after unlocked: a sokeefe fanfic

Chapter 50-Keefe/Sophie

He stared at her, his tears suddenly cleared. And he said the thing he'd been thinking for the past three years.

"Why couldn't you have given up on me?"

***

Heat shone on her face.

Gentle waves lapped against her feet.

Sophie's eyes opened.

She blinked at the sky, eyes adjusting slowly to the golden light. There were a few wisps of clouds directly above her, but otherwise it was a clear sky blue color.

Hands digging into the warm sand, she sat up and frowned.

She was by the ocean.

The water was a clear teal-green, foamy waves brushing up against the sand. Her feet were quickly encased in the water, and she noticed in the back of her mind that it shifted in colors as it touched her feet.

Across the horizon, yellow and pinks and orange rays shone and shifted to purples and blues and greens then back to the former.

"Are you Sophie?"

Sophie glanced over, mouth dropping open at the sight before her. A woman, about twenty, stood before her. Her eyes crinkled in delight, and a little bit of surprise.

Sophie sucked in a breath.

But the woman looked different from how Prentice had pictured her—she couldn't place it.

But it felt wrong.

"How...?"

"Walk with me, Sophie," she offered her a hand. "I'd like to get to know my little sister."

"Where are we?" Sophie asked.

Jolie surveyed the ocean, the ever changing sky, and the soft sand. "I'm not sure really."

"Sophie," she continued, "how are mom and dad?"

Sophie hesitated. "I don't know... if I'm not there then..." she shrugged, "they've lost both of us."

A wrinkle of concern crossed Jolie's perfect face. Then it passed as she brightened. "They've been happy, though? Since I left?"

"Not when I first came," Sophie said, "but I think they've become happier, I guess."

"You've taken good care of them," Jolie hummed. "Thank you, Sophie. I'm glad they have you."

They walked several paces, and Sophie glanced back. Her footprints had disappeared, and she felt a sense of peace at the sight of the unblemished sand.

She didn't know why.

"Jolie," she started, turning back to her, "when do—"

She stopped.

"Jolie?"

The older woman was gone.

Sophie turned quickly, scanning all around her.

"SOPHIE!"

Voices, so many voices, screamed around her.

"I miss you already—"

"—I'm sorry for everything I said—"

"I really thought you'd make it through this one."

"You'll be our battle cry—"

"We love you, sweetheart,"

"—tell Jolie we miss her."

"—rest."

"Foster?"

Sophie looked up, meeting ice blue eyes.

"Keefe." She frowned. "Why are you here?"

"I'm..." he blinked, as if disoriented, "I'm not. At least, I don't think so."

He stepped forward, but stopped just shy of her.

Tentatively reaching his hand out to her, his knuckles brushed feather light against her neck. "They're gone," he whispered.

"What are?" She breathed out.

"The bruises." His eyes traveled up. He gave her a grin, though it was still confused.

Something about it made her uneasy. How was he here?

"Keefe, what's happening?"

He bit his lip. "They said we've lost you." His voice caught. "That you aren't coming back this time."

"Oh."

She was disappointed. She would've liked to stay longer. To at least graduate Foxfire. To maybe see the end of the war.

The end of the war.

"So... I don't have to fight anymore?"

Keefe's face crumbled. "...no, no, Foster, you don't have to. You can rest now."

He turned away, his shoulders shaking.

Oh.

"Are you alright?"

"No, Foster, I'm not." He ran a hand through his hair in a distressed motion. "I'm not okay. I'm losing you." His hand slid down his face, covering it.

"Do you... do you want me to hold you?"

His silent grief turned to choking sobs but he nodded quickly.

Sophie stepped to him and wrapped her arms around him. Keefe turned abruptly into her, burying his face into the crook of her neck.

"I don't want you to leave," he whispered. "Don't leave, please."

"I can't stay, Keefe," she told him softly.

His voice was hoarse. "Foster... please. I don't want you to leave. I... I don't want... I don't want to be alone."

A lump formed in her throat at the raw emotion in his voice. Her eyes blurred, and she felt his arms tighten around her waist.

"Please, Sophie." He whispered, a catch in his voice.

The lump melted.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She felt as if she was out of her body, her mind floating away from the boy in her arms and rising in a helium balloon.

"No, stop, no, no, no—come on, Foster, come on, please, please, please!"

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.

DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE ME.

"WAKE UP!"

But Sophie didn't move.

"WAKE UP!" Then long moments later, "Please."

Her vision darkened, until she couldn't see the blond hair, the ice blue eyes. She could barely feel his breath against her neck and  his arms around her waist and his hair against her cheek.

She couldn't feel the blue-eyed boy who'd come to mean so much to her.

Updated: 7-17-2021

A/N: did I kill off our main character?

...maybe.

Is she going to somehow resurrect?

...I dunno, maybe go read the next chapter and you'll find out 🤷‍♀️

Oh wait

☺️

Y'know, I feel especially evil tonight.... I dunno why.

Actually.

I do know.

The Loki finale.

I'm not okay.

Okay byeeeeeee