Welcome back everyone, it's been a long time.

Well, a long time in terms of this story.

I'm juggling multiple different things at the moment, so I won't be uploading as regularly.

I'll still upload, there is a whole mapped out plan so, never fear, the story will finish.

What did you all think of the ending last time out?

Time to find out where we go from there.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride,

Writey x

Jaden's POV

15 years older…

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it.

I've been watching and replaying it over and over again in my head for the past few days…

'Over to our reporter Thomas Smith who has some breaking news,' said the TV news Presenter.

'Thanks, Susy, yes I'm here at the Le'Duprah Hotel, where in the last hour or so it has been confirmed that Victor Stoichiev suddenly resurfaced, in his hotel room, late last night, after going missing almost exactly a week ago.'

'Wow Tom, that is some very strange news, any idea what happened to Mr Stoichiev?'

'Yes, this story is very peculiar, he turned up out of the blue. But the biggest mystery, why did Victor Stoichiev turn up here a week later, almost 15 years older. There is no logical answer as to why Mr Stoichiev disappeared and reappeared just like that, but there are detectives working on the case.'

'Have you managed to speak to Mr Stoichiev?'

'That's the thing Susy, no one has heard from Mr Stoichiev since the news broke, a cleaner saw him leave the hotel in the early hours of the morning but since then he has contacted nobody. The police are trying to contact him to find out more but currently with no luck. If anyone has heard from or spoken to Mr Stoichiev then please get in contact with the New Domino PD and our news station.'

Stoichiev had disappeared for over a week, and then in the same evening he had resurfaced, he then disappears again.

None of it added up.

Why did he disappear for a week?

And then, why would he going into hiding, when everyone was trying to help him?

I didn't like it. Something didn't add up. He was in a very good mood when he left the duel against Zane the same evening he disappeared.

Maybe he just went and celebrated privately for a while.

All I know is something inside me doesn't feel right about it all.

"Hey doofus, are you purposely ignoring me?"

I snapped out of my own thoughts and looked around. I was up on a ladder trying to organise some of Solomon's older, more rare cards. Amalie was below, holding out a box that contained the cards we had already sorted.

I had woken up this morning with a day off.

I had returned back to the bakery yesterday, with my time off finally running out.

But Amalie had phoned me this morning saying that Solomon and Monty were struggling to meet tomorrows deadline of moving everything out.

Since arriving back at the weekend, I'd been popping by every minute I could to help them, packing boxes, moving heavy objects, everything I could to help them try and meet the deadline for when they would have to vacate the shop.

If they didn't find a buyer before the deadline, there would be a huge charge from the bank, which was why we had tried to speed up the process by clearing it as quickly as possible.

It wasn't that nobody wanted to buy the property, far from it in truth, there had been loads of interest.

It's just… Solomon had been… how do you say it… extremely picky with a few potential buyers.

He wasn't being mean or anything, he was just doing everything he could to put them off buying the shop.

He would start talking about all the work that needed doing.

Saying extremely high prices whilst they viewed was a regular tactic of his.

Trying to keep the place smelling bad, he'd tried that several times.

My favourite was when he would tell people the place was haunted. The look on their faces after, they genuinely acted as if they couldn't get out any quicker.

If you ask me, I think he was being picky to spite the bank. Trying everything he could so the bank would give up. It was never going to happen; they'll get the place eventually. Even Solomon knows that.

He was also being a nightmare for De'Angelo.

De'Angelo Rodriguez was the man the bank had sent to try and sort out negotiations between the two parties.

If you ask me De'Angelo is incredibly nice, I've met him a few times.

He definitely shouldn't be doing this job.

He is that kind of person you want to talk to all of the time and tell all of you biggest secrets too.

Everyone knows he's in the wrong job.

I actually think he does as well.

Me personally, I think he should be a hotdog man, he would be a great hotdog man.

Amalie said he would be a great hotel receptionist, but I didn't agree, he looks like he needs to be outdoors, selling hotdogs.

Solomon being picky and awkward was a real problem though

If he didn't sell the shop before the deadline, then he would get nothing, and I wasn't going to allow that to happen.

I had told him to consider the last people, a middle-aged couple who wanted to start a small café.

They were lovely, they seemed genuinely concerned for Solomon's well-being, heck, they even said Solomon would never have to pay when he visited their café, but he didn't seem keen.

It's not a surprise to me, he's put everything into this shop over the years and to see it just go, without even having a say, is pretty heart-breaking.

I snapped out of my second thought and stacked the cards I had collected into a neat pile before handing them to Amalie.

"To be honest with you Am," I said, grinning at her.

I had given her a nickname because her grandfather said she hated them which had made it all the more important to give her a nickname.

I handed her the cards, whilst she was glaring at me, "I purposely ignore you most of the time anyway."

She gave a little huff before snatching the cards from me, "HA, HA, very funny."

I smiled at her before turning back around to get some more cards.

"Seriously though Jaden, I thought you had work at 2, it's 2:15," she said, a hint of mischief in her voice, "wouldn't want you to get sacked or anything."

A sudden shock hit me, and I looked at my watch.

Dam you Amalie.

It was 2:15 and I was scheduled to start working at the bakery, 15 minutes ago.

It was bad enough that I was late and had forgotten about my shift, but I'd been so busy at the card shop recently that I had already had to lessen my hours at the bakery in order to help out here.

Lord, Mr Maloney wasn't going to be happy at all.

I bolted down the ladder, I packed all my things in the bag I had brought with me and headed for the door.

There was a new guy starting today as well.

What a good example I was setting.

Best part was, I was meant to be helping him learn what to do.

As I headed for the door, I suddenly realised that it would be quicker if Amalie drove me.

I spun around, only to be greeted by a grinning Amalie, twirling her keys around in her hand, "looking for me?"

I glared at her and she started to laugh, "oh how the tide has suddenly turned, Yuki."

"Amalie, please," I said, trying to rush her out the door, "can you gloat in the car, I'm already really late."

She smiled, eventually making her way outside, "okay but only if you bring back food with you tonight?"

I nodded quickly and we both got in the car.

The car journey was short, it was always short with Amalie.

I'm sure she was speeding almost all of the time.

I didn't like people who broke the speed limit, but today, I would make an exception.

We reached the shop in 15 minutes, which meant I was 30 minutes late.

I thanked Amalie, rushed in through the back door and put all my stuff away.

I had never seemed Mr Maloney mad before, but I was pretty sure all that was about to change as I made my way onto the shop floor.

The usual fresh smell of bread hit me in the face as I made my way behind the counter. The usual customers were sat either eating something or waiting around to collect an order.

I noticed that Mrs Norris was smiling at me from her seat just past the counter.

I hated when she did that, always watching me, knowing when I'm trying not to get noticed or in trouble, she always made it so obvious.

To be honest with you, it was always my fault I was late, I couldn't really blame anyone else.

It's not like Mrs Norris makes me forget the time or wake up late.

Nope, that was all me.

I felt the old lady rise from her seat and shuffle her way over to me, "Jaden, don't worry, I'll tell Henry you've been here the whole time."

I smiled at her, "thank you Mrs Norris, but I'm pretty sure he noticed that I wasn't here."

I'm pretty sure that if I was an old lady, I would be Mrs Norris.

She looked around, "to be honest with you, I think he could still be out back with the new employee."

She made her way back to her table and sat down.

That was true I hadn't seen him or the new employee since I had arrived.

In fact, I didn't even know the name of the new guy.

"That's true, let's just hope they stay back there," I said getting to work.

I started taking orders and gathering I needed, I was on my own, so I had to be as time effective as possible.

I was just about to hand out an order when I heard some footsteps behind me, "hi guys, my name is Jesse, can I take your order?"

I paused, dropping the bread roll I was sorting in disbelief.

No, it can't be.

I spun around to see Jesse, the Jesse, my best friend Jesse, covered in dough, with his uniform on serving a customer.

Jesse gathered the order and turned to face me, "oh hey Jaden, I wasn't sure whether you were showing or not."

What! Why was he acting so cool?

"Jesse, what is going on," I said, handing the order I was collecting to the customer that ordered it.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, "ahh Mr Yuki."

Oh no….

I turned around to face Mr Maloney, who strangely had a smile on his face.

"Come with me," he said, making his way towards the back where his office was situated.

Oh god, this is the end.

I untied my apron and followed Mr Maloney to his office.

As I walked, I passed a number of people all in the bakery uniform working the different stations, that I had never seen before.

"Who are all these people," I said following on behind Mr Maloney.

"There all new employees, I hired them all whilst you were gone."

I looked at them again. There must have been about four or five new staff and normally, we never had five people working at the same time.

We made our way into the office and Mr Maloney sat behind his desk, "so Jaden, how was your time off?"

I looked at him as if he had just told me pigs could fly.

He sat in silence for a second, twiddling his thumbs.

Well?

"Right… so…. yeah…. I should probably explain," he said, eventually giving in and taking out a folder from under his desk, "I have hired seven new staff since you were last here."

I looked at him.

Seven new staff.

"Righttttt…" I said, very confused.

I looked at him, either he was the worst person at telling me good news, or delaying the inevitable.

"Basically, I'm now well staffed, we've had an investment, an anonymous one, but it basically means that you don't need to work anymore, you can focus on other things," he said looking very guilty.

Was I getting fired? By my neighbour?

"I'm not firing you, I still want you to work, you're the most experience I have besides me, but I know that this isn't something you want to do forever, so I decided to tell you now, so you could go forward and achieve what you wanted too."

I looked at him and nodded.

So, I could still work here, just less.

I could look for other hobbies.

Find a new job.

He wasn't firing me.

But then it occurred to me…

"Are you sure Mr M?"

It wasn't that I didn't want to go but I'd been here with him ever since Fiala had passed away and it didn't feel right just leaving without his blessing.

"Jaden," Mr Maloney said, getting very serious, "you and Cam were here when I needed you the most, I have made it through that stage and now it is only fair to set you on your next journey, just like I did with Cam."

I looked at him.

I admired him so much, even with everything he's been through, he still puts everyone else first.

"So," he said, I could see a little tear in his eye, "I think you should head back to the card shop and help them there, I've got plenty of staff today, I'll talk to you more about working here if you want too but for now, I'm putting you on permanent leave."

And that was it.

There were no hard feelings as I made my way over to the card shop, Mr Maloney was right in a way, I did need to move forward, I had made a step in the right direction over the past few weeks and this was the final part.

Moving forward.

It wasn't long before I found myself back at the card shop.

I had walked there; I didn't see the point in phoning Amalie.

She probably would have told me to walk back anyway.

I just wanted to walk.

I just wanted to think.

I knew I needed to find something out there.

There had to be something for me.

But I wasn't sure what.

It could be duelling, that was still on the cards, I'd given it more thought over the past few days.

But, maybe not.

Without realising it, I'd found my way back to the shop.

I looked at it.

It was a shame Solomon was losing it.

I loved it here.

Man, if I could, I would buy it from him myself.

I slowly made my way inside and was greeted by a smiling Amalie, "you get fired?"

I looked at her, "umm yeah, kind of."

Her face instantly dropped, and she made her way over to me, "oh Jaden, I'm sorry."

I shook my head and explained the situation to her, I told her that it wasn't as bad as she thinks.

We chatted for a while before getting on with work, there was still a lot to do before tomorrow.

I grabbed a box and started to sort the cards behind the desk.

They were the cards Solomon had told us to be careful with when sorting them, I guess they were the most valuable cards or something.

I just packed them away for a while.

I allowed myself to lose track of time.

I was still thinking about what Mr Maloney had said.

I did needed to find something else to do, some kind of job, I knew that for sure.

I need to find my next path.

Suddenly, I had a sharp feeling course through me, it wasn't a bad one, but I knew what it was.

The Aura.

I knew it from the first time I had come into the shop, but I hadn't noticed it recently.

I'd thought it was disappearing but clearly, it was still very much here.

I heard the shop door go which was strange because there was a sign outside saying closed.

I spun around and saw a face that I wasn't expecting to see.

"Alexis?"

Alexis's POV

I stepped into the card shop and Jaden was behind the counter sorting something out.

I wasn't expecting to see him straight away, I had been preparing myself on the drive over, but now I was here I wasn't sure whether I was ready.

I'd woken up this morning with a sense of determination.

Ever since the incident with Jaden whilst we were moving in the house, he had barely spoken to me.

I'd tried to talk to him, but he just wasn't talking to me.

It was bothering me.

I wasn't even sad…

Well, I was a little bit.

He was being childish and as far as I am concerned, and I was going to confront him about it.

I knew that Jesse was starting work at the same place as Jaden today, so I went there first.

Jesse had good baking experience because his parents owned a bakery back home, so I knew the job was perfect for him.

He loved baking; I'd seen him do it a few times whilst we were travelling. He was very good, and I knew that as soon as he applied for the job, he would get it for sure.

I'd gone to the bakery, but Jesse had told me that Jaden had already left.

At that point I was going to give up, but an old lady called Mrs Norris had given me the directions to this card shop he was helping out at.

She wasn't sure where he was, but she said this would be the best bet.

In a way it was funny, I didn't even have a clue he was working at the bakery and it made me mad.

He still wasn't telling me stuff.

Okay, maybe I was being paranoid.

But still….

So, here I was, at the entrance to the card shop staring at the back of his head.

I creeped further in and the bell on the door rang, making Jaden turn around.

He looked at me for a second, "Alexis?"

He continued to stare, and I got mad.

"Yes, Jaden, it's me, did you forget who I was?"

Okay, it didn't mean to come out that harsh, but still, what was he playing at?

I made my way over to him and a sudden surge of power came through.

It felt strange.

It was a sharp feeling, something that I'd never felt before, it felt good though.

Like a strong power, giving me strength, making me confident.

I reached the countertop and Jaden still hadn't said anything, "you've got nothing to say…. huh Yuki?"

I never called him Yuki, I don't know what was coming over me, it was like this feeling was making me confident even around him.

"Alexis, slow down, I don't understand, what do you mean," he said making his way around the counter.

I felt the strange power get stronger as Jaden his way over to me.

Dam, I must be head over heels for him, I've never been this worked up before.

I looked at him even though I was angry, I still felt shy whenever I was around him still.

"You…. you…. why have you been ignoring me?"

Jaden looked at me confused, then his expression changed to sad.

"I… I…"

Clearly, he didn't have an answer.

I didn't want to talk to him anymore.

"Forget it," I said, turning to leave.

I quickly wiped away the tear that was on my cheek.

Sheesh, he doesn't even know that he turns me into a blubbering mess.

"Alexis," Jaden said, I looked back around, he had this expression, but I couldn't tell what it was, "wait."

"Jaden," I said moving back towards him, "stop ignoring me, I can't have this every time something happens between us, we can't just stop talking."

I felt the power surge even more as I got closer to him.

It was giving me confidence, confidence to do something I might regret.

"I know Lex, I was being stupid, I just…. I was embarrassed," he said, looking at me sad.

I smiled at him.

Did he get embarrassed around me as well?

He laughed slightly, "do you know, it still confuses me as to what happened…. What do you think it meant?"

With this power, I saw an opening, I could tell him…. tell him how I feel….

"Jaden I…."

He looked at me, "yeah Lex?"

I reached out a hand to touch him, I wasn't sure why, it just felt right.

"Jaden, I've been trying to find a way to tell you that…. see the thing is….."

I couldn't get the words out….

Oh, screw it!

"Jaden, I lov…."

Suddenly, I felt a sharp surge of energy course through my body as my hand touched Jaden's shoulder.

Everything got bright, like a white light and I couldn't see a thing.

"Jaden," I said, but there was no response.

It felt like everything was getting further away.

I tried to move but my body was still.

I started to feel dizzy, my body going numb….

Then, everything went dark and I fell to the floor.

The end….

What do you think?

Predictions, let's get your predictions?

They always make me smile, trying to see you lot guess what's going on…

What was that all about huh?

Sorry, like I said, I didn't mean for it to take this long to upload, hopefully the next won't be as long.

I hope you all enjoyed and you'll hear from me real soon.

Until then favourite and follow for instant updates and look after yourselves.

Writey x