A/N: Thank you so very much to everyone that commented and PM'ed me. I tried to reply to everyone's comments, but if I missed you I apologize.

Disclaimer: I do not own MSGM or any of its characters. All such honors belong to Oyuki Konno.


"Sachiko!" Sei Satou exclaimed with a big grin as her second favorite former Rosa Chinensis stepped through the door of her office at her art gallery in the Shinjuku Ni-choume district of Tokyo. "This is a very pleasant surprise. What brings you to my little corner of the world," she asked as the tall blonde gave Sachiko a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"It's good to see you too, Sei," Sachiko smiled, returning the hug warmly. "I should have come by sooner, but with all the work . . . well, you know."

"Ah, yes, well, can't be helped now can it," Sei grinned, "at least you came by today. Can I offer you some tea?"

At Sachiko's nod she called out to her assistant to have her bring a pot of oolong before she ushered her visitor to a comfortable chair and then sat once again behind her cluttered desk.

"As happy as I am to see you, Sachiko, can I assume that this is not a pleasure visit?" she asked, steepling her fingers on the desk before her but giving her guest a warm smile.

"Actually, a little of both, Sei," Sachiko apologized. "I did want to see you, but it was a bit of personal business that finally brought me here," she explained as she removed the envelope containing the photo from her briefcase. "I was wondering if you could take a look at this and give me your thoughts," she asked as she handed the photograph to her good friend.

"Hmm, well, let's see what we have here," Sei said as she removed the photo from the envelope. She studied the picture briefly before looking up at the raven haired beauty sitting across from her. "Can I assume that you did not sit for this portrait?" she asked.

"You assume correctly, Sei-sama," Sachiko answered. "I certainly would have remembered something like that. I don't believe that I ever sat for a portrait in my old school uniform." Nodding her head in understanding, Sei took a longer look at the photo, holding it at various angles before she whistled.

"Not bad. Really, not bad at all. Whoever painted this has some real talent. If all of the artist's works are this good, I wouldn't mind having a showing here at the gallery for them. I do wonder why you were painted crying though."

"Crying?" Sachiko asked, sitting forward in surprise. That was not something she had noticed even though she had been studying the portrait during the entire trip here after apologizing to Suguru and asking for a rain check on the drinks.

"Mmm, yeah, if you look closely you can just make out the glistening of tear tracks on your cheeks. Here, let me show you," she said as she turned around and put the photo into a scanner on the credenza behind her. A push of a button, a few clicks of her mouse and she removed the photo from the scanner and handed it back to Sachiko. "I assume you want to keep this," she smiled, "let's move over to my conference room. I have a projector and screen over there and we can take a better look."

They almost bumped into her assistant on their way out. Sei confiscated the teapot and cups and led Sachiko briefly down a hallway and opened another door to a rather large conference and, from the looks of it, storage room.

"This is where we normally review any potential new artwork we are considering displaying in the gallery, so it needs to be a little larger than most conference rooms," she explained as Sachiko was looking around at all the canvases leaning against the taupe colored walls. A small conference table stood in the middle of the large room surrounded by six chairs. A computer, monitor, and projector were set up at one end. Sei logged onto the computer and brought up the file of the scanned portrait she had just saved to the server. She then switched the display to the projector and used a remote to dim the room lights.

"Now, if I was an art dealer, and how about that, I am," she chuckled, "this is how I would review any potential piece of artwork that came in via email or, like yours, as a photograph." She stood and walked closer to the screen, never stepping in front of the projector, and studied the portrait more closely.

"Ah, as I thought, the darkness around you is not just darkness, nor is it really impressionistic. It's actually quite detailed, simply not lit up the way you are. By the way, can you now see the tear tracks?" she asked Sachiko who had walked up to stand on the other side of the screen. At the woman's nod Sei picked up a laser pointer from its holder on the wall and used it to indicate the only piece of flora caught in the shaft of light. "Can you recognize what this is Sachiko?" she asked.

"Th-that's a Rosa Chinensis," she stammered, unable to imagine the effort it would have taken the artist to render the rose bush to such a degree that even the plant's particular species could be identified.

"Very good, Sachiko," Sei giggled, "but I figured that you would know the answer to that one. Actually, my real question is: who is the artist? Whoever it is, I would love to meet him or her."

"Her . . . I think," Sachiko said thoughtfully as she turned away from the screen and took a seat at the table. She explained the unusual encounter outside her headquarters building and told the former Rosa Gigantea what the woman had said about delivering the original portrait within a few days.

"Well, if we assume that this mystery woman is the actual artist," Sei said, thinking hard, "and we can't take that as a given, then here is what I want you to do, Sachan. Whenever or wherever this shipment arrives, I want you to leave it crated, or however it is packaged, exactly the way it is without opening it and you are to call me immediately. I don't care what time of day or night it arrives. It's possible that unpacking the portrait could damage it if it's not handled properly and I absolutely do not want that painting damaged. And if you don't mind, I'm going to call Youko in on this one. Based on your story, she might be interested. I know Yoshino-chan will be," the former Rosa Gigantea grinned.

"Yoshino?" Sachiko asked incredulously. "I don't mind bringing onee-sama into the picture, but why Yoshino?"

"You've been out of touch too long, Sachan," Sei laughed. "Yoshino is now working for Youko. Yoshino got her Private Investigator's license last year and has been working for Youko's law firm as a case investigator ever since."

"Yoshino-chan is a PI?" Sachiko said in disbelief. "How did Rei ever allow that?"

Sei chuckled, "It seems that Yoshino took a page from Rei's book and didn't bother to tell her until she had already received the license, just like Rei didn't tell Yoshino about going to Todai until it was too late to get into Lillian U. As far as I'm concerned, she deserved to get a little of her own medicine back," Sei laughed.

Sachiko giggled as well. It was just like Yoshino to do something like that.

"It really is a beautiful portrait, Sachiko," Sei commented as she returned to studying the enlarged photo, "but there is something about it that just strikes me as . . . not wrong really, just odd."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Sachiko replied, gazing at the picture again. She had to agree with Sei that it was beautiful. None of the other paintings her parents had commissioned had been anywhere near as good. They had all been so staged; projecting her likeness but not who she really was. This artist on the other hand seemed to see right through her; capturing her true essence and baring it for all the world to see. It sent a chill down her spine that someone she had never met could know her so intimately.

"I'm not sure either," Sei murmured, "it's just a feeling I get . . . almost like it's unfinished, but given all the detail that just seems impossible."

Sachiko couldn't see what it was that Sei was talking about, but she had to admit that the painting gave her an odd feeling. It took her a moment before she realized that what she was feeling was a gentle longing, a need, as if a piece of her soul was missing. And she suddenly felt very afraid. If just a scan of a photograph could make her feel this way, how would she react when she stood before the original portrait?

She shivered.

-oo-

"Yeah, Mom, she's real," Yumi told her mother by phone later that evening.

"Oh, my God, Yumi! I'm sorry, but I never really thought . . ."

"I know, Mom, and it's alright. I never thought she would be real either," Yumi laughed softly. "I actually saw her. I even spoke to her on the street today. I couldn't believe it either. If anything she's even more beautiful than she is in the paintings."

"So, what are you going to do now, dear?" Miki asked with concern for her daughter.

"I . . . I'm not sure. I guess we'll see if the dreams go away . . . all I can do is hope," Yumi laughed tearfully into the phone.

"Yumi, are you alright? Is there anything your father or I can do?" Miki asked.

"I'm sorry, no, I'll be alright once I can get my head wrapped around this," she replied, sniffing, "but . . . um, yeah, could you please ask Dad to crate up the portrait sitting on my easel and ship it to me? I promised her that I would send her the original. Also, if he can take the others off of their frames and just roll them up in a shipping tube, that would be great, but I need that last portrait here as soon as possible."

"Of course, Yumi. It might take a day or so, but you should have it by the day after tomorrow or the next day at the latest," Miki replied.

"Thanks, Mom. I really appreciate it," Yumi sighed.

She spoke with her mother for a few more minutes before they finally said goodbye to each other with a mutual promise to talk again later in the week.

She knew she could count on her father to properly package the paintings. He would probably use the new crate he had designed on a lark after seeing how some of the art shipment companies were still using methods and materials that were well over a hundred years old. Yumi had been shocked at how well the new crate protected the paintings, even when dropped from heights of four meters. And not having to use a crow bar to open them was a godsend to the safety of the painting inside.

Now all she could do was wait. She took another sip of the wine she had purchased earlier that afternoon. After her encounter with the Ogasawara heiress she had definitely needed something to help settle her nerves. She leaned over and picked up the envelope that someone from the school had dropped off while she was out. The offer letter to become an art instructor at Lillian was more than generous: an annual salary of ¥4,600,000 plus an offer to pick up the rent on her current lodgings for as long as it took her to find another place to live, assuming that she didn't simply decide to stay where she was. If she decided to stay in the little cottage they had offered to pay for half of the monthly rent. It was an astounding offer, more than three times what she would have been making if she went full-time at her current job. Of course, living in Tokyo would be more expensive than the tiny town of Ashoro, but could she even really consider such a move right now? So much was still up in the air. If her dreams and visions didn't go away she might not be in any condition to paint, let alone teach!

Yumi sighed and swallowed the rest of the white zinfandel in two gulps. It was still a little early for bed, but a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over her. She rinsed the wine glass and left it on the counter to dry before heading to her bedroom. It had been a long day. She had been up before seven, then the meeting with the Academy Director (and don't forget fainting!). Then she had made the trip into Tokyo to the headquarters of the Ogasawara Group and spoken to Sachiko-sama. Yes, she could say that the day had been just a tiny bit stressful. It was no wonder that she was tired. She had planned on taking a shower, but after laying down briefly on her bed she suddenly found her eyes closing of their own accord as she drifted off.

She whimpered in her sleep when the dream started. Why, God? Why was this still happening? The tears that leaked from her slumbering eyes were a silent testimony to the fact that her visions were not yet over. This one, however, was slightly different from all the others. She saw Sachiko-sama, once again in the uniform of a Lillian student and standing in front of the stone statue of Maria-sama, but for the first time the second person in the scene frozen before her mind's eye was perfectly depicted. No longer was she shown as a ghost; a phantom trying desperately but unsuccessfully to comfort the raven haired Sachiko.

Yumi's eyes shot open, now fully awake at the shock that ran through her system.

"What the hell!" she gasped. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand which read just before six in the morning. Breakfast with Kei-san was scheduled for eight. It was still too early for the art supply stores to be open and she didn't know where they might be located anyway. She could probably ask Kei-san if there were any close by. Even still, she sat up in bed knowing that she just had to grab the phone book and start her search.

She would need an easel, canvas, paints, pigments, brushes . . .


A/N: Thank you all again for your support of this story. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it.

Take care,

CX