Hope: Alright! I don't want to waste talking, so Sylvette, hurry up and do the disclaimer so that Zazie and Lara might have a wedding and have babies soon!

Zazie and Lara: WHAT?!

Sylvette: *squealing* Mage of Hope doesn't own Tegami Bachi!~

"Z-Zazie!" exclaimed Lara, red in the face. She never expected Zazie to be here-wait, she was grateful he was here and rescued her! But why did he have to grab her by the hoodie and just carry her to the top of the cliff? Couldn't he carry a girl properly, like a prince carrying a princess away-WAIT, WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?!

"I came to save you, little kitty-chan!" teased Zazie.

"I thought you went back!"

"I left Wasiolka to handle reporting to the Bee Hive," answered Zazie, throwing an extra pair of pants to Lara before reloading his shindanjuu. "You know, without me around, you perfer wearing wearing a skirt, Lara-chan?"

"Oh, lay off, Zazie!" pouted Lara, embarrassed.

Then, Zazie jumped off the cliff and slid down, shouting, "Alright, let them fly, shotgun! Aotoge!"

With swift movements, Roda easily dodged all of the shindans firing at her. After Lara put her 'pants' on and slid down to rejoin Zazie, Zazie teased, "Lara-chan, have you finished changing yet?"

"I-I'm done!" said Lara.

Zazie focused on Roda next, who was running towards him and trying to get close range until he found a blind spot. "There!" With a single shot, he shot several shindans. Roda dodged most of them, but a shindan forced Lara's shindanjuu out of her hand and towards Lara.

Lara grabbed it on time as Roda backed away, clutching her injured hand. With both shindanjuu at their hands, Zazie and Lara advanced towards Roda, who had no escape route, very slowly, threatning to shoot if she dared do something bad.

"Okay, how about you tell us everything?" questioned Zazie. "About Reverse's plan-"

Suddenly, a roar filled the entire area-no, sky, making everyone look up in surprise. They saw a large flying insect-like Gaichuu soaring through the skies a bit far away. "There! I saw it in Noir's memories!" shouted Zazie.

"That's the Gaichuu that Niche's sister had sealed!" said Lara.

"Gaichuu Cabernet," announced Roda. "It will consume the light of the capital."

"Roda," said Lara. "You said that human sacrifices will save the world. By human sacrifices, you don't mean you intend to let that Gaichuu eat the hearts of the people in the Abbey, right?!"

"Cabernet will grow even larger after it sucks up more heart," replied Roda.

"I won't let you do that!" shouted Lara. Then, she sensed a presence behind her and turned around to see...Noir. "Gauche...I wanted to see you."

"I am the Marauder, Noir," corrected Noir, getting out his shindanjuu. "If you continue to get in Reverse's way, I will take your life."

"Why are you working so hard for Reverse?" asked Lara.

"The light in the capital will vanish, and everything will begin again from true darkness. That is what my heart is telling me." Noir pointed his shindanjuu at Lara and asked, "Are you going to cry today?"

Lara dodged a shindan from Noir and scrambled through her pockets for the Letter Bullet, but couldn't find it anywhere. "I knew this was important," announced Roda, holding a red cartridge.

"Shindan loaded," muttered Noir. "Shikkoku!" A dark purple shindan blast started firing at Lara's direction, having a high intent to kill.

Immediantly, Zazie yanked Lara's arm and held her tightly while they both hid behind a large rock. The shindan Noir fired flew right past them, missing its target. Zazie reloaded his shindanjuu while ordering, "Get a hold of yourself, Lag!"

"It's no use, Zazie," said Lara, sadden. "The Letter Bullet is-"

"In that case, I'll blast some Aotoges into him," promised Zazie.

"But that's-!"

"Fine, then. I'll cover you, Lara-chan!" said Zazie, with a grin.

"Thanks, Zazie! And, hey! I'm already wearing the trousers!"

Zazie stood up and pointed his aim at the sky. "Run, Lag!" Immediantly after hearing that, Lara ran as fast as her feet could go as Zazie fired at the sky, sending a single shindan.

Roda was confused by this action, but Noir calmly warned, "Get down, Roda."

"Take this! Rain of Aotoges!" As the name suggests, a rain of countless blue shindans rained down from the sky down on their opponents. Noir was using his shindans to deflect several shindans aiming at him, while Roda tried to get some cover.

'Somewhere deep inside of Noir, Gauche Suede still exists,' thought Lara, rushing in. 'I believe I can save Gauche's heart! Like the way I shot into Niche's sister's heart! My entire heart to Gauche's heart!'

"Nocturne No. 20!" cried Lara, aiming her shindanjuu at Gauche as her body glowed red. "Resound, Akabari!" As the red ray of heart and light shot towards Noir, Lara pleaded, "Please remember, GAUCHE!"

With absolutely no time to dodge or deflect the uprising red shindan, Noir was directly hit in the heart, and remembered things he had forgotten. He had remembered the old times he and Lara spent together, with him being Gauche. He remembered the times during their travels, and while they talked and how they bonded together.

"..." Gauche/Noir stood on his ground and didn't say a word. Lara wondered if it really worked, because she had used up almost all of her heart, with the spare to contain her sanity and soul. Now, she was tired, and looked ready to collapse at any moment.

"Lara..."

Just the mere mention of her own name made Lara shed tears of happiness. "Gauche!"

Unexpectedly, Gauche/Noir turned around to leave, shocking Lara, who had thought her heart reached Gauche. Before she could get any closer to Gauche/Noir, Roda stood in her way.

"He is needed to save the world," explained Roda. "Lara Seeing, I will not hand Noir over to you!"

"Roda!" Then, she noticed Roda's eyes, which were the same with Gauche's dingo, Roda. Suddenly, she heard the sound of buzzing and looked to her left to see something like a large yellow bird coming towards them. Lara squinted her eyes carefully before realizing they were actually Gaichuu. "Shindan, loaded!"

"Stop it, Lag!" warned Zazie, rushing to her side. "Those are swarming-type Gaichuu. A large group of Lao-Lao!" He aimed his shindanjuu at the swarm of bee-like Gaichuu and cried, "Take this! Aotoge!"

The blue shindan dispersed into several rays of blue explosions,taking out several Lao-Laos. However, there was still more to come. "Shindan loaded! Akabari!" No matter how many times Lara and Zazie fire shindans, mostly Zazie, there was too many to deal with!

"Damn it! If only I brought along Wasiolka!" cursed Zazie.

Then, unexpectedly, Niche arrived at the scene and leaped into the air, facing the army of Lao-Laos. She then transformed her hair into not golden haired swords, but a brand new weapon, a golden-weaved net that helped catch all of the Gaichuus in one swoop.

"Thank goodness! You came back, Niche!" cried Lara.

"Her hair can do that too?!" exclaimed Zazie, surprised.

"Nuu nii!" squealed Steak.

"Steak says they're full of holes! Hurry, Big Bro Lag!"

"Thanks, Niche and Steak!" thanked Lara, reading her shindanjuu. "Here we go, Nocturne Op.20! Shindan loaded! Resound, Akabari!" As Lara's shindan blast aimed towards the net, Niche opened the net in time so that the shindan can go through, thus shattering all of the Gaichuu in there in an instant.

"He pierced through all of ther Lao-Laos in one shot!" said Zazie as he watched the illuminated sky of destroyed Lao-Laos.

"Big Bro Lag!" called Niche, flying down towards Lara.

"Niche-Put some underwear on!" THUD! Niche landed on top of Lara, which caused her to fall to the ground. Then, Niche started rubbing her head against Lara so fast that Lara began giggling because she was ticklish.

"Do you have more spirits, Big Bro Lag?" asked Niche.

"Spirits?"

"Aria said so in the Bee Hive, that without Niche with him, Big Bro Lag would be low in spirits."

Lara gasped. She was surprised Aria said such simple, yet wise advice to Niche. Lara nodded and said, "Yeah. I have them. They came back to me together with you, Niche. That's my Niche for you."

Then, Niche suddenly fell asleep on Lara's chest. "Niche?" Careful not to drop Niche, Lara turned to Steak and asked, "Steak, what's wrong with Niche?"

"Big Sis Lara...Niche's sleepy..." muttered Niche.

"Wait, is your body not fully healed yet?' asked Lara.

"They said not to go yet...but Niche is Big Sis Lara's dingo...so..."

"Hey, what's she talking about?" asked Zazie, kneeling down besides Lara. "Doesn't she normally call you, 'Big Bro Lag?'"

Lara almost panicked right in front of Zazie. If he or any other Letter Bees found out about her secret, she'd be kicked out of the Bee Hive and no longer be a Letter Bee! What to say, what to say-

Then, both Letter Bees heard a noise and turned to see Roda running away. "Hey!" called Zazie.

While Roda was running, she suddenly slipped and the ground underneath her collapsed, creating a crevasse. Just when Roda was about to fall towards her death, someone grabbed her arm tightly and she looked up to see Lara, using every ounce of strength to try to pull her up.

"Give me a hand, Zazie!" ordered Lara.

"Huh? Lag, she's our enemy! She's Noir's dingo!"

"That's right!" agreed Roda. "I'm-"

"You're Roda!" interrupted Lara. "You said that you were fused with all sorts of animals at the capital! I bet one of them had to be Gauche's dingo, Roda!"

"...I don't remember anything."

"That must be it! So, that makes me your friend! The reason why you protect Noir must be because you remember Gauche! If you die, Gauche will be sad!"

"Sad?"

"I'm going to bring Gauche's heart back! And if I do-" Then, a loud roar interrupted her sentence as she looked up and saw the flying Gaichuu from before, the Cabernet. "Roda, hurry! You can do it!"

"...You are such a troublesome girl. Your heart has such a mysterious way of swaying deep within my soul." Using her other hand, Roda forced Lara's hand to pry open, thus making herself fall down into the crevasse.

"RODA!" cried Lara, reaching for her. "Roda!" She leaned closer and closer, hoping to reach Roda even though it was impossible.

"Lag!" Not wanting his friend to accidentally fall down, Zazie grabbed Lara and held her tightly as she tried to squirm out of his embrace. "Lag, hold it together!"

Finally, Lara stopped resisting, but started crying instead because she couldn't save Roda. "Did she really chose that herself?" asked Zazie. Then, he saw the Letter Bullet on the ground and picked it up. "Lag! Here!"

Lara wiped away her tears and saw the Letter Bullet in Zazie's hands. "The Letter Bullet! But why?"

SWOOSH! A huge gust of wind blew Zazier and Lara away several meters, causing them to look up and see that the Cabernet was above them. "I'll do something about this guy," said Zazie. "You take Noir. Go after Gauche! This time, you better shoot the Letter Bullet right into his heart! Go!"

"Right!" agreed Lara before running off. Soon, she spotted Noir still walking away. There was still time to shoot the Letter Bullet! "Gauche! Gauche!' Finally, Noir stopped. "Gauche, you're back, aren't you? It's me, Lara Seeing!"

Noir told around, and told in a cold voice, "Are are no longer friends, Lara." He pointed his shindanjuu at her, and continued, "I am a Maruder for Reverse, and my name is Noir. I will take your life."

Lara felt her whole heart stop right there and then. Her greatest fears came true after all. Gauche-no, Noir's heart never returned. What now? If her heart never reached Gauche, then there's a low chance that the Letter Bullet would too.

"Gauche, I-"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Three large explosives exploded behind Noir, blocking his exit out of the hill, and leaving a huge gap. "Kibaku?" wondered Lara. She gasped when the dust clouds fade away, and it revealed Connor on the other side, carrying Sunny in his arms. "Connor! You found Sunny-"

Lara stopped when she saw Connor's serious expression on his face, which was on the verge of tears. Her heart feared for the worse as she turned to see Sunny's face. It was completely blank, and her eyes had no light in them.

"I...was too late," said Connor, a lump in his throat. "I...couldn't save her! Sunny's kind, sweet heart was completely, completely eaten by that Gaichuu! All of...all of...all of...!"

With an angry cry of pain, Lara's Spirit Amber eye and her body began glowing rapidly, more than ever. "And how..." she stated angrily. "And how will this save the world? Stealing innocent people's hearts? I'll never forgive you! Ever!"

"There is something more important than heart," replied Gauche calmly.

"Don't you guys understand?!" yelled Connor. "About the people grieving for those who's lost their hearts?"

"Grieving people?"

"Noir!" shouted Lara. "I've seen your memories of Reverse! And if they are the truth, I thought you would understand even a little bit! But no longer! I won't forgive this!" To prove it, Lara aimed her shindanjuu at Noir angrily, tears falling down her cheeks.

"And what of it?" questioned Gauche, still calm as ever. "Your shindan does not have the power to harm or kill. No matter how many times you try it, you will never resonate with my heart. Nothing else exists with me than Noir! Gauche Suede can never be brought back again. The Cabernet has aquired plenty of power to capture the capital. The symbol of the stratified society, the artificial sun, will soon go out. The world will become one, with the darkness!"

Gauche then fired his shindan, firing to kill Lara Seeing for good. Letting out a cry of emotions, Lara's body glowed bright, almost like a shindan when it destroys a Gaichuu. The shindan was completely dispelled in an instant by the 'light.'

"His entire body is glowing," muttered Connor. "Almost like...almost like..."

"I'm not going to bring back Gauche!" cried Lara, aiming her shindanjuu at Noir one last time. "Noir! I'm going to erase you from existence!"

In one full blast of the Letter Bullet Lara poured all her heart and power into, the heart of determination pierces through Noir's body, and let him access to one memory.

"Lara, have you ever written a letter before?" asked Gauche to Lara, who was sleeping right next to Roda.

Lara sat up and shook her head. "Nope, never."

"Then, one day, please try writing one."

THUD. Noir fell to the ground. It was uncertain if he was still alive or not. No, Lara's power was never to harm people, but to see through their memories. Therefore, the question shoudl be, did he recover his heart or not?

The light radiating around Lara seemed to settle down after she fired that Letter Bullet. She was more exhausted than ever since she put everything she had into that blow. She fell down to the ground, too tired to move.

"Lag!" called Zazie, rushing towards her. He helped her up and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah..."

Suddenly, the Cabernet was hovering over them now. It must have sensed the large amount of heart Lara had that moment before. "It's returned, drawn by that light from Lag's heart," mumbled Connor, putting down Sunny's unmoving body. "Wait here, Sunny."

BOOM! "If you want to eat people's hearts, then come on! Mine's right here!" taunted Connor, throwing land mines at the Cabernet, though it didn't seem to do much.

"Idiot!" Zazie left Lara's side and yelled, "Stop it, Connor! If you stay below it, you'll be a target!"

Tentacles appeared from the Cabernet's stomach and stabbed at the ground near Connor. Luckily, he managed to dodge it, but he got a bit injured. "Connor!" cried Lara, winching in pain. "Shindan lo-" Then, her hand started shaking, and she dropped her weapon. "Huh? My hand's shaking..."

"You used too much heart in that last bullet!" explained Zazie, rushing to her aid once again. "If you shoot any more shindans, you'll lose your heart!" Then, more tentacles stabbed the ground near them, making them dodge them.

Lara looked up and saw the unconscious Gauche being taken away by one of the tentacles. "Gauche!" As she grabbed her shindanjuu, she felt herself being tangled by the Cabernet's tentacles and also being carried up into the sky.

"Lag! Damn it, Gaichuu bastard!" Zazie started aiming for the Cabernet, but discovered that the light of his Spirit Amber was very weak. 'I don't have any heart remaining! Damnit! Out of amno! Lag!'

Lara was right next to Gauche, desperately trying to wake him up. "Gauche! Gauche, wake up!" 'This is bad! AT this rate, our hearts will be eaten by the Gaichuu!' thought Lara. 'I have no choice but to shoot a shindan! Even if I use up all of my heart, I will deliver Gauche Suede back to Sylvette, Aria, and the Bee Hive!'

Lara aimed her shindanjuu at the center of the Cabernet, shouting, "Shindan, loaded!" Lara tried so desperately to find the Cabernet's weak point, but she couldn't find any gaps.

"Aim for the base of the back left wing!" ordered a familiar voice. She turned and saw Gauche, or Noir, at her side. "The Cabernet has many gaps. First, we have to make its flying unstable!"

"Noir? Gauche?"

"Both of us have little heart remaining. So we have to fire a shindan at the same time," explained Gauche.

"At the same time?"

"If you put too much in, you'll use up your entire heart. You will cause grief to the people precious to you. Therefore, let's do this!"

"Right!" agreed Lara, loading her shindanjuu the same time Gauche did.

"Load! Resound, heart!" both shouted simultaneously. Firing at the same time, the two shindans, red and black, combined together to make a powerful new shindan that blasted one of the armored wings of the Cabernet off.

The instant the Cabernet released both of them, they began falling down, unable to provide any landings. Then, in a swift movement, Niche caught both of them with her long hair and brought them safely to the ground. As she was doing so, the Cabernet decided now would be a good retreat.

Once landed on the ground, Gauche went unconscious, and Lara was checking up on him. "Lag!" shouted Zazie, running to her. "Where's Gauche?"

"He was awake, but he lost consciousness again," answered Lara.

"Did he come back?"

"I don't know...But I...felt it. It was a strong, kind heart," sobbed Lara, tears falling down. "It was...the strong, kind person I know!"

Later...

After resting up a bit after their tough battle, Lara, Niche, and Zazie were riding back to the Bee Hive in a carriage. Gaichuu was in the back, currently resting and still unconscious. "So, Connor's going to stay in the city, right?" asked Lara.

"Yeah. He believes that Sunny will wake up one day," replied Zazie, leaning back against the bench. "The Gaichuu disappeared over the southwest sea without heading for the capital. Maybe it's route got changed because it lost its wing. I'll head back to base after checking out the section of Pius coastline where it flew out from. Reverse might try to do something, so you be careful."

"Yeah."

"If you let Thunderland see Gauche in the Bee Hive, he'll be awake in no time. By the way, what did you write? The letter you pakced in the Letter Bullet for Gauche."

"I wrote, 'I miss you, Gauche.'"

"Huh? That's it?"

"Yeah," said Lara, getting a bit sleepy. "I'm sure it reached him. My...letter.."

Zazize didn't expect Lara to lean against his shoulder and fall asleep. In fact, he was embarrassed by it! Lara was a boy, for crying out loud! He looked over to see Niche and Steak asleep.

Well, Lara deserved it, at least. She managed to get a person's heart back to its former glory, and she was exhausted from using too much heart. Therefore, he decided to watch over her and let her sleep until they got back to the Bee Hive. Zazie laid his haid over Lara's and slept as well.

Hope: SO CUTE!~ ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHAPTERS!

Lara: Why?! *whins*

Zazie: I swear, if this wasn't a female Lag story, I would be puking right now!

Hope: Oh hush! It took me a long time to get back on track, okay? Anyways, read and review!