Chapter 6

Heero sat with Jen in the cafeteria. He watched her for a moment as she picked up a warm cup and took a sip of her tea. Setting the cup down, she looked at the man, eyes full of concern. She wondered where she should start, if she should explain everything to the man.

"Well?" she heard him ask.

Jen only nodded. "You see, the Gatekeeper guards the gate."

"What gate? And what does this have to do with Sakura?"

"Hold on." She understood Heero was upset, but she did not like to be rushed. "The Gatekeeper… She lives an unfortunate life, never leaving that world, never having a life of her own… until the next Gatekeeper comes along. In most cases, it's centuries before that happens. She loses her life, and the life before that."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, she looses the human inside herself. All she knows is death. All she knows is to protect that Gate, to protect the spirits. She knows people… Who they are… What they are. How they died. How they lived their lives. Everything. But she doesn't know about her own life. It's wiped completely from her memory."

"Why would they do that?"

"So she could live as their puppet. So she isn't curious. So she doesn't disobey them… Mostly so she doesn't get hurt." Jen shook her head.

"What do you mean get hurt?"

"Hold on. Anyway, all spirits enter her world, ready to step through the gate, but they have nine days to make a decision."

"Decision? What decision?"

"One, you can go to Heaven and be reborn. Two, you can remain a ghost and haunt anyone of your choice. Last, you can take revenge upon someone, but then you would go to Hell."

"Go to Hell?"

"Don't worry." Jen smiled and took another sip of her tea. "Sakura isn't the type to take revenge, no matter what. That's what she has you for. But see, the thing is, the Gatekeeper only deals with dead people."

Heero stared at the woman, trying to mask his worry. "Does that mean that…?"

"Sakura may already be dead."

Heero shook his head, unwilling to believe this. "But Duo clearly said she's dies in nine days."

Jen blinked, setting her cup down. "What?" She leaned back in her chair, thinking it over. "That's impossible. No one can enter the Gatekeeper's world unless they're dead…" She was confused now. "So that means that there is a chance to save Sakura… I'm going to need to speak with Duo." Jen blinked when she saw the worried and scared expressions on Heero's face. They were very unusual, but she's seen enough of it the past couple of days to not feel weird about it. "Don't worry. If there is one thing that the Gatekeeper does do is take care of her spirits. She's very protective over them, and I'm sure if there were one to wander into her world that wasn't dead, she'd do everything to return that person… Even if it meant leaving her world for a little bit."

Heero stared up at the girl. "Is that a bad thing?"

Jen nodded. "See, the reason that the Gatekeeper is told never to leave her world, there are people outside it that want her powers, the power to control spirits. While the Gatekeeper doesn't actually control spirits since they disappear for good after nine days if they don't make a decision, she has access to the other worlds, like Hell and Heaven. There you can find long-lasting spirits. They can be controlled."

All this information was confusing Heero. He had so many questions. He heard Jen stand and looked up at her. She was being paged. Of course, he'd already taken up enough of her time. As he watched her head towards the door he thought of one more question that he couldn't let wait.

"Mizuno."

Blinking, she turned back at the man. "Hai?"

"How do you know so much about the Gatekeeper?"

Blinking once again she laughed. "Next time." She then disappeared through the door, leaving Heero there to sit alone.