A/N: I don't own DN Angel.

.o~Chapter 12- Discoveries~o.

Looking back at him with the dimly-lit violet eyes that he had grown accustomed to in his thoughts was Dark, his mind reeling. No words passed between them for a few minutes after his initial appearance, both of them just staring at each other. Dark just sat there quietly, waiting for the child to recollect his thoughts.

"D-Dark..." Daisuke repeated softly, unsure to say anything else.

Dark smiled a little. "Yes Daisuke. We've already established that."

The redhead broke his gaze and looked down at his feet, his fingers to his lips where Dark had touched before. "How are you here? I mean, outside of my body? Does this mean-"

"Don't you think you've interrogated me enough at this point?" Dark asked sarcastically, chuckling a little.

"I'm sorry..."

Dark moved to the edge of the bed looking down at the boy. He tilted his head to the side so he could find Daisuke's gaze again. "It's alright Dai. I was only kidding." he moved his hand under the redhead's chin and lifted slowly, locking his eyes with his vessel once again. "This is merely temporary, I can't hold this form unless you want to start getting tired again. I'm still bound to you. If you concentrate enough you can see that I'm still connected to you quite firmly."

Daisuke looked around, narrowing his eyes to look to see if there was something there. He began to notice thin filaments of blackened energy floating between the two of them, showing that they were indeed attached to each other. When he went back to look at Dark, the strings of energy disappeared from his vision. The boy blinked a few times and shook his head, surprised by all he was seeing. Dark watched his reaction, sitting back down for a moment and rested his head in his hand with a small smile playing on his lips. He began to slide off the bed towards Daisuke, the redhead taking a few startled steps back, looking at the other in awe. Dark was significantly taller than the child, strands of purple hair fell around his face as he looked down towards him. He knelt down to one knee just so he was relatively level with the kid.

"There's no need to be nervous, we've been together for awhile now." Dark said in a calm tone. "I won't bite."

Daisuke reached out towards Dark, his fingers wrapping around a lock of hair, giving it a slight tug. It felt soft to the touch, slipping out of his hand easily"I didn't get a good look at you when the storm happened. Seeing you here now, it's different." The redhead continued to examine his other, making sure he got a clear picture. "It's nice to finally see who you really are."

Dark chuckled again. "Well, it's nice not to be battered and broken like I was, or just a wisp of what was left of me." He paused for a moment, placing his hands lightly onto the boys shoulders, pulling him close.

Daisuke let out a small squeak in surprise, feeling Dark's arms wrap around him as he gave the child a hug. He completely froze in the embrace, noticing something strange about Dark. The boy realized that he couldn't feel body temperature, or that Dark wasn't breathing, or even have a heartbeat. There was nothing there but the sense of touch, making Daisuke aware that the other was indeed present. The young man hugged the child firmly, resting his head on the redheads shoulder.

"Thank you, Daisuke. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Forgive my mistakes that I have placed on you."

"I-I...uhm."

Dark released the boy, looking at himself. "That was too forward of me, my bad."

Daisuke shook his head. "No, Dark. Don't worry about it. It's just..."

"I don't feel like I'm really alive, right?"

The boy nodded. Dark smiled and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "I'm still only a soul, and this is only a projection of me through you. Yes, you can feel me here, but I'm still not really here. I am still a part of your mind, body, and soul. As cliche as that sounds."

Daisuke gave a nod, but started to waver where he stood. He held the side of the head, a slight throb pulsating through his temples. Dark gave the boy a concerned look, taking the boys hand in his.

"I think it's time that I should disappear for now. Anymore time like this and you might be back on your bed out cold. I wouldn't want your mother finding you like that."

"Wait!" Daisuke stammered, causing Dark to raise an eyebrow. "Will we be able to do this again?"

"Now you're the one confusing me." Dark stated, letting go of the boys hand. "I don't get you sometimes, kid. One moment you're mad at me and the next you want me here. What's the deal?"

"Dark..." Daisuke murmured. "...you know it's hard for me to understand everything what is going on with me, you, us. But it's going to happen no matter how frustrated or confused I may be. But you've answered my questions as best as you can. You've always helped me when I needed it. Sure I'm not going to get everything you're telling me, but you're honest. I appreciate that. Having you here in front of me is new. But finally getting to see you in person makes me feel happy." Daisuke gave a small giggle. "Even more so you're not imaginary."

"I thought I made that pretty clear, Daisuke."

"I know! I know." the boy gave his other a small smile. "I guess it's just, I'm still unsure of it all."

Dark shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Kid, you're too hard on my head sometimes."

"What do you..." Daisuke leaned over to one side, Dark quickly grabbing the boys shoulders to stay upright, but his form began to fade slightly in front of the redhead. "...nevermind."

The young man gave one final smile, slowly disappearing right in front of Daisuke's eyes. The boy faltered but regained his balance. He looked around, now the only physical being in the room as he composed himself, heading downstairs slowly towards the kitchen, the smell of supper filling his nostrils. He felt slightly fatigued by the experience, but this new development actually sparked his own curiosity, despite his own fears. Dark remained in the back of Daisuke's mind with the whole scenario that had taken place, keeping quiet while Daisuke was with his mother, refraining from interrupting their evening.

Later that night, Daisuke was wide-awake in his bed. He stared at his ceiling, stewing in his own mixture of emotions after his new encounter with the man that's been inside his body this whole time. He wrapped his arms around himself and rolled to the side, now looking out the window. He could hear the slight whistle of the wind outside, the sound of a car or two driving by his house, nothing out of the ordinary. But for himself, the boy wondered what else he could possibly do, or become. The night he had began the transformation had scared him, but the thought of having these powers almost felt like he was becoming like a superhero. And being able to see Dark, to -actually- have him there in person made his heart skip a beat. It left him relatively conflicted of the whole ordeal. Thinking about it, Dark had reassured him before about everything. If something were to go wrong, Dark would be there if he needed him.

The boy listened for his mother in the next room, unsure of what time it really was. He couldn't hear anything through the thin walls, hoping that she was asleep as he sat up, putting his hands in his lap. He closed his eyes and concentrated, curious if he could call on the energy once again, also wondering if there was an actual name to call them. To be fair he didn't really know if he was doing it correctly, or if there was some proper way to do so. He knew Dark would be there to answer his question, but he wanted to see for himself.

'Energy...or whatever you are, please come back.' he thought to himself, slowly opening his eyes.

At first everything was completely black, the headlights of a car drove past, illuminating one of the walls in the room and then faded away, the darkness remaining. He continued to concentrate, looking around for a hint of what he was searching for. He blinked a few times, feeling like something was in his eyes and he rubbed them, looking again. In the night he saw something appear floating in the air around his bed frame, his heart quickened in excitement. He had hoped it was the same yellow glow that he had seen before. He tried to focus, the glow beginning to spread around him as multiple strings of light swirled around him, causing him to catch his breath and scamper back to the middle of the mattress. The energy continued to circle the bed in a cylinder from the ceiling to the floor, lighting up the area around his bed.

~Beautiful, isn't it?~ Dark said quietly, causing Daisuke to jump.

The redhead took a deep breath, his voice almost a whisper "Yes, it's really pretty." he leaned back onto the headboard, his pillow in his arms as he continued to watch the lights. "It's quite calming."

~Can't sleep?~

Daisuke shook his head. "After what happened today I don't think that I could sleep." He leaned his head back. "This is actually pretty neat to be honest."

~Well, we can do some pretty neat things, despite what we are.~ Dark chuckled. ~The energy around you can be used for many different things, depending on what you want to use it for. As you can see it appears when you call it, and disappears into hiding when not needed.~

"Where does it go?"

~Well, it's a part of the earth, so it doesn't really go anywhere. It remains to bring the world life. So you could say that it hides in the fabric of space until it's needed.~

Daisuke scratched the side of his head. "I don't really quite get it."

Dark laughed. ~It is kind of complicated. But remember that it's always there. Some places has more energy than others, like in forests and nature. There's a limited supply in, for example, cities.~

"So when you travel you need to take breaks?"

~Yeah. When I needed to go long distances I would have to make several pit stops. It's hard to hide sometimes in parks. Children are too curious for their own good when they're playing hide 'n seek nearby. But when I find a secluded patch of forest in the middle of nowhere, it's like heaven on earth. The whole place glows bright with energy. It's really amazing to watch in the night.~

"I bet." he reached out to the lights, not quite in range just yet. "Will they zap me like before if I try to touch them?"

~I doubt it. You were low so they had to...jump start you. Like a car. Now that you're more alert than before, it shouldn't shock your system. Pun intended.~

Daisuke rolled his eyes, his fingers grazing the sea of energy. He felt the strings slip through his fingers, the warmth emanating from his fingertips and up his hand. He smiled a little, the energy rippling slightly with his movements. It wasn't scary, it felt almost familiar to him. He pulled his hand back slowly, some of the strings lingering and spiralling around his palm. They twisted and turned over his hand, glowing brighter than the rest of the energy swirling around the bed.

"Dark? Are you doing anything?"

Dark whistled innocently. ~No? What would give you that impression.~

"Dark...?"

~Okay, yes. I myself might be experimenting through you. To be honest I didn't think I could. Trust me, I wouldn't do anything that might backfire without you knowing.~

"Of course I would know. We're together aren't we?"

~That was my point.~

"Oh." he continued to look at the lights circling his fingers. "So this means that I can help gather energy quicker if I can do this."

~Not necessarily. Your body doesn't need as much as I do. So we will have to take things in small doses. If you take in too much you might fry your system, and that would be bad.~

Daisuke gulped, gazing at the energy nervously. "T-Then maybe I should put this back?"

~If you want to.~

"I don't want to, 'fry my system', like you said."

~Well, if you don't need it to help your body, use it for other things.~

The boy blinked. "Like what?"

Dark took a moment to think. ~A simple light source is a start. You can us the energy to make a physical entity. With just the two of us being here in the bedroom seems private enough. Might need to close the curtain just in case people do see it. Want to give it a go?~

"Okay. Let me just get up and..." he trailed off, watching awestruck. The moment he thought about the curtains, some of the energy around his bed floated towards the worn fabric, closing the curtains slowly without him getting up off his bed. His eyes went wide and his mouth agape. "...did you just do that?"

Dark chuckled. ~Nope, that wasn't me. Scouts honor.~

"That was m-me?" his heart began to quicken in his chest, some of the energy sparking with life in his hand. He looked down and saw the change, beginning to panic, "Whoa! E-Easy! I'm not ready!"

~Calm down Daisuke. You need to relax.~

The redhead pulled his hand away from his body, taking several deep breaths to slow his pulse as best as he could. He watched the sparks begin to simmer, the energy returning to weaving its way though his fingers. "The energy reacted to me so easily."

~You seem to have a strong connection with it, yes. It's probably because of me. I was pretty good at my abilities thank you very much.~

"Enough to get you injured?"

~Ouch. That one struck home.~

"Sorry, that was rude of me."

~Well, in a way you are right. I took it for granted. I'll be honest, I thought I was the best at what I did, but I guess that ideal led me here.~

Daisuke nodded. "So, what do I do?"

~Make a clear image in your mind of what you want. Just tell it what it needs to do. The energy will do the rest.~

The redhead closed his eyes, concentrating on the energy in his hand. Unbeknownst to him the rest of the energy faded around him, except for the strings of light that now moved to his palm. He took slow deep breaths, picturing something small, like a marble. In reaction, the energy began to spin into a sphere and condensed in his hand, forming a small floating orb. He imagined the ball flickering to life, shining brightly. He noticed something happening behind his eyelids and cracked an eye open, almost blinded by the light the orb in his hand was emanating.

He covered his eyes with his other hand and looked away, whining loudly, doing his best not to yell in surprise. 'Too bright! Too bright! Dark I'm going to go blind! Help!'

In reaction, the orb dimmed quickly. It now was a bright as a glowstick in the dark, floating in the air a few inches from his hand. Dark merely chuckled as the redhead moved his hand away from his face. ~I think you may have overdid it for your first time.~

Daisuke watched in awe, watching the orb curiously once his eyes didn't have dots blurring his vision. There in his hand was something that wouldn't naturally occur in normal life, just floating in mid-air. He couldn't believe it at first, but there it was. It continued to glow dimly, lighting up his bedsheets and pillow, casting some shadows around the bed.

He whispered softly. "I made this? This, this is amazing."

~That's not all you can do. This is nothing. I can teach you how to do other things too, Daisuke. But we will have to take it slow. We can't go overboard, especially if we don't want to get caught.~

Daisuke nodded. He knew that this would have to be a secret. As much as he wanted to tell his mother all this time, he respected Dark's apprehension to be discovered. This would have to be hidden from everyone on both sides, Dark's Clan, and other people. This was very taboo to the Clan, and humans wouldn't understand it.

The redhead concentrated again. This time to let the orb disappear and return to the energy it was before. He watched as the orb dimmed and faded into nothing, the room returning to the darkness it once was. He touched his hand where the energy was, a small smile on his lips as he pulled the covers on top of him and grabbed his pillow and slipped it under his head and closed his eyes.

Dark was relieved that the boy was warming up to him again, and things were starting to go back to normal between the both of them. He felt Daisuke`s emotions flicker through him, making him relax for now. Things were starting to slowly come together between them, which made Dark happy.

~Good night Daisuke.~ Dark said softly.

"Night Dark..." Daisuke yawned, now feeling like he should be able to sleep until morning.

.o~End of Chapter 12~o.

There you go everyone. Another chapter! I took some time off from the story to recollect my thoughts on the story. Please read and review, I love seeing input, no matter what it is. :)