last chap so i made it extra long (almost 5000 words) for u so sit back and relax folks xx 

Chapter Thirty

Sophie was surprised at the amount of sleep she was able to get despite the bundling of nerves constantly attacking her at every second. After waking up before all her friends, she clumsily stumbled over them until she reached the door to her bathroom, where she immediately locked herself in. The first thing she did was brush her teeth not once, but twice. She didn't know if it would do anything, but she just felt it necessary. 

She took most likely the longest shower she had ever taken in her life before changing into some casual clothing, the wedding wasn't until the afternoon so she had a few hours before she really had to focus on getting ready. For the past few days she found the way to calm her nerves was to remind herself of her favorite moments with Keefe. She thought that most of the memories that would come to mind would be from recent years, especially since they started dating, but instead her mind usually traveled to old memories from when her life seemed like it's biggest mess. 

"Look at you, wanting to ditch study hall. Some people might say I'm rubbing off on you--which is awesome, by the way." 

"I didn't mean now. But. . . come to Havenfield after school." She walked away before she could change her mind. 

"It's a date, Foster!" Keefe shouted, turning every head in the corridor and making her grit her teeth so hard her jaw hurt. "Looking forward to it."

She remember not being excited at all, especially with the events surrounding the interaction, but now looking back it almost made her smile. She almost wished she could go back in time and tell her younger self everything she knew about Keefe now, what an impact he would have on her. How much she should treasure him. 

But she also knew if it wasn't for those moments, she wouldn't be there thinking about them at the moment. 

A knock at the door interrupted her thinking and she opened it to reveal a yawning Linh, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Sorry, we all thought you bolted and got worried." 

Sophie chuckled. "I'm sorry, leaving Keefe at the altar is going to have to wait for the altar to be set up. Speaking of, I need to go downstairs and see my mom. You guys are free to use my bathroom." She smiled at her friend before making her way towards the kitchen where Edaline and Della frantically moved about each other. 

"Good morning, Sophie," Edaline greeted, giving her daughter a smile once she noticed her. "Is there anything you need? I was just about to go up and wake you and your friends up." 

Sophie asked, "Do you know where dad is?"

"He's outside helping set everything up with the gnomes," Edaline answered. "Don't take too long, the second we get everything we're making today into the oven, we're gonna start helping you and the girls get ready." 

Sophie started to make her way towards Calla's tree, where she knew everyone was working tirelessly to set everything up, but instead she decided to take a quick detour in a different direction. Even as an adult being in the cave still made her slightly queasy, remembering the horrible memories. Still, she decided to sit in the sand and stare at the water the Neverseen had once used to convince the general public her and Dex had died. Her kidnapping was so long ago, but as she stood there she could still remember everything clearly. 

To try and calm herself down she tried to think of happier moments. Her mind flashed to the first time her and Keefe tried to leave a note to the Black Swan themselves, trying to take things into their own hands. 

Their laughter echoed off the cave as they tucked the note into place. 

"Come and get it!" Keefe shouted, tossing a handful of sand like confetti. Then he stood there waiting, like he expected a dwarf to pop out of the ground any second. 

"A watched pot never boils," Sophie told him. 

"Wow. That might win the prize for the most boring expression ever." 

Sophie tossed sand at his head and he chased her back up to the house, earning more eye rolls from Sandor, and amused stares from Edaline. 

Sophie smiled as the memory replayed in her head. She tossed around the sand in her hands before hearing a step behind her and immediately jumping up, her heart pounding in her chest. She almost laughed once she realized who it was. "Sandor!" she shouted happily, pulling her old bodyguard into a hug. Once she reached the elite towers, and the problem with Neverseen went away, he was excused of his duty. "I didn't know you could make it."

"Miss. Foster, I could never miss such an important day in not only your life but your fiance's as well." Sophie smiled, she just knew the second Keefe knew that Sandor made it he would make a big scene about Gigantor being a big softy for weddings and love. 

Speaking of, she asked, "Is Grizel here with you?" 

Sandor grinned, and it warmed Sophie's heart. "She's with your father helping."

"I was about to head in that direction," Sophie told him, standing. "Why did you come here?"

"I spent years as your bodyguard, I know all your tricks," he replied simply before walking back with her towards the area she would soon be walking down the aisle in. 

"You seem relaxed," Sophie commented. 

"I'm always looking out in case of trouble, but I'm also confident in our new world peace. Especially because you specifically worked so hard at it." 

Sophie wasn't able to reply as they found Grady speaking with a gnome as Grizel helped lift a few objects into different placement. Grady turned to them as they walked over. "Sandor, it's nice to see you again," Grady greeted with a grin. Sandor simply nodded in reply. Grady looked to Sophie. "Aren't you supposed to be getting ready right now?" Grady looked around for the time. 

Sophie told him, "I wanted to check on everything out here before it was too late to come out here." She looked at the beautiful set up that her parents spent the last few weeks setting up. "It's breathtaking."

"Hey, each of the girls worked out some presents and put me in charge of something for you, so I'm going to have to pull you aside," Grady stated. He informed the gnomes he would return quickly to finish helping before pulling her towards the house. "Syden told us about a human tradition. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."

Sophie's eyes widened. "I just barely mentioned that to her in one of our first ever conversations, I can't believe she remembered. It's supposed to be a good luck thing."

They walked through the doors and Grady waved Edaline over. "What's going on?" Edaline questioned. 

"I was talking to her about the human tradition," Grady told his wife before turning to Sophie and telling her to follow after them. They reached the room where they kept all of Jolie's old things, and Sophie's eyes widened. 

"Wait, you guys really don't have to do this," Sophie protested immediately. 

Edaline reached in a certain pile and pulled out a tiny, round black box Sophie had seen before but never bothered opening. "We wanted to give this to Jolie for her wedding gift, but she left us too soon. When Syden asked us if we would take over something old, it was a no brainer this was the something old to give you." 

"This has to be too special," Sophie continued to protest, yet couldn't help but reach out and take the box. She was curious on what was inside. She opened the box and couldn't help the tears that formed in her eyes when she noticed it was a charm shaped like an infinity sign. 

"We were hoping it would help show that we believed that she was making the right decision and backed her up, that we hoped for her that she and Brant would last infinitely." Grady's voice reached a slight edge with Brant's name, but otherwise was full of restrained emotion. 

"Are you sure?" Sophie asked once more, looking at her parents in wonder. 

"If we weren't, we wouldn't have shown it to you," Edaline stated, taking action and attaching the charm to Sophie's bracelet herself. Sophie held up her arm and smiled at the almost completely full charm bracelet. It had been a while since anything was added, and it was a reminder why. 

"Thank you," she said before pulling both of them into a tight hug. "I love you both so much."

"Come on, your father needs to finish setting up and we need to make you look even more beautiful than you already are." She gave Grady one last quick hug before following her mother to her bedroom, where her friends had gotten dressed into the casual clothes they had packed as well. 

"Did you give it to her?" Biana asked, practically bouncing in excitement. 

Edaline let out a light laugh and nodded her head. "Yes, it's your turn Biana." 

She let out a loud squeal and ran to her overnight bad before pulling something out. "Okay so after something old comes something new," Biana started, making her way towards a waiting Sophie. Sophie grinned at her friend's excitement, it didn't surprise her Biana had taken over something new. "Okay, open it." She held out a gift. 

Sophie slowly unwrapped it and her eyes widened. "Wait... this is the-"

"I know," Biana interrupted, giving her a cheeky smile. "I knew you wouldn't get it yourself, but I also saw you eyeing it at my store. Immediately I knew I just couldn't sell it. It's one of a kind, and I was hoping you'd like it enough to let me put it in your hair. I have the perfect idea, it'll fits the aesthetic of your wedding dress!"

Sophie laughed and pulled Biana into a hug. The last time she had been to Biana's store, so her and Keefe could try on their wedding rings and make sure they fit, she had admired the hair piece. It was silver and embroidered in little tiny diamonds, yet still looked elegant and beautiful. Sophie had almost bought it, but she caught herself being slightly insecure and found herself instead placing it back on display, deciding it couldn't be her style. 

"Am I allowed to know who has the other ones?" Sophie asked everyone standing around. 

"We can tell you it's none of us," Marella offered. "All of us wanted to do something new, so it became up to whoever found something new first. Biana won." 

"You guys really didn't have to do this," Sophie said, looking to Syden. 

"I looked into human traditions. It's supposed to be lucky," Syden replied before looking at the time. "Wow, it's getting pretty into the day. We should probably all start getting ready. We want to be ready with at least hair and makeup before the flower girl gets here so that we can help her." Sophie was excited about her flower girl, she hadn't seen Wylie in a long time which meant she especially hadn't seen his daughter Cosi. 

"Well, I'm going to do Sophie hair if someone wants to do her makeup," Biana said. "I've been giving makeovers for years, so it shouldn't take me too long to get her situated and me situated in time." 

"I can help with makeup," Marella stated. "I like to think I'm pretty good at it." 

"Sophie, we're going to need you finished first so that you have time to go over everything. Rehearsal yesterday went great, but it's a just in case thing," Syden said, going to her bag so she could grab everything she brought to work on her hair and makeup.

"Okay," Sophie replied, but it was all she could reply as Biana and Marella practically started attacking her. Every so often Marella would give a request, but mostly Biana and Marella chatted with each other, Biana giving instructions on certain shades to use that would suit the dress and the way her hair would be laying. It felt like forever by the time the two finally released her, but it had only been forty minutes. Most of the time was taken up by Biana, as Marella had already excused herself to work on herself. 

"Hey, Soph, there's someone you need to see downstairs," Edaline stated as she helped Amy with her hair. Amy wasn't a bridesmaid, so Edaline decided to help her get ready a bit quicker so she could be downstairs to help Grady greet any guests who arrived early. 

"Okay," Sophie replied before making her way downstairs. She grinned as she found Fitz standing in the kitchen helping his mom move something onto the table filled with appetizers. "Hey," she greeted, making her way over to them." 

Fitz eyes widened. "Oh my gosh."

"What?" Sophie asked, confused. Suddenly she remembered that Biana and Marella had spent the last half hour attacking her face and hair. "Oh my gosh, does it look that bad?" 

"No," Della immediately shut down, running over to pull her into a hug. "You look breathtaking, Sophie." 

A small blush reached her cheeks as she replied, "Thank you." Then she turned to Fitz. "What are you doing here?" 

"I'm your something borrowed," he answered with a grin. 

"You are?" Sophie asked, shocked. She hadn't realized that Syden would ask the boys to do something too. 

Fitz nodded. "Yep, follow me, m'lady." He tilted his head forward jokingly and Sophie chuckled as she followed him towards the couch. "Okay, so Syden wanted us to make them useful for the wedding, and this isn't exactly useful for the wedding but maybe for after. It took me a little time to think about it, but I've decided to let you borrow this." He handed her a small black cube. 

She took it from him and stared at it, puzzled. "What is this?" she questioned, weighing it in her hand. 

"I don't know if it has a name, Dex gave it to me," Fitz told her. "If you press that button," he pointed, "it'll project a screen that has infinite amounts of human movies. In case you ever want to have a movie night. Remember I'm the something to borrow, though." He winked at the end. "I'll definitely want it back."

"Why do you have a cube to show human movies?" Sophie asked, confused. "You barely speak English." She pressed the button and a human movie that she recognized was playing in a foreign language was playing. "I know for a fact you don't speak French."

"It's a nice way to get to learn about the human species," Fitz replied. 

"Movies dramatize everything, but it's cool that you're interested. I just didn't think you would, I know Dex grew up watching these movies with his mom though. It doesn't surprise me he'd make something like this to make watching them easier." She smiled as she pressed the button and the projecting screen went away. 

"I heard my name," Dex said, making his way through the door. She acknowledged he had a hand behind his back and it confused her. "Sorry, I didn't knock."

"It's fine," she replied. "What are you doing here early?" She eyes his hidden arm. 

Dex grinned and moved his hand in front of him, showing her what he was holding behind his back. "I was your something blue." 

Sophie jumped up and ran over to get a closer look at the newly dyed Iggy. Dex hadn't dyed him since he turned him green when Sophie and Keefe first got together. She ran a finger over the soft blue curls on Iggy's body. "He looks so cool," Sophie acknowledged, grinning. "Do you ever think you're going to dye him back to grey, though?"

"Probably not," Dex told her. "You know he likes being dyed."

Sophie could protest as she looked at the Imp. "Where his cage?" She asked. 

"It's still at your apartment, I decided to quickly show Iggy to you for your surprise before going back and grabbing the cage to bring it to my house."

"How's Keefe?" she asked, figuring if Dex was at the apartment he had to have seen him. 

"I don't know," Dex replied. "He was showering when I came in." 

"He knows he has to be here in an hour, right?" she rhetorically asked, not expecting an answer as she rolled her eyes. 

"I'm sure Mr. Foster will be here in time. He's not stupid enough to miss his own wedding day," Fitz spoke up from behind her, reminding her he was there. 

Sophie nose crinkled at the name. "Mr. Foster sounds weird, please don't ever call him that again." 

"Well, it's not like you're inkling to be Sophie Sencen any second now," Dex stated. "Keefe is more than happy to take your name and get rid of his." 

"Yeah, but hearing it sounds weird."

Her mind flashed to when she first learned that elves didn't take their name based on the husband, but rather what statement the couple was trying to make. 

"Sencen comes from my dad. Can't wait to ditch that someday." 

"So then how do people decide which last name gets used?" Sophie asked. 

"It's up to each couple," Della told her. "In my case, Vacker was such a legendary name that it was only natural for me to take Alden's. But the Heks name is from Vika's side of the family. It generally comes down to which name holds more distinction."

"Or what message the couple is trying to send," Mr. Forkle added. "I suspect Juline went with the Dizznee because she wanted people to know she wasn't ashamed of her husband, even if the matchmakers didn't approve their marriage."

All Sophie could say to that was "Huh." 

She remembered hoping that if she got married, her husband would be okay if she kept her human name, as she couldn't imagine letting the name go. Now it wasn't about her, it was about the fact Keefe was patiently waiting to shed the name given to him by birth. She knew he hated his upbringing and wanted no reminder, but she also knew that he was the one to hand deliver his father an invitation to their wedding. 

"Well, you guys should get ready and everything," she stated. "I have some stuff I need to get done before Keefe gets here and I have to make my escape and change myself." 

"Okay, and by the way, did I mention that you look amazing?" Dex grinned at her. "Keefe is going to be speechless."

"That's what Biana and Marella were going for when they dolled me up. Now shoo," she waved them away and the two boys laughed as they exited the house. She went to the kitchen where Della was and helped out in the kitchen for a few minutes until Edaline returned. 

"Sophie, I need you to go out there and give this list to your father," she ordered. 

Edaline took the slip of paper. "What is it?"

"Last minute things to buy," Edaline told her. "It's nothing super important, but stuff that's definitely nice to have for the reception."

Sophie decided not to read the list, knowing it would give her anxiety if she knew what was missing. She simply nodded her head and went outside to deliver the list. "Oh, hey, looks like I'm on time." She jumped, startled as she ran straight into Wylie. His wife, Mariam, stood next to him holding their daughter. Cosi looked adorable dressed up in a puffy white dress with little blue emblems sporadically placed around. When Sophie went to the store she immediately knew that was the perfect flower girl dress and bought it in Cosi's size, which Mariam had previously given to her. 

"Oh she looks beautiful," Sophie said, grinning with tears in her eyes. 

"She's really excited, aren't you, Cosi?" 

Cosi nodded, grinning at Sophie. "You look pretty Auntie Sophie." 

"Well you look prettier," Sophie told the small toddler. "I have to give something to my dad, but all the bridesmaids are getting ready upstairs in the house." She looked to Wylie specifically. "I don't recommend you go in there since not everyone is ready yet, but it's good that she meets everyone considering I'm not sure she has talked to them in a while. She knows Marella is walking her down, right?" 

"Of course," Wylie replied. 

"Oh, and you're prepared to walk down the ring bearer, right?" Sophie questioned. 

"Yes, I'm prepared."

"Thank you so much!" she shouted at them as she ran over to the area. "Dad!" She tried to get Grady's attention. 

"What's up buttercup?" She held out the note to him and he looked through it. "I'm going to have to have the boys take over this once they get here," he muttered, sighing. "There's so much to do in such little time. Speaking of, I see makeup and hair but no dress. You need to get changed so we can take pictures before Keefe gets here." 

"Okay, I love you dad." He echoed her words as she walked back to the house. It felt as if she had been going back and forth all day, and she was excited to sit inside her room and not move. Of course that didn't happen, as the second she returned her anxious bridesmaids rushed her into getting into her dress. 

After she put the dress on she stood, looking in the mirror. Vertina appeared in the corner, and gasped. "I hate to say it, but you look breathtaking," the mirror told her. 

Sophie smiled. "It suddenly feels real," Sophie told Vertina. "I'm ready to just get it over and done with. I can't believe within the next two hours I'm going to be married." 

"Well, believe it sister," Biana said, entering the room. Everyone had left Sophie a little privacy after she got dressed, but Sophie knew there was now only an hour until the wedding began. "The boys got here and Grady shipped them off to go to a few stores and quickly buy some stuff so we need to quickly get some pictures of you before they get back." 

Sophie nodded and followed her outside and over to the altar set up. "Where are all the early guests?" Sophie asked. 

"We asked them to stay around the caves before the wedding begins, so that they don't touch anything," Grady answered. 

"This looks beautiful. You guys have outdone yourself," Sophie said, acknowledging the gnomes who had been helping for months now to make the area perfect. "If only Calla was here to see this." 

After her words things got quiet for a moment before they took a few pictures. "The boys are coming back," Edaline said, now wearing a long green gown that Sophie couldn't take her eyes off, as it was so beautiful. 

"Eddy, you look fantastic," Sophie heard Grady say as her bridesmaids surrounded her to make sure even if they walked by the boys, she would not be seen. 

"This is ridiculous," Sophie said, but she was still laughing. 

"Thirty minutes until showtime," Biana stated. "Are you ready?" 

"I don't think I'll ever be," Sophie replied. "But I'm definitely as close as can be."

As her bridesmaids started to make their way to the aisle to lead her way through, Sophie's mind flashed to when she was five. Usually she associated five with the age she received her telepathy, but before that there was a time where she was five and almost normal. 

She remembered one day she dressed up and tried to put on her human mother's high heels and walked through the living room, telling her human father that he had to get out of the way so she could get through the 'aisle' properly. Her father laughed as she set up one of her old stuffed animals as her groom, and he had picked her up reminding her that it was a father's job to walk his daughter down the aisle so if she was pledging her life to Mr. Cuddles, the name of the poor teddy bear groom, he would have to be invited. 

Then her mother came in and scolded her for stealing her heels. It was only a week later that things changed and she was suddenly not normal anymore. 

But as she stood there, holding her breath as she watched all her friends walk ahead, Marella grinning as she held Cosi to her hip, Cosi tossing flowers out of a small basket, she couldn't help but think about how thankful she was for the change. How thankful she was that she wasn't a normal human. But she was especially thankful, because despite that, she could still feel like one as Grady made his way beside her and took her arm. 

"You ready?" Grady gently asked her. 

"Don't let me fall," she simply replied, making her adopted father laugh. Thinking of her human parents, the people who raised her for the first twelve years of her life, made her feel slightly depressed. She knew she made the right decision in erasing her existence from their brains, but in that moment all she could think was she wished they could be there. 

But even if they weren't, she was happy with Grady being by her side. "I'm going to puke," she said as Grady started to lead her out. 

He chuckled slightly. "You know, I'm proud of you," he told her as they stopped for just a moment, to make sure the Wylie, holding the ring bearer, made it to the front before they continued walking. "And I hope you know that even though I wasn't too keen on Keefe when you were younger, I'm proud of him as well and I'm so happy you chose him as my new son-in-law." 

"Don't make me cry, I can't look ugly until after it's too late for him to go back," Sophie said, stifling a sob. 

Grady rubbed his temples. "So. . . Keefe Sencen?" 

"What about him?" 

Sophie thought about her parent's intuition. She remembered how after hanging out with Keefe just a few times, Grady knew that he was the one she'd be with. They really did know before she did. 

Suddenly she was in the present once more, and she was moving without realizing. She heard a faint gasp, and the first few guests sitting in seats lined at the back, had seen her. She couldn't see up ahead just yet, and that meant Keefe couldn't see her yet either. "Is it too late to elope?" Sophie asked Grady. 

He simply let out a light chuckle as they finally made a breakthrough. The aisle was clear, and in human tradition everyone stood to their feet. Sophie looked through the crowd, smiling at faces. Some mutual friends between Keefe and Sophie through the elite towers, family friends, and black swan members. Most of the council members made the decision to attend, surprising Sophie, so she took the extra moment to nod towards them. She grinned at her old mentors, taking an extra moment to smile at Sir Tiergan who she hadn't had the chance to speak with in a while. 

Seeing Prentice perfectly healthy was a huge moment for her, and next to him was Elwin. She hadn't needed the doctor in a long time, and a small part of her missed the visits to his office. She looked around at all the faces, people who changed her and others who simply were around enough to make her feel something. 

Then lastly she gave into the temptation and gave a final glance, locking eyes with the person who made everything in her life worth it. 

"You must be lost." 

The boy's deep voice brought her out of her trance. He wore a green Level Four uniform, and was sprawled across a bench, watching her with curious, ice blue eyes. 

She blinked, noticing the hallways were stark white now. "How did you know?"

He smirked. "It's the middle of session. Either you're lost, or you're ditching--and clearly you're not ditching." 

"Why couldn't I be ditching?" she asked, not exactly sure why she was arguing. 

"Are you?" 

"No," she admitted. 

His lips twisted into a crooked grin. "You're the new girl, aren't you?" 

She sighed and nodded. 

"I'm Keefe." 

Looking into those ice blue eyes, she remembered the first time she saw them. She was a different Sophie then. He was a different Keefe then. Now she stared into his eyes, walking down an aisle, ready to give herself to him for the rest of her life. And she wouldn't have it any other way. 

---

the end. 

stay tuned for an epilogue, sequel announcement, and other bonus content that i'll be posting tomorrow. no chapter questions, just wanna hear your thoughts on the story and it's ending. excited for you to hear about what's coming next :)