Me: Hi everyone. Chúc mừng năm mới!

Crow: What does that mean?

Me: It means 'happy new year' in Vietnamese. It's supposed to be Lunar New Year tomorrow though.

Crystal: Sounds fun...what are you gonna do tomorrow?

Me: Don't know yet...but let's go on with Crystallization shall we? Disclaimers...you guys know the drill. R&R. ;)

Chapter 37

Moments later, we were sitting down, waiting to hear how Yusei's doing. Rally and the others managed to get here safely, well... only to be shown half-naked. I immediately became shock once I opened the door for them, and Crow had to cover my eyes from behind. We found out that they were trying to bring Yusei's duel runner here, in cost of their clothes to the thieves. We gave them blankets to cover themselves up and quietly wait for the news. I glanced at Rally, who was shivering violently, holding on to Yusei's helmet. I could tell he was really worried for him, so I sat next to Rally and wrapped my arms around him in comfort. I kept whispering to him that Yusei is going to be okay, but in the back of my mind, I'm not too sure of myself. The image of the Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu attacking Yusei kept replaying in my mind, and I could've sworn that if it wasn't for Sparkling Crystal Dragon to show up, he would've died immediately. However, it was still intimidating for us to find out if he's going to make it through the surgery like that.

Suddenly, we heard the door cracked open, and Martha and Dr. Schmidtt came out of the room. Crow and I rushed towards them.

"Martha, Dr. Schmidtt, how's Yusei?" Crow asked, "Is he going to be okay?"

Martha smiled and nodded, "That boy just got lucky.

"There was no damage to his internal organs or his blood vessels, so his wounds wasn't as severe as we thought it would be," Dr. Schimdtt explained, "He should be find once his wounds are sealed."

Everyone sighed in relief.

"Thanks goodness," I said in relief, "Yusei is actually okay!"

"Yeah! Damn that Yusei for making me worried like that!" Crow cried happily, and he'd looks like he's going to dance around in celebration.

However, that was interrupted when we heard quite a sneeze from Rally, Blitz, Taka, and Nervin.

"ACHOO!"

Crow bended over to the red-headed child, "What's wrong?"

"I-I t-think I-I g-got a-a c-cold," Rally started sneezing again.

I placed my hand on his forehead and felt the abnormal heat from him, "Yep. It looks like you got a fever coming up." I glanced at the three other guys, who were on the ground, shaken violently. I began to sweat dropped at that scene.

"Hey now! Pull yourselves together!" Martha told them.

Immediately, we gave them warm clothes and put them into bed in separate rooms. After I tucked Rally in and left his room, I went up to my bird-named friend.

"Well that was interesting, wasn't it?" I commented.

"Yeah, Rally and the others made a heck of an effort to bring Yusei's duel runner here," Crow pointed to the worn-out, red duel runner outside.

"Mmm. Can't blame them for that," I sighed. Although not as bad, I can't believe mine was damaged as well.

"They were brave and kind enough to do this for Yusei," Crow and I turned around and saw Martha coming towards us, "They deserved a nice rest after that."

Crow blinked in realization, "Oh yeah! Martha, I don't think you got a chance to say hi to your daughter, yet." He pushed me towards her.

"CROW!" I yelled at him, but he only grinned in response.

"Oh, but I'd already recognized her when you and Crystal came here. But you're right. I haven't properly say hello yet," Martha looked straight into my eyes and gave me her usual scolding expression, "Honestly, I can't believe you would got up and run away like that for two years. For heaven's sake, we were all worried about you."

I gulped and let my bangs fall over my eyes, knowing I hurt my foster mother deeply, "I'm sorry Martha. This is no excuse...but I..."

Suddenly, I felt her arms wrapped around me and pulled me into her warm hug, "It's alright. I'm just glad I got to see my little girl again."

"Martha..." I sniffed and hugged her back, "Oh Martha! I'm so glad to see you too! I miss you so much!"

"I miss you too, Crystal," Martha smiled and wiped the tears off my face, "And I see you grown up a little bit more."

I smiled and glanced at Crow, who was about to start a water works at our reunion, "Oh Crow, don't tell me that you're about to cry," I teased him.

"I'm not," Crow denied while wiping his tears away.

We laughed and then glanced at the clock, realizing that it was almost past midnight.

"You two should head to bed now," Martha said, "Though, I'm afraid there's only room left."

"That's fine," Crow waved it off, "I can sleep on the couch. Crystal can take the room."

"Thanks Crow," we said good night and I went to the room Martha told me to sleep in. I took of my hoodie, leaving my tank top on, and kicked off my black boots. Before I can drifted to sleep, I decided to have a talk with one of my Duel Spirits.

"Sparkling Crystal Dragon..." I called her out, "There's something I need to tell you."

There was no answer. I'd decide to continue on anyway.

"I know you're somehow involved with the Crimson Dragon and the Signers. Can you please tell me why?"

Still no answer. I sighed in defeat. Looks like I had to try again tomorrow. I lied down on the bed and drifted to sleep.

*Flash*

"Crystal...Crystal."

I opened my eyes and realize I was in a dark room again. Where am I?

"Crystal...please..."

That voice again, "Who are you?"

"I can't tell you yet...you must hurry up and gather all other four guardians and dragons to help the Signers and defeat the Dark Signers."

Signers and Dark Signers...he must have something to do with them, "Who are the four others I must find?" I asked the voice.

"I can't tell you exactly, but I can give you hints. There's..." The voice began to drifted off.

"Wait! Come back! Please tell me more!" Suddenly the star mark appeared on my right arm again and flashed everything to bright red, ending the scene.

*Flash*

I woke up and rubbed my eyes groggily. Man, why do I keep having these weird dreams lately? Does this have to do with the star mark I have earlier? I glanced down at my arm, noticing it was not there anymore. My arm didn't hurt anymore, but I felt like the pain was still there.

Feeling that I need to clear my mind, I put on my boots and walked out of my bedroom. I looked around and noticed Crow wasn't here. Then, I heard a door opened and saw Martha coming out from it. She looked up and quickly noticed me.

"Ah Crystal, you're up and early," she smiled, "Did you sleep well?"

I nodded and smiled a bit, "Yes I did. Where's Crow?"

"He went out for a bit," she answered, "He seems to be in a hurry and ran off."

Probably went back to check on Akane and his nest, I thought. Then, I asked, "How's Yusei?"

"He's doing better," she answered, "Yusei is actually awake, so if you want to talk to him, you can." Martha pointed to the door behind.

"Thank you, Martha," I smiled and opened the door. Once I entered inside, I saw Yusei sitting up on his bed. I blushed at the sight of his bare chest, but became relief once I saw that his abdomen was wrap up in bandages. He must've been in a lot of pain from the looks of it.

"Hey Yusei," I greeted.

He looked up and noticed me standing next to the door, "Crystal...hey," he smiled at me warmly, "You're actually here."

I nodded. Then, I quickly ran up and wrapped my arms around him, nearly making him fall back, "Woah! Hey, what-"

"Yusei," I sniffed, trying not to cry, "I'm glad. After seeing you get injured during that duel, I'm glad that you're alright!"

Soon, I felt him return my embrace, and we held on for each other for a moment until it gets to the point where it feels really awkward, so we had to let go. However, I managed to get myself together and sat on a chair next to him. Funny, I felt like we're in the same position couple years ago, except Yusei was the one who got hurt this time.

"So how are you feeling now?" I asked him.

"Better than before," Yusei answered, "Except that my guy still hurts."

"Aye, I can tell," I pointed out to his wounds, "I'll be honest with you, that's one of the most painful crash I'd ever seen you taken," Then, I started imagining Kiryu as a Dark Signer again, "Kiryu..."

"So you've found out what happen to him," Yusei said. It was not a question, more of an statement.

"Yeah. Crow told me about it," I answered clenched my fist, "I'd never thought I would see this side of him. Despite the fact that we fought each other a lot, I always thought of Kiryu as a friend and an older brother like you guys."

Yusei patted my shoulder and sighed, "I know. I think it's my fault for letting him off like that."

I shook my head, "Yusei, I think that could've happen to anyone. You, Jack, and Crow were right about trying to stop him from growing crazy. Besides, the Sector Security part was a really bad timing for you and Kiryu."

"But you know it gets worse after that, Crystal," Yusei clenched his blanket in anger, "He died, and the Dark Signers brought him back to life. Now he's going to come back and tried to kill three of us. Mostly tried to kill me first."

"Now that you said that, I think I'm already on Kiryu's death list as well," I said and Yusei looked at me in confusion, "Because, I tried to help you after you fall unconscious from your crash, and Kiryu already took a hint that I choose to be on your side and made me his enemy." And partially because I smacked him across the face.

"I see," Yusei glanced at his Signer Mark on his right arm solemnly. I smiled and placed my hand on his marked arm.

"Yusei, it'll be okay," I said, "No matter what happens, we'll get through this together, no matter what. This time, I'll protect you."

Yusei looked at me and nodded, "Thank you, Crystal."

I smiled and got up, "Well, I have to get going now to see if Martha needs anything."

I head out of Yusei's room, and found Martha working in the kitchen, "So you managed to talk to him?" she asked.

"Yep. I think's he's going to be find once he copes with his injuries," I answered.

"So do I," Martha agreed and was about to start on breakfast.

"Um...Martha," I called her.

"Yes?" she replied.

I poked my two fingers together and looked at her, "Um...would it be okay if I make breakfast this time?"

Martha must've realized why I asked her and she nodded, "I don't see why not."

I quickly put on the apron and grabbed the utensils and the ingredients, "Alright. Let's start!"

Soon, I started working on the batter for chocolate chip pancakes (which is Yusei's favorite), while Martha was whisking the eggs. I kept whisking the batter until it's smooth and lumpy and was about to put them on a frying pan. But then, I began to sensed someone's presence from outside of the orphanage.

"Hey, I think Crow's back," I said. Martha looked outside and nodded.

"You're right. He is back. Huh?" Martha stared out in wonder, "Who's that girl next to him?"

I froze up for a moment, place the bowl on the table, and head to the front door. Once I opened it, I recognized Crow standing there, with Akane and her kids behind him.

"Yo Crystal," Crow greeted, "I was about to open door myself y'know."

"I know," I laughed and glanced at the scarlet head duelist, "Akane, Riku, Takeru, Kari...what are you doing here?"

Akane pointed to Crow, "Crow told us to come here for some reason so..."

"Welcome back Crow," I turned around and saw Martha behind me, glancing at Crow and then to Akane and her siblings, "May I ask who are these young people?"

"Martha, this Akane, her little brother Riku, and the twins, Takeru and Kari," I introduced the Hitomi family to her and arched an eyebrow at him, "Which reminds me...Crow?"

"Oh, about that," Crow grinned at me, "I brought your friends here to stay because it's probably more suitable for them to live in."

"Hey, that's a great idea!" I glanced at Martha, "Would that be okay to let them stay here, Martha?"

"Of course," she said, "We still have enough room for them."

Akane and the others bowed down and smiled at her.

"Thank you ma'am," Akane said, "We appreciate it."

"Please call me Martha, Akane," Martha glanced at the twins, "Why don't you two head inside and play with the others upstairs for a bit? I'll call you down when breakfast is ready."

The twins nodded and headed upstairs. Akane and Riku head inside the kitchen with us and glanced at me and Crow.

"Thanks you two, but you don't have to do this for is," Akane said.

"It's okay Akane. You, Riku and the twins had a hard time since I decided to stay in Neo Domino City," I told her, "I think this is a safe place for you now."

"Agreed," Crow patted her back, "Just take this as for grant, because you're gonna need it."

Akane smiled and glanced at the kitchen table, "Am I disturbing your cooking Crystal?"

"Not really," I shook my head, "I'm almost done anyway."

"You two need help?" Crow asked.

"That's okay Crow. We can take it from here," Martha answered, "But would it be okay if you could set table?"

"Sure," Crow opened one of the cabinets and grabbed some of the plates.

"I'll help too," Akane followed the same procedure and so did Riku.

I continued frying up the pancakes until they're golden brown and place them on the plates. Martha started placing the hot scramble eggs on the plate and carried them to the breakfast table. Crow finished setting the table with Akane and Riku and came back with the emptied cups for me to pour the orange juice in.

"So how's Yusei doing?" he asked as I pour the drink.

"He's doing okay so far," I answered, "But I think he's still shaken up from the shadow duel with Kiryu."

"Mmm, I thought he would feel that way," Crow grimaced and placed the full cups on the table and grabbed the empty ones, "Now I knew what to expect if I'd ever come across a Dark Signer."

"But we got to be careful with them Crow," I stated, "Just one wrong move, and we could possibly be dead for sure. I mean, you saw what happened to Yusei. If it weren't for Sparkling Crystal Dragon protecting him and his duel runner crashing, he would've been killed."

"I know that. But that's not gonna stop me to protect my nest from them," Crow placed the cups on the tray and carried them to the table, "That reminds me, how did you dragon got out of your deck and attack that Earthbound Immortal thing? I thought you can't materialized cards like Aoi can."

I shrugged, "I can't because I'm not a psychic duelist. There might be another reason for her to do that, but I don't know what."

Crow was gonna asked another question, but he decided to dropped it for now as we head to the table with the rest of the foods and beverages in our hands. Martha had already called out all the kids down to eat, and as soon as they sat on the table, they dug in on the pancakes and scramble eggs.

"Mmm...this is really good!" one of kids exclaimed.

"Yeah, this is the best thing I'd ever tasted," the other one agreed.

"All of you should thank Crystal," Martha told them, patting my shoulder, "She made this for you all to enjoy."

"Thank you Crystal nee-chan!" all the kids thanked me, and I modestly replied by smiling at them.

"Your welcome," I said.

Akane tapped on my shoulder, "Crystal, what's the tray for over there?" she asked pointing at the kitchen counter.

"Oh that," I grabbed the tray with the breakfast plate and a cup of juice, "This is for Yusei. I was going to bring it to him in his room."

"Hey, let me go in with you," Crow said, "I want to see how Yusei is doing."

"Same here," Akane joined in.

I nodded in agreement and glanced at Martha, "Martha, we're gonna bring these to Yusei. Is that okay?"

"Of course," Martha nodded. All three of us headed to Yusei's room, and Crow was the one to knock the door.

"Come in," we heard him say. Immediately, Crow slammed the door opened.

"Yo, Yusei!" Crow grinned, "How ya doing?"

"Hey Crow, I was wondering where have you been," Yusei greeted and did a fist bump with Crow.

"Hi again Yusei," I said as Akane and I walked in.

"Crystal...Akane...hey," Yusei glanced at the scarlet head girl, "Akane, what are you doing here?"

"Crow brought me and my kids here so we'll be staying here from now on," Akane answered.

"That's great," he said.

"Here Yusei. Eat up!" I placed the tray in front of him and smiled.

Yusei's eyes widened, "Crystal...did you made this?"

I blushed a bit and smiled, "Y-yeah."

Yusei took a bite out of the pancakes and smiled at me, "This taste really good. Thanks."

"You're welcome," I replied.

Eventually, Crow, Akane, and I sat down on the chairs next to Yusei and talked about his duel with Kiryu, who was now a Dark Signer, and how was he gonna deal with this. Though Akane wasn't the one who saw the shadow duel, Crow had already explained to her enough about it before she came here and kinda knew what happen.

"Let me get this straight. So that old friend of yours died and became a Dark Signer and summon an Earthbound Immortal, which can attack you directly without any trap or monster cards to worried about, am I correct?" she asked. We nodded in replied, "Well...that does kinda sound nasty."

"It is," Yusei placed his hand over his wound, "If it weren't for Crystal's dragon and my duel runner, I'd would've died."

"That's what I told him," I stated, pointing my thumb at Crow.

"But I had a weird feeling about this," Yusei glanced at me, "Crystal, why did your Sparkling Crystal Dragon appeared and stopped Ccapac Apu?"

I shrugged, "I tried asking Sparkling Crystal Dragon about this, but for some reason, she won't answer."

"Wait. What do you mean 'asking' Sparkling Crystal Dragon?" Crow asked.

"She can talk to Duel Spirits, Crow," Yusei explained.

"WHAT?!" Crow and Akane became shock at this.

"Since when?" Crow asked.

"Y-You never told me that," Akane stammered.

I sighed, "If I did, then you would freak out the way you are now. Oh and to answer your question Crow, that was couple years ago."

Crow stared at me in shock, "I'd never thought they would exist."

"Moving on," I insisted, "But what I can say for sure about is that she's not an ordinary Synchro Monster."

Akane gave out a puzzle expression, "Explained to me in details what do you mean about that."

I pointed at Yusei's deck next to him, "Let's take Yusei's Stardust Dragon for example. We all know it's not an ordinary Synchro Monster because it's actually a Signer Dragon and there's only one copy of it. It's kinda of the same thing for Sparkling Crystal Dragon. So far, I don't know anyone else who has the same dragon card as mine. Plus, I had a feeling she's involved with the Signer/Dark Signer War somehow."

"And you're positive that she's not a Signer Dragon," Yusei asked.

I shook my head, "If that were true, Yusei, I would've gain a dragon's mark already."

"But when I went by through the shadow duel, I noticed there was a red glow and Crystal's arm, just like Yusei's," Crow pointed out.

I glanced at my right arm, "Yeah, but that's different. The one I had was shaped like a star, not a part of the dragon's."

"What could this mean?" Akane asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know, but whatever this star mark mean, it involves with the Signers somehow."

"I see," Crow sighed and leaned back against the chair, "If only Aoi was here, he'll might be able to seek through the future and find some clues about it."

Yusei blinked in realization, "Of course. He'd sometimes sees the future in his dream and usually find some clues about what's gonna happen."

I began to realized what they're talking about. I forgot to mentioned this earlier, but part of Aoi's psychic abilities was to be able to see the future, and he usually sketched the drawings in his sketchbook to show us what he saw was goons happen. Then, I gasped and glanced at Yusei and Crow, "Guys...you might not believe this, but I'd actually know where Aoi is, and he's still alive."

"WHAT?!" they exclaimed. I told them everything about what happen to him when he was kidnapped and how he joined the Arcadia Movement with Aki and how he lost his memories.

"So...he doesn't really remembered any of us?" Yusei asked.

I shook my head, "What I heard from Aki was that Aoi doesn't remember anything when he entered the Arcadia Movement, and I have a bad feeling that Divine did something to him to make him lose his memories. However, I gave Aki my clip to give it to him, hoping it would trigger his memories."

"And you think it's a good idea to trust her?" Akane asked skeptically.

I shot a glare at her, "Aki is not as bad as you think Akane. Besides, she's the only one in the Arcadia Movement I can trust."

"Well, at least I'm glad that Aoi is okay," Crow grinned, "I was worried that I might not be able to see him again."

"Same here," Yusei agreed, "At least we know where to look for him."

While Yusei and Crow were still talking about it, Akane glanced at me, "Do you even had any idea how to get him back?"

"Not yet, but I'm still planning on how to do that," I answered. I leaned back on the chair and looked up, wondering how's Aoi doing so far.

Third POV

Somewhere in Neo Domino City was the tall building called Arcadia Movement. Inside were groups of psychic duelists, who were either training to control their powers or we're put into dangerous experiments. One of them, Izayoi Aki, was in the training room trying to control her psychic powers. Lately, her powers had slightly decreased and she thought that she was just tired from the Fortune Cup. However, unbeknownst to her, Divine knew exactly the reason why that happens, but he did not reveal that to anyone but to Aki herself.

Deciding to take a break, Aki started to head back to her own room. on her way there, she kept remembering what Yusei said to her during the final round of the Fortune Cup.

"Don't leave your thinking to others! Think for yourself!"

"What does a witch like me need to think about? As long as Divine shows me the way and love me, then..."

"No! You have to love yourself!"

"Why am I being reminded of him?" Aki asked herself. She shook her head out of her memory and continued her way. Unknowingly, she suddenly put her hand in her pocket and felt something inside. She realized what she felt and took it out, revealing a silver crescent moon clip decorated in purple and blue rhinestones.

"Of course...this is actually Crystal's hair clip," Aki muttered, remember the reason why she gave it to her."

"Please Aki! Please give this to Aoi! He's really an important person to me and I...I really miss him."

From her eyes, I could tell she really cares about him, she thought, Does she has feelings for him?

Putting that thought aside, Aki went to a different hallway to find a certain room. She's not sure if this is going to work, but she did promise Crystal that she would at least try.

Aki quietly knocked the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in," she heard from the inside.

She opened the door and stepped inside. There, she saw a boy about her age with slightly slanted, blue hair and chocolate brown eyes, wearing an Arcadia Movement uniform. There was a black tattoo imprinted on his right eye, supposedly made from a special ink to help him keep his power under control, just like how Aki kept her hair pin on her hair, acting like an energy stabilizer. Aki looked down and saw that the blue hair psychic boy was on his bed, drawing something on his sketchbook.

"Hey Aoi," she finally spoke. Aoi looked up and noticed his friend standing next to the door.

"Hey Aki, what's up?" he smiled and let Aki sit next to him.

"Nothing much," she sighed as she sat down.

"Is something wrong?" Aoi asked her.

Aki shrugged, "I'm just feeling tired that's all. I'm not sure why, but my powers started decreasing for some reason."

Aoi stopped drawing and glanced at his friend, "Is it about that incident during the Fortune Cup?"

"Probably," Aki said uncertain, "I wasn't able to understand what he was trying to say to me."

"I see. Don't try to over exert yourself Aki," Aoi kindly told her and focus back on his drawing, "Come to think, when I first saw Yusei in the Fortune Cup, I felt like I met him before."

Aki blinked and glanced at her friend, "You mean...you know him? Is your memories coming back?"

Aoi shrugged, "Maybe, but I'm not to sure. I'm trying to find out more about it."

Aki nodded. She knew when she first met Aoi, he lost his memories due to people traumatizing him because of his powers. Well, that's what Divine told her. At least, she understand what he was going through, since she had some similar experiences with her power.

"What is it that you're drawing this time?" Aki asked.

Aoi blushed and held the sketchbook to his chest, "It's...it's kinda embarrassing to say."

"You can tell me," Aki giggled at his reaction, "I promise I won't tell anyone." Not that she have anyone else to talk to.

"You promise?"

Aki nodded.

Aoi sighed, "Okay. You see, I'm starting to have another strange dream again. This time...it was about a girl."

Aki blinked, "What she looked like?"

Aoi handed Aki his sketchbook to let her see, "This is the girl in my dreams I drew in my sketchbook. Every time I dreamed about her and looked at the drawings of her, I felt like I met her before. But I can't remember how or when. Plus, I can't even remember her name," Aoi sighed and leaned against the wall, "It's just that...she look so familiar."

Aki scanned through the book as she listened. Aoi's drawing was really good. Outlined very well and had some good details to make it look real. After flipping through some of the drawings, she stopped at the outlines of a girl and gasped. She kept scanning at that one picture again to make sure she wasn't imagining.

"Aki, what's wrong?" Aoi asked.

She didn't answered. She kept staring at the sketches of the girl in shock. No doubt, her features looked familiar to her...too familiar. Aki had definitely recognized her not too long ago. That girl was...

"Crystal..."

Me: And that's that.

Crystal: So...any plans for your Lunar New Year?

Me: Still don't know yet. But I'll find out soon. Oh, if you guys wonder what Aoi's tattoo looked like, look up Jellal from Fairy Tail and see his mark, only in black and a but more details. Anyway, I'll upload some more soon so try to hold on for a bit longer. To all the readers even though it's early...Chúc mừng năm mới!