Suddenly, Mariana began to twitch. Nefarious had caught this out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to face her, he found himself looking directly into her eyes. He was surprised to see that they were not ruby-red, but the deepest and purest of emerald green… just like when they had met. At first she stared at him with a blank expression on her face, but then her lips widened into a smile.

Nefarious was not sure how to take this. He expected her to be yelling at him, whether or not he was on a hospital bed or not. Instead, she only looked as if she was happy to see that he was alright. Even still, he figured that she probably had hell in store for him later on. She sat up, and then dropped out of the hospital bed, landing on both feet. She looked as if she has already had a full recovery… except the part where he could see the aftermath of Crash's bazooka.

It looked different than when he was under the control of his anger. It was not raw skin, there was only a scar, and a slight grey mark around where it hit. He guessed that it was a burn.

She walked over and laid down with him, cuddled up, and being careful of the shoulder that she had ripped into. He eagerly wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close and tight against him. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder, he put his right arm around her, too.

"How do you feel?" She asked. "Wait… how did you feel?"

"Um… I only felt anger." He replied. A simple enough answer. "I don't know why, though."

Mariana sighed and hugged him tighter. "You were in the state of the Necromancer."

Nefarious was not just about to believe that. "Impossible." He quickly retorted. "I am not yet a Necromancer."

"Yes… you are." She had a sad tone in her voice. "I'm sorry, Nefarious. I never should have let you begin."

"Don't be absurd!"

"What…?" A question mark appeared above her head, so to speak. "I'm not going to let you blame yourself for my mistake."

Nefarious chuckled. "Now, Mariana my dear…" he lovingly stroked her hair and then kissed the top of her head. "If you're going to apologize, then I must."

"…What the hell are you talking about?" She questioned.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with me. Me of all people…" He tried to hold her closer, but she pushed against his chest, forcing him away just a little so that she could take a look at his face. Of course, he was being honest with her, and was speaking his true feelings. "But you know…"

"Zitto." She said plain and simple. He knew what that meant; shut up. "I don't feel like I'm stuck with you, Nefarious. I chose you because I fell in love with you, and that's that. Now… you need to stop with Necromancy."

"Mariana, I'm glad you feel the same way for me. About Necromancy, how can I stop when it's brought me this close to you? I don't want the immortality or the power, I only want you…" He just could not believe the truth behind those words. Although he did want the Time Twisting ability, and he still felt the feeling of hatred that he always felt buried somewhere deep inside of him, everything he said, he meant it. He could care less about the immortality part, only as long as he had her. She was truly all that he had ever needed and wanted in life.

He pulled her back to him and pressed his lips to hers. She eagerly kissed him back. Shifting around a little bit while messing up each other's hair, he eventually found himself sitting on top of her. They pulled out of their kiss for a few seconds to carefully study their position. It was as if something had clicked inside of their heads.

Nefarious had began taking off her hooded cloak from where she had been shot with the bazooka, for it was much easier to slide off her shoulders from there, while she unbuttoned his lab coat. Pretty soon, they were both topless… when Dr. Cortex and N. Gin had walked in with Uka Uka and the Banshee.

"Oh my!" Dr. Cortex exclaimed. He hid his face and laughed.

"Naughty, naughty!" N. Gin laughed. He was literally rolling on the floor in hysterics.

Uka Uka and the Banshee just had the most dumbfounded looks on their faces. They looked at each other and then just burst out in laughter.

Thinking quickly, Nefarious wrapped Mariana in his lab coat. They were both too embarrassed to speak. Next to them, Crash woke up from all the excitement, looked around, and scratched his head, wondering what was going on. He looked to the four who had just entered the room who were up in hysterics, and then looked at Mariana and Nefarious. He decided that this would be a perfect chance to escape.

Luckily, there was a window next to his bed with a tree right next to it. He slipped out the window and ran away.

Uka Uka was the first to notice that Crash was missing, and flew into the backs of Dr. Cortex's and N. Gin's heads.

"Go get him, you idiots!" He shouted angrily.

Dr. Cortex and N. Gin ran out of the room, and Uka Uka followed. The Banshee stared down Mariana and Nefarious.

"Masssster…" She began. "There isssss ssssomething you musssst know. Come with me… once you are dressssed…" She began laughing again and exited the room, leaving the two alone.

Mariana huffed and pulled off Nefarious' lab coat. "Now, where were we?" She smiled playfully, kissing his bare chest and beginning to undo his belt.

He was a little surprised by her enthusiasm, but decided to let it go. To him, nothing else mattered right now except her. He did not even care if the Banshee were to come back. If what she was saying is one-hundred percent true, he is a Necromancer. This meant that the Banshee would have no choice but to obey him, too.

"Are you sure?" He asked her. "You really will get stuck with me, you know?" He held her face in his hands and smiled at her. "Just to let you know, I'm yours."

"And I'm yours." She smiled back at him. "I'm sure about this."

"Good." He pulled her close and then kissed her neck.

It had to have been noon when the two had woken up. All time seemed to have stopped last night, which was a very unusual and uncomfortable thing for Nefarious, but he did not think of it that way. Even he would admit that he had the night of his life, and would have probably never gotten his chance if he had not met the love of his life, Mariana. He had grown attached to her, and never wanted to leave her side.

His shoulder still stung from the blade he had taken the other day, and Mariana had gotten a little excited and decided to bite him in his opposite shoulder.

He looked over at her, and she looked at him with a smile. He smiled back and kissed her once.

"Good morning." She said.

"Good afternoon, my dear." Nefarious playfully corrected her. She giggled. "What is on the agenda for today?"

"Perhaps some meditation, if you're up to it?" She suggested. "But, you know… I could just lay here with you for the rest of the day… or maybe, another round?"

Nefarious chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Don't do that to yourself, Mariana. What do you really want to do today?"

"I have a suggestion!" It was N. Gin's voice. The two looked over to the doorway, and he was standing there. "Take her faceboarding! Uka Uka said he'll be glad to do it!"

"I DID NOT, YOU IMBICILE!" Uka Uka yelled. He had floated by right when N. Gin had said that.

"Oh, come on, great Uka Uka!" N. Gin nudged him with his elbow. "Mariana's never been faceboarding! Right, Mariana?" He turned to her and winked.

"Um… no?" She blushed, sounding a little confused. Being seen like that with Nefarious was not her idea of humor. "What is faceboarding?"

"Simple!" N. Gin grabbed Uka Uka out of the air, threw him down on the floor, jumped on him, and slid around the room. All the while, Uka Uka was screaming in pain and anger. When N. Gin stopped, Uka Uka floated away at high speeds, trying to get away from him.

"Wow…" That was all Mariana could say. She hugged tightly to Nefarious and said, "Want to?"

He gave her a very amused look. "Are you serious? A klutz like you on a mountain path, riding a mask…" He paused to consider it. "I'm ready when you are!"

Until and after the four stepped in, and until N. Gin came back was inspired by "All I Ever Wanted" by Basshunter. Happy reading!