???

Black. All she could see was black.

Nothing felt quite real. She knew was upset about something, but all she felt was emptiness. Like there was a deep, dark abyss within her. Something was missing from her heart. Something important.

If only she could remember.

Her surroundings were nothing more than barren darkness all around. Her feet found nothing solid beneath, as if she was floating in an inky black ocean, extending infinitely in every direction.

She couldn't tell if her eyes were open or closed, she couldn't remember who she was; she couldn't do anything. She felt like she was underwater. Everything was murky and muffled, and she felt completely immobile.

Then, suddenly...

A light.

Shining white and cutting through the  darkness in all its sparkling splendor, so bright, it blinded her. She could feel a pair of hands holding onto her arms and she braced herself.

And in a movement too fast to even comprehend, she was being pulled up by someone. Up and up she went, until the light was almost close enough to touch, and she broke the surface of the water with a gasp.

1:19 pm

Azura jolted awake with a gasp. Panting, she sat up, the bright lights piercing her vision. She squinted, trying to take in her surroundings which, at the moment, were nothing more than shapeless blurs.

She heard a loud gasp, and a small shriek of elation come from her left. With a little difficulty, she managed to make out the blurry silhouette of her best friend standing next to her, a concerned expression on her face.

"What happened?" Azura croaked, her voice dry and raspy. She groaned, and clutched her pounding head in her hands.

"Oh, Azura," Jess sighed, her hands flying to her forehead. She looked as if she hadn't seen a wink of sleep in days.

Azura's eyebrows furrowed with distress and confusion. "What's wrong? Wait, am in a hospital bed?! Oh my God, wha-"

Suddenly, the memories of last night came flooding in. They swirled around too fast for Azura to even comprehend, and her head pounded ceaselessly, trying to make sense of everything. She started piecing them together, all the good ones, the bad ones, until...

"Jordan!" she gasped, her eyes widening in alarm. "Is he alright? Where is he?!"

She was growing desperate now, needing to know that he was alive and safe. She longed to hear some happy news; it was Christmas after all. Was it too much to ask for just one miracle this year?

Azura glanced over at Jess. She was standing frozen, fidgeting slightly with the hem of her sweater. Her expression was... worried?

"Jess..." Azura bit out, fisting the sheets in frustration. "What. Happened." Her worry was turning into anger, her desperation into pain. Her head was throbbing, and she was ready to puke her guts out, but she didn't care.

She had to know he was alright.

Jess sighed and sat down on the edge of Azura's bed. "Well, after the Jordan knocked those... criminals out, somebody called the police. They were arrested and taken to prison immediately. By the time me and Xandar got the call, people had already rushed the two of you to the hospital. They said you were just a little too overwhelmed and that you'd be fine in a few hours. But Jordan..."

Jess sighed again. "We aren't sure. The doctors ordered everyone to stay out until his condition becomes stable."

"No..." Azura murmured to herself, her voice wavering. She covered her eyes with the heels of her hands and tried to stop the sobs from escaping. She so badly wanted to break down, but she had to be strong. For that tiny sliver of possibility that he might be alright, she had to hold on.

So she held her shaking hand out to Jess, and schooled her features into a brave facade, although her resolve had already crumbled on the inside.

"Help me up."

Jess hesitated for a second, before taking her hand and guiding her into a sitting position. Azura gasped a little from the effort. But determined, she forced herself to stand. Her legs almost buckled and gave way, but she held onto the edge of her bed for support. She looked down and saw that she was still wearing most of her clothes from yesterday, but someone had removed her boots and replaced them with a pair of socks instead.

Panting, she made her way out of the room. She shook off Jess's careful hand and made her way across the corridor by herself.

Suddenly, she saw three figures sprint out from one of the waiting rooms. Their gazes wandered until they landed upon Azura. Immediately, they started running around towards her. It took Azura a few seconds to identify them.

Xandar. And...

Her parents?

They rushed towards her, suddenly engulfing her in a hurricane of anxious hugs.

"Mom... Dad.... I missed you," she murmured, allowing herself to revel in the warmth of their hug. It had been so long since she even saw them, that in moments like these, their presence alone became precious.

"Oh, Azura..." her mom gasped, crying into her daughter's shoulder. "We were so worried."

"You scared us half to death," her dad agreed, swinging an arm around her shoulder with a grin, making Azura stumble into his chest. "Next time you pull a stunt like that, I'm grounding you."

Her mom slapped his arm in disbelief. "This isn't something you can joke about, Connor. Something could have happened to her!" she admonished, hugging Azura closer.

"I know my daughter's stronger than that. She's got my blood running through her veins after all. You worry too much, Isla," her father replied, spreading his arms in order to hug them both. Azura snuggled into his chest, a single tear sliding down her cheek from all the worry and exhaustion she had been through.

For a few moments, she allowed herself to forget about everything and hugged on to them, letting out a breath and snuggling into the pure comfort that she had missed for so very long. She sighed and let out a small sob.

She heard someone clear their throat behind her, so she let go of her parents and turned around, anxiously wiping the tears away from her face. Her eyes widened as she noticed one of the doctors standing there with his hands behind his back. His hair was unkempt and graying at the temples, and he looked like his job had taken a toll on his health.

Azura gasped and lurched forward, before righting herself and standing up straight.

"How is he?" she demanded, desperation clear in her voice. She needed, so badly, to see him. Her mind refused to even consider the possibility that she might not ever get to see him again.

The doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair wearily. Looking at azura, he smiled a small tired smile.

"Your boyfriend is very very lucky. The bullet only grazed him slightly, missing all of his internal organs. And you managed to get him here in time to get the blood loss under control. He passed out solely due to exhaustion. He should be able to expect a full recovery within a a couple of weeks."

Suddenly, Azura felt as if all the weight of the world had just been lifted off her shoulders. She let out a loud sigh of relief and staggered to the wall for support. With one hand on her chest, she tried to take deep breaths to prevent herself from breaking down into tears of absolute joy and relief. If she was going to cry, she would do it after she saw Jordan.

"Where is... ca-can I see him now?" she stammered, her tongue feeling like it was made of lead.

The doctor smiled a little bit wider. "Across the hall, fourth door on your left. Room 307."

Throwing one last glance at her family, she ran down the hall as fast as her legs would let her. Her body still felt tired from exhaustion, but nothing would stop her now. She skidded to stop in front of the room and threw the door open.

There, sitting on the bed with a book in his lap, was Jordan. Save for a few bandages wrapped around his torso, he looked as perfect as ever.

Hearing the sound of the door slamming open, Jordan looked up. And the book promptly fell out of his grasp and bounced to the floor. He exhaled slowly, as if trying to make sure that she was real and shifted on the bed, barely noticing the sharp pain that followed.

Azura, walked over to him, trying to even her breathing. The past few hours had been such an emotional rollercoaster, and although she still wanted to let all her bottled up emotions break free, her joy and relief knew no bounds. She wanted to hug him and never let go. She wanted to give him her Christmas present, and possibly spend every other Christmas with him too. And most of all, she wanted...

She wanted...

To kiss him.

She blushed at the realisation, but she had done to terms with it already. She knew her feelings had developed far too soon. She knew that there was still a lot left to learn about him. But that was okay. They were strong enough to make it through possible death, so they would be strong enough to do anything. There was a whole world out there waiting to be explored together. So much she wanted to do, as long as he was with her.

She wanted, she wanted, she wanted. But for now...

She sat on the edge of his bed and tentatively raised a trembling hand, tentatively hovering over his hand, scared that she would hurt him. Rolling his eyes, Jordan grabbed her hand and jerked her forward, making her tumble on to him.

They stared into each other's eyes, Azura's breaths coming out in short bursts. She tried so hard to keep the tears at bay, to make sure that the emotions didn't come flooding through. But seeing his beautiful eyes gazing intensely at her own, the happiness, the anxiousness, it was all too much.

And the wall broke.

"You...you idiot!" she screamed, grabbing the collar of his shirt in her hands. Leaning forward, she buried her face into his chest, her body wracked with uncontrollable sobs. "You could have died!"

Her hold on him was desperate, but still so painstakingly gentle, that Jordan's heart ached seeing her suffering. His arms came up to wrap themselves around her, and she leaned into his embrace, shoulders still shaking with tears.

"I could have lost you," she whispered, lifting her head up to look at him, eyes shining with tears. She tried to control herself, to not seem like a needy weeping mess, but he was there, and he was holding her, and she just couldn't. But he didn't seem to mind that much.

"Shhh," he whispered, rubbing soothing circles into her back, making everything feel better by simply being there. "I'm here. We're okay."

"We're okay," she sobbed, holding him closer. And then, and then she lifted her head, strands of dark hair sticking to her face. Her eyes were puffy from crying, her nose red.

But to him, she looked beautiful. Beautiful and perfect and real.

And then he knew, he realised, that maybe life wouldn't be so bad after all.