This is for my Friends: (rated M)

We had walked far with our two friends damaged bodies in tow, the five of us. Our friend, once enemy, had given the last moments of her Dark riddled life and her own Life Energy to give the five of us back our friend. Our leader. Our incredibly smart but stupid friend.

She had given her life for us and for the redemption of our once enemy's soul. She had never truly believed that she was gone for good. She had never been attacked by the dead girl directly. The dead girl had known that it would be more effective to take us out. The five of us were very important to her, and she needed us. She still needs us.

Right now, she was barely alive.

She was on Death's door, and no way were we taking her to a normal person's hospital.

It would get our guy friend in trouble. He worked for the military and is supposed to know where the six of us are at all times, but it doesn't really work that way. He knows what city we're in and we had to betray his trust and give him the slip in order to get here and save the day. His superiors had deemed it a suicide mission and would not send their most valuable agents out on a mission like that to die. But we had gone anyway.

We had made two litters out of the materials that had survived the fight and fires. There were no firefighters yet. Someone or something was delaying them. Or they hadn't noticed the giant smoke column in the sky. We didn't know which one we perfered.

Two of our number walked in front of the first litter. They knew where they were going, and we don't question each other. It would be like trying to interogate oneself. It doesn't work.

The two strongest of us physically were in the middle of our small party. Holding the end of the first litter and the beginning of the second. Our final member was at the back, holding up the final end.

We walked all through the night. Praying that we wouldn't come to our destination with two dead bodies. At first light we saw where we were going. It was a military base. Everyone froze as we walked through the secret emergency door. Men and women alike stared. We had known our friend had become very popular with the people here. We even helped with that. But seeing them all, just staring at us as we carried two maybe-dead-bodies... It made reality come crashing down.

We had let people die. It was our fault we didn't move fast enough.

Our knees started to shake.

We all croaked out simulaneously, "We need a doctor... She's dying."

Everyone immediately knew who we were talking about. The only one you couldn't see.

Everyone jumped up to do as we asked. Worry unconcealed on their faces. We had lost one family, but gained another. Was it really worth it?

Some people grabbed phones and called our guy friend, others called the infirmary, and still others took off at a flat run towards the doctors on base. Our closest comrades here tentively stepped forward.

"Who is in the second litter? Do they need medical attention?" they asked.

We all shook our heads no, looking up at them from the ground where we fell. Our knees had given way. So absorbed were we in thought that not one of us had noticed.

"Who is it?" asked one.

At that, our heads jerked up, and we all screamed. Our friend was slipping away again. Tiredness or not, we got up and stumbled towards her. We started to cry again and called out to her. Pleading for her not to go.

She couldn't leave us again. She couldn't.

We'd die.

As we screamed the doctors got there. Our guy friend was there also. He pulled our friend's head onto his lap. He was crying also. We looked up at our comrades. They all had tears streaming from their eyes and none of them tried to hide it. It suddenly hit us that this was where we belonged.

This was our family. Our friends and best friends, and brothers, and sisters, and mentors.

This was where we belonged.

We started to shout our revelation at our friend, and we slowly felt her come back to us. Our guy friend must have felt it too, because he smiled as we smiled. Tears still ran down our faces. She didn't automatically wake up like in the movies. She just gave us a very slight smile, and then went to sleep.

A real sleep.

Not Death; but the deep sleep of the exhuasted. And when were sure that our friend was not going to die on us as we also slept the same sleep, we sunk back into our family's waiting arms.

The home page button will lead you to the first part of this adventure. Feel free to go look. This is the third installment. (And it might be the last)