Note: I may just finish this story this much. This chapter bugged me until I had to write it. Thank you Coldplay.

When it started we were alright
But night makes a fool
Of us in the daylight
Yes-Coldplay


It was funny.

Not ha-ha funny. Or even a loud chuckle type of funny.

It was the type of funny that Mai recalled learning in school before her interests had turned to boys and make-up. Back when the chalkboard full of numbers and letters was fascinating and boys had cooties. She remembered the word, it rolled of her lips and fell to the pavement.

Irony.

The all too familiar feeling of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The familiar smell of burnt rubber stinging her nostrils. The pieces of sharp glass that cut. Not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to scar. The sound of screaming, pain, panic that played in her ears like a forgotten lullaby. The blood that slid down her face. The blood that mixed with the dirt from the ground.

The ground.

Hard, cold, wet. Unforgiving. Harsh.

Home to the dirt. The dirt that caked onto her face like makeup, making pure ivory dark ash. Or maybe it was the running mascara that did that.

Joey's screams ran through her ears. She heard the tone of his voice waver up and down. She heard the despair, mixed with alarm.

Or maybe that was from a different time.

A time involving chains and monsters and bright lights. A time she never wants to see again.

She can see him. Not moving under her grasp. It's all too familiar.

Something tells her to let go of him. To let go. He needs to help those people. Has to help those people. Because it's Joey and when he's not starting trouble he's stopping it. But those people didn't ask him to help. She knows that they want him too.

Because who else will?

But her grasp stayed tight. Fingers turning white tight grasp.

He yelled to let go, he has to go. He questioned if she was okay.

She wondered if anybody is ever okay.

But doesn't let go.

Because her mind isn't done. Isn't done venturing back to a place similar to this one. With the two rows of restaurants and huge corner hotel. With the traffic jam (which of course wasn't a huge car pile-up).

But her mind wants to return back to the place with burnt rubber and caked on dirt foundation.

It was sunnier then.

Work, she had discovered, was much more dreadful when one was stuck inside all day while a beautiful sun taunted anyone indoors.

She hated that.

She liked her job. After all, being a photographer was not a difficult job. Look though the lens, click, next pose.

She liked that. Enjoyed it.

She had spent her time in front of the camera. Her vanity monster soothed, it was much more entertaining being behind the camera. Being in charge. Looking at people, beautiful people, finding people.

She liked those times, those specific times, where something else was in her subject's eyes instead of the trademark glazed over supermodel look.

Happiness, sadness, loneliness, despair. She could pick it out. Any emotion. Because she's been there. Is still there.

Maybe that's why she moved behind the camera. Less vulnerability that way. But she's not a psychologist, so she doesn't linger on the issue.

Every five mintues or so her attention turned toward the sun, peeking it's way from behind a cloud. Playing hide and seek.

Her time was almost done. Just a few more pictures and she was free.

Click. She sometimes heard that camera clicking sound in her dreams. Echoing through one ear and out the other. Click.

She was done.

And without a moment to spare she left the office, said goodbye to the boss, and was standing outside with a smile on her face.

The sun hit her giving her a warm feeling. One that becomes lost inside the office cubicles.

Now if only she had plans. Or a place to go. Or excitement.

Not that she needed excitement. No, Mai was looking for anything but excitement. She figured the days of monsters and unspeakable evils sufficed her craving for excitment.

But sometimes it lingered. The feeling of wanting more. More than a job and bills and other average tasks.

Average.

She walked toward her favorite restaurant. Italian food. She never cared for it before. But Valon thrived on it. And then she became quickly accustomed to it.

"Best place here. Hell, maybe ever." He said to her once as he led her through the glass and gold doors.

Days go, she figured.

She sat near the bar, ordered the usual, and exchanged pleasantries with Brian, the bartender. An older man, who usually ended the evening hitting on her. But it was all in jest. He was older, widowed, but a nice guy. His abuse of the English language was something to be aware of, but Mai never corrected him like one customer had tried.

Instead she sat and listened to his stories and he listened to some of her tamer ones. Ones that revolved around the days when she was a rising duelist, cheating her way to ultimate victory.

He liked that.

But, he admitted once, Mai had the look of someone who had seen too much, done too much, and knew a type of rebellion that he could never be attracted too.

He liked country girls, the kind that sang off-key country music and loved building old trucks. He always said they had a type of innocence that city girls seem to lose so easily.

Mai agreed silently. She was anything but innocent.

But on this day, her attention was focused on watching the sun. The television made noise in the background, dull and uninteresting.

"And now onto dueling news." The newscaster said.

Mai turned her head and gazed at the television.

"We are here talking to the famous duelist Yugi Moto about his retirement." Mobs of people stood behind the reporter, cheering Yugi's name.

The camera turned to him, eyes huge, smiling wide. Just like Yugi.

Mai couldn't help but ignore the twinge upword movement of the corners of her lips. A smile.

He looked the same.

"You know him?" Brian asked, his words jarring her out of memories long pushed away.

"Knew." Her reply, short and to the point. Like most answers to questions of her recent past.

The camera moved toward the reporter. Her words were drowned out by the crowd. It then moved toward another figure. A taller one.

Mai studied him for a moment.

He seemed the same. Happy, thrilled to be on television. He was talking about something. Mai didn't care much. Just the sound of his voice did something to her.

"Can we change the channel?" She asked.

Brian did so, ignoring the groan from a man three bar stools down.

"Knew him too?" He asked.

"Yeah. Knew." The television was now showing a rerun of some baseball game, which seemed to appease the other customers.

"You can talk about it."

She knew that. She could, if she wanted too. But the words wouldn't come out right. And the memories were fuzzy. Out of reach.

He took her non-answer as a maybe and attended the man three seats down.

"He's a duelist. Or was, if he retired."

Brain nodded, his hazel eyes scanning hers.

"How'd you met him?" He asked, turning his attention toward her.

The sun was taunting. Don't go back there, to that place of pain and darkness, it seemed to say.

"Dueling. We were in the same tournament. But I didn't want to see him. He wasn't already a legend. His friend, Yugi, was the one on my radar. But Joey . . . he's the one I dueled. He's the one, the first person, to ever beat me."

She chuckled at the memory.

"Oh, he was annoying though. And completely dependant on Yugi. But he did improve over time. And they were good people. Annoying people. But good people. Too good to be true I thought at the time."

"And then?" Brian asked.

"Then I realized that these people who were so full of friendship and good and hope, boy did I think that they were full of crap, but they were genuine. They were for real. Probably the best group of people I've ever met. Funny how life happens. I never had help before, and there they were."

"And him?"

Mai wanted to stop. Needed to stop. But Brian had talked about Julia (his deceased beloved) one winter night. His voice was tender, and his eyes were lost in the memory of her. Mai had taken a picture. He was a heavier man, with grey hair and stubble. Hazel eyes that had seen better days. But at that moment, he looked beautiful to her.

Perhaps that's why she kept talking.

"Him. He, was full of himself. Cocky. But most guys are. He was just, annoying. But he was doing this dueling thing for his sister. To save her. And I thought it sounded like a soap opera. When his card was lost, the entrance card, he was defeated. His goal was defeated. So I helped him. Because although he was annoying and talked too much, he would do anything for her. Which was, I don't know. Sweet I guess."

Mai sipped her drink.

"I bumped into him several more times. Always with his playgroup. Always annoying. But less than before. Tolerable you know? Always trying to help out. It was, he was my first friend. For real. They all were."

"Were?"

She gulped.

"There was this time, when I was in this tournament. I was dueling this guy. He was powerful. But I was already not focused. Because I let some stupid guy hurt my feelings. You know how long it had been since there was a person who could come close to doing that? Years."

He looked at her, silently begging for her to continue. He liked to hear about people, their struggles, their joys, their losses. It brought life together, made him know he wasn't alone.

"And it was stupid. I was stupid. But something happened in that duel. He was powerful. He messed with my mind. Stripped me of my memories somehow. Everything around me started to slip away. I was chained to something, it's a bit dim now. But the terror is still fresh in my mind. I just remember being there, and Joey trying to help me. Trying to save me. But it was too late, and I was sent to this dark place."

She paused.

"It was Hell there. I was alone, and weak. And I had never been subject to that much pain in my life. And the funny thing is. Is that I was stupid. Again. Because I thought it was real. It felt real. Being in the darkness. It felt like home. But he saved me. Again."

"I was happy to see him of course. Something was different. I was. When we split. Was that a mistake. One thing after another. Never being happy. Never being fulfilled. That place, Marik's voice, haunted me in my sleep. In my daydreams. I dueled, but lost my passion. Victories felt like losses. I felt lost."

The bar had emptied.

The sun was setting, slipping from her grasp.

She hadn't enjoyed it enough.

Her water was replaced with iced tea of the long island variety.

"It was Joey who I felt betrayed . . . Joey who I wanted to talk too. Joey who I wanted to yell at. It was him. A constant presence in my mind."

"But all that time alone. Weak. Helpless. And I am not a woman who considers herself weak and helpless. But that's what I had become. But then I met him. Valon. We dueled. He was powerful. But with a different kind of power."

Brian didn't say anything, just let Mai become lost in her memories.

"He took me to this man, Dartz. He gave me power. Made me strong. Took away my weaknesses. Took away my soul. I was operating, moving around. But I could only feel rage. Hate. Anger."

"Valon tried to make me happy. It wasn't his fault. I couldn't be happy. All I wanted to do was defeat Joey Wheeler."

Her voice became low. Her eyes became fixed on the mahogany counter-top.

"But what does he do? He should have beat me. He should have taken my soul. But he didn't. That's Joey for you. Always trying to save Mai. Boy, did he try. He tried so hard . . . but . . . "

"I couldn't be saved. Didn't want to be saved. Wanted to be powerful. Didn't see how wrong I was. How bad. But . . . he took out Valon. And it hurt me. Somewhere inside. He had nothing left when I stepped in that circle. He tried . . . but."

She could feel tears burning down her cheeks.

"It was too late. He brought me back, but I . . . I took his soul. His body fell and . . . oh how bad did I want him to open his eyes and yell at me. Tell me how stupid I was. How wrong. Anything. But he didn't. He was gone. I destroyed him. And it brought me back. Joey Wheeler seems to have the unfair job of saving me."

"I never asked him too. Never wanted him too. Or maybe I did. He was . . . my best friend. That's what I did to him. I tried to save him, of course, but I failed. Yugi didn't. I reawoke at Valon's place. Another guy who I happened to screw over. I left him a card, so he knew I was okay."

"But I never saw Joey again. Always wanted too. But I just. Not yet. Not until I'm better."

"You're not better?" Brian asked.

Mai jolted. She felt warm inside. It must be the iced tea.

"I just. There aren't words for that."

Brian stood speechless, waiting for her next move.

"There I was. Alone in the world, faking happiness. And there he was. As happy as he could be with a sister who needed surgery. He had friends. He had family. He didn't need to help me. Shouldn't have helped me. Me. Who never helped people. Who never made the effort of caring. I never liked anyone, let alone loved anyone. But when Joey was lying there, I was ready to die to fix what I had done. And I don't know when the moment had happened. I can't pinpoint it. But I think I fell in love with him."

Her drink was empty. The room was spinning. Or maybe she was spinning. She couldn't tell.

"Maybe you had better go home." Brian's voice floated to her ears.

Was he there? She couldn't tell. Nothing felt real.

She heard jingling. Felt a stiff hand grab her arm. Fingers slowly relax.

"I'll take you home kiddo."

"I'm not a kid." Her words slurred.

"Am I drunk?" She asked. Brian nodded. She couldn't tell.

"It was the only way to hear the story. I'm sorry."

She was led to a car. She couldn't tell what kind. It had a sunroof. She looked through it. The stars were shining brightly, blurring together to make one giant light overlooking the city.

"I wish I were different." She muttered. Brian turned to her and smiled.

"Why would you say that? You are who you are. We can only do the best we can with who we are. Everyone is screwed up. Some worse, some not. But you're trying. Which is more than some people. I'd forgive you if I could. But it's not for me, so I won't."

His face blended with the lights. The lights that were in the sky. Which wasn't right. There was another light. Another car. Another story. She felt a jolt, heard a yell. The car opposite them, lost control. The driver was asleep. Mai couldn't see. Couldn't talk.

It felt like a dream. A vacation from her usuals. She was soaring through air. Flipping. Over and over. Brian wasn't talking. She missed his voice. She couldn't understand where it went.

And something hit from behind. She was loose. Alice through the looking glass type of flying. Tiny pieces everywhere. Every part of her. She couldn't see. Pain soared through her. Every inch. She saw a tree.

Her head crashed into the bark. The stars dimmed. Someone yelled her name. Everything was dark. Darker.

"Mai?"

"Mai?"

She gasped, looking at Joey who had somehow worked his way from her grasp and had helped people. He was covered in black, oil maybe.

Her head was pounding.

The smell was too much.

The memory was too much. Everything was too much. Bouncing back and fourth through her head like a ping-pong ball.

She couldn't see.

Everything came rushing back, like some movie she was watching.

That one time she fell when she was nine, her first kiss behind the school lockers, her first duel, that time she met Yugi, Joey saving her over and over and her joining Dartz. More came to her with each breath.

Who she was, how she was . . . the pounding became worse.

Her eyes met his. She needed words, needed something.

"I remember everything."