Chapter 8

Daisuke sighed, pouring the water over Dark's hair once more. The thief didn't react to his touch, or to his washing of the violet hair. The redhead frowned, carefully drying Dark's thick locks and then settling the thief back on the bed. Never once did he move, never once did he respond in any way. His violet eyes remained vacant, staring endlessly into the distance.

For three months Dark had been like this, alive, and yet not. He was a lifeless doll, never doing anything for himself. Daisuke had been caring for him these past months, but despite his efforts Dark was slowly slipping away. The thief hadn't regained full consciousness, and Daisuke was beginning to lose hope that he ever would.

Dark's weight had continued to drop, and then thief was now little more than a living skeleton. His hair had grown dull like his eyes, despite Daisuke's frequent care. Dark's normally smooth pale skin had grown pasty, stretched drum tight over his bones. His breathing was also growing worse. Sara had said that he had developed asthma for some reason that she couldn't figure out, and that the torture in the prison had worsened the condition. In other words, he had been choked and deprived of air often during those eight months, and it had strained his lungs.

There were many times when Daisuke would look at Dark and think that the thief was trying to die. That he wanted to die. There were even a few times when he actually stopped breathing, but then Sara had gotten a portable breathing machine, and that had stopped those problems, but Daisuke still couldn't help but worry, because Dark was fading away, and he could do nothing to stop it.

He knew why. He knew that Dark had been severely abused while in prison. His father had researched it, and managed to dig up what had happened. The thief had been in a cell with a child rapist, and, given Dark's young features and unnatural beauty, he had been violently beaten and raped. It had scarred Dark for life, and as a result, Dark had hidden away within his own subconscious, becoming a vacant shell.

Daisuke sighed once more, running his hands through Dark's damp hair to help dry it. "I know you're hurting Dark…" he whispered. He really didn't know if Dark could hear him or not, but he had to try. "But please, I need you here with me. I miss you. I just want you to be okay…"

There was no response, just as Daisuke had expected. Dark just continued to breathe silently, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes.

"I know that there's no way I could understand what you're going through. But I am a good listener, and I can comfort you." Daisuke fell to his knees beside the bed, grasping Dark's cold and bony hand. "Please, Dark! We are one, you and I! I need you here, and I can't just let you slip away like this! Please, just come back to me…"

Daisuke could feel tears cascading down his cheeks, but there was no response from the thief on the bed. Dark didn't move, didn't even blink. Daisuke sobbed slightly. His thief, his other half, was broken, and probably beyond repair, and there seemed that there was nothing that he could do about it.

Sara sighed, running a hand through her unruly bangs. She knew better than anyone that Dark was locked away, and that only Daisuke held that key. That redhead was the only that would give Dark the heart and want to wake up fully, to come out of his shell. Dark had to miss his other half after all, and Sara could think of no person better than Daisuke to awaken Dark. In the meantime, she was watching the thief waste away, and she felt helpless to do anything.

She had done all she could, in any case, trying to help Daisuke care for him and pumping him full of medications that were supposed to help him, but nothing seemed to be working. Dark had given up.

She knew that Dark had probably thought about his time he was in prison, and had figured that he was never going to get out, never going to get back his other half. That had taken out the fight and life in him anyway, but then that man had decided to use the thief, and Dark's already fragile state of mind had shattered, sending him into confusion and terror in the recesses of his own mind.

Sara went into the Niwa's basement that night to find Daisuke sound asleep next to Dark's bed, his head and shoulders resting on the thief's bed, his hand in Dark's lap, touching one of his hands. It was then that Sara noticed something, and she gasped.

"Daisuke! Daisuke, wake up!"

Daisuke blinked, and then shot upright, nearly upsetting his chair in the process. "What?.!"

Sara pointed at Dark. "Look, Daisuke!"

Daisuke looked down to where his hand was, and his red eyes widened. 'Amazing. He's really in there!'

Dark's hand was clasped tightly around Daisuke's.

Daisuke did everything he could in the next few days to get another response out of Dark, but to no avail. It was strange to the redhead how Dark had reacted, and now had retreated once more. He didn't understand it, but he continued to fight for Dark, his hope renewed at this small miracle.

Daisuke fed Dark again for that day, but he blinked in shock as he saw Dark blink, probably for the first time since the thief had been rescued. Daisuke immediately put down the bowl of broth, reaching out and wrapping his fingers around Dark's bony hand, holding it and rubbing the cold skin. "Dark? Can you hear me Dark?"

There was no verbal response, but Dark's fingers moved weakly, clasping around Daisuke's. Daisuke let the smile come to his face; he let the tears flow down his face. There was a flicker of life in those dead violet eyes, and Daisuke grinned.

"Dark! Dark, please, wake up! Come back to me, please!"

He felt somewhere inside him that Dark was responding to his own name, that Daisuke was calling him back. The redhead clasped Dark's hand tighter, reaching out to touch Dark's face. "Come on Dark, you can do it…"

Dark blinked again, slowly, and then a soft moan escaped his mouth, the life rushing back into his vacant eyes, filling them with sparkle and light. Dark was quiet for a moment, and then he opened his mouth. "D-Dai…?"

Daisuke wept.

A bit of a short chapter, but I'm happy with it... I hope you enjoyed it too!