I do not own Sakura Wars or any of it's characters…'cause if I did, I wouldn't be calling this a fanfic and I would be sailing on the Caribbean in my private yacht, literally swimming in pools of money.

So, now that that's over, you can read the fanfic. Enjoy!

Oh, and this is set in sort of a past/future sorta way and it's based on if Orihime and Reni hadn't come in ST2.

Jacques, Fifi, Clarice, Sophie, Mikel, Reina, Ravina, and Peter are all my characters. (Even if Fifi is a dog!) NO TOUCHIE!!!

Chapter 23

"Thanks for the lift Sophie." Clarice said as she settled back in the car. "No problem. But why were you fighting?" "Ugh, my cover was blown." "You mean you blew your cover." "Well, that too. So… did Mikel manage to accomplish his mission?" "You know, when you say his name, you look all cutsie eyed. Don't tell me you like him." "Okay. You guessed. Close enough." "Sorry to burst your bubble kid, but Mikel is no longer working for us." "Well then I'll just look him up sometime." Sophie snickered loudly. "Yeah, if you have the address book for the underworld." "What do you mean?!" "Clarice, how do I put it to you bluntly? Hmm…Oh! Here's a good way. Mikel is D.E.A.D." "WHAT?!?!" Clarice screeched so loudly that Sophie had to slam the brakes on to get the teen to shut up. After being grateful that she had a seatbelt on, Clarice looked up at what she could see of Sophie's face in the rearview mirror. "He's dead?" she asked. "Yup. Valentinov got the sucker as soon as he walked in." Sophie replied taking out a piece of gum and popping it into her mouth. She did not notice that Clarice was silent the rest of the way home.

When Ohgami opened his eyes, he expected to see Maria sitting by his bedside, but instead, the room was empty. Not a visitor in sight. Wonder where she is…Cautiously, Ohgami sat up and looked around, thinking that everyone was hiding, but there was no one. Maybe Maria took me seriously and went to look for a bathing suit. Ohgami quietly chuckled at the thought of a flustered Maria searching for a bathing suit at a mall, but he quickly became quiet when he heard voices outside his door. Ohgami lay down and pretended to be asleep and found this to be a most efficient way to listen in on conversations he wasn't supposed to. But this one…he wished he had been asleep when he heard what Kayama and Yoneda were talking about.

"He's still asleep huh?" "Yes. And it's probably best at the moment." "What do you think he'll say when he finds out about Maria?" "Nothing, because we won't tell him. He'd be heartbroken. In the meantime Kayama, I want you to keep searching. Do anything you can to find Maria, am I understood?" "Yes sir. I've got the entire Moon Division looking again. In fact, we're tracking a car that just left here that looks similar to the abductors getaway car." "Good. Keep me posted." "That I will do."

"Reni, where did Maria go?" Iris asked as she sat on the floor in the lobby, clutching Jean Paul. "No one's sure, Iris." The silver haired girl replied as she sat down as well. Ayame had made an announcement that everyone needed to be in the lobby in exactly two minutes, and since Reni and Iris (Iris: Ahem…aren't you forgetting someone?) and Jean Paul were headed that way in the first place, they were the first ones there. In a couple of seconds, they were joined by Kanna, who looked thoroughly confused about something and was, for once, silent. Then, Orihime and Sumire arrived, arguing about something. (But who usually has the time to listen to them?) And last but not least, Sakura and Kohran ran into the room, burnt and grumpy. Several seconds, (and I mean seconds) later, Ayame walked into the room, followed by Yuri, Tsubaki, and Kasumi. Ayame looked distraught and seemed to be carrying around a heavy burden. "I'll get right to the point." she said sitting down in a chair. "I have spoken with the police and with Kayama. Both have given me the same answer at this point in time." Ayame stopped and looked over at the Kazegumi, who, nodded simultaneously. After clearing her throat, the petite, Japanese woman continued. "The chance of finding Maria… alive…is extremely slim." There was a gasp and then silence. No one knew what to say at the moment. "There is a possibility however, but that's about a 1 in 50 chance…we can only hope that Maria is that 1." "Ma'am, why is the chance so slim?" Sakura asked. Ayame sighed and looked down at the newly polished floor for a moment, then looked up again. "General Yoneda and I were not supposed to give any of you this information, but I'll tell you anyways. Ohgami had a suspicion that Maria was being stalked, and after several incidents, his suspicions were confirmed by Kayama. Now the stalkers have taken this a level further. We don't know what their intentions are…or what they plan to do…I'm afraid all we can do at this point is hope for the best." There was more silence, and then Yuri began to talk. "If anyone has any information at all, the police need you to speak up at this time." After a minute, Kanna stood up and looked over at Yuri. "Where are the police right now?" she asked. There was shocked silence and then Ayame, who was the first to regain her voice, spoke. "What do you mean by this? Do you know something we don't?" "Yeah, unless Kayama told you guys about what happened out there just a few minutes ago." Kanna replied, pointing at the door. "Kayama has been with General Yoneda and if something happened outside and he said anything, the General has failed to tell me. So, what happened?"

"Hmm…let's see. I know how long it takes for someone to wake up after Mikel has drugged them…so Maria should be waking up right about now…hmm…I think I've got an idea." Within several minutes, Maria was pinned to the wall with Jacques' daggers. And when the blonde opened her eyes, she saw a man getting ready to throw a dagger at her, and a panicked expression overtook her. "Oh rats. You're awake." Jacques said, pretending to be disappointed. "I never got the chance to-whoops." The dagger 'accidentally slipped' out of Jacques hand and landed in the wood, less than an inch away from Maria's head. "Dear me. I should try to be more careful. Usually when I play this game with people, they always die on me." "I can see why." Maria snapped. Her retort took Jacques by surprise and he stared at her, shocked, but then he smirked. "My, my. A feisty one…I like that." "Who are you?" Maria asked with determination in her eyes. "Never mind who I am." the Frenchman said. "I'm here in front of you. That's enough." "Stop playing games." Maria snapped. "I asked you who you were and I expect you to answer me!" "Why would you need to know that…Maria?" Jacques said with a smug expression as he saw Maria's eyes widen. "How…how do…you know my name?" she asked, faltering in her speech. "Come now. Everyone knows of you, the famous firebird." Jacques replied, remembering some of what Valentinov had told him. He became satisfied with the blonde's reaction when she began to struggle to get free, most likely to try to pull out her revolver and shoot him. "It's no use trying to get free, and even if you did, it'd be a pity to have to shoot you with your own revolver." Jacques said, pulling out the gun Valentinov had taken away upon appointing Jacques to be the 'criminal mastermind.' "How did you get that?!" Maria asked, the emotions of fear coming back to her and hitting her hard. "Easily Kuassari." the French man replied with a hint of a taunting tone. "Goodness, I was expecting a bit more of a fight from the famous Kazuar. But I guess this is what happens when you start opening your heart up to someone, huh?" That was the last straw. A flood of emotions returned to Maria, and she hung her head shamefully, knowing full well that she was now betraying the military principal she had obeyed in and out of combat. It is better to die than to be a prisoner of war…An unwanted tear made its way down her cheek and Maria knew that her captor was watching this, enjoying her emotional breakdown. She could tell by the victorious silence that lingered in the air. And in her head, that little cynical voice was laughing madly at her. MARIA YOU IDIOT! You're nothing but a worthless, pathetic excuse for a soldier. No, better yet, you're nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing NOTHING!! You made the choice to give your heart to someone, now you pay the consequences! And I'm going to just sit back, watch, and LAUGH at you!! YOU ARE A FOOL!! And as the voice in her head and her captor laughed menacingly, Maria let several more tears fall, as a sign of emotional defeat.