Lia's family surrounded her as she struggled to stay awake. Night has fallen, the moon was at its brightest just like that night a month ago. It had been snowing all day, this very night has been the coldest for her family where nothing could bring any warmth.

Monte sat next to Lia's bedside with her hand in his hand. The two were spending their last moments together, even Monte came to the realization that Lia wasn't going to make it. Cancer has completely taken over her body. Lia was so weak that she could hardly speak but she was surrounded by those who love her in her last moments here.

He noticed her sister Silvia really wanted to have some time with her. He got up and switched places with her and Silvia took Lia's hand. She sat down on the chair and began to cry. There was no way for her to control her emotions, she knew that this may be the last time she will see her sister.

"I need to step out for a bit," Monte said. "I'll give you some time with her."

He walked over to Lia and placed a kiss on her forehead, he walked out of the hospital room and made his way outside, met with the cold snowflakes that lit up the sky and then fell to his knees with tears streaming down his face.

"Dammit," he screamed. He looked up to the sky. "Why! Why are you taking her away from me? What did we do wrong? Tell me so I can fix it! Don't kill her!"

He wrapped his arms around him. "Dammit," he said softly. "She's all I have. What will I do without her?"

He let the tears continue coming down and let his emotions take over him. Once he found the strength to stand up, he reached into his coat pocket and grabbed his pack of cigarette, placed one in his mouth, lit it up and began to inhale it. He gained control of his emotions and wipped his tear stained face.

He heard the hospital door open and saw that it was her Dad that also decided to step outside.

"Hey Monte," he said. "I thought you quit doing that a long time ago!"

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I did for a time."

"How can you start that up again? Doesn't it make you think what could happen with your wife in there?" He also grabbed a cigarette and light it up. "You know these things can kill you."

"I could be asking you the same thing," he replied coldly.

"I've been doing this for many years but, what I mean is; seeing what cancer is capable of, aren't you worried you would get lung cancer?"

"If I did, that wouldn't be so bad."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" He gave Monte a concerned look.

Monte took in another breath of smoke. "It just means I'll be able to be with Lia again sooner. She's all I have. My parents are dead and I was an only child. If she's gone, I'll have nothing.

"So you're just going to throw your life away?"

Monte looked at the ground.

"Even if she dies," her Dad said. "You still have us."

Monte's expression turned into shock.

"We know you, Monte. There's no way we would abandon you just because our daughter died. We'll get through this together." They both finished their cigarettes and put them out. "Now, let's go back."

They both went back into Lia's hospital room. This time, Monte was feeling stronger to be in there. He's made the decision to be with her until the very end and not run away. He went back to her bed and took her in his arms.

"Monte." Her voice was very weak but she managed to open her eyes for him "I'm sorry."

Monte held her tight. "No Lia. I'm sorry. I said I wouldn't let you die and yet..." Tears spilled from his eyes again. "I couldn't do anything to save you."

"It's okay." Lia gave him a smile. "You stayed by my side until the very end. For me, that is enough."

"Lia, I love you and I always will. You'll always be alive in my heart."

"I love you too."

That alien Kazuki Komatsuzaki didn't come for me after all. That's okay. I won't disappear from everyone the wrong way. It's better this way.

The two shared their very last kiss, then Lia lost all the remaining strength she had left. She took her final breath and her head tilted back.

"No," Monte sobbed. "I'm not ready for you to go. We still have to spend Christmas together! We were supposed to go down to Palermo in the summer and spend time at the beach! There's so much more we need to do together! You can't be dead yet! You have to keep fighting this until you've defeated this illness!"

Then Monte felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to face the person who got his attention.

"I'm sorry," her Dad said. "She's gone."

Monte looked back at the lifeless Lia. He held her body close to him.

"Lia," he cried. "I wanted to protect you forever."

He placed her corpse on the bed and backed away from her.

"Come on everyone," her Dad said. "There's nothing left we can do here. It's time for us to go."

Back at the ship, Kazuki has just finished helping Akito learn his human disguise but he felt every connection with Lia disappear from him. It was like he felt a huge amount of power leave his body.

"Lia is dead!"

Akito's dark eyes filled with fear and confusion. "Lia? Is that the human we were supposed to take back with us?"

Kazuki nodded. "I have to go to her."

"What's the use if she's dead? Can't we just find another human to take back with us?"

"No, it has to be her."

Kazuki began to exit the ship but had Akito follow right behind him.

"Wait!" Kazuki stopped in his tracks. "Let me come with you."

"Fine."

Kazuki had no time to argue with him this time. He let him follow behind since this will be the only time Akito will have to experience this world. The two stepped outside and Akito was met with a cold shock. The clothes he has been wearing were torn up and he didn't even have shoes. His body began to shiver, he could see his breath with every exhale but he was also very amazed by the white things falling from the sky that was sticking to the ground.

Kazuki kneeled on the ground and handed him his purple Haori jacket. "Take it." Akito looked up at him. "It won't be much, but it'll help."

"Thank you."

Akito put on the jacket and noticed Kazuki's long black hair blowing in the winter wind. He thought he looked very cool with his white hakama pants and purple keikogi shirt. Kazuki also had his sword with him. A katana with purple thread and black diamonds. He was someone for Akito to look up to.

He walked over to Kazuki but with each step, made Akito's feet so frozen. He wished he had boots like Kazuki but managed to walk to him.

Kazuki noticed the struggle Akito was having.

"From here on, I will be going at a speed that can travel at the speed of light. I will need you to hop on and hang on tight. I will not have you slowing me down."

Akito nodded and Kazuki bented down so Akito could hop on his back. Right when Akito had a good grip on Kazuki, he took off so fast that Akito wasn't expecting it. He let out a scream that even startled Kazuki.

"Hey," Kazuki said. "Not so loud!"

"I'm sorry sir! I wasn't expecting to go this fast!"

"It's something you will learn eventually. You said you wanted to be a warrior so it's best to get used to this."

"I know but..."

"We have to get there fast."

Akito calmed down and felt the cold winter wind rush against his skin.

"So tell me Komatsuzaki, what is so special about this Lia?"

"Her condition."

"Her condition," Akito asked. "What is that suppose to mean."

A smirk crossed Kazuki's lips. "In our world, we know nothing of sickness. It is considered to be perfect. In the human world, there is nothing but suffering. It's full of sadness and despair. Lia has a kind of sickness called cancer. It takes over your body and kills you. It has already gotten to that point where it killed her. There is no way any human can bring her back."

"How are you planning to bring her back with us?"

"I am a protective warrior. Once you reach the masters level in your training. You're pretty much powerful enough to change someone's fate. Have you ever heard of a shinigami?"

"Shi..ni..ga..mi? What is that?"

"A Shinigami is a God of Death. They live off of human souls to survive. They cannot be seen by a human and even us Aliens have a hard time seeing them. They find a victim and stab them with their weapon giving them any kind of death. That death can be accidental, a sickness or old age and a shinigami can also set a time limit. That shinigami should be visible pretty soon and I will fight him."

"How will we make it in time?" Akito's grip tightened on Kazuki. "That shinigami will already be there!"

"Don't worry. I gave Lia my districts gemstone. As long as she's wearing that, the shinigami will have a hard time getting to her soul. That gemstone will have her soul locked inside her body for at least 24 hours. That is all I have so there is no time to waste."

"And if you lose?"

"Then I lose my life to the shinigami too."

Akito's heart began to pound fast. "This is crazy. All for one simple human. What's the point of that if you die?"

"The only option I have is to win. The point of defeating a shinigami is so an alien will become more powerful."

"So you were after more power all this time!"

Kazuki jumped above the forest trees and the city lights of Belluno were revealed below them and they made it into the city quite fast. The two arrived at the hospital. Kazuki let Akito off his back and the two entered the hospital. Akito immediately felt the heat warm his frozen hands and felt his entire being warm up.

"Whoa," Akito exclaimed. "What sorcery is this?"

Kazuki gave him a soft look and smiled. "Electricity."

The two walked in silence until they came to a common room for patients to get away from their rooms while they recover in the hospital. It had a TV system, couches, and chairs for comfort. Bookshelves filled with novels and music books to pass the time. In the corner was a baby grand Fazioli piano that looked so new, it must have never been played before. There were two people in tears, a man and a young woman who looked like Lia.

"I'll leave you here," Kazuki said.

"Eh?"

Akito looked at him questioningly. He couldn't understand why he was being left behind again.

"I'll come back for you later. This is not something you should see."

Before Akito could reply, Kazuki left him behind in the common room and headed towards Lia's room with each step closer to her room, he could feel the sense death all around him. He gripped his katana, knowing the shinigami was very close now.

He reached her room and saw the presence of something very evil approaching Lia. In that moment, he knew that was the shinigami. It wore a black cloak, looked like it was floating and had a weapon that looked like the Grim Reaper's Scythe. His hands looked like a ghostly black image, it was as if he had no hands. The very image sent shivers up Kazuki's spine. He could only see the back side of it, but he didn't want to see any more of it.

The shinigami lifted up its scythe and plunged it into Lia's heart to take her soul but, the weapon was stopped by a barrier. The barrier protected Lia's soul and sent the Shinigami flying back. Kazuki then saw that this shinigami had no face. It got back up for a second attempt, so Kazuki drew his katana and swung it at it but only to see the shinigami disappear and escape into thin air.

"Dammit," he said. He put his katana back in the sheath and went over to Lia's bedside. He did a slow blink to reveal Lia's life clock only to see it has reached zero, then returned to see her like any other human would. He looked over at the necklace he gave her on her neck and smiled.

"I have seven more days to save you. By then, I will have defeated that shinigami for you. I won't let you die, Lia. I promise."

He walked over to the window, opened it, picked up Lia's lifeless body and he held her closely in his arms. He walked over to the open window.

"This time, I'm bringing you with me for real this time. Your new life begins when you wake up."

He jumped out of the window with her and ran her back to the ship at the speed of light.