I always wanted to write a one-shot that's MaixValon. They're my favorite couple from Yu-Gi-Oh and I don't think they get enough love. So here it is.
DISCLIAMER: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, because if I did, as you can probably guess, Mai and Valon would have ended up together.
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Thoughts flooded his mind like a thousand birds stuck in a cage. Each one a different memory of her.
"Mai!" The birds seemed to call. "Mai Valentine!"
Valon groaned and rolled onto his side, only to be confronted by the card that she had given him. Her signature card, the Harpy Lady.
He swore and turned to the other side. He couldn't take it anymore.
It seemed like wherever he went some part of her was there. A card shop with a Harpy in the window, a motorcycle that looked like hers, hell, he couldn't even walk down a street without seeing a blonde who reminded him of her. He thought that maybe he could forget about her, to find someone else, but he knew that after everything that had happened, there would be nothing else.
It would be Mai, and only Mai, forever.
Valon got out of his bed and shook out his hair, causing it to stand up on end and make a popping noise. He got dressed and headed out of his humble house to his job. It wasn't much, but it paid the bills and it put gas in his motorcycle. And that's what was really important in life, right?
Right.
Walking down the street he counted the things that reminded him of her.
He couldn't help it.
Everything did.
By the time he got to his job at the car shop, he had counted twelve things. Less than usual. He dared to think that maybe he was getting over her.
Well, maybe he was over her until he saw her bike in the shop.
It was the same bike she had used when she rode with him, the same bike that he had helped pick out, the bike that had been from Dartz. He would know it at a glance, and this was it.
"Nice bike, ain't it?" Bob, the other mechanic, asked, mistaking his staring as bike-lust, not a different sort of lust. Well not lust, just longing. "Wanna work on it kid? It just needs a tune up. The broad who brought it here will be back in a couple hours." Before Valon knew what he was doing, he found himself agreeing and Bob leaving the room muttering something about calling a layer about his divorce settlement.
Valon looked at the bike again. He knew every detail, every flaw, everything about it. He ran his hand over the polished surface. It even felt the same. There were a few more dings now, a few more chips in the paint, but it was the same bike.
He got to work.
It wasn't a hard job, it was actually rather easy. He had fixed stuff on it so many times when they were working together that he knew every nook and cranny. He was done in about a third of the time it would have taken Bob, then again, Bob knew almost nothing about bikes, only cars. That's probably why he gave Valon this job, he couldn't do it himself.
Valon was fine with that.
The garage door opened to reveal Bob once again. This time he was with an old friend, Joey Wheeler. It didn't surprise Valon that Joey was here, he knew that he would have her in the end, but it didn't make it any less hard to see him.
"Valon?" He asked once his eyes registered the Australian.
"Hey Joey. You here to pick up the bike?" Valon asked the blonde.
"No, why would I be here to pick up someone else's bike?" Valon stood there confused. What were the chances that he, Mai and Joey would all be in the same place at the same time?
Very small.
But it seemed like the stars had aligned and they were.
That was weird.
"Oh well." Valon said smiling at his old friend. "Whatcha here for mate?" Joey smiled back.
"Well, I heard that you worked here, and I had a half hour before the check-in for my next flight, I'm going to a tournament, and I thought I'd say hello." He laughed. "So hello!" Valon laughed and walked over to his friend and gave him a short hug. That's when Joey's eyes seemed to register the bike behind him. "Is that…" he said with a trembling voice.
"Yeah." Valon said, wiping his hands off on a cloth that he carried with him. "It is." Joey's eyes grew wide and he walked over towards the motorcycle.
"It's been awhile since I've seen it." Bob started muttering and walked away. Valon could hear him saying something about people and that stupid bike. Joey ran his hand over the shiny surface of the motorcycle.
"So you haven't seen her either?" Valon asked him. He was sure that after everything Mai would chose Joey in the end, but then why was her bike in his shop and Joey was completely clueless?
"Not since you have." He said with a tone of despair in his voice. "But you musta seen her! Her bike's here. Where is she?" Valon shook his head with a small laugh.
"Dunno. And I don't think I'm gonna stick around to find out." Joey looked confused. "Mate, if she had wanted to come to us, she would. We're just the past now, as much as I hate to admit it. She'll either come back on her own terms or she won't. Just don't worry about it." Joey looked as if he were going to say something, probably something ridiculous about friendship, but closed his mouth. In the end, he knew that Valon was right on this one.
"Yeah, I guess." Joey said running his hand over the bike one more time. "I just wish…" Valon cut him off.
"So do I mate." They both stood in silence looking at the bike for a moment.
"Well, I guess I should go." Joey said after a moment. "My flight'll be soon. It was nice seein' ya bud." Valon smiled.
"You too." They shook hands and gave each other a 'bro hug'. But when Joey left, Valon was utterly confused. Thinking back to what had happened two years ago, it just seemed unreal that Mai wouldn't have gone to Joey. Joey seemed like he was her soul mate, he was the only one who Mai really ever cared about. And there he was, leaving her, without her.
Valon couldn't help it, but he felt hopeful.
It wasn't right, in fact, it was more than wrong, but Valon had waited for so long to hear anything from Mai, even to hear that her and Joey would soon be sharing matrimonial bliss. But something. And here it was, a bike.
A bike in a repair shop when it didn't need repairs.
A bike in a repair shop in a different country than where she lived.
A bike in a repair shop that just so happened to be the one that he worked at.
Valon got his deck out.
--
"I'm back!" The beautiful blonde said as she burst into the repair shop, making every employee's eyes land on her.
And when every employee was Bob, you knew you were in trouble.
"How's my bike?" She asked the older man in the stained and slightly disgusting wife beater.
"It's great. We had our best guy work on it. She should be working like a charm. Valon can move around one of those machines like he was born in it." Mai wasn't surprised at the name. She knew that he was working here. That's part of the reason that she had decided to take her bike in. Just to see him. Just to check how he was doing.
"Valon?" She asked. "What an interesting name. Is there any chance I could meet him?" Bob raised an eyebrow. She wasn't the first young lady who wanted to meet the handsome mechanic in his employ, but she had the worst reason. Girls weren't really interested in interesting names. That much he knew.
"Sorry sweets, he left an hour ago." Mai tried not to let the disappointment show on her face. She really did want to see her former colleague. Seeing Valon was one of the things she had to do. She'd spent the past two years piecing her life back together part by part, and he was one of the last ones she needed.
"Oh, well, tell him Mai Valentine thanks him for the work on her bike. Could you do that for me?" She asked the man with a flirtatious grin that would make it sure that he wouldn't forget.
"Yes, I can do that." He said with a nervous sweat. He was not used to such pretty woman even humoring him like that.
"Thanks." She took one last look around the room to see if there was maybe some trace of Valon there.
There wasn't.
"Could you take me to my bike?" She asked and Bob happily obliged.
"Your bike's a real beaute. Valon and this blonde kid from Brooklyn who came in earlier, both of them couldn't take their eyes off of it." Mai rolled her eyes. She was more than used to having guys ogling her bike, it was a nice piece of work. Dartz hadn't let her down when he had gotten it for her. But the thought that Joey was here with Valon was preposterous. There had to be at least ten thousand blondes from Brooklyn, the chances that it was Joey were slim.
"Lot's of people do that." She said happily.
"Yeah, but not pro duelists, like this one kid was!" Mai just full out rolled her eyes. It seemed like this small town auto shop was the place to be today.
"Let me guess, Joey Wheeler?" She asked.
"Yeah! That was his name." Bob scratched his stomach as they reached the bike. "Well here she is babe. It was nice meetin' ya. I'll make sure to give Valon your message." Mai thanked Bob. He was a fun guy, she had to admit that.
She looked at her bike, her beautiful bike that had been a lifesaver to her lately. But something was sitting on the seat. After looking closer she realized what it was.
A Duel Monsters card.
It was turned upside down, so she didn't see what it was, but she had an idea.
And she was right.
The Psychic Armor Head.
Valon.
She took the card and slipped it into her deck case. She quickly put on her bike helmet, got on her vehicle and started to ride.
--
It was a beautiful sunset. The countryside was a beautiful place, Mai had just never stopped to appreciate it. Italy was so much better than she ever thought that it would be, even though she didn't see everything she wanted to see, or do all that she wanted to. At least she had the one thing now stored carefully next to her Harpies.
She didn't see Valon, but she knew that he would always be with her.
Mai pulled her bike off of the road to a near-by field. She couldn't just let this one last bit of Italy get away from her before she went to the airport tomorrow. She wanted to remember these moments forever.
Mai didn't bother to lock up her bike, she knew it wouldn't get stolen, the nearby roads were deserted except for the occasional local. No one would have thought to come here as a tourist. Mai, however, thought it was just about the most beautiful place she had ever been.
She walked into the field of tall grasses and flowers, looking for a good place to sit. She found the perfect one. Except someone was already in it, staring off at the sky.
Valon.
Mai calmly walked over to him and sat down. Wordlessly he pulled her closer to him. Mai wanted to absorb everything about him. She had missed him so much, more than she ever thought she would. He had found her, taken her (somewhat) up from when she had been the lowest, but most of all, he wanted her. More than anything. She rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the sun go down. When it was almost dark out they spoke.
"I love you." He told her in a soft, gentle voice.
"I love you too." She said, both of them happier than they had ever been before.
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Thanks for reading. It's greatly appreciated. Review if you'd like. It would be a nice thing to do. I love you all!