Disclaimer: I must say that I do not, did not, will not own Yu-Gi-Oh as long as Kazuki Takahashi and/or his living relatives are on this Earth. (Cause, you know, if they're alive there's no way in hell I'm ever gonna be able to gain the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh without resorting to blackmail.)
A/N: This story is fast approaching its end. I'm sorry if I've kind of strayed from my original plot, but I'm still pretty close, and besides, it's going way better than it would have if I had continued it as I had before. Besides, you guys didn't know what I was going to do so you aren't losing anything and I'm not sure I remember what I was going to do at the beginning anyways.
Chapter Fourteen
In this world there are almost never explanations for our destiny. We simply are chosen- by whatever powers that rule- to complete it.
Some people have roles that will impact the lives of many people: they could be a senator, president, king or queen, a religious leader, or a well-known entertainer. Others may make a smaller impact, perhaps in the role of a teacher. But everyone still makes a difference.
But, as before explained, some people make more a difference. Sometimes they do it more than once.
Shadi had never been one to believe in coincidences. No, he only believed in destiny. So he knew that it was most likely fated that it was on this day, a day marked quite clearly in his books of the Nameless Pharaoh's history, that this was happening.
5,000 years to the day, this same event had occurred.
"It's ironic, really," Tea's voice was quivering, "how whenever you try to run from something it's always the thing that manages to find you.
"I tried to run away from you," she said, looking at all of her old friends, "but that didn't work out too well, now did it?"
"Tea, what're ya-?" Tea cut Joey off.
"What am I talking about?" she asked him. Her gaze was cold as ice, but her voice was full of raw emotion. "Of course, you couldn't put two and two together." She looked over the rest of the crowd, "None of you could."
Tristen spoke for the first time since entering the apartment: "Tea, why did you run?" he- being the dumbest of all of the gang- had absolutely no clue what was happening. He never really could tell when his friends were upset, or what had upset them.
She rested her gaze on him and shook her head. "I knew it, no matter how easy I try to make it for you, you just don't get it." Tea looked over at the rest of them. "But some of you do."
Seto nodded his head. "It makes sense." Then he smirked, "I just made 1000 more yen."
Tea raised an eyebrow, and Seto's smirk grew, "I bet Mocuba 1000 yen that you and the Pharaoh were going at it behind your friend's backs."
At this Yami and Tea went red; Joey looked like he was trying to figure out what was going on; Tristen was totally oblivious; Serenity and Mai were standing off quietly in a corner, observing the conversation; Duke was standing near a doorway, leaning against a wall (he really didn't know why he had come, and now he was enjoying the show from a side- and taping it with a video camera that no one had noticed); Seto and Marik were smirking at Yami and Tea: Seto loving that he was right and Marik enjoying the Pharaoh's humiliation.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Kida and Rirsi. Rirsi was calmly absorbing the knowledge that was being thrown around in his friend's apartment, while Kida was struggling the urge to run into her room and try to sort things out herself.
She turned to Rirsi. "Rirsi what's happening?" her voice was quivering, and she had a sad look in her eyes: hurt and confusing along with frustration and anger. But Rirsi most noticed her fear.
He put his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture, and she leaned into the open arms. This cause Rirsi to blush brightly, but he didn't remove his arms, instead he moved up the other in a light hug.
He sighed softly, "I'm not sure," Rirsi paused a moment, "but from what I can tell it's basically a very strange high school reunion." His attempt to lighten the mood hadn't worked. Instead, he felt Kida hug herself closer to him, causing Rirsi's blush to once again blush brightly.
"Rirsi," she whispered, "I don't know what to do."
Rirsi swallowed hard. Kida had never been one to admit that she had a problem, and she very seldom did. Kida had always been strong, emotionally: she had never given into bullying (which was slightly because of Rirsi, who never let any bully get to close to her), and she had seemed to always know the answers to everything.
Now that she had actually admitted she didn't know what to do, Rirsi was sure that he would never know. But that didn't mean that he couldn't trying to comfort his best friend.
"Don't worry," he told Kida, "Everything will be okay soon," he bent down and kissed her forehead lightly, "I promise."
Aww, look at 'em! They're so CUTE! Bakura mental voice rang out through Ryou's head.
Kura, what're you talking about? Ryou asked his yami. I see nothing cute about Yami and Tea or Kaiba or Joey or Tristen or Duke
Bakura sighed in a you-are-such-an-idiot-why-do-I-love-you? kind of way. No, luv, I mean Raku Jr. and the Pharaoh's girl!
Ryou looked over to the corner where he had last seen them, only to see a very Care Bears sight: Kida and Rirsi hugging, with Rirsi kissing Kida's forehead (both of them were definitely blushing, all though they couldn't see each other). Oh dear Ryou said sarcastically, I do believe that we may, sadly, become IN-LAWS with the Pharaoh.
Bakura looked horrified. Ryou laughed- giggled, really- at his yami. God, Kura, you're such a fuddy duddy.
Bakura stuck his tongue out at his light side, And you look like a girl.
Ryou glared playfully, If I do, then so do you!
Bakura snorted, I doubt it.
Oh, I do believe I've hit a nerve! Ryou said.
Bakura glared at Ryou, then smirked, If we look slightly feminine then what do you suppose Marik is? I do believe that that would make him full on woman.
Ryou couldn't contain his laughter at this, and soon he was rolling around the floor, laughing like a maniac.
Lucky for both of them no one noticed.
From her comfortable spot in Rirsi's arms Kida watch as her mother and the strangers talk until they got up to the point where a the tallest of the group said, " I bet Mocuba 1000 yen that you and the Pharaoh were going at it behind your friend's backs."
She froze for a moment, and then stepped quickly away from Rirsi causing him to trip and fall on his ass, but she didn't bother to apologize. "What the hell?" she shouted out. "What're you talking about, and why the hell to you keep talking about some 'Pharaoh'?"
Tea turned to Kida and said gently, "Kida, honey," but she didn't finish as Rirsi decided to stand up for Kida.
"Ms. Gardner, why don't you just tell us what's going on? Don't you think that we deserve to know? I mean, this conversation does kind of seem to involve Kida, seeing a you're her mother, and that guy," he said, pointing at Yami, "I'm thinking, is her father!"
A/N: Okay, it's over! Actually, no, I'm combining two short chapters to make one longer one, so, please, keep reading!
There was a deafening silence spreading throughout the apartment. No one spoke, most were unable and the others didn't feel it was their place to speak.
After Rirsi had made his little 'announcement', Kida had been lost in her own thoughts. How could that man be her father? How could Rirsi have known? Why hadn't he told her- for that matter, why hadn't her mother told her?
But then it made sense. If she had thought about it she would have noticed the similarity in their appearances: their hair and eye color. The man- Yami, she recalled- looked about the same age as her mother, and he had definitely known her before now.
But he hadn't known about her. Kida's father obviously hadn't known about her. She could tell from his expression: he looked slightly out of it, but at the same time his emotions played out clearly in his eyes. He looked hurt, confused, and slightly agitated. But at the same time, she could see the happiness, the joy, as well.
It was then that she realized that Rirsi was staring at her. Rirsi he had known that Yami was her father. He had known that Yami was her father and hadn't found the time to tell her. Why?
"Rirsi," her voice trembled, "how could you?" He looked at her with confusion. She raised her eyes to meet his, and her temper rose with them.
"How could you," her voice started to get louder, "How could you not tell me?" she was almost shouting now: "Didn't you think that I had a right to know? You just gave us a nice little speech about how I 'deserved to know the truth' and all, and YOU were the one who wasn't telling me what I 'deserved to know!'"
Rirsi looked hurt, "Kida, I didn't really" he stopped himself.
"Didn't really what, Rirsi?"
"I just forgot." Rirsi sounded ashamed, and he looked it. But that didn't dull Kida's rage.
"Forgot! How could you forget something like that!" Kida glared at Rirsi. "Was it not important enough for you to bother remembering?"
Rirsi looked like he was going to cry, but he swallowed hard, and then replied calmly. "I only figured it out earlier today."
Rirsi's voice was hard, almost emotionless. It scared Kida: she had never seen him like this. At first he had been a shy, sweet little boy; then he had been the outrageous and humorous guy. Right then he sounded more like a shell of Rirsi.
He continued. "When I got here I was going to ask your mom why she hadn't told you about him, but there was too much already going on. He was actually here, and so were you. Then it all went to fast, I just lost track of what was happening."
Kida had already forgotten her anger, and now she only felt guilt. She knew that, if she had been Rirsi, she would have done the exact same thing.
"Oh my God," Kida gazed sadly at her friend, "I'm so sorry. I just I lost my temper. I just didn't know how to react. I mean" she couldn't find words to describe how she felt. She had grown up not knowing her father, and she had been fine with that. Then just having him thrust into her life like that, she just didn't know what to do.
Rirsi gave her a tiny smile. "It's alright. I understand." He stepped weakly towards his friend and gently wrapped his arms around her. Apology accepted.
Tea watched the scene quietly. She knew that if she was going to leave, now was her chance: she could get out of explaining everything, forget her responsibilities and just run away like she did last time.
That was when she realized it. She had been stupid, she had run away from her problem and done nothing but hurt her friends and herself. She had left her friends at a time when she really needed them, and when they really needed her.
But she had been scared. When Yugi was sent to the Shadow Realm, she felt that her friendship with everyone had been broken. She knew that if it wasn't for Yugi she would never have become a friend with Tristen or Joey, and he had been her link to just about everyone else. Without Yugi everything just felt wrong.
Then again, maybe not. She knew that it was Yugi who had helped their friendship together, but had it really been him that had kept them together? Yes and no: of course he had been there to help smooth out the bumps and gashes, but it hadn't just been him. Tristen and Joey had helped; comic relief wasn't always as useless as people would expect.
And so had she. She had always been the one to tell everyone how important their friendship was, and that they should never abandon one another in a tough situation. And then she had done just that. Run away when the road got to tough to travel instead of slowly making her way through the obstacles that it provided.
But just because she had strayed from the course didn't mean she could find her way back onto the right path.
They stood there silently for a few moments, then Kida gently pulled away. She looked at everyone else in the room, and they stared back at her. She swallowed. "I guess that kind of explains everything. Sort of."
She turned to Yami, who was looking at her with shock and happiness. "I'm assuming that you didn't know about this either?" He shook his head. "I didn't think so." She turned to her mother and said: "Since we've all got the basic picture now, why don't you fill in the blanks?"
A blinding flash of light cut off whatever Tea might have said. Slowly, the light faded and a figure was seen, now standing in the middle of the group. "Most likely," a voice stated, "it would be best if I explained"
Kida could now clearly see the figure: it was a man. He wore long, than robes and a matching turban. He had tanned skin and milky blue eyes, and his presence seemed to make the rest of the room duller. His gaze flitted around the room, and then rested on her father. "To everyone."
A/N: Well that was an okay chapter. I think it was kinda weird, but I still thought that I should be proud of myself for writing it so long. And since it's so long, I want a LOT OF REVIEWS; MORE THAN NORMAL! I don't mean to be gready, but I really want people to like my story, and I reallly want to know it. I think that lately my reviewers have been slacking off. A lot: but I'm not mad, I'd just be happier if I got more reviews.
Oh, yeah, I have a question for all of you:
SHOULD I HAVE AN EPILOGUE? - Review and tell me what you think, and if you want me to have one tell me what I should focus on.