A/N: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Behind Emerald Shadows

By Ivaliny

Chapter 1

"Just A Day in the Park"

"Two vanilla ice cream cones," the man told the ice cream vendor as he pulled out a twenty from his billfold, and handed him the green money. The man looked around his surroundings casually, watching people as they walked by on the busy downtown street.

"Your change, sir," the vendor replied, and the man stuffed it back into his leather billfold. Soon he had his ice cream cones in hand, and began to make his way towards the downtown park. "Have a nice day, sir," the vendor said before taking the next person in line's order.

"Thank you, and you as well," the man replied with a smile.

That afternoon it had been a lovely spring day, and it seemed like everyone in the city had made their way down to the park. There were families with small children playing on the playground equipment, young couples taking a jog on the designated pathways, and the older people having picnics by the pond. It was a picture perfect day.

"Here you are, Chris, your vanilla ice cream cone," the man smiled, sitting down beside the beaming girl. "That was your favorite, right? I couldn't quite remember."

"It is," the girl said with excitement as she began to lick the sweet treat."Thank you, Dad!"

The man began to eat his own ice cream, stretching his arm around his daughter's shoulder and chuckled. "I'm glad I remembered."

Chris looked up at her father and nodded,"Me too."

The two sat on a park bench, eating and slurping in blissful silence. Contently together, they watched other people as they walked by, and occasionally they giggled at the random things people did when they thought no one was looking.

"Do you remember the ice cream mom used to make? That was the best stuff ever. It was ten times better than the ice cream made nowadays," Chris commented.

The man's smile faded as he stared absentmindedly across the park. "I remember," he replied slowly. "Many things were better then than it is now."

Chris sighed,"Don't worry about it, Dad. I'm sorry I brought it up, but what's in the past is in the past, and you know far too well that's true."

The man nodded as if he wasn't really listening then blinked a few times and looked down at his daughter. "You're fight," he then smiled, changing the subject. "I want to thank you for the mentioning the park. It was a very good idea. Since then, I really don't think I've actually enjoyed a beautiful day like this. This is lovely." The girl grinned, and he squeezed her lightly with a wink. "And besides, I get to spend it with the most beautiful girl in the world."

Chris laughed, "You know, Dad, you're just like Grandpa sometimes. He always made me laugh when we were in hiding, and," she paused, her expression thoughtful, "we never stopped praying for you."

"I"m glad," the man replied," that I can start over."

Chris hugged him. "I know, I've waited forever for you to come back to us."

Changing the subject again, the man stood up. "C'mon, let's get back home, so I can watch you play that new video game, Grandpa bought for you."

The two made their way home and passed by the game shops. A crowed of teenagers were walking towards the father and daughter pair. The taller boys were picking on the only girl in the group as she scolded her friends. The smaller boy in the middle laughed uncontrollably. Christ pointed at them. "Look, Dad, it's Yugi!"

Smiling, the man replied,"So it is."

"Hi, Yugi!" Chris shouted, waving frantically.

The tall blonde headed boy poked the smaller one with his elbow. "Hey, Yug, it's Chris and Dartz."

Cluelessly, the smaller one looked ahead and smiled. "Hello!" he replied and waved back. The teenagers ran up to the two with curious excitement.

"How are you, Chris?" Yugi asked.

"I'm great, thanks to you!" she said giving him a hug.

The boy blushed,"You're welcome." His smile faded as he looked up at the man. "And how are you doing, Dartz?"

"I'm well," Dartz replied with a relieved sigh.

"Good," the blonde headed boy said, grabbing onto Yugi's jacket and pulling him a long. "Now if you'll excuse us we have to get our afternoon snack! I'm starving, Yug!"

Yugi laughed out of embarrassment," Sorry, I'll see you both later. Tell Iron Heart I said 'hello'!"

Chris waved, "Bye, Yugi!"

"Will do, " Dartz chuckled as they disappeared into a crowd of people.

School had just let out, so a crowd of eager students to get home crowded the walkways. Chris stayed close to her father's side in fear of losing him in the bustle. She had never been to a public school, and probably never will. Even though she looked to be only a pre-teen, her wisdom and knowledge was far greater than most educated men. She was home-schooled at a young age, and after years went by, her knowledge grew. Dartz, too, was far more intelligent than any other man.

After finding Dartz's black Cadillac in the parking lot near the park, and driving to the country where their large, mansion-like estate was located, the two were greeted by Dartz's father, Iron Heart. He was old, but he didn't look decrepit either. His hair was grayer than what it used to be, and he was even a few inches shorter as well. Aged wrinkles surrounded the corners of his eyes and mouth, and his once muscular body was growing a bit saggy. Overall, however, Iron Heart was in prime shape for a man his age. Dartz wasn't as young as he once was either. Earlier in the week he noticed a very tiny streak of gray in his light blue hair, but he didn't mind. In fact, he was a bit relieved, because he wondered if he would ever start to age. Although, he knew his whole head wouldn't gray over night, because it would take many, many years for that to happen, he was still happy about the fact he was showing more of his age, and that comforted him in a strange way. Now, his best friend, Pegasus, was so very young, yet he has had a full head of silky, gray hair ever since he was a small boy, but despite his aged hair, Pegasus loved acting childish.

"Oh, by the way, Pegasus called while you two were gone," Iron Heart informed. "He said something about wanting a guys night out tonight." Dartz chuckled, nodded, and picked up the pone, but before he finished dialing Pegasus's number, Iron Heart interrupted. "After I told him that you were with Chris, he said never mind and that you two could hang out some other night."

Surprised, Dartz put the phone back on the cradle. "Oh, well that was thoughtful of him." His eyebrows shifted curiously, "I think."

Before heading off towards the den, Iron Heart chuckled to himself, "He also said that it would be really annoying, because all you would talk about would be Chris this and Chris that."

"Now that sounds more like Pegasus," Dartz joked.

Chris smiled up at her father, "You really don't' talk about me that much do you?"

He grinned and walked quickly out of the room towards the library. "Not," he paused mischievously,"not that much."

His daughter was close behind his heels and giggled. "You're lying, father."

Dartz grabbed a book,"Alright, maybe I sometimes get a little carried away."

She followed him into a large living room with large, plushy couches and big, beautiful windows. "Wow, Dad, that's really embarrassing," she teased. "Now wonder Pegasus doesn't want to hang out with you."

Settling down into a comfortable position on a couch and opening the book, Dartz winked. Well, I should think a father is allowed to dote upon his daughter."

"Some take it to the extreme," Chris said as she surfed through the hundreds of channels on the television screen next to her father.

"I have years of doting to catch up on," he said, almost mumbling, as he began to read his book.

She laugh," You're so old."

Looking up from his book he smiled, "I'm glad we've achieved the joking stage of this father/daughter relationship."

She smiled slyly,"Who said I was joking?" At that, Dartz laughed out loud and slowly found his way back to his book.

He adored his books, and over all of the years of his life they were what kept him sane. He prided himself in the thousands of scrolls and books he had collected over the years, and unlike his friend, Pegasus, all of his were real. Reading kept his mind sharp, and kept him knowledgeable of current events and modern ideas. When he had first read most of the books in his library, he had a different perspective of the world around him at that time, and wondered how he would interpret them now that his out look had changed dramatically. He wasn't proud of his past self at all. His past that hurt so many then, now pained him with a guilty conscience. Dartz's past haunted him every night, and during the day he tried to justify himself, and convince himself that he was nothing like that person of the past.

As he kept reading, his eyes became heavy, and slowly he fell asleep propped up against a pillow and his hand saving the place in his book. Chris took her eyes away from a television program and noticed her sleeping father, which made her smile. It was good that he was sleeping, because she could tell that he had a lack of it. In less than a year, she had the chance to get to know her father again. She had gone for so long without him, yet she never forgot the way he used to be. Chris wondered how long it would take for him to be as happy as he once was. Now she knew he was much happier than when they first saw each other less than a year ago, and slowly he was becoming her daddy again. But he was also a haunted man with thousands of years of guilt on his shoulders who still had a long way to go to get his life back. Chris knew at night he dream of them. They were the ones whose lives he took. She didn't know how he did it, but she prayed there his right then were pleasant for the sake of her father's soul.

A/N: I don't know why, but I have a fascination with Atlantis and Dartz's past, so it was inevitable that I would write a fanfiction about it! Trust me, it will get more exciting. Anywho, I'd really like to thank my friend, Mayte, for getting me obsessed with Dartz. LOL. Also, I'd really, really appreciated everyone's input on the first chapter, so please send me lovely reviews! I like reviews, but who doesn't? Ha! Yay for Dartz love!