It all started out as another typical day at Duel Academy. Actually, considering that just about every day at the place was filled with some sort of unexpected surprise, it was really much quieter than usual. And as such, all of the students were a little bit bored.
Celia was hanging out with Jaden, Alexis, Syrus, Hassleberry, and Chazz in Chazz's huge room at the Slifer Dorm. The group of friends had searched for something to watch on TV, but couldn't find anything good on. Since all of the day's classes were over, the group was trying to find something fun to do. But no one could come up with any good ideas.
"Well, I suppose we could always do our homework..." Syrus said unenthusiastically. His suggestion earned a collective groan from the rest of the people in the room.
"I'm gonna have to get a lot more bored before I resort to that," Jaden said. Hassleberry nodded in agreement.
Silence fell over the group again for a moment, before Chazz spoke.
"I've been thinking about going to the abandoned well to see if there are any more cards down there that would do well in my deck." He stood up. "Anyone wanna come with?"
"I'll come with you, Chazz," Celia said as she stood up. No one else seemed too excited about the idea.
Chazz nodded at her, then looked around the room at everyone else in turn. "Anybody else?" When the crowd just shook their heads, Chazz turned and headed towards the door.
"C'mon, Celia," he said, holding the door open for her. Celia smiled involuntarily; she knew there were few other people who Chazz Princeton would bother to hold a door open for. But since she was one of his best friends, he actually made an effort to be polite to her. She walked out the door, thanking him as she did so, and then he shut the door behind the two of them.
It was about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, so the sun was still high in the sky. Since it was late spring, it was pretty hot outside, which was probably why everyone else had opted to stay indoors. The two began walking in the direction of the woods and the old well.
"So, Chazz, what made you decide you wanted more cards from the well in your deck?" Celia asked.
Chazz shrugged, not looking at her as he kept his eyes on the ground. "I don't know, really. I just got the idea one day. I guess it's because of my Ojamas."
Celia looked at Chazz with raised eyebrows. "You're not planning to replace them with other cards, are you?"
"Of course not!" Chazz said quickly. "I mean, even if they are pests, they work well in my deck, so I'm keeping them around. I just thought that I might add in some more cards from the well, too."
Celia nodded in understanding. "I see." She was quiet for a moment, before adding teasingly, "And even if you do call them pests and try to act like you don't like them, I know you love them deep down."
Chazz looked up at her for a moment, then returned his gaze to the ground. "No, I don't," he grumbled.
"Yes, you do," she teased, lightly pushing him on the shoulder with a smile on her face.
"Do not," he said, smiling slightly as he pushed her back.
Celia rolled her eyes jokingly at his denial. "Whatever you say, Chazz."
Within a few minutes, the two of them had arrived at the old well. "I'll go down first," Chazz offered. "It's pretty deep, so that way I can help you down, too."
Celia nodded, smiling at Chazz. Others couldn't always see it, but he really was a caring guy. "Thanks. Be careful, though," she cautioned.
Chazz sat down on the edge of the well and hopped off the edge, disappearing from her view. She heard a small "Oof!" as he landed.
"You okay, Chazz?" she asked, walking over closer to the well and trying to get a glimpse of him through the dim light.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded from inside the well. "Make sure you be careful, though. It's deeper than I remembered."
Celia copied Chazz's motion from before as she sat down on the edge of the well and slipped inside. She fell at least ten feet, and would have probably landed on her butt if a pair of arms hadn't caught her around the middle just in time.
"Thanks, Chazz," Celia said as she adjusted her footing.
"Don't mention it," Chazz replied. After making sure she could stand on her own, Chazz let go of her and took a step back to give her some space. Celia felt a little disappointed at the loss of contact, but quickly pushed it out of her mind.
'Chazz and I are just friends,' she reminded herself, shaking her head slightly to push away her former thoughts.
"So, let's see what kinds of cards we can find," Celia said, walking around Chazz and squatting on the ground so she could examine the cards scattered on the bottom of the well. It was hard to see much of anything in the low light, so she had to squint to read the cards.
"Good idea," Chazz said, kneeling beside her and picking up a card to try to see what it was.
"I feel so bad for them," Celia said after a few minutes of sorting through the cards. "Abandoned by their owners like this. I'm glad we can rescue at least a few of them now." Chazz nodded in agreement, but said nothing.
As time went on, Chazz started accumulating a small stack of new cards to add to his deck. Celia pocketed a few cards, too. The whole time, they were trying to help each other find cards that would specifically work well in each other's decks.
"What about this one, Chazz?" Celia asked at one point, holding up a card.
He glanced at it with a disapproving expression. "Nah, that one's too cute, it's probably not worth it."
"But just look at its special ability."
Chazz took the card and read the text on it. "...Oh, I see. Yeah, I think I'll take this one, actually. Thanks."
"No problem."
After about forty-five minutes, the two had chosen their new cards. Chazz had picked five more to add to his deck, and Celia had gained three.
"Well, I'd say that was quite a successful card hunt," Celia said, smiling as she glanced over her new cards again.
Chazz nodded in agreement. "Well, are you ready to go?" He asked as they both pocketed their new cards.
"Yep!" Celia said. With that, they started walking towards the well's entrance. But once they were standing under the hole that led up to the woods, they both stopped dead.
The two of them had just now noticed that the rope ladder - which had hung down into the well last time they visited - was gone.
"...Are you serious?" Celia asked in a disbelieving tone.
"Yeah, I think this is for real." Chazz said, sounding no happier than she did.
"Were we really stupid enough not to notice that until now?" Celia asked in frustration, hitting her fist against the well's dirt wall.
Chazz nodded. "Looks that way. I didn't even think about it when we had to jump down into the well."
"Yeah, me neither," Celia said. She backed away from the wall of the well and placed her hands on her hips, looking up at the forest above them with a frown. "There's gotta be some other way out of here, though."
"Maybe we could try climbing out," Chazz suggested. The two of them spent a few minutes trying to climb up the walls of the well, but it soon became clear that that wouldn't work.
"Well, what if you try getting up on my shoulders?" Chazz said. "If I can give you a boost out, you can go get help from somewhere and come back for me."
"It's worth a shot," Celia said. After some difficulty, she managed to stand up on Chazz's shoulders, and he stood up to his full height. His hands shakily held onto her ankles. "You okay, Chazz?" she asked, looking down at him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, as he stepped one foot sideways to try and steady his balance. "Just hurry and see if you can get out from there."
Celia stretched her arms up above her head as far as she could, but she still came up over a foot short from reaching the rim of the well.
"It's no use," she said as Chazz crouched down, and she carefully stepped off his shoulders. "I can't reach it."
"Well," Chazz said, as the two of them sat down against the wall under the circle of light from above, "I guess we'll just have to wait for the others to come find us."
"Ugh," Celia replied. "Who knows how long it'll take them to show up?"
Chazz shrugged. "At least they knew where we were going." Celia nodded in agreement.
Before long, the two of them got to talking about random things. First they compared the cards they had just gotten from the well, and then they discussed dueling strategies for a while. After that, they just got to talking about classes, other students at the academy, and life in general.
Since Chazz and Celia were such close friends, it was always easy for them to talk to one another, and they could tell each other just about anything. In fact, Celia was the only person Chazz would talk to about his brothers and family, and how he really felt about the things that went on with them.
As their conversation drifted on, they eventually came to the subject of Chazz's brothers, as usual. They were discussing how selfish it had been of them to try to buy out Duel Academy, when Chazz suddenly said, "I still wish I could've held up my end of the bargain the three of us made."
Celia was quiet for a moment, but soon realized what Chazz was talking about. "You can't let yourself worry about that, Chazz," Celia said, trying to comfort him as she placed her hand gently on his arm. "World domination was something they wanted, and just because you're their brother doesn't mean you were obligated to go along with it."
Chazz looked down at Celia's hand for a minute, then turned his gaze to stare at the ground in front of him as he sighed. "I know. But still, it was something I'd agreed to, and I should have gone through with it."
"Hey," Celia said as she scooted over to sit in front of Chazz rather than next to him. "Your brothers have only tried to use you and take advantage of you. Honestly, the two of them can be real jerks sometimes. You don't owe them anything, Chazz."
Chazz finally looked up from the ground into Celia's eyes. "I know you're right, they just make me feel useless sometimes," he said sadly as he looked back down at the ground.
Celia reached forward and put two fingers under Chazz's chin, lifting his face up to look into hers. She smiled at him reassuringly. "Chazz Princeton, you are many things, but 'useless' is definitely not one of them. I mean, you've helped me out tons of times. I don't know what I'd do without you," she said honestly. "So don't be so hard on yourself. Okay?"
Chazz nodded slowly and gave her a small smile. "Thanks, Celia."
"No problem," she said. Celia then leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Chazz's neck in a hug, resting her head on his shoulder. In turn, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'll always be here for you if you need me, Chazz. Don't forget that." She felt him nod against her shoulder in response.
As she sat there in his embrace, Celia couldn't help but think how nice it felt to be in Chazz's arms. His presence just had a way of comforting her. Chazz had been her friend for a long time, but at the moment, she couldn't help but wish that he was more...
After a minute of silence, Celia reluctantly pulled away from Chazz and sat back down beside him.
"You give good hugs," he said after a minute, smiling at her.
She grinned back at him. "Thanks. So do you." He nodded in response.
After that, the two of them entered into a comfortable silence for a while. Even when they weren't speaking, each of them still enjoyed the other's company.
Celia had been staring at the wall across from her, zoning out, when she heard Chazz shift beside her and came back to reality. When she looked over at him and met his eyes, she realized that he was looking directly at her, and seemed to be thinking hard about something.
"Whatcha thinkin' about, Chazz?" Celia asked quietly, breaking the silence between them.
Chazz seemed to ponder what he wanted to say before speaking. "Celia... there's something I need to tell you," he said slowly. He sounded uncharacteristically nervous. "And this probably isn't the best time or place to say it, but it's something that I've been meaning to say for a while now, so I think I should just go ahead and tell you."
"Sure, Chazz. You can tell me anything," Celia said. She was trying to sound reassuring, but something about the way Chazz was acting was making her nervous, as well.
"Okay, here it goes," he said, clapping his hands together once as he continued to look into her eyes. He sighed deeply and finally began to speak. "Celia, I really like you. I feel lucky to be able to call you a good friend, but you mean more to me than that. So, I wanted to ask how you feel about me." Chazz looked at her expectantly, anxious to hear her response.
Celia was surprised by what he'd said, but managed to respond, nonetheless. "I really like you, too, Chazz," she said, smiling at him.
Chazz took one of Celia's hands in both of his. "I'm glad you feel the same way," he said. "Does this mean that you'll be my girlfriend?"
Celia's smile grew even wider. "I'd be happy to be your girlfriend, Chazz."
At that moment, he got a huge smile on his face, and he reached up to put one of his hands on the side of her face. He leaned forward slowly, and gently covered her lips with his own. His kiss was soft and caring, and Celia felt like she was in heaven.
After a few seconds, the two of them pulled back to look into each other's eyes. Just when Chazz had opened his mouth to say something, their moment was interrupted by a voice from above.
"So, you finally told her, huh Chazz?" It was Hassleberry. The two people at the bottom of the well looked up to see him, Jaden, Alexis, and Syrus standing around the ring of the well, peering down at the two of them.
Chazz's and Celia's faces both turned red. "H-how long have you guys been standing there?" Chazz asked angrily.
"Well, we've only been here a few seconds, but we made it in time to see you guys kissing," Jaden said with a grin.
Chazz continued to look annoyed while Celia stayed quiet, too embarrassed to do anything else. "Well, you guys could at least help us out of here," Chazz said. He stood up and offered a hand to Celia to help her up, which she accepted.
Once they were both standing, Hassleberry said, "Hold tight, you two. I'm gonna run and get a ladder so you can get outta there."
While Hassleberry was gone, the other three continued to enjoy making fun of Chazz and Celia. Once Hassleberry returned, they quickly climbed up the ladder to stand on the forest floor.
"Thanks, you guys," Celia said, brushing herself off.
"No problem," Alexis said with a smile. "I think we're all just happy to see that you two are finally together."
Chazz and Celia looked at each other, both of them smiling. He wrapped his arm around Celia's waist to bring her closer to him.
Chazz leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. He looked back confidently at their friends and, still smiling, said, "So are we."