"Get your friggin' hands off of me!" Telex yelled, fighting with all that was within her. The monsters had reappeared once again along with Duo. She and Tari matched wits and strengths, but neither were a match for the repulsive vermin which held them. Toraneko, Raine, Trowa, Wufei, Une, and Shin simply allowed themselves to be carried, glowering in their own way at the demonic swine which held them in their slimy grasps. The worst thing for Wufei was the fact that, not only was this a complete injustice on his pride, but they had also struck the blow of taking his katanas.

Confiscating Wufei's katanas made for a very grumpy Wufei.

"You humans are so gullible and trustworthy," Duo was saying off-handedly, his shortened hair hanging in his eyes. He seemed more Heero-like than anyone really wanted to think about. "To think, we were there almost the entire time, and you didn't suspect a thing! It is quite amusing."

"What will be amusing is what Maxwell's gonna do to you once he comes to his senses," Wufei snarled, no longer capable of taking the incessant talking of a demon who was far more annoying than the original Maxwell had ever been.

"Oh, him," the demon within Duo gave a haughty laugh. "He's been fighting me this whole time. 'Leave my friends alone, they never done nothing to you'. 'Siri's gonna beat you, wait and see!' Ha! I'd like to see that stupid wretch of a girl even try to defeat Lady Kykyo." (AN-That's pronounced key-key-yo, the o long.)

"Why you...Siri will defeat you!" Tari shouted. "How dare you, you stupid son-"
"Tari!" Toraneko stopped her.

"You should let your friend curse me all she likes," Duo smirked coldly. "She'll miss not doing it before she becomes a ghost."

Ghost? ran through many minds. Only Shin knew what he spoke of.

The group entered a large, circular room. Instead of the typical candles and darkness, as many of them had been expecting, it was completely white. White everywhere. White is very, very intimidating when it is the only color in use. (AN-Why else do asylums and hospitals use it excessively?)

In the center of the room was the only things that weren't white. Twelve tall benches spread across the room, with two more before them all, in right angles to the others (straight up and down). The dozen laid perfectly flat. The twelve benches were the color of molten lead, with splashes of other unknown materials, with shackles the color of rusted iron. The shackles were placed where most thought would be the ankles, knees, wrists, elbows, and upper torso.

A sudden extreme bout of nausea passed through the group as they figured out what most of the unknown material were. Blood. Dry, sickeningly dark red blood.

"Well," chuckled a voice most in the room knew only too well. "It seems we have our guests in order. Caprice, Waterweed, Yasha, strap them to their benches."

Raine swooned and fainted dead away, right into Trowa's arms.
"And be sure you get the right couples, Remram," Releena, now known to be inhabited by the demon Kykyo, said, as though telling him not to forget his lunch for work that day. "Wouldn't want to destroy ourselves, would we?"

"No, milady."

"The blond and bang-boy there are obviously together," Kykyo (Releena) stated, gesturing to the fainted Raine and Trowa, holding her while glowering at the demons. "And I know that one there's alone." She pointed to Tari.

"Yes, mistress," Waterweed, Yasha (Quatre), and Caprice said as one. Tari was placed, rather roughly, on the first table. Yasha (Quatre) ran some sort of scanner over her, then handed it to Waterweed without another word.

"She's ready," Yasha said, pointing to the struggling Tari. The bonds that held her were too tight, but she was not about the give up.

"Him, too," Waterweed said.

A red light went off on Raine.

"D103, hold this one," Caprice barked to one of the monsters.

And down the line. The red light had flashed on Telex, Raine, Toraneko, and Wufei. Une was strapped to the table next to the table meant for Raine. A small assembly line had formed. One of certain death.

~~~

"And how are we supposed to get out of here? Where are we supposed to go?" I rambled on to Heero, once I'd taught him the chorus and first and second verses to Pay Attention.

"Duo has always been very addle-brained," Heero said calmly. "So is his demon." He took out the gun he had attempted to give me, brandished it a moment, the shot the glass, the silencer stopping any noise from the gun itself.

The glass shattered, falling to the ground with a crash.

"This way."

"How do you know?" I climbed out of the room carefully.

"Intuition. I have infiltrated many bases."

"Those were Oz bases and Romefeller-"

"Do you trust me, Siri?"
"Of course I trust you, Heero," I said, cocking my head a little as I raced after him.

"Then listen to me. Once we get into that room, I'm going to pull out that harmonica and start playing. You've got to start singing, too, no matter what is going on. The others have already been strapped to the tables."

Tables? Oh, no...that meant...

"Heero? You can count on me."

~~~

"And she should go there when you are finished," Kykyo continued, pointing. Suddenly, she screeched higher than Telex would have liked. Sweet music had begun to play, sending every last one of the demons to collapse in pain to the floor.

If you wanna be somebody

If you wanna go somewhere

You better wake up and

Pay Attention...

"S-Siri..." Tari managed to smile, even though there was a long knife at the base of her neck, where Rem had begun to kill her. He had been cut short, just in time, by the sound of Heero's harmonica and my alto, and probably flat, voice.

Tiny, furry little creatures began to spring from their hosts' mouths. Like little dragons with tufts of fur running down their backs. The creatures began to change shape the minute they had exited the bodies of Waterweed, Caprice, Quatre, Duo, Releena, and Rem.

The swine that were so tiny began to grow.

"Siri, get me out of these binds! Just don't stop singing!" Shin shouted to me. I nodded, only faltering a second.

In place of the original six furry dragons, there was now: An ocelot, a dragon, a snake, a tiger, a grizzly bear, and a peregrine falcon. And they were one unhappy bunch. I was still singing, too. Do you have any idea how hard it is to hurry to untie people, watch a group of demons become animals, and sing, all at the same time?

"You can stop singing now," Shin smirked. "And get up your strength to fight." I stopped. Heero, too, came over and began to help me get everyone free.

"Here, Wufei, catch," I shouted, tossing his katanas to him. Growling like the animals before me, I faltered when Wufei and Heero both asked the unthinkable, at least for me.

"Siri, get the others. Don't let them get possessed again."

"What-"
"Just do it!"

I did what I was told, dragging Raine, Duo, Quatre, and the others beyond the table.

"Now where did that darned snake go?" Wufei cursed. I raced to join them and found myself being quite useful in the battle against the dragon (it was a miniature). Shin had already managed to contain the bear and falcon, along with the ocelot and tiger, to which I think we were all grateful.

A screech behind us alerted me to the others. My mother and Tari were fighting off the snake, alone. Heero tossed me his gun and continued to fight the dragon alone. Torn between which battle to take, I took the road less traveled and raced to defend my mother and friend.

"Siri, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Tari shouted in alarm. "We can handle the snake, go back and-"
She was cut off by a loud bang as I shot the snake in the general vicinity of the heart, or at least where I thought it might be. Instead of keeling over dead, however, it loomed over me, black and frightening. I shot again and again, but missed my mark.

The snake dove.

Visions of my life passed over my eyes.

Nothing seemed real.

Everything was fuzzy.

Pain in my arm.

Drifting through space.

Drifting through time.

Nothing left for me.

No one but my friends.

None but those who cared for me.

Those I cared for.
I heard cries all around me, calling out my name. Felt the gun be taken from my hand. But everything was so far away. Why was everything spinning? Round and round the world went about my head, like I was the sun and everything else, the planets and comets and asteroids and moons.

No light lit the world, no light fell into my eyes. Darkness, pure black, sinking, forever into the depths of darkness. Pain began to ebb away and suddenly I saw light. It was very tiny at first, quite like a tunnel.

I gave a raw laugh. The light at the end of the tunnel. No pain. No more tears. So this was what it was truly like to do. To suddenly end ones life. But had I truly reached the end of the line?

"No, no, no, this simply won't do," said a sprightly voice. Color began to seep back into my eyes. I saw the battle, still raging below me. Tari and my mother were crying. Heero was...Heero was crying too. Tears streamed down his usually-emotionless face, he was hysterical as he beat the dragon to a bloody pulp. The other creatures had been dispersed finally by the others only a few moments before, but Heero continued fighting, even though his opponent was nearing unconsciousness.

Then, I saw it.

My body, lying limp, tiny in Tari's arms. My mother was pulling my hair gently out of my face, but that wasn't possible. I was up here. How could I be down there and up here at the same time? Was that possible?

My face was so pale, it was like the blood had drained too quickly. Only I soon figured out that there was none. It struck me like lightning, something I had overheard Duo telling the others before Heero and I fully reached the door of the hall.

Ghost.
"If I'm down there, and yet I'm up here, and that snake bit me...that must mean I've turned into a ghost. Hn. Strange."

"Not at all, for what you've been through."

"You're right, but--Hey, who are you? Where are you?"

"Right here, silly head," said the voice again. "Didn't think I'd just leave you be, did you?"

"If I'm a ghost, how can you see me? And who are you?"

"I'm Botan, the Pilot of the River Styx."
"Oh, so you're the Grim Reaper," I blinked at her. "But how is that so? You're too pretty to be grim."
"You should talk, Loner," she smiled brightly. "You know, for a loner, you sure had a lot of friends." She watched the others. "And we weren't really expecting this."
"What do you mean, you weren't expecting this?" I asked incredulously.

"I won't go into it," she sighed. "I've got enough trouble trying to take care of Yusuke. Which is why Koenma has graciously decided to give you your life back. And, being as that you are the Holder of Power, that is quite acceptable. Later!" Suddenly, she was gone and I was sinking.

Sinking back into the light.

Back into myself.

Back to the living.

"S-Siri?" my mother whispered to me carefully. "Honey, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," I stuttered. "F-Fine. N-Never better."

***

Duo, Quatre and the others soon began to awaken. Shin said something about heading back to Spirit World, but it was all a blur to me. Quatre wouldn't stop apologizing, and I was being hugged very tightly by Duo, Tari, and Raine. Only upon my request to be let go did they let me breath.

Releena was still quiet.

"One of the demons escaped!" Shin shouted suddenly. Another blur of movement, something that I wasn't paying much attention to. Unconsciously, I raised my wrist, upon which the bracelet still resided, and a bright flash of blue light shot from my hand, completely destroying all traces of Releena Peacecraft and the demon Lady Kykyo.

Shock ran through the entire group. I gave a small smirk, knowing that I had done what was once thought unthinkable for me.

"The power of perception, learning, and spiritual gathering," I grasped my now-normal hand into a tight fist. "Is put to rest. For now."

My father, who had as of yet to awaken, groaned aloud. My breath caught in my throat as I stared down at him. I had lived with him for twelve years in total and utter fear. Would he still be his same self, the one who had been so abusive and trying, or was he really the way he'd been?

Waterweed, it turned out, woke up first. He looked around, dazed and confused. Then his eyes fell on me.

"M-M-M-Miss S-Sari!" He seemed at a lost for any words at all, simply sat there, tears streaming down his face.

"Mr. Waterweed," I nodded gently.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" he finally burst out. "I'm free at last! Free of that demon's clutches!" He closed his eyes and fell at my feet, sobbing deeply for a man of his stature. Boys do cry. Heero had proved that. Speaking of him...where was he?

Like the missing angel I had once thought him to be, he sat on one of the blood-stained benches, indifferent to anything and everyone. Duo was busy apologizing like crazy, as was Quatre, who looked very green in the face.

A groan directed all of our attention to my father. Only Heero, myself, and probably my mother knew what he had done to me. My mother stood beside me, biting her lip hopefully. Probably hoping that the man she had married would come back out of the shell where a demon had once been.

Heero looked quite tense. It was obvious he wasn't pleased at all with this man, or his ways, and was waiting with tense muscles for his awakening. I caught his eye and shook my head carefully. He gave a single curt nod and relaxed. Slightly. At least now his knuckles were only a little pink instead of ghostly white.

Ravioli Vince Caprice, or whatever his true name was, awoke with a slight shake of his head. He looked up at the crowd around him and his eyes landed on me.

"You little witch!" he yelled. "I was this close from getting to be the first-"

He was cut off rather abruptly by a gunshot. Heero stood on the table, his hands shaking slightly as he slowly put the gun down. His hand finally placed the handgun into his pocket and he leapt from the table, landing beside me.

"Are there no more prisoners here?" he asked Shin professionally. The white-haired god shook his head.

"Then leave. Siri and I will destroy this place. We will rejoin you in a few moments."

"But, Heero, man, I can-"
"No, Duo. Just Siri."

The others nodded very slowly and Shin opened a black portal.

"If you two are not back at the mansion in twenty minutes, I'm coming back to help," Shin told us firmly. "I'm not sure what else is here, besides those monsters."
"Don't worry. We'll be back long before then," I nodded to Shin. It's going to be hard to smile anymore. Not anymore, now that I know I've killed someone. Killed someone in self-defense, yes, but I had still committed murder.

The portal closed.

"How?"

"What?" Heero was very good at asking questions without being very clear.

"How did you come back? You were dead."

"I...don't know, really," I shrugged.

"I can answer that one." It was that Botan lady. "Koenma decided to let her live. She died nobly, in the face of danger, never having truly known she had been cared for all of her life. You have been given a great chance, Siri. Live your life. In the words of Siri Capri, Sayonara!"

"Heero? Remind me of that next time I think about killing myself. I don't want to see her for a long time."

"I will. Every day."

"How?"

He didn't answer verbally. His lips closed over mine faster than I could have truly expected it. Heero gave me a smile that I will always remember. A smile as wide as Duo's, but with every ounce of tenderness and heart that only a soul mate can truly give.

"Ready?" he asked after a moment.

"Let's get this party started," I grinned. He laughed, a sweet bass laugh that I will recall each and every day of my life. And from the looks of it, that would be a very long time.

***

When we stepped through the portal five minutes later, everyone was waiting for us. It seemed to me that there is only one way to truly end this story of my life. It will never be "happily ever after", because you can never truly be happy all the time.

But Heero and I lived with joy in our hearts, knowing that we had found our true soul mates despite every reconcilable odd against us. It's a month after the attacks on our lives and our worlds.

Shin brought Toraneko back to Spirit World with him, and now she's a Spirit Detective, with him for a partner. It's obvious they are very much in love, but neither like to admit it. Their first case is underway, to find some lost artifact that someone stole.

Trowa and Raine, unsurprisingly, have started to date. As I often quote from Tremors II, "...you spend a few days almost getting killed, and you start to really think about how you should date more often..." I think it'll be maybe two or three years before they get married, though. That's just how quiet the two of them are.

Well, when they aren't surrounded by friends, anyway.

Jim came back a few days ago with a broken leg. He proposed that very same day. I should know; Duo dragged me behind a bush to wait for them and we caught a picture of the guy down on his knees.

It turned out that was the bang that Tari had heard.

Telex and Wufei started working together on the same Preventers team. Telex's birthday is coming up, and Wufei has asked me, very nervously, too, what Telex's favorite gem was. He's gonna ask her to marry him on her birthday. Isn't that sweet?

Poor Duo. He's still distraught about his missing braid, and is very glad that the demon responsible had been punished, and very heavily, too. Quatre has offered to pay for Tari and Jim's wedding, which was very nice of him. Poor guy is still pretty spooked.

As for Heero and me? We're taking it slow. I want to know everything about Heero, before I'll agree to anything beyond the occasional kiss. (^-~) And I suppose he wants the same from me. Mom offered to let me move in with her, but I declined. I stayed with the boys at Releena's mansion. Things were often pretty hectic, yet I loved every minute of it.

At least Wufei couldn't chop off Duo's braid anymore.

Duo let me even out his hair, which was quite jagged. He looks a little better, but he still wishes he could destroy the demons who did it to him all over again.

I suppose I should continue, telling you how many children we all had, when Heero and I were finally married, if Duo and Quatre ever met anyone, but I won't. You can guess all that out on your own, I guess. You can stretch the truths I have told you, you can tell me some of the things I'd done were mistakes that I needed to fix, but it'll fall on deaf ears.

It is said that an ounce of inspiration is worth a ton of advice. I give you every inspiring thought I've ever had. I am the Holder of Power, the power being perception, learning, and spiritual gathering. However, all the advice I can give anyone, and anyone can give to me, is simply thus; Choose your own destiny.

Oh, yes, and one more thing. Frank Ichinoku, the boy who had helped Rem transport drugs, was taken to the asylum today. He was screaming something about penguins and chickens, and how they should never mate.

***

That last part was an inside joke. Email me if you wanna get it fully. You may not want to, though. I would like to truly thank my five friends for participating in this story. And to apologize if I implied anything that wasn't true. Tari, Raine, Telex, Toraneko, Siri, you guys are the best, and I hope that we will always be friends.

For everyone. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.