24- Decisions, Decisions, and More Decisions

EVERYONE SEEMED to be holding their breath, all eyes dilated in curiosity as they watched Sophie like she was a reality show.

And she did just the unexpected- she danced. Dark eyes shining and lips tipped upwards at the edges in a smile, she chuckled good-naturedly. Her eyelashes flicked down as she cocked her gaze up to Tiergan.

"Uhh, Foster, are you okay?" Keefe asked cautiously, raking a hand through his articulate blond hair, his ice-blue orbs peering up at Sophie in a concerned manner.

"Can't I just dance without having my motives questioned?! What has this world become!" she exclaimed, twirling and pirouetting onto the couch gracefully, considering her usual ineptness at balance. She obliviously curled a strand of her blonde hair around her finger. "And anyways, I am genuinely happy. These guys-" she turned her pointed stare to Tiergan and the remaining of the Black Swan, huddled up in the kitchen, drinking Juline's famous cinnacreme, "- are indecisive and bad leaders. They were putting this off for like forever! And now... and now they're finally realizing the magnitude of our situation!"

Tiergan looked up from his warm, steaming mug and shrugged. "Could you do better?"

"Yeah, I'm actually sure I could," replied Sophie coolly, even though she was pretty sure she couldn't.

"Buuurn!" whispered Keefe, holding up a hand for Sophie to high-five.

She ignored it, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing. "You know what? Just tell us the plan. I'm not going to get lost in your delusions."

Tiergan sighed but held up the ballpoint pen and jabbed it in the string-covered bulletin board. "Sophie is going to surrender herself in exchange for Mr Forkle and Wylie."

Collective gasps filled the room.

"But wouldn't the Forklenator say the Moonlark is the most important thing to protect or something?" Keefe remarked.

"Ah," Tiergan said, "but we are going to protect her. Nubiti will tunnel underground and keep from a distance. She will have a few other dwarves accompanying her. We will, unfortunately, have to take a leap on this one and offer only the most discreet protection, which will not be all that well, and since Sophie may suffer tests of sorts because the Neverseen know we'd never give up Sophie just like that... we need to make them believe that she's malfunctioning again."

Fitz scooted over and squeezed Sophie's hand, offering warmth. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

Their cheeks brushed and Sophie felt a tiny tingle brushing her insides.

She smiled and got up to her feet. "Let's do this thing."

"You're sure?" Tiergan said unceremoniously.

Sophie nodded. "I'm tired of letting the Neverseen stomp all over us like they're stupid superiors or something. Let's show them they can't be."

Fitz slipped his hand into Sophie's and Keefe grabbed her other.

"You're sure you want to do this, Foster?" Keefe asked softly.

"Yes." Sophie glanced up and locked eyes with Keefe.

Keefe nodded. "Then let's get our friends back!"

A/N: Happy Hannukah! It started yesterday night, I believe? I don't celebrate it, but it seems like a pretty cool holiday! Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa, too! Actually, since I don't want to spam FanFiction by listing off all the holidays, I'm just going to say Happy Holidays! Thanks so much for reading this story and I hope you guys'll keep reading it!