Warnings: This is gonna get sad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX


Year Two: Descending Light


Aster was so mad he could hardly see straight.

Agreeing to go with Jaden to confront Sarina had only happened because Aster had wanted some answers. He'd listened to Sartorius for more years than he could remember, the promise of saving his friend hanging over like both a medal of honour and a warrant of execution. It was everything he hoped to achieve and everything he feared all wrapped up in one. It was all he desired to do (besides find his father's murderer), but at the same time, he was afraid to do it. He was so scared that he wouldn't live up to Sartorius's expectations; so sure he'd end up failing his friend like he'd failed his father, that the very thought of going into battle for Sartorius always sent a wave of anticipation and nausea ripping through him.

Jaden had been right about one thing, at least. Aster was afraid of death, in his own way. He was afraid of Time. He was afraid of it moving forward without him, just as it had moved forward when they'd found his father's body in the river, despite the fact that for Aster, the hands of the clock had slammed to a deafening halt. He was constantly wondering how much time he had left, and whether or not he was making good use of it. He wanted to advance, to move beyond the person that he'd been only a second ago, but there were times when he was so sure that he hadn't changed at all, that he was still that scared little boy who'd heard a noise in the night, and walked into his father's office to investigate only to find him gone, that it kept him up at night.

(Jaden had been right about more than one thing. The D-Heroes were his only link to his father. They were the only proof, besides a headstone and a nice inscription that meant jack shit to anyone who'd actually known Aidan Phoenix, that his father had existed. Aster loved them more than anything in the world, and would defend them through fire and hail. He didn't like the idea of things not happening for no reason. He wanted his father's death to be tragic, but necessary to the grand scheme of things. He couldn't bear the thought of his father dying being just 'a tragic accident'. It was more than his heart could take, and he would fight tooth and nail, read meanings into the most mundane things, seek answers from even crackpots and fakers, if it meant that that night had some higher meaning.)

So when Sartorius had told him that he might not be 'the one', Aster had experienced a split second of elated relief before the anger and betrayal had come crashing down. If he wasn't supposed to save Sartorius, then who was? If he wasn't supposed to save his friend, then who the hell could? There was no one in the world who could understand Sartorius better than he did, so how could anyone exist who was better suited to saving the fortune teller than his best friend? It had sent his world crashing down around him, ripping him up and destroying everything he'd ever thought he'd understood. If he wasn't supposed to save his friend, who knew what else he wasn't supposed to do. Maybe he was never meant to find his father's killer. Maybe he wasn't the hero he thought he was. Maybe he was just some kid, lost and stupid and afraid, wandering around and making boasts he couldn't fulfill.

And then to hear Jaden, his rival now in more ways than one, call him a kid was more than his pride was able to stomach. He'd tried to lash out, to make the older boy back down, but the look that had entered Jaden's eyes when Aster had protested had been more than enough to shut the younger boy up. He'd never seen Jaden look so serious, as though a dark cloud had passed over his face, blotting out his usually sunny personality. It was honestly a little scary.

At the same time, Aster had to admire Jaden. He, at least, seemed to have mastered the secret to moving on from being the person he'd been in the previous second.

That was why, even though Sarina's Dark Creator was staring him down with no friendly light in its gleaming, yellow eye, and the other nine, smaller ones were hissing wickedly at him, Aster didn't flinch as badly as he might have. After all, Jaden didn't seem too worked up.

" God, those things are ugly." Aster winced, looking at the Dark Creators that littered Sarina's side of the field.

" I've seen worse." Jaden shrugged, not looking up from his cards.

" Name one thing uglier." The pro-star challenged, not actually sure why he was bantering back and forth with the Slifer. It kept him from freaking out, he supposed, and his temper was slowly simmering down. The haze of red that had been lining his vision for most of the latter half of the duel had finally cleared. Aster supposed that Jaden's laid-back attitude was starting to rub off on him, but Jaden had been acting rather seriously for most of the duel.

" Sacred Beasts." Jaden said without looking up. Behind them, Aster heard the Syrus-car give a shudder.

" What now?" He blinked in confusion. Jaden shook his head, shooting Aster a look.

" Ask me after we get outta here." Jaden was looking at their side of the field, narrowing his eyes as his gaze fell on the Dark Creators they were staring down. " You can't do it."

" I'm sorry?"

Jaden shook his head quickly, pointing at Sarina's side of the field.

" Not you, them. I don't think they can attack unless there are monsters on our side of the field."

Aster blinked, and looked at the empty space between them.

" I think you're right." A slow smile worked its way onto his face. " And that means she can't attack as long as we don't have any."

" You know, we could use a little more of this."

" More of what? You and me having mutual realizations?"

" No, teamwork."

" Sorry, dude, I work alone."

" Hate to be the one to break this to you, but we're in a tag duel. You don't get that option."

" Rain on my parade, why don'tcha."

" Just give it a chance, would ya?"

" I don't do well with groups."

" Okay, forget teamwork. We'll work our way up to that. Can you at least try to get along with me?"

" I dunno, that's asking an awful lot..."

"Aster!"

" What? You're like, my extreme opposite, dude. It's weird to think we use the same deck when we're so unalike."

" Well, try and find something we have in common then."

" Um,...we both like dueling?"

" Something that isn't obvious."

" Fine, genius, you think of something!"

" ..."

"..."

" ...Shit."

" Yeah, not so easy, is it?"

" There's gotta be something."

" Newsflash, we're about as similar as night and day."

" That's it!"

" What's it?"

" Don't you get it? We're like, yin and yang!"

" No offense, dude, but I didn't come here to ponder the meaning behind my existence. I came here to duel."

" Just here me out, okay? We're like, two sides of the same coin. We're each other's opposite, but we have to exist in tandem or else everything falls apart. And there's a little bit of me in you, and a little of you in me."

" Are you getting at something, or do you just like the sound of your own voice?"

" We don't have to have things in common to work together. We can do it just by feeding off one another. You don't have to like me and I don't have to like you, but there's enough of the other in each of us to be able to come up with a plan. Me and Syrus can tag duel and win because we're so alike. You and me can win because we aren't."

" That...really doesn't make a whole lot of sense."

" I know, I know. But can't you just, I dunno, take my word for it?"

" I can try, I guess."

" Thanks Aster."

" Don't thank me yet." He glared at Sarina. " Thank me after we win."

And despite the fact that Jaden Yuki annoyed the hell out of him whenever Aster came into contact with the Slifer, he still had to bite back an embarrassingly bright grin as he felt the other boy start to beam.

That was probably what made him believe it when Jaden claimed it wasn't over. As much as the other boy annoyed and aggravated him, as much as Jaden got on his nerves and made Aster's teeth grind, there was something about him that Aster couldn't help but respect. It wasn't an obvious thing. It wasn't like Jaden just switched personas and suddenly Aster looked up to him. It was a multitude of small mannerisms that were unique to Jaden. It was a bunch of little things that made up who he was. It was the way he talked to his friends. It was the way he handled his cards. It was the way he always smiled at Aster, even though the other boy was, more often than not, his enemy.

It was the way he was so ready to accept that maybe, Sartorius wasn't such a bad guy after all. It was the way he'd known that, without anyone telling him at all. It was the way he went about looking after the people he loved. It was the way he heaped their failures on himself. It was the way he handled the weight of the world on his shoulders with a kind of giddy grace that Aster had never seen before. It was the way he could go from happy to serious to sympathetic without batting an eye. It was the way he knew when to be kind, when to cold, and when to be cold to be kind. It was the way he never took anyone's crap, without being blunt about it. It was the way he never turned down a challenge.

It was the way he was able to make everything, every tiny action, every thoughtless gesture, his own.

And that was why Aster found that he could believe in Jaden. Because this was a duel, and Jaden was in his element, but more than that, Jaden's own sense of determined stupidity was permeating from every card in both their hands. It was washing over their side of the field, and, just like Jaden had said, they were yin and yang, and that meant that somewhere, there was little speck of Jaden in Aster, and the pro-star let that guide him.

" Hey Jaden." Aster let the first genuine smile he'd felt like having all day show on his face. " I'll go the distance with you, but I'm gonna need a major pep talk. Whaddya say?"

Jaden's answering grin lit up the entire field.

" You've come to the right place. Pep talks are my specialty!"

And when he used his Dark Panther to copy Sarina's Dark Creator, and then merged the jungle cat with Neos, Aster felt a flicker of pride. When Sarina's face (both of them, actually) went pale as Jaden announced that Dark Neos could negate Dark Creator's effect, and sicced one of the Dark Creator tokens on him, Aster couldn't help but grin. And when Dark Neos had slammed into one of the Sarina's, knocking her lifepoints down to zero and forcing the two to merge back into one woman, he couldn't help his reaction.

" Hell yeah!" He pumped his fist in the air, grinning. Jaden gave him his customary wink and two fingered salute, and, unlike the first two times he'd seen it, Aster felt no urge to scowl and throw it in Jaden's face.

Instead, he had, for the briefest of moments, the insane urge to give it back to him.


Sarina collapsed, a single entity again. Behind her opponents, there were twin flashes of light. Jaden spun on his heels, his grin growing as he saw that Hassleberry and Syrus were human again.

" Oh thank God." Syrus breathed, flexing his fingers.

" Good ta be back." The younger Ra agreed. " Thanks Sarge!"

" Hey, if it were me, you'da both done the same." Jaden gave them his salute.

" Good job." Aster sounded resigned, but happy. Jaden looked at him over his shoulder, offering the other boy a smile.

" Thanks, but I woulda never pulled it off without your monster." He shrugged. " I think we should just forget about this 'chosen one' business. I don't think that duel proved anything."

" You're wrong."

Both boys turned to look at Sarina, who was kneeling on the ground, one hand still clutching the side where Jaden's last attack had made contact. Raising her still pale face, Aster and Jaden were surprised to see the look of gratitude on her face.

" You both passed the test." She whispered, sounding weak. " You're both necessary."

" Uh, thank you?" Jaden muttered, but jumped to the side as Aster rushed passed him in a silver blur.

" Sarina!" He knelt by her side, wrapping an arm around her to steady her.

" Why is he helping her?" Syrus asked, Hassleberry nodding his head in agreement. Jaden shushed them, watching the scene unfold with speculative eyes.

" Are you okay?" Aster asked, trying to pull the woman to her feet. " C'mon, get up. Let's get out of here, and we can all talk."

" There won't be time for that, I'm afraid." Sarina whispered, her breathing getting heavier.

" Whaddya mean bah that?" Hassleberry demanded. Jaden shot him a look and saw that under his dark skin, he looked pale.

" This world is rigged to self destruct." Sarina explained in a flat voice. Both Syrus and Hassleberry jumped at the omission, and began to look around nervously, although Syrus kept his cool better than his friend. Aster went white, and doubly renewed his efforts to haul Sarina to her feet.

" Don't just sit there, get up!" He tugged at her arm. " C'mon Sarina, we don't have a lot of time here! Hurry!"

Sarina's face was in shadow, but she shook her head, and when she started to speak in a soft, sad tone, Jaden could almost picture the smile on her face.

" Aster, Jaden, please listen to me. I'm sorry I had to put you through that."

" Quick yakkin' and get up!" Aster's voice had taken on an edge of panic. Sarina continued to resist him.

" I know this won't make up for the pain I put not only you, but your friends as well, through but..." She raised her head, and Jaden was surprised to see tears glittering in her eyes. " ...I lied."

" She what?" Syrus exploded, glaring at the woman.

" You lied?" Aster whispered, letting his hand drop from her arm. " You lied to me?"

" I told you my interests were the same as my brother. That isn't true."

" Then what were ya after?" Hassleberry cut in, standing protectively by Jaden. Sarina shook her head, her shoulders starting to shake. Jaden walked forward, ignoring his friends' warnings and gently put his hand on her shoulder. Sarina looked up at him, eyes swimming with tears.

" Miko-sama." He said softly. " What do you want?"

Her shoulders shook as he addressed her, and the tears spilled over, even as she started to speak.

" I needed to know which one of you was the one my brother needed, but not for the reason you think." She clasped her hands in front of her. " I needed to know which one of you would be able to save him."

" Save him?" Jaden whispered. Beside him Aster flinched guiltily.

" Yes." Sarina was still shaking.

" Why does he need saving?"

" Because..." Sarina tried, but her tears choked up her throat and she had to stop, taking deep breaths even as a sob ripped itself out of her throat. Jaden gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze, and Aster leaned forward to wrap an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him.

" Because." She tried again once she's calmed down. " Something has changed within him. Something has made the good brother I love change into a horrible monster." She took a steadying breath, and launched into a story.

" About a year and a half ago, a stranger arrived at our house, asking for my brother. Sartorius was a fortune teller on the side, so visitors came often. I didn't think much of it then. Sartorius was just so happy to be able to use his gift to help people that I let it slide. The stranger was dressed in long black coat with a scarf over his face so we couldn't see any of his features. I was suspicious, but I thought maybe he was just embarrassed to be going to see a fortune teller, even one of my brother's calibre, and just didn't want to be recognized. I let it go.

" I watched from behind the curtain, though, because something about the man didn't sit right with me. After Sartorius had done the usually readings, the man presented him with a card. I couldn't really see it in the candlelight, but it seemed to be glowing softly. It felt wrong, like it was burning up. I noticed that the man was very careful to use gloves when he was handling the card.

" The second Sartorius touched it, I knew something had happened. He went white as a ghost and started shaking, and even after the man had paid him and left, he was stayed in his reading room, just staring at the opposite wall. When I finally came in to try and talk to him, he was cold as ice. He refused to speak to me, and started muttering to himself, like he was possessed. I tried to look at his face, but he wouldn't turn around. I was so scared that I grabbed him to shake him and...and..." Sarina trailed off, her tears starting up again. She pressed a hand to her lips to stifle her sobs, smearing her lipstick in the process.

" What is it?" Aster asked, rubbing her shoulder. Sarina shook her head.

" ...His eyes..." She whispered finally. " I've never seen such eyes before. It was as if...as if...like a fire inside of him was set alight, and you could see it in his eyes. He looked..."

" Like all the life was sucked out of his face, and pulled into his eyes? Like he was delirious with a fever? Like he was seriously sick, but somehow it was on the inside of him? His soul?" Jaden supplied grimly. Sarina nodded.

" You've come in contact with it." It wasn't a question.

Jaden nodded.

" Did you happen to get any clues as to what this thing possessing your brother looked like?"

" All I could see when I tried to look into him was light. A bright, blazing light that seared right through me."

" The Light of Destruction." Jaden hissed. " Damn."

" The what?" Aster looked at him. " You know what this thing is?"

" Not exactly. I know it's from space, and that my Neospacians need me to fight it, and that it's upsetting a very delicate balance by lashing out like this, but other than that, I'm in the dark." A thought occurred to him, and he hurried to voice it before Aster could make fun of his 'imaginary journey' again. " Hey Aster, did Sartorius do anything to your deck before you dueled me? The first official one, I mean?"

" Yeah." The boy said, frowning. " He said he was empowering it with destiny. I thought he was just looking at the future and using it as a medium."

" He must've put the Light in your deck." Jaden whispered. " At the end of the duel, I saw this bright light in front of my eyes and it hurt so bad that I passed out."

" You screamed too." Syrus put in, looking pale but resolute.

Jaden blinked.

" I screamed?"

" Yeah, everybody was at my throat, demanding I fix whatever I did to you." Aster looked down. " You really went temporarily blind because you saw that light coming out of my deck?"

Jaden nodded.

" How come it didn't take you over?"

He shrugged. A hand brushed the bangs away from his skin and he jumped as cool fingers pressed against his forehead. Sarina closed her eyes, and Jaden had the oddest sense of light-headedness.

" There is something within you that won't allow you to be taken over." She whispered. " Something that fights the Light at every turn. It tried to control you, but you pushed it back, and were merely blinded for a while." The fingers, as she removed them, shook. " You are a good ally to have in this war, Jaden Yuki."

" This isn't a war." Jaden protested, but Sarina gave him a sad smile.

" Not all wars are fought with cannons and tanks. Now, listen closely. The card that did this to my brother was a monster card. It was a hero, like the ones you both play with." On her shoulder, Aster's hand spasmed. " That's all I know. I couldn't see the name of the card from where I stood, and the man left soon after he showed it to my brother. His face was covered, so I don't know what he looks like. I just know that after Sartorius touched that card, he became the monster that created the Society of Light."

" Alright." Aster said, standing up. " Well, at least we know what we gotta do. Sarina, let's get out of here. Then we can start figuring you how to do this, you, me, and Jaden."

" Aster, I'm sorry." Sarina gave him a soft smile. " But this program is also rigged to release me into cyberspace, where I can watch over my brother."

" What are you talking about?" He shouted angrily. " You're coming home with us!"

Sarina reached up, and stroked his face, her own heartbreakingly sad.

" I'm so proud of you. You've grown-up into exactly the sort of man I'd always hoped you'd be." Aster leaned into the touch.

" Sarina." He whispered pleadingly, but she put both her hands on his shoulders and squeezed them.

" I believe in you. I always have. And I always will. You're my son, Aster. Maybe not by blood, but in my heart, I will always think of you like that. And I know you can do this."

Then she pushed him backwards, and he fell into the glowing double rings that signalled the exit. He was gone before the look of surprise ever fully made it onto his face. Sarina watched him go, her face hardening.

" All of you, get out. That exit isn't going to be open much longer."

Syrus and Hassleberry jumped, but Jaden gave one last look at the woman as she started to glow.

He bowed.

" It is an honour to have met you." He said in formal Japanese.

Sarina started at the address, but then nodded, and responded in kind.

" I..I believe in you. In both of you."

The last thing Jaden saw before he was sent back was Sarina, glowing and smiling, sinking into the green floor beneath her.


Merry Christmas to you all~!

I know I was away for longer than I said I would be, but I was trying to give my friend Mizumaru Mari a chance to respond. You see, for all the Japanese being used in these past chapters, Mari has been my faithful consultant, correcting me and letting me know where I went wrong. She has been a great help to me, and I would really like to get down on my knees and thank her for being so patient with me and my stupid lack of knowledge of the Japanese language. Unfortunately, I have been unable to reach her for about a month now, and, as such, have made the decision to NOT use Japanese in this last chapter. I don't want to mangle it as I so often do when Mari doesn't correct me. I figured better safe than sorry, and I really do trust Mari more than myself.

That being said, I think its time I explained the reasoning behind the use of Japanese. That's right. I had a logical reason behind it: It was to show the power struggle going on between Jaden, Sarina, and even Aster to an extent. Look back to when Sarin first started addressing Jaden. She does so playfully and mockingly, using his own language to both taunt him, and confuse Aster. She is basically stating that she is above the two boys, and she knows it. In each instance of her and Jaden conversing back and forth, Sarina's tone is always mocking and lofty, while Jaden is constantly angered to the point of forgetting that he's supposed to be speaking English. Sarina is using Japanese to make Jaden lose control over his emotions. She's trying to psych him out and it's working.

But, at the end, the balance of power has shifted. Sarina has given the power over to Jaden, and he senses that. He responses by bowing and using formal Japanese, indicating that he respects her. Sarina, stunned at this, acknowledges him in a way that she didn't before. She gave the power to Jaden, but he still treated her with dignity. They've become equals by teh end of this by-play. I'm sad that I couldn't use actual Japanese to show this, but I think the message gets across just the same.

Well, there will be two more updates tonight, so I want you all to have a very merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate, and just enjoy the night!

See you soon for 'Falling Rain' and the one, the only, 'Domino City Rain Scene!'

MoS