A/N: Apologies for the long delay. Hopefully updates should be back to the regular schedule now.

Chapter Ten: Conversations

She wasn't sure just how long she sat there crying, as the storm raged all around her, mirroring the misery that churned inside her heart. Finally, she futilely tried to wipe her cheeks and swallow her tears.Pull yourself together, Téa, she thought. It's not worth crying over. Sniveling on the sidewalk's not going to help anything.

But it wasn't just being left behind, or maybe it was. Once again she was alone, the darkness closing in around her, and her friends were nowhere to be found. Once again she'd left their circle and they'd moved on like she'd never been there in the first place. No, it wasn't just being left at the church. "It's, it's everything. It's the wedding, and Yugi, and the storm, and my stupid purse, and…"

"Purse?" Téa whirled, and then paled. Through the darkness and rain, she could make out a familiar figure. Yugi walked up beside her and held out a navy handbag. "Is this yours?"

It was, of course. She must have left it in the sanctuary. Téa half-reached out her hand to it. Then she dropped it, as if she'd been burned. "No," she said abruptly. She turned away. She tried not to shake. How long had he stood there? What had he seen? What had he heard?

"It's not?" Yugi sounded confused. He sat down beside her. "I wonder whose it is then. It's not Rebecca's; I'm pretty sure Serenity's purse is pink…I can't really see it being Mai's can you?"

"No."Shut up, Yugi. Téa bunched her skirt in her lap. Stop talking like that, so innocent, and clueless and…sweet.

Yugi laughed nervously. "Glad I'm not the only one who thought so. Ishizu, maybe?" He scratched his head. "Though I don't exactly picture her as the purse-toting type. Blame it on first impressions, I guess."

First impressions. Téa's first impression of Ishizu was a mysterious woman in a dusty museum, far too ancient to be so young, who brought a finality into Téa's life that could not be ignored. Téa had known it before, but Ishizu had made her confront it, that day in the museum: The person she loved was two different people with two different lives. And she would have to choose.

"You haven't said much, Téa," Yugi's voice broke into her thoughts, "Penny for your thoughts,"

"Oh…" She shifted uncomfortably. "The rain's getting harder," she prevaricated.

"That's what you were thinking?" Yugi got to his feet. "We can get out of the rain, you know." He reached out his hand, and before she could convince herself to do otherwise, he had helped her to her feet and was guiding her to the canopied church entrance.

"Actually, no," Téa admitted. "I was thinking about Ishizu, and first impressions, and…" she trailed off.

"And…" Yugi prompted. A sudden wave of nostalgia swept over Téa. For all the world, they could have been seventeen again, talking after school. Had things really changed that much?

She and took a deep breath. "And…and what she said at the museum. About Atem." Atem. The word hung between them, an almost palpable weight. How many years had it been since he left them? Yet the mere mention of his name stirred up so many emotions, raw and ragged.

"What did she say?" asked Yugi. Téa looked at him in surprise, but he was perfectly serious. "You might remember I only got the conversation secondhand."

Right. It had just been her and Atem that night. Their "date," though she wondered how much Atem had viewed it that way. She felt reluctant to surrender the moment in time they'd had completely alone. Why should she share it with Yugi? It had been his idea, after all; if he didn't like it, it was his fault. And he was getting married tomorrow, though Téa couldn't explain to herself (at least not satisfactorily) why that mattered.

But as he waited expectantly, 'I won't tell you', seemed so immature. Téa sighed. "She told us that Atem—of course we didn't know his name back then—had once been a king in Egypt who had defeated a great evil. She told us that evil was rising again." Téa shrugged. She knew Yugi knew all of this already—but what had he expected?

Yugi nodded. "But why were you thinking about that so intently?"

Téa swallowed. "You remember, we'd all met the spirit before—in that duel against Bakura." Yugi nodded, but looked a little confused. "And I realized you guys were different, that there were two Yugis." Deliberately, she used the words of her thoughts at the time, not the better, more precise, words she knew now. "I talked about the spirit, a lot; I hadn't talked to him so much, but that was the point of going on that da…outing. My mind knew you guys were two different people, but…" She swallowed. She had never meant the conversation to go this far, but it was too late to stop the words now. "…I don't think my heart really knew it. Until that moment, I don't think I realized I had to choose."

She didn't dare meet Yugi's eyes, but if she had, she would have seen a soft light kindle in them as he watched her seriously. "Téa," he whispered. "What did you choose?"

….

"And so, there I was, facing down Boris Tchkotoua. My gaze bored into his beady black eyes. He began to sweat. Slowly, laboriously, he lifted the revolver to his temple. As I stared at him, he clenched his teeth and pulled the trigger." There was an audible intake of breath from the listeners. Grandpa Muto grinned roguishly. He hesitated just a moment longer, before continuing, "There was a click. Nothing. A look of pure relief washed over the man's face. Then he handed the gun to me, and a smirk crossed his face. It was my turn."

"When are Yugi and Rebecca going to get here?" whispered Serenity to Mai and her brother. They'd been at the restaurant for nearly a half hour and Mr. Muto's supply of tales of his gaming exploits seemed limitless.

Joey scowled at his sister. "Shush, Serenity, I wanna hear how it turns out."

Mai smirked as she idly played with the ends of her long golden hair. "Haven't you heard this one already, Joey? Yugi's grandpa shoots himself in the head and dies."

"What! Aww, now you ruined it, Mai. Thanks a lot!"

The blonde beauty grinned. "I do try, Joseph. Though tell me, aren't you disturbed by the idea of talking to a ghost?"

"Whaa?...a ghost!" Joey nearly jumped two feet. "Whaddya mean? Who's a ghost?" Then it dawned on him. "Ohhh. Heh." He rubbed a hand behind his blond head. "You thought I believed ya when you said Gramps shot himself. Nah, I was just playing with ya. Really, did ya think the brilliant mind of Joey Wheeler could be tricked so easily? I'm disappointed in you, Mai."

"Uh, Joey?" Serenity interjected.

"Yeah?"

"Your fly's open."

"Gaaah!" Joey turned the shade of a tomato and whipped around. "Hey, wait…" He turned back around to see Mai and Serenity laughing and high-fiving each other. "That's not funny!"

….

He found his eyes being drawn across the room again and again. She typed furiously, scowling and muttering all the while. She didn't look up. She focused every ounce of her energy and attention on the problem at hand. She was like that. She knew what she wanted and she drove toward it with the force of a bullet train until she got it. Right now, she was focused on Yugi, on her wedding, on the troublesome computer that was standing in her way. She cared about nothing except fixing it.

Mokuba looked down at his laptop and considered. His fingers wavered over the keys. Then, his eyes hardened with resolve. He could be every bit as stubborn and unyielding as Rebecca Hawkins. He would prove it to her.

"Any luck, Mokuba?" Rebecca's voice momentarily startled him.

He shook his head. "I can't seem to make any headway. I can't even figure out what the problem is."

She sighed. "My problem exactly." She got up from her chair and began pacing across the room. "What am I supposed to do, Mokuba? The wedding's tomorrow. If we can't get this computer working, the slideshow is doomed." She stamped her foot. "It won't be right without the slideshow! Or the footage—ohmigosh, the footage!" She explained to Mokuba, "We're supposed to feed the live footage of the ceremony to monitors on the sides of the church, in the back half, so the people sitting back there can see better. If the computers don't work…" She dug her fingers into her hair. "What are we going to do? I don't have time to figure out this dratted computer system—or to insist that the church replace it. It's impossible!"

"Postpone the wedding."

Rebecca whirled and stared at Mokuba. "What?"

"Postpone the wedding," Mokuba repeated. "That'll give you enough time to deal with the computers."

"But it's not that simple, Mokuba. There's the caterer, the florist, the church! Everyone's here already. I can't ask them all to stay in California indefinitely! And even if we could pull it off, the cost…" she put a hand to her head, "it would be astronomical."

Mokuba looked at her evenly. "The church will let you rebook, Rebecca, they have to, or face a lawsuit for their defective equipment. You might as well try calling the other places and seeing what they say."

"And the guests?" Rebecca demanded.

Mokuba smiled. "Come on, Rebecca, how difficult do you think it will be to convince Yugi's friends to stay a few more days?"

Rebecca gave an exasperated sigh. "I don't know why we're even discussing this. It's far too complicated to be feasible."

"More complicated than trying to fix the computer?"

"Look, computers I get. Or at least I usually do—I don't know what'swrong with that psychotic machine. But weddings…they're still rather arcane to me. I mean, it's like you get one chance, one shot at the perfect day, your fairytale dream-come-true. It's supposed to be the happiest day of your life. But what if it isn't? I mean, how much happiness can silk and lace, and diamonds, and flowers, and having the napkins match the invitations create anyway?"

"I don't really think they can, Rebecca." Mokuba stood and crossed the room to stand next to her. "Being vice president of Kaiba Corp, I can have anything money can buy—houses, cars, clothes, video games, whatever I can think of. But it doesn't make me any happier. Possessions don't bring joy, only people do. The happiest moment I can imagine would be standing at the altar getting married to the woman I love—because of her, not because of her dress, or the flowers, or the cake, or anything else." Mokuba smiled wistfully. "Don't stress about the wedding, Rebecca. If you and Yugi really, truly love each other, the wedding won't matter because the marriage will. I can't think of a better happily ever after than that."

Rebecca was silent for a moment. She was looking away; Mokuba couldn't see her face. At last she said, "I guess you're right." She turned back towards him and smiled, though it was a rather half-hearted attempt. "So what do I do? Should I keep trying to fix or it or just give up?"

Mokuba studied her for a moment. "I think you need to decide that question for yourself."

Rebecca swallowed. She stared at the floor for a long moment. Finally, her eyes flickered upwards. "Mokuba, I…"

"Who's ready for some coffee?" Leon walked through the door with a carton of coffee, a brown takeout bag, and a grin. He stopped, glancing at Mokuba and Rebecca. "Is something wrong?"

"No," said Rebecca, shaking her head softly, "everything's fine." She took a coffee from Leon and walked towards the door. "I just need some fresh air."