Just a mini chapter on the three waking up. More to come once some reviews start appear :(

Chapter XXXVII Waking Up

After Kahlan settled into Aria's room, she ordered the guards to move Cara and Hayden so that if they awoke when she wasn't there they would at least see a familiar face. Richard tried and failed to convince Kahlan to come to bed; she said there was no way she was leaving them alone even for a second, so he had an extra mattress brought in along with her dinner. Kahlan insisted that he rest, he was after all the Lord Rahl and had many duties to attend to in the morning, regardless of the group's condition. He agreed and kissed Kahlan goodnight. She was too anxious to sleep so Kahlan sat at the foot of Aria's bed, the one in the middle, and intently stared at the sleeping figures. She guessed on who would be the first to wake up and what the first words out of their mouths would be. She knew Cara would ask about Aria as would Hayden, but wasn't sure which one Aria would lean towards. She chuckled to herself. Yes she did. Just then, Hayden stirred. Kahlan shot out of her seat and sped next to him. She wasn't sure if Hayden would be comfortable waking up with a Confessor holding his hand so she refrained from touching him. He twitched and opened his mouth. Realizing he was probably dehydrated, Kahlan reached over him for the water and brought the spoon to his lips. He drank greedily and when he was finished, opened his eyes only slightly.

"Kahlan?" he asked, not sure whether or not he could trust his vision at the moment.

"It's me Hayden. Everything's alright. Just rest." she said to the boy. He grabbed her hand, surprising Kahlan, and squeezed.

"Aria?" Kahlan smiled at him.

"If you turn your head a little, you'll see her. She's asleep but she's fine. You all are." Kahlan brushed some hair out of his face. Slowly, Hayden turned his head and sighed when he saw that she was telling the truth. "Sleep." He heard the Confessor say. He smiled at the woman in white and did as he was told.

A few hours before sunrise, Zedd came in for another healing session. When Kahlan told him that Hayden had woken up, he simply made sure the boy's bandage was clean. Had Hayden been left in the cold a minute longer, Zedd might have had to amputate a few fingers that had turned black. Luckily, his magic managed to save them. Moving to Aria, he lifted the shirt Kahlan had put on for her slightly, and inspected the wound. It looked much better and the bleeding had stopped completely. He cleaned and redressed it. Kahlan had also taken it upon herself to change Cara out of her leather. The material stuck to her frozen skin and made it a challenge but she had managed just fine. Kahlan also undid the braid; she couldn't image the headaches Mord'Sith get from having their hair practically pulled off their heads all the time. Zedd wasn't used to seeing Cara look so, well, feminine. He inspected her wounds magically, careful not to use too much to set the Mord'Sith against him. He had placed a magical cast around each of her broken ribs and set her arm when she had arrived. The casts were still necessary and would be sore for weeks to come, but would deteriorate on their own when the ribs were healed. Cara's head wound might have killed her had Zedd not been a wizard. Only a small pink circle remained from the injury. All in all, the three were going to fine. All they needed now was a bit more rest.

"You should sleep Kahlan." Zedd told her. Black circles had formed under her eyes and he noticed she hadn't even touched her dinner. "They're going to be fine. Stop worrying."

"I can't help it. I keep thinking one of them will just…" Kahlan pressed her fingers to temples and massaged them. She knew Zedd was right; she couldn't stay awake for much longer even if she wanted. She felt the wizard place a hand on her shoulder.

"Kahlan, sleep. You'll feel better. You'll wake up before any of them do." He assured her. Kahlan nodded and wearily stumbled to the mattress in between Cara and Aria's beds. She laid down and Zedd came over to her. He placed a hand on her forehead. "To help the headache." Zedd always knew what to do. Kahlan smiled as she felt the warmth of magic seep into her skull. Sleep slowly took over and Kahlan willingly gave into it.

She awoke to the sound of coughing. Sore, wet coughing. Startled, Kahlan shot to her feet and scanned the room. Aria had managed to get herself into a sitting position on her bed. Kahlan went to her and held her hand. Slowly, she pushed the girl back down and the coughing quieted.

"Kahlan." Aria managed.

"Yes, it's me. You're safe now. You're all safe." Kahlan told her as she reached for the water. Aria drank just as Hayden had and finally relaxed in Kahlan's arms.

"They're okay?" Aria asked her.

"Everyone's fine, Aria. I promise." Kahlan assured the girl as she stroked her cheek.

"It was my fault."

"Shh, Aria. You just wanted to be alone. It wasn't your fault." Kahlan cooed.

"They almost died and it's all my fault." Aria continued as if Kahlan hadn't spoken. Kahlan shushed the girl again and brought her head to her chest. She stoked Aria's hair and rocked her as the girl silently cried. After she stopped crying and Kahlan continued to hold her tightly, the two heard a moan from their right. Kahlan turned and saw that Cara was waking up.

"I'll be right back." She told Aria as she placed her head back on the pillow gently. Kahlan went to Cara and waited for the Mord'Sith's eyes to open. Once they did, it took Cara a minute to adjust her vision.

"You're safe Cara. Everyone's alright." Kahlan repeated. She thought of the dozens, if not hundreds of times, Cara must have woken up in a similar state because of a beating she received from Darken Rahl. Kahlan took the woman's hand in hers and Cara squeezed, causing Kahlan to smile. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Mostly." Cara's shaky voice replied. Kahlan lifted the woman's head up and gave her a drink of water without releasing her hand.

"We'll talk about it later. Just rest now, okay?" Kahlan brought the fur covers up to Cara's chin just as she had for the other two. Their lips were still blue and their skin too pale, indicating that the effects of the weather had not worn off yet. Cara nodded and turned her head to look at Aria's sleeping form. She smiled and allowed herself to fall back into a deep sleep. Seeing with her own eyes that her family was still intact, Kahlan felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She sighed and went to add more wood to the fire. Clearly, they were still cold and even though Kahlan herself was almost sweating, she couldn't blame them. Reassured with the situation, Kahlan lay back on her mattress and closed her eyes. Her headache had all but disappeared and she knew that everything really was alright.

Hehe, or is it?