"Let me get this right," Grady said. "You, Sophie Foster, who despises the matchmaking programme, wants to register?"

Sophie flushed, her eyes on the ground. "Y-Yeah, I do."

Grady glanced at Edaline, evidently unsure.

Edaline hugged Sophie. "We'll take you to Atlantis right now if you want that."

Sophie thought about Fitz. "I do," she promised.

"It's not about That Boy, right?" Grady asked.

Sophie laughed. "Seriously, his name is Keefe. And of course not."

Grady glanced at her. "It's about Fitzroy."

Sophie looked at him. "Grady - Dad - his name is Fitz. I mean, yeah, it's Fitzroy but seriously - it's Fitz."

"You know nothing you said made sense, right?" Grady asked.

Edaline elbowed him. "We'll take you to the matchmakers right now, Sophie," she promised.

The next thing Sophie knew, they were leaping to Atlantis and entered the matchmaking building.

Her name was carried around in whispers. Sophie Foster... Sophie Foster... Sophie Foster...

Until finally...

"Sophie Foster!"

It was the matchmakers that called it that time.

Sophie went up. And the lady looked at her before glancing at her computer. "Sophie, I see here your registered parents are humans, and your adoptive parents are Grady and Edaline Ruewen, but who's going to fill in for your biological parents?"

Sophie frowned. "Long story, but I don't know."

"Oh well, we'll just key it in. Give me a moment." She keyed in Sophie's name and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Before four words appeared across her screen in blood red.

The lady held her breath, and she was shaky when she said, "Sophie? Maybe you could find out your biological parents for me. I know the Black Swan tweaked your DNA, but with your biological parents, I can make the necessary changes."

Yeah, I just need the answer Forkle will never give me, Sophie thought grumpily.

"Right," she said. She looked over at Grady and Edaline. Their lips were pursed, but they didn't say anything.

That night, she even skipped her evening check-in which Fitz.

But he turned up in the morning, his eyes worried.

"Sophie? Are you okay?" he asked.

Sophie lowered her eyes.

"Sophie? Please. You can tell me," he begged.

Sophie choked in her sob. "I'm... just going to open my memories to you," she whispered. "I can't say it."

She opened her mind to his and he was spun into her world of memories.

He found the matchmaking memory immediately and latched onto it.

𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦? he asked.

𝘕𝘰, Sophie promised, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.

Fitz did look. And it took him a painfully long time to understand. Even then, the word caught on his tongue.

"Unmatchable?"

Sophie nodded, her vision blurry with tears. "I'm sorry, Fitz. Now we'll be a bad match no matter what."

Fitz wrapped his arms around Sophie. "We'll find a way though it."

Sophie didn't believe him. She wanted to. But she couldn't.

"Is this why you skipped our usual chat last night?" Fitz asked quietly.

Sophie nodded.

"Remember, Sophie. I'll always love you. No matter what," Fitz promised.

And then she wrapped her arms around him and sobbed onto his shoulder. He just stood there, embracing her through her tears, and she felt, for once, truly safe, cradled by him in his arms.

𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙊𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧

Oralie was an Empath.

A blonde Empath.

"You're my mother, aren't you?" Sophie whispered. "Why didn't you tell me? And why did you do it?"

Oralie gulped. "I thought it was the only way I could ever have a child."

Sophie sighed. She'd hoped that her biological parents would be people who weren't totally awful, but she'd trusted Oralie. And her trust had been misplaced. She brought out her home crystal and activated it.

She appeared back in Havenfield. Grady and Edaline were out, so Havenfield was quiet. Great. She could use some downtime.

She entered the house and sat at the dining chairs for a few moments, and then someone knocked on the door.

Who was it? The Neverseen? Wait, they wouldn't knock. Forkle? Grady and Edaline? But they could enter. She hadn't locked Sandor out, had she? But she saw her goblin bodyguard standing by the door.

"It's Fitz," he told her quietly.

Sophie's heart sank. She loved her boyfriend very much, but he'd just gone through the pain of finding she was unmatchable, and now she couldn't tell anyone her biological parents because she couldn't risk Oralie being kicked off the Council.

She wanted to pretend she wasn't there, but instead she sent Fitz a message telepathically. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻. Even her telepathic voice shook.

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯, 𝘚𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴. Fitz promised.

"Sandor, can you open the door?" Sophie asked tentatively.

Sandor swung the door open, revealing Fitz outside. He came in hesitantly and looked to where Sophie sat, tear tracks glistening on her face.

𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, Sophie sent.

𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘖𝘩... 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘦?

𝘠𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘥𝘰. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.

Sophie swallowed hard. Even Fitz was speechless.

Then he transmitted, 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘚𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩. 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵.

𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻, Sophie whispered in her telepathy.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵, Fitz assured her.

Sophie looked at him and tackled him in a hug. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘚𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘏𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳? She asked suddenly.

He seemed just as confused as she was. 𝘚𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘶𝘱. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘉𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘉𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧.

𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻? 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?

𝘔𝘺 𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 - 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯?

𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺! 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳! 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳.

Fitz laughed, and he hugged her tighter. "That's what I love about you, Sophie. You make every day brighter."

"Ugh, I hope not. It's bright enough."

He laughed harder.

"You're really okay with the stuff you found out about me," Sophie clarified.

Fitz shrugged. "I mean, I'm a little shocked, but that's about it."

"Wow."

"Hey, I don't always have anger issues."

"No?"

Fitz raised his eyebrows.

Gosh, he was so cute.

She just wanted to wrap her arms around him and cry onto his shoulder like she'd done a few days ago. But he evidently had something to share, too, and it was bothering him.

"If I talk any more, I'm going to cry," Sophie whispered.

Fitz hugged her tightly. "Then let's move it to telepathic conversations."

𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶? Sophie asked Fitz.

𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳.

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳'𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘞𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦? 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨.

𝘍𝘪𝘵𝘻... 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘚𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘦. 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 - 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺. 𝘔𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳! 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘭𝘷𝘢𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

"I care," Sophie said, and she didn't realize she'd said it out loud until Fitz's eyes welled up.

"I love you, Sophie," he whispered.

The wind carried her words over even though they were loud enough for him to hear.

"I love you too."