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Last Revised: Never

   "Why are they contacting me now? I... I've been on stand-by for years! Why now?"

    Amefuri paced anxiously up and down the halls of her temple.  For the first time in her life, the silence and sparse halls were not a comfort. The chill night air slithered through the cracks in the shutters and crept down the dead halls as pale star light desperately tried to illuminate the darkness. Something needed to be done about this letter, but exactly what needed to be done was beyond her knowledge. It had been too many years; she had long forgotten that they still controlled her presence here.

    "How could they have found me?" Amefuri snatched up a broom leaning against the wall and savagely attacked the leaves on the porch.  "I don't own a phone, car, or use anything else that could be used to prove my existence here... so they couldn't possibly trace those." 

    Having cleared the porch of any non-existent dirt, she leaned the broom against the wall and moved to tend to the garden. "I even changed my name and moved to a shrine on a mountain in the middle of nowhere. Not only that," Amefuri picked up a pair of scissors and proceeded to trim the bonsai trees.  "I also keep my senshi usage to the absolute minimum AND set up the barrier to... prevent...." 

"Wha..?" Shinigami started to speak but fell silent when he glanced at Epsilon's face.

"Be quiet. The seal has been broken." Epsilon whispered in a cold, emotionless voice. Epsilon readied her staff before her as she prepared herself for what would undoubtedly be a fierce battle. "Follow me and don't get in my way."
 

    The scissors clattered to the ground as Amefuri dashed across the yard, leaping over small shrubs and flower bushes, until she reached the small building that lay off to the side, deep inside the woods, next to a small bamboo grove. The door of the honden slammed open with a bang, then swung closed, slowly, as she ripped away the protective cloth that hid a shattered silver mirror. 

    Amefuri sunk slowly to her knees. 

    If she had repaired the mirror's seal, it would have been a glowing a pale lavender from the power it drained from her to hide the Twilight Star Shrine from sight. But she was too forgetful, and now all of the power was gone. The surface was black.

    "I guess that too late to repair this." Amefuri laughed sadly as she gently wrapped the silver mirror in the cloth. "Now that they've found me, I guess I have no choice than to do what they say." She slowly climbed to her feet and shuffled into the door, pausing to stare at the endless night sky. "After all, who am I to oppose them?"

 *  *  *

    "Sir," The young man saluted.  "The tests are completed."

    The man turned slowly in his chair.  "What were the results?"

    "The results look promising, sir.  I believe that the operation can be carried out successfully."

    "Good, good." He smiled serenely at the young man standing across from him. "You are dismissed."

    "S..sir?" He asked uncertainly.

    "What?"

    "Begging your pardon, sir, but what are your orders for me now?"

    "Your orders? Hmm... now what would be appropriate...?" He drawled and leaned back in his chair. "Seeing that you're so eager to do some work," Leaning forward, the man and looked over the top of his sunglasses with a smug expression. "Contact Shadow and bring her here."

    "But that boy isn't enough of a threat the require Shadow's involvement!" He shook his head in denial. "Please rethink this! Once we summon her..."

    "Are you questioning my judgment?"

    "N..no sir, but..."

    "If you do not bring Shadow to me...." The man trailed off, the treat was left hanging in the air between them.  The person saluted the man bitterly and turned to leave.

    "Right away sir."

    "Oh and one more thing...." The man smiled at the officer's discomfort. 

    "Yes sir?" The other man turned around, trying to force the scowl off of his face.

    "Bring me that girl as well."

    "Yes sir." 

*  *  *

    Amefuri sighed. "I have to wonder if Akuma was one of them. Frankly, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. That man has always been out to ruin me. There is no other way he could have gotten this without their knowledge."

    She shook her head sadly, knowing that worrying about the past wouldn't change a thing. Of all people, Amefuri knew that fact quite well.  All that could be done was to look for a way to cope with the future, to lessen the burden that Fate left behind. "I guess, I should see what they want from me."

    Amefuri carefully tore open the envelope and read the letter.

    Your continued presence upon Earth is under review.  Amefuri felt a strange, sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.  She quickly scanned the contents of the letter, hoping that her suspicions were not going to be confirmed.  You are to report for re-assignment.

    "That... is impossible!  They would have no reason to contact me for something like this. This letter is....this is nothing more than a cruel joke!"  Amefuri hurled the letter to the floor and stalked towards the courtyard, paused, then went back to retrieve the letter. She stared at it for a long time, wondering if tearing the paper apart would somehow nullify its words, but decided against it before tucking it into her robe.  

    "Well, I guess that there isn't much I can do... except wait."

    For the first time in many years, more than she cared to admit, Amefuri wished that she had somebody left that she could speak with. But everybody that she trusted with her secrets were long dead, dead by her hands. Her life here in Tokyo was paid with their deaths. They all died because of her naivety, her innocence, her ignorance... her complete failure as their protector. 

    "For someone like me... maybe it would be best if I leave." Amefuri turned away from the moon and strode back into the darkened hall. "Even if it means that they'll truly be dead..."

*  *  *

    "Ame-san? I've brought the homewor...." Yorukai hesitated and stopped, just inside the second gate to the shrine. The feeling that something was out of place was much here, and he was suddenly uncertain if the grounds were safe to walk. Passing through the first gate at the base of the mountain had stirred a sense of urgency and danger in him, enough to make him reconsider returning Amefuri's forgotten bag that night.

    "A... Ame? Are you here?" 

    The longer he searched, the more worried he got. Yorukai looked through the entire shrine grounds and still, Amefuri was no where to be found. That feeling of "not right" got stronger as the moon trekked across the sky and he continued to search. But there was no trace of Amefuri's presence anywhere. 

    Yorukai slowly backed towards the main gate. Something was very, very wrong. He had to get out, NOW.

    "Why are you here?" A soft voice spoke behind him. 

    Yorukai nearly jumped out of his skin in fright, but his worries were momentarily forgotten when he recognized that voice. When he spun to greet around the girl with a bright smile, it froze on his face when he saw her emerge from the shadows of the trees. The soft glowing of the stars settled on the dark-haired girl's shoulders like a silvery, ghostly mantle of light. An unadorned wooden sword was clutched lightly in her hands, while Amefuri herself looked strangely calm at finding him here. 

    "I...." Yorukai opened his mouth but nothing came out. "I wanted...."

    "What did you want that could not wait?" Amefuri demanded quietly.

    "I wanted to...... to........" Yorukai faltered. He had forgotten. Frantically, he searched his mind for a reason that would satisfy the girl enough that she would turn her piercing gaze away. Then his eyes fell upon the forgotten bag at his side. Hefting the bag from the ground, he held it, shield-like, between Amefuri and himself. "I came to return the bag and homework you forgot at the cafe!" 

    "So that is your reason for coming to my home in the middle of the night?" Amefuri's voice quivered with anger and disbelief.  "To deliver a bag?!"

    ".....yes?" Yorukai answered meekly, holding the bag in surprisingly steady hands. 

    Amefuri threw her arms in the air with a cry of frustration and strode back into the shadows. The silvery light that rested on her shoulders retreated from the uneasy darkness and flit back into the sky. All at once, the light faded from the yard and Amefuri disappeared like a wraith, with only the faded colours of her kimono to mark her passage among the ancient trees.  

    "Hey, Ame! Wait up!" Yorukai hurried after her, worry for her safety overriding his fears. "Did I say something wrong?"

    Amefuri turned and pinned the offensive man with a Look. "Leave me be." 

    "But... I want to help with whatever it is that's bothering you!" Yorukai insisted while stubbornly feigning ignorance of her unspoken threat.

    "You cou-..." Amefuri struggled to find the proper words. "Go home, Chikawa. You would never understand a matter as delicate as this."

    ".....but Ame!" Yorukai protested again. "I'm trying to be your friend! Why won't you let me help?"

    "In times like these, I do not need friends to help me." Amefuri, disgusted by having to explain herself, turned away to enter the shrine's main building. "Nor do I need teachers that don't know when to let things lie."

    "A...Ame..." The 'something is not right' feeling grew stronger in Yorukai, the longer he spoke to her but he pressed on. "But I...."

    Amefuri spun to come face to face with Yorukai, her eyes flashing with anger. But there was something else, a Darkness, there was a Darkness creeping around her. Threatening him, forcing him, to bear witness to the raw emotion that surged though burning amethyst, tainting those bright eyes of electric blue. The Darkness threatened to drag him down, down into the unknown depths of those haunted eyes, eyes that held the last, shattered, memories of a people that no longer existed in this world. And still he was pulled deeper, deeper, into the memories of the one that lived...

    'Th..those eyes... no....' Yorukai instinctively retreated from the girl. 'It couldn't it be...'

"Just WHO do you think you are?" A furious girl grabbed him by the front of his uniform and dangled him a few inches off the ground. "Coming in here like you own the place?"

"I've been assigned to your pitiful group to keep you from failing anymore missions!" He sneered at her and pulled himself loose from her grasp. "From the looks of it, you need all the help you can get."

"We don't need anything from you or anyone else." She growled, eyes flashing with anger. "You'd better get rid of that attitude if plan on trying 'save' us from ourselves."

"And if I don't?" He touched her cheek with a lofty smile.

    She vanished into the shadows without a sound.  'Damn it! Where did she go?'  His eyes darted over the room, frantically searching for the girl. Suddenly, he saw a flicker of darkness above, and had just long enough to see her kneeling on the ceiling.  

    Then, the world was engulfed in an amethyst fire. 

    He forced himself to open his eyes and was nearly blinded. The lights behind silhouette of... somebody... standing over him burned into his injured eyes. Unconsciously, he moved to shade his eyes but only managed to weakly smear some blood around.  

"Wh-" His words broke off as his body shook from a wheezing, bloody coughing fit.  He moaned weakly as the fit passed and looked up at the person. "H...help m-" He clutched at his chest, eyes squeezed shut against the pain as another coughing fit seized him.  

Click.

    His eyes widened with fear and he looked up to see a silver pistol...and the girl.  An unreadable emotion lingered in cold amethyst eyes as she allowed a smile spread across her face.  

"You are of no use to us."
 

    Yorukai backed away from her, certain of one thing. The girl before him was not the Amefuri he knew.  But there was a crash from within the depths of the shrine, drawing her eyes away from his, allowing just long enough time for Yorukai to dash through the gate and into the relative safety of the darkness below. 

    A figure stepped out of the cover of the trees and watched Yorukai leave.

    Everything about him lead back to the darkness.  His cloak moved as if it were woven from the shadows that clung to him like a second skin. Dark silver hair melted seamlessly into the night accenting his frighteningly pale skin. A few errant strands of hair seemed to be dyed red with the blood from the countless people he has killed. However, what truly proved that he wasn't of this world were his eyes. Their colour shifted with some unknown force, swallowing all forms of light. Nothing was reflected within their depths; not even the dying starlight. 

    "Was that necessary?" He asked softly as a small creature slinked out of the shrine and disappeared into his shadow.

    "Of course." Amefuri stated plainly, joining him in front of the gate. "He was a distraction."

    "Aa." He nodded absently.  "Are you sure you want to do this?"

    "I don't have much of a choice in this matter." Amefuri replied bitterly. "It was decided for me."

    "You don't have to, you know." He turned to face her with an unreadable expression.  "There are other options."

    "I know...." She sighed, "But this option is much better than the alternative."

    "Yes, perhaps...but..." The man reached out to touch her face but Amefuri flinched away. He sighed sadly, combing his fingers through silvery hair and tucking a stray lock of red behind an ear. "I worry about you."

    "I... I'm sorry." Amefuri whispered, reluctantly allowing the man to pull her into a gentle embrace. "It can't be helped."

    "I know." The man absently ran his fingers through the soft, short purple hair framing her face. A long but comfortable silence followed. Neither felt the need to speak. They were content for the moment to remain in a world of whispering memories only known to them, until she pulled away and distanced herself from him.

    "We should go." She whispered, refusing to meet his questioning gaze. "Before they start to worry."

    "Aa." The man nodded reluctantly. Gently, he took Amefuri's hand and led her to a shimmering gateway. "Let's go."