Haha, it's a one-shot. I was working on Savior, when this idea just popped into my head. I had to write it! At first, I thought of doing it from Tea's point of view, but then I thoughts that Serenity would be better suited for this plot.

Summary: Serenity hates love triangles. MxV, MxJ, implied TxY. There are mentions of SxD and SxT, and there's a glimmer of TxYY if you squint.

Disclaimer: If I owned YGO, then Serenity would've been there for the Orichalcos.

~(-)~

I hate love triangles.

I've known about one love triangle in my life that's not in a book, and that's one too many.

See, it's about Mai, Joey and Valon.

Big brother has been there for me my whole life, and I want him to get a girl that really deserves him. Not some trashy girl who doesn't understand him; a real person who gets his personality. Mai fits the criteria; she's strong, confident, and has been in his life long enough to get how his mind ticks. She's like an older sister to me, and it's a shame that I haven't gotten to know her that well yet.

I can tell Joey likes her, too. He's done so many sacrifices for her. He's told me how he first met her in Duelist Kingdom many times, and he gets sadder every time. I remember when he tried to protect her from Ra in Battle City, even though Yugi took the final blow. His face was so mad after Mai's mind was sent to the shadow realm. I swear, he looked like he wanted to kill Marik in his sleep. Whenever I left Mai's side to do something, Joey would mysteriously come in and just stare at her, sad and miserable.

Big bro was so determined to get her back when we were in that virtual world. In that break from reality, when he and Yugi were going against the Big Five all in Tristan's body, he even chose a Harpy Lady as a dedication for her. For my brother to do something like that, the girl has to be special.

When we all got back, and Marik got defeated, I thought that everything was going to be OK. How naïve of me. Trouble naturally follows Joey, Yugi, and Kaiba around.

When big bro left and said goodbye, I thought that nothing serious would happen. I couldn't have been any more wrong. I stayed at home the whole time, just watching TV and letting all the horrors sink in. The whole time I was hoping that Joey would be alright. Mai never crossed my mind.

When Tea, who's more observant than she seems, told me about the events of the Orichalcos, she sounded sympathetic for Valon. She explained that Valon had genuine feelings for Mai, but in her current state, really hadn't been able to reciprocate. I remarked that it sounded like Yugi before the pharaoh left. Tea just blushed and said that it didn't matter that he was like that before; she and him were together now anyways.

Big brother never told me the full story of how the duels between Mai, Valon and him worked out, but I figured out the facts between him and Yugi. At the beginning, I was so shocked that Mai would start working for Dartz. But then Joey explained that Mai was fueled by her anger and loneliness, and how it wasn't her fault, and I realized how ready Joey was to forgive Mai.

Apparently, Joey and Mai dueled once, and when Joey was going to win, Valon interrupted the duel. That amazed me: how could a guy who knew Mai for such a short time care for her that much?

And then Valon and Joey dueled, and Joey won after a heated battle. Big bro would never really explain this part very well, and he seemed mad that Valon was such a good person. Perhaps he wished that he wasn't, so that there was no chance Mai would choose him.

But then Joey broke in the part about him and Mai dueling, and every single time he seemed so damn heartbroken. He never described the ending of the duel, but I learned from Yugi that Joey had fainted from exhaustion. And by the way Yugi described finding Mai's body outside of the Orichalcos building, Mai had came to her senses after her duel.

It was hard for me to understand, really. I never experienced such a strong bond with another human being, the ability to be able to save a person from a corrupted mind, having the faith to be willing to give yourself up for that person. Duke and Tristan always chased after me like a pair of hounds, but they both never really tried to know me better, and I would prefer to be friends with someone at first than just start dating. I only knew Duke for so long, and then he gave me his number. Tristan at least knew Joey before he started chasing me.

But I knew that Valon and Joey both cared deeply for Mai. But I'd lost contact with Mai ever since the Orichalchos, and how was I supposed to make contact with Valon? We'd never even met, and it would be weird for me to just seek him out.

Joey seems happy now, but sometimes I see him just staring longingly into space and mouthing Mai's name. He'll never stop waiting for her, and I don't know if Valon's the same. I honestly don't want him to find another girl, because Mai's a good person deep down, but I want him to be happy. I don't want my brother to wait forever. If Mai really does care for him, then she'll come back.

But then Valon comes marching back into the picture, and I want him to be happy, too. He seemed like a good guy, even though he's a "motorcycle punk", according to Tristan. I want Mai to seek out the guy she really wants, not the one she feels like she has to go to.

Joey's done so many things for Mai, and I wish that she could return the favor by coming back. Even if she just needs him as a friend, or a shoulder to cry on, it would help him. And maybe after they get closer, they'll be more.

Mai, Joey's waiting.

~(-)~

Yeah, cheesiest ending ever, I know. Blah.

I think that I made Serenity a bit too confident, but everything else was fine. She views Mai and Joey as her siblings, and thinks of Valon as a mystery. I tried to make it seem that Serenity isn't interested in Duke and Tristan romantically, but views Tristan as a friend. In this one-shot, Serenity also thinks of Yugi and Tea as friends, too.

Yugi knew about the events of the Orichalcos, because I'm sure that late at night, in between seasons 4 and 5, he and Yami Yugi had some talks about the late events. So that's why Yugi knew about Joey/Valon/Mai, even though he was sacrificed for the Great Leviathan for a big part of the plot.

Also, it's implied that Yugi and Tea are in a romantic relationship. What I was trying to say was that during the YGO show, Tea really cared for Atem but not for Yugi, kind of like Mai, Joey and Valon. But once Atem went out of the picture, at the end of YGO, she began to develop feelings for Yugi, so yeah.

I really like this oneshot, but I don't know what you think, so please R&R! I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes, too. I don't know if I spelled Orichalcos right…