Lyric Challenge:

I can see every tear you've cried

like an ocean in your eyes

All the pain and the scars have left you cold

I can see all the fears you face

through a storm that never goes away

Don't believe all the lies that you've been told

When I came back to earth and Alice, I couldn't help but to be reluctant. Despite having parted on good terms, the fact that I had turned to the side of the light in the last moments couldn't atone for all the Bakugan I had mauled and sent to their deaths. The doom dimension…

I was… scared that she would reject me. Scared I'd be all alone in this world I knew so little about still, trapped in such a fragile form.

But the moment she looked at me, she smiled and all my fears melted away.

"Hydranoid." Her tone was confused but it was tinted by a happy note. I greeted her with raspy words that I hoped were the right ones. Alice laughed and ran to me "Welcome home, Hydranoid." She said sweetly and kindly, just as I remembered her being, then she picked me up.

I had never had kin to whom I could return to, but in that moment, I imagined that was exactly what being welcomed by a family would feel like.

Shadowed Nights, Brighter Days

The days to come were quiet. Alice lived with her grandfather in a big mansion, while he spent most of his time in the laboratory, she spent her time wandering about. She cooked, she read, she sang quietly to herself and talked to me about every topic that crossed her mind and would ask me in turn what was crossing mine.

Soon I realized she wasn't a brawler anymore, perhaps she never really had been one to begin with.

While this seemed strange to me -her other side would have rather shot himself first than giving up the game- I accepted it as my new reality. If sitting idly for hours on end, turning page after page, was what made her happy, then I would sit with her and enjoy the running clock by her side.

As I had live to serve my master, I would now live to serve her.

But while the days that came were quiet, the nights were not eve if there really wasn't any serving to be done.

At night, Alice cried in her sleep and woke with a start. She hid her face in her pillow as I pretended to sleep, and sobbed into the fabric in hopes I would not hear. I always did.

Alice cooked, and read, and sang, and wandered about, but her eyes were always a little sad, her face always slightly tired.

Shadowed Nights, Brighter Days

Days came and went with little to no sign of the other brawlers. We talked and never failed to find a new topic to discuss. Alice was smart in a way that was subtle, but undoubtedly present beneath her quiet mannerisms.

It was no wonder my master had been such a cunning character. Perhaps, if he had not been so hungry for power and crazy with success, he would've won the battle in the end. Perhaps it was better that he had. I wondered what would've become of Alice if the Brawlers had lost and angered at the thought.

She smiled at me and it was always kind and honest, she seemed happy but I never stopped worrying. Her smile never quite reached her eyes, they where lined by shadows underneath and her skin always looked pail.

We sat in quiet companionship, the day was warm, or at least Alice told me it was. "Russia's warm is not everybody's warm." She had said with a shrug, in her yellow blouse and white shorts.

I gathered my thoughts and silently cursed how little I had talked to my master the last time I'd been on earth. If I had, I at least would've been more used to starting conversations and not having to think for days on end about how to bring a topic up.

"Alice." I called her and she turned to where I was on the wooden floor by her hip.

"Yes?" She smiled with what seemed to be encouragement.

"We need to talk about something." I started, feeling like one of those silly television characters Alice liked to watch that were about to hurt their partners feelings.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" She asked openly, used to the serious way I talked and not expecting at all that it really was a serious question.

"You." I said bluntly and thought I had nailed the issue perfectly.

"Me?" Alice questioned, quite confused, but smiled a little in amusement. Definitely not the reaction I had gone for.

"Yes." I said, not knowing how to elaborate.

"What about me?" She almost laughed at the silly path the conversation was taking, but just as I held in a frustrated sigh, she held in her laugh.

"I'm concerned for you." I said and it seemed to be what I needed to say, the weight on my breast lessening. Because I was, I was very concerned for her. "You dream at night… it's not pleasant." I told her and the rasp in my voice made it sound forbearing.

"There's nothing wrong with me, Hydranoid, I don't know what you mean." She said evenly, her shoulders relaxed by sheer force of will.

"Alice-" She cut me off as she abruptly stood and dusted her shorts from the bottom.

"You must be so uncomfortable." She said without looking at me.

"Alice…"

"Trapped in that form all the time." She walked quickly inside the house without looking at me and I sighed, feeling like I had committed the quickest failure ever.

Alice returned after a moment, shoving something inside her pocket I couldn't see.

"I'm sorry I don't really brawl. With no one to fight against and my…" She shut her mouth and I heard the faint clattering of her teeth as she stopped whatever she'd been about to say.

"Come on." She prompted me and walked down the wooden stairs.

I followed her resignedly and climbed onto her shoulder so she wouldn't leave me behind. As she walked towards the forest at a fast pace, she avoided my eyes.

"As I was saying," I cleared my throat. "It seems to me you never sleep peacefully, you have nightmares and you… at night you cry when you wake up, Alice." I was silent for a moment. "I'm worried."

Alice bent down to pick up a stick before carrying on, using the small branch to bang out a quiet rhythm against the trees.

"Well, you shouldn't be, because there's nothing wrong." She said simply, though her voice was strained.

We continued onwards, and for some time things turned calm again. I could hear birds and insects amongst the leaves and the grass. The child's shoulders becoming less tense with each step she took, but I could not ignore the issue.

"Sometimes I've heard you beg for forgiveness-"

Alice stopped abruptly and I fell from my perch.

"We're here." She announced with a happiness that made her voice waver.

"You… you're not okay Alice." I tried again, rolling closer to where she stood in the meadow we frequented.

"I know you don't like asking things of me, but I think you ought to, it's not fair to you, being trapped like that all day." She said as she took a brawling card out of her short pocket.

It was a very strange conversation we were having, like hearing two different sides of two different talks and merging them together. Senseless.

Alice stood straight and raised the card up to her chest.

"Bakugan, brawl." She said to the air as she threw forward the black card and it landed lightly on the grass.

She risked a look at me and crouched, extending her palm as the field extended with a shimering quality.

I sighed but obliged, rolling onto her hand.

"Hydranoid, stand." The sudden pull of my body was as unexpected as the first time I had experienced it. Before I knew it, I was myself again.

Like a rock lifting from my back, I could breath in a full breath. It was so liberating I roared from my three heads. I turned when the wind of a giggle reached my ears.

Alice. For a moment I had forgotten what I was talking about and chuckled.

Clever girl. I thought.

I lowered my chest to the ground and laid about until I found a comfortable position.

"You were right." I told her amiably "I needed this."

She smiled as she did now a days, honest bot tired.

"Well, you don't deserve being… compressed like that all the time. I can't begin to imagine how that even feels." She said as she brushed her boot over the tip of the grass blades.

I looked at her with intensity but she kept here eyes far away from mine.

I took in a deep breath and rolled the wings on my back, stretching the muscles and settling in my body. With my true form, a sense of my presence and command had also returned. It was terribly pleasant.

"I don't believe you deserve what you're going trough either Alice." I said as softly as I could, which wasn't very soft at all.

I heard the faint change of her breathing as it got heavier. Her orange hair shadowed most of her face, so I lowered my neck until I could see her. My mistress' eyes were tearful, though not a drop had been spilled yet.

"Tell me what ails you." I said, and though I felt like I could, I did not command it.

She closed her eyes and a tear dropped from one side of her face, a second later from the other.

I inched closer until my snout rested on her belly. Alice raised her hands to steady herself from the light push.

"I am here for you."

At those words, she finally let out a quiet sob.

She took in a deep breath and composed herself as she ran her fingers over the hard scales of my face.

"What ails me…" She repeated my words with the ghost of amusement at my phrasing and looked into my eyes. "So many things Hydranoid."

Alice smiled, but she struggled to keep the form on her lips as more tears escaped her watery eyes.

She became silent again but did not avoid my sight. She was struggling to get the words out.

"Yes?" I let out a breath and it ruffled her hair softly, I waited.

"There are things I did…that Masquerade did." Her voice cracked slightly a she started "I dream of them at night and they scare me. They are terrible things but in my dream I feel no remorse about them." She diverted her eyes but continued her gentle ministrations, her hands at the edge of my jaw.

"I dream of Bakugan screaming and kids too. All those lost and who lost... I dream of being so hungry for power it consumes me…" Another drop fell from her eye. "I dream my friends blame me and I'm alone in the end." She chuckled, a wet laugh "I'm already kind of always alone, so…"

Alice sniffed and then sighed, letting go of some of her stress.

"You don't have to tell me it's not my fault." She added.

I had been just about to.

"I already know it's not." She looked at me with a little grin and knowing eyes. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that I feel guilty all the time and…" Her eyes were haunted for a second. "Displaced."

I tilted my head in question, wondering.

"It's like… sometimes I don't feel like this is my body," she tried to explain. "I feel I don't belong here." She lifted a hand and touched her chest "Sometimes my skin is too tight and others it's not tight enough. It's…" She grimaced "not nice."

"Doesn't sound nice at all." I pushed her down with my snout and she huffed a wet laugh.

It still gave me pause how at ease she was around me, how unfearful and trusting of the great monster I was. It humbled me greatly.

"It's really not." She lay down and stared at the sky. I lay by her side and sighed out a breath that disrupted the grass all around, all three of my heads found a position to accommodate to Alice's.

"I…" her voice became small. "I know you're worried and you want to help but… I don't really know if there is anything you can do to help."

Alice sounded almost defeated in her words. I moved my center head closer until it was touching her arm and shoulder, careful not to hurt her with my horns or spikes.

"I can be here." I stated and she didn't answer.

She turned to lay on her side and I saw her warm brown, kind eyes looking at me.

"When you wake up at night, let me comfort you, let me tell you kind things so you may sleep better. When you feel displaced, tell me, together we can find a way to make you feel like yourself in your own body. When you feel guilty, let us call your friends, hearing the happiness in their voices will convince you of your innocence."

Her eyes teared again.

"I'm here for you," I insisted.

"That sounds nice." She answered after a moment, her voice wavering.

"I imagine it may." I smirked and felt my rows of teeth showing. She giggled delightfully. I took in a breath of relief and content, feeling even lighter.

"I don't think I could ask for anything better than having you as a friend." She said, and I felt a warmth rising to my cheeks. "You are too kind to me."

"I imagine there's no better way to repay kindness than with kindness itself." I looked at her knowingly and she smiled broadly.

She placed one of her arms over my snout and hugged as best she could from where she was. I sighed contently as she snuggled closer.

The day was warm, or at least Alice said it was. We stayed like that until we tired of it. When we returned home Alice cooked, and sang and read. When she went to sleep and inevitably woke up, begging for forgiveness, I did not feign unconsciousness and she did not hide her sorrows from me.

She smiled in the morning. She still looked tired and pale, but not as sad as before. It was better.

Abril: Another Challenge between me and my good friend Shadow-ying :)

I just love Alice and Hydranoid, how I wish they had more time together, such a wasted opportunity ):

Anyway, the cover of the story is a drawing I made, you can find it on my art Tumblr the-red-butterflies searching the tag of "Bakugan". Also, I'm always free for some good chatting of this old ass anime hehe

Also, also, thanks to a-bit-of-madness for betting this :D