Mai entered the cold, darkened room and silently walked over to where is his body lie in its coma state. Tears filled her eyes and ran down her face in slow waves. She reached out her hand to touch his angelic-looking face; he looked so peaceful this way, though she knew that inside he trapped and was fighting himself to get out. She had expected to be able to stroke his face, but when her hand reached him, she found that it went right through him. She instantly jerked her hand back in fright as it shook.
A soft voice interrupted the nearly serene atmosphere, "You can't touch him."
Without even looking up, she knew who it was, "What's happening to him, Kaiba-san?", she said between tears.
The brunette hated to see a woman in pain. Ever since his mother died, he had felt this way towards all women...young and old. Seto replied in a calm and collective manner, "He's digitizing. Already, half of his body has become one with the cyber universe."
Her eyes widened in shock and her head shot up to look at him, "Nani! You mean that his body is disappearing!", she shook from head to toe; horrifying thoughts of losing him racing through her already emotionally damaged mind.
"Think of him as a living hologram", he said softly, "Except you have no control over how much of him is shown."
She turned her head back to the digitizing blonde then to the floor, "I... Jounouchi... I...", she trembled as the pain slowly ate at her soul, "Kaiba-san, isn't there anyway that you can save him?", her voice then cracked, "Please, you must know some way."
Seto bit his lip as he gazed upon Jounouchi, "There is one way... but it has never been tested on humans..."
Her tears dripped to the marble tile below her, "Please try! I'll do anything to save him. I ...I love him...", she was now sobbing and fell to her knees.
At the words 'I love him', Seto's heart suddenly felt as if someone had dropped several thousand pounds on it. He sighed and looked away, not wanting to see her cry, "I can try. But he may be lost in the process."
She pounded the tile with her clenched fist, "But isn't he going to be lost at some point anyway?"
Seto was surprised that this thought hadn't crossed his mind, "Hai."
Her voice filled with anger, "Then you might as well try!"
Seto cringed, "I shall", and with that he left the room, leaving her and the near death Jounouchi behind.
Mai managed to get to her feet and sat in a chair next to his head, "I'm so sorry, Jou-kun", she reached out her hand again, but still couldn't touch him, "So sorry... I...I wish that God would take me in your place. Why did it have to be you? Why not me?", she sobbed and held herself. She gazed down at his chest, watching it rise and fall gracefully with every breath that he managed to breathe.
It was then that she made a wish; she wanted to press her lips to his at least one time before he completely digitized and left her forever. She lowered her head over his and looked down at his closed eyes. Sighing, she lowered her head further; their lips only a few inches apart. She prayed that his body would become tangible for the next few moments, so that she could kiss him and tell him that she loved him, even if he couldn't hear or feel her.
A small tear landed on his cheek and she went in for the kiss. To her surprise, her lips touched his for a few moments. Afterward, she found herself kissing air and saw that his body was fading again, 'I love you, Jounouchi. I have loved you ever since that day that I first laid my eyes on your beautiful body. And I will always love you', she thought, adding something unexpected, 'I want to hold you in my arms, make love to you, marry you, have your goofy children and grow old with you. I can't live without you. Please come back to me, Jounouchi!' And then the heart monitor started to slow down to a dangerously low beat. Inside she started screaming, but on the outside her sobbing remained, though it was soft.
A few minutes past and nothing seemed to change for the better; Jounouchi's body became less tangible and it started to flicker from being there to nothingness. The flickering became more frequent and pretty soon the female blonde couldn't see his body anymore. This caused her to scream out loud, and the shrill noise rang out throughout the building.
Seto ran back in, worried that something had happened.
Mai looked up at the brunette, her tear-stained face making her look pale and lifeless herself, "Well?"
He nodded, "I reversed the effects and his body is trying to restore itself now. But there is no more that I can do. It's up to him now", he turned on heel and silently left the room.
She looked down and saw that the other blonde's head and torso had reappeared; seeing that sure enough his body was regaining its mass. The entire area filled with prism-like-data, which rotated quickly. A data stream was swarming around his waist; the stream coiled around where his legs had once been, and after a few flickers his entire body restored itself. His eyes flickered open, and in a voice that she could just barely make out he said, "M-mai… you came…", he closed his eyes.
Mai nodded, smiled and replied softly, "Of course I came, Jounouchi…", and she was just about to reach out and hold his body, when the thump that his heart had been on the heart monitor screen became a single straight line. She instantly knew…his heart had stopped…he was gone. Her scream was the only audible sound that could be heard, as she held his lifeless body in her arms. And then his body flickered and completely disappeared, and she held nothing but air. She cried his name over and over again, and held herself, burying her head in her arms, grieving for him; Jounouchi, her love, her digital angel.