"Mama? What are you doing?" Charlotte said, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"Shh, baby, it's alright. We're moving, that's all." Sophie cringed at the lie. It was not all. Charlotte was human. There was no way she would fit in at the Lost Cities. But Sophie was determined to make it work. After all, the only other option was letting her stay in an orphanage (Fin's place was not an option. Don't ask why.) and Sophie had developed a special bond with her.
"Charlotte, you know about the elves right?" Of course she did. The people who worked at her daycare blacked out for a minute, waking up screaming about elves, right after the toddlers had the same vision. Not to mention Sophie had told her everything about them when she manifested her new Conjuring ability.
"Yesh." Charlotte's eyes cleared, replaced with a new happy gleam. "Why, are we moving there?"
"...Yes." Sophie said. She picked Charlotte up, after sending all her belongings into the void. She got her letters ready (one for her boss, one for each of her colleagues, one for Amy, and Fin) which explained why she had to go. Well, they were all lies except for Amy's. She hated lying to people but sometimes, there wasn't a choice.
"Are we gonna do the twinkly light leapy thing?" Charlotte squealed.
"Yes, but let me put on a nexus first. Give me your hand, Char." Sophie took out her old nexus and clasped it onto Charlotte's. She was positively beaming now.
"Will I be able to shee Keefe? Will I? How about Biana? Can I kick Fitz until he bleedsh? And Tam! Can I talk to him and Linh?"
Sophie rolled her eyes, wondering why Charlotte wanted to kick Fitz.
"Let's go, it's still 6 in the morning, you should still be asleep." Sophie said, and dug out her home crystal. When she came to the Forbidden Cities, she debated on throwing it away, but decided against it.
It lit up to life.
This was it.
One step, and she would be home. But also a place where she had done a terrible thing.
Something that should never be forgiven. She didn't even know if they would accept her.
"Mama?" Charlotte asked, ruffling Sophie's hair. "C'mon! Lesh go! Lesh go!"
Her legs were all wobbly. But her heart and mind were for once syncing and moving as one.
And it pointed only to one direction.
.....................................................................................................
The sun blazed onto Sophie. God, she had forgotten how sunny it was in the Lost Cities.
Havenfield was as gorgeous as ever, and Charlotte gaped at it. Sophie laughed at her reaction. But Grady was no where to be seen. Neither was Edaline.
She walked over to the house (with an insane Charlotte screeching her head off) and knocked.
No answer.
Now quite alarmed, she pushed the door open (it was unlocked) and ran inside.
The room was messy. But not with garbage. It was with clothes. As if Biana had had a whole fashion show here.
"Meshy." Charlotte crinkled her little nose as if she was smelling something odd.
Sophie kept moving forward. She kicked something accidentally, and reached down to pick it up. It was a phoenix-like-bird with it's wings spread out.
Mr. and Mrs. Endal. It said. Slightly above, in tinier fonts, Linh and Wylie was carved out in cursive.
Sophie let out a tiny shriek. They were getting married!
Charlotte took one look at it too and began fangirling.
"I think itsh today!" Charlotte said. "No one's home."
There was a sudden bang; the sound of a door flying open. Sophie instinctively grabbed Charlotte and hid under the nearest table.
"Who's there?" A familiar voice growled. Sophie slowly put Charlotte down, trusting her wobbly legs to support her as she stood up.
She was found face to face with Grady.
Every emotion swirled inside Sophie. Happiness, sadness, longing, regret, despair, guilt.
Grady shakily took Sophie's hand as if he wanted to test if she was real. Then, he wrapped her in a big hug.
"Sophie." He said, voice cracking on the word. "My beautiful, wonderful daughter. You... you've come back."
"Of course I did." Sophie said, swallowing back her flood of emotions. Truth was, when she left, she had planned on never coming back. But those were under different circumstances.
And looking at the tear-stained cheeks, she had probably done the right thing.
They stood like that for a couple of minutes, neither of them saying a word to the other. It was a silent understanding. Each taking their time to comprehend.
"Well, leave it to you to come back on the most important day of the century." Grady chuckled. "It's Linh and Wylie's wedding, kiddo! Oh wait, maybe I'm not supposed to call you that anymore. It's been seven years, Sophie. Seven years since we last met. And I never forgot about you. Not a single minute." He wiped a tear from his eye. "And now, look at you. A beautiful woman. All grown up on her own."
He crashed into her with a hug again, and Sophie closed her eyes, letting the tears spill. "No. I wouldn't be the same girl I am today if it weren't for you, dad. No matter how old I get, I will forever be your kiddo."
He remained silent for a while. "Edaline's gonna kill me." He mumbled eventually. "I told her I'd come back just to get the object, you know, the one you're holding," Sophie blushed as she handed it back to him, "but it's been fifteen minutes already."
Sophie was about to reply when she felt a slight tug at the end of her skirt. She looked down and saw Charlotte. She seemed confused.
"Whash going on?" She asked in English. Curse you, Sophie thought, you forgot to teach Char the Enlightened Language!
Grady seemed confused too, but also a bit frustrated. "Who is this?" He asked, eerily quiet, barely a whisper.
"She's my daughter, Charlotte." Sophie said. Grady's face turned dark. "Oh, wait, no. I adopted her."
Grady smiled, looking relieved. He seemed considerably warmer towards Charlotte after that.
"And Charlotte," Sophie said in English, "he's your grandfather."
Charlotte stared back at Sophie in awe. "Wh-what? That handshome guy? He looksh about your age!"
Sophie laughed. "No, remember when I told you Elves are immortal?" Charlotte nodded, looking gloomy.
"And I'm not." She muttered. Sophie picked her up and began tickling her stomach.
"Uh, guys," Grady said, smiling slightly, "as much as I love this, the wedding can't wait. Neither can Eda. So can I just, you know, go and let you guys change for the occasion? I'll leave you guys a leaping crystal. If I don't... well, let's just say I'm still too young to die, even in human years."
Sophie laughed, "okay, sure. We'll be there in a bit. But is it okay for us to go? I mean, we're not invited or anything."
Grady rolled his eyes. "Of course, kiddo. You'll be a surprise, awesome gift- er, guest. Guess what, Tam even went looking for you to the Lost Cities, Zan Fiengo, the place you lived before Fitz found you I'm pretty sure, but came back empty-handed. We were all so very disappointed."
Sophie muffled her snort with a cough. So that's why Tam was there in San Diego. Once again, it was because of her. She would have to tell them about this later.
Grady looked at her weirdly before giving her a crystal. "You can wear Eda's clothes, I'm sure she has lots of good ones. But don't wear anything too, er, exposing, you don't want any unwelcome stares! And that lovely lady can wear Jolie's old clothes." He grinned at Charlotte, and leapt away after that.
.....................................................................................................
Puffy dresses everywhere, all in every colors ever invented.
The only dress with reasonable amounts of frills were a fitting black dress, which was very tiny. It stuck to the body, as if it was transforming into it. The skirt (it didn't look like one though) didn't even go to the knees, and, like the rest of the dress, stuck onto the leg. The curves were highlighted and her legs looked longer than it actually was. The back also arched down way too low, and the neckline came down too. Sophie looked at herself in the mirror, thinking no way she was wearing this, but Grady hailed her and told her to hurry up, making her give up on all hope she had of dresses.
Sophie quickly brushed her hair, put on makeup, and worked on Charlotte. She found a cute light pink dress which made Charlotte look like a baby Disney princess (which Charlotte was elated about) and her hair was tied in pigtails.
They quickly leaped over to where the wedding was held.
And oh boy, it was magnificent.
A waterfall was in the middle, where the bride and groom would walk over to, and huge pebbles were decorating the whole place. Blue and turquoise flowers were everywhere, even in the sky. Tiny, furry animals were also there.
Linh.
Everything about this place screamed Linh.
Lucky her for marrying a husband who apparently didn't care what to have unless there were things Linh wanted. No wonder Tam gave them his approval. Or so Sophie thought, because if he hadn't, he wouldn't be there right now.
He looked handsome as ever in a black suit. Looking at him reminded Sophie of his pictures in the newspapers and she cracked up. Charlotte did, too.
They were attracting stares. And, stupid Sophie, she didn't think of the consequences.
"Oh my god."
The whispers had begun.
"Is that Sophie Foster?"
"The Sophie Foster? The one who-"
"YES! Don't say that out loud..."
"Glad you made it." Sophie turned around and found Grady gaping at her. She blushed immediately. Her dress was awfully tiny. "What in the world are you wearing?"
"Edaline's clothes." Sophie whispered. She had on long, black boots. At least this covered her skin.
He grunted, walking away.
But he was soon replaced with a stampede of people.
The collective.
People from Foxfire Sophie barely knew.
And... her friends.
Forget about mascara, she was going to break down in three, two, one...
Warm hands wrapped around her, welcoming her back again.
"Sophie." Edaline said. "Sophie Sophie Sophie."
Edaline broke down on her shoulders.
But everyone's voices were louder than her howls.
Let the 1st annual Break-Sophie's-Ears begin!
Hi!
So, I just realized I forgot to publish the whole chapter. Sorry!
SilverFox out :D