Ghost Of Magic: Thank you for reviewing! Hahaha yes, about time, I believe… ;)

CrazyQuilava: Thank you for reviewing! Well yes, lmao, especially since Bastion and Atticus already don't understand a thing… Besides, this chapter is mostly about explanations, as the title says it! XD Hopefully, there'll be a moment where Ben or Jaden will explain all those things to her... Once she gets used to things around her, since she's not aware yet of the Light Of Destruction's existence at this point! ;) I'm glad you like what I did with her character, development and duels, since more is yet to come.. :) Thanks, stay safe out there too! :)

Nku: Thank you for reviewing, here's the next chapter! :)

Kias: Thank you for reviewing! Well, yes, pretty much.. :)

Well, guys, on with the story!

I only own my OC's!

It was quiet for a few moments.

"What are we waiting for?! We have to save them!" Jaden then pointed out with a frown, and was about to run… Only for Bastion and Atticus to grab him by one arm respectively. "Chazz said to be at Kaiba Land tomorrow, remember?" The British guy reminded. "Nothing works at this hour, not even Kaiba Land." The latter sighed.

Seeing Jaden wasn't struggling against their grip anymore, two guys let go of him. "Too bad…" Jaden let out a groan with hands in his hair. "It's only a few hours away." I reminded, putting a hand on his left shoulder. He looked up at me. "I know, but even that can be long." He sighed. "I wouldn't risk it with Kaiba Land's security." Mister Muto spoke up.

"Fine…" Jaden let out another groan. "It will pass quickly." I replied, trying to assure him.

While I wasn't really looking forward to going to Kaiba Land, Syrus and Hassleberry were Jaden's friends. They were in trouble right now. It was only logical Jaden would be upset and try to save them immediately.

The guy looked up at me. "Hopefully." He sighed.

That was when a smile appeared on his face. I was suddenly pulled into a warm hug. I let out a laugh and hugged him back. It felt like we were just standing there and hugging each other for what seemed to be eternity. I didn't want it to end…

At that moment, all feelings of worry were gone. Instead, I felt like my heart was about to burst with joy. Although I still couldn't believe this was possible… Who would have thought that Domino City would help me so much with recovering my memories?! I had hope, but never expected this much! All this time, my best friend and neighbor was right in front of me!

Earlier, I would have found the whole idea ridiculous. But now that I actually remembered him, everything was better. I haven't been so happy since… Since forever! Jaden was my only friend back then, and, now, I cherished every memory with him I had recovered…

"It still feels a bit surreal." I spoke up with a smile. "Do you have any idea," Jaden pulled away to look at me. "How happy I am to see you again? You've been here all along, yet I didn't know that!" He replied with a grin. "Hey, I didn't know it either! Granted, I had my suspicions this morning, but I wasn't sure until you showed your bracelet that I remembered…" I pointed out excitedly, grabbing my friend's hands. "What's more, it turns out Ben was right!" I then grinned as well, realizing my cousin's theory about him being on the island was true. If he hadn't gone insane, I'd probably be thanking him now…

Just as Jaden opened his mouth to say something else, I could hear someone clearing their throat.

"While I hate to interrupt whatever's going on," Bastion's voice started, making us turn around in his direction. "Would you mind explaining to us what this is all about?" He finished with a frown. "It would certainly make some things clearer." Atticus nodded, looking between Jaden and me back and forth.

"But I've already told you. I'm happy to see my best friend again." The brown-haired guy spoke up cheerfully. "I believe that's the unclear part to them…" Aster Phoenix trailed off with a frown and arms folded. He then walked away without another word. "He does have a point." Atticus spoke up. Both him and Bastion were looking at us astonished.

I let out a sigh and tugged at my hair. "Is it me, or are they convinced we're insane?" I asked Jaden quietly. "They have right to ask. It is kinda confusing." He replied with a shrug. I frowned for a moment, realizing he was right.

While I was happy that I had my memories back, I was still confused about the whole situation… I barely knew where we were, since Sarina's reappearance caught me off guard as well. A lot of things had happened today… The only thing I knew for sure was that I had memories of my best friend again, and that I was happy about it. Everything else was… Quite confusing.

"Fair enough." I muttered to him with a nod. "How about we all sit down first?" I then asked the two guys. "Sounds good to me." Atticus said while Bastion nodded.

Bastion and Atticus sat on one log across the fire. Mister Muto sat next to them, most probably confused with all of this as well. Jaden and I sat down on a log across them. Pharaoh walked up to where we were sitting, and sat down in between our feet. Out of a corner of my eye, I could see the cat waving with its tail.

"Well?" Bastion raised an eyebrow. I exchanged glances with Jaden. "How should we explain this?" I muttered to him. "One of us could start, and the other one could join in?" He suggested. Judging by the look on his face, he was as confused as me. "We could try that." I nodded since I didn't have any other ideas.

But we couldn't just straight out tell them we were friends from school and used to be neighbors… Then they wouldn't understand a thing. We had to ease them into the explanation, not just throw out facts! Everything had to make sense…

"I'll start first then." I told Jaden after a few moments. "Sure. I'll join in." He nodded with a small smile. I smiled back before looking back at Bastion and Atticus who were staring at us. Mister Muto, on the other hand, kept looking between all of us back and forth curiously. I cleared my throat, finally having an idea where to start.

"As you know," I started. "Ben and I are Italian. His father is my father's older brother. Both of them were born in Rome, and grew up there." I looked at Bastion and Atticus who simply nodded. From what I could see, they were listening to my every word. "My mother is from Rome as well." "But what does that have to do with…" Atticus started perplexed, only for Bastion to shush him.

Atticus frowned at him but stayed quiet. "Continue, please." The British guy then said, looking at me intently. I simply nodded. "Both of my parents found conditions for work and life in Japan better, which is why they decided to move there. They met each other in this city, and it's where I was born." I continued.

"You're from here?" Atticus asked in surprise, making me nod. "This is where I spent most of my childhood. My parents were busy with work so they couldn't look after me. That's why Sarina, Sartorius, and sometimes my aunt used to do so instead." "Sometimes?" Bastion raised an eyebrow. I nodded. "She's been working for Industrial Illusions since I was small. She just couldn't come here all the time, since Ben was young as well." I explained.

The Ra Yellow guy nodded in understanding. "I met Jaden," My eyes briefly landed on the person next to me. "When I was in first grade. We were in same class, and used to live in the same street." "Our houses were next to each other." Jaden corrected me. "Grazie." I nodded to him.

"So that means you're from here too?" Atticus demanded in surprise. Jaden nodded. "He's the one who introduced me to Duel Monsters, actually." I admitted. "Everyone used to play it at school, remember?" He reminded. I nodded back.

"Wait, wait," Bastion spoke up with a frown. "If you used to be so close… Then why were you hugging and shouting as if you hadn't seen each other for thousand years?" An even bigger frown appeared on his face after a few seconds. "In fact," His grey eyes landed on me.

"Why did you avoid talking to Jaden in the first place?" The guy's eyebrows furrowed.

I opened my mouth to say something… Only to close them. What was I supposed to say to that statement? He had a point there…

"That's where it gets confusing," Jaden spoke up sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Even though she did look kind of familiar, I couldn't remember Serena, nor anything concerning her up until now." "I couldn't remember anything about him either." I added. "You want to say you had amnesia?" Atticus asked in surprise. "If that's what you call it." Jaden let out a sigh.

"Do you know why?" Bastion demanded. I looked up for a few moments with a frown. Honestly, even though I remembered Jaden and time we spent as kids… That was all there was to it. When it came to other things, my mind was completely blank. I had no idea why we never stayed in touch. Heck, I didn't even know why I moved away!

"No." Jaden spoke up while I shook my head. "Well, that's… Interesting…" Bastion trailed off. "At least it makes sense why you tried to talk to her all the time. You had all of us confused…" He then mused. I looked up at Jaden, who put his arm around my shoulders.

Bastion let out a sigh. "You do know this is a lot to take in?" He then looked at us. "If it's like that for you, then how are we supposed to feel?" I frowned. "Everything is so confusing." Jaden admitted. "It will just take some time for us to get used to it." Atticus spoke up. "He's right." Bastion nodded in agreement.

"I also wanted to ask you something else." He then looked at me. "What?" I asked, straightening up. "When was the last time you had seen Sartorius and his sister, before he appeared here?" The British guy looked at me seriously. "I had to move so I could attend West Academy, so I technically haven't seen them for more than a year. That's also the last I heard of them, since they stopped calling, and answering my calls." I said simply. Bastion simply nodded to my words, with a finger on his chin and a frown.

Atticus then stood up. "I'm tired, so I'm off to bed. Good night." He waved and walked into one of tents. "Good night to both of you, and you, Mister Muto." Bastion said calmly. We watched as he entered another tent.

"It's getting late…" Mister Muto let out a yawn. He then looked at Jaden and me. "I can come tomorrow morning to show you the way to Kaiba Land." "Yes, please." Jaden smiled. "Then I'll be here in the morning." The older man smiled. "Sleep well!" He waved and started walking away. "Good night!" We waved back.

I was still rather confused about what had just happened… I wasn't even sure whether Bastion and Atticus believed us or not. What we had just told them did sound rather insane…

"What do you think? Did they believe us or not?" I asked Jaden quietly. "I don't know. They said they had to get used to it." He replied with a shrug. "Besides… They can think whatever they want."

"You're not worried about what they might think?" I asked a bit perplexed. "They asked for an explanation, and we told them the truth," The guy told me, putting arms behind his head. "What they think about it is not my problem."

I stayed quiet for a moment, thinking about what he had just said. He had a point there. Why should I bother about other people's opinions?

Finally, at that moment, everything that happened sank in completely. I was in Domino City. I was in my hometown, and I was reunited with my best friend from childhood. I partially recovered my memories. Sarina reappeared, and told us to go to Kaiba Land tomorrow…

Feelings of happiness washed over me once more. At that moment, I decided to push away our current problems. We had to wait until tomorrow after all… What I wanted was to catch up with Jaden as much as I could.

Suddenly, Pharaoh jumped into my arms and started purring. I let out a laugh and started petting the cat. "Pharaoh sure likes you." Jaden pointed out with a small smile. "And I like him." I responded with a smile of my own. "There's not an animal you don't like, Serena." He responded as if it was obvious. "And where did you get that from?" I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"When your aunt led us to the zoo, you couldn't get your eyes off snakes in there. She was near to having a heart attack." Jaden let out a laugh. I frowned for a moment, trying to remember what exactly he was referring to. While I did remember most of things now, sorting through all of those sudden memories was something I hadn't got used to…

"Jaden, look over there!" I exclaimed excitedly, pointing at a nearby glass cage. Finally, my friend looked away from a nearby iguana. "Are those snakes?" He asked in surprise. "Yes!" I responded and ran to the cage.

A long, greyish snake was lying inside. "Northern Water Snake." I read its name with a small smile. "I don't like snakes." Jaden said with a frown. "Why?" I asked him in confusion. "Because they can poison you." He responded immediately. "Not all of them," I shook my head with a chuckle. "And certainly not this one." I pointed at the snake in the cage.

"How do you know that?" He asked me curiously. "There's a difference between poisonous and non-poisonous snakes in general." I explained with a smile. "Really?" "Yes! You see, the ones without poison are not brightly colored, and their head is not triangular like with poisonous ones." "This one's not brightly colored." Jaden finally agreed with a nod, his eyes looking over the snake.

"Her head is not triangular either." I pointed at the snake's head. "Besides, poisonous snakes have eyes like cats." I then added cheerfully. "Like cats, you say?" Jaden looked at me curiously.

His eyes then wandered over to the next cage. "Is that a poisonous one, then?" He suddenly asked, pointing at another snake. We walked over to it. "Ottoman viper." I read. "Why do you think it's poisonous?" I then looked at my friend.

"It has eyes like cats." He pointed at the snake's eyes. I looked at them. "You're right." I agreed with a grin. "Look at its head." I pointed. "Triangular shape." He nodded. "Are there more snakes?" I looked up curiously. "Yes." My friend nodded.

"Then race you to the next one!" I laughed, running towards it. "Hey, wait up!" He ran after me, just as I stopped in front of the cage. "Another viper?" He then asked in disbelief. "Horned viper." I corrected my friend. "It's not much different from the other one." He said. "This one has a horn, see?" I pointed at the horn of the snake.

"And cat's eyes." My friend added. "Triangular head too." I pointed out, making us laugh.

Suddenly, I heard a scream. Jaden and I quickly turned around to see my aunt trembling, her eyes wide. A hand was over her mouth. She quickly ran away from us. "What happened?" My friend looked at me, his eyes wide. "I don't know." I responded honestly before we ran after her.

"You mean the time we spent guessing whether snakes were poisonous or not?" I presumed, finally realizing what Jaden was referring to. He nodded. "I had never seen your aunt so scared before…" He trailed off. "She has ophidiophobia, remember?" I reminded. "Ophidio what?" "Phobia of snakes." I quickly explained.

"Oh." Jaden nodded. "I remember now. We didn't return inside after she had run out." "She was so scared…" I nodded as well, remembering that day. "Vipers were snakes we saw back then?" He asked while rubbing the back of his head.

I nodded. That was when an image of Professor Viper appeared in my head. He was smiling smugly at me, and getting ready to give me another detention… Then he summoned his snakes and…

"No!" I quickly shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. I just had to associate poor vipers with the snake himself…

"What's the matter?" Jaden asked me in confusion. "Nothing, you just reminded me of my former professor." I replied sheepishly. Seeing I was still confused, I let out a sigh. "During my first year at West Academy, before I transferred here, one professor's last name was Viper." I explained.

Jaden's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" He asked. I nodded. "He even has a deck full of snakes. He used to give me detentions frequently, and during one, I had to duel him." "Who won?" He wondered. "No one, since another professor interrupted us." I replied. "A deck full of snakes…" He then mused. "It's awful. Most of them has this venom, which takes away a monster's attack points every turn until it's destroyed."

"That sounds… Interesting…" Jaden trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "Until you see it in action. It's terrible." I let out a sigh while playing with one of my strands. He shrugged his shoulders. "I believe you, but not seeing it doesn't help." "I know." I nodded.

"Wait," Jaden then frowned. "You spent your first year there?" He repeated. I nodded. "It's a branch of the Main Academy, in between Sicily and Sardinia." "Europe then." He concluded, making me nod yet again. "The only other branch I know about is North Academy. Chazz spent some time there last year before coming back."

I raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He nodded. "Ben told me there are two more branches. One of them is East Academy, and the other one is South Academy. The East one is near America, and the South one in between Australia and New Zealand."

"First time I hear about them." My friend mused. "I know about it only thanks to Ben." I shrugged my shoulders. "Ben's always informed." He nodded in agreement. "But why didn't you come with him here last year?" He then asked me perplexed.

I let out a sigh, knowing this was coming nonetheless. "It all started more than a year ago," I started while playing with Pharaoh's left ear. "When my parents forced me to go there. They said that if I got kicked out, then they'd just transfer me into another school." "Why?" Jaden's eyes widened. "I mean, from what I remember, they're nice…" He then added.

I rolled my eyes. "They are, but they're quite overprotective too. They didn't allow me to leave the house all alone. I never knew why." I stated. "They claimed going to Duel Academy would be good for me. Quite illogical, since they forbade me from playing Duel Monsters when I was small in the first place…" I groaned in annoyance.

"Wait, what happened since we've last seen each other?" Jaden quickly interrupted before I could say something else. I took a deep breath and put down the cat. "I guess I'd better start from the beginning?" I presumed sheepishly. "That would make things easier." He nodded.

"Fine." I took a deep breath again. "The last thing I remember is us playing at your house like we used to. The next thing I remember is moving to Rome." I started, playing with one of my red strands. "We spent some time there before moving back to Japan." "Nagoya." Jaden remembered. I nodded.

"I was still small back then, which was why Sarina and Sartorius continued looking after me. Once I was old enough, my parents started locking me up so I couldn't get out." "And you never knew why?" Jaden repeated perplexed.

I nodded with a frown. "Then, one day, they just told me I'd be going to Duel Academy. They said as soon as I graduated, I could do whatever I wanted." "But what's that about forbidding you to play Duel Monsters?" Jaden asked me surprised.

"Just that." I looked up at him. "As soon as they found my deck, Mum ripped it apart." I explained bitterly, as those events flashed through my mind. "No…" Jaden trailed off in disbelief. "Yes." I nodded firmly. "Then they forbade me to be friends with anyone who played Duel Monsters. Since everyone had them at school, I was all alone." "Is that why you hate them so much?" He asked in realization. I stayed quiet for a few moments.

By now, my feelings about Duel Monsters were mixed. I've just remembered how I used to play them with Jaden. Every time we played them was fun. It certainly wasn't my favorite activity, but I used to like it enough so I could play with my friend. In fact, we used to make compromises back then, since Jaden liked those cards way more than I did…

To avoid arguments about what to play, Aunt Maria suggested playing a bit of everything. That was exactly what we did, which was why we managed to get along so well, despite our different preferences. Jaden loved dueling, whereas I was a girl who just preferred running around and observing nature… We were basically polar opposites when it came to that, and still were. Jaden hasn't changed much, neither have my preferences.

But then, when my parents forbade me from doing anything with them, I started hating Duel Monsters… My hatred grew even more when they forced me into the Academy. But now? I had my memories back, yet I still couldn't forget what my parents did to me due to those cards… I didn't hate them, but I wasn't as fond of them as earlier… I respected them and cherished good memories. Yes, that was it.

"I used to. Now, I want to respect them and cherish good memories." I finally spoke up. Jaden let out a sigh. "In that case…" He then smiled and started taking something out of his Deck Box. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I believe this belongs to you." He offered me two cards.

I took them while feeling utterly confused. My eyes then landed on the card's drawings. One of them was the phoenix I had seen earlier, and the other one was that weird creature…

"I sacrifice those two monsters to summon my Sacred Phoenix!" I declared and put the card on the table. "Your strongest monster…" Jaden trailed off with a grin. "Si." I nodded with a smirk.

"What's that?" Jaden asked curiously while looking at the spirit of a small creature which appeared in front of us. "From what I can see, it's called Mystical Peryton." I replied a bit confused. "What's a peryton?" He wondered aloud. "It's a mythological animal that has features of a stag and a bird." Aunt Maria explained, walking into the room. "Oh…" Jaden and I chorused in realization.

"How come you have those cards?" I asked my friend in astonishment. "They stayed in my possession for some reason. I don't remember how, nor when." He rubbed the back of his head.

I kept staring at those two cards. As of now, those were the only remains of my first deck… The one Mum tore apart. Seeing them again made me feel happy. They were a part of my childhood… It was only luck they survived this long, compared to other cards from the deck!

"Thank you." I told Jaden with a smile and hugged him. "Hey, that's what friends are for!" He let out a laugh but hugged me back. "I just can't believe you had them all this time, especially since the rest of the deck is gone." I admitted once we pulled away.

Suddenly, I could hear some sort of a bird calling. I looked around in confusion. "Did you hear that?" I asked Jaden in surprise. "I definitely heard something." He nodded, looking around as well.

Looking up, I let out a yelp and jumped back. "Serena, what's… Oh." I could hear him finishing in what seemed to be realization.

A spirit of what seemed to be a small, white peryton was looking right back at me. It chirped yet again and flew towards me. I let out a yelp and quickly ducked, covering my eyes.

At that moment, I was feeling nothing but panic. My heart was beating faster as well. If my fresh memories served me correctly, I had seen this fellow before… But this was so sudden! I had just recovered my memories, and spirits were already reappearing! Sure, I did see the dingo once during the entrance exam, but I had no explanation for that one!

"Chill out," Jaden grabbed me by my arm and helped me up. "This one's harmless, remember?" I slowly took hands off my eyes. The spirit was in front of me, giving me a curious look. It let out a chirp and flew closer. After that, it landed on my right shoulder, yet I never felt him being there. Yes, how stupid of me, they weren't called spirits for nothing… "Well, hi there?" I greeted awkwardly.

That was when another spirit appeared. I tilted my head to left in confusion. It resembled a furball, except that this one had eyes, wings, and green legs… "Hey, Winged Kuriboh!" Jaden grinned from next to me.

"You know that spirit?" I glanced at him wide-eyed. "Of course," He smiled at me. "I have his card after all." I stared at him for another few moments, trying to just let everything sink in.

We were actually communicating with spirits… I hadn't done that since I was a child! It would take a while to get used to it again, especially since I used to believe such things didn't exist… In fact, the logical part of me was still skeptical about this… But I couldn't deny it anymore. I could see them with my own eyes, those two spirits were real!

The furball flew closer to the spirit on my shoulder. However, the Peryton scowled at it and looked away. It then hid behind my neck. The furry monster then flew back to Jaden who glanced between it and the Peryton.

"It appears my monster doesn't like yours for some reason." I commented with a raised eyebrow. "They'll get around." Jaden replied reassuringly before looking at the little furball. "Isn't that right, Winged Kuriboh?" He smiled. The response he got was the spirit landing on his head. "Winged Kuriboh." I repeated to myself, trying to memorize its name.

That made Jaden give me a perplexed look. "You do know I tend to forget some names…" I trailed off, trying to hide my embarrassment. "Oh, yes." He suddenly started laughing, earning confused looks from the Peryton, Kuriboh, and me. "What's so funny?" I tilted my head to left yet again.

"Please tell me you haven't forgot about Mister Nakamura." He smirked. My eyes widened the moment I heard that name come out of his mouth. I remembered him immediately… "Dio santo…" I face palmed, making my friend burst in even more laughter.

Mister Nakamura used to be our neighbor back then. He had lived in a house on my left. It had a backyard, and looked pretty… However, he disliked any noise, especially if it came from his neighbors. He had no tolerance towards children either. Jaden and I used to constantly get on his nerves whenever we played in my garden… One time he got really mad when we broke his window with a football ball…

I broke his window, actually. Mister was furious when I didn't remember his name, and it probably would have got even worse if Sartorius hadn't rushed to calm down the man…

Jaden kicked the ball to me. I kicked it back the most strongly I could, sending it flying up. Suddenly, I could hear something breaking.

My eyes widened as I exchanged a glance with Jaden who seemed to be equally shocked. We then looked up to see… A broken window right across! "Oh no." I gasped. "Now we're in trouble!" I exclaimed in panic and tugged at my hair.

I then started looking around immediately, wondering where to hide. If I didn't do that, our neighbor would be furious with me. If not him, then Sartorius would be mad instead. "Why?!" I shouted, still trying to find a good hiding place. Unfortunately, it was too late.

"NOW YOU'VE REALLY DONE IT!" A man screeched, rushing out of the house across mine. He was holding my ball in his hands, and had a look of fury all over his face. "We're sorry!" Jaden shouted in panic just as the man rushed to the fence dividing our gardens.

"Is 'sorry' going to replace my window?!" He demanded, showing him the ball. "No, but…" "You spoiled brat…" "It's my fault! I kicked it!" I shouted to him, making Jaden and the man look at me. "I really don't know who's worse out of you two. A girl doing this is already worse itself." He said in a low, deadly tone.

I started trembling in fear. "I'm sorry, Mister… Mister…" I stopped, realizing I didn't remember what his name actually was. "Mister what?" He demanded angrily. "Sorry, I don't remember your name, Mister…" The man gaped at me. But then, that changed to an even angrier look. "How dare you, you little…" He started furiously, about to grab me by my shirt… Only for me to be pushed back behind someone.

"What's going on here?" I looked up to see Sartorius in front of me, looking at my neighbor calmly. "Mister," The man glared at him. "The kid broke my window." He then pointed at me furiously. I quickly hid behind Sartorius in fear.

"Wh… What?" I could hear him asking the neighbor in surprise. "That brat broke my window! She kicked the ball right at it!" "I'm sure it was an accident. She didn't mean it." Sartorius told him, still sounding calm. "I don't care whether it was an incident or not. I expect money for the repair from her parents." The man responded angrily, but sounding calmer. He then marched away.

I stepped out from behind Sartorius, sighing in relief. "Serena," He turned around to look at me. "How did you manage to break a window during only few moments of my absence?" He asked in a disapproving tone, kneeling to look at me better.

"It's my fault, I kicked it too strong," Jaden started, only for me to cut him off. "No, it's not. I'm the one who kicked the ball even worse, right towards the window." I pointed out.

Sartorius looked between us back and forth. Finally, his eyes landed on me again. "You've got to be more careful." He sighed. "I know, I'm sorry!" "I'm not saying it only to lecture you. It's for your own good. You could get hurt, or…" "I know…" I let out a groan.

"You do know I'll have to tell your parents about this?" "I know, I'm in so much trouble…" I groaned yet again. "You're not. It was an accident." "Mum and Dad will still be mad!" I exclaimed. "Maybe a bit, but I'll tell them you didn't do it on purpose." "Fine." I sighed.

"If it hadn't been for Sartorius, I would have been dead right there." I spoke up with a sigh. "Wait, that man was him?" Jaden demanded in surprise. I simply nodded. "I didn't remember that either…" "To be fair, I think he and Sarina were around when you were at my house only two or three times, that's why." I spoke up.

"I still find it a bit surprising. I mean, he saved you from our neighbor, and now he's all creepy…" My friend trailed off. "Wait, that woman was his sister?" He then demanded. I nodded.

My thoughts wandered over to the day when that incident with my neighbor happened. However, I quickly brushed them off. Sartorius was the last person I wanted to think about right now.

"Anyway, what were we talking about before?" I quickly asked, wanting to change the subject. "Um… Duel Monster Spirits?" Jaden guessed sheepishly. "Before that was about me being forced to go to Duel Academy." I remembered.

I then took another deep breath. "Anyway, I spent a year there. Ben had suggested transferring here, so here I am. What about you?" I then asked. "The last thing I remember is us moving to Nagoya. Things went pretty normal, and then I signed up for entrance exams at Domino City. The first year passed, and, well, you know what happened next." Jaden replied with a shrug.

I nodded before putting those two cards in my Deck Box. At that moment, Kuriboh and Peryton disappeared.

"But I still don't understand how I could have forgot you in the first place… It's like my mind is blank when it comes to that." I admitted with a frown. "I know as much as you, since I don't remember anything else either." He replied honestly.

"You've remembered everything today?" I asked curiously. "Well… Not exactly." Jaden said sheepishly while standing up. "Mind going over there? I'm stiff from sitting in same position all the time." He pointed at grass by the sea. "Sure." I nodded.

We walked over to that part, away from the fire. I sat down on the grass while Jaden lay there on his back. Feeling soft grass beneath my hands just felt so liberating… It reminded me of how we would always lie on grass and talk when we were kids.

"So, what did you mean by that?" I then asked, leaning on my arms. "Ever since I've first seen you, I felt like I had known you from before," He started with a yawn. "But when I lost that duel with Aster, some memories flashed through my head. I didn't know what they meant though."

"Really?" I asked in surprise, making Jaden nod. "Then when we searched your room during Crowler's duel with Bonaparte for whatever it is you used to carry with you all the time," "Herbarium." "Yes, that… Well, when I found it, it did look familiar to me… But I didn't know why." "So that's why you were staring at it like crazy…" I trailed off in realization.

Jaden sat up to look at me. "What did you think I was doing that for?" He asked curiously. "I guessed you were weirded out by my habits, especially since Ben started saying them out loud." I rolled my eyes with a smirk. "No." He shook his head with a smile. "But it's not until I saw your bracelet that I remembered most of it."

"I see…" I trailed off with a smile of my own. "What about you?" "Well…" I started playing with one of my red strands. "I found the bracelet in my drawer on the day of entrance exams. Since then, I've kept it as sort of a good luck charm, and it usually helped me… First memories appeared on our flight to the West Academy," I continued, looking up at him.

"But I was convinced it was some sort of a hallucination. Then I found your birthday card and realized those were memories, rather than hallucinations as I had thought… I realized there was something familiar about you, except that I couldn't figure out what." I frowned for a moment. "During our conversation at the boat, the idea of me knowing you popped up in my mind, but I had no proof it was true… I went looking around to see whether I could remember something… And then you know the rest." He nodded with a smile.

I glanced at the bracelet on his right wrist. "You've been wearing it all this time?" I asked in surprise. He nodded. "For quite a few years now, actually. But I was convinced I bought only one that day, not two. Based on what Mum and Dad said anyway." "Ben saw it when you accidentally dropped it at Dorothy's shop. That's why he was convinced you were on the island too." I spoke up, remembering that day.

"I never showed it to anyone else, so I don't know how he figured it out." My friend spoke up perplexed. "No," I shook my head with a chuckle. "I meant, as in, he thought you were my friend from neighborhood, but he didn't know your name..." "Oh." He trailed off in realization. "You believed him?" "Well, yes, until Dorothy said she didn't know who the bracelet's owner was." I stopped for a moment. "Was she lying?" I then asked. "I asked her not to mention it to anyone, that's probably why." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

I then let out a sigh. "I just can't believe Aunt Maria lied to me like that… She claimed I was going insane when I mentioned my supposed amnesia." I explained with a frown. "From what I remember, she wasn't the one to lie?" He presumed. "No." I shook my head. "As soon as they find her, I'll confront her about this." I declared firmly.

"Don't worry about it now." Jaden told me. "How can you expect from me not to worry when…" I spoke up in disbelief, only to be cut off. "I want to know what happened as much as you. But, right now, I'm just happy to see you again." "I'm happy to see you too." I smiled back, with feelings of joy washing over me yet again.

I let out a yelp as I was suddenly pulled down to grass. We started laughing. After spending some time just lying in grass, I felt my eyes closing from all the tiredness…

Well, this chapter was originally supposed to be with Kaiba Land too, but I felt like putting all of that in one chapter would look rushed. Besides, I think this chapter needs to be a separate one, since it is filled with explanations and flashbacks…

In case you hadn't figured it out, yes, Serena's first deck had cards with mythical creatures. The 'Sacred Phoenix' is actually her signature card from now on. Just to make that clear.

Words in Italian:

Dio santo-a variation of 'oh my God'.

I hope you liked it, and until next time! :)