Disclaimer: All Yu-Gi-Oh! characters and references belong to their respective owners. The song Don't Say You Love Me belongs to M2M and the company that recorded it and was used in this story with the best of intentions. Story elements © Hideki LaShae. No money was gained in the writing of this story.
WARNING: This story contains sensitive cultural practices and references that might offend some readers. The views and opinions of the cultures which condone these practices are not shared by this author, but they are included in this story for awareness purposes only.
Time to Duel, Mariko!
By
Hideki LaShae
Chapter Twenty-Six
I Won't Say I'm In Love
You're moving too fast, don't understand you.
"T-bird!" exclaims Marie passing her glass off to Seto and rushing back onto the dance floor, "I'm getting married this Valentine's Day!"
"What? That's less than two months away!" exclaims Téa.
"That's not a big deal considering I've loved Seto for such a long time already," says Marie, "I need you to be my Maid of Honor! Please say you'll do it!"
"Of course I'll do it! I love you like a sister, Camaro!" exclaims Téa.
"Great! The theme of the wedding is Duel Monsters! The Dark Magician Girl will be wed to the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" exclaims Marie, "What's your favorite card? We'll need to have your costume made up!"
"Magician of Faith!" exclaims Téa.
"Wonderful!" exclaims Marie spinning around happily, "Mustang! Do you think you could join me as a bridesmaid, Mai?"
Mai blinks at Marie in confusion. "You… want me… to be one of your bridesmaids?"
"Of course I do!" exclaims Marie, "You're my friend!"
"I'll be there!" exclaims Mai, "As the Harpy Lady!"
Marie quickly hugs Mai. She turns to look at Serenity with a smile. "Stingray… What about you, Serenity? Will you be one of my bridesmaids too?"
Serenity's entire face lights up as she smiles. "I'd love to!"
"Okay… what's your favorite Duel Monster?" asks Marie.
"I… don't really have one," says Serenity, "I'm rather new to Duel Monsters."
Marie looks over at Joey who stands beside the buffet table chewing on his lip rather than a piece of food. "Joey?"
"I'd say either Soul of Purity and Light or Spirit of the Breeze," says Joey, "but my vote would definitely be for Soul of Purity and Light. That's what Serenity is…"
"Well, would you have any problems with me dying your skin green, Stingray?" asks Marie.
"You are not turning me green!" exclaims Serenity with wide eyes.
"Okay… Soul of Purity and Light it is!" exclaims Marie, "I have my wedding party set!"
"And Mokuba will be my Best Man," says Seto walking over to Marie.
"Me? Big Brother?" asks Mokuba, "As the Rabid Horseman?"
"Of course," says Seto smiling.
Marie smiles at Seto before looking at her brother. "Yugi… could I ask you to do something very special for me during the wedding?"
"What is it, Marie?" asks Yugi.
"Would you give me away?"
"He can't… He's preoccupied that day," says Seto before Yugi has a chance to respond.
"I am?" asks Yugi in shock, "Really?"
"Yes, you are," says Seto.
Marie hangs her head sadly.
"What am I doing that day? What's more important than seeing my sister get married?" Yugi looks at Seto in confusion. "I'm sure whatever it is I could cancel it so that I could give Marie away at the wedding! She's more important."
"You can't cancel! You're one of my groomsmen!" exclaims Seto, "Marie will just have to settle for Yami or that old fool of a grandfather giving her away!"
Yugi's large violet eyes widen even further. "I'm what?"
"Marie has a wedding party of three. So I will make mine to match. That means with Mokuba as my best man, you will be one of my groomsmen," says Seto, "And no is not an option! You're the only biological brother she has and you're going to be in the wedding! I would be honored to have the Dark Magician beside me."
"Then I would be honored to be your groomsman," says Yugi smiling, "Who is your third?"
"Since his sister's in the wedding, we might as well make it the mutt!" exclaims Seto. He turns his back to Joey as he smiles to himself and Marie.
Marie smiles back.
"I am not a mutt, Kaiba!" exclaims Joey.
Seto turns towards Joey and glares at him. "Will you be in the wedding, Joey, or do I have to ask Marik?"
"Fine! I'll be in the wedding… so long as you don't call me a mutt, Seto," says Joey, "I'll be the Flame Swordsman."
"Then that's settled!" exclaims Seto.
"Yami… would you give me away at the wedding?" asks Marie.
Yami bows. "I would be honored to, Marie."
"Great! You can wear the costume of the Magician of Dark Chaos since Yugi will be the Dark Magician!" exclaims Marie.
Yami nods his head. He moves to the table and lifts a glass of champagne. "I would like to offer a toast. To Seto and Marie… May the Gods bless their union!"
"To Seto and Marie!" everyone cheers.
Marie takes her glass from Seto and quickly drinks it. "Let's dance, Seto!"
Seto chuckles. "Dance with Téa for a moment. I'll be back and then we'll dance."
Marie nods. She sets her empty glass on the table and drags Téa out onto the dance floor.
Seto heads out of the room with Yugi following behind him.
"Seto… why did you want me to be one of your groomsmen?" asks Yugi.
Seto stops in front of a closed door. He turns and leans his back against it. "Yugi… you are my worst rival… you are also related to my only love. I can't deny that I don't like you, but for Marie's sake I will tolerate you. I may even grow to like you one day. Until then, I will try to be civil to you. I want you to be my groomsman because you are Marie's brother. If I had a sister instead of Mokuba, I know Marie would have her as a bridesmaid. You're family, whether I like it or not, and I want you to be involved with this wedding."
"Thank you, Seto," says Yugi. He smiles.
Seto turns and opens the door, revealing a pristine bathroom that he enters.
Yugi hurries back to the party. He heads over to Yami at the buffet table. "I'm hungry. What kind of food is there?"
"Have some pizza, Yugi," says Yami taking a slice and passing it on a plate to Yugi.
"Thanks, Yami." Yugi smiles. He slumps his shoulders as he starts to eat.
"Is something wrong, Yugi?" asks Yami.
"I'm… confused…"
"About what?"
"Life. Love. The yami-hikari curse."
"What about the curse?" asks Yami taking a slice of pizza and starting to eat it.
"Well… I don't know much about it, and I don't want you to be cursed. But Marie won't tell me how to un-curse you," whines Yugi, "She said someone would be hurt either way."
"Bakura and Marik don't seem to be too upset about being cursed," says Yami, "Marik and Malik haven't stopped kissing since they arrived. Bakura and Ryou… well it wouldn't surprise me if we caught them in a closet later. They are practically having sex on the dance floor."
Yugi blushes and finishes his pizza. "Yami… what's it like?"
Yami blinks. "What's what like?"
Yugi blushes even brighter and gets another piece of pizza, quickly shoving some of it into his mouth after saying, "Sex."
Yami blushes. He swallows hard. "It's… um… scary at first, because you're unsure of what you're doing… but then the fear goes away, and leaves you with just the most wonderful feeling. How is it that you, Hikari, my light, are pure and innocent? I can't imagine Seto ever being the way you are; yet he is the Hikari of Seth. Marie and Malik, while they were once innocent, they do not claim to have ever been pure. Ryou, I'm not so sure about. How is it that you are pure and innocent?"
Yugi shrugs his shoulders.
We're sitting thereYou said you love me, what's that about?
Yami leans over to whisper into Yugi's ear. "I love that about you, Yugi. I… I really love you. You don't have to feel the same way about me. I don't need you to. I just need you to know that I love you, and I want you to be happy even if you aren't with me the way that I would like you to be."
"How would you like me to be with you?" whispers Yugi.
"I would like to be able to kiss you whenever I feel like it and bring you to the pinnacle of physical pleasure," whispers Yami blushing, "I would like to be more than your friend… perhaps if you would accept me… even a husband to you."
Yugi smiles and blushes a bright crimson. "I'm so confused. I don't know who I care about."
"I do…" Yami hangs his head sadly. "You're in love with Téa. And I want you to know that I am happy for you because you love her."
"Yami… I…"
"Marie! No!" exclaims Téa loudly.
Yugi turns his attention towards the brunette standing with his sister in the middle of the dance floor.
Seto walks back into the room.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help you, T-bird!" exclaims Marie, "You can be such a coward you know!"
"Yeah… why don't you just tell him I'm in love with him then? That seems to be a better plan than the one you concocted!" exclaims Téa not noticing that everyone now stares at her and Marie.
"Oh… well I thought you might want to do that, but I certainly will if you want me to!" exclaims Marie, "That will save you the trouble of looking into his eyes if he doesn't happen to feel the same way and rejects you! Now… where is he?" She starts to look around and her eyes meet Seto's. She smiles.
"You wouldn't dare tell everyone that I'm in love with Yugi!" shouts Téa.
Yugi gasps.
Téa hears the gasp from behind her. Her eyes widen as she starts to notice everyone staring at her in shock. She gasps with the sudden realization that all eyes are on her. She turns and looks at Yugi with wide blue eyes. Her mouth hangs slightly open in shock and fear.
Don't say you love me
You don't even know me
If you really want me
Then give me some time…
"Téa?" asks Yugi with wide eyes.
"Y-y… Yugi," whispers Téa.
"You love me?" asks Yugi, "Why? Why me?"
"I… I… I…"
Marie elbows Téa in the side.
Téa gasps again and closes her eyes. She sighs quietly. "Need you ask, Yugi?"
Yugi walks away from Yami and approaches Téa. He nods his head. "I do… I don't understand, Téa," he says, and with a quick glance back at Yami, he continues, "I don't see what it is about me that anyone could fall in love with. Help me understand, Téa."
"What is there not to love?" asks Téa opening her eyes and looking into the violet eyes of the shorter teen. She smiles. "Your undying loyalty… your courage and strength…"
"Yami's traits," interrupts Yugi.
"Your innocence and optimism… You were the only one who really thought we could succeed at making Seto our friend, Yugi, and now he is," continues Téa.
Yugi sighs. "No more… no more…"
"Yugi?" asks Yami stepping forward.
"I'm sorry, Téa… I'm so confused… I don't even know what I feel," says Yugi, "I don't know anything!" He starts to cry and he runs out of the room.
"Yugi!" exclaims Yami starting to run after Yugi.
"Let me field this one, Yami!" exclaims Joey racing after Yugi.
"Thank you, Joey," says Yami as Joey nearly flies out of the room.
Téa falls to her knees and begins shaking.
Serenity quickly moves to Téa and brings her into a warm embrace.
Take it slow, quit pushing me, you're pushing me away…"What have I done?" whispers Téa leaning into Serenity's arms.
"If you hadn't told Yugi now, you would have done so later," says Serenity, "You can't keep your emotions bottled up inside. You know that, T-bird."
"I've ruined everything… Did you see that look in his eyes? He really… he really doesn't believe that anyone could love him… the real him, not the part of him that we see when Yami takes over his body," says Téa quietly, "He doesn't believe that anyone could love Yugi… that anyone who claims to is really in love with Yami but not understanding that they are two different people."
"You're taking this entirely the wrong way, Téa. Yugi does love you, but he is incredibly confused right now. Everything that has happened recently has taken a greater toll on his mind than we imagined," says Yami, "He is uncertain of his heart… and his destiny is confusing him. And Marie not telling him more about the yami-hikari curse is eating away at his mind…"
Marie sighs. "Marik… Bakura… you need to hear this too. Have a seat, everyone. This could prove… interesting. Mariko… you need to help me explain this."
'I thought I told you I wasn't talking to you, Marie,' says Mariko.
'Well then you're doing a lousy job!' thinks Marie, 'Get out here and help me, Mariko! I can't do this alone!'
'I want a physical body!' screams Mariko.
'Fine! I've already lost my innocence! I might as well lose my light as well!' screams Marie, 'Now will you come out?'
'Yes… I will help you explain the curse…'
"Ma-Ri-Ko!" exclaims Marie holding up her right hand and closing her fingers around the Millennium Scale when it appears in her hand.
Mariko appears in front of everyone with a flash of light.
I'll make it clear, not gonna tell you twice…
Everyone sits down on the floor in a circle, including Marik and Malik who have temporarily stopped their amorous advances.
"Okay… yamis are the darkness and hikaris are the light," explains Mariko, "The yami-hikari curse is the curse of the yin-yang, where the dark and light meet and join together. I don't know what the curse really says, but it implies that the darkness and the light will always seek each other."
"It's more than that… It's that the light and dark will love each other," says Marie, "If a yami and hikari kiss… then they are bound together forever. The yami will never be able to love anyone besides their hikari for the rest of eternity."
"However… the light is unaffected," says Mariko.
"So… we will never be able to love anyone other than our lights?" asks Bakura. He smiles. "I can handle that idea!"
"Can you not interrupt?" asks Marie.
"No!" exclaims Bakura.
"So if they kiss, the yami will never love another, but the hikari has a choice… The light can accept the darkness," says Marie, "Or…"
"Or they can reject the offer and the light can move on with their life," says Mariko, "If they accept the darkness, they will always love their yami and only their yami. If not, they can love anyone and fall in and out of love many times."
"Ryou… Malik… have either of you accepted your yami?" asks Marie.
"How do we accept the darkness?" asks Ryou.
"Yeah… I don't understand it either," says Malik.
"There are different ways to do it," says Mariko.
Marie takes a deep breath and crawls towards Mariko. "I'm not doing this to betray you, Seto."
Seto raises an eyebrow.
"I banish the light. I welcome the darkness. Grant my yami the body he deserves," says Marie before forcing Mariko into a non-platonic kiss to the cheek.
It's not like we're gonna get married…Seto's eyes widen.
Marie falls away from Mariko shaking uncontrollably.
With a flash of bright pink light, Mariko stands up looking remarkably solid and fully dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. He falls to his knees beside Marie. "Marie! Please, snap out of it!"
Marie continues to shake.
Seto rushes to Marie's side and pulls her into his arms. "Marie!"
"Kiss her, Seto… Bring her back to you," says Mariko moving away and sitting down.
Seto raises an eyebrow at Mariko, but he pulls Marie into a kiss and licks her closed lips with his tongue.
Marie stops shaking and relaxes in Seto's arms. "I'm… not dead!"
"I hope not!" exclaims Seto chuckling.
Marie sits up abruptly. "Why aren't I dead?"
"Because… love is stronger than the curse," says Mariko smiling, "Sometimes… Your brotherly love for me gave me my own body... capable of loving whom I want… capable of dying with the one I love. And Seto's true love for you broke the yami-hikari curse that we were trapped under when you kissed me."
Marie nods.
"So… in order to accept our yami we need to kiss them?" asks Ryou crumpling his eyebrows in confusion.
"Not really," says Mariko, "It's bigger than that for you… I think… Do you love Bakura, Ryou?"
Ryou blushes. "Yes."
"Then… in order for you to accept him and grant him his own physical body…"
"You have to have sex!" exclaims Marie blushing as she interrupts Mariko, "You have to willingly accept the darkness of your yami and have intercourse with him. Then you two will be bound by an eternal love!"
"We can have sex?" asks Malik, "With our yamis? They're spirits!"
"You might not be able to feel it all… the pain for example," says Mariko, "but yes… you can."
"Seto… where's the spare bedrooms?" asks Malik quickly rising to his feet with a hungry look in his eyes.
"No! No! No! You are not having sex in my house!" exclaims Seto.
"Fine! Front yard! In plain view of all your neighbors!" exclaims Malik pulling Marik to his feet.
Seto's eyes widen at Malik's words. "Third floor! Last door on your right!"
Malik and Marik race each other upstairs.
"That is gross, Seto! You're really going to let them do it here!" exclaims Mokuba, "They should go home if they want to do that!"
"Seto? Me too?" asks Ryou blushing burgundy.
"Third floor. Last door on the left," says Seto with a resigned sigh.
Ryou and Bakura run out of the room.
"So… if Yugi wants to break the curse on me… he has to have sex with me… because he loves me and not because he wants to break the curse," says Yami.
Marie nods.
"So much for my chances with him," whispers Téa.
Marie pulls Téa into a warm embrace.
"We can not tell Yugi about this. He shouldn't be pressured into choosing between Téa and I. If… or when… he chooses, it should be because he has sorted out his feelings, and he should be choosing the one he loves," says Yami. He stands. "I need to be alone."
Give me, give me some time…
"Yami… Tonight you can stay here. Third floor, first door on the left. It's my room," says Marie, "You can have it tonight."
"Thank you, Marie," says Yami heading towards the stairs.
"Perhaps we should all turn in," says Seto, "Especially you, Mokuba. Marie… would you show everyone to rooms? I'll wait for Yugi and Joey."
Marie takes everyone out of the room leaving Seto alone.
Seto heads out of the room after turning the stereo off. He walks around the ground floor of his mansion until he finds Yugi and Joey sitting together in the sunroom. "How are you doing?"
Yugi looks up at Seto with his tear-stained eyes. He wipes his eyes again. "I don't know…"
Seto sits down on Yugi's other side.
"Where's everyone else?" asks Joey pulling Yugi closer to him in his one-armed embrace.
"Marie showed them all to rooms to sleep for the night," says Seto, "We're the only ones left awake, I hope…"
"So… are you waiting to show us rooms too?" asks Yugi quietly.
"No… yes, but not right now… there's something I need to tell you first, Yugi," says Seto.
Yugi looks at Seto. He swallows hard and wipes his eyes. "What is it, Seto?"
"Shortly after I had taken over control of Kaiba Corp, I started searching out and collecting rare Duel Monsters cards. I heard from a collector in Egypt that Marie Twin had the only Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon card in existence, but she couldn't use it because she didn't have the three Blue-Eyes… I did. So, I contacted her at the excavation site where she was working. She had been cataloging everything they found and been keeping an updated journal for the archaeological team. So she had a laptop with her, and a cell phone so she could have Internet access to be in touch with the museum that her team was working for. I invited her to come up here to Domino. I told her I wanted to see her Ultimate. I mentioned having a Blue-Eyes, not three… I implied I only had one. She accepted my invitation, and I sent a private plane to pick her up. She arrived here at the estate on Valentine's Day," says Seto.
"What does this…?"
"Shut up, mutt… I'm getting to that… Joey," says Seto.
"Okay," says Joey.
"I met her at the door, and I was amazed at how pretty she was. I decided right then that I wasn't going to try to take her Ultimate from her. She could have it or I would pay her enormously if she offered to sell it to me, but she had to offer," says Seto, "I wasn't going to suggest anything. I hadn't even said 'hello' before she immediately challenged me to a duel. She offered up her Blue-Eyes Ultimate as the prize should I win, and she asked me to ante up my three Blue-Eyes White Dragons so that the winner of our duel would walk away with the four most powerful dragons in the game. You know with an offer like that I couldn't refuse. She had done some research on me and found out that I had three dragons. So we stepped into the living room, and Mokuba kept track of our scores while we dueled. I defeated her. Then, as she was giving me the card, she slipped into my arms and gave me my first kiss."
Yugi smiles.
Don't go there baby
Not before I'm ready…
"Mokuba invited her to have dinner with us, and since she had no where else to go until my plane flew her back to Egypt, she accepted. She tucked Mokuba into bed earlier than he would have liked to go to bed, but later than I usually let him stay up. Then she sang him a lullaby to get him to sleep. Once we were back in the living room together, she asked me to grant her a request since I had just taken her favorite and most valuable card," says Seto crossing his arms over his chest and looking out into the air in front of him, "She asked me to take her out dancing since she'd never been to any dance clubs in Japan. I felt obligated… Plus, I wasn't about to object to going out on a date with the prettiest girl I had ever seen. We went out dancing. Or more, I took her to the clubs and watched her dance. Some guys started to hassle me because they wanted to take Marie home with them. She, apparently, thought they were gay and trying to pick me up. So she came up and started a fight with them… with her fist. She felt she had to protect her date. We had to fight our way out."
"Marie had to protect you," says Joey with a smile, "How sweet of her."
Yugi nods. "She is very sweet."
"Sorry, Seto. Go on," says Joey.
"We were kicked out of three clubs that night for fighting. She flew back to Egypt the next day, after staying the night in a hotel. She went back to the excavation site and continued her work, but we kept in contact, through a special message board on the Kaiba Corp website that only we know about as well as through letters. I've flown her back here several times a year, usually after she had finished with a dig. I've taken her dancing at least a dozen times, and it always ends up with us fighting," says Seto with a gentle sigh, "We've gone out to dinner a few times. Sometimes, I would fly her up here just so we could sit together in the living room and talk or watch a movie together. Then about a year ago, I started thinking of things more seriously. I realized how much I had fallen in love with her. I wanted to marry her, but she didn't even know I loved her. I hadn't told her that yet."
"Seto, what does this have to do with anything?" asks Yugi.
"You'll see," says Seto.
Yugi reaches out and touches Seto's arm.
Seto smiles at the hand as he continues. "Mokie realized I was in love with her, but I wasn't ready to admit it to her. I wasn't sure how she would take it… if she would feel the same or just reject me. I knew that feeling that I had deep inside was nothing if it wasn't love. It just felt too right to be near her, to hold her and touch her, even kissing her made me feel like I was in heaven. I finally confessed my feelings to her when she came here to find out who she was. I told her that it didn't matter to me who she was because I loved her. She was surprised for a moment before she confessed her feelings to me as well. She said she loved me ever since she first lost that duel to me on Valentine's Day when we first met."
"How romantic," says Yugi.
"You should have seen her the first time I told her how beautiful she is… She almost didn't believe me. I told her that right before I got the ring box from my dresser. I tossed it to her and said, 'It's not a request.' She opened it and saw the engagement ring and asked about it. She wasn't sure if it was an engagement ring. I told her it was and that I wanted her to marry me. She agreed," says Seto, "You were right, Joey, I did just demand she marry me, and she accepted. There was nothing romantic about the way I asked her. I'm not much for romance. I'm not used to it, and she accepts that. She understands. I spent an entire year thinking up romantic ways to ask her to marry me, and the best I could come up with was just tossing her the box. I didn't even get down on one knee to do it."
"Hey! That romantic stuff doesn't matter to Marie!" exclaims Joey, "She knows the depth of your heart, Seto!"
Seto looks over at Joey and gives him a smile, a genuine smile. He turns his gaze to Yugi. "Well… I just thought that might help you."
"Help me with what?" asks Yugi.
"Come on… I'll show you to your rooms," says Seto, "It's getting late, and we all need some sleep." He stands up and helps Yugi and Joey to their feet.
"Hey, Seto… what was that lullaby Marie would sing to Mokuba?" asks Joey.
Seto blushes as he sings the words, "Sleep, sleep, my little angel. Peace, peace, will come unto you. Sleep, sleep, my little angel. Dream, dream, and follow your heart. Sleep, sleep, my little angel. Joy, joy, will stay with you. Sleep, sleep, my little angel. Love, love, you're in my heart."
"Um… Seto… maybe you should get some flowers and kneel before Marie and ask her again," says Yugi blushing, "Just say… 'Will you marry me?' I'm sure she would appreciate the more romantic offer."
"Yes. She would. I'll meet you at the staircase," says Seto hurrying out of the room.
Yugi and Joey head towards the staircase and stand around waiting until Seto returns from the garden with a night-blooming Moonflower, and they all head up the stairs to the third floor. He leads them first to his room, and he knocks gingerly on the door.
After a moment, Marie opens the door wearing her robe over her Dark Magician Girl nightgown. She smiles.
Seto holds out the flower to Marie and quickly kneels down in front of her. "Marie… would you agree to be my wife?"
"A million times yes," says Marie falling to her knees and hugging Seto with tears in her eyes.
Yugi and Joey smile at each other.
Seto kisses Marie and hands the flower to her. "So… what rooms are empty?"
Marie pulls Seto up with her, and she leads everyone down the hallway. She opens two doors across the hall from each other. "Take your pick, boys. I'm taking my fiancé to bed."
Don't say your hearts in a hurry…
"Oh, and Yugi… don't make any rash decisions. The people who love you are willing to wait until you know what you want," says Seto, "Take your time to find out how you feel about them."
"Thank you, Seto. I think I understand everything you've said tonight, and I will think about it. Thank you," says Yugi walking into a room and closing the door.
"Good night," says Joey heading into the other room.
"Good night, Joey," says Seto.
"So… are we calling a truce between us, Seto?" asks Joey.
Seto nods his head. "About time, isn't it?"
"Yeah… I think it is," says Joey before closing the door.
Marie and Seto return to Seto's room to go to bed.
