My head was throbbing, and I couldn't open my eyes. I could hear a faint voice in the distance, but it was echo-y and I couldn't make out who it was, or what they were saying. Something cool was pressed against my face, but that was almost all I could feel as everything else was numb.

And then suddenly a hand. On my shoulder. No, wait—my arm. And now my face as I felt it gently brush what I thought were my bangs off of my forehead.

The voice was clearer now, and if I wasn't mistaken, I think there were two of them. One was louder and deeper—Leon's? Oh my god, Leon. The man who I had been dying to see for hours, the only person on my mind the entire time as I tuned out Ashley's constant screaming.

Wait, Ashley. I could hear her, too. She was whimpering, and it was only then did I remember what situation we were in.

My eyes slowly drifted open, crust-filled and blurry. It was hard to move; it nearly took all of my strength just to open my eyes, but I slowly tried pushing myself off of the floor into a sitting position.

There was the sound of movement and for a split second I was worried it would be another Ganado to knock me out again.

But then he said my name.

"Emily!"

His voice was filled with more emotion and relief than I'd ever heard before, but it only lasted for a second before it was replaced with concerned as I struggled to get up.

"Careful…"

"L-Leon…?" I forced the syllables from my lips, knowing it would be too good to be true.

"I'm right here…"

Finally, my eyes focused, and looking up, I saw soft, blue eyes looking down at me.

"Leon… How…" before I could process what I wanted to say, I saw Ashley standing behind him, with tears in her eyes and bruises on her face and arms.

"A-Ash… I'm s-so sorry… I tried… I really did…"

She just smiled sadly and Leon spoke before she could. "Relax, don't stress yourself. You need to take it easy."

Everything had become clearer, but I still felt weak.

"Here…" He pulled a green bottle from his pants pocket. "It's a drug that stops growth of the parasite… The ones Luis went back for. He gave them to me before…" His voice fell silent.

"Yeah… sure…"

I felt three pills fall into my hand, and popped them into my mouth. I didn't know if they would work after the ritual, but I was more than willing to try. I sat up and leaned against the stone wall behind me as I forced my dry throat to swallow the drugs. It may have just been a placebo effect, but I almost immediately felt better, and I could focus on everything almost perfectly now.

"You okay?" The man in front of me asked.

"Y-yeah… I think," I replied tentatively. "Can you… can you help me up?"

"Yeah, of course." He grabbed my hand and placed his other gently on my lower back as he helped me to a standing position. I kept my free hand on my forehead, feeling light headed again, as I tried to stop the incoming tunnel vision. After blinking a few times, I looked up at Leon and Ashley; their eyes were both full of so much worry and care, it made me tear up.

I couldn't help it; I threw myself into his chest and squeezed, hard, also motioning for Ashley to join, which she did. When we pulled away, I was surprised to feel warm saltwater trickling down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Ash… I really am… I'm sorry if they hurt you, I know I could have tried harder, or—"

"No," she cut me off. "I-it's alright. I kicked their asses." She laughed, and I couldn't help but laugh lightly right along with her after wiping the water off of my face.

I gazed up at Leon; a smile had plastered itself on his face, but I could still see the worry in his eyes. Before I realized what I was doing, my hand began moving forward and gently placed itself on his forearm. He was warm, his skin smooth, and his eyes darted to the where the skin-on-skin contact was taking place before retreating back to meet my own.

"Hey… it's gonna be okay... okay?" As I said this, one last tear slid down my cheek, but I smiled reassuringly to the blonde man before me.

He carefully eyed me, not sure if he should believe me and get us all the heck out of dodge, or to make us stay and wait a little while longer until he was sure I felt better.

Seeing his eyes and raising him a determined stare, I spoke softly, as if we were the only two in the room, and those three words were meant for his ears and his ears only.

"Really… I promise." My eyes did most of the talking, and I knew I had gotten through to him.

"Okay," he spoke hesitantly, and with one last once over of my being, we exited the room.

I was probably making it obvious that I was falling head over heels for him, but I didn't really care. Leon was back, and we were safe… at least for a little while.