Ahhh… I just got my first workout in a couple months! I went two-point-four-seven miles in twenty-eight minutes! It's amazing how the 5D's Sound Duels make great workout music, particularly 'Clear Mind.' I love you, Masaaki Endoh.

…My legs hurt now.

I'm not used to updating on my laptop :/ Going from twenty-three inches of screen space to spread out all my windows to the fifteen of my laptop is harsh. I write my notes before posting, and that includes adding the reviewers' names. I usually bring up the review page and open it next to MS Word while typing in the names. This makes it a lot more difficult.

Anyway… Many thanks to Mixer18, Cecil Kain Cerberus, FiringShootingStar, RobotFish, AnimeKiwi369, theforgottenpeople96, Star-Rose Lover, Netiri Vi Britannia, RunoandAkizafan, TFRiD Queen, and ProChampionDuelistA. K. A. Pyro (I had to add spaces so FFnet wouldn't censor your name, sorry ^^;)

And we have Seeker Heart signing in as an anon, Fire, LDC, new, name, blanket, and four guests!Seeker Heart: Don't worry, you guys. Yusei will take care of it :D Fire: Welcome aboard! Thank you for reviewing, and I hop[e to hear from you again! LDC: Yeah, Akiza finally admitted it aloud, so hopefully we'll see something happening soon ^_^ And the deal between Sayer and Akiza will be revealed soon enough. Stay tuned! new: I suspect that you, name, blanket, and two of the guests are all the same person since you reviewed every chapter in succession, but do tell me if I'm wrong! And thank you! I'll try not to disappoint! name: Thank you for all the comments and welcome aboard! We've always got room for more on this train! Yeah, Sayer's a sadistic jerkface :D That's actually a really good way to describe him :P blanket: You know, I may actually have a role for a monkey… I kid, I kid. I'm glad you like the story so far!

And, as per usual, many thanks to the incredible RobotFish for his superb beta work! Thank you so much!

And here we go. Chapter eleven. Er, no, there's absolutely no reason as to why I'm sitting under this desk. I was, um, checking its structural integrity. Yeah. That. Here's the chapter.

Sunset Horizon
Chapter 11 – The Desert Rose

The Desert Rose. The essence of beauty in the sun-dried lands. That's what they called her, so fair-skinned and golden-eyed. Several men had offered their love to her, promising large homes and expensive jewelry to her. Though her family was nothing in comparison with Yliaster's Capital Senate families, she was considered an heiress by New Domino's standards.

Akiza could have any man she wanted. All had offered promises to her, though some more obscene than others. No matter how polite they were, she always turned them down. She had always had the dream that she could marry for love. She didn't want to wind up in a loveless marriage like her schoolmates had.

As a child, her father had told her over and over that he was born a middle class worker, married a woman he loved, and built his business from the ground up. He loved his wife, and he wanted his daughter to find a similar love in her life. He promised her he would never arrange a marriage for her, no matter how many of her wealthier classmates were married off to men in the city.

She had always been grateful for that opportunity, but had never had the will to pursue it. There was always an obstacle in her way, one that was persistent and refused to give up.

His name was Yusei Fudo.

They had been formally introduced when she was fifteen, almost sixteen, and getting ready to start her bar. Her father had always been there to support her financially and had made sure there was someone there to watch out for her safety. She enjoyed serving drinks and listening to peoples' problems and quickly found she had a knack for giving advice.

On her third day of opening, he had come in with his lackeys, all four looking for a drink. She had heard of him, of course. Who hadn't heard of the Shooting Star of New Domino? He was supposedly a vigilante thug who picked fights with the sheriff's men. Initially, she had laughed when he said his name. How could that scrawny kid about her age be the infamous Shooting Star? She had pictured a burly man, weathered with years and battles, not a kid who didn't know what a shirt was.

He had laughed with her, then stopped and reiterated his statement. He truly was the Shooting Star, and he was delighted to make the acquaintance of such a beautiful woman before he took her hand and kissed it gently. She couldn't help it. She hated him from the start. So cock-sure and smooth as suede, everything about him rubbed her the wrong way.

He came back more and more, sometimes with his friends, sometimes alone. It got to the point that it was rare one of his friends would be there without him, and he always, alwaysmade a point of flirting with her. She turned him down, but he always came back. The other men would flirt once, maybe twice, but her 'no' would usually be enough. But not for him. With every denial she gave him, he only came back stronger, looking as if he was determined to one day win her heart.

She despised him, never hesitating to turn him down. She wasn't afraid of him. He seemed harmless enough. Just unusual. His flirtations weren't ever anything too strong, just words and, maybe, the occasional graze along her arm. She would always pull her hand away and forcefully ask him what she could get him, her tone harsh telling him that she wasn't that kind of girl.

He would back off for the moment, reply with 'whiskey,' then retreat to his table with his friends. The next day, he would try again, even though her response was always the same. She wasn't all that sure as to what she could do to make him stop. The other men had always stopped after she told them 'no,' but this guy wouldn't give up. He was getting on her nerves, but she couldn't figure out what she could do about him.

It wasn't until a few months later that the first incident occurred. A grizzly-looking man had come to the bar for a drink, then gripped her arm tightly and wouldn't let go. He wore a nasty smile with a few gaps in his teeth, and his breath was putrid as he moved closer to her. He had grabbed her other arm, pinning them to the countertop, and leaned in close to her face, much more closely than she was comfortable with.

He wouldn't let go, no matter what she said, until finally he paused, stiffening slightly, and turned to look over his shoulder. Standing behind him and somewhat to the side was Yusei, his pearlescent firearm in-hand and digging into the rancid-breathed man's back. Yusei nodded his head towards the door in a 'get out' sort of way and, when the man didn't comply, started to squeeze the trigger a little bit. A fraction more, and he would have fired and possibly killed the man.

He took the hint and left, releasing her arms in the process. Akiza frowned at her 'saviour,' not entirely sure how to respond to him. He holstered his gun and walked up to the bar, sliding his empty glass towards her and nodding a slight confirmation before leaving.

She had been completely puzzled by his behavior then, wondering why someone like him wouldn't gloat for saving her, or at least comment on it. The next day, she had offered him a free drink as thanks, which he had accepted kindly. It only took another day before he was back to his cocky attitude and lopsided smirks, glancing at her from across the room.

Still, she couldn't help but hate him, even if he had helped her out. One good deed didn't forgive him for all the illegal activity he'd been doing behind the scenes. She learned how to dodge his comments and, eventually, started to retort when necessary. If it came down to it, she found she certainly didn't mind slapping him, either.

However, not even a week had passed before she'd felt it. A hand, creeping along her thigh while she cleaned a table. She knew it wasn't him. He was sitting on the other side of the room, but she took the liberty of slapping the man before returning to the safety of her bar, feeling disgusted and dirty after just the one touch.

An hour passed with the man still there. She watched him like a hawk, wary of whether he might try something again. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Yusei getting up to leave with the white-haired friend of his. As they passed by the disgusting pervert's table, Yusei had turned to walk backwards to talk to his friend and managed to bump into the man's chair, causing him to stand up and shove at the Shooting Star, threatening to kill him.

Akiza was about to tell them to take it outside, but Yusei beat her to it, making the suggestion to the man before heading out. The door just barely clicked shut before a gunshot sounded and a man cursed loudly. A moment later, the door opened and Yusei walked back in, over to his table, and picked up his hat before walking back out without a word.

Over time, she noticed similar things happening. Whenever a man would touch her, no matter how subtly, he would always be there, taking them outside for whatever reason he could conjure. He seemed to consider himself her guardian of sorts, and she found herself appreciative towards him, though she never said as such. After all, there was no doubt in her mind that he was doing it to get into her bedroom.

She continued to deny him, her mind always certain that he wanted her for her body. The comments he made when he flirted were strictly about her beauty and crude remarks such as how she must be a lioness in the bedroom only added to her conclusions.

And yet, there was a part of her that was growing fond of him. As she sat in front of her mirror one night, combing her hair before bed, the realization dawned on her like a pail of freezing water being splashed over her head. Her thoughts had been centered on that young man, who had grown quite well over the two years they'd known each other. She had played through their conversations, the days he'd helped her, the moments they'd interacted.

An image of his slight smirk manifested in her mind, causing her stomach to tighten and the realization to set in. She was actually attracted to him. No, she had known that before. He was a very handsome man, after all. The thought that struck a chord was that she was not simply attracted to him, but she was in love with him. She didn't want to be. She hated him. How could she be in love with someone she hated?

It didn't make sense.

"Akiza?"

She snapped out of her reverie, turning to face the girl beside her. "Sorry. I zoned out."

A smile crossed the other girl's lips as she set her hand on her friend's forearm. "Thinking about him?"

Akiza frowned, her fingers trailing over her arm where a white bandage now settled. "No. I never want to think about him again."

Rolling her eyes, the girl shifted to stand and brushed the dirt off the seat of her white robe. "I wasn't talking about Sayer."

She sighed in defeat, knowing who her friend was referring to, and muttered, "I know."

She stayed silent for a moment, taking in her friend with a scrutinizing gaze. "You know, from what you've said, he doesn't seem like that bad of a person."

The bartender shifted to stand, still running her fingers over her recently wrapped forearm. "Luna, I don't want to talk about it."

Luna brushed a strand of sea green hair behind her ear, studying her friend still. "But you love him, don't you?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

Sighing, the girl threw her hands in the air and muttered, "Don't trust me. I only spent the last seven years studying how to console a troubled person's soul."

Turning slowly, she faced away from her friend and leaned her good hand on the earthen wall. "It's not that I don't treasure your advice. I just don't want to talk about it."

"Why?"

She shifted to face Luna again, but kept her eyes on the floor. "I guess… I'm afraid."

Luna sat back down on the old, filthy mattress stored in the room, patting the spot beside her. "Afraid? Of what?"

She didn't take the offer and instead moved closer to the door, calling over her shoulder, "Afraid that I'll make these feelings sound acceptable."

…

Crow grumbled under his breath as he moved through the trees of the small forest along the western side of New Domino, annoyed by the branches snapping in his face constantly. All he wanted was a quiet place where he could indulge in his hobby, under the guise of target practice in the trees on his own.

He realized now wasn't the safest time to be out alone since Sayer was in charge of their current opponents and had proven to be a tough adversary so far. From what they could tell, his fight was more so with Yusei than with the rest of the Enforcers. He didn't seem to think of any of them as a threat, except for the leader.

It was obvious to all of them but Yusei as to why he thought as much. Akiza didn't do a great job of hiding her stares. At all. She only made it more obvious by picking him out more than the other three Enforcers. Granted, he treated her differently, so it was natural she would react differently. Except her treatment of him went beyond her hatred of his vigilante ways and spread more on his flirting with her. Crow wouldn't say that as one way or the other, but she always blamed her hatred on the actions he took and spoke as if she didn't care about his flirting.

Suffice to say, it was clear there were some high levels of unresolved sexual tension between them.

Until recently, anyway. The sex part had, to his understanding, been tended to, but there was still a lot of emotional bullshit to sort through between them. Crow sighed and shook his head. They would figure it out eventually. He didn't count Sayer as an opposition between his friend and the love of his life because, if they had their way, he would be dead soon enough.

The bastard fucked with their team, and no one got away with that. They just had to figure out how to fight someone with psychic powers. They hadn't even heard of anyone like him being real before, so they had no idea what to do. From what Yusei said, he was able to pin him down and keep him from fighting at all. Their only real hope was that he could only hold down one of them at a time.

He voted Yusei could be the distraction.

Heaving another sigh, he wandered to his favorite clearing beside the small river and froze, spying a form sitting by the stream. He stayed behind a tree, nudging his shoulder bag to his back while reaching for Black-Winged Dragon as a precaution. They couldn't afford to be careless right now. There was too much of a threat in town for them to take any chances.

He peered into the clearing, trying to get a better look at the person. They were sitting on the ground, facing away from him, with their knees tucked against their chest. Judging by the size, he guessed it was a girl. Her hair was long, fell down her back, and was pale green in color, making him pause. He had only known one girl with that hair color.

Swallowing his spit, he stepped out into the open, lowly muttering, "Luna?"

She turned, surprised, and frowned at the man coming from the trees. Her lips parted slightly, recognition dawning on her features as she said, "Crow? Is that you?"

He nodded. "I almost didn't recognize you."

She faced away from him, huffing slightly. "It's been awhile, Crow," she muttered, her voice tinged with sadness and… was that disappointment?

He approached her and dropped Black-Winged back into its holster, saying, "You don't sound all that happy to see me. It's been—what?—seven years?"

She plucked a blade of grass from the ground and played it across her lips as she replied, "It has been awhile. I'm just saddened by what you've become. Some sort of vigilante for freedom from the government?"

He furrowed his brow and shifted to drop to a sitting position beside her. Frowning, he wondered how he could explain. He didn't imagine she would come back to this town. She had left seven years ago when she was ten and he was twelve, going to the Capital to become a priestess of the Crimson Dragon. She had written for awhile, so he had known she had made it there all right, but she had lost contact as she got busier with her practices. He had met Yusei and Jack by then and had formed the Enforcers with his friend, Kalin.

Time had passed, and here they were. She had been his best friend while growing up. He didn't have anyone he could rely on more, and had felt terrible when her parents had died. She was like his sister, always there with a smile and calm words to snap him out of a brash action. Even when he had met Kalin when he'd moved to New Domino, Luna had stayed his best friend.

He snuck a glance to his side, stealing a quick peek at her, and felt something in his stomach twist. Now grown up at the ages of nineteen and seventeen, he couldn't help but realize she had become quite the beauty. He swallowed, unsure of how to proceed. He never imagined he would run into his best friend out here, of all places, and then find she had grown to be so beautiful.

What made him decide he'd rather kiss her than protect her like a big brother?

Shaking his head, he reached up to scratch the back of his head. "It's complicated. There's a lot of stuff going on that needs to stop."

She turned, shooting him a flat stare that made him stop cold. "I lived in the Capital for seven years. I'm just back to visit Leo and Akiza for a few days. But my point is that I know full well what's going on. This isn't the way to fight it, though, and I think you know that."

He shrugged slightly, trying not to show how much her glare bothered him. "I know. But Yusei, Kalin, and Jack are my brothers. I can't abandon them."

Frowning, she shook her head and muttered, "Same old Crow. You may be in the wrong alley, but it's good to see your convictions haven't changed."

He flashed her a smile, scratching the back of his head again before falling into a relatively comfortable silence. "So… Akiza's told you about Yusei?"

Nodding, she said, "Yeah."

"What have you picked up on that?"

"That they're hopelessly in love with each other but refuse to admit it. Though, based on her description, I can't say I blame her for refusing him."

Crow sighed, knowing he would probably regret this, but muttered, "The side he shows to the public isn't who he really is. He's got a much better side that actually cares about the world around him. A little too much, if you ask me."

She shrugged. "It's not my choice to make. That's something she has to come to terms with."

He nodded, frowning as he pulled his bag onto his lap and fell into silence again. It felt good to be with her again, even if her presence in her conservative white and red priestess robes made him feel things he'd never felt before. A slight smile crossed his lips as he leaned back slightly, trying everything he could to block out the flutter in his heart. "Hey, you remember when we used to come here to play?"

She nodded, a similar curve falling on her lips. "Yeah. I remember how we would come out here at sunrise on days that we didn't have school and spend all day here. I would read, and you would draw. You always were really good at drawing birds."

He felt a lopsided grin fall on his face as he opened his bag, pulling out his small wooden box filled with different charcoals and his sketchbook. "I never stopped, you know." He flipped the book open, showing a page with a small flock of neatly drawn crows, their feathers shaded to glisten in imagined sunlight, but no background drawn in yet, if there ever would be one. Scenery wasn't his strong point.

If the other guys knew about his hobby, he would probably never hear the end of it. Yusei had smithing for a hobby—and a natural talent, it would seem—Jack would always spend his spare time with girls, so Crow never knew if he had any other real talents. He was good at talking peoples' ears off, if he wanted. Kalin was always good at writing and bookkeeping. He imagined he'd be some sort of accountant or journalist if he hadn't gone into freedom fighting.

But Crow's hobby was always sketching. He loved the concept of getting his hands dirty with the charcoal stumps, running them across the paper and seeing what the end result was. It took time for him to get to the point he was at now, but Luna was always the one who would support him and urge him to keep practicing. She was his greatest inspiration and, he decided, his next sketch would be one of her. He wasn't very good at drawing people, but he felt he owed it to her to do something special for her after all she'd done for him.

Even if she had no idea how much she'd shaped his life.

…

It had been two weeks since she'd last spoken with Divine, but Akiza forced herself to dress and respond to his invitation for dinner. She was engaged to him, after all, and she had made a promise. At least she now knew better than to mention Yusei.

At promptly eight o'clock, a small carriage arrived outside of her bar to take her to her fiancé's home. After saying goodnight to her kids and making sure Leo would be in bed by nine, she left and got inside the small, two-seated ride and waited as the man steering it closed the half-door and mounted the horse drawing it.

She leaned back as they started moving, bringing her to Divine's home. He had attacked her, thrown her into a wall. She hadn't told anyone but Luna about it, nor did she plan to. It was her secret, and she would carry it with her. She had promised to marry him, and she intended to keep that promise. Even if he hurt her, it was better than Yusei.

It had to be.

Shaking her head, she sighed as the carriage rolled to a halt and the coachman climbed down to open the door for her. She waited, letting him help her out and walk her to the door. It was her place as a lady to be treated as such. Finally, they reached the door and he opened it for her, letting her in and closing it without following.

Just inside, Divine sat waiting on a sofa with a glass of brandy. He smiled and stood as she walked in, reaching out for her hand and kissing it. "Thank you for accepting my invitation, Akiza."

She nodded and gave a small curtsey. It had been awhile since she'd dressed up like this. "Of course. Thank you for inviting me."

Was this really what her life was becoming? A farce of formality with her would-be husband? She had always longed for a marriage built by mutual love, one that she would be happy to spend the rest of her days being devoted to. She wanted to marry a man she could smile at because he made her happy, not because she was obligated to. She wanted to marry someone she could fall asleep beside and be content to share her bed with him.

And, damn it, why were her thoughts all reverting back to Yusei?

She'd admit, she had been happy the morning she'd woken beside him. She was happy to share her bed with him, but had known when she'd woken that she couldn't let him know that. At the time, she hadn't known how deeply his feelings for her ran and felt she had to keep him from getting it into his head that sex between them could become a regular thing.

And then he had told her he loved her.

She had been shocked, to say the least. She had no idea his feelings were that genuine. For the three years she had known him, she thought he was after her solely for her well-endowed body. She hadn't even considered that he could be after something more. He was always just a strange man with even stranger methods.

Why hadn't she seen it before? As she thought back, so many of his actions pointed towards a legitimate feeling of care for her. He always put her first, always protected her, and yet he had let her have relationships with men she'd chosen. She had noticed when he didn't attack the first man she'd approached, but she had never been able to figure out why.

He wanted her to be happy.

He always had. Every action he took was to keep her safe. She couldn't help but wonder if his actions taken towards the government were somehow tied into his guardianship of her. That was an overtly arrogant thought, but she couldn't help it. She almost wanted Yusei to be freeing the town for her. She wanted him to give his life to her. She wanted him to need her so much that he hurt when she wasn't around.

It would only be fair, since she hurt when he wasn't near her. Something in her chest ached when he left her bar. She hated herself for that feeling, always berating herself mentally whenever she felt that twinge in her heart. Slowly, she was learning to accept it. She was learning to appreciate that feeling.

When she accepted Divine's engagement offer, she had thought she was severing any link she had with Yusei, but her plan had backfired. Instead of leaving him far behind, she found herself being drawn to him more than ever. She found herself waking in the middle of the night at random, reaching out into the darkness for the place beside her. She had hoped he would be there, even though he had only warmed her bed once.

A heavy sigh sounded beside her. "I don't appreciate you thinking about him."

She froze, just remembering she was still standing with Divine. "I… I'm sorry."

He scoffed, pausing just inside the dining room and waiting for her to enter before closing the doors behind them. "No, you aren't. You love him, I know."

She bit her lip, hoping this wouldn't go the same place it did the last time Yusei had come as a subject between them. "Divine, I…"

"No. Not anymore. I refuse to share you with him!" He turned on her, eyes flashing in anger. "You will love me!"

She felt a force throw her across the room before she crashed into a dining chair and tumbled to the floor with it. She should have seen this coming. She should have known better. She needed to get out. Frankly, she was terrified of what he would do. Would he kill her?

She tried scrambling to her feet, but felt another burst shove her over the dining table. Dishes broke underneath the force, and she couldn't help bet release a squeal as a knife cut her hip, drawing blood as she dropped off the other side of the table. His powers crashed into her again, slamming her down into the floor roughly before lifting her like a ragdoll and tossing her into the wall.

Her body refused to follow her commands as he moved closer, eyes narrowed dangerously as she collapsed to the floor. She whimpered, frightened of what was to come. She was already in pain, and she was sure he had more coming for her. She didn't want to die. Not when she had finally realized how she felt about Yusei.

His lip curled into a sneer, his hand snapping out to slap her across the cheek. "Stop thinking about him!" he demanded, flicking his fingers and throwing her carelessly into a glass vase.

She felt tears drift down her cheek that mixed with the blood from her cuts, her mind unable to erase his image. Yusei…

Okay, in my defense, this scene was going to be a lot worse. I changed it quite a bit from the original, and even censored the new version a bit. I don't have any problems with showing gore or anything, but when it's a helpless abuse like this, I don't care much for it. So, yeah. The good news is that Akiza knows how she feels now, right? And we get to meet Luna, but you guys probably don't care that much for her right now, do you? :P

Review if you want to see the next chapter this week! We'll go with twenty reviews, okay?

And, as per usual, please like me on Facebook! I don't know if I mentioned it on ehre or not, but I finished a sketch of Yusei and posted both that and the colored version to my DeviantART, then linked it to my Facebook. If you want to see, stop on by! I'm not the best artist, but I try. www. facebook. c-o-m /OCValkyrie (Remove spaces and hyphens)

Please review!

-Valk