Hey Everyone! LOOK!! I finished it! It didn't turn out quite as I had planned, but I'm not complaining. I know it's kind of a weird ending, so I might re-write it to be a little more suitable to the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much for all of your support!

With Love: Xaph!

Chained

Chapter Four: A Finale of Sorts

            Dark yawned as his eyes opened slowly. He looked down to find Daisuke still snuggled against him, face buried into his chest. He looked quite content there, holding on to his elder companion. Dark wasn't complaining either, he'd never had the privilege to be surrounded by such warmth and companionship.

            Dark braved a glance at his watch, noting that they were due to land in a half-hour. Sighing helplessly, he had only one option he had to comply with. He gave his younger a nudge, waking him from the beautiful slumber he'd been in.

             "Anou… what is it Dark?" The younger man said, rubbing sleep from his crimson eyes.

            "We're due to land in about twenty minutes, Daisuke."  Dark smiled sweetly at him as Daisuke yawned and sat up.

             "Naaaaaannniiiiii?" He whined, giving a very cute pouty face to his elder.

            Dark chuckled a little. So Daisuke was a little tired, was he? "Come on, were almost to Shanghai."

            The redhead yawned again and stretched. "How long have I been asleep?"

            "A little over an hour." Dark smiled as he watched his companion smooth out his rumpled clothes and hair. "Sleep well?"

             Daisuke shrugged, rolling his tense shoulders as he did so. "Well enough. You?"

            "Fine." Dark stood up and stretched out his back and legs. He walked around in a circle before sitting back down where he was before. He noticed Daisuke's acute eyes watching his every move carefully, as if questioning Dark's character.

            "What is it?" The elder boy questioned firmly.

             Daisuke blushed a little and turned away. "Dark… do you… want to go back into the Niwa line?" His voice was shy and tentative when he spoke, as if he weren't quite sure what to make of his violet-haired companion.

             "Honestly?"

             "Honestly."

            Dark turned away. "I told you before that I want to live my own life and not be bound by the fate of having a male somewhere in the line…" He sighed and looked back at Daisuke. "Besides, there are… other reasons…" he muttered.

            "Dark, why didn't you say so before? If you're happy like this, then why try to reinsert yourself back into the Niwa-line?" Daisuke's question was promiscuous and poked at a question that Dark hadn't thought of for a while.

            He sighed deeply and looked into those mysterious amber eyes he loved so much. There was so much emotion in them as they watched Dark speak words he wished he didn't have to tell his companion. "Because… because you were trying so hard to put me back, you just wanted to keep your promise… and I didn't want to let you down."

             Daisuke's eyes went wide with surprise, then he smiled and moved a little closer to Dark. "Dark, if you're not happy about it, then I don't want to do it. It's not fair that I've lived most of my life as a single individual, and you only appear when a male is in the Niwa line. You deserve your own life too."

            Dark's face turned red with embarrassment. He didn't know Daisuke would speak so passionately to him, it touched him in a way… standing up for Dark's 'rights'. "Thank you, Daisuke."

            There several long moments of silence before Dark spoke again.

             "Daisuke?"

             "Yeah?"

            "How do you feel about me?"

            There was a choking sound from Daisuke, as if he had suddenly breathed in too much air for his lungs to adjust to. "Dai-chan!" Dark jumped forward and gently hit the redhead's back, in order to jumpstart his breathing.

             "Gomen!" Daisuke coughed as he regained his breath shakily. "I didn't mean for that to happen… how do I feel about you?" His voice seemed strained, as if there were feelings that wanted to burst from his lips, but instead stayed tucked within his mind.

            "About me going back into the Niwa line?" Dark asked tenaciously, as though that was the question he had asked in the first place. He knew what he had done to Daisuke though. He'd planted a thought into Daisuke's mind… perhaps it was a romantic thought? And perhaps Daisuke could…

            "I… oh, I guess it's really your decision. I support you either way, Dark." His voice seemed sad by the end of his sentence, as though he really were meaning to say something else. Something far more important to him.

            "But how do you feel?" Dark pressed again. He wanted to know… before he was sent back into a world without love and human contact. He wanted to know how Daisuke felt about this whole fiasco, and whether or not it had brought out hidden emotions.

             Daisuke sighed. "I'd miss you, Dark. You're… my best friend-"

            Dark cringed at the word, but stayed silent.

            "-and… well, I don't really want you to go back. It's not fair to you… or me."

            Dark's ears perked up as he heard the tiny last word that was barely whispered. "Not fair to you?"

             Daisuke looked sheepish as his eyes met Dark's. "I guess that's selfish of me, huh? To be worried about how I would feel, and not about how you would feel…"

            Dark's breath caught in his chest, and now he seemed unable to breathe. Was Daisuke proposing that he… liked Dark, more than just a 'friend'? Perhaps… as a romantic companion?

            "I… I don't think it's selfish of you, Daisuke…"

            An awkward silence floated around the two. Daisuke finally turned to Dark, and took a deep breath, as if to get ready for some sort of long-winded speech. Finally he spoke, and the elder boy listened intensely, begging to find a hint about Daisuke's feelings toward him.

            "I don't want you to go back, Dark… when you're with me, I feel… warm, safe, protected…" Daisuke choked on his last word. "Lo-o-ved."

            Dark stared at Daisuke, his face suddenly going warm as his breath suddenly avoided him. "Anou… I… I guess… you know my feelings then?"

             Daisuke blushed and nodded as his gaze sunk to the floor. "When you were in my mind… I heard you say things…" There was a long silence and Dark struggled with a response. Daisuke's eyes met his again and he blushed innocently. "I'm sorry, Dark. I shouldn't have listened…"

            Dark shook his head softly, trying to find his voice. "No… no, I- I understand…"

             "Dark?"

            Dark shifted uncomfortably, then looked up at his… companion? Friend? Boyfriend? He wasn't quite sure what Daisuke was to him now. All he knew was that the redhead now knew Dark's feelings for him; and there wasn't much that could be done after that. "Hai, Daisuke?"

            "I just… I just wanted to say-" The plane suddenly shifted downward as it prepared its self to land on mainland China.

            "The plane's landing…" Dark said.

             "Yeah…"

            "Come on, I guess we should get buckled up." He sighed deeply.

            Dark quickly latched the luggage stay around the two of them and held onto Daisuke's slender waist with his arms.

            There was another slow and awkward silence for a moment, and the only thing that moved was the luggage around the two young men. Finally Daisuke craned his neck and looked up at his elder companion.

             "Dark?"

            "Hai?" Dark asked gently, trying to be calm about the whole situation.

            "I- I love you…"

            Dark's heart stopped right then. The love of his life (As long as that had been), had just told Dark he loved him. That… that he loved him! Dark swallowed hard and smiled down at his companion, wrapping his arms around him tighter.

            "I love you too…"

Two Weeks Later:

            Dark sat on the couch, reading the newspaper. After several minutes, he looked at the clock. Daisuke was due home from school in about twenty minutes, and Dark would be waiting faithfully, as always, for his return.

            The violet haired man smiled as he thought of the two weeks before. There they were, in a cargo area of a plane, in the dark, with luggage sliding at them from all directions. How unromantic!

            But, it some how evoked confessions.

             Daisuke admitted to listening to Dark in his mind. He found out that he could listen to Dark's secret thoughts only in his dreams, and that was how he learned of his feelings. Dark was upset, but not so much to be angry with the cute redhead. After all, he was now with the cute redhead because of that fault.

            When they arrived in China, they didn't even bother to look for the necklace, it seemed a waste of their time if both Dark and Daisuke wanted to remain separate people. So, instead Dark took Daisuke out for a meal, and then they hopped on a flight back home. They were far more content to be separate, than to be one human body.

            It was odd… Dark was happier now than he had ever been in his life. Happy to be loved, happy to be in love, and happy to love some one back. It was as if his world was just as he wanted it to be, him and Daisuke and no one else. That was the perfect life.

            Emiko, of course, knew of the relationship. She was too crafty to have anything  important like that slip by her at all. She embraced the relationship and set up cute, romantic dinners on occasion; sent the boys on their own for an outing; or somehow managed to get then alone for some 'quiet time'. Whatever she did, it always ended up being a perfect evening, day, etc. The two boys seemed content to be with each other and enjoy a nice outing every now and then.

             "Tadaima!"

            Dark's eyes shot to the clock, then to the door and he stood up to approach his red haired companion. "Okaeri."

             Daisuke looked up, smiled, then jumped forward and tackled Dark with a big hug. "Hi, Dark!"

            Dark smiled and wrapped his arms around him. "Hi, Dai-chan…"

            They pulled away and looked into each other's eyes, and said at the same time:

            "I missed you."