Noah didn't know what, ultimately, began to pull him from his stupor. All he knew was that the dark voice inside his mind that was hissing his guilt at him was slowly drowned out by a much more insistent voice - Emma's voice. And while part of him still believed that he was hearing her from beyond the grave or that it was some trick of Sylar's or something, there was no denying that the sorrow that had gripped his heart was slowly but surely losing its hold.
When she told him to look at his hands, it took everything in his power to do as she instructed. He stared at his blood encrusted fingers, the smears of dried, reddish brown streaks across his palms, and willed himself to believe what she was saying was true. The words were mere echoes, at first, but grew more powerful the more he trusted them to be actual reality.
He didn't know if they were or not. He didn't know which one was real - the death that surrounded him or the gentle yet persistent claims from Emma that there was no death. However Noah ultimately decided that, real or not, he'd much rather have the bliss that she offered than the heartache and loss that he was drowning in. So with that decision made, he did as she told him to do and stared hard at his hands rather than simply trusting what he saw at first glance.
And little by little, bit by bit, the blood began to disappear. As did the heavy weight of his mother's body in his lap, and the message written in her blood upon the brick wall at his side. All of it faded into nothingness and the shadows began to ebb, drowned out by the ever-present lamppost in the courtyard that he hadn't even realized wasn't there until it was once again where it belonged.
Blinking at the sudden introduction of a light - however faint - into his mind, the teenager sucked in a shaky breath and slowly drew his gaze up from a new study of his now clean hands to peer at Emma. His expression was a mixture of awe and hope as he reached out, fingers dancing feather soft against her cheek.
"You're alive," he whispered hoarsely. Sensing someone else, just within his peripheral, he half-turned and laid eyes upon someone he thought he'd never see alive again.
"M-Mom?!" The name came out in a broken tone, fresh tears following almost immediately. This time, however, he didn't cry out of sorrow or guilt but rather out of an overwhelming sense of relief that very nearly left his breathless.