Daisuke blinked and found the scenery had changed once again. He observed the museum room before him. 'Are you ok, Dark?'

'Of course I am,' the angel replied from within him, 'that bastard kicked us out before I could kill him…damnit. I told you my plan would work.' Despite the thief's projected confidence, something told him Dark had been as nervous as he was.

He directed his attention to the outside world and finally spotted Satoshi standing a few feet in front of him. A grimace resided on the bespectacled boy's face and, although he had his eyes open, Daisuke wasn't sure he noticed him. Before he could stop himself, Daisuke jumped forward and hugged his friend.

"You're back to normal!" he exclaimed. He felt Satoshi tense and realized it was awkward for him. Daisuke jumped back and folded his arms, "I mean…uh…it's good to see you…again…after being stuck…" Satoshi only stared at him and Daisuke guessed he didn't know what he was talking about.

'Why is he still here? Must've been a few days,' Dark mumbled to himself.

Daisuke ignored him and tried to explain hastily, "I was stuck and Dark came to save me and we had to—well…it's not important anymore."

Satoshi's emotionless stare didn't change when he replied, "I know. At least you're not hurt."

Daisuke nodded and they were both silent for a few short seconds before Daisuke continued, "so…why are you here?"

"Dark didn't…no, of course he didn't. I was worried. I came here to help you however I could." Satoshi recoiled visibly as he regretted revealing his emotional connection to the case. "I was just…righting a wrong," he quickly added.

"You waited here all this time?"

"It's only been a few hours," Satoshi explained, "it would make sense if time progressed differently…how long was it for you?"

"How long since what?"

"Since Dark found you."

"Oh! It was close to two days," Daisuke answered, smiling, "did you help Dark get to me?"

He felt Dark give him a mental kick and winced. 'Like I really needed his help,' the thief protested.

"We were forced into a short period of reluctant cooperation," Satoshi answered, trying to convey through his manner that they had little choice. "Neither of us wanted you to die." Again, he flinched.

Daisuke smiled warmly, "thank you for caring." He cupped one of his hands to his mouth as if he were trying to keep a secret from someone nearby. "I won't tell anyone," he whispered as a joke, trying to lighten the mood.

Satoshi changed the subject, "your mother would want to know you're safe."

Daisuke yelped and slapped his forehead, "oh, mom! She's going to kill me!" He dashed toward the exit, but halted halfway, "the security systems aren't up, right?"

"No, they aren't," Satoshi muttered, "Dark didn't come here to steal, after all."

"Right, right," Daisuke continued running. "Sorry," he shouted back at Satoshi, hoping he would know what he meant.

'Why would you apologize?' Dark protested, 'he's the one who changed the subject so you would leave.' Daisuke ignored him and ran home without making any stops.

Daisuke rested face-up on his bed, absent-mindedly stroking Wiz's fur. He was glad to be back…but angry that his mother wouldn't let him see Riku (or even leave his room) until she was one-hundred percent sure he was one-hundred percent well.

'It's not like I was sick,' he thought, 'just…in a parallel…universe'. He realized what had happened to him was actually worse than getting sick and that his mom may have had a point. He shook his head, 'no, I'm perfectly fine now! I should at least be allowed to go to school.'

'Quit your whining,' Dark's voice interrupted, 'it's all I've been hearing for the last few days.'

Daisuke remembered he wasn't the only one suffering and sent an apologetic thought to his counterpart.

Dark acknowledged his apology, but continued anyway, 'at least you could live a reasonably normal life. I had to spend most of my time in the week looking for you, evading Krad, or kidnap…err…borrowing Satoshi.'

'I know you, Dark,' Daisuke reminded him, 'you would rather do all those things everyday than live a normal life.' Dark laughed, taking it as a compliment. Daisuke rolled his eyes and sighed. He relived their escape in his mind and said aloud, "Krad must have really underestimated you. For some reason, I thought he would win…no offense."

Dark hesitated before replying, 'I'm going to be honest…otherwise, it wouldn't be fair.'

"It wouldn't be fair?"

'It wouldn't be fair to…the commander.'

"Satoshi? What do you mean? Did he—wait, since when did you care whether or not something was fair to Satoshi?"

'Since he saved our lives…that's when.' Daisuke could tell the thief was trying to be honest…and that it was killing him to do so.

Daisuke ignored the squirming emotions Dark conveyed. "He saved our lives?"

'You need to remember I lost my powers, got it?'

"Sure." Daisuke replied, knowing any other answer would have been received as an attack on his partner's delicate pride.

'You remember I planned to distract Krad for you? Well, because I was losing my powers,' Dark added extra emphasis to that last phrase, 'it wasn't going so well. He would have been able to take over me without much of fight…if Hiwatari didn't jump in.'

"What did he do?"

Dark started to get a little indignant, 'he stole my idea! He must have overheard me tell you.'

"If Krad couldn't hear it, I don't think Satoshi could. He must have figured it out for himself…he's really smart."

'Whatever.' Daisuke knew Dark hated it when he complimented Satoshi. 'Basically, he was the one who froze Engel for you.'

"Oh my gosh! If I knew that, I would have thanked him! Hey, I didn't even hear you thank him…and you knew!"

'Well, if he's so smart, he should know you're grateful,' Dark muttered.

"And you're not grateful? I suppose you wanted to spend the rest of your life with Krad," Daisuke accused sarcastically.

'C'mon, Daisuke. Hiwatari knows I wouldn't thank him.'

Daisuke sent Dark the mental equivalent of a glare, "I'm calling him. Right now."

'Fine. You can grovel before our enemy all you want.'

"It's not groveling," Daisuke insisted, "it's just being polite." He got off his bed and went to retrieve the phone. "I'll let him know you're thankful too."

'Don't you dare!' Daisuke ignored Dark's protest and felt the angel's anxiety grow. 'Daisuke, don't say ANYTHING about me, you hear? You talk and I won't let you fall asleep all week!' Daisuke continued to ignore him. 'Daisuke!' 'DAMNIT, DAISUKE!'