A/N: Ohayo! Okay, I know I lied about updating within a few days. I was on a summer course and haven't had the time to write until now. Gomen ne! But today, I sat down at the computer and didn't let myself leave my seat until I had this finished and checked over for you guys. So here it is, the final chappie. I hope you've enjoyed this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I want to say a big big big thank you to my dear reviewers for the last chapter (petiteshima, MidnightRose01, and pumpkin girl) I love you all! ^^ *big huggles* Well I'll shut up now (until the end of the chappie teehee XD) so you can get on with reading what you actually came here to read. Please excuse dumbness!

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Windows to the Soul

Red … everything was covered in red … it stained her hands and everything around her … she couldn't stand it anymore … she wanted to block out the crimson stains that would haunt her forever …

Then everything was replaced by black … an endless abyss of nothingness that wrapped her in its cold embrace.

She didn't know how long it remained like this; surrounded by darkness and what could only be described as nothingness. It wasn't the peaceful kind of silence; it was unnatural and uncomfortable, as though she had been deafened. Her brain also seemed to have stopped functioning, as not even her thoughts were there to comfort her. There was nothing but numbness.

But then her paralytic state was penetrated by a slight awareness. It was a gradual process, but eventually, Rima found herself with a mind full of questions.

Am I … dead? Is this what death feels like? …

However, amidst the questions, there was a constant nagging, a tugging in her heart … she needed to know where Shiki was …

As control over her own mind gradually returned to her, she found herself trying to re-establish the links between her brain and her body. She couldn't believe how difficult a task it was. A simple action that she would normally repeat time and time again on a daily basis like opening her own eyes seemed like an impossible feat. The only thing that drove her to keep trying, to not give up in defeat like her exhausted mind was telling her to, was the urge – the need – to see Shiki again. Finally, her resilience paid off as a dull light began filtering into her consciousness.

However, something wasn't right.

She saw the room as she remembered it … the cold stone walls, the dark dungeon … but she also saw herself. It wasn't a reflection, she was sure of it. She could tell she was standing, or at least upright, but her eyes were telling her that she was lying on the stone floor, with her eyes firmly closed. There was a great deal of blood on her torso, which wouldn't have been surprising considering the huge amount of blood spilt previously, but the blood seemed to be coming from her. In numb shock, her eyes travelled from the blood-soaked fabric to the dagger clasped firmly in her right hand, which lay limply by her side.

With a heart full of lead, she looked down at herself. Her fears were confirmed. Rima lifted her hand from her side, and stared with wide eyes at the pale, transparent skin. I'm really dead … She tried to speak the words to confirm what her eyes were telling her, but somehow, the words only formed in her brain and though she could feel her lips moving, she heard no voice. What's happened to me? Why can't I speak?

Despite the fear gripping her heart, the part of her brain screaming at her to find Shiki managed to break through the haze and Rima once again focused on the scene before her. Now that the initial shock had been pushed further into the back of her mind, she noticed the figure sitting next to her body. It was Shiki. His expression broke her heart. His eyes were full of disbelief and fear, pain and regret quickly adding to the mix. She hated seeing him like this; she wanted to comfort him but before she could put this thought into action, his voice broke through her hazy senses.

"Rima … why, Rima? You promised me it would be alright … you promised me we would be together! Why did you leave me?"

His voice was an anguished whisper that gradually increased in steadiness and volume.

I'm sorry … I'm sorry Shiki!

She felt the urge to cry, but she found that she couldn't. She was a mess inside; she was confused and hurt and heartbroken, but she found she had no way of letting this go. She was glad that Shiki appeared to be alright – on the outside at least. The mist no longer evaporated from his body, and she could see no external wounds. But there was a small part of her that she instantly hated as soon as it made itself known, that was regretful that Shiki hadn't died with her, and that they wouldn't be reunited in death as she had initially hoped. She loathed this part of herself; she couldn't believe that she could even think of such a thing. Shiki was alright, that was good, right?

She watched as Shiki loosened the dagger from her limp fingers, before bending down and picking up her lifeless body. She watched as he cradled her to his chest, crying openly into her hair. She watched his fingers glide over her pale ashen face as he traced the shape of her lips before bending down and kissing them. She watched all this, but she felt nothing. It was a strange and unsettling feeling, watching, detached from a distance. She wanted to feel his warm arms around her, his soft lips on hers … she closed her eyes and tried to imagine the feeling as she wrapped her arms around herself, as though trying to keep her shattering heart together.

When she opened her eyes again, Shiki was gently lowering her body to the ground. He brushed her hair out of her face before his hand cupped her cheek and he gently stroked the skin with his thumb. He had a smile on his face and a strange resoluteness in his eyes … it unsettled her. He leaned down to whisper something into her ear.

"Wait for me, Rima …"

It took a minute for his words to sink into her sluggish mind, and when she registered his meaning; his hand was already reaching for the discarded dagger lying next to her body.

NO SHIKI! NO, DON'T DO THIS!

She tried to shout out to him, but no voice came out. She tried to run towards him, to wrench the dagger from his grip, but she found herself rushing right through him. Mentally crying out in despair, she cursed her stupidity, her naivety, her selfishness and uselessness, she cursed the fate that had befallen the both of them and most of all; she cursed the monster that had heartlessly stolen away the life that she had treasured most. Knowing that there was nothing else she could do, for either herself or for the one person she had loved the most, she closed her eyes tight as the pain reached an unbearable peak inside her, hoping that she would not have to witness the death of the one boy she had loved her whole life.

Shiki … Shiki I'm so sorry … for everything that's ever happened.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but with a sinking feeling in her heart, she acknowledged the loss of the life she had tried so hard to preserve.

"… Rima … Rima …"

With a strange mixture of pain and joy, Rima opened her eyes and turned around, expecting to see Shiki there in much the same state as herself. But there wasn't anyone there, and with a jolt, she noticed that she was back in that nothingness that she was in before.

"Rima!" The voice came again, this time more forcefully as Rima registered a strange shaking in her consciousness.

She tried to find the links again and open her eyes, and after a couple of tries without success, light finally flooded into her senses. However, this time, it was much brighter and Rima found her eyes instinctively closing again to combat the piercing light. Blinking her heavy eyes a couple of times in an attempt to adjust to her new surroundings, Rima warily opened her eyes to see a familiar face.

Her heart leapt in her chest as she registered the face creased in worry, and her heart melted at the relieved smile that spread across the face in front of her.

"Thank God you're alright. Do you know how worried I've been?"

Tears rolled down Rima's cheeks and she relished in the cool, wet feeling against her skin. Shiki's eyes widened in concern.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

At the dismissive smile that appeared on Rima's face, his voice took on a more teasing tone.

"What, are you that upset to see me? I'll just go then … " He leaned up, pretending to be getting ready to leave. He smiled when Rima's hand quickly slid up his arm and gripped adamantly at his shirt.

"… No … I'm just relieved to see you … I'm so glad you're okay … I thought … I thought … never mind. It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that you're okay."

Her heart clenched as she reminisced what exactly she had thought and the tears flowed quicker down her cheeks. She shook her head, trying to abandon the thought. Shiki smiled in understanding. He didn't probe further as he knew it wasn't something Rima wanted to relive. Besides, from her reaction and her fitful slumber, he had a fair idea.

"Shh … it's all okay now. Everything's better."

He leaned down and pecked her lightly on the nose, before wrapping his arms around her. Rima savoured the feeling of his warm embrace, which unfortunately triggered another painful memory. However, with a smile, Rima knew that these scars would heal with time, and one day, these past weeks would be a distant memory.

For now, she would try to replace the pain in her heart with the love she felt for the boy in her arms. She would give him all her love and she would pledge her heart and loyalty to him for eternity. She had always loved him, and was sure she always will, but having lived through the horrific experience of almost losing him, she knew she wanted to give him her absolute everything. She would never leave his side.

Shiki listened to the steady heartbeat and the occasional muffled sobs beneath him, and he closed his eyes to quell his own tears that threatened to escape. Rima had risked so much for him and had always been there for him, through thick and thin. He knew he was very lucky to have someone like her, and with a resolute nod of his head, he knew that he would treasure her forever. He tried not to dwell on the negatives and instead focus on the positives, and with a wry smile, he thought that at least the experience, as painful as it was, had brought them even closer together.

As the weeks past, both their bodies healed considerably and the invisible wounds they bore from their battle began to close and heal as they were nurtured by love. Of course, both vampires needed blood to heal, and they took it in turns to drink from one another. In the beginning, they were both against the idea of drinking from one another, and instead opted for the blood tablets, but they were in no way a substitute for the real thing considering the damage done to their bodies by their ordeal. Eventually, they both came to a mutual agreement to drink in small quantities from the other, but Shiki was still the more resistant of the two. He knew what Rido had done to her, and it haunted him every time he drank from her. He often wondered how she could stand it.

Though the first few times were difficult for Rima, she was comforted by the sometimes excessive care and tenderness Shiki exuded around her. Right now, it was once again time for Shiki to drink. She gently guided his face to the curve of her neck and smiled at the gentleness he showed, which was in such contrast to the harsh and heartless attitude of Rido. As Shiki gently urged the wound to close, a sudden thought occurred to her.

"Ne, Shiki?"

"Hmm?" He looked up at her, a warm smile on his face.

"What happened anyway? With … Rido I mean …"

His smile faltered slightly at the mention of the monster that had almost destroyed both their lives. He sighed, it was inevitable, he supposed. She would want to know sooner or later. In fact, he was surprised that they had managed to avoid the topic for so long.

"He's gone now. Don't worry, he won't be coming back."

However, Rima wasn't satisfied with his brief evasive answer.

"But … how? I mean, the black mist … was that him leaving your body?"

Shiki took a deep breath as he tried to think of the best way to explain.

"As much of a monster as he is, I guess he was still technically my father. And I knew him well enough to know his strengths and weaknesses. He was good with mind control, with the emotional side of things … but I knew he was always sort of a … wimp when it came to physical pain." His lips curved up in an amused smile at his own choice of words when describing his father.

Rima's mouth fell open.

"You mean … you risked your life to try to get rid of him?"

Shiki smiled at her expression.

"Don't be so shocked. You think I enjoyed having him control my body? Watching him hurt you?" His eyes flashed in anger at his final words and Rima noticed the slight tensing of his body.

She reached out a comforting hand and laid it over his. She waited for him to continue.

"So … I decided to take a chance. You know if we continued like that, one of us would die sooner or later. I didn't want to watch you die-"

"But you thought I would be okay watching you die?" Rima interrupted, her pain flooding into her words.

Shiki gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'm a pureblood. I'm stronger than you are, or at least my body is. I can't say about my mind … you have some willpower." She smiled at his words. "And I wasn't stupid enough to aim for my heart. I just hoped it would be enough. Thankfully, when I let him back into control again, he crumbled under the pain and fled my body. That was the black mist. I should've told you, I'm sorry."

"It's okay … I doubt you would have been able to anyway." Rima smiled a wry smile. "Baka … did you have to be that extreme? I thought you were going to die. If he's so much of a wimp, couldn't you have given yourself a paper cut or something instead?"

By the end of her sentence, she found the need to break the seriousness of their conversation. It worked, as Shiki's lips twitched up in amusement.

"Now that you mention it, the thought did cross my mind … but I couldn't find any paper."

"Baka!" Rima rolled her eyes and playfully tried to punch him in the arm, which he dodged. He caught her fist instead and opened it, clasping her hand tightly in his.

"Now I have a question to ask you …" The seriousness had returned to his eyes.

Rima waited patiently for him to find his words, stroking his clasped hand gently with her thumb.

"How … how can you be so sure that I'm me? That sounds so stupid. I mean … how can you be sure that Rido isn't controlling me anymore? That I'm not just playing with you again? How can you still trust me so much after everything that happened?"

Rima inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Was this all he wanted to know?

Rima looked up into his clear blue eyes and saw the vulnerability within. She saw the kindness, the concern, the trust and the love.

"Easy," she replied, reaching up to cup his face. "I can see it in your eyes."

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Well, that's it guys! Another story done and dusted. I hope you liked the ending! I want to thank you guys for all the support you've given me, even after all the big delays and big fat lies I told. I want to thank you for all the reviews and subscriptions etc from the bottom of my heart, they've realli kept me motivated and encouraged. Never mind the fact that it always warms my heart when one of you sends me a review ... you're all so kind and encouraging ... so thank you so muchos, this story would never have happened without you! Goodbye for now, with lots and lots of love, Suki Yume. x

P.S - I want to say a special thank you to petiteshima, she's always one of the first people to read and review a chappie, and she always sends the longest and most awesome heartfelt reviews ever. And on top of that, the "Romeo and Juliet" twist at the start was inspired by one of her last reviews, and she managed to guess where I was going with the black mist incident. So thank you petiteshima, you are awesome and you realli helped when I had no clue where to go from the last chapter! *big huggles*