Chapter 12: Satellite - Rise Against

Day 4: 0400

Mai

Mai thought that soon she'd open her eyes and she'd wake up in her own bed back home, realize that this had all been a terrible dream with a happy ending, and then scramble to get ready for work at SPR. That she hadn't actually been kidnapped with Naru. That she hadn't actually been beaten and bruised by armed human traffickers. That she hadn't tried to channel Naru's PK, get overwhelmed by the power, and lose control of herself. That she hadn't been set on fire by the power.

That her heart hadn't stopped.

But here she was being kissed by Naru and wrapped in his arms in a desperation she'd never seen from him before. She responded to the kiss in full and moved her hands up and down his back. He groaned in pleasure and deepened the kiss. She started feeling breathless with excitement and passion so she broke the kiss and rested her forehead against his. They were both panting as they just held each other for a minute.

"Mai…" Naru whispered. He began to gently caress her face.

That sent a shiver through her whole body. She looked into his eyes and discovered more love and emotion in them than she'd ever seen from him before.

"Is this as good a time as any to say that I love you?" She asked while smiling.

He smiled and giggled. Oh, how she wanted to just record that sound and play it repeatedly in her head for the rest of her life. It was such a beautiful sound. She was in awe of everything that she never wanted this moment to end.

"Dummy, I love you too," he replied.

Strike that. That was the sound she wanted to repeat in her head forever and ever. She leaned forward and kissed him again. He groaned and shifted his body so he rolled atop her. He held the sides of her head in his hands and legs on either side of her hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in tightly. He deepened the kiss and opened his fingers wide to grab a hold of even more of her. She felt his tongue enter her mouth and begin to trace everything with it as if committing every bit of detail to memory. She moaned impulsively and writhed underneath him. She could feel something like a tendril of light begin to connect them. It was like when she tried to channel his PK. She gasped and winced in pain as she remembered everything all at once.

"Mai? Mai, what's wrong?" Naru asked desperately as he broke the kiss.

"I remember…I remember what happened…" she replied as her head began to pound in pain. "I…I failed you!" She began to tear up. "Oh Naru I'm so sorry! I messed up! I lost control of myself, and couldn't control your PK. You almost died had I not gotten to you in time. I almost killed you! Again!" she couldn't hold it back and she began to cry. "I'm such an idiot! You should be furious with me! Why aren't you mad? Why aren't you scolding me for being so careless? Why-"

She was pulled into a third kiss and it stopped her rambling. Her tears didn't stop though, she just sobbed through the kiss as she held him closer to her. He gently pulled away and looked into her eyes, and she gasped as she saw that he was crying too.

"Mai, this wasn't your fault. I lost control of my PK. I nearly died, yes, but Mai…" and he looked so distraught. "You. Did. Die," He emphasized. "Your heart stopped. You were dead for a few minutes. My PK burned you," he said as he shuddered. "I made the mistake. I lost control of my own power and I overwhelmed you with too much all at once. We were able to bring you back, but…" he trailed off in thought. He closed his eyes as more tears fell onto her face. She reached up and wiped the tears away from his face.

"I'm sorry. That must have been terrible to see," she said softly.

He looked at her and smiled. "But you're alive. And your spiritual aura healed your injuries. And…I saw Gene again,"

"You did?!" She gasped, "Then that means…" A vision. Feeling alone. Feeling cold and adrift. Naru finding her. Pulling her close to him. A promise made. "You saved me in the astral plane,"

He laughed softly but with sadness mixed in. "Yeah, yeah I did. I did."

She pulled him down into another kiss, this time softer and more gentle than the others. Just to feel him there now was all she needed. They broke apart a few seconds later.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He smiled, got off, and sat beside her. He held out a hand to help her sit up. As she sat up it was then that she noticed she wasn't wearing her shirt. She looked down and saw her chest still bandaged up as it wrapped from her shoulders down under her breasts and down her arms.

"The…PK," Naru started. She looked up at him as he looked down at his hands in his lap. "It shocked you. Much like a lightning bolt would. It…burned you. I burned you. When I transferred it back, it was too much power and I struck your heart and the charge traveled across your chest and down your arms. And then…I performed CPR to bring you back."

She was struck silent. To anyone else, they would think he was stoic and logical about this explanation. But this was Mai, and she could feel the guilt and sorrow ebbing off of him. 'That must've been terrible to have seen and done,' she thought. She looked down at her bandages. She didn't feel like she was in pain from any burns. She reached her right hand to her left wrist and slowly began undoing it and it started to unravel.

"What are you doing?" Naru asked.

She didn't respond. She just kept removing the wrapping. She could see a red, tree branch-like formation beginning midway up her arm. As she unraveled more the scarring became more thick and detailed. It coiled around her arm like a vine and became most profound around her chest. Her breath hitched as she unraveled the upper wrapping on her chest. It was the origin spot which was red and inflamed. It spread across her chest like fire etchings on wood that she'd seen before in various shops.

"Oh my god," Naru whispered.

Mai looked up and saw Naru staring at the scars left behind by the burns. Though he said that her own aura healed her, it seemed that the scars were too deep to not have left without a trace. He reached out a hand to touch her arm where it ended on her wrist. The second he touched it, Mai jumped in shock from the sensitivity of the area. He jerked his hand back as if it had shocked him as well.

"I'm sorry! Did I hurt you?" He asked.

"N-no!" She stammered, "It just…surprised me."

He tentatively brought his hand back to the scar. He touched her wrist lightly with the tips of his fingers. This time she sighed in pleasure feeling him trail his hand across the area. He brought his fingers up to her shoulder and paused, wanting to keep going but not wanting to push her boundaries.

She looked down at this hand resting on her skin. "Don't stop…" she whispered so quietly she almost wondered if she had even said it out loud.

He must have heard her though, because he slowly moved his fingers to her chest where the bolt originated from her heart. As he touched his hand to her chest she had a jolt of memory.

She was able to see things from his perspective. How she dropped from his grasp, to how he realized she had no pulse. Feeling panic. Beginning CPR. Nothing. An AED. Seeing burned, charred, and blistered skin. Hands on her body. Guilt. Sadness. Anger. Despair. Relief. Running through the halls. Blood on his hands. Nausea. Guilt. Despair. Blood. A golden sphere. Relief. White. Shadows. Guilt.

'Those were…HIS memories!' She thought.

And then her perspective shifted again.

Seeing her parents at the edge of her vision only for them to be ripped away and a blurry room taking place instead. Her reaching out a hand to them only to be caught and held tightly. Seeing Naru looking down at her in worry as she struggled to breathe. Feeling pain spread across her whole body. Feeling air being pushed into her with a mask. Lights flickering by. More pain. More burning. Feeling scared, but Naru was nearby. Pain in her leg from a pinch of a needle. A flood of medicine having entered her bloodstream. Panic. Fear. Alone. Where was Naru? Darkness. Naru? Searching. Feeling. Warmth. Where is he? Naru? Naru? NARU!

She gasped as she jolted back to reality. Naru was gasping as well. His eyes were wide in panic and he was trembling.

"I saw, I felt, everything," he panted.

"That was real," she said. "That all really happened."

He didn't say anything; he didn't need to really. They in some way formed a bond. Similar to how Gene described it between him and Naru, but he didn't mention how intense it was. How much emotion was in the bond. How connected they were to each other. She could feel his guilt and sorrow. She could hear his thoughts in the back of his head saying in a mantra, 'You did this to her. This is all your fault. You hurt her and now look. She's scarred because of your lack of control. You did this. This is your fault. Your fault. YOUR FAULT!'

"NO!" She screamed, making him shrink back slightly.

"Mai?" He asked carefully.

"This isn't your fault! I don't know what voice in your head is saying that to you, but it's wrong!" She put her hands on either side of his head. "I will not have you blaming yourself! I love you too much to have you hurting yourself like this!"

A golden glow erupted from her hands and grew in size until it surrounded the both of them. She focused on the negative energy she felt coming from him and simply thought, 'Go away, you're not wanted or needed here,' As quickly as the golden glow started it ended with wisps of light turning to mist and fading away. She suddenly felt drained and began to slump forward, only to be caught in Naru's arms.

"Mai…" he whispered, "I think we've just discovered a new ability of yours." He leaned down and kissed her head. He shifted her so she was lying down in his lap. She looked up at him as he looked down at her and began to gently caress her face. She sighed and leaned into the touch. "I'm going to get us out of here. Out of this whole situation. I'm not going to let them turn us into some sort of mercenary duo for hire," he vowed.

"How?" She asked, "They follow us everywhere, they're armed, and honestly I don't like how they look at me in particular. I don't know if I can face that."

"I've been thinking. We play along. We pretend that we're making progress while going at a gradual pace. All the while, we scope out the layout of the area. Then when the time is right, we escape. We run and we don't stop. Cover our tracks. We'll stay gone and then spend the rest of our lives forgetting this horrible nightmare," Naru explained.

She had begun to cry lightly. It sounded so simple. Simple but perfect. They could make it work. She smiled.

"Yes, yes let's do it!" She said determinedly.

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her gently. She brought her hand up to his face as their lips came together. The warm tendril of light combined with a light charge of his PK began to envelop the two as the bond was forged. A promise to each other to get out alive. A vow to protect each other.

A bond was forged that was more powerful than anyone would ever know.