Happy 2019! So long Year of the Dog and hello to the Year of the Pig (in February). I'm a Rooster, my half-brother is a Dragon and BlueNovaNF is a Horse. Surprising, I know, but we work and I wouldn't have it any other way! What about you guys? I'd be interested to hear what year you are! Wow, I can't believe how fast time has gone by! This is a gift to Jade546, so I hope you enjoy it! I don't own rights to YuGiOh! 5Ds but I do own this FanFiction. Hope you enjoy!

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Akiza wrung her hands as they waited for the doctor to return. Yusei moved to stand before her and gently took her hands into his. His calm sapphires assured her restless caramel the longer their gaze held. A sigh slipped from between her lips as he pressed his own against hers in a quick yet tender kiss. They separated as a knock sounded and the doctor that they recognized from months ago stepped into the room.

He nodded to Yusei in greeting as he began to examine Akiza, asking her questions from all parts of the spectrum. The little Caucasian man with ashy hair and large spectacles spent many minutes checking her from head-to-toe and having her do multiple motions before he settled onto the stool. "I have your test results and x-rays," he said, holding up a folder and placing the negatives into the viewing window. With a flip of the switch, her skeletal structure was revealed. "it's true. The chip is in fact gone and there are no signs as to any implications. Whoever performed the surgery was extremely knowledgeable." He went on to explain that he wanted her to set up an appointment with his private practice so he could better monitor her himself and departed.

The click of the door echoed almost deafeningly through the room as they absorbed the news. Yusei was the first to move and it was to collect her in his arms. His low whispers of her name eased the tension that her body had been holding until it slipped from her in the form of a relieved sob. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he picked her up and spun her around. Sobs turned into laughs as he placed her back on her feet, his lips lifting into a soft smile as her caramel orbs glittered. "It's really gone."

"I can't believe it's gone!" Her hands fluttered as he grabbed their coats and opened the door. With light steps and eyes that glittered brighter than the fresh snow outside, she led the way back to the car and only paused for a moment as Yusei's phone chimmed. Worry flooded her as he flashed the screen towards her, revealing Crow's caller id, and put it to his ear.

"Are you with Akiza?" Crow's voice came from the receiver. "I'm at her parent's place."

"Are Hideo and her mother alright?" Yusei's tight tone caused her heart to hammer a million times a minute.

She held out her hand, silently asking for the phone, and placed it against her own ear when he had surrendered it to her. "Tell me."

"I will when you get here."

"At least tell me that they're safe." Akiza's blood became icy the longer he stayed silent. "I'll be there soon." She handed it back to Yusei as the line went dead and refused to meet his gaze as they made their way to the car. It wasn't until they were inside the car and making their way through traffic that the tension she was fighting to contain slipped out, causing the heater to blast them momentarily. Yusei returned the fan to the previous setting and grasped her hand as she apologized. "I can't take any more of him hurting the people I care about."

"Lashing out with thoughts of revenge will accomplish nothing but pain." Yusei's grip tightened slightly. "Retaliating is exactly what he wants you to do. Standing still and doing nothing has never been your style, Akiza, but I know you're smart. Strategy is your specialty, your friend. Just like we all are. He is but one person while you have all of us behind you." Akiza's orbs fell to their hands as her anger began to calm with his words. "He is doing all this for selfish reasons, uninterested in who he uses or who gets hurt. You're nothing like that; your kind heart attracts people to you and they care about you because you value them as individuals for who they are." Yusei faced her as they pulled up to the Izinski residence and put the car into park. The driveway was empty and the mansion was dark, there was no sign of anyone. "No matter what happens, you will always have us behind you. I am not going anywhere. I love you, Akiza, and there is no way that I'm going to let Darwin's actions warp you into someone you don't want to be."

Akiza's heart swelled as his sapphire orbs bore into her own. The depth of concern and love that she found in them was immeasurable. She leaned forward, pressing her lips against his as a lone tear slipped down her cheek and disappeared into the cream colored scarf she was wearing. A ringing filled the car as the center console's screen lit up, notification of a call coming in. They returned to their seats as Akiza pressed the answer key. "Hello?"

"Yusei! Akiza!" Leo's voice came through the speakers, his tone as high as it once was when they had first met. "I just heard about the Izinskis! They disappeared early this morning, none of the alarms were triggered or anything! Do you think it was that creep?"

A look of absolute rage overcame Akzia's features, her eyes darkening until they were nearly black. Yusei acted quickly by exiting the car and pulling her from the passenger seat as an outline appeared around her figure. It was rippling like water and was the color of blood and crackled like electricity every couple seconds. His hands rested on her biceps, tightening his hold slightly as she attempted to remove herself from him. "Akiza, listen to me." Yusei's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly as a dull electric shock shot up his arms. His voice remained steady and calm though. "Don't let your anger control you. You're stronger than this, better than this."

His lips were moving but his voice was incredibly muffled, as if there was a pillow between the two, making it impossible for her to understand what he was saying. It was as if everything was filtered with a red screen for Akiza. The car, the house, the falling snow…even Yusei. Everything was red except for his eyes. The red was trying to dominate everything but the blue sapphires that were his eyes refused to be overpowered. It was almost blinding and yet she couldn't look away. It was as if they were twin oasis in a desert of red sand, promising nothing but relief from her fiery hued surroundings. She wanted to leave the crimson desert but it had a tight hold on her. It was as if it was attempting to suck all the life out of her with ever breath she took. Panic filled her as a figure appeared in the distance near the driveway gate from over Yusei's shoulder. Even though she was caught between the battle of cool sapphire and angry crimson, there was no way she would forget the twisted almost maniacal smile on peeking from the cracked porcelain mask she used to wear. "Never," she gasped under her breath as she began to gather everything in her being. The crimson waivered as she released the first wave of her resistance, the former version of herself seemed to chuckle as if she was amused. "I will never go back to the way I was!" As if her declaration was a nuke, the crimson receded and the vision of herself dissipated into nothing. All the energy she had gathered was released all at once, leaving her body weak and trembling. She would have fallen if it weren't for Yusei's hold.

He had heard her loud and clear, and the force he had felt when she had spoken those words was more than real. Yusei gathered her into his arms as her knees wobbled dangerously. She clung to him as if he was her lifejacket, despite the trembling of her hands, but the fire in her eyes portrayed a spirit that refused to lie down and take anything. "So proud of you," he whispered, one of his hands moving to rub her back soothingly. "there you go, deep breaths."

"Hello? Is everything okay?" Leo's voice came from the car. "Talk to me, guys!"

Yusei's head spun as another notification sounded. He recognized the almost fog horn-like sound immediately. Someone had entered his house. "Akiza, someone had triggered my alarm."

Her head shot up briefly before resting against his shoulder, the motion causing her vision to swim. "Let's go."

"Are you sure?" His head gently cupped her face, bringing it up so that their foreheads brushed each other. Sapphire met caramel as they heard the call end and the notification intensify. She made the valid point that there may be nothing they could do at her parent's home and that wasting time on an empty house with no leads would just cause them to spin in circles. Kissing the top of her head, he slid her into the car and they were off. Their hands never once separated as they made their way across town, save for when they finally arrived and exited the car, but their hands found one another as they moved to enter the residence.

Just as they reached the door, it opened and revealed Leo's wide grin. "Finally you're here! You sure took your sweet time getting here!" He instantly simmered down at the tight expressions the two wore. "Whoa, who died?" Looks like the usual suspect tripped the alarm…again.

"Not funny." Akiza stepped closer to the teal haired teen, her eyes narrowing in warning.

"Easy there, big sis," he held up his hands before retreating so they could enter. "thought you would be happy with the holidays and all." Yusei too fixed him with a warning look but it seemed to go over the younger man's head as he continued, leading them down the hallway. "I mean, we went to all this work to get everybody here and Luna took over the kitchen. You should have seen the war between her, Jack, and Crow. They all were set on cooking the-" His words came to an abrupt halt as a figure dressed in his traditional white smacked him upside the head. "Hey, what was that for?!"

Jack's eyes rolled as he told the younger man to take a hike before turning his attention to the duo still carrying clusters of snowflakes in their hair. "Sorry 'bout that. Let's get you two out of those coats." They surrendered their heavy winter jackets, which he deposited them in Leo's care, and lead them towards the living room. "I heard about the kidnapping," he took a seat in the lounge chair as they settled into the loveseat. "glad to see you're alright, Akiza."

Akiza nodded, but her twitching lips gave away her amusement. "So you lost to Luna and Crow."

A tick mark appeared above Jack's head at her words, earning a chuckle from the woman sitting across from him. "I let them win."

"How generous."

"The King is always generous to his loyal subjects."

"Former King." she chuckled, attempting to hide it with a cough and earned a shake of Yusei's head.

Jack held up his hands as the tick mark grew then disappeared as he took a deep breath, his amethyst orbs meeting her own. "Heard anything about your parents?" She shook her head. "I have."

"Would you cut the drama?" Luna's voice came from the kitchen. "Your mother is in here with me helping me with the cooking."

Akiza's eyes grew twice their size as her own mother sheepishly entered the room, wiping her hands on the bright pink apron she wore. Relief flooded her being as she hurriedly threw her arms around the older woman and felt her return the embrace. "I heard that you two had disappeared, what in the world is going on?"

"Let's just say we had some last minute things to take care of," she smiled, raising an eyebrow as the doorbell sounded. "and there's one of them now."

"Someone give me a hand with these!" Crow's voice came from the hallway, followed by grunts.

Yusei stood and hurried to assist, his vacated spot becoming occupied by a seasoned man in a tailored suit. Akiza slipped from her mother's arms and moved to stand before the graying man. His eyes lit up and his lips lighted into the brightest of smiles. "There's my Little Rose!" Rising to stand, he collected her in his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay." He kissed the top of her head before holding her at arms length. The flabbergasted expression on her face caused him to throw his head back and laugh. "Oh, honey, you must have been so worried. I'm sorry, sweetheart, we didn't know that us going shopping so early in the morning would cause such a stir." Crow and Yusei appeared, each carrying armfuls of wrapped packages. Her eyebrow rose when Leo too appeared carrying an especially large package, her eyes sliding from one person to the other as they began to converse.

Everyone was smiling, for the most part, and the smell of delicious food was beginning to fill the house as she fell into the loveseat. All the panic, worry, anxiety, even the lingering traces of anger that she had felt earlier all seemed to disappear with every smile she spotted. It wasn't until all eyes were on her that she snapped out of her inner thoughts. "What?"

Yusei knelt in front of her, his hands brushing her cheeks before falling to collect her own. "You're crying."

Blinking, she spotted the faint traces of moisture within her long eyelashes. There were drying tear tracks on her cheeks and a few drops of moisture on the carpet. When had the tears started? Someone asked if the chip was hurting her and her eyes locked with Yusei's. No one knew yet. A small smile lifted the corners of her lips as he gave a suggestive tilt of his head. "Actually," she stood, leaning against Yusei for support. "there's something you need to know."

"You're pregnant!" All eyes turned to Akiza's mother and Luna as they released a squeal.

Heat instantly flooded the couple's faces momentarily then they recomposed their expressions into ones of calm amusement. "Not quite," Yusei chuckled, pulling the jammer from his pocket and turning it off. "let's just say we don't need this anymore." Cheers erupted throughout the room as they swarmed to embrace Akiza.

Aaaaaand there you go! Thank you all for your patience and I hope to see you next time!