A/N: Hey peeps, I'm back, and writing this two weeks before it's supposed to be published.
Do I really have that much time on my hands? Hmmm... Yes. Yes I do. :))
I didn't forget the dates, don't worry. This is updated a week early 'cause I was threatened by a certain few people... (Ahem, I'll tag them in the comments)
Warning: This MAY be all I'm updating in a long time, my mid-term exams are coming up... pathetic *sigh* (please don't kill me)
I'm not revising now ('cause I keep procrastinating), but I will regret and start my usual two-weeks-before panic stream again soon...
For more details, read the ending A/N of the chapter in my oneshot book titled 'Sick (Sophie)'. But if you're reading this before 23 April, let me tell you, that oneshot isn't updated yet. :))
That's why if you're a future reader, it's a good idea to swap back and forth between TSIY and LYF: SKO to read... If you're a current reader and you're doing just that, then great job! Keep it up!!!
PLEASE READ ALL MY A/NS FOR IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS.
That was to catch the attention of anyone who doesn't. :))
Final note (sorry for the long A/N): If the name of a person is at the top of a time skip, then it's their thought in third person. But if I state clearly that it's someone's POV, then it's first person.
On to the story. :))
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Jolie's POV
The minute Sophie had told me that Brant was the one who had saved her, I shattered.
When I was betrayed by him, I nearly fell into depression. I'd loved Brant with all my heart and turns out it was all a lie?!
I spent weeks crying and never went for a mission that was not passive again. I didn't want to fight against him. But fighting with him was a whole lot worse.
Now, here I was, in my room and preparing for a mission to meet him. After two years.
I ran a hand down my face, surprised when I realised it was wet with tears.
Whatever happened tonight, I was determined to not let my feelings get the better of me.
I would remain neutral and view things from a perfectly professional manner. Just as I'd been trained to. And hopefully not die in the process. Yes, that's what I'd do.
As a knock came at my door, I dried my tears.
There was a package sitting on the floor outside my room. A note lay on it in Agent Forkle's cursive handwriting.
Mission issue materials. You can decide to use them, or to not go for the mission.
I frowned. That wasn't the typical instructional note that came with issue packages.
I slowly opened the package to reveal a dress. I let out a string of very violent curses that my parents definitely wouldn't approve of.
The dress was silk, in a lilac sheen. It had long sleeves that ended at my elbows and its hem went down to my ankles. It was layered at the bottom. Kinda looks like waves of paint. It was elegant. But...
The thing was, after hanging around Sophie too much, I hated wearing dresses for missions. I bit back a smile, imagining her having the same reaction to her own mission issues.
The package also contain the Black Swan standard black cloak. At least one thing was normal.
And the usual, a couple of weapons to be skillfully concealed in the cloak.
Still, a dress. What the heck.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Sophie
"Could you not?" Sophie crossed her arms over her chest as Jolie sniggered.
"Kinda hard not to laugh when the Black Swan's most elite spy is going for a mission in that."
Sophie groaned, and glanced at the ceiling as if to ask why it had to be her of all people.
Like her sister, she'd been forced to wear a dress. No one in the Black Swan didn't know that she hated them.
Seriously, did Agent Forkle take joy in making fun of her? Ugh.
Thankfully, hers was more plain compared to her sister's.
Sophie's dress was midnight blue, with a high neckline and sleeves down to her wrists. The hem of the dress ended near her ankles, which would enable her to actually walk, but not for it to be revealing.
"Keefe's gonna flip," Jolie teased playfully.
Sophie glared at her. "Flip upside down to kick you in the face, yes, I'll totally ask him to do that."
"Why the heck did Forkle even think this was a good idea?" Jolie wondered.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Apparently, the meeting is taking place in a ball. God knows why."
She bent down and stuffed another spare dagger in her cloak pocket before sweeping her hair up into a bun and securing it with yet another dagger.
"Ladies," Keefe poked his head into the room. "I believe it's time to go."
As they walked towards the direction of the carpark, Sophie linked her arm through Keefe's.
"You sure look handsome," she chuckled, kissing his cheek.
He was wearing a suit, could you imagine? If she were him, she'd already be sweating. Poor boy.
"And you look just as beautiful," he responded.
Sophie scoffed and slapped his shoulder. "Shut up."
"What, can't I compliment you?"
"No you can't."
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
"Are we there yet?" Keefe whined for the umpteenth time.
"No," Sophie mumbled from her spot on his shoulder. If Agent Forkle was going to send them on a mission, he should've at least given them a day to prepare. She'd barely slept the night before. Yeesh.
"Relax, guys," Jolie said from the passenger seat. "We'll only arrive in another hour."
"Another two hours," Sandor corrected while driving. He was acting as their chaperone today.
Not that they needed one. They were all perfectly matured and sensible people. Right? Yes, yes they were. They totally were.
"How do you think Jolie will react to the meeting?" Keefe murmured into her hair. Just loud enough for her to hear, but not for Jolie to.
Sophie sat up straight and closed her eyes. "I... Don't know," she admitted. Her sister was strong. But the betrayal was the worst thing she had endured.
He put an arm across her shoulders comfortingly. "Whatever happens," he mumbled near her ear, "We'll be here for her. And your parents too."
She buried her face into his shoulder and nodded, soon after finally falling asleep.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
"Two words," said Jolie after two hours as the trio stared at the huge structure in front of them.
"Curse Forkle," they all said at the same time.
"Exactly," Jolie smirked. "Okay, quick check. Weapons?"
"Hidden," said Sophie sarcastically.
"Sense of security?"
"Please, it never left."
"Ego?"
"That never left either."
"What about maturity?"
"Never existed," Sophie grinned. Even after years, both sisters still remembered their inside joke from when they had their first mission together.
"Ready?" Jolie asked.
"No." Sophie wasn't sure who had said that. Maybe it was Keefe, maybe her. For all she knew, Jolie had answered her own question.
"Okay," she said slowly. "Here we go."
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Jolie's POV
Right there. I saw a familiar shock of black hair and a lump formed in my throat.
Apparently Brant had seen me too. He wove his way through the boisterous crowd over to us.
We were standing in a dark corner behind a pillar, trying to hide in the shadows when he approached us.
"You're here," he breathed, as if not actually believing we were there.
I looked away coldly.
"Please, Jolie," he begged. "I can explain."
"Then do it," I said sharply.
"Not here," Sophie interjected, pulling the hood of her cloak lower over her eyes. "There are too many people, if you want to do explaining, do it around the back garden, we'll cover you."
I hesitated. Then nodded and let Brant lead me to the back garden.
"This better be worth all my tears," I said, trying to keep up my calm façade as I swallowed.
"I did it to keep you safe," he said, a guilty look on his face. "It was the only way. If I didn't, Lady Gisela would have killed us both."
I looked at him. His blue eyes held so much desperation and plea that it knocked me back a step. But the most shocking thing wasn't that. It was that in his eyes, I could still see how much he loved me.
A traitorous tear slipped out of my eye and I looked away. Despite everything that happened, I knew some part of me still loved him. Buried under all the hatred, anger and sadness, I still loved Brant.
"So now you're the Black Swan's informer?" My voice was oddly hoarse.
"Yes. I started sending notes a month after I went back. Forkle kept sending them back. That's how they'd known when to come save Sophie."
I gulped down a sob as the emotion built up in my chest. Brant had always loved Sophie like she was a biological little sister.
"How can I still trust you?" I whispered. "I want to. But I can't."
Without saying anything, he took out a ring.
A hand flew up to my mouth. Two months before Brant had betrayed us, he'd proposed to me. We were 25 back then. I'd thrown the ring in his face when he revealed that he was part of the Neverseen.
Unintentionally, I leapt into his arms.
Just as quickly, he wrapped his arms around me as I endlessly sobbed into his shoulder.
"Why did you do it?!" I wept. "You could have died!!"
"I love you," was his only answer.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Sophie
Sophie gripped a dagger in her cloak nervously. She wasn't sure how Jolie would handle the situation, and she was worried.
"Hey," Keefe brushed back part of her hair and cupped her cheek. "Don't worry about it, okay? They'll be fine."
She nodded, leaning into his palm.
There was silence for a minute as they soaked up each other's presence.
"What do you say we take your mind off things for a while?" He suggested.
"What do you mean?" Sophie seriously hoped he didn't mean what she thought he meant.
Keefe jerked his chin towards the middle of the hall, curling a finger around her hair. "Don't act dumb."
"Please no," she pleaded. "I can't dance."
"Then I'll teach you."
"Um, no."
"No, seriously Foster, who taught you archery?"
Sophie wrinkled her nose, having lost the discussion.
"If I embarrass myself out there," she warned. "I'll blame it on you."
He chuckled. "I have no doubt you will."
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Sophie placed a hand on Keefe's shoulder as he put one of his on her waist.
He took her hand, taking the first step. Slowly, she followed, staring at her feet to make sure she didn't trip.
"Please tell me I'm not going to die of embarrassment," Sophie muttered under her breath.
"Look up, Foster."
She looked up. Only to met met swiftly with a kiss on the lips.
Sophie groaned. "Quit playing dirty."
"Did I?"
She glared at him, triggering a grin.
The hall fell silent as the music started.
It was like a complete dream. The lights from the chandeliers, the music and the dancing. If Sophie hadn't been a top spy, she would have utterly forgotten about the mission.
When the dance ended, Keefe pulled her into a hug, resting his chin on her head. "I love you," he whispered.
She smiled and whispered back, "I love you too."
She didn't feel like leaving the warmth of his arms.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
A/N: That totally wasn't considered a cliffhanger. Was it? (Don't answer that)
To: My two friends whom I have tagged in a comment above, you are totally not roping me into updating the next chapter next week. Remember, I can block you if I want to. I don't want to do it, but if the pestering continues, I will.
Edit: Really sorry again... to: (tags in comments) I didn't mean any of that to either of you, and you are really few of my closest friends ever, and I don't want to hurt the friendship between us, so... Let's just never talk about this again, I promise I'll try not to flare up like that again, I swear!!!!!!!! (forgive me please, I nearly cried of guilt when I read what I had done... TWTTTTT)I REALLY NEED TO FIND A BETTER CHOICE OF WORDS AND A BETTER WAY TO CONTROL MY EMOTIONS AND RECKLESSNESS.... ARGHHHH I'M SO SORRY
I'm updating LYF: SKO next week, I already have 2 oneshots prewritten (if only I wasn't interrupted by, ahem)
My mom's sitting beside me right now, I gotta go, so gonna make this quick.
QOTC:
Sokeefe, Wattpad, or your life?
My answer is simple, my life, 'cause Sokeefe and Wattpad are my life. ;)) *wink*
Okay, really gotta go, bye!!
Word count: 1701 words
~Alison_5201314
;))