By My Side Forever

by CorinnetheAnime

Zarc was growing tired of the constant interruptions in his mind, especially when he had big plans to propose to his girlfriend, Ray. But what really scared him the most was the deafening question that still lurked in the back of his brain...will she say yes? FusedShipping one-shot, prequel to Zarc and Ray's Christmas Party. Collab with Sinking into Ruined Shadows.

YAY, ANOTHER ZARCxRAY ONE-SHOT! Okay, so this was inspired by a cute idea I had of Zarc and Ray cuddling with his wings around them...so I went to Sinking into Ruined Shadows and she proposed to do a one-shot in the parody universe where Zarc and Ray get engaged.

Hence we collaborated...and this was born. This is not a full parody (because the ending is super cute and heartwarming, my heart died), but it is funny. ;) Romantic and funny.

Sorry, Donjusticia, but here is the surprise! :D So yeah, this is a sorta prequel to the Christmas Party and a sequel to the "Date".

Here are her words!

Shadows: Um...welcome to another Zarc and Ray prequel/sequel! I hope you die laughing (please XD). Thank you to Corinne for your amazing ideas and for this collaboration!

Sorry, Donjusticia, no free advertising here!
Enjoy!

*dies* thanks, Corinne, for doing this for me!

---

"Zarc, for the last time, the answer is no."

"But, Ray...!"

"No!"

"Come on, please!"

"NO!"

"Please!"

"NO, WE'RE NOT GETTING A DOG!"

"Yuya had dogs!"

"THAT'S BECAUSE HIS MOTHER LET HIM, AND I WON'T! "

Zarc crossed his arms in a furious pout, which looked quite ridiculous on the demonic dragon overlord, as he let out a pitiful whine that was similar to one of a dog's.

Ray smacked her forehead in exasperation, wondering if she should call Shun to deal with the demon.

"You can be quite stubborn sometimes..." she trailed off, reaching for her phone.

Zarc smirked at her statement and was about to retire, but he was focused on her current actions. "Who are you calling?"

"Kurosaki." Zarc's smile immediately turned upside down.

"Okay, okay, fine, we don't have to get a dog...for now," he added the last part underneath his breath, making sure that his girlfriend didn't hear him.

Ray smiled contently, having not heard the last part, and moved her thumb away from the green dial button on-screen.

Yuzu, in her mind-space, sighed and let out a breathy laugh. "Yuya's always stubborn about pets."

"I can tell, since Yuto is, too." Ruri placed a semi-transparent hand on her counterpart's shoulder.

Zarc, meanwhile, was mentally talking to his counterparts, or, rather, listening in on the conversation.

"Yuya, you blockhead, we don't need ANOTHER DOG!" Yuri snarled at the Standard counterpart, who raised his hands in defense.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea this time! Honest!"

"Oh, yeah? Then whose idea was it?!"

"Actually, it was mine, cabbage idiot!" Yugo sneered, pointing a thumb into his chest. "Because...well, Rin and I never really had a pet, and Yuya was talking about how much fun he had with Core and En, s-!"

Yuri wrapped an arm around the Synchro banana and put him in a headlock. "Idiot!"

Yugo gasped and clawed at the cabbage's arms. "H-hey!"

Yuto stepped between the two, grabbing Yuri's hair and forcing him to let go of the Syncho counterpart. "Keep it together, you two! Now is no time to fight!"

"HE STARTED IT!" Yugo cried out, angrily lashing out at Yuri.

"I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED WHAT! YOU TWO STOP THIS CHILDISH TIFF RIGHT NOW!"

Yugo and Yuri both froze. Yuto almost never raised his voice, and when he did, everyone listened.

"Thanks, Yuto," Zarc sighed, as Yuri and Yugo scrambled off to their separate mind-spaces.

Yuto nodded in answer to his incarnation's thanks, before turning to Yuya. "Fancy a mock duel in your space?"

"Sure," Yuya said. "Hey, Zarc, when are you going to pop the question?"

Zarc immediately averted his gaze to the side, a habit of his that usually was a sign for nervousness. "Uh, what question?" he asked blithely, almost too blithely.

Yuya gave a coy smirk, knowing what his incaranation was trying to do. "You know...that little special thing you've been wanting to do to Ray since your first date."

"What thing?"

Yuya sighed, another smirk that was disturbingly similar to Yuri's on his face.

"Zarc, we live in your head. We know what's going on."

Zarc continued to avoid Yuya's gaze, twiddling his thumbs like nothing had ever happened. The demon wiped away the itchy drops of sweat on the back of his neck before sending a silent plea of help to Yuto.

The Xyz counterpart ignored it with a small, playful smile on his face. Yuri, however, caught on, concocting a plan of his own...against his demon incarnation.

"Oh, I'm sure there is nothing," he replied in a playful and condescending drone, walking over and patting Zarc on the shoulder. "I'm also sure that all those late night whisperings and anxieties in the bedroom were nothing, that all those searches for 'it' on eBay and local jewelers were nothing, and, of course, that little present contained in that little red box is nothing to-!"

"OKAY, I GET IT!" Zarc snarled, looking like he was about to murder the Fusion counterpart. "YOU CAN STOP, YOU KNOW!"

Yuri smirked. "I know."

At that precise moment, Yugo burst out of his mind-space in a flurry of white cloth and metallic D-Wheel parts, his eyes wide.

"ZARC'S GETTING EN-!"

He was cut off by Zarc slamming a clawed hand over his mouth before any other semi-transparent spirits (a.k.a the Bracelet Girls) could hear the Synchro duelist's exclamation.

"Yes, he is," Yuri drawled lazily as he walked up to a squirming Yugo and pulled said boy's ear. "Do I need to pound that into your lump of a brain with a sledgehammer, perhaps?"

It took a minute for Yugo to process the statement, but when he did...he was far from happy. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"I said you're an idiot, Fusion-kun."

"MY NAME IS NOT FUSION, IT'S YUGO! AND DON'T CALL ME AN IDIOT!"

"QUIET, YOU TWO!" Yuto yelled, marching up to separate the two once more.

Zarc groaned and placed a clawed hand over his eyes. It was always like this. Yuri would provoke Yugo, Yugo would try to fight him, and Yuto would end up having to separate them again. Methodically switch out Yuya and Yuto, and there went a complete cycle that seemed to never stop.

Yuto grabbed Yugo and threw him to Yuya, who caught the boy effortlessly and avoided his thrashing arms. Yuri simply disappeared into his mind-space with a shrug of his shoulders and a simple statement of "I can't help the fact Yugo's an idiot".

"When will I ever catch a break?" Zarc sighed heavily.

"Well..." Yuya thought up of a way to cheer up the poor boy, "you could always propose to Ray. I'm sure she would like the surprise."

"But...I want to make it special." Zarc gave up on trying to deny his secret plans to his counterparts (they were in his head after all). "Very special...for her."

"I know you'll find a way."

"But...what if something goes wrong?"

"I'm sure she won't mind either way."

"What if the ring is the wrong fit?"

"You could always get it resized."

"What if...if...?" Zarc trailed off at the last phrase. Yuya raised an eyebrow at this.

"What if what, Zarc?" Said person took a long and deep breath, his wings drooping a bit. He rubbed his hands together as he continued in a barely audible voice:

"What if she says no?"

Yuya's smirk fell away and turned into a small smile. His incarnation was always worrying about whether Ray liked whatever he did or not, and while it was sweet, Yuya didn't want Zarc going insane with worry.

He put a semi-transparent arm around Zarc's shoulders and squeezed. "I'm sure she'll love anything you do for her."

"But that doesn't really answer the question..."

"Well, I guess that's one thing I can't help you with personally, but I have seen you and Ray together. Remember, I and the others are your counterparts, and Yuzu and her friends are Ray's counterparts. Except for Serena and Yuri, we each had our own relationship with each other, and now that we're fused together, those feelings transferred to you and Ray.

"I guess what I'm saying is...I know and have seen that you both love each other very much, and I know that you would do anything for each other. You two have stayed together through all those dates, especially the first one, and never even considered abandoning or hurting the other. Trust my word with this, Zarc: she will say yes if you do this."

Yuya finished his speech, his arm still wrapped around his incarnation's shoulders as Zarc processed the entire length.

Then his incarnation let out a small laugh and his shoulders sagged in relief. "Thanks, Yuya. I think I needed that."

Yuya smiled. "No matter what anyone thinks of you, don't let that destroy your relationship with Ray, okay? Especially Leo and Shun, because all of us, even Zorc, can tell that you two really love each other. So go and be the best boyfriend she can ask for."

Zarc stood and nodded. "Alright."

"Good luck, Zarc," Yuto smiled and winked.

"Don't forget to have fun, Zarc-aniki!" Yugo called from his position sprawled on the ground, waving a few D-Wheel parts along with his hand.

Yuri popped out from his mind-space to give Zarc a solemn pat on the back and a quiet exchange of 'manly words'.

"You the man, I know you are, you can do this, yada yada, would you please kill Yugo?"

Zarc glared at Yuri. "No, so don't ask me again."

Yuri laughed at this, while Yugo glowered in his direction, appearing very agitated. "You better not be plotting to get rid of me again, cabbage idiot."

Yuri sighed, clearly wanting some solitude. "Don't call me idiot, Fusion-kun. Now, Zarc, go!"

Then the Fusion counterpart disappeared back into his mind-space for about the fiftieth time in that space of an hour. Yugo steamed, but he wasn't allowed into Yuri's mind-space. None of them were allowed in any of the other counterparts' mind-spaces unless they were given express permission.

And Yuri was not one who would give anyone permission to his mind-space, especially to Yugo.

Nevertheless, there was some peace and quiet, aside from Zarc taking a few deep breaths, obviously nervous about his plans.

Yuya noticed this and flashed a warm smile, giving him a thumbs up. "Hey, you'll do great, Zarc. Just go up and tell her."

"And make it very romantic. Girls like romance," Yugo suggested, causing a few eye rolls from a certain Fusion boy.

Yuto gave his own way of encouragement. "And do your best. It's okay to be nervous, but don't let those feelings cloud your judgement."

"Alright," Zarc said, rubbing his palms. "Let's do this."

Meanwhile, over in Ray's mind...

"I mean, we've never had pets in Academia," Serena remarked, still discussing dogs with Ruri, Rin, and Yuzu. "I was curious to see how En and Core lived with humans..."

Yuzu smirked at this. "Well, Yuya's mom, Yoko would usually pick up strays off he streets. En and Core were the first ones, when Yuya was a preteen. They were his favorites and they're really nice. I remember when I would come over that En would try to lick me to death, and Core was always snuggling on my or Yuya's lap."

"Aw, that sounds wonderful," Rin complimented. "I never had any pets with Yugo either, but it does sound like a great idea."

"I once had a little songbird when I was younger," Ruri mused, reminiscing on the memory. "Her name was Lucy. I trained her on how to perch on my shoulder and feed from my hand. Shun would sometimes get agitated at this, but that was because she wouldn't land on his shoulder or feed from his hand."

"Oh, poor guy," Yuzu laughed, patting her Xyz counterpart's back. "He must've felt left out."

"Yeah, he did. I also had a cardinal before that songbird," Ruri continued, staring off as she scrambled for details. "Shun accidentally opened a window when it was out of its cage...and, well, you know that rest."

"Aww..." Rin sighed. "How sad!"

"Are you sure it wasn't an accident?" Serena grinned, wiggling her eyebrows.

Ruri's eyes widened. "Oh, wait..."

Yuzu laughed as Ruri dropped her head, having her bangs shadow her face. "It's okay, Ruri. How old were you and Shun when that happened?"

"Um...I don't know, maybe five or six? He would be...eight, I think?"

"I wonder how the boys are doing..." Rin trailed off, lost in thought. Her statement did grab the attention of the others.

"Yuri's probably provoking Yugo," Serena snorted.

"And Yugo's trying to kill him..." continued Rin.

"Yuto has to break them up..." Ruri added, a smile slowly stretching across her face.

"And Yuya's gonna tell them all to shut up!" Yuzu finished, and the four fell down laughing.

"Zarc will help Yuya," Ray chimed in, her voice echoing around them.

"True, so true," the four girls interjected simultaneously, which broke them down into laughter as a result, much to Ray's amusement.

"But seriously, I wonder what they're doing..." Yuzu wondered, trailing off with that thought.

"Absolutely nothing interesting," Yuri's voice was heard as the currently-transparent boy violated their girl space.

"EEK!" Rin and Ruri screeched in unison. "GET HIM OUT!"

Yuzu brandished her fan above her head, a dark, black aura rising around her. "Yuri..."

Yuri gave a very leery smile. "What? I just wanted to say hi. I'm not here to ruin anything...well, for you girls."

"What do you want, Yuri?" Yuzu sneered, patting her fan threateningly.

Said boy raised his hands in defense. "Nothing much, just a little break from Yugo. That's all."

Yuzu frowned. "But couldn't you just escape to your mind-space...?"

Yuri just shrugged, crossing his arms and randomly floating in mid-air, which caused his bangs to whip annoyingly around his face.

Serena's eyes narrowed. "Yuri...what are you not telling us?"

"Nothing...of importance." Yuri casted a knowing, coy smirk, which proved his words wrong otherwise. Yuzu shivered at the smile, but she knew that there was some secret that he was keeping from them. Perhaps...it had to do with why he escaped the others.

"Spill the beans, Yuri," she snapped, grabbing his attention. "Answer the question: what are you not telling us?"

"If I told you, then it wouldn't be much of a surprise...though, I wouldn't get a kick out of it either," he mused thoughtfully, making sure the girls would overhear him. They quickly grew tired of his cryptic act.

Before Yuzu could react, Yuto appeared next to Yuri, an annoyed look firmly in place. "Yuri, don't go around spoiling the surprise."

"TOTO-KUN!" Ruri screeched as her voice reached the max volume of 130 decibels, her arms outstretched to grab her boyfriend's torso. "YOU CAME TO VISIT!"

Yuto's eyes widened as he dodged Ruri's attempt at a hug, and then grabbed Yuri's arm. "You're coming with me!"

Yuri yanked his arm in protest. "And go back to dealing with that lame excuse of a second-rate duelist...um, I forgot his name."

"Cut the act, Yuri, I know you came here to ruin Zarc's surprise." Yuto remarked without thinking, which grabbed everyone's attention.

"So there is something that he's hiding from us..." Ray trailed off in thought, both perplexed and curious at what her boyfriend might be hiding.

"Uh, no, it's nothing," Yuto raised his hands in defense, grabbing Yuri again. The girls advanced towards them and surrounded them, Ruri with her hands on her hips since her boyfriend didn't reciprocate her hug.

"Toto-kun, I thought we agreed not to hide things from each other!" she pouted. "What's this big surprise you five are hiding from us?"

"And don't call my Yugo a second-rate duelist!" Rin snarled, her eyes glowing a malicious orange.

Yuto glared at Yuri. "Now see what you've done!"

Yuri was too focused on their current predicament, which involved a lot of girls and angry expressions. "Let's get out of this prison first and then we can discuss that!"

However, before they could turn around and go, the girls blocked their path, preventing them from escaping.

"What's going on, Yuto, Yuri? What are you hiding from us?" Yuzu studied them closely, waiting for their response.

Someone else answered for them, much to their relief.

"Nothing," Yuya said, his voice perfectly nonchalant as he appeared above their heads. "Yuto, Yuri, stop fooling around and let's go."

"Yuya!" Yuzu cheered, waving like nothing had ever happened. "Hello there!"

Yuya flashed a wide grin of his own, delighted to see his beloved girlfriend again. "Hey, Yuzu, how have you been?"

"Very well, and how about you?"

"Same." He clambered down to meet the group, looking over at Yuto and Yuri. "As for you two, Zarc's been looking all over for you."

"It's not my fault they were stopping us from leaving," Yuto said calmly. "Blame Yuri for coming in the first place."

"Why's Zarc looking for them?" Serena asked suspiciously.

"Supper started fifteen minutes ago," Yuya replied, crossing his arms. "Now, can you let those two go and we can leave you to your girl time? After all, we are going to meet once Zarc and Ray decide to wake up."

Yuri snickered lowly, earning him a few looks from the boys. "But the fun was just getting started."

Now, Yuri." Yuto ordered curtly, walking off towards the exit with Yuri's arm in his grasp. "We're going back."

Yuya bowed quickly before he joined up with the others, also giving his girl a quick peck on the cheek. "We'll tell you guys later, okay?"

"Fine," Yuzu and Serena grumbled in unison. Ruri just looked sullen that her Toto-kun was leaving already.

"Don't steal my boyfriend's catchphrase, Yuri!" Yuzu yelled after the retreating back of the Fusion counterpart.

"We're the same person, technically," Yuri called back, a snicker plastered on his face as he looked over his shoulder.

Yuya smacked him across the head at his statement, which really surprised Yuri since the boy was not one who would usually resort to violence so quickly. Rather, one would think that his philosophy of smiles would indicate otherwise.

"Ow, what was that for?" He rubbed the sore spot on his head, looking at Yuya with disdain.

"Let's go. Zarc has waited long enough already." There was a subtle undertone of...annoyance in his voice. Interesting, even Yuya was losing his patience.

Yuri rubbed his head some more and began muttering something about eating onigiri with that Synchro idiot was not the way to spend his time.

Yuya sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Yuri...today's a big day for Zarc. Just...keep your annoyances to yourself for today, okay?"

Yuri sneered in return. "I'll do my best, sir."

"Yuri..." Yuya leveled a very, very annoyed glare at the Fusion counterpart.

"Okay! Okay! Fine," Yuri grumbled.

Yuya immediately lightened up his scowl into a warm smile. "Good, let's get going, then."

"As for this surprise...not even a little hint?" Rin asked him expectantly, hope sparkling in her eyes.

Yuto, who'd been silent the entire time, cocked his head to the side and said, "Circle."

"Circle!?" exclaimed Yuzu. "What kind of clue is that?"

Yugo cracked a grin. "You asked for a hint, and that's what we're giving you."

Yuri sighed. "Oh, great, now everyone's here."

Yugo shrugged. "Since you were taking too long, Zarc kicked me out and said to go find the three of you before I ate all the onigiri and pancake sandwiches."

"Don't touch my pancake sandwiches!" Yuya yelped.

"Relax, I stole Yuto's," Yugo replied nonchalantly.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Yuto screamed, catching Yugo's attention. Apparently, he wasn't aware of his presence earlier.

"Oh...yeah...sorry about that." He rubbed his arm sheepishly.

Yuto was having none of it. But before he could say anything, Yuri jumped at the chance to pick on Yugo.

"Control your appetite for once, you starving pig," he sneered, completely ignoring his promise to Yuya earlier.

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?!"

"I SAID YOU'RE A PIG!"

"OH, BRING IT ON, IDIOT!"

"Right back at you, Fusion-omae."

MY NAME IS NOT FUSION, IT'S YUGO!"

"Are you sure, Fusion? I mean, you're such a baka I'm surprised that you can remember your own name." Yuri twirled a lock of purple hair between his fingers, his usual sneer broadening as Yugo grew visibly angered.

"IDIOT, YOU'RE ASKING FOR I-!"

"SHUT THE HECK UP!" Yuya and Yuto finally snapped.

Even the girls were surprised (since the boys still hadn't left yet). Yuya cleared his throat, looking mildly unhappy but still wanting to cooperate.

"Let's just go, alright? We can deal with this back in Zarc's mind." He then took heel and left, leaving his other counterparts no choice but to follow.

Yugo and Yuri argued the entire way back, and their departure left the girls both confused (though Serena was quite amused).

"Well, then," sighed Ray. "I guess that's usual when three of you are in a relationship with three of those boys."

Yuzu, Rin, and Ruri shared a glance and burst out laughing.

"There's nothing to laugh about!" Yugo's voice exclaimed from...somewhere.

"Poor Zarc. How does he even deal with them, let alone keep them in order?" Serena wondered rhetorically, a wide smirk gracing her features.

Ray chuckled in return. "There are some things about him that still escape even me."

"Like how he's still half-dragon for some reason," Serena remarked bluntly, crossing her arms. "Still, that little surprise from earlier...Ray, can you think of anything that might involve Zarc with a 'circle'?"

Ray frowned. "No...Zarc doesn't take that much of an interest to geometry."

"C'mon, Ruri, can't you persuade Yuto to give us more clues?" Rin asked, her orange eyes suddenly going into 'puppy mode'.

Ruri shook her head forlornly. "Yuto is the tightest secret keeper ever."

Back at Zarc's place...

"YOU IDIOT, YOU ALMOST BLURTED OUT THE SURPRISE!" Yugo snapped at Yuri, his green eyes blazing with absolute fury.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't...Fusion-kun."

"CALL ME THAT ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Yugo drew back his fist, ready to punch the living daylights out of Yuri (if he let him).

Everyone else sighed in response, knowing that it was impossible with these two. It took them a whole two seconds after entering Zarc's mind to start up another argument, with Yugo blaming Yuri for almost telling the Bracelet Girls of Zarc's plan.

Zarc was having none of it, having wanted to resolve his goal before this entire mess started in the first place.

"Both of you just shut up and sit down!" he bellowed, and both counterparts froze with fists at each other's faces. Yuya and Yuto shared a glance before sitting down in perfect unison, both of them taking out their decks. It would be a while until Zarc could quiet Yuri and Yugo down.

"Zarc-aniki," Yugo begged. "Just let me hit him once!"

"Because you can't do it without assistance," Yuri sneered. "I can do it in five seconds!"

"Sit down, Yuri," Zarc growled, and the sheer force of the demon's willpower forced Yuri to sit.

"Aw, great, now you got him mad, cabbage idiot!" Yugo snarled at the Fusion boy, gesturing to Zarc (who continued to glare at both of them).

Before Yuri could retort with another insult, Zarc angrily cut him off, his yellow eyes awakening to a blood red. "STOP! Ugh...look, both of you, I've had enough of your endless tirades and bickering! I really want to surprise Ray with this, but if you two keep going at it and fight, this whole day will be ruined!"

Yuri's mouth, which had been halfway opened, slammed shut so fast, you could hear teeth rattling. No one liked it when Zarc had a bad day. The demon was snappish and angry for the rest of the time, and that made living in Zarc's head extremely unpleasant.

Yuto and Yuya looked up from their mock duel, Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon already on the field facing down Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. "They shut up?"

"Yeah," Zarc grumbled. "Now, I'm gonna snap back into reality, and you guys will keep quiet."

Yugo raised a hand, much to Yuya and Yuto's warnings not to. "Uh, can I offer a sugges-?"

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Zarc roared at the Synchro counterpart, nearly sending him back with the force of his wrathful voice.

Yugo merely nodded his head, now too afraid to say anything.

"Good," Zarc replied, his voice back to normal. "See you later."

Then he pulled himself from his mind (no way to explain that, honestly), and found Ray sleeping on the couch across from him, her phone ringing next to her arm.

A glance at the caller ID told him it was Akaba Leo.

"Ah, great, just what I needed. Another interruption."

Seeing that his girlfriend was still sleeping, he decided not to disturb her yet with a measly phone call, so he took it and answered the number, much to his displeasure.

"Ray isn't available at the moment," he droned monotonously, knowing exactly who was on the other line.

Said person was also unhappy upon hearing who answered his call. "ZARC?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING ANSWERING MY RAY'S PHONE?! WHERE IS SHE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HE-?!"

"She's sleeping in case you were wondering, and NO, I didn't do anything to her...yet." Zarc muttered the last part to himself, making sure the father didn't hear it.

"SEND ME PROOF!"

"Seriously? Okay, fine." Zarc sighed and snapped a picture of Ray flopped down on the couch, before sending it to Leo's phone number via text.

Upon receiving the message, Leo calmed down a tiny bit.

"I still can't believe she loves you," growled said man with five forms. "Well, I'm not going to waste my time talking to demon spawn."

Click!

Zarc pinched the bridge of his nose with his clawed hand, both irritated yet satisfied that the old man had hung up. He then looked back at Ray, noticing and smiling at how beautiful she looked while sleeping on her side...

The opportunity was now perfect. No more interruptions, no more distracting phone calls, no more author inclusions...

This was it; it was now or never. Zarc took a deep breath to calm his rising nerves.

"Alright..." Zarc fidgeted with the pockets in his pants, trying to find the present. "Almost there...ah, here we go."

He pulled out the little red box, which had a white bow imprinted on it for subtle decoration. He sighed, walking over and kneeling down to wake his girlfriend up.

"Hey...Ray...little Ray of sunshine, wake up." She smiled subconsciously at the name, stirring slowly as Zarc continued to nudge her shoulder with his wing.

"Hmmm...what time is it...?"

"It's almost five, but that's not really important, is it?"

Ray yawned and rubbed her eyelids. "Dad was supposed to call at 4:45 to check on me."

"I got it," Zarc answered, hiding the box behind his back as his nerves fired up again. "He wasn't that happy I answered...but I've got something important to ask you, Ray."

Ray looked into his sparkling golden eyes, noticing that he was quite nervous yet serious about something. Was something wrong? Was there a problem?

Then, she noticed that he was keeping one arm tucked behind his back. What was he hiding from her...?

"Zarc, what's behind your back?"

It was such a big moment, the co-author nearly interrupted it with drumroll, but decided to settle for some soft piano music in the background.

Zarc swiftly went down on one knee and drew the box out from behind his back at the same time, Ray gasping and her eyes lighting up at the same time.

"Zarc..."

Said demon dragon overlord pressed a finger to her lips.

"Don't speak just yet." He cleared his throat, preparing his speech (on the spot, might he add).

"Ray, ever since I met you, I knew there was a special connection we shared together, one that I was sure would last throughout our lives. Even though we were once enemies, even though we faced trials and suffered, we still stood together through thick and thin. I love you, Ray, now and always. I want to be by your side forever, Ray, and it would be a great honor," he opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring, "if you will stay by mine as well."

"Zarc..." Her eyes widened at the realization of what he was asking.

"Will you marry me, Ray Akaba?" His golden eyes showed a hint of nervousness (and she couldn't blame him), but there was also a deep longing of love as well...directed towards her.

"Oh, my..." she gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth in that cliche move every surprised lady seemed to do when asked for their hand in marriage.

Her eyes filled with joyous tears.

"Yes, yes, of course I will marry you, Zarc, even if that means I don't have a family name anymore."

Zarc just stared at her, trying to detect her sarcasm, before bursting into laughter and picking her up into a caring and slow kiss.

"Thank you...my angel," he complimented gently, taking the ring and then grasping her left hand, letting her stretch her fingers apart before he slipped it on her fourth one. Ray looked at the lovely ornament with awe and love before turning back to her husband-to-be, smiling warmly.

Zarc laughed before picking her up again bridal-style and falling onto the couch with her, still wrapped in a warm embrace and kissing rather passionately. The young couple was tangled together, with Zarc running his clawed fingers through her strands of hair and Ray snuggling into his chest.

"I love you, Ray..."

She pushed herself up to face him, smiling down at him. "I love you too, Zarc."

However, as hard as she tried to stay awake (and the engagement did fire up her nerves for a bit), she was still feeling tired, and an exhausted yawn soon escaped her mouth. Zarc chuckled at the cute sight, feeling a little fatigued as well.

Of course, their current position was the perfect place for a little nap and cuddling, much to their pleasure and comfort. Ray laid down in his arms again and closed her eyes, listening to the rhythmic patterns of her partner's heart, which slowly lulled her to slumber.

She glanced at the ring in her hand one last time.

"Hmmm...so that was what they meant by 'circle'..."

Soon, the girl...no...his wife-to-be was resting in his arms, having fallen fast into a deep, nightmare-free sleep. Zarc smiled at the scene, wrapping his own wings around her form to act as a warm (yet scaly) blanket.

He then pecked her head with a chaste kiss one last time, before letting himself rest in a deep sleep...but not before he also stared at the ring on her finger.

It was a perfect fit, perfect for her...and perfect for him, a true symbol of their love.

His heart fluttered lightly, making him smile warmly at the thought. They could worry about the wedding plans later; now, it was just him and her...alone together at last...

By my side...forever...

"Have a good rest...sweet Ray."

---

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH! THANK YOU, SHADOWS, FOR DOING THIS WITH ME!

So yeah, read, review, do whatever you like! And till NEXT time, this is CTA out. AND GOD IS LOVING! HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING! :D