I don't own anything from Gakuen Alice.

Please read and review.

-Persona-

The next day at the academy, news of Peyton spread quickly and the academy administration decided to hold a closed casket funeral so there was something for the students since we had not been able to find her body. When it came time for the funeral, Peyton's wolves came out of the forest and surrounded the empty casket so no idiot tried to open it. They acted like they understood that no one really knew the outcome of Peyton.

I stayed near Natsume to make sure he didn't do something stupid while his arm healed the rest of the way. He had damaged most of the muscles but luckily there had been no fractures or breaks of the bones. After the healers repaired the muscles, they had him wear a sling since it was still healing and bruised. Natsume hadn't said a word after we had come back and at the 'funeral' he stayed on the balcony to his room and had food delivered to him which he barely touched.

"Natsume, do you want to talk?" I asked coming into his room, two days after the 'funeral' and sat on the couch.

"Why did you let her go?" Natsume whispered, not looking at me.

"She let me go," I sighed and he looked at me in shock. "The first thing she said after we had caught her, was the fact that she was scared. After you had wrapped that rope around your arm, she said that you wouldn't have been able to hold us both for back up to get there. After Leo had yelled at us, she was telling me that it was alright to let me go even though I saw the fear evident in her eyes. She didn't want us to die because she said she was too slow. She told me to tell you that she loved you and to take care of yourself. She acted like she couldn't handle it if either of us died but I don't think she thought about how we would react if she died. I held on as tight as I could but she let go of my wrist and with her small grip, she slipped. If I could go back, I would have had myself deliver that case. I would have never put her into that situation."

"That idiot..." Natsume whimpered and buried his face in his hands. "Why...?"

"Persona!" Akira Tonochi burst into Natsume's room, breathless. "We found a trail!"

"Let's go," I spoke as I jumped to my feet and Natsume followed as we dashed out of the rooms to the car that was waiting. "Where was the trail?"

"We thought that she would have been washed up along the river bank but as we followed the river after that waterfall, we found a lake. There were several trails of blood. I have men following it all morning..." a phone rang and Akira pulled out his cell phone and started to listen. "Driver take us to the Junette Hospital!"

"Is she alive?" I asked.

"They didn't say, there was a lot of blood on the steps, but if the trail leads there then she's been alive the past couple days to be able to even reach the hospital..."

"You should have kept searching that night," Natsume growled quietly.

"I know Natsume," I sighed as the hospital came into view. We jumped out and ran inside. "Where is the girl that was bleeding on your steps?"

"Sir, you need to calm down," the secretary spoke calmly.

"I will not..."

"Natsume stop," I whispered and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Can you please answer his question? We have been looking for several days for a girl who took a tumble over the waterfall, the former model Nanatsu Peyton. She is one of my students."

"Sir, she is still in surgery. We found the poor girl only two hours ago. She's in critical condition," a man came behind the desk.

"My men could help her faster than yours, please let us see her," I spoke calmly. "We have certain abilities to help us know what exactly needs to be fixed."

"Well if your better than our doctors then more power too you," another man came out looking tired. "She's not responding to what treatments we knew we could do. If you come with me and suit up, I'll let you in. We can't do much more than keep her on a medicated coma life support. It was as if she was hit by lightning as well as being crushed by a rock."

"Men, you know what to do," I told the four healers. "Natsume, it would be best if you didn't go in."

"I wasn't planning to. If she survives, I don't want injuries haunting my mind."

Natsume walked back out to the waiting room and I stood outside the operation room to make sure no normals tried to go in while Peyton was being healed. I felt the four healers activate their Alices and then I heard screaming. Natsume came bolting down the hall and I pushed him back, forcing myself to hold him there and not go bursting into the room as well.

"Sir, what is going on in there?" several doctors came into view.

"My men work better if the patient is awake so they had to pull her out of the coma," I spoke, forcing myself to remain calm as I restrained Natsume and jabbed him with a very light sedative and let him slump to the ground. "Go back to the other patients who are in need of help."

The doctors seemed uncertain but didn't push it and left.

"What's your status?" I spoke through the intercom.

'She's critical but she'll live,' some one replied and I heard them tiring quickly. 'With the four of us, it will take several days of on and off healing. It would be best if you can get a private ICU room because she is going nowhere. We're healing the visible injuries so Agent Hyuuga can be in the same room and not be haunted. It was not good. She had several protruding bones that we had to put back in and that is why she screamed but she's still unconscious.'

"Okey, get the door locked so we don't have to worry about them walking in. I'll notify you as soon as we have a room," I spoke then picked up Natsume and slung him over my left shoulder. As soon as I heard the lock click, I walked back out to the waiting room.

"Mr. Serio , is the boy okey?" a female nurse came into view and I noticed that she had Alice restraints.

"Just a light sedative. My men are stabilizing Miss Nanatsu right now and we need a private ICU room prepped. She's still critical and it will take several days for my men to finish healing her," I spoke quietly and she nodded. "How long have you been out of the academy?"

"Three years, is that boy Natsume Hyuuga?" she asked as she led me down another hallway and into a room. "This is the room we had planned to put Miss Nanatsu in until her parents came and signed the papers to pull the plug but since you came, that won't happen. you know that the doctors are going to be very confused when she walks out of here without a scratch on her in a few days."

"Well it won't matter because we'll be taking her back to the academy. There is where we'll have issues," I muttered as I laid Natsume on the couch. "We told the administration that we couldn't find her after she fell into the river so they automatically assumed her dead and did a closed casket funeral."

"Sir if I may offer some advice, Nodacchi, the Moderator of the special abilities class has a time traveling Alice that he's finally perfected control. Ask him to go back and have the funeral not take place. Since she's alive and will be well, you don't have to go back to the mission that made this happen and change things there," she smiled.

"What's your Alice, Hannah?"

"I am able to ease the pain of others," she smiled. "I've been experimenting and leaned that just being in a room for only a couple seconds eases a patient's pain for about an hour. I'll come in and help Miss Nanatsu when she is moved."

"Thank you," I smiled and she left. "Room 104, down the hallway opposite the operating room. Natsume will be coming around within several minutes so I should stay here and makes sure he doesn't try and burst into the operating room again."

'We'll be there in a couple minutes. We just need to transfer her over to the gurney and get all the machines rewired.' Baki reported.

"Good work boys," I spoke then turned to look at Natsume as he groaned and opened his eyes. "She'll be alright. there shouldn't be anymore moments of her screaming. The healers will be bringing her in any minute."

Natsume nodded and slowly sat up. "Sorry, I just overreacted."

"I was fighting myself to go in there as well, Natsume, it's just a reaction," I smirked and sat next to him as the men wheeled Peyton in and moved her to the bed.