Disclaimer, I do not own or make money off of any songs in this chapter.
I looked back over my shoulder and I could have sworn that Joey and Mai were holding hands or something, but it was funny. It didn't bother me as much as I thought it would have. I was actually more ticked off at the way she flirted with Mako right in front of me.
What was I saying? Joey was my boyfriend; I should march right back there and tell her off… But, then I'd be controlling wouldn't I… Maybe they weren't holding hands, maybe she was pulling him forward, or he was shaking her hand or something. I didn't know and frankly, I didn't want to know what Mai was doing right now. Didn't want to think about her. But I couldn't help it, now that Mako and I had to go on a double date with her and Joey.
Actually, ever since I got the letter Mako sent me months earlier, Joey and I had been slowly growing away from each other. It went from going to the movies and kissing to just saying hi and not holding hands and only occasional hugging. Joey began spending more time with that trouble maker Mai too, I noticed that and didn't think much of it because I never saw them doing anything but talking, playing video games and walking together. I knew I loved Joey, but…maybe we weren't meant to be. Even when I was watching "Yu-Gi-Oh" in the real world, I always loved the Tèa/Yugi pairing and Mai/Joey. Man am I confused or what! I thought to myself and sighed.
Mako… I thought to myself. Over the last months I had waited for Mako to return and not a day passed by that I didn't miss or think of him and his devotion to me. Our bond had deepened since he returned and when I had saved his life. I was so scared and I knew I couldn't bare the thought of losing him. I wondered if I should just go with him, to the sea and film and fish with him. Life would be a bit harder, but at least I would be making something of myself, doing something with my life instead of just being a maid. I was definitely thinking about it. It had always been my dream to sail the seas and live on it. My bond with the ocean was as strong as Mako's. I knew that it would be a while before I would see Yugi, Bakura, Tristan, Tèa and Joey again, if I decided to be with Mako. I definitely had some thinking to do.
And then there was the rare hunter Malik problem that was still fresh in my memory. I was getting a headache from thinking way to long and hard about everything. I shivered and began rubbing my hands together. The chilly night air and the fact that I was still dripping wet with cold water really didn't help matters much.
"May I?" I heard Mako say.
"Hmmm?" I asked, snapping out of my train of thought. "What's that Mako?"
Mako put his arm around me, drawing me closer. I blushed as the heat from his body warmed me up. "Thank you." I said simply.
"You are welcome." Mako replied as we continued to walk. "By the way…" Mako began and blushed himself. "I er…noticed how mad you seemed when that Mai woman well… I… I just wanted to make sure that you know that I felt nothing toward her what so ever!" Mako said quickly.
"I know Mako, Mai's just…well, a flirt and a tease to put it mildly. She probably has her mind set on Joey and just wants to make trouble." I answered and sighed. "Hey Mako?" I asked him.
"Yes my star of the ocean?" He said turning to me.
I smiled and took his hand in mine. "Let's go swimming, just the two of us!" I exclaimed running ahead and pulling him forward. "Come on, what do yah say?"
"Hahaha! You've got it my mermaid; I could never resist a good swim!" Mako exclaimed. He gently picked me up and placed me over his shoulder and began running. I began smiling and laughing and so did he, a truly Kodak moment.
"Wheeee! Just don't drop me! I squealed with delight like a little kid, giggling and holding onto his muscular neck for dear life.
"Oh I'd never do that my friend." Mako teased in a sly voice, grinning like a shark. I realized that we had arrived at the docks where his boat "The Hammerhead" was docked.
Mako gently set me down as he got the boat up and going. I hauled up the anchor and undid the ropes that tied us to the dock. Then, we began moving away from the shore, not too far so that we couldn't see the lighthouse or city lights, yet far enough away to be away from other boats. We threw down the anchor and turned off the engine. Mist was rising from the water a bit because the night air was cool but the water was warmer than it. Mako turned on his boat lights, to shine around the area, giving us enough light to see by. Then, Mako took off his muscle shirt, showing off his buff body and it looked so sexy bathed in the moonlight. Me, well I hadn't brought my bathing suit so only my light blue dolphin tank top and jean shorts would do for now.
I dipped my feet into the calm water and put on the mask that Mako let me wear since I didn't have my own at the time. I slowly slipped into the water, getting used to it.
"Time for Mako to make some waaaaaaaaaves!" I heard Mako shout as he jumped off the rail and cannon balled into the water!
"Nice one!" I cheered as he came up.
"Hahaha!" Mako laughed. "It looks as though our mighty friends of the sea have come to visit us!" He exclaimed. My mouth opened wide in a smile, the dolphins we had swum with months before were swimming nearby and had found us and decided to come toward us!
"Wow Hope you've grown so much bigger since the last time I saw you!" I smiled as the baby dolphin I had saved from the nets months ago swam up to me. She had grown at least a foot in and a half in length and looked as happy to see me as I was to see her. I gently petted her as she squealed and clicked in excitement. Her mother Faith swam up to greet me too and soon I was petting them both eagerly. I noticed that Mako was with his old dolphin friend Top Notch and I smiled. We both were one with the sea and the creatures that inhabited it.
"Top Notch my friend! It is a pleasure to see you again!" Mako exclaimed patting the male dolphin on the back. Mako grabbed onto Top Notch's dorsal fin and off they swam through the water. They looked so cool, dolphin and rider cutting through the water. I snapped out my staring mode as Hope and Faith both offered me their fins. I grabbed onto both of their dorsal fins and held on tight as they pulled me through the water at top speed. Suddenly they began shooting toward the surface as fast as they could with me still holding on. We soared out of the water as they propelled me high into the air. Mako was doing the same with Top Notch and we both exchanged thrilled glances and our share of Wahoooo shouts before falling back into the water.
"That was so awesome!" I yelled out loud and began laughing. What a thrill it was, playing with the dolphins again. How I had missed that. I let go of their fins and swam under water, thinking of a cool move I'd seen trainers at sea world do. I put my feet together and Faith swam right behind me and pushed me by the feet through the water! It was like flying and the adrenaline rush kept on coming as we rocketed out of the water. I felt like a dolphin trainer myself and was amazed that the dolphins knew exactly what I wanted to do. I was in awe as Mako did the same trick with Top Notch but he did a bunch of crazy flips in the air before crashing back into the sea. After that, we pretty much settled down with the dolphins until they eventually left us and swam on, probably to feed.
Mako and I climbed back aboard the boat and began relaxing side by side on a long soft blanket Mako had set on the floor. Music from his radio/cd player was playing in the background, the atmosphere was so peaceful now. "What a swim." I sighed, panting slightly. I began humming as I wrung my hair out and I noticed that Mako was staring at me.
"Yes…it was, wasn't it my friend?" He answered and smiled. I blushed, that smile had the blush effect on me! He moved closer to me and put one of his strong arms around my waist.
"I really love spending time with you Mako." I said and leaned against him.
Mako closed his eyes and rested his head against mine. "And you know I always enjoy when your with me Jade" he answered.
As Mako and I cuddled and enjoyed each other's company, I heard a song in the background that made me stop and listen intently; it was "All at once" by Whitney Houston.
All at once,
I finally took a moment and I'm realizing that
You're not coming back
And it finally hit me all at once
All at once,
I started counting teardrops and at least a million fell
My eyes began to swell,
And all my dreams were shattered, all at once
Chorus:
Ever since I met you
You're the only love I've known
And I can't forget you
Though I must face it all alone
All at once, I'm drifting on a lonely sea
Wishing you'd come back to me
And that's all that matters now
All at once, I'm drifting on a lonely sea
Holding on to memories
And it hurts me more than you know
So much more than it shows
All at once
All at once,
I looked around and found that you were with another love
In someone else's arms
And all my dreams were shattered, all at once
All at once,
The smile that used to greet me brightened someone else's day
She took you're smile away
And left me with just memories, all at once
Chorus:
I felt Mako tense at the lyrics and sigh softly. I think it mirrored how he felt about me and
it was making him sad. I got up and sat
down behind him. I began gently rubbing
and massaging his muscled back. He
sighed happily and leaned into the massage as I tenderly massaged up and down
his neck and back, working out the knots hard work had made in his back. "Mako…?"
I asked timidly.
"Hmmm?" He answered, half in a daze from the soothing touch.
"Does…your offer still stand?" I asked softly.
Mako opened his eyes, turned toward me and gazed directly at me, our faces only inches apart. "Do you mean…?" He asked me and trailed off.
"Well I was thinking…what is that?!" I exclaimed pointing off the bow and to the right. It seemed as if an area of the water were glowing and the sounds of splashing could be heard from where we are.
"The glowing plankton!" Mako said excitedly. I've only seen it once before in my lifetime and that was with my father when I was a young tadpole!
"Get the camera I think there are manta rays feeding on the plankton!" I told Mako.
"My thoughts exactly my friend!" Mako exclaimed and ran below deck. I slipped my mask back on and dived into the water. Mako handed me the camera and I swam toward the circle of glowing plankton. It was a little ways away from the boat but I was rested enough to get there with no trouble. I dived under the water and watched as the giant manta rays filtered the glowing plankton through their enormous gills. I saw remora attached to the rays and filmed them eating the scraps from the manta's too. I held the camera steady and filmed them both, even catching a ride on one of the gentle manta rays. Suddenly the ray shook me off violently, sending me flying upwards toward the surface. I had a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach, a ray wouldn't just do that, they are normally very gentle and only react that way when they are very scared. I dived down below a bit more to see what was wrong and found out. It was a Tiger shark! I could tell by the stripes on its back and the shape of its head. It was a ten footer at that, a well known man eater and it was at night, feeding time.
My heart began pounding in my chest as it circled closer and closer to me, smelling with its snout. I gently and without moving too much, floated to the surface. I knew that if I thrashed around, the shark would think I was an injured prey item and attack me. "MAKO! TIGER SHARK!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Oh Gods help me!" I screamed, watching as the tiger shark stared at me with its dead black eyes devoid of emotion. I knew what it was doing, it was detecting my electrical field, sizing me up, seeing if I were good prey or not. I prayed to the Goddess that Mako would save me in time.
My whole body was numb and I couldn't move I was so frozen in terror. Also, I knew that if I did move too much, it would trigger an attack reaction from the shark. "Hold on I'm coming!" Mako cried out, shoving his zodiac life raft off the side of boat and gunning the motor. I felt my heart beat faster and faster and my eyes grew wide with fear as the tiger shark swam from the bottom of the sea floor and came rushing up at me, I could see its razor sharp teeth as it opened its wide mouth. Its black eyes rolled back until they became white, that's what all sharks did before biting down into their prey so that their eyes wouldn't be harmed in the attacking and thrashing process. A strong powerful fist crashed down from the surface, hitting the tiger shark hard on its sensitive snout before it could reach me. "GET AWAY FROM HER BEAST!" I heard Mako yell angrily.
The shark became dazed and confused and began swimming in the opposite direction that was time enough. Mako yanked me up by the shoulders and threw me inside the zodiac boat. I watched as the shark's dorsal fin retreated further and further downward until it was no longer in site. I dropped the camera on the floor of the boat and collapsed. All my energy was spent and I was extremely freaked out from my brush with death. I began hyperventilating as Mako gunned the zodiac and I noticed he was breathing heavy too and also that his hand was bleeding. "Are you alright?!" He yelled to me over the noise of the engine. I couldn't' speak but shivered and nodded, I couldn't stop shaking. We reached the "Hammerhead" and Mako tied the zodiac to the side.
I wobbly stepped into the deck and practically collapsed, gasping for air, my brush with death had left me weak and my eyes were still wide with fear. I turned around and looked to Mako, who looked just as terrified as I did. We sort of rushed toward each other and embraced like there was no tomorrow. I held on to him as tightly as I could, clinging to him like I was a drowning woman. Mako held onto me and to tell you the truth, I never wanted him to let go. "Please Mako, don't let me go, oh gods the shark almost…"
"I will not do not worry." Mako said and began rubbing my back. "I was so frightened; I thought the sea would take you, like it took my father those many years ago. I couldn't bare the thought of losing you." Mako told me.
I nodded and pulled away from Mako just enough to look into his eyes. "You saved my life Mako, thank you." I said and rested my head on his shoulder.
Mako smiled. "No thanks are needed my angel of the sea, you saved my life, and even sat at my bed side, helping me to recover. How could I not do the same for you…?" He said. And just barely under his breath, I heard him murmur. "I love you." To me.
At that moment, I made my decision. Mako had always been there for me, from the very start. Even when I left him to be with Joey, despite all the times I had turned him down. His bravery, devotion and love inspired me. I knew I loved him back and that our attraction to each other would never go away. Where would I ever find someone like that in my lifetime ever again? I knew I loved Joey too, but Mako's love was for keeps. My heart felt a great weight be lifted from it and I smiled the fright now past. "Mako, what I was trying to tell you before…" I said, putting my hand on his.
Mako winced and held up his hand. "Oh no Mako you're bleeding, I'm sorry." I said, going below deck with him and helping him bandage it up. "No need to apologize my friend. It will be better in no time hahaha!" Mako said and I smiled. Then he looked at me seriously. "Do your feelings for the sea remain the same after that nightmare of a shark attack?"
I nodded and, made a fist and put it to my chest. "I love the ocean with a passion Mako, that will never change. Just like my feelings for you." I said and added a wink.
Mako's face absolutely lit up as he took my hands in his. "You mean it my mermaid!?"
I nodded "Just like the dolphins chose to leave the land and make the sea their home eons ago, I choose to leave the land and be with you." I told him. "I love you…Mako Tsunami, and I have for a while now."
Mako's eyes were shining as he wrapped his arms around me, and I wrapped my arms as far as they would go around his waist. "You won't be lonely ever again Mako, I'll be here more than in spirit and heart." I whispered to him.
"With you here by my side, the sea will shine and sparkle with happiness hahaha!" Mako exclaimed! Standing up with excitement!
"We'll make a great team!" I laughed and stood up too. "I can see it now Mako and Jade the king and queen of the high seas!" I exclaimed. "We rule!"
"Hahaha I can not wait to see what adventures life has in store for us!" Mako laughed in agreement and we both began dancing around the ship like we had just struck gold. I cried out with glee as Mako twirled me around and we both ending up becoming so dizzy that we landed in his hammock all tangled up until we were laughing so hard our sides ached.
Mako wrapped his arm around me and I cuddled closer to his chest. Content to just lie there and be with him. Then, a thought came to my mind. "Hey Mako, we're not going to leave right away are we? I mean, we're staying a bit longer aren't we?"
"After I compete and win in the battle city tournament then we shall take our leave." Mako told me.
"Oh wow, I completely forgot about Kaiba's battle city tournament. Joey's competing in it too and so is Yugi." I told him. "Oh yeah, I have to break it gently to Joey about leaving, I'll do it tomorrow, at our date." I said and rolled my eyes. "Somehow, I don't think Mai is going to make the date go easy…On the date, lets just stick together, that will give Joey and Mai a kind of hint." I added.
Mako took the boat back to the docks and parked it. "See you tomorrow…Mako." I said, hugging him tightly.
"Are you sure you do not wish to stay the night?" Mako asked me. It had grown rather late, but not too late.
"Yeah, I don't want gramps and Yugi to worry about me." I told him, giving him a goodnight kiss.
"Sleep well, my dolphin queen." Mako told me and smiled as I began walking away.
"You too, Mako chan." I answered.
I started walking back to the Moto apartment. As I was traveling toward home I passed many duelists with Kaiba's new duel disks strapped to their wrists. On weekends, I had opened the door to my own world yet not gone through it and just sat with the door open, close enough to reach my television without having to put the key through the door, and be sucked inside forever. So I watched Yu-Gi-Oh and kept up with what was going on. That's when I noticed a certain aqua haired boy surrounded by a small crowd of people. "Why if it isn't Espa Roba…" I said to myself in annoyance. I hadn't liked that little punk creep one bit, even if he was dueling for a good cause, he didn't need to cheat…
I remembered that he did cheat people out of their cards and I was surprised Mokuba the tournaments' "Commissioner" hadn't made Espa Roba give back Rex Raptors card Serpent night dragon. Rex didn't seem like such a bad guy to me, a little foolish and gullible sometimes, but he did care about his cards. I didn't appreciate the little crack Roba had said to Rex when Rex asked him to take good care of his card and Roba said he would use it for a coaster. I decided to do something nice for Rex and get his card back for him. I wrote something down on a piece of paper and pocketed it.
"Hey Espa Roba!" I said and waded through the crowd toward him.
"My psychic senses tell me that I have another adoring fan!" He exclaimed and gave me that creepy smile of his. I see he hadn't learned his lesson from Joey and was still bragging.
"Can I have your autograph pleeeease!" I begged him and batted my eyes, handing him the paper and pen.
"Sure thing." Espa Roba took the paper and pen and was about to sign when he looked over the paper. He was reading the note I wrote to him. I know your secret you psychic fraud, and if you don't give me what I want, I'll tell everyone what a fake you are and get Kaiba to kick you out of the tournament for good. Was what I wrote.
"Excuse me everyone, I'm going to give this lucky fan a private autograph!" Espa Roba said to the crowd while him and I entered an alley away from them. "Who are you and what do you want?" Espa Roba asked, his eyes wide with fear.
Hah, I thought, he's not so confident now away from his gullible fans. "My name is Jade and I want that Serpent Night Dragon card that you stole from Rex Raptor. I want to return it to him."
"I didn't steal it I won it from him in a duel!" Espa Roba protested.
"No, you cheated him out of it by having your brother's spy on him from up above on the rooftops. I'll let you keep the locator cards you got from him, but give me the card." I told him. "Or I'll explain your little secret to Seto Kaiba and he won't be as nice as Mokuba was and let you stay in the tournament.
Espa Roba looked shaken and began fishing around in his pockets for his duel monsters deck. He began looking through the deck and finally came upon the card and handed it to me. "Just don't tell my secret ok?" He pleaded to me.
"Deals a deal, I don't tell." I said and turned away from him. And went to go find Rex Raptor. Wonder how hard it will be to find a short little guy with a purple streak through his hair and a cap on? I wondered to myself. I soon found him wandering around the streets kind of sulking to himself. "Hey Rex Raptor!" I yelled and waved to him.
He turned around and said, "Yeah, what do you want?" In his gruff voice.
"I think this belongs to you." I said, handing him the Serpent Night dragon card.
"How did you get this?" He asked and looked at me wide eyed.
"Took it off of Espa Roba's hands. Thought I'd give it back to you." I told him. "It's yours anyway, he shouldn't have cheated you out of it in the first place."
"Thanks" he said and blushed, putting the card back in his deck. "But why'd you do something like that for me?" He asked.
"Ever hear of kindness with no strings attached?" I asked him. "Besides", I smiled. "I like dinosaurs too, raptors are my favorites." I told him. "You seem like a nice enough guy, just don't get used by people like Mai to do their dirty work."
He blinked at me in surprise. "How did you know that Mai played me like a chumpasaurus at duelist kingdom?"
I realized that I had no explanation for how I did know so I made up an excuse. "I heard about it from Yugi and his friends, I hang out with them."
"You ever wanna…hang out with me sometime doll?" He asked me, smirking and blushing.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't get any ideas I'm already taken. I'd only hang out with you as a friend maybe." I told him. "And don't call me doll, my name's Jade." I told him.
"Really? Who's your sugar daddy?" Rex smirked and asked.
"You really know how to talk to girls' dontcha." I laughed at him. "Minus the sugar daddy part and you get Mako Tsunami. He's my sweetheart." I told him.
"You mean that freaky fish guy I beat at the semi finals in the regional championships?" Rex asked.
"HE IS NOT A FREAKY FISH GUY! And if you still think that, then that would make me a FREAKY FISH GIRL!" I answered.
"Whoa settle down, ok ok." Rex said. "I gotta go anyway, see yah around." He said and walked away. "Thanks for getting my card back for me." He said and waved.
I then realized it was really late and began running back home to the moto apartment. Suddenly, I was surrounded on all sides by big beefy looking football players. "Can I help you with something?" I asked, glaring at all of them.
They began laughing and cracking their knuckles. "We have a bone to pick with you…" One of them said.
"Yeah, and why would that be? I know I attract the attention of all sorts of morons but I've never seen you guys before." I commented.
"Oooh, this one's got a fiery mouth." Another commented and they all began laughing like it was some big great funny joke.
"We happen to be the boyfriends of the cheerleaders you threw tomatoes at and squirted water at!"
"Eep…" I said and grinned innocently. "Oh, uh, you mean THOSE cheerleaders huh…" I stammered as they began advancing toward me.
"Were going to make you do…A little laundary." They said. Two of them grabbed me by the arm as I began yelling and telling them to get away from me!
"How did you guys find me anyway, that was months ago!" I shouted, trying to break free of their grasp, to no avail.
"A little guy called Weevil Underwood tipped us off that you were here!"
I growled and shouted. "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL!!!!" All I heard in return was snickering in the background. I promised myself I'd get him later. I'd strangle the little freak!
"Whats going on here!" A familiar angry voice cried out.
"Seto! I've never been so happy to see you!" I cried out and grinned as Kaiba began shoving and kicking the football players out of the way. He was wearing that cool Kaiba corp white trench coat of his too.
"You jocks need to learn some manners." He commented, grinning. "Anybody else want to try me?" He sneered, putting up his fists.
"Hey Kaiba, this isn't your business, why don't you get lost?" One of them asked. He was neatly knocked aside by Kaiba.
They released me and ran off like dogs with their tails between their legs. I was just having one of those nights… "Thanks Seto, but why did you help me? I mean I thought you really didn't like me."
Kaiba shrugged. "That's what friends do, they help each other out." He answered simply. The same answer I had given him when I had helped him pick out that gift for Isis.
"Wow…Seto, so you're actually admitting that we are friends?" I asked him. Kaiba frowned and put his hand on my shoulder…hard. "You tell anyone about this and I promise you'll live to regret it!" He sneered.
"No need to get all mushy…Friend." I laughed, prying his hand off of my shoulder. "I won't tell anyone. And by the way, how did your date with Isis go?"
Kaiba smiled and blushed. Wow, that was so uncharacteristic of him.
"Wow Seto, that's wicked uncharacteristic of you," I commented. "You must have had a really great time with her."
"Yeah, we did. And she loved the dress you picked out. She gave me a gift too; an Egyptian god card that holds no equal called Obelisk the Tormentor! I'm going to get the other Egyptian god cards and make my deck the strongest deck in the world and claim my title of back from Yugi!" Kaiba exclaimed, letting the wind blow his trench coat back dramatically.
"You know Seto, some obsessions can be a bit unhealthy…" I commented.
He shrugged. "Are you going to compete in my battle city tournament? Even without your blue eyes, you do have some skill."
"Isn't it too late? Aren't all the duel disks gone?" I asked him.
Kaiba smirked. "You're forgetting whose tournament it is; I have some back at Kaiba corp." He called Mokuba over his walkie talkie and told him to airlift an extra duel disk and a locator card. "Now all you need is a rare card to qualify you." Kaiba told me.
I nodded and began looking through my deck. I came across my Cosmo Queen, a rare and powerful card I had gotten from McDonalds. On their chart of cards the Cosmo Queen was considered Ultra rare. "This is my rare card I'll use." I said, showing the card to Kaiba. He nodded and opened his briefcase that held his laptop.
"I'll add your data to my duelist charts and give you four stars since you beat Weevil the regional champion."
"Hey, why not five stars?" I asked as the helicopter came hovering in. Mokuba threw down another briefcase and Kaiba caught it and handed it to me.
"Because I don't know if you would have won without your blue eyes." Kaiba smirked and climbed the rope ladder. "I'll take pleasure in relieving you of your Cosmo Queen in the tournament!"
"Not if someone else relieves me of it first!" I cried out teasingly. Kaiba smirked. "Kaiba's ok after all." I said to myself.
"AND REMEMBER, IF YOU TELL ANYONE I'LL MAKE YOU VERY VERY SORRY!" Kaiba shouted back to me, giving me his trademark scowl.
"Or maybe not…" I said and sweat dropped. I sighed and didn't even want to run back anymore. It had been a rough day already and I just wanted to be home. So I took out my Millennium key and went to the first store I saw, went to the bathroom, and concentrated on being back at the Moto apartment. The door appeared and I thankfully stepped through it and into my own room. I put the briefcase with my own duel disk in it by my hammock. I went out into the living room to see if Yugi was still up. I saw that he was and said hi.
"Hey Yugi, where have you guys been all day?" I asked him.
"Oh hey Jade!" Yugi said and smiled. "We were out dueling at the battle city tournament, rare hunters were everywhere! Malik couldn't beat me though and I won an Egyptian God card called Slypher the Sky dragon!" Yugi exclaimed excitedly.
"Wow Yugi, that's awesome!" I exclaimed. "I'm in the tournament too now, with my rare card Cosmo Queen."
"Just watch out for Maliks rare hunters. I'm sure he'll be after your key like he's after my puzzle and we can't let him get them." Yugi told me. "The fate of the world is at stake. I just hope we all can help Yami save the world like he did 5 thousand years ago."
I nodded. "Yugi…" I began saying.
"Yeah Jade, something up?" Yugi asked me.
"After battle city…I'm not going to be around much anymore." I told him. "I've decided to go with Mako Tsunami and to film and fish on the ocean with him." I told Yugi.
"I see." Yugi said sadly. "We'll all miss you Jade, especially Joey."
"I think Mai will ease the pain for him." I said and gave a halfhearted grin. "Joey's been spending an awful lot of time with her. I think things have worked out perfectly."
"Didn't you know? Mai and Joey…oops!" Yugi said, clapping his hand over his mouth. "I wasn't supposed to tell you. Joey made me promise not to; he said he wanted to tell you at your double date with him tomorrow."
I raised an eyebrow. "Come on Yugi please tell me?" I asked him. "I won't tell Joey you told me."
Yugi shook his head. "Nope, I made a promise to Joey and I can't break it." Yugi told me.
I knew it was useless to argue. Power of friendship and all. Then I remembered something. "Eee…I was gone all day and forgot my chores! Was Gramps mad at me?"
"Nah, he was too busy watching duels today and he even closed down the Game shop." Yugi told me. "But tomorrow, he wants you to run the store for a while." I nodded. Then, I headed up to bed. It had indeed been a long hard day on me and I practically passed out on the hammock.
In the morning, I overslept a bit and rushed around all day to do the chores and watch the Game shop. It was rather busy, with duelists from the tournament coming in and buying new booster packs to try and strengthen their decks.
Finally, it was closing time and I met Tèa at the mall to pick out a new outfit for the double date. I parked my limo and smiled as I saw her waving. "Hey Jade!" Tèa shouted.
"Hey Tèa!" I greeted her. "Let's go, I don't want to be late." I told her.
"Right, lets get to it!" She exclaimed. We began walking around the mall looking in every clothing store, trying to find me the perfect outfit. I finally decided on a light pink tank top with a cute chibi killer whale in the middle of it, some awesome dark blue glitter wide leg jeans and a pair of black and white sketcher sneakers. I put on makeup and set my blue knit kerchief in my hair. Tèa gave me the thumbs up sign.
"Did Yugi tell you Tèa?" I asked her.
"Tell me what? About you and Mako?" She asked. I nodded. I should have known Yugi would tell her, he tells Tèa everything. "I'm going to miss you but I'm happy for you too." Tèa smiled. "You and Mako have a lot going for each other. You both love the ocean and have a special bond with it. You guys were like made for each other." She said. Then she grimaced. "And as much as I hate to think about it. I think Joey and Mai go together pretty much to themselves. In duelist kingdom they helped each other out in a lot of ways. I think Joey really changed Mai's way of thinking. When you were with Joey it was ok, but I think Mako is a better match for you. He can support you better anyway and I'm sure you both will be happy.
I smiled and nodded. "Thanks Tèa, I know we will, and I'll miss you so much!" I said and we hugged. Then we went back to the limo and I drove us back.
I parked behind burger world. Tèa had to work that day so she went into the bathroom to change into her cute uniform. I noticed that Joey was already there and seated at one of the booths. He had on his blue and white shirt with jeans and his dog tag necklace on it. I walked up to the table and said hi to him
"Hey Joey." I said and smiled. I sat down across from him.
"How's it goin Jade?" He smiled and asked. "I scored me four locator cards! One from Espa Roba and two from our favorite annoying pal Weevil! I'm only two locator cards away from the finals!" He exclaimed. "Then Yugi and I will have the rematch of the century!"
"I'm in the tournament too now Joey, Kaiba pulled a few strings and got me a duel disk."
"Wow, Kaiba got you into the tournament? What's your rare card?" He asked me.
"Cosmo Queen and I bet that same card is going to win me a bunch of new rare cards!" I said, excitedly
"Rare card or none I'm still going to end up crushing you in the end." I heard Mai say as she came strolling in, dressed in her skin tight white shirt with the stitching up the middle, purple vest, white gloves, and short purple skirt with her high heel boots. I sighed in dismay as I saw that she was happily dragging Mako behind her.
He was dressed in black shorts with a long blue robe/vest thing, wearing sandals and of course, his wave bandana. Mai had him by the arm and was smiling in a way that made me want to vomit. "Come on we don't have all day you know." She told him and put her arm around his muscular one. "That feels soo nice you must work out a whole lot to get this buff." She said in her flattering voice. Two seconds into the restaurant and I already wanted to kill her.
"I am coming already, no need to net and reel me in!" Mako protested. If I wasn't so mad at Mai I would have laughed, Mako was being dragged by a girl half his size.
"Hello Mai…" I greeted her dryly.
"Hey Jade, nice outfit." Mai smirked. "You really have a thing for slimy wet animals don't you? Outta that seat! Muscles and I are sitting there!" She said yanking me out of the edge of the seat. I gritted my teeth and sat next to Joey as she sat in the window across from Joey, while Mako smiled at me and sat down in front of me.
"Hey Joey." Mai said, winking and grinning at him.
"Nice ta see yah Mai, yah look lovely as always." He gave her the thumbs up sign.
"How's your hand Mako?" I asked him, looking at his bandaged hand from the shark attack last night.
"It is still a bit painful, but it is feeling a bit better this day." Mako told me.
"How'd yah get dat nasty looking cut Mako?" Joey asked.
"A tiger shark, one of the denizens of the deep was about to have Jade for dinner when I gave it a good hard punch hahaha!" Mako exclaimed.
"What?! A shark attack?!" You mean like on Jaws?!" Joey cried. "Awe man, that movie's scary, don't think I'll be going to the beach anytime soon."
"Yeah, he saved just in the nick of time too, we were filming some manta rays…"
"Oh wow, how brave you are!" Mai cried, interrupting me and stroking up and down his muscled left arm. "And how strong too." She crooned. "So sexy."
"Uh…thank you" Mako said and blushed.
I'm going to kill her I swear I'm going to kill her, Mai is going to die tonight, yes she is, I'm going to kill her, or brutally maim her, either way. I thought to myself, gnashing my teeth and trying to keep my temper under control. From under the table Mako put his hand on mine and I relaxed a little… A little.
"I woulda made sushi outta that shark!" Joey cried, flexing his muscles.
"And this coming from a guy who just shouted "JAWS!" Tèa commented, bringing us the menus.
Joey pouted. "Aren't yah sposed ta be working Tèa?" He asked her.
"Yeah Tèa, your supposed to welcome us to burger world and take our order." Mai commented. Her and Joey both laughed and high fived one another.
Tèa rolled her eyes, and then smiled largely and fakely. "Welcome to burger world may I take your order?" She asked with over enthusiasm.
We gave her our orders and while we were waiting for it, I asked Joey the question. "Hey Joey, Yugi said you had something to tell me?" I asked him.
"Well uh, me and Mai got sometin ta tell yah." Joey started. Mai nodded she reached across the table and took Joey's hands in her gloved ones. "Mai, helped me out with my dad an his drinkin." Joey started to explain. "While he was drunk Mai tricked him into letting me stay with her at her apartment. Dat's where I'be been stayin for the past couple a months. I've been helping with the rent cause of my paper route and things have been really great. An, well, we just grew closa and now…" He trailed off.
"You want to get together with Mai and become her boyfriend right?" I asked him.
Joey nodded. "I'm real sorry Jade…" He started before I interrupted him again.
"Don't be sorry Joey, while you were getting closer to Mai…Well, me and Mako were getting closer too and I actually decided to go with him this time, sailing away on his boat after battle city tournament." I said, Mako and I putting our hands on each other like Mai and Joey had.
"It is true; our bond with each other has grown like the ever changing vastness of the sea." Mako added.
"This is so awesome guys it works out perfect!" Joey cried.
Mai rolled her eyes. "What's up all the ocean talk from chowder head over there?" She whispered to me.
I rolled my eyes at her, not only could Mako hear her, but…grrrr she just made me so mad! "Well Mai, there's nothing wrong with the way he talks, I think its rather romantic, but what would you know about romance, you've probably never kept a guy long enough." I retorted.
"I've probably gotten more guys than you ever had in your life." Mai hissed and smirked.
"I doubt it." I smirked right back at her.
Joey and Mako looked uneasily at each other and began moving away. But just then, Tèa came by with our food which distracted Joey and Mako. Soon they were both wolfing down their burgers, fries and cokes like there was no tomorrow.
Mai and I shrugged and ate our food, a lot more slowly then the guys did, silently making a truce with each other.
After we ate our food, Joey suggested that we go to an all open all night Karaoke place. I sweat dropped at the thought of Joey at the Karaoke. After saying goodbye to Tèa, we all headed toward my limo.
"Never have I seen such glorious artwork…" Mako said, running his hands over the back of the limo where I had painted dolphins in space with stars and planets.
I blushed and said, "Joey, Tèa, Yugi, and Tristan helped me paint it."
"Kudos to you, lets get going." Mai said dryly. We got inside the limo and I began driving, under Joey's direction. We pulled up to a place called Mike's Dance and Karaoke place. We went inside, hand in hand. Joey and Mai hand in hand, and Mako and me hand in hand, the way it should be.
We got inside and began dancing together, to the fast songs and the slow ones. I was getting a drink when I saw that Mai was walking away from Joey toward where Mako was waiting for me. I narrowed my eyes and pulled her aside. "I thought you were with Joey! What's with all the flirting your doing with Mako!!" I snarled at her.
"Chill out hun, before that was to make you jealous and away from Joey to make the news easier to break on you that he was dumping you for me. Now its just to tick you off see yah" She smiled deviously. I gritted my teeth and grew anime fangs and many anger creases on my fists and forhead.
I felt a tap on my shoulder, turned around and saw it was Joey. "Can I…have this last dance with yah?" He asked me. I realized our song had come on, and I knew what the lyrics meant to me now. I wrapped my arms around Joey's neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist. I laid my head against his shoulder, breathing in his scent; this was probably going to be the last time we would hold each other.
The song played in the background.
"I never had a dream come true
till the day that I found you
even though I pretend that I moved on
you'll always be my baby
I've never found the words to say
You're the one I think about each day
And I know no matter where life takes me too
A part of me will always be with you…"
I knew now that the lyrics did make sense and apply to me and Joey. It was about two people who were going out but are not anymore but they love each other anyway. "I'll always love you Joey, no matter where life takes us." I whispered to him.
Joey nodded. "I'll never forget what we had Jade, you still mean a lot ta me." He answered. "I'm really glad we worked it out and are still friends. As the song ended we began to part until the new song came on.
"Oh yeah! This is the song I'm singin!" Joey cried and ran up stage and took the mike in his hands.
"Oh no…" I said, covering my eyes.
"Joey grinned and began dancing wildly swinging the mike around and jerking his head back and forth singing,
"Now dis looks like a job fah me
so everybody, just follow me
cause we need a little controversy
cause it feels so empty witout meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Joey cried as Mai grabbed him by the ear and dragged him offstage.
Mako and I had meanwhile found each other and were laughing so hard. "Glad somebody got him off the stage he was making a mockery of Eminem!" I cried, still laughing my butt off.
"Are you going to sing up on stage?" Mako asked me.
I grinned and nodded. I set up the song that I wanted to sing and grabbed the mike.
I looked right at Mako and mouthed the words, "I love you" before the music started to play.
"Oh this should be good." Mai commented dryly.
"Owe owe owe!" Joey exclaimed, rubbing his throbbing red ear.
I started singing my favorite song from the Corrs.
"Go, go on Leave me breathless
(leave me breathless)
Come on
Oh yeah
The daylight's fading slowly
The time with you is standing still
I'm waiting for you only
The slightest touch and I'll believe
I cannot lie, from you I cannot hide
I'm losing the will to try
Cant hide it, cant fight it (cant fight it)
So
Don't go
Come on
Leave me breathless
Tempt me tease me
Till I can't deny this loving (loving feeling) feeling
Let me long for your kiss
Go on (go on)
Go on (go on)
Yeah
Come on
Yeah
And if there is no tomorrow
And all we have is here and now
I'm happy just to have you
You're all the love I need somehow
It's like a dream
Although I'm not asleep
I never want to wake up
Don't lose it
(don't lose it)
Don't leave it
(don't leave it)
Go on, go on
Come on leave me breathless
Tempt me, tease me
Until I cant deny this loving (loving feeling) feeling
Let me long for your kiss
Go on
(go on)
Go on
(go on)
Yeah
Come on
I'm not going to lie
From you I cannot hide
I've lost my will to try
Cant hide it, (ooh) cant fight it (ooh)
"Wow, I hate to say it…but the girl has got some voice…" I heard Mai comment as I sang to my hearts content. I kept glancing and pointing at Mako throughout the song, lost in my own performance.
After the song was over, I was surprised because the room erupted into cheers. "Was I that good?" I asked myself.
"You were not just good my siren of the seven seas!" Mako said, wrapping me into one of his bone crunching hugs. "You were magnificent." He exclaimed to me. My eyes sparkled as I smiled at him, he returned the look to me as we leaned forward closer and closer until our lips finally met. Our lips hungrily as our love and passion grew deeper. Our tongues intertwined and danced to their own rhythm and the moment seemed to last forever. What a night it had been. And as I felt Mako's warm sheltering arms around me, I knew our future together would be a happy one too.