Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. All I own is this story, so please don't plagiarize or sue me. Thank you. Now I hope you'll enjoy this fiction. ^_^

The Quirks of Love

Part One: Rebecca Returns

The summer started off like any other for Yugi and his friends. Warm air drifted around the town and everywhere the sound of duelists training echoed as swords clashed and spells were cast. No school meant that younger duelists, like Yugi, could practice more and fine tune their skills until the next big tournament.

As expected, Yugi's reputation as the master dueler spread throughout the country and he was confronted with many challengers daily. Life had become all duels and play for the young game master, until one day…

"But Grandpa!" Rebecca Hawkins protested as her grandfather, Professor Hawkins (an old friend of Yugi's grandfather) dragged her along to the game shop, "You never said anything about going to see Solomon or Yugi!"

"It's been eight years since I've last seen my friend Rebecca," her grandfather insisted, "And I'm sure it won't hurt you to visit Yugi and thank him again for your new duel monsters card."

Rebecca thought back to the duel that Yugi had forfeited to her and then to the card The Ties of Friendship that he had given her. It was sweet of Yugi to do all those things but something in her shied away from the thought of encountering the boy again. Although by now he was no longer a freshman in high school and presently a young man in college.

"Grandpa the card's hardly new anymore," she huffed, "I've had it for years."

"And never used it," her grandfather sighed, "the last duel I ever remember you fighting was the one between you and Yugi. Ever since then, I don't think you've even touched your duel monster cards."

Oh Rebecca had touched her deck alright, and that was the part of the problem. Ever since her battle with Yugi things had never been the same in her life. She had somehow developed a new and awesome power. One that she didn't intend to reveal to anyone, even her dearly loved grandfather.

Inside the shop Solomon turned to see his old friend enter hauling his granddaughter behind him. "Ah, Arthur, how good to see you again. And I take it this young lady is Rebecca? My how you've grown."

"And where's your grandson Solomon?" Arthur smiled, "I'd have thought he'd be helping you out in the shop today."

"He is," Solomon laughed, "he's helping me cart boxes of our latest shipment in and out of storage."

Rebecca pretended to be uninterested and stared out the shop's front window. But when she heard the sounds of grunting coming from the storage room's entrance she couldn't help but toss a glance over her shoulder.

There he was, the dueling champion and admittedly, the hottest boy she'd ever seen. Yugi Mutou, he'd grown to be a good six inches taller than her and his smile melted her heart. The feeling of uneasiness--however--was still looming in the air.

Yugi sat the boxes down on a case of cards and looked over at the blonde with the ponytail standing by the window. The sunlight illuminated her golden hair and her emerald green eyes shimmered as she gazed at him. It was as if The Time Wizard had been unleashed and time itself was standing still. Finally Yugi recognized the young woman and smiled warmly, "Oh, hello Rebecca."

Rebecca's tongue failed her as she tried to speak. She just couldn't get any words out. It was a mixture of fear and shyness that consumed her. Gently nudging her forward her grandpa smiled, "Go on Rebecca, say hello. Don't be rude to our old friends."

"H-hello Yugi. Hello Mr. Mutou." she finally managed. Her cheeks went red and her eyes fell to the floor. She couldn't bare to face Yugi's gaze another second, it was so piercing, it was a wonder he couldn't see right into the depths of her soul. He couldn't…could he?

"Well Arthur," Solomon smiled, "what brings you here?"

"I just wanted to stop by on my travels to visit you old friend. And to ask a bit of a favor." he added the last part of his explanation in a worried tone.

"Favor? Whatever's the matter Arthur?" Solomon inquired.

Arthur starred at his granddaughter a moment, "Um, Rebecca," Yugi could sense that Arthur and his grandfather needed to talk in private, "want to come back to the storage room and check out our latest shipment?"

"Sure." Rebecca answered softly. There was just something strange about Yugi. There always had been. But for the life of her she couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Whatever secret he was hiding made him all the more fascinating to be with, even after all these years.

Once Rebecca and Yugi were out of the room Arthur turned to his friend. "I'm afraid Rebecca just hasn't been the same since our last visit."

"What do you mean?"

"She's changed," Arthur searched for the right words, "she never battles anymore. And she had such a talent for it. And what's worse, I can't even get her to touch a duel monsters' card."

"That is strange." Solomon agreed, "But what can we do?"

"I'm glad you asked old friend," Arthur brightened up, "since it was Yugi who taught Rebecca all about the heart of the cards and how to battle unselfishly with her monsters I'm hoping that perhaps Yugi could discover what's bothering Rebecca so that she can return to playing the game that she loves."

Solomon nodded, "I think Yugi might be willing to help."

"Thank goodness," Arthur sighed, "Rebecca's just lost that certain spark she used to have. I'd do anything to see her get that back. She used to be so spirited."

Not the word I would've used but…Solomon laughed to himself as he recalled the rambunctious little child that had accused him of stealing her grandfathers Blue Eyes White Dragon.

******

Inside the storage room Yugi continued to show Rebecca the various new cards that had arrived that morning.

"And this one has the power to hurl enormous blasts of fire at its opponents," he explained, showing Rebecca a card that looked like The Red Eyes Black Dragon but with aqua scales and white armor.

"That's nice." Rebecca commented in what sounded more like a whisper.

"Here," Yugi offered her the card, "you can look it over if you want. I imagine you've collected quite a few cards since I saw you last."

Rebecca quickly shied away from the card. "No thanks. My grandpa's been collecting cards for me and adding them to my deck but I don't battle anymore."

"What?!" this seemed to catch Yugi off guard. "How can you not battle anymore? I thought you loved Duel Monsters!"

"I do."

"Then why aren't you battling?"

"I---I have my reasons." she was getting defensive now.

"Rebecca," Yugi persisted, "when's the last time you battled another duelist?"

Hanging her head in shame she backed into the corner, "When I battled you, eight years ago."

Yugi's eyes widened when he heard this, "Why?"

"I can't tell you okay!" she burst out. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. And I DON'T want to look at anymore cards!!"

Rebecca turned and burst out of the room with tears streaming down her face. Her grandfather tried to stop her but she raced past him. Solomon turned and stared at the blank expression on his grandson's face.

"This may be harder than we thought," he cautioned Arthur.

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*Hi everyone! This is my first ever Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfic. I hope you're all enjoying it. I don't know, I just thought that Rebecca and Yugi looked cute together. And of course, anyone who Yugi falls for will probably get Yami Yugi too. So I'm working out a way to bring Rebecca together with both Yugi and Yami Yugi. Let's hope this works! Please review, no flames.*