Author's Notes: Twenty chapters. Twenty chapters! Can you believe it? I've never written a fanfiction this long before. But I guess this is what I get when I try rewriting an entire series, huh?

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Millennium Hearts

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Fireworks bloomed in the sky, giant bursts of color unfolding like dazzling flowers against the bright blue above. The gathered crowd of duelists watched with awe at the display, before dispersing off to the various places on the island. The tournament had begun.

Yugi and his friends were oddly subdued as the festivities began. Yami had returned to his soul room upon Yugi and Seto's insistence. Mokuba tagged along beside Yugi, staring at the ground most of the time and looking much like a kicked puppy. Seto hung back a little, every so often glancing over at the fiend that followed him. Bakura looked to be perfectly happy.

Finally deciding that he needed some answers, Seto waited until Yugi and Mokuba were a little further ahead of him, before he turned to Bakura. "Why are you coming along with us? I thought you wanted to keep our little… situation a secret. What, you decided you needed to start bothering me in broad daylight now?"

Bakura's usual wicked smile barely faltered. "I came to protect you."

"Protect me?" That was not the answer Seto had been expecting. "Protect me from what? The only thing I need protecting from is you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought originally, too. But as it turns out, I'm the lesser of two evils." Bakura frowned. "I'm not too used to being the lesser of anything, but that's the way it goes. I may have taken your soul, but at least I haven't hurt you."

"I beg to differ. I'm going to have the scars to prove otherwise."

"Okay, besides that one time. But when we were on the boat, I sensed something with… far more sinister intentions than mine. With a lot of power to back it up. And it seemed pretty interested in you."

Seto groaned. "You know, when I get home, I'm never going to leave the house again. Why is it that everywhere I go, people start stalking me?"

Bakura grinned at him. "Just lucky, I guess."

"That's not funny." Seto glared at Bakura.

"Hey!" Yugi called back at them. "Hurry up, you two! I found Joey!"

"We'll be right there!" Seto called back. He turned back to Bakura. "The next time you feel like trying to protect me, don't. Nothing could possibly be any worse than you." He sprinted up ahead to catch up with Yugi and Mokuba.

Bakura stared at his back for a moment, before shaking his head. "If only that were true." He hurried to catch up with the group as well.

x.x.x

"If the circumstances were different, this would almost be funny," Midori commented, tracing her white-painted nails lightly over the images gleaming in the shadow realm mirror. "Seto could be the most popular boy in his school, if he chose to be."

"It's amazing what lengths people will go to for a pair of beautiful blue eyes," Shiroi said. "It's a pity Seto doesn't care anything about popularity. He could really use it to his advantage."

"The way it's going now, he'll be lucky just to survive it all. This is getting really serious, Shiroi. What am I supposed to do about Bakura and Marik? Noa was just annoying, but it's getting dangerous with these holders of the Millennium Items getting mixed up into it." Midori frowned, tugging on a stray lock of her snowy white hair.

"You two," a new voice broke into the conversation. A beautiful woman with jet black hair and gleaming red eyes walked into the viewing chamber and flopped down on the pile of pillows next to Shiroi. "Really, your matchmaking skills leave a lot to be desired. You're kind of making a muddled mess of everything, don't you think?"

"If you're not going to say anything constructive, Ruby, you can just leave. I don't see you pulling off any miracles with your mortal," Shiroi snapped at her.

Ruby laughed, playfully tossing back her hair. "Then you haven't been paying attention, have you? I just had a nice little chat with Harpy Lady and Orgoth the Relentless. They were most agreeable to my plan. Joey Wheeler is very lucky to have me for his Guardian, instead of some clumsy Blue Eyes White Dragons. I wouldn't even be surprised at all if Joey won this little tournament game, either."

"What!" Shiroi leapt up, glowing at Ruby. "You know that Yami has to win this tournament. He and Yugi will die if he doesn't!"

"I agree," Midori said. "As much as I would like to see Seto win this, it is critical that Yami prevails. Not only for his own and Yugi's sake, but for the world's as well."

Ruby shrugged gracefully. "That's hardly my problem, now is it? They're not my mortals."

"Keep talking," Shiroi growled, "and in a minute you'll be a Red Eyes Black Stain on the floor."

Ruby's crimson eyes flashed, and she bared her sharp, gleaming white teeth. "I'd like to see you try it-"

"Shiroi!" Hansha called breathlessly as he ran into the room. "You have to come quickly. Yami's condition is getting worse."

Shiroi shot a last glare at Ruby. "I'll kill you later," he promised, then ran to join Hansha and Yami's other Guardians.

Midori rolled her eyes, turning back to the scene in the mirror. She ran her finger over the image of the Tomb Robber Bakura. "We'll just see who kills who, here."

x.x.x

"Hey, Yuug! There you are, we've been looking for you everywhere!" Joey called as Yugi and his friends approached. "I didn't think this place would be so crowded."

"Yeah, it's really turning into a big event," Yugi said, smiling a little more cheerfully than he felt. He looked past Joey at the two people standing behind him. "Who are your friends there?"

"Oh yeah!" Joey gestured to the girl and boy he was with. "You already met Mai Valentine, right?"

"Oh yes, you were sure she had cheated on that little mind-reading trick she was doing," Seto said.

"She did cheat." Joey glared at Mai, though it held no real anger. "I just have to figure out how she did it."

Mai laughed, flipping her hair back and patting Joey on the shoulder. "He knows my talent in genuine, he just doesn't want to admit it."

Joey ignored that, and introduced his other companion, a somewhat tanned boy with long black hair and bright green eyes. "And this is Duke Devlin. He's a pain in the ass too, but he insists on following us for some reason."

"Insists?" Duke demanded. "You were the one that asked me to come! And I wouldn't have, if this lovely lady hadn't asked so nicely as well." He grinned at Mai, who laughed with delight at his silly flirting.

"Well, it's nice to see you made some new friends," Yugi said.

Joey laughed, shrugging. "Yeah. They're jerks, but… they're mine."

"Hey!" both Mai and Duke protested at that.

"What?" Joey asked. "You are."

"Well… if you want to put it that way, I guess…" Mai hedged.

"Until we find something better to do…" Duke added.

Bakura laughed, folding his arms and smirking at Joey. "Seems like you've been rather busy on this trip, haven't you?"

Joey flushed and glowered at Bakura. "It's not like that-!"

"Oh really? It sounds like it's exactly like that," Bakura said. "And if you're all done standing around like morons, isn't there a tournament you're supposed to be playing in right about now?"

The group reluctantly started out again. Joey walked alongside Yugi, glancing back now and again at Bakura. "Hey Yuug… is it just me, or is Ryou acting really strange?"

Yugi sighed, shaking his head. "Joey… you have no idea…"