A/N:

Well here we are folks, the conclusion to Saving Shizuru. I've had a blast with it and have re-kindled my love for writing once again. Congratulations to all who figured out the identity of the dark one. I think this person makes the most sense to be romantically linked with Nao. I have had many people tell me they'd like to see ShizNao consummate, while I have also had many death threats in regards to preserving the sanctity of ShizNat lol. Please continue to review as I'd like to get everyones thoughts on the story as a whole. I will also be posting one more chapter called The Aftermath, detailing what happened to all the characters once things returned back to normal. Well as normal as they can be for our beloved Himes/Otomes.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Mai Hime/Otome or anything else affiliated with the franchise.

Chapter 8

Nao froze completely as Shizuru stood at the door to her bedroom. Shizuru made her way over to the side of the bed that Nao was currently occupying. She leaned down , staring directly into Nao's eyes, as she planted a small kiss on the younger girl's cheek.

"Shi..Shizuru?" Nao asked confused.

"Shhhh my Natsuki." she whispered as she wrapped her arms around Nao's shoulders pulling her into a warm embrace. Nao's heart was racing as the older girl continued hugging her tightly. It was as if she could feel the love pouring out of Shizuru and in turn seeping into her.

Do you know what you're doing Nao? Have you made a decision? She's here...the time has come. Find the words to tell her what she means to you. What she means to me? What does she mean to me?

Nao was tired of fighting her inner self. She didn't want to over think the situation for one more minute. She had to feel her way out of this. She had to see where this led. You only have one chance in life to do the right thing. She had to know what the right thing was for her heart. She knew it was selfish, and she scolded herself , for forgetting all about the future ShizNat, and concentrating on her own immediate needs.

"Shizuru..." Nao breathed heavily. "Take your clothes off." she said her mouth lingering slightly above Shizuru's ear. "Join me in the shower."

Shizuru looked stunned as Nao lightly stroked her hair, stopping to rest her fingertips on the back of Shizuru's neck. She wasn't used to Natsuki being the aggressor, but she definitely knew she liked it.

"I'll meet you there." Nao once again whispered into the brunette's ear as she got up and headed to the bath, easily removing her clothing on the way. Shizuru was right behind her and soon the two found themselves locked in a passionate embrace.

This time, Nao was the one to take charge as she began to eagerly help Shizuru out of her clothes. She pushed Shizuru roughly against the sink as her hands found their way to the waistband of Shizuru's underwear. Hooking her thumbs into the soft fabric, Nao pulled the remaining article of clothing from the ex-kaichou's luscious body and began to hungrily kiss her neck. Shizuru grabbed the back of Nao's head as she tried to steady herself against Nao's body, straddling the Meister Otome in the process.

Nao enjoyed the feel of Shizuru's legs entwined with hers, as she continued her descent from the older girl's neck to her chest. Shizuru had now begun to moan softly, rocking her hips, in a gentle rhythm.

Nao stopped momentarily to turn the shower head on. She lifted Shizuru up and into the shower with her. The water cascaded down the two lustful girl's bodies as they looked at each other, their lips once again pushing together. Between Shizuru's lips and the water falling into her mouth, Nao couldn't breathe.

She breathlessly pushed Shizuru back, as she quickly lathered her body up, letting Shizuru rinse her off. Shizuru was enjoying every second of this impromptu shower as she too lathered and rinsed while Nao began licking at her chest again.

Nao couldn't take it anymore. She was about to burst. All rational thought had left her head and she had one goal and one goal only. She was going to have Shizuru. As the water continued to drip from Shizuru's amazing body, Nao let her hands roam up and down the older girl. Her skin felt amazingly soft and Nao closed her eyes as she slid her fingers down Shizuru's breasts, past her tummy, resting it between her legs. Shizuru's eyes went wide once again. She had not expected Natsuki to be so bold just yet, and she was determined to enjoy this for as long as she could.

Shizuru grabbed Nao's hand, blocking her from going any further, she brought the hand to her mouth and kissed it softly.

"Tease." uttered Nao under her breath, just loud enough for Shizuru to hear her.

Shizuru grinned and reached behind Nao, rubbing her chest deliberately into the younger girl's face. She turned the water off and exited the tub, leaving Nao standing there hot and bothered.

"I'd prefer to finish this in the bedroom." Shizuru calmly exclaimed as she motioned with one finger, as if to say "come hither".

Nao wasted no time in following Shizuru, as she tackled the Kyoto beauty to the bed. Shizuru giggled and whispered into Nao's ear. "Ara, I made my Natsuki come with one finger." she joked.

At that moment , she remembered Natsuki, and the reason why she was supposed to be here in the first place. She tried hard to shake the image of Garderobe's Principal from her mind but to no avail.

Her mind began to race, as all the images of Natsuki and Shizuru and their happiness swirled around her head.

Leave it to Kruger to cause the ultimate cock block...

Shizuru could tell something was wrong, and looked up at Nao. "Are you ok?" she asked softly.

Nao looked back , staring her hard in the eyes, as if searching Shizuru's soul. This woman truly loved Natsuki with her whole heart. Loving someone like that, was something Nao had never experienced up until this moment. When you truly care for someone, you do what's right. You let go of your own selfishness and concentrate on them. Nao's heart thumped loudly, as if ready to spring from her chest.

My chest hurts...why does it feel so heavy? Is this love? Is this what it means to care more for someone else's happiness then your own?

Nao looked once more at Shizuru and she realized she couldn't do this. She couldn't go through with it. Instead she wrapped her arms protectively around the older girl, holding her to her chest. She kissed the side of Shizuru's face and slowly, words she never believed she'd ever hear herself speak, tumbled out of her mouth.

"I love you, Shizuru." she said, as she felt her eyes begin to water.

Shizuru was caught off guard at the sudden emotion her most important person was showing. She leaned up capturing Nao's mouth with hers, sweetly kissing her beautiful girlfriend before she spoke. "I know Natsuki. I know you love me. I feel it." she smiled, holding Nao tightly, as if she would slip away at any moment.

As the two girls embraced on the bed a white light appeared and shone down from the ceiling. Nao immediately began to experience a euphoric feeling as she closed her eyes, realizing what was happening.

So this is it? It's finally over? Is Viola ok? Why does my chest still hurt?

Natsuki Kruger was trying unsuccessfully to keep her eyes open. She had been keeping a vigil at Shizuru's bedside since the day the woman had fallen into a coma. Natsuki found herself sitting beside Shizuru's bed. She had been holding onto the beautiful woman's hand, squeezing it periodically, hoping for some response, anything to let her know her lover would be okay.

Natsuki's eyes kept rolling to the back of her head as she rocked back and forth to keep from falling asleep. Every so often she would actually fall asleep and then wake up as her head would roll backwards hitting the stone wall behind her. As she struggled to keep from entering sleep once again, her thoughts were interrupted by a voice.

"Ara, Natsuki is so cute when she falls asleep, while trying so hard not to fall asleep." a teasing voice whispered into her ear.

"Shizuru!! Stop calling me cute. Cute is for small animals and babies." hissed the Principal, half asleep. It took her a moment before the words from her lips registered in her ear.

Shizuru?? SHIZURU!!!!

Natsuki's eyes snapped open as she turned her head to look at the beautiful woman on the bed. Shizuru smiled back playfully. Natsuki sprung to her feet, flinging herself onto Shizuru's bed and into her lover's arms. She savored the embrace, closing her eyes and settling into Shizuru's ample chest.

"Well My Natsuki certainly seems happy to see me at the moment." Shizuru said kissing the top of Natsuki's head.

"Shizuru, I'm ...I'm so sorry! I never meant for something like this to happen. I love you damnit! I really love you! And uhh...well it's not that I couldn't live without you if it had to be." she gulped staring the crimson eyed girl down. "It's that I don't want to live without you." she finished, wiping tears from her eyes as she said it.

"I love you too my Natsuki." Shizuru replied softly. "Natsuki must fill me in on the events of the past few days." she stated seriously.

"Of course but, Oh yeah I need to tell Yoko and Haruka and the others that your okay." Natsuki exclaimed running to the door.

Shizuru looked at the clock. It was early in the morning. She wasn't sure if it was because it had been a few days since the last time she and Natsuki had been intimate, or if she was just turned on by Natsuki's sudden emotion, but Shizuru was against an audience at the moment.

"Natsuki, why don't you let them sleep a while longer as I can think of a few things Natsuki can do to pass the time with me until then." the Kyoto beauty grinned mischievously.

The Principal caught her eye and once again jumped on the bed, pushing herself on top of Shizuru and running her tongue along Shizuru's lips. Shizuru closed her eyes, completely content to let Natsuki have her way. It was going to be a long morning, yes a wonderfully long morning.

Nao felt a groggy sensation and opened her eyes to find herself face to face with Shinso-sama. Before Nao could ask any questions Fumi spoke.

"Juliet Nao Zhang, congratulations on saving Shizuru's life. You did well. You should be proud of yourself." Fumi beamed at Nao.

Nao knew she should be ecstatic at the revelation of saving Shizuru and the prospect of finally going home. Yet for some unknown reason she had her hand to her heart, clutching it ever so slightly.

"Shinso-sama." Nao began slowly. "Why all of a sudden was I able to return?" she questioned.

Fumi smiled once again at Nao and put her hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Because you loved her." she replied simply.

Nao's eyes registered shock and confusion and she found herself clutching her heart tighter.

"You loved her, and she believed you. She finally truly believed in Natsuki's love for her, and it's all thanks to you." Fumi replied.

"Hai Shinso-sama, I understand now." she paused.

"Allright Nao you still have one last job to do before you can return home. I think you know what that is." Fumi placed her hand into Nao's and Nao bowed down, kissing it gingerly. Power was transferred from Fumi to Nao as the Otome began her final task.

Natsuki Kuga was in a complete state of panic. One minute ago she had been in her apartment asleep, and the next she woke up naked and in bed with Shizuru. Natsuki racked her brain to come to any conclusion on how this had happened. Shizuru was looking at her intently.

WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING???

All of a sudden Natsuki felt a warm feeling surround her. Time stood still as she was engulfed by the thick white light. As she surveyed her surroundings she found herself face to face with a familiar figure.

"Nao-chan???" she cried out, more confused then ever.

Nao took a slight amount of pleasure from Natsuki's state of confusion and chuckled as she replied. "Well not exactly."

Before Natsuki could say anymore, Nao pressed her palm firmly to the younger girl's head, allowing all the memories of the past few days to flood into Natsuki's mind. Fumi had made it possible for Natsuki to remember the events of the past as if she, herself had in fact lived through them. Which technically she had.

As Nao finished inserting the memories into Natsuki's mind she couldn't help but envy the younger girl.

Whatever you do, don't fuck this up again Kuga. You are so lucky...don't forget that...

Nao then silently whispered her goodbye to Shizuru as both she, and the light disappeared from the bedroom.

Everything once again returned to normal and Natsuki turned to face Shizuru.

"Shizuru..." she trailed off, as if really seeing her girlfriend for the first time.

Natsuki had no idea why but she felt wonderful. That was the only way to describe it. Wonderful. Wasting no more time, she wrapped her arms around Shizuru again , hungrily finding her lips. Natsuki began sucking on Shizuru's bottom lip as she pushed the older girl under her body. Shizuru decided to make her wolf pup work for it, as she struggled against Natsuki's body, only succeeding to intensify the heat between the two girls.

Finally Natsuki grabbed Shizuru's wrists and threw them above her head, onto the pillow, holding them down tightly.

"You like that?" she grinned as she lowered her mouth down to Shizuru's chest. She began to tease Shizuru, lightly darting her tongue back and forth, over Shizuru breasts. Her hand fell down below between the older girl's legs, as she used her thumb and forefinger to ease them open. This time Shizuru didn't resist, in fact she spread her legs wider, as if handing Natsuki an invitation.

Natsuki was completely hot at this point. Her fingers were making their way up and down Shizuru's sleek thighs. Shizuru wrapped her arm around Natsuki's neck and was moaning softly into her puppy's ear.

After what seemed like an eternity to both girls, Natsuki finally pushed her fingers up and inside of Shizuru. Shizuru's eyes rolled to the back of her head, as Natsuki began rocking her fingers back and forth, thrusting them deeply into a very wet Shizuru.

Shizuru looked up at Natsuki, desire apparent on her beautiful face. "Mouth Natsuki...I want your mouth." she pleaded.

Natsuki didn't waste another minute, as she lowered her head between Shizuru's legs and began making love to her hot girlfriend. After many hours of enjoying and exploring each other's bodies, the two girls fell into an exhausted heap, holding each other tightly, never wanting to wake up from this dream.

Natsuki didn't know why, but she felt as though she had been given a second chance of some kind, a chance to truly have a happy life with Shizuru. Gone were the doubts she once harbored, replaced only by love. Strange though, she could have sworn she heard a small voice in her head telling her not to fuck it up. Natsuki shrugged it off and once again concentrated on the older girl beside her. It seemed both past and future ShizNat were in for a nice long night/morning of loving.

Nao was about to be sent home by Fumi, when she was struck by a thought. Her hand was once again clutching her chest, as she asked Shinso-sama for one last favor.

"Do you think we can make a quick stop first? I know it's crazy, and you only have limited power, but there's someone I'd like to talk to first, if that's possible." she rambled on.

"Allright Nao. I will grant your request. You deserve it." Fumi smiled and leaned over to hear what Nao had to say.

Nao looked a bit embarrassed before speaking. "I'd like to see Yuuki Nao one more time please." she stated.

Fumi's eyes registered surprise for half a second, before she nodded and Nao once again began to feel lightheaded. Nao's last thought as she was transported to meet the past incarnation of herself was to hope that the younger Nao would at least give her a chance to speak.

Nao's eyes opened, and as they adjusted to the dimly lit room, she noticed immediately that she was standing in front of a door. She stopped to question herself before entering. She knew the younger version of herself probably wouldn't listen, but she felt she owed it to her to at least try. She needed to tell Nao how important people were, and that you can't just shut yourself off from life.

Crap did I just think that? I really am in an alternate universe aren't I...since when have I cared about people? Or love? Or friendship?

All of a sudden she felt a sharp pain in her chest again. Her breath was taken away instantly. Her chest had been tight and sore since she had left Kuga's body and she wasn't quite sure why.

Placing all thoughts of her self out of her mind, she pushed the door to the small room open, waiting to see the young Nao. Instead her eyes caught the site of two figured, curled up in a large queen sized bed.

Oh what the hell...don't tell me she's sleeping with a guy? I can't believe this girl!

Nao was seething as she marched over to the side of the bed, intent on killing the poor guy who , she was sure, had taken advantage or the younger redhead. Nao was in for quite a shock though, as she lifted the cover off the two sleep bodies to reveal, not one, but two very familiar faces.

NINA CHAN?????

There was Nina, or at least this world's version of Nina, curled up tight against Nao. Both girls were naked, and Nao's mind immediately realized what had probably taken place earlier in the evening. Nao had truly thought that she could handle any more surprises thrown her way, unfortunately this was just too much for her to process, and she stumbled backwards, onto the floor. Her mind was racing.

OK so if ShizNat in this world has some sort of affect or parallels ShizNat in my world, then would Nina and Nao here, mean Nina and Nao in the future?? What does it all mean?? Nina-chan? I mean really!! Who knew? She's sorta cute I guess...I mean she's really cute when Arika touches her in that spot she hates...and then she makes that sexy sound...and pretends like she doesn't like it...but I bet she does...Hehehe yeah that is hot...Oh I think I just gave myself a nosebleed...

Luckily for Nao, Fumi arrived then tissue in hand, before she could continue her Hentai daydream. "I think we should let them sleep ne?" Fumi giggled and helped Nao up off the floor. "And it's time for you to return to your proper time and place."

Nao felt the bright light surround her for the final time as Fumi kissed her forehead and sent her hurling back to the future, back to Garderobe, and back to a big surprise.

"Awww crap...that hurts." Nao said as she found herself lying face first on the cold hard ground. Nao knew right away she was back at Garderobe. She wasn't surprised to find the control room empty, as she guessed with the awakening of Shizuru, everyone was probably upstairs fussing over the Graceful Amethyst.

What no welcoming committee for the conquering hero?

Nao briefly let the thoughts of her time with Shizuru play one more time in her memory before tucking them far away inside her mind. She had realized while talking to Fumi that although Fumi claimed Nao had "loved" Shizuru, that wasn't necessarily the case. Nao had loved all the things Shizuru stood for. Having never had anyone stay by her side so vigilantly or profess their love with such conviction las Shizuru had, she had fallen in love with the feeling of finally not being alone.

I'm just glad I have no lingering feelings for the Shiz or that would definitely be awkward. I hope Natsuki doesn't ask any uncomfortable questions...although that might be fun...hmmm seems i'm returning to my old lovable self...hehe...

As she got up to dust herself off, she once again felt that pain in her chest. She fell to one knee grabbing the spot where her heart was located.

"It's because it's two sizes too small." joked a voice from the darkness.

Nao looked to the darkness in surprise, recognizing the voice instantly.

Nina emerged from the shadows, walking slowly towards her onee-sama. "I was worried about you ya know?" she smirked.

Nao didn't know what to say. Her usual wit and humor was gone as she could only stare at the purple haired Otome with her mouth open.

Nina didn't mind though as she engulfed Nao in her arms, hugging the older girl to her chest. "Don't scare me like that again." Nina whispered dangerously close to Nao's ear as she reached out and placed her own hand on top of Nao's heart. She could feel the beating get faster.

Nao looked at Nina good and hard and then she did something she would have never suspected. She leaned down and kissed Nina full on the lips. The younger Otome blushed furiously but didn't move to break the kiss, instead Nina's eyes closed and she let Nao deepen the kiss with her tongue. Nina held on to Nao's chest as they kissed passionately, neither one wanting to let the other go. Before Nao knew it, the pain in her chest had disappeared, replaced with a familiar feeling of warmth.

This is...I mean is this? Love? Oh hell I'm tired of trying to figure this whole love thing out...just makeout with the hot girl Nao! And maybe touch her in that spot she likes...hehe...

As the two girls continued their passionate reunion, they fell to the floor, kissing and touching and enjoying each other. Unbeknownst to them, two dark figures were watching from a pillar high above Yoko's desk.

"Love is good right Mai?" said Nekogami, turning from the scene below to look at the Meister of Tragedy.

"Yup." Mai said grinning.

"But you know what's EVEN better Mikoto??" she continued, hugging the young neko to her chest while handing her a large pair of binoculars.

Nekogami looked confused.

"VOYEURISM!!!" Mai exclaimed happily, and produced her own pair of binoculars.

Both girls then continued to watch Nao and Nina's lovefest down below as the sun began to rise, and another day began in the always exciting Kingdom of Windbloom.

THE FREAKING END! Finally! This chapter took forever to write!

LoL so what did you think? Like it? Hate it?

Just a quick explanation about Mai Hime Nina. She is seen in class with Tate and Mai and although she is apparently billed in the credits under a different name (chun mei), she looks the exact same so I'm gonna say she's Nina. I think Nina makes the most sense to be paired with Nao, especially after watching their little adventure in Mai Otome Zwei. It is obvious that Otome Nao, unlike her Hime counterpart cares for the younger girls at Garderobe.

Anyways THANK YOU to all who waited patiently for this. The next chapter is just plain crackity cracky goodness. Take care and peace ;)