A/N: Well it's pretty much over folks. The epilogue is after this and "You Always Come Close, But You Never Come Easy" will officially be said and done with. I always get a bit sad when my stories end ((sniff)). So much for happy endings here...

Disclaimer: I do not own D N Angel

Apart of her suddenly felt cold and empty, all the warmth and comfort he had ever given her all seemed to vanish in an instant. Riku had no idea what had happend to Dark yet, but something in her soul told her to anticipate the worst. She had always had a unexplainable bond with the Phantom Thief, but that connection was abruptly severed. She couldn't feel his warmth in her anywhere and instantly wanted to burst into tears.

Riku had orginally carried out Dark's wishes in running as far away from the scene as quickly as she possibly could. Her mistake, however, occured when she took the time to glance over her shoulder. Once she saw the glowing flames rising above the tree tops, her feet no longer held the will to run. Before common sense could return, she found herself over welmed with concern and fear. Her legs were rushing back toward the sorching settlement long before she told them to.

"Dark," his name rolled repeatedly from her lips as she reached the destruction.

Immediately, she choked on the wave of stifling heat. Every inch of what was once her home was now a blaze. Buildings crumpled into smoldering embers as the ash and soot blackend the air with pollution. None the less, she searched through the inferno for her lover as swiftly as she could. After receiving several minor scrapes and burns she collapsed in exhaustion.

"Dark," she whimpered as her legs gave way.

Lying on the ground on her stomach- unkowningly the same spot Dark had- she watched as the dancing flames enclosed around her. Hot tears rolled shamelessly down her cheeks, streaming through the dirt that cluttered them. Bitter reality had taken a frigid hold of her heart.

"You promised," she sobbed,"you promised that you'd come back for me."

Yet again, a black feather wandered its way to her only to stir the most painful memories. Clenching it into her fist, she fought desperately against the will to scream. She couldn't live like this, not with his memories just a little above her head. She'd never love anyone as much as she loved him. There was no point in living, not if she'd have to remember his beautiful face.

"I want to forget...I want to forget all of this," she whispered her eyes lifeless and glass-like. "I will forget you, Dark."

Consumed by grief, Riku had forgotten the powers that Dark's feathers possessed. When she made her vow to forget the man she loved, the feather clenched in her fist began to glow with a violacious aura. As her will grew stronger so did the power of the single feather and eventually it granted her wish and she forgot everything she had ever known about this life.

"What's your name?" a concerned old woman called out to the young girl ambling around outside her home.

"I...I don't know," the girl replied, peering around curiously. "Where am I?"

"This is the Hikari village, deary."

"Do you think she's one of the enemy, Grandma?" a blue haired boy eyed the girl suspiciously. "She's covered in soot!"

"Oh it doesn't matter now," the elderly woman whiped her hands on her apron," the poor thing doesn't remember who she is."

Smiling, she placed a hand kindly on the lost girl's shoulder, "Come inside and we'll clean you up."

"I still don't trust her," the boy called as his grandmother ushered the stranger inside.

"Oh shut your mouth and go put on some tea," the woman continued to fret over the auburn haired girl.

/FIN/