A/N (scooby2408): First of all I must apologise, I was supposed to post this final episode on my actual birthday on 24th, but because of work and A Level results and then preparing to go to Uni in a couple of weeks, it's kinda got put on the back burner, but here it is - the final episode of Over the Rainbow!
A/N (Waffles4eva: This one comes with reading instructions, because like most animes the final scene is a montage set to the ending theme. So please, when you see this (*) and the words in italics set your youtube to 'Imagine' by the Korean band known as Brunch and repeat as necessary.
Disclaimer: I only own Izzy and Alyssa. The plot and storyline belong entirely to Waffles4eva. Everything else isn't ours.
Episode Ten: Finalé- An Impartial World
No-one had been unduly surprised at the news that Alyssa and Marik were now an item. Half the class thought they had been already and the other half just said 'finally'. For Izzy, it was just fun to watch Alyssa blush every time the subject was raised. As such, she amused herself by raising it as much as possible.
"Gaaah, stop it!" Alyssa whined one Friday afternoon, after a particularly generous bout of teasing from Izzy, Honeka and Hachiro. "You guys are just jealous of my happiness." She added, jokingly.
"Right." Izzy rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though, it's about time you were happy. I'm just glad you'll have someone to stop you killing yourself when I go home."
"Hey, I can look after myself." Alyssa scowled.
Izzy grinned. "Sure. Got stuck on any climbing walls recently?"
"That's right, Izzy-chan." Honeka said, once they'd stopped laughing. "Your transfer finishes next week, doesn't it? That's a little sad."
"Yeah, I'll-"
"What?!" Alyssa interrupted, leaping to her feet. "What do you mean, next week?!"
"As in, the weekend after this one."
"What?! No way!! Are you sure?"
Izzy forced a laugh, although laughing was suddenly the last thing she felt like doing. "I'm touched you're that irate about it, Alyssa, but yeah, I've been here sixth months. It's time to go home."
"But... what about..."
"What about what?"
"Atem-senpai."
"What about him?"
Alyssa shook her head, but turned back to face the front for the final lesson of the week to begin. Izzy didn't hear a word of it. The truth was, she hadn't anticipated on it coming so soon either. Things had been quiet, recently, with Bakura gone. Somehow the days had just whizzed by.
She tried to feel something other than sadness at leaving, and failed.
This, Marik thought, was supposed to have been their happy ending. Not that it was an ending, of course, it was a beginning. But still. Alyssa seemed vacant today, staring into space and twirling her pen. Her arithmetic was not always perfect, but she didn't normally get ¥4500 plus ¥550 to equal ¥3573. Silently, he took the sheet of sums from in front of her, beginning to correct them. Feeling it slip away from underneath her elbow seemed to snap her back to reality.
"Oh..." She said slowly. "Sorry, senpai."
"Alyssa..."
"Marik." She corrected herself, smiling. Unfortunately the smile slipped away again after a second, and she sighed slightly.
"What's the matter?" He asked, cautiously. He had inadvertently made her cry once before with clumsy words and had sworn never to do it again.
"Marik, Izzy's going home next week. She told me earlier."
"Oh..." He said slowly. "I thought that must be coming up soon."
"Ahhh! Why didn't anyone remind me?!" Alyssa groaned, covering her face. Then she folded her arms, pouting slightly with disappointment. Marik had to remind himself it would be very inappropriate to reach across the desk and kiss her there and then. He tried to listen as she spoke, and wished he didn't think she was quite so cute. "With everything that happened, I feel like I hardly spent any time with her. It's not right. I feel bad."
"Well, I'm sure she doesn't see it like that." He tried to console her. "Anyway, there's nothing you can do about it now. You can't get the time back, after all."
Alyssa looked at him, a small smile growing on her face. She looked distinctly shifty like that.
"What?" Marik asked nervously.
"I may not be able to get the time back, but what if I could extend it?!"
"What?" He repeated. "Alyssa-"
She was jumping to her feet. "We're done here for this afternoon, right? Okay, good!"
"Alyssa, where are you going?!" Marik demanded as she ran for the door.
"I have a plan to get Izzy to stay in Japan! But I'll need help, so..."
The door banged behind her.
"Is she coming back?" The student council president asked, slightly irritated she hadn't checked with him that he was ready for them to disperse.
"Um... I don't think so." Marik sighed, climbing to his feet. "Permission to go stop my girlfriend from doing something stupid?"
"Permission granted. Good luck."
Marik had a feeling he would need it.
"Atem!! Yo, open up!!"
"Pounding on my door makes me less inclined to open it."
"If you don't, I'll make Marik kick it in!"
"I'm not doing that!"
"Okay, I'll kick it in!"
"As if you could."
"Okay, then I'll go get the thugs from Class 3C to come and kick it in!"
"You will not! What if they hurt you?!"
"Oh, thanks for worrying about my health, Marik."
On either side of the door to N001, a commotion was breaking out. Alyssa was very loudly demanding entrance by shouting and pummelling the door with her fists and shouting. Atem was determined not to admit her. Even so, he wasn't sure he could take the noise much longer.
The fact of the matter was, he wasn't in the mood for company. He, too, was brooding on the fact that Izzy would soon be leaving them. Alyssa's reaction to such revelations was immediate and often not thought through action. His was to think about it obsessively but do nothing. Currently, his thoughts were locked in a cycle approximating the following pattern:
She's leaving- she's going home- I have to stop her- but how could I stop her- I could tell her my feelings- then she'd probably want to leave even more- I could tell her Alyssa needs her here- but Alyssa has Marik now, she won't buy that- I could tell her I need her- that might be true- No it isn't, I'm fine on my own, even if she goes home- but I don't want her to go home- I have to stop her- but she might want to leave- she might want to go home- I shouldn't stop her- but she's leaving- she's going home- I have to stop her- how could I stop her...
And so on. Needless to say, it was getting pretty tiring. He needed to get out and clear his head, but Alyssa was still out there. Still trying to knock the door off its hinges.
"Alyssa, stop that. He's not going to open the door, you'll hurt your fingers doing that."
"But... Izzy..."
"Ahhh, your knuckles are bleeding! What did I tell you, you silly girl? Come here, let me look."
And now they were having a moment right outside his door. Wonderful. Although, actually, it could provide the distraction he needed to get past. He opened the door slowly, hoping they would be too engrossed to-
Alyssa's foot was in the door before he could slam it shut again, balancing as Marik still held up her hand for examination. He tried to shut it anyway, ignoring the yelps of pain and annoyance this incurred. A brief shoving match ensued, with the end result that Atem eventually gave up and stepped back, just for the satisfaction of watching Alyssa stumble across his room. She frowned at him, but then waved Marik away and shut the door. They were alone in his room.
Atem really hoped Marik trusted him. Although he still hadn't apologised for that punch.
"What is it, Alyssa?" He sighed, folding his arms.
"Atem-senpai." She said, slightly desperately. "You have to convince Izzy to stay!"
"Why?" He said, flatly.
"Because if I try she'll just find reasons not to!"
"And why shouldn't she go?"
Alyssa looked at him in surprise. "You want her to go?"
For a moment, Atem didn't trust himself to speak. Of course he didn't want her to go. There was some instinctual, childish part of him that was beginning to think tying Izzy to a chair or locking her in a cupboard was the best course of action. But he had to behave better than that. He couldn't just rely on Izzy his whole life. He had to take the lessons she had taught him and use them, continue on his own path. He had to learn to live his own life on his own strength. It was only his selfishness that wanted her to stay.
"I can't ask her to stay."
"But she'll say yes if it's you!" Alyssa protested. "She's only going because she thinks she has to!"
"She does have to, her transfer is over!" Atem snapped. "She has a family and a whole life back home, this was just a holiday!"
"Just a holiday?!" Alyssa repeated. "After everything that's happened, I'd be kinda disappointed if she called it 'just a holiday'!"
"Why?! It was a temporary stay away from home- a holiday!"
"Atem-senpai, she loves you and you love her but if you don't do something she'll be gone forever!"
Silence fell.
"I don't love her and I doubt she loves me." Atem eventually said, quietly.
"But..."
"I said no, Alyssa! I think it's time Izzy went home, where she belongs, so stop acting like a spoilt child who has to share their favourite toy!"
"You coward!" She yelled back, opening the door so fast it rattled on its hinges. "You just can't face the idea you might fail so you're too scared to try! You coward!" With that, she ran out, slamming the door shut behind her.
Atem kicked it in annoyance as it closed and then again for good measure. Just who did Alyssa think she was, telling him how he felt?! Who knew better than him what was inside his head?! He had made his decision. He had to let her go. Or, at least, he could not make her stay.
It didn't matter what he told himself, however; he couldn't shake the secret feeling that Alyssa might be right. Still he pushed the thoughts aside and went about his usual business.
He was not going to talk to her. He had no right to ask her to stay, and he didn't need her to.
Izzy collapsed onto her bed, exhausted. She had the strange feeling of happiness laid on a foundation of sadness, and it was wearing her out. It had been her final day at school, and although she had planned to retire early and get some sleep before the journey to England, her classmates had other plans. In the true tradition of 2A, they had thrown her a party that, even when they had been thrown off the grounds so the school could be locked up, had somehow continued in the courtyard outside the four dorm blocks. It had been a lot of fun. Everyone had laughed and enjoyed themselves. There had been some great moments, and trying to force the regret that it was over away, she relived them again. When the wind had blown, showering them all in cherry blossoms, and one went down the back of Kiku's shirt, to the great amusement of all and followed by some slightly suggestive comments as to how to remove it. Their faces when she finally told them that ABBA wasn't English. The moment in a game of truth and dare when Hachiro finally got over his uncharacteristic shyness around Honeka and kissed her on the cheek. The moment when she rolled her eyes but kissed him on the lips. The way they all laughed at Nanami's impression of Ryota. All of the faces of her classmates, smiling and laughing around her, eating and dancing and joking and teasing. She had never felt so at home as she had here.
But now it was over. That was it. Everything that needed to be done had been done. It was time to go back.
She sighed deeply and pulled the covers up. All good things had to come to an end, after all. It was time to go back to real life. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.
She wasn't the only one. Next door, Alyssa wasn't asleep either. Instead, she sat on the edge of her bed, watching Sukui swim lazily around. Earlier, just before the two girls had turned into their rooms for the night, Izzy had asked her to wait. A moment later, she emerged with the tank in her arms.
"Could you take care of him for me?" Izzy asked, a little sadly. "Kind of hard to take on a plane."
"Of course." Alyssa answered, taking it from her. "Hey, Izzy. Two fish in a tank."
"Yeah?"
"One said to the other 'you drive, I'll man the guns'."
Izzy groaned and the two shared one final laugh together.
"Wake me up tomorrow." Alyssa had instructed. "I'll come with you to the airport."
Now it seemed she might be rather tired, if she couldn't get to sleep. She sighed to herself and lay back on the bed. At least she'd have Marik, but there was a difference between a boyfriend and a best friend. She wondered what he was doing right now.
He wasn't asleep either, reading another book Alyssa had recommended. He hoped she would be alright now, without Izzy. It was strange. He had gotten so used to her being around, he had forgotten that it wasn't the norm. He wondered what Atem was going to do without her. Alyssa said she had been unsuccessful in convincing him to convince her to stay. Marik wasn't sure what to think. Perhaps Atem was right, they were inclined to forget that she had a whole life back in England, a life she might want to go back to.
But he couldn't help but feel that this was somehow wrong.
Atem, too, was second guessing himself. He had only done what had to be done. But was it really right? It had to be, he had no right to influence her. But it didn't feel right. That lunchtime she had sat opposite him and smiled and said 'I'm going home tomorrow, so I guess this is goodbye'. She had smiled. He had smiled too, and wished her a safe journey, and didn't say so much more than that. He watched the ceiling for a long time, until the first lights of dawn crept across it, bringing with it the day she would leave.
The flight wasn't until ten am, so Izzy, who had awoken early after a night of little sleep, had time to wander around the school grounds before she left. She was just going to go and knock for Alyssa, when she spotted her walking across the courtyards by the dorms, heading back to East block. She ran to catch up.
"Alyssa, what are you doing out here so early?"
"Same thing as you, I'll bet." She grimaced. "Couldn't sleep?"
"No." Izzy admitted. "It's time we were getting to the airport. Are you still coming?"
"You bet." Alyssa forced a smile.
"Alright, let me just go get my case." Izzy answered, disappearing into the building. Alyssa waited until the door swung shut behind her before pulling a walky-talky from her bag and speaking into it.
"Okay, everyone, ETA 45 minutes. Make sure you're not seen. Spectrum is green, let's go!"
Atem stood and looked at the view, thinking. This waiting was hard. He knew Izzy would be heading for the airport now, and every step would take her further from him. She would soon be flying so far away from him, to the other side of the world. They would e-mail, of course, but it would never be more than that.
He began to wonder if that would be enough.
He wouldn't see her smiling every day. He wouldn't see her characteristic frown when she was concentrating hard, her exasperation if Alyssa was being stupid. He wouldn't see the pride in her eyes when he did something that pleased her. He would never feel her arms around him again. They would never again watch the New Year fireworks, argue, walk to school, go to the festival. She had been his first friend, and he would probably never see her again. She wanted to go home.
Still, he couldn't help wishing that she didn't. Or if she did, that he had convinced her not to.
Would it be so wrong, if he could make her happy?
But could he? He asked himself. Could he really do that?
"Well." Alyssa said reluctantly, as they stood in the queue for the baggage check in. "I guess it's goodbye, for now."
"Guess so." Izzy replied, looking down at her suitcase so she didn't have to look at Alyssa and show her red eyes. The truth was, she wished it wasn't time to go home. There was so much she still wanted to do. Like tell Atem...
No. There was nothing to tell him. They moved forward another place in the queue.
"So, are you sure you have everything?" Alyssa asked, with false cheerfulness, secretly hoping something would have been forgotten to stop Izzy getting on that plane. It all just felt so wrong. If only Atem had talked to her. "Suitcase?"
"Here." Izzy kicked it.
"Hand luggage?"
"Here." She held it up.
"Um... tissues?"
Izzy patted her pocket.
"Health insurance card?"
"Here." In her other hand, she held up a cluster of documents.
"Boarding pass?"
"Here." Izzy answered, tapping the relevant slip of paper.
"Passport?"
"Here!" Izzy said, exasperated, tapping it too. "Can I go now?"
"...Sorry." Alyssa answered.
"Huh?"
"Sorry, but you can't." She explained, and before Izzy could say anything, had whipped her passport out of her hand and had thrown it high into the air.
It arched above the people in the queue. (*)
2, 3, 4!
John, still in this place, people fight only for themselves
John, will the paradise you once dreamt of ever become real?
The paradise you always dreamt
"Ah, Alyssa!" Izzy yelped, tearing off after it. Alyssa just smiled, and hoped it worked.
Waiting in another queue, two lines to the left, Hachiro was ready. He didn't have the best eye on the cricket team for nothing. He spotted the passport flying through the air, jumped up, caught it and sped away before Izzy even recognised his face. When she did, she cursed and ran faster. Hachiro was a fast runner.
"Come back here!" She demanded.
Hachiro turned his head, sticking out his tongue and disappeared into the airport's cafe. He slid over a table and dashed for the exit on the far side. Izzy would have chased after him, had then the person at the table not leapt to her feet, grabbed something from the surface, and tore off in the opposite direction.
"Honeka-chan!" Izzy protested, chasing as fast as she could. "You're meant to be the class rep! Be responsible!"
By this point, they had been absorbed into the general crowd milling around the various shops at the airport, but she still heard Honeka's distant cry:
"Kiku-chan! You're up!"
"Kiku..." Izzy growled, scanning the crowd. She was surrounded by faces, how was she supposed to find one wayward classmate?! Finally, however, she heard a surprised yelp and realised Kiku was forcing her way at top speed up some stairs to an upper level. Annoyed, she gave chase. At least she had some hope of cornering her.
She almost caught up. Kiku's shirt was in her grip, she tried to pull the passport out of the girl's grasp, but it was too late.
"Mei-chan!" Kiku gasped, throwing the passport from the top of the stairs. Cursing again- something her classmates in England had never reduced her to- she pushed down the stairs, knowing even as she did so Mei would have a huge head start across the lobby.
They must have planned this. Everyone is perfectly in place. Izzy thought to herself, slightly stunned. But... why?
She ran as fast as she could, knowing Mei was heading for the automatic doors and out of the airport. The doors were old, with a slight delay, maybe she could catch up-
Only Hoshiko was standing there, already activating the sensors, holding the doors open. On the other side, limbering up, was Akemi. Akemi, who sat behind her in class, who had very long legs, and happened to be in the reserves for Japan's national sprint team.
Izzy groaned.
There isn't up or down
Everyone under the same sky
The paradise from our dreams
That's our paradise!
Greedless, nothing to lose, an impartial world
A dream paradise
Here right now
Izzy had expected Akemi to head to the right or the left, across the car park and eventually onto the street, but instead she ran straight ahead. Towards the train station. Where, conveniently, a train was just pulling up to the platform.
Izzy had a sinking feeling more of her classmates would be on that train, soon to be followed by her passport.
Akemi sprinted up to the ticket barriers, Izzy hot on her heels, but Chiyo was already there, on the other side of the barriers, waiting. Akemi pressed the passport into her hand like a baton and grinned as Izzy finally caught up.
"Better hurry." She teased. "You'll miss your train."
"I don't have a ticket!" Izzy scowled. "What are you guys playing at?!"
"Don't worry." Akemi evaded. "It's all planned out." She took a ticket from her pocket, shoved it into the barrier and waved Izzy through. "Good luck!" She called after her.
Izzy didn't reply any more fluently than with a growl. She dived on the train, Chiyo had to be here somewhere- but no, Chiyo was there, on the platform, waving as the train pulled away. For a panicky moment, Izzy thought she still had her passport, but no. Someone else had to be here.
"Isamu!!" She yelled, spotting him. "Give it back right now!"
"Uh, no." He answered, and began pushing his way down the crowded compartments. Izzy followed, trying and failing not to tread on people. Finally they reached the end of the train, the final carriage, and she grinned triumphantly.
"My passport, please."
"Sure." He answered, reaching his arm out. The train suddenly jerked, braking for a station, and the doors opened. With a casual flick of his wrist and a satisfied smirk, he threw the little booklet off the train. The golden lion glittered for a moment in the sun, before being covered by someone's hand. Asuka admired it for a moment, indulging her Anglophile nature, then stuck out her tongue at the stunned Izzy and ran for it. Regaining movement, Izzy slid through the doors just as they began to close, Indiana Jones style, and gave chase the moment her feet hit the platform. She caught Asuka, but the girl didn't seem unduly concerned, giving a playful squeal and adding "Katsu, catch!"
The passport, Izzy was sure, had now done more flying than it ever had done on a plane, but this was far from over.
It wasn't fair. Katsu was on a bike.
Knowing she was playing into their hands but that she had no choice, Izzy followed once again. There was no way she would catch up, but if she could just keep in sight...
To her surprise, however, Katsu skidded to a halt at a house at the end of the street and even as she hastened to catch up, was posting the passport through the letter box.
"Katsu, you-!!"
Unsurprisingly, Katsu pedalled hastily away, but Izzy had no time for revenge. She had to get her passport and get back to the airport. She rang the bell and waited impatiently. Someone opened the door.
"Hello, can I help you?" A woman with oddly familiar features asked.
"Yes, I think my- Shinobu!" Izzy yelled, seeing the girl in question through the open door of the kitchen attempting to sneak into the back garden. She jumped, glanced back at Izzy guiltily, and ran outside. "Shinobu!!" Izzy thundered, charging past her classmate's mother and through the house. She caught up with Shinobu at the far end of the garden, where a gate opened onto another street. On the other side of this gate was Emi, who snatched the passport from Shinobu and began to run in the direction of the market. Well, Izzy wasn't giving up that easily. Vaulting over the gate, she ran as fast as she could. She would get that passport.
"Sorry, Izzy-chan!" Shinobu called after them. "It's for your own good!!"
"Shinobu, what's going on?" Her mother asked, bewildered.
John, how's over there?
Has your dream been fulfilled?
How long do we need to wait to meet the paradise
We've always dreamt?
The place we always dreamt of!
The market. The worst possible place they could take her. There were always a million faces in the crowd here, and today was no exception. She would have to keep a careful eye on where her passport was, because she was beginning to suspect that most of her class had turned out to participate in this new sport. Izzy baiting.
Alyssa, she swore. I am going to kill you. But first she had to get her passport back, or she couldn't go home.
Already out of breath, Emi was casting around, also looking for someone. Suddenly, she crouched down in front of a stall and gave something to the boy hiding underneath, running past an alarmed shop keeper who apparently hadn't noticed he was there. Izzy indentified him as he tried to blend in with the crowd.
"Daisuke, I'll miss my flight!" She bellowed, but he didn't listen, diving behind another stall. A second later, both he and Nori emerged, but which had the passport? Nori was probably meant as a diversion and Daisuke still had it. But he was heading back into the market and it wouldn't follow the pattern. Besides, assuming Alyssa was the mastermind behind it, she would have known Izzy would think it was a bluff and given it to Nori instead. Izzy followed him and they emerged from the far side of the market. Away from the crowd, she was rewarded- to her relief- by the sight of the small brown booklet in his hand. She was getting tired now. She was spurred on only by her stubbornness as they ran for the park.
As she had expected, Nanami was waiting at the gate and snatched the passport from Nori just before Izzy could. She ran off up the park's walkway and streaked past the joggers, who all looked a little discouraged by her speed, especially when Izzy dashed past too. Izzy almost caught her, but then she veered off road, leaping over flowerbeds and bushes, cutting across the grass. Izzy followed, her legs and lungs protesting, but still determined. She wouldn't lose here!
They were running down the bank now, towards the lake, and Izzy was a little worried about her momentum carrying her into the water. However, there was no time for such concerns. She was searching out the next in the relay and determined to intersect Nanami before she reached them.
But it was too late. Goro was at the bottom, but Nanami tossed the passport ahead of herself and Goro ran the moment it was in his hands. Cursing even as she panted, Izzy skidded to a halt just on the water's edge and changed direction, following Goro around the edge of the lake.
"Give it back, you ba-!"
"Momoko! Take it!"
"On it!" She answered, grabbing it and sprinting out of the gates that marked the end of the park. They started heading up a tree-lined street that Izzy was sure she'd travelled before, but only recognised when she saw a vast flight of stairs in front of them.
"Oh, I meant to tell you." Alyssa said one morning over breakfast. "You'll need a furisode."
Great. Steps. Just what she wanted. Momoko, who hadn't run half way across the city, pounded up the stairs to the temple, Izzy hot on her heels, nearly knocking over a poor Shinto priestess who was busy sweeping.
"Give it back!" Izzy shouted again, but a little more quietly. It really was peaceful here when there wasn't a festival going on. She wished she had time to visit properly.
"No!" Momoko laughed, matter-of-factly, exiting the temple grounds on the far side and taking them onto the high street. There Hiroko was waiting, and he too took the passport and sped off without a word.
Izzy was getting seriously fed up of this.
Hiroko ran down the high street, past all the shops she and Alyssa had spent the weekends together, past where she had seen her with Marik, past the restaurant where Bakura had taken her. Then, he suddenly veered left, into the other place she and Alyssa had spent the weekends, a place she had visited on her very first day in Japan.
She only entered the arcade a second after Hiroko, but already lost him amidst the flashing lights, spinning graphics and tinny sound effects. Dreading that this was the end and that she would find the precious passport wedged in a crane game, she was almost relieved to give chase to Megumi, who tried to sneak quietly past her but stubbed his toe on Street Fighter. She headed after him, towards the relative daylight of the outside world.
There isn't up or down
Everyone under the same sky
The paradise from our dreams
That's our paradise!
Greedless, nothing to lose, an impartial world
A dream paradise
Para paradise
Sometimes there comes a moment in life when you look down on yourself and wonder what on earth happened to you for it to come to this point. Izzy was asking this question now, as she chased Ryota down the street, but couldn't answer it. This was really unfair, she thought, each of these runners was fresh- Ryota had only got the passport just outside the arcade- whereas she had run practically back to the dorms.
Still, she thought, as they turned into the courtyard between the dormitory buildings, on the bright side she was fitter than she had thought.
Takumi was waiting outside North block, and with an exaggerated flourish and a bow towards the glaring Izzy, took the passport and ran towards the school with it. Izzy wondered what they would have planned for her there, and then spotted Yuzuki just inside the grounds. She kissed Takumi's cheek as she took the passport from him, jumped over the back of a bench, and disappeared into the school grounds. Satomi was next, waiting behind the bike sheds, and set off towards the next edge of the school building. She took it all the way back to the front entrance, where to no great surprise the door was thrown open and Miki took great delight in dragging it- and Izzy- up three flights of steps, to the far end of the corridor, where she ran into a classroom and tossed it unceremoniously out of a window.
"Ahhh!" Izzy yelped, dashing forwards to look where it had landed. Then she sighed when she saw it fall into Junko's hands, who immediately ran and disappeared around the side of the gym. "I can't take much more of this..." She groaned, but then forced herself to run back out into the corridor and down the stairs.
Imagine all the people at peace!
As she ran, Izzy came to a realisation. However good Alyssa had been at organising this little wild goose chase- and it must have been Alyssa- it couldn't go on much longer. She'd seen Junko, Miki, Satomi, Yuzuki and Takumi. She'd seen Ryota, Megumi and Hiroko. Nanami, Goro and Momoko had taken over from Daisuke and Nori in the park. Katsu and Emi had met her on either side of her rampage through Shinobu's house. Asuka, Isamu, Chiyo and Akemi had all been on or around the train. Hoshiko, Mei, Kiku, Honeka and Hachiro- all these people had followed after Alyssa herself. Alyssa had obviously timed this very carefully, but not well enough- she was out of classmates. Izzy checked her watch with satisfaction. If she could catch and get her passport back from Junko in the next few minutes, she could catch the train in ten, and be back at the airport just in time for her flight.
However, when she rounded the corner of the gym and stood parallel to the climbing wall, trying to get her breath back, Junko was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, Marik was standing there, harnessed up, obviously about to climb the wall. There must have been a club activity going on. He looked at her in apparent surprise.
"Marik-senpai!" Izzy gasped. "Have you seen Junko-chan run through here?! Which way did she go?!"
"Oh, you mean the girl with long black hair?"
"Yes!"
"That way, I think." He said, pointing. As he did so, she saw the passport in his hand.
"Ah! You found it!" She grinned. "I need it! Thanks so much."
"Sorry." He said, shaking his head. "But Alyssa would kill me."
With that, he stuffed it into the harness and scurried up the wall like a true monkey man. Howling in frustration, Izzy realised there was no way she could climb the wall after him without a harness and helmet and she would never do it as quickly as him. It would be faster to run all the way up the seven floors of the school, onto the roof, and down the rickety ladder onto the roof of the gym. She headed back inside and began, wishing that the school would invest in a lift.
She paused briefly on the third floor and looked out a window over the roof of the gym, and saw Marik had already climbed the wall, unstrapped himself and was just beginning to climb the ladder to the top of the school.
So, the roof, was it?! Angry, she doubled her pace. This would end on the roof whether Alyssa wanted it to or not.
If I could ever go there
Only with you
The one and only love will take me there
Before my remaining life's bell rings
If I could ever go there
Izzy made her way up the seventh floor, and then up a final small staircase that lead to the roof. She pushed open the door at the top, and for a moment was blinded by the sun. Then she saw gold, glittering in the light, and realised the coat of arms on her passport was catching it again. Smiling with bitter triumph, she started forward to reclaim it-
But stopped short as she realised who was holding it. Atem turned to face her.
"...Hello." He said, smiling weakly.
Izzy glared at him, stomped across the roof and snatched her passport from his hand. She turned on her heel and began the march back to the door.
"You know," he said hesitantly, as she put her hand on the handle. "I think this proves... your class doesn't want you to go."
"...Well, I do." Izzy lied, annoyed, pulling the door open.
"Do you?" He asked quietly. "Then, I won't stop you."
"Like you could." Izzy snapped.
"But... before you go." He said, his voice growing stronger. It was too late now. Despite his better judgement, he could not stop the words any more then he could have stopped himself from coming here when Alyssa had told him to. "I just want to thank you. I'm happy you spoke to me. I'm grateful you changed me. I'm glad of the lessons you've taught me. And..." he swallowed. "And even though you're leaving, I don't regret falling in love with you."
She stood still for a moment, unable to stay, unwilling to go back. The wind blew, stirring up the leaves that lay on the flat roof.
"Is that true?" She asked, quietly.
"Yes." He said, blushing. "It's true. So I wanted to say a proper goodbye."
"Goodbye?" She repeated, turning around. "I don't think so."
With that, she ran across the roof and into his arms, and somewhere on the way the passport flew from her grip and off the roof. She didn't notice as he slowly lifted her face to his.
The passport spiralled down towards earth.
There isn't up or down
Everyone under the same sky
The paradise from our dreams
That's our paradise!
Greedless, nothing to lose, an impartial world
A dream paradise
Para paradise
The passport spiralled down towards earth.
Alyssa ran onto the school grounds, finding Marik as he came back down the climbing wall, and squeezed his hand. "How did it go?" She asked him.
"I don't know." He said, honestly. "She seemed pretty mad."
Just then, something began to fall from the roof. Alyssa saw it and smiled. Her plans always worked.
The passport spiralled down towards earth.
In the park not too far away, Bakura had looked up in surprise as he saw Izzy streak past, apparently in pursuit of a classmate, but for some reason felt no desire to intervene. He was doing little of anything nowadays. He felt a little lost, in all honesty. Since being expelled from school, he had felt perhaps he really should do something differently; a new start. That sounded worryingly cheesy, but away from the people he had sworn revenge on, maybe he could do something...
"Bakura?"
He knew the voice. He didn't dare turn to look, but sensed it as she sat down next to him. She still wore the same perfume.
"...I thought you went home." He said, eventually.
"I did." She admitted, a little embarrassed. "But.... I thought... you might need... help."
She covered his hand with hers. Somewhere not too far away, another new couple was embracing.
And the passport spiralled down towards earth. As it rotated, it caught the eye of all of 2A, who had now congregated to watch the show. As it span, they remembered, each of them a different occasion during Izzy's trip, a different day that was somehow effected by her presence. As it twisted in the air, gaining speed as it fell, they all knew that this was how it was meant to be.
The passport hit the ground. Up on the roof, the silhouette of two people entwined could just be seen. The class cheered.
A happy ending. 2A didn't seem complete without her.
There isn't up or down
Everyone under the same sky
The paradise from our dreams
That's our paradise!
Greedless, nothing to lose, an impartial world
A dream paradise
Para paradise
"Atem, would you get your backside out here?!" Alyssa yelled, stepping over a struggling hedge to pound on the outside window of N001. "We've been waiting ages!"
"It's five am." His voice came through the glass, grumpily. "I only managed to get to sleep an hour ago. You can wait a little longer while I get ready."
"Hurry up or I'll send Izzy in there without any clothes on!"
"You will not." Izzy sighed, dispensing justice in the form of a head swat.
"She's right." Marik agreed. "That would be demeaning. And he definitely wouldn't come out."
"Marik, not you too!"
"Atem!" Alyssa was saying again. "Out here, now, or we'll miss it!"
"It's not even New Years." He complained, but appeared a moment later. "Alright, I'm here."
"Then let's move out!" Alyssa commanded, and, rolling her eyes, Izzy followed.
The four of them headed into the woods, and began heading uphill. A sleepy sort of silence had fallen, and Izzy decided it was high time it was broken.
"Hey, Alyssa."
"Yeah?"
"Race you to the top!" She yelled, and ran.
"No fair!" Alyssa called, and stumbled after her, although they both knew that she had no hope.
"Must those two always compete?" Atem sighed. "It's obvious Izzy is faster."
Marik shrugged, but then suddenly grinned. Catching up with Alyssa easily, he grabbed her hand and began to pull.
"If you're going to run," he teased. "At least run faster."
"Hey, that's cheating!" Izzy shouted as they went past her. "Atem, come on!"
He sighed, but then ran, faster than all of them, pulling Izzy along in his wake.
"Ahhh, they're going to win!" Alyssa said in horror.
"Not if we climb that! We can cut them off!" Marik answered, pointing to a ledge just over a metre high that cut off a corner of the path. He dragged Alyssa towards it and hauled her up, and then to Izzy's disgruntlement, they were ahead, and disappeared behind the next bend. A moment later, however, there was a yelp. They didn't slow their pace as they passed Marik again.
"Hey!" He called after them. "A little help?! Alyssa fell in a bush!"
"No can do, sorry!" Izzy stuck out her tongue, and held Atem's hand as they reached the top and stood, silently contemplating the sunrise over the city. Orange and gold light painted the tops of the buildings in light, and the streets below lay in shadow. It felt as if no-one else in the world was awake. Even though most of the third years probably were.
When Alyssa (now removed from the bush) and Marik joined them at the top, for a moment no-one disturbed the peace. Then Atem spoke.
"So, why are we here?"
"If wishing on the sunrise works on New Years," Alyssa answered. "There's no reason it shouldn't on exam results day! So..." She took a step closer to the edge, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted as loudly as she could so that the words echoed away down the cliff. "I wish Marik gets the results he needs so he can go to the University he wants to!"
"Don't wish that, it's embarrassing!" He snapped. "Anyway, if I get in, I have to move away."
"I know, but..."
"Fine." He moved up to the edge, and imitating her, said, "I wish Alyssa would quit school and come with me!"
"What?! Don't wish that! What if it comes true?! I'm not dropping out of high school for you! I take it back!" She shouted off the cliff. "I hope he fails!"
"Hey! You can't take it back!"
Atem and Izzy watched as the playful argument continued into a noisy chase, and waited until the sounds disappeared down the hill and into the thick cover of the trees. A comfortable silence fell again.
"What are you going to wish for?" Atem asked, eventually.
"I don't know." Izzy answered honestly. "I already have everything I want."
They kissed briefly on the sunlit hill before walking slowly back down together, hand in hand. They rejoined the city, where people were just waking up, businesses began to open, students panicked waiting on results, lorries rumbled by, people cried, people laughed and loved and hated and died and walked forwards and lived.
None of these people, Izzy thought, knew they were now one more in number. But it didn't matter. It was, Izzy thought, proof that things would always turn out alright in the end. No matter what.
THE END
~*~Happy Birthday~*~
A/N (Waffles4eva): Well, that's it, done. It was my goal to get past the 50,000 word mark and I hit 54,795 (of which 1382 were 'and' and 3341 were 'the' XD). =D I would have liked this fic to have been longer, but it was my A-Level year and it was very busy; this took months as it was. XD I wanted Seto to be in it too, but I didn't just want to force him in, so I didn't. Had it been longer, I would have drawn out the Izzy/Bakura relationship, had more of his abuse of Alyssa, and especially added in more about Atem's powers. Oh well. This last episode may seem a little rushed. Well, that was mostly because I was going on a trip to Canada and had set a goal to finish this before I left. I was still writing at 11PM the night before... but I did it. XD On a side note, the end montage was the first scene I thought of. I wrote out a list of the places the classmates could be while waiting for English class one day, and wrote the preview underneath that. So yeah, I always knew it would be a happy ending, even if Scooby didn't. She kept saying 'It's you' to explain why she thought Izzy was going to die. If she paid attention, she'd realise no matter how bad my fics get, they always have a happy ending. XD Thanks for reading!!
A/N (scooby2408): Well, there you have it - I know that I have really enjoyed this and I hope you have to - I want to thank everyone who took the time to read it. Finally I just want to say a huge thank you to Waffles4eva for taking the time to writing it - it has been a fantastic birthday present.