"…Haji?" She called his name gently, her voice wavering slightly, but he didn't respond. More memories came flooding back to her; a rainy night at the Metropolitan Opera, where he begged her to live. And then… The balcony collapsing on top of him, just before the whole place blew up.

Tears pricked Saya's eyes, and she stared straight ahead without seeing. She didn't notice his closed eyes, the eerie stillness of his body, his shallow breaths, or the way his head had fallen back against the wall.

"You're alive," she whispered, as if in awe, stuck in her trance of remembering. "How?" He still didn't answer her. "Haji?" she prompted, breaking out of her nostalgia, and finally saw him for the first time. "Haji!" she gasped, lightly shaking his shoulders, only to be stopped by a hand on her own shoulder.

She looked up, her eyes wet with tears threatening to spill over, and met Fuyuko's piercing blue gaze. "Aunt Saya," she said, sounding much calmer than she felt, "Please stop. Shaking him isn't going to help."

"Are you…" Saya took a moment to remember the names of Diva and Riku's daughters. "Fuyuko?" Her niece nodded once. "And then you must be," she continued, looking over to her sister, "Hatsuko?"

"Yes," the brown-eyed girl responded, nodding so slightly Saya wondered if she might have imagined it, then added quickly, "I'll go get help-"

"No, I'll go," Lulu interrupted, "I'm faster." For a moment, Hatsuko's eyes flashed in silent protest, but it passed just as quickly as it had appeared.

"Yes, you're right." Fuyuko agreed in an even tone.

"Lulu… Thank you," Saya added, both concern and gratitude evident in her voice and eyes, just before her dear friend, the last of the Schiff, disappeared in a haze of blue. She turned her focus back to Haji and brushed a stray hair out of his face, noting that it had grown several inches since she'd slept. It struck her as odd right away; he hadn't changed his hair in centuries.

Haji… He always used to brush your bangs out of your face, y'know? She smiled at the memory of Kai cutting her hair, and realized he would have to cut it again once she saw to Haji. It amazed her how much it had grown during her 30 year sleep. That when they still thought Haji was dead. She still had to wonder how on Earth he had survived.

"What happened to him?" Saya asked, her voice tinged with pain, and she felt tears pricking at her eyes again. Hatsuko suddenly found something very interesting to stare at on the ground, and Saya could almost smell her guilt. Fuyuko remained composed, as she had the entire time, and her eyes were calm as she addressed Saya.

"He was starving himself," she said coolly, "Because he thought you wouldn't wake."

"What?" Saya gasped, her eyes widening, "Why would he think that?"

Fuyuko took a breath, squeezing her eyes shut, and then continued as calmly as she started, though this time Saya could hear sympathy in her voice. "Aunt Saya, you slept for a little over seventy years."

This drew another gasp from Saya, but she kept going, "After 55 years, the Red Shield's best scientists said you would never wake again; that after so long, your heart wouldn't be able to support a conscious state. It was hard on all of us, but Haji- first he stopped speaking. Then, he wouldn't leave your side, even to get you new roses. He used to bring you a new one every day."

Saya's breath hitched.

"Eventually, he stopped moving altogether. He didn't play the cello anymore. We brought him packets of blood, and he drank them while we were gone every night, but eventually he stopped even that."

"But why… Why would he do that?" Saya muttered, as if she didn't know the answer- or maybe, she just didn't want to believe it.

"Aunt Saya," the look Fuyuko gave her was almost scolding, as if to say, 'Oh, come on,' with her eyes. But she had never been one for sarcasm, so she continued her explanation. "Do you have any idea how much he loves you?" She said it as more of a statement than a question. "You are his reason for being."

She is my reason for being! The words echoed in Saya's mind, in Haji's own voice; that was what he had said to Solomon when he kidnapped her, and Haji fought with him on the rooftops of New York City to get her back.

"Haji could never live without you," Hatsuko pitched in for the first time, her voice brimming with sorrow. She still didn't lift her eyes from the ground. "He would rather die. And… Starving himself was the only way he knew how to, without leaving you."

"When you woke up, your first instinct was to take his blood- and that wasn't your fault," Fuyuko continued, putting stress on 'not your fault', "But he was weak to begin with; to be honest, I don't think he would have even been capable of standing, if he had wanted to." She closed her eyes for a moment- one small crack in her composure. "Your feeding must have pushed him over the edge."

"But I-" Saya cut herself off, her dreams of a new, happy life quickly being overridden by memories of the past. "No," she whispered, mostly to herself, "That's not-" She stopped herself before saying 'fair'. Since when had fair ever been part of the equation?

About an hour later Saya found herself seated next to her Chevalier as he laid, motionless, on a bed that reminded her painfully of Riku's from so long ago. Some Red Shield scientists told her Haji was in a coma, which she was having a great deal of trouble making herself believe.

She'd seen him nearly dead too many times to count, but he was always back on his feet within minutes thanks to his Chiropteran blood. It was so- strange? Unusual? Inconceivable? Surely a combination of all three- to see him so weak and vulnerable.

"Aunt Saya?" Hatsuko stood in the doorway, her voice soft and careful, as if she was approaching a wild animal. "Are you all right?"

Saya shook her head, wiped the tears from her eyes, and faked a smile for her niece. "I'm fine," she lied, but a tear rolled down her cheek, betraying her.

She remembered the last time that had happened; she was walking with Riku and Haji in Paris, and guilt over Irene was clouding her mind. She gave Riku a smile and a stray tear called her out on it, and before she could pull away Haji had his arms around her, and she was crying into his shoulder. For that one moment, during the war, she had felt safe and comfortable.

It wasn't like Solomon's promises of beautiful islands, and a peaceful life in a world undiscovered, because that had only made her more aware of the war. It was like he was taunting her with a dream she couldn't have, even though that wasn't his intention.

He had never properly understood her. Come to think of it, she didn't even know why he had fallen in love with her. They had danced together, once, and because of… What were his exact words… 'good chemistry', he decided he loved her?

She didn't doubt his feelings; after all, he had given up everything to be with her, but Haji's confession had been so much more real. He had always been there for her, and always would be. That is, if he ever woke up…

"He just… Suffered so much, and it was always for me," She confessed, more to satisfy herself than her niece, "I took him for granted, but…" She choked on a sob. "What if he dies?"

"He won't," Fuyuko said confidently, as if it was a statement of fact. "You're awake now, so he'll wake up too." Saya hadn't noticed her come in, but she really wanted to believe her niece.

"Do you think this was how Haji felt, inside, all that time he waited for you to wake up?" Hatsuko wondered aloud, without thinking; then quickly realized her mistake. "I'm sorry-" she said quickly, backing up out of the room, "I'll go…" She practically ran away, feeling guilty and helpless, and she could hear Saya's sobs fading into the distance.

Author's Note: Hello, readers! I see you hiding over there! *stares at favoriters/followers* Thank you so much for supporting the story! I hate it when authors require reviews, but I'm going to ask for them, because they make the story progress faster and improve the quality. I really would love to know what you think! What do you like/dislike? Who would you like to see more or less of? Where do you think the story is headed? Lastly: Live for today, look forward to tomorrow, and don't forget to smile. Thanks for reading!