~If Fitz had to describe Sophie's mind, he would call it a secret oasis. He was one of only two people who could get inside and see the beauty of it all.

It was Fitz's turn to belay, and once he was in, he walked around a bit, visiting his favorite parts before even considering getting ready for the mind belay like he was suppose to. Fitz made his way over to the spot where the memory of when they first met rested. He had found it in a training exercise once, and had made an effort to remember the way to it. Of course, Fitz hadn't forgotten one moment of it, but there was something special about watching it with his own two eyes through Sophie's.

Next, Fitz looked at the memories of their telepathy sessions, and smiled at the progress they had made. They had come a long way, and he didn't want to stop now. At the beginning, she had been hesitant about him being in her head, but now, she trusted him enough to go into her deepest memories.

Remembering the task before them, Fitz closed his eyes and held out his hands. He began to imagine happy memories being spun into a thick rope, as he had been trained to do. Fitz thought about when Biana was born, when he won his first game of base quest, and meeting Keefe.

Fitz opened his eyes to see a thin string in his hands. Frowning, he closed his eyes again and concentrated harder. He focused on acing his Foxfire exams, and finding Sophie. Suddenly, the string in his hands felt a bit heavier. He stopped concentrating to look at the work-in-progress rope in his hands. It was thicker, but not strong enough to hold him.

He deducted that the rope got thicker either by thinking about his exam grades, or Sophie. Fitz decided to try focusing on Sophie first, because if his happiest memories were getting good grades, then he really lived a sad, pitiful life.

Fitz thought about finding her and how proud he was that he could do what Alvar couldn't. He thought about playing on the same team in basequest, and their telepathy sessions. He thought about going against her in splotching matches and when they first became cognates. Fitz focused on arriving at Havenfield and helping her tie her vest. He thought about how their cognate drawers were going to work out, and how part of his room would smell like Sophie, not like it didn't already. Most of all, Fitz thought about how happy he was to have her in his life.

Before he knew it, a sturdy rope of positive energy formed in his hands, and he beamed when he saw it. Somehow thinking about Sophie had made the rope, which could be explained by one of two things. One: it was Sophie's mind, so maybe memories with Sophie was the only kid of positive energy that could be used for building a belay rope, or two: he was happiest when he was with Sophie. Fitz pushed aside the options for now, and transmitter to her proudly, "I did it! I made a full rope!"

His mind tingled when he heard her warm mental voice all around him. "That's great, Fitz! See if it's good for belaying. If it breaks, I'll force you out before you fall too far down as a safety precaution, okay?"

When mind belaying, it was possible for the rope to break, and for the climber to fall. If the climber fell too deep, they wouldn't be able to get out without a new rope and serious rescue mission from someone else entirely. In their case, wouldn't be an easy fix since Sophie's mind was technically impenetrable.

"Okay, good idea. I'll let you know before I start to climb."

"Okay," Sophie transmitted back before both of their minds fell silent.

Fitz tied the rope he had just made around his waist so tightly that it was uncomfortable, and tied it to a positive memory that he was sure wouldn't budge before he made his way over to the deep pit that Sophie had all of her memories stored in. Slowly, he sat down and edged himself onto the jagged, crystal like walls of the pit.

As he began to climb down, he half watched the memories that were reflected in the material he clung to go by. They were little, not very important memories, like going to school or bathing the exotic animals that Grady and Edaline worked to rehabilitate, but Fitz still found them interesting. Somehow, Sophie saw the world a little bit brighter than most people.

Fitz was about to find a new foot and hand hold, when he saw Valin dancing with Sophie in a ball room, with Keefe in the background, dancing with a teacher he didn't know the name of. When was that? Fitz decided to ask her later. Where had he been at the time?

He was so shocked that when he tried to move down, he slipped, and began to fall. The rope that he had made quickly snapped, and Fitz grasped at the walls desperately, trying to get a hold on something. Eventually, he did, but he saw the memory of when she was first kidnapped. He could almost smell the sickly sweet drug, and hear the melder fire nearby. It was all so much, that he slipped again, deeper into her mind. The colors that passed by him in a blur grew darker, and Fitz closed his eyes.

Suddenly, he stopped falling as what seemed like warm arms wrapped around him. When he opened his eyes, he saw Sophie's hair in his face. Fitz took a shaky breath, realizing what was going on, and hugged her back tightly. "What did you see?" Sophie whispered gently, tightening her hold on him.

"I saw what they did to you," Fitz's voice shook with each word, his voice gravely. He swallowed nervously, "the first time."

Fitz felt her stiffen and pull away slightly. He tightened his grip. Fitz studied her face solemnly, her soft blond hair, her tight jaw, and the worry that rested in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she murmured. "You should've had to see that."

A tear escaped down Sophie's cheek and he wiped it away gently, "no. You should've had to go through that." With that, he pulled her against him, and she immediately buried her face into his shoulder.

Fitz couldn't tell who was shaking, or if they both were. He rested his head on hers and stared into space. Eventually, he gathered his thoughts to the point where he could speak. "Hey, let's stop for today. How about you gather your stuff for your drawer and we go to Everglen to set it up. I'll bring the stuff for my drawer to school tomorrow."

Sophie nodded in agreement, "okay." With that, Sophie pulled away, and started picking out the things she wanted. Fitz's job was to put the things she handed to him in his school bag. 

A few minutes later, they went downstairs to the kitchen where Edaline was talking with some of the gnomes. "Hey mom, we're going to go to Everglen, I'll be back before dinner." Sophie kissed her cheek affectionately.

"Alright, have fun! I'll tell Grady when he gets back from wrangling the verminians." Edaline smiled. She gave both of them a big hug and kiss before sending them on their way to the leap pad.

"You ready?" Fitz asked Sophie and she nodded. "Great then lets go!"

Sophie took his hand and shouted, "Everglen!"

Fitz couldn't help but smile as she held his hand. Even though they'd known one another for years, he had never gotten over the rush of excitement he got from getting to hold Sophie's hand. Better yet, they didn't have to hold hands while light leaping, but she had taken his hand anyways. "Take that Keefe," Fitz thought smugly before the light swept them away.