Misty felt Cordelia's distress as if it were her own, and was out of bed, on her feet, and down the hallway in an instant. She brushed past where Zoe hesitated in the Supreme's doorway, immediately hurrying to the bedside.

"Cordelia, wake up." Then, more urgently, "Delia!"

Cordelia sat with a start, panting, her eyes wild.

"Hey. You're safe." Misty sat on the bed and gently brushed back stray locks of blonde hair from Cordelia's face, tucking them behind her ear.

Cordelia sighed. "Misty."

"I'm here."

Misty leaned over to switch on the bedside lamp, and Cordelia blinked in the sudden light.

After a moment, Misty turned to the young woman still standing in the threshold. "She'll be all right now, Zoe. Go on back to bed, I'll sit here a bit."

Zoe nodded, closing the door behind her as she left.

"You with me?" Misty asked, cupping Cordelia's cheek and guiding the other woman's gaze to meet her own.

"Yes. I'm fine. Thank you. You don't have to—"

"You're not fine, you're shaking like a kitten in a rainstorm. That must have been some nightmare."

Cordelia reached up to touch Misty's hand where it rested against her face. "You're back," she said softly, as if realizing it for the first time all over again.

Misty drew Cordelia close, holding her tight. "'Course I am. You came and got me yourself. Good thing you're the Supreme."

Cordelia suddenly, desperately wrapped her arms around Misty's waist, burying her face in Misty's shoulder and a curtain of wild blonde hair.

"Oh Darlin'. Are you crying? Shhh. I've got you."

Misty rubbed soothing circles across Cordelia's back, cooing softly. Cordelia trembled in her arms and allowed the tears to fall until her restored eyes ached and stung with the effort, and Misty never let go. Finally, Cordelia sagged with exhaustion, spent, and Misty handed her a box of tissues while fetching a glass of water from the bathroom.

"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea moving you into your mother's old room. Too much bad juju in here," Misty said, squinting suspiciously at the walls.

Cordelia blew her nose and dried her eyes. "You don't think my cleansing ritual did the trick?"

"Well, some stains are tougher to get out than others."

"Yes. I suspect that's true," Cordelia said. Then, after a long pause, "I imagine tonight has very little to do with my mother, and rather a lot to do with how I feel about you."

Misty took the glass from Cordelia's hands and set it on the stand before weaving their fingers together. "I don't follow."

"If I loved you any more, I think my heart would burst," Cordelia whispered. "I kept thinking if I didn't say it out loud—if I kept it to myself—I could spare us both this awkwardness. But clearly my subconscious has other plans. Every night, it's the same dream—losing you forever without ever having revealed my true feelings."

Cordelia squeezed Misty's hands and forced a watery smile. "Misty, we're both mature adults and I'm sure we can get beyond this. I promise you that—"

Misty cut off Cordelia's rambling with a decisive kiss that left no room for discussion or misinterpretation.

"I've been waiting such a long time for you to say that. I'd pretty much gotten to the point of accepting it wasn't going to happen. Even thought about leaving here, figured it might be easier not to see you every day, be so close to you and still not have it be close enough."

"Leaving?"

Misty nodded, her eyes clouding. "In the end I couldn't bring myself to go. Decided I'd rather have what I could with you instead of nothing at all. Told myself if I was patient, something might change. Maybe you'd have feelings for me after all."

"Nothing changed," Cordelia breathed. "I've always felt this way."

Chuckling to herself Misty threaded her fingers through Cordelia's hair. "Ain't we a pair."

"Yes. We certainly are."