Faith: Woohoo! Time for my first chapter ever!

Angel: …Who are you?

Faith: I'm Shimmering-Sky's newest muse. I'm supposed to be the one to write the fluffy scenes. And with the exception of the very end of this chapter, that's just what I did!

Angel: So… this is a mostly "good" chapter?

Faith: Uh-huh!

Angel: Okay… that's fine… Um, where's Shimmering-Sky?

Lucy: She's been repeatedly murdering her own feels for the past, like, week and a half. You know, Code Geass kind of does that to a person.

Angel: …?

S-S: *Comes in the room* Lucy, I need your help.

Lucy: The Code Geass story, right?

S-S: Yep. Oh, hey Angel. I guess that means Crimson Fall is getting updated?

Angel: Do you just let your muses do whatever when you aren't around?

S-S: No. There are rules. Mostly against killing people and no starting fires and stuff like that.

Angel: And do they listen to you?

S-S: Most of the time. A-Anyways, I need to go work on my new story. Lucy, let's go!

Lucy: With pleasure!

*Shimmering-Sky and Lucy disappear*

Faith: Whatever. Time for the chapter!

Rudolph: Oh! But we don't own Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, 'kay?

Piano: Enjoy!

***This chapter is not brought to you by any specific song. Just play something ridiculously fluffy***

Chapter 1

Angel's POV

Beepbeep. Beepbeep.

I groan. My body feels like a rock… and my bed is so comfortable and warm… I really don't want to get up. But the only time Toby and I set our alarm clock is if we have something important to do… What's the occasion today…?

My hand finds the off switch, and the beeping stops. Yawning, I roll over in bed… only to find empty space next to me.

What…? Since when can Toby get up without waking me up in the process? I thought I was a light sleeper… I don't know. Maybe my survival instincts from growing up in Satellite have finally shut off. Took long enough…

The door clicks open, and my husband comes in with a tray in his hands. He's balancing it pretty well—something I never believed he could do. Honestly, Toby used to be clumsier than Carly…

A smile appears on my face. He mirrors it perfectly.

"Breakfast in bed? It's certainly not my birthday or Mother's Day," I say.

He places the tray on the desk next to our bed—waffles and strawberries and orange juice. "You're still half-asleep, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"Well, I'd just have to wake you up."

He goes to kiss me—probably on the neck—but a little voice screams from down the hallway. "Mommy! I finish pick-cher!"

My three-year-old daughter, Athena, toddles into the room. She takes after me when it comes to hair color, but other than that, she's the spitting image of Toby, so I really can't help but love her. She has a drawing in her chubby hands that she seems to want me to have.

I flatten it out before I look at it because she'd crumpled it quite a bit. It… looks like a bunch of potatoes with four sticks coming out of them, some color scribbled on the top of each of them. At first, I don't know what to say because I don't know what they're supposed to be. Then I realize that they're supposed to be us. The two biggest "potatoes" are me and Toby, with a tiny one between us with orange on top—that would be Athena. Then there's one with long black scribbles on the other side of Toby. Misty, maybe? On the other side of me are two more, one with a broom of orange and the other with not short but not long black. Crow and Alice, definitely. Maybe Crow hasn't worked up the nerve to propose yet (despite them being together for nearly eight years now), but Athena totally treats Alice like she's part of the family.

And then there are two in the background, one with orange and grey, and one with just grey. Oh, she loves her grandparents, and they adore her.

"It's wonderful, Thena!" I exclaim, ruffling her hair. "I'm gonna keep it with me so I can look at it every day. Is that cool?"

"Uh-huh!" She nods, and then jumps on my lap. "L-uh-v you, Mommy!"

I laugh and kiss her forehead. "Love you too, my adorable little daughter."

My stomach starts to grumble, causing Athena to laugh. Toby picks her up, whispering something in her ear while looking straight at me. I pop an eyebrow, but he says nothing as he carries her out of the room.

"H-Hey! …A warning would be better next time…" I grumble.

Ah well. At least I can eat my breakfast now.

It's when I'm finishing up eating my food by taking a swig of orange juice that I realize what day it is: the tenth anniversary of me and Father coming back, and the twelfth of peace between the Signers and Dark Signers.

At least I don't spit take over my bed. Instead, I awkwardly swallow a mouthful of orange juice. It burns my throat, and leaves me trying to cough away a lump that isn't really there.

Toby ducks his head in the door. "Finally remembered what day it was, huh?"

I chuck a pillow at him, which he easily dodges. "You could've just told me."

"Eh, I knew it would come to you eventually."

I roll my eyes, sighing. "Whatever. Anyways, when do you think we should head to Martha's house? We told her we'd help set up."

"Half an hour?" Toby says like it's a question.

"Sounds good."

XXX

Surprisingly, we're the first to arrive at Martha's place. I mean, it's only eleven and the gathering doesn't start until five, but I honestly expected my brother to be here already. He practically lives here because he helps Martha when he's not doing his job of running deliveries or when he's not on patrol. And he definitely would've got off today…

I end up having to make a run to the store while Toby helps cook and Athena plays with the orphans. Apparently Martha didn't realize she was low on a few essential spices and flour.

It doesn't take long, but a certain someone I was thinking about arrives just when I do.

"Hey Crow!" I call.

He turns around after he takes off his helmet. "Oh, hi Angel! You just get here?"

"No, I had to make a quick run to the store for Martha," I reply, holding up the grocery bags. "I got here, like, forty-five minutes ago."

He shrugs. "Whatever. I got this last-minute call for a delivery. You know I would've been here otherwise."

"Mhmm. And what about Alice? Is she coming separate?"

His eyes widen a little, his mouth turning into a little 'o'. He scratches his head, a faint pink staining his cheeks. "I… uh… I think so. I mean, I don't know why she wouldn't come unless she was trying to—never mind."

…? One of my eyebrows pops up as I stare at my brother. "'Unless she was trying to' what?"

"I-I said never mind!"

He has to have done something. There's no reason he would be acting so fishy otherwise. The only thing is… what did he do? "Did you do something to her?"

"No! No way! I just…" He sighs, head falling and shoulders sagging. "I might have accidentally triggered some of her bad memories last night. So if she doesn't show up, that's why."

Bad memories…? What sort of bad memories would Alice possibly have that Crow could accidentally trigger? Then again, I know next to nothing about how she and Jack lived before they ended up at Martha's orphanage… Xylia, too. I can't believe I forgot about her. And Alice did get horrible nightmares for the longest time… "Okay, I understand. You really didn't need to act all shifty, though. Someone else might get the wrong idea."

"What d'you mean, shifty?"

"You're dodging questions, your hands are sweaty, and you just seem super nervous whenever Alice gets brought up," I say.

He gives out one of the most awkward and horrible forced laughs ever before turning around and going into Martha's house. Doesn't even say anything to me.

Feh. Brothers.

XXX

After delivering the supplies to Martha, she tells me to keep an eye on the kids. I don't mind doing that—I do enough cooking as it is—and I can tell Crow is envying me right now because he hates cooking and loves children. I simply smirk in his direction and go off to play with the children.

Athena's been here before, so the orphans already accept her as a friend. Looks like they're playing hide-and-seek…

I catch my daughter when she darts in front of me. She lets out a squeal that turns into giggles once she realizes I'm the one who picked her up. She squirms around quite a bit. "Mommy! Down!"

"But I wanna play with my precious little girl…" I pout a little. "Can I join your game?"

"Nu-uh! Kids only!" this five-year-old girl with brown hair and green eyes shouts. "You jus' get to watch!"

"So'y Mommy…" Athena apologizes, running to her friend's side. All of a sudden, she freezes in place. Her head turns towards the door, a smile on her face. I didn't hear anything. What could she be so excited about?

Seconds later, the door opens. In comes a young boy, only a year older than Athena, with bright blue hair and darker blue eyes. Blue isn't actually his natural hair color, though. He inherited his mother's hair, but he thought it looked "girly" and as soon as he could talk basically demanded his parents to dye it for him.

To think, such a child could be the son of Yusei and Akiza…

"Boono!" my daughter squeals. She might not be able to say his name right, but she does adore the boy.

He spots her immediately and grins. "Hey Thena!"

And just like that, my daughter abandons me. It's not surprising—she sees me every day, but doesn't get to see Bruno all the time. I look up, and one of my eyebrows goes up. "Akiza? Where's Yusei?"

"Hm? Oh, something came up at work at the last second. He'll be here along with his parents as soon as they fix the problem," she replies, hanging her coat up on one of the hooks.

I shrug. Work is work, I guess. And no matter how small of a problem, it still needs to be fixed. "Alright, cool. Martha and Crow are in the kitchen if you wanted to help out there. Otherwise you can help me keep an eye on the kids…"

XXX

It doesn't take much longer for the others to start showing up, and by that time the only thing we need to do is set up the tables outside (for the adults) and inside (for the children and whoever gets assigned to keep an eye on them).

Yusei and his parents aren't even the ones who arrive last, though they do look like they came directly from work. At least they aren't wearing lab coats, but they look a lot fancier than the rest of us.

No, that title goes to both of my parents and Uncle Roman. I don't blame them, though. Father and Roman… the crimes they committed before the Signer-Dark Signer war couldn't just be ignored. Especially not Roman's since he killed so many people by causing Zero Reverse. They've been serving jail time ever since returning—only allowed out once a year under strict surveillance of at least two Sector Security officers. Thankfully, both Crow and our mother fit the bill…

But enough thinking dark thoughts! Not on a day like this!

As I look around, I'm reminded of just how far we've come because of establishing peace between the Netherworld and the Spirit World. The reward of being able to live out our lives like normal human beings—even though the fact remains that we are immortal unless we truly want to die or are slain by someone who has the same power as us.

I see all of my friends and their families sitting around the table. Everyone is happy right now, like nothing else in the world matters.

A toast before we start eating. A toast to peace. A toast to happiness. A toast to the future.

And then Yusei's screaming in pain, an arrow buried through his hand.

So much for peace.

To be continued…

Angel: WAIT WAIT WAIT, WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS?!

Faith: Um… family fluff…?

Muse-Jack: With a little bit of evil at the end…?

Angel: No, I mean… Why is Bruno Yusei and Akiza's son?!

Faith: Oh, that! He needed a role 'cause this is supposed to be your world's version of the entire second half of the show. Pretty much all the characters will be used, just in super-duper weird ways.

Angel: But what about… Antinomy…?

Joseph: He might be Bruno. He might not be. *Cackles insanely*

Angel: …Okay, and what about the arrow in Yusei's hand?

Meri: Let's put it this way… prepare for a whole lot of shit to go down next chapter. Like, a lot.

Shade: Indeed. Ah, before we completely forget, please leave a review!

Piano: Ooh! And Happy Easter!

(Note: All of the Signers/Dark Signers mentioned in the epilogue of Crimson Feathers, plus Martha and Toby, are the adults at the party thing. Luna and Margaret (remember, Akiza's childhood friend) are the ones keeping an eye on the children. Just so you know.)