Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 1: Come Away With Me

It was raining outside – again. Why was it always raining in Domino? And why hadn't he noticed before? With his head leaning on his left arm he stared out into the rain, waiting for something to happen. Tonight's date was not what he'd call an entertainment. He sighed. Why had he agreed to dating in the first place? Oh, right, because Yugi had thought it would distract him. After they had saved the world together, he had decided to stay around. Why not enjoy life a bit? Besides, it had been too hard to say goodbye. However, he had agreed to Yugi's idea because...because it had been Yugi's idea. How could he have said no?

Slowly but gradually he had the faint suspicion that his friend was trying to get rid of him every now and then so he could spend time with Téa. Well, that was nothing he was to be blamed for, but he could have said that frankly. He wouldn't have been angry. "You'll enjoy it, and you have to improve your people skills anyways!" Yugi had said. His people skills! Like he wasn't good with people! Yugi's friends had always liked him! But maybe that was because they were Yugi's friends after all. Anyway, the girl he was dating, Merissa, she liked him, too. He couldn't be that bad with people then.

Tonight Merissa had brought two of her friends, Candy and Sally. They were chattering a lot, which put him into the comfortable position of being allowed to daydream a little. That is, after they had asked him every question they could have possibly thought of and him answering each of them in all conscience.

"Hey Yami!" he perceived Candy's perky voice. He looked at her with a frown. Where was Merissa? Had she left him alone with those hyperactive girls? He gave the girl with the cheaply reddish tinted hair an attentive look. "Sally and I," she began, giving her blonde friend a glance, "We have decided that you are a nice guy." He nodded at them slowly and mouthed a long drawn "O-kay".

Sally leaned closer towards him. "But don't you ever hurt her!"

He gulped. "Why would I?" he brought forth.

The girls smiled contently. "She's our friend, we wouldn't want to see her sad." He nodded.

"Girls, are you molesting my date?" he heard Merissa ask and let out an inaudible sigh of relief. The brunette sat down beside him and gave him a smile, which he returned.

"No, we were just doing our duty as friends," Candy chirped. Merissa rolled her eyes.

"Never mind them," she told him, and then she stretched herself and yawned sleepily. "I'm so tired." The other two girls nodded in agreement.

"Shall I bring you home?" he asked attentively. Merissa mustered him with her blue-greyish eyes for a moment, and then nodded.

"Yes, take me home, please," she said, and threw a quick glance at her two friends. They stifled an obvious giggle, and he could hardly suppress the need to roll his eyes.

"You know, Yami," Merissa began as they were on their way towards her parent's house. He glanced at her. She had a slight blush on her usually white cheeks, making him give her more attention. She took in a deep breath. "I've really enjoyed our dates so far," she said, "You are not like the others, I figure." She blushed even more. He smiled at her. "I mean, you are so…calm most of the time, and you are very patient with everyone, you never try to impose your opinion on others. That is rare, really." He looked up at the sky for a moment, trying to find words. It had stopped raining, and the air was filled with this scent of cleanliness. So what did this mean? Was she trying to tell him that she…loved him? Hopefully not! He wouldn't know what to say to that. He didn't think he loved her…yet. He liked her a lot. He could tell her that.

"I enjoyed it, too," he began, and she smiled, the red in her face never leaving it.

"So will you give us a chance?" she asked, and her voice was shaking with excitement.

He gave her a surprised look. "Give us a chance…?" he asked, not quite understanding what she was talking about.

She bit her lip. "I mean…as a couple." He pondered about the question for a moment. He thought about how happy Joey and Mai were as a couple and how he sometimes envied them for their happiness. Maybe he could be just as happy. Why not? It was worth a try. He took her hand and gently made her stop. One look at her eyes showed him how nervous she was and he smiled. It was sweet.

"Of course I will," he said confidently and she let out a sigh of relief and then a bright smile started forming on her lips. She gave him a hug.

"I'm so glad you do." He embraced her – naturally – and smiled. She was happy, which made him happy. She held his hand proudly as they picked the rest of the way to her home.

They stopped in front of the door. Merissa was chewing away on her lower lip nervously as she rummaged inside her pocket for the keys. Thanks to Yugi he could already guess what was on her mind. He had made him watch several romantic movies. "That is what is usually on the girl's mind it seems," he had said. So far he had been right, at least when it came to Merissa. It was a bit sad, however, that the whole thing about love was so predictable. He had always considered it a bit more enigmatic if he was honest.

She turned to him, having found her key. "So…uhm…" she began, searching for the right words. He gave her a warm smile. He knew this was his part, so he guessed he was just going to do what the guys in the movies usually did. Hopefully it would work. Most likely it would. He leaned in a little closer, and she slowly closed her eyes. When he was close enough, he shut his eyes as well and gently placed his lips on hers. Immediately she flung her arms around his neck and kissed him back, inquiringly yet gently biting his lower lip. He grinned and let himself get into the whole thing.

Suddenly she stopped though, stepped back and gasped in shock. He gave her a questioning look. She was blushing again. He just chuckled.

"That was…" she began in awe while staring at him.

He frowned. "That bad?" he inquired, not being too sure. He had never done that before after all – not knowingly, that is. She quickly shook her head, biting her lip.

"Amazing is more the word," she said with a smile and then placed another kiss on his cheek. "I will see you tomorrow then," she said. He nodded and watched her getting into the house before making his way back home.

"Mokuba, did you seriously book a hostess for me for tomorrow?" he asked drily as he looked at the booking confirmation. Ever since his younger brother had reached puberty he had grown fond of the idea that he, Seto Kaiba, needed a girlfriend. He was sixteen now and glancing at him with his dark blue eyes.

"Why not? Maybe you like the girl," he chirped cheerfully. Tomorrow he had a meeting with important businessmen. And obviously he had an attendance as well now. He rolled his eyes.

"Those girls are not there to be liked, Mokuba," he said, "They are earning their money on a basis of looking good. There is nothing more to them." Mokuba pouted.

"Have you never seen the movie Pretty Woman?" he asked. He raised an eyebrow and then sneered at his younger brother.

"No."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "Just give it a try. If you don't like it, then I'll stop bugging you about the whole girl-topic, okay?"

He smirked. "Sounds like a good deal." So by tomorrow evening he was going to be out of this. Perfect. Mokuba jumped up and cheered.

"I'm sure you'll like it! And now I'm out of here! See you, big brother!" He frowned.

"Where are you going?!" Mokuba stopped at the door of his office and turned. "Just meeting with some friends. No worries!" And before he could intervene the boy was out of the door. Luckily he had his bodyguards. They never let Mokuba get endangered.

He let out a deep sigh. It was eight o'clock and he still had to prepare for tomorrow. The meeting was important. The gentlemen he was meeting with were interested in his technology. If he could sell it, he was going to strengthen his economic position in Africa. It was a little difficult with this continent. Maybe the next day was going to bring the big break.

For a moment his thoughts strayed to the woman who was going to accompany him. Hopefully she knew when to shut up. If there was one thing he hated more than women who were dumb, it was women who not only didn't have an opinion but were at the same time unable to express it.

A woman like that could spoil it all! And the reason why he always had everything under control was because luck usually wasn't with him. He couldn't simply depend on it and hope everything would turn out right. He clenched his teeth and quickly got the booking confirmation of the escort service from beneath the important papers.

He would call them and tell them to send the girl to the meeting he had next week. That was rather unimportant, since the men he was going to meet with wanted something of him and not vice versa. It was difficult enough for him to be the supplicant the next day. He couldn't have some quacking trull sitting beside him as well.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number. While it was hooting he looked through the confirmation again. When he came across the girl's name, he froze. Impossible!

"BKB Models, what can I do for you?" a bright voice chirped on the other side. He didn't answer. He couldn't help but staring at the name. "Hello?" He snapped out of it.

"Nothing. Please excuse me," he said, hanging up and smirking. This was going to be interesting. With satisfaction he put the paper aside and started working.

It had obviously rained in Domino lately. The air still smelled cleansed. Too bad she wasn't in the right mood to enjoy it. Her mood, to be honest, wasn't right for any kind of weather, except for rain, maybe. She exited the station and picked her way towards Yugi Mutou's grandfather's game shop. That's where she would find her brother her father had told her on the phone earlier.

She let out a deep sigh. Hopefully the whole lot wasn't going to be there. She wasn't going to be able to stand Duke and Tristan tonight. Well, maybe they weren't so into her anymore. Maybe they had girlfriends now and were happy. Five years had passed, after all. A lot had happened according to Joey, and she was sure there were many things he had forgot telling her about.

The game shop wasn't far from the station. At this time of the day it was closed already, of course. She was going to have to ring. Oh well. She raised her finger and-

"Serenity?" She shivered. At another time and place this voice would have seemed more than appealing to her. She turned to its owner, and let out a deep sigh of relief as she realized who it was. Joey had told her that the ghost who had inherited Yugi's puzzle had a body of his own now. She tried to smile – in vain. He gave her a worried look. Obviously she was looking as bad as she felt.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, glancing at her bag.

"I…was hoping to find my brother here," she said.

He nodded. "It's either here, or at home with Mai," he said and unlocked the door. "A surprise visit?" He picked up her bag and she thanked him while following in.

"Uhm, actually…no. Not in this sense, that is. I have something to tell him and thought it would be better to do it personally."

That was only half the truth and Serenity, being an honest person, had a hard time convincing herself that half the truth was better than no truth at all. Then again, the other half was of little concern to him. It was more the feeling that it was of concern to her brother, but that she wasn't going to tell him. She chewed away on her lip nervously as she followed Yugi's alter ego – she didn't know what to call him in fact – upstairs. With every step her heart got a little heavier.

How was Joey going to take it? She couldn't find the answer. Five years ago she might have been able to tell. But now? She hadn't seen him; their only contact had been via e-mail. She had changed, he had changed. She didn't think she really knew her brother very well anymore. That was a fact that didn't make it all easier for her. She sighed.

"Excuse me…" she said as he was starting to unlock the door of the actual apartment. He turned to her. "Could you…send Joey out if he's there? I'd like to talk to him alone first," she requested. He mustered her curiously for a moment, and then nodded with a smile.

"You can call me Yami, by the way," he said. She nodded and watched him slipping into the apartment.

She rubbed her eyes and tried to prepare for the next moments. She wasn't intending to stay much longer; she needed to get some sleep, if possible. She could already hear her brother rumbling through the apartment to the door. She tried to hold back the unbearable pain it caused her to listen to this clear sign of his happiness. The door was flung open, and in the doorway he stood. He hadn't changed so much it seemed. Immediately he pulled her into a firm embrace.

"Serenity! I can't believe you're here!" he said happily, "Come on, let's get in, I bet Yug' will be happy to see ya as well!" He was about to pull her in, but she stiffened and didn't move a bit. He loosened the embrace and gave her a questioning look. She had her lips pressed together firmly so they couldn't quiver, and she focused on her brother. His eyes widened in shock. "Sis?" he asked in complete bewilderment. She took in a deep breath.

"Joey," she whispered, her voice shivering.

"Wha…?" The tears were forcing their way out of her eyes without mercy.

"It's about mom…" she went on. He stared at her in shock.

"What happened?" She sobbed, but managed to compose herself a little.

"She got involved in a heavy accident today," she said, swallowing.

She remembered how she had been called shortly before she had wanted to take the train to Domino four hours earlier than she had ended up taking it. "Is that Miss Wheeler?" the police man had asked. "Uhm, yes," she had answered. "Listen, Miss, I am sorry to say that your mother was involved in an accident on the highway…I fear I have to tell you that…" And at that point she had dropped her phone in shock. After composing herself, she had returned home and then she had had to confirm that…

The picture of the dead body of her mother flickered in her mind and at that moment she fell into her brother's arms and clung to him for dear life.

"She's dead, Joey." Her voice was no more than a broken whisper. For quite a while they just stood there, both of them crying.

"Joey? Serenity?" It was Yugi. They loosened the embrace and turned to Yugi.

"What…?" His face was filled with empathy. Serenity pulled herself together and wiped away the tears. She had cried enough in the train.

"Our mother died in a car accident," she told Yugi, since Joey was still unable to speak.

Yugi's eyes widened in shock. "Oh no! I'm so unspeakably sorry!" She nodded in acknowledgement. "Why don't you…come on in? Sit down, I'll make you some tea or something," he suggested. Serenity looked at her brother for a moment.

Heavy-heartedly she shook her head. "No, really, thank you Yugi. I have got to get back home. There are so many things I have to arrange now," she said. Another half-truth. If anyone was ever going to find out…Yugi and Joey looked at her in surprise.

"You can't go back just now," Joey said with a shaky voice. She sighed.

"I have to, Joey. I've got to work tomorrow. I can't afford to miss out on work," she said. That, however, was the truth.

"But…" She shook her head.

"Please, Joey," she pleaded. He wiped his teary eyes.

"I guess…I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" She nodded and pulled him into a hug.

"Take good care of him, okay?" she said to Yugi while hugging him. He nodded.