Disclaimer: yeah right.
Anya: Well here is the first of two epilogues. I must warn, kind of cheesy, but hey I needed at least one of those moments in this story somewhere.
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"That's right Raya. They are in fact adoption papers. I been working on this since I found out you were still alive. I have already worked it out with the Social Workers in America. If you want, I can legally adopted you as my daughter again. All you have to do is agree to give up your independence till you're a legal adult. Ruia, look at me. When I learned that you were still alive, I wanted nothing more than to reconcile our past and start anew. But, I am not going to force anything on you. This is your decision and you're decision alone. And you don't have to make it now, you can decide at anytime."
Raya gripped the papers in her hands tighter. 'I could be part of a real family again. But yet…' She glanced up at her friends. She really didn't have to look at them to know what their responses would be. She knew that they would want her to say yes, Yugi most of all. But her father was right. This had to be her decision and her decision alone. She couldn't be swayed by other opinions. She had to go on her what her heart said to do.
"I just don't know dad…" Raya finally stated.
Sugoroku's face fall, but then clouded over, something about Raya's statement.
At noticing everyone's downcast looks, Raya realized that she better explain herself. "I mean, you are already raising two teenage boys who I know for a fact are more of a handful than normal teenagers. Why would you want to throw a ungrateful teenager daughter who caused you nothing but grief and trouble in the past into the mix? Who said hurtful things to you when all you were trying to do was show your daughter that you trusted her enough to make her own decisions and knew that she was capable of taking care of herself. Why would you ever want to bring such an ungrateful and very sorrowful daughter like me back into your life dad?"
"Simple. I love her."
Raya couldn't help herself. She shooed Yugi out of her lap and flung her arms around her father. "Daddy, I am so sorry. I understand totally now what you did. I should have never gotten mad and broken off all ties. I should have…"
"Ruia, stop. It is all in the past. Let us not dwell on it, rather look to the future that we will be sharing. You, Yami, Yugi, and I."
Raya nodded. "So who has a pen?"
Seto flipped her one from his pocket. "Sweet isn't it?" he whispered to Tea.
She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, finally things are as they should be." She grasped his hand and held in tightly. "Exactly as they should be."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tell me this is the last box Raya. For the love of God tell me this is the last box!"
Laughing, Raya came up the steps behind Joey. "It is, don't worry. God, you act like I had a hundred boxes when I had ten. It was worse when I moved here from America. All my things came then, at least now the music software and art supplies stayed at my other place."
"So explain again while you are keeping that place?" Tristan asked, as he took the majority of the things Raya was carrying and took them to her new room.
"Dad didn't have to room for my music, so with Seto's help, he bought out the apartment and I am going to use it as a studio for my music and art."
"Nice." Joey added, placing the box down in what was once Grandfather's upstairs office. It was now being converted into Raya's bedroom.
Two weeks had past, and a lot had happened in those two weeks.
Yami was released from the hospital and was under super strict orders to rest and relax, which meant he got out of moving detail.
Raya had officially signed the adoption papers in Yami's hospital room. It had taken two weeks to get everything worked out. From what room she was going to use as her bedroom to what they were going to do about her music. Luckily Seto, being the sweetheart Raya always knew he could be, said that he would arrange something. Never had she expected him to buy the place and rent it out to her, dirt cheap none the less.
Raya walked into her room, trying to avoid the massive pile of boxes and bags that litter her new room. "I swore to myself that I would never move again and here I am. I either have to stop breaking promises or stop making them. One has to go."
Tea laughed from somewhere on the floor. She was trying to move things around, just so the unpacking process would go smoother. "Raya, maybe you should stay in here for awhile and starting unpacking some of this stuff."
"Yeah and maybe I can find a nice sweet husband to help out!" Raya shouted out her door towards the couch were Yami was propped up, watching TV.
"I can't. Doctors orders." he replied with a small laugh.
"Now there is a laugh. You listening to orders." Raya yelped and ducked back into her room as a pillow came at her head. "That's not funny!" She yelled back out the door, only to get hit with another pillow.
From the shop's floor room Sugoroku suppressed a laugh. It was wonderful to have his family back again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Done." Raya stated, putting the last picture frame on her nightstand next her bed. The others had left long ago, leaving her and Yugi to do most of the unpacking.
"I wish you would have just burned that picture." Yami replied. "I do not look normal when sleeping."
"I think that is why Raya likes it Yami, blackmail." Yugi stifled a laugh. He didn't look much better in the picture either, but it was still a family photo. 'The first of many' he added silently.
"He gets this from your side right?" Yami asked, grinning.
"What the 'I am innocent look?' Yes." Raya replied, knowing full well that wasn't what Yami meant.
"You two are hopeless." Yami stated throwing his hands into the air but not mad at all. "Did Grandpa show you two what Seto brought over earlier?"
Both Raya and Yugi shook their heads no.
Yami hands them a computer print.
Clio, along with her two loyal followers Satire and Jarha worked all throughout Greece and the surrounding areas preserving history as it was, as it should be, and as it will be. Satire became so well known for her sarcastic and spoof responses that in the modern world, it is referred to as satire. Though she did posses magical abilities, Satire was a mortal .She later married a Grecian named Jason and had a child name Pandora. Jarha meanwhile fell in love with a woman from Corinth and had a son named Alexander.
Raya grinned. "I am glad those two found the happiest they deserved. Now I think it is safe to say all as gone as it was supposed too."
"You think so, eh?" Yami replied devilishly. He crept up behind Raya lifted her into the air and tossed her onto her bed. Winking at Yugi, the two dove on her, preceding to 'welcome her to the family.'
"Stop. Uncle." Raya shouted as Yugi and Yami continued to tickle her endlessly. "I give up you two win." She tried to squirm her way out of the torture, but Yami was just too strong for her, broken leg and all.
"Think she has had enough Yugi?" Yami asked.
Yugi scrunched up his face and took a good look at Raya. She was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face. "Nah."
"YES, yes I have."
Yami got off her and offered her a hand up. It had been a long time since he had seen his wife so full of life. The last time he could recall was when Yugi was born. And now, centuries later, here they were together again. A little older, a little wiser, but a family nonetheless. Come to think of it, he couldn't recall a time he was any happier either.
"You know, that is very true." Yugi stated.
Confused, Raya and Yami glanced at one another and then back to Yugi. "What is son?" they asked together.
Yugi walked over and sat in-between his parents. In his hands, he was holding the frame that contain Yami's wedding vows to Raya. "I was just looking at the words here and it dawned on me how true they are to… I don't know, everything."
Raya took the frame from Yugi. "These words always did have a special meaning to me and even Yami. I guess the circle is now complete. The song is a family one."
"It's more than just that Raya. It applies to life itself. Our lives, Joey's, Tea's, everyone's."
A small frown cross Yami's face. "How?"
"Look at these lines:"
When destiny calls you, you must be strong
I might not be with you, but you got to hold on
They'll see in time…I know…
We'll show them together cuz
Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes you'll be in my heart
From this day on, now and forever more
You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be in my heart always…
"Don't you see it. It talks about all of us. Destiny called all of us to do a job, one we all had to be strong for because all of us underwent some form of a test that we were all alone in, but at the same time we weren't. We always had each other. From family to friends. We may have not have seen it at the time, but by the end of the battle, we were a family. And I am not just saying us three, but our friends too. They are our family too. They will be a part of me, my heart forever. It is just like your wedding vows say Yami. Do you see it?"
"I do aibou. I do."
"Raya?" Yugi asked, tilting his head towards his mother.
"I see it too Yugi, it is perfectly clear now."
"It's a great ending isn't it?" Yugi stated. "An ending to this horrible but very rewarding saga no?"
"Wrong aibou. It isn't the ending…"He glanced at Raya who finished off the sentence.
"But the beginning. A second chance for all of us to be a family again." She bent down and hugged her son and then laid her head on Yami's shoulder.
"A new beginning. I like the sound of that." Yugi then jumped off the bed.
"Yugi?" Yami asked.
Yugi turned to face his parents. "I have to do something. Promise me you're not going anyway mom."
Raya grinned. "It would take death itself to lure me away from my family again."
Satisfied with her answer, Yugi bolted for his room, puzzle smacking him all the way.
"What do you think that was all about?" Raya asked, peering into Yami's intense purple eyes.
"Not sure, he'll tell us later I am sure. Raya?"
"Um?" She responded.
"Have you found that closure you were looking for?"
"Ai, I think so, except…"She leaned closer to Yami.
"Except what?"
*WHAP*
Yami blinked as he watched Raya laugh hysterically, pillow still in hand.
"That was for ticking me. I now have total closure."
Yami reached out and grabbed her around her waist. Thinking fast, he kissed her on the lips. "And that was for telling me that you're happy. And this, is for that last trick." Pinning his wife to the floor, be preceded to tickle her for the rest of the night.
Yes, life was indeed good.
And maybe that wasn't even the best way to sum it up. That particular honor belong to the saying taped on Raya's wall.
When the world says "Give up,"
Hope whispers "Try it one more time."
Indeed the Royal Family was willing to try to be a family once more.
Kris: Cheesy!
Anya: Could have been so worse.
Kris: So very true.
Anya: Anyway, only one more chapter to type the whole story up together. Sigh.
Anya: Well here is the first of two epilogues. I must warn, kind of cheesy, but hey I needed at least one of those moments in this story somewhere.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"That's right Raya. They are in fact adoption papers. I been working on this since I found out you were still alive. I have already worked it out with the Social Workers in America. If you want, I can legally adopted you as my daughter again. All you have to do is agree to give up your independence till you're a legal adult. Ruia, look at me. When I learned that you were still alive, I wanted nothing more than to reconcile our past and start anew. But, I am not going to force anything on you. This is your decision and you're decision alone. And you don't have to make it now, you can decide at anytime."
Raya gripped the papers in her hands tighter. 'I could be part of a real family again. But yet…' She glanced up at her friends. She really didn't have to look at them to know what their responses would be. She knew that they would want her to say yes, Yugi most of all. But her father was right. This had to be her decision and her decision alone. She couldn't be swayed by other opinions. She had to go on her what her heart said to do.
"I just don't know dad…" Raya finally stated.
Sugoroku's face fall, but then clouded over, something about Raya's statement.
At noticing everyone's downcast looks, Raya realized that she better explain herself. "I mean, you are already raising two teenage boys who I know for a fact are more of a handful than normal teenagers. Why would you want to throw a ungrateful teenager daughter who caused you nothing but grief and trouble in the past into the mix? Who said hurtful things to you when all you were trying to do was show your daughter that you trusted her enough to make her own decisions and knew that she was capable of taking care of herself. Why would you ever want to bring such an ungrateful and very sorrowful daughter like me back into your life dad?"
"Simple. I love her."
Raya couldn't help herself. She shooed Yugi out of her lap and flung her arms around her father. "Daddy, I am so sorry. I understand totally now what you did. I should have never gotten mad and broken off all ties. I should have…"
"Ruia, stop. It is all in the past. Let us not dwell on it, rather look to the future that we will be sharing. You, Yami, Yugi, and I."
Raya nodded. "So who has a pen?"
Seto flipped her one from his pocket. "Sweet isn't it?" he whispered to Tea.
She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, finally things are as they should be." She grasped his hand and held in tightly. "Exactly as they should be."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Tell me this is the last box Raya. For the love of God tell me this is the last box!"
Laughing, Raya came up the steps behind Joey. "It is, don't worry. God, you act like I had a hundred boxes when I had ten. It was worse when I moved here from America. All my things came then, at least now the music software and art supplies stayed at my other place."
"So explain again while you are keeping that place?" Tristan asked, as he took the majority of the things Raya was carrying and took them to her new room.
"Dad didn't have to room for my music, so with Seto's help, he bought out the apartment and I am going to use it as a studio for my music and art."
"Nice." Joey added, placing the box down in what was once Grandfather's upstairs office. It was now being converted into Raya's bedroom.
Two weeks had past, and a lot had happened in those two weeks.
Yami was released from the hospital and was under super strict orders to rest and relax, which meant he got out of moving detail.
Raya had officially signed the adoption papers in Yami's hospital room. It had taken two weeks to get everything worked out. From what room she was going to use as her bedroom to what they were going to do about her music. Luckily Seto, being the sweetheart Raya always knew he could be, said that he would arrange something. Never had she expected him to buy the place and rent it out to her, dirt cheap none the less.
Raya walked into her room, trying to avoid the massive pile of boxes and bags that litter her new room. "I swore to myself that I would never move again and here I am. I either have to stop breaking promises or stop making them. One has to go."
Tea laughed from somewhere on the floor. She was trying to move things around, just so the unpacking process would go smoother. "Raya, maybe you should stay in here for awhile and starting unpacking some of this stuff."
"Yeah and maybe I can find a nice sweet husband to help out!" Raya shouted out her door towards the couch were Yami was propped up, watching TV.
"I can't. Doctors orders." he replied with a small laugh.
"Now there is a laugh. You listening to orders." Raya yelped and ducked back into her room as a pillow came at her head. "That's not funny!" She yelled back out the door, only to get hit with another pillow.
From the shop's floor room Sugoroku suppressed a laugh. It was wonderful to have his family back again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Done." Raya stated, putting the last picture frame on her nightstand next her bed. The others had left long ago, leaving her and Yugi to do most of the unpacking.
"I wish you would have just burned that picture." Yami replied. "I do not look normal when sleeping."
"I think that is why Raya likes it Yami, blackmail." Yugi stifled a laugh. He didn't look much better in the picture either, but it was still a family photo. 'The first of many' he added silently.
"He gets this from your side right?" Yami asked, grinning.
"What the 'I am innocent look?' Yes." Raya replied, knowing full well that wasn't what Yami meant.
"You two are hopeless." Yami stated throwing his hands into the air but not mad at all. "Did Grandpa show you two what Seto brought over earlier?"
Both Raya and Yugi shook their heads no.
Yami hands them a computer print.
Clio, along with her two loyal followers Satire and Jarha worked all throughout Greece and the surrounding areas preserving history as it was, as it should be, and as it will be. Satire became so well known for her sarcastic and spoof responses that in the modern world, it is referred to as satire. Though she did posses magical abilities, Satire was a mortal .She later married a Grecian named Jason and had a child name Pandora. Jarha meanwhile fell in love with a woman from Corinth and had a son named Alexander.
Raya grinned. "I am glad those two found the happiest they deserved. Now I think it is safe to say all as gone as it was supposed too."
"You think so, eh?" Yami replied devilishly. He crept up behind Raya lifted her into the air and tossed her onto her bed. Winking at Yugi, the two dove on her, preceding to 'welcome her to the family.'
"Stop. Uncle." Raya shouted as Yugi and Yami continued to tickle her endlessly. "I give up you two win." She tried to squirm her way out of the torture, but Yami was just too strong for her, broken leg and all.
"Think she has had enough Yugi?" Yami asked.
Yugi scrunched up his face and took a good look at Raya. She was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down her face. "Nah."
"YES, yes I have."
Yami got off her and offered her a hand up. It had been a long time since he had seen his wife so full of life. The last time he could recall was when Yugi was born. And now, centuries later, here they were together again. A little older, a little wiser, but a family nonetheless. Come to think of it, he couldn't recall a time he was any happier either.
"You know, that is very true." Yugi stated.
Confused, Raya and Yami glanced at one another and then back to Yugi. "What is son?" they asked together.
Yugi walked over and sat in-between his parents. In his hands, he was holding the frame that contain Yami's wedding vows to Raya. "I was just looking at the words here and it dawned on me how true they are to… I don't know, everything."
Raya took the frame from Yugi. "These words always did have a special meaning to me and even Yami. I guess the circle is now complete. The song is a family one."
"It's more than just that Raya. It applies to life itself. Our lives, Joey's, Tea's, everyone's."
A small frown cross Yami's face. "How?"
"Look at these lines:"
When destiny calls you, you must be strong
I might not be with you, but you got to hold on
They'll see in time…I know…
We'll show them together cuz
Cause you'll be in my heart
Yes you'll be in my heart
From this day on, now and forever more
You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be in my heart always…
"Don't you see it. It talks about all of us. Destiny called all of us to do a job, one we all had to be strong for because all of us underwent some form of a test that we were all alone in, but at the same time we weren't. We always had each other. From family to friends. We may have not have seen it at the time, but by the end of the battle, we were a family. And I am not just saying us three, but our friends too. They are our family too. They will be a part of me, my heart forever. It is just like your wedding vows say Yami. Do you see it?"
"I do aibou. I do."
"Raya?" Yugi asked, tilting his head towards his mother.
"I see it too Yugi, it is perfectly clear now."
"It's a great ending isn't it?" Yugi stated. "An ending to this horrible but very rewarding saga no?"
"Wrong aibou. It isn't the ending…"He glanced at Raya who finished off the sentence.
"But the beginning. A second chance for all of us to be a family again." She bent down and hugged her son and then laid her head on Yami's shoulder.
"A new beginning. I like the sound of that." Yugi then jumped off the bed.
"Yugi?" Yami asked.
Yugi turned to face his parents. "I have to do something. Promise me you're not going anyway mom."
Raya grinned. "It would take death itself to lure me away from my family again."
Satisfied with her answer, Yugi bolted for his room, puzzle smacking him all the way.
"What do you think that was all about?" Raya asked, peering into Yami's intense purple eyes.
"Not sure, he'll tell us later I am sure. Raya?"
"Um?" She responded.
"Have you found that closure you were looking for?"
"Ai, I think so, except…"She leaned closer to Yami.
"Except what?"
*WHAP*
Yami blinked as he watched Raya laugh hysterically, pillow still in hand.
"That was for ticking me. I now have total closure."
Yami reached out and grabbed her around her waist. Thinking fast, he kissed her on the lips. "And that was for telling me that you're happy. And this, is for that last trick." Pinning his wife to the floor, be preceded to tickle her for the rest of the night.
Yes, life was indeed good.
And maybe that wasn't even the best way to sum it up. That particular honor belong to the saying taped on Raya's wall.
When the world says "Give up,"
Hope whispers "Try it one more time."
Indeed the Royal Family was willing to try to be a family once more.
Kris: Cheesy!
Anya: Could have been so worse.
Kris: So very true.
Anya: Anyway, only one more chapter to type the whole story up together. Sigh.