The next few days passed by in a blur as Sarah came to terms with her new home for the time being. She had explored every possible nook and cranny of her mom's literal skyscraper, although she was still cautious to avoid other beings she came across. Diane insisted that they were all good people, but Sarah was still hesitant to trust them, especially Adam. She still didn't like that he had left James behind, regardless of what his reasons were.

In that time, Sarah had also learned that her mother was a very important figure in Helia. Diane had explained to Sarah that after she returned from Earth and gotten off of bed rest, that they had elected her as the Prime Minister of Helia because she had shown so much devotion to her mission. She had been the last Helian to leave Earth, aside from Terry, and had acquired a great wealth of knowledge about the dimension that the rest of the Helians believed would aid her in her rule as their leader.

Since Diane's rule, Helia had flourished as they expanded their reach to other dimensions in search of knowledge and understanding about what else existed beyond Helia. Diane had told Sarah a little of what they'd found in the other dimensions they'd visited, but Sarah knew that there was still more information that Diane was hiding from her. Like who created the Upside Down and why. But she'd find it out eventually, with or without her mother's help. She was determined.

Sarah was sitting on the edge of her bed, her eyes glued to the pages of a historical textbook she'd found about Helia, when Diane entered the room.

"That's a good one," Diane informed Sarah, referring to the book that was sitting on her lap. "But I'd recommend History of Helia if you want a more in-depth look at the expansion of the dimension."

"I'll add it to the list," Sarah answered, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket and jotting the name down. She had started a list of books that she wanted to read so that she could learn more about the dimension she found herself stuck in. Even if she didn't want to stay there for long, she thought it'd be useful to at least garner an understanding of where she came from.

Diane awkwardly stood off to the side of the bed until Sarah scooched over and invited her to take a seat. Sarah had noticed that Diane was maintaining a cautious breadth with their relationship ever since Sarah's big blow-up. She figured that it had to do with Diane's confirmation that she had known that Sarah was still alive, perhaps out of guilt and concern that she may push her daughter farther away.

"Do you need something?" Sarah asked after she picked up on the silence between them.

"I have a job for you," Diane informed her. As Diane spoke, her eyes lit up, invoking Sarah's curiosity. "If you want it, of course."

"What is it?" Sarah asked. She rotated a little so that she was facing Diane.

"Like I've mentioned before, Earth isn't the only dimension to have been affected by the Upside Down. Those demo-monsters, or however you call them, have escaped into other dimensions as well. Now that the Upside Down is destroyed, they're stuck there and they're causing havoc. I've created a team of individuals to help clean up the other dimensions by hunting them down and I thought that you'd be a good fit."

"Me?" Sarah asked in surprise.

Diane smiled and nodded her head. "Of course. You did destroy the Upside Down, after all. I can think of no one better for the job. What do you think?"

Sarah contemplated the offer for a moment. While there was still much of Helia that Sarah wanted to explore, and while she still hadn't found all the answers that seemed to keep her there, the prospect of exploring other dimensions intrigued her as well. Perhaps this job could lead her closer to the truth of the Upside Down.

"All right," Sarah said at long last. "I'm in. When do I start?"

"We could be together forever, you know. Once you merge with this form, you'll be with me. You'll be more powerful than you could ever imagine. Don't you want that?"

Sarah turned over in her sleep, a deep scowl subconsciously etching itself into her face upon hearing James' voice. "No," she whispered determinedly into the darkness.

"Well, you will after time."

Warm breaths on Sarah's face broke her from her nightmare and she was startled to find two big, brown eyes only inches from her own. She had to pull her head backwards in order to connect the eyes to a round nose, a beaming smile, and light brown hair that casted a shadow across her visitor's face. It took her sleepy mind a minute to put the puzzle pieces in place, but once she had the full picture, she nearly threw herself out of bed.

"El!" Sarah cried, thrusting her arms out to her sister. Eleven jumped on top of her, squishing her against the mattress.

"Is it really you?" Eleven asked with glowing eyes. She poked and prodded Sarah's face, trying to discern if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

"It's really me," Sarah answered with a smile after she batted Eleven's fingers away and pushed her weight off of her.

Now that Eleven wasn't on top of Sarah, Sarah had a chance to study her sister better, and she felt a tear build up in the corner of her eye as she took in the full sight. She had grown so much. To Sarah, it felt like just yesterday that she had found the fifteen-year old girl outside the arcade and asked for her help, and now that girl was sitting before her as a full-grown woman. Eleven's light brown hair had grown down to her shoulder blades in wavy curls and her dark brown eyes glowed with maturity.

Sarah could see traces of eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, blush, and lip gloss on Eleven's face and a pang struck her stomach. It was a reminder of everything she had missed. She wished she could have been there to teach Eleven how to use make-up, even if she didn't have much experience with it herself, like normal big sisters did with their younger sisters. But as Sarah took in the rest of Eleven, that pain slowly melted away. Eleven had turned into a beautiful young woman whom Sarah was incredibly proud to call her sister.

"You have to tell me everything!" Eleven exclaimed, pushing herself into a sitting position at the end of Sarah's bed. Or rather, Jonathan's old bed. Nancy, Jonathan and Barb had set up shop at Hopper's cabin so that they'd have more space, leaving Jonathan's room to Sarah.

"In time, kiddo," Sarah laughed at Eleven's eagerness. "First, you have to tell me everything. Like, how's Oregon? And who's this boy that Hopper told me about?"

Sarah wiggled her eyebrows and a deep blush settled on Eleven's cheeks.

"It's nothing..." Eleven answered slowly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger and biting her lower lip.

"Sure doesn't look like 'nothing'," Sarah responded with raised brows and a knowing smile.

Eleven was about to elaborate when the door creaked open to reveal Hopper beneath its frame.

"My girls," he said, a large smile overwhelming his face as he looked upon his daughters. Eleven and Sarah jumped up from the bed and rushed to attack Hopper in a family hug.

"Easy now, I'm an old man," Hopper wheezed as they made contact with him, pushing him back a step.

The three stood locked in each others' embrace for several minutes, not even noticing the silence that had settled upon them. It was a perfect moment and nobody was going to be the one to disrupt it, least of all Sarah. This exact moment was what had kept her going for the last ten years.

And what would keep her going in the oncoming battle.

A knock on the front door alerted the Byers' household to the first party members to arrive. Hopper, Joyce, Eleven, Will, Jonathan, and Nancy all stepped aside to allow Sarah the opportunity to greet them first. Sarah eagerly opened the door and was elated to find Lucas and Max waiting on the other side.

"I told you that we should have brought something," Max snapped at Lucas, seemingly unaware that the door had opened.

"Like what?" Lucas retorted, also oblivious to Sarah's presence.

"I don't know, like chips or something!"

"Chips?" Lucas scoffed. "A person comes back from the dead and you want to give them chips?"

"It's better than nothing!"

"Hey guys," Sarah said with a smile, interrupting their bickering. Lucas and Max's heads both swiveled towards the source of the voice and an ear-splitting smile immediately replaced the frowns that had settled on their faces from their argument.

"Oh my god, it's really you!" Max squealed, shoving Lucas aside to wrap her arms around Sarah in a hug that nearly choked the life out of her.

Once Max finally let go, Lucas stepped in to take her place. "Sorry about her," he apologized as he pulled away. "She's been extremely excited ever since she heard you were back. I mean, I am too, of course, but you're like her role model."

"She's a badass woman with superpowers who saved the dimension from a giant monster, what's not to love?" Max retorted in an attempt to defend herself as a bright blush worked itself across her freckled cheeks.

An overwhelming smile erupted across Sarah's face upon hearing the compliment. "I've really missed you guys," she beamed.

Max and Lucas worked their way around the room, greeting the rest of the people in the house as Sarah waited by the door for the next guest. It didn't take long for another knock to perforate the ongoing chatter, and Sarah quickly threw the door open to find the next member of the party.

"Whoa, it's really true, you're alive!" Mike exclaimed with wide eyes and an even wider mouth upon seeing Sarah.

"Yup, with all ten fingers and all ten toes," Sarah laughed as she quickly hugged Mike and welcomed him inside.

Mike spotted Eleven almost immediately, and a bright blush flared in his cheeks as she offered him a small wave. Too nervous to say anything to her, he quickly retreated to the other side of the room where Max and Lucas were once more squabbling about whether or not they should have brought something.

"Is that everybody?" Joyce asked as she counted all the heads in the room.

"Not yet," Will answered. "We're still waiting on Dustin."

"Where the hell is he?" Lucas asked. "I thought he left Indianapolis hours ago."

"Fashionably late as always," Max muttered under her breath.

☆ ★ ☆

Dustin was driving along the main street of Hawkins when he caught sight of Steve walking down the sidewalk. He immediately pulled his car over to the side of the road and honked his horn to get Steve's attention. Dustin chuckled as he watched Steve jump into the air, frightened by the sudden noise.

When Steve noticed Dustin's goofy grin and untamed curls through the windshield, a relieved smile settled onto his face and he rushed over to Dustin's side of the car.

"Henderson, what are you doing in town?" Steve asked with a huge smile as Dustin rolled his window down.

"What do you think? I'm here for the reunion!" Dustin responded.

A confused look spanned Steve's face. "Reunion?"

"You know, the party reunion..." Dustin answered with an equally confused look. "Because Sarah is back..."

"Sarah is back?" Steve choked on the question and had to cough a few times to get his breath back.

"Oh shit, did nobody tell you?" Dustin asked. "Well, I'm sure you're invited. Hop in! I'm headed over there now."

Steve stood on the sidewalk, his feet glued to the cement for a full minute before he regained the ability to move. He slowly crossed in front of Dustin's car, opened the door, and settled in next to him. His heart was beating so loud that he could swear it was vibrating the car, and his skin was suddenly coated in an icy chill. Sarah was alive? But how? And where had she been all this time? Steve was overwhelmed with a sequence of rapid-fire thoughts the entire drive over to the Byers'.

"You coming?" Dustin asked after pulling into the driveway and putting the car in park. He had already opened the car door part way, and had one foot resting on the pavement.

"Just give me a couple minutes," Steve answered. His eyes were still locked onto the windshield in a far-off glance.

"All right, but don't take too long," Dustin cautioned him. "I heard that Mrs. B made a ton of food, and I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

Steve waved him aside, waiting for the click of the door as it slammed shut. The thought of food at that moment made his already-anxious stomach queasy and he swept his hands through his hair in an attempt to calm himself down.

Steve had dreamed of this day so long, but he thought that it would always be just that; a dream. Now that it was reality, he didn't know what to think. How did one reunite with a lost love they thought to be dead for the past ten years? What would he even say? It had taken him years to move on from Sarah, and now that he finally had, what would happen when he laid eyes on her?

There was only one way to find out.

Taking several deep breaths, Steve opened the car door and slowly pushed himself out of the vehicle. He had to grab onto the hood of the car when his knees buckled and nearly gave out, but he was able to quickly hoist himself back to his feet and make his way to the front door.

"Get your shit together, Harrington," Steve whispered to himself as his shaking hand latched onto the door knob. "Sarah is back."

★ ☆ ★ ☆ ★