . . Didn't make it very long. Nobody did. Within that next couple of weeks, everyone was dropping like flies." Her tone had grown bitter near the end of the statement, but she shook her head, clearing the sour thoughts from her brain.
"I moved out of the apartment and decided to stay in a hotel for a while." She gestured to around the room. "Met Ed, settled down. . ." She shrugged, looking around the room as if it held millions of memories. "I was alone when my water broke. I was pretty freaked out because she wasn't due for awhile, and practically all the doctors were gone, but. . . I got through it. Ed came back around halfway through. I was on the floor with a towel. . ."
"Wait," Keefe interrupted, eyebrows raised. "You had her on your own? In here?"
Sophie flushed scarlet. "Yeah. I was on the floor over there, leaning up against the wall."
Everybody looked over to where Sophie generally motioned towards, trying to envision having to do that on their own. Delivering a child with medical help was a thrill of a ride all on it's own - but here this crazy girl had gone and had the baby herself.
Keefe clicked his tongue, looking back at Sophie in wonder. "You never give up, do you?"
It was meant as a compliment, and Sophie, for the first time in years, could see part of his charm returning. His lips had begun to quirk with that familiar smirk and his ice blue eyes were shining with mischief and something else she couldn't place. But it was raw and mature and meant just for her.
She couldn't hold back the extra colour that erupted on her cheeks. "I mean, I couldn't exactly reverse time and stop the labor, so, I really had no choice in the matter."
They all had to laugh at that, chests vibrating and lips stretching into glorious smiles that hadn't been used in awhile.
And Sophie knew everything was going to be just fine.
