Match-A Sophie and Fitz Story

Chapter Six

Sophie woke the next morning in the bed of the guest room, next to Fitz. She had been tucked in and someone had given Ella to her. Fitz was quite the opposite. He slept overtop the plush quilts of the bed, no Mr. Snuggles to be seen. Sophie wondered why he didn't just go back to bed. She tried to sneak out of the bed and get dressed, but the mattress squeaked and Fitz stirred. He yawned and stretched for a moment before he turned to look at Sophie.

"Hey," he started. "You okay? Last night was...really rough."

She looked back, slightly embarrassed about her sobbing fit. "I think so." Fitz didn't seem convinced. "Really, I am." Sophie thought about her nightmare. Most of her other nightmares left her screaming or crying or thrashing in her bed, but this one was different. She had actually gotten out of bed and sleepwalked. And her dream had featured an animal she hadn't seen or even thought about since she moved to the Lost Cities. What was that about?

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Fitz. She sighed. Most nightmares she had were much to painful to revisit. But when she looked at Fitz eyes, she saw two things; a desire to help her, and a wish for her to trust him. She sighed shakily. "Okay."

• • • • • •

The next half hour was spent sitting on the carpeted floor of the guest room, trying to explain the horrible complexities of the dream. After several failed attempts at narrating it, Sophie had projected images of things she had seen into her memory log. When the pictures didn't help anymore, she let Fitz into her mind and he watched the dream like a human movie. Each second made him fidget a little more, and by the end he was sweating.

"Dang, Sophie." He whistled. "And you said it's not even close to the echo nightmares?"

She nodded. Fitz took her hands in his and held them tight. "I am so, so sorry."

"Hey, Fitz! Sophie! Come down for breakfast!" Della's musical voice filled the entire upstairs. Fitz slid off the bed and gave Sophie's hands one last squeeze before heading off to shower and get dressed. Sophie did the same after hailing Edaline and asking her to conjure her a a practical outfit. Sandor respectfully left the room, probably to wait right outside the door. Sophie's outfit appeared on her bed—and it was not what she had asked for. On top of the blankets was a pair of velvet white flats with gold edges, some deep turquoise leggings that reminded Sophie of the ocean, an Invisibra (an elven version of a strapless, backless, colorless, supportive, comfortable bra), and a white tunic with floral lace patterns and a thin brown belt. Sophie scowled as she put on the outfit, smoothing her hair dry with an elixir from the guest vanity. She looked in the mirror and, just as she was about to leave the room, a tube of gold-flecked eyeliner popped into the bed. She sighed, but smiled slightly and put a small amount on the upper lash line of each of her eyes.

Downstairs there was an assortment of colorful Gnomish produce. Biana and Fitz were sitting at the grand dining room table when Sophie came into the room. Biana looked up and gasped with delight. "Your eyes! They're so pretty. Who would have thought that you'd listen to my makeup advice eventually?" Sophie blushed as Biana turned to Fitz and he agreed that her eyes were especially lovely.

She clapped her hands, eager to change the subject of conversation to something less embarrassing. "So! What do you guys want to do today?"

"Other than storm the Matchmaking office?" Asked Biana. Sophie gave her a sad smile. Biana was such a good friend. Fitz looked at Sophie. "That reminds me, I hailed the Matchmakers early last night. The elf I spoke with said you should come in today and they'll take a manual compatibility test for us."

"A what?"

"Its like a genetic thing, but only with two people. They take it our DNA and see if the two of us are compatible. Like a personal Matchmaking test."

"You can do that?" Fitz shrugged.

"It's new. They only started personal matches about a year back, when I picked up my packet. It's not very well-known, since so many elves wouldn't bother with Matchmaking if they could just make sure they were compatible with their partners."

Sophie wanted to reach across the ornate table and hug Fitz to death. Instead, she walked around it, sat next to him, and held his hand. "Thank you," she said. His smile was breathtaking as he replied, "anything for you."