A/N: The Last chapter is upon us. I want to thank everybody who has taken the time to read my fan-fiction, and especially those who had found the time to leave a review. I hope you enjoy the last chapter as you had with the others.

Chapter 29: A Parting Gift

Past:

Night had fallen on the city of Tokyo. People were turning off their lights in hopes of catching a glimpse at the real stars. Hei and Misaki sat together on a diamond metal plate with a wooden rectangular frame before a tall fence structure, talking about the stars.

"Is everybody going to look up at the sky all night, hoping it clears?" questioned Misaki.

"Do you really want to see the real stars?" asked Hei.

"It's more like I'd rather share them with someone. Then again, we'd never see the old stars while the new ones still shine."

"They're just fakes."

"Even so, if all the artificial stars disappeared, that would be sad, too." Misaki's phone buzzed. She removed her hand from the crack that separated hers and Hei's, and took out her phone to look at it. "I'd better be going. Thanks for listening." Misaki leaped off the structure and looked over her shoulders at Hei. "I was feeling really lost. I guess I was just over thinking things."

Hei smiled down at her, and said, "When you're lost, you should just act on your own instinct." Misaki slightly gasped, having her turn to face Hei. "Is something wrong?"

"Ah! No!" she shook her head. "That's true." She walked up to him and held out her hand. "Thanks for taking me out. I had fun."

Hei looked at her baffled, but smiled and took her hand while saying, "So did I."

"See you later, then."

Misaki grabbed her purse and headed off. Hei stayed where he sat and gazed up at the sky, as though reminiscing on the past.

Unknown to him, Amber, who looked to be eight-years-old, stood in the trees behind the fence structure, watching them. Her heart pounded heavily at how calm they looked together, as she and Hei did on the night she gave him her charm.

She wished she could have that feeling once more, but it could never happen again. Her time was coming to end in a few hours.

Knowing her past self was nearby; Amber turned away from him, a tear escaping her right eye, and headed back to her hideout. However, she made it only a few blocks before realizing someone was following her.

"I was wondering when our paths would cross, madam Oreille," said Amber.

She turned to face the mysterious woman that even plagued her mind.

"You're a hard woman to keep track of," said madam Oreille.

"As you. What do I owe this visit?"

Madam Oreille smiled, saying, "No matter how hard you had tried, it seemed you weren't able to change his destiny, were you. It seems he was destined to be alone, always. I'm baffled at how you would do such a thing for Mr. Kuro no Shinigami? It's so irrational."

"I wanted to see him smile. I've seen so many different futures where he wasn't. I wanted to change that."

"With very little success, I take it."

"You're well informed of the future! How is that, may I ask?"

"We all have our little secrets, like you do concerning Mr. Fukazawa. He looks so much like his father, doesn't he?"

"He does," answered Amber, fixating her eyes on Oreille.

Madam Oreille turned on her heels, waved her hand, and said, "Later, Miss February. Or," she looked over her shoulder, "should I call you… Kimberly?"

Amber stared at Oreille for a moment, trying to remember when she had last heard someone call her that, and said, "I prefer Amber."

Madam Oreille smiled and walked off.

Present:

Marcile and Yin were handcuffed and guided down the long white corridor with their boots clanking on the hard smooth floor. He was surprised that the guards hadn't killed him, making him wonder if they followed Pirate's Code. Parley happened to be the first thing that had come to him and he felt stupid for saying it out loud. It could have been worse. He and Yin could have been being pushed around on a gurney in body bags.

He looked over at her to see she was calm where as he was about to wet his pants. He guessed it was a Doll thing and she didn't have a program to feel or show fear.

He was pushed from behind by one of the guards, as he said, "Eyes forward!"

"Sorry," mumbled Marcile, frowning. "You didn't…"

The guard pushed him again, saying, "No talking!"

Marcile grinded his teeth and thought, if he was given the opportunity, he was going to sucker punch the guard. He fell silent for now while wondering when their journey would end. Apart of him didn't want it to, believing it would be his last and Yin would be taken somewhere to be sold, or have her memory wiped.

They came up to a door to have it slide aside. Inside were a few people. He noticed Misaki off to the side cuffed to a chair next to a man with a mangled white and black beard. He recognized him as the former Foreign Affairs Commander. A woman with brown hair, standing beside an old man who looked to be dying, turned to face him smiling. Behind them was a rectangular window that had a big screen beyond it with a clock on it counting down from ten minutes. A few dozen tables lined up with computers on top.

"Ah, the son of the Black Reaper has appeared!" chimed the woman. "Harry, was it?"

Marcile looked on dumbfounded at her, but he wasn't too surprised.

"We brought him alive like you had asked, ma'am!" said the guard.

"So much for parley!" babbled Marcile.

"Good work, Captain," said the woman. "What of BK201? Is he dead?"

"Last time we heard, Parcel and Champ were fighting him. He shouldn't be a threat."

"Don't underestimate him. You can leave Mr. Fukazawa and the Doll here. Go help Parcel kill BK201."

"Yes, ma'am," said the guard, and exited the room.

"You're the one that was pulling the strings behind the one-way mirror during my so-called interview here," stated Marcile.

"Very observant, like your mother," said the woman. "Nothing got by her before she became a Contractor."

"Your words about Amber aren't going to faze me. Whatever you say can't be worse than knowing your birth parents are Contractors. Who are you?"

"Eric Nishijima."

"I'm sorry, I think your English is a little out dated. You mean Erica."

"No, my English is fine since I'm Japanese-American," Eric said in English.

"You're a clone like that Wei guy! That's one way to get a sex change! No doubt you're going to do that with me and Misaki if we're still alive. I always wondered what I would look like if I were a girl." He frowned while whispering, "Wonder what Azumi would think?"

"Full of a sense of humor. That's something we'll have to extinguish."

Marcile glared at Eric, and said, "Whether I'm me or a clone, I'll always have my sense of humor."

Eric smiled and then turned to face the screen in the other room while crossing her arms.

"It doesn't matter," she said. "Once the Contractors are gone, things will change completely. The world will have its real stars and moon, and we'll have control over everything."

"When someone boosts a lot, they usually have his or her dreams come crashing down."

"We will see, Mr. Fukazawa. It is time."

Eric walked over to a door off to the side to enter through it. Hourai removed Misaki's cuffs from the chair, made her stand while cuffing her other hand, and guided her into the control room, as a guard shoved Marcile into it. They settled in the back of the control room with Hourai and the guard on Misaki and Marcile's sides. The screen showed three minutes on the clock and the crater in the mist of Hell's Gate. Marcile marveled at its size.

Eric stepped over to a counter with a switch on it.

"Why did you leave Hei's side?" Misaki asked Marcile.

"He told me to," said Marcile. "He told me to get here and dismantle the controls. Check one off the list."

Misaki stared displeasingly at his comment. Now wasn't the time for jokes, and she was sure November Eleven would agree.

The clock on the screen read two minutes left.

"Do you have a plan?" she asked.

"Working on it."

"Meaning no!"

"I didn't plan on getting separated from Hei. Didn't plan on getting caught either." He shrugged.

"If you even try to make a move, I'll kill you both," said Hourai, as he pulled out a gun.

Marcile frowned, knowing he had no chance at disarming the former Commander. He hoped Hei would get here soon to save them, but he believed even the great BK201 couldn't make it in under one minute now.

Workers at their desk exerted themselves, clicking switches and hitting buttons while the speakers in the room counted, "T minus, forty seconds… T minus, thirty seconds… T minus twenty seconds… Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…" Marcile started grinding his teeth together. "Four, three, two, one, zero."

Eric hit a black button on the council, making Marcile cringe and fearing the worse. However, nothing happened, causing Eric to hit the button furiously a few more times.

"What…? NO! Not again!" she shouted. Se turned to one of his assistant. "What happened?"

"Dunno, ma'am!" said the assistant, as he analyzed his equipment. "Everything seems to be in order, ma'am!"

"Pull up the video screen of the system!"

"Yes, ma'am!'

The assistant hit a button to bring up a different view on the screen. It showed a desert land and a city in the distance.

"What the…? Where is that? Zoom in!" shouted Eric.

The distant land grew in size as the camera lens widened. It showed the Eifel tower, the Pyramids of Egypt, and the Statue of Liberty all in one spot with a building that had flashing signs surrounding it.

"That's Las Vegas, Nevada!" shouted Marcile.

"Las Vegas?" yelled Eric while rounding on Marcile.

He then looked back at the screen displeased and noticed two people standing a few feet away. A black hole opened up to swallow them from existence.

"Parcel! Champ! No! They didn't! Why would they? How did they even know about the system?"

"Elementary, Watson!" said Marcile. "Hei got the upper hand on them and ordered them to teleport the system to Earth or die. What do you think was the rational thing a Contractor would do?"

Eric grinded her teeth together, as her face burned red to where it was about to explode.

"Kill them! Kill them all!"

"I don't think so," said Hourai, turning to face Eric with his gun pointing at him.

Eric snarled, and said, "This again?" He smiled. "I thought you would."

Two shots were fired, causing Hourai to look on startled, and then fall forward dead with his blood pouring out of his body. The guard to his felt had pulled out his own gun and used it on Hourai.

"Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!" yelled Eric at Hourai's corpse.

"I always liked President W. Bush's version," muttered Marcile.

"Finish them!" Eric ordered the guard, as he glared at him.

The guard turned his gun on Marcile, making him think it was now or never, and knocked the guard's arm aside as he fired. Marcile felt the bullet that had his name on it wiz by his right ear and strike the wall. The guard and Eric looked on baffled, giving Marcile an opening, and punched the guard's face.

Marcile shook his hand in agony while the guard dropped his gun and stumbled backwards. The guard regained his composure, causing Misaki to run towards the gun, slide on his knees and snatched it to aim it at the guard who looked on flabbergasted.

Still shaking his hand in pain, Marcile reached down to pick up Hourai's gun and point it at Eric.

"Check two off the list," muttered Marcile. "How about the keys to our cuffs?"

Eric growled at them, looked at the guard, and gestured for him to give them the keys. The guard slowly reached in his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and threw it at Misaki. She unlocked Marcile and Yin's cuffs while Marcile kept his gun trained on the guard, and then had Marcile remove hers while she covered them.

"You won't get far! The place is crawling with Pandora soldiers!" said Eric.

"I think we'll take our chances out there instead of in here," said Marcile.

The trio departed the control room, making Eric glare at the guard, and yell, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go get them! And bring back the Doll alive!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Stop calling me ma'am!" Eric growled.

"Yes, ma'am! Eh, sir."

The guard ran after them while calling for backup. Eric looked over at Doctor Schrader who was breathing heavily, walked up to him and turned off his oxygen tank. Schrader looked at him stupidly while finding it hard to breathe.

"Don't worry. It'll all feel like a bad dream," assured Eric, as she smiled.

She headed back to her office, as Schrader suffocated with everybody watching. Eric walked down the hall with sirens going off and red lights flashing every second. She wasn't happy about another failed attempt at ridding the world of the Syndicate's mistakes and having to wait five more years before they could try again.

She entered her office where a woman awaited in his seat. She had luscious blond hair that seemed to shape to her face, purple glasses, a long crimson coat with a black collar and matching high heels.

"Who are you? How'd you get in here? Guards!" shouted Eric.

"No need to get so verbal, Mr. Nishijima," said the woman with a smirk.

Eric narrowed her eyes at the blond-haired woman, saying, "How do you know my name?"

"I'm very informed about everything, Mr. Nishijima. You were born in America to Japanese parents. You're also a high-ranking official within Pandora, which gives you influence over Japanese law enforcement that is connected to Pandora.

"You're also a high-ranking official within the Syndicate, and placed in charge of destroying Hell's Gate after placing orders to terminate Mr. Kuro no Shinigami, Ricardo, Huang and their lovely Doll.

"And yet, in the end, it didn't go well for you with Mr. Kuro no Shinigami destroying the Saturn Ring system and Commander Hourai killing you."

Eric looked at her dumbfounded, and asked, "Who do you work for?"

"Whoever serves my purpose the best!"

Pandora guards came marching into his office, surrounding Eric with their rifles drawn at the blonde-haired woman.

Eric snorted while saying, "It's a shame you don't work for us."

"Actually, Mr. Nishijima, you work for me."

The Pandora guards turned on their heels to train their guns on Eric, surprising her.

"You're under arrest for crimes against Pandora," said one of the guards.

"Is this some kind of joke?" questioned Eric. "Lower your weapons!"

"This is no joke. Surrender or we will have to take drastic measures against you, ma'am."

Eric looked over at the blonde-haired woman.

"You! You're one of the hire-ups, aren't you!" he guessed. "You need me!"

"You're right. We do need you. Some one needs to take the fall for the Syndicate."

Eric's eyes widened, and shouted, "You can't do this to me!"

"It already has happened, Mr. Nishijima."

Eric went to charge after the woman, forcing the Pandora guards to subdue her. She struggled with them, as she was guided out of this office, shouting, "You'll pay for this!"

The blonde-haired woman pulled out her phone to speed dial a number and placed the receiver to her ear. There was a click sound to indicate someone had answered on the other end.

"It's done. It's time for Section Three to surface, Mr. Kobayashi," she said.

"Yes, Madam Oreille," said the voice on the other end.

"And make sure we get Pandora off the intruders' backs."

"Understood."

She turned off her phone while smiling. All that remained now was getting Kirihara Misaki to join, and that shouldn't be a problem since she had to be close to Kuro no Shinigami. Their lives were never meant to be together, just like Hei and Amber. How life could be so cruel.

Xxx

Hei fought vigilantly against Pandora guards. He punched a guard across the face, kicked another in the gut, and round-housed a third.

A guard snuck up behind Hei with his gun drawn and was about to fire, but someone knocked him out before he could. Hei looked over his shoulder to see Amber standing nearby. She wore her South American outfit, but to his surprise, she was pregnant. He was astounded at how beautiful she looked.

She walked up to him, making him tense to where he could not breathe, and without warning, she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her, falling deeply into her embrace, and not wanting to let go.

He could tell she longed to taste his lips, making him wonder how many months it had been for her since she had last been in his arms. The sensation of his taste didn't make her hold back her feelings.

However, to his dissatisfaction, she pulled away from him to gaze into his eyes, and said, "I love you!"

Amber highlighted in blue and disappeared. He looked for her in the vicinity, but she was nowhere in sight. Within seconds, Marcile, Yin and Misaki came running around a corner.

Unable to hide her emotions, she ran up and embraced him in her arms. However, she noticed his anxiety and pulled away from him to gaze in his unsettled eyes.

"You alright, Hei?" Misaki asked.

"Y—yeah, I'm fine," he lied. "How… how did you three escape?"

"Marcile," she said, and gave a quick version of it.

"I'm sorry I didn't get there in time. The place is swarming with guards. There seemed to be four times as more than five years ago."

More Pandora guards came in to surround the intruders. They looked around them to see there were over a dozen men.

"What now?" Marcile asked, as his eyes took in the scenery.

A guard before them jerked unexpectedly, pressed against his earpiece while titling his head in question, and then nodded as he said, "Understood." He looked at his comrades. "Stand down, men!" The other Pandora men looked on puzzled. "Operation O is now in effect!"

His colleagues nodded in agreement, lowered their weapons, and headed off where they had come.

"What was that all about?" questioned Marcile. "And what is Operation O?"

The intruders walked down the halls, watching their backs for any surprises, but there wasn't any. They exited Pandora without a hitch.

Xxx

The next day, Misaki and Marcile stood before Misaki's father in his office. He sat behind his desk with his elbows on it and his hands placed together.

"Eric Nishijima was arrested by Pandora and is being charged with killing Hourai and Doctor Schrader, kidnapping, and misleading Pandora," said Naoyasu.

"Really?" questioned Marcile. "Why did Pandora change sides?"

"That's not our department to worry about."

"Yes, sir. What now?"

"We continue like nothing happened. Misaki, I am placing you as Section Chief again. The new Commander should be here tomorrow, and I advise you, Misaki, not to over step your boundaries with him. He doesn't like it when he has higher-ups breathing down his back."

"Yes, Father," said Misaki.

"Good! Now get to work."

Misaki and Marcile exited the office and sat at their desks. They had tons of paper work to explain what had happened to them. Marcile had a little more difficult with his story, as he tried to leave out BK201 saving him.

He had written out that he had been captured by Pandora and taken to Eric, which was true in his eyes. Marcile hoped there wouldn't be an investigation on the matter.

Xxx

Misaki entered her apartment with three McDoness bags late at night from filling out a long report on what had happened at Hell's Gate. The only company she had was Marcile. They hadn't left until one in the morning. Saitou and her other colleagues wanted to stay, saying it was not right for them having to work alone. She had to order them to go home.

She placed her food on the coffee table and flopped on her couch while letting out a long sigh. She was starving! She hadn't eaten anything since four o'clock, making her stomach growl every twenty seconds.

Misaki dug into the bag, as if it was a hidden treasure, ripping the wrapper aside, and began eating the burger in four bites. She took out another and quickly downed it.

Before she knew it, she had finished her first bag in minutes. She started working on the second, but stopped when she noticed Hei standing on her balcony. He wore his white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top and blue jeans.

He entered the apartment, having her stand and run into his arms. They kissed each other, drowning into it, but she could feel his uneasiness.

He pushed her at arm lengths and looked into her eyes.

"I'm leaving the city," he said.

Misaki's bottom lip trembled at the news.

"No, you can't," she said.

"I have to. I've already stayed in this city longer than I wanted to. It's only a matter of time before the Syndicate makes their move on me again, and I don't want to put you in anymore danger."

"You don't have to worry about them. They have been eradicated completely!"

"You know that's not true, Misaki."

She did know, but she hoped that that would give them some more time. It seemed Hei wanted to get a head start on things.

"You don't have to worry about me. I can handle myself just fine."

"I know you can, Misaki."

"Then let me come with you."

"I can't. I don't think I could bear the thought of you getting killed because of me."

Li!" she babbled, saying his real name, the name she held close to her heart, as she began crying.

"I'm sorry, Misaki."

A tear left Hei's eye, as he leaned forward to kiss her.

"At… at least… give me one more night with you," she pleaded.

Hei gazed into her eyes, seeing that she was serious, and picked her up to carry her into her bedroom. He laid her on her futon and placed his body on top of her. He lean down and continued kissing her patiently.

This was going to be their last night together and they were going to make it last.

Xxx

Marcile woke up with the sun shining through his window. He rubbed at his eyes, noticing he had fallen asleep in his clothes. He looked at the time to see he was two hours late for work. He blew it off and fell back on his futon to get a few more minutes of rest.

He was also trying to recall his short time in Japan, feeling as though it had been a lifetime. Marcile wondered what his future held for him, and for his girlfriend, Azumi. It seemed funny that his future was also his past.

What a disaster it was.

Marcile stood from his futon, showered, and dressed for work. He exited his room, looking back at the number on the door, and descended the stairs. He started heading for the JR line, but he stopped to see someone sitting on a round bench surrounding a tree in a park with an elephant slide.

Marcile entered it to stand before his biological father and then sat next to him with his elbows resting on his knees.

"I didn't think I would see you so soon," said Marcile.

"I came to say goodbye," said Hei.

Marcile stared at him, not surprised at his words, and then looked forward.

"Where do you plan on running off to?" Marcile asked.

"I haven't decided. Maybe Canada or Iceland for a while. Perhaps India. But that's not why I came by. I wanted to give you something." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a feather charm. He held it out to Marcile in which he took to gaze down at it in his palm. Hei smiled while saying, "It's a charm. Amber had given it to me in South America. I want you to have it now. I hope it makes you smile."

Hei stood as he placed his hands in his pocket and began to leave the park.

"Hei!" shouted Marcile, as he stood. Hei turned to gaze at Marcile. "D—don't think this won't change my mind at tracking you down to arrest you."

Hei smiled, and said, "I hope not. Goodbye, Harry."

Marcile gasped at him for using his birth name. As if using it as a distraction, Hei departed the park to turn a corner. Marcile snapped out of his daze and ran after him.

However, when he turned the corner, there was nobody in sight. Marcile held up the charm at eye level, smiled at it, and then placed it around his neck to head towards work.

In the distance, Amber stood high on a billboard, watching Marcile talking. She knew that that wouldn't be their last meeting.

End