Aeria stirred lightly in her sleep. She felt something heavy that was placed around her, making her scowl in annoyance; She didn’t like it when she was disturbed in her sleep. For a moment, she had forgotten everything that had happened. Her mind was feeling fuzzy, and her tired body begged for her to get some more sleep. As the fog in her mind slowly started to clear up, she opened her eyes and was met with darkness. She didn’t think anything of it at first so she closed her eyes again, until she felt the rising and falling of what she was laying on. Her pillow was breathing..? No.. Aeria’s eyes flew open when it clicked. Everything that had transpired today came flooding back in like a speed train, and her drowsiness was sent flying out the window.

Aeria became stiff as a statue. She could feel him breathing, feel his heartbeat, and if she focused hard enough, she could even hear his pulse ticking as the sound waves moved through the air; Everything that she so desperately hoped for earlier, but didn’t see any signs of. Aeria didn’t move a single muscle. Not because she didn’t want to disturb Leon’s sleep - kind of, but because she was too embarrassed to. She was sure that her face was flushed red at the moment; Both of gladness and embarrassment. What was she thinking? Sleeping on his chest felt like a pretty good idea at that time--not that she had done it on purpose. At that moment, it felt completely normal and reasonable. First of all, she was as vulnerable as glass because of her near death experience. Second, her mind was a mess and she couldn’t think straight. Last but not the least, she lay down on him thinking that he was dead - she was in denial, of course, but she knew it deep down.

Now that she had gotten some sleep and was functioning pretty well, she felt abashed as she thought about her emotional breakdown; Ecstatic that Leon was alive, and embarrassed that he probably caught her sleeping on him. She groaned internally. She wanted to stand up and make a run for the door, but with her legs asleep, she was sure to stumble and fall. To top it all off, her hair was a mess, and her eyes were red from crying. Aeria stayed there silently as she mentally argued with herself. After a few more minutes of internal conflict, she slowly sat up. At a snail’s pace, she gently grabbed his arm and placed it on top of him before getting up and rushing towards the door.

The blood circulation was cut off of her legs, causing her to lose her balance a little. She shook her right leg slightly to get rid of the uncomfortable tingling, and she headed towards the door hurriedly. She saw Tollank who’s eyes also showed visible signs of crying, and she felt relieved knowing that she wasn’t the only one who got emotional today. No one has ever seen her cry before besides her brother, and probably her father, and she felt appalled about crying in front of anyone else. Fortunately, only Tollank witnessed that. “Hi..” She greeted him with a shy smile, avoiding eye contact. “Anyway, talk to you later. I need to go… I look like crap.” She blurted out in one breath. With that said, she walked past him and headed out the door. As soon as she got outside, she leaned against it and took a deep breath. 

Aeria opened the door again, only enough for her head to peek inside,“Oh by the way, Tollank. I think you should put Leon to bed.” She told him before closing the door shut, not giving him enough time to respond. She headed for her room, and she found herself complaining once more about how far it was. It was only when she was close to her room that she noticed that all of her wounds had closed and healed completely. She thought about how Leon almost lost his life to do that, and it caused her to feel a mixture of emotions; She felt grateful, indebted, a bit down, and some other things she couldn’t explain. Her own weakness almost cost Leon’s life, and she wouldn’t have known what to do if he really died. Every moment of her life was sure to be hell. Aeria made a mental note not to ever let that happen again. She would gladly lay down her own life for a friend. Aeria sighed as she reached her room, “I need a shower.”