A/N: Sorry for the wait for this second part of the chapter; I was working in another project so this had to wait for a moment. But I hope you like it nonetheless. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. And also as I said in the previous chapter, you'll notice that I used a lot of Escaflowne elements on it.

Thanks to those who had read the story, to who left a review, and also to those who read the fic and added it to their favorites. Thanks! I really appreciate it!

As usual many thanks to leebot-sensei for betaing and collaboration with this story.

Don't forget to review!

Enjoy the fic!

Leebot: For those of you not obsessive enough to know every little detail about the characters, Shizuru actually has type AB blood. This was a lucky coincidence for plotting out this part, but I won't say more. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Everything is property of their respective authors, mostly Sunrise. Yes, Escaflowne is also Sunrise's. -grins-


Into the Another World – Chapter 8 Part II

Everyone stared at her, astonished; they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Natsuki stumbled backwards, and as she was falling, her wings melted away before she hit the ground, completely unconscious. Shizuru's worried scream could be heard saying her lover's name all around the place.

- "NATSUKI!" – said Shizuru, running to her angel, worried for her condition.

- "She has wings…" – muttered Nao.

Midori whispered, still bemused.

- "She's… she's an Otome…"

Shizuru had placed Natsuki's head on her lap and was calling for her while caressing her face.

- "Please resist, Natsuki."

- "Ahn, take her majesty back to the Gakutenou and have Youko check on her." – said Midori, approaching to Ahn. – "I'll go too as soon as I finish here. Nao, Nina, Ers, go with them to guard them."

- "Roger!"

- "Alright, Midori." – replied Ahn, who immediately went to Shizuru's side and told her she would be the one to carry Natsuki back to the caravan.

Shizuru nodded and let Ahn lift the unconscious body of her beloved. The group ran as fast as their feet allowed them to, and in no time they made it back to the caravan. Upon entering, Ers went to look for Youko, while Ahn took Natsuki to the infirmary. Youko arrived just after and had Natsuki placed on a stretcher. She couldn't suppress the surprised gasp that left her lips when she saw Natsuki's condition, so she started to treat her right away.

In the meantime, Midori was still standing in the city's main square, her eyes contemplating Natsuki's results. Now she understood how the girl had such an amazing ability: she was an Otome. One of the legendary cursed beings that had lived in Garderobe. She had always wanted to meet one, and to think that she had one just in front of her all this time. She would question her majesty endlessly later about all she knew; she chuckled at herself – even at times like this, her passion for history bloomed. She let out a sigh, when a glint on the floor drew her attention. She approached the object and recognized it as Natsuki's gunblade. She knelt and picked it up, examining the weapon closely. She could see that it was heavily damaged; it had many scratches and dents on it. It almost seemed as if it was about to break.

Midori stood up and took the weapon with her; she had to return it to its owner. Midori started to walk back to the caravan, but not before checking on the people of the city and ordering the other members to scout the area and assist the citizens. She did some chores herself in order to assure the people that they would be safe now. Once she felt that everything was in order, she went inside the caravan and headed to the infirmary after she had gone to Natsuki's and Shizuru's room and placed Duran on the bed. She entered the infirmary and saw that Youko and some of the girls were there, waiting to know about Natsuki's condition. Some hours had passed already since Natsuki was taken in there. She saw that Ahn was trying to comfort Shizuru, since the ruby eyed girl was extremely worried and at the verge of tears, but keeping her distance from Natsuki so Youko could change her bloody bandages. The raven-haired girl had regained some consciousness and Midori observed how she was gritting her teeth in pain and was heavily panting.

Midori approached Shizuru and placed a hand on her shoulder.

- "Don't worry, she'll be fine. She's a strong girl."

Shizuru could only nod and offer a lame attempt of a smile.

- "Not to mention that she's an Otome." – said Nao, who had her arms crossed over her chest.

- "I still can't believe it. I thought they didn't exist anymore." – said Erstin.

- "What did you say?" – asked Youko, perplexed.

- "Her majesty here is an Otome." – said Midori.

- "What?" – said Youko, unable to believe it, but for different reasons.

Youko walked back to Natsuki and checked on her, only to frown when she saw her injuries again and analyzed them closely.

- "Something wrong, Youko?" – asked Midori with interest.

- "This is odd."

- "What do you mean?" – asked Shizuru, concerned.

- "If she's an Otome, then her injuries should have started to heal hours ago, but that's not the case." – explained Youko – "Her injuries are not healing, and her pulse is erratic. And that's not all: they don't look normal. In fact, when I cleaned her the first time, she didn't have deep bruises or cuts that could cause this much bleeding."

- "What you are trying to say is that, although she is an Otome, she isn't recovering as she should?" – asked Shizuru, surprised at Youko's revelation.

- "Basically, yes. This way, there's not much we can do…" – replied Youko solemnly.

- "Impossible…" – mumbled Nao.

Shizuru gasped and finally let some tears fall from her eyes. She just couldn't believe this! Natsuki was on the edge of dying, and there was nothing they could do? Nothing she could do? She felt so useless at that moment. If only she had arrived sooner, she could have assisted Natsuki and stopped her in time. Midori had been confident that Natsuki would recover easily after discovering her secret, but certainly this outcome put them in quite a pinch. She sighed and looked at Natsuki laying on the bed, just barely able to bear the pain. Then, out of the blue and without thinking, Midori said.

- "It's really a coincidence that her gunblade ended up the same way as she did."

Shizuru who had her head down tilted it immediately when she heard what Midori said.

- "Duran ended up the same way?"

- "Yes, I picked her weapon from where the fight took place. It was in a very bad condition; her majesty sure overused it this time."

- "Duran's in the same condition…" – whispered Shizuru. She then stood up and asked Midori. – "Where is Duran now?"

- "On the bed in your room. Why?"

Shizuru didn't answer Midori's question and rushed out to her and Natsuki's room, followed by Ahn. There, on the bed was Duran, and just as Midori had said, it was in a terrible state. As she was watching Duran, a memory came to her mind, of the night when Natsuki was on the rooftop training with Duran. She remembered Natsuki's words, how she always did that special exercise to connect more with her weapon and how she'd felt a stronger and deeper connection with it these past days. Shizuru's mind worked very fast, connecting all the details and information together to find the way to help her Natsuki, and when she found it, she opened her eyes widely at the implications of her conjecture.

- "Shizuru-san…" – Ahn walked into her room and asked – "What is it?"

- "Natsuki's wounds won't heal…"

- "Don't give up hope yet, she's a strong girl…" – said Ahn, only to be interrupted by Shizuru.

- "No! They won't heal." – said Shizuru once more, turning around to see Ahn – "Unless we repair Duran."

- "What are you saying, Shizuru-san?"

- "Duran and Natsuki are connected, or more like merged. If we don't repair Duran soon, Natsuki…she… she will die."

- "How do you know that?"

- "Natsuki has told me and explained to me a lot of things about herself and her past; I just put everything together."

- "Let's go to the infirmary and inform Midori about it." – said Ahn to Shizuru – "And let's also take the gunblade with us."

Shizuru nodded and lifted Duran from the bed and held it close to herself protectively. Once they were back in the infirmary, Shizuru proceeded to explain the situation. Midori nodded, comprehending the circumstances.

- "I was correct. The moment I saw Duran, I knew it was a piece created by the Aswad Clan, but I didn't want Natsuki to think of me as a further nuisance by asking her about the weapon." – said Midori with a bit of nervousness. – "The master of some of their pieces is chosen by blood pact, and remains its master until death." – explained Midori – "So when the weapon is damaged, the master is condemned to fall."

Shizuru wondered if Natsuki, or even the previous members of the royal family were aware of this fact, but she doubted it. Had they known, they would have informed the following successors to the throne to take care and be careful with it.

- "So, we only need to repair the weapon right? It should be easy." – said Nao.

- "Sad to say, but it's not." – replied Midori.

- "Why is that?" – asked Nina.

- "Duran is not a common weapon. It was made by The Aswad clan, the blacksmiths of Garderobe, and their processes and methods are unknown to us. The only ones who can repair Duran are the Aswad clan themselves."

- "Then we have to find them. With all your knowledge, you should know where to find them, right?" – said Nao.

- "I'm sorry but I don't know where to find them." – said Midori.

- "Then it's a lost cause?" – asked Erstin.

Shizuru was starting to lose all hope, when Midori spoke again.

- "I only said that I don't know where to find them, not that I don't know how to call them."

Midori stood up from where she was sitting and walked to Shizuru, who was still carrying Duran. Midori examined Duran closer this time to find what she was looking for, and smiled when she spotted it. Near the gunblade's trigger, there was what would be the lock if it where a common firearm, but this was different. It was a little bit bigger, and when Midori spun it to unlock it, it looked like a clock mechanism; Midori rotated it to the very end to then let it go. Then, all of a sudden, Duran started to glow again, but this time the hue was white and not blue, as usual.

- "What did you do?" – asked Shizuru.

- "I'm just calling the creators of Duran – I'm calling The Aswad clan." – said Midori, smiling.

At that very moment, they heard a sound outside that seemed as if a thunder storm was forming. They went out of the Gakutenou and saw that, in the sky a pillar of light appeared for just a moment. Then, in that same place, a portal opened, and a colossal craft was coming out from it.

- "It's gigantic…" – said Erstin.

- "The Aswad clan always had big ideas." – replied Midori with a smirk.

Once the craft landed on a clear area outside the city near where the caravan was, the Abaharaki didn't waste a second and took Natsuki, along with Duran, to the Aswad's majestic craft. Ahn and Chie were the ones carrying Natsuki on a stretcher. Shizuru walked beside them the whole time, along with Youko, ready to assist Natsuki. Midori was leading the way, followed by Nao, Nina, Erstin and Aoi.

They made it to the entrance where someone was waiting for them. Its body was completely covered with some sort of armor, but it reminded Shizuru of a robot, so she realized that most likely it was a cyborg. They walked through a long corridor for some minutes, when they finally reached what seemed to be a factory. It was noisy and had a lot of different machines and artifacts that even Shizuru had not seen in Earth. The cyborg that was leading them approached another that was currently working on something else. When they were done talking, the other cyborg, who was tall and looked pretty strong came near to the group. He spoke to them with a deep, metallic tone.

- "I'm Rad. Can I see the gunblade you called us about?"

- "Sure, here it is." – said Midori, handing the weapon to the cyborg.

After analyzing it for a moment, the cyborg Rad turned around and made a noise that sounded like a whistle. All the work in the place stopped, and the other cyborgs that were there came close and began to chant in a strange language. The group could only understand what they said at the end, since it seemed they were hailing Duran and Aries.

- "Is this normal?" – asked Shizuru.

- "They were only confirming that it was indeed one of their creations."

As soon as the roar ended, Rad turned to them again and extended out his hand.

- "Seventeen million gidorus…"

- "Se-seventeen million?" – said Midori with surprise, unable to believe the sum.

- "How much do we have?" – asked Aoi.

- "Not even one…" – replied Chie.

- "It will take us several moon years to get that number." – said Nina.

- "We, we can't pay that amount…" – said Shizuru.

- "If you can't pay, then we leave." – replied Rad, who then turned around.

- "Please wait. There must be something that we may have that covers that amount."

Rad stared at all of them and then said.

- "We can give it a try." – replied Rad to then say – "Gal! Do a quick analysis to check on 'that'. Let me know if someone has it."

- "Right away!"

Gal was a small cyborg that had what seemed to be a halo over its head. With a single motion, the halo began to rotate and to emit a light. Gal approached the girls one by one, scanning them – for what, they didn't know. All the girls had been scanned so far except Shizuru. Gal was about to start scanning her, when Rad asked.

- "Anything?"

- "Nothing at all, the others don't have it. The only one left is this girl." – then Gal proceeded to scan Shizuru.

While Gal was scanning her, she dared to ask, concerned as to what The Aswad were interested in that they were scanning all of them.

- "What are you looking for?"

- "Blood." – replied Rad with his arms crossed

Just after Shizuru had her question answered, a continuous beeping could be heard, and then Gal said gladly.

- "She has it!"

Rad stared directly at Shizuru and said.

- "Your blood."

- "What?" – whispered Youko.

- "You want my blood?" – asked Shizuru, still unsure she had heard correctly.

- "Yes."

- "Wait a second! Why just hers?" – asked Nao with a bit of irritation.

- "Her blood is rare, so that makes it more special." – replied Gal.

- "And why would you need blood?" – asked Ahn.

- "You see, our bodies... let's say that they require special maintenance, and we need blood like hers in order to accomplish it." – answered Gal. – "There are different types of blood, and only hers is valuable to us since it's compatible."

- "If you give us your blood, we will repair the gunblade." – stated Rad.

- "How much do you need?" – asked Youko.

- "One litoru will be enough."

- "That's very dangerous! Her life could be at risk by providing you that quantity." – replied Youko.

Shizuru understood the quantity the cyborg Rad was talking about – luckily it was one of the terms she had learned from Natsuki and the Abaharaki, so she knew that a litoru was equivalent to one and a half liters. She knew it would indeed be hazardous to provide that amount, but if that would save her Natsuki's life, she would take that risk. She looked at Natsuki for a moment, who was laying on the stretcher, almost lifeless. She was still breathing, but Shizuru could see that she was feeling too much pain. Turning her head to see Rad, she said with determination.

- "You can take my blood."

- "But, Shizuru-san…!" – said Youko anxiously.

- "We have a deal." – said Rad. – "Gal, prepare everything."

- "Sure!"

With that, the small cyborg left the place to deliver Rad's instructions, and Rad had left to prepare what they would need to repair the gunblade. When they were left alone, Youko spoke.

- "Shizuru-san, are you sure about this? If something goes wrong, this could have mortal consequences."

- "I understand, but it's the only way to save Natsuki." – then she thought – "Natsuki has put her life on the line many times for me, for my sake, to protect me. It's time for me to do the same for her."

- "But if something happens to you, her majesty will be devastated." – said Erstin.

- "I won't die. I cannot die. Not when I've been fighting to keep my dream alive. Not when I've found happiness by Natsuki's side. Not when I'm so much in love with Natsuki." – thought Shizuru with resolve.

At that moment, Gal appeared with all the equipment necessary to extract Shizuru's blood, and another cyborg came to take Duran to the repair area. As the strange machine was being connected to Shizuru's arm, they started to work on Duran. The second the tools began to fall on Duran's blade, Natsuki let out a painful scream and thrashed violently from side to side; the pain was excruciating. Midori was trying to hold her down, but it was ineffective. She even dared to command to the girls.

- "Bring some ropes! Quickly!"

- "But…" – said Aoi, unsure.

- "We must tie her down while Duran is being repaired, or she may hurt herself if she continues trashing like this." – said Midori.

- "Okay!" – said Aoi, who ran out to get the ropes.

- "Nina! Nao! Help me keep her still!" – ordered Midori.

- "Roger!"

- "Is she dying?" – asked Erstin, totally shaken at seeing her majesty like that.

- "She will be fine as soon as Duran is restored." – said Chie, placing a hand on Erstin's shoulder.

Shizuru was also contemplating the commotion in silence, seated on bed near the blood-extracting machine; her eyes, however, showed deep worry at Natsuki's suffering. Ahn and Youko were by her side, to support her and see that the process that was about to take place went smoothly.

- "Are you ready? We will begin now." – said Gal after doing the final adjustments to the machine.

- "I'm ready."

- "Then please, lay down."

Shizuru did what she was told, but never parted her gaze from her beloved angel, who continued to scream and trash in agony. Gal turned on the machine, and Shizuru could feel how it was slowly sucking out her blood. It wasn't that painful, but she felt her body weakening with every passing second. She felt her consciousness leaving her. Ahn noted that Shizuru was getting pale, and had started to sweat a bit. She placed her hand over Shizuru's head in a sisterly way and said.

- "Hang in there, Shizuru-san, you can do it."

Upon hearing Ahn's words, a wave of energy came to Shizuru, and she thought.

- "That's right. I have to resist for Natsuki. I won't die! I won't give up."

Youko was amazed by the strength and determination that Shizuru showed. Anyone else would have fainted by now, but not this girl. Youko now understood why Midori had been intrigued by her majesty and this girl the moment they were taken in. The process of extracting Shizuru's blood finished moments before Duran's repairs. Apparently, the machine processed the blood for the Aswads' purposes, which was why it had been a long procedure.

Shizuru was able to endure it without passing out, though she felt a bit worn-out from it. And now she was sitting on the floor next to Natsuki, who was still lying on the stretcher that had been placed on the floor when they arrived. Natsuki was not moving violently anymore, and in fact she was lying there peacefully. Her breathing was normal, and her pulse had gone back to normal as well.

Natsuki opened her eyes and scanned the room she was in, and then she sat up on the stretcher. That was when Youko began to unwrap the bandages on Natsuki's body. When all the bandages were removed, all the members of the Abaharaki were amazed by the sight: the blood was gone, and no bruises or scars were left behind.

- "Unbelievable…" – said Chie.

- "I can't believe it actually worked…" – whispered Midori. Unfortunately for her, Nao heard her and just raised an eyebrow questioningly, at to what Midori just cleared her throat.

Shizuru lunged herself at Natsuki and hugged her with the last bit of strength she had.

- "Natsuki! You're okay! I was so worried!"

- "Shizuru…"

Natsuki didn't understand at all what was going on. Her mind was still fuzzy and she couldn't recall what had happened. She was about to ask about it when Rad approached and gave her Duran, now fully restored, as if it was brand new.

- "We've done our part. It's time for you to leave."

Natsuki took Duran and stood up, but before she could ask what the meaning of all of this was, Rad spoke again.

- "You must not lose yourself in the path of revenge and wrath while using 'its' strength."

Shizuru also heard what Rad had said to Natsuki. Shizuru stood up as well, and, taking Natsuki's hand, she simply said.

- "Let's go, Natsuki."

Shizuru bowed a little to Rad and then started to walk out, pulling the raven-haired girl with her. Soon after, the members of the Abaharaki were following them. Once all of them were outside, the craft closed its gateway and disappeared the same way it had come. It took some altitude and then the dimensional portal opened. Natsuki was staring at it along with Shizuru, when suddenly the ruby-eyed girl leaned on Natsuki for a moment, trying to support herself. She then closed her eyes and passed out. This of course alarmed Natsuki, who was holding her close and shaking her a bit.

- "Shizuru? Are you alright? Shizuru!"

Youko come close to her and said.

- "Calm down, Natsuki-san; she's fine, just a little bit tired. Let's take her inside Gakutenou."

- "What the hell is going on? Why is Shizuru so exhausted?"

- "I'll explain everything to you, but first, I assume you want to take Shizuru-san to a better place." – said Midori.

Natsuki nodded and carried Shizuru in her arms all the way back. She went to their room and placed Shizuru on the bed, as Youko had ordered, though she had wanted to take her to the infirmary. Once Shizuru was on the bed, Natsuki proceeded to cover her body with the bed sheets. When this was done, she took a chair and sat aside the bed to look after Shizuru, just like she had done in the past. Midori and was also there, along with the other members that had been present during the whole ordeal.

Natsuki was staring worriedly at Shizuru when she merely asked.

- "What happened?"

- "Simply put, she saved your life." – replied Nao.

- "She saved my life?" – asked Natsuki baffled. – "What…?"

- "Looks like you don't remember it at all." – said Midori. – "Then let's start from what you do remember."

- "I…don't remember much…just that I was battling with the valkyries and with…Tomoe…" – explained Natsuki. – "After that, I just remember a lot of pain."

- "Ahn, I think you can tell more details to her majesty since you were there along with Shizuru-san." – said Midori.

- "Yes, well Natsuki-san, you see..." – Ahn began to say – "On our way to reach you, we saw that you had taken care of all the enemies, even the ones in the main square of the city. By the time we arrived, there were only you and the leader left. You were about to kill her when Shizuru suddenly asked me to assist her in stopping you. She didn't explain the reason, but I agreed to her request, and we did stop you before you could kill the leader…"

- "Why did you do that?" – interrupted Natsuki.

- "Please, let me continue." – said Ahn politely – "You will have to ask Shizuru-san about that; I just did what she asked of me. The enemy ran away, and just after that, Midori-san arrived with the rest."

- "We saw that you were barely standing and mumbling something – you wanted to continue fighting. And in your will to continue, you unconsciously exposed yourself." – said Midori.

- "I exposed myself…?" – Natsuki whispered, opening her eyes widely – "Then you know that I…"

- "Yes, we already know that you are an Otome." – replied Midori. – "After that revelation, you just collapsed, and we took you in for treatment. However, your wounds were not normal. You were not healing, even though you are an Otome. That was when Shizuru-san came to the rescue." – said Midori, looking at the sleeping Shizuru – "She told us how Duran and you were merged; so, if we didn't repair Duran, you would perish. And thanks to my high intellect, we were able to summon the Aswad clan to have them repair Duran. But even though we were able to summon them, we didn't have what they wanted in order to repair the gunblade. So, Shizuru-san asked them if there was something else we could give them in exchange. They agreed to that and analyzed all of us."

- "What did they ask for?" – asked Natsuki.

- "They wanted blood, Shizuru-san's blood." – said Youko.

- "What? Shizuru's blood? For what?"

- "They didn't go into much detail, but basically what they said was that it was necessary for their existence, and it turned out that only Shizuru-san had the type of blood they were looking for. So, when they stated their requirements, Shizuru-san agreed, even if it put her life in danger."

- "The quantity of blood they required would have put anyone in a life threatening situation." – explained Youko.

- "Nonetheless, Shizuru-san didn't think twice; she agreed right away. Her only purpose was to save your life, Natsuki-san." – said Ahn.

- "And you know the rest." – finished Midori.

Natsuki turned her gaze to Shizuru, who was still pale, her breathing a bit paused. She took Shizuru's hand in her own and caressed it softly. Natsuki hung her head so her bangs were covering her eyes, and then with a raspy voice she said.

- "Thanks for telling me…"

- "It was nothing. your majesty." – Midori noted that Natsuki squeezed Shizuru's hand tighter, so she said – "We'll leave you now. If you need anything, just let us know."

- "She'll be fine, Natsuki-san. Her life is not in danger any longer; she just needs to have a good rest." – Youko assured her.

After that, all the girls left the room, finally leaving Natsuki and Shizuru alone. Natsuki closed her free hand into a firm fist and rested it over her knee, and then her body started to tremble slightly as silent tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks. She tried to keep her sobs as low as she could.

Shizuru began to move a bit in her slumber. In her sleepiness, she was able to hear a low weep; it sounded so full of sorrow and guilt, so she opened her eyes tiredly and turned her head to the source of the crying, only to come upon the painful sight of her angel sobbing uncontrollably. She was too tired to try to move her hand up, so the only thing she could do was squeeze Natsuki's hand back to let her know she was awake. With a tired but tender voice she said.

- "Why is my Natsuki crying?"

Natsuki didn't lift her head. She felt so ashamed that she couldn't look Shizuru in the eyes now; she only kept sobbing. When Shizuru received no response, she asked again.

- "Natsuki? Why are you crying?"

Natsuki sniffled and, keeping her head still lowered, in a soft whisper she said.

- "I'm sorry, Shizuru, please forgive me."

- "What has Natsuki done to me that she's asking me for forgiveness?" – Shizuru asked tenderly.

Natsuki's fist tensed more and began to shake in anger. But Natsuki was not angry at Shizuru, no. She was angry at herself, and so, unable to contain it, she lifted her head and said, in a not-so-calm tone.

- "Damn it, Shizuru! It's my fault, entirely my fault that you are in this condition! That you had to almost sacrifice your life for my sake! If only I had controlled myself, this wouldn't have happened." – Natsuki said regretfully.

- "Ara, Natsuki shouldn't feel that way. I did it of my own volition. No one forced me into anything, and I was perfectly aware of the possible consequences." – said Shizuru, caressing Natsuki's hand softly.

- "But you could have died! Did you think about what would have happened to me if something went wrong? The mere thought of being without you is too painful! If that had happened then I…don't know what I would have done… I can't bear the idea of losing you…and all because of my imprudence."

- "Natsuki should know now, just for future reference, that I would do anything within my grasp and more for Natsuki's sake." – said Shizuru with determination and gentleness.

- "Why, Shizuru?" – asked Natsuki, a bit taken aback.

- "Silly Natsuki, I did it because I love you. I love Natsuki more than anything else." – said Shizuru – "Because I also wouldn't be able to stand the idea of a world without my Natsuki."

- "Shizuru…" – whispered Natsuki, feeling more tranquil now. Releasing Shizuru's hand for a second and entwining their fingers, she said – "I love you too, Shizuru. I would do anything for you. Not even all the stars in Earl's sky could surpass my love for you."

Shizuru blushed a bit at Natsuki's passionate and amorous words and honest confession. She let a small smile adorn her lips, as she felt sleep claiming her again. Natsuki noted the exhausted look in Shizuru's eyes, so she lifted Shizuru's hand and kissed it.

- "You have to rest to completely recover."

- "How many times has Natsuki watched over me, I wonder? I just hope it doesn't become a habit." – said Shizuru in weak attempt to tease.

- "I don't know, and I don't mind. I must say that you look pretty adorable while you're asleep; it's a breathtaking sight." – said Natsuki with a grin, which caused Shizuru to go red in the face again. Natsuki let out a soft giggle at her small victory in making Shizuru flush. Not wanting to keep her beloved awake more than necessary, she leaned in to kiss Shizuru on the lips delicately – "Sleep well, my love. I'll be here when you wake up."

A satisfied smile adorned Shizuru's lips as her eyes closed slowly. She felt relieved now, knowing that she was out of danger and, most importantly, that Natsuki was safe and feeling better, no longer blaming herself for what happened, at least for now. She knew that there were still some things that would need to be discussed once she had recovered, but at least this was a good start. With that thought in mind, Shizuru let slumber take over one more time, with the promise of a brighter and peaceful future in Earl alongside to her precious guardian angel.

TBC…


I'll just add some extra notes here. As leebot said, Shizuru's blood is AB. It's a very uncommon type of blood so it really helped with the plot of the fic. Also it's a fact that the consequences for giving the amount of blood that Shizuru gave could be dangerous; I did some research in there so it would be more real.

Well, that's all.

Thanks for reading! And please leave a review!

See you around!

Shezaei neko