"WHAT!?"

Dark jumped at the sudden exclamation. "Towa!" he slapped a hand over Towa no Shirube's mouth, "be quiet!" She nodded and he released her.

"But, Dark! His parents need to know!" she insisted. She didn't seem to notice his calling her 'Towa' rather than 'To-to'.

He shook his head. "No, I don't have time to hand out explanations!" he grabbed her arms, "can you find him or not?"

"Of course I can find him," she winked flirtaciously, "you know me, Dark".

Dark turned away from her, purposely rejecting her. "Then do it".

"Why do you have to be so mean to me?" Towa whined.

He groaned and turned back to her. "To-to, please find Daisuke," he whispered in a nicer tone. She smiled and closed her eyes.

Dark turned away again to look out the window. Still no one. He didn't have any questions about his escape before, but now he had time to worry. It wasn't like Krad to let people escape so easily. He knew it was quite possible that Satoshi had been able to disrupt him at the right moment, but it didn't seem likely. His nemesis appeared more determined to have his way lately...he was up to something.

Why couldn't Krad keep up with him? Dark knew he was perfectly capable of flying the same speed as he was, maybe faster because he was not accustomed to using his own wings like Krad was. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was afraid. Perhaps his fear allowed him to fly faster? That and the possibility of Satoshi's resistance toward his angel helped him feel more at ease.

That's what he needed. He needed to keep calm and he was sure he'd be able to figure everything out later....after he found Daisuke.

"Towa?" Dark turned around to face her again.

To-to opened her eyes again and frowned at him. "I can't tell, Dark".

"What!? You said you could find him!"

"I did! I did find him!" she glanced away and reconsidered what she said. "I think..."

Dark forced himself to talk calmly, "what do you mean? Did you find him or not?"

Towa looked as confused as he was, "I found little Daisuke...but it doesn't feel like him. He feels different".

_________________________________________________

Daisuke sat up and looked around. "Dark!?"

"Daisuke, sweetie, you're awake!" his mother, Emiko, exclaimed.

"What....mom?"

She stroked his head lovingly, "what's wrong? Were you expecting someone?"

"Dark?" he asked a second time.

"What's 'Dark', Daisuke?" she looked deeply concerned.

"What do you mean?" he leaned toward her. "Did Dark bring me...us back here?"

"Is Dark a person?"

"YES!" He fell from his bed.

"Daisuke!" She helped him up and hugged him. "When did he come back?" she whispered after they both had calmed down. "Why is he back, Daisuke? We got rid of him, remember?"

"What?" Daisuke's instincts told him to pull away, but he resisted them. "What do you mean we got rid of him?"

"Dark isn't real, sweetie. Don't you remember?"

Daisuke shook his head. 'Where am I?' he wondered, 'this can't be happening! what's going on !?' He had the terrible feeling that the woman embracing him was not his mother and yet, a strange feeling of doubt flooded his mind. "No," he whispered to himself.

"No?" Emiko asked, worried.

He ignored her. 'I know Dark is real,' he thought, 'but why do I feel like she's right?'