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Relief; that's all how Yuugi and his friends felt after Duelist Kingdom and his ruthless duel against Pegasus J. Crawford. It was a challenge for them all, but remembering that they were all by each other's sides through it all they felt closer than ever before.
It was a warm, sunny day in Domino City, and everything seemed alive and happy. The flowers were a beauty to see, the water in the rivers and lakes glimmered, reflecting the sun's rays to brighten the clear water more. The birds were chirping, and the small animals of the outdoors were playing around the environment. Although that scenery isn't seen much in Domino City, a group of teenagers were on their way to see Yuugi's grandfather who was in the hospital during the Duelist Kingdom Tournament.
They were talking about many different things, but mostly about the tournament Yugi and Joey were recently in and how they would adjust going back to school after a few days' absence from their education. Well, except for the Spirit within Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.
As Duelist Kingdom had gotten more difficult, Yuugi soon discovered more about the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle. This spirit had been living within the puzzle for thousands of years, and once Yuugi solved the puzzle, he became the host body of this ancient spirit that has dueled for Yuugi throughout his time of playing Duel Monsters. It seemed that only Anzu Mazaki is the only one who knows of his presence in their world.
"Aw man! Today's our last day before we have to go back to school!" Jonouchi cried in disappointment. "That means we get to do more work!"
"Don't be too upset, Jonouchi," Honda chuckled, "School isn't that bad.."
"Yeah, I'm sure things are gonna be awesome!" Yuugi added. After all the duels that he has encountered in the recent past, especially Duelist Kingdom, he's been tired out. There were times that he felt bad for having his friends get involved with his battles; his friendship meant more to him than anything else.
"Yeah, Jonouchi, don't be too bummed about it." Anzu said. "Who knows, something new and exciting might happen."
"Alrighty then… but if something exciting doesn't happen within a few days I'll blame you on my sadness, Anzu!" Jonouchi said.
The group laughed and said, "Yeah, okay Jonouchi. You can surely do that."
"I'm glad that things are beginning to go well for us again." The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle said to Yuugi.
Yuugi was a bit surprised at first to hear the Spirit's voice, but he then smiled again. "Yeah, now that Duelist Kingdom is out of the way, we can go back to the life we had before all this happened." He responded in his thoughts to his new friend.
Yami nodded. "I agree. Now let's hurry and see grandpa."
The friends got to the hospital and walked inside, heading towards the floor on which Yuugi's grandfather was on. They entered the elevator and went up to the right floor that were meant to go to. During their time in the elevator, it was nothing but silence… except for the random music in the background; it was very odd indeed. As they exited the elevator, they saw a short man standing by the central counter on that floor. The man turned to see Yuugi and his friends and smiled. "Hello everyone!" He said.
"Grandpa!" Yuugi cried, running over to reunite with his grandfather. The others watched and were glad to see their friend in a joyful mood. "I'm so glad you're alright!" Yuugi said to his grandpa.
His grandpa chuckled and hugged him back. "I'm proud of you, Yuugi. Because of you winning that duel against Pegasus, you were able to give me my soul back."
Yuugi looked to his grandpa and smiled more. "Thank you, grandpa. Now let's get home before people start coming to the shop for the day."
The group then departed from the hospital and headed for the Game Shop.
Up, up, and up into the air it went. An airplane flying from the state of New York was heading towards the country of Japan. Among the passengers was a family of two parents and their daughter; the daughter had ended up sitting in another column, but she was still by her parents who were talking amongst themselves about what they would do once they settled things in their new home. The daughter was not fully excited about moving to a different country, for she was gonna miss her friends greatly. She was gonna miss out on so much back in her home city, but she had to accept the sudden change in her life and go with the flow.
The daughter looked over to the person.. Or rather child next to her. She saw it was a little girl with a teddy bear on her lap. She smiled softly (her first smile since she had to say goodbye to her friends back home). "That's a cute bear." She commented to the girl.
The blond-haired girl looked up at her and smiled back. "Thank you! He's a very good friend of mine!"
Katrina couldn't help but laugh a little, thinking it was cute for the girl to imagine her stuffed animal as a friend; she remembered doing that herself with some of her stuffed animals when she was younger. "Oh, that's cool." She said to the small girl.
After a few seconds, the teen girl couldn't help but cock her head slightly with a look of curiosity on her face. "You look familiar…" She said aloud for the little girl to hear.
The girl giggled and nodded. "I'm sure you have heard of me. My name is Rebecca Hopkins, and I'm the Duel Monsters Champion from America!"
The questioned girl slowly nodded. "Oh, yes! I have heard of you then! Weren't you on a talk show or something recently?"
"Not recently…"
"Oh, well I'm sure that's where I've seen you." The girl sweat dropped, laughing nervously.
"So what's your name?" Rebecca asked.
"Katrina Moonstone." The teen girl answered, smiling lightly again.
"That's a pretty name! I like it!"
"Thanks… you know, my parents were gonna name me Rebecca at first, but then they decided to name me after my Grandma Moonstone."
"Oh really? That's pretty neat!"
Katrina was actually starting to have a good time talking with Rebecca, feeling that she was no longer as upset as she was before.
"So what are you doing over in Japan?" Rebecca asked, hugging her teddy bear as she looked down at him.
"I'm actually moving into Domino City. My parents were offered jobs in the city for a restaurant they're opening soon since my dad is a famous chef."
"What about your mom?" The little girl looked up at Katrina.
"She's a waitress, so when the company opening the restaurant in Domino heard about my father and his cooking abilities, they found out about my mom working as a well-performing waitress." Katrina answered and continued. "Anyway, so my parents accepted the job and… well, here we are."
"Wait… you said you are going to Domino City, right?" Rebecca asked.
Katrina nodded. "Yeah I am."
"Oh cool! I'm going there too!"
The bright auburn-hared girl smiled more. "Really? That's awesome! What are you going in for?"
"Well, my grandfather and I are staying the city for a bit… but I have to meet up with someone that my grandfather knows very well from his archeological days."
"That's sounds exciting!"
"Well, in a way it's exciting, but I'm going for a specific reason." Rebecca said, starting to sound serious. "My grandfather's friend that we're meeting stole the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from him."
Katrina's eyes grew a bit. "Oh gosh! That's terrible!"
"I know, but once I defeat that old man in a duel, I'll return what is rightfully my grandpa's!"
Katrina started to worry. "Rebecca, whether it's someone you dislike or not, you can't disrespect those older than you."
Rebecca saw how upset Katrina was with how she offended someone and sighed. "I'm sorry, Katrina." She apologized, looking down. "I just really want my grandpa to have his Blue-Eyes card back. It would mean much to him if I won it back from his friend."
"I know how it may feel," Katrina placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "but that still doesn't make it right for you to say things like that. Just try to be fair, okay?"
Rebecca looked up at Katrina and nodded. "I'll try," She smiled softly. "but it won't be easy."
Katrina laughed softly. "Alright."
Within a few hours, the plane for Japan landed in the airport. As the plane was at a standstill, the passengers left the plane and went inside the airport to grab their belongings. The Moonstones and Hopkins simultaneously grabbed their things. "Well, I'm sure I'll see you around soon, then?" Rebecca said to Katrina.
Katrina smiled at Rebecca and nodded. "I'm sure we will." She looked up at her grandfather. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Hopkins."
Arthur Hopkins nodded. "It was nice to meet you as well, Katrina. I hope you and your family enjoy Domino City."
"Thanks!" Katrina's mother said, standing beside her daughter.
"Hope you two have a wonderful day!" Katrina's father said, standing on the other side of Katrina.
"We will, thank you!" Arthur grinned, laying a hand on his granddaughter's shoulder. "Now let's get going, Rebecca."
"Bye Katrina! Bye Mr. and Mrs. Moonstone!" Rebecca waved gleefully as she left the airport with Arthur.
The Moonstones waved back to them, saying their goodbye to the Hopkins. "They're so nice." Katrina's mom said.
"They are." Her husband agreed. "We've gotta get going as well. We want to head to our new house, right?"
They nodded, made sure they had their bags, and started out of the airport and to Domino City. I'll have fun here… I will… Katrina thought, ready to face the new life ahead of her.
Yuugi and the others started walking back to the Game Shop, though the kids had no idea of what they would do now. "So you saved my soul as well as regain title of King of Games in Duelist Kingdom?" Grandpa Mutou asked Yuugi.
"I sure did! I had to win it for you, Grandpa!" Yuugi smiled.
Grandpa turned to his grandson and smiled. "I'm very proud of you." Yuugi then looked to his grandfather and smiled back.
"So how does it feel to have your soul back?"
"I feel very good, Jonouchi." Grandpa grinned.
They all stopped walking as they continued to talk each other. "You know, you should probably get some rest when we head back to the Game Shop, Grandpa." Yuugi advised him.
"Don't worry, my boy. I'm perfectly fine; I mean, I'm as alive as ever!" His grandfather grinned, stretching out his arms to show them that he was fine… until they heard a crack in his body. They gasped in surprised, hoping nothing happened to him.
"Are you all right, Mr. Mutou?" Honda asked.
"Why yes, I'm perfectly fine." He assured Yuugi and his friends, though they felt a sweat drop on their heads. They were relieved to see that he really was fine.
"Finally you're here!" The group heard a small voice. They looked to see a small, blonde-haired girl standing beside the Game Shop. She had a cart of suit cases behind her, and she also had a teddy bear in her hand.
"Um… and who might you be?" Honda asked the girl.
"Well, if you're desperate to know, then my name is Rebecca!" The girl then walked towards the group, dragging the cart behind her as well.
"Say, aren't you a little young to be off on your own?" Jonouchi asked.
"I'm perfectly fine; I can be on my own if I want to."
"But that's a bit dangerous, though." Anzu told Rebecca.
"Enough talking!" Rebecca demanded. She pointed a finger to Grandpa and asked him, "Are you Sugoroku Mutou?"
They were surprised to know of Yuugi's grandpa, and he then answered the little girl. "Yes, that is me. How do you know my name?"
"All I know is that you stole my Blue-Eyes White Dragon from me!"
"What? My grandpa stealing a card from someone? He wouldn't do such a thing!" Yuugi said to Rebecca.
"No! I know he stole my Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and I want it back, so hand it over!" The girl ordered, her hand now shown in a giving manner.
"We're sorry, but we can't give it to you." Anzu told her.
"And why not!"
"Well… it was torn up by Kaiba." They told the little girl.
"What? How can that be?" Rebecca gasped. "There are only four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards in the world; Kaiba has the other three, and that last one should've been in my deck! Because of you, though, I don't have it anymore!" She exclaimed.
"Whoa! Calm down, girl!"
"Wait… you said your name is Rebecca, right?" Yuugi asked.
Rebecca looked over at Yuugi and suddenly smiled. "Yes, I'm sure you recognize me now, don't you?"
"What is she talking about?" Jonouchi asked.
"Yes, this girl is the Duel Monsters prodigy." Grandpa said.
"Exactly! I've beaten the toughest duelists around the world, and I'm the number one ranking duelist in America!" Rebecca flaunted. "And since you still won't give me back the card, whether it's ruined or not, I have every right to challenge you to a duel, old man!"
"No, Rebecca, he won't be dueling you. What if I duel in his place?" Yuugi said to her.
"But Yuugi-"
"It's alright, Grandpa. I can duel for you; besides, you just got out of the hospital."
"Humph, fine! I'll duel you then! If I win, though, I will get the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, isn't that right, Teddy?"
"Yes, Rebecca! You can do it!" Rebecca imitated the voice of her stuffed animal.
They were lucky to get a duel arena from Kaiba, and Rebecca and Yuugi got ready for their duel. "Be careful, Yuugi!" Grandpa and Anzu said.
"I will!" Yuugi assured them. He stepped into his duel area. Rebecca did the same on her side of the arena.
"Let's duel!" The two declared, beginning their game.
KumoriAmataka: Hello, everyone! I'm back!~ I'm sure some of you missed me updating on fanfics ^^!
I apologize for taking down "The Power of Games and Love"; I know a lot of you really enjoyed it, but things weren't working out very well unfortunately. Now things have changed... drastically in a way, LOL! I will be following the Yu-Gi-Oh! plotline, starting from the small events before Battle City (Yuugi vs. Rebecca, Yami vs. Otogi, etc.). ..And yes, I will be using the Japanese names now (though I'm ironically not using Katrina's Japanese name that I forgot about *shot* XD; ) I know it's weird to start off with that, but I'm more comfortable with this arc/season and the rest of the series (don't ask, please -_-; ).
I hope to post up "Echoes of Time" pretty soon (since I'm working on this one and Eot simultaneously (which is another YGO fanfic of mine that takes place back in Egypt))~
Katrina Moonstone and her parents belong to ME! KumoriAmataka!
Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to Kazuki Takahashi~3