Author's Notes:

Hey there minna-san! Well, I've made it through Hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne not without a little difficulty! I apologize to my readers for my prolonged absence, but I promise, I'm back and ready to write and post! Most of my fics are centered around Yugi/Tea (Yuugi/Anzu) romances and Sesshoumaru/Rin romances, of course. And, of course, I'll publish chapters whether you review or not, but your input not only makes those chapters appear faster, it also gives me ideas and pointers for more fics! Reviews, of course, are always much appreciated! Arigato gozaimasu to all the people who sent me reviews!!!

'italics' -signifies thoughts
(...) -signifies Yami Yugi speaking to Yugi
:...: -signifies Yugi speaking to Yami Yugi

-Sorry that I had to change the way that Yami and Yugi communicate with each other, but the brackets I had used previously, the square brackets and set brackets, suddenly don't seem to want to work anymore...if anyone knows how to fix this or if they're just not usable anymore, please let me know, as I would prefer to keep a consistent method. Personally, I liked using the other brackets, so if anyone has the answer to my question it'd be great if I could get an answer.
-Please note too that I'm changing the rating of the story, because of the use of explicit language. Unfortunately, this explicit language is necesary for several of the characters.

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of its subsequent plots and characters. All of these wonderful things belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

Here's translations of the Japanese I use in my fics:
Nani? -What?
Aa/Un -Yes,yeah (first is men only, second women only)
Udon - soup, usually with seaweed, vegetables, seafood, meat, or any combination thereof
Soba - buckwheat noodles that are delicious in udon
Urusai -shut up
Minna-san -everyone
Arigato gozaimasu -thank you very much

Enjoy!

-Pharaohess Yami Anzu

Imagine My Heart Was Yours

Chapter 2-Kaiba Soup and Road Rage

Jade took the lid off the pot and took a tentative sniff of the udon she was cooking. "Almost done," she murmured softly to herself, using a large wooden spoon to poke at the large soba noodles, bits of seafood, beef, and chicken that swam in the clear brown broth. She ladled out a massive bowl of it and into dropped five clear drops of fluid from a blue vial in her medicine cabinet. She sighed as she watched the medicine disappear into the soup. 'I keep telling myself, it's for Téa's own good.' She hurriedly set a Japanese tea pot and two cups on the tray, as well as a small plate of miniature sweet pork buns, along with a small plate of farfalle pasta slathered with a generous helping of her homemade pesto sauce. Before she went upstairs, she quickly drank a cup of Echinacea tea. 'I'll have to remind everyone else to do the same thing...the last thing I need it another dozen sick people to worry about...' Sighing, Jade walked carefully up the stairs and into her room where she was letting Téa stay until she made her convalescence.

After bumping the door open with her rear, Jade was glad to see that Téa was awake and sitting up. Judging by the yawns, her timing had very nearly been perfect.

"I'm glad to see that my punctuality hasn't faded in the years I've known you," Jade teased, setting the heavily laden tray on the bed. Téa gave her a wan smile, though she said nothing. Jade gently touched a hand to her forehead. "Your fever's down!" she chirped happily. "How're you feeling?"

Téa sighed. "Like a baby still in diapers...and are you trying to kill me with all this food!? I could never finish half of this, let alone all of it!" Grinning, Jade picked up a pork bun and popped it into Téa's mouth mid-protest, earning a cough and a reproving glare from her best friend. It was well-worth the reprimand to Jade to see the delight on Téa's face as she chewed the offering and swallowed. Jade pointed to the chopsticks. "Eat, and I'll pour tea for you. You have to finish all of this. You need strength to heal, and if you even so much as open your mouth in protest I'll force twice this amount into that stubborn stomach of yours!"

Clearly, Téa had been about to say something, for she closed her mouth quickly at the mock-threat and set about plucking the thick soba noodles and bits of calamari and crab cake from the udon her friend had prepared, gagging a bit at the bitterness of the medicine she could taste in the thick broth.

Téa made a face. "You drugged this, didn't you?"

Jade's reply was nonchalant as she set a steaming cup of tea down in front of her friend. "Of course...you know I don't care much for conventional medicine...I only gave you those acetaminophen tablets earlier to help bring your fever down. I use herbs and natural medicines whenever I can. Better for the body."

Téa gave an indelicate snort, but said nothing as she hungrily gobbled down the large meal that her best friend had brought her. She exclaimed happily at the pesto farfalle...it wasn't often that she had a chance to eat good Italian, and eagerly wolfed it down. She gave Jade a pointed look as her chopsticks plucked out a mass of calamari tentacles, their suction cups curled outward, and giggled. "Tentacle soup," she said with a smirk. Jade giggled back, the long chain around her neck jangling cheerfully. "Eat," she scolded gently, and she poured Téa a cup of tea. "And drink this. Echinacea. It'll boost your immune system efficiency. The flu you have is probably that pernicious one that's been making rounds about Tokyo. Which means you'll need all the help you can get."

Téa nodded, and sipped the boiling hot tea tentatively, enjoying its minty aroma and flavor. Her eyes rested on the large pendant that sat on the gold chain around her friend's neck. Her eyes flickered briefly, as though she were recalling memory that had once been long forgotten, but the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come about. "What's that? Ricky's got the same one around his neck too, hasn't he?" she asked.

Jade's hands stilled a moment. She raised her face to let the sunlight streaming through the window warm her cheeks. Slowly, her right hand closed around the magnificent pendant. There was silence for a few moments. "Yes," she finally said. "Ricky and I went to Egypt once with our families when we were younger...I think Ricky and I were five or six at the time...we were exploring one of the pyramids...and we got separated from our parents. We were lost, and it was dark. I was scared, and started crying. Ricky tried to calm me, even though I knew he was scared too. I...I think we fell asleep, because it was...well...almost a sort of dream...there was...a man and a woman who came to us...they looked like a Pharaoh and Pharaohess...and they said that we would be okay, now that Ricky and I were together...and they put something around our necks...these pendants...and disappeared." She turned her head around, and Téa was startled to see tears in her eyes. "Sometimes, I think that it must have been a dream, because Ricky and I woke up later...we heard our parents calling for us, and they found us in that dark chamber...but that doesn't explain...how we had these around our necks when we left the pyramid." With that, her right hand held up the large, ornate gold pendant that hung around her neck.

Téa studied the pendant carefully. It was a large, ornately drawn eye, surrounded by the lines of a five-point star. The eye was not like the eye on Yugi's Millennium puzzle, but more decorative, with an elaborate eyebrow over the top eyelid and two curled lines leading from the bottom one. Téa's head tilted to one side. "What is it?" she asked.

Jade looked down at the pendant and smiled. "I'm not entirely sure. I've looked it up in several texts. Ricky's pendant is a mirror image of mine, and according to what we've been able to find out, the eye shapes are supposed to be the Eyes of Ra. We could, of course, be mistaken, but we've never been able to find more than that one obscure reference."

Téa had been about to reply, but instead of her usual sweet voice, a hacking cough erupted from her mouth. Startled, Jade whipped around and was at her friend's side instantly, bidding her to lie down and rest. "You're pushing yourself far too much...rest. The others will be here soon, and we'll come up and see you once you've gathered up enough strength." Dizzy from lack of oxygen with all the coughing, Téa could do little more than nod acquiescence, lie down, and promptly fall asleep as Jade, a worried frown coloring her face, took up the empty bowls and plates and went back downstairs.

-----------------------------------

Laughing, trading jokes, gossiping, and chatting, the group of nine teenagers made their way up to the large house, and Ricky used his spare key to open the door. The crowd of teenagers spilled into the living room, leaving Jade smiling as she swept among them, setting a ray of tea, teapot, and cups down on the coffee table. "My timing's very good," she said, smiling as she knelt down on a cushion to pour tea. Ricky grinned and lounged about on the Italian leather loveseat, the heavy gold pendant on the gold chain around his neck a stark contrast against the royal blue suit jacket of his school uniform. He accepted the cup of Echinacea tea and a kiss from his girlfriend with a wide grin on his face. "You all have to drink this tea. It's Echinacea. With Téa sick with that nasty flu going around, you're going to need the boost in your immune system that this gives you."

She passed out full cups of tea, and was cleaning the teapot in the kitchen and plucking steamed pork buns out of the bamboo steamer when she heard a yell.

Still clutching the large slicing knife that she had been using to slice pickled ginger for the sushi she was rolling, she rushed into the living room to find Kaiba dancing around on the spot, yelling at the top of his voice, with the rest of the gang was howling with laughter prostrated on the floor in a number of different positions. Rasma was giggling hysterically, attempting, with no degree of success, to grab at Kaiba's pants.

Ricky fell on Jade, nearly toppling her, laughing so hard he was starting to turn red. "What the hell happened?" Jade asked, struggling to hold Ricky's heavily muscled bulk up with her free arm. She felt something latch onto her leg and gave a yell, nearly kicking Robert in the face. Luckily, she inhibited her reflex in time, and gave her "little brother" an irritated look, shaking her leg, with little success at actually dislodging him. Robert was laughing hysterically, and managed, between gasps, to explain what happened.

"Kaiba was drinking his tea... and Rasma decided at that point... to 'playfully' bite his ear...he jumped, and spilled the hot tea...RIGHT ON HIS CROTCH! And then...Rasma...said...oh Kami this is too funny...she said, 'Want me to kiss it and make it all better?'"

Jade startled giggling, much to Kaiba's irritation. Trying desperately to keep Rasma's hands pinned to her sides, only to have her squeal and wiggle loose to try and grab his crotch from a different angle, Kaiba was turning bright red from a combination of embarrassment and fury that everyone was laughing at him and had witnessed him in the height of humiliation. It was Jade's well-practiced shriek that finally silenced the general furor.

"Minna-san...oe...OE, MINNA-SAN URUSAI!"

Everyone finally fell completely silent, staring at Jade as she stood, arms akimbo, knife in the air, before breaking into chatter. Taking a deep breath, Jade managed to calm herself. 'Good...chatter is good. It won't wake Téa up.' Robert latched onto Jade's arm. "Ne ne, Jade-Nee-sama, can we eat now? Pleeeease?" Jade smiled, and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Of course, Nii-chan. And before you blister my ears asking, yes, you can play on the Playstation 2. The Inuyasha game is on the second shelf of the entertainment center. You and Mokuba can play as much as you like."

Grinning, Mokuba dashed to the entertainment center and hurriedly pulled out the game, while Robert smiled up at Jade again. "Are we going to have some of those yummy dumplings? And those steamed pork buns? And some of the pesto pasta you made last time me and Yugi and Ricky were here? Please?"

Kaiba gave an indelicate snort. "How desperate are you to eat the slop that she cooks?"

In a split second, the entire room fell deathly silent, everyone staring, openmouthed, at Kaiba's heedless crowing of what might as well have been blasphemy. Even Mokuba was staring at his brother, knowing full well that Jade's wrath would come crashing down on his big brother's head any second.

In a mere moment, Jade had pinned Kaiba against the wall with her free arm and held the sharp, glinting slicing knife directly over his jugular vein in his neck. Her brown eyes were narrowed in fury, the pink and brown bands of her hair waving behind her. Kaiba fell silent, gritting his teeth against the feel of the blade pressed against his skin. When Jade spoke, it was in a low, fierce tone of voice that made everyone in the room shiver. "Insult me like that again, and I'll rip off your limbs with my bare hands, use your blood to boil them into stew, and force feed the whole lot into that vicious mouth of yours. Got it?"

Though he was furious, Kaiba said nothing. He knew he shouldn't have said anything against Jade, especially as he actually had no problem with her cooking. Wanting to be released from the death-grip, and especially wanting the knife away from his critical vein, he had been about to nod assent to her hiss of fury when a sudden loud ringing drew everyone's attention to Ricky's pocket. Ricky colored up like beet when everyone recognized the ringtone as "Bye Bye Bye" by N'Sync.

Hastily answering his phone, Ricky fruitlessly waved his hand for silence amid the gales of laughter. "Could you guys at least shut up!? That's Yugi's ringtone! He called us back!" Everyone else continued to laugh hysterically, but Jade, who still had Kaiba pinned against the wall, though she had removed the knife from pressing against his vein, fell silent immediately, snapping at everyone to quiet down, which succeeded only slightly. Jade strained her ears to try and listen in on the quick conversation that Ricky had with Yugi, but to no avail. Ricky spoke a few quick, low sentences, then nodded, made a noise of agreement, and hung up the phone. He looked over at Jade, raising his eyebrow significantly. "He was in a duel on the other side of Tokyo, Ueno district."

Abruptly, Jade released her hold on Kaiba, letting him fall back to the floor and regain his bearings. She turned to Ricky. "Street? Intersection?" she asked crisply. "Corner of Ryuuko and Matsuri." Jade nodded, and tossed the slicing knife to Cori, who caught it midair deftly. "Cori, I'm going to dish out the food...can you finish slicing chives for me? I'm going to drive to get Yugi."

Cori nodded, and hauled Tristan off the couch by the ear, dragging him to the kitchen with her. "Slice!" the blonde-haired, violet-eyed girl said. Almost as if an afterthought, she firmly grabbed Tristan's face and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. The brown-haired boy nearly melted to the floor like a puddle of butter, and with a happily glazed-over quality becoming notably apparent in his eyes, he immediately started slicing. Cori grinned cattily, and with a smirk, applied herself to the task of plucking steamed pork buns from the steamer and setting them on serving plates. Jade plucked the steaming dumplings from the broiler, and quickly ladled out several large serving bowls of pesto. Bidding Tristan to carrying the plates and utensils, Cori helped Jade set the food in front of the hungry group of teenagers.

With an exclamation directed toward Susan and Robert to put their game controllers down, Jade made placed choice portions on Ricky and Robert's plates, earning an "Arigato Jade-nee-sama!" from her "little brother". Susan, likewise, did the same for Mokuba, who thanked her with an "Arigato, Susan-nee-sama!" Jade gave Susan a pointed look, giving Robert a protective pat on the head as she stood up and snatched her car keys from her purse. "Susan, stop using Kikyo in that game...it's totally unfair. And no corner-locking, both of you."

There was a mumble of agreement from Robert's stuffed mouth, and general murmurs of agreement from random people in the room. Idly twirling a pink lock of hair around her fingers as she walked to the door, Jade turned and grinned. "It's too easy to win with her character...not to mention cheap. So let's refrain from use of the ceramic bitch, shall we? I'm off...if I'm not back in an hour, start worrying."

Ricky glowered at the flippant remark, but gave her a kiss on the cheek all the same. "Don't let anyone both Téa," Jade murmured, and in swish of pink and brown, was out the door.

----------------------------------------

Music blasting, all of her thirty-seven radar detectors on, and the occasional spike of irritation jabbing her as she wove in and out of traffic, Jade sped along the boulevard toward the Ueno district. It was only mid-afternoon, but the traffic today seemed especially offensive.

A deep feeling of unease raced up her spine, and Jade felt all of her senses kick into overdrive. 'Something's not right...I have to find Yugi and get him out of here...' Her eyes scanning the crowds of people as she approached the intersection where Yugi had said he was, Jade gripped the steering wheel harder with each passing moment that she didn't spot him.

With a breath of relief, Jade's escalating worry was mollified when she spotted him. 'Ah, it's him. Good.' As if by instinct, Yugi turned his head and caught Jade's eyes. He nodded, and stately walked over to the curb where Jade pulled up. "Hop on in," Jade said cheerfully, lowering the volume of the music to a semi-audible level.

A small smile graced Yami's face as he climbed in and buckled up. Very few were able to discern the difference between Yugi and himself. Jade and Ricky were among those few.

"I hope you won't mind the blasting music. And speeding."
Yami knew there was something she wasn't saying. "Is there a particular reason you need to speed?"

Jade said nothing, trusting her silence to answer that question for her. 'Besides...I've got this nasty feeling that we're being watched...whatever moron's going to try to screw with me is going to regret it...big time.'

"Better safe than sorry. Linkin Park alright with you?" she asked, tapping a button on her steering wheel.
"Aa.." Yami's reply came as little more than a murmur of assent.

Although she was serious where their possible pursuit was concerned, Jade's naturally vivacious and risky personality surfaced, and a daring smile crept onto her lips. She grinned at Yami, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel as the music pounded through the silver Pontiac.

"I am a little bit of loneliness
A little bit of disregard
Handful of complaints
But I can't help the fact
That everyone can see these scars"

In a few mere seconds, Jade's instincts were proven completely correct. Out of the dispersing sunlight behind her car, several motorcycles, modified ones, by the look of them. Jade's eyes narrowed. All 5 motorcyclists wore black, their trenchcoats flying out behind them as they menacingly drew closer.

Nonchalantly, she spoke. "We have company. Make sure you're buckled in. Tight."
Yugi glanced in the passenger side mirror, glowering silently. "They pursued me after the duel in the Ueno district."
"And they wanted your Millennium Puzzle, didn't they?
"Aa."
Jade's smile turned grim. "Then they'll have to go through me first." Unknown to either of the car's occupants, Jade's pendant started to glow with an unearthly gold sheen, almost as if in anticipation of the fight that would inevitably face them.

With the quick press of a button on her steering wheel, the stereo panel folded back to reveal several LED-lit buttons. Yami lifted a slender eyebrow in a silent question. 'What is she doing?'

Still tapping her fingers and bopping her head to the beat of her Linkin Park music, Jade hit a large, glowing green button.

"I am what I want you to want
What I want you to feel
But it's like no matter what I do, I can't convince you
To just believe this is real

So I let go, watching you
Turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here cause you're all that I got"

In one instant, all the lights and sights and sounds became a massive blur. In a roar of two V-8 engines, a burst of blue and green flame, and a blast of burning nitrous oxide, the two occupants of the silver Pontiac shot forward at 150 mph.

"I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored"

Though he wished desperately not show any weakness, especially in front of one of his friends, Yami could not help but grip the seatbelt over his chest convulsively as the car suddenly shot forward and steadily accelerated. Her face set in determined lines, Jade allowed herself a glance out the rearview mirror. She noted, with a morbid sense of satisfaction, that the nitrous oxide boost that erupted out of her exhaust pipes had successfully felled three of the cyclists who had been closely tailing her car. Two were still in hot pursuit, and Yami watched with a sense of apprehension as they drew closer. Yugi appeared next to him, invisible to Jade, though she was able to sense somehow that his presence was with her and Yami.

Jade tilted her head in greeting to Yugi, which would have been uncannily accurate, except for the fact that her eyes were focused about three feet left of Yugi's actual position. Yami smiled secretively to himself. 'Perceptive though she is, there are certain benefits to being the only one to be able to see Yugi.'

Yugi, for his part, was glancing out the window apprehensively at the street and traffic lights that were streaking by, his hands tightening convulsively over empty air, as though silently wishing that several safeholds would magically appear out of nowhere.

"I am a little bit insecure
A little unconfident
Cause you don't understand
I do what I can
But sometimes I don't make sense

I am what you never want to say
But I've never had a doubt
It's like no matter what I do
I can't convince you for once just to hear me out"

"The damn jackass bastards," Jade suddenly muttered under her breath. Yami twisted around to glance out the rear windshield. Both of the pursuers who had survived the scorching flames of the NOS blast had drawn guns and were pushing their engines to their limits in an attempt to get closer to the speeding Pontiac. Reaching under her seat, she quickly withdrew two items—a bullet-proof vest and a katana. Yami's eyes widened, however imperceptibly. "They're trying to get closer for better aim...here." She tossed the bullet-proof vest to him. "Just in case. Get it on quickly. I need you to steer."

Halfway through getting the vest on, Yami turned massive amethyst eyes on Jade, not believing that he'd just heard what she had said. Jade grinned at him, winked, and hit the button, savoring the rush of cool air as the sunroof slid open. The gleaming white sheath of the katana reflected the colors of the lights outside the car window, and with a smile raising the corners of her mouth, the pink and brown-haired teen drew the gleaming, deadly sharpened 420 steel blade from its resting place. Without a word, Jade grasped the edge of the sunroof with her left hand and hoisted herself out and up onto the car roof.

"So I let go, watching you
Turn your back like you always do
Face away and pretend that I'm not
But I'll be here cause you're all that I got"

Sailing out onto the top of the car, Jade landed lightly on the roof, the blade's grip resting comfortably in her hand, her legs bent for combat, a carnal, almost vicious smile gracing her face. The pursuers, whose features Jade was beginning to discern, drew closer, their smiles condescending and confident, assured that their quarry was practically in their grasp. Without another word, the pair opened fire.

"I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored"

In a display of seeming unnatural skill, the teenage girl deflected the shots expertly with the gleaming blade, their pinging sounds ringing through the air, an unearthly smile coloring her face, as though she reveled in the glory of this fight. Around her neck, the pendant glowed with ferocious intensity, as though responding to her wish to protect the boy and Pharaoh who were currently within. Down below, Yugi was panicking as he gave Yami frantic instruction on how to steer the speeding vehicle.

:No, no, no! You have to grab the wheel and turn it in the direction you want to go! You have to hold it steady until we have to turn!:

Clearly perplexed, though refusing to lose his calm, Yami reached over and grabbed the wheel, providing the steadiness that Yugi needed to control himself and give him coherent instructions.

(So I must turn the wheel to guide the vehicle?)
:Exactly.:
(I'm not familiar with where we're going.)
:We're going to Jade's place. I know how to get there.:

Relieved that their apparent danger had now passed, Yugi jumped at the sounds of gunshots being fired.

:They have guns!:
(Is Jade in danger?)
:I don't know...:

This did nothing to soothe Yami's worried mental state. Bent over awkwardly to control a vehicle that was racing down the street, which thankfully, had been a series of fairly deserted alleyways, an lacking knowledge of what was happening to his ally up above was a position he did NOT like being in.

"Now
Hear me out now
You're gonna listen to me, like it or not
Right now
Hear me out now
You're gonna listen to me, like it or not
Right now

I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored"

Up atop the roof of the car, Jade was through with her business of deflecting bullets. Their pursuers had run out of bullets and were trying to reload when she launched her own offensive. In a feat of derring-do, she leapt off the roof of the car and landed directly on one of the pursuers, slicing his hood off with her katana to reveal his tattooed face and a distinct mark carved directly into his left cheek. The sight of that distinct mark woke somethingin the teenage girl, and within seconds an inner power took over her, unleashing the righteous fury that had been hidden away so long.

Jade stared down icily at her opponent, who had lost all semblance of control at the stunning transformation that had just taken place. Her voice an unearthly, deadly whisper, Jade shoved the point of the katana against the pursuer's throat, uttering the last words he would ever hear. "I will protect the Pharaoh, no matter the cost." With a single twist, the entity that had taken over Jade's body relieved the man of his life's blood, killing him instantly.

Balancing expertly on the speeding cycle that was quickly losing control, the incarnation inside Jade glanced over at the other assailant, golden-brown eyes studying the situation for a precious split-second, before she reached up with her free hand into the shining pink and brown locks of hair.

"I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored

I can't feel the way I did before
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal this damage anymore
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored"

The other cyclist, his face partially obscured by his hood, successfully reloaded his firearm and was about to unleash a flurry of slugs into the infuriating target across from him, when a sharp hissing sound from his gas tank caught his attention. Before he could register the fact that the fuel tank had been punctured, the cycle exploded in a blaze of blue and orange flame, the assailant now only an indistinct fireball amongthe inferno. The source of the punctured tank flew through the air with the rest of the debris, red-hot and barely noticeable—a hairpin.

Regretting the loss of the pretty decorative hairpin, though not without a triumphant smile on her face, the incarnation quickly decided to ditch the bike. With a surge of forward power, she leapt forward, casting the bike from her as she landed lightly on the trunk of the car and took another step forward to make good her re-entry back into the passenger cabin, and as quickly and unexpectedly as she had come, relinquished control back to her alternate soul.

"I can't feel
I won't be ignored
Time won't heal
Don't turn your back on me
I won't be ignored"

Standing atop the roof of the car, Jade blinked, acknowledging the incarnation's help silently as she realized what had just happened. 'I will protect Yugi, no matter the cost.' At that moment, filled with a protective care for Yugi, was the exact moment that the car careened suddenly to the right, slamming Jade hard into the top of the roof as she struggled to stay atop the car. She let out a stream of curses, wincing as she felt a bruise coming up on her right shoulder.

Having heard the blast reslting from the explosion of the motorcycle tank and seeing their pursuers gone from the rear-view mirror, Yami let out a small, inaudible breath of relief. Unfortunately, his lapse in attention proved to be quite inopportune.

And it was at that moment that a very particular obstacle made itself known.

:YAMI! The street's curving! Turn left, turn left!:

Startled by the sudden exclamation, Yami jerked the steeling wheel right, grimacing when Yugi made his mistake crystal-clear.

:OTHER LEFT!:

Yami jerked the steeling wheel hard to the left just in time, and was awarded with a hard thud on the roof and a stream of colorful curses from Jade's nearby voice. A pair of feet appeared in the sunroof, and in a split second, Jade had jumped right back into the driver's seat, sitting as though she had never left it, looking quite unruffled, though she had been outside in screaming winds but a few seconds ago.

Yami immediately relinquished control f the steering wheel. Jade gave him a mock-angry glare, and then a small smile to assure him that she was all right. Yugi noticed a large bruise that was making itself know on Jade's bared right shoulder, and pointed it out to Yami at once.

"You're hurt," Yami mentioned softly, his eyes slightly narrowed with worry, reaching out a hand to the purpling injury.

Jade's pendant glowed briefly as Yami's hand came closer. Before he could make contact, a strange golden light surrounded the wound of its own accord. A shock of memory blacked out her vision for a split second, and Jade's hands tightened convulsively on the steering wheel.

'I will protect the Pharaoh, no matter the cost...'

Yami pulled his hand back, looking to Jade for an explanation. "Don't worry about it," she said quietly, refusing to look at him. "Strange things happen to me all the time..." As if agreeing, the Eye of Ra around Jade's neck glowed all the more intensely. Yami glanced at it, then glanced back out the passenger window at the streetlights streaking past.

"Aa," he said softly, more to himself, though Jade could hear. "Strange things happen all the time..."

Jade manipulated the controls on her steering wheel so the music had dwindled to a soft whisper in the background. A small smile graced her face, which broke the tension that had existed between them a few seconds ago.

"Driving lessons," Jade murmured softly.
"Nani?" Yami asked.
She patted the steering wheel. "You'll have to know how to do this sooner or later...and I'd prefer that it be sooner."
Yami smiled. "Aa..."
Jade allowed herself a small, secret smile. 'And if I'm feeling particularly fiendish, I'll have Téa teach him the basics...'

Much buoyed by that thought, Jade smiled as they made a beeline for her house. "Driving lessons..." she murmured. "Tomorrow, we give you driving lessons..."

Author's Notes:

Reviews much appreciated!!! And, of course, th song that I used was Faint, from Linkin Park's Meteora album! Keep your eyes open for another story starring this story's cast, the first chapter of which will be going up in a couple of days! Many thanks to all my readers!

-Pharaohess Yami Anzu