A/N) Hello, my wonderfuls!
Soooooooooo, it's been a while, hasn't it? Did I forget to update last weekend? Heheh, whoops. Soooooooorrrrrrrryyyyyyyy. Like, seriously, I'm sorry. I hate waiting for updates on some stories, because, well, ANTICIPATION! But, all I'm gonna say about it is that it's been a rough week, so I didn't really have a lot of time to write and all that. Thank you all for understanding! And now, answers to reviews!
A very obsessed fangirl: Wow. Like, wow. That is by far the best compliment ever. Do you other readers wanna know what she said? She said, and I quote: That... wasn't... horrible... GAH I HATE SOPHITZ BUT IT WAS A GOOD CHAPTER! BUT I HATE SOPHITZ! End quote. So, as I can obviously see, you're a Keefoster shipper, so the fact that you actually liked a story for the challenging ship is just . . . Wow. That's amazing. Thank you so much. I literally could not stop staring at the screen when I saw it, and then my mom was in the middle of talking to me and I starting smiling insanely and some sort of weird, distorted squeal came out of my mouth and she was like, "What are you doing?" And I'm like, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm sorry, what?" So yeah. Thank you so much for your review!
Guest: Aw, thank you. And yes, I'll do a Linh and Wylie one soon NOW CUT IT OUT WITH THE PUPPY EYES, GAH. Sorry. I just . . . I can't. Puppy dog eyes are adorable. Thank you so much for your review!
The Black Swan: Thank you! And, wow, you read them ALL in ONE sitting? That's . . . wow. That's a compliment in itself! And, I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. I think. 'Cause, you know, I could literally die at anytime at all, but you get the point! Thank you so much for your review!
Guest: Yay! The children were enjoyable, weren't they? *nods head agreeably* And, yeah, Theo and Thea were probably more enjoyable, because, well, TEN-YEAR-OLD TWINS WHO COULD GO WRONG WITH THAT? And even though Sophie hated it when Grady did it, she ended up saying "Not That Boy" herself! Ha! In your face, teenage hormones! I have . . . no idea where that came from. But, also, yes you are correct, the vote for the final ships will be for the last chapter: The Celebration. I probably should have mentioned that. Oh well. Thank you so much for your review!
Hello: Hey there, Hello! So, you're a Sophitz shipper, huh? Cool. I'm . . . still Undecided about like, all the ships, so . . . yeah. Nope, I didn't mind that Caught In Between review at all! I actually really enjoyed it! And, thank you for the recognition! Huh, maybe I'll do a Tophie one. Who knows? Oh, wait. I do. Thank you so much for your review!
Guest: Aw, thanks! And, hold on, are you the same Guest as before, because you pretty much said the same thing as they did . . . THIS IS WHY GUESTS NEED NAMES, PEOPLE! But I won't force it on you guys. And, yes, i'll do Lylie (or Wynh) soon! Thank you so much for your review!
Phew. Lots of reviews! Thank you all so much! I really appreciate all the support! I mean, seriously. This story is 500 views away from reaching 10,000! That's a huge milestone! I highly doubt I'll reach 10,000 with this one chapter alone, but it's still huge! Another milestone is that I'm only 13 reviews away from reaching 100! ONE HUNDRED! Are you kidding me!? This is amazing! And, if enough of you review, I'm sure we could reach it by the next chapter! What do you guys think? No? Yeah? Yeah. Me too. And, on top of that, (I know that it's not too many, but it's still amazing either way) I have two followers and three faves!
MILESTONES, PEOPLE!
MILESTONES!
I love you all so, so much. You guys are amazing! Thank you so much for reading! So, on that note, I should stop rambling and let y'all get onto the story! It's gonna be Fitz and Linh. And, since it's Fitz and Linh, it's kind of a given fact that Sophie ended up with Keefe, so you might see a little Theo and Thea in this one. I'm not sure. And, in this one, Theo and Thea are two years older, so like, time skip? Yeah. Bear with me.
So, without further adieu, the next futuristic ship!
Linh and Fitz Vacker
"What are you telling her?" She asked, her voice firm but not loud.
"What are you talking about?" He answered, a bit amused at his wife's obvious assumption. "She's my Cognate! We literally tell each other everything."
"Well, I'm your wife! So tell me everything! I'm way more willing to listen than Sophie is. She has her own life, Fitz. Her own things to deal with. Keefe's her life, and so are her kids. You're my life! So quit putting so much on her and just talk to me!"
"What do you want me to tell you? How annoying and prying my own wife is?"
Silence.
Cole didn't like where this conversation was heading. Ariella didn't seem to be taking it very well, either. Brayden was already sleeping in his crib, and technically, the other two children should have been in bed, too. But the they could hear the fighting all the way down the hall.
"Why are they mad at Auntie Sophie?" Ariella's quiet voice asked. Cole held his finger up to his lips, signaling to his ten-year-old sister to be quiet. Then he motioned for her to follow him down the hall and to the stairs. They made their way to the small living room at the very back of the house, kind of like their own hideout, and sat down on the soft blue carpet. Ever since the fights began, Ariella and Cole hadn't felt safe to converse in their own bedrooms, for fear of one of their parents hearing them and finding out that they know about their fights.
"Sophie isn't our aunt," Cole reminded Ariella.
She looked down at her hands, biting her lower lip before asking, "I wish she was. I bet she doesn't fight with Keefe."
Cole suppressed a sigh. "Ari, they aren't fighting. They're just . . . talking. Having a convo. Teasing. It's like whenever we 'fight'," he made sure to put air quotes around the word. "We always forgive each other, right? It's just a little disagreement, that's all." To be honest, he didn't believe a word that was coming out of his mouth, but as long as Ari-who was a very smart girl for her age-believed, that was all that mattered. Sometimes, being the oldest kid in the family (being thirteen, and all) also meant being the strongest.
Ariella stayed quiet for a few moments before nodding slowly. "Okay." Cole looked at his little sister, who was practically a spitting image of their mom, save for her eye color. That one belonged to their dad. He wondered how it was that she managed to stay so calm in these situations even though anyone else her age would have been asking her parents about it already. But this had remained their little secret, which was a good thing. Otherwise, they would have gotten a lot of, "Oh no, kids. You've got it all wrong. Your mother and I weren't fighting. We were just trying to figure something out. That's all." And now that he thought about it, Cole realized that that was pretty much what he'd just what he'd said to Ari.
He could tell that she was still feeling a little on the down side, so he leaned forward to get her attention. With the most excited face he could muster, Cole said, "Hey, whaddya say we go visit Theo and Thea tomorrow, huh?"
Ariella's face lit up, but it was short lived. She looked back down at her hands and shook her head. "No. Theo doesn't like me. I think I annoy him."
Well. That definitely wasn't what Cole was expecting.
"What?"
"I mean, I try to be his friend like I am with Thea, but whenever I'm around you and him, unless I'm with Thea, he just gets really . . . quiet. Or, like, nervous? He just starts looking around and avoiding me as if he's looking for some way to get away from me. I mean, I guess I could just play with Thea, but . . . she's two years older than me. She already manifested! Both of them, actually. And so did you. I'm the youngest one, Cole. I don't fit in."
...
Ari looked up when her brother suddenly laughed. "Wait, wait, wait. Are you serious?" She nodded shyly. Whenever she tried being friendly to Theo, he just . . . didn't react the way she wanted him to. She didn't understand why, though. Cole laughed again and rubbed the back of his neck. "Wow, that's . . ."
He didn't finish.
"That's what?" She waited for his answer. He smiled at her, his silver-blue eyes lighting up.
"That's adorable."
She blinked, leaning back. "What do you mean adorable? You think my struggle to make friends is adorable?" She scoffed. She may have been ten, but she was smart enough to act twelve. She was actually able to start Foxfire a year earlier than most prodigies because of her scores on the entrance exam. She looked at least a year older, too. So then, why did she always feel so shy around Theo?
Cole shook his head. "Nevermind. You'll understand when you're older." Ari groaned. She hated that phrase.
"Aw, come on. Just tell me!"
Cole shook his head again and made that long Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh sound, ending it with a Nah. Ariella rolled her eyes, falling onto her back.
"Tell me."
"No."
"Tell me."
"No."
"Tell me."
"No."
"Tell meeeeee," she dragged out, sitting back up.
"Nope. Trust me, I'm doing this for your own good."
"Yeah, right."
"Yeah, I am right." She hated it when he said that.
"Ugh, come on. Tell me already."
"You won't like what you hear."
"I'll be the judge of that."
Cole looked at her, narrowing his eyes for a second before sighing. "Fiiiiiine. But, this is just a theory, okay? Don't repeat what I said to anyone else. And don't be too loud with your reaction, otherwise Mom and Dad will hear us, got it?" She nodded. He took in a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. "Okay. Based upon what I'm hearing, I think that . . . Theo might . . . Errr . . ."
"Theo might what?" She leaned forward, eager to hear what he said.
"Ugh, I really do hate talking about this stuff," he muttered. Then he closed his eyes tight and let it all ramble out into one smushed sentence. "IthinkTheomightlikeyou."
Ari blinked once. Then twice. "I literally just said that he didn't like me. Weren't you listening?"
"Yes, and that's how I came to this conclusion, you bimbo!" He said. "I'm not talking about 'like as a friend' like. I mean, like like. You know, that like?" Ari let the news settle, causing her to be quiet for several seconds, before a very long and expressive Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwewewewewewewewwwwwwwww came out of her mouth as she skidded across the room, as far away from her brother as possible. Theo liked her? No way. He was like, two years older than her. She was only ten. She hadn't even considered this possibility. It was too . . . wait a minute. Why was her heart feeling like this? It was beating so fast because of the shock and unexpected-ness and totally not because she liked him too, right?
RIGHT?
"I tried to warn you," Cole said, standing up and shrugging. "But you didn't listen." He looked up at the ceiling as Ari still tried to grasp the concept of this situation. She didn't even realize he had come up in front of her until he had extended his hand out to her. "Come on. It's getting late, and we don't want Mom and Dad finding out that we're down here." Ariella looked at her brother's hand for a moment before reaching up and putting her smaller, and slightly paler one in it. Together, they walked back to their separate rooms, Ari going into hers first, and they both tried to ignore the thick tension swarming around them from down the hall.
…
I never understood why Linh would always question me about Sophie. I mean, I do, but she was right. I married her, not Sophie. But when I brought that up, used her own words against her, she told me, "The only reason you married me was because Sophie had already been taken!"
"We had a mutual break-up all those years ago, Linh. Mutual. There's nothing going on between us. She's happy with Keefe, and I'm happy with you." My voice got quieter. "Don't you understand that? I love you. You. Not her." I cautiously moved towards her, my arm slightly extended as if I were trying to calm some wild animal. "I'm sorry about what I said. I didn't mean it. I just . . ."
"No, no. It's fine. You don't need to explain yourself." She gave me a weak smile. "I understand."
"Actually, I don't think you do," I told her, as gently as possible. I paused for a moment as she looked up at me through the tops of her eyes. We'd been together (including dating and marriage in one) for eighteen years, and I never got tired of her for one second. She was so brave and beautiful, she was hilarious when she wanted to be, smart, an amazing wife, a wonderful mother to our kids. I considered myself lucky to have her. And, maybe it was time I told her that. "You have a right to know what I told her. I can show you." She shook her head.
"No. That's your business with her. I don't need to know."
"But I kinda want you to, now." That took her by surprise. I smiled. "So . . . ?"
"Uh." She was quiet for a few moments before nodding slowly. "Okay." I opened my mind to hers and transmitted our (Sophie and I's) most recent conversation. My entire side of it was about how much I loved Linh, and everything great about her, even some of the rare flaws that she had, but I still loved those too. I told Sophie about how I was concerned she might be (as much as I hated to admit it) getting tired of me. But that I would do everything in my ability to keep her with me for as long as I could, because of how much I loved her.
By the time the conversation had finished and I left Linh's mind, I opened my eyes to find tears in hers.
"Hey, what's wrong." I gently cupped her face in my hands, lifting it slightly so she would look at me. When she didn't answer, I brushed her tears away and leaned my forehead on hers. "Linh?"
"It's just . . ." Her hand went over mine and traced down my arms, sending those familiar tingles everywhere she touched. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's okay. I should've explained sooner. I guess I was just being shy," I told her, which earned a soft laugh.
"It was adorable, though," she said. She leaned up, standing on her toes to kiss me. "I love you too."
A/N) Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this was sooooooo bad. You guys just wasted like, five minutes of your time reading this garbage. It literally took me four tries to get to the story plot that I settled with. I was having some serious writer's block and it was driving me nuts. Sorry for the sudden ending, but I honestly just wanted to get this over with. Again, I'm sorry. Please review and tell me what you thought about it (even though I already know what crap it was). And, no, i'm not sulking just to get you guys to review and tell me it was awesome, I legit feel like this about this chapter. I'm sorry. Please review. I love you all.
BYEEEEEE!
