Hello guys, sorry for that long hiatus but I'm back! This shall be the last chapter of this story and be warned: it is shit. But I thank you for sticking with me along this way (says to nobody at all). Please enjoy the last chapter of Fitz and the Fox.

Expectedly, nobody regarded Physic's comment or even mere presence. All eyes were on Fitz and the blonde teenage boy that was once Kaye, now standing beside him. Dex was the first to break the silence. "Yeah, Fitz? Explanation now, please!" he exclaimed, gesturing to Keefe. "Yeah, why is the fox a person now?" Blur asked confusedly. "Hold up—what?" Physic suddenly spoke up and looked at everyone like they were insane. "You mean to tell me that that kid is the fox that I have been trying to pry away from Fitz for this past week?!" Everyone nodded except for Keefe, who growled slightly. He did not appreciate her attempts to separate him from Fitz, especially when he was injured. The brunette dropped his sheepish smile at once and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess I should clarify a few things," he started to say, before being cut off once more. "Um, you think?!" Biana exclaimed to him. "Yeah, start with how the fox became a person," Blur repeated, pointing at Keefe. Fitz glanced back at Keefe, who merely arched an eyebrow at him, before sighing once more. "Okay, for starters, Keefe is an elf; And he's not talentless either," he said before anyone could ask. "He's an empath." "Interesting, but that still doesn't answer why he can turn into a fox," Granite stated dryly. Fitz pursed his lips in annoyance before sighing and trying again. "That's because he's part fae," he answered slowly. This comment was lost on everybody but the adults, who all gasped in surprise and started to murmur amongst each other. Sophie turned around and eyed them all in annoyance. "Care to fill us in?" she asked. The collective halted their chatter and turned to face the youngsters. "Fae's are the ancestor's of elves, Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle explained. "They're like us elves, but unlike us, they are born with pointed ears, are much more territorial and are fighters. They also have the ability to shift into an animal they feel a connection with," he looked over to Keefe. "A fennec fox, for example."

"Many Millennia ago, a terrible fight broke out between the fae's and the ogre's, ending with their vanishment," Squall added. "We were lead to believe that they were all wiped from existence; but as you can see," she eyed Keefe, "that was not the case." Biana walked towards her brother. "Does mom and dad know about this?" she asked him, hands placed firmly on her hips. Fitz gave her a guilty look. "Actually, yes," he said, much to her shock. "You see, some Ogre's still hunt around for any existing fae, dead set on wiping them all out," he gestured to the boy beside him. "Keefe here, inherited his fae culture from his great, great, great, great grandfather. But no one would ever expect that. His parents wanted him to be kept safe, so when we met, they allowed him to stay with us for his own protection. To remain in the dark, since ogre's can't detect a fae whilst they're in their animal form, Keefe stayed as a fox and feigned as my "pet": hence the name Kaye." Dex arched an eyebrow. "Why Kaye?" He asked curiously. Fitz shrugged. "First letter of his name. I just elaborated the spelling," he informed him. Sophie cocked her her to the side. "But why would they trust you?" she inquired curiously.

Fitz sighed, knowing what he was about to say would come with a lot of questions. "Because we're congregated," he told them, and closed his eyes in annoyance as a flood of questions and comments came crashing towards him. "Okay, okay, everybody shut up," he said, waving his arms around to calm them. Thankfully they complied. Sighing out a breath of relief, Fitz opened his eyes and began to explain. "Congregation is a special bond between a fae and another being. Usually this being is another fae, but I," he glanced back at Keefe, "was a rare exception." Granite looked at him with wide eyes. "But you both are so young," he breathed out incredulously. "Very near always, did fae congregation only occur between two individuals whom are far out of adolescence." Fitz just shrugged at this statement. "Like I said, I was a rare exception," he told him simply.

Mr. Forkle spoke up. "I'm curious to know when your congregation had started, Mr. Vacker," he asked him. Fitz felt a small smile begin to creep upon his lips as he remembered the story fondly. "It actually happened when I—we—were four," he explained as he began to recount the tale of their meeting.

(A/N: Whilst reading this next part, please keep in mind that elvin children speak from child birth, so if you're confused as to why both Keefe and Fitz's vocabulary is a little above average for their age, that is why)

Flashback:

A four year old Fitz was running through the forest, giggling with delight. Fitz loved the outdoors and this forest was his favourite spot to play. He knew he should've stayed in the yard like his parents had told him to but he couldn't resist: the forest was beautiful and shiny, and full of amazing things and creatures. Fitz loved to venture its seemingly endless infrastructure.

A sudden rush through the bushes caught the young boy's attention. Cocking his head curiously, Fitz walked over to it, only to hear the same rush from a bush a few feet away from him. Believing this to be another one of the forest's spectacular creatures, Fitz smiled and ran over to the bush, slowing peering inside of it only to frown in confusion when he saw nothing there. Another brush of a sound came but louder this time and Fitz widened his eyes as he saw a small, baby fennec fox skidded into an open clearing a couple metres away from his spot in the bush. Not wanting to startle the creature, Fitz ducked behind the bush but kept a close eye on the fox, who was seemingly grumbling to itself almost in what seemed like frustration, rubbing its face with its paw repeatedly. A sudden light engulfed the creatures little body and Fitz watched in pure awe as the small fox shifted into the form of a boy, most likely the same age as himself. The boy had messy blonde hair, was wearing royal blue tunic with dark pants, and had icy blue eyes which contrasted greatly with the eyes of its previous form, which were dark brown. The boy seemed to struggle, pulling and tugging his body before giving up and glaring at his foot. He seemed to have gotten it stuck in the bush behind him.

Realizing that he might need help, Fitz pushed his shock to the side and stepped out from his place behind the bush to assist the poor boy. "Are you okay? Do you need help?" He asked him. The boy immediately froze and his icy blue eyes locked on Fitz's teal ones. "You saw," he gasped out in fear, immediately allowing Fitz to realize that whatever the boy had done was a secret that he was not supposed to see. When he took another step towards the boy, he immediately shuffled back. Fitz's frowned slightly. He wanted this boy to trust him.

"Yeah I saw, but I won't tell anybody, I swear," he reassured the boy, who still looked wary, but at least the panic had left his body. Fitz calmly started to approach him again, causing the boy to tense up. Although he allowed Fitz to approach his leg, he still scooted back away from him as far as he could. Fitz observed it. His foot seemed to be tangled in with the small branches of the shrub. "Your foot is stuck, I'm gonna release it, okay?" He told the boy, before gingerly placing his hands on the branches, tugging them apart to create a wide enough gap so that the boy could slip his foot out of the bush easily. Once free, the boy brought his foot to the front of him, checking it for any scrapes or injuries before timidly looking up at Fitz. "Thanks," he muttered quietly. Fitz smiled at him. "No prob– OOF!" He grunted as he slipped off his balance, knocking his head into the other boy's inadvertently. Groaning, Fitz fluttered his eyes open to give the other boy a sheepish grin. "Sorr—" he cut himself short noticing the boy staring wide-eyed at their pressed foreheads. A glimmer of light caught his attention and Fitz too stared up, only to gasp at the sight of the glowing, gold light spewing out from between their touching foreheads.

Fitz couldn't help but stare up at it, fully awestruck. "Wow..." he whispered, fully entranced by the sight above him. The same couldn't be said for the blonde boy in front of him though. He snapped his wide blue eyes down towards Fitz's face to stare at him before eliciting a slight gasp. "CONGREGATE!" He exclaimed, jumping back onto his haunches and pointing at him. Fitz blinked, the light once between their foreheads now diminished, and he looked at the boy with a confused look. "What?" He asked, genuinely perplexed.

But the boy just kept pointing and shouting at him with wide eyes. "CONGREGATE, CONGREGATE, CONGREGATE!" He repeated vigorously. Fitz was beyond confused. He didn't know what that word meant, nor why the boy kept shouting it at him like it meant something.

"I- I'm sorry, I don't know what that means..." Fitz told him, trying to suppress his confusion. The boy opened his mouth but was cut off by voices in the background. "KEEFE!" Both Fitz and the boy looked up at the two approaching figures of blonde elves, the male having a striking resemblance to 'Keefe'. Fitz assumed these were the boy's parents.

Both adults casted a wary glance in Fitz's direction before the female crouched down to Keefe's level. "Keefe, where in Eternalia have you been? You had us worried sick, you know what we tell you about running off while you—" the woman abruptly stopped, shooting another wary look Fitz's way. This obviously had something to do with the secret, he concluded. Keefe did not show the slightest bit of guilt at his mother's words. Instead, he pointed towards Fitz and repeated the same word he had been repeating for minutes now: "congregate!"

The two older elves looked at each other with wide, shocked, almost horrified eyes before Keefe's dad quickly bent down next to his wife as well. "K-Keefe..." He began, looking at Fitz with caution before continuing in a low voice, "what did we say about using those terms around other elves?" But Keefe only shook his head and pointed at Fitz again. "CONGREGATE," he exclaimed affirmatively. Both parents looked at each other again, this time with skepticism, before the boy's mother smiled warmly at him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Keefe..." She started slowly and Fitz nearly groaned along with Keefe. He knew that voice. It was one of those parent voices that he couldn't stand: the "I don't believe you, but I'm going to let you consider it" voice. Parents might as well just up and tell their child that they don't believe them. It's much less annoying than this.

"Keefe, you know congregation does no happen until at least teenage years," she said quietly, but not too quietly so that Fitz couldn't hear. Keefe didn't seem happy with this answer. He only glared at his parents before walking over to Fitz and holding out his hands in front of him. Fitz cocked his head to the side, unaware of what the blonde boy in front of him wanted to do. Keefe only shook his hands in front of him as if to tell him to hurry up. Fitz took a guess and grabbed his hands, intertwining his fingers with the others. Almost immediately, his hands adapted a light, ticklish feeling and he couldn't help but giggle loudly, barely catching sight of what's going on. Between their clasped hands, the same, beaming light from their foreheads was formed, only this time, specs of light floated around them. Behind them, Keefe's parents gaped in awe. This would've shocked Fitz too if he wasn't too busy laughing at the feathery like feeling.

Keefe smiled smugly and turned to look at his parents as if to ask, "do you believe me now?" "Impossible..." the father breathed out incredulously. "They're both so young—fae congregation never happens around such a young age!" Fae? 'What's a fae?' Fitz wondered idly between giggles. The woman beside him placed a hand on his shoulder as they both slowly rose from their crouched positions. "This is true, yes, but Keefe is special," she whispered to him, looking at their child lovingly. "After all, he received it so far from the bloodline..." At this moment, both Alden and Della Vacker stumbled into the scene as a result of searching for their son. "Fitz! What did we—" Lord Alden cut himself off as he laid eyes upon the shocking sight in front of him. "—say..." He murmured, too entranced to formulate other words.

Della gasped and clutched Alden's arm as Keefe, noticing the newcomers, finally released hands with Fitz. "Alden... He's a..." She trailed off, looking at the blonde boy with a thoughtful glance. Keefe and Fitz glanced at each other, both deeply confused. They didn't exactly know what was going on, as the situation was sort of new for the both of them—more so Fitz than Keefe—and neither knew what was going to happen either. Almost subconsciously, the two reached for each others hand as they awaited the comments of their elders.

"Please," the blonde lady practically begged in a desperate, pleading voice. "We pray, you keep this a secret."

End of Flashback

"After that, our parens agreed that it would be safest to have Keefe live with me," Fitz explained, smiling back to the boy who was standing protectively behind him. "Anywhere else he would've been in danger." As everyone took this into consideration, they realized it all made sense. How connected Fitz was to Kaye in the first place; how strong their bond seemed; as well as how protective they were of each other. Even looking at them now as Keefe let Fitz lean against him to provide support for his currently weak form. For the adults, congregation was a perfectly good explanation; and an interesting one too. They hadn't seen a fae in a very long time. To see one up close now was magnificent. Mr. Forkle himself felt a desire to explore their connection just a bit more, and once voicing this, Keefe looked over to Fitz to see if he was comfortable with that, and once getting confirmation through a small nod and somber smile, nodded in agreement.

Physic however, was still confused about something. She decided this would be her time to speak up. "Well, despite all this explanation, it still doesn't answer my question," she said. Everyone (excluding Keefe) looked at her with wide, bewildered eyes. "...it doesn't?" Dex asked her incredulously, his eyebrow raised high. "Nope," Physic said before turning around to point an accusing finger at Fitz. "Why are you out of bed?"


Very soon did Keefe become a very valuable asset to the group, both with his empath ability and his transformation ability (faes are natural fighters so there was that too). Fitz couldn't of been happier to be able to have Keefe transform more often. Though they still had to hide the fact that he was a fae from everyone else (especially the council—gnome knows what they'd to him), Sophie and the gang did a good job keeping a secret of Keefe's identity. Once Linh and Tam joined the group, they had to wait a little longer after their initiation in order to tell them as Keefe did not trust Tam at all; he had growled the entire time when he had done a reading on Fitz. The only reason he hadn't been attacking the boy then was because Fitz had (luckily) managed to convince him not to beforehand. For as much of a shock as a tiny fox turning into a teenage boy is, the twins took it surprisingly well. But that did not mean at all that Keefe and Tam liked or trusted each other. Both of them snapped at each other often, Keefe often using his fox form to say rather crude insults at Tam which he could not understand to his advantage—well, did not understand until Fitz had scolded him for it, that is.

Both Fitz and Keefe's connection grew even stronger now that their secret was out. It seemed that their bond thrived in a way that it was not able to when they had something to hide. Even though Sophie and Fitz had a very strong bond themselves (which Keefe was still mildly jealous about), the two had established long ago that their bond was just as special and just as important, so there wee no real problems. Keefe was even coming out of his fox form more often, which Fitz loved. He loved him as Kaye, but seeing his best friend in his true fae form was always a treat too—especially since he could hug him better without possibly crushing him. Although Keefe was very strong in his fox form, they're still small and semi fragile creatures.

And though trouble always seemed to follow the group wherever they went, Fitz knew that they could handle it, and he knew that he'd be safe; because no one was a better friend or protector than Keefe. The two loved each other very much and as congregates, their own abilities improve even more. Together, Keefe and Fitz were a force to be reckoned with and gnome help anyone who tries to pull them apart.

Because unless being viciously attacked by a strong, feral bundle of fluff, sharp teeth and claws sounds appealing to you, it would not be wise to try it.

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That's it! Thanks again for reading this story in the first place and I love all of you! Tootles.

-HWC