Good Intentions

20: Strength

DAMON'S POV

I knelt down to her. "Azalea... Z." I touch her shoulder. I could hear her heartbeat it was weak but it was beating. "Is she okay?" Bex asked. "She's a fighter," Klaus said I looked up at him and he had a proud smile on his face. I looked down to see those blue eyes I loved so much. She was awake.

"You're going to be okay," Klaus tells her. "I'm tired." "Just a little longer okay," Freya tells her. "A little longer." She mumbled back her eyes closing again. "Stefan help me move this," Klaus says the pair of them throw the Pillar away from Azalea. And then I pulled the large mental beam that was wedged in her back and centimetres away from cutting through her front.

How she was still alive I didn't know. Klaus was ready to give her blood to heal her whilst Marce and Bex's moved what used to be part of a wall off her arm. I couldn't describe the feeling of relief I was experiencing right now. "Dad?" "Yes, little wolf?" He said stroking her hair. We didn't move her yet, giving the blood he gave her time. "Is Hope okay?" "She's fine. Thanks to you." She smiled lazily the kind she gives me in the mornings when I wake her up for school. "Can I sleep now?" She asked. "Yes, princess, you can sleep now." He told her. "I love you, Dad." Klaus blinked tears away, gripping her hand tightly. "I love you too." He told her. 

"Hope's okay?" She asked again. "Hope's okay." He told her. "Damon? Wheres Damon?" "He's there, love." I touched her hand so she knew I was here. "I'm going to sleep now." "Okay, princess." He says again. She was still weak but we all knew she'd be okay with the blood and her own abilities. When the wound in her back had healed Klaus rolled her over and picked her up carrying her away from the war zone she was buried in. 

Stefan wrapped an arm over my shoulders. "She's okay Damon." He tells me. I nodded processing that she was actually going to be okay. She was going to make it to college next year and she was going to be able to live her life. 

I looked back to where we just came from and Freya was doing a spell, Azalea's blood floated in the air before being put in an empty dirty water bottle. "They wanted her blood, maybe that was their plan, injure them," Stefan said, I didn't have the brain capacity to make sense of anything that was happening right now. I was exhausted emotionally and physically though I'd go through it all again to have her safe. 

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I went to the compound with the rest of them. Klaus was carefully caring for her through the gates. Hayley ran to the balcony of the third floor where the girls rooms were. "Is she?" "She's sleeping," Klaus tells her, she runs down to us. The look of admiration on Hayley's face was a moment, the way she gently brushed her hair out of her face to get a better look at her. "Thank you, little warrior." She tells her kissing her softly.

Klaus took her to her room where Hope was, he tucked her in bed. Almost like a magnet in her sleep Hope cuddled into Azalea's side. Klaus left her to cuddle with her sister despite how dirty and covered in blood she was. Hope needed her sister and her sister needed her. 

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It felt like an eternity before morning came and Azalea woke up. I could hear her singing in the shower as if yesterday never happened. Her strength was one of my favourite things about her. Hope was singing too. I assumed she was still in Azalea's room. 

Everyone was quiet in the lounge just listening with small smiles on their faces. Some proud, some fond, some loving. 

She eventually came into the lounge. She looked tired, whatever magic she did yesterday clearly drained her. But physically she was in no pain which I was happy about. "Morning." She said sitting down with Hope. "Morning." Hope copied. "Morning, did you sleep well?" Hayley asked. "I had the worst dream," Hope says. "The school collapsed on us and you guys couldn't find us and then you found me. But couldn't find Azalea." Hayley woke her up when Z got home and told her it was a dream. "Well, it's over now," Azalea says. "And I'm fine. and you're fine" She assured.