"Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That's the polite thing to say among eagles.

"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.

The first thing that Nat became aware of was how terribly dry her mouth was. The next was the dull beeping in her ears. She opened her eyes slightly, the room around her was blurred. She blinked, clearing her eyes slightly and turned her head, the pillow rustled in her ears. She blinked again, the nightstand coming into view, the first thing she noticed was the large pitcher of water and a glass that sat next to it, she swallowed dryly, and pushed her hands into the bed to hoist herself up. She hissed as pain wracked through her stomach, grimacing as she fell back onto her pillow.

"Nat?" Nat turned her head at the scraping of a chair being pushed back. She turned her head, Robin was at her side, a smile plastered on her face, tears welling in her eyes. "Oh my God."

"Hey…" Nat whispered, her voice hoarse.

"Hey!" Robin laughed. "Holy shit you really scared us. Woah, steady." Robin reached out to help as Nat pushed herself up again, gritting her teeth through the pain. Robin adjusted the pillows behind her. "You don't want to tear your stitches." Nat motioned for some water and Robin moved to the other side of the bed to pour her a glass. She took it from her and drank greedily. The cool liquid soothing her burning throat. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I was hit by a truck." Nat grimaced. "What happened? Where-" She looked around, "Eddie, is he alright?"

Robin took a seat on the bed and rested a hand on Nat's. "You saved his life, you know. He's fine, just worried about you. We all were. You… Nat you died, the doctors said you died."

Nat brought a hand to her chest, remembering the feeling of being struck by lightning. "They pronounced you dead, Nat. And… and then you came back." Nat scrunched her hand tight around the fabric of her hospital gown.

"I- I know." She whispered. We're losing her.

"What?" Robin said, confused.

"I could hear it." She explained. "I could hear everything… the doctors and… Eddie. He was telling me to stay."

"He saved your life."

"He saved my life." She whispered. Stay with me. I've got you… I've got you. "Hey- um, before I woke up I could hear him. Has he been here?"

Robin smiled softly and shook her head. "Not physically anyway. But uh-" She crossed to the opposite side of the bed again, to her bag and pulled the walkie from it. "He's been talking to you. I think he's reading the Hobbit."

Nat's heart gave a little leap. "Does he know I died?" Robin shook her head.

"He's already so on edge. We didn't want to make it worse."

"I guess I should tell him I'm awake now huh? Take the edge off." She said as Robin passed her the walkie.

"Probably a good idea." Robin agreed. "I'll go tell the others too."

"They're here?" Nat asked.

"Yeah, just down the hall…" A dark look crossed over her eyes.

"What? What happened?" Nat asked, worried.

"Max, she…" Robin sighed. "We were too late." A rock plummeted into her stomach.

"No…"

"She died too… but, they don't know if she'll wake up." Robin squeezed Nat's arm, trying to be reassuring. "Call Eddie. He'll want to know you're okay." She stood, walking to the door, it clicked as she opened it. Robin turned, gently pulling the door closed and Nat was alone.

Nat sighed, rubbing her eyes in frustration. Vecna had got Max, they'd been too late, it was all for nothing. She pushed the covers down and pulled up her hospital gown. Her stomach was bandaged tightly in white. She ran a hand over it and surveyed the rest of herself. A large white pad covered her hip, her arm had a long bandage wrapped around the majority of her forearm. She tried to not think about what she'd looked like when Eddie had reached her, when the swarm had fallen and he could get to her. He must have been so scared. Pulling the gown back down, she picked up the walkie, clicking the button in, taking a breath.

"Eddie… Do you copy?" The walkie crackled, nothing. "Eddie? Eddie, it's me. It's Nat."

"Nat?" His voice broke through and Nat let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "Christ, thank God."

"Hey," Nat said, "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay? Are you okay?" His voice was quiet, almost breathless. "Nat I thought I lost you."

"I'm okay… Really, I'm fine." She swallowed, mouth dry again. "You didn't lose me. I'm right here. You saved me, Eddie."

"No, Nat I-" She heard him sigh in frustration. "I risked you, I left and I'm the reason you almost died." His voice broke at the last word. She could never tell him, he could never, ever know. It would destroy him.

"But I didn't." She said simply. "You can't do this, you can't keep blaming yourself for my choices. I made the choice, not you… And I'm okay, Eddie. I'm okay."

"I'm so fucking sorry, Nat." Her heart split in two at his voice. She wanted to see him so, so badly. She paused, swallowing hard.

"It's okay. We're okay." She couldn't allow him to close in on himself. "I heard you," She said. "I heard you the whole time, telling me to stay. I heard you reading to me."

"You did?"

"Mm-hm. Where did we get to?" She asked.

"Riddles in the dark." Nat heard pages rustling in the background.

"Can you read some more?"

"Sure…" Pages turning again. "When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he had; for it was just as dark as with them shut. No one was anywhere near him. Just imagine his fright! He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor."

Eddie read two chapters to her over the walkie. Despite being asleep for god knows how long, exhaustion took over. Eddie told her to sleep, saying he would speak to her tomorrow, which he did. He spoke to her every day until she was discharged, just under a week later. It had taken another day for her Pa to let her leave the house. When he did, Steve came to get her. Eddie was still staying in the Winnebago, in the field where they had made their makeshift weapons. Steve took it slow on the way, he'd filled her in on what had happened, after cussing her out for being so stupid, about not sticking to the plan. Large fissures had opened up, converging in the centre of Hawkins after Max had died. The fourth kill, the fourth chime. Their friend El had returned too and now they were trying to decide how best to go forward. Eddie was still a wanted man.

They'd pulled into the field, stopping just before the Winnebago. Nat opened the door of the car, and gingerly got out. She was still sore, still bruised and would be for a while. Closing the door, she rounded the car as the door of the RV burst open. Nat smiled wide, he'd changed, someone must've gone to get him new clothes. He came down the steps slowly, never taking his eyes from her. He closed the distance between them, wrapping her in his arms. She breathed deeply, taking in the comfort of his smell, hugging him tightly. Home. She was home. He pulled back from her, hands on her arms, looking her over for any injuries. She'd wore a jacket to cover the bandages on her arms. He took her face in his hands, gently brushing his thumbs across her cheeks. Eddie smiled at her and moved closer, brushing his lips against her own. It was slow, tentative, searching, Nat felt like she was melting into him. He moved back slightly, only their foreheads and noses touching now.

"I love you…" He whispered. Nat's heart somersaulted in her chest. She pressed her lips back against his, once, twice, smiling into it.

"Ditto…" She whispered back.