Rowan: Been awhile, hasn't it?

Sakura: It's been two weeks.

Rowan: Well, that's awhile!

Sakura: Yeah, yeah, whatever.

Rowan: Anyway, no I don't own YGO! and now, on to the thank yous!

xoxLuvHieixox: Thanks!  I love the F&D part too!  Adds intrigue, don't it?

sapphire-wolf1: Domestic?  Not sure what you mean by that, but okay!

yuumei: Good guess!  But I'm not telling until the end!

            Jou: Ain't that a bummer?

Seto no Jou Sueshijuu: Don't worry, you're allowed to guess!  Thanks for the compliment!

ColeyCarissa: Me too!

Blood Roses 1: Read Seto no Jou Sueshijuu's review.  It'll help you figure out what Kismet means.  And I only updated really soon b/c I had the chapters written and was going to an amusement park the next day.  I didn't know the next time I'd be able to update, so I did then.  And see?  This update took much longer to come out!

Aryll: Thanks! 

Former Sakura Li: Sorry, forgot how to spell your other name!  I really liked that "I. Will. Hunt. You. Down." part as well.  It seemed fitting that Jou's monster would be like that though.  After all, Jou has always taken the utmost care of his dragon and all, so I figured it would be appropriate.  Also, I plan on making that warning come back in later chapters.

Life's Little Treasures

Jou snuggled deeper into the blankets as his dream about Kar faded and was replaced by nightmares. 

~*~*~&~*~*~

Jou was back at Duelist Kingdom.  He was at the finals, in Pegasus's castle.  Across the dueling arena, smug and self-assured, stood that loathsome American duelist, Bandit Keith.  Pegasus's butler, Croquet spoke.  "Present your entry card for the duel to begin."

Keith lazily flashed his card at the servant.  Jou frantically went through all the pockets in his coat.  "I-I can't find it!  I must have left it in my room!"

"You have five minutes to find it," Croquet warned.

Jou sped through the castle to his chamber, where he turned the room upside down looking for the entry card.  "Four minutes."

Jou gave up and went running back to the main hall.

"Three minutes."

Jou took a wrong turn and found himself lost in a maze.

"Two minutes." 

Jou finally found the right way back to the duel, but to what end?  He was going to have to forfeit the duel anyway.

"One minute."

Jou sank to the floor in defeat.  "I've lost," he whispered in despair.

"Time up!  The duel automatically goes to Bandit Keith!"

Jou sobbed in anguish, the realization that he had failed Shizuka bearing down on his mind.

~*~*~&~*~*~

The dream faded away, and Jou was now sitting at home, waiting for his drunken father to return.  The front door banged open and he staggered in.  "You!  Boy!" he shouted.

Jou stood up shakily.  "Yes sir?"

"Get me somethin' t' drink," he ordered.

Jou went into the kitchen and poured him a glass of water.  Then he went to the intoxicated man and gave the cup to him.

"Wha' 's thi'?  I dun wan' n' watah," he said angrily, slurring his words.  "Ge' m' som' vodka."

Jou went over to the cabinet where the alcoholic beverages were kept.  Right above it was his father's pride, his baseball bat.  On a whim, Jou took the bat down, then brought the vodka to his father.

Before Jou knew what he was doing, he brought the wooden stick on his father's head, smashing into his skull.  Blood splattered everywhere, and the drunken man sank to the floor, unconscious. 

Jou stood over the body, trembling violently.  He glanced down at the bat he still had clutched in his grip.  "No," he whispered.  "No, I couldn't have-I didn't.  No!"  He shook his head in disbelief as a pool of red flowed between his feet.  "Please God, no!" he begged.

~*~*~&~*~*~

Jou clutched onto the nearest thing around, which happened to be Seto.  He whimpered very much like a dog, his eyes still closed, and his mind still in the midst of his nightmare.  He hugged Seto to him, waking the other up.

Seto glanced down on the mop of blonde pressed against his chest.  On closer inspection, he found it to be Jou's head, eyes scrunched shut and tears falling down his face.  He shook the teen, hoping to wake him up, but to no avail.  But just as Seto was about to give up, Kismet, still in her crib, gave one, long, plaintive cry, which woke Jou up instantly.

"Eh?  What's that?" he asked groggily.

Seto patted Jou's head softly.  "Are you alright Jou?  You were whimpering in your sleep, puppy."

Jou wrinkled his nose at the brunette.  "I'm not a puppy."

"Well, you sounded like one.  What's the matter?  Did you have a bad dream?"

Jou nodded his head as the memories of what had happened while he was sleeping seeped back into his memory.  "Yeah, it was.  Thanks for waking me up."

Seto shook his head.  "It wasn't me.  Thank Kismet."

Jou looked to where they had last seen Kismet, which had been right between them, and gasped.  "Where is she?  Where's Kismet?"

Jou and Seto both leaped out of the bed and searched frantically for the infant.  Seto found her sleeping soundly in her cradle.  "That's odd," he remarked.  "How'd she get here?"

Jou shrugged.  "Maybe she walked."

Seto rolled his eyes.  "If she can barely talk, how do you expect her to climb out of bed, toddle all the way over here, and climb into the crib?"

Jou smiled.  "Did you just say 'toddle'?"

"Yeah, so?"

Jou stifled his laughter.  "Sounds funny, coming from you", he replied.

"Oh yeah?  Well, hope you find this funny as well!" Seto retorted before bonking Jou on the head with a pillow.

"Oh, so that's how it is, is it?  Well, take this!" Jou retaliated by hitting Seto in the stomach with the other pillow.  Soon, an all-out pillow fight was underway, with feathers flying and silent laughter.  But the battle soon ended when Jou threw his pillow at Seto, who quickly picked it up and left Jou empty-handed. 

"Ha!  I won, so there!"

"You may have won the battle, but I'll win the war!" Jou said back.

"Yeah, well, can we postpone the war for later?  I'm tired."  And to prove it, Seto let out a very big yawn, stretching his mouth open like a large lion.

"Me too," Jou acquiesced.  "What are we going to do with Kismet?"

Seto looked down on the little baby blonde.  "Let's leave her there for the rest of the night.  She seems happy."

"Alright then.  I'll be getting back to my room now," Jou said.  He leaned down and gave Kismet a peck on the cheek.  "See you in the morning Kismet.  You too, Seto."

"Night Jou."

~*~&~*~

The next morning Jou came down into the dining room to find everyone crowded around something on the table.  "What's going on guys?" Jou asked, bewildered.

Seto looked over to the blonde.  "F&D paid us a visit last night, Jou.  And they left us a little note."  Seto handed the piece of paper to Jou. 

Dear Jou and Seto,

Thank you for taking care of our baby for the past few days.  You're doing an excellent job and we know that we were right when we chose you to be her permanent guardians.  A few things you should know about Kismet is:

1) Her birthday is January 1st, 2007.  We'll be leaving you her birth certificate soon.

2) Her social security number is 221-776-222.

3) Her mom and dad are watching you, so don't foul up!

If you wish to contact us, just speak with your guardians and they will deliver your message.

Ciao!

F&D

 "Interesting," Jou said after he read the letter.

"What does it mean, 'speak with your guardians'?" Yuugi asked.

"I think they mean our dragons", Seto and Jou said at the same time.  They smiled at each other.

"'Your dragons'?  You mean the Blue Eyes White Dragon and Red Eyes Black Dragon?" questioned Mai.

"Yup!"

"Yes, exactly."

"But how would that work?  After all, they're only cards," Honda remarked.

Jou and Yuugi looked stunned.  "What about the heart of the cards?  It's like their souls!  I thought you knew that Honda!" Yuugi said, shocked.

"Oh, right.  I musta forgot."

"Forgot!" Yuugi looked rather faint that one of his friends could have forgotten about the heart of the cards, but Jou noticed that Honda had other things on his mind.

"Say, guys!  It's Thanksgiving today!" Mokuba said to fill the silence.

"That's right!  And it's eleven o'clock already!  We had better get started on the turkey!" Seto added.

"'We'?" Mai quoted. (Gosh Mai's quoting a lot!) "You know how to cook?"

Seto nodded proudly.  "Yes in fact I do!"

Jou smiled as he remembered what Seto had told him about home economics in junior high, but also remembered not to mention it.  Instead, he said, "Well, let's get cookin'!"

Everyone marched into the kitchen and got to work, as the servants had the weekend off.  Honda and Mai, as neither were at all skilled in the culinary arts, put the silverware and china out on the table.  As they did, they talked.

"Honda, I've noticed you haven't been very social today.  Something bothering you?"

"Yes as a matter of fact there is.  Last night, I woke up feeling really parched, so I got up to get a drink from the kitchen.  As I passed Kaiba's bedroom door, I heard noises.  But I didn't pay much heed to it then.  But when I was returning to my room, I saw Jou leaving Kaiba's room!  and his hair was all tousled like and he seemed rather out of breath.  And I figured that they musta been up to something in there!  What I don't know, but I can guess!"

Mai blinked.  "So you think they were…"

"Yes!  And I don't know what to say to Jou or how to approach him about it!"

"Don't worry, I'll ask him for you Honda."

"Really Mai?  Thanks a bunch!"

~*~&~*~

Mai entered the kitchen and easily dodged the very busy cooks.  She sidled up next to Jou, who was making the gravy and whispered in his ear, "Can I speak with you for a moment?  It's rather important."

Jou looked into Mai's imploring amethyst eyes and nodded.  They navigated around Mokuba, Yuugi, and Seto and went into the living room.  Mai sat down on the couch and gestured for Jou to do the same.

"Jou, umm, you remember that confession you made to me yesterday?"

"Yeah…"

"And you remember what I asked you at the dance club?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, I think you're lying to me!  I think you do like someone but are too afraid to tell!"

"What?  What are you talkin' about Mai?"

"I think you and Kaiba are secretly dating and you won't tell me!"

"Me and- Are you outta your mind?  There's no way we'd ever!"

"Well then what were those noises I heard last night!"

Jou paled.  "What noises?"

"I don't know!  Noises!  And then I saw you come out of Kaiba's room!  And your hair was all messed up and  you were really flushed and-"

"Oh, those noises!  Me and Seto were having a pillow fight!"

Mai blinked in surprise.  "A pillow fight?"

"Yeah!  That musta been what you heard!"

"Well, why were you having a pillow fight?"

"He called me a puppy!" Jou said loudly.

"Oh…and why'd he do that?"

"He said I was whimpering in my sleep!"

Mai grinned craftily.  "And how did he hear you whimpering?"

"Well, I was asleep and I had a nightmare and my crying musta woke him up!"

"He could hear you from across the hallway?"

"No, don't be silly!  I was right next to him!"

Mai leaped up, eyes victorious.  "Hah!  Knew it!  You are sleeping with him!"

Jou looked up, panicked.  "Not like that Mai!  It's because of Kismet!  She won't sleep unless we're both there!"

"Then why did you return to your room in the middle of the night?"

"Because she was sleeping fine in her crib and didn't need us anymore!"

Mai snickered.  "Admit it!  You like him!  Or else why would you even consider sleeping in the same bed with him?"

"I like him as a friend, that's it!"

"I don't think so," Mai taunted in a sing-song voice.

"Alright, alright, I might like him a little-"

"'A little'?"

"Alright, so I like him a lot!  So what?  He's never gonna like me that way, so what's the use?"

Mai grinned triumphantly.  "Knew it!  I knew it!  You like Kaiba and I got you to admit it!  Yippee!"

"Mai, not so loud!  He might hear you!"

Mai sighed.  "Alright, alright.  I'll quiet down."

Jou breathed in relief.  "Mai, you have to promise you won't tell."

"I promise."

"Swear it," Jou demanded, not trusting Mai's sugar-sweet voice.

"Swear on what?"

"On-on-on your Harpy Lady!"

"Fine.  I swear on my Harpy Lady that I'll never tell a soul that you like Kaiba."

"Good!  Now, I've gotta get back to the gravy!"

Honda quickly scurried away from the wall where he had been eavesdropping and hurried into another room, where he reflected on the conversation he had just heard.  'So, Jou really likes Kaiba?  But last night they weren't doing anything much.  I wonder how Kaiba feels about Jou.  Oh, if only I didn't have to go back to college on Monday!  I could pursue this all I wanted!'  Honda pressed his head to the wall.  He stood like that for a few minutes when the doorbell rang.  He heard feet hurry to the front door, and soon after, voices.

"Hi Shizuka!  Hello Mom!"

Honda's head flew off the wall and he smiled broadly.  'That's it!  Shizuka!'

~*~&~*~&~*~

I decided to leave that chapter there.  Next chapter is Thanksgiving dinner!  Oh, and BTW, if you think this fic is almost done, you're wrong.  Jou and Seto will go through about three more holidays before they get together, so this fic'll be going on for a while!  Also, I changed my mind.  This fic will take place in America instead of Japan, so anything American is okay.  Not very important, I know, but whatever!

'Roses are red

Violets are blue,

This story is nothing

Without a review from you!'