One – Chapter 13

(As promised, here's the next chapter ;) I hope you enjoy!

Please Read and Review! :D)

((Oh, and sorry... There's still not going to be anything related to tentacles ^^''))

13

13

13

13

Once the two were well on their way home, sitting at the back of the bus as always, Astral with his head turned to the side, eyes fixed on their surroundings as they drove through the inner city, Yuma sat with their deck between his hands, looking thoughtful.

"Am I worthy of your trust?" he thought to himself "I'm not what I was back when Astral and I were one, as the original number… I was reborn in this form… He's still himself from back then, eons ago. He still has all this power. All I have, is the power of chaos. I can't hear you guys. I can't even help Astral safely though his time. I'm not good enough to be your Master".

"Stop" a new thought suddenly struck him. "You are so much more than you see yourself as". Astral. It was the aliens voice he heard in his mind, but as he startled lifted his head and turned it to look at the other on the bus, the blue skinned being was still staring out the window, seemingly not paying him any attention.

Yumas eyes caught on some faint movement, and as he focused on it, he noticed that Astral was twitching slightly, his hand tightening and untightening around the edge of the seat. The other hand was under his chin, as he stared at the city.

"You are correct" Astral said again, utilizing their bond. "Wait, what?" Yuma commented back "I didn't even say anything!". "No, but I still heard you. And you are correct" the alien replied, and Yuma lowered his head.

"How long?" he asked. "I can endure until we get home, but not longer than that. My wounds are already fully healed up and my energy is building rapidly. I will not lie. I am very glad, that we have the day off tomorrow" Astral responded and Yuma sighed quietly, glancing at the deck still in his hands, but not seeing them.

"Yuma!" Astral cried out then and suddenly turned his head to look at his partner. "What do you mean by that?!".

Yuma, surprised, jolted in the seat but didn't look at him. "Nothing Astral. I didn't mean anything" he responded, but the aliens' eyes were wide and fearful.

"Yuma, if you are not feeling up to this, then I will not act. I would never knowingly do anything which might hurt you, you know this! If you do not want to volunteer yourself anymore, then I will accept that and retreat into the key. If I am in there, the rest of you should at least be safe…" Astral said, voice breaking even as he spoke and tears swelling up in his eyes.

For a brief few seconds, Yuma did not respond. He hesitated. He was worried and strongly tempted to just take Astral up on his words. But when he felt the others racing heartbeat and heard his short, shivering breaths, and when he felt him shaking, his mind was made up.

"Of course you're not going into the key you idiot! You're staying right here, with me at your side. And we will get through this, together, just like we have since this whole thing started!

I… I know what you heard… I can't, no, I WON'T lie to you. Never again! The truth is, that yes, I am scared. I am scared that I will be injured, that it will hurt, that there will be more pain than anything else.

But I'm also scared that I won't be enough. That I'll lose you! Just looking at today, you had to have yourself be physically hurt, just to endure your power build-up.

That shouldn't be necessary! Not if I was better. If I was stronger! If I was… If I wasn't human!" Yuma said across their bond, not wanting to have the rest of the bus hear him. He had a stern expression on his face, closed up and defensive.

But Astral saw right through that mask. Beneath it, Yuma was shivering, his hands holding the deck so tightly, his knuckles were white, and shimmering tears could be seen at the corners of his eyes.

Astrals wide eyes seemed impossibly innocent as he observed his lovers body-language. "Yu… Yuma…" he breathed out loud, but it was so low that no one around them seemed to notice it. In fact, Astral wasn't even sure Yuma did.

Just then, the bus stopped, and the driver turned around in his seat, calling through the aisle "Tsukumo, isn't this your stop?".

Immediately, Yuma rose, putting the deck back in its box, as he grabbed his schoolbag and swung it over his shoulder, moving to get off the vehicle, his head bend so that he didn't have to look at anyone.

Astral was completely still for a few seconds, but then he quickly rose as well, grabbing his bag and following Yuma.

As they walked towards the house, the street empty aside from them, Yumas head still lowered and Astral a little behind him, the alien suddenly noticed drops of something glistening, as it was blown back into the light of the setting sun.

One of the drops hit his cheek, wet and cold, and he moved a hand up to touch it as he stopped dead in his tracks. Tears. Yuma was crying. He hadn't been able to hold back his tears after all then.

"Stop" Astral started, low at first, but then he lifted his head and raised his voice "stop!" he called again "Yuma, please stop!". It worked. Yumas steps stopped almost instantly, but he didn't move anything else either, just stood there, head lowered and arms hanging loosely down his sides.

And then it came to him. A wave of pain, that made Astral drop his schoolbag and send him to his knees right there on the street.

He moaned when it happened. It was as though his heart had been pierced by a knife and it made his breath hitch. This pain, felt as though his heart was breaking.

Yuma. Yuma was the cause. He was the one. He was regretting having volunteered to be there for Astral, regretting ever having become an item with him, and since he was now retreating from their bond, the tearing of it, was once more separating the two halves of the original number.

Astral literally felt himself being torn apart once more, just like it had happened in his ancient battle with Don Thousand. The pain made him unable to move, made it a struggle just to breathe, and his energy-levels, now spiking higher than ever before, were completely out of his control.

They were consuming him.

It felt as though his body was on fire, like lightning was constantly striking him, threatening to tear him to shreds if he lost his focus for even a split-second. "No!" he cried out, panicking, as he threw his head back and his arms were folded around his body in a vain attempt to control himself.

Of course, it didn't work. Astral screamed and his body lit up, as three of the streetlamps shattered, leaving glass raining down over the street. Over himself and Yuma, who had lifted his arms and lowered his head, to shield his face from the shards.

Once the shattering stopped, Yuma turned back around and locked panicking eyes on Astral. The other was on his knees on the ground, eyes wide, as he flickered in and out of existence. He was fading.

Why was he fading?!

Scared, Yuma rushed back to him and attempted to get close to him but was pushed back when he got within a meter from the other, by something that felt like an invisible barrier. What the hell was going on?!

"Astral! ASTRAL!" he called out, but the alien didn't look at him. He screamed again, and Yuma felt as though some form of force pushed him back even further, from whatever was surrounding his partner.

Then Astral collapsed. Yumas eyes were glued to the other, as he stormed forward again, punching his fists against the invisible barrier.

"Astral, let me in! ASTRAL, HEAR ME!" he cried out, but still the alien did not react. Yuma could barely see him breathing, and his form was getting more and more transparent, for longer and longer intervals.

"No… No!" Yuma thought to himself, as he fell to his knees, hands still on the barrier. "Astral… This is my fault… It's all my fault… Why? Why couldn't you find someone more fitting?" he thought to himself.

This was what Astral had warned him about. He had told him that if the energy levels grew out of his control, they would consume him and then… he would die. That was what was happening now.

Astral… Astral was dying.

"No, please" Yuma mumbled, voice thick with tears "not again… Please, I can't lose you again… I… I can't live without you… I… I… can't…".

The young man felt as though what little strength he had left within him, vanished, leaving him too weak to even sit. A pain in his chest, told him something was very wrong, but he didn't know how to fix it.

If Astral died, he would die.

They were one and the same. Neither one of them could live, without the other. Not anymore.

"Wait… that's it" he suddenly realized "Astral is dying, because I… I wanted to separate us. I regretted unlocking the door in the first place. It was just for a second, because… Because I'm not strong enough to be there fully for Astral, being only human, but I did regret it. Can it be? Is that the answer?

It's just like when we dueled for the numbers. If I wavered in my determination, if I started doubting myself… Astral was severely weakened.

There were so many times back then, I nearly lost him, because my resolve faltered. Can that be what is… causing this, as well? Paired with his time, maybe it…".

With hard eyes, Yuma forced his tears away, and then took the key from around his neck. Holding it between his hands, he closed his eyes to steel himself.

"I cannot doubt myself right now. I have to be strong, for Astral. Because he cannot be so himself. I AM his other half. I am the part of him that never gives up. The part that holds the strongest desire for living. The part that is fiery and headstrong, that takes chances instead of being cautious.

The part that acts, instead of waiting. I am essential to him being able to function fully. And it's about time I lend him those powers again. The powers of chaos".

With that, he moved the key to the odd barrier, closed his eyes and then said "Emperor key, please help me! Disrupt this energy-field and let me get to my partner!".

And he pressed the golden key, now shining brightly as though it was made up of light alone, against the invisible wall as hard as he could.

At first, nothing happened. Yuma felt his heart skip several beats as he held his breath, trying to keep his mind focused on how deeply he wanted to be there for the envoy of Astral World.

And then the barrier seemed to weaken, cracks seemed to appear in it and then it gave way, and Yuma tumbled forward until his hands were mere inches from Astral.

The other was fading fast. It might just be a matter of moments before he would lose him again, and this time for good. "No! I won't!" he said, voice low and pained. And he forced himself to crawl close enough to Astral, to finally reach him and take his hands.

"I didn't mean it Astral. Please! I regret nothing! I will never regret unlocking that door! NEVER!" he cried out and suddenly he felt himself being pulled in, the familiar mist of red surrounding him.

"Yes!" he thought to himself, as he felt how him and Astral got merged into ZEXAL for the second time that day. When he looked down over himself, he saw that the form they had merged into, was ZEXAL II.

"This is the form we merged into after Dark ZEXAL was broken! When Astral told me that he could no longer trust me as he did before, but that he, despite all that had happened, still had not lost his faith in my spirit of hope. Is he… trying to tell me something?".

For a brief moment, Yuma pondered this, but then his partners pain struck him like lightning and he cried out in anguish. He fell to one knee, hand on the ground before him, but then he heard a car getting closer, and with a show of will, he got to his feet, picked up both his own and Astrals schoolbags, and then took off towards his house, which was only a few 100 meters away.

Jumping on to the roof, he opened the window to the attic and moved inside, dropping the bags near the wall, before sitting down on an old trunk with a heavy sigh.

"Oh man, I can't go downstairs like this and Grandma is expecting me home straight from school. But I also can't separate from Astral right now, not if he is to survive. He's still so weak. I can feel it clearly. He's still struggling to contain the energy within him, but at least now he won't have to fight alone anymore".

Joining into ZEXAL helped him a great deal earlier. He could only hope that it would do the same now. Then he got an idea, and rising, though his limbs felt heavy, he moved over to the hatch and let himself drop down through it, landing nimbly on his feet, though he then tumbled a few steps forward, before opening the door to his room and calling downstairs "Grandma, I'm home! Astral and I are gonna be up here until dinner".

He waited to hear an answer, but since none came after a minute or so, he just sighed and closed the door again, before throwing himself on his bed and sighing. Lying on his back, a hand under his head, he wondered how long it would be before the ZEXAL union helped Astral enough to communicate with him again…