Forgiving Light

The After Years

A/N: Sooo...I'm a sore killer. I just can't stand to see my favorite characters die ;O;

Yuma and Cathy walked the streets of the rebuilt Heartland City. It was the evening. They were now eighteen, but the events of years before still stuck with them. They didn't forget when Dark died, when Astral died, or when Black Mist was taken back to be publicly killed.

It had been a tragic day.

All of the people who had been in Black Mist's control were free, but they didn't remember a thing. Only Yuma, Yuma's family, and Cathy remembered.

The scientists who got the fragments of the gem studied it, and they were currently working on getting the energy inside it to transport them to wherever it came from.

The two were in their very last year in high school, and they were graduating the next day.

"So, are you excited about graduating, Yuma?" Cathy asked to lighten the glum mood.

"Yeah, I guess," Yuma said. His hand wrapped around the Emperor's Key, which was still around his neck. "You know, it's crazy. All those years ago, we were fearing for our lives. The city was in complete chaos. Now, it's as if nothing ever happened." He chuckled ruefully.

"I know," Cathy sighed. "It seems kind of wrong."

Suddenly, someone running bumped into Cathy. They both fell back. Cathy rubbed her head, groaning.

"Cat, are you alright?" Yuma asked, rushing to the feline girl's side.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little dizzy."

"Daruku, watch where you're going!" a very familiar voice cried.

A young man older than Yuma ran up to the one on the ground. He had black, arched hair, pale skin, a leather jacket, a red shirt underneath, black biker pants, leather boots, and fingerless gloves.

The one on the ground had completely white hair, a white, long-sleeved shirt with red on the ends of the sleeves and on the collar, jeans, and white shoes. His skin was dangerously pale, as if he was ill. He was younger than the black-haired one, about as old as Yuma.

"I am very sorry about Dark," the older one said apologetically. He helped the white-haired one up. "Apologize to the young woman right now, Daruku-kun."

The one named Dark bowed and said, "Gomen nasai! I didn't mean to bump into you!"

"I-it's no problem, really," Cathy assured.

"Dark, don't go running off like that," the black-haired one chastised. "You remember what the doctor said, don't you? You can't push yourself lest your heart gives in again."

"Hai, Onii-chan."

"Kuro-nii, wait up!" another voice called. Another boy, who looked the same age, if not older, as Dark, ran up to them.

His skin was the same as his older brother's, he had sky blue hair, the same shirt as Dark except with blue instead of red, blue jeans, and white shoes.

The one thing they all had in commone was the eye color: gold. Dark's eyes were hazy.

Upon seeing the new people, the blue-haired one bowed. "Konbawa. My name is Astral Mist."

"My name is Kuro Mist," said the oldest one.

Following the lead of his older brothers, Dark bowed once again. "Watashi wa Misuto Daruku desu."

"Dark...Astral...Kuro..." Yuma mumbled. "Does the name Yuma Tsukumo sound familiar to you?"

Astral thought for a while. Then, he shook his head.

Yuma showed the Emperor's Key. "Does this look familiar? You once told me to take care of this. That it's a special relic."

Astral cocked his head to the side. Then, his eyes widened. "That's the Emperor's Key. Yuma...Yuma Tsukumo." Then, he turned to his brothers. "I remember now! Kuro-nii, do you remember Yuma?"

Kuro grinned. "Now I do!" He looked at Yuma. "Yuma Tsukumo! My puppet on strings!" He and Dark laughed.

Cathy smiled. "I knew you would smile again, Dark."

Dark grinned. "Yeah, well due to the extreme stress of my soul being ripped out, I've been experiencing problems as a human. Bronchitis, heart failures, blood inflammation, STDs-"

"Wait, STDs!?" Yuma exclaimed in disbelief.

Dark and Kuro exploded into laughter. Astral just chuckled.

"JUST KIDDING!" Dark laughed. "AH, YOUR FACE! IT'S PRICELESS!!" He took a deep breath to calm down. "But yeah. Major health problems."

"Well, it's good to have you back," Cathy said.

"How have you been?" Astral asked.

"We've been fine, but why are you human?" Yuma asked.

"In the Netherlands, the dead spirits choose to either stay or start a new life in the world they were last in," Kuro explained. "We decided to, and we ended up here with no memories, living under your noses for the longest time."

"Yeah," Dark giggled. Suddenly, a coughing fit hit him hard. His brothers plus Yuma and Cathy rushed to his aide.

Kuro brought up an inhaler, and Dark took it. Slowly, the coughing stopped.

"Whoa, that's serious," Yuma commented.

"Yeah, but I'll live," Dark said, smiling weakly. "Unfortunately, they don't know what might have caused the illnesses, so they're still running tests."

"Speaking of tests, we're supposed to be back at the hospital in two minutes," Astral informed them, looking up at the setting sun.

Dark groaned. "BUT I DON'T WANNA!" he whined, stomping his foot.

"Dark, do you want to get better or not?" Black Mist scolded.

Dark huffed. "Fine!"

~.~.~

Later that night, Dark woke up. He was still in the hospital bed. The IV that was injecting medicine for his heart was still attached to his arm, and the beeping of the heart monitor was loud against the silence. He felt that the mask that was giving him oxygen was still over his mouth and nose.

A nurse came in. "Oh, you're awake," she breathed. "I just came in to check on you." She walked in and took the usual blood samples and ran the usual tests. "Just rest for now. We'll find out what's caused the illnesses. We just aren't there yet."

"When will you be?" Dark asked. "It's been forever."

The nurse turned to leave. "Dark...I can't promise that we'll find it soon, but we'll find it."

"Okay..." Dark closed his eyes and fell asleep.

~THE END~