Wow! Thank you so much for all of the support that I've been given! I'm so grateful for the feedback and responses that have come in and I want to let you know that I appreciate them! So I'm starting this new thing for all of my stories, (which I know haven't been updated in forever, but now that school is OVER I'll finally get a chance to! #FREEDOM) where I'll be thanking and acknowlegding the reviews here at the begining of the chapter, so without further distractions...

Ahsokazami2001: Oh my gosh girl, I cannot thank you enough for being there for me through all of this! I love you so much! Can you believe it's been almost two years that we've been friends?! :D

Guest Reviewer:You have been such a faithful reviewer and I thank you so much for your precious time in reading this, it's so sweet of you, and your motivation to keep on writting has really saved me from deleting these stories, thank you! ;)

Hi: So, hello to you as well, and thank you for reading, and a special thanks to Bob as well, that's very sweet of him. So, as you have seen and guessed, no, this story will not be following the orginal Bakuagn plot, Shun and Dan haven't been friends since brith in this new version, and I'm happy to clarify that for you, if you have any other questions or anything else that needs clarifying I'd be happy to help you. Nice to meet you! :D

Thank you again to all of you, and any if I've missed you, be sure to tell me in your next review and I'll be sure to thank you personally in the next chapter. I hope that all of you are having a great and marvelous week, I know I am! See y'all at the end of the chapter! Sorry, it's a little bit short.

...

(Shadow's POV)

There was a girl following me.

Wherever I turned she would be there, silently watching, observing. In the next moment I would blink and she would seemingly vanish before my eyes. I shrugged away my discomfort and hurriedly followed Fabia who was waiting halfway down the hallway where she had been walking to our Algebra classroom.

An uneasy feeling had settled over my heart, and I sat down wearily at my desk. I had recognized that girl…from an unwanted past I had no desire to reflect on. 'She couldn't have come back…' my thoughts scolded sternly. 'Not after…'

The knock at the classroom door was so soft, tentative, it was barely noticeable, and yet it sent a chill down my spine. Cautiously, I saw her hand push open the door and she stepped inside the room, clutching a schedule tightly in her right hand, a sickly sweet smile forming on her lips.

I struggled for breath and pressed myself against the back of my chair. Had it not been for the desks surrounding my own, I would've bolted from the room. Her blood red eyed trained over my trembling form and pierced my soul. It was only then that I was aware of the pressure of Fabia's hand as it gripped my wrist.

She spoke soothingly, calming my frantic heart. She chided my name (the name of which she knew me by), and her voice commanded the memories of that unforgiving past to cease flowing freely through my thoughts.

Mrs. Madrigal welcomed the girl into our room, and yet even as she did, she sent a pained, worried expression in my direction. She stood up and stood beside the girl in the front of the classroom and placed her hands gently on her shoulders. "Everyone," She said warmly. "Meet Jade, your newest classmate, she recently moved from a school out of the country and is here joining us as a foreign exchange student…"

'From out of this planet…' I had wanted to say.

And much to my relief, Mrs. Madrigal assigned her a desk in the very back of the room. She turned and smiled comfortingly to me. She knew…as she always had…

Purposely, Jade brushed her hand over my shoulder as she made her way past me to the back of the room. I closed at my eyes as the soft feel of her hand caressing my shoulder, and then almost as quickly as I had fallen back under her intoxicating spell, broke from it and flinched away from her.

Mrs. Madrigal assigned the class to do our warm-up and then stood beside me and whispered softly, "Shun, let me speak with you out in the hallway for just a moment please." After convincing Fabia that everything was alright, she released her hold on my wrist and I walked into the hallway with Mrs. Madrigal. She closed the door and eyed the cameras above of us. "Do you happen to have-?

"My daggers?" I asked softly, and she mocked fake surprise. I handed two small daggers swiftly over to her and she flung them into the camera lenses on either side of us. I smiled in envy. She had always been so much better with close combat than I could have ever dreamt to be.

She pulled me over to her and quickly removed my jacket and dropped it onto the floor. Her face was now devoid of all emotion except fear, and concern. She worked swiftly and finished removing my vest and felt along my chest and torso, feeling for a wound. "You're not hurt Shadow?" She asked shortly. I gave her a soft shake of my head. "No…I don't think so…she could've-

"I already checked your jacket, and there didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary," She said calmly, a hint of relief in her voice. "If you want, I could get you transferred into a different classroom. I understand if you aren't comfortable being in the room with her, and for your safety-

I raised my hand to silence her and she obeyed. I didn't need her to become the overprotective mother figure that she had been to me all those years of hiding away here on Earth, what I needed now, was a friend.

"Michelle, I appreciate all that you've done for me," I whispered, and her eyes softened at the tenderness in my voice. "But I can't do this anymore…I can't keep pretending that everything is fine, because it isn't. She's back…and there's nothing that we can do to change that." I paused and gazed at the floor. "All we can do, is make the best of this situation…" I closed my eyes and flinched when Mrs. Madrigal gently pulled me into her embrace. She stroked my hair lovingly, and I allowed a single crystalline tear to caress my cheek.

"Shadow," Her voice called softly. "You don't have to hide anymore…I know what you're feeling, you don't have to put up your stone barrier around me…I know…it hurts…"

My shoulder trembled, and I buried my head into her shoulder. She held me for a long while as I wept. When I pulled away from her to wipe away my tears, her hand was already on my cheek, doing it for me. I stared at her, watching as her stone cold gaze melted into the gaze of the tender, watchful mother that she had been to me.

"It's been a long time, my child."

"Yes, Michelle, it has."

And for the first time in a very long while, I smiled.

(Mott's POV)

The day had gone by quicker than I would have liked it too, and I soon found myself siting the front of the limo playing chauffeur again for the royal pain that I loved so dearly. I watched him as he came out from the building with the human girl that he often talked with, but that wasn't what caught my attention. What had, was the familiar face that stood and walked behind them, smiling brightly, as I had often seen it do before.

I opened the door and quickly exited the vehicle and hurried over to where they stood. Shadow looked up at me surprised to see that I had come up to them, but I gently pushed him to the side and peered up into the soft blue gaze that flickered warmly back at me. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.

"Michelle?" I whispered hoarsely. Her chocolate brown hair sparkled in the sunlight as she dipped her head to me, smiling, "Mott." Without as much as a second of hesitation, my arms were wrapped tightly around her pulling her into my embrace. She returned my hug with a gentle squeeze of her shoulders.

I turned my head slightly to side where it rested upon her shoulder and spotted the royal pain behind the human girl resisting the urge to laugh. I shot him a death glare, to which he returned an amused smile.

"So it seems like you two have met before?" He inquired innocently. I parted from Michelle and resisted the urge to strangle him.

"Ah, ah," Michelle taunted, tapping my nose with her finger. "Behave yourself Mott." I stared at her and blushed as Shadow burst into a fit of laughter, to a point where even the human chuckled softly. I frowned at them and looked back at the cause of this laughter.

She smiled warmly, and just as I had been so long ago, I was captivated by her unhuman like grace. "We much to talk about," She whispered, and I nodded. Yes, we did indeed.

I looked down at my watch and almost yelped. I was almost half an hour late getting Shadow back home for a conference with his father. "I'm sorry, but I believe I'm running late in getting this one home." I took Shadow by the shoulders already leading him to the vehicle door. "I'm going to have to part ways; it was nice seeing you again Michelle." I dipped my head and almost pushed Shadow into the passenger's seat and made my way around the car into the driver's seat. I had almost closed the door when it was stopped by Michelle's red high heel caught in the door.

I looked up at her, surprised by this, but even more so, when she leaned forward and gently pecked my cheek with her soft lips. "We'll talk soon Mott; it was good seeing you again."

I faltered for a moment as she walked back inside the school building, and then decided after what seemed like a respectable time, to leave for Millennia. Shadow looked over at me as I started the engine and drove off down the road. I wasn't able to hide the blush that had invaded my cheeks as we left the school parking lot.

(Fabia's POV)

I made sure that Mrs. Madrigal was busying herself behind her desk before I slid over next to Shun. He set his book down and turned to me grinning. "What was that yesterday in the parking lot?" I whispered eagerly. Shun held in his laughter and stared across Mrs. Madrigal's desk before turning back to face me. "I don't know for sure," He whispered back. "But I think they were friends a long time ago." I rolled my eyes and set my book on the desk in front of me. "Obviously…"

Shun chuckled softly. "I think I remember seeing them-

His voice faltered and he stared intently at my book. "Where did you get that…?" His voice was quiet, almost stunned. I picked up the book and brushed my hand over the worn leather cover. "From the library, Mrs. Madrigal recommended it to me." I saw his gaze flicker over to her desk and then back. "Is there something wrong?" I asked, looking over at the said algebra teacher before turning back to face him. He shook his head numbly and stared at the book. "Would you mind if I looked at it…?" I nodded my approval and slid it over to him.

Shun fingered the gold lettering and placed the book in his lap where he flipped through the pages until his hands faltered above a picture of the King and Queen. I took the chance to inform him about the two. "That's Zephyr and Emerald, they're the King and Queen of Millennia, they had this kid named Shadow, I though he kinda looked like you a little bit." I pointed further down the page to the picture of Zephyr and Emerald with their ten year old son. Shun stared intently at the page as if in deep thought. His eyes seemed to fill with sadness, but almost as quickly as I thought I had seen it, it was gone and he looked thoughtfully about the page.

I smiled and flipped the pages to one of the chapters featuring a sketch of the gleaming white palace. Shun smiled at the picture and traced along the edges with the tip of hid finger, as if he had drawn the picture himself. "It's beautiful isn't it?" I whispered staring at the intricate design of the windows and doors featured on another page.

Shun nodded and skimmed through the pages of the book. "It's really interesting," I continued. "Did you know that prince used scale the castle walls?! There was the picture…" I flipped to the page to show him. "He used to scare his parents half to death, they were so worried that he would fall one day but he never did." I looked at the young child in envy as he hung from a windowsill with one hand laughing at the picture of his horrified parents below him.

Shun's eyes filled with amusement and gazed mischievously down the picture. "That's quite…the story," He said softly and again I thought I had heard remorse in his voice, yet his faced showed that of happiness. I pushed away the nagging thoughts and flipped to another page of the book. "This is the throne room…"

(Shadow's POV)

I could hardly do more than stare at the young boy that I had once been. The thoughts of returning to that carefree childhood hurt too much to reflect on and I found myself begging my heart and soul to stop thinking about them. What's past was past…

Fabia continued to guide me through the book, oblivious to fact that I already knew most of what was featured in its contents. I hoped it would continue to stay that way.

I turned my head and saw Mrs. Madrigal watching me, an amused grin forming on her lips. I returned a soft, playful glare in her direction but soon lost the look altogether and smiled. She smiled back and formed the words on her lips, 'I can still recall the parable of the husky dog…'

I blushed and sighed and gazed back into her eyes, remembering the eventful first day of her being my caretaker…

~Flashback~

The young Millennian prince observed with wide eyes the content of the store that he had been brought to. Dozens of variety of animals watched him with an equal amount of curiously from behind the iron bars of their compartments. The intrigued prince ventured closer to the edge of one of the compartments in particular and stood on his toes to peer inside.

A pair of two crystal blue eyes stared back at him, piercing compared to its mane of white and black tangled fur. Two pointed ears perked up as the prince drew nearer and the little husky dog shook its speckled tail. The prince noticed the strange wire necklace that the puppy was wearing and frowned at this. This wasn't acceptable.

Shadow turned and looked behind him to his new caretaker who was busily conversing with the store manager. A mischievous smirk formed across the prince's face. He was satisfied that no one seemed to be watching him. He eyed a stool a little ways away from him and pulled it across the floor to the front of the cage where he stepped up to the top and unlocked the cage door. He gathered the puppy delicately in his arms and untwisted the crude wire and dropped it onto the floor; He looked the puppy over and nodded approval and held the puppy until he heard the already familiar shriek of his caretaker.

Michelle stormed quickly over to the prince who scrambled down from the step stool and held the puppy innocently behind his back.

~End of Flashback~

I smiled at the memory. The puppy had turned out to be my first pet in the near future after the event. Fabia had just finished reading the current chapter of the book when the bell rang and signaled for us to leave. Fabia packed the book into her backpack and stood at the door to wait for me. I waved her on while I packed my backpack. She rolled her eyes, muttering something about a 'tortoise' before she left.

I smiled and slung by backpack onto to my shoulders and looked up and froze at the sight before me.

Jade stood in front of me, her eyes searching dreadfully for something in my own. She took a step forward and I stumbled away, backing up into my desk. Michelle was on her feet, reaching for something silver at her waist.

I stared at Jade and clutched my chest as if it hurt to breathe. She looked at me sadly and reached out and placed her hand tenderly on my chest, fingering the gold diamond around my neck. "Shadow…please…" She reached for something around her own neck and pulled a diamond identical to mine from a silver chain that she was wearing.

My gaze faltered and I reached out to touch the stone she held out to show me. My fingertips had almost brushed the edge of the diamond when a wave of pain surged through my body and I broke away from her and coughed desperately. She reached out to support me but I shoved her hand away. She had been the cause of this pain.

I couldn't go back.

"No," I whispered, and quickly disappeared down the hallway after Fabia.

...

Alright, things are about to get a little complicated in the upcoming chapters, so I've decided to post at the end of every chapter, The Royal Family Tree, as seen for the first time below. Hopefully, this will be of help in the upcoming chapters, it isn't much now, but will be in the future. :)

~Zephyr (King)~

~Emerald (Queen)~

~Shadow (Crown Prince, and son of Emerald and Zephyr)~

I hope y'all are having a great summer, and if you're not out of school yet, then it's coming up pretty soon hopefully! Thank you so much for the support, you have all been so helpful and encouraging. I apologize for any mistakes, and please if you have any questions feel free to ask. Review are very much appreciated! I love you all! :)

#Heat

#Six Flags!