Ok, this one turned out a weird mix of happy and angsty. 

It was a few months after the war ended that Sophie and her friends finally had their first sleepover together. Linh had said to Biana and Sophie, "Hey, we've never actually hung out properly as a group!" Of course, once the idea of a sleepover struck her, there was no stopping Hurricane Biana as she pushed everyone to come over to Everglen one night. Sophie would've offered up Havenfield, but she wasn't sure how Grady and Edaline would handle a rowdy bunch of teenagers, and plus, Everglen was way bigger.

So there she stood, in front of the massive gates, a duffel bag in one hand and Iggy's cage in the other (how could she not bring him, knowing Biana and Dex, who loved to make him over, would be there?). After a moment, Fitz came sauntering out, grinning as he opened the gates. She slipped inside, and Fitz moved to close them again when another voice yelled "Wait!"

She turned to find a waving Dex sprinting up the path and laughed. "Sorry bout that," he puffed as he reached them. "No sweat," Fitz chuckled. Sophie loved how their friendship had grown, from disdain and being called 'Deck' (although, to be fair, the title was still being used as Dex's nickname), to their jokes and ease nowadays. It did help that Dex had (finally) grown a bit and was no longer a weedy kid for Fitz to look down on.

The three of them wandered into the kitchen, where Sophie was surprised to find Alden, an apron wrapped around him branded with the words "I'll eat anything as long as it's mallowmelt" completing the picture.

"Della said it was high time I learnt to cook and that she was sick of always being in the kitchen," he explained with an amused smile at Sophie's cocked head. "AND IT'S FAIR ENOUGH TOO. HAVE YOU EVER SEEN HIM IN THE KITCHEN, SOPHIE AND DEX?" Della shouted down from the stairs. Alden shook his head with a grin.

"Anyway, who wants come custard bursts?"

"Oh yes," said Sophie, grabbing a couple. "Where's Biana?"

"Oops!" Fitz clapped a hand over his mouth. "I was meant to call her down when the first guests arrived." He raised his voice and shouted "Bi! Sophie and Dex are here!"

"Cool!" Biana shouted back, followed a few seconds later by a series of footsteps down the stairs. She hurtled into the kitchen, taking a custard burst before looking around the room. "Ooh, is that Iggy?" "Yep. And by the look in your eye I think he's regretting letting me take him here," Sophie laughed.

Biana winked at Dex. "You bet he will. Got any good elixirs?" "Uh-huh," the strawberry-blonde haired boy said. "Hang on a tick," he rooted around in his bag.

At that moment the doorbell rang again. Fitz went to get it, returning a few minutes later with Keefe in tow. "Wow. Nice getup, there Alden," he said to the elf in his emblazoned apron, who blushed ever so slightly. "Yep, it seems I'm quite the cook now." "Huh, yeah, these custard bursts might be even better than Mum's!" Fitz decided. "I HEARD THAT!" Della shouted.

Tam, Linh and Marella arrived soon after, and then followed a crazy party of eating, talking, dares, Base Quest and reminiscing. It was how they should've been this whole time, a group of friends having fun, not fighting a silent war against the Neverseen, as they had been. Still, it was nice to put it all behind them for a while. It was only after bedtime, with all her friends sleeping, that Sophie started to see the cracks that the war had created in her friends.

She'd woken at perhaps 3 or 4am from nightmares, and looked around the room to find them all sleeping restlessly, using their abilities unconsciously as they slept. Sophie and her friends had always had to be ready to leap up and defend themselves during the war, so perhaps the habit of keeping their ability on high alert was affecting them. Or maybe they had nightmares too. Sophie felt for the knot of emotions she kept ravelled up under her rib cage and discovered with a shock that the fear she kept there was gone. Guiltily, she realised she must have accidentally inflicted it out as she slept, which would only have exacerbated her friends' nightmares. Sophie glanced at Biana, sleeping to her left, and watched as her friend flickered in and out of sight. Blink. Blink. Blink. Blink.

She looked away, turning to Dex, sleeping next to Biana, and watched as his hands twitched fast in his sleep, working various bits of metal he must have brought in his duffel bag. Sophie's blood ran cold as she realised what Dex was building. A melder.

Her gaze flicked to Linh next. Sophie remembered Tam saying that his twin had been calling water in her sleep, but seeing it in real life was even more surreal. She watched as mastodons raced above their heads, and had to bite down on her wrist to hide her scream as an elf figure formed that looked remarkably like Vespera.

Sleeping near her was a smudge of shadows that Sophie assumed was Tam. The blackness swirled around the sleeping boy, dancing and tugging.

Her eye was drawn to a flash of light on Tam's left, as a spark ran down Marella's braids and flames flashed in her outstretched palm. Sophie hoped that Marella could keep the flames in check as the slumbering girl's hair flashed with more sparks and the orange waves racing down her arms grew. Sophie was about ready to grab a bucket of water and throw it over the pyrokinetic when the flames suddenly snuffed out and Sophie heaved a sigh of relief. Marella turned over in her sleep and muttered something incoherent.

Next she turned to Fitz, who tossed and turned in his sleep, unconsciously sending the occasional burst of mental energy as if he was assisting his friends in a fight, as Fitz had done many times before. Her memories were interrupted with a small scream from the sleeping figure next to her. She scrambled out of her sleeping bag to check that Keefe was ok. Tears ran down his cheeks, and Sophie realised that he must be feeling his friends' emotions, as well as dealing with his own nightmares, as he slept. She couldn't begin to imagine what an overwhelming mix that would be as another sob issued from his lips. Biana sat up at the sound.

"Is everyone ok?" She spoke. "Yeah, just nightmares. It's fine, Bi," Sophie answered. "Ok," Biana mumbled, and snuggled down in her sleeping bag again.

Sophie turned back to Keefe and gently shook his shoulder to get him awake. His eyes opened with a start, and looked panicked until Sophie whispered "It's ok, you were just having nightmares so I thought I'd wake you up."

"Oh," he said, rubbing his eyes, then looking confused as he saw the tears on his finger. "Was I...?"

"Crying in your sleep, yeah." Sophie finished. Keefe looked away. "Sorry, you didn't have to see that."

"No, it's fine. Everyone's abilities seem to be going haywire in their sleep. Even I was inflicting fear," she said guiltily. Keefe glanced around the room, his gaze lingering on a water-figure Linh had created that looked painfully like Lady Gisela. "Ugh, I just need to get away from all these emotions. Care to talk a walk?"

"But," Sophie started. "Didn't you say mine were the most intense?"

"Mmm, yeah, but I think I also said it was worth it for your company, right?" He winked. Sophie looked away to hide her blush. "A walk it is then," Keefe decided, pulling himself to his feet and offering her a hand. She took it gratefully and wobbled to her feet, almost losing her balance.

"Careful there. I think the last thing a person dealing with nightmares needs is a flying Foster suddenly landing on top of them," Keefe joked. Sophie laughed, shaking her head, and some of the weight of the nightmares lifted off her chest. She followed him through Everglen's halls, stopping in the kitchen for a piece of mallowmelt then heading outside.

The cool night air was refreshing as Sophie took in a big breath, not realising how claustrophobic she'd felt inside until she was free of it. She spun around for a second, and Keefe watched her hair splaying out with the momentum. Well, he thought, it didn't exactly splay, so to speak because of the knots her hair that had accumulated during the night, but they didn't make her any less beautiful. Plus he was sure his own hair looked way less vibrant. Keefe smiled at the thought and sat down on the courtyard ground, turning his gaze to the stars. Sophie joined him after a second, resting her head on his shoulder.

They sat like that for some time, watching the night - Keefe wasn't sure exactly how long, but by the time Della walked outside the faintest fingers of dawn were beginning to creep over the horizon.

"What," the Vacker mum asked, "are you two doing outside at this hour?" Sophie and Keefe jumped apart, but Sophie managed to collect herself and murmur

"Nightmares."

Della pressed her palm to her forehead and sighed. "It seems like we will never escape them. They've been haunting me, too. And Alden. I'll never forget the moment I first saw Biana after Vespera's attack...saw those injuries that would surely turn to scars. That's why I came out here, too. To escape those dreams." Della smiled sadly, and turned her gaze to the horizon, as the dawn light continued infiltrating the night's darkness. Barely a few minutes later Marella wandered out, the black shadows under her eyes suggesting that she had suffered the same problem. The pyrokinetic smiled weakly at Della, Sophie and Keefe, and an unspoken understanding ran between them. We've all had nightmares, but let's look past that.

Marella too looked over at the swiftly coming dawn. They stood like that, watching, as more and more of Sophie's friends wandered outside to join them, first Tam, then Linh, then Biana, then Dex and Fitz, followed by Alden. And still the group remained, bathing in the early morning light and letting it wash away their fears for another night. 

ahahah that ending was a bit cheesy oops

ANyway, thanks for reading! Please vote if you enjoyed, and leave suggestions in the comments!

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Chia Seeds