Faith gasped for breath as her heart struggled to beat again.

"Keiko!"

She looked up to see Dark holding her shoulders. She was on her knees, her blue hair now brown and spilling over her shoulders.

"Keiko, what happened?" Dark asked her urgently. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths.

"Nothing," she said. "I'm fine."

"I don't think you are," Dark noted.

"I said I'm fine!" she almost shouted at him. She pushed him away and finally faced a very impatient Krad, still on the wall gagged by her magic. "You will be banished from this world, Krad!" she said, pointing an angry finger at him. "I'm sick of you and all your shit! Next time you take Satoshi's body against his will I'll kill you!" With an angry wave of her arm, her magic paint released him. Naturally, Krad immediately responded, rushing straight towards her.

Dark jumped in front of her. "Krad, no!" he cried. He wasn't sure why, but he couldn't stand the thought of anything happening to Keiko.

But Krad never reached them. A blue aura shot out from behind Dark, encircling him so as not to attack him but, rather, Krad. Krad yelled in pain as it enveloped him and bound him in mid-air. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Krad cried as he struggled against the magic.

"Binding you," Faith said calmly. Dark turned to see the girl standing, holding a blue feather between her fingers ceremoniously as she was focused intently on Krad. "You'll stay safe and sound inside Satoshi's body until he can banish you himself." She glanced over at Dark. "Move."

Reluctantly, Dark obeyed, and stepped out of the line of fire.

"You can't bind me!" Krad said pompously, despite his less-than-pompous position. "You don't have the power!"

"You know nothing," she said softly. Before Krad could say anymore, the aura surrounded him so he was no longer recognizable. After a moment, everything calmed down, and the blue aura began to dissipate. On the floor beneath where Krad had been floating now sat Hiwatari, trying to catch his breath.

"I guess you are more than just some girl with a heart condition," Dark said, still pretty awestruck at the great power Faith had just used. She glared back at him. "Hey, it was a compliment!" he said.

Faith made her way over to Hiwatari and kneeled in front of him. "He's contained now," she informed him as he caught his breath. Slowly, he looked up at her. "But not for very long. Even if I had access to all my power I wouldn't be able to contain him forever." She shrugged. "That's kinda how these things work. But he should stay bound long enough for you to build your strength. You can banish him from your body, Satoshi."

He just gazed steadily at her. "That's not how it works," he said.

"I told you," she reminded him, "his mind was wiped when he came to Earth and cursed your family. The Hikaris and Niwas were given fake information from fake memories. This is *your* body, Satoshi. *You* decide what happens to it." She held her hand out to him.

"What are you?" he asked.

"An angel," Dark said quietly, stepping closer to them. Faith blinked and looked over at him. "You're an angel, aren't you?"

Faith gave a small grin. "How did you know?"

Dark frowned as he thought. "I don't...know. I just... When your hair changed color, and your skin..." He blinked when he saw her eyes begin to water. "Hey, c'mon! Don't cry!"

Faith just grinned and shook her head. "C'mon, Satoshi," she said, turning back to him. Slowly, Hiwatari nodded and took her hand, standing with her.

"You're starting to remember, Dark," she said, her back to him as she headed towards the doors. "Keep it up."

Dark watched her reach for the doorknob. What was he remembering?

*Wait,* Daisuke said, sounding slightly nervous. Faith stopped short, her hand on the doorknob. *We were making a lot of noise in here. Didn't anyone hear us?*

'Oh, yeah,' Dark thought. "Hey, Keiko-"

Faith grinned. "Dark, we have to get back to class. Let Daisuke back, please." With that, she turned the knob and opened the door.

There was no hallway on the other side. There was nothing, in fact, except swirling, green aura. Faith placed her hand in it.

"Thank you, Chronos," she called before stepping through it.

Hiwatari stared at it before looking back at Daisuke, who had transformed just in time to see her go. He walked up beside him.

"I think we just got involved in something bigger than we've ever known..." Daisuke noted.

"I think you're right..." Hiwatari agreed. With a deep breath, both boys stepped into the green aura and back into their school.

The three re-entered the classroom together. Faith ignored the stares and questions, as did Hiwatari. Daisuke, however, had no such strength. He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "We were just...uhm...talking..." he told Saehara and his friends.

"Talking about what?" Saehara pressed. "What was so secret that you had to talk about even though it was only five minutes?"

"Five minutes?" Daisuke asked nervously. "It was only five minutes?"

"Crazy how time flies, isn't it, Niwa?" Faith chimed in, looking pointedly over at him.

*She must have had something to do with that,* Dark noted to Daisuke. Daisuke gave a small nod. "Yeah, crazy," he said.

"SO?" Saehara insisted. "What was it about!?"

"Well, uh, you see-"

"If you have to know, Saehara," Faith went on impatiently, "it's about a surprise for Riku-kun and Risa-kun's birthday."

Saehara blinked and looked over at her. "The Haradas' birthday?" he asked. "But that's not for another couple weeks."

She glared at him. "Do you know how long it takes to paint a quality piece of artwork?" she asked him. "Satoshi, Niwa, and I are the best artists in the school. I thought it would be nice for the three of us to put our heads together and do something special for them."

Saehara frowned. "That's so boring," he noted.

'Yeah,' Daisuke thought to himself, 'but now we need to think of something special to make for the Haradas.'

*Looks like Keiko's already working on that part, though,* Dark pointed out. *Look at her. The wheels in her head are already turning.* Daisuke looked over at his classmate and realized that his other half was right. She was intently focused on her paper as she drew on the back of her notes