Thinking back on it all, she couldn't help but painfully laugh at how stupid it was. She guessed that's what happens when you're dying. All fights and mistakes that seem big at the time, end up being so small in the long run. She tried to recall what it was about, but she just couldn't. That either showed how small and stupid it was, or the effect the blood loss was having on her. She heard shouting above her, and she tried to call out, hoping it was SPR, her family.
As she opened her caked, dry lips to alert their attention, a sharp jab of pain shot through her, making her shut her eyes tightly and curl in the fetal position. When she opened her eyes, her blurry vision showed her the gapping wound in her abdomen, and her shaking, bloody hand hands that covered it. She heard more shouting and talking through the floor above her, but knew that it wouldn't matter anyway. She was going to die. She let her hands fall limply to side but just as she was going to close her eyes, she heard a voice much closer than the one she heard seconds before, and this time on her right. She faintly heard someone count from 1 to 3, when all of a sudden there was a splintering of wood and a chorus of shocked gasps.
Quick footsteps made their way to Mai in the blink of an eye. Mai was surprised to find cerulean eyes staring into her deep brown ones, and she immediately knew it was Naru.
"N-Naru." I managed to croak out. I heard Ayako yelling for someone to call an ambulance and to get the first aid kit, and I heard Masako crying. Why was she crying? If I died she could have Naru to herself. Did she not love him anymore? As I pondered this, Naru gently grasped my hands in his and lowered his face closer to mine. We were a few inches apart when Naru spoke."Stay with me Mai. Stay awake. Please don't die, please." He said while he let his facade slip. I took his words into consideration and realized that he had said please, 2 times.
"O-Of course it took you until I was dying- for you to say please." I said, a sad smile gracing my lips. Naru's beautiful eyes got sadder when I said this, and when he noticed my eyelids drooping shut, he shook me awake again. I could feel Ayako start to work on my wound, and I could faintly hear Monk on the phone, calling an ambulance. "You're not dying Mai, not now, not ever. Not if I have a say. So please stay with me Mai. Just stay awake for a little while." he said, squeezing my hand. I gave a weak squeeze back and then screamed and writhed in pain when Ayako started cleaning around the wound with sterile towels. The commotion in the room intensified, and Masako' s crying got louder and more hysterical.
"Please don't- don't cry Masako, it doesn't- doesn't suit you." I said weakly but jokingly. Masako just cried louder and buried her head in John's shoulder. Silent tears made there way down the guys cheeks, even Lin and Naru's, which surprised her. "Why is everyone crying? I thought I told you to stop." She scolded as powerfully as she could. Masako looked up from Johns shoulder with a look of shock on her face."YOU'RE DYING MAI! We're crying cause we don't want you to leave." She said as more tears racked her body. Mai tried to laugh but failed and ended up coughing. At the end of her coughing fit, she sarcastically said "Leave where? Naru said I couldn't die, and we all know that I always listen to what he says, right." She chuckled softly at her own joke, and when she got no laughter in reply, she frowned. "Why are you frowning Mai, are you in pain?" Ayako asked. "Well that's a dumb question, I just got stabbed by a ghost murderer. What do you think. And I was frowning because no one- no one's laughing at any of my jokes." She said sadly, making a pouty face. At this everyone gave teary eyed laughs, and Mai' s face lit up into a huge smile. All was good, considering Mai was bleeding out, until another coughing fit racked Mai's thin, frail form. Everyone started to cry again and Naru wiped the trickle of blood that trailed down her chin.
"Naru, do know you're an idiot?" Mai said, her eyes closed and her body relaxed. Naru smiled, a real, genuine that caught the salty tears that continued to roll down his face. "And why would I be the idiot when you always act like one?" He replied, his voice amused but also sad and not as strong and demanding as it normally was. " You're an idiot because you always assumed it was Gene." She said, tears making tracks down her pasty face. Mai opened her eyes and smiled at Naru's shocked face. "It was never Gene you baka. Next time you ask someone a question as stupid and shocking like the one you asked me before you left, at least give me a minute to process until you assume the worst. It's always been you Naru. Ever since I had my first dream with Gene in it, I could tell he wasn't you. I could tell because he wasn't the person I fell in love with at first sight. That's why you, Oliver Davis, are- are a complete, narcissistic, idiot, and tha- that's wh-y I love you." she said, he voice faltering and failing a bit towards the end. She gave one last look at Naru's handsome face, until she let her eyes slid close for the last time.
"Mai?" Naru said disbelievingly, not caring if his facade was now completely in shambles."MAI, MAI! Wake up you idiot, wake up. Mai, please wake up. Please, please, please ,please, please, PLEASE wake up." Naru said, rocking back and forth holding her limp body. "WHERE'S THE DAMN AMBULANCE!" Naru said as he let his PK slip for a moment and all the lights over their heads burst. Glass shards rained from the ceiling, causing the team a few cuts and scrapes. The whole team looked at Naru in shock as he continued to rock Mai in his arms while he muttered the alternate sayings , "I love you" and "please don't go" continuously. As Monk was still on the phone with the dispatcher, he was told the ambulance should be there. He ran down to meet them, all the while Lin tried to calm Naru down. Lin took a hesitant step towards Naru and put a hand on shoulder but instantly regretted it when Naru jerked away and yelled "JUST GO GET THE DAMN PARAMEDICS!" And with that, all the light bulbs in the house shattered, leaving Naru emotionally and physically exhausted. He waited until the paramedics and Monk rushed through the door to whisper one last thing into Mai's ear before he passed out.
"I've always loved you to Mai, since the moment I saw you. " And with that, the darkness consumed him.
"It was never Gene you baka. Next time you ask someone a question as stupid and shocking like the one you asked me before you left, at least give me a minute to process until you assume the worst. It's always been you Naru. Ever since I had my first dream with Gene in it, I could tell he wasn't you. I could tell because he wasn't the person I fell in love with at first sight. That's why you, Oliver Davis, are- are a complete, narcissistic, idiot, and tha- that's wh-y I love you." This was the last thing she said as she closed her eyes. She sat in the darkness for some time, alone and hating the unbearable silence that overcame the astral plane, until she heard a faint whisper that sounded familiar.
"I always loved you to Mai, since the moment I saw you" She gasped, realizing it was Naru. She smiled widely at the thought of this but her smile quickly fell as she remembered she was now dead. She and Naru would never get their happy ending. She continued frowning until a hand clamped down on her shoulder and spun her around. She instantly collided with a solid, warm chest pressed against her ear. She was to shocked that she didn't notice someone was talking until they released her, and she just stared into sad blue eyes, just like Naru's but lighter. Gene. "You do know that incredibly bloody stupid right?" he said in Japanese but he still had a thick English accent. She could tell the anger was there, but it was mostly overcome by sadness and sorrow. She felt sad for making him feel that way, but then she remembered what he had just said and she started fuming."Why am I stupid! It's not my fault ghost decide to try and kill me all the time!" she seethed. Gene gave her a look of shock after seeing her so seethingly and mad, and then he pulled her into a hug again. Mai, being as forgiving as she was, let go of her anger, and hugged Gene back. She was completely oblivious to the fact she was crying, until Gene wiped away her tears, like Naru used to. At the thought of Naru she started crying again, and pretty soon she was on the floor bawling."Shhh, Mai, it's okay. Calm down." Gene tried to soothe but failed miserably as Mai just kept crying. She was near the point of hysterics. "It's not okay Gene, not at all. I finally told him how I feel and he doesn't reject me this time and I can't help but be happy but then I remember that I'm now dead because a freaking ghost decided that I had to die and so it stabbed me, and so now I can never be with Naru." see said, her head on the cool floor of the astral plane, her legs tucked underneath her arms. Gene couldn't stand to see Mai like this.
"Mai, I can fix this, okay. I promise everything will be okay. " Gene coaxed, breaking Mai from her reverie. She lifted her head up and met Genes cerulean eyes. "Just trust me Mai, you and Naru are going to get together, be the cutest couple ever, have little psychic kids and make me the proudest uncle ever. But you're going to hate me so I'm just going to get on with it." And with that he closed his eyes, concentrated all of his energy into his palms, and shoved his palms onto Mai's heart. Mai fell backwards with a gasp, feeling circuits of strong energy invade her body. The last thing Mai saw before waking up was the softly fading outline of Gene.
Voices. That's all heard. Well, that and the rhythmic beeping of something. As I tried to distinguish what the beeping was, the voices suddenly intensified, making my head hurt. "No, absolutely not. I'm her legal guardian and its my choice when to pull the plug if I ever." I recognized the first voice as Naru and immediately continued to listen. "That's fully understood but she's been in a coma for 2 months. You've got to realize that sometimes it's better to let go than to hold on in situations like this. Even if she does wake up she won't have any of the same brain functions as before. She'll live a short, miserable life were she can't do anything on her own." a guy finished sadly. From their conversation I could tell it was about me. 2 months. Has it really been that long. As I broke free from my train of thought I heard a sigh as Naru spoke again, this time with a promise that surprised me. " I would still love her with all my heart, I would still die for her. It won't matter if she'll always need help, because I will always be there to help. I'm not killing the only person I've ever loved since my brother died. I almost cried when I heard that. 'Oh Naru.' I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much. I heard footsteps, a closing door, and another sigh coming from besides me. I felt someone grab my hand and from the spark I felt you upon contact I knew it was Naru.
"Maybe he's right, Mai. You're always so headstrong and compassionate. You would die rather than let someone look after you for the rest of your life, even if it is me. " He was right, that'd be hell, but even though I didn't want to die! Well, at least not again. I don't know what I was thinking, or how I even know what I was doing, but I just wanted to do one thing and I did. Talk to Naru. It was like astral projection. I concentrated on who I wanted to talk to, imagined going to talk to him, and it opened up a path. A link was now established between my mind and his, to were we could relay messages back and forth. I figured out how to use telepathy. Now all I had to do was use it.
"Naru" I didn't know what to say so I just went with what I felt. ( I'm just going to do the back and forth between them.)
"Mai!? Is that you? How the heck did you get in my mind?"
" I, uh don't really know. I guess I kinda taught myself telepathy?" " How in hell did you manage that? And why haven't you woken up, do you know how worried we were, how worried I was?" Then I told him about Gene, and their conversation that I overheard and how I learned telepathy and that I was sorry and just the whole load of it. By the time I finished even my physical body was out of breath. Naru seemed out of breath as well, but mostly due to shock. " Mai, please please please wake up. I don't care if we can talk like this. I just want to hold you and hug you and not have to worry about you anymore. I should have listened to you when you told me you loved me. Please just wake up." He pleaded. He heard Mai sigh and get frustrated. " If I knew how to wake up don't you think I would have already! And hell yeah you should have listened to me! Why would I love your brother when I fell in love with your narcissistic, egotistical attitude! And OMG you finally said thank you!" "Mai calm down, you're giving me a headache. And Im so sorry I didn't listen. I've loved you since I saw your beautiful face and smile. I want to see it again, so please." He replied to Mai's rant. Mai's heart skipped a beat and Naru could see this on the heart monitor. He smirked seeing his effect on her. Then he thought of something.
"Mai, I have an idea but..." Naru was saying but was interrupted by Mai.
"NO, Naru, do not give me your qi. I don't want both of us dead." She said reading his thoughts.
" But Mai, it won't kill me. If you pass me energy back as well I wont die and it will spark your brain as well. We'll be okay." he explained. He told Mai how to pass energy back and she finally gave in wanting to get out of her mind. So Naru grabbed both of her hands and let his qi pass through her, feeling her gasp and shudder as his power flowed through her weak body. Mai then pushed the energy back out at to Naru, who also gasped at his intensified power. " How can she have this much power? Maybe Gene unlocked her power while saving her." He thought as Mai's eye's shot open and she shot up. Naru cut of the connection and released her hands quickly. Mai fell back onto the bed due to the release of the connection but kept her eyes open. "Mai?" Naru asked.
Before he could move an inch or say anything Mai shot out of bed and into his arms. He felt the fabric of his shirt get wet with tears as he wrapped his arms around Mai. "Naru! I'm alive, and you're alive! We lived!" Mai sobbed and then started laughing. Naru started laughing as well and laughed even more seeing Mai's shocked face. Mai pulled away from the hug to look at Naru laughing when he suddenly stopped and did the unthinkable. He leaned in towards her face and placed his lips onto hers. Mai was surprised and confused but melted into it soon enough, savouring the moment. When they pulled apart gasping for air they heard applause and snickers coming from the door way. An embarrassed Mai and a placid Naru turned to the door to see the entire gang there, and even Madoka came. Everyone was clapping and cheering and Monk was crying into Ayako's hospital scrubs and was going on and on about his ' Sweet Mai's innocence'. Lin was holding Madoka by the waist who had a camera. They hadn't heard any clicking so she must have been taking a video. Mai finally broke out of her reverie and smoothed down her night gown, which had slightly rided up.
"How long have you been video tapping?" She asked Madoka " Since the doctor left. We have everything on film" Madoka said smugly, triumphantly holding up her pink camcorder. Mai got 10 shades redder and looked like she was about to faint. And that's what she did. She fell towards Naru's chest and passed out embarrassed and exhausted. Naru lay Mai back down onto her hospital bed and lay her head on his chest as he curled up with her as well. Lin explained to the confused team workers that Mai most likely passed out due to the exchange of power between her and Naru. They all calmed down at the explanation and continued to chat and parade until Naru stopped them.
"If you cant be quiet then leave. Mai needs rest." He announced cooly. The team sighed and left with goodbyes until it was only Lin and Madoka. Lin ranted to him about the qi exchange but after telling them about Mai's newfound power they let it be. Before they both left Madoka said something Naru had been telling himself the whole time.
"Just don't mess it up."
And as they left Naru lay back and smiled to himself, 'Like I'll ever do that.'
THE END
A/N: So that it for now guys. Just a little oneshot I thought you'd guys would like. For all of the people who read Omnipotence do not fret because I will update. I already have most of chapter 10 and half of chapter 11. I just wanted to post this to help the wait. Hope you enjoyed.