Love Don't Come Easy Chapter 2, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 2…read on!

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Rei was dragged up the marble stairs and shoved into a room a few doors down the hall. Her bag with her belongings was thrown in after her, which she barely caught. The door was then slammed shut behind her, and she could hear a key being turned in the lock. 'Great,' she said to herself. 'I'm in a strange castle, with only my cards and my personal belongings, locked in a strange room with no idea what I'm doing here!' She flopped down dejectedly on a canopy bed and, not noticing the splendors of the room, buried her face in her hands. But she did not cry.

'She will not cry.' Pegasus watched all that happened in the room from his viewing area, where he could tap in to any camera on the island. He had had a camera thoughtfully arranged in Rei's room. He couldn't help it when he felt his heart break into a thousand pieces at the sight of her. 'What's wrong with you, Maxy boy? You're not like this.' He swilled juice in his cup stubbornly. 'You can't give in to a girl.' He sipped.

Rei took her face out of her hands. 'No need to get too down. Who knows – I could be here for a perfectly good reason! I could be here because I've won the secret Duelist Kingdom lottery!' She walked over to a grand window on the opposite side of the room and sat on the window seat, oblivious of the hidden camera in her room. 'But if that were true, why am I locked in here like a prisoner?' She leaned her chin on her hand and gazed out into the night. She was surprised at all she could see from the window. She had an almost 180 degree panoramic view of the island – she thoroughly enjoyed the sight of lit-up dueling stadiums. Rei had a lot to see, so she simply sat and looked out the window. Then she began to sing.

Pegasus almost dropped his glass when he first heard Rei's angelic voice drift through the microphone on the camera. It was breathtaking.

The way you looked at me tonight,
I've never seen that look
In your eyes before.
But, then again,
I don't think I've ever looked,
Had the time to spare,
The will to share with you.

He gazed at her graceful form propped at the window.

What have I missed?
What have I done?
I'm gonna turn back the tide
Like it's just begun.

Time changes
Time changes
Time changes for the better.

A tear formed in Rei's eye as she sang her favorite song. Then her favorite line.

After all we've been through

Love don't come easy for me…

Pegasus buried his face in one hand, his elbow on the table. It was so beautiful it was painful.

The way you looked into my eyes
I could see the hurt
I saw through your disguise,
Just give me time,
I can make it up to you.
Let me heal the pain,
I'm scared of losing you.

Rei continued to sing. Usually when she thought of this song, she had somebody special in mind. Now, she was confused – she had a special somebody in mind…but she had only met him a half hour ago…

What have I missed?
Where have I gone wrong?
If I could turn back the time
So we've just begun.

Time changes
Time changes
Time changes for the better.

After all we've been through,

Love don't come easy for me…

Pegasus stared at his juice and listened. He was glad he was alone.

What have I missed?
What have I done?
I'm gonna turn back the tide
Like it's just begun.

Time change,
Time changes
Time changes for the better.

Rei lost herself in her song.

After all we've been through,
Love don't come easy for me.
Love don't come easy…

At the final note, Rei's eyes slowly came back into focus. Still with a sad, longing expression, she drifted back to her bed. She wriggled under the covers of the great canopy and fell fast asleep.

Pegasus sat in his chair for two more hours, just watching her in slumber. 'No more love. Not for me…'

Outside of Pegasus's door, two guards stood whispering to each other. "What do ya think he's doin' in there? He's just sittin' there starin' at that screen."

The second one answered. "He does that a lot – when something interests him. It's normal behavior for Mr. Pegasus. I suggest you just leave it be and do your work."

Which they did. They stood by the door and didn't let anybody in.

The next morning, when Rei woke up, she sat up in bed and tried hard to remember what had happened the night before. Everything came back in a huge rush that almost bowled her over. Realizing she hadn't changed before she had crawled into bed the night before, she rummaged through her bag for something decent to wear in the splendid castle. "Damn," she spoke aloud. "Everything I have is wrinkled and dirty…what on earth can I wear?"

Suddenly, a voice spoke out of nowhere – stiff, automated. "You've got mail!"

"Wha-?" Rei swiveled around in confusion, and was surprised to see a rather magnificent computer desk sitting in the corner of the room. "Hmm…I didn't notice that last night."

She walked over and plopped down in the swivel chair. Shrugging off the fact that she was already logged into her e-mail account, 'Pegasus IS a computer nut,' she double-clicked the one new message and began to read it.

"Good morning, Sunshine! I can tell you're having some clothing difficulty – but don't worry. Everything you could possibly need for your little visit can be found in the walk-in closet in the opposite corner of the room. Please be dressed and ready for breakfast at 9:00 AM sharp. Guards will arrive at your room to assist you to the dining hall. – Max Pegasus"

Rei simply sat and stared at the screen, her bright orange eyes not taking in what she was reading. 'I can tell you're having some clothing difficulty…how did he know…? And why did he call me Sunshine? That's creepy…'

She sighed and found an alarm clock on a dresser next to her canopy bed. It read 8:17 AM. "Oh, well. At least I have some time to get ready."

Pegasus saw all of this from his screen. Sloshing his orange juice around in a wine glass, he watched Rei make her way to the closet and gasp at the amount of clothing he had provided her with. He looked at her choose an ensemble for the morning ('A very nice choice,') and when she was about to change, he politely turned the camera view off.

After waiting fifteen minutes, he flicked it back on. She was finished changing ('I hate women who take forever to dress.') Pegasus watched with interest as she explored the room more closely. She noticed happily the large stereo system, equipped with a gigantic volume of CDs with almost every type of band imaginable.

'Wow…look at all these CDs!' Rei cried happily in her mind. She reached out a slightly shaking hand to the book, then flipped through to the "M" section. 'Somebody took the time to alphabetize this…geez!' She stopped and clasped her hands together with joy when she found an almost complete volume of the Moody Blues. "All right!"

All of the CD titles had been arranged by alphabet, too. "S, S…I want S for 'Strange Times'…" Rei muttered to herself. Finally, she found it. "Here it is. 'Strange Times'!"

She popped the CD into the slot, and pushed the Track Skip button until it reached Track 6. The music started to play.

The way you looked at me tonight,
I've never seen that look
In your eyes before.
But, then again,
I don't think I've ever looked,
Had the time to spare,
The will to share with you…

Pegasus almost choked on his orange juice. 'So that's the song she sang last night!' He zoomed the camera onto the CD case she was holding. 'Hmm…the band is the Moody Blues…the song is "Love Don't Come Easy" on the album "Strange Times"…'

She went carelessly through a few more songs before he heard the knock at her door. Breakfast time.

Pegasus turned the screen off and headed out the door to the dining hall.

Pegasus was already there when Rei entered the room, wearing a jean skirt, peasant top, and flats. The top was a pale orange, which set off her bright orange eyes.

Maximilian Pegasus nodded to a seat next to him at the large table, complimenting her politely. "You look lovely today. A perfect outfit for a beautiful summer day." He lifted his glass and tasted his grapefruit juice. "I'd like to have a private breakfast, if you don't mind. No guards in the room." Rei nodded her head. "Fine by me."

"Guards, would you please leave us alone?" Pegasus motioned toward a door. The four guards left in a hurry and shut the large door behind them.

Rei sat with her hands in her lap, unsure of what to do. Pegasus noted the uncomfortable situation and said, "Think of this as a breakfast buffet. Eat what you want and how much of it you want."

They proceeded to eat in silence, the air being broken only by polite requests of "Could you pass the butter, please?" and "Are you finished with the coffee?"

However, that was about to change. Pegasus was about to put a bite of cheese omelette into his mouth when Rei said, "What's going on here?"

Maximilian laid his fork down on his plate and rested his hand on the table, looking at her and saying, "What do you mean?"

Rei spread her hands over the food. "All of this. And plucking me out of the woods in the middle of the night…and how the heck did you know I was short on clothes? I want an explanation! I feel like a sitting duck!"

Pegasus eyed her quizzically. "Sitting duck? Interesting choice of words." Rei flushed. "Let's just say I had a sixth sense about the clothes."

"But why am I even here?"

Maximilian laughed. "All in good time."

Rei sighed. "Well, I hope the time is good soon. I've only got nine star chips and I need one more to…" She drifted off.

Pegasus smirked. "To what? To enter the castle? I'm pleased to note you've finally figured out that you're already here."

He went back to eating his omelette. Rei poked idly at her scrambled eggs, then decided to flavor them a bit, and she reached for the salt, which was within her grasp. However, Pegasus did too at the exact same time. Rei's motion was slightly faster than Pegasus's was, so her hand hit the salt shaker right before his did. His hand touched Rei's and rested on it gently.

Both were caught completely off guard. Rei was truly embarrassed and felt her face turn red. Pegasus showed his surprise by widening his eye, like he had done the night before as he caught Rei when she was falling.

Finally, Pegasus coughed and moved his hand away, reaching for the pepper instead. He couldn't look at her for the rest of the morning meal.

About ten minutes later, Pegasus stood up. "I have work to attend to…thank you for a lovely breakfast." Then, with a fleeting smile, much unlike his usual cocky one, he swept out of the room.

Rei sat there, dumbfounded. 'That was weird.' She stood up. She was, of course, smart enough to know her way back to her room by that time, so she decided to go there.

Pegasus was seated at his "work": he turned on the camera to Rei's room. He had left abruptly on purpose; he figured that since her bedroom was the only place she knew, that's where she would go. He was right. He hastily connected his laptop to the Internet and began to type an e-mail message.

Rei was updating her diary on the past events when a familiar quirky voice rang out in the room. "You've got mail!"

She dashed to her computer and pulled up the message.

"Lunch will be served at 12:30 PM exactly. Please be ready on time. Feel free to explore anywhere in the castle you wish to go. – Max Pegasus"

'Hmm…anywhere? Oh well. I guess I will, I have nothing better to do, and I can just ask a guard for directions in case I get lost.' But then Rei thought of a better idea. She reached into her bag and pulled out a lined notebook and a pencil. "I'll make a map of the castle. I won't get lost, and I can go places without worrying."

Pegasus heard this statement, and smiled to himself. 'Clever. Very clever.'

Rei spent the whole morning mapping out and labeling different wings and rooms. She was on the third floor, in a particularly damp and dreary hallway, when she noticed a stone in the wall that protruded slightly. "Hmm, wonder what that does."

She dropped her notebook on the ground and pocketed her pencil. Rei placed her fingers around the sides of the stone and ran them up and down. 'Wonder if it's loose or something.' Then, by accident, she pushed on the stone. The whole section of wall next to it creaked open slowly.

Rei gave a small shriek of surprise, then lost all feelings of fear as she peered into the dimly lighted staircase. Grabbing her notebook, she wedged it underneath the huge door of stone 'So it can't shut behind me,' and she made her way up about twenty stairs. She emerged in a very interesting room indeed.

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Oooh…cliffhanger! Erm…not really…but that's okay too. Next chapter is up!