3. Demons

While most of the others set up spots to sleep by the lake, Mai took a blanket for herself and chose a spot by the cave wall well away from everyone else and tried to shake the irritability that had been inexplicably growing all afternoon. Taking off her boots, she rubbed her feet, deciding it must just be that she was tired. They'd been walking for a couple of hours at least and still seemed no closer to finding Weevil or the end of this maze, or even any clue as to why all of this was here and how it related to the Shadow Realm. It was only natural that she would feel grumpy. But she felt ill-at-ease, too, like something was lurking nearby. Mai, not normally a jumpy or easily scared person, did not like this feeling.

When she was done massaging her aching feet, she decided it was too cold to stay barefoot, so she pulled her boots back on and leaned back against the cave wall, not quite ready to lie down yet. Her fingers felt a little numb, so she put her hands in her pockets to warm them, the pocket's contents rattling around her fists while she pulled her jacket tighter around her. She closed her eyes, but then she heard someone approach. She opened her eyes again, expecting to see Joey, but instead it was Téa.

"Hey Mai," Téa said, sitting down.

"What do you want?" Mai grumbled, then chastised herself inwardly. What reason did she have to be annoyed with Téa?

"Just wanted to talk, see how it's going, geez," Téa replied testily.

"Sorry," Mai muttered. "I'm just cranky. Don't mind me."

"Well, I don't know why you'd be cranky. It's such fun walking for miles and miles in a big spooky cave with creepy ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics scrawled on the wall and gas torches a little too conveniently kept burning for us," Téa said dryly.

"No kidding. I just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop," Mai agreed.

"Mm hmm," Téa said absently. She was quiet for a moment, and then she said, "Mai, in case I haven't told you before, I'm really glad to see you again. I… I hope we can all keep in better touch when this is all over."

Mai felt a brief burst of irrational anger at this. What does she think I am, a little child? I don't need your reassurances and I don't need you to squeeze me into your little playgroup, she thought, then blinked, wondering why she would think something like that. Truth be told, she was grateful to be thought of as one of them, grateful to have friends around her once more. Biting back the bile that she didn't understand, she said, "Thanks, Téa. I'd like that, too."

"The guys and I stayed pretty close over the last two years through e-mail and stuff. We even set up times to do online chats, which was a pain to figure out because of the time differences. We finally figured out that ten o'clock Saturday mornings Eastern Time would usually work. That would be five on Saturday evening for Yugi, eleven at night for Joey. Tristan was all over, though. Usually in Japan or Okinawa, but sometimes the lucky jerk would actually get to go to Hawaii. If he was there we had to push it back a few hours, but Joey's kind of a night owl, so that was usually okay…"

Oh my God, what possible reason could she have for thinking I find this inane rambling even remotely interesting? Why doesn't this stupid girl just shut UP?

Again, Mai found herself wondering at her own train of thought. While a discussion of time zones across the world was hardly scintillating conversation, it certainly didn't warrant hostility on her part. Why am I so jumpy?

"But anyway," Téa said, seeming to be winding down, "I hope you'll chat with us sometimes, too. Although now that I think about it, I don't know where you've been living these days."

Mai shrugged. "You know me, I'm a wanderer. I've been in Europe mostly. Paris for a while, but as you've seen from Jacques Rousseau, the French can be real snobs. I've been living in northern Italy most recently, in a gorgeous little town on Lago di Como, but I think I'm ready to move on."

"You know, despite all the weirdness, you did make top four in the tournament. You think you might take the Industrial Illusions job and move to San Francisco?"

Mai thought about that. Ever since the tournament began, she'd been intrigued by Pegasus's job offer to the final four, but when they were still on the ship and she believed Joey wasn't going to forgive her, she'd pretty much ruled out that as an option since Yugi being in the top four was a sure bet and Joey had pretty good chances, too. As it turned out, Yugi, Joey, Kaiba, and herself had already been declared the top four, even if they hadn't yet finished the tournament, and now that she and Joey were getting along… "You know, I think I just might."

The words were no sooner out of her mouth when she was furious with herself. Why would you say such a thing? Why would you want such a job? Mai Valentine works for herself, and I certainly don't need to be hanging out with this group of bozos…

"I… oh my God, I just realized!" Téa said suddenly, slapping her forehead. "Joey made the top four! I'll bet he takes that job and moves out to San Francisco too!" Resting her forehead on her hand, she shook her head in what looked like self-reproach.

My shook her own head, trying to dispel the sudden burst of anger. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No," Téa groaned, "it just underscores how completely stupid I am. I'm moving back to Domino in August and now Joey and Yugi are probably both coming here."

"So come here instead," Mai shrugged.

"Easy for you to say. My visas will have expired. Well, at least Serenity will still be in Japan," she sighed. Then she looked at Mai curiously. "Hey, how do you move around so easily and on just a whim? Isn't it hard to get visas to live in all the places you go?"

Oh give me a break, just quit your whining! Mai thought, her head suddenly aching. Without answering Téa, she pulled her hands out of her pocket and massaged the bridge of her nose. Why the sudden headache and where was all this anger coming from? It was a perfectly legitimate question.

"Mai, are you okay?" Téa asked with concern.

"Fine," Mai said, "I'm just getting a headache."

"Must be all the walking in this cold and clammy cave," Téa mused sympathetically. "Do you have anything in your backpack you could take for it?"

"No, I'll be okay."

"You sure? Evan probably has something in the first aid kit. You want any water or anything?"

"I'm fine!" she snapped. "Listen, if Joey sent you over here to play nursemaid—"

"Hey, chill out! Joey didn't send me over here. Just the opposite, actually. I sent him over to talk to Yugi. I came over here to stay out of their way."

Mai took a breath, feeling bad once more for her peevishness. "Why'd you want Joey to talk to Yugi?" she asked, trying to focus on Téa and actually pay attention to what she was saying.

Téa shrugged. "He just… seems like he needs someone to talk to that isn't me," she said, attempting indifference but not quite pulling it off.

"Men," Mai rolled her eyes. "Always gotta handle them with kid gloves. You know what you need, Téa? You need some girlfriends. You'll go crazy if you have to keep dealing with all those fragile male egos without a break."

Téa smiled. "Don't I know it! It's been really nice having Serenity around. And you, Mai. It's one of the reasons I'm so glad you've been hanging out with us again. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade Yugi, Joey or Tristan for all the friends in the world, but sometimes it's nice not to be constantly surrounded by all that…"

"Testosterone?" Mai supplied.

Téa grinned. "Something like that."

"I totally understand," Mai said, starting to feel better. The headache was fading and her mood improved slightly. "You know what I always say, guys like these are only good for moving furniture and fixing cars."

"Even Joey?" Téa asked rather pointedly.

Mai glowered at her, embarrassed at the mention of Joey's name and annoyed—this time with justification, she reasoned—that she was embarrassed. "Why should Joey be any different than any of the rest of them?" she grumbled.

"No reason," Téa said, but with a knowing smile.

Deciding that the best defense was a good offense, Mai turned the tables on her. "What about Yugi? What's he good at besides… well, I doubt he's much help with either moving furniture or fixing cars," she teased. Even though he was a few inches taller than when she'd last seen him, he still was a shrimp. "So then what's he good at besides Duel Monsters, huh Téa? I'll bet he's a man of many talents," she said suggestively.

Her words had the desired result and Téa turned crimson. "I, uh…"

"Don't hurt yourself, hon," Mai snorted, "you don't have to say anything. You can keep his talents all to yourself. But definitely find girl time, too, for your sanity." She leaned back against the wall of the cave, feeling better now, the bad temper starting to fade. "That was the nice thing about when I was tag dueling with Vivian Wong—" She opened her eyes when Téa made a sort of choking sound. "What?"

"No offense, but Vivian Wong? I met her at the KC Grand Championship, and she's sorta… uh…"

"Insane?" Mai finished.

"Yep, that's the word."

Mai laughed. "Yeah, she's pretty much a nutcase, but a really fun nutcase."

"I find that hard to believe," Téa growled. "She seemed like a real… diva," she finished, giving Mai the distinct impression that she'd had a completely different word in mind. "Of course, all the boys went gaga over her." She shook her head with a look of disgust. "Even Yugi's grandfather made a complete idiot of himself over her."

Mai cocked her head and suddenly it occurred to her exactly why Téa didn't like Vivian. Her former dueling partner had always had a thing for men she considered powerful, and that was especially true for really skilled duelists and she had never been shy or subtle about it. Mai chuckled. "Wait a second, she hit on Yugi didn't she?"

Téa said nothing, but her crossed arms and glower was answer enough.

Mai laughed harder, covering her mouth.

"I don't see what's so funny," Téa grumbled.

"Oh come on!" Mai replied. "Just the thought is so utterly ridiculous. Someone so loud and erratic with someone as bashful as Yugi? You know, when he's not dueling, I mean. How can that not be funny?"

"Because it was obnoxious, that's why."

"Oh, sweetie, you just gotta ignore Viv when she gets stupid like that, or smack her in the back of the head or something. Kinda like with Joey." She grinned. "She didn't really give you a hard time, did she?"

Téa's jealous scowl turned more reflective at this question. "No. She was mostly going at it with Rebecca, who was like eleven and had a huge crush on Yugi. I don't think I even registered on her radar."

Mai couldn't help but notice the bitterness. "Probably because you don't duel, or at least you don't compete. She's kind of myopic that way."

"Right. And I'm just background filler."

Mai frowned. "Obviously not to Yugi. You got the guy, right? Who cares what she thinks?"

"Oh, I don't mean about Yugi," she replied, but when Mai gave her a skeptical look, she amended, "Okay, yeah, her hitting on Yugi did bug me. I just mean… I don't know. Never mind."

Mai cocked her head at Téa again, trying to get a read on what exactly was bothering her. "You know, you should duel, Téa," she tried. "The game could use more women duelists and you're not half bad. With a little practice, you could be tournament level."

Téa gave her an incredulous look. "Riiiight."

"No, really. You beat me at Duelist Kingdom, remember?"

"Okay, you cannot possibly believe I'm stupid enough to think I really won that duel. You let me win!"

"Me? Let someone win? You're joking, right?" But when Téa clearly wasn't buying it, she admitted, "Yeah, I did let you win, but only because I wanted Yugi to have those Star Chips. I don't know why he was being such a baby over losing to Kaiba."

Mai knew any derisive comment about Yugi was likely to get Téa's hackles up, but she was surprised when her companion's face fell instead of looking annoyed. "You don't know what really was going on that day, do you?" she said, her voice edged with sadness.

"He lost to Kaiba," Mai repeated, frowning in confusion.

"No. He had Kaiba beat. He let Kaiba win."

Mai's eyes widened. "Yugi Mutou let someone win? In a tournament? What on earth for?"

Téa sighed. "Because Kaiba was being stupid and manipulative. He stood on the edge of that tower so that if Yugi attacked him, he'd fall. He knew Yugi wouldn't go through with it."

Mai's face darkened and she looked over toward the lake where Kaiba was sitting with Mokuba. "That bastard. I knew he was low, but…"

"Even Kaiba knew it was low and it wasn't a fair win. That's partly why he organized Battle City, so he could beat Yugi in a fair duel. But at Duelist Kingdom he was desperate. Pegasus had Mokuba."

"Okay, I change my mind. Pegasus is the bastard," Mai amended. "Still… that was pretty low of Kaiba. But then why would that freak Yugi out so much afterwards? If he had Kaiba beat, the only real problem was that he'd lost the Star Chips, so why wouldn't he just let me give him the ones I owed him and be done with it?"

"It had nothing to do with the Star Chips. It was…." Téa paused, seeming hesitant. She looked over her shoulder to where Yugi and Joey were talking. "Oh, I suppose you already know everything anyway. That was the first time he really knew about… well, I guess at the time he just called him his 'other self.' We didn't know anything more about him yet."

"His other… you mean the Pharaoh?" Mai asked.

Téa nodded. "He was always the one who took the front seat during duels. He… he was going to attack Kaiba anyway."

Mai's eyes widened in surprise. "Even if it would push Kaiba off the tower?"

Téa nodded. "We… we didn't know anything about him yet. He… I think he was just so concerned about Yugi and his grandfather, he was willing to take a risk Yugi wasn't. Yugi had to fight to take control to stop the attack and, well, it really scared him badly. He didn't know if the spirit within him was good or bad."

Mai thought about this a minute, then remembered that she was the first person to duel with Yugi after his loss to Kaiba. Her mouth opened as she put the pieces together. "Our duel in the tournament… that's what he was fighting himself over, wasn't it? He was fighting the Pharaoh."

Téa nodded again. "He never talked about what happened during your duel, but I think that's the first time they both made a conscious decision to work together as a team. It was the beginning of everything."

"I had no idea," Mai said. "I knew he was distracted, but I thought it was just because he'd lost. Wow. Now I kinda feel bad for being so hard on him."

"No, you really helped him, I think. Remember what you said about looking inside yourself and facing your fears? That was exactly what he needed to hear."

Mai crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Yeah, I talked a good talk back then, didn't I?"

"What do you mean?"

"If I'd have taken my own advice after Battle City…." She didn't finish.

"Mai," Téa said, putting her hand on Mai's arm. "That Orichalcos messed with everyone, not just you. Look what it did to the Pharaoh." She tilted her head. "You know, I just said that your duel with him in Duelist Kingdom was the first time he and Yugi made a conscious decision to work together as a team. They always did, from that point on. In everything, it was the two of them united. Until the Orichalcos. It was the only time he ever went against Yugi's wishes after that duel with Kaiba."

"It was a bad time all around," Mai said softly.

"But it's over and here we are," Téa said. "And Mai, I think you did take your own advice. You looked your demons in the eye and faced them."

"Again," Mai reproached herself. "And again and again…."

"So?" Téa shrugged. "We all keep bumping up against the same weaknesses in ourselves and keep relearning the same lessons, don't we?"

"What about you, Téa? What are your demons?"

"My demons?" Téa leaned back, thoughtful. "I guess my demons are the same as everyone else's. Insecurity. Fear that I don't have anything really worthwhile to contribute. That at the end of the day, I'm only a dancer."

This answer surprised Mai coming from Téa. "The queen of the pep talks? And what's wrong with being a dancer?"

Téa shrugged. "It seems petty sometimes. In light of everything we've seen."

"Like playing a card game isn't?"

"Well, it's never really just a game, is it?"

Mai was about to answer, but then she saw Joey approaching.

"Hey there," he said, "mind if I join you or is this girls only?"

"Oh, it's a total slumber party," Mai said in with a false little giggle. "Wanna paint your nails and do makeovers with us?"

"Yeah, I'll be going over there now," Joey replied, indicating a spot in the darkness on the far side of the lake.

"She's just joking Joey. Pull up a stalagmite," Téa told him, relinquishing her spot. "We're done chatting and I'm gonna sleep over by the lake with Serenity and Rebecca anyway."

"Good," Joey said. "Right there between Serenity and Duke and Tristan would be just perfect."

Téa rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the chat, Mai. It was really nice."

"Yeah, it was," Mai agreed.

"Hope your headache is better," she added as she left.

This brought a look of concern from Joey and Mai groaned inwardly. "You have a headache?" he asked her.

"So? It's just a headache, not the plague. And it's mostly gone now," she said.

"Why'd you pick a spot all the way over here away from everyone else?"

Mai felt a flash of irritation. "I wanted to be alone, okay?"

"I…" He hesitated, then put his hand on her arm. "Mind if I stay here with you? I'd like to be here if…"

"If I have the dream again," she finished, surprised to find her irritation draining away at nothing more than his reassuring touch. She had been dreading going to sleep for that very reason and it gave her some comfort to know he'd be near. "Yeah, you can stay."

"Good, because I want you to know I'm right here, okay? Wake me up if you have the dream again."

"Joey—"

"I mean it, Mai," he said, taking her hand and giving it another squeeze, reminding her of their dance on the cliff that morning. "I want you to know I'm here."

"I know," she said softly. Actually, the thought of him sleeping so close to her made her feel a little heady. In the place where they'd camped with the other thirty or so passengers the last two nights he'd slept somewhere nearby, but not right next to her. Now she noticed he made sure to lie down close enough to take her hand if necessary but not too close. It struck her as oddly prim, a quality she would never ascribe to Joey, at least not in anything that didn't pertain to his sister, and she couldn't help but wonder again if this was some sort of hard-to-get act. But that didn't gel with the way he kept focusing on her, kept touching her arm or shoulder or clasping her hand, or the way he kept looking at her in a way that would make heart pound and was a far cry from the kind of feigned apathy that usually was required for the hard-to-get ploy to work.

"Don't you just love these deluxe accommodations?" he asked, putting his hands behind his head as he stretched out beside her. "I'm gonna recommend this cruise line to all my friends."

"All your friends are already here," she pointed out.

"Good point."

Mai slid down onto the blanket she'd laid out for herself and huddled inside her jacket. Her fingers were feeling numb again, so she blew into her hands to warm them, rubbed them together, than thrust them back into her pockets, wishing she had her leather gloves with her. True, they were fingerless and more about image than warmth, but at least they'd offer some protection from the cold and damp. Unfortunately, they were at the bottom of the Pacific along with the rest of her luggage.

"You cold?" he asked.

"A little, yeah," she admitted. And her headache was starting to return.

He hesitated, as if weighing something, and then moved closer to her. "Here, lie on my shoulder," he offered. "We'll be warmer together."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Oldest trick in the book, Wheeler," she said tartly.

"Your ego is bigger than this cave, Valentine," he shot back. "I'm just angling for a share of that blanket there. This cave floor is cold."

"That's what they all say," she replied, delighted to at last be in more familiar cat-and-mouse territory as she moved over enough to allow him room on the blanket and then settled onto his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Better?" he asked.

Better was hardly the word. Her headache vanished along with the chill as a warmth that could not be entirely attributed to his body heat spread over her, but she merely nodded in reply. She felt an urge to brush her hand across his chest, to feel the cotton of his shirt spread across skin and muscle beneath, but she resisted, keeping her hands firmly in her pockets. Damned if she was going to make the first move. I'm Mai Valentine. I don't go after men, they come after me. Besides, they weren't more than twenty yards away from his sister and all their friends. Not exactly a privacy suite at the Hilton, which was reason enough, she decided, for his lack of initiative.

"Goodnight, Mai," he whispered into her hair, and the slight thickness to his voice satisfied her that it definitely wasn't lack of interest that kept him at bay. "Pleasant dreams." And for the first time since leaving San Francisco, she thought they just might be.