Flower Petals: I guess no one liked the last chapter. . .Only Sakurelle-THANK YOU SO MUCH, I LOOOOOOOVE YOU! and my sister-YOU ARE THE BEST SISTER IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!! reviewed.

Oh, well. Thank you everyone else for the reviews you submitted in the past. Please read, and if you like, please review. . .

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, though Rondayas is mine so don't steal him!!!


Flower Petals

Skills and Bravery


"You can't do that!" Tae claimed. "It's not fair!"

Rondayas was puzzled. "I won fair and square."

Tae wasn't giving up. "You can't just take all of his starchips. He won't be allowed to compete anymore! He'll be sent home. You don't want to have to live with the guilt-"

Rondayas put up a hand. "He challenged me. Not the other way around. It was his mistake. Tell your friend not to be overconfident. It'll help him stay out of trouble."

Tristen felt that it was his turn to stand up for Joey. "Don't walk away! How about a rematch? You and him. Winner takes all."

"No." Rondayas snapped the last starchip into place around his wrist. Then he headed off.

"I shouldn'ta rushed into dis whole thin'," Joey confessed. "Now how am I goin' da help my sister?"

Yugi put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sure we can think of a way to let you stay. If not, I'll give you one of my starchips. Sure, I'll only have one left, but it would be worth it if you get to remain on the island."

"I don't know," Joey mumbled.

Taleah knew. While the rest of her friends gathered around Joey telling him that it would be okay, she stalked off. Only one thing mattered to her right then-getting back Joey's starchips. She'd do whatever she had to, to get them back. So despite her fear, Taleah marched right up to Rondayas and challenged him to a duel.

"If I win, Joey gets back his starchips. If I lose, you can have mine."

"You only have two," Rondayas observed.

Taleah's heart sank. "Yeah. How about this, I'll give you my whole Duel Monsters deck. It's not exactly the best, but it has a few good cards. Oh, and when you win-oops, I mean if, I'll give you my solemn promise that none of my friends will ever bother you again."

"I'd like that," Rondayas joked. "Especially since it seems that I've earned myself a bad reputation with them. But listen lady, I really don't want to take your starchips."

"It doesn't matter," Taleah persisted. "Joey is on his knees in pain. Not because he lost the duel, but because he may have lost the only chance he has of helping his sister, who desperately needs his help. If I could rewind time, I would. I'd slap Joey across the face if that is what it would have taken to convince him not to duel you. But unfortunately, I can't take back time. And I can't stand to see my friend like this. Now, I may not be able to do anything about that, but if I don't try, I'll hate myself forever! It's worth the risk if I can give Joey a second chance."

"I see. But I still don't want to duel you."

"Please! I'm no thief, but I'll snatch those starchips off your dueling glove if I have to. Please!"

"Boy, you are stubborn," Rondayas laughed. "Fine. If that is what you wish, then so be it. But I'm warning you, I'm never going to duel you or any of your friends ever again, no mater what the outcome of this duel is."

As soon as Joey heard what Taleah was doing for him, he started crying. He was touched that she would do such a thing. So much, that he tried to hug her.

Taleah pushed him away. "I haven't won your starchips, yet!" Oh, what am I doing? Maybe this is a mistake.

Suddenly, light resounded from Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. It cloaked him in a golden brilliance. He began to grow taller, his features, became sharper. His voice, deeper. Once again, he had become Yu-Gi-Oh. But this time the inner presence wasn't there to guide him, or to give him advice. It was there to help him persuade Taleah into believing in herself.

"You will do just fine," he said. "This is just like any other duel. Remember, trust in your deck. Believe in the Heart of the Cards."

Taleah nodded. The Heart of the Cards was a might powerful thing. It was also her only chance at winning the duel. She knew she had a good deck. The problem was drawing the right card at the right time. For many duelists, it was a game of chance. Luck. But for her and the few who believed in the Heart of the Cards, it was their faith that would sometimes draw them from the very jaws of defeat.

The platform raised Taleah to her dueling station. She nearly panicked when she saw how high up she was. The ground seemed so far below. All her friends looked like midgets.

She set her deck on a protruding shelf on the right corner of her dueling station. It was an interesting place. There were so many different buttons and gadgets, that she quickly lost track of which one did what. Outlines lined with sparkling colors marked the places where her cards were to be put whenever she executed a play. To the right of the game board was a small screen that read two thousand in bright red. A dull blue two thousand (for the opponent) was placed right beside it.

"It is your turn," Rondayas reminded her.

"Oh, right." What to do. I don't have any strong monsters in my hand right now. I really don't want to play a weak monster in attack mode incase he attacks it with a much stronger one. I'd flush out a lot of life points that way. No, I'll just play it safe.

"I'll play this monster face down in defense mode," she announced.

"Very well. Then I'll summon this beast and order it to attack!"

Taleah's defense monster was quickly wiped out. And so were many more to come. That was, until she drew a strong beast card and took away seven hundred of Rondayas's life points. Her monster dominated the field for some time, eliminating all its foes. But Rondayas wasn't about to let her win without putting up a fight. At the last possible moment, he drew the very card that would almost ensure him victory. He had been buying himself time until he drew it. And now that it was on the field, it seemed as if the duel had come to an end.

Besides that one card, he had two monsters out on the field; one with an extremely high attack strength, and one somewhat weaker, but still strong.

Taleah's heart sank deeper then it ever had before. She was down to two hundred and fifty life points. The next turn, she'd be wiped out. She had failed. She had lost. Now, both her and Joey would be sent home. Her bracelet, her most prized possession, would be Pegasus's. And so would her parents. Her parents! Taleah clutched at her chest. Had she lost them? Were they gone forever? She had failed. Oh, she had failed so miserably. How could she ever have thought she could help? Had winning one duel gotten to her head? Now, everything would be lost; everything that had ever mattered to her.

Tears flooded down her face. She would never see her parents again. She'd never see her father reading the newspaper in the morning, or her mother remembering her backpack after she had already walked out the door without it, or her parents arguing over car and house keys that they had supposedly lost, or even her parents dancing. . .wrapped in each other's arms like nothing existed outside of their embrace. . .they'd never get to do any of that again. And it was all her fault.

You fool, said a voice in her mind. For someone who claims to be a true believer in the Heart of the Cards, you sure give up easily. Don't lose hope, not yet. Draw your next card. Play out your turn. Draw your next card.

Taleah stretched out a hand for her deck. For some reason, it was just out of her reach. She tried again, but it slipped further away. Every time she reached for it, it seemed to slide away from her grasp.

Draw your next card.

"I can't," Taleah sobbed. "The cards-they won't stay still! How can I draw a card if it keeps moving away from me?"

Your deck senses your doubt. If you really are a true believer, don't let your personal feelings interfere with your faith. Trust, true believer. Believe. Draw your next card.

An inner warmth radiated from her bracelet. It cloaked and wrapped itself around her, calming her in its warm embrace. It gave her a new source of courage. For right then, she realized that the duel was not over yet. Not until her life points reached zero, would she admit defeat. Her parents were counting on her, and so was Joey's sister.

"I've put all my faith into this next card," Taleah said out loud, "so let it be revealed!" She quickly drew the top card from her deck and slapped it down on the game board.

It was the Change of Heart card. The one Kaiba had given her. Why, I have forgotten all about it. I couldn't have drawn a better card.

"The Change of Heart card allows me to control one opposing monster," she explained. "I think I'll have your strongest monster attack the weak one. Before, I couldn't attack your weak monster for the stronger one would eliminate mine next turn and I'd lose precious life points. But now, the different between both your monster's attack points will be subtracted from your life points! Therefore, bringing you down to zero."

As Taleah had ordered, Rondayas's stronger monster brutally assaulted the weaker one, attacking its own comrade. It was obliterated from the field in a dazzling array of light and colors.

Taleah: 250

Rondayas: 0

The platforms lowered her and Rondayas to the ground. They met half way around the stadium. Taleah was filled with so much enthusiasm, that she couldn't help but smile. Rondayas looked a little disappointed, but not upset.

"You've earned these," he said. "Good job."

"Thanks." Taleah held out her hands as Rondayas poured four starchips into them. She didn't bother saying good bye to her opponent. No, she marched right up to Joey and handed the starchips to him.

"I d-d-don't know wha' da s-say," he sputtered.

"How about 'thank you'?"

"No. I mean, yes, thank you. But no, I can't take dem. I don't deserve dem. I lost dem. Ya got dem back."

"For you." Taleah was beginning to get aggravated. "I got them back for you. I won them for you."

"I'm not goin' da accept dem," Joey persisted. "Dey're not mine."

"They were yours. And they still are. They just kind of alternated ownership between a few people to get back to you. That's all. Now take them."

"I will. But only if ya take half. Sure, I fought for dem an' won dem, but den I lost dem. Ya fought an' won dem back. Dey're yours now. I really don't thin' it's fair for me da take any. But I'm willin' da compromise. Take two."

Taleah sighed. Joey was too stubborn to argue with. He was right though. She had won them. And she did feel entitled to them. Taking all four, just hadn't seemed fair. "You've got yourself a deal, bro."

Joey grinned. "Knew ya'd give in." He handed her two starchips.

Taleah accepted them in disbelief. She had won two starchips! They were hers. Not anybody's else's. Now she had four in all. She only had to get six more, then she could enter Pegasus's castle.

"We'll have to set up camp," Tae stated. "There are no hotels or inns on this island. So it's really just like camping out in the wilderness. Good thing I brought a tent. Only big enough for three people though. Sorry, but us girls get the tent."

Joey's eyes widened. "I don' thin' so! Der are three guys. We are da three people dat will sleep in dat tent fit for three. Do da math. You an' Taleah are only two. Dat would leave one space in da tent open."

"Nu-uh," Taleah protested. "You see, us girls need the extra space. We like to roll around and throw our limbs out."

"We also like to flip our hair a lot, and that can take up a lot of space," Tae added. "But Joey, if you really want to come and sleep in the tent with us-"

"No way!" he sat down on a rock and folded his arms. "I'm sleepin' here for da night. Far away from ya creepy girls."

Tristen sat down next to his friend. "We sure had a busy day. It was our first day here! I wonder what tomorrow will bring."

"More busyness," said Yugi. "Is that even a word?"

Everybody laughed.

~

Flower Petals: Guess what? "Busyness" is in fact a word!!! (I make up a lot of words, so half the things I say aren't usually found in the dictionary). But busyness was! I'm so happy!

Alright, listen up you reviewers, if you want to see this story continue, you must review. I WILL NOT CONTINUE UNLESS I GET MORE REVIEWS! BECAUSE I AM NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME CONTINUING SOMETHING EVERYONE HATES.

REVIEW PLEASE!

Taleah: That's soooo much more like it. . .