DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.

Interview with an Authoress
Chapter 10: The Tenth Show
By Shadow's Mirror

Show aired October 27, 2007

A robed and hooded figure walks slowly down the hallway and turns into her computer room. She glances at the screen and sighs heavily, then begins to turn away.

"Well... that sigh certainly does not sound very hopeful."

The voice causes the figure to gasp and jump. She whirls around and stares in shock at the tall figure in the long purple robes and odd hat sitting on the couch on the far side of the room, sipping tea from a delicate china cup.

"D...Dark Magician!" She blinks at him, still in shock. "W...What are you doing here?" As her daze begins to ease, she frowns at the teacup. "I don't remember owning a tea set with female elves with long silver hair on it."

"Ah." A slight flush comes into his cheeks as the Dark Magician's teacup promptly vanishes. "You do not. I felt like a cup while I was waiting for you." He looks at her steadily. "You have kept me waiting for quite some time, Shadow's Mirror."

The girl looks away and sighs softly. "Yes. I know I have. I'm sorry."

The mage shrugs and waves off her apology with one relaxed hand. "It is fine. We have all had a good chance to rest. Well... except for me. For some reason Dark Witch has lately taken to plaguing me with a wide variety of pranks. This morning I woke up to find my bedchamber filled with Kuriboh. Yesterday she bespelled all my books to bite me. The day before that I found myself being followed around by a rain cloud that shot lightning bolts at me whenever I bent over." He sighs. "Dark Magician Girl believes she is having 'man trouble'. Or perhaps that should be 'D. Hu-man trouble'.

"That pun was terrible." Shadow's Mirror drops into the chair near her desk and arches an eyebrow at him. "So... bad jokes aside... what are you doing here?"

"Well..." The mage leans forward, his brown eyes suddenly serious. "Are you aware of what the date is?"

"The date?" The girl blinks. "Um... it's the twenty-seventh of October. Did you lose your calendar?"

"Yes, exactly!" He thumps a hand on the armrest of the sofa, then blinks. "Er... I mean... no, I have not lost my calendar. It is indeed the twenty-seventh of October!" He looks at her as if the date is supposed to have some incredible significance.

"Okaaaay... Um... Is that supposed to... mean something to me?" The girl looks baffled. "Um... Dark Magician? Are you all right?" She pokes the mage now lying on the floor in a state of extreme overreaction.

"Yes!" The mage coughs as he teleports back onto the couch. "As I was saying... Today is the twenty-seventh of October. Exactly one year, ten months and one day since the last time you updated any of your ongoing fics!"

He pouts at the blinking girl in the hooded robe. "Shadow's Mirror... you promised that your next update would not be long in coming out! Have you truly forsaken us?"

"Okay... the pout is a worry, chibi eyes on an adult mage are less than attractive... but the fact that you've actually kept track of how long it's been since I last updated is truly scary." The girl slowly inches her chair further away, eyeing him warily.

The mage droops and looks very disappointed. "So... you do not... deny it. I see." He stares down at his hands, clasped tightly in his lap.

A hand lightly rests on top of them. "Hey." Her voice is very soft and gentle. "I never said it was true, either. Sorry. You just... surprised me with what you said. I guess... I'd lost track of time. I didn't mean to be away for so long." She looks quite sheepish.

"Then..." Hope lights up his eyes as he lifts his head to look at her. "You are still planning on finishing your stories?"

She smiles and nods. "I am. It's just... taking a little longer than I expected for them to come together. It's a bit of a long story..."

The mage smiles. "Stories are what I love to hear most." He settles back in his seat.

A soft chuckle escapes the girl as she sits back in her chair as well. She grins at him. "I warn you now, this one's rather boring."

The Dark Magician returns her grin. "I do not mind."

"All right. Well, I had a few months when I was really busy and couldn't find any time at all to write. By the time I got to the point where I could write again, I found that all of my ongoing stories had... well..." She sighs. "You know how I think of stories as bubbling away in a pot? You put in the ingredients, then give it a stir, add a bit of spice and maybe a hint of sugary sweetness or some funny sauce and then you just put it aside and let it simmer for a while. When it comes to the boil, you have either a story or at least a chapter."

Her companion nods and smiles encouragingly. "Yes, I remember you saying that."

Shadow's Mirror smiles, but it's tinged with sorrow. "Well, I was so distracted with other stuff, and so very busy, that I didn't notice I'd forgotten to add water to all my ongoing stories. They all boiled dry. So I had to tip the ingredients and start over."

"What?! You mean... No! But... But..." The Dark Magician stares at her in shock.

"Oh! No! I don't mean I'm writing all my stories from the beginning again! I'm perfectly happy with how they've all turned out so far." She smiles as the mage sinks back into his chair with a loud sigh of relief. "I meant that I'd spent so long away from them that I'd forgotten the details about them. You know... where I was up to and where I'd planned on going from there. It's my own fault. I don't do much planning."

"Oh dear." The Dark Magician looks rather worried. "That does sound rather bad. You do not recall how you were going to finish... any of them?"

"Well... no, that's not quite it. I remember the endings to them all. The problem is that I'm not quite sure how I was going to get there for some of them. It's not unfixable. I just need to re-read them and get a feel for them again. That's all." She smiles.

"Ah." The mage smiles. "That does not sound as bad as it did before. But why has it taken you this long to do so?" He arches an eyebrow at the girl's blush. "Shadow's Mirror? You... have finished re-reading them all... have you not?" As she blushes more deeply and stares at the floor, he sighs. "Oh dear."

"Well... The problem is that I have to work through my ongoing stories one at a time. Read through one of them and then write a chapter. But what little writing time I have managed to squeeze in... my inspiration was never quite right for working on any of them." Shadow's Mirror sighs and shakes her head. "It's been the same with my drawings. I just haven't been able to get anything done." She looks quite frustrated.

"Oh my." The Dark Magician considers that. "Well, if you need inspiration... I would be more than happy to pose for you, or to tell you my life story." He beams at her.

It takes the girl a few minutes of coughing before she is able to speak. "Um... no. Thank you... but... no. That really won't be necessary." She grins at the pouting mage. "This happens to me sometimes. I go a while without any inspiration and then something happens and I get a lot all at once. This time around... I had computer problems."

"Again?" The Dark Magician winces. "You did not lose anything precious, did you?"

"No, but I was forced offline for over a month." As the mage pales and stares at her in shock, she nods. "Yeah, that was my reaction too for the whole first week. But after that, I got in and got a few things done that I'd been putting off." She grins. "Like catching up on a backlog of anime that included twelve volumes of InuYasha." She doesn't have to wait long for the mage to put two and two together.

"You have become inspired again! Oh that is wonderful!" He smiles and looks very excited as he practically bounces in his seat. "So what have you written? Only InuYasha?" He tries not to look too hopeful. "No... 'Hearts' or 'Shadows'?"

"I'm afraid not..." She bites her lip as he pouts at her. "But you know, you are a bit behind the news. What you were saying before about how long it's been since I updated... You were a little off."

The mage blinks. "I was?"

"Uh huh." Shadow's Mirror nods and then it's her turn to blink as he summons up a ledger and leafs through it. "Um... you mean you're actually keeping track?"

"Well of course! How else will I know when there is another chapter of 'Hearts' written? You do not agree to an interview every time you update." He frowns at the ledger. "Hmm... No, I was correct. None of your ongoing stories have been updated for all that time."

Shadow's Mirror smiles a mysterious little smile. "Well... it is true that it is not an ongoing story anymore but... I think you'll find that I've updated 'Library' since then."

"What do you mean it is not..." The Dark Magician blinks at her, then quickly studies his ledger. His eyes widen and he slowly lifts his head to stare at her. "You... finished 'The Shadow Library'?" He blinks at her and then beams happily. "That is wonderful!"

The girl smiles wryly as she nods. "Yes. Over a year ago, now. But don't worry. You weren't the only one who didn't notice. To say that it was not well received would be an understatement. It didn't get a single review. Actually..." She looks down at her feet. "I think that was one of the reasons why I didn't feel like writing for a while."

"Oh?" The mage looks curiously at her. "Why is that?"

"Well... I write for myself, but it's still nice to know that other people are enjoying what I'm writing. It makes the time and effort I put into my stories... worthwhile." She shrugs. "With 'Library'... It's an important story to me. It's one of my core stories, one of the ones that links together. It's also the first of those that I've finished. I guess... a part of me hoped that people would like it. But... no one even bothered to say that they'd read the last chapter or had hated it. I thought I might get a few complaints about it, but not hearing even one single word... I'm just egotistical enough to admit that it hurt." She smiles a little and shrugs again. "Childish of me, I know. I think that's one of the reasons why I haven't felt like working on any of my other ongoing ones. A part of me was wondering if maybe writing fanfiction was a waste of time."

The Dark Magician looks sympathetic as he nods. "So what has changed?"

The girl shakes her head. "Nothing really. I just needed some time to myself to focus on the other things in my life and to make sure that I was doing what I really wanted to do. I realised I was." She smiles. "I write because I love writing. I don't write for the praise or for reviews. I've never asked for them and I'm not going to start now. I knew when I started writing these stories that they would take me a while to finish. I promised myself that I would and... I'm going to keep that promise."

Nodding again, the mage reaches over and pats her knee. "That sounds like an excellent idea to me." He smiles at her and settles back in his chair. "So... you have begun writing again? Although, that is not quite correct. I see you have written a couple of things over the past year. Hmm... along with the last chapter of 'Library' there was a oneshot about Téa and... cake?" He arches an eyebrow at that.

Shadow's Mirror grins. "Actually... it's about Téa learning that when an expert says something is 'a piece of cake' he means it's easy for him to do but bothersome for anyone else."

"Ah. Yes, I have found that out myself." The Dark Magician winces. "Casting an invisibility spell if you are not naturally born invisible is not a good idea."

"I didn't hear about that one." Her grin widens at the look he gives her.

"Well you have been away for a while." He shrugs and quickly returns to the topic, obviously quite embarrassed about his invisibility incident. "I see your next story was another one featuring Téa." One eyebrow arches curiously. "That is unusual."

The girl nods. "Yeah. I normally try to spread the writing around the characters but Téa was the only one who fit those two stories. So she got the starring roles in them."

"I see." He nods and looks at his book again. "Ah! You have kept up with your special holiday updates! Two... InuYasha fics." He tries to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

"I wanted to do some Yu-Gi-Oh ones as well." Shadow's Mirror sighs. "But the months leading up to Christmas ended up being complete chaos and I barely managed to get those two done." She rolls her eyes. "Why is it that stuff never comes in single file but always in groups of three or four things at once?"

The Dark Magician pats her knee again. "I know the feeling all too well. Although in my case it usually comes in a horde... most often of Kuriboh." He winces. "So those were your last stories until now?"

The girl nods. "Yes. But then I managed to get some inspiration. At least with InuYasha. Hey, it's a start!"

"Indeed it is." The mage smiles happily at her. "So... are you going to tell me about your new stories or not?"

She arches an eyebrow at him and grins. "I thought you were only interested in my Yu-Gi-Oh fics?"

He has the good grace to look embarrassed. "I do not recall ever saying that..."

"Hmm..." She chuckles and lets him off the hook. "Well... the first one is called 'Reasons' and it's something a little different. I was in an odd mood the night I wrote it so it's written in a style I don't use all that often. I'm sure I'll remember why at some point," she adds with another chuckle. "I had a bit of fun with it, though."

The Dark Magician nods. "Most of your stories seem to have at least a little humour."

She nods too. "I'm most comfortable with writing that sort of thing. But anyway, I quite like 'Reasons'. I've been wanting to write an InuYasha fic with a transformation from human to half-demon in it ever since I saw it done in the show and now I'm very happy to say that I have." She grins. "I've also thought about this particularly storyline for some time, but somehow I never seemed to get around to writing it. Until now."

"I for one am very glad you did." The mage smiles at her. "I am sure I will be even more so when I have actually read it. So what else have you written?"

The girl becomes more serious. "The second one isn't so much what I've written as what I've decided should not have been written. A while back I wrote a fic called 'Visitors to a Feudal Fairytale'. As far as I was concerned, it was complete and I was very happy with it. But almost everyone who mentioned it to me asked when it was going to be 'finished' or what was going to happen 'next', because I'd left the ending open. I'd never intended on writing anything more, but one day I found myself tossing a few ideas around and I came up with something. It wasn't great. It wasn't even good. It had a few nice ideas but they didn't really fit that story. Still... I wrote it and called it chapter two and I've been trying to write the final chapter ever since."

"I remember that one. You mentioned having a lot of trouble with the final chapter."

"I finally realised that was because there isn't one." The girl shrugs. "I started working on one, but it was awful. I realised then that I just don't like that story as anything more than a oneshot. It was never meant to be more than that. I think I've spoiled it by trying to make that story into something it never was and never should have been."

The Dark Magician nods. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to delete the second chapter. From now on, it's a oneshot. Just as it was always intended to be." Shadow's Mirror smiles.

Studying her for a moment, the mage smiles and nods. "You look quite a bit happier with that decision than the times you have mentioned that story to me in the past. It has been weighing on your mind so greatly?"

Shadow's Mirror nods. "I think so. That one and my ongoing stories. I have so little free time and so much that needs to be done... Those ongoing stories have become just one more thing that I can't seem to find the time to finish. That's why I've decided to try and make a concentrated effort on them."

"What an excellent idea! Where do you plan to start?" The Dark Magician leans forward eagerly.

"Well..." The girl bites her lip and looks very guilty. "My inspiration seems to be in the area of InuYasha at the moment." As the mage sighs and looks disappointed, she pats his knee. "I know the two you're waiting on and I promise I will work on them soon. But when the last chapter of 'Competition' came to me, I just had to write it."

The mage nods. "Of course you..." He blinks and stares at her. "Wait a minute... Did you just say that you have completed...?" He begins to look quite excited.

Shadow's Mirror smiles and nods. "Yes. I'm very pleased to be able to finally say that 'The Youkai Strength Competition' has been completed." She sighs in relief and leans back in her chair, for the first time looking comfortable with being there, chatting to the Dark Magician. "It's been a long time coming. I just hope the wait was worth it."

"Oh, I am sure it will be!" The purple-hatted mage smiles at her and summons tea and biscuits for both of them. He ignores the girl's arched eyebrow at the simple white cups and passes her the plate of chocolate chip cookies. "Hmm... if I recall correctly... that one and the one you mentioned before were the only ongoing ones you had for that fandom."

"That's right." Shadow's Mirror smiles. "I'm all caught up now."

The Dark Magician takes a moment to sip his tea as he considers that. "So what are your plans for the future in that fandom? Are you working on anything new?"

"Well..." Shadow's Mirror also sips her tea. "I don't think I'll be working on another ongoing one for a while. I have too many other ongoing ones right now. A oneshot is a possibility. There's an idea I've had for quite some time now. I've put it in a pot and give it a stir now and then and see if it becomes anything interesting."

Nodding, the mage waits until he's finished the bit of biscuit he's eating before he asks his next question. "What of your plans for your other stories?"

Shadow's Mirror smiles. "Well... I haven't started new chapters for most of my other ongoing stories, but I do have a couple of pages written for one of them. It's been stuck like that for a while, though, thanks to that boiling dry problem I mentioned earlier. I need to gather the ingredients for it again, but I'm hopeful that it will come to the boil fairly soon after that." She grins as the mage looks hopeful. "No, I'm not telling you what story that is. I don't want to disappoint you in case something else ends up coming to the boil first."

The mage pouts at her and then sighs. "Oh, very well then. So what else are you working on?"

"Not much really, aside from a oneshot and the first chapter of a new ongoing fic." She winces as the magician promptly spills his tea on his lap. "Oh dear."

It takes a moment for the startled mage to clean up the spillage, but then he stares at her in considerable shock. "You have... completed a oneshot?" He blinks at her.

"Actually, that one's been written for a while now. It had a few problems and needed a pretty heavy amount of editing, but I'm happy to say that it's now ready to go." She smiles at the stunned magician. "It's a Bakura and Ryou one called 'The Parakeet Adventure'. Yes, I know it's a very weird title." She grins and sips her tea.

"Yes, it certainly is." He still looks quite dazed. "What of this new ongoing story? Although... I thought you just said that you would not be starting anything new since you had so many other ongoing ones?"

Shadow's Mirror smiles wryly. "I meant InuYasha ones. I want to revel in the feeling of having no ongoing fics there for a while. Besides, this new one isn't exactly new."

At the confused look that comment earns her, she smiles. "It was one of the chapters I lost in that computer crash I had a few years ago. I wasn't able to rewrite it. I tried but it just didn't work out. But then one day, I was sitting at my computer working on something else and... the next thing I knew I'd been typing continuously for a few hours and I had the first chapter of 'A New Beginning' in front of me. I wasn't sure about posting it just yet. I wanted to get another chapter or two of it written first. But when I looked at how much I still have to do with the others, and thought about how short this one is likely to be... I changed my mind."

The Dark Magician nods and looks very wise. "As Dark Witch is always telling me, that is the prerogative of a female."

The girl laughs and nods. "I agree with her completely. What changed my mind about it was the realisation that while I had a long way to go on some of the others, writing a chapter of that shorter one and knowing that I was getting somewhere with it, just might be the motivation that I've been lacking with my writing lately." She shrugs. "I figure it's worth a try, anyway." She sips her tea and nibbles on a biscuit.

"Indeed." The Dark Magician nods. "So let me see if I have this straight... Of your ongoing ones, you have finished 'Library' and 'Competition' and 'Visitors' shall be restored to oneshot status. You also have a new ongoing story called... What shall its short form be?"

The girl considers for a moment. "Hmm... 'Beginning' makes the most sense, I think."

"'Beginning', it is!" The Dark Magician smiles at the hooded girl sitting in the chair opposite his couch. "As well as that, you have two new oneshots, 'Reasons' and...?"

Shadow's Mirror grins. "Best use 'Parakeet' for that one. I might need 'Adventure' for something else at some point."

"'Parakeet', then." The mage blinks and shakes his head. "I shall have to read that one. I confess, the title has made me most curious."

"Oh good." The girl grins. "That's what I was hoping it would do. Good titles are very important. The wrong title can make a story sound very different to what it really is."

The Dark Magician nods. "Very true. So, is that all of your latest works? You seem to have done quite a bit."

"Not as much as I would have liked." Shadow's Mirror sighs. "I really am very sorry to have made you and the others wait so long. I never meant to stop writing."

Leaning over, the mage pats her knee gently. "It is quite all right, my dear. We all understand. Even writers have lives beyond their stories."

"Well said." She grins.

The mage grins back. "Feel free to quote me." As the girl laughs, he nibbles another biscuit and sips his tea.

After she calms down, Shadow's Mirror smiles at him. "Thank you for coming to visit me, Dark Magician. I must admit, I've missed chatting with you like this."

"As I have missed conversing with you, Shadow's Mirror." The Dark Magician smiles back at the girl. "I wish I could speak with you more, however... time grows short. I can only stay in this world for a brief time, after all."

The hooded head nods. "I know. Don't worry, I'll come to you next time and we'll have a really good chat." She smiles at the Magician, who is already beginning to fade out of sight.

"I shall look forward to it, my dear. Hopefully next time... it will not be so long in coming. Farewell!" He vanishes completely.

Shadow's Mirror sips her tea and smiles to herself. "Yes, hopefully, it won't be."

Cut! Okay, that's a wrap!
(more coming soon!)