Title: Second Chance

Rating: T

Summary: Ryuuga has passed on from the living, now he is in the same position as Kyouya, the Angels have given him a mission which is the only way that he can enter the golden gates, but does the L-Drago wielder want to do it?

A man content to go to heaven alone will never go to heaven - Boethius

It was a strange experience, dying. He had expected it to be somewhat… Scary. It didn't really live up to his expectations very well, aside from gasping for breath, his body refusing to give up when his own spirit was so close to depart, was ready to be free, there was nothing dramatic about it, and he had plenty of near death moments. The one he remembered clearly was when L-Drago had infused it's self with him, and when the building had collapsed he had been falling, only to be saved by Ginga.

Now what do I do? He thought to himself as he looked around, he wasn't a spiritual person, which was clear to see when he was alive. It wasn't that he didn't believe in higher beings or the like, it just wasn't the type of stuff he thought about.

When he walked into the light, which beckoned him with the same ease as L-Drago did so long ago, he found himself surrounded by white walls and a hovering golden light in front of him.

"Ryuuga,"

His amber eyes widened in surprise; That light… It spoke?

"Don't be afraid…"

"Who said I was?" He said, narrowing his eyes.

"We've seen that you are alone…"

"So?"

"You've always been alone," The golden light swayed a little to the sides and for a moment Ryuuga wondered if it was trying to trick him.

I don't have L-Drago with me. He thought as he had reached to where his bey normally resided; Whatever they are after I can't stop them.

"You may have let Kenta join you, even let him convince you to finally help Ginga…"

I only did that because that kid interested me. He was afraid and he kept going, he left his friends to make it on his own as a blader that interested me. Ryuuga remembered the short boy who had been his traveling companion, he hadn't been too bad, eventually, when he had stopped trying to attack Ryuuga for his food, when he thought Ryuuga was sleeping; Guess I did scare him. He smirked, remembering how he could always sense when a beyblade was about to launch, a sixth sense that Kenta couldn't comprehend. It wasn't a skill that he had learned, nor was it one that he could teach, he had always had it, for as long as he could remember.

"You know that traveling alone…" The voice began, and Ryuuga realised that he couldn't tell if it was male or female, it just was.

"Yea, I know, traveling alone is dangerous," Ryuuga interrupted it; "Never did me any harm. In fact I never came to any harm,"

"You just harmed others,"

The amber eyed boy smirked; "Yea? So why not cast me off into hell or whatever it's called?"

"Because you have shown yourself to have a good heart," Another light, green in colour came in and hovered to his left; "L-Drago was consuming your mind before, but when you overcame it…"

"You allowed other's into your heart," The golden light finished and Ryuuga rolled his eyes.

This talk again? Didn't think I would have to deal with such sappy words up here too.

"So I let the kid follow me, what's the big deal? He never came to any harm," He said with a shrug, hoping that they would make the decision and be done with it.

"That is not our place to judge," The green light said to him; "He travelled with you and he worried about you, but you returned to your old ways, being alone,"

"It works best for me," He said quietly, but he felt something, a twitch in his heart when they told him that Kenta worried about him back when that collapse was happening, he never thought over that moment much, but when he remembered the kid tugging at his arm, trying to get him to come with them. Kenta was begging him to leave, not just in words, but his eyes!

Am I really that blind? He wondered; What trick are these guy's trying to pull? He glared at the lights, not believing anything they had to say, not allowing the words to penetrate through, to hit his heart again. He had a lot of pride, but he couldn't deal with that type of emotion, better to wall up before they find a weakness.

"You could not see it, but he was attached to you, just as he was to Ginga, he worried for you," The green light continued.

"You know are you going to get to the point of this?" Ryuuga snapped; "Because right now all you are doing is irritating me,"

"You might not have lived a virtuous life, to begin with your life was difficult…"

"That doesn't matter, am dead now aren't I," He narrowed his amber eyes at them, glaring.

"You've proven your worth…"

"But?"

"How can you remain so detatched? The heavenily world isn't about being detached, it's about heart," The golden light continued on, trying to make him see what they were saying.

"So, send me to hell then," He repeated and continued on; "If I lack so much in that… Loving emotion, friendships and all that stuff, then it would make more sense to just send me there," He smirked over at them, resting a hand on his hip; "Unless they are scared I might take over,"

The golden light seemed to grow brighter, Ryuuga figured it was bristling with distain at his words, but it was the green light that spoke;

"Perhaps they are," It almost seemed to have a humorous tone; "But right now, Kenta needs a friend,"

"What? Am dead what use am I to that kid?"

"Kyuoya has already visited him, it was a bit of comfort," The green light said, moving side to side; "But it didn't last, although he was also attached to Kyouya, it's not the same,"

"Wait, Kyouya's dead?" Ryuuga asked in surprise, he was the oldest, by a good five or six years, so how did Kyouya die before him?

"Yes, he's in heaven now," The golden light had calmed down, returning to its more gentler glow.

"So, Ginga…?" Ryuuga knew he shouldn't asked questions, but right now, well right now he was in a strange position, he was talking to floating lights, he was dead and he had learned that one of his rivals was dead.

"Yes,"

"Kenta's the last?"

"Which is why you need to see him," The green light told him and began to push him away, to send him off into a new glowing light.

Why not Ginga? Ryuuga thought as he found himself in a room.

Looking around he noticed that it wasn't a normal room, it wasn't even a hospital room. This was a care home and it was someone's room.

"Didn't think I would see you," An old, frail voice said and the amber eyed teen turned to see Kenta.

"So, you can see me?"

"I could see Kyouya too," Kenta said and Ryuuga carefully looked at him, a blanket covered his legs, he was hunched over and although his green hair had faded into grey, there was still that green tinge to it.

This is that kid? Ryuuga thought to himself, he had never really bothered to imagine the other's that he had battled those against him or with him, what they would look like old. It wasn't what he did, he never really thought about the future, what could be and might be, for him the present was important… or was important.

"Yea, I heard he had visited," Ryuuga said, noticing how Kenta was breathing; That's familiar… I sounded like that before… He amber eyes widened in surprise, realising what was going on; They…! I'm not here to just speak to Kenta, I'm here to see his death! He growled into his head, feeling anger flow through his being, directed towards those two glowing lights.

"So, why are you here?" Kenta asked him slowly, every breath was precious; he wasn't ready to give up on his life just yet; "Is it the same reason as Kyouya? You need to get out of Limbo?"

"Tch," Ryuuga crossed his arms; "Nah, I'm just bored,"

The old man nodded slowly; "But you can't stay there Ryuuga, you'll see everyone going one way or the other, that's not a way to lead the afterlife? Even you would get tired of it,"

Amber eyes carefully looked at his face, then he noticed something; "You're blind," It came out blunt, to the point and had Kenta been younger he would have raged over that remark, but instead he just laughed and then gasped.

Once he had gotten control of his breathing he spoke; "Yes, yea I am. But I can still see you. It's up here," He tapped his head and Ryuuga raised an eyebrow; "You are almost leaning against the wall, arms crossed,"

"All right," He walked over to the old man, seeing clearly a line of mist, hovering about Kenta's head, the line of mist was fading and if Ryuuga was right, that was the line connecting the soul to the body, one that had to be severed to allow the spirit the freedom it now needed; "Why are you still fighting?"

The old man looked in his general direction; "How can I not fight on? My family…"

"Death is part of the cycle of life my friend," Ryuuga told him, crouching down; "Let go,"

"Am I hearing you…?" He stopped and began to cough violently.

"I know, surprising to hear it from me, but it's true, the more you fight the worse it will be. It's not that scary," He tried to reassure him, but he wasn't used to it, it wasn't a comforting person, it just wasn't in him. Scare people? Sure. Overpower people? Not a problem. Sooth someone with words? …Not a chance. He was more likely to eat L-Drago.

"So I should…"

"Let go, your friends will be waiting…"

"Even…" Kenta was about to ask, but he didn't have the strength.

"Yea, even Ginga," Ryuuga told him and stood up, moving away as he saw the line of mist disappear, and noticed that Kenta, a young Kenta, was standing next to him; "Let's go,"

"Wait!" Kenta said and his eyes widened in surprise, his voice had become as it was during his teens; "I need to see my family before we go!"

The amber eyed teen looked at him and then noticed a light ahead of them; "All right," He shrugged, walking into the light, with Kenta trailing after him and they found themselves further into the future; "Time works differently in the afterlife," He mused to himself and the short teen looked over at his family.

They were all dressed in black, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, but only the first and second generations were crying, which is what Kenta wanted; his great grandchildren wouldn't understand what had happened.

"They might be crying now, but they always do before," Ryuuga said softly and Kenta looked up at him, wondering how he knew; "Afterwards, that's when they will remember all the stories, the minor things that happened in your life, any stories you told them, they'll talk about,"

The green haired teen returned his gaze to his family and nodded; "Yea, they'll be fine," Although part of him wondered, how did Ryuuga know?

They noticed the pillar of light and with a nod from Kenta they walked towards it, finding themselves transported to Limbo, where Kenta was greeted with an amazing sight.

"Wow!" He took a few steps back, almost bumping into the taller teen that looked at him in question.

They are lights floating in the air, what's so amazing about that? He wondered as Kenta's eyes were wide in surprise and joy.

"Ryuuga there are Angels…"

Angels? The other teen just looked confused and the green light that hovered near him laughed.

"He's right Ryuuga, we are Angels, I am Raphael and that is Michael,"

What Kenta saw though was an actual Angel, with a bright light hiding the Angels features, but both of them had large white wings.

Before Ryuuga could ask any questions Michael intercepted; "We Angels have so many different appearances due to you humans, we never look the same to everyone who sees us. However the more you have a belief in something; the more likely you are to view us as such,"

"My mother was right!" Kenta exclaimed with joy and noticed the questioning glance Ryuuga gave him; "My mother used to tell me stories about angels when I was a boy, it was to help me sleep,"

"So? Now what?"

"You can both go in," Raphael gestured to Kenta, while it was the green light that hovered and moved to show Ryuuga where to go.

As the two teens walked towards the towering gates Kenta looked over at Ryuuga, who appeared tense, his hands clentched to his sides.

"What's wrong?"

The taller teen just looked at him; "You really think I belong here?"

"Yes," He said and noticed the look he was getting he expanded his explanation; "You're not a bad person, you just didn't make great decisions. You made up for it though, you helped us all out in the end,"

"You think they will just forget…?"

"It's different up here, we might not all be close friends any more, we've all grown up and changed as the years have gone by, but… You're my friend," Kenta said the last part softly and Ryuuga stopped walking, not knowing how to take that; "Sorry…"

"You're a friend?" He repeated and the shorter teen nodded.

Further away Michael and Raphael watched, both of the Angels smiled as the two teens finally walked through the gates, with Ryuuga finally accepting someone as a friend.

"What would have happened if he hadn't accepted him as a friend?" Michael asked the other Angel.

"It doesn't matter, the choice has been made, he's made it to heaven," Raphael replied as the gates began to close, although they could see Kenta hugging the red haired teen, Ginga while Ryuuga looked on, his arms crossed, although if you looked closer you could just make out a small smile on his face.