Yuya awoke to the warm softness of some thick fluffy bed sheets. He was so groggy he couldn't register anything beyond that for ten whole minutes. When he finally got his eyes open it was so bright. There was a sun shinning to his left. He squeezed his eyes shut from the shock and slowly blinked them back open, turning his head away from the light. Once he was accustomed to it, he sat himself up slowly, noting how sore all his muscles were. The slightest movement sent spikes of pain everywhere.

"Ah!" He cried as he unconsciously spread his wings only for those muscles to protest too. He looked around and saw he was in a large room with very lavish furnishings. The bed he was lying in was plushy with at least eight pillows and several layers of expensive looking sheets and duvet. However, the thing Yuya was most focused on was that he was not alone in this bed. Zuzu was lying on her side facing him, her breath's coming out in long relaxed exhales, indicating a deep sleep. Her pink hair, unclipped, was resting softly in long strands around her head. Yuya blushed and moved away from her on reflex but this only brought more pain from his strained muscles.

What the hell?! Why are Zuzu and I in bed together?! Nothing weird happened right? Argh! I can't remember anything. Yuya freaked out, rubbing his head and trying desperately to remember. The last thing he could remember was… Oh… That's right. He leaned over the side of the bed and vomited. He hadn't eaten for a long time so he could only bring up stomach acid. Still it made a mess on the beautiful carpet. Yuya blushed and began to cry, overcome with so many different emotions. At least now he could be certain nothing could have happened between him and Zuzu, he knew he wouldn't have had sex with her anyway, they were just friends, but he sure as hell wouldn't have sex with her after what had happened yesterday. Was it yesterday? How long had he been asleep?

Yuya was not ignorant. He was aware of things such as romance and sex but he didn't have any practical experience. He'd never met anyone his own age until he met Zuzu and since then he'd been too focused on finding his family to consider such things. To think his first real sexual experience would be a disgusting middle-aged man raping him.

"Yuya?"

He looked down and saw Zuzu was looking at him, her eyes now open. He hastily tried to wipe away the tears pouring out of his eyes but he was still so emotional. "I-I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I think it was the sun." She laughed, sitting up and shielding her eyes. Yuya tried to get out of the bed, he was hoping to shut the blinds for them but he'd forgotten about the horrible pain his body was in. He cried out and froze still, unable to move. His bones felt like metal was grinding against them.

"Yuya!" Zuzu said worriedly. "What's wrong, are you injured?"

"I don't know." He said. "My whole body hurts."

Zuzu looked at the confusion on his face sadly. He probably couldn't remember what had happened last night. No doubt that potion had put so much strain on his body it was no wonder it was in pain.

"You best just relax in bed for today." She slipped out of the bed and went to close the blinds. "I'll go get some breakfast for you and tell the others you're awake, I'm sure they'll all be so happy you're okay. Well, mostly." She laughed sheepishly. Yuya smiled softly, glad she seemed to be doing good. She left the room promising to return soon with food and friends. Both of which Yuya desperately could use at this point in time. It was only once she got into the corridor that she realised she wasn't sure which way to go. It had all been so rushed last night, she didn't know where the others' rooms were or where the dining hall might be. She decided to wander back the way she thought they came in, in the hopes of finding more people. She wandered down a series of corridors that all looked the same but was relieved to meet something she recognised, an old painting at the top of the staircase. It was hard to miss, it depicted that advisor Jack riding a bike over the moon. She wasn't sure if this was made by him to inflate his ego or by his friends to make fun of him. Either way, it was recognisable. She descended the stairs and walked through the double doors on the left to a corridor with a glass wall, on the other side of which was a lab.

"Zuzu?" She saw Declan was stood at the end of the corridor, he seemed to be looking at the window rather than through it. Or at least he had been, now he was looking at her.

"Yuya's awake." She said.

"He is?" Zuzu couldn't read the expression on Declan's face, he seemed relieved but also nervous somehow. She just nodded in response.

"I wanted to get him some food and I thought everyone might like to see him."

"Right, good idea." He nodded, smiling now. "Crow came to fetch us all for breakfast earlier, we decided not to disturb you two. Come on, I'll show you to the dining hall and we can tell the others."

Declan guided her through the main entrance and down the right side of the palace until they came to another large room. Like all the rooms, this one was white, with modern golden lighting fixtures on the walls and a giant table made purely of glass. Upon the table was a massive breakfast spread: toast with an assortment of spreads, croissants, fruits, cereals, bacon, sausages, eggs, miso soup, fish, chicken, pickled vegetables, noddles, mushrooms, rice. It all looked delicious. The rest of their group, along with the residents of the castle, were all sitting around the table stuffing their face and chatting. Some happier than others, it had been quite an eventful few days and a lot of them were feeling quite drained. Many of them perked up when they saw Zuzu approach. Dennis got out of his chair and ran to embrace her.

"Good morning." He said, pulling away with a soft blush. Zuzu giggled.

"Good morning everyone."

"Zuzu said Yuya's woken up." Declan told everyone, coming up behind her. Everyone gasped and several people got out of their seats.

"Is he okay?" Sora asked.

"His muscle's seem to be quite a bit sore, probably a side effect of the potion, and he doesn't seem to remember last night." Zuzu said. "He was hungry as well, I thought we could bring him back some food."

"Good idea." Yusei stood up. "Everyone, get your plates and whatever you can carry from the table, we shall enjoy the rest of breakfast in Yuya's room."

"Oh boy." Jack rolled his eyes but he still collected his plate and several dishes from the table along with everyone else.

The all walked back to Yuya's room together. The young hybrid's face lit up with a blinding smile when he saw them all.

"Thanks everyone, this is too kind." He said as they laid out all the food on the tables around the room and on the bed.

"No way, it's no trouble at all." Gong said, giving Yuya a friendly slap on the back. Unfortunately this aggravated his sore body. "Sorry!" Gong exclaimed when he saw Yuya tense up and struggle to move himself back into a more comfortable position. The lingering feeling of someone touching him, even for a second, caused him to tense all over and he couldn't seem to relax.

"It's fine." Yuya laughed softly. "Oh!" He suddenly remembered he'd thrown up when he awoke earlier. He looked down and saw the stain of his stomach acid had dried on the floor by Gong's feet. "I'm sorry your highness." He looked at Yusei. "I threw up on your nice carpet."

"It's no big deal." Yusei waved it up. "Completely understandable after what you've been through."

"Crow will clean it up." Bruno chipped in.

"Like hell I will, make Jack do it!" Crow cried.

"As if I'd ever be caught cleaning sick." Jack growled at him.

"Alright so don't get caught." Crow retorted, smirking. The two glared angrily at each other but paused when they heard laughter. Everyone turned to Yuya who was laughing so happily. They all couldn't help but relax and smile. After everything, it was such a relief to know he was still able to look so happy. They all found a place to sit on the floor or the edge of the bed and began to stuff themselves with the food. Yuya was starving but Declan advised his stomach might be a little weak after everything and it might be best for him not to eat anything too rich. He let Declan gather some foods he felt were 'light' enough for him to stomach. Some apple slices and grapes, a piece of toast and a buttered croissant. Yuya ate slowly. He was so hungry he wanted to cram everything in as fast as possible but he refrained. He didn't want to upset his stomach further by eating to fast and potentially vomiting on the floor of a royal palace again.

Once everyone was done eating, Yusei called for some of the palace staff to take the dishes back to the kitchen. He didn't need to tell them to bring the leftover food to the homeless shelter downtown, it was standard practice in his palace. He did ask if any of them would be willing to come by later and take care of the stains on the floor. Yuya blushed, embarrassed but Zuzu placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. To her surprise, Yuya flinched at the touch.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, once he realised what he'd done. Zuzu was his friend, she'd never hurt him. So why did he feel so much terror just looking at her hand as it hovered after his rejection. Zuzu nodded and looked at him with such understanding as she let her arm drop by her side.

How about we all return to our rooms to freshen up then we can reconvene in the main sitting room in about an hour?" Yusei suggested. Most everyone agreed and they were soon leaving the room with wishes for Yuya to have a swift recovery. Yusei hung back and waited for them all to leave. Declan didn't move from his spot either and eventually it was just the four of them. Zuzu hovered near Yuya, staying with his line of sight, so he could see she was there but wouldn't make any attempt to touch him unnecessarily. Yusei locked eyes with Declan and the two seemed to have a silent conversation for a good five minutes. Eventually Yusei turned back to Yuya.

"May I?" He gestured to approach. Yuya nodded carefully. Yusei came and sat on the corner of the bed, making sure to seem unthreatening but keep a good distance between them. "Shinji explained what happened yesterday." Yuya's eyes widened. He sat frozen, unable to move. He felt like he might throw up again.

"Oh…"

"I can't even imagine what you must be going through right now. But I want you to know that your friends are here for you, you're not alone Yuya. And we want to do everything we can to help too." He paused, as if unsure how to say the rest. "Would you be willing to let our doctor examine you?"

Yuya tensed.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Declan jumped it, seeing how uncomfortable Yuya was.

"Of course you don't. I just wanted to give you the option."

"Would… Would it be bad if I didn't?"

Both men looked at Yuya sadly, they realised the poor boy didn't even know why he would need to see a doctor, he probably didn't understand the health risks of rape.

"I won't lie to you, because that's not fair. It's possible that what that man, Roget, did to you could have damaged your body or given you a disease, the doctor could take a look to make sure but nobody's going to force you to do anything you don't want."

Yuya nodded. He felt sick. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to let any disease go untreated but he was also terrified of the idea of someone touching him, especially there.

"I— I— I'm—" He stammered. He saw Zuzu and Declan watching him with worry.

"It's okay Yuya, you don't have to decide now, just think about it." Yusei said gently. Yuya nodded and sank down into the covers of his bed. He just wanted to go back to sleep and wake up to find the past few days had been nothing but a dream.

"Declan, may I see you in my office?" Yusei asked. Declan nodded and the two left the room.

"Feel better soon, okay?" Declan said to Yuya as he left. Yuya smiled shyly at him. Now it was just himself and Zuzu. The two sat together awkwardly, the silence stretching for several minutes as neither knew what to say. Yuya felt like being alone for a bit but he didn't know how to say it. Zuzu couldn't tell if Yuya wanted to be alone or not. She didn't want to be here if it made him uncomfortable, but she didn't want to leave if he might have a panic attack while no one was there.

"If… If you want to go outside for a bit, I think I'll be okay here." Yuya said eventually, looking at her with a weary smile. Zuzu could see from the look on his face he was hoping she'd leave. She nodded to him.

"Alright. Promise to shout if you need anything." She said. Yuya nodded and Zuzu took that as her cue to go. She decided to go out and get some fresh air. It was a lovely sunny day outside. She wandered down corridors until she found a door leading onto an open space with modern looking chairs and enclosed trees. It matched the same modern style of the palace and the rest of the city. Zuzu closed her eyes and just took a moment to enjoy the warm feeling of the sun on her face. A soft breeze blew through the courtyard, she could feel it running through her hair.

She didn't know why but suddenly she remembered that moment the previous night when Yuya had formed a ball of dark energy in his hand. There was no mistaking it. It was dark magic. Before, in the kingdom of ZEXAL, Yuya had used a beam of light magic to stop the Yami brothers. At this point, she wasn't even surprised. Yuya was the lost prince. To be honest, it was one of the least insane things that had happened recently. His power was probably the reason he'd been kidnapped. She had a sneaking suspicion Astral had discovered the truth and he'd probably told Yusei too. Did Yuya know? He certainly knew nothing about his past when they first met. Had he heard the story of the lost prince from anyone by this point? It was something everyone knew but it wasn't gossiped about that much since there had been no word of Yuya for fourteen years.

"Are you alright?" She startled, having been lost in her thoughts. Declan was stood beside her. She nodded. The two of them walked together in silence until they came to a beautiful large fountain in another courtyard. They sat down on the edge and Zuzu put her hand in the water, swirling it around. She looked at him, he looked like he had the whole world on his shoulders. He was probably wondering the same thing she was. Where to go from here? They were safe for the time being but that wasn't going to last long. Leo Akaba didn't seem like the sort of man to let things go easy and Don Thousand was obviously still hunting them across the divided lands. How could they stop people like that?

"Why can't they just leave us alone?" She wondered aloud.

"Hmm?" Declan prompted.

"Yuya and I, we just want to find out families and lead normal lives. Is that really so much to ask?"

"Of course it isn't. Everyone deserves a family. And a home. It's just, there are people out there who desire power… And they don't care who they hurt to get it."

Power?

"You know don't you." Zuzu realised.

"Know what?"

"About Yuya." She locked eyes with him. They both knew what she was talking about.

"I do. How do you know? Does Yuya know too?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. I only found out last night, when he used dark magic at the inn. When we were in the kingdom of Zexal he used light magic."

"He must know he has both kinds of magic. I'm guessing he's never heard the story of the lost prince though."

"I don't believe so, no."

There was a long pause. The two of them sat on the edge of the fountain, unaware of the goose bumps on their arms every time a cold breeze blew by as they were so deeply lost in their thoughts.

"What do we do Declan?" Zuzu asked. He didn't respond immediately, he seemed to be weighing something up in his head.

"Tonight, Yusei, myself and some of his advisors are having a meeting. Come meet me at my room at nine and we'll go together."