Disclaimer: Yup, still don't own Petshop. But I do own... *checks her pockets* some spare change and a piece of gum... so it's not really worth suing me for. Petshop of Horrors belongs to Mari Akino.

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A/N: It's the last chapter, Whit! My torturing of you is over... at least for this story *evil grin*

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"China! China, where are you? China!" Rebecca kept shouting, but the wind and the rain drowned out her words as soon as they were called. Rebecca kept to one of the forest trails, trying to spot anything that might pass for a canine in the stormy night, but to no avail. Then, for one fleeting moment, she thought she heard the barking of a dog somewhere off to her right. "China!" she shouted, breaking from the trail. She wove threw the tree trunks and over roots and thorn brambles, searching for the source of the barking. "China, is that y- ahhhh!"

Before Rebecca knew what was happening she found herself sliding down a steep enbankment, landing waist deep in a river of thick mud. Right away the severity of the situation hit her. With the rain falling as heavily as it was, more and more mud was rolling down the walls of the rivine, filling the little valley quickly. If Rebecca didn't climb out of it, she was going to be buried alive.

The branches abover her moaned and snapped in the wind, but offered the girl no help as she tired to climb up the steep, slick walls. But at about the halfway point in her efforts, the mud gave way, sending Rebecca back to the bottom of the mud-filled valley. Again and again she tried, but nothing worked. After yet another failed attempt, Rebecca collapsed against the side of the muddy wall, letting out a cry of anguish. "Somebody help me!" she cried, only to lose her words to the wind.

"Please," she whimpered to herself, knowing that it was no good. Despair set in on her heart and she began to cry as dark thoughts flodded her mind. 'I really am just a worthless creature,' she thought to herself, lying her face against the cool mud. 'Dad was right. I'm useless. I can't even get out of the mud. And even the dog left me-' A faint bark crossed the wind, drawing Rebecca's attention. Slowly but surely it got louder and louder. "China? China! Here girl! China, I'm over here!"

All of a sudden a bandaged hand reached down the side of the embankment and Rebecca looked up to see a girl, about her own age, with wild grey and brown hair standing above her. "Who-" Rebecca began to ask when she saw the girl's eyes. They were the exact same, half wild amber eyes that Rebecca had come to know and love over the past few days. "China?!"

The girl smiled, pulling Rebecca up and out of the ravine with the use of a fallen tree branch.

Rebecca wasted no time in giving the girl a hug. "China, is it really you? I thought you'd run away from me!"

China hugged her master back lovingly, then began to pull Rebecca back towards the trail. A sudden loud CRACK drew both girls' attention to the canopy above them, only to see a large branch falling right over head. Before Rebecca could even scream, China had thrown her to the ground, crawling on top of her to protect the teen as the branch fell. It hit with a dull THUD, and after that, for Rebecca, everything went black.

****

"Can this possibly get any worse?" Leon wondered as he ran after the runaway teen. The rain and biting wind made his search a miserable one, and on top of that, he seemed to get snagged on every low branch and bush possible. He had no idea how the Count was managing to follow so quickly without his silk garments being snagged at least once.

"She left the trail here, Detective," D called up to Leon.

"How can you tell in this weather?" Leon asked, trailing back to the asian man. "The way this rain is coming down-" D gestured to some broken brush, half a foot print, and some dog track leading away from the trail and into the woods. "I thought I was the detective," Leon mumbled while D smiled slightly. They both left the trail, taking up Rebecca's barely visible path until Leon caught sight of a small patch of white. It had to be the girl.

"Rebecca!" Leon shouted, rushing forward, stumbling to a halt when he saw what lay before him. "Oh God..." Behind him he heard a tiny gasp of shock out of the Count. Rebecca lay on the ground, China on top of her, both underneath a large tree branch. "She's still alive," he yelled, kneeling next to the girl and checking her pulse. "We have to get this off of her!" The branch was lifted and rolled aside, but neither Rebecca nor the dog moved after the removal of the heavy weight. "We have to get her to the hospital. Now."

"Moving her may cause further damage," D replied.

"Yeah, well not moving her is gonna cause her death," Leon countered. "You take the dog, I'll take the girl."

They got back to the car as quickly as either could, moving fast with their burdens. Leon laid Rebecca across the back seat and buckled her in as best he could. D then proceeded to lay China on top of the girl's soaked and mud-covered body.

"What are you doing?" Leon demanded.

"If Miss Robinson should happen to wake," D explained, "then seeing her beloved China with her will keep her calm."

"Fine, whatever. Just get in the car." Leon pulled out of the driveway and sped as fast as he could down the narrow dirt road. The ride was a long and apprehensive one, and in the back neither girl nor dog stirred.

At the hospital Rebecca was wheeled away in a flurry of doctors and nurses, with Leon explaining as best as he could what had happened. When the rush of medical staff was gone, Leon sighed, leaning against the emergency room wall. He turned to say something to D, but he was gone. Leon shook his head. "I guess I'll be seeing you later, Count. You can bet on it."

******

A week after the accident, Leon found himself wandering back through Chinatown, with a box of pastries in his hands, heading toward the Petshop. The dimly lit, incense smelling, building never ceased its hold of mystery over him, and he couldn't help but gaze around curiously every time he entered the place.

"Detective," D greeted pleasantly from one of his chairs, setting his cup of tea down on a small table. "How good of you to come see me."

"Here, I... I brought you something," Leon replied, holding the box out with slight disgust.

"Oh my, how wonderful!" D exclaimed, taking the box with a smile. "You really are such a kind soul, Detective. Please, sit down."

"You know, I had a pretty interesting chat with a sober Mr. Robinson," Leon said, cutting right to the chase.

"Really?" Count D inquired in a noncomittal tone.

"Yeah. He said you sold him a woman, not a dog."

"Detective, you know that I sell only dreams and hopes, not slaves."

"I'm just telling you what he said, Count," Leon stated. "You say you sold a dog. He says you sold him a woman. Rebecca finally woke up, and when she did she said that China took the form of a girl and pulled her out of a ravine, then gave her life to save Rebecca when the branch fell. All I saw was a strange looking dog."

D smiled secretively. "They all saw what they needed to see."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Leon asked, fighting to keep his cool while he knew that he was being led around in circles by the mysterious owner of the pet shop.

"Mr. Robinson felt guilty over the murder of his wife. He wished to replace his wife, perhaps out of some tiny strain of guilt he possessed, and yet he could not help himself but to repeat his first crime. Miss Robinson, on the other hand, needed a friend who would love her despite all of the faults laid upon her by her father. And so she saw China for what the creature really was - a loyal and true friend."

Leon just sighed, shaking his head. "You are really something, Count. There never seems to be any happy endings where you're concerned."

"Is that really true, Detective?" D countered thoughtfully.

"Rebecca Robinson lost the only true friend she had in the world. Her father's going to go behind bars where he belongs, but that leaves her alone in the world! How can you even think that this would be a happy ending for her?!"

"It is true, Miss Robinson lost a dear friend," D agreed soberly. "But in that process she learned that love and loyalty do still exist in the world. And while she may be sad for some time, Miss Robinson will be able to move on and succeed in the world. So this could be seen as a happy ending, Detective."

Leon muttered something and stood up. "I'll see you around, Count," he said off-handedly, walking out of the shop.

D watched him go with a slight smile on his delicate lips and a small twinkle in his strange eyes. He said nothing more than a parting, "Indeed you will, Detective. Indeed you will." With that, the chinaman stared back into his cup of tea, his expression serene. Suddenly a small chime came to be heard by his sensitive ears.

The count smiled, then stood up slowly. Another customer for another dream.

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A/N: that's it, the end. *locks her muses in a glass jar* now will you let me sleep?! ^_^