The Scars of Victory

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, most likely never will. So don't sue me because you won't get anything out of it.

Summ: Everyone's heard about the scars of defeat, where someone gets all angsty because they lost. Well, these are the scars of victory. This is actually a collection of short stories depicting the point of view from someone in a duel, the victor of the match. Rating is the average. Individual ratings will be posted on each chapter.

First up is Yuugi vs. Jounouchi

Rating: G

Jounouchi-kun, I'm sorry it had to come down to this. You versus me in an ultimate showdown, both of us putting everything on the line. I had my grandfather's soul on the line, the one person that cared for me for as long as I can remember, the one who gave me the Sennen puzzle. If it wasn't for the Sennen puzzle, I wonder if we would have ever become such close friends. I made a wish on the puzzle. I wished for friends, friends that could count on me. and you were the answer to my wish. Then again, if it wasn't for the puzzle, we probably wouldn't be in this mess right now. It's times like these that make me wish I had never solved the puzzle.

Jounouchi-kun, you had put your sister's eyesight on the line. You told me things about her, things you haven't told anyone else. The promise you made to her to take her to the ocean again. How you haven't seen her since the time your mother moved away taking her with her. How much you miss her. You showed me your weaknesses, something you hardly ever reveal to anyone. You'll never know how much that means to me. Before, I would be the last person you would tell anything. Now, I'm the first person you confide in. Sometimes I'm the only one. Funny how things can change around so much in a few short months.

I wish it really wouldn't have some to this. You truly are my dearest friend. We've been through so much together since we arrived on this accursed island. It was your courage that pulled me through at times. In times when things looked impossible I would think of the courage you had shown in challenging somebody on the island and I found the strength to carry on. I don't think I ever told you that before. Perhaps I should have told you before this match how appreciated you are. I hope you know. I honestly don't feel I've showed it enough before. I'll try to show you how much I care in the future but now is not the time.

Now, unfortunately, is not the time to show how needed you are in my life. Now is the time to show you no mercy, to show you how ruthless I can be. My best friend, you have now become the only thing standing in my way of rescuing my grandfather. I vowed no mercy to anyone who attempted that feat. That includes you, Jounouchi-kun. I know our friendship will survive this extreme test, or at least I hope so with all my heart. I don't know what I'd do if you were no longer my friend, Jounouchi-kun.

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so attached. The only close friend I used to have was Anzu, but that's because we grew up together. You and Honda uses to always pick on me. You were always so distant emotionally that it was easy to ignore any problems you might have. But after you helped me finish the puzzle, we became close. I began to learn things about you, things nobody else knew because you would never show them to anyone else. I learned all of your little secrets, some of which I wished would have remained secret. There are some secrets which people should never learn. However, I know all of yours. You let me inside where everyone else was blocked out. Not even Honda and Shizuka know as much as I do. And maybe that was our mistake.

Things wouldn't be so hard now if you wouldn't have let me in, Jounouchi-kun. There's a calm happiness that comes with the time when we weren't friends. When you were just a stranger to me. A stranger that knew what he wanted and knew how to get it. A stranger to be admired. Don't worry, Jounouchi-kun. I still admire you, even when we are pitted against each other in a match to save the ones we love. If anything, I admire you more now than ever, knowing what you have gone through. I know many people look down on you, comparing you to a dog and the like. But if they knew you a quarter as well as I do they would respect you. There is no doubt about that. If only they could see the real Jounouchi. Maybe then you would see how great you really are. You may just see yourself the way I see you.

I told you playing that last card was the hardest move I ever had to make. I meant it. I knew how much that duel meant to you, how your sister's eyesight was on the line. However, my grandfather's soul was also on the line and I had to save him, even at the risk of losing our friendship. I wished it wouldn't come to that. In a way, I could feel your pain. Maybe that just goes to prove how close we have become, if I could feel your pain across a dueling arena. Perhaps we came so close that we shared one soul. Furthermore, I was so afraid that we would drift apart if I had to crush your dream of saving your sister's eyesight. At the moment it was my greatest fear, greater than the fear of losing my grandfather. I had to do it; there was no other choice.

What you did and said surprised me even more than my sudden conviction to win. You actually encouraged me to destroy your monster and save my grandfather. I should have seen it coming. You always had such a brave and true spirit. I don't know why I ever doubted that you wouldn't forgive me. After all, if it wasn't for my grandfather you wouldn't even be here fighting for your sister. And you are the one that told me your greatest treasure was our friendship. That always meant so much to me. I can't believe I forgot it at such a critical time.

Jounouchi-kun, you know you mean everything to me, right? And I didn't enter the tournament to win the money, and you promised your sister she'd she that ocean again. Seeing you happy by fulfilling your promise to your sister she'd see the ocean again will make me happy, in its own way. Because your happiness is my happiness, strange as that may seem.

The scars of defeat. That's what you'll be taking away from this duel, along with the prize money. Now, I'll have to meet you face to face, the consequences of our duel behind us. Though you may have the scars of defeat, I will forever carry the scars of victory. I'll never be able to forget the time when so much was put on the line for a duel between us, and I had to win.

~ Please review. Next up will be Seto vs. Isis*wink*