YUGIOH

Amnesia: Bonds of Friendship

This is a short that branches off from the Yugioh story: Amnesia. I was inspired by my youngest son Conrad, who helped give me the idea to think of this. Rated G, General, It shows the strength of friendship, even when they don't want it. Please R & R. I do not own Yugioh or any of it's affiliates.

Story:

Seto Kaiba sat in Yugi's game shop once again, going through his deck with interest and intrigue. Though he could not remember anything, he felt such an unusually strong connection to the Blue Eyes White Dragon cards that he held in his hand....the ones Yugi Motou made sure to point out to him, and explain they were his favorite cards. And they were indeed, he had no doubt in the world. He could only wonder how he could feel such a strong connection to something, when he couldn't even remember anything about it. It was kind of like the connection he felt for his brother, yet another person he had no memory of.

Kaiba looked away from his cards at the moment, observing his good friends, or atleast they were friends as far as he knew. There was Tea, laughing and spinning about, showing off her skirt or something. She was kind of cute, but he understood she was simply not his type....too bossy. Then there was Yugi, so carefree and innocent, so honest that Kaiba couldn't imagine the kid possibly telling a lie, even if his life depended on it. The part that weirded him out was the odd split-personality that changed the shy light-hearted boy, into a strong-willed man, arrogant in how right he felt he was at all times, a confidence that could slap you in the face....and there was a darkness he sensed in him, and something more. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew he didn't like that side of him, for some reason. Anytime he saw him, he had the urge to beat him down, and prove his own superiority over Yugi....but why? Yugi was indeed a mystery to him. Tristan.....what could Kaiba think about a man that shaped his head like he was a walking dart, looking for a bulls-eye? His personality was like that too....very narrow-minded and 2 dimensional. He focused on a goal and attacked it straight forward, never ceasing until he hit his target. It didn't mean he always achieved it, but the man had guts and always tried for whatever goals he put in front of himself....it was fortunate the man never set them too high. Perhaps he understood his limitations. But he was another person equally loyal to the group. Then again, Kaiba couldn't imagine Tristan being anyone but a follower. If the man ever tried to stand alone, Kaiba bet he would crumble in seconds. Last there was Joey.....what could he say? Though Kaiba remembered nothing of him as well, in a matter of days he'd have to say the two of them were inseparable. Kaiba admitted to himself among them all, Joey had to be his best friend, and the others seemed to guess this, as well.

All together, they seemed to have fun, hanging out at the fast-food place down the road from the school, or at the game shop where Yugi helped his grandfather. Kaiba was glad Mr. Motou didn't stay at the counter too much while they were around, though. He didn't know why, but Yugi's grandfather always gave Kaiba the strangest looks....never feeling comfortable when he was there. It was like he was eyeing a criminal or something, though Kaiba couldn't understand why the man wouldn't trust him. They were all friends with his grandson, after all.

As Kaiba sat, thinking about all these things, it was then when the others got his attention. Tristan spoke up, saying, "You know, you guys realize there's only a couple more years of school, before we all finally graduate?"

"Yeah, so?" Joey asked. Kaiba mentally agreed with Joey....he didn't see the point to this.

"Well, you realize once we graduate from high school, we really wont be seeing each other, anymore. Eventually, we'll be going on doing are own thing, living our own life...." Tristan said. He leaned against the wall, sounding a bit sad. "We probably wont see too much of each other, after that."

"But....that's not true." Yugi said. "We'll always be friends, and we'll always be here for each other."

"Yeah, that's right!" Joey snapped. "There aint nothing that could take that away from us. And even when school's over, I'm sure we'll visit each other. Infact, we'll probably have our own places, so we could even see each other even more!"

"I don't know about that. People get married, settle down. Reality bites, man. We just gotta accept the fact that this isn't gonna last forever for us." Tristan shrugged.

Everyone was quiet for a minute. What Tristan said made Kaiba a feel a bit sad from it too, as he turned away, looking once again at his deck. Infact, Kaiba already understood what Tristan was just now beginning to fathom....and the others were still in denial of. But that was no surprise.....though he was friends with them all, he also understood he wasn't the same as they were. He was more quiet, and never felt too comfortable offering his input into their strange epiphany's....like now.

Suddenly, Tea perked up, saying, "Hey! I got an idea! Why don't we make another friendship ring! Then we could always look back and remember our friends, even when we're not around."

"Uh....didn't we already do that?" Tristan asked.

"But we weren't together with Seto during the time we did that." She said, smiling towards Kaiba, who finally looked up, hearing his name mentioned.

"Okay!" Yugi immediately perked up. Kaiba had no idea what they were talking about, as they came closer together, and Tea pulled out a black permanent marker.

'What on earth are they doing?' Kaiba wondered. Tea looked over at Kaiba now, and smiled, saying, "Come on over here, Seto. We're making a friendship circle!"

"Should I even ask what that is supposed to be?" Kaiba asked.

"You'll see....come on!" Yugi smiled.

Kaiba felt strangely leery about it, though. With them huddling into a little group like that, it seemed a little too weird for his taste. He turned away, smiling, "No thanks, I'll pass. You guys go ahead."

"But you're part of our group. We need you to help us do this." Tea tried to explain.

Kaiba looked back, saying, "Listen, I'm not into cults, fortune telling, or any other weird mystical crap. Besides....the TV advertisements say I shouldn't listen to peer-pressure."

"Come on, Seto....it's nothing that weird, I promise ya." Joey said. "Course, if you're too afraid to...."

"I'm not afraid of anything." Kaiba spat. With hesitation, he got up and approached, to finally see what they were doing. They all put their right hands together, palms down.

Tea looked over at Kaiba saying, "You, too."

"Then what?" Kaiba asked, still suspicious.

"It's just a marker, it's not going to bite you. I'll draw a smiling face on it, so that we can always remember our friendship, no matter what. Even when the marker's gone and worn away, we will always be together in spirit!" Tea said.

Kaiba smiled, rather amused by it, as he asked, "Do you have any idea just how gay that sounds?"

Tea didn't look very happy from the comment, but Joey said, "Come on, Seto. If I'm doing it, how bad can it be? You're one of us now, so don't be afraid...."

"I said I'm not afraid!" Kaiba answered, and though hesitant, he placed his hand in as well, as Tea brought down the permanent black marker onto their hands, making the goofy-looking smiley face.

As she draw the circle, Kaiba felt strange....hearing Tea's voice echoing through his mind, 'Even when the marker is gone, our bond of friendship will always be felt through it....'

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Kaiba jerked up immediately into a sitting position, panting heavily, covered in sweat, as those terrible thoughts were still swirling in his head. "It was a dream....it was just a dream....it wasn't real!" He panted out loud, thinking, 'More like a nightmare.'

Trying to calm down, Kaiba brought his hands out from under the covers, placing them on his lap, then once again jerked in fear as he swore he saw a marker curve sketched on his hand. He looked at it immediately, but there was nothing there....yet he could still envision how it would look: the curve, the dot, the part of the smile.

Kaiba instantly became mentally sick thinking about it, jerked himself out of bed, running to the bathroom next door, and began to wash his hands, scrubbing them thoroughly. Yet, no matter how much he scrubbed them, he couldn't seem to get the horrible thought now etched in his head.

'Friends....eugh!' He thought, as his mind began to wonder if it was really a dream he had, or if this was an event that really took place during the time he had amnesia. 'No, it didn't happen!' He mentally insisted, refusing to let himself think about if maybe it was something that took place that he unconsciously buried after remembering who he was, so he didn't make himself sick like he felt right now. 'It was just a dream....'

Finally, Kaiba dropped his head in defeat, leaning heavily on the bathroom sink, as he realized....it didn't really matter if it really took place or not. Perhaps his mind was telling him something more, something far worst. No matter how much he tried to bury the past, bury the time he spent with them, no matter how many times he shunned or ignored them, he realized he would not be able to escape himself. Somehow, his time with them had succeeded in letting them attach to his heart, infecting him like a disease. Like his bond with his brother, or his connection to his Blue Eyes, he could now feel them there, as well. No matter what he did, what he said, or how he acted.

Deep down, like it or not....they would always be friends.....

END