She pushed me into the bathroom, the women's bathroom. Those bastards
outside were still searching for us, but we still had a job to do. Or at
least she, the beautiful Mai Valentine, did. I'm not exactly sure what
possessed her to come and find me, or even if it was me she was after, but,
with a feat of daring-do, she rode her motorcycle through a giant plate
glass skylight, incapacitating a few guards with the falling glass, and
using that distraction to unhook me from the chair they were keeping me on
and proceed to drag me through the corridors and dank hallways until we
reached the bathroom.
We moved away from the door, and Mai looked at me, a pleased expression on her face, but I was sure that it was because she had pulled this off with no hitches. I don't know how stupid I must've been, or how those people managed to sneak up on me and knock me out with chloroform. But I remember, hearing something that those crazy people talked about when they thought I was unconscious. Something about Yugi and him not being able to stop them as long as I was a prisoner.
"Did Yugi send you?" I asked her, dusting glass shards off of my coat, or rather, Tristan's coat. We were supposed to dress nice for this tournament, but my father wasn't really my size, nor did he own anything nice, so I had to borrow his.
"No, he told me what happened." She replied. "It was right up my alley." She said with a dorky smile that I would have expected to be plastered on my face. I placed my ear against the door and didn't here anyone outside, but Mai pulled me away.
"We're not going to move yet." She said, taking off her leather jacket, the one that she wore when she rode her motorcycle. I didn't notice it before, but she had a wound on her right shoulder, and it looked like crap.
"Damn." She noticed, taking a paper towel and applying it to the wound to stop it from bleeding.
"You...bleed too." I said absently.
"I'm not invincible, when did I ever say I was." She said, looking at me through the mirror.
"Coulda...fooled me." I said.
"Joey, I'm human, like you and like everyone else in this world. We all bleed, some of us are just better at hiding our wounds." She said. A true statement, and one that applied to her well. In all the time I'd known her, I'd never known Mai to willingly so anyone her wounds. I'd seen her wounded once, at Battle City, and that wasn't her fault at all.
"What about you, are you hurt at all?" She asked. I shook my head.
"Maybe a few bruises from when they decided to play punching bag, but nothing bleeding." I said. Mai seemed to enjoy hearing that, whether that I wasn't hurt or whether that I was a punching bag I couldn't tell. The wound had stopped bleeding, but Mai kept looking in the mirror.
"Ummm...Mai, you're pretty enough, you're not looking for wrinkles now, are ya?" I joked. She had seemed a bit gloomy, and I wanted to make her feel better.
"Shut up, Joey." Mai said. Why was she looking in the mirror? I wondered, but at that very moment, looking in the mirror, I thought I saw her cry. Why was she so upset?
"Let's go." Mai said. She must have noticed me looking in the mirror, and decided that it was time to go.
She lead the way through the dimly lit corridors. I was at first worried. These people were able to sneak up on the great Joey Wheeler and knock him out, they weren't second-rate. But Mai, with the elusiveness and sneak of a professional burglar, dodged and twisted, and we kept on moving.
When we reached the outside, the sight made my heart nearly stop. There was a car not too far away from us, and I could see the keys in the ignition. But there were guards and searchlights everywhere. I was really afraid, not for me, but for Mai. If they found out about her, I shuddered to think of what would happen.
Mai dodged between boxes, and then motioned for me to follow her. I was scared to death, what if that searchlight came back and found me, or someone saw our footprints.
But then I realized, at that very moment, that I would have followed Mai anywhere.
Trying to act like her, I moved as silently as I could, difficult in Tristan's fancy shoes that were two sizes too big. However, I made it to her.
"Don't hesitate." She said, grabbing my hand. We ran together towards the jeep, slipping in the snow only once. She turned the ignition in the jeep and started driving away.
"We've got company." I said as I looked in the rear view mirror. Once I said this, I wondered why I wasn't stricken with panic. We were in a jeep that didn't have a top to it, and there were three of them.
"Take the wheel." Mai ordered, as she stood up on the seat of the car. I hastily grabbed the wheel and pressed my foot to the pedal, going faster. Mai stood up, a gun in her hand, she was shooting at them, shooting the tires of the enemy jeeps to prevent them from going.
"Mai, this may not be the best time to say this, but I really don't know how to drive." I muttered, now seized with panic.
"Just focus on what's in front." She said, not looking at me. "I won't be long."
"Well, it's what's in front that worries me, it's a dead end up front!"
"What?" Mai shouted, shooting the last enemy. She hastily grabbed the wheel, but there was not enough time to prevent us from sailing off the cliff.
When I awoke, I was lying in a room. Yugi's face was towering over me.
"You're alright, thank God." Tea's voice sounded from off to the side.
"Yeah, I feel...Mai! Where is Mai!" I shouted, sitting up quickly. I was strapped to hospital equipment that I hastily tried to pull off.
"Mai...wasn't here." Yugi said. She took you to my house, bandaged you up, and left."
"She what?"
"She said something about not wanting to see you hurt, she says that always happens when you two are around each other. So she handed you to me, and then left." Yugi held out a sealed letter that was addressed to him.
Joseph,
When you read this, I'll be gone. I enjoyed helping you, but I can't afford to see you hurt anymore. Don't look for me; it will be better for the both of us.
Always,
Mai
I read the letter and started weeping. Tea and Yugi left the room and now Tristan was there. I wanted to see him, my best friend for years. I showed him the letter.
"When she rescued me, she was...crying." I admitted to him.
"Was she?" Tristan asked.
"Yeah. I...I don't want to see her cry. I want to take all her tears away!" I shouted, upset at the piece of paper in my hands that still smelled vaguely of her.
"Don't worry, you will...one day." Tristan said. He left the room soon after, taking back his jacket and shoes and throwing some of my things on the desk.
I wasn't ready to be checked out of the hospital the next day, but I was sick of sitting around. The letter that Mai had written was actually on stationary that bore the name of a famous hotel in America, and I was going to go there. I told Yugi and Tristan about it, and Tristan encouraged me to go for it. Yugi was a bit reluctant, worrying more for my and her safety, but I knew he wanted me to find her just as much. I smiled, and got on the plane, Tristan comforting my weeping mother, Yugi looking to comfort Serenity, but she would have none of it as she looked proudly at me.
The interior of my heart is blue like the sky
And I don't know where this path will lead me.
But as I place the power of my heart in my mind
I am sure that nothing will stop me.
I don't know where you are, or what you're doing.
But I promise you that I will find you.
Someday, somehow, somewhere, I'm sure.
My...Mai
We moved away from the door, and Mai looked at me, a pleased expression on her face, but I was sure that it was because she had pulled this off with no hitches. I don't know how stupid I must've been, or how those people managed to sneak up on me and knock me out with chloroform. But I remember, hearing something that those crazy people talked about when they thought I was unconscious. Something about Yugi and him not being able to stop them as long as I was a prisoner.
"Did Yugi send you?" I asked her, dusting glass shards off of my coat, or rather, Tristan's coat. We were supposed to dress nice for this tournament, but my father wasn't really my size, nor did he own anything nice, so I had to borrow his.
"No, he told me what happened." She replied. "It was right up my alley." She said with a dorky smile that I would have expected to be plastered on my face. I placed my ear against the door and didn't here anyone outside, but Mai pulled me away.
"We're not going to move yet." She said, taking off her leather jacket, the one that she wore when she rode her motorcycle. I didn't notice it before, but she had a wound on her right shoulder, and it looked like crap.
"Damn." She noticed, taking a paper towel and applying it to the wound to stop it from bleeding.
"You...bleed too." I said absently.
"I'm not invincible, when did I ever say I was." She said, looking at me through the mirror.
"Coulda...fooled me." I said.
"Joey, I'm human, like you and like everyone else in this world. We all bleed, some of us are just better at hiding our wounds." She said. A true statement, and one that applied to her well. In all the time I'd known her, I'd never known Mai to willingly so anyone her wounds. I'd seen her wounded once, at Battle City, and that wasn't her fault at all.
"What about you, are you hurt at all?" She asked. I shook my head.
"Maybe a few bruises from when they decided to play punching bag, but nothing bleeding." I said. Mai seemed to enjoy hearing that, whether that I wasn't hurt or whether that I was a punching bag I couldn't tell. The wound had stopped bleeding, but Mai kept looking in the mirror.
"Ummm...Mai, you're pretty enough, you're not looking for wrinkles now, are ya?" I joked. She had seemed a bit gloomy, and I wanted to make her feel better.
"Shut up, Joey." Mai said. Why was she looking in the mirror? I wondered, but at that very moment, looking in the mirror, I thought I saw her cry. Why was she so upset?
"Let's go." Mai said. She must have noticed me looking in the mirror, and decided that it was time to go.
She lead the way through the dimly lit corridors. I was at first worried. These people were able to sneak up on the great Joey Wheeler and knock him out, they weren't second-rate. But Mai, with the elusiveness and sneak of a professional burglar, dodged and twisted, and we kept on moving.
When we reached the outside, the sight made my heart nearly stop. There was a car not too far away from us, and I could see the keys in the ignition. But there were guards and searchlights everywhere. I was really afraid, not for me, but for Mai. If they found out about her, I shuddered to think of what would happen.
Mai dodged between boxes, and then motioned for me to follow her. I was scared to death, what if that searchlight came back and found me, or someone saw our footprints.
But then I realized, at that very moment, that I would have followed Mai anywhere.
Trying to act like her, I moved as silently as I could, difficult in Tristan's fancy shoes that were two sizes too big. However, I made it to her.
"Don't hesitate." She said, grabbing my hand. We ran together towards the jeep, slipping in the snow only once. She turned the ignition in the jeep and started driving away.
"We've got company." I said as I looked in the rear view mirror. Once I said this, I wondered why I wasn't stricken with panic. We were in a jeep that didn't have a top to it, and there were three of them.
"Take the wheel." Mai ordered, as she stood up on the seat of the car. I hastily grabbed the wheel and pressed my foot to the pedal, going faster. Mai stood up, a gun in her hand, she was shooting at them, shooting the tires of the enemy jeeps to prevent them from going.
"Mai, this may not be the best time to say this, but I really don't know how to drive." I muttered, now seized with panic.
"Just focus on what's in front." She said, not looking at me. "I won't be long."
"Well, it's what's in front that worries me, it's a dead end up front!"
"What?" Mai shouted, shooting the last enemy. She hastily grabbed the wheel, but there was not enough time to prevent us from sailing off the cliff.
When I awoke, I was lying in a room. Yugi's face was towering over me.
"You're alright, thank God." Tea's voice sounded from off to the side.
"Yeah, I feel...Mai! Where is Mai!" I shouted, sitting up quickly. I was strapped to hospital equipment that I hastily tried to pull off.
"Mai...wasn't here." Yugi said. She took you to my house, bandaged you up, and left."
"She what?"
"She said something about not wanting to see you hurt, she says that always happens when you two are around each other. So she handed you to me, and then left." Yugi held out a sealed letter that was addressed to him.
Joseph,
When you read this, I'll be gone. I enjoyed helping you, but I can't afford to see you hurt anymore. Don't look for me; it will be better for the both of us.
Always,
Mai
I read the letter and started weeping. Tea and Yugi left the room and now Tristan was there. I wanted to see him, my best friend for years. I showed him the letter.
"When she rescued me, she was...crying." I admitted to him.
"Was she?" Tristan asked.
"Yeah. I...I don't want to see her cry. I want to take all her tears away!" I shouted, upset at the piece of paper in my hands that still smelled vaguely of her.
"Don't worry, you will...one day." Tristan said. He left the room soon after, taking back his jacket and shoes and throwing some of my things on the desk.
I wasn't ready to be checked out of the hospital the next day, but I was sick of sitting around. The letter that Mai had written was actually on stationary that bore the name of a famous hotel in America, and I was going to go there. I told Yugi and Tristan about it, and Tristan encouraged me to go for it. Yugi was a bit reluctant, worrying more for my and her safety, but I knew he wanted me to find her just as much. I smiled, and got on the plane, Tristan comforting my weeping mother, Yugi looking to comfort Serenity, but she would have none of it as she looked proudly at me.
The interior of my heart is blue like the sky
And I don't know where this path will lead me.
But as I place the power of my heart in my mind
I am sure that nothing will stop me.
I don't know where you are, or what you're doing.
But I promise you that I will find you.
Someday, somehow, somewhere, I'm sure.
My...Mai