A/N: And we're back if you hate cliffhangers sorry about your luck. This anime actually had quite a few cliffhangers. And if you haven't guessed it by now, Nana is my favorite character from the show. In almost every way, she reminds me of childhood favorite character, Aelita from Code Lyoko.
Warning: There will be father/daughter cuddling in this chapter. It is not meant to be sexual so don't take it the wrong way.
Disclaimer: I do not own Elfen Lied. All rights reserved to their respective owners.
"Mayu, Mayu, why?" Nana said tearfully.
"What happened?" Yuka asked equally tearful.
"I knew I shouldn't have stayed, now my best friend is going to die." Nana said. "It's all my fault."
"It…It's not…..you're fault." Mayu said breathing very heavily. "I-I-I wanted…..you to stay." She continued struggling to breathe now.
"Nyu." Nyu said tearfully as if she tried to apologize.
Yuka wiped her eyes and looked over to the other side of the yard and spotted a boy. "Quick call an ambulances!" Yuka exclaimed waving her arm at the boy. "Hurry!"
Hitoshi immediately regained focus and ran toward the girls. Nana immediately recognized him. "Hitoshi? Can you please save Mayu?" Nana begged tearfully.
"I will do my best." Hitoshi replied and he crouched down. "Just keep her awake." Hitoshi said and he extends both hands over the Mayu's upper and lower halves of her body. His hands started to glow with energy that suddenly bursted into light. Nana, Nyu, and Yuka look on in amazement as the two halves of Mayu's body started to reconnect. Eventually, the boy finished and Mayu was back to normal, albeit with less blood in her system. Hitoshi's hands stopped glowing and he breathed somewhat heavily placing his hands on his thighs (he has done this before but it is very taxing on his own body but not as much as his intangible ability).
"Mayu?" Nana asked still somewhat tearful.
Mayu looked at Nana and smiled, "I think I'll be okay."
"I'm so sorry!" Nana cried to her friend as she hugged her tightly.
"It's alright." Mayu said happily as she returned the hug. "I'm okay now."
"I'm glad you're okay." Yuka said happily as she rubbed Mayu's back comfortingly.
Hitoshi had finally regained his composure and was about to say something until he heard, "Nyu!" Nyu was hugging him as a thank you for saving Mayu. Hitoshi was surprised and stiffened awkwardly.
"I think Nyu is really thankful for saving her friend." Yuka said happily to Hitoshi. "I know I am." Mayu and Nana separated from their hug and looked at the boy and smiled.
"Nyu?" Hitoshi asked confused.
"Yeah, I thought she was Lucy at first too but she's not." Nana said. "She's really nice. By the way, thank you so much for saving my life the other day and for saving Mayu's tonight."
"Yeah I wouldn't be alive without you tonight. Thank you so much." Mayu said tiredly at the boy.
"Don't mention it." Hitoshi said and he then turned his full attention to Mayu and said, "Go ahead and perform some basic functions. I want to make sure that I did reconnect your nerves correctly."
Mayu nodded tiredly and moved her legs from side-to-side then after Yuka removed her shoes and socks, she wiggled her toes. She looked up to Hitoshi and smiled, "Everything works. I'm feeling tired so I think I'm going to go to bed." Mayu started to get up but Hitoshi stopped her and shook his head.
"No, let us help you. Don't push yourself." Hitoshi said. He then directed his attention to Yuka. "Do you know her blood-type?"
"Yeah I think it's A positive." Yuka replied.
"You're a universal donor. Would you mind donating again?" Nana asked.
"I don't mind but we run the risk of her becoming Diclonius as well if I become a blood donor to her. So in a way, I'm a universal donor among Diclonius." Hitoshi said as he got up.
"You know, I think Kouta is a universal donor." Yuka said staring over at the man who was in all honesty dazed.
"Good, Dr. Kurama probably grabbed an I.V. while we escaped." Hitoshi said. However, everyone seemed distracted as they saw three new figures coming onto the yard. Everyone, except Mayu, got up and watched as one of the figures raise a gun at Nyu and fired, but thankfully, Hitoshi stopped the bullet with his vectors. "Dr. Kurama, it's not Lucy."
Dr. Kurama walked out into opening. "What are you talking about? That most certainly-"
"Wait, daddy." Mariko said somewhat surprised. "He's right, I don't sense Lucy; I don't sense anything."
Dr. Kurama lowered his weapon which was the opening that Nana needed to run over to him and hug him. "Papa, I'm so sorry." Nana cried.
Dr. Kurama hugged her back and replied, "It's okay; as long as you're safe and okay, everything is fine." Kurama lets go of Nana and he then turned his attention to Hitoshi and asked, "What happened?"
"This girl was sliced in half but I was able to reattach the upper and lower halves of her body." Hitoshi stated bluntly while pointing at Mayu.
Dr. Kurama walked over to Mayu and said, "Are you okay?" Mayu nodded tiredly to him and then he asked, "How about we get you into your bed so you can get to sleep and I can get an I.V. in?"Mayu nodded again and Dr. Kurama picked her up. He then directed his attention to Yuka. "Can you show me where she sleeps, then we can get her hooked up to an I.V."
"Yeah this way." Yuka said. They start towards the door and Yuka shook Kouta and said, "Kouta, you okay?"
"Are you a universal donor?" Dr. Kurama asked while Mayu started to fall asleep but Dr. Kurama wouldn't allow it until she had a pint of blood back in her system so he shook her awake. She opened her eyes and glared at the man carrying her but Dr. Kurama knew that she was just tired. "She could use some of your blood, otherwise, she might slip into a permanent comma."
"Yeah, sure I…" Kouta said distantly. He suddenly shook his head and said, "Let's go." The three of them went inside the house and Nyu decided to go to bed as well, leaving Saito, Nana, and Mariko to talk. Hitoshi went over and grabbed his sword and sheathed it. He also went into the house and claimed the living room sofa as his sleeping quarters for the evening
Nana felt miserable. She believes that she almost got her best friend killed. She was lost in thought until she felt a small and frail figure hug her. Nana looked down and saw it was Mariko but Nana didn't know who Mariko was until, "It's nice to meet you, older sister." Mariko said happily. Nana smiled and got down to Mariko's level. Mariko used Nana's shoulder so she could stand somewhat properly. "I'm sorry that I have to use you like a crutch but I can't stand well." Mariko said sadly.
Nana frowned and said, "It's alright, you are kind of frail."
Saito approached the two girls and said, "Nana, Mariko is your papa's biological daughter. She has been inside a containing cell for the majority of her life. Thankfully, among, me, your papa, and Hitoshi assisting her, Mariko is doing a lot better than what she could be."
Nana nodded understandingly and picked up Mariko so that the young girl wouldn't be forced to stand. But one question plagued Nana. "Why did you left Saito?" Nana asked. "I know you enjoyed your job at the facility, won't you miss it?"
Saito immediately shook her head and said, "You, Mariko, and the rest of the girls are the only reasons why I enjoyed that job. In fact, Mariko has come to call me 'mom' and that is why I really enjoyed it. For seven years, I waited to see my little girl." Saito said rubbing Mariko's back. "And now here she is." Mariko smiled in response and also yawned as a sign that she was tired.
Nana frowned and looked down. Saito noticed this and asked, "What's wrong, Nana?"
Nana looked up and blushed, "You, papa, and Mariko are a family. You won't mind if I can be a part of your family, right? I've always wanted a mama and you were like a mama anytime you would come and visit me."
"Of course, you can call me mama." Saito said happily. Nana immediately hugged Saito as a form of thank you. As the two separated, Nana noticed that Mariko had fallen asleep in her arm. Nana smiled along with Saito. "Well, she's not too hard to put to sleep." Saito said happily.
Dr. Kurama came out of the house and smiled. He watched as the most important people of his life socialized. He approached them and said, "Good news, Mayu is going to be okay. She's sleeping right now with Kouta nearby. Yuka was able to change Mayu out of her bloody and torn clothes and into her pajamas. They also gave us some rooms for tonight."
"Wait, where's Hitoshi?" Saito asked.
"He's already made himself comfortable on the living room sofa." Dr. Kurama said with a chuckle. Nana and Saito both chuckled at what they thought he looked like. He then focused on Saito, "You won't mind sleeping with Mariko, tonight?"
"Of course I don't mind." Saito said "Come on Nana." They go inside with Dr. Kurama leading the way to the bedroom. There Saito pulled back the covers, allowing Nana to lay Mariko down. Meanwhile, Dr. Kurama kissed Saito good night and both Nana and Dr. Kurama left the room.
"I'm sorry that I left you." Dr. Kurama said as he and Nana walked down the dark hallway. "I had to get Mariko out of there but there wasn't a minute that went by that I didn't think about you."
Suddenly, Dr. Kurama felt a smaller body hug him and it was Nana. "I'm glad you're back." Nana said. Dr. Kurama returned the hug and they stood there for a while.
They separated and Dr. Kurama got down to Nana's eye level and kissed her forehead and said, "Good night Nana; I love you."
Nana smiled and said, "I love you too, papa." They both went to their bedrooms and changed into their pajamas for the night.
Unfortunately, both would be forced to endure nightmares that night. Dr. Kurama went to the living room and was going to sit on the sofa after enduring another nightmare where he lost Nana. He discovered that it wouldn't be possible since Hitoshi was snoring on the ground in front of the sofa. Dr. Kurama chuckled, "Someone is going to wake up with a bad back in the morning." Instead, he walked over to the chair and sat down while stressfully pinching his nose.
He never noticed that someone else was in the room until he saw something from the corner of his eye. He looked and saw Nana standing a few feet from him wearing a blue long sleeve shirt and pink pajama pants as her sleeping outfit. "Nana, honey, what are you doing awake?" Dr. Kurama asked concerned.
"Can I sleep with you?" Nana asked. "I'm having a lot of nightmares."
"You and I both." Dr. Kurama replied. "You don't ever have to ask for permission for that. You're not a test subject anymore, you're my daughter."
Nana smiled and climbed on top of Dr. Kurama's lap her legs dangled from one of the armrest and she leaned the upper half of her body onto his. Dr. Kurama was surprised but his smile remained when he saw his daughter smile up at him and said, "Good night." Dr. Kurama wrapped his arms protectively around her and replied with, "Good night." He remembered the last time he held Nana and a cold chill ran down his spine and his arms tightened around Nana. Soon, he relaxed and he tried to forget the image of the cemetery.
Close to noon, the residents of the Maple House had now gathered at the table to enjoy breakfast that was prepared by Dr. Kurama, Saito, and Yuka. They have all slept in from exhaustion from the earlier events of last night. Nyu was the exception and she worked on the broken clock as everyone rested. The breakfast table was shrouded by awkward silence, however they still enjoyed their meal. Then Dr. Kurama noticed something, "Where's Hitoshi?"
"Right here." Hitoshi said entering the room with Mayu who looked a lot better than what she looked like last night. "She wouldn't let me leave unless I helped her to the table." Hitoshi said sarcastically.
"Mayu, you shouldn't be up and around yet; I mean with last night-" Kouta started.
"I'm fine, besides who do you think is going to walk Wanta?" Mayu said.
Hitoshi smiled and then said to Mayu, "You can walk but don't overdo it, know your limits.
Mayu nodded and smiled back. "Okay and thank you again for saving my life."
"You don't need to thank me; I'm just glad I was able to get to you in time." Hitoshi replied. They both sat down to the remaining two seats in the room and enjoyed the meal. Afterwards, everyone changed out of their pajamas and into their normal clothes. Hitoshi, of course, had to borrow an old pair of jeans and a black long sleeve shirt from Kouta to wear.
Since it was Saturday, Mayu didn't have to go to school and spent the day being with Nana and Mariko. "Hi, little creature," Nana said happily. "I'm put in charge of feeding you so here you go." Nana poured the bowl with dog food until Mayu said, "Okay, I think that's enough."
"He's so cute." Mariko said happily as Wanta started to eat from the overflowing food bowl.
Meanwhile, Hitoshi sat down and watched the group of girls and blushed as he stared over at Nana who was smiling at her friends. He shook his head and said, "Come on, be professional, you can't have feelings for her."
"You know it's not normal to talk to yourself." Yuka said as she plopped down next to the boy.
Hitoshi jumped a bit but settled down and sighed. "I know I'm just conflicted, you know."
"You like Nana, don't you?" Yuka asked bluntly.
"I do. When Lucy hurt her, all that was going through my body was rage, anger, hurt. I wish she would have never went through that pain. And now, I feel so nervous when I'm around her." Hitoshi said blushing.
"Well, ask her out on a date if you like her so much." Yuka offered to the boy.
"I wish it was that simple. I have to be professional which means I can't go out with her." Hitoshi said. "Besides, what factors would influence her to like me? She's beautiful, kind, and probably the most wonderful person that I've ever met."
"You saved her life and her best friend's life and you also got Mariko, Saito, and me here safely." Dr. Kurama said surprising both the teen and the young woman. "She would be happy to get to know you more." He continued smiling at Hitoshi.
"You think?" Hitoshi asked.
"He's right, along with seeing Dr. Kurama again, Nana wanted to see you and thank you for saving her life the day you two met. She also mentioned that she wants to get to know you better during the two days that she has been here." Yuka said.
Hitoshi smiled in response and turned to Dr. Kurama and asked, "You won't mind if I ask your daughter out sir?"
"I don't mind at all. You've helped me out so much in the past, it would be the least I can do." Dr. Kurama said in response.
"Thank you, both of you." Hitoshi said and he got up and headed toward the group of girls who were watching Wanta eat. He smiled as he tried to think of the right way to ask Nana to go out with him for a date.
A/N: Alright, next chapter will be a dating chapter between Hitoshi and Nana. So what could go wrong? (Evil Grin) How about everything!