"Cora!" Rowen tried to call to her.  With a big effort, he made it over to her side.  Her sunlight-blond hair fell across her shoulders and in her eyes.  Rowen brushed the hair out of her eyes and picked her up so that he was supporting her back, cradling her.
Ryo managed his way over; despite the pounding he received from his head with every step.
"Rowen, she’ll be all right," he said, trying to comfort him.
Rowen didn’t respond but looked down at Cora.  She moved her arm, and then her eyes blinked wearily open.
"Rowen?" she asked weakly.
"Cora!" Rowen said, and hugged her tightly.
"Ow, your armor," she said with weak humor in her voice.
"Oh, sorry," Rowen apologized, then banished his armor and returned to just sub-armor.
"Rowen, since she’s all right, we need to help the others," Ryo said calmly.
"Right," Rowen said, and helped Cora up.
Cora looked around and saw Cye.  She walked towards his direction, while Rowen went to Sage, and Ryo to Kento.
Cora knelt down beside Cye, and gently put a hand on his shoulder.
"Torrent?" she whispered to him.
Cye moaned and managed to open his eyes slightly.  When he finally thought about who he was looking at, he recoiled with surprise.
Cora instantly saw his fear and tried to calm him down.
"It’s okay, Tulpa does not have control over me.  Please, believe me," she said gently.
Cye seemed to calm down, but then suddenly clenched his teeth from a sudden pain.
"Here, let me help you," Cora offered.
Cye nodded, and Cora helped him to his feet.  He placed one arm on her shoulders and she put one arm around his waist to support him.  She helped him limp a ways when they had to stop and let him rest.  Rowen was doing about the same with Kento, although Kento probably wasn’t as bad a Cye.  But things weren’t going well for Sage.
Ryo put his hand on Sage’s shoulder.  Sage instantly flinched away from Ryo, his face speaking without words that even that lightest touch had caused pain.
"Sage?  Are you all right?" Ryo asked, very concerned.
Sage had his eyes shut very tightly and his teeth were clenched.  He held no response to Ryo’s question.  Every inch of him was burning with pain.  Couldn’t move, couldn’t move, pain, hurt, can’t move, won’t move, no, help!
"Sage!" Ryo cried in concern.
Cora and Cye looked up to the spot where Ryo and Sage were.  Ryo and Kento looked as well.  The two groups exchanged glances.  They met at a certain point, where Cora and Rowen let Cye and Kento rest, while they went to see about Sage.
Cora was filled with horror when she saw his expression full of pain.
"No, I did this, I caused this.  How can I atone for this?  For all of the pain that I have caused?" she asked herself in a quiet whisper.
"You can’t blame yourself for this," Ryo said.
"Why not?  I did it didn’t I?  Even if I was evil, this is what I would have done, isn’t it?" she asked.
Neither Ryo nor Rowen had an answer for that.  Silent tears fell from her face.
^You can help him Jaded One^ Kariudo’s mind voice became present in her mind.
"How?" she asked the wolf, who was now standing next to her.
^You cannot do this often, but you are able to heal, if your will is strong enough, and your heart is in the right place^
"How?" she asked again.
^Touch your jade^ Kariudo instructed.  Cora did as she was told.  She felt this warm energy on her fingers, and when she looked at them, they were glowing a soft green.
^Now touch his forehead lightly^
Cora did this as well.  Sage recoiled from her touch, but then a green glow spread over him.  After the glow had worn off, Sage flickered the one visible eye open, and sat up.
"Whoa, what happened?" he asked, putting a hand to his spinning head.
"Sage!  You’re all right!" Ryo exclaimed.
"Surprisingly," he said, and then added, "very surprisingly.  How did I heal so fast?"
"Cora, she healed you," Rowen explained.
"Cora?" Sage asked, and saw her kneeling next to him.
"I…I’m sorry, I hope that you will forgive me, I nearly killed you, I’m so sorry," she apologized.
"I understand, it’s not your fault," Sage said, laying a hand on her shoulder.
Cora smiled a grateful smile at him.
"Cora, do you think that you could heal the rest of us?"  Rowen asked.
Cora looked at Kariudo.  He shook his head sadly.
^I’m sorry, but you can only heal once in a full day, and you have spent much of your strength already^ he explained.
Cora’s face fell.  "I’m sorry, but Kariudo says that I can only heal once in a day, I wish that I could do more," she said sadly.
"It’s all right, at least we’re certain the rest of us will make it," Ryo said.
Cora smiled at him.
"Hey! Did you guys forget about us or what?" Kento called to them.
"Yeah Kento, we were going to leave you there and go back without you!"  Rowen called back.
They all laughed, as their pain tolerance would allow them.  Rowen helped Sage, Ryo helped Kento, and Cora helped Cye.  The six limped and hobbled their way back to the house.  By the time they got there, all of them were amazed that they weren’t asleep on their feet, but they managed to get in okay.
Mia had been waiting anxiously for them, and was overjoyed when Cora was with them.  She whole-heartedly accepted her into her home.
Kariudo explained to Cora how to banish her armor and returned to normal clothes.  She simply had to wish the armor away, and she was left in Black slacks and a loose, dark green, long-sleeved sweatshirt, which showed one strap of a black tank top underneath, and boot-like shoes.
After Sage, Kento, and Cye were in their own rooms resting, Cora and Rowen were left to themselves to talk silently, to catch up on one another's lives.
For the first few minutes, that seemed to last for hours.  Rowen held Cora in his arms, her head against his shoulder, her back against his chest.  She crossed her arms in front of her; Rowen laid one arm on hers, and then one across her to rest on her shoulder.
Cora could feel his warm breath upon her cheek.  She had not been so close to anyone ever.  NO one had ever loved, or cared for her, this much.  She didn’t want this night to end, if she died right now, it would have been the happiest time in her life.  Yet as she reflected, as she remembered what had happened in the Nether Realm, she knew that she would never be the same, that she would be haunted by nightmares, and – to her greatest sorrow – she could never love Rowen as he did her.  Never
Cora moved away from Rowen, pushing back his hands and sitting up next to him on the couch.  Her jade eyes, sad, turned down and away from him.  She couldn’t face him.
Rowen looked at her curiously, a shadow of worry crossed his face.  He put his hand to her shoulder.
"Cora, what’s wrong?" he asked her.
Cora blinked slowly, as if she were trying to keep in the tears that were battling their way to the surfaces of her eyes, to tumble silently down her face.  She sniffed.
Rowen put both of his hands to her shoulders, pulling her to face him.
"Cora, you can tell me, nothing will ever separate us again, I promise you that," he said to her.
Cora kept her eyes downcast as he spoke.  How could he know?  Should she tell him?  ‘Yes,’ she said to herself, ‘he has a right to know, he loves you, and you him, and he will have to know eventually.’
Rowen brushed a loose strand of golden hair out of her sad-featured face.  Then the tears finally won their battle.  Silently, one by one, they made their ways to her eyes and made a pathway down her cheek.
Cora gasped a little for air as the tears choked her throat.  Rowen pulled her close to him in a binding embrace.  She cried the uncried tears of her past, the ones that had been forbidden by more reasons than only one.  All of them she cried onto Rowen’s shoulder.
Rowen did his best to comfort her, rocking her slowly back and forth, just holding her, saying nothing.  He placed a small kiss on her forehead.  After Cora calmed down, he pulled her away again, with both hands on her shoulders, and dried her tears.  Rowen put one hand on the side of her face.  She met his gaze.
He asked again, "What’s wrong?"
Cora dropped her eyes yet again, "Oh Rowen, if only you knew what happened, then, maybe, oh, I don’t know.  I love you, and I never ever want to leave you again.  I…I…I just wish that…that I could…love you the way you love me.  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that…" she trailed off, her eyes still downcast, and starting to fill with tears again.
Rowen wiped them away again, and gently forced her gaze to his.
"Cora, if anyone has shown me any greater love it’s you.  You heard me through the amulet and fought back for control of yourself to protect me.  You never gave up.  I know that nothing stops you from caring about something, and I hope that you will always love me, as I will always love you," as he finished, he pulled her close, and pressed his lips against hers.  Cora kissed him back.  Then she pulled away and looked into the indigo-blue eyes that she knew so well, brushing aside that signature lock of hair that only flopped back into place as she let it go.  Quietly, she whispered.
"I will always love you."
Rowen pulled her close once more, and after a while, she fell asleep on his shoulder, happy, and loved forever.