Chapter IV: Arrival

Welcome back to "The Path To Redemption." I'm terribly sorry for the wait but it took a while to get the right part figured out for Zane arriving at the academy. I also had a couple of other things on my mental burner and needed to get them sorted as well. Thank you for your reviews and your patience. Good or bad, I love to hear your reviews, and I also appreciate your suggestions, even if I choose not to use them.

Recap: Syrus Truesdale knows his brother is coming and his friends know, too. They're all eager to help, even if they don't know what to do. And so, everyone is preparing for the Kaiser of Obelisk Blue to return to Duel Academy.

Disclaimer: Peach Wookiee does not own the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise. She also does not own the characters, Violet Haverbrook or Rosa Jimenez. She does, however, own Annie Hanson.

Author's note: In this version of the Yugi-verse, Chazz turned Sartorius down, choosing to be his own person and duel Jaden on his own terms.

The next two days at Duel Academy were days of preparation. Most of the Obelisk Blue students were thrilled that their top student, Zane Truesdale, the Kaiser, their king was returning. But for one group of four Obelisk girls, one Obelisk boy, three Ra Yellow boys and two Slifer Red boys, their emotions were of excitement, apprehension and concern. They were excited because Zane was their friend and they were glad to see him; they were apprehensive and concerned because they didn't know what they were going to do when the former Obelisk Blue boy arrived. They were all out on the grass at what was well known as Jaden's tree, eating a picnic lunch.

"So where's he staying?" Jaden asked curiously, munching on fried shrimp. "He could stay in Slifer Red, if he wants. We'd be glad to let him crash with us."

"He's also welcome back in Obelisk Blue. He can bunk with me!" Atticus offered cheerfully, snacking on his sandwich. "He is an Obelisk after all…"

Syrus said, "He might stay in Ra with me…but he might not want to. It's kind of a step down." He sighed. 'I'll never be as good as Zane was here…and what can I do to help him?' he thought as he ate some fried shrimp.

"Why would it be a step down?" Bastion queried, enjoying Miss Dorothy's filled rice balls. "Especially if he's with you and no longer a student?"

Syrus sighed. "I'm a Ra Yellow, Bastion. I've always been weaker than him. Oh, man…"

Annie Hanson looked up at Syrus from her peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwich. "Sy, you're not weak! You're just as strong as your brother is and he needs you. And we're all 

going to help you." She and Bastion were poring through psychology textbooks, trying to determine the best way to help Zane.

"Yes…we're helping," Bastion said. "Doctor Annie, your diagnosis?" he asked with a grin.

"Bastion, she's not a doctor," Violet said literally.

"No, but she may be a doctor someday, Senorita Violet," Rosa pointed out. "Well?"

"Bastion and I both think Zane has a form of depression called Adjustment Disorder. It's because of what happened with Aster Phoenix and then what kept happening after that. He's not used to losing so it was a bad shock when he couldn't pick himself up afterward. This kind of depression happens when people have changes in their lives that might seem minor to other people that are pretty big to the people the changes happen to. We've talked to the school counselor and he agrees with us that it's a possibility. He says the thing we can do is try to cheer Zane up however we can and let him know that we're with him, no matter what," she finished.

"Thank you, Annie. So does anyone have any ideas about how to cheer him up once he gets here?" Bastion asked the assembly.

Alexis raised her hand first. "I'll see if he'll talk with me like he used to when he was a student here. I know everybody knows we went down to the lighthouse and talked at the end of the day. He wanted to make sure I was okay, and…sometimes, when you were still gone, Atticus, I pretended I was telling you things about the day and you were telling me what happened to you."

Atticus smiled sadly. "I missed so much of that, sis…"

The Queen of Obelisk Blue sighed. "Atticus, that wasn't your fault and I have you back now. Since you missed most of your school experience, we get to go through it together. I'm glad I had Zane while you were missing, though. It wasn't the same, but it helped. Now he needs me to help him…"

"And I may not have met Lieutenant Truesdale personally, but I've got my trainin' regimen ready when he's ready!" Hassleberry said, holding up a small three-ring binder with a clearly thought-out exercise plan. "Lots of fresh air, sunshine, getting the blood moving; it'll be good for the soldier just to relax!"

"I'll add to that and take him out surfing!" Atticus added cheerfully. "He hasn't done it before, but I can teach him. I've also got a list of movies he might like! Thanks Syrus!"

"Um…no problem…" Sy said softly.

"And I'm cooking some treats for him!" Violet, an aspiring master chef, added brightly. "I hope he likes caramel corn!"

"That'll be excellent, Violet," Bastion said. "You make excellent things and I'm certain he'll enjoy them."

"Um…don't make anything with oranges in it, okay?" Sy advised. "Zane's allergic…"

"So…no orange sorbet…got it," Violet said clearly, giving Sy the victory/peace sign with a smile.

"I can talk to him about when I couldn't see my cards after my duel with Aster. I know that scared the heck out of me," Jaden admitted.

"And I guess I can tell him how I…um…felt when I stood up to Sartorius," Chazz said, not exactly eager to share his feelings, but knowing it was something he could do.

"And I am working on organizing a fiesta if Senor Zane is up to it later," Rosa offered.

"All right. Annie, do you have those written down?" Bastion asked. She nodded. "Excellent. So we have a plan now and I assume your room is ready, Syrus."

Sy sighed and nodded. "Yeah…it's ready. I just don't know what I can do for him. I mean…" He trailed off, really not sure what to say right now. 'He doesn't need me…he never does. I'll probably just make things worse,' he thought.

Jaden caught his surrogate brother's expression and moved to lay his hand on Sy's shoulder. "Sy, sometimes all you can do is be there to help the person you care about. Hey, when I couldn't see my cards, you just being there was huge. I knew you were there to help me even if you couldn't change what happened. You let me know you'd be there to just make me feel better. And that was what I needed the most." He gave the blue-haired boy a reassuring smile and just sat down next to him.

Annie too sat down close to Syrus. She had felt an attraction to the younger Truesdale since their first day of classes and she'd nursed that feeling ever since. She guessed he felt the same way, but wasn't sure as they were both fairly shy at some points, particularly when it came to possible romance. "S-Sy…what Jaden said…he's right. Zane just needs you here, even if there's not much you can do. We're all doing what we can and what it may just come down to is you just saying, 'Zane, win or lose, you're my brother and I love you whatever you decide to do.'"

"Thanks, everybody," Sy said softly. "He's going to be here about 7 on the last ferry of the day. It'll be about sunset and Chancellor Shepherd already said he'd keep everyone but us away so he isn't mobbed with people. Zane just wants to come here quietly and get himself back together. He doesn't 'need a bunch of crazed academy fan girls' driving him insane right now. He just said he wanted to be able to chill for a bit."

"We'll make it happen or there will be some Obelisk girls that will regret messing with him," Alexis said stonily while the other three Obelisk girls nodded in agreement.

"I'll tell them that anyone who messes with Zane will be tied up and forced to watch Barney the Dinosaur," Annie said menacingly…well, menacingly for her, anyway. Everyone sweat-dropped, except for Violet.

Violet grinned maniacally. "I'll get the rope!"

"Uh, Private Annie, Private Violet, I think that's a violation of the Geneva Convention," Hassleberry said in shock.

"Well, personally, I hope you don't have to use it," Syrus added, a little bit nervous at his female friend's expression. "That dinosaur always scared me when I was little. His eyes never blinked and his lips never moved right. And don't get me started on Bee-jay and Baby Bop!" he shivered.

Bastion looked at Sy. "You're afraid of a purple dinosaur?" he asked, stunned, but not mockingly.

"And you're not afraid of something, Bastion?" Jaden asked curiously.

"Er…no…" he answered, but the group knew he was lying.

"B plus in chemistry," Chazz said.

"What?!" Bastion yelped.

Chazz looked at him, shocked. "Lucky guess…and you're actually afraid of that?" Bastion's slight flush said it for him.

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At 7 that evening, a group of ten teenagers waited as passengers got off of the huge boat. A few upperclassmen, fresh from a day in Domino for shopping got off, all in uniform. And finally, a young man with dark hair and seemingly bluish highlights stepped off the gangplank, dressed simply in a pair of dark jeans and a blue Duel Academy sweatshirt. "All right, everybody, signs up!" Jaden said cheerfully. The group held up signs that said "Welcome Back, Zane," and Sy held up his sign that said, "I love you, Big Brother! You're still a winner to me!"

He made his way toward the group, bags in hand. "Hey, everybody," he said as he came up to them with a slightly sad smile.

"Welcome back, Zane! We're glad to have you here and we've got lots of fun stuff for you to do!" Jaden said excitedly.

"And we can help you get back together, pal," Atticus added with happiness, but sobered when he saw his friend's face. Zane looked…diminished, for lack of a better word.

"I'm not ready…maybe tomorrow. Right now, I'd just like to go get some dinner and some sleep. Syrus, is it all right if I stay in your room?" he asked.

Sy looked at him in surprise. "Y-you want to stay with me, bro? I mean…I'm in Ra…"

"You're my brother, and…I think I need to stay with you right now. Okay, Sy?" Zane said softly.

Sy nodded. "Okay, big brother…" The group of eleven teens strode up the hill and to the Ra dorms where Zane got a simple dinner with the group and then went to bed at 8:30. Syrus sighed as he stayed out with his friends.

"You okay, Syrus?" Annie asked softly.

"Yeah…I just hope I can help him," he answered.

"Sy…you will," Jaden smiled. "I know you will…"

"Thanks, Annie. Thanks, Jay." 'I just hope you're both right…' Sy thought, very worried for his brother who was acting very much like a lost soul.

There…finally done with the fourth chapter, folks! Zane is feeling very much lost at this point and Sy is worried he can't do much to help his brother. His friends have a plan, but will those plans work? Will Zane make it back to himself thanks to their efforts? Or will it take something else? Tune in next time, and as always, please read and review!