Chapter Number 20! Wow! I'd say this is a milestone! :D We are only starting to get to the end of the very beginning as well! Next chapter is going to be very interesting I'm sure! (In a good way!) I'm going to go start writing it now! 3 :3

Ps. You guys are all awesome! Thank you for reading my story, even if you don't comment! It's such a strange feeling to know people are reading these words I'm typing on a page. I'm incredibly happy I got up the courage to start posting. I also loved getting to talk to several of you this past week! :D It really motivates me to write more!

And for you SoKeefe people out there I was challenged to do a first kiss one shot so look for that within the next week! ^.^

To celebrate 20 chapters, you can challenge me to do a oneshot for any ship! Just tell me the couple and the circumstance! For example, first kiss, first date, confession, base quest turned accidental confession, potion gone wrong, anything you can think up! Just make sure it's appropriate and not a creepy ship. Creepy as in adults being involved (unless shipped with another adult) or pretty much anything involving Fintan. Also lgbtqa+ and brotps are accepted as well. For brotps make sure you specific it's platonic though or else I won't write it that way haha! Also I don't accept poly ships because I'm not poly/have any experience with that, so I feel like I wouldn't be able to give it an accurate representation.

In addition if you're shy or want to send multiple ones and don't want me to know (send as many as you want, even if they are the same ship a bunch of times! 3 ), you can do it through anon ask on Tumblr. My url is MiraculousKeeperoftheWorld

But without further ado, the next chapter! :)

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The rest of the night went by in a blur. Even though their reunion was warm and fuzzy and amazingly perfect, she still didn't know how to act around her parents, or even what to call them. Alden sent Izzy with Biana to find some pajamas while he talked to Grady and Edaline, but something still seemed… off. The tugging feeling in her gut told her to stay, to investigate, but he had promised her everything was alright. What were his exact words? "No need to worry." She didn't quite believe him, but she was too tired to really care. Her head had been overloaded with information, and if she had to wait another day to figure out more… well that wasn't too bad. All she wanted now was a shower and some sleep. Biana highly suggested she started with the former, offering her own.

Izzy rushed through it, more focused on getting twigs out of her hair and dirt off of her face than caring which of the twenty different perfumed shampoos hit her hair or what affect they had. When she stepped out, wrapped tightly in a towel that must have been made from bunnies or clouds, she saw her face for the first time in… weeks? The last time she saw her reflection was in the waterways of Venice, her home city. So… a few days…. She fought to ignore the sharp pangs that ripped at her heart at the thought of what was. And then it hit her.

She could never go back.

Her home was no longer hers.

Her family was no longer there.

They wanted her dead.

Her own aunt, her uncles, they were never her family.

No.

They were her kidnappers, her night terrors.

And then she saw her face in the mirror. Scraped up, a bruise on the side of her forehead from where she had hit it against her bedframe that night as her aunt dragged her towards her fate. But that wasn't what distracted her. No, her eyes, the color of hot chocolate and sprinkled with golden flecks, they weren't hers. They looked… older, worn, like someone fifty years her elder was standing in front of her.

Maybe it was just the lack of sleep, or a hallucination, but in that instant she felt utterly disconnected. Some familiar stranger staring back at her as they cried over a past that felt like an old, bad movie she watched once long ago.

This wasn't her.

She wasn't her.

She tried to take steady, even breaths as the weight of the past two days crashed upon her. She'd never let herself mourn her loses, or even think about them. But in the silence of the bathroom, it became harder and harder to hold herself together.

And then Biana knocked on the door, and somehow she found the strength to shove it back in whatever bottle like hole in her heart it came from.

"I've decided between three different outfits," Biana started as Izzy splashed cold water on her face. She was not going to look weak, or cause anymore awkward silences. God was she over the awkwardness and pitying glances.

"I think the gold and lilac one would really bring out your eyes and skin. Oh, but it's really you're decision of course! Hmm, but this dark blue and teal one could look really good. Oh but this ruby one…"

Izzy glanced at herself in the mirror, avoiding her eyes as she peeked just long enough to make sure her emotions weren't too obvious. Her face was still red, but she could blame that on the shower. Then she took a deep breath, opened the door, and put on a fake smile.

"I'll try on whichever ones you want me to." She slowly enunciated, careful not to let her voice shake. "Thank you for helping me with this Biana."

Biana gave her a look, her smile disappearing for a split second before being plastered back on even brighter. "Uh, sure! Let's start with this one!"

Was it obvious?

Izzy walked down the spiral staircase in the center of the house, a different, much more open one than Fitz had brought her down just a few hours before. She would have to thank him for that. She tugged slightly on the lilac pajamas with gold trim, feeling even more out of place without her jeans and t-shirt. They were so much fancier than anything she had ever worn before, with intricate flower beading out of what looked like amethysts on her side. They swished slightly as she walked, all most like they were trying to mock her existence in this new world. Soft mummers, a much more appealing sound, floated from below, and she let her ears lead her towards them. The voices came from the kitchen, and as she made her way to the door, she could tell they were both heavily accented.

"I still don't like this." Fitz mumbled into a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

"Don't like what?" Izzy asked as Alden and he looked up.

"Sophie, you were so quiet you could rival Della." Alden joked, smiling to cover up his slight jump.

Obviously he hadn't seen her fall on her face for no good reason yet…

"Is this about me?" Izzy looked back and forth between the two. Fitz made a slight grunt before turning his head away from his dad, obviously a bit mad.

"There's no reason to worry."

"That wasn't what I asked." She frowned.

"It's just a family matter. Nothing I am at liberty to discuss at this moment."

"Oh. Sorry." Izzy began to ramble, cursing herself for being so paranoid, though she had a good reason… "I didn't mean to- I figured with everything that's been going on…"

"Don't worry about it Izzy." Fitz smiled, sliding another mug to the empty seat on his side. Izzy blushed and took the seat, wishing her heart could be logical for once. She really didn't need to deal with more emotions. Though she didn't hate it… Taking a small, hesitant sip of the drink, she found it was a lot like hot chocolate. Except the foam on top and the steam rising from it were marshmallows! Or at least that's what they tasted and smelled like. She took a big gulp of the drink, with seemed to fill her with this soft, spending a rainy morning in your bed or roasting marshmallows over a campfire kind of warmth.

"Sophie," Alden started as he sat down across from her. She cringed at the name, though he didn't seem to notice. "I talked to your parents, and you're going to stay here for a week or so. There is a lot we need to consider now that you're back. You will, of course, move in with them after that, but we decided it would be an easier transition this way."

Even with the tingly heat spreading to her toes and fingers as she finished another large sip, her heart still dropped. "They were ok with that?" She tried to say it in a happy manner, like it was a normal occurrence, but it had been five years. They probably thought she was dead, and she didn't remember them at all. And they were still ok with her living without them for another week when she could be getting to know them again? Fitz must have noticed because he placed a hand on her shoulder. She stared at her hot chocolate, trying to push down the rising heat of a different sort in her cheeks and the dripping despair in her heart.

"Of course they weren't ok with it. It took me almost an hour to talk them into it, and it wasn't easy. They'll be by every day to visit you until you go back home. But, until then, we'll work on making sure you're safe and transitioning you into our world more easily. You coming back doesn't mean anything if you aren't well protected."

Izzy nodded, trying to ignore the compassion and mistiness in Alden's eyes. It was… odd, so many people she barely knew caring so much about her. She was pretty sure she would never get used to it. She also couldn't help hearing the word home bouncing off of the walls of her brain. A home, a mom and dad, what would that even be like? Scenes of tv shows began to flash through her head. And then a new thought sprung up. Did she have siblings?

Alden nodded back, smiling, and break through her thoughts. "Then Fitz, I'll let you show," he cleared his throat, "Izzy, to her room." He turned his gaze back to her. "Tomorrow we'll work on getting you more accustomed to your new surroundings. I'm sure you have many questions."

As the thought of a giant ice spike in allies of Venice pricked her mind, she went to open her mouth, but thought better of it. She didn't need any more to think about tonight. It was already going to be tough enough to be alone as it was…

Sighing, she got up, mentally preparing herself for the unavoidable as the memory forced her emotions into a tornado that swirled around her heart, ready to break out first chance.

Fitz asked her if she was done with her cup, she just nodded. There were a few sips left, but her stomach had turned to acid. He put the cups in the sink before leading her back upstairs, making idle chit chat as they walked, but she didn't hear anything he said. Her mind was already started to sink into the knot of memories and emotions she had been shoving away.

Fitz opened the door for her and without another word she collapsed into bed, not even bothering to get ready. Fitz said something else, and shut the door behind him.

The darkness quickly engulfed the room, filling her thoughts with cloaked figures. And then the faces behind the ghostly phantoms, their actual forms, the white eyes on their arms. They were real. The walls she had built up, the events of the past two days, the grief she had stored away for later, it all came crashing down.

She shoved her face into her pillow, trying to muffle her the violent sobs that tore at her body, sending a silent plea to the universe that no one would hear it or find her like this. She wanted them to see her as brave, strong, powerful. Every day since she woke up from her coma, or so she was told, five whole years, she had been pitied, and all it felt like was more and more weight thrown on her shoulders. For once she just wanted to be normal. But now elves and magic and her greatest nightmares existed. And now she was even more of a freak than she had started as.

But then the door opened up again, blinding light streaming into every corner of the room. A tall figure walked in, and then the light faded away.

But for some reason, it wasn't as bad. She was covered in tears and drool and probably snot, her sobs were so load she was certain he could hear them from the hall, but just having someone there, not being left alone in a dark room, waiting for the sun to rise like she always had, it made her feel better. Safer.

Maybe… it wasn't so bad to not be alone.