And suddenly, the pull faltered, and then stopped, and Mika stepped towards me once again, whispering to me. "Please, just a little longer. I promise, I shall return to you."

Chapter Twelve- Kyo's Pov

"Just a little longer." Her words echoed in my ears.

My eyes fluttered open, and, remembering my dream, I looked over at Mika. But then, I could see, it wasn't Mika, not in the sense that I remembered her. It was in reality her, but she wasn't, there. I let my hand wander up to her stomach, to try to feel any hint of a breath, any hint of a movement, but before my hand even touched her bandaged skin, I knew that I would feel the breath.

Yet still, Mika's body remained empty. Mika was spending more time wherever she had been, wherever she was.

With this stored in my mind, I got up, and took the plate of salmon, and climbed up to the roof. I knew that waiting for the girl to wake up would be useless, she would be gone for longer than I would be gone.

I ate the pink tinted fish as I looked out over the now dimming property of the Sohma family. This was the world I lived in, and I realized, looking out, that it was much, much more peaceful than I had ever realized it was. For some reason, Mika wanted to stay in that place that I visited her in, that place where I found her in my dreams, because she wanted to be freed. She wanted to be dead, and before I got there, she was fully intending to die. And then, I was able to change that, I was able to let her grasp onto something in this world.

And yet another question was added to the list of questions that covered Mika, what made her want to stay there?

"Kyo, where are you?" I heard Shigure call, from beneath me, long after I had finished my fish. Sighing, I leapt down, and found the dog inside my room, ready to change her bandages.

"Where were you?" He asked as we proceeded to keep her injured area clean.

"Waiting." I glared at him, ending the conversation.

After we finished with the wrappings, Shigure spoke again. "I'm going to bring you up a futon, so you can sleep tonight."

Before I could say anything, the inu had disappeared.

And soon enough, I was lying on a small bed, right next to Mika's, my old one, and one the verge of sleep. All I could think about was that hopefully, I would be with Mika again soon, in both this world, and limbo.

I emerged not into my room as I did last time, but into a lush green meadow. I was barefoot, and my feet gently sunk into the soft, but not wet, ground. The short soft grass waved in the wind, the wind that wove through long black hair, blowing it back, making it create a dark cloud around the face it belonged to.

It was Mika, of course, but she looked so different. She was still the same age, the same height, still had the same pale complexion. She turned her head towards me, her blue eyes becoming even lighter, glowing.

And then I realized what was so different. She was wearing a long white dress, a thin dress that flowed gently in the breeze with her hair. And then, she wore a blue gauzy scarf over her head, which also flowed backwards in the blowing air.

She ran towards me, and easily leapt up and landed in my arms. I smiled, and held her up. When Mika finally got down, she pulled me through the meadow, without speaking, until we reached the far side of the meadow.

I almost asked where we were going as we entered the green and moist forest, but I wasn't going to ruin the happy silence that had been created around us.

Mika looked back past her shoulder, and back to me, a large smile spread across her face, like a little child, excited to show someone a surprise. I wish that I could see this person every day, in the real world, not here, in this place of balance.

And just as suddenly as we had entered the forest, we reemerged into a different setting. It still had the same soft dirt, and the same soft coating grass, but nestled in the far corners, was a rushing water fall that led into a peaceful deep aqua pond, with pure white sand skirting around the very edges.

"What do you think?" Mika smiled, stopping just where the grass merged into the sand. In the pond, three rocks emerged from the water, grouped together, little islands in the middle of the sea.

I smiled. "Beautiful."

I hugged her to me, Mika facing away from me, and I rested my chin on her shoulder. Then, she looked back at me, stepping away and removing her head scarf. "Race you to the rocks?" She suggested, and then ran in.

"Hey!" I complained, but I too ran in. Mika soon submerged underneath the water, making me lose track of her. So I just focused on getting to the rocks, trying to keep my head above the water. But soon, I had to go under as well.

I had expected the water to sting my eyes, or at least make my vision blurry, but it was as if I had just entered a softly aqua tinted room. And then I caught sight of a smirking Mika, who had one, just one, finger on the rock. But it was still enough to win.

She was gorgeous underwater. Her black hair pooled around her, creating a smoky background to her pale face, her blue eyes shone even more.

Pulling myself out of the water onto another rock next to the one Mika had reached before me; I waited for her to come up. And in no time at all, she pulled herself out of the water, flipping her hair out of her eyes so it ran down her back gracefully, and then wringing out the corners of her dress, just so she wouldn't be weighed down.

"Cheater." I muttered.

She laughed. "Sore loser."

I smiled slyly, and then lunged at the girl, knocking her into the water, myself following. Under the water, we fought, Mika gently kicking out, laughter in her eyes, and me causing her to tumble.

Finally, we emerged into the air again; she wrapped her arms around my shoulders, staring at me.

And then she in turn pushed me under. When she finally let me up, we laughed, and I scooped her up, carrying her to the shore again, laying her down in the grass. She pulled me down next to her, and then cuddled into my side. I wrapped my arms around her and just held her. Held her, I had never been able to hold a "her" ever in my life, not even my mother, unless they were part of the zodiac curse.

"Why?" I asked her.

She seemed to understand. "I'll tell you later. For now, just forget, relax, enjoy."

And I did so.

But then, I felt that force again, and so did Mika, I merely held her tighter. "What is that?" I asked.

"Life and death." She responded.

She was being pulled towards death, I was being pulled towards life, how was she able to fight the force.

"Because of you." She smiled, reading my mind.

"Are you going to come back soon?" I asked, tucking her under my chin.

"Yes. I can't stay here any longer. When you wake up, I'll be there, right by your side. Just stay with me here, for as long as we can, please." She begged.

And I couldn't refuse her.

We just lay there, our feet in the sand, gentle waves occasionally lapping against our bare feet, our upper body lying on the soft grass. I could see why Mika hadn't wanted to leave, but it didn't explain all of it.

Author's Note: What do you think? What's going to happen next? Why do you think she doesn't want to leave? Is she going to be able to stand against death? REVIEW! PS I'm in New Mexico, yay! Beautiful here, and I will be traveling again tomorrow, but I will update every day!