CK: I'm back! Sorry that I took a little longer than I though I would, but I've had a busy weekend.

BlackieChuu: Farglesnot! WHEEEEE!!!

SW: Yay! You're a Pegasus-lover, too! Kewlies! ((Sorry, acting like a ditz today))

Myotismon13: glomp Ye hath returned-eth! Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh or any of the movies mentioned in this chapter. Or Hamlet.

Queen (scattering flowers): Sweets to the sweet: farewell!

I hoped thou wouldst have been my Hamlet's wife

I thought thy bride-bed to have deck'd, sweet maid

And not have strew'd thy grave

Laertes: O, treble woe...

Hold off the earth a while,

Till I have caught her once more in mine arms.

-Hamlet, Act V, Scene 1

Death and Roses

As Pegasus sat in the hospital room, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was wandering through a dream. Cyndia was lying there in front of him, and yet....he couldn't shake off the feeling that it wasn't real, as though he had stepped out of reality for a moment.

Cyndia looked different than he remembered her. She had aged, and she was no longer a teenager of seventeen. A thin, winding scar could be traced from her forehead to the middle of her left cheek, where it stopped abruptly. And her skin was pale.....much paler than he had remembered it to be.

He held her hand as she softly breathed into a machine, and IV running from her wrist was attached to a bag of fluids. Her eyes were closed, as though she were simply sleeping, and would wake up at any minute. She had sunk deeply into the mattress from years of just lying there, and Pegasus suspected that, were she every to awaken, her imprint would stay there forever.

The room seemed very clean, very sterile, very lifeless. The walls, the floor, the bed, the chairs, all of them were pure, stark white. Not a speck of dirt could be found anywhere. Pegasus felt like a blot on the scenery, sitting there wearing a black coat.

As Pegasus held Cyndia's hands, his thumb moved towards her wrist to feel for a pulse. Sure enough, he felt its rhythmic beating and felt reassured.

So Cyndia really was alive.........Pegasus almost felt like laughing at himself. His dreams must have been very lifelike. What else could have convinced him that Cyndia had died? Poor Croquet, the man must be convinced that he was crazy by now. Well, Pegasus would have to try and explain the dreams he'd been having, or he might be dragged to a shrink....again.

Pegasus wondered if he was going insane. He had only visited Cyndia, what, four days ago? She was far from dead, so what had made him think otherwise? Well, no matter, at least he was alright now.

Poor Cyndia......the doctors had already told Cyndia's family that the chances of her waking up were slim to none. Pegasus missed her so badly, it was almost as if she really had died. Imagine.....even if she did wake up, she would be a seventeen year-old trapped in a twenty-four year-old's body. She'd have missed so much in that time, how would she be able to adjust? And what if she never woke up? All of these thoughts plagued Pegasus, but there wasn't a whole lot that he could do......all he really could do was hope that everything would be all right in the end.

A nurse entered the room to refill Cyndia's IV bag when she abruptly notice Pegasus. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in here..." she stammered. "Oh, that's alright, don't worry about it," Pegasus assured her.

The nurse stood there for another few seconds, seeming like she was about to say something, but thought it was not her place to speak. Finally, Pegasus turned to her and said, "Yes? Is something wrong, miss?"

"Well, sir, it's just.....well, it's almost ten at night. Shouldn't you be getting home?"

"Oh, yes.....home. That place. Well, I would have liked to stay a little longer, but I'll probably miss my ferry if I do."

He stood up and gathered his coat, casting one last look upon a seemingly peaceful Cyndia. He turned to the nurse with a reassuring smile. "Thank you for pointing out the time. Have a good-night."

"You too, Mr. Crawford."

As Pegasus left the room, the nurse melted away, and in her place stood an all too-familiar man wearing flannel and smoking a cigar. Pegasus, not knowing the change that had occurred, continued walking away as the man puffed away happily. "Sweet dreams, Mr. Crawford. And don't let reality confuse you too much this early in the game."

(Death and roses, love everlasting...)

As he got ready for bed, Pegasus buttoned his pajama top and looked in the mirror, his thoughts wandering off to places far away. As he was buttoning, a piece of dust flew into his left eye, making it water. Pegasus began rubbing his eye thoroughly, and once it was out, he pushed his hair aside to look in the mirror to see if his eye had turned red.

What he saw in the mirror seemed to surprise him for a moment. When he looked at his face, he thought that something was missing, or that something had changed since he had last checked. But he couldn't imagine what it was. Maybe he was just delusional from being tired....yes, that made more sense.

And with that, Pegasus lay down in bed, covering himself with sheets and preparing for dreams and nightmares alike.

(Death and roses, love everlasting...)

Pegasus had returned to the dark room once again, the one without a floor or a ceiling or walls. Once again, the darkness pervaded his mind, and he could see nothing. But he could hear. And he heard a woman's voice singing.

Cyndia...

"Mistress Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow?"

She sang in a childlike voice, as though she had aged but never really grown up. Which made sense, somewhat...she was immortally frozen at the age of seventeen, never having a chance to cross the threshold to adulthood. She would always be a child in Pegasus's mind.

"With silver bells and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row!"

Pegasus began calling out her name in a vain attempt to find where she was. No one answered. Instead, the voice began singing again...

"Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posies..."

And then her saw her, once again bathed in an ethereal light. She was in a field, and carried a basket full of rose petals with her. She walked around the field aimlessly, carelessly tossing rose petals as she wandered.

Pegasus tried to run to her, but his efforts were in vain, since no matter how hard his feet pushed against the ground, she always remained out of his grasp. He continued screaming her name, hoping she would hear him. "Cyndia! CYNDIA!" But there was no response.

Cyndia tossed the last of the rose petals onto the ground below her, then began to spin around, basket in hand. As she spun, she continued her song:

"Ashes, ashes, we all....fall....down!"

And with that, Cyndia burst into a flurry of rose petals, which were carried away with the wind. They brushed by Pegasus's outstretched fingers, but he could not grasp a single petal.

(Death and roses, love everlasting....)

"Mr. Crawford....."

ZZZZZZZZ

"Mr. Crawford......"

ZZZZZZZZ

"MR. CRAWFORD!"

Pegasus was abruptly awoken as a ruler thwacked his desk right in front of where he was sleeping. Pegasus quickly sat upright to find himself face-to-face with his Physics teacher, Mr. Speicher. His entire classroom burst into a fit of giggles as Mr. Speicher shot him a horrifically stern look.

Two hours later, Pegasus found himself sitting in detention, writing over and over again, "I will not stay up late watching 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' on cable TV." He was absolutely certain that he would die of boredom, until he heard a high-pitched giggle coming from a few feet away.

Pegasus turned his head to see a thirteen year-old Cyndia sitting on one of the desks nearby. When she saw that he had seen her, she stood up and made her way over to his desk, sauntering her way along. "So you got busted by Mr. Speicher again, huh?"

Pegasus could feel his cheeks turning red as she said this. He turned back to his paper, mumbling, "I fell asleep in class."

Cyndia sat on the edge of his desk, turning around to pick up Pegasus's looseleaf so she could read it. "'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'? Pegasus, haven't you seen that movie about a hundred times?"

"Only ten. It's a good movie, a classic!"

Cyndia groaned, holding her head in her hands to indicate her mock shame of Pegasus. "Pegs, you have to stop with the horror movies. They've turned into an obsession."

"Hey, YOU'RE obsessed with chick flicks!"

"Am not!"

"Are too! How many times have you watched 'Pretty Woman'?"

Now it was Cyndia's turn to blush. She mumbled a number incoherently.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you?" Pegasus cupped his hand to his ear for comic effect.

"Eight times."

"I told you."

All of a sudden, Pegasus noticed for the first time that there was no proctor in sight. "Hey, where did the teacher go?"

"Mrs. Thomas? She went to the teacher's lounge for some coffee. That should probably buy you about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty."

"The woman's a caffeine fiend."

"Amen to that."

Cyndia hopped off of Pegasus's desk and proceeded to doodle on the chalkboard. From Pegasus's viewpoint it looked like she was drawing a picture of Mrs. Thomas running around town, robbing various coffee shops.

Pegasus watched her as she drew. She looked very pretty in her school uniform....and her hair. He liked looking at her hair. It always looked so soft and silky. And her eyes were always glittering, like ripples on a pool of water...

Pegasus felt his cheeks go on fire again, and he tried to return his focus to the 500 sentences that he needed to write. He couldn't stare at her. He couldn't. She was a friend, just a friend, nothing more. He couldn't have a crush on Cyndia. He couldn't. They had been friends since they were little, and he wasn't her type. She needed someone more spontaneous and outgoing than him.

Cyndia stepped away from the chalkboard, examining her handiwork. "It's my magnum opus! Or at least it's today's magnum opus. Whaddya think?"

Pegasus chuckled. "Mrs. Thomas will be proud."

Cyndia shrugged. "Doesn't matter what she thinks. I just like saying 'magnum opus'."

Pegasus chuckled, but as he did so, he had a sudden flash of memory. Roses. A hospital. Singing. Darkness. Death. Screaming.

"Mistress Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"

"What?"

Pegasus jumped, startled to realize that he had just spoken out loud. He looked over at Cyndia, who had a confused expression on her face. "Nothing, it was nothing."

"Aaw, c'mon, you can tell me!" Cyndia pranced over to Pegasus' desk and kneeled in front of him. She folded her arms in front of him and rested her chin on her arms, looking up at him wide-eyed.

Pegasus tried not to grin, knowing that she was giving him her standard 'Bambi Eyes'. "I had a dream about you last night."

Cyndia visibly perked up. "Ooh, was it that one where I get swallowed by the flower."

"No. What makes you think that?"

Cyndia rolled her eyes. "You've only had that dream about a MILLION TIMES. If it wasn't that, then what was it?"

"I think......you were in a hospital or something like that. But then you were in a field......I dunno, I don't remember it that well."

Cyndia stared at him for a few seconds as Pegasus tried to recollect his dreams. After a few seconds, she broke the silence, and his train of thought, by saying, "Stop that."

"Huh? What?"

"Stop looking so worried. You ALWAYS do that when you dream about me. For goodness's sakes, I'm THIRTEEN, I'm not going to d-...."

Cyndia's sentence was cut off when she suddenly grabbed her chest, gasping for air. She fell onto the floor, writhing in a haphazard manner, and then suddenly stopped moving.

Pegasus tried his absolute hardest not to grin. "That wasn't funny, you know."

Cyndia batted her eyes open and sat up. "No, no, I'm serious, I'm dying. Look!" She fell back on the ground and continued to writhe around.

Pegasus laughed and sat on the ground. "No, no, you have to do it more like this." And with that, he began to writhe on the ground as well, flailing his arms and legs to the best of his ability. Cyndia laughed and began to imitate him. This went on for several minutes. However, their fun was cut short when a newly energized Mrs. Thomas arrived. Between the two pre-teens writhing on the floor and the cartoon on the blackboard, they both had detention for about a month.

(Death and roses, love everlasting...)

That night, Pegasus once again returned to the dark room with no walls. But this time, Cyndia was with him. They were dancing.

Slow music played as they waltzed together. Her head rested on his shoulder as she breathed softly against his neck. Pegasus's hand rested against her back, holding her close to him as he led their dance. Cyndia's eyes were closed, savoring their moment together, as Pegasus watched over her carefully, as though she were as fragile as a piece of glass.

After a few minutes, the pace of the music began to change, and their slow waltz began to quicken. They didn't seem to mind though, they were just happy to be together. As they quickened their steps, the music picked up a more frantic pace until it took all of their effort just to stay in time.

After about a minute, Pegasus began to notice that something was wrong. As Cyndia danced, her feet seemed to be melting into a small puddle beneath her. As they continued their waltz, Cyndia's feet vanished completely and her legs began to vanish as well. As this process went on, Pegasus saw what exactly Cyndia was melting into.

It was a pool of blood.

Although Pegasus wanted desperately to stop the dance, to warn Cyndia of what was happening, some unseen force made him continue with the waltz, even as the music continued to quicken and Cyndia's torso began to disappear.

As the dancing sped up, Pegasus watched helplessly as Cyndia's arm and face melted away until nothing more was left except for the puddle of blood. As the last of Cyndia vanished, the music changed from a frantic dance to a slow funeral march, and Pegasus knelt beside the lake of blood, running his fingers absentmindedly through what was once Cyndia. As he trailed his fingers against the red liquid, he saw the drops of blood transform into tiny little buds. As he stared in amazement, the buds quickly bloomed in front of his eyes, and then withered, shedding their now rotting petals.

They were roses.

(Death and roses, love everlasting...)

Pegasus awoke suddenly as a shrill alarm rang. He groaned, then turned his alarm clock off as he pulled the covers around him so that he could go back to sleep. Fate, as it were, seemed to want him to awaken, since only a few seconds later, Croquet burst into his room, happily proclaiming, "Good morning, sir."

Pegasus groaned and tried to block out the noise.

Pegasus could hear Croquet make tutting noises as he began to shake his employer awake. "C'mon, sir, it's time to get up. Some of us have already been awake for three hours."

Pegasus sighed and sat up, blinking as his eyes got used to the light. Croquet, satisfied to see that he had finally gotten up, stood nearby. After a few minutes, Pegasus stood up and retrieved a bathrobe from his closet, placing it over his pajamas. He then turned to Croquet, "Is Cyndia awake yet?"

"Yes, sir, she's in the drawing room, reading."

Pegasus nodded as he made his way downstairs to greet his wife.

When he reached the drawing room, he found Cyndia reading by herself, just as Croquet had said. When Pegasus entered the room, however, she turned her head to see him and her eyes lit up. "Morning, Pegasus."

Pegasus smiled at her warmly. "Good morning, Cyndia."

Cyndia put her book down on a nearby coffee table, and then turned her wheelchair around so that she could hug her husband good morning.