A/N: I OWN NO PART YU GI OH 5DS! ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE CREATORS!

Chapter 10: The Old Friends

Era's POV

Yusei was just finishing his day of training and had done exceptionally well with the Demon Exorcist spell.

"Well done, Yusei," I praised. "Six successful spells in a row. You're doing good. But it'll still take more than that to become an official Combat Angel."

"I know," he responded. His voice had something down casted in it that said something was wrong and I didn't like it.

"What's wrong, Yusei?" I asked.

"What's it like to watch your friends get old and die?" he suddenly asked.

I looked down. "It hurts. You wish you could die the same time as them and not live hundreds of years longer if a demon doesn't kill you first. It's why I felt bad about my influence of you becoming an angel," I explained.

"Era, for the final time, that's not your fault in the slightest. I chose to become an angel because I wanted to. And I don't regret that choice," Yusei told me sternly, bringing my body against his.

"I… I know," I agreed looking down. Yusei leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. When he pulled back after a couple minutes, I asked, "Is there anything else bothering you?"

"It's more wondering rather than bothering," he replied. "If you took a year and a half to finish your class and you started classes right after you became an angel, did you ever see your sister or friends after your death? You couldn't have avoided them that well."

I sighed. "I knew this was going to come up at some point," I said. I gave him a small nod. "It was a year after graduating that it happened."

-Flashback-

I stood outside a house where three people had a large amount of grief in their soul. I was in my human form and just watched them. They were talking.

The girl and one of the guys seemed sadder than the other one. But it wasn't by much. I recognized them, too.

"I'm going to go outside," the saddest man, whom I recognized as Nate, said. He slowly got up and walked out, but was quickly followed by my sister, Maya, who was then followed by the last guy, Zack. They hadn't noticed me when they entered the chilly, autumn night air.

"I still can't believe she's gone," Maya stated.

"And it's my fault," Nate said. "If I saw that truck… I just know it's my fault."

"That's not true," I spoke up. They looked at me shocked.

"J-Jayla?" Maya responded.

"It wasn't your fault, Nate. The truck came out of nowhere," I told him ignoring Maya's response.

Maya slowly walked towards me. She reached out a hand and gently touched my cheek. She grew tears. "Y-You're real," Maya responded hugging me tight. "You're alive. How?"

Nate ran over and grabbed me. "H-How are you alive?" he asked. "I saw your heart monitor go flat."

"I'm… not entirely alive," I told them in a whisper.

"W-What do you mean?" Zack asked. "We can touch you."

"After I died, I was reborn as an angel. I recently graduated Angel Academy to come back here and protect the Earth," I explained. "I'm not alive, but I'm not dead at the same time."

"So you're like a ghost?" Nate asked.

"The only ghosts are lost spirits and there aren't many of those in the world. I'm a reanimated version of Jayla Sito named Era. In fact, most of my life as a human is a blank slate," I explained. "I was chosen to protect the Earth from the angel's dark counterparts, demons."

"Demons?" Maya repeated. "How longer will you have to do this?"

"Forever, or until a demon kills me, at least," I answered.

"N-No way…" Nate muttered. "D-Do you have a different form now?"

I have a small nod. "It's a bright light when I transform so I would cover your eyes," I told them and began to change making them follow my suggestion. When I finished, they looked at me shocked. "This… is my true form now."

Maya was the first to speak, "Jayla… I- I know Jayla. She wouldn't wear anything like that. Y-You can't be my sister."

Zack stepped in, "Maya, maybe it's a uniform she has to wear like we do for school."

"You know Jayla. She wouldn't go near an outfit like that," Maya retorted.

"But… Jayla, is that really you?" Nate asked.

"Yes, Nate. The reason I wear this is because it is the normal angel outfit assigned by our lord," I explained. "I do not wish to insult his highness."

"I-I can't believe you are truly Jayla Sito," Nate slowly said.

"Angels don't like," I told him. "I have no reason to lie to you. I have no reason to like to any of you. Why do you not believe me?"

"Jayla barely listened to anyone she didn't know. I don't think she would even kneel to some ruler," Maya retorted. "Why do you think it's funny to pretend to be my dead sister?!"

"I… I'm not pretending," I replied. "I promise. Maya, I don't break my promises, right?"

"You're not my sister," Maya refused to believe. Those words hit my heart harder than a demon's dark pulse waves.

"Maya…" I muttered. I looked at Nate for help but he just looked away. Zack followed. "If you don't want to believe the truth, I guess I can understand. Just… don't expect to see me again." I looked down. "This is goodbye. I had thought you would've still been my family. Even after my death." They looked at me shocked. "But… I guess not." I then took off, leaving their calls behind me.

-Flashback Ended-

Yusei was watching me concerned after I finished explaining my tale. My face was down the whole time. I felt a tear slip down my face and Yusei used his hand to bring my face to his and wiped off the tear. He brought me closer into his to comfort me.

"I'm sorry, Era," he whispered. "If you didn't want to say anything, you didn't have to."

"I've been keeping it locked up for just less ninety-eight years. I guess I needed to tell someone," I replied.

Yusei kissed me gently. When he pulled back, he said, "You won't ever lose me. I promise."

"And you won't ever lose me," I told him as I set my head on his chest and listed to his rapid heartbeat.

"Good," he whispered in my ear. "And I'll make sure of it." I gave a small nod. "We better get going. We need to get back to the engine."

"Right," I agreed.

"Just wondering here, are we ever going to tell the others about us?" he asked with a grin.

I giggled a bit. "Maybe when we're truly ready. Like sometime after you finish training," I told him. He nodded, keeping his grin.

We got ready to take off. Yusei hadn't brought his duel runner and had flown with me there. So he had to fly with me back. We took to the air and disappeared into the clouds until we reached the area above the garage.

I'm sorry if this was a little boring to some. But this is honestly one of the saddest and hurt-genre-based chapters I have ever written, which is saying something considering how much I've written in my lifetime.

Anyway, see you in the next chapter!

-bricann