Ulma stood staring at Saiu, who had turned, and with eyes of fire was addressing her attendant.

"Ulma… you dare?"

For the first time, the nervous woman looked to Zero like she might actually have a backbone. She was still obviously scared, but she stood up straight and looked directly at the witch, tossing the dagger to the side.

"You tried to kill her. How could you!?"

Saiu paused and seemed to genuinely need to think about it.

"Oh. You mean the girl. And what of it?"

Ulma clenched her fists.

"I love her! We've raised her since she was a babe, how could you have so little regard?"

Saiu shrugged. "She was a means to an end. The finale to my revenge. I've never seen her as anything but. To be honest, I'd say she means little more to me than you do."

Ulma's mouth dropped open, but before she could utter another word, Saiu had darted forward and shoved her hand directly into Ulma's chest. The woman looked at Saiu in shock, her mouth hanging open as blood began to pour from it.

"What, nothing left to say?" Saiu asked cruelly. "Well, since you obviously have so much of a bleeding heart that you'd deign to betray me. Here, I'll let you take it with you." With a sharp yank, Saiu pulled her hand from the woman's chest, and Zero turned away so that he didn't have to witness the rest.

He found the dagger nearby where Ulma had discarded it. Quickly grabbing it, he turned just in time to see Kaname with his hands on Hisachi's face. Zero held his breath. He couldn't read the look on his face, but as he watched, Kaname patted the girls head and quickly whispered something to her. She nodded and taking a deep breath, Zero watched her place her hands on the hilt of the blade and with one swift pull, remove it from Rei's limp body.

Hisachi's face was white as a sheet and Zero moved quickly to get to her side. He grabbed her by her shoulders and turned her to face him, pulling her away from the sight of Rei's crumpled body on the floor beside her.

"Hey. Look at me instead, alright?"

She looked at Zero and nodded, sniffling. Gently, he pulled her closer, letting her lay her head on his shoulder as she began to cry into his neck.

"I didn't mean to kill her! I didn't want to! I didn't know she was really my mom- I didn't!" The girls words flowed out of her, and her tears were non-stop and genuine. As she cried, Zero looked over her shoulder at Kaname, who was crouched next to Rei. His face was expressionless.

"Kaname?" Zero wanted confirmation. They still had to deal with Saiu, and he wanted to know just how much that witch was going to have to pay for.

Kaname didn't take his eyes away from Rei.

"Barely."

It was all he said, but Zero could tell from his tone that what he meant was 'barely' and getting worse by the second.

Zero turned to steal a quick glance in the direction where he had left Saiu and Ulma. Poor Ulma's body lay dismembered on the floor. It looked like Saiu had removed more than just her 'bleeding heart'… Zero angled his body to make sure that Hisachi wouldn't be able to catch sight of Ulma either.

There was no sign of Saiu, except for the large puddles of blood that trailed out the door. 'She ran'. He wasn't entirely surprised. He bet that stab with the dagger had hurt quite a bit more than she had let on, and he knew it wouldn't heal easily. If they moved quickly they would be able to find her without much effort, and now that Kaname was here they might even be able to make short work of her… but Rei….

He looked back at her and the idea of leaving her to take her last breaths as they chased down Saiu, just seemed unfathomable to him. Hisachi had pulled back and she was now examining his face with inquisitive eyes. Watching him, watching Rei.

"You really love her, right?"

Shocked at both the question and the insight from such a young kid, Zero stared at her blankly for a moment. Then he gave her a small smile and pinched her cheek lightly.

"Yeah, you bet I do. More than just about anything."

He didn't say anything, but Zero could see and feel Kaname tense up at his words. That was fine. What was the point of holding on to it all now?

A sad smile formed on Hisachi's dirty, tear-stained face as she nodded slowly. Then she paused and her eyes lit up.

"Hey, I know! You cut my hair to heal me, right?"

Zero stared at her, dumbfounded. Kaname's head snapped over to look at both of them.

Zero wanted to smack his own head. Did he really need an eight-year-old to give him this idea? No wonder he relied so heavily on Rei.

Kaname was next to them in the blink of an eye.

"What is she talking about Zero?"

Hisachi smiled at him, and Zero tried to bite back the jealousy that threatened to peak as she did so. 'Another of my kids that absolutely adores Kaname…'. He shook the thought off. Now wasn't the time for this.

"He cut my hair off to save me. It was her- my mom's.. idea and it worked!"

"Save you? From what?" Kaname asked perplexed, giving Zero a confounded look as Hisachi explained.

Zero reached for the dagger he'd used to cut the girl's hair and pulled it from his belt, handing it over to Kaname as he spoke.

"Her throat was cut." he said flatly

Kaname's eyes registered the situation immediately.

"And cutting her hair healed her, yet it didn't cross your mind for even a second to try cutting Rei's" he scoffed as he gently rolled Rei's head over onto his lap while Zero and Hisachi watched in quiet trepidation.

Zero could say nothing. For once Kaname's scorn just might be warranted. He'd been so fixated on everything else that the simplest idea had never even occurred to him. Sure, he'd recalled that the last time she'd cut her hair she'd gained immense strength and defensive powers, but he didn't think he recalled any healing powers. Even after Hisachi's recovery, his brain hadn't been able to make the correlation to Rei. If they were too late now, it would definitely be all his fault.

Kaname quickly gathered Rei's hair, now haphazardly spread everywhere, and carefully pulled the blade through the thick bundle he'd secured at the base of her head. He moved swiftly, using a cautious sawing motion and natural dexterity, and internally Zero couldn't help but wonder if Kaname's perfection would result in Rei awakening with a perfectly chic and styled haircut to boot.

His anxiety through the roof, Zero tightened his hold on Hisachi and tried to settle back to wait and see what might happen. It had taken a bit of time before anything started with Hisachi so he assumed it might be a minute. He was wrong. As soon as the strands began to be cut, color had began coming back to Rei's complexion. Once Kaname was finished, Rei was blinking up comfortably at him.

"Kaname." Rei sat up and wrapped her arms excitedly around his neck. She was so happy to see him that she had momentarily forgotten the state of things between them. As she slowly recalled their current situations, she quickly caught herself and pulled back, her cheeks flushing red. Kaname, however seemed to take no notice.

"That is extraordinary. How do you feel? Are you okay?" He reached up and placed a concerned hand on her flushed red cheek that only moments ago had been completely void of all color.

Rei stood up. She felt amazing.

"I'm great. Never better I think."

Remembering everything, she turned to look at Zero who sat with Hisachi, both of them looking in awe as she stood and smiled. In just a few steps she had reached them, dropping down to her knees and engulfing the two of them in her arms. Hisachi once again began crying and apologizing profusely.

Rei quickly took the girl's face in her hands and tilted it so that she could look her in the eyes.

"Please don't apologize. You're my daughter and above all else, I'm just so happy to have finally found you. I'm okay and I'm not mad. I could never be upset with you for that., so don't worry okay?"

The girl nodded and after a moment threw her arms around Rei's waist, squeezing her tightly against her.

"Will you guys take me away from here? I don't want to leave Miss Ulma, but I don't want to stay here."

Zero glanced over at Ulma's corpse across the room and Rei followed his gaze, trying to piece together what might have happened to cause such a tragic scene. She stroked Hisachi's hair and nuzzled against her.

"Don't worry. Now that we've found you, your dad and I will never let you go again. I promise, you'll be safe and protected and loved. Always."

'But right now.' Rei thought, darkness creeping up within her, 'I have a score to settle and no more time to waste.' She didn't see Saiu here, but that didn't matter. The witch wouldn't get away. Not this time. This time Rei would find her and end her for good.

Rei stood, "I'm going after her. I need someone to stay with Hisachi until I return."

She said it to no one in particular but it was clear that she was talking to Zero specifically.

"I won't." He replied. "I know you want me to, and I'd like to stay by her side too, but I have a lot riding on this as well and I can't let you go alone."

Rei didn't feel like arguing, time was getting away from them. She turned towards Kaname, who simply looked at her. No point there. Kaname would do what he wanted to and talking to him would be useless. She moved on without bothering to even ask. It really only left the Kuran vampires and she couldn't say that she trusted any of them to keep Hisachi safe.

"It's fine Rei. I'll keep watch over her."

At the sound of his voice, Rei turned back towards Kaname.

"Really? I was certain that would be a losing battle…"

"No. I'd like to be by your side, but I think it's clear that's not where I should be. This little one is what's precious to you and you've turned over heaven and earth to find her, so what task could be more important than keeping her safe now that you finally have her? Besides, this is your battle and I know you'll want to finish it with your own hands, I'll just be in the way if I go, and I may have a hard time not interfering."

Rei's heart skipped a beat. Leave it to Kaname…

"Okay, then. We've got very little time. Zero let's go before her trail and the extra power from my hair runs out"

The two of them took off. It felt like it had been forever, but Zero estimated that it had actually only been about 5 minutes from the time that he had noticed that Saiu was missing. He figured she couldn't have gotten more than a 10-minute head start overall, and that was with a debilitating injury. His guess was that she didn't run very far and was instead hiding out somewhere in the area.

They ran as quickly as they could, following the blood trail until it came to a clean stop in the middle of the road. Baffled, they looked around for signs of where she could have gone. Rei and Zero were seriously considering splitting up when Aido suddenly approached them.

"Kaname sent me as a messenger. Your daughter sent a message – she said that there's a hidden bunker in the middle of the town. She said if you find that the trail leads anywhere near…." Aido paused and looked around at the landmarks in the area where they stood.

"Oh. I guess anywhere near right around here!" He let out a light-hearted laugh but cut it short as he noticed the look of irritation on Zero's face, and Rei's obviously livid facial expression. "Uh.. If - If they lead here then you should check the bunker as that's probably where she'd hiding."

Rei threw him a humorless look. "That's really helpful, but did she by any chance tell you where and how to open the bunker? "

"Oh yeah. She said there should be a button, right about…. Here!"

Reaching out to a nearby light pole Aido opened the power box and pushed a button inside. They could hear movement, and Rei and Zero looked around to track where the noise was coming from. Looking to their left they saw the ground opening in front of a carport a few feet away. Hurrying over to it they could see that it was a hidden door, cleverly disguised to blend in with the surrounding dirt and landscape.

"Thank you Aido." Rei quickly acknowledged him as the door finished opening. He was slow, but at least he could be useful. As the door came to a halt, glancing briefly at each other, Rei and Zero didn't hesitate before leaping down into the darkness below them. She guessed this would be the setting for their final showdown.