Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Ghost Hunt.

Thanks to Toyama-chan, christal, Tbonechick2011, meri47, withchuntress, Kaykit, krisaku, Ariana Tamiyama, Ayjah, silverchildakami, Azamiko, miss koneko, LunaxXmoongoddessxX, yellowmoon27, Jillian Rachel for the lovely reviews!

This one is for all who've reviewed, past and present. Enjoy!

On waking up, Mai found herself lying on a large white bed. The white curtains were fluttering in the soft breeze at the open window which looked out to the branches of a tall tree and the wide blue sky. She sighed contentedly.

"Good morning. I see you're up."

The door swung open noiselessly to admit a dark-haired blue-eyed prince. She smiled sleepily. "Naru? Oh wait," she said after squinting at him for a moment while half-sitting up and yawning. "Hello Gene. You've cut your hair."

The young mage grinned. "You're getting pretty good at telling us apart aren't you," he said as he went to sit by her bed. "Thank you for everything," he said and touched his lips to her bandaged hand. Mai flushed.

"Flirt," she replied and smiled. "Where's Naru? Is he alright? What about everybody else?"

"They're all fine. The first thing Naru said after regaining consciousness last night was where his tea was. Then, he barged into your room and wouldn't leave until we made him have breakfast not half an hour ago."

Gene regarded her with amusement. "You probably didn't notice because you were out cold but he wouldn't let go of your hand," he added.

"I-I might have remembered something like that," she said, feeling her cheeks burn. There were more footsteps outside the room and Mai could hear the deep bass tone of her guardian's voice through the door.

"Mai? Are you up? Can we come in?"

The door opened again. "Lin-san! Madoka-san!" she said greeting them brightly. As Madoka fussed over her pillows, Lin smiled wanly at her.

"Promise me you won't ever jump into battle like that again."

To his surprise, she reached over and hugged him warmly. "I'll try not to," she said feeling suddenly watery-eyed when he ruffled her hair fondly. "We really need to work out this whole guardian thing don't we?"

Madoka beamed at the two of them. "It's nice to see you up. You really had us worried. Even Naru, who is usually a bigger idiot than you are had woke up already."

"That's right," a fourth voice chimed in.

The Countess and Sir Takigawa were at the door along with Masako and John. Ayako who had spoken, bent down to inspect her. "Next time, leave the heroing to the men. Their egos need it more," she said as she felt her forehead. Takigawa rolled his eyes. Satisfied that there was nothing physically wrong with the girl, Ayako straightened herself. "At least you look good and you've your colour back. How do you feel?"

A loud rumbling from the region of Mai's middle answered for her. "Ehehehe. I don't think I've eaten since…?"

"Two days ago. You were asleep the whole of yesterday," Ayako replied crisply as she drew back the curtains.

"Do you want something in bed?"

Mai shook her head. "I think I would like a walk by myself," she replied shyly.

Gene winked at her. "The observatory is just down the corridor and up the stairs at the end."

The Royal Palace's observatory was considerably larger than the one at Lin's and an elaborate brass and steel telescope jutted out of a gap in the dome-shaped roof. A mechanical whirr of cogs and wheels hummed quietly in the background as she paced about the empty room. Then she spotted the partially opened trapdoor. It was cold outside and a wind snapped and tugged at her nightdress and shawl.

"Ah, it is the girling."

Looking around, she spotted Old Black was floating beside Naru and looking for once, not grumpy or irritable but benign. Naru was leaning against the ledge, a tea cup in hand and for the first time since they had met, fully dressed and groomed. Coming face to face with Naru, she found herself suddenly tense in a way she hadn't been around Gene or the others. How strange, she thought, especially when they look so alike.

"Gene told me you were coming up here," he said and then lapsed back into silence. They looked at each other. Mai tucked her windswept hair behind her nervously.

"Back in the woods, you asked me if this was a fairy tale." Naru blinked once and the nodded. "And then – Malfina appeared," she continued, a little desperately. Again, Naru nodded. "And then, you-you jumped at me and –

Old Black snorted in an eerie imitation of Lady Ayako. "Rubbish. I saw you kiss him. Don't deny it, girl." Mai rounded on the ghostly figure.

"So you admit to tripping me!" she grumbled.

The spirit blinked innocently. "What? So you did kiss him," he replied somewhat self-righteously.

As Mai's face oscillated between red and purple, she heard a quiet laugh beside her. Still chuckling softly, Naru spoke up. "I suppose I ought to make up for that now," he murmured as he crossed the space between them.

Suddenly, the roof seemed to have gotten a lot smaller. Mai looked down at her feet, fingers twinning nervously.

"Umm."

Naru cleared his throat pointedly. "Lord Merlin. Do me a favour and tell those currently listening in to leave. My private observatory is not some outdoor tavern."

"Merlin?!" Mai rounded on the spirit with a look of disbelief.

"In the flesh" he muttered sarcastically. "Once a King's helper and you're always one. Good luck to you two. The heavens know you need it," he added drily. Scorning the door, he floated away through the wall to surprised screams on the other side. "It's been a long time since I did that," they heard him say with relish as the indignant eavesdroppers were herded (reluctantly) on their way.

He reached out to gently brush a strand of hair from her eyes.

"Mai…"

The girl remained looking down and he couldn't help smirking at her sudden shyness. "I can't kiss you if you keep looking down like that," he remarked smugly. The girl's head whipped up so fast to glare at him that he barely had time to plant a small one on her cheek.

"Naru!" Face flaming, she tried to brush past him, but he took hold of her hand. "You shouldn't just kiss people like that!"

"I never kiss girls I don't like," he said, a small smile crinkling his eyes.

Mai sniffed. "And how many have you kissed?"

"Just the one," he said softly before kissing her again, this time fully on her lips.

When they finally reappeared in the observatory, smiling in the way couples in love the world over smiled with, all bets were off. A number of servants and courtiers who had witnessed or overheard the news went sadly to the kitchens to mope at their financial loses and to privately swear to never make bets against a certain bespectacled student at the university. Equally or perhaps more disappointed and disbelieving that the arrogant prince had returned to the palace with a girl were the mothers of promising debutantes who lamented the loss of one of two opportunities to marry into royalty. The Princess of Nihon had ridden off one rosy evening, accompanied by an additional knightly escort a day later. The King and the Queen breathed a sigh of relief and stopped despairing over their son's love life, the prince's twin brother hastened back to his abode in the Academy away from the debutantes' mothers, a teary-eyed enchantress was being comforted by the minister of trade: "You should be more upset! Your ward's all grown up!" Sir Takigawa and Lady Ayako were nowhere to be found, but it was assumed that they did not in fact wanted to be. In typical fashion, the prince had scoffed at them all and after requesting for among other things, a fresh pot of tea and privacy – he did not live in an alehouse if you didn't already know, retired to an obscure part of the palace with a blushing Mai where it was assumed that they would begin to live happily ever after.

Author's notes: And here it is! The full, complete story. It's been an amazing experience and I'm still honestly and humbly surprised at how well recieved it is. As for direct queries and subtle hinting around the question of sequels, the perverse answer is yes and no. It's not for a lack of ideas, believe me, but I don't think I've the kind of crazy determination to do another twenty chapters in Fairytale Land so quickly. Having said that, do keep your eyes peeled. I might resurrect it when I feel more prepared to. In the mean time, I'll be back to working on Fortune's Wheel and possibly one or two new projects I do happen to have in mind.
Updates, as always, are in my profile.