I know this has been a very long time coming and most of you probably do not care about this story (I reread it and omg my writing was so bad haha) but I thought it only fair to actually finish. I think you might be surprised by how this chapter turns out :) [There are probably quite a few continuity errors, particularly with respect to the timeline in the books so I apologize for that. I've forgotten when this was supposed to take place.]

The following week had been absolute torture. Sophie avoided Fitz and Keefe like the plague, even allowing her cognate training to deteriorate. What made everything so much worse was that they had to go back to school three days after all of her other friends had gotten their lists. Biana had insisted that they wouldn't share who they got until Sophie had gotten her list--just to make everything fair. Sophie appreciated the gesture even though she no longer really wanted her list, anyway. All this dating and match making stuff had done was make her life more awkward and her friends more problematic. On the other hand, maybe if she actually just committed to someone (or maybe if Fitz hadn't been so jealous) then things would get simpler.

To make everything worse, school started up again. She had seen Valin a couple times. Once, he tried to approach her and she had to pretend to be late for class and run off.

Finally, the day had come to pick up her matchmaking list--her real one, this time. She wanted to avoid as much drama as possible and decided to only bring Biana and Dex with her.

They went right after school. When they arrived, Alla wasn't there. It was a guy, this time, with dark skin, broad shoulders, and the same stupid glasses that Alla had been wearing. He smiled at them as they approached.

"Hi, how may I help you today?"

"Hi, I'm Sophie Elizabeth Foster. I'm here to pick up my first match making list." After some verification that it was actually her, the man disappeared into a back room and reappeared with the necessary scroll.

"Here you go, Ms. Foster. Have a lovely day."

When they arrived at Havenfield, Biana seemed way more excited to see the contents of Sophie's scroll than Sophie did. Even Dex had more enthusiasm.

"Well?" Biana prodded, gesturing frantically. "Open it!"

Sophie took a deep breath. It didn't really matter who her number one was, did it? In the end, she would always be the master of her fate. She could choose whoever she wanted. These were just suggestions.

"Here we go..." She opened the scroll. Along the top, it read her name and that this was her first time requesting a match making scroll. She took her time reading the details before her eyes finally found what Biana and Dex had already read.

1. Damel Kafuta

Sophie frowned. Why did that name sound so familiar?

"Huh," Biana said, staring at the name.

"What?"

"Don't get me wrong, Damel is absolutely gorgeous and I think you two would actually hit it off... But I always thought that my brother would be your number one. Or at least Keefe."

"Do you think it's another mix up?"

Biana shook her head. "No, this one totally makes sense. He's a super powerful washer just a couple years older than us."

Sophie gasped and dropped the scroll. "I've met him! He washed my parents' minds."

Biana winced. "That might complicate things."

"What'd you think of him?" Dex asked.

"I mean, he was really handsome," Sophie submitted. "And super nice. I don't know."

"Maybe you should talk to him." Biana nudged her side. "Just get to know him outside of his work."

Maybe she should. It would be nice to see someone outside of her friend group for once.

"I'll get in contact with him later tonight," she decided.

Biana clapped while Dex asked, "Well? Who else is on your list?"

Oh right. There were ninety-nine other names she had to look at. She didn't recognize any other names in her top ten other than Tam Song at number eight. Keefe Sencen was her number eleven, Fitzroy Vacker sat at number 23, and Dex was number 67. She was somewhat surprised to see him on her list since they were sort of cousins. She supposed it made sense since they weren't genetically related.

Biana was ecstatic about the results. She kept talking about people on Sophie's list that she had never met. "Oh, Fenrir is so hot. And Yles is just the sweetest guy ever. Wait until you meet Globnar!"

Those weren't their actual names but they might as well have been with how much Sophie was paying attention.

"Are you going to have a Winnowing Gala?" Biana asked.

Sophie stared at the list. "I'm still not sure. It sounds so overwhelming."

"I'm sure Edaline would help," Dex offered. "She'd probably love to since she never got to do that kind of thing with Jolie."

"I'll think about it."

Dex and Biana stayed a little while longer. They ate mallowmelt, played some games, and laid beneath the Panakes Tree.

Sophie sat up suddenly. "You guys haven't shown me your lists!"

"I don't really know most of the people on my list," Dex admitted sheepishly. "I mean, I know of them but we've never talked. Linh was my number three, though." His gaze cut towards Biana briefly. "And Biana was my number nine. You were, like, fifty-eight or something."

"You were my number nine, too!" Biana exclaimed. "Exactly. Tam was my number one, which you already knew, and Keefe was twenty-first."

"Wow. Those are all really high up," Sophie said, almost startled. She was curious about Tam and Linh's lists (and Fitz and Keefe's, of course) but she didn't feel up to explaining her connection with Damel. At least not until she had talked to the guy.

They hung around for a few more minutes before Dex explained he had to go home or his parents would kill him and Biana had to go and put up with Fitz. They said their goodbyes and the two disappeared into the light.

Later, Sophie paced in the front yard. It didn't hurt to hail him, right? Damel might not even pick up. Or remember her. What if he hadn't gotten any of his lists yet and it was weird for her to contact him? Or, worse, what if he had picked up his lists and she wasn't on it. Was it weird that he would be her number one and she wasn't even in his top one hundred?

No, Sophie decided. She needed to make some decisions in her life, and knowing the people involved was the first step.

"Damel Kafuta," she said into her imparter.

He picked up almost instantly. He looked much like she remembered him, even though that time of her life had been difficult and he didn't take up a lot of her focus. He had dark skin and buzzed dark hair. He was still just as shockingly handsome and he still looked younger than he was.

"Sophie Foster! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Sophie smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't sure you'd remember me."

"Are you kidding? Even if you weren't famous, I'll never forget the feeling of you enhancing me. That was insane."

Sophie looked away. She didn't really want to talk about their first meeting. "Yeah, I--"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up," Damel amended quickly. "Anyway, don't take this the wrong way, I'm beyond honored, but why are you calling?"

Sophie took a deep breath and spoke everything at once. "Well I picked up my matchmaking list today and you were my number one so my friend Biana told me I should probably reach out to you and just get to know you a little better maybe."

Damel's eyebrows shot up. "I was your number one?" He leaned back away from the imparter. "Wow. I'm Sophie Foster's number one match. I mean, you were mine, too, but--"

"I was?"

Damel nodded. "Yeah. But I didn't think much of it. I bet you were on a lot of people's lists. It's just...if this had come a little sooner..."

Sophie's heart clenched. Had she been hopeful?

"It's just that, well, I'm seeing someone," Damel explained. "I only picked up my list recently because I hoped that she had been on it. And she was!"

The tension in Sophie's body eased a little bit. She realized that she hadn't been hopeful about Damel--he was a great guy, but not what she wanted. Instead, she had only feared the rejection. Rejection because he was in love hardly counted. She grinned at him. "Don't worry about it. In fact, I think you just helped me realize that I had been hoping for someone else, too."

Damel smiled, obviously relieved. "Oh? Do I get to know who this lucky guy is?"

"Maybe another time." Even if she and Damel had no romantic prospects, Sophie hoped that they could be friends. She thought that they had a lot more in common than either of them had realized. They were both young, powerful telepaths and she would bet that he had seen a lot of horrible things while washing people's minds. That trauma was something that they shared. "I have plans this weekend but maybe we could hang out next weekend or something. Just as friends, of course."

Damel nodded. "Oh, so I get to join the great circle of Sophie Foster's friends? I'm so down."

Sophie laughed and they said their goodbyes. She liked Damel, but she didn't think that she liked him that way. The entire time that they spoke, something just didn't feel right. She kept looking to his mouth for a certain smirk. His neat, closely cropped hair just didn't give what she wanted. And his eyes were the wrong shade of blue. There was one person, infuriating as he was that she had subconsciously been wanting to talk to. One person that always put her first. One person that risked his own happiness as long as she was happy. One person who made her smile in the worst situations and who put himself in danger to save her at every opportunity--as frustrating as that was.

She brought the imparter to her lips. "Show me Keefe Sencen."

Keefe was at her house in less than two minutes. He looked around as if he were expecting a trap as he approached Sophie, sitting beneath the Panakes tree. "Hey, Foster. What did you want to talk about?" He didn't sound excited. He sounded nervous, maybe even a little bummed. She gestured for him to sit down. When he did, he sat noticeably a couple feet away from her. That was another thing about Keefe: even when he had been flirting with her while she was dating Fitz, he never made any actual moves. He never seriously considered trying to steal her away from his best friend. That was what made Fitz's jealousy that much worse: Keefe did know limits even if they weren't always strict enough.

Sophie was silent for a few moments, trying to debate how to come out and say it. Keefe beat her to the punch.

"I'm sorry. I know I've been a jerk. I know that you probably blame me for you and Fitz not working out I just--I swear I didn't mean any real harm by it. It was just flirting. I'm a charmer, it comes naturally." He flashed his smirk, but it didn't look quite right.

"What? I--"

"And I know, you and Fitz are cognates. You're soulmates. I get it. When you two get back together, I will back off. I will stay away, I promise. I don't want to ruin you guys again."

"Keefe--"

"I promise, Sophie." He met her eyes finally. "I won't--"

"Keefe, shut up!" He snapped his mouth shut. "I made a mistake choosing Fitz the first time."

Keefe frowned, perplexed. "You did?"

Sophie looked away, out towards the pastures. "I love Fitz. I always will. He brought me to the Lost Cities, he was my first friend. He's my cognate." She met his eyes again. "But it's the wrong kind of love."

Keefe swallowed hard. She wondered what was harder for him to understand: her emotions or her words. "So, you're saying..."

She reached over and grabbed his hand. "I want to be with you. You've always had my best interests in mind from the moment we met. Even when you're being an idiot."

"Sophie, I... Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure sure? I mean, you can dump me any time you want but--"

"I'm sure."

"I'm a wreck."

Sophie laughed. "I know. And I choose you, anyway."

Keefe's eyes flicked down towards her lips. "Can I kiss you?"

Sophie nodded and met him in the middle. It was soft and hesitant: the mark of a new beginning.

"Hey! What's that boy doing here?"

Keefe yanked back. "Gotta run!"

If you are reading this, thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this series even though the updates have been beyond slow. I know I'm four years late with this update (I haven't been on this account in like three years), but it was really fun to revisit. I know the characters were not very canon and the timeline was all over the place, but I hope it was at least entertaining :) And in classic fashion, Buh-Bye!