Title: The Past Returns
Author: Kimiko Mizu
Disclaimor: Lily is mine, everything else belongs to their respected owners.
Summary: AU- After experiencing some odd dreams, Mai's cousin has a one-on-one talk with Yugi, and they realize they have more in common than Duel Monsters after all. (Hint of romance) Takes place night before Mai and Yugi's duel. No reviews please.




Lily examined her surroundings carefully, although the details seemed blurry. It looked like a desert- but she found herself standing in front of a small water hole. She knelt down and peered into water, only to see the reflection of a young woman clothed in a white, low-neckline gown with ice cold blue eyes. She felt a heavy object on her side, and looked down at her right hip and saw an item that looked like a golden key attached to the white sash that hung at a slant on her side.

She recognized this object, but didn't have any more time to think about it as a small pebble was tossed into the water, causing it to 'tremble' and when it settled, revealing the sillouhette of a tall young man. She looked behind her and tried to identify his face. Before she could speak, the figure knelt down and leaned over to-

"Holy--!" Lily sat straight up in bed, her forehead sweating like a 100 degree day and her hands clenched tightly around the white cloth of the sheets. She reached over the side of the bed and grabbed a golden key on a chain that she had hidden from Yugi and the others.

Even if she was her cousin, Lily didn't share much of anything with Mai, except maybe attitude and DNA. Lily had attempted several times to talk to Yugi about her secret, but either Joey or Mai would butt in and make a wise-crack about her and Yugi, so she'd have to come back with a smart remark.

She looked at the shining object in her hands. As she thought about the blurry details of her dream, the key began to glow. She inhaled sharply and tossed the key to the otherside of the room.

"No!" she shouted, clamping her hands over her mouth when she realized the full volume of her voice. Not hearing footsteps outside the door of the room, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and then proceeded to pull up the blinds that concealed the window.

All of a sudden, Lily lost her balance and for a second fell to her knees, palms clenched on the inside window sill. She took a deep breath and then gazed up at the night sky.

"That person in my dream. . .he seemed. . .familiar somehow. If only I'd seen his face. . ." She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the details of him. She saw a cape. . .maybe black? Or was it brown? Lily remembered areas of his body shimmering in the bright sunlight, meaning he must have been wearing gold, or silver maybe? She shook her head. "Get a grip, Lil, you've never stressed over a guy this much, he's just a figment of your imagination."


"But is it really?" A deeper female voice spoke from seemingly nowhere. "This isn't the first 'dream' you've had like this before, is it Lily?"

"STOP it! I told you to stay away from me!"

"Lily, all I want to do is help you," the voice replied.

"HELP me?! You turned me into a freak!"

"That's not it. Don't you see-?"

"I see perfectly fine!" Lily interrupted. "I see you're just turning me into some puppet to get to Yugi! Well, it's not going to work!" Lily then stood up and grabbed the key from across the room, proceeding to throw it out the window. "I should have done this a long time ago. . ." she said to herself, looking down onto the courtyard, hoping to see the key fall into the bushes, but instead, it fell onto the paved ground, where anyone could see it.

And somebody did see it. Someone Lily recognized by his small size, a size she almost matched, but outdid by a few inches. It was Yugi Mutou, the only duelist ever to defeat to Seto Kaiba. "Damnit, what's Yugi doing out there?" she thought, unable to tear away from the window as Yugi bent down and picked up the key, looking up to see where it came from. He saw Lily at the window and stared at her for a minute, his spikey, golden locks framing his puzzled face. That's when it hit Lily- spikey hair! The figure in her dream had the same hairstyle as Yugi!

"Then. . .that means. . .oh, HELL no. . ." Lily muttered as she shrunk down below the window. What would she do now?