I just realized that the ghost's name would Hana Hanagawa in full… Wow, I am a dork. Ah well! No use in fretting over it now! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because the next is the last. This story will be at its end *sobbing* we had a good run.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt

Chapter 12: Promises Meant to Keep

The two women looked at each other. Masako waved her hand, motioning Mai to continue and explain. Mai took in a deep breath. "There is only one ghost. I know that because I was speaking with her beforehand," she started, looking at nowhere in particular.

"That doesn't account for what happened to Masako, Ayako and Kamin," Yasu pointed out.

"You didn't let me finish," Mai said irritably, shooting an annoyed glare at him, "She told me that there is nothing haunting this house. She may be here, but she's not causing the activity. She says it's the twins themselves."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Monk asked, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion. Naru and Masako glanced at her sharply.

Heat flushed Mai's cheeks. She glanced down at her hands as she shrugged and murmured, "I don't know exactly." She flicked her eyes to Naru who had his chin in his hand. His eyebrows were pulled together not in concentration, but more in worry. It was like he was trying to decide something.

She hadn't exactly lied to them. She had an idea of what it meant, and had a feeling in her chest that she was more than correct. She didn't want to out Naru though. She wanted him to tell them on his own without any pushing. She wanted him to tell her on his own, not through a second source like Gene and the ghost, but from his own lips.

"Naru, what does the ghost mean?" Yasu asked, staring at him intently. The wheels in his head where spinning at full speed, already formulating an answer.

Naru shook his head in a dismissive gesture. He turned his glare on Yasu. "Do you have the information I asked you to gather?" he snapped, his voice as abrasive as usual.

Yasu looked perplexed. "Uh, yeah, sure. Its right here," he said, getting up and walking over to the table with the monitors. "There's something I have to tell you about the woman though. She's-" He didn't get to finish saying what he was saying because Naru snatched the stack of papers from his hands and left the room. Outside there was a boom of thunder.

"…dead," Yasu finished quietly as the door slammed shut.

Uncomfortable silence filled the room. The only sound was the rain pouring on the roof like a bucket of bolts and the booming thunder. For once, Lin had ceased his constant typing in favor of a book. Outside the window, lightning flashed across the sky.

Finally, Yasu and Monk couldn't take it anymore. "Hey Mai, we forgot to tell you," Monk began, jumping to his feet with Yasu right beside him.

"Someone sent you something!" Yasu finished, snatching up the box that had been ignored for the past day and a half.

"What? Someone sent me something?" Mai asked in bewilderment, taking the small box offered to her. It was light. Emerald green material covered the outside of the box. A golden ribbon wrapped around the middle of it. "I wonder what it could be."

Carefully, she pulled the bow off, letting it drop to the table. The team crowded around her to catch a glimpse of the gift. Mai stared down at the box for a moment before pulling the lid open. An audible gasp ran through the team.

In the box was a small silver bracelet. One single charm hung from the chain. A crystalline ball colored with green and brown sparkled up at her. On the inside of the lid was a small note. "Think of only me, pretty flower," the note read.

As Mai read the note and ran her fingers along the charm, her mind when blank and her vision filled with only the picture of Ash. Her face fell slack, her eyes going flat.

"Hey, is something wrong with Mai?" Ayako asked first, noticing her complete stillness.

John who was closest to her put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey Mai, what's the matter?" he asked, shaking her shoulder gently.

She didn't respond. Beside her, Kamin and Tamaki stirred. Kamin opened her eyes slowly, staring at the bracelet. She blinked a few times trying to clear her vision of sleep. She stared fixedly at the bracelet for a long moment. A high-pitched scream of terror surged up from her mouth. She scuttled backwards, bumping into Tamaki and nearly knocking him off the couch. "Keep it away from me!" she wailed, flinging herself from the couch and into Lin's arms who was staring wide-eyed at the gift.

A crack of thunder range through the house, rattling it. Outside, lightning flashed. The lights and monitors flickered before plunging the team into complete darkness with only the constant flash of lightning as their light.

The force of Kami's screams and the sudden blackness snapped Mai back to herself. She dropped the box back to the table, ignoring it as it bounced to the floor. Its lid slammed shut of its own accord as the door flew open.

"Kamin!" Mai cried accompanied by Naru's voice. They rushed to her, following her screams. "What's the matter?" They reached Lin in the same moment. Naru's breath came in quick gasps as if he'd taken the stairs three at a time and run as fast as he could to reach the child.

"What happened?" Naru panted, glaring between Mai and Lin. He reached for the little girl, pulling her from Lin's arms and into his chest, cradling her there.

Tamaki pulled on Naru's pants leg. "I think it was Mai-chan's gift, Daddy. It scares me," he said calmly, showing none of the fear he felt. He pointed in the general direction of the table where the box had fallen.

"What was it?" he asked, looking at Mai through the gloom as he bent to hoist Tamaki up as well.

Fear crawled through Mai's veins like a poison. Her eyes were wide and her lips pinched were tight, her body visibly shuddering. Something about this latest gift had her not only fearing for herself, but for Naru and the twins as well even though nothing had really happened. "I-it was a bracelet with a crystal ball charm that had brown and green in it," she stammered, clenching her fists tightly against her sides.

"Someone bring it to me," Naru ordered, passing Kamin over to Mai and setting Tamaki down as he did.

John came out of the gloom, holding out the small green box. "Here it is, Naru." Kamin cringed in Mai's arms, whimpering.

Naru picked the box up with careful fingers. The familiar shock of energy skittered up his arm leaving it numb. He frowned, pulling the lid open. Instantly, he involuntarily dropped it to the floor and took a step away from it. He instinctively pulled Mai, Kamin, and Tamaki behind him further from the object on the floor.

"What's the matter with it?" Monk asked, stepping closer so that he could see what was going on. He took in the new scene before him with a frown. "Lin? Naru-bou?"

"I can't be sure of what it is," Lin said, gingerly picking up the box and placing it on the topmost row of monitors, "But it's nothing good, that's for sure. Mai, do you know who sent this to you? They may mean to harm you."

Mai hesitated. For a moment, she considered telling them the truth, but her doubts soon clouded her thoughts. Things like "What if he's not the one who did it?" and "What if he need help?" stopped her from telling them the truth. "No, I'm not sure who it is," she murmured, avoiding eye contact.

The team gave a collective sigh. "Well, I guess we can't do much of nothing now that the lights are out. I vote that we all go take a nice long sleep," Monk said, scratching the back of his head. The others started moving towards the door.

"Not so fast," Naru said, holding Kamin once more. The group stopped dead in their tracks, turning slowly to hear their fate. "Monk, Yasu, go check the circuit breaker. See if you can get the power back on. Ayako, John, put Tamaki and Kamin to bed. Masako, how do you feel about doing a séance and trying to cleanse the spirit?"

"I think, with Mai here, it just might work. I'd be happy to do it," she said thoughtfully, moving her eyes to watch as Mai fretted silently.

Monk and Yasu groaned loudly. They shuffled from the room, dragging their feet to postpone the inevitable. Naru passed a now hiccupping Kamin to John. "Come on, Tamaki, let's get you ready for bed," Ayako said, holding out her hand to him. He took it, and they left the room. Each group of people grabbed a flashlight from the coffee table as they left.

"I will go prepare my things. Will we be holding the séance in this room?" Masako asked as she headed for the door.

"No, the room where Mai slept last night," Naru decided, turning to watch the lightning flash across the sky beyond the windows.

Masako nodded, grabbed a flashlight, and left the room. "Wait! I'll come with you!" Mai called, fleeing Naru's presence before he could begin asking questions.

…..

"I'm ready to begin," Masako said. They sat around a table they'd dragged in from another room. Masako sat at the head, closest to the bed, a flickering candle before her. Her hands were on top of the table, beads wrapped around her wrists.

"Alright," Naru said with a nod. She pressed her hands together in front of her face, and closed her eyes.

Silence filled the room. Even the storm outside seemed to have quieted to watch the medium at work. She pulled in a deep breath and suddenly the air in the room changed. It seemed to hold a charge. Her face and posture relaxed.

Mai watched her in slight awe. She had seen Masako perform a séance five or six times before, but it still amazed her every time. She felt her heartbeat slow with the intake of her breath as the silence stretched on.

Suddenly, Masako inhaled sharply. A serene smile settled on her lips. Slowly, she opened her eyes not to Masako's usual black eyes, but to pretty green orbs. Her eyes moved around the table, coming to rest on Mai and Naru sitting side by side. "Hello Mai, boy that the twins claim to be their father," she said in a very calm voice.

"Are we right to believe that you are Hana, Hanagawa-san's wife?" Naru asked immediately, taking no time for pleasantries.

Masako, or rather Hana, nodded.

"Why have you kept yourself from moving on? Why are you lingering in this realm?" Naru asked in that straight-forward way of his. He watched her carefully for her reaction.

She kept smiling, unfazed by his questions. "To protect Kamin and Tamaki. That is the sole reason I have stayed. I want to make sure they are where they should be." Her smile grew knowing as they continued staring each other down.

He was silent for a long moment, just staring back at her. He had a feeling that she already knew that he knew everything now, and that she knew what he was planning. "You… you have no need to worry for them any longer," he finally said, facing her with determined eyes.

"And why is that?" she asked idly.

For spirit's sake she was going to make him say it so that there were witnesses! He could feel Mai and Lin watching closely for his answer. Had he suddenly become the main character in a drama movie in the last hour or something?

Naru gritted his teeth, but told the truth. "I have discovered who their biological parentage is. As such, if Hanagawa-san allows me, I will take full responsibility of them, and do the right thing. If he refuses, I will still make sure that they know who their parents were and what they were like. I will not leave them in the dark," he said with confidence, but not his usual condescending confidence.

Hana's smile grew wider. She rested her elbows on the table, tenting her fingers in front of her mouth to hide her smile. "I do not believe he will refuse, but you will promise me. You will promise me that you will provide them with a home, protection, and the love and education they require. You will promise me that you will never leave them, never abandon them, and never raise your hand to them in anger." She watched him intently, her expression growing strangely and dangerously serious.

"Noll…" Lin began, but Naru cut him off.

"I do. I promise to provide everything for them. I promise to never leave nor abandon them nor hurt them in anger," he answered just as seriously, refusing to look away from Hana.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him as if she were scrutinizing and judging the worth his soul.

"Naru never breaks a promise!" Mai piped up, immediately jumping to his defense without a second thought. That had Naru peeling his stare away from Hana to look at Mai.

Hana smiled, finally dropping her hands. "I trust Mai's judgment. Thank you to both of you. I believe I am satisfied. I swear though, if you ever break that promise I will come back to haunt you and make your life a living hell," she said too sweetly not to take her threat seriously.

She was closing her eyes, Masako's eye color fading back to her usual black when they snapped back open. "Oh, and one more thing, you and you," she said, pointing to Mai and Naru, "You two need to get your act together. And you…" She pointed exclusively at Naru. "Do not leave those two children without a mother. There is a perfectly suited woman for the task so close and precious to you that I don't think you even realize how close and precious she really is to you. Don't let her slip away from you." She smiled warmly and let her eyes slip closed.

Masako exhaled deeply, slumping forward onto the table. The candle was extinguished. The temperature rose a few degrees the three hadn't realized they'd lost. Lin groped around in the darkness until he found the flashlight. He flicked it on and shone it around the room.

"She didn't put up a fight at all," Mai murmured, staring around room.

"I wouldn't say that," Lin said, moving around the small space gathering the camera and other things they'd set up around the room. He pulled out another candle and lit it, setting it on the tables.

"What do you mean?"

"She had an intense staring contest with Naru."

Mai laughed. "That's true," she said, "So, what do we do now?" She looked over at Naru who was leaning back on his hands and staring at the curtained window.

"We find out if the others have given up yet or not, start breaking down base, and then we go find Hanagawa-san," he said matter-of-factly, getting to his feet. He left the room without grabbing anything in almost a nervous fashion. Naru never got nervous. He wasn't even any fun to play the Nervous Game with.

Lin easily picked Masako up, putting his laptop under his elbow. Mai grabbed the camera and stand. They left for base in complete silence, not even glancing the other's way. Finally, Mai gave up trying to understand what had happened. She jerked her arms up in frustration. "What do you think Naru has to talk to Suzuka-san about?" she asked.

"I don't know, but it definitely has to do with the twins," he half lied. He knew exactly what Naru had to talk to Suzuka about. He didn't exactly know what to think about the fact that Mai hadn't figured it out yet.

She chewed on her bottom lip, debating her next question. "Do you know what the ghost meant by her advice for Naru?" she asked, looking up at Lin.

He looked down at her. He sighed. "Yes," he said, pulling the door to base open before she could ask what it meant.

There you go, hope you enjoyed it. I know this ending wasn't as eventful as any of my other stories, but I actually hadn't meant to have a ghost in this story at all. I hope it wasn't too boring though. Next chapter is the last chapter/epilogue for this story. Look forward to the sequel when I get around to it ^w^ Review please :D