Disclaimer: Still not owning……..

A/N: If you guys want to suggest some ideas, I'll be happy to take them! I'm having a hard time thinking up new chapter, so please help!

Stage 7: Itai Kimochi

Dark started to fly home from another successful heist. He wondered why the silver-winged girl he knew didn't show up this time.

He put the thought aside and continued flying home. As he flew over the cliff overlooking the sea, he spotted a figure standing at the edge of the cliff. A figure with silver wings that shone in the moonlight……

"Starr?" Dark asked.

On the cliff, Starr looked down at the jagged rocks below. The waves splashed against the sharp rocks. One will surely die a very painful death if he falls off the edge of the cliff.

"Starr, why are you doing this?" Izumi asked worriedly.

"Because……….life isn't worth living anymore," Starr said softly. "All these feelings…….are too unbearable……too painful."

"But, what about me? And Mom and Dad?"

"Tell them, the family curse is broken. They don't have to worry about you anymore."

"What about Dark?"

Starr stopped short. Tears welled up her eyes.

"He's the reason why I'm suffering under Krad. I should never have met him."

"You're blaming him for our life?!"

"No, not really. It's not him. It's me. It's because I'm alive that Dark is having a hard time with Krad. Now, I'm going to end it all."

Starr prepared herself for the jump. Her tears flowed continuously down her face. She looked down once again and smiled bitterly.

"Why am I crying? I should be happy that I'm ridding myself of this mission. And Krad."

"Starr………"

"Don't worry Izumi; I'll protect you with my telekinesis. It'll only be me that will be gone. You'll be safe."

"Don't Starr, please don't!" Izumi was crying too.

"It's too late, Izumi. I'm sick of this life. I can't take it anymore. If I can't be free in life, I may be in death."

"Please……Starr……..I'm begging you……"

"Goodbye, Izumi."

Starr took one deep breath and jumped down to the deadly rocks below. She folded her wings so they would not catch air as she fell, faster and faster. Starr closed her eyes and waited for the searing pain that would end her life. Forever.

But it never came.

Instead, she felt that something or someone was carrying her high in the air, away from her death. Starr opened her eyes and found herself staring up at an angry pair of purple eyes.

"Dark?!"

"You're one crazy girl," Dark said as he carried her to the fountain plaza. He gently set her down. Starr stood crying. Then suddenly, she slapped him. Dark staggered back, holding his stinging cheek.

"Ow! Is this the thanks I get for saving your life?!"

"I didn't want to be saved, idiot! Didn't you see me jump on my own?"

"You want to kill yourself?!"

"Yes, that's exactly what I want to do, Dark! But you went and interfered! Don't you see?! I want to end it all! I'm sick of my life! I hate having to follow Krad's orders! I'm disgusted at him for being my master! I saw that the only way I'll be free is in death!"

"Do you think you'll be able to take the guilt?" Dark snapped.

Starr stopped short. "Guilt?"

"Taking your life is a heavy sin, Starr. You'll never be eased from that guilt, even in the other world."

"Why should I care?! Nobody cares about me anyway!"

This time, it was Dark who slapped Starr – really hard. Starr fell to the ground, too surprised to retort. She looked up at Dark, shocked at what he did.

"You're blind Starr. You're consumed by your own guilt and heavy feelings that you don't notice the people who care for you."

"People……who care for me?"

"Look around you Starr. They're just there. There's Izumi. Izumi's family. Daisuke."

"Izumi………."

"Starr, he's right," Izumi said softly. "I do care for you, like you were my sister."

"My sister………?"

"Mom and Dad love you Starr. They treat as you as if you were their own daughter. Daisuke cares for you as a friend Starr. He wants to help you be free."

"Daisuke………." Starr looked at the grass, more teas flowing down her face.

"And there's me," Dark added.

"You……..care about me?" Starr asked surprised. She knew Dark loved someone else. She knew it wasn't the brown-haired girl who kept showing up at Dark's heists.

"I care about you like a friend would," Dark said. "Friends care for each other. We are friends, right?"

"Uh……yeah," Starr said uneasily. These were weird words from Dark. It's like another, deeper, more caring side of Dark that no one knew about.

"So, stop thinking about killing yourself, we're there to help you," Izumi said. "Don't let Krad's anger get in the way of your feelings for you-know-who……."

"Shut up!" Starr hissed. Izumi smiled. Looks like Starr's back to her normal self again.

"For the record," Dark said, "I don't think death can break your binding to Krad. You said only a very powerful power can free you right? That'll be easy if it was death, because everyone has the power to kill someone."

"Or to kill themselves," Starr said thoughtfully.

"It's another power, and if you kill yourself, you'll never ever be free."

"Yeah, maybe you're right, Dark. I still have a chance for freedom."

"Glad to hear it." He turned to leave. "And if I ever catch you trying to jump off that cliff again, I'll drop you off there myself."

"Yes, Dark. I'll be good." Starr laughed like her old self again.

"I guess I better get going," Dark said.

"One more thing, Dark."

"What is it?"

Starr stared at him seriously. Her eyes burned into his. "Stop dwelling in the past."

Dark nodded and flew away. Starr watched him go, her heart beating madly in her chest. She thought for a moment.

"You know what Izumi?"

"What?"

"I'll try to live. It's because of Dark that makes my life bearable. As long as he's here, I don't care if painful feelings weigh me down."

"You're so in love with him, Starr."

"I know. But he loves someone else."

"Is that why you told him to 'stop dwelling in the past?'"

Starr didn't answer but spread her wings and started to fly home. Meanwhile, Dark pondered on what Starr said to him.

"'Stop dwelling in the past?' What does she mean?" Dark asked himself.