The sun was nearly gone by the time they returned to the castle. Nagusami was about to walk Seto to his room when he stopped her. "Equal today, remember?" he said with a slight smile. "That means that I, as the man, should see the lady to her room."

He was back to his usual self the next day, though, withdrawn and detached. Nagusami didn't mind. She was starting to learn to see past his surface personality to what was beneath. Besides, he was starting to act a little nicer, she thought. A year passed, and she was sure she was right.

Seto was not the only one affected by the passage of time, though. Everyone was slowly settling into new lives, finding out things about themselves that no one had noticed before. Jounouchi and Mai seemed to grow closer, even as their memories of the past world faded even more. They still bickered and teased each other from time to time, but it was in good humor and almost seemed a sort of bonding ritual.

Mokuba, speedily approaching his teens, found that Adina's flaw of being a girl wasn't quite as much of a problem as he had thought before. Neither even considered anything like a romance for a long time, but they planned various inventions together or wreaked havoc in the castle. Adina quickly conquered her timid streak and even dared to climb the high parapets of the castle, Mokuba in tow. Seto once caught his little brother walking slowly down one of the less-used corridors of the castle, holding hands with the princess. The couple parted quickly when they caught sight of the older Kaiba, both blushing furiously. Seto, however, did nothing but smile slightly. He still swore (though not so strongly as before, Nagusami noticed) that he would remain forever a bachelor, but he had no intention of begrudging his brother the joys and trials of falling in love.

Seto and Yami, with their tactical skills, became advisors of the country, but Seto's heart was still in creating. He attempted to start a high-tech corporation like he had run once, but gave up when he realized how primitive the available tools were. He dabbled in architecture instead, delighting in the way the pieces of buildings fit together to make up one magnificent structure. Nagusami, too, had a knack for coming up with new and clever ideas. The two often stayed up late, poring over a blueprint by candlelight and revising over and over again.

Yami, on the other hand, was perfectly content with his powerful position, but his Hikari pursued a more peaceful occupation. Remembering how difficult it had been to procure transportation across the desert, he started a small Koke ("Niwatori" for you dub watchers) farm. It flourished quite well, much to Yuugi's excitement. He did not, however, add any monsters to his deck, opting instead to keep it as it had always been. The others still had their cards, he was sure, but the land was peaceful and they had no need for fighting.

After five years, nobody thought much, if at all, of the world they had left behind. It came as no surprise to anyone when Jounouchi and Mai were married and started a shop of their own. It doubled as a small restaurant and clothes shop; a compromise between the spouses' interests.

No one, however, was expecting Seto to marry Nagusami a year later. But they weren't exactly surprised, either. The couple still lived in the castle because of Seto's side job of advisor. They were returning together from a construction site when something unusual happened. Nagusami tripped on the stone steps and scraped her shin before her husband could catch her. A look of pain and surprise crossed her eyes as she quickly placed her hand on the wound.

"Are you all right?" Seto asked gently.

"Just fine," she said. "A moment, please."

"Let me see. Is it bleeding?"

"Maybe."

She lifted away her hand and a chill grasped Seto. On her hand and trickling from her leg was not the rivulet of red he expected to see. It was almost a greenish color, and, upon closer inspection, proved to be streams of tiny ones and zeros. Nagusami, however, did not seem at all unnerved. "I'll just wrap it up when we get inside," she said. "It's not bad."

"I'll help you in," said Seto automatically. "But tell me, does everyone here bleed like that?"

She brushed some hair from her eyes. "Yes. Isn't that natural?" She gasped suddenly. "Seto, you're pale! What happened?"

He turned and touched her face gently. "A computer game," he murmured, something horrible stirring in the back of his memories.

"What kind of game?"

They were interrupted suddenly as Jounouchi raced up the gates, completely elated. With him came the news that Mai was expecting their first child, and all thought of technology vanished in the excitement of congratulating the father-to-be and telling everyone else.

It never occurred to him again through the years, between the birth of Mai and Jounouchi's first and second children. (He made the mistake of going to see Jounouchi before the baby was actually born. Even from the other end of the house, Mai's diatribe made him wish they had painkillers.) Then came Mokuba's engagement to Adina, and Nagusami's own pregnancy.

In fact, Mokuba and Adina's wedding was set to take place just a month before Nagusami was due. The night before the ceremony, everyone gathered in the great hall for a dinner together in celebration of all that had been and all that was to come. Seto watched his younger brother's face, noting with wonder the adult-like qualities it had taken on. Mokuba now wore his hair just below his shoulders, often pulled back with a leather cord. Adina's, on the contrary, had lengthened nearly to her knees, and she still let it flow freely. Yet the two still looked so much alike that it was easy to imagine how their souls had bonded.

A little ways down the table, Jounouchi and Mai's three-year-old daughter was chattering happily to Yuugi between heaping mouthfuls. Her six-month-old brother, on the other hand was ignoring everyone else and smearing applesauce on his mother's embroidered sleeve when she wasn't looking.

Jounouchi stood to make a toast to the bride and groom-to-be, when suddenly the world trembled. Seto remembered faintly how something similar had happened ten years before. Trying to recall what it meant, he froze as dark portals opened around the room. He felt his hand ripped from Nagusami's as a vertical pool of blackness surrounded him, and he was falling…falling…falling…

*

"I finally got it!" yelled Anzu joyfully, plugging the last wire back into its proper place.