Allie

Allie walked into the clinic room where Akisame had put Ashley and Haley. Considering they only had physical wounds, he figured that he might as well put them in the same room. Plus, with this arrangement Allie could visit them both at the same time. She sat down on the rolling chair that Akisame usually used when he had paper work to do. She rolled the chair until it was right between their two beds.

They were both still asleep. Had been for almost two days now. Ashley's case made sense in why she was still asleep. She had gone through a lot of torture and mental tragedies the day she was kidnapped. It wasn't like Haley had come home without being injured either though. She had a gunshot wound as well as some hard bruises from an unknown cause. According to Sakaki and the Elder, they weren't with her at the time of her being hurt for those bruises, but they did witness her being shot. According to Akisame though, with only a gunshot wound and bruises, Haley should have woken up sometime yesterday. That was the part that was worrying Allie.

Ashley started to talk in her sleep, but thanks to the oxygen mask, Allie couldn't understand a single word. Her chest started moving up and down really quickly and her body was twitching a little. She was having a nightmare. Not too surprising after what just happened a few days ago. Haley however remained still.

Akisame entered the room just then.

"So, how are our patients?" he asked, glancing at each of them.

"They are looking better as the days go by. Well, their wounds anyway. When do you think they'll wake up?" she asked. He walked until he stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She looked at both of her friends with concern.

"I would guess no later than one to two more days," he said. Allie nodded and put a hand on one of his. She sighed.

"I'm worried about them," she said. Akisame leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"I know. But as long as their under my care, there's no need to worry. Both Kensei and I will make sure these two get the best medical treatment possible," he said. Allie smiled and looked at him over her shoulder once he moved his head back.

"Thanks Akisame. I know I can trust you guys," she said. He smiled back at her. Before Akisame could say anything more the door to the room opened once more to reveal Sakaki and Takeda.

"Worrying about them?" Akisame asked. Sakaki nodded.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be? She was shot right before my eyes and she's been asleep for the past two days!" Sakaki said. He walked over to the side of Haley's bed and sat on a stool that was close to the bedside. "You sure she's going to be okay?"

"I'm positive Shio. My guess is that her brain is simply going through the process of storing all of her memories that she previously forgot. Almost 20 years of memories to store, the brain needs time to do what it does," Akisame explained.

"Oh," Sakaki said.

"And Ashley?" Takeda asked, walking to Ashley's bedside and standing next to it.

"Her body is taking time to heal itself. She had sever wounds that were deep. Both mentally and physically. It's no wonder she's out for a few days. I don't really expect her to wake up until tomorrow," Akisame said. Takeda looked down at Ashley with sad eyes and Allie felt bad for him. He had went all the way to rescue her, only to be beaten up by a master who wanted to do bad things to Ashley. Now he had to wait for her to wake up and hope that she would be okay.

"There's no sense in staying here. I assure you all that I will keep a close eye on them, so why don't we go to the dojo? Takeda, you and I can stay here while I look at your arm once more if you would like. We can do some physical therapy to get it back to shape," Akisame said. Reluctantly Sakaki, Allie, and Takeda agreed. Akisame lead Takeda into a different room and Sakaki and Allie left the clinic and headed for the dojo.

They went their separate ways once they got to the main dining room of the dojo.

"I'm gonna go train some more. Let me know if Haley wakes up," Sakaki said. Allie smiled at him.

"You really like her don't you?" she said. That made him blush.

"Wha-what are you talking about? I just, uh, I mean I," he tried to say. Allie laughed.

"Oh come on! It's so obvious!" she said.

"What is?" a voice behind them said. They turned around to see a face they thought was sleeping not a few minutes ago.

"Haley, you're awake?" Sakaki muttered. Haley smiled and tapped her shoulder.

"Of course! I mean, it was only a shoulder wound and some bruises!" she said. "How long have I been out?" she asked Allie.

"About two days," she replied.

"What? Two days! Why didn't anyone try to wake me up?" Haley asked with a shocked expression.

"We figured you might need your sleep. Plus you probably regained most of your memories so Akisame thought that your brain would need time to go through all of them," Sakaki explained.

"Oh, I remembered everything when I woke up in that place," she said. Her face turned serious for a second. "What happened to the others? Were they able to escape?"

"Yeah, they were able to. Can't say that for the scientists who worked there though. Unless they escaped while the old man and I barged in trying to find you," Sakaki said.

"I didn't really care if those people got out. For what they've done to all of us 'rats', they deserve what was coming to them. What they did was inhumane and cruel. It killed so many children and made so many of us orphans. I can name only a handful that were simply kidnapped instead of their families slaughtered," Haley said. Allie noticed Sakaki looking at Haley with sad yet loving eyes. She smiled and stretched.

"Well, I think I'll let you two catch up on what's been going on. I'll go see what Kenichi and Miu are going. It's been a while since I've spent some time with my cousin," Allie said. She ran off to do so, leaving them by themselves.

Sakaki

She left them alone. Why? If she knew how he felt about Haley then why would she leave them alone together?

"So, uh, what was that about rats?" Sakaki asked, trying not to sound awkward.

"Hm? Oh, that's what the scientists called us. Eventually we just started calling ourselves that since prisoners felt too…I don't know, prisony," Haley said. Sakaki raised an eyebrow at her made up word. "Hey, don't judge." She stuck her tongue out and Sakaki laughed.

"Well, you're no longer a 'rat'," he said. He walked up to her and put his arms around her, holding her close. "Nor are you number five anymore. You're a human being and you are Haley." He felt her face heat up against his bare chest. He didn't think he would ever get tired of that feeling. "And you're safe now." He felt her smile and her hands reached up to rest against his chest. He could feel his heart pounding wildly against her hands and he blushed, hoping that she wouldn't notice. The very action of hugging her took all his courage. He mentally yelled at his body to not let her go. In truth he did want to hug her, but his body wasn't used to such actions of affection. Oh well, it'll get used to it.

"Th-thank you Sakaki. I know I am safe when I'm here," she whispered. Her breath tickled against his chest and he smiled through his blush.

"N-no problem. Any, any time," he stuttered. She laughed and moved her arms so that she was hugging him back. He started to pet her hair and she relaxed even more into his arms. They stayed like that for a while. Sakaki got an idea that made his heart skip a beat.

I have to tell her. If not now, then I'll never have the courage or chance like I do right now to be able to . Sigh, here goes nothing. Sakaki thought.

"Haley?"

"Yeah?"

"There's….there's something I have to tell you," he stuttered. She gently pulled away from his chest and looked up at him, curious.

"What is it Sakaki?" she asked. He took a big gulp and looked straight at her. He looked straight into her eyes and felt his blush come back. Her lips pulled up a little and that made his heart skip a beat. He loved her smile. He loved her hair. He loved pretty much everything she did give or take a few annoying traits. Most of all…

"I-I love you," he stuttered. He continued to stare at her as her face turned from its usual paleish pink to a bright red.

"W-what?" she whispered. He sighed.

"Please don't make me say it again. I- I don't think my heart can take it," he whispered at the end. He closed her eyes and didn't see her smile. So he was shocked when he suddenly felt her arms go around his neck and her lips against his. He opened his eyes in shock, then closed them as he kissed her back. A moment later they pulled apart and he saw her still smiling.

"I love you too, Sakaki," she whispered. Now it was his turn to blush and she laughed. After hearing her laugh again he smiled and pulled her in for a tight hug, her chin resting on his shoulder.

"I'll protect you, I promise you this. But I'm still going to teach you more karate. You'll need it just in case none of us are there to help you next time," he said. They pulled apart and Haley nodded.

"Sounds like a good plan. But you're not going to go easy on me just because we confessed, are you?" she asked, sounding a little disappointed that he wasn't going to.

"Not a chance. During that time, you'll be my disciple. Not my, um, uh.." he stuttered at the end. Haley laughed once more.

"Girlfriend perhaps?" she suggested. His blush increased but he nodded anyway.

"Y-yeah. Girlfriend," he said. She smiled and kissed his cheek.

"You still owe me a Tazer mister," she whispered in his ear. He sighed.

"I know, I know. As soon as you're 100% better I'll take you to get a new Tazer," he said. She cheered. He moved away from her. "Now you go get some rest. Akisame said Ashley should be awake in the next two days." Haley nodded and ran off. He sighed and walked to his room, plopping down on the bed. He stared up at his hands and noticed that he couldn't stop grinning.

"I confessed to her, and she loves me too. Even after all the stuff we went through at the beginning. Back then I thought she was an annoying brat. Turns out, she's amazing, strong, beautiful, and smart. How wrong I was at the beginning," he said.

HEY GUYS!

HERE IS THE SECOND TO LAST CHAPTER!

I'M REALLY SORRY FOR IT BEING THIS SHORT.

I'M KIND OF RUNNING OUT OF WHAT TO SAY FOR THEIR PROGRESS AT THIS POINT OTHER THAN A WAY I DON'T WANT TO WRITE IT...

OH WELL. I'LL FIGURE SOMETHING OUT IN THE LAST CHAPTER.

ANYWAY...THE THANKS!

THANKS FOR REVIEWING:

HALEY

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MOLLY GRACE 16

THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS!

NEXT CHAPTER I WILL BE THANKING EVERYONE WHO EVER REVIEWED THIS STORY.

SO IF YOU WANT TO BE PART OF THAT LIST LEAVE A REVIEW, PLEASE.

IT'S BEEN A TOUGH ROAD GETTING TO THIS POINT

AND I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO HAS STUCK WITH IT THIS FAR.

SO, FOR THE LAST TIME IN THIS STORY...

PLEASE READ, REVIEW, AND ASK ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY.

THANKS!