Disclaimer: Not in this lifetime will I own YGO, maybe when I'm reincarnated. ^___~

A/N: Even though I have the worst cold in the world, I wrote a Tea/Yugi fic on my laptop while I was in bed....suffering. *__* If it's not that good, I apologize. I just felt that Yugi/Tea fans needed something to warm their spirits during Christmas break. Well, enjoy and Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukah

Title: Christmas in my Hometown

We wish you a Merry Christmas....

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

We wish you a Merry Christmas...

And a Happy New Year!

'Really? Well, I wish that you would just shut up...'

Tea Gardner was in no mood to deal with anything that had the word "Christmas" in it. She was so annoyed with the materialistic holiday that she wished she was born Jewish. It wasn't like she hated Christmas, this year just seemed particularly rough. You see, Tea Gardner left her childhood neighborhood, Domino City, to fulfill her dreams in New York City to study dance. Unfortunately, her dream of becoming a dancer became a thing of the past. Once she came to New York, she needed help with her school tuition, so she applied for a job at the universal Kaiba Corporation and became interested in the world of business. Working as a business manager, as well as a right-hand to Kaiba, Tea had no time to even think of her friends in Japan-until three days ago, that is.

It was like any other day in Kaiba Corps. Tea was filing important papers for Kaiba, when the phone rang. She never expected that her long-time crush would be on the other line. She had known him since kindergarten and started growing feelings for him in High School. She didn't want to leave him in Domino City, but sometimes you have to follow what your brain tells you rather than your heart.

She tried her best to listen to what he had to say, but her heart was beating too hard to actually comprehend it. All she got out of it was that the whole gang was having a Christmas party at the Game Shop at 3:00 on Saturday and they were wondering if she could make it. She told him that she couldn't, but she only did that to surprise all of them.

Too bad it didn't go according to plan. She had forgotten that she had to buy gifts. It was already December 19th and the party was on the 22nd of December. That meant that the stores would be over-crowded. Knowing she had to get it done, she braved the crowds and got all the shopping done with little energy left to get the plane tickets. On the 22nd, however, her flight was delayed because of heavy snow. After waiting at the airport for four hours, her terminal was finally ready to depart.

Now that she was in Domino City though, she already wanted to leave. She had left so many memories here that it would be hard to face them again. Her house, the High School, the Game Shop, and.......Yugi. She shuddered at the last thought, knowing that he was the one thing that made her come back. She wanted to see him again. She had to tell him that- wait, how was she going to tell him?

'Yugi, I love you. That's simple enough.'

She stopped and closed her eyes to hold back warm tears. 'If it was so simple, why didn't I tell him when I

was ready to leave?'

~~~***Flashback***~~~

"We will all miss you, Tea." Yugi gave her a quick hug and stepped back to look at her. "But I think I will miss you the most."

Tears streamed down Tea's eyes as she looked at Yugi. "Why is that?"

"You're the one that keeps me going, Tea. From your words of wisdom to your constant caring.....I can't see my life without you." Yugi paused and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I can't be selfish though. You're going places, Tea, and I don't want to stand in your way when you actually find something that will fit your needs."

"Yugi..."

"Tea, don't let me down. I believe in you just like you believe in me."

"Thank you, Yugi." She sniffed.

"Good luck."

"Yugi...I...I...." She stiffened. "I won't let you down."

~~~***End Flashback***~~~

'It was three simple words.' Tea replayed in her head mechanically.

As regrets flooded her mind, Tea moved through the automatic doors of Domino Airport, finally escaping the jolly Carolers and watchful security guards. Getting into a parked taxi on the corner, she unconsciously uttered, "Game Shop," and the taxi driver nodded and turned on the engine.

~~~***Game Shop***~~~

"Yugi, what's wrong?"

Joey pulled Yugi into the kitchen to escape the blaring music that was being played in the living room. Their Christmas party was a hit. Almost all their old friends came to spend the entire night talking and singing Christmas songs. It would have been complete if it had not been for Tea's absence. He still couldn't believe that Tea couldn't take time off from Kaiba Corps to see her "friends." Then again, the company was owned by his archrival, Kaiba, and that indubitably answered why she couldn't come. He just wished that Yugi wasn't so bummed over the absence of Tea. He knew that Yugi loved the girl, but things come up. You can't always get what you want.

Yugi turned to his best friend and shook his head to mitigate his concern. "Nothing, Joey."

"You can tell me anything, you know." Joey stated as Yugi let out a sigh.

"I'm just kind of disappointed that Tea couldn't make it." Yugi breathed as he folded his arms.

Joey bit his lip. "You're not the only one."

"It's been forever." Yugi whispered sadly as he looked down at his shoes.

"Sometimes you have to deal with loss." Joey stated, slightly remembering the time Mai's mind was trapped in the shadow realm.

Yugi swallowed hard. "I know, but...."

As Joey reached to put a hand on Yugi's shoulder, Yugi turned away from him and walked back into the living room. Joey just let out a sigh and titled his head toward the ceiling and thought about Yugi's last words. "....but you love her. I know, Yugi, I know."

~~~***In front of the Game Shop***~~~

"Thank you." Tea said to the taxi driver as she stepped out of the car.

It was just like how she remembered it. From the window card displays to the unlit "H" on the word Shop, nothing seemed to have changed at all. As she reminisced about the "good old days," Tea was brought back to reality with the sound of music playing inside. As Tea looked at her watch, it read about six o'clock. She was surprised that the party was still going strong. She brushed a strand out of hair and looked at the window to make sure she looked decent.

Boy, had she changed in the last four years. Her hair had grown beyond her shoulders, but was usually captured in a loose bow. She wore make-up now, but nothing extreme. Light pink eye shadow and lipstick was as far as she went in that department. Her style had changed as well. She grew out of the teenage fad of wearing thigh-highs and mini-skirts. It was just blue jeans or khakis with a simple shirt. At the moment, she had on beige pants with a light blue sweater that matched her eyes.

She pulled her eyes away from the window and decided that it was time to join the party. As she reached for the doorknob, fear and anxiety pulled her hand back. She held her shaking hand and looked at the door. Her nerves had gotten the best of her.

'Come on, you didn't come all the way here for nothing. It's time to settle things once and for all.'

Tea sighed and turned the knob slowly, knowing that it was time to face something she had been avoiding since she went to New York. She pushed the door open and walked in to hear the sounds of bells from her entry. As she walked past the rows of cards and magazines, the sound of music grew louder and louder. It was then she realized that the party was taking place in the living room upstairs. Her heart pounded harder and harder as she walked up the steps toward the party. As she put her hand on yet another doorknob, her heart nearly stopped when someone beat her to opening the door. It was Joey.

"Tea?" Joey asked, somewhat shocked.

She nodded as his smile grew. "Missed me?"

"You were gone?" Joey asked as she closed the door behind her.

She was about to glare at him when he yelled, "of course I missed you!" while bringing her into a big hug. Before he could suffocate her, Tea pulled away and examined Joey from his short blonde hair to his usual green shirt and blue jeans. It seemed that the years had not affected Joey at all.

"It's been so long," Joey said as he ruffled her hair. "You look good."

Tea straightened her hair and looked around the room. "Wow, look at this place."

The whole living room was decorated with balloons, party streamers, and confetti. The tables were covered by tablecloth and filled to the max with appetizers, samplers, and Christmas goodies. The people

that surrounded the room ranged from Duelist Kingdom opponents and allies they met on the way to Pegasus' castle. Even Duke Devlin and Rebecca had made an appearance.

"Yeah, Mai helped us with the decorations." Joey said as he leaned on the doorframe.

Tea cocked an eyebrow up. "How is Mai?"

That's when someone came behind Joey and said, "Joey, are you flirting again?"

Joey's eyes widened as he turned around and looked at his girlfriend. "No, just talking to-"

"TEA!" Mai yelled as she pushed Joey out of the way and hugged her old friend/rival.

Mai pulled away and squealed excitedly, "I thought you weren't coming!?"

"I lied." Tea said as Mai nudged her playfully. "What's going on with you?"

Mai blushed and looked over to Joey. "We hooked up."

Tea gasped. "Seriously!?"

Mai nodded as she grabbed Joey by the arm. "It's almost two years."

"A very long two years." Joey said tiredly.

Mai gapped at him. "And what is THAT supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, it's just been a long two years...." Joey said, trying to cover his mistake.

"Oh really!?" Mai yelled as Tea backed away from them.

Joey put his hands out defensively. "No, that's not what I meant!"

Tea cleared her throat and slipped away from their argument unnoticed. As she walked through the crowds of people to find someone familiar, her search stopped when she saw Tristan and....

"Serenity?"

The young girl with orange locks turned around and looked at her. "Tea?"

Tristan stopped dancing and looked at Tea before he smiled happily and yelled, "you made it!"

Tea nodded and accepted a warm hug from Serenity and Tristan. "How are you?"

"Great!" They said in unison, still excited that she had showed up.

"Good to hear." Tea said as she brushed a hand through her hair and looked around the room.

"How's New York?" Serenity asked as Tea sighed.

"It's a big change, believe me." Tea answered. "But, change can be good sometimes."

"Yeah," Tristan said, "Serenity and I are attending a college upstate together. It's much different from Domino."

"Wow." Tea breathed softly.

"Are you an all-state champion dancer now?" Serenity said with a chuckle.

Tea's eyes lowered. "No, I'm an assistant manager at Kaiba Corps."

To Tea, it seemed that Serenity and Tristan had stopped breathing for a moment.

"There's a Kaiba Corps in New York?" Serenity asked with a shocked tone.

Tea nodded. "Kaiba has them all over the place in America."

"Oh."

Silence stalked their conversation after that remark. Tea was kind of upset that they weren't happy for her, but she knew that working at Kaiba Corps didn't call for a celebration either. When she told Joey and Yugi about her new job, they were more worried than happy for her. She sighed sadly.

"Say, do you know where Yugi is?" Tristan asked, breaking the silence.

Tea wasn't ready for this question, so she just answered, "no, I haven't seen him.."

'You mean tried to avoid seeing him....' She corrected herself.

"Me either." Tristan mumbled. "That's weird."

Feeling uncomfortable at the moment, Tea said, "I'm going to go look for him," and instead walked to the bathroom to go wash her face. Too many thoughts were rushing at her at once. She needed to think. As she made her way to the bathroom, she found her legs freeze under her as she saw someone sitting on the floor with their back against the wall.

He looked so sad as he looked at his small palms. Even though his blonde bangs were covering his violet eyes, she knew he was crying. The tear stains on his cheeks were evidence enough. But, why? Yugi had to be the happiest person she ever met. He had his days when he was down, but it was only because his friends were in trouble. As she took a step forward, part of her told her to leave him be, while the other part wanted to console him.

'I can't leave him like this....'

Tea put on her best smile and walked over to sit next to him. "Yugi?"

Was he dead? Yugi hadn't heard an angelic voice like that since Tea had left him. Wait, even though the voice sounded like it matured, he would never forget her voice. It had to be Tea. As he turned his head in the direction of the voice, he figured that he must have died. The figure in front of him was flawless.

Yugi's endless stare made Tea uncomfortable. "Yugi?"

"You....You're...really...here..." He stuttered uneasily.

Tea chuckled. "At least someone is happy to see me."

"T-Tea," he said, still shocked to see her. "I missed...you."

'Why is he so nervous?'

"Me too." Tea sighed and brought herself to her feet.

Noticing that he was sitting on the floor, Yugi got up swiftly and brushed the dirt off his pants. He then wiped his cheeks and looked around the room to try to avoid eye contact with Tea. Meanwhile, Tea was just looking at Yugi, trying desperately to find out what was wrong. As she stared at his features, she noticed that he had grown to her shoulders now and the innocence in his face was replaced with a serious, lonely look. Almost like his other half.

"How is Yami doing?" She asked, trying to start a conversation.

Before the Battle City tournament was over and done with, Yugi had told the gang all about his other half who resided in his puzzle for the most part. Almost everyone was surprised by this, except for Tea, who had known all along that there was something different around him when there was trouble.

"Umm....he's gone." He responded, but decided to elaborate on his answer. "Yami wanted me to live my life and not have to worry about people trying to take the puzzle so he asked Shadi to take him to Egypt and help him find his roots. He's actually doing pretty well there."

"That's great." Tea said, but noticed that Yugi wasn't sharing the same feeling. "Do you miss him?"

"It was hard at first, but it was something that had to be done." Yugi said, growing more confidence as he spoke to her.

'Hmm....maybe Yami's absence is what was bothering Yugi...'

Tea nodded sympathetically. "Is that what you were upset about?"

Yugi swallowed hard, knowing that he had escaped the party because he missed her.

"Yeah," he lied. "All of the friends we have at the party were more friends with him than me."

"Yugi..." Tea said as she gave him a warm hug.

Yugi felt a little bad that he had lied to her, but if it was to get caught in an embrace with Tea, it was worth it.

"Thanks Tea," Yugi said as they parted, "I'm really glad that you are here."

"To be honest, I came here for you..."

Yugi's ears perked up, wondering if they had heard right. "What?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "You just make me so happy."

Yugi beamed. "Same here."

After a brief silence, Tea asked, "do you want to get back to the party?"

"It's up to you." Yugi answered with a sigh.

"Come on," Tea said excitedly as she grabbed his arm, "let's have some fun."

~~~***Later***~~~

"So, how's Kaiba Corps?" Yugi asked as they sat in the corner watching everyone dance.

Tea shrugged her shoulders. "Working with Kaiba is no picnic, but sometimes it is a lot of fun."

"Is Kaiba still in love with you?" Mai asked out of nowhere.

Tea blushed and pushed Mai aside. "Don't listen to her."

Yugi frowned slightly to himself, but tried not to think about it. "Um....do you like New York?"

"Yeah, but I miss my friends in Domino City." Tea breathed in heavily.

"Would you-" He was cut off by the sound of a cell phone.

Tea rolled her eyes and pulled a small blue cell phone out of her pocket. She looked at the front of it and whispered, "It's Kaiba."

"Are you going to pick it up?" Yugi asked as she fidgeted with the buttons.

"Unfortunately," she picked it up and started talking to her boss. "Huh? What files? Kaiba, I put them on your desk."

Yugi stepped away from Tea and walked over to Joey. "Hey. I'm sorry about before...."

Joey looked down at Yugi. "What? Oh, don't worry about that. You're just crazy....in love."

Yugi frowned and looked over to Tea.

"What's wrong?" Joey asked curiously.

"Is she....going out with Kaiba?"

Joey cocked an eyebrow up. "You're a funny one."

"What's Kaiba got that I don't?" Yugi asked as he folded his arms.

Joey could have laughed at Yugi's current "pouting" position, but he suppressed it and answered, "never compare yourself to anyone, Yugi, you are who you are and if Tea can't accept that then she wasn't the 'one' to begin with."

Yugi nodded at Joey. "Wow, that was really helpful information."

"Thanks, I got it from one of Mai's soap operas." Joey said as Yugi shook his head playfully. "What?"

"Nothing," Yugi said, noticing that Tea was off her cell phone. "I'll be back."

"Take your time." Joey said as he watched his short friend disappear into the crowd.

~~~***Meanwhile***~~~

"Kaiba is such a jerk." Tea whispered while noticing that Yugi left. "Yugi?"

"Hey," he said from behind her. "I just went to talk to Joey."

"I'm sorry," Tea said as she put a hand on her forehead. "That guy drives me nuts."

"Sorry to hear that..." Yugi said as she groaned.

"He wants me back in NY by tomorrow morning." Yugi's eyes widened. "He claims that I have to attend an important meeting with him, but I could care less. I mean, I asked him if I could have the week off and he agreed as long as I stayed overtime after I came back. He is NOT going back on his word."

As Tea rambled on about Kaiba, Yugi only grew more heartbroken.

"......but...I may have to go back tonight. I don't want to lose my job. That's all I got left in NY."

"You can always go back to your dream of becoming a dancer." He said as she grew silent. "What's wrong?

"I just realized that I let you down." Tea whispered. "I promised you I would make something of myself by becoming a dancer in NY, but I wound up getting a stupid job at Kaiba Corps. Why didn't I follow my dreams?"

Yugi put a hand on her shoulder. "I told you to find something that would fit your needs....and you did."

"I hate working there." Tea admitted. "All this time I have been lying to myself...and you. After spending this night with you and the others, I realized that Kaiba Corps isn't what I really wanted. I want to...become a dancer again. But, this time I'm staying in Domino."

"Are you...serious?" Yugi's smile grew.

Tea was about to say something when she heard Joey's voice sound through the room. "Attention everyone! I would like to make a toast this evening for a couple of reasons. One, I'd like to thank you all for coming." Cheers were heard after that toast. "Two, I'd like to welcome back an old friend who has always supported me through my duels and kept my spirits up....let's hear it for Tea Gardner." Tea blushed and hid her face as everyone clapped. "Finally, I wanted to make something public tonight." He cleared his throat. "It has been two years since I asked Mai Valentine to be my girlfriend and now I want to ask something else of her." He got down on one knee next to Mai and said, "Mai, I've known and loved you since that fateful day on Duelist Kingdom. I want you to know that I never regret a day being with you. You are my sun, my air, and my one and only true love. Will you...marry me?"

Mai's mouth dropped open as he slid a diamond ring on her finger. "Y-Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"I love you!" Joey said as they hugged and kissed.

Everyone smiled and cheered for the newly engaged, but weren't acknowledged by the lovers who were lost in each other's eyes. Joey then swept Mai off her feet and looked toward the crowd. "I would love to stay and chat, but I got some other things planned for Mrs. Wheeler."

As he carried her out of the living room, Yugi and Tea were left in a very confused state. "Did Joey just-"

"Yeah." Tea answered as they both looked at each other. "It's only been two years."

"Let's break their record." Yugi smiled. "Tea, will you marry me?"

Tea chuckled and nudged Yugi playfully. "Call me in a year and three hundred and sixty four days."

They both laughed and toasted to that.

~To be continued.....~

Well, that's it for chapter one. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Umm...for those interested in my other fic, "A Fresh Start," it should be finished by either this or next week. I think the rest of this fic will be posted by the end of the week. ^___^

Jelly