"C-Crow…"

"CROW!"

But yelling wasn't going to help her in this situation. Nothing was. Yusei wasn't around to save her this time, and the one she had come to trust just as much was gone as well. No, she was blinded, trapped. The witch had been turned into a hapless bird in a cage once more; and she just couldn't escape. Another shrilled yell pierced the silence of the dark room barely after the echoes of those before disappeared; but it wasn't in the form of a name.

It was all so real, this nightmare was much too real for her liking. No, she couldn't go back to this, to be alone, to not trusting anyone but herself and her captor. S-She… She had found out what it was to have friends, to be happy, to be accepted for what she was.

So why had it come back to this.

But then a warm feeling overcame her. Well, not warm per se, but the sickeningly cold feeling in her heart disappeared. That horrible feeling of being forgotten and unloved, of loneliness… There was no light in this dream yet, but she didn't need it, not when the feeling of being held made her feel safe. There was no need to fear the dark, not when it didn't feel empty.

"Shh, just go to sleep."

The familiar voice calmed her, enough to stop shivering, but the ghost of her memories wouldn't leave her so easily.

"C-Crow… I-I… H-He… I was alone, a-again "

"You're not, don't ever think that, Akiza!"

His voice was stern through the bleak room, trying to root the thought into her. No. She had friends, she had support, she had him. He'd never let anything happen to her, no matter what the cost. She knew that, she knew it all by now, so why had these nightmares begun to claim her? Just when they had found peace, when it was all settled for the most part… Or, at least, a stable rhythm to play their life to had been found. But he'd deal with it, he'd let her know how many times it was necessary. The red head nodded, wiping her tears, the cage becoming a little more bearable, a little less claustrophobic.

Soon enough, after a few sniffles and clinging to him, the rose fell to a well earned slumber. Kissing her forehead, the male sighed. Another night, another breakdown…