Disclaimer: Kazuki Takahashi I am not. A lowly fanfiction authoress I am. Talk like Yoda I do. Seen Star Wars too many times I have. Own Yuugioh and Star Wars I do not.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, aliens and... others, I take great pleasure in welcoming you to the final stage of our Band War competition! I am Mr. Paul Jollykanker, and all I have to say is this: let the music begin! First up, Ever After!"

There were whoops and cheers from the crowd as Mr. Paul Jollykanker left the stage, the first of four finalist bands getting up on the stage and setting their equipment up. Isis gripped Atemu's arm, nerves actually getting to her.

"Calm down," said Bakura. "You're going to cut off the circulation in poor 'Temu's arm!" Malik, down the row, nodded vigorously.

Isis looked down at her fingers, which were turning Atemu's skin white. "Oh, sorry."

"That's okay. It's just adrenaline. And Bakura, your reaction isn't much better than Isis's."

"Hey! So what if I have problems going to the bathroom when I'm nervous?"

Atemu just shook his head as the band, the one that had placed second after Atemu's in the last round, started to play.

Heart of love,
Mind of truth,
Spirit of fate,
Soul of binding,
Binding of emotion...

When Ever After was finished, half the audience was too busy crying to clap, and those who did clap were shouting and yelling and pounding on the floor.

"Holy crap..."

"They were amazing..."

"Come on guys, we can beat 'em!"

"Mai... maybe we can't, this time..."

The announcer-dude stepped on the stage. "Next up, we have Wishes!"

The Wishes band set up, warmed up, and began a loud rock song, its beat pulsing through the whole hall. Atemu felt his teeth chatter from the noise, and thanked Ra when they were done.

"Next up, Crimson Love!"

There were quite a few more shouts from the audience as the seven Crimson Love members made their way up to the stage and set up in their normal position of Mai and Atemu front and center, Bakura and Rishid back and to the left, Isis and Ryou back and to the right, and Malik in back with his drums.

Atemu waited for the signal from Isis, a few slow, sweet notes from the keyboard. There they were. The world around him was no more as he allowed himself to be wrapped in the warmth of the music, the music that had healed them all, helped them all, guided them all, and pushed him in the direction of discovering himself.

Find Something,
Something there,
Though something soft,
Like wind on air,
Hard as metal, cold as ice,
Hear the music, don't think twice,
Find your rhythm, find your beat,
Follow your great dancing feet,
Fly away,
From homes, from bounds,
And a treasure you have found.

Dance, dance for healing,
Dance, dance to breathe,
Dance, dance to soar,
Dance, dance to seethe,
Dance, dance to let go,
But keep holding on,
And then you know,
That you have mastered the song.

Dance to hug, dance to kiss,
Dance to touch all that you miss,
Dance with emotion, be alive,
Find the power that within you thrives,
It's on your feet, not in your bed,
So get up and look ahead.

Dance...(dance) dance for healing,
Dance...(dance) dance to breathe,
Dance...(dance) dance to soar,
Dance...(dance) dance to seethe,
Dance...(dance) dance to let go,
But keep holding on,
And then you know,
That you have mastered the song.

Follow the steps, one by one,
That others have created,
But, but, if something's wrong,
And you find you hate it,
Flow... flow... the beat is in your hands,
Flow... flow... the place is where you stand,
Flow... flow... there is no right and wring,
(flow... flow...) As long as you follow
Your inner song.

Dancing...
Dancing to the sky,
Dancing...
Dancing past the moon,
Dancing...
Dancing into trouble,
Dancing...
Dancing into love,
Dancing...
Because you're flying, though not off the ground,
But to you, it is enough.

Dance... (fly)
Soar... (try)
Love... (it all)
Dance... (through every hall)
Dance...
Dance...
Dance...

They ended, all on the same note, all heads down, all faces flushed, as the crowd literally bounced off the walls. The song was slow, every note so very wonderful, delicate, and tantalizing in its existence that it had the audience on the edge of their seats, listening intently, all inwardly screaming for more, though not crying out for fear of ruining the perfection before them.

Atemu smiled, hearing Yuugi's little voice call out, "GO CRIMSON LOVE! WOOHOO!" from a front-row seat. He sent Yuugi a thumbs-up on the way back to his seat, which was returned energetically by Rebecca, next to Yuugi. Atemu laughed as she threw her arms around the small boy, taking him off guard.

"Did we do good?" Mai asked worriedly.

"I don't believe that just 'good' sums it up," Ryou commented, cheeks pink.

"Definitely," Rishid agreed, taking the last seat as they all filed into their row.

The announcer-dude came BACK onto the stage.

"Thank you, Crimson Love! And now I give you the last band of our show tonight, Chicken Noodle!"

Chicken Noodle trooped up onto the stage, gathering their instruments and themselves and preparing to play.

Prepare yourself, friendly friend,
Know yourself, friendly friend,
Help yourself, friendly friend,
Be yourself, friendly friend...

They ended on a tender chord, striking a pose together in the middle of the stage. The crowd loved it, standing and clapping like crazy, as they had for Crimson Love. Isis gripped Atemu's arm again.

"Isis... would you mind not cutting into my skin?"

"Sorry... I'm just so nervous!"

"I know."

The hall became uncomfortably silent as the audience voted electronically for their favorite bands. Then the announcer-dude went, you got it, back on the stage. His announcement was similar to the last words of the previous announcer from the last round of competition.

"IF YOU HAVE NOT YET VOTED, PLEASE DO SO NOW, OR WASTE YOUR VOTE! LET THE FINAL COUNTDOWN BEGIN! TEN! NINE..."

His voice was magnified by a thousand as the entire audience joined in with him, screaming, "EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!"

The announcer-dude pressed a button on his hand-held vote tally, holding the microphone as close to his mouth as possible.

"IN THIRD PLACE, EVER AFTER!" The audience roared as the members of Ever After stepped onto the stage, all smiling broadly. Atemu clapped hard, his stomach flipping about within him as he imagined Crimson Love in that position...

"ATEMU, GET UP! YOU SPACED OUT! WE WON!" Bakura and Malik shoved him into the aisle and up onto the stage as the man handed Ryou a gold trophy, instructing them to stand in the center of the stage.

"SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, FOLKS! THE THREE WINNERS OF OUR BAND WAR COMPETITION! EVER AFTER IN THIRD PLACE, CHICKEN NOODLE IN SECOND, AND IN FIRST PLACE, CRIMSON LOVE!"

The audience erupted as the three bands beamed. Atemu shook hands with the lead singer of Chicken Noodle, a pretty girl with bubble-gum colored pink and blue hair, decked out in punkish attire. "You have an amazing voice," he said. She smiled sweetly, replying, "I want to go to an arts college. You too?"

He hadn't thought of that; it had never even crossed his mind. Surely anyone who had gotten this far in this competition could make it into a fine college.

"I'm sure you'll make it," he assured her. He was. She had an amazing voice, as he'd said. His body was soaring, head spinning around in endless spirals as the bands talked, waiting for the hall to empty out. When the announcer-dude finally dismissed the bands, Isis glomped every band member she could as Mai went crazy with hugs. Atemu pocketed the email address of the lead singer for Chicken Noodle, hoping to stay in touch with her.

"ATEMU!" He turned just in time to see Anzu bowl him over, smothering him on the floor and kissing him lightly, causing both to blush furiously.

"Anzu!"

"YOU WON!"

"Yeah... we did."

Just then a group of reporters swarmed around the entrance to the concert hall, all pushing and shoving for interviews. Atemu smiled wryly, answering the question of one, "How has this affected your life? What have you gotten out of it?"

"Much more than music."

Atemu lay in bed later that night, thinking about the answer he'd given. Not just to the reporter, but in his heart as well. He thought about all that had happened over the last month.

'Much more than music'... How much actually did come out of this? Isis, Rishid, Malik, Bakura, Mai and I came out of depression, Ryou discovered courage he didn't know he had, I found.. love, I guess you could call it... I DO love Anzu, very much... Jii-chan and I got closer, I made friends with opponents... it really was 'much more than music.'

He fell asleep, the lyrics to 'Dancing' spinning around in his head and the melody of love in his heart.

The End

And that's all there is, folks! Hope you liked it!

Thankies a bunch, straykitty!

Thankies also, Black-Caracal!

Ninqe, you'd probably never heard the term 'drabbler' because I made it up! BWAHAHAHAHA... ha. Wow... you had... interesting teachers... that DOES sound disturbing. Yes, Atemu is one hundred percent, undeniably hot, and we fangirls are at the mercy of his one hundred percent, undeniable hotness. -sigh- But, we can dream... I think... I dunno, do you dream a lot? At might, I mean...

Thanks, dragon shadows, but ah... whatever happened to that weekly update? Sorry about that... I got involved with other ones, and gah, I realized it had been nearly a month since I updated this one, so I'm like, "Oh no! I totally forgot that fic existed!" LOL!

Thanks, Kawaii Chibi Yami! I'm glad you like it... even if it is for the angst...

Thank you muchly, HiddenInTheNight!

Thanks to you too, Ksaturn!

And you too, norestar-angel! That guitar sounds cool! Do you already play, or are you going to take the lessons as well?

And that's that! Bye bye for now, and thanks so much to all you wonderful reviewers!

Peace 'n' Lotsa Lotsa Luv,
BlackCharmgirl