A/N: Really, just go straight to the chapter. You've been waiting long enough, haven't you? :)

I don't own anything.

Chapter Sixteen: Strong Enough

Mai awoke the next morning already expecting clothes on her bed and someone yelling at her to get up and make tea. She thought she heard the shelves move once or twice and she was sure she was just imagining the candlesticks bobbing as if teasing her.

Because she knew there were no clothes, no voices, and most importantly, no one there.

Mai got up and after dressing, gathered the things that were given to her the day previous – only a day previous. She managed to find her way to market, full of people chattering and laughing, going about their lives without a care in the world. Mai was able to buy a feast for herself with a single gold coin.

She found herself sitting behind a slab of wood with all her goods laid out for purchase in front of her.

It was strange seeing people alive. No more ghosts. No more enchantments. No room full of bodies.

"Beautiful things you have here," a voice caught her attention. Man looked up to see a man in his mid-twenties, blonde hair swept across his forehead. Mai blinked.

It was John.

Mai stood up, staring. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be.

"Th-thank you!" she said, bowing. "How are you—?"

And when Mai looked again, she saw the subtle differences. This man had deep brown eyes and a thinner face than John. And this man was alive. But the kind smile and the sweet voice were close to identical.

"I'm fine, although this weather could be better," he said, gazing over her things. He then looked up and asked, "How are you today?"

Mai gathered herself again, erasing her mind of her previous home. "I could be better. Do you see anything you like?"

In response, his fingers fell on a little teacup. Mai looked at it too. That looked just a little too familiar. And she didn't remember anyone showing that to her today. And then she realized – that was the teacup John had possessed. Mai snuck another peek at the John look-alike. How odd.

"You're staring."

Mai shook herself. The man was smiling at her, amused by it all.

"I'm sorry, but you remind me of…"

"I always 'remind people of.' Who is he?"

"…his name was John."

"He… pass on?"

"Sort of." Mai laughed, causing the young man to give her a look.

The cloudy day melded back into the mansion. She was back in the kitchen with her friends. Together they were laughing, smiling, without a care in the world. There was no time limit on their lives. They were happy. Free and happy.

"Miss? Are you okay?"

Mai blinked the tears away, shaking herself from the daydream. She couldn't pull herself fall enough of out of before hearing Naru's voice call out to her.

All those times they just talked about anything, nothing, something. She missed it. She missed him.

And she wasn't just about to let him wallow and die in his own curse.

"Oh my Gods."

"Miss? Is everything alright?" the John-lookalike repeated, the gleam in his eyes darkening to concerned. Mai started to dump her things back into her bag hastily. She took the teacup last, smiling at it, feeling the lump return to her throat. The mirror bumped up against her chest, tucked into her jacket inside pocket.

"Yes… yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry, but I just remembered there's somewhere I have to be."

The young man nodded, understanding. He hid a smile. "Of course, miss. Glad I could help."

When Mai looked up again, he had disappeared.

Mai rushed from the market as fast as she could, her bag of occult artifacts banging at her side. She couldn't run the full trek there, but there had to be some way that she could get back faster than walking. Her eyes drew over the carriages and horses and thought that just maybe someone wouldn't mind if she borrowed their horse for a while… as long as she returned it.

She approached a chestnut mare and petted its silky nose. It nuzzled up to Mai, and Mai figured that this was the perfect horse to… borrow. As long as she had food and water, she really wasn't doing any harm.

Mai had never ridden a horse before. She held the saddle steady and leapt up, steadying herself on the antsy horse. She gathered the reins in her hands, her heart beating wildly.

With one strong pulse of the reins, she was off, hurtling onto the path. The wind was cold, but nowhere near as cold as it had been when she walked here the first time. Again she saw familiar sceneries and hills, drawing up anger and hurt from the past.

But right now, that didn't matter.

To her left, she saw a hill covered in dark, tangled weeds. Something made her slow down the horse and stare.

By some miracle, through this harsh weather, that little pink flower was still there. Still alive in the mess of destruction around it. Heart rushed through her body and she kicked the horse back into motion.

Mai couldn't hide that smile on her face.

Mai charged through the thick forest, remembering how she had heard a voice telling her a story. Now that she thought about it, one who had been speaking sounded an awful lot like Yasuhara forcing his voice. From day one, they were waiting on her.

From day one.

And she had given up on them.

Mai flicked the reins again, speeding up. They rushed through the open gates and came to a rough halt in front of the manor. Mai tied the horse up and dashed inside, yanking the mirror out of her jacket. The place was silent, hopeless. Mai felt the guilt plunge deeper into her chest.

"Show me Naru!"

Mai wished she'd never left.

There he was, writing a letter. Mai could barely make out what it said, but as if the mirror knew her thoughts, it zoomed in. It was less of a letter and more of a surrender.

You will probably never return and never read this. On the chance that you do, I wanted to say I'm sorry. For everything. I'm gone now, and you'll never have to bother with the thought of me again.

The world swayed. Gone? What was he talking about? He wasn't planning on…

Oh, God.

The knife. She needed to find the knife. Through Naru's twisted view of the world, there would only be one way to go out in justice – by taking his own life the same way he had done his friends'.

Mai took off at a run, heading for the West Wing. No one would be over there, anywhere near their bodies. They had all given up hope, just like Naru. Mai swallowed the lump in her throat and ran faster. If she could just get the knife away from him, hide it somewhere he'd never find it…

Mai reached the West Wing without seeing anyone. It was some sort of a sick miracle, really. Unless Naru had already cleaned the knife… Mai shook the thought away. No. It wasn't possible. Naru wasn't that horrible.

He wasn't that horrible at all.

Mai bumped the door open with her hip and saw that the room was still dark. Now she could smell the blood and the tears and the despair. The knife was here somewhere, and Naru hadn't gotten to it yet. She remembered a glint from the last time she had been in here. She moved through the room blindly, trusting her mind's eye.

Her foot hit something solid and her hands found a table. She grasped at a rough handle and backed out of the room as fast as possible. Her heart raced and she leaned against the door.

The knife really was beautiful, and it didn't take much for her to understand why Naru had bought it. The hilt was gold, encrusted with the highest quality diamonds she had ever seen. Well, the only diamonds she had ever seen, aside from the translucent ones that Ayako had been wearing on the night of their party. Both parties, really. The night they had celebrated returning to their ghostly forms and the night they had all been murdered.

How could Naru have given up so easily?

Then again, how had Mai given up on them so easily?

She heard her heart beat once, twice, three times in her ears. The hallway was suddenly very warm, hot, sweltering. The world swirled and swelled underneath her. She felt powerful and powerless at the same time.

It was only then Mai noticed the blood on the blade before everything went red.

Save. Kill. Save. Save. Kill. Stop. Stop. Stop.

No.

Rage pulled her along the hallways. She knew where she was going. She knew where he was.

Stop. Stop. Kill.

The diamonds were rough under her fingers, digging into her palm.

Beauty caused pain.

Through her tinted vision, she saw his office door in front of her. She yanked the door open and heard it bang as she walked inside. Naru wasn't at his desk, but outside on his own personal balcony. He hadn't heard the door bang open.

An invisible wall dragged her forward, pushing her from behind. She adjusted her grip on the knife. The cool breeze of the approaching night greeted her.

She was trying.

"Na-naru, have you seen the quilt that was on my bed earlier? It-it's no bigger than half a meter by half a meter, and it was a patchwork with dark blue and maroon squares. Yasuhara-san said I should ask you!"

"No. No, I haven't. Why?"

"My mother made it. It's the last thing I have from my family; I need to find it!"

"I'll help."

Kill. Kill. Stop. No. The letter remained on his desk. The surrender.

He was weak. Weak. Mai couldn't take it. She couldn't contain the rage in her chest, in the air around her. He didn't deserve anything. Anything at all. He didn't deserve her, he didn't deserve his friends… he barely deserved his life.

Mai stepped forward. He hadn't noticed her yet. He hadn't noticed anything wrong in that goddamned perfect little world of his.

No. He didn't deserve his life.

"Did you see it was snowing?"

"Yes, I realized that when I woke up this morning. Have you never seen snow before?"

"I've seen snow before plenty of times – I had to walk all the way here, looking at snow the whole way. But it's always been so grey and… icky. I've never seen snow so pretty before! I'm going outside right now, come with me, please!"

"…why not? I can even show you around grounds and give you an official tour if you want."

She had to fight this. Had to. This was the curse taking a hold of her emotions, just like it had done to Naru those four years ago. So whatever the consequences, she had to stop this curse from taking total control. It wanted Naru's life. Maybe next it would want hers.

Why the hell hadn't she gone to Naru first before making sure he couldn't take the knife for himself? Maybe she had just wanted to prove that she could save him. That she was stronger than he was and could resist the knife's calling.

Naru's ego had rubbed off on her.

Mai was suddenly at the door.

She was dragged out of the water and fell against her rescuer coughing. The man holding her checked her pulse, wrapped a blanket around her freezing body, and balanced her in his arms. He stood and turned on his heel with the young girl clutched to his chest.

Naru himself carried her back up to the mansion.

The cold wind was strong. Naru held himself up against the ledge, and Mai was half-afraid he'd throw himself off.

"Naru?" she heard herself say. He whipped around and stared with wide eyes.

"Mai… you… you…"

The possession forced a smile onto her face. "I came back."

The words weren't of her own choosing. Neither were her actions. Something made her run forward and throw her arms around Naru. She felt him bring her into a hug of his own. She felt him relax in her arms, and she knew she should have been terrified.

"I came back for you."

The knife poised itself behind Naru's back.

"What I mean to say is… I just wanted you to know…"

"Yes?"

"Your father was a good man. That shows upon you, too." His hand cupped her cheek but fell away almost immediately. He cleared his throat. "I hope your trip is safe."

"I didn't think… I didn't think you'd come back," he said, trying to compose himself, clearing his throat. Mai buried herself closer into his chest. Her sane self was screaming, screaming, screaming. She had to get out of here. She had to free herself.

But she wasn't strong enough.

"I saw the note."

"That note means nothing now. With you here, it means nothing. I just can't believe…"

She was forced to laugh and watch the knife glint in the moonlight. It was beautiful, it reminded her. The knife was beautiful.

"You don't have to believe it, Naru. Our fairy tale isn't coming true anyway. That's why you took that book, right? That's why you hid the book from me. Because you knew neither of us were strong enough."

She felt him tense. He could tell. He could tell this wasn't her. Maybe she could get him to run. Or get him to notice that she was about to murder him. If only she were strong enough, things would all be right.

"Mai?"

The change in his tone sent shockwaves through her.

He was afraid of her.

"Naru? Thank you."

"I'm the one who should be thanking you, Mai."

Everything happened so fast. Everything fell. The world fell around her ears. Everything was hot and cold, left and right, up and down, all at once. There was screaming, there was silence. Heavy and light. Bright and dark.

The knife plunged.

And it was then Mai heard her voice tear everything to pieces.

"No! I love him!"

Her red glasses shattered. Mai let go of the knife, suddenly burning in her hands. Mai threw herself away from Naru, tears streaking down her face. Maybe, just maybe she'd made it in time. Maybe she had been strong enough in time.

But the knife had met its target. Mai saw that as Naru grasped his arm, swearing. He swayed and fell to his knees. She went down with him, speechless and helpless.

"Oh God… ohgodohgodohgod. Na-naru, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He didn't say anything. He fell back against the wall, eyes shut. Pain decorated his pale face. He wasn't going to waste any of his energy on the girl who just tried to murder him. Sweat and blood made her fingers slick. This was much too close to Gene's death to be comfortable.

She couldn't let him leave her like this.

"No, Naru, please, please don't die. That was the knife talking, all the way up until the very end. I came back because I care about you. I came back

"I wasn't possessed at the very end. I love you, Naru."

Naru was very still.

Mai let herself crumple and sobbed.

She just wasn't strong enough.

"Mai?"

A hand fell on her shoulder. Mai jumped and swiveled around, gasping for air.

What she saw wasn't possible.

Ayako stood there, beautiful even in the face of death. Long red hair hung over her shoulders in waves and her brown eyes were filled to the brim with shock and concern. Mai threw herself into Ayako's arms before she realized what had happened.

"Mai, sweetie…" Ayako said, her breath against Mai's ear. Mai shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was stronger. I'm sorry… I'm so sorry I left. And now I'm sorry I came back." Mai cried harder into Ayako's warmth. Ayako tightened her arms around Mai. Mai heard more footsteps, more voices. She didn't want to face everyone else after this. She didn't want to turn around and see what she had done to Naru.

Terror ravaged her. This was the fear that had gripped Naru after the death of his friends. No, he had it worse. He had this fear in sevenfold. She hadn't understood what he felt after the possession had broken on him. She had yelled at him for it, berated him for it. And Mai wasn't alone. Naru had been alone.

Guilt piled on.

The tears wouldn't stop.

"Mai, there is nothing you have to apologize for," Ayako said, her voice soothing. Mai didn't understand.

"What are you talking about? I gave up on you all, I left when I knew I belonged here, and now… now Naru's dead! I murdered him!" Tears splattered everywhere – on her shirt, on her arms, on Ayako's priceless dress… but none of that mattered.

"Mai… don't you realize?" Ayako gently pulled away, letting Mai look at her again. Mai didn't understand why she was smiling at first.

"We're alive, Mai."

Mai blinked, straightened up. Ayako's touch was warm, her skin a pale pink, her cheeks flushed… the young woman was no longer translucent, monochrome… no longer a ghost. Mai's knees buckled as she saw everyone else in the office, alive and well.

Bloody, but alive and well.

Ayako supported her. Mai turned to stare at Naru, still crouched against the stone barrier.

"But… but then, Naru…?"

"If Naru was dead, we would be too, Mai," Lin said, kneeling next to him. "The curse begins and ends with him. The wound you gave him isn't something to be overlooked, but our Naru is far from dead."

Relief washed over her like a twenty-foot wave. Then it was time for hugs, more crying, and laughing. God, she'd never heard so much laughing in this house, much less this room itself. Everyone was bright and awake, like they had spent the last four years simply asleep. Their touch was so comforting.

It didn't take long for Naru to wake up.

Lin broke the news simply by standing outside of Naru's bedroom.

He called out, "Mai. There's someone who'd like to speak with you."

Mai broke away from Takigawa's embrace to dash into the attached room. The door shut behind her silently, but Mai heard the sudden outburst of whispers from the other room. She ignored them. She had much more important things to attend to.

There he sat on his bed, one sleeve torn off and his arm bandaged. His hair was mussed, but his eyes were clear. They were clear for the first time – a shining navy blue that caught her off-guard. He looked sort of like a rogue hero, returned home from a long, perilous journey. In a way, that was exactly who he was. And in a way, that wasn't him at all. He had been the damsel in distress, too.

Mai stood there, waiting.

There wasn't much to say.

After nearly murdering him and then confessing her love, she had pretty much covered all the bases.

"Come here, Mai."

She walked over, managing to keep her head. She sat down on the bed next to him, but could only stare at the bloody bandage.

"If you ask anyone out there, they'll say I deserved it." Naru read her mind, like usual.

Mai cringed.

"It's an incredibly small price to pay for what I've done."

Still, there were no words for her. None at all.

"You are not to blame yourself for anything that went on here tonight. Do you hear me? You are not to blame. You saved each and every one of us."

"How do you do that?" Mai burst suddenly. Naru looked confused, his mouth hanging open, like he had been ready to say more. He still had words left.

"Do what?"

"Read my mind like that! You've done it millions of times and I just don't get it!"

"You wear your heart on your sleeve, Mai. I can read all your emotions because it's all on your face."

Mai sat there, thinking.

"Really? All my emotions?"

They both knew what she meant. Mai felt herself blush, feeling proud that she had managed to bring it up again so quickly. Naru just didn't know what to do with her.

She only had one more question for him. Mai was almost sure she could read his mind to answer this question, but it was far more fun to ask and see what answer she received.

"Naru… how did I break the curse, exactly? I mean, I did it, obviously, but… how?"

He stared at her. The whole scene went flashing by their eyes again. Naru leaned in close, so close that she felt his lips against her ear, thrilling and intoxicating.

"Someone had to fall in love with me."

…that was all? That was the whole secret that everyone had been trying to keep from her. She almost leaned back to protest the unnecessary secrecy. But Mai was glad that she had waited a few seconds longer to pull away.

"And I had to fall in love with them in return."

A/N: Please review, and tell me your thoughts! I love feedback!

And please keep your eyes out for the epilogue!