"A/N: I do not own DN Angel or any of it's characters."

He's been gone for two years now. Dark disappeared that night, that same night the Black Wings were almost activated. After the tower exploded and Daisuke ran to Riku and had their tight embrace, their loving, lusting, kiss, Dark was gone. Daisuke had found his true love. His Sacred Maiden. Dark was no longer able to live in Daisuke so he vanished until the next generation of Niwa's would produce a son. And on their sons' fourteenth birthday Dark will once again reappear. But who knows how long that will take or if it will even happen. But it doesn't matter because I'm over him.

During those two years without Dark I did a lot of growing up. Did I miss him? Very much. I had a long period of time where I wouldn't eat very much and I'd cry myself to sleep knowing my 'one true love' would never return. It was sad and pathetic how childless I was. It seemed as if life would stop in its tracks and consume me only to project me into a black hole of sorts. And in that black hole my atoms would rip apart and my body would decompose into nothing. How dramatic. It was heartbreaking, though. I had the hardest time letting go.

Riku and Daisuke did everything they could to bring me out of my over dramatic, depressing mood. Nothing seemed to work. Riku would hear my sobs late at night and try to comfort me. She would stay and rub my back or stoke my hair to see if I would calm down and drift off to sleep. I would not cease to stop crying. Eventually she gave up on the thought and invested in a pair of earplugs which she put in every night as soon as she heard me. She tried to get me to eat more. I was losing weight at a rapid pace. She would help mom cook nice home cooked meals and give me the biggest, juiciest, most fattening part of every meal. I would only take a few bites and then promptly excuse myself from the table. She gave up on that too, after a while and let me get whatever I wanted from the meal and leave.

Daisuke had his part too. He made sure to greet me with a nice, big, cheerful smile every morning at school - no matter if he was cheerful or not. He always made it a point to be positive and happy when he was around me. I'd never thought about how hard it was for him. Dark was a part of him, a friend of sorts. Daisuke was missing him to. He held up better than I ever could have. He had hoped that if he was positive and happy it would spread to me. It didn't work. None the less, he didn't give up. Not like Riku. Riku had called me an overly dramatic crybaby. Daisuke was too sweet to do anything like that, so he just kept on going. I don't blame Riku. She was right. Even if she wasn't, sisters fight. She would have given up long before she did just because she hated Dark. But we had a good enough relationship that she didn't want to kick me while I was down. She did anyway, but she tried.

My friends at school noticed a change in me too. Whenever they saw me, they'd all wave and say, "Hi". Lots of them would compliment me, saying how pretty I was or how cute my outfit was. They offered to hang out outside of school. Going to the mall or school events. One of the boys even asked me to the winter dance. I turned him down. If Dark didn't ask me, then I wasn't going with anyone. And you couldn't make me.

When I look back on the way I acted after his disappearance, I feel ashamed and embarrassed. I was acting like a child when I was a teenager. Granted, I was only fourteen, but even for a fourteen year old, that's so childish and stupid. Now that I'm older I know I would never conduct myself in such a manner.

After my little 'phase' or 'episode,' I came to an understanding that he wasn't coming back. That life was going to go on with or without him. That waiting for him to come back may never happen and I need to live. Live to become a better person. Live to find my real true love. And most importantly, live for myself. After my little epiphany, I discovered that this was truly the first time I'd ever felt alive. It felt wonderful.

The sky was black with a tint of grey, but only when the lightning flashed. And did it ever flash. So brightly, that it almost put the sun to shame. Only when the thunder roared did I awaken.

I shot up and let out a small squeak. The thunder caused me to wake violently. I looked around my bedroom several times, assuring myself that everything was all right. I took a deep breath and tried to relax myself. My muscles were tense. I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms. After doing so, I let myself fall back on the mattress and turned onto my side. I looked over at my clock and the time read 2:57 AM. Normally, I would debate with myself as to whether it was too late at night to be up or to early in the morning. But, for now, I could care less.

I was about to try to fall back into my slumber when the thunder crashed again. It was frightening. I got up out of my bed and walked over to the doors leading to the balcony. I was about to push the curtains back when a giant gust of wind pressed the glass and pushed the doors open. The sudden burst of wind had caused me to go flying backwards. I landed quite roughly on the not-so-soft floor. When I saw the lightning and looked around, it looked like the wind was going to rip the trees right out of the ground. It was very tornado-like.

I came out of my small state of shock and tried to push the doors shut. As soon as I had them closed, I locked the doors. As soon as I tried to walk away, the wind forcibly reopened the doors, breaking my lock. Enough was enough. I was scared.

I let out a small scream and ran out into the hallway. I was going to hide in Riku's room with her. Surely she heard the creepy noises of the night and was scared out of her mind as well. Both her and I are terrified of thunder storms. Not even her earplugs would be enough to drown out the sound coming from outside her window.

I ran to her door and pushed it open, fast. I called out her name, but got no answer back. I had assumed that she was hiding and dared not leave her comfort zone. I searched her room. I checked every place she could hide, every place she would hide if we had been playing hide and seek. We hadn't done that since we were little, but the hideaways in her room were limited and I remembered every one of them. But she was nowhere to be found.

I left her room, flinching every time the thunder sounded, and decided to check mom and dads' room. No matter how old we get, mommy and daddy always make everything better.

I ran out her bedroom door and trailed a little farther down the hallway to my parents' room. I gently opened the door, knowing that if my parents caught me out of bed at this time of night they'd punish me. As I entered the room I found both of my parents sleeping like rocks in their bed. And of course they'd be sound asleep; they wore ear plugs to bed. They've been doing that since Riku and I were little. We'd always stay up late and play and then we'd start fighting, which led to screaming. When our parents couldn't stop us from fighting and yelling, they decided to buy ear plugs. Even though Riku and I have separate rooms now and don't stay up late playing and fighting, they never broke the habit of wearing them to bed.

I crept over to my moms' side of the bed. I poked my head over her sleeping form in hopes of finding Riku snuggled in between her and dad. But my hopes were in vain. She wasn't there.

I let out a small sigh. Where is she? Well I have to find her.

I walked out of my parents' room and closed their door. I was slightly frustrated now. Where could Riku be hiding under these circumstances? It made no sense that it was this difficult to find her. Riku is very good at sports and games, but she always had a hard time picking a non-obvious place to hide. She couldn't suddenly have become a master at this.

There was a loud crash downstairs. I jumped and let out another scream. It sounded like someone was trying to break in. Or something got broken.

I slowly crawled down the stairs and looked towards the front door. It was wide open. The wind and rain from outside was pouring into the house, sending chills down my spine, and the rain and debris it carried in was ruining the floors. I stood up and went down to the landing. Turns out the crash was not only the door being violently swung open, but the door had hit a vase and shattered it. I looked behind the door to see dads, moms, and my shoes, but I failed to see Riku's. I looked at the coat rack and once again saw all of our coats, minus Riku's. I looked back out the front door and saw faintly in the distance, a small figure opening our front gate. It was too far away to make out but there was no way it could be anyone else, but Riku.

I gasped and grabbed my shoes and coat. I had to go out and bring her back or at least make sure she got somewhere that was safe. At this point I didn't care why she left or where she was going, but I had to know she was going to be O.K. And if she wasn't my sister, I would have regretted going out in the elements in such light clothing.

I had been wandering around for over twenty minutes now and I didn't see her anymore. I lost her in this crazy storm. Now, it was three-something in the morning and I was outside in one of the worst storms I've ever seen, in a nightgown, light jacket, and sandals. I was freezing!

I walked down whatever street I was on and looked left and right, hoping to see Riku pop out of nowhere and STOP so I could catch up to her. But once again my hopes were crushed. She was gone, God only knows where at, and I'm lost in this storm. There's no way I could find her now. I don't remember which way I came and right now, that didn't matter. I wouldn't make it home in time before I froze.

My teeth were chattering and I was shaking. It was so cold. It was almost like being out in a blizzard. At least that's what the wind chill made it feel like. Raindrops were hitting me like bullets and my body was aching, begging me to stop and rest. But where? The people in these buildings would not hear me if I knocked and I didn't have the voice to yell for help. I left my cell phone at home, not anticipating that I'd be out at this time of night wandering around the city.

I rounded the corner and ended up walking straight into a wall. Ouch. But then again, I was so numb that I didn't really feel anything. I walked out more and made it past the wall. I could have just been hearing things, but it sounded like I was being followed. It sounded like footsteps were pounding into the pavement. It could have been the rain, but it sounded like it was being pounded harder with a greater sound than the rain could produce. There was no way it could be Riku and I greatly feared running into a maniac in this storm. I was afraid. So I ran.

I ran blindly down the streets, not caring if I hit a puddle or ran into something, I just wanted to get away from the stranger I heard behind me. But his pace matched my own. I was running frantically and he still managed to stay even with me. I ran for a good five minutes before I slipped and fell. I hit the ground and landed on my wrist. It sent shooting pain through my wrist and up my arm and I let out an audible yelp. The stranger following me stopped at my side and looked down at me. He knelt down and grabbed my arm, gently rolling me onto my back. I was in no position to fight back, so I shut my eyes tight and tensed my whole body. I would give anything to black out.

He grabbed my arm and took my other hand off of my wrist, which I was clutching to somehow magically ease the pain. He looked at it and took some sort of cloth out of his pocket and wrapped it around my wrist. It didn't do much, except ease the pain slightly. The stranger spoke.

"Miss Harada?"

He said somewhat out of breath.

Even though his voice was shaky, it sounded familiar. And yet it didn't. I opened one eye, slightly. The form that I could barely see, looked like someone I knew, but I can't make out who he is.

"Miss Harada?"

I felt it appropriate to respond this time. After all, if he was a bad person he would have done something by now.

"Who are you?"

I spoke silently. It was obvious that my voice was unstable. I sounded like a wounded animal.

"Miss Harada, its Satoshi Hiwatari."

Oh my, it can't really be Hiwatari.

"Listen, I had no intention of frightening you, but I saw-"

"Why did you follow me?! You scared me!"

I can't believe the quiet, smart boy followed me and scared me. Despite his cold exterior, he was too calm to be afraid of. Yet here I am lying on the ground in pain because of him.

"I apologize. It was not my intention. I saw you running around in this weather and thought the worst. I came out to make sure you were O.K., but you ran from me. Look, we can talk later, you're injured and that cloth won't do much for you. We need to find shelter."

I was about to suggest just going back to his house, but he beat me to the question.

"All of this frantic running has gotten both of us lost. The fog and rain are so thick and blinding that I don't see the way back, nor do I remember which way we came."

Of course. Way to go Risa, this is your fault. Well it's also his! If he hadn't scared me, we'd be right outside his house. So shame on both of us. More him, than me.

"All right."

Wow, even with my raging thoughts, that's all I could manage to say. Ugh. That's sad.

He gently lifted me off the ground and I wrapped my good arm around his neck. He used one of his arms to hold me up by my waist and he held my limp arm with his other. We were both standing now and it was awkward being so close to him. Yet despite the freezing temperature, he was so warm. Going against the awkwardness, we started making our way down the street, or alley, or where ever the Hell we're coming from.

I could tell by the way he moved. it was tricky walking while supporting my limp body and I could sense his discomfort. However, after a few minutes of walking the awkwardness turned into something tolerable. Later on, turning into something nice. I stopped being so tense and let my body just rest against his. Since it was no longer awkward for me, it was easy to just let myself go. However, being so free now added more of my dead weight onto him. I could tell that he sensed my level of comfort and this made him even tenser.

It was strange. After only a few minutes, I had become so comfortable. I'm praying that the reasoning for it is because I'm in so much pain, that I'm not thinking straight. I don't want him getting any ideas, nor do I want him to be even more uncomfortable around me than he already was.

It had felt as though I had only been lost in thought for a few minutes, but when I faded back into reality Hiwatari was practically dragging me into a rain shelter by the bus stop.

He helped me get seated on the bench and I leaned my back into it so I wouldn't sway. He then proceeded to seat himself and let out a sigh. I could tell he was tired from the walking we, I mean he, did.

"I'm sorry you had to drag me here Hiwatari."

I couldn't hear myself talk, but he turned and looked at me, his hair covering his eyes, and nodded his head.

"It was no trouble Miss Harada. I'm just sorry that I can't get you somewhere to somebody who can take a look at your arm. I can tell you're in pain."

It's sad to say that this is the most he's ever spoken to me. And I also look and sound like a drunk person. Yes, this is very sad.

"I appreciate all of your help anyway. The pain isn't so bad. I'll be fine. And I'm sorry that you have to be out here in the cold with me."

He didn't respond to me after that. At least not for a while. He sat there with his eyes closed for the longest time, only opening them to stare at the ground.

I was getting sleepy. I kept on wondering two things the entire time we sat there. The first being, was he mad at me? And the second being, why hasn't he asked what I was doing? But then he interrupted my thoughts.

"I don't mind."

Well that answered my first question. He sounded tired, not mad. But then I returned my attention to my second thought and I felt stupid. Instead of wondering why he didn't ask, why wasn't I out there, still looking?!

I went wide-eyed and jumped up off the bench, ready to take off sprinting, that is until I started falling forward.

Hiwatari got up and reached for me, catching me before I hit the ground. He held me up again and held me close to him for support.

"Miss Harada what is it? What's wrong?" He said it so calmly, but I could tell he was worried and confused.

"Riku! She ran off. I was out looking for her until you started chasing me. I still haven't found her!"

I could tell by the look on his face that I was being loud, but from what I could hear, I was talking normally. Apparently not.

"Miss Harada please calm down."

How could he even ask that of me, when my sister was lost somewhere out in this storm?

"I'm sure she's fine. Miss Harada is very strong and smart. I'm sure she's all right and found shelter by now. She'll be O.K. Please, try not to worry too much."

Yeah, as if.

But my body agreed with what he was saying and he set me back down on the bench. I was so worried, but I was too tired to react to it. My eyes were ready to close and never open. I could have fallen asleep; I would have, if the wind hadn't picked back up. I hadn't even noticed that it had almost completely stopped until now.

When the wind started up again, it felt like I was being pelted and forced back into the bench. It was applying a lot of pressure onto my already weak body. I looked over and saw that Hiwatari was feeling the pressure too. But there was nothing we could do.

That is, until Hiwatari did something I never would have expected. He laid me down on the bench and then laid himself next to me, facing me. His back was towards the wind blocking it and shielding me. Our faces were so close together, that they almost touched. Then he grabbed me by the waist and pulled himself closer. I was now buried completely into him. I was in shock. He was cold, but I felt his warmth. He proceeded to speak.

"I apologize for the discomfort, Miss Harada, but due to circumstances we would have frozen. This is our shelter for the night and we need to keep warm. This is the best I can do and I apologize for that. Please understand."

I do, Hiwatari. It was a little uncomfortable, but I was so tired and so warm, that I fell into a deep sleep before I thought to respond. My world was completely dark.

He was on his own now.

"A/N: Please tell me what you think in a review!"