Author's Note: I wrote this in middle school and meant it to be a sequel to a story I never wrote, so that's why certain things aren't explained
It had been three days since the battle. Three days since Sophie and her friends had defeated the Neverseen, with a terrible cost. Three days since Keefe kissed her on Mount Clairina, and then tackled Lady Gisela off the cliff into the lava lake, preventing her from phaseshifting herself to safety. And Sophie still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that he was gone. Her Keefe. She'd never thought his trademark smirk or messy hair would be absent from her life. Never thought he wouldn't be there to make some remark about Team Foster-Keefe and how much better it is than Fitzphie. She wished she had realized that before. Maybe they would have had more time together. But now he was dead, and Sophie was going to have to learn to live without him. She adjusted her long green gown with the emeralds that she had worn to Kenric's planting, dried the tears from her face, and left the room. Sandor was waiting outside, his face a somber mask. He was her only bodyguard now that Flori was gone. The memory of the sweet little gnome made Sophie want to start crying again, but she took a deep breath and pushed all her feelings deep down into the knot below her ribs. "Are you ready?" Sandor asked. "I'm fine." Sophie said, hating her voice for wobbling. Sandor nodded and followed her down the stairs, where Grady and Edaline were waiting for them. Edaline hugged Sophie tightly. "You look beautiful." Sophie didn't respond, but hugged her back. Grady wrapped his arms around both of them, and all three held each other until Edaline gave her one last squeeze and whispered, "Let's go." Sophie hid behind them both as Grady called the crystal for the Wanderling Woods.
As the three of them walked through the colorful trees, Sophie looked down at her feet, walking behind Grady and Edaline. She couldn't talk to anyone now, not when she was struggling to keep the pain from bursting out of her and inflicting on everyone. Soon, they reached a group of people standing in a circle around a small clearing. Sophie saw Dex and Marella holding hands near the back of the crowd, which lightened her shattered, leaden heart for a moment, but it grew even heavier when she spotted Lord Cassius, his head bent, with his usually immaculate hair falling out of place. A tear slid down his face, and Sophie looked away. Lord Cassius had been a horrible father to Keefe, but he didn't deserve to lose his son. Just like Sophie didn't deserve to lose her boyfriend. But Keefe was dead, and he hadn't deserved that at all.
The Councillors stood at the front of the crowd, dressed in green. Oralie met Sophie's eyes, and gave her a sad smile. Sophie ignored her. If her biological mother hadn't been kidnapped by the Neverseen, the battle wouldn't have happened, and Keefe would still be alive. Councillor Emery stepped forward, speaking for the Council as usual, and Sophie's heart still hurt to see that there were only ten Councillors in the line. Bronte and Terik had been killed by the Neverseen, and the Lost Cities were still voting on who would replace them. Emery looked straight at Sophie and beckoned her forward. A path through the crowd opened up before her, and she could feel the elves watching her every step as she made her way to the front, where a flat space waited for its Wanderling. Sophie felt tears welling up inside of her again as she bent down and took a tiny box from her pocket. It held a small seed, with a single blond hair wrapped around it. Sophie gently dug a hole in the earth with her fingers and planted the seed inside, and stepped away.
A tree began to quickly sprout from the seed, a tall, thin tree leaning slightly to the right, with yellow leaves and ice-blue flowers dotting the branches. As Sophie watched it grow, a gust of wind swept by and ruffled the sapling's leaves, causing them to stick up in places and stay mussed even when the wind stopped. Sophie's eyes filled with tears, and this time, she let them spill over as she stared at the tree. Her tears fell even faster when she noticed that it leaned toward the hill where her's and Dex's Wanderlings were planted, almost as though Keefe was still trying to come back to her, even though he was gone.
Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, but still, Sophie stood there, watching Keefe's tree. Grady put his hand on her shoulder, as if to turn her away, but Sophie shook her head, and he whispered, "We'll see you at home." When everyone was gone, Sophie collapsed at the foot of the tree and cried, huge, heaving sobs that she had been trying to keep back all day. She was alone now, heartbroken and alone, with no one to understand her pain. Her friends were still there for her, she knew, but they didn't understand what it was like to lose the person they loved most. Keefe had been like a brother to Biana, but she hadn't had to lose Tam. She didn't know. No one did, and that was a good thing, but it made Sophie feel even lonelier. Why was she the only one? She laid her hand on the bark and whispered, "Keefe, I know you can't hear me, but I miss you so much. I know you would want me to move on, but I can't. Everything I look at reminds me of you. I sleep with Mrs. Stinkbottom every night and wake up crying because I dreamed about you and when I woke up, you were gone. I love you, Keefe, and more than anything, I want you back." She started to cry even harder, and after a few minutes, choked out, "They don't understand, none of them, and I feel so alone." As she cried, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder, and looked up, expecting Grady to tell her it was time to leave. Instead, she saw a familiar pair of ice-blue eyes, and heard her favorite voice in the world ask, "Did you miss me, Foster?"
THE END