Utter despair. Death and misery overwhelm me, and for some reason, I can't breathe. I stop moving, and for a second I remain rigid in mid-air, right over the village where I don't know if I want to live. These feelings that aren't mine are leaking into my unguarded body, manifesting and twisting…growing; every other emotion in my body is painfully thrust aside.

I don't know why; I can't make it stop, and I fall. My wings shutter and fold close to my back. I'm falling headfirst, my hair billowing about me forcefully, and I hurt. I've fallen before, yes, but this is different. This time I'm in pain before the fall, and as I drop, my vision goes black. I can't feel anything anymore.

"Hey, Yugi, look," Ryou said, picking up his pace as he walked up the newly found path, "A village! I didn't even know that villages existed anymore around here."

Yugi threw his shorter legs into overdrive to catch up to his friend, "Really? Let's go check it out!" Yugi sounded enthusiastic, yes, but something about this whole thing seemed odd to him. A new path and a new village?

Yugi just hoped that he was being paranoid.

Suddenly, Ryou stopped dead and grabbed Yugi's wrist tightly. Violet eyes snapped up, and Yugi froze at the look of horror on Ryou's face. He was staring up at the dim black sky, where stars were poking holes through the atmosphere. That's not what Yugi noticed, though, when he cast his eyes towards Ryou's line of sight.

He saw a falling person, wings crumpling in towards their center.

"Yugi," Ryou said softly, though his grip on the smaller was still tight, "What is that?" His soft voice was fearful, as if he was thinking about something that had happened before.

"No, Ryou…it can't be." Yugi said, shaking his head and tugging his arm so that they could run towards the creature that landed on the ground about 50 yards in front of them with a crunch, "No, that was just a dream."

But as Yugi and his friend dashed towards whatever it was in front of them, his heart pounding almost audibly in his chest, Yugi knew that it wasn't just a dream. Ryou started to run to the houses, looking for anyone that could help them.

Once he reached the fallen being, Yugi couldn't help but gasp. This, whatever this was, looked just like him, yet so much more beautiful. His skin was tan, and though his black leathery wings were folded in odd ways, they were still magnificent. Crimson, ebony, and platinum hair spilled over the man's shoulders, and when Yugi bent down, he was happy to see that whoever this was was still breathing.

"Ryou," Yugi breathed, hearing his companion come closer, "Is this…is this really from your…" He couldn't say it. He couldn't let this be real. Those people were never supposed to hurt anyone ever again. Never.

Ryou didn't answer, and that was all that Yugi needed to began to shake uncontrollably. Tears started to cling onto his eyelashes, yet he wasn't exactly sure why. He had no clue who this --it had to be one of the Sensory Demons-- was, but he was so angry and hurt and afraid that all of the people of this town died. They didn't even get what they were aiming for.

"Come on, Yugi…" A soft hand squeezed Yugi's shoulder gently, "It's alright…"

Yugi only shook his head and found himself in Ryou's arms, sobbing. He couldn't figure out why this was affecting him so much; did he really care so much for these people?

A feeling spread through his body, a feeling that told him that if he wanted to he could get rid of all of these bad feelings. There were no good feelings inside of him, though, so he wouldn't let this power take over. It had happened before, too, when he was being held captive in the lab. He learned to control it, and wouldn't let the doctors figure out it was there.

"Ryou, we can't leave him here…all of those people…he lived with them."

The albino gently separated himself from Yugi and looked him in the eye with a caring but confident stature. "But…we don't know anything about him. He could be dangerous."

Yugi shook his head and then turned it to look at the still form behind him. "He's not…" How could he be? He was probably injured; one of his wings was bleeding and was bent at an angle that just couldn't be healthy.

Besides, his face that was covered just slightly by flowing hair looked so smooth, so gentle. "Please, Ryou…what if he's not? He'd die out here…waste away all alone. I couldn't deal with that."

Ryou bit a pale lip slightly, looking between Yugi and his look-alike with a thoughtful expression in his chocolate eyes. He shook his head a little, "I couldn't either."

Even though I regain consciousness, I do not see anything. My eyes must be closed. I can smell something that is nothing like the village where I live, and is more like a faulty imitation. Sadly, it did not work. I can hear the sounds of unnatural whirring, something else that I never heard in the forests or in the caves or on the cliffs of the mountain where I spend so much of my time. One of my wings hurts; I try to move it, but I cannot, it hurts too much and makes me groan piteously when I try.

I feel a soft hand touching my bare shoulder, rubbing something that cools and burns at the same time on the spot where I hit the ground. It feels nice, and makes me forget about my physical pain.

The rest remains.

I remember what I felt like before I fell, and I knew that something happened to the villagers that I live next to --lived next to. I felt the sorrow and the pain in the fact that their breaths that they were taking were going to be their very last. Everyone in the village where I live is dead.

And I know that I am no where near there. I am in the city, in someone's house. I feel fear, but not too much. Someone is next to me; I can hear their calm breathing. Someone took me in, but who?

I am not scared; actually, I am barely even curious because I am so sad. I cannot remember ever feeling this way, except for when the nice beings that took me in both passed away.

The small amount of pity that I feel for the people that didn't even care for me makes tears rise to my eyes, but I don't want to let them fall. At least I can still control my body, if not my mind.

I slowly move around on the soft material that I am laying down on and sit up cautiously. One of my wings moves so that I'll be comfortable, but the other one cannot move, so it stays where it is, and I am uncomfortable. I realize that I still cannot see, but when I try to open my eyes…

…I find that they are already open.

Yugi sat on his bed quietly, watching the dozing demon beside him. Ryou had gone to the store to buy something for dinner that night, and even though Yugi knew that he should have been afraid and asked Ryou to stay, he didn't. He wasn't. Not really.

Closer inspection of the demon in front of him revealed that he was pretty badly beaten up; his wing was most likely broken, but Yugi could only stop the bleeding. He didn't want to touch it otherwise. He attended to the scratches and bruises on his flawless skin, and then just sat and watched.

The demon moaned with a deep voice that Yugi knew came from pain, yet there was nothing he could do about it. He knew that whoever this being was, he did not exist in the documented world. When it came right down to it, neither did Yugi. Not really.

And then he sat up. His movements were slow, and his face crunched a little as he shifted his injured wing, but he really did look beautiful…captivating…

And Yugi could only stare as tears formed in beautiful crimson eyes. His head was not moving as if feared; he was not trying to figure out where he was, or why. Yugi could still only stare incredulously as half bared slim legs brought themselves up to a smooth bare chest, and the demon started to cry into his knees. It was a sweet, melancholy melody, yet Yugi couldn't bear to listen to it.

He really didn't even know why it was happening.

I am blind. I can feel tears brewing in my now useless eyes, and I draw my knees up to my chest to cry into them. I am deeply saddened by this, words couldn't even begin to describe how I feel. How could I be blind? How could I have lost my sight?

Why?

A sob escapes me as I realize that I'll never see a sunset again; I'll never be able to watch the dark green pine trees contrasting with a bright blue sky, or a cloud drifting lazily across azure plains. That is all lost to me now, and the only thing that I can recall in my mind is how that last sunset looked to me before I went back to my village for that last time.

Can I not see because I pushed it out? Was I feeling so much sorrow in the forest that I did not have the energy to use my sight? Was it as if I blew some kind of metaphorical fuse?

It was my fault that I could not see; all my fault, because my body cannot block out anything, even the slightest bit. And now the thing that's the most important to me in this world is gone.

"Don't worry…" I hear a voice say, and I feel that warm gentle hand on my shoulder again, "It's okay, you're safe."

I cannot understand this voice or this language. I don't know what is being told to me, but somehow I think that whoever it is, they only want to help me. They probably don't know that I am beyond help and that everything to me is lost, but I feel gratitude for the kind voice floating to me out of the darkness.

I straighten out on the elevated surface I am on and let my curled feet dangle over the edge. My naked toes skid across a soft clothed surface; it feels nice, and I wish that I know what it looks like.

Gratitude gets pushed out of the way by sorrow at the fact that I'll never get to see what it is. I'll never get to learn that way again; tears well up once more, and their salt stings my eyes as they fall, burning their way down my cheeks.

But that same soft hand brushes away the tears with a gentle thumb, and I move my head towards the source of it. I move my own arm forward, towards that hand, and touch it gently. It is soft and warm and kind, and my fingers dance up it, across the arm, and up towards the shoulder.

A man; the structure and build of the warm arm tells me that this is a slim boy, but not a child. My hands meet cloth at that shoulder, a cloth that I have never felt before.

But I do not linger. I feel my way up to a neck, and finally touch a cheek that is a soft and as warm as that on my face. My slender fingers glide across the whole of his features; across wide eyes and a forehead, down a small nose, and across soft petal lips.

Even though I cannot see, I know that this being, whoever it is, is beautiful. I know enough about demons and humans alike to come to realize that they are not often beautiful on both the inside and on the outside.

My hand moves to the back of boy's head and softly grasps at the nape of the neck; thick hair separates my skin from the other's, and I have to use self-control so that I won't run my fingers through it; that's how soft and pleasing it really is to me.

A small twinge of complete care, curiosity, lust, and love courses through my heart, and it expands. All of those feelings meld and crisscross each other, turning into one thing as I lean slowly forward.

Yugi watched, perplexed, as the demon in front of him relaxed at his touch. He moved his head towards Yugi, but did not look at him. He was suddenly aware of how empty those beautiful crimson eyes looked, and that they weren't seeing him, or anything at all.

This demon was blind.

Yugi was suddenly struck with a large amount of sympathy for the demon; if he really was a Sensory Demon, and for some reason he was absolutely sure, then he must use and love his senses like nothing else in any world out there. And one of those precious senses was gone; the demon was not crying because he was scared of his surroundings, but was crying because he lost the most precious thing to him. He could not satisfy the curiosity that he felt by being in a new surrounding.

What would Yugi do if he couldn't see? If he couldn't let colors and images of the forest and his world float through his mind? He loved the forest, and the animals inside of it, the colors…

Slender fingers finally made themselves known to Yugi's pale face and brought him back to the reality outside of his thoughts. He felt electricity quiver through his skin at the gentle touch, and it spread as those fingers danced along his flesh, his face, and across his lips, which were slightly parted as he stared, amazed, at the demon so close to him.

The tan hand moved to the back of his neck, and Yugi felt himself freeze as the demon pulled him closer and leaned forward to kiss Yugi softly.

The small boy could only blink dumbly as the demon pulled away for a moment, then leaned forward again. This was ridiculous, insane…

…Incredible, wonderful…right…

The demon slid forward on the bed, and Yugi somehow felt himself moving closer of his own free will. The other's lips felt soft on his, and his tongue felt warm and wet as the demon slowly pushed it against Yugi's lips, clearly begging for entrance.

Yugi opened his mouth slightly, and as that tongue started to move into his own mouth, it suddenly hit him; what he was doing crashed into him full force, and he literally pushed the man away from him before losing balance and falling off of the side of his bed.

What was he doing? He had brought this man into his home from the middle of the forest. He did not know his name, or why he was laying unconscious on the ground. He didn't have a clue as to who he was, yet there he was, kissing him with a passion that he had never felt before. Why would he do that?

Breathing heavily, Yugi looked up at the demon that he pushed away from him. He was leaning almost fully on the backboard of the bed, one side more forcefully than the other, and his crimson irises were clenched shut in obvious pain. One of his shoulders was tensed dramatically, and his bare feet, which were now on the bed, were curled tightly, twitching slightly.

He was saying something Yugi did not understand at all, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," It was like a mantra, and Yugi suddenly felt himself feeling horrible for causing the creature so much pain, even if it really wasn't all his fault at all.

Yugi sat lightly on the bed again, and slowly pulled the demon away from the headboard and helped him to lie on his stomach. He rubbed the area between his wings softly and slowly, and soon the tense body of the demon relaxed and his rapid breathing evened out.

Yugi touched the man's hand softly, and spoke, knowing that, if nothing else, he would understand the one word that he was going to tell him, "Yugi."

My toes curl and twitch as I sit in obvious embarrassment and pain. I know what I did was wrong; I had invaded this person's space, and I made him feel uncomfortable, so he pushed me away. Now I'm paying for my foolish act by sitting in pain and discomfort.

I wish that I could control my emotions. I don't want to make them go away, but I long to control them. It's just that I've never had to before; I never wanted to hurt anyone, but I never…I never wanted anyone before, either.

This is new.

And yet, he still comes back to me, and he still helps me onto my stomach to take the pressure off of my wing, and he rubs the area inbetween my them to make me feel better. Very slowly I do. I really do feel better. I'm still sad, and hurt, and embarrassed, but I'm glad, too, because he still wants to help me.

He won't turn me away.

And he takes my hand gently, and whispers a name out to me in the darkness that is my sight. "Yugi…" He says softly, and I know that that is him. My savior's name is Yugi.

And I squeeze his hand back, with a name of my own. I know that with these names, we will be able to overcome barriers that our different languages and races contain. Maybe someday I will be able to explain my foolish behavior. "Atem."

And then, when Yugi squeezes my hand again to show me that he understands, my mind goes tired. I feel fatigued, but I know that it is okay to want to sleep, because Yugi is here, and he'll help me…

He'll keep me safe, and he'll understand when I can't help but be foolish again. He already has, after all.

To Be Continued

Author's Notes: This chapter was revised on 7-8-06.

Thanks to all reviewers!

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