Nothing?” Biana asked for the third time after Sophie explained that right now she was just going to wait it out. If Fitz was freaked out by the letter then that was something she needed to know.

“Yes, this is what I want,” Sophie nodded.

“I'm proud of you. This is a really big deal and I think it will be good for you guys.” Biana reassured Sophie before heading to the leap master to head home for the night.

Sophie’s mind was strangely calm as she prepared for bed that night. She knew how she felt about Fitz and soon enough he would know exactly how she felt. She could only hope that he wouldn’t freak out and now there would be no more secrets and they would finally be full cognates. She cuddled with a Fitzified Mr. Snuggles and quickly fell into a comforting deep sleep.

The rest of the week Sophie anxiously waited for Fitz to mention the letter when they checked in with one another but his conversation was kept light as he told her about Keefe trying to pull pranks, his mentors praising his hard work in class and of course the things he missed about her. She told him about her classes, working with Rina in the tutoring center and the crazy life at Havenfield. She did not mention her feelings towards Fitz at all and if he noticed he didn't let on at all.

On Friday after school Rina bounced into the tutoring center excited to share her news with Sophie.

“My parents have been so pleased with my improvements in my classes they hailed Grady and he told them I could come over and they agreed to let me come over this weekend and help with the animals! I can't believe it, I am so excited!” Rina exclaimed barely able to contain her emotions. “This is going to be the best weekend ever!”

“That is great, I am excited they are finally letting you come over. You will love Verdi and Iggy.” Sophie replied trying to muster some enthusiasm to match Rina. “We should try and get all our homework done so we have lots of time to spend with the animals.”

Rina agreed and tried to focus on her homework and after a couple hours both girls closed their books in exhaustion. The homework was done.

“So what time should I come over tomorrow?” Rina asked Sophie as they were packing up their books.

“How about 10:00? I can show you around and then you can help feed them lunch.” Sophie replied happy to have someone help with her chores.

“Really? I can help feed them?” Rina’s eyes grew big at the thought of actually helping with the animals.

“Absolutely.”

Sophie smiled thinking how Rina’s excitement reminded her of Amy when she came to visit. Bronte’s words echoed in her head when he questioned if a day was worth any less living just because you wouldn't remember it. She knew tomorrow would be a day Rina would remember her whole life and wanted to make it extra special for her new friend.

That night she planned with Grady and Edaline all the things they could do to make Rina's visit to Havenfield memorable. Sophie had lost track of time and was already in bed for the night when Fitz transmitted to her.

“Sophie can you talk?”

“Yeah for few minutes, I will warn you though I may fall asleep. It has been a long day.”

“Did you have another ability session today?”

“No I haven't had one since Monday.”

Sophie consciously did not let her thoughts drift to that session. She had not told Fitz about it this week and until he found the letter didn't feel like she could just bring it up.

“I hope we get a telepathy session together soon, I miss seeing you Sophie.”

“Me too Fitz.”

“Want to mind loop tomorrow afternoon? I know it's not the same but it kind of helps a little having your subconscious here and who knows maybe I can come to you now.”

“Umm yeah we could try it if you want.”

“Sophie I can tell you are tired, get some sleep and we can talk more tomorrow.”

“Good night Fitzzz”

Fitz could tell Sophie had fallen asleep and before he cut the transmission. He said “Sweet dream Sophie dear, only 34 more days until I see you for sure.”

This had been the longest that Fitz and Sophie had gone without seeing one another and it was practically torture for Fitz. Every week it felt like one big tease if he would be invited to her session. He had pretty much lost hope that they would have a chance to see one another before the break and was hoping that as long as he kept being supportive that maybe Sophie would transmit her secret so that he would be able to mind loop with her. Maybe tomorrow would finally be the day.

The morning came bright and early and Sophie woke up with the sun. It didn't happen often that she forgot to close the shades at night and with two claps she quickly closed them to try and get a little more sleep before her fun filled day with Rina.

It was 9:45 when Edaline finally came knocking on Sophie's door to let her know Rina had arrived a little early and was excited for her day with Sophie and the animals. Shocked she found Sophie still fast asleep.

“Sophie Foster, you need to get up right now!” Edaline exclaimed clapping twice to open the shades. “Your guest is already here and waiting for you.”

That was enough to jolt Sophie out of bed, she had not planned on sleeping in this long. She rushed to get ready for the day before heading down to meet Rina in the back pastures.

“Oh my goodness, this is even more amazing than I thought it would be.” Rina squealed running to give Sophie a big hug the second she saw her.

“I'm glad you could come, let me show you the pastures and then you can meet Iggy.” Sophie said guiding Rina towards the animals.

“I seriously can't believe you live here, my brother would be so jealous of me right now.” Rina commented taking in the view in front of her.

“Well maybe sometime you will have to bring your brother with you. Hopefully since your parents let you come they would let him come as well.” Sophie replied.

“Ok I will bring him when he is available next. If you are really serious.” Rina questioned

“Absolutely” Sophie insisted.

The pair walked through the pastures and Sophie introduced the animals to Rina taking time to speak to them telepathically and vocally before having a light lunch with Grady and Edaline. Rina was amazed at Sophie and the many incredible animals she saw and it only got better when they started to feed the animals. Rina had a natural talent with the animals and they responded well to her. Even Grady was impressed when the verminion weren't awful around Rina. He laughed that she was welcome to come over anytime if the verminion were going to be that nice to her. When it was almost time for Rina to go home Sophie quickly asked her what her favorite color was before disappearing in the house. Rina puzzled and answered red not sure why Sophie needed to know or where she had run off to. A few minutes later Sophie reappeared with a now red imp in her hands.

“Meet Iggy.”

“Oh my goodness, he is the cutest thing ever. But why is he red?” Rina asked a little confused.

“Dex gave me some elixirs to change his hair. You said you liked red so I figured what better way to meet him than to have him be red.” Sophie answered, rubbing Iggy’s back.

“Can I hold him?”

“Of course!”

Rina took Iggy and just like all the other animal encounters of the day, Iggy and Rina were quick friends.

“I think he may like you more than me!” Sophie joked.

“No, it's just beginners luck or something.” Rina tried to reason.

“Well whatever it is you have to come back and play with him again, he won't ever be satisfied with just me now.”

The look of anticipation was obvious in Rina's eyes. She really had a good time at Havenfield and couldn't wait for her next invite to come over. Sophie could see the look and came up with a plan.

“How about on Tuesday and Thursday, we come here for tutoring. You can help me feed the animals and I can help you with your studies at the same time?” Sophie offered as a game plan for more regular visits. “Plus then we can get a head start on your midterms.”

“I'll have to check with my parents but sounds good to me!” Rina exclaimed.

Sophie was excited, hopefully having Rina over would help pass the time quickly. There were still 5 weeks left in the semester and it felt like time was going even slower with the anticipation of Fitz finding her letter.

Sophie said goodbye to Rina and decided to sit under Calla’s panakes and reach out to Fitz to tell him about her day.

“Hey Fitz how has your day been?”

“Fine.”

“I had a great day, can I tell you about it?”

“If you want to I guess.”

Sophie could hear the difference in his voice but couldn't tell if he was annoyed or confused. So she proceeded to tell him all about Rina coming and how even the verminion liked her.

“Sounds like you had a fun afternoon Sophie.”

“It was fun, how about you? Did you do anything fun today?”

“Not really.”

“Oh, did you have a lot of studying to do?”

“Nope.”

“Did you hang out with Keefe?”

“No.”

Ok something was off with Fitz, now she could tell with his one word answers.

“Want to talk about anything in particular?”

“Not right now.”

“Ok well I should help Edaline get cleaned up for dinner. Want to talk later?”

“I don't know, if I'm available I'll let you know.”

“Ok Fitz, I'll talk to you later.”

“Bye Sophie.”

The transmission cut off abruptly. Something was up with Fitz, Sophie replayed their conversation in her head trying to pick up any context clues he may have given her and there wasn't much. The only thing she could come up with was he must have found the letter.