I Need You to Come Home

Chapter 16- A Thousand Pounds of Cotton

Sara felt like she was fighting through a thousand tons of cotton, to put it lightly. She hung tightly onto Ava's hand as she guided Sara through the maze of the thousand pounds. 

"You got this," Sara heard Ava's voice, but this time almost like an echo. "Pull, Sara. Pull through. I know you got this."

She could hear Quentin's voice, too in the midst of all of the voices coming. 

"Sara, you are not giving up on us like that!" Amaya's voice seemed to shout from even further away from Ava's. Sara could still see Ava, but she was fading more and more as the weight of the thousand pounds seemed lighter. 

"I have to leave, Sara. Constantine's connection to your consciousness is disappearing. I love you, Sara. I will be there next to you if you wake up. When you wake up."

Sara held in a breath. Her love was going. But she understood that she couldn't be held onto for forever. 

"I love you." 

She wasn't sure who said it. But she knew that whether she had said it or if Ava had said it, they both meant every emotion that coursed from their veins from saying those three words. 

And then she disappeared. Sara started falling backwards, spiraling from the place she had gotten to, and the weight of the cotton started coming back. Sara grasped blindly, unsure of where or what she was holding onto. 

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Ava opened her eyes. She was still lying on the cot next to Sara, with the team surrounding her and Sara. 

"Constantine! WHY DID YOU PULL ME OUT? I almost got her!" Ava stood up to grab Constantine, only to trip, caught by Nate before she hit the ground.

"Careful love," Constantine spoke, "As careful as I was with the magic, it did a number on  your human body as well. Any longer and Sara's consciousness would've demanded a trade- hers for yours." he continued, " Quentin tried to do what he could. The rest is her fight to make. Now we have to wait."

Ava sat back down on the cot, and looked at Sara, and her stats. Sara's pulse was still thrumming at the fast pace that it had been at before. Still seated, she reached over and held Sara's hand in her own again. Out of the blue, Ava's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell forward towards Sara, this time Nate saving her from hitting the ground again. 

Amaya helped  Ava back onto the cot.

Constantine stared gravely at Ava. 

"Until Sara is able to come out of her own mind, Ava won't be able to wake up. Seems like she spent too much time in Sara's mind, and their connection is overwhelming Ava." When the team looked at Constantine in confusion, he clarified.

"The magic I used to put Ava into Sara's mind to get her out was only meant for short-term, and for her to take breaks. But Ava insisted I not pull her out, and that it would not take as long as it did," he continued, "Thus, this lead to Ava being trapped in a part of Sara's internal mind... the only good thing about that is Ava's connection to Sara's deep 'abyss' part of her mind will break when Sara is able to run the rest of its course to pull herself out on her own."

He continued to explain, "You all remember when she came out the first time, not to long ago, yes, luves?" He saw that the team had nodded.

"When she came out the first time, she would've been fine, and would have been able to go back into Sara's mind without a problem. But because she violated the boundaries of the magical shield I put up, Ava's mind is essentially trapped in Sara's until Sara can pull herself out." He groaned, "Think of it like this. I'm here so that when Sara comes out, she also pulls Ava out with her."