AUTHOR'S NOTE: The / pattern will be used now to show a Point of View shift. Also, I'm planning on wrapping this up by around… chapter 30 or so. As always, enjoy and review!-Manic-Catastrophe

Kanaya was lying awake in bed, thinking about the drastic changes she had seen in Karkat over the past month. Thoughts and images spun through her mind, recounting her relationship with him so far. She remembered him on the first day of school, how he had been so afraid and hungry. She remembered seeing him repeatedly smashing his head into a wall, and how he had run away from her in fear. He's come a long way… but I think he's not fully healed yet, despite the façade he puts up. She had noticed him out of the corner of her eye lapsing back into his old self. When he thought no one was looking, he would slump inwards, as if he didn't really believe that he was actually living like this.

I can't really blame him though. He's been through far too much to just… snap out of it like that. Nearly fourteen years of constant degradation and abuse… his scars won't ever go away. She heard a door creak slightly, and soft footsteps go down the hallway. Curious, she got out of bed and exited her room too. She poked her head out and saw Karkat's figure slip around the corner leading to the living room. Kanaya followed, and saw Karkat open the door to their apartment and exit. She grabbed her key and followed him.

Once in the hallway, she had lost sight of him, but she knew where he would go: the roof. Sure enough, as soon as she got to the elevator, its dial showed that the elevator was at roof level. She called it and followed, admiring the city lights on the ride up. The lights in the hall and elevator were dimmed at night, so she could easily see out of the glass. When the elevator finally reached the roof, she stepped out carefully, looking for Karkat.

She did not immediately see him, so she checked behind the greenhouse. He was there, standing near the edge, looking out at the city. He stood there for a few minutes before sitting on a bench. From his posture, Kanaya could tell he was holding his head in his hands, most likely thinking. They both stood there like statues, neither one moving as the minutes stretched on. Finally, Karkat broke the silence.

"I know you're there Kanaya. Come and sit down." He moved over on the bench and patted the now-vacant space next to him.

"Thanks," she sat down right next to him and reached for his hand, "How did-"

"-I know you were here? I can sort of… sense when I'm being watched." He leaned back and took Kanaya's proffered hand. Heaving a massive sigh, he turned his head to look at her, "It's a really great place to think up here. It's so quiet and beautiful."

"Yes… it is. Why are you up here?"

"I wasn't sleeping well; I've got a lot on my mind." He paused, seemingly gathering his thoughts. "It's a lot to take in. A month ago, I never would have dreamed I'd be up here. A month ago, I didn't know if I'd be alive by now."

Kanaya tried, but couldn't come up with anything to say. This doesn't really require words. This is Karkat opening his soul to me.

"I guess that a large part of me doesn't believe that this is actually real. It's saying that this can't be real because I'm still locked in that trunk and I'm just hallucinating." His body started to shake gently, "You don't know what that's like Kanaya. To be locked in a tiny, dark space. There was no light, none at all. That was the worst thing I've ever been through, even worse than what happened… after." His voice broke and he shook with quiet sobs, reliving his nightmare again and again.

Kanaya reached out and put her arm around him, trying to comfort him in the only way she thought would work. Eventually, his sobs subsided and he looked at Kanaya again, his fear written all over his face. "It's alright, Karkat. You're safe here, we're not going to hurt you."

"I know that, it's just as long as dad's still out there, I know I can't be completely safe. He broke into a hospital to get at me, Kanaya, and nobody even saw him going in or out. How?"

"I can't answer that, Karkat, but I do know how he found you. And you do too."

He nodded, "Mmm hmm. The GPS tracker in my skull." He winced at the memory.

"Right, but remember. They took it out at the hospital and smashed it to tiny bits. He's not finding you."

"He could," Karkat straightened up, the color draining out of his face, "He knows where I go to school. All he would have to do is follow us home and then…" He trailed off, nearly hyperventilating.

"Karkat, look at me! He. Will. Not. Find. You. Understand?" She winced at the sharpness in her own voice.

"Al-alright." Karkat was shocked by the sudden steel in her voice, but not scared. He knew that she, at least, would never hurt him. The two fell silent again and instead watched the city, holding hands all the while.

Eventually, Karkat stood, stretching his muscles that had gone stiff. "We should get back. I'm feeling tired now."

Kanaya agreed, and they both returned to their rooms. She was asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

She was once again dancing on the grass. Her dance was even more complex and graceful than ever before, and she reveled in her sense of weightlessness. She danced for what felt like hours until she saw Karkat standing in his obsidian suit.

"Karkat! Come join me!" Kanaya called out.

"I still don't know how." He looked at her with a hunger in his eyes, the hunger to learn.

"I will teach you, just take my hand."

Nervously, he reached out his hand and stepped forward, his entire body shaking in anticipation. His small hand slipped into hers, surprisingly strong and warm. Through his nervousness, he looked her in the eyes and smiled. "Teach me, Kanaya."

She began slowly, walking through the motions with him. Eventually, his body slipped into the rhythm, hearing the inaudible music that permeated the area. His awkward motions smoothed out, and his nervousness vanished. The two danced together to music that wasn't there, moving in patterns so complex that it was impossible to gather every motion.

Kanaya was jolted awake by her alarm clock, for once angry at it. And it was such a nice dream, too. She shut it off and began getting ready for the day.

/ Karkat's P.O.V. /

Karkat paced his room for an hour after coming down from the roof. Why couldn't you just say it, Karkat? She was right there! Eventually, he too felt tired and slipped into bed. It took him a while to fall asleep though.

He stood on the dancing lawn again, watching Kanaya dance. When she implored him to join her, a shadow detached itself from the ground. It circled and eyed him warily. The substance of its darkness was torn and tattered however; it was weak.

"You know you can't join her," it whispered, its voice a sibilant hiss, "You are nothing. She's lifting you up to drop you further."

"That is not true," Karkat spoke with utter conviction now, "she cares about me, and I care about her."

"LIES! You mean nothing to her!"

"SHUT UP! You mean nothing to me." Karkat shifted his stance, spreading his feet to shoulder width and bending his knees slightly. The shadow noticed this and laughed.

"Oho! Do you mean to fight me?" It bared its teeth. "You cannot hope to win."

Karkat lunged forward and grabbed the creature by its neck and tackled it to the ground. With his free hand he rained blows on its face. "You. Are. NOTHING!" He screamed, punctuating each word with a blow. The shadow growled and Karkat flew backwards, landing hard on the ground.

It rose up off the grass, the area around it withered where it had lain. Its form grew, and the darkness grew with it. "I am nothing? I am everything! I am YOU!" It bellowed in rage, but Karkat stood against its fury.

"No, dad. You aren't me." As this conviction burned into his heart, it manifested itself as a brilliant silver sword in his hand. "Now, shall we begin?" He dashed forward again, the sword splitting the darkness where it passed.

The creature looked at him with fear now. It backed away, but it could not escape Karkat. With a mighty shout, he drove the length of the blade into the shadow's heart. It screamed, a horrible sound to hear, but to Karkat, it was beautiful.

"May you rot forever." He pulled out the sword, and with one final swing, the shadow's head fell off. It dissolved into smoke that was blacker than black. All that remained where it had been was a small knife and a single silver tooth.

He returned to Kanaya, where she stood in shock at what had just occurred. Saying nothing, he took her hands, and they began to dance.

Karkat woke with a smile on his face. The alarm clock next to his bed went off right as he got up. He turned it off and looked around, momentarily disoriented. Shaking his head to clear the residual sleepiness, he got dressed and went out to the kitchen. Anyone watching would have seen a new spring in his step, and a new gleam in his eye.