Jaid: Hi all! This is a V-day story; I hope everybody had a good one!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh doesn't belong to me. I own only Rei Yukimona. Iris Omega owns Tara Etsuko, and AmberLiz owns Katya Suzuki. Ankh and Scales belong to Indigo and co-star in her wonderful fic "Three in One Combo" which you should go read right after you read this. ^__~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

A/N: Scales and Ankh are the spirits of the Millennium Scales and Ankh (or Key; gosh this sentence sounds real dumb…). Although the main focus is on Shadi/Isis pairing, there are others in here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Valentine's Day." Isis said in response to Ankh's question about the bag of heart shaped candies. The three of them were having a short stay at her apartment, but only after she had assured Scales that Malik wasn't there and to tell the truth, she didn't know where he was.

"What's Valentine's Day?" Ankh asked.

"It's a celebration for lovers." Isis smiled. "You give your lover a special card, candy, a nice gift, that sort of thing. Anything in white, red, or pink will do. It's also known as Singles Awareness day."

Ankh gave her a confused look. She took the candies from him and put them in a cupboard.

"If you don't have a lover, you are single and on Valentine's Day, you are very aware of it." She explained. Comprehension came into the Spirit's face.

"I see."

"Fascinating." Shadi said in a dead pan tone and Isis glanced at him, not sure if he was being sarcastic or not. Scales merely grunted and muttered something under his breath.

"Well, I have to head to the museum." She said. "You guys can make yourselves at home. I'll be back this afternoon."

Shadi and Ankh called out good byes (Scales shouted "good riddance") as Isis left the apartment. Once the door was closed, the smile faded. As cool and detached as she was, she rather disliked Valentine's Day. It was just a reminder of things she had missed and what she was likely to miss the rest of her life.

'When did you start being so pessimistic?' the goddess Isis demanded from inside her soul room.

'When I became realistic.' Isis answered. The girl could feel the goddess shaking her head.

'That is not realistic, my name-sake.' She said. 'That is being depressing.'

Isis ignored the comment and shook herself as she realized she was walking down the sidewalk. Stepping up her pace, she paused as she saw a tiny figure seated on a bench, head bent over something. Walking over, Isis gently prodded the slender shoulder. Yugi Mouto jumped and looked up at her.

"Isis!" he exclaimed and stood.

"Hello. What is that you have, little Yugi?" she said softly. The boy turned red and showed her a Valentine that was obviously homemade.

"It's very pretty. Who's it for?" Isis asked, smiling. Yugi turned even redder (if that were possible) and murmured something about a girl. Isis' smile deepened.

"That's sweet. But you don't know how to give it to her, am I correct?" she said. Yugi shook his head.

"Yami says that I should just march up to Te…uh, to her and hand it to the girl. But…well, I'm not as brave as he is."

"Why don't you just leave it on her desk?" Isis suggested. Yugi looked up sheepishly.

"I was going to do that. Well, until…"

"Until what?"

"Until Joey and Tristan found out about it. I'm afraid they'll tease or ruin it." Yugi admitted. He looked up at her. "Could you give to her for me? Please?"

Isis looked into his innocent purple eyes and found herself saying yes. Yugi beamed, gave her a friendly hug and a thank you, then left her standing there, with the Valentine card/poem in her hand. Isis smiled after him, but there was a hollow feeling in her heart. For a few minutes, Yugi had treated her as an older sister. Malik hadn't done that for years. She'd almost forgotten the power of innocent violet eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ah, this sucks." Joey scowled at the desk top.

"What does?" Duke Devlin asked, peering over Tristan and Ryou's shoulders. They were standing around Joey as he stared at a blank red heart cut out of paper.

"He's having girl trouble." Ryou explained in a hushed voice.

"Not that it isn't normal or anything." Tristan added jokingly. Joey kicked him in the shin for that comment and Tristan yelped. Duke rolled his green eyes.

"Why don't you just get her some flowers and a nice card. Most of the girls around here would melt at that." He said. Joey looked up.

"She ain't from this school." He sighed heavily.

Duke looked around cluelessly. "You're dating a girl from another school?"

"No! She don't go to high school."

"A college girl?" Duke smiled. "Well, well, Joey, who could've known-"

"No, she's a duelist!" Joey practically shouted. The other students turned and glanced at him. He blushed and sank into his seat.

"A female duelist who isn't in high school. Well, that certainly narrows it down." Duke counted on his fingers. "That would be Mai Valentine, Rebecca Hawkins, Sandy Marshall and Shan Le Bai. I don't think its Hawkins, unless you're some kind of sicko-"

Joey shot him a dark glare.

"And I don't think its Marshall, since she exclusively duels in Europe and the U.S.A. So, it's either our lovely blonde or the Chinese champion." Duke mused.

"It's the blonde." Tristan deadpanned. Joey transferred his glare to his friend.

"Ah!" Duke held up a finger. "So that's why you're so depressed! You picked an expensive woman, Wheeler."

"Don't I know it." Joey moaned.

"Hey, don't sweat it." Duke grinned. "You've got the Duke helping you out now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Serenity sighed. It was awful boring, sitting in a bed all day and not being able to do anything. She couldn't use a computer, couldn't watch TV, and couldn't read. She could listen to music but that was just getting to be plain boring.

She sighed again. She ought to be grateful. After all, this bandage would come off soon and then she would be able to see again, without the threat of becoming blind. That cheered her up a little.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto checked his watch, then semi-glared at his little brother.

"It'll be good for you!" the eight year old protested. "You're always so cooped up!"

"Reading for an invalid wasn't what I had in mind." Seto grunted.

"Come on! I've already met her. You'll like her, please?" Mokuba turned his big blue eyes on Seto and the older boy sighed.

"We'll go." He said in defeat. Mokuba grinned and hugged his brother. Against his better judgment, Seto smiled. He never could resist the puppy dog face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

It was a few days later, when Shadi and Isis were walking through the open-air market. While Isis was buying some bread, Shadi wandered over to a few carts that had crafts on them. One had nice Valentine cards. Out of curiosity, Shadi picked one up. He didn't understand the writing, but he liked the card. It was pretty, in an understated, elegant sort of way. Isis probably would have liked it – a jolt went through Shadi as he realized what he was thinking and for a moment felt grateful that Ankh and Scales were in their physical forms back at home.

"It's a day to celebrate lovers." Isis' words rang through his head again and Shadi turned to watch her for a moment. She was smiling as she paid the cashier for the few loaves she had bought and placed them in her basket. The cool air had caused her cheeks to redden slightly and her eyes were bright as the cashier said something and they both laughed.

"Something for a sweetheart?"

Shadi jumped and turned, as the keeper of the cart approached. She was a middle-aged woman with a pretty smile.

Shadi slightly blushed as he realized he was still holding the card. "No." he said slowly in Japanese. "I am not buying." He put the card on the cart. The woman nodded.

"Shadi!" Isis called, walking over. "I think we've left those two at home long enough. We should get back. I just have to get some fish and we're going home, okay?"

Shadi just nodded, suddenly too embarrassed to do anything, hoping against hope that she hadn't noticed all the romantic cards in the background. Isis didn't seem too, however, as she turned and headed for the fish stall. Shadi sighed in relief and felt startled as the woman keeper of the cart put the elegant card in his hands.

"Free of charge." She smiled. "That girl looks special."

Slightly flustered, Shadi gave her his thanks, blushing furiously. Tucking the card into his sleeve, he felt a little annoyed that his emotions had suddenly gotten out of control.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seto exited the limo and sighed mentally, wondering how Mokuba had gotten him into this. He must be getting soft…walking up to the elevator, he glanced at the room number again.

A few minutes later saw him walking down the hallway and entering the room. There, Seto Kaiba stopped short in slight shock.

To be truthful, he had not been expecting a slender redhead who was obviously about his age, if not a few years younger. A bandage covered the upper half of her face, as she turned her head towards the door.

"Hello?" she had a soft voice. "Who's there?"

"My name is Seto. I'm, uh, I'm supposed to read to you."

"Really?" The girl seemed to go on like a light. "Oh, that would be so wonderful. I've been here for over a week and I haven't been able to do anything, because I can't see!"

"Uh, right." Seto felt slightly overwhelmed at the girl's cheerful outburst. He pulled up a chair and looked at the book Mokuba had given him to read. "Ever read the Hobbit?"

"Not for years." The girl said. "Are you reading it too me?"

"Yes."

A beautiful smile came onto her face and Seto couldn't help but wonder if her eyes would sparkle when she did that.

"Thank you so much…Oh, wait. You said you were supposed to do this for me. I'm not taking up your time, I mean…" the girl floundered.

"It's all right." Seto said, somewhat sharper than he meant to. At his answer, the girl brightened again. Seto leaned back and opened the book. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yugi knocked on the door, and looked around. It was still snowy, but it was a beautiful Saturday morning.

The door was opened by a tall, slender man, with kindly green eyes and pale green hair. "Hello?" he said in thickly accented Japanese.

"Hi." Yugi wondered uncomfortably if he had gotten the wrong apartment. "I'm looking for Isis."

The man smiled. "She's not here, but you can come in and wait. She should be back in a few moments."

"Okay." Yugi agreed and stepped inside. Suddenly, in the kitchen, there was something that sounded like a blender being pressed on, a heavy thump and then a long string of curses. The green-haired man's eyes went big and he ran for the kitchen. Yugi stood in the doorway, not quite sure of what to do.

A few minutes later, another man came from the kitchen, looking angry and annoyed. He glared hard at Yugi and muttered something under his breath, then went through to another room, slamming the door. Yugi blinked, and was about to take off his boots, when the door opened, slamming full force into him and knocking him to the ground. (A/N: This happens all the time in our house…) Isis' head appeared from around it.

"Yugi!" she exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Yugi gave a sheepish smile and stood up and moved out of the way as Isis and Shadi came in.

"Sorry about that." The Egyptian girl said, dumping groceries on the table. "Hey, what happened?"

The green haired man looked up from the floor he was cleaning. "I think Scales was experimenting with the blender." He explained. Shadi shook his head and Isis sighed.

"Well, thanks for cleaning it up, Ankh." She said. Ankh smiled in reply. Isis turned to Yugi.

"Was there something you needed?" she asked. The pointy-haired boy nodded.

"I kinda forgot to tell you who the card was for." He admitted softly. Isis smiled at him and held out her hand.

"Come on, we'll talk back here." She said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

"Hello?" Joey answered the phone, tossing a hacky-sack in his hand.

"Hey, Joey. It's Duke." The other person said. "Mind coming to the shop for a bit?"

"Nah, why?"

"I thought you wanted help for Valentine's day."

"Oh yeah." Joey blinked. "Okay, be there in a few!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Duke hung up the phone. "He's coming."

The girl perched on the counter looked up from her palm pilot. "Great!" she said, jumping down.

Tara Etsuko was an attractive girl of fifteen. A little shorter than Duke, she had deep green eyes and long, light blonde hair that was currently in two, low ponytails. One had a hot pink scrunchie and the other a yellow one. The scrunchies matched the sunny yellow long sleeved T and the hot pink spaghetti strap tank she wore.

Shutting off the palm pilot, she stuffed it into the pocket of her black stretch flares and walked up to Duke.

"So," she said casually, loosely hooking her arms around his neck. "We doing anything special on Saturday after the dance?"

Duke smiled as he put his hands on her waist and touched her forehead with his own. "Could you doubt it?"

Tara smiled back up at him and they were about to kiss when there was the sound of a throat being cleared.

"Oh, hi Rei." Tara said. The dark-haired girl at the counter smiled wryly as she dropped a Duel Monster's Dice board on the counter.

"Didn't think you two would be making out until after shop is closed." She commented wryly. "You've still got twenty minutes."

Duke rolled his eyes as he rang up the game. Tara grinned at her friend. Rei Yukimona was her classmate. Unlike the tall, slender, blonde Tara, Rei was average height and had a strong, sturdy frame. Her long black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and her dark brown eyes were heightened with purple eyeshadow. She wore a black sweater top, dark blue hip hugger flares and silver hoops. Over all this, she wore a long black trenchcoat.

"Hey, Valentine's day is coming up." Tara said.

"Yes. Singles Awareness Day." Rei commented, paying for the game.

"Ahh, you wouldn't think that if you had someone to spend it with." Tara said in a singsong voice. Rei gave her a blank look.

"Have you been at the coffee again?" she asked pointedly.

"Maybe." Tara grinned, too hyped up on caffeine and sugar to be offended. Rei raised an eyebrow at Duke.

"You've got your hands full tonight." She commented wryly, took the bag with her game and headed for the door. On the way, she nearly got run over by a tall, skinny blonde.

"Oh, sorry." Joey hastily picked Rei's merchandise off of the floor. Rei gave him a slightly annoyed look and exited.

"Hi Duke, Hi Tara." Joey said easily. Tara was one of the better known girls in school, mostly because of her position on the cheerleading team. She was also pretty popular in her own right, but not a 'groupie' or even remotely snobbish.

"Hey, Joey." Duke answered. "Let me close up real quick and I'll tell you what we came up with."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Okay, you can do that, hon and I'll get the baking sheets." Yugi's mom, Akiko, handed him the bowl of cookie dough and proceeded to grease a baking sheet. Although Akiko was usually working, she did get an occasional time to be home with her son. Right now they were making cookies, just for the fun of it.

The phone rang and they heard Grandpa answering it. A few minutes later, Yugi was called for. Putting the bowl down, Yugi picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi." It was Tea.

"Oh hi." Yugi said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Tea sounded hesitant. "I was just wondering what you were, uh, doing this weekend, that's all."

"The same thing I do every weekend I guess." Yugi answered slowly.

/What kind of an answer was that?/ Yami asked, sounding amused.

\What was I supposed to say?\ Yugi demanded.

/Something a little less ambiguous./

Yugi sighed mentally.

"Yugi, you there?" Tea's voice brought him back to reality.

"Yeah, sorry."

"Okay." Tea said. "I just wanted to know, if you, uh…"

"Yeah?"

Tea blew out a sigh. "Nothing. Sorry I called. I'll see you Monday at school. Bye." Then she hung up. Yugi looked at the phone for a few moments before replacing it on the receiver.

/You should have asked her out for that…whatever festival thing it is./

\Valentine's Day.\

/Yes, that./

Yugi shook his head. \What if she said no?\

/Are you really this naïve?/ Yami deadpanned.

\…No…?\

Yami sighed. /Never mind./ He figured that the two of them would have to work it out on their own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jaid: *sighs* Okay Indigo! I told you I'd take a shot at Shadi/Isis and here it is. Don't worry ppl, it does get better. I just love messing with character's heads, *evil laugh*

Jad and Naga: *sweatdrop*

Jaid: Review plz!!!