Welcome to Gaia! ::

One by one the hundreds of inhabitants of Destiny City Memorial had started to awaken. Some had done so with a start as though rising quickly from a horrible nightmare, pulses pounding and eyes wide. Others? Others had continued right on sleeping even after they had been moved into private rooms as though there was still something left unfinished in whatever realm they had been drawn into.

Cordelia Carden had been one of those few who had remained asleep. Her mother, who had spent endless hours by her bedside, was finally convinced by her father to take a small break; to get something to eat, rest her eyes... Maybe even take a trip home for a few of Cordelia's personal effects to 'brighten the room' that they had acquired for their darling daughter.

In that time of silence she had continued to sleep... More importantly, she continued to dream. The darkness had gone on forever and it felt like such a chore to climb out of it. Sailor Corvus, Cordelia Carden, senshi, student, daughter, friend. Memories swirled around her, eyelids twitching from time to time although the rest of her body remained still. All she had to do was make the climb back to consciousness... And maybe then it would all be over. Really over.

The sound of a familiar voice filtered into the dark of her dreaming, replacing the last words of the strange blonde in the midnight uniform trimmed with day-glo blue. It was comforting, in its own way, reminding her not just of the friends that she had lost in slipping into Tartaros, but of what she had left behind in the real world as well.

Her eyelids twitched again followed by the slightest quirk of the corner of her mouth. Whatever she was dreaming about now seemed to be better than what she had fallen into before to say the very least.

In her dream she continued to climb, pulling herself up one rung at a time as she moved towards something that, while it couldn't quite be described as light, wasn't the same as the darkness she had been residing in. There was more familiarity the closer she got, along with a heavy feeling weighing down on her limbs; something that she had to struggle to recognize for what it was -- her body.

Fingers twitched lightly, bending ever so slightly at the tips to press against the pristine sheets. This room, so white and hollow, was not her room. These sheets were not her sheets. Nothing about the sterile hospital was familiar except for the voice that just kept talking.

Her brow furrowed slightly as she tried to place it, wanting that memory to settle back along with the feeling of her body now weighing her consciousness back in place. Warm. Friendly. Familiar. This was a voice she had listened to time in and time out before in various situations. It, no, he was talking to her as though she'd never really left.

Had she really been gone at all?

Her nose wrinkled, lips parting slightly in an attempt to form words that failed due to a tongue that had been out of use for far too long. Frustrated, she closed her mouth, teeth biting down lightly on her lower lip as, for the first time in several long weeks, Cordelia Carden opened her eyes.

Erik. Oddy. Her face scrunched in an attempt to clear vision that had blurred as realization had set in. The movement of her features, the squint of her eyes, sent warm tears slowly spilling down her cheeks. It was such a strange sensation when compared to everything else and she wanted it to go away, just as much as she wanted her stupid mouth to work properly.

"I... I bet I look... Like hell." She managed.

"Maybe except for the whole awake part..." She murmured, shifting her head in a slow shake. "I bet she looked like hell too. I wasn't sleeping for a hundred years, was I?" It was likely a poor time to crack jokes of any sort, but Cordelia couldn't help herself, not seeing the look on Oddy's face.

Her fingers curled lightly against his as he took her hand, eyes drifting down to her pale skin brushing his before looking back up to him. "We're a team..." Her voice was soft as she spoke, seriousness in her eyes and tone. "... As long as there's a way I'll always come back."

Gabrielle Ivanovitch was many things. A senshi, a student, a beloved niece, a bizarre coma recoveree... Was that even a word, she thought idly as she took a walk down the the hospital hallways. The doctors had been overjoyed when she'd woken up two days ago. Her aunt had been even more so, falling upon her niece's neck and sobbing brokenly. Aunt Natasha, who NEVER cried. Crazy. Shaking her head, Gabbie signed and thanked whomever it was that looked out for peopel stuck in hospital gowns that her aunt had brought her a nice, new lightweight robe to wear while she walked. And of all things, her aunt had gotten one for Cordy too for if she woke up. Gabbie was careful to keep that robe in her own room, too afraid to bring it down... just in case... well.

Cordy. Glancing up, she realized that her walk had brought her to the very threshhold of her friend's room. Natasha had wasted no time in telling Gabbie how the nice friend she'd introduced to her aunt had also been just as sick and was roomed on the same floor. And since she'd woken up, Gabbie had made it a point to peek in and make sure her friend was still breathing. Today she could hear the soft murmur of voices. Feeling a stab of icy fear in her gut, she carefully opened the door and poked her head inside.

Then, she was barreling into the room, ignoring the way she stumbled over the chair, over Oddy until she was hovering over her friend and hugging her as best she could as tears ran down her face.

"You're awake! Oh god, you're awake, I'm so happy," she cried, resisting the urge to give Cordy a little shake for worrying her. My aunt told me you were here when I woke up and why didn't you come down and tell me she woke up..." Gabbie rounded on Oddy, but something in his face made her stop rambling and scolding. Carefully looking from one to the other, she flushed slightly and backed up a tiny bit.

"Well, ********, I just interuppted something didn't I," she said by way of apology before trying to lighten the mood. "Well, at least this moment looks better than mine. I had some strange guy hovering over me reading the latest scientific article about T-Rexes. Scared the hell out of me at first."

Cordelia's eyes had gone wide the moment Gabbie had barged, for lack of a better term, into the hospital room. The instant chatter followed by the embrace had made her tense, but then she'd found herself laughing, wrapping her arms around her friend in return. "Gabbie... Gabbie."

God, maybe she had been gone forever... It was almost starting to feel that way now.

"I..." Her own face was slightly flushed now, whether or not it was because Gabrielle Ivanovitch really had just interrupted something or because the other girl had temporarily cut off her air was debatable. "I think... Someone should find my parents. I would, but..." She gestured lightly to the horrible hospital gown after drawing her hand away from Oddy's, but not without giving it a light, reassuring squeeze.

... And she likely would have left it right at that had Erik, Oddy, not mentioned presents. "You brought me a present?"