Joey stood out on the dock, his sandy blonde hair blowing in the salt-stained breeze.  The ocean waves whispered his name, churning, spinning, entwining in itself in an unending cycle.  Maybe he would just rest here for a while...no girls, no other people, no other things pestering him...perhaps he could stay for a little while...he could stay forever and a day...

            "Doesn't he look hot just standing out there on the dock like that?"

            "Yeah!  He looks so relaxed and carefree!"

            "You girls say what you want!  He looks like one of those out-there surfer snobs to me who would be content with a pretty girl, a million dollars, and a cool car!"

            "Well, I think he's kinda cute!"

            "Get real.  He is SO a movie star wannabe."

            "What you MEANT to say is he is SO a Brad Pitt look-alike!"

            "Agh!  Get REAL!"

            "Hehe!  I'm gonna go talk to him!"

            Nichelle and Bianca stared at her.  "You are SO not going to talk to that DORK, Sammie," Nichelle said indignantly.  "He is like...SO five minutes ago!"

            Bianca gaped at her.  "Really?  You want to talk to that hunk?  You are so out of your mind!  What if he, like, totally HATES you?"

            In the background, Joey sat down and leaned back.

            "Oh, come on, it's not like it'll hurt THAT bad if it does!  If he's an 'out-there-surfer-snob,' I'll just have to re-form my impression of him.  What's the worst that could happen?"

            "Nevermind!  You go try and get something through his thick skull if you like!  He could be Joey Wheeler for all you know!"  Nichelle turned on her heel and walked off with Bianca.  Samantha sighed.  She had been in love with Wheeler since the seventh grade, but had never worked up enough courage to speak to him.  What if it WAS Joey Wheeler?  Did they have a chance?

            She walked right up to him.  She went blank.  "Ahh..."

            Joey started.  "Oh, shoot, you scared me!"

            "Sorry..." she said, looking guilty.

            "Hun?"  Joey was confused.  "What's wrong?  You look like something's botherin' ya!"

            "Well...no, but..."  She sat down beside him on the dock.  "I was just wondering what you were doing here...by...yourself..."  She blushed a little when she said these words.

            "Well, not by myself no more, hun?"  He stared out to sea.  "It's beautiful, you know?  The sea, I mean.  It never actually changes, it seems..."

            "Yeah...the waves just keep rolling...over...and over..."

            Joey leaned closer.  "You...understand..."

            "Yeah..."  She blushed.  He leaned closer still...

            Finally he stopped and looked out to sea again.  "So, what's your name, anyway?" he asked.  "You still haven't told me your name."

            "It's Samantha," she said.  "Sammie for short, or Sam.  What's your name?"

            "Wheeler," he said, with a sort of James Bond flare.  "Joey Wheeler."

            "It's nice to meet you, Joey."

            "Say!" Joey turned toward her, suddenly realizing something.  "You go to Domino High!"

            "Yes..."

            "You're always following me."

            Samantha went a brilliant shade of scarlet.  He knew.  He knew she liked him.  He had known all along, the way she would stare at him at lunch, or tremble when he spoke, or shoot a glance at him when one of her friends was talking to her, etc...

            "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!"

            "What?"

            "You work for the government, right?  What secret info do you need from me?"

            A large sweat drop passed over her forehead.  He didn't have a clue that she liked him.

            "I don't work for the government!"

            "Hun...well, if you won't tell the truth, I'll just have to send in...THE TICKLE MONSTER!!!" He started tickling her to death.  Drowning in laughter, Sammie tried to break free, but Joey's grip was too tight.  Finally, she fell back into his arms and he stopped.

            Samantha was panting.  "Wow..."

            "Hehe...the tickle monster does a good job, no?"

            Sammie nodded in agreement.  Then she realized what she was doing and quickly got up, blushing quite a bit.  "Ahh...sorry..."

            "Nah, that's okay."  Then Joey thought of something and turned away so she wouldn't see his own face turning red.  The thought was that...he liked that.  He didn't just like that—he loved that...

            "Uh...I gotta go, but I'll...see you at school, I guess.  Probably not for a while, since I'm going to Duelist Kingdom, but I'll see you when I can, okay?"

            "Okay...I guess...see you..."

            Joey watched her run off, back toward her friends, sighed, and closed his eyes, once again listening to the roaring sea.  Things couldn't get better...

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

Yami lay awake in bed that night.  Yugi was already asleep, mentally.  Yami somehow found it easier to stare at Yugi's ceiling in order to think about that day.  Why had Shadow been afraid of him?  Why did he have an urge to kill both her and Yaku?  What was this all about?  How did he get here?  What did he have to do?  Something was continuing that he had taken part in years ago, but what was it?  What did this conspiracy have to do with him?  Was he a toy?  A victim?  Or...rather...the murderer?

            Questions kept on spinning through his head...it made him lightheaded and somewhat disoriented.  Eventually his eyes kept staring in the same direction, never faltering, never stirring...and they dropped...closed...until finally...

            A seven-foot tall replica of himself raised a whip.  A small cry; it couldn't have been made by someone much older than six or seven.  The scene changed.  Yaku...as a child...knife in hand...a beautiful maiden stepped in front of the tall Yami...and Yaku killed them both.  The scene changed again.  He saw Shadow now, as he had seen her earlier that day, but she was much more beautiful, much younger-looking.  Then, himself...she put her arms around her and they came so close that their lips almost touched...but backed away and ran, crying.  The scene changed once more.  Yaku was an adult now, beaten and tortured, crying out in pain every time the thorns struck his back...Yami bound his hands and hung him over a cliff...the rope snapped...but he didn't fall.  An angel with red and black wings came down upon him, and brought him up from the jagged rocks below...

            But it wasn't an angel.  It was Shadow.

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

The next day, Tèa and Tristan escorted Yugi to the dock.  "Don't worry, Yugi," Tèa said.  "You'll get your grandpa back.  I know you will."

            "Thanks, Tèa.  And you, Tristan.  You guys have been a real help ever since Pegasus took him away..."  Yugi trailed off.  "Oh, by the way, where's Joey?"

            "He's already on the boat, thanks to that starchip you gave him," Tristan said.

            "Good..."  Yugi turned and looked ahead, towards the boat.  "Thanks again," he said, "for everything."

            "No prob!"  Tristan waved goodbye.

            "Yeah!  See you later, Yugi!  Go kick Pegasus' butt!"  When they were far enough away, Tèa said, "So, remind me how we're going to sneak on the boat?"

Yugi stopped.  Something wasn't right.  He sensed it.  So did Yami.  He spun around and saw—

            Shadow.  Someone else, too, a girl with black pigtails and the way of a seductress about her.  They were talking about something...Yugi strained to here at a distance...

            "I don't mind," the seductress said.  "If we want to get this tournament over with, we might as well kill off a few of the contestants."

            "We?" Shadow said.  "Excuse me, but there is no 'we.'  I am going to blow up the ship.  You are going the other way.  We will do nothing!"

            Yugi started.  Blow up the ship?  Joey was on that ship, along with dozens of people!  She couldn't blow up the ship!  Neither of them could!  Or...could they?

            "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go set it on fire now!  Buh-bye!"  Shadow walked off toward the ship.  No!

            Yugi stepped in front of her.  "I know what you're going to do—" he said, "but you'll have to go through me first!"

            "Foolish boy!"  Shadow grabbed him by the front collar and threw him into a pole, nearly knocking him out.  "You can't stand up to me!  No one can!"

            There was nothing else Yugi could do...but he knew someone else that could do something.  With the last of his energy, he whispered the words, "Yu-Gi-Oh..."

            "Shadow!"  She stopped at the sound of her name.  Yami stood before her.  "Stop this!" he said strongly, "You won't get anything out of this!"

            "I'll get a little fun," she said.

            "Well," he said, "If that's the way you want it, you'll have to go through me first!"  He held his arms open in a last effort to cut Shadow off.

            "You can't do diddly-squat.  After all, you're just a silly little boy!"  Shadow's eyes went bright crimson instead of their usual forest green, and she grabbed Yami's shoulders, gripping with her claws, cutting straight through his skin.  Then, she threw him onto the boat, and all of a sudden, it went up in flames.

            People everywhere were running and screaming.  No one had any clue what had happened.  Tèa and Tristan were still on the dock, trying to remain calm, but how could they when Yugi and Joey were supposed to be on that ship?

            Yami sat up, painfully.  The smoke scorched his eyes so he couldn't see.  The wounds on his shoulders bled in masses, stinging and burning as much as the ship.  It might seem impossible that he'd be worried about anyone else's fate right then, but he was thinking about Joey.  He had gone onto the boat and had probably made it to the lower decks.

            Sara Kennitharian stared at the boat for a moment, but a split second later, she was dashing toward it.  A few people tried to yell over their shoulders that she was crazy and should turn back, but she didn't care.  She was a knight.  It was her duty as a knight to protect innocent people, forsaking her own life.  There were definitely innocent people on that ship.

            Say leapt onto the boat and, after taking a quick glance at the top deck, realized there was no one on the top and descended into the ship.  She quickly found the captain and a few other people and got them out safely, but she knew at least Joey was still on board.

            She finally found him, but he was unconscious.  She ran over to him.  "Joey!  Oh, come on, Joey!  Please wake up!"

            Joey opened his eyes halfway.  "Wha...?"

            "Joey, the ship's on fire!  We've got to get out of here!"

            "Ahh...r-right..." Joey replied, still a little disoriented.

            Thinking no one else was on the ship, Sara led Joey to the stairs, but they were completely on fire.  They were trapped.  So, she turned around to find another way, but instead ran into another passenger.

            It was Yami Yugi.

            He was lying on the ground, but Sara noticed how badly he was bleeding and decided he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.  She hoisted him up on her shoulders and gestured for Joey to follow her again.

            They soon reached a dead end.  Sara tapped on the surface of the wall and turned to Joey.  "Can you swim?"

            "Of course I can swim!"

            "Okay...then get ready!"

            Sara held up her hands, facing the side of the boat, said an incantation, and a magical force shot from her hands and into the wall, ripping it right open.  She grabbed Yami and went into the stream of water she'd created.  Joey honestly thought it was crazy, but he went, too.

            They reached land just as the fire hit the fuel tanks of the ship.  It blew up completely with a rush of fire and blown off parts, and the rest of it sank to the bottom of the sea.

            Sara sighed.  Joey was gasping for air from being underwater for so long.  Say laid Yami down on the beach.  Everyone had gotten out safely and without injury.  Well, except maybe for Yami.

            Tèa and Tristan ran up to them.  "Are you guys okay?" Tèa asked nervously.

            Joey looked up.  "Yeah...you?"

            "Yes...we're fine..."

            "Hey!  What happened to Yugi?" Tristan noticed Yami limp in Sara's arms.

            "Oh...he'll be fine...he just needs some rest.  In fact...I'll take care of him until the next boat comes.  My place isn't too far from here."

            "Really, Sara?  Are you sure?"

            Joey hesitated.  "Wait a sec...shouldn't he be goin' to like...a hospital or somethin'?"

            "No.  Those mortal doctors can't do much of anything.  We mystical beings have found a cure for andoko."

            "Andope? What?"

            "You haven't even discovered that it exists yet!"  Sara rolled her eyes.  "Oi!  Well, Shad's claws might do just a bit more damage than normal animal claws, as in, mighta poisoned him or something, so..."

            "Hold on," Tèa said, "Could you just tell us what state he'd be in if he went to a regular hospital?"

            "Ummm..."  Sara thought for a second.  "prolly...in a coma, perhaps worse, perhaps better...but I could save him if he was on the brink of death.  Don't worry."

            Tristan didn't like it at all.  "So we're entrusting the fate of our best friend to someone we don't even know?!"

            "Hey!  I'm only trying to help!  I can heal him with some of my magic.  You shouldn't worry so much!  It's when peeps start getting into immortal damage that I have a tough time dealing with it.  But this is mortal!  Don't worry!"  Tristan still didn't look too convinced.  "Look, if harm comes to him, I swear I'll...uh....hmm...what should I do...?  I'll throw myself off a cliff probably, or I'll be really sad...or I'll be really sad for Shadow, 'cause she still like hi—"  She stopped suddenly.  "Err...don't tell her I said dat...she'll kill me...but I'd probably kill myself anyway if he died because of me."

            Tristan was convinced—barely.  So, after a few quick goodbyes, Sara carried Yami back to her place, meaning what she had said about being able to heal well.  In a few minutes, he was awake.

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

Yami stirred, then opened his eyes halfway.  He tried to sit up, but a soft, gentle hand kept him down; it stung the wounds on his shoulders.  "Sorry...but you need to just rest," Sara's voice reassured him.  "You're pretty lucky you're not perfectly human, and you're even luckier your kind thrive in dark and fire."  She hesitated.  "A normal mortal would be dead, especially if it was just Yugi, with the conk on the head he got."  She paused again.  "Don't mind me.  Just take your shirt off, please..."

            "Wh...what?!"

            "Take it off!  Your shirt!"

            "Not interested!"

            "What do you m—"  Sara suddenly realized what he was thinking.  "NO, NOT LIKE THAT!  I need you to take your shirt off because I have to get to those wounds!  Not because of...no!  That's just wrong!"

            "Still not interested!  I don't want help!"

            "Oh, come on!"

            "Uh-un!"

            "Grr!  Come on!!!"  She pulled up his shirt.

            "Ack!  GET OFF!!!"

            Finally, Yami's shoulders ached too much to fight back, so he let her bandage them and try to heal them.  She sighed.  "That should do it, but you still need to rest.  Close your eyes.  Go to sleep."  She left the room.

            Yami leaned back and relaxed, but he was not going to sleep anytime soon.  He was in too much pain to sleep; whatever Sara had put on the wounds to heal them stung, and for some reason it hurt to close his eyes.  There was, however, no indication that he had been in a fire at all, save his memory.

            Shadow all of a sudden came in, not seeing him lying on the sofa.  Yami thought for a moment about just how beautiful she looked with her hair thrown idly over her shoulders, but then remembered what she had done to the boat.  What was she doing here?

            Sara walked in.  "Hi, Shad.  Come here for a secy."

            "What now?"  Shadow walked over.  "Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?"

            "In the middle of what?"

            "Errr...okay, fine.  Nothing.  What do you want?"

            Sara grabbed one of her counterpart's abnormally large ears.  "What did you think you were doing out there?!"

            "Ow!  Ow!  Owwwwwwww!!!  Pain!  Pain!"

            "Do you have any idea what you could have done?!?"

            "Ow!  Ow!  I swear!!!  It was Kagè!  Ow!  Leggo!!!  Please!"

            Sara let go.  "Kagè?  Why would she do dat?  You're supposed to be asleep, Yami."

            He jumped at the sudden mention of his name.  Shadow, realizing his presence, squealed in terror and leapt behind Sara.  "YOU BROUGHT HIM HERE?!?!"

            "Yes, and he's not going to get any rest if you keep yelling, so shutup."

            "I don't need rest."

            "No, you don't want rest.  There's a big difference between want and need."

            "Why did you have to bring him here?" Shadow whined.

            "I still don't need rest.  I appreciate it, but I don't need it."

            "Yes you do."

            "No I don't."

            "Shad, watch him while I go get some things done."

            "WHAT?!?!" they both exclaimed at the same time.

            "Yeah!  You two make a cute couple!"

            "You reek, Sara!"

            "Why thank you, Shadow!"  Sara waltzed out.

            Yami sat up painfully, and Shadow dropped down beside him on the sofa, making sure they were as far apart as possible.  Yami didn't mind her presence, but she didn't seem to enjoy spending time with him alone.  She mumbled a few complaints once in a while but finally stopped, putting them both in complete silence.  It was the silence Yami minded.

            Shadow obviously didn't like it either, or else she was desperately bored, because she said, "So...um...I guess you're pretty mad at me...?"

            "Hun?  For what?"

            "No, I dunno!" she said mockingly.  "The boat, stupid!  Those wounds!"

            "Oh, that?  Well, it wasn't you, right?"

            "No."

            "So what's the problem?"

            She stared.  "Okay, that's just scary.  I almost killed you and you aren't mad at me?  That's not like you."

            Yami glanced at her.  "Well, it wasn't you, right?"

            "Well, technically..."  She hesitated.  "It's hard to explain."

            "Go on."  He edged closer.

            Shadow tried to back away, but she had put so much effort into backing away from him earlier that there was nowhere else to back away.  She cringed back and twitched and tried to stay calm, but she was backed up into a corner and she didn't like to be backed into a corner.

            "Well...it's...Kagè...she's like...this...demon...who...takes control of me...and...she's...a little...err...nasty...as in mean...and...ruthless...and..."  He came closer again.  "ahhhh...and... she's...a...killer...basically...ahhhhh...please!"  She couldn't stand it any longer.  "D-don't...come...any...closer...please..."

            Yami hesitated for a moment, and, reluctantly, backed away.  "So...you can't get rid of her, can you?"

            "Not...that I...know...how..."  She hesitated.  "Well, there is...but..."

            "...But...?"

            "...But...you...don't...need to...know..."

            Yami sighed in disappointment.  "Fine."  A long, awkward silence went by.  Shadow tried to start another conversation several times, but she couldn't get any words to come out.  She tried to leave, too, but her legs wouldn't move.  Yami had a question itching at the back of his brain that wouldn't go away, and he was tired of the silence, so he went ahead and asked it.

            "We were...in love, weren't we...?"

            Shadow stopped breathing.  That was the one question she was dreading him to ask.  After more silence, she nodded slowly and cautiously, unsure of what he would do.

            He looked up at her, even though she was avoiding his eyes.  "Yaku...was my enemy...but...your friend..."

            Again, she didn't say anything.  He continued, "Then...I...I tried to kill him and...you...you didn't want it that way...so...you..."  He trailed off.  Yami knew Shadow knew what he was talking about.

            Five thousand years ago, when Yami Yugi was still Pharaoh of Egypt, he and Shadow had been lovers, while he and Yaku were archenemies, and Yaku and Shadow were allies.  Once Yami had found and captured Yaku, he "punished" him for his wrongs against him, and hung the young tomb robber off the side of a cliff.  Late into the night, the rope he was hanging from snapped and Shadow rescued him from a deadly fall.  Yami, of course, took her actions not as a lesson, but as betrayal, and set out to kill her, too, but Yaku gave his life to keep her from committing suicide and Shadow disappeared soon after.

            The only problem was that Yami had forgotten what exactly he was "punishing" him for.  It just seemed so much like he was the criminal and Yaku was just the rebel trying to make life easier for everybody by getting rid of him.

            The two of them sat in silence for a long while afterward.  Neither of them spoke.  Neither of them cared.  Neither of them wanted to remember the awful dark ages of their lives.

            So, finally, Yami fell asleep.  Unbeknownst to him, he fell asleep in Shadow's arms.

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

Yugi fell.  Something jumped at him.  Something with literally black, scaly skin and red eyes, with slits for pupils down the middle.  It was too fast.  Yugi was barely able to move.  Everything was a blur of underbrush and a starless night sky and those evil, red eyes...

            Soon, the fiend had him.  It was clawing at him, tearing at his clothes, groping for his neck.  There seemed to be no way to escape the horrible beast.  Suddenly, a man jumped out and tried to grab it, but it darted away.  It leapt at Yugi's rescuer, using whatever means possible to draw blood and cause him pain.  Yugi struggled to his feet, finding he was much, much shorter than he normally was and falling back down trying to keep balanced.

            The monster looked up.  Yugi could see it clearer now; it was pretty big, about the size of a young teen, but its long, devil-like tail made it seem so much larger.  Its long fangs and claws were drenched in blood.  The very sight of it made Yugi terrified.

            It had retargeted him.  The thing lunged toward Yugi, who winced as he felt a sharp pain on the palm of his hand, but that was all the damage the strange man let it do, grabbing its tail and stabbing it with a sharp knife.  "Run, Yugi!" he called.  "Yugi!"

            "Yugi, wake up!"

            Yugi woke with a start.  Sara was staring him in the face, looking really concerned.  "Hey, kid...are you okay?  You look like you saw a ghost."

            He didn't answer at first.  Yugi was still trying to get over those eyes.

            "Hello?  Yugi!"

            Yugi blinked.  "Y-yeah...I'm...I'm fine...it was just a nightmare..."

            "Good...are you sure you're okay?"

            "Yeah..."

            "Alright, then.  The next boat just arrived.  You and I need to get on it, so I figured I'd wake you up."

            "We're not too late, are we?"

            "No.  Like I said, it just got here.  Shadow already left, making sure she had Kagè under control, of course.  This boat's not going to blow up.  I promise."  She helped him up.  "Of course, that is, as long as you don't set any bombs or nothing."  She smiled.  So did Yugi.

            Even so, it was very, very forced.