Okay, so this story is a request made quite a while ago. I am so sorry it took me so long to actually write it. Chronologically, this takes place some time between The Final Duel and The Dark Side of Dimensions. Hope you like it!

Dance Lesson

Tea stretched herself out on the wooden floor of the dance studio. Being Saturday, no one else was around, but Tea had received permission to it on her own. Well her and another person.

"So how does this work?" Rebecca Hawkins asked as she began stretching herself out not far away from the brunette.

"Well, since you're just starting, I'll go over the basics, and we'll go from there," Tea answered. Normally, she'd spend her Saturdays hanging out with Yugi and the other guys, but Rebecca had called her up out of the blue and asked to learn ballet. She didn't know what to think of the younger girl's request, but Tea couldn't say no. Especially after all the times she longed to hang out with another girl compared to the boys' antics. The guys could manage without her for one Saturday. She hoped.

"I guess that makes sense," Rebecca adjusted with the pins holding her hair in place. She'd traded her pigtails for a bun that would keep her long, blonde hair out of the way, but Tea could see she wasn't used to so many anchors in her hair. Tea at least had the advantage in her hair being short enough to not require a bun for practice.

"Why'd you want to learn ballet anyway?" Tea asked as she led the younger girl through a few moves, correcting her stance as they went.

"Because of Yugi," Rebecca looked away and fidgeted with the strap of her green leotard. "Whenever we try to talk about anything other than Duel Monsters or other games, he ends up on the topic of ballet. He says that's the closest thing to a sport he knows anything about, especially when I try to tell him about my gymnastics." She scratched her calf, not used to the feeling of the white tights covering her legs.

"That sounds like Yugi," Tea chuckled. "Joey and Tristan have tried teaching him several times, but apparently 'King of Games' doesn't apply to sports. When did you start gymnastics?"

"Beginning of last semester," she answered. "I'm ahead of a lot of my classmates, but no one ever really wants to hang out with a thirteen-year-old. I wanted a different challenge, and I thought if I was in a group like everyone else, it would help me fit in. But still nothing. Yugi's the only one who's made me feel normal, and I can't even get him to care about what I'm doing. It's always ballet and you."

"Me?" Tea flushed and looked away. She fidgeted with the pink skirt draping off her white leotard.

"Yeah, you!" Rebecca snapped. "Do you even like him? Or are just hung up on him?"

Tea felt like she'd been slapped in the face. She suspected Yugi might feel more than friendship for her, but then there was also the Pharaoh—Atem—she corrected herself. When he first showed up, she thought he was Yugi. The more confident Yugi who raced to save her when she needed it. The one who could speak his mind and face down anyone who challenged him. He was so different from her soft-spoken friend.

But Yugi… Yugi brightened everyone's day. When anyone was feeling down, he made things better with a game or just by listening. He never judged; he just gave them the outlet they needed to unload their feelings. And if he had a solution, no matter the inconvenience to him, Yugi offered it up without a second thought. It was no wonder Rebecca liked him better than Atem.

"I… I don't know," she finally answered. "Yugi will always be my friend. So will Atem. Nothing will change that. But beyond that…" she trailed, trying to sort through feelings she had been avoiding.

"Well there's no confusion on my part," Rebecca tried one the twirls Tea had shown her. It wasn't perfect, but she kept her balance through it. "I love Yugi, and I just wish he would see that."

"You do know you can't force him to love you back, right?" Tea said, ignoring the heartache she felt when they went through the Pharaoh's memories. The sight of Atem with that other girl, the bubbly magician's apprentice with the spikey brown, drove home that no matter how Tea felt about the Pharaoh, he would never feel the same way. The look of adoration on his face as the apprentice threw herself at him was the same expression Tea saw on Joey's face when the blond talked about Mai.

"Not right away," Rebecca glared at her. "But I'm sure he'll come around if he sees I'm actually interested in him and not the Pharaoh."

"That's not fair," Tea said. But who was she trying to convince: Rebecca or herself? Atem had only been gone a couple of months, and everyone in the group was still trying to process that he was truly gone. When she got home after the trip to Egypt, she locked herself in her bedroom and cried, dropping the façade that she was sure everyone was holding up during the plane ride, the one where they desperately wanted to be happy for their departed friend. Tea could only imagine the ache in Yugi's heart those first few weeks. His smile had all but disappeared. Not even his beloved games could make him feel better.

And during that time Tea kept her distance. Not only was she trying to sort out her own feelings, but she didn't want Yugi to feel like some kind of consolation prize. He probably knew she had some feelings for the Pharaoh. Yugi always did know when something bothered his friends.

"How is it not fair?" Rebecca asked. "I've been on the receiving end of how much he talks about you. You're just stringing him along. I know it when I see it; at least three dozen other students on campus have done the same thing."

"Stringing him on is the last thing I want to do!" Tea snapped. She took a deep breath to calm her emotions. This was not a conversation Tea was ready to have with anyone let alone the girl who threw herself at Yugi at every opportunity. But that was one thing that made Yugi and Rebecca's relationship different than the Pharaoh's and the magician's—Yugi didn't have the look of someone in love when Rebecca did it. He looked embarrassed more than anything else. With a hint of fear, Tea realized. Like he was afraid that by letting the blonde hug him he would be hurting someone else. But he didn't want to hurt the person throwing herself at him either.

"Then what is your deal?" Rebecca turned to face her, giving up on the moves she'd been practicing the entire conversation. She adjusted her leotard straps to fit more comfortably on her shoulders.

"It's complicated," Tea looked away from the green eyes at forced her to confront her feelings. "Yugi is my best friend, and I don't want to hurt him. Even when I knew Yugi and the Pharaoh were different people, there were times I wasn't completely sure who I was talking to. So I'm not always sure which one I… well… The only time I was certain it was him was when we lost Yugi to the Orichalcos."

Rebecca's expression softened. "I hated the Pharaoh then," she admitted. "I blamed him for what happened, and I wanted him sealed away instead."

"He would have," Tea told her. "Atem would have let the Seal take him, but Yugi wouldn't let him. But that's how Yugi is: putting everyone else ahead of himself." Maybe it was Yugi all along that she liked. Looking back, talking with Atem alone hadn't brought her the same warmth it had when Yugi was there. At the time, she attributed it to the fact everyone was grieving Yugi's sacrifice, especially Atem. But maybe Yugi just needed Atem's confidence to bring out her feelings for him.

"And that's why I love him," Rebecca blushed. "He's always trying to find common ground, to make a friend and form a bond." She glanced to her gym bag that she left by the door. "I still have the Ties of Friendship card. I always keep it with me, to remember what he taught me when we first dueled. If only it were that easy with the other students at college."

"Honestly, I keep forgetting you're ahead of us that way," Tea said. "College is just around the corner for us though." She sighed. "I know I'm on my way to ballet school in New York, but I'm not looking forward to leaving my friends behind."

"You won't have to leave all of them," Rebecca glanced down. "My college is in New York too. So… I guess we can hang out if you want."

"I'd like that," Tea smiled. "And no matter what happens with Yugi, you and I will still be friends. He doesn't have to be the only one to make you feel normal. And if you show me some of your gymnastics, I'll teach you some more ballet."

"Deal," Rebecca grinned, and they continued with the lesson.

So a couple of notes. When it comes to Rebecca's age, I split the difference between the dub and the sub. When she shows up, she's eight in the dub and twelve in the sub, but I don't think she really acts old enough to be twelve, but she's gotta be older than ten for Waking the Dragons. Therefore, ten at Duelist Kingdom, and this is going on four years after that (since the other characters haven't graduated yet, I say the entire series spans about four years).

Also, as far as I can remember (and you can tell me if I'm wrong) they never actually say where Rebecca goes to college. It's possible Professor Hawkins moves around for his archaeology research and exhibits, but Rebecca could have a dorm or something like that. And hey, if she's in New York, she and Tea can hang out because I do think those two can make great friends despite their rivalry for Yugi's love.

Anyway, thanks for reading!