Hero Signal

AN: Okay, so somehow, I am writing another YGO GX fanfic. This one is based off a picture I've been seeing in some Youtube videos… anyways, I've tweaked with the entire timeline, cause I've only seen till episode 142. Everyone's back at Duel Academy, Jaden is normal, but Alexis hasn't forgiven him yet for sacrificing all of his friends for his own redemption. JxA, in Alexis' point of view.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It seemed so strange to be sitting in my room again, staring out into a bright blue sky. So strange that no one was in danger. But I would take the feeling of strangeness than the actual thing any day. I ran my hands over the blue coverlet, relishing the familiar sensation.

It was good to be home. Outside, the birds were chirping, and I had never heard a sweeter sound. I stood up, suddenly tired of lounging around in my room, eager to go out and explore Duel Academy all over again, to make sure that everything was real.

I opened the door and closed it gently behind me. As I lifted my hand from the doorknob, a small piece of paper caught my eye – it was dangling from the knob, stuck clumsily with tape. I frowned at the little note, knowing for certain who had left it there. But I wondered how he could have been silent enough to place it outside my room without alerting me.

Almost angrily, I pulled the note off the doorknob and opened the door once again, carelessly letting the paper drop into the dustbin. I had nothing to say to Jaden. The others might have forgiven him, but I never would.

It wasn't about the whole being sent to the stars incident. All right, maybe partially. But what had hurt me the most was that he hadn't made any effort to get us back. He hadn't believed that we were still alive. All he heard was that Jesse had been sent to the stars, and all of his will crumbled.

I couldn't begrudge him for trying to find Jesse. I felt the same way, and that was why I decided to follow him. But what began as missing his friend soon escalated into an obsession, and it pained me when I saw him pulling away from us. He was driven by some sort of a flame – a flame of guilt, maybe – and the rest of us hadn't been able to keep up, so he left us behind.

Of course, part of the reason why I resented him so much was that I had thought that he was perfect. He had seemed so perfect – energetic, outgoing, always having fun during a duel, not afraid to lose. But I suppose the first glimpse we got of his interior was the duel against Aster. At that time, I thought it was psychological – that since he had lost, he couldn't see his cards anymore. Some sort of guilt, or anger. But that never made sense, because he had lost to Zane earlier – and he had laughed then. I should have learnt then that he wasn't as perfect as I saw him to be, that he was as weak as we were.

But then, he returned from his 'trip to outer space' – and he was totally normal. I didn't know what to make of it, but I was so thrilled that he was, well, sane again. As sane as Jaden can be.

And then, there was the third year.

I didn't like thinking about it. Most of the memories were hazy now, purely because I pushed them away. All I remembered was Jaden's duel with Brron. And that was what I had wanted to forget the most.

I couldn't remember the sensation of crumbling into stardust, though. It couldn't have been painful, because I never heard the others complaining about it. Hassleberry had mentioned a slight tickling sensation, so maybe that had been it.

I exhaled sharply through my teeth, making a soft whistling sound. Why was I standing in my doorway like an idiot, reminiscing about times I'd rather forget? I closed the door a little harder than before and set off for the tennis courts, knowing that Jasmine and Mindy would be there.

Three hours later I was still sitting in the sidelines of the court, watching my friends frantically rallying. I stifled a yawn as I crossed my arms, resisting the urge to put my head down on my arms and sleep.

"We're almost done, Alexis!" Mindy called out. "Just a couple more!"

Enough was enough. I got up and stretched, faking a yawn that became a real one in the middle somewhere. "Listen guys, I'm heading back. We do have classes tomorrow, and I need to get some sleep." I gave them a half-hearted wave and they didn't respond.

On the way back, I ran into a very familiar person in a red jacket.

"Alexis!" Jaden stopped as he saw me, and I tried to avert my gaze and push past him. He reached out and grabbed my wrist, stilling my futile attempts to get past him. "Hey, where've you been?" he asked, trying to sound chipper. I yanked my wrist out of his grasp and spoke to the air above his shoulder.

"I didn't know you cared." My voice sounded cold, and I could almost feel Jaden wilting at my tone. I knew I was behaving childishly, but I didn't want to be forgiving this time. Not with Jaden, the boy I'd always looked out for, the boy –

Whoa. Not going there.

I stole a glance at him, and was strangely pleased to see his face twisted in guilt. "Lex, I'm sorry," he began.

"Save it." I brushed past him, proud of myself for making so stately an exit. I heard his voice call out behind me.

"Alexis! Just… just read that note, okay? Please read it."

I suppressed the urge to stop and turn around, to ask him what note he was talking about. After all, he had left me numerous notes since we had returned – all of them had been disposed of. I never read any of them, and it would be difficult to resurrect them from the ashes they had become when I burned them.

Wait. Was I actually contemplating listening to Jaden? I shook my head angrily as the Obelisk Blue girls' dorm came into sight. I was just going to go to my room and sleep.

I pushed open the door, relieved to see no more notes festooning the area immediately outside my room. I made my way to the bathroom to change, ready to slip into bed and sleep the night away. Going to sleep at eight was healthy, right?

On the way out of the bathroom, I spotted a lone white paper sitting at the bottom of my dustbin. I paused, trying to remember what it was. Then it hit me – Jaden's newest message.

This one was actually bigger than most – about the size of a Duel Monsters' card, actually. I recalled Jaden's pleading voice. Just read the note, okay? Please read it.

Something made me bend down to pick up the note. I took it to my bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress and unfolding the crumpled paper.

The paper was covered with handwriting, and it had been surrounding a Duel Monsters' card. I blinked in astonishment at the purple Trap card. Hero Signal. Why would Jaden want me to have this? I couldn't even use it!

Then I remembered the note. I smoothened it out, reading the words.

Alexis,

I know I've probably sent you enough paper to make a book out of, but I need you to know, Lex. I never meant for anything to happen to you. You know that if it had been me instead of Jesse who had disappeared, or Jasmine, or Mindy, you would have done the same thing. I needed to find him – not just because it was my fault, but because he's my friend.

But if I had known I would come to put you in danger, I would have never let you come. No matter how hard you would have tried to make it.

I've always admired my heroes, Lex. They're so strong, and they're my friends. But I've never wanted to be like them – not until I thought you were gone. I wanted to be a hero for you. I still do.

This is just a reminder that I'm always here for you, Lexi.

Jaden

To my extreme embarrassment, I felt myself tear up. I'd never thought Jaden was the sensitive type, that he had it in him to write such a note. Suddenly, I regretted not reading his other notes – had they all been like this? I folded the note into a small square, placing it in my bedside drawer. I picked up Hero Signal, knowing what I had to do.

I would never stand outside a boy's room for anyone but Jaden, I thought sourly. Much less in my pajamas. I had been in such a tearing hurry to get to him and tell him how much his words meant to me, I had forgotten to change. So I stood outside his dorm room, glad that I had thought of putting on a pair of slippers at least.

Finally, I heard him coming back from dinner. "Why do you have to eat so much, Jaden?" I muttered under my breath. He was with Tyranno and Syrus, and while the latter two were exchanging jokes, Jaden was silent.

I fidgeted uncomfortably as all three of them saw me at the same time and stopped. Syrus looked shocked, Hassleberry looked amused, and Jaden looked… I couldn't quite decipher his face.

"Uhh, Jay?" That was Syrus. "Looks like Alexis is here for you… so, um, me and Hassleberry will let you two be, 'kay?" He darted past me and disappeared into the dorm room, his face turning red. He was embarrassed? Did he have any clue what I was feeling like? Hassleberry followed him, chortling.

Jaden didn't say anything. I took a deep breath and slowly pulled out the card from my pocket, offering it to him.

"I think… I think this is yours." I didn't like the way my voice was shaking. Jaden glanced at the card and shook his head.

"No. I gave it to you."

"But I can't use it!" My voice was no longer shaking, but it was high-pitched. Jaden smiled slightly and shook his head again.

"It doesn't matter. It's yours now."

I frowned at him.

"C'mon Lex, out with it. You didn't come all the way to the Slifer dorm – in your pajamas, too – just to make small talk." He sounded amused – that was a plus, at least. "Talk to me."

"That's all I've been wanted to do for the past couple of months," I said. "I wanted to talk to you, Jay, but I couldn't. I couldn't get over how you left us."

I cringed as his face hardened. "I don't have time to talk about this," he said brusquely. I wondered at his mood swing.

"All right, fine, I'll come out and say it. I read your note, okay?" My voice broke. "And it was so sweet, Jaden. I never… I guess I never understood how much you were hurting."

His eyes were emotionless. Jaden being silent was rare, and I took the silence as a cue to go on. "I'm sorry. I was acting immature, not talking to you, but the point is, Jay, you hurt me, too. You lost all hope, you never tried to find us, you just believed that ridiculous Mad King of Dark World, and it just…" I trailed off, trying to string together my thoughts.

"No, I'm sorry." His voice was quiet. "I never wanted to hurt you, Lex. I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted my friend back." I saw his shoulders shaking, and realized with dismay that he was crying.

Oddly enough, I comforted him. "It's okay, I understand. I didn't earlier, but I do now," I reassured him. He looked up, and I saw that he had managed to wipe away most of the tears.

I held out Hero Signal. "This card summons a hero, right?" His eyes narrowed as he tried to decipher what I was trying to say. "There's just one hero I need and want, Jay – and that's you."

His eyes widened, and they seemed to glow in the fitful light coming from inside his room. "Alexis…"

"I just can't believe you never figured out that I had feelings for you," I interrupted. "You're such an idiot, Jaden Yuki!"

A smile started creeping across his face, and all of a sudden, he laughed. I smiled at the sound, and offered the card to him again.

To my surprise, he pulled me close in a hug. I wrapped my arms around him as he whispered, "Keep it. You never know, you might need to summon your hero again." He pulled away and studied me from an arm's distance, his eyes serious. "And I promise you, Alexis, I'll always be here. Always."

I smiled up at him and waved the card in his face. "Looks like this really works, huh?"

He grinned. "Of course. Never underestimate the heart of the card."

AN: Oh my goodness, I'm not sure where all that came from. But I've been seeing this adorable picture of Jaden and Alexis hugging and Alexis holding Hero Signal, so I had to do something about it. Alexis is probably really out of character, maybe Jaden too – I just can't seem to stick to the characters in the anime. I'm sorry. But I hope someone enjoys this!