Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Over 8 months into a new year, and I've finally come up with a new original. Please take note before reading.

*I've never been valedictorian, or even tried, really. So I could never dream of claiming that I can write a legitimately good valedictory speech for a high school graduation. I hoped to write the best one I can that suits the purpose of the plot and, of course, would best fit Téa's character.

**Yes, I know it is not my best work. This one was mainly so I can get preachy for a little bit. I was in a preachy mood.

***Yes, "In the Body of a Boy" Chapter 3 IS coming out soon. I have been working on it. Please read, review, and follow if you want to be updated when it arrives :D

****Congrats to my readers who graduated this spring!

Enjoy!

The Valedictory Address
Atemusluckygal
The ALG Series

Téa Gardener, valedictorian.

No one in the gang of Duel Monsters champions and world saviors were surprised, except for Téa. She thought her meeting with her principal and counselor would be just for assurance that she got to apply to every university she wanted. She thought her excellent grades and high achievements in dance would reward her only with a promising future at Juilliard and good study habits. She thought flying all over the world to help the pharaoh save mankind would hold her back in her dreams.

It didn't.

There she stood on the trimmed grass of the Domino High School football field, the marching band's trumpets and trombones blaring loudly to the beat of snares and a bass drum in the distance, friends and family of the graduating class finding their seats in the bleachers with flags and balloons and all sorts of noisemakers, all a blur and a bunch of muffled noises.

For Téa, Domino High School valedictorian, was preparing to give her valedictory speech to everyone in the stadium.

Her palms were slick with sweat. Her heart thumped harshly. Her stomach was wound in a tight, unrelenting knot. Compared to this… saving the world was a breeze in her pocket.

Deep breaths, Téa. Inhale, exhale. With your diaphragm, now.

It was almost time. Principal William Forge was at the podium. The graduates were seated, with the tassels on their graduation caps hanging on the right. The sun's glare reflected brightly on the cheap black polyester gowns. Some students were using their caps to fan themselves, for it was already summery weather in Domino. Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura all sat next to each other somewhere in the center left rows.

Téa looked out into the crowd for the first time. It was a sea of faces, most of which unfamiliar to her. She looked to her left; her school faculty stood in a line on the side of the field in their special gowns and caps, including her dance instructor. Dana, who had been Téa's main dance instructor since she was a young and promising freshman, flashed her a knowing look. Dana knew from the beginning that Téa would end up here.

Everyone, including the graduates, rose for the national anthem.

"And now, we will be having our valedictory speech given by our Domino High School valedictorian, who has not only excelled to the top of her class in academia but has also soared to great heights in her accomplishments in our blue ribbon dance department—"

Téa glanced down at the valedictorian medal hanging from her neck on a thick blue ribbon. There was a pause, and her heart leapt to her throat.

"—Téa Gardner!"

There was only a second or two of the audience's screams and claps that Téa could hear, before it all became indistinguishable noises again. Her feet numbed and her knees wobbled slightly as she strode up to the podium, her speech notes slightly crumpled in her trembling fingers. Adjusting the mic seemed to drag on forever, as Principal Forge was a short and stubby man while Téa was quite a bit taller.

Well, here goes.

"Fellow seniors, classmates, and friends… look at us now. We made it. We made it to the end, only to begin a whole new adventure on the other side of these fences.

These last four years at Domino High School were a roller coaster ride to all of us, in one way or another. The beauty of leaving high school is not escaping the petty drama, or the romances that didn't last, or never having to finish a Hamlet soliloquy assignment at 3am ever again"—some chuckles from the seniors caught Téa's ears for a second, causing her to smile and let go of some tension in her toes—"but the life lessons we learned, the doors that were opened to us, and the friendships we've made and secured for a lifetime… that is what the beauty of our departure.

I will never forget our dance competition two years ago… or rather, the fundraising campaigns our dance team organized for it. We washed cars, sold pastries, and even did a benefit concert with the jazz band. I remember Chloe slipping during a sequence—which was strange to me because Chloe never falls—and it turned out to be because one of the trumpet players emptied their spit valve on the floor!"

From this anecdote, a whole row of girls in the far right cheered and laughed. Téa shot a quick smirk at her dance classmates. Though she had never grown too close with them, they were still her family, in a way. Chloe was the loudest cheerer of the bunch.

"I'm sure a few of my classmates will remember Mr. Holland's favor for chemistry puns, or Mrs. Baker's inclination to read pieces of literature with a stylistically accurate dialect, or how Mr. Creeker taught us everything from the basics of Algebra, to the most complicated of trigonometric formulas, to even creating a horoscope generator with C++ coding"—more chuckles echoed from other students in the back—"and yet we had to teach him how to use his new smartphone." More chuckling. Téa felt a bit more at ease.

"All this stuff we learned will benefit us in the future, in some way or another. But what did we really learn? We learned to operate as a community, as a school, and as a society. We both taught and learned from each other, and somewhere along the road, we realized that we depend on each other for our greatest successes."

"Therefore, I cannot claim to be the only one responsible for my achievements. My parents have supported me… morally, financially… in any way they could, since day one. All my teachers presented challenge after challenge, and the fact that I'm standing here today is testament to their true dedication to me as their pupil. My dance teacher, Dana, pushed me to the very brink of my potential, every single day, even when I almost convinced myself to quit. She saw what I couldn't see, and made me see it for myself. Dancing has always been my dream, and she helped me create a reality from it."

Téa looked up from her notes, and made eye contact with Yugi from across the rows and about a hundred feet of football field. He, Joey, and Tristan were all looking right back at her, smiling elatedly. She returned their smiles before continuing.

"My friends… these people close to my heart, play a much bigger role in my becoming who I am today than they will ever know. I have traveled the world with them, facing countless obstacles at every corner we turned. We've all faced so much together, it's almost hard to believe that we're all here on the same field…"—well, almost all of us, Téa thought, as she fought to keep her emotions distant—"and that we wouldn't be here if it weren't for all of us, working together, cohesively, to get us here in one piece. I have always been a very vocal supporter of friendship and its value in my life, in your life, in anyone's life. And I hope you recognize your friendships when they are meant to last, and cherish them so, as I do and always will.

The last person I want to thank… his identity will remain anonymous, but his impact on me is far from insignificant. He taught me that courage, passion from the heart, and an unwavering belief in myself will always be rewarded—if not with what I want, with something even better. He taught me to face my fears with a tall back and a focused stare. Most importantly, he taught me that I can still reach the sky, even from the valley of my lowest point."

The tears threatened. Her throat tightened. Her hands shook so much she couldn't even hold her notes. She turned her head to the side, took one long, loud breath hissing through her teeth, and resumed.

"It will be hard to say goodbye. We're going to achieve great things all over the world; and though we may physically be leaving each other, our spirits will remain a community, here in Domino, to be remembered as where we all started. Our relationships don't end, they simply reach farther. No matter where our paths to success lead us, the people closest to your heart will always be a constant.

As a final thought moving forward, I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite quotes by Helen Keller, a remarkable woman in history.

'Alone we can do so little; together, we can do so much.'

Congratulations, graduates."

Téa immediately stepped down from the podium, wanting to finally get away from the microphone and return to her own thoughts, when the stadium erupted in applause. Téa turned back; her teachers all smiled at her, and were clapping gleefully for her. They seemed quite genuine. When she turned to walk over to sit with the soon-to-be-graduates, she was enthralled to see that every single senior was giving her a standing ovation. Some of the dancers were even wiping their eyes. Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Bakura waved frantically at her.

"Wow, Téa!" Joey exclaimed over the tail end of the clapping, as she sat down with them, "what a great speech! Did ya really mean all of that?"

"Of course!" Téa replied, still shaking from nerves dying down. "I meant every word!"

Yugi reached over and threw his arms around Téa's shoulders. "You were great up there. I told you you could do it!"

"Thanks Yugi." She returned his hug, as Principal Forge carried on the ceremony.

"That was also a really nice bit about the pharaoh," Yugi whispered. "He would've appreciated that very much."

Téa regarded him with a silent smile. For some reason, Yugi's sentiment made her emotional again, and she wished not for others to see. She blinked away the tears before they fell, and gazed blankly out into the bleachers.

…when a strange, but familiar combination of colors caught her eye.

Téa focused her eyes right away on the subject in question; she thought, for a moment, that she was looking at Yugi and his wild, tri-colored hair that he refused to change in any way, sitting confidently in the distant top row corner of the bleachers, with both his arms and legs crossed. But Yugi didn't normally sit like that—furthermore, Yugi was also sitting right next to her. It was literally impossible for him to be in his chair to her left and then in the audience in five seconds. So if it wasn't Yugi she was making eye contact with, then it could only be—

No, Téa thought, no, it can't be him. No way.

It was an illusion, a trick of her mind. It had to be. She had had dreams before, of him, where he would vanish once she got close enough to him. This dream reoccurred a concerning amount of times, and in a variety of different circumstances with the same outcome, and only confirmed her affection for him was way too intense to be conceivable or even possible to act upon in reality. She would glance away for a second, or even just blink, and he would be gone. As if he had vaporized instantly, and the air was left cold in his wake. Then she would wake up, feeling even more rejected and alone than before.

But as she blinked, and blinked again, and closed her eyes and shook her head and blinked some more, there he remained, sitting tall like the tower of command and confidence she remembered and admired. And he was staring back down at her with his trademark smirk, which only appeared when he had the upper hand in a duel, or if he was generally pleased with someone or something.

Then, someone tapped him on the shoulder, breaking his trance. The stranger asked him if the space next to him was taken, to which he responded with a shake of his head.

So he was real.

The ceremony dragged on. Téa could hardly bear it, and it was supposed to be a memorable event for her! All she could focus on was the 'why's and 'how's and 'is this really real's. She wasn't sure if Yugi and the others could also see him or not, and she was so distracted by his mere presence that it never crossed her mind to ask. All she could do was stare, wonder, and fight back the love for him she had long ago suppressed. She could hardly even remember that she had just given a valedictory speech.

A lifetime later, Principal Forge finally botched the last name of the graduating class, and all of the seniors were officially pronounced high school graduates of Domino High School. Tassels were switched to the left side of the cap, but only hung there for a few seconds before hundreds of caps went flying into the air. Téa tossed hers as high as she could, overjoyed, laughing and heart soaring. Joey and Tristan were, of course, competing to see who could throw their cap the highest, and Yugi simply watched and laughed as he tossed his up, too. Everyone was happy.

Téa searched for the pharaoh in the bleachers again, only to find an empty space where he once sat. She panicked… did he leave? Was he really just a figment of her overly hopeful imagination? Were the Gods being insufferably cruel to her again? Was she just being haunted?

"Congratulations, valedictorian Téa Gardner."

Téa spun around immediately. That voice never changed, always rumbling with a simmering intensity whether it was stressed or not. It intimidated her, and yet soothed her at the same time. She knew she was protected as long as she heard his voice.

She ran to him.

"Atem!"

To her delight, his solid flesh was there to meet her embrace. His very real sharp violet eyes closed contentedly. She threw her arms around his very real shoulders. She didn't understand and she didn't care. Atem was standing right there, with his very real arms around her. Her tears were absorbed in his very real black jacket. His very real voice hummed softly in her ear as he hugged her tighter.

"I'm proud of you, Téa. Even after all we've been through together, you still came out on top. You are a true champion."

Téa's hands feverishly wiped the tears from her face. "I don't even care about that right now… how are you even here?"

Atem said nothing for a moment, only lifting a hand to graze softly over her cheek to wipe the remaining tears away. "I'm here to stay."

"Yes but… you still haven't told me how—"

"Oh, hey Atem!" came Yugi's voice from behind her, sounding surprisingly calm.

"Yugi! Congratulations to you as well. To all of you." Atem released Téa from his grasp to give Yugi a firm handshake, and Joey and Tristan a high-five.

"Thanks for comin', Pharaoh! It's great to see ya here!"

"Wait," Téa sputtered. "You all knew about this?"

"Only for a few days longer than you," answered Yugi. "He and I decided to let you deal with your valedictory speech first before telling you. I mean… you were already stressed enough as it is…"

"And I enjoyed the speech very much," chimed in Atem, grinning warmly. "It was well composed and, more importantly, it came from the heart. I was deeply moved by it."

Téa beamed at him, becoming teary again. "Thank you. This is all happening so fast… I hardly even know what's going on…"

Atem turned to the boys. "Will you excuse us?"

Yugi and the others, in the meantime, were all still trying to find their own caps. "Yeah, sure!"

The former pharaoh then placed his hand on Téa's shoulder, and led her off the football field, maneuvering past happy family members and their handfuls of balloons and Hawaiian flower leis, ducking past cameras, until they were on the track field. He then took her hand and wordlessly guided her to a more secluded, less hectic area behind the bleachers.

"What are you—"

Atem's very real lips were suddenly kissing hers, cutting her off and eliciting a squeak of surprise. Her eyes immediately closed as she poured her heart into kissing him back, still in a dizzy high from all that's still being processed in her mind, and she grabbed a tight hold on him. It was tender, wonderful, passionate, and real… and it kept going. She had never been kissed with so much confidence before, and she felt that no other experience will ever compare.

The kiss was finally released, and Téa could hardly hold her balance. Her eyelids felt heavier, as if she were in a blissful dream. Her feelings for him, condemned and closeted long ago, were rapidly resurfacing. She was lovestruck all over again, and she didn't mind one bit.

"Consider this your graduation present."

Téa's kiss-bruised lips stretched into a wide, goofy grin. "Thanks. You still haven't told me how you're even here. I thought… well… with the Millennium Items buried…"

"…that I would forever dwell in the Afterlife," he interrupted, "where I'm supposed to be resting peacefully for the rest of eternity, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, it turns out that the Afterlife is not very restful if you're not in the right company," he explained, a small smile on his lips. "I missed you all so terribly, and there was an ache in my heart that refused to be relieved. I knew it wasn't meant to be. My heart has decided that I belong in the world I've come to love, with the people I've come to love."

He gently weaved his fingers in her hair and brushed some locks from her face. "Much of that ache in my heart was for you, Téa."

The girl in his arms was silent with wonder.

"I am extremely pleased I found a way to come home, to my real home… and in time for your graduation, no less. Knowing that I never completed my training as Pharaoh made it that much more magnificent to see you complete yours."

Atem bestowed a light kiss on her forehead. "Now, go find your family. We will see you at the Game Shop tonight, okay?"

"Yes…" Téa sighed. She didn't want him to leave, but reality was beginning to seep back into her awareness. Her parents would want to take pictures and put Hawaiian flower leis on her while she held up her diploma and valedictorian medal. Then her mother will post a photo on her Twitter, spending five minutes typing out dozens of hashtags. Then her father would tell her how proud he is of her and her accomplishments, and how Gran would be proud, too.

"See you soon, Téa." With one more quick but meaningful peck on her lips, Atem was gone, disappearing into the family packs and crowds.

Téa 's heart couldn't have felt fuller than at that moment. "Yes, Pharaoh. See you soon."

She looked down at her medal one last time. She picked it up in her hand; the heavy metal warmed her palm. "Very soon."

-END-

Aw.