I have no idea why I wrote this. I probably lost my touch completely by now. I just kind of read through my old stories and thought, I actually kind of like these. I know. I'm such an idiot. But I want to finish them, and I just suddenly got this urge to start writing again. I'd actually totally forgotten about them, until I got a review alert from Sayomi2 in my email. And then I decided to look back through them, and now I figure it'd be kind of fun to start writing again. Since I don't have school today, anyways. I'm back:) (Although, by now there's probably nobody left that's actually going to read it anymore. Haha.)

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Black and white were the only colors visible in this strange, cold world only accessible by the two Sheng Gong Wu combining. Chase Young and Sakaya stood together, looking around at the Ying-Yang World, grimaces on their faces.

"Chase…?" Sakaya's voice came through the darkness. It sounded sweet and innocent, but at the same time toughened by the many dangers and evil they had come across since the day that they had met.

"What?" Chase said. He had nothing on his mind now except the question of how they were going to find out exactly when the Commander would leave, and what would happen after that…

"How long are we going to stay here?" Sakaya asked, shivering. "This place is… disturbing. Everything is all out of balance, and it's so dark."

Chase sighed. "We have to stay here until the commander leaves. You know that as well as I do."

"Sorry I asked," Sakaya said, biting her lip. "I'm just… This whole place is just really nerve-wracking. And I feel so bad about this whole situation. If I had never come, you never would have been forced to hide in your own lair to protect yourself. And now this huge invasion could be happening as I speak, and your beautiful palace could be getting blown apart… I'm starting to wish none of this had ever happened. I wish I'd never come here and acted so stupidly and made this huge mess." Her eyes were shining with tears.

Chase turned to stare at her, his light amber eyes crinkling with a strange and unknown emotion. Regret? Sadness? Sakaya couldn't tell, but she felt as if those eyes were piercing deep into her heart. "Do you really?" he asked, taking her hand in his metal-armored gloves.

A long and reverberating silence followed. Sakaya lowered her eyes to the floor and spoke softly, her voice shaking, "No. Not if it meant never knowing you." The tears started spilling suddenly, landing on the floor at Chase's feet. She sank down softly, not looking Chase in the eye.

Chase stared at her with disbelief. He realized at last how she had been feeling the whole time, her deep guilt in knowing she had led him to his doom mingling with her undeniable, overpowering love. For him. The man that could very possibly be conspiring to murder her with ease at any moment now. The one who had, long ago, made a deal with the devil for eternity after drinking that evil brew of Hannibal Bean's, who had traded away his humanity in order to become nothing more than a monster, feeding off his own foolish belief that he was omnipotent, the greatest being that there was.

Time seemed to stop. Overwhelmed by the myriad of things that had happened- things that had changed these last few days, Chase fell to his knees, utterly exhausted in and out. He seemed unable to say anything to comfort her even as she stood there, tears welling up in her scintillant green eyes. He had to make a decision now- to kill her, or to spare her life at the cost of his own. It was the ultimate quandary- and he had gotten himself into it 1500 years ago.

--

Shino was seated in the luxury center of the main ship, deeply troubled. What could he do now? He refused to categorize this mission as a failure, especially since it involved his personal matters. If word got out that Commander Shino could not even managed to retrieve his own fiancé, armed with over 100 ships, he would be publicly humiliated and possibly even demoted. If that happened… He stopped that thought immediately. He would not allow it to happen. He had to find Sakaya, even if it meant killing her on the spot. It didn't matter to him, really- it had only ever been an arranged engagement, something commonplace in his planet. He had used it to his political advantage, as Sakaya's family had long held powerful influence over many of the government dealings. He felt no attachment to the girl herself. After all, he could always cover it up with a false report, claiming that she had been killed while being kept hostage by Chase Young, and there would be no charges brought against him. It was simple.

Simple- unless he could not find her.

He supposed that he could leave, claiming to have found her dead and Chase Young missing. But if she remained alive, she might one day return to their planet and speak openly of his deeds on the planet Earth, ruining him forever. He could not allow that.

"Lieutenant Kivo- report to main center," he announced over the intercom. "Commander Shino wishes to speak with you."

Moments later, Kivo emerged from the high-speed elevator system and saluted him. "Sir."

"Save all that for later. Give me your report," Shino said coldly.

"Yes, sir. We have not located Sakaya and Chase Young at the present, but we have a lead- it is possible to use her communication device to determine her whereabouts. Our team has begun researching methods of using the signal waves from her device to find her… We'll have it prepared in about an hour or so," Kivo said placidly.

"Good, good…" Shino muttered. "You are dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Kivo left, leaving Shino satisfied. They would be found- very, very soon. And whatever happened after that… was up to him.

--

Chase looked at Sakaya again involuntarily, taking in everything about her. The way she was covered fully in silver armor, the way her dark, shiny hair fell onto her face, the way she looked away from him, the way her body shook while she forcefully resisted her showing of weakness, the way her eyes seemed to shimmer in the very center… all of that was who she was. And he loved her, completely and irrepressibly. She had withstood the bitter silence of the Ying-Yang World, the full force of the hatred of the people she had grown up with, the hopelessness and guilt, and his inevitable cruelty at their first meeting… simply to be with him. A monster that had fallen from the graces of the world by giving up everything he'd fought for to live forever. He had been doomed to die, like all men- but in his own cowardice, he extended his life far beyond his rightfully allotted time. He should have died all those years ago. But Sakaya… Sakaya deserved this life. Far out of his proper place in time, he had no right to kill someone who would have had a life and future ahead of her if he did not still exist, lingering in a world he did not belong to. His decision was final.

"I can't do this." He looked directly at Sakaya. "Sakaya… I swear I will not let you die, even if it means my own death."

She slowly looked up, her cheeks tinged with red. "What do you mean?"

"Look, Sakaya… I have something to tell you," Chase said seriously. "A few days ago, while I was… sleeping, the devil withdrew his part of the deal. He said I only had a month to live, because I had not brought the dragon and therefore had not truly gained eternal life. He said I could redeem myself only in one way- by killing you."

Sakaya's eyes opened wide. "You mean…"

"Yes. Either I save myself and kill you, or I let you live and die myself," he said sadly, sighing deeply. "There was no other choice."

"And you…" Sakaya looked shocked, unable to say anything else.

"I won't kill you, as I promised. I will die in less than a month now, but…" He paused for a while, as if struggling to breath, and went on, "It's worth dying for if it means you can live on. You deserve it much more than I ever did, and to see you die… I would never be able to forgive myself."

Sakaya seemed to be frozen as she absorbed all of this. When she finally realized what he truly meant, she flung herself towards him, embracing him as tightly as she possibly could. "You can't die, Chase. I will not let that happen." Her voice was like steel, driving through the depths of the Ying-Yang world with its pressing determination. Chase put his arms around her, a sad smile on his lips as he held on to the one person that had ever meant anything to him.

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That took a while… I hope you all enjoyed it! It was fun writing it, and I'll definitely try to finish the story. Please review!