Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight or any characters

"So, you really went and erased Zero's memories?" Yori questioned. Yuki had gone to the same dorm room that had once shared to see her.

"Yeah…sorry I didn't tell you about it before. I've been pretty much crying the last couple of days." Yuki explained.

"It's fine. I'm not upset about that at all. But…you do know that you can always come and cry on my shoulder, right?" Yori asked.

"Yeah, I know," Yuki smiled.

"So what happens between the two of you now? Are you just starting over from square one?" Yori wondered.

"More like square negative infinity," Yuki sighed.

"Wow! Listen to you, the math genius!" York laughed. Yuki faked punched as she laughed out loud as well.

They hugged each other and then after the pulled away, Yori spoke, "You know, I really don't get Zero. He says that the person he knew is dead, but I say you're exactly the same as you always were."

"I'm not so sure about that," Yuki replied, her hands still on Yori's shoulders and Yori's on hers.

"Well, I am!" York insisted. "I mean, sure, you've up grown up in a lot of ways, but yeah, you're still the same old Yuki to me."

"Thanks, Yori, I needed that," Yuki said as she leaned in once again to hold her dear friend close.

"Thanks for keeping the Night Class under control why I was gone, everyone," Yuki said as she sat down on the couch in Moon Dorm's main longue. After spending a few days gazing her out her bedroom window, she had been able to assess that all was well with the academy, despite Kaname's recent invasion, and that made her feel very relieved.

"It's like we have anything better to do." Akatski muttered.

"It's kind of a relief to be back, though," Ruka put in. "Although, it feels so empty with him not being here…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Yuki sighed. "So, Ichijo-senpie, how are you feeling?"

"Confused, relieved…I was with Sara for so long and was so deeply under her spell that I kind forgot what it was like to have a mind of my own. I am starting to feel somewhat normal again, though."

"That's great," Yuki smiled. "And what of the girls Sara turned into vampires?" Yuki wondered.

"We're keeping them occupied," Rima shrugged. "They seem perfectly content to fawn over whatever female aristocrat walks through their path, so we just let the ones who want them have them."

"I…see," Yuki murmured. She felt terrible that they had lost their lives in something humans should never have even had to dream about. So, she suggested, "Shouldn't we be helping them to regain their own identities instead of just continuing to brain wash them?"

"Who said anything about brainwashing?" Rima scoffed. "I just said we're keeping them occupied, not keeping them as slaves!"

"Right…" Yuki blushed, although she didn't really see how she was the one in the wrong or why she was getting snapped in at. She opted to drop the situation, however, and continue checking back in with everyone. As she was particularly concerned about Aidou, being closer to him than any of the others, she felt she needed to address him personally. She turned her glance towards him and asked, "So, how have you been doing?"

Aidou just looked away.

"He's pretty bummed that Kaname abandoned him," Ruka stated. "I mean, I know he abandoned you, me, Akatski, and even Serine, but…you know how hard Hanabusa takes anything that has to do with Lord Kaname."

Yuki watched as Aidou got up and stormed up the stairs. Once he was out of earshot, she replied, "Yes, I know exactly how Aidou feels about Kaname."

"Speaking of Serine, I heard she finally came out her coma," Shiki spoke.

"Yeah, and I hear that ethics teacher was pretty upset about it. He's been at her bedside every day…can you believe it?" Akatski chuckled.

"Ah, yes…she's actually pretty shaken up herself right now." Yuki said.

"Serine, shook up? Wow…" Takuma whistled.

"We've been trying to see if she knows where Kaname is, but she's not talking. She's too stubborn to even ask for a glass of water." Yuki explained.

"Of course she's not going to talk," Akatski muttered. "She's just waiting for the Hunter's Association to let her go already. And I can guarantee that the first thing she's going to do is go running right back to Kaname."

"In which case," Rima put in, "You should just let her go already and try to follow her. I'd say that's your best bet."

"Hey, that's a great idea," Yuki realized. "I can't believe we didn't think of it!"

"Of course you didn't think of it. You're working with a bunch humans with low IQ's after all," Ruka stated.

"And you drag them down even more," Shiki said dryly. Yuki blushed, but did not bother to protest.

"Anyways...I have to get back the Headmaster's now. He's expecting me and Zero for dinner," Yuki promptly changed the subject and stood up. "Thanks for the advice, Rima. I'll pass it on to the Headmaster. Oh…and tell Aidou I hope he feels better."

"Will do," Takuma replied. "Bye, bye now, Lady Yuki."

"Bye, everyone," Yukie said made her way out the door and back to the Headmaster's house.

"Yuki, I'm so glad you're back!" The Headmaster exclaimed as she walked in the kitchen only to find him still hard at work cooking—just as she had left him before she'd gone off to chat with Yori. "I've got noodles boiling, vegetables steaming, and beef roasting in the oven. Doesn't it all smell delicious?"

"Yes, it does," Yuki agreed genuinely, if the Headmaster's enthusiasm was a little bit over the top.

"But, oh my, look at the time! Zero's already fifteen minutes late!" The Headmaster gasped as he gawked at the clock that hung over the stove. "And he told me he'd be here on time. He promised! And now he's gone and broken that promise! I just don't know how I'll ever be able to trust him again."

"I don't think you have to worry. It's me he doesn't want to be around. I don't think this has anything to with him breaking a promise to you," Yuki said. "You shouldn't have told him that I'd be here."

"Well, I didn't really have to, Yuki. He knows you're staying with me after all," The Headmaster commented. "He better show up, though. Oh I may have to fire him after all! I told him he was to help you and when the last time he even bothered to speak to you?"

"3 days ago…back at the restaurant," Yuki replied. "You shouldn't fire him, though, Headmaster. Zero deserves this job. And all he's every really wanted is to be a part of the Hunter's Association."

"Actually, I'm worried about him for reasons other than his disobedience. I don't like that fact that he's drinking his targets' blood. It just shows how desperate he really is and how sick he's getting." The Headmaster shook his head.

"You…you know he's been drinking his targets' blood?" Yuki questioned.

"Yes…he reeks of that tainted poison, unfortunately," The Headmaster sighed. "And I'm afraid it's only gotten worse these past few nights."

"It's because he's seeking a taste he's desperately longing for, but somehow can't seem to remember exactly what that is, isn't it?" Yuki asked.

"Yes, Yuki, I'm afraid so," The Headmaster nodded. "And if you don't give him some of your blood soon, then this may truly be the end for Zero."

Zero, please…just hang on. Just for a little while longer. I promise, just as soon as Artemis is through Kaname's heart, this nightmare will all be over.

"Headmaster, don't you think we should take all the photos of me off the wall before Zero gets here?" Yuki suggested.

"I…I suppose that would be the only logical thing to do, assuming he's actually coming," The Headmaster considered. "Go on then and collect them all, just in case, then."

Yuki wandered out the kitchen and down the hall, pulling frames down one by one. Zero looked so sad in each and every one, while Yuki stood beaming next to him. That fake smile appeared in every one, trying to cheer Zero up instead of break down crying on his behalf. Memories of running around outside and eating ice cream together on hot summer afternoons were only sad ones, as Zero was almost always in a sour mood. And yet somehow she had managed to enter the dark grounds of his heart. Somehow he had fallen in love with her without her realizing. He would have died trying to hide it, for what life could a Level E vampire ever hope to have?

You'll have that life, Zero. You'll find someone who will deserve you more than me and you won't have to worry about never having the chance at a normal life again.

Yuki began to cry again as she clutched the pictures to her chest. Yuki Cross had been such a naïve and simple being and she had lived in a simple and naïve little world. Even though she'd known Cross Academy's deepest secret, she'd known nothing of how the existence of vampires was truly affecting the world. Suddenly, though, she had found herself standing on the front lines of war she hadn't even realized was going on. And she'd been simply too incapable to stay standing.

What would have happened if I had left the past alone? Why, after ten years, did it suddenly meant so much that it drove me to the brink of insanity? What triggered me to finally burst? Why had there been so much blood?

"Hey, what are you doing?" Zero's voice demanded from behind her. "You can't just wander around someone else's home ripping pictures off the walls!"

"I…uh," Yuki choked as she desperately pulled the last two frames that hung in the hallway. She panicked as considered the photos Zero had obliviously walked by in the living room as he entered the house unannounced. She wondered how she still possibly get to them all.

"Well?" Zero demanded. "Why are taking down all the Headmaster's pictures?"

"Oh, Zero-kun," The Headmaster scolded, peeking his head out from the kitchen. "Yuki simply wanted to repay my hospitality. She said she noticed the frames had gotten dusty and even though I insisted that it wasn't necessary, she simply insisted that she must clean them all for me!"

"Oh," Zero replied.

"I'm so sorry for my son's gruff behavior!" The Headmaster apologized since Zero didn't have the decency too. Zero rolled his eyes at being called 'son.' "Now, Zero, why don't you quit harassing our guest and come help me finish things up in here?"

Zero sighed and moodily walked into the kitchen. The Headmaster nodded at Yuki to tell her to continue before slipping back into the kitchen. Yuki quickly gathered up the rest of the photos and then went to her room to store them on her bed. She closed the door behind her before making her way back to the kitchen so Zero wouldn't have the chance to notice them there.

Zero stepped out the kitchen and after noticing Yuki standing beside her bedroom door, said, "Hey, the Headmaster says to leave the frames for now and come eat dinner. Everything's ready now."

"Oh, okay," Yuki replied.

As she started making her way towards the dining room, Zero commented, "Hey, that's not the Headmaster's guest room. What were you doing in it just now?"

"I set the pictures down in there so I could eat," Yuki said.

"Yes, but that's the Headmaster's daughter room!" Zero snapped. "Don't you have any respect for the dead?"

"Respect…for the dead…?" Yuki murmured.

"Yes," Zero said sternly, "Or didn't you have any idea that the Headmaster had a daughter who passed away?"

Yuki stared back at Zero, her face growing pale. This, this is what she had feared the most…