Hey there! Tari Sirfalas again! I know I should be finishing up Mob King Bakura, but this idea just snuck up on me and I just had to do it! The Yugi and Joey friendship is so sweet and I truly think that those two would be friends forever. Anywho, enjoy! R&R!

Through Our Golden Years

"Mm, that breeze feels nice," Joey commented as he left the threshold of the school. He held his head higher and closed his eyes contentedly for a moment. "Feels like spring finally got here, eh Yug?" The young man beside him nodded, smiling.

"Yeah! Hey, let's go the long way back to my place, through the park."

"Sounds like a plan!" Joey gave a thumbs-up for his approval. Winking, he added, "Race ya to the park gate!"

"Wha-, hey!" Yugi almost tripped in his haste to catch up to the blond-headed boy, who was already a few feet away.

Finally getting to the iron gate that marked the entrance to the city park, Yugi found Joey leaning casually against a lamppost and grinning. Yugi panted as he staggered to his friend's side, leaning on the post himself. Joey chuckled.

"Looks like I can still beat you in a foot race, at least," he said, giving the tri-colored boy a small noogie. "Some King of Games you are!"

"Hey!" Yugi struggled to untangle himself from Joey's grasp, laughing.

As the two boys finally set out on their way through the park, they noticed that quite a few people had decided to visit as well. Being as it was the first warm spring day of the year, it was hardly a surprise that there was all manner of picnics, frolicking children, and dog walkers around. As they walked, Yugi found himself reflecting on the past year. It had been such an eventful one. It seemed hard to believe that this time last year, the Pharaoh had been with him. The first few months after, Yugi had achieved many firsts, like his first tournament win on his own, his first tattoo (the Millennium Puzzle on his left shoulder), and his first kiss. Yugi blushed, wondering how Teá's trip to New York was going.

Yugi had also gotten quite a growth spurt over the past year, but that still didn't seem enough to get him past Joey's height. He supposed that he should be grateful. After all, he was now taller than his grandpa had ever been.

Suddenly, Yugi was jerked away from his reminiscing when he heard a yell from the other side of a square-cut bush that separated the path from a small sitting area.

"Checkmate, you old geezer!"

Yugi stopped and looked over the bush to see two elderly men sitting across from each other, a chess board between them. The one on the left, who had a full head of pure white hair, was doing a little victory dance in his spindly park chair while the other, a balding man with a gray moustache, glared at his opponent.

"You're older than me, you ninny!" he countered, shaking his fist.

"Who cares? After all these years I finally beat you! Just wait till I tell Margaret!" The winning old man continued his dance.

Suddenly, Yugi felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Joey beside him. He must have noticed that Yugi had stopped to watch. "What's up, Yug?" he asked.

Yugi nodded towards the two old men.

"You won't be so lucky next time, Gregory!" declared the balding man. "I demand a rematch!"

"Alright, Peter! Give me a run for my money!" his opponent agreed. They quickly reset the chess board, but before they started the new game, they reached over the board and shook each other's hand.

"Good luck, old friend," Gregory said.

"You too," Peter responded, smiling.

Yugi smiled too and looked back up at Joey.

"Do you think that'll be us in couple decades, playing Duel Monsters?" he asked. Joey's eyes sparkled as he grinned back down at his friend.

"I wouldn't be surprised," he answered, squeezing Yugi's shoulder slightly. He laughed suddenly and rubbed his other hand through his blond hair. "Imagine, two old men in the park playing Duel Monsters!" He backed up from Yugi a step and then hunched over like an old man. Holding up an imaginary duel disk, he placed a 'card' on it. "I summon Flame Swordsman in attack mode!" he wheezed, attempting to sound like an elderly man. Yugi laughed appreciably at his joke and imitated him.

"Attack me if you dare, Joey!" he countered, making his voice low and gruff like his grandpa's.

Joey grinned for a moment before yelling, "Now, Flame Swordsman! Atta-" Unexpectedly, Joey collapsed, grimacing, and starting rubbing his back. "Ah! My back!" he wheezed. Yugi, quickly realizing this as part of his joke, laughed and went to help him up.

"Come on Joey," he said. "We can play for real back at my house."

"Yeah," Joey responded, grinning. "And maybe it won't take me forty years to beat you!"

"We'll see," Yugi laughed.