PART II

Disclaimer: I own nothing...thought you knew...

In Which Lin Meets His Mother

Four Years Since The Incident…

He was home.

Or so he thought…

Lin had never been able to claim that England was home; it was merely a gateway of vast opportunities to him, a way to make his future – not to forget that it rained there for nine months and never mind that his charge was a grown-up man of twenty-one with the heart of a six-year old.

Japan had never been home at all – everywhere he looked, he saw memories of a war he had never witnessed just heard of, the gunshots, the missiles claiming lives, another mission of harming the innocent, the uninvolved. Everywhere he looked, he was claimed by them and so he could never be at ease in Japan.

China had been home. Emphasis on 'had been'.

Right now, his mind felt chaotic – where was his home? Where did he belong now?

The familiarity of his own house invaded him as he stepped over the threshold, regarding his mother with respect when he saw her sitting before the statue of Buddha, her eyes closed in prayer.

His mother had been a sharp woman who had been widowed at a young age but since she never seemed to lack money, his family had never suffered, except in the war.

"Lin." She addressed him formally, without even turning around to face him. "It is good to have you back."

It always amazed him how she was able to know he was there without so much as looking.

"It is good to see you too, Mother."

She got up to her feet and turned to face him; her eyes were wrinkled at the corners, the sharp glint in her eyes was no longer there, her expression was tight and he assumed that she had already received and read his letter.

"Do not say a word." She held up a hand and gestured at him to sit down with the other. "I was vastly disappointed when I read your letter. Of all my foolish children I expected you to be true to our customs."

"Mother – "

"No, Lin. You will not marry her." His mother shot him an icy look; one to which he was almost immune. Almost. "You will not spoil our bloodlines by marrying a poor Japanese girl."

He shouldn't be surprised, he'd expected this but he was – because he hadn't expected this of their mother who had been hard but had never cared about castes and families.

"The bloodlines have no meaning now. Her name is Madoka and she is one of the richest women I know."

"In your limited acquaintance, I never expected you to know rich women. You shall not marry her."

Lin pursed his lips and then shot one of his dark looks at her.

"Have you forgotten what the people of her land did to us?" His mother had seen the suffering, it had shaped her thinking, molded her until all the finesse had gone out, until all her love had vanished left with pragmatism. "Have you forgotten the wailing of children over the gunshots, or the camps, or all other things that came with the evil of her land?"

"Madoka is not evil." He gritted out, trying to hold on to his self-control, only his mother and Madoka knew of all his sore spots. "The war was in the past, you cannot expect me to live my life as a spineless fortune-hunter because our family is still haunted by war."

There was silence in the room for a long time.

His mother averted her gaze and raised a finely embroidered sleeve up to her eyes as if to shield them and from her trembling and crinkled eyes wet at the corners – he knew that she was crying. Yet he made no attempt to go and console her – she hadn't paid him attention as a child, she had been all too eager to introduce him to reality, she had never once considered –

His parent's marriage had not been a love match and they weren't even friends; his father was a hard man with only money feeding his pride, his mother was beautiful and kind once but his father's ugliness rubbed on her badly.

"Do you love her?" Her rhetorical question made him look up at her, his gaze searching. "Do you love this girl?"

"I love Madoka." He said firmly, rejoicing in the conviction of his voice. "I am going to marry her because it is for the best."

His mother raised an elegant eyebrow at her son's sudden declaration but instead changed the topic.

"I have had your fortune told." She began carefully, treading on her words. "It said that once you leave China, you will never return."

He would never return, that was true – China held his past, something he wanted to run from.

"I agree." He nodded and looked out of the window. "It holds too much of my past, I don't want to return."

Ee Tsang inhaled deeply and her fingers worked around themselves in worry; the silence was stifling but none of the two occupants in the room felt like talking at all.

His mother, surprisingly, broke the silence.

"You all think of me as a cruel mother," The old woman's voice cracked a little but Lin made no attempt to correct her statement, it was true after all. "But you don't understand it Lin, my boy, you don't know what happened to me when your father died, he took away everything – he left me here. When he left, I feared I would turn like him, angry, selfish, and everything that I didn't want to be."

Lin sighed and closed his eyes, trying to drown out the images of funerals and crying out of his mind.

"And there was the war, the bloody war." Lin looked up, startled, to see his usually elegant mother cursing vehemently. "It took away everything, my family, my honor – "

"Mother." Lin raised his voice just slightly, he didn't want to recall the terror that his mother's words instilled in him. "That was in the past, what happened to our family has already done too much. Not now. I'm marrying her."

"I want to meet the girl." Ee Tsang had wiped her tears and now looked determined. "I want to see the beauty she has or the charm she used to sedu– "

"Mother."

"Do not use that tone with me, young man." His mother raised her voice higher. "Do not forget that I am her to-be mother in law. I shall meet her."

"Fine."

His mother looked satisfied and for a moment he suspected that she would smile but the façade returned.

"Good." She turned her back on him and faced the statue, clasping her hands in prayer. "Now you are free to leave."

Feeling like an errant schoolboy who had been chided and abruptly dismissed; Lin got up and started for the door but was stopped by the sound of his mother's voice.

"I had a ring prepared for her. The amethysts embedded in a band." She turned over her shoulder and he saw a smile quirking up the corners. "Take it from the jeweler, cherish the ring…and the woman. I'm glad you've inherited my patience and not your father's ill-timed anger towards caste and creed."

Lin smiled at his mother's back and loomed in the doorway, taking in the last look of his house.

It wasn't home.

Home was where the annoyingly wonderful woman, Mori Madoka was…

In Which The Monk Reveals His Video Game Collection.

Four Years Since The Incident…

The knocks on his door were keeping him awake but he adamantly remained in bed, wishing the person would just get the hell lost.

Takigawa Houshou was a sound sleeper; his mother constantly complained of this habit and had even claimed that not even drums could wake him if played beside his sleeping form.

Which was why he was currently accusing his mother of her wrong claims; because he was very much awake and his mind showed no signs of sleeping especially when he was thinking about a red-haired priestess in a new sundress being whisked away by one of her new junkie boyfriends. If she would only ask him what he thought of those idiots she dated; it was apparent that she was searching for the 'perfect one' as girls often giggled – but was it necessary that she let her tastes drag that low?

After all – he thought bitterly – what was wrong with dating him? He was charming and dashing (he had heard enough people say that) and he was a musician; a three in one package.

Oh and not to forget the fact that he loved her. The very realization liberated him and caged him to the point of insanity; whenever he tried to tell her something stupid would turn up and…

Another round of knocking.

His door was being assaulted by knocks; apparently some insane person thought it amusing to rain blows upon his studio turned apartment door – after midnight. He made a resolution of not opening the dratted door to the person and thus tried not to wince when the blows bruised his door, instead acting as deaf as an old man.

That resolution, however, was made before he came to know who was threatening to break his door at night when all innocent people went to sleep.

"Takigawa, devil take you!" The shriek was so familiar that he immediately bolted in bed, eyes wide. "Open the door you beggar! Drat it, man! Open the blasted door you jerk! I'll tell Naru to dock your pay! Have you lost all senses of chivalry, threatening to keep a rain-soaked woman out of door when – "

And before Monk knew what he was doing, he had opened the door only letting it reveal the rain-soaked priestess in a yellow sun dress. Her red hair was matted to her forehead in curls that he found endearing and her shoulders slump.

She looked different tonight; it just hit him so queerly and he knew that he couldn't blame the makeup or lack thereof because he found her enchanting, because tonight she was herself.

Ayako Matsuzaki was at his door, his door, at this time of the night, wearing such clothes; nobody could blame him for the direction of his thoughts. And just when he thought that she had truly lost all sense, she stepped inside as if it was her own house, dripping all over the polished floor and looking indignant.

His mouth dried up and he blinked twice; making sure it wasn't his sleep-deprived mind's latest fantasy.

"Ayako what is happening –"

She turned to him, scowling, looking ready to kill the first person who decided to cross her.

"Clothes." She growled roughly, glaring. "Give me clothes! Do you expect me to stand here and talk to you wearing a – " She colored when she realized her state. " - While wearing a sundress?!"

I hope you do…

"Uh…" He was unnerved by his thoughts and the incredulity of the situation but he quickly gathered a small modicum of his intelligence. "Uh…yeah, yeah, you're right…I should search…"

Lamely, he fumbled for his wardrobe and reached for his longest shirt and the baggiest pants that he had ever worn. Coming back out towards the living room he handed it to her, wishing that she would remove the scowl from her face – because it made him adore her more. Stupid hag.

"So what compelled the shrew to come to me?" He questioned when she came out of the toilet, holding her sundress, dressed in the shirt and the pants – looking not the least bit unattractive. "Don't tell me that idiot you were dating tried to ditch you?"

He strode towards the refrigerator and poured her a glass of wine.

Her face had been relaxed when she exited but it hardened at his question and he had to bite his tongue to keep the consoling words inside.

"He did worse." She said casually, throwing herself on one of the sofas. "He tried to make a pass at me."

Monk felt reality jolt through him and before he knew he was on his feet, looking as deadly as she was.

Good God!

Who –?! He was snarling internally but he didn't want that part of him to come out in front of her.

"Where is the bastard?!" He clenched his fists, looking for his jacket and car-keys, determined to track the useless excuse of a man down for a good thrashing. "Where is that womanizing jerk!"

Ayako looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, patting him on the shoulder as if he was the one in the situation, not her.

"Oh come on, Houshou." She placated, the cattiness leaving. "You wouldn't do anything. Men are such pig-heads you know."

Takigawa felt anger bubbling in his veins at her indifference; though he knew fully well that she was hurt and scared on the inside, try as she might to put up nonchalance.

"Matsuzaki –" He sounded protective even to his own years. "I blame that man for whatever he did but please don't pretend with me. I know fully well how 'good' you're feeling right now! Do you have any care for her reputation?! Marching to my door in the middle of the night! What if somebody could have seen you, they'd rumor about you until –"

She was standing too, fury unleashed – her hands balled up as she caught the front of his shirt.

"Reputation!" She screeched, outraged. "Don't tell me about reputations, baka! What was I supposed to do?! Huh? Strut to my place and have my parents see me all soaked with rain, in all disgrace!? I couldn't let them know! I couldn't let anyone know! But I trusted you, because –"

He held his breath.

She trusted him.

Him.

Ayako took a deep breath, releasing his shirt and then closed her eyes, as if bracing herself for something unpleasant.

"I trusted you because I love you." She didn't open her eyes, so she couldn't see when he released a harsh breath. "I trusted you because I knew you could deal with this, because you know how to keep me safe, because you'd tell me to be strong but I swear if you shout at me once more, or say anything else that can turn me into mush – I'll have a knife through your heart!"

He didn't know what to do – for once in his whole misled life, Takigawa had no idea of what to do and how to do because as he stared at the woman who had in so many words expressed herself; he knew that he would always be struck senseless by whatever she did.

And because of his addled brain he ended up laughing.

Loudly.

She stared at him, her eyes wide but he stopped at a point and then smiled at her, teeth and all.

"Do you want to play video games?"

She stared harder at him as if trying to discern whether he was speaking English or so – her cheeks were dusted with pink and her mouth tugged downwards in embarrassment and indignation. He just took her hand and led her to the drawer in his studio where he kept all the games away from the eyes of people who tagged him immature.

He felt happy sharing a secret with her but afraid that she would also think of him as immature.

Instead, her eyes widened in wonder and she almost threw him aside in her excitement.

"Is that -" She reached into the drawer and snatched out a CD. "Is that the Tale Of Talons?! Is that the new game. Like, oh. my. God. Monk!"

She was giggling he realized, looking so unlike herself that he was forced to consider whether if she was the fan of same video game as him…

And before he realized it, he was being dragged onto the couch while Ayako launched the game, her eyes glinting determinedly.

"I'm going to beat your force up, stupid Monk." She snorted competitively. "Just you see…"

To say that he was shocked would be a gross understatement.

So he just turned to her, a warmth in his eyes as he took her hand and she turned to look at him.

"I love you too." He would explain the why's and the what's and the how's later, right now she just needed to know that he did and he smiled as she smiled, her eyes wide. "But that doesn't mean I'll let you win at the game. Queen of Talons."

And with that the both fell into a familiar pattern, looking at each other out of shy gazes but bickering on the surface.

But they both had been set free by it.

They both were going to begin a new life and nothing was more perfect than that moment.

And the one after that.

And the one after that…

And to think that they had a whole lifetime of perfect moments ahead of them.

In Which The Hero Is Given A Hard Push – In The Right Direction

At Lin's and Madoka's wedding…

He felt it again; the bitter-sweet feeling that emerged inside him as he watched the dancing couple. He felt the cynicism grow on him, he felt the solved puzzle of his mind scattering and he knew that he would rip Lin's brother head off if he moved any closer to Mai.

Naru wasn't sure what was worse; Mai dancing with the groom's brother or looking as if she truly enjoyed it.

And then he wondered whether he would be able to give her the happiness she deserved.

Why did life have such a crude sense of humor? The woman he loved was dancing with a man that was not him; and looking as if she could have danced three more waltzes, if possible.

The dancing couple made a perfect image for the crowd at the wedding to awe at; the girl was stunningly beautiful, dressed in white with a white rose in her brown hair and she laughed whenever her dance partner said something in her head. The man dancing with her was handsome, with dark hair and grey eyes.

Too bad that Naru was planning on how to blacken those eyes that were looking at Mai with obviously disgusting lust.

Lin's mother stood next to him as they both observed the crowd dancing after the nuptials had been concluded; there was laughter and there was dancing but Oliver Davis couldn't take his mind off the jealousy that stormed inside him. He felt irritated by the fact that Lin's mother was staring not at Lin and Madoka (they were to be the highlight of the evening after all) but at Mai and Tenshi with interest, a sly smile upturning her lips as if she was plotting something.

Old women; one would think that Luella's existence was enough to fill the enthusiasm of all matchmaking mothers.

"Look at the girl, young man." Ee Tsang turned to Naru, one eyebrow raised but Naru knew that she was pointing at Mai and her younger son. "Won't she be the perfect wife for Tenshi?"

Naru turned his snort into a cough.

No. He thought rather forcefully. No, she doesn't suit with your son or any other idiot for that matter.

"I see that you don't agree with me." She sighed. "But one can always hope, can't one? Even Lin said she would be the perfect bride for my Tenshi."

No.

He tried to control the sudden flare in his temper but he just turned to face the dancing couple and fixed his scathing glare upon them.

"If you want to give Tenshi a punch or two," Ee Tsang continued almost conversationally as if she was referring to the weather. "Please go ahead. Do remember to maim him, Lord knows he needs it."

Naru turned sharply to the older woman, his eyes narrowed but she understood his question even when he hadn't voiced any.

"I – "

"Oh, I know you're jealous." She swatted him on the arm with her traditional fan. "You've been murdering Tenshi in your mind. You're too much obvious, Davis. Not the least mysterious."

Naru coughed again, he hadn't uttered a word to this woman and here she was, commenting upon it as if it was an everyday occurrence. Everybody had thought he was an enigma and Lin's mother was looking right through his mind; but then again, the woman had tolerated Lin in his childhood, it was not surprising that she looked through people even as hard as him.

He then glanced at Tenshi and felt his temper reach its boiling point, the idiot was almost…

"Do you know, Tsang-san." His words were cold and contained unleashed fury. "I think your son is dancing too close to Mai."

"Well," The woman had the audacity to shrug carelessly at him. "If you can do something about it, please do."

Naru gritted his teeth, spun on his heel and was about to stalk towards them when the old woman stopped him, laying a hand on his arm.

"Don't lose her Davis. Don't let the things you value go away, you'll regret it later."

Oliver nodded and then strode firmly towards the couple.

Tenshi was leaning towards Mai but as soon as he saw Naru approaching he straightened and pasted a glib grin on his face.

To which Naru just smirked, cruelly.

"Naru!" Mai's eyes widened and she smiled at him which just seemed to add to her beauty; her cheeks were flushed and a strand of curled hair rested on her cheek. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Ah, Davis." Tenshi let go of Mai but brought her hand to his lips. "I was just about to tell you that you have an exquisite female for an assistant. Beautiful, might I add."

Naru crossed his arms and inclined his head to one side.

"You might not add more facts to my knowledge. Tenshi." Then he directed another glare which baffled the young man. "She is after all – my fiancée."

The music stopped and everybody around them drew in a sharp breath; somewhere in the crowd, Naru was sure that Madoka and Luella would be in raptures over his sudden announcement but he had caused a stir and was enjoying it; something he rarely did.

"F-fiancee…" Mai gasped, her doe-like eyes wide and staring up at him, lost.

"Yes, fiancee, Mai." He answered as if it was the most ridiculous question she had ever asked. "Or have you grown so stupid that you don't know what it means?"

Oliver Davis couldn't judge who was more surprised at this, Mai or Tenshi but their reactions caused him to smirk; Mai blinked twice, her mouth opened but when she tried to articulate no sound came out. On the other hand, Tenshi - looked like a traffic light, first he turned red, then yellow and then finally green. Naru would have cackled if he hadn't been so angry at Mai. So he took her hand and then proceeded to drag her out of the room.

"Naru!" She struggled against the tight grip on her wrist but he tightened it further. Let her be indignant, she had teased him out of his mind the whole evening, if this was torture, let her taste some of what he had suffered, standing in a corner and wishing that he was with Mai, instead of that Tenshi. "Naru! Let me go! What has happened to you?!"

The crowd in the ballroom parted naturally as he dragged Mai out, silently watching the debacle; it might have been Naru's imagination but he saw Ee Tsang's eyes smiling over that fan of hers.

"Didn't you promise me that you'd wait for me?" He silently hissed at her. "Three years ago. You promised Mai."

At last, he reached a room in the hotel in which he stole in, holding onto Mai.

"Naru?" She was looking at him in fear and his anger dissolved a bit. "A-are you possessed?"

Naru rolled his eyes; why could she not receive romantic gestures from him as they were normal.

"Do I look like I'm possessed."

"Nooo." Mai narrowed her eyes and then stood aplomb, arms crossed mockingly. "So what you mean to say is that you just hoisted me out of the crowd for fun? Ne? You just decided that calling me your fiancee would be acceptable?!"

"You're making it hard, Mai." He sighed, fumbling in his pocket for the paper he often carried with him and then he found the rough surface his fingers were looking for. Taking it out, he spread it evenly, forcing the creases out. "Will you be smart enough to hold your tongue for some while or is that too much to ask?

"Given your eccentricity now, it's hard." She rolled her eyes at him, inhaling wistfully. "Geez, and I was having such a good time too. Uh, Naru what's that paper in your hand?"

"It's a confession."

A simple statement that made her eyes widen innocently. Good, he thought savagely, serves her right for wearing a short dress at a wedding which made every man spew poetry.

"Eh?!" His mind was playing ticks because he was positively sure that he saw hurt flash in her eyes but why would she be hurt – unless, unless she was jealous. "Did you need help c-confessing to someone?"

Her mouth was pressed into a hard line as if she was trying to stop herself from making some unwanted sound.

"Yes. I needed your help."

Two could play at a game.

"Uh…right, yes of course."

He didn't enjoy torturing her so and in that moment of rash sentimentality; Oliver Davis uncorked his mind and started reading from the paper.

"After numerous experiments and various generated hypothesis, I've reached a certain conclusion." He drew in a short breath and looked at Mai; her face was red, eyes were rimmed with tears, mouth pinched together but she shined.

There was no poetry for her; she glowed and he wanted to make that glow his – no other man would value her as he would, not Gene, not Tenshi, not Yasu…nobody but him. Only him.

"I am a reclusive person but I'll make allowances for you, which is more than I've ever done for anybody else. I love you. I think you needed to know."

That was all; the four lines that he'd written thinking of her and re-written thinking of her – these lines that he'd never thought he'd been saying ever, to anybody. He was such an idiot; hadn't he know that life would always joke with him in the worst possible way.

For the first time, he felt like taunting life in return, if it gave him something so vital, he'd take it and show it that there were some jokes he could tolerate.

Like a certain twenty year old brunette, wearing a flower in her hair and looking nothing less than a miracle. The thing was that she was no joke, she was no illusion – she was stark reality, she bought so many possibilities, she bought life.

She waltzed into his life.

He laughed at his romanticism internally, sap clearly never suited him.

"That was – " Her mouth was hanging open as she blinked up at him, the tears were flowing out of his eyes but she was trying so hard not to make a sound. "Naru, that was so beautiful."

He smirked – for Mai, he could do poetry. Or maybe it was just the way Mai felt, she saw the good in everybody and she always remembered it. The only thing that could make this better was Mai saying the same words, but at the moment she was crying, anguished at the thought that he was confessing to someone else.

No more torturing.

"Don't you want to know who it's for?" He leaned against the table and crossed his arms.

"No. I don't want to know who it was for!" She knocked her tears away with her hand and then frowned at herself, as if stunned by her rudeness. "Please excuse me, I am just going to accept Tenshi's waltz."

Now it was Naru who frowned. Wasn't this moment supposed to make Mai forget everyone except him? Clearly he needed to re-double his efforts at it. He had been torn between this so much and now she was not going out of this, didn't she love him anymore?

"It was for you." He called out after her and felt something elevate inside him when she stopped dead in her tracks and spun around to face him, shock apparent on her face. "I wrote that for you."

She faced him completely and then blinked…thrice, looking as if her medulla had been dismantled, her mouth was poised to speak but no sound came out.

It was something similar to what he had felt when he had realized that he loved her.

"Naru…" She was advancing towards him, her hands fisted at the side. "What did you just say?"

"I say things once, if you didn't hear – "

"I said." She was yelling now, shaking with some emotion he could not identify. "What did you just say?!"

"I said I wrote that for you." He sighed, feeling nervousness emerge within – he was never nervous but then again Mai looked murderous and for once he was afraid if he would be rejected. It skewered him.

"So you," She gulped aloud, standing too close to him. "So you…love me?"

The question hung in the air and Naru felt it; the impact of his words dawning upon the both of them and all he could do to hold on to rational thought was to exhale roughly and grip the table with one hand.

"Yes."

Everything was quiet for a moment; she just stood there, head cocked to one side, eyes widening minutely as each second passed, then she inhaled, a smile cracking at the corners.

He felt relief surge in his system.

And then she hugged him, it was in the blink of a moment but it didn't take time for him to react – his hand found her hair and he held her close. Much closer than any man would ever had and she loved him back; his luck had rotated by a 360 and he savored each moment.

She was crying but she was clinging to him as if he was everything to her; the satisfaction at it was exquisite.

"Baka!" She cried, one of her hands beating at his chest. "Idiot narcissist! Do you know how I felt when you said it was for someone else?!"

"I didn't say anything like that." He sighed, he seemed to be doing so much of that lately. "And did you know how I felt when you were dancing with Lin's brother? I could have evaporated him and it's not as if he's more handsome than I am."

She smiled, he was sure of it and that made him relax and then she kissed him.

It was right – all prose and poetry describing it at finding the last pieces of your puzzle, describing the feeling as one that makes everything seem right.

And now his warped world made some sense.

So, he smiled - for the first time, it didn't hurt.

In Which The Priest Learns To Laugh At Weddings.

"Dearly Beloved…" John started reading, a smile tugging at his lips. It had taken five years for them to get to this point; that just showed how stubborn they were. At the end of his first few sentences; the Davis cousins started to hoot, apparently they did not follow conventions.

To think that Julian Davis was whistling at such an amorous event.

"…I now pronounce you man and wife."

Five years since SPR had been formed, so many changes had taken place, people had been partnered, married by this time – Yasu and Masako, Monk and Ayako, Lin and Madoka were married by now.

The last wedding in that aspect was that of Naru and Mai; who were currently gazing at each other. Mai was raptured, holding a bouquet of white roses, eyes shining while Naru was glancing at the his wife as if she would disappear if he looked away.

John Brown smiled again, closing the Bible as the nuptials were tied and people scattered to celebrate.

It was time for the wedding speech and by the looks of it, Emmy Davis would be going to the microphone first, accompanied by her brother; out of the corner of his eyes, John saw Naru exhale wearily while Mai beamed up at Naru's cousin who had started speaking.

"I'm Emmy. Emmy Davis." She said stoically, as if her name was the key to all puzzles. "And this goof next to me is my brother, I know you all know him, he's nothing short of a monkey."

The audience laughed – even Naru smirked, nodding as if what she was saying was true. Richard instead of appearing the least bit insulted, clapped and straightened the mike towards himself.

"Capital statement, dear sister but we're not here to argue are we?" Richard Davis looked at the crowd and being the rake he was, smiled widely to which a few girls appeared to swoon. "We are here to talk about our brilliant cousin and his radiant wife."

"No, we're here to talk about your gloomy cousin and his very radiant wife." Yasu called out and the crowd burst into laughter.

"True Yasu." Richard grinned. "But my infallible cousin fell for a very bright woman with whom he's completely smitten."

"My cousin." Emmy jerked the mike towards him. "I've see him change; he loves her. I wish them happiness."

"True." Richard grinned again. "Now we give the mike to our cousin, Julian."

Julian walked up the stage, as if he'd been called to receive an award.

"Yes, thank you everyone." He waved at the crowd which started laughing. "Ah, the blooms of young life. Apparently I deserve an award since I played a vital role in getting them together."

Ee Tsang's clear voice rang above the crowd, ominous.

"Young man, that was me." The Chinese lady stood up, eyes narrowed. "It was because of my urging that these proceedings are taking place."

"Mother." Tenshi stood up, indignantly. "That was me! It was because of me that you're all here."

Suddenly the wedding was a competition.

"You forget," Luella stood up, wiping a stray tear – her eyes determined. "That it is due to my scheming that Noll got any senses."

"Well, now Luella." Martin didn't stand up but just called out from his seat, arms crossed defiantly. "Let's not forget that it was my talking that did the trick."

"Au contraire, you did the talking because of me, which indirectly means that I – "

"Enough."

Every single head swiveled to look in the direction of the groom who clearly looked irritated, he was currently pinching his nose-bridge as his wife shook her head fondly.

"Apparently," Masako shoved Julian away, taking the stage for herself. "You all forget that this is an occasion on which we all must maintain the true spirit. Enough of the speeches, let us now proceed to dancing the celebration."

Masako bowed and soon all the guests turned away to dance, eat but what nobody noticed was the mysterious disappearance of Naru and Mai; well – John did, but he didn't point it out.

They were married after all…

So John turned towards the celebrating people, a silent smile gracing his lips, one thought going around his mind.

What nobody thought of was that it was he who had been the one to get them together…

Somewhere in the corner, the crowd missed one man who didn't know whether to be happy or sad…

Eugene Davis sighed – one woman he loved and she was getting married off to his own twin, a man who could never be good enough for Mai.

Well he was a ghost…he certainly couldn't go and replace his brother could he?

So our favorite ghost did one thing that he never failed at; he smiled at the celebration…

Never mind that for the first time, his smile truly hurt him…

In Which We Come To Know Of Our Mischief Maker

Osamu Yasuhara stood at the glass window, his eyes concentrated on the road below with his mind miles away.

Life had bought him so far; he had been an ambitious young student a while back, then he became a paranormal researcher and now he was the CEO of his own company.

One of the youngest businessmen to be rich.

He had wanted this from the beginning, his own life, something that he owned completely – some legacy behind his name; and it seemed that now he had it all. Which was why he smiled absently and then went back to his desk to work.

It was intriguing how the world suddenly seemed right when all the riddles were eradicated.

He had married Masako; one woman he couldn't even imagine himself to be with in the beginning, she was his complete opposite, rich, stiff, boring with only beauty as her weapon. She was a snob and then she pined after Big Boss which totally reduced any chances but he had fallen.

He wasn't sure how it happened exactly but one day he hated her and the next day he saw her in a new light; the brittle pale face was colored, the eyes were wide and feminine and then Masako Hara changed.

He guessed that it happened somewhere between the time when he was planning on how to get Big Boss and Mai together; at that time he had come to know that something was off about the fact that Masako was dating Oliver when she showed so much interest in getting her together with Mai that it seemed apparent that something was wrong.

She didn't love Naru – she thought so…and she knew it.

He had liked witty women; women who had opinions and it seemed that Masako Hara was both opinionated and scheming and saw more to him than the mischief-maker or a flirt or a rake which was saying something because people only knew him for such qualities. He had taken care of people all the time but Masako wasn't a burden – she was strong when she chose to be and weak when he wanted her.

He loved her. It was simple enough.

The phone on his desk rang and he picked it up only to be confronted by his secretary.

"Kazuki." He leaned back in the chair. "Tell me we got the deal. If we haven't then hang up."

"Sir, we have got it. Maya-san is ready to invest in the company. Apparently she was too charmed by you…uh…masculine wiles."

Yasu laughed and then rolled his eyes.

"I just shook her hand Kazuki." Yasu tsked at his young assistant who just chuckled in response. "Surely, you don't call it wile, do you?

"And you smiled, sir." The young man was stifling laughter. "And you even chuckled, our client swooned I tell you. She even asked for your personal number."

"You didn't give it to her, did you?"

"No, I gave mine." The chortling stopped replaced by pensiveness. "Uh, sir – your wife's here. Should I send her in?"

Masako?

"Oh yes, please do." Yasu sat up straighter. "Send in something to eat too."

"Yes sir." But instead of hanging up as he should have, his assistant added something in a low voice. "But there are other people with her. There's one brunette and a red head, and a Man with this bleached ponytail and this young boy that speaks with a Kansai accent. Then there is a pink-haired woman who's bouncing around the office and of course the two supermodels."

The super-what -?

"Who?"

"Two men who look like super models, black hair, blue eyes, grey eyes, out-for-murder type. Do you think they are clients? They're distracting the females in here."

Yasu smiled secretively and then glanced at the picture on his desk.

"Send them all in but keep them out until I'm with my wife."

"Yes Boss."

The phone clicked and Yasu stood up, straightening his coat – in two years' time, it was the first instant the whole of the SPR had come to visit him at his private office but well, one had to be ready.

It was amazing how so much had changed and yet how much everything remained same; SPR had been disbanded what with everybody starting their personal lives - Naru was a full-time researcher for BSPR, Monk had gotten very famous in the last years and was an expert musician, Lin had gone back to China on Madoka's insistence and was an expert researcher who often returned to both Japan and England to keep up. John had gone back to Australia, continuing his life.

They had started out as a mismatche group and now -

The door opened tentatively and there stood his lovely wife.

"Masako." He smiled. "Missing me already?"

"Yes." She smiled back and then hugged him, sighing. "I wanted to come alone but some people just don't know that they should keep out of some matters."

"By people, you don't mean the freaks that we used to work with, do you?"

She laughed, the tinkles echoing in the large room.

"I just came to tell you that you'll be losing chess tonight." Masako feigned haughtiness and swat him on the arm. "I am completely prepared to beat you at it."

It was a customary habit - in the evening, they both sat down and had a game of chess, which Yasu had been winning consecutively since their marriage - it annoyed Masako who said that she lost intentionally so as to 'not hurt his inflated masculine pride'.

"Ah, the chess." Yasu leaned down suggestively, eyebrows raised, mouth quirked. "Why don't we do something more interesting than that?"

He barely had any time to enjoy the blush his wife sported when the door was thrown open by the Irregulars.

"Aha!" Monk leveled a finger at him, smiling triumphantly. "Caught red-handed!"

Ayako who had been examining her finger-nails readied her purse and –

Thwack!

"Perverted old fool."

"Hag!"

"Fool!"

"Hag!"

"Takigawa meant to say congratulations." Lin stepped forward, a little smile playing on his lips. Madoka was clutching his arm with one hand and clutching a pram with the other one. "You've accomplished so much. It's surprising."

Yasu grimaced – was that meant to be an insult but people who knew him often said things like that.

"Yasu!" Madoka was gushing as she usually did. "Man, aren't you fabulous – this is such a beautiful office! You've really done it!"

"You've lived up to everything, Mate."

"Congratulations." The word was spoken in unison by Mai and Naru who then looked at each other, cocked an eyebrow simultaneously and also shook their heads at the same moment.

"Stop copying me Naru!"

"I have more sense than that, Mai."

"Why haven't I witnessed it?"

"Your idiocy is hardly my fault."

The commotions carried out but in the midst of it he caught Masako's eyes and winked, mouthing 'chess' at her to which she averted her gaze and grinned secretively.

Well – since they would continue with it for some time, he should probably sneak out with his wife.

Which he did.

Laughing to himself, he neatly steered his wife out – unnoticed by the leg-shackled Irregulars and CEOs and Permanent Employees/Mentors.

No matter what he did – by heart he would always remain a mischief-maker…

In Which Luella Davis Holds Her First Grandchild – Or Children?

Her eyes burned with tears as she stared at the little bundle in her arms.

It was so small, so delicate – so beautiful that every part of her cried, yet she held it firmly, the joy radiating from her eyes.

"Oh Martin." She looked up from the baby in her arms in wonderment, awe. "Martin, he's so beautiful. My God, I love him already!"

Martin smiled gently, rocking another bundle in his arms.

"Don't forget my grand-daughter, Lu." He was giving off pride, the possession shining. "She's every bit as beautiful as her twin."

Luella nodded, tears slipping out as she spotted Noll exiting the operation ward; her son's face was white and he was distracted as if still reeling from reality when he spotted them and walked towards her.

"I never imagined they'd be twins." His voice was hoarse as he took his new-born girl in his arms. "Mai says she wants to name her Megumi."

"I approve." Luella nodded, grinning widely as she cooed at her grandson. "We'll call her Meg. But what will you call this little boy?"

Noll glanced at his son and smiled slowly, a melancholic look taking over his eyes.

"Mai says she wants to name him Eugene."

Startled, Luella looked up at her son and then held a hand over her mouth, choking over her tears as Martin put an arm around her shoulders.

It was too emotional; she had never imagined someone could handle Noll and pick him up from recluse to husband and then father but there he was, tall, proud as closed off to the world with a few cracks here and there in his demeanor.

It made her throat clog with emotions.

"That's so thoughtful of her." Martin sighed wearily – the day had been chaos with Noll glaring at everything that was glare-able, with Mai shouting in agony and everybody radiating joy and excitement. Glancing at his son, he remarked. "Luella will pamper them, positively."

"She deserves to." Noll cracked a smile, taking Eugene in his arms. "I'll be there to ensure that she doesn't fly away with them to some other place."

Luella looked up at them defiantly.

"Of course I'll spoil the darlings! My Eugene and Megumi! Wait, hold them – I must go to Mai, the poor dear!"

With that the woman dashed off leaving the two children at the hands of two stoic males who looked at each other.

"Father." Naru looked up from Megumi's face, she was gurgling happily at him. "Thank you for everything."

Martin turned to his son and then smiled - it was the first time he'd been called Father without annoyance, it was nice to hear. To think that he'd fathered this confident man, this intelligent boy overwhelmed him so our stoic hero's equally stoic father, patted his son on the shoulder and then followed his wifes footsteps.

"I hope your child turns out just like you." Martin smirked smugly. "That will be the epitome of justice, eh?"

And then he walked away...content that all hearts had been healed by the birth of these children. The funny thing was that this wasn't the end at all - the funny thing was that this journey was just beginning, it had just been a new chapter in it.

Life, sometimes it just knows what you need best...

A/N: So I'm just staring at the screen and my hands are trembling, it was such fun writing this and I sure had some hectic moments but this story was the first one that meant so much to me. I'm just so damned happy and sad, borderline :')

I do hope you've enjoyed! Do review and earn the customary cookie my bakery offers. Look out for my next story too!

Love and cookies to all 3

-borntoflyhigh-