Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Gi Oh or any other business/logo that is mentioned in the entirety of the fic. Rated for graphic violence, sex and language.

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Chapter 1

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She was perfect. The ideal. She fit so snugly against him, like the completing piece of his puzzle. She felt like heaven and sounded like a song. His body moved into hers in a perfect rhythm and she called out to him as if he were the only one that mattered. He wasn't a nothing. He wasn't just some scum on the side of the road. He was hers. She wanted him and that was all he ever wanted.

He shot up, running his hand through his hair as he calmed his breathing. He glanced over at the small boy in the bed next to him and shook his head. If he, or any of them found out what he was thinking... dreaming about... No. They would scold him. Yell at him. He would betray his closest friend. But still...

She was just perfect. The ideal of innocence and kindness. She was his harmony. His tranquility... Serenity.

"Tristan, what are you doing up?" Yugi asked, raising and rubbing his eyes.

"I'm just excited about seeing some dueling going on man. This is great. The blimp, the biggest names in dueling history. And I get a front row seat." He lied. They couldn't know.

"Well, dueling doesn't start for four hours, and breakfast doesn't start for at least another two." Yugi laughed. "But if you want to get up, I will too. I've got to work on some new strategies. It's not entirely heart of the cards, you know. Lately I'm thinking these duels are getting a little too close for comfort." He said a little nervously.

"What? Don't even say that Yugi, you're the best. You'll win no problem." Tristan said, hopping out of bed as Yugi moved the sheets off of him.

"I hope so Tristan." They moved into the hall and down to where the breakfast would be served in a few hours. As they entered, they saw the holder of the tournament, Kaiba, grabbing an orange from the fruit basket left out at all times. He turned towards them, paused and sighed, rolling his eyes as he moved back to the table he had claimed. He seemed to be going over some sort of papers, but Yugi and Tristan didn't look closely, honestly not caring. They were too pumped about the happenings of the tournament to have time to be nosy.

A few moments later, the musical laughter Tristan had spent most of the night hearing in his dreams echoed through the halls and he sat up, waiting to finally see her. He didn't have to wait long, but the second after she entered, he deflated. She was laughing at someone else, but not just any someone. Duke.

"So I took the dice, rolled, and you wouldn't believe what I got." He said with a bright smile as they took the closest table to that hallway.

"Three summons dice?" She filled in and he nodded. "I think I'm getting it now. How do you come up with this? It's all so... intricate." She said with wonder. Tristan wished for a moment that she would look at him and talk to him that way before being distracted by a snort from Kaiba.

"You have something to say?" Duke asked, standing again and getting ready to march over to him.

"If I had anything I wanted to say to you, I would have. But I really don't feel like wasting my time." With that, he returned his attention to his papers and acted as if he were alone in the room.

"Why you-"

"Please don't fight. We were having a good time." Serenity said, raising and stopping him. Kaiba didn't look up again until the one voice that could easily rip him from his thoughts and grate his nerves called out.

"Ay, what do you think you're doing with my sister?" Joey sleepily asked. He had an undertone of hate, but the tiredness covered it easily. "Come on Ren, let's go sit with Yugi." He said, just as tired, and she rose, bowing politely to Duke before joining Yugi.

Kaiba's eyes followed them, but he didn't turn his head. He wasn't one for getting into other people's business unless it outright concerned him, but Joey was a thorn in his side. A loud obnoxious thorn. He wasn't going to get anything done at this pace. Since when did everyone wake up so early? He never pictured them for the early risers. He was used to being up around five every day, but them? He figured they'd miss the first duel after sleeping in.

His eyes wandered subconsciously to Yugi. He was happy. Laughing and joking. Didn't he know that this was the tournament he would lose? That this was the last time he would be called king of games? It wasn't fair that he got it in the first place. Kaiba himself had sacrificed and risked so much just to have that one thing. The one piece of childhood. The one tiny happiness in his life that was only his. And Yugi took it so easily.

It wasn't fair. All his life he worked hard for everything he got. He deserved the title. What did Yugi do for it? Yugi had a childhood. Had his friends and his family. His happiness was right in front of him. Kaiba had none of that. The short teen had taken the only thing left, and he would stop at nothing to get it back.

Joeys loud voice ripped him from that train of though as he shouted out a laugh and Kaiba almost snapped right there. He needed to get out of there. It was too distracting and annoying. He gathered his papers, but paused as a few more people filed in. The annoying brunette girl, the pale British boy, the tall curvy blond girl and... Ishizu Ishtar. She had told him that he would hold a tournament, but he didn't believe it was a telling of the future. If she had said nothing at all, he would have never done this.

But still, he would have never known about the God Cards. He figured he had some bit of gratefulness for her, but that was all. He wondered silently if she held any more secrets like this one, but wasn't about to ask. Not while she was still hung up on telling the future and speaking about ancient pasts and whatnot. It was all so childish. He didn't have time for it.

The woman, Ishizu stopped and glanced behind her as the tall bald man... Marik, moved past her. He didn't waste time looking at any of them and seated himself quietly at a distant table. After another moment, the group was complete, when the duelist Namu showed up. He sat himself with the group, but Kaiba noticed the venom in Ishizu's eyes as Namu walked past her. She turned, ready to leave, but he wanted answers. She obviously knew him and he wanted to know what he was up against. It was a golden opportunity to see if she knew any more secrets, or could tell him about one of the adversaries.

She made it half way down the hall when she stopped on her own. She turned to face him, wearing a smile as if she had known he was going to follow, and his stomach turned. He hated it when people thought they could read him. No one could.

"I'm not telling you about him. He is not yours to defeat." She said it with a smile too. Her nerve was infuriating.

"Let me get this straight, you'll blabber on about past lives and magic mumbo jumbo until you're blue in the face, but you wont tell me about one of the duelists in my tournament?" Her smile only grew. If he were a lesser man...

" The world is full of connections. Connections that bind souls for all of eternity. It is fate that weaves these and the paths we must walk will be taken to uphold them. You are connected to Yugi, Just as your former self was connected to his. It is a bond that could not even be broken through death. It is why you were reincarnated. You are not connected to that boy. Not in that way. It is not fate's desire for you to be his challenger." He had enough. This bull was funny at first but... no. It was never funny. It was stupid. It was even more stupid now.

"All this talk of past selves and connections and fate are just your foolish imagination playing tricks on you." Her smile finally vanished and he continued, charged by her deflation. " There was no past me. I'm the only one. Yugi and I are connected, but any fool could see that. I'll defeat him, then get on with my life. It's not a bond. It's not a lifelong thing. Just a chapter in time which will come to an end like all others. You're insane to believe otherwise." Air hissed out of her as she let out a long breath and closed her eyes.

"I promised myself I would not interfere with you, but I fear I was just acting as you are. Fighting my own fate. You will see." Before Kaiba could laugh in her face and move away, a figure appeared in front of him, between the two arguing parties. The man before him just came out of nowhere. He wore white robes and a turban, along with a golden key around his neck. He turned back and looked at Ishizu.

"I was waiting for you to see it." He said quietly, but she just smiled at him. He turned back to Kaiba, but his face was void of emotion. "And you... no... all of you. You all need this." A bight light flashed and out of his body formed a golden scale. He took the thing and held it high over his head, letting the thing flash, the light consuming Kaiba, the man, Ishizu and everything around them.

When the light faded, Kaiba's eyes took an extra long time to adjust. The place he was was dark. Darker than the blimp. Darker than... anything. He rubbed his eyes, aiding them in their dilation, and finally he was able to take in his surroundings. Absolute nothingness. Slowly, forms came into view.

The man in the robes, then Ishizu. Slowly the entirety of the common room appeared behind him. But... there was more than that. Two Yugis. Two of the British boy... two of the boy, Namu. This had to be a hologram. It was obvious. Why else would there be two of them? They should have used his own products. They wouldn't have glitched like this. Kaiba looked a little closer at the bugs in their technology, and noticed slight differences. The second Yugi was dressed slightly differently. He was taller too. His face... almost more mature. The other Brit... He was also taller, but there was something menacing in his eyes. The same went for Namu.

"Nice try, but this isn't fooling anyone." Kaiba said confidently. The man in the turban looked over at him and sighed. " Your weak technology isn't fooling anyone." Kaiba added looking around the place. The man moved to him, but Kaiba just smirked down at him.

"Then tell me," The man said, almost starting to turn away. His arm swung around and he pushed Kaiba to the ground with a loud thud. "Why does that hurt?" Kaiba froze. It was impossible for an illusion to physically hurt. He looked up at the man bewildered, but had nothing to say. "Ishizu, you took your time calling on me. I was beginning to wonder if you had actually defeated fate." The man finally smirked and Ishizu responded with a nod and a smile.

"What's going on?" The smaller, normal Yugi finally asked. He was followed by noises and grunts of the same inquiry from all around.

"I've brought you here to show you the connections to each other. All past, all present, and even some future. It is to greater explain to you the roles you have and the paths you must take." The man paused, glancing back at Ishizu. "not every future is of fate." He said before turning back to the rest of them "But many are." Before anyone could ask any more questions, small strings passed from the center of each of them, connecting and entwining them to each other. They were barely visible. Almost transparent. "Focus on the relationship. The bond. The connection. You will see the power that the line has over your future."

Kaiba smirked as he noticed the lack of ties, but at least three were visible. One to Ishizu, another to Joey and finally one to Yugi. He focused on Yugi for a moment and the connection flared a bright purple. It flashed vibrantly and for a moment, Kaiba had to readjust his eyes again.

"This purple tie of yours is a rivalry. The brighter the connection, the stronger the tie, and the more important it is to the individual. Try someone else." Kaiba didn't like being told what to do, but he was curious. He didn't care for Ishizu and wondered why the tie was even present, but Joey... He didn't like the boy one bit. Even as the thought passed his mind... "Yellow. Frustration. Not quite an enemy, but not a threat. A nuisance." Kaiba smirked. That much was true, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he and Yugi were rivals and that he hated the mutt. He decided to sit back and watch for a little while, remaining in the shadows until he was curious again.

Everyone proceeded to play with their bonds, exploring their connections to each other. Serenity glanced down at the tie to Joey and closed her eyes, focusing on it. The slight transparent light shone a vibrant green, lighting the area like a beacon in the darkness.

"Ah, green. Family. A love and bond completely unique. Both friend and companion." A moment passed and something else grabbed the man's attention. "Now this is not uncommon." He said pulling her attention to the string leading from behind her. Tristan stood at the other end, looking confusedly at the thing. At his end it started a slight glowing white, but towards hers it was a deep bright blue. " The dual relationship. How someone views another on one side compared to how the other views the first on their own side. The deep blue is a friendship. This one is still new, but strong. A good friendship, but this... The white string. Love."

Tristan froze as he felt Joeys eyes land on him. He didn't want this to happen, but he was so curious. He wanted to know of them... of her. But it was obvious now, she thought of him as a friend... well.. they all did... used to... but now...

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End of chapter one, so what do you think so far? I'd like to see lots of reviews for this story, of course, I like lots of reviews for all my stories, but this time, I offer brownies! Free brownie for every review I get! Once again, I will be updating once per day before noon (DST -4)