Silver Angel: Not really too much to say in the author's notes this time around. I would like to apologize to any of you who thought that the last chapter was a bit short. It seemed a good place to end it, and I didn't really think I could add more without breaking down the meaning of some of the things I had already written.

Yugi: Humph! I still think you should have written about me.

Silver: Yes, Yugi has been complaining non-stop for the past two chapters. I think I should muse-ify Yami to keep him under control.

Yugi: Keep me under control?!!

Silver: Anyways, this next chapter is going to have Yugi in it. I'll also include Serena, because she wasn't actively in my last chapter as well. Also, due to popular demand, and the fact that I think it is a good plot development, Serena will be entering Battle City. I have made up a bunch of cards for her to use, considering I don't know too many of the real cards.

Now before I blather on forever, I will start the next chapter and stop boring you. ^_^



Chapter 8: Embrace the Elements

Serena had woken up early that morning, finding herself curled up on the balcony with her arms around Yami. Thankfully, he was still sleeping. Even so, she had found herself blushing a bright red; she who had all but forced herself to forget what emotions meant.

"Why do I feel this way?" She asked herself as she sat inside gazing blankly into space. "I don't love him; I can't! Darien was my soul mate, and he died in the fight against Chaos!" Pain engulfed her heart, as for what seemed like the millionth time, she found herself reliving that awful fight. The one she and the scouts had deemed 'the Last Battle'.

'We all thought that it would be the end to our struggles. That we could finally have peace; true peace(1). Crystal Tokyo was supposed to come around, and I would have Rini.' Her thoughts trailed off as she bitterly regarded the prospect of that ever happening. Rini - her child - had died, and would never even exist now because of her. Because she had been too slow, too weak! She was pathetic!





Hold fast to dreams



For if dreams die



Life is a broken-winged bird



That cannot fly(2)



A favorite poem she had studied as a teenager floated through her head. She had never been good in any subject, but this one had always stuck in her head. For her, it had truly epitomized her beliefs. Without dreams, what cause had she to fight? And protecting her friends, and all the people on the Earth: that had been her dreams.

Now.well her life had become in a way, a broken-winged bird; or at least, it had one broken wing. While there were still people in the universe; innocents or otherwise, she would seek to help them. She would strive to protect them, the way she hadn't been able to protect her friends. But half of her dream was gone. Her friends lost forever.

Looking down at her hands, she saw herself clutching tightly at the cards she had asked Pegasus to make for her when they had first come to his office. A regular sized normal deck, with ten strong one-of-a-kind cards inside.

Another fragment of Chaos was coming, she knew. Her connection to the Gates of Time through Pluto allowed her to sometimes have visions of the past, present, and future. This was one of those time. During the night she had for some reason felt the flow of time grow stronger through her, creating a dream - or vision as may be - while she slept.

A person, giving off a strong aura of Chaos with Platinum hair and Lilac colored eyes that reminded her of Hotaru. Laughing cruelly and stabbing Yami.she shuddered at that image, for she had grown fond of spirit who was so much like her. In the background she had seen a poster for a Duelist tournament called Battle City, and overshadowing Yami and the other, three figures with drastically different auras.

All gave off a feeling of strength, though one seemed covered in darkness, and exuded suffering and torment. Another, wrapped in gold light had warmth and justice. The third was glowing a misty blue, and reminded her of Amara, in that there was a feeling of the sky to it. The different lights enveloping each figure stopped her from seeing there true form, however she knew that they would figure strongly in the coming conflict, however it might turn out.

Pulling herself away from the memory of the vision, she examined the nine special cards. Pegasus had done a good job with their likenesses; following exactly from the pictures she had told him to read from her mind. They all looked like normal duel monsters cards, except for the different color border around the edge of each, and the fact that she knew they were all special editions.

The first had a pale blue border around the edge, and the figure on it was that of a blue haired girl in an ice-blue gown, holding a harp that seemed to be made of water frozen in its likeness. It was labeled as the Shaman of Ice. Ami. The next had a border of red, the figure a girl with raven hair in similar dress of red with a bow and arrow made of fire. Priestess of Fire, it was called; and it represented Rae.

Each card represented one of her senshi, wearing the same dresses, except in their own special color, with a similarly colored border. The Goddess of Love, Mina; the Amazon of Lightning, Lita. She also had cards for the Outers: Hotaru, who's card was the Sovereign of Silence; Amara, the Warrior of the Sky; Michelle, the Enchantress of the Sea, and Pluto the Guardian of Time.

Finally, she had had two very special cards made for Darien, and Rini, which were the Moon Princess (a title would have passed to Rini if she'd survived, after Serena had become Cosmos) a card with a pale pink border, depicting Rini in her princess dress, the golden crescent symbol on her forehead; and the Earth Knight, which showed Darien in his full Prince armor.

Each of her senshi had their own card, and Darien too. Just as each of them held a place in her heart that could never be filled - not in all the Millennia she would live. Yami had mentioned the previous night something he called 'the heart of the cards'. To her, this was what it represented. She would duel with her friends in mind. Though she could never see them again, she would still fight for them, and for all the others who depended on her to stop Chaos.

The door to the balcony creaked open, and she found herself turning to look at Yami. He was so much like her. He too had lost the world he had grown up in, and his duty to those he cared about overwhelmed all else. For the first time that morning she smiled. She had found a kindred spirit in him. Perhaps she wasn't quite as alone as she thought?

"Come," she told the spirit, who was, in essence, older than she was. "Sit down Yami. I want to show you the deck I had Pegasus make for me to enter the duel that will be coming."





It had been a long, sleepless night for Yugi. One filled with tossing and turning, his mind dashing full tilt through all that had happened that day. That day: It was such a simple term for what could more accurately be called the most horrifyingly awful soul-rending day of his life. It had been soul rending; both in literal terms when his soul had been sundered from Yami's; and in terms of the heart, which had caused his lack of sleep that night.

'I never truly knew what it was like to feel completely alone before now,' he thought. 'Even when I was younger, before I received the puzzle and met Yami, I was not alone. I still have Joey and the others who were my friends before, but it's not the same. I hadn't found the other half of my soul, so I didn't know what I was missing. Now I do; and it hurts."

The details of the battle flashed before his eyes. Yami taking over and summoning the dark magician, shouting at Bakura, and the final attack which had reflected at him and separated them completely. 'Why did he have to do that?' Yugi wondered, the what ifs constantly plaguing his mind with new possibilities. 'If he hadn't tried to separate Bakura, then none of this would have happened.'

His thoughts continued to whirl in the same pattern for a while, before logic finally began creeping up on him and smothering the pity and denial. Though he was by no means feeling better, he at least had managed to calm himself to the point where he could think clearly.

'Yami's still here' he told himself emphatically, trying to ignore the tiny voice that answered 'but he's not with you any more is he Yugi'. Strangely enough - or perhaps not so strangely after all, the voice with all the negative comments seemed to be Kaiba's. It seemed as if even when they weren't direct enemies and he was all alone, that still Seto would find a way to try and bring him down.

'Well I may have a reason to be upset,' he decided. 'But that doesn't mean I have to sit here all day and feel sorry for myself. I could be worse off.' An unbidden thought came to mind of Serena, who had lost all of her friends forever; and then one of Pegasus, whose love of his wife drove into the arms of Chaos. 'I shouldn't dwell on things like that, if only because it won't really help. At least I still have Yami.'

Determined to stop sitting around, he pushed himself up and went to find Serena. 'Maybe there will be something she can do to help.'





Explanations were perhaps the most difficult things he had ever done, Bakura mused as he tried to tell his other half - who said his name was Kage - exactly what had happed. It had been about two hours since he had met his 'twin', and all of it had been spent trying to tell his Yami - Kage, he reminded himself - what had happened, and to receive his own answers.

He had figured out pretty quickly that receiving answers wouldn't be easy, if not darn near impossible. Kage, it seemed, had no memory at all of his attempts at 'world domination'. The few recollections he did have were of ancient Egypt, and even those were extremely vague.

'It's strange seeing him like this,' Bakura decided. What little he had known before of Kage, was an impression of evil and Chaos. Before Serena had purged his soul of the corruption he had looked cruel even in sleep. 'But he's so innocent now. Even if he was evil before, he isn't any more. I don't even think it was his fault that he became evil in the first place. If his character now is any judge, I doubt he would invite evil into his soul.'

As the two talked, he managed to glean small bits of information from Kage. That he had grown up in Ancient Egypt was obvious. He had also been born into the lower class, though not a slave. Little more information could be gained from him however, and Bakura decided that it was probably high time he introduced his new found other half to Serena.

'Perhaps she will have some answers for us.'



They were all together now. Yami glanced at the people who filled the largest room of what made up Pegasus' offices. Serena sat down on one of the dark brown leather couches next to him, with Yugi on his other side.

Though the relationship between them was.somewhat uncomfortable, due to recent events, he wouldn't have tried to stay away from Yugi ever. They were like brothers - closer really because of the soul bond they had shared, and still shared to a certain degree.

Sharing a particularly large comfy looking chair, were Bakura and his Yami. Yami didn't seem appropriate in his case though, as he seemed almost as innocent as Bakura. 'It must have something to do with the healing Serena told me she had done last night; the one that made her look so tired just before she found me.' He thought.

Pegasus was sitting behind his chair; his (now normal) slightly sad look on his face, though it was carefully disguised as concern over their current situation.

Lastly, Tea, Tristan, and Joey had come in just before their meeting had started. All seemed in good spirits, thought they seemed worried about Yugi and his reaction to what had happened yesterday. As soon as they had arrived, they had commenced with asking him how he was doing, and if he needed anything.

Serena cleared her throat, and Yami tensed as she prepared to explain their upcoming course of action. He new what would be coming, but her was curious about how the others would react.

"Have any of you heard of Battle City?"



Silver Angel: And there you have it folks! Chapter 8 is out. I have to say that I am proud of it, and I managed to write the whole thing in one day (minus some procrastinating), and the fact that I don't think it turned out all bad.

Yugi: Yeah! And I finally got to be in a chapter again!

Silver: Well, I guess I've pleased Yugi then too. Anyways minna, I hope that you like it. I tried my best to put in a little bit of character development here without making it too boring. I'm sorry if there wasn't much action again, but I thought there should be a bit of a break in the tension before I brought out Malik for real, and his sister Isis.

I would like to make a small note here, saying that for anyone out there who writes fan fiction, a great resource to check out is the columns that are on the home page of ff.net. They have some great advice regarding characterization, research, and how to avoid the dreaded Mary Sues!

Regarding notes:

This was paraphrased from the final episode of Sailor Moon season 1 (called 'Day of Destiny' in the DIC dubbed version). She said something like this just after she defeated Queen Beryl.

This is the first paragraph of a poem called 'Dreams' by Langston Hughes.

Because I forgot to mention it at the beginning, and may do so in later chapters, I would like to point out to the rabid lawyers, that I don't, and never will own Sailor Moon, Yu-Gi-Oh, or any other previously created stories, their characters and situations. So there! ^_^;

4) Nothing else to say, except Read and Review! ^_^