Author's Note: Thank you for all of your wonderful reviews. As promised, here is your update.

Yukiteru's insanity affects many people in his life, namely Akise. Due to this fact, this chapter is in Akise's point of view and will show what really happened while Yukiteru was hallucinating. If you like this set-up (flip-flopping between Akise and Yukiteru's POV every other chapter) please let me know and I will continue doing so. If not, I suppose you can read this as a filler of sorts. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope you enjoy.

Warning: Angst ensues.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mirai Nikki.

To the Stars and Back

Chapter 2 – A Thousand Days

Created By: x-LittleMissAlice-x

xXx

"The burden of loving someone so unconditionally is a heavy one."

Unknown

xXx

A thousand days had passed.

A thousand days of watching. A thousand days of longing. A thousand days of hurting…

And now finally, after all this time – after being forced apart for over three excruciatingly long years - Yukiteru (his Yukiteru) was in his arms again.

"I'm not crazy," the asylum patient insisted. "I'm not…"

"I know, Yukiteru-kun," Akise murmured in his love's ear soothingly. "I know."

Yukiteru felt so thin, so fragile as he rubbed the boy's back reassuringly until he gradually relaxed against him, but Yukiteru's body still trembled beneath his touch in gentle quakes. His love's shaky fingers curled, clasping onto Akise's white button up shirt as he desperately clung onto him – as he desperately clung onto reality. Akise held Yukiteru just as tightly, wishing, willing the boy's mind to stay.

Finally, Yukiteru saw him again. For as long as he could remember he had wanted the boy's attention - to see him face to face, to hold him close as was now and for Yukiteru to know it was him. Akise had tried everything he knew from every psychology book he had ever read, had done everything in his power to bring out the old Yukiteru - to speak with him if only a moment while trapped in his fantasies; and now that he was back Akise never wanted to let him go.

"I'm scared, Akise-kun," Yukiteru whispered, his voice a soft and small muffle against his chest. He buried his head further, as if to hide away from the world… far, far away from the world Yukiteru did not know; the world he could not remember… "I'm so scared."

"It's… it's alright," Akise murmured reassuringly, faltering a little.

He called his name. He knew it was him, but he… he didn't remember what had happened in this world. Yukiteru likely didn't remember anything (Why else would Yukiteru continue to use the honorific '-kun' when he spoke to him?).

This new information made Akise's heart ache, but despite hesitating he continued to gently stroke the boy's raven locks. His tangled hair was much longer now, all the way down to the boy's waist, and it looked wild and unruly (they hadn't cut Yukiteru's hair since his admission a little over three years ago. The doctors did not want to risk carrying scissors near a mentally ill patient, even if Yukiteru wasn't sick – because he wasn't, Akise tried to convince himself. Yukiteru wasn't crazy, just… confused). Even so, Akise stilled loved Yukiteru's hair. Akise still loved him.

"You know I will never betray you, don't you? I will be here, even if you don't see me. I will always be by your side."

If Yukiteru left him again, he had to at least know that. No matter how much time passed, he would never abandon Yukiteru. Akise would never leave Yukiteru behind like he had...

"Akise-kun…?" Yukiteru asked quietly, shyly pulling away from his chest long enough for those big blue eyes to stare into his own. Relief flooded through Akise at the sight of them. They were no longer dull and broken. Finally, they had lightened, if only a little.

For the first time hope swelled inside Akise. There was a chance he could get Yukiteru back.

"Yes, Yukiteru-kun," Akise prompted, genuine happiness bubbling inside him, washing away the earlier pang in his chest. "Ask anything."

Akise would do anything to see Yukiteru smile again, just for Yukiteru to call his name, even if he did refer to him as an acquaintance or distant friend when they were so much more. He would do anything for Yukiteru. Anything at all.

"Why does it sound like… you are saying goodbye?"

Akise's stomach dropped at the sullen tone and continued to drop further when he glanced over Yukiteru's shoulder. The head doctor was watching him with her keen eyes, nodding towards him. He knew what that gesture meant and he knew what he had to do – it was what Akise had agreed to in return for seeing Yukiteru.

But how could Akise do it, especially right after he had promised never to betray him? What if Yukiteru never forgave him? What if Yukiteru forgot everything when he came back to him?

"Yukiteru-kun," Akise sighed, cradling his head to his shoulder. He brushed the boy's long hair from his neck, the guilt growing inside him as he whispered his next words:

"This isn't goodbye… only goodnight."

Yukiteru stiffened in his embrace. "Akise-kun, what do you-"

Yukiteru didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. Akise had pulled the syringe from his sleeve in a moments notice, injecting it skillfully into the boy's neck. Lightly pressing on the end of the instrument, the drug released into his blood stream. Seconds later Yukiteru began to sway, his eyes drooping closed before collapsing against him.

"Aki…se-" was the last thing he heard Yukiteru whisper before he stopped moving.

"Please..." Akise whispered to anyone who had the power to hear - to Yukiteru if he still had a string of consciousness, to God or even Dues ex Machina himself if he existed, or anyone who happened to be in the room. Akise did not care who listened, so long as they could fulfill his one wish:

"When you open your eyes again, please don't forget me."

xXx

"It has been two days, Dr. Nishijima. I need to talk to him."

"Aru, you can't talk to someone who isn't awake yet. Amano hasn't slept properly at this facility in weeks. He needs all the rest he can get if he has any hope of recovering."

"I know that, but…"

Akise's voice trailed, dread building inside him.

He needed to speak with Yukiteru if only a moment. He needed to know if Yukiteru recognized him again, if he remembered what he had done and forgave him. He needed to be near Yukiteru. Even if he wasn't awake he needed to be by his side, to be the first one he saw when he opened his eyes, because if he wasn't… he may never get him back.

"Aru, don't forget your rest too. When was the last time you slept?"

"How can I sleep when I know he's here? He doesn't deserve this. You saw him yesterday. Yukiteru is fine. He not only recognized me, but he could clearly see where he really was. He has his consciousness back. Now let him go before he really does go mad from being locked up in his place."

He wasn't being rational. Akise knew that, but he desperately wanted to take Yukiteru home. The boy thought he had spent over a thousand years in near complete isolation (which wasn't too far from the truth). That feeling in itself would cause anyone to have a psychotic break. Yukiteru needed comfort. He needed to see his family. He needed to go home.

"What I saw yesterday…" Dr. Nishijima began, rearranging a stack of files on her office desk, "was a boy who could have been on the verge of killing you – on the verge of killing all of us."

"How can you say that?!" Akise exclaimed, slamming his fist down on her desk with a loud smack! Dr. Nishijima paused briefly and stared at him, startled by his outburst. Realizing what he had done Akise buried his rage and muttered a quick apology, uncurling his fingers.

"Yukiteru isn't a killer. He's… He's innocent," Akise whispered, tearing his gaze away.

He could feel Dr. Nishijima's eyes studying him, evaluating him, questioning whether he too had gone crazy (or at least, in her eyes) enough to be hospitalized too. Akise almost wished she would create a file for him. Maybe then he could always be by Yukiteru's side.

A heavy silence lingered between them before Dr. Nishijima resumed her paperwork once again.

"He may not be an actual killer, but Amano seems to think otherwise and that is all that matters. Thoughts are a powerful thing. With enough convincing they can become our new reality. You have heard him during our sessions. He truly believes he has killed people, and that others have died because of him."

"But now he knows he didn't kill anyone. He realizes he's in a hospital."

"Traumatizing memories can't just disappear, even if they never occurred. These thoughts of death have been vivid recurrences for three years now. He wont just forget about them in a day or even two."

"He will recover faster if I am by his side."

"Unless you want to be banned from ever visiting him again, you wont dare to test that theory without permission," she replied testily. "You know Descartes' philosophy, don't you? 'I think, therefore I am.' Yukiteru thinks he is a killer. Considering that, he will be treated as one by having a minimum number of visitors. You probably don't want to hear this, but you know he is capable of killing someone too. You have seen the signs before, and even experienced them firsthand. As I said: he isn't stable."

"You don't know that. As you said, he isn't awake yet. He could wake up feeling just fine, and even if he doesn't, he won't hurt me."

Dr. Nishijima sighed heavily.

"He has hurt you once before. I know you haven't forgotten already."

The Doctor's amethyst eye drifted toward the scarlet scarf wrapped securely around Akise's neck. Akise's pale fingers tugged at it self-consciously; a habit he had grown accustomed to when he was unsettled or lost in thought.

"That wasn't Yukiteru's fault. It was just a misunderstanding. An accident."

Dr. Nishijima arched a brow at that.

"Accident or not, had our staff not intervened you could have seriously died. I know you don't want to admit it but... You know he is capable of murder. Even today, I know you saw it too."

Even though he didn't want to admit it, Akise did see it. It had only been for a few moments, but that look… Every time he closed his eyes, it haunted him.

oOoOo

The glass…

Like so many times before all Akise could do was watch him behind a glass; an invisible wall separating the two of them; a two-way mirror keeping Akise out of sight; a cell keeping Yukiteru in isolation, keeping Yukiteru away from him.

"I never wanted to become God, you know…"

He was a broken record. Over and over and over again he would mutter those same words, line by line as if memorizing a script. Each time he did the luster his gaze once held faded further.

Those once beautiful, bright irises filled with so much warmth and promise were now dull. Dead. Hopeless.

Each time he saw them from behind the glass, Akise's heart felt heavy. Smothered. Crushed..

Akise could not deny the fact any longer: Yukiteru was dying in this place. He had to be.

It wasn't just his eyes that made him think this. The once healthy glow of Yukiteru's sun kissed skin looked pale under the bright lights of his hospital room, his limbs unhealthily thin as he sat on the white tile floor. He was always jumpy, unconsciously performing skittish gestures like scratching the back of his neck or darting his eyes nervously around a room. Just... so frightened, so miserable.

When was the last time he had seen Yukiteru smile?

It had been so long... Too long. Akise wished he could remember what it looked like.

"I never wanted to kill them, but I had thought it was ok. I thought I could bring them back and give everyone a happy life…"

'Yukiteru, you haven't killed anyone. Please come back to reality. I'm here. It's alright, I'm here for you. Just please come back to me.'

"Murmur, you have read that manga over a thousand times…"

'That isn't a manga Yukiteru. That is Dr. Nishijima writing down your psychosis. Why can't you see that? It's right in front of you. Please, just pretend you see it so you can leave this place. If you keep saying these things she will put you on stronger medication. Please, Yukiteru.'

"I no longer have a purpose, do I?"

'Don't say that. You have a life waiting for you; a life with your family, a life with me… We are all waiting for you to recover. I have waited for you for over three years. Don't give up now. Don't leave me behind.'

Despite his silent pleading and despite his patient waiting, Yukiteru could never see the reality that was in front of him…

Until now.

Bang bang bang!

No one had ever dared to knock on the door before, the one that separated him and Yukiteru. It was new. The nurse who stood by his side was new... She must not have known it was against the rules.

Dr. Nishijima must have forgotten as well (she was not one to usually pay attention to rules anyway) because she motioned the girl towards her. There was a pen in the palm of the girl's hand. While writing Dr. Nishijima must have ran out of ink.

If she had, Akise had not noticed. He was too busy watching Yukiteru. He was always watching Yukiteru, for any briefest sign he sensed at least a sliver of reality...

Upon her gesture, the nurse carefully walked in. Yukiteru's head perked up at her presence. Akise could not hear him, it was so quiet, but he could have sworn he whispered a name:

'Yuno'

His usual calm, dejected (but slightly skittish) demeanor shifted into wild panic as he jumped to his feet at the new intruder.

Yukiteru's next words startled him.

"Y-you're dead! I became God. I watched you die. How can you be here if you're dead!"

He sounded so… certain. How far gone was he?

"But Yuki-"

Just as the nurse started calling his name, perhaps in some attempt to bring him back to a calmer state, Yukiteru cut her off. He must have thought she was using a nickname instead.

"Don't call me that. Don't call me 'Yukki' like you're the same Yuno! You're not... You're not her. You're not Yuno!"

"But-"

Any attempt to talk some sense into him was useless.

"Shut up! I told you to put the damn knife down!"

'Did he say… Knife?'

He must have been hallucinating. He thought the pen was a knife. That was why he was so distressed. If someone told Yukiteru the nurse was really carrying a pen, would he believe them?

Apparently not. He wouldn't even listen. Yukiteru only managed to spiral further into hysteria, no matter what Dr. Nishijima did to try to sooth him.

"If you want to be God of this realm so badly then go ahead. Do it, kill me! Put me out of my damn misery! I don't want to live in this empty world anymore!"

In that moment true fear flooded through Akise's entire being. Fear of losing Yukiteru for good, fear of never being able to see him, fear of the one person he loved slipping through his fingers... Again.

Would he do something drastic? Would Yukiteru… kill himself? Could he?

Akise didn't want to think about the possibilities. Without a second thought, he finally opened the door that had kept their two worlds divided for so long.

"No!"

He stumbled in the room, and then Yukiteru's eyes were focused on him.

Akise didn't know what Yukiteru envisioned him as in his mind. Did he take on the appearance of an enemy? An ally? Did he see him at all?

For once Yukiteru's expression was completely unreadable. Dark but somehow blank. Passive. It was only for the briefest moment, but they looked like the eyes of a true merciless killer; cold, unpredictable, and… impossibly dead.

Akise directed all the love and warmth he had ever felt for Yukiteru in his gaze, hoping to get through to him in some way, and his efforts were rewarded. As if snapping out of a trance Yukiteru blinked several times before widening his eyes in bewilderment, other emotions flitting across his face that Akise could easily decipher. There was confusion, panic, fear, but above all else: hesitation.

"Akise Aru," he heard the younger nurse say sternly, a hint of warning in her tone. He was not supposed to be in this room; she knew at least that. But Akise was close… so, so close to Yukiteru.

Akise knew then, even if he was breaking the rules he had to prove himself, and he would do just that by protecting Yukiteru from the very thing that currently threatened him most.

Had it been a knife, an axe or anything more threatening than a mere pen, Akise would not have reacted any differently. He would have still thrown himself in harms way, without hesitating for even a moment, if it meant protecting Yukiteru.

The nurse jumped and her dark pigtails bounced at his unexpected lunge, but he easily knocked the pen out of her hand. The nurse was so stunned she stood there, frozen for several moments after the pen clattered to the ground.

When Akise looked towards Yukiteru once again, his expression became one of relief.

"Akise-kun…?"

Akise's heart swelled with joy, Yukiteru's previous unnerving look briefly forgotten.

Yukiteru was alright. Yukiteru was safe. Yukiteru knew who he was...

Nothing else mattered.

oOoOo

Recognition.

That was all Akise needed to fuel his motivation after so long. He would see Yukiteru again, no matter what.

Dr. Nishijima was having second thoughts.

"He's unstable, Aru. We can't risk it."

She sounded exasperated, but Akise refused to back down.

"But he recognized me. There's still hope that he could…"

"Be normal again?" she asked doubtfully. "Aru… you know he's delusional. For three years now he has been trapped in a dream world. At this rate…"

She did not have to say her next words. Akise already knew. He had heard them several times before, and each reminder did not make the news any less painful.

"Aru, I know you care about him dearly but… how many more times can you take telling him you love him only for him to forget?"

"As many times as it takes," Akise replied, just as he had all the other times they had discussed this conversation, but his response wasn't as firm anymore. A piece of himself died each time Yukiteru slipped away from him. He didn't want to admit it but Akise knew it was true... He couldn't take much more of this.

But he would continue to push himself. For Yukiteru.

"Just a few minutes," Akise insisted. "Please. You may even supervise. I just need to be with him."

The doctor sighed heavily before she rummaged through a nearby drawer, handing him a newly filled syringe. Akise hesitated.

"You know this is protocol, Aru. If you want to be anywhere near him, you must to have this on you, and you must use it when I give you the signal, without question."

Akise stared at the instrument, unable to hide the guilt he felt smothering him inside.

"I know that, but... Do you think Yukiteru hates me for what I did to him?" Akise whispered, fear gripping his heart. "Yukiteru means everything to me."

"I know," the Doctor stated, placing the syringe gently in the palm in his hand. "So it's your duty to make sure he doesn't do anything he will regret. He would never forgive himself if he hurt someone else, especially if that person was you. You have to protect him, and this is how you are doing it."

Reluctantly, Akise curled his fingers around the glinting instrument.

Sucking in a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself. If this was the price for seeing Yukiteru, he would have to accept it.

"I understand."

xXx

Even now, tucked tightly in the thin white sheets of his hospital bed, looking sickly bony and pale, Yukiteru was so beautiful.

Akise always knew he was. He had always adored his beauty and intellect and innocence. But when he was asleep, even though three entire years had passed, he could clearly see Yukiteru's boyish features still remained. Looking at peace made him appear younger somehow, as if he had not aged despite all the time that had passed.

He clasped Yukiteru's hand gently. It felt so small, so delicate and fragile beneath his touch. But his body was not cold. He was warm. He was... alive.

Akise could feel that life as he caressed his love's cheek, memorizing his features. He tried to imagine how Yukiteru would look when he was completely healthy again, without the dark circles under his eyes or hollowed cheeks. Yes, his appearance would be simply radiant then...

Maybe, if he was lucky, Yukiteru would smile for him.

How long had it been since he had last seen Yukiteru smile? How much longer would he have to wait until he could see it again?

It didn't matter how long he had to wait.

He loved Yukiteru. He would spend an eternity content just gazing at him, just holding his hand as he was now, so long as he still held that warmth, so long as Yukiteru still had life…

He would wait for as long as it was necessary and be there for Yukiteru the moment he opened his eyes again.

He had waited a thousand days already. If it meant he could stay by Yukiteru's side, he would gladly wait a thousand more.

I apologize for the late update. School has been keeping me busy as of late and it has been quite a while since I have written anything. Hopefully this was up to your standards.

Please leave a review if you enjoyed this chapter.

That's all then. Have a lovely evening.

xLMAx