Okay...I know! I know!! I'm late, extremely late. Things have been hectic and I just forgot. Bad excuse, I know. Anyway, this is the final chapter. This story is complete! Yay!! I am thinking of other stories to publish because the writer's block I was in is gone! It will be May before any big projects as I'm still in school until then. Still, I'm not gone anymore and not dead, as some have speculated I'm sure. Enjoy!! And please, review!!

"Baby?" Mai asked shocked. She looked at Gene and saw that his eyebrows were up as high as they could go. She turned back to Carson and met his eyes and he dropped his gaze. She felt her eyes sadden as she realized that the vampire was still hurting over the fact that not only was he dead, but his lover and child had been murdered.

"Yes." he whispered and Mai resisted the urge to reach out and touch the man. She wasn't sure how you went about comforting a dead vampire, especially one that was going to be a father. Mai hadn't thought that a vampire could become a parent.

"How is that, Carson? You should be barren." Gene voiced Mai's thoughts. Mai looked at the medium before back at the vampire. She watched as Carson ran a hand through his hair before he looked back at the two standing in front of him.

"That's what I thought until Amelia told me she was expecting. It was one of the reasons that I finally went to Mark and asked him to hurry the wedding so that Amelia and I could get away from this house." Carson said as he continued to run his hand through his hair.

"But it didn't work." Mai whispered softly. Carson gave an angry sigh before nodding in agreement. Mai was beginning to understand the whole situation. When Amelia had become pregnant it just rushed all the plans. And undoubtedly because of the happiness that the quartet felt they hadn't noticed the one that had killed them lurking in the shadows, waiting.

"You were so rushed in trying to take Amelia away...that you didn't notice what was going on." she whispered. Carson nodded. Mai felt her heart break as she saw the tears in his eyes. He was still upset and tortured over what happened to his lover and child. Mai knew that look. It was the same look that Lin had on his face when the doctor informed him of Madoka's miscarriage.

"Carson, we're going to help you. I promise you. But first, I have to get back to the world of the living. It's the only way that I can help. Elaine is our link...she has to know something that she just doesn't realize. Or maybe something that you thought was irrelevant. Anything." Mai begged softly. She felt so desperate to help these ghosts. She had befriended Elaine and wanted to help her and her family members.

"Irrelevant? I remember one day I had just woken and stumbled out of the bedroom. Kerry, I believe that was his name, was standing outside Elaine's door. He was chanting something although I wasn't sure what. At the time I thought I was imagining things and forgot about it." he told them. Mai glanced at Gene and saw that he was looking thoughtful.

"It sounds almost like he was sealing the house. He's planned this all along. He sealed the souls here so that even after he killed them...they would be here for him to control." Gene closed his eyes. It was the first time that Mai had seen Gene angry. She found that she was slightly scared. He looked more like Naru now than he had ever before. She found that she didn't like that expression on his face at all.

"Gene?" she whispered softly. She tried to touch his arm but he flinched away. She felt her eyes grow soft in concern. Something wasn't right. That was the same expression that Naru had sported when he had gotten hurt at her old schoolhouse. The same look that spoke of self-disgusting.

"How could I have missed this? It was in front of me the entire time!" he growled to himself. Mai took a deep breath before fisting her hand and hitting him as hard as she could, knocking him to the floor. He looked up at her surprised and she glared at him as she decided that it was time to stop letting him and Naru take control.

"It isn't your fault! So what if you missed it? The point is that we can fix it now and we have to figure out how I'm supposed to get back to the world of the living. The only way that we can help Carson and the others." Mai asked angrily. Gene frowned before standing back up as he rubbed the back of his head and raised an eyebrow at the girl breathing hard in front of him. She continued to glare before whirling on Carson and he blinked.

"Get us back now." she demanded. He nodded in understanding before turning his back on them and waving his hand. A door appeared and he turned back to the two behind him before tilting his head.

"This is what Elaine used to get back to the world of the living in hopes to clear the air about the house. She loved that house, more than anything with the exception of Mark." Carson said. Mai turned to Gene and he shook his head at her. He reached out and gently stroked her cheek before winking.

"We both know that I've used my time up. It was nice to be alive again, if only for a short time." he told her. She nodded before hugging him tightly. He returned the gesture before placing a gentle kiss on her head as they pulled apart.

"You keep Noll in place, you hear me?" he told her. She nodded. "I think that if you just get everyone to exorcise the actual house because of the curse placed on it, you'll be rid of the entity. And once that is done, leave this house, Mai."

"I promise, Gene. We will solve this case and leave as fast as we can." she whispered. He nodded before patting her on the head with a gentle smile on his face. The same smile that he had been wearing when they first met in her dreams.

"Good. Take care." was the last thing he whispered before she turned and ran through the door. She could feel her heart cracking and wondered if this was truly good-bye because she was not sure how many more painful good-byes that she could stand.

When she first mumbled in her sleep it had brought from the half-sleep that he was in. He shook his head and stared at her from covered by the sheets from the bed. Her head moved and her lips moved, sound moving but the words were hard to understand. He couldn't make them out and leaned closer when suddenly her eyes snapped open. She gave a soft cry before jerking up and he barely dodged in time to avoid their heads colliding.

"Mai?" he questioned. She looked at him before sighing. She reached out and took his hands with hers and kissed them gently. He frowned, wondering why the girl was being so loving when he thought he deserved her beating. She smiled up at him once more before tackling him causing his balanced to shift and he went down with her and found himself on his back on the floor with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and feeling as though she was never going to let go.

"Naru. I'm so glad to be back. I didn't think I'd ever get to see you again!" she mumbled softly into his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the side of her head. He didn't want to let her go either. He hadn't been sure if he would ever get to hold her again and he was glad that he was able to feel her form in his arms once more.

"How are you awake, Mai?" he asked as she finally began to let go and he was able to sit up. He helped her up to sit back on the bed as he reclaimed his own seat. She kept her hands wrapped around his and refused to let go. He didn't say anything as he wasn't sure what was happening. His brain was barely catching up to the fact that she was awake and healthy.

"Naru, Gene and I figured out how to stop this. We have to exorcise the house, purify it. And leave." she whispered. Naru studied her eyes and saw that she was being serious. He nodded in understanding as she brought his hands up to kiss the back of them and noticed the way that her eyes were glistening.

"Mai, what's wrong? You're upset." he told her. She gave a soft laugh before meeting his eyes and shrugging her shoulders. He watched as she blinked her eyes to brush away the tears.

"I'm fine. It's just….I don't know how many more good-byes that we can survive, Naru. Why do we always have to say good-bye to him when we already have three times?" she whispered softly to him. He shrugged his shoulders and squeezed her hands gently. He didn't know himself the answer why.

"Things are always changing, Mai. Time and with it the way that things are meant to happen. I don't know if this will be the last time you, or I, see Gene. For all I know, the next case we have, when you close your eyes he could be there. Waiting to guide you into the answer that awaits you. Then he might not. I'm not a future teller." Naru told her. Mai gave a soft laugh as she met his eyes. She reached and stroked his cheek before leaning in and planting a gentle kiss on Naru's lips. They pulled apart and her eyes were determined.

"Let's finish this." she whispered. He nodded in agreement before standing, with her hand clasped in his as they walked towards the door. Mai glanced at the bed before a gentle smile spread across her face as she could just imagine Gene, laying there, with a grin on his face and some odd hat on his head. She let the smile fall before following Naru out of the room.

'Good-bye, Gene.'

"Mai!! You're up!" Ayako cried as the couple walked into the room. Mai nodded with a small smile on her face. She giggled as everyone, except Madoka and Lin, tackled her in a group hug. Once everyone had made sure that it was her and that she was just fine, she sat down with Naru at her side.

"Gene said that we have to exorcise the house itself. Because Kerry placed the curse on it, it trapped everyone. Once that is done, Elaine…you and your family can finally move on." Mai told the blonde woman. She watched as Elaine's eyes began to tear up and she moved to Mai and hugged her tightly. Mai returned the hug just as tightly.

"Thank you so much." Elaine whispered in her ear. Mai let a smile spread across her face as Elaine moved away. She turned to everyone as Lin cleared his throat and they all looked at him.

"If that is the case, then you might want to go back to your spirit form, Elaine. Exorcising the house may be the solution but if you remain as you are now…you might not be able to move on." Lin told her. Elaine nodded and looked at the friends she had made with a bright smile.

"I'm so glad I was able to meet you. Everyone has done so much for me. I hope we can meet again." she turned to Lin and Madoka with a gentle smile. "Tell Deshi I said good-bye."

"We will." Madoka replied with a bright smile. Elaine nodded as she vowed silently to find the spirit of the baby that Madoka had lost. She would take care of the child with everything in her, just to make it up to this woman.

"Thank you so much and good-bye, everyone!" she said brightly. She tilted her head up and everyone watched as her body tensed up. A light burst from her chest and slowly everything faded away and the pile of bones fell to the ground and everyone gasped.

Naru glanced at Mai and saw that she had a gentle smile on her face. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She turned to him with the smile still on her face as she covered his hand with her own. They studied each other for a moment before her smile grew even bigger.

"She and the others will be at peace soon, Naru. They'll be free from this place. Isn't that wonderful?" she asked. Naru nodded as he placed a kiss on her nose and she blinked curiously. Naru kept a smile at bay as this was typical Mai behavior. Neither noticed the entire base gawking at the un-Naru behavior. He had never kissed Mai anywhere before and suddenly to just plant one on her nose?

A discrete cough from Masako drew everyone's attention to her. She kept her kimono sleeve up to cover her mouth to keep a smirk from her mouth. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Naru had heard her cough and was currently taking the advantage to kiss Mai and rid the poor girl of her senses. Masako wanted to give one of those evil laughs before refrained herself.

"I believe, as Mai just pointed out, that everyone here needs to prepare for an exorcism? Why is everyone still standing here like lumps on a log then?" she asked sweetly. She watched amused as Ayako and Takigawa argued the entire way out, discussing who should have noticed first that they weren't moving. John just shook his head with a smile on his face before bowing to Masako.

"I will bless the house once they are done." he informed her before leaving behind the arguing couple. Masako glanced at Madoka and Lin and watched as the red headed woman pulled the tall man out of his chair.

"I can watch the monitors. You need to help them. This is a big house." she told him stubbornly. Lin sighed before leaving the base as well and Masako shook her head. She glanced at Naru once more and let the smile surface as he had Mai tightly against his side as she kept her head on his shoulder. She gave a soft giggle before leaving the room as well. Things were working out in their favor and Masako couldn't help but think that it was about time.

The exorcism was a success. It was only proved when after a walkthrough was done and they found Wei's body. Lin had checked for a pulse and found none. It was only when the body turned to dust that the group knew that it was over. They had found the remains of the rest of the family. Mai had been adamant about burying them in the garden where Elaine had mentioned that they all loved to spend time together. No one had disagreed and John had held a small service for those four people that had grown in their hearts even though they had known them through documents and stories told.

"Mai, tea!" Mai sighed softly as she glanced over shoulder. It had been two years since that case. Some things had changed, Madoka and Lin had moved to Japan because the woman wanted Deshi to start school there. Masako and John had moved to Australia and visited on birthdays and holidays, Mai wasn't sure but she thought that they were to be married. Ayako and Takigawa had moved in together but both had refused to marry each other. They liked things as they were. She and Naru…well, they were still the same. Dating and nothing more.

"Coming!" she called in reply. She stood up and moved into the kitchen and started the tea. She waited for the kettle to whistle as she mused. Madoka was expecting another child and Lin was distraught with worry but the doctors had assured Madoka and her husband that a C-section was a perfectly normal procedure. Mai shook her head amusedly. Lin would always be overprotective of his family and there was nothing anyone could say to change it.

The tea kettle whistled and she busied herself in making Naru's tea. She walked back out and frowned as she found Deshi, five now and being babysat by them, standing there holding a rose and a velvet box. She glanced at Naru's door and saw that it was open and Naru was leaning against it. She turned back to Deshi and watched as he opened the box to reveal the diamond ring she remembered from two years ago.

"Will Mai please marry Naru?" the boy asked. Mai felt the trey fell from her numb fingers. She looked at Naru and he nodded. She ran to him and hugged him tightly and heard Deshi giggle in the background.

"I think that means yes!" Deshi cheered happily. Mai kissed Naru before pulling away and watching as Naru took the ring from Deshi. He placed it on the tip of her finger and she met his eyes.

"Will you, Mai Taniyama, marry me, Oliver Davis?" he asked. Mai put a hand to her mouth as she watched him slip the ring on her finger.

"Yes." she whispered before pulling him in for another kiss. So maybe things had changed. She was engaged to the most wonderful, narcissistic but wonderful, man in the world. Her family was coming together and she knew, deep down in her heart that no matter how bad things would get…they always had each other. Nothing would be able to tear them apart.

"I love you, Noll. So much." she whispered into his ear as they hugged. She felt his arms tighten around her waist.

"I love you too." he replied. She glanced over his shoulder and felt her eyes widen as she saw Gene standing there with a grin his face. He gave her a thumbs up before disappearing in a flash of light. She buried her head against Naru's shoulder as they continued to hug.

They pulled apart as there was a loud crash and then a sudden yelling. They watched as the door opened and everyone spilled in. Madoka with a worrisome Lin hovering around her as she kept a hand on her swollen stomach, Ayako and Takigawa arguing loudly, with John and Masako silently observing. It would only take a few moments for everyone to notice the ring on Mai's finger and for the questions to start. For now, this little office that Mai had walked into nearly four years ago was where they called home.

'No. No, wherever we all are…that's home. To me, to Naru, to all of us. Together we make home.' Mai thought as the questions started and she kept her hand firmly intertwined with Naru's.