Sophie was so happy that Fitz was with her to help her through the death of her beloved friend, Iggy.

It was dark, but Sophie didn't want Fitz to leave. She wasn't sure she could face the dreams, the nightmares, the monsters without him. So, she plucked up her courage, dragged Fitz down the stairs, straightened her shoulders , and said, "GradycanFitzsleepwithmetonightsoIdonthsvrbaddreams?"

"Woah... what?" Grady said, a confused expression plastered on his face.

"Um... I was hoping that because of the.... events of today, Fitz could sleep with me to comfort me. Maybe?" Sophie said, looking at Grady with a hopeful expression. She knew Grady had agreed to it earlier, but she didn't know if he had changed his mind after it really happened.

Grady stares at her with a hard, stern look before moving his eyes to Fitz.

Sophie and Fitz's hands were intertwined and Sophie could feel the sweat coming from his palms as Grady looked at him.

After a solid minute of silence, Grady beckoned Fitz to follow him.

Fitz gave Sophie a peck on the cheek — which Grady glared at and shook his head in disapproval — causing Sophie's face to mimic a tomato.

Sophie took a seat at the kitchen table,  preparing herself to be bored for the next four, maybe five days.

Thankfully, Grady had led Fitz in the living room for their talk so Sophie could eavesdrop without being seen. 

Sophie walked over to the thin wall separating the rooms and sat down to listen.

"Fitz," Grady said, "my daughter is important to me, as you know. I know that you wouldn't hurt her, but I have to make sure. I can't loose her."

Sophie felt gratitude swell in her chest. Grady was just a big, overprotective father with good intentions.

"I promise I am not here to hurt your daughter or crush her heart or any of that trash. I here to do the opposite of that, actually. She has been through way to much and seen to much blood and death for an ELF lifetime. I am just trying to give her some much deserved happiness."

"Your a good person, I know that Fitz. I don't want my daughter engaging in any sexual activity until she is married and at least 20. I understand that you have to have kids by 21, so I am giving you a month of leeway. Do not rush the relationship."

"I know, Grady. I have even already told her that. I will go whatever pace she sets, I promise."

"You have good answers, Fitz. And I trust you. But, just.... respect my daughter and don't hurt her feelings or her."

"Of course, Grady. I can promise that. You are a great father, what with watching over your daughter and everything."

Sophie smiled. Ever the charmer.

"I learned from experience," Grady sighed. "If I was more involved with Jolie's life..."

"You can't blame yourself for the events of the past. It isn't your fault and you did a great job raising Sophie for the past four years."

"Thanks Fitz. Well, it is pretty late, I will let you get to bed. But leave the door completely open."

"Okay," Fitz said and Sophie could hear him start to walk out of the room.

Quickly, she made a dash to the stairs and ran up into her room. Thankfully, she wasn't seen and nobody would know she was eavesdropping. Grady interrogated him much less than what Sophie would've thought.

Just a few moment later, Fitz entered the room.

"Eavesdropping?" he asked.

"I um, no! Of... of course I wasn't!"

"You're a terrible liar."

"That bad?" Sophie asked. Fitz nodded.

"It's okay, Princess, I don't mind."

Sophie arched an eyebrow. "Princess?" She asked playfully.

Fitz blushed immediately and went bright red. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Sophie burst out laughing, unable to contain the bubbling emotions inside her.

"I could care less what you call me, Fitz," Sophie said once she had regained her composure.

"Oh, really? What if I called you... turd brain!"

Sophie scrunched her nose and shook her head. "Anything but THAT."

"How about-" Fitz started, but Sophie interrupted him. "You want me to be your girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then you aren't going to finish that sentence."

Fitz smirked. "Okay."

Then he ran towards her and tackled her and she fell onto the bed behind her.

Fitz was on top of Sophie and pecked her nose.

Sophie smiled and brought her arms around Fitz pulling him closer to her.

They shared a brief kiss before Fitz pulled away. "Grady told me to leave the door open for a reason, you know."

Sophie pouted, disappointed that their kiss was cut short. "Whatever," Sophie grumbled.

Fits laughed and got off her.

Once Sophie got up to her feet, Fitz shoved her into her own closet. "Hurry up and get dressed in your nightgown," he said.

Sophie grumbled about being shoved into a closet by her boyfriend, but  got changed nonetheless.

Sophie really didn't understand why female elves had to wear such extravagant things to bed while males wore boxers. If didn't make sense.

Regardless, Sophie snuggled up next to Fitz and they shared a kiss that lasted about 45 seconds. It was slow and deliberate, as if they were both trying to get the most out of it. Which they honestly were. Even thought he kiss shared between them was fairly quick, it still set Sophie's nerves on fire.

It was a good, healthy kind of fire, though. The kind of heat that could only be shared by someone you deeply loved.

When they parted, Sophie spoke first. 

"What is our trust exercise for tonight?"

"Hmm... we know everything about each other: emotions, thoughts... everything but physical attributions, but I already know we aren't there yet."

Sophie nodded in agreement. She wanted to be married before she had ANY kids.

"How about we both have to do something the other person dared us to?" Fitz suggested. Sophie agreed and Fitz went first. "You have to... close your eyes without moving or saying nothing no matter what I do to you."

Sophie closed her eyes and waited.

She felt Fitz's hands sit comfortably at her waist. Then they slowly trailed up to her face and cupped her cheeks. Fitz kissed her slowly and gently. Sophie couldn't kiss back though because she wasn't allowed to move.

Eventually Fitz withdrew and said: "your turn."

"Okay... you have to be my personal pillow for the night," Sophie said triumphantly.

Fitz chuckled but agreed. They threw the pillow if of her bed and Fitz laid sideways where the pillow would normally go.

Sophie smirked and violently threw her head back on Fitz's chest. Fitz's breath was knocked out of him and Sophie started laughing. 

"That's mean," Fitz whined, rubbing his chest. "I am going to have a bruise there tomorrow."

"Aww!! Is mister toughy having a problem?" Sophie teased.

Fitz glared at her and then Sophie laid back on her "pillow" and pulled the covers and blankets up to her chest. 

Before she turned the lights out, she gave Fitz a peck on the lips to make sure he wasn't actually mad at her, but when he smiled against her lips, she knew he wasn't holding any grudges.

Soon, they both fell asleep in each other's arms. Well, sort of. Sophie's head was on Fitz's upper chest and Fitz arm was around Sophie's shoulder/neck/chest.

—————————

It was noon the next morning - and not a happy one at that. Fitz and Sophie had explained to friends and family about Iggy and had many depressing, tearful conversations. The funeral was starting at 1:30 and Sophie still had no idea what to wear.

Obviously, she was going to wear green, I mean, that is what you wear to funerals here, but Sophie didn't feel like it celebrated Iggy enough.

Fitz knocked on her door and entered a second later in a fitted, green tunic and black pants. He looked rather dashing.

Fitz looked surprised when he saw Sophie. "You haven't changed yet?" he asked.

Sophie fiddled with her hands and looked at the ground. "No," she mumbled.

"I didn't mean that as a bad thing," Fitz said quickly.

"I know. It's just, I don't want to wear green. I love the color and everything, but... it's just that Iggy was a prt if my life and my life isn't 100% elvin. Plus, green seems to... happy."

Fitz nodded. "I understand, Sophie. I really do. You mentioned how your life isn't completely elvin. Well, did humans have any funeral traditions?"

Sophie's face lit up. "They did. We always wore black at funerals. I could wear something black."

Fitz smiled. "I knew you'd figure it out. I will wait out here while you go change."

Sophie nodded and locked her closet door behind her. She looked through her closet before finding a short, black dress she rather liked.

Sophie lived how it was elegant yet simple. It was really quite beautiful.

"Wow," Fitz breathed. "You look absolutely stunning."

"Thank you," Sophie said while blushing.

She slipped on her shoes and fitz guided her out not too far away from the Pankakes tree where the ceremony would take place. The Vackers, Ruewen's, Dex's family, Sophie's  friends, and the Redeks has shown up. So did Wylie and most member of the Black Swan. 

They were all seated in the 50 chairs placed, facing where Edaline, Grady, and her friends were standing in front of everyone. The chairs were split into two sections creating an aisle where Fitz and Sophie walked down. Fitz went to stand by her other friends once they had walked down the aisle while Sophie remained in the middle.

"I know having such an elaborate ceremony for a pet seems a bit stand, but Iggy was much more than a pet. He was a friend. He was the friend who I could always rely on to not judge me no matter what. He was a hero. When Dex and I were in that cave, Iggy ran for help. He was a comedian. He made me laugh no matter what mood I was in with his silly faces, crazy colors, and his buzzard noises. So for those of you here that are thinking that Iggy was just an Imp, your wrong. He was family. He was someone I loved. And it may seem silly to live an animal, but in the human world, living in animal is in fact quite normal. We all love the alicorns; how would it feel if those were taken away? It would be like a small part of the world faded and died. That's how your heart feels when you loose a friend."

Sophie pauses while she buried the seed and broke the glass of the bottle. "I want us to remember Iggy not for an Imp, but an equal being that was always there left neglected in the shadows. He was a hero, a friend, and family. He will not be forgotten and should not be forgotten. But let us celebrate the life and the legacy he has lived and not dwell in what could have been. The past is in the past, and we should only learn from it. Now, in memory of Iggy, who wants cake?"

Everyone looked at her blankly. Sophie chuckled. "Cake is a delicious human dessert that I made. Iggy was part of my life and my life is prt human. Hence why I wore a black dress instead of a green one. It is customary for humans to wear black to funerals. Cake is a human dessert and even though o have spent the past four years if my life as an elf, the human side of me is still very much alive. And as Iggy was part of me, we should also celebrate the human side of that."

Everyone cheered and clapped at her speech and soon they all went inside to have cake and ice cream.

She chatted with her friends, but ultimately spent he most time with Fitz, slowly dancing with him when the music was playing. She didn't know how to dance, but Fitz and Sophie simply swayed and didn't do much else.

She was exhausted  by the end of the day.

Fitz and Sophie crawled into bed hours later and Fitz gave her a long, deep kiss tonight which Sophie gladly returned. It was a sad day, but the kiss before her sleep was sure to improve her dreams.

Sorry, this was a pretty boring chapter. Anyway, I will update May 4th. That is a LONG ways away, but my next few weeks are jam packed. April is testing month for me, so after that, I should be able to update a little more frequently. Make sure to follow me to get teasers and sneak leaks at the next chapter. Also, mark you calendars or set an alarm so you remember when I am updating! Again, sorry it is such a long wait!!