Yes...it has been quite a while since I've updated. Actually, I didn't even notice until someone sent me a review telling me that it had been a long time since I've updated! I went to check, and lo and behold it's been forever! I'm so ashamed :(

I would like to say that I am humbled by you guys tho. You were faithful with reviews even when I havent updated in a while. You guys are awesome. Anyways, onto the long awaited chapter!

Chapter 10

Yusei, Jack, and Kalin glared down at their fallen opponents. After they had beaten them they had busted their duel disks.

Jack looked at them with disgust as he said, "You call that a duel? That was pathetic."

Kalin crossed his arms as he said, "You better hope you never see The Enforcers ever again."

Yusei clenched his hands into fists and said, "You tell Sayer that Akiza is with us now. She doesn't want any part of the Arcadium Movement. You tell him to leave her alone and find someone else."

And with that, all three turned around and continued on their way. Yusei stopped for a second and grabbed Akiza's duel disk that was still on the ground.

Those guys had said that there were two others after her. If they had already found her and Crow, she could be in serious trouble. She may even be gone already.

Yusei tucked the duel disk under his arm as he started to run. "Come on guys! He said that there were two others out there, and Akiza doesn't have her duel disk! We gotta find them before they find her."

Akiza felt relief when she spotted the shack. It felt like she had been gone for days and not just a couple of hours. She had started to feel like this was her home.

Akiza looked over at Crow and said, "I'm gonna get some of those pain pills when we get inside, but you're coming with me and showing me where that water pump is."

Crow grinned as he held the door open for her. "I'm not letting you out of my sight. Besides, I think I'll take a couple of those pills myself."

Akiza saw the pill bottle on the table and shook out a couple of pills, then handed the bottle over to Crow. After he got a couple of pills himself, he led her back out of the shack and headed to the back. Akiza followed in silence, memorizing his every move so that she would know how to get her own water. Crow walked only a few feet and stopped at what looked like a small pipe sticking out of the ground.

Akiza lifted her eyebrows as she said, "This is the water pump?"

Crow's surprised face lifted to hers as he started pumping water from the small pipe. "Yeah, haven't you ever used one before?"

Akiza slid the pills into her mouth and cupped her hand under the gushing water as she shrugged and said, "Well, no. I had never even seen one much less use one."

Crow watched as she brought the water to her mouth to swallow the pills. "You mean you came out here to use the pipe and you didn't even know what it looked like?"

Akiza felt embarrassment and anger rising as she said, "I didn't know I would have trouble finding it!"

Crow shook his head and said, "Why didn't you say anything? One of us would have showed you where it was and how to work it."

Akiza wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, then said, "I don't like asking people for things. I can do things on my own you know."

Crow rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Well, yeah, I know, but still, you need to learn to ask things that you don't know about. How are you going to learn how to do things if you don't ask?"

Akiza opened her mouth to reply, then snapped it back shut. He was right. She had always depended on herself for things. But now that she had friends, a family, she had to be willing to ask for their help when they needed it.

Akiza sighed and said, "I know Crow. You're right. I've just never really had anyone that was willing to help me out. I promise to ask next time I need help."

Crow grinned as he stepped aside and said, "Good. Now, I need you to pump the water for me now. Usually I do it for myself, but just consider it practice for when you need to get water again."

Akiza smiled as she grabbed the handle with her good hand and started pumping like she had seen him do. "Like this?"

Crow smiled as the water came gushing out. "Yeah, just like that."

The closer they got to the shack, the more panic Yusei felt. What if he got there and they weren't there? What if Crow was there, but Akiza was gone? What if those guys had taken both Crow and Akiza? What if-

They were in the back pumping water. Yusei felt his body relax as he slowed his running to a weary walk. He felt overwhelming relief to see Akiza and Crow pumping water from the water pump, laughing and having fun. They must've not met the other two guys that were out there.

Yusei took a deep breath as he continued walking towards the house, Jack and Kalin right behind him.

Akiza was laughing at Crow when she lifted her head and saw Yusei, Jack, and Kalin walking towards them. She stopped pumping as relief flooded her body. Crow looked up to see why she had stopped laughing and grinned when he saw the rest of the team walking their way.

Crow looked over at Akiza as he said, "I told you not to worry. We aren't known as the toughest duelists for nothing."

Akiza smiled as she ran towards the rest of the gang as she yelled, "Yusei, Jack, Kalin, I was so worried!"

Akiza stopped herself right before she threw herself into Yusei's arms. She didn't know why, but she wanted to jump into his arms and bury her face in his chest. Instead she walked over and gave him a brief hug. The hug lasted only a second, then she walked over and also gave Jack a hug.

Jack's eyes widened as her arm wrapped around him. He blushed as he looked into Yusei and Crow's grinning faces. "Uh, yeah, thanks."

Akiza released him, sensing his nervousness, and walked over to Kalin. She hesitated a brief second, but finally leaned into him and wrapped her arm around him too.

Kalin immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Akiza's eyes widened as she felt a little fear surfacing. She dropped her arm and tried to pull away, but he still hadn't released her yet. She gave a slight tug to send him the message that she wanted to be released and he reluctantly let her go, not wanting to cause a scene in front of his friends.

Yusei had seen what Kalin had done and the slightly frightened look on Akiza's face when he had finally let her go. He was puzzled over his friend's actions and felt a little angered over them as well. He didn't know why he was so angry, but he knew he didn't like the way Kalin was looking at her.

Jack interrupted his thoughts when he yawned and said, "Well, now that the entertainment portion of today is over, I plan on grabbing me a bag of chips and going to sleep."

Akiza yawned herself and decided that he had a good idea. "I'm a little tired myself. Please excuse me."

Yusei watched as Jack and Akiza walked into the shack and closed the door behind them.

Yusei turned his gaze to Crow's and asked, "Did you run into any trouble on your way here?"

Crow sighed and rubbed at the small of his back as he said, "Yeah, we did. We were almost here when all of a sudden these two goons dressed like those three that you guys dueled showed up. They knew Akiza didn't have her duel disk and pretty much demanded that I hand her over to them."

Yusei had been surprised at his answer. He had thought that they hadn't met up with the other two men when he had seen Akiza and Crow standing unharmed in the backyard.

Kalin crossed his arms in annoyance as he said, "Well? What happened?"

Crow grinned and said, "Man, it was awesome! Since Akiza didn't have her duel disk or deck, she had to use mine! And let me tell you, my Blackwing Bora of the Spear looked pretty awesome pounding those losers!"

Yusei blinked in surprise as he said, "You mean she summoned a monster?"

Crow nodded his head as his grin widened. "Yeah, and it was my monster! It was so cool! I thought her Rose Tentacles had looked pretty intimidating, but it was nothing compared to my Blackwing Bora of the Spear! I wished I had caught it on tape or something!"

Yusei shook his head in amusement as he chuckled and said, "I'll never understand how you think Crow. I am glad that Akiza was able to get you out of a sticky situation though."

Crow's jaw dropped as he felt insulted. "Did you not hear me when I said that it was my card and duel disk that got us out of the 'sticky situation'?"

Yusei headed towards the door as he said, "Yeah, but without her powers your card would've been useless."

Crow scowled at Yusei and said, "Man, I don't even get credit when I save the day."

Yusei chuckled as he entered the shack. Akiza was slouched in a chair, obviously asleep, while Jack was shoving chips in his mouth. Yusei walked over to the chest and pulled out a blanket. He then walked back to where Akiza was sleeping in the chair and gently laid the blanket over her. He watched as she grabbed the edge of the blanket and pulled it up further as she shifted her body to a more comfortable position.

Jack swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "You know, I never really liked hanging out with girls. Usually they're whiney and clingy, and they do nothing but give you a headache and get on your nerves. But there's something different about this one."

Yusei nodded as he walked over to grab something to eat. "Yeah, she's different alright."

When Yusei had gone inside, Kalin had turned to Crow and said, "Tell me, what was it like?"

A puzzled looked clouded his face as he asked, "Uh, what was what like?"

Kalin rolled his eyes and grabbed Crow's shoulders and gave him a slight shake. "Akiza's powers! What was it like? Is she as powerful as I thought?"

Crow jerked his shoulders from Kalin's grasp as he said, "Dude, is something wrong? You're acting all weird. I think today's stress has gotten to you. Maybe you need to go to sleep."

Kalin's temper flared as his eyes narrowed. "Nothing is wrong with me! Now tell me, what was it like?"

Crow didn't know what was up with Kalin, but he knew that he wouldn't leave him alone until he got his answer. "Well, you know, it was just like in a duel, except it was really there. She told the monster what to do, and it did it. I could tell that she didn't want to do it, but it's not like we had any choice. She doesn't like to hurt people, Kalin."

Kalin ignored that last sentence as everything else he said sank in. This was better than he thought! If the monster did everything she told them to do, then that would help him with his plans even more!

Kalin smiled as he turned around and headed towards the door. "Excellent. Get a good night's rest Crow, we'll be busy tomorrow."

Crow watched as Kalin entered the shack. There was something weird going on with Kalin, and it had something to do with Akiza.

Sayer strummed his fingers on his desk as he listened to one of his spies reporting on what had happened.

"Sir, we found Ms. Izinski. She's in the Satellite even as we speak."

Sayer's fingers had froze when he had heard that they had found Akiza. Sayer interrupted him when he said, "You found Akiza? Did you collect her?"

The man rubbed the back of his neck as he said, "Well, no sir, but-"

Sayer slammed his fist on the desk, effectively cutting off the man's words, and hissed, "What? Are you trying to tell me that she's still there? I sent five men to collect her! Five! Five men, and you can't get one girl half your size?"

The man swallowed past the fear clogging his throat and said, "It's not what you think, sir. There were four men with her, and they wouldn't let her leave with us. Three of our men were challenged to duel by three of them while their fourth man took Ms. Izinski and ran off. Then our other two men were found unconscious in an alley, possibly because of an attack by Ms. Izinski."

Sayer listened intently to the information as he resumed strumming his fingers on the desk. "So, Akiza has found some friends that are willing to help her."

Sayer flicked his wrist at the man and said, "Leave, you've done enough damage already."

The man nodded and walked to the door, but before he exited he turned around and said, "When do you want us to go back into Satellite, sir?"

Sayer shook his head and said, "No, you're duties in this matter are over. I shouldn't have sent you in the first place. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to take care of this problem personally."

The man nodded, slightly bowed, then exited Sayer's office, closing the door behind him.

Sayer walked over to the intercom and pressed a button. "Have a chopper ready for my use at 10:00 am sharp."

After a brief pause he heard a faint, "Yes, sir."

Sayer walked over to his window and looked out into the direction of Satellite.

"You may have escaped today Akiza, but I promise that it won't be that easy once I find you."

And there we go! I just HAD to throw in some Akiza/Crow bonding...I just love him :) I also threw in some Sayer at the end, just to give you guys a peek at what's coming up. Okay, now to answer some of the reviews :

1. I deeply apologize about the spelling error with Blackwing Bora of the Spear! I almost smacked myself when I saw that I made that error. I'll try to not make that mistake again. Thank you for pointing it out :)

2. Hmmmmm, alot of people want Kalin to become a good guy in the end. Well, I can't say because I want to give nothing away...but I have special plans for him. But he has to be the way he is now so my story plot will flow as I want it to

3. Okay, someone asked me about Carly. I'm not a big fan of her, and I wasn't planning on bringing her into the story, but if you guys want her, I shall put her in. I write to please you, so just let me know because if no one wants her then I'm not going to really bother with her, but if you tell me you want her I'll put her in.

4. You want Black Rose Dragon? Wish granted! Obviously not in this chapter, but I DID put it in, and it's coming up soon :D

5. Now, don't assume that Akiza is going to be manipulated. Yes, she kinda was in the show, but I personally want to show Akiza as a mentally and physically strong individual that can stand up for herself and not fall into manipulation. I just HATE it when authors just show a vulnerable and used Akiza! But that's just me :)

6. Okay, one person seriously torched my story. Now, I'm not complaining because that is what you think and you're entitled to your opinion, but seriosly, if you don't like it, I am not forcing you to read it. Are my characters a little OC? Sure, I guess so, but unless you created the characters yourself, then it is almost impossible to get them totally correct. Akiza just has an instant connection with Yusei, she even had one in the show, so I have nothing further to say about that one. And about Kalin...everyone always has a different opinion on him. If you think he's more the kinda guy to be all jolly about everything and put his friends first, then kudos to you...but he is NOT that way in my story. Seriously, even watching the show you can see a dark side to him...I just reached down and pulled that dark side to the surface. Okay, I have vented. I meant none of that to be rude, I'm just answering your review.

Okay, thats about it! I enjoy reading every single reveiw (maybe excepty for that single flame ;) ), but you have no idea the smile it brings to my face. I will seriously try to get the next review in sooner, but I can make no promises. I will say that I will NOT abandon this story, even if it takes me a long time to finish.

Anyways, leave me a review, tell me what you think!