Mi-chan turned to look at her mother in shock. "Nani?! Demo-"
"I won't risk exposing someone else to this disease," Ami explained. "My job as a doctor is to heal, but also to make sure to do no harm. Even if we could be certain that Tenshi-chan could heal us all, I would seriously have to consider whether I would let her in to do so. With the uncertainty involved in this, I won't allow it."
Ami walked over and set down the water she had brought up on the nightstand between Neko's and Mi-chan's bed. She had correctly assumed that the crash she had heard earlier was the sound of the ice water Mi-chan had brought up falling to the floor. She then turned to Neko. "How are you doing, honey?"
Neko's expression was about as relaxed as it had been all day. "You won't let Tenshi come?" she asked gratefully, finally allowing her eyes to close completely. "Promise?"
"I promise," Ami said, even as her daughter was already falling asleep.
Ami thought this was a good time to bring back the thermo-scanner and take a look at how the disease was progressing. As she brought it out, she looked over at Mi-chan, who was fuming. She paid her mood no heed as she asked, "Is Neko-chan still in pain?"
"She hasn't spasmed in awhile, at least that I know of, but the pain is deeper and more constant." Mi-chan's eyes were still narrowed at her mother. She wasn't ready to drop the Tenshi issue yet. "How can you do this to her?! We can't just sit here, doing nothing, just watching her die! Tenshi-kun wants to help! Why can't she just-"
"No," Ami replied firmly. "My decision is final, and Tenshi-chan is not to be exposed."
"Fine!" Mi-chan squeezed Neko's hand hard. "But she's not dying. We're going to fight this and beat it! She can't die!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The pain lifted from Neko as she began to feel her consciousness drift away from her body. It was better here, as she floated through what seemed like clouds of light and mist. It was peaceful.
She floated for what seemed like both forever and yet an instant before she gradually came to a stop. She hadn't been controlling her path and wasn't sure what to do now that she seemed stuck on the edge of this world and the next. Was there something she needed to do to travel beyond?
"Welcome, Mizuno Neko, to the edge of Heaven and Earth."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Tenshi ran up to the doorway of the Mizuno household and rang the doorbell. She waited only a couple of minutes before she lost patience and knocked on the door loudly. A couple of minutes more and she tried the door.
"Come on!" The door was locked. She knocked again, planning just how she was going to force this door open if nobody came this time.
She heard a knock to her right and ran over to the living room window where Ami had just pulled aside the curtain. "Mizuno-sama, I'm here to see Koneko. To heal her!"
She could just barely hear Ami through the glass but she could quite easily read what her lips said. "Gomen nasai, Tenshi-chan."
She couldn't believe what Ami was saying. "No, you have to let me in!" Tenshi yelled as Ami left the window.
Well, she wasn't about to settle for that. Mi-chan had invited her over, she'd let her in. Tenshi flipped open her communicator and called Mi-chan. "Hey, I need you to come and let me in."
"I wish I could," Mi-chan answered, her eyes just barely willing to meet Tenshi's, as if she were embarrassed to not be able to help the potential savior of Neko's. "But Neko-chan doesn't want you to come in and get sick. Besides Okaa-san's practically barred all the doors. And� I don't want to leave her side."
"You can't do this!" Tenshi cried. "Even if I can't do anything, I should be by her side. I'm her fianc�e, for kami's sake!"
Mi-chan's eyes flashed. "I already told you I can't!" she said hostilely, before shutting off the communicator.
Tenshi sighed and sat down by the front door. She shouldn't have challenged Mi-chan, she realized. The poor girl was already under immense stress, she didn't need reminding of how helpless she was to stop it.
Now Tenshi was helpless too. She hated feeling helpless, especially when the safety of Neko was concerned. She'd rather be in there catching the disease with Neko than out here with nothing to do but worry about her.
She felt something nuzzle her shoulder and looked over to see who was there. An eight-month-old wolf stared back at her.
"Poor, Morpheus, did you get stuck out here too?" she asked sympathizing with Mi-chan's animal companion as she began to stroke his fur. He was undoubtedly just as worried about Mi-chan as she was about Neko.
Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur, glad to have some companionship out there in the cold world.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Before Neko appeared a blond-haired, blue-eyed angel. For a second, she thought it was her Tenshi, but she soon figured out that that was impossible.
"I'm sorry for the confusion. I'm here as a guide for you. As such, I have taken a form you'd be comfortable with."
Neko nodded her understanding. "So this is it. I'm going to Heaven?"
"That's an interesting question." The guide floated closer to her. "Heaven's a nice place. There is no doubt that you can get in. The sacrifice of your life for another's practically guarantees a place there for you. Are you ready for such a step?"
"You make it sound like I have a choice." Neko didn't bother to consider the possibility. Even as she lay dying in Tenshi's arms she had known that the wound through her chest that the sword had created was one from which she wouldn't recover. All she had hoped for was saving Tenshi, making sure that Tenshi would be able to continue without her. But she had known right from the start that her injuries were not something that even Tenshi could heal.
