Natalie woke gasping. The doll, Lily, lay passively on her chest. Natalie burst into tears and curled onto her side, clutching the doll and burying her face in her hands.

Alarmed, Jin and Hayato exchanged a look.

“What’s wrong, Natalie?” asked Jin. “Are you hurt?”

Natalie shook her head, but couldn’t speak through her sobs.

Hayato sprang to his feet and headed for the kitchen only to pull up to a halt at the barrier Jin had created. He turned back to Jin who looked up and dispelled the ring of light with a gesture.

“Natalie, please tell me what’s wrong,” said Jin gently. Hayato returned with a glass of water. Jin took it from him and placed it on the ground where Natalie could reach it. Hayato retreated to sit on the couch and watch from a distance.

Natalie’s sobs slowed. She sat up, still holding the doll, and rubbed her eyes, sniffling. Jin and Hayato exchanged a worried look. Neither of them could tell if the doll had possessed her. Jin moved one hand toward the pocket with the mirror. Hayato caught his eye and gave a small shake of his head. Jin let his hand drop back down.

When Natalie set the doll down beside her, the two men relaxed.

“Sorry,” said Natalie thickly. “I just need another minute.”

“Take all the time you need,” said Jin offering her the glass of water. She took it with a grateful, if watery, smile and took a long drink. Jin produced a large, clean handkerchief from his coat pocket and held it out. Natalie ducked her head in thanks and dabbed her face with it. The storm of tears over, she took another sip of water and set the glass down.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Are you feeling a little better?” asked Jin.

“Much better. How long?”

“I’m sorry?” Jin blinked at her, confused.

“How long was I out?”

“Ah. Not long. Less than a half an hour, I think.”

Natalie nodded and looked down at the doll, Lily, and smoothed her dress.

“She didn’t understand,” said Natalie.

Jin looked to Hayato who shrugged. He turned back to Natalie.

“Who didn’t understand?”

“Lily,” said Natalie, indicating the doll. “She didn’t understand what happened. No one told her.”

“No one told her…about Mary’s death you mean?”

Natalie nodded.

“She’s so sad. So confused and alone.” She picked up the doll and looked it in the eye, no longer afraid. “She misses her friend. She wanted to know what happened to her.”

“Natalie… how do you know all this?”

Natalie’s breath caught. She held the handkerchief to her eyes again to give herself a moment. The vision had been so powerful, and she had gotten so caught up in it, that she hadn’t thought about how she was going to explain it without revealing her ability. She could only hope that entities like Lily were able to reach into people’s minds and show them things.

“Lily told me,” she said, lowering the handkerchief.

“The doll told you?”

“Yes. She… She showed me a… a dream, and she told me everything.”

Jin nodded. He settled cross-legged near her, perfectly comfortable sitting on the floor. Natalie breathed a silent sigh of relief that Jin and Hayato seemed accept her explanation.

“All right,” said Jin. “Did she tell you why she picked you? Why she went after you?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Maybe you were right. Maybe it’s because I’m a girl and she thought I was trying to take Mary’s, Mrs. Beckett’s, place or something. I don’t know.”

Silence fell as Jin and Hayato thought about the implications of what Natalie had told them. Lightning sidled up to the doll and sniffed it. When it didn’t lash out at him, he grew a little bolder and tapped it with his paw.

“What are you going to do with her?” asked Natalie quietly.

“Well, if she’s a danger, she will need to be properly sealed away,” said Jin.

“I don’t think she’s dangerous. She’s just… She’s grieving now. She needs someone who understands.”

Jin made a thoughtful noise in his throat and adjusted his glasses. “Well. In that case, I suppose we could re-home her.”

“You mean take her away from here?” asked Natalie.

“Yes.”

“No,” Natalie shook her head. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“No? Why not?”

“She misses Mary. She needs to be somewhere where people understand how she feels.”

Jin’s eyebrows rose. “You think she should stay here.”

Natalie nodded. “I think that if we explained things to Mr. Beckett he’d understand.”

Hayato snorted. “You want us to tell Mr. Beckett that his dead wife’s doll came to life because she misses her best friend? Yeah,” he scoffed. “That’ll work.”

Natalie glared at him. “Well, maybe we don’t tell him everything. But, I mean, he was willing to call in paranormal investigators, right? He’s got to be a little bit willing to accept an unusual explanation for what’s been going on in his house.”

Jin nodded slowly.

Natalie pushed forward. “And, all he’s really experienced is the noises in the walls. He doesn’t have to know about all the other stuff we went through.”

Hayato stared at her in disbelief. He turned to Jin. “You’re not really thinking of doing what she says, are you?”

“She’s got a point,” said Jin.

“Seriously?”

Jin nodded. “I think it might be worth a try.”

Hayato threw up his hands. “Well, don’t blame me if he refuses to pay us and slams the door in our faces.”

“Thank you,” said Natalie.

Jin shook his head.

“No,” he said. “Thank you. You’ve done far more for us than we had any right to ask of you.” Jin smiled ruefully. “I’m afraid that instead of repaying our debt to you, we’ve only deepened it.”

Natalie waved off his words. “I told you. You don’t need to pay me back for anything. I did what I did because I wanted to. That’s all.”

Jin shook his head. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work that way for us. Debts must be paid. Balance must be kept.”

Natalie smiled at the odd way Jin expressed himself. He really was like someone from another age, or another planet. Her thoughts turned to the experiences she’d had since she met these two men. It had been less than a week, though it felt like ages ago. So much weirdness and mystery. They hadn’t explained the crazy light show their jewelry had put on in the confrontation with Lily, or how Jin’s words and gestures combined into something more than just a chant, or Hayato’s fighting skills and his amazing, extendable dagger. And, she still didn’t know why her ability didn’t react to them the way it should.

It had been a long time since Natalie had been around anyone she didn’t have to keep her distance from. Seven years — since her grandmother had died. She had forgotten what it was like not to have to be on guard all the time. Forgotten what it was like to be able to just reach out and take someone’s hand.

Lightning bumped his head against her knee. She smiled down at him and rubbed under his chin, over his head, along his back. His purr rumbled deep and contented as he twined around her.

“If you really want to repay your debt to me…” she began.

“Yes?” asked Jin. “Name it. If it’s within our power it’s yours.”

Natalie smiled. “You should be careful with promises like that. You might regret it.”

Hayato snorted. Jin smiled.

“With you, I doubt that,” said Jin. “Name it.”

“I was hoping you’d let me be a part of your team. Officially.”

Jin blinked.

“You’d want to do this again?” he asked.

Natalie nodded.

“After everything you’ve gone through?”

Natalie smiled and nodded again. Jin’s face lit slowly with delight in reply.

“Well,” he said, “in that case, we would be honored to have you on our team.”

Jin held out a hand to her, and she took it, gladly. Lightning sat with his tail curled around his front paws and purred in approval.