Chapter Eighteen: Sometimes You Have to Be Brave

~Sophie Foster/Shannon Messenger

Reviews:

writingficsandbreakinghearts: Jamie logic! XD! Ooh, what's the theory? And I guess I can see how they're too similar... but I still ship Tamie. Then again, I ship Jafitz, too... and Jiana... Although, I don't like Jinh that much—not because there's something wrong with Linh, but because I feel like they'd be weird together... And I hate cliffhangers, too... Lodestar and Nightfall have horrible cliffhangers... I gotta admit, though, Flashback's wasn't really intense. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

Fitzphieistrash: I know, right? Thanks for reviewing!

Quinn: thanks!

nightfall'slegacy: ahh, some good ol' Jamie/Zoe quotes... And I'm guessing you're a Team Foster-Keefe shipper 'cause you hate Fitz? If you are, that's great, because Team Foster-Keefe is amazing! And me too—although I can't choose which ship myself... Thank you!

Recap: okay, Sophie freaked out about seeing Elwin, Fitz and Biana spoke... Oh, and Elwin said my cells are weird. I mean, the nerve of him (pun intended)! My cells are absurd, not weird!

Word count: 2,309

ONTO THE NEXT CHAPTER!


Jamie knew she was a weird person.

Not that examples were needed, but she had reddish-brown eyes, she was an elf, she was apparently the most powerful Psionipath (she didn't really believe that, but it was weird, so there), and she was literally not even a part of this world.

But for her cells to be weird?

That was on a whole other level.

"What's weird?" Sophie sounded like she was panicking more than Jamie was. "Is she all right? Is she going to die?"

Sophie blushed when Elwin laughed at her. "No, she's perfectly fine. She's better than fine, actually. It's just that her cells seem much healthier than yours."

"That..." Jamie paused, searching for the right word, "was anticlimactic."

"Yeah... Sorry for being dramatic."

Jamie raised an eyebrow at his large grin. "No, you're not," she retorted.

She knew that she was being a little rude, but Elwin didn't seem to mind. "Smart," he admitted.

Then, Sophie's eyes grew wide again. "Wait. You said that her cells are healthier than mine. Is there something wrong with me?"

"No, you're both perfectly fine. Or, at least, you will be after a detox." He took off his glasses, revealing his eyes. They were more gray than blue—a comforting color that seemed more normal than the teals and cobalts and azures she'd seen on the irises of other elves. "But what's really weird are your eyes."

Sophie straightened nervously. "What? Just tell me. I can take it."

Elwin laughed again, and Jamie had to suppress a snicker. "You're so dramatic," he said, chuckling. "I was expecting your eye colors to be from the toxins."

Jamie pulled a face. The idea of having brown (or brownish, in her case) eyes because of toxic substances was... disturbing, to say the least.

"But your eyes are perfect." he continued. "They're just... brown."

"They always have been," Sophie whispered as Jamie internally cheered because he didn't say anything about her reddish eyes. "Even when I was a baby. Do you know why?"

"No idea," Elwin replied. "I'm sure there's a reason, but I'd have to do some research. It'll be a great case study for the books once I figure it out."

Jamie's eyes grew wide at this revelation. She couldn't let them run case studies on her! What if they learned that she was really human or something? She jumped to her feet, protesting loudly, "No! No, no way!"

Sophie had a similar reaction: "What? No—you can't!" she shouted.

"All right, all right." Elwin tried to soothe them. "Relax. I won't."

Jamie exhaled in relief and plopped back down onto the cot. She didn't think that Elwin wouldn't keep his word because, well, why wouldn't he?

Sophie sighed in relief. "Thanks,"

"No problem." Elwin laughed as he rifled through the satchel slung across his shoulder. After a good few seconds, he removed tiny vials of colorful liquid and passed them to both Jamie and Sophie. "Now, try not to let this worry you, but your body needs a major detox. We'll start with these."

Jamie hesitantly took a sip of the liquid, bracing herself for the bitter burn of medicine. She hated the taste of medicine.

Or, at least, she hated the taste of human medicine.

Elvin medicine tasted sweet and syrupy, like the nectar from some sort of fruit, and left her with a warm, tingly feeling in her stomach. If all medicine tasted this great, she'd never complain about taking it again.

"Good," Elwin said as he cleared the empty vials away. Then, he placed four clear, large bottles in front of them. "All of us drink one of these every day, but I want you both to drink two for a while to make up for lost time.

"'Youth in a Bottle,'" Sophie read the label of one bottle as Jamie drank another. The water was cold, and tasted slightly sweet. It tasted more refreshing than the water she normally drank—cleaner, even. It probably was, seeing as it was elf stuff and not toxic like human water.

"Like the fountain of youth?" Sophie asked.

"I suppose that is where those legends come from," Elwin agreed. "It has a few enzymes that are essential for our health."

Just before she drank the second bottle, Jamie paused as a thought hit her. As she swirled the youth water around absentmindedly, she wondered whether this could possibly help humans, too. Could it save millions of lives by helping them with things like the coronavirus pandemic if it was for health?

Jamie didn't want to think about that. Even if it was possible, how would she get the bottles of youth to the people in her world? She didn't think that there was an inter-dimensional fedex, unfortunately.

And so she gulped her thoughts down along with the contents of the bottle.

"What are you doing?"

Jamie jumped, but Elwin was just talking to Sophie.

"Sorry," Sophie mumbled the apology. "Nervous habit."

"You tear out your eyelashes?" The doctor asked incredulously, and Jamie had to admit that when he put it like that, it sounded like a really awful habit.

"It doesn't hurt," Sophie defended.

"Still." Elwin retorted.

"You sound like my mom." Then, her face fell. "Well, I thought she was my mom."

Jamie placed a comforting hand and smiled reassuringly when Sophie looked at her. She didn't know what else to do.

Elwin sat down next to Sophie on the cot. "Alden told me about that," he said quietly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really." Sophie stared at Ella the Elephant, hugging her tighter.

Elwin whistled. "You're both pretty brave kids, you know that?"

Jamie just smiled (but the low mood made it seem half-hearted) while Sophie shrugged and said, "Sometimes you have to be brave."

"True," Elwin agreed even as he laughed.

"What?" Sophie asked, sounding defensive.

"That just sounds funny coming from someone hugging a stuffed elephant."

Sophie blushed a light pink. "I know it's lame but—" she started, but Elwin cut her off.

"I'm teasing. Personally, I can't sleep without Stinky the Stegosaurus—there's no shame in that." He laughed at himself. "Anyway, you should both get some sleep. You've had a big day. I'll see you in a few weeks."


"So, you gonna punch me?" Fitz asked as he showed Jamie and Sophie to their rooms.

"I guess not," Sophie mumbled.

Jamie stayed quiet and chewed her lip.

Fitz grinned at this. "What's with the 'doctor-phobia' thing?"

The correction fell from Jamie's lips in an uncontrollable mumble: "It's called iatrophobia."

Jamie felt her cheeks heating up as both Sophie and Fitz looked at her quizzically. Why, oh why, did she say that? First of all, she hated people who corrected others for no reason. Second, he wasn't technically wrong, so there was no need for her to correct him.

Sometimes, she just wanted to die of embarrassment.

"Uh, yeah." Fitz sounded shocked—so shocked, it was almost offensive. "How do you know that?"

I memorized all known phobias and their meanings one day because I was bored, was the truth. However, she just said, "I... had to research it. For school."

Fitz blinked. "Okay, well, what's with the aitrophobia thing?" he asked, mispronouncing the word slightly. "You were more afraid of Elwin than you were of jumping into the whirlpool."

"I guess you've never had anyone stick a needle in your arm or strap you to a bunch of machines."

Jamie frowned when Fitz shuddered and said, "You're right about that."

Sheesh, elves were so pampered.

Then, Fitz asked, "Why did they do that to you?"

"Because human doctors are sadistic creatures that stab people with needles unnecessarily." Jamie deadpanned, but Sophie didn't argue—and not in a, "You're impossible; I give up" way, but more like a silent agreement.

"The shots were because I had an allergic reaction a couple years ago." Sophie rubbed her arm. "The machines were because I hit my head when I was five."

"How'd you do that?" he asked.

"I guess I passed out and hit my head on the concrete—I don't remember. All I know is I woke up in the hospital and my parents were freaking out, saying my neighbor had called nine-one-one and that I'd been unconscious for hours."

"That happened when you were five?"

Sophie nodded.

"Was that before or after your telepathy started?" Fitz pressed.

"The same time. I started reading minds in the hospital. I always thought something happened to my brain when I fell, but I guess it was my elf jeans kicking in."

Fitz didn't respond.

"What?" Sophie asked.

"It's just..." Fitz started hesitantly. "telepathy doesn't kick in at that age. Something would have to trigger it."

"Trigger it how?"

"I have no idea. Not many things trigger a special ability-and none of them exist in the Forbidden Cities. My dad will have to look into it."

Then, before anyone could say anything, Fitz stopped in front of the bedroom. "This is you, Sophie," he said. "If you need anything, my room's just down down the hall."

Jamie saw their eyes meet before Sophie looked away, saying, "Thanks for your help today. I don't think I could've gotten through all this without you."

Fitz cleared his throat. "I don't deserve your thanks."

"Why?"

Why would he? Jamie wanted to say.

He kicked the ground. "Because—I knew what was going to happen and I didn't tell you when I made you come with me. I never realized it would be hard for you to move her—not until I found you there on the floor. I feel like I ruined your life."

Probably 'cause you did.

But Sophie being Sophie just said, "Fitz..." She paused, seemingly trying to figure out what to say. "Today was hard. But you were right about what you said yesterday. This is where I belong."

Fitz straightened up, as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Really?"

"Really. Don't worry about me. I'm going to be okay."

Jamie was debating on whether she should throw up or interrupt the moment when Sophie sent him a small smile and slipped inside the room. There was silence as Fitz led her to what was presumably her room. But then:

"I'm sorry."

Jamie turned to Fitz with a single eyebrow raised.

He continued to talk, not letting her say anything. "I shouldn't have been so insensitive earlier, and I shouldn't have said... like, half the things I said to you. I ruined your life by taking you here, too. So. I'm sorry."

Jamie blinked.

Did Fitz Vacker just... apologize?

She wondered if this was just a ploy to get her to apologize for yelling at him, too—but his eyes were too sincere for that. He was serious.

Jamie chewed her lip, leaning slightly against the wall and putting a little more distance between her and Fitz as she tried to figure out what to say.

"It's all right." she said softly. "And..." She hesitated.

Ah, whatever.

"And I'm sorry, too. For, you know, yelling at you."

Fitz grinned back. "It's okay. So... we good?"

Jamie smiled in relief. "Yeah. Um... Friends?"

Did she just askif they were friends?

Before she could take it back, Fitz said brightly, "Yeah. Friends."

Jamie took a deep breath, nodded, and turned to go—but then she remembered to do something.

She took a step closer to him, until she was so close that she could...

Punch him lightly in the stomach—which she did.

Fitz blinked in surprise. "Why—?"

Jamie grinned cheekily. "You said we could punch you if talking to Elwin was really that bad." She gracefully slipped into her room. "G'night!"

The last thing she heard before she shut the door was a soft chuckle.


Questions:

1. Favorite quote?

2. Least favorite Jamie ship?

Please review on the poll!

Linh SongxJamie Blair(Jinh): 2 votes

Fitz VackerxJamie Blair(Jafitz): 3 votes

Biana VackerxJamie Blair(Jiana): 2 votes

Tam SongxJamie Blair(Tamie): 5 votes

Tamie "wins" (I put it in quotation marks because there's no actual winning, and because it's not permanent), holding 45% of 12 votes.

And, remember; please review!

~Sarcasticsnark13