Okay… It's been a month since I posted… I beg your forgiveness for I forgot to mention a Camping trip I was going on that delayed this chapter. Not to mention, I'm leaving for another trip in the morning so I will type as quickly as possible in an attempt to get this to you by then. I have more to say, but I'll leave that for after the chapter, kk? Enjoy…

Chapter 16/ Quiet requests of the heart

(Author's PoV)

Satoshi would know what to do. He'd figure out a way to solve this. Or, at least he hoped he could. Daisuke reached Satoshi's apartment panting heavily, and hurriedly rapped at his door three times. No one answered. He blinked, and then knocked again, thinking that maybe he hadn't heard his first attempt. When there was no answer, he tried to turn the knob. The door clicked open and allowed entrance.

Daisuke peeked past the door and into the small apartment. "Satoshi?"

The blue-haired boy was typing feverishly on his laptop, his fingers were moving over the keys so fast that Daisuke wasn't sure if he consciously knew what he was writing. But the words continued to fly onto the page like yearning gasps of Satoshi's emotions that begged to be spared from drowning in his stoic mask. Next to him laid a tome opened to a page filled with photographs, one overlapping another, and quite undistinguishable from where he stood at the door.

At the sound of his name, the commander halted his onslaught on the keyboard to look at the owner of the familiar voice, and even Krad slacked his hold on him to scowl at the intruder.

"Daisuke?"

;; Damn. ;;

"Is something the matter?" asked the elder boy, his blue eyes looking serenely surprised at the sight of a panting thief in his doorway.

"Yes," replied the redhead, closing the door behind him and moving to sit next to the other. "I'm so sorry for bothering you. I know you said that you wanted to be alone."

"That's fine. What is it?"

"It's Mom… and Dark… She sent a note, for tonight! But how in the world am I going to steal anything? I mean, how is Dark going to steal anything? He's gone. And not only can I not outrun the police without his help, but they are all planning to see the Great Phantom Thief Dark… not the Poor Clumsy Thief Niwa!"

"Daisuke, calm down. You can't blame your mother. You have yet to tell her of Dark's absence. But that's beside the point," said Satoshi as he pushed up the bridge of his nose, saved the document he was working on for later use, and closed both his laptop and the book before Daisuke could get a good look at either. "If the note was sent, then I should be getting a phone call any time now to report such happenings. Not to mention, Saehara will be trying to contact you about it as well, correct?"

"I guess, but… I still don't know…"

Silence drew on as Satoshi contemplated how to mend the situation. "You're just going to have to steal it yourself," he said simply.

"Huh?"

"You'll have to steal it without Dark's help. I know that you can accomplish such a task because I watched you dodge all of the alarms in the vault yesterday.."

"But what about the crowd, and the officers? They're looking for Dark, not me," the younger repeated.

"That's what simplifies everything; you'll be able to enter unnoticed. Don't worry about the police. I'll take any necessary actions in distracting them until you retrieve whatever it was that you were meant to steal," informed Satoshi as he stood and headed for the kitchen. He paused at the doorway and added, "Just this once, I'll help you commit a crime."

As the commander disappeared into the other room, Daisuke looked down at his hands shamefully. For a strange reason, Satoshi spoke the truth with a sharp tongue, one that could prick like a needle but instead tore through the flesh like a barb. Why had Satoshi's kind voice suddenly been tinted with rudeness? And once again, which seemed like the hundredth time by now, he felt as though he had missed something important.

When Satoshi returned, he handed the thief a mug of a familiar frothy drink. "I'm not so sure that I like hot chocolate much. The last time that I served it, it was a bad omen," he stated, taking a sip of his own cup. Memories of the night when Daisuke had read the other's laptop returned to both boys. The incident led to Satoshi's confession and Daisuke running away. It wasn't the most pleasant time that they had spent together, to say the least.

The younger continued to stare at his hands and into the warm and soothing beverage. "Satoshi?"

"Yes, Daisuke?"

"Why did you leave my house? I understand more about the past of your family now. It's filled with love and death and lonely nights… But, you know, that doesn't have to be us… We won't make the same mistakes that they did… We won't fall for another…"

"Daisuke, I left because I couldn't become comfortable around you. I can't rely on your presence always being there, and neither can you. We spent three extra days together then previously planned, and I'm afraid that it may have been too much."

"What are you talking about?"

Satoshi paused, searching for the right words to try to explain the situation. "I won't be here for very long. I'll be leaving soon. I don't believe that we will ever see each other again after that time, and I don't want us to be separated once we got so close."

"I don't understand? Why would you leave Azumano?"

"It's not about Azumano. Now that we've found each other-"

RING

Satoshi looked away from the redhead to the phone that lay on the coffee table, and answered the ringing device.

"Hello?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Dark was being suspended by invisible bonds around each wrist and his ankles. He was surrounded by blank nothingness, a dense white mist that soothed the mind into a sense of tranquility that did not truly exist. And there he slept, dreamless and lifeless.

It was a state of mind that Dark had been in on so many occasions. And familiar still was his awakening, which occurred when the Hikari Curse began to take affect…

That time was now…

Dark's eyes fluttered open to reveal half-lidded, violet orbs. "Already?" he thought. The white that flooded his vision was literally blinding, and he had to blink hard multiple times before realization sunk in that there was nothing to be blinded from. He had been alienated from the world of reality.

He mentally sighed. 'Damn Creepy Bastard is too smart. Then again, I'm not sure if I'm complaining, either,' Dark struggled at his bonds pointlessly until he became exhausted from trying to trick them into breaking. Sagging, he settled for his thoughts.

'Well, if I'm awake, then that means it started. 'Creepy' must have recognized the Curse and its effects… that wasn't even long enough for him and Daisuke any kind of relationship… damn!'

XXXXXXXXXX

'…Damn!'

Daisuke's head popped up for the second time that day. 'Dark?' Once again, he strained to hear another indication of his alter ego's presence.

"Yes, Father. I understand," came Satoshi's voice. "Good-bye." Hanging up, he pushed the dull pain of his father's words to the back of his mind. Yet another threat was offered from the man and Satoshi had no choice but to heed such matters, which would be done once the other left. His gaze fell on Daisuke, and it didn't take much to notice that the redhead's thoughts were far away. "Daisuke? What is it?"

Daisuke's eyes came back into focus, but he continued to sit blinkingly for a few seconds as the questioned processed in his mind. "Oh! It's… it's just Dark. I keep imagining his voice. I keep thinking I hear it, but… that's not possible, is it?"

The melancholy look on the younger face softened Satoshi's hard expressions. He wasn't the only one who was going through difficulties with a loved one; he had his boyfriend to worry about, as well.

'Boyfriend?'

Thinking it better to get off the subject of Dark, Satoshi pursued this thought.

"Do you remember the question that you asked me yesterday? We were on your couch waiting until the time when we would have to leave for the concert. Do you remember what it was? You fell asleep before I could answer, so you might not."

Daisuke screwed up his face as he searched his memory for the said question. "Uh-uh," he said negatively having come to a blank of what occurred before his nap the previous evening.

"You had asked me what our relationship was, and if we even had one. At the time, I didn't know how to answer. I thought about it, and honestly, we were nothing more then friends, even after all that happened." Daisuke looked on earnestly, urging him to continue; while, on the other hand, Satoshi fought an inward battle with his emotions and what he felt was right. "But I would love to be more then that. Daisuke, would you like to be my boyfriend?"

Daisuke's expression literally lit up like a light bulb in the dark. "Really?"

Satoshi nodded.

And Daisuke happily glomped him.

XXXXXXXXXX

(Satoshi's PoV)

"Listen, Saehara. Our previous tactics are failing. Once Dark gets within the building, he's nearly impossible to catch. My new proposition is that we bring our offense outside. I want there to be an officer every five feet around this building, armed and ready. We'll bring in spotlights, and wait for him in the skies. As soon as he's in sight, shoot him down."

"But Commander-"

"No. Do as I say. We'll still post guards at the entrances in case he tries to come in on foot, as well as officers on the roof if he manages to dodge the lights and speeding bullets," I explained.

"But Commander, what about the Commissioner? Did he specify for Dark to come in dead or alive?"

" I believe he told you to follow my instructions. Nevertheless, my father no longer cares either way." With that having been said, I turned to leave.

"Where will you be stationed Commander?" called Saehara.

'Inside' was all I cared to answer as I continued to walk away. In reaching the edge of the crowd, I found Daisuke waiting anxiously and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"Won't you get in trouble?" the younger asked.

"What for?"

"For bringing inside a civilian."

"Not at all. Just worry about getting the Twin Snake." I led the other under the yellow tape and around the building to a back door where only one guard stood. In seeing me, the guard backed away mumbling 'Commander' in a respectful manner. The man looked warily at Daisuke, but let him pass.

Through the door and up many flights of stairs was the room that contained the awaiting treasure.

"So, what is the Twin Snake?" asked the thief as he counted the amount of steps in each set of stairs.

I glanced at the boy beside me. Without Dark, Daisuke knew next to nothing about the Hikari Artwork. "Have you ever heard of a Dreambox?"

The redhead shook his head in a negative response.

"The Legend of the Dreambox—often attributed to Lemuria—suggest writing down your fondest dream, greatest desire, or strongest wish on a small piece of paper in a Dreambox and placing it beside your bed. Every evening as you retire and every morning when you rise, your supposed to hold your Dreambox and think on your dream, believing with all your heart that it is so. Legend has it, if done faithfully, your dream will come true."

"So, the Twin Snake is a Dreambox?"

"Something like it."

Daisuke thought on this momentarily. "What's your strongest wish, Satoshi?" he asked.

That was something that I had thought of on many occasions, and now the answer is so plainly clear. I wanted to live long enough to give Daisuke the love that he deserved.

'But Daisuke… he doesn't understand my curse. He doesn't yet know my fate. And he already has too much on his mind for me to trouble him about it.'

"I'm not sure," I answered. "What is your greatest desire?"

We entered the respective room as he continued to ponder this. I led him to the far corner where a single, three-foot column stood bearing a round box, one inch in height and diameter. Its design was simple, yet elegant. It was made of a crystalline gem called quartz, transparent with a lilac tint. Constricting around the sides existed a single snake, protruding from the smooth walls. Lining the rim of the lid slithered its brother, sleek and dangerously protecting its treasure. Sitting dead center was a black pearl, its mysteries still to be told.

Daisuke regarded the precious item thoughtfully. "I think I already have everything that I desire," he said, looking at me. "But, right now, I think I'd wish for Dark to come back. I miss him."

I nodded. "I know." We stood gazing upon the trinket while in the background wailed the siren that proclaimed the hour of Dark's supposed appearance. I took his hand in mine and interlocked our fingers. "Why don't you use it then? It can only grant one wish, and after that, it's close to worthless. Use it to get Dark back," I offered.

"No, I think I'll save it. You know, until I absolutely need it," he said, taking it from the stand. "Wow, that was really easy," he smiled.

"I wasn't working against you," I explained. "Come on, we need to get you out of here."

"I've already got an idea," he said, pulling something out of his pocket.

"That won't work."

"Why not?"

"Because they might be idiots, but they're not that dumb."

"Dark would've done it."

I rolled my eyes. "He also would pause in the middle of a searchlight to bat his eyelashes at a girl."

"True, but besides that, it's sure to work if I have your help," he assured me as he secured a police cap to his head.

XXXXXXXXXX

By some miracle, Daisuke's act of being a police officer worked, and he got the Twin Snake to his mother. Before I departed back to my apartment, he once again tried to persuade me to stay; and I still insisted on returning home.

When I arrived, it was strange to notice the bleakness of it all. I had lived there for nearly six years, but the room seemed foreign. Its white loneliness made me miss the bright company of my boyfriend.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I'll have to get used to calling him that. I only hope that I don't cause him too much pain when I die.

;; What The Hell Were You Thinking! You actually helped him steal the Hikari Art! Are you nuts? And don't you dare call that dimwit your boyfriend ever again! He's not damn near worthy. ;; Krad insisted, folding his arms.

"And you are?" I asked. "Don't worry. I should live for another week or two."

;; Why does your love life have to move so damn fast? You're going to die before you even produce an heir! ;;

"Gee, Krad. It's nice to know you care," I remarked sarcastically, sitting on my couch and pulling the forgotten laptop toward me.

;; It's not that I care about you dying! But if there's no heir, then I'll die as well. ;;

And then, as if the light bulb suddenly turned on, he laid the guilt trip on me.

;; And if I die, so does Dark. Then poor wittle Dai-chan is all awone! ;; he said, his bottom lip quivering in fake sympathy.

The bastard…

TBC…

AN/ Okay, People. Most of you came to the conclusion that I'm gonna kill off Satoshi… Um, I have a question… Do any of you know how much I love Satoshi-kun? Good, some of you do. So, why then, would I forever surrender my beloved Ice Prince to the everlasting grip of the tendrils of death! I wouldn't!

Look, it's tragedy cuz I'm going to try to make you cry near the end. And yes, some of you guessed the ending right although I wont say who u are….