- Jesse -

''…... Eh?'' Intelligently makes its way out of my mouth. ''What do you mean you can't feel Yubel's presence any more?'' I ask, staring at him wide eyed, a panicky feeling settling down in my stomach. Jaden bites his bottom lip and looks down in apparent guilt.

''Well... I'm... not really sure...'' He says, looking sadder and more tear eyed with every second. ''I think they somehow... ripped her away from me...'' Groaning, he puts his hand on his temple, rubbing it in circling motions.

''I can't remember it completely, it's all pretty fuzzy...'' Jaden says, as I motion for him to go on. ''I remember being there because I heard some rumours that they were doing something shady involving illegal cards.'' He says, shaking his head in frustration. ''I really cannot remember it all, but I know they caught me. Turns out their organisation was a lot bigger than rumoured.'' As he gives out a humourless laugh.

''What happened?'' I asked wide eyed, and before I could even comprehend what was happening, my arms found their way around Jaden's shoulder. He looks up to me for a second with watery eyes and a half open mouth before he looks down again. How that look in his eyes breaks my heart. I guess I couldn't even try to begin to imagine what he is going through right now. Thinking about having my duel monsters ripped away from me makes me suppress a shudder of fright.

Snapping out of my daze when Jaden starts speaking again, he gives me a short briefing about what he could remember. Turns out that there were rumours going around on a small organisation that's illegally creating and distributing cards across the streets, selling them for profit. Jaden heard about them and decided to go out to investigate.

''I don't know how, but they seemed to be expecting me, as they seemingly waited for me and knocked me out and got kidnapped. There are a lot of parts fuzzy for me, but I remembered some dude talking to me, being locked away into a dark room with only a bed and Yubel to keep me company for quite some time and only serving me food twice a day.'' He says, while looking absolutely horrified when remembering it, probably because of the lack of food they gave him.

''The details are hazy for me and I think they fed me some sort of drug to keep me... occupied. They took my deck somewhere along the way and Yubel started fading away into the background, but I was too under the weather to really notice. At some point I refused to take the food they offered, dumping it under my blanket and my mind cleared a little.''

''Did I mention they were like, totally dressed in black? That totally looked creepy and suspicious as hell!'' He adds, probably trying to slip in some humour in the conversation to lighten the tension. Sighing about his failed attempt he leans into my hold on him a little more, making me just a little bit nervous, and continues.

''At one point they came in to get me, where I acted like I was half conscious just to throw them off a little. They dragged me to some sort of lab, I also think they did this before, I just wasn't conscious enough to remember, and put me into a big, scary looking chair.''

''Now again,'' he adds, ''I cannot remember all the details, but I do remember hearing some sort of a commotion outside, and the guards looking up in distress. One by one they went out of the room, but they never returned.''

''I obviously saw my opportunity to get out, and after some...'' He looks away in embarrassment, making a small cough and making me all the more curious. ''…..encouragements from Yubel...''

''And when I did, there was chaos outside like you wouldn't believe!'' He says while flapping around his arms in wild gestures to prove his point. ''People with guns and those people in black running around everywhere, trying to put out fires here and there while trying not to get shot. And at that point, I guess that I really couldn't be bothered to worry about the bastards that kept me there for such a long time. I silently thanked the people that decided that invading the place sounded like a good idea, as I tried to look as stealthy as possible while moving briskly along the walls. All in all I guess it looked like a really big campus. A big campus that was on partly fire, that is. Escaping the grounds without anyone really noticing me, with the fire and shooting and all, I ran out and found myself on the edge of Domino city.'' Jaden says, smiling sadly.

''After running away from that damned place while trying to look for a shelter, I noticed that there was a car following me. Yubel softly said it was probably those guys, so I went around the corner into the slums of the city, as they would be unable to follow me there without getting out of the car. Turns out there are more of them. I got cut off at a corner and one of them pulled out a weird looking gun. Turning around I tried to run the other way but it was too late. The gun hit me. In the arm. The weird thing was, it didn't even hurt that much, in the beginning. I don't know where Yubel went, but suddenly she was just... gone. Poof, like that. Gone without a trace...'' Jaden finishes, voice breaking along the way and looking even more depressed than before. I put my hand under his chin, forcing him to look up to me. Seeing him like this, just... broke something in me. The water in his eyes, threatening to fall out at any moment, and the big frown on his face, making him look all the more heartbreaking. Feeling a sharp tug in my chest, I pull him into a strong hug, not caring about personal space for the moment. I just hug him, his hair rustling against my face, and for the first time actually being this close to him. He jumps a little in the beginning, but begins to relax in my arms when I start rubbing circles on his back while muttering comforting words. All that matters now is comforting Jaden. To make him smile again. See the way his eyes lit up when ever he talks about his friends. To feel the excitement rolling off of him when he duels. Just for Jaden to be... happy again. After a while of sitting like this, I feel arms his wrapping around me and wet tears on my shoulder. He tries to speak again, but words seem to fail him. Sighing, he hugs me even tighter, seemingly as close as his body would let him. Obliging happily, I hug back.

''I just felt so... empty.'' Jaden says sadly, sounding so broken while his hands clench my shirt, snapping me out of my daze. I want to pull back to look him in the eye but he refuses to let go. After a while, I settle back into the crook of his neck, and wait for him to continue.

After what seemed like forever, Jaden took a deep breath and let go of me, settling back into his pillow. He still looked sad and had darkening bags under his eyes, but still looked a lot better than before. Taking another deep breath he started talking again.

''I snapped out of my daze rather quickly, my natural instincts kicking in. I started running again, panic filling my senses. After falling down a few times and making a lot of people very annoyed, they started were starting to gain on me. It was broad daylight, so they wouldn't dare shoot at me randomly, but they were catching up on me. It was weird, it's like.. they didn't get tired at all.'' He looked at me questioningly as if I would have all the answers to that.

''It was starting to get darker and I think blood loss was starting to get to my head. And remember that I was still under the influence of what ever it was they gave to me. But yeah, that was pretty much it. I started getting desperate and headed for the main road in hope of finding help, that maybe someone would have called the police or something... And I guess, that you know the rest...'' He finishes, and for a second he looks up to the ceiling and a twinge of fear finds a way into his eyes.

''…..I might sound pretty mellow about it like this, but to be honest, I was scared. Like, really scared. And when that truck hit me, I really thought that would be it. That it was... over. I lost Yubel, I lost all my duel monsters, I finally got out, just to get caught again. I guess the only hope I had at that moment... was you.'' He says while smiling a little, looking up into my eyes as tears are finding their way up there again.

Aaah. Sorry for taking so long to update, but I had to find some more inspiration for this story. Sorry for sounding so annoying in the last chapters authors note, I didn't really mean to beg for reviews. But really, they are my muse.

Also, I'm writing this late at night, (someone reviewed), so I suddenly felt like writing again (you know who you are!), and I wrote this in about 3 hours... *yawn* But as always, thank you for reading!

…...I have to go to school tomorrow. Why am I doing this to myself?! D: