As time went by, Keefe recovered from the shock of Will manifesting as an imperator. And so did Will, who gained control of the ability quickly--but was still relieved to be able to keep it turned off.
Anna stood by his side every step of the way. It was very sweet, the way she would come over to Aeternum and walk with him around the pond. Witnessing his distress at manifesting again seemed to bring out a strong desire to encourage and comfort him.
Sophie and Keefe tried not to snoop on them, but they couldn't help but watch out the kitchen window at the sight of them holding hands.
And then tell Fitz and Linh all about it.
Dex and Biana did the same when Amy started going over to spend more time with Alvin.
By the time Will graduated from Foxfire, he had proposed to Anna and was preparing to enter the Nobility. Amy and Alvin were getting married soon too.
Emma had several young elves interested in her, but was still waiting to find the right someone.
Waiting to feel that pull, that spark, that she knew--even without being an empath--that her parents felt for each other.
One day, after spending hours with Grady and Edaline, Sophie and Keefe retreated to their favorite little clearing in the Grove.
"The question now, is, do we start over?" Keefe asked Sophie as they entered the clearing. "Now that Will has graduated, do we start having more babies?"
"Hmm, maybe we should," Sophie mused. "Now that the last of our friends are finally getting married and starting families, we could give their kids some built-in friends."
Keefe squeezed her hand. "Whenever you're ready."
"What do you think about what Mr. Forkle told us this morning?" Sophie asked him.
Mr. Forkle had informed them that the Collective was ready to step down and let Sophie, Keefe, Biana, Dex and Fitz take over, just as they had intended for many years.
But Sophie and her friends weren't sure they saw the point.
The Collective was doing just fine running the Black Swan--which thankfully wasn't dealing with high stakes anymore (and hopefully never would again)--so they weren't sure there was any need for a change.
"I still think it isn't necessary. But if they insist on stepping down, I think we should do it. But if they're willing to remain where they are, then there's no need for us to take over."
"I agree. Plus, I can't help but want to keep my focus elsewhere."
"On me?" Keefe asked with a smirk.
Sophie rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. "My focus is primarily on you," she agreed. "But I meant more in a professional sense."
"Is this the part where Fitz appears out of nowhere and starts talking about how you're Cognates?"
"No," Sophie said. "But I'll be sure to let him know you still make fun of him for that."
"Oh, he knows," Keefe said. "I do it to his face, too."
Sophie laughed. "Well anyway, what I mean is, I still wish I could find a way to convince the elves to reinstate the humans as intelligent species. I can't stop thinking about all the ways humans have suffered due to lack of help from the elves--and it wasn't even their fault, like we were all told."
"You think we could make that much of a difference?"
"It would make a huge difference, in time. Think of all the wars that have broken out, many of which the elves could have helped mediate without bloodshed. Of the Holocaust and how easily elves could have put a stop to it. Think of the countless women who struggle with infertility, and how easy of a fix that is for elves."
"You thinking of Amy?"
Sophie nodded. "You know, if my human parents hadn't been chosen by Mr. Forkle to raise me, my mom might never have gotten pregnant. And then when Amy ended up having the same issues, if she hadn't known to hail me and ask for his help, she might not have been able to get pregnant either." Sophie's voice shook slightly. "And her kids don't know about us, so if Clara has those issues, she won't know to come to us."
Keefe pulled Sophie into his arms. "I know it's hard, knowing about them when they don't know about you. And I know it's hard seeing your parents and your sister age."
"It is weird that she looks older than me now."
"So, how else could we have helped the humans?" Keefe asked, mostly to steer the conversation back on less emotionally fraught territory.
"Do you remember that movie we watched several years ago, about the sinking of the Titanic?"
"The one where Marella kept going on about how Jack was so good looking she swore he had to be an elf?"
Sophie laughed. "Yeah. Which is silly really, he sure can't compare to you. But anyway, I was thinking about that the other day. Humans have short life spans already, and so many of them die long before they really should. A lot of illness and disease would be eradicated with elvish medicine. And even major events like the Titanic--over two thousand people could have lived that night if someone on board had been able to hail the Council. A psionipath and a hydrokinetic could have held off the sinking until they could get everyone safely moved. And that's just one example."
"I'm not disagreeing with you," Keefe told her. "I just think it's an uphill battle. You'll have to start by winning over the Council. And not just Bronte, who agrees with you, or Oralie, who votes in your favor just because of who you are, or Kenric, who nearly always is in agreement with his wife. And Terik, I suppose, who is always willing to hear you out. The rest of them are the issue--and then, the entirety of the Lost Cities would probably go into some sort of shock at the suggestion."
"As long as I have your support, I don't mind the uphill battle."
"Always," Keefe told her, kissing her forehead sweetly.
Oralie had offered, years ago, to 'out' herself as Sophie's mother. But Sophie had told her it kept things way less complicated to keep it quiet. She wouldn't mind people knowing, but didn't want to make any more chaos than was necessary. And she really didn't want her biological father to decide that he, too, should reveal who he was. She didn't want to know.
She had her human dad, even if he didn't remember her. She had Grady. And the other father figures she'd had since coming to the Lost Cities-- Alden, and Mr. Forkle, and Tiergan, and Elwin, and even Cassius now.
But she had finally decided to tell Fitz the truth.
And had been surprised when he started laughing.
"I knew it," he'd said. "Even if you told me that it wasn't her, part of me always suspected it was. But wow...no wonder you insisted that you couldn't tell me and could never reveal who she was. But don't worry, the secret is safe with me."
"You know, Foster, this isn't what we usually do when we're in this clearing." Keefe's voice brought Sophie out of her musings.
She grinned at him. "If you want to kiss me, just say so."
"I always want to kiss you," he reminded her. "Why do you think the kids refuse to be around us if I've had any fizzleberry wine?"
"That does seem to make you even more inclined to behave inappropriately in front of others," Sophie agreed, tilting her head up slightly to kiss him.
Keefe pulled her in tighter and kissed her back sweetly. After a moment, he pulled back and looked at her. "Still feels like it did twenty-five years ago," he murmured. "Like I must be dreaming because I never could have actually gotten so lucky."
"Even after all these years?"
Keefe rolled his eyes. "You say 'all these years' like it's been a long time. Foster,we have thousands of years to go, probably more than that. That's the funny thing about indefinite lifespans, how do we even begin to count? But I can say with absolutely certainty that even thousands of years from now, even millions of years from now, kissing you will be as big of a thrill as it was that first night here in this clearing."
Sophie just looked up at him for a moment, smiling at him. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, Foster. I always have."
And with that, he kissed her again, both of them content to remain in the other's embrace forever.
