Well back again for another chapter! This one is a flashback one of just after the fight with Krad by the way. And it's much longer than the last update. (grins) Anyways, enjoy!

-Chapter Two-

"Ah such a nice day," Dark said to himself walking down the street smiling. He had his normal black outfit on he liked and his black hat to keep everyone from recognizing him at the moment. It had only been a couple weeks after the fight with Krad and he had mostly stayed in the house with the others trying to regain their energy back and heal up their injuries they had gotten from him. He'd gone out with Daisuke and Satoshi to go retrieve the stolen items that he and Krad had stolen at the other apartment before abandoning it. This time though he had finally gotten a chance to come outside alone since most of his injuries were pretty much gone. Only a few remained but almost healed. Daisuke and Satoshi had also gone out earlier for a walk.

He had been having a good day so far and had no mind to think of anything that had happened between him and Krad at all. In fact, he had shoved most of those memories to the back of his mind and locked them away. He rather not dwell on what had happened and rather look forward to the future. Now he was walking down the sidewalk minding his own business and started humming softly to himself since he was in such a good mood. Suddenly he turned a corner and bumped into someone knocking them down and knocking himself backwards a couple of steps.

"Hey! Watch where you're going," a familiar voice spoke up as he blinked and looked down to see a familiar face slowly look up towards him and brown eyes go wide in surprise as she recognized him immediately.

"Well if it isn't Riku Harada," Dark smirked and held out a hand to her to help her up but she didn't take it. She stood up on her own and brushed herself off and stared at him.

"W-what the...?" she started to ask as she looked at him then took a step back. "Don't come any closer." She held up her fists ready to defend herself. "Risa told me that Niwa and Hiwatari told her you weren't yourself and that you were dangerous."

"Well I was," Dark chuckled. "But I'm all better now." She furrowed her brows together as she studied the thief.

"Well you look back to normal from the TV," she finally spoke up slowly dropping her hands to her sides. "Last time you had long hair."

"Don't remind me," the thief gave a slight groan that caused Riku to give him a confused look. She was about to ask him what that meant when she heard another familiar voice behind her.

"Oh hey Riku."

Turning around, she saw the redhead walking up with Satoshi at his side, holding his hand. She didn't say anything as she raised an eyebrow at them before looking between the three of them.

"Okay I'm missing something here," she spoke up pointing at Daisuke then to Dark. "So exactly how is Dark back here again? Risa wouldn't tell me anything and I thought you said he was gone from that incident from Christmas time?" She paused and looked between the three again. "And a couple of weeks ago on TV, he had long hair."

Blue, purple, and red eyes looked to each other before the redhead gave a slightly nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "Uh that's a long story," he replied. She raised an eyebrow at him as she put her hands on her hips and he knew she wasn't going to be satisfied until she got her answer. "Why don't we get some lunch and we'll explain it?"

"Alright then," Riku agreed as the redhead looked to the blue haired boy who nodded and led them towards a restaurant to get some lunch.

Once inside and having ordered food, Riku turned to the three of them. "Alright spill it."

Looking to the thief then to the blue haired boy, Daisuke tried to think of where to start.

"Obviously Krad was planning something from the start," Dark spoke up poking his straw in his drink around at the ice cubes.

"Krad?" Riku asked giving a confused look.

"The other one I told you about," Daisuke spoke up. "The one with white wings."

"Oh! The one that Hiwatari turned into that one time," she replied looking at Satoshi who gave a slight nod as he sipped his drink. "He wasn't so nice."

"Yeah..." Satoshi half muttered. "And please, it's Hikari now."

"Sorry. I keep forgetting," Riku apologized before turning her attention back to Dark.

"Not long after we returned to the Black Wings, I just knew he was up to something," the thief spoke up again.

"Returned to the Black Wings?" Riku asked a little confused. She'd recalled Daisuke explaining it to her but he couldn't tell her what it was like. Only Dark could've told that one. "Like stuck in there or something?"

"Yeah," Dark replied with a slight nod still poking his ice cubes.

"What's it like?" All eyes turned towards him and he looked up at them a moment before back to his drink.

"Just black nothingness," he replied quietly. "Like floating around a dark void is the best I can describe it. No sense of time or place. You just...exist."

"Oh," Riku said quietly glancing to the redhead and blue haired boy who mirrored her sympathetic look.

"I just knew he was up to something," Dark continued. "I couldn't tell what though until he suddenly seemed to disappear. It was then I knew he had to have found his way out but the only way would be through a Hikari descendant. Satoshi to be exact. But since time is distorted and all, I didn't know how long we'd been in there. So I tried looking for my way out as well and finally found it through Daisuke again. Daisuke caught me up to speed with what was going on and that Krad was back in his own body via the spell that would release us fully from their DNA."

"Release you?" Riku asked a tad confused looking between the redhead and thief. Dark nodded but didn't say anything as their food was brought.

"It's a powerful spell that requires a lot of magic," Dark spoke up after the waitress left and picked at his fries he'd ordered. "Enough so that our tamer is knocked into a coma that could kill them." Riku blinked as she looked to Daisuke and Satoshi in surprise.

"Krad kept me in the coma using his magic so I wouldn't interfere with his plans to get back at the Niwas," Satoshi spoke up then looked to Daisuke. "But Daisuke managed to get me out of it thankfully."

"Yeah. None of us could let Krad continue to do that to Satoshi," Daisuke said with a nod.

"Of course that pissed him off even more," Dark added. "Daisuke and I had to fight him off but since Krad had his own body then and I was still contained with Daisuke, it would only hurt Daisuke that much more if I continued using my magic. So I did the spell that split us after making sure it was okay with Daisuke first. Of course Krad thought we were dead at the time I did it though."

"You made everyone believe you two were dead," Satoshi interjected.

"For a day!" Dark said waving a fry at the blue haired boy. "Either way it worked. It bought us some time to figure out a plan to get rid of him."

"Which fell apart as well," Satoshi replied and snatched the fry from Dark's hand.

"Hey!" the thief said as Satoshi ate his fry. "I couldn't help that he saw through my plan."

"So what'd he want?" Riku spoke up. "What'd you do?"

"Krad wanted Satoshi," Daisuke said handing Dark one of his fries so he'd quit trying to steal one from the Commander. "But Dark traded places with him instead. And the reason why Dark had long hair was because Krad made him kind of lose his sanity."

"How can he lose his sanity when he's already crazy?" Riku asked with a slight chuckle. The others, however, kind of gave an uneasy silence and she looked at Dark again realizing it must've been serious.

"Losing his sanity in the way he did makes him become like Krad," Satoshi spoke up quietly as Dark looked down at his plate and poked at his food quietly again. "Which was why he was dangerous."

"What'd Krad do to make you lose it?" Riku asked curiously looking to the thief who continued to look down at his food silently. The others were silent as well and she could feel the uneasiness coming from all of them.
Looking back to the thief searching his face for a clue as to what happened, she started running thoughts through her head of what Krad could've done then gave a slight gasp as her eyes went wide. "He forced you to sleep with him?" she asked in a hushed whisper as purple eyes met her brown ones. The seriousness within them said she'd been correct. "Oh my god."

Purple eyes looked back down to the fries half eaten as a silence passed between them all for a few moments. "W-what made you turn back?" Riku finally spoke up quietly.

"I realized that I actually loved Krad," Dark said quietly. Riku nearly choked on her drink she started sipping.

"You loved him?" Riku asked blinking as she patted her chest and clearing her throat from the water. "After what he did to you?"

"In a twisted sort of way, yes," Dark replied with a sigh. "But it was one sided obviously. Krad only thinks of himself. He's always been that way. So it was pointless to try to even believe he would love me back anyways."

"W-what made you realize you loved him?" Riku was curious now and even red and blue eyes turned to look at him in question. Dark hadn't really said anything about it at all while they were stuck healing in the house. He'd always said he didn't want to talk about it.

"Daisuke and Satoshi gave me a bunch of pictures of everyone to try to see if that would make me change back," he started saying as he glanced up to Daisuke and Satoshi watching him. "It did make me think of the past but it also upset me as well since I wasn't in my right mind. Until I saw the picture of..."

"Of who?" Brown eyes blinked in curiosity when the thief trailed off.

"Of Rika, your grandmother," Dark replied quietly looking down.

"My grandmother?" The thief only nodded slightly. "Why?"

"Because she was the only woman I also loved," Dark replied quietly. "Despite all the women I've flirted with, she was the only one that ever captured my heart. It's why I also was attracted to you and Risa. You reminded me so much of her you know." He gave a slight pause. "But with Krad, why I fell in love with him...I don't understand it all myself honestly. The hatred we had towards each other for all these years because of our family differences simply just vanished because he got me on his side. I mean, he's my other 'half' so to speak and all. It's what we were created to be."

"I see," Riku said softly. "And he's gone now?"

"Nowhere to be found," Dark replied with a slight nod. "When I came out of my sanity break back to normal, Satoshi and Daisuke were fighting him the best they could. I came in to help them and sent him into the ocean. I haven't felt his presence since. Even went down searching in the water to see if I could find any traces of him to make sure he's gone for good but nothing's there. And it's been a couple weeks since then. If he was still around, he'd have made his move by now. I know him. He's gone."

Several more moments passed between them in silence before Riku spoke up again. "So, now that you're free with your own body and all, what are you going to do?" she asked. Again, blue and red eyes looked to the thief out of curiosity as well.

"I don't know," the thief spoke up finally eating on his fries again. "The whole point to have my own body was to try to live a normal life. It's what I've always wished for anyways."

"How are you going to do that?" Riku pointed out. "I mean, you can't exactly just walk down the street like us normally without someone knowing who you are unless you disguise yourself right?" Dark nodded.

"I've thought of just giving up and turning myself in," Dark spoke up. Satoshi started choking on his drink while Daisuke half choked on his fry he was eating.

"A-are you serious?" Daisuke asked after taking a drink and clearing his throat. Dark nodded as he put his hands out together towards Satoshi who was looking surprised at him.

"The Commander can finally say he captured me," the thief replied as Satoshi continued to stare in surprise to his outstretched arms at him before the thief pulled them back and picked at his food again. "I'm tired honestly. Tired of stealing things all the time as a phantom thief. I want a normal life like you guys get to have. Or at least something as normal as I can get."

"Mom will flip out if she knew you said that," Daisuke said with a sigh but looked to the thief with a small smile.

"I know. But I'm serious," Dark sighed. "I'm just tired."

"Satoshi?" the redhead started to ask as he looked to the other sitting next to him.

"I suppose I can see what I can do," he replied sipping his drink again. "I'll have to talk to the inspector about it after lunch."

"You really think they'll let him go so easily?" Riku asked looking to Satoshi as well.

Satoshi gave a shrug. "Honestly, I have no clue," he replied. "Inspector Saehara has been very adamant with trying to catch Dark since his return on Daisuke's fourteenth birthday. And since he had just suddenly disappeared for five months and then reappeared again, he's been going crazy trying to get his hands on him again. Especially since the lead that Daisuke had not been Dark when Krad tipped them off when he returned through me." He gave a slight pause in thinking then looked at the thief. "But I'm sure I can come up with some sort of deal. As long as you're willing to go with it."

"Anything," Dark replied.

"Alright. I'll try calling after lunch then."

"You ready?" Satoshi looked to the thief sitting in the chair across from him sitting on his couch in his apartment. Daisuke sat off to the side in another chair. The thief nodded. "Alright. Just be quiet while I work something out."

Dialing the number, Satoshi hit the speaker button so all three of them could hear as it rang three times. "Hello?"

"Inspector Saehara. It's Hikari," Satoshi spoke up calmly and smoothly.

"Hikari? What do you want? This better be about that pesky thief."

"It is. What would you say if I could convince him to turn himself in?"

"Ha! He'd never turn himself in willingly."

"And if I could?" Satoshi looked to the thief who gave him an 'are you kidding me?' look.

"I'll lock him up and throw away the key of course! He'll never get out." Dark gave an 'oh please' look as he rolled his eyes.

"I have a feeling that somehow he'd still find a way to escape," Satoshi replied shaking his head at the thief who smirked. "But I have a better offer instead if I can get him to give himself up."

The inspector gave a pause of silence before speaking again. "What did you have in mind?"

Blue eyes flicked up to the purple ones looking back with a raised eyebrow. Red eyes also looked at him curiously. "Dark does no jail time. It honestly wouldn't do any good since he'd find some way to escape." Dark mouthed 'damn straight' to the Commander, who just rolled his eyes as he continued talking to the inspector. "But I can guarantee that he'll return the items he's stolen these past couple of weeks as well as the items he's stolen since becoming active again."

"Wha-" Dark started to say sitting forward in the chair before Daisuke jumped up and went over clamping his hand over the thief's mouth to keep the inspector from hearing him. He gave him a soft hush in his ear.

"He's also got to do community service for at least half a year under my supervision and he'll be made to help the police capture other thieves we might have problems with in the future. Again, under my supervision."

Dark's eyes went wide in disbelief and he tried to pry Daisuke's hand away from his mouth to make a comment. "On second thought, let's give him a day, no a week in jail with the promise he will not try any attempt at escaping whatsoever. If I can get him to agree to all of that, he can go free with no more attempts at his thieving ways."

There was a momentary silence from the other end before the muffled sound of the inspector talking to someone else on the other line while holding his hand over the receiver. "Fine. If you can get him to agree to those terms, we'll let him go," he replied.

"Alright then. I'll call you back when I've gotten an answer from Dark," Satoshi said before hanging up as Dark pried Daisuke's hand off his mouth.

"What the hell!?" Dark said glaring at the blue haired boy. "Give all the artworks I stole back? Are you nuts?"

"Their magic is all sealed up are they not?" Satoshi asked.

"...Yeah..."

"Then you have no further use for them but to give them back," Satoshi replied.

"He has a point Dark," Daisuke spoke up. "Though Mom's going to hate the idea of giving all those artworks back. But still, it's the right thing to do."

"And what the hell is this about community service and helping the police out?" Dark protested. "And a week in jail with promise of not escaping? Man, all that time stuck with Krad really did a number on your brain."

"You said you'd do anything to be let off the hook without extensive jail time," Satoshi pointed out. "Given they also don't know all about your magic and who you really are. They'd never understand how you and Krad have been in our family's DNA for so long and that you're really over four hundred years old."

"Good point," Daisuke chimed in with a nod. "It took me some explaining to the Haradas about it all. But since they understand the possibilities with magic, it was easier to explain. Trying to tell that to the inspector I'm sure would be much harder though."

"Exactly," Satoshi nodded. "Besides, Saehara still thinks you're the grandson of the previous phantom thief from forty years ago. And it would be best to leave it that way."

Dark went to comment about that looking from the blue haired boy to Daisuke and sighed before crossing his arms across his chest and leaned back in the chair. "Fine. I accept the terms of the deal." He paused a second before sitting up straight again and dropped his arms to his sides. "But I will not give the Rutile back. That's the only one I keep. Its power is too dangerous in the wrong hands and its magic can't be sealed so easily."

"Fine then," Satoshi nodded in reply remembering the time when he'd been given it to bring Krad's power out by his adopted father. "Let me give the inspector a call back that you'll agree to give yourself up." He dialed the number again putting it on speaker as it rang three times again before Saehara picked up. "Inspector. Dark's agreed to the terms I spoke of earlier."

"He will?" Inspector Saehara asked with slight disbelief in his voice. "Well then bring him in now!"

"I'll bring him in tomorrow morning," Satoshi replied looking to the thief who shifted to rest his chin in his palm with a silent sigh.

"Then I'll call the press tonight and let them know that pesky thief is turning himself in tomorrow!"

"No. Not tonight." He looked to the thief who raised an eyebrow at him. "At least not until tomorrow morning."

"I don't see why not," the inspector said a little confused. "But as you wish."

"Thank you. I will see you tomorrow morning with Dark in handcuffs." He clicked the phone off again as the thief sat up straight again.

"Tomorrow morning?" Dark asked raising an eyebrow. "Why not next week?"

"No time to back out of it," Satoshi replied standing up and putting the phone in his pocket again. "You've got the rest of the afternoon to figure something to tell the others."

"Emiko's going to kill me." Dark groaned hanging his head as he stood up.

"We'll be there with you Dark," Daisuke said patting the thief's arm a couple of times. "Though I think I'd wait until after dinner to spill the news."

Dark gave another sigh before they turned to head back to the Niwa residence.

After dinner was done and everyone sat in the living room watching some television, Dark glanced to the redhead and blue haired boy sitting on the end of the couch together then to Emiko, Daiki, and Kosuke sitting along the other end of the couch. Wyth was sitting in Daisuke's lap and Towa perched in her bird form on Satoshi's shoulder.

'Daisuke...' Dark said through their link in half dread.

'You better do it Dark. Especially that she's at least in a good mood,' Daisuke replied capturing the thief's purple eyes in his own gaze. 'You can do it. We're here.'

Sighing, Dark stood up from his chair and cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. He looked from Emiko to Kosuke then to Daiki before speaking. "I'm done being a phantom thief."

"What!?" Emiko asked along with the other two giving surprised looks as well. "What do you mean you're done?"

"Just what I mean. I'm done stealing artworks and being a thief," Dark replied.

"Why would you think of doing such a thing?" Emiko asked standing up. Kosuke put a hand to her arm.

"Honestly, I'm tired," Dark replied with a soft sigh. "And the whole point of gaining my own body was to live my own life with it." He gave a slight pause as he looked to Daiki. "To have a normal life how I've always wished for. Or at least as normal as it can get."

"You do have a point," Daiki spoke up with a nod in understanding.

"Dad..." Emiko started to protest.

"It's true that you've waited all this time to live a life on your own," Daiki spoke up with another nod and meaningful look to Dark. "And now that you have it, we shouldn't be stopping you from having it. After all, your life is your own."

"Thank you Daiki," Dark said with a soft smile.

"B-but what about the police trying to capture you?" Emiko asked. "You couldn't have a normal life without them constantly trying to capture you."

"I know. Which is why I'm turning myself in," the thief replied with a sigh looking to Satoshi. "Satoshi's already arranged a deal with the chief inspector."

"What? When?" Emiko asked as all eyes turned to the blue haired boy.

"This afternoon after lunch I called and made an arrangement," Satoshi spoke up. "I told the chief inspector if I could convince Dark to turn himself in, have him return the items he and Krad stole along with the items he's stolen since returning through Daisuke, does community service for half a year under my supervision, and helps the police with catching any other thieves they might come across, he will be pardoned and let go. That and doing a week without any attempt at escaping jail."

"Give all the artworks back?" Emiko started protesting.

"All except the Rutile," Dark pointed out. "I already stated I was not giving that back. It's too powerful to fall into the wrong hands."

"B-but..." Emiko looked to Daiki. "Dad..."

"I suppose if it's part of the deal, it can't be undone," he replied looking at the thief.

"Well their magic is all sealed so they shouldn't be a problem anymore," Daisuke added. Emiko gave him a look of disbelief before looking to the thief again.

"W-what would you do when you're done with the week of being locked up?" Emiko asked searching the thief's face. Everyone looked to him for his answer.

"I don't know," the thief shrugged thinking a moment. "I've always wanted to go to school like a normal person. To go and do well and make his mother proud." He gave a soft smile as he looked to Emiko. Her lip started quivering a moment before she burst into tears at the statement and Dark stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.

"When are you supposed to turn yourself in?" Kosuke asked.

"Tomorrow morning," Dark replied still rubbing Emiko's back as she continued to cry softly into his shoulder for another moment before she sniffled and leaned back from Dark's shoulder. He wiped her tears away before she could.

"W-what grade would we start you off with though?" Emiko asked looking to the thief confused slightly as did the others. Given his apparent age of looks he still looked somewhere around seventeen to eighteen years old.

The thief pondered a moment as he looked to the blue haired and redhead boys looking at him curiously as well before smirking. Daisuke's eyes went wide hearing Dark's thoughts through their connection and sighed putting a hand over his face before Dark spoke up with a grin. "Well since being reborn from Daisuke, I can just use his age," the thief stated. "Besides, then I can keep an eye on him at school too."

"More like I'll be the one to keep an eye on you," Satoshi pointed out shaking his head.

"Someone's got to keep you on your toes," Dark grinned. "Besides, all the ladies are surely going to go crazy knowing I'd be going there." Daisuke put his hand over his face again and Satoshi just shook his head.

"I suppose we can see what we can do when you return back home," Daiki spoke up.

"Alright then. I guess I better go gather up the artworks and get them ready for tomorrow," Dark sighed then looked to Daisuke. "Hey Daisuke. Want to help me?"

"Sure," the redhead replied as he stood and set Wyth on the couch where he'd been sitting.

"I'll come as well," Satoshi added as he stood as well and set Towa down next to Wyth. Dark gave a smirk before they headed out of the room and downstairs into the basement where all the artworks from the past had been gathered.

Putting all the artworks together that Dark had gathered since his reemergence via Daisuke, he pulled out a black feather and held it out towards them. The feather gave a soft glow, as did the artworks, before all of them seemed to disappear before the feather faded back to normal.

"There. All ready for tomorrow," Dark said with a sigh. "Happy Commander?"

"I suppose so. That was part of the deal after all," Satoshi replied looking at all the other artworks from the previous times Dark had been active with Daiki as his tamer and beforehand.

Going back upstairs, the three of them decided to finish up a few things before getting ready for bed. Dark took the feather with him to his room after turning in for the night and set it on the nightstand beside his bed. He laid back in bed staring up at the ceiling with his arms folded behind the back of his head for a while, listening as the house slowly fell silent.

Sighing, Dark looked to the clock reading near midnight before getting up and going over to the window to look out at the night sky. He couldn't sleep just yet so he decided to change into his clothes from his pajamas before opening his window and climbed out, calling out his wings and flew up into the night air. Maybe some fresh air would help him clear his thoughts.

Flying up out over the ocean some, Dark looked down to the spot where Krad had last gone into. The water was dark and still below and he gave a sigh as he continued through the air and along shore before veering off and going to the wind turbines on the cliff. He landed on one and sat down looking out over the ocean as he folded his wings back; the wind ruffling his hair and feathers softly.

Putting his hands into his jacket pockets, he blinked as his hand touched the silver cell phone that Krad had given him he'd forgotten about and pulled it out looking at it. He flipped up the front and stared at it for a moment as memories of all what had happened came back to him before he sighed and flipped the top back down and stuck it back in his pocket again.

"He's gone," Dark muttered to himself as he looked back out to the ocean again. The last memory that flashed across his mind was the look the blonde had given him though before sending him into the ocean. The blonde had almost seemed surprised by something Dark had said. But the thief shook his head to clear his mind again before flying back up into the air and headed home again.

Slipping back inside silently through the window, Dark changed back into his pajamas before laying back down in bed on his stomach and closed his eyes, forcing himself to try to get some sleep before tomorrow came.

Well there you have it. Dark's feelings come out a bit more with some explanation. And as always, still trying to give Satoshi a bit of hassle with a few things. Next chapter will continue the flashback some more. Hope you enjoyed! Any and all reviews are appreciated. (smiles)