Aya was standing now, with the help of Makkari, of course. She was happy the world was saved. Of course she was. But, she was sad that she had lost the one person that meant the most to her for it to happen. Sersi and Thena had joined them and the five of them were now talking.
"How?" Phastos questioned. "How did you do it?"
"Does the 'how' really matter right now, Phastos?" Aya questioned, head tilted to the side.
Phastos scoffed. "Of course it does, A." Aya only shook her head, gesturing for Sersi to tell them.
"When I touched Tiamut's palm, I felt a surge of energy. Tiamut joined our Uni-mind."
"I've always wondered how we survived the destruction of other planets we were on." Phastos said, saying his thoughts out loud. "By being connected to the Celestial as it emerged."
Makkari walked away from Aya, leaving the Eternal to stand on her own, which she earned a look for, but the look was pointedly ignored. "We became one..." Makkari began signing, looking back at the rest of the group. "Even Ikaris and Sprite, all because of Tiamut." Aya nods. She then pauses, feeling the vibrations of a specific person she thought was gone. She turned around quickly, and gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. She dropped her hand and ran forward at a human pace, not wanting to hurt him. Aya ran into Druig's arms, Druig chuckling as he buried his face in Aya's neck. They pulled apart to place their foreheads against each other, Aya's eyes having closed, tears falling down her face.
"It's okay." He whispered to her, looking at her face, memorizing all her features. "I'm okay." He added, to which Aya shook her head, opening her eyes, more tears falling.
"I thought y-you died." She stuttered out, swallowing saliva that was getting caught in her throat. "I was devastated. I thought I was never going to be able to tell you.." She shook her head again, not wanting to jinx her luck. Druig smiled.
"Tell me what?" He asked, already knowing what she was going to say, but wanting her to say it anyway.
She looked directly into his eyes. "That I love you." She said with confidence. Druig's smile got bigger. His hands moved to cup her cheeks, and he pulled her close, placing his lips against hers in a passionate kiss. As they kissed, Aya felt like she was on Cloud 9. After they pulled away from each other, they placed their foreheads together again.
Druig smiled at her. "I love you, too." Aya smiled back and kissed him again, pulling away once they needed air. Sprite watched the two with jealousy. Everyone around her had someone and she was stuck in a teens' body, destined to live that way forever. Or so she thought. As Aya and Druig were about to walk over to the others, the adrenaline faded, and Aya started collapsing, but Druig caught her quickly. "What's wrong?" He asked with worry.
"My side..." Aya trailed off, looking down towards the left side of her waist, which was covered in blood. Druig winced. He picked her up and started walking towards the others, Sprite following behind reluctantly. "Thank you." Aya whispered.
"Anytime, my beautiful Aya." He whispered back.
They all stood around Sersi, with the exception of Aya, who was still in Druig's arms. Sersi stood in front of Sprite. "Sprite, I still have Energy from the Uni-mind. I think I can make you human. All the things you wanted, you can have them. But your time will be fleeting, and you'll die one day. Are you ready for that?" Sersi asked.
Sprite nodded her head gleefully. "I am." She said, tears falling down her cheeks. Sersi held out her hand, her palm glowing with Celestial energy. Sprite hesitantly placed her hand in Sersi's, scared.
Sprite was now human.
Aya placed her head against Druig's shoulder, feeling tired. Like she would fall unconscious at any second. Druig noticed, and turned towards Phastos, urgency hidden underneath his voice. "Phastos, is there anything on the Domo that can heal Aya? She's bleeding out." Everyone looked towards him after his statement, no one having noticed because Aya had said nothing. Aya had now fallen unconscious, and everyone was starting to freak out. Phastos nodded quickly.
"I think so." Phastos said, walking forward to take Aya out of Druig's grip. Druig was about to reluctantly place her in Phastos's arms, when Makkari stepped forward.
"I can speed you guys there." She signed quickly, before grabbing a hold of Phastos and speeding him to the Domo, speeding back, gently taking Aya into her arms, running off, coming back, and speeding Druig there as well. She did that for the rest of the team after she was sure the most important people were where they were supposed to be.
Aya, Druig, and Phastos were in Phastos's lab, Aya floating in the middle as he worked on getting her healed, and Druig paced back and forth. Makkari, Sprite, Thena, and Sersi walked into the lab, taking seats around the room, patiently waiting for Aya to be healed. Makkari noticed Druig's pacing and stood up, placing a hand on his arm in comfort. "She's going to be okay." She signed. "She's strong. She's Aya." Her reassurance helped Druig a little, and he moved to sit down, Makkari sitting down next to him, rubbing his arm in comfort. They all sat there for what seemed like hours. It probably was. Some of them had fallen asleep, others resorted to walking around the Domo, trying to find a way to work their impatience out. Finally, after hours, Phastos was done. Aya was healed.
By the time he was done, a now human Sprite had walked off, trying to find her old room so she could get some rest, Sersi was pacing the hallways, impatient, Thena sat in front of the old Arishem statue, staring off into space, Makkari had fallen asleep on one of the tables. Druig was the only one wide awake, having stayed to watch the whole process. When Phastos finished, Druig stood up and walked over, grabbing Aya's hand as she laid passed out on a hologram table, and admired her features. To him she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. On the inside and out. Phastos shouted, startling Druig just a little bit. "I'm done!" He shouted, walking out of the room, probably going to lay down in his old room as well. Druig gently placed Aya's hand down and walked over to Makkari, shaking her awake. Once she was awake, he signed that Phastos was done and Aya was healed. Makkari sighed silently in relief. Her best friend was going to be alright.
That was all that mattered.
At the moment.
