Chapter Text
The Disappearance of Mai Taniyama - Epilogue
Mai’s Hospital Room, two days later…
“Relax, you can do this.” Aria reassured Naru. “Let’s try again.”
Naru sighed heavily before he nodded and sat back down in the chair beside the bed in which Mai lay, still unresponsive. He focused on listening closely to the woman who stood beside him, her voice was, even now, still soft and kind. “Close your eyes and put away all your fears and worries. They’ll only distract you. Instead, you need to allow your mind to still.”
Closing his eyes, Naru felt the woman place a hand on his shoulder and her comforting presence seemed to fill him, melting away his feelings of frustration. She gave him some time to comply before she instructed him, “Now seek something from within that does not belong to you. I think it’s been hiding within you for a long time now, but you’ll know it when you find it.” Her words were soft and patient. When she next spoke, it seemed like he was hearing them within his mind instead of through his ears, :: Do you see it? The bond that ties you to her? ::
Casting around mentally, he found that he could feel something he hadn’t before, and he searched for the cause. When he found it, it turned out to be a mental thread, one that seemed just as dark as his silent mind. Yet, as he watched, it flared with a golden light, flickering to life, but only for an instant. He kept his mind trained on the thread and eventually it flared again. As he watched these periodic flares, they began to remind him of the beat of a heart. Realizing this was what he’d spent the last couple days looking for, he excitedly proclaimed aloud, “I see it!”
Aria smiled softly as she removed her hand from his shoulder. “Good. All you need to do now, my friend, is follow the thread until you find her. Talk to her, reassure her, and lead her back to the waking world.”
Naru nodded as his brow furrowed in concentration, and Aria watched as his features slowly went slack telling her that he was on his way to bring Mai back. She was happy knowing that he was stubborn enough that he was unlikely to come back without her.
Two days earlier…
As they drove away from the dilapidated hospital, Naru silently reviewed how they’d finished up the case. Once they’d arrived in the fake storage room, he’d encouraged Monk and Ayako to continue on with Mai while the rest cleaned up. Naru was pleased that he and the remaining three had made short work of hiding the rations and supplies in the hidden hallway by utilizing the wheels the shelves had been designed with. By the time they were done, only a couple emptied shelves had been left to cover the hinge and opening hole that were the only evidence left within the space to even hint of the passageway’s existence...at least if you excluded the double door entry. Once they were done, the four raced to catch up to Monk and Ayako who’d just made it to the south-western stairwell. Naru still hated the fact that the strain had gotten to him enough that Lin and Victor had both stripped him of the little amount of gear he’d taken from the pile of gear everyone had left just outside the double doors. The two had even had to pull him along so he could keep up with the rest of the group.
Naru recalled that it hadn’t taken long for Lin’s shiki to return and confirm that the fourth floor was the one housing the Khiitani’s nest. And so, the entire group managed to exit the stairs together and make their way back to base with Victor, Naru and Lin in the lead.
Ishikawa-san had looked at them with his face full of disgust and loathing when he came out to meet them. Naru remembered watching the man’s eyes shift behind them to take in Mai and her entourage. The old man had grumbled at Lin to explain, “What the hell is this crap? Who is that girl and why does your team look so worried about her? She’s not one of your lot.”
As Lin made the turn onto the highway, Naru recalled his irritation at the look the old man had affixed on Mai and the fact that he’d asked so many questions one after the other before Lin could answer any of them, he also remembered the questions he’d fired back at the old fool, “How would you feel if you found someone broken and bruised in an incubus’ den? Wouldn’t you have some kind of compassion towards them!? Or is that too humane an idea for you? Would you have left her to die and rot there?”
“What are you on about, boy,” Ishikawa grumbled angrily. He’d glared at Naru as if he found him to be just another disrespectful teen and Naru had returned the glare unfazed.
Lin had interceded tactfully and sent Naru to inform Yasu and John that it was time to break camp. Naru had followed through just so he wouldn’t feel further inclined to hit the older fellow. He hadn’t gotten far when Lin began explaining that the case was closed and presented each of the other details Naru and the rest of the group had agreed on down in the sub-basement.
John and Yasu hadn’t missed the group’s arrival. They tried asking about how he got covered in so much blood and about Mai’s wounds, but Naru hadn’t bothered answering either question. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to bear telling them the full extent of her injuries or what he’d witnessed of her assault and there was no way in hell he was going to admit to the degree of darkness he’d let possess him. Instead, he worked to break down the base as quickly as he could, remaining moody and silent the entire time.
It didn’t take long for the ambulance to come and take both Mai and Ayako away. Though she wasn’t alone, Aria in particular had been upset that she couldn’t go along with Mai, but she’d quickly conceded that Ayako was the clear choice and, as promised, she called ahead to make arrangements for Ayako to be in charge of Mai’s care. Aria even took it a step further by offering to fund all the expenses if anything went wrong. After dealing with the hospital, she’d been pulled away by her father. Naru shook his head, still puzzled at how the older fellow had mysteriously vanished after the equipment had been packed up and how unconcerned Aria had been about her father’s disappearance. Naru shook his head again slightly, deciding not to think of that particular bit of information and moved on.
The next time Naru had seen Aria, she’d been slumped in a meditative pose similar to the one she’d taken in the sub-basement before he’d gotten back enough energy to walk by himself. Now, as he looked out the window of the van, he found himself wondering if she’d had anything to do with his increase in energy from back then. Nothing else seemed to explain how he’d suddenly gotten enough energy to walk when he’d been burnt out to the point that Lin had been forced to help hold him up like some decrepit old man.
Naru’s mind jumped back to the glimpse he’d gotten of Ishikawa exiting the stairwell. Even now, he was mildly pleased with how pale looking and sick the unpleasant man had become. The rest of the time they’d taken down base, the old fool had sat on the steps outside, staring blindly. He hadn’t said another word and everyone had been glad for his silence.
Naru turned his gaze away from the car window only to stare out the windshield towards the road ahead, glad the whole ordeal was over and he found himself breathing a sigh of relief that he no longer had to worry about the client or the dilapidated property the man supposedly tended. Naru had gotten what he was after...well almost everything he was after, but retrieving Mai was infinitely more important than getting revenge. With the thought of Mai, Naru went on to wonder, How is she fairing? How long will it be till I can see her again? Will she ever be alright? Eventually, his thoughts turned to guilt and everything he could have done better or would do better if he could only have her back to normal. And so, wrapped up in his own thoughts, silence reigned in the car.
As he drove, Lin couldn’t help but worry. Naru had been unusually quiet and introspective since just before they’d left the old hospital. Before they’d entered the van, he’d convinced his charge that they needed to head home and get cleaned up before proceeding to Mai’s hospital. It’s not like they could show up there splattered in blood and whatever other bits they’d been covered with, not without causing a panic of some kind.
Lin had been bewildered when Naru’s silence and introspection had continued to last the entire car ride as well as the entire time they’d been at the apartment. It was only right as they started driving towards Mai’s hospital that Naru chose to speak again, but when he did, it was quiet, to the point, and determined, “Lin, I’m going to tell them the truth.”
Lin turned his head to look at his young friend as he wondered aloud, “What? Who?”
“I want to tell everyone we normally work with who I really am.” Shocked silence reigned in the car while Lin failed to respond. After a minute of silence, Naru went on, “I know you’re aware that Masako has been using my true identity as leverage to blackmail me into dating her. It’s gone on long enough. If the rest knew, she wouldn’t have any leverage.
“Yes, she would. She can still tell the media or mention you on her program,” Lin pointed out.
Naru shook his head. “I doubt she would be dumb enough to tell anyone outside the office. She wants me to like her and I think she knows that, if she told anyone else, she would only make me hate her more. If the entire crew knew, I wouldn’t have to put up with dating her or having her as a constant drain on my time and patience. Besides,” he trailed off and then quietly finished with, “we both know there’s someone else who deserves my time and attention far more.”
Just to be sure, Lin stated, “You mean Mai.”
“Yes,” Naru replied, sounding upset that Lin had needed the fact confirmed. “This whole fiasco has opened my eyes, Lin. Just yesterday, I found myself regretting that I hadn’t told Mai the truth. She was...she was almost taken away from me, Lin!” The anguish and grief that had quickly bled into his words was palpable to the older man. “And now she’s trapped within herself all because we couldn’t save her in time!”
“Telling her your identity wouldn’t have changed that fact,” Lin pointed out.
“Maybe not,” Naru admitted with his fists clenched, “but she may not have hesitated to call me when Ms. Kalani told her to and we might have gotten to her sooner and prevented them from raping her! If I’d just told everyone, I wouldn’t have had to hide my psychometry and we could have saved her sooner.”
“But telling them could still put you in danger, couldn’t it? We need to think of your safety first--”
“No,” Naru cut him off. “This is too important to just--.”
Lin cut him off, “What if word got out and--”
“I don’t think it will happen if I tell them why I needed to keep my identity a secret and also why I’m here. I can’t keep living a lie, especially not with Mai!”
“Then just tell her, not everyone else. You’d be at less risk that way.”
“I’m not going to make her lie to the others. It would only hurt her. If I’m going to tell her, shouldn’t I trust those she cares about enough to share the truth with them too, at least the ones involved with SPR?” Naru’s cold, blue-eyed gaze met Lin’s exposed grey one. Eventually the traffic light changed and Lin was forced to look back to the road. Naru finished in a calmer voice “Besides, we’ve come to work with them so closely. It’s starting to feel wrong to keep the lie going. We can trust them,” he assured the older fellow.
Lin couldn’t help the sigh that escaped his lips, “That is true, despite the fact they are usually arguing or goofing off, they have proven loyal and trustworthy.” He looked at Naru in concern. “I just hope nothing bad happens as a result...what about your parents? I can see your mother getting upset and worrying so much that she tells you to come home right away. I’m not sure she’ll ever let you leave home again, for your own protection...at least until you’re an adult.”
Naru shook his head and glared at the man, “There is no way I can just leave Mai now, Lin. It would be torture ,” the word was said through gritted teeth. “To not be able to see her again because of such a flimsy excuse like, ‘My parents told me to come home,’” his words trailed off. “If I was forced to be apart from her,” his face went grimly pensive as he thought over the possibility. “I think it would break me.” Eventually, a small degree of relief touched Naru’s face as if he’d made a decision. “I need to tell my parents about her; about how I feel about her,” he stated with conviction.
Despite the apprehension he felt, Lin could only agree as he pulled into the parking lot. Once they parked the van and collected their things, Naru spoke up once again. “I’m going to tell Mai the truth first.” Nothing further was said on the matter.
Within Mai’s mindscape…
Mai sat cross legged in the silent darkness. For some reason, there were no fox fires, no spirits to disturb her. In fact, she felt disconnected from everything. Including, thankfully, her most recent and terrible memories, though she could feel they weren’t too far away. She knew she could examine them if she wanted to, but there was no way she wanted to reach for those memories again, let alone examine them. A part of her had to wonder if she’d been granted the death she’d asked for and that this was her afterlife...though complete emptiness was not what she had expected.
If I have died, she let her thoughts drift to her adopted SPR family. I wonder how the others will take it? Will they be sad? I can’t really imagine Naru being overly sad…unless it’s because he no longer has my tea to drink. She smiled sadly and shook her head at the preposterous idea behind the thought. There were plenty of people who could make better tea than she had. She’d probably never been anything more than a nuisance to him. After all, a good portion of their time together seemed full of sarcasm and bickering. Then there were the multiple times she’d pulled him into dangerous situations. She shook her head sadly. Even though she liked him, he would have no reason to mourn her.
Shying away from the painful realization, her thoughts turned to Monk. Bou-san will be sad for a while, but he’s a monk and he’s got his music career to think about as well so I know he’ll get over it in the end. The thought of her father/older brother figure being able to forget her so easily felt like a wound. However, she went on to realize the same could be said for her mother figure. Ayako will get over me too. She’s a part time shrine maiden or priestess, but she’s also a full time doctor working at her parent’s hospital.
She sighed and her thoughts moved on, Yasu…Yasu might mourn me, at least for a while but his perky nature will help him through his mourning as well--he may even be able to help keep everyone else’s spirits up too. That’s just the way he is. Next, there was Lin. How Lin-san will feel is a mystery to me. We have a decent working relationship but I don’t know if I’d classify us as friends. Though I trust him with my life, most of the time it’s hard to know how he feels about anything.
She rolled her eyes as her thoughts moved on to the next person she’d met while she’d been working for SPR. She let out a little laugh as she considered her rival. Masako probably won’t miss me at all...well, maybe a little, she conceded, but it’s more likely she might be the slightest bit happy. After all, she no longer has a rival for Naru’s affections...not that he held any affectionate or even favorable feelings towards me to begin with. With a sigh, she moved on to the last. Now John, he will mourn. There’s no doubt about that. He’s always been so tender hearted, but he will hold firm to his faith that I am in a better place. She looked around herself at the blackness. Could this really be the place he assumed it would be? Or am I here because I’ve done something bad? Maybe this is hell instead? She moved on from the thought not wanting to dwell on the possibility further.
Her mind turned to her heart sister. Poor Aria, she’ll be devastated. She was trying so hard to make it to Japan to help me. Her own disappearance vaguely reminded Mai of the way her friend and Aria’s sister, Melody, had died. It had been sudden and unexpected: a school shooting. Aria had been away and failed to come back in time to share Melody’s last moments.
Mai thought of the times they had talked about Melody. They both missed her, but it was as obvious as the pained look on Aria’s face that the woman still suffered a good deal from the loss, which was understandable since it had only happened a couple years ago. Of everyone, Aria was the one Mai felt the most concerned to leave behind. She knew Aria would feel personally responsible especially since this time she’d had some forewarning .
Mai’s thoughts returned to her body and the state it had probably been left in. She recalled how they’d left her earlier. As she did, a pair of voices whispered promises to her from out of the darkness, they came from the same direction of her repressed memories, the same ones that she knew she never wanted to face again. She’d thought that they were pushed away, contained, but the whispers forced her to see that they weren’t trapped away completely. The more she tried to push them away, the more she understood that they would stay with her for the rest of her existence. Even now she could hear their jeers.
The guys who raped me were both so confident that I wouldn’t be found. Mai imagined what it would be like for all of her pretend family to stumble upon her barely covered body...if her attackers were generous enough to even bother covering her. She found herself grimacing at the idea. I’d rather they didn’t find out what those monsters did to me. I don’t care if I never get a proper burial and never find rest for my soul. I want them all to live in peace; without any kind of guilt from what happened, but what am I thinking, I don’t even know where I was. Despite my fantasies of them coming to rescue me, the chances of them doing so are slim to none. They probably won’t find me.
As she thought of all these things, her emotions grew heavy and she felt a dark wound swell in her core and unbidden, tears began to fall down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to rub away the cold that had never left her from her cell; maybe it never would.
The Astral Plane…
Gene looked at the two bird-like men that had introduced themselves as Kenan and Condor. Even after the fight with the Khiitani female, they had chosen to remain in his company. They’d even had Aria patch up his wounds and taught him how to create his own barrier. Now, after only a few days, he’d managed to finish creating his first one.
“Well done,” Kenan praised him. “What would you like to learn next?”
“I wish I could help Mai,” Gene said sadly, dropping his eyes to his feet, “but, even with the barrier gone, I just can’t find a way to reach her.”
Kenan spread his wings with a little flutter and flourish of joy. “That can be fixed. You have the ability so I can teach you.”
“How do I do it,” Gene asked eagerly.
“You still have a connection to your twin, and he has one with her. It sounds to me like it could be part of the reason why you woke up when he came into contact with Mai and, thus, through your brother, you also have been given a connection to her.” Cocking his head to the side thoughtfully, Kenan said, “You know, if you had lived and the three of you met physically…you may well have become one of the rarer threesome soul bonded sets. That only happens in humans once in about a millennium or so.”
Gene had mixed feelings about the idea. In one way it was nice to think that Mai could have loved them both and part of him yearned for it, but he was dead and the other half of him smashed down the idea and told him it was wrong. He got to thinking about his life and his brother. One memory in particular drew a frown to his lips and reminded him of something some other kids and even some adults had said throughout their years together. He looked back at the Velatona men. “There were some people who often said Noll and I were like two halves of the same person, but that he got all the brains and I got all the heart--they were idiots for not seeing us clearly.” He looked down thoughtfully. “After all those years of Noll being rejected, I think it is better this way. As much as I would enjoy being loved like that, and to be alive--it’s probably good that I’m not. Noll deserves to be loved for himself, not simply because he’s ‘my other half.’ This is something he shouldn’t have to share.”
The dark grey one, Condor, stirred. “You are gifted with wisdom and compassion beyond your years, at least where it concerns your brother.” He then turned to Kenan and said, “I know you have this well in wing. The Shintarin calls for me. I will return later.” With that he shimmered and darted out of the astral plane.
Kenan shook himself, “Perhaps we should endeavor to help young Mai.” Reaching out, he manipulated the folds of the astral plane and showed Gene how to use his link to find her.
Mai’s mindscape…
Mai had pulled her legs to her chest and buried her face into her knees as she shivered and wept. She wept for her friends’ loss, for all that she’d been through at the hands of her captors, and for all the opportunities and life experiences she’d missed out on by passing away so young. She didn’t know how long she had been crying, time no longer mattered.
She was startled when she felt a hand settle on her back and start rubbing it in comforting circles. She’d thought she’d been alone. With the shock of the unexpected contact, her tears stopped almost immediately, but when she heard a familiar masculine voice say, “It’s okay Mai. Everything will be okay,” her head snapped up in surprise and her eyes focused on the blue eyed boy kneeling next to her.
“Naru? How are you here?” After a sudden dread filled thought, she got to her knees and reached out to him in concern. Mai stammered out, “P...please don’t tell me you...you died too!?”
The boy next to her looked at her sheepishly, “About that, Mai…I have something I need to admit to you.” He looked her directly in the eyes and informed her, “I’m not Naru.”
“So...does that mean that you’re a figment of my imagination?" Mai asked, in bewilderment, dropping her arm back to her sides. “But...you’ve always seemed to help me understand what’s going on.”
He smiled, “I’m not a figment of your imagination.” He combed a hand through his hair nervously before continuing, “You’re right, though, I do try to help you understand what you see in your visions.”
Mai looked at him feeling a little lost, “So if you're not Naru and you're not a figment of my imagination…then who or what are you? and why do you look like Naru?!”
The boy looked down and away from her eyes, not wanting to admit the things he knew he needed to. He quietly offered, “I didn’t mean to deceive you, Mai--especially not for so long. I just didn’t know how you would handle finding out who I am, or, well, was...who I was.”
Before Mai could have him clarify further, another presence made itself known by calling out, “Mai!” As Naru took in Mai and then his brother’s kneeling form beside her, confusion, sorrow and just a hint of anger began warring on his face. “Gene!?”
Mai stood and stuttered, “N-naru? What the heck is going on?” She looked from the second Naru to the first one and began backing away from both boys. “You’re both...but that can’t,” she trailed off and looked back at the newer Naru trying to process the situation, but failed in doing so. “I’m so confused,” she admitted.
The second teen, who’d been walking closer, paused as he took in her bewildered expression, “Mai, it’s me, Naru." He crossed the distance to her before explaining further, "I came to find you and guide you back to your body. You need to wake up.”
“Wake up?” She looked back at the first 'Naru.' But I’m dead, I can’t wake up! “I’m so confused,” she reiterated.
The second Naru paused and shook his head, before distractedly looking over at the other 'Naru' he sighed as if he couldn’t ignore the copy’s presence any longer. “What are you doing here? You should have passed on by now! You of all people know how dangerous it is to linger!”
Mai was struggling to keep up with what was going on when the first Naru flinched and looked sadly back at her, “Please remember, I never meant to deceive you. It was just easier to let you think of me as Noll,” without pausing, he gestured at his copy, “while I worked as your spirit guide.” When Mai’s face remained unchanged, he added, “My real name is Eugene Davis.”
Finally, Mai’s mind caught up. They’re different people, but they look so alike, identical even. “I’m Naru’s brother,” Gene continued. Mai’s mind filled in the missing word from his sentence: Naru’s twin brother . The missing word acted like a key puzzle piece. With it in place, she was able to see a much clearer picture. There were still so many holes left, though, like the fact that their last names were different and that Naru had implied that Eugene was dead...or should she be calling him Gene like Naru had, Mai wondered. Either way, his fate left her feeling sad.
After Gene’s introduction, Naru seemed taken aback by his words, “You’ve been guiding Mai?” He held his chin and paced a few steps to and fro. “I guess in a way that makes sense and it explains a few things, but...you must know why I’m in Japan. Why haven’t you had Mai tell us where your body is? Surely you must have known Lin and I have been looking for you this whole time and the fact that Mother and Father haven’t felt like they could grieve properly because we haven’t been able to lay your remains to rest.”
Gene shrugged, unable to make eye contact with his brother, “I think, in part, I didn’t want to say anything because you haven’t yet told her your real identity or why you were in Japan to begin with. Do you think anyone would have handled it well if I said, ‘Hey, I’m Noll’s twin brother. He’s here to find my body and I need you to tell him where it is!? Oh, and, while you’re at it, tell him, ‘Sorry I can’t contact him directly anymore because our telepathic connection died when I did!?’”
Naru sighed in exasperation. “I get it. I’m just saying, it would have been nice to know you were around even if it was only to help guide Mai. Maybe I could have found your body by now.”
Mai wasn’t sure she’d heard them right. “Wait,” she said, stopping them from continuing on, “go back. What do you mean by real identity?”
With a sigh Naru looked away from his brother and to Mai. “I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you myself when you woke up, but, thanks to Gene,” he gave a hard look to Gene and then looked back at Mai, his expression softer, but concerned, “I guess now is just as good a time as any and, maybe, it’s for the best.” He took a deep breath and exhaled it in preparation. “My real name is Oliver Davis, the younger twin. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’m definitely not the better half.”
Mai blinked as she took in this information, glancing from one Davis twin to the other. Well, there was one missing piece. Lowering herself to her knees, Mai attempted to reorder her thoughts. “So,” she said slowly,“The ‘Naru’ I’ve been seeing in my dreams is Eugene...Ah...Gene for short. While the person I have been working for, for the better part of a year, is in fact the ‘great’ Oliver Davis. The same person Monk is a huge fan of…?”
Naru slowly nodded and admitted, “Yes.”
“I get how Gene can be here, since he’s a spirit, but...” There were so many things going on in her mind that she was struggling to keep up. She raised her eyes slowly until they landed on Naru’s face, “How did you get here...O...Oliver?”
His true name coming out of her mouth felt strange not only for her but for him as well. “Please,” Naru’s usually sharp eyes, noticeably softened as he gazed at Mai. “Just call me Naru.”
Naru’s gaze and the fact that he was asking her to call him by his narcissist nickname over his true name, broke her attempt at finding the logic in it. She couldn’t trust any of it as being true. It was all some kind of nice dream or maybe she was in heaven after all. She fleetingly imagined being surrounded by a hoard of Narus. “Okay,” she found herself agreeing.
“As for how I’m here, it turns out we share a special connection, Mai.” Wouldn’t that be nice if it were true , Mai thought. After a short pause, Naru continued. “Miss Kalani explained to me that this bond is so deep that it’s like our souls have become intertwined. Frankly, I’m beginning to think that connection is how I’ve always been able to find you when you are in trouble.”
Mai thought about this for a bit, and it did seem like something Aria would say. It suddenly hit her what Naru had said about his reason for being here. Her eyes grew big in shock as she exclaimed, “Wait, you said that you’re here to guide me back to my body...Does that mean I’m not dead yet? That this isn’t the afterlife? I can go back and be with everyone?” Both brothers could hear the lift of hope and happiness that came into her voice at the prospect and nodded.
In wonder, still trying to wrap her head around everything, she asked herself, Does that mean this place is Limbo? As she thought of her body, she realized something else and her face suddenly went slack, her eyes clouded with concern. “Does that mean you found my body?”
When Naru nodded his affirmation. Questions raged in her mind, How could they find me? When? Was I covered? Was I alone?
Her embarrassment and concern turned to worry as she remembered the exact circumstances she’d fled her body. She’d given up arguing against the guy raping her after he’d violently promised her with a growl in his voice that she was forever going to be his--whether she agreed to be his mate or remained his personal whore for the rest of her existence. Everything he’d promised her squirmed through her mind alongside his sharp, sinister grin and an echo of what he’d been doing to her. She swallowed and with a voice tipped with fear and anxiety, she asked, “What about those...monsters…”
Naru’s face clouded with anger as he looked away from Mai. He still wished he could have paid back those Khiitani brutes and their mate for all Mai’s pain and terror, but all of them were gone now. His eyes returned to Mai and softened again. “All three of your captors have been dealt with in such a way that they can never harm you again,” he promised.
“I actually helped take care of the last one,” Gene volunteered. “You have my word that she’s gone.”
“You did?” Naru asked, almost angry that Gene had been able to do more than he had.
“Yeah,” he confirmed, “Along with Kenan and Condor, Aria’s...brothers…? That’s kind of what their relationship seemed like anyway.”
Even though Naru was a bit jealous, he grudgingly accepted the fact and threw it to the back of his mind. Turning back to Mai, he stated, “Anyway, they are gone and we’ve moved your body to a different hospital.” He came close and knelt down with her. “You are very much alive, Mai, but you’ve fled deep into your own mind.” He fell silent, thinking back to the moment he lost contact with her and a tear threatened to fall from his eyes. Trying to calm himself, he reached out and grasped her hand “There was a moment where I...I thought that I’d lost you. I could no longer feel the things you had been feeling and that nearly…broke me.” With the admission, his eyes locked with hers. “Mai, you mean so much to me...more than I can truly express.”
I mean a lot to him? In what way? As a gofer? His personal tea maid? There’s no way Naru is implying what I think he is...is he? To be sure she asked, “What are you saying? I mean, in what way?”
“I love you, Mai,” he proclaimed earnestly.
The two looked into each other’s eyes in the following silence. The sincerity in his eyes and his voice, very nearly made Mai weep. A part of her mind still rebelled against the idea that this was really Naru, but she squeezed his hand, desperately wishing this dream was reality, and allowed herself to admit her feelings in return, “I love you too.”
Naru smiled and his grip tightened around her hand, “Please, come back with me. We need you... I need you.”
She smiled back at him until a thought surfaced, “If you are in Japan to find Gene’s body, what will happen when you find it? If you go back to England,” I won’t be able to go with you , “I,” she started. Even if I could, would Naru stay in England after that? “I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it,” if you leave , she worried frantically to herself. Long distance relationships don’t really ever work out, do they? She finished her sentence with, “if this is just something temporary.”
Naru pulled Mai to him and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. “Please don’t worry about that. My feelings won’t change, Mai. You are the one I love and I don’t want to be separated from you. In fact, I’ve already called my parents to tell them about you and how I feel about you. They’re flying to Japan as we speak. All so they could get to know you.” The whole thing just seemed too overwhelmingly easy; too good to be true to Mai and she was having a hard time believing what he said.
Her worries were interrupted when Gene let out a low whistle of surprise. “You went that far, Noll? I’m surprised. That doesn’t seem to be a very Noll thing...or should I say, ‘Naru,’ thing to do.” Gene grinned as he teased his slightly younger brother, causing Mai to giggle because it completely reflected her thoughts.
Naru harrumphed as he glared at his twin. “You haven’t seen me in over a year. You have no right to say that!”
“I beg to differ,” Gene disputed. “ You are the one who hasn’t seen me in over a year. I’ve seen a good deal of the both of you. In fact, I even watched what you did to that brute after you pulled him off of Mai.” Mai’s eyes widened at his statement. Now she knew the answer to her questions about what kind of state she’d been in when they found her.
“Whatever,” Naru responded tersely, hoping Gene wouldn’t elaborate. He was allowed a quiet moment to think while Gene and Mai exchanged looks before he replied to his brother, “Because of those brutes, I nearly lost Mai.” Naru admitted, his voice faltering with emotion, “I can’t even touch the thought of trying to live without her in my life.”
Mai’s focus turned back to Naru and then became distant. Her mind became dazed from their conversation, unable to even try to accept the reality of it any more, and her thoughts drifted to her body. Naru had said that they’d moved her to a hospital. Could she go back if she were to wake up someplace different than where she’d been? Was any of this even true or was it all just an elaborate trick her mind was playing on her? Her body had betrayed her before, in the middle of the rape’s distress, no less.
When she spoke up, her voice was quiet and filled with fear and worry. “Naru, I’m scared… I’m afraid to wake up. They did...they did such horrible things…promised to…” she couldn’t bring herself to actually say anything of the things they promised. She was scared that her world would shatter if she dared mention them again let alone saw either of them again. “Are you sure they can’t find me again?”
Naru nodded, but he realized that even though they were gone, the clutch they had on her heart was still there. The realization angered him and made him feel useless. He tightened his hold around Mai just slightly, trying to comfort her, but also subconsciously trying to calm himself as well. “They will never touch you again. I promise.”
“O..okay.” Mai took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to at least attempt to return to her body before looking at Gene and saying, “I guess...I’ll see you later, Gene.”
As Naru stood, Gene nodded, “It’s for the best, you’ll see. We can talk some other time, ‘heart sister.’ I’m sure everyone’s been very worried about you.”
Naru pulled Mai to her feet and looked at Gene, “At least now I know Mai can talk to you. We’ll discuss where your body is later; I’m not going to give up on finding you. There needs to be some closure, even if it’s only for Mother and Father.”
Gene could only nod and watch as Naru and Mai began walking away from him, still hand in hand, until they eventually faded from the space. Gene then turned and went back the way he had come and found himself, once more, in the presence of Kenan and the returned Condor.
Mai’s Hospital Room…
Naru opened his eyes and immediately focused on Mai’s still form, watching for even the smallest flutter of her eyelids. He could feel Aria’s presence still next to him. It wasn’t hard to hear the joy and excitement in her voice as she quietly exclaimed, “You did it! I can feel her! She's waking up!”