Oh my goodness, guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in... almost a month?! *hides face in shame* I hope I still have some readers, even though I don't deserve them. At least here are 3,345 words to make up for it. Longest chapter yet, woohoo! It was SO HARD to write, tho...

In other news, the Lodestar hype! So exciting! And since I have zero friends who are Keeper fans, can I just say a few words about the portraits? Dex came out on my birthday- best gift ever! Did anyone else think that Tam didn't look enough like a K-pop star after what Sophie thought of them? And then Keefe... Honestly, I never really liked Keefe as a character while reading the books, but as I've been writing this story, I've really started to become attached. Seeing the portrait and how wasted he looked just killed me.

I'll admit I was a little disappointed that no one wanted to know the references I mentioned, but just in case there are lurkers (such as I was just two months ago) who want to know, Kelse impersonated the Hobo from Polar Express, then the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland during her time testing the Vanishing/Borrowing skill.

NOW on to the reviews:

bookishgirl: Why thank you!
PokeMANS: I know! I am so happy for this time Sophie has to relax, brief though it may be... And you may call on those rights. The plot twist is coming, believe me! but it's still a few chapters away. (I'm trying, peoples!)
Kotlc 1 fan: You're welcome! And thanks so much! Honestly, the reviews mean so much to me even when they're guest reviews. Anything, any feedback, and messages that someone's actually reading helps! Here is, after a long and arduous wait, the next installment. [Were all three of those reviews yours? I'm assuming so]
Strikestar: :)
Guest: You don't know what an encouragement it was to get a review even though I hadn't updated in weeks. Thanks, and here!

Plus, Big bonus thank you! to Roseyred155 for following and favoriting!

Now, on to the story. *Lost in Space announcer voice activated* Last time, as you may recall, we left all our characters from both parts of the story feeling whole, content, and otherwise too happy for this to last. Even though this chapter is mostly background and setup, I promise you'll get action any time now...

Chapter 13

"They approved our field trip!"

Kelse was standing in the doorway, looking… stunning? Keefe wasn't sure how to describe it. She was wearing a red knit dress with puffy cap sleeves and creamy, flower-filled stripes adorning the collar, cuffs, and scalloped mid-thigh length hem. Underneath, she was wearing jeans and tan ankle boots. A matching set of beret, ear warmers, fingerless gloves, scarf, and shawl in purple with brown accents looked warm, handmade, and very smart on her. Her hair lay over half her face, covering her scars. She handed him a bundle that included a pair of flannel lined jeans, a black t-shirt, and a green fleece lined pullover as well as matching green and black fleece lined flannel earmuffs.

"I'll wait outside while you change," she said. As Keefe tried on the outfit, he couldn't help but notice how well the bluish forest green looked on him, and wondered if Kelse had picked it herself. He opened the door and let her in.

"Why are these pants so awfully stiff?" he gasped, trying to sit in them.

Kelse laughed. "Jeans are one of the most worn items of clothing in the human world, known for their versatility and durability. I think they're an acquired taste, though. A lot of people have tried to convince me that they're comfortable, but I must be spoiled by elven fabric or something." She patted her own denim-clad leg. "I wear jean leggings, which have the same good qualities, but feel like normal cotton leggings, not stiff or bulky, although they're tighter."

"Why don't they have that for guys, then?" Keefe demanded.

Kelse made an odd giggling sound. "They just don't. You know, they're tight. Even I won't wear them without a skirt on the top, and I'm a girl. It's just not proper."

"Proper?"

"You know, um, modest." Kelse was blushing.

Keefe sighed. "How am I going to show off my incredible good looks to their best extent with you around talking about modesty?" He patted his hair, making it even more perfectly mussed.

"WELL then are we ready?" Kelse changed the subject as fast as she could. "Officially, this is a training mission to prepare you for tomorrow," she added, winking.

"How am I going to leave? I have a proximity cuff on." Keefe waved his wrist, smirking in appreciation of the ploy.

Kelse held up her own wrist, where she wore a strange square, like a tiny black imparter on a nexus-like band that held several crystal charms.

"This," Kelse said. "It's my smartwatch. I won't go into all the human details, but it's the latest and greatest in human devices. It was a present from my father when I still lived in the forbidden cities. He had it specially altered by the Neverseen's Technopath to be compatible with both human and elven technology. As well as being fully functional in it's human capacity, I can use it as an imparter, and the band is my nexus as well as my pathfinder."

"You still use a nexus?" Keefe was surprised. Even slow learners usually got them off by 15.

Kelse scowled. "It's the human in me. My mind is simply incapable of holding all my particles. But the bracelet is really stylish, and look!"

She held up the band. Inset at even intervals were five crystals, two blue, two yellow and one white, like decorative jewels. But when she twisted one of them, it protruded out of the bracelet, creating a thin path of light.

"Wow," breathed Keefe.

Kelse beamed. "I know! So cool, right?"

"Where can you go?"

Kelse counted off the jewels as she spoke. "The yellow ones go to Neverseen bases, the white one goes to Mysterium - that's a special one, from my father, the only place in the lost cities I can go - and the blue ones are from my human life. That's what we'll be using today."

"I still fail to understand," Keefe grumbled, trying not to show how impressed he was, "how this helps with my proximity cuff."

"Because," Kelse said, wrinkling her nose at him, "I can switch your cuff to signal to my watch instead of to the monitor here. They'll be able to tell how far apart we stay, but they won't be able to see where we are."

Keefe grinned. "Let's go, then," he said.

Kelse reached over and flipped a tiny switch on his cuff. Then she twisted one of her blue crystals and held it up to the light, whisking them away.

They materialized on a snow covered hill beside a frosty, unpaved street. The air was crisp and freezing, the landscape punctuated with assorted piles of snow.

"Welcome to Siberia!" Kelse proclaimed cheerfully.

"What kind of place is this?" Keefe asked, not sure whether to be awed or horrified.

"Originally, Siberia was the equivalent of Exile for Russia, a huge human country. Now, it's also the equivalent of Exile for Russia, but it's also the home of thousands of innocent people. Some are descendants of prisoners, some people actually moved here, believe it or not. Some people weren't exactly prisoners, but they were banished, and they and their descendants are still here as well."

"But where're the buildings?" Keefe couldn't see a single building, even the small rough structures humans constructed.

Kelse pointed to a nearby fantastically impressive clump of snow. "Behold the best restaurant in town!"

"You're joking," Keefe said flatly.

Kelse's eye twinkled. "Am I?"

Keefe looked closer. A small trail of pale grey smoke crept through a melty peak on the top of the mound. He gasped. "That's incredible! People actually live here? Are they mad?"

Kelse beamed. "That depends on who you ask," she replied. "But I prefer to call us resilient."

They struggled through the knee deep drifts to the road. The snow was so cold, it didn't even melt on their jeans, brushing off as easily as grass or wood chips. As they headed down to the center of town, the frost crunching beneath their feet, the brown fronts of buildings came into view. About a dozen sturdy constructions made up the main street, each sporting three sides completely buried in the drifting white blanket. As they walked, Kelse pointed out certain landmarks.

"That's the general store," she said, pointing to a long, low, squat affair. "And there is the gas station." Here she had to pause to explain gas to her confused companion, who immediately thought of gulons. When Keefe was sufficiently informed, she continued. "That's my friend Sashka's house, and that's a bed and breakfast. Don't ask whose brilliant idea it was to have a bed and breakfast here, because that's the oldest joke in town. It does get a visitor every couple of years, though," she added, answering Keefe's incredulous expression with a dry smile.

They continued walking down the single street. "There's the doctor's house. He has a clinic on the first floor, and lives above. His wife's the midwife, for the old fashioned folk." She had to stop again, to explain midwifery. "There is the school," she continued then, pointing to a tiny shack-like thing. "It's not much to look at, but at least we have one. Beside it is the church - Russian Orthodox." This was a more impressive building, but Keefe decided not to ask for an explanation this time. "The local farmers meet in that building to discuss sales and other farm related business. And there is the one office building: it belongs to a mining corporation, which has several sites in this area."

"That's… it?"

"Um, yeah. It's Siberia, what did you expect?"

"Well, I didn't expect anything, since you didn't even tell me where we were going, but the only place in the human world I've ever been in is Italy, and I'm guessing that isn't near here?"

"Definitely not," agreed Kelse.

But where do all the people live? I thought humans lived in groups, in towns."

"Not here. There are a few; the doctor, the bed and breakfast owners, the gas station owner, Sashka's dad, who runs the mining office, but most people live on their own land. Even the grocer has a good sized farm, although that's right behind his store."

As Kelse led the way back to the restaurant, Keefe could see in the way she looked around how much she missed living here. She took one last pained glance around before pulling the door open, shaking the light sheen of snow off.

Delicious smells tickled their noses as they walked in. Hot, steamy air enveloped them, chasing the cold from their bones. A roaring fire burned across the room, momentarily making Keefe shiver, but he quickly realized that that was the reason the room was so warm. The atmosphere was cozy and friendly, despite the fact that all the windows were dark with snow.

"Kelsey! моя милая девочка, как ты! Это было так давно…"

[AN In english, "Kelsey my sweet little girl, how are you! It's been so long…" I Totally didn't google translate that… nope… lol sorry anyone who actually speaks Russian- Google is famously imperfect]

A large man strode into the room from the direction of the smells - most likely the kitchen. Keefe's mind did a double take as he tried to understand the rolling words. His mom being a polyglot, he felt order in the sounds, but he couldn't quite understand. He hadn't even thought about the fact that they might not be speaking in either of the human languages he'd heard Sophie speak - English and Italian.

"…Keefe Sencen." He snapped back to the conversation when he heard Kelse say his name.

"Hey," he said weakly, putting up his hand to wave, but the burly man grasped it and wrung it so hard the circulation gave up trying.

"так рада встретиться с вами!" shouted the man. ["So happy to meet you!"] He seemed excited, so Keefe figured that was a good thing.

"This is Vasily, the owner of the restaurant. His family has run it for 50 years," Kelse said with an amused smile. "He's delighted to meet you. Want to have a seat?"

They sat in one of the booths near the fire, Vasily chattering away the whole time. From the way Kelse was blushing, and the way the man waved his hands, Keefe suspected the conversation was revolving around the fact that they were out alone together. When he finally left them for the kitchen, Kelse sighed, but didn't seem as bothered as she acted.

"The people here can be so nosy it's beyond annoying, but I love them, Keefe. I miss being a part of their lives." She crushed her napkin in a white fist. "I can thank my father for that," she spat.

Keefe reached out to lay his hand over hers, but thought better of it when he realized they were probably being watched. Instead, he tried to lighten the mood.

"Well, they can hardly help but get ideas considering my awesomeness. I bet they've never seen anything like the Hair around here," he said with a smirk. "What language were you speaking?"

Kelse glared but answered "Russian."

"What, not in a place called Russia," Keefe said dramatically.

Kelse grinned. "You're a goose," she informed him.

Vasily brought them a strange but delicious soup, and the settled down to eating. Kelse was explaining the ethnic dish when the door flew open, someone shaking it carefully to remove the light dusting of snow that had collected in the last few minutes. A group of kids blew in, laughing, talking, and jostling each other. When they saw Kelse, they were obliged to surround her and talk in loud, excited tones, obviously catching up since they'd seen her last. She smiled and answered them, introducing Keefe and inviting them to sit. The rest of the four course meal was spent in happy Russian conversation, with Kelse stopping every now and then to translate into the enlightened language. It was so nice to see her happy and acting like a normal teenager that Keefe didn't really mind, and the food was really good. Finally, the others left. Kelsey explained that they had been on lunch break from school, and were returning for the afternoon. She got up and tried to pay Vasily for the meal. He refused, waving his hands emphatically, and Kelse thanked him profusely.

"Come on," she said in the enlightened language, "there's someone else I want you to meet."

They walked down the frozen road, going the opposite direction, away from the town, past the snowy hill they'd materialized on. Every few hundred yards, on one side or the other of the street, a gate appeared, visible through the deep snow because of the thin shoveled paths, usually surrounded by endless stretches of fence tops. Kelse pointed out several of the farms, matching them to kids they'd seen at lunch, but she spent most of the walk drinking in the scenery and the pure winter smell. Keefe reached for her hand, and they held tightly to each other as they made their way down the road.

They'd been walking for about half an hour when Kelse finally stopped in front of a weathered brown gate. She paused, hand hovering over the latch.

"I used to come back every month," she said, voice low and strained with sadness. "Sometimes, almost every week. I could keep up my music lessons, and see my family. But after the kidnapping last year, my father stopped letting me go out. I haven't been back since. I can't help but wonder how they're going to react, seeing me after all these months."

"They're going to be so happy, naturally," Keefe tried to reassure her.

"You don't know them, Keefe. What if…" she brushed a freezing tear from her cheek.

Keefe wanted to say something more comforting, but all that came out was "Sophie's kidnapping?"

"Yeah."

They were silent for several minutes, rooted to their spots, until with a half sob, half resigned sigh, Kelse pushed open the gate.

At the other side of the long windy path, a small, sturdy farmhouse rose like a mother duck surrounded with snowy ducklings that would have been outbuildings if they had been above the level of the snow. Sitting in a fluffy snowsuit on top of one of the largest piles was a small boy, making snow people.

"Danny!" Kelse cried, eyes full of tears.

"Kelsey!" The little boy rolled down the mound and straight into Kelse's arms. He was quite tiny, very delicate under the puffy snow gear. He chattered in lisping Russian until Kelse said gently, "You know, my friend here speaks the other way of talking I taught you. Remember how to say hello?"

"Hi," said the child in a shy, halting, heavily accented but clear version of the enlightened language.

"Whoa, I didn't know humans could learn…" Keefe marveled.

"It wasn't easy, but I needed someone to practice on," Kelse explained. "I didn't speak it quite instinctively, either, so I needed to keep it fresh between my father's visits. Keefe, this is my cousin Danny. Danny, This is my friend, Keefe. Danny's five. His mother died when he was born, and his father couldn't bear to be around here afterward, so I raised him. He's my little guy, aren't you?" She snuggled him with her nose.

Danny beamed. "Kelsey is my momma," he said happily.

A lump formed in Keefe's throat for just a second.

"How's everything going?" Kelse asked Danny.

"Ok, I guess. I'm getting lessons with Mrs. Moorova now!" he suddenly remembered, and beamed.

"Awesome! That's my smart cookie!"

"Also," the boy's face fell a little, "Papa's got married. He says I have a new momma now. But you're still my momma! …Right?" He looked so confused and worried.

"Is she nice?" Kelse's brows knit.

"Everyone thinks so, but I dunno, she's not like you, Kelsey."

"Well, Danny honey, you know I'm not around as much anymore. Maybe she'll be a better momma to you than I am."

"NO!" Danny shouted hoarsely, trembling all over. "No, I don't like her I want you don' let her be my momma please." He buried his face in Kelse's dress and sobbed.

"Baby, I love you. Nothing will ever stop me" Kelse whispered, pulling him up into her arms.

Keefe cleared his throat, feeling extremely uncomfortable. He glanced up to see two figures coming from the house. He nudged Kelse.

They went inside at the insistence of Kelse's grandparents, two small, withered humans who had endured many hard summers and long winters, but still had wrinkled smiles for the teens. They stayed almost an hour, then Kelse said her goodbyes, saying they had another stop before they left.

"Where are we going?" Keefe asked.

"I hope you don't mind, but since we're here, I was going to have a lesson with Mrs. Moorova."

"Of course not," Keefe assured her, curious. "What does she teach?"

"Music. I take piano and voice lessons from her, have for over ten years."

"Um, maybe not, Elves are notoriously horrible with music," Keefe said warily.

Kelsey laughed. "Oh, my whole human family is very musical, and I've heard people call me a prodigy."

"A…"

"In human expression, a child who has a great amount of natural talent, and is exceptionally brilliant. Not that I'm puffed up enough to call myself that," she added, cheek coloring slightly.

"Well, you might not be, but I'm going to tell every human I meet from now on that I'm a prodigy," Keefe informed her, fluffing his hair.

Kelse rolled her eyes. They walked down a nearly invisible side trail to a tiny shack-like house. Inside, it was warm and cheery. An old woman tended a pot on an old fashioned crane over her fire, and around the room ranged shelves of music books, a few small instruments, and an upright piano. All these Kelse identified in a whisper to Keefe, in between greeting the lady. Keefe was given a hot cup of tea and settled on the couch, then Mrs. Moorova and Kelse sat at the piano. Keefe couldn't believe the beauty of the sounds that drifted through the room as they played, the music warming and calming him inside better than the tea. Kelse moved on to singing, then paid the teacher in faded human currency, not like the euros Dex had had.

The light was fading fast when they left the cottage, and the teens' breath made crystalline clouds around their faces.

"Was the day ok?" Kelse asked wistfully.

"Of course!" Keefe stopped, turning to face her. "This place is wonderful! The people are amazing. I'd like to punch your father for taking you away. And hearing you make such beautiful sounds, so… indescribable. Like you." Impulsively, he stepped closer, grabbing her hands. They were so close, he could feel her breath on his face, could even barely make out the glint of her right eye through the streaked white curtain of hair. Her emotions were quivering as much as his were, and for a moment, they just stood there, paralyzed, staring into each other's eyes.

The moment was broken when Kelse's watch beeped delicately. She pulled away to read the message that popped up on the screen.

"My dad wants us home," she said. "Big day tomorrow, and all." She pushed by and started walking down the path, toward a lonely patch of light.

"Kelse!" Keefe called, unsure of what he was going to say.

The girl stopped walking, but didn't turn around. After a moment, Keefe felt her emotions wrench, as if she were… He took a step closer. She turned her head just enough for him to see the glitter of a tear in her eye, glistening in the last ray of light. She took a ragged breath, then held up her watch band, twisting a yellow crystal. She held out her hand, still not looking at him. Keefe took it with a heavy heart, and they glittered away.