Epilogue

"Oh, he's so cute!" Evangeline gushed as George the Emperor Penguin trumpeted and waddled all around them in one of Penguin World's refrigerated buildings. Thrilled to get even more attention, he stuck very close to the girls.

Angelique was also swiftly won over. "He's not scared at all," she commented.

Crump looked proud. "Yeah, he's a real sociable guy! And he knows how to get what he wants."

"Usually from Nesbitt," Johnson smirked.

Lector chuckled. Nesbitt was George's favorite, but the friendly bird loved all of them.

". . . We're doing a special penguin show for Christmas," Nesbitt said in an effort to join the conversation.

Evangeline was busy petting George, but she looked up, a bit surprised to hear Nesbitt speak. "Will we get to see it?"

Nesbitt nodded. "The next showing is going to be on Christmas Eve."

"Most of it was Nesbitt's idea," Crump grinned.

Angelique quirked an eyebrow. "Really."

Nesbitt flushed but nodded. "I never thought I'd be designing a penguin show."

"It's a great show," Lector said firmly.

Gansley nodded in agreement. "We'll most likely make it an annual attraction."

"Well, I can hardly wait to see it," Evangeline smiled.

George warbled.

"How does he like the show?" Angelique wondered.

Crump smirked. "Penguins love attention. Everybody's cheering him on and he gobbles it up."

"All the penguins enjoy it," Johnson said. "But George certainly wanted to make it clear that he's the star."

George trumpeted in agreement and flapped his flippers.

By now some of the other penguins were coming over as well. They were all curious about the newcomers and all very eager for more attention.

"There's so many!" Evangeline said in delight. "Do they all have names?"

"Oh, don't get Crump started," Johnson smirked.

"Sure they do," Crump smirked back. "And personalities! There's Sammy, and Rita, and Annie, and . . ."

Gansley shook his head in amusement. Crump would be at it for a while. But it was most certainly a pleasant interlude. They needed all of that they could get.

xxxx

The mournful sound of the harmonica filled the snowy air in Clock Tower Park. In one way it seemed out of place, but in another, it fit right in. The song was sad and full of regret, which certainly fit Tristan's mood. Try as he might, he was still haunted by what had happened, and according to Nesbitt, those feelings were not likely to abate soon, if ever.

For some reason, he decided to follow the sound to its source. It didn't take long for him to weave his way around the Christmas trees—lit even though it was daytime—and park patrons to find the music's author—a familiar blue-haired young man stretched out on a park bench.

". . . So, you got one of those for yourself," Tristan greeted.

Kalin looked up at him. "Actually, it was an early Christmas present from Alister," he said.

Tristan shifted. "I didn't expect you to still be over here."

"I didn't either," Kalin admitted. "I'm about to leave, though. I need to resume my journey to search for something worth saving in myself. And if not that, then a fitting punishment for my sins."

Tristan hesitated. "If I wanted to come with you, would you let me?"

Kalin hesitated too. "You said you didn't want to leave at Christmastime."

"That was . . . before," Tristan said. "I don't know what I think now."

"Alister told me what happened with you and Duke Devlin," Kalin said. "I'm sorry. But I believe each person must find their own path. My journey would likely only be a burden on you."

"Yeah, maybe," Tristan grunted. "Or maybe we could help each other." He shifted. "I feel like I need to find myself now too, but . . . unlike you, I'm not sure I want to go it alone. I'd like a friend, someone who could understand the self-hatred and guilt."

Kalin looked down at his harmonica. "You have a family. Wouldn't they worry?"

"They let me go traveling if I'm with a friend," Tristan said.

Kalin got off the park bench. "I don't know how long I'll be gone, or how dangerous it might get. I don't want to be responsible for another life. I failed at that responsibility before. I need to be on my own so I can fully do what I need to do."

"Dangerous?!" Tristan stared at him. "Just what are you planning to do to yourself?!"

"I'm not necessarily planning anything," Kalin said. "But if I see a good opportunity to properly suffer, I want to take it."

Tristan slumped back, staring at him. "You're really serious."

Kalin looked back. "You don't feel the same about yourself?"

Tristan frowned and averted his gaze to the snowy ground. "I still hate myself, but . . . making myself suffer? What would be the point? I just need to go on somehow."

"As I said, each person's path is different," Kalin said. "Yours would not work well with mine."

"No, I guess it really wouldn't," Tristan said. "But . . . maybe we'll never see you again if you go off and find a way to 'suffer.' You're our friend now. I don't like that idea!"

Kalin's eyes flickered in his surprise. "I'm not someone you should have for a friend."

Tristan grabbed him by his shirt. "Yeah, well, I do anyway," he retorted. "And I don't want anything bad to happen to you!" He clenched a fist at his side. "I wish we could get some help for you so you could start to feel better about yourself. . . ."

A faint smirk played on Kalin's lips. "Like a therapist or pills? No thank you."

Tristan released him. "Go off and do what you have to do then," he said, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice. "Go make yourself suffer. Then ask yourself if there was ever any point to it at all!"

"I'll do that," Kalin said matter-of-factly.

"And if you ever get any sense, come back and let us know you're okay," Tristan finished.

Kalin's expression softened. "Goodbye, Friend." He started to walk past Tristan.

That seemed awfully final, and Tristan had to look away and grit his teeth. "Yeah," he said gruffly. "See you around. Maybe." Quieter he said, "I already almost lost one friend. I didn't want to lose another."

If Kalin heard, he didn't answer.

Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to walk away. He nearly walked into a large group of his friends as they approached from another angle. He jumped a mile. "What are you guys all doing here?!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"We could just be here to look at the lights," Téa remarked.

"Only we're not," Nesbitt flatly told him.

"We've been worried about you, man," Joey said in all seriousness. "We knew from the bikers that Kalin's still been hanging around, and suddenly we got the crazy idea that you might go with him on his insane quest if you've been feeling as bad as he is. So we've been combing the city trying to find you."

Tristan sighed. "You're right," he admitted. "I was thinking I might go with him. But . . . I realized our goals are a lot different than I thought. I don't want to punish myself the way he wants to do. I . . ." He snarled in helpless frustration. "I wish there was a way to get him not to go."

"He's of legal age," Nesbitt said. "There's not much we could do. If he's insistent on following a self-destructive path, nothing anybody says will deter him from it. He has to find his own answers to being at peace with himself."

"I am very worried about him too," Lector said. He sighed and he shook his head. "But I can't think of anything to say to him that we haven't already tried."

"I'm just glad you stopped yourself, Tristan," Yugi smiled.

"If you hadn't changed your mind, we could have stopped you since you're not of legal age," Johnson remarked.

"But we didn't want to use that card except as a last resort," Gansley said.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Crump asked.

"I . . ." Tristan shrugged. "I don't know. I thought maybe the bikers were right and getting away for a while would be the best thing for me, but maybe it's not. Maybe I need to try to find my way again right here at home."

"We will certainly be here for you every step of the way," Atem said.

"I know," Tristan said. "And that's amazing to me. I don't feel like I deserve it."

"You're not as bad as you think you are," Nesbitt said. "If I can become convinced of that about myself, there's definitely hope for you."

Finally Tristan smiled a bit. But his expression quickly clouded again. "What about Duke, though?" he worried. "Has he really . . . can he really forgive me for this? I don't know if I could, if our positions were reversed. . . ."

Atem gave him a kind look. "Duke is actually a very forgiving person," he told him. "He forgave his father long ago for everything that man put him through. If he can forgive all of the abuse he endured for most of his life, don't you think he could find it in his heart to forgive you as well?"

Tristan sighed. "I guess so. . . ." He hesitated. "I don't really know how Serenity feels either. It seems like she hasn't looked at me the same since this happened. . . ."

"Serenity is shaken up," Mai admitted, "but she knows you didn't really mean for things to get so horrible. And it means the world to her that you were able to forgive Duke and bring him back."

"I know she said that," Tristan said, "but things still don't seem the same now."

"She needed some time," Mai said. "But she's planning to see you tonight or tomorrow."

Tristan shoved his hands in his pockets. "It was nice when she looked up to me, even though she didn't feel about me like I do about her. I guess that's all over."

"Don't count her out yet, hon," Mai said with a flip of her hair and a wink.

Yugi nodded. "Serenity's been worried about you, Tristan," he said. "She's been asking about you."

Tristan perked up. "Really?"

Yugi smiled. "Yep! She'd never turn against her friends."

"I feel like I betrayed her," Tristan said. "And I sure betrayed Duke."

"You fixed things with Duke," Joey said. "Serenity doesn't feel like you betrayed her." Although he did have the feeling that Serenity was upset to some extent that Tristan had allowed his feelings to go that far. She had tried to hide it and be her usual self, but Joey had seen the hurt in her eyes. Everybody had a breaking point, and Serenity had seemed to have reached hers. At the same time, she still cared about Tristan and wanted him to be alright.

Tristan sighed. "Well, I hope not. Hurting Serenity is the last thing I ever wanted to do."

"We know, Tristan," Téa said softly. "So does she."

"So, should we take you back home or do you wanna do something else?" Crump asked.

"I should be getting back," Tristan said. "My family's got Christmas stuff going on and I should be there with them."

"Sounds good," Crump chirped.

They headed back to the limousine and all climbed inside.

"How's Melody doing?" Tristan asked.

"She's great," Yugi smiled. "She wants to hang out with all of us more in the future."

"Now if we could just figure out how to get the rest of the ghosts out of her house," Joey gulped. "Maybe they're not malevolent, but they're creepy enough anyway!"

"Unfortunately, she may have to live with those," Evangeline sighed. "Unless one of those ghost whisperers can help them all cross over."

"Have you ever tried that?" Mai asked.

"No, actually," Angelique said. "Evangeline wonders sometimes if she has a right to try to make them leave, even to cross over, if they really don't want to go."

Evangeline sighed and nodded. "They're not malevolent; they just love the house so much."

"If they don't want to go, though, not even the ghost whisperer could force them to, could they?" Téa asked.

"Probably not," Mai said.

Evangeline thoughtfully nodded. "It might be worth trying then."

"I think so," Yugi said.

"I'll think about it," Evangeline promised. "Maybe Angelique and I can talk about it more when we get home. Maybe we can even ask the ghosts if any of them would like that. If we spring it on them, that might just make them angrier than ever."

Joey looked horrified. "You've got a point there," he gulped. "But maybe they'll get mad at the idea in the first place!"

Angelique cringed. "That . . . would be a problem."

"Well, let's not think about it until after Christmas, at least," Evangeline said.

Everyone was agreeable to that.

It wasn't long and the limousine was pulling up in front of Tristan's house. Several simple strands of Christmas lights decorated the eaves above the porch and the front windows. Through the living room window, a large tree with twinkling lights was visible.

"That looks cozy," Evangeline smiled.

"Yeah." Tristan smiled a bit too. "Our home Christmases are great." He started to get out of the car. "I'm glad I won't be going with Kalin, really. I'd rather be here for that."

"Maybe it will even help you feel better," Evangeline encouraged.

"Maybe it will at that." Tristan stepped out of the car, but hesitated in shutting the door. "Thanks for the lift."

"Any time, man," Joey said. "Merry Christmas."

Tristan nodded. "Merry Christmas, all of you." He headed up the walk.

Téa smiled. "You know, I really think he's going to be okay," she said.

"I think so too, Téa," Yugi said.

"And who knows. Maybe when he starts feeling better, things'll be better for all of us than they've been in a while," Joey said.

"No kidding," Crump said. "It's often like walking on eggshells when Tristan and Duke are together. Maybe they'll finally be able to get it together now and we'll all be like one big happy family."

"It's a nice thought, in any case," Johnson said.

"Hey, it's like the song says," Joey said. "Peace on earth, good-will to men!"

"We can sure use that, not just at Christmas, but all year," Mai said.

"Just what I was thinkin'," Crump said.

"Even Seto would agree with that," Mokuba grinned.

Seto grunted, but didn't disagree. After all the chaos, he likely agreed more than ever.

xxxx

Duke was sitting in his apartment with David and Serenity as Christmas music softly played in the background. It had been a peaceful day and Duke had felt much better; they had even looked at a few houses in town. Now they just wanted to relax at home for a while.

"I wouldn't wish yesterday on anyone, but today's been nice," Duke said.

"Good," David said. "We were hoping you'd enjoy it."

Serenity beamed. She had worried about how long it would take Duke to be able to enjoy much of anything after what had happened. That he had bounced back enough to have enjoyed today was a great relief.

"So what's this surprise you two have been talking about all day?" Duke asked.

Serenity gave him a mischievous look. "It should be here soon."

A knock came at the door and Duke jumped.

"That should be it now," David smiled. "Go on and answer the door, Duke."

Giving him an odd look, Duke got up and went over to the door. But when he opened it, his eyes went wide. "Snakes!"

Snakes Tolliver gave his friend an easy smile and set down his bag. "Hey, kid. David and Serenity both told me you've had a really rough time of it lately. I decided it was past time I came out for a visit."

Duke lunged, hugging him close. "I never thought I'd see you for Christmas. . . ."

Snakes gave an awkward chuckle and patted Duke on the back, then thought better of it and returned the hug. "I spent some time with everybody down in L.A., but I wanted to come up here too. I was going to anyway, but hearing what happened sealed it."

"I'm glad you're here," Duke whispered. "So glad. . . ." Now all of his closest friends were with him. Christmas was looking ever brighter.

Serenity beamed up at David. "I think it's going to be a merry Christmas after all, don't you?"

David nodded, pleasure glinting in his eyes. "I'm sure of it."