I'm back! Did you miss me? **grins** Well, here's chapter 1 of my little fic. This isn't yaoi, sorry to disappoint those who are disappointed. Well, if you are brave enough, read on!

**I edited this slightly**

One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three… Around and around, a never-ending dance that goes where the dancers please. He led her through the low-cropped grass in the corral, yet it was through meadows, forests, oceans and stars, over mountains, into the heavens and across time that they waltzed. She let him lead, her feet matching his exactly, her hand in his. The other rested gently on his arm, just below where the sleeve of his deep green tunic ended and his white shirt revealed itself. She broke away for a moment and spun, never missing the beat to which they danced. Then she was back in his arms and around they went again, stopping a moment later to embrace.

The sky was a blanket of navy blue sprinkled with diamond dust, like powdered sugar on a chocolate pastry. At that moment, reality seemed just as sweet. The midsummer air was warm from the heat the sun had bestowed on it throughout the day, but a moist breeze flew by and with it came a much-needed cool. The high grass in the fields rippled like the waves on the lake to the south. As pure as its crystal waters and devout river that flowed into from o'er the shimmering falls and deep canyon beyond, so was his love for her. To the far north, a spring that never runs dry and brings healing and comfort to the land, always faithful to the people that it serves. Like this, she returned her love to him in full.

His breath was warm on her neck as they embraced, and their lips touched briefly when they pulled apart, just enough to see into one another's eyes. Star speckled sapphire gazed into a cloudless summer sky and they kissed once more. The wind rustled her dress and sent her amber hair flying. His sun gold bangs floated in a breath and in the next the two continued in their dance. Lost in their steps, they left the world behind. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two, three…

The Spirit of Fate removed itself from the vortex that was one of many within the Place Between Worlds. A cloudy blue plane speckled with the many thundering whirlpools spread out around it. These were the ports from one world to another. Drifting slowly it went to stare into the depths of another vortex some ways off. In this single crossing of realities where the lords in the heavens had little influence, anything

could happen.

"Now that you have the correct compounds-" It was at this precise moment that hell erupted from the back of the class. Standing next to the no longer existent window, Malik Ishtar gripped a can of orange soda in his hand and tried his best to look innocent.

Unknown to the majority of the people in the room, Yami Bakura stood next to him laughing madly. Malik scowled, and to the rest of the class it appeared he was trying to burn a hole in the air to his left. Mr. Kiasake sighed. Not again…

"Mister Ishtar, I'm sure the janitors will be thrilled to find that you are going to help them wash the classroom floors this afternoon." Malik glanced at the floor; part of it was beginning to dissolve. "And if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you would replace my window. Speaking of which, I'm curious. Did you realize that those chemicals that you managed to get out of that safe in my closet when mixed with a sugar can dissolve solid steel?"

"No sir."

"I'm sure." The bell chose that moment to sound the call to lunch and the entire class was up and out of the room before Mr. Kiasake could say another word. Feeling agitated, he buzzed the office to request maintenance.

"Hey! Bakura!" The white haired teenager had been snoozing under a tree when Yugi came dashing up to him from somewhere on the other side of the campus. "There you are!" Tri-colored hair blew in the gentle breeze as its owner sat down panting. Brown eyes opened lazily and blinked. He must have come from gym class, Ryou concluded. Yugi had a tremendous amount of energy, but after a good hard work out with their new gym teacher few were able to stand up straight, much less dash across the high school campus.

However, this didn't change the fact that while Yugi was energetic, Ryou was the athlete. This was contradictory of his personality, considering he was normally caught reading and didn't seem the spunky-athletic type. Even more controversial was that while Ryou could sprint from one side of Domino to the other, (and this was no small feat, considering he had accomplished this task on more than one occasion) for some odd reason, he always seemed to catch symptoms of some foreign disease right before gym class. If the nurse, whom by now had become quite learned in such things, could find nothing wrong with him, then he whispered of a headache and fainted. After having gone through this ritual and gotten out of gym, he was always perfectly fine for his next class…

While Yugi pulled out the lunch Tea had made for him and Ryou drank from a frapaccino he had gotten at the coffee shop across the street, Malik walked out casually from behind the school. He sat down between the two already present and took out a brown paper bag from his book bag. Silence followed for about fifteen minutes after his arrival.

"Okay Malik, now what have you done?" Tea walked up from the coffee shop, a look of accusation written clearly all over her face. Malik blinked.

"What?" Mai and Joey were following Tea from out of the shop and Seto Kaiba sat on a low stone wall some distance away, typing on a laptop. They all stopped to look at Tea.

"Nobody just walks out from the back of a school building as cool as cream like that after they've melted half a wall."

"I do. And it wasn't my fault. It was Yami Bakura's idea." That didn't go to well. Tea shook her head.

"And I suppose if Yami Bakura marched into a volcano you'd follow him?"

"Depends on whether or not it's active."

"You're hopeless."

"So I'm told." Tea scowled and insisted that Malik was still guilty of something. She was exactly right. The principal and several other faculty members came tearing out of the main office right then and were followed by a trail of smoke. The bell rang twice. The first time was to summon students back to class. The second was the fire alarm. Yami Bakura gave Malik a high five and insisted that the Egyptian was truly learning the ways of terrorism. His only regret was that his own hikari didn't take after him like Malik did. Ryou could have argued that point but decided against it. Instead, the teen found a more comfortable position and fell back asleep.

Yeah! This is a first attempt on Romance, so constructed criticism would be lovely if you find anything to criticize. So, until chapter two!