…So I realize that I ruffled a few feathers. I was hoping it would have that effect. :)Believe it or not, that was actually my favorite chapter.

There's still a bit to go actually, so this isn't the end.

Remember, everything I write I had planned from the beginning, and I promise the end is worth sticking around for.

With that being said, here we goooo!…

The sky above and grass below and in the distance were washed-out in their color. Everything was so damn bright Fuu had to squint her eyes.

What an odd dream.

She had thought for a while that maybe she was in heaven… Or like some sort of purgatory… Or maybe some after-life dimension that no human had ever even considered.

There were no senses here, much like a dream. When she would believe that she could smell or taste or touch something, she realized that the sense wasn't actually there. The only thing she could smell for sure was a warm, spicy smell.

If this was a dream, it definitely was the longest dream she ever had.

Yes, the longest dream ever.

She missed Jin. He had been the last person she saw before "waking up" here. But had she woke up here? No, it was more like she had materialized…

Fuu frowned, remembering the worry on Jin's face just before she blacked-out.

Oh, Jin.

He was probably upset that he hadn't been able to protect her. But it wasn't his fault. Kai had tricked them.

She wondered if Mugen knew.

Mugen…

Maybe her death would teach him a lesson. Maybe that would spur some sort of guilt, some sort of emotion in the pirate.

There was something satisfying about imagining Mugen breaking-down emotionally at her death.

And he would be sorry. He'd be so sorry he had left her.

The emptiness that he left her with was still there in her heart, she could feel it each time she thought of him.

But the more she thought of him mourning her, the more the bitterness disintegrated and was replaced by a longing to be by him—even if just to have another argument.

And just as lonliness, anxiousness, and desperation started to creep into her throat she heard it—

A whisper, "…Alive?"

It wasn't just any whisper.

It was Kai's voice.

Kai.

Kai had shot her. But why?

As his voice became stronger, clearer, the spicy smell grew stronger, and the sky and grass began to fade. It continued until everything was just black.

Now she was aware of many things.

Her eyes were closed for one. The smell, she recognized, was something similar to incense; it was herbal and so strong it dizzied her and made her head ache. There were two voices: Kai's and a woman's. And by the closeness of their voices, they were indoors.

And also there was an unbearable pain, radiating and stabbing, coming from her stomach.

Out of sheer reaction to this new awareness of pain, her eyes cracked as far as she could make them go—God's she was tired—and her hands attempted (though failing) to cradle her abdomen.

She whimpered in pain.

Now that her eyes were cracked she took in the fuzzy picture before her.

There was Kai in the doorway, looking down at her with a vicious smirk.

"And so she's awake." He said it so matter-of-factly.

There was an old woman stooped over a—

No.

The old woman was stooped over a body of a small girl, wrapping the body like a mummy.

Kai nodded to the old woman, who then picked up a stick of incense, where the smell originated. She leaned over Fuu and blew gently the billowing smoke into Fuu's face.

And everything was black again.

Fuu found herself "materializing" into a new place. It wasn't as nice as the sky and grass this time.

No, this place was pure white, empty.

Except for what appeared to be large shadows resembling birds...

Crows.

…SO! How are you feeling right now? Mad? Relieved? Happy?

It's short, but it had to be done because it's going to be a while before I can get the next chapter out and I couldn't leave you hanging like that.

Anyway! Review! Hope you like the twists and turns I've taken.

Till next time, guys!...