After sharing a few minutes quiet conversation with her companion, Lethe handed Yusei her mug and went to take a shower of her own. For a moment as he stood with a cup in either hand, there was the slightest moment of discontinuity. But this was how it had always been. Lethe woke up first and made the coffee, Yusei woke up after and did the washing up.

He remembered it clearly.

Carefully wiping the mugs free before they could begin to stain, he stacked them on the side to dry. There were a few dirty dishes on the side. It was unlike him to leave them out overnight like that but he assumed he must have been too tired the previous evening to clean up. After all, he couldn't even recall going to bed.

Once the dishes had been cleaned, stacked to dry and tidied away, he went back to the laundry hamper. It had been nearly full to the brim when he had put his dirty clothes in it and was one of the items on his list for the day. Better get it out of the way early so he could move onto bigger tasks. After deftly sorting the clothes into two colour schemes, he carried the bigger bundle to the washing machine kept beside the vast clockwork mechanism at the front of the building.

Every time that he entered the room, he realised that he had forgotten just how present the ticking was. Not loud or deep but with a steady rhythm that was usually blocked off by the thick sound-proofing. The irrepressible sound of time moving forward.

It was as he went through the mundane ritual of emptying pockets that the first impossible truth happened. Tumbling out a set of crispy trousers came a tiny pebble. Ordinarily, he wouldn't have paid it any attention. Bits of dirt and gravel were naturally attracted to trousers. It seemed to be what they existed for. What separated this rock from most of the gravel he picked up was the way that it glimmered in the light.

Putting aside the laundry to pursue the instinctive human reaction to look at anything shiny, he slowly crouched down to pick up the tiny nub. Lying in his hand was a red piece of glass, wrapped by a blackened piece of metal. It looked like an earring but Lethe didn't wear them. Besides, this one looked like it had been through a fire at some point.

Looking down at the twisted piece of metal and gem, he tried to remember where he could have picked it up. Maybe it had just been a piece of random dross picked up over the course of a day. Then again, it had come from the fire-damaged trousers. The ones that had been burned when he had been doing Duel Runner maintenance and accidentally caused a spark.

He remembered the hurry to peel them off as they smouldered.

Putting the earring into the pocket of his fresh trousers, he focussed on the task of checking pockets. For a genius, he couldn't count the number of times that he had almost washed things he shouldn't. Computer chips, loose bits of tissue. Once, he had even put a handful of metal washers in without realising it. Fixing that mistake had taken him the better part of a day.

Tipping in some detergent, he put the laundry on for a through cycle and left the machine to get on with it. Closing the door behind him, he took a seat at the table and continued to sip at his drink until the cup was empty. Stifling a yawn, he settled an elbow against the table and rested his palm inside. Although he had barely woken up, he felt like he hadn't slept at all. Weird. He couldn't remember the last time he had woken up feeling anything other than rested and refreshed.

Closing his eyes, he settled into a low snooze as the faint sound of running water played the part of white noise to perfection.

They were in a car, travelling along at night. Trudge was driving. The last time he had driven a car, it had been to take Yusei into custody when Goodwin had still been in power. Looking over at his fellow passenger, he beheld a wondrous sight. Like beauty personified. "... earrings?" Being in a dream is always strange yet this felt different. Like he wasn't even an observer in events. It would certainly account for his inability to actually put a sentence together.

"Nice, aren't they?" Gently curving a finger behind one ear, she shifted the mane of hair back so he could see the jewellery better. "They were an engagement gift between my parents. A watch and earrings." A streetlight passing by filtered through the gem, carved a scarlet hue through the air and flashing across his eyes.

Sitting upright with a choking gasp, he tried to cling to the image as it slipped from his mind.

"Yusei?" Shaking him by the shoulder, Lethe seemed startled by the sudden awakening. "You drifted off for a minute. Did you have a nightmare?" Wiping off his eyes, it took him a moment to grasp reality again. Lethe was covered in his dressing-gown with a towel still wrapped around her head.

"No. I was... we were..." Then he remembered what had been staring him right in the face. Frantically scrambling through his pocket to locate the earring, the thread actually pierced his finger as he pulled the earring out. "Lethe, is this yours?" Looking at the earring, she coloured slightly.

"No." Which made it a lot more embarrassing to try and explain where he had got it from. "Where did you find it?" Thinking through the answer brought up no easy ways to escape the problem he had just brought up for himself.

"I was doing the laundry." Okay, good so far. No signs of shooting himself in the foot. "Just emptying pockets." Steady now, steady. "And it fell out a pair of my trousers." BOOM! Went the metaphorical landmine. "So, I assumed it was just one of yours that I had picked up from somewhere?" Judging by the fuming look on her face, this was not the last he would be hearing of the issue.

"Hmph!" Turning on one heel, she strode back to the bedroom to get dressed. Only now that he had ruined the morning did Yusei realise that she had probably put on his dressing-gown instead of proper clothes to flirt with him a little. Screwing that up had likely cost him a lot of points.

When she returned to the room wearing jeans and a thick jumper, he made sure to be perfectly prepared. "I was going to make eggs but we seem to be out." Which was odd because he couldn't remember the last time that he had cooked any. Balancing on the tips of one hand was a fresh cup of coffee instead. "But I think Hoshi's ready to be friends?" Tucked against his chest with his spare arm was the small bundle of feline fury which hissed at the implication of being forced to act nice. "Don't ruin this for me, I need it." Glaring up at him, she carefully narrowed her eyes and rolled her head to look at the impassive face of Lethe.

"I don't suppose that you asked Hoshi if it was her earring, did you?" Running high on levels of adrenaline he forgot he had, Yusei tried to decipher the tone. As far as he could tell, he would either get this a little wrong or a lot wrong. Those were the odds he had to work with.

"It's funny, she swears she thought it was mine." Holding out the cat in one hand, he could also feel the nerves in his fingers starting to painfully die off. "But I never saw myself as the earring type." That honour had gone to his brother.

"What do you think?" Carefully taking the cat in both hands, Lethe slowly drew it to her chest as it hissed slightly. At least there were no claws, yet. It was a new record. "Should we forgive him?" Another hiss answered her question as the cat scrambled away and fell to the floor. "Your prospects aren't looking good." Taking the cup of coffee, she pulled a face after only one sip. "Urgh." Looking down at the brew, it was blander than her expression. "Two sugars, no milk. How can you have a brain the size of a planet and still forget how I take my coffee?"

"Because it's endearing how foolish I am and drives you to stick around?" Truth be told, he had no idea why he had made the coffee wrong. Lethe had two sugars without milk, he usually treated himself to one sugar with. He couldn't think why he had made it with just milk.

"Yeah," Handing him back the cup, she stepped past him towards the stairs. "Good luck with that." Placing the mug on the counter, he followed her down the stairs as he tried to think of a way to earn himself back into her good graces. "Any luck remembering about your mystery earring?" Unable to think of a way to avoid the question, he accepted his loss and tried for the truth.

"It sounds weird but I think it belongs to Setsuko Izinski." Of course it would sound strange, since they hadn't even spoken in a long time. "So I was thinking about visit," As he rounded the corner of the landing, a small pang echoed through his head. For a moment, he couldn't remember why there was a white Duel Runner sitting in the middle of the set.

He had started building the new Runner as a long-term project to keep himself busy in near-retirement. Except for doing some maintenance jobs around the city and teaching the occasional Duel Runner riding class for Duel Academy, he had basically stopped working. The winnings from the WRDGP were enough to tide him over on interest alone that he hadn't been forced to continue employment.

He remembered it clearly.

"Hello? Earth to Yusei?" It was clear that Lethe had noticed the slight pause in his step as he followed her down the stairs. "What's going on?"

"Sorry. I'm still a bit tired." Looking out over the various machines, he tried to figure out why they were all uncovered. "I think I'll just work on my project." Pulling covers back over the other Runners, he wondered about maybe loaning them out to the local Duel Academy. Or possibly giving them to a museum. It was better that they saw use instead of rusting away inside his garage forever. "Make sure that everything's working the way that it should."

"Okay." Although her words agreed, Lethe's tone obviously didn't trust him. "I probably won't be back too late. We've been getting fewer people in lately. I just hope that it's because we've been making a difference." The two other likely probabilities were that the people who usually visited the clinic had either stopped hoping or stopped breathing. How Lethe managed to keep going back day after day astounded Yusei. After another failed attempt to stroke Hoshi, Lethe waved goodbye to Yusei as he struggled to cover the massive wheel of Jack's Runner with a sheet. Once the task was completed, he was free to continue work on his project.

Scattered tools were still strewn around the gleaming white Runner. It was unlike him to leave things where they lay without good reason. He supposed that he must have been in the midst of tinkering with something and become distracted. That might account for it.

Kneeling down, he picked up a socket wrench in one and carefully examined the interior for himself. Many of the items inside glinted dimly under the lights above. They were a gritty grey for the most part, tightly packed beneath the exterior shell. So far, it looked as if he had simply been taking apart a few of the bulkier elements near the surface to get a better view at the deeper innards of the machine.

Another wave of discontinuity swept over him. Like before, he had the slightest twinge that there were details that were missing. It was easier to spot what this time around. Although his mechanic brain was admitting that the design of the machine was sound, the more personal part was confused by the layout. Yes, it was a good design yet not the sort that he would have usually gone for. Multiple exhaust vents when fewer could have been used? A seat so long that he would practically have to lay down when going at top speeds?

It had been after the tragic events of Ark Cradle. When he had been determined to force some good, any good to come from the horrors he had endured. Multiple vents because that was how Primo had driven. A longer seat than normal because of Paradox.

Yet even the memories washing through his mind couldn't calm the confusion in his gut. Even the placements of some of the components inside were weird. From the way that they had been assembled, there should have been too much weight in several areas to make driving the Runner an easy task for all but the most skilled of riders. It wasn't something that he would do. After another minute of internal struggle, he put the tools back down where they had been.

Yusei didn't have much faith in dreams. Everyone had them, most of them meant nothing. What he did have faith in was his gut and his gut was saying this was something to worth a closer look. Even though his memories tried telling him what a bad idea this was, he threw on a jacket, tucked the earring into one pocket and forced his feet up the ramp which lead to the outside.

Getting to his destination had taken an hour of walking as he tried to think of what to say. Walking up the door had taken an extra fifteen minutes of dithering back and forth. Standing on the porch, looking up at the thick piece of wood, filled Yusei with a terrible dread. He hadn't been to this house in years. Not since he had been forced to deliver the worst news possible. It had been made clear that he wasn't welcome anymore. That it had been his fault.

He remembered it clearly.

Which was why one hand was trembling as it rose to knock on the wooden surface. Heavy footsteps came from the other side and resonated with the tight knot of anxiety in his stomach as the door was pried open.

"Fudo." Standing in the opening was the impassive figure of Hideo Izinski. What struck Yusei most about him was the eyes. Cold, dead, lifeless eyes. "What do you want?" It was apparent that Setsuko wasn't in. He wouldn't have answered the door otherwise.

"Senator Izinkski. I..." He trailed off as those eyes hardened. After hearing the news, Hideo Izinski had spiralled into a deep depression. It was rumoured that his marriage had almost ended like his political career but rounds of counselling had managed to keep it afloat. Everyone remembered the news announcing his resignation. So why had his first instinct been to use that title?

"It's not 'Senator' now." Swallowing in the glare he was getting, Yusei tried to keep his mind on task without thinking about just how crazy he was about to sound. "Get off my property before I call the police." One hand moved to slam the door shut.

"You gave your wife a pair of ruby earrings!" It hadn't meant to come out like that but the words stopped Hideo in his tracks. The door, which had been about to meet the frame, started to pry back open again. "For your engagement. You bought her a set of ruby earrings." Staring back at him with that dead gaze, a flicker of confusion manifested in Hideo's eyes.

"Who told you that?" Feeling the raw emotion in that gaze, the younger man struggled to remain in place. If felt like an avalanche was about to break over him and bury him alive.

"And she bought you..." What was it? What had been so clear in his dream but started to fall through his fingers every moment since. "She bought you..." It had been so clear in that strange idea. Lulled to sleep by the sound of ticking. Ticking from the clock above the shop! "A watch." A timepiece so much smaller than the one in the laundry room yet just as valued.

"I never... Where did you hear that?" Shock was keeping him from shutting Yusei out again. It would wear off soon so he needed to push for whatever advantage he could grab while he could.

"It sounds crazy but I have to ask." Pulling the tiny object from his pocket, he dangled it out between them. "Did they look like this?" Blackened and twisted from fire, the tiny mesh of metal and gemstone was already difficult to see without Hideo putting his glasses on. After a minute of squinting, the knot between his brows slowly tightened in recognition.

"Where did you get that?" A note of suspicion entered his voice. It wasn't a unique piece but the price was far beyond what someone like Yusei would usually pay.

"I think," He paused, unsure of how else to phrase the idea. The only way that he could even explain it was through a dream. "I think that Ak" The blow landed on his face just as he managed to get the words out. Enough reflexes remained that he was able to hold onto the tiny object as they both fell back through the air. Whoever said the truth hurt had probably never been punched in the face that hard when delivering it.

"Don't you dare say her name." Staring down at the fallen man, the aged politician looked incredibly imposing even with a dressing gown and padded slippers on. "You have five minutes before the police arrive. I suggest you leave before they get here." When the door closed this time, it closed all the way and several locks made sure it would stay that way.

Looking down at his clenched fist, Yusei couldn't even fathom what was happening to his world. Hideo's reaction had been all the confirmation that he had needed. This was one of the earrings that he had given his wife over twenty years ago. One which had impossibly ended up in Poppo Time when they both remembered trying to avoid each other for the past decade.

"How did it go?" Lethe was peeling an orange at the table when he arrived. She had changed from the jumper and jeans into a pair of comfortable shorts and had the look of someone performing a deeply unpleasant job. She had also deduced that he had given in to his curiosity and gone to visit the Izinski residence.

"About as well as could be expected." Grabbing a medical cool pack from the freezer, he wrapped it in a dishcloth and held the bundle against his swelling cheek. "I thought you didn't like oranges." Of course, he remembered correctly. His memories were very clear when it came to Lethe.

"One of my friends at the clinic brought them in." Placing a segment in her mouth, she swallowed it without chewing. It seemed like a workaround for her dislike of the taste. "Apparently, we all could do with more vitamin C in our lives. She made us all promise to eat one."

"Really?" Picking the next segment from her fingers, Yusei seated himself in the chair beside her with a serious face. "How are you going to tell her that you couldn't do it then?" Popping the piece into his mouth, he bit down and felt the sweet taste spread across his tongue.

"Simple." Swallowing another segment whole, Lethe pulled a disgusted face. "I'll just tell her my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend stole it." With her distaste for the fruit already putting her in a sour mood, it was easy to put an angry face on.

"Oh?" Taking another piece of the fruit, Yusei munched it with gusto. "I don't suppose that there's anything I could do to change your mind about the 'ex' part?" After the incident at the Izinski residence, he was reminded of the need to not waste a single moment.

"Eat this." Holding the entire fruit in front of his face, Lethe's glare managed to say that she was tempted to shove it somewhere further south if he didn't do as he was told. "In one." Right up until that last bit, he had thought the request would at least be reasonable.

"Fine." Taking the lump in one hand, he crammed it into his mouth and began chewing. It was so sweet that his face instantly began turning in on itself. One piece was enough, three was too many and however many were in his mouth was enough to make his eyes water.

"Idiot." Ignoring the plight he had taken on himself, she peeled the medical aid from his face. "That looks nasty." Just to be safe, she gave it an extra poke and watched him flinch. "Baby." Holding the bag in place with her own hand, she carefully brushed a stray piece of hair back behind one ear. "How's Mr Izinski doing these days?" Swallowing as much as he could, Yusei choked slightly.

"He looks okay." Dropping a pip into his hand, he brushed it onto the floor. "It's probably not really something that he can ever get over. Maybe he'll learn to live with it. But getting past it?" Shaking his head, he swallowed the last of the fruit and used the sting of its sharp taste to remind him of the current situation. "I doubt any of us will ever get past it."

"Hey." Taking his face in both hand, Lethe glared at him. "You did all you could. Nobody else could have done better." It had taken two years before he felt strong enough to tell her the entire story. Nobody else had understood his inability to talk about it but Lethe had been patient.

He remembered every minute of it.

"Come on," Taking one of her hands, he tried for a smile. It felt forced on his bruised face. "I could really do with some crappy television and a relaxed night. And," Reaching to the back of his jaw, he pulled out another orange seed from where it had lodged behind his teeth. "No more oranges. Let's have something quick and easy for dinner." So, what if he had picked up an earring that bore a slight resemblance to the one Setsuko Izinksi owned? That didn't necessarily mean anything. Days of strange things were behind Yusei. He was happy.

"Dim sum? From that place you like?" Looking up at him with a pleading expression, she knew she had won him over. With Yusei eager to paper over cracks, he would be sure to give up and order takeout.

"Okay, fine." Peeling the ice pack from his face, he used his spare hand to put his phone to the other ear. "See what there is on and I'll place the order." As the dial tone engaged and Lethe began scrolling through programs, he looked down at the cold pack on the table. It was weird. This was a proper medical ice pack, the kind used for serious injuries and in hospitals. Martha had always raised her children to make do with a pack of frozen vegetables and be thankful. But he had decided to invest in a proper ice pack after getting a nasty burn on his arm and not being able to switch out the packets fast enough to keep them from thawing.

He remembered it.

"..lo? Is anyone there?" With a start, he realised that he had finally connected to the restaurant.

"Sorry, I was stuck in my memories." Shaking free of the cobwebs, he focused on the more important issue of dinner. "Can I place an order?" Everything was fine. The earring was probably just an LED that had been bent in his pocket. There was any number of things it could be or reasons why he had picked it up. Putting the issue aside, he committed himself to an evening of bad television, good food and snoozing on the couch with his girlfriend.

Dreams are strange realities. Pigs can fly, oceans can remain as steady as stone while the cities rock back and forth in fluid stasis. There was no rhyme or reason unless you were fully submerged. Even then, the understanding stays inside the dream. What is left behind is a tangled web of mismatched sensations.

Yusei didn't remember dreaming. He remembered ambitions and desires but not actual dreams since the days of the WRDGP. Like every sleep had simply been a blank void. But he was dreaming now. He had to be. Because Akiza was sitting beside him as they were driven down some road. He had just asked about her earrings and she seemed pleased by the attention.

"Nice, aren't they?" Gently curving a finger behind one ear, she shifted the mane of hair back so he could see the jewellery better. "They were an engagement gift between my parents. A watch and earrings." A streetlight passing by filtered through the gem and carved a scarlet hue through the air and flashed across his eyes.

Scarlet like the flames that had filled the world as he stumbled up and down corridors. Part of him was terrified by the flames yet he tempered that fear with the knowledge that he had ensured Akiza's safety first. No shadows could be cast in that place yet a dark outline was constantly flitting about him as injured people were carried about. As he lowered them into a boat to set into the water, the fire finally caught him and burned him a pain that seemed to echo deep into his soul.

Just like that moment when he had watched an impossible girl remove her helmet to reveal a face just as heartbreakingly beautiful as Akiza's. Yet there was a watchfulness in those eyes that had a clear source to them."Crow's the father." His voice, his injury. And there had been another emotion in those eyes. A burning hatred that flared whenever they turned his way.

"Musume." Standing outside the ship doomed to go down in flames, even a mask couldn't dull the anger as he hurried to extract his arm from Akiza's. Whatever joy they were having had been curtailed by her presence.

Then he was turning to face his old friend as police officers searched through his house. "Like it or not," Standing again in Poppo Time, Trudge was unaware of the figure clinging to the ceiling above their heads. "Your new friend is going to have to come with me." A twitch of fear ran through his stomach at the words. If there was another fight, Akiza might get hurt by this threat.

"And have you thought," Keeping his voice low enough that he could barely hear it, he hoped Trudge would accept the warning he was trying to extend. "About what if she doesn't want to?" Then handcuffs were being fastened to the shadow as it was taken to the Facility over the objections of Akiza's daughter. Of Musume.

Musume chasing him, forcing him into Duels on the worst days of his life. Why they were the worst days he couldn't say. He was younger back then. Still in the thrall of the Crimson Dragon. But the reason for his torment was a mystery that had no answer he could recall as he moved to make a new draw.

All the way at the deepest level now, he stared down at a handful of cards. This was before any of the other times. He knew this one intimately. On an inverted skyline, dropping towards the city as he tried to protect it. On the day that he had promised to bring back their future. But there was something wrong.

Two visions seemed to be overlaid atop each other. One was grim reality, Crow and Akiza wounded from their fight with Sherry, almost crushed by the falling debris. His brother had managed to survive long enough to get medical aid. The other Signer hadn't. This was what he remembered. This is what had gone down in history.

Shaking himself back awake, he tried to force the overlapping image from his mind. It hadn't happened. It hadn't been real. Akiza had died from her injuries. Right as they arrived back on the land, the Crimson Dragon had taken back its emblems and never graced them again. The survivors hadn't spoken in years.

And it had taken years of months counselling to get over, counselling where he had met Lethe when one of her friends had overdosed and she was trying to get clean. They had started meeting for coffee and somehow become friends and started a relationship without realising it. She had even moved in a year ago and still spent a few hours every weekend volunteering at a rehab clinic on the other side of the city.

This was his life and he was happy with it. It was the only one that he remembered.

Turning to look at the sleeping face on his shoulder, he tried to force the images from his mind. One where Akiza had been bruised and bloody, injured by debris while Sherry escaped relatively unscathed. The other where she was smiling, going on to live the life he had seen in jumbled pieces of dreams.

Tilting Lethe the other way on the sofa, he carefully slipped away to get a glass of water. Soothing his parched throat, he stood over the sink as ideas and dreams swirled through his head. History had changed before. Yusei had seen it happen. It couldn't be what was happening now. If it had, he should either remember everything or nothing. There certainly shouldn't have been a ruby earring in his pocket.

Pulling out the accessory, he tried to figure out a way to justify its existence. Lethe didn't wear jewellery. One of the first acts of desperation for a junkie was to sell anything valuable they owned to try and score their next fix. Wearing any was just an unpleasant reminder of where she had been. And Yusei certainly hadn't picked it up anywhere else.

One idea was that it was just a stray item that he had picked up somewhere without thinking about it. That simply seeing it had reminded him of Akiza and lead to the spiralling ideas of everything that could have been. It made sense. It was rational. It agreed with the truth that he remembered.

As he struggled to fit both arms into a jacket, Lethe started to stir on the couch. Her primary source of heat had gone missing and she could either stay there cold or relocate to find thicker blankets. Hearing keys rustling nearby, she looked up. "Yusei?" Standing there like a child caught drawing on the wallpaper and – knowing they will be punished anyway – decides to keep going, he averted his gaze and started tying shoelaces. "It's" Checking her watch, she was irritated to see it was barely ten minutes after they had drifted off. "One-thirty in the morning. Where are you going?" Her tone had the right balance of 'this is too early, I hate you for waking me up' and genuine concern.

"To the Facility." His last memory of the place was a decade ago but he remembered hearing that the new warden was progressive and looking to rehabilitate the prisoners. "I need to check on something."

"What? The Facility? Why?" Removing the comforting presence of the blankets, she shivered in the morning air as she hurried over to try and confront him. "Yusei, tell me what's going on."

Looking down at his girlfriend, he was already aware of the implications of what might happen. If history had changed or something even more dreadful had happened, he might be able to fix it. Maybe even undo it completely. But if his dreams turned out to be reality then he would never end up going to grief counselling. Never meet Lethe there. Never start a life with her. He had a thousand memories with her and all of them wonderful. And that's what he would be losing.

"I need to see if a friend of mine ended up there." Calling that shadow a 'friend' might be pushing it. They had been more of a friend of a friend. That girl... Musume. She frequently vanished for stretches of time without warning. Even if she was still out in the world (or even existed at all), it could be days before she showed up. The shadow was the only thing that might be nearby. If it was in the Facility, it would validate the scattered images. "If they're not there, then it's all okay. Trust me." Yet to fasten his coat, he wrapped her up inside and held her head to his shoulder. "For once, I want to be wrong."

Carefully bending her arms behind his back, Lethe returned the embrace. "Okay." They remembered years of building trust. Little could come in the way of that. "Just promise me to come back safe." Resting his head atop hers, he tried to control the mass of feelings churning inside his stomach. That was one promise that he couldn't make.

So many deadlines. So much stress. Such little free time. However, since it is the holiday season, I will be wrapping up this confusing tangent in the story. Another chapter should be up tomorrow (although it probably counts as later today by this point) and hopefully start clearing up the confusion.

As always, leave a review and I'll do my damndest to get back to you.