I AM NOT DEAD! But I do deeply deeply apologize for my long LONG absence, I'm afraid RL got kinda crazy with me finishing college last year and starting my job this year. I've also suffered a deep personal loss and it really affected my writing but I'm trying to finish this, even if nobody is still reading this I feel like I have too.

There's so many people I want to thank for their support in all this time, you're messages and kind reviews were always in the back of my mind and without them this chapter wouldn't have been born. THANK YOU! And please enjoy the new chapter!

Raven sat on the roof of the garage, having gotten back a couple of hours ago and eaten lunch thanks to Jack's insistence. Now here she sat looking across the city, the snow had tapered off and left a grey overcast in it's wake. The city was calm and with the cold chasing everyone into their homes it was pleasantly silent.

Her mind however was not on either of those things as it circled round and round like a top; each thought replaying the words her parent's had told them and the words Wulf himself had said and finally the man in her dreams.

There was a change however she noted vaguely in the back of her mind, where once these thoughts caused stress and unimaginable guilt now there was only determination and hope. Still she sighed as her thoughts continued to circle with no apparent solution to anything, 'Our best bet is to go to Wulf's hideout and hope we can get our hands on the antidote.'

Even the thought still brought shivers to her body, the fear that something would go wrong and someone she cared for would be hurt or worse. She turned her eyes toward the sky as a few stars managed to peek out from behind the clouds in the dying light of the sun, and like it was second nature she clasped her hands in front of her and closing her eyes she turned her head toward those stars and prayed.

'Please Crimson Dragon, please hear my prayer…' Raven prayed for strength, safety, and most of all the clarity to do what she had to do when the time came. She had no idea what that last part meant but as it came to her she could feel almost what could be described as an impending doom settle in her stomach. The warmth on her back told her the Dragon was listening, though what it's answer to all of her thoughts where was unknown.

Raven was still repeating the prayer in her head when she felt someone sit next to her, she didn't need her eyes to know Crow had finally come for her. The male had been attached at her hip the moment they came home, worry evident in his eyes but with many many assurances that she was in fact okay she had left them to discuss things as she came up here for her thoughts.

Still even sitting here without him for who knows how long sent a lounging feeling through her and now with him beside her, her heart raced uncontrollably. 'Thank you Crimson Dragon for bringing me here and giving me the chance to love him." And with that she opened her eyes dropping her hands into her lap automatically scooting closer so she could lean on his shoulder.

Without ever looking away from the horizon he wrapped his arm around her shoulders,

"What are you doing up here by yourself?" She shrugged and snuggled closer just barely registering how cold she actually was.

"Just needed to think for a little while, Mom and Dad were incredibly helpful but I'm afraid we just got more questions than answers. I just wish this was over already, I'm so tired of looking over my shoulder…" His grip on her shoulder tightened slightly at this admission, his sigh a puff of white.

"Me too."

After a while of sitting in silence they decided to head back inside and naturally Jack's loud voice was the first thing they heard.

"I don't think she should go, it's like we're handing her over on a silver tray!" Jack was facing Yusei, his stance all about hostel while the former just shook his head his arms crossed tightly over his chest and looking beyond done with the blonde. Bruno was between them, his hands up in a soothing gesture to pacify the two, for all the good it seemed to be doing as both parties seemed to ignore him entirely.

"And I keep telling you it will be fine, she's a great duelist and wont' just roll over. You've seen it yourself!" It was the first time Raven heard Yusei yell and honestly she didn't like it, though considering what the context of the conversion was there wasn't really a portion she did like. Jack narrowed his eyes and leaned farther into the dark haired boy's space.

"I do remember her last duel, the one that put her in the hospital for a week." Her eyes widened, 'Ouch, okay that was cruel.' She thought still standing at the top of the stairs, "A novice duelist such as herself shouldn't go into a hornets nest like this, it's sheer foolishness!" Yusei rolled his eyes,

"That is not your call to make you know it, this is her fight as much as ours." Crow walked down the stairs at this point, hands on his hips like a disappointed mother.

"Now now I think that's enough, go to your separate corners." Jack turned his fury toward him now,

"So you think she should go as well? You would just hand her over that easily?" Crow frowned but kept his stance non-confrontational, he spoke slowly in reply.

"No I wouldn't, and neither would Yusei or you. But the fact is; Wulf is her father and whether we let her go or not she will go anyway. We all know that." She blushed because it was true, she cared too much about them to not do so. "So don't you think it's safer for her to go with us then?" Jack didn't reply, just a grunt before averting his eyes elsewhere.

"Don't be hard headed man, you taught her for crying out loud!" Crow smirked devilishly, "Unless of course your lessons weren't all that great…" The blonde scoffed,

"Of course my lessons were top notch, even a fool like yourself could understand them!" At this point Raven walked down the stairs and stood next to the blonde,

"Great! Now that that's settled how about we move on to the next subject?" She saw Jack tense beside her and she smiled a bit knowing she had scared him, both Yusei and Bruno looked at her apologetically.

"Sorry Raven, We didn't meant to talk behind your back." She nodded at the blue haired mechanic,

"I know, you're worried. I'm worried too, but this isn't a fight we can win by running away. It's just like when I left Alturas, I thought I was safe but the danger just followed me here. I'm ready, this is a fight that's been years in the making and I won't see any more people be hurt because of me." She looked away,

"But Jack is right about one thing; I'm self-taught so any duelist could figure out my strategies given the time and once they do I'll be a swimming duck!" Yusei smirked and Crow smacked his forehead causing her to turn her gaze back toward them.

"I think you mean 'Sitting duck' Raven." Bruno said even as he fought off a smile, she just blinked,

"That doesn't make any sense…anyway I need a new strategy if I'm going to even have a chance of beating Wulf." At this Crow snapped his fingers and ran back upstairs, everyone frowned lightly as he went. There was some bangs and a rather loud crash followed by some cursing before he came back down, a small box in hands. Jack huffed,

"I don't see how your collection of illicit photos are going to help in this situation." Raven blushed as Crow frowned even as red covered his face,

"E-Even if I did have that, and I'm not saying I do." He pointedly looked at Raven then, "That's not what this is." He took the top off to reveal cards, lots of them. "I find the best way to revamp strategy is to add some new hitters." Raven smiled widely,

"That's a great idea!" Crow blushed again and cleared his throat,

"N-No prob, let's do this! I'm sure I've got some dragon cards in here somewhere…" he started toward the kitchen table, Yusei and Bruno following behind, Jack smirked before going over.

"As if you all could do this without my professional opinion." Raven stayed where she was and watched fondly as they began sorting through the cards, each of them giving their own thoughts as they found cards that she would like. In her mind she cataloged each moment, from the way they looked to what expression they wore. Every moment was precious and she wanted to remember it all, she couldn't say what made her do this.

Jack glanced up in annoyance,

"Well come on, show us your deck! We need cards that compliment what you've already gotten." She smiled at Jack, his voice was gruff but you could tell he cared very deeply.

"There's not many defensive type dragons are there? That could be a problem if someone were to shut down her ability to use magic and trap cards." Yusei was pensive, you could tell his mind was running constantly.

"I'm sure there's some combination of special abilities that could prevent someone from doing that though right? Dragon types are known for their power and special abilities." Bruno, Yusei's mental opposite but his heart shone through in every detail.

"Raven come over here, there's some cards I want you to look at that might click well." And finally Crow, the one with the biggest heart of them all. His love for everyone shone through, including his love for her.

She smiled and walked toward them, ready to face the next challenge with the people she loved.

~0~0~0~0~

After that was a blur of activity and naturally more arguing, followed by a short break for dinner before finishing up with little to no damage done. Raven stared at the finished deck with wide eyes, even the feeling she got from it was stronger more balanced.

"It's beautiful…" she whispered star struck, Crow laughed but the psychic pull of her new deck was way too distracting. Where there was a low growl before it was now the roar of a fully grown dragon, it brought tears to her eyes as she held it close to her heart. "With this I feel like I can win now." Jack ruffled her hair,

"Of course we'll be there as well to ensure you don't mess up too badly." She sweat dropped.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence…I guess." Crow draped himself over her shoulders to stare at the blonde.

"Isn't how good she is a direct reflection on her teacher?" his voice held nothing but mischief, and Jack of course couldn't resist and lunged straight at the male shouting indignities. Raven being in the middle of the intended scuffle quickly side stepped and the bickering and the fighting began again. Yusei, Bruno, and herself let out similar sighs.

Luckily a vibration in her pocket pulled her focus from the scene in front of he, pulling out her phone as the screen lit up with Akiza's name. She muttered a small, "Excuse me." As she fled the room and up the stairs to Crow's room and shut the door to block out the noise.

"Hello?" Raven said as she put the device to her ear,

"Raven! Hi! How are you?" she smiled as Akiza's soothing voice rang in her ears, how she missed the red haired girl.

"I'm alight, all things considered." She hummed in response.

"I know…but did you happen to get a package from me? I sent it home with Yusei when he came over this morning." Raven frowned and stared at the box still sitting on the bed unopened.

"Yes…Akiza what's inside it exactly?" Akiza laughed,

"Remember what we talked about yesterday?" she swallowed hard, just thinking about it made her blush straight to her ears and not trusting her voice hummed in response.

"Well, I got you something you can use, but don't feel pressured to do anything if you don't want too. It's just in case!" She said gently, but Raven had already made up her mind on the matter even though just thinking about it made her heart nearly pound out of her chest. "I just wanted to call and say I'm here for you no matter what happens. You have plenty of time so there's no rush…"

Raven stared at her socked feet and smiled a little, the words already giving her a boost of confidence.

"Thanks Akiza, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime dear, but listen I have to go now. But call me tomorrow before you guys leave no matter what okay?" She nodded.

"Okay, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Good night." The girl repeated the parting before a beeping signaled the end of the call. Taking a deep breath Raven walked towards the box and grasping it with both hands opened it carefully. Inside was some sort of white sheer dress, as she pulled it out and held it up to herself she noticed how short it was.

'I suppose that makes sense considering the purpose of it, but at least its not completely see through…' Raven took a deep breath and even though her heart was pounding in her chest and her fingers shook she replaced her current outfit with the dress and looked at herself in the mirror on top of Crow's dresser.

The dress had thin straps but accentuated her chest with a short bodice, but was modest enough to cover what was showing with floral lace designs, under that was a length of satin that tied into a bow with the rest of the dress pleating outwards and ending just below her hips with more of the floral lace. So while her stomach was completely visible the rest was covered mostly, the red in her face receded and she continued to stare.

She actually felt…pretty good in this. The white was a good contrast to her skin tone and since her hair was naturally so dark it made her eyes seem bluer, she smiled and the nervousness faded and was replaced with excitement.

Crow yawned as he walked up the stairs, he assumed after Raven never came back from her phone call that she fell asleep and was determined to join her. However as he walked in he noticed the small desk light still on, what he saw next was what froze him in place and the door shut behind him.

Sitting on the bed was Raven in mid-lean to push a book off the bed wearing possibly the sexiest lingerie he had ever seen. The baby doll was all sheer lace and holy shit was that a strip of satin from a thong peeking out over her hips as she shifted? His brain went right out the window and the room was suddenly very very hot.

He was aware he was openly staring at this point, whether his mouth was gaping like a fish at this point was debatable because he was so dumbstruck but this was just so beyond any of his expectations.

It took him a minute, or ten who the hell knows, for him to realize she was talking.

"W-What?" he asked stupidly, though he was quite literally stuck stupid in this case so he supposed he could be forgiven.

"I-I asked if this w-was okay?" her voice shook and now that Crow was looking closer she was shaking all over. He cleared his throat a couple of times and making sure the door was locked behind him walked over to the bed and sat down, his face felt like there was a fire beneath his skin as he carefully reached up and ran his fingers through her hair hoping to calm her, and himself, down a bit.

"What's going on bird?" he made sure to use a gentle tone along with his private nickname for her.

"I wanted to surprise you…I mean I want to give me myself-ah!" she bit her lip in frustration, and he couldn't stop the smile from stretching his lips as he leaned forward catching her lips with his own.

"Thank you Raven, but I don't want you to feel rushed…" he trailed off as her lip wobbled and she curled in on herself.

"Y-you don't want me?" his eyes went wide as he realized his fuck up and gently pushed her back and kissed her hard, his tongue finding its way into her mouth. With his free hand in guided one of her own down his body; her cold fingers trailed from his neck, between his pecs and farther still past his stomach until it touched his half hard crotch it was here he pressed her hand down. She gasped and it took every ounce of control not to buck his hips,

"Not wanting you is not the issue bird, believe me I want your everything." He released her hand and slowly she dropped it between them, still her eyes were locked on where it was. He cupped her face, her beautiful eyes meeting his own. "I just want this to be perfect, not some stress induced whim or anything other then what you deserve your first time to be like." She swallowed hard,

"S-So…not tonight then?" he rubbed soothing circles on her cheeks,

"If it happens tonight then it happens, and if not, well we have plenty of time." She stared a bit before nodding, he smiled. "Okay, wanna listen to some music?" she nodded again as he reached for the remote to turn on the device across the room as a pop song began to fill the silence.

"S-Should I change?" he smirked,

"No way I like you how you are!" she snorted, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The song ended and was replaced with one that Crow knew, it was called Satellite, and it instantly reminded him of the girl next to him. Smiling he pulled her on her feet and to the middle of the room, wrapping his arms around her waist. She caught on quickly and placed her hands on his shoulders, the lyrics filling the space around them as they shifted back and forth.

"Make the whole world wait while we, dance around this bedroom like tonight's our only night." Crows heart swelled as he looked at her, memories of the first time he laid eyes on her flashing through his head, "Not about to let you go until the morning light."

He could so easily imagine his future with her, "You can be my whole world if I can be your satellite…" He was honestly so amazed how quickly he could mold himself around her, like they were meant for one another; before her he never even imagined dating or even marrying another person. Crow's world was narrow; focusing only on his kids, friends, family and dueling.

When Raven showed up at that park it was like she was the switch to turn on the world around him. Right now, in this moment he was more aware than ever before, the feeling of the soft fabric of her dress and the heat emanating from her waist where his hands held, the way her fingers played with the short hairs at the base of his neck, and even the soft breaths against his chest as she laughed or sighed. If it wasn't for the music he would think that time had stopped completely.

"But tonight the sand is stopping, take the hourglass and drop it. So we can stay inside this atmosphere." The chours started again and Crow found himself mouthing the words as Raven's face light up and a giggle slipped through her lips.

"Dance with me round the moon, you and I every night. Let's dance around this bedroom, I'll be your satellite." As the song ended and another took its place he leaned down and lightly pressed his lips to hers over and over again, the taste of her smile as he did this was exhilarating. Crow bumped and swayed her, even as the air around them changed.

The kisses turned deeper, hands explored farther and suddenly they were back on the bed. Skin meeting skin, hushed whispers of love and soft laughter as they came together body and soul, the moments together stretching beyond them and into their own little universe. It was a time Crow would think back on a lot in the coming days, and each time the only word that would come to mind would be 'Perfect.'

Raven groaned softly as the early morning sunlight assaulted her eyes, she blinked hard and turned toward the source of warmth behind her. Her gaze landing naturally toward the red head and her heart swelled as memories of the previous night came; how gentle he was, his calm reassurances when she got scared or nervous. It was glorious and even now the warmth that filled her body afterward still lingered.

Smiling softly she tucked a hair behind his ear and watched as he shifted slightly before snoring deeply again. There were many things to think about today; her battle with her father, the plague on the city, her future with Crow and everyone. It was all scary and honestly she didn't have a good feeling about today, it was ominous the feeling she got when she thought about it.

But for this moment in time she put it all in the back of her mind, right now, all she wanted to think about was the warmth of Crow's body, the sound of his breath as he breathed out, and the love she felt toward him.

Thank you again for anyone still reading this, I do hope it was good. I put a lot of research and thought into this chapter and debated for a long time if it was really necessary. There's only about one chapter left followed by an epilogue so I hope you will stay with me until then!

Until next time!