Willoffire123: Today is the day of Cinderella!

Kiyo: I'm sensing a pattern here.

Zatch: We ALL know what Cinderella is.

Willoffire123: But do you? Do you really?

Zatch: …no

Kiyo: I'll fill you in later. Willoffire123 doesn't own Zatch Bell.

Willoffire123: On with the chapter!

Lien

They arrived in the park to find it destroyed. Children ran in every direction, sobbing hysterically. Two little children saw Kiyo, Wonrei and Lien and ran towards them. Lien recognized the little girl in the pink dress as one of Zatch's friends.

Naomi.

"You gotta help Zatch!" she shrieked, tugging on Kiyo's arm.

"There's something really wrong with him," the other child cried.

Kiyo payed them no attention. Lien saw his eyes fogging over, his breaths coming in short gasps. She could see that he was on the verge of a full blown panic attack

Lien put a hand on Kiyo's shoulder. "We'll find him, Kiyo. You have to have faith."

Kiyo didn't answer.

"Lien," said Wonrei, pointing at a spot on the other side of the park. Zatch lay curled in a ball next to a smoking bush.

In no time at all, Lien and Wonrei had crossed the gap to Zatch, guiding Kiyo, blind with panic, in between them.

Zatch's shoulders heaved with sobs. It broke Lien's heart to see how broken her friends had become, but she knew that she and Wonrei would do everything in their power to help them back to their old selves.

"Kiyo, it's okay. Zatch is right here," Lien said softly, guiding Kiyo to the ground next to Zatch.

Kiyo curled up in a ball on top of his mamodo, wrapped his arms around him and sobbed right along side him.

Lien felt Wonrei put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"What do we do now?" she asked him softly.

Wonrei squeezed her shoulder. "Now? We take them home."

Zatch

"Hurry!" Zatch whispered frantically, pulling Kiyo along behind him. "They're gonna come back soon!"

As he ran, a steady drip of something wet on his arm and the warmth of Kiyo's arm told him that Kiyo was still behind him.

"Zatch, I can't," Kiyo gasped.

Zatch chanced a glance behind him to see that the wet substance dripping onto his arm was Kiyo's blood. A steady trickle of the stuff ran down Kiyo's arm as he ran.

"We have to!" Zatch insisted.

"The voice came from down that corridor!"

"This way!"

"In here, Zatch," said Kiyo, and the two dived into a side chamber no bigger than a broom closet.

Zatch pressed himself as close to his partner as possible until he could feel Kiyo's quickened heartbeat reverberating against his skull.

Zatch peered his tired eyes through the gloom. Two ancient mamodo teams went charging past their side chamber.

Kiyo's shaking arms wrapped around Zatch, pulling him closer to himself.

"I think they're gone," Kiyo breathed in Zatch's ear.

"We've been running for hours," Zatch breathed back. "How are we supposed to get out of here?"

"I don't know," Kiyo admitted. "It's a miracle we've managed to break his control long enough to run."

Zatch shivered. He hadn't the faintest idea where he and Kiyo were, how they'd gotten there, or how long they'd been there. All he knew was that the days were swelteringly hot and the nights chilled him to the bone.

And then there were the memory lapses. Zatch still didn't know how long he'd been wherever it was that he and Kiyo were, but he knew that he couldn't remember a full day. He would have moments of clarity to find that he was somewhere very different from where he last remembered being. Minutes, hours and even days would pass between these moments, and at each one Zatch would come back to earth with new injuries or see Kiyo with new injuries.

Then there were the moments where he would wake up alone.

Those were the worst.

Finally, when the two of them woke together, they'd decided to run.

Now, cramped, scared, exhausted, bleeding and lost, Zatch was starting to regret their decision.

"We have to keep moving now," Kiyo urged in his ear. "Before they come back."

"I don't know if I can," Zatch said quietly.

"Hey," said Kiyo, tightening his arms around Zatch. "Remember what you just told me? We've come farther than we ever have at escaping; we can't turn back now."

Zatch squeezed Kiyo's arm reassuringly. "I know that-."

Kiyo winced. Zatch realized, with horror, that he'd squeezed Kiyo's injured arm. "I'm sorry! I-."
"Zatch, it's fine," Kiyo reassured him. "But we really need to get out of here."

"Let's move, then," said Zatch, pulling him out of their alcove. "I think they're gone."

Ignoring the bleeding gash in his side, Zatch ran down the hall, pulling Kiyo after him.

Then suddenly, that tension was gone.

"ZATCH!"

And so was Kiyo.

Zatch woke in cold sweat to find Wonrei, Lien, and, surprisingly enough, Folgore, Kanchome, Megumi, Tia and Sherry sitting over him.

"Zatch," Sherry said slowly and calmly. "It's going to be alright now. You're home and you're safe."

Zatch looked down at the blanket covering his torso.

He was indeed back in his own bed.

"Kiyo?" he croaked.

Everyone looked at Sherry.

"He's out on the balcony, Zatch," said Sherry. "But first, before you go to him, we need to tell you something important-."

"It can wait," Zatch insisted. "I need to see Kiyo."

Like a piece of metal attracted to a magnet, Zatch followed the pulling feeling in his gut out to the balcony where his best friend was waiting. Kiyo leaned against the railing, looking out over the city.

"Kiyo?"

Kiyo turned to look at his mamodo. Zatch flinched. Kiyo's ghostly face was wet with fresh tears.

"Zatch?"

Anxious to calm Kiyo down, Zatch flung himself into Kiyo's arms.

Kiyo put him back down again.

"Kiyo, what's wrong?" Zatch demanded. "You look like you saw a ghost."

Kiyo gulped. "Zatch, Kiddo's gone. He returned to the mamodo world when he and the others went to rescue us."

It took a moment for Zatch to realize that his legs had given out from underneath him, and he now sat on the cold, stone floor. "No…"

Kiyo bit his lip. "Yeah, and we're the ones who burned his book."

Megumi

"Zakeruga!"

"Are you sure this is best?"

Sherry sighed. "They need to take their anger out on something, Megumi; this canyon seemed like the best place to do that."

A tug on her arm brought Megumi's attention down to Tia.

"Megumi, the explosions and the smell of ozone are gone," Tia informed her. "Should we go and check on them?"

"No need, Tia," said Kiyo. Megumi, Tia and Sherry turned to see Kiyo and Zatch approaching their group. The two looked tired and lost, but the shock of Kiddo seemed to have worn off ever so slightly.

"We're okay now," Zatch said shakily.

Megumi approached Kiyo cautiously. "Are you sure?"

Kiyo sighed. "No, not really."

"But you will be," said Sherry.

"Yeah," said Kiyo. "I think we will. But it's going to take time."

Megumi took his hand in hers. "Then this time, maybe you'll let us help you."

Kiyo and Zatch shared a look. Megumi didn't have the same, special connection to Zatch or Kiyo that the two boys had with each other, but she could see two things in that look: pain, and acceptance.

"Everyone?" said Kiyo. "We're sorry for everything we've put you through over the last few months. But if it's okay with you, Zach and I need to lean on you for just a little longer."

"Well it's about time!" Tia exploded, making everyone laugh.

Kiyo

Kiyo and Zatch went through horrible trauma in the Devolo Ruins of South America. Though they may not remember all of what happened, the flashbacks the 14 and 6-year-old boys suffered through were enough to drive any sane person over the edge. But for every painful memory Kiyo remembered, his friends were always there to remind him of ten good memories.

Eventually, Zophis became nothing more than a forgotten nightmare.

Willoffire123: Ah! I'm done!

Kiyo: Finally!

Zatch: Can we go home now?

Willoffire123: Not just yet.

Zatch: I WANNA GO HOME NOW!

Willoffire123: Don't get your knickers in a twist, we still have one more thing to do.

Kiyo: Come on Zatch, for old time's sake?

Zatch: If we can finally go home when we're done…

Everyone: Until next time!