Golden: Chapter two, without quite so many embellishments at the beginning! We know it's a little odd to some people that we'd be doing a tribute to an anime cartoon character because of his death, but please note that when Sherlock Holmes died, all of Britain mourned. People even wore black armbands to mark his passing!

Silver: Actually the reason he came back is because Sir Doyle's own mother wrote him asking him to resurrect the character. Fan appreciation is also the reason we've been hearing stuff about "Genex," but from the way it sounds it doesn't really have any of the original characters. Not what little Hikari and I want. So we're going to continue doing fan works like this one.

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Chapter Two: Good Company

The sun shone glitteringly on Domino City's hospital. Mokuba walked silently through the halls to a lounge area near Joey's room. Yugi had pretty quickly designated that as the best place to find him until Joey awoke, so it came as no surprise that the others were there, too. Téa, silent and apart from the rest of the group, staring silently at a Duel Monsters card in her hand, Duke and Tristan, both trying to talk to Serenity while she was trying very hard to make it clear she intended to read, Bakura, who looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to walk over and try to coax Téa out of her silence, and of course Yugi himself, who seemed to be encouraging Bakura. That was odd, Mokuba mused.

Yugi noticed him. "Hey, Mokuba! How was your night?"

Mokuba had been among the first to leave the hospital the night before, explaining that he was worried about his brother. The boy shrugged noncommittally. "Alright, I guess…. Seto was asleep when I got home and still asleep when I left this morning, so I haven't talked to him."

Yugi's brows knitted in concern. "That's certainly out of the ordinary for him. I wonder…"

Tristan, however, had picked up on the conversation. "Lucky Kaiba," he said, sounding bitter, "Sleeping in his own bed in his big mansion while Joey's here--"

"That's enough, Tristan!" Yugi interrupted him suddenly, surprising the entire group. Even Téa looked up. He'd sounded so much like Yami it was frightening. Yugi didn't seem to notice. "Kaiba was obviously very badly affected by what's happened. It's not his fault this happened, it's not anybody's fault! Leave Mokuba alone."

"Besides," came a low, somber voice, "I didn't sleep very well anyway."

"Seto!" Mokuba said in surprise. His brother made a soft noise of greeting, patting his head as he passed, then wraithlike, stalked towards Joey's room.

Everyone watched after him, then Serenity got up. "If you gentlemen (and lady) will excuse me," she said almost stiffly. Tristan and Duke tried to follow her and got Pride and Prejudice thrown at them.

"Leave her alone, too," Yugi said with a smile.

"I don't know how to say I'm sorry," Seto Kaiba told the prone form.

"I've never really had much practice." He shifted uncomfortably. "I- Well, to be honest I kind of hope you can't hear me."

He didn't see Joey's eyes crack open, or the motion of his deep brown eyes fixing on the taller, yet younger teenager.

"I can't explain how this makes me feel. I'm not entirely sure I know how I feel. It sounds so stupid-- just to say I'm sorry. But I am. Deeply. I don't know if you'll forgive me or not, because I know that forgiving someone for a thing like this is--"

He fell silent. How could he explain himself? Did he really need to? The soft, light voice from the doorway jolted him out of the questions.

"Mr. Kaiba?" He spun. It was Serenity Wheeler.

"How long were you standing there?" he demanded, feeling his face grow warm. She approached him nervously, holding her hands just below her breast, wringing them anxiously.

"I just now caught up with you," she said honestly. "Are you alright?"

Seto turned from her, trying to hide his embarrassment. "I'm fine," he responded gruffly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've been through an awful experience, Mr. Kaiba." He felt a gentle hand touch his back and flinched away. "And because you're shaking."

Seto lifted his hand to stare at it. It was indeed trembling, and badly. "I am not," he retorted obstinately.

Serenity fought the urge to laugh and decided to change the subject. "I've been trying to contact Mai Valentine for several hours," she commented, "But last I heard she's still in America. She should know about this."

"I'll find her," he said, surprising her.

"Mr. Kaiba, you've done so much already. You should have seen my mother's face when the doctor told her you'd offered to buffer the hospital expenses."

"I'll find her," Seto insisted, "Don't worry about it." He left before she could say anything else. Serenity stared after him, a sudden blush spreading up her cheeks.

"He's not so bad, is he?" Joey's voice came, making her jump. She gaped at him.

"How long were you awake?" Serenity asked, plopping down by his bed and grabbing his hand. Joey laughed a little painfully.

"He woke me up with 'To be honest I kind of hope you can't hear me,'" he told her cryptically. He continued to grin at her cattily.

She pulled back a little uncertainly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Joey could barely contain himself. "You've been crushing on him, haven't you?"

Serenity's face scrunched and lit with red. "JOEY!"

A few minutes after Seto walked past them all again, blaming "a meeting" for his departure, Serenity returned. "He's awake," she told them with a smile. "The nurse came in and chased me out, but says we'll be able to visit him one at a time when she's done with him."

Nobody argued in the slightest that Yugi should go first.

"Hey, bro!" Joey exclaimed happily when Yugi walked in. "Am I glad ta see you!" Yugi grinned, dragging a chair up to sit at Joey's side.

Joey gave him a hug as he sat, careful of his own bruised and cracked ribs. Yugi hugged him gently back. "I'm glad to see you too, Joey. What would we have done with ourselves without you?" Joey grinned cockily.

"Not even a limo can get rid of me with one shot!" Joey retorted. He paused. "Well, maybe a train..."

Yugi knew better than pursue a subject like this. "Just keep away from them, Joey."

Joey lay his head back soberly. "Can you imagine how Yami might have reacted to this?" he asked.

Yugi sighed. "I don't know, Joey. He didn't really-- understand modern transportation. I'd probably still be explaining it the week after. He kept it to himself, but he was always fascinated by Kaiba's helicopters."

Joey snorted. "Did Serenity tell you what he offered to do?" Yugi shook his head. "Well, of course not. Kaiba offered to find Mai and tell her what's happened! Can ya believe it?"

Yugi was silent a moment, remembering the haunted look in Kaiba's eyes the night before. "Yes," he said.

Bakura stared at Téa, who hadn't moved from her spot except to hug Serenity when she told them Joey was awake. Serenity had left for the gift shop, Duke and Tristan following her, and who knew where Mokuba had lit off to. They were alone.

He stood and walked over to her, kneeling to put himself in her view. "Téa, you've been nearly silent for days, now. It's not healthy for a teenage girl not to be talking nonstop, you know?"

Téa sighed and looked away from him, straightening. "I haven't had much to talk about, Bakura. Ever since--" She sighed again. Bakura didn't have to ask.

He got up and sat next to her, putting an arm over her shoulder. "Atem is in a better place, Téa. He's at rest now. I don't know what else to tell you. I know it doesn't make you feel any better, but..." he swallowed. "I'm here for you."

Téa looked up into his endless dark eyes and smiled weakly, leaning into him.

"Thank you," she said, kissing his chin.

"So what do you plan on getting Joey?" Tristan asked Serenity, hovering over her.

"I can pay for it if you like!" Duke offered with an amorous grin, pushing Tristan aside.

Serenity glared tiredly at the both of them. "Not now, you two. Just leave me alone. I need to think."

"You heard her! Leave her alone!" "What? YOU'RE the one who was..." Pushing and shoving, they wrestled their way out of the gift shop.

Serenity sighed gratefully. As well-meaning as they were, both tended to be pretty overbearing. That wasn't what she needed right now.

What was going on in Kaiba's head? Joey had always told her that he was a total jerk, usually only ever thinking of himself. Since last night he'd been the epitome of generosity.

Or was he really? There was the strong possibility he'd been acting out of guilt. But did guilt really affect one such as he so heavily?

She smiled to herself, blushing a little as she remembered how he'd trembled at her touch, flinched away as if in fear. How stubborn he was! He'd stared directly at his quivering hand and told her he wasn't shaking.

Serenity plucked a get well card off a stand, quickly replacing it with some annoyance. She could write better cards than this herself. But there WERE plush Duel Monsters.

She found a Red-Eyes Black Dragon, chibi in its toy form, and hugged it experimentally. "This is perfect for Joey," Serenity decided happily. "He'll crack up, at least."

"I bet he will," said a voice at her side.

"Yeep!" Serenity jumped away to see Mokuba Kaiba looking up at her with a mischievous grin. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Mokuba smiled slyly. "Like what?" He held up something. It glittered in his hand. "This is for you."

Serenity took the little box and pulled away the foil wrap. Inside was a silver pendant. "What is it?" she asked, feeling rather stupid. Mokuba giggled.

"Open it up and look," he said, and it suddenly occurred to her he was delivering this for his brother. Carefully, she slid her fingernails under the cover and popped the locket open.

"Oh!" she exclaimed delightedly. She didn't have to ask how he'd gotten a picture of Joey with his Duel Disk on-- after all, he'd dueled in both of Kaiba's more recent tournaments.

"That was taken during the Grand Prix," Mokuba explained. "Seto took a lot more pictures of that one."

Serenity nodded. "I watched it on TV," she said with a smile. "Poor Joey." She shook her head, grinning. "He never gets a break, does he?" She turned to Mokuba. "Is this from you, or your brother?"

Mokuba's grin widened, and she knew the truth. "I won't lie, but I'm not telling the truth, either," he answered her. He skipped away, humming some old song.

Serenity fingered the beautiful silver, and she smiled.

To be continued.

Golden: Look! Téa kissed Bakura's chin!

Silver: You're easily amused, aren't you, little Hikari.