Last Chapter. Ah I'm so lazy…sorry for taking forever

Previously:

And despite the roaring of the flames and cracking of wood and stone, there was a dull silence between us. I gave a start and looked up. A hand had reached out to the side of my face and when I met his eyes, they belonged not to Naru but to Takai.

He smiled slightly and leaned in. "Thank you." He whispered. I couldn't find the heart in me to lean away when his lips met mine.

The next moment I felt a great passing of cool air and a sort of softness under me. I was shivering and coughing loudly. My chest felt like it could burst. Yellow, red, orange, an array of such beautiful dancing colors were performing in front of me. I could smell smoke and knew that something was burning…

The mansion was on fire.

Panicked footsteps were all around me and through smoke and haze and the grass blades so close to my face, I could see Bou-san lifting me up and carrying me away. I was out of breath, and so tired. As the far off sounds of alarms drew close, I fell asleep and whispered one last sentence.

"You're free now, you're free."

Little did I know that we were still far from ending the case.

File 10: Part 6 – Fiery Confinement

- Conclusions -

I could hear the tapping of Naru's pen from a few feet away - his face a mask of seriousness and irritation. He was in the process of marking off the equipment that he, Lin-san and Bou-san had been able to save from the fire. Luckily most of the computers had been carried out, with only a few serious loses.

It was a sight to see, the burned down mansion. I was standing next to the SPR van 30 meters or so away from the entrance and could see the whole structure. The right end of it had completely burned down before the firemen had arrived, leaving only the left half of the mansion intact. It was such a drastic contrast connected to one another that I couldn't take my eyes off it.

It was early in the morning and the smoke was finally starting to clear. No one had truly slept through the night and we were all tired and yet still curious. Even though Takai-san's spirit had gone to peace, we still didn't know all of the facts. There were still a few kinks to figure out.

It was obvious that Naru was planning to figure things out, otherwise he would have told us to get in our separate rides and go home until further notice. I didn't mind, but for now I wanted to take a short nap. Ayako was beside me talking with Bou-san about a few things and Masako was off talking a short stroll with John.

I walked around to the trunk of the van. All of the cameras and computers had been stored so I sat down at the edge with nothing to do. My face was still streaked with ash, yet I was too tired to go wash up or change my clothes that smelled like smoke. I almost felt as though I could suffocate from the stench, yet at the same time it was making my eyelids feel like lead.

Leaning against a window, I fell into a deep sleep.

…

Flashes of bright yellow, splotches of red. I was engulfed in a warm feeling. I couldn't help but think that this case held the record for most number of 'dreams by Mai'. As my eyes opened, I realized that this dream was different. No Naru, no fight, no fire.

The warm feeling was from the afternoon sun. Like watching from a pair of camera lens, I was swept out the open window, down to the view of the great oak besides the pond. No Chrysanthemums were surrounding it, but I could see a young and beautiful woman by the water, her hand softly resting upon the trunk of the tree.

The tree was still young. The branches were not yet as knotted or spread out as I'd seen it when we'd arrived at the mansion. The woman, with a smile on her lips, kneeled down and took a seat at the base of the willow. I couldn't see her eyes. The laughter that escaped her lips was somewhat off sync with her movements and scenes blurred into one another. A man came to her and swept her off her feet. I was suddenly her, Noriko-san, and saw the world spinning by. Sheer bliss ran through my body.

Happiness. They were both experiencing a beautiful love. With each passing minute, the feeling grew. Naru was nowhere to be found and I began to grow confused as to why I was seeing such a dream. A few months passed between the two lovers. I was suddenly standing a few feet away, watching Noriko-san standing in the rain at the willow tree. The overhead branches somewhat sheltered her, but raindrops fell off her in cold streams. Takai-san arrived and something that was a passionate red was pressed into her hands. A Chrysanthemum.

I tiled my head with confusion as I watched a single petal fall to the ground. Then something hit me. Pieces of past conversations began to spring back into my memory.

"Ehh…There are only Chrysanthemums. "

"It's probably because this place is near a grave or something.."

"There is a separated area with gravestones farther along the path next to the tree. It's from the story that the daughter of the first owners of the mansion had quite a liking to the Chrysanthemums. She disappeared with her lover 50 years ago after a fire. Their bodies were never found."

Naru walked up to the old oak and placed a calming hand on it, as if secretly asking help. Then he looked past the blooming flowers and to the graves far away. I saw his dark eyes dart up the road to where the flowers abruptly were cut off and to the bottoms of our feet where they were in full bloom.

"It's strange that tree is at the center of the Chrysanthemums, isn't it?" he whispered.

I felt pressure on every inch of me until my skin and voice became someone else's. "I love you Takai-kun. Always."

There was a blinding white light.

My eyes snapped open, and all I could see was darkness. There were stars in front of me and I couldn't see anything for a long while. I blinked hard when my eyes adjusted to the darkness and removed the covers to check the time. I'd been moved back into the house and covered with a blanket. How long had I been out? I was up an hour earlier than I should have been, but there was no way that I could go back to sleep. Tiptoeing past Ayako and Masako's beds, I got dressed by the door and left the room.

…

The willow tree looked much older in the light of the sunrise. There were many soft shades that brought life to the leaves. I turned when thin rays of light that had slipped through the branches bounced off the surface of the lake and glittered.

Slowly walking around the tree confirmed that the Chrysanthemums surrounded only that area of the land. It was so very peaceful that I almost forgot my purpose of coming down to the lake in the first place. I took a few steps back into a large patch of flowers and took a long look at the base of the tree. I recalled Noriko gazing at Takai with such love in her eyes, her standing with a broken look on her face, trying to keep the pain inside of her. As an old woman knelt over a particularly shaped knot in the roots. A light buzz filled me as something beckoned me over. I traced my fingers over the numerous lines, feeling the rough patches of bark, wrinkled with age as does a human's face.

"Mai."

I turned, slightly startled at hearing another person's voice in the peaceful world that had seemed to only belong to me. A tear fell from my eyes and down my cheek. I raised a hand to the wetness and blinked with surprise.

"Naru. It's here. She's buried here. It all started and ended on this spot."

And like his other reactions, all I could see alter in his expression was the brief understanding in his eyes. "Come on, it's cold outside," he said, softer than I'd anticipated. "We'll head back to the left wing and get the others. You can tell them of the dream there."

…

"…And that's what I saw." I finished just as we had reached the Chrysanthemum patch again. I moved with precision to the direct spot where I knew we had to unearth the truth. Naru came over with the shovel and carefully began to loosen the dirt. It was 10 A.M., a couple of hours before Sou Tamaki would return to his mansion and we would have to leave the area. My chest burned with the need to know if I was right. That with this, Takai and Noriko's souls would be at peace together and their story would be a revered and treasured one.

It was a few minutes before I saw the flicker of something red. I motioned for Naru to stop and got on my hands and knees. John came next to me to help pull handfuls of sand out of the hole. And before all our eyes, a beautiful round wooden chest was uncovered. I breathed a low sigh, shaken with relief. Our fingers brushed the engraved signatures on the lid, inked with a red that matched the blood red flowers that surrounded its burial place.

"Well what do you know?" Bou-san said.

"I guess that line from Noriko's note makes sense now," Ayaka said with a smile directed at me. "'Return the rest to the grounds.' She was talking about this hiding spot."

We opened the lid and sure enough found the rest of the notes laying on top of each other, crumpled and flaky with age. There was a photo stuck to the inside of the lid, a young man and woman with bright smiles, blushes on their cheeks. Mixed with the pieces of paper was a leather black box. It creaked open to reveal an engagement ring. I ran my finger across the gem with a sad smile.

I nodded, satisfied. "Now to find Noriko…"

We dug and replanted flowers for the next two hours, only to find nothing but worms. The further we widened our search, the more I began to panic. Were we not digging enough? Had I been wrong? I was so sure that Noriko was close by. If not beneath the flowers that symbolized her love, then where?

I heard Ayako mention the time, felt a hand brush my back, but I couldn't tear my eyes from my brown hands. The part of me that knew I had failed was overwhelming.

"I don't understand. She sent me a message in my dream." My voice became laced with choked tears. "She came back to say goodbye to Takai-san one last time."

"Mai. We have to leave now." Naru's voice wasn't cold, but it was far from comforting. I bit my lip, but silently followed.

As of that moment, the case was over for him. After that, the ride back to SPR was a blur. A familiar car drove up just as we were getting into ours. Tamaki-san got out with his daughter Kana, both their eyes glued to the damage done to their summer home. They tried avoiding everyone from SPR, except for Naru who would not be ignored. He handed over the small chest we'd found as well as its secrets. They spoke for a few moments pertaining to the details of the case and the explanation to his burned down mansion. Tamaki-san's face remained ashamed throughout the exchange from his earlier abandonment and Naru's professional stance.

After that it was the same old routine. Store away the equipment and finish the case file. Only this time, everyone was walking eggshells around me; even Masako. And for my sake as well as theirs, I tried putting the guilt behind me when the weekend came.

Three Days Later

SPR Office

I knew I found it too odd when Naru met my eyes as I entered the office Monday morning. I gave a friendly wave to Lin and the others, brushing it off as a strange and rare coincidence. But then I turned around with his tea to find that once again, our eyes were still locked.

"Y-yes?" I asked half worried, the other half scared. I eyed John for help.

"I received a call from Tamaki-san yesterday with a bit of news."

I raised my eyebrows expectantly. I didn't understand why Naru was telling me directly and not addressing the rest of the room. But his next words erased any confusion that I'd had.

"They found Noriko-san's body last night. She wasn't directly near the tree, but a ways up the trail. The tombstones you and Takigawa found on the second day; it wasn't a proper grave, but her bones were found in a box beneath them. She, as well as Takai-san, is going to be given a proper burial by my and Sou-san's request."

I imagined that if he'd been like any other boss in the world, he would have been smiling at me at that moment. But instead it was that same emotionless face, the monotone voice that might as well have been telling me about his joy of tea. But I swear I could see a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. I was grinning so wide that my cheeks began to ache. I resisted the urge to run and hug my boss, so I made do with Bou-san, who laughed and ruffled my hair. I closed my eyes in a small prayer. Noriko had been found.

"Thank you Naru."

"I didn't do anything," He replied. But I knew he'd mentioned it to Sou-san before we'd left the mansion.

Bou-san sat back on the couch as I pulled away, his head comfortably tilted back and his body in a please position. His smug voice shot a challenge at our boss.

"By the way Naru, what was that about not damaging the client's home?"

I sighed wearily and shook my head. Naru had been very touchy on that subject, and quite annoyed that things hadn't gone accordingly to his plan. But I couldn't help but feel beaten to the punch with that line.

"It turned out to be an inevitable situation. There was no way that I could stop the fire from spreading myself."

Bou-san just shrugged and grinned. Naru was in a strangely good mood. His voice didn't have a sting to it as usual. Ayako shook her head at him and asked me for more sugar in her tea.

Just like that, the "Fiery Confinement" case was officially finished and put to an end.

Rest in peace, Takai-san, Noriko-san.

The End.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Thanks so much for reading this, even though it was mediocre (My first ever attempt at mystery lol) and it took me forever to post the conclusion. Leave a review if you feel like it J Go to my profile and friend me on Face book ;)