"She'll be okay, darling. Just let her rest." 

"Okay."

As my senses slowly returned to me, my eyes fluttered open, only to be met with the hazel eyes of a boy behind a red mask. Blaze Boy.

"She's awake! Velma!"

Blaze Boy was shoved out the way and was replaced by a woman with a black fringe, and dazzling green eyes.

"Yes, darling. That new medicine seemed to work." She exclaimed, squinting at me before disappearing again.

What?

Why was Velma here? 

Where was I, exactly?

I opened my mouth to speak as Blaze Boy hovered over me once more.

"W-Where am I?" I asked, trying to lift my body from the bed I was laying on. Blaze Boy instantly pushed me back down.

"We're at Velma's. I found you on the street. Look, don't move too much, okay?" He replied, looking anxious. What?! He was telling me, Cascade Brown, sassiest girl in San Francisco, what to do?

"I think only my mother has the right of telling me what to do, thank you." I retorted in reply, heaving myself into a sitting position. Then Blaze Boy's words struck me. I found you on the street.

Street fight.

Ice Woman.

Shoot.

"No! I need to get back out there!" I cried, swinging my legs over the white, minimalist bed and stepping on my right foot. Bad idea. Blaze Boy leaped forward to grab me as I began plummeting to the floor. My foot was in pain. Intense pain. 

"What happened to my foot?!" I asked, as Blaze Boy sat me back down on the bed.

"You were drained of energy." He explained, gazing into my eyes. "You need to rest."

"No! Don't you understand? Ice Woman is still out there. We need to find her before she kills any more civilians! I can't just stop and rest!" I yelled, my voice echoing around the seemingly empty room. Didn't Velma know how to decorate? Sure, I knew the minimalist look was fashionable these days but in the room Blaze Boy and I were in, there was literally just a white bed.

Anyway.

Blaze Boy looked shocked at my outburst, but then his face returned to it's normal, relaxed self.

"Look, I know it's pretty urgent out there, but you need to rest. Just promise me you'll rest for an hour, then we can leave and I'll take you home." He said, his voice calm. I sighed, realizing neither him nor Velma were going to let me leave this house until I was better. 

"Fine." I muttered, flopping back down onto the bed.

"Oh yeah, and I brought your phone from your room. I figured you might be bored for an hour." Blaze Boy declared, handing me my phone. I gave him a weird look before examining my phone's home screen, showing my recent notifications.

Rachael at 1:03pm: Hey Cass,  we need to talk...

Rachael at 1:04pm: What about the roof 2night? 10pm okay for u?

I was elated. Rachael had actually replied to me. And she wanted to meet me. If it wasn't for Blaze Boy sat at the end of the bed, staring at me, I would've whooped with joy. My best friend wanted to talk to me. This was a miracle in itself.

As I quickly tapped in a reply, I noticed the time displayed at the top of my phone. 9:00pm.

What?!

"What's the time?" I asked Blaze Boy, thinking that my phone's clock had gone weird or something.

"9'o clock. Why?" He stated, examining a red watch on his wrist.

"Seriously?! How long have I been out for the count?" 

"You were out for at least a few hours. Let's see.." Blaze Boy began counting on his fingers. "Well, I found you on the street at about 2 in the afternoon, brought you back to Velma's at about half 2...so you were asleep for at least 6 hours."

I don't ever sleep for more than 5 hours. I had insomnia as a 7th grader. I would spend my nights indulging in Han Solo and Princess Leia's love life, or playing the Wii whilst my mother slept soundly. Even to this day, I normally didn't go to bed until midnight, and I had to wake up for school at 6. It was how I rolled. I lived with it. But during the day? Sleeping for 6 hours? That was rare.

"Shoot. I need to be somewhere in an hour." I explained, looking over at Blaze Boy. He simply smirked.

"I'm sure that can be arranged."

So, I found myself at 9:55pm in Blaze Boy's arms, soaring over San Francisco. Believe me, I put up a big fight about him carrying me like a baby, but it was the only way of getting across the city quickly, without using up my dwindling energy. Finally, my apartment block came into view and Blaze Boy began descending. I squinted in the evening night, trying to make out the outline of a girl, waiting to talk to someone she currently hated, but Rachael wasn't there yet. That gave me time to get changed, and maybe eat a snack. Blaze Boy slowed down and lowered himself onto my windowsill, as I scrambled out of his arms. That was enough for one day. I opened my window and hopped into the warm room, feeling much safer now that I was home. Blaze Boy stood at the window, watching me as I turned my bedroom light on and began shoving my jeans and a t-shirt out of my wardrobe. I stopped to look at him.

"What? You can go now." I stated, watching as his facial features turned into something I wasn't used to. Hurt? Pain?

Whatever it was, Blaze Boy brushed it away, keeping a straight face. But I still caught it, that second of hurt. I didn't know what for, though. Maybe he was drained of energy too.

"Okay. Bye, Miss Cascade." He drawled, before taking off and shooting into the night sky. I turned back to my wardrobe and quickly grabbed a hoodie, before changing out of my supersuit and into my everyday clothes. The clothes that Cascade Brown wore, not Aqua Girl. I tucked my suit into it's home: the plastic bag under my bed, as my stomach rumbled.

Oh yeah, food.

Realizing it was nearly 10'o clock, I dashed out of my bedroom and into the brightly-lit kitchen, where my mother was sat, drawing in her sketchpad.

"Hey, sweetheart. Finally woken up? You must've been tired." Mom said, not looking up from her sketchpad as her pencil-welding hand moved over the page effortlessly. I breathed a sigh of relief, metaphorically. I was thankful, at this moment, that my mother was ditsy, and scatter-brained. She wouldn't realize that I had been out practically all day with an unknown boy.

"Yeah, I was just a bit tired." I explained, looking in a cupboard and grabbing a packet of unopened cookies. "I'll be in my room, probably watching a movie, so don't disturb me."

My mother simply nodded and carried on drawing. Good good. Grinning to myself, I trotted back to my room, locked the door, and opened the packet of cookies. As I sauntered over to the window, I realized it was probably smart to actually put on a movie, so my mother would fall for my cover-up. So, I quickly shoved Star Wars: The Force Awakens into my DVD player, and hit play. Part of me just wanted to curl up on my beanbag and watch the movie, but I knew, as a rightful human being, I should go and patch things up with Rachael. Swinging my body over the window ledge, I took one last wistful glance at my cosy, warm bedroom, before beginning to climb up the drainpipe, to the rooftop.

A lone figure sat, waiting for me. Tonight, there was no wind, and the stars were on full display, boasting their twinkling light. Clutching my packet of cookies, I padded over to Rachael, who was sat cross-legged on the flat roof.

"Hey." I murmured, sitting beside my old best friend. She didn't stir, she just continued staring up at the stars. Unsure of what to do, I opened the packet of cookies and offered one out to her. Rachael accepted it and focused her eyes on me in the darkness, as I took my first bite of the chocolate chip goodness.

"Cass. I've missed you." Rachael said, her blue eyes gazing into mine.

"Me too, Rachael. Life has been pretty boring without you." I replied, before taking another bite of cookie. Even in these situations, nothing was going to stop me from eating. Just saying.

"Look, I want us to be back to normal as much as you do, but first I want you to apologize, for running off on that day of the bus attack."

This was hard. All I wanted to do was shout from this rooftop that I, Cascade Brown, was Aqua Girl, and in fact, I had saved Rachael, not abandoned her. But I couldn't. I wouldn't. I shouldn't.

Instead, I did what any other superhero would've done.

"I'm sorry, Rachael. I was scared, I've never been in that situation before." I muttered, taking another cookie from the packet. Rachael smiled, obviously satisfied with my answer.

"And I'm sorry, for ignoring you. We have separate lives these days, Cass. But I want us to still stay together, just like old times. Meet up every weekend. Walk home together in the summer months. Yeah?"

 "That sounds good to me, Rach." 

"Now lay down." Rachael demanded, pushing me back so I was laying on the roof.

"Why?" I asked, confused. Rachael laid down next to me, and then I realized why.

"Because the stars are out, you idiot."

In the summers of our childhoods, we would ask to climb up to this very rooftop. Our parents would sit in my apartment, drinking wine and laughing loudly, as young Rachael and I climbed up to the rooftop and watched the stars, spotting the constellations and naming them.

"You're the idiot." I retorted in reply, happy to be back, squabbling with my best friend.

"You keep thinking that, but remember, you'll always be the freak."

And so, we spent the late evening and early hours of the morning star-gazing and mindlessly chatting.

The way it should be.