Two blonde elves sat under a beautiful Panakes tree in a field, the sun shining on the ocean winking back at them from the bottom of the cliffs. The male elf was tall and lean, and he sat cross-legged in the grass at the base of the tree. The girl was sitting to his right, staring out at the water below. Slowly, hesitantly, the boy leaned close to her and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. She turned, her wide brown eyes staring into his ice-blue ones.

"I'm so sorry," Keefe whispered, his voice choked with emotion, as he bowed his head towards the ground and felt his cheeks heat up in shame. But Sophie took his hand in her own small, pale one.

"It's okay, Keefe," she said, looking up at him. "It wasn't your fault. I was the one who agreed to hand myself over. There was nothing you could have done to stop me. You've seen what guilt can do to elves, so stop blaming yourself. It's not your fault."

"But I should have done something," Keefe protested, taking his hand away from Sophie's even though it hurt him so much to do so. "I don't deserve you. He..." His voice broke. "Fitz would've done something to save you. Anybody else would have. But I didn't." A solitary tear slipped down his cheek, but he didn't even bother to wipe it away.

Sophie did it for him, before grasping his hand again. This time, she wouldn't let him let go. "Keefe, I already told you. There was nothing you could do. I made up my mind to go with them, and no one, not Fitz nor anyone else, could have done anything to change my mind. So let it go." It was her turn to kiss her boyfriend on the cheek. Boyfriend. After what they had all been through, boyfriend seemed like too shallow a word to describe their relationship. It sounded like something out of a cringe-worthy stereotypical teenage girl movie. But it didn't matter, she supposed. As long as it was Keefe.

"Are you sure?" Keefe asked, but Sophie only nodded and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was tender and gentle, and Keefe tried to memorize the feeling of Sophie's lips on his own. The little dimple above her top lip, the way her mouth fit perfectly onto his own, the way her blonde hair brushed his shoulders, the smell of cinnamon and honey. When they broke apart, Keefe cleared his throat. "I'm sorry about this too." He pushed back the sleeve of his tunic, revealing a still-healing scar on his wrist. Sophie didn't want to look at it, but she couldn't look away.

"Keefe, you don't need to apologize about that. Yes, you had me worried sick for a long time. Yes, I was scared that you would-" she decided not to finish that sentence. "But when all is said and done, Keefe, you're the best person I know. Your bright eyes, your sense of humour, your vivid imagination, your knack for annoying me and making me laugh at the same time. And yes, your hair." She rolled her eyes at that, before kissing him again and wrapping her arms around him, this time more passionate, still with the same tenderness and caution of the previous kiss, but more confident. This was Keefe, her Keefe. And she was his Sophie.

Sophie closed her eyes and let the feelings take over, the love for Keefe swelling inside her chest, the heat of the kiss blossoming through her skin, and the sea breeze blowing through her hair.

A/N (the final A/N of this story): Yes that's right! It's a short and sweet last chapter! Thank you so much everyone for your continued support of this story. 13k views, 46 reviews, 19 followers and 18 favourites. It's the most I've ever gotten, and the first time I've finished a published fanfiction longer than just a one-shot. So thank you everyone 3