Author's announcement:

Hello - it's been a very long time. I'm back and I want to reassure everybody that this story will be finished. It's not an empty promise like all the ones before it, because I actually have quite literally written its ending.

I highly recommend some re-reading of the story to get the details of the plot fresh in your mind.

Finally, VIOLENCE WARNING: death. Of different types.

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Shiki looked down at the photo, remembering the scouting mission he had gone on.

"It was in New York, long before this all started." Shiki explained, handing the photo over to his companion.

The camera shutter clicks. A hand twisted the lens to zoom in on the scene.

Behind the back of a building, in a tight alleyway, almost completely shadowed, were two figures. They seemed to be in deep discussion, the taller figure - the one called Natsume - had a dark expression on his face. While the shorter female - the cameraman knew her as one of them, Mikan - seemed to be pleading with him. Then they launched into some type of argument. It was over quickly however, when Natsume suddenly reached out for her cheek and enveloped her mouth with his.

The camera shutter clicked some more.

Dispelling the memory, Shiki picked up another photo. It was more recent: a photo of Sakura and Syaoran smiling sweetly at each other as they walked back from their first date. "I've been watching them all for a long time now." Shiki explained, with a soft smile of his own. He turned to his companion, "For you," he then slowly addressed her by name, his mouth forming the word with care, "these are for you, Yuka."

"Thank you," the woman in the shadows answered, acknowledging his affection.

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In Plain Sight

Aspirator

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In the middle of a dead field lay a stone building. It was black as soot and one half of it collapsed in on itself. It was multiple stories tall, with ghost-like arches and half of a flying buttress. One can almost imagine a beautiful towering estate, but now it is only the remnants of something greater. There was a shriek, then black ravens fluttered away quickly from the only part of the building with a roof. The ground floor, in the very middle, covered by a half destroyed second floor and tattered tarp.

"He left me a message."

Aoi's voice was hoarse, broken, but she kept her face strong and determined as she whirled her laptop around to show them. The twenty people, a mix of Americans, British, and former Alices crowded around the laptop quizzically.

The screen was black, except for a small white rectangle that flashed repeatedly, as if mocking them.

"What is it?" A small voice spoke up from the back of the group.

"Is it morse code?" Someone else stated with an undertone of impatience and annoyance.

"No it's blinking regularly," another answered.

"I don't understand."

"That's not much of a message."

"Because it's not the message!" Aoi scowled at the former Alices, throwing up her arms in exasperation. "You idiots! Isn't it obvious?"

This time it was Youichi who answered her, "It's password protected." Because he knew how Tsubasa worked well enough to see through the confusion.

"Yes." Aoi reached over the screen to press a random key. The screen blinked 'L' where the white rectangle was, then rectangle shifted over to the next space. It blinked mockingly at them again.

"So what's the bloody password?" Syaoran pushed forward impatiently.

Aoi exchanged a glance with Youichi. He shook his head, and she looked down nervously. "...I don't know."

There was a collective sigh of displeasure.

"FUCK!" Natsume, who had watched the events unfold from the corner, lost the usual control he had on his emotions and tried to fight a battle with the stone wall. He came out with a bloody knuckle, as if he didn't have enough injuries littering his body.

"...Natsume," Yuu spoke out tentatively -

Koko put a hand on his arm, pulling his comrade back with a shake of his hand.

They all watched as the man stormed off, kicking a stone over on his way out.

There was a tense moment, then Akira spoke up. "Tsubasa never left any hints?" He turned their attention back to the password, focusing their concentration. "Anything that he said that was odd? That didn't make sense?"

The twenty odd people that stood around him racked their brains for an answer.

"Anything that he repeated? A lot?"

Aoi threw one arm up helplessly when they all turned to glance at her again. Impatient with their sudden expectation for her to hold all the answers, she snapped at them, "that's it! That's all he gave me!"

"How many characters?" Hotaru spoke up, then caught the eye of Eriol, who nodded at her.

"Seven." Aoi answered immediately, "but I haven't tried anything. I think there's only one attempt."

"No pressure," Mochu muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, Koko was chanting something under his breath while Yuu glanced at him curiously. "Repeated, repeated, repeated," Koko looked up at Yuu, his chant becoming louder. "Repeated! Come on, Yuu!" He tapped index finger against Yuu's forehead, "you always remember!"

"We never even interacted with him, Koko!" Anna shouted, rising to Yuu's defense.

"No, we did." Hotaru answered instead, a crease between her eyebrows. "We did, because he was their handler."

"Handler?" Yuu's head snapped up, eyes brightening. "On the phone? The phone! Sakura!"

There was an awkward silence as the non-Alices stared at Yuu. Amidst all the chaos and the rapid succession of events, none of them knew how to react to Sakura's betrayal. Or non-betrayal. It was a little confusing.

In a strangled voice, Syaoran managed to breathe out, "Wha-what about….her?"

But Yuu wasn't paying attention. "Seven letters." He started pacing across the length of the room, nearly tripping over a stray stone until a nearby Alice steered him right. "The last thing he said, 'good luck' - no that's eight. Seven - what was seven -" Yuu stopped abruptly, looking up at the expectant faces. "Numbers."

"Numbers!" Eriol threw his hands up triumphantly, "yes of course! Of course!"

"He called her six-one-two," Hotaru picked up the train of thought quickly, but frowned, "that's three. If Sakura's Interpol agent numbers - maybe Goshima?"

"No," Youichi interrupted, "Goshima didn't have that, you all didn't interact with him so he didn't need to have fake Interpol numbers - but -" He took a deep breath, "there was a code for Mikan. If he was on the phone with Sakura while you all were tracking, five-ten-two would mean there was a situation with Mikan."

Aoi whipped the laptop around urgently, typing the password in;

6125102

As the last digit was entered, the blinking white rectangle disappeared. In its place, to the right of the last digit, was an arrow. Aoi glanced up uncertainly at the Alices and non-Alices alike crowding around her.

Hotaru gave her a small nod in reassurance.

She pressed Enter.

There was a zzt, then the screen went fully black.

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A long silence ensued.

Then, "did we get it wrong?"

Silence.

Bzzt. bzzt.

"No."

The agents standing around the laptop glanced at each other to determine who had answered the question, but none of them had. Slowly, in realization and a little terror, they turned to the laptop.

"Yes, it is the laptop speaking."

Then the screen lit up, a pixelated video filling up the entire screen. The screen slowly focused, sharpening the image of a middle aged woman, thin and pale, sitting wearily on a chair staring ruefully at the group with soft doe brown eyes. Her hair was cut short, falling barely below her ears. Then she moved, glancing sideways at her companion, a tall man standing by her side with light grey hair, not from age it seems, and cold grey eyes. He stared straight ahead at them, his face passive.

As soon as the video sharpened to a good enough quality, many of the higher ranked Alices gasped. Akira staggered as Yura shot a hand out to steady him.

"Impossible," Akira breathed, shoving his way forward so that his face filled the screen on his end. "Impossible," he repeated, glancing at his fellow Alices as if to reaffirm his shocked thoughts. "It's a recording. It must be."

"It's not," the man was the one who answered. "This is live. We would not have revealed ourselves unless it was necessary." He shifted his stance, bringing his hands forward to clasp them stiffly. His voice became more detached, cooly stating the facts as he continued, "And since Tsubasa is...dead, we have -"

While he was talking, the woman had leaned forward, her eyes searching the faces in the crowd. At some points, a ghost of a smile would appear on her lips and she would mouth the name of certain Alices. But the smile dropped and her face appeared more panicked as her eyes flickered frantically at the screen. Then she interrupted her male companion, urgently gasping, "where is she? Where are they?"

But the audience too had burning questions to ask. Hotaru pushed Akira's shocked form aside, demanding, "who are you?"

"Yuka." Akira was the one who answered, his voice shaky, "Yuka Yukihira."

"But she's-" Anna glanced at Nonoko, who glanced at Yuu.

Yuu was the one who said, "But - we thought - Kuonji he -"

"-dead -"

"We all did -" An Alice piped up, "there were pictures!"

"LISTEN!" The man's voice cut through the overlapping voices. "We don't have much time. Where is Sakura and Mikan?"

This time, the answer came from the back of the crowd. The twenty odd agents parted to reveal Natsume, having come back from his walk to hear Yuka introducing herself. "Taken." A dark look crossed his face. "By Kuonji."

On the screen, Yuka released a deep exhausted breath, sinking back into the chair looking paler than humanly possible. "No. No, no, no." She breathed in deeply, exchanging another meaningful look with her companion. Abruptly, she leaned forward with a determined expression. "We don't have much time. I will explain everything from the beginning. No questions, just listen." She paused, waiting for their reaction.

Her audience nodded their affirmation.

"Okay," she took a deep breath as her companion pulled up a chair next to her, placing a hand on her wrist. She glanced at him again, then turned her focus on the screen. "You might want to sit down for this."

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1 9 9 8

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Yuka couldn't bring herself to go, couldn't bear to see the sight of the once infallible Wallflower fading.

But with Izumi's endless prodding, she found herself here.

She watched with heaviness in the pit of her stomach as the tall form of Fujitaka knelt by the Wallflower's side. Watched from the shadows as the director of the MIA was reduced to tears, whispering love and hope to his wife.

When he glanced up at her with dark brown eyes that held the deepest sorrow, she looked away. When he left them alone a few minutes later, she couldn't work up the courage to walk up to the hospital bed.

"Yuka," came her weak voice.

Yuka remembered Nadeshiko's angelic laughter, her voice ringing out clearly and loudly across Alice dojos.

"Yuka, it's okay." Because of course, Nadeshiko was dying, literally on her deathbed, and still consoling others.

Yuka found herself next to her dear friend, not knowing how she had the strength to stand so close. She felt the anger well up inside her again as she forced herself to look into Nadeshiko's jade eyes. Any speech she had prepared died in her throat.

"It's okay." Nadeshiko whispered. Pale, slender fingers reached out to clasp Yuka's. The Academy teacher found herself reduced to her knees as well. "It's okay, Yuka. I'm happy. I'm happy knowing you will take care of Sakura."

"I-" But Yuka didn't know what to say. No, please, I don't want to - please live so you can do it, you can take of Sakura.

"Yuka, promise me." And Yuka swallowed thickly, words dying in her throat. Nadeshiko continued, her insightful green eyes seeking out hazel ones. "Promise me you'll take care of them. Promise me they'll be better than us. They'll lead a better life."

But she couldn't promise that. No matter how much she wished for that too, Yuka couldn't promise that. And Nadeshiko knew that, of course she knew.

There was a long silence.

Then, Nadeshiko squeezed her hand in urgency and desperation. "There's something you need to know." Yuka met her gaze. "Clow had an assistant."

"An assistant." Yuka repeated dumbly, trying and failing to quell the hope rising in her chest.

"Yes, she was with him when he made the Mark of Death." Nadeshiko smiled knowingly at her friend, continuing, "it's too late for me, Yuka, you know that. But it's not too late for…for whoever's next."

"I don't care about whoever's next." Yuka grumbled angrily.

"But I do," Nadeshiko answered evenly. "Please, for me. At least do it for me. Find a cure."

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2 0 0 1

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"Kaho Mizuki."

As soon as the voice filtered out of the shadows of her living room, Kaho lunged across the kitchen island for a knife.

For some reason, the shadow let her. Instead of feeling threatened, the small woman stepped out into the light with her hands raised. "I didn't mean to startle you." She was dressed in all black, with determined hazel eyes that betrayed the slight quirk of amusement to her lips.

"My name is Sarah Kearton," Kaho's voice shook, and so did the two hands grasping the knife handle so tightly, her knuckles were white. She didn't put it down. "And I don't know who the hell you are, how the hell you got into my apartment, but you need to get the hell out before I call the police."

Whatever she expected the woman to do, it was not this. The woman dropped to her knees, her palms held high above her head still in a sign of peace. "My name is Yuka," she stated slowly, eyeing Kaho, holding her gaze. Not once did she look at the knife in her hands, as if the knife was of little consequence. If Kaho had known exactly who Yuka was, she would've known that that was true. "And I really need your help. I...a close friend of mine died, from the Mark of Death."

Kaho tried not to react to the name, but she knew she failed when Yuka's eyes lit up. Kaho grimaced, and tried again, "I don't know what you're talking about. Leave."

"Please," the woman was on her knees. Still. "I know what happened with Clow. Kuonji took it. And he's going to use it as a weapon."

Kaho remained silent. Then, fearfully, knowing her gig was up, she whispered. "You work for him, don't you?"

The slight hesitation was enough. Kaho fumbled for her cellphone, confused as to why the woman still hadn't attacked. She should be dead by now.

But Yuka only sighed in defeat. "I- yes. I do, but it's not what you think. He didn't send me. I looked for you on my own. And he's going to release the Mark of Death as a biological weapon if you don't develop an antidote."

"Who says I have an antidote?" Kaho ignored the fact that she had stopped dialing.

"You don't," Yuka answered, "not yet. But I hope that you will."

Kaho remained silent, staring at the woman in a mixture of mistrust and curiosity.

"Please, will you let me explain?"

For some reason, Kaho found herself nodding, putting the knife and the phone down as the woman got to her feet.

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2 0 0 4

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Kaho couldn't help the sense of closure and freedom she felt when she lit the match. She let it go, then turned and swept out the door of the lab quickly. She didn't bother to watch as the match hit the ground, lighting up the trail of paper covered in her own handwriting that she herself had set. She just ran, kept running, far far far away as she can. Then, when she far enough, she turned to see the warehouse blazing, the fires turning everything inside to ash and then explosion after explosion was set off as the flames licked onto the chemicals.

She watched it with that feeling of closure and freedom, knowing that Yuka will keep the one syringe - the one and only evidence of her years of work - safe. The antidote.

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2 0 0 9

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Yuka stared at the two syringes on the floor, her form swathed in darkness. She was sitting cross legged on the ground, her thoughts elsewhere.

The silence was broken by soft footsteps. A pair of black shoes came into her peripheral vision, then a clothed arm, then Izumi's grim face. She turned slightly to see him crouch next to her, but he offered no protest like he had earlier. Now, his face was full of love. She smiled in gratitude.

They continued in silence. Yuka handle one syringe carefully, tucking it inside her jacket. Then, she placed the other in a small pristine white box. She closed the lid carefully, taking a key from her pocket and locking it. Then she handed the key to Izumi, who easily sealed it inside a pink stone. He worked on the necklaces, putting them in chains before wrapping them into gifts. Two black boxes, with a bright and cheerful CONGRATULATIONS! scrawled on top.

Standing up, Izumi grasped Yuka's hand to help her up as well. But even when she was steady on her feet, he did not let go. "Are you ready?" He asked his wife and fellow Academy teacher needlessly.

"Since the day Nadeshiko died." Yuka answered regardless.

He squeezed her hand in understanding. Hand-in-hand, they stepped out into the sunlight. They proceeded through the celebrations that day with genuine smiles, small chuckles, and proud faces.

"Congratulations," Izumi could not keep the pride and admiration from his voice. He took out the two black boxed from his coat jacket, just as Yuka joined his side.

Young, 18-year-old Mikan was already bouncing on her heels, elbows locked with Sakura. The newly graduated Elites grinned from ear to ear, both unable to stay grounded.

There was something serious in Yuka's expression, however, as she grabbed one of the boxes - labeled Sakura - from her husband. Twirling the box in her hand once, a fleeting expression of bittersweet sorrow passed her face. Then she was grinning back at Sakura, hanging out the box, "a gift for you."

At the same time, Izumi handed the box to Mikan. "From us."

That night, Kuonji woke up to a piercing pain in the crook of his elbow, Yuka's vengeful scowl, and an empty syringe clattering to the ground. He didn't have to look down at the black veins to know what she had injected him with.

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"I did not go on a dangerous mission that killed me," Present Day Yuka explains, "as Kuonji would like all the Alices to believe." She took a deep breath, looking right at the Hyuuga siblings, shivering at the familiarity of their gaze. "I went to rescue the Hyuugas." There was a pause, then barely above a whisper, "I was too late."

In all her years of training and service, where she'd gone to every impossible mission, survived through every dangerous situation anyone could possible dream of - she'd never felt so panicked. But this was so close to her heart, and in the end, she wasn't at all surprised that Kuonji had done it. Not at all.

So she was frantic in her search, and she knew, from all the little clues and all her espionage and knowledge that she could find where they were being held hostage. They were separated, that was what she understood, because if she was the one doing the job, that's what she would've done. The boy, Hyuuga was left in the house, guarded. The little one, the girl, Aoi, was captured and brought back to an Alice base, but Yuka could easily get to her last - because she would be the closest. No, Yuka had to go to the Hyuuga parents first because they were the farthest. They were in the middle of a war zone, in the middle east, and she needed to get to them first before a stray bomb -

There. She found them. Yuka ignored the rational part of her brain, the small voice that said, maybe this is a trap, I mean, that far away? In an abandoned warehouse? It's always the abandoned warehouse-

But she shut that up quickly, because she had to save them, she had to. For their boy Natsume, and the girl, the girl couldn't end up an Alice. Of all the things - she would never - Kaoru would never forgive her.

"I didn't end up an Alice, after all." Present Day Aoi commented, earning a glare from Shiki for interrupting but a grateful look from Yuka, at peace with having failed her best friend.

But she was too late. She barely walked in the door, registered their panicked looks, opened her mouth to reassure them that "they'll be fine" and "we'll get your kids" but it never came out.

As soon as the door shut behind her with a loud thud, Yuka felt her stomach drop. She knew, then, that she wasn't wrong. She had one thought running through her mind, so it was a trap after all. But she stepped forward anyway, and she realized the panicked expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Hyuuga's faces weren't from being captured and held hostage but from the ticking time bomb strapped to their chests.

Still, she ran towards them, hoping against hope she could disarm it - Yuka was halfway there before she was catapulted from the explosion. Like a small tootsie roll, her body bounced off the wall and rolled onto the ground, just inches from the scathing fire. Her dirtied hands clawed at the ground as she struggled to get up. Her face is scrunched up in grief as she looked back at the still burning fire. She ducked quickly, covering her head just as burning debris flew by.

She cried out in suffering for a part of the brick wall tumbled down on her lower body. Yuka spared a glance at the ever increasing fire as the heat intensified. Her brain was turning quickly while her eyes were assessing the situation and her hands were picking apart the layers of bricks on top of her. She gasped when she spotted the crates of oil in the far corner. She focused on the task of freeing her lower body.

Coughing against the poisonous smoke, she thrust a heavy brick resting on her abdomen urgently away. Yuka glanced up. The fire was making its way across the building. Quickly calculating the distance between the fire and oil crates, her eyes widened.

200 meters.

She grabbed a brick in each hand, shoving them off her right thigh. She was desperate now, digging her hands through the layers of bricks and shoving them aside.

100 meters.

Yuka grunted painfully, tugging at her legs. She pushed at the bricks and pulled at her broken legs with all her strength. She needed to survive this. She needed to get back to base. She needed to see Mikan again. Just once.

The Alice Academy professor coughed, feeling as if her lungs were being ripped apart. She could barely see now, scraping her torn and bloody fingers desperately against anything and everything in the vicinity of her legs.

Please, please, please, just once more -

The weight on legs lifted, but she could no longer feel. All she knew was the smoke that watered her eyes, went up her nose, and clogged her lungs. Vaguely, she felt a strong hand grip her shoulder, then everything was black.

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Kaho was not surprised to find herself in this situation. The Master and Persona, his right hand man, sitting in her small flat. The two most dangerous men in the world lounging on her couch.

No, she had anticipated this for years. Years, living in fear, startled by the slightest shadow.

"You made an antidote." Kuonji stated calmly, his cold voice sending shivers down her spine as she recalled all the horrors he had caused.

"I think you're mistaken-" she managed to respond evenly, backing away from the pair until she hit her living room wall. Persona sneered at her fear. They knew they didn't need to tell her that she had nowhere to run.

"You have been working for her," he spat the word, both of them knew he was referring to Yuka, "all this time."

"Perhaps." Kaho's hand shook as she reached behind her back, pulling a small vial out of her purse.

"You'll work for me." Kuonji all but hissed. "You've made it once, you'll make it again. For me."

With trembling fingers, Kaho pried open the top. "I'd rather die," she shouted in a moment of bravery, then without spilling its contents, she brought the vial out in front of her. She heard the alarmed and frustrated shouts of the leaders of the Alices, but she paid them no heed, quickly emptying the vial down her throat.

At first, it burned.

Then, nothing. Finally, she was at peace.

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"So?" The Master was cold, as he always was, but quaking in his fury at the turn of events. The tables have turned on him. He hated when events rail out of his control. He consoled himself on the grim satisfaction of his revenge on Yuka. But...even that came at a price.

"Like you said, Izumi was...not happy." Persona was always one to understate the situation, but he was intact so that had to mean something.

Kuonji scoffed. "To lose our other Academy teacher for nothing." Love, there it is, again.

"Not nothing," Persona dared to disagree, holding up a small box of white velvet. Fresh blood, by the way the brilliant red sank into the velvety fabric, splash across the top and side of the small box. "He had hidden this."

There was a long moment of silence as Kuonji inspected the box. Neither voiced their thoughts because they both knew this may be exactly what they were looking for. Perhaps Izumi didn't die for nothing after all.

Hesitantly, his second-in-command spoke up again. "I tried everything, Master. Only its key can open it."

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2 0 1 4

(Present Day)

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When she finished, there was total silence as the Alices and non-Alices alike struggled to swallow the events of the past decade. Finally, the missing pieces fell into place, but that didn't make it any less painful.

When Yuka gave them a nod, allowing them to ask questions, Yuu spoke up, "but...what was in Mikan's stone necklace...that was a recording. It was you, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Yuka confirmed, getting to the crux of the matter. "In plain sight. I had hidden the antidote in plain sight."

"Mikan." Nonoko breathed, catching on quickly. "It's in her blood."

Yuka nodded her confirmation, "as soon as I received it from Kaho, I knew I had to hide it quickly. So I injected it into Mikan's blood, so that she will be immune if Kuonji were to take his revenge out of her, but also that it would be accessible."

"But it's been…" Anna didn't even pretend to count in her head, just shaking it slightly with a shrug, "it's been years."

Yuka frowned, "regrettably, there might be a bit of a process in separating the antidote from her blood cells. But Kaho assured me that it's possible."

"And what was in Sakura's?" Eriol spoke up, trying to fit in the last few missing pieces.

"The key." Yuka answered grimly, "to Izumi's box. The last Mark of Death. There's one last syringe." She leaned forward urgently. "Kuonji cannot get his hands on it. With one last dose, it is possible to create more."

"But he has nothing left," Yura dissented, her voice cool and detached, just like Shiki. But her reasoning was sound. "He is in hiding, I'm sure of it. He would not have the resources to hire a scientist to - there just wouldn't be enough time."

"No," Yuka nodded approvingly at her former pupil's logic, "he would be angry, angry at us for foiling him. No, if he gets his hand on it, it will be for revenge."

"When," Hotaru corrected, her cold voice cutting through the air as they all turned to her. "He has the box, and he has Sakura. He has both the key and the lock. We should not presume to underestimate him. He may be unlocking it as we speak now."

There was a tense silence.

"There's one more thing," Shiki spoke up, revealing a small remote device from the front of his coat pocket. "Yukito's research. I had him look into Kuonji's blood. With this one button, I can activate - or shall I say, aggregate - the virus in his blood, causing him unbearable pain." A dark look crossed his face as he spoke the next words, "no matter how deep he hides, I can still hurt him."

No one tried to pretend the thought of hurting Kuonji back didn't fill them with a little bit of glee and righteous anger.

Then Shiki shifted so his face filled the screen. "I have been keeping tabs on Kunoji and Persona's hiding holes. I will send them to you." He paused as he glanced at Yuka, who looked away. "Our time is up." He ignored the uncertain protests coming from the lips of the former Alices, with so many more questions for their former teacher.

His hand silenced them. With a respectful nod, he looked straight at Natsume and Syaoran as he stated, "rescue your women. Kuonji is mine."

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Author's note: Another history chapter that finally brings together all the random pieces and scenes that I've dropped across the past few chapters.

There has been so many character deaths recently that I had to bring one back to life.