A/N: Hello! Chapter eleven is here and ready to be enjoyed!! Now, again, I'll be skimming over several significant things (meaning I won't ignore them completely, but they won't get a whole lot of page-time). And I apologize to anyone who disliked my Yusei/Aki split from last chapter, but I felt it was sorta necessary to get the right drama for events that are very quickly approaching (really, you can smell it, can't you?). Anyway, I'll stop rambling. Please enjoy this chapter!!

Disclaimer: Though it breaks my heart to admit, Yusei and everyone else associated with YGO 5Ds belong to someone who is not me.

Entwined Destinies

Chapter 11: Duels of Misfortune

A gentle gloved hand descended unexpectedly on Aki's shoulder, startling the young woman out of her reverie. She looked up, into Divine's sympathetic eyes.

"You can't keep dwelling on it," Divine instructed softly. "It'll just eat you up inside."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Aki asked searchingly, as a thin film of liquid covered her amber eyes. "I gave my heart to him, and I'd always held onto the hope that he would be the one to understand."

"I understand the disappointment; the pain," Divine said, "but he's not worth your suffering. You can't let him destroy you; you're stronger than that."

"Am I?" Aki questioned, looking away.

Giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, Divine leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Yes, you are. You just need to believe in yourself; like I do." Then he turned and walked quietly away, letting her absorb his words.

Aki watched him leave, waiting until he was gone before standing and moving to the balcony. It was nearly sunset.

Yusei, she thought, wishing her thoughts could really reach him; wherever he was. I just wish I could talk to you one last time; it would help so much to know what happened. Why you couldn't even find me to say goodbye.

She tried desperately to drown the spark of hope that ignited in her heart, as it always did, when she thought of what had happened. Even so, she couldn't stop herself from thinking it. Unless maybe it wasn't goodbye…but then you'd better have a good explanation for making me worry like this.

As the sun began to sink beyond the horizon line, Aki turned and headed back inside. It would be time for dinner shortly, and then she would take a long, hot bath. That would relax her better than just standing on the balcony.

Night had fallen, and Aki was reaching for her book, having decided to read in bed for a short while, when her arm started burning. The mark was glowing again, reminding her instantly of the last time it had done so.

As soon as his name slipped into her thoughts, the pain intensified, and Aki realized with a start that he was at least part of the reason that her mark was acting up. On reflex, she pulled on her white robe and stepped on to her private balcony, to stare up at the sky.

Yusei, she whispered silently, what's happening? She knew in her gut that something was wrong; something bad was happening.

Please, be alright, she prayed silently. No matter her anger, or her sadness, she could never wish him ill. He would always be too important to her.

Yusei was in disbelief. He was trapped in a Riding Duel with his former best friend; Kiryu. The man who'd led Team Satisfaction; and the man he'd seen fall, dead, with his own two eyes. Only now his eyes were telling him that he wasn't dead. Kiryu himself was saying he was; or that he had been, at least. But, either way, Kiryu was furious with him.

And now he was trying to kill him; trying to destroy the entire Satellite.

How did it come to this? Yusei wondered as Kiryu took his turn. It was all too surreal; his mind felt like it was on overload. And to top it off, Jack was hovering overhead in a helicopter; he had a birds-eye view of the duel.

We're all here, Yusei realized belatedly, remembering Crow watching from the sidelines on a small hilltop. Now if only we were all on the same side again; but I don't think that's possible.

"It's your move, Yusei! Let's see if you can survive this round!" Kiryu called, finishing his statement with another bout of psychotic laughter.

A fear unlike any Yusei had ever felt gripped him tight as Kiryu's Earthbound God reached for him. He watched the enormous hand descend upon him as if in slow motion. Stardust Dragon attempted to intervene, to no avail; even Yusei's trap card did absolutely nothing. The hand was nearly on top of him now.

Simultaneously, Yusei's D-Wheel began to lurch; subtly at first, but it wobbled more violently as he continued to push forward. And then, just as the Earthbound God's palm would have crushed him flat, Yusei lost control of his D-Wheel.

He watched as the wheels skidded sideways over the earth, and the ground rose up rapidly to greet him. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as Kiryu's attack nearly hit home. And then his entire body erupted in burning pain. It was different than the steady, faint, burn of his mark; this burn was explosive and felt as though it was tearing its way through his body, slow and agonizing; inch by inch.

He rolled several times, and each revolution caused the searing pain to increase. The pain was strongest in his abdomen, though it hurt too much for him to even open his eyes and find out why. He had a vague sensation of Kiryu saying something to him, but the words were lost, and then the familiar pain of his mark was gone, and some part of his mind registered that Kiryu must have left.

He heard shouting around him, and felt someone roll him onto his back. Several agonizing seconds later, he was shifted again, onto the back of Crow's D-Wheel, and then he could feel the cool sensation of the wind whipping around him as they sped off. He tried to focus on the wind as they rode, but the pain was too strong. Everything faded to black before he even knew where Crow was taking him.

Something tore at Aki's chest, making her draw a sharp breath and clutch tighter to the railing. "What…?" she gasped, staggering under the sudden and intense pain.

Then the glow of her mark faded away, and with it went the new pain in her chest. She took a deep, steady breath, and looked down at her arm as if it would give up all of its secrets to her.

"What happened?" she whispered into the night.

Looking back up at the sky, an image of Yusei passed across her mind's eye, and his name slipped out past her lips, as she hoped that the unexpected pain didn't mean something was wrong with him.

Days went by, and Yusei slowly began his recovery. He didn't move around much for the first several days, but as soon as Martha allowed it, he was up and preparing his D-Wheel for the necessary repairs. He couldn't afford to sit around on his hands with the Dark Signers wreaking havoc in the Satellite.

And it was one of those nights, when Yusei was getting ready to turn in for the night, when his sign lit up again; bringing with it a warning pain. Quickly, he headed outside, reflexively looking up at the sky to see if he could see the large marker that might indicate where the duel was. But, surprisingly, it looked small and distant.

Could it be in the city? Yusei wondered, realizing that the other three known Signers were in the city, and so really, that was the only place it could be.

But who is it? Who's dueling? Images of Jack, Ruka, and Aki danced across his mind. His mark flickered when he thought of Jack, and tingled when he thought of Ruka; but it flared brighter than before when he focused on Aki.

Aki, he realized. His stomach dropped as he imagined her dueling one of the Dark Signers. A part of him hoped it wasn't Kiryu; but he was also afraid that the others might be even more dangerous.

"Yusei?" Saiga called to him.

Yusei half-turned and glanced over at Saiga before turning his attention back to the sky. He wished more than anything that he could be there beside her.

"Hey, Yusei," Saiga continued, stepping out from the doorway and approaching his friend. "You ok?"

"She's dueling a Dark Signer," Yusei whispered. Somehow, saying it aloud made it all the more real, and Yusei had to swallow to push away the fear that gripped him.

"Who?" Saiga asked. "Your girlfriend?" Yusei's silence was all the answer he needed.

Martha joined them outside several minutes later, curious about their behavior. "What are you two doing out so late?"

Saiga turned to acknowledge the older woman grimly. "Yusei's girlfriend is dueling one of those Dark Signers," he explained.

"Girlfriend?" Martha repeated, turning her attention to Yusei. He had dropped his gaze to his arm and was frowning, but didn't look as though he intended to elaborate, so she pushed. "I didn't even know you had a girlfriend; why would she be dueling one of those Dark Signer people?"

"Because she has a mark, like mine," Yusei said after a moment.

When he fell silent again, Martha walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Relax, Yusei; I'm sure she'll be fine. And when this craziness is all over, you'd better introduce me to this girl of yours."

Yusei didn't react for a long moment, but, finally, he inclined his head. "You're right; she knows what she's doing." He paused, turning his head to look over at her, and added, "And you've already met her."

Martha blinked. "I have…? But, the only girlfriend I've ever seen you with was…" When Yusei nodded, her eyes went wide. "Oh, no; Aki?"

"Yeah," Yusei confirmed, turning his eyes back to the haze-covered night sky, and the distant glow of a dark sign. "Aki."

Aki was beginning to feel as if she were in over her head, as she stared across the hall at her opponent. Misty's expression was cold and angry; empty of anything beyond her anger. But Aki couldn't understand that anger, because she had no idea what the woman was talking about.

Ruka, her twin brother Rua, and two men she'd never met were watching from the other side of the railing. Ruka's arm was glowing brightly.

But Aki paid them no attention as she tried to focus on her opponent. She knew the duel she was in was more important than it had originally seemed; and Misty had somehow managed to summon a monster so large that it didn't even fit inside the building. That really had her on edge.

And that was when Misty looked up, beyond Aki, and frowned faintly. "Well, I suppose this means our duel's going to have to wait," she mumbled softly.

Just then the building shook violently and Aki heard an echoing crash from above. It was almost simultaneously followed by Divine's voice, crying out in pain. She looked up, where Misty was looking, in time to see Divine come flying over the banister from an upper floor.

"No!" Aki screamed, leaning half over the railing as if she could catch him; as if she could save him. "Divine!"

She watched in absolute horror as he fell to the ground floor. There was nothing she could do for him.

And then the building was shaking again, more violently than before.

"Until next time, witch," Misty called even as she turned and somehow disappeared as she walked away.

"Aki! Come on, let's go!" Ruka cried anxiously.

"We have to get out of here!" the large man that was with them added urgently. He already had Rua under one arm and was trying to tug Ruka away, but his words were clearly directed at Aki.

Aki was too lost in her pain to really hear their words of concern. She was still staring at the open space of air that Divine had just, albeit briefly, occupied. He…he's gone, her mind whispered. The one piece of stability I had left…just…gone.

She felt as though she was frozen.

By the time she realized that she should be moving; getting out of the building as quickly as possible, it was too late. She'd barely made it to the staircase when it caved, and she found herself descending much more rapidly than she'd intended.

She woke up just a bit when she heard shouting. It was a man's voice; vaguely familiar, as well, but she wasn't sure who he was calling for. She struggled with herself to find her voice, and propel out the name of the man when she remembered it. She didn't want to die beneath a pile of rubble.

"Jack…" she called weakly, hoping she might have enough luck to be heard.

She thought she felt some of the weight above her shift and lessen, but she lost consciousness again before she could be sure.

Yusei frowned as the burning glow of his mark faded away once again. Something in his gut told him that things weren't as they should be, and his heart ached at the knowledge that he couldn't be there to support her. To protect her.

Aki, he thought, please be alright.

"So is it over, then?" Martha asked, having noticed as well that his arm no longer glowed brightly.

Yusei nodded silently.

"Did she win?" Saiga asked.

"I don't know," Yusei replied honestly, his voice catching faintly as he spoke. "I just know it's over."

Martha frowned, recognizing the tone of his voice. "What is it, Yusei?"

Yusei was silent for a long second, before he whispered, "I just wish I knew if she was ok."

"I'm sure she is," Martha said reassuringly. "Now come on inside; it's late and you still need to rest. You're not completely healed from that accident."

"She's right," Saiga added. "There's nothing you can do from here."

Yusei nodded, turning away from the open sky, and followed Martha and Saiga back into the house quietly. All the while, he kept worrying that something, somehow, was wrong.

I have to get back, he resolved silently, I have to see if she's ok. She'll be mad at me for disappearing like I did, but as long as she's alright…I can deal with anything else. I just have to know.

"Well?" Jack demanded as the doctor exited Aki's room. The twins watched from beside him silently.

The doctor slowly removed his face-mask and cast a sad look into the nearly-empty room. At length, he replied, "I don't know why she hasn't woken up, Mr. Atlas. She's in remarkably good shape, considering the fall you said she took. It's as if her mind is…resisting. As if she wants to stay in a coma."

"But why?" Rua asked, not understanding the doctor's words.

The doctor sighed and looked at the group. "I'm afraid you'd have to ask her; I have no answers for you." Then he turned and walked away.

It was then that the door at the end of the hall slid open and two people Jack didn't recognize ran into the room. The man was dressed in a designer suit, and the woman behind him wore a simple but obviously expensive blue dress. The couple paid no attention to Jack or the twins as they waited impatiently for the door to Aki's room to slide open.

As they rushed in, Jack's eyes widened marginally as he heard the man call Aki's name, and the woman exclaim "My baby!" before collapsing beside the bed. He certainly hadn't expected to see Aki's parents.

"So those are her parents?" Rua asked rhetorically as they watched the couple sob beside Aki's comatose form.

"They must be so sad," Ruka commented quietly. "If only she'd wake up."

"I somehow doubt that their presence will be enough to wake her up," Jack stated bluntly.

"But, shouldn't her parents be able to get through to her?" Ruka asked, looking up at Jack searchingly.

"Not nearly," Jack began, "it would take someone who actually means something to her."

Suddenly, inspiration struck him, and Jack wordlessly let himself into the large room, leaving the bewildered twins to watch from the other side of the glass.

He approached Aki's parents calmly, and didn't speak until he was standing just a few feet from the hospital bed.

"My name is Jack Atlas," he began formally, earning the husband's attention. "And I may know of someone who can help your daughter."

"Who?" Aki's father begged, turning his full attention on the infamous duelist before him.

Her mother looked up as well, her eyes pleading with Jack from behind her tears. "Please, we'll do anything," she sobbed.

"His name is Yusei Fudo," Jack replied, looking past both of them to examine Aki's prone form. "And he's the only one I can think of who might be able to get through to her like this. But there is one small problem."

"What problem?" the Senator demanded.

Jack lifted his gaze to meet the Senator's and replied, "Yusei's in the Satellite right now."

Senator Izayoi's expression hardened in determination. "Then that's where I'll go."

Yusei was working again on his D-Wheel, talking to Saiga, when they heard the first sounds of the helicopter closing in. Both men looked up in surprise; helicopters were uncommon occurrences in the Satellite.

"Who do you think that is?" Saiga asked, calling out his question to be heard over the roar of the chopper.

"I have no idea," Yusei replied honestly as it touched down in Martha's yard.

It had barely touched the ground when the door slid open and an unfamiliar man in a business suit leaped out, shielding his eyes from the wind. He managed to lock eyes with Yusei and called out, "Are you Yusei Fudo?"

Saiga gave Yusei a curious look, silently awaiting his response.

"I am," Yusei called back firmly. He had no idea who this man was, and that made him nervous.

The man made a gesture and the helicopter cut the engine, though the pilot made no move to stand. Then their new guest straightened and reflexively adjusted his suit as he quickly approached.

"I need to speak with you, please," he said urgently. "Jack Atlas said you might be able to help me."

Yusei's eyes widened marginally at that unexpected declaration. So Jack sent him? But who is he?

"Well, if you need to talk, then please, come in," Martha insisted from where she stood on the doorway.

They were seated at Martha's old kitchen table, Yusei sitting opposite their unknown guest, with Martha and Saiga standing off to the side, before Yusei finally asked the pressing question.

"So who are you?" Yusei asked.

The man took a deep breath, resting his elbows on the table. Sadness descended over him, but Yusei remained silent as he waited for him to speak.

"I am Senator Hideo Izayoi," the man stated plainly.

Yusei's eyes went wide at the unexpected and familiar name. "You're Aki's father," he clarified.

The Senator nodded faintly. "Yes, I am…but I'm afraid I haven't been much of one."

Yusei's jaw set firmly and he glared at the older man. "No, you haven't. But what do you want with me?" His tone was considerably less than friendly, and said volumes of his current opinion of the man before him.

Hideo looked up from his clenched hands, looking desperate and pleading as he held Yusei's gaze. "Please, Mr. Fudo, I need your help. Or, I should say, Aki needs your help. Jack said you have some sort of connection; that she might hear you…please, you have to help."

Yusei's anger faltered at Hideo's words. "Aki needs my help? Why? What happened?"

To Be Continued…

A/N: Ok! I figured I could end it there; I mean, I'm pretty sure we all know how the rest of this conversation (at least more or less) is gonna go, right? LOL Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please review and read chapter twelve!!