Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or 'Petals In The Ashes'

Chapter 2

The Good And The Bad

It took several days – several hard, work-filled days composed of scrubbing and scrapping – before Aster pronounced their shop to be fit for business, and even then they had to go to the market to purchase the necessary ingredients so that they could, within their newly presentable shop, begin baking.

The city was, Jaden was pleased to notice, just as bustling and full of life as it had been before the sickness had come; now it was as the city had never been touched by plague at all, for there were no houses boarded up with a fearful red cross nor any corpses in the streets, although in the church graveyards the ground was swollen unmistakably. But the people wandering the streets affected not to notice this, for they wore smiles and exchanged witty banter as if they had no memory of a plague-torn London – and indeed some of them probably did not, for many of these people were new to the city, having come to fill the jobs left by those who had died.

The city was aglow with life once again, so much so that Jaden did not even notice that he examined the faces of the people he passed eagerly, ever hopeful that he would see Jesse in amongst the crowed. There was no such luck, but Jaden was optimistic, and basic logic told him that it was unlikely for him to just wander into his beloved bluenette; changes were he'd have to seek him out, and that was fine, too.

But before he could go seeking anybody out, he had to accompany Aster to this stall and that and give his input and opinions where his cousin demanded them; he had long ago learned that it was not a good idea to mess with Aster's business skills, for he was very skilled in these areas and found Jaden's more simplistic ideology to be infuriating.

Jaden's brown eyes scanned the marketplace, noticing with disappointment that few of the stall-keepers attending were the same ones he had seen before the plague. He had gotten to know one or two of them, passing well, and was slightly saddened by the likely knowledge that they had died.

Nevertheless, this new bunch seemed as lively and jovial as the previous lot, and the crowd was so bustling and heavy that Jaden found it almost funny to think that, not so very long ago, these streets had been deserted, save for the occasional terrified peasant and rotting corpse.

/

It was in this new crowd – filled to the brim with so many different conversations that it was hard to hear what one's own companion was saying – that Jaden heard two very different pieces of information, one of which pleased him and one of which did not.

The first was a wonderful reassurance for Jaden. He overheard the conversation of two men whilst waiting for his cousin to decide which herbs to purchase.

"I must express my admiration for that jacket you're wearing, my friend" one man said. "It's such a fine shade of burgundy. Wherever did you acquire it?"

"At Princeton's Tailors, the small shop that sells the red clothing" his friend answered.

"Their business survived the sickness, then?" the first inquired, to which his friend responded with the affirmative.

After this, Jaden did not listen to any more of their conversation, for he was filled to the brim with joy. Princeton's Tailors was the business of his 'friend', Chazz Princeton, and if they were still in business, then that meant that Chazz was likely still trading there! Jaden couldn't resist grabbing Aster by the shoulder.

"Hey, guess what! Chazz is alive!"

His cousin raised one weary brow at him before muttering something that sounded like a sarcastic 'well, isn't that nice' before turning around and resuming his judgment of the baking herbs selection.

Jaden grumbled for a moment about his lack of interest before allowing his face to break out into a grin once more; it was difficult not to smile when you had just learned that your friend had survived a deadly plague.

Unfortunately, his smile was not long lasting, for he caught snippets of the conversation of two passing women, and what he heard frightened him.

"And so they say that this year is the Year of the Beast?" the redhead gasped, clinging to her companion's arm. "Why this year?"

"Because of the numbers, Abigail, my dear" the taller, blonde women said gravely. "The year is 1666, and the triple occurrence of sixes is the number of the Beast. I heard from a travelling peddler that the fortune tellers are foretelling that this is a judgement from God."

"And what is to happen?"

"He said that a fire will fall from the heavens and cleanse the city."

There was another gasp from her companion and the redhead asked another question, but by this point they were too far away from Jaden to be within his range of hearing. And it was possibly a good thing.

The Year of the Beast? A cleansing fire?

He shook off his initial fear and a cheeky grin replaced the worried expression; what complete nonsense. If there was a judgement from God, it had surely been the last year, with the plague. Because nothing could be worse than that...

/

After two solid weeks of work, their business was finally running smoothly. They finally had a goodly supply of breads and cakes, some plain and some with herbs or fruits, and now that they were open for business, their customers were returning steadily. All in all it seemed that their return to London had been a rather successful return, and Jaden was sure that he had not seen Aster so happy in a long time.

So happy was his cousin that there were no questions and instant permission was given when Jaden asked if he could take a two hour leave and go to the tailors'; he was admittedly taking advantage of his cousin's good mood, but at least he was free for a few hours.

It was a pleasant walk to the shop – smiling faces, busy city, sun in the sky, truly a picture of life, so contrasting to the dismal city he remembered leaving. This one was far, far more desirable.

Upon arriving, Jaden was at first confused to see that the sign had changed: it still read the same Princeton's Tailors, but was in a different shape and the writing style was quite different. It still, however, gave off the impression of pride, so was indeed not so different to the old one.

Jaden pushed open the door and looked inside, startled momentarily. Things had been rearranged, and now the red clothing which the shop was famed for was on display all around the front room; Jaden had to admit, he liked the change, even though he still remembered the shop as being the place where he and Jesse had first met.

He idly stroked the arm of the nearest jacket; the material was costly and fine and shimmered when the light hit it just right. It was a lovely garment but too loose-fitting for his own tastes, and probably too expensive anyway.

"Chazz, you about?" he asked in a raised voice.

There was a muffled groan and a grumbling and then, from the back room and with some scarlet material draped around his shoulders, Chazz's head emerged.

Jaden's grin broadened. Chazz was completely unchanged; same dark, spiked hair, same dull eyes, same scowl.

"Not you again" he growled, when he noticed the unmistakable smiling brunette – this was the one that insisted that they were friends, the one that smiled all the time and the one who he himself had admitted to when he feared for his sweetheart's life. In the end, Chazz had been right: Blair had not survived. But Jesse had!

"What's up?" Jaden grinned, and the two fell into some form of conversation.

Jaden couldn't explain in words how euphoric he felt: the city was alive, Chazz had not perished, their business was doing well, Jim was well, Aster was in a good mood...

And best of all, somewhere out there in this enormous, full-of-life city, Jesse was alive, too.


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