Oh my gosh! Work has been crazy these last few days and I even went and finally got my tattoo! *cheers for me!* Anyway! Much love to FiringShootingStar, Magdalene Thorne, Deseya, and my ever so mysterious Guest reviewer! I appreciate all your kind words! Now on with the chapter!
Disclaimer: The plot and OC's are completely mine, everything else belongs to their respective owners.
Raven groaned as the sun hit her face from the open window, she blinked and shut her eyes again, before yawning and finally managing to fully open both eyes. The first thing that came to mind was;
"Where am I? The last thing I remember was being with Crow and Doctor Schmidt then…" all of it came rushing back. Getting up, walking outside, and being forced to remember all of those horrible memories and to even top it off all of her new friends had also seen.
That part was exceptionally clear too her, but what happened after that she wasn't sure.
Moving her hand onto her forehead she stared at the ceiling as tears made their way down her face. She clenched her jaw to keep from waking the red head next to her, She wept, the salt of her life soaking the hair below, hot torrents of grief coursing out her eyes like the breaking of a dam, mingling with the uncomfortable softness of the sheets, her racking sobs shaking her thoroughly with the knowledge that she had obtained - that nothing would ever be the same again. Gasping for air, she turned her head toward the red head and sobbed into his chest, no longer caring about the sounds coming out of her mouth.
Raven knew the red head had woken up when he wrapped his arms tightly around her body, pressing her closer too him than she already was.
"Raven?" even wrapped in his arms the girl still couldn't stop the tears from cascading down her face, she squeezed her eyes shut to try and stop them but did little good as she gasped for air.
Everything hurt. From her toes too her head felt like it had been shattered, even after the tears had subsided and all she was left with was the sound of her hyperventilating. But even through all of this one single thing remained clear in her mind as she lay wrapped tightly in Crow's arms;
"I love you…" she whispered, grasping onto that fact for dear life. She felt him tense around her before sighing and sitting up so that he was kneeling above her, blushing as he stared into her eyes before smirking,
"I knew that silly," he kissed her lightly on the lips as he pulled her up, sliding his thumb across her eyes to wipe away the tears.
"I'll protect you, you know that right?" Raven held back more tears that threatened to fall as she looked into his steel colored eyes, she nodded and he kissed her again deeper this time. She opened her mouth as his tongue slid across her bottom lip, seeking entrance, which she complied happily as his muscle entered her mouth wrapping around her own. When they parted she was breathless and her lips were swollen, but she was happy. Crow smirked and kissed her forehead,
"Come on! I've got a big surprise for you today." Raven blinked,
"W-What? You don't have to give me anything…" she said blushing as he got up and stretched out his limbs.
"Well this is special so just get your butt down stairs soon okay?" he finished with a wink that sent her heart beating out of control, and with that he picked some clothes out of his drawers and left the room.
Raven lay back against the pillows and sighed her mood somewhat better than it had been before, 'I'm really happy I came here, so much has changed from before.' Thinking about her past made the truth about it harder to believe, 'Why would he do that? What could be possibly want with the Crimson Dragon?' she heard the bathroom door open and Crow start speaking with Yusei and Bruno as he walked down the stairs.
She huffed, 'I don't know enough about the thing to even begin wondering! Maybe one of the others would know, they've been Signers for a while. So they should know more about it…' the dark haired girl sighed again as she got up and walked over to the bag with her clothes and rummaged through picking out an outfit she then headed toward the shower.
~0~0~0~0~
Raven sighed as she stepped out of the bathroom the cool air hitting her instantly, the feeling was extravagant. She wore a pair of black skinny jeans with a dark long sleeve shirt that went around both her shoulders, high enough so that no one would see her scars. The shirt had an orange zipper on the front and stopped just around the middle of her stomach, showing more than what she was used too. But when she bought it Akiza had assured her that that was a good look on her, but mostly that a certain someone would like it.
She blushed at the thought as she slipped on her boots and made her way downstairs where the others were sitting, though not just Yusei, Crow, and Bruno. She was surprised to see Jack, Carly, Akiza, and even the twins sitting with them chatting about this and that.
They had yet to notice her and she was happy about that as she wasn't ready for them to stare or ask if she was okay after last night, she was content however just watching them for the time being.
'I've never seen them like this, its nice.' She thought as she finger combed her hair and went to get some water from the kitchen, after filling her cup she sat at the table and just stared out the window.
The buildings and streets were covered in a sparkling white substance, there wasn't very much but it was enough to make her smirk at how beautiful it was. She took a sip of her water and let her thoughts take over as she slid forward on the table laying her head in her folded arms.
'No matter how happy I am though, I can't shake the weight on my heart and the uneasiness. Wul-my father,' she corrected herself 'is spreading this disease and if I don't do something soon someone is going to die and it will be all my fault.' She squeezed her arms, 'But how do I do that when the very thing that's supposed to cure it is ineffective against it?'
Raven stretched her arms out in front of her, using the table to prop up her chin as she looked out the window again, 'There's gotta be a way…' but when nothing came she groaned and pressed her forehead to the table top.
"Hey, are you sick or something?" the dark haired girls heart almost stopped as she jumped up in shock, standing next to her looking very smug was Leo. She sweat dropped and smiled,
"N-No, I'm fine." This was of course a lie, one which the teal haired youngster believed as he shrugged.
"We've been waiting for you though! Why are you over here by yourself?" he asked crossing one leg over the other and his arms over his head. She raised her brows,
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"Is it about that dream that we all had last night?" she averted her gaze back to the window,
"S-Something like that…" She vaguely remembered she had never told them about her fathers connection to the disease that was currently spreading, Leo sighed bringing her thoughts back to the present.
"It sucks that all of that happened too you." He said simply, she cringed unsure of how to respond to that.
"I-I mean uhh…" He was blushing at this point as he stuttered trying to form a sentence,
"UGH! I'm sorry you're dad turned you into a lab rat!" he finally said, Raven snorted and burst into a round of giggles. After it had passed she wiped the tears that had formed and looked at the baffled boy,
"Thank you Leo, but you can't change the past. It's over and done with, I figure it's a better use of my time to think about the future." He still looked confused,
"But doesn't it hurt?"
"Well yes, but it was such a long time ago and eventually the pain will get easier to deal with...Though it's not something that will go away completely, it will just leave a scar over time." The teal haired boy blinked a couple of times and shook his head.
"I have no idea what you're saying!" he yelled, Raven just laughed and patted his head,
"You'll understand when you're older." She said as she stood up stretching her tense muscles, and walking back over to where the rest of the group sat.
"See Luna! Told you I could find her!" she sighed,
"I never said you couldn't." the teal haired boy just stuck out his tongue before turning to Crow,
"So can we show her now? Pleeeeaaaseeeee?" Crow laughed as he walked over and entwined their hands pulling her towards him. Raven giggled,
"Show me what?" Jack scoffed,
"Well it wouldn't be a surprise if we told you what it was." She sweat dropped,
"T-That's true I suppose…" Crow seemed like he wanted to say something but held back as he smiled at her.
"Alright guys, let's do this!" and with that he placed a hand over her eyes and wrapping her coat around her shoulders,
"No peeking got it?" it freaked her out a bit not being able to see, but she trusted the people around her and nodded her head as Crow led her forward and out through a door, the chill hitting her again but more intense this time, making her shudder.
She heard fabric hit the ground as Crow uncovered her eyes; blinking a couple of times as she gasped at what was in front of her: A dark purple duel runner in the shape of a dragon, with wings that went up the sides.
Her eyes were wide as she stared at it, the runner was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. As she walked around it looking from all angles she couldn't find one thing she didn't like about it, looking at the people before her she couldn't think of something to say.
"I-Is this…?" she couldn't finish the sentence she was so shocked but they nodded, Carly was standing taking pictures but otherwise everyone was smiling.
"H-How…why?" Bruno answered,
"Well, Crow felt really bad that you got into that accident so when I brought back the pieces of your old runner we thought it would be nice to rebuild it."
"Bruno and I did the technical stuff." Yusei chimed in.
"Me and the twins helped with the design." Akiza said
"I did the paint job!" Jack said crossing his arms and refusing to look at her, but she could still see a slight blush dusting his cheeks.
"And I did the welding and shaping." Crow finished as he handed her, her duel disk. "Its our present too you."
Raven hugged her duel disk close with one hand and covered her eyes with the other as tears began to rain down her face. Crow gasped and flailed,
"D-Don't cry! Oh gosh! I'm sorry I-" she cut him off with a shake of her head.
"I-I'm happy! I don't deserve such kind people in my life, but I have them and it just makes me so happy that you all went through so much trouble for me." She sobbed, Crow smiled understanding.
"It wasn't any trouble at all!" Akiza said hugging Yusei's arm, Leo nodded.
"Yeah! You're our friend and friends do this kind of stuff for each other." Raven smiled, even as tears made their way down her cheeks. Wiping them from her eyes she looked at them with a smile,
"Can I try it out?" Crow balled his fists out in front of himself;
"Duh!" she nodded and placed the duel disk on the board making the screen light up, Jack walked up and plopped her helmet on her head. She giggled as she adjusted it and he walked back inside with Yusei, Akiza and Crow she was confused until they came back out with their own runners.
Raven climbed on and tested out the grip on the handle bars, she was amazed at how everything was to her exact measurements. Even the accelerators at her feet were in the perfect position,
"You ready Raven?" Crow asked smiling; she nodded as the twins got onto Yusei's and Akiza's duel runners, with Carly shakily getting onto Jack's.
Her heart was beating fast as she faced forward and closed her eyes, just listening to the silence; the beating of her heart, her own breathing. She opened her eyes and pressed down on the accelerator, the runner roaring to life beneath her.
The other runners around her did the same and she smiled at the feeling, how right it felt to have them around her. Raven slammed down both accelerators, the runner taking off smoothly from her previous position, sending her flying down the street. She made a sharp turn and was amazed how easily she did it, and as she weaved in and out of traffic she understood why Jack and Crow drove they way they did.
The speed and control they had was definitely a high, one that she had missed. Raven barely noticed the others behind her as she made a turn onto the highway ramp, it was mostly empty and here she could really see what this runner was capable of.
Crow laughed as he watched his girlfriend's inner speed demon come out, but he was amazed at how good she was. Like riding a duel runner was as easy as breathing, then again he had never really seen her ride like she was right now. Even though her skin was red from the cold her body was completely relaxed even as she made turns and swerved in and out of on coming traffic.
"Geeze! And she called me the insane driver!" Jack yelled just as amazed as Crow,
"So I guess that means she's the new 'Master of Faster' eh Jack?" he teased, the blonde narrowed his eyes and sped past the others attempting to catch up with her, causing the girl hanging on to his back to scream.
Crow knew Raven had the advantage when mid-morning traffic blocked Jack's path, but it also blocked Raven from his sights, which made him worry. Until the traffic turned off onto other streets and he saw her back again, he noticed she was slowing down.
'Come on Raven, show me what you really got.' He said as he motioned for the others to pick up the pace, they had nearly caught up with both her and Jack when Crow noticed her doing something strange, she was moving in a snake like motion.
"What the heck is she doing?" Akiza asked from behind him, the red head shook his head not really sure either. Smoothly she turned the bike on it's back wheel and spun it so that she faced them, that's when it hit him, 'She's good at tricks i'll give her that!' he smirked as he sped up more, past Jack who had slowed down with Carly freaking out. Crow came up next too Raven and turned his runner so it faced the same way as hers, and together they just cruised on the now empty highway.
"Crow! Watch out!" Yusei said from in front of him as a man dressed in all black sped towards them, by the time Crow actually saw him he was too close to turn away. He grunted as Raven slammed the side of her runner into his, he recovered in time too see her roll up onto her front wheel to keep from swerving into the man and moving her out of the way. Crow would have breathed a sigh of relief if not for the tow truck parked behind her and coming up fast!
"Raven, behind you!" She glanced back too late as her runner rolled up the back, Crow was almost afraid to watch as she landed her back wheel just as the cabin of the truck hit flipping her upwards. His heart jumped in his throat as she seemed to move in slow motion, her head barely missing hitting the roof as her D-wheel flipped over the truck. Finally landing on the street on her back wheel again, and here her grip finally gave out as she fell and hit the ground. Her D-wheel was about to fall on her until Akiza stepped in,
"Go Rose Tentacles!" the green monster wrapped its arms around her duel runner keeping it from falling on the girl and setting it down next too her before vanishing again. Crow pulled up, jumped off and ran up next too her. Raven's helmet had come off during the fall and landed a few feet from her as she lay on the ground wheezing and clutching her stomach. He looked in the direction the man went but he had vanished just as quickly as he came.
"Damn that bastard! What's his problem?!" he yelled as the others stopped behind him,
"Crow! Raven! Oh my gosh! That was so cool! And scary! But way cool!" Leo yelled, "Is Raven alright?" Said girl sat up coughing but waved her hand toward them, Crow sighed in relief.
"She just got the wind knocked out of her. That was a pretty reckless move though girlie, I would have found a way to not get knocked into next week." He said with a smile. Raven's breathing returned to normal and she smiled at him,
"Don't be jealous just because I was quicker on the uptake Crow." She giggled as she said this and stood up patting the dust off her clothes.
"Raven, how did you do that?" Yusei asked curiously. She smiled sheepishly,
"Well…actually I was supposed to stop. I'm not really sure why it flipped. Guess I must have been faster than I thought." She said blushing, they all sweat dropped but smiled happy she was okay at least. Raven looked the direction the man went a worried look on her face,
"Jack that was…" the blonde nodded,
"Indeed." Crow was confused,
"Do you two know that whack job?" Jack nodded,
"That's the idiot who challenged me too a duel a few days ago with Raven." The red head nodded as he stood up grabbing her helmet on the way.
"Lets worry about that later, today is a happy day!" he said handing the helmet to Raven and rubbing her frozen red cheeks. The sound of her giggling made his heart rate speed up, he was truly happy to see her smiling.
"Come on! Lets go get you warmed up!" She smiled and nodded.
~0~0~0~0~
Raven followed the others as they went further into the city, they parked their D-wheels near the park that her and Crow had first met at. It sent shivers down her spine as she stared at the spot where she used to sit and people watch, the place she had first seen the red haired man now wrapping his arm around her waist and dragging her away.
They approached the large field next too the park and that's when she noticed all the people walking the same direction as them. There were many more people clustered around different stands and walking around chatting amongst themselves.
"Wow, there's a lot less people here than last year!" Leo shouted, Raven groaned. 'If this is less I'd hate to be here when there is more.' Crow gave her a confused look but she waved it off and turned to whisper in his ear about something.
"Is it customary to wear a face mask to…whatever this is?" she asked as all the people walking around had white face masks over their mouths, the red head laughed.
"This," he motioned ahead of them, "Is the winter festival; they used to hold it in Satellite for the kids when Neo Domino city was separate from us. Now we hold it here so everyone can enjoy it, and people are just worried about that bug that's going around." He shrugged obviously thinking they were insane.
Crow pointed toward something and dragged her in that direction and to her dismay right into the crowd of people. But Raven's mind was only partially on the various people around her, what occupied her most was thoughts about that 'bug'. 'Its my fault that this is happening to these people…' she mentally cursed herself for her own short comings, and as the red head came to a stop by a stand with cups filled with a steaming liquid and saw the smile on his face, she knew he was trying to make her happy right now.
'I guess I shouldn't dwell on it right now, Crow and everyone are doing their very best to make this day good. So I should try too!' she decided as Crow shoved a Styrofoam cup in her hand, the liquid smelled sweet and spicy.
"What's…this?" He smirked making her blush,
"Just drink it, I promise Jack didn't make it!" the comment earned a growl from the blonde but they both ignored it as she looked at the liquid, a little uncertain but took a tiny sip of the steaming liquid anyway, it tasted of apples and…cinnamon? She smiled as it began warming her up from the inside out,
"It's good." Crow downed his own drink in a few gulps and smiled,
"See? I told you it wasn't bad, now come on! We've got lots of stuff to check out!" And with that he took her hand again and dragged her off into the crowd.
~0~0~0~0~
Raven collapsed onto a bench that was thankfully empty, her feet hurt from standing so much and her back her from bending to pick up the things Crow had won. Thankfully a kind lady had taken pity on her and given her a bag to put the five fish he had won, all in a contest with Jack who also got five before they were forced to move on, and the mounds of candy the male said he
"Had to have." Or "They are for the kids!"
Both she highly doubted, but being soft hearted as she was with him she just giggled and pretended not to notice him grab more. She set the bags down beside her as Crow continued his latest competition with Jack over a cork shooting game, the way she saw it Jack insisted he could win a very cute looking bear for Carly but Crow, being himself, begged to differ and betted him that he could win it for herself.
Both girls had insisted that they didn't need the bear and could live without it, but it was too late by then because the two had already begun shooting the tiny shot guns toward the bottles.
At that point Raven sighed spotted the bench she was currently resting on and offered to watch Carly's own bag of stuff while she sat down. She pulled her prize out of one of the bags, a large stuffed Crow with an orange beak. The very first thing Crow won here and gave to her, and she loved it.
"That's cute!" a familiar voice behind her said as the blue haired Bruno sat down next too her, he held up a green…thing with three eyes with a thin black lip with its tongue sticking out. Raven looked at it a little apprehensively but smiled,
"Leo and Luna won me this!" he smiled, she giggled at his enthusiasm.
"It's cute!" which wasn't entirely a lie it just looked strange too her. She wondered where the two were until she saw them over with Carly, Jack and Crow. Who had at this point, all gotten into the game. She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face,
"It's nice to see them all having so much fun." Bruno said also staring at them, she nodded.
"I bet things are pretty stressful with the WRGP coming up soon, it's a dueling tournament right?" the blue haired boy nodded,
"All sorts of duelists from around the world are going to be there to compete, so they've all been working pretty hard to get ready." Raven snuggled the bird closer too her chest,
"I would like to see that." Bruno laughed,
"You will! Crow will want you in the pit with the rest of us cheering them on!" she smiled, not really sure what a pit was and why she would want to be in it but she let out a chilled breath, it had stopped snowing a while ago but the temperature just kept getting lower as the sky got darker, her teeth were nearly chattering. Remembering the drink from earlier she decided she wanted some and that she would get Crow some too, since he was probably getting cold as well, and figuring it was nearby stood up.
"Bruno, I'm sorry. Would you mind waiting here with this stuff?" he nodded,
"Sure, what for?" she smiled and stood,
"Just to get something really quick." And with that she took off into the crowd, despite the bluenette's yells.
Well there we have it, Oh! And the thing Bruno is holding? Yeah its a real thing! They are called 'Ugly Monsters', I saw it at work and just thought 'OMG I can see Bruno with this!' Please Review with any questions or comments! They make me really happy inside and help me keep getting this chapters out!
Till next time! :3