Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh!

Thanx for reviewing!! I think I'll reincarnate S because of the overwhelming response over her death. But that'll be toward the very end. Anywayz I forgot to describe S'nauh so I'll just add his desc. at the end of this chapter. On the advice of one, there is more romance in this one (don't worry it isn't mush, in fact it's...well you'll see) Thanx for R&R!

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There was a soft sound, and around them, Gelan and the other warrior spirits left behind were there. Gelan took one glance at the scene and understood what had just happened. Immediately all of the warriors knelt and bowed their head. "May the winds carry you to the beyond this world. May be free of pain and death to travel the other realms," Gelan intoned.

"What happened, Gelan?" said Kaith in a harsh voice. "She said only one escaped."

"S'nauh had other warriors in hiding. We knew we were outnumbered but not that badly. We had to continue to fight and while we did, some of his men took the time of destroying our containment spell. By the time we realized that the fighting was supposed to distract us so that more spells could be released, two more had already gone," Gelan said in a neutral tone.

"We had to use the Dead of the Living spell to destroy them," he finished. Kaith's eyes widened, "How many of ours were killed doing that spell?" "........half."

Tea had finally calmed down enough to talk. She slowly moved away from the warmth of Marik's chest. "I assume that these spells were powerful," she said, her eyes blank. The men looked at her and bowed. "Yes," said Gelan. "While you were gone we were forced to use a spell that automatically takes the lives of some of the spellcasters. But fortunately we managed to destroy them all except we did it a little too late to save Shalanelle."

Tea nodded. Her mind was clear of emotions. She felt as if she had been washed clean of sensation. Everything about her was calm and calculated. "Shouldn't we leave this place, just in case more come?" she asked.

The men looked at each other. "We should be safe for now," Gelan said. "We did a thorough job back at the Kaiba's residence."

"What about her?" said Tea, pointing at Jalena's body. "I will bring her," Kaith said. "I'm going back to the spirit's meeting place to tell them of these events. Especially the breaking of the forbidden destroyer spell. Gelan and the rest of the men will stay here."

He picked up Jalena in his arms, and a portal appeared. He walked through and vanished.

Gelan turned toward the rest of the gang. "For shelter we will go into this castle."

"Unfortunately there are bad feelings between us," Yami said, speaking up in the quiet. Gelan raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Well then if this Pegasus does not agree then we will force him."

"Sounds familiar," muttered Kaiba, but his heart wasn't into the jibe. It was funny out of all the women that threw themselves at his feet, the only one that he admired and respected was Shalanelle. She had gone through a lot worse than he had and yet still opened her heart to others.

Next to him, Joey, Tristan, Yugi, and Ryou were all silently thinking somber thoughts. "It's just not fair," Ryou broke out. "It's-I mean why Shalanelle?"

"I'm sure Tea can give you a lecture on how life's unfair," said Gelan. "As much as I would like to chitchat, we need to get into the castle. We are indeed safe for now but all this open space is a perfect place for ambush."

"How can you say that," said an outraged Yami. "The leader, the strongest spirit of your people has just died and all you can say is we need to get in a castle. You have shown no tears or grief."

"Whoa, Yami, hold up," said Mai, her normally perfect attire, rumpled and dirty. "Can't you see he is in pain, it's just that he doesn't want to show it to us mortals," she whispered into his ear.

"Sorry," said Yami stiffly to Gelan who nodded curtly. A portal appeared and he gestured them to move. Tea did a backward glance to where Shalanelle and the two other spirits had just died. 'It's like deja vu,' she thought. Her gaze swept the forest, memorizing every bloodspot, every speck of ashes, even the footprints of the spirits. 'I want to memorize everything,' she thought fiercely, 'only after I kill S'nauh and see the light die in his eyes will I forget this.'

'I will avenge you Shalanelle,' she thought, tilting her head up to the blue expanse of sky. She let the sun's rays kiss her face as she felt the bittersweet feelings of revenge run through her blood.

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Pegasus' castle.

It had taken a long time of persuasion, but Pegasus had finally relented on letting them stay there.

"Only," he warned, "if this Dragon of Light that you keep on saying that will reward me can bring someone that I.....know......back to life."

His lips in an implacable line, Gelan agreed. As they retired to their rooms, Tea caught the sleeve of Marik. "Marik," she said softly, "can I talk to you privately?"

He followed her into her room. Tea closed the door behind him. She took a deep breathe and said hurriedly, "Do you think of me as more than a friend?" Marik blinked. "Well.....I....

'Say it!' an inner voice in his head screamed. "I....don't think of you as a ...a...you're just a mortal after all," he finished lamely.

Tea's face fell. Then in a flash she composed herself. "Well it's what they say," she said with an empty smile, "don't let......love........get in the way of revenge. I just thought that maybe we had some connection going on, but you're right. I need to concentrate on my duty of," she gave a short laugh, "saving the world."

Marik stared at her. "Tea, I.....----"

"It's alright," she cut in. "I thought maybe I could get some comfort after just seeing someone really close to me die in front of me and I translated it into this do-you-love-me accusation." She looked down at the velvet carpeting. "I'm kind of making a fool of myself in front of a guy that I just admitted liking..........It's just that.....you always acted so despicable toward me, but then your actions would say something else. And before I knew it I started falling for you. I realized it last night after you and Bakura left my room." She looked straight into his eyes.

She stepped closer to him. "And then I thought, maybe I could feel what it is to be loved back. My life had been so empty after my parents died and I just needed to feel comforted and....loved again." She shook her head angrily.

"It's really funny....I felt so calm right after Shalanelle died. It was like her death erased all my emotions and only left this burning desire for revenge. But then this other feeling crept up and......" she let the sentence trail.

Marik was speechless. All this time he had wanted to tell Tea his feelings. But now Tea was telling her feelings. It was ironic, he even didn't have the courage to tell her what he felt.

"I....I do care for...you," he choked out, "but....."

Tea smiled a mirthless smile. "I understand." She walked to the door and opened it. "I....think I need to be left alone for awhile....."

Marik looked at her, his eyes willing her to understand his predicament. Then he quietly left.

Tea stared into empty space for a few moments. "I need some fresh air," she muttered.

As she wandered through the hall, she caught sight of Gelan. He was drinking heavily, staring morosely at a painting in the middle of the hall.

"Tea," he acknowledged. Tea peered at his face, was there tears running down?

"Gelan," she said hesitantly, "are you oikay?"

After a long moment he said softly, "I loved her."

"You mean Shalanelle?

"Yes, but I was too scared to tell her, too intimidated to tell her. I thought I wasn't good enough for her. And now.......she's gone."

Tea was at a loss of words. "I miss her too."

Gelan looked sharply at Tea. "She brought you up good," he said. "But don't let revenge stop you from feeling any emotions at all. Everyone took her death hard, but you the hardest because she was like a foster sister to you."

Tea was silent for a moment, and said haltingly, "What was she like?"

He sighed. "She....was good friends with Jalena, the woman she had to kill today. They played a lot near the sea.....But I think inside she was never happy. She had to take the role of being a leader, and deal with death at a young age. Her only enjoyment was tutoring others into becoming a better person whether it was martial arts or magic."

"She's changed me a lot," Tea said in a soft voice. "At first I felt that life was so unfair to me, I had to deal with all these things, but Shalanelle had it worse....."

She turned and looked at him. "Thank you. I know it's hard to lose someone you love but I guess, if you can forgive me for saying this, she might be content now that she is free of worries and pain." She touched her hand sympathetically on his shoulder. "We're going to win this, because not only are we fighting for the innocent and loved ones but for memories of past fighters."

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As Tea walked back to her room someone tapped her on the shoulder. She stilled, telling herself not to react.

"uh...Tea," said Bakura nervously, "If.....if you ever need anything you can just ask me."

"Okay," Tea said cautiously, wondering why he was telling her this out of the blue. He never really talked to her and although he made it clear that he accepted her for who she was, it was strange the way he always turned red-faced and stammered whenever he spoke to her.

Bakura started to sweat. 'Great I was already to go tell her how I feel when I had to say that,' he thought.

"Thanks," she said and started to walk away. "No, wait!" Bakura said desperately. He reached out, spun her around and kissed her on the lips.

Tea was frozen with shock 'He...he actually is kissing me!' she thought. "But why..why aren't I stopping him? I thought I liked.....Marik,' she said to herself confusedly.

Bakura slowly ended the kiss. He felt like he had just ran a 5 mile race. "I know what you're going to say......just...just think about it okay?" he said raggedly and walked back to his room leaving a speechless Tea behind.

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And that is the end of this chapter. Hope you liked it! Personally I prefer Tea and Seto but most people want Marik and Bakura.

Oh yeah, the description!

S'nauh is about 6'3" with long black hair and slightly muscular build. Red eyes as you all know set within a pale face. Looks like he doesn't set foot out of his house. Usually wears his hair in a long braid or tied back. Attire is generally dark colors. Hope this is good enough! And don't forget to REVIEW even if you're just passing by, please R&R! Thank yooooouuuuu loootttss!!