Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina or many of the characters in this story. Only a couple of the characters in this story are mine.

"…" – Character talking

'…' – Character thinking

Chapter Eight: Life's Reawakening


Back at the Mission Church

Gabriel and the priest at the church stared intently and the huge crystal ball on the floor. Gabriel had created the mystical orb so that he could what events between Derrick and Keitaro unfold. Even the archangel himself was surprised to see the evening's events break down into an all-out battle between Derrick and the demonic forces inside of Keitaro. As the two watched Keitaro's decision get underway, they were soon joined by a visibly worn out Derrick.

"Looks like someone had a little too much fun tonight." Gabriel said.

"There was nothing fun about what just happened or about this waiting game. I just wish I could've made the choice for Keitaro and got it over with. This free will stipulation sucks." the Dark Angel responded as he stretched out on a nearby pew, grimacing in pain the whole time. Derrick then turned his head to look at the crystal ball. After a few moments of waiting, the sight of Keitaro throwing the gun into the waterfall was displayed on the ball.

"Looks like our young friend found his way through the Devil's lies." the priest said.

"Well, looks like you did a good job of convincing him to live." Gabriel waited for a response from Derrick. When none came, the archangel looked to see Derrick looking up at the ceiling, with tears beginning to form up in his eyes.

'Thank you, God. Thank you, thank you, thank you.' was the only thing that went through the Dark Angel's head.

"Perhaps we should get him to his quarters. He's in serious need of rest."


Naru stood at the edge of the clearing. After being freed from the demon's unseen grasp and getting Nyamo to a safe hiding spot, he made her way to the outskirts of the waterfall to see the end of the battle between the Dark Angel and Demon-Keitaro. She also overheard the conversation about Keitaro's choice. She prayed intently that her secret love would make the right choice, and her heart also stopped beating when he started to lift the gun to his head. It was soon replaced by joy and relief at the sight of the gun being hurled into the water. Now, she just stood there as Keitaro mulled over his choice.

"I'm sure I made the right choice but I don't know where to go from here. God, what do I do?" Keitaro thought out loud as he continued to stare at the cross pendant. He remained in the state, unmoving and thinking the same things, for several minutes.

Naru felt it was time to approach him. To apologize and to tell him how she felt. She slowly made her way out of the forest, pulling her blanket around her tighter. With each careful step across the sand, she slowly made her way closer to the oblivious young man. "Keitaro?"

The voice brought Keitaro out of his mental tug-of-war and back to reality. He quickly turned around to see the auburn-haired girl, bundled up in her blanket and with tears starting to roll down her cheeks. He wanted so desperately to apologize for the events from earlier. Then he realized he left the note with her and made her think he was dead. This sent his panic mode into overdrive.

"N-Naru! I want to apologize for everything that …" He never got to finish his statement as Naru ran toward him. He thought for sure he was about to be sent flying, so he was shocked to see the young girl wrapping her arms around him and crying into his shoulder.

"Keitaro, you don't need to apologize for anything! I should, and so should the rest of the girls! We drove you hurt yourself, to run away, and nearly to end your life!" Naru managed to yell out between sobs.

"But Narusegawa …"

"Keitaro, I'm sorry for everything! If I could turn back time, I'd take back every hit, every insult, every tear you cried, and the pain you inflicted on yourself! You've been the kindest and sweetest person in the world to me and everyone else, and got absolute hell heaped on you in return! With everything that's happened recently, I thought for sure that I had lost you forever! I love you too much and I'd never be able to forgive myself if anything had happened to you!"

'Did she just say what I thought she said?' Keitaro thought as he lifted Naru's head off of his shoulder. It made him sad to see tears in Naru's eyes (or any of the others, for that matter) and this case was no exception. He slowly brought a hand up to her cheek and wiped away a stream of tears. The caring look that inhabited his eyes were now back, which made Naru so happy that her heart could've burst on the spot.

"Keitaro Urashima, I love you. It took almost losing you to make me realize it, but I do. I understand completely that you don't feel the same way anymore, but …"

"Naru, please don't think that! I love you more than life itself!" Keitaro said as he wiped away the other stream of tears. Keitaro's words sent Naru's emotions into overdrive. Unable to hold them in anymore, Naru pushed into Keitaro and forcefully began to kiss him. Keitaro's natural clumsiness kicked in, causing both of them to fall to the ground. Both of them continued to kiss and caress each other until Keitaro felt his clothes being removed. When he cracked his eyes back open, he noticed that, for the most part, the blanket was the only thing covering the two of them. "Naru, wait. Are you sure about…?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Naru replied. "Let's just enjoy this moment Keitaro. For once, I want to be the reason for happiness in your life." She whispered before the two of them began to express their love once more.


The Next Day

As daylight slowly crept over the oasis, a small ray of sunlight hit Keitaro in the face. He turns his head away from the beam and slowly opens his eyes and tries to make out his surroundings due to his glasses missing. 'Man, what a strange dream.' he thought to himself. He moves his left arm out to the side for it to hit two objects. One of these turned out to be his glasses, which he grabbed and put on with one hand. As his vision greatly improved, he now could see the silver chain lying in the sandy ground. 'Well, I guess that much wasn't a dream. But what about …?' As he started to let out a yawn and move to stretch his arms, he suddenly felt something lying on his right arm. He lifted his head off of the ground to notice something else: a sleeping Naru in his arms and only a blanket covering both of them.

'Wait. If she's here, then that means … THAT STUFF WASN'T A DREAM!' his mind screamed out. His fury of thoughts were soon stopped by the movement of Naru's body against his and the content moan that escaped the sleeping girl. He soon found himself running his fingers through Naru's hair and staring at the smiling face that rested on his chest. 'She looks so peaceful, almost angelic.' Keitaro's thoughts were interrupted again as Naru began to open her eyes and slowly look around.

"Mmm … good morning." Naru muttered in a semi-conscious voice as she pulled herself up to give Keitaro a small kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning Narusegawa. I'm starting to think this is the best sight I've woken up to or that I'm still dreaming." Keitaro replied with a slight chuckle.

"Well, if this is a dream for you, then it means that I'm still dreaming a very good dream." she replied back.

"Hey, I just thought of something." Keitaro said as the two sat up. "Where are Nyamo and the fellow animal travelers at?"

"I got Nyamo and the turtles to a safe hiding place in the oasis during that little battle last night. Whenever we get washed up, we should go find them." Naru noticed at the end of her sentence that Keitaro was staring at something in absolute horror. She then turned to see what that something was, which ended up being a shocked Nyamo, Big Tama, and Tama. Nyamo stared at the young couple as they panicked and started to put their clothes back on, then turned around and ran away. "Nyamo …!" Naru's shout was halted by Keitaro's hand being placed over her mouth.

"I think she's going to need some time to think things through. Let's just get washed up and get some food fixed, then we'll go look for her. Okay?"

Naru nodded in agreement. "Thank goodness the others aren't here or we'd be in one hell of a predicament."


Later in the Day

After getting cleaned up, dressed, and a very quick breakfast, Naru and Keitaro began their search for Naru. Both of them decided it would be best to split up and meet back at the campsite later. After a break at noontime for lunch, the two doubled up their search effort. A few more hours passed before they found any sign of the young native girl. Keitaro found her hiding in a dense wooded area of the oasis, but she took off running at the sight of him. The young man soon began the chase, which led all the way back to the waterfall. As Keitaro continued to chase Nyamo up the giant rock structures, the young girl noticed she was about to run off of a cliff. She stopped just in time to save herself, but poor little Keitaro pulled a Wile E. Coyote, running straight off of the cliff and landing in a small pool of water below.

'Damn. Immortality or not, that hurt.' Keitaro thought to himself as he picked himself up out of the pool. His eyes soon widened as he beheld a couple of massive stone turtles that were covered by the vegetation. "Is that what I think …it is! It's the turtle artifact Seta's been searching for! Nyamo, go find Naru quickly!"

A few minutes later, Nyamo and Naru made their way across the vegetation and soon found themselves standing on top of the massive structure. "Wow, Keitaro! This is an amazing find!" Naru yelled out as she entered the hidden area.

"Kind of dumb luck, I guess! Who knew that the artifact Seta and Nyamo were looking for was here the whole time!" Naru watched with a lackluster grin as Keitaro and Nyamo looked over the structure. "It's a shame that that I don't have any tools."

Keitaro was able to pull his attention away from the artifact long enough to see Naru walking away with a resigned look on her face. He immediately realized that something must be wrong, so he left Nyamo to examine the artifact by herself as he followed Naru. A couple of minutes later, he saw Naru just standing alone, staring out at the lake with sad look on her face.

"Naru, are you okay?"

"It's nothing really. It's just that, since you've been here, you've had so much more energy than before. You've finally found your calling and, in a way, I'm happy for and jealous of you."

'Her, jealous. Of what?' Keitaro thought to himself. "Why are you jealous of me? Come spring, you're going to be a Toudai student, which is a lot better compared to me."

"Don't be so sure. Last year I was so confident that I made it, but still ended up failing. The truth is, I was too scared to see the results by myself." She said as she slowly grabbed the small cross pendant on her necklace. "That's why, why I was hoping you would be there to see the list with me."

'What!' Keitaro finally saw past Naru's strong front. He now realized how much failing the entrance exams the first time had affected her. She suffered from the same feeling of hopelessness he felt. He also suddenly realized the consequences those feelings nearly had on him.

"Keitaro, I really don't think I can return to Japan. If I failed to make it this time, I will have lost everything." Tears welled up in Naru's eyes at this confession.

'She's seems so much like me now. She's on that dark road that I just on myself. I'm sorry Narusegawa that I didn't understand your plight.' Keitaro thought to himself. He slowly walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Naru, it will be alright if you don't make it this time."

"Huh!"

"We both promised to make it into Toudai together, didn't we? No matter how long it takes, I'll keep that promise."

"Keitaro…" Naru muttered, with tears pouring down her face.

"I know you're scaredof those thoughts of being scared and alone, but I'll be there with you. Anytime you feel that way, just know that I'll be there to help you carry on. I promise I won't run away from your side again."

At this point, Naru had turned around and flung herself into Keitaro's arms and started crying uncontrollably into the young man's shoulder. Keitaro decided the best thing he could do was hold his love in his arms and allow this emotional outburst. After a few minutes, Naru lifted her head up and looked into Keitaro's eyes. Keitaro couldn't help but shed a couple of tears himself now. Everything seemed so perfect now. The woman he loved was in his arms, the beautiful view of the oasis in the sunset, and the barrage of missiles on a collision course with them …

'Hold on! What was that last part!' Keitaro's eyes now widened at the sight of the missiles, which had an all-to-familiar three-eyed symbol on them. "Naru, watch out!" he yelled as he pulled the young woman down to the ground just in time to keep from being hit. The missiles ended up exploding right behind them. "Where the hell did those come from!" Keitaro yelled as he and Naru stood back up.

"Oh no! Keitaro, look!" Naru yelled in a terror-stricken voice as she pointed toward the horizon. Keitaro did just that and saw the Hinata girls running across the desert floor. They had a look of pure hellfire and brimstone in their eyes. Immediately behind them was what appeared to be an army of giant turtles. Judging from the looks on Keitaro and Naru's faces, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse had nothing on this sight.

"I-impossible. They're all here." Keitaro managed to stutter.

"And they look extremely mad! We must've failed again!" Naru cried out.

"I'm not sticking around to find out and neither should you! Let's go!" the young man yelled as he grabbed Naru's arm. Within seconds they were running for their lives from the rest of the girls. They didn't get too far, however, before Motoko's voice rang through their ears.

"Secret technique, 100 Petals Attack!" Almost instantly, hundreds of flower petals surrounded the fleeing couple and exploded, launching them in the air. Amazingly the young couple landed on their feet and continued running, looking back to see another barrage of missiles.

"Are they trying to kill us or what!" Keitaro yelled in frustration.

"More than likely! Not only did we fail and run away again, but we've spent this whole time relaxing, among other things!" Naru yelled in response.

The final barrage of missiles struck, knocking the young couple down to the ground. The force of the explosion had sent them flying back toward the direction of the Hinata girls. As Keitaro and Naru both looked up, they saw a collective look from the girls that could've burned a hole through the Earth. At this point, the young couple took up one of Keitaro's favorite art forms: beg for mercy.

"WE'RE SORRY! WE WON'T RUN AWAY EVER AGAIN AND WE'LL PASS NEXT YEAR! PLEASE JUST DON'T KILL US!" Keitaro and Naru shouted out in unison, bowing before the girls. Their fearful words and actions were greeted with a laugh from Kitsune.

"What are you two saying?"

"You two are always giving us so much trouble." Motoko followed suit.

Suddenly, Keitaro felt a slight tugging on his hand as Shinobu knelt down in front of him and Naru. "Sempai … I finally found you. You and Naru, you both passed the Toudai entrance exams."

"W-what?" was the only thing Naru and Keitaro could manage to say.

"You both passed! We even have pictures for proof!" Sarah yelled, forcing the pictures into Naru's hands.

Naru could only utter "I passed" as she stared at the pictures. Keitaro had to be struck in the back of the head to snap him out of his state of shock.

"All three of us passed." Mutsumi tearfully said to her two friends.

"WE PASSED!" Naru and Keitaro yelled as they embraced each other and began to jump around in celebration. The rest of the girls began to prepare some things for the first world famous Hinata party in the desert.

However, they weren't out of the woods yet. Tomorrow's the deadline to get Keitaro's information sent off to Tokyo U.


Nighttime – March 15th 2000

The entire Hinata crew was enjoying the celebration dinner at the café in town. And after the events of that day, who'd blame them. After spending the night in the oasis, the entire group had to get Keitaro back to Japan. Their only hope: get him back to town and on the flight to Tokyo. Luckily, Seta and his busted up van showed up just in time. After a few mishaps that stalled the trip, the group hurried to make into the airport in time. Upon arriving, two things went wrong: one, the flight to Japan had been delayed due to repairs and two, Naru had fallen ill from her time in the desert. Keitaro made a last-second choice to be at Naru's side and that, combined with his usual dose of bad luck, had caused him to miss the flight back to Japan. The group fell into despair since the day had just switched over to the 16th in Japan. At that point, Mutsumi informed them that the deadline was postal based and that it was still the 15th on Pararakelse. She hurriedly got her friend to the post office in time to mail off his test I.D. and other information and helping him fulfill his dream. Now, back to the present.

"Keitaro, Naru, Mutsumi, congratulations on your acceptance to Tokyo University!" the group yelled out.

"You see Keitaro, everything worked out for the best!" Su exclaimed.

"A lot of things have happened lately, but it's a good thing we got them solved!" Kitsune added.

"You're not kidding." Keitaro stated. He then noticed that the girls had calmed down and their cheerful faces were replaced by serious ones. "Hey, what's wrong?" Then, one by one, each of the girls (except Naru) took out folded sheets of paper and handed them to Keitaro. As he opened up and read each note one by one, a faint smile and stream of tears overtook the facial features of the young man.

Motoko stood up and broke the silence. "Urashima, we all have something we need to say. Over the past couple of weeks, we've had to find out the hard way about the results of some of our actions toward you. I'm thankful that you are still here with us so that we can tell you how deeply sorry we are for everything."

"We're sorry, Keitaro! Please forgive us!" the girls cried out in unison.

"Ya'll didn't have to get all serious with me and stuff. Of course I forgive you. The last few days have opened my eyes and made me realize how important each of you are to me." Keitaro paused and looked around at everyone at the table. "Thank you, everyone. For everything."

As the commotion and craziness started back up, Mutsumi pulled Naru and Keitaro to the side and took them to a small table out at the end of a pier. After a few drinks and some cheerful conversation, the rest of the group came to get them and get them to a hotel for the night. As the entire group started to walk away from the end of the pier, a voice caught all of them off guard.

"Don't tell that I missed the party? Man, I got bad timing." Everyone turned around to see the familiar, dark clad figure of Derrick on the edge of the pier. The most notable feature was the golden halo situated a few inches over the top of the black hat.

"Hey Derrick, what brings you here?" Keitaro asked as he turned around to face the other worldly spirit.

"I came to say goodbye. My time on Earth's up, so it's time for me to go see if I made it into Heaven. I wanted to stop by wish you luck with the rest of your life."

"Thanks. But will I ever get to see you again?"

"On Earth, I don't know. Maybe every once in a while I might get to return. I'm still trying to get that part worked out. If I ever do return, maybe I can help you get your fighting skills back up to par. You put up one hell of a fight last night, even if you didn't mean to." the Dark Angel responded.

"That doesn't sound too bad. Besides, it might come in handy in case the daily beatings resume." Keitaro joked.

"Hey, Derrick." Naru walked up to the Dark Angel and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Thank you for everything you did for Keitaro."

"It was nothing. Beside, I had to make sure Keitaro hung around long enough to fulfill that childhood promise to you." Derrick just stood back and watched as Naru and Keitaro stared at each other in shock.

"You mean that Naru was the promised one all along!" Keitaro yelped. "But how did you find out."

"I was allowed to see very aspect of your life from birth until now when I took on this mission and uncovered that little bit of info. But listen, promises and love aside, you two better get to a confessional or pray for some forgiveness. I know what you two did last night and so does the Lord." He watched and laughed as a look of panic overtook both Naru and Keitaro. "I'm messing with you."

"Not funny Derrick!" The couple yelled in unison.

"I'm sorry. Couldn't resist it. Well, anyway, so long you two." Everyone stood in awe as a pair of magnificent white wings found their way out of Derrick's back. With a few massive flaps of his new wings, Derrick took off in flight toward the heavens.

"Goodbye! Thanks for helping Keitaro!" the rest of the group yelled out.

As Derrick made his way further into the dark sky, Gabriel soon joined him, with his wings stretched out in flight as well. "You did a very good job helping the Urashima man, Derrick."

"Thanks."

"By the way, how did you find out about what those two did last night?" Gabriel asked.

"What do mean what they did? I was only joking with them." Gabriel suddenly sent a few mental images of what happened to the Dark Angel and almost caused him to drop from the sky. "Oh my God! No wonder they looked like they were about to have a heart attack!"

"Relax, my friend. I'm sure it won't hurt your chances of getting into Heaven. Too much." the archangel added.

"Uh, about that. I know you said that I would be allowed into Heaven and all that, but I've been doing some serious thinking on that subject." Derrick said.

"And."

"And I been thinking that maybe it would be better if I remained on Earth as a Dark Angel."

Gabriel suddenly halted his flight and turned to talk to Derrick. "This will be a very serious issue to bring up whenever I go talk with God about your status. No Dark Angel who has succeeded in his mission has every asked to remain on Earth. We'll just have to wait and see how this works out."


The Next Day – Heaven

Derrick and his grandfather had been waiting all day for Gabriel to finish his meeting with God about his soul's status. Derrick was starting to grow worried. 'I knew he said it was a serious issue to bring up, but give me a break.' he thought to himself as he continued to sit on the edge of the fountain and catch up on things with his grandfather. The two's lengthy conversation was interrupted by the sight of Gabriel walking toward them.

"So what's the news? Am I staying here."

"Well, uh…no, you're not." Gabriel replied.

"He didn't do a good enough job, so he's being forced to go back to Earth." Derrick's grandfather replied.

"Well, not exactly."

"Gabriel, if I'm not staying here and not going back, then that means … OH NO!" Derrick was terrified of the thought of that dark destination.

"No, no, no! Look, its going to take a second to explain, so listen up. I want you to look in the fountain behind you Derrick."

Derrick did as he was instructed and looked into the crystal clear water. Suddenly, an image began to slowly form on the surface. As the image began to clear up, Derrick could now see the image of a person in a hospital bed, hooked up to a ventilator and a lot of other equipment around him. The person had long red hair and as the Dark Angel looked closer, he could just make out the black outline of the cross tattoo that wasn't covered by the sleeves of the hospital gown.

"Wait…that's me! But how is that possible!" Derrick yelled as he took a few steps away from the fountain.

"You must've forgotten that God is all-seeing and all-knowing. He figured that if everything worked out right, you would want to remain on Earth to be of more service to us. A very small portion of your spirit remained in your body after your demonic battle a few months ago, so he used that spirit to keep your body alive so you could return to it." Gabriel explained to a very stunned Derrick and his equally stunned grandfather.

"Return, to my old body, but that means …"

"You're getting a second chance to return to your life. Hopefully, you've learned your lesson." the archangel replied.

"I can't believe it. I, I…" Derrick's grandfather caught the youngster just in time to keep him from fainting.

"Well Derrick, you did a da-, I mean, darn good job, just like I thought you would. Goodbye boy, and be sure to say hello to everyone else for me."

"I'll try to remember. Bye Papa. It was good to see you again." Derrick sobbed as he hugged his grandfather one last time. After a few seconds, grandfather and grandson broke away from the embrace and Derrick turned his attention to Gabriel.

"Ready to go?" Derrick nodded in response to the question. "Alright, hang on tight." Gabriel said as a blinding aura of light soon engulfed the ex-Dark Angel. Within seconds, the youngster was gone.


Moments Later

Derrick's eyes slowly begin to open up and adjust to his new surroundings. The bright ceiling lights blinded him for a moment, but it soon passed. The sounds of the hospital equipment followed next. He felt so much different due to the weakened state of his body. He slowly began to move his hand and brought it up to the breathing tube in his mouth. With a steady grip, Derrick ripped the breathing tube away as he struggled to draw in breaths on his own. Then he slowly grabbed a hold of the railings on his bed and pulled himself up. A painful moan escapes the young boy as he sits up in the bed. It's at this point that he sees a beautiful young girl in a chair nearby, staring at the floor and oblivious to the now conscious person in the bed.

'It's all my fault. I drove him to this because of that fateful day. I knew that he cared for me, and all I did was rip the heart out of his chest.' the young girl thought to herself as the tears began to fall. 'He wanted to die because of what I did.'

"A-Ashleigh?" The young girl snapped her head up to see Derrick sitting up in the bed and with a dazed look on his face.

"Oh my God! Derrick!" She shot up out of the chair and ran to Derrick's bedside, clutching the young boy with a powerful embrace and knocking him back down.

"AAAAAHH! Not so hard!" the young Saiyan snapped.

"Sorry! God, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. Man, my body's still banged up pretty good. I'm sure you didn't mean to…"

"Not that Derrick! I meant I'm sorry about everything else!" Ashleigh sobbed. Derrick cringed at the thought of these memories. Ashleigh was one of the most important people in his young life, and when she and his best friend betrayed him, it was almost like his heart was ripped out of his chest. From that point up until his journey into the afterlife, hate dripped off of every word and action aimed at Ashleigh. Needless to say, Derrick felt really guilty for all of that now. The young Saiyan let out an exasperated sigh before he started to speak.

"I know what you did was very low." That certainly helped the young girl's mood. 'Idiot!' Derrick thought to himself as more and more tears left Ashleigh's eyes. "However, I forgive you. I just hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for what I..." Derrick tried to say before he was cut off by Ashleigh pressing her lips against his. After a few seconds, they young girl pulled away, leaving a very stunned Derrick to ponder what the hell just happened.

"Of course I forgive you. I love you." She said as she wrapped her arms around Derrick's body. The young couple, for the next couple of minutes, were just content to lay on that hospital bed, exchanging kisses and sharing a gentle embrace.

"Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Boy and girl both shot up and stared at the young doctor that just entered the room. "It seems that someone is doing a whole lot better."

"Yeah. It could be worse." Derrick replied.

"Yes, I'm sure. Young lady, I need you to leave the room for a minute while I run some tests. Why don't you go find his family so that they can see him." the doctor stated

"Okay." was the young girl's response as she bolted out of the room.

"Hmmm, it seems that your friend there is a little embarrassed, Derrick." the doctor stated as he stared back at the door.

"Wait, how do you…?" Derrick's question was answered when the doctor turned around to reveal a now familiar face. "Gabriel, you shady excuse of an angel. What brings you here?"

"Just thought I'd clear up any last questions you may have." the archangel responded.

"Fair enough. First, when can I go get my stuff off that island?" Derrick quipped in a joking manner.

"I've already returned your stuff to the places they were being kept at."

"Second, is my body still going to have the same properties that it had before all this crap started?"

"Yes, Derrick. Everything, from your intelligence to your powers, has remained perfectly intact during this time. In fact, when your soul returned to this body, some qualities of your replica body merged with this one."

"Qualities like?"

"I want you to recall when you got your wings the other day. Imagine the feeling of using your wings to soar across the night sky." Derrick did as he was instructed and, a few seconds later, had those same wings from the other night outstretched in all their glory. "You'll still have your wings, which you can summon and retract at any time. Your powers from both bodies have merged together, which will make you stronger in the future. And in a couple of days, a few of the angelic markings on your body will reappear as a sign of your decision and will remain with you for the rest of your days."

"Not a bad deal." Derrick said as he willed his wings back to their hiding place. "But what's the catch?"

"We still expect you to help others in an unselfish manner like you're supposed to. Well, I better go so that your family can see you."

"So long, Gabriel. Don't be a stranger now."

"I'll stop back by on Earth to see how you're doing. Goodbye, Derrick, and may the peace of God be with you." Gabriel then exited the room. After the door closed, Derrick could hear the muffled voice say "You can see him now." A split second later, the door those the room flew open as Derrick's family barged in and swarmed around the young boy.


A few weeks later – Hinata Sou

"Hey, we're back!" Kitsune's shout echoed through the building. She and the rest of the girls, back from their daylong trip to town, waited for a response from Keitaro and Naru. When none came, they began to search for the two. Moments later, they found Naru in the hot springs, caring on a conversation with an American girl.

"Naru-sempai, who is this stranger?" Motoko asked her.

"Girls, this is Ashleigh. She's here with a friend of Keitaro's." Naru replied.

"And where is this so called friend at?" Kitsune asked.

"Well, this friend volunteered to train Keitaro in fighting. We arrived here shortly after ya'll left and they have been gone since then." Ashleigh responded. Immediately after saying this, she looked up to the sky. "They just left the time chamber." She leaned over to tell Naru.

Motoko also sensed this reemergence of ki energy and looked upward as well. She soon sensed the two sources of this energy traveling at great velocity toward the inn. "Whoever these two are, they are heading this way fast." By this time, everyone was looking up to see Keitaro and Derrick plunging head first back toward Earth, trading punches and kicks the entire way down. Right before the moment of impact, both of them traded ki blasts that launched them to separate ends of the hot springs. Everyone stood in awe as both Keitaro and Derrick landed on their feet.

"I'm impressed, Keitaro. You've learned a lot during this time." Derrick spoke up.

"Thanks, although the cram session was a little much." Keitaro replied. The rest of the Hinata crowd couldn't help but continue staring at their manager. He looked stronger and more mature, more than the girls ever thought he would. The stares eventually got the better of him. "Well, I've got some chores to do, so I'd better get to work." Keitaro said as he headed back inside.

After Keitaro went inside, the rest of the girls began to strike up conversation with their American visitors. They share a little bit about their lives and reminisced a little bit about Motoko's battle against Derrick a while back. After a few minutes, however, a couple of the residents realized that someone was missing.

"Hey, wasn't Naru here a moment ago?" Su asked.

"That's strange. Where did she go?" Shinobu pondered out loud. The remaining girls (Ashleigh included) began to look around the hot springs area. Derrick, however, knew exactly what was going on.

'Oh man, if they find Keitaro and Naru, they'll never quit giving them hell.' Derrick broke away from his thoughts to analyze the situation and came up with a great idea. Motoko and Ashleigh were standing right in front of him, side by side. To top it off, Ashleigh was still wrapped in only a towel. "Forgive me Lord, for I am about to sin." Derrick said under his breath. In one quick movement, he snatched the towel off of Ashleigh, wound it up, and snapped her on her exposed backside with it. In almost the same amount of time, he wound it up again and snapped Motoko on the ass as well.

"Derrick, you conniving little…" Ashleigh trailed off as purple ki radiated from her body.

"Die, vile male!" Motoko shouted as she drew her sword.

"Yeah! Now we get to have some fun!" Su shouted as she pulled out a remote control. Seconds later, a giant Mecha-Tama appeared, armed with an impressive arsenal. "Come on, Motoko; let's get 'em!" She yelled as Motoko hopped onto the Mecha-Tama.

"Ya'll have to catch me first!" Derrick shouted as he powered up to Super Saiyan. A split second later, he was flying through the sky with the three girls in hot pursuit. Shinobu and Kitsune could only what from the hot springs in disbelief.

"Aaauuuuu! They're going to kill him if they keep this up!" Shinobu whined as ki blasts and rockets filled the sky above Hinata Sou.

'If I didn't know any better, I swear he did that for a reason.' Kitsune thought to herself.


During all of that…

Keitaro and Naru stumbled across her bedroom to her bed, kissing and pulling off clothes in the process.

"Keitaro?"

"Yeah."

"What are we going to do if they catch us?"

"Don't worry. Judging by the sounds out there, Derrick's causing a very good distraction." Keitaro replied as the couple fell onto the bed.

After many minutes passed, the exhausted pair just laid there on the bed, wrapped in each others' arms.

"I love you, Keitaro."

"I love you too, Naru."

"Ara, this is such a heartwarming moment." This caused Naru and Keitaro to sit up and see an all-to-familiar face staring through the hole in the floor.

"MUTSUMI, GET OUT OF HERE!" the young couple shouted as they tried to cover themselves up.


A/N – Sorry for waiting so long to update. In the course of the past month, I had to switch to another ISP, help my parents keep my niece for a week, and work 40 hours a week. Long story short, I haven't had much time to write fanfics. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last one for this fic and will basically wrap everything up. Also, stay tuned for more stuff in the future, including another Love Hina fic.

- OD