Hello again and as you can tell from the title, the group finally realise how long they've been away. It's all to do with an old face they meet… But I won't spoil what's going to happen so onto the replies!

Lia Xaragi – Yay, you know the theme tune! And don't worry, I appreciate all comments, whether they're complements or criticisms! Good luck with the fan club, I'm not sure how many members you'll have though… I'm glad you liked what happened last chapter but I think you can only truly appreciate the Trial scene when you listen to the song that the lines are taken from (it is a brilliant song, The Trial by Pink Floyd). Glad to know you found it freaky though! But remember…I love long reviews! They make me happy because it's nice to know that people have lots of things to say about the story. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one. You'll finally find out what's happened to Téa.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated with Yu-Gi-Oh, including characters and plot. However, I do own the story and two OCs! But you'll find out more about them in the chapter/episode/part thingy, as they'll become quite important.

Warning: The start of the psychological stuff (which has been researched) means that you might get confused. So if you get confused easily then…well I hope it makes sense soon.

Note: "Blah" is speaking, #blah# is thinking and songs /blah/ is emphasis and ((blah)) is mental link between Yugi and Yami. xxxxxx and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx are dividers in a chapter.

So, some psychological stuff, two OCs and an old face! Hmm, this is going to be very interesting…

Chapter nine: Time and the Changes it brings

"Come on guys, it's time to get up." This was the greeting Seto and Joey got the next morning from Malik, who looked bleary eyed at having just been up for the last three hours. Joey frowned as he groaned, feeling a lot warmer than he should have done lying in a cave with not a lot of layers on. Then he suddenly remembered Seto. He smiled, turning into a grin when he felt a pair of arms tighten around him.

"Morning love." He saw icy blue eyes staring at him and reached up, kissing him briefly before sitting up properly. He opened his mouth to reply but closed it again, seeing the others were all awake and watching them intently.

"At last! Now we can get moving!" Malik said huffily, throwing his hands in the air before winking at them. "Not that it's not great that you're back together again and all that." He added as an afterthought.

"Uh…" Joey was ready to sink into a nicely positioned hole in the ground, not used to anyone talking about their relationships so openly.

((Let's go then, I think I saw a town not too far from here.)) Trust Yugi to always save his ass… He took this opportunity to stand up and try and calm himself down before following them out of the cave.

They stood for a moment; staring at the wall they had overcome the night before, almost hidden in the light of day by the surrounding forest. Yugi then pointed out the town and they started to make their way to a path which led towards it, a small break in the sea of trees…

"Hey, what are we going to do once we get there? I mean, we're going to need somewhere to stay and all that…" Ah, the question which no one had been brave enough to ask so far. But now Yami had brought the subject up and it wasn't something they could afford to ignore for any longer. There seemed to be a collective sigh as they tried to find an answer.

"Well, it's been over a year since it all happened so it may be safe enough for me to try and get onto the system. I might be able to do something about our accounts and hopefully we can at least take enough out to last us a little while until we work out what to do." Bakura suddenly suggested and Seto looked at him in interest.

"Could you do that from a public computer?"

"It might take a little while but I'm willing to give it a try. We might even be able to find out what they've got on us if we're lucky." He shrugged his shoulders. "If would have to be an up to date computer though, something with Internet access."

"Well, there should be an Internet café somewhere around here. If you and Seto work on that, we can get them something to eat and then look for some local hotels." Duke said, indicating the five teens they had recently rescued.

"Goody, I haven't hacked onto anything for ages! Especially your system Seto." Bakura rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I can't wait!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Seto sat in the chair next to Bakura, idly aware of the argument Yami was having with Malik about the sensibilities of giving chocolate to people who hadn't eaten properly for a long time. He turned back to the screen, noticing with slight worry that Bakura has an almost inhuman grin on his face. Obviously he looked forward to showing Seto how easily it was to hack onto his own system. Not that he really cared anymore, the company wasn't even his. He didn't have anything left…

"Here we go, the details of your various accounts. Which one do you want me to fiddle around with Seto or does it not matter?" Bakura quickly realised he wasn't listening. "Seto, are you paying attention?"

"I don't have anything left now, it's all gone…" He mumbled, staring down into his lap.

"You've only just realised that now! Yes Seto, we don't have anything at all but we can't do anything to change it unless you help me. You're the one who's got the most money so it's important we get it out. Now, which one is it?" Bakura's sharp tone shook Seto out of his reverie and he glanced over the screen.

"Third one down."

"Thank you Seto." Bakura said sincerely, fingers flying across the keyboard. "I'm sorry for snapping at you but we don't have time to think about what we don't have anymore. We've got them back and that's all that matters to me. I'm sorry you don't have your company, I know you really wanted to take it over as soon as you could but now you can start up your own one, you know, like the one you talked about in the swimming pool. And it'll be better because everything you'll have done will be your own work…"

"Yes, you're right. Thanks for telling me that." Seto smiled warmly at Bakura and he smiled back. "Are you having any trouble?"

"No, not really. I think they seem to have forgotten you had your own account, maybe they assumed you'd just try for the main one?"

"No, they just didn't realise I have it. I didn't tell anyone because I was going to use the money for a take over bid."

"Ah, sneaky Mr Kaiba. I get a feeling you will one day be a fine CEO." Bakura glanced over the writing on the screen and frowned. "Apparently your account is frozen…but only because they got the pin number wrong three times." Seto smirked at this.

"Wouldn't surprise me, they were all idiots at the company."

"Then all I have to do is reset the counter on your account…" He did so and turned to Seto. "Do you want to go now while I work on finding out what's going on with our files?"

Seto agreed to this and he quickly left the café, noticing with slight amusement that there were five empty plates covered in chocolate crumbs sitting in front of five very sick looking teenagers. Obviously chocolate had not been a good idea…

xxxxxx

"Well I found out several interesting things…" Seto was now back with the others in the café, along with Bakura. "They know we're missing and there's a reward for capturing us, only if we're dead though."

"What? A reward? Are they that bothered about us?" Yami exclaimed before grimacing slightly. "This makes things slightly more awkward."

"Luckily I don't think it's something that the whole of America is going to know about so I don't think we have to worry about it too much for the moment. What we really have to concern ourselves with is finding a hotel to stay in and then once we're clean, we're going to look for this address." Bakura laid out the sheet of printed paper on the table and the others glanced at it, wondering what it was about.

"What's there then?" Duke asked and Bakura smiled slightly, pointing to the first line of it. "Téa Simpson…I don't understand, why is she important?"

"Because her maiden name is Gardner. She is now married to a Mr David Simpson." Bakura said triumphantly and instantly there was excitement around the table.

"Seriously? How do you know this is her?"

"I looked up her file. She's been deleted from the Domino system, which means they were forced to leave. Obviously they've set up home here and I was thinking we could try and find her, talk to her-"

"But what if she doesn't want to? We could just be bringing back bad memories for her…" Yami pointed out and Bakura nodded his head in understanding.

"I thought that too but we could at least try. I mean, there's no harm in that. But we should leave it for today, we need to clean up first."

Agreeing in this, the group set off towards the hotel. Yugi and the others had hardly said anything at all and they were worried about this, so they decided to use tonight as an opportunity to talk to them properly. After all, they hadn't really had a say in any of this, they had just sat there and watched the five of them talk around them. But they were going to make sure they understood before tomorrow…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Kury, what we doing?" Ryou asked as they sat in what was going to be their room for the rest of the week. It was quite nice actually, with an en suite bathroom and two fairly large beds with the usual TV and other electrical appliances.

"We're going to give you a bath-"

"A bath?" Ryou repeated in childish awe and Bakura nodded his head.

"Yes, and then we're going to look for Téa tomorrow. Do you remember Téa?" Bakura watched as Ryou screwed his face up in concentration before hesitantly nodding his head.

"Little things. I know what she looks like, she used to be a friend…" Ryou beamed, proud of having remembered this seemingly insignificant fact and Bakura laughed, nodding in agreement.

"That's right, she was a friend. Hopefully we can be friends with her again." Bakura explained before standing up and stretching. "But now it's time for a bath."

"Eek, a bath!" Ryou screeched before attempting to run away, although Bakura noticed a glint in his eyes. He obviously wanted this to be a game. Bakura was painfully reminded of the game of 'It' they had played so long ago now but pushed this aside, there was no point in thinking about it.

"Rar, the bath monster is coming to get you!" Bakura strode after Ryou with big steps, waving his arms around madly and Ryou shrieked loudly, backing away from him. But suddenly he stopped and crossed his arms.

"You don't scare me!" He leapt for Bakura, making a war like cry. "I'll defeat the nasty bath monster!"

Soon both of them were lying on the floor, Ryou giggling madly as he rested on top of Bakura. He put his arms around his neck and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of Bakura and the rhythm of his chest moving up and down.

"Kury, you won't let monsters get me, will you?" He asked quietly and Bakura lifted his head up with difficulty in order to see the emotions on Ryou's face. He didn't look too scared though…maybe he just wanted reassurance.

"Of course I won't Ryou, you'll be safe with me." Bakura said, stroking his hair lightly. Ryou seemed pleased with this and closed his eyes again, resting his head on his chest.

"Bath monster?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you take me to your lair now please?"

Bakura smiled at the cuteness of Ryou before sitting up and carrying him into the bathroom, holding him tightly to make sure he knew Bakura was telling the truth. He would never let anyone hurt his angel…

xxxxxx

((Yami, what do you think Téa will say when she sees us?)) Yugi asked, using Yami as a rest while they sat together on the bed.

"I don't know. I just hope she'll let us talk to her, just so we can make sure she's all right. I mean, if she's been taken off the system she must have done something. But she's got an address here so she might be ok, maybe she was able to settle down…" Yami speculated and then shrugged his shoulders. "But there's no point in worrying about it, we'll find out for sure tomorrow. We should have baths and then go to bed."

((A bath? Yami, I don't want to…)) Yugi sat up properly and shook his head almost violently. ((I don't want to be alone…))

"But you won't be, I'll be here. No one's going to get you…"

((But what if I need help? You won't hear me.)) Yugi whined and Yami frowned, wondering what all the fuss was about. He wouldn't be that far and didn't Yugi trust him to make sure he was safe? ((Yes, I do…but…I'm so scared that if I'm hurt, you won't be there…)) He paused and Yami leant closer, willing for Yugi to finish his sentence. ((Like the last time.))

Yami recoiled away from this last statement, he had never realised that Yugi had so much hate underneath everything else that he had lost his faith in Yami to look after him and that he was alone in all of this. Yami stood up, facing away from Yugi as he tried to work out what to do. Yugi obviously couldn't be reassured and apart from that, what else could he do? It all suddenly seemed pointless…

((I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that…))

"No, you're right. I wasn't there to protect you and there's nothing I can do or say to make you realise that I'll be here right next to you to make sure you're ok. I'm sorry I can't do that for you…"

((It doesn't matter Yami, just be here for me now.)) Yugi got up and wrapped his arms around Yami. ((Sit with me please, while I have a bath?)) Yami could feel the blush on his face and was pretty sure Yugi was reacting in the same way, which only served to make Yami even more embarrassed.

"If you're sure…"

((Yes Yami. I love you, and I trust you too.)) A smile crawled its way onto Yami's face and he nodded his head, taking Yugi's hand in his.

"I love you too and I'm glad you trust me enough to do this…" For some unknown reason, this made Yugi laugh as he skipped off to the bathroom, dragging Yami behind him.

xxxxxx

"That feels better! I can't remember the last time I was near water that clean…" Tristan said, laughing at the slightly worried look on Duke's face as he lay sprawled on the bed. He shrugged his shoulders before collapsing onto the bed too, staring up at the ceiling. "Is there anything on TV?"

"I don't know, I haven't really looked yet…" Duke replied, automatically lifting up the remote and pressing the power button. "Are you not tired then?"

"No, not really. But maybe the TV will send me off to sleep…" Duke still didn't know about the real reason why Tristan was never tired but he wasn't going to tell him anytime soon.

"Maybe you're right…"

Soon images flickered on the screen, all of them bright and glaring against their faces as Duke flicked through the channels, trying to find something that wasn't screaming out of the appliance. They soon settled on an old black and white film, one of the many that seemed to revolve around two people who wanted to be together but for some reason, weren't allowed to (Note from Chen: You know what I'm talking about, they're always in scenes in films where someone's in a hotel watching something completely random on the TV). Duke hardly noticed the fact that he and Tristan seemed to be in a similar situation, more concerned about falling asleep. He could have told Tristan to turn the TV off but he realised that he needed it to be on so he shrugged it off, figuring his brain would shut itself down when it couldn't cope anymore.

This didn't seem to take too long and soon it was just Tristan staring blankly at the screen, trying to be interested enough in what was happening to want to see what the ending was and so put off sleep for a little longer. He knew he couldn't fight against it forever but the less time he spent sleeping, the chance of 'it' happening was less. He didn't think about 'it' too much, it just made him more frightened than he already was. He knew that Duke was asleep and taking one of the pillows, placed it under his head before straightening him out slightly so he wouldn't wake up with back pain.

Now that this was done, Tristan just had to wait and see how long he could keep himself awake for. He just needed it to be long enough so he wouldn't have to see 'it', waking up drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably…

xxxxxx

Joey stared at the ceiling, for some reason unable to get to sleep, although he knew he was tired and he had laid here long enough for his brain to switch off. Sighing, he rolled onto his side, only to be faced with a pair of blue eyes staring at him while the eyebrows were furrowed in concern. Wondering how long Seto had been awake for, Joey quickly turned away, embarrassed that he had been watching him toss and turn.

"Joey, are you ok?" Seto whispered and somehow, this just made it worse. What if he kept him awake every single night?

"Yeah, I just can't get to sleep…" Joey cursed himself slightly for saying that, the fact that he couldn't get to sleep was blindingly obvious to anyone who had a small amount of sense.

"Want to talk about it?" Now this Joey did not expect. He didn't think Seto would say something like that, and be sincere about it at the same time.

"I don't know why I can't sleep, maybe I'm just worried."

"About tomorrow? Are you afraid of what Téa might say when she sees us?" Joey nodded his head, unconsciously shifting closer to Seto so his head was in the crook of his neck.

"What if they brainwashed her so that she thinks we're evil, like they all believe? She may not even remember that we used to be her best friends, all the things we did together…" Joey's voice slightly wavered as he said this last part and Seto suddenly remembered that they had been friends before he had ever met them. And not just him but Yugi and Tristan too. They were probably a lot more worried than he or Bakura or any of the others could comprehend. But then he remembered Marik…

"Then we'll have to keep trying. We'll break whatever they did to her, just like Malik did for Marik." Seto felt Joey hold his breath for a moment before nodding his head. "I don't know how much Marik told you about what happened between them but Malik did, while we were going to find you. Things were pretty bad at the beginning, there were a lot of arguments and crying but they managed to sort it out and we will too. We won't leave her until she remembers us…"

"Thank you Seto." Joey sat up slightly and kissed on briefly on the lips. "I feel better now…"

"As long as you're happy…" Seto murmured, remembering back to what Bakura had said in the café. #He was right, all that matters is that Joey is back with me…#

"Are you happy Seto? Don't you ever think about what you had back then and that all you have now is…well, not a lot." Joey asked in his usual blunt manner and this brought everything into sharp context.

"I have you and that's a lot. You give me so many things a company can't."

"But still, don't you ever wonder what it would have been like if you had managed to take the company? You would have had everything then…"

"No, I would have driven you away and then it would have meant very little. That sort of thing's not important to me anymore."

"That's a lie and you know it Seto! You wanted to run that company more than anything else and being in charge of everything is still important to you. Are you not even going to try and do anything?" Seto felt stung by Joey's words, knowing that although they were the truth, Joey could so easily throw away the importance that Seto placed in him. "Seto, the fact that you love me as much as you do means so much to me because I have so much love for you too but I want you to be happy. Please understand…"

"I know…I do want to do something, to set up my own company." Joey smiled when he heard this, knowing what would happen next. Seto was always very guarded in showing his feelings but when it came to business, there was no stopping him. It was one of his passions and Joey felt pleased that he was allowed to be one too. "I had had a lot of ideas for Kaiba Corp when I was going to take it over, to expand and branch out. But now I can focus on them properly…"

Joey continued to listen as Seto explained what he was going to do, laughing when Seto almost smacked his head against the headboard in his excitement. He was soon finished talking though and once Joey was satisfied Seto had got everything out of his system, he yawned loudly and settled down to sleep, pretty sure this time he wouldn't be awake for too long…

xxxxxx

"NOOOO!"

This scream pierced through Malik's sleep and his eyes shot open, wondering what the hell had made that noise. Or rather, who the hell. Quickly realising the warm body that had been lying next to him was now sat bolt upright, Malik soon came to the conclusion it had been Marik who had yelled so loudly. Another nightmare…

"Shush Marik, nothing's going to-" He stopped abruptly, suddenly noticing that the end of the Millennium Rod was a lot more closer to him than he would have liked. In fact, the point was currently digging into his neck and in particular, his jugular. #Time to take things slowly…#

"You! Y-You…you…" Marik seemed out of breath and confused, as though he had just seen something he couldn't believe. "You…k-killed…them. You…killed them all…" Marik's voice faded away for a moment as he shook his head. "YOU KILLED THEM!" The Millennium Rod, which had been lifted slightly, was back with a vengeance and Malik held his breath.

"What are you talking about Marik, who have I killed?" He said this slowly and quietly so Marik would have to listen to him to understand his words.

"All of those people…all dead…"

"Marik, please explain to me what I have done." Malik repeated, now desperately concerned.

"STOP ACTING LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" The Rod shook slightly due to Marik's anger and Malik's eyes widened, hoping it wouldn't slip and accidentally slice his throat. "When we were in the Shadow Realm, you murdered them all, everything died because you wanted it to! I can't believe you did it. I…just can't."

"Marik, you have to believe me when I say I can't remember! Please, I wouldn't have done it if I had realised. You know I wouldn't have hurt anyone on purpose…" Malik pleaded, aware that the effects of this could put a serious strain on their relationship. But it appeared that Marik wasn't listening anyway, a sudden horrible thought having just occurred to him.

"What if you do the same thing to me…? You…want to kill me too, don't you?" Marik released Malik from the end of the Rod, scuttling away to the other side of the bed. "You're waiting until I fall asleep and then you'll take the Rod, you'll hurt me with it, cause me pain and then you'll rip out my heart and…" Marik couldn't continue, starting to sob in fear.

"Marik, I don't want to hurt you! I love you too much, you must realise that!" Malik sat up and tried to crawl across to Marik but was beaten back by the waving of the Rod in his face.

"Stay away from me! J-Just…" His voice died away as he suddenly dropped the Item, collapsing onto the bed as his sobs completely overtook him. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, so, so sorry…"

Malik slid across the bed quickly and took Marik in his arms, rocking him back and forth gently, trying to soothe him with his words of comfort. He felt Marik's hands grip his back tightly as he continued to cry and Malik sighed, wondering if his imprisonment had caused this recent erratic behaviour in Marik. It had happened a couple of times before: Marik would get extremely paranoid about something and once he had voiced his fear there was no letting go until he broke down like he was now.

"Shush, it doesn't matter. Just get some sleep, we're going to be busy tomorrow." Marik looked up, smiling shyly in thanks.

"I'm glad we're together again Malik, I missed you a lot." He whispered, burying his face in Malik's shoulder. "I love you…"

"And I love you too."

Marik settled down against Malik, pulling the covers a little bit closer before briefly kissing him, afterwards sighing in happiness. He closed his eyes and Malik watched as his breathing slowed, kissing him on the forehead before closing his eyes too, the stress of what had just happened causing him to drift off quickly…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Wow, this is so weird. We're finally going to see her again…" Joey murmured, looking around the streets in awe. He hadn't seen proper civilisation for a year and a half now and the situation was almost surreal.

"It's weird just seeing all these things again. I mean, houses and cars and things like that." Tristan added, pointing to said objects. "I suppose it's quite easy to forget when you're isolated from them…"

"But we're all here now and we can finally get on with our lives. We can do all those things we said we were going to do!" Yami exclaimed, suddenly remembering not just the conversation at the swimming pool but countless others, full of hopes and dreams of a brighter future.

"We have to find Téa first though, as soon as we can work out where we're going." Bakura said at the front of the group and everyone stared at him in surprise.

"You mean you don't know?"

"No, not really." He replied flippantly, glancing over his shoulder with a smile on his face. "Don't tell me you're all following me?" Taking the silence to mean yes, he laughed. "Well it's lucky I really do know where I'm going now, isn't it? Otherwise we'd be wandering around this place all day!"

"You mean you were joking?" Malik growled as he sped up to reach Bakura at the front. "That wasn't funny!"

"I know. I was just wondering how long it was going to be before somebody asked where we were." Bakura explained as they continued down the road. "Ryou's using the Ring to locate her."

They suddenly noticed that Ryou's head was bowed forward, as though staring at something in his hands and it was now obvious why he hadn't said anything before. Bakura's words had also served as a reminder of what they were doing here in the first place and they wondered what had happened with her. And who this 'David Simpson' was as well, apart from the fact that he was married to Téa.

"We're nearly there now. Anyone got a plan?" Bakura said, stopping at the corner of a street and turning to face them. "I assume we're not all going to go at once at least."

"I think it should be just Yugi, Joey and Tristan who go first of all. I mean, they know her best." Seto suggested and the others nodded in agreement. "Are you ok with that?"

They nodded their heads in assent and the group continued forward, Bakura keeping a close eye on Ryou in case something happened to him. Silence filled the air, everyone buried too deeply in their thoughts as cars swished past and the Sun continued to climb the sky. It was only when Ryou suddenly stopped that everyone realised that it was now early afternoon and they were all tired and hungry. Bakura stared at Ryou, expecting him to say something but when he volunteered nothing, Bakura stepped forward and shook Ryou slightly.

"Are we at Téa's house Ryou?" Ryou looked up then, his large eyes seeming to gaze farther into the distance as he nodded his head.

"Over there." He pointed to a house across the street and everyone turned to Joey, Tristan and Yugi, waiting for them to react.

"Well...here goes nothing." Joey said quietly, moving to the edge of the kerb so he could see any oncoming traffic before striding across the road, Tristan and Yugi running to catch up.

((Joey, what if this doesn't work? What if...?)) Yugi's voice died away and Joey stopped, turning to face the both of them.

"Then we'll keep trying. We're not going to give up on her, just like Malik didn't give up on Marik!" Joey said cheerfully, repeating what Seto had said to him. "I know you're worried Yugi but it's going to be ok! Everything always works out in the end."

Cheered up immensely by Joey's words, Yugi smiled and stepped onto the path that led up to the door, Tristan and Joey at his shoulders. They looked around, noticing the neat flower beds and open windows, allowing the net curtains to float in and out freely. Stopping in front of varnished wood, Joey quickly leaned over and pressed the door bell before one of them could change their mind, watching and waiting for some sign of movement inside.

Abruptly, the door was yanked open and they stared at the young girl standing there, glasses perched on her nose while her blonde hair was held back in two bunches. She studied them for a moment before stepping back slightly and clearing her throat.

"Hello, can I help you at all?" Her voice sounded very authoritive for one so young and they wondered if they were at the right place. After all, Téa wouldn't have kids, would she?

"Yes, we might have got the wrong house. Do you know anyone called Téa and if so, would you be able to tell us where she is?" Tristan explained and she narrowed her eyes slightly, glancing quickly into the house. "She's a friend of ours."

"Hmm, I haven't seen you before but you look like you're telling the truth…" She paused and considered what to do. "Wait here a minute while I go and talk to her."

They nodded their heads in understanding and watched as she shut the door slightly, hurrying into the house where she started talking to someone. They overheard small parts of the conversation, laughing slightly at the descriptions the person was given of them. There was a pause and suddenly they could see someone else rushing towards the door, someone who looked very familiar…

"Yugi? Joey? Tristan?" She hadn't changed much over the fifteen months, not outwardly anyway. Her eyes betrayed this though, they were more lined than they should have been, the sparkle in them dulled slightly. They seemed to light up now though as she took the three men in for a moment before she flung herself at them, hugging them all tightly in her grasp. "I never thought I'd see you guys again…" She whispered before standing back, looking at them closely. "Say something…" She laughed nervously but relaxed slightly when Joey grinned and laughed.

"Err…hello Téa!" He opened his arms wide as though presenting himself. "We thought we'd just drop by and see if our old buddy Téa was still around, you know, see if she still recognises us…"

"How could I not, you haven't changed a bit!" She said, rolling her eyes. "But what about you two, are you ok?" She asked, turning to Tristan and Yugi.

"Oh yeah, I'm great! I just couldn't get a word in edgeways thanks to Mr motor mouth here." Tristan explained, pointing at Joey who mock glared at him in return.

"And you…Yugi?" Téa seemed hesitant, surprised that her small friend hadn't said anything yet.

((I'm…doing good.)) Yugi said, although he sounded miserable. He made no attempt to get her to understand what he had just said and she frowned slightly, turning to Joey and Tristan in confusion.

"He says he's doing good." Joey quickly supplemented and Téa nodded, slightly uneasy.

"Oh…ok…" She looked around desperately, trying to think of something to say. Then she suddenly noticed a rather obvious difference in them. "Hey, what about everyone else…" she paused, biting her lip. "They did make it, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they're on the other side of the road. We thought it would be better if you didn't open the door to ten people standing here, waiting for you." Tristan said casually and she nodded her head.

"Well you'd all better come in and tell me everything that's happened." She suddenly said and instantly Yugi turned around and started walking down the path.

((I'll go and get them.)) He explained shortly before disappearing across the road.

"Erm…what's happened to Yugi? Why won't he talk to me? Does he not like me?" Téa asked desperately and Joey smiled sadly, shaking his head the same time.

"We've been through quite a lot and it's affected us all pretty badly. Yugi doesn't talk now, he just communicates with the Puzzle. It's just lucky that most of us have been able to hear what he's saying." Joey shrugged his shoulders. "But we're all here now and we're going to try and settle down…somehow."

"Well I'm sure we'll be able to help you." She said cheerfully, allowing them to enter the house once the others had all arrived.

Greetings and hugs soon resonated through the house as Téa welcomed everyone, smiling and laughing as she saw all of her friends together once more. Finally when things had calmed down slightly, she led them all into her living room where the girl from before was, watching them all warily as they all sat down. Téa soon noticed this and laughed nervously, wondering how to explain this.

"Err, Rebecca, these people are all friends of mine who I haven't seen for a very long time…" She started and the girl nodded her head in understanding.

"Are they from Domino like you and Dave?"

"Yes, they are." Satisfied with this, Rebecca decided to leave the room so they could talk and once she had gone, Téa turned back to the others. "Rebecca's one of our foster kids. She's only eight but she's very bright, sometimes too much…" She watched the shocked expressions of everyone and shrugged her shoulders. "But let's not worry about me for now. I want to know how you managed to get out!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So far, Seto, Bakura, Malik, Duke and Yami had gone through their story of how they managed to find the others and were now taking a break while Téa was making them all something to drink. When that was done, she came back in and passed the mugs filled with various substances around, desperate to hear what had happened next. Maybe some of them would start talking then, it felt weird to see them all so quiet. But maybe that was to be expected…

"So what happened when you got there? Did you have a lot of trouble finding them?" Téa asked as soon as it was polite to. She was therefore rather surprised when Yugi abruptly stood up and stormed out of the room. "Yugi!" She went to stand up then thought better of it and slumped down in her chair again. "Was it something I did or said?"

"No Téa, none of this is your fault. I'll go and find him, see what's wrong." Yami stood up and followed the direction Yugi had gone in, hoping that he hadn't strayed too far.

"Actually Téa is it ok if me and Ryou go outside for a while too? It's just that Ryou's getting a bit fidgety and I don't want him being a nuisance." Bakura suddenly said and unsure of what to say, Téa nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'm going too." Marik added.

"Well just go left when you leave this room and if you go into the kitchen, there's an open door that will lead you outside." Téa explained and nodding his head in thanks, Bakura led Ryou and Marik towards the garden.

Once they had gone, Téa turned to the others, a look of desperate sadness on her face. She didn't understand why they had all suddenly left and still thought it was her fault. They smiled to reassure her.

"We should probably tell you what happened when we found them, maybe then you'll understand some things…"

xxxxxx

"Yugi, please tell me what's wrong." Yami had eventually found Yugi sitting outside on a bench, staring into the small pond they had and the fish swimming back and forth. He didn't reply though and Yami sat down next to him, lifting him and placing him on his lap. "Is it because you can't talk to Téa?"

Yugi looked up at Yami, staring at him for a second before glancing away again, sobbing loudly. As soon as Yami heard this, he hugged Yugi close to him, telling him that it was going to be ok, not wanting to see his little sunshine cry. He felt hands clinging onto his jacket while tears made his skin wet and so Yami started stroking his back gently, trying to soothe him. It worked and soon the tears had subsided although Yugi still looked very unhappy.

But then they were interrupted by a voice, or rather, three of them. Glancing up, they saw Ryou, Bakura and Marik stepping outside together, locking eyes with them for a moment before they were distracted by Ryou.

"Kury, fishies! I wanna see the fishies!" He grabbed Bakura's hand and tried to drag him closer but soon stopped when Bakura shook his head. "But…why not?" He said, sniffing quietly and Bakura sighed, looking down slightly so he was staring directly into his eyes.

"Ryou, Yami and Yugi are having a serious talk with each other so we have to leave them alone, ok?" Ryou nodded his head, cheering up slightly. "We'll look at the fishies later, ok?"

"Ok Kury." Ryou paused and glanced over at Yami and Yugi. "How come they aren't talking?"

"They're just thinking now." Ryou seemed to accept this and stepped away from them, turning to look at the flowers trailing up a piece of trellis. "Good boy." He rubbed Ryou's hair affectionately before walking away, trying to stop himself from laughing as Ryou squealed in delight at the flowers.

((How does he do it?)) Yami smiled when he heard Yugi's voice again and twisted his head to look at him. ((How do you think he copes, knowing that Ryou doesn't remember anything that happened between them? They had been together for so long…))

"Because he would do anything for Ryou, he is everything to him." Yami paused, thinking back to conversations they had had before. "Every time the Ring showed us the way, he would just be smiling for ages afterwards, knowing that he had had some contact with Ryou. He has such a strong faith in his love, it doesn't matter what happens…"

((Is it possible Yami, to have that strong a bond with someone? To know exactly what's going on in their mind?)) Yugi asked, resting his head on Yami's chest.

"I don't know…but then I know that Bakura probably isn't aware of everything in Ryou's mind and if he spends too much time trying to please him, it could backfire…really badly." Yami said thoughtfully and Yugi frowned.

((But surely isn't it a good thing?))

"But it could be that Bakura realises after a while that Ryou isn't going to be the same again and that all of his efforts have gone to waste."

((NO!)) Yami was surprised by the sharpness of Yugi's voice. ((You don't understand…Ryou's still in there, he just doesn't know what to do! He still thinks there's a chance we could get taken away again, he doesn't want to let go of the little world he's built for himself!)) Yami could tell that Yugi was clearly upset with his comments and he bowed his head slightly, sighing.

"I'm sorry Yugi, I didn't mean to sound like it was hopeless. I'm just concerned about Bakura, he's been through so much, keeping his hope alive while we were searching for you. He was always the one who could joke around, make light of every bad thing that happened to us. And it isn't even over for him yet…" Yami sighed once more, avoiding Yugi's gaze. "It will work itself out though, everything does."

((Don't worry, he'll have us to help him.)) Yugi kissed Yami softly on the lips, enjoying the feeling of warmth flowing through him. ((And I have you to help me. I know I'll talk one day because I love you and I want to be able to say those words to you again one day…))

((And you will my love, you will.)) Yami returned the kiss, running his hand through Yugi's hair. ((You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…)) Yugi smiled as Yami started singing, closing his eyes and letting himself be rocked back and forth as he tightened his grip on Yami, feeling content.

xxxxxx

"So you mean Ryou doesn't remember being with Bakura at all?" Téa exclaimed and when Seto nodded his head, she flopped back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. "Poor Bakura…"

"He's taking it in his stride though, I think he's hoping that Ryou will snap out of it at some point." Malik added before shrugging his shoulders. "After we got over the border, we found this town and you, once Bakura had hacked into the systems. We're staying at a hotel for now until we've worked something out."

"Are you going to live here?" Téa said, her voice holding just a small amount of hope in it. After seeing her friends again, she wasn't sure if she could just let them go.

"I don't see why not. I mean, this place seems nice enough and we need to get settled down if we're going to try and live normal lives." Duke said to reassure her and she smiled, an idea suddenly occurring to her.

"I've got it! Why didn't I think of it before?" She paused to think for a moment. "Well, my husband Dave is training to be a therapist. And if you were ok with it, maybe he could talk to them and see if there's anything he can do to help. I'm sure he could come up with something to help you all." Her suggestion was met with silence and she bit her lip, wondering if she had said something wrong.

"Maybe…but first of all we want to know what happened to you. When we left, you were supposed to be getting married to someone and now we find you're living here, removed from the Domino files with a husband and foster kids!" Joey seemed quite dazed about this all. "We thought we'd never see you again."

"Well, my story isn't very interesting, not compared to yours." Téa said shyly but when nobody said anything, she sighed and looked thoughtful. "Well…I found out from Ishizu at school about what had happened to you because everyone else refused to say anything. But even she had to be careful, lots of people were keeping a watchful eye on me. There was uproar at the school, as you might expect, what with ten students all leaving at the same time. Nobody ever said the words but you could tell everyone /knew/ what had happened and a lot of them shunned me, because I had been a friend. But I was more concerned about what my parents had been discussing with me: getting a husband.

"I was only sixteen, I hadn't even thought about marriage! I knew I was different to all the other girls, they were always discussing prospective husbands and perfect homes and stuff like that. I don't even remember thinking about that when I was with you guys, we'd always be taking the piss out of each other, talking about completely random things… But now I had to take an interest in what they had to say. They were all so dumb, thinking that getting married would mean they would be looked up to. I dreaded getting married, losing the little freedom I had but I didn't have a choice. So I was getting married at the age of sixteen to a guy I had never seen before. I only knew his name was David.

"Well, we did meet up eventually and that was the most awkward situation I had ever been in. I didn't know anything about him, what he liked and worst of all, he was nearly five years older than me! But I soon found out he felt the same and we managed to at least build up a friendship by the time the wedding actually happened. I wore a nice dress on that day, I've still got some of the photos if you want to look at them sometime. That was the highlight of the day though, everything else just passed by in a blur. But then of course, I had suddenly realised what was now expected of me: children.

"Now that was something I definitely didn't care for. For a start off, there was no way I could be good mother at my age and I was still young, I wanted to go out and do what I wanted. But that was a foolish wish, I was married now. At any rate, we had to try for a baby. That was an…interesting experience, something I won't go into. Suffice to say that I didn't get pregnant. It didn't matter what we tried, nothing happened. So the doctors there took a look at me, decided I was defective and we got booted out of Domino.

"Now this raised a rather interesting situation: what the hell were we going to do? Luckily, we met a couple of really nice people here who helped us out and we managed to buy this house. Dave got a job at the local social services while my friend Laura somehow managed to get me a job at the modelling agency she works for doing clothes and make up and stuff like that. Everything worked out but now I had time to think about why we had left in the first place. It felt awful knowing I couldn't have children, I knew I hadn't wanted any then but when we had enough money, I would have enjoyed looking after a couple of kids, watching them grow up.

"But then Dave managed to get in contact with the department that dealt with fostering children. After thinking about it, I knew I wanted to do it, we had been lucky with money and stuff and we could offer some support to children. That's how we got Rebecca and Tom. Her parents had died and her grandpa had been looking after her but he's a professor and has to travel quite a lot so they thought it was better if she had somewhere more permanent to stay. So she lives here when her grandpa is away and she stays with him when he's on holiday. Tom meanwhile is six and lived with just his mum but then she got cancer and died. He's very quiet though and doesn't respond much to other people but for some strange reason, he seems to like me and Dave a lot. Luckily Rebecca and Tom don't fight very often so it hasn't been too hard.

"And that's it really. We've been getting the house decorated for a while now and Dave's doing some more training while I'm still at the modelling agency. He should be back soon with Tom, who has been round a friend's house today. Rebecca's just come back from a four week holiday with her grandpa and I was doing a bit of gardening (Note from Chen: Téa Gardner doing the gardening!) when you all came along."

She took a sip from her tea (Note from Chen: He he, Téa drinking tea!), deciding to ignore the looks she was being given. It felt odd being under the scrutiny of so many, especially when she realised that Yugi and the others had come back from the garden at some point during her story telling. They didn't have time to say anything though as just then, the door opened and they heard people entering the house.

"Téa? Are you in here?" They heard a voice call out from the hallway.

"Yes, I'm in the living room with some friends."

Two people soon appeared in the room: one a man of average height with dark brown, almost black hair and hazel coloured eyes wearing a casual suit and the other a boy with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes wearing jeans and a t-shirt. The man seemed to take ten young men in his living room in his stride but the boy stared at them for a moment before bolting out of the room.

"I'm sorry about Tom. As I've said, he's very shy around people." Téa said before turning to the man, who was obviously Dave.

"Hmm, I didn't expect quite this many people. I didn't even think you could get them all in here!" Dave said, scratching the back of his head slightly. "I can see introductions are going to be a bit hard but I'm Dave." He glanced at Téa and frowned slightly. "How have you been today? Did you do much?"

"Well I did a bit of gardening with Rebecca and then some dusting before my friends came." She explained cheerfully and Dave shook his head.

"You've got to take it easy Téa, especially in your condition. I don't want anything happening to you…" He murmured in a concerned tone while everyone else looked very confused.

"Téa, what's happened to you? What haven't you told us about?" Téa smiled at the concern in Joey's voice before she suddenly remembered she hadn't told them.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you that I'm pregnant!"

"You /forgot?"

Joey continued to screech in this manner while everyone else congratulated Téa, asking her so many questions that she felt quite baffled and wondered what to say first.

"Well it's been about four weeks now and there haven't been any complications so far. The doctors did wonder for a while why it's taken so long for it to happen but it's just one of those mysteries in life. The Domino Council made a very big mistake." Seeing that the others had calmed down, she breathed a sigh of relief. "But it doesn't matter because we got out of there and that was a very good thing."

"Ah, so you're from Domino too?" Dave suddenly said as he took a closer look at them all. "That must mean you're the group that got taken away and the reason me and Téa met. I think that means I actually know a few of you, Téa did talk about you all quite a lot." He took each face in carefully, trying to discern any outward problems before shaking himself out of it: he didn't want to scare any of them off. "Well I'm going to have a quick shower, I've had a hard day at work and then maybe I can make us something to eat?" He left the invitation open as he left the room.

"Yes, it would be great if you could eat with us tonight!" Téa said cheerfully, thinking of what they could have but she was quickly interrupted by many a protest, mainly along the lines of they didn't want to burden themselves. "Don't be silly, of course you're staying for dinner! We can make some salads and stuff and eat them outside, there's more than enough room. Anyway, we haven't even decided what you're going to do yet."

"Ok, I can see we won't be able to persuade you but you're going to let us do some of the work, we can't have you chasing around after us." Yami said seriously and she giggled, happy that they were all so concerned.

"Honestly, I'll be fine! You're our guests, it would be rude if I did nothing! Anyway, I'm sure some of you probably can't make salads, I bet even Marik's forgotten and he ate them for a living! And Joey, you would just have an allergic reaction to them and I'm sure people don't want extra green bits in their food…" It took everyone a couple of seconds to understand what she meant but when they did, they all shrieked their disgust.

"Téa, that's GROSS! How can you say that?" Joey yelled while others had started flapping their arms around, trying to remove the hideous images from their heads. It was then they heard a quiet voice.

"Kury…I don't get it." Bakura paused at this, knowing that he would have to explain at least part of it. In the end, he just threw caution to the wind and decided Ryou could handle the truth.

"Well salads are green and Joey, not liking them would have an allergic reaction and could start sneezing. And well…snot is green so everyone would have 'extra bits in their food', as Téa put it." Everyone stared at Bakura, wondering why he had said that when Ryou finally understood.

"EW! Yuck! Kury, I don't want to eat bogies!" Ryou pulled a face and everyone started laughing, trying to put off the images that were rapidly descending into their minds once more.

"Don't worry, I'll pick them out for you." Bakura said in mock seriousness and Ryou frowned, trying to work out if he was joking or not. He eventually realised he was and pouted.

"Kury, that's not funny."

"I'm sorry Ryou, there won't be any bogies, I promise." Bakura said and Ryou nodded his head, smiling widely at him.

"That's ok."

Just then, Dave came back, this time with Rebecca and Tom too, ushering them into the room when they hesitated slightly. Tom instantly went to Téa and grabbed her hand so she lifted him onto his lap while Rebecca stood near the door.

"Right, have we decided what we're going to have yet?"

"Yes, I thought we could have salad and some other cold foods. There should be some New potatoes (Note from Chen: The first crop of the year like early potatoes, not some freshly bought ones) that I've just bought and there's plenty of other things in the kitchen." Téa said as she went to stand up.

"No, no, you stay here and chat with your friends, me, Rebecca and Tom will make a start." Rebecca nodded her head at this, she liked being responsible. Tom saw the little smile appear on Téa's face and stood up, going with them to the kitchen.

"I really think we should help…"

"Don't worry guys, Rebecca likes doing things that show how grown up she is. And Dave knows what he's doing, it's fine." Téa insisted and they continued making small talk until Rebecca announced that everything was ready.

xxxxxx

(Note from Chen: Ok peeps, I just wanted to point out this most of this is seen through Téa and Dave's eyes and any thoughts made are by Dave.)

The picnic tables had been put together so there was enough room for all fourteen of them and the food on another table, covered so it wouldn't get attacked by insects and bugs. They all had their plates piled up, only remembering now how hungry they were as they sat down one by one, trying to avoid knocking someone else's plate over, in which Yugi nearly managed to succeed thanks to him elbowing Yami hard by accident. At any rate, they were soon all settled down and looking over their plates, Téa had noticed that while Joey's plate was completely bereft or anything vaguely green, Marik's was stacked with what looked like a miniature green mountain. She decided to make a point of this, knowing that Dave was itching to start assessing them all. She could tell by the look in his eyes. And she would be helping him by getting them to open up…

"Marik, don't you think you got a bit too much? I'm sure Joey probably wanted some." She said seriously, smirking as Joey's eyes widened and people started laughing, remembering all the wonderful incidents involving Joey and his fear of green things.

#Hmm, memory seems to be working fine for most. But Joey looks confused…does he have partial memory loss?# Téa had managed to tell him the basics of how they had changed but he wanted to look further into it. #Partial memory loss, not very common.#

"So then, how does it feel to be free? I know it's a bit weird at first not being watched, me and Dave were so edgy when we had just moved here."

"Well, it does seem a bit odd I suppose, especially with what's been going on. In a way, I think we're all worried, or at least I am, that we're all going to wake up and realise this is just a dream." Yami said and smiled down at Yugi who returned the smile shyly.

#Hmm, could explain the behaviour of Marik and Ryou. They both seem to be going through some sort of regression, probably caused by the trauma of what's happened. This may possibly explain Yugi's lack of words as well…#

"We could always test if you want me to Yami…" Malik suggested, an evil glint in his eyes. It was then Yami noticed his thumb and index finger held together in a pinching motion.

"Err…no, that will be /quite/ all right!" Yami laughed uneasily, causing Malik to smirk.

"So then…" Téa interrupted, not quite sure what was going on. "Will you be staying here now? In Sullivan I mean. There aren't many big houses around though, or at least there weren't when we were looking. Most of them have two or three bedrooms." She explained, hoping that she could get some sort of information on what was going on with their relationships. After all, she was just a romantic at heart who wanted to see them all happy again.

"Can you imagine what it would be like if we all lived together?" Duke shuddered and the others laughed at the expression on his face. "It would be a nightmare! No, I think we'll all just live somewhere near each other. Right?"

"I agree, that would probably be the best thing. We should probably start looking at some point soon as well." Seto added in his usual businesslike manner.

"Well Dave and I will definitely help you as much as we can until you're on your feet. But you're probably going to need to find jobs as well, or at least something to keep you going. Maybe you had some ideas…?"

Yeah we all know what we're gonna do…" Malik said, giving a significant look on his face and Seto, Yami, Bakura and Malik nodded in understanding. "We all made a promise, a long time ago. When we were all out of there, we were going to achieve our dreams. And now we're here, we can do what we want."

"Uh huh, I know Seto seemed to have his business plans sorted down to the colour of the carpet." Bakura agreed, causing said man to frown while Joey sniggered, reminding himself to ask about that later on.

"Well I'm pretty sure Duke's just as bad." Seto muttered and Duke blushed, throwing a glare in his direction.

#They seem to have made at least some sort of agreement on the future. Some stability would probably help the others in recovering too.#

"You're both going to set up your own companies…? Wow that sounds cool!"

And with that the conversation turned to lighter subjects, mainly involving how obsessed Seto was with his company while he kept making fun of Duke. All the while Dave kept an open ear, looking for the all important signs that he would need if he was to help them…

xxxxxx

The group all stood at the door, the children having been sent to bed a few minutes ago as they organised when they were next going to see each other.

"Why don't you all come around tomorrow? We can start organising things like housing while maybe Dave can talk to you too…?" Téa suggested, wondering how they would react.

"Yes, that would be a good idea. What sort of time would you be around?"

"Anytime, as long as it isn't like seven in the morning of something." Téa replied to Yami's question.

"Do /you/ think any of us will be up and about at that time either?" Joey pointed out and she nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, silly thing to say really. But anyway, just come whenever you want to." They started to step out into the growing darkness, pulling collars up when they felt the cool night air. "It was really great to see you all again. I'm glad you're all safe…" She whispered and they smiled at her, knowing how happy she really was.

They said their goodbyes and Téa and Dave waved to them as they travelled back down the garden path, the light from their hall spilling out into the now quickly descending night. Once they had gone around the corner, they hurried back inside and shut the door, going into the kitchen to do the washing up.

"So then, what do you think?" Téa suddenly asked as she put away the last of the pots and pans.

"They seem like nice people, I can see why they mean so much to you." Dave replied, pouring the water away before following her into the living room, flopping down on the sofa. When he noticed the frown on her face he pulled her towards him, holding her tightly while she rested her head on his shoulder. "You mean, what do I think about them mentally?"

"I didn't mean to act annoyed or anything-"

"Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm just thinking about the events of tonight, I can't be sure of anything without talking to them further." Seeing Téa's disappointed look, he laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "That isn't to say I haven't come up with any conclusions at all, I'm just a bit wary, that's all."

"I know that what you say isn't going to be certain Dave, I'd just like to know." Téa said quietly and he nodded his head in understanding.

"Of course…" He paused and thought about the most obvious things. "Well…I suppose the most important thing to note is that they've all been affected by what's happened quite badly. I didn't hear what actually happened to them but I imagine it's put a great strain on them all. The odd thing is that they've all been affected differently. Clearly though, Yugi and Ryou are responding to this trauma by dissociation and regression, Marik too although it isn't as severe. They're trying to protect themselves from what happened and that's why Yugi doesn't talk and Ryou's created this child-like persona. Joey meanwhile seems to be taking things quite well but he's lost some part of his memory, on some occasions he seemed quite confused." Dave stopped talking and Téa looked up at him, wondering why he wasn't continuing.

"What about Tristan?"

"I'm having a lot of trouble concluding about him. He, like Joey, has no outward symptoms for the effect this has had on him. However, he seems to be…wilting. That's not a very good way of describing it but it seems to be putting a barrier between him and Duke. You told me they were close but it's obvious that whatever's going on with Tristan, he hasn't told Duke and so he's not getting any support. It might catch up with him eventually and by that time, it could be lot more serious than it is now. This is similar to Marik, if these delusions he's having aren't stopped, it's going to put a big strain on his relationship with Malik. I imagine everyone will be facing major problems as they try and adjust. It all depends on how strong Seto, Yami, Bakura, Malik and Duke are…"

Having finished telling Téa his thoughts, he fell into a brooding silence, the challenge that they were going to present would be enormous. Coming back to reality though, he suddenly realised how downcast Téa looked, she seemed smaller than usual, like everything he had said was taking its toll on her. Realising how important it was to her that they were all happy, he looked down and started stroking her arm, trying to soothe her.

"It's going to be hard but it's nothing I can't help them with. Don't expect miracles though, it's going to take time. But I know that things can change and I'm going to try my hardest to make sure it does, ok Téa?" She stared up at his face, her eyes shining with tears before she hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek.

"Thank you Dave, I know you'll try your best." She kissed him again, pressing her lips against his for a moment before pulling away to take him in. "I love you."

"And I love you too Téa."

And what a wonderfully cheesy way to end another chapter! I apologise for that but I felt I had to do a bit on Dave and Téa to show that they're a proper couple who have learnt to love each other. But anyway, onto the notes:

1. Yes, it is Rebecca from the TV series but I thought it would be a character that everyone would be familiar with. Except for in my story, she's not quite obsessed with her teddy bear and she doesn't think Yugi is her boyfriend. She'll play a bigger role in the sequel, although she won't be a main character or anything. And Tom isn't based on anyone, I just made him up. He'll have a bigger part in the next chapter but not much apart from that. Dave however will play quite a big role for the rest of this story.

2. Oh, the amount of research that I came up with was amazing! I tried to keep it slightly limited as I know psychology isn't everyone's thing (although it is one of favourite subjects, it's a shame I don't do it for A Level) but I found out some really interesting facts. Like, apparently some doctors are saying that teenagers should get around 9 hours of sleep! I'm very bad with my sleep, I only get about 6.5 hours every night…

3. And today has seen a little bit more insight into what's wrong with Tristan. Inspired from a documentary called…I can't tell you that or you'll know what's wrong with him! I'm accepting guesses though!

Long and boring notes but I felt like the characters needed a bit of explanation after just suddenly introducing them all. Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! You know I love them!

S. Chensu (Chen) xxx.