Ladies and gentlemen, readers of all ages, I present to you the third chapter! *applause* I'm sorry that it took so long to update, but I bet everyone understands the pressures of preparing for the holiday that is Christmas. VERY time-consuming! And I would've uploaded this earlier today, but I was busy playing with my new Wii console! I thought that this would be an excellent present to all the readers on FanFiction!

Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, which includes:

Lezley-Gardner

ThexWhitexPhoenix

Skipper1608

dancers of the night

Sister Of The Pharaoh

fantasia-49

Graysky

Hedvig

EarthGurdian

Thank you all for giving me the inspiration to write this new chapter! And to those who added my story to their favorites: No offense, but it would be a good idea to actually REVIEW the story and let me know how much you liked it.

Anyway, when we last left Tea, she was running scared from the so-called 'theme park' after seeing that her parents had been turned into pigs. And she thinks that by making it to the other side of the stream and back through the tunnel, her parents will be there on the other side. Who here agrees with that?

*silence*

Thought so. There's going to be some 'Atem=Tea' fluff in this chapter, but I ain't spoiling it! Hope you guys enjoy my latest chapter!

Disclaimer: Ah, the torture continues. I don't own 'Yu-Gi-Oh!' or 'Spirited Away'. A pox on whoever thought of making us do these stupid disclaimers!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter Three: You're Not Dreaming

Tea ran along the main road, avoiding the shadows, desperate to get back to the tunnel, hoping that her parents would be on the other side. She was still haunted by the sight of the pigs that she found in place of her parents.

'PLEASE let this be a nightmare!,' Tea thought with panic. 'Please let my parents be okay!'

She finally exited the cluster of buildings and ran down the steps towards he meadow, not noticing the frog statue at the top spilling water out of its mouth. And speaking of water… Tea reached the bottom of the steps and ran right into an ice-cold river!

"Water?" she cried out in confusion. She ran back to the bottom of the steps and looked out across the water. Tea's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at what she saw!

The train station that her family had passed through earlier was lit up brightly, and there were buildings around it that weren't there before! And a brightly lit ferry-boat was making its way across the water towards the very shore that Tea was on right now!

Tea didn't know what to do. The only way back to the tunnel was blocked, and worse still, she had NO IDEA of what was going on, and whether or not her parents really were turned into pigs.

"What?" she asked quietly. "I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming!" she squealed while closing her eyes and pounding her fists on the side of her head. Tea opened her eyes, hoping to Heaven and Earth that she had woken up. Nope. She didn't.

"Come on, wake up, WAKE UP!" she screamed while shaking her head and sinking to the ground. Tea buried her face in her knees, trying her best not to cry and trying to wake up from this nightmare.

"Wake up," she muttered. "This can't be happening to me. I'm asleep. Please wake up. Please."

She just wanted to go home and be with her parents and her friends. Tea didn't notice the ferry-boat getting closer to the shore

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream," Tea tried to reassure herself while rocking back and forth. "Go away, go away. Disappear." Right when Tea said 'disappear', her shoe started to slowly fade away.

It wasn't long before Tea noticed a slight tingle spreading through her body.

'What's this tingling feeling?' Tea looked at her hands and saw the ground straight through them. She gasped in shock as she brought them up to her face and she could she the oncoming ferry-boat right through them! Her hands were completely transparent!

Tea's eyes widened in shock as she stood up. "I'm see-through!" she exclaimed in horror. She rubbed her arms in fear.

"It's just… a bad dream! I'm asleep!" she whimpered. A slight tremor to Tea's left broke her out of her trance. Tea saw that the ferry-boat had landed not twenty feet away from her. The doors suddenly burst open. A few seconds later, paper masks came floating out of the doorways. Masks that weren't attached to bodies! When the masks stepped out of boat, crimson cloaks just appeared around them giving them bodies along with strange purple headdresses on the top! Then even stranger beings appeared. Some were huge fur-balls with horns on their heads, while looked like giant chicks with leaves for hats! They didn't even notice Tea as they entered the cluster of buildings.

It was too much for Tea to bear. She backed away slowly, then saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked… and nearly had a heart attack!

There were more of the shadows that she saw earlier coming right out of the lake! That was the last straw. Tea screamed and ran up the hill as fast as she could, tripping a couple times. Tears were threatening to come out, but Tea was too focused on hiding to cry.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Meanwhile, the boy Tea had met on the bridge was searching for her. He ran down a flight of stairs out of the park and into the outskirts. He stopped and looked around. Then he spotted her. Curled up in the shadow of one of the buildings. The boy ran across the grass to where Tea was. The coldness in his crimson eyes disappeared when he saw what state Tea was in.

She was curled up into a ball, her head on her knees; her shoulders shaking uncontrollably; and her body was rapidly disappearing. She also kept muttering to herself that she was dreaming and begging to wake up. Simply put: Tea was a total wreck. She hadn't even noticed him standing above her.

The boy quietly knelt down next to her and put his hands on her shaking shoulders. Tea jerked her head up and gasped, thinking that something had got her. She turned her head, and her sapphire orbs met with his narrowed crimson eyes as the boy pulled Tea into his chest in a warm embrace, not moving when Tea started struggling against him.

"No! Let go of me!" Tea shouted. Tears that she had been holding back were starting to leak out of her eyes as she struggled against his iron grip to no avail. After a few seconds of struggling, she heard him speak.

"Don't be afraid," he whispered. "I'm here to help you."

Tea then gave into his embrace, her body shaking, her eyes pouring out tears, and her sobbing uncontrollably.

"Shhh, it's okay. Just let it out."

For the next five minutes, the two children sat there; the boy comforting Tea as best as he could. He held her close to him, rubbing her back soothingly. Tea felt warm in his embrace, and started to calm down. For some reason, Tea felt as if him embracing her was… familiar and normal, but brushed it off. For the first time she entered this realm, she felt as if nothing could hurt her. Tea felt completely safe.

After five minutes, the boy pulled back slightly and looked into Tea's sapphire eyes (now puffy and tinted red from crying).

"Everything's going to be alright," he said. The boy then reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small, red berry. "Here, open your mouth and eat this."

Tea gasped and tried again to get out of his embrace. "No," she whimpered. "No, no!" Eating all that food turned her parents into pigs, and she didn't like the idea of being a little piglet. Tea struggled against the boy's grip, but he easily pulled her back.

"You have to eat some food in this world, or else you'll disappear," he said. But Tea being the stubborn person she was, still refused.

"NO!" she squealed as she tried to push the other away. Key word: tried. Tea looked, and saw her arm passing right through the boy's head!

"Don't worry," the boy said as he tried to give her the berry. "It won't hurt you."

Tea opened her mouth to ask-

"And no, it won't turn you into a pig." Tea caved and let him place to berry in her mouth. "Chew it, and swallow," he told her. Tea did so.

"There you go, you're all better," he said with a reassuring smile. "See for yourself."

The boy held up his hand for her to touch. Tea hesitated but brought her hand up and felt a solid hand under her fingers. She released the breath she didn't know she was holding. At least she wasn't transparent anymore.

"I'm okay," Tea whispered. The boy gripped her hand in his own. "You see? Everything's going to okay." Tea looked up and was lost almost instantly in his crimson-eyes. The coldness that she had seen at the bridge was gone and replaced by a warm compassionate look mixed with concern and worry that made Tea's heart melt. Tea felt all her worries vanish as she leaned into his warm embrace, feeling a sense of true security.

"Good," he replied. Then, the boy released his grip on her arm as determination appeared in his eyes. "Now come with me," he said and started to get up, but Tea gripped his tan hand in both of hers as fear and panic once again attacked her mind.

"Where are my mom and dad?" she asked. "They… didn't really turn into pigs, did they?" The boy's gaze softened as he answered.

"You can't see them now, but you will when time permits it," he replied. It wasn't a clear answer, but it was good enough for Tea. She started to get up when the boy turned sharply behind him, as if sensing something in the sky.

"What is it?" Tea asked, but received no answer as the boy suddenly crouched down completely covering her with his body.

"Don't move, and stay quiet," he said. Tea blushed slightly at the position they were in, but listened anyway. She looked up at the sky to see what was going on and saw what looked like a blue fairy the size of an eagle with pale-blue skin, white wings, navy-blue eyes and long dark hair; wearing a dark blue and lavender dress flying through the night sky.

The boy glared up at the fairy, tightening his grip on Tea as it flew over them. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice the two youngsters on the ground because she turned around and flew out of sight.

"Spiria," Tea heard the boy say. "She's looking for you." He turned toward Tea. "You've got to get out of here and quickly." He got up. Tea, deeming him trustworthy, decided to follow him, but her legs wouldn't move an inch!

"Ah! My legs, I can't stand up!" Tea whimpered. The boy immediately knelt down next to her as she tried again to get up, but groaned in pain. "Help, what do I do?"

"Calm down, and take a deep breath," he replied. Tea did so, then the boy placed his free hand over Tea's leg. "I invoke the power of the shadows," he chanted as a purplish-black glow appeared around his hand. "Unbind her."

Feeling returned to Tea's legs as his spell took effect. "Get up," he told her. Tea quickly stood up and was pulled by the boy in the direction from whence he came. They were at a speed that Tea hadn't thought humanely possible. They went in between a few buildings when they came upon a closed door. The boy waved his hand and the door flew open and closed as soon as they passed through. Tea and the boy ran down a few steps into what looked like a storeroom with gigantic fish and humongous steaks. They ran through a freezer when the boy magically opened another door and they passed through right into a pig-pen.

Tea couldn't help but glance back at the squealing pigs and wondered if her parents were among them as she and the boy ran out of the pig-pen through a garden. They stopped at the gate and Tea saw that they were right next to the bridge that led to the bath-house where they met. The bath-house was now brightly lit and two figures looked half-toad, half-human were holding lamps and greeting the guests which the majority were the strange beings that Tea had seen departing the boat. There were also women that looked like ordinary humans at the entrance greeting the guests as well. Tea snapped back into reality when she heard the boy speaking.

"You have to hold your breath while we cross the bridge," he said as he opened the gate. "Even the tiniest breath will break the spell I cast, and then everyone will be able to see you. Trust me, spirits don't take kindly to humans."

'Spirits?' Tea asked herself as she passed through the gate. 'If he's telling the truth, then why is he helping me? He's a spirit too… isn't he?' The boy began to lead her towards the bridge. Tea kept a tight grip on his arm, at the same time worrying if she could hold her breath long enough. The bridge was pretty long.

"I'm not so sure about this," Tea admitted. "Don't worry, just stay calm," the boy reassured her. They passed through another gate and passed by the two toad-people who were bowing while greeting the guests.

"I'm back from my mission," the boy told them. "Ah, welcome back Master Yami," one of the toads replied politely. They didn't even noticed Tea maintaining her death-grip on the boy's- now known as Yami's- arm.

"Take a deep breath," Yami told Tea. She did so. "Now hold it." Tea covered her mouth and nose with her hand and held her breath just as they stepped onto the bridge. Yami led Tea as quickly as he could without appearing suspicious as they passed the crossing spirits. So far none of them had noticed Tea.

Then Tea noticed a strange spirit standing by the railing near the center of the bridge. The spirit was tall, dark purple, and transparent except for a jade mask that served as its face. What she noticed next almost caused her to release her breath in shock. The spirit was staring straight at her with a smile on its face. But the spirit wasn't saying anything about her presence, so as un-nerving as it was, Tea brushed it off.

Besides, she had bigger problems to worry about… like the fact that her lungs were starting to burn from lack of oxygen. Tea moaned, trying to tell Yami that she couldn't hold out much longer. Thankfully Yami did notice. "Hang on, we're almost there," he assured her. "Just a little longer." Just to be safe, he picked up the pace a little bit while Tea gazed at the end of the bridge longingly. They were only three feet away.

Then, a larger-than-normal frog wearing a blue kimono ran up in front of them and started hopping up and down in excitement causing them to stop. "Master Yami, welcome back!" the frog said. "Where've you been?" Tea let out a small, involuntary gasp in surprise. She covered her mouth again, but the damage was already done.

The frog landed and starred at Tea in shock. "Huh, a human?" Tea's blood ran cold as the frog jumped up and tried to get a closer look, but Yami quickly conjured a black sphere around the frog, trapping him inside.

"Run for it!" he ordered Tea who didn't need to be told twice! They ran at top speed right past the greeting women, causing their skirts to fly upward. The women squealed in embarrassment as they attempted to get their skirts down, while Yami led Tea through a small doorway and shut the door behind them. The frog had been released from the black sphere and hovered in mid-air for a few seconds before falling on his rump to the ground, wondering what had happened.

* Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O * Y * G * O *

Yami took Tea and didn't stop running until they reached the side of the bath-house behind some bushes, safely out of sight. They see the workers running all over the place and hear them screaming.

"There's a human in the bath-house!"

"Where's Master Yami? Someone get Master Yami!"

"Find that human before it stinks up the place!" Simply put, the entire bath-house was in total chaos.

"Ra-dammit," Yami muttered. "They know you're here." Tea cringed at his cold tone.

"I'm sorry," Tea said. "I took a breath." Yami turned towards Tea, put his arm around her shoulder, and gave her a small smile while he shook his head.

"There's no need to apologize Tea," he reassured her. "You did very well." Tea calmed down from what Yami had said. "Now what?" she asked him. Yami's smile disappeared and was replaced with a determined look.

"Listen, you'll be found if you stay here for too long. Then you'll never get to rescue your parents. I'll go distract them while you escape." Tea grasped Yami's shirt in protest.

"No, don't leave me here!" she begged him. "I don't what to be alone!" Tea buried her head in his chest (not feeling awkward at all for some reason), on the verge of more tears. Yami placed his arms around her, trying to calm her down.

"You don't have any choice if you want to save your parents," he told her. Tea froze at those words. "This is what you need to do." He pulled back slightly.

"They did turned turn into pigs," she said. "I wasn't dreaming." Yami nodded in confirmation and placed his right hand on her forehead. "Don't worry," he said as a purple glow appeared under his hand. Yami locked his sharp-crimson eyes with Tea's ocean-blue orbs as he placed a vision in her mind. All of a sudden, Tea could hear Yami's voice in her head while images passed in her eyes.

'Listen closely Tea, when things quiet down go out through the back gate.' Tea saw an image of the back gate leading to a long, wooden staircase. 'Go all the way down the stairs until you reach the boiler room, where they stoke the fires.' The image continued down until it reached a green door with steam raising around it. The door opened into a hallway filled with pipes and steam vents leading into a room that was brightly lit. 'There, you'll find Shimon, the Boiler Man.'

The images faded away when Yami removed his hand from Tea's forehead. "Shimon?" she repeated. Yami nodded in confirmation.

"Tell him you want to work here. Even if he refuses, you must insist." he told her. "If you don't get a job, Ishizu will turn you into an animal."

"Who's Ishizu?" Tea asked.

"You'll see," Yami replied. "She's the sorceress who owns the bath-house." Yami's eyes narrowed slightly at mention of the sorceress. "Shimon will try to turn you away or trick you into leaving, but just keep asking for work. It'll be hard work, but you'll be able to stay here. Then, even Ishizu can't harm you. Do you understand?"

Tea nodded in understanding.

"Master Yami! Where are you?" The workers were yelling even louder for Yami. He looked back towards the bath-house.

"I have to go," he told Tea. He turned back toward her. "And don't forget Tea: I'm you friend." He started to get up but Tea wouldn't let go of his hand. "Wait, how did you know my name's Tea?" Yami gave her a small smile that made her melt inside and caused her heart to race.

"I've known you since you were little," he admitted. Tea's eyes widened slightly at his answer, but she didn't get the chance to ask him more. "I have go. Whatever you do, stay hidden and keep quiet. Good luck Tea." Yami let go of her hand, and walked towards the bath-house.

"Master Yami!" one of the workers called out. "Calm down, I'm coming," Yami replied, his cold look back on his face. Tea peeked out from behind the bushes. One of the workers opened the sliding door to let Yami inside. Yami stepped inside while he took of his sandals. "Master Yami, Ishizu wants to see you," the worker told him while he took Yami's sandals. "I know. It's about my mission right?" he replied in the bored tone. While he walked into the bath-house, he glanced at Tea and gave her a reassuring smile before the workers closed the door.

Tea's heart pounded against her chest and her face flushed when she saw Yami smile at her. Snapping back to reality, she went back behind the bushes to wait when things quieted down. It gave her time to think about what Yami had said to her.

'He's known me since I was little?' she asked herself. 'That can't be. I've only met him today. Although… he does seem familiar, and not just because he looks almost exactly like Yugi. Who is he?' A few minutes passed, but the bath-house quieted down to a degree. Tea then crawled toward the back door, hoping that Yami's instructions were right. She had to save her parents, and right now, he was the only person she could trust.

Author's Notes: I hope that you have all enjoyed your Christmas and that you've enjoyed the latest chapter! Now to give out the Most Awesome Reviewer Award! All of you left great reviews, it was hard to chose which ones were the best. But after consideration the winners are…

*drum roll*

Lezley-Gardner

dancers of the night

Sister Of The Pharaoh

fantasia-49

EarthGurdian

*applause*

Congrats to all of you! Especially dancers of the night who left me one of the best reviews I've ever gotten and EarthGurdian who left me some fantastic advice! Thank you both!

Now that that's done, I'm going to go get started on my new books and break in my new copy of 'Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories'! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Christmas and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up on New Year's Day! It only takes five reviews to earn a new chapter!

Happy holidays, and God bless you all! Ja ne!

Update Date: December 25, 2009