Time. It never has a concept of death. There is no ceasing it no way to slow it down. It is an endless concept. Created by man and then turned against him and became his enemy.
The Morning arrived and everyone slowly got out of bed not wanting to face the day ahead of them. As each member entered in the base they sat with gloomy faces.
"Where's Mai?" John asked.
"I'm assuming Lin moved her seeing as he is not here as well." Naru said distracted with reports.
"You know this is the second night Lin has neglected his work because of Mai." Monk whispered a bit loudly to John.
"I know. It's not like him to do that." Was John's reply. "He's always here in base."
Naru glanced behind him looking at the pair as he heard them whisper about Lin's absence. He smirked knowing he was neglecting work for Mai. He knew how the Chinese man felt even if that same man hated her kind it was inevitable. He continued work and waited for Lin to arrive.
Lin awoke feeling warmth pressed against his body. As he slowly opened his eyes he began to turn and adjust his body allowing him to stretch. He sat up and looked at Mai lying still as can be. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and pressed his lips to her forehead. He then stood and headed towards the door. As soon as he was out his phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller I.D.
"Modoka."
"Lin." She replied. "I have found the spell that you asked for. As for the herb mix, all I can say is that I need a little bit more time."
"Fine. What's the spell?"
Lin listened to Modoka and made mental notes as he walked to his room to change and get ready. Once she finished telling him everything she wished him luck and told him she'd contact him once she had the herb mix and was on her way. He hung up his phone and got ready. He headed toward base to notify Naru he would be leaving for some things required for the spell. He arrived and opened the base door.
"I'll be back. Modoka called giving me the information. The spell will be ready in a matter of hours."
"Good."
"Lin?" Monk spoke. When Lin had turned around looking at him. "Hurry up she's only got eleven hours left."
Lin nodded in response. He left the base and left the building headed to where he needed.
In the dream realm…
Mai and Gene were lying in a field starring at the cloudy sky picking cloud shapes out of the sky. It was now going on 9 am and she had ten hours left.
"You know, man created time as a concept to make things easier." Gene said suddenly.
"No, I didn't know that but it's nice to know." Mai smiled.
They stopped talking and just laid in silence. Hours continued to pass and Mai could feel death upon her. She knew her body was starting to separate from her spirit slowly.
"Well, man may have created the concept but it does not make anything easy." Mai said softly. "Today it works against us." She crawled over to Gene. "Today it is our enemy, like it is when all things we wish to never end, end." She felt Gene grab her hand. "Only five hours to go." Her voice was soft and filled with fear. "I guess all I can hope for is that it's not that painful right?" She smiled a teary smile at him.
"Oh, Mai." Gene pulled her close and hugged her tight as she began to cry.
"I'm not ready to go yet Gene. I'm not. I have so much to do. So much I want to do." She sniffed. "I didn't even get to say good bye. I didn't."
Gene looked down at her. "Then let's do so."
"Huh?" She looked up at him surprised.
"Write a note to Lin, Naru and everyone. Tell them what you want, say good-bye and I can promise you it will be delivered." He smiled softly at the small spark of hope he saw in her eyes.
"Really?"
He nodded. The scenery soon changed and they were in a room with a desk. Mai stood with Gene and she hugged him. "Thank you so much." She quickly headed to the desk and began to write her letter.
Meanwhile in the real world…
Lin was frustrated with how things turned out. It had taken him longer than he thought to gather everything. As he pulled into the driveway of the house he frowned at the time. She had four hours left and he needed an hour to get prepared. He quickly went inside and headed to her room set everything down headed downstairs and notified everyone of his return. Once he did he asked Naru to come up with him and help. They set everything up in an hour. He sighed as he looked at everything then looked at Mai. He frowned.
"Naru?"
"Yes, what is it Lin?"
"Was that paper there before?"
"What?" Naru was a bit confused.
Lin walked around the mess for the spell with Lin following. He opened Mai's hand and pulled out an envelope and opened it. Inside were six letters each addressed to them and one to the group. He handed it to Naru who decided that everyone should read their letters. Lin ended up following.
In base they all sat reading their letters. Takigawa was on the verge of tears; John's head was bowed in prayer though he did have tears as well. Naru looked as if he had been shot. Lin read his letter and half smiled yet hating himself for it. He then read the one to the group aloud.
"To SPR, I know I have been poisoned by the head chef Cullen just like the other girls. I also know that it is only a matter of time before I am gone from your lives forever. So I have decided with the help of a certain dream guide to write you. I have written all of you letters personally but I wanted to write one to everyone as a group. I wanted to let all of you know that my time with you was precious and that I couldn't have been happier had I not met Naru and Lin on that first case. You, each of you, are important to me. Naru, I want to thank you for saving me and giving me this job. Ayako, thank you for being my mom/older sister. Takigawa, Thank you for being my crazy overprotective older brother. John, Thank you for giving me hope when I needed it. Masako, Thank you for being my sister, no matter how much we argued you're still my sister. And Lin. I want to thank you for everything. Had you not stepped into save me I would not have had to been forced to be Naru's assistant. It is because of you that I have been shoved into this craziness. I want you all to know that I love you, my friends. My family. You have made me the happiest person in the world. So with this I want to say one last thing. Remember me always. I love you all and good bye." Lin stopped and looked at the letter one last time before frowning. He made a fist with the note in his hand crinkling it. "It's not time to say good bye just yet Mai." He thought. Lin turned and walked out the room and to her room. He sat down in the correct spot and began to chant.
In the dream realm…
Mai smiled. "Thank you Gene so much for letting me say good bye."
"Anything for you Mai."
Mai closed her eyes feeling the tightness in her chest knowing her lungs were failing. She pressed her hand to her chest. For an unknown reason it felt as if time had sped up. Those three hours turned quickly into five minutes. She closed her eyes willing the pain to go away. When it passed she sighed in relief. She stood straight looking toward the never ending blackness of the dream world.
"You know, I never even got to have my first kiss." She said softly not intending for Gene to hear.
"Really?" He asked a small smirk on his lips.
Mai blushed. "Y-Yes. "
His smirk got bigger as he pulled her close to him. "Let me be your first." He whispered softly. He then lowered his head. He brushed his lips gently against hers then pressed the gently onto hers claiming her lips as his.