A/N: Sequel story to "Lost Before the Dawn" and final story in my three story series. "The Darkest Dawn" and "Lost Before the Dawn" are the first and second story; now complete so be sure to check those out!

I will say right now that this story is going to be a little complicated since I combined two separate plot lines to make this one story! I hope it will be interesting and worthy of being a sequel to LBD!

Please review! I love reviews! I own nothing!

"The Depth of Dawning"

Follow-up to "Lost Before the Dawn"

"With gentle words I courted her, and asked her to be my bride…and the morning light was shining bright, at the dawning of the day…"

"We will return in a few days to allow you time to consider your options." With that an older woman and her male secretary took their leave.

Mai let out a heavy sigh and sunk down onto her couch deeply troubled. What was she supposed to do? She could hardly believe this was happening to her now. She had finally settled down and was able to return home after her ordeal of the last case. Things were finally getting back to normal; Naru was even treating her, for lack of a better word, warmly.

Every so often he would let the warmest expression grace his face, gently touch her hand when she gave him tea, and even started to act remotely like a boy in love should. It was going to take some time, which Mai knew, since he had only recently started to return her affection…some of the time. He was an exceedingly difficult nut to crack.

Things had not been easy either with the upcoming case they were going to be taking in the near future. Gene was there. Naru seemed calm but Mai knew he was having mixed feeling about the whole thing though she could not ascertain for the life of her what those feelings were.

And now…now of all times…the last thing she needed was to deal with something like this. How could she possibly burden Naru and her friends with this? She had already caused enough trouble and problems in the past few months to last the entire year.

Mai sighed again letting a pained and sorrowful expression wash over her features, "What am I going to do?"

Two Days Later…

"Hey Naru!" an enthusiastic Bou-san called from his seat in the lobby of the SPR office. "What did you do to Mai?"

Naru gave the man a withering glare, "I have done nothing."

"She has been looking troubled these past few days don't you think? Have you asked her what's wrong?" The monk and the miko both agreed that something was wrong with the girl but neither knew what. They had decided to come directly to the likely source which was convenient since they could also find out more about the upcoming case.

"I have asked…" Naru started. He knew her well enough to know by now when she was hiding something or not telling him everything. This was one of those times. She once again refused to open up to him or anyone one else about what was on her mind. Naru wondered if it was in her nature since she had been alone for so long. She must have learned to be independent and to rely on only herself. Why couldn't she just depend on him…? "She said she is having problems at school catching up from all the time she missed. I have offered to help with her studies but she claims I am a tyrant and that she can't learn from me." He said in annoyance not only from the fact she didn't want his help but that she was also not telling him the truth.

"Ah!" They all turned when they heard Mai's bright voice filter through the room. "Bou-san, Ayako! What brings you here today?" She was already heading to the kitchen to prepare tea. She knew well enough by now that Naru would want some.

"Just here to get some preliminary information on this new case coming up!" Bou-san laughed softly.

"I see!" Mai called from the kitchen, "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh, no thank you Mai. We really must be going!" Ayako answered for the both of them as she stood and practically dragged the monk from the room. "See you later Mai. Thanks Naru for the info! Get back with us if you have anything more you would like to share before we go!" With that they were gone and the door shut behind them as they left.

"Here Naru, your tea" she said as she sat it on the table in front of him. He gave her a quick once over before grabbing at the cup. "A shame they couldn't stay for a little longer…" Mai mused as she brought her own cup to her desk and started to look over the days files that had to be sorted.

"This is not a café Mai…" Naru said sternly. Even though he meant it in earnest Mai was giggling and smiling at him anyway. He felt his chest tighten and do those strange fluttery feelings that he hated oh so much. He could no longer help but soften his expression at her when she did that…some might even say he was smiling…

"Ha, I bet you secretly enjoy it too since it means you can actually have human contact!" She laughed at him again as she started to organize her work.

"Hardly" he scoffed. "Well…" he said softly as he was already half way into his own office, "I am glad to see you are feeling better…I was worried about you…" With those fleeting words he sent a slight smile her way and disappeared into his office behind a closed door.

Mai sat staring at the closed door moments longer letting the shocked expression fade from her face gradually. What remained was a listless and troubled expression. "Oh Naru…I am not better at all…if you only knew…"

A/N: Well, sorry it is so short...but I just wanted to get this posted! Please review and let me know what you think! Thank you so much!