Once Upon A December

By: Shy Freefall

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh.

pairings: SxS, JxM, YxT, and others.

Warning: Characters may be a little OOC (Out Of Character).

Summary

She was 6 years old when they met, he was 8. What happens when one friend moves away without saying good-bye and when the other being left behind, decides to look for their friend... 10 years later?

Chapter 1- How their friendship began

In the Park at dusk

A young girl with hazel eyes and long auborn hair swung in the park swing, waiting for her parents and older brother to come and pick her up.

'Where are they? They said they would come and get me.' the young girl thought tearfully to herself, as she started swinging herself again in the swing. Just then, a cold breeze swept behind her, making her shiver. She felt something being laid across her shoulders. Startled, she jumped out of the swing and turned around to face whoever it was that was behind her.

But when she faced whoever it was, she faced a pair of sapphire blue eyes. It was a boy that was about 2 years older than herself. The girl looked him over, brown chestnut colored hair fell over his eyes and wore dark blue jeans and a long sleeved turtleneck.

"Hello." The boy said, as he gave her a boyish grin. She looked down at the ground, avoiding the intense blue eyes that were studying her. She wore a long sleeved casual black shirt which flared at the elbows, sky blue blue jeans, and her hair was up in a messy bun, so that her hair was somewhat strewn about her shoulders.

"Um...hello." she replied a little shy of the young stranger in front of her. She started shivering again... uncontrollably this time. The boy noticed her shivering and frowning asked, "Are you cold?"

The girl looked up at the boy as she started rubbing her arms up and down with her hands to keep what little warmth she had to herself.

"Uh... yes, but I'll be fine." she replied indicating the light beige sweater that she had put on, while on the swing. I fit the black shirt, the sweater itself also flared at the elbows outlining the black shirt. The boy looked at her incredulously, and slowly shaking his head, bent to pick up the fallen jacket up off the ground, and went over to her. But seeing him coming ever so closer, she got scared and backed up. And as if he was reading her mind, he grinned at her which made her relax slightly and stop her backing up, and the boy gently reassured her that he wasn't going to hurt her and that she needn't be afraid. He then went around her to face her back and put his jacket across her shoulders.

"My name's Seto, Seto Kaiba." the boy said in hopes of getting the girl to calm down thoroughly, and sure enough the girl in front of him did calm down enough to continue the conversation.

"My name's Shizuka, Shizuka Katsuya. Nice to meet you. And arigatou." the girl replied, as she put her arms through the sleeves of the jacket, and turned to face him and give him a genuine smile, which surprised him.

'Her smile. Why is it I can't help but feel happy when I see her smile,' thought Seto, to himself. 'And why is it that I feel like I knew her once before in the past?'

All this time that Seto was running through his thoughts, Shizuka looked at Seto with a curious look in her hazel eyes, but at the same time got an idea in her head, and grew a little shy. The shy look on Shizuka's face had knocked Seto out of his thoughts for the time being-- literally. He then asked a question, cautiously so as not to bring her fears back,

"Are you alright, Shizuka?" Seto asked, as he studied her face. She looked a little shy, and yet a little... dare he say it... cute. She looked up at him, but then... with a small smile on her face, turned on her heel and started to walk away, but a small tug of a smile came to her lips, and said over her shoulder,

"Yes, I'm alright. It's just that... I was wondering if you would like to see something I made from school a couple of days ago." Seto just looked at her retreating form, and soon followed her closely. Shizuka felt him close on her heels, and made a slight fire burn up her neck and a little across her cheeks. For some mysterious reason, his mere presence made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Seto noticed her that Shizuka seemed to loosen up around him, which made him glad on the inside.

Suddenly, the two of them were stopped by a bunch of Jr. High kids, the biggest of them was a kid that was about 10 years old, dark brown crewcut hair, dark brown almost black eyes, and appeared to be the toughest of them. The boy stepped forward and said,

"Well, well, well, what have we here? A little boy and a little helpless girl? Well, this is our territory little boy and girl, so scram before we gonna hurt you."

At the boy's statement, Seto gently pushed Shizuka behind him, but she tensed and stood next to him, Seto looked at her and caught her glaring- which surprised him, he'd just met this girl, who seemed like a harmless kitten, but this kitten had transformed into a full grown cheetah-- her eyes glowing with a hidden bright fire behind them.

"But my things are over there." she complained, as the dark haired boy came toward her and brought out his hand to hers.

"Then, I suppose I could escort you to your belongings." he replied as he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his arms. Seto was overcome by anger, but hid it well when he saw Shizuka's wink.

'She's got something up her sleeve.' he thought to himself, but his mind brought him back to the present when he heard Shizuka say in a deadly tone,

"Never call me a 'helpless little girl'!" Seto was amazed at her, as she kneed the dark haired boy in the place where it hurts most on a guy, but realized that the entire group was closing in on the two of them... fast. Seto turned around and punched someone directly in the face, while he turned around again and punched yet another guy in the stomach. But while fighting another bully, he kept one eye on Shizuka, worried that she may get hurt in all the ruckus. But again, to his amazement, he saw her bouncing around in a nearby oak tree... like a pinball-- for in reality, she was a gymnast-in-training.

But since he was a bit preoccupied with fighting the bully in front of him and keeping an eye on Shizuka, he didn't see the fist that was heading straight for his face... right up until he heard someone shout,

"Yo, Buddy! Leave my Sista's friends alone!" And just before the punch landed on Seto, a blonde haired boy came into view, and landed a couple of good punches on the bully before turning to the auborn gymnast in the trees. Seto just looked at the blonde haired boy and thought to himself,

'He must be around my age or so.' A shout broke his thoughts and looked up to see Shizuka leaning a branch and looking down... not at him (Seto), but at the blonde haired boy.

"Jounouchi!" she called out, before she swung out of the tree. And the boy looked up and gave a small grin before answering her, just as she landed on the soft grass.

"Hey ya, sis. You weren't showin' off again, were ya?" asked the boy named Jounouchi. By this time, Shizuka's persuers were so tired, they lacked the ability to jump down from a 35 foot high tree.

"Nope, But gymnastics is my greatest strength and you know that I don't like to hurt people." she replied, but noticed Seto just standing there... she remembered,

"Oh, Joey! This is Seto Kaiba, my new friend," Shizuka turned to Seto to introduce him to the blonde named Joey. "And Seto, this is Jounouchi, My older brother. Jounouchi Katsuya."

Seto nodded and said, "Nice to meet you."

Joey did the same thing, but held out his hand,

"Yeah, same here." The two boys shook hands... in a sign of friendship, that was going to last for a very long time.

A/n: Hey peeps! Hope you like the story so far. More to come soon! How soon, I don't know. Don't forget to R&R! I look forward to reading your reviews! hee hee

So until the next time,

Peace out,

Shy Freefall

Ps... Someone/Somebody give me the japanese names for the characters of Yu-Gi-Oh, please, please, please!