A/n: Hello! Sorry for such a loong wait. My beta reader disappeared somewhere and I had to read my chappies all BMS (by my self)! Do you know how long that takes?! T T So that's why my chapter's are taking a lotta time. Quick poll: I think I put too much thought dialogue, do I? Anyhoo, for those reading who are new here, this is third in a trilogy, meaning that it is a sequel, so you might be lost! :P
Anyhoo, thanks for the good reviews! No flames this time! (dances and twirls and whirls) Owie, I bonked my head. .
Disclaimer: All you mortals don't own YuGiOh and neither do I!
Chapter Sixteen: Please, Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know
S-surely . . . h-he d-didn't . . . just s-say . . . t-that Serenity's . . .Falling, falling backwards into a deep, bottomless abyss, a pit or a well of his own despair. It was echoing, all the way down. . .over and over . . .
Meanwhile, the enraged blonde boy was busy charging, pole thrust forward like a tournament knight's, the way they dueled in the days of yore. Just before he could actually run him through, Joey noticed the strange, vaguely blank look in the CEO's countenance . . . it so resembled his life when it was sucked out of him by Pegasus way back in Duelist Kingdom . . .
Just then, ground security and guards came charging out of KaibaCorp headed straight for them, and maybe it was Joey's hesitation that he was tied up in a straightjacket and his pole seized. Around the two, a crowd gawked, for they were on the street, in plain daylight, and Joey usually attacked the CEO in the evening, not the morning. . . what was going on?!
Joey was sat back on his rump on the sidewalk. What . . . didn't Kaiba know or what . . . ? He let out one chuckle of disbelief. Naaaah, of course he knows! Den again…….Sis, I mean Serenity, can be secretive at times. She kept their going out a secret from me for a whole year, an' all! Joey, mouth drawn in a thin line, was recalling the earlier argument he had earlier with Mai, at the university dorm:
# Flashback #
"Joey, get on up off the floor. You're acting like a big baby!"
He did, and then he started to pace around in fast, furious little circles like a hamster, kicking aside old laundry that was in a pile.
"You look like a mad scientist, plotting the end of the world!" she'd criticized.
Yes, oh yes, he was plotting, and fast. How to get even. Mwa ha ha, I know! I'll get his sister pregnant! Mwa ha ha . . . hack . . . oh wait. He doesn't have one. Damn. More circles, more pacing around; back to the drawing board.
"Would you stop pacing like that?!" she screeched. "You're driving me crazy!"
"I got it!" He exclaimed, thumping his fist with his palm, "Sis, I mean, Serenity, she's seventeen, right? And Kaiba's um, forty something! That makes her a minor, and he goes straight to jail!"
"And her child grows up without a father?! I will not have it, Joey!" Mai said, glaring unhappily. So? So what if it does? It wasn't so bad. His own father was in jail for murder, locked away for sixty years. But of course, he never told her that. Uh, duh! As for the baby, he wouldn't have an uncle, either . . . unless you count Mokuba. Joey wasn't going to play uncle to any smirking, dark trenchcoated kid, that Kaiba would probably train it to call him 'Uncle Dog'. But anyway . . .
"Look . . . " He paused, thinking of how she could understand what he was going through. "What if your sister was havin' a kid with your biggest enemy?" Mai, with her eyes flashing, replied that she didn't have a sister. "Okay . . . okay . . . den who's your biggest enemy?"
She turned pale at this, but he was so bent his revenge, he didn't notice. "I don't have one," she said a moment too slowly.
"Okay . . . okay . . . so maybe you don't know how I feel!" he cried dramatically, and her fists clenched, irritated.
"Okay, how about we try it this way." She paused, an ominous-sounding pause. If pauses could sound that way, but she somehow managed it.
Uh oh.
"IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW, I WILL PERSONALLY DRAG YOU OUT BY THE HAIR, MUCH TO THE AMUSEMENT OF EVERYONE ON CAMPUS!" she yelled.
So, he'd had to endure the smirks and the taunts of the other freshmen in the hallways playing Frisbee as she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him across the campus to her car. How humiliating.
They ended up in the bowling alley just around the block. He supposed she'd picked it because she was afraid he'd bolt out the window or something and get back to his plotting. But he wouldn't have, the dark looks she was giving him! They could've given Kaiba a run for his money. Just thinking about Kaiba, though, soon refueled his anger and his wish of how he very much would like to punch that silly smirk of his face again. And again. Maybe that was why we when they got there, Joey had picked up every guy that gave Mai a second glance right off the floor and scream a few inches from their face:
"GOT A CRICK IN YOUR NECK, IS THAT WHY YOU'RE STARIN' AT MY FIANCÉ, PUNK?! AND WHY'D YOU GET MY SISTER PREGNANT?"
After a few more shaking, the poor guy was nodding and stuttering, "S-sorry!" while the guy's girlfriend said, "Humph! Well, I never!" and strutting off right into Mai who had to quickly account for his behavior.
"He hasn't been fed for months . . . low blood sugar does that, you know . . . " She gave him a withering stare, "Isn't that right, Joey?!"
"Huh? Uh . . . yeah . . . sorry 'bout dat, man." As the two practically scrambled away from him, jeez like I'm mad or something!, he was left shaken. Where had all that anger had come from?
Mai came over then and told him in no terms if he ever did that again, she was going to leave unless he shaped up. And soon. So he did . . .
By actually going to the source.
# End Flashback #
And now, coming out of his reverie, Joey looked from where he was staring at the ground up, to where Seto was staring down at him, smiling, having recovered.
Huh?
Joey had been admonished, thinking of the way he'd acted in that bowling alley, but now the hate fueled up inside of him, returning with a vengeance. "What's so funny?! I knew it! Ya did dis so ya could get back at me--! Ya lousy scumbag, piece o'--"
He wasn't listening. In fact, he was actually clapping, his hands dryly smacking together, loudly, each clap sounding like the crack of a whipshot in the stillness. "Verrrry funny, mutt. You almost had me going there."
Joey's mouth open and closed a few times in succession, looking like a gaping goldfish out of the water. He was taken aback, speechless, didn't know what to say, how to reply.
Then he recovered quickly. "What're ya talkin' 'bout?!"
"I'm talking about," Seto corrected calmly a dry, arrogant tone that was even drier and more arrogant than usual, " that this is one of your little daily jokes you've pulled on me." he clarified.
Joey could only gape, speechless for once.
"Let's see what is it now? Five hundredth and one joke, and oh, yes, I've counted."
" . . .heh. A joke." Joey chuckled and wiped his cheek on his straightjacket, then suddenly exploded, "DO YA TINK I'D JOKE ABOUT DIS?!"
"Yes I do think you'd joke about this, and you have much too much time on your hands," Kaiba said in his most driest tone. "You need to get a life, seriously, mutt--"
"You made one! Do I hafta spell it out fer da computer nerd?" Joey shouted.
"Oh, you're being truthful, for once. I see. Just like the time you pretended to be me and had 4,000 turkeys delivered to my house?!"
"Huh? Uh . . ."
"And bow about the time when you broke into my office and converted all the printers and shredders ?!"
"I'm---"
"And when you super glued on all the telephones and headsets?!"
"Uh, I-I'm--Heh, heh, heh. . ."
"And when you substituted the guy that holds the record for the World's Longest Fingernailstook with my regular masseuse?!"
"Not . . . ha . . . ha . . . "
"And put poision ivy in my laundry detergent."
"Kid-ding . . ." Despite himself, and the situation, Joey began to laugh without stopping. Especially after he saw him scratch like a monkey. Besides, I didn't glue any headsets! Who did? He tried to speak, but his sides were hurting too much from laughing. He couldn't stop howling with laughter. But it was no matter. Kaiba did all the talking--actually, shouting-- right in his laughing face.
He was saying, "So, leave us alone, and don't 'cry wolf' anymore. Got it?! And that goes for your Harpy girlfriend and everyone else as well." With that, Kaiba whirled around, leaving him in a heap, and entered KaibaCorp. Their little debacle had cost him his precious time.
"Oh-h, whew . . . " Sometime later, Joey looked up, to see Mokuba, who had watched it all.
"It was funny, wasn't it." Mokuba bent helped him up from the ground where he fell easily and got him out of the straightjacket. He had a strange, sleepy air.
"Hey, thanks. It was you, wasn't it? Da headset tingy." Joey held out a his hand, and Mokuba slapped it, grinning. "All right! . . . What's da deal, with 'im, by the way?"
Mokuba stopped smiling. "He doesn't believe you."
Well, duh. "B-but---"
"And he didn't believe me either. I don't know why," he said innocently. "And Serenity hasn't told him. Well, see ya." Mokuba flashed a quick smile before slipping away into the distance. Joey stood staring after him for a minute. Sis didn't tell him?
Nuh . . .
. . .Uh!
# Later #
Although still afternoon, Yugi Motou slept on his bed, the curtains drawn so everything was shadowed from the winter light outside. Not having bothering to change, he still wore a dark colored too small shirt and matching pants, with shoes that had become his uniform lately. His bed was very messy, as if not had been made in a long time.
Grandpa . . . Grandpa . . .he called.
As an only child, he was dreaming about the grandfather who had took him in and raised him as his own child when his parents died. And now . . . he was all alone . . .
Grandpa. Yugi smiled, eyes still closed as he dreamt deeply . . .
# Dream #
Yugi was somewhere dark, with a brilliant light shining in his face. He couldn't see. Then a figure became visible, one slim and one fat.
Yami?
Grandpa?
They became visible. Sort of. His grandpa was still blurred, but the ancient spirit was clear. Since the Battle Ceremony in Egypt about six months ago, Yami had rightfully taken his place in the Valley of the Kings once again. Now he was in 'peace' and in 'paradise.'
"Aloha!"
Yugi blinked. And then again, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. He expected to hear some sea music soon because both were wearing Hawaiian shirts, wild print shorts; at least that what it looked like; and pink leis. Well, at least they truly look as if they're enjoying paradise, he thought.
Upon closer inspection, though, Yugi saw his grandpa wearing a pair of mouse ears and sunglasses, holding a lemonade with an umbrella in it. His grandpa smiled and raised the glass a bit. "Just been enjoying another day at Disneyland, haven't we, Yami?"
"Indeed."
Yugi goggled.
"Heaven is in Disneyland?!"
"Well, no, but . . . " They exchanged glances. "I've always wanted to go. So, how are you doing, aibou?"
Yugi was floored. And a bit put out. Here, he was suffering and missing them, while they were having the times of their lives in Disneyland! "N-not too well," he muttered.
His grandpa's ghost came closer. "Eh? Why not, son?" He grinned with a roguish wink that was still visible beneath his ridiculous sunglasses. "I heard your friend Tea had come back."
Yugi forgave them instantly. Just being there with them, even though in a dream, he felt like the good old times again. He sat down on midair, looking down. "It's just that, everyone seems to have so much going on in their lives, having something to look forward to, and . . . well, I don't have anything."
There was a pause. The his Grandpa flitted over, sighed, and gave him a good whack upside the head.
"Ow! What's was that for?!"
"Just proving that you're not dead," Grandpa Motou said. "I was wondering."
"Yes," agreed Yami, gesturing behind him. There were clear blue skies, a tall sand-colored tower, and people shouting with glee. "You're acting more 'dead' than us. And, after all, you're the one who dropped in on us, aibou."
"I'm . . . dead?!" he said, clutching his throat at the sight of Heaven. Too?!
"No, you've taken one step out of life and we have taken a step to meet you here. But I think that you're the one who should be in Heaven, the way you've been carrying on."
Yugi heard the disappointment in his voice and was made silent. "So . . . you think I should 'seize the day', so to speak, huh."
"Yes," said Mr. Motou, "you act like you've died. But you're not; you can still feel pain. Do you want me to prove it?" Yugi shook his head hastily and his grandfather smiled kindly. "Cheer up; we can always meet, in dreams. Until you've actually kicked the bucket, you must live on without us. If I have to prove to you that you're still alive again, I'll do it until you've learned!"
More gently, the ancient spirit said, "Yugi, you play for me now. And so I'm counting on you not to mess up. I'll be watching you to make sure . . . we're always beside you."
"And I'll be watching you!" Some girl called. "Uh, when I'm not busy, that is . . . " Grandpa scratched his head, and Yugi sweatdropped.
"Hm, we have to leave now. And you do have something coming up, to look forward to. Next time, drop in when we're waiting in line to Splash Mountain or something! Ra, they're long. Aloha, Yugi!"
They faded off at Grandpa saying, "Is that how you say 'goodbye,' Yami?" and Yami chuckling as they left. The light drifted off, as he was left there, alone again.
# End Dream #
Yugi awoke suddenly to the sound of Tea, talking on the phone downstairs, and girlie laughter as well. Gr-reat. His stomach rumbled a bit, so he decided to venture on anyway.
At that moment, Mai was saying on the phone, "Oh, come on, Tea . . . when are you going to ask him out? You promised me!"
Yugi froze.
"Oh shut up, Mai, I definitely don't need your romantic advice," Tea snapped back. "Thanks to you, Duke never speaks to my face!" Loud sounds of laughter from the blonde as Tea fumed, turning. She saw him there at the foot of the stairway, and turned bright red. "Um, I have to go!" She snapped her cell shut. They stared at each other. Tea was speechless.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was questioning while playing games with Serenity in the living room, leaning so far; it looked like an interrogation. "So, you two never fight?!" she was saying in wonder, taking notes for her psychology class project: Why Couples Fight. Then she looked up. "Oh, hi Yugi! Looky! Grampa's card!"
"Uh . . . " he said, as Rebecca booted Tea out of the way. Well, not really boot, but she swiped so the brunette had to step out of the way. Isn't she annoying to him? Tea wondered, with a grit of her teeth. Apparently not.
"Hi, Yugi." Serenity called, as all three came in the living room then, Tea flashing dark looks at Rebecca. "Uh . . ." she faltered. Although good friends, they hardly ever spoke. Indeed, Yugi was looking at her vaguely, as if she were a stranger. "I came to apologize for Kaiba's earlier behavior. He gets a little passionate about dueling you sometimes."
Yugi awoke suddenly to the sound of Tea, talking on the phone downstairs, and girlie laughter as well. Gr-reat. His stomach rumbled a bit, so he decided to venture on anyway.
At that moment, Mai was saying on the phone, "Oh, come on, Tea . . . when are you going to ask him out? You promised!"
Yugi froze.
"Oh shut up, Mai, I definitely don't need your romantic advice," Tea snapped back. "Thanks to you, Duke never speaks to my face!" Loud sounds of laughter from the blonde as Tea fumed, turning. She saw him there, and turned bright red. "Um, I have to go!! She snapped her cell shut. They stared at each other. Tea was speechless.
Meanwhile, Rebecca was questioning while playing games with Serenity in the living room, leaning so far; it looked like an interrogation. "So, you two never fight?!" she was saying in wonder, taking notes for her psychology class project: Why Do Couples Fight. Then she looked up. "Oh, hi Yugi! Looky! Grampa's card!"
"Uh . . . " he said, as Rebecca booted Tea out of the way. Well, not really boot, but she swiped so the brunette had to step out of the way. Isn't she annoying to him? Tea wondered. Apparently not.
"Hi, Yugi." Serenity called, as all three came in the living room then, Tea flashing dark looks at Rebecca. "Uh . . ." she faltered, since though good friends, they hardly ever spoke. Indeed, Yugi was looking at her, confused, as if she were a stranger. "I came to apologize for Kaiba's last visit. He gets a little passionate about dueling you sometimes. He didn't mean to threaten you."
"Oh . . . uh . . . it's okay," he said, a bit embarrassed as her. He glanced at Tea, who merely sat down next to Serenity on the purple velvet sofa. Tea had already told him about the pregnancy. "And congratulations, Serenity." Tea lifted her brows, but said nothing.
"Yugi! Yugi! Lookie!" Rebecca insisted, wanting to be back in the center of attention. Apparently, she and Serenity had been dueling before he came. He sat down as she waved a pretty sparkly card in front of his face, still sleepy from his odd dream.
At least, I hope it was a dream, he thought. None of his earlier dreams had been like that before.
It was the Blue Eyes White Dragon card.
Tea looked shocked, too, so Yugi didn't feel like the only one. Rebecca snuggled up to the card. "See?! Grampa's card!" she shouted.
Only Serenity looked unruffled. She started spreading some of her cards out for her next move. Tea said shakily, "Um . . . Serenity?" She cocked her head, a few long strands coming out of her bun to wisp around her face. Despite in an apron and jeans, she looked very pretty. "Don't tell me that's . . . "
"Hm? Oh yeah. He gave me one a long time ago."
Yugi and Tea exchanged glances.
"What?!" demanded Rebecca. "Who gave you this card?!" She didn't like the glances, didn't like being out of the loop.
Tea ignored her. "Serenity, you know what that card means to Kaiba, right?" She shouldn't just give it to Rebecca!
"Huh? Oh yeah, I know he likes it. That why he gave it to me!" Everyone anime fell over. To put it mildly! "Though, I think he's a bit too, uh, obsessed about it . . . so I kinda took it away."
Well, at least she isn't dellusioned, thought Tea, cast a astounded look at Yugi, who shrugged.
"He gave one to Mokuba too." Serenity said so they'd relax. "Though . . . " she hesitated, " A funny thing did happen, when he gave to me. . ." She didn't say what though; they'd think she was crazy. She paused. "Though he did give it to him earlier, so . . . "
Rebecca was curious; she peered into Serenity's face as if willing her to spill her guts through ESP. And to think I went here to escape Mom looking at me like I'm a ticking time bomb! Serenity thought ruefully. "What, what happened?!" Rebecca screeched pleadingly, tugging at at the other girl's butter-yellow cardigan sweater's sleeve.
Tea and Yugi looked like they wanted to know, too. "It . . . shone," she said softly. "And Mokuba's didn't so . . . he was mad, I think. Silly, right."
"Oh, yeah, cards always shine," Tea said sarcastically. Yugi thought, That's something Ishizu should hear about. Rebecca voiced his thoughts, saying she would have to pay a visit to her. Rebecca's major was archeology, and her Grampa was always looking for new, interesting information for a breakthrough. . .
Serenity changed the subject hurriedly. "Well, anyway, I play this card; it allows me to bring forth one fusion monster from my fusion deck without sacrificing the proper monsters for one turn," Serenity declared at Rebecca, who gaped. Serenity's deck was strong. It was nearly two times as thick as a normal deck, though. But the rules said you could as many cards as you want, as long it exceeds the 60 card limit. And she had cards from all of her friends: Joey, Mai, Tea, and of course Kaiba's. It was just the luck of the draw, which, currently, was smiling down on her. As was she. "And I choose you, the Thousand Dragon!"
Yugi was momentarily distracted. That's the card that I gave to Joey, he thought. No, wait. It wasn't that card, it was . . . the Time Wizard! That card just is a result of it. He blinked, stunned. Am I really losing my memory? How could he just forget about that?
"Attack her and bring her Life Points to zilch!" Serenity said with a smile. She then returned to card to her hand. Yugi was surprised; if it weren't for her smile, he would've thought Kaiba was dueling. I guess I can rightfully guess that he taught her how to duel.
"Heeeey!" Rebecca wailed. "Oh noooo!" Her Hysteric Fairy went to the Graveyard. "Now my nice effect is goone! And she did it without Grampa's card!" She pointed. "But you lose 500 points for attacking, thanks to my Toll card!" she said smugly. Serenity was down to 200. "I'm winning!"
Even though Yugi's pretending not to watch, Tea thought, darning some socks to the side, I can tell he is. He wants to duel again, I know it! I should encourage him to face Kaiba, and kick his butt! She smiled quietly to herself, as he turned to Rebecca.
"Rebecca, sorry, but that's not your Grampa's card," he was saying, quietly but firmly. Then he got up and went to a golden, engraved box on a high shelf and picked it up easily. "Since Grandpa's dead now, you can have it back," he said, giving her the taped-up card.
Rebeeca gasped. "It's . . . ripped! Who did this?" her ponytail shaking indignantly. Yugi and Tea cast awkward glances at Serenity. At least, he did. Tea pretended to be immersed in her sewing. When the awward silence went on and on, Tea said:
"I did."
Yugi was taken aback, as Rebecca exclaimed, "Who, you?! You, who throw yourself at every boy in sight?!"
"Excuse me?!" Tea said, standing up to her full height and glaring.
"All right, all right," said Serenity, with a glance at Yugi, who looked like he wanted to disappear. "It's okay, you guys. Tea didn't rip your Grampa's card up, Rebecca." The little girl looked ridiculously deflated. She told her who; Joey had said it a million times enough.
"WHAT? HIM?!" Rebecca got all fired up again. "Does he KNOW how many packs I had to open to find it?! Well, an eye for an EYE!" She tossed it up in the air, the un-ripped one, caught it, and yanked hard so it broke into two. "I'll get him for this!" Rebecca shouted before tearing out herself through the front door..
"Erm . . . " Yugi spoke sheepishly, sitting down again in front of her. "Sorry, Serenity. I guess I should've have told her the truth."
"That's okay, Yugi." She suspected Kaiba could hold his own against a little blonde girl, so she wasn't worried.
"B-but . . . she just . . . "
"Eh? Oh, that was only a copy I made in art class," Serenity confirmed as if it were obvious. They both let sighs of relief out. "I was going to let her keep it . . . even though it won't work on a Dueling Disk . . . No, the real one's in here," she lifted a chain around her neck of a locket. "Pretty good replication, eh?" she said with a guilty grin.
Tea's hand was shaking as she set her spool down. "Phew! Well, how about you Yugi? Play for Rebecca," she said, gesturing to the cards down on the coffee table.
"Yeah," Serenity smiled friendly at him. "I've gotten pretty good! So face your fate!" I always wanted to say that.
"Yeah, I can see that. But another time." He said firmly.
"Go on," Tea urged. "Come on, Yugi!"
Finally, he relented, at last. Serenity thought to herself about how she'd asked him to, and he said no, but when Tea had . . . She smiled to herself as the TV in the background hummed and droned out a concert.
He reluctantly picked up the cards listlessly. "Okay, I, uh, play Skull Drain to sacrifice half my Life Points and bring out um, this." He placed a low level monster, out in attack mode no less, a beginner's mistake. He avoided Tea's gaze of disappointment. Okay, so I'll let her attack me! Instead of me attacking her, so I don't lose any Life Points. There were only 400 left anyway. Besides, he would lose if he attacked, thanks to Toll. She had out her Guardian Elma out; that would be enough to finish him.
Waiting for him to finish, Serenity's eye fell on the BEWD, the one that had been Rebecca's grandfather, Arthur Hawkins, card laying on the soft gray carpet. Her smile faded suddenly; blood, moaning, an ancient ritual. Where . . . had that come from? I . . . haven't had that vision in a long time. She put down her hand and rubbed her face, trying to clear her head, then let out a gasp of pain. Tea righted her. "Hey! What's wrong, Serenity?" she asked concernedly. "Do you need to go throw up?"
"No . . . I, um . . ." she rubbed her hands on her abdomen, looking embarrassed. "I think the baby just kicked! Sorry for scaring you all. I was just, uh, remembering this dream I had . . . it's nothing." Both nodded, and Yugi threw down some cards just then, mostly for Tea's benefit. He noticed Rebecca had already played a card that lowered the attack of fairy-type monsters: a good move since Serenity probably had a lot. But the name of the card, Yami . . . for an instant, his dream came back, rich and vivid, what his very old friend had said to him . . .
You act like you're dead, aibou! Play for me.
"Do you finish your turn, Yugi?" Serenity said, with a sudden grin. She had never beaten anyone in her life and she couldn't stop a triumphant grin from spreading across her face.
" . . . Huh? Oh, yeah." He said, coming out of his reverie.
"Good." She threw down Hinotama, which took off 500 Life Points of direct damage of his 400 with a big smile. "I win."
Tea gaped, as Serenity gathered up her deck, laughing to herself. "Y-you let her win, right, Yugi?"
"Oh . . . riiiiight."
# Meanwhile #
As the sun dipped lower into the evening, the temperatures cooled. That's why, when walking down the street, rubbing her stylish ski jacket's arms, Mai was surprised when she found what she was looking for. "Joey! What are you doing here!" she exclaimed, running up to his stiff form. "It's freezing! What are you--" she stopped when she noticed a jacket still hanging off his arm. A white jacket. "Noooo!" she gasped, "You didn't!"
There was a funny look on his face. He wasn't gray, but he wasn't moving. "He . . . didn't . . . know . . ."
"Omigod . . . omigod . . . tell me you didn't! You didn't go to Kaiba and tell him the truth!" she exclaimed, going around and grabbing his collar, "Tell me that! Omigod . . . " That wasn't what she had meant from him to do, and now he had, and omigosh, poor Serenity was in trouble!
She grabbed him urgently. "What did he say?! Tell me everything, and don't skimp on the details!"
He had this weird-looking grin of absolute delight on his face.
She shook him. "Joey!"
"Huh? Nothin' . . . get this . . . he didn't believe me!" He acted like it was the best thing in the world!
"Huh?" she repeated, releasing him, dumbfounded. "What do you mean, he didn't--and why are you so happy about?"
"Exactly what I said! Mai . . . this is great news!" He grabbed her and looked to the distance, enthralled. His hands were icy cold.
"What? Why?" she repeated, fixing him suspiciously, "You do know . . . Serenity's still going to have a baby that is going to be your niece and Kaiba's child . . . at the same time . . . right?" she said very slowly. Maybe he had finally lost it, snapped; he'd probably been standing in the cold so long that he'd forgotten and his brain froze.
"Yes! I know dat! I ain't gonna just go an' ferget, ya know!"
"Then, uh . . . " She didn't want to throw him down in his depression again, but her curiosity got the best of her at last. ". . . what's the deal?"
"Don't ya see?"---he looked at her then, his eyes lit up-- "It's okay! 'Cause I wasn't da last to know!"
"Um . . ." She sweatdropped. "Right . . . " It must be a boy thing.
"I wasn't da last one to know!" He shouted again into the now nighttime streetlights, before placing a loud smacking kiss on her cheek.
Definitely a boy thing. Men. They constantly mystify me, no matter how old I get. She watched him skip off, whooping and shouting. Well, whatever. As long as he's happy, I'm happy. And all that good stuff. She frowned, suddenly.
So . . . he didn't believe him, eh? She turned around slightly, clenching one doe-skin covered fist. "This has gone long enough. It's my turn!"
TBC!
A/n: Of course he didn't believe him--and yes Joey did do all those thing to him, so don't feel to sorry for him! LOL. Seto's gonna learn in style! Mwa ha ha. And do you think he's going to believe her? ::makes buzzer sound:: Ehhh! Lol. And I don't know what's it gonna be . . . a girl would be cute . . . Daddy's little girl! Aw! Lol. You'll just hafta wait & see . . .lol.
Anyhoo, yay, Joey's got over his depression. Now he can go back to planning his wedding! Yayerness! All the fangirls will be unhappy though. Boo hoo. And there's going to be a very extensive guest list. Also the uninvited guests . . . you gotta have dat! Come on! Keep reviewing! Thanks! R&R