Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh. Enough said.

Once again, I thank my reviewers and I'm hoping that I won't disappoint anyone : )

(a/n: In the last chapter, some of my formatting got messed up, so the chapter pretty much looked like one long scene when there was supposed to be three – first Tea's dance class, then a short snippet of a conversation between Yami and Yugi, and then finally Joey and Mai's appearance. So, I'm sorry if that caused any confusion.) Now onto the story:

"So where are you spending Christmas, Tea?" Collette, her roommate at Livingston, asked as she leaned over her bed to grab a sweater that was slipping haphazardly off the mountain of clothing that sat next to an open suitcase.

"Oh you know, I'm just –"

"Stupid suitcase!" Collette interjected angrily. "Honestly, how am I supposed to pack everything I need to bring home over break in this little thing?" she muttered as she tried unsuccessfully to cram two sweaters and three pairs of jeans into an already overly stuffed trunk.

"Umm – maybe you should leave some stuff here?" Tea offered helpfully.

Laughing, Collette raised her brows amusedly, clearly showing that that was not an option. At the same time, as her eyes had lit up merrily, she flashed Tea an apologetic smile, "But I'm sorry; I cut you off right before you could answer my question. Bad, bad me! Really, please continue. You're going to-" she prodded.

"Well, I'm just going back to Domino City . . ."

"China, right?"

"Not quite," Tea replied, smiling slightly – most people she'd met here at Livingston had difficulty distinguishing amongst the Asian countries, but it had ceased to bother her a long time ago.

"Oh, right! Japan!"

"Mmhmm."

"You don't sound so thrilled." Collette noted lightly. "Now don't be offended, but even I, who has a family more dysfunctional than I care to describe, am over the top happy with the prospect of getting back home, so why shouldn't you be? From what you've told me about your life back in Domino, well, it sounds damn good. It certainly outshines mine."

"I don't know, Collette," Tea sighed as she flopped onto her bed, her eyes trained on the ceiling. "It's just that I feel guilty and I'm . . . well, I'm kind of afraid to go back and face everyone. The sad thing is that I'm not even sure if they want to see me."

Concerned, Collette put down the clothes she was folding and sat down on her bed, her face propped up on her palms. Soothingly, she began, "Now, what good reason would they have for not wanting to see you? Just what do you feel so guilty about that you're afraid to face your friends, who, from the looks of all those pictures you have displayed on your nightstand and bureau, love you?"

Rolling over so that her back faced Collette and so that she faced the window, where outside the rain that had begun to steadily pour down, drenching the city in a torrent of grey skies, Tea murmured regretfully, "Things change, especially when you go away."

Her mouth parted slightly in a display of sympathy and pity, Collette slowly resumed her packing. After a prolonged silence she filled her voice with a surfeit of cheeriness and said, "Back in Kansas, where I live-."

"That's in the U.S., right?" Tea asked attempting to show interest in what Collette was saying, but instead her voice came off dull and lifeless.

Hearing the forlorn voice, Collette was dismayed, but she plowed on, determined to lighten her friend's mood, "Yep. I tell you what though, your geography sure is better than mine. But anyhow, back in Kansas, when it rains half the time the sun is still out so there's this beautiful light shining through the downpour. When I was a kid I used to love walking home from school in it . . . but do you know what is even better than the rain? The snow! Oh, during the winter when it'd snow, I'd sit in front of the fireplace and drink hot chocolate and sit wrapped in an afghan and it was just magical –"

Tea sighed internally; Collette was a truly great person, but at the moment, all Tea wanted was for her to just let up and leave her be. She knew that Collette was trying to help take her mind off her sadness by filling the room with chipper talk, but really, it wasn't working. Still, Tea didn't want to injure her feelings, so she kept quiet and allowed her roommate's talk to fade into a lulling sound where she heard what was being said but at the same time, the words didn't register in her mind. They simply flowed in and out, as predictable as a tide rising and falling in the ocean, while growing more and more indistinct and distant as Collette continued to speak.

It was almost as if Tea were drowning, like the time she had slipped into the deep depths of the Pacific Ocean off the coast of a small Japanese fishing town when she was six. At the present moment, on one level, Tea felt a heightened sense of awareness. She could smell the musky scent of the London rain, so oppressive and thick, and for the first time in a long time, she could feel the tingling in her fingers and she could sense her legs' presence. For a moment, she escaped the monotony that had begun to characterize her time; she wasn't just moving through life ignorant of and unaffected by the sensations of living. An odd euphoria began to seep through her body and it enveloped her in a warm blanket, similar to the feeling she had experienced when she'd drunk three cups of burning hot black coffee for the first time when she was eleven. It had made her heart feel as if were going to disintegrate and she'd felt numbed and suffocated at the same time – a most drugging effect. But on another level, she currently felt confused, as if she had no idea where she was – as if she really was not in her room at Livingston, but on some other plane of existence. Everything felt so foreign . . .

"Mmmmm," Tea murmured in her sleep as she rolled over in her bed, shifting in an attempt to get warm. Her fingers reached instinctively to tug her blanket over her shoulders, but instead, they grasped air. Her brow furrowing, she turned her face into her pillow, in an attempt to avoid fully waking, as she felt sleep begin to slip away and recede into the night. Her efforts were futile though as her eyes began to adjust to the darkened room.

Pushing herself into an upright position, Tea glanced over at her alarm clock only to see the glowing red numbers display the time 1:57AM. Sighing deeply, she stood up and resigned herself to yet another day begun in the early hours of the morning; it wasn't as if this was an all new experience to her; for the last month getting up at 2 a.m. was normal. She attributed this sleep pattern to her growing discomfort over her situation with her friends. She wanted to work it out, but she was afraid that anything she may try would further tear them apart. And so, the easiest thing she could do was shove the negativity aside and pretend life was perfect. Denial, an intrinsic characteristic of humans, was a wonderful thing, Tea believed, or at least she did when she was in one of her more cynical moods, which were growing more and more frequent as the time she spent at Livingston, and in Ms. Camille Dupree's company, increased.

Tiptoeing across the room, so as not to wake Collette, Tea was surprised when she glanced over at the other girl's bed only to find her not in it. Noticing a small envelope, illuminated by the moonlight, lying against the pillow, Tea picked it up and upon seeing that it was addressed to her, pulled out the single sheet of paper that was in it and preceded to the read the note.

Hey Tea –

Well, I'm leaving to catch my plane back home. You were sleeping so peacefully that I didn't want to wake you just to say goodbye, so that's why I'm writing you this note, you know, to say goodbye and that I hope you have a great winter break. Hmm, well, I guess I'll see you in a couple weeks, then. You'll miss me, right? Of course you will! But have no fear; I'll be having a blast in good old Kansas. Cross your fingers that it'll be snowing there because I definitely need it! So, hugs, kisses – the works. I love you very much, roomie – and I'll miss you!

Collette

PS

Everything will be fine when you get home. You've got to believe that, okay, hon? It's all about the faith, girl.

Half-smiling, Tea tucked the note back into the envelope and thought to herself "Too bad you can't buy a can of faith at the grocery store, Collette."


"No. Huh uh. No way. I'm not gonna do it."

"But Joey –"

"No way, Yugi. Don't you remember what happened during fall break last month? What makes you think that I'm going to deal with that again?"

"B-but, it could be different. We didn't give her a chance to defend herself. I mean, I'm sure she has a perfectly good explanation -"

"Yugi – come off of it! She doesn't care anymore. The sooner you let it go the better it'll be for all of us."

"I can't believe that. She's our friend!"

"Tell me then, if she's our friend – wouldn't she have called more 'n twice in four months?"

"She's been busy . . . that's all."

"Naw, that's not it – that fancy shmancy school of hers has gone to her head. Noooo . . . Domino City isn't good enough for her anymore. No, no. London is much more suited to her "sophisticated" tastes."

"Please Joey – give her the chance. Please." Seeing Joey's hesitation, Yugi pressed even further, "Her mother invited us to help put up Christmas decorations like she does every year. It'd be rude not to go."

Joey stamped his foot in annoyance, "Aw, fine. I'll go. Ya happy? I'll go."

"And you'll give her a chance?" After a long pause, Yugi asked again, "Joey – you'll give her a chance, right?"

"Right," Joey said with an obvious effort.

"Promise?"

"Humph . . . okay, okay. I promise."

"It won't be like fall break, you'll see. I promise!" Yugi declared enthusiastically.

"I hope not, Yugi. For your sake, I hope not. Me? I could really care less."

"Joey –" Yugi called as Joey moved past him with an air of indifference and started to walk away. "Joey, wait! Come back!" But despite Yugi's pleas, Joey didn't return.

Sighing sadly, Yugi kicked a loose pebble along the sidewalk until it rolled and disappeared off the path into the park's grassy lawn.

"Yami – you don't think Joey's right, do you?" Waiting in apprehension, Yugi shifted nervously when Yami did not answer and instead kept his eyes averted. "Yami . . . do you?"

"Don't give up hope," Yami said while keeping his voice painstakingly flat and barren of emotion.

"Huhhh!" Yugi exclaimed, visibly taken aback at Yami's unexpected response.


Wrapping her thin jacket more tightly around her body, Tea tried to stay warm as she walked down a deserted path in a beautifully landscaped park. Surrounded by the dark silhouettes of trees and the stately stone benches that were located beneath them, she couldn't help but feel her worry at her forthcoming return home ease up.

Smiling to herself, she pointed her toes as she walked and held her head in a dancer's pose, which on anyone else would come across as almost arrogant. Her glittering eyes, shining of happiness and self content, however, kept her from appearing haughty and aristocratic; instead, a subtle gentility characterized her features.

As she continued down the path, humming and taking graceful leaps across puddles from the earlier inundation of rain, she noticed a group of teenagers standing off in the distance screaming out in fits of laughter – the pure, unquestionable epitome of mirth and good feeling. Watching them interact, Tea tried desperately to brush off thoughts of times in the past when she'd been like that with Joey, Tristan, and Yugi – and the more she thought of it, Serenity, Duke, and Mai.

Pushing a few strands of hair away from her face as the chilly and brisk wind picked up, Tea averted her eyes from the group of people as she passed them. It pained her too much to see them – it was too blunt of a visible reminder of what she was steadily losing in her life – her friends.

"Hey guys!" Tea said nervously, her cheerful voice sounding forced and entirely unnatural. Standing before her friends upon her return to Domino for fall break, she felt a growing discomfort as she tried again to get them to say something, "What's going on? . . . How have you all been since I've been away?"

"Oh wouldn't ya like to know?" Joey retorted angrily.

"What do you mean?" she asked tensely. She didn't know why she'd bothered to ask – she knew full well what he was referring to.

"What do I mean? What do I mean? Ya know what I mean - you can't just come waltzing back home and expect things to be just peachy after what ya've done!"

"Look, I'm sorry! I can't change what I did. I didn't do it intentionally – I've been busy! Honestly!"

"You've been busy for three months? Ya've been too busy for THREE WHOLE MONTHS to pick up a phone for five minutes?" Joey sneered, laughing in disbelief. "Wow, Tea. Ya know, I never took you to be a liar, but then again – I guess we all make mistakes."

"Easy, Joey – just take it easy, okay?" Tristan interjected.

"Thank you Tristan," Tea breathed a sigh of relief; she still had someone on her side.

Turning to face her, Tristan shook his head and said impersonally, "Don't think for one second that I'm doing this for you, Tea. Don't think that I'm on your side. What you did was wrong. I hate what you did as much as Joey does, but I just don't see the use in getting worked up over it. What's done is done. There's nothing else that needs to be said."

"I don't know what to say," Tea reached out to put a hand on his arm, but he simply pulled back with a look that clearly said "No." Allowing her hand to fall limply to her side, she stood pale and shocked.

"Say? You don't know what to say, Tea? How about an explanation, hmm?" Joey asked staring at her coldly.

"I-I-"

"An honest explanation," he emphasized.

Turning her gaze away from Joey and Tristan, she realized at that moment that she hadn't been honest with them, not in the least bit. She hadn't been too busy to call or write a letter at all – she'd lost her faith in her friends; after the first week of dance classes, Camille had slowly corrupted her with the idea that her friends weren't supportive, that in fact they were a hindrance in the path of her goal to be a dancer. And so, she had stopped calling. She had essentially abandoned them – cut them out of her life within a few months.

"You're right. I wasn't honest," she said regretfully, her heart wrenching. "I failed being a good friend. I lost my faith in you all. I let my dreams get to my head and I was selfish," she intoned as her throat constricted. "You've got to believe me though," she begged with a burst of vitality, "I'm sorry! I love you guys. I do!"

"Yeah, well, little good that does ya. It doesn't take away what's happened these last three months!" Joey said, shaking his head. "Ya just don't get it. While ya were away in London doing your thing, ya didn't see what your "selfishness" did to us. Ya didn't see how Yugi was worried about something happening to ya. Ya didn't see him waiting for you to call. And do ya know what the sickest part was? While you were so busy dancing, when ya gave up on the gang – Yugi never once gave up on you."

"Please, just stop! I can't take it!"

"Well, get used to it because you're gonna listen, Tea," Joey declared. "Yugi never gave up on you! Never! So, this is how I see it, Ms. Hotshot - not only are ya a liar, but you're a hypocrite too."

"Hypocrite?" Tea cried out, baffled.

"Yeah – hypocrite! Ya've always carried on about friendship being the most important thing and now ya've shown otherwise! Where are your friendship pep talks now?"

"STOP IT!!!" Everyone turned to look at Yugi who had been standing silently leaning against the kitchen counter in his house, his back facing the others. Now, turning around he cried out, "You heard me! Stop it! I don't want to hear this any more! I just don't want to!" Pushing his way out of the kitchen he ran out of the house to escape.

"See what ya've done?" Joey hissed. "Look what ya've done to him! Look!"

Flinching at the memory, she grimaced as she could still hear the anger in Joey's voice, and it killed her. But what hurt worse was the look she'd seen in Yugi's eyes the split second before he'd left her standing in the kitchen, alone with Tristan and Joey – betrayal.

Dear god . . . what have I done? What have I done?

Feeling a wave of emotion bear down on her, she broke into a sprint as she hurried to get back to Livingston. When she reached the tall building and had managed to get back into her bedroom with her bedroom door closed and locked behind her, Tea sank to the floor, tears rolling down her face.

For two hours she sat motionless, the words of despair "What have I done?" rolling unendingly through her head.


"Well, mom, it sure is great to be home," Tea said smiling as her mother poured her a cup of hot chocolate.

"And I'm glad that you are home. I've missed you, sweetie. How've you been? It feels like I haven't seen my baby in forever!" Mrs. Gardner replied her voice musical as she relished in the feeling of having her daughter home for winter break.

"Truthfully, mom," Tea began quietly, her voice losing it's contented undertone, "I'm not doing so good."

"What do you mean? Are you sick?" her mother asked her concernedly.

"No. No it's not that – it's me . . . and Yugi . . . and Joey . . . and Tristan." Sighing she gave her mother a tired smile, "I've screwed up big time, mom."

"Oh, come now, hon. It can't be so horrible."

"They hate me – all of them. And the worst part is that I can't blame them. And do you know what the next worst part is? Even though I know they hate me, and even though it hurts so much that I've hurt Yugi – I can't stop thinking about a guy I like. How sick am I? And to top it all off, the guy I like is Ya – umm, a close friend of Yugi's." Tea amended quickly.

"Darling, that's natural. These little 'riffs' in friendships happen, but you'll smooth things over!"

"Diiiiiiing donnnnnnng," the sound of the doorbell being rung reverberated throughout the Gardner house.

"And guess what, Tea? I think you just may get the chance to patch things up – right now!"

"What?" Tea asked, jolting up from the couch.

"I invited them to help decorate the house for Christmas – isn't it a great idea? It'll be like old times for you guys!"

"No, mom! This is a bad idea – a very, very bad idea!"

Raising her eyebrows, Mrs. Gardner gave Tea a look that clearly said, "We'll see," as she opened the door to let in the guys. Smiling broadly at them, she gestured them into the house and then offered to take their coats.

Standing up, Tea wiped her palms nervously against her jeans as she once again stood before her old friends. "Hey," she whispered – it was all she could manage.

Yugi smiled slightly as he greeted her with a "Hello," causing her face to brighten. Joey and Tristan, however, stood with eyes averted down toward their shuffling feet.

Seeing the awkwardness, Mrs. Gardner cleared her throat and announced that she had to go do some errands. Showing her self out, she crossed her fingers in hopes that the kids would work things out if they were given the opportunity to.

"You guys, please, let's not do this," Tea implored after her friends showed no willingness or effort to speak to her. "We're closer than this! I know we are! Don't you feel that way at all?" Tea's faced flushed in desperation as she realized that she was wrong when she had told herself that her friends being angry at her was the worst feeling. No, she had been wrong – what was worse was that right now two out of three of her best friends stood before her with an air of indifference to her existence. They were cutting her out of her lives right before her eyes.

"Yeah, come up guys," Yugi pleaded, "you all said you'd try to –"

"We said that we'd come support you, Yugi. We couldn't care less about her," Joey said flatly.

"But you're not supporting me! In order to support me you've got to cooperate - you're hurting me as much as she has!" Yugi exclaimed in frustration.

Wincing at Yugi's words regarding how she'd hurt him, Tea turned again to face Tristan and Joey, "I'm so sorry. Believe me! I know you can. Believe that I'm not lying! I am so sorry! I can't say it enough!"

"Ya hurt him, Tea. Ya hurt my best friend. I can't forgive that with a simple 'I'm sorry,'" Joey said, almost regretfully.

"But Yugi wants you to! Don't you, Yugi?"

"Of course!"

"See? So won't you two forgive me? Yes, I'll admit it the same way I admitted it last month – I made a mistake. I jeopardized our friendship; I ripped it apart with my selfishness, but you said it yourself Joey – everyone makes mistakes! Even me! I'm not perfect! But if you honestly think I'd be so stupid as to make that mistake again after the hell that I'm going through now then you're a fool."

Pausing Joey relented slightly, his voice taking on a less apathetic tone, "So answer this one question – if you wanted to fix our friendship so much, why didn't you try after you got back to London last month?"

"I was terrified! I was so terrified of this happening that I forced myself to believe that everything was okay between all of us. I'm sorry but I can't change what I did. I wish I could. I wish I didn't alienate you guys. I wish that you didn't have to go through times when you thought I didn't care, but I was so scared! I abandoned you guys! I know I did. But I don't ever want to do it again!"

A quiet settled down over the room as everyone remained absolutely motionless. Slowly Joey turned to look at Tea and then a smile spread across his face as he nodded his head once before breaking out into a smile. Grabbing her arm he gave her a hug and laughed out, "I thought the gang was gonna lose a member there for a couple months, but I'm glad to say I was wrong."

"Well, it's about time that this thing is worked out," Tristan said breathing a sigh of relief as Joey and Tea embraced.

"Yeah . . ." Tea whispered contentedly, a smile spreading across her face, as the stun of the changing tide gave way. Nevertheless, her eyes held a regretful look as she glanced over at Yugi who gave her a quick smile. Returning the gesture, Tea announced cheerfully that Joey and Tristan ought to go dig around in the closest for Christmas decorations while she and Yugi began working on baking cookies.

"Oh yeah, cookies – now that's what I'm talking about!" Joey exclaimed, punching the air with his fist.

"It's always about food with you, isn't it?" Tristan replied in exasperation.

"Yep – I think it's rather smart, I mean –," Joey began as he and Tristan walked down the hall in search of decorations.

Once they were safely out of hearing distance, Tea turned to Yugi and simply said, "I'm sorry, Yugi – for everything. I still can't believe I shut you guys out of my life like that. I was so stupid."

"No, Tea – not stupid. I think that you were just in over your head. But you've surfaced and are as good as new again. And don't feel too guilty, I mean, I can't count the number of times I've been selfish and put myself before you -,"

"The reason that you count the number is because you've been nothing but good to me," Tea replied ruefully.

"Oh, nonsense! What about that time when I . . . um, well . . ."

Laughing, Tea glanced over at the comical expression of confusion on Yugi's face, "See!"

"Still . . ." Yugi said sheepishly, "0-1 mistakes aren't that big of a difference."

He's so caring and he's such a good friend. I can't believe I ever hurt him the way I did. I can't believe I hurt Joey and Tristan . . . and Yami. God, what does he think about me now? Probably that I'm a horrible, horrible person who doesn't deserve Yugi's friendship. I don't think he'll ever forgive me . . . oh shut up, Tea! Here you are just rebuilding your friendship with Yugi, your best friend, and all you can think about is Yami . . . and how you've hurt him. There I go again. Focus. Yugi.


"Ah shut up, Tristan!" Joey laughed out as Tristan protested.

"Here's an idea," Tea cut in, thrilled to be back on great terms with her friends, "why don't both of you shut up?"

"Nah," Joey replied after pretending to give her suggestion a proper amount of consideration.

"Well, if you guys won't take my advice, I'll just have to retire to another room!" Tea said jokingly. Still laughing she got up to brush the crumbs off her jeans. Noticing that the plate of cookies she'd baked was now empty, she excused herself to the kitchen to refill it.

Even after she'd made her way into the kitchen, the laughter followed her, causing a warm happiness to swell up in her. Life was getting better; her mom was right, as always. Suddenly in the mood for a little Christmas music, Tea reached over the counter and flicked on the radio, fumbling with the dial until she reached a station that was playing "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas." Humming along to the tune, she began to dance around in the kitchen as she arranged another batch of cookies onto a porcelain, hand-painted, plate of her grandmother's.

Tea came to a stop suddenly. She hadn't noticed before, but standing out on the backyard patio was Yami, who was leaning against the railing, shoulders hunched over, and appearing very deep in thought. Reluctant to disturb him, Tea started to back out of the kitchen, but realizing that this could be her only chance to talk to him alone, she made her way over to the sliding screen door and slipped noiselessly out onto the deck.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" Tea asked after a moment's silence, when he didn't appear to take note of her presence.

Turning his head, Tea's blue gaze collided with his violet one, causing her stomach to lurch and her head to swim. I've hurt him. I've hurt him and I don't know how to make it better.

"Yes, it is a beautiful evening."

"It's cold though," Tea remarked.

"Mmhmm," Yami agreed civilly in a tone of voice one would use on an acquaintance - there was no trace of a deeper friendship, which hurt Tea, but at the same time, he displayed no signs of anger, which she supposed could be either good or bad.

"Look! It's starting to snow," Tea exclaimed, momentarily forgetting the awkwardness between them.

"Look Yami – the first snow of this winter - and on Christmas, at that. Isn't it beautiful?"

Tea closed her eyes briefly at the memory, which had taken place almost exactly one year ago, as it flashed across her mind.

"It is," Yami replied, exactly as he had the previous Christmas, but this time, no hint of a deeper desire was held in his voice.

Tea turned away briefly, her hands clenching the railing of the deck. "I'm sorry," she burst out suddenly with a passion that surprised even her. "I've apologized and fixed things up with everyone except you, Yami . . . I need to tell you that I'm sorry. I know that I probably seem like a horrible person to you . . . hurting Yugi the way I did . . . I don't know what I was thinking . . . I'm so sorry!" Breathing heavily, with her chest heaving, Tea waited on edge for him to respond.

"You're sorry you hurt . . . Yugi?"

"Yes!"

"I see," Yami said abruptly.

"What? What did I say? I don't understand . . ."

"You're sorry you hurt Yugi, but you're not sorry for hurting me –" he stopped speaking almost immediately and clenched his hands as he quickly hid his emotions and again put up his impassive façade.

Almost slapping herself for her stupidity, Tea realized that she'd just added insult to injury by making it seem as if she only wanted to apologize for hurting Yugi. "Let me start over, please . . . we weren't such good friends last Christmas. We were acquaintances, at best. But I think our friendship grew and you became someone . . . someone very special to me. And then I went away and screwed up and now here we are. And I know I hurt you and everyone else by ignoring you all and so I'm sorry. I wish I could take it back but all I can do is attempt . . . attempt to make it up to you. I just don't know how I will yet."

Struggling to remain detached, he finally said between biting breaths of the night's chilly air, "It is better that we're like this."

"What? How can you say that? I –" Tea began, but her words dropped off as her gaze again met his and she saw an indescribable look pass across his handsome features. And at that moment she knew. "Yami . . ." she said, her mouth parting in shock at the steady look in his eyes that mirrored the one that he had given her last Christmas.

Feeling as if something was pulling her to him, Tea whispered again, this time as a question, "Yami . . . ?"

"Nothing can happen . . . between us," he said flatly, although his eyes betrayed him as he began to lean slightly, almost imperceptibly closer to her. "Nothing can happen . . ."

"Right . . ." Tea agreed as she too began to draw nearer, "nothing whatsoever."

Closing the gap between each other, Yami finally grasped her lips in a painfully sweet and gentle kiss as he simultaneously wrapped one arm around her back and slipped his other hand against her cheek, tilting her face up to his.

Tea, shocked at first into inaction, soon recovered and pressed her self closer to him by wrapping her arms around his neck, and she realized at once that she was falling harder and faster for him than could be safe.

Pulling away slightly, Yami looked down into her azure eyes.

Let her go. You can't do this; it isn't right. It isn't fair to her . . . or Yugi. Stop this . . . now . . . before you end up causing her more hurt than you will. You will hurt her – it's inevitable.

While the thoughts tumbled through his mind, tearing him into two directions, he stared down into her eyes that were warmly encouraging him to continue his ministrations and he began to feel his resolve weaken. Bending down again, he kissed her once more, this time more deeply, as the snow began to fall more heavily and more clearly as the pure white fell against the blackened canvas of the night.