I moved like a fish upstream across the crowd, finding another figure easily. "Lord Yomi, a word?" I reached out, hovering my hand just short of touching his arm to get his attention.

He turned his head, blind eyes closed but wrinkled at the corners in a façade of a smile. "It is a pleasure to meet you; Lady Magnolia of the World's-Song."

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Yomi." I tucked my head in an abbreviated bow. "Is there somewhere private we could speak?"

He said nothing for a moment, seeming to contemplate my worth as it related to his time. I held my breath, hoping he found my presence worthy. I needed him to listen – I had a plan, but it required his cooperation for just a few minutes.

He finally spoke. "Of course; I have quarters here."

I followed him in silence to his study – it seems the Lords had far better accommodations than their lower representatives. Light streamed in through a narrow window, catching on dust in the air to create a pretty golden glow. While sparsely furnished, the room was oddly cluttered; maps and stacks of books covered every surface, and the noble Lord was forced to clear a seat for me in front of his desk.

I wondered how he didn't trip over anything.

He gestured for me to sit across from him. "Would you prefer to observe or avoid the traditional pleasantries?" he asked mildly, with a smile.

"We hardly have the time, my Lord. I have less than two hours to attempt to change your mind." I crossed my ankles and leaned forward in the heavy wooden chair. "I could appeal to your feelings, and describe to you how painful the process is. I could appeal to your sense of justice, and describe the life that was lost to me, and the. I could appeal to your history, and describe the mutilation that was thrust upon me during my enslavement."

I leaned forward a little more, lowering my voice. "I could threaten to deafen you, leaving you truly blind to this world."

Yomi's bland smile faded, though he didn't truly frown or scowl; he just wasn't trying to appear pleasant anymore. Before I could offend him further I leaned back again. "I will do none of these things. This was presented to you logically, so I will debate it the same way."

Yomi tilted his head slightly, very slightly. "Fighting logic with logic. Intriguing."

I took it as encouragement and permission to continue. "It would be the end of the Makai as you know it, that much is true. It would be the end; not for the better."

I let the statement hang in the air, far more violent than my threat not moments before.

"Explain," his words were calm but hid a thin coating of venom.

I laced my fingers together in my lap, trying not to let my voice speed up with nerves. "Rich humans are so fearful of death – even with nothing to contribute, they would Convert. They will pay bounty hunters to acquire the strongest Cores possible. How many bounty hunters do you think it would take to gut the strength of Gandara?"

Yomi steepled his fingers under his chin, and it reminded me strongly of Kurama when he was deep in thought. He didn't appear as though he would speak soon but the empty silence was making my skin itch.

I tried to intercept the opposing argument; the positive influences that had been presented to him previously. "The Lady Aria I assume is a splendid person, and I believe I have made an impact at Court. I would not look to us as examples to form the rule. Between the two of us you have a diametrically opposite experience, even though we experienced the same Conversion. She is the only person who could hope to relate to my experience, but we both know that we have lived totally different lives."

More silence. A furrow had formed deep in his brow. The tension in the air was thicker than silence; it buzzed with irritation, with confusion and frustration mixed together in a hair-raising whine that rippled against my skin. I wanted him to speak. I wanted him to break this stalemate of speech and give me some idea of whether or not I was succeeding at changing his mind.

Because I felt like I was failing.

"From my experience, I believe that the humans would overrun the Makai in short order and tear apart the fragile peace we have begun to construct." I smiled and tried to add a dash of levity. "At least until the next Tournament, of course."

Yomi remained silent, the buzzing sensation growing stronger against my skin. I clenched my hands and glanced down. I stared at the scars on my wrists, decorated by a few remaining warding tattoos. They hungrily absorbed the light that was cast smoothly in the room. A reminder, as I was a living reminder, of the choices of others that had been inflicted upon me.

I had done all I could.

I stood, and the motion seemed to snap Yomi out of his contemplative trance. He turned his face to track my movement but did not speak. I paused next to the chair I had occupied, one hand resting on the high back. "You are the master of your decisions, and I would hope that you have the wisdom to weigh all of the costs against benefits that might not exist. Whatever you choose may not impact either of us directly, or it may change everything tomorrow, or next year, or next century. It might end the world."

I released the back of the chair and moved to leave. My chest felt both heavy and tight; I had been filled with heavy stones to the limit of my skin. I had thought such a logical argument would appeal to the stoic Lord, but I appeared to have made no effect. I hoped Mukuro would be able to battle more vigorously after Court reconvened.

"Lady Magnolia," Yomi called after me. I turned. "I find myself now understanding the rumors that follow you."

I raised an eyebrow. "And that is to say…?"

He chuckled low, just once. "That is to say… I can say nothing at all."

I took several deep breaths as I wandered down the empty halls. Yomi was an inscrutable wild card. Mukuro and I could debate until we were blue in the face, but in the end, it came down to popular opinion. If it seemed as though the majority of his subjects were in support of ripping out people's hearts, then Enki would allow it.

I fluffed my hair, trying to relieve the tension building in my skull. I wished Kurama wasn't so preoccupied with… whatever it was. I had thought he and Yomi had come to some kind of understanding, but apparently not. I chewed on my lower lip and wondered if he would be irritated if I asked him to join me. He had seemed so intent on… my brain came up with only static; like a tired conversation, you were supposed to be listening to but were thinking of doing laundry instead.

I turned a corner and nearly ran over a servant girl. She had long silver hair and wide, owl-like purple eyes. She reminded me strongly of Sensaina, but the eyes were far more piercing. She curtsied deeply, apologizing. "Forgive me, m'Lady; I didn't see you." Her voice was sweet and soothing.

"It's alright," I said swiftly. "I'm glad you're here, actually. Could you find Lord Kurama and have him meet me in my suite?"

"Right away, m"lady." She curtsied again and darted around the corner as fast as a mouse. I didn't even catch her name.

I figured I should probably return to my room, as she had taken off at nearly a dead sprint to find Kurama. I didn't want him to have to wait on me just because I was wandering aimlessly in the halls.

My pace quickened, partially from a desire not to make him wait, and partly from the anticipation of seeing him. I was strangely attached to the idea of seeing him, always. He lingered in my thoughts, haunted my dreams, and all because of what? A handful of weeks spent in each other's company?

It was ridiculous. Had I only kissed him maybe twice? The first as a human – brief, fleeting, chaste – and the second not so long yet an eternity ago – hot, passionate, and brief. Too much kept happening in our lives – interruptions and deaths and hesitation.

I opened my door and entered like a breeze, shutting the door swiftly behind me. The snap of the door rang through the empty room. I had managed to beat Kurama here – good. A fleeting thought passed through my mind like lightning, and my cheeks flushed. If I really wanted to push the issue, I could always wait for him… naked.

I pressed my face into my hands as my face grew quite hot. It was so… so… I couldn't put my finger on it. It felt inappropriate. I had no real claim on Kurama, and he had a rather flimsy one on me, which he claimed was mostly so others would leave me alone.

I also wondered how long we could do this; dance around each other, wishing, wanting, until the end of time. We were polite people, never imposing more than our due on each other. If this was a lingering human trait it was one I was becoming far less fond of as time went on. Another thought flared in my mind but faded just as fast into that television static in the back of my mind. My chest tightened for no reason and loosened as the static set in.

I bit my lip, pulling my green tunic top over my head, which dislodged a few of the pins in my hair. My thin black tank underneath stuck to my body with static and I plucked at it distastefully. I shucked my blue pants, shaking off another round of static running down my legs.

I stepped in front of the mirror, turning slightly this way and that to look hard at myself. My scars had begun the long, long process of fading, and no longer looked angry and red from every angle. A scattering of ward tattoos caught my eye across my arms – more akin to strange freckles than the full sleeves I had possessed in the beginning.

I looked okay. Nothing amazingly special or glamorous. I was me.

There had been a time, long before my Conversion, that I had focused too much time and energy on my appearance. I had my hair trimmed every three weeks, as a good girl should do, and wore just the right amount of makeup. I had summer and winter foundation creams and always made sure that my cheeks were touched by a youthful glow. It had been important to me. And then it wasn't.

There had been so much time lost. I could have spent that time laying under a tree and watching the wind blow through the leaves. That would have been time well spent. Or maybe, I thought, I could have focused on my health and seen a doctor sooner.

But you can't get time back. It's the only real commodity we have.

Time.

I peeled off my sweaty undergarments – I hadn't realized how much I had been sweating from sheer nerves while meeting with Yomi – unpinned my hair, and took another hard look in the mirror. Definitely nothing spectacular now.

The same body I had always known was there, just reassembled in mostly the right way once or twice. It looked like me, and most of the time it felt like me. I tilted my head from side to side, and so did my reflection.

My reflection's hair swayed from side to side, spilling over her shoulders in unmanageable tangles of curls. Her shoulders sagged a little, and she rolled one ankle idly back and forth. She looked small. She looked tired. She looked a lot like me. I wanted to tell her to get some rest, to let whatever would happen, happen. I wanted to tell her that it was alright to show her feelings for this man and that the world would not end if he didn't feel the same.

Be bold, I whispered to that girl in my mind. There's never enough time.

There was a knock at the door that startled me. "Who is it?" I asked, voice a little pitchier than I had intended. I had covered my chest with my arms reflexively, but it did nearly nothing to cover my nakedness.

His voice came through the heavy wood of the door clearly. "It's Kurama; you asked for me?"

Be bold. There's never enough time.

A/N: Alright, Maggie, what's it gonna be?

Where Yomi and Kurama enjoyed the impressive banter in the series, I don't think he would be so chatty with someone who was more direct – he seems adaptive to me. Maggie is direct and is challenging facts he believed to be unshakeable.

And not to throw any more stress into your lives, but we only have about three more chapters in this story O_O and then you'll be forced to read Weaver's Hands to find out what happens to Maggie and Kurama in the future. If I'm feeling kind I might even post on this story what chapter you can skip to if you REALLY hate Kuwabara/OC stories.

Many thanks to my reviewers: Miqila, typiicaltaylor, THC, and halem847!

PLEASE REVIEW!