A/N: I don't know why, but azureshipping came up in here somehow…
Disclaimer: don't own, never will
Anzu walked down the hallway of the airport yawning. Jet lag sucked, she was deciding that right now. Still though, it felt good to be back in Domino City, her true home. She couldn't wait to see her friends again. Idly, Anzu wondered who was picking her up. All she was told in the email from Yugi was that whoever would be picking her up would be waiting at the luggage claim. Heading to that area, Anzu barely had time to look around before she heard a familiar voice.
"Yoo-hoo, Anzu! Over here hun," Mai called, waving. Anzu turned and smiling widely, headed to the blonde.
"Mai! It's so good to see you!" Anzu exclaimed, hugging the blonde. "You haven't changed much."
"Why bother changing something that works?" Mai returned before looking Anzu over, "I like the long hair."
"Thanks, I figured it was time for a change it's a lot more fun to play with than I thought," came the reply as the brunette moved forward to snag her suitcase from the conveyor belt as it appeared.
"Come on, let's get out of here and get some coffee before we get to my apartment where you'll be staying. Everyone figured it'd be easier than staying at a hotel or one of the boys' places."
Anzu followed Mai to where she had parked her convertible, silently thinking that coffee sounded second only to a nap. After loading the back seat, the girls got in and drove off, long hair streaming behind them due to the wind. "So how're things going between you and Joey?" Anzu wondered, "I haven't heard anything about you guys from Yugi lately."
Mai hesitated. "That's because it didn't work out," she explained, "Joey's great and all, but it just wasn't meant to be between us. We had too many differences to overcome. Granted we're still good friends, but I can't see us getting back together anytime soon."
Anzu nodded in understanding. "So, any idea why we were all invited to Kaiba's grand ball party thing?" she asked.
"Well, he's releasing some new technology of his. Rumor has it that it's bigger and better holograms. Yugi, who is helping design and test them, says he's got the idea from the ka battles you guys saw in Atemu's memory world and our invitations are a thanks for helping kind of thing. Not to mention that he's warmed up to Yugi and our friends." Here Mai paused and smiled slyly at Anzu. "I also heard on the gossip chain that he fancies you."
"Say what?! Kaiba fancies me? Come on Mai, don't joke like that."
"Well it's only a rumor, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were at least partially true, seeing as he paid for your plane ticket voluntarily," Mai laughed. The girls continued chatting as they went and got their coffee and headed to Mai's apartment. Once there, Mai and Anzu took the suitcases into the guestroom and settled down to talk some more. It wasn't until Anzu started nodding off when Mai realized that her guest was tired still.
"Come on sweetie; let's get you into your room so you can rest. I forgot you were on a plane for hours." Mai suggested apologetically and helped Anzu to the guestroom and into the bed. "When you wake up we'll go see everyone." Anzu only nodded and fell asleep quickly. Mai stayed in the room for a little, just watching Anzu sleep before exiting and quietly shutting the door.
…
The second night of Anzu's stay was the party. Arriving at the Kaiba mansion, Mai let Roland park her car and the two females, gorgeously dressed in gowns and their hair done up nicely, ascended the stairs and entered the Kaiba mansion which was ablaze with lights. Entering the ballroom, they immediately spotted Yugi in the crowd since after all, it was hard to miss his hair.
"Hey guys! Yugi greeted once they came up to the group, "You look spectacular."
"Thanks Yugi," Anzu replied, smiling while almost subconsciously running her gloved hands over her form fitting gown to smooth out any bunching.
"Wow Anzu, I didn't know you could clean up so nicely. Just goes to show what moving to America can do," joked Joey. Yugi face palmed while everyone else chuckled.
"Quiet mutt or else I'll call the pound," Seto interjected lightly, coming up behind Anzu. While Joey stammered, not expecting a dog comment in such a place, Seto took one of Anzu's hands and kissed the back of it in a gentlemanly manner. "You look good Mazaki," he said softly.
Anzu looked up into Seto's eyes and was slightly surprised to see warm royal blue rather than the cold sapphire that had been Seto's eye's in the past. "You look great too, Seto," she replied almost shyly.
Seto gave her a fleeting smile, knowing what she meant. "It's what comes with facing your demons and finally putting the past to rest properly," he replied, "granted, the cold façade comes around when I'm not with friends, but I prefer it that way." Glancing at his watch, Seto frowned softly. "Looks like I have to go welcome everybody and unveil my newest creation now. I'll be back," he promised before almost reluctantly letting go of Anzu's hand and disappearing off to the stage on the far side of the room.
"So Yugi, what's this big unveiling exactly?" Serenity wondered.
"Well, Kaiba came up with the idea to make the holograms more realistic. Meaning they're more solid and have personalities of their own. We developed products that can summon the monster when not in a duel so you can get to know it and form a deeper connection," he explained softly as Kaiba onstage began to speak. "We tried it on my Dark Magician, and he still has his former self's personality. I have a feeling it's going to be a big hit…Watch now, Seto's planning to demonstrate with his dragon."
Anzu turned towards the stage just as Seto summoned one of his blue-eyes white dragons. Everyone gasped in awe as the dragon filled the stage and immediately coiled around Seto, nuzzling the CEO affectionately. Excited murmurs broke out as Seto raised a hand to stroke the graceful head and the dragon responded with a pleased sound and closing its eyes, enjoying the attention. Seto demonstrated a bit more, changing a setting so the dragon became small enough to perch on his shoulder. By the end of the presentation, everyone was highly impressed. As the crowd dispersed in the typical party chatter, Seto rejoined yugi-tachi.
"Your dragons seem to like you a lot," Mai commented, impressed.
"Well I have been using them for years, of course there's bound to be a connection," came the reply.
The rest of the night passed quickly for Anzu. She had to admit though, Mai was right about Seto. He was definitely interested in her. They danced together for several songs and when it was time to go, Seto asked if she'd go out to dinner with him before she went back to New York. To his delight, Anzu had accepted.
On the way back to the apartment, Anzu noticed that Mai was unusually quiet. "Mai? Is something wrong?"
"Hmm? Oh, no sweetie, just thinking about how Kaiba asked you out."
"Why, is something the matter?"
Mai hesitated again. "I…It's just that…" here Mai trailed off, unsure about how to say it. Anzu waited patiently for Mai to get her thoughts together and it wasn't until Mai had parked in her spot in the parking garage of the apartment complex that she answered Anzu once the car was off. "It's just that I wanted you for myself…."
Anzu didn't quite understand, however. "What do you mean?" she was about to ask more when Mai suddenly leaned over the center console and captured Anzu's lips with her own. Anzu's eyes widened in surprise when she found herself actually enjoying it.
"If I can't be with you, at least give me this night, this one night to live out my fantasies of us being together," came a murmur at Anzu's lips. Anzu thought about it and leaning forwards slightly, closed the distance between their lips again with a simple "ok."
…
Morning found the two cuddled in Mai's bed, dozing peacefully after a few hours of carnal pleasures of the female variety. Anzu had her head resting on Mai's shoulder while the older female stroked her brown tresses idly. "Mai? I thought about last night…and I realized that if you're willing and Seto is ok with it, that I be shared between you two. The kisses I received from both you and Seto seemed equally right. And…I also realized that I don't want to let go of one for the other."
Mai stared down at Anzu in shock, hardly daring to believe her ears. "You…you mean that?"
"Yes. I mean it with every fiber of my core."
"Then you better ask Seto about it before your date. That's supposed to be your time with him."
In the end, Anzu got what she wanted. Seto turned out to be ok with the idea since he knew he wouldn't always be able to be there for Anzu as his job sometimes demanded his full attention for days. His only condition was that he got to sit in and watch every so often which had earned him a playful smack on the arm. Anzu decided to return to Japan for good, where her dancing career continued to flourish. And the rest, as we say, is history.
