Ryou: *dryly* Ra spare us.
WSJ: Heh, so you've decided to come back, have you?
Ryou: Not by choice, I assure you.
WSJ: *amused* Is that a Kawari-ism? You've been hanging around the Negatives too long, Ryou-boy.
Ryou: Really now? *sips coffee*
WSJ: *rolls eyes and pokes Bakura* Do disclaimer so we can get on with this.
Bakura: WSJ does not own YGO in any way, shape, or form. Nor does she own Johnny Depp, who she's probably butchered, because she knows absolutely nothing about him. Amoura, Lisa, and Amoura's family belong to Brood Mayran. Sekil and his siblings belong to Ebony Kuroneko. And, Ra help them, Jona and various other OCs belong to WSJ.
WSJ: Kat-chan, Rosie-chan, and I went to see the YGO movie a few days ago. ^o^ *hugs her Sorcerer of Dark Magic card and puts him in a handy protective dust sleeve* It was so awesome! XD The plot was something from a lame fanfic, but it was funny as all get out! We spent the entire time arguing about who was hotter and falling out of our chairs laughing. I think the only reason we didn't get kicked out was because there was a group of ten-year-old boys in front of us being noisier than we were. *smirk* Basically, we MSTed the movie. I got a ton of good quotes. Most of them will probably show up eventually on my "quote of the chapter". In fact, this chapter's quote is from our movie viewing. ^^ So enjoy!
Ryou: Can we get on with this already?
WSJ: Sure, sure. Off we go!
Ryou & Bakura: *dryly* Yay.
*grin* Teppic and Ptraci, from the book Ryou was reading last chapter, are from Pyramids, by Terry Pratchett. A lot of you guessed right! ^^ Good for you!
Whew! I can see I have some of you confused! ^^ Okay then, I'll attempt to explain. Anjil, Angeline, and Fate are not the same person. Fate is a goddess. She is and always will be. She was created (or "born", I suppose) at the beginning of time, and will not die until all the worlds end. She created the Millennium Ring, and lived in Egypt because of her connection to it. Anjil was a slave girl born in Egypt, who fell in love with and married Bekhura. Fate had various run-ins with Anjil and Bekhura, because he held the Ring. Bekhura was sealed into the Ring, and eventually Anjil died. The Elementals, including Fate, left earth and built a fortress in the Shadow Realm, where they stayed for the next several thousand years. Anjil was reborn as Angeline, the woman who was supposed to be Ryou's mother. But Angeline was killed in an accident when she was only ten. Time can see the future, and he knew that Angeline was supposed to give birth to Ryou. So he told Fate she had to become a mortal in order for something important to happen. Fate became a mortal, fell in love, and married Shen Bakura. She gave birth to Ryou and Amane, and then faked her own death so she could go back to being a goddess and get on with her duties. Of course, she made sure Ryou got her Ring, and continued to watch over him. Meanwhile, Anjil's been hanging out in Purgatory. There now. Does that make sense?
()()()()()
Home Sweet Home
Chapter 16 - Let's All Play Faire
"Tell me, if the villain is a vengeful mage from Egypt, then why is Yami Bakura-kun not around?"
~(Me, moaning over the lack of white-haired hotties in the YGO movie)
Malik groaned, clutching his stomach as he climbed out of the car. Stumbling away from it, he all but collapsed on the grass in Gwen's front yard. "Jeez..." he moaned. "It's no wonder you've never been licensed to drive in Japan...!"
Gwen stuck her tongue out at him as she and the other two got out of the car as well. "Oh put a sock in it, Malik. You're not a fantastic driver yourself."
"She has a point, there." Ishtar said, holding out his uninjured hand to pull Malik to his feet.
Malik made a face at his brother. "I'm used to desert driving, where there's no rules beyond 'don't flip your car over on that sand dune'."
Ishtar looked slightly wistful. "Ah the good old days..."
Gwen and Hiro just rolled their eyes as the four of them made their way inside. "Oh please."
Once inside, they were greeted by the rest of Gwen's family, who had considerably cheered up since this morning. Most of them were gathered around the TV in the livingroom, and when Gwen and Hiro wandered in to join them, they realized that everyone was watching the news. It seemed that part of the duel that afternoon had been recorded, and now the summoning of the Winged Dragon of Ra was being broadcast over most of the major news channels.
"Oh great," Ishtar muttered when he poked his head into the livingroom to see what all the commotion was about. "Now Yami's going to want my head..."
Malik laughed a little as the two Egyptians retreated to the guest room, where they were staying. Ishtar flopped down on the air mattress on the floor, and Malik sat down cross-legged on the floor beside him. "Niisan," Malik said hesitantly, "Is your arm okay?" Though Ishtar wasn't technically an Egyptian spirit, Malik had taken to calling him big brother, just like Yugi and Ryou did their others.
Ishtar, laying on his back with his eyes closed, grunted. "Yeah, 's okay. Hurts like hell, but I've felt worse."
Malik blinked as something slowly began to dawn on him. He looked down at his own arm, which wasn't even red. "Ishtar... How could you get hurt without me being hurt too?"
Ishtar sat up, wide-eyed. "....I don't know...."
Malik frowned, looking thoughtful. "The balance is shifting... That's what Bakura said. Not becoming unbalanced, just shifting... Spirits becoming mortal..."
"You think I'm turning into a mortal?" Ishtar asked, surprised. "But I'm not even a proper spirit!"
"You weren't a proper spirit," Malik corrected thoughtfully, pulling the Rod out of the back of his belt and rubbing a thumb over it absently. "But after Battle City something happened. You could separate from me, and you had a proper soulroom, and you've been out of the Rod more and more lately... I think you are turning into a mortal, niisan, just like Bakura!"
Ishtar groaned a little, flexing the fingers of his hurt hand and wincing. "Wonderful. Just what I always wanted..." he trailed off, frowning a bit. "Malik, Ra was actually trying to emerge from the Shadow Realm. That hasn't happened since Battle City. What's going on?"
Malik shrugged, gripping the Millenium Rod a bit tighter. "I don't know."
Ishtar put his hands on his hips. "And how do you know Ra's a girl? More importantly, how could you know without me knowing?"
Malik shrugged again. "I don't know," he repeated. "When I touched her, it was like... I dunno, it was like I was suddenly inside her head. I think something's going wrong in the Shadow Realm, and that's why she tried to get out. I got the impression of a lot of shadows rising up against her."
Ishtar's eyebrows went up. "Against a god?"
Malik nodded. "Yeah. If whatever it is had got enough power to try and attack a god-ka, then we may be in a lot of trouble..."
Ishtar sighed and lay down again, putting one arm over his eyes. "No shit."
Joey yawned a little as he emerged into the sunlight, Serenity and Yugi just behind him. His side was still sore, but the doctors said it was healing up nicely and had allowed him to be released. So now he was on his way home. He and Serenity had agreed that since there were only about three weeks until school started, it would be useless to stay in Kyoto for the tail end of the family reunion when Joey would be much more comfortable at home in Domino. The three of them (Yugi, Joey, and Serenity) had plane tickets for that afternoon. Scott would be driving back with his parents in a week or so.
"Joey!"
Joey turned to face Duo, Miaka, and Tamahome. "Hi guys. Nice of you to show up."
Miaka grinned. "Well, Duo told us you guys are planning on going home, so we decided to say good-bye."
"It was nice meeting you." Tamahome chimed in, putting one arm around Miaka's shoulders. "And you'll come to the wedding, right?"
Serenity grinned widely. "Of course! Just let us know when and where."
"You'll have to bring that boyfriend of yours," Miaka told her with a wink. "He looks cute." Serenity giggled and gave her older cousin a hug.
"See ya, man," Joey shook Tamahome's hand before moving on to give Miaka a hug too. "Take care."
"We will," the two promised with a smile.
"And I'll tell Sakura you said good-bye," Miaka added with another wink, which only made Serenity roll her eyes.
"Bye Duo," Joey said, slapping his step-cousin a high-five and then wincing a bit as it pulled at his stitches. "Thanks for taking care of Serenity while I was being stupid." He looked sheepish, and Duo laughed a little as he gave Serenity a hug.
"No problem," Duo assured him. "Just keep an eye on her from now on, all right?"
Joey chuckled. "That's what Ryou's for."
"It was nice to meet you, Yugi," Duo said, shaking the duelist's hand. "Can I count on you to keep Joey from doing stupid stuff like this in the future?"
Yugi scratched the back of his head. "Oh I don't know... That's a hard order to fill...."
Joey looked a little hurt. "Yugi!"
Duo burst out laughing, and Serenity giggled. "Just do your best," Duo said, grinning. "Maybe I'll see you again some time."
"Sure, I hope so." Yugi said, grinning.
"Bye everyone!" Serenity waved as she, Joey, and Yugi headed toward the car Yugi had rented. They were headed back to the hotel to pick up their bags, and then it was off to the airport and home.
"Noooo!" Rebecca howled in disbelief as another dart went wide. "I swear, the game's rigged!"
"Of course it is," Mokuba chuckled. "Niisama built it." He could practically hear Seto rolling his eyes, but for the moment Mokuba ignored him. Seto had actually been pretty quiet all day, leaving Mokuba to wonder if he was all right. But for now he put the matter out of his mind as Lisa, too, missed.
The game was relatively simple. Behind the counter was a wall covered in balloons. Most of them were yellow, but every so often there was a red or a blue one. There were five levels of prizes at this booth: Really Small, Small, Medium, Large, and Gigantic. And of course, the much coveted Kami no Kardo dolls were Gigantic. You had to hit five yellow balloons, three red balloons, or one blue balloon to move up a prize level. And at two thousand yen for five darts, the game was a huge money-guzzler. So far, Lisa was on level Medium, while Rebecca was still stuck on Small. And it looked like both of them were running out of money fast.
Mokuba sighed deeply as the girls began to look disappointed. Despite Seto's warnings in the back of his head, the teenage CEO pulled out his wallet. Lisa and Rebecca's eyes lit up, and Mokuba smiled a little as the booth attendant looked at him, apparently not recognizing him as Mokuba Kaiba. That was all right, today he just wanted to be a teenager anyway, not the owner of the park.
Smiling a little, because he loved a challenge as much as his brother, Mokuba slapped a ¥50,000 bill down on the counter. "Darts, please."
Two hours and nearly a million yen later, all three of them walked away with a god.
Duke smiled as Minako slipped her hand into his. He could practically feel Makoto glaring a hole in the back of his neck, but for the minute it didn't matter. The three of them, as well as Usagi and Rei, were on their way to the arcade, where Ami was supposed to meet them. It was the same arcade where Duke had taken shelter with Naru and Motoki from the Daimon attack all those weeks ago.
As soon as they walked in the door, Minako detached herself from him, and she and Usagi raced toward the bank of Sailor V games in the middle of the arcade. Makoto laughed at them, and Rei rolled her eyes. Motoki, who was behind the counter, smiled and waved at them. "Konnichiwa!"
"Hi Motoki," Makoto smiled, walking over to the blond man. "This is Duke Devlin, Rei-chan's cousin. He's visiting from Tokyo for awhile."
Motoki blinked. "We've met," he said faintly. "You're not that Duke Devlin, are you?" he asked, clearly surprised.
"Huh?" Duke asked. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand."
Wordlessly Motoki pointed to the side of one of the video games, where the maker was printed in bold letters. Black Crown Gaming Industries. Duke blinked, then smiled sheepishly. "Uhh, yeah. I'm that Duke Devlin."
Rei gasped, and Makoto's mouth fell open. "Duke-kun!" Rei accused. "You never told me you were the owner of Black Crown!"
Duke looked at her a little strangely. "How many Duke Devlins do you think there are in Japan?"
Behind them the doors to the arcade opened and Ami walked in, followed by Luna and Artemis, the two talking Moon-cats. Ami smiled and greeted her friends, and Duke wandered over to where Minako was getting beaten (again) at a race car driving game. "It helps if you don't try to accelerate so quickly after the game starts. Wait a lap or so, and then start pouring on the power."
She looked up at him, a little surprised. "Oh! I didn't see you there, Duke."
He grinned. "Sorry."
Suddenly she got a strange glimmer in his eye that made Duke a little nervous. Minako hopped out of the chair and grabbed his wrist, pulling him back toward the front of the arcade. Duke saw where she was heading and sweatdropped. "Mina-chan, nooo! Not again!"
Minako didn't answer. Her eyes were firmly locked on the set of Dance Dance Revolution machines near the front windows.
Joey was lounging in the hotel's lobby, waiting for Yugi and Serenity to bring the bags down, because they'd made him promise not to strain himself. He sighed, trying to resist the temptation to scratch at his stitches, since they were itching like all get out. He hardly noticed when she came and sat down beside him, and when she spoke he nearly jumped to the ceiling.
"Why'd you do it?"
Joey managed to stuff his heart back down his throat as he turned to look at Mai. She had a strange look on her face, a gentle look, almost. It was like the look she'd had just after she'd woken up from her stay in the Shadow Realm during Battle City, and had found out how hard he'd fought for her. She looked mystified, and flattered, and... and she looked like she loved him. But maybe Joey was just reading too far into it.
"Why'd I do what?"
"You know what I mean," she said, her face changing so she looked slightly irritated, too. Joey tried not to grin. Irritated, he could handle. The other stuff was all mush and mysteries to him.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Joey admitted, looking away from her and out across the lobby. "And... I dunno. Maybe I was doing it just because that guy needed brought to justice. Maybe I did it because I knew anyone you loved that much had to be an okay guy, and so he hadn't deserved to die. Maybe I did it because I felt like you liked Scott more than me, and I needed a way to prove myself. Hell, maybe it was all those reasons. But I think... mostly... I think I mostly did it because you wanted me too, and I still love you enough to do as I'm told."
Mai's heart thudded at the present tense, and she was glad that Joey wasn't looking at her, because she was sure her face was as red as the carpet. "I - I didn't want you to run off after him. You nearly got yourself killed, you jerk!"
Joey smiled a little. Yeah, same old Mai. "You didn't consciously want me to go off and get myself killed, but your eyes were practically begging me to at least try and get revenge for your Kale. So I figured, what the heck, I'll play hero again."
"Well this time certainly worked out better than last time."
Joey's grin widened a tad. "Yeah."
For awhile they sat side-by-side in silence, not looking at each other, and not quite touching. For once, the silence wasn't strained or tense. It was just the easy, content silence of friends. Or lovers.
"So was that a good enough revenge for you, Mai-chan?"
It was Mai's turn to smile a little. "Yeah."
After awhile longer, Mai stood up, and for the first time Joey noticed the duffle bag by her feet. "Hey, where're you going?"
Mai's grinned widened a bit. "Home. Back to Tokyo U. And I swear, Joey, this time I won't run off again."
"You'd better not!" Joey said, climbing to his feet and putting his hands on his hips, grinning roguishly. "Or I'll..."
"Or you'll what?" Mai asked, amusement flickering in her eyes.
Joey didn't bother to answer, he just put a hand on her shoulder, looked into her eyes, and kissed her.
Yugi and Serenity, who'd just come out of the elevator with the bags, had to slap their hands over each other's mouths to keep from squealing happily at the sight. "It's about time!" Serenity giggled quietly, not wanting to disturb the pair.
Yugi nodded enthusiastically, his spirits already up. "Nooo kidding!"
Rebecca giggled, hugging her huge Saint Dragon of Osiris plushie, which was currently wrapped around her neck like some giant boa constrictor. "Oh Mokie-kun! Thank you soooo much!!" She leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek, making the black-haired boy blush.
The three of them and their plushies were sitting at an outdoor table set up near the food court, slurping on ice cream cones. Lisa's giant Winged Dragon of Ra took up an entire chair by itself, as did Mokuba's big God of Obelisk (of course).
Lisa looked a little worried. "You didn't have to spend so much money on us, Mokie..."
Mokuba grinned. "It's okay. I wanted one too! Besides, what kind of gentleman doesn't win prizes for his ladies?"
The girls giggled and blushed, and then went back to their ice cream.
//Mokuba, that... thing is in my soulroom with me.//
Mokuba grinned a little. /I was wondering if you were still awake, niisama. I thought you'd like a God of Obelisk./
//Oh hai, hai, but it's plush. Gods are not meant to be plush. I'm just wondering if you've lost your mind.//
Mokuba tried not to giggle. /Niisama.../
"Mokuba!" Mokuba blinked, breaking off his mental conversation with Seto to look at Lisa. "Hai?"
Lisa grinned, licking the last of her ice cream off her fingers. "You were spacing out again. Come on, let's go ride some roller coasters!"
//Ohh noooo....//
Mokuba sweatdropped a little. Seto hated roller coasters with a passion. "Um, Lisa-chan, what would we do with our dolls?"
"They have attendants to watch backpacks and prizes and stuff," Rebecca waved away his question and grabbed his wrist. "Now come on!"
Mokuba allowed himself to be drug toward one of the biggest roller coasters in the park, the Dark Hole. It was a completely indoor coaster, and in the pitch black, and you spent something around 65% of the ride upside-down. He loved it, but Seto had never been on it once. Mokuba had never been able to figure out if it was because roller coasters just made Seto sick, or if he was actually scared of them. The three teens got in line, but once one of the attendants recognized Mokuba, he ushered the trio straight to the front of the line. Mokuba tried to protest, but the attendant (and Lisa and Rebecca) would hear nothing of it.
So the three of them got strapped in, their bags and god dolls sitting safely beside the ride pilot person. Mokuba grinned giddily as the harness was brought down over his head and snapped into place.
//Aaarg...//
/Aw, come on niisama, it isn't that bad,/ Mokuba admonished. /It's just steel and wire and lots of electricity. Perfectly safe, and lots of fun, too./ The ride began to move forward at a deceptively slow pace, and beside him Rebecca giggled and squeezed his hand.
//Double aaarg.//
"Do you need anything, Amoura?"
The French girl laughed slightly. "No, Tea, I am fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Very."
For the past week or so, since the boys had left for Egypt, Amoura hadn't moved from the couch other than to go to the bathroom. Tea had been waiting on her hand and foot, and while it wasn't annoying yet, it was beginning to get there.
"Tea," Amoura said suddenly as the two girls sat in the livingroom watching TV. Amoura was stretched out on the couch, while Tea was curled up in an armchair nearby, brushing out her long hair. It was mid-morning, and they were relaxing and watching Julien while Valeraine went out shopping and Annalee fixed lunch. Strange, everyone seemed to be in a real tizzy today... Amoura was wearing a t-shirt and a long, loose skirt, about the only kind of bottoms she could wear with her cast, while Tea was dressed in shorts and t-shirt with slippers.
"Hmm?" Tea asked, glancing up at her friend from under her long bangs.
Amoura bit her lip, wondering how to apologize to her friend. Today was Tea's twentieth birthday, but between going to Switzerland and then being laid up with her broken leg, Amoura hadn't been able to get her a present. She knew her friend would understand, of course, but Amoura still felt bad about it. "Um, I just vanted to vish you a 'appy birthday, and to zay I'm zor-"
She was interrupted as the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Madame hurried down the stairs in a much fancier dress than she usually wore, patting her hair into place with one hand and looking a bit flushed. The two teenage girls just stared as she swept toward the front door.
"Are we expecting anyone important today?" Tea asked, puzzled. Over the past few days, quite a few people had "just dropped by" the house to see Amoura and ask how she was doing. It seemed that overnight the green-haired girl had become a celebrity. Tea had jokingly started calling her "the Girl who Lived", but that only earned her whacks and thrown pillows when she said it in Amoura's hearing.
"I don't zink zo..." Amoura said, equally mystified. Sitting on the couch with her casted leg propped up in front of her, she could see the front door clearly, whereas Tea was around the corner from it. "Grandmama lookz excited zough... I can't zink who it could possibly..." Amoura trailed off and her eyes widened a little as Madame opened the door and she got her first look at who it was over her grandmother's shoulder. "Oh my gods..."
"What?" Tea asked, blinking. "Who?"
"Well now," came a deep, friendly voice from the entry hall. "Where is the little lady? I certainly hope she's doing well, Madame Letazaut."
He was speaking French, whereas the last time Tea had heard him it had been in an American movie, but she would have recognized that voice anywhere. Her room at her parent's house was covered in posters of him. So was Amoura's room, for that matter. The two girls stared at each other with wide eyes, daring each other to disbelieve what they'd just heard. Almost in one leap, Tea was across the room and perched on the edge of Amoura's couch, staring down the hall to where Madame stood talking to their tall, handsome visitor.
"Eeeeee!!" Amoura squealed quietly, clutching Tea's hands in a white-knuckled grip. Tea didn't mind, though, since she was squeezing Amoura's hands just as hard. "Oh Tea, it's him!! He's actually in my house!!!!"
"I know, I know!" Tea tried to keep the decibels down, but it was hard. After all, it's not every day the love of your life shows up at your front door. Well, okay fine, the heart throb you've always had your eye on. Bad Tea. Yugi is the love of your life. Must hang on to that thought.
At least until Johnny Depp turned and looked right at her.
For an instant, both girls thought they were going to faint. Johnny grinned and strode over to them, going down on one knee so he was eye-level with them. Instantly visions of proposal flitted through Amoura and Tea's minds, but alas, it was not to be.
"Feeling better, Mademoiselle Amoura?" he asked, flashing his million-kilowatt grin at her. She just nodded dumbly, too stunned to speak. "I hope so," he continued, apparently aware of and sympathetic to their tongue-tied plight. "It was really brave, you know, what you did. And that boyfriend of yours, too."
Amoura blushed a little, but found she couldn't deny it. Bakura was her boyfriend, and she was proud of that. So she just nodded again, instead.
Yunet, seemingly curious about this handsome visitor, padded up and sniffed Johnny's shoes. The actor laughed and scooped up the kitten, setting her on Amoura's lap where both of them could easily scratch her. She rolled over belly up and began to purr almost immediately. Johnny laughed a little.
"And you're Mademoiselle Tea, yes?" he turned to Tea, then, nearly startling the other girl into a coma. All the movie stars and diplomats who had come before had all just sat and talked to Amoura, paying Tea no attention at all as she sat quietly and read or just listened. She knew French better than a lot of people thought. To have Johnny Depp speak to her was enough to nearly send her into cardiac arrest.
"Y-yes, I'm Tea." she said, nearly swallowing her lips in the process. Gods, but he was gorgeous up close!
"I thought so." Johnny's eyes crinkled in laughter as he pulled out a bundle he'd had tucked under one arm. Neither of the girls had noticed it until that moment, having been too busy staring at his beautiful face. It was wrapped in flashy yellow and gold paper, tied with a big silver bow. "This is for you. Happy birthday, mademoiselle."
Tea's eyes nearly popped out of her skull, but she managed to take the present with trembling hands. After a nod of encouragement from Johnny and a slightly envious glare from Amoura, Tea began to rip into the wrapping paper. Inside was an adorable stuffed puppy, a terrier of some kind, by the look of it. It was soft, too, as Tea found out when she hugged it against her chest. "Thank you so much!!"
Johnny grinned and winked. "His name's Jack."
The two girls laughed a little, and suddenly Amoura seemed to think of something. She leaned over a little to dig around in the bag that was sitting next to the couch, and pulled out a fat permanent marker. "Umm... Monsieur Depp-sama, um, sir? Would you be willing to sign my cast?"
Johnny grinned again, taking the marker from her. "Of course!" Turning a little in his seat, he hunted for a space clear enough to sign. "Gosh Mademoiselle Amoura, you have a lot of friends."
Amoura giggled a little and sat up more so she could point to the large, slightly scribbled kanji in the middle of her shin. "That's my boyfriend, Yami Bakura."
Johnny smiled. "I'll sign right underneath him, how's that?" He winked. "So I can be second in your heart and on your cast."
Amoura blushed deeply as Johnny signed his name with a flourish and recapped the pen. The three chatted for a while longer, Amoura and Tea slowly losing their nervousness around the charming movie star. Soon he had them both laughing with a story about working with fellow heart throb Orlando Bloom on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean.
"Oh boy," Tea had to wipe a tear out of her eye, still hugging Jack the dog with her other arm. "Gwen will love that one. She's a big Orli fan." she explained when she saw Johnny's questioning look.
Johnny chuckled a little. "He was quite a character, all right. Nice man, wonderful to work with."
A few minutes later Madame came in with several glossy pictures of Johnny gotten from who-knows-where, and he happily signed them. One was then given to Tea, one to Amoura, and Madame kept one. She said it was for Annalee, but the way she eyed Johnny when his back was turned made Amoura wonder a little.
After that, Johnny said he had to go, and politely declined staying for lunch, although he said he'd like to. He gave both Amoura and Tea hugs, and skillfully pretended not to notice as they melted all over him. It was sad seeing him leave, but at least they got to look at his butt as he walked out the door.
"Oh Amoura!" Tea threw her arms around her friend almost as soon as he was gone, almost crying in her happiness. Yunet squeaked in protest and jumped down as she was almost squished. "That was the BEST birthday present ever!!! Thank you so much!"
Over Tea's shoulder, Amoura saw her grandmother closing the door behind Johnny. Madame turned and caught her eye... and winked. Amoura smiled, the only thanks she could give at the moment, and hugged Tea back.
"'Appy birthday, Tea-chan."
(All right, small note. The entire conversation between Johnny and the two girls took place in French, which was why Amoura's accent seemed to "vanish". After Johnny left, they switched back to Japanese. Many hugs and LOADS of pocky to NeoChaosCrystal for the Johnny Depp idea and her encouragement to "wing it". ^_^ Thanks for all your support, girl!)
Weeks passed, and August arrived in California. It was hot out, and muggy, something that the duo from Egypt weren't accustomed too. They spent most of their time in the water these days, surfing or swimming or just generally having a good time. One morning in mid-August, though, Gwen didn't come bouncing down to breakfast in her swimsuit and shorts, like she usually did. In fact, she didn't come bouncing down to breakfast at all. Hiro was beginning to get a bit worried when Gwen's sister Kris shuffled down the stairs and into the kitchen, yawning.
"Gwen where?" Hiro asked in his faulty English. "Sick?"
Kris gave him an annoyed look and said something in fast-paced English that Hiro couldn't catch. Looking more annoyed, Kris poked her older brother Josh, who spoke Japanese almost as well as Gwen.
"No, Gwen's not sick," Josh assured Hiro, smiling wryly. "The Los Angeles Ren Faire starts today, so Gwen's probably getting ready. I think she's planning on dragging you guys along."
"Ren faire?" Malik asked. It didn't sound promising, especially after that humiliating episode with the cosplay at Pegasus Con. "Do I really want to know?"
Josh snickered. "Renaissance festival. Midieval English type of stuff. Gwen likes to go and annoy the buskers." He chuckled again.
"Buskers?" Ishtar asked, looking up from his bagel.
"Wandering street musicians," Hiro clarified. "Gwen's Celtic-obsessed."
"Celtic and Broadway?" Malik asked, remembering Gwen's rather diverse CD collection. He shook his head. Americans were weird.
Josh nodded, then glanced around and leaned forward a little. "If it's not too much trouble, you guys," he said in a lower voice. "Could you make sure Gwen doesn't come home until 8 o'clock or so tonight? Her birthday's tomorrow, so we're going to set up a surprise party for her."
Malik, Ishtar, and Hiro looked at each other in surprise. They'd no idea what Gwen's birthday was so close. Hiro had known it was sometime in the summer, but hadn't been sure of exactly when. "Sure," Hiro answered for all three of them. "No problem. Maybe the three of us will be able to find presents for her at the faire."
Josh grinned and nodded his thanks. "Should be easy. Gwen's always complaining she never takes enough money to those faires, and that there's too much cool stuff to buy."
Malik groaned a little, causing the other three to look at him. "You know what this means?" the Egyptian whined. "We have to submit to Gwen's driving again."
"Oh hell," Ishtar cursed. "I'm barely recovered from the last time!"
"Do I hear cracks on my driving skills from in here?"
The four men turned, and Hiro oogled openly. Gwen was dressed in a long, red peasant skirt and a low-collared white linen shirt. Over top, she was wearing a darker red leather vest that laced up the front, showing off every curve. She was wearing high boots, and enough bangles and Celtic jewelry (including a thin metal torque of some kind that rested around her neck like a collar) to fund the entire U.S. Army. Over her skirt she wore some kind of a shawl tied around her waist. It had coins sewn onto the hem, so that she jingled whenever she moved. The overall effect was that of a Celtic gypsy gone mad.
Gwen saw Hiro's expression, and her expression turned catty as she slunk over to him, wiggling her hips and making her shawl jingle madly. "I see someone else has an appreciation for good Celtic fashion." She leaned over and kissed Hiro's nose, and Malik thought for a moment the poor boy might faint, though from the kiss or the view of Gwen he was getting, Malik wasn't sure.
Josh rolled his eyes and smacked his big sister's rump, causing Gwen to jump and straighten. "Sis, if you give the guy a nosebleed I am not cleaning it up."
Gwen stuck her tongue out at him. "Spoilsport." She turned back to her friends and smiled widely. "Ready to go?"
Ishtar sighed dramatically, pulling himself to his feet. "If we must..." He grinned and ducked quickly to avoid Gwen's whack.
()()()()()
WSJ: =3 *makes a cute kitty face and hugs the first Fruits Basket manga* I love Kyo-kun! He's such a cutie, and soooo sweet! (Yuki's cute too, but I don't like him near as much as Kyo) *giggles and swoons*
Ryou: -.- Great, she's going all shojo on us again... Guess that leaves us with the closing notes.
Bakura: Joy. *glances at the clipboard SJ had dropped in favor of the Fruits Basket manga* Umm, let's see... Ah yes, SJ's friend LoneWolf16 found a way around FF.N's symbol problem, as can obviously be seen from this chapter. The info is posted up on SJ's website if anyone else is interested in doing a little extra work to recover your symbols.
Ryou: Second of all, SJ wants to apologize to all Johnny Depp fans. She knows next to nothing about him, especially when it comes to personalities, so she royally fudged it. -_- SJ is the kind of girl who went to see Pirates of the Caribbean because of Orlando Bloom, and not Johnny Depp.
Bakura: For those wondering/curious/out of their ever-loving minds, Tea's birthday is August the 18th (officially), while Gwen's is August the 16th. SJ even has them marked on her calendar.
Ryou: Only the electronic one on her computer.
Bakura: Whatever. If everyone will now turn their attention to the small clock in the corner of their computer screen. Note the date. Two years ago tomorrow was when the first chapter of Visions of the Heart was posted here on FF.N. Heaven knows why SJ would want to commemorate that. *rolls eyes* She would have posted it tomorrow, but FF.N is scheduled to be doing repair stuffs, and the day after that school starts, so she figured she'd save the hassel and post a day early. Be grateful.
Ryou: And, lastly, SJ actually has the rest of this fic done already, along with the first chapter of Yamis of Tokyo U: Sophomore. The reason they're not posted already is because the end of August/beginning of September are full of "special dates" for her. *rolls eyes* Therefore, the next chapter of HSH will be posted September 2, my birthday. The last chapter of HSH and first chapter of YoTU:S will both be posted on September 16, which is SJ's 16th birthday. She wanted to do something really special for her sixteenth, and I guess this is the best she could come up with.
Bakura: *sigh* Well, at least it's almost over. There's only two chapters left to go, 18 will be the last. So enjoy! And review. *goes off to find a crowbar to try and pry the Furuba manga out of SJ's grip*
Chapter 17: WSJ: (V/O) Things are definitely winding down, but there's still another two chapters left to go!
Usagi: You gotta keep in touch with us, Duke-san!
Rei: No going another nine years without seeing me again!
WSJ: (V/O) The Sailor Senshi are saying good-bye, and so are another pair of cousins, in a less nice way...
Scott: Just leave me the hell alone!
Joey: FINE!
WSJ: (V/O) Hmm... But what's this? Blackmail material?
Malik: No way. No way in hell.
Gwen: Aww, come on Malik! Dance with me!
Malik: I. Don't. Dance.
WSJ: (V/O) Could be interesting. ^^ All this and more, next time! Ja!
God bless minna-san!
