Rafe ends up getting killed fighting Groff, and when the Pogues come back to Kildare, Kiara is the one to tell Sofia.
Rafe had confided in Kiara one night in Morocco. They were the only two awake and he was trying to make her feel better after he realised she was crying (and he also wanted to vent about his feelings) so he tells her about how he lost Sofia too, in a way…an attempt to make Kiara feel better about JJ.
So Kiara is the only one who knows about Rafe’s ex-lover, so she takes up the responsibility of breaking the news.
Sofia is a mess. And Kiara sympathises with her. She knows how it feels. And while the rest of the Pogues all have each other (John B and Sarah busy with the baby, Pope and Cleo trying to figure things out), Sofia and Kie end up being each others support systems, mourning both Rafe and JJ respectively.
They get closer and closer, intertwined in their grief. One kiss turns into another dozen more. They end up getting together and use the money Kiara secured from selling the crown to travel the world! Kiara gets her surf trip, but she isn’t alone like she’d thought she’d be. And Sofia is finally at peace with losing Rafe, and escapes her dead end job and the confines of Kildare. Yay!