Another angst week fic I never posted here, this one's about Cole! Please enjoy this onehsot inspired by heartwarming animated classic, Anastasia :D

Cole is floating, his limbs loose and his head weightless. It's a feeling he's gotten used to, recently, of not exactly being corporeal, but this is different. He feels off, hazy, as if he's pushed himself too far in training again, or he's been hit one time too many in the head.

The world around him doesn't look much better, the ground he's standing on obscured by a fine blanket of mist. There's mist everywhere, glimmering pale in the darkness, cold where it drifts across his skin.

Cole shivers. Then blinks. He stretches his arm out, staring at his goose-bumped skin in confusion. Carefully, he pinches the skin of his wrist with two trembling fingers. His heart skips a beat as he watches the blood in his veins color the skin red briefly, before fading back to its natural color.

Cole's mouth drops open, and he gives a breathless laugh of disbelief. He's human. This isn't the translucent skin of a ghost, he's normal again-

Cole blinks back tears, touching the moisture at the corners of his eyes. It doesn't hurt. The wetness slides easily across his skin, and it doesn't hurt. How is this even-

"Cole, sweetheart, is that you?"

Cole's stomach bottoms out. He lifts his head slowly, not daring to believe. It takes all his strength to look up, his heart and mind violently warring with each other.

His eyes finally meet hers, and his heart stops.

His mother is standing before him, her black hair loose and her dark eyes as warm as he can barely remember them being.

"…mom?" he whispers, the words unfamiliar in his mouth.

She nods, her smile tearing at his heart as she draws closer to him. Her fingers skirt the outline of his face, close but never touching. A pained look of fondness crosses her expression.

"Oh, sweetheart," she says. Cole has to fight back a fresh stinging in his eyes at her voice. "I've waited so long for you to come home."

Cole blinks. What?

She doesn't give him time to reply, turning and beckoning him forward. Cole follows her as if in a trance, his head spinning.

Is…is he dead? Is that what this is? Did Yang's curse finally run it's course and finish him off for good?

Cole feels a surge of panic. His team, his friends, his family - he can't just leave them! Not without warning like this, he can't just - who's going to look out for them if he's dead?

His mother turns back, as if sensing Cole's panic. She gives him a soft smile, the kind she used to give him when he was little, when he would rush into her room shaking because he had a nightmare.

"It's alright," she says. "Come on."

Cole follows her almost reluctantly, the mist swirling around him as he moves forward. Everything's still so hazy - he can barely feel where his feet touch the ground.

He follows her for a good minute before the warnings his mind is screaming at him finally get through.

"My - my team," he struggles to say, footsteps slowing. "I can't just go with you, I have to - they need me."

"Do they?" she says softly, her back still to him.

Cole flinches back. "Wha - of course they do, I - they're my friends-"

Fear creeps up Cole's spine. Do they need him, really? What use has he been to the team lately, besides being the transparent dead one?

"I need you, Cole," his mother says. "You aren't going to leave me alone, are you?"

Cole's breathe is strangled out of him. "N-no," he says, desperately searching for solid ground. "But I - that's not it, I can't - I can't leave them, mom."

His mother finally turns around, her eyes soft and kind. She reaches out toward him.

"Cole, sweetheart," she says, soft and soothing like a lullaby. "I've missed you so much."

Cole's eyes burn, his throat closing up. "I miss you too," he croaks. "So much."

"Then come home," she says, her dark eyes pleading. "Come home with me, Cole."

He hesitates, his feet dragging loosely as they move forward automatically. There's muffled yelling in the background, as if the dull panic lying buried in his chest has gained a voice.

"Just a little further," his mother whispers. "Just one step more."

Cole takes a shaky breath, his foot moving-

"COLE!"

Cole stops. He recognizes that scream.

With a sharp tug, Cole is jerked back to his body, awareness flooding into him with the force of a freight train. He blinks wildly, Jay's panicked cry ringing through his skull as he wills the world to stop spinning so much.

It takes a minute, but the orange-ish blur in front of him finally materializes into a wild-eyed, terrified Jay. He's standing in front of him, hands held out uselessly as he pants for breathe like he's just run a marathon.

Cole blinks again. Rainwater is sliding through Jay's hair, slowly soaking his blue pajamas. Another blink.

Cole is standing in the open doorway of the monastery, less than an inch away from the torrential downpour outside.

Cole stumbles back abruptly with a horrified gasp, his heart flying to his throat.

"What the hell-"

"That's what I was saying!" Jay shrieks, a look of devastated relief crossing his face as he steps out of the rain, slamming the door tightly behind him. "What were you doing? Did you completely lose your marbles?! You're lucky I woke up when you got up, because otherwise - otherwise-"

Jay's expression constricts in horror.

"Cole, what were you doing?" he whispers, his eyes shimmering.

Cole's mouth goes dry, and he stares at Jay dumbly, at a loss.

"I wasn't-" Cole's voice cracks, trailing off. How is he supposed to explain this?

"Jay, I swear, I wasn't-"

"Of course you weren't!" Jays cuts in hurriedly, laughing nervously. "Of course, that doesn't even make any sense, why would you be about to walk right out into the rain! You were just - out for a midnight stroll, that's all, and you - you wanted to - to - see the rain, up close, or something, that's all."

He looks at Cole, fear still obvious in his eyes. "That's all, r-right?"

"I-"

Cole doesn't know what to say. He's not good with words, not like some of the others are. And he's not good with this.

Cole just shakes his head, sinking to the ground and drawing his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them. He feels small - pathetic and stupid and weak.

Jay is immediately on his knees, leaving just enough space for comfort between them.

Cole blinks back tears that won't form, drawing in shaky breath. He meets Jay's frightened eyes.

"My mom," he croaks out, as if that's enough.

It is for Jay.

His eyes widen, a flurry of expressions crossing his face before he settles on uncensored empathy.

"Okay," Jay says, a bit shakily. "Okay, that's - okay."

He moves forward, awkwardly jerking to a halt halfway, as if he can't decide what to do. Cole waits quietly, and Jay finally decides, scooting forward and closing the distance between them as he wraps his arms around him.

There's a frightening moment where Jay's arms slip through Cole, meeting ghostly mist instead of his somewhat-solid form. Cole takes a deep breath, forcing it out through his nose, and Jay tries again. This time he's successful, and he grips Cole tightly, as if he's afraid he'll fade away if he doesn't hold on tight enough.

There's an audible sniff, and Cole braces himself for the sting of tears.

"Don't worry, I'm leaning the other way," Jay says, his voice muffled and nasal. "I'm not gonna cry on you. Expert tear-aimer, here."

Cole gives a weak snort of amusement. Jay's like that - he doesn't try to hide his emotions like the rest of them do. Or he does try to, and he just fails really badly. Sometimes it makes Cole uncomfortable - how open Jay is able to be, how loud he can be about his own emotions.

Tonight, though, he's never been more grateful for how expressive his best friend is.

At least one of them can cry.