Very slowly, I become aware that I’m awake. I don’t move, don’t open my eyes.

I slept so deeply, knocked out like an exhausted child. My senses are hazy from it, waking up one by one.

The first thing I register with any clarity is a stormy, sea-like sound. Collective shuffling and whispers, coming in extended, blustery surges. The sound rises and falls away in wave-like rhythms.

It takes me a second to place the noise, but I get there. It's the wind rushing through the branches of the trees just beyond my window. The sound itself is somehow cold, frigid. Sunlight is touching my eyelids, but it must be freezing outside.

And yet. I’m perfectly warm.

Not just any kind of warm. This is a comfortable, dry, cozy heat, like the licking flames of a nearby campfire. It’s coming from whatever I’m curled up against, what my head is resting on. Something deliciously soft, with supple firmness beneath.

My body is aching, sore pretty much everywhere - what happened to me? - but the steady, soothing heat is easing up all of the knots in my muscles.

The icy sound of the wind in my ears. Serene warmth everywhere else. It's an unbelievably cozy contrast. I never want to move, and I mean ever.

But then I come back to myself a little more, and I start thinking about the source of the heat.

I’m being held in two strong, surprisingly gentle arms. My cheek is flattened against bare skin, warm muscle. I hear the sound of familiar breathing. Realize that my head is slowly rising and falling with its rhythm.

There are two fingers twisted tightly into my hair.

Everything that happened comes crashing back into my mind, vaulting me the rest of the way to full consciousness. My eyes fly open, blinking hard and fast, my breathing picking up. I push myself upright, breaking free of the arms that were holding me.

Aiden is awake. He was already sitting up, had me cradled against his chest.

Our eyes lock together. For a long, silent moment, we both hold perfectly still.

Then I take in a sharp gasp, right as Aiden lets out a huge, shuddering exhale.

I throw myself into his arms, and he flings them around me, wrenching me into a close, tight hug. I bury my face in his neck, and he strokes a shaking hand through my hair, sinks his fingers into it.

We cling to each other like something could rip us apart at any moment.

I draw back, my whole body trembling. I press my palms to Aiden's bearded jaw, meet his gaze with mine. Light is flowing into my bedroom in all the warm, rosy shades of sunrise. Spilling over the bed like colorful ink. It reaches Aiden’s beautiful blue eyes, filling them with specks of gold. Sunlight on the ocean.

His eyes are looking right back into mine. Shining radiantly with tenderness, with love. The depth of expression within them steals my breath away. I stare into them, seeing dimension after new dimension. The layers of love and intimacy, fathoms deep, an entire world contained in every one.

I go to kiss him, but he moves first, pressing our mouths together with breathless urgency. I feel my eyebrows draw together, feel myself sink into him, hear myself make a little sound into his mouth. The kiss is so charged with meaning, so vivid and powerful that the feeling stays in my mouth after it stops, the way that candy leaves its sweetness behind.

I pull back, my eyes fluttering open again. We look at each other, out of breath.

“Hi,” Aiden rumbles softly, in his deep, husky voice.

The last few days put me in a place of emptiness I’d never experienced before. Now, to hear Aiden speak, to hear that voice I love so much, to look into these eyes, this face, to be held in these hands…

The rush of love and happiness in my heart catches me like a tidal wave. The intensity of it is overwhelming, almost too much to bear.

I let out a dry sob, then start peppering Aiden's face with kisses.

He breathes out an airy, thin little laugh, his eyes misting up. I move to press my forehead against his.

Before I can, Aiden surges forward and knocks me flat onto my back, pressing me down into the blankets. I let out a gasping, startled laugh, which Aiden cuts off with his mouth on mine.

His elbows are on either side of my head, and I wrap my fingers around his biceps. Then I put them on his face, his chest, his shoulders, tangle them in his glossy hair. I can’t choose a place to let them stay. I want to touch all of him, make sure that he’s okay everywhere.

But the kiss I’m being treated to suggests that he is. I lose myself completely in it, my mind dropping everything except the bright, golden-white joy of Aiden’s body and lips fitted against mine.

When Aiden breaks off the kiss, he draws back, puts a hand to my face.

I just need to look at him for a second, so I do. And he’s looking at me, too. At first, it’s like he can only see my eyes, my face. But then his gaze begins to travel, slowly roaming over me.

I realize suddenly what I must look like.

I forgot how I fell asleep - yesterday morning? Did Aiden and I sleep for an entire day and night? We must have, because it's dawn. One glance at the window confirms that. A fine mist is winding through the street, below the heights of the blustering wind. It’s tinted with the same sunrise colors as the light pouring into my room.

Which means I’ve had another twenty-four hours of stubble growth, and that's probably just one of many troubling things about the way I look right now. Aiden is gazing at me with obvious, serious concern, if not surprise. Makes sense. He was up before me, had plenty of time to take in my appearance.

I know it shouldn't matter at this particular moment, but I really want to take a shower. I got washed clean in the downpour, but that's not quite the same.

Aiden can clearly sense what I'm thinking. He laces his fingers through mine, takes me by both hands. He eases me out of the bed, then leads me to the bathroom.

He’s still naked, and I can’t help but admire the graceful movements of his muscles as he walks, the way his bronze skin absorbs the sunlight, glows with it.

While Aiden turns on the shower, I stop to take a look at myself in the mirror.

Jesus Christ. No wonder Aiden looks so worried.

Despite the sleep I got, I have huge, dark circles around my eyes. A thick layer of bright red scruff on my face, somewhere between stubble and a beard. My clothes and body are caked with splashes of dried mud, as are my Converse. I must have bled through the bandage on my foot, because the fabric around the tear in my shoe is crusted with rust-red. My hands are swollen, my palms marked with deep bruises from the secateurs.

There are leaves tangled up in my hair, a few clinging to my clothes.

I bend down, trying not to hiss at the soreness in my feet. I unlace my Converse and pull them off. The torn one basically falls apart when I remove it. The fabric split further apart on my way back from the Guardian Tree, and is no longer connected to the sole. I try not to look at it, focusing instead on getting my socks off.

Aiden watches me. His eyes drop to my mangled shoe, then flick back to me as I ease his sweater up over my head.

He stays silent as I get out of the rest of my clothes, then takes my hand again and pulls me into the shower.

The hot water soothes the deep ache in my muscles, but I wasn’t thinking about that, anyways. All I can think about is the fact that I can press my body up against Aiden’s, sink into his embrace, take deep breaths of him. All the vetiver has worn off, but there’s still that faint, perfect scent of his skin, a scent I can only describe as Aiden.

He folds his arms around me, buries his nose in my hair. I close my arms around him, too, placing my palms flat on his back.

Every moment I spend with Aiden is immeasurably precious. I already knew that. But I’m exceptionally, sharply, almost painfully aware of that right now. I’m so damn grateful to have him back in my arms that my eyes sting with tears, and I have to hide my face against his chest.

We stand there in close, tender union, and breathe into each other.

Precious, I tell myself again. Never forget how this feels, because it’s precious. Every breath with him. Every touch. Every second.

Aiden eases me backwards, stares down into my eyes. He curls his knuckles beneath my chin, then gently drags his thumb over my lower lip.

I hold very still, looking up at him, lost in blue depths.

Aiden slowly and carefully removes every leaf tangled in my hair. Then he peels one away from the slope of my neck. When he’s done with that, he kisses the place where it was, his lips lingering there. I reach up and weave my fingers into his hair.

I really, really needed this moment with him before we talk. I don’t know if he somehow knew that, or if he felt the same way.

When we step out of the shower, I wince on my aching feet, and find myself swept up into Aiden’s arms, carried to my bed.

The fierce wind is whipping through the trees outside, and ice is glittering all over the fogbound street. The window is still wide open. Coldness everywhere.

But Aiden and I are back in bed, beneath the blankets. Holding each other closely, our naked bodies intertwined. I’m bathed in his rich, luxuriant warmth.

He trails his knuckles along my jaw. I laugh softly when he scrunches up his nose at the tickle of my stubble against his fingertips.

Aiden pauses, listening to me. My note? My laughter? Both? It’s hard to tell.

He lets out another heavy breath, then collapses onto me, rolling me onto my back. Suddenly he’s held in my arms, his head on my chest. A reversal of our positions, but not unwelcome. I hug him close to me and press kisses onto the top of his head and make room for him to get comfy between my legs, which he does.

We lay there, all good and snuggled up. In a situation this cozy, it would normally be easy for me to fall back asleep, but I’m vibrantly awake, and I can tell that Aiden is, too. We’re not laying like this so we can pass out again, even if we’re both motionless. We’re feeling each other, our shared closeness.

I sense a deep pulse of heat and energy, flowing slowly back and forth between our bodies. I wonder if I’m imagining it, or if Aiden feels it, too.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, against my chest. “We - we need to talk, I know that, but I just need to, um - just want to...”

He hesitates, struggling for the right words. I smile, my cheek rounding out against the top of his head.

“It’s okay. I get it, and I feel the same way.” I bury a kiss in his chestnut hair. “It feels really fucking good to hear your voice, though.”

Aiden lifts his head, stares down into my eyes.

“Can you just tell me if you’re okay?” he asks softly, smoothing his thumb over my cheek. “What happened to your foot? And - your hands, Jamie…”

He takes one of mine in his, looking down at the bruises, the swelling. I quickly curl my fingers to hide it, trying not to flinch at how it feels to do so.

“Don’t worry about that,” I answer earnestly. “They’re fine, just a little sore. And it was worth it, believe me.”

Aiden bites his lip, a pained expression rising on his face. He gently prises my fingers apart and then eases his face into them, lightly brushing his lips over my bruises. Fluttering little kisses, too soft to hurt. They do tickle, though, and I laugh again. Aiden draws back, a little smile overtaking the anxiety on his face.

“You’re okay?” he asks again.

“Mhm.” I meet his gaze, and nod, once. “I’m okay.”

Understatement of the century. To have Aiden back…

I try to think of how to explain to him just how it’s making me feel, but before I can, my note speaks for me. I can tell, because Aiden tips his head to the side, looking down at me, the small smile on his face growing bigger. I match it, then reach up to pull him down to me.

Slow, deep, intimate kisses pass between us. Our bare bodies are practically fused together, the bed once again saturated with Aiden’s heat. At any other moment, this would probably escalate to something more. But neither of us move to take it further, no matter how our bodies respond. This is all we need, right now.

When we finally break apart, I blink hazily up at Aiden, my cheeks on fire.

“Thank you,” he breathes, nuzzling his nose into mine. “For coming to look for me, for rescuing me, for…” He runs his fingers over my swollen hands. “For whatever you did.”

“Come on,” I sigh happily, against Aiden’s mouth. “You know I’d have given everything to get you back. My only fear was that it wouldn’t be enough. You know, you’re - faster, calmer, stronger, just generally way better at thinking during a crisis than I am-”

“I think you did just fine,” Aiden says, around a ragged little laugh. “I mean - I don’t know what you did, but…”

He’s looking at me with a question in his eyes.

I know it’s not going to be easy for him to hear about, and I don’t want to break this perfect moment. I need to find a gentle way to tell him everything.

“Doesn’t matter what I did,” I answer softly, stroking my hand through his hair. “We can talk about that later, okay? But - I would have done anything. Seriously. I love you so much, Companion Plant.”

The last part comes out a little muffled, because Aiden is nibbling on my lower lip. But he draws back when I say it, and suddenly he looks like he’s about to cry again. He doesn’t, but his eyes have changed to that sea-green color.

“I love you, too,” he says, in a hoarse voice.

I let him tease my mouth open for another kiss. Slow, but powerful. Heartstopping, intense. I’m melting into the blankets, feeling hundreds of echoes of every touch, every kiss. My cheeks are burning and burning.

A thought seems to occur to Aiden, who pulls back again, blinking hard.

“Am I - gonna be okay?” he asks, his fingers drifting to his own throat. “Like - is my Tree…?”

I nod, smiling up at him. Thinking to myself that it’s fucking ridiculous that he asked me if I’m okay before he asked if he himself was okay. Thinking to myself that I love him more than I know what to do with.

“Mhm.” I pull him back down to me as I speak, bring his mouth back to mine for a reassuring little kiss. “You’re gonna be just fine.”

Aiden hesitates. He sits up, and I sit up with him. He goes quiet for a minute, then spreads one of his oversized hands, his palm facing up. He stares at it, concentrating.

Ice-blue magic flickers in his eyes a few times, like a lighter not quite catching - and then swirls out gracefully, sparkling and shining, casting that soft blue glow onto his cheekbones.

A single firefly drifts up from his palm.

Aiden lets out a sigh of relief so heavy that it bows his broad shoulders and flutters the strand of hair falling into his face. The magic goes out from his eyes, but the firefly remains, glowing beautifully.

We both sit there looking at it for a moment. Then Aiden wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“Thank you,” he says again, his deep voice a little shaky. He presses a kiss onto my temple. “Jamie, how can I-?”

“You don’t have to,” I murmur, leaning into him.

He really doesn’t. This, right now, just being here with him - it’s all the thanks, all the return I wanted.