When All Was Lost...
Chapter Five
5 Blast From The Past: Home Is Where The Heart is...
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Akarii woke up groaning.
Her body ached from a rock hard mattress...
As her eyes adjusted to the dusty walls and dim lighting through the broken windows, she gasped, startled in a location all too familiar to familiar to her...
I'm home...
She stood to her feet and wandered around the room.
It was a small shack.
There was a make-shift computer on a table against the back wall.
Obviously hand-made and not store bought...but it worked just the same.
The books were worn down on rickety shelves, and photos scattered on the back wall.
These are...
My friends...
She traced each person with the tip of her finger...an ash haired male with eyes deeper than the ocean's blue...he wore a brotherly smile and she knew...
This is Yusei...
She went to the next one...a tall stoic blonde, with sharp violet eyes-
It's Jack...
Next to him stood Kalin, the leader of their gang.
They're friends... but the guy left Akarii with uneasy chills.
An omen perhaps?
Hard to say.
One by one, Akarii went through the photos, burning their image into her mind, remembering it all.
She was standing there in the middle.
Smaller than everyone else of course.
But that's to be expected being the only female member in a gang of guys...
Someone stood next to her.
They were both smiling so happily.
A Wild haired ginger whose goofy grin made her chuckle.
But there was another photo...a much older one...
Lying upside down on the desk.
It filled her with dread...
Reaching for it with reluctant fingers...only to see that it's faded when she turned it around...but she could still make out the image.
Akarii was so much smaller in it...
She was held by someone with a familiar smile and blazing amber colored eyes much like her own.
He was surrounded by the three familiar boys, Yusei, Jack, and Crow at much younger ages-
...His face was gentle and warm...
This...was her brother.
Kai...
She could feel her eyes sting with tears as she placed it back down...clenching her teeth until she was interrupted by some shuffling and a gentle tone.
"Akarii...are you awake?"
She was startled by a voice behind her and quickly returned the photo to its face down position on the desk- as the boy from one of the other photos now stood before her, entering from a broken door.
"Thank goodness...you're finally awake~" he grinned, "You've been sleeping forever..." he approached her carefully and gently touched her, winching as he brought her face up to look at him.
His hands, though rough...were surprisingly gentle with her...he was extremely careful with her, which came as a surprise, and yet so familiar...
"Your bruises seem to be healing up nicely..." he chuckled, "You're always so reckless Akarii, I'm getting tired of patching up your black-n-blues!" he joked, "Damn those stupid securities...they really did a number on you, huh? Jerks..." he grumped about and placed a bowl of ice water and a cloth on the table, dipping until it was damp before turning back to her to clean the smudges off her face.
"Man they really get on my nerves..." she could hear him grumble.
His touch...
It's so warm...
I can... feel it...
She thought to herself.
Or rather...
I remember feeling it before...
Her eyes scanned around the room.
These must be my memories...
The ones that Seria said she and Sayer locked away...
I'm so deep in my own subconscious...
That I'm re-living them now...
Her heart pounded in her chest, as his face got closer to hers.
Her voice got stuck in her throat-
She could barely mutter a word, except...
"Crow...?"
It came out in a shaky voice, and he blinked, in response to her call.
"Yeah? What's up?" he said softly, and Akarii could feel her body twitch.
Her eyes widened, and shimmered as she took in his image.
It really was him this time...and she remembered...!
Crow...
That's why I knew that word...
It's a name!
HIS name!
She thought to herself.
Crow Hogan!
How could I have ever forgotten the name and face of my closest friend...?
What HAPPENED to me!?
"Um...Akarii?" he chuckled awkwardly, "Are, uh, are...you okay?"
"Crow...Crow..., it's you..."
"What!? Of course it's me! Jeez did those guys hit your head too!?"
Akarii brought her hands to her lips, to try and stabilize her shaky breaths.
She could feel the sting of tears burning her eyes.
"Wh-uh...h-hey...wh...what are ya cryin' for? Are ya hurtin' somewhere!? Show me!"
Akarii closed her eyes and let the tears leave trails on her cheeks.
They were hot.
And tasted like salt.
They were real.
He... was real.
She was home...
And without thinking... she threw herself into him.
"W-Woah, HEY!" not expecting to have to catch her, Crow lost his footing trying to hold her in his arms.
They both fell into the bed that they shared-
Not as lovers- it was just because the place was small and they both lived in it.
Neither of them were gonna sleep on the dirt.
Besides...they knew each other for a long time.
They grew up together actually- and as children, sharing a bed and food was no big deal then and that mindset has kind of stuck with them as they grew older together...
Akarii clung to his clothes tightly, taking in his musk.
Real.
Real.
It was all real.
His warmth...
This smell...
All of it.
Akarii really was home.
And she was sobbing heavily into his chest...
"Akarii, what the hell!?" he laughed," Ya know, you're not exactly little anymore, you can't just jump on me with no warning! What on earth has gotten into you anyway?...Are you really okay?"
"Please...please just let me...for a little bit..."
"Uh..." he blinked awkwardly, unsure how to respond, "Um...yeah...sure, I guess...whatever..." he sighed with a crooked smile as he placed a palm onto her head, blushing awkwardly while he pat her gently and softly stroked her red bobbed hair.
This hand...it was different from Sayer's.
This hand didn't make Akarii feel cold, dirty, uneasy, or afraid...
It was...
Warm.
Gentle.
And welcomed.
"Ya know...you've always been a weird kid..." he laughed, "Even when we were little, but this...I think this tops it all." Though he was chuckling, he didn't move.
He just...stayed there.
And let Akarii hug him for however long she needed to...
And suddenly?
She could feel his body temperature raise just a little...
"H-hey uh...Akarii?"
"...Yeah?"
"D...Don't do stuff like this with any old guy around here okay?" he said to her, "Men are animals and they might get the wrong idea..." he muttered so awkwardly and she couldn't help but stifle a snicker. "Also, don't let the other guys see us like this...they'll get the wrong idea too!"
This time she laughed harder and he began to flail.
"Hey don't laugh, I'm bein' serious! Dammit! Akarii knock it off!"
As her laughter faded, Akarii could feel her tears again...
This time though...she was feeling angry at herself.
How could I have ever let myself forget moments like this...
So precious to me...
With a person so near and dear to my heart?
My Best friend...
Damn...it's good to be home.
xxx
"I see...weird dreams huh?" Crow listened intently as Akarii explained her odd behavior as being a result of some bad dreams she had been having lately...
"Well...it's not surprising..." he said softly, "It is almost the anniversary since Kai..." he paused, silencing his words before he could press further on the topic.
He knew she was sensitive to it...
"Why didn't you tell me you were havin' nightmares?" he asked softly.
"I dunno..." she mumbled," Maybe cuz it's stupid little kid stuff which I'm not anymore?"
"Akarii, relax." he chuckled, "Nightmares aren't stupid, it's my job to protect you from monsters~ that's what big brothers do!" he teased.
"Dammit Crow, this is exactly why I didn't wanna tell you 'bout em!" she huffed and threw a pillow at his face which he took laughing.
"All right, all right, I'm sorry!" he grinned, "But look...they were just dreams right? See? You're safe. " he said, softly sitting on the bed next to her, "You're here...I'm here...we're here...together." He took her hand in his and gave it a warm squeeze, and instantly she felt her uneasiness melt away.
"Yeah...I guess..." she chuckled, "Thanks for listenin' anyway."
"Sure thing." he grinned, "But ya know...you acted really weird...are you sure you're okay?" he asked her, "You're sure the whole thing that happened with Kai isn't affecting you more than you're letting on?" he sighed, "He was your blood family...and even though it happened a long time ago...that sort of thing can stick with ya for a long time..."
"Yes, Crow, I promise I'm fine." she rolled her eyes.
He could be such a worry wort sometimes.
A real mother-hen.
Though...it didn't help that he knew her so well...
Inside and out...
It didn't matter how long it had been since Kai got taken away...
That shit stayed with her...even when her other memories were still a blur...
"Yeah you say that but...Hmm..." he crossed his arms and pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers in a eureka moment, "I got it, let's see if you're really okay with a duel!"
"Seriously?" she laughed, "You just want an excuse to get back at me for kicking your butt last time."
"Funny, I don't remember that happening at all~"
"Fine, I guess I will just have to joggle your memory~" she teased.
"Bring it on!"
They both reached for their holsters which...were no longer there.
They blinked into the realization of the issue at hand-
"That's right..." Crow muttered, "Securities confiscated our decks didn't they...?"
They both sighed, feeling defeated.
"Dammit, My brother gave me those cards!" she huffed in frustration," He said they were my mom's..." she sighed sadly.
"Wait, really?" Crow asked curiously.
"Yeah...apparently both of our parents were pretty good duelists back in their Duel Academy days..." she explained, "He said my mom was a really wild child who loved weird things and Zombies and stuff..."
Crow chuckled.
"That's so cool...I didn't know those cards belonged to your mom...I guess that explains why you use Zombie cards, huh?"
"Haha yeah, and apparently my dad used Dragons or something.
Like Red Eyes Black Dragon and stuff- Kai got his cards while I got my mom's..." she sighed.
"They already took my brother away from me...do they really need my deck too!?"
"Hey...calm down." Crow said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "It's not like we're gonna let them just get away with that, are we?" he smirked.
"Hell no." Akarii grinned.
"Good~ After all, something as sentimental as that is way too important to keep locked away." said Crow, "And nobody is gonna get away with it without a few bruises of their own~" he met Akarii's grin with his own and winked. "Now then...let's talk strategy~"
To Be Continued...
