"The Rose Duelist"

A Yu-gi-oh Fanfic

By: Seto's Princess

Disclaimer – I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh… I only own Maki and Mr. and Mrs. Kaichi.

SPECIAL NOTE: Some of you were a little confused by the last chapter. Let me just explain a few things. First, when I said the Kaichis could move in the next day, I meant that they could START moving the next day. They have to pack their things first. Thanks to Bunnyfluff for making me realize my little mistake there... Second, I am sure many of you are confused about Maki's past. I am sure you all got confused when I mentioned the 'white rose card', unless you have actually played the game. Do not worry, I PROMISE Maki's past will become clear as the story goes on. I am sorry for the confusion but I cannot reveal her past now because it would ruin the plot if you all knew. Anyway, thank you so much for being loyal and reading this story. You people are the best!

Chapter 12 - Scars and Memories…

'NO! Let him go! Don't you dare hurt him! NO!'

Maki woke up, sweating. She shot up and gasped for breath. Her breathing calmed down after a short while. She wiped the sweat off her face.

'Phew… It was just a dream, or rather, a nightmare…' she thought and sighed in relief.

All the sweating made her hot, so she took off her jacket.

'Rosenkreuz… I… I saved your life that time… The Lancastrians had captured me… You came to save me… but… you were almost killed… If I hadn't pushed you out of the way… Who knows what would've happened…'

Maki groaned and buried her head into her hands for a minute. She then looked down and slowly lifted her shirt midway to reveal her stomach. There, on her stomach, was a scar just two inches above her belly button. It was quite wide; it stretched far across her stomach. That scar was one of the battle scars she received in the Rose War. She had two others - one on her right thigh and the other on her back, merely an inch from her right shoulder.

She ran her finger across the scar, which she received when a sword slashed across her stomach. She received the other two scars at other times and by different weapons. She sighed again, pulled her shirt back down and thought back to her dream.

'Rosenkreuz… I got that scar because I saved you…' she thought and winced as she remembered the horrifying pain she experienced when that sword slashed across her stomach.

"Maki? Are you all right? I thought I heard you struggling in your sleep," Mrs. Kaichi whispered as she slowly took a few steps into the living room.

"What? Oh… No mom, I'm… fine. It was just a nightmare," Maki replied.

Her mother gave her a concerned look. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. No, that's alright. I just need some sleep."

"Are sure you don't want to talk about it?" her mother asked with concern.

Maki simply nodded and lied back down on the couch to sleep. It was quite dark in the room, so Mrs. Kaichi could not see the scar on Maki's shoulder. If she had, she would have asked about it. She stared at her daughter's shadowy form for a minute before she retreated to her room.

"Is everything alright, Yakima?" Mr. Kaichi asked as his wife walked in.

Mrs. Kaichi shook her head. "No. Morosou, I have a horrible feeling our Maki is hiding something from us, and it's not something good. I'm worried about her."

Mr. Kaichi took his wife into his arms and gently kissed her forehead. "Don't fret, Yakima. Once we get settled in Domino, she'll be sure to tell us everything."

"I hope so, Morosou… I hope so."

The next morning, Maki was the first one up. She yawned and stretched. The she realized she did not have her jacket on and if her parents saw the scar on her shoulder it would raise many unwanted questions. She quickly pulled her jacket on and went to the kitchen for a glass of water. She looked the living room when someone touched her shoulder.

"AGH!" Maki screamed and turned to see her father. "Oh, dad, it's just you. Good morning," Maki greeted her father after he nearly scared her to death.

"Your mother told me you had trouble sleeping last night. Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" he asked.

"I… Well…" Maki mumbled and her eyes wandered around the room, away from her father. They landed on a pile of boxes that had not been there the day before; at least Maki did not remember them being there the day before.

"Hmm? What's that?" she asked and walked over to the boxes.

"Oh, they're just some old boxes with your old things. We never threw anything out just in case you ever came back to us," Mrs. Kaichi answered as she walked into the living room.

"Oh… Speaking of which, when do we start packing?" Maki asked.

"You sure are in a rush to move to Domino," Mrs. Kaichi said.

Maki chuckled. "I guess we should have breakfast first. Hey mom, think you can still make those delicious homemade blueberry pancakes of yours?"

"Of course…"

None of the three Kaichis spoke much after that. Mr. Kaichi read the morning paper and drank some coffee while his wife made blueberry pancakes. Maki settled down on the couch to watch television.

'Wow… It's been a while since I've watched TV…' Maki thought.

She picked a random channel - Nickelodeon. 'Fairly Oddparents' was on. It was quite funny. It was the episode when Timmy tried to make money to buy tickets for 'Crash Nebula on Ice.' Maki actually laughed a few times, at which her parents would look up and admire that laugh that they had not heard from their daughter in years.

The Kaichis did not speak much during breakfast either. Mr. Kaichi continued looking through the newspaper for a job in Domino - hopefully one that was close to their new house.

"So, shall we start packing?" Maki asked once she and her parents were finished with breakfast.

"Sure…" her mother replied with a smile.

They worked for hours, packing things into boxes, clearing out everything. They would occasionally stop to take a break, but they spent most of the day packing. They finally finished around 2:00 AM in the morning and decided to call the moving trucks after they got some sleep.

Morning…

"Miss Kaichi! RUN!" someone shouted.

"…but what about the red rose card?" Maki asked.

"We can get it later! RUN!" the person shouted again.

Maki ran as fast as she could away from the ruthless fighting that was happening around her. She headed towards a lake at the bottom of a hill. She was almost there when a soldier grabbed her, pulled her into his grasp and before she could escape, he lodged a knife into her right thigh.

"NO!" Maki screamed and shot up from the couch. Her eyes were wide with fear and she was breathing rather heavily. She started shivering and her heart was beating fast. She brought her knees up to her chest and she buried her head into them.

Having a knife lodged in her thigh was not as painful as when the sword slashed across her stomach. It was the fact that she kept having nightmares that scared her practically to death.

"Why do I keep having these dreams?" she asked under her breath.

"Maki? What happened? We heard you scream!" Mrs. Kaichi asked with worry as she practically sprinted into the living room.

Maki could not hear her; she still had her head buried into her knees.

"Maki? MAKI! Maki, speak to us!" Mr. Kaichi shouted.

Maki's breathing started to calm down, but she was still quaking.

Mrs. Kaichi ran to her daughter and sat behind her back. "Honey, what's wrong? What happened? PLEASE SAY SOMETHING!" she yelled in desperation.

TBC…

Well, Maki's past is starting to unfold little by little. I hope you liked the chapter… and yes, Maki has three scars… Notice the name of the chapter. By the way, pretty much everything that was in italics in this chapter isMaki's dream.Anyway, please review. Thanks so much for reading this story! I take a lot of pride in this one.