~Sophie's mind was darker than usual. A heavy dryness hung around his head, but the floor of her mind was littered with puddles, probably of tears. Fitz had read somewhere that if you cry enough just before your mind is broken, you'll flood the shards of your mind. He shivered at the thought. Her mind remained in the same basic shape, a vast, almost endless space, only now, the 'walls' were adjar like shards of glass, pointing and facing at all sorts of angles. In the space, there was a giant tunnel in the middle, going straight down, which was exactly where he was going.

He walked to the edge, and looked down for a moment, observing the distance he would have to climb. Suddenly, the ground he was standing on began to shake, and he almost fell in if he had not stumbled back. When he looked around, after the tremor had ended, he saw that the shards pertruding from the walls bent in closer, or fell of completely, creating a fragmented sort of maze. Fitz knew that he had to act, and fast.

He closed his eyes, and remembered the best moments he shared with Sophie, and imagined them coiling into a sturdy rope. The moment they found they would be compatible for being cognates, and he was so excited, that he danced around the house for half an hour straight. Biana didn't let him live that down for weeks! The time they were against one another in base quest, and she was sitting in a tree by the edge of the lake. He had thought it was a good idea to sneak up the tree and scare her. Though he had been sucessful, she had screamed, fallen backwards, and dragged him into the lake with her. The moment before they left for Slurps n' Burps, when she looked up at him with gratitude, her beautiful eyes on his. When she allowed for him to be so close to her. So close to her. The moments when practicing mind phasing, and they kept messing up the kiss part, because Fitz didn't duck down at the same time that Sophie stretched upwards. The happy thoughts flowed from his mind to his hands, and they formed the strongest belay rope he had ever made.

Carefully, he tied one end of the rope around his waist, and the other to a column nearby, praying that it wouldn't break. The next tremor send shards from above crash down to the ground, and he had to jump into the vertical tunnel of Sophie's memories to avoid getting squashed.

Down and down he fell, only bracing his feet against the side to prevent him from getting whiplash, and to give him a little control. As he zipped down past the colorful memories that eventually grew darker, he yelled out her name every so often, anxiously waiting for a response. He recieved none at first, but quietly, as he traveled down farther, Fitz could have sworn he heard a whisper. That was enough for him.

Eventually, he reached the bottom, where he had to squint to see around him. It was incredibly narrow, and there was only a small orb in the center of the space to give light. He looked around, his heart racing, Sophie's worst memories were down here. He saw a memory of her being bullied by older humans where she cried, their thoughts clearly getting to her. He saw a memory of the time when Dex was hit by a melder, just after she came to the lost cities. He saw a memory of him yelling at her about his father, during the time his mind was broken. Wait-that was one of her worst memories? Sophie Foster, a girl who is loved by many, but hated by many as well, who has never and will never have a normal life, considers him being livid with her (for no real reason!) as one of her worst memories? That gave Fitz a sinking feeling in his stomach, but he shoved it aside. He had to save her. That memory wasn't important now.

He turned away from the wall to the orb, suddenly noticing that it was a memory. It was the memory that he had seen through mind phasing. He saw himself smiling down, talking about how it wasn't her fault, just before they went to help find Bex. "This must be why she isn't fully broken yet," Fitz smiled at the thought.

Sadly, the memory was slowly growing dimmer, even though it wasn't very bright to begin with. He stepped forward to touch it, but his foot hit something beneath the orb. When he looked down, he saw there was a figure, curled up and mumbling almost inaudibly the words memory Fitz was saying on a loop. Sophie.

He knelt down next to her, his face slack with shock, and gathered her into his arms. He had never seen her so... so... helpless. It was one thing to hear someone being broken, but another to actually see it up close, on the inside.

"Hey Soph," Fitz said hesitantly, using the most gentle and loving voice he could. "It's me, Fitz. I... I hope you can hear me."

He didn't know what to say. He had come all this way, but he didn't know how to fix her.

"I just wanted to let you know, that everyone is worried about you. Our parents are arguing around us right now, because they're scared. They don't know what to do. That's because they're so use to you knowing what to do." Cautiously, he sent her his memories of the argument. She seemed to stay stable. "They don't blame you, and Bex doesn't either. She was so happy to be brought back, but you should have seen the look on her face when she saw you breaking. I mean, she doesn't know it yet, but she saw you on the ground, and that's never good." He sent her the memory.

"Don't worry though, Biana and Dex are taking care of her. Dex even went into a flower shop with them, and you know how bad his pollen allergies are." He smiled a little as he sent her the memory of the time Dex sneezed so hard after Sophie showed him a flower, that he fell out of his chair. "That was really funny, remember? Even he laughed!" He smiled wider as the orb got brighter.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Something happened that wasn't good, but no one blamed you because you didn't know. Remember when you slept over at our house, and instead of bringing Ella home, you took Mr. Snuggles instead, but we waited until the next day to trade back? I loved the way Mr. Snuggles smelled like you, so it was like you were right there with me, but I still had my beloved red dinosaur. Ella is pretty awesome though." He sent her the two memories, and the orb grew even brighter.

Fitz suddenly had an idea, and took a deep breath before asking, "do you remember the time when my dad's mind broke, and I was really mad at everything?" The orb suddenly dimed. "I took a lot of it out on you, and I never properly apologized for it. It was so long ago, but sometimes, I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about how awful I was to you, and that we both needed one another, but I was too much of a jerk to see anything but anger. I wasn't ever mad at you, I was mad that my dad's mind broke, and there wasn't anything I could do about it, but that doesn't justify my actions. I wish I could go back and redo it, so that I wouldn't have a place in your worst memories, because hurting you is the last thing I've ever wanted to do. Ever since I realized how terrible I was, I've tried to keep my emotions in check, and you've taught me how to deal with them through support and care. I think that's why we're such good cognates, we can just... talk it out. It's nice. I think that's why I love you Sophie, we can just talk anything out, and solve it. Talking with you is so easy, that we can do it in our sleep, and because we can talk like that, I know you. Not what everyone else sees, but your purest, rawest form, and it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You see the truest form of me as well, which makes you even more incredible. That's why I love you, and ever since I could pin a word to explain the feelings I have for you, I've been wanting to tell you, but I've been scared that you won't feel the same. Now," he brushed some hair out of her face. "Now, I'm telling you, because I'm more scared of losing you. We're a team. What am I suppose to do without you? That's why I came here, even though everyone told me not to. I know that I can't heal minds like you can, and that the odds are against me, but I had to at least try to save you, even if I end up failing, even if I end up breaking with you. If you fall, I fall."

He hadn't realized that he was crying, until he saw the tear drops on her face trail downwards. He didn't care. He just wanted her back. He looked up at the orb, and it started flickering. No. It couldn't be over. This couldn't be over. They couldn't be over. His tears fell faster, and in the spur of the moment, he decided if this would be the last memory they shared, then he wouldn't have any regrets. He kissed her.

As he pulled away, the orb light up the space with a blinding ray of energy. Fitz held Sophie closer, and shielded their gaze from the painfully bright memory. When the light faded, Fitz was out of her head, and was sitting next to her in her room. He blinked, and sat up in his chair, looking around.

Grady and Edaline were sitting together next to Sophie, holding her other hand, while his parents sat in the corner together, quietly whispering. When the adults noticed that he was awake, all eyes were on him. Fitz's mom ran over and strangled him in a hug, his father close behind. Della was sobbing, while Alden was starting to lecture him on how reckless he was, as well as how worried and upset everyone was. Fitz said nothing, holding his mother and his cognate's hand, taking the scolding and sobbing as it came. No matter what happened, the effort was worth it.

He was so lost in thought, he almost didn't notice that Alden had stopped scolding him. When Fitz snapped back into reality, he saw that everyone was looking at Sophie, whose eyes were wide open. He felt his own widen in response, he had done it. He had done the impossible. By the time he blinked again, Edaline and Grady were hugging her joyously, while he felt tears slowly trickle down his face. Alden put a hand on his shoulder, his mouth open in awe. "You... you did it. We'll talk more about how later. I'm sorry we doubted you."

"I would have too if I were in your shoes, don't worry," he replied quietly has his mom cheered. Sophie's parents moved away for her to hug their daughter.

"We've all been so worried! I'll let you guys catch up, but I just wanted to hug you before I went to go tell everyone that you're okay."

Alden hugged her next, "I better go with her. Don't worry us like that ever again, please."

Sophie smiled and nodded, "thank you guys so much. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry, just be more careful from now on, okay?" Alden smiled softly, and stood with Della.

"We'll come back later," Della waved, "with mallowmelt!"

"Thank you!" Sophie called as the two left the room.

Edaline moved around the bed and knelt next to Fitz with a huge smile on her face. She hugged him tightly, "thank you. Thank you so much. I don't want to think what would've happened if you didn't go into her mind to save her."

He hugged back with a smile, "me neither."

When Edaline moved away, Grady shook his hand firmly, eyes shining. He didn't say anything, but Fitz knew what the gesture meant, and smiled back. When Grady moved back to Edaline's side, he cleared his throat. "We'll give you two a moment while we go make celebratory custard bursts."

"You hate baking," Sophie frowned, clearly confused.

"This is an exception."

"We love you Sophie," Edaline wiped her tears.

"I love you guys too."
"Take good care of our girl, Fitz." Grady took his wife's hand in his own, before leading her downstairs.

Fitz and Sophie looked into one another's eyes as her parents left, and when the door clicked shut, he instantly moved out of his chair to her bed, sliding into her arms. His face buried into her next, his arms around her waist, her head resting on his, her arms holding him close, their tears running down their faces. For a while, they said nothing, just laying together, crying together, until she quietly asked, "how did you do it? How did you fix me?"

"In all honestly, I didn't," he whispered back, starting to worry that she didn't remember the kiss. "Don't you remember me sending you all those memories?"

"I'm sorry, I don't remember anything."

The words broke his heart, but not in the way that her breaking had. Then, his heart had been broken all at once, in one shot, but this, this was more like a dull ache, the kind that could only be soothed with-the tears came down faster, and Sophie gasped.

"Fitz, what's wrong?"

"I'm just... I'm just so glad you're okay."

"Thank you for saving me."

"I wouldn't know what to do in a world without you. If you fall, I fall."

End of Part One