Neko continued to grow paler and paler. Her breaths were little more than gasps at this point. Each one was both painful and relieving for Mi-chan to hear. It pained her to know Neko was suffering so much, but if even a minute went by without the sound of a tortured breath, Mi-chan found herself holding her own, worried that Neko had given up. Sooner or later it would happen, but Mi-chan kept holding onto the belief that this would somehow pass. That suddenly she would have insight into the way she could save her twin.
Mi-chan decided she hated Earth. She and Neko were doing fine on Mercury. There, the only thing she had had to save Neko from were the stupid guys in the world, like Akima (in the younger years) and Kaido. It was Mi-chan who had had to put up with the real misfortunes in life. Things such as her constant nightmares and growing up searching for a true love that she knew would probably kill her and her family� if she found him at all. Neko had never known, and would have never known, if the whole Jian-wa-thing hadn't needed to be straightened out. So Mi-chan got the satisfaction of sparing Neko the torture of knowing what she was going through. It was the way the world was supposed to work, and she had gotten used to it in the first 16.5 years of their life.
Then they had come to Earth. Here Neko's best friend betrayed her. Granted he betrayed Mi-chan as her boyfriend as well, but she'd been expecting that for years. For Neko it was completely unprecedented. Neko hadn't handled being turned evil by a yoma well. She had been specifically targeted by two different bad guys. After years of Mi-chan being the only twin with nightmares, Neko had been burdened by a series of those. She had been run through with a sword twice. And here she was, once again close to death. And there wasn't a thing Mi-chan could do about it. After so many years of being Neko's savior on Mercury, there wasn't a damn thing she could do now.
Nope, she definitely didn't like Earth.
Ami came into the room, disturbing her brooding with, at last, some good news.
"Tenshi-chan called. She's coming with a cure that she received from a sage."
Mi-chan's eyes widened. "A cure?" she asked, barely allowing herself to believe it.
Ami nodded, and then continued, less certainly, "She said that there might be some side effects and that it was best to be administered by someone who loves her the most. She wanted to give it to Neko herself, but I told her I'd meet her outside and bring it in to her. Do you want to be the one to administer it?"
"Yes!" Mi-chan could barely contain her excitement. But she still was a bit confused. "Why is it 'by someone who loves her the most'?"
"I guess it's a spiritual cure of some sort. She seemed a little worried about the cure too. Said something about the side effects hurting Neko too. Actually, I think she was a little relieved when I suggested you give it to her too. Maybe she's worried about the decision to give it to Neko."
Mi-chan patted Neko's hand comfortingly. "No, there's no decision to make. Bring up the medicine as soon as she gets here!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As soon as Tenshi arrived, Ami brought Mi-chan the flask. Mi-chan didn't know why her hand was shaking so much as she took the flask. It wasn't as if she had any other choice in the matter.
"Tenshi-chan said it would take about four hours for it to completely work. It's already 3 a.m. so I sent her home to get some sleep, though I doubt she'll be able to."
Mi-chan was barely listening. She was staring at the dark brown liquid in the flask. It looked and smelled grotesque, but as she held it to Neko's lips she knew Neko wouldn't care. She forced Neko to drink, and Neko's body instinctively gulped down the liquid greedily, trying to quench the insatiable thirst with any liquid. Soon it was all gone, and Mi-chan felt more relieved than she had since that morning. But she knew she couldn't count Neko out of danger yet.
She held her sister to her, trying to keep her voice calm as she said, "Come on, Neko-chan, come back to me. You're not allowed to die on me, you hear? I need you, and Tenshi-kun needs you, so don't even think about giving up. Please come back."
Then she lay Neko back down, and returned to kneeling by her side, resolving not to fall asleep until Neko woke up.
