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Disclaimer: Blood+ is not mine

Chapter Fifteen/ Epilogue

The all too familiar feeling overcame me. Swimming…drifting…twisting in the sea eluding time and space and reality. Blurs…comprehended into shapes. Shadows. Faces. Smiles and voices. Screams and blood. Always blood…Suddenly I'm hungry, clawing my way out into the night. Breathing in true air, my lungs sputtering to keep up with the wind I had not been accustomed to for a very, very long time.

Thirty years.

And he was right there.

Playing his cello in the soft, buttery light of the moon sat Hagi. Right on the steps to this godforsaken place. Before I could open my mouth to mold a single word, perhaps his name, he had already drawn his eyes up to meet mine with a smile. "Saya…" Deep voice, throaty.

And now I'm sinking into him, my hair draped behind me like a midnight veil. It stretched across the stone in dark tendrils, and I realized how badly it needed to be cut. A faint memory fluttered in the pockets of my mind…That red-haired boy cutting my hair. Kai? Yes, Kai. But he was an old man now. Alive, I knew, but how I could not say. I leaned up, so hungry…pressing my lips to Hagi's in a slight desperation for touch. More memories came back. David…dead. Julia…probably.

Sayuri. The twin that lived. Was she still with Kai?

I pulled away from Hagi with a sigh, thankful I had freedom at this point of awakening. Freedom I would pray to last. No beasts to fight inside or out, I pleaded to the wind. Wordless, Hagi hoisted me onto his back and walked towards the bar. As we walked through the streets, I was glad for the coverage my hair provided. Though evening, there were still plenty of people about. Old houses I had once recognized now seemed different. Updated? Refurnished maybe? Who knew.

Places change.

We reached the bar as it was closing. An old man was flipping the sign from open to closed, looking out into the dark and gasping at us. I stared at his eyes. Yes, it was Kai all right. Grey hair and a slight hunch now, but still undeniably Kai. I raised a hand to wave shyly, and he just stared at us for a few more moments in shock. Then he smiled. "I almost had it timed right this time. I was keeping up for the first twenty years!" he laughed, and I couldn't help but smile in return. "Guess I lost track…"

Then the awkward silence of lost time invaded that little portion of street. We followed him inside and I was relieved to see at least this had not changed. It would always be my home. "Kai? Is there somebody here?" The familiar voice had me straining through my memories.

"It's them, Mao," he sighed grumpily. "I told you I wasn't senile yet."

Mao! My eyes widened in shock at Kai, who merely shrugged as she entered the kitchen. "She convinced herself I needed looking after," he chuckled.

"My god…" Mao raised a hand to her mouth, not afraid just surprised. "I can't believe this is…oh my god…"

Then she passed out and Kai and Hagi carried her over to the couch to lie down. "I knew that would happen," Kai said.

After that, we sat in the kitchen and talked for hours, Kai informing me of what had occurred in the last three decades while cutting my hair. When he was finished, it was shorter and spikier than I was used to, but that was fine. I had changed too, after all. Why not my hair? The moon had already begun it's decent, and Kai's voice grew tired and low. "Yeah, Sayuri is asleep upstairs in Riku's old room," he said. "Saya…I just wanted to…apologize. We shouldn't hav-"

"Don't," I cut him off. "It needed to be done. You guys are safe, that's what counts."

Kai sighed in defeat and said goodnight. His old body winning the fight with his excitement. "You staying?" I teased Hagi, knowing the answer.

Hagi didn't reply, but instead picked me up and ran us up the stairs into my old room. That too, had not changed. After slipping into a nightgown, I walked down to Sayuri's room and peaked in. she had stopped aging, like me, I realized. Like her mother. I closed the door to her room and returned to mine. Hagi was standing by the window, staring out and up at the sky. I walked up to him and gripped his hand, kissing it as he had mine before I had fallen asleep.

Not needing a voiced request, Hagi picked me up and laid me down on the bed, climbing next to me. "You waited," I smiled, my hand raking through his silky hair.

"For you," he replied, kissing my forehead, nose, lips. "Saya."

"Hagi.." I breathed into his mouth, my hands digging into his back as I pushed myself against him.

And then we let our hunger consume us. Words were forgotten once again, only touch and taste and smell remained. Afterwards, I lay facing the ceiling, cool air on my face. I thought back to how my mind once twisted with the madness and cold waters and confusion. What changed, I wonder?

"Saya…" Hagi whispered into my hair, pulling me tightly against his warm body. "I remember."

I smiled.

We had reached the place of still waters.

THE END

A/N: Aghh! I hope this was better than the previous chapter. I just realized how horribly it was written, and I apologize. I hope you liked this story! I'm not certain as to what I'll write a fanfic for next, so…just look for me…I guess? If you want to of course. Please Review!