AnimeKiwi369: Okay, I know I said I was going to update "Second War" the day after I published "Feverish Wishes", but I kept getting distracted by the internet and things over the weekend and I haven't gotten "Second War" prepped to update. I'm going to try to get that prepped after I get this chapter out.

Speaking of this chapter, the previous chapter seems to have gotten a considerable amount of views. So I'm very happy about that. Also big thanks to the reviewers: TheRoseShadow21, DGMSilverAirHead03 and our anonymies, PDS and Guest (x2). You guys are really awesome!

So I don't have much else. I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or its characters. I just own the storyline and my OCs, which are pretty much just Dove and Anny in this one.

Through Bird's Eyes

Chapter 3

Dove watched Yusei as he finished untying Anny's braid and ran his fingers through her hair as a way to comb it out. He carefully placed a small wreath of plastic branches and small pink silk flowers on top of her head. She smiled and threw her arms around his neck. The little girl was now six and was currently in a very light pink sleeveless dress with a lavender sash. She had on little light pink high heels that were only an inch or so high. A small mahogany basket filled with multiple colored rose petals sat nearby.

The blonde looked at the dark-haired father, who was gently embracing his daughter back, smiling gently. She had forgotten how well the cobalt-eyed Signer could clean up. He was in a white button down dress shirt, black dress pants, dress shoes, tie, vest, and jacket. Essentially a suit. The necktie was a little offset, but Luna had fixed it earlier. The dark-haired Signer had stayed strong since his wife's leaving five years prior and was a wonderful, loving, caring father to his daughter. The girl knew her mother had left to protect her and wished she would come home, but was happy that she had her father.

The bird-named woman looked at the full length mirror again. She was wearing a white floor-length dress with a green bodice and a thin silver fabric overlaying the skirt. She had on white one-inch high heels and a silvery veil rested on top of her head. Her lips were decorated with a light pink lip gloss and her eyes were accentuated by a thin layer of eyeliner and mascara. Her platinum blonde hair was perfectly curled at the ends. Long translucent white arm guarders covered her arms. And a bouquet of white lilies resided in her hands.

She still couldn't believe the day had come. She was finally marrying the man she loved with all her heart.

Crow Hogan.

Dove Merrineten was finally going to become Dove Hogan.

Anny was her flower girl, and Yusei was just making sure she was ready and not nervous. He was also keeping the blonde and his daughter company until it came time for the wedding to start. Jack and Carly's son, Brandon, was co-ring bearer with Kalin and Misty's son, Luke. The green-eyed woman looked back at the cobalt-eyed man. He picked up his daughter as he stood, looking at her.

"You look beautiful, Dove," he told her, smiling gently.

He blushed slightly. Over the last few years, she'd come to see the lead Signer as an older brother-figure in addition to her actual older brother, Randal, "Thank you."

He looked at the ceiling nostalgically, "I can still remember how beautiful Anny's mother looked on our wedding day."

The blonde smiled in reminiscence as well, "I do, too." She laughed a little nervously, "I have to admit, I didn't think I'd be this nervous."

The door to the bride's ready room opened and Mina popped her head in, "The wedding's about to start. Better get out here, Yusei."

He nodded and looked back at the blonde woman as he set down his daughter, "You'll be fine, Dove." He knelt down and kissed his daughter's head, "You know what to do, right, Anny?"

The little girl nodded, grinning as she picked up her basket of rose petals, "Yes, papa."

"I'll see you two in a little bit, okay?" The Signer told them.

"Okay," the bride and little girl said as he left the room.

Anny went over to the blonde woman and hugged her, burying her head in the woman's abdomen, "Aunty Dove, you're so pretty. I know you'll be great."

Dove smiled down at the six-year-old and lightly hugged her back. She'd helped to raise the little girl and felt like the dark-haired girl was a daughter to her. She liked feeling important to the little girl, "Thank you, Anny. You'll do great, too." She stroked the girl's dark hair, "You're the most beautiful, perfect sweetheart to be my flower girl."

The girl smiled and hugged the bride more tightly, "Oh, Aunty Dove."

The bird-named woman stroked the girl's hair again as Mina opened the door again, telling them they were just about ready for them.

"Ready, Anny?" The blonde asked

She looked up and nodded, "Yeah."

Three Years Later

Negative.

Dove Hogan sighed, putting the pregnancy test down. She wasn't pregnant. Again. How many did this test make now? She and Crow had been married for three years, and she still wasn't a mother. She and her husband had wanted to start a family from the very beginning. The blonde was beginning to think how Akiza had before she and her husband succeeded in conceiving Anny. That she wasn't meant to be a mother.

Was she being punished because she and Crow had been sleeping together since they were in their early twenties?

She desperately wanted to be a mother. So why wasn't she able to have a child of her own? She'd had her reproductive system looked over and nothing was wrong. So why couldn't she get pregnant?

She sighed again, sitting on the couch. When she and the ginger-haired Signer had married, Yusei had offered to let them move into his house with him and his daughter. The two had been hesitant at first, but they did want to look into getting a bigger place and by living with the other Signer and his daughter, it'd be easier to pay bills and whatnot. That and the bird-named couple knew that the cobalt-eyed man was also lonely, even if he didn't show it.

So, they moved in with the Fudos. But with it were certain precautions they had to take. Such as keeping their sex life from the young girl. She was much too young to know about that. As a result, the married couple couldn't really sneak up to their bedroom while the girl was home and usually had to wait until she was asleep to have a little fun. Even with keeping that in mind, they still were able to have a decent sex life.

Dove sighed again, unable to stop looking at the negative result. She heard footsteps come down the stairs and figured Anny was finished with her shower. The previous week, the young girl had been climbing a tree chasing her friends Brandon and Luke, and fell out of the tree, dislocating her shoulder in the process. Luckily, the girl's father had been around at the time, finishing up fixing a neighbor's engine when she fell. She was having issues with doing little things, and the brown-eyed girl hated it.

"Aunty Dove?" The dark-haired girl asked.

She looked over at the girl and gave a forced smile. She saw the girl had her shampoo in her good hand even though her hair was wet, "Yes, Anny?"

"Can you wash my hair in the kitchen sink, please?" She inquired, "It hurts too much to wash it myself."

The bird-named woman got up and went over to the girl, rubbing her wet hair, "Of course, little bird."

The brown-eyed girl smiled up at her, "Thank you."

"Give me a minute, okay?"

"Okay."

The blonde watched Yusei and Akiza's daughter as she went into the kitchen. Dove went up the stairs and grabbed a couple of towels before heading back down the stairs. She looked back at the pregnancy test and sighed again before heading into the kitchen. The brown-eyed girl was sitting in the adjustable chair that the blonde had. She often cut or trimmed Anny, Crow, and Yusei's hair to save costs, so she had an adjustable chair that leaned back.

She leaned the girl back and turned the facet on, starting to rewet her 'niece's' hair. The green-eyed woman stared absently out of the kitchen window as she started to wash the injured girl's hair. She was still distracted from the test.

"Aunty Dove, are you all right?"

The blonde shook her head, coming out of her trance, "No, Anny, I'm not."

"How come?" She asked.

She looked back at the living room, "When you were in the shower, I took a pregnancy test. And it came out negative. I'm not pregnant, like I wanted."

"Oh," the brown-eyed girl replied. "I'm sorry, Aunty Dove. Can I ask you why you want to be pregnant?"

"I don't mind," she responded. "It's just that I want to have a baby. I really want to be a mother. I want to be able to know what it's like to have a child of my own, Anny." She dried her hand and lightly stroked the girl's cheek, "I still like thinking of you as my daughter, though, little bird."

"Aunt Dove…" Anny trailed off, smiling a little.

The blonde looked into the dark-haired girl's eyes, smiling softly and sadly. She had her mother's eyes. Even though Akiza wasn't around anymore, Dove still couldn't help but be a little jealous of her friend.

At least the psychic was able to be a mother. Even if only for a short time.

That Night

The green-eyed woman put the last dish away as she finished drying it. The rest of the day and the evening had gone slowly, much to her chagrin. She wanted to forget about the day and the negative test. She never liked days when she had a result like that. The blonde hadn't told her husband, although he had noticed something was wrong. Crow didn't say anything, but was probably planning something to make her smile later that evening.

She didn't think she could smile though. She was too depressed, like she always got when another test told her she wasn't pregnant. She had mostly been quiet after she had finished washing the dark-haired girl's hair. The blonde had read a book and did some laundry before making dinner. Yusei and her husband had come home around the same time and just relaxed before dinner, since it had been a tough day for them at work. The dark-haired Signer had helped his daughter in a tabletop duel against the ginger-haired Signer by holding her cards to pass the time.

The blonde left the kitchen and began to head up the stairs as the cobalt-eyed man was going down the stairs. He must have been coming down after putting his daughter to bed. It was starting to get rather late. The dark-haired man was probably coming back downstairs to work on his duel runner or car or some other thing. Or maybe it was to work on a design for a client.

"Did she fall asleep?" The blonde asked quietly.

"Yeah," he replied, smiling a little. "She got pretty tired after taking some of those pain pills the doctor prescribed for her shoulder. It was kind of cute, the way she fell asleep. Crow has something planned for you guys, by the way. I'm going to look over the engine in your car before I head to bed. You did say your car wasn't sounding too well, right?"

"Right," she replied absently.

"Is everything all right, Dove?" He asked, looking at her fully, stopping a step below her.

"I'll be fine," she told him. "I just need time to get over something."

"Negative pregnancy test?" He guessed. He'd known her long enough to know how she got when the test disappointed her. Akiza had been the same way before they had succeeded.

"Yeah," she sighed.

He reached up and squeezed her arm, "Don't worry, Dove. I'm sure you and Crow will get pregnant. You just can't give up on the idea."

She nodded numbly before heading up the stairs again. She went to her and her husband's room. The door was closed. She wasn't exactly sure she wanted to know what the ginger had planned. The blond ignored it and turned the doorknob, slowly opening the door. She went into the bedroom, leaning against the door as she closed it, hanging her head a little. She noticed the lights were dimmed and lifted her head.

The lights were low and a few candles were lit around the room. She smelled the faint scent of vanilla and citrus emitting from the candles. She looked over and saw a bottle of white wine and two glasses on the bedside table. Her eyes wandered over to her husband, who was lying on his side in their bed, his head propped up on the hand of his propped elbow. A rose was resting in his mouth in the clichéd tango fashion.

Her hand twitched. Any other night she would have loved this.

Crow looked at her seductively as he stood up and made his way over to her, taking the rose from his teeth, "I thought I'd do something special for you since you seemed down. And this normally cheers you up."

"Crow…" She whispered, "This is so sweet. But I just can't get in the mood. Not after today."

"Dove, what happened when I was at work?" He asked, looking her dead on.

"I had another negative today," she replied.

"I should have guessed," he commented. He lightly kissed her forehead, "Dove, don't worry. We'll get pregnant. It's just not our time yet."

"When will our time be, Crow?!" She exclaimed, falling against his chest, hitting him, "I've waited years to get pregnant! Everyone else has been able to succeed. Akiza, Carly, Misty! Even Sherry! Why can't I get pregnant?! Why…can't I…get pregnant?"

"Shhh…." He whispered, holding her tightly against his chest.

"I want to be a mother!" She cried, "I'm jealous of everyone. Why can't we have a family? Why can't we be lucky like everyone else? Why can't I feel the most important part of being a woman?"

Dove sobbed heavily for several minutes into Crow, her tears soaking through his shirt. The Signer said nothing, but held her tightly as she cried. He kept an arm around her shoulders and slipped his other arm behind her knees, lifting her in a bridal style. He carried her over to their bed, laying her down on the bed as he lied down. The ginger held her trembling form as she cried her heart out. He hadn't known that his wife had wanted so badly to be a mother. He knew she wanted to be a mother, but didn't know she was so passionate about it. He wanted to be a parent as well, but he just enjoyed being married to his wife; he did want to be a father eventually though.

"Dove," he said as his wife's sobbing ceased, "I never knew you felt this way." She nodded numbly into his chest. He stroked her hair and brushed his lips against her forehead, "It may not be you. It might be me. Maybe it's because of me you can't get pregnant."

"Or maybe we're just not meant to be parents," she whispered, a few more tears falling.

"Don't say that, Dove," he told her. "Even if we can't get pregnant, we can always adopt or foster. We'll find a way to be parents one way or another. And we can always keep trying to have a child of our own. But no matter what, Dove, I will stand by you until the day I die, and I won't stop loving you."

She looked up at him with large emerald eyes that were still sad, "Crow…"

He brushed the hair away from her face and gently kissed her lips, "I love you, Dove. Don't forget that."

"I love you, too, Crow," she replied quietly. "I love you so much."

"I know," he said soothingly, rubbing the small of her back in circles. He brushed the tears away from her eyes with his fingers before closing them for her. He pulled her tighter against his chest, "You've had a tough day. You should get some rest. I'll stay here until you wake up. We can even both stay in bed all morning if you want."

Dove nodded numbly again as her husband continued to hold her through the night.

AnimeKiwi369: Yes, this chapter was also sad like the previous chapter. However, the next, and final chapter, will be much lighter. Hopefully that'll be up in a week or so. And hopefully I can get "Second War" up by tomorrow morning or tomorrow night. If not, I'll try to get it up by Wednesday afternoon, since I have a half-day of school.

I don't have much else to say. Reviews are much appreciated. So please be kind and please review! :]