Hello all! I've returned with another chapter! But first i would like to thank my lovely reviewers; FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne and the ever so mysterious Anon! Along with my new story followers! I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.

Disclaimer: Yeah I still only own my Characters and the plot. :/

Crow finally returned to Poppo Time after having absolutely no luck in finding Raven, his mark did react for a bit there. But stopped after a while, so he paid no attention to it. As soon as he walked in he noticed how quiet it was, Yusei and Bruno were standing around looking at something, their bodies blocking whatever they were so focused on.

"Hey guys, what's up?" he said parking his runner and walking over to them, his heart stopped as he got a look at what they were staring at; a black and purple runner was being held up by a jack, at least what was left of it. Pieces of it were spread out around it, the front half was so smashed it didn't even look like a runner.

His first thoughts were, 'Nobody could of survived a crash like that.' But Yusei put a hand on his shoulder,

"Dude, calm down. She's alright, Jack picked her up and she's with him now. The runner is pretty banged up but Bruno talked to her." Said blue haired man spoke up now.

"Yeah! She was screaming pretty loudly, but looked just fine." He smiled as he said this,

"Plus it's better than it looks! The frame is still pretty much intact and the engine was only dented a bit, and the steering is pretty banged up, not to mention the duel engine, and the outer armor needs to be replaced. Oh! And-"Yusei placed a hand over Bruno's mouth to stop him as it wasn't helping Crow in the least.

"He means it's bad, but not irreparable. And Raven's fine, you know Jack; he will take good care of her." Crow nodded knowing he was right, but he still needed a way to apologize to her. That's when a thought came to mind,

"Do you think we could fix it up? I messed up big time with her and I think it would make her really happy if we did!"

Yusei looked to Bruno who nodded and they set to work.

Raven was once again wandering aimlessly, only this time without her runner. Which made her sigh every time she thought about it, 'I'm going to have to go get it eventually from them, and fixing it is going to take forever. Looks like I'm not going anywhere for a while.'

Raven eventually found a hospital and after playing with the security cameras so they wouldn't see who left the package containing their cure she quickly ran into the stream of people. Now that she finally got a good look around, she did love this place.

Even with all of the people around she didn't feel like anyone would be of great danger to her, she finally broke away from the crowd and sat in the square right on the edge of the fountain. She needed to clear her mind, so she pulled out her sketch book and started sketching random people.

It didn't take long before her thoughts were nothing but what she was working on and how she should draw this person's hair or hand or if the line was straight. She jumped however when someone shouted her name right in her ear.

"RAVEN!" her pencil flew out of her hand and into the fountain and her sketchbook onto the floor in front of her. She turned and saw the teal haired boy again, 'Le- something…Oh! Leo!' she thought as she quickly smiled at him.

"S-Sorry! I wasn't paying attention. How are you Leo?" the boy smiled but was soon hit over the head with a brown book bag. His sister Luna stood behind him,

"Dummy, you scared her! Geeze can't you at least say hello like a normal person?" he turned about to yell when Akiza came running up.

"Sorry I'm late! I got distracted with my studies!" she was breathing hard, they were all still wearing their school clothes.

"It's no biggie! Look who we found!" Akiza looked up and noticed Raven sitting there,

"oh dear! Aren't you cold? That jacket can't be very warm!"

Now that the dark haired girl thought about it, she was getting rather cold. But she didn't have anything warmer,

"Akiza, why don't we invite her? I bet she would love to come along!" Luna suggested and the magenta haired girl nodded.

"Umm…go where?" Leo sighed as he walked the length of the fountain,

"Luna and Akiza are gonna go to the mall to shop for coats! Ugh boring!" he whined,

"oh shut up Leo, you need one too so don't complain. Would you like to come with us Raven?" Luna said happily.

Raven couldn't resist how cute she was so without thinking she said yes and they were off.

~0~0~0~

After a few hours and visiting many stores the four sat at a table in the food court drinking their sodas. Raven wasn't sure about this trip, but she did enjoy herself a lot. And Akiza and Luna had made her get so many things. Shirts, jeans, boots, sneakers, and even a dress!

But her favorite thing had to be the coats she found; one was long and blue stopping just above her knee, it had a belt around the waist before it flared out around her thighs, it had buttons going up to her neck and sleeves that were so long they had to fold them up a bit, but it was still amazing. The other one Akiza had insisted she buy, it was a fluffy down jacket this one was shorter stopping just below her belt with a zipper and buttons going all the way up and a hood with what the store owner had assured her was faux fur around it, Luna had also found a long orange scarf with a blackbird at the end to match.

Raven was so tired, but she didn't want this trip to end. And before she knew it they were standing outside of Poppo Time as the sun was just about to set. Not ready to face the orange haired man just yet she turned to leave.

"W-well, I guess I should be going now…" But Akiza dragged her back toward the door laughing,

"No way! We've got to show the guys what we got! Especially what we got them!"

She tried to wiggle out of the woman's grasp but her grip was like a vice, Raven had told them about what had happened between her and Crow, and she certainly wasn't ready to have to face him. But it appeared Akiza wasn't giving her a choice in the matter.

Raven looked down at the brown bag in her hand, and sighed. 'I suppose she does have a point.'

"Yusei! We're back!" Akiza said as they entered the room, She stared at the floor and blush across her face, but she could still hear them stuttering, as if they were hiding something. But when she looked up there was nothing out of the ordinary, Just Yusei smiling at Akiza as she spoke with him and Bruno avoiding eye contact with her.

That's when she noticed the black tarp covering something.

'Well, unless that tarp was there last time and I didn't see it. Maybe Yusei started something new?' she thought as her pale blue eyes scanned around for what was left of her own runner. Her heart sank as she found there was no trace of it, 'Was it really that badly damaged?' she couldn't remember.

"Hey guys." Bruno said breaking her from her thoughts, "How was the mall? Get anything good?" her heart sank further as Bruno still avoided eye contact with her,

"Oh yeah, especially Raven here! What kind of girl doesn't own a dress?!" Leo said plunking his bags down and sitting on the couch.

Raven blushed and looked around for Crow, when she didn't see him she tried for his runner. Both were missing, she sighed in both relief and disappointment. Her and Akiza had found something special and she wanted Crow to see it, 'Oh well, he probably doesn't want to see me anyway.' Her heart felt like it had barbed wire around it, a constant pain but not enough to kill her just yet, even with the tears she felt forming behind her eyes she refused to cry.

"Raven?" said girl blinked as Luna stood in front of her wearing her new coat,

"You should show them yours too! It's so pretty!" Raven was reluctant,

"Yeah come on, you bought it, and so you should show it off!" Bruno said finally looking her in the eye.

Raven nodded as she dug it out the long blue one and after slipping off her own jacket and making sure no one saw her marks she pulled it on. It wrapped around her perfectly and though it was a little long in the arms the cuff sleeves were very comfortable.

Akiza and Luna smiled, Leo got up and quickly dug inside her bag pulling out her orange scarf and tying it a little too tightly around her neck. She coughed and loosened it a bit, the bird on it was black and it made her happy to have it on her chest.

Bruno smiled,

"Wow, you look great Raven! Very cute!" the girl blushed and clasped her hands together.

"T-Thank y-you." She stuttered out,

"I agree, that's a good choice." Yusei chimed in; it was all Raven could do to keep from fainting from so much praise.

The sound of a runner pulling in distracted them from Raven, her eyes widened as Crow returned from wherever he was. After pulling off his helmet he grabbed the box that was tied to the back of the Blackbird, his cheeks were red from the cold but it didn't seem to bother him as he locked eyes with Raven.

She blushed more, if that was possible, as he looked her up and down;

"Wow…" There was a strangeness in his voice that made Raven's heart rise just a little. Crow still seemed to be floundering as Yusei asked him something.

"Crow, did you get it?" said red-haired boy shook himself from the trance, and nodded his head before putting the box he held down by the tarp.

"Oh speaking of getting something, we brought you guys something too!" Akiza said holding up her bags.

"Akiza, you didn't have to do that." Yusei said smiling at her with a strange look in his eyes. Now that Raven thought about it, he always seemed to get that look when Akiza was brought up, or around. It was a look very similar to the look she saw in Jack's eyes as he sat by Carly's bedside and even….'the look Crow gives me' she shook that thought away as his words from previous night hit her again.

Akiza pulled out a black jacket with black and yellow in the shoulders and white fur around the collar. She blushed slightly,

"This is for you Yusei." He blushed as he took it nodding his thanks.

Luna stood in front of Bruno and smiled as she handed him a bag,

"This is for you Bruno!" he opened it and smiled as he held up a blue down jacket with black arms and matching buttons going all the way up. This one had a hood with black fur around it.

"Thank you so much Luna, Leo! I will wear it all the time!"

Akiza was staring at Raven, motioning over to Crow who was standing awkwardly by the stairs. She blushed losing her nerve, Akiza walked over and looping her arm through Raven's and dragging her over to the red head.

"I think Raven got you something too Crow." Akiza pushed her toward him and she blushed more gripping the handle of the bag. Her heart was pounding so hard she wondered if everyone could hear it too, she closed her eyes and thrust the bag toward him as tears formed in her eyes.

"I-I umm…G-Got this f-for y-you. I-I hope y-you l-like I-It." As he took the bag she pressed her shaking arms against her chest to calm the fierce pounding in her chest. Crow smiled wide as he held up a brown down jacket with buttoned pockets on the breast and white fur trim around the hood.

Tears fell down her face as he smiled at her with that look, and when he wrapped his arms securely around her shoulders something inside her broke. The hurt from before vanished and the clamp around her heart seemed to come loose, she couldn't stop the tears from cascading down her cheeks or the sobs from wracking her body, she was probably blushing also but that wasn't on her list of worries at the moment.

Raven gripped his shirt tightly as she buried her face in his neck,

"I-I'm so sorry Crow! I-I'm so sorry you had to say those words. P-Please don't hate me." Raven wasn't sure how to control herself at this point, or even if she wanted too.

Crow was surprised, to say the least; first he gets a new jacket and now he had a sobbing girl in his arms apologizing over and over again. Crow thought back to when he was taking care of the children in Satellite; he rubbed circles on her back and shushed her.

"It's ok, shhh." He said over and over, he figured they needed some privacy right about now so he carefully lifted her under her legs and walked up the stairs.

"You gonna be ok Crow?" Yusei asked seriously, he nodded and walked into his room shutting the door behind him.

Setting her down on the bed he grabbed the box of tissue on his dresser and handed it too her, she stared at the ground as she took some and wiped her eyes. He sat beside her and grabbed her hand; it was cold in his grasp.

"Raven listen, you don't need to apologize about before. I was the one who was a jerk-face. I didn't take the time to understand what was going on before running my mouth, and then I let my temper get the better of me. And now because I chased you off you got in a horrible accident, so you, Raven have nothing to be sorry for." He squeezed her hand as he said that.

It had been killing him that he had said such a horrible thing to her, and every sniffle she made and tear that rolled down her cheeks tore him apart inside. Raven didn't say anything for a long while, the red head wasn't sure how much time had passed though but it felt long.

Finally she tried saying something, her voice still thick with emotion. "Crow, I-I'm not a strong person. I get scared by everything, every action, even every thought I have. So when I told you why I couldn't give them the cure I felt like such a coward, I was scared."

"Raven, you know I would protect you, all of us would!" He gripped her hand tighter, she just shook her head.

"No, I was scared for all of you!" his eyes widened as a warm fluttering feeling came into his chest, Raven blushed as she continued.

"The very idea of any of you getting hurt scares me to no end. Even my thinking that scare's me! Pandora, gangsters! I don't understand what's going on!" she gripped her head her body shaking with the force of her emotions.

Even through all this the only thought that rang through his mind was, 'cute!' but he shook the thought away and placed his arm around her shoulders.

"Don't you worry about us, don't you know by now we're stronger than we look?" he chuckled as he said this.

"Besides, Jack can scare away anyone with just his ego!" Raven giggled, it sounded like little wind chimes to Crow. She pulled away and sighed, her bangs hiding her eyes so Crow couldn't tell how she was feeling at the moment. A second later she fell backwards onto the bed with a thump.

"My head hurts…"

Crow laughed and leaned on one arm beside her,

"You're so silly." He said as he began stroking her hair, Raven closed her eyes. Eyes that had dark circles under them he noticed, which sent another lash of guilt through his system. Her mumbling shook the thoughts of apology from his head,

"So…d-do you really like the jacket? Akiza told me you hadn't gotten one yet…"

The red head smiled and leaned forward pressing his forehead against her own, her eyes snapped open and she blushed at their closeness. Even Crow had to admit he was also surprised at his boldness tonight,

"I love it. I will use it all the time and think of you when I do."

Crow's heart felt like someone had attached a jumper to it, it was pounding so hard. Being this close to her, feeling her breath on his face, her scent, all of it was what spurred him to move his face just a bit closer. To tangle one of his hands into the dark strands of her hair, to pull her toward him, their lips just a breath away…

"What?! Why the duce didn't I get anything? How dare you treat your king this way!" Jack yelled from downstairs, effectively shattering the moment and causing both parties to jump away from one another blushing bright red.

'Damn it, note to self; kill Jack Atlas.' He thought nervously scratching the back of his head; Raven sat against his pillows a bright shade of red shading her cheeks as she held her hands against her chest. Crow reached out an apology on his lips as someone knocked on the door, interrupting him again.

Looking over at Raven, who looked like she wasn't even aware of anything, he sighed and got up. Opening the door he saw Jack standing there and instantly wanted to punch him, but refrained if only for Raven's sake.

"It's getting late you dolt! Take her home, everyone else is leaving too!" and with that proclamation he turned and walked into his room. 'Note to self: kill Jack Atlas slowly.' He thought annoyed with the blonde.

"Crow?"

He turned, Raven was still staring at his sheets but he clearly heard her.

"Raven, what is it?" Slowly she turned and looked at him, just looked. Her pale blue eyes searching for something, she looked back at the bed and dropped her hands in her lap.

"My parent's died in a house fire 3 years ago…" the red head's heart just stopped, he really wasn't expecting her to say that,

"Raven, Wha-"

"It was my fault." She cut him off. He frowned,

"I'm sure it-"she just shook her head still staring at her hands.

"Because I was born, my parent's suffered. More than they should have, so when I came back home one day without getting beaten I thought it was strange. But I put it out of my mind and went to bed; I woke up later with my room filled with smoke." She wrapped her arms around herself and stared at the floor.

"My dad broke down the door and was able to get me out, but he went back for my mother. And I watched from the backyard as my parent's burned alive." she whispered the last part but he heard it very clearly.

"Because I was born into their family they had to die in such a manner. And the villagers did nothing but ridicule me, they told me from that time on that my life was my sin. I just...I don't know…I wanted to tell you that."

Crow was surprised; his only saving grace was that he didn't have to watch his parents die. So what she felt right now he had no idea, but he knew one thing; he loved her. He walked up to her and grasped her hands.

"Are you trying to chase me away? Because I will tell you something." His voice rose as he spoke, "You're the one hurting the most right now, telling someone that. Don't you ever let someone say that about you again, because living is not a sin! And Raven, I know you're scared, but I love you Raven. And there is no crime in living!"

With that he pulled her up and finally connected their lips, softly at first but after a bit he used his tongue to open her mouth, exploring it, memorizing the way her mouth moved. How she leaned against his body as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

It was perfect. She was perfect. And Crow swore he heard fireworks going off in the background of his mind as little bits of electricity ran through his body. Even his Signer mark lit up, but he paid it no mind as he broke the kiss and hugged her shaking body to his own.

Raven's mind was going a million miles an hour. She just told him about her parents, about her very sin and he replied with…she blushed as it replayed in her mind over and over again. As he pressed her against his chest she couldn't tell who's heart beat she heard, but that was of little concern to her right now. The only question running through her mind right now was.

'How do I feel about Crow?'

It was true she did feel something different toward the red head than Yusei or Jack, but what did she feel about Crow? It was definitely a stronger emotion, but she couldn't put a name on it.

Crow let go of her and smiled down at her, completely unaware of the internal turmoil she was having,

"You don't have to answer right away! Just remember that ok? Now come on, it's getting late and someone needs to get home." He pulled her up off the bed and flicked her nose before turning and walking out.

She watched him leave her mind still churning with questions, when he was out of sight her knees finally gave out and she slid to the ground her head falling into her hands.

"What's wrong with me? Why can't I keep my mouth shut about anything around this guy!" she whispered this, "Mom, Dad, what do I do?"

A memory flashed into her mind then; she was standing in her old house her mom brushing out her hair after a nice bath.

"Raven, please listen to me. I have to tell you this and I want you to remember it when you meet this person." Little Raven had no idea who she might be talking about but listened anyway.

"Throughout your life, you will meet that one person who is unlike any other. You can talk to this person for hours and never get bored. You can tell them things and they won't judge you. They will help you up whenever you need it, this person Raven. Is your soul mate, your best friend in the whole wide world." Raven was amazed that such a person could exist, especially for someone like her. Her mother kissed her forehead,

"Please Raven, whatever you do, don't let this person go. They will grant you the happiness you deserve."

The memory ended leaving Raven breathless; she wasn't even sure how old she was when her mother told her that. 'Could she be talking about Crow?' she thought about it, really thought about it. It was true she enjoyed talking with Crow, but they never really had a chance to really talk. 'Well unless you count that night in his bed…' she blushed thinking about it.

'And I just told him my biggest secret…and he replied…that way. No judgment or anything, just accepting and…helping me.' It was true Crow fit the criteria her mother had told her, but Raven wished she could put a name on this feeling she had in her chest. It wasn't a bad feeling; she knew that, more like a warm, nervous, happy feeling.

'Maybe I can ask Akiza.' Though the idea of saying it out loud mortified her enough but she was determined to find out what this feeling was and the idea of asking Crow himself mortified her more.

With that decided Raven got up again and walked out into the hall, once she got down into the garage area she noticed how empty it was. The only ones left were Bruno who was sitting at the computer and Crow who was talking to him. The red head was the first to notice her, sending her a bright smile as he walked toward her, wrapping his arm around her waist making her heart jump into overdrive and a blush spread across her cheeks.

"What do you say we get you home now? You're probably tired." Crow smiled down at her his cheeks a light color of red. Raven could only nod as he pulled her toward the Blackbird,

"Yusei and Akiza are walking the twins home. Those two need some serious alone time, that's for sure." He said casually.

"Eh?! Are they…you know…" Crow laughed,

"Well yeah! Couldn't you tell? They practically stare lovey-dovey at each other all the time." Bruno laughed,

"Because you two totally don't!" Raven blushed, Crow just rolled his eyes.

"Don't be jealous Bruno! I'm sure you'll find someone to stare at eventually." The red head replied handing Raven's bags to her and a white helmet with what looked to be a Mohawk on the top and a pair of yellow goggles attached to it.

After helping her on and making sure she had a good grip on her bag they took off, Raven bidding a good night to Bruno. The night air was cold, but she was kept warm by both her jacket and the heat Crow's body was radiating.

She turned her head as they sped down the road and as they passed a streetlamp she noticed two people were standing under it, she gasped as they passed, it was Yusei and Akiza! She tightened her grip around Crow's waist; he laughed having witnessed them in a major lip locking session.

"I told you they could use some alone time!" all Raven could do was blush.

~0~0~0~

Not long after they arrived at Raven's apartment building, he hoped off and helped her too her feet and she handed him back the helmet. She found it hard to look him in the face, luckily he seemed to be having the same trouble. So they just kind of stood awkwardly in silence, Raven finally took a peek and saw him standing there, scratching the back of his head and gasped.

He was wearing the jacket she had given him. She didn't notice earlier but now that she looked she had to admit, the jacket looked amazing on him. Crow glanced down at what she was staring at and blushed,

"Oh yeah, you like? You have a good eye for sizing too. Fits like a glove!" he said flashing her that smile of his.

Raven couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks,

"I-I'm happy you like it…I-it makes me happy to see you wearing it." She couldn't look at him when she said this, instead taking to looking at the ground. His green boots appeared in her vision as his arms snaked their way around her waist.

He lifted her chin with his finger making her look him in the eyes, Crow had the strange look on his face, but it was a look that Raven found so beautiful she could not look away.

The red head's hand slipped behind her head tilting it upwards as he once again connected their lips. Her heart beat stopped and started again beating faster than ever, and her face blushing redder.

The kiss wasn't as intense as the one before, it was softer, almost sweeter than the one before. When he broke away she was left breathless, he smiled and rubbed his thumb softly across her cheek, taking something wet with it.

'I'm…crying?' as the realization hit more tears made their way down her face,

"C-Crow…I don't…I can't…" she couldn't find a way to put into words what she was feeling. Crow just smiled and wiped away the tears before kissing her forehead.

"I told you; you don't have to reply right now. So just relax and take your time, I can be patient. Now hurry and get inside before you freeze!" he hugged her tightly before pushing her toward the door.

Raven just stared at him for a bit, before nodding.

"G-Goodnight Crow." Then walking inside and climbing the stairs to her apartment. 'I'm going to have a lot of thinking to do now…' she thought as she shoved her key into the door and entered.

Well there we have it, I was really unsure for a long time how they would make up but then i thought; "Oh! What better way to break the ice then to get them a gift?" Anyways, please Read and Review with what you liked, didn't like and some helpful comments or even any thoughts you may be having!

Till next time then! :3