Well, finally got through this semester with some pretty good grades. I could have done better, but I'm all right with what I got. Oh, and I have thirty-seven days left until I get to move out. Let's hope I make it that long :P –crosses fingers–

Anyway, my thanks for being so patient with this story! I know I said on my Facebook that I would take another two hours almost nine hours ago, but I had a little bit of block today ^^;

Speaking of Facebook, I posted a preview of my main character for my would-be next-gen there, if you want to check him out. I'm considering writing that when I finish SH, so I'd love to hear your feedback! I'll probably continue to post one character a week, so, if you remember, let me know who you'd like to see! The pairings for the parents work pretty much the same as here: Yusei/Akiza, Jack/Carly, Crow/Luna, and Kalin/Misty are all the parents of my main characters. Oh, and Trudge/Mina. Any takers?

Moving on, my thanks over the last two weeks go out to Shinn Tsukishiro, RobotFish, Q-A the Authoress, theforgottenpeople96, FiringShootingStar, ptd163, melan anime(x2!), AnimeKiwi369, Rapis-Razuri, Seeker Heart, Cecil Kain Cerberus, ProChampionDuelistAKAPyro, and TFRiD Queen for their reviews!

And anons are LDC, ChibiX, anon(x2!), and one guest! LDC: I thought you might like that :) But, you know, Yusei still has to propose before a marriage can happen… ChibiX: After reading that last chapter made you happy, I'm happy! anon: Oh… I guess you don't remember, but earlier in the story, it's mentioned that Leo's and Luna's parents died and the two were raised by Akiza's parents. They're siblings as much as Yusei is with the other Enforcers. Thank you for reviewing!

And my thanks to RobotFish for his last-minute beta work!

Sunset Horizon
Chapter 35 – Changes Abound

He didn't know how it happened. One moment, Yusei had been an outcast in a town full of merchants and retired military. In the next, he was the leader of their small group of rebels. Day by day, Akiza smuggled more and more of her friends into the tunnels, mostly the ones with small kids. Not that he was surprised at all. It was in her nature to take care of children and keep them safe.

She would be a good mother.

However, Yusei found himself listening to a report from one of the townsfolk, a man who had gone down through the passages by his forge to scout the back entrance. But why? Why were they reporting to him? Wouldn't an experienced leader like Z-one be more appropriate? He assumed it had something to do with the small-town closeness and, to them, Z-one and the rest of Infinity were strangers. His relationship with Akiza was most likely what earned him the town's trust. No one got on her bad side and everyone loved to be on her good side.

She was an amazing woman, after all. Always with a knack for helping others and putting them first. She was downright scary if someone pissed her off, but those moments had all but disappeared once he'd turned around and forgotten about his old self.

That didn't change the fact that he had no idea why he was chosen as the leader. In a strange way, it did make sense. Akiza was something like the matriarch of their little colony, with her being the most knowledgeable of the tunnels, so it made an odd amount of sense that they would look to him for leadership on the combat and defense side of things. He was from the Capital, knew more of the Underground than anyone else in town, and had become one of the residents of town in the last year. He wasn't a stranger like Z-one and his father. They could trust him.

"Yusei!"

He looked up with a start at the sound of the alarmed voice to find another one of the townsmen, the sheriff's former man named Kaz. He skid to a halt in front of the leader and panted, "Yusei! At the back entrance, there's…!"

He blinked in surprise, glancing back over his shoulder on a reflex to see Akiza sitting on the side with one of Martha's kids, watching him carefully. Turning back to Kaz, he asked, "What is it, Kaz? What's going on?"

The blue-haired man panted to catch his breath after the run through the passages. They'd since found it was a good two-hour walk going straight from the ladder beneath the bar to Yusei's forge, but at least a half-hour run all the way. Finally, he managed to finish, "By the back entrance, there's a group of people. I think they're from the Capital."

A smoky chuckle sounded from the side and he looked over to find Z-one leaning against the wall with a cigarette. "So she did come."

Yusei raised his eyebrow towards his grandfather. "She?"

He nodded his head down the passage Kaz had come from. "See for yourself."

Automatically, he reached to make sure Stardust was in its holster before heading in the direction of Jack and Crow. He wanted his brothers as back-up, but he knew Kalin was still adjusting to his new abilities. He wouldn't ask him to fight if he wasn't ready.

Z-one laughed again behind him, saying, "No need to prepare for an all-out war. She only bites sometimes."

Turning on his heel, he snapped, "If you won't tell me who I should be expecting, then I'm going to take every precaution."

Akiza moved to stand, patting the little boy on the head as she went, and said, "I'm going, too."

Stopping in his tracks, he sighed heavily. Just when he was sure Akiza was perfect, she had to go and let her brazen personality out to play. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed, "Akiza, you're pregnant. Stay here and stay safe." Offering his best pleading look, he added, "Please."

She bit her lip, thinking his words through. She looked about ready to agree, but paused as Z-one grumbled, "There's no danger. Let her go. She might learn something new."

Yusei mentally cursed out his grandfather. Why in the hell would he say something like that? If his story held truth to it, then he must have known what it was like to keep a pregnant woman safe during a war. What scared him even more was who this woman was that showed up. Of all the ones he knew at the Capital, none left an impression matching Z-one's hints.

Sighing, he forced himself to meet Akiza's gaze and muttered, "If you really want to come, then at least promise me you'll stay in the back, okay? I know you won't listen if I try to force you to stay here, so I'd rather know you're coming so I can watch out for you."

She nodded, fisting her hand over her heart in determination. "I… I want to go, Yusei. I want to be there with you."

He nodded once. "Stay in the back, okay?"

…

He made his way down the tunnels at a slow jog, trying to get to the exit as quickly as possible, but moving at a pace so Akiza could keep up. He would rather she'd stayed back with the kids, but she was too rambunctious for her own good sometimes.

Z-one didn't help, either.

Spotting the door of his forge, he knew the exit was just around the corner and drew Stardust from its holster. He had taken a moment to ask Black Rose Dragon if continuing to use his pistol would shorten his life since Stardust Dragon was sealed inside, but she had told him no. Only if he summoned the dragons and ordered them to kill would there be a penalty.

Nodding over his shoulder, he glanced back at Jack, Crow, and Kalin, still grumbling on the inside that his childhood friend had insisted on coming. It had only been three days since his Earthbound had been exorcised, but he was just as eager to help his posse. He still seemed a bit tired, so Yusei made him promise to stay in the back if he insisted on coming.

In the end, Z-one himself hadn't gone, but he sent Bruno and Primo instead, to 'keep an eye on the crazy.' Yusei really didn't know what he meant by that, but he was becoming more and more afraid to find out.

Stepping out into the sunlight, he shielded his eyes with one hand and gripped Stardust in the other. A chipper voice masked with a thick accent shouted, "Yusei!" before a pair of hands settled on his shoulders and lips pressed against his.

The first thought that crossed his mind was that the lips were too hard and aggressive to be Akiza's, causing him to reach out and shove against the woman kissing him. Brushing his sleeve over his mouth, he glared at the offending woman and stared in shock as he recognized her. Nearly a decade had passed, but she didn't look that different at all.

Sherry. Sherry LeBlanc was in New Domino.

Daughter of Senator LeBlanc, leader of the coup d'état.

Why was she here, though? And why so many armed men behind her?

She pouted, puffing her lip as she murmured, "Aw, Yusei… Don't you remember your promise?"

He felt Akiza's—and everyone else's—eyes on him as he sputtered, "I-I was seven! You can't seriously be holding me to-!"

She chuckled, lightly at first, then doubling over into laughter. "Oh, Yusei! You fluster so easily! What happened to the bold and fearless boy I knew?"

"Sh-Sherry…" he started wearily, hoping Akiza wouldn't rip out his entrails for what just happened. It wasn't his fault. He hadn't been expecting her to kiss him like that.

"Don't you remember how you promised you would marry only me?"

He choked on his spit and quickly stammered, "I was seven when I said that! You're crazy if you think I'm still-!"

"Relax, Yusei. I'm only teasing you." She crossed her arms with a playful smile on her face and glanced pointedly behind him. "I'm going to assume that the fiery little redhead behind you is your petite amie? She's looking pretty angry with me right now."

He froze, then glanced over his shoulder to see Akiza glaring darkly at Sherry. Coughing awkwardly, he reached his free hand out towards Akiza, relief washing over him when she took it, and said, "This is Akiza Izinski, the woman I love more than anything. Akiza," he started, then glanced back at Jack, Crow, Kalin, Bruno, and Primo, and finished, "Guys, this is Sherry LeBlanc, a friend and schoolmate from the Capital. Her father is the one in charge of the coup."

She nodded, agreeing with his assessment, then said, "Despite what you may think, this little, teeny-weeny town has become a centerpoint of the war. It's important that we keep it under our control."

Yusei's eyebrow rose as seriousness overtook the situation. "How? How is a little town that no one knows about a centerpoint?"

She crossed her arms and sighed heavily. "Isn't it obvious?" When no one replied, she sighed again and explained, "For centuries, this town was used in illegal slave trade. First, for helping them escape from their fate. Then, when slavery was abolished, it was used to bring slaves back into the country. This piece of land is a valuable lot to the Underground. It is simply a town where our citizens live to the real Yliaster. I've come to warn you just how dangerous the battle will be."

He frowned, thinking her words through. When did New Domino become so important? This place was supposed to be his escape from the crazy antics of politicians. It was supposed to be a small, peaceful place where kids could grow up happily and women could walk the streets without fear. Was this his fault? Did he bring the combat with him? When he'd chosen to fight against the governor, did he draw their attention to this place?

Akiza's hand tightened on his and he turned to glance at her, offering a brief smile. He had a way of knowing when she opened her psychic powers and he figured it was because of the dragons. He'd gotten used to the feeling of her keeping her senses open for emotions surrounding her, but she never really looked directly into someone's mind unless it was absolutely necessary. She didn't do it now, but he imagined her usual senses were enough to pick up on his sudden self-loathing.

She shook her head with a faint upturn of her lips. "Don't go there, Yusei."

Nodding once, he whispered in the hopes that she'd be the only one to hear. Hopefully, Kalin hadn't gotten cat hearing or anything with his Earthbound abilities. "I know. It doesn't really matter, anyway. Everything will be the way it was. I promise."

Sherry cleared her throat to bring his attention back to her, then gestured to the people mounted on horses behind her and announced, "We've come to help. My father asked me to come here to assist you in the battle. I am only grateful that we beat their general here."

His eyes narrowed against his will. "You mean Roman."

She nodded. "So you're aware, then. I figured Dragan would have told you."

"Yeah… Don't worry. I'm still fighting."

"Two of the Underground-supporting senators are coming this way, as well. Rex Goodwin and Jean Unicorn. They're not much for fighting, but they're dangerous in that they'll be heavily guarded."

Goodwin? So, he was coming back. After almost a year of running for his 'health,' he was coming back. He sensed Kalin stiffen behind him, more so than the rest of his brothers. He knew his best friend had hated the former governor greatly, but he wasn't sure why. Something had happened to make him hate the man quite a bit and Yusei could only assume it had something to do with his grandfather. Right after he'd died, Goodwin had come to town and taken over as governor.

In the meantime, it looked as though New Domino had garnered a few more allies from the Capital.

"Hm? What's this?"

He looked up when Sherry spoke, watching as she glanced back at the two men from Infinity. Raising an eyebrow, he watched as she sauntered over and stopped in front of Bruno, peering up at him through her bangs. She hummed a sound of affirmation, then nodded. Reaching up, she touched a finger to his forehead and tipped his head back, studying his face carefully. "I like you."

He let her push him around, taken completely off-guard by her actions. "Uh, what?" he finally managed.

She turned and cast a wink over her shoulder, saying, "I said, I like you. Au revoir, mon ami!" Walking back over to Yusei, she gestured grandly towards the tunnels and said, "Lead the way, Yusei."

…

Akiza leaned back on the small bed, resting her head on Yusei's lap and smiling at the peacefulness of the brief moment. Since actual preparations for a battle had started, they didn't have nearly as much time to themselves. She found herself enjoying every last second they could spend together, even if it was something as simple as snuggling before bed.

Much of her time was spent with Leo, Annie, and Max anymore, along with Martha's children. She loved children, but she missed the time she spent with Yusei. He always seemed busy anymore. The entire town had come to look up to him, and even she was confused as to when they had gone from hating him to admiring him.

For now, she was content to lie on him, lightly dozing on the old mattress. It was nothing like how they used to spend their time alone together, but the lack of a door made it a little difficult. Privacy issues aside, she just hadn't been in the mood for sex quite as much since she'd gotten pregnant. Martha said it was normal and the old midwife had seen her fair share of pregnancies. Akiza trusted her knowledge.

His fingers combed through her hair, eliciting a contented hum from her lips. She cracked her eyes open to look up at him, her smile spreading at the sight of his upturned lips. Her fingers linked with those of his free hand, the peace of the midmorning a welcome distraction from the crisis brewing above.

Her other hand settled on the small bump of her stomach as she cooed, "I love you, Yusei."

He smiled a little wider and bent down, pressing a kiss to her forehead and whispering, "I love you, too, Akiza."

She knew she was ready to marry him, but she would wait for him to know he was ready, too. She hoped it would happen before the baby came, but she also knew that pressuring him wouldn't do any good. He had to be ready on his own and it had to happen on his time.

"Akiza…" he murmured, folding his fingers more tightly with hers. "I…"

Her expression shifted from peaceful to confused, her eyebrows knitting when he averted his gaze. "Yusei? What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing is. It's just… I need you by my side, you know? Not necessarily physically, but… I mean..."

She frowned slightly. What had gotten into him? She'd never seen him behave so insecurely before. Shifting, she reached up and cupped his scarred cheek gently. "Yusei, you know I will. I'll stand by your side until the day I die."

A knock sounded on the door frame, causing Yusei to mutter a short sound of annoyance before he glared in the direction of the door and grumbled, "Who is it?"

Akiza shifted to sit up slightly, leaning her head on his chest as she moved to look out the doorway. The sight of Sherry standing there with her fist poised by the wood caused her eyebrow to rise in curiosity. "Sherry? What brings you here?"

Despite their odd meeting, she had since acknowledged that Sherry had no romantic interest in Yusei and the two women had come to terms as friends. She was definitely on the eccentric side, but she was there to help and Yusei trusted her, so she trusted her.

The blonde woman leaned back against the doorframe, smirking secretively at the pair cuddled together. "So cute. I hate to break up this tender moment."

Akiza frowned, her mind still focused on Yusei's words. What would get into him to make him say something like that? Unless something happened that made him feel the need to say that, but the only thing that she could think of involved him knowing bad things were coming.

She shook her head slightly. She didn't want to go there.

Yusei wrapped his arm around Akiza's shoulders to hold her against him. "What is it, Sherry?"

She threw her hands up in a form of surrender before saying, "My men just returned from a scout the country borders. They found something interesting that you might want to hear about."

Sighing, he shifted to kiss Akiza's forehead before moving to stand. "Okay, then tell me."

Crossing her arms, Sherry nodded her head down the tunnels and said, "We have a little meeting forming. I think you should just come to that."

Akiza stood with him as he asked, "Who's a part of this meeting?"

"Your parents," she said, nodding towards Akiza, "Yusei's father and grandfather, the Enforcers, the former deputy, and a few others."

Yusei leaned over to his lover and whispered in her ear, "Who's the former deputy?"

Unable to fight back a giggle, she murmured, "Kaz."

He nodded once and frowned. "Really? I didn't know he was deputy. Huh."

"Regardless," Sherry said, gesturing towards the way she'd come. "I think you should probably join us."

Shock flooded through Akiza's mind at the sudden realization. Had… Had Yusei just asked her to marry him? And did she accept?

…

"What?" Yusei asked, blinking in surprise at the news that had just reached his ears. "Please tell me I heard you wrong."

Crow frowned and grumbled, "I said the same thing when I heard."

Misty sat at one of the chairs pulled against their makeshift table in the appointed meeting room, saying, "There's no doubt about it. Granel is coming." Raising her hands, she quickly added, "And, no, I had no idea this was happening."

Jack crossed his arms from his place against the wall. "Bastards."

Akiza set her hand on her hip and glared at the pale-skinned blond. "Aren't you from there?"

Scoffing, he mumbled, "There's a reason I left."

Yusei ignored then and addressed the entire room, "Why? Why are the Graneli coming now?"

From the back corner, Katsuro spoke for the first time since his son had entered the room, saying, "There are three actions a non-allied country could take during a coup that make sense. One," he said, raising his little finger to count, "They're here to join forces with the stronger side, help them crush their enemies, and hold the new government in their debt.

When he raised his ring finger, Yusei noticed he still wore the golden wedding ring that had belonged to the Fudo family for generations, and continued, "Two, they could sit back and wait for a victor, then offer reconstruction assistance, again, holding the winning side in their palms."

The room was filled with silence before Kalin prompted, "And three?"

"Three…" he toned, looking to make eye contact with each individual in the room before raising his middle finger and saying, "They can invade during our time of distress, not discriminate between sides, and take Yliaster away from both sides."

"Tch!" Jack spat. "And you had to ask why I spurn my birth country."

Yusei felt his body grow weak and dropped down to lean on the table, staring at nothing as he muttered, "What can we do? How many are there?"

Sherry spoke up from the back of the room, saying, "My man reported approximately thirty, but it's natural to assume it's a scouting party. It's likely that they sent out several small groups."

Jack punched one hand into the other, grumbling, "Well, what are we waiting for? We'll take the fight to them. Between the four of us, Carly's and Misty's powers, and Infinity over there, we shouldn't have a problem with thirty!"

"Jack…" Yusei muttered, looking up at his friend through his thick bangs. "Are you sure? I don't know why you left Granel or what your connection is to that place. You never seemed to want to talk about it, so I never asked. But look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't have any trouble killing one of your countrymen."

The blond sauntered across the room with a frown, stopping right in front of Yusei and looking down to meet his eyes. Slowly, he annunciated each syllable as he said, "I long since chose to live in Yliaster. I hold no claim to that monopolizing monarchy. It can burn overnight, for all I care. It doesn't matter where someone is from. They do something I don't like, and Archfiend and I will make them pay."

Yusei still hadn't told his friends how they had the spirits of actual dragons inside their weapons, but he ignored the thought as he nodded and slapped his friend's shoulder. "Then let's go keep our town safe."

So, yeah… Here we go, getting into all the action. Any guesses on what happens next?

And, again, which of my next-gens would you like to see? I'll only be posting these to my Facebook, so if you want to see the first one and any subsequent ones, hop on over here: facebook. c!om/ OCValkyrie (Remove spaces and exclamation point) You can like me while you're at it, if you want… Just sayin'…

Please review and thank you all again for being so patient with me!

-Valk