Reunion (part 1)

                                    

                                          
Sophie woke after a few hours of sleep. The sun was already streaming in through the windows. She hoped the slumberberry tea meant that Kenric was still sleeping soundly downstairs, but was itching to get up and be ready when he awoke. 
But when she propped herself up to look at Keefe, still sleeping soundly, she knew she could wait a little while longer. She nestled in closer to him and enjoyed the warmth of contentment that always came with being so close to him.
"Good morning, love," Keefe whispered, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. 
"Good morning. Sorry I woke you."
"Don't be. It's one of my favorite things. You're so content and happy when you wake up. Those are definitely good emotions for me to wake up to. Not really something I grew up feeling very much." 
"That's because your parents were idiots."
Keefe snorted. "There's my feisty Foster." He traced soft circles on her back. "I guess we need to get up?"
"Probably. I want to make sure we're up and have food ready when Kenric gets up. I don't really know what to expect today."
They got up and dressed and quietly crept downstairs—listening outside Kenric's door first to make sure he wasn't awake—and went straight for the kitchen.
"I hate that we haven't told Alden yet," Keefe said while they sat at the table eating breakfast. "They were good friends. Especially since Mr. Forkle had to go back and search his memories of Gethen's break and didn't even tell him why."
"I know. I'd like to tell Grady too, he always appreciated Kenric for his kindness, especially towards me when I first came. But we can't tell anyone else until we tell Oralie."
"I agree," came a voice from behind them.
Sophie turned around and saw Kenric, looking so much more like himself wearing elvin clothes brought to him by Tiergan. He smiled at them. 
"I didn't realize you were awake!" She said. "Please, come sit and eat with us."
Kenric sat in a seat across from them. "This is so strange," he said quietly. "You were just a kid, fighting to prove yourself to everyone in the Lost Cities, and then I lost years..." he swallowed hard. "And now here I am, trying to learn everything I missed and you're all grown up and married and I'm a guest in your home." 
"It's a lot to wrap your head around," Sophie agreed. "But you don't have to get caught up on all our news right away. And the world doesn't have to know you're alive and home until you're ready."
Kenric nodded. "I don't know how long that will be," he admitted. "But I want to see Oralie as soon as possible."
He looked wistful, and nervous, but also determined. 
Keefe got up and kissed Sophie's forehead before walking away. "Let me grab my Imparter and check in with Forkle real quick, let him know you're awake," he told Kenric.
"I can hail Oralie this morning if you'd like," Sophie told him. "I just...don't know how to tell her you're alive."
"It's probably going to be a 'seeing is believing' kind of thing," Kenric said softly. 
Sophie smiled sadly. "You have no idea how much she has missed you. Even now, if anyone mentions you, or anything reminds her of you, she has to choke back tears."
Kenric's eyes filled with tears of his own. It was strange seeing this happy, funny, kind person look tearful and subdued, but Sophie knew it was going to take some time.
And maybe seeing his favorite person would help that.
Keefe came back into the room and told Sophie that Forkle agreed to keep it just Oralie for the time being, and not tell anyone else just yet.
Sophie pulled her own Imparter out of her pocket.
"Show me Oralie," she whispered. 


Within minutes, Oralie had arrived at Aeternum.
Sophie was waiting for her outside.
"What's wrong?" Oralie asked. "'Urgent but no one is hurt' is a strange thing to say when you're begging me to come."
Sophie trembled a little. "It's time to come clean about something." She took a steadying breath. "We weren't entirely truthful about what we discovered during Gisela's memory break. But we opted not to alert the Council until we got more information. But now that we definitively have the truth, we knew it was time to tell you."
"So I am here as a representative of the Council?"
"Not exactly. It's...more personal than that. We discovered something that...well...I think you need to see for yourself. I don't honestly think I'm the right one to tell you."
Sophie led Oralie into her house and went straight into the living room, where Kenric was waiting.
The moment Oralie saw Kenric, she gasped and swayed so hard she would have collapsed if Keefe, who had been waiting in the doorway, hadn't caught her.
"Hello, Ora," Kenric said softly, offering a small smile.
Oralie, who had gone ghostly pale, leaned against the column at the base of the stairs, desperately trying to steady herself. Her eyes didn't leave Kenric's face for a second. "It...it can't be you." Without warning, tears began spilling over.
"It's me," he told her. "I survived but was held prisoner and eventually my memories were washed. If these guys and their friends hadn't found me and restored my memories, I'd have been stuck thinking I was a human forever."
Oralie's chest was heaving as she gasped for breath. "How many times..." she sobbed. "How many times did I beg you not to be dead?"
Sophie started to worry that maybe they should've had Elwin present for this reunion.
Kenric smiled and took a small step towards her. "I'm here. I'm not dead. And even when I didn't remember who I was, something in me still missed you. There was this longing that I could never quite explain."
Oralie shook her head. "I see it, but I can't believe it. I must be dreaming. I've had so many dreams...Kenric..."
 Kenric closed the distance between them and reached a shaky hand up to her face, wiping the tears away. "I'm here." His hand stayed on her cheek.
Oralie closed her eyes and leaned into his hand, lips parting slightly as she sighed.
"Ora?" 
She opened her eyes. "You're okay? You're not sick or hurt?" 
He shook his head. "I come home with no small measure of trauma, but nothing I can't overcome." He hesitated. "Especially if it means having my life back. If it means having you back," he added in a whisper, reaching out for Oralie's hand with his free hand.
Then, without another word, without seeming to care that Sophie and Keefe were still standing quietly by the door or that Oralie was still a Councillor and not allowed to engage in a romance, Kenric kissed her.
Oralie let out a small sob as she clung to Kenric, kissing him back, finally surrendering to the feelings she'd spent countless years trying to deny--a decision Sophie knew Oralie had spent the last few years regretting deeply.
Keefe quietly took Sophie's hand and pulled her away and back out the front door.
She didn't realize she was crying until he reached up and wiped her tears, smiling at her. "Let's give them some privacy," he told her. "They have a lot to talk about."