A Sister's Prayer: Alexis Harper Rhodes

Greetings again, Yu-Gi-Oh GX fans! In light of my first two GX fictions, which deal with the themes of family, I've decided to write a series of one-shots based on the theme of brotherly love and sisterly love. Some characters I will have in this fiction are only children who feel the bond between themselves and their surrogate siblings. For my first two stories in this series, I am using the Rhodes siblings. Warning: I know the dub names best, and I've taken artistic license with their middle names. The first person to correctly guess the connection between Atticus's and Alexis's middle names (check my fiction, "A Brother's Isolation," for Atticus's middle name should you want to get a jump on the competition) will get to choose the person in the third fiction of the series that I write a sibling one-shot for. Please use the dub names if you would.

Disclaimer: Peach doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

Author's note: This fiction takes place in Season 1 when Atticus is still missing.

Alexis Rhodes stood at the entrance to the abandoned Egyptian decorated dorm as she had since she came to Duel Academy. Zane Truesdale knew she did this every night (he was protective of her because he had been Atticus's best friend and the Truesdale and Rhodes children had played and learned together as small children), but she never let him go along with her. As always, she carried a single long-stemmed rose with her. She'd have preferred to leave a yellow rose with a matching ribbon, but Dorothy at the card shack and student store carried red roses for the most part, so the Queen of Obelisk Blue had to make do.

So here she was, as she had been since the start of school. But things had changed since then… I met Jaden and he found the first piece of Atty since he went missing last year. Alexis smiled a little, thinking of the boy with the brown eyes and brown hair with a shock of red in it. It's funny, she thought. I thought my brother was gone forever and then I got kidnapped, but that night led to Jaden finding that picture of Atticus. I will find him again, and Jaden's given me hope that I will. The young girl would've left after this, but something told her to do one more thing.

As she'd been taught at her mother's knee, Alexis clasped her hands together and knelt. She didn't pray too often, but right now, she wanted to…

"Oh, Lord," she said, "wherever my brother is, keep him safe. Thank You for letting me know that he may actually be alive. Whatever he's doing, help him to find his way back to us. Please guide him back when it's time for him to come home. And help us find whoever took him away. Amen."

Alexis stood up, done praying. And as she had done for a few months now, she laid the rose on the ground next to the gate of the dorm. She said the words that had become ritual… "Be at peace, dear brother, wherever you are." She turned to leave when she heard rustling and footsteps near a tree. "Who's there?" she shouted, having been a little nervous since the incident with Titan.

Out of the shadows stepped Jaden Yuki. "Hey, Lex. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said, rubbing the back of his head with his hand and looking a little bit nervous. "I mean, ever since what happened… I wanted to make sure you got back to the dorms okay. Is… is that all right?"

Alexis smiled. "Yeah, that's okay. I just like coming out here alone. I think I can hear Atticus if I'm alone here. I keep hoping that he'll walk out the doors when I'm here and I can take him back to the dorms." Alexis couldn't help it on this night, but her eyes smarted. She couldn't turn away in time, and Jaden saw.

"You really miss him… He'll be back, Lex. I know he will. Here, take this," he said, handing her some tissues.

"Thanks, Jaden," she said.

"I heard you pray," he said, "and I think the Man Upstairs will get your brother back."

"How are you so sure about it? It hasn't happened yet…"

"You're Atticus's little sister, and I think God has a soft spot for little sisters."

Alexis knew Jaden was mainly trying to make her feel better, and she knew God didn't work that way, but for some strange reason she took comfort in her friend's words… Maybe a sister's prayer will bring her brother home…

And that ends the first in the Sibling Series. Do I continue? Read and review! Remember my contest too!