When All Was Lost...
Chapter Twenty-One
21
Days had passed and peace seemed to fall onto Satellite.
Without an enemy to fight or a street race to ride, Akarii was then left alone with her thoughts...
And those weren't exactly her favorite place to be...
"Akarii~!"
Her thoughts turned into memories...
"You're a real handful Akarii! Seriously...pesky little sister you are~"
Her Brother lived in her memories...
"Akarii...be a good girl...I'll come back to you soon...I promise."
...Then where are you now!?
"Akarii?" Crow's voice startled her as he approached her from behind on the incomplete Daedalus Bridge, where she sat at the end and hung her feet to let they swing...toys pointed outward toward the city just on the otherside of the sea.
"I see...lost in your thoughts again, huh?" he sighed and sat next to her, quietly.
She nodded softly, trying her best to keep the sting of new tears at a dull.
"Yeah..." she said softly," He just...never seems to go away, ya know..." She tried to give him a smile but he could tell she was hurting.
"Yeah well...I'd be worried if he actually did." Crow chuckled,"Your brother was good to all of us...and he especially loved especially you." he smiled," We owe him a lot...but You were his whole world." he stated, "We were just a little extra baggage he took in like baby ducks." he teased.
She stifled a chuckle.
"Ducklings..."
That's right.
"It's late now, come along now, my little ducklings~"
"He did call us that...didn't he." she giggled.
"Akarii..." he sighed and gave her an awkward one armed hug, "Maybe you should go for a ride? Isn't Yusei souping up that Duel Runner for you?" He smiled,"Might do you some good to lighten that load in your head."
"Yeah..." she smiled," Maybe you're right..."
XXXXX
Akarii took Crow's advice to heart and started in on her walk to Yusei's make-shift auto shop.
It wasn't much really, just some old subway station he made into his little hide out. Along the way she saw a familiar figure, and took to a sprint to catch up.
"Jack!" she called for his attention and he stopped and waited for her to reach his side.
"Akarii..." He said her name softly,"What brings you, Girlie?"
"Oh I..." she went silent for a moment,"I was thinking of going for a ride...then I saw you here and thought 'heyyyy what's Jack up to~' so I..."
"You were thinking about Kai again."
She froze up.
"Don't hide it from me Girlie, I've known you long enough..."
"Heh...yeah, I guess you have, huh, Jak-Jak?"
Jack twitched.
"Don't call me Jak-Jak..."
"That's right...you never really liked that nick name, huh?" she teased,"I seem to recall you never really liked me very much either..."
"Ah-Well I...about that, um..."
"Hm?" she gave him a head tilt of curiosity as he seemed to struggle with his next words.
"Let's...take a walk, Girlie...I'd like to talk to you."
She felt an odd constriction in her chest, yet at the same time, it seemed her heart pounded harder than usual. She swallowed hard to push down the forming lump in her throat. Without a word, she gave him a nod and walked step by step at his pace on his side.
Their trek led to an old junk pile.
They climbed together to the top, her tripping on occassion and him offering a hand up everytime she fell. Eventually he just pulled her by her wrist. It was like they were little kids again. She recoginized this mountain of garbage. Its contents have changed over the years,but the pile itself stayed. They used to play here when we were little. Crow, Yusei,her...and Jack too.
"I remember this place..." she said softly, "You scared off some bullies who picked on me here...and since then we all used to play 'King Of The Mountain' right here on this pile~" she laughed.
Those were cherished days for her.
"Heh...quite a long time ago...wasn't it, Princess?" He teased.
Akarii blushed a bit.
Teasing wasn't something Jack would do often...unless they were alone.
His slight smile soon faded as he zoned out into the distance, toward the city lights.
He sighed.
"You know...you...and me...we think alike." he said softly,"People like us, shouldn't be left alone with our thoughts for too long...lest we get lost in our own heads." he said, lowering himself to sit next to her, awkwardly, on their pile of junk."I don't know..." he said softly," I mean...is this really it?"
"What do you mean, Jack?" she asked him curiously. Whatever was weighing in his mind seemed to be heavy, like her own thoughts of her brother Kai.
"I'm talking about Dueling, Akarii." he said in a serious tone, "It's our heart and soul." he paused for a moment and looked up into the smog that covered their sky. "Without it...what are we really? You and me, without dueling, we...we're rather lonely, aren't we?" he chuckled, but it wasn't a smile of happiness that he was sharing.
It was one of distance.
She clenched her chest.
Jack...what is this?
It feels like you're...leaving...
"What say you and me, ensure that we don't remain lonely." said Jack.
Akarii blinked.
"...What?"
"Every duel we face is a bridge to the future." he said as he stood, leaning down to reach his hand out to her,"Let's carve our future, together, Akarii!" He took her wrist in his and pulled her to her feet. "What do you say...?" he asked,"Let's give it a shot?"
She was floored with what he was asking her.
"Akarii..." he whispered her name as he looked at her eye to eye, their violet color sheening back the girl's reflection," Come with me..."
To Be Continued
