Seasons of Love: Springtime Love

by Anime-Queen-2011

Sequel to Wintertime Love. The gang returns to Ochi City for Spring Break. Then something terrible happens and they're forced to suffer weeks of torturous questions & hours at the hospital. In the end, one duelist may not return to Duel Academy. RxR JxA

37. The Final Call

Disclaimer: If my name was Kazuki Takahashi then I wouldn't even be on this site, so, yes, I don't own YuGiOh GX. I do not own the specific scenes in this chapter. This is noted in a footnote at the end of the chapter.

Claimer: My series, my plots, my titles, my original characters…go get your own.

Chapters Remaining (Excluding this one): 3

xXx

Narrative POV

"Jaden! Jaden! No, Jaden, please!" Alexis cried, turning from the screaming heart monitor to hold Jaden's face tightly between both of her hands. It took only a moment for the room to be flooded with ICU nurses and doctors. Dr. Kawasaki was the one who pulled Alexis away from Jaden.

"Miss, I need you to stand back," he said.

She clutched his arm, saying, "No! I have to stay with him!"

He shook his head and kept pushing her toward the door. "Miss, you have to stay out of the way!"

"Doctor!" a nurse yelled, making both Dr. Kawasaki and Alexis turn around. The nurses had leveled Jaden's bed back so he lay flat. One nurse pumped air into Jaden's lungs while another performed CPR while a third was preparing the crash cart.

"Jaden!" Alexis screamed as she tried to push passed Dr. Kawasaki.

"Miss! Stay out of the way and let us do our jobs, please!" he said, pushing Alexis back.

"Doctor!" another nurse yelled. "We need your help!"

"What's going on?" Chris demanded as he and everyone else burst into the room.

"For God's sake, this isn't a show!" Dr. Kawasaki yelled, giving Alexis a gentle but firm push back toward the group. Atticus immediately wrapped his arms around her to keep her back, holding her firmly against his chest. "Everyone needs to vacate this room ASAP!"

"Dr. Kawasaki, we don't have time for you to argue with them!" a nurse, who was pumping air into Jaden's body, yelled.

"Just let them be! We need you now!" the nurse performing CPR demanded.

"Nurse, grab the crash cart!" Dr. Kawasaki ordered before turning back to gapping group. "Stay there and do not move!"

"Forget about us! Help my son!" Chris demanded as he pointed toward his son while he kept one arm wrapped firmly around his wife, who was trying to get to her son.

Dr. Kawasaki looked a little hesitant, but he quickly turned around and rushed over to bed. "Nurse, bring the crash cart over here stat!"

A nurse quickly pushed the cart toward the bed while another nurse removed the pipe and bag from Jaden's mouth. The third nurse hastily opened Jaden's shirt and strapped on the pads from the cart that the first nurse handed to her. With the pads attached, Dr. Kawasaki prepared the cart. While the machine warmed up, he rubbed the two crash pads together. When the machine was fully powered up, he yelled, "Clear!" and pressed the paddles against Jaden's chest. The body jerked up, the heart monitor silencing for just a moment. When Jaden's body lay flat again and the shrieking continued, Dr. Kawasaki demanded the machine be turned up and they tried again.

While he and the nurses tried to revive Jaden, his family and friends watched with wide eyes and horrified while dozens of memories with their favorite Slifer flashed across their eyes like a movie.

xXx

Bastion's POV

Jaden's view of the world is something I always admired about him. He didn't look at things the same way I did, with calculations and statistics. It was refreshing to be friends with someone like him, because he wasn't intimidated by my genius, I don't think it really registered to him at all. He just looked at me like a duelist and a friend and treated me as both.

So when I needed help cleaning my dorm room walls and ceilings, which were covered in different formulas and equations, I knew who would be willing to help.

"Check it out, I'm Michael Angelo," Jaden said, balancing on a metal stool while he brushed white paint over my many formulas on the ceiling of my dorm room. Syrus was painting the wall while I scrubbed the floor, the three of us laughing and having a good time. "Get it?" Jaden continued after a second. "Because I'm painting on the cei-" He was cut off when he began to wobble back and forth on the stool. The paint brush flew out of his hands and smacked Syrus in the face.

"You do realize that this means war, Jay," Syrus deadpanned.

Jaden began to hop around frantically on the now stable stool. "Look, Sy, it was an accident."

Syrus ignored him and grabbed the can of paint.

"Okay that's enough, give me that paint," I demanded as I stood up, only I was a few seconds too late. Syrus splashed the paint toward Jaden, who jumped out of the way just in time. Only I was standing right behind him and was now dripping with white paint.

Jaden saw this and started to laugh loudly, which annoyed me.

Growling, I said, "Funny, is it?" I grabbed my cloth that I was using to scrub the floors and shoved it in his face, coating him with a layer of white paint.

He growled softly and grabbed a paint brush still dripping and tried to swipe me with it, only I dodged. Then, with him using the brush and me my towel, we began to playfully fight, trying to get the other one with paint. We all started laughing and Syrus joined in with the bucket, dumping its contents on Jaden's head when he wasn't looking.

I never had moments like this at home, probably because I never had friends like Jaden, easy going and fun to be around. Though it took me an hour to wash all of the paint off of my person, I wouldn't change what happened for anything.

xxx

I always knew Jaden would be a worthy opponent. The fact that I spent the past few weeks dissecting his deck and preparing one to counter his was testament enough to my belief in him and his abilities. I never spent so much time on an opponent if I didn't believe they were good enough for it; Chazz is an example of that.

Of course Jaden didn't disappoint, he kept surprising me. But I thought I had already assured my victory when I disabled Jaden's fusion properties. He couldn't win if he couldn't fuse, a simple answer to the complicated equation that was Jaden Yuki's deck.

I should have anticipated the end result though, but my pride and confidence clouded my judgment. I should have realized that I would never be able to defeat Jaden by simply stopping his fusion ability. He never quit, never would, that's just the kind of duelist he is.

That duel with Jaden taught me that a duelist can't be measured by their deck alone, but their determination and faith. Just because Jaden uses his fusion monsters doesn't mean he can't win without them. I may have solved the equation that was Jaden's deck and his fusion monsters, but there is no answer to the equation that is Jaden Yuki.

xXx

Zane's POV

I never thought at a Slifer would be as skilled as Jaden was. But he was, and he was held his own against me far better than some other Obelisk's I've dueled had. Perhaps it is because he had dueled for a reason.

I chanced a glance over at my brother, who was watching me as I walked away. Just behind him, Jaden stood smirking. He just lost but he accepted it with dignity, a trait that many duelists around here lack. I smiled softly at both of their expressions before continuing on my way.

"So, Zane," Alexis said as she caught up with me. "What do you think?"

I smiled softly again. "I think Sy chose good friends, Alexis."

xxx

I wasn't surprised that I scored highest in the entire school; I'd only been doing it for the past three years. When Crowler told me that I had the honor of selecting my opponent for the graduation duel, I didn't even need to think twice about who it would be. There was only one person worthy of being my opponent for my last duel here at Duel Academy, and I've been itching to duel him for weeks now.

Only when the duel actually came, Jaden wasn't dueling his best. And I wouldn't stand for it.

"Come on! Where's the Jaden that almost beat me before?" I demanded.

"He's right here!"Jaden yelled back. "I think. I don't know."

"Of course you don't!" I closed my eyes and spoke a little less severe. "Because you're heart is not in this." I was being serious, but the mood shifted instantly when Jaden's stomach growled.

"Oh, and neither is my stomach," Jaden said, sitting down. "Ah, I skipped lunch."

I was not expecting that to be his response. "Huh?"

The school began to murmur, but Jaden ignored them. "Dorothy!" he yelled, looking around. "You around?" He spotted her and raised his hand in the air. "Hey there! How bout some grub?"

She just smiled and looked at her partner. They both nodded and stood up. "Okay, you got it!" Dorothy said as the two of them took off, apparently to get Jaden lunch, right in the middle of our duel.

"Hello, it's Jaden. Everything he does is odd," Chazz said after being asked by Bastion.

"Maybe, but at least he's being himself," Syrus said.

Jaden laughed and lounged back on his hands. "Sy's right! I wasn't being me! And what better way to be Jaden than to have a big meal? Huh? So, how bout it, Zane, do you mind if I scarf?"

I closed my eyes. Now this is the Jaden I've been waiting to duel. "Why not?"

"Great answer."

After he ate, the duel really began. The fact that Jaden was able to come back so quickly and not be defeated as easily as he would have proved that he was a fantastic duelist, and a worthy adversary. So when the final round came about, I knew that I had chosen the right duelist.

"Wow, Zane, you really are great. I'm gonna miss ya," Jaden said as my Cyber-End Dragon prepared to destroy his Shining Flare Wingman and end the duel.

"And I you, Jaden, and that's why I'm passing you the torch," I said.

"Huh?"

"Once I leave here, you'll be the top student at this school. Despite your grades or your rank you'll be the best so make me proud," I explained, smiling.

"I'll give it my all, Zane, and I'll start right here 'cause this duel's not done!" Jaden exclaimed, shocking me. "I still have one trick up my sleeve, oh yeah, and here it comes! I'm activating the trap known as Final Fusion!"

I gasped, and then smiled again. "How cleaver."

"If this card's played the both of us take damage to your life points equal to our monsters combined attack points, and you know what that means." He was smiling.

I was smiling too. "Sure do."

After our monsters exploded and our life points dropped to zero, the crowd began to clap, but I really wasn't paying attention. I walked over to Jaden, who was still flat on his back.

"You okay?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"I think. How's my hair? Is it still there?" he asked, sitting up.

We didn't look at each other as we spoke.

"Looks like a draw," I said.

"Yeah, does that mean we gotta duel again?" he asked.

"Absolutely. Someday we will," I answered without a second thought.

"Sweet. I guess till then," he said.

I raised my hand toward him. "Till then."

He slapped my hand. "Good, I could use a break."

"Me too," I agreed before we both lay on our backs laughing. It was the best duel I had in a long time, and I was already anticipating our next.

Jaden was going to make me proud, I was sure of it.

xXx

Blair's POV

I came to Duel Academy for Zane. I loved him, I wanted to be with him, and I wanted to marry him. Only I was too young to enroll, so I had to disguise myself as a guy, except I nearly blew my cover when temptation got the better of me and I snooped around Zane's room. Jaden found me and ended up discovering who I was.

I had to make sure he kept quiet about it. He didn't seem like he was going to, but he wanted a reason, and I didn't want to give him one. He had this crazy idea that a duel would tell him everything he wanted.

I'll admit, dueling him was a lot of fun, and watching his expression when my Maiden slowly turned all of his monsters against him was the best. When he beat me, I wasn't as upset as I thought I would be, and I was ready to tell him my secret. Only he said he already knew, and so did everyone else who saw us duel, especially Zane.

His rejection stung, but I knew he was right. I wasn't ready for Duel Academy. So I left, vowing to return when I was the right age.

I may have come to Duel Academy for Zane, but I'd return for Jaden.

xXx

Axel's POV

The ocean waves beat steadily against the cliff side. The wind whipped against me, shaking me by the steel cable tied around my foot. I could hear the blades whirling as they began to cut through the cable. My eyes were closed and my arms were folded across my chest. My duel disk was back in my dorm room, mostly because it couldn't fit over my thick jacket.

The cable gave slightly, but I didn't flinch. I knew I still had plenty of time. A miniscule shudder ran down my spine as I felt eyes on me. Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked up.

Jaden smiled when he saw me looking, kneeling on the edge of the cliff, wrapped tightly in his own thick, winter blazer. "I have a question for you."

I glanced at the top of the cable, seeing I had a few more minutes before I would have to get on the cliff to avoid a head dive into the raging sea. "And what would you like to ask?"

Jaden folded his arms over the tops of his knees, resting his chin on them. "What are you doing for Christmas break?"

I shrugged. "I'm going to be staying here; my parents won't be at home and I won't be able to catch up with them before they leave."

Jaden frowned. "And you're okay with that?"

I frowned at him, wondering why he was interested in my home life suddenly. "Being okay with it and being able to do something about it are two completely different things."

"Fair enough," he agreed, falling silent for a moment. "But are you okay being here at Duel Academy alone?"

I couldn't help but smirk up at him. "Who said I'll be alone? Dr. Crowler will be keeping me company."

He laughed, which made my smirk soften slightly until it vanished. The blades were almost completely through the cable, so I swung back and forth until I had enough momentum to flip up onto the cliff, kneeling next to Jaden just as the cable snapped.

Jaden clapped for me while I untied the cable from the front of my boot. "Why do you do that anyway?" he asked when I undid the knot.

"My father trained me that dueling is about training both the mind and the body. That you have to push yourself to your limits in order to get better," I explained, standing up. "I train how I duel: hard."

Jaden smiled up at me, still kneeling. "I can respect that." He stood up and dusted the dirt from his pants, turning to look up at me. "Do you want to come home with me for Christmas?"

I froze, turning to look at him. He was staring at me, smiling softly. "What?"

He chuckled and shoved his hands into his blazer pockets. "Come home with me for Christmas. Spend it with me, my family, and everyone else." He nodded his head toward the academy. "All of our friends are already coming, well, except for Adrian." He shrugged. "He's already got plans."

I kept staring at him. "You're serious."

He nodded and looked back at me. "Yeah, of course."

"Why?"

"Because I want you to be there," he answered.

I shook my head slightly. "But why would you want me to intrude on your family's Christmas?"

"You're not intruding on anything, Axel. I'm inviting you just like I invited everyone else," he explained.

I sighed. "Why do you want me to go?"

He smiled at me. "Because you're my friend and I want you to be there."

I continued to stare at him, but he just kept smiling at me. The wind continued to howl and the ocean continued to lap against the cliff side. Seeing that he was serious, and I truly didn't want to be alone for Christmas, I nodded. "Well, if you're insisting and it really isn't an inconvenience, then I'd be honored to come."

His face broke out into his trademark grin. "Sweetness! We're all leaving in three days and we won't be coming back to classes start back up for the New Year. You guys are all getting a hotel, my parents are paying and don't even try to convince them otherwise, it will not work. Jesse and Alexis will be staying at my house with me." He pumped his fist in the air. "This is gonna be the best Christmas ever! I'll catch ya later, Axel. Lex and I got a date!" He took off running with a small wave over his shoulder.

I stood there for a few moments longer before laughing softly and shaking my head, a soft smile turning my lips. Out of all the people I've met in my life, there is truly only one person like Jaden Yuki. I never even knew that he considered us friends, but the fact that he did gave me a feeling of comfort I've never felt before.

I may not have known that he considered us friends, but I'm glad he did. I was sure that I would never have another friend as special as Jaden Yuki for the rest of my life.

xXx

Jim's POV

"Hey, Jim, where are you going?" Jaden asked me, walking over to me.

I looked back at him. "I'm heading back to my dorm."

He frowned and glanced down at his watch, the same one Alexis had given him for his birthday. "But it isn't even nine yet." He looked back at me. "Don't you want to stay for a little longer? I bet Shirley would kick all our butts at limbo."

I chuckled and shook my head. "She would, but we have to get up early in the morning."

"Why? There are no classes tomorrow." His eyes grew wide as he gasped. "Right?"

I laughed. "No, there are no classes."

"Then why are you getting up early?"

I patted Shirley, who was secured in her pack on my back. "Shirley and I are going to clean up the island."

He stared at me confused for a minute, cocking his head to the side. "Clean up the island?"

I nodded and glanced around the beach we were standing on. This past week had been parents' week, so the entire island had been filled with hundreds of parents. Because of this, and the apparent lack of trashcans, everyone seemed to be throwing all of their trash wherever they pleased.

"You've seen the mess," I stated simply, nodding toward a trail of soda cans that someone had thrown into the sand.

Jaden looked at where I nodded, his mouth falling into the shape of an 'o' as he understood what I was talking about. He looked back at me, frowning. "But why are you going to clean it up? Didn't Chancellor Sheppard create a cleanup group? He has the past two years anyway."

I shook my head. "With everything that has happened this year, with Viper and," I hesitated, knowing how sensitive Jay was when it came to mentioning the alternate dimension, Dark World, and Yubel.

He smiled softly. "Jim, it's okay. I can handle it."

"And everything," I continued, basically ignoring what he said. "The cleanup crew just slipped through the cracks."

"So you're going to do it by yourself?" he asked.

"I won't be alone, Mate. I got me Shirley to help, don't I girl?" I looked at her, smiling when she growled.

"But why are you going to clean it up?" Jaden persisted.

I sighed and looked back at him. "I told you before; wild life preservation is a hobby of mine. This island is a delicately balanced ecosystem and all of this garbage could disturb it if it isn't taken care of." I shrugged. "Someone has to clean it up, and I guess it's going to be me and Shirley." I wasn't concerned though; I've done it before and I knew I'd do it again in the future.

Jaden just kept staring at me before asking, "What time are you getting up?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "I'm going to start cleaning at seven. Why?"

He opened his mouth to answer, but Alexis called him over. He glanced at her and held up one finger before looking back at me.

I chuckled and shoved his shoulder lightly. "Go to your girl, Mate. I've got to get to bed anyhow." I squeezed his shoulder. "I'll see you later." I waved to him as I headed off to my dorm.

True to my word, I was up, dressed, and prepared for a day filled with cleaning up the island. I started to work my way through the portion of the woods where a majority of the guests spent their time and dropped their trash. I glanced up in a tree, seeing a string of gum wound through a bird's nest.

"Well, that's not good," I said, dropping the slowly filling trash bag down and climbing up into the tree. I sat on the branch and, with gloved hands, began to pull and unwind the gum from the nest.

"G'Day there, Jim!"

I jumped at the sudden yell, hands shooting up to balance myself from the branch above my head. I looked down and saw the source of the outburst, and gasped, "Jaden!"

He was smiling up at me, dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a long sleeved black shirt.

"Hey, don't forget about me," a different voice, southern accented this time, as its owner poked his head in so I could see him through the leaves.

"Jesse?"

He smiled widely at me. "Howdy," he said, saluting me with his index in middle fingers of his right hand. He was dressed exactly like Jaden; except he was still wearing his tan boots and his long sleeved shirt was blue.

Finally getting the gum out of the nest, I jumped down and landed on the ground, pitching the gum into the bag I left on the ground. I dusted my hands off and looked back at the pair of best friends before me. "What are you guys doing here?"

Jaden waved a garbage bag at me slightly. "We're here to help you clean up the island."

I blinked a few times. "Really?"

"Of course!" Jesse exclaimed, laughing. He looked around, frowning. "You'd think the parents would try to clean up after themselves. Ya know, set a good example for us kids."

Jaden laughed. "Yeah, well, we're kind of exempt from that rule of law, aren't we?"

Jesse laughed at him. "If my mom saw this mess, she'd be embarrassed for herself and her peers."

"My dad probably would have just arrested them for littering." Jaden laughed again. "The entire island would have been in lock up!"

They laughed again and I started to laugh with them. "As entertaining as this monologue is, why are you guys here to help me clean up?"

They stopped laughing and looked at me, looking back at each other before they turned back to me again. "Because we want to," Jaden said.

I frowned at them. "But why…" I never got to finish, cut off by a different voice.

"Jaden, did you find Jim?"

Jaden smiled and turned around. "Yeah, over here, Lex!" He raised his hand and waved his arm over his head, getting the attention of his girlfriend.

I slightly gapped as not only Alexis – dressed in jeans, tennis shoes, and a dark blue fitted shirt – walked over to us, but Syrus, Hassleberry, Bastion, Axel, Aster, Blair, and Chazz were all trailing behind her. Everyone was dressed in jeans and tennis shoes and various types of shirts in various colors, save Axel, who was still dressed in his normal attire.

"What took you guys so long?"Jaden asked, reaching his hand out and smiling when Alexis took it, twining their fingers together.

"Hassleberry couldn't find any tennis shoes and Syrus wouldn't let him wear his combat boots," she explained. I looked down at Hassleberry's feet and saw that he was wearing his combat boots anyway.

"Syrus give up?" I asked.

"I did not! Chazz threatened to go back to bed if we didn't hurry up, so I allowed dino-brain to wear his boots," Syrus explained, glaring softly in Chazz's general direction, but he just ignored the glare.

"Anyway," Axel cut in before something could ensue, looking at me. "I'm assuming you came from the direction of your dorm, as there was no garbage when we worked our way over here."

I nodded. "Yeah, I got a little tied up." I pointed up at the birds nest. During the time when everyone arrived, the mother returned and was now chirping happily.

Everyone glanced up before looking at Jaden. He turned to me, smiling as he released Alexis' hand. "So, Jim, where should we start first?"

I looked around, vaguely feeling Shirley rub against my ankles as she scuttled farther down the path. I smiled and looked back at him. "Follow the croc of course."

He laughed and, after pecking Alexis lightly on the cheek, hurried to follow my girl. "Shirley, wait up! You're missing the mess!"

With some slight grumbling from Chazz, everyone else followed Jaden, idly picking up trash as they went along. I stayed back, loosely holding my own bag as I smiled fondly at them. "So, why are you guys helping me?" I asked, glancing back at Axel, who was picking up some trash that everyone else missed on their mission to follow Shirley.

He looked at me before nodding down the trail. "Jaden."

I frowned, pausing when I bent to pick up more trash from the ground. I turned to look at Axel. "Jaden?"

Axel nodded and shoved a crumpled up burger wrapper in his bag. "Yes." He looked at me, cutting off my next question with a simple look. "He left shortly after you did, saying that he was going to get up early in the morning to help you. He explained what you were doing and Jesse then was volunteering as well, then Alexis. Slowly the rest of us agreed to help and left to go to bed. Jaden and Jesse ran around waking us up just a little over half an hour ago. They left us while we got ready and," he looked at me, "found you."

I smiled softly, turning away from Axel to watch as Jaden stood at the bottom of a tree, holding a garbage bag open. I recognized Jesse's boots dangling from the branch. "But why did Jaden want to come and help me?"

Axel placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it to get me to look back at him. When I did, he said, "Jaden said that this is very important to you, and because you're his friend, it's important to him." Axel gave a small smile, hardly a turn of the lips. "And the rest of us agreed." He gave my shoulder one more squeeze before heading over to the group.

I stayed where I was and just continued to smile at them. It widened when Jaden dove to catch a piece of garbage that Jesse threw out of the tree. When he caught it successfully, after sliding like a baseball player into home base, he yelled gleefully and jumped to his feet, and then proceeded to do what I could only assume was a victory dance. Everyone who saw it started laughing, even Axel and Chazz.

I kneeled down and stroked my hand down Shirley's back, who scuttled back over to me when Jaden started running around to catch the trash Jesse was throwing. Pausing on her snout, I scratched it thoughtfully, chuckling when she growled softly in pleasure. "We sure found a good friend in Jaden, didn't we, girl?"

She nudged my thigh, roaring softly, but her eyes sparkled and I knew she agreed.

xXx

Atticus' POV

I glanced around the small, compact dorm room. After being an Obelisk for so long, I never imagined how small and cramped the Slifer dorms would be. The triple bunk bed covered most of the room, two desks shoved in the corner covered in undone homework and opened booster packs. It appeared cozy, but I couldn't relax. After all, I was specially summoned by one Jaden Yuki.

Why he asked me to meet him in his dorm that day, I still didn't know.

I turned around when I heard the door opening, remaining silent with my arms crossed over my chest as Jaden walked into the room. Seeing me, he smiled.

"Ah, good, you came," he said, bending down to untie his shoes.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You expected me not to?"

He shrugged, eyes on his feet as his fingers worked at the knots in the laces. "I honestly didn't know what to expect."

"Fair enough," I answered, standing there watching him.

He stood again when he finally managed to untie his shoes, unceremoniously tossing them in the corner of the walkway. He smiled at me. "Something tells me you're wondering why I asked you to meet me here," he said, stripping off his jacket as he spoke.

"Yes, you could say that."

"Well," he began, draping his jacket over the back of a chair. He kept his eyes on the red fabric. "It has to do with Alexis."

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"And me."

Now I narrowed my eyes at him, preparing myself.

"And the fact that we're now dating."

I blinked a few times before a smile spread across my face. "Well it's about time!"

He whirled around, eyebrow raised. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I just laughed and ran over, hugging him tightly. "It means what it means! I can't believe that you two waited this long to make it official!"

He gagged and shoved me away. "What does that mean, 'official'? We just started dating a week ago!"

I stared at him. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really."

I folded my arms across my chest and stared at him. "So what made you suddenly decide to ask my baby sister out?"

A blush bloomed on his cheeks as he turned away from me. "I never actually asked her out, us being together just kind of happened."

I narrowed my eyes. "Happened how?"

He sighed, shook his head, and looked back at me. "Trust me, Atticus, it was PG all the way." Oddly enough, that comforted me. "There is a real reason to why I asked you here, and it wasn't just to tell you that I was dating your sister."

I nodded. "Okay, then why?"

He pressed his lips together. "I want your blessing."

"You want my what?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I want to know that you're okay with me and Alexis being together," he elaborated.

"Why?" I asked, still in shock.

He shrugged and scuffed his socked toes against the floor. "Because you're her older brother."

I could hear that there was more to it, but I couldn't press Jaden for more details. I was too pleased with the fact that Jaden was going out of his way for my blessing for something as simple as dating my sister. I knew Lexi wouldn't ask Jaden to ask me for my blessing, so this was all Jaden.

"How can I not give you my blessing when you've come so far as to ask for it?" I asked him softly.

He just smiled at me, shoulders sagging with what I assume was relief. "Thank you," he whispered, still smiling.

I just shook my head and started to walk passed him, stopping next to him to clap him lightly on the shoulder. "Just be good to her."

He didn't look at me as he nodded. "I wouldn't be any less."

I smiled, squeezed his shoulder, and left the room, feeling lighter. There was only one person in this world who I knew would be good to my sister, who I trusted completely with her care, and that guy was the one who just asked for my blessing just to have it.

I stopped walking and looked over my shoulder at the Slifer Dorm. "Thank you, Jaden."

xXx

Aster's POV

I didn't understand why Sartorius insisted I return to Duel Academy to duel some girl, but I trusted his judgment, so I went. I was both surprised and annoyed when Jaden showed back up. What was even more annoying was him prattling on about aliens and space.

I just ignored him and let him replace the girl. It didn't matter who I dueled, either way they were going to lose.

The duel was annoying. Jaden kept summoning these 'aliens' that were supposedly his 'friends' that found him while he was cruising around outer space. He was a child living in a fantasy and I had reached the end of my rope with him.

"You're nuts! You duel in a fantasy world! Well it's about time you grew up! I duel by using the power of destiny! And I never lose!" I exclaimed, patience gone.

"You're forgetting the most important thing," Jaden began as if I didn't just yell at him. "Dueling is about making friends and having a blast, isn't it? That's why your dad started designing cards in the first place."

His words struck a chord in me, annoyingly enough.

'Jaden's right. My father created the Destiny Heroes to make me happy. What would he think of me now?' I pondered silently, lost in the memory of my dad. As the memory faded, I thought, 'Maybe that's what's wrong with me. Every time I use my Destiny Heroes, all I feel is pain. What happened to me?'

When the vice chancellor started to yell at Jaden, saying that once he lost the Slifer dorm would be demolished, I realized something.

'Wait a sec. I should be using my heroes for good, not to cause destruction. Otherwise I'm no better than the thugs who took my father,' I realized completely. I had to make my father proud, but I couldn't lose the duel. I had to defeat Jaden.

But I didn't, he defeated me, defeated the destiny Sartorius laid out for me.

I walked over to Jaden, stopping next to him. "Jaden, I don't say this much but I'm impressed. Now look, I don't intend to lose again, so you better enjoy this moment while it lasts."

"Of course, I'm gonna milk this victory for all it's worth. I mean, come on, it's not everyday that I beat the pants off an undefeated pro duelist. Now here's how I see it, we don't count our first duel because you let me win, so that means we're tied," he said.

"Yeah, well not for much longer," I said, turning around and walking away. I wanted to stay at Duel Academy, hopefully I'd get answers, as Sartorius wasn't taking my calls. That duel with Jaden opened my eyes: Sartorius was a liar and he was using me to get to Jaden. And I wasn't going to be used any longer.

Jaden won the duel, but I was secretly glad he had. The defeat was the thing I needed to break away from Sartorius' shadow, and I'll be damned before I ever forget what Jaden did for me.

Forget destiny, I was making my own path now, thanks to Jaden Yuki.

xXx

Chazz's POV

I always thought I hated Jaden Yuki. I thought I hated him more than anyone in the world. At least, until my brothers showed up and ruined everything. I was going to win the school duel, I was going to make Duel Academy regret the way they treated me, and of course my brothers would show up and ruin it.

The pressure was almost too much, but I wasn't going to lose. Period.

I thought I had everything under control. Jaden wasn't going to get the best of me, especially with my brothers watching. Except I forgot who I was dealing with, but I remembered when I played my Armored Dragon Level 7.

"Aw, what wrong? You not so talkative anymore? You don't have anything to say, Jaden?" I asked, feeling smug and confident.

"Yeah I do!" Jaden said, sounding shockingly happy. "I gotta get me one of those! So cool! Trade for him?"

I couldn't believe him! "No, I won't trade for him! What's wrong with you? You should be scared of him, not admiring him!"

"But how can I not? He's an incredible monster and this is an incredible duel! How could anyone not be excited? I mean, this is as good as it gets! I'm stoked! This is what dueling's all about! Thanks, Chazz!" He kept jumping around, as if it were Christmas morning! He's pathetic and a loser and I hate him! I hate him! I hate him!

He wouldn't give up!

I couldn't give up!

I couldn't let my brothers down!

Jaden was the only thing standing in my way! I was going to bulldoze over him and win! I have to! I have to! I have to!

He thought he could get to me, prattling on about how you should only duel for fun, that no matter what you should be having fun, win or lose. It didn't bother me, at least not until he mentioned my brothers. I couldn't argue, because – though I'd never admit it – he was right.

And then I lost.

And my brother's really laid into me; I thought they were going to push me around a bit.

"Let him go!" Jaden growled. My brothers and I turned to look at him, seeing all of his friends standing behind him. He continued, "Yeah, sure he lost, but how could he not with you two jerks breathing down his neck!"

I stared at him wide eyed. Not only was he madder than I'd ever seen, madder than he actually appeared, but he was laying into my brothers!

"Two jerks?" Jagger muttered, still holding me by the collar of my jacket. "Do you have any idea who we are? We could have you crushed kid!"

It was a threat, but Jaden didn't look scared at all. He just continued to glare at my brothers.

"Why defend Chazz anyhow? He's a nobody now! Disowned by us! And by the whole world! I mean, the cameras caught enough of it! He got schooled! He got mopped up!" my other brother yelled.

Jaden just bared his teeth in anger, his eyes falling into a more piercing scowl.

"That's right!" Jagger yelled, getting right in my face and hurting my ears. "And then worst of all he got beat!"

"Wrong!" Jaden yelled, bangs shielding his eyes as his shoulders shook with suppressed anger, a stance I was all too familiar with. "There's one fight he did win!" His head snapped up and if looks could kill, my brothers would be six feet under. "The fight against you two! Sure, Chazz may not have one the duel, but, hey, at least he fought it on his own terms! It's like he said, he used his cards, not what your money could buy!"

I couldn't believe it, couldn't believe him. After the way I treated him, treated everyone, he still stood up and defended me against my brothers. I can't even do that and Jaden did it without hesitating, almost like we were actually friends and not rivals.

Maybe I don't hate Jaden Yuki as much as I thought.

No, that's a lie.

I don't hate Jaden Yuki at all.

xxx

I had to bring my grades up if I wanted to get out of the Slifer slum and back into the Obelisk dorms, but staying awake in Banner's class was a little hard. Today though, since he was talking about famous duelists, it was quite easy. Even Jaden – the definition of Slifer Slacker – was awake. So when he started talking about being able to defeat the undefeated Abidos the Third, I snorted.

"Sure it would, Slacker. And then you'd probably take down Yugi and Kaiba too!"

He turned and smiled at me. "You think? Well thanks, I had no idea you believed in me so much, Chazz."

"Its sarcasm, got that?" I said, raising my hands in a threatening manner.

He ignored them and turned back around, folding his arms behind his head and lounging back in his chair. "Sure, but if you wanna change your name, Chazz, you can do a lot better than Sarcasm."

I ground my teeth together and leaned over the table in front of me and pull the slacker into a headlock. "You know what I mean!" I snapped, shaking him back and forth. My grip on his neck wasn't tight at all, so he just laughed and lightly tried to pull my arm away from him.

"Hey, come on, guys, you're gonna get us in trouble," Syrus said.

I released my hold on Jaden's head and started to pull his ears. "Wanna see trouble?" I asked. "Fine! How about this?"

Syrus laughed. "Stop! He's gonna hear us!"

"He sure will," Professor Banner said. I stopped pulling Jaden's ears long enough to look down at the professor. "You can continue in detention."

Damn Jaden.

xxx

I had seen the light, and there was no way I was going to go back to who I was before. No one was going to change me, especially not Jaden and the annoying pit stains. But what was even more annoying than the duel was Jaden constantly bringing Ojama Yellow back to the field; that little snot-nosed freak meant nothing to me!

Didn't he?

The little freak cried and cried, which was annoying, but then Jaden had to go and agree with him. "He's right, Chazz," he whispered.

A pain pierced my brain, and I clutched my forehead to try and be rid of it, thinking, 'There's no way I actually liked that little pit stain, is there? No! This is pity I'm feeling! I pity him for being so … pitiful!'

"Come on, concentrate, Chazz!" Jaden ordered. "Think about how you feel, not how Sartorius told you to feel!"

"Back off!" I yelled.

But he wouldn't shut up. "You owe everything to the Ojama brothers, Chazz, and deep down you know it. You'd be nothing without them."

"We know you better than anyone!" Ojama Yellow exclaimed suddenly. "And this isn't you! You always hated the color white, and look what you're wearing!"

More pain.

"It's true, man!" Jaden agreed quickly. "You don't even look like yourself! WAKE UP, CHAZZ! You wore the same black jacket every day."

"What are you waiting for?" Ojama Yellow demanded. "You know you wanna try it on, don't you? Black is your color! Know why? Cause the dirt doesn't show!"

That was preposterous! "But I'm always clean!" Then I spotted it, right on my elbow. "Is that … it is! It's a stain!"

WHO AM I!

My vision suddenly clear, I saw the truth. "Sartorius used the light to blind me from the truth. He wants everyone to be exactly the same!" My memories shuffled around my aching brain before everything snapped back into place. "What's going on here? I'm not like those geeks! Always prancing around in their clean, white clothes. I hate wearing white! I'M NOT PERFECT AND I DON'T CARE!" I snapped my head up and looked at everyone. "Know why? 'Cause I'm proud of who I am!"

"Me too!" Ojama Yellow agreed quickly, his brothers' spirits appearing next to him.

"You're a filthy slob!" Ojama Green cut in.

"And sometimes you smell like cheese!" Ojama Black added.

"That's right!" Ojama Yellow finished.

"And I can be a real jerk, too!" I said.

"That's why we love ya!" Ojama Yellow insisted.

I blinked and realized for the first time what was on my field and in my hand. "Hey, what's that?" I looked at the monster on my field. "And these cards, I never had these in my deck." I looked away from my hand and at Jaden's field. Seeing what he had, I gasped, "Jaden! What are you doing with my lame monsters on your field?" Those annoying pests were mine!

Ojama Yellow looked ready to cry. "He called us his monsters!"

"Zip it!" I ordered.

"All right!" Jaden exclaimed. "We got our Chazz back!"

And boy, was it good to be back!

xXx

Hassleberry's POV

It happened every time. I was always deserted by my troops when I need them most. This time was no different. When Troop Tyranno left me and began to root for Jaden, I felt the same sting of betrayal I had every time before that. But I didn't know why they had left me. I was dueling the same way I always had, and I was winning. But Jaden seemed to have an answer for that.

"Well, Coronel, maybe they're just bored," he offered.

That couldn't be it. "Come on, bored with my dueling? Now that's just crazy talk."

"Think about it, Dingleberry," he said, looking excited. "You said yourself that you've used the same moves for twelve duels in a row." His eyelids drooped to soften his expression. "So don't you think it's time you evolved?"

I was confused, but the others seemed to understand what he was saying, and I realized he was right when one of my men yelled that he wasn't bored anymore.

"You were right," I gasped, looking at Jaden as I stood back up.

He smiled softly. "I always am." Then he went right back to the duel, destroying my field spell card with his Skyscraper, and I don't like change. When I admitted that, I realized that that was what Jaden was talking about. I'd been stuck living in the past, never allowing myself to evolve and learn from my mistakes.

"Exactly," Jaden exclaimed, cutting into my hopefully internal monologue. I glanced at him; he was smiling. "Don't worry, Corporal, you weren't thinking out loud this time, but I assume by the look on your face that you figured it out." Then he finished out his turn and the duel by beating me. It was a humbling experience, and I was more than happy to lose to such an opponent.

After my defeat, I decided that I needed a change of scenery, so I moved into the Red Barracks with Jaden and Syrus, hoping to learn from the one person who taught me so much in so little time.

Sergeant Hassleberry was officially a member of Troop Jaden.

xXx

Chumley's POV

I confessed my special ability to Syrus and Jaden, never thinking for one second that either of them would believe that I could talk to duel monsters.

Jaden apparently did.

"Well, did you tell this to your dad, Chumley?" he asked.

"Of course not!" I exclaimed. "Everything to him is just hot sauce, hot sauce, HOT SAUCE!"

Jaden growled softly before grabbing my shoulder and yanking me up. "Come on!" he said as he started to pull me out of the room.

I had no idea where he was going, until we were all standing in Chancellor Sheppard's office. My dad and Professor Banner were there too, and all three of them listened as Jaden explained the situation to the Chancellor.

"So there you have it. Chumley can't be allowed to drop out!" Jaden finished, and I couldn't believe him. "He's got a gift!"

My dad wasn't going to be swayed. "Oh, sure, a gift for eating grilled cheese."

His comment stung, but Jaden ignored him. "Look, I know Chumley. I'm his roommate. Not to mention his pal."

Syrus piped in, "Yeah, me too. What Jaden said."

"Look boys, I respect you sticking up for your friend here, but I'm afraid that this is a personal matter," Chancellor Sheppard said. He closed his eyes and dropped his head, looking like he wasn't happy with the situation at all. "It's not your business."

My dad looked pleased though. "That's right, it's family business."

I noticed Jaden get a little tense with what my dad said, but it only lasted a second before he relaxed and said, "But, sir."

Dad cut him off though. "Which is why I propose a duel!"

"Huh!" I said, staring at him like he had two heads.

"That's right, father versus son! If you have this special gifts your friends say, you should beat me easy. And I'll let you stay at the academy. But if you lose, then you come home," he said, getting a scary look on his face.

Normally I would have walked and hide (because I don't run), but I stood my ground and glared right back at my dad. "It's a deal."

"Good, then let's duel first thing tomorrow morning! How does that sound, Chancellor?" Dad asked, looking back at Sheppard.

"So be it," he said quickly. "Tomorrow morning it will be decided. Will Chumley stay or go?"

Stay. I was going to stay. After the way Jay stood up to my dad and Chancellor Sheppard for me, I owed him that much. I don't care if my dad was the state duel champ the last three years. I was going to win.

xxx

I was excited to have won Industrial Illusions contest. I was even more excited about the fact that Pegasus himself wanted me to come and work for him designing more cards, my dream job. Only, when Dr. Crowler said I had to beat him in order to go, my excitement kind of went right out the window. I couldn't even sleep that night, so I somehow found myself sitting on a cliff behind the dorms just listening to the waves.

"Hey, Chumley," Jaden said as he walked over to me. "Why ya out here?" he asked. I glanced at him over my shoulder, a little surprised to see him. "Can't sleep cause you won that big contest?" He moved to sit down on the ground next to me. "I'd be excited too."

"Jaden, um, look we have to talk. It's really important," I said.

"The left over grilled cheese?" he asked, pointing at me. "Aw, it's cool that you ate them."

"It's not that," I snapped, though I did eat them. "Jaden, they're going to kick me out tomorrow unless I beat Crowler in a duel." I stood up, too nervous to sit down any longer.

"Rewind and repeat," Jaden said, looking up at me. "Didn't you just get offered a job with Industrial Illusions?"

"That's if I beat him," I explained.

"Aw, why does Crowler make everything so tough?" Jaden didn't sound happy with what our least favorite professor was doing. I sighed, knowing I'd never be able to beat him. "Well guess what," Jaden said as he stood up, placing his hand on my shoulder. "You'll just take out that creepy Crowler then." He smiled. "I did, so you can to."

He made it sound so simple, which it wasn't, but his smile was contagious. "You're right. I just can't lose as long as you guys are with me."

I did lose, but I improved and put up a good fight. Crowler let me go to Industrial Illusions and I couldn't have been happier, but I also knew that there was no way I'd ever have made it there if I didn't have Jaden pushing me the entire time. He's always there when his friends need him most, and I'll never be able to repay him for what he did for me.

xXx

Syrus' POV

I wasn't good enough to go to this school. I still wasn't sure why I bothered applying. I was never going to be as good as my big brother. It was easier to just make a raft and leave the island, before I did something to embarrass him. But there was an awful lot of water … and waves … and I was a coward.

I was still trying to gather up the courage to go when I noticed Jaden running toward me. Not wanting him to catch me, I quickly got on my raft, ignoring my quacking legs, and pushed off. Only I think Jaden was on the track team back home, long jump, because he leapt about three feet over the land, the sea, and my head to land in front of me on the edge of the raft. Of course, the raft was only built for one person with my size and weight. Not two people, especially not someone who is as tall and eats as much as Jaden. So, naturally, the raft split apart and we both fell into the water.

Gasping for air, I shot to the surface and started flailing around. "Help me! I can't swim!" I cried, turning around and grabbing Jaden to keep from falling back into the water.

He wasn't prepared for me, nor my vice grip on his neck as he tried uselessly to keep us both afloat. "And you were about to raft out into the ocean! Yeah, that makes sense!"

I never claimed it was my best idea.

It also didn't help that after a few seconds and hearing Chumley splash into the water that we realized that we were in shallow waters. Feeling both humiliated and ashamed, I wrapped my arms around myself and looked up at a drenched Jaden.

"Why are you trying to stop me Jaden? I stink." I looked away. "Please just let me go. They'll assign you a new tag partner and you'll have a much better shot at winning the match."

"Syrus!" Jaden clenched his fist and leaned closer to me. "That's your brother talking! Come on pal! Ya gotta believe in yourself!"

I wasn't going to be swayed. "You gotta believe me. I'm a lost cause."

Jaden growled and bared his teeth, clenching his hand into a tighter fist as he glared at me. I wasn't sure if he was mad at me or the way I was acting; probably the latter.

"He is right you know."

We – being Jaden, me, and Chumley – quickly spun around and looked up on the ridge, seeing my brother and Alexis standing there looking at us.

"Zane!" I gasped, hardly believing that he was actually standing there.

Jaden just appraised him. "So that's the school's top duelist," he muttered softly to himself. I barely heard him.

Zane didn't and only continued to look at me. "You dropping out?"

"Well… yeah, kinda," I said, wondering why he was asking.

He closed his eyes and kind of looked away from me. "Well, it's about time."

I sagged, defeated, and whined softly. I turned back around and started to fix my raft, determined to get out of here one way or another.

"He's wrong," Jaden said.

Those softly spoken words broke me, and I started to cry. I wasn't sobbing, so I heard Jaden growl.

"You're his big brother! How can you say that?" Jaden demanded, angry.

Zane just brushed off his temper. "Because I know him."

"Yeah, I bet you think you know it all, but guess what, you don't! And I'm gonna prove it! Right now! Let's duel!" Jaden yelled.

I gasped and spun around, "No, Jaden."

Zane just stared at Jaden. "Duel a Slifer?" For a second I thought he was going to say no, hoping against hope that he would, but instead he closed his eyes and smirked. "Sure, why not? It's been awhile since I've gone slumming."

"Get your game on," Jaden said.

I couldn't let him duel my brother. "Jaden, he's good!" It sounded like a perfectly logical reason for him not to duel my brother.

He just looked at me. "I'm sure he is." Then he turned back and glared up at my brother. From the fire in Jaden's eyes, I realized that he didn't care who Zane was. To him, it didn't matter if he was my brother, an Obelisk, or the best duelist in that school. Then, at that moment, he was just another duelist.

I can't really explain it, but after realizing that, Jaden seemed different in my eyes. He was still the same, but to me, he was something more than just my best friend.

xxx

It was hard to believe in myself. Jaden had more faith in my abilities for our tag duel against the Paradox Brothers than I did. I didn't want to let Jaden get expelled because I couldn't duel up to par, but he wouldn't let me doubt myself. Well, at least vocally.

Whenever I thought I was doing something wrong or I did do something wrong, he would just smile at me and tell me not to worry, that it was going to be okay. To this day I have no idea where that optimism came from.

I still can't believe that Jaden let me take the victory for us. By letting me fuse my UFO-Roid with his Elemental Hero: Tempest, we were able to blast the Paradox Brother's monster out of there, saving both our butts.

After our win, Jaden looked at me smiling. "Let it out, Syrus. I know you cry when you're happy."

"No way, not the new Syrus," I tried to defend myself, only to start crying at the end.

"Ah, there are some things that will never change," Jaden said, a smile in his voice.

xxx

I was mad at Jaden, furious at him. He traded my bed for a duel monster card; one he claimed was for me for my birthday, which was last Tuesday! I mean, there was cake and a party and everything! How could he forget?

So when he was challenged to a duel by some pirate who called himself the Admiral, I refused to go. I felt guilty immediately afterward. I mean, the guy was supposedly a shadow rider! What if Jaden lost and lost his soul or something, just like Crowler and Zane. He'd think I was mad at him, which I was.

What I hadn't expected when Alexis, Bastion, and Chazz to return without Jaden. Alexis explained that the Admiral wasn't a shadow rider, but that he just wanted Jaden to help him run a new Duel Academy under the sea. Jaden didn't want to go at first, but in the end he decided to. I refused to believe that he would just give up Duel Academy for a couple of doubloons. Jaden never seemed to care about money, so why would he start then.

I waited a whole week, just sitting at the dock, waiting. Just when I was going to give up, he came back!

"Syrus!"

"Jaden?" I gasped, standing up. Sure enough, there he was, driving a speed boat toward us.

"Ahoy!" he yelled, waving. "I escaped, Sy! He trapped me, but I broke out of there for you, swavey." Just then the boat suddenly broke down, leaving him stranded out there. "In one piece, hopefully," he said, looking around. When smoke began to billow out of the back, he said, "Uh oh, this doesn't look good!"

I didn't think, only reacted. "I'm coming! Jaden, I'll save you!" Then I jumped in and began to head over toward him. "Jaden! I'm sorry! I want you to be my shipmate!"

"Really?" he asked, leaning over the edge of the boat to talk to me when I reached it. Fire extinguisher residue was all over him and the boat. "That's good to know, because that weird Admiral guy, couldn't understand a word he said." He laughed, as if being kidnapped by a crazy pirate wasn't a big deal.

I wasn't going to take that smile lightly. "So, we're cool?" I asked.

"Of course!" Jaden said, as if nothing happened. He folded his arms on the edge of the boat and looked at me smiling. "But, Sy, when did you learn how to swim?"

I gasped and looked down, realizing that I was in the middle of the ocean. "I didn't!" I said as my panic caught up with me and I began to drown, flailing and kicking to try and remain afloat.

"Syrus, grab me!" Jaden yelled, extending his arm toward me.

"Only if you promise to get me a new bed!" I said.

"Well…" he began but I grabbed his arm and yanked him into the ocean with me, holding onto him for dear life.

"How bout it?" I asked.

"Okay, but definitely not a water bed," he said.

Even after everything he put me through, he was still my best friend, and I was so glad that he was back.

xXx

Claire's POV

The music was a little too loud for my sensitive two-year-old ears. I remember very little about the day, only how pretty I looked and all of the soft and pretty things around me. All of the grownups were spinning around the floor, laughing, and I felt completely alone. Until I noticed a boy my age walking toward me, holding the hand of a grownup I didn't recognize.

The boy saw me and smiled widely, releasing the grownups hand as he ran over to me. He stopped just in front of me, still smiling, and said, "Hiya! My name is Jaden!"

I blinked, a little scared of the audacious boy. "I'm Claire."

The boy – Jaden – only continued to smile. He grabbed my hand, startling me, and started bouncing up and down. "Wanna be best friends forever?"

I stared at Jaden for a moment before I felt myself smile just like him. I began to bounce up and down like him, squeezing his hand back, and saying, "Kay!"

xxx

"I give up!" I yelled, falling to the ground legs folding beneath me.

A twelve-year-old Jaden remained standing, turning slightly to look at me and laugh. "You give up way to easy." He took a drink from his water bottle before he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

I glared at him. "We've been trying to figure out this dance move for over two hours! We're never going to get it!"

He tossed his water bottle at me. "Oh, calm down. We'll figure it out. We aren't the best in the class because of our good looks you know."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Our good looks? Sweetie, don't flatter yourself." I took a quick swig of the water he tossed at me before throwing it so it rolled out of the way.

Jaden just chuckled and trotted over to restart our track. "If I'm not allowed to flatter myself then you're not allowed to discourage yourself." He turned slightly to look at me, giving me a charming smile. "Now, let's take it once more from the top."

"I don't wanna," I whined, remaining seated on the ground.

Jaden just sighed and pressed play, sprinting back toward me. "Too bad," he said, reaching down and pulling me up.

I pouted but allowed him to begin leading us in our dance routine. The music was a compilation of random songs that seemed to flow seamlessly together when in reality they made no sense whatsoever. When the final change happened and a slow tempo became quickly upbeat, the one move that we couldn't seem to get came. And like the thousand times before, we messed it up again.

The move seems simple enough. It starts off with me running at Jaden, who then grabs a hold of my waist and flips me around his torso then he helps me do a back flip off of his hands when I return to the front of his torso. I land on my hands and use them to launch myself back into the air, doing a front flip back toward Jaden. He is then supposed to catch me in his arms and my legs lock around his waist.

Simple, right?

Well every time I launch myself again to do the front flip, I have too much momentum from the back flip and I end up going sideways and missing Jaden by a good three feet. This time though, I completely mess up my timing. I'm barely able to catch myself before I slam against the ground after the back flip, just managing to use my hands to catch myself before hitting the ground and just laying there.

Just as the music ended, I yelled, "Our teacher is a big, fat liar! This move is not easy at all!"

Jaden's feet came into my line of vision. "Well, if you're yelling at our teacher then you must be okay." I turned my head and glared up at him; he just smiled down at me. "I think maybe we should take a little break and then get back to it."

"Fine by me," I said. He offered his hand toward me, to help me up, but I just quickly swiped my leg underneath his, causing him to fall on the ground next to me. Before he could do anything, I straddled his hips and grabbed his hands, pinning them above his head. "I could use a little R and R."

Jaden smiled softly and raised an eyebrow. "Oh and how are you going to use your little R and R?"

I smirked. "Oh, maybe doing something a little like this." I then leaned down and pressed my softly smiling lips against his. After a minute, I pulled back slightly.

"Sounds like a nice way to relax," he murmured against my lips.

I laughed softly and pressed my lips back against his.

xXx

Jesse's POV

"Now where'd that little rascal scurry off to?" I muttered to myself, looking around for Ruby. She disappeared the minute the boat docked, ignoring me when I told her to stay close. I sighed and climbed the stairs up onto what I assume was the roof of Duel Academy. To my surprise, Ruby was there, with what appeared to be another spirit and a Duel Academy student, a Slifer I reckon by the blazer.

"There ya are, Ruby," I called, gaining the trio's attention. Ruby smiled at me and came rushing over, curling around my body to rest on my shoulder. I turned to her, smiling. "I told ya to stay put." She just smiled, unrepentant.

"Dude, is that a monster spirit or am I still dreaming?" the other student asked, reminding me that he was there.

I walked over to him as he began to stand up. I laughed once. "This here's my pal Ruby Carbuncle," I introduced, stopping a few feet from the now standing duelist.

"Ruby Who?"

I laughed, "No, Ruby Carbuncle!"

"Hold on, that means you can…" he began.

I finished for him, "Yup, I assume you can too."

His duel spirit chirped happily.

"That must make you the infamous Jaden Yuki," I said, smiling.

"In the flesh," Jaden said. "So how long have you been able to see spirits?"

"Since I was born I think, and from what I hear it's the same thing with you," I answered. "Comes in handy, doesn't it?"

He smiled and nodded. "Talking to monsters is so rad." His smile fell as he added, "Usually." His eyes seemed to grow distant and dark, I assume from the memory he was recallin'. I didn't say nothin', just let him think. The light returned to his eyes after a moment. "Anyway, I've never seen you here before. Are you a freshman?"

I smirked softly. "Ah, not exactly," I began. "I transferred here."

"Awesome," Jaden said. "Well, let me be the first to say welcome." He raised his hand to me.

"That's mighty kind of ya," I said, taking his hand. When our hands met, a jolt of familiarity ran up my arm, and from the way Jaden's hand contracted around mine, I assume he felt the same thing. The shock ran completely up my arm and through the rest of my body, leaving me warm and tingling.

"That's strange," Jaden said after a few minutes, his eyes never leaving mine. "Have we met before?"

"I dunno, it sure feels like it," I said, trying to shrug off the reaction I got but was unsuccessful. We just kept staring at each other, holding hands, when Winged Kuriboh swiped his wing across Ruby's cheek. My girl, not to be a pushover, launched off my shoulder and tackled Winged Kuriboh. The two twirled to the ground fighting.

Jaden and I said nothing as we watched our spirits fight. Then his friends showed up and said something about a rally, and Jaden and Kuriboh ran off, leaving me and Ruby on the roof. I smiled down at her. "Looks like it's going to be a good year, Ruby."

She looked up at me, smiling and making happy noises. It took me a moment to remember that I was going to be introduced to Duel Academy … like … now. And I was completely lost. "Uh oh, we better hurry on outta here and find where everyone is, Girl!" I took off running, knowing I was going to be late.

xxx

Trapper was a sick man, destroying monster spirits just for their energy! First he takes the Jerry Bean card from my pal and then he captures my Sapphire Pegasus! As if that weren't bad enough, now he's gonna tear up Jerry Bean's card, destroying him forever! And there wasn't anything I could do to stop him!

Trapper cackled. "You tried you best and failed 'em both! They're done for! It's over!" He cackled again, a sick laugh.

"Not if I can swing it, Trapper!" an all too familiar voice yelled. "Hold on, Jesse!"

I opened my eyes and gasped as Jaden swung down from the ceiling. He kicked Trapper square in the chest, sending the villain sprawling, Jerry Bean flying in the air. Jay let go of the rope he was swinging and landed, snatching the card that Trapper was just about to destroy. "Gotcha!"

"Way to go!" I exclaimed, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders now that my pal's card was in safe hands.

Jaden turned to me, pointing at me in his signature way, saying, "It's all good." Jerry Bean's spirit appeared just behind Jaden, looking pleased to be safe. "I've got it. He's okay. Now go save your Pegasus."

I pointed back at Jaden in the same way he was pointing at me. "Right!"

Trapper got to his feet, fuming. "Why you…"

"Hey, Trapper, lose something important?" Jaden laughed as he ran behind the villain and over to my side of the field.

"Now to save my Pegasus," I said, focusing again on the duel. It ended just after that, thanks to my Pegasus and bond we shared. Once Trapper collapsed after I defeated him, Jaden rushed right over to me.

"You did it, Jesse!" he exclaimed.

I looked at him, panting, "Thanks. I couldn't a done it without ya."

Trapper called out to me, saying something about how he was like me, that he had a bond with a spirit and then his card was stolen. He tried to explain his reasons behind all that he did, but it didn't do anything to make me forget just what he's done. When he mentioned Viper, I simply couldn't believe it. I knew Viper was a bad guy, but now that he enlisted Trapper after promising him Rainbow Dragon's spirit… All I can say is Viper sure has a lot of explaining to do.

"You tell us where Viper is!" I ordered, gasping when my bio band started to glow, a light shooting out of it, taking all of my energy with it. I started to fall forward, but Jaden grabbed me.

"Jesse!" he said, holding me up right. The two of us stood there and watched as Trapper disappeared, leaving us the only ones in the room. "Where'd he go?" Jay asked.

"He just plum disa-" I began but was cut off when I tried to take a step forward. I was completely drained and nearly fell down. Jaden was the only thing keeping me up.

"Jesse, you okay? Let me help," he said, tightening his grip on me.

I took a few deep breaths. "It's cool. I'll be okay." I opened my eyes and looked up at him. "What do ya say we go hunt down Viper and put an end to all this?"

He nodded. "All right, but first let's go find the others. We gotta go and make sure nothing has happened to them."

I nodded and, with Jaden's help, walked out of the room. If it weren't for Jay, things could have been a lot worse. Jerry Bean could have been destroyed and I could have lost my family. There was no way I'd be able to repay him for what he did. Ever.

xxx

I finally had it, the Rainbow Dragon was finally in my deck! Now I had to go give Jaden some back up and defeat that kid, Marcel I think. We needed to get home, and my Rainbow Dragon was the only thing that could do it.

So when it turned out that Marcel was being controlled by some monster spirit named Yubel, I was shocked, but it got even worse when it turned out that Jaden knew Yubel. When she went to attack him, I did the only thing I could do.

I drew her attack at me. My Rainbow Dragon protected me, but then everything started going haywire, now that there was enough energy to take them all home. Jaden didn't understand, but the only way to assure that everyone got home safe was if I kept my attack going, so I ordered Rainbow Dragon to attack Yubel. I needed to protect him and everyone else.

The last thing I remember was watching the gateway open up, and Rainbow Dragon taking everyone home. Then, there was nothing back darkness.

It felt like eons later, surrounded by nothing but darkness, when I felt a familiar feeling. It was the same feeling I had when I first met him, the beginning of our bond. I didn't have any strength to fight the darkness, there was no way out of it, but I did have enough strength to call out to him, just once.

'Jaden! Jaden! Help me!'

With the last of my strength expelled, I fell back into the darkness.

As soon as the darkness fell, it lifted. I heard voices, voices I recognized but couldn't place. Except for one.

"It's me, Jess! I know you can do it!"

That voice helped me break out of the darkness, and I opened my eyes. "What's this?" I looked around, confused and tired. "Where am I?" A crystal to my left shone brightly, drawing my attention and waking me up. "Who's out there?" I instantly recognized everyone out there. "Oh, it's my Crystal Beasts! And Jaden!" I jumped to my feet. "Hey, Guys!" Finally awake and free of the darkness, I stood by helplessly and watched Jaden duel Yubel.

I wasn't entirely sure what happened, but all of a sudden things starting shaking. Jay said something about fusing his Neos with the Rainbow Dark Dragon I was trapped in, saying that once they fused, I would be free.

"Jaden!" I yelled just as the crystals began to crumble.

"I'm right here!" he answered.

Then everything was gone. Suddenly, I found myself opening my eyes again, this time I was staring at the ground. My body felt heavy and strange, almost like I didn't belong in it. Probably because Yubel had been controlling for God knows how long. I lifted my head, groaning slightly, and blearily looked up to see the guy who freed me. "Jaden? That you?"

"You bet, Partner!" he exclaimed.

"So then," I began, struggling to get up. "What happened?"

Jaden began to head toward me, when Yubel's chuckling froze him. "He rescued you. Of course, I always knew he would."

"You did?" Jaden gasped.

"I never intended to keep your friend. It's the card, that's what I sought to acquire," she explained. "Don't you see?"

"Huh?" Jay said.

"The only way you could free Jesse was by using it. And you feel for it." She flashed him a card, one I didn't recognize. "Sorry, Jaden, now it's all mine."

"Give that back!" Jaden ordered. "You can't take my Super Polymerization!"

She pointed down at the card that was face up on my field.

Jaden continued, "Unless you played the spell card Last Trick! Which would mean that you could take a spell card that I put in my graveyard! You set this all up! But why?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," Yubel said. "Because now, the fun begins!" She pointed and revealed the final card on the field. "I play Thousand Buster! By giving up 1000 life points, all monsters with less than 1000 attack points are destroyed! And we take 1000 points of damage as well!"

I was barely sitting up, so I really didn't understand what was going on. All I knew was Jaden yelling for me and then tackling me. Something exploded, dust filled the air, but Jaden kept me down, protecting me.

Yubel said something about them both losing the duel, and then that Jaden and her would begin a new duel.

"Jesse, you okay?" Jaden asked, ignoring the psycho spirit to help me sit up.

"Couldn't be better," I muttered, smiling slightly; I cringed as pain speared through me. "Okay, I probably could be better, but don't worry. I'll be fine. It takes more than a hostile spirit take over to keep this boy down." I looked at him. "Thanks for savin' my hide, Jaden."

"Well, if it weren't for me, your hide wouldn't have needed saving," he said, sounded depressed. I wanted to argue, say that what I did was my decision, but Dr. Crowler and Syrus rushed over, then Yubel ran off and Jaden started to follow her.

"Jaden, wait," I called. He turned to look at me confused. I sat up a little, pulling away from Crowler best I could without keeling over again. "You're actually going?"

Jaden smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Come on, Pal, you really have to ask?"

He had a point, but it didn't mean I had to like it. After Yubel possessed me and I got my body back, I could still feel her, sense what she was feeling, but mostly I could remember her memories, and she had it bad for my pal. I didn't have the strength to go with him though, as much as I wanted to. So I did the only thing I could.

"Well, here," I said, holding my deck out toward him. "I'm guessing you won't let me come with ya, so take my deck, and give that Yubel a little piece of my mind. Can you do that?"

He nodded. "Thanks, Jesse." He took my deck from me, kneeling so we were eye level. "Now get some rest and regain your strength."

I nodded. "Right."

He and Dr. Crowler talked for a minute before he disappeared up to duel Yubel. Even as I watched him go, I wanted to run and go with him. Even if I didn't have the strength, I owed him everything. He saved my life, freed me. I never thought things would have gone as far as they did after I used Rainbow Dragon to save everyone, but Yubel had. I could feel her plan, everything, starting from the beginning of the year with Viper and his bio bands.

He was my best friend, and I sacrificed everything to keep him safe, and he sacrificed everything to get me back. Whatever that connection we forged when we first met, it made us who we are, and I wasn't going to give up on him, just like he never gave up on me.

xXx

Alexis' POV

I only wanted to duel him, Syrus sneaking into the girl's dorms simply made it happen sooner that I previously anticipated. Of course Jaden was ready for a duel, despite the strings Mindy, Jasmine, and I had attached to it. With Etoile Cyber and Doble Passé on the field, I couldn't help but smile softly to myself.

"I'll summon the Elemental Hero: Sparkman!" Jaden called out, playing a card on his duel disk. Blue lightning flashed briefly and Sparkman appeared. With his attack points 400 more than my Etoile Cyber, I knew what Jaden was going to do next, and I was well prepared. Jaden didn't disappoint. "And now I'll have him attack your Etoile Cyber with static shock wave!" He threw his arm out with the attack.

Sparkman made a sound, kind of between a grunt and a yell, as he extended the same hand that Jaden did. Blue lightning crackled from his palm and shot across the water, headed straight for my monster. Despite knowing that it was going to happen, I still ground my teeth and growled softly.

"Hold it right there!" I said, extending my hand to reveal my facedown card. As it appeared, I continued, "I activate the trap card Doble Passé." The lightning from Sparkman's attack diverted around my monster and struck me instead.

"Huh?" Jaden muttered, looking both annoyed and confused at the same time.

Undeterred by the attack, I explained, "Doble Passé changes your monster's attack to a direct attack on me. And now my monster that you were about to attack gets to wage a direct attack on you!" Etoile Cyber leapt into the air and across the water, headed straight for Jaden.

"Great," he muttered, eyes following my monster.

"Oh, and when Etoile Cyber attacks someone directly, her attack points increase by 600," I further explained, smiling internally as her attack points rose and she struck Jaden's chest with a swift kick. He cried out and dropped down to one knee, clutching his arm as he stared at me with an interesting expression.

Syrus, who was seated on the boat behind Jaden, called out to him, "Jaden!"

I strained my ears to hear what Jaden said to himself. "That Alexis is something else, sacrificing her own life points so she could get to mine."

I ignored the warm feeling I got with the tone of awe he spoke about me with, instead saying, "So, you impressed?"

Jaden stands up, answering, "Impressed? I think I'm in love."

I also ignore the way my heart constricts and my breath hitches slightly, the warm feeling increasing to an annoying temperature. I write off all three reactions quickly, hoping no one noticed them. "You're sweet; too bad I have to crush you."

The thing was, right then and there, I didn't crush Jaden, instead I began to crush on Jaden.

xxx

Herrington Rosewood was a perfect example of why I despise being called the Queen of Obelisk Blue. He didn't hesitate to make his feelings for me very public, which made him very annoying. My opinion of him didn't improve at all when he freaked out when Jaden and I were talking about Chazz. In fact, it grew even worse when he challenged Jay to a duel, with me as the prize!

I desperately wanted to storm out of the room and give both of them the cold shoulder, but I had to see if the rumors about him being as good as Zane were true. And with how swiftly and easily Jaden beat him; I concluded that they couldn't be farther from the truth. Part of me suspected that Herrington himself spread the rumors around, probably trying to get me interested.

So when he fled from the gym bawling, I couldn't stop myself from giggling lightly. Jaden was probably the only guy in school who wasn't falling over trying to win me over, but now – according to Herrington that is – he and I were now engaged.

I had some mixed feelings about that. My heart stuttered slightly when Jaden started walking over to me, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, Alexis, guess I'm your fiancé."

I kept my expression schooled despite the way my heart fluttered in my chest at the idea of Jaden being my fiancé.

"He's going through with it?" Syrus gasped, obviously shocked.

Jasmine clapped her hands together, looking a little happy. "Oh my!"

Jaden stopped and stood in front of me. His expression turned to a confused one. "So what does 'fiancé' mean anyhow?"

Mindy, Jasmine, and Syrus groaned and fell to the ground.

I smiled softly, lowered my head, and closed my eyes thinking, 'Only Jaden…' Aloud I said, "It means friend, at least for now big guy."

And I would never admit it, but I loved the idea of Jaden being my fiancé, but I wanted the proposal to be from Jaden, where I actually had a say, not some wager in a duel.

Maybe I didn't hate Herrington Rosewood as much as I thought.

xxx

I was going to get the key back. My master wanted it and no one was going to get in my way. Not even Jaden. There was no way I could lose, especially with the new deck my master gave me. He was determined, I'll give him that much. But he wasn't going to win.

But he did.

"Alexis! Wake up! Hello? Anyone home? Hey sleepyhead, rise and shine!"

I blinked awake and looked around. Jaden was kneeling next to me smiling. "Hey, where am I?" I asked, sitting up. "Wait, did we just duel? Hold on, I beat you right? Please tell me that I didn't lose?"

Jaden just smiled softly, chuckling. There was a strange look of relief and something else – something softer – in his eyes. "You won all right," he said, extending his hand to me.

I stared at him for a minute before smiling and taking his hand, letting him pull me up. When I was standing, he didn't let go of my hand, and we just stared at each other while my brother and the others talked quietly in the stands. I couldn't remember what happened; everything was just a white blur. The look in Jaden's eyes told me a story I couldn't understand.

He gave my hand a hard squeeze, shocking me, before he let it go and both of our hands fell back to our sides. Then Jaden moved on, talking about defeating Sartorius.

Atticus told me later what happened, and I couldn't believe how horrible I was to Jaden. And even after everything I said to him, he still fought so hard to break the hold Sartorius had over me. The fact that he cared so much made me feel so cared for. Now I can remember so clearly what that look had been in Jaden's eyes when I woke up, free from Sartorius. I've seen it in those brown orbs every time he's looked at me since we were together.

It was love.

xXx

Narrative POV

Barely three minutes had passed but to everyone in the room it felt like three years passing by in slow motion. Jaden's body jerked once again as Dr. Kawasaki pressed the paddles to his chest in another attempt to revive his still heart; when Jaden's body lay back on the bed and the heart monitor did nothing but continue to scream shrilly, Dr. Kawasaki sighed and set the paddles down on the cart.

"That's it, I have to call it. Nurse, mark the time of death as 11:34 A.M." Dr. Kawasaki sighed and ran his fingers through his haphazard hair. "We lost him."

xXx

-x-Anime-Queen-2011-x-

Here is the list of episodes I used in this chapter! Remember, I own nothing and all dialogue and situations are the sole property of Kazuki Takahashi. I own all the scenes I wrote for myself, which are noted below as well.

NOTE: Number/Number means those episodes were used during the same flashback.

Bastion: Season 1: Episodes 12 and 22

Zane: Season 1: Episodes 8 and 51/52

Blair: Season 1: Episode 20

Axel: I wrote this scene

Jim: I wrote this scene

Atticus: I wrote this scene

Aster: Season 2: Episodes 67/68

Chazz: Season 1: Episodes 25/26 and 40. Season 2: 87/88

Hassleberry: Season 2: Episode 55

Chumley: Season 1: Episodes 9 and 50

Syrus: Season 1: Episodes 8, 10/11, and 38

Claire: I wrote these scenes

Jesse: Season 3: Episodes 106/107, 116, 130/151/152

Alexis: Season 1: Episodes 3, 15. Season 2: 93/94