"There is one thing that is sacred in this world above all else. It is more precious then gold, stronger then diamonds, richer then titanium, more beautify then silver. It is more respected, more protected then any other entity on earth. You should respect it too, for against you, it is a deadly force. But with you, you can never truly lose.

This thing is family."

-Geno Roads

The Party

"....happy birthday, dear Tressa....happy birthday too you!"

"And many moooooooooorrreeee!"

Tressa Chitoshi-Roads smiled and playfully hit her father with the back of her hand. "Daddy, come on!"

Guy Roads merely smiled. "It's my little girl's birthday, and there is no way I am going to break tradition and not do the annual birthday song ending. It just wouldn't be your birthday, now would it?"

Tressa sighed, and then chuckled. It was no use arguing with her father. In his eyes, she would always be his little girl, even if she was 16. She glanced at herself in a mirror as her mother and father worked on cutting the cake, trying to get her blonde hair to stay put. She smiled, pushed the bangs away from her blue eyes, a trademark of both her families. Once she was done, she set about fixing her outfit, wanting it perfect for when her uncles got there.

"Owen! Lilka! We're having cake, and if you're not down here in 2 minutes, you're not getting any!" Raia yelled. Owen and Lilka murmured something, and then laughed. Tressa was used to it. They were twins, 4 years older then her, and loved to spoil their little sister. As such, they were busy getting their present for her done with.

All three of them turned as the doorbell rang, and Tressa settled her nerves as her father walked over to the door. She held her breath, closed her eyes, and finally, when she felt she could actually peak without shaking, opened them and walked around the corner to see her uncles talking to her parents.

"Hi Uncle Mokuba, Uncle Seto."

Seto and Mokuba turned, and both nearly fainted as Tressa walked in. She smiled at their reaction. And it's no wonder, in this outfit.

Tressa was sporting a modified version of her Uncle Seto's old white dueling coat. It had been cut to better fit a woman, but otherwise worked fine. It didn't hurt that, like her siblings, she was 6'2", unusually tall for Japan but just enough to fit into her uncle's old coat.

Under the coat, she wore a simply blue baby tee and dark jeans. She smiled softly, and after giving a little twirl, looked at her uncles. "well?"

"Well...I will never ask for that coat back...because you pull it off better." Seto replied. Tressa grinned as Mokuba merely stared at her. "Guy....."

Guy held up his hands. "hey, I ain't the one she has this weird fixation on."

"It's not weird daddy!" Tressa said, stomping her foot. She turned to Seto. "Uncle Seto, want to see my room! I added more photos!"

Seto barely had time to nod before his niece pulled him down the hall. Mokuba grinned, then shook his head. "You people."

Raia frowned as they moved to the kitchen. "And what does that mean Mokie?"

"It means, don't call me Mokie, that as normal as you two try to make yourselves, you still manage to have a crazy family."

Guy frowned. "how exactly are we not normal....." He paused. "and you can't mention anything about gods, mages, demons, me and Raia's powers..." at this, both of their eyes flashed: Guy's blue, Raia's white. "or that my sister lives in Raia's body."

Mokuba shook his head. "What about the fact that you two constantly perform these little magic spells that change everything?"

Raia frowned. "such as?"

Mokuba smiled and stood up. Though he ma have been short most of his life, during High School, he had hit his growth spurt and turned from a small boy into a strapping 6 foot tall man. He paused, and looked at Raia, motioning for her to stand up...way up.

"See, you're taller!'

"I have always been taller!"

"Ya, by 2 inches, not 6!"

Raia blushed. It was true what Mokuba was saying about her height. Raia had only been 6'2" when her and Guy had first begun dating. However, having a 6'8" man didn't make normal things like dancing or kissing easy. So, she had studied spell books, and tapping into the magical powers she had begun to develop as a result of Geno's training, increased her height by 4 inches to put her only 2 inches lower. It made things easier, but it was hard to explain to people how she had gone from tall to amazon in a day.

"Ok, you got me." Raia said. Mokuba grinned. "How did you get so smart?"

"Must be the genes...I hear intelligence skips the older siblings"

"So, what do you think Uncle Seto?'

Seto paused, looking at the walls of his niece's room. "well, no one can say you pick bad role models."

Tressa smiled. Ever since she had been 4 years old, her parents had told her stories. And while the stories about knights and princesses were ok, she loved the stories about her uncle, the man that tamed dragons. The Blue Eyes white dragon had fascinated her, even having a stuffed version of one on her bed for 10 years now. When she played games with her dolls, it always featured the great white dragon attacking evil monsters and saving the innocent.

Seto took a step and looked carefully at the mural on her wall. It depicted him riding the Blue Eyes into battle, his duel disk ready. He smiled, admiring the detail of the dragon's scaled. "Who did this?"

"Daddy hired that guy that use to make the cards..."

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Pegasus....Guy got freaking Pegasus?!?!" He grumbled. "Some people have all the luck...." Seto paused, gritting his teeth. "It's because he's Geno's son. Everyone jumps if your name is Roads. I swear, I sometimes wonder if that's the only reason my sister married him..." Seto stopped, and realizing he may have gone too far, considering he had just told a child her mother didn't really lover her father. "Not that Raia doesn't love Guy..."

"It's ok Uncle Seto." Tressa said. She sat down on her and held her stuffed Blue Eyes in her hands. "Do you think today....I mean, I know you can't tell me...but do you think...?"

Seto smiled. So that's why I'm in here. Think you can worm some info out of me?

"I don't know Tressa. Your mom and dad didn't tell me what they were getting you for your birthday."

Tressa frowned. "Come on!"

"You'll find out in a little bit! Why are you so antsy?"

"Because I want to know!"

Seto chuckled and ruffled her hair. She glared at him for a moment, and he was taken back by how much she resembled her mother. However, her father's smile quickly poked through. "Fine, don't tell me! I know it's good, because it's my sweet 16!"

Seto smiled. "That it is kiddo."

"HEY!"

Tressa and Seto turned as they heard the bellow, followed by a cry. Tressa's grin grew bigger.

"Grandpa!"

Kaos grabbed Tressa as she jumped into his arms, and gave her a giant sized hug; considering his size, that wasn't too hard. He smiled as she squeezed him hard, and after a long while, let go, leaping down to stare at him. He gave her a grin, and then turned as Owen and Lilka ran down to give him a hug.

"Hello kids!" Owen and Lilka were 20 years old, the eldest children of Raia and Guy. However, no matter how old they were, they would always be young enough to hug their grandfather.

"Hi Grandpa...grandma" Owen said, turning to Nephthys. Neph smiled and gave the two a one handed hug, as the other held their youngest son, Siris. Owen, Tressa, and Lilka instantly crowded around, talking in babbles to Siris' cooing delight.

Kaos turned to Raia. "Gala and Diantha send there best wishes. They wanted to be here, but with work and stuff...."

Raia nodded. "I already talked to them. They both promised to be here for dinner." With that, she walked over and gave him a quick hug. "How are ya dad?"

Kaos grinned. "have I told you how much I love it when you call me dad?"

Guy stroked his chin. "15 times this month."

"Ha ha ha." He looked over their shoulders. "Mokuba...doesn't that cake look good?"

Mokuba nodded. "That it does." He reached over to snag a bit of frosting from the Blue Eyes shaped cake, only for Seto to slap his hand.

"Don't you have any manners?"

"No."

Raia however had the last say. Her eyes flashed, and the cake floated out of her brother's reach. Guy suppressed a chuckle, as did Seto. Raia merely winked and turned back to Seto. "speaking of manners...where is the wife?"

Seto shrugged. "Tea wanted to go shopping for a good party dress, and I ain't stupid enough to fight her."

Raia mimicked a whip sound, and Seto was close to throttling her before Kaos cleared his throat. Everyone paid attention, due to the fact that his clearing his throat made the building shake. Siris let out a giggle and then promptly fell asleep.

"well....I want a piece of that cake, then we can unwrap Tressa's gifts."

Tressa smiled and ran to go grab plates. After a few minutes of getting settled, the family was around the table, eating ice cream and vanilla cake. Had no one paid too close of attention to them, they would have assumed that they were a normal family.

"So Kaos...you look well, as always." Mokuba said, his mouth full of cake.

Kaos merely smiled. "Being king of gods does that to a man. It's better then plastic surgery."

"Speaking of that.." Seto said, pointing a fork at his old teacher. "Your little godhood wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that I haven't aged since I was 22, would it?"

Kaos smiled innocently. "What are you saying Seto? Are you saying that after I secured my place as king of gods, I used my magic to make every human on earth immortal and frozen their ages at their current age, and all children grow to 22 years old and stop?"

"Yes."

"No, I didn't do that." Kaos flashed a grin, and summoned a napkin. The 4 children at the table didn't care or react. Guy and Raia's kids had seen their grandfather do this, and knew who Kaos was, and for that matter, who their mother and father were. Siris merely slept through it. Though he appeared to be merely a baby, Siris was so powerful in magic that it didn't make him happy. He preferred kisses and tickles to magic. The two month old let out a sigh and snuggled against Neph.

Seto smiled right back. "You still think you can trick me? When you last were able to, I was merely a student...now I am the master."

"If you strike me down, I will become more powerful then you can imagine." Mokuba said, getting a laugh from the table. Everyone finally put down their plates, and after a few moments, Tressa's eyes tugged at even Seto's heartstrings.

"Ok guys." Guy said. "It's gift time."

"Now remember to write a thank you note to your Aunt Gala and Uncle Yami for the spell and trap cards Tressa."

"Cheapskates." Seto coughed. Raia gave him a hard elbow, and he muttered a silent apology.

Tressa, as much as she respected her uncle, didn't have his tongue, and smiled. "Ok mom......Mmm....which gift should I open first?"

Neph smiled. "This one is from the four of us." She handed Tressa the gift. And she read the card, smiling when she compared her aunt Diantha's clean written note of greetings to Siris' scribbles with a crayon. The baby was right next to her in his father's lap, playing with a stuffed teddy bear.

Tressa looked over the box, and ripped the paper from it, breathing fast. She tore open the lip and her smile grew. She looked at everyone, and slowly removed the duel disk. Her fingers carefully moved down the sleek black dueling device, taking in its elegance. There had only been 4 versions duel disks: Her Uncle's first version, which was a true disk, the regular style almost every duelist used, the one that was suppose to have come from Atlantis, and this one....her grandfather's version.

While most duel disks started out as two pieces and combined together, her grandfather's duel disk started out as one long piece, shaped like a fat sword It split down the middle, allowing you to see your down face trap and magic cards, and it's two points would fire off to produce the projections.

However, the main reason this was such a special gift was due to the fact that only a hand full of people used these disks. Only those that had earned her grandfather's stamp of approval were allowed to use this version. Even the best duelists hadn't been able to touch it.

"Thank you grandpa." Tressa said. She slipped the device on, and felt it whirl and move, the band auto fitting to her wrist. She grinned, and looked at herself in the mirror. She forgot anyone else was there, and struck a pose. She had to smile....she truly looked like a duelist!

"Here Tressa, open ours." Guy said, handing his daughter a small box.

Tressa smiled. "You mean the mural wasn't your gift daddy?" Guy shrugged, and she opened the little box...and stared. "Mom...dad...it's beautiful!" Gently, Tressa removed a golden necklace, a golden pair of dragon wings hanging off of it. She gave her parents a big hug and then fastened the jewelry around her neck. "Really....this is the best!"

Mokuba frowned. "Then I guess you don't want my gift, considering nothing can top that."

Tressa looked at him and stuck out her lower lip. "But Uncle Mokubaaaaaaaaa" She extended the last letter, to the point that Mokuba couldn't keep the joke on and cracked a smile. He took out a small package and handed it to her. Tressa opened the envelope and grinned. "wow....if this is all I get...I can safely say this will be the best birthday ever."

She pulled out, for everyone to see, the 6 cards Mokuba had given her: 3 White Dragon Ritual cards, and 3 Paladin of the White Dragon cards. As soon as everyone had a moment to oooo and awww, Tressa looked at them carefully.

"Where did you get those Mokuba?" Kaos said. "I mean...I though there were 4 in the world, and 1 is in my collection."

Mokuba merely smiled. "You know....you never really think about how powerful money is until you are around people that would sell out their mothers for enough of it."

Kaos slapped Mokuba on the back. "My boy, you may finally have developed the Chitoshi charm!" He grinned and looked at Seto. "So...going to let your little brother top you?"

"No....infact, his gift works eve better with mine." Seto held out the package, but as Tressa took it...he held it. She gently tugged, thinking this was a joke, but his tough look made her stop the tug of war. "You have to promise me that you will treasure what you are about to get. This is the hardest gift I have ever had to give someone.

Tressa looked at him. "Uncle Seto?"

Seto looked at Tressa and handed her the package. The shadow that had formed on his face was gone, and he smiled. "I had to do a number on Pegasus to get these....and I hope you treat them well."

Tressa smiled. "Of course I will Uncle Seto." She began to rip open the package. "I am just surprised you went to Pegasus. I mean, what could he ha..." Tressa froze.

Raia and Guy looked at each other, then at their youngest child. Raia frowned slightly. "Tressa....what is it?"

Tressa's hands shook. "How did you get these?'

Kaos looked at Seto. "Get what?'

Seto however was focused on his niece. "I told Pegasus about you...and we agreed that it was time for another duelist to have them."

Tressa trembled, and ran her fingers along the cards, rereading the names over and over, each time thinking she was wrong. But she wasn't.

Blue Eyes White Dragon.

Three of them.

Tressa looked at her uncle again, carefully set the cards down, and hugs him hard, crying softly on his shoulder. The great Seto Kaiba held her and smiled. "You are the new master of the White Dragon....make me proud. My three dragons want their brothers to be as famous as they are."

Tressa nodded, and wiped her eyes. "I will never forget this Uncle Seto."

Lilka cleared r throat. "As wonderful as this moment is....me and Owen still have a gift." Tressa nodded, and sat back down. Owen and Lilka stood up....and extended their hands.
Tressa raised an eyebrow. "what is this?"

Owen smiled. "Sis....you have the makes of a great duelist...all you need is a team."

Lilka nodded. "We want you....we want you as a Bandit."

Tressa looked at them. "Me...join your duelist team....I can't....don't you think someone more exper..."

"no." Owen said, cutting her off. "Sis, this group is a family thing. Our grandparents were in it, our parents, our uncles....it wouldn't be right if you weren't a member."

"So...are you in?" Lilka smiled and held out her hand a bit farther.

Tressa looked at her brother and sister...and smiled. "You better believe it."