DISCLAIMER: I don't own bakugan.

Alright guys, I got some people wanting more, and I had some ideas to add, so I've decided to make this one shot a three parter. I'm not sure when the last part will be up, but keep on reminding me!

Bold is thoughts

Italics is flashbacks

Ages:

Dan, Runo, Julie, Billy- 22

Marucho- 20

Shun, Alice- 23

SHUN POV

The door made a soft whooshing sound as entered the room. It wouldn't have mattered if I had banged it open, because its occupant was likely to never wake up. All the same, I didn't turn around until the door was fully closed.

"Shun," a voice said softly.

I froze. I couldn't turn around. It sounded so familiar, but I knew who it actually was. "Mrs. Misaki," I answered politely. "I'll-"

She shook her head, smiling wearily, "I have to go soon. Alice has been taking care of the restaurant without us, and she's doing fabulous, but we do have to go back in."

"Alright, but take your time, Alice will be fine cleaning up."

However, shaking her head, she rose from the seat next to her daughter. Passing me on the way out, she pressed me into a hug, "Thank you, Shun, for everything you've done for her."

I didn't respond.

Sitting next to her, I contemplated Mrs. Misaki's words. What had I done for her? I hadn't been able to stop Dan from leaving, from hurting her. I couldn't get there quickly enough to save her from her suicide attempt, and I couldn't stop the time that passed in her slumber, or the fact that Dan had finally returned.

I hadn't protected her.

I was downstairs, helping Alice clean up the store after Runo had gently told us that she wanted to take a quick nap. She had only recently recovered from the deep lacerations in her wrists, and I was still fighting the dragging feeling that came with an involuntary hospital visit.

"Runo's been asleep for an hour now, I'll go check on her."

"She could use the rest Alice."

Alice looked at me, "So could you."

"Okay," I relented, "If you're so worried, you can check on her."

A couple minutes passed before I heard a loud shout, "Shun!"

I almost dropped the plates I was holding, but quickly deposited them safely on the countertop before rushing up the stairs. "What's wrong?"

"Runo locked herself in the bathroom, and I can't find the spare key I kept! What's she doing in there?"

I knocked lightly on the door, "Runo, can you please come out? You're really getting Alice scared."

"Go away Shun," I heard a raspy voice growl, "This is your fault!"

I'll admit, that hurt, and I flinched.

"You saw him leaving! You could have stopped him! But, you let him leave! He's gone, and I'm never going to see him again! I hate you!"

I closed my eyes, pretending not to hear the soft gasp Alice gave. "Alice?"

"Shun?" she echoed in the same tone.

"Do you have a bobby pin?"

Thrown off by the comment, she nodded. Handing it over, she watched as I knelt down, eye level with the knob.

I let out a quiet breath, "I know you must hate me, Runo. But there are people here that care about you. Your friends, your parents, they all miss seeing you smile."

The lock clicked. I swung open the door to see a pale blue head angled at me, white pristine ovals pressed into her hand.

Her medicine. Too much of it.

"Tell them I'm sorry."

I smacked them away from her, and her trance snapped. Alice snatched up the bottle with the remaining pills.

"What are you doing Runo?" I asked, not lightly.

"Let me go!" she screeched, "Let me take them!"

I held on tight as Alice tossed the pills from the floor down the drain and all three of us watched as they melted away. Runo's temperamental struggles faded into whimpers.

"Runo…"

She threw herself at us, taking me with her as she sank down to the floor, gripping her shaking form tightly, promising to never let go.

Her tears streaked my shirt as she sobbed. "Why?" she struggled, "Why can't you let me just die? Just let me go!"

I stroked her head, Alice settled on by the door, sitting against the frame, silent.

"I can't do this anymore, Shun," I heard a quiet whisper.

"I can't live without him."

Those five words still haunted me now, when she repeated them in the letter she left under a rock. She said she was sorry, that we should live on without her, and hopefully remember her as she was, not as the wreck she had become.

"We could never forget you," I murmured to the pale figure under the bed sheets. I kissed her forehead, hoping she felt our feelings connect to hers.

I took one last look at the girl who had become my sister as I walked out, "We love you too much to do that."

The door closed.

The monitor blipped.

ALICE POV

It was hard enough as is without him. Now, he was back, and ready to find her again. For the third time, he had left her behind, and she had waited. My best friend had waited too long, and lost too much. He couldn't, wouldn't, shouldn't be welcomed here. But at that same time, there was a physical pain that stuck my heart when I made him leave.

He had been a part of our group as well. But, he had also left us, one too many times at that. Not only them, his parents, his family, his friends and lover. They had all waited for years, to see him return and smile.

The third time was the charm. He couldn't be allowed to return.

I sighed, looking out the window at the shaded street. Would Runo have been proud of us? Hurt, that we pushed him away?

Would they ever get to see her open her eyes again?

I knew that Shun went to see her every other day, if not every single one. He stilled hoped she would wake up and forgive him. He simply didn't understand that it wasn't his fault.

Dan had done plenty of damage. But this time, he didn't have any friends to back him up, or to help him turn back the clock.

DAN POV

Catching up with them the next day was no problem. It was getting my –former-best friend to talk to me was a different thing entirely. My friends was talking about taking a look around the city, and had decided to check in with me around noon at the Bakugan Stadium. I rushed to the café just in time to see Marucho walk out with a young salmon haired woman.

They were chattering animatedly, and I took a couple of steps back into an alley. I felt my jaw drop when Marucho leaned in and gave her a quick kiss at the corner of her smile. I fell back into the alley, and leaned against the wall.

Marucho has a girlfriend? Marucho?

I closed my eyes until I heard the footsteps disappear. I was about to enter the street when I heard the bell tinkle again, this time revealing Shun. Unlike last night, he was smiling over his shoulder and saying goodbye. He was clearly talking to his fiancé.

I wondered just how much I had missed. Runo, Julie and Billy, Shun's proposal! I walked away silently, following the alley's pathway into a different street. I had some things to think about.

JULIE POV

Alice said she would pop by later to tag team with Shun, and while she got ready, I was walking around the fountain. There really wasn't anything to do when there wasn't a battle I had to absolutely be at.

My eye caught a familiar blue sheen. Whipping around, it almost stopped my heart when she saw Dan with her. Then, the face shifted and I could see features that weren't at all like Runo's. The anger welled up. He didn't stay, and then had the nerve to bring a girl that looked just like Runo here?

Now that I looked, there were four other people trailing along. A young girl that looked a bit like me, but about Marucho's age, bounce in each step. A male blond with spiky hair that seemed to babbling about statistics to a girl that looked like him feature wise, but with red hair cropped along her shoulders. And a guy that looked older than all of them, trailing slightly, his long hair tied from the top of his hair, and yet still reaching the small of his back.

This was a replica of their old group, and Dan was at the center of it.

My fists curled and I marched up to them, my head bowed. Dan looked a little startled, and even more surprised when he felt the sting of my hand against his face.

"What was that for Julie?" he shouted.

I'm pretty sure my tears were glimmering in my eyes, but I didn't care, "That was for hanging out with them," I pointed at the people behind him. I stomped on his foot with my sharp heel, "and that's for not understanding why."

I marched away from him, ignoring the people clearly staring at me. I spotted Marucho waiting in the front row of the stands, and he ran over to me, "I thought you were going to be late."

I shook my head and went over to my stand. I bit my lip, waiting for the tears to dry before looking at him, "No, I just…ran into someone we used to know."

One more part to go~

P.S. Happy Belated Birthday CP!