Chapter 21: Thank You For Being Born - Hazuki Nano

CW/TW! This chapter does contain graphic depictions of sex, mentions of rape, and trauma healing. Reader discretion is advised.

We earn that E rating.

Day 8: 21:02

Mai

Enveloped in their protective sphere of spiritual energy, the two of them rested and healed each other for hours. Dr. Hiroa ensured their privacy and stayed in a room nearby. They were both exhausted and it took them a long while to even feel awake enough to try to talk through their bond.

Finally Mai broke the silence. "Hey, are you awake?"

Naru kept his eyes shut but replied, "Yeah, I am. How are you feeling?"

"It feels like the pain is still there. Like my chest and hands were left charred and brittle. Mentally I don't even know where to begin," she said through the bond. "What about you?"

"I'm finally done shivering I think. Now my body just aches. Do you want to talk about what happened?" He asked.

"I'm not sure if you're in a position to hear about it. It was…pretty horrific."

"If it was anything like what happened to me, then yeah. Feeling like the world had gone cold?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Unbearable pain?"

"Yeah."

"Freezing cold?"

"Burning hot."

"Anything I'm missing?"

"Akio…" she trailed off.

She felt Naru run cold. "What did he do?" He asked.

"I think it'll be easier for me to show you what happened."

She opened up her mind to the memory and shared it with Naru. She remembered the pain she was in, and her desperation to just have it all stop. The thoughts of hers to just be killed and let it end. Trying to talk to a disembodied voice with no luck. She saw again from her perspective Akio coming in. Her writhing in pain, him getting on top of her, her unable to fight him off. Him saying those disgusting things about Naru.

She saw Gene's spirit bursting out into their world beyond the astral plane. Now seeing Akio held up in the air. Desperation in her voice to not let his spirit become corrupted by killing him, and Akio scrambling out the door. Crawling. Bleeding. Burning.

When she was done she was trembling in the memory of it all. She looked up at him and gasped as his face contorted in rage as his mouth was open grimacing. Angry tears were flowing from his eyes. His eyes were the most shocking of all. They were open and beginning to glow silver.

"Naru?" She whispered aloud.

"I wasn't there…I wasn't there and you were nearly-! They think they can just-! And Gene…he nearly corrupted himself!" Naru was spiraling.

"Naru please," she pleaded.

"They took my own research and used it to torture you…I'm so sick and tired of these bastards taking everything I've done and perverting it! I'm sick and tired of them hurting us! I'm sick and tired of them TRYING TO RAPE THE WOMAN I LOVE!" Naru yelled.

Mai felt his PK pulse with rage. It began pushing against her own spiritual aura. She sent out a burst of calming energy, but it was quickly overwhelmed by rage. She whimpered with the ferocity of it. She had never seen him so mad before. No, not mad, furious! And his eyes, they continued to glow silver as the energy pulsed around her. She began to panic. She reached out through their bond and felt rage, sadness, and guilt. So much guilt. His self hatred was fueling his PK as his thoughts came into her mind.

'I'm weak! I'm pathetic! I can't protect anyone! If I had just died in that cave, then none of this would be happening.'

Mai cried out and threw herself around him. The rage faltered. She could feel the PK boring through her as she held him but she didn't care. She'd withstand the pain for him.

"Mai?" He growled out questioningly.

"Don't you dare!" She yelled through the bond. "Don't you dare think that you should've died! That this is somehow your fault! Please Oliver, don't give in to your hate and destroy yourself. I'm still here. I came back to you. I promised you I would. So please…"

She leaned back as she felt his energy and rage simmer down. She was crying and she could feel her eyes glow gold against his silver.

"Please come back to me now!" she sobbed.

"Mai," he whispered. "Gene…he protected you. When I couldn't. He said he would. I…" His PK simmered down and Mai sent waves upon waves of loving energy and emotions through the bond. She rubbed his back and put her chin on his shoulder. "I want…I want…"

"What do you want, my love?" she whispered in his ear.

"I just want to keep you safe!" He cried, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close.

"I'm safe with you," she soothed.

"Don't leave me. Never again. Don't leave me alone. My heart can't handle it Mai!" He begged. "This bond, it's like a part of my soul is with you."

"I know. I feel it too. Your soul calls to me," she said.

"My golden light," he choked. "This power…I wish I never had it! I wish none of this would've happened. I wish I had never been born and abandoned in the first place! I-"

She rolled on top of him and kissed him. She would not ever let him finish that train of thought. She knew where that train of thought led, she walked that path many times herself, and she refused to let him continue to go down that route. He held her tightly as she kissed him. The way he held her face as they kissed made her feel like the most honored treasure.

"Naru?" she whispered, breaking the kiss.

"Yes?" He answered.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" He asked.

"Thank you for being born."

He made a sound in his throat that sounded like a child's wail at severe loss and grief. She didn't have to imagine how he felt. She could feel it as deeply herself. Not just through the bond, but from her personal experience.

"You asked me before, why do I go toe to toe with death," she said and waited for him to nod. "I felt the same as you. I threw caution to the wind and did things that brought me closer to death…on the off chance that I'd see my parents again. When my heart stopped during the first test, I saw them again! And they looked so sad… like they were sad to see me there so early. Then I came back to the world. And I saw you! That's when I knew then that I had a reason to live. I want to live for you. I want to live for myself! I want to live to see the light of the sun again. So please," she held his face in her hands. "Live for me too."

His eyes flashed silver and his tears rolled off his face like diamonds shimmering in the night. She could hear his thoughts as clear as if he were saying that out loud.

'My god she does love me. It feels like her words were etched in golden ink across my heart. Can I? Can I please? I want her to…'

She didn't say anything when she sat up and began to unbutton the black shirt Naru gave her. He watched her, transfixed on every movement of her hands. Finally she undid the last button and let the shirt hang open. He swallowed and gently reached up to remove it from her completely. She stared into his eyes the whole time expressing trust. He slipped the shirt over her shoulders and down her arms.

With her upper torso revealed her original burn scars were revealed to be shimmering gold. He lifted his hands, tinted silver at his fingertips, and traced the scars up her arms and she could feel a silver aura being etched in. She closed her eyes and sighed. He reached her shoulders and traced across her chest. Hovering over her heart he traced, and she could feel it gently carve into her skin a small heart. She gasped in pleasure from the sensation. She wanted more. He moved his hands down to trace the scars that now covered her breasts and she was blushing and panting slightly. He caressed her sides and landed on her hips.

"Please," she whispered.

"Please what?" He asked.

"Make love to me," she finally whispered.

She was sure his brain completely shut down at that statement. That had to be it. Why else would his eyes go wide and stop blinking entirely? Before she had time to ask if he was OK, he pulled her in for a deep kiss and flipped her onto her back.

"Even after everything you've been through, you still trust me enough to…?" He asked.

"More than that. I'll always trust you to take care of me. To stop if I tell you to. To keep going if I want. To listen. To learn. It's more than trust; I feel safe with you," she replied, with her whole heart emphasizing every word.

He looked at her in shock. "I'm not sure what I've done to earn that level of trust and safety. I still don't feel like I've earned it. But I'm not going to take your feelings for granted," he vowed. He kissed her again and she began to take off his shirt. His skin was smooth and electric. He broke the kiss just long enough to help get the rest of the shirt off. Being closer to him brought their bond closer as well. She gasped in pleasure and threw her legs around him. She rolled her pelvis up and he growled. That sent a shiver through her whole body.

"Is this still OK Mai?" He asked through the bond.

"Yes! More, please," she replied.

He moved his hand down her hip, to her thigh, and in between her legs. She groaned and jerked her body as the bond tied their souls closer. She broke the kiss to gasp and moan. He slowly moved his hand in small circles on her pelvis watching her face intently for her reactions.

"Aaah, yes. More. Keep going," she begged. This was the most pleasure she'd felt in her life.

He reached the hem of her pants and stopped.

"Mai, is this OK? Can I please go under?" He asked.

She heard his thoughts like a mantra. 'Consent is key, consent is key, consent is key,' She loved him. So much. Pausing to always ask for consent. No guy in her life ever treated her with as much respect. "Yes," she whispered.

"Stop me if I do anything you're uncomfortable with, promise?"

"I promise!" She moaned in anticipation.

He moved his hand under her pants and began caressing her inner thighs. She moaned and moved her hands off of him and clutched a pillow behind her. He moved his hand to her entrance and at this point was moist with arousal. He inserted a finger and her world shifted. Their bond was stronger now than ever before. She moaned and cried out as her back arched off the bed. Pleasure coursed through her before she even realized what had happened. She panted heavily as he kept going. He inserted another finger and began moving in and out of her. This was too much!

"Naru," she moaned. "I'm going to-"

He kissed her deeply as he pushed in hard and her cry of pleasure was muffled into his mouth. Pleasure crashed over her as she was brought to completion again and then again as she clenched around his fingers. Her aura pulsed madly around her. He leaned up from her and she was panting in slow but steady breaths. She looked up at him and saw him smiling at her, his eyes continuing to glow silver.

"That was beautiful Mai," he soothed. "Can you tolerate more or are you done? Both are OK answers."

Her heart swelled. 'He needs to write a book on how to be the perfect boyfriend. Then it needs to be taught everywhere.' She thought.

He started laughing. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. "I'm glad you think so Mai, but I've already written quite a few books. Just not on that subject. I'll make sure to add that to my list though," he said.

She giggled and then moaned, still feeling him inside her. "More. Wait-shit we don't have any-" Then she felt his fingers pull out of her and he reached over to the nearby table. He grabbed a small square package. "How did you-?" She asked.

She saw him blush. "Courtesy of the Doctor. After you left this morning, he gave me this and said it was 'just in case we wanted to be stupid' were the words he used."

Mai laughed and he began to giggle as well. "Well Oliver, do you want to be stupid?"

"I thought you'd never ask," he said, leaning forward and kissing her.

She felt him grab at her pants and she lifted her hips to let him slide them off her. She worked to do the same. They both groaned in pleasure as they were both bare to each other. He opened the package, rolled it on himself, and positioned himself accordingly.

"Still yes Mai? Remember you can take back consent at any time," he said.

"Yes, a thousand times yes," she said.

He kissed her gently and pushed in slowly. It wasn't long before he was all the way in and they stopped to breathe. She looked at him. His hair was sweaty and disheveled, he was panting hard, a blush on his face, and eyes glowing silver to her gold. Their bond reached an all time convergence.

"Mai," he panted.

"Oliver," she moaned.

"Still OK?" He asked.

"More than. Yes," she moaned.

He began moving in and out of her and she swore life faded around her. It swirled in a mist and carried her softly. She felt like a part of her soul was finally complete. Her body responded in kind. She saw a golden and silver ray of light dance in her vision.

His thoughts came through her mind flowing in on silver wisps. 'Beautiful…' He caressed her face. 'Ethereal…' moved his hands and fingers through her hair. 'Unreal…' His mouth latched onto her neck and bit. She cried out, "Please, yes!" 'It's you. You are the reason I was born.' Pleasure began building in intensity as he started moving his hips at a faster pace.

"Haa-ah, feels good. So good. Are you ok?" She asked, wanting to check in with him as well.

"My golden light, I'm more than ok," he replied. He reached down and gently massaged her breasts.

"Nnn please, I can't last much longer," she moaned.

"With me Mai, please," he panted.

It came crashing to a head shortly after. Both of them calling out each other's names as pleasure coursed through their bodies and the bond. Gold and silver energy pulsed in a spectacular array of light around them as they both panted hard trying to catch their breaths. He kissed her and caressed her cheek.

"Oliver, Naru, I love you," she whispered.

"And I love you Mai. You are so strong, powerful, and have completely broken me down."

"Then I'll rebuild you from the ground up," she said.

He sighed dreamily and pulled out of her. He cleaned himself up with a nearby washcloth, laid down next to her, and took that washcloth gently between her legs. She moaned and arched into his hand.

"How do you know all this?" She asked.

"That's a conversation for another time. For now, sleep," he said, pulling her into him. She relaxed and laid her head on his chest.

"Hey Mai?" Naru said.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for being born," he said, repeating her words back to her. She looked at him and kissed him. They fell into a blissful sleep afterward.