"Out of my way," she growled at him, just as determined to get to her twin.
He didn't even let her finish her command before he let loose one of his hurricane attacks. The attack knocked her into the snow, but she grabbed the sword and was on her feet instantly. She aimed the sword at him and said, "Let me through, or I'll be sure that you pay for what happened to Neko-chan."
He glared at her, and held his ground. "Just as I intend to make you pay for my Ame."
She lunged at him, but he easily avoided the attack, which was clumsy with pain and grief. He followed it up with another energy attack from behind, which knocked her again to the ground, this time on her face.
He readied himself for when she got up and attacked him again, but she never did. In fact, she didn't seem to be moving after that attack. He walked up to her and bent down to see if she was dead.
Mi-chan turned over and quickly struck his arm with the sword. As he reacted to that, she used her feet to sweep his out from underneath him and jumped to her own. A second later, she initiated her victory blow.
"MI-CHAN, STOP!"
As Tenshi screamed out, Mi-chan caught the blade just a millimeter from Jasper's neck. "Try anything and I'll slash your throat," she warned him. Keeping one eye on him, she glanced quickly over to Tenshi, who had stood up, carrying a dying Neko. "You better give me a damn good reason why I haven't killed this guy yet," she told Tenshi.
Tenshi looked at the unconscious soul in her arms. "If you kill him, you kill Koneko," she whispered.
Mi-chan truly thought Tenshi had gone over the edge. "No! He's the reason, she's dying!"
Tenshi shook her head. "I can't save her alone, Mi-chan. I need help." Looking down at Jasper, she pleaded, "Please! Puroko told me, and I've seen you. You can heal too. Please, she needs your help."
"No!" he yelled. He didn't worry about how Mi-chan was in a position to kill him and wasn't starting to like him any better. Now that her attack of opportunity was over, he could probably teleport himself away before she could do too much damage. His hand was on the knife, hidden at his side. He could teleport right behind her and slit her throat before either girl had a chance to retaliate. But he wasn't sure if he actually had enough power for that, and, in truth, he really didn't care whether he lived or died. He would welcome death if it would take him to Amethyst, and he certainly wasn't going to help the one who destroyed her. "She killed Ame! She deserves what she gets!"
Tenshi crouched down to him. "No. She doesn't," she responded calmly. "She's a good, kind person who had to defend herself, who had to fight for what she thought was right. You understand that, I know you do. I saw you with Jian-kun, and it's hazy, but I remember bits and pieces of what you said to Amethyst yesterday. You're not an evil person; you were just fighting for what you believed was right. Please! Don't let her die."
Jasper shook his head. He couldn't give up on Amethyst's memory like that. Yet his grip on the knife loosened unconsciously.
Tenshi replied compassionately, "You must have loved her very much�. I understand. I probably would've felt the same way if our roles were reversed and you were asking the same of me."
Mi-chan listened to Tenshi, thinking she was absolutely nuts. How could she sit there and talk to Jasper as if they were best friends, when he had just refused to help Neko? She knew that the healing power Tenshi held only worked if Tenshi wanted it to, that is, if she cared for the person and wanted them to be okay at that moment, so even if he did have the ability to heal, Jasper couldn't be forced to help Neko. Yet that wasn't any reason to actually be nice to him if he wasn't going to help. And that was assuming he could help at all.
But Jasper now had to consider the idea of what would've happened if he and Tenshi had swapped roles. To be so close to having Amethyst live, yet watching her die instead - that would have been unbearable.
As the sun came out from behind a cloud, a glint of sunlight bounced off the pendant of the necklace Neko wore and caught his eye. It was a beautiful blue heart, but he knew that Amethyst had enchanted it to give Neko her nightmares. Somehow Amethyst had known that Neko wouldn't take off, and that made it the perfect thing to transmit the dreams through. It must have been something Neko treasured� a heart.
He looked up at the young lady Amethyst had used so thoroughly. The necklace she wore no longer seemed to work, but it wasn't because Amethyst was gone. Despite Amethyst's belief in its power, Neko had managed to distract Tenshi from her fight with Mi-chan and to tear her from the control of that necklace. Tenshi's love for Neko had to be pretty intense to revive her from the sleep Amethyst had put her in. And yet it seemed as if somehow she could manage to forgive him for all they had done to her and Neko. She had said she wouldn't have helped Amethyst if their roles were reversed, but from the way she spoke to him, he didn't really think it could be true. No, it really wasn't fair to her, he decided. And if what she had said about Neko was true, it wasn't fair to either of them.
Tenshi started to get up, still carrying Neko. She seemed to have accepted that he wasn't going to help her and now was focusing solely on keeping Neko alive. To Mi-chan she said, "Let's get Koneko to the hospital-"
"Wait," he interrupted quietly. "I- I'll try."
"What?!" Mi-chan exclaimed, incredulously.
"You will?" Tenshi confirmed, only half believing that she had actually heard him say that. "Honto?"
He nodded. "You've had enough heartbreak, I think."
Tenshi's eyes shone. She had known he was a good person. And if they could bring back Neko�.
Mi-chan, who had not taken her eyes off him the entire time, did not look convinced. "It's a trick. He just wants to get away," she predicted. She had not moved the sword an inch since she had stopped her attack, but now she put it right up to his neck.
