'It was cold. The night breeze floated through the air, carrying with it charred ashes that were the only remains of the fire that had supposedly taken Sophie's life. No-one saw the anthem that night, so there was no way to tell. We all had to assume she was dead. She saved our lives, but then paid the price herself. No way to know. But we can all guess her fate.'

Keefe paused his mental diary. It was the only way to stay sane that long week without Sophie. Couldn't she have survived, for just one night more? One night with him? He could still remember the feel on his lips after they'd been pushed together, and the warmth of his hand on hers. He continued his mental monologue.

'I miss her more than I've ever missed anyone before in my life. If I could just have one more day with her... But I can't. She's dead. Gone. Forever. And it's my stupid fault. If only I had... Actually I don't know what I could've done. But I could've done something to save her. Sophie, if you're out there... Just come back to us.'

Keefe reluctantly got up and went to sit by the lake. It was cold, ice-cold, but the numbness felt good. It felt good to suffer, and stay connected with reality. It was also the place where he'd first kissed Sophie, as if he was expecting her ghost to fly across the lake. But that would never happen. He dunked his legs in, letting the goosebumps travel up his body and for the familiar numbness to set in. Someone coughed behind him.

Keefe turned around, and for a second could see a blonde girl, with beautiful chocolatey-brown eyes with the little flecks of colour in her iris that made him so happy. But then that second was gone and instead was replaced with the image of a brunette with teal eyes that he had once thought gorgeous. Now they were drab compared to what Sophie was. She was smiling at him, but it wasn't the same. It could've been anyone, but if it wasn't Sophie, Keefe didn't really care.

"We all miss her Keefe." He didn't reply, and stared past her into the forest that wasn't there. The one that had been destroyed. Biana drew him into a hug, but he didn't really feel it. He'd been the one who dragged her bleeding body away from the fire, but he couldn't help feeling that he'd saved the wrong girl.

Over Biana's shoulder, Keefe could see a figure, a young person, not much older than 15. It was just a shadow, blurred and faded and impossible to recognise until she stepped forward. Keefe gently pulled out of the hug to have a closer look, pinching himself hard when he recognised the figure. 

"Oh my..." He breathed before running towards the figure, arms out and tears coming to his eyes. "I thought you were dead." The girl, who was now recognisable as Sophie, smiled at him and laughed joyfully. Keefe embraced her and pulled her close, running his hand through her hair. Sophie leant forward and pushed her lips against his for a moment, as if teasing him, daring him to go on.  He was about to do that when Biana shuffled uncomfortably and tried to slide away. When Sophie noticed her, she told her:

"Don't get me wrong Soph, I'm glad to have you back. Do you just mind doing that somewhere I can't see you?" Sophie nodded as Biana squirmed uncomfortably. Sophie dragged Keefe over to the water, splashing him with water. He predictably retaliated by pushing her into the water. Eventually, dripping wet, they both climbed out laughing and smiling. 

"I missed ya Foster," Keefe said happily when they were both dry and sitting by the fire. Sophie laughed happily, making Keefe smile.

"I missed you too Keefe," Sophie replied, feeling guilty with the lie, because in reality she wasn't awake to miss him. She smiled through the rest of her greetings and reunions, but she couldn't focus because of everything Marrela had said. Keefe had distracted her for a bit, but she knew it wouldn't work out. Say she was the Moonlark, and supposed to be the Neverseen's arch nemesis, blah blah blah. What if she didn't want to be the Moonlark? She would just be a weapon, a genetic anomaly expected to fix everything and would probably fail. It felt like someone was manipulating her life if she was, and Sophie still wasn't sure she was.

"I don't want to be the Moonlark," she whispered into the air, struggling to hold back tears. She paced up and down, wriggled and fidgeted and played with her hair, but nothing distracted her from the revelations of earlier. "But I am the Moonlark," she whispered not long after. The memories she'd recovered with the psionpath, Marrela's theory, her human past; it all slotted into place. Like a jigsaw puzzle. She held the final piece, but she didn't want to put it in, accept that she was who everyone thought she was. But why didn't she? 

Because she didn't want to oppose the Neverseen? No, she hated them with every fibre of her being. Because she was too afraid? No, she wasn't afraid of hypocrites and bullies like them, and would willingly die to kill them. Because she was afraid she didn't know who she would turn into? Who she would become if she accepted her role? Yes. That was why. She was afraid she would become a monster. Manipulated from the shadows. Worse than the Neverseen. Stopping their cruelty to be replaced with someone even worse.

She wouldn't be the Moonlark until she knew what the picture would be. Because she was too afraid it would be unrecognisable from who she was now. Afraid that she would be the worst monster of them all.

AN

So yeah, lots of Sokeefe there. It's really cringy. Oh wow, I definitely was right to move on halfway through. Good on me! 10 more chapters left, it doesn't seem like long though it sorta is. But anyway, again I'm writing this pretty early before it comes out, so I can't wait to see your reactions. I'm really enjoying writing this story, and I can't wait for the final chapters. They'll have lots of action and'll be really fun. Anyway, I felt like I should start introducing Sophie as the Moonlark, though I think she'll struggle with acceptance for a while, maybe up until book 3. I don't know.

This chapter is dedicated to @marrela-redek for the usual, commenting and being really supportive and just stuff like that. And her fangirling for Marrela in the last chapter.  I appreciate every single one of you reading this you know. I really do. This is just thanking specific people for being that little bit extra than the normal fan.

1.4K reads!!!! WHAT!!!!! THAT'S 4 THOUSAND READS!!!!!!!!! OMG I AM SO HAPPY!!!!

I've had someone tell me that I spelt Marrela wrong, and that's probably true, but I spell Marrela with 1 l, and that's my personal preference. It's a name, and I spell it how I like, which is close enough to the real spelling, and I don't care if it's not the correct one. Maybe at a later point, I'll go through it with a fine tooth comb and change the spellings, but for now, I DON'T CARE!!!!!!!  Thank you for reading my rant, and I'm sorry if I upset the person who corrected me, I just really needed to get that out of my system. Thanks for correcting me anyway, but to be perfectly honest, I don't care how I spell Marrela.

Do you think I should add some Tiana and introduce Marrela to Dex to create Marrex? It's up to you. Anyway, thanks for reading this far. I reward you all with Mallowmelt!!!! Yummy. Anyway, bye for now!!!