S'up? In the spirit of the holidays, I wrote a nice little Christmas oneshot.:) Please note that this is a part of Fate or Destiny so you need to kind of read that to know what's going on. But this one shot does not follow the story line of Fate or Destiny; it takes place if they didn't go to Egypt when they did to unlock the pharaoh's memories. I hope you guys like it! Also, I will start updating again for Fate or Destiny as soon as next week is over with.

Also, please follow me on tumblr; annatheavatar.

Enjoi:)

A Christmas Tale

Domino City, Japan

December 19, 2010

It was that time of the year again, Christmas time, that is. One of my favorite holidays. But this would be my first Christmas in Japan, away from my friends in California. I'll also be spending the holidays alone because my aunt and uncle are on another business trip for Kaiba Corp. I hated that they were going to be away for Christmas, but I knew there was nothing I could do about it. So I decided not to let it get to me and to keep my spirits up! It was Christmas, after all.

Today I was in school with my friends that I had made recently by moving there. I had grown very close to all of them, including a certain spirit that captured my attention. Yami was my closest friend out of all of them and I knew that I could always depend on him for anything. That is, until Abbey moved to town. They've been inseparable the past few months and it was tearing me apart, but I always kept it to myself. Although, I have noticed that Yami and Abbey were having "problems" in their relationship. And, well, long story short, Abbey decided to spend Christmas with her parents in California. Leaving Yami all alone… I smiled at remembering this.

But I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts by the teacher yelling at me, "Do you know the answer, Anna?"

I looked up at Mr. Roberts, my history teacher, who was standing at the front of the class room waiting for me to answer the question he asked. "Umm… The Black Death?" I answered, unsure of what the question was.

He sighed, "No, Miss Daniel, I'm afraid the Black Death was not the first to circumnavigate the earth." The class chuckled at my folly. "Yugi, do you know the answer?"

He turned to my close friend, who was sitting right next to him and waited for his answer. "Was it Magellan?"

The teacher smiled at his response and wrote the answer on the black board behind him, "Correct, Yugi. Very good." Of course Yugi would get it right; he is the smartest kid or class, after all.

The bell rang shortly after Yugi answered Mr. Roberts question and all the students quickly left the classroom to start winter break. Yugi and I walked down the hallway to find our lockers. As we walked, I could tell that Yugi had something on his mind, but I didn't ask. We had this special relationship where we didn't need to ask one another what was wrong. We knew that when the other person wanted to talk, they would. As we came to our lockers, Yugi started to talk, "Are you and the pharaoh still friends?"

I was taken aback from his question. We never spoke about Yami unless it was absolutely necessary because he knew I still felt uncomfortable about the situation. Yugi knew this especially, so why would he ask such a silly question when the answer was so obvious?

"I don't think so, Yugi. We kind of drifted after him and Abbey… You know…" My voice weakened and trailed off as I opened my locker to put my books away, avoiding eye contact with Yugi.

He sighed, knowing my feelings. "He could really use a friend right now, Anna…"

I slammed my locker in frustration. "No, he doesn't. He has Joey, Tristan, Tea, and especially, you. He doesn't need me, for whatever reason."

I started to walk away, but Yugi began to follow, not giving up on the subject. "But you don't understand! I think he and Abbey are over! They're not even speaking to each other."

This caught my attention. I didn't know things had gotten that bad between them. "Really?" I asked.

He nodded as we started walking to the exit of the school. "When she left the Game Shop the other day, she told Yami to go to Hell and to never speak to her again."

So they really are over? "What happened?" I asked, trying to suppress my excitement.

Yugi's face sank to sadness. "I don't know. Yami won't tell me anything! So I was hoping maybe you could talk to him? He always listens to you."

I took this all into consideration before giving Yugi my answer. Truth be told, I was still in love with Yami but after he completely dropped me for Abbey, I felt broken. But now, maybe there's a chance that he can make me whole again.

"I'll think about it." I told him.

He didn't seem too excited about my answer, but kept it to himself. "Well, we're drawing names for Secret Santa after school, you're welcome to join us." He smiled.

"Secret Santa?"

"You know," he explained "When you draw names and whoever's name you get, you have to get a gift for. We all get together on Christmas Eve and open presents and have a sleepover!"

It sounded a whole lot better than being alone on Christmas, that's for sure. "I'm in!" I smiled, excitedly.

We made our way out of the school building and I could feel the dramatic drop in temperature. December really was here. We met the others and started walking to the Game Shop. Once we made it there we quickly wrote our names on a piece of paper and put them in a bowl. After, we all drew names.

It was funny looking at everyone's expression when they drew there Secret Santa. Yami briefly switched places with Yugi to draw his name from the bowl, but didn't make any attempt to speak with anyone. Our eyes locked momentarily but it didn't last long because he quickly retreated into the Puzzle once he drew a name.

When the bowl finally made it to me, there was only one piece left, neatly folded, lying on the bottom of the bowl. I picked it up and carefully unfolded it so I wouldn't rip it. My heart almost stopped when I saw Yami written on the piece of paper. What is this? Some kind of sick joke? But of course, I couldn't say anything about it because that would be breaking the rules of Secret Santa. So I sucked it up and tried to make the best of the situation. I mean, how hard could it be to find a gift for a 5,000 year old ancient Egyptian pharaoh?

Don't answer that.

The rest of the afternoon passed with no more appearances from Yami. Not that I cared. But he normally came out and hung out with us for at least a little bit… I couldn't help but wonder if his recent detachment from the group had anything to do with Abbey's leaving. Something serious must have happened.

I got up from where I was sitting in the living room and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Almost immediately as I walked into the room, I heard my name being called.

"Anna?"

I turned to see Yami standing in the door way with a dismal expression on his face. It took all that I could not to reach out to comfort him. But, curiosity did get the better of me.

"What is it, Yami?" He held my gaze for a few moments; I could see in his violet eyes that he was morbid and confusion, almost as though he was lost. I couldn't take it anymore. I took a hold of his hand and led him upstairs to Yugi's room, where we could get a little bit more privacy so we could talk. I closed the door while asking, "Now tell me what's going on. You look…Awful."

He kept his gaze on the floor and took a few moments to answer. But finally, I heard his voice slice through the silence with an answer: "She lied."

I was caught off guard by his statement, which left me confused. "Who lied?"

Yami looked up at me and I could see the tears starting to form in his eyes. He's voice came out again, but quivering at the answer "Abbey."

And then it all made sense.

He continued as he walked closer to where I stood in front of the bedroom door. "I was so stupid," he confessed. His once powerful voice now nothing but a whisper. "I put everything on the line, just on her word that she was the Avatar. Not knowing that she was lying through her teeth."

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder, relieved that he finally knew the truth about Abbey, but he quickly pulled away. "And you knew, didn't you?"

I kept silent.

He walked back to me, this time he grabbed my shoulders, forcefully. "Why, Anna? Why didn't you tell me she was lying?!" He yelled.

I grimaced at his booming voice returning and the questions being asked. Why hadn't I told him Abbey was lying?

"You wouldn't have believed me." I told him, trying to keep my voice level.

Yami was taken aback from my statement and I could feel is grip on shoulders loosening. His gaze went to our shoes and did not speak another word but I could see many thoughts running through his head. It was a few short minutes until he decided to speak again, this time choosing his words more carefully.

"Did I really get so wrapped up in her, that I wouldn't trust one of my closest friend's words?" He asked, with a pleading look in his violet eyes as he gazed at me.

I sighed, because I knew that he was finally coming to the realization of what was really going on. My heart went out him, but I didn't have the words to say it. So I kept silent.

He saw this and he forced a non-humorous chuckle and let go of my shoulders and started to walk away from me. "You don't have to say anything; I already know the answer to the question." He turned back around to face me, but kept his distance. "I treated you worst out of everyone." The pleading look returned in his eyes after saying this. "You had every right to be angry with me, to avoid me. So why, after all this, do you still care enough to help me?"

All of his statements were true. I was angry at him; I did avoid him at all costs. I could only think of one reasonable explanation for why I did still want to help.

"It's because I…" My voice trailed off before I could get the rest out. Yami walked up to me, curiously,

"You what?" He asked, his voice almost above a whisper. He lifted his hand and creased my cheek, his thumb rubbing my check bone just ever so slightly. I could feel my face heat up at his touch.

"Anna?" He attempted again, his gaze never leaving mine.

I couldn't do it, not now anyways. I quickly pulled my head away from his hand and I found the door handle to Yugi's bedroom and ran out of the door like a coward. I ran down the stairs and quickly said goodbye to the others and sprinted out the door with no other word.

A few days had past and my phone rang almost every hour with a voice mail from either Yugi or Yami saying that they need to speak with me. I always pressed ignore and carried on with my daily routines. Until I got another phone call, this one being from Tea. She wanted to go shopping for our Secret Santa gifts, seeing as though it was only 2 more days until Christmas. I agreed, slightly cursing myself. I had forgotten all about the Secret Santa thing we were all doing together, and I really didn't want to do it anymore. But after some gravelling from Tea, she finally convinced me to go along with her to the mall.

We met in front of Domino City Mall and walked in. The mall was lit up in every way to celebrate Christmas. From the big Christmas Tree in the center of the building to reefs on every wall in sight. The lights that were hung up along the walls shined off the tiled floor quite nicely and it made the holidays really come alive. We walked around the mall and stopped by a few stores, and then it wasn't long until Tea started asking questions.

"So who's your Secret Santa?" She asked as we walked into a little jewelry that sold a lot of pricey items that I knew I had no chance of affording.

"I can't tell you." I said, "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of it?"

Tea rolled her eyes, "Anna, no one actually follows those rules, and they just say that they do to make it more interesting." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

My gaze caught on a beautiful silver crescent moon shaped necklace that was in a display case. It really was pretty piece of jewelry, but I knew I didn't have the money to afford it.

"I got Yami." I looked back up at Tea to see her expression. I was expecting her to looked surprised, but wasn't. I couldn't really read her expression, actually.

"Oh… Really?" She asked. "I bet he's really hard to shop for."

I took her statement in as I walked to another jewelry case with watches in it. "Do you think he would want a watch?"

She came over to look at the watches with me, "I'm not sure, maybe."

I looked down at the prices and hung my head in defeat. There was no way on earth I could afford any of these watches.

Tea saw this and tried to reassure me. "We can try some other jewelry store." She grabbed ahold of my arm and quickly led me down the hallway of the mall to another shop, but to no avail, this one didn't even sell men's watches.

We tried every other jewelry store we could think of but it all turned out the same. We just couldn't find a watch that either I could afford or that Yami would like.

But Tea on the other found a really nice men's fitted shirt for her Secret Santa. The shirt was on the smallish side and was a really nice deep blue, like the ocean. I could only guess that it was for Yugi because the size of the shirt could never fit Joey or Tristan. But I decided to keep my discovery to myself.

I returned home from my day of shopping to a note tapped on my front door. I took the note off, curiously and read it;

Anna,

I dropped by to see you, but you weren't home. You haven't returned any of my voicemails and I got worried. I really need to speak with you, please call me.

-Yami

I held the note shakily in my cold hands and sighed. I unlocked the door of the apartment and walked in. What am I going to do? Clearly Yami wasn't going to drop this. I walked up to my room and laid on my bed in defeat. I looked over at the calendar that read December 23rd. I really didn't want to have this talk with Yami, I wasn't ready. At all.

I sighed and took out my cellphone and sent Yugi a text:

I got Yami's note, I'll talk to him tomorrow at the Christmas party.

-Anna

I closed my phone, but as soon as I did, it vibrated with a reply from Yugi:

I can't wait.

-Yami

I chuckled at the thought of Yami actually texting and dropped my phone on my bed. And then a thought hit me. I still haven't gotten him anything for Secret Santa… I growled in frustration. Why couldn't I think of anything to get him?

I looked at my alarm clock and saw that it read 8:47. Most of the shops would be closed by now… And then it hit me. I quickly ran to my desk and shuffled around all the papers until I found it. Yes! I praised in my head. I found my sketch book.

I walk back over to my bed and started working on what was going to be Yami's Christmas present.

It was almost 4 am until I deemed Yami's present ready. It wasn't perfect; nowhere near perfect. But I think Yami would appreciate it anyways. I went to sleep and woke up at around 4:30. I got up out of my bed and stretched. I had to be over at Yugi's at 6:00. So I started getting ready for the party by showering and getting dressed. I wore a red sweater dress that really made my green eyes pop and a black belt with black stockings and black boots to match. I let my long brown hair fall down my back and saw that I was ready. I looked at the clock again, 5:28. Still enough time to wrap Yami's present.

When I was done, I got my stuff ready to go spend the night. I got everything I needed and walked out of my apartment and locked the door behind me. I made it to the Game Shop right at 6:00. I rang the doorbell, only to be greeted by Grampa.

"Merry Christmas, Anna!" He greeted while smiling warmly at me.

I returned the smile, "You too, Grampa!"

He ushered me inside the shop, "The others are back in the living room."

I nodded as thanks and walked through the back hallway to make it to the living room, which was decorated nicely to look like Christmas. The Christmas tree was in front of the window and was decorated beautify. I was quickly greeted once again with a bunch of "Merry Christmas's" and hugs from everyone.

I smiled and returned the hugs, but then noticed someone missing from the crowd. I scanned the faces of the room and then asked, "Where's Yugi?"

Tea was the first to answer as she grabbed my bags from my hand and set them at the base of the stairs and put Yami's present under the tree with the others. "He had to… Run out for a second." She answered, nervously. "He'll be back any moment." She reassured me. I ignored her weirdness and just appreciated that fact that I had a little bit more time before I had to face Yami.

I sat down on the sofa that was adjacent to the Christmas tree. It wasn't long until I noticed everyone's eager stares at me, like I was an alien. "What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

They all gave each other weird looks but didn't say anything else. A few short moments, Yugi came running though the hallway that led to the living room with a brown paper bag in his hands.

"Sorry I'm late, guys!" He apologized as his eyes landed on me as he walked over to the tree to set the brown paper bag under it, "Oh-h, Anna, you're here early!" He stated nervously, like the others.

"No I'm not, I'm on time…" I had enough of everyone. "Okay, what's going on, you guys?"

They all ignored my question.

"Let's start Secret Santa!" Joey exclaimed. "Who wants to be Santa?"

Tristan stood up, "I will!" He walked over to the tree and kneeled down to pick up a present.

"Tea, this one's for you." Tristan handed her a beautifully wrapped gift. She opened it carefully and gasped. She held up a brand new pair of pink ballet slippers. She was really like the slippers, she could barely speak, "Who?" Joey hesitantly raised his hand and almost immediately Tea sprung up and gave him a big hug while thanking him. It was really touching to watch them, they all really good friends.

The presents continued to be received with Joey getting new cards for his deck from Tristan, Yugi getting the blue fitted shirt from Tea and Tristan getting a new helmet for his motorcycle from Yugi. Now there were only two gifts under the tree. And it didn't take long before I figured out who my Secret Santa was.

I smirked as I got up from my seat and reached for my present to Yami. I picked it up and walked over to where Yugi stood under the doorframe leading to the Game Shop. "Can I see Yami?"

He nodded and quickly switched places with the former pharaoh. He gazed down at me and started to smile. "You know, you really didn't have to get me anything."

I laughed, "But that would have been breaking the rules." I handed him the gift and waited patiently as he unwrapped it. His eyes lit up as he saw the sketch I drew. The picture was a close up of his face as a pharaoh, back in Egypt. Yami put the picture down and pulled me into a tight hug and then pulled away and walked to the tree to pick up the brown paper bag that Yugi walked in with at the start of the evening. He then came over and placed it in my hands. "I hope you like it."

I opened the bag and pulled out a chain to a necklace that led to a crescent moon pendent. It was the one from the jewelry store I saw with Tea!

I was too shocked to speak, "H-how?" Yami smirked as he took the necklace and walked behind me. He bent down to whisper in my ear, "I have my ways." I felt my cheeks heat up at his hot breath on my skin. He stood back up and put the necklace on me. Once I heard the clasp click, I turned around to face him.

I then heard Joey clear his throat, Yami and I turned to look to where he sat on the couch. Joey smiled widely and pointed "up".

We both looked up from where we stood in the doorframe and blushed at the sight of the mistletoe that hung right above us. We then looked at each other. It wasn't long until Yami captured my lips in his in a heated kiss. I could not have asked for a better Christmas.