A/N: I have no excuse to why I didn't update for a month. I just simply didn't want to write anything. It wasn't an author block because I know what happen after the accident. It was just that I didn't want to write. I'm sorry for making feel impatient and bored for waiting so long, but I really needed to take off from writing for a certain time to clear my mind. But here I'm back again.

Before the new chapter, some answers to the questions left in the reviews. There are people who were wondering how long do I plan to write this story. The story is pulling to its end. I cannot exactly tell how many chapters are left, but I won't cross over the limit of 80 (maybe even under 80). At the beginning, I didn't plan it to be so long, but one can never know what might popped up in the head while writing. Even myself I'm surprised to see what kind of ideas suddenly decided to show up in the middle of the way. But rest assure, 80 is the limit I impose myself. That's it.

And now chapter 72 for you. Enjoy!

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The machine connected to Ryoma steadily continued its rhythmic beating.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Rinko raised her hand and pushed Ryoma's bang aside, caressing Ryoma's temple.

'Ryoma.'

Rinko could feel the warmth emitted by Ryoma's body from where her fingers connected with her daughters forehead. Ryoma's body was still functioning, but her mind… A tear rolled down Rinko's cheek. Aomori-sensei, Ryoma's doctor, couldn't tell if Ryoma would even wake up from her coma, let alone contemplate when she would wake up. Rinko felt heart clench in a dreadful pain.

Flashback

Back in Aormori-sensei's office, Nanjirou, Rinko and Ryoga met with Ryoma's doctor to learn about her condition.

"I will tell you the truth," Aomori-sensei said. "If she doesn't wake up within the next seven days, I fear that she will never wake up again…"

End flashback

Beep. Beep. Beep.

'My little angel…' Rinko caressed her daughter's forehead. 'Wake up…'

Tonight was Ryoma's last chance to wake up. Everyday, Rinko would visit Ryoma until someone told her it was time to leave. Everyday, she grew more and more desperate, clinging stubbornly to the hope of seeing her little angel wake up. Yet, even still, she found herself missing the lively color of her daughter's eyes.

"Rinko…" Nanjirou said, putting a hand on Rinko's shoulder.

". . . " Rinko bit her lips. With a last caress on Ryoma's forehead, Rinko stood up and left with Nanjirou. Ryoga, who had been leaning against a wall, moved to open the door for his parents. Before they left Ryoma's room, they glanced at the baby of the family one last time.

'Wake up, Chibisuke/bishoujo/Ryoma.'

Near midnight.

Everyone was asleep. In the next room, Rinko, Nanjirou and Ryoga had succumbed to sleep, unable to resist under the pressure of their stress and exhaustion. They had wanted to stay awake to be with Ryoma, but their bodies wouldn't allow them to do so, shutting down all daily functions.

In Ryoma's room, aside from the consistent, monitoring beeps, everything was quiet. After a moment, something disturbed the stillness of the room.

Clip.

Ryoma's door knot turned. Silently, the door opened to reveal a svelte silhouette. Without making a noise, Syuusuke stepped inside and walked to Ryoma's bed. He stopped next to her bed, watching her. Ryoma's chest rose up and down, following the guidance of the machine connected to her. Syuusuke watched her, imprinting the smallest detail of her features in his head. Then, he sat on the chair next to Ryoma's bed. He took her left hand and brought it to his mouth.

"Ryoma…" he called her, kissing the inside of her palm, just like he had every other time he had visited. And he began to talk to her silent form.

He didn't know how long he stayed there, talking to her even though she had never given him any sign that she had heard him. Eventually, tiredness won over him. Just before he completely lost to sleep, he called out to her again.

"Ryoma, come back to me…"

Up. Black.

Down. Black.

Right. Black.

Left. Black.

In front. Just as black.

Behind… What color do you think it was?

Darkness surrounded her, covered only by a foggy mist of white. Ryoma looked at her surroundings. This place was strange. She couldn't see anything aside the mist.

"What is this place?" Ryoma asked. Silence answered to her.

Ryoma looked around once more to find a hint of anything that might give her an answer, but there was absolutely nothing. She walked forward, constantly shifting her gaze from left to right and back. Then, in front of Ryoma, a light shone brightly. Inside the light, Ryoma saw a garden appear. Attracted by the beautiful flowery garden, Ryoma stepped toward it. Immediately, an authoritarian voice stopped her.

"Ryoma, stop right there!"

Ryoma's legs automatically froze. The young girl recognized the voice. Ryoma often met with this person, so the voice was familiar to her. And right in front of Ryoma, that person appeared.

"Obaa-san," Ryoma greeted the woman dress in white standing in front of her. It was the ghost who had always visited her in her dreams. The ghost woman smiled warmly at Ryoma.

"Hello Ryoma-chan," the ghost said, in a nice voice this time. The ghost turned around and drew a circle with her arms over the garden. The garden disappeared. The woman turned back to Ryoma. "It wasn't for to you, Ryoma-chan," the woman said. "It is not your time yet."

Ryoma blinked at the woman.

'What is she doing here?' Ryoma wondered. The woman smiled again and brought her hand to her mouth. She discreetly chuckled behind it, knowing what Ryoma was thinking.

"Huhuhu!"

"Obaa-san, what is this place?" Ryoma asked. The woman brought her hand down and closed her eyes. Two chairs appeared beside her. The woman opened her eyes again. She motioned for Ryoma to take a chair.

"Sit down, Ryoma-chan. I will explain everything to you," the woman said. Ryoma sat and the woman did the same. "This place is the transition between Heaven and Hell. Usually, when one finishes his or her Circle of Life, the soul of the person doesn't stop here and immediately goes up or down. But sometimes, there are special cases, like people who have yet to finish their Circle but still have their souls leave their body even though it is not their time yet. It is not the normal course of Life and the Guardian of all Lives must put everything back to its normal course. This is like a waiting room for those people. They stay here until the Guardian reestablish the right course of their Life and they are sent back into their Circle. Like for you, Ryoma-chan, your Time hasn't come, but the String of your Life broke. You left your body before it was time for you to do so. Right now, up there, they are repairing your String to attach it back to your body."

"Does it mean that I'm not dead yet?" Ryoma asked.

"Exactly," the woman said.

"Then why are you here too? You are a ghost, which basically mean that you're dead. How come you're not up or down?" Ryoma asked again. "And why are you here with me? Usually, you appeared only in my dreams."

The woman smiled.

"Until they finish repairing your String, I asked them to let me talk with you. I owe you many explanations," the woman answered.

"Explanations?"

"Yes." The woman smiled again. She looked up above her and took some minutes of silence to think. Ryoma waited for her to continue.

"Ten years ago, I died with my husband in a car accident, leaving our son an orphan at a very young age," the woman started. "Though I had finished my Circle, I still had attachments with my past. I didn't want to cross the bridge and I lingered on Earth because I hadn't finish the mission I had set for myself. As a mother, I couldn't leave in peace because I was worried for my son and his future. I was given, by the Guardian, a new delay to complete what I had wanted to do on Earth, which was to secure my son's future."

The woman brought her eyes back to Ryoma.

"Certainly, I thought about appearing to my son to guide him in his life, but I didn't want to disturb him. Thanks to you and your parents, he had learned to make peace with himself and has accepted my husband's and my departure. Returning back to him would disrupt his peace. That's why I chose to appear to you. Your will is strong. I thought you would not be scared of me and I was right. And also, I chose you because you are very dear to him and only you could bring him back to where he belongs."

"Him? Who's him?"

"My son, of course."

"What I meant was what is his name?" Ryoma asked, rolling her eyes.

"Huhuhu!" The woman chuckled, amused, but she did not answer the question.

"Ryoma-chan, I'm sorry I had to put you through so many hardship just for my son, but it's over. Everything will be fine from now on. Thank you for everything."

"Huh?" Ryoma hadn't understood a thing. The woman stood up from her seat and walked towards Ryoma. She bend down and closed her arms around Ryoma's shoulders.

"And I'm so fortunate that my son found me such a cute daughter!" she said, kissing Ryoma's temple.

"Hah?" Ryoma blinked and blinked again.

"Huhuhu!" the woman chuckled again.

"Are you ready to go now?" a new voice spoke.

Ryoma and the woman turned their head to see a man appear next to them. It was a man around his middle thirties with blue hair and hints of purple. He was also dressed in white like the woman.

"Anata!" The woman happily exclaimed. She removed herself from Ryoma and ran into the man's open arms. The man smiled, closed his arms and kissed her cheek.

"It's been a while," the man said.

"Huhuhu! For me too," the woman said. Ryoma watched the two of them cuddle without saying a word. It wasn't like she had anything to say. The woman turned to Ryoma. "Anata, this is Ryoma-chan," the woman introduced Ryoma to her husband.

"Oh my! What a pretty young lady!" the man exclaimed. He walked to Ryoma, took her hands in his and shook them. "Hello, Ryoma-chan. it's a pleasure to meet you," he said, smiling warmly.

"Err, it's a pleasure for me too, ojii-san," Ryoma blurted out, not to sure how to react. Luckily for her, there was no need for her to find something to say because another voice interrupted them.

"Ryoma, come back to me…"

Ryoma recognized the voice.

"That's Fuji-senpai's…" Ryoma muttered. A new light appeared. This time, the light was meant for Ryoma. The woman smiled to Ryoma.

"Ryoma-chan, it is time for you to return to Earth," the woman said warmly. "And again, thank you for everything." A bright light shone around the couple and the garden Ryoma had seen previously re-appeared behind the couple. "Ryoma-chan, this is the last time we will meet. It was a pleasure for me to know you." The two people emitted an unearthly glow and were carried toward the garden.

"Ah! Wait! Tell me your name!" Ryoma shouted, but the couple and the garden disappeared.

"Soon," the voice of the woman answered, "Soon, you will know my name. Now, wake up."

'Now, wake up…' the echo of the voice of the woman said in Ryoma's head. Ryoma fluttered her eyes.

"Come back to me, Ryoma…" Syuusuke muttered in his sleep.

Ryoma's fingers flicked and she slowly opened her eyes. She found herself in a bed and connected to many machines which went beep beep beep in a steady rhythm. She tried to focus her vision to see a room filled with flowers. There were enough flowers to open a flower shop. Syuusuke tightened her hand in his, bringing Ryoma's attention to the warm hand which was holding hers. She saw a brunette boy sleeping with her hand closed in his.

"Fuji-senpai…" Ryoma weakly muttered. Syuusuke stirred, thinking he had dreamt of Ryoma calling his name. "Fuji-senpai…" Ryoma called again. This time, Syuusuke stirred and woke. When he was met with Ryoma's lively eyes, his eyes widened. No, he hadn't been dreaming when he had heard her calling his name. Trembling, Syuusuke slowly brought his hand to Ryoma's face, touching it. He was still thinking that he was imagining things.

"Ry-Ryoma… you-you are awake…" he stuttered. He cupped her cheek in the palm of his hand. Ryoma leaned into his touch and he could feel her warmth in his palm.

"Senpai…" Ryoma softly said. Syuusuke really wasn't dreaming. He closed his arms around her. "Oomphfffff!" Syuusuke crushed her in his chest and buried his face in her neck.

"Ryoma!" he said, crying of happiness. She was back. She had come back to him. Feeling his tears on her skin, Ryoma softly smiled and leaned into his embrace.

"Senpai…" Ryoma muttered. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling to be in his arms again.

She had come back to be with him.

A/N: With this, I answered to the identity of the ghost. Yes, she was Ryoga's mother, but Ryoma doesn't know it yet. Remember when I asked who do you think the ghost was? Here is the report of your answers.

Who is the ghost and who guess what?

People who guessed right: Bacon n' Eggs, mewmewlover23, animelovermitsuki, serenamoonrose, Starian NightZz, Kris 77, Astalavisbon, AliciaHale, Dragonzflyte, KuroKiraHime and xXYuzukiXx.

People who nearly guessing right: Kukiji-chan and Sundae Bunny.

People who guessed wrong or no idea: lilgurlanima and Nightmare221.

Explanation. I said that I scattered here and there hints about the identity of the ghost in the story. The ghost's first appearance was in Ryoma's dream as an introduction. However, in all her other appearances, Ryoga was always near by or there was when something related to him. When she appeared at Yagyuu's house, Ryoga wasn't there, but it was Ryoga who was phone speaking with Yagyuu.

In the chapter 70, I was expecting that you will get the right guessing because of the hint at the end of the chapter. As soon as Ryoga said "I'm back" as Yuuji Ryuu, the ghost disappeared. She achieved the goal she set, so she didn't need to stay on Earth anymore. Bacon n' Eggs was the first person who got the right guessing of the ghost's identity. Bacon n' Eggs figured it out in the chapter 69.

And here something very important for you to know. I thank you very much for taking your time to write down yours reviews and yours nice words. They made me feel good and encouraged me to continue. I appreciated them a lot. And, from the bottom of my heart, I sincerely thank you very much.

Post on Saturday February 20, 2010. Beta-ed on Monday April 12.