Instantaneously, everyone jumped from their chairs and Clairice took them back to Kari's room, 207, for their last confrontation with the Child of Light.

/ \ / \

Creeping as quietly as they could into the room, they all stood beside Kari's bed, except for her family, who sat in the chairs beside her. They watched her have to breathe with the aid of a respirator machine, and the IVs had been left to give her all the help they could, but her face was deathly pale all the same. T.K. could barely restrain himself from holding onto her with all his might and never let go; he couldn't do that…he could hardly stand seeing her like this, on the very brink of death, being forced to breathe by a mere machine, needles stuck into her body from every angle possible. He felt arms surround him, and raised his head to peer into two pairs of eyes that could only belong to his Mother and Father. Each had an arm across his chest, praying that they could make the girl their son loved so dearly well again, but regretted with their whole hearts that they could do nothing. They were abruptly whipped from their thoughts, though, when one of the machines that T.K. guessed was the Life Support began beeping loudly, and many held their hands over their ears until Clairice pressed a button, and it stopped.

She turned to them and they saw a look of melancholy on her face they'd never seen before on anyone, and she looked toward the ground with her hands folded in front of her.

"I, uh," She began, but was forced to interrupt herself as tears erupted from her volcanic eyes, and Joe handed her his handkerchief as he stood beside her. She gave a very slight smile in thanks, and then turned back to them. "My only sister was…diagnosed with the same illness that your Kari has…when she was only seven. She held on as long as she could, as she was a fighter, but died five days later. I…can understand what you're feeling right now. She was older than I by no more than two years, but it was still like I was watching my little sister die, because I had always pretended that I was…older than she, which I was, maturity speaking. She was always the innocent one; she would…pick flowers when she was supposed to be minding the sheep back at our farm in the country. She'd make me flower bracelets, and I'd wear them until they turned brown and simply fell from my wrist. The last time she made one for me was four days before she passed away, and it dropped from my arm…the exact moment she died. This probably isn't making you feel any better, but I just wanted…you to understand that…you aren't alone. I'm sorry if I'm only making it harder on you." She refined as tears cascaded down her face like never before, and Joe escorted her to sit in the chairs outside the room.

"I-I'm sorry for breaking down like that, and causing you and your friends even more hurt, Joe." She remarked as she gingerly wiped her eyes in hopes that they'd stop leaking long enough for her to speak normally again, without the stuttering or pausing.

"Please don't worry about it. I'm…truly sorry for what happened to your sister. Um…if you don't mind me asking…how old are you?" Jo asked curiously.

"Seventeen. I graduated college at a very young age, and the same went for medical school. I was looking for a place where I could put my medical skills to work, and when I noticed the lack of doctors and nurses in this place, I decided to join up here."

"You must be very intelligent to have don't that. You should be very proud of yourself. So I…suppose that your…sister was…one of the six that was infected with HDIRD, correct?" He inquired cautiously.

"Thank you for the compliment, and, yes…my sister was actually the fourth known with the disease."

"If your sister was the naïve, childlike one…then I'm guessing you were the-"

"Serious, self-conscious one?" She laughed a bit. "Yes, I was. My mother always used to tell me to 'lighten up' and 'go join your sister in the flower patch, or play tag or something!', but I was always too busy tending to the animals and making sure I was what my Dad expected, even at five and younger. I miss those days… If you could go back and change anything about your past, what would it be?" She asked and gave him an adventurous stare. He leaned his head back against the white-painted wall and grinned.

"I don't think I'd change anything, except for my being a frightened kid who didn't exactly think straight. I always thought I had to protect everyone in our group, considering I was the oldest by a year. I got into some trouble involving a mountain when I let those emotions run high. Why? What would you change?" He suddenly saw that saddened expression in her eyes again, and he wished he'd never asked.

"I would have spent a lot more time with my sister instead of trying to be Daddy's little angel all the time. She would have loved to play with me, I know it; the way she smiled at me told me how much she wanted me to join her as she romped in the meadows, but I continued to do whatever I could to please my Father instead, and it wasn't until I lost her that I realized what I'd done to her heart."

"What do you mean?"

"After she died, I didn't know what to do with myself, and it was then that I understood what my sister had been going through; she'd been lonely and that's why she always asked me to come and play with her. She's hidden it from me because she didn't want to make me feel guilty, but really, all it did was make it worse after she'd already gone. I'd had the chance to play with her, but that chance was gone before I knew it. I'd simply refused to play around like that when I could be getting into a good college to help my Mom and Dad live better, but I was really missing out on both my childhood and my sister. Both had disappeared before I knew it, and there was no way to get them back. So, I decided that, since my sister died because of something involving the medical field, that I would join it and try to help others in the type of situation my sister had been in. Unfortunately, I later learned that there was no cure for her disease after all, and there were so few cases of it around the world that not enough was known to even begin looking for a way to cure it. I detested hearing that I couldn't help the ones who'd contracted her illness, and therefore I became an all-around nurse, one that would help everyone, but also those with such wounds in their hearts, those such as my sister. I just wish I could go back…" Tears rolled down her face and onto her lap, and Joe put his arm around her and comforted her until those tears that should never had been shed in the first place were gone from her beautiful blue eyes.

"If I may ask," The girl looked into his eyes as he popped a question off the top of his head. "What was your sister's name?" She laughed wryly.

"It hasn't been heard around here since I was a little girl… Her name was Mika, and it actually meant 'innocent' in my Mother's Grandmother's old Norwegian baby names book. My name means 'evil', at least, that's what it should."

"No, it shouldn't," Joe whispered tenderly as he plucked a few strands of her bright blond hair and laid it flat on her head. "Anyone who says that is sicker than anyone that's ever set foot in this hospital. You are one of the most caring and devoted people I've ever been blessed to meet, and that is the truth." She grinned a bit wider and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Joe..." She whispered, and laid her head on his shoulder as she drifted off to sleep after an emotional, exhausting day with the guy of her dreams beside her.

/ \ / \

"I…I don't know what I'm supposed to say," Tai began as he held onto his sister's hand tightly, grasping it with all his might as he stared into her grayish face and tears poured from his eyes; Sora had her comforting hand on his shoulder, but she, along with everyone else, were crying like they never had before. Then again, none of them had had to experience something like this, except for Ken and his parents when his brother Sam had died. Tai sniffed. "My only sister is twelve and on her deathbed, and I can't think of a word to say? Kind of ironic, huh?" He gave her a fake smile he knew she couldn't see. "I've been able to talk my entire life, and it's only now that I can't utter a word. Fate can be so cruel at times… I wish you could awake to see this, to see all these people who care for you; you are what some of them, like me, cling to in order to survive, and without you, we know we'll be wrecks. I know you don't want us crying over you like we are, or fussing over you like this, but we really have no choice in the matter. You're a friend, daughter, and a sister to some of us here, and nothing can change the fact that we love you more than ourselves, and we worry about you excessively because of that. We don't want to lose you, Kari…we love you so much. I just wish you could hear me, hear all of us, right now." He wiped his eyes and regained his composure enough so that when he stood, he wouldn't drip salt water all over the floor, but just as he was about to release his sister from his choking grasp, he discovered that his fingers would not come apart from her hand. Startled, Tai sat back down and stared at her face, looking for even the slightest hint of rekindled fire in her painfully slow beating heart, but saw nothing as the seconds ticked on.

Well, actually, when I said that Mika meant 'innocent' in Norwegian, I wasn't serious. I just made that up. The same goes for Clairice as well, and no, her name does not mean 'evil'. I'm not sure what I'm going to make it mean, but something like what Joe said. We're almost done here, people, a few more chapters or so, and it will be over! I don't even want to think about; I LOVE writing this story. Thank you ever so much to those who have reviewed so far! You're all so kind, and it really means a lot that you take the time out of your long reading days to review a story a young person like myself has written. Thanks guys! You ROCK!!

Also, please tell me what you think about the ClairiceXJoe thing! I'd really like your opinions, so please give me feedback! Thanks again:D ;D :) ;)