Hidden Reflections (2/4)
by Penny Evans 
               
Feedback: evans_p17@sky.com 
Rating: R for violence, sexual images and language.
Category:  Post XF: I Want To Believe / Stand alone horror.
Pairing: MSR
Spoilers: IWTB / The End / Red Museum / Paper Clip / 
The Truth/ The Field Where I Died



PART 2
------

Once outside of Scully's office, Mulder leaned against the 
wall.  Arms folded, he uttered a small-dejected sigh and 
closed his eyes.  Why did it always have to be so difficult?  
He loved Dana Scully deeply, but more often than not wished 
she could try to be on his side when it came to understanding 
events that didn't have a place in the so-called real world.  
Although he knew deep down underneath all that stubborn 
behaviour, she believed in the unknown just as much as him 
but preferred to ignore the truth mainly because she was 
afraid to face it.   And even though he personally couldn't 
fathom out her reasoning it was still her choice to make, and 
he shouldn't forget that.

Feeling rather light headed through lack of sustenance and 
not wishing to make the drive back to their home just yet, in 
case he passed out at the wheel of his car, he decided to 
make his way to the canteen for something to eat.  He knew 
where it resided in the building as he had visited it on 
several occasions since Scully had started working here. 

Paying no attention to the cashier as he gave her the correct 
amount of money for a beef salad baguette and coffee in a 
Styrofoam cup, he found a free table near the centre of the 
room and seated himself.  Time seemed to stand still in the 
space he now occupied, whilst all around him various people 
from different walks of life went on about their busy lives 
in the hospital, and he suddenly felt like an outcast thrust 
into the middle of this chaotic hustle and bustle.  He would 
never fit in with these folk because he just wasn't cut out 
to exist in this way.  His partner seemed to have settled 
into this normality, claiming it was how she wanted to live 
her life nowadays.  He knew, even if she kept on refusing to 
admit it to herself, that she would never completely be a 
part of everyday life either.  How could she be after 
witnessing past experiences that defied any rational 
explanation?  Furthermore, they were both equally aware of 
the nightmares yet to come, looming just over the horizon.  
And when that proverbial shit hit the fan, every man, woman 
and child on the planet would be affected by the impact.  
Everything these people ever held sacred would be completely 
turned on its head, and even normality would lose all meaning 
for them.  Maybe then he wouldn't feel so much of a loner.  
A selfish way of looking at the impending outcome he thought, 
but Mulder realised he would become the centre of attention 
where everyone would be made fully aware of his important 
role in life, to try and prevent the devastation, which would 
eventually bring about the complete extinction of mankind.  
Looking around the room at this present moment though, he 
felt no one in this building knew him or what he was thinking 
or going through, no one except Scully.  No matter what, she 
would stand at his side and should he fall, would be there to 
catch him.

Remaining submerged in his thoughts, Mulder opened the folder 
he'd become attached to and began browsing through the 
printed sheets for the umpteenth time.  He wasn't even aware 
when someone spoke to him.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Receiving no response from the gentleman seated at the table, 
Naomi tried again.  "Excuse me?"

"Huh?" Mulder replied, startled out of his deep contemplation.  
Looking up he saw a very petite Japanese woman, struggling 
with a tray of food in her hands.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but this seems to be the only table 
left that has some spare room"

Becoming aware of the plight this young lady was in he felt 
rather embarrassed by his lack of response beforehand.  
"Where are my manners?" he said, taking the tray from her and 
placing it on the table.  "Of course you can sit here.  I'm 
sorry I didn't realise you were there.  Will you please 
forgive me?"

"No problem, and thank you," Naomi replied, sitting down 
opposite him.  "Looks like some interesting reading you've 
got there," she said, indicating the piles of papers he 
had strewn out in front of him.

Mulder shrugged his shoulders.  "Maybe for the minority." 

She offered a hand in his direction.  "Hi, I'm Naomi," she 
said, shyly.

"Fox Mulder," he replied, returning the handshake, then 
quickly added, "Please, call me Mulder." 

"Hello, Mr. Mulder," she said, politely.

"Mulder will be just fine," he added, smiling at her.

She blushed slightly, and then decided to give her full
identity to him.  "In that case, I'm Naomi Hanako."

"That's a beautiful name."

She felt her cheeks turn a darker shade of pink once more, 
and returned a timid smile.  "Thank you.  It means flower 
child, my surname that is," she told him.

"Very pretty.  So, what does your first name mean?" he 
asked, showing an interest.

"Um, honest and beautiful" she replied, rather embarrassed.  
"Well, they're the Japanese terms for it any how."

"Don't suppose you have a Japanese term for Mulder?" he 
asked with a chuckle

"Not that I know of," she replied, with a grin, finding 
herself unable to take her eyes off him.

Only a few minutes had passed by since meeting this, rather 
charming man, and yet she was starting to feel at ease.  
This rarely happened in her life.   In fact, the only 
other time it had occurred was with the guy she had ended 
up engaged to.  A wave of sadness washed over her when she 
remembered how he had taken his own life, yet she had never 
understood why as they had seemed so happy together?  
Suddenly she realised she had been staring at this stranger 
for a good while.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologised.

"That's okay," Mulder replied, wondering why she had been 
finding him so fascinating?  Then he sensed her sudden 
change of mood.  "Are you all right?" he asked her.

Finding it rather comforting that this man was showing 
concern for her she nodded briefly.  "I'm fine, really."  
She didn't wish to reveal her past to a complete stranger, 
even if he was a handsome one at that.  Deciding to change 
the subject, she pointed to his paperwork.  "I really 
shouldn't have stopped you from working.  Are you a doctor 
here?"

"Oh my, no," Mulder replied, amused that anyone could 
possibly think he was in the medical profession.  He 
returned the question in her direction.  "Do you work 
here?"

"Yes, I'm a physician's assistant," Naomi replied.  "I only 
started work at this hospital today, but I guess I'm 
finding my feet.  My cousin is a heart surgeon who's been 
here for about five years now."

"And you're working for him?"

"No, I've been placed with a neurosurgeon.  Scully?  I mean 
her name is Dr. Dana Scully."

Mulder almost choked on his coffee on hearing her words.  
"You're kidding me?" he said, startled.

"You know her?"

"Yes, she's my girlfriend," Mulder explained. 
 
"Oh," Naomi said, surprised.  She also couldn't help feeling 
a little disheartened but wasn't that always the way things 
turned out?  You find an attractive man to talk to and then 
discover he's spoken for?  Not to mention there were a fair 
number of years between them, so even if Mulder had been 
single he more than likely wouldn't have had his heart set 
on dating someone old enough to be his daughter but still, 
a girl can dream can't she?

He couldn't help but notice how she was trying to hide her 
obvious attraction for him, and he smiled, "Sorry to 
disappoint you."

Naomi felt incredibly embarrassed and blushed fiercely. 
Getting up from her seat she went to grab her tray, 
intending on leaving immediately before she made a fool 
of herself any further.  "I'm sorry," she said, hurriedly.

"Hey, there's no need to go," Mulder exclaimed.  He had to 
admit to himself he had been rather enjoying her company.  
"We can still be friends can't we?"

Unable to resist his invitation for her to stay, she sat
back down and quietly started eating some of the food 
she'd bought.

"So, what does Scully think of you as her assistant?" he 
asked, inquiringly.

"Um," Naomi carried on eating, and took a sip of Coke 
before swallowing.  "I think she likes me."

"You must be very good at what you do then?"

She knew he was only being polite but couldn't help being
flattered by his kindness.  "I guess" she replied.  Trying 
to turn the conversation around she added, "So, what 
are you working on?"  Noticing his smile turning into a 
frown she felt awkward once more.  "I shouldn't have been 
so nosey, it's really none of my business."

"Oh, it's not you," he said, quickly.  "It's just that I 
don't think you'll find any of it interesting."

She sensed a hidden sadness in his face that made her warm 
to him even more.  "Try me," she said, gently.

Mulder shrugged then reluctantly offered her one of the
loose pages.  At the same time thinking once she'd read it 
she'd probably make up some excuse to leave, having 
now discovered that the man she was talking to was a 
complete nutcase.  Still, he watched her and it was then 
that he really noticed how beautiful she was, and how 
fragile she seemed.  Puccini's opera came to mind and he 
thought she did indeed remind him of Madame Butterfly.

"This is really interesting," Naomi said, returning the 
page to him.  "I find these myths and folklores 
fascinating."

That was the last thing he'd expected her to say and it 
took him by surprise.  "You do?"

"Sure.  Do you mind if I read some more of this?"

"Help yourself," he said, offering her the rest of
the pages.

Sipping his coffee, Mulder listened to her own views on 
these myths and how she had shown an interest in the 
paranormal since being a little girl back in Japan.  
How she had always been very open minded on the subject, 
believing that it was indeed possible for the supernatural 
realm to exist as a parallel running alongside our own 
world.

Fox Mulder couldn't believe he had found a kindred spirit
in this young woman and it felt such a relief after all 
the recent negativity he'd faced from the FBI, his ex-boss 
Skinner and yes, even Scully.  He had also felt such 
compassion when she explained that while she was in Japan 
she had been betrothed to a man, who without warning 
had killed himself, and how her sister had died that same 
year.  Then, unable to deal with the loss she'd ended up 
having a nervous breakdown.  

Suddenly Mulder wished he hadn't given her this material 
that had obviously dredged up some very painful memories.  
"Naomi, I'm really very sorry you've had to face these 
tragedies in such short a time," he said, genuinely upset 
for her.  Once he'd gathered up the papers and put them 
back in the folder, he took hold of her hand.  "I 
shouldn't have shown you this."

"You couldn't know about my past," she told him.  The 
concern he was revealing made her heart beat faster and 
she knew if she didn't get a hold of herself she might 
lean over and kiss him.  Pulling gently from his grasp 
she caught her breath and steadied herself by returning 
the conversation to the paranormal.

"So, maybe 'Bloody Mary' killed my sister and fiance?"
she questioned him.

Mulder wanted to tell her yes, without a doubt it was 
this evil spirit that was responsible, but thanks to 
Scully, he had learned over the years how important it 
was to gather as much factual evidence as you could 
before accepting anything as the truth.  "Perhaps," 
he said, softly.

"I must say," she began, smiling.  "It's nice to find 
someone else who is interested in the supernatural."

Mulder grinned on hearing this.  Interested?  If only 
she knew how he'd spent years investigating such 
phenomena for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 
Washington DC.  But he wasn't sure he wanted to tell 
her all about the X Files just yet.  Maybe, because it 
was still too painful to accept that they didn't exist 
any more, because those bastards had snatched them from 
him, and most likely burnt them for good this time.  
A memory formed where he and Scully had witnessed the 
office gutted by a fire, which he came to realise his 
father, the Smoking Man, had set deliberately.

"I said it's really great that I've found someone who is 
a believer," she tried again.

"S-Sorry," he said, snapping out of his reverie.  
"You wouldn't believe how pleased I am to hear you say 
that," he admitted.

The conversation carried on for a good few hours, but to 
Mulder and Naomi it had felt like a microsecond.  Both of 
them discovered they had an even deeper connection that 
spanned from their strong interest in the paranormal, or 
perhaps they had known one another in another life?  
Whatever the reasons, so lost in conversation were they, 
that both were not even aware of time passing until 
Mulder decided to glance at his watch, and then realised 
just how late it was.  He also noticed the canteen had 
closed long ago and everyone else had left.

"Ooops!" he exclaimed.  "Guess we got a little carried 
away."  Glancing around the empty room, he indicated to 
Naomi that they were now alone.

"Oh, no," she said, worried.  "I was supposed to take 
these patient's details to Dr. Scully."

"Well, she didn't 'beep' you, so I guess you're in the 
clear," Mulder replied.

"Pardon?" Naomi asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"I mean she didn't page you," he said, pointing towards
the little communication device attached to her uniform.

"Oh," she replied, laughing.  "I guess I had better get 
these to her though."  As she rose from the table she knew 
she really didn't want to leave him.  

"I'll come with you if you like"

It was almost as if he'd read her thoughts when she heard
his reply.  "Okay."  Then she also checked her watch and 
frowned when she noticed just how late it was.  "I've 
just missed the last bus home," she said, rather frustrated.

"I could give you a lift."  Mulder replied without realising 
exactly what he'd said.

"It's only about quarter of an hour's drive from here, I can
always take a taxi.  Are you sure you don't mind?" she asked, 
unsure as to whether she'd heard him correctly.

Okay, just what had possessed him to say that?  He had
planned to return home and wait patiently for Scully.  
She had her own car so she didn't need his assistance in 
that department.  Just how much longer she was going to 
be working though, he had no idea, but thought he'd better 
go and see her before taking Naomi home.

"It's no problem," Mulder said, rising from his seat.  "But 
yeah, I'll come with you.  First I need to let Scully know 
I'm giving you a lift."

------------------------------------------------------------

They had just reached the office door, when a nurse cornered 
him.  "You can't go in there.  Dr. Scully is having a meeting 
with Dr. Holmes, the heart surgeon."

"Shelly, c'mon it's me, her other half," Mulder said, hoping 
that would give him access.

"And Mike is my cousin," Naomi piped up.  "I'm sure it'll 
be okay?"

"I'm sorry Fox, but I've had explicit instructions not to 
allow anyone in there," Shelly replied.

Mulder bristled on hearing her use his Christian name.  
"Fine.  Could you just let her know I'm heading home then?" 
he asked, feeling a little frustrated.  He was going to 
call her later on his cell phone anyway, which he realised 
to his dismay he'd accidentally left in the car.

"Sure, Fox."

"Again, with the first name, Shelly?"  He hated it when 
anyone called him by this, and he knew Scully had told her 
not to on numerous occasions.

"Sorry, Mulder," she apologised.  "Yeah, I'll let her know."

"Thank you," he replied.

Naomi also had a question for her.  "Please can you give 
this to Dr. Scully?  It's regarding one of her patients," 
she said, politely, handing the nurse the document she'd 
brought with her.  

"Of course," Shelly replied.  "I'll give this to her as
soon as she's finished with the meeting."

Naomi gave a little nod of her head as a gesture of thanks. 

------------------------------------------------------------

Together, she and Mulder headed out of the building and over 
to the parking lot. When they reached his Taurus he opened 
the door to the passenger side and politely held it for her 
while she got into the vehicle.  Climbing into the driver's 
seat, he retrieved his phone from the glove compartment.  
Punching in the numbers, he was unpleasantly surprised when 
a recorded message explained that Scully's phone was 
currently switched off.  On top of that the battery was 
extremely close to giving up the ghost, so he couldn't 
even leave a voice mail message.

"Just great!" he exclaimed, angrily.

"What's wrong?" Naomi asked him.

"I can't get a hold of her," he replied, frustrated.  "And 
the phone's almost dead!"

Naomi thought for a while then decided it wouldn't hurt to 
offer some assistance.  "You could always call her from my
house, and let her know where you are."

"Thanks Naomi," he said, as he started up the car.  "That's 
very kind of you."

"What are friends for?" she replied, with a smile.

Pulling out of the hospital grounds, Mulder glanced across 
at her and returned the gesture.  He was so glad this lovely 
young woman had entered his life.  She was a breath of fresh 
air clearing away all the cobwebs from his cluttered mind, 
like a little ray of sunshine that was able to shine through 
the dark clouds that had hung over him for so long.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Naomi's Place - E. Franklin St, Richmond, Virginia

Following Naomi's instructions, Mulder had driven along 
the I-95 then taken exit 74B.  As he turned onto the corner 
of 25th and Franklin, he heard Naomi telling him they had 
almost reached their destination.  

He grinned when he realised there was a certain attraction 
nearby he had visited not so long ago.  "Hey, you're close 
to East Main Street.  That's where the Edgar Allen Poe 
Museum is." 

"Never been there," she admitted. 

"Perhaps I could take you sometime?" he offered.

"I'd like that," she replied, sweetly and then pointed to 
a large building just in front of them.  "This is it, 
2501 East Franklin Street." 

Mulder stared in amazement when he saw it was a luxurious 
penthouse condominium. "Wow!" he exclaimed.  "You live here?"

"Well actually my cousin arranged for me to stay here and 
is helping me pay the rent, as it's quite expensive," 
Naomi explained.

"Yeah, I can imagine," he replied, staring in awe.  "Wish 
I had a cousin like yours," he joked.  He would have liked 
to know just how much it did cost each month to live in a 
place like this, but felt it was rude of him to ask her.

"You can use the secure parking garage," Naomi pointed out, 
to which he obliged.

After entering the designer decorated lobby they took the 
elevator up a few floors, and stepped out onto a balcony.  
Mulder felt a cool breeze from one of those old fashioned 
fans and when he looked up above him, noticed the ceiling 
was made of pinewood. "Beautiful," he commented.

"The ceilings are all like that," she told him.  Reaching 
for her keys she said, "Penthouse 4, this is mine."

On entering, Mulder was met by even more elegance and 
started to seriously consider the possibility of persuading 
Scully to move into somewhere like this with him.

"Please, allow me to give you a guided tour," Naomi 
suggested, eagerly, noticing how his eyes were widening in 
amazement.

"That'd be nice," he replied, interested to see what this 
place had to offer.  "But then I must phone Scully."

"Oh, sure," she said, flippantly.  Making sweeping gestures 
around the room with her hands she told him, "Well, where 
we are right now is the Entrance Lounge."

It was very chic and modern with white painted walls connected 
to a circular wall, which was a light mustard colour and swept 
round into a long hall.  Hanging up were some beautiful 
Japanese prints, one displaying a bird of paradise, and the 
other a tiger made from the finest silks.  Also adorning 
the wall were Japanese lanterns glowing with candlelight.  
In the centre of the room was a white leather sofa, with 
two pale green circular shaped chairs made of the same 
material, and a circular mahogany coffee table on a 
pinewood floor. 

She led him along the hall and into the main lounge, which 
was of a similar style; only this room had large windows 
and a sliding door leading out onto a private balcony.  
Mulder also loved the fact she had an old fashioned 
fireplace, even if it did seem out of place with the rest 
of the modern decor.  He then noticed a small spiral 
staircase in the corner and commented on it.

"That leads up to the bedroom," she said, and quickly 
added, "There's a bathroom at the end of the hall."  
Leading him into another room beyond the staircase, she 
said, "As you can see this is the kitchen.  Would you l
ike a coffee?"

"Yes, I'd love one," Mulder replied.  Sitting down on 
a black leather curved stool he glanced around the area, 
noticing it was unlike the rest of the rooms.  This one 
was in a square design with pale tangerine painted cupboards 
and drawers, covered with a cream brown tiled worktop 
situated all around the edge.  The lighting was much more 
modern, with dark orange lampshades hanging from the ceiling.  
Once again the flooring was of the same pinewood he'd seen 
throughout this penthouse. 

"Thanks for showing me around," Mulder said, politely.  
"You have a very beautiful place."  Then he realised he 
still hadn't asked his host the whereabouts of her phone. 
"But I really must call Scully now."  As a matter of fact 
he should have tried calling his partner as soon as he'd 
entered Naomi's place, but she had seemed so keen to 
show him around the condo the moment they'd arrived; he'd 
felt he couldn't refuse her kind offer.

Naomi had switched on the coffee percolator and was taking 
a couple of mugs from out of one of the cupboards.  "In the 
lounge, the main one," she indicated.

"Thanks."

As she watched him leave the room her heart sank.  Part of 
her was really hoping that Scully wouldn't answer and then 
he'd have no reason to leave so soon.  Suddenly, she 
slammed one of the mugs down onto the worktop with such 
force, the handle broke off in her hand and it crashed onto 
the hard floor, shattering on impact.  Shocked by her 
unintentional anger, she bent down and quickly retrieved 
the broken pieces.  As she did so her finger caught on a 
jagged edge.

"Shit!" she exclaimed, seeing the blood ooze out from a 
fairly deep wound.

At that moment, Mulder rushed into the kitchen.  "What 
happened?" he asked her, showing concern.

"Cut myself," she replied, whilst throwing the broken 
pottery into a trash bin. 

Mulder walked her over to the sink, and held her hand 
under cold running water till the bleeding had stopped.  
"Better?" 

"Much," she replied, with a smile.

"Do you have Band Aids?"
 
"Upstairs in the bathroom cabinet," she said, gesturing 
towards the staircase with a nod of her head.

"Okay, no problem," he replied, heading out of the kitchen.

He found the medicine box and was making his way along the 
landing, when Mulder noticed another room that she hadn't 
mentioned during his guided tour.  After trying the handle 
he discovered it was locked.  Suddenly he had visions of 
Bluebeard and the young wife who had been forbidden to ever 
enter the locked room, which had eventually revealed all 
of his previous wives, garrotted and hung up on the walls 
that were dripping with their blood.  Grinning to himself 
he started back down the staircase.

"Coffee's ready!" she called to him, as he entered the room.

"Here's your med kit," he said.  Taking out a Band Aid he 
placed it on the wound and pressed lightly.  "That should 
do it."

"Thank you," Naomi said.  "It was a really stupid accident," 
she added, wondering what on earth had caused her to get 
so worked up.  "By the way, did you manage to get a hold of 
Dr. Scully?"

"Nope," he replied, shaking his head.  "She's not answering 
the house phone either. That must mean she's on her way back 
though as I got the voice message telling me she was out of 
reach."  He then noticed Naomi was giving him a slightly 
puzzled look.  "Cell phone signal is pretty crap in our 
little neck of the woods," he stated. "Maybe if I try calling 
in about half an hour, hopefully she'll be home by then?"

"You know you are welcome to stay here as long as you want," 
she offered sweetly, handing him a mug.

"That's very kind of you, Naomi" he replied.  Noticing the 
time displayed on the kitchen clock on the wall opposite him 
he added,  "But it's getting very late.  So if I can't get a 
hold of her on my next try, then I really ought to head for 
home, as she'll be wondering where I am?"
  
"Of course she will," she replied, a hint of disappointment 
in her voice.

Mulder hadn't noticed, and took a sip of the coffee.  "Mmmn, 
this is really good," he said.

"Glad you like it," she replied, smiling.  "But may I suggest 
we finish this in the lounge?  

"Sure."

--------------------------------------------------------------

Once seated on the sofa, Mulder started to feel extremely
relaxed, and laid his head back on the plush mahogany 
leather.  "Boy, I could get used to this," he said, 
dreamily.

"You look tired?" Naomi said, offering him a cushion, as 
she seated herself on the chair opposite him.  "Here, use 
this."

He took it and placed it behind his head.  "Thanks, only I 
really wasn't planning on sleeping here" he grinned.  
Finishing the coffee he placed the cup on the table and 
almost immediately felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.  
Leaning back against the sofa he shook his head a few times.  
"It's just I feel so worn out all of a sudden."  The room 
then started to spin, which alarmed him somewhat.  Glancing 
over at Naomi who was now out of focus, he felt his head 
begin to pound and started to panic.  "What the hell?" he 
said, now aware of the situation he was in.  "Y-You've 
drugged me?" 

"I'm sorry, Mulder," she said, almost apologetically.

"W-Why?" he asked, not quite believing this was happening.

"You'll see, Yukio," she said.

"W-What?" Mulder replied, his speech sounding slurred.  As 
his head lolled onto one side it felt extremely heavy and 
his sense of awareness was fading fast, but he could have 
sworn she'd just called him by another name, and it had 
sounded Japanese.

"You know what that stands for?" she asked, her voice now 
mocking him.

Now almost in a delirious state of mind, Mulder discovered 
he was having trouble keeping his eyes open.  Realising it 
was impossible to respond with words, all he could do was 
shake his head, which made him feel nauseous. 

"He who always gets what he wants," she replied, a touch of 
anger in her voice.

As she spoke those words Mulder felt himself sinking deeper 
and deeper until finally the darkness descended.

Crossing over, she knelt beside him, stroking his hair gently 
whilst murmuring softly.  "Well, Yukio, it's my turn, and you 
are going to have to play by my rules now."

Leaving her captive passed out on her sofa, Naomi made her 
way into the kitchen.  After replacing the bottle of sleeping 
pills that had been in her medicine box, she returned to the 
lounge and walked over to a large mirror hung just above the 
fireplace.  She couldn't help laughing when she realised 
Mulder hadn't even noticed it there, yet he'd been the one 
so fascinated by them and how they were connected to these 
'Bloody Mary' myths.  This one in particular was enchanting, 
gilt edged and adorned with beautiful carvings of golden 
dragons with piercing ruby red eyes.  A family heirloom, her 
mother had passed it on to her after she'd expressed a liking 
for it.  However, during her childhood it had spent many 
years in a crate down in her parents' basement until she'd 
discovered it and insisted on hanging it up in her bedroom. 
Then when she was packing to go to America, she had decided 
to take it with her.  

Now almost in a trance like state, she picked up a brush from 
off the mantelpiece and slowly began to stroke through her 
ebony hair.  As she stared deeply into the mirror, at first 
it began to shimmer as if the oval glass was now becoming 
translucent.  Captivated by what was happening, she watched
her image transform into a beautiful woman, who looked like 
a slightly older version of her, only she had porcelain skin, 
which seemed to glow in an aura of pure light.  Suddenly, her 
reflection altered again revealing a horribly disfigured 
visage, lips savagely torn open from ear to ear, with blood
trickling down its face.  Even though the image was unable 
to speak through her mutilated mouth, Naomi was able to hear 
the words clearly in her mind.  

"Thank you for returning him to me," Kuchisake said.  "Now 
I'll be able to give my dear husband another precious moment 
he will never forget, and one which he so richly deserves."

END OF PART 2
-------------