Love & Hate

Selene stares out at the clear blue lake from her window. It had been a few days since she had gone to Sayer's hide out. Her mind flashes back to Akiza, Yusei and Luna, and everyone else. She closes her eyes and clasps her hands tightly.

"Please forgive me for leaving. I just couldn't stay. I couldn't tell you where I was going… you would never forgive me," she whispers.

There are deep wounds in her nearly shattered heart. She misses him with all of her being, but she can't go back. Not yet anyway. Tears spring up in the corners of her eyes. The more progress she made, the better she would be for it, and she'd be able to go back. Would they still want me back? She smiles sadly. Her hand grasps the white material of her dress close to her heart. The memories of why and when are permanently locked behind her eyes, and she daren't sleep because of it.

"I can never make it up to those people…" she whispers. "but, for their memories, I'll try and control it."

The calm waters of the lake begin shifting slightly when her eyes rest on them. With each new, soft splash, she keeps being pulled back in towards a distant memory she can't grasp. The strangest part, is that she doesn't recognise the memory as her own, but if it was someone else's, how does she have it and why? Selene raises her hand and the water stills. Next, her eyes flicker to the vibrant green of the trees. A low moaning, creaking sound comes from those in her direct gaze before they snap in two. She closes her eyes and leans against the wall. The power was pushing against her frail defences again. She had to stop it. There was no way that she could let it out again. She didn't want to think of all the casualties, or hear their screams in her head again. She'd hurt too many people, and in too many ways to make up for it. Or so she sees it. She places her hands to her temples;

"Run!" a desperate voice yells. "Get away from us!"

The tall sky scrapers that stretch up, reaching for the Heavens begin to crumble. The Earth itself trembles. Hordes of people run as fast as they can to try and avoid the stone bricks and walls coming down around them like rain. Then, right at the very epicentre of all the chaos, and surrounded by whirling winds, is Selene herself. Her eyes narrow in a glare at some unfortunate people struggling to get moving. She raises her hand and large vines burst from the ground, they grab those people by their ankles and drag them towards a large and seemingly bottomless ravine.

"… Oh," she frowns, murmuring. "I thought I was getting somewhere with this training…"

"D'you see that?" a security officer gapes. "It came from her!"

"I know right! You think she might be a cousin of the Black Rose?" another whispers.

"I don't see why not," the firs comments. "Just meaningless destruction left in their wake."

"Hm," Trudge pauses. "What're you talking about?"

The two officers freeze suddenly. Their mouths unmoving and utterly silent. As if that wouldn't be suspicious. Trudge nudges past them and his jaw drops at the footage. It was from the only working security camera they found in that area. Then he realises just where Selene went, and the answer was horrifically bad. If she was pulled in by him… He ejects the DVD and breaks into a run; ignoring the startled looks from the officers as he goes. Trudge glances back at the disk, worried.

"What was that all about?" the first officer frowns.

"Dunno," the second replies. "Must be his age. It's getting to his head."

"Martha!" Trudge yells, bursting into the room.

"Hmm, what is it?" she frowns.

He waves the disk frantically as he tries to catch his breath. Then he stumbles over to the television and pushes it into the correct slot. Then he sits down where he is, still trying to catch his breath. The screen flickers and crackles loudly, almost as if the disk was broken. Then, colour flashes onto the screen.

The focus of the camera was on a downtown street in Satellite. People were busy bustling in and out of shops. Going here and there. Each person was walking hurriedly, except for one. Selene and she was walking along a virtually empty street. Her head was lowered, as if she was ashamed of something, or too scared to look up. Then, she comes to a sudden halt. One that takes her by surprise too. The next moment she collapses and struggles to get back up. Then, the street starts trembling. Large thorned vines, as thick as five muscle-bound arms, shatter the round as they rise up. Not only that, but they're only rising up around Selene. The vines then recoil before shooting forward and attacking those unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity.

"Trudge, where are you going?" Mina frowns.

"She's caused a lot of damage and destruction, and she was already thought to have killed someone… We have no choice but to put her in prison. There's too much stacked up against her," he sighs.

"It's not her fault!" Akiza exclaims. "She can't control her abilities; that isn't fair!"

"I agree," Martha nods. "You shouldn't blame her for what she can't control."

"She hasn't come back here by any chance, has she?" Trudge frowns.

"No, why?" Yusei asks.

"Then, I have no choice," Trudge nods, trying to convince himself as well. "but, I'll give you a three day head start. I think she went to Sayer. If you can get her back, and under control by then, she might be let off the hook."

"Might be?" Crow glowers. "That's not good enough."

"That's the best I can do," Trudge raises his hands in surrender. "I didn't make the law."

He sighs and leaves. They can tell that he wants to do more, even if just a little, for her, but he was right when he said he didn't make the law. The matter was out of their hands. Carly hunches over and frowns.

"The road up on that mountain, where the duel runners aren't allowed. I was there when I first found her… He might not have had time to move, or he could have left something behind…" she offers.

"Thanks Carly," Jack nearly smiles.

"So it's settled then, we go and bring her back," Yusei nods.

Author's Note: I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! I can never apologise enough! No excuses are valid either, oh, sorry! I KEPT YOU WAITING TOO LONG!

Don't worry; the next one will come soon. However, I don't really have the right to ask this after leaving you all hanging for so long, but please review. This is my second most read fanfiction, and the reviews I get don't reflect that… So, pretty please with cherries and bananas and cream and meringue and ice cream and sprinkles, and hundreds of thousands on top…. *Gasp, gasp* please review… *Faints from lack of oxygen*