I have a new poll up that's quite important for me to get your opinion, especially from the ones who have followed me since the original CSP. Should I bring back Estelle's Warrior Form? I have some ideas for her, but I'm still not sure if I should add them or not. Please let me know what you think, please.

We have the next review shout-out winner! It's Ganzademon! Congratulations! Next shout-out will be at the 850 review!

The chapter begins in Estelle's point of view.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's characters! I only own my OCs!

Chapter 64: Family is Forever

The next few weeks between late February and early March had been extremely hectic. Sector Security had confiscated lots of information and data of the Neo Arcadia Movement and interviewed the victims; both the kidnapped people and the psychic Duelists who had been brainwashed. After the interviews, they got the best care to recover from the trauma before bringing them home to their worried families.

Some surprises had also been revealed. Seria, one of Sayer's aides, turned out to be Mina's older cousin. Seria had voluntarily joined Sayer's organization, thinking it was a safe place to help other psychic Duelists, but when she found out the truth she wanted to flee. Sayer had then threatened her to kill her family, so she stayed to protect her loved ones.

Sly was really Sayer's biological son after a DNA result. The boy told the detectives of how he had neglected by his grandparents for a long time, and that led the New Domino Child and Protective Services to arrest them. However, because Sly had no other relatives to live with, they were about to put him in foster care when Misty stepped in and said she wanted to adopt him as her little brother. That surprised many of us, including Sly, but none of us argued. I could tell Misty genuinely cared about the boy.

Aki recovered from the shock after witnessing Sayer's death, but she was still a bit on the silent side. We were there for there, and her friends from Duel Academy too, and helped her through the dark tunnel she almost fell down into again.

What about the youngest victim in this case? Well… One thing led to another, to say the least.

XXXXXXXXXX

I could barely contain my anger as I sat on a couch outside of the interrogation room where detectives were currently interviewing Itsuki's parents. They had managed to locate them, a couple of miles outskirts of New Domino City, and brought them in to ask questions related to the information I gave them after seeing Itsuki's memories in the Duel I had with him.

Itsuki was in a safe and isolated playroom in another part of the HQ with a few female officers with his little brother he hadn't seen in a month. I didn't want him to see his parents. Those people had no rights to see him after selling him to a criminal. That itself was a crime and I was hoping to see them get escorted out of the room in handcuffs.

I had both my arms and legs crossed, but my right leg was ticking back and forth like a pendulum in an even rhythm. My eyes were on the door in front of me and didn't move them away at all. I could have burned holes onto the surface if I had laser eyes. I didn't even notice someone had sat down next to me until a voice gently spoke up.

"Hey…"

I blinked a couple of times to regain focus on the environment before turning my head to the left. I was surprised to see Yusei. I didn't expect to see him here.

"Yusei?" I blinked confusedly, sitting like a tight knot with my arms crossed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you", Yusei replied. "I could sense through our Marks you're boiling with anger."

"I am", I confessed before turning my glaring eyes back at the door. "I'm so furious I feel like I want to destroy or rip someone apart."

I wasn't a violent person in nature, but when I get really angry I could get the urge to destroy something to showcase how much anger I have in me. If there was one thing I hated most in the world were parents who abuse, neglect, or do something much worse to their children. Those kinds of people had no rights to call themselves parents and should get sterilized! End of discussion!

"Is it about Itsuki's parents?" Yusei asked softly. "I heard from Kaz they were brought in today."

"Yes", I nodded as I slowly relaxed my tense shoulders. "They've been in the interrogation room for an hour now. I watched them when they were escorted inside. None of them had the concerned expression of a parent who is worried about their child. They were so…so…nonchalant. I just can't understand such people's way of thinking. Why would they want to hurt their own child, let alone sell them just because they are different?"

"It angers me too", Yusei replied. "Martha showered me, Jack, Crow, and the other orphans with love and gentleness when we were kids, even when we were little troublemakers. Even to this day, she cares for all of us and we care for her too. I just can't imagine her being a neglectful mother. It's beyond my comprehension."

I smiled softly at Yusei when I heard how gentle and soft his voice sounded when he spoke about his foster mother. "I'm really glad you ended up in her care. She helped shaping you into the fine young man you are today."

Yusei's cheeks turned a bit red by the compliment. He looked away and scratched his right cheek. I giggled at the sight as I uncrossed my arms, finally feeling more relaxed by his presence.

The Signer turned back to me with a small smile before he moved his right hand to gently grab my left hand. "And I'm glad to see how much you care about Itsuki and other children. I'm sure your future child will be very happy to have you as their mother."

That comment made me not just blush but also a bit teary. No one, besides my parents, had said such a thing to me, and it felt extra special to hear it from the man my heart had fallen in love with.

I couldn't resist the urge to lean my head against Yusei's shoulder, still holding onto his hand. "Thank you, Yusei… And I'm sure you'll be a wonderful father to your future child."

His reply was a soft squeeze on my hand before I felt him lean his head against mine.

This tender moment suddenly felt special. It was like we were really a couple who sought comfort from one another. Was it possible that my feelings for Yusei were reciprocated and he felt the same for me?

No.

I shouldn't let myself fall too deep into my own desire and gather so much hope.

I was going to leave this world later this year. I shouldn't build something that never could become a reality.

I opened my eyes when the door to the interrogation room opened. I slowly moved my head from Yusei's shoulder. When Itsuki's parents were escorted out, I felt my lips twitch upward as I cheered inwardly.

Their wrists were highly decorated with handcuffs, meaning they had been arrested.

Jackpot!

Itsuki's father snapped his head toward me when he saw I was smirking at him. "What're you laughing at?!"

"Silence, and keep moving!" one of the officers commanded as he pushed the man forward.

Two detectives left the room before Mina stepped out and closed the door behind her. I let go of Yusei's hand and stood up while straightening my Sector Security uniform. "What's the report, Mina?"

Mina walked to me and Yusei with a solemn expression. "The parents have been arrested with child abuse, human trafficking, and other counts. They will face the court next month. Both of them kept denying all the allegations."

"That doesn't surprise me", I shook my head. "Seeing their behavior and how nonchalant they were… Disgusting human beings."

"What will happen to Itsuki?" Yusei questioned.

Mina sighed softly. "Itsuki and his little brother, Ryuga, will be placed in foster care. It will take some time to find foster homes, due to the surge of young psychic Duelists who have been abandoned by their families."

"Umm…", I began, getting an idea, as I turned to Yusei. "Yusei, do you think Martha can take them in?"

"I think so", Yusei nodded. "I just need to call and check if she has room for two more children."

"That would be highly appreciated, Yusei", Mina nodded.

Yusei picked up his cell phone and called Martha. After a few minutes of conversation, he ended the call with half-good news.

"She says she can only take in one of them", Yusei told us. "As much as she wants to take in both brothers, she doesn't have enough room."

"Oh dear, that's unfortunate…", Mina said disappointingly. "I guess I'll have to look up potential foster homes."

I suddenly got another idea, one I never thought I was going to get, but after what I had witnessed and felt about Itsuki, I felt the need to do this. "I can foster them."

"What?" Mina said, surprised, as she looked up from her iPad.

"I can take in Itsuki and Ryuga and foster them until we find a permanent home", I elaborated my idea.

"Are you sure about it, Estelle?" Mina asked.

"Yeah… Kinda", I confessed sheepishly. "I don't exactly feel ready to become a mother, but I simply don't want to abandon the brothers after seeing Itsuki's memories. It partially scares me to suddenly take in not just one but two children, but I know I'm not alone in this. I've got everyone in the mansion helping me look after them, so… I think I might be able to do it."

"Have you spoken to the Director about it?" Mina questioned.

"No. I just got this idea."

"I see… Well, I'll take your idea into consideration and we'll talk to Director Goodwin about it", Mina said as she wrote down something on the iPad. "Now, excuse me, you two."

Yusei and I stepped aside to let Mina walk away and continue do her work.

"Are you really going to do this, Estelle?" the Signer spoke up.

"Hm?" I hummed as I turned to him.

"Take in the brothers when you know you aren't actually ready for it?"

I looked aside as I held my left arm. "Yes, I am. It scares me a little bit of taking care and looking after two children twenty-four seven, but… Doesn't every lovable parent feel like that when they're expecting their first child?" I tightened the hold on my arm as I once again held back my anger and fear. "I just can't abandon them after seeing Itsuki's memories of how monstrous their parents were. If they could sell Itsuki and not giving him one last glance as he was taken away, who knows what else they are capable of? I will protect and give them a warm and happy home until we found potential adoptive parents."

Yusei smiled softly before he wrapped an arm around my shoulders from behind. "They'll be very fortunate to have you as their foster mother."

I blushed at the compliment.

XXXXXXXXXX

To my surprise, Goodwin agreed on me taking in the Miura brothers. Straight after we discussed that, he called the head of the butlers and gave him orders to prepare a room for Itsuki and do other necessary stuff, like buying children clothes and toys. I could bring the boys home on the very same day. Both of them were nervous at first, because it was a new place for them and new people, but that was normal. They needed time to adjust to the new environment.

Itsuki's room was next to mine while Ryuga was going to stay in my room, but sleep in a crib next to my bed so I could hear whenever he woke up and needed something, like visit the bathroom or just needed a hug and comfort.

I was staying up a little longer the first night and read a book about toddlers and their needs to get more knowledge. I sat in an armchair in another corner of my room, so the light wouldn't disturb Ryuga.

I was folding the corner of the pages that caught my attention, so I could re-read them again. Once in a while, I cast a glance at the white crib where Ryuga was sleeping comfortably. So far, so good.

I snapped my head to the door when there was a soft knock. I put the bookmark at the current page I was reading and closed the book before setting it down on a small table. I got up from the chair and walked over to the door. I gently opened it to not make any noise and saw it was Itsuki. He was dressed in light grey pyjamas and white slippers. He was holding a pillow close to his chest.

"Itsuki…?" I whispered. "What's wrong…?"

"I can't sleep…", Itsuki replied as he yawned softly. "C-Can I sleep with you tonight…?"

I couldn't help but smile softly at the shy request. "Of course you can… Come on in, but be quiet… Your brother is sleeping…"

Itsuki walked soundlessly into the room before I closed the door very gently. I gently took Itsuki's hand and led him to the bed. I pulled back the cover and moved my pillow a bit before the young boy crawled onto the bed. He moved further to the wall before I got onto the bed and pulled the cover over us. Itsuki made himself comfortable with his pillow as his tired eyes stared at me.

"Feeling a little better…?" I asked softly.

"Yeah…", Itsuki nodded. "Thank you…"

"Don't worry about it…", I gently shook my head. "If you have a hard time falling asleep, you can always come to me…"

Itsuki nodded slowly before his eyes got a bit hazy as if he was thinking deeply. "Um… Are you going to be my and Ryuga's new mom…?"

I hesitated at that question. Should I tell him I was just going to take care of the brothers until we found them a permanent home or I was going to be their "real" mother?

"Yes…", I replied.

Itsuki blushed as he played with the edge of the cover. "Can I call you…mom?"

Mom…

I had never been called like that, so it sounded foreign to me, but it also made my heart feel fluffy.

I smiled softly before raising my hand to caress Itsuki's hair, his hair feeling very silky between my fingers. "If you want to…"

"Mm-hm…", Itsuki nodded tiredly.

I stayed awake until Itsuki fell asleep. I watched him for a while before I turned around to remove my glasses and put them on the nightstand. Just as I was about to place down the glasses, Ryuga moved in the crib. I glanced up as I put back the glasses on my face to see what was going on.

"Wee-wee…", Ryuga mumbled tiredly as he slowly sat up on the mattress.

I got up from the bed and quickly put on a morning coat while making sure I didn't wake up Itsuki. I tiptoed over to the crib and gently picked him up, letting him sit on my left arm as I secured him with my other arm. Ryuga held onto my morning coat as his tired eyes tried focusing on me.

"Let's go, Ryuga…", I whispered.

My old routines were going to change extremely with being a foster mother now, but I didn't mind that as long as I could provide a safe home and give them the love and care they needed.

XXXXXXXXXX – Misty's POV

After the whole event with Sayer and the Neo Arcadia Movement, Aki came forward with the suggestion of giving the head of the organization a funeral. It surprised many of us, but after she told us what she heard from Sayer, it kind of made sense to give him a place to rest in peace.

It had gone a week since the funeral when Sly and I visited Sayer's grave. I bought a small bouquet of flowers, but I pushed it into Sly's hands so he could place them on the grave. After all, he was Sayer's son.

Sly stood in front of the grave without saying a single word. I stood a few meters away to give him space if he wanted to speak out his mind. All he did was just placing down the bouquet on the grave and bowed to it before walking back to me. He had an emotionless expression as he stood next to me with his arms crossed.

"Sly…?" I spoke softly.

"I have nothing to say to him", Sly said a bit harshly as he closed his eyes.

I sighed softly through my nose before I walked over to the grave. I stared at the tombstone, reading Sayer's name over and over again. The wind caught my hair and caused it to whip around, but I ignored it.

"Sayer…", I mumbled. "I now know what you've gone through. It's something no child should ever deal with, but it shouldn't have fueled your anger to hurt other people. It caused so many to get hurt of losing their loved ones, like me. I can never forgive you of what you did to Toby. You took advantage of my brother who just wanted to find another place to belong to with people like him." I looked up at the sky, briefly hallucinating as I saw Toby's face on one of the clouds. "And you took advantage of your own son, making him hurt people. If you ever had fatherly feelings, know that I will take good care of Sly. He will never replace Toby, but he will be my second little brother. I will give him a good life and teach him a lot of things. I will show him there's warmth out there in the world and not the same coldness that you went through."

Within the next few days, Sly and I filed out adoption papers, so my new little brother was now known as Sly Tredwell.

XXXXXXXXXX – Sherry's POV

Mizoguchi and I had been scouting around in the Fountain Plaza for the last couple of weeks since we encountered the two enfants. My goal was to recruit Fudo Yusei to my team for the WRGP. I had secretly done some background research and found out he had quite an interesting past. With him in my team, and with my motives, I would surely come closer to the truth of what they were after.

Both my guardian and I were dressed in casual clothes to get less attention. I was dressed in a white shirt, white pants, light grey heels, and a dark beige trench coat. I had tied up my long hair into a long ponytail. My face was slightly hidden by a pair of sunglasses, just as Mizoguchi.

We sat down by a table outside of Café la Geen to continue our surveillance. It was our usual routine; pretend to relax and enjoy the less-modern environment while we were actually looking for Yusei, and while we waited we would go through our Decks and come up with strategies for the Grand Prix.

The usual blonde waiter walked over to us with two sets of menu. He had served us since we first started going here, so he recognized us. "Welcome back, customers."

"Good day", Mizoguchi nodded.

I nodded softly as I took the menu the waiter gave us. I cast a curious glance at the name tag on the apron he was wearing.

Jack Atlas.

He used to be the King of Games before he got defeated by Yusei at the Fortune Cup. From the files I read, those two grew up in the same orphanage, so I assumed they were close to each other. I could try asking Jack for Yusei's contact addresses, but that would be too suspicious.

"I'll have a Blue-Eyes Mountain and a crème brûlée", I said.

"A Blue-Eyes Mountain for me as well, please", Mizoguchi nodded.

"Excellent choice!" Jack said as he wrote down our orders. "The Blue-Eyes Mountain is the best coffee I personally ever had. I'll be right back with your order."

He shortly returned with our coffee and my crème. I took a small spoon of the dessert and couldn't help but enjoy the familiar combination of flavors. It briefly reminded me of my childhood when I was living a happy life with my family and everyone else in the mansion.

I had to stop eating the crème and wash away the taste with the coffee before tears could accumulate in my eyes. I couldn't let my feelings get over me. Not yet. Not until I got my closure and found the ones who were responsible for my family's death.

I had to stay strong and keep surviving 'til the very end.

I snapped my head up when the front door of the clock shop opened and Yusei and the owner of the shop walked out. They were in the middle of a conversation, but that shouldn't matter.

I was about to stand up when two young boys and a young woman walked over to the duo. I recognized the woman as Estelle Goodwin; the Director of Sector Security's adopted daughter. She made quite the revolution when she openly spoke about her autism at the Fortune Cup when she Dueled that cute psychic Duelist. Since then, more and more Duelists had come forward with their own mental disabilities and shared their experience with other people who were similar to them.

The youngest boy reached his arms up to Yusei who picked him up with a smile. The other boy greeted the old lady who smiled brightly at him, gushing something about she felt like she was the children's actual grandmother since she viewed Yusei as her fourth son. That caused both Estelle and Yusei to blush hard and look away as the boys and the old lady laughed at their reactions.

The interaction between them made them look like they were a happy family and the way Yusei looked at Estelle was the same how Papa used to look at Maman…

I had enough watching the scene. I harshly stood up from my seat, surprising my guardian.

"Master?" Mizoguchi spoke up, concerned.

"Allons-y (Let's go.)", I simply said.

I left my share of the bill on the table before I walked away with quick steps, not realizing a pair of eyes was watching me.

XXXXXXXXXX – Estelle's POV

I looked up when I thought I saw something yellowish-goldish in the corner of my eyes. I turned around and saw a tall and slim figure walk away from the café. A big man followed them in a hurry. He was wearing a hat and sunglasses that covered his head and face, but the shape of his body reminded me briefly of Elsworth, Sherry's guardian.

Was it possible it was them? What were they doing here? I thought they were always trying to keep a low profile. What if they had been waiting for Yusei and wanted to talk to him?

That meant the next event was soon going take place, with Yusei getting kidnapped by that boss of the Turbo Duel Business Group. I had to keep my eyes and ears open for it.

XXXXXXXXXX

That's right, everyone! Estelle has officially become Itsuki and Ryuga's foster mother. How many of you did not foresee it?

A drawing of the Miura brothers is up on my blog, along with Itsuki's Gusto Deck (minus his Darklord Monster), and Estelle's spring outfit.