Until We Fly

Chapter 45: Final Light

I found myself outside of our home with an unconscious and pale Jake close by.
Nim and the others were inside.

My vision blurred worse and worse but all I had to do was get inside the building.

Once again fighting the pain, I lifted Jake onto my shoulders and feebly made my way through the door.

Nim saw me immediately.
But before she could finish running over, everything had already gone black and I collapsed to the ground.

*****

I woke up in a soft bed, covered in bandages and aching all over.
Sitting up, I let the sheets slide off of my body in a gentle wave of cotton.
Even though my legs were sore and shaky, I made my way out of my room and into the lift.

I lay back against the back wall, closing my eyes and taking slow, deep breaths.

As the doors slid open and I stepped out into the hallway, I quickly noticed that the only light seemed to be coming from the kitchen.

Nim was sat at the table, reading a familiar book with a furrowed brow.

I leaned against the doorframe, smiling.
"...ahem..."

Her head shot up and a large smile accompanied her widened eyes.
In seconds, she leaped up and ran over, wrapping her arms around me.

I'd have called it a rather affectionate hug if she hadn't been crushing the life out of me.

"Oh my gosh, you're okay! I was so worried about you!"

"...Nim...I can't...breathe..."

"Oh, right! Sorry!"
She chuckled, letting go.

"So...I see you're reading Judgement?"

"Oh yeah, Jayden let me borrow it. Turns out he's a lot nicer than he seemed when he was Half-Dark."

"Jayden? Is he here?"

"No, sorry. He went home earlier. We had Köleil heal you this morning as soon as you got back but you still had to rest and recover."

"I see...and Köleil, where is she?"

"She's with Myrora and Lumai, healing people who were harmed by the Darks set loose in the other worlds. She should be back by tomorrow."

"Okay. Everyone's good then.....Nim....your eyes...."

"Huh?"

"They're back to normal! How'd you do that?!"

"Oh right, well, when we got back, Köleil used her new powers to reform all our crystals. Except now we have to keep them with us at all times."
She smiled, lifting up her wrist and showing me a blue crystal, fashioned into a bracelet with some dark blue ribbon.

"Mine's an Aqua Aura now. Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah, it is."

I was so glad to be back.

After filling me up with some well cooked food, Nim sent me back to bed so I could rest more.

But as I stepped out of the lift, there was somewhere else I wanted to check first.

The door slid open easy enough.
I walked through the room and stood by his bed.

Jake seemed to have been hurt just as bad as I had, if not worse.
He too, had bandages on his arms, legs and everywhere else that was hurt.

I assumed he was asleep so when he suddenly spoke, I almost had a heart attack.

"So you just gonna stand there like some kind of stalker or are you gonna say hi?"
He smiled, opening his eyes.