I sighed heavily and went down the stairs below deck. I didn't hear Mako following, and I didn't have the heart to look back at him. Once all the way below, I saw that Mako had set up several cots with blankets and pillows for us. The boat was illuminated by a battery powered lantern. I figured I would leave it on so Mako wouldn't fall on the stairs when he eventually came down. All over the walls there were charts and maps, and an old picture of what I thought was a young Mako and his father. "Awe, little Mako looks sooo cute!" I exclaimed quietly. I also noticed an enormous hammock in the corner, that must have been where he slept. Cool I thought, he sleeps in a hammock just like me Yugi and Tèa had put their cots side by side and had already fallen asleep. There was a book lying in front of them and I thought it was cute that they had fallen asleep reading together. I put the tiara carefully inside my bag. I looked to Joey and saw that he had fallen asleep too, and was drooling all over his pillow. His blanket was lying half around him and he had one foot hanging off of the bed. I pulled up the cot that was left over and sat on it right next to him.

"Mmmm, oh boy that cake is soooo good!" Joey cried out in his sleep. "The frosting is so creamy an chocolaty I gotta get me another piece!"

I smiled and shook my head. "Joey, you have the strangest dreams." I laughed. I gently kissed him on the forehead. Joey grinned and began chuckling and blushing. Then, I grinned evilly. Maybe some torture for Joey would cheer me up." I thought to myself. Getting out my feather pen, I began gently brushing it under Joey's chin. He stirred and scrunched down his neck, waving his hand in the air as if hoping to smack what was bothering him. I grinned and began brushing it up and down his sides. Joey bit his lip and began chuckling lightly clutching his pillow.

"I told yah, no way I'm sharin any of my food!" Joey shouted, biting down on the pillow and chewing it hard. "Man this steak is tough!" Joey exclaimed. I couldn't help but laugh. I then put the feather pen in my bag and began tickling him wildly under the arms. Joey began laughing hysterically and thrashing around on his cot till he fell clear out of it! I knew that he had awoken!

Uh oh! I thought to myself and hastily lay down on my own cot and faked being asleep.

"Man that musta been some dream I had." Joey commented. I couldn't see what he was doing, having my eyes closed and all, but I knew he hadn't climbed back into his cot yet. I could feel him staring at me. "I wonda…" He said out loud. I gulped, hoping he didn't figure out what exactly made him fall over. Then I heard him chuckle evilly. Double uh oh. I thought. Wonder what he's thinking.

"Maybe I'll do some torturin of my own…" He said out loud. Oh dear now I'm in for it. I thought and tensed myself up. Joey lightly began tickling my ribs. I bit down and tried to fight off the sensations. "Kitchy kitchy." I heard him laugh at me.

Then he started tickling my stomach and that's when I lost it. I jerked upright and started laughing hysterically. "Ok Joey that's it staaaahaahahap!" I cried.

"Hah!" Joey sneered, grinning evilly and tickling me even more, until I started to fight back. Soon, we were both rolling around on the floor in a heap of laughter. Then we looked at each other, stopped and put a finger to each other's lips. We looked over at Tèa and Yugi who amazingly, were still sleeping peacefully. "Good thing they didn't wake up." Joey commented.

I nodded. I fixed my pillow, drew the blanket around myself and closed my eyes. "Night Joey, man you really got me good." I laughed.

Joey smirked and made a V for victory with his fingers. He followed my example and settled himself in his cot. "Night Jade, no more torturin me tonight, we ok on that?" Joey asked, giving me a fake stern glance.

"Oh come on, just a little bit more?" I pleaded, giggling.

"Jade…"

"Oh alright, no more…for tonight anyway." I answered.

Joey shrugged. "Close enough." Then, he promptly went to sleep, drooling over some food item or another.

I laid there in the semi darkness, just thinking over the day. It had been so wonderful, sailing the ocean, swimming with the dolphins, being with Mako… I snapped out of my train of thought. I looked over at Joey's sleeping… and snoring form and reminded myself that I was with him. I tried to change my train of thought but I kept thinking about Mako. How he shared my love for the sea, and how he had given me that beautiful tiara. I thought about how I would love the sailor's life, fishing and being on the ocean every day.

I closed my eyes as I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Mako was finally going to bed. I heard him walk over and stop before me. I felt his breath against my skin as he slowly leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. He then walked back and the light was dimmed. After a few minutes, when I heard his heavy breathing added to the others sleeping noises, I brushed my hand against the place where he had kissed me. "Goodnight…Mako." I whispered, before gently drifting off to sleep myself.

I awoke in my own bed, clothes littered the floor, my playstation 2 was still in its place and so was my tv. The screen was blurred and snowy, my Yu-Gi-Oh dvd's were lying near it. I looked down at my hands and found that they were real, flesh. Everything around me was real too. I rubbed my eyes. "So it was all, just a dream? I asked myself. "But it felt so real; I don't want to wake up". I buried my head under my pillow and tried desperately to fall back asleep, to no avail. "I can't believe this, what a bizarre dream…" I wondered as I began to get dressed, it was 10:00 almost time for class. That's when I noticed that I still wore the Millennium Key! "What the…?" I started to say, taking the key in my hand. That's when I heard the horrible evil laughter.

"Thought you were a smart one didn't you? Did you really think that you could keep me in that stupid prison of evil delights forever?" Evil Bakura appeared in front of me as the walls of my room swirled and turned into blackness.

"What the heck is going on here? How in the world did you get out of there?" I cried out, looking all around me and seeing only blackness and no light at all. I felt fear grip my heart as he began chuckling and glaring at me with his eyes.

"It was all too simple, once figured out." He smirked and walked closer to me. I stood there frozen to the spot. I wanted to scream, or at least run but it felt like my body was paralyzed. "I just took myself to the shadow realm, then took over Bakura's body once more, it didn't take me too long. Just after your duel with Weevil in fact, I've been lying low since then.

"So that's why Bakura didn't come with us to the mall, and why we couldn't find him before the fishing trip…" I said out loud. The evil one was so close now, he towered over me, growing even larger until he was a giant standing before me.

"I am stronger than you can ever imagine, much stronger than you. Give me your Millennium Key, and I'll spare you when the world is mine." He said in a beguiling voice that almost had me believing him. Almost, being the key word.

"I don't think so, I'll never give you my key." I snarled and tried to run away, but I could hear him running behind me, and I didn't know where to go in the darkness. He grabbed me in his giant hand and squeezed me tightly so that I gasped for air. "Let..me..go…" I wheezed and tried biting his hand. It didn't work, he only laughed evilly and held me up to his eye level and squeezed tighter, I could feel the veins in my body almost bursting and my bones cracking. My lungs felt like they were going to burst.

"If you won't give me your key, then I'll just take it…" He smirked and reached around my neck and began pulling off the chain. I gasped for breath.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" I cried out in pain.

I threw off the blankets and gasped for breath, clutching my neck and wildly looking around me. I was back on the boat, an anime person once more. Joey was right next to me, with on arm loosely draped around me, sleeping and Tèa and Yugi were there too and so was Mako. I breathed heavily and cold sweat trickled down my neck. "Man, what a horrible nightmare…" I whispered. "But it was just that right… I mean the evil Bakura couldn't have really gotten out, right…?" I asked myself. Something in the back of my mind told me that it was very possible.

But there was nothing I could do about it at the moment. I gazed all around the room with dazed eyes. The sun was just coming up, making a beautiful sunrise. I remembered the part of the dream where I had been home, actually home. I missed it terribly sometimes, wondered if I would ever want to return there, and wondered if any time had passed there and if it had what my mother must be going through trying to find me. I sighed with relief; the Millennium key was still around my neck, not in the hands of evil.

I knew that it was pointless to try to go back to sleep, the nightmare was still fresh in my mind and I didn't even want to try. I lightly took Joey's arm off of me and set it on his chest. He grinned and muttered, "You're so wondafull and gorgeous."

I smiled and got up and stretched. Then, to my shock Joey said more. "Yeah, I really mean it, yah think I'm jokin Mai?"

"Mai?" I whispered and raised an eyebrow with a worried expression on my face. Joey was dreaming about Mai? And he called her wonderful and gorgeous? I saw him smirking in his sleep and I wondered if he had hidden feelings for Mai that his subconscious was letting out in his dreams.

"But, I thought he didn't care about Mai that way. Thought he cared for me that way…" I whispered to myself. I shook my head. "A dreams a dream, it probably means nothing." I told myself. Mai is beautiful, maybe Joey just dreamed about beautiful women in general. Wish I didn't doubt my own advice. I yawned, it had been a rough night, maybe some fresh air would clear my head. I tiptoed past the still sleeping Yugi and Tèa and was about to move quietly past Mako, when I suddenly stopped and stared at his sleeping form. He looked so tranquil, gently rocking in the hammock with the motion of the boat.

His bandana lay on the floor next to one of his hands dangled over the side of the hammock. I wondered what it would be like to lay beside him. Fall asleep embraced in his warm, strong arms, kiss him passionately. I imagined the exciting life on the ocean we would create for ourselves, and how happy we would be, just to have each other.

Then I pinched myself hard on the arm. I winced with self inflicted pain and had to sharply remind myself again of my loyalties to Joey. And that it was him I wished to see, and that it was him I loved dearly. "Come on Mai, that's naughty." I heard Joey laugh from in the background. He really wasn't helping the situation. I was ready to go over there and kick him. But, I took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

Yeah, maybe that fresh air is exactly what I need. I thought to myself. Again, I was about to go up the stairs when something inside made me stay and keep looking at the sleeping Mako. I gently, timidly reached out my hand and laid the back of it softly against his cheek. He reached up with his own hand and placed it against mine and sighed happily. He opened his beautiful green eyes and looked at me.

"Oh Mako, I'm sorry if I woke you." I whispered, embarrassed by my own foolish actions.

"Shhh." Mako hushed me, still holding my hand in his. He scooped up his bandana and put it in his jean pocket. "An expert fisherman is always up with the sun." He told me. "Come; let us see the sunrise together."

"Alright." I smiled and agreed. He led me up the steps and onto the deck. "Oh Mako, its so beautiful out on the ocean." I sighed as he made a rather long and loud yawn.

"The sunrise pales in comparison to the joy of sharing it with you." He replied.

I sighed, this time sadly. "Listen, Mako, I'm with Joey, we can't…" Mako put his hand over my mouth gently.

"Let us just enjoy this grand sunrise together, and maybe test out your skill with the camera." He told me. I could see the pained sad look in his eyes, but it was quickly masked with a grin. "Looks like the mighty sea beasts have returned hahaha!"

I grinned as I saw the dolphins leaping and playing in the waters a little ways away from the boat. I stretched out, put on my mask and flippers and jumped into the cool water. Mako handed me his special camera, got his mask on and jumped in himself. I held the camera delicately in my hands and looked through it. It didn't appear that hard to hold steady. We both swam out toward the dolphins, hoping to not spook them. Mako was an even stronger swimmer than I keeping up even when I had the flippers on and he didn't. "Wow Mako, I bet you'd swim even faster with your own fins. I commented.

"I've been swimming since I was a tadpole hahaha!" Mako replied. "My father always told me that I could swim even before I could stand up on two legs!" I believed him too hehe.

I could hear the squeaking and whistling as the dolphins swam over to greet us. "There is a special game that they like to play with seaweed; I'll give them my bandana to play with instead hahaha!" Mako laughed.

"What game?" I asked, looking at my friends the baby dolphin and her mother as they swam over to me. I decided to name them, the baby I would call Hope, because she never gave up, and the mother, I would call Faith, because she had trusted in me. "Faith." I whispered petting the mother, and "Hope." I said petting the baby. They seemed to understand.

Mako began petting an older bull dolphin that was near him. "One dolphin has a piece of seaweed and swims away from the group and eventually lets it go. The point is to stay as close as you can to the one who holds the sea weed so that you are the first to grab it when it is dropped." Mako explained.

"I read about dolphins playing a game like that in a book an underwater photographer wrote." I said. Mako nodded and tossed his bandana amidst the pod. The dolphins quickly swam over and one of them took the bandana in its mouth and swam away with it. Faith and Hope swam after it too. Mako and I struggled to keep up but we were of course no match for the supremely aquatically adapted dolphins. "Do you have a name for the dolphin you were petting?" I asked Mako. "I named the mother dolphin Faith and her Baby Hope."

"I've known that older dolphin for quite a while now. He used to delight me by playing near the boat when I was still a young tadpole. His name is Top Notch, because he has a notch on his fin. I nodded, seeing it. I took a deep breath and dived under water. I smiled and watched as the dolphins continued to play. They actually play more fair then some humans I know. They never tried to take the bandana away from each other, they took turns. I loved watching them swim in the water, so graceful and free.

Top Notch swam up to Mako and Faith swam up to me. Mako and I looked at each other. And grabbed onto their fins. We were pulled through the water at top speed chasing after the one dolphin who held Mako's bandana. "This is the only way to travel hahaha!" Mako exclaimed. I smiled, seeing Mako and Top Notch playing like old friends. I gently stroked Hope as she swam near me. The dolphin let the bandana slip from his mouth to his dorsal fin to his tail and then off completely. I snatched it up when Faith brought me up for air. I was amazed at how she knew I needed air at that moment and took me up. After a little bit I dropped it and Mako got it. This continued on for another hour. We were both laughing and having a good ole time. I continued using the camera to document the extraordinary experience.

Then, we grew tired and began swimming back to the ship. Once onboard we began drying off with the towels. Mako and I took our gear off and set it aside. I looked down in the water and saw that Hope was there with Mako's bandana in her mouth. "Oh thank you Hope." I said and smiled, taking it from her. I could see the pod swimming away in the distance. I reached down and gently patted her on the back. "You better go Hope, your mom will be worried about you." I said. With a nuzzle and a squeak, Hope swam away. Just before she disappeared altogether, I saw Hope jump high into the sky.

"That was wicked cool." I sighed happily as I handed Mako his bandana. Our hands closed around each other for a brief second. I blushed and began wringing out my hair. I looked at the clock near the steering wheel, it was only 8 o'clock, and we had started swimming at 6. I was wondering if the other guys were up yet. I smirked, knowing Joey he was still asleep. Dreaming about Mai… I shook myself from my train of thought. It probably wasn't what it seemed. I trust Joey. I thought to myself. I realized that Mako was staring at me. I flipped my hair back and looked at him too.

"I did have a glorious time with you in the deep blue sea." He whispered. Then both of our stomachs grumbled very loudly. We both blushed and clutched our stomachs. "Hahaha I guess we both worked up a big appetite after our swim!" Mako laughed. We both headed below deck and into the makeshift kitchen Mako kept down there. "There is some chocolate chip muffin mix in here." Mako said.

"Want me to make them Mako?" I asked. "You look pretty tired; let me cook breakfast for today."

"Yes, I should like that very much my little siren of the sea. I shall get the boat started so that we may sail the mighty seas once again and move to the next fishing spot!"

"I better get started on breakfast then." I laughed. "If I know Joey he'll wake up starving."

As if on cue Joey walked in shoulders slumped with his hand to his stomach. "Man am I starvin, got any breakfast food Mako?" He asked. Mako gestured to what I was doing before going up to the stairs to the steering wheel.

I chuckled. "Don't worry Joey, muffins are on the way." I smiled.

Joey face faulted. "Aaaaaaaaawe but muffins take too long!" Joey whined. Then he went and sat Indian style on the stairs.

"You'll just have to wait Joey, sorry." I told him as I began mixing the muffin mix.

"But I wanna eat now…" Joey whined and pouted.

I rolled my eyes. "Instead of whining like a little puppy dog, why don't you help?" I said handing him the bowl and spoon. "NOW STIR!"

Joey jumped up and started stirring like crazy! "I'm stirin, I'm stirin, I'm stirin!" He shouted.

"What's going on here?" Tèa asked, yawning and coming in.

"Joey's helping me with breakfast." I said and smiled. I started putting the muffin tins in the tray. After that was done, I took the bowl from Joey and carefully poured the mix into the tins and placed them in the oven. I set the timer and Tèa and I began doing the dishes.

Yugi walked in and yawned. "Something sure smells good. What are you guys making?" He asked.

"Morning Yugi." Tèa smiled happily. We're making chocolate chip muffins."

Joey was busy panting from all the wild stirring he had done. "Nice a yah ta get up right after those two work me like a dog ta stir the bowl." Joey whined.

"Sorry Joey, guess I overslept." Yugi apologized.

"Good morning my friends! Hope you slept like otters in a kelp bed hahaha!" Mako said and laughed.

"Sure did Mako, falling asleep on a boat was really peaceful." Tèa smiled.

"Slept really well Mako, thanks. How about you Joey?" Yugi asked.

"Yah Joey, have sweet dreams?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could.

Joey grinned blushed and began rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh yeah, man were my dreams sweet last night!" He exclaimed.

"Well, I think the muffins are done, better go check on them." I said quickly. I bite my tongue and suppressed the urge to snarl. Instead, I masked my anger with a smile and took the muffins out of the oven. I passed out the muffins.

"Mmm, these are really good." Yugi commented.

"Yeah, haven't had chocolate chip muffins for a long while." Tèa

"Owe, owe, owe, hot, hot, hot!" Joey cried tossing the muffin from one hand to the other. I took it in my hand and blew on it for him. "Thanks Jade." He said and smiled. My anger evaporated, gods I loved that smile. So sweet and innocent. Joey proceeded to eat the muffin as fast as he possibly could, letting out a huge burp when he was finished. Yugi, Tèa and I sweatdropped.

"Guess Joey thought it was good too." Yugi murmured.

"Oh man that was good, I'm havin another one!" Joey cried, running into the kitchen.

"I'm going to bring some up to Mako." I said and had to wrestle Joey away from the rest of the muffins before bringing three on a plate up the stairs. "Hey Mako, the muffins are done." I said, setting the plate near him.

"Thank you my friend these smell most excellent hahaha!" Mako grinned and began wolfing down the muffins really fast. Guys will be guys I suppose. I thought to myself as I watched in shock as the three muffins disappeared in seconds. Mako stopped the boat and the rest of the guys came up the stairs on deck. "This is promising place to fish and swim my friends!" Mako exclaimed. We set up the fishing poles on the right side of the boat so that the left side was safe and hook free for swimming. Yugi and Tèa dived into the water and began splashing and swimming. "Let us take a look at the footage we collected this morning shall we." Mako suggested, getting out the camera.

"Sure, I'm anxious to see if it came out right." I answered. Mako pressed the button and we replayed all that was taped hours earlier.

"Hey what's that, let me see let me see!" Joey cried, looming over us, craning his neck to see the tape. "Come on guys let me see!" Joey whined, he took the camera from us and peered at it closely. "Wow this is really awesome!" He exclaimed. "It's like watching Flipper!

I looked down at the tiny screen and almost danced around like a lunatic. The footage was really great, not shaky at all and I seemed to capture the dolphins perfectly! "Wow, it looks great!" I exclaimed. "I could really get into underwater filming…" I whispered.

Suddenly, Joey climbed on top of the rail and yelled, "Cannonball!" And jumped over the side. He almost crashed right into Tèa and Yugi!

"Will you watch where your going you big lunkhead!" Tèa shouted.

"Awe come on Tèa lighten up. You gotta admit, that was a pretty good cannonball!"

"Yeah Joey, that was pretty cool." Yugi agreed.

As they swam in the water, I went over to my fishing pole and stood by it, waiting for a bite.

Mako followed me and stood beside me on the left. "You have a magnificent talent for underwater filming my friend. Just as the dolphins glide magnificently through the water. Why not leave the land behind and sail the seven seas by my side? We could see many of the mighty ocean's wonder's together. He put his strong tough hand on mine. "Please?" He whispered gently in my ear.

I moved my hand away from his and started reeling in my line, even though I hadn't felt a tug and there was no fish on the line. I set the pole down gently and looked up at Mako.

Mako and I stared at each other. His endless green eyes stared into my soft brown ones. We were silent, but in the background, we could hear loud splashing and shouts of "Stop splashing Joey, your getting saltwater in my face!"

"Quit worrin Tèa, its not like I'tll make yah face uglier or sometin." Joey replied chuckling.

"ARE YOU SAYING THAT MY FACE IS UGLY JOEY WHEELER!" Tèa screamed in anger.

"No, no! That's not what I was tryin ta say!" Joey cried. I heard Tèa growl in anger, that was followed by many violent splashes and Joey screaming.

"Aaaaaaaah mad shark attack! Help!" Joey cried. "Jade, come in and help me!" He called out to me.

I broke away from Mako's hypnotic gaze and looked over the side of the boat. Teaa was dunking Joey's head underwater, Yugi treaded water just watching them with an amused look on his face. I laughed. Joey had the talent of saying exactly the wrong thing at the exact wrong time. I was just about to jump into the water and join them, When Mako put his hand on my shoulder. "At least, think about it, will you. Promise me you'll think about it?" Mako asked me.

I nodded and began getting my gear on. "I promise you Mako. I will think about it." I told him. Then, I jumped into the water to "Rescue" Joey from Tea the supposed shark.

I towed Joey away with my fins on just out of reach of Tèa.

"Hey, no fair you're getting help!" Tèa cried out.

"I think you have a beautiful face Tèa." Yugi said and smiled.

"Really Yugi?" Teaa asked, swimming to him at a tremendous speed and throwing her arms around him.

"Yeah Tea, but you don't have to squeeze the life out of me!" Yugi laughed/groaned.

We swam in the water for most of the day until it was time for Mako to take us home. He didn't join our swimming and I was sorry he didn't. I thought about him a lot throughout the day, and got the feeling that he was thinking about me too.

Finally, we sailed back to the dock and packed up our stuff. "Goodbye Mako! See you soon!" Yugi said, waving.

"Thanks for having us bye Mako!" Tèa shouted.

"Lata Mako, thanks for bringin us fishin!" Joey exclaimed.

"Goodbye Mako." I said, looking back at him.

"I'll be gone for a few days, moving from fishing spot to fishing spot. But I'll be back in a few days. I hope we meet again." He told me. I watched until his boat had sailed completely out of the harbor. I heard Joey calling to me and we went back to the limo and I drove everyone home.

No matter how hard I tried the next day, I just couldn't stop thinking about Mako. I washed the counter down and began washing the dishes. I decided to spend more time with Joey. I planned to ask him to come with me on a picnic dinner. Nice, quiet, romantic and just the two of us. I had heard Yugi come home so school must have been out. I picked up the phone as I dusted the counter. I sighed, took a deep breath and pressed Joey's button on the speed dial. I waited nervously in anticipation as the phone began to ring. I hoped Joey wasn't busy tonight and hoped he would say yes. I tried reassuring myself that Joey wouldn't say no to free food, but it did little to calm my nerves as the third ring went by.

"Lo?" I heard Joey's voice over the phone as he picked up. I gulped, loved his voice, and would call a million times just to hear it. Glad I was thinking that way, getting my mind off of Mako. "Uh, someone there?" He asked. I smacked my forehead, yeah, it would be nice to say hello, duh.

"Oh hey Joey, this is Jade." I said.

"Hey Jade, what's up?" He said.

I twirled the phone cord around my finger as I got up the nerve to ask him. "I…was just wondering if you wanted to go out tonight. I was thinking a nice picnic dinner somewhere. Just the two of us." I told him, crossing my fingers, hoping that he didn't have other plans.

Then, suddenly I heard nonsensical shouting in the background. Then the sound of someone running and throwing up. "Sure thing Jade, yah know I always love spendin time with yah." Joey answered, as if oblivious to the background noises.

"Yes! Yes, go jade, go jade, go jade!" I sang softly away from the receiver. "I'll pick you up in the limo around seven o'clock then?" I asked him, barely containing my excitement.

"One thing though." Joey added.

"What?" I asked.

"Please leave the feather pen behind." Joey chuckled.

"Oh alright." I whined and smiled. I heard a crash in the background and I gasped. "Joey are you alright, what's happening?" I asked concerned.

"How bout we make is six tonight?" Joey asked me. "I wanna get outta here. Nothing's wrong it's just… I'll tell yah later k, see yah at six." Joey answered and hung up the phone. I hung up the phone too.

"You're supposed to be doing housework, not making dates with Joseph!" Gramps yelled at me. I quickly face faulted. He had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and scared the crap out of me.

"Sorry sir, yes sir, right away sir!" I exclaimed and hurriedly finished the dusting and went to furiously sweeping the floor.

Gramps nodded, satisfied and left the room. After my chores were done, I began cooking the dinner that Joey and I were going to share. I didn't need to worry about Gramps and Yugi's dinner because they had already said they were going to order out Chinese food that night. As an appetizer, I made mozzarella sticks. And for the dinner itself, I made fried chicken with warm tasty biscuits and mashed potatoes. For dessert, I decided upon making a yellow cake with strawberry frosting and rainbow sprinkles. I packed all this into a large picnic basket. I got a big blanket for Joey and me to sit on and I was just about to leave when I saw Yugi.

"I heard you and Joey are going out tonight. Have fun." He said and smiled.

"Awe, thanks Yugi, I'm sure we will." I said, giving him a hug. I waved goodbye and got into the limo. I pulled up next to Joey's place and beeped the horn.

Joey ran out the door and glanced behind him with a worried expression on his face. He quickly got in the limo and closed the door. "What was that all about?" I asked him.

Joey shook his head as I began to drive away. "Tell yah when we get… hey where are we goin anyway?" Joey asked.

"I was thinking someplace out in the country." I replied. "I planned on driving aimlessly on until we reach this uncertain place I had in mind."

Joey scratched his head. "Oh…" was all he said. Then he noticed the big picnic basket. "Whoa my nose is tellin me good foods in here!" He exclaimed, opening the basket.

"Get your hands outta there; we'll open it together when we get to… wherever it is we stop at." I told him.

"Oh ok." Joey sighed, mimicking how I had sounded earlier on the phone. After much driving around, we came to this nice spot in the woods, right near a lake and everything. I thought of how funny it would seem if someone came by and saw a limo parked in the middle of nowhere. We made a fire ring and built a medium sized fire in it. "Can we eat now I'm starvin!" Joey exclaimed. The noises from his stomach were loud and clear.

"Ok Joey lets eat." I giggled. We spread the blanket and I got out the picnic basket.

I smiled as I saw Joey's eyes light up as I began heaping food onto his plate. "Man this looks great." He commented. I smiled and thanked him. Joey then began shoveling the food into his mouth as fast as he could.

"Sheesh Joey, take it easy, the foods not going to randomly go away." I said. I looked over at Joey, whose face was turning blue as he thumped his chest. I positioned myself behind him and as gently as I could, did the Heimlich maneuver. Joey coughed up part of a chicken bone.

"Thanks I needed that." Joey sighed and sank backwards, leaning against me.

I smiled and said, "No problem Joey, though, you might want to try tasting the food instead of inhaling it."

Joey chuckled. I moved my plate over and we ate the rest of the food, with him still leaning comfortably against my chest.

Joey burped loudly. I rolled my eyes and reminded myself. That that's how guys show they really liked the food. I remembered what happened before and asked Joey. "So what happened over the phone and at your place?"

Joey sighed and moved away from me. He sat in silence, back turned to me, until he turned around and stared me straight in the face. "I've been pretty out of it lately. Serenity's operation is coming up soon and Dad… well… he's been hard on me for quite some time."

I almost gasped. "Does he… hit you?" I asked.

"Sometimes." Joey said sadly. "When he's soba enough to."

"Your dad is a drunk?" I asked him.

Joey nodded. "He's a good fa nothing drunk. That's why my parents got divorced a long time ago. Mom couldn't afford ta take us both, so I had ta stay with my Dad."

I felt a wave of sympathy for Joey. Even with a home life like that, he never let it interfere with his friends and he always tried to look at the bright side of things. "You know what Joey. You're a stronger person than most people would think." I told him.

Joey looked up at me, tears were beginning to well in his eyes. "Yah really think so?" He asked me.

I smiled and took his hand in mine and tenderly stroked it. "I know so." I answered.

"Oh Jade…" Joey whispered. We embraced and he rubbed my back tenderly. All thoughts of Mako were erased from my mind. The moment was so perfect. The sun was setting, the fire was roaring, and we were leaning in for a kiss…

Suddenly, evil laughter filled the air and a chilly wind blew the fire out.

Evil Bakura walked into the clearing. His eyes glowing cold with malice. I had forgotten about my dream, which I realized, had now become a nightmare.

"Well, doesn't this look lovely." He snickered.

He was back, and this time, I had no clue how to stop him.