We're gonna start jumping around a bit now. It's been a while since the last chapter. Sophie is now eighteen and has graduated. Fitz is twenty or twenty-one.
Sophie smiled, turning to both sides as she looked at herself in the mirror. In the now three years she and Fitz had been together, she'd never wanted to wear a dress like this one. It hadn't seemed necessary. Now, she wanted to turn heads.
Someone knocked on her door.
"Come in!"
The door opened and footsteps came toward her.
"Hey Dad."
"Hey kiddo." He hugged her gently, setting his chin on the top of her head. "You look good."
Sophie turned around and hugged him back. "Thanks. No comments on the style?"
Grady sighed, stepping back and studying her. "I think you're eighteen and plenty old enough to decide what you want to wear. I'm probably always going to object to certain styles, at least until you're married. Hey, isn't this Edaline's?"
She grinned, looking back at herself in the mirror. "Yes it is. Mom said she couldn't fit into it anymore and if it fit me I could borrow it."
The red strapless dress hugged her torso, scooping in to her waist and flaring out over the hips and down into the A-line skirt that brushed the floor. But the real statement was the colour and the neckline. As Edaline had said, it was rather low and pushed her cleavage upward, leaving a good section of creamy skin exposed. It was somewhere between scarlet and ruby, both deep and bright at the same time.
"If I'm honest, it looks much better on you than it ever did on her. Your mother is a lovely woman, but red is not her colour." Grady smiled, looking at the mirror over her shoulder. "You look beautiful and you are going to turn heads, which I'm assuming is the point."
Sophie nodded.
"No makeup? Nothing fancy?"
"That's not really the point. I didn't feel like it. So I just left my hair down and makeup-free."
Grady sighed"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"
She met her father's eye in the mirror. "If we don't, what else are we going to do? I've lived her for almost as long as I was in the Forbidden Cities and I've learned one thing about elvin culture. If you don't fit in the box created for you, society shuns you as a whole. And I don't. We have to play this carefully. There's a reason Fitz and I asked everyone to keep our relationship a secret until we were ready."
Sophie turned around and hugged her father. He returned the embrace, sighing.
"People don't like me. If we just announce that we're a thing, people will go nuts! Alden and Della are doing their best to keep pressure off Fitz, but they can't do everything. At some point, he'd be forced to cave and break up with me. Neither of us want to do that to each other. So we have do something big. Something no one can ignore. Because if we don't, we won't survive and neither of us want to have to deal with the fallout of being forced to break up. Fitz is doing his best and he's promised me over and over again he won't be pushed into anything he doesn't want to do, but I know that it will happen sometime. They're expectations he's grown up with, he's caved to them before, and they're only going to get worse. This was the best we could come up with and we can't stop it now. The party has probably already started and if I don't show up, we'll be done for. I'm sorry Dad."
Grady gave her a soft smile, brushing a story bit of hair behind her ear. "Don't be sorry. I'm just worried. It could go horribly wrong and the Council can't back you up if it does. Just, be careful. And get out of there as soon as things go south. Okay?"
"Okay." Sophie stepped back, adjusting her dress. "I'll be back whenever the party ends."
"You be safe."
"I will."
She went downstairs, giving Sandor a shaky smile before she stepped outside. Biana was waiting for her, in an uncharacteristically plain tunic and leggings.
"How's it going so far?"
Biana shuddered. "Awful. Fitz hates it. He's never been much of a people person when you're not around, so a giant room stuffed with people he's never met and he's supposed to smile and talk to every single one of them about his single least favorite topic? His worst nightmare."
"I thought siblings weren't allowed."
"The only way he's survived this long is keeping a telepathic connection with me. He gets claustrophobic when he's surrounded by strangers. I hope he survives the five minutes by himself until you get there."
Sophie took her hand loosely as Biana pulled out her pathfinder. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He's better at it than he gives himself credit for."
They leapt outside Everglen and Sophie took a deep breath.
"You remember where the entrance to the reception hall is?"
"Yeah. Keep your parents busy?"
"You got it. Good luck, Sophie."
Sophie pushed her hair behind her ears. "Thanks."
It took her a bit of time to get there in her dress and to work up the courage to open the door. But once she grasped the handle and shoved the ornate doors open, there was no going back.
The room went dead silent. Sophie felt a momentary burst of panic as she stepped into the room. She wasn't supposed to be here and everyone now looking at her knew it. There were probably a hundred people, mostly women, all packed into that room. She understood why Fitz felt claustrophobic and it made her a little queasy just looking. But she steeled herself and took a confident step forward. Then another.
The people parted and Fitz walked out of the crowd. Sophie could see his shoulders sag slightly in relief and he gave her his bright smile, bowing halfway from the waist and extending his hand.
"Miss Foster."
His voice echoed slightly in the silence.
Sophie returned the smile and closed the distance between them, taking his hand. "Mr. Vacker."
He straightened and took her arm, turning to face the crowd. "Thank you for following through. I was beginning to get nervous." he whispered.
"I wouldn't ever leave you hanging like that." she whispered back. "Promise."
Then the murmurs started. People were starting to realize that this was planned and they weren't happy.
Sophie felt Fitz's hand shaking on her arm and covered it with hers, gently rubbing the back of his hand with her thumb.
"You're okay." she muttered just loud enough for him to hear.
Just nervous. He exhaled through his nose, eyes flicking around.
You got this.
People split off back into their conversations, throwing glances and glares over their shoulders and clearly discussing what was going on. Sophie noted that Alden and Della were nowhere to be seen, thankfully. Biana appeared to have upheld her part.
A couple stopped them, with their teenage-ish daughter between them.
"Master Vacker, what is the meaning of this?" the girl's father demanded. Sophie fought the urge to wrinkle her nose. This was probably a typical entitled parent.
Fitz took a steadying breath and spoke with all the confidence he could. "Sophie and I have been dating for the past three years and I intend to marry her, if she will have me."
"But why would you want anyone of such low breeding when there are so many young noble ladies begging for your attention?" The girl's mother decided to give thinly veiled snobbery a try. "Our daughter among them. At least-"
Fitz tightened his grip on Sophie arm and cut the woman off. "I have made my decision and you cannot sway me. I will make Sophie my bride and nothing aside from her death will stop me, assuming she agrees."
Sophie felt a light blush rising on her cheeks. They'd discussed marriage before and she was by no means opposed to the idea, but this was the first time he'd declared it as his intention. Instead of making her heart flutter, it made her heart slow, calm steady beats. He would defend her, no matter what.
The girl's parents tried Sophie next, though mush less amicably.
"You must refuse! If you truly care about him, you won't sully the Vacker line and honour with your filthy blood and unmatchable status!" the mother spouted. Sophie flinched slightly when she felt spittle land on her cheek.
Wiping it away, she stood firm. "The only thing I will refuse is to leave him. If he were to ask for my hand in marriage, I would gladly give it. Don't bother trying to persuade our parents away from this, they already know the situation. If you are looking for a match for your daughter, I suggest you try elsewhere."
Sophie tugged Fitz's arm gently, steering him away.
Others stopped them with the same or similar questions. Each time, one or both of them shot down the protests, stating that they had come to a decision and that decision was final.
By the fourth or fifth stop, she could feel Fitz try to pull away every time someone new confronted them. As much as she tried to sooth him telepathically, all the people pressing in close and yelling in his face were making him jumpy.
Hey, why don't we head out and go see the lake? Does that sound good?
He nodded slightly. Yeah. Let's go do that.
Biana appeared out of nowhere, now wearing an elaborate evening dress, and started running interference, keeping people away from them and letting them get outside.
Fitz dropped her arm and took her hand, squeezing tightly. He didn't say a word until they were sitting on a bench overlooking the lake.
"What do you need?" Sophie kept her tone low and soothing, reaching up and gently rubbing his shoulders.
"Please…stop touching me." His whole body was shaking slightly as he braced his chin in his hands, eyes closed.
She pulled her hands back, a little upset but understanding he meant nothing by it. "Okay. Do you want me to be quiet?"
"No, you're okay. It's just, there's a lot of people in a space not quiet big enough for them so everyone kept bumping up against me and some of the girls were more clingy than others, always grabbing my arm or trying to lean on me. I'm just glad you got here before the dancing starting." Fitz leaned back on the bench, taking a deep breath. "Did you mean what you said?"
Sophie scooted closer and when he gave her a small nod, slid her arm around him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "You'll have to be a little more specific. I meant everything I said, but you're probably talking about one thing in particular."
"You said that if I asked you to marry me, you'd say yes. Were you being serious?"
"Fitz, I was completely serious. I know you've already talked to my dad about it and the only objection I would have had is wait until I'm out of school. But, I just graduated this spring, so if you were to ask, I would say yes."
"I was hoping you would say that."
Sophie caught a flutter of movement off to one side and glanced over her shoulder, suddenly tense.
When she turned back, Fitz was down on one knee in front of her, holding a beautiful silver ring set with a pale blue diamond. "Sophie Foster, will you marry me?"
Sophie gasped, eyes abruptly flooding with tears. Her emotions went haywire and she was surprised she didn't lose control of her inflicting.
"Yes!d"
She squeezed her eyes shut in a vain attempt to keep herself from crying. His arms wrapped around her, lifting her to her feet and gently supporting her until she managed to stop crying.
"Yes." Sophie dried her eyes and smiled.
Fitz smiled back, tears making his eyes glitter. "I was hoping you'd say that."
He took her left hand gently, sliding the ring onto her finger. "Do you like it?"
"I love it. It's beautiful."
"So are you. I'm surprised your dad let you leave the house in that dress. I would be lying if I said I'd been keeping my eyes to myself the whole time."
She grinned. "It was to make a statement, which it did. You have no idea how many 'eye candy' comments I caught."
"Were people saying that to you?" One hand slid up her back and he pulled her tight against him. "I'm so sorry."
"Really, it's okay."
He sighed, smiled down at her with a look of pure love in his eyes. "I don't know how I got so lucky. You are the most wonderful person I've ever met."
The next thing Sophie knew, he was pressing his lips to hers and it felt like her chest had caught fire. She gasped, not knowing what to do with this feeling.
He pulled back, breathing hard and cheeks bright red. "Wow."
"Wow is right. Hope you do that more."
"Starting to wonder why I ever waited."
"I'm glad you did." She reached up and brushed a tear from the corner of his eye, gently cupping his face. "It made it that much more wonderful."
Sophie wasn't sure why she was so jittery. It was just Keefe. Her best friend. She stepped into the room, left hand clenched tight. "Hey Keefe."
He opened his eyes slowly, looking over at her.
"How are you doing?" She signed as she spoke.
His hands shook when he signed, but no more than normal. 'Better. But it's hard being almost completely deaf and sometimes I can't really see either. It's slow, but I can feel my body giving up.'
"I'm so sorry. Four years seemed like forever to me. It must be even longer for you."
'I just take it one day at a time. Did something important happen? You seem nervous.'
Sophie grinned, holding up her left hand. "Fitz asked me to marry him and I said yes. We're engaged."
It took him a bit to respond and when he did, he pointed to his head. She reached out and formed a telepathic connection.
No way! You and Fitz are getting married! That's awesome!
"I'm sensing a little bit of upset."
I can be happy for you and still be upset it's not me. There was definitely a point in time where I was hoping that I could be the one to sweep you off your feet, but that was a long time ago. I'm genuinely happy for you guys. You deserve it, after everything you've been through. When's the wedding?
"Not for a bit. I've only just graduated, so maybe a year or two. The only people happy for us are our friends and family. We threw the world into shock and they're fighting back. We're waiting for things to calm down a little bit first."
Okay. Can you put Avatar in before you leave? Ro's on her day off.
"Yeah sure. I'm so sorry I can't stay longer. We're all meeting at Everglen for Fitz and I to announce our engagement."
You're okay. Go have fun. You deserve it. By the way, is Dexy gonna make a move anytime soon? Once he and Biana got that little push, they've been closer that you guys.
"He has plans to propose, but only once they're a little older. He's been working nonstop trying to figure out the perfect ring. At the rate he's going, the time he feels ready to propose will be about the time he gets done with that."
Keefe made the sign for 'laughter'. Cool. I don't mean to pry, but are you and Fitz planning on kids?
"You're fine. We haven't had that conversation yet, but I would be fine with it. I don't want to push him, but if we do have kids, I want you to be able to meet them before…" Sophie sighed. "Before anything happens."
You don't have to sugarcoat it. I know I'm dying. Slowly, but still dying. Elwin's said it, I can feel it. This nerve condition I have is slowly killing me. It's weird, knowing I have a time limit. I'm so used to thinking about having thousands of years of life ahead of me, and now I don't know if I'll survive next week. Heck, I could close my eyes right now and I don't know if I would open them again.
"It's a weird thought isn't it. Sadly, I've got to go. I'll stick the disc in first though. You said Avatar: The Last Airbender?"
Right.
She put the disc in the DVD player and pushed it in. "See you later."
Bye. Good luck with stuff.
"You too. Don't die before I get back."
Can't promise anything.
Sokeefe shippers, I'm pretty sure this story is marked as Sophitz. This was going to show up sooner or later. But, next chapter, my sweet babies are getting married! Eeeee!
As I've said in every other chapter, review for teaser, let me know if you don't want one. Be the first to review for an extended teaser!
Shine brightly!
Ruby
