But it didn't seem enough. He wanted to let her know that her family was okay. That even though he couldn't do anything for her, he had for her twin and her mom. Neko deserved that, at least.
"I'm sorry I couldn't heal you, but I did save Michiru-san and your mom." He watched her closely, praying for some sign life and of understanding. And, indeed, he thought he saw tears form under her eyelashes. It gave him hope. But at the same time, he had to go. He couldn't let the disease continue feeding off the rest of his lifeforce, and he knew that as soon as Mi-chan woke up, she would probably slaughter him for even being in the same room as the twins. "I wish I could stay. I'd be by your side forever, if it would save you, but it won't. Ame poisoned your soul, and I can't heal that. I wish I could. I wish-" He looked away from her, knowing that it wasn't enough. "I just wanted you to know that Michiru-san would be okay. I thought you'd like to know that," he finished.
Mi-chan stirred, and he pulled away from Neko quickly�, guiltily. Flustered, he stumbled back, practically tripping over Mi-chan in the process. He caught his balance and turned, almost running into Ami in the doorway.
"Uh, I tried, I can't, I'm sorry!" he stammered, trying to duck past her and get out of the house.
"Jasper-san."
He stopped. "I couldn't help Neko-sama. I'm sorry, Mizuno-sama. I'm sorry!"
"No, thank you." He turned to her, but kept his eyes lowered. "You tried to save my daughters. You saved Michiru's life. Don't apologize. Here, I wanted to make sure you were okay." She scanned him and examined the results. Shaking her head in amazement, she informed him, "You're fine. Michiru and I caught the disease from Neko within moments of exposure, but you don't have it."
He nodded and glanced anxiously at Mi-chan, who he was certain would wake up any moment. "Is it okay if I go?"
"Yes. I'm sorry to ask you this, but Tenshi-chan is still outside. Don't worry, she can't catch it, except directly from Neko. I was wondering if you could please update her on what's going on."
He nodded and ran out the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As soon as Jasper walked out of the front door, Tenshi jumped to her feet rushed over to him.
"I�." She was looking at him so expectantly that he knew he couldn't start off with bad news. "I was able to save Michiru-san and Ami-sama."
"And Koneko?"
He glanced away. "I-"
But she already knew the answer. "Why not?" Jasper shook his head, unable to answer her. Unwilling to except it, Tenshi began to beat at his chest. "Why not?! Why not?!"
"Tenshi-san!" He grabbed her wrists and forced her to stop and listen to him. "I couldn't. It wasn't possible."
"Iie!" she cried desperately. "We'll do it together, like before. I don't care if I catch it! I just want her to live!"
"I'm sorry, it's not that simple. It's not something that we can heal. It's her soul that's contaminated, not just her body."
"There's nothing we can do?" she repeated quietly. She pulled back from him and said sharply, "No, you're wrong. There's always something that can be done." To his surprise, her eyes brightened. "There is. I will save Koneko."
Jasper didn't think that Tenshi could possibly understand just how sick Neko was at the moment, but he decided not to try and tell her so. It was better to let her hope just a bit longer, he guessed.
"Tenshi-san�, is there anyway you could maybe take me to a hotel or something."
She smiled at him. "Sure, it's on my way anyway."
