(From the last chapter…)

"The burden that I'll carry on without complain is…" Kagura's eyesight blacked out and she closed her eyes, "loving you with all my heart and soul… Kyo that is my answer… I love you…"

Kyo was dumbfounded at her answer.

Just then her vital signs monitor beeped madly as her heartbeat gradually slowed down and she was running out of breath, even under the oxygen mask. The nurses at the receiving desk scrambled to Kagura's room when they noticed the box which indicates the said room glowing red in their monitors.

The doctors and nurses rushed to her room and sent her to the E.R. once again, leaving Kyo staring on the floor.

(Chapter 7 – Meeting the Fates)

Everyone rushed in and out of the Emergency Room. Kyo only seeing his wife on a bed at every opening of the E.R.'s door, being electrocuted by Hatori using a pair of device that looks like clothes iron. (A/N: Sorry, dunno what it's called.)

He could also see that blood was trickling down her chin from her mouth. The vital signs monitor just made a long beeping sound. And that sound was horrifying to Kyo's ears.

"Doctor Sohma… we lost her." A nurse said.

Hatori removed his surgeon's mask and sighed, "We can't battle with Fate. Maybe it's her time to go"

:In Kagura's conscience:

"Where am I?" Kagura, dressed in white, practically said to no one as she was walking on grassland full of flowers and trees. The skies were clear with perfectly fluffy clouds and as the winds blew, the grass made a rolling effect. The scenery was so beautiful that she just sat under a tree and smiled as she watched the grass roll and wind gently touch her face.

"I'm glad you're here." A female voice said, "I've been watching, treading the wheel of your destiny."

The voice came from a beautiful blonde-haired lady whose hair was braided and dressed in white with a lavender sash across her dress and a gray shoal over her shoulders. She was fair-skinned, with lips as red as roses and with eyes as blue as the sea. Her voice was angelic and she was like a goddess.

"Who are you?" Kagura asked the lady who sat beside her.

"My sisters and I have been watching you always." The lady replied, "My sisters are Atropos and Lachesis, are you familiar with them?"

It was the first time Kagura heard those names.

"No, I don't know them and I don't know you." Kagura said.

The lady laughed, "Well, that's okay. I'm Clotho, and… you're Sohma Kagura, I suppose?"

"How'd you know my name?"

"I've known you ever since your mother gave birth to you. Ever since then, my sisters and I have been watching you. I'm sure those times when you were angry, Lachesis was surely talking to you. And when you found out that you were gravely ill, I know that Atropos has been stalking you."

"Just what are you saying?" Kagura asked, "Do you know this place?"

"Yes, I do know this place." Clotho replied, "This is like a pit stop to those whose souls have departed. Kagura, you're only a soul now."

"What do you mean?"

Clotho sighed and said, "Listen, I am Clotho, and I spin the threads of life. My sister Lachesis is the emotional one and my sister Atropos is in total control of how much time you have left on earth. Right now, I'm resting because I have just stopped spinning the thread of your life, Kagura. My sisters and I are known as the 'Fates'. You must have read or heard about us in western mythologies."

"If you stopped spinning my thread of life… then… I'm dead? For all eternity?" Kagura exclaimed.

"Don't you like being a mere soul? You can watch the whole world in its glory and in its turmoil from up above! You'll be far away from troubles!" Clotho comforted, "No, you're not yet completely dead. You're dead if your thread of life has been cut."

"Has it not been cut yet?"

"Atropos sure do has a reputation of being clumsy." The blonde replied, "The proper scissors for the respective threads of lives are mostly misplaced. When Lachesis is being exaggerated over her emotions, she causes chaos in the place we're in and the scissors for the threads of lives become misplaced. Right now, my sisters are looking for the scissors for your thread of life. You're not yet dead."

Kagura seemed to be sad, amidst the picturesque scenery and the beautiful lady beside her.

"You look sad." Clotho placed her hand on Kagura's chin, "To die is an honor."

"I'm in the world between life and death, right?" Kagura said, now her tears flowing from her eyes, "I just want to be alive but the thing is… I don't want to get hurt anymore… Dying is the only way to end the pain…"

"Is it Kyo?" Clotho smiled, "Is it your husband?"

Kagura silently nodded, "I love him very much. He is the reason why I wanted to be alive and stay alive… But my sickness-"

"My sisters and I have given that sickness in your bloodline." Clotho sadly implied, "We are as powerful as your god, but he is still the one we follow. It is his will and we obey. He said that the sickness is for a purpose. I apologize gravely for that… I, myself, don't want anything bad for you."

"I understand." Kagura said, wiping her tears.

"Clotho! Clotho!" a voice of another woman shouted through the fields.

It was another young woman, with the same clothing as Clotho, except that everything was black on her garments, the same features but her hair was only until her shoulders. She looked younger than Clotho, but she looked playful but stern.

"Did you find the scissors?" Clotho asked.

"I know this girl." The woman said, sitting beside Kagura, "Sohma Kagura. Wife of Sohma Kyo."

"Kagura, this is my sister, Atropos." Clotho told Kagura.

"I'm sorry I can't find your scissors." Atropos said.

"What's going to happen to me?" Kagura questioned the sisters.

"Well… I say you should die." Atropos said, "You suffered too much already. Death is the only way to end it."

"No, I think you should continue living." Clotho countered, "Living is a struggle indeed. But… I think you would be better, you would correct your wrongs…"

"But you are the Fates! You should know everything!" Kagura yelled.

"I'm afraid when I stop spinning the wheel of someone's life, we don't know what should happen next because it's that time when we actually think about it twice – whether you should live or not. If we can't decide properly, then, we'll just get the emergency shears and cut the thread of life." Clotho explained.

"I've an idea." Atropos answered, "Kagura, you should decide if you would live or die. This is, after all, the world in between life and death."

Kagura just blinked at them. She wanted to die, yet she also wanted to live.

Is she to die?

…or to live?

TBC…

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A/N: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos (The Fates) are the sisters who spin the thread of life of every mortal in Greek Mythology. They are also mentioned in Homer's The Iliad. If you're not familiar with them, I'm sorry. It's just that… I'm also a fan of Greek and Roman Mythologies, even if I'm from an Eastern country!