A/N: Don't own YGO but I do own my original characters. Sorry about the wait. Thank you to Caorann fridh Bronach for beta reading. Thank you for your patience…if you're still reading this story. Borrowed a name from One Piece – don't own it. I also don't own another name from Fire Emblem. '…thoughts…' NOTE: I haven't seen anything after the Doom Saga, I believe. My interest has lagged so most likely, there will be no references to the new season in this story.

The Valentines

Joey nervously paced the floor inside the airport waiting area. He was dressed in a nicely padded jacket, blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and decent shoes. They were his best, casual, easy-going clothes, which he hoped would give his fiancée's parents a good impression that he was not a slob. Unless, of course, Mai mentioned that little embarrassing fact that he was indeed somewhat of a slob…

"I'm gonna be okay. I'm gonna be okay. I'm gonna be-"

"I'm not going to be okay if you don't stop walking in circles!" Mai scolded, "You're making me dizzy!"

"Don't watch, then!" Joey shot back and immediately felt a tad guilty. All this stress over meeting her parents was taking its toll on him. "Look, all I ask is for a little sympathy because I'm about to meet your parents and hope that they'll approve of me."

"And that we'll get my father's blessing," Mai added, crossing her arms. "You better be on your absolute best behavior, Joey, because my family is very strict about manners and class."

"Are ya implying I don't have class!"

Mai ignored him. "Look, my father is very friendly. My mother is very watchful and observant. And my sisters are a handful…"

"How many sisters ya got?" Joey asked, hoping she had two and not ten…

"Five and not including me."

"Five!" Joey yelped, his eyes nearly bulging clear out. "Five sisters!"

"And one cousin, who is really my brother. I mean, he acts like one." Mai sighed. "I'm the oldest of all my sisters, and their names are Vivian, Sharon, Bronwen, Nami, and Josie. My cousin's name is Ephraim," Mai added, right away noticing Joey break the world's record for jaw dropping again.

"…I think I'm going to cry…" Joey mumbled.

"Oh, you'll be fine!" Mai stood up and put her arms around his shoulders. "Just act like you normally would – no, better not, that might not be a good idea."

"You're very supportive," Joey grumbled, staring numbly outside. "So, when are they coming?"

"Soon," Mai answered, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Actually, they should be here…" she murmured, glancing at the clock on the wall. "…Right about…now!"

"Mai, honey!" a deep voice boomed, causing Joey to release a small yelp and jumped about an inch off the floor. "It's so good to see you!"

"Daddy!" Mai suddenly transformed into a squealing little girl. "Oh, Daddy, I missed you!" she cried as she literally flew into her father's arms.

'Okay, Mai is clearly Daddy's Girl,' thought Joey, and the male blonde gave a once-over look at his future father-in-law (hopefully). Mr. Valentine was tall, blonde like his daughter, a moustache, and…muscular! 'This guy must've been a boxing champ before he retired into…business!' Mr. Valentine was dressed in a business suit but it was evident that he had been in some kind of sport that involved immense strength. 'Calm down, Wheeler, calm down…she said he was friendly, so that's got to be good, right?'

"Where is everyone else?" Mai asked, clinging to her father's arm. "Oh! Joey, come here and meet Daddy!"

Joey was as still as a board, a smile frozen in place.

Mai raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Joey? Come here and meet him."

"This is Joey Wheeler?" Mr. Valentine asked, also giving him a once-over. "Nice to meet you, boy!" He laughed. "And Mai, everyone is on their way. I just had to see you as soon as possible!"

'Come on, feet, move!' Joey continued to smile. His mind defeated his body in the battle of wills and Joey was now walking towards the Valentines. 'Now what do I do?' he thought frantically, standing in front of the two other blondes. 'Hold out your hand – just do it!' Joey held out his hand. "Uh…nice to eat – I mean meet! Nice to meet ya, Mr. Valentine! I'm Joey…Joey Wheeler."

"He already knows your name," Mai remarked. "Didn't you hear him?"

"Oh, that's okay." Mr. Valentine waved it away. "Hello, Joey, I'm Hiram Valentine. The rest of the family should be along any moment now." He shook Joey's hand, much to Joey's displeasure.

"…That's…great!" Joey burst out despite the pain of his perfectly good hand being squeezed to death. "Ha ha! Terrific!"

"Simmer down," Mai hissed when her father turned around to call the Valentine family over. "Take it easy."

"Take it easy? Yeah, sure…I can do that." Joey nodded as he spoke. "No sweat…" he muttered when she faced away from him.

"Joey! I'd like you to meet my wife, Melody." Hiram gestured to a lovely middle-aged brunette.

"Hello," Melody greeted him with a smile although her eyes were full of suspicion.

"Our daughters…this is Vivian."

Vivian had very short, blonde hair, cut in an elegant style and she was busy fiddling with her cell phone. "Tsk. This just isn't working – oh, hi." The girl obsessed with technology.

'Okay…' Joey nodded his head.

"This here is Sharon."

Sharon also had blonde hair only it was done in a braid, almost as long as Mai's hair. This girl was into fashion and wore very sophisticated clothes and plenty of make-up. She smirked and said in an oh-so-sexy voice, "Hi, Joey…"

Joey's smile became frozen again, unsure of what to do. 'Great. Mai is going to be steaming…'

Sweatdropping, Hiram continued. "This is Bronwen."

Bronwen had shoulder-length brown hair instead of the infamous Valentine blonde. "Hi," came the dull reply. The young woman was a stare-cow…since she herself thought there was nothing better to do at the moment.

'She's freaking me out!' Joey shuddered inwardly.

"Enthusiasm is not in her vocabulary," Hiram explained and pointed to the next daughter. "This is Nami."

Nami was another brunette, only her loose and flowing hair ended at the waist, it seemed. Nami greeted Joey with a warm smile. "I am delighted to finally be introduced to you, Mr. Wheeler! Please, forgive our tardiness." Okay, this one had to be the smart one; the one who always got an A in every subject and used "big" words…

'Maybe I'll have to carry a dictionary around.' Joey gave a mental chuckle.

"Last, but certainly not least," Hiram said, "this is our youngest, Josie."

"Hey!" Josie ran right up to Joey, giving him a quick hug and shaking his hand with so much zeal, Joey was sure his arm could have come out of its socket… "I'm Josie Valentine! It's so great to meet you! You know, when Mai told us the news, I couldn't believe it…"

'She talks too much!' Joey nodded, trying to keep up with her words.

Josie was a natural blonde, but with having a sort of wild personality, the girl had dyed her hair pink…

"Dearest, let's not forget our nephew." Melody stepped back and laid a hand on her nephew's shoulder, bringing him to the front. "Joey, this is Ephraim Stevenson from my side of the family."

Ephraim was tall with short, navy blue hair and unmistakably purple eyes that literally matched Mai's own purple orbs. His eyes were narrowed and he did not express any form of acknowledgement of Joey's presence.

'Smile doesn't seem to be in his vocabulary,' Joey reckoned, nodding. 'I wonder what his problem is.'

Meanwhile, Mai was gritting her teeth in annoyance at Sharon and wondering what to do next.

But her mother decided that for her: "Why don't we all grab a bit of lunch somewhere?" Melody suggested, clasping her hands together.

"I know just the place," Mai said. "The restaurant where Joey proposed to me!"

Mai chattered all about it as she led her family out of the airport. Joey was about to follow and catch up with her when he felt a hand pull him back, almost violently. "Yee!" Joey struggled free from the unknown stranger's grip and spun around, only to see Ephraim and to hear:

"I'm watching you. You had better not try anything."

"T-Try? To…Mai?" Joey stuttered. What could he do? The guy was outlandish, unconventional, bizarre…in Joey's words, he was freaky!

Ephraim's glare strengthened. "Yes, Mai," he affirmed. Ephraim was the embodiment of the over-protective brother (even if he was only Mai's cousin).

'Who does he think he is – wait, wait, I have to be nice…for a little while…' Joey sighed. "Look, pal, I wouldn't do anything to your cousin." He stopped – now was not the time to pour out his true feelings to Mai. It wasn't even the right person! All his lovey-dovey words would have to wait until the wedding or at least until he began writing his wedding vows.

The blue-haired young man only frowned and left to catch up with the Valentines.

"Eh. Friendly fellow, isn't he?" Joey muttered, catching the attention of nearby people. "What are ya looking at?" he hollered at them and then ran after Mai.

"So I said to the guy…"

"And we're off on another one of Josie's dumb jokes," Mai whispered, leaning towards Joey.

"You mean the last five hundred weren't…the last!" Joey hissed back, obviously exaggerating, although it had seemed like five hundred.

Mai sympathized, squeezing his hand under the table. "Just hang on."

"Here we are!" A waitress, accompanied by other waiters and waitresses, brought forth the delicious-looking meals for all present. Each aroma from each meal could cause even the fullest person's stomach to rumble. Everything looked simply divine.

Digging in immediately, Joey lifted a forkful of pasta that was about to enter his mouth when:

"Do you like cheese?"

Confused, Joey turned to his right where Bronwen was sitting, her usual blank stare creeping him out yet again. "…What?"

"Do you like cheese?" she repeated, holding out the Parmesan bottle. "On your pasta."

His previous questions concerning her sanity vanished. "Oh. Thanks." He graciously took the bottle and shook some Parmesan cheese onto his pasta. "Forgot about that."

Bronwen said nothing and returned to her own meal.

"So, Joey," Hiram boomed. "Tell us a bit about yourself," the man suggested, taking a small sip of his soft drink.

Joey set his fork down, feeling suffocated by all the eyes upon him. "Uh, heh, heh, sure." He cleared his throat. "I work as a-"

"Oh, we already know what you are!" Josie interrupted, grinning. "What were you like as a teenager, huh? Were you, like, bad?"

Bang!

Everyone turned to where Vivian sat. "My pocket calculator isn't working," Vivian explained. "I was just totaling up the costs of our meals."

"The total will be $166.79!" Nami declared brightly. "I managed to catch a glimpse of all the meals on the menu and kept in mind which ones you all ordered. I already knew what I desired, so I took to reading everything to pass the time!"

'What a memory!' Joey sighed and considered Josie's question. "When I was a teenager, I played Duel Monsters." 'Great one, Joey!' He mentally gave himself a whack in the head. 'Who wants to hear about that? Humph. They should! I was a finalist in both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City!'

"You played Duel Monsters?" Mrs. Valentine echoed, arching a well-groomed eyebrow. "How…quaint."

"I played it, too, Mother," Mai pointed out, frowning. "Joey and I were both finalists in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City. Duelist Kingdom was where we met, you know. I thought he was such a dork back then."

"Yeah? Well, I thought ya were-" Joey hesitated, remembering where he was. "A fine, young lady!" he finished proudly. Mai shot him a strange look.

Melody changed the subject. "Mai, sweetie, how about we go shopping after this? All of us girls."

"Yes!" Mai swallowed a bite of food. "I need you girls to try on some bridesmaid dresses."

"Wonderful." Melody turned to her husband. "You and Ephraim will be able to bond with Joey."

"Sounds like a great idea!" Hiram smiled. "A little man-to-man-to-man talk."

Joey forced a grin. "Yeah. Great. Terrific."

A/N: I am using Canadian currency, and I won't be going into details regarding whether the Valentines can read the menu in Japanese or not. That's not what you're here for, right? All of Mai's sisters and her one cousin were created for humor purposes only, as well as to cause a few problems. None of them are going to "fall in love" or have someone "fall in love" with them. And these OCs will not take up every chapter. They'll be around until after the wedding.

And, please, review. It lets me know you took the time to read this. Thanks to FFN's new features, I know who the people are who put this on their list(s), but don't review. Please consider it.