The call was but a whisper, but it was enough to wake him from his sleep.
"Jaaassspy."
"Amethyst," he whispered.
No, Amethyst was dead. It had to be his memory playing tricks on him. And the wind.
"Jaaassspy."
He sat up. That was not his imagination! Neither, he believed, was the apparition before him.
"Ame? Are you really there?"
She nodded. "I'm sorry I left you," she apologized.
"It's not your fault."
"You're helping Neko?"
He stood up. She was right in front of him. And glowing. Some kind of ghost perhaps. "Don't hate me, please," he begged her.
"I couldn't hate you, Jaspy. I love you. Would you come with me?" she asked as she began to walk, or rather float, towards the entrance of the cave.
He responded by following her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Neko approached Tenshi, who was keeping watch by now.
"Tenshi-kun, I couldn't sleep. I had to talk to you. Is that okay?"
Tenshi jumped to her feet. "Uh, sure. What about?"
"I figured it out. And it's okay."
Tenshi looked deep into her eyes, praying that, by some miracle, she was talking about what Tenshi thought she was. "It's okay?"
"Of course, silly. I wouldn't have been able to figure it out otherwise. You and I, we're in love, right?"
"You figured that out?"
"When every time I see you, my heartbeat doubles, and it gets harder to breathe, and all I want to do is just kiss you? It wasn't that hard."
"I love you so much, I didn't think I was going to be able to hold it in for the whole mission," Tenshi whispered.
"Tenshi," Neko murmured and kissed her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Mi-chan?"
She opened her eyes, at the sound of his voice.
"Jian-kun? What are you doing here?"
"I came to help you and Neko-chan," he told her.
She looked around. Where had everyone else gone? "How'd you know where we were?" she asked suspiciously.
"Tenshi-kun told me about Neko-chan's cure. And the sage. So I went to her when I couldn't find you guys, and she told me where to go."
Mi-chan was certain this wasn't a dream. She could definitely feel the cold hard ground she had been sleeping on, it was real enough. But she was equally certain that Jian-wa had not followed them up this mountain. "I'm going to find Neko-chan," she said firmly.
But before she could, he kissed her. And she couldn't help but melt into his kiss. Once again she considered the possibility that it was a dream. That he was just there to keep her from saving her family once more. But still the kiss was perfect, and she didn't want to let go of it quite yet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ok, this was very strange, Neko thought. She awoke to Jasper's whispers. He was talking to himself, for all she could tell, but he definitely looked like he thought he was talking to someone else.
She glanced at Mi-chan. She also seemed a little bit in a trance. "Mi-chan?" Neko whispered. "Jasper-kun?"
But Jasper was getting up and moving toward the door. Neko glanced around furtively trying to figure out what to do. She finally got up and followed him.
Tenshi was outside, but she was whispering to nobody too. "Minna?" Neko cried frightened. She walked after Jasper - he was the only one she could see might be in actual danger.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Come on, Jaspy," Amethyst called impatiently. "I want to show you something."
Stupid as it might have been, he trusted her implicitly. He always had. He stumbled over a couple rocks as he quickened his pace to catch up with her. But even now, she remained ahead of him.
"Jaspy, stay up with me. Take my hand." She stopped and offered him her hand.
He held out his hand and started towards her. But three steps later she disappeared.
And then he realized he'd just stepped off the cliff.
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