Trapped

day 001//

"Akiza, I came up with a new test, and you're going to go through it first." She nodded as they made their way into a strange place in the Arcadia Movement building. She'd never been there before, but it didn't matter. And it was customary for Sayer to test all of his new limits on her, his "most worthy member." They stepped into a stone corridor.

"This one is to make sure you don't crack in a tough spot. It'll only be two or three days, a week at the very most. You'll be provided with food from a generator, and water." He unlocked a door and she stepped inside. The room was somewhat small and cylindrical, with a single window about thirty feet up. "Also, the stones are psychic-proofed so if someone cracks, they can't escape and attack. See you in a few days." The heavy door swung shut, and Akiza laid down on the floor. This didn't seem too bad...

day 008//

"Sayer?" Akiza yelled, leaning against the still-locked door. If she was right, it'd been a week, which was longer than he said it should be. Why was she still locked in here? Couldn't Sayer get her out? "Please! Sayer! Somebody, anybody! I'm still in here! Please!"

day 013//

The rock scratched as Akiza carefully marked a thirteenth tally. It was her second day of keeping count this way, and it was easier for her to physically write it down than to try and remember. The chalky white rock clattered to the floor as she laid down like she had the first day. Why wasn't Sayer coming? Why wasn't anybody coming? Had they forgotten?

day 023//

"Let-" thud- "me-" bam- "OUT!" Akiza leaned against the door, her shoulder aching from slamming against the door constantly for the last two days. Over three weeks had passed in her little prison, and she was still there. Nobody was coming, and even though she was still alive, she knew that she wouldn't be alive and sane for long. She already knew that she was losing both...

day 036//

"God? It's me, Akiza, again," she whispered as she rocked back and forth on her knees. "If my count is right, it's been a month since I got locked in this rathole and I'm still stuck. Nobody's coming to get me, and I don't think that anybody's looking. So, please, can you at least stick with me through this? Please? I know I asked you yesterday too, but I mean it even more today... amen, I guess."

day 061//

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Akiza screamed for the thousandth time that week. Since day fifty-seven, she'd been more determined than ever to get out. It had probably been two months if she was right. She winced, rubbing her stinging throat. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. She was still there. Maybe if she screamed some more, somebody would hear...

day 179//

"THAT'S IT!" Akiza screamed at the window. "I'VE BEEN TRAPPED INSIDE THIS MISERABLE HOLE FOR NEARLY HALF A FRICKING YEAR AND NOBODY'S COMING!" She sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "God," she declared calmly, "I think that you've given up on me, so I'm giving up on you. I don't need your help if you won't give it." Her voice shook as she turned her back towards the window. "Nobody's coming."

Quickly, she did the best calculation she could with her fuzzy mind. 179 divided by 7 was... it was a little more than twenty-five, right? She shook her head. She couldn't think right. And she knew something else was wrong with her mind, too. Her sanity was dying...

day 365//

Akiza stared at her tally wall in shock, then shook her head. She knew it wasn't wrong, but she really wished it was. There was one group of a hundred and fifty at the bottom, which she had marked. There was another group of a hundred and fifty in the middle, also marked. And at the top, she stared at the sixty-five tallies. One fifty... and one fifty... that was three hundred. Three hundred and sixty-five... that was a year, wasn't it? Carefully, she picked up the rock, stood up, and wrote "ANNIVERSARY" at the very top. It was official. The sun had gone down. Night had started. The day was over. So, that made three hundred and sixty-five days.

She had been in here for a year.

Her shoulders started shaking with emotion. She'd been trapped in this God-forsaken hole for a year. How had she let this happen? She'd tried using her psychic powers on the stones time and again to no avail. She'd tried calling for help. She'd tried muscling her way out. She'd even gone for that tiny window. None of it worked.

It'd been a year since... since what? Since she saw the real light of day, not just through a tiny window. Since she'd seen another face. Since she'd even seen her own face! A year since... well, really, since almost everything. Half a year since her own voice had been heard. But a whole year since another had.

"...za... ere me?"

Or, maybe not.

She blinked. But there was no way that there was a voice. It'd been a year. Maybe she'd cracked like Sayer had said she wouldn't. Well, maybe he was happy knowing that it'd taken a year. Not that he knew. Or that he was there to find out. Because there wasn't a voice. It was her imagination. Nothing more.

"...za... you here?"

Of course it was! There was no way that there was a voice, no way that there was anything. And especially since she thought she knew this voice. Which she didn't, because there was not a voice. Was there? She took a deep breath, and listened. It was Sayer, she suddenly decided. Sayer had somehow gotten amnesia and had only just remembered that she was here, and now he was here to save her. Sayer had found her.

"AKIZA! ANSWER, PLEASE!"

She knew that voice.

It wasn't Sayer.

"Yrrrrgnhehh," she mumbled. Her voice was ragged and numb from underuse. A hundred and eighty-six days since she'd used it. But she had to try, because if she was right, if it was really him, then she needed to find him. "Yuurnnehhh! Yuuunsehhh!" She could hear boots thudding onto the stones near the door, probably searching for life. He couldn't leave. She needed him to stay, so she decided to give him some life. Weakly, she pulled her hand into a fist and hit it onto the door, making a soft echoing thud. There was a sound, like he had shifted.

"Akiza?" His voice sounded like he was praying that it would be her. She couldn't help it- a soft smile spread across her face. It really was him. God had heard her. He still cared. She gave him a quick thought-prayer apology, then breathed in. She had to make sure she said his name right so he knew she remembered.

"Yusei." The word barely passed her lips, but she knew she'd said it. She could hear him breathe in, like he was holding his breath in hope that it wasn't just his ears lying to him. "Yusei, I'm here! I'm here! Yusei!" She was yelling, probably louder than she needed to. But it made her feel alive. It made her blood race and her heart pound. It made her feel real.

"You're here." He sounded strangely relieved, like he'd been worried that she wouldn't be there. Why wouldn't he be? It sounded like he was looking for her. "I've been here," she answered, feeling tears tighten up the back of her throat. He had found her. So, it had taken a year, and maybe it was a year too long, and maybe she had lost part of her sanity and all of her hope, but the only thing that truly mattered was that he was here. What else could she need?

"Stand back." His voice sounded like he'd stepped back, away from the wall. Quickly, she forced herself away, against a wall. Suddenly a harsh crack sounded through the room, and she saw two stones crack out of place and fall onto the floor. One of them broke into two pieces. Akiza gasped; was this really working now? She stumbled over to the hole, almost tripping over her own feet, and forced her face up to the hole.

Yusei was staring back at her.

She gasped. "It's really you," she breathed, her tears finally forcing their way out of her eyes. "How..." she shook her head and stepped back. "Questions later, escaping now." She forced her fingers around a loose stone and pulled. It easily clattered onto the floor. For a moment, Yusei stared blankly, then seemed to understand. She could see him step back because she could see more of him, then he ran forward and slammed his shoulder into the wall. Several stones fell out; even more shook in place. For a single moment, Akiza tried to use her psychic powers; when she found that it went nowhere fast, she joined him.

After a little while, Yusei stepped inside the now-gaping hole in the wall. Without a single word or hesitation, Akiza stepped forward, threw her arms around his neck, and sobbed. She felt him as his muscles tensed in surprise; she felt him as he relaxed. His hands laid gently, warmly on her back. He felt different than anything she'd ever felt before. He felt warm and caring, like he wasn't going to let go. It was so strange, she hadn't felt it even before her imprisonment. But it was a warm, soft feeling, and she loved it.

Of course, she probably looked like a total freak. Her face was caked in a year's worth of dirt and grime, and her clothes were ripped and muddy. For a moment, she was embarrassed that she was getting so much dirt on him, and then realized how stupid that was. It didn't matter. She could feel her dirty tears soaking into his jacket, and lifted a finger to her face. It came away filthy.

Slowly, she forced her eyes open and up to Yusei's face. He looked relaxed, like his whole life had just been made real again. His eyes were closed, his chin resting on her shoulder. How long had he been so beautiful? Was it just her seeing another face for the first time in a year, or was it sometihng more?

Finally, after standing there, she heard him whisper, "It took too long." Face again buried in his shoulder, Akiza shook her head. "What happened?" Yusei didn't move, didn't say a single word for a moment. He just stood there, holding her, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Then, he started whispering, his warm breath tickling the back of her neck. It was good, because this story was probably going to send chills up her spine.

"Sayer vanished. Nobody knew where he went or why he went there, but eventually we figured it out. We thought he left to expand the Arcadia Movement, to make it even bigger. And we thought he took you to help him. But just yesterday, they found him... they found that he was dead for a year... eventually, they concluded that he got jumped and stabbed." Akiza shuddered, tightening her grip without thinking. Sayer was dead. For almost a year. She swallowed the bitter taste in the back of her mouth. Had he meant to come here, to get her out of this prison? Had he even been on his way to get her?

"So, after a little while, we realized that you were either still out there or dead... and we wanted to know which. We all split up... everyone's trying to find you, Akiza. Jack and Carly are out there together... Crow's looking... Misty took Leo and Luna... Mina and Trudge even joined in. Everybody's looking, and I found you." He pulled her in tighter. "So what's your story?"

Akiza swallowed hard, and started her own story. "Whenever Sayer comes up with a new test, he tries it out on me. So, this new one was endurance... he wanted to make sure that we wouldn't go crazy. And it was supposed to be just a few days, but then, that must be when he got jumped..." her voice cracked. "I tried everything that I could think of, but I just couldn't get out. So, I gave up... and waited for the end." Without thinking, her eyes flickered over to the tally wall behind Yusei. Then, she realized that he was watching her. Before she could make some kind of excuse, he had pulled away and turned around.

Akiza could hear him gasp as he took it all in. The two massive "150" marks, and then the massive "ANNIVERSARY" scribbled at the top. "Anni..." he whirled around to look at her. "You were here for a year?" he demanded. His voice was filled with too much to try and dissect. It sounded angry, hateful, upset, sad, and it sounded like he was feeling sorry for her. It was suddenly just too much for her, and she fell to her knees and started sobbing, hanging her head down to her elbows.

"I tried everything! I tried using my powers, running into the walls, pulling it apart, climbing for that stupid window, I even screamed for a whole week nonstop, and nothing worked! And I thought..." she choked on the end of her sentence, but swallowed down the sick feeling. "I thought you forgot," she whispered. Yusei slowly shook his head and knelt down. "I could never forget you," he whispered. "There wasn't a single day where I didn't think of you. I was always wondering where you were and what you were doing. I even went looking for you a few times. I couldn't forget."

Sniffling, Akiza lifted her head. He was still kneeling there, his hand now outstretched. She gripped it, and he pulled her upright. "You found me," she said simply. "That's all I need."

As they walked out of the massive building, Akiza caught her reflection in a piece of mirrored glass. She was right about how absolutely hideous she looked; her hair was grown long and ragged, her face dirtied beyond recognition; her clothes torn and ruined. But something seemed the same. After a moment, she realized that she was smiling. That hadn't changed. A brush against her hand made her look down; Yusei was giving her a deck. Surprised, she looked up, and he grinned. "I found it on my way in." Smiling, she slid it into the inner pocket of her coat. "Thank you."

When they walked outside, she could see Yusei's Duel Runner through the dead of the night. He threw one leg over and then sat down. "C'mon." Carefully, Akiza did the same, wrapping her arms around his waist. "What now?" Yusei pulled on a helmet. "Don't fall." He twisted one of the handles, and it started running. Within seconds, there were four panels on the screen of his runner. The upper left panel featured Jack with Carly glancing around his shoulder; upper right had Crow riding solo. The twins were looking around either side of Misty's shoulders- she must've gotten a Duel Runner, Akiza thought, distantly surprised. And in the lower right, the edge of Mina's face was peeking around Ushio's helmet.

"Well?" Jack snapped, obviously pretending not to care. "You've been looking the longest, so you'd better have a good reason." Yusei slid a hand into his pocket. "I did find this." He held up a Duel Monsters card. She couldn't tell what it was, but judging by the gasps and surprised words, it was probably important. He set it down on the seat and slid it towards Akiza. She picked it up and had to supress a smile; he had just showed them all her Black Rose Dragon.

"Oh, and one more thing..." She felt him nudge her, and she swallowed hard. This was it, the moment of truth. Slowly, she looked around Yusei's shoulder. "Hi," she whispered, suddenly shy. "I'm back."

A sudden mixture of reactions filled the screen. Leo was whooping and punching the air. Carly was clapping her hands excitedly, while Mina was doing it rather delicately. Trudge and Jack nodded curtly, almost at the same time. Crow grinned. "Nice to see ya!" Misty was smiling peacefully. Luna looked like she was ready to scream and barely holding it in. Akiza giggled. "Nice to see you all again," she said, and probably none of them could tell how much she meant it.

"Oh! Why d'you look like you've been sleeping on the floor?" Leo suddenly demanded, wrinkling his nose a little bit. Yusei glanced back at her. She shrugged. "Stories later." While he didn't seem satisfied, Leo nodded anyways. Before long, everyone was chatting about a place to meet up. Akiza took the opportunity to glance around.

It was all open. Something told her that there would be nightmares about how she would be trapped, and some form of claustrophobia. But none of that really mattered, did it? She was free. And she had Yusei. The thought filled her with a warm, bubbly feeling.

She had Yusei.