Ria: I feel like such a heel for not updating last chapter sooner, but I have recently finished remodeling the room my sister used to have, and that has taken all of my time.

'blah' Maria shadow form

"Blah" normal dialogue/ Maria's human form

… time/scene skip

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Bakura and Ryou looked at each other and with a nod, activated their Millennium Rings. Since Maria was between them, the glow surrounded her, powered through her system, and then subsided. "What did you do?" she asked.

"Sealed your powers. That way, you can't do anything with your powers subconsciously, or consciously," Bakura explained.

"Oh," Mariana said, "I guess that's good."

A week and a half later, Maria was standing in front of the mirror looking over her outfit for school. Ryou had gone the day before to get her a girl's uniform, and now she was seeing how it looked on her.

"So what do you think?" Bakura asked, entering the room that she had been given, his school shirt on but half unbuttoned.

"The skirt's too short in my opinion, I never liked pink, and the bow is ridiculous!" came the reply.

Bakura laughed at that. "Yeah, but you have to live with it. Who knows? It may grow on you!" Bakura laughed again and then ducked as Maria threw a shoe at him.

"Bakura, stop teasing Maria," Ryou said, entering the room, "Ready for your first day of school both of you?"

"No," Bakura and Maria replied. Ryou just smiled and walked out, knowing that the two would follow. "I'd prefer to just wander the city like normal," Bakura grumbled as he buttoned the rest of the shirt except for one or two buttons and pulled on his jacket after running a hand through his recently trimmed locks.

Maria smiled and sat on the floor to pull on the shoe that she had retrieved after throwing it at Bakura. "This is another thing I hate about these skirts. It's impossible to bend over without flashing anyone," she grumbled as Bakura helped her up and the two started down the stairs to catch up with Ryou, who was waiting in the entry hall.

"Oh don't look so glum Bakura, you'll be fine," Ryou chirped as the three started out.

"Easy for you to say, you had prior education. Me, all I needed to know was 'treasure room that way,'"

Maria laughed. "Did they really put that in the tombs?" she asked.

"Yes, but not so obviously."

Ryou just shook his head. "You don't see Yami and Marik complaining about school, do you?" he asked.

"Like I said, prior education. Yami was a pharaoh, and Marik was at one point a tombkeeper. Haven't you ever noticed that I can barely write my name, let alone much else?" came the reply.

"Point taken. But look on the bright side, Maria probably knows just about as much as you," Marik said as he and Malik caught up to them, both having heard Bakura's statement.

Maria grinned. "Want to make a bet that I can stupefy the teachers with my accurate knowledge?" she challenged.

Malik rolled his eyes and whacked Marik on the head before he could answer. "I think an appropriate statement would be, what the hell is the most powerful shadow doing on Earth and going to school?" Malik demanded.

Maria grimaced at the memory and retold the tale. When she finished, she smirked at seeing Malik and Marik's mouths hanging open. "Okay, scratch that, you're not the most powerful shadow" Malik amended.

Maria sulked a little. "That's cruel. The only reason that my stars were taken, was that my powers were too split by defending myself, traveling through the portal, and fighting back. There were too many, and they snuck up on me," she protested.

Malik and Marik shared a look and then faced the shadow-turned-mortal. "We'll help," they said at the same time, causing Maria to smile.

"Fine, fine. That's good and all, but aren't we going to be late for school if we dawdle anymore?" Ryou asked. They all looked at each other and as one, booked it for the school.

Malik sighed as the five flew into the yard of the school and he noticed that the warning bell had not yet gone off. In fact, they had about five minutes since they ran the rest of the way.

"Come on Bakura, Maria. Let's go get you registered," Ryou said, tugging on their jacket sleeves.

"Oh goody," Bakura muttered to Maria as they followed Ryou into the building, causing her to giggle. Five minutes later found Maria, Bakura, Malik, and Ryou heading to their first class, Maria and Bakura put with either Malik or Ryou for their classes.

"Bakura, release my powers for a minute," Maria muttered, as they waited outside the classroom while Ryou and Malik talked to the teacher.

"What? Why?"

"Please, I need to do one spell, and it only takes a little of my limited power," she begged.

Bakura eyed Maria warily and then sighed. Closing his eyes, Bakura's Ring glowed and Maria felt a bubbling of power. Maria worked quickly and summoned a ball of white energy the size of a golf ball. Feeling Bakura reseal her powers, she sighed and held the ball of energy out to Bakura.

"What's that?" he asked.

Maria grinned and putting it to Bakura's forehead, pushed the ball in. Bakura let out a soft gasp at the pain in his head as his head spun violently. Maria finished pushing the ball into Bakura's head, and the pain dulled as rapidly as it had assaulted Bakura, taking the dizziness with it.

"What did you do to me?" Bakura gasped as his head throbbed lightly.

"Copied Ryou's knowledge and gave it to you. You can now read and everything, but your writing will be messy at best until you get used to it," Maria replied.

Bakura was about to ask more, when Malik reappeared at the door and beckoned them in. "Class, we have two new students today. Please welcome Ryo Bakura and…"

"Please, just call me Maria," Maria interrupted pleasantly, noticing Bakura's eye twitch at his made up first name. The teacher nodded.

"Very well, Bakura, you may have the seat next to your brother Ryou, and Maria, you may have the seat next to Malik," the teacher replied.

The two nodded and followed Malik and Ryou to their respective seats. The first few periods passed by quickly enough for Maria and Bakura, and they soon found themselves heading outside to eat lunch with the group.

"I can't stand it anymore!" Yami groaned as he flopped down on the grass next to Bakura, "Yugi, if Tea bothers me, and/or flirts with me one more time, I may snap!"

Yugi sighed and sat on the ground next to Marik, who was pillowing Maria's head in his lap, feeding her grapes one by one. "I know Yami, but do you think she will listen?"

"Why can't she realize that you're together?" Ryou asked as he pulled out a sandwich and tossed it to Bakura, who caught it and started eating.

"Trust me, we've tried everything, but she seems to believe that she is my one and only, and that I'm just pretending," Yami complained.

Maria looked up as Seto joined them and smiled suddenly. "I think I have an idea," she said with a smirk and told all of them.

"It may work…but only if you guys, especially you Yugi, don't mind," Yami said hesitantly

Yugi pondered it for a minute. "I guess…if it's only to get Tea off of your back…and it doesn't mean anything…I'm cool with it," Yugi said slowly, choosing his words. Yami's face lit up and he kissed Yugi quickly, which made the smaller boy giggle.

The others all agreed, causing Maria to smile at their trust in each other. "Here comes Tea, Joey, and Tristan," Seto warned.

Yami immediately went to Yugi and started making out with him.

Maria settled down next to Seto and just watched as the three approached. "Yami, stop it, what have I told you about this in public?" Maria scolded.

Yami pulled away from Yugi and looked at Maria, well aware that Tea was watching him. "If I want to show affection…" Yami trailed off with a sigh.

"You must show the same to the others," Maria finished coldly.

"Yes Mistress," Yami said, barely able to keep a straight face and moved over to Marik, climbed into his lap, and started making out with the ex-tombkeeper. After a few minutes, Yami moved from him to Malik, to Seto, to Ryou, and finally to Bakura.

As Bakura started making out with Yami, he deepened the action, pulling Yami into a bruising kiss. Maria just rested her head on her fist, watching the duo and then glanced at Tea. Tea looked like she was about to be sick, and Joey and Tristan were looking amused. 'Ah, so they realize what Yami's doing,' Maria thought with a barely visible smirk.

Finally Bakura and Yami broke apart, and Yami laid his head on Bakura's shoulder, still sitting in Bakura's lap. "Mmm, Bakura, you're always my favorite. You're by far the best kisser," Yami sighed, adopting a mind-blown tone.

"That's it!" Tea screeched, causing everyone to turn, "You mean to tell me that this slut has you…"

"Love every one of her other pets the same? Yes, and I rather enjoy being dominated by Marik, Bakura, Seto, and sometimes Malik. Yugi and Ryou are also perfect partners," Yami said with a non-caring look on his face.

"Why Tea, do you want a kiss too?" Maria asked as Tea opened her mouth to rant some more.

Tea shut her mouth in a surprised manner. "I-I don't know," she stuttered.

Maria smiled and stood from where Seto had pulled her into his lap and came closer. "Well, don't you? From what I heard, you've always wanted a kiss."

"Well, yes…yes I have…All right, I guess I'll have a kiss," Tea declared becoming sure of herself, obviously thinking that she could sway Yami with a girl's kiss.

"Okay," Maria said and cupping Tea's face in her hands, brought the other brunette's face closer and kissed the girl full on the lips in a hot, steamy, would-be lesbian kiss if Maria had meant it. Tea tried to struggle, but Maria, being a shadow, was much stronger and kept Tea still.

Finally pulling away when she felt her mortal body screaming for air, Maria panted slightly and smirked. "Well, how was that?" she asked.

Tea gagged. "Eww! I felt your tongue in my mouth!" she screeched.

"And I knew you liked it. I sure did," Maria cooed in a sultry voice, approaching Tea again.

"Don't touch me, bitch!" Tea snapped and stormed off. Maria and the others watched her go and then started laughing as soon as Tea was out of earshot.

"I've never seen something that amusing and amazing at the same time in my whole life! I wish I could see that kiss again!" Malik gasped, trying to calm down.

Yami smiled, having only chuckled. "Thank you," he murmured, kissing Maria on the cheek and then scooping Yugi up and sat the light on his lap

"No problem," Maria replied, "I'm still amazed that you guys threw that together with only a bit of forewarning. I even almost believed that you were all my play toys."

"So this was all to drive Tea away?" Tristan asked as he and Joey sat and they all resumed their lunches.

"Yes, and Maria was obviously the one who concocted it," Ryou admitted.

"Hey, my idea was only to have Yami make out with all of you to disgust Tea," Maria replied modestly.

Seto smiled and ruffled her hair. "Yes, but we wouldn't have if anyone else had suggested it," he pointed out.

/Yami, Marik, I think Seto finally found his double/ Bakura stated in the other two Yami's minds.

/True, but who do you think is the yami, and who is the hikari/ Marik wondered.

/Well, if their 'situation' ends up being identical to ours, I think Seto would be the yami, even though Maria has the power/ Yami piped up logically. Both Bakura and Marik smirked at the meaning that Yami implied with 'situation.'

The rest of Maria's day flew by quite quickly. Entering the house last after school, she saw Ryou smiling what could be considered a smirk at Bakura "What?" Bakura asked.

"No prior education?" Ryou asked, "You seemed to know quite a bit more than what you let on."

Bakura looked sheepish. "Okay, Maria begged me to lift the block for thirty seconds, and she cast a spell that gave me a copy of your knowledge," Bakura admitted after a bit of prodding.

Ryou frowned. "Bakura, we agreed not to lift the block! What if Maria overused her power, hmm? There would have been no chance of Maria getting her stars back!" Ryou snapped, uncharacteristically angry.

Maria backed up hesitantly. "I only did it to help Bakura. I still have a safe enough level of magic," she said hastily as Ryou turned towards her.

Ryou narrowed his eyes. "I still don't agree with this. Maybe if you had discussed this with me first, I wouldn't be so against it," he growled out, making Maria back up a little again.

"Ryou! You're scaring Maria!" Bakura scolded, stepping between the two, arms outstretched as far as he could reach, "If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. It was I who faltered and let Maria cast the spell." "Besides," Bakura smirked suddenly, "we can't undo it without Maria using more of her magic energy."

Ryou glared and then sighed in an exasperated manner and threw up his hands in defeat. "All right, I'll let this go, but no more lifting the block until Maria gets her stars back," he commanded.

"If you want to be technical, I just need one of my stars for you to lift the block. All three draw power, but the middle focuses it the most. I'll be fine with just one Ryou."

"How will we find them…granted that they are in the shadow realm?" Bakura asked, saving Maria from Ryou losing his temper even further.

"When we go to the Shadow Realm, they'll hopefully call to me. If not, your Millennium rings will be able to pinpoint them," Maria explained.

Over the next couple weeks, the three yamis watched in amusement as Maria and Seto drew undoubtedly closer. Even Ryou, Malik, and Yugi seemed to notice the bond.

"I think there's something going on between you and Seto," Malik teased Maria because Seto was busy, as the seven of them sat in a diner, munching on french fries and burgers, since Maria wanted to try them.

Maria tipped her head in a confused manner. "What do you mean?" she asked, looking at the others.

"You like Kaiba, don't you," Marik stated.

"I like all of you," she replied with a shrug as she took one of Bakura's fries since she had long finished hers.

"Not that kind of like. We mean another type of like. Kind of…" here Bakura trailed off at a loss of an explanation.

"Basically a step down from how us yamis feel about our respective lights," Yami filled in.

Maria's mouth dropped in shock, and she was about to answer when Seto came up to the table, out of breath.

"Running a marathon are we?" Malik asked sarcastically.

Seto let out a low growl and pulled up a chair and sat next to Maria, the said shadow scooting over to make room, ignoring the several smirks that her action earned. "No, I just thought I'd hurry and show you all what I just found on the internet, but I guess you don't care enough," Seto retorted

"Ignore Malik, he doesn't know what he's talking about," Marik said hastily, covering Malik's mouth with his hand, only to have Malik lick and nip it in an attempt to make him let go.

Seto arched an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "Here," he said to Maria, pulling out his laptop and pulling the web page back up, "It concerns you, so you get to see it first."

Maria, choosing to once again ignore Bakura's and Marik's antics, took the laptop and looked at the page, only to gasp in surprise.

"What is it?" Yugi asked, the whole table going quiet at Maria's strangled gasp. Maria turned the laptop so that the others could see. "My…my star," she murmured.

Bakura took the laptop and looked at the glittering object on the screen, shown by webcam footage. "It looks like a diamond," he stated, passing the laptop to Ryou.

"That's because it is," Maria replied easily, sipping on her milkshake, missing everyone's mouth drop open, "All three of them are perfect diamonds…not one impurity."

"Didn't that hurt?" Ryou asked.

"No, I was created with them already imbedded in my head. Even I'm not sure how exactly A) they work, and B) how the other shadows managed to rip them out of my head," Maria replied.

"Anyways, the article said that a camper found it and sold it for a very high price to a collector. The writers of the article have no idea why a diamond of that much worth was out in the woods, and in such a unique cut too. Apparently, there was no backing glue or anything on it, according to what it says," Seto recited as the laptop made its way back to him and he put it away.

"How many points did it have?" Maria asked.

"Twelve…why?"

Maria just smiled and turned to Ryou. "We found my center star," she simply said. The group finished up lunch, Seto passing on eating, and all decided what to do after they left.

"I think we should go see this star of Maria's," Yugi said, earning several nods. "Seto, where is it being held?" Yugi asked.

Seto thought for a minute. "The article said that the collector was putting it on display with the rest of his collection. I'm going to see if I can buy it from him first," he stated, pulling out his cell phone and opening his laptop. A minute later, Seto had dialed the number and walked a bit away from the group.

"You do realize that my star is going to cost a lot, right?" Maria asked, following Seto.

Seto smiled and ruffled her hair. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it," he replied softly so the others wouldn't hear, still listening to the ringing phone, "I have more than enough money to buy a hundred of those diamonds."

"If you're sure," Maria said softly. When Seto nodded and shooed her away, Maria returned to her friends and watched Seto talk into the phone. About two minutes later, Seto closed the phone and rejoined the group.

"I tried," he sighed, "But that greedy collector wouldn't accept any offer."

"How much did you offer?" Ryou asked.

"You don't really need to know," Seto retorted shortly, "Let's just say that I offered that idiot over five times the worth of Maria's star. Come on, let's go see this star, and then we'll decide what to do from there."

A short time later, the eight were wandering around a huge gallery with a tour group. Yami and Ryou had to literally restrain Bakura from his "twitchy finger" urges at the sight of all of the jewels.

"If that star weren't mine, I'd say it did belong here with all of these jewels," Maria muttered to Seto as the tour group entered the diamond room.

Seto mutely nodded as the tour guide stopped in front of a darkened display. "Now this, everyone, is Mr. Tanaka's latest acquisition to his diamond collection. Some of you may have heard of this diamond. For those of you who haven't, it was found in the woods, not far from here, and sold to Mr. Tanaka. Everyone is baffled at how it got there, and how it was almost clean, except for some rust that was on the back of it…" the guide continued, but Maria tuned her out.

"That was no rust, that was my blood," she hissed, Bakura smirking at her indignation.

Finishing her story, the guide flipped a switch, thus illuminating the jewel, causing everyone to gasp. The diamond was about two inches from tip to tip, and gleamed in the light like a miniature sun from all of its facets. Maria moved closer and stared at the jewel.

'Star of mine, hear my voice and obey. Prove to me that you are mine and I will retrieve you,' Maria thought in her head, even though she had no way to send it, but focused that message in her eyes and stared at the diamond. Immediately, the diamond swirled with color and the glittering dimmed. Once the colors swirled through a whole rainbow, it went back to clear but then a second later, started glowing with a bright light from seemingly nowhere.

"What's making the diamond do that?" someone asked.

"I have no idea. Diamonds don't normally do that," the tour guide stammered.

Ryou forced his way over to Maria and grabbed her arm, thus breaking her concentration. "How are you doing magic?" he hissed angrily, causing all of their friends to stare at them, none of them noticing that with Maria's concentration broken, the star dimmed back into a glittering jewel.

Maria looked into the angry brown eyes and smirked lightly. "I didn't do magic. The star is mine so it listens to any mental commands of mine. I willed it to prove to me that it belonged to me and it responded."

Marik motioned for everyone to fall back as the tour moved on. "We found what we came for. Bakura, get to work," he said once they were alone in the room.

Bakura nodded and started circling the case, sometimes stopping to examine something, his eyes always scanning the room as well.

"Well?" Yami asked once Bakura stopped.

"Twelve motion sensor alarms, four cameras in the corners of the room, and tons of infrared around that star," Bakura reported, "In conclusion, a piece of cake for the Thief King.

"Wait, you're going to steal it?" Ryou cried.

"Listen. Kaiba tried to buy it…didn't work. I'm with Bakura on this. We need to steal the diamond," Yami argued, Marik nodding. Ryou sighed and nodded in acceptance.

That night, Seto dropped the three yamis off at the gallery and then returned home. Entering his mansion, he expected to go straight to his computer and hack into the security system of the gallery to make things easier for the three. What he didn't expect, was to have a certain Egyptian hikari stick out his foot and trip him, sending him straight into Maria, who was just coming out of the living room, sending them both to the floor.

Malik and Yugi howled in laughter as Seto and Maria realized exactly how they ended up. When Seto had knocked them both over, he had landed straight on top of Maria, their limbs entertwined from trying to catch themselves. The kicker of the whole picture was that their lips were pressed firmly together in a somewhat deep kiss.

Seto and Maria broke apart after a second and Seto scrambled off her and stood. "Very funny Ishtar," he sneered before stalking down to his basement computer.

Maria looked from in the direction that Seto disappeared, to Malik, who was fuming over being called by his last name, and back towards the basement door. Getting up, she headed down the stairs and found Seto sitting at his huge computer, typing in long lines of alphanumeric code.

"What are you doing?" Maria asked, peering over Seto's shoulder.

Seto glanced up at the screen. "Taking control of Mr. Tanaka's security system. If I can gain control for twenty minutes, Bakura, Marik, and Yami should be able to retrieve your star," he replied as static crackled over the speakers.

"Seto, have you gotten control of the cameras yet? We're in the duct above the display," Yami asked, his image appearing in the corner of the screen, punctuated by static.

"Give me a few more seconds…there. The security guards are going to see an empty room while you guys get the diamond. Is Bakura ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Remember Marik, lower me down slowly so I can avoid the infrared beams," Bakura said as Yami moved the communicator to show Bakura sitting with his back to a vent opening, Marik beside him.

Marik nodded and Bakura leaned back and disappeared headfirst through the opening.

"Seto, How can Bakura avoid the infrared if it is invisible?" Ryou asked as he, Yugi, and Malik descended the stairs and joined the two watching Bakura pull out a fake shadow replica of the star and hold it in his hand, ready to be switched as he was lowered very slowly, so as not to set off any motion sensors.

"He has contacts in that allow him to see like an infrared camera does. When he sees the red beams, he'll just shift out of the way," Seto replied, trailing off as Bakura waved his hand, "Marik, stop lowering Bakura. He's close enough."

"Roger," came Marik's voice as Bakura stopped descending. Bakura reached down and using a razor blade, cut a circle into the glass of the case and caught it before the circle fell. Reaching in, Bakura just missed the diamond and suddenly snatched his hand back.

"Kaiba," Bakura hissed, "Some of those motion sensors are focused on the star! If I touch it or shift it in the slightest, the alarm will sound."

Seto cursed and was silent except for tapping of the keys on the keyboard. "Bakura, they're on a circuit of their own. I can't get in," he reported.

"Marik, how fast can you pull Bakura up?" Yami asked suddenly from where he was kneeling next to Marik, looking down at Bakura, the camera positioned across the vent from them.

"Fast enough if you help me," Marik replied with a smirk

"What are you two planning?" Maria asked.

"You'll see," Yami chucked quietly, "Bakura, fuck secrecy and just snatch the damn thing."

"Yes sir!" Bakura laughed as well and snatched the diamond after banishing the copy.

Immediately he was jerked up and everyone heard alarms ringing shrilly. As soon as Bakura was pulled through, the vent slammed shut and fastened, and the three, after untying Bakura's legs, started scooting down the vent, being as quiet as possible, the communicator and diamond safely in a backpack that Yami had on his back.

Seto relinquished control of the cameras and he, Maria, Malik, Ryou, and Yugi waited in silence with bated breath until about fifteen minutes later, they heard a whisper on the other end.

"Seto? Guys? Anyone hear me?" Yami asked in a voice a little above a whisper. Yugi visibly relaxed as he heard his lover speak and activated his mic that he had forgotten to turn on earlier.

"Us at 'home base' hear you. Is everyone okay?" Yugi asked.

The screen changed to show a very staticy Yami. "I'm fine, I'm working my way through the woods to the rendezvous point with Bakura as a cat keeping an ear open for anyone who might be following us," Yami replied, "I lost track of Marik though. We split to make it harder to follow."

"Marik is keeping pace with us about two hundred yards to your right Yami," Bakura said after a glow came from his Millennium Ring, thus transforming Bakura back to normal and pinpointing Marik.

Yami rolled his eyes on screen. "We'll be at the Domino arcade in about an hour."

"Okay, we'll pick you up then. Be careful you three, since Marik, I know you can hear us on your earpiece. I hear sirens filtering through one of your mics," Seto stated. He received three acknowledgements and the channels went dead.

An hour later found Seto and Maria riding in the limo towards the arcade to pick up the three yamis. "Seto?" Maria asked.

"Yes?" Seto asked, turning from looking out of the window.

"Umm, what did you think…about that kiss we were forced into?" Maria asked, making her way over to sit next to Seto.

Seto shrugged. "I honestly can't say. It's hard to comment on something that was unexpected," he said.

Maria nodded and looked at the floor of the limo. "Well, as shocking as it was, I liked it. I'm not sure if there was anything behind it because like you said, it wasn't planned," she answered, giving her opinion.

Seto sighed and putting a hand under her chin, lifted and turned Maria's head so that cerulean eyes met sapphire eyes. As Maria opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, Seto closed the distance and kissed her gently on the lips.

Maria's eyes flew open in surprise but then settled down. Seto pulled away and looked into her eyes. "Was there anything behind that one?" he murmured.

Maria nodded and shyly kissed Seto. "I like you Seto…probably more than I should," she murmured after they parted again, letting her fingertips trace his chin and cheekbones.

"What do you mean more than you should?" Seto wondered.

"Well, you know that I'm not a mortal. When I get my stars back, I'm probably not going to be able to come back as often as I would like. I'm a shadow Seto, I can't often live in the mortal realm," she explained.

"You meant you won't," Seto said bluntly.

"What?"

Seto scowled at Maria. "You're the most powerful shadow in that realm," he growled, "You can live in whatever realm you want."

Maria bowed her head and didn't say anything. Seto sighed and pulled her into his arms, stroking her hair. They remained like that until the limo pulled up to the arcade and then Maria squirmed out of his arms and back onto the seat as the three yamis emerged from the arcade.

"Thanks for the ride," Marik said, flopping onto one of the lengthy benches.

Seto shrugged. Bakura and Yami climbed in as well, Bakura turning into his cat form and curling up onto Maria's lap, fell asleep.

"Is my star all right?" Maria asked, running her fingers through Bakura's silky fur, causing a subconscious purr to arise. Yami nodded and pulled out a small bundle wrapped in a soft material.

"I would open it up when we get to the mansion. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention with it," Yami murmured since Marik had also drifted off to sleep as well. "So, how are you two doing?"

"What do you mean?" Seto asked suspiciously.

"Well, you two obviously like each other. Have you kissed yet?" Yami asked slyly, taking Bakura and stroking the short fur on his head. Maria blushed and Seto just cleared his throat. "I'll take that as a yes," Yami deadpanned.

The five rode in silence until they reached Seto's mansion. When they got there, Yami roused Bakura, who sleepily transformed out, and Maria shook Marik awake.

"Are you okay Marik? You look funny," Malik asked when everyone assembled in the living room.

Marik rubbed his eyes like a child. "Of course I look odd, I just woke up," he groaned, Bakura nodding in agreement.

Yami rolled his eyes and picked up his backpack. "Maria, I believe this belongs to you," he said, handing the little bundle over.

Maria took the package and unwrapped it, revealing the sparkling star. Bakura had even swiped the velvet that it had been sitting on in the case. Picking it up, Maria smiled and looked at Ryou. "Do you want to see my little trick now?" she asked.

Ryou nodded, and even Marik and Bakura looked awake and alert as the diamond started to shimmer in a weird way. "Okay, I'll say the same thing I said to it in my mind in the gallery. Star of mine, hear my voice and obey. Prove to me that you are mine and I will retrieve you," she said, setting the diamond onto the velvet and sitting back.

"I'm picking up a ton of mental energy," Marik said, now fully awake, the third eye on his forehead glowing in response as the diamond once again swirled and then started glowing a blinding white.

"Okay Maria! We get your point!" Malik exclaimed, covering his eyes. Immediately the glow dimmed to a bearable level until it stopped.

"Sorry, this star is the hardest to control," Maria apologized, picking the star back up.

"So are you going to return it to its original spot now?" Yugi asked, tapping his forehead.

Maria nodded and put the star to her forehead and pressed firmly with the heel of her hand. Nothing happened. "I don't understand it," Maria murmured, "It should have refused."

Bakura thought for a second and was about to suggest something when his Millennium Ring and Maria's diamond started to glow, cutting him off. "Ryou! We have to let Maria's powers free. The star can't fuse with er powers blocked," Bakura urged. Ryou nodded, and the two released their control.

Maria held the diamond in her palm, causing it to start glowing and levitate. "This is new," she murmured in awe as a blinding light once more filled the room. Everyone shielded their eyes, unable to see at all. Waiting for the light to subside, the seven boys were suddenly aware of Maria crying out in what sounded like pain, followed by what sounded like her collapsing on the floor.

Ria: I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I have…get ready for it…been in Egypt for the past three months on a foreign exchange program! Exciting, yes, but I should be able to update faster no that I'm back!