Coma

Note: While this is the sequel to Darkness Within, it is not 100 necessary to have read that previous story. If you have, then this will make more sense to you, but if you don't want to read it, then I think you'll be okay. If you do need to read the story, then there should be a link if you click on my pen name. This was posted previously, but I removed it to make some changes. I think it's ready for your eyes now. Please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh, so don't sue me.

Summary: She needed him to keep her safe from the dark… she needed him, because he was all she had. Everything else was a blank to her mind. But tragedy has a way of finding those hiding from destiny… The next heartrending installment in the tales of Fiacha's life, set a few years after the end of Darkness Within.

Prologue: That Stormy Night

Fiacha sighed and clicked on the TV. She had the strangest empty feeling, and she couldn't wait for Joey to get home. It was dark outside, and stormy, and she had a feeling that it somehow connected to her. Maybe he could explain it.

It had been three years since the day she lost her memory, and she still wondered who she was, who she had been. As she stared blankly at the screen, watching one of the dreaded flashbacks that those people always seemed to have, that she could never have, she felt like she ought to know something more than she did.

The phone rang, shocking her from her thoughts. "Hello?"

"Fiacha, it's Serenity."

Something didn't feel right, but she shook it off. "Serenity! It's been a while! What's up?"

"It's about… it's about Joey. He-"

"What's happened?" She felt a cold chill enter her body, and she saw an image of bright lights.

"There's been a crash," she sobbed. "He's in c-critical condition."

In shock, she nodded, then remembered that she was on the phone. Feeling cold as ice, she fought to keep her hand steady. "I… where is he?"

Serenity sounded like she'd been crying for a very long time, and when she spoke, her voice wobbled. "Tristan's on his way to pick you up. I'm not sure where it is, though. I wasn't paying attention on the way there."

As soon as she said that, a horn honked in the driveway. Hearing it, Serenity, in a tear choked voice, said "I'll see you there," and then hung up the phone. Fiacha grabbed her purse and stepped through the door, and unwittingly accepted her destiny for a second time.

"Hop in," said a very pale Tristan.

She did as she was told, unable to grasp the reality of what was happening. Her mind seemed to be trying to relate this to some tragedy of the past, but couldn't fully grasp what it had been. Sooner than she wanted, she was seated next to Joey's hospital bed and looking at his pale, scarred, and helpless form.

"Joey?" she whispered. He looked so small, so unable to do anything, sinking in a sea of white covers. She brushed his cheek with her hand, shocked at how cold it was. She realized that her hand was colder. "You can't… leave me like this, Joey. I need you."

Of course, there was no response. She hadn't really expected one, but she had hoped for one. Something about hope being a folly entered her mind, but she didn't know whose thought, or words, it had been.

"Will he… will he make it?" she asked the nurse in a shaking voice, her tongue suddenly clumsy.

"We don't know. He's in a very deep coma right now, but he's still alive. Only time will tell whether or not he ever wakes up."

She wanted to slam her fist on the table, but she knew it wouldn't solve anything. It wasn't fair that this had happened to him, to her Joey.

Nothing could turn back time, but she had to do something. She turned back to Joey, tears sliding down her cheeks.

"What would you have me do? Where would you tell me to go from here?" She thought of the look on his face if he was awake to hear it. His brown eyes would light up with amusement and love, like they always did when he talked to her. Except… there was once a time, when she had nearly remembered something, and then Dolan had gotten mad. Joey's eyes had been like fire then. She had never heard anyone so angry before, let alone her Joey. He was always mild, always happy. But he wanted her to be happy too. And she wasn't.

"You… do you want me to find out the past? Is that what you've been trying to say with those secret smiles?"

But she already knew the answer. It was time, at last, to uncover the secrets of her past. Because without them, she wouldn't be able to go on. And if she couldn't go on, then she wouldn't be helping Joey.

"I'm going to find out who I am, Joey. And when I do… you have to wake up. I think this is what you would want. Isn't it?" Tears slid down her cheeks, landing on the sheets and blemishing their emptiness. She ignored them, telling herself to be strong. It was so hard, being alone in the world for what seemed, to her, like the first time.

He had always told her not to ask, that it was better not to know. But she had the strangest feeling that what he'd always meant, was that she should know. It was her past, and it had something to do with him. She aimed to find out, if only to give herself a purpose while she waited for him to open his eyes. There was only one number to call, only one surviving link to her past.

"Hello?"

"Dolan… it's been a long time."

End note: I know that was short, but I want to make sure you like it before I go on. Review, please!