And here it is, the final chapter. All is right in the world now ;;
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi
No sooner had the group been transported to the other realm did the woman stumble and clutch her head.
"I want to hurt you so bad right now," she hissed at Bakura.
"Heh, I suppose being able to understand one another again isn't as neat here as it was back home," Jou said as he gave the woman a shoulder to lean on.
"Which door is it?" the woman groaned.
"Well this is a pickle," Bakura mused.
"Indeed, we really should have examined these doors beforehand," Yami murmured.
"What is it?" Sarah croaked as Jou lead her to where the others stood. "Oh now this sucks," she snapped.
"And not the good kind either," Bakura chuckled. He got a pained glare from the woman.
"Whoa, why am I seeing four doors leading to the same place outside the Game Shop?" Honda questioned.
"And they're not all the same, look. There's boxes sitting in that one, nothing in the middle and a car is parked in the one next to it and the last has a mob of kids at the door. Where do we go...?" Jou sputtered.
"Why four?" Bakura wheeled around and yanked the woman away from Jou. "And why do I get the feeling you know what this is all about?"
The woman whimpered and collapsed against him, clutching his shirt tightly.
"Bakura, knock it off! She can't take it," Anzu said as she thwaped the Spirit on the back.
"No, I will not knock it off. She lead me through to this place and even showed me what I wanted to see. But I didn't learn anything, and now when we try to go home I see four doors that lead to where we want to go. There's something she didn't tell me and I know it," he hissed before shaking the woman that clung to him.
"OK!" she snapped. "I didn't tell you everything. Technically there are several versions of your story in my world. The original is the graphic novel, the animated series is a companion with slight differences. The English version of the animation is different as well. Three versions, three doors. But I don't know what the fourth is," the woman grunted. She glared long and hard into the snowy-haired teen's eyes.
He returned the notion without so much as a flinch. "Which door?" he said smoothly.
"Just pick one, come on. She's being hurt," Jou said anxiously as he randomly chose a door. He tried to walk through but met with resistance.
"Don't, don't," Sarah gasped. "There's got to be a way to see. You don't want to meet yourselves, something could happen." She pulled away from Bakura and stumbled before leaning on Honda. "I'm just making everyone hold me up, aren't I?" she said with a half-laugh half-groan.
"I don't mind, you don't look so good," the brunette said as he placed one of her arms over his shoulder. Being that she was so short, he was forced to stoop.
"Bet I feel worse," she hissed. "It hurts, please. Get me out of here," she turned pleading eyes to Yami.
"Take her back, Bakura," Yami demanded.
"Why should I? You should take her and I'll stay here."
"Just do it, leave the others with me," the Pharaoh repeated. Bakura snarled but did as was asked.
"I'm not sitting here with you, Ryou will," Bakura snapped as the woman fell to her bed. Mary simply stared opened mouthed, not knowing what to do. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Bakura's features melt into softer ones.
"Oh, oh god!" Ryou gasped as he placed trembling hands on the face down woman's back. "What, where?" he said as he looked around, eyes threatening to produce tears.
"My room," the woman croaked as she propped herself up on shaking elbows. "The others are working on finding a way home, the Shadow Realm here is too harsh for me. That's why we're here," she mumbled.
"Are you ok, did you get hurt?" he placed a cool hand on her forehead.
"I'll be ok, don't worry," she managed an awkward smiled.
"Look, I'm sorry for everything," Ryou said softly. He had totally forgotten the other presence in the room.
"Ryou, I already told you I don't blame you for a thing that happened. And I don't blame you for anything now, this was something unrelated. As for why Yami demanded you bring me back I don't know."
"What happened?" he ventured forth.
"There was more than one door leading back to your world."
"Oh my," he blinked.
"Yeah, the others are trying to figure out which door it is. I have to open it for you so I'll come along. Once I get you home someone will take me to the Shadow Realm there and allow me to pass back unaccompanied. Then this will all be over."
"Will we ever see you again?" Ryou asked, a tinge of sorrow present.
"I don't know, Ryou. I'd like to see everyone again, but I don't know."
"Maybe next time we could spend a bit more time together without the worry of Bakura."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sarah smiled as she stood. The woman hesitated a moment before throwing her arms around the snowy haired teen. "It's been a blast, thanks for being so nice to me," she said with a smile when the teen returned the hug.
"I want a hug too!" Mary blurted out suddenly. Sarah couldn't help but laugh at the way her younger sister was standing. The blonde had her hips slanted and arms folded across her chest. "I want one from Yami too, not Yugi but Yami."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Ryou laughed as he offered the even shorter teen a hug. Mary gleefully returned the motion.
"This is so cool! And no one will believe me," she huffed once Ryou let her go. "Ooo, come'er," she motioned to her sister.
The little brat dared me to do something. She said she wanted to see if I really would. You know, I'm a shy person but at the chance of never seeing any of them again I thought why not?
Ryou never saw it coming. He wasn't quite sure what to do when the older woman drew him back into an embrace before giving him a kiss full on the mouth. Mary burst into laughter on the other side of the room.
"Oh my god, she did it!"
He... returned it? Dude I wasn't expecting this. I broke it off and stepped back, an embarrassed smile on my face. Oh, no wonder. That wasn't Ryou. Bakura stood in his place. I thought there was a sudden change in posture just before the return...
"Such a tease, you know," Bakura raised a brow.
"She dared me to!" the woman said defensively as she pointed back to her sister.
"And if you were dared to jump off a bridge?"
"Well it's different you know, when your life is at stake."
"And it wasn't now?" He had a dangerous look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, ok!" she held her hands up in a pleading sign of surrender. She gave him a sudden glare, he knew all too well what it had been for.
"I like to toy with persons, remember?" he smirked.
"Dork," she snorted.
"Tramp."
"Parasite."
"Mortal."
"Dredge."
"Whore."
"Hey now!" Yami said as he and the other three emerged from the Shadow Realm. "That was uncalled for."
"If you had of been here a minute earlier it wouldn't have been," Bakura growled. "Well?" he asked.
"I think we've found the door. I couldn't sense the Millennium Items as strongly through it. I'm assuming that means because two were missing, yours and mine."
"Excellent, let's be on our way, shall we?" he asked as he took the woman by the arm.
"Wait! I wanna get to say good bye to everyone," Mary said as she approached the group. "Even though I didn't get to really talk to anyone. I'm a big fan and all, I want a hug from everyone," she said simply. Anzu relayed what the teen had said to Honda and Jou, Jou gave a shrug and a slight smile before stooping down to hug the younger teen. Honda was a bit more reluctant but followed suit.
"Your sister was great company," Yami said as he hugged Mary. "You're lucky to have her."
"Can we go now? This is starting to look like some sappy Sunday afternoon movie," Bakura hissed as Anzu gave the other girl a hug.
"It's called being polite, maybe you should try it sometime," Anzu snapped in return.
"Being polite doesn't get things done," Bakura said simply as he jerked himself and the woman to the Shadow Realm.
"In a way I wish we could leave him and be done with him. But that would mean plaguing this world with him," Yami grumbled as he gathered the magic needed to take the remaining persons to the Shadow Realm.
Sarah slammed another balled fist into the Spirit's chest. "You should have waited for them to go first. Less time I spend here the better," she snarled as the pain and voices returned yet again.
"As much as I'd enjoy watching her wail on him, I think we should just get on with it," Honda said.
"Which one?" the woman muttered as she turned from Bakura.
"Second from the right," Jou nodded.
"Well, let's figure this out." The woman stumbled to the door and put a hand in. She met the same resistance the others had felt. With a grunt she brought the other hand up, once it passed the initial threshold the whole portal seemed to come alive. It rippled violently before going still as glass. The pain and voices from the other portals suddenly stopped and the woman let out a small sigh. Experimentally, she removed both hands from the portal. As soon as she did it went back to being inactive and she was hit once again with streams of stimulation from other worlds. She cursed under her breath and put her hands back through.
"Someone try to stick their hand in now," she commanded without moving. Anzu hesitated for a moment before volunteering. It was an awkward situation, the teen had to duck and kneel between the standing woman and the portal. Slowly she put her hand through, it went in further than any other try.
"I think it worked," she said as she removed her arm from the portal and stood back up.
"I'll go first, see if it's ok," Jou offered as he stooped to get under the shorter woman's arms. The teen paused for only a moment before more or less letting himself fall through the shimmering surface. A brief moment later his head re-emerged. "Looks good to me," he said happily.
"Ladies first," Yami motioned for Anzu to follow. Honda came next followed by Bakura and Yami. Once everyone else had gone through Sarah exhaled before walking through herself.
"Oh am I ever thankful to be here," Sarah said happily once she had emerged on the other side. As if everyone had unknowingly agreed on it, the group was shifted to the Shadow Realm almost instantly.
"Try supporting monsters in here during a duel. You'll change your mind real quick," Bakura said simply. "I know you duel, I saw a deck," he added.
"Almost home," Honda said happily. "But first," he turned to the shorter woman. "It was nice meeting you, I know Jou and I weren't real friendly at first but you turned out ok. Take care when you head back, you hear? I look forward to seeing you again sometime, maybe we can all go do something in your world." He gave her a smile and returned the unexpected hug that followed.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a real hug-type but you guys have been so good to me," she said as she released the teen.
"Yeah, well it's all part of helping a friend, you know?" Jou said as he got a hug next.
"Thanks for seeing me as one," Sarah replied. "Anzu, I feel so bad about not repaying you for everything you did for me that first night," she said with a hint of guilt.
"Don't be, just glad I could be of help. Not every day you get a chance to meet someone from another world, now is it?" she laughed as the two girls exchanged hugs.
"No, it's not. This'll certainly be something to remember for everyone, right Yami?" the woman asked as she prompted the Spirit of the Puzzle for the hug he owed her.
"One of a kind adventure, and certainly far less stressful than most others," he chuckled. "Now then, I'll get these guys back to safety and be back to help you home," Yami added as he stepped away to join the group.
"OH! One more thing, since I probably won't be around for them I want to wish everyone a happy birthday and happy holidays for whenever you have them," Sarah beamed.
"And the sentiments are returned," Yami nodded as others exchanged their early holiday wishes.
"Take care folks, stay safe and have fun," Sarah waved as Yami and the group vanished. "Aren't you sick of me yet?" she questioned as she turned to face Bakura.
"I'm sick of the mushy crap," he made a face of disgust.
"Yeah well that's almost over with."
"Indeed," Bakura replied as he looked past her to where Yami and Yugi appeared.
"Hey, I get a hug too now!" Yugi chirped happily as he trotted up to the woman.
"Wouldn't leave without it," the woman laughed as she stooped to give the smaller teen a hug. "Tell your grandfather I said thank you for everything he's done for me. Sheltering me, feeding me and all that good stuff."
"Will do," Yugi nodded enthusiastically. A tinge of sorrow hit his soft features for a moment. "You take care too now," he said. "And I wouldn't call this a goodbye, more like a see you later. I don't know, something tells me we can see each other again some day."
"Optimistic one," Sarah giggled as she ruffled the teen's hair. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before rising to her feet and doing the same to Yami.
"Don't I get one?" Bakura chided.
"Already got one," the woman muttered as she gave him another glare.
"Huh?" Yugi screwed his nose up in question.
"Never mind," Sarah shook her head. "Let's get this over with shall we? I don't want to keep you tied up any longer than needed." She shot a quick glance to Bakura when she caught sight of a small grin. "No smart remarks." The Spirit gave her a mock look of innocence. "Such a dirty mind you have," she muttered quietly enough for all to miss.
"You are just as bad and you know it," he snapped back.
The same ritual as before was performed, this time Yami cycled through the portals using his magic. The familiar bedroom came into view with Mary staring at the wall everyone had used as the door. When she moved away Sarah cautiously made her way back. The teen jumped when her sister emerged.
"They get home safely?" Mary questioned.
"Yeah, everything's the way it should be," Sarah replied. She turned around and waved absently at the wall before the ripple effect faded and left it still.
"You can stop waving now, I doubt she even saw you," Bakura grumbled when Yugi failed to quit once the image of the room had faded.
"Why'd you stick around to see her off?" Yami raised a brow. Bakura only shrugged before he pulled himself out of the Shadow Realm.
"You don't think he did anything, do you?" Yugi asked just before he and Yami merged back into one.
"I don't know, but I don't think so. I didn't feel anything unusual," Yami replied inwardly.
"Bah, I think he went through my deck," Sarah grumbled as she caught sight of a face down card on the desk. She gave a slight frown when she picked it up. The back was different, it lacked the Yu-Gi-Oh logo she was so used to seeing. She flipped the card over and did a double take. What she held in her hand was printed in Japanese. The Change of Heart card she determined from the image. And there scribbled across the middle in sloppy hand writing was the phrase:
Be seeing you, Seraph.
"He misspelled my name," Sarah whispered as she set the card back down.
"What?" Mary questioned when she heard the mumble.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Sarah waved as she glanced back at the card.
"So, um, how was your day?" Mary dared to ask.
"Much more than a single day," Sarah chuckled.
I don't care if she believed me or not. Hell, I could have made up a whole other story to tell her and she might have bought it. After all, what had been impossible before today had just happened. But no, I told her what had happened. It wasn't until I looked back on the events did I realize my interest had shifted from Yugi and Yami as my favorite characters to Ryou and Bakura. And beyond that to how Bakura's actions had seemed to change as time progressed. I wonder what had been going through everyone's minds during my stay there. I wondered if they felt it was a dream or not. I still can't help but think that's what it was. Well, until I pull out one of the many reminders I have. Mom didn't question the sudden addition of new garments to the laundry, she assumed a friend had given them to me. I've got the bathroom articles sitting in the shower caddy. Can't make up my mind if I want to use them or not. But most of all, I've got that card and the question that's been on my mind since I found it. Why? I hope I can find out the answer to this, and at the same time it's got me scared to death. Did I unknowingly forge something with Bakura, something I would soon regret? Well it's been about a month since my adventure, I haven't seen a sign of him around. I'll know though, since I'm needed to open the door back up. Unless he finds someone else to do it. But I don't think he will, not unless I've outlasted my usefulness. But until then, I'll have that card and question on mind.
You actually made to the end! So, how dull was it? Predictable? ;D
I think you can see what I meant in the beginning about that Mary Sue stuff. But hey, I started it all and it was just shrugged off by the chars so I think I got around the problem there...
I have another fic, just as long as this if not longer. Just a warning to anyone bored with this ;D
Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and everything related is (c) Kazuki Takahashi
No sooner had the group been transported to the other realm did the woman stumble and clutch her head.
"I want to hurt you so bad right now," she hissed at Bakura.
"Heh, I suppose being able to understand one another again isn't as neat here as it was back home," Jou said as he gave the woman a shoulder to lean on.
"Which door is it?" the woman groaned.
"Well this is a pickle," Bakura mused.
"Indeed, we really should have examined these doors beforehand," Yami murmured.
"What is it?" Sarah croaked as Jou lead her to where the others stood. "Oh now this sucks," she snapped.
"And not the good kind either," Bakura chuckled. He got a pained glare from the woman.
"Whoa, why am I seeing four doors leading to the same place outside the Game Shop?" Honda questioned.
"And they're not all the same, look. There's boxes sitting in that one, nothing in the middle and a car is parked in the one next to it and the last has a mob of kids at the door. Where do we go...?" Jou sputtered.
"Why four?" Bakura wheeled around and yanked the woman away from Jou. "And why do I get the feeling you know what this is all about?"
The woman whimpered and collapsed against him, clutching his shirt tightly.
"Bakura, knock it off! She can't take it," Anzu said as she thwaped the Spirit on the back.
"No, I will not knock it off. She lead me through to this place and even showed me what I wanted to see. But I didn't learn anything, and now when we try to go home I see four doors that lead to where we want to go. There's something she didn't tell me and I know it," he hissed before shaking the woman that clung to him.
"OK!" she snapped. "I didn't tell you everything. Technically there are several versions of your story in my world. The original is the graphic novel, the animated series is a companion with slight differences. The English version of the animation is different as well. Three versions, three doors. But I don't know what the fourth is," the woman grunted. She glared long and hard into the snowy-haired teen's eyes.
He returned the notion without so much as a flinch. "Which door?" he said smoothly.
"Just pick one, come on. She's being hurt," Jou said anxiously as he randomly chose a door. He tried to walk through but met with resistance.
"Don't, don't," Sarah gasped. "There's got to be a way to see. You don't want to meet yourselves, something could happen." She pulled away from Bakura and stumbled before leaning on Honda. "I'm just making everyone hold me up, aren't I?" she said with a half-laugh half-groan.
"I don't mind, you don't look so good," the brunette said as he placed one of her arms over his shoulder. Being that she was so short, he was forced to stoop.
"Bet I feel worse," she hissed. "It hurts, please. Get me out of here," she turned pleading eyes to Yami.
"Take her back, Bakura," Yami demanded.
"Why should I? You should take her and I'll stay here."
"Just do it, leave the others with me," the Pharaoh repeated. Bakura snarled but did as was asked.
"I'm not sitting here with you, Ryou will," Bakura snapped as the woman fell to her bed. Mary simply stared opened mouthed, not knowing what to do. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Bakura's features melt into softer ones.
"Oh, oh god!" Ryou gasped as he placed trembling hands on the face down woman's back. "What, where?" he said as he looked around, eyes threatening to produce tears.
"My room," the woman croaked as she propped herself up on shaking elbows. "The others are working on finding a way home, the Shadow Realm here is too harsh for me. That's why we're here," she mumbled.
"Are you ok, did you get hurt?" he placed a cool hand on her forehead.
"I'll be ok, don't worry," she managed an awkward smiled.
"Look, I'm sorry for everything," Ryou said softly. He had totally forgotten the other presence in the room.
"Ryou, I already told you I don't blame you for a thing that happened. And I don't blame you for anything now, this was something unrelated. As for why Yami demanded you bring me back I don't know."
"What happened?" he ventured forth.
"There was more than one door leading back to your world."
"Oh my," he blinked.
"Yeah, the others are trying to figure out which door it is. I have to open it for you so I'll come along. Once I get you home someone will take me to the Shadow Realm there and allow me to pass back unaccompanied. Then this will all be over."
"Will we ever see you again?" Ryou asked, a tinge of sorrow present.
"I don't know, Ryou. I'd like to see everyone again, but I don't know."
"Maybe next time we could spend a bit more time together without the worry of Bakura."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Sarah smiled as she stood. The woman hesitated a moment before throwing her arms around the snowy haired teen. "It's been a blast, thanks for being so nice to me," she said with a smile when the teen returned the hug.
"I want a hug too!" Mary blurted out suddenly. Sarah couldn't help but laugh at the way her younger sister was standing. The blonde had her hips slanted and arms folded across her chest. "I want one from Yami too, not Yugi but Yami."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Ryou laughed as he offered the even shorter teen a hug. Mary gleefully returned the motion.
"This is so cool! And no one will believe me," she huffed once Ryou let her go. "Ooo, come'er," she motioned to her sister.
The little brat dared me to do something. She said she wanted to see if I really would. You know, I'm a shy person but at the chance of never seeing any of them again I thought why not?
Ryou never saw it coming. He wasn't quite sure what to do when the older woman drew him back into an embrace before giving him a kiss full on the mouth. Mary burst into laughter on the other side of the room.
"Oh my god, she did it!"
He... returned it? Dude I wasn't expecting this. I broke it off and stepped back, an embarrassed smile on my face. Oh, no wonder. That wasn't Ryou. Bakura stood in his place. I thought there was a sudden change in posture just before the return...
"Such a tease, you know," Bakura raised a brow.
"She dared me to!" the woman said defensively as she pointed back to her sister.
"And if you were dared to jump off a bridge?"
"Well it's different you know, when your life is at stake."
"And it wasn't now?" He had a dangerous look in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, ok!" she held her hands up in a pleading sign of surrender. She gave him a sudden glare, he knew all too well what it had been for.
"I like to toy with persons, remember?" he smirked.
"Dork," she snorted.
"Tramp."
"Parasite."
"Mortal."
"Dredge."
"Whore."
"Hey now!" Yami said as he and the other three emerged from the Shadow Realm. "That was uncalled for."
"If you had of been here a minute earlier it wouldn't have been," Bakura growled. "Well?" he asked.
"I think we've found the door. I couldn't sense the Millennium Items as strongly through it. I'm assuming that means because two were missing, yours and mine."
"Excellent, let's be on our way, shall we?" he asked as he took the woman by the arm.
"Wait! I wanna get to say good bye to everyone," Mary said as she approached the group. "Even though I didn't get to really talk to anyone. I'm a big fan and all, I want a hug from everyone," she said simply. Anzu relayed what the teen had said to Honda and Jou, Jou gave a shrug and a slight smile before stooping down to hug the younger teen. Honda was a bit more reluctant but followed suit.
"Your sister was great company," Yami said as he hugged Mary. "You're lucky to have her."
"Can we go now? This is starting to look like some sappy Sunday afternoon movie," Bakura hissed as Anzu gave the other girl a hug.
"It's called being polite, maybe you should try it sometime," Anzu snapped in return.
"Being polite doesn't get things done," Bakura said simply as he jerked himself and the woman to the Shadow Realm.
"In a way I wish we could leave him and be done with him. But that would mean plaguing this world with him," Yami grumbled as he gathered the magic needed to take the remaining persons to the Shadow Realm.
Sarah slammed another balled fist into the Spirit's chest. "You should have waited for them to go first. Less time I spend here the better," she snarled as the pain and voices returned yet again.
"As much as I'd enjoy watching her wail on him, I think we should just get on with it," Honda said.
"Which one?" the woman muttered as she turned from Bakura.
"Second from the right," Jou nodded.
"Well, let's figure this out." The woman stumbled to the door and put a hand in. She met the same resistance the others had felt. With a grunt she brought the other hand up, once it passed the initial threshold the whole portal seemed to come alive. It rippled violently before going still as glass. The pain and voices from the other portals suddenly stopped and the woman let out a small sigh. Experimentally, she removed both hands from the portal. As soon as she did it went back to being inactive and she was hit once again with streams of stimulation from other worlds. She cursed under her breath and put her hands back through.
"Someone try to stick their hand in now," she commanded without moving. Anzu hesitated for a moment before volunteering. It was an awkward situation, the teen had to duck and kneel between the standing woman and the portal. Slowly she put her hand through, it went in further than any other try.
"I think it worked," she said as she removed her arm from the portal and stood back up.
"I'll go first, see if it's ok," Jou offered as he stooped to get under the shorter woman's arms. The teen paused for only a moment before more or less letting himself fall through the shimmering surface. A brief moment later his head re-emerged. "Looks good to me," he said happily.
"Ladies first," Yami motioned for Anzu to follow. Honda came next followed by Bakura and Yami. Once everyone else had gone through Sarah exhaled before walking through herself.
"Oh am I ever thankful to be here," Sarah said happily once she had emerged on the other side. As if everyone had unknowingly agreed on it, the group was shifted to the Shadow Realm almost instantly.
"Try supporting monsters in here during a duel. You'll change your mind real quick," Bakura said simply. "I know you duel, I saw a deck," he added.
"Almost home," Honda said happily. "But first," he turned to the shorter woman. "It was nice meeting you, I know Jou and I weren't real friendly at first but you turned out ok. Take care when you head back, you hear? I look forward to seeing you again sometime, maybe we can all go do something in your world." He gave her a smile and returned the unexpected hug that followed.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not a real hug-type but you guys have been so good to me," she said as she released the teen.
"Yeah, well it's all part of helping a friend, you know?" Jou said as he got a hug next.
"Thanks for seeing me as one," Sarah replied. "Anzu, I feel so bad about not repaying you for everything you did for me that first night," she said with a hint of guilt.
"Don't be, just glad I could be of help. Not every day you get a chance to meet someone from another world, now is it?" she laughed as the two girls exchanged hugs.
"No, it's not. This'll certainly be something to remember for everyone, right Yami?" the woman asked as she prompted the Spirit of the Puzzle for the hug he owed her.
"One of a kind adventure, and certainly far less stressful than most others," he chuckled. "Now then, I'll get these guys back to safety and be back to help you home," Yami added as he stepped away to join the group.
"OH! One more thing, since I probably won't be around for them I want to wish everyone a happy birthday and happy holidays for whenever you have them," Sarah beamed.
"And the sentiments are returned," Yami nodded as others exchanged their early holiday wishes.
"Take care folks, stay safe and have fun," Sarah waved as Yami and the group vanished. "Aren't you sick of me yet?" she questioned as she turned to face Bakura.
"I'm sick of the mushy crap," he made a face of disgust.
"Yeah well that's almost over with."
"Indeed," Bakura replied as he looked past her to where Yami and Yugi appeared.
"Hey, I get a hug too now!" Yugi chirped happily as he trotted up to the woman.
"Wouldn't leave without it," the woman laughed as she stooped to give the smaller teen a hug. "Tell your grandfather I said thank you for everything he's done for me. Sheltering me, feeding me and all that good stuff."
"Will do," Yugi nodded enthusiastically. A tinge of sorrow hit his soft features for a moment. "You take care too now," he said. "And I wouldn't call this a goodbye, more like a see you later. I don't know, something tells me we can see each other again some day."
"Optimistic one," Sarah giggled as she ruffled the teen's hair. She gave him a kiss on the cheek before rising to her feet and doing the same to Yami.
"Don't I get one?" Bakura chided.
"Already got one," the woman muttered as she gave him another glare.
"Huh?" Yugi screwed his nose up in question.
"Never mind," Sarah shook her head. "Let's get this over with shall we? I don't want to keep you tied up any longer than needed." She shot a quick glance to Bakura when she caught sight of a small grin. "No smart remarks." The Spirit gave her a mock look of innocence. "Such a dirty mind you have," she muttered quietly enough for all to miss.
"You are just as bad and you know it," he snapped back.
The same ritual as before was performed, this time Yami cycled through the portals using his magic. The familiar bedroom came into view with Mary staring at the wall everyone had used as the door. When she moved away Sarah cautiously made her way back. The teen jumped when her sister emerged.
"They get home safely?" Mary questioned.
"Yeah, everything's the way it should be," Sarah replied. She turned around and waved absently at the wall before the ripple effect faded and left it still.
"You can stop waving now, I doubt she even saw you," Bakura grumbled when Yugi failed to quit once the image of the room had faded.
"Why'd you stick around to see her off?" Yami raised a brow. Bakura only shrugged before he pulled himself out of the Shadow Realm.
"You don't think he did anything, do you?" Yugi asked just before he and Yami merged back into one.
"I don't know, but I don't think so. I didn't feel anything unusual," Yami replied inwardly.
"Bah, I think he went through my deck," Sarah grumbled as she caught sight of a face down card on the desk. She gave a slight frown when she picked it up. The back was different, it lacked the Yu-Gi-Oh logo she was so used to seeing. She flipped the card over and did a double take. What she held in her hand was printed in Japanese. The Change of Heart card she determined from the image. And there scribbled across the middle in sloppy hand writing was the phrase:
Be seeing you, Seraph.
"He misspelled my name," Sarah whispered as she set the card back down.
"What?" Mary questioned when she heard the mumble.
"Hmm? Oh, nothing," Sarah waved as she glanced back at the card.
"So, um, how was your day?" Mary dared to ask.
"Much more than a single day," Sarah chuckled.
I don't care if she believed me or not. Hell, I could have made up a whole other story to tell her and she might have bought it. After all, what had been impossible before today had just happened. But no, I told her what had happened. It wasn't until I looked back on the events did I realize my interest had shifted from Yugi and Yami as my favorite characters to Ryou and Bakura. And beyond that to how Bakura's actions had seemed to change as time progressed. I wonder what had been going through everyone's minds during my stay there. I wondered if they felt it was a dream or not. I still can't help but think that's what it was. Well, until I pull out one of the many reminders I have. Mom didn't question the sudden addition of new garments to the laundry, she assumed a friend had given them to me. I've got the bathroom articles sitting in the shower caddy. Can't make up my mind if I want to use them or not. But most of all, I've got that card and the question that's been on my mind since I found it. Why? I hope I can find out the answer to this, and at the same time it's got me scared to death. Did I unknowingly forge something with Bakura, something I would soon regret? Well it's been about a month since my adventure, I haven't seen a sign of him around. I'll know though, since I'm needed to open the door back up. Unless he finds someone else to do it. But I don't think he will, not unless I've outlasted my usefulness. But until then, I'll have that card and question on mind.
You actually made to the end! So, how dull was it? Predictable? ;D
I think you can see what I meant in the beginning about that Mary Sue stuff. But hey, I started it all and it was just shrugged off by the chars so I think I got around the problem there...
I have another fic, just as long as this if not longer. Just a warning to anyone bored with this ;D