Keefe's face grew it's usual smirk and he stopped walking, instead leaning closer to Sophie and into her face. 

"What was that, Mysterious Miss F?" he asked cockily. 

"I...um..." Sophie stuttered, her blush growing darker. What is with me lately?, she thought angrily. 

"Looks like I left you speechless." Keefe said, retreating from her personal space. He chuckled and continued walking down the stairs. 

"I-you-Keefe!" she sputtered, swelling in anger. 

She ran down the stairs in pursuit of him, but, well, Sophie running is never a good idea. She realized this as she tripped down the last stair and went tumbling towards the floor. 

"Ouch." she winced, pushing herself up from the floor and rubbing her arm where it hit the ground. 

Jk, jk. You really thought I would let her fall and Keefe not catch her?! What do you think I am? A monster?! Or worse.... a sofitz shipper? *shudder*      Anyways haha basically just ignore the sentence where Sophie got up from falling.

Right before she hit the floor, she felt a sturdy grip on her upper arms. 

"Falling for me, too? Gosh, Foster. No need to make it so obvious." Keefe smirked. Sophie flushed red and pulled her arms out of his grasp. 

"Yeah, right." she said sarcastically. 

"I'm just reading you emotions. Don't blame me." he said, his hands in a yielding position. Sophie grunted and walked outside, mumbling under her breath about 'stupid empaths'. 

"Uncle Fitz!" Alora shouted as soon as she noticed Fitz, Keefe, and Sophie come outside. 

"Hey kiddo!" he said, holding out his arms for her. She jumped into them, giving him an enormous hug. 

"What's up, Uncle Fitz?" Ashton called, jumping off of Wynn and walking over to them. 

"Just came to see my favorite god kids." Fitz grinned. 

"Actually, I think you mean god kid. Everyone knows Alora's your favorite." Ashton said, smirking. It looks just like Keefe's, Sophie thought to herself, her eyes softening. 

"That's totally untrue." Fitz said defensively, putting his hand on his heart. 

"Uh-huh." Ashton said, clearly unconvinced. He'd finally reached the group and patiently waited for Alora to unlatch herself from Fitz. Once she had, he gave him a hug. 

"So how's that girl? Have you asked her out yet?" 

"Uncle Fitz!" Ashton whined, blushing a deep shade of scarlet. Fitz laughed. Sophie shot Keefe a bemused look and he returned one.

"Fitz!" Elwin called from the house.

"Yes?"

"I'm finished with Kenric. Are you going to leave with me or should I swing by your house later?" 

"I'll come with you. I'll be up in a second." Fitz shouted back. He turned to Keefe and Sophie. "Well, that's my cue. I'll see you guys soon." he said smiling and kneeling down to hug Alora again. He hugged her and then stood back up to give Ashton a hug. 

"Bye, Fitz." Sophie said quietly. 

"Bye, Fitzy-poo." Keefe said, grinning. Fitz laughed and hugged both Keefe and Sophie, the latter blushing hard. 

Fitz gave her another baffled look before turning and jogging back the house. 

"Am I done babysitting Alora? Can I go back to my room now?" Ashton asked. 

"Sure." Keefe said. Ashton walked back towards the house. 

"We should go talk to Kenric." Keefe said, turning to Sophie. 

"But I want to play with the alicorns!" Alora proclaimed. 

"I'll stay with Alora, you go talk to Kenric." Keefe said. 

Sophie eyes flicked from Alora to Keefe to the house. I want to talk to Kenric, but I think this is a conversation Keefe needs to have, not me, she thought. 

"No. You go." Sophie said firmly.  

"But-"

"Keefe, this is something you need to do. Not me." she interrupted. He nodded, thankfullness in his eyes.  

"Okay." he responded.

"Are you going to tell him?" 

"I'm not sure." 

"Okay." Sophie said and Keefe gave her one last grateful look before leaving her with Alora. 

"Can we ride Silveny?" she asked excitedly. 

"Sure, sweetheart." 

Silveny, Sophie transmitted. 

Sophie! Alora! Sophie! Keefe! Alora! Keefe! Keefe! Alora! Alora!, she responded.

Looks like Silveny has a new favorite person, Sophie thought, chuckling to herself. 

Silveny trotted over to them and Alora squealed. 

"Silveny!" she shrieked. 

Sophie helped Alora on Silveny's back and then got on behind her. They flew around, with a lot of screaming on Alora's part and chanting on Silveny's.

"Can we get a snack now, mommy?" Alora asked after a while. 

"Mhmm." Sophie said and they got off of Silveny to go inside. Right before they got to the door, Sophie felt another unsettlement in her stomach. Not again, she thought. She leaned over and heaved up her breakfast. She dry-heaved twice more and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. 

"Are you okay, mommy?" Alora asked, concerned. 

"Yeah." Sophie said weakly. 

When they got inside, Alora ran straight to the kitchen. As Sophie went to follow her, she noticed an elf in a chair in the living room. He had his head in his hands and his body was shaking with silent sobs. 

"Keefe?" Sophie whispered, walking slowly over to him. 

He looked up at her, his face stained with tears and his eyes puffy and red. When she saw him, her heart broke. She rushed over and enveloped him in a hug. He burst into tears and Sophie rubbed his back. 

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly. 

He didn't answer, but instead shook his head. 

"Can I look at your memory?" she questioned softly. He nodded slightly and Sophie pulled away to put her fingers on his temples. 

She entered his mind. The first thing she saw was a memory of Fitz. The one right beside it was surrounded by a gold tint.

You still have the gold around the memories you don't want me to see? she transmitted. 

Yeah, I guess, Keefe thought to her.

The memory Sophie was looking for suddenly shot to the forefront of Keefe's mind, making it easy for Sophie to find. 

Are you sure?, Sophie asked, pausing right outside the memory.

Yes, he said firmly.

Sophie dove into the memory, surfacing in room with two boys. 

"Okay, Kenric. We need to talk." 

"I know." 

"What do you remember from yesterday?" 

"I remember arguing with Alora and her telling me she was going to murder me. Then, I told her to do it, and her eyes just kinda glazed over. She pulls a knife off the counter and comes at me with it. I remember feeling a lot of pain. That's about it." 

Keefe paused in the memory before responding.

"...Do you remember what my second ability does?"

"Yeah, of course. You can command people or whatever. Kinda like a mesmer." 

"Yes."

"What does that have to do with anything?" 

Kenric had a very distressed expression on his face. He looked like he knew exactly what Keefe was going to say, but wasn't willing to accept it.

"Kenric, we think you have my ability." 

"What?"

"That's why Alora stabbed you. You told her to do it and your ability kicked in."

"No. That's crazy." 

"I'm sorry, Kenric. I'm so, so sorry." 

"Can you leave for a while? I think I need to think things through." 

Keefe nodded and left. 

The memory ended.