Chapter LXII: Break
Hello again, dear readers and welcome back to Darkness Falls. Sorry for the delay in chapters, folks, but Peach has had a rough few weeks of it lately. She has been in some rather emotional situations and all of it has drained her mental and physical reserves. So she apologizes for the delay and begs that you not blame Ani, yet again. So anyway, on with the story!
Last time on Darkness Falls, Bastion finally fought and conquered his inner demons. In the process, the gang saw that Taniya was truly at peace. So what will happen next? Stay tuned!
Disclaimer: …How many chapters have we put this on now? If a major corporation or anyone else owns it, do we own it? No. Seriously, no! We just own our OCs, this version of the Yugi-verse and not much else. Thanks!
Warnings: Make-out scene toward the end! And more medical drama!
The gang moved back to the infirmary and Annie was moved to a cubicle. At one hour after the fight, her eyes opened, but they looked as blank as they had right before Alien Mother had made her presence known. Syrus, sitting by her bed, at first brightened. "A-Annie...?" But upon closer inspection of his beloved, the brightness dimmed, extinguished by worry.
Fonda, also in the cubicle, moved close, pulling out a small flashlight. "Her pupils are dilating and contracting... If they weren't, I'd be worried," she murmured, running the light in front of the unresponsive girl's eyes. "But she's still unconscious, Sy..."
"O-oh, okay," he muttered, gripping her hand.
And then a familiar voice floated over the curtain. "Sy, can we come in?" Jaden called softly.
Syrus looked up in surprise, and then back at his fiancée. "Yeah, you can come in, Jay."
Jaden and Zane both slipped in together. "Hey," Zane greeted, first noticing Annie's eyes were open. "What's going on?" he asked, taking in his future sister-in-law's blank stare and his brother's pained expression.
"Uh, I don't know for sure. But Fonda says she isn't actually awake yet," Syrus answered quietly.
At the boys' questioning look, the nurse sighed. "It's probably the mental trauma... part of her is awake, but the rest of her isn't here yet. She may be able to hear us..."
Jaden moved to take Annie's other hand. "Come on, Annie... Alien Mother's not here anymore... You won and Bastion and Violet are okay..." And still her eyes remained blank. The former Slifer's brows knit together as he frowned.
Syrus squeezed the hand he held again. "Annie... We know that you're okay, but we're worried. Please wake up..."
And then a single tear came from her eye. "Help," she whispered from across a figurative chasm.
"We want to help, Annie," Jaden tried. "Tell us how... There's got to be a way to help her back," he murmured.
And then Usagi, in her incarnation as the Guardian of Pure Hearts, appeared at the foot of the bed, blue eyes narrowed in concern. "She's trapped..." The duel spirit floated next to her mistress's love for her own comfort and to reassure him. "Syrus, keep talking to her... She's terrified by what happened. That monster violated her and it's done something... She can't break free on her own..."
Jaden and Zane looked at each other. "How do we..?" the former Slifer asked.
"She's trying to break free, but," the duel spirit began, only to be cut off by her human friend and mistress.
"Sy... Help me," Annie whimpered.
Syrus held Annie's hand tightly, looking down at her, willing her to hear him. "Annie... Come on... Follow the sound of my voice... You can do it."
"I'm afraid… I'm going to get hurt again," she whimpered, trapped in her mindscape. She was in the woods, cowering against a big oak tree. She could see glowing red eyes all around her. But at the sound of her beloved's voice, she stood and began to walk on a cobblestone path.
"No, Annie... Not if you wake up... Come on, just follow my voice back to us," he continued, closing his gray eyes, willing his strength into her.
In Annie's mindscape, she forced herself back through the dangerous woods. Amidst the darkness, she found her way illuminated by a ray of light. She kept walking toward it as it expanded into a spotlight holding her up. "I'm coming," she called out. She began to run. And in the real world, her eyes blinked.
Syrus could sense he was getting somewhere. "That's it, Annie. Come on. You're almost there..."
Her eyes lost the blank look and became focused. "Sy?" she asked shakily, gripping his hand like it was the only handhold she had before she fell off a cliff.
"Annie! You're awake!" he exclaimed, grinning broadly. She sat up and flung her arms around him, sobbing. He instantly wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly. "Shh, it's okay, Annie. You're safe now," he whispered soothingly.
Wisely, after Fonda had conducted a brief examination of the girl, she, Jaden and Zane left the couple alone. "Sy," Annie hiccupped when she had control of herself again, "I was so stupid..."
Syrus shook his head. "No, Annie... no, you're not. You didn't know..."
"I...wasn't strong enough... I should've fought harder... I let it happen..."
"Annie... Violet told us what happened... You did help, and you were strong. You fought her as much as you could... she was just too powerful. Even with Mary, Violet, and Bastion working together, they almost lost..."
Annie shivered in his arms, doing what so many victims do to themselves after such a trauma. She continued to blame herself. "I wasn't good enough... I should've been... I was too weak..."
"Annie. Look at me," Syrus said sternly, realizing what she was doing. He had to have her full attention so that she would truly hear his words. She met his gaze, her own eyes pained. "I know you feel like it's your fault, for whatever reason. But it's not. Annie, I know you're smarter than this... Think about it. How could you have known that was going to happen if you picked up a card? And I don't think anyone else could have done better than you at fighting that monster," he explained sincerely.
The blue-eyed young woman nodded. "You're right, Sy..." But there was something in her look and speech that told him that even though she knew it intellectually, her emotional knowledge was another story.
As one couple dealt with the aftereffects of Alien Mother's assault, another couple lay in a bed in the infirmary's ICU, cuddling close. "It's over, love... It's over," Bastion murmured to Violet.
Violet snuggled in as close as she could to his body, her arms wrapped loosely around him as her head rested on his chest. "Yeah... finally... But you still need to heal..."
"Yeah... but I feel it's easier now... If my mind and soul wasn't all right, my body wouldn't have a fair chance... And now, my body does have a fair chance... And I can give you a better birthday this year," he smirked, eyes sparkling with unspent mischief.
She caught it out of the corner of her eye and blinked. "Bastion-baby... what are you thinking?"
Bastion managed a light chuckle. "Oh, you'll find out, Violet, darling... This year, I get to surprise you," he said in a singsong.
Violet pouted and scoffed, rubbing circles into his shirt with her finger. "And just when did I surprise you last year?"
Bastion shivered slightly at the contact, wishing he was really in condition for a make-out session. Instead, he replied, "Oh... I don't know... A surprise end-of-the-summer bash... Trips all over Cleveland... I could go on..."
Violet's pout broke into a broad grin, and she moved up to brush her lips against his jaw with a knowing chuckle. "Okay, okay, I get it. Can I help it if I love to surprise the man I love?" She didn't bother to mention the fact that she surprised everyone else just as much.
"And can I help it that I want to surprise the woman I love with something big?" he asked, brushing his lips against hers.
She flushed a light pink at the contact, smiling. "You don't have to do anything that big, Bastion... seventeen isn't as special as sixteen or eighteen or twenty-one..."
"But your sixteenth should have been much better," he murmured, then pressed his lips against hers, holding the contact a little longer. The young woman melted, unable to do anything else in the first genuine kiss she'd had in a long time. Her eyes slipped closed and she moved back against those lips, wanting to stay aloft in her bliss for as long as possible. Bastion, too, was starved for kissing the woman he loved and wanted to drink her in, much as a thirsty person in a desert drinks greedily from an oasis spring. He didn't want the moment to end. He held her to him as strongly as his weakened arms would allow.
Unfortunately, the human body required oxygen, and the two were forced to pull apart eventually. Violet panted lightly, pulling in air as she came down from her romantic high. Kissing her fiancé had never felt so wonderful. Bastion panted a little, his battered lungs still weak from the pneumonia's assault. "I didn't want that to end," he murmured.
"Neither did I, but..." Violet paused to slide her hand down his cheek. "We will have plenty of time, Bastion-baby..."
"I know, my love... I can't wait for that..." He brushed a bang back from her forehead, looking into her grass-green eyes.
She leaned into the hand, smiling softly. "Neither can I, Bastion... it'll be soon..."
"And... I can take that job at the Eisenstein Foundation," he said softly. In the late spring, he had applied for and gotten a job at his favorite scientist's lab and foundation. Eisenstein himself had sent the young man a letter, congratulating him for being the one man out of 500 applicants to succeed. Even with the delay, the renowned scientist still wanted the young man to work for him.
"I know you'll do great. You're so smart... You'll probably come up with some cool invention or solve some life mystery, I bet," she murmured, nuzzling his neck.
"Hmmm... that'd be nice... But right now, I'd prefer to solve the sweet mystery that is you," he murmured back, nuzzling back.
She blushed red this time, giggling softly. "And just what's so mysterious about me, Bastion?"
Despite feeling weak, he started to kiss her neck. "I just don't think I've learned everything there is to know about you, love... And I'll have fun finding something new every day of our lives together..."
She tilted her head, giving him more access as she closed her eyes again. The old tingling coursed through her body at the physical contact. "Well then, I'd better learn something new about you every day, too. It's only fair..."
He kept kissing her neck gently. "I hope I'm that exciting..."
Things might've gotten a bit more intense, but then... "Oh, Bastion, Violet, I have... OH MY GOODNESS!" Dr. Crowler shouted, coming from behind the curtain and exiting quickly. "I'll COME BACK LATER!"
Violet gasped, eyes snapping open as she pushed away from Bastion in an effort to sit up. Failing epically, she flailed momentarily before unceremoniously rolling off the bed. "Urgh... never... fails..."
Bastion gasped in shock, his breath ragged. "That... how... do we... keep doing that?"
"It's a jinx. A conspiracy. Like the rocks and bunnies," Violet groaned as she pushed herself onto her feet, dusting off her clothes.
He sank back into his pillows. "Well... maybe that's the way of the Powers that Govern reminding us that one of us... needs to wait before really making out again..."
She sighed and crawled back into the bed, lying down beside him. "Well, you do, unfortunately... But they could at least be more subtle."
"That's true... In the meantime, let's just snuggle," he suggested.
"Good idea," she replied, doing just that.
As Bastion and Violet enjoyed themselves in the infirmary, Jaden and Alexis went out for a walk on the grounds. Jaden spun around in the sunshine. "This feels so good," he whooped.
Alexis chuckled a bit, smiling at his boyish actions. Even if he was still a little immature, she had to admit that it was endearing. Plus, it was nice to be out in the sun. "Yeah, it does... I'm glad it's summer."
"Yeah, and I think we have smooth sailing coming," he said with a grin.
"Is that your intuition talking, or are you just guessing?" she teased.
"Just this feeling I've got," he answered cheerfully. "It's like... I just feel like things are going to be okay now..." He got a thoughtful look on his face and said, "It feels like things... are in balance..."
She blinked. "In balance?"
Jaden turned away from her for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. It was something just a little beyond what he could explain immediately. Finally, he managed to figure it out. "Remember how nuts Yubel was because of the Light of Destruction?"
Alexis nodded, going over to him. "Yeah..."
"And then how nuts Sartorius was when we first met him?"
"Uh-huh..."
"They were both out of balance because they had too much of one thing..."
"Hmm, I get that... But where are you going with this, Jay?"
"Well," he said, turning to meet her eyes, "Yubel got some good light and darkness on her and is a lot better now. Sartorius needed balance, too... Now he's better too and taking care of Kagemaru..." And then as they walked through the woods, they came to a sun-dappled brook, sunlight shining through the trees onto the water. "Lex, take a look at the brook there... See how it's just light enough to see it and the trees around it?"
She examined the waterway for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I see that..."
"Now, what if the sun was too bright?" he asked.
"I wouldn't be able to see it," she answered simply.
"And it's the same way if we were out here in the middle of the night and it was cloudy and rainy... We couldn't see any of this." Jaden took a breath. "My point is... It feels like we've got the right amount of good light and dark now..."
Alexis nodded slightly. "I see what you mean... Guess we've been balancing things out for the past three years or so, huh?"
"Yeah. And I'm glad you were there with me," he said softly.
She smiled, taking his hand. "And I'm glad you were with me, Jay... you saved us too many times to count..."
"Hey, you saved me too," he pointed out, flushing a little. There were still moments and would be until the day he died that Jaden would act younger than his years, and the flush when she took his hand was one of those moments.
She didn't mind the slightly immature reaction, again finding it cute. "Yeah, you're right. I just hope we won't have to do anymore saving in the future."
"Yeah..." And then the moment passed as he kissed her impulsively. Blinking in surprise, she quickly shrugged it off and pressed back into the random kiss. Her grip tightened on his hand as they moved closer together. He changed his grip, putting his arms around her. Something had come over the former Slifer, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Alexis was a little taken aback by his eagerness, though she didn't mind. She wrapped her arms around him in turn and parted her lips, silently questioning if he wanted to continue further. Jaden responded to that, brushing his tongue forward gently. Alexis moved her tongue against his, fingers gripping his blazer as things began to heat up between them. They sank down to the grass, still kissing passionately. Jaden started to wriggle, trying to get his blazer off. She helped him, tossing the piece of clothing carelessly to the side before digging her fingers into his hair.
Still kissing her, he began running his hands through her blonde hair and up and down her back. The back of her top was loose and so he was soon touching her bare skin under the top. She shivered at his touch, breaking away momentarily for air. Her hazed, hazel eyes met his heated brown ones as she did so, hands slipping down to his cheeks. His eyes closed at her touch and he pressed his cheeks against her hands, feeling as much of that as he could. Smiling, she moved down, running butterfly kisses along his smooth jaw.
He moaned softly, letting her as he moved his hands up and down her back and then to her sides. Jaden's mind was shifting to the primal. He wanted to enjoy her and his mind was very hazy on things such as timing and where they were. She pulled in a breath at his moving hands, enjoying the contact they hadn't had in a while. Alexis' lips slipped down to the soft flesh of his neck and she gently sucked. Jaden moaned again and unbuttoned her blazer, revealing the black turtleneck tank she always wore.
Alexis shrugged off the blazer, returning her lips to Jaden's to start up another passionate kiss. Jaden obliged her, kissing back. And then he moved his lips to her jaw and down her neck, stopping at one particular spot to suck. The young woman moaned breathily, eyes closed as her fingers dug into the back of her beloved's shirt. Their legs were tangled together and the heat between them was more powerful than the sunlight streaming in through the forest canopy.
Jaden felt her pressing against him, accentuated by the tightening of his pants. His hands moved to lift her skirt…
Cliffhanger! Will Jaden and Alexis be the first to succumb to temptation? Will anything stop them? Are your diabolical co-authors just yanking your chains? Next time, stay tuned for "Simple and Clean!" Yes, one of us has been listening to the song from Kingdom Hearts. So see you next time! Thanks as always and please review!