Darkhope: Yo people! Chapter 9 is finally here! Sorry for the wait -sweat drops- ... Heh... I haven't updated since February 2nd... Blame dumb ass school.. Well I actually wrote most of this in like May.. So right now I'm still on summer break! But.. school is gunna start again September 6th... Oh well. I'm flattered people like this fic! Thanks for the 170 reviews! Ya know I don't really know why I made Varon like... so evil. xDD. I actually like him. / Poor soul.

Meh heh heh... Okay I'm done- Once again I don't own YGO.. I'm sick of writing that so this is the last time I'm writing it! I wouldn't be surprised if no one read this fic anymore since I like never update...

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Chapter 9: A Short Rest

The two finally broke apart, and slowly pulled away. Joey found himself blushing, so he turned his head away from her, trying to hide the blush that crept across his cheeks. He didn't do a very good job, Mai noticed the blush and smirked.

"Wow Joey... Are you BLUSHING?" She started to laugh, as Joey turned around. His face was still red, but more from anger now.

"WHAT? I ain't blushin! Are ya kiddin' me?" He retaliated, feeling even more flustered.

The young women was still in laughter, as Joey sent her a death glare.

"Really now? I could have sworn I saw that big, red, blush on your cute face!" She said through giggles.

"Ya were seein' things..."

"Awww is my doggie mad at me now?" She teased him, as she leaned over and pinched his cheek.

"Hey stop teasin'! Grr..." He pulled her hand away from his cheek, and rubbed it.

She smirked yet again.

"Well anyway..." Her smirk went away, as SHE then began to blush over what just happened between the two. Joey saw it, and of course, being Joey, he just had to tease her.

"OH! Who's the one blushin' NOW?" He laughed at her, as she just laughed and yelled at the same time.

"I'm NOT blushing, Joey Wheeler! - Huh? HEY STOP LAUGHING!"

"I'm sorry, Mai!" He said through chuckles. "I just... never have seen you blush!" He started laughing again.

"Joey... If you don't stop laughing, then no more kisses for you!" She threatened, as him instantly stopped his laughter.

"Aw c'mon, Mai! Ya don't mean that! ... Right?" He asked her, giving her the cutest face.

She just had to smile. "I don't lie."

"Um... That's a lie right there."

"Oh my god..." She sighed. "You're such a wise ass."

"Hey hey, it's only the truth!"

She then embraced him, feeling his warm, bare, flesh against her body. "I won't lie to you anymore... Or leave you... I love you... And... I want you to tell me things too. Okay?"

He returned her embrace, as well as taking in the smell of her strawberry-smelling hair. Must be the shampoo.

"Hey, I'll always tell ya if something is bothering me. That's what couples do I believe... They learn to love, and trust each other."

She broke the embrace, and raised an eye brow at him. "I never knew you could be so smooth."

He then smirked. "Yeah well... I can be smooth and sexy if I wanna be! You don't know this side of me... yet..."

She could only smirk, yet again.

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M e a n w h i l e

The rest of the group still sat in the small waiting room, that was filled with suspense. It had been an awfully long time since Mai entered Joey's room. The group of friends knew they couldn't do anything... but wait. Serenity wanted to see her brother very badly. She had to resist the urge to burst into the ER. Tristan comforted her the best he could, but Duke always pushed him side to try and receive Serenity's attention all to himself. Little did they know that her heart was already stolen by a cold hearted CEO. Tea was still next to Yami, staring at him. She wondered how Mai was doing with Joey. She knew Mai loved him, and knew that Tea herself, would be devastated if something like that had happened to Yami. Or maybe even Yugi.

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"I should tell everyone your awake.. you had us all scared shit, Joey."

"I'm sorry, Mai.. But I'm gunna make Varon pay. I promise.. To be honest, I wasn't expecting him to come back and attack me like that... I really did respect him in the end of our duel... But now he's gone too far."

Her eyes then widened. "JOEY! I don't want you getting hurt again! And Varon respected you too... So I have no idea why he's doing this." Her face saddened, as she looked down.

Joey rested his hand on top of Mai's to reassure her that everything would be okay in the end. She looked back up at him with worry in her eyes.

"I'll beat him this time." He now had a serious look on his face.

Mai turned away from him, and again, looked down. "I better tell them now..." With that said, she walked out of the room, leaving Joey feeling discouraged.

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As soon as the group saw Mai walk into the waiting room, they ran directly towards her.

"MAI! Is my brother okay!" Serenity shouted, looking frantic.

The older women smiled in return. "Yes Serenity.. he's awake now."

Those words made the young girl smile. "Oh Mai!" she hugged the older women, and cried. "I'm so glad..."

Mai didn't really know what to do, but she returned the hug anyway. "Me too..." She replied, letting her own tears run down her cheeks. She had always thought of Serenity as a younger sister. And maybe one day, they would be sister in laws.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but can I see my best friend now?" Tristan asked, very impatiently.

Serenity's eyes darted up towards him. "I guess that's a good idea..."

Tristan blushed. "O-of course it is!" He closed his eyes and pointed his thumb directly to his chest, trying to impress the girl of his dreams. Duke watched the scene and rolled his eyes, giving Tristan, an all knowing look.

"Yeah I wanna see him too..." Yugi stated, feeling a bit awkward.

Mai looked up at them. "Of course."

They then when straight into Joey's room.

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Joey fell asleep right after Mai left. The pain was too much to bare right now. He was really tired as well. He started dreaming about how wonderful his life would be in the future. About how he would get better, and train as hard as he could to get stronger, how he would kick Varon's ass, and about how he would spend the rest of his life with Mai. But then there was an unpleasant dream.

DREAM

He was in a dark alley. It was dark all around him, and he couldn't see a damn thing.

"Shit."

Joey cursed under his breath.

"JOEY!"

He heard a loud cry just a few feet away. The teen looked up to see Mai calling out for him. She was in pain, and that made his eyes burn with hatred, anger, and sadness . He saw Varon. Varon that sick bastard. Joey watched as he saw him take out a knife, a switchblade no less.

"MAI!" He screamed out. Varon was going to use the switchblade on her. But why? The blond boy watched as Varon choked her, making her gag. But why? Why would he do this if he loves her? What the hell was going on? He couldn't let this happen! Not to Mai.

"VARON!" Joey ran forward, as he tried to get the switchblade away from Varon. But he was too late.

He was covered in blood. Mai's blood. He was so close to saving her. Again. He let her down again! She was gone. Gone for good.

"DAMNIT!" Joey screamed at the top of his lungs, as Varon started to laugh.

"Well Wheeler you tried. But it's too late now. You couldn't save her." Varon replied, as he continued laughing.

"How could you let this happen?" A voice said.

"WHAT?" Joey turned around to see his baby sister, with a very pale face.

"How could you let that happen to Mai? HOW COULD YOU JOEY?" She screamed at him. Tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Serenity... I didn't mean to... I loved her, Ren! Ya gotta believe me! I tried.." Seeing his own sister cry, hurt him.

Joey then saw the whole gang standing before him. "Guys I..."

"How could you Joey?" Yugi asked him.

"Yeah Man." Tristan repiled.

"What the hell Tristan! ...This can't be real.." Joey knew Tristan hated Mai for what she did to him. There was no way it was real. But it really did feel real.

Joey fell on to his knees. "Mai..." He choked out.

"YOU LOSE, WHEELER!"

"VARON! YOU DID THIS!" He screamed back out to him.

"Joey..." Serenity whimpered.

"Joey this is insane." Duke walked over to him.

"I can't believe you Joey." Tea started, as her tears fell.

Joey looked around at all of them, wondering what to do.

"Joey."

"Joey."

"Joey."

That was all he heard from them. His name repeated over and over again. "Joey."

"NOOOOOOO!"

END DREAM

"Joey! Joey! Hey Joey!"

"Wake up! Joey! Please wake up!"

"AHHH! NO!" He opened his eyes fast, and quickly sat up. Well more like he jumped up. "Huh..?" He saw all of his friends look down at him. Mai and Serenity were the closest, and it seemed they were the ones calling out to him. "What the...? MAI YOUR ALIVE!" He reached over and took Mai in his arms. Mai was surprised, but returned Joey's embrace. "Why wouldn't I be alive? We were more concerned if YOUwere alive!"

Everyone else was just confused. What was happening?

Joey released Mai and blushed, as he looked at the rest of his friends. "Never mind..."

"BIG BROTHER!" Serenity yelled out, hugging him. "You're okay... I was so worried that you wouldn't make it."

Joey smiled down at his younger sibling, and hugged her in return. "Gee, thanks for the support." He chuckled a bit. "You know I'm tougher then that!"

Serenity looked up at him and smiled. "I know you are. But sometimes, you just can't help but worry..."

Joey nodded. "I gotcha, sis. But don't worry. Your big brother here is gunna be fine." He tried to sound all tough guy-ish. There's the Joey they all knew and loved. Looks like he's back.

"Man you had us scared shit!" Tristan caught Joey in a head lock.

"Hey hey! Easy, ack."

"Oh right, sorry bro." Tristan let go of his best friend. "You're still hurt."

He growled. Okay so maybe he was hurt. Tristan didn't have to announce it. "I'm fine!"

"Still as stubborn as ever..." Tea looked at Joey, worry still on her face. Though she couldn't help but blush, seeing he was shirtless. Yami looked over at Tea with somewhat, jealously. But he knew that Tea didn't like Joey that way, and he had Mai anyway. Mai noticed Tea blushing, and knew exactly why. Come on, the guy did have a nice 6 pack going on there! How could you not blush? Or think that anyway.

"You don't look so well either. Maybe you should get a little more rest, and then we'll talk about this whole situation." Tea continued.

As much as Joey wanted to decline, he had to admit, he was pretty tired. After all, he had just woke up from a nightmare. Speaking of that nightmare, he wondered why he had it. Everything was suppose to be okay in the end. Was that a sign that it wouldn't be?

Yami switched places with Yugi to let him see his best friend. After that, they all left to let Joey sleep for the night. And they needed sleep themselves. Well everyone left, except for Mai that is. The whole time she wondered why he said "Mai your alive!"

It puzzled her too much. She just couldn't let it go.

Everyone else figured she wanted to be alone with Joey a little while longer, which was true, and understandable, but that line couldn't be forgotten so easily.

Joey yawned and laid back down on the bed. Mai sat down on the side of the bed and looked down at Joey. "Hey... what did you mean when you woke up?"

He darted his eyes toward her. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh you know.. You said that I was alive... what did you mean?"

He then looked down at his hands, as a sad look appeared on his usually happy face. "I had this nightmare.. I don't know why... or how..." He continued on, as he told Mai about the nightmare.

Her eyes widened. "Oh Joey... Was I really that helpless? I mean I bet I could have fought him off if it really happened!"

Joey chuckled. He always admired how tough Mai was, and how strong her will really is. "I know you could. But I don't know... it seemed so real... like I actually heard you screaming and everything! If that dream was a sign that something bad is gunna happen to you, which I really have a feeling it was, I want you to stay close to me at all times, okay? ...Well at least until I have to fight Varon again."

Mai looked into his deep chocolate brown eyes. "I wouldn't leave you for the world. I love you, Joey... I really mean it. But how do you know that it's a sign?"

"That's the thing, Mai! I don't know. I have no idea of what's gunna happen with Varon.. Right now it's just a gut feeling. And you know I always trust my gut. All I know is that tomorrow, first thing, I'm outta this hospital and I'm gunna start training."

"Hold on a second Joey... The hospital might not even release you tomorrow! You're still in bad shape-" She looked at his side, where the switchblade had made contact. "-especially your right side." Blood was still soaking through his bandages, it wasn't a great sight to be honest, but Mai didn't care. If he was okay, she was okay.

"I could give a rats ass! I'm outta here tomorrow." Joey looked determined to bust out no matter who protested, even Mai herself.

She sighed. "We'll see what tomorrow brings.. Besides you aren't in any condition to start training right away anyway! So what's the difference!"

"I'm gunna start as soon as I can... I wanna show Varon that his sick games won't work. But I also wanna try and get through to him, like I did you to you a long time ago. Maybe we could put this all behind us and be friends one day..."

"Alright Joey... I understand.. But, you need rest now." She replied, pushing him back down on the bed, very carefully so she wouldn't hurt him.

"Hey Mai?"

"Hm?"

"Did you tell the gang about 'us'?"

She blushed. "Actually.. no. They all wanted to see you so badly, that I didn't even have time. But I think they got the hint anyway."

"Heh, we were always pretty obvious weren't we?"

She smiled at him. "Indeed we were. And I have a feeling they knew we were going to be together one day."

"Really?" Joey asked as his eyes widened.

She nodded in return. "Varon knew I loved you. Even back when I was trying to kill you.." She finished off, trying not to think about what happened that day.

He got the message, and sat up once again. "I told you to stop beating yourself up over that whole thing."

"I'm sorry, Joey! I just can't help it! I'll always remember everything that happened."

"I know you can't forget, and honestly, I can't either. But I forgave you for a reason, and that reason was because I love you. I love you enough to try and talk things through with you, and start over again. Heh, oh man I sound so cheesy right now."

Mai shook her head. "I kind of like you this way... You're actually letting out your true feelings instead of holding them back."

"Hey didn't I teach ya that?"

Mai giggled. "In a way I suppose."

He chuckled. "I never actually held them back. I just never really said them to your face."

"Alright alright." She gave in. "Now lay down and go to sleep!"

"...You aren't my mother! You're making me sound like I'm a little kid that needs to be told what to do!"

"Joey, come on." She laughed. "I'll be like this with our kids one day. You did mention you wanted them when I asked you where we would be 10 years from now."

He blushed at least 25 shades of red. "I-I did? Oh yeah... I did. Heh.. Well uh..." Joey started but never finished. He didn't really seem to fond of the idea of changing a diaper, or staying awake the whole night because of baby cries/screams. Hell what if the kids didn't even like him? What if he and Mai didn't work out? It was too much to think about right now though.

She smiled and gave him a gentle hug. "I can tell you're nervous. Don't be. When the time comes, it comes. We still have a lot of time."

"Yeah, exactly! It's too early to think about all that..." He was still blushing, fore he knew what he and Mai had to do in order to have these 'kids'. But being the pervert that he is, he thought it would be pretty fun.

Mai raised an eye brow. "What are you thinking?"

"Wha..? Nothing!"

"Riigghhhtttt." She released him, as he laid back down on the bed.

"Honest!" Joey shouted with a nervous smile on his face.

She giggled. "Just go to sleep."

"Fineee."

They shared one last kiss before Mai walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

Joey didn't fall asleep right away. Something else still puzzled him. What ever happened to Kaiba? How mad was the CEO after Joey pretty much told him off. Oh well.

'I'll get him someday!'

A smirk crossed Joey's lips, as his eyelids dropped slowly. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

He would start training tomorrow no matter what.

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Darkhope: -sulk- Tell me how badly that sucked? Well.. I hope it didn't. That was 11 pages long! xDD I'll try and update a lot sooner next time... and this time I WILL keep my word. But if no one reviews then I dunno if I'll have the motivation to continue writing this story. I kinda have motivation now for some reason. I dunno.. I love JoeyxMai a lot, such a sweet couple! This fic is mainly a JoeyxMai fic, so that's why there will be a great deal of JoeyxMai scenes. (not that there won't be any YamixTea scenes or SetoxSerenity scenes!) I'll have to work on those. I'm kinda getting out of YamixTea and SetoxSerenity... so I'm gunna try reading more of those and try and get into them again. But my love for JoeyxMai still burns! (wow I suck xD)

Some Replies:

dreamcloud516: Hey! thanks for the review! -smiles- I read in your BIO that you're from LI! So am I! xDD! We should chat sometime. Lol.

Mira Nova 23: Ah yes your fic is very good! Thanks for the review!

Setosbabygirl: Maybeeee... You'll just have to see. -wink- If they did, it wouldn't be til like the very end. I'm not even done with the fic yet, Lol.

Chibi Tora: Thanks! -smile- Sorry it took so long... I've been busy, and lazy.

Blue-Eyes White Knight: Hey dude! Thanks alot lol!

madmanmay: Thanks for all the reviews. They helped me out. -smile- I really appreciate all the compliments! Thank you so much, AGAIN! Here's your update! And when are you gunna update!

Wildfire Wolf: Don't mind the cursing... I curse ALOT myself... so yeah.. It's hard not writing, the way I'm use to talking. Or whatever. Bah. I can't explain. I guess if I DID write the way I talked... I'd be writing Joey's accent on every word xDDD. I didn't even notice he had an accent til' like this year! Isn't that sad? I've been watching YGO for like... 3 years maybe. xD. I like Varon -huggles him- but... Joey must be the hero in this story:D Thanks for the review!

Seresute: Hey! Thanks for the review, and I replied to that email you sent me from xanga. Look at it soon! Lata! Lol.

Eternity's Angel: YOU! -points- UPDATE! -.- It's hopeless xDDD. Boy we haven't talked in forever.. I'll IM you. -smile-

Hope for Love: Yes Joey and Mai stories ARE the best.

YiMU: Yes pep the FLUFF! Thanks!

SereneDolphin: Hehe. Glad you liked it! Here's another chapter for ya, though very late...

Mai Sama: -.- Hey you... Yeah I updated! And here's another one too! So where's my lemon! xDD. Wow corn. I like popcorn the best. -wink-

Flame Swordswomen: xDD I see BLUE man! BLUE. Or it can be purple... Eh... Idk... w/e xD! I mean I once thought Amelda's eyes were blue until my friend Iba told me they were gray... xDDDDDD Get online soon! Yeah maybe I will write a sequel :D If not.. then this will have an Epilogue. Thanks for the review!

StarWolf4: hey! Thanks so much! -smile- xDD yess VERY good sappy shit xDD.

Shelly Chan: Ahh Nicole, lol, you guys rock. And thanks! xD sappy!

Galux Kitty: Sorry for the wait! But I am alive! xDD Yeahhh we shall see! Depends on what they.. do. -COUGH- Heh... my mind has been in the gutter lately. x.x'

Foxy Cleopatra: Oh yes sex jokes can be VERY funny. xD

TO EVERYONE ELSE: Thank you all so much!

And that's about it...