Last time: Mai woke up and Naru managed to help her come to grips with the fact that he really loves her and that his confession wasn't simply a dream. Once Naru stepped out, Mai got accosted by a stranger, Ishikawa-san. On top of everything else, Naru's parents arrived. How will the gang handle Ishikawa-san?

A/N: We want to give a special shout out to ArmyOT7s, CaitHawke4Ever, Joys, Chocoholic202, DayWingg, Iloveanimex, TheCreativityGoddess, and our one anonymous guest commenter. It's thanks to you guys that we've hit the 15 comment mark and the reason this chapter is going up early. Thanks for all your wonderful comments! -Koujinbutsu


Coming Back to Life - Part 2: Fanfare

The hallway outside of Mai's hospital room…

As the man yelled about them all being frauds, feelings of righteous indignation surged through Lin just like they had done in the lobby. As he, Madoka, and he Davis' drew closer to the commotion, his eyes narrowed. Lin took in Monk, Yasu and John standing around Mai's open door. Even without the yelling, he would have known that something wasn't right. Each male was obviously tense, especially Monk who had his fists and jaw clenched.

"What on earth is going on over there?" Luella asked, looking around Lin.

Lin muttered, "That room, everyone is crowded around, is Taniyama-san's. Let's hurry."

Monk happened to glance down the hall towards them, spotting Lin, Madoka and to his great shock the world renowned professor Davis and his wife. After realizing that Lin was leading them to the door he, John, and Yasu were blocking, Monk grabbed a hold of the other two to pull them out of the way. He briefly explained, "Let's let them in," before the three new arrivals drew close and followed Lin into Mai's room. After they passed, Monk looked at John and Yasu, with awe in his voice Monk informed them. "It's the Davis' but," he looked back at the older couple, "What are they doing here?"

Yasu whispered, "Wait, you mean like Dr. Oliver Davis?"

Monk nodded, "Close. They're his parents. They're well known in England for their paranormal research, not to mention their sons' abilities. I wonder what they are doing here."

The trio stepped further in the room, just enough to draw even with Aria who was partially concealed from them by a curtain. So they missed the fact that she was pressed against the wall with a look of fear, close to terror on her face. Her arms were tightly wrapped around herself as if to keep herself together.

Martin managed to gain everyone's attention, even Ishikawa-san's, when he cleared his throat from his place near the foot of the bed and asked, "Who, may I ask, are you claiming is a fraud so loudly?"

"Who are you," Ishikawa-san asked in annoyance.

"I am Martin Davis, head of BSPR, a paranormal investigation group based in Britain."

"Ugh," the older man grumbled, "Another crazy person. What is a Brit doing in a Japanese hospital?"

"I've come to check on what has happened with our subsidiary office here in Japan. In other words, I'm the boss of the Japanese division of SPR." He gestured to Lin and Naru. The three men still gathered near the door once again exchanged glances.

As his eyes landed on Naru, Ishikawa-san growled and pointed at the boy, "You need to fire this hooligan. He's completely disrespectful to his elders."

Martin raised one brow as he looked at the man causing the ruckus. "It seems to me that if you treated the head of my Japanese division," Martin gestured to Naru, "as rudely as you have me without cause, there is little wonder if he shows you disrespect in return."

Ishikawa blinked and looked at the man addressing him, "Are you telling me that child is your head associate? Certainly you're lying. Who hires a child to do a man's job!? No child could head a company properly!"

"That 'child' has a doctorate and is by far one of the most qualified people I know to run our Japanese office. Now, Sir, I'd like to know your name and why you're claiming that my associate and his team are frauds."

Before the man could answer, Ayako made a disgusted noise, "Don't bother trying to talk reason to this imbecile. He thinks we faked the creature's body in his building. He also seems to think my patient's injuries and the assaults she suffered are nothing more than a show, all to get him fired."

Martin looked at the girl in his son's arms. With the position she was in, it wasn't hard to notice the bandages that ran down at least one of her calves, but on top of that, peeking out from beneath the hem of her hospital gown, he could spy what appeared to be large bruises on her inner thighs. Ayako continued in a huff, "The fact that she's been catatonic since before we took her out of his building doesn't phase him one bit. As far as he's concerned that was a lie as well. She came out of it less than 40 minutes ago and a good deal of that time she's been subjected to his idiocy and harassment. I am more than ready to call security and have Ishikawa-san here not only removed, but also banned from the building!"

Professor Davis looked at Ishikawa-san, "Let me see if I have all this correct. You, sir," he said, directing his comment to Ishikawa-san, "asked to speak with Taniyama-san, and were denied access because she was catatonic, but the first time she is left alone, you snuck into her hospital room, and harassed her?"

"I didn't harass her," Ishikawa-san denied loudly.

"What else is it called when you hold her like a hostage and demand to speak to her, Ishikawa-san," Naru asked angrily, still holding onto Mai.

"Have you even looked at the injuries she sustained on her legs," Martin asked the man.

Mai was embarrassed to realize the query had drawn the room's attention to her exposed legs and she tried to cover herself better, but her efforts were too late, even Monk, Yasu and John had come further in to look.

Martin was pleased when a frown settled on Ishikawa-san's face, only to sigh when the man stated, "How do you know that those bruises aren't just stage make-up?"

Yasu answered him with a counter-question, "What evidence do you have that those bruises aren't real, Ishikawa-san?"

Pursing his lips, annoyed that he couldn't answer the teen, Ishikawa-san moved on to ask, "Is there even anything under these bandages?" When he reached out to the bandage on her calf, Monk shot forward next to Naru and grabbed the man's hand before it could extend to it's target. "Yes, but we're not going to let you reopen her wounds to check. She's been through enough."

"There's no reason for me to trust you," Ishikawa-san declared, and he pulled his arm back.

From the foot of the bed, Martin turned to the girl in his son's arms again, and warmly asked her, "Do you even know this man, child?"

With tears in her eyes, Mai shook her head.

Gently Martin asked her, "Did you have any ill will against this man?"

With another shake of her head, Martin stated, "I thought not." He resumed addressing Ishikawa-san, "From what I've heard and what I can see, I can tell she's been through a good deal of torment. I wonder if she even knew what you were talking about or where she was being held captive. I can't imagine what it would be like to come out of that kind of torment only to be accosted like this first thing after reviving. Then afterwards, you accused both her and my associates of acting maliciously towards you and deemed them liars simply because you can't wrap your own myopic brain around what you can see with your own eyes both here and within your own building." After a pregnant silence, Martin turned to Naru and added, "Do I have all that correct?"

"That's the situation in a nutshell, Professor," Naru answered.

Martin nodded, "Ishikawa-san, I hope you understand that if you do anything else against this girl, both this young woman and SPR have more than enough reasons and testimonies to prosecute you for harassment and defamation of a minor."

The older man's features went pale. Seeing the change in the man's demeanor Martin suggested, "How about you and I find a private conference room where we can continue this discussion."

When Martin grabbed the now unresisting Ishikawa-san by the elbow, John volunteered, "I'll come with you, professor," and the two escorted the older man from the room.

Once they'd left the room, Naru whispered to Mai, "Tell me everything he did to you."

As she worked to tell him what happened, her words were low and muffled, broken by sobs and coughs, yet somehow Naru heard and understood every one. As she got to the part where Ishikawa-san reached out for her neck, her hands began clenching themselves into Naru's shirt. Naru responded, in kind, by holding her tighter. "He trapped me against the bed and covered my mouth. He kept demanding I tell him things. He...he told me that I was just like a c...common wh...whore." Naru clenched his fists and jaw, wishing he could go punch the man, but he resisted the urge in favor of allowing her to continue. Her distress was the more important concern, but Naru hoped his father gave the man hell in his stead.

After a particularly long coughing fit, Aria, who had moved to stand on Mai's other side, across from Naru, gently reached out and stroked Mai's back soothingly and handed over the tall cup of ice water she'd taken from the nurse. Mai took it from her and drank a few sips at a time til her throat stopped itching so much.

"I was so scared. I tried to escape, but he trapped me." As he held her and tried to calm and soothe her fears, Naru found himself wishing that he could heal her and take away everything bad that had happened to her. The troubled feelings in her heart made his own heart ache.

"You needn't worry about that man anymore. He'll be dealt with," Monk assured her.

In an attempt to relieve the sense of guilt he felt mixed in with her worry, Naru murmured quietly in her ear, "You've done nothing wrong, and you're definitely not a whore." He shook his head lightly to further articulate the sentiment. "The only thing you should worry about is resting and healing, so let's get you comfortable."

Aria began aiding Naru in getting Mai settled back into the bed, but as she started pulling the bedding back over Mai she saw the fresh blood seeping into the exposed gauze on her hip. "I wish you could relax and spend some time chatting with your friends. It would do you the most good right now, I'm sure. However, first," she looked to their resident doctor, "Ayako, you may want to check her wounds. She's bleeding on this side."

Ayako quickly took Aria's place next to Mai's bed and lifted the bedding long enough to scan Mai's bandages. Seeing the fresh blood staining the bandage on Mai's hip, she sighed. "Aria is right, you're bleeding again. I need all you men to step out of the room now. I need to check her wounds."

Aria stroked Mai's hair out of her face and smiled apologetically, "While you're being taken care of, I think I need to have a few more words with Ishikawa-san. If you'll excuse me," she muttered as she made her way out of Mai's room. "I'll be back in a bit, please don't worry." Aria said over her shoulder as she walked out the door.

When Naru made no move to leave, Ayako reached across the bed and shoved his shoulder. "Naru, I hope you know that when I say, 'All men out,' it includes you, too. I don't care if you're bonded or whatever to Mai now," Ayako seemed not to notice the blush that rose to Mai's cheeks at her comment, but the blush made Luella smile at the girl. Ayako thundered on, unrelenting, "You aren't her family or spouse so you need to leave."

Luella joined her son beside the bed, resting a hand on his arm. Naru glanced at his mother before leaning in close to speak quietly to Mai, aware of the eyes peering in from the doorway. "Mai, I want to stay with you, but," he glanced at Ayako's steely expression, "I can't. Would you mind if Mrs. Davis, the kind, sweet wife of my associate, Professor Davis, stayed with you in my place?"

Mai looked at the lady standing next to Naru and pulled him closer so she could whisper in his ear, "She's your mom, right?" Mai asked, then backed away, to search his eyes with hers for the answer.

Naru smiled and nodded, soothing at least a portion of her fear, "That's right. Would you be okay with that?" Although she was a bit unsure, Mai mutely nodded and let her eyes travel around the practically vacant room, before settling her eyes on Luella.

As reluctant as Naru was to leave Mai, he knew she would be in good hands. After brushing his lips against Mai's temple in a chaste kiss, he unenthusiastically released her to step away. The obvious gesture of affection made Ayako raise her eyebrows.

As her son guided her to stand closer to Mai, Luella realized just how important this relationship was to him. Indeed, the degree to which he cared for the young woman in the bed was too obvious to miss and she found a smile blooming on her face with how sweet he was being to the girl. She was even more surprised when he leaned close and whispered, "Thanks, Mom."

Mai watched Naru retreat to the exit. Taking comfort that Ayako would be staying with her, she turned her attention back to Naru's mom and attempted to speak at normal volume as she rasped out, "Pleased to meet you, Davis-san."

His mother replied, "I'm glad to meet you as well, Taniyama-chan. Please, feel free to call me Luella."

Even though she was a bit older, Luella Davis was rather pretty with minimally graying blonde hair and still bright, blue eyes. Her smile was gentle and welcoming all at the same time and Mai couldn't help but smile back and nod at the woman's request. When she made her own request to be called, "Mai," Luella's smile brightened and she responded, "It would be my pleasure, Mai."

As they continued to talk, Mai found herself shyly answering Luella's questions and basking in the motherly affection the woman openly displayed as Ayako carefully checked and redressed her wounds. Naru's mom certainly seemed like a very kind and caring lady and helped to calm some of Mai's anxieties after that strange man had verbally and physically accosted her. By the end of their visit, Mai found herself hoping that she would have many other chances to get to know Naru's mother better and, perhaps, his father as well.

August, Day 4, Early Evening...

It was several hours later when Aria slipped into the, now quiet, waiting room. The SPR crew had taken it over not long after Mai had been transferred to this floor of the hospital. With Mai now awake and on the mend, and with the IUD in place. She was now occupied with the hoard of friends visiting her, all grateful that she'd once again become responsive. After all the excitement and all the emotions crammed into the small space that was Mai's room, Aria was very glad for a moment alone. It felt like she could finally breathe easy for the first time since she'd had her vision that Mai was in danger. Now, all she found she really wanted to do was cry, cry for Mai and for how she'd failed to protect her heart sister, not only from the khiitani, but also from that rude, skeptical, old man.

The last thing she'd counted on was Ishikawa-san sneaking into Mai's hospital room and frightening her again so soon after they'd gotten her back. He'd upset Mai so badly that Aria feared she might retreat back into her own mind again, but Mai had stuck through it. Her reopened wounds had pushed Aria to her last nerve and she'd rushed to confront the man again, but her ranting at him hadn't done much good. Martin seemed to have a much easier time convincing the fellow that he'd taken things too far.

Aside from the distress and guilt she felt radiating off the man, Aria could only imagine his thoughts and actions were so warped because he, himself, dealt unjustly with others on a regular basis and that he had a guilty conscience about something. Surely that has to be the case, she now reassured herself. Since we first met him, he's seemed to constantly assume everyone else was using backhanded tactics to get money or to make him into a scapegoat…Her thoughts trailed off. She wanted to believe the man was a snake, but, without him, Mai might have been in khiitani hands much longer than she had been. At least we were able to save her from having to endure even worse things. The memory of Mai's dead eyes rose to the forefront of her mind. But it was still too much for her to handle...

Aria sighed as she took a seat in a darker and quieter corner of the waiting room. After slipping off her shoes, she faced away from the room and pulled her feet up onto the chair. Only after she wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face in them did she finally allow any tears to fall. Sobs wracked her body as she quietly gave in to her sorrow. In a mental haze of guilt and regret, she lost all sense of time.

Elsewhere on the same floor…

Now that the foreign feelings of worry and righteous indignation were finally starting to fade, Lin felt increasingly sure that they weren't his own. He also found himself curious as to whom they belonged because, in their place, an almost overwhelming feeling of sorrow and a deep sense of guilt were beginning to grow. His eyes narrowed, Whoever or whatever it is, is in desperate need of comforting. I need to get down to the bottom of this, but where could they be? He looked around as if he could spot whoever the feelings were coming from.

Even now, everyone else was taking turns comforting Mai, sharing their relief and joy that she was safe, and generally trying to help bring a smile to Mai's lips, even Luella. Somehow it didn't surprise him that the woman seemed to have taken a liking to the girl so quickly, especially once she saw how Naru interacted with her.

As Lin looked around the room, he realized that someone was missing from the remaining group: Aria. Now that he thought about it, he'd seen her leave the room shortly after they'd all been readmitted. He'd wondered why Aria had chosen to leave when she had, but now he was concerned that she hadn't come back.

Slipping out of Mai's room, Lin looked around. He could only wonder which direction the attractive, yet elusive woman had gone. He took a deep breath, trying to calm the feelings of guilt and sadness plaguing him...Well, someone, he corrected himself. He sighed. As much as he wanted to find Aria, he was conflicted by the barrage of foreign feelings tugging on his mind.

It didn't take long for Lin to realize that the foreign feelings wouldn't disappear until he helped whatever or whoever they were tied to. The feelings were similar in feeling to the wound and information reports his shiki directed at him, even if they were more intricate and vague. Though he wanted to track down the woman, he gave into his instincts and followed the feelings and let them lead him to their source. Might as well find out who or what is calling out for me, he reasoned. Near the end of the trail, however, he was surprised to find himself led to the doorway of the same waiting room that the entire SPR crew had invaded during the hours leading up to Mai's awakening.

Quietly slipping into the room, he took a look around. The entire room was quiet, almost empty, but he did catch sight of one person in a partially hidden chair in the far back corner of the room. Changing his angle to get a better look of the person, he was mildly surprised to find the missing woman curled into a tight ball within the chair she occupied. Aria's knees were drawn to her chest and her face was buried against them. Her whole body shook with her nearly silent sobs.

Even though he'd known what he was doing when he started following the emotions, it was still a shock to see who was on the other end. Standing still, his eyes widened in surprise, he tried to figure out the whys and hows of the situation. She's an empath, but it doesn't seem like she's trying to broadcast and she doesn't seem like she's out of control...If she was doing either, wouldn't the others have mentioned something, like being able to feel her emotions? Wait...does this mean we're bonded? But when did our eyes meet? She always kept looking away even when she'd just glance my way.

Lin cast his mind back through the last several days, looking for a time he had an extended period of eye contact with Aria. The only time he could remember was in the van, when they'd been outside the abandoned hospital after Naru had vowed to destroy Mai's attackers. Their eye contact had been short, maybe a couple seconds at best. Was that really long enough for a bond to form? He only had to look at the evidence in front of him, the woman crying before him and feel the foreign emotions still raging within him to confirm what he'd already known. I followed these emotions here. They belong to Miss McLoughlin, to Aria. I'm almost certain that this means that we're now soul bound as well. As happy as I am that it's her, shouldn't she have been bonded long before now? Don't most empaths tend to bond around Mai's age? He thought of how she avoided looking into men's eyes. The only exception had been Naru, but that didn't make sense. Why would he be the exception? It wasn't long before the obvious explanation that Naru was bonded to Mai filled his mind. Because she's an empath, she might have deemed him to be safe to look in the eye IF she'd sensed that he was already bonded. Could that be the reason she avoids looking into men's eyes? Has she been trying to avoid finding her bond mate?...But if that was the case, why would she do such a thing? An empath needs support from her bond mate more than anyone else would. I know Mother did.

His thoughts paused as he thought of his family. If it's true that we have bonded, my parents will be thrilled. Perhaps Mother will stop trying to introduce me to every new unattached empath she locates in the hopes that she can force a soul bond to form. He let out a soft sigh, thinking of all the young teens his mother had pointlessly thrown his way before he shook off the thought and quietly made his way over to the grieving empath.

Lin pulled up a seat next to her, contemplating how he could comfort the woman who had piqued his interest so quickly after they had become acquainted. Taking a chance, he stretched out his hand, laid it on her back, and began rubbing small circles that he hoped were comforting.

Aria jerked her face up from their hiding spot on her legs. Her tear streaked face wore a look of shocked surprise as her red rimmed eyes met Lin's gaze. Her eyes quickly darted away again just after she registered that the eye normally well hidden behind his hair was blue.

"Please don't cry," Lin said soothingly, "Mai is awake and she's safe now. You did what you could, so you mustn't allow yourself to feel guilty. We couldn't stop it from happening." He paused, remembering what had happened on the abandoned property, "None of us could. But we got her out as soon as possible. Instead of dwelling on what we couldn't do or beating ourselves up over 'what if's,' it's more important, now, that we do what we can to support her." He prayed that his words would help her.

"How…" she fell silent, trying to figure out how he knew how she was feeling. Taking some time to assess herself, she found her emotional shields still in place. They're still up. He shouldn't know what I'm feeling, but isn't what he's saying too accurate to just be a guess? If he could feel my emotions...it can't be...please don't be-

"Your eyes are beautiful. Why is it you won't look me and most other men in the eye," Lin asked.

Aria's thoughts paused as her heart began hammering in her chest with the unexpected compliment. She grasped at straws in her now blank mind, trying to come up with a safe way to answer his question. "I'm sorry if my doing so has made you uncomfortable."

"Not uncomfortable really...I've just noticed that you look Naru in the eye," he pointed out, unwilling to mention the small twinge of jealousy it had made him feel that first day.

"I do have my reasons," she proclaimed, glancing towards him without making eye contact. Her empathic gift was screaming at her to trust the man beside her, but she fought it. She wasn't even sure she could trust her gift at the moment, it hadn't even warned her that anyone was close.

"I'm thinking it's because you realized he was already soul bound to Mai," He hadn't meant for the thought to slip out, but it had anyway. Now that it had, he waited with baited breath to see if she would confirm or deny it.

Aria on the other hand was panicking at the fact that he'd figured out the answer so quickly and easily. He can't possibly understand my fears, or my guilt for that matter can he?...He mentioned guilt earlier, though, just after I'd been thinking about the fact that I couldn't even save Mai from going through the same thing I suffered so long ago. Once again, to her frustration, her gift pushed her to trust him. Unable to fully resist it this time, she asked, "Can I trust you? Can you keep a secret?"

Pushing himself from his chair, he knelt down in front of her. The position allowed him to look up into her face as he promised, "Anything you say to me right now, will stay only between us. No one else needs to know." He hoped she would relax enough to be open about what was going on with her.

She nodded slowly. "Understand," she began, "just about every single member of my family has been killed either directly by the Khiitani or by the humans who serve them and follow their every order. It took me a long time to see what was happening, but eventually I saw the pattern...how each of them were led to their deaths."

"And now, you think of Mai as a sister. You wanted to keep her from the Khiitani, but they got her anyway." Lin supplied.

She nodded and resumed speaking, "As far as avoiding people's eyes goes...while I'm unbonded, it's like everyone I meet is at risk of suffering the same fate my family suffered just because they're associated with me..."

Lin could feel a good portion of her unspoken distress. Trying to reassure her, he said, "Well, you have one less thing to worry about now."

Though she feared his answer, she couldn't help but ask, "What's that?"

"You don't have to worry about putting anyone at risk by making eye contact anymore," he said, hoping to relax her, instead she became more distressed.

"What? Why?" Aria's mind had already grasped the possible reason and the resulting fear grew and began overwhelming her to the point where she began hyperventilating. Aria knew she was losing control and worked quickly to re-enforce her shields. She couldn't let her emotions lash out and harm those nearby, especially not Lin, but that wasn't the only reason for the shields. The effort was also partially because she hoped they could also block out or somehow undo Lin's last words.

"Miss McLoughlin, please, calm down! Everything is going to be okay." He reached out, placing a calming hand on her shoulder. He could feel her violently trembling as her fears began to overpower her. What did I say wrong, he panicked. Isn't it better to only have to worry over one person than everyone around you? "Now you don't have to live with the constant threat that just anyone could be your other half."

"You don't understand! I resolved in my heart that I could not risk binding my soul to anyone, that I'd do everything in my power to make sure it never happened," she whispered brokenly, as tears slid down her face. "I didn't want my other half to end up becoming a target and being hurt by them! On top of everything I've already been through, I don't think I can handle a bond mate-my bond mate-being tortured!"

He made a shushing sound as he wiped away some of her tears. "Isn't it better this way? It's not like I'm powerless. I have been fighting ghosts and demons for a long time now."

"They're not just demons! They're powerful and brutal monsters!" Aria clutched her head and shook it in denial, "Oh, this can't be happening!"

"Please, calm down, just breathe. Take a deep breath and hold it." He tried to keep his voice calm and reassuring as he breathed deeply with her. "Now let it out. Another deep breath. That's it." They repeated the exercise until her breathing calmed somewhat and her trembling began to lessen.

Lin took a deep breath. "For generations, my family has taken in empaths hoping to facilitate soul bonds. I do believe you and I have started a bond. It can't be undone, we can only strengthen it. If you need proof, I followed your feelings and found you here. I even felt you strengthening your shields, but your shields aren't blocking me. I can still feel what you're feeling." He placed his hands on her arms and lightly rubbed them up and down. "You don't need to feel guilty that we've bonded and you don't need to feel guilty about what happened to Mai. I don't believe you're the reason why they targeted her, and you don't have to worry about me. I can handle myself."

She looked up at him in distress and shook her head, "You don't understand. They're heartless, strong and dangerous...and, with Mai...I saw it coming! I should have done more! I should have gotten Shibuya-san's number from Mai and called him myself." She paused, taking another deep breath to try to steady her nerves. "My visions revealed what they were going to take her and torture her and I wanted to save her from that! I didn't want her to ever know what that was like...to be forced against her will! It's taken me years to get over my own rape, but mine was done by their human followers. I can't imagine how much worse it will be for her, knowing she was raped by brutal monsters from a different world."

Lin froze. His hands slowly sank til they rested on her chair as he took in the information that Aria had also been raped, and he felt his own anger grow. My family should have been there to protect her! Where the hell were they when Aria was being put through all this!? He scoffed internally. We have prided ourselves on protecting empaths, but I now know two empaths that we failed to protect. He shook his head and focused back on Aria. "Listen to me, you are not at fault for what happened. From what I've seen, you have done everything you could to protect Mai. If it weren't for you, Naru and I might not have figured out what happened to Mai, and probably would have never found her. If you had played it safe, and stayed in Hawaii, things would have turned out much worse for her."

"I could never abandon Mai like that," Aria gasped out.

Lin shushed her softly and his hands returned to rubbing her arms reassuringly, "I know...I know you couldn't." As she began to calm he added, "You know...if everything had gone differently, Naru might still be denying his feelings for her."

"Perhaps," she admitted with a short chuckle.

Lin smiled in return, sagely adding, "He even said his eyes were opened by what happened and that helped him come to his decision to inform his parents so at least something good came out of it."

Aria paused, rubbed away a tear and looked up at him. "I see what you're trying to do," she gave him a small ghost of a smile, "and I guess you're right." She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and dried her eyes, "but even knowing I did my best, doesn't change the fact that I'm hurt because she had to go through any of that. If I could, I would take it all on myself and let her live her life peacefully."

"She will recover eventually, you know," Lin reminded her.

"I know she will, but she'll never be 100% the way she was before she was abducted. She'll be less trusting and generally leery of strangers, but with Shibuya-san's help, I'm sure she will get back a lot of what she lost. I'll also do my best to help heal some of her trauma, but I know that what I can do for her won't be the same as his steady support."

In all seriousness, Lin quoted something his mother used to say, "Every empath needs the support from their soul bonded mate."

"I guess you're right," she admitted.

Lin smiled at her before pointing out, "That includes you too, you know." When Aria only shook her head in denial at her own unease, he added, "There's no need to rush anything. I have no desire to push anything on you. I also won't let anyone rush us into anything that either one of us isn't ready for-least of all my family so I won't say anything to anyone about this unless you decide you want me to. I understand you don't feel ready for anything intimate and that you're scared about what it might mean for us in the future, but the bond is there and I don't want to deny it. All of this is just between you and I."

His words wrapped around Aria, his warmth, patience, forgiveness and understanding causing fresh tears, and allowing her a form of escape. She buried her face into his shoulder and soaked up his gentle caring. She felt his arms wrap around her and hold her close. I'll let him hold me just this once, she promised herself as she slipped her arms around him in return.

Neither saw the figure standing in the doorway of the waiting room, watching them with narrowed eyes. Madoka Mori frowned as Koujo Lin held the woman close. Whoever she was, they had yet to be introduced and she didn't like how intimate Lin seemed with the dark skinned woman. She'd had her sights set on the handsome, stoic man for a long while now and hated how the woman had swooped in out of nowhere and stolen his heart.

Madoka hadn't been able to hear their words, but their body language suggested they were far more intimate than she and Lin were. When she saw them begin to separate, she slipped back out of the doorway, and headed back towards Mai's room. She calmed herself down enough so that she could plaster on a smile before walking through the door. Addressing Naru, she said "Good news, I found Lin, but he seemed preoccupied comforting someone, so I thought it best not to disturb him." Naru's simple nod made Madoka want to yell in frustration, but she kept her annoyance hidden behind her cheerful mask and added, "The woman had long black hair and mocha colored skin. Who is she?"

Naru looked at her and said, "It sounds like Miss McLoughlin. She stepped out of the room quite a while ago. Hopefully, they'll join us soon."

Just as Naru finished speaking, Martin and John returned to the room. With one look at Naru's expectant face, Martin informed him, "Ishikawa-san has been dealt with. He has agreed to refrain from further attempts to talk with Taniyama-san." Martin looked at his son's calm, steely expression and wondered, not for the first time or the last, what was going through his son's head at that moment.

Ignoring the concerned look his father had directed towards him, Naru announced. "I want to talk with everyone once Lin and Aria have returned so, if you have to leave the room, don't go far. I don't want to have to repeat myself."

Luella placed a hand on his back, "This sounds rather important. Is everything okay," she asked, her eyes on her son.

Naru looked back to Mai, "It's hard to say.'"

Clasping her hand in his, Mai reassured him, "I'm sure everything will be fine, once you've explained everything."

As he continued gazing at Mai's face, his eyes softened. "Is that your intuition talking," he asked, a slight smile curving his lips.

Mai, her voice sounding steadier, replied, "I just know our friends. Everything will be just fine."

Monk and John left to grab a few more chairs and had only just finished setting them around Mai's bed when Lin and Aria returned.