A/N: Alright, sorry that it's been so long, but I've had some trouble getting this onto paper. And a slight lack of motivation. Either way, enjoy!

Connections

There was a mystery going on here. First of which was about the monster Jake had just summoned, and how he'd gotten it. Second was what had happened to Yusei after he'd fallen into the lake and mysteriously reappeared in a pillar of light. Finally, the group was wondering why the Dragunity deck user was still unconscious while Yusei was awake.

"Okay, I really need to know how he got a hold of that card," Leyvaten said. "Mystletainn, could you do some investigating?"

"I could, mistress," Mystletainn answered, as she and many other citizens of the ravine watched a brand new member of the deck arrive. "Except she's already here."

"Would you be the leader of this ravine?" Blue-Eyes asked upon landing at the edge of the ravine's cliff, where Mystletainn went to meet the beautiful and powerful dragon.

"No, I am not. Mistress Leyvaten is the leader, but she is... busy at the moment, I suppose you could say."

"Is there a way for me to speak to her?"

"I can hear you," Leyvaten told the deck, getting the message through successfully. "After one of the duels, Stardust and I somehow got real bodies, so I'm stuck here until I figure out a way back – but I can still communicate with you."

Blue-Eyes seemed to pause to think for a moment.

"Very well," She said. "I am sure you are wondering why my card suddenly appeared in your duelist's deck."

"Very much so," Leyvaten admitted. "You've already answered one question, of how he got the card, but... why did you give it to him in the first place? Don't you belong elsewhere?"

"Kaiba understands," Blue-Eyes answered the second question. "I already explained the situation to him. He doesn't like it, but that isn't important. As for why I came to him, well, I'm a light-attribute monster."

"Yes, but what does that have to do with Jake?"

"I suppose that you can say he is also a light-attribute monster," Blue-Eyes answered. "And with such a pure heart, I can't just sit by and let these Dark Signers mess with his head."

Leyvaten and Stardust shared a look. Yusei glanced at them, but decided to wait to ask questions. He was only getting one half of this conversation as they climbed up the steps quickly in order to go find Akiza. They had just gotten word that Jack had won his duel against Carly, and was already heading out to find their other friend. Crow had, after running into Rex Goodwin in his investigations, learned they needed to finish this before sunset. It was now a race against time – and against this odd mystery.

"Well, I should be thanking you," Leyvaten said after a while. "Jake was really a mess. Are you going to be staying?"

"Until this ridiculous mess blows over," Blue-Eyes answered.

"And I hope that it won't be too long," Leyvaten said.

"As do I."

"Mystletainn," Leyvaten said to her assistant, whom had been present the entire time. "Please see to it that Blue-Eyes has a suitable place to stay."

Mystletainn did just that. Once Blue-Eyes had been given a place, whom was grateful for the hospitality, the assistant took the time to explain to the citizens of the ravine what was going on. In the meantime, it was imperative that the group head out.

"Are we going to take Jake in the car?" Luna asked.

"No, I think Leyvaten should carry him," Yusei suggested, getting some interesting looks. "If he's close to the leader of his deck, it may help to wake him up sooner. I think he's trying to recover from all that the duels with the Dark Signers have put him through."

Leyvaten nodded her understanding at this, but there was just one problem. She lifted it up, careful to hit nothing.

"Alright, but who'll take this?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I could carry it for you," Stardust offered. She smirked at the idea.

"Are you sure you're strong enough to carry this bad boy?"

"Oh, just gimme that!" Stardust rolled his eyes and snatched the sword from his mate. Then he had second thoughts as he strained to hold it up. "Jake's right, how do you carry this thing? It's heavy as hell!"

Yusei laughed, as did the others. They didn't need to ask for a translation, they could understand just by the way Stardust was trying – and failing – to lift the heavy blade. His face flushed from the embarrassment.

"Fine, let's trade," Leyvaten offered. "You carry Jake, I'll carry my blade."

"No, I can do it," Stardust insisted, lifting off with the dragoness' sword successfully. Leyvaten, grinning, gently picked up her duelist and soon caught up. It was a lot easier to fly around without that thing, even when carrying Jake.

"Alright, we should get going," Yusei said, placing his helmet on and getting onto his runner.

The others grabbed their rides as well, and headed out to where Akiza was supposed to be. Stardust silently wondered if he could convince his lover to get a lighter blade, in case something like this ever happened again. Along the way, Leyvaten had different thoughts going through her head, but she shoved them aside when Jake finally woke up, mid-flight.

"Huh?" Jake wondered as he found himself being carried by the leader of his deck and that he was many, many feet above the ground.

"Ah, you're awake," Leyvaten commented. "Are you alright?"

"Other than waking up to find myself flying several feet above the ground, I'm fine," Jake answered. Leyvaten rolled her eyes, but she had to struggle from laughing at his next comment. "Although finding Stardust clearly struggling with the weight of your sword is entertaining."

"I'm doing perfectly fine carrying this thing!" Stardust retorted. The fact that saying that distracted him from focusing his strength enough to almost drop the blade proved otherwise. "Oh shit!"

"That's one vote otherwise," Jake grinned. Stardust stuck his tongue out at the teen. "So what are we doing?"

"Flying, obviously," Leyvaten answered. She was whacked upside the head. "Ow!"

"Brat! You know what I meant!"

"We're going to check on Akiza," Stardust answered, rolling his eyes at the exchange, even as he strained to keep a hold of the ridiculously large and heavy blade. "See how she's doing."

"So basically Yusei is worried about her," Jake said. Stardust smirked at that.

"More than he cares to let on, I think," the dragon agreed, as they approached the place where Akiza was supposed to be dueling. The moment they landed, Stardust sighed quietly as he was able to finally rest the blade on the ground.

"Heavy?" Leyvaten grinned, as she put Jake down.

"Just take the damn thing back!" Stardust said, holding it out.

"That's one vote yes,"Jake chuckled. "Alright, I suppose we should just get started looking for her, right?"

"Shouldn't we wait for the others to arrive?" Leyvaten frowned.

"No, we need to start looking right away. The sooner we can find Akiza, the better. Leyvaten, are you going to stay with Stardust and wait?"

The dragons looked at each other, then Stardust smirked.

"Go ahead, I'll wait for Yusei and everyone else before I start looking," The white dragon said. Leyvaten nodded.

"How should we start looking?" Leyvaten asked her duelist. "Split up?"

"That would definitely speed things up," Jake nodded. "Besides, as long as I have your card, I can call for you if I get into trouble."

Leyvaten nodded, before the two of them split up... actually, the dragoness stayed behind a moment to kiss Stardust before she launched into the air and began to search. It was soon after that Yusei and the others arrived, and they also spread out. It was while Yusei had run into another man, claiming to be with sector security and that he would help that the pro duelist got into trouble.

"Stardust!" Yusei called, grabbing the dragon's card.

The dragon snapped to attention and flew as fast as he could. Leyvaten, noticing this as the two of them had been flying around to find their friend, became curious – but decided her mate could handle whatever it was.

"Don't think that just calling out the name of your card can save you!" Exclaimed the mysterious man, as he successfully chucked Yusei into the pit below, covered by the caged floor that Mina was already trapped under.

"And don't think you can treat my duelist like that, jackass!"

The roar that was heard caught the man off-guard before he could seal the grate with a fireball created real by his psychic duelist abilities. He decided to beat a hasty retreat instead, while Stardust took the time to save his duelist and Mina.

"Thanks, Stardust," Yusei said as the dragon nodded and helped the two out, flying them outside through the hole in the roof he'd made. "That man seemed to know Akiza. He said she 'didn't need friends like us'... we need to find her faster."

There was a sudden explosion as an entire building blew and was replaced by a round forcefield.

"I'm guessing that's her," Stardust said, as he flew over in that direction.

"And I bet that man is there now."

Leyvaten was already arriving, her duelist not far behind, as the two of them landed.

"You look like you've been through the wringer," Jake commented to Yusei as the dragon landed and let Mina and his duelist off his back.

"Some jerk randomly appeared and nearly did something to Mina and I," Yusei growled. "He lured us both into a building, claiming that Akiza was there, then he threw us under the caged floor and almost locked us under it. Stardust got him to run."

"Anything special about this guy?" Jake said, frowning at the silenced deck Misty, the Dark Signer Akiza was facing, currently had active. It didn't hurt this time. "I guess Blue-Eyes is still blocking the pain... thanks."

The brilliantly beautiful dragon just gave a short 'you're welcome', before Yusei looked over at the building opposite the one the group was watching from on top of. The duelist frowned heavily, and his deck made Jake glance at him.

"What's up?" Jake asked.

"I'll be right back," Yusei said, before running down the steps and over to the building across the way. Stardust went on alert, keeping an eye on his duelist. "And Stardust, don't interfere. I have a plan."

He didn't like it, but the dragon knew to trust his partner, so he stayed back. He listened through his card in Yusei's deck as the man revealed himself to be Sayer, the one who had caused this explosion of Akiza's powers by putting her under a trance – and under his control. A little click of a button broadcasted this through Akiza's duel disk – and into Misty's hearing range. Stardust grit his teeth and clenched his fists as his duelist was attacked more than once. Jake gently placed a hand on the dragon's arm.

"He grew up here, he knows how to handle himself," Jake told Stardust gently. "Besides, that guy's going to get what he deserves. Look at Misty."

Stardust did as Jake suggested, and smirked at the way, even though Yusei was hanging on barely, Misty was more than ready to kill Sayer for what he'd just admitted through the connected duel disks and their audio transfer abilities. Not hesitating a moment, Misty had the real-life Earthbound Immortal make a snack out of Sayer. He totally deserved it for the crap he'd pulled. It was when the celebrity was about to forfeit to her no-longer-in-a-trance-thanks-to-Yusei that Jake grabbed his head, gritting his teeth and grinding them together. Leyvaten looked at him, alarm more than obvious on her face.

"Jake! What's wrong?" Leyvaten exclaimed, at his side in a heartbeat.

"No!" Blue-Eyes' voice called through the connection. "Dammit!"

"That deck..." Jake began to say, as a darkness enveloped Misty and began to take control of her. "Their voices have changed. They were silenced before, but now... they're so dark and evil..."

"It's strong enough to break through my barriers!" Blue-Eyes told Leyvaten. "But instead of spreading throughout the entire deck it's going straight to Jake!"

"C'mon, Akiza, win quickly!" Leyvaten begged of their friend quietly. She could only offer her duelist someone to lean on – literally – as the pain continued to wash over him in tidal waves.

"What's wrong?" Yusei asked, feeling the panic surge over his connection with Stardust and making him rush over. "I thought that Blue-Eyes was protecting him?"

"She was," Stardust said. "Whatever's possessing Misty is skipping the barrier and going right for him."

Yusei frowned heavily, as Leo, Luna, Trudge, and Mina watched both the duel and what was going on with the newest member of their little group. Jake's clenched jaw continued to tighten to the point where Leyvaten could pretty much hear the teen's teeth grinding themselves to bits. Before meeting and dueling Yusei, none of this had ever happened, but now it was... dammit, she could sense the teen on the verge of blacking out again. It was sheer force of will that was keeping him standing, if only just and if only because he was holding himself up with her help.

Dammit, I hate seeing him like this, Leyvaten thought, swearing quite colorfully inside the privacy of her mind.

She made her decision, and closed her eyes, focusing on her connection to her duelist. Stardust watched his mate carefully, wondering if he needed to jump in and help. If one were to put it into words, it could be described as Leyvaten diving through a tunnel mentally and into her duelist's heart. The citizens of the ravine sensed her passing through the connection, something they hadn't done before. The link had, before, been nothing more than a way to provide conversation and for Jake to be able to call upon them when he was dueling. Nobody had considered actually going through it like it was a tunnel. As Akiza was making her move to put the duel one step closer to the end, the dragoness arrived inside what looked to be her duelist's inner mind, his soul room. There, she would see him struggling to hold what appeared to be a door closed with all his might. Without another thought, she began to help, and those on the outside would notice Jake relaxing slightly as the pain was being held back by two hearts and minds instead of one. Inside his soul room, the duelist looked at Leyvaten.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jake growled at her, surprising her with his attitude. She wasn't sure if it was the pain talking or what. "Get out. I'm not going to let you risk getting caught in this."

"Shut up," Leyvaten snapped. "I told you that we were here to help you, and that's what I'm going to do, whether you like it or not."

Jake opted to remain silent at that, but he sighed with relief, both in his soul room and in the real world, when the pain vanished at last. Akiza had done it – she'd won. She'd stopped the flood of darkness that had appeared out of nowhere in his heart and mind, and Leyvaten had helped to ease the pain of it. With a snap, the golden barriers that glowed just through the cracks of the door appeared again. The dragoness smiled to her duelist's grateful look, before she vanished from his inner world and Jake suddenly found himself looking back at where the duel had taken place.

What was that place...? Jake thought to himself, feeling a lot safer now that the dark aura pouring out of Misty and her deck was gone. Sadly, she was as well, but still. When the darkness left, I felt so... at home there...

Perhaps he could ask Blue-Eyes sometime soon. It would be nice to know about what it was he'd seen. He wondered what it was that was so special about that room, what it was that attracted him to it... but he decided to wait for answers. There was still some work to do in regards to the Dark Signers. Like why there was one more sign – above New Domino City, and not the Satelite. That just meant something bad was happening there. Within a short time, thanks to the Crimson Dragon, everyone was transported to the place – something resembling a large temple that the Signers recognized, and when they saw Rex Goodwin coming out of the top, they were confused – except for Jake, whom grabbed his head and caught the attention of Leyvaten.

"Jake, it's happening again already?" Leyvaten asked, at his side in moments. She put down her blade and gently held her duelist close, seeing as he clearly needed the comfort.

"It's... such a conflict..." Jake growled out. His eyes were squeezed shut as he attempted to bear the feelings of both dark and light pouring out of Director Goodwin's deck.

"A conflict? What do you mean?" She asked gently.

"H-His deck... both... light and dark..."

The most alarming thing happened then – Jake collapsed. And he didn't get up. Leyvaten bit her lip slightly. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Sure, she could sense that he was alive through their bond, but both she and the ravine's citizens, even Blue-Eyes, had failed to expect this. It was decided then that Yusei, Crow, and Jack would face Rex, whom had assimilated the powers of both the Signers and the Dark Signers into himself. Stardust stayed by his mate, whom gently held the unconscious form of her precious duelist close, protecting him. She just wished that she understood what was coming from the director's deck that had caused this kind of reaction...

Credits: Yeah, the plot's all mine. :D

A/N: Alright, I certainly hope that you all enjoyed that, especially the twist as the end where Jake faints! :O Perhaps, if you want to know what happens next, you'll review. After all, just fav'ing this story doesn't feed a writer's soul. Reviews do.