Chapter 2 – A Lit Flame

Dark awoke from his nap to find that Daisuke was back home at the Niwa mansion.

'We're going to steal the Feather Token today,' Daisuke informed him.

Dark nodded, knowing that his Tamer would sense it. He did, and he returned to watching the pointless drivel of an American cartoon show on the TV called "Johnny Test". Though it was amusing at certain parts of the show, it was quite . . . stupid.

The Phantom Thief watched a few minutes of the show with his Tamer, but after seeing the main character Johnny do several stupid things, including making his talking dog act like a girl, he decided it wasn't doing much to help his already deteriorating brain cells. Instead he retreated into his own world within the redhead once more, his eyes gazing into complete darkness. Within his reality, flowers bloomed but wilted within seconds, as in the real world, he lived and found happiness – until he remembered the love he had lost to his own master. Within, he allowed the chants of the past and its horrifying images to dissolve into the black so that he was once again back in the past, hundreds of years before.

"Dark! There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you!"

He turned to look into the warm, brown eyes of Riku Harada. Her ceremonial white gown pooled around her dainty feet, which were adorned with pure white, satin slippers. A necklace graced her neck. The shining, green gem hanging from it smiled at him with its own inner light.

He smiled at the concern in her eyes. A few years before, the chocolate orbs would have been filled with hate and annoyance.

"Oh, really? Well I thought you would know to look for me in your bedroom. Isn't it obvious that I would want to be in here?"

Riku's face turned bright red and the concern was gone from her face.

Slapping the Thief's arm, she cried, "That is vulgar humor! Why are you really in here anyway?"

Dark laughed. "Relax. I, actually, wasn't here to express my undying love for you." Here, Riku made a face. "Your mother asked me to look for you."

"Mother told me you got lost."

"Well, actually, I did. I finally found my way here three hours after your mother first told me to look for you."

"Dark, Mother told me that she saw you at noon. It's nearly midnight."

"Oh."

"WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING IN HERE?"

"Ehhh . . . . Nothing perverted, so don't get too excited." Riku made another face. "Fine, fine. I took a long time because I wanted to find one of your fancy party gowns -"

"DARK!"

"- to give as a gift to Krad when he comes to visit this year. He looks so much like a girl that I'm sure he wouldn't mind dressing like one. After all, everyone knows he's after Prince Satoshi's heart. Which is disgusting, in case you haven't noticed."

Riku rolled her eyes, a knowing smile on her face. Her light laughter echoed down the halls.

Dark sighed, bringing him back to the present; to reality. How he missed the sweet memories of the past, the random, yet warm moments spent in the company of one who loved him for who he was, for the fact that he was Dark, not Phantom Thief Dark: the hot guy who stole artifacts and paintings from other people.

Oh, Riku. How I wish you remembered my love for you.

…….

"Riku! Let's go watch Dark tonight!"

Riku groaned. She looked at her twin sister, who was dressed in a white dress. It hung from her thin frame by spaghetti straps, and the skirt ended just at her knees. It looked really nice on her sibling, but she would've gagged if she had to wear it herself.

"Again, Risa? I went with you last week. Leave me alone. It's bad enough that you have to talk about him every minute, every day, of our lives, but now you want me to go with you to watch him steal a feather?"

"Riku! It's not just any feather! The Feather Token symbolizes everlasting love, and it was supposed to have been given to a beautiful maiden a long time ago by a man – a promise to the maiden that he would one day find her again after they parted! Oh, Riku, you HAVE to come with me! What if Dark decides to give it away? I want to be there so that he doesn't have to look for me!"

The brunette rolled her eyes. Her sister was so dramatically delusional that she thought a perverted criminal would give her a dirty bird feather. One, Dark never gave anyone anything that he stole. That would lose the meaning of stealing. And two, he was a disgusting bastard who played with girls' hearts; guys like him never stopped for a moment to think about how the girl he was messing with might actually like him for real. Riku would not, WOULD NOT, allow Risa to have her heart broken by some stupid idiot like him.

"Riku, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaasssssssssseeeee. I promise, I will never, EVER, ask you to go with me again." Risa's eyes went wide, imitating a cute little puppy. (Riku didn't bother pointing out that Risa had said the same thing the last time she had asked her to go to the museum.)

Riku shook her head. She wouldn't let in this time.

"Rikuuuu." Whimper. "Please…"

The elder twin turned to see tears pooling in the younger's eyes.

She let out an exasperated sigh. She hated seeing her sister cry. "Fiiiinnnneeee."

Risa squealed. "Yay!" Holding out a dress identical to hers, she cried, "Now put this on! If we're going to go meet Dark, we're going to meet him looking good!"

"WHAT! NO WAY AM I WEARING THAT DRESS!"

…….

"Daisuke? It's time to go to the museum, darling!"

The redhead stumbled down the stairs, dressed in yet another one of Emiko's Phantom Thief costumes.

She squealed. "Daisuke you look so cute!" She pinched his cheeks, receiving a surprised yelp from him.

Pulling something out from her pocket, Mrs. Niwa exclaimed, "Now let's go! You don't want to be late, do you?"

Daisuke gazed at the picture. The younger Harada twin stared back at him, and her warm smile made his heart skip a beat. Heat rushed to his cheeks and his face turned as red as his fiery hair. He immediately turned into his other self.

Dark slumped in his place.

He received a light slap on his shoulder. "Now, now, Dark! Stand up straight! You're a Phantom Thief! Now act like it!"

Mrs. Niwa's pep talk only earned her a blank stare.

Her face softened.

"Dark, are you alright?"

No answer.

"Dark, this is about Riku, isn't it?"

Again, there was no spoken answer, only an unspoken one – the pained look in his eyes as she uttered that name.

"Dark, don't worry about her." Emiko placed her hands on his shoulders. "Look, if you two are meant to be together, then you will be, okay? Fate always does what it means to do. Whether if it is to bring two souls together, or keep them apart. But it'll all turn out fine in the end. Humans weren't meant to live in pain forever."

The Phantom Thief looked down at her with dead eyes.

"Emiko, I'm no human."

She winced.

"Sorry. But you were, once. Remember? It was Riku's gift, before she had to bring you and the Niwa line together. . . And you know what? If you two are here, in this time, in this same time, then I'm sure there is a reason. After all, fate wasn't made to bring misery, but to help people to carry on in their lives. And if fate has caused you two to live again in this same time in history, then there is a definite reason. And like I said, what that reason is, I don't know. Nobody knows. But it'll turn out alright in the end. It almost always does."

He gave her a weak smile.

But she took it as a good sign because of the little spark that had once again lit within his violet eyes.

She gave him a tight hug.

"I'm sure she still loves you, deep inside, Dark. She may not remember you, but she's the same ol' Riku you knew so long ago."

The Phantom Thief nodded, and hope rose up within him once again.

He didn't know whether he would ever feel totally complete like he once had, but at least now he had hope. That little flame within his heart had been ignited within his soul once again. And that would help him continue on.

I haven't given up on you, yet, Riku. And I hope you haven't given up on me.

…….

"How did you get him to take your words to heart in such a short amount of time?"

Emiko turned to face her husband who had been listening to the conversation from the shadows at the top of the stairs.

She gave him a small, sad smile. "He's dwelled on the past for a month. He was searching for something to hold onto. To help him continue on. And I did just that."

Kosuke nodded and, taking Emiko's hand, the two watched the winged man fly into the night, and they wished him luck.

…….

Dark spread out his wings, glad to be flying among the stars again. The cool, night air brought relief to his lungs and gave him peace of mind. Flying was one of the few things that could get him to relax and let go of his concerns and fears.

Making a few turns, he found himself just above a balcony that could be walked upon when two glass doors were opened from the great mansion. Inside, he could hear yells and screams and insults being thrown.

He chuckled. Riku and Risa were at it again.

He swooped down low, preparing to land on the balcony.

'DARK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T GO OVER THERE!'

Dark smirked, for the old confidence from before had come back to him. Well, why not? Afraid I might win Risa's heart over? Dark teased.

He felt his Tamer's heart soar at the spoken name. He chuckled again.

All right. I won't go over there. But only because we need to get the museum before we're late.

With that said, the Thief continued his flight over the sparkling city of Azumano.

…….

Risa's squeal pierced her ears.

"RIKU YOU LOOK SO CUTE!"

She winced. "Err. . . Thanks. Let's just go, okay?"

Risa nodded, a smile playing on her lips.

After bidding their short good-byes to their mother, who was excited over Risa's little idea about the possibility that Dark might give her the feather, the two set off to the museum with Risa in the lead.

After a few moments of peaceful silence, Risa commented, "If only Daisuke could see you like this, huh?" Her grin made Riku's cheeks turn the color of the said one's eyes. Risa laughed. "I think you look pretty in those clothes," she added. "Why don't you ever dress like that at school? I'm sure guys would pay more attention to you."

Riku turned to her, not thinking that the words she was about to speak would be taken the wrong way. ". . . Risa, I'm not like you," she answered, regretting the words immediately.

The younger's eyes filled with hurt. She tried to cover it up with anger. "What's that supposed to mean! You have no right to say that, you over-grown . . . ROAD KILL!"

The elder's eyes widened at the sudden outburst. She felt shameful for saying what she did, but it did not stop her short temper from rising up within her. "I mean I don't like to dress up just to get guys to like me! I'm a unique human being, and I don't need to try to win someone's affection with shallow acts! I DON'T NEED TO ACT LIKE AN AIR HEAD LIKE YOU!"

Risa flinched and grew quiet, and she turned away.

Again, Riku regretted her words. She silently closed her eyes, begging her conscience to take away the guilt that pierced her heart. She knew Risa was about to cry, and it made her want to do the same. She shook her head in remorse, looking anywhere but at her sister.

The night grew quiet as the two siblings walked on.

A/N - Sorry for such a long wait! School and tutoring is taking up so much of my time, and I've been having writer's block. I'm seriously REALLY sorry! Please forgive me! I hope I made up for such a long absence with this (kind of, I suppose) long chapter! I've probably reread and proofread it like 3-5 or 5-7 times (or something). And I can't promise that the next chapter will come out soon since I need to continue other series I'm working on too, but I'll try to write it when I have time.

And also, if you want me to answer your questions and reviews, please sign in so that I can write back directly. (SelenaMousy/SelenaKurashi: I did write the poem myself; thanks for the compliment. And it would depend on what you wanted to use the poem for. And sorry for taking a long time to answer!)

Constructive critism and advice is GREATLY welcomed! And please tell me if I wrote this chapter well. I tried so hard to make it practically perfect that I'd really like to hear some feedback!