We sat on his giant couch laughing as a grainy, black and white Dracula walked across the tv screen. The original horror movie, as it was once called, was now an almost laughable childrens' story so many years after it had been made. I smiled to myself as I picked at what was left of my dinner and set the plate on the coffee table. Spending the day in the Pegasus castle was wonderful. Earlier in the day he took me on a tour around the entire island, showing me all the dueling arenas and the castle grounds. It was like being in a darker version of Disney world, with no less magic or wonder, and the interior of the estate was equally impressive.

I took a sip of the soda he had brought out with dinner. Although I wasn't too fond of the burn from carbonation, I was too timid to speak up and ask for a different beverage. It was alreday amazing enough that I was here, so I wouldn't ruin the time I had by wanting a different drink. The end credits for Dracula flashed across the screen, and I yawned, leaning back and stretching out my arms and legs. "Are you tired?" Pegasus asked softly, "I can show you to your room if you'd like to go to bed." I shook my head lighty and smiled, "nope, I'm not ready to go to sleep yet, the yawn was my energy booster activating, I'm ready to roll now!" I ruffled my fingers through my probably messy hair from being slumped into the couch and sat up properly, looking toward the other end of the couch at Pegasus. He sat relaxed, leaned against the arm casually, one foot propped up on the coffee table, the other resting on the floor as he fiddled with the remote control, turning it from the end of the movie back to the music stream he had playing earlier.

My awkward, girlish crush bubbled inside my chest and my cheeks started flushing. I couldn't help myself, he was cute sitting over there, looking years younger without his burgundy suit and ruffled collar. Today he wore a simple V-neck tee shirt and dark jeans, and still managed to look good. Pink rose to my cheeks when he looked at me. "If you're sure you're awake, then, I have something to show you, Rosie." He smiled and rose from the couch, tousling his silvered hair with his fingers before smiling, and walking away. "I'll be right back!" He called as he left the room. My cheeks flushed further as I wondered where he was going, and what he could possibly be doing. Not more than a minute after he left, he returned with a small sketch book and sat close to me. "Rosie, I'm sure you know I design all the monsters for my card game, yes?" I mumbled a 'yes' and smiled. He waited a few seconds and started talking again. "I've been working on a few new cards, and I wanted to show them to you. I think you might like them a lot, or, at least, I hope you will." He thumbed through pages of rough sketches and scribbles and landed on a few concept characters, in the margins were extremely detailed wings, and intricate eyes, beautiful girls with long flowing hair, the artistry was unbelievable. "Pegasus" I squeaked out, "These... These are amazing, they're beautiful!" He grinned. I knew he loved it when his work was complimented, but this was well deserving. He gingerly set the book in my lap as I continued to look through his designs of the creatures. He cleared his throat, and said softly, "would you like to see the finished cards?"

I looked up at him from the book and met his dark eyes staring at me, "can I really do that?" I moused out. He took the book from my lap and replaced it with a small envelope. "Be careful, these are the originals, I finished painting them this morning." I stared at the little paper pouch and nodded, then carefully slipped the three cards cards out. My cheeks filled with color when I saw the first one... "Song of the Rose" a magic card, with a beautiful angel surrounded in petals painted on it. He took it from my hand and held it up to the light, letting the burgundy painted hair glitter, and the blue from her eyes glowing. It had to be just coincidence that we looked alike, until I saw the next card, "Rose Thorn" a trap card, with the same angel woman panted in painful intricacy onto the small piece of paper, with the burgundy hair and blue eyes. These couldn't possibly be made to look like me, I was thinking too highly of myself, it must be another girl, until I saw the final card "Reborn Hope" another magic card, with the same beautiful angel flying, but this time, there was a man with her, reaching for her hand, and, it almost looked like... Pegasus. I gasped and almost dropped the card, my cheeks now as bright as they could possibly be.

I slipped the three back into the envelope and handed it to him delicately, with a neon blush on my face and a wave of happiness I couldn't force away. He took the envelope from my hand and our fingers brushed, just long enough for me to fight a schoolgirl-sized giggle. "So, do you like them?" he asked, with a hint of shyness to his voice. I just smiled like a fool and nodded, eventually able to squeak out that they were beautiful and I loved them. He took the envelope and the sketchbook and put them on the coffee table, before dragging his fingers through his hair again, to pull it out of his eyes. The two of us sat on the couch in closeness, neither of us speaking or touching, just listening to the music in the background. I felt my burning cheeks beginning to cool and sighed, smiling to myself. Pegasus looked at me again. "Rosie, is there anything you'd like? A snack, dessert maybe? Another movie?" I looked up and met the dark eyes again, and sheepishly replied. "Well, actually..." I paused. "This may sound very incrediby stupid... But, could you teach me how to duel?" I bit the inside of my lip lightly, waiting for him to laugh, but instead, he smiled, a real, true smile that lit his eyes up. "I would love to" he said, as he stood up, and extended his hand to pull me up off the couch so I could follow him.

He was obviously happy about teaching me, I was all but dragged to the card room, where he kept a dozen copies of every card he'd ever created in little stacks and boxes and pouches. I couldn't help but smile while I wached him rifling through stacks, picking out every card for the deck he was building, smiling the entire time while he ran around the room. Within ten minutes of looking through his stacks and boxes he came back to the doorway with his selection of cards and a folded up dueling mat. I smiled nervously and followed him back toward the large tv room we had come from. Pegasus cleared off the small kitchen table, moving vases and trinkets to new locations, and grabbed a leather bag from the next room over. He hurried back, and pulled out my chair, setting down a deck in front of me, then took the seat across from me, and pulled a deck out of the leather bag. After putting the bag on the floor he looked up at me, thumbing through all the cards he just arranged. "So, Rosie" he began, "What do you already know about my game?"

I flushed lightly, "Well... I know there are trap cards, magic cards, and monsters, and they all do different things and have certain abilities. Um... The only thing I don't know is how to use them..." I looked back down at the table in embarrassment, and I heard him laugh lightly. "That's no problem my dear, I can help you with that, after all, this game is my baby." He said with a boost in his confidence. I smirked, and laid a handful of cards back onto the table. He started digging through both decks and explaing what each card did, and why they did, and telling me about secret abilities and tricks not everybody knew about. I sighed, a tad overwhelmed, but I didn't want to stop him when he seemed so happy to be talking about what he loved. For a moment I forgot he was even talking and though about what might happen if he liked me... Would his kisses be sweet, or strong? How would my hand feel wrapped in his? I shook my head and came back to the present... I wasn't supposed to be thinking like that, he wasn't interested, and I should just accept it.

After a thorough and fully detailed explanation of every card in my new deck, he set up a practice game, where we would each leave our cards in our hand on the table, face up, so he could teach me further. I sat fairly dumbfounded looking at the cards laid across the table. In my hand I saw Mirror Force, Dancing Fairy, Witch of the Black Forest, Gift of the Mystical Elf, and Pot of Greed, and I had hardly an idea as to what I should do with them. Pegasus drew his cards and laid them on the table for me to see as well, then made his first move, putting Trap Hole face down, and summoning Red Archery Girl in attack more. I looked back to the cards in front of me, and over to what he just did, then back to my five. I read the description on every single card, and was still a little confused. I didn't know what to summon, or how to use a trap or magic card, but Pot of Greed looked promising, all I had to do was draw two cards. Hesitantly, I picked up the card, "so, I use Pot of Greed, and then get two new cards? Is that right?" I blushed in embarrassment because I truly knew nothing about dueling. Pegasus fought a laugh and put his hand up to his mouth to cover his snickering. "Yes, Rosie, it does exactly what it says. You draw two cards, then you can play any card, or end your turn." I felt stupid... I drew my two cards and didn't even pay attention to what they were, and I ended my turn.

Pegasus wrinkled his brow. "Are you sure you wanted to do that? You had a few good moves you could've made." I looked up, a little frustrated, and he smiled softly. "Here, let me show you." He said hopefully. "If you take your Dancing Fairy and put it in attack mode, then your Gift of the Mystical Elf and place it on the field too, it will make your Dancing Fairy stronger than my Red Archery Girl, and you'll send her to the graveyard. Surprised at the move that he just made for me, I reached for the cards, at the same time he did, and our hands brushed again. His fingertips rested on the back of my hand, and he looked up at me from his cards. Was he... blushing? Slowly, he took his hand off of mine, letting his fingertips slide down mine, before he picked up his cards for further analysis. My cheeks burned as I watched him put Red Archery Girl into the graveyard, but my excitement faded when I saw his trap card. I pointed to his card, Trap Hole, and frowned... "Wouldn't your trap card have just destroyed my Dancing Fairy?" Playfully, he shook his head, and covered the card with his hand. "I don't have Trap Hole on the field, silly girl, you just defeated my monster." I smiled softly, but even I knew trap hole would've put Dancing Fairy into the graveyard, he let me win the turn! He drew another card, smiled, and then played Giant Soldier of Stone to the field in defense mode. It had a high level of points on its' side, so I would have to think of something to help me, or rather, Pegasus would have to show me what I should do... I drew another card, and pulled Gaia the Fierce Knight. Its' attack points were higher than Stone Soldier's. "Um, I play Gaia, in attack mode, and it's going to destroy your soldier, right?" Pegasus nodded, "in theory, it would, but, don't forget my trap card. I could activate that right now and your Knight would be gone." My eyes widened, and after saying the most sincere 'sorry' I'd ever heard, he took my Knight off the playing mat.

It frustrated me that after several turns, dueling still confused me... So many traps and tricks and triggers and secret abilities. I didn't expect to be the next Duelist Kingdom champion in one match, but I had at least hoped to understand some aspects. Neither of us were keeping tabs on life points, but I could almost guarantee that even with Pegasus cheating for me, he was winning. I frowned when he reached for my Shining Friendship monster and put it in the graveyard. It was my turn again and I didn't really know what to do. I played Kuriboh in defense mode, and ended my turn, hoping I'd get the hang of it eventually. Pegasus smiled "good move, Rosie dear, I think I know what you'll do with him" he said before attacking with Toon Alligator. I smirked, and hoped I understood the game enough to flip my card with confidence. "I think I can activate mirror force, and stop your attack... Am I right?" He smiled brightly. "Yes, you absolutely can do that, you've stopped my Gator, and destroyed him." I beamed. Maybe I was starting to get this dueling thing... I reached for my discard pile that was slowly spilling off of the designated rectangle on the mat, and started straightening out my heap, but before I could, Pegasus slipped his hand over mine, pressing his warm palm onto my cool fingers for a few seconds before talking playfully. "Careful, when a duelist puts their hand over their deck, it means they surrender." He smirked before giving my fingers a light squeeze and retracting his hand from mine. I wrinkled my brow, "I didn't think it applied to my graveyard... does it?" He grinned, "ah, I can't fool you, little duelist, it doesn't work on the graveyard stack, only your active deck." My cheeks flushed for the thousandth time that day.

I picked up my hand of cards from the mat and read over the same list of names as the last turn, and drew another. Either I would be playing a monster, or placing another trap on the field for Pegasus to find and disable. I wrinkled my brow, and flattened it again, before I raised my right hand to pull a card to lay out. Just before I put the card down, it was plucked from my fingers, and slowly replaced by Pegasus' warm hand, as he took fingers lightly, tracing his thumb along my knuckles. My cheeks lit into a fluorescent blush, and I dipped my head low, hoping my bangs would fall far enough into my eyes so I could hide my giddy, girlish expression. I peeked through my hair and saw a smile creep onto his face, with a slight flush of his own as he played gingerly with my fingers in his hands. In one fluid movement, he rose from his seat, and came to my side, our hands loosely together, using his other to pull out my chair. With a little tug, he brought me to my feet, and I stood there, awestruck, red cheeked, heart fluttering, looking up into the handsome man's face as he held my hand in his.

I felt like I was melting from the inside, his little touch alone causing my thoughts to stop alltogether. All I could see was him here with me, not the dueling cards we were just fiddling with, not the beautiful castle, nor the glorious island. Just him. He took a small step closer, making the space between us down to inches, bringing his free hand toward the hair falling in my eyes, and brushing it back lightly, then following the trail of my jaw with his thumb. Pegasus smiled sweetly, a blush rising on his face as he rested his fingertips under my chin. My heart pounded fast, as he ran the side of his thumb on my scorching cheek bone, and ever so slightly, he tipped my face up to meet his eyes. He was decently taller than myself, as I looked up his face. The deep brown in his gaze was dark, but had a softness to it that I wanted to wrap myself in and never leave this moment. Our cheeks still flushed, only got brighter when he gave our held hands a little squeeze, and with his fingertips still under my chin, he dipped his head down low, and ever so slightly, pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was very gentle, his lips firm but sweet and just a moment later, he pulled his mouth back to release a euphoric sigh.

My heart was racing, my skin was almost buzzing, surely I had caught on fire by now, my cheeks were absolutely burning in blush. He took my held hand into his, and put it over his heart. I could feel it thrum through his shirt and under his skin. Our bodies so close, and his head still tucked in close to my face, he took one hand off of mine and pushed my hair off my shoulder, putting his mouth close to my ear. He whispered to me, "Rosie, do you feel that? The beating of my heart, the way it's racing so..." He paused. "You don't know how long I've waited for this to happen..." He pulled back from my ear to meet my eyes, our noses almost touching. "My heart is alive again." He held my hand to his heart and slipped his other through my hair to the back of my head, cradling it as he closed the gap again for another kiss. This one was just as wonderful as the first, our mouths pressed together, this time our lips locking as he held my face to his. I melted under his touch, and got a tiny shiver when he ran his fingers down my back and placed his hand at my small, drawing me closer til our bodies touched.

He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders and held me close, my head snuggled into his chest, his long hair tickling my forehead, as I breathed in his smell. Lips brushed my forehead as he kissed my face, wrapping himself around me. Our hearts slowed to a gentle thrum, as he rested his cheek on my hair, both of us taking in the magic of the moment. Pegasus spoke softly into my hair "Rosie, you are my reborn hope..." planting a little kiss on my cheek bone. He pulled back so our foreheads touched, our eyes locked on each others'. "You're my little duelist..." he kissed the tip of my nose. "Please, let me be yours?" He asked as he slipped his lips onto mine for a delicate peck. I smiled under his lips, and pulled back just far enough to whisper "yes" against his skin, and smiled. I looped my hands to the back of his neck, rose onto my toes, and kissed him back.