Santana didn't know how it got like this. When she left home, it had been with a promise. I'll be home soon. Rachel was on her way to stardom and she was being shipped off to some godforsaken country to fight in a war that no one knew about. All in the hopes she could protect her country, her family. Her. The way they left things was perfect. Loving. They wrote letters every week, anytime she could, and when she could get a laptop, video chat. She was missing her home, her girl, her world. This was all for her though so she kept going. Kept fighting.

When the bullet ripped through her shoulder, she fell over a hill and all she could do was picture Rachel through the pain. Through the sorrow. She would make it for Rachel. She had to make it for Rachel. To save Rachel. She went missing for weeks, stumbling around in blood drenched clothes through a jungle to get to civilization. To get to a phone. To get to her.

They found her there, crawling her way through the trees with her arm in a sort of sling and her body thinner than anyone remembered. She hadn't asked for medical attention even though her shoulder was in shambles and no one knew if she would be able to use it correctly ever again. She didn't ask what had happened, how long she was gone, or where she had been. She simply asked for her.

The news wasn't good.

They had told Rachel she was MIA and more than likely KIA. Apparently, things went down hill from there. They reported that her partner, ironically Noah Puckerman, had kept close to Rachel to keep an eye on the girl being so close to them still. Her girl had spiraled down, falling into a pit of despair. Then she got the news she really didn't want to hear nor did she ever think it would ever happen to Rachel.

Her girl was in a hospital feeling the effects of oxycodone withdraw and was recovering from some self inflicted wounds. She tried to lose all feelings of pain while trying to feel something, be in control again.

Santana collapsed there and then, the boys carting her off to the medevac to get her shoulder fixed up.

When everything that could be done to her right shoulder was done, she left immediately, thankful it had only been two days since she had heard the news. The flight seemed to take longer than it should have and she nearly broke her shoulder again when she pushed past everyone to get off and outside.

She didn't even think before going straight to Rachel.

The hospital was more of a rehab clinic, nice and clean but obviously filled with tension and underlying pain. It tore her apart to think Rachel was here instead of on a stage, singing her heart out. Apparently, her Broadway contract still stood but she had to make it through rehab first. This was her last chance. Her only chance. Or she would never see the stage again. That broke Santana almost as much as when she saw the girl.

Rachel seemed like she was almost as skinny as she had gotten, her eyes hollow and unseeing as she looked out the window. She decided that she would thank Puck for looking out for her but then kill him for doing such a shit job of it. Her eyes moved to the bandages around Rachel's wrists, a few scars showing along her arms in the fading sun. Swallowing thickly, she moved forward, finally catching the other girls attention when she kneeled in front of her chair.

Rachel was pale, sickly looking, and obviously feeling the affects of her withdraw. "Are you an angel? Are you going to let me die now? I haven't tried yet, Santana would be so mad at me if I had tried, but I'm not afraid if it means I get to see her again. Thank you for looking like her, it's comforting."

Santana's heart nearly shattered. "Rachel... I'm not an angel and you aren't gonna die. It's me, babe. I'm not dead, they gave a false report cause I was lost. I found my way again, Rae, I will always find my way back to you."

She watched as Rachel's eyes went from blank, to comprehending, to terrified, to angry, to simply amazed as tears hazed over. A hand trembled as it tried to cup Santana's cheek so she lifted her own to hold it close to her skin, Rachel gasping when she realized this was real. This wasn't just some mind trick or hallucination left over from her drugs.

Santana was alive.

"I got so lost, San. You left me and I didn't know what to do. My cast mate gave me pills and I couldn't stop it and... I couldn't stop it, I got so lost." She couldn't take it, hearing her like that. She moved to pull Rachel into her, avoiding her shoulder as much as possible.

Cradling her to her chest, she felt the tears hitting her shirt like rainfall but she smiled. Rachel wasn't lost anymore. Leaning down, she pressed a kiss to her cheek and rocked her gently, nuzzling in to whisper into her ear. "No matter where you go, I will always find you."