Chapter Eleven
New Domino City was an amazing sight for everyone who had come through the portal. The huge buildings and futuristic technology were so new to them. But there were more familiar things as well, such as the buildings that had survived the tragedy. And Christmas, as always, was a big deal in the city. Wreaths and garlands decorated downtown, with many homes featuring Christmas scenes and characters in their yards.
"This must look so awesome at night!" Serenity exclaimed.
"It does!" Carly gushed. "And there's big events like the Christmas carol sing-along, and the Christmas boutique, and stores staying open until midnight or later during the last week leading up to Christmas!"
"We have all those things in our Domino too," Serenity said. "I'm glad to know they still happen here."
Even the alternate Seto seemed surprised and amazed by some of the city. It was his Domino City, but he had stayed reclusive for so long that much of what it looked like now was new to him.
"It's pretty cool, huh?" Mokuba smiled up at him.
"It's impressive," the alternate Seto admitted, somewhat guardedly.
From Kalin's expression, this was all completely new to him. He touched a garland wrapped around a lamppost in wonder.
"What's Christmas like in the Satellite?" Mokuba asked.
"Not so elaborate," Kalin said, "but they do what they can. It's usually the biggest event in Satellite. Maybe now that the bridge finally connects the two parts of the city again, this Christmas will be happier for most."
"You can't really be planning to spend Christmas alone," Luna said in dismay.
"Yes," Kalin said. "It's just another day to me."
"But that can't be the way you want it," Luna protested.
"It's how it has to be," Kalin said.
"At least come to our Christmas party," Téa pleaded. "Whether you think it or not, you're not alone, Kalin. You have friends old and new who want to be with you."
Kalin again looked amazed and even in disbelief that such a thing could be true. But he could see that Téa really meant it, and that the rest of the group agreed with her.
". . . I'll come if I can," he said, and found he meant that as well.
Téa smiled. "Great! That's all we ask."
The alternate Seto's phone rang and he quickly answered it. "It's Roland," he said after a moment. "Téa's here."
"Great!" Joey chirped. "So are we goin' to pick her up or is she meeting us somewhere?"
"We're going there," was the reply. "And we might as well just do what we need to do when we get there. We don't have to be in a specific location for it to work, do we?"
"I don't think so," Luna said. "At least, Ancient Fairy Dragon didn't say we had to be."
The ride to the private airfield was filled with excitement and nervousness. What would happen when they got there? How would the reunion between the alternate Seto and Téa go? How would the reunion with the missing people go? Could they really be retrieved, or was it just an amazing dream?
"I wonder how much of this world's future really will be ours," Téa remarked.
"As much as we choose," Seto said. "We know what happens in this other dimension now. We can make sure certain things don't happen . . . and work towards other things happening."
Téa started to smile. Seto had been alright with the news of their counterparts marrying. Judging from what he had said earlier, he seemed to be willing to work towards the same thing eventually happening in their world. She still didn't know if he had figured out whether or not he had romantic feelings for her, but this was certainly encouraging.
"I agree," Duke said. "That's all we can do. But that should be a lot." He drew an arm around Serenity and she smiled and leaned into it.
Tristan looked away and set his jaw.
Serenity sighed. This didn't seem like a good time or place to try talking to him, with everyone still around, but she felt badly for him.
At last they reached the airfield and the alternate Seto stepped out, heading towards the private jet. A brunette woman came out the door and down the steps to meet him.
"Okay, that's gotta be surreal," Crump said with a glance at Téa. She was definitely staring at her other self.
Instead of standing for a long moment, the alternate Téa ran right over to her Seto, who caught her in his arms. The others couldn't hear what was being said, but Mokuba was sure he saw the alternate Seto saying over and over how sorry he was.
"I always understood," the alternate Téa said. "Even though sometimes I was so frustrated with you I didn't know how to stand it." She reached up, slipping the ring onto his finger. "Now, let's see about getting everyone back."
The alternate Seto kissed her and stepped back. "Let's."
Joey slowly shook his head. "This is really Kaiba?"
"A much humbler and sadder Kaiba," Atem said quietly. "Tragedy changes people."
"It sure does," Joey frowned. He wasn't entirely sure he liked seeing a Seto like this, considering the circumstances. Although in general, he certainly wasn't opposed to the idea of Seto gaining humility.
Tristan also looked shaken. It was definitely uncomfortable and undeniably sad. Yet on the other hand, this alternate Seto and Téa seemed to make quite the pair. Wistfulness flickered in Tristan's eyes. He still wished that he could have that with Serenity. But apparently that didn't happen in this other world, and he had less and less hope that it could happen in his world either.
Luna got out of the car. "I just talked to Ancient Fairy Dragon," she reported. "The Yami Bakura over there is ready."
"And so are we," Yami Bakura said.
Once again all the magic users concentrated, as did Luna. Many silent prayers went up as everyone hoped this attempt would work. Then, slowly, a glow began to form in mid-air.
"Look!" Téa gasped.
It wasn't long and the glow increased and pulled back, revealing another world on the other side. Rebecca immediately ran over, staring into the hole at the beautiful trees and meadows. "Yugi?!"
The alternate Seto was also tensely staring. He didn't dare stop concentrating, but he kept watching the hole, desperate, longing for a familiar face to suddenly appear.
Would he really recognize his Mokuba? 17 years had passed. Would his Mokuba recognize him? Sometimes he didn't recognize himself.
Was any of this really happening? Maybe it was all just a dream or a delusion and he would wake up to cold, hard reality before long.
But suddenly it was real.
"Seto?"
The alternate Seto went stiff, his breath catching in his throat. 17 years may have passed, but he could never forget that voice. "Mokuba," he rasped.
Then a handsome man was leaping through the portal, past Rebecca, and into his brother's arms. The years fell away; he wasn't 40 or even 23, but 10 again. Both brothers were soon tearing up at their long-awaited reunion.
The alternate Lector stared in awe. "Mokuba," he whispered. "He truly is alive. . . . This is real. . . ."
The alternate Yugi was coming through now, smiling as he embraced Rebecca, who sobbed and clutched him close. "Oh Yugi . . . I never stopped believing there was a way to still reach you," she choked out.
"And now we all finally found it," the alternate Yugi said softly.
The alternate Téa looked from her childhood friend to her brother-in-law and back again. "Yugi . . . Mokuba . . ." she whispered in happiness.
"Hello!" came another voice. The alternate Bakura stepped through, a tuxedo cat held in his arms. The alternate Yami Bakura swiftly followed, and the portal closed up behind him once he was through.
Oreo leaned forward, studying her counterpart with suspicious fascination. "Murr?"
The alternate Oreo held out a paw, lightly batting in the younger cat's direction. Oreo responded in kind.
The alternate Bakura chuckled. "We have something for your Oreo, actually," he said. He smiled as he held out a collar with a blue charm, similar to the red charm his Oreo was wearing.
Bakura blinked in surprise and hopeful amazement as he took it. "Is this really . . . ?"
"The same life-extending force that our Oreo has," the alternate Bakura said. "As soon as we knew we had a chance to finally come home, and that alternate versions of all of us were here and largely responsible, we wanted to do this for you."
"It was Bakura's idea," the alternate Yami Bakura grunted.
Bakura just chuckled. This other Yami Bakura was likely just as much of a softie as his, even if neither would ever admit it.
He sobered as he looked down at the object. "Thank you . . . so much," he stammered. "I must admit, I was hoping to ask you how you'd obtained yours and if there was any hope of getting another."
Oreo studied the collar and gave it a cautious bat. After a thorough sniffing, she decided she approved.
The alternate Bakura nodded in encouragement. "It's every pet owner's dream," he said softly. "I could scarcely believe it when a kind Duel Monster gave this to us."
Yami Bakura slowly took the collar from Bakura and placed it around Oreo's neck. "And just how long does this work?" he wondered.
"Well, there is no exact amount," the alternate Bakura said. "You wouldn't really want that anyway, would you? Knowing every aspect of the future would make it hard to enjoy the present."
"Yes, I suppose you're right," Bakura said. "We're certainly grateful for any extra time this gives us with Oreo."
Oreo purred loudly in agreement, placing her front paws on Bakura's shoulder.
"You guys should all totally come to this Christmas party we got invited to tomorrow night!" Leo chirped.
"Leo!" Luna hissed. "They might not have room for more! And it's not our party; we shouldn't be doing the inviting!"
"Oh, it's fine," Téa said. "Leo's right, you should all come! You're all very welcome."
The alternate Téa looked over from where she had joined the happy reunions and smiled. "I think we'll do that," she said.
Lector made his way over to Kalin with a smile. "You know, Mr. Kessler, none of this would have been possible without you," he remarked.
Kalin stared at him. "Without me?!"
"Of course. You told us of your world, and the portal, and that was what started all of this." Lector looked to the alternate group. Now the alternate Lector was pulling his Mokuba into a hug. "Surely you see what a positive difference you made."
". . . Yes. I suppose so." Kalin still looked unsure, but he had definitely perked up more at Lector's words. "All of you really brought it about, though. . . . And I wasn't trying to be a hero, per se."
"But you are regardless," Nesbitt spoke. He had been told similar things, under similar circumstances. Every bit of encouragement helped in his prior states of mind, and he hoped the same effect would happen with Kalin.
Kalin slowly started to smile. It was a good feeling, he had to admit. Even if he felt he couldn't take credit for much of it.
"You will come back with us tonight, won't you?" Lector asked.
Kalin paused. "I . . . still to keep moving," he said slowly.
"I figured as much," Lector sighed. "But will you at least stay long enough to attend the Christmas party tomorrow night?"
Kalin considered that and slowly nodded. "I'll do that. So . . . yes, I'll come back with you just for tonight."
"Wonderful," Lector smiled.
The alternate Seto looked over at the whole group. "Thank you," he rasped. "You gave me—all of us—back what we'd lost. Nothing I can say or do is good enough to show my appreciation."
"Your thanks is plenty good enough," Yugi said. "And seeing all of you happy and together again."
Rebecca smiled. "It never would have been possible without all of you. And you too, Luna." She looked to the little girl.
"I'm just glad to help," Luna insisted, but she was beaming.
Serenity smiled too. "This is wonderful," she said softly. But then she caught sight of a movement out of the corner of her eye. Tristan was quietly slipping away from the group and standing off to the side, staring into space. Deciding it was time, she went over to him. "Tristan?"
Tristan sighed. "Everything's worked out great here," he said. "And I guess . . . knowing what happens to you in this world, you're feeling pretty happy."
"Just because it happens here doesn't mean it will happen for us," Serenity said. "But . . . I have to admit I hope it will. You know I care about you, don't you, Tristan?"
"Yeah," Tristan said awkwardly. "Just . . . not the way I care about you. . . ."
Serenity laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said. "You're a wonderful guy, Tristan, and I know you'll find someone who does care about you that way."
"It's just . . ." Tristan pushed himself away from the wall. "It sounds hollow when all I really want is to have you."
Serenity's smile was sad now. "I know." She inwardly sighed, not sure of what else she could say.
". . . I'm . . . happy for you, though, if that's what you really want," Tristan managed to say.
"Thank you, Tristan," Serenity said.
"Well," Téa spoke up from where the rest of the group still was, "I think we should leave these guys to get reacquainted after so many years. We should be going home now."
"You've given all of us our lives back, in so many ways," the alternate Téa said. "I can't ever thank you enough for what you've done for us."
"We were all happy to help," Yugi said, blushing a bit.
"We'll take you back to the portal," Rebecca said. "You can't walk all that way! And we'll definitely come to your party."
"Great!" Yugi smiled.
"It's going to be an odd party, with multiples of ourselves," Yami Bakura grunted to Bakura.
"Oh Yami," Bakura chuckled. "It will be wonderful."
No one could counter that.
Epilogue
With the extended guest list, everyone was relieved that they had already planned on hosting the Christmas party at Penguin World. There was plenty of room there to accommodate everyone, and the party room was ready and waiting the following night.
"Do you think they'll all really come?" Serenity worried as she and Téa hung the last of the garland.
"I think so," Téa said. "The only one I'm not sure about is Kalin."
"He stayed with us overnight, so he's here!" Crump chirped as he and the rest of the Big Five entered with the mysterious boy.
"Oh good," Téa smiled.
Kalin looked around the event hall in curious approval. "It looks good," he said.
"You bet it does!" Crump said. "The place was basically fixed up before, but we wanted to add some finishing touches."
"It's good we already decided to hold our Christmas party tomorrow instead of tonight," came an eerily similar voice from the doorway. "We wouldn't have wanted to miss this!" The alternate Crump was standing there with his Big Five.
"Hey!" Crump waved. "Come on in!"
George the Emperor Penguin was also on his way in, escaped from his compound again and refusing to miss the party. Then he stood stock-still, looking back and forth between the two Nesbitts.
"Um, gee," Crump remarked. "I didn't stop to think about this possible problem. What do you think he's gonna do?"
It didn't take George long to decide. He shrieked in utter delight and waddled first to his Nesbitt, then the alternate one. Both petted him, shaking their heads in disbelief.
"I believe George is going to be having twice the fun tonight," Gansley said in amusement.
"I wonder what he thinks of there being two Nesbitts," Crump said. "Do you think he understands about alternate dimensions?"
"Ordinarily I'd think you'd insist he would, Crump," Johnson smirked. "In any case, he certainly seems to accept them both as real Nesbitts."
Lector chuckled. It was good to be able to relax and celebrate together after all they had experienced. They were all alive and well together, and now, so were their counterparts.
"I hope you don't mind if there's even more people," the alternate Lector said in some concern. "Our Yugi wanted to invite his grandfather and our other friends, and I believe Miss Luna wanted to bring friends of hers once she knew it was alright to invite others."
"We're well-stocked," Crump said. "We've got a ton of food coming! Everything's fine."
"Hey, what're we gonna do about the portal anyway?" Joey wondered. "Are we going to close it up after Christmas?"
"I think we should leave it open unless we have to close it," Yugi said. "Then we can still see our new friends."
"Sounds good to me," Joey said.
The other guests were soon on their way in as well. When Luna appeared, she was in the company of Leo, Carly, and several people unfamiliar to the large group overall.
"Hi," she greeted. "I hope it's okay that I brought the other Signers. I wanted them to see all this."
"The more, the merrier," Téa smiled.
"Wow, would you look at this spread?!" a young man with spiky red hair exclaimed. "This is something else!"
"This is Crow Hogan," Luna said with a smile.
As she went down the list introducing the other Signers, a boy who looked remarkably similar to Dr. Fudo stepped out from the others, focusing on the blue-haired young man who was starting to sink back into the crowd. "Kalin?!"
Kalin froze as he was spotted. "Yusei. . . . Luna planned this all along, didn't she?"
Yusei smirked a bit. "Yeah, I think she did." He quickly sobered. "Kalin, I know you're still hurting, but I don't blame you. I can't, not now that I know the entire story."
"Yusei. . . ." Kalin clenched a fist. "I chose to join the Dark Signers. I hurt you, so much. . . ."
"You made your own choice, but you were manipulated into it at your lowest point," Yusei said. "You were scared and alone and you felt betrayed. Roman Goodwin took unfair advantage of you. I forgive you, Kalin. I forgave you long ago."
Kalin just stared at him and slowly shook his head. "I still don't understand how you can. I can't forgive myself."
Yusei sighed. "I know. And I know you're probably going to keep searching for a way to do that. But for now, for tonight . . . why don't we enjoy ourselves? It's Christmas." He held out a hand. "We haven't spent one together in years."
Finally Kalin nodded. "Alright." He managed a smile. "That does sound nice."
Crump stood back and watched. "That Luna's a sly kid," he remarked. "She actually found a way to get the two of them together! We sure didn't have any luck with that."
Lector smiled. "I hope it will help him."
"Even if it doesn't fix everything, it might plant a seed," Nesbitt said. "And that might be good enough for now."
Lector drew an arm around him in silent agreement. At Christmastime, there were miracles big and small. They were certainly experiencing their share of them.
Maybe more than their share.