Title: Chasing the Dream
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Pairing: Dark x OC, Daisuke x Riku, Satoshi x Risa
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: They used to say that if man was meant to fly, he'd have wings. But he did fly. He discovered that he had to.
Word Count: 1,762
Warnings: I'm pretending the anime ending never happened. So this is going the based off the abrupt ending of the manga and make assumptions as to what happened from there.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Summary is from Star Trek: The Original Series.
A/N: Dark deserves love. And if I'm being completely honest with you, I never liked Risa (other stories involving her notwithstanding). So I'm not pairing her with him here, and only for sake of avoiding two OC characters am I putting her with my Satoshi.
When they arrived safely back at the circus, it was empty. For a moment Dark was flabbergasted by the abrupt change in scenery, and returning into quiet and calm instead of the frenzy he had been expecting and preparing for. But his confusion only lasted a mere moment, because his first breath of air in the ring was with his own lungs, and his second was from Dai's body.
He was unable to stop the feeling of disappointment. He had forgotten, for a blissful moment he had actually forgotten, that he was not his own person. That he wasn't just a man rescuing a girl.
Hey, little Niwa.
"You're back!" Dark could feel the relief surge through Dai at the contact, relief that he made it out safe, relief that he was back inside Dai's head.
Yup, right back where I belong, even though he tried, he couldn't keep his voice free of resentment. Where is everybody? It's like a ghost town here.
"Well when we got back, it was a mad house here. Security was trying to arrest us, since we kind of pulled the painting down with us, and apparently it's been with them for years. And then Kei-san had started yelling at everyone and managed to get us out. Then everyone was even more angry. But luckily he called Uncle Hiwatari." Dai turned and Dark noticed for the first time, Satoshi standing at the entrance, one hand protectively on his son's shoulder, as he spoke to the local police. As if feeling his nephew's eyes on him, he turned and caught Dai's eye. In that eerie way only people who knew about Dark could do, Satoshi looked right through Dai and nodded at Dark. Dai returned the gesture with a wave. "Uncle cleared the place out, and helped us get you guys out."
Thanks, kiddo.
"He said you'd deal with sealing the artwork?" It was more statement than question, but Dark answered it anyway, as they began to walk over to where Takara and Setsuna were alternatively hugging each other and laughing.
Yeah, he won't be bothering anyone anymore. Dark was only half paying attention to Dai now, all of his focus on Takara, as she brushed tears of happiness and relief from her eyes, her hands seeming to flutter over her sister in a continued effort to assure herself that she was alright.
"Setsuna-san, Takara-san, are you alright?"
Two sets of blue eyes turned to smile at Dai. "Oh, yes, Dai-san!" The younger sister beamed, blushing, at him. "We were just talking about how brave you two were."
Takara's smile was slightly more forced, and she was staring into Dai's eyes like she was trying to see Dark. See me, please see me… His fingers twitched with wanting to brush her hair behind her eyes, he wanted to hold her, consolidate her, wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"Is Dark –" she swallowed thickly, and then forced herself to go on. "Is Dark in there?"
Dai nodded. Tell her I told her it would be alright.
"He said he told you it would be alright." Dai paused a moment, listening. "And that he wasn't lying when he said that you were better than any dream Hikari could create." Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"Oh, Dark…"
After that, Daisuke appeared with the Harada twins, and chaos broke loose again. Worried mothers and proud fathers took up so much time and attention, that it was only briefly that Dai could bid farewell to the Takahashi girls. Dark worried over the spark he felt when Dai held Setsuna's hand in his before they left. He held it as tightly as a promise. It felt like the future in one fleeting gesture. It felt like Daisuke kissing Riku and suddenly, irrevocably, knowing that he loved her. It felt like the end.
Two weeks later and Dark was coming to terms with the fact that his time was, once again, over. Dai loved her. And though he fretted and worried and panicked that Setsuna did not love him back, Dark had seen enough Sacred Maiden's to know what it looked like when one loved his tamer. He knew what the look in Setsuna's eyes meant already, even if Dai didn't. And she had already accepted that he was the Phantom Thief, in the carefree innocent way that some young girls have. She accepted it like she accepted that they sky was blue or that the sun was bright – it was just the way the world was. And once Dai confessed his love to her, she would reciprocate, and Dark would fade away, like a memory.
Never to see Takara like this. To be forced to appear again in the body of her nephew. To be the same, while she had lived a lifetime without him.
I can't do this.
"Can't do what, Dark?"
Nothing. He huffed out a sigh. Can you just make this confession quick? I have places to go.
"Places to go…?"
Don't worry about it, little Niwa.
"Dark… I know the Phantom Thief is gone when – if Setsuna-san loves me, too, but… but you still stay with me, right?"
Dark smiled. I'll always be with you, Dai, just… a much quieter version.
"Dark…"
Don't worry about it, kid. It's the story of my life. And if his voice still sounded sullen and bitter, well, he thought he deserved that, just a little bit. Now let's go get that Maiden of yours!
Setsuna was waiting patiently in the park, not too far from where Dark and Takara had first met. When she heard Dai, she spun, dress flaring out around her hips, even as her hair flared around her face, eyes bright and wide and joyful. "Dai-san!"
Dark felt that familiar feeling settle low in Dai's stomach, equal parts happiness and terror. "Setsuna-san." The way he said her name was like a prayer. "I have something to tell you. I –" He took her hands tightly in his, pulling her close, looking into her eyes. "I love you, Setsuna."
For a moment, there was stillness, then Setsuna erupted into movement, wrenching her hands away from Dai to fling her arms around his neck. "Oh, Dai! I love you, too!"
And just like he knew it would, just like he had felt dozens of times before, Dark felt a wrench along his heart, a rip along his soul, as he and Niwa began to split apart.
"Dark?!"
I'm still here, little Niwa. He could feel Dai's concern seeping through the tattered remains of their bond and through the blurry vision he still had, he could make out Setsuna staring at him in concern. He thought he heard her ask what was wrong, thought that maybe he could hear Dai speaking to her, but it sounded far away, came to him only in fragments. He thought he heard Takara's name, but maybe that's just what he wanted to hear.
Niwa…
"Y-yeah?" His voice was quavering.
This was the best lifetime I've had, kiddo… I'll see you again…
"Dark?"
That sounded like…
"Dark!"
He tried to focus through Dai's eyes. Caught a fuzzy image of haloed blonde hair, suffused with sunlight, eyes a teary blue. Setsuna…?
"Dark it's me." The voice was soft, husky with tears. "It's Takara."
Takara… Dark tried to smile, but he was almost gone.
"Dark, here, wait." Dai sounded frantic, heart racing. No, wait… he was thinking so strongly about Setsuna, about his love that…
"Dark!" Takara threw her arms around a flabbergasted Phantom Thief.
Say goodbye, Dark…
"Takara," he breathed out her name with such tenderness as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, tight enough that it probably hurt her, but she didn't say anything, only pulled him closer. He buried his face in the curve of her neck, one hand fisted in her long, long hair. "I don't want to go." He was startled to realize his throat was thick with emotion, his eyes pricking with tears.
She tried to say his name, but it came out a sob, instead.
Dark could feel his hold on Dai's body slipping, feel his time here coming to an end. He brushed soothing fingers through her hair, hoping she didn't notice them trembling, and lifted his head so he could press their foreheads together. "Takara, my greatest treasure." Her eyes opened and they stared at one another, lost in a world of their own, trapped behind the curtains of their hair. "Your heart is the greatest thing I have ever stolen in all of my lifetimes." She cast him a tremulous smile. "And if I live another hundred generations, I will never meet a thief as great as you: the girl who stole the heart of a Phantom Thief."
He pressed his lips to hers, urgent, harsh, demanding, trying to convey everything he felt in that one last desperate brush of lips. He tried to sear the memory of this moment into his mind: her mouth yielding and open under his, her body plaint in his arms, her hands clutching him closer at his waist, one fisted in the hair at the nape of his neck. She tasted like salt and soda, she smelled like sun. Her heartbeat pounded against his chest.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
"I love you."
When he pulled back, she made to follow, but he was already diffusing with light, body now Niwa, the part of him that was Dark silent and gone.
And Takara fell to the ground and cried.
"It's been a long time since you've asked me for a favor, brother-in-law."
"Ah, come on Satoshi, don't be like that, don't you want to help your nephew out?"
Glasses glinted as Satoshi reached up one graceful hand to push them up the bridge of his nose. "I suppose. What did you have in mind?"
