Usual reminders:

Italics are thoughts, word emphasis, or memories. Bold is Malekos' speech.

I do not claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I only own Jessica, her parents, and Malekos.

The duel took a turn for the worse when the Big Five summoned their most powerful monster, something she remembered Yugi telling her he'd faced before. The Five-Headed Dragon. Joey and Yami had to call their deck masters to the field, and combined them, in order to keep themselves safe. The new knight monster that became their combined deck master looked like a weak monster, but something about its sword had Jessica on the edge of the outcropping, literally. When the knight was destroyed, a new knight came to the field. Mirage Knight.

She gripped the edge in anticipation, leaning forward slightly as she watched with glimmering green eyes. It was revealed to be a light monster, the only attribute that can destroy the dragon, and it absorbed their attack to make it stronger. It easily sliced the dragon down the middle, destroying it. She gasped when 'Tristan' was still in the duel, only having 600 life points now. A new dragon took the place of their deck master and Joey and Yami's original deck masters returned.

"Joey, Yugi, stay strong!" She called out to them, tightening her grip on the outcropping and making her knuckles turn white. They have to win.

Even if your friends lose, they'll find your body to be much more difficult to obtain than they realize. Malekos growled in her mind, his presence festering with the anticipation as well.

She growled back, biting her lip from snapping at him aloud. Way to be positive…

The dragon attacked Yami's four hats on the field, and Joey had moved his deck master to protect his monster. There was an explosion and a large cloud of dust covered their side of the field. "Yugi! Joey!" She screamed, jumping to her feet and clenching her fists.

Calm down, little one. Malekos' calm growl caused her to let out the breath she was holding.

She waited for the smoke to clear and she almost dropped to her knees in relief. They were both still in the duel! And it was all thanks to Joey's risky trap card. My heart can't handle this… She ignored the amused snort from Malekos.

With Joey's smart thinking in transforming Yami's deck master, they were able to defeat the dragon and won the duel. She was the first one to jump in the air with a shout of glee, throwing her fists in the air. "Yeah! Way to go!" She climbed down the outcropping and ran over to Yami, leaping onto his back in her excitement and making him stumble in shock. "That was amazing!"

He glanced over his shoulder at her with surprise written all over his face, his body stiff from the sudden contact, but he slowly relaxed and smiled at her. He reached up and patted her head, causing her to giggle. She released him as the others joined them and they faced 'Tristan', who was slumped on his knees in defeat.

"Well?" Yami stared down at him. "It's time for you to give Tristan his body back."

"I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone who believes in playing fair," 'Tristan' said as he lifted his head to glare at Yami.

"Why you-!" Jessica bristled and would've dove for him if Yami hadn't held her back by her shoulders.

Suddenly, the Big Five's original deck masters emerged and charged forward for an attack. The gang braced for impact, and Jessica raised her fists, her eyes flashing red as she got ready to defend them. Luckily, she didn't have to do anything drastic when a forcefield around them kept the deckmasters from attacking them. They bounced back into Tristan's body and he stared down at himself in shock.

"What's going on?!"

Noah's voice echoed overhead and she stepped closer to Yami with a growl. "Breaking my rules again, are we? You five fools have failed me for the last time!"

They watched as a ball of light surrounded 'Tristan' before disappearing, taking him with it. Tristan's body was gone once more and Serenity picked him up to console him.

Jessica kicked a rock in frustration, growling. "I should've punched them when I had the chance!"

She barely registered that Yami switched places with Yugi beside her. "That wouldn't have helped, Jess."

She turned to him. "Yeah, but-" The look he gave her made her clamp her mouth shut and she let out a sigh to calm herself. "Sorry."

Yugi shook his head and then hugged her, making her blush and blink in surprise. "No, I'm sorry." He was speaking quieter now so only she could hear him. "You've been so upset this whole time and I didn't notice…"

She bit her lip, wondering if Yami had told him her fears from earlier. The pharaoh wasn't in view to even ask him so all she could do was guess. She slipped her arms around him and buried her face into his shoulder. "It's okay… I've had similar fears most of my life and still survived," she whispered, mentally cursing when she heard her voice waver slightly.

She felt his arms tighten around her, holding her close. He didn't speak a word, but she could feel his emotions. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed his warm embrace.

"Jessica Wilkes." Noah's voice echoed around them, causing her to flinch and pull away from Yugi. "I hope you haven't forgotten about what I said. It's time I showed your friends what you really are!"

Jessica bristled as she glared at the sky, gritting her teeth. She gasped as the landscape around them warped and shifted, changing into that of the inside of a mostly wooden home.

"Since your mind is linked to my virtual world, I can tap into your memories and play them like a movie. Have fun walking down memory lane!" His laugh echoed before fading.

Jessica could already feel everyone's stares on her even as she stared at the wall in front of her. It was already happening. She couldn't stop it. Her heart pounded in her ears, making them ring and drown out the questions that the gang were throwing at her, wondering just what exactly Noah had meant. The sound of a door opening and closing startled her and she whirled around to face it. She gasped, green eyes widening as she saw the one memory she didn't want to relive. She felt Yugi's hand grasp her trembling one, but she didn't react. She was frozen in place and everyone watched quietly as the scene played in front of them.

A little girl about the age of eight had just closed the front door of the house. She had black hair that was cut into a bob, and bangs that covered most of both sides of her face. But the unmistakable tattoos still peeked out from under her bangs on the right side of her face. She was carrying a backpack that she slid off her shoulders and instead hugged it close to her. She looked slightly crestfallen, with small scratches on her cheeks.

"I'm home," she called out, walking down the short hallway into the darkened house. She gulped as she stopped just outside the dining area, looking around and trying to see in the darkness. "Mommy? Daddy?"

The lights flicked on suddenly, causing the child to flinch and squeeze her eyes shut to keep from going blind, and a collective shout rang through the house. "Surprise!"

The little girl barely had time to open her eyes before she was swooped into a pair of strong arms, causing her to shriek in surprise, and a tall man gave an exaggerated growl as he hugged her close and pretended to bite her shoulder. This caused the girl to squeal and start giggling, trying to push away from his attack. "Daddy!"

The man laughed as he pulled his face away enough to look at his daughter. He had short black hair and dark eyes that sparkled with love for his family, and dimples on both sides of his face as he grinned. A shorter woman walked over to them, smiling at her husband and daughter. She had long auburn hair pulled into a loose ponytail and green eyes. "Happy birthday, Jessica!" They both cheered.

Jessica grimaced at the memory. Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears at the two people she hadn't seen in so long. She could hardly breathe but she forced herself to take slow breaths so she didn't accidentally forget to breathe altogether. She could feel the confusion in the air, wondering why such a happy memory was considered something bad. She felt Malekos' presence surface in her mind, but he was silent as he waited for things to happen. He knew the memory all too well.

"Jessie, what happened to your face?" The mother gasped as she brushed her child's bangs aside to get a good look at the faint scratches on her skin.

"Were those boys picking on you again?" The father's eyes narrowed, staring at his daughter as he waited for her response.

Little Jessica shook her head, pushing her mother's hand away from her face. "Not me. They were picking on Muto again!"

Both Yugi and Jessica stiffened. They knew each other? Neither could remember ever meeting the other.

"That Moto boy?" The father asked, purposely pronouncing the name wrong to get a rise out of his daughter.

Little Jessica scrunched up her face, knowing her dad knew how to say it correctly. "No," she whined. "It's Muuuuto." She dragged out the 'u' so that her dad would get it correctly this time.

"Moo? My daughter's been replaced by a cow!" The father spun her around with a grin, eliciting a squeal and giggle from the child in his arms.

"You're so silly, daddy!" She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him as she rubbed their cheeks together affectionately.

Jessica's heart twisted as one tear slid down her cheek, but she didn't wipe it away. She was too entranced in the memory.

The memory changed to later in the evening when the festivities were over. Little Jessica was in her room on her bed, looking at her new presents she had unwrapped earlier. One was a playing card she had brought home from school with her. She had received it from the Muto boy in her class that day as a present. He had given it to her directly after the bullying incident as a thank you for being his first and only friend that year.

She was humming to herself as she organized the presents on her bed from largest to smallest, keeping herself occupied. She gasped when the lights turned off suddenly, dowsing the house in darkness. She sat up on her bed and looked around, blinking to adjust to the sudden darkness.

Jessica's free hand shot up to cover her mouth, eyes wide as she realized what was about to happen. "Please, no…" She whimpered, and barely felt the squeeze of her other hand from Yugi attempting to comfort her silently.

The child climbed off her bed and walked to her door, hoping to find her parents and see what was going on. She opened the door and peered down the hallway, but she was still trying to adjust to the darkness. "Daddy?" She called timidly, a sense of dread filling her.

Suddenly, she was grabbed from the side and her mouth was covered before she could even scream. She was being held tightly in someone's arms, but it wasn't a good sensation. It was almost strangling, definitely not her father. She was dragged out into the living room where her attacker turned on a small tabletop lamp to shed some light. Her green eyes opened wide in horror at what she saw.

Her mother was on the ground, unconscious. Her father was beside her, trying to wake her up. But when the lamp was turned on, he turned with clenched fists only to falter at what he saw, horror crossing his face. His daughter was being held by a man dressed in all black, a beanie mask on his head, holding a gun with a silencer on it.

The man pressed the cold tip of the barrel to the side of little Jessica's head and she whimpered from behind the man's hand. It was a hostage and burglary situation. They were to hand over anything of value in the house or she would be shot. Tears formed in her eyes as she trembled, meeting her father's eyes who tried to assure her that everything would be okay. He tried to distract the burglar and said a codeword that caused little her to spring into action.

She grabbed the man's hand in both of her small ones and pulled it away with all her might, just enough for her to bite down hard on the soft part between his index finger and thumb, drawing blood. With a shout, the man accidentally fired the gun in his hand in a random direction as he dropped the girl. The bullet ricocheted off of something and hit a propane tank across the room, something her father was keeping for something he planned to use that following year. The propane tank exploded, knocking everyone to the ground and causing a fire to start immediately. With lots of flammables nearby, the fire quickly spread and grew hot.

Little Jessica pushed herself to her feet. She was dazed but unharmed. She looked around and gasped at the sight of the flames that were quickly spreading around the room, catching everything on fire around her. Whipping around, she saw her parents lying in a pile. The side of her father's face was red and dripping, having been hit with the blast and fallen on top of his already unconscious wife. "M-mommy? Daddy?!" Her stuttering whimper turned to a scream as she ran over to them, shaking her parents' shoulders to try and wake them up. But they wouldn't budge.

Things started falling down around the room as the hot flames continued to eat the house, causing her to sweat. Tears blurred her eyes as she realized her parents weren't going to wake up anytime soon.

A shout behind her caused her to whirl around. The burglar was screaming at the top of his lungs, his clothes having caught on fire. He had been knocked to the ground from the explosion earlier but managed to wake up, only to be caught on fire. The hot flames licked at his skin and the smell of burning flesh filled the air as he ran wildly through the house towards the front door, but it was blocked by falling debris and he was caught underneath it. His screams went silent, and only the sound of the roaring flames filled her ears once more.

She didn't know what to do. She tried to wake her parents up again but something creaked behind her. She barely had time to glance behind her when a burning beam fell onto her shoulder and knocked her to the ground, pinning her face down. The beam seared her flesh upon contact and she screamed at the top of her lungs.

And that was when it happened. A black aura surrounded her and suddenly burst out like a shockwave around the house, knocking the beam off of her and dousing the flames instantly. The house was left as a black structure, not ash but not exactly as it was before. Everything was burnt to a crisp and left useless. Her parents were dead at her feet as she stood, the black aura still surrounding her.

The child turned to face the audience, glancing around the room with a glare. Her eyes were not green like they were just minutes before, but were now red and black. Malekos had taken over to save her life.

Jessica couldn't take it anymore and her knees buckled from under her, causing her to fall to the ground as she sobbed into her hands. That was the worst day of her life. What started off as any other day, with the promise of a cheerful birthday, was burned out to replace a scar on her body, heart, and mind. Something she would never forget, and had left her with nightmares from then on.

The gang was stunned into silence at the horror they'd just witnessed. They didn't even realize when the scenery changed back to where they had been before, too focused on watching Jessica sob her eyes out.

Yugi dropped down beside her and brought her into his arms, which only made her cry harder. He didn't know what to say to her so he just rubbed slow circles on her back to help calm her down, even if it wouldn't help for a long while.

"What a horrible memory…" Serenity finally broke the silence with her wavering voice, her eyes filled with tears at what she had seen. Her brother hugged her close to console her. The gang silently agreed with her, not knowing what else to say.

Noah's laugh echoed around them, causing Jessica to grip Yugi's arm like a lifeline as she choked on another sob. "Now you see the kind of person you're hanging out with so freely. A murderer." She flinched at his words.

Yugi glared up at the sky. "Jessica's not a murderer!"

"Oh, but isn't she? Her actions led to the death of her parents and that fool who broke into their house."

"He had a gun, man!" Duke shouted, clenching his fists. "What else was a little girl supposed to do against that?"

"I don't think you know what's hiding behind that disguise of hers. Let me enlighten you!"

Another figure appeared mere feet away from the gang, causing them to step away from it. It was Jessica, but she had the same red and black eyes as in the memory. Dull red bat wings sprouted from her back and a long pointed tail waved behind her. Her arms were covered in the same dull red color, fading into her natural skin just above the elbow. And an animalistic snarl crossed her face, showing off sharp fangs.

"Is that… Jessica?" Téa asked, covering her mouth as she glanced from the virtual Jessica to the one still clutching onto a shocked Yugi.

"Yes, it is. Now you see the true form of your friend." Noah's laugh echoed around them. "Good luck. I have other business to attend to." The virtual Jessica disappeared as silence fell upon the area once more.

Jessica was trembling, her eyes shut tight as tears still streaked down her face. Yugi's protective embrace did nothing to soothe her. Now all she could do was wait for their reaction. Wait for them to shun her. Wait for them to scream at her, and tell her to never come near them again. Wait for Yugi to push her to the ground and run away. She gripped his shirt tighter, wishing with all her might that somebody would say something.

Yugi and Yami knew. They knew about Malekos and what he could do, but they never knew what had truly happened to her in her past. They only knew of what she had screamed at Ishizu in the blimp, but they never knew the extent of the damage that had really been done. And it was on a day that was supposed to have been special.

Yugi still couldn't believe that he had known her when they were little, but perhaps it was for a short time. Thinking back, he could remember a girl sticking up for him at school when he was much smaller and timid. He could never place a name or face to her, but now he could. He remembered giving her a single Duel Monsters card to her on the day of her birthday, after being picked on at school and she had chased off those bullies for him, receiving battle marks of her own in the process. But after that day, the girl had disappeared. She had stopped showing up to school and he had been left alone once again until high school when he put the Millennium Puzzle together.

He remembered seeing her tattoo that day and that he had asked about it before, but she had played it off as a cool washable tattoo that she liked so much and kept putting it back on. But the way her eyes didn't meet his when she would brush off the question the same way each time always made him secretly skeptical. And now he knew why.

He looked down at the trembling girl in his arms, clutching onto his shirt and jacket like a lifeline as she silently cried now. Yami had told him that she was worried about what Noah might have shown them, and she was rightfully so. She was even more worried about what everyone would think of her after seeing the memory. Especially him. He squeezed his eyes shut as tears pricked his eyes, and tightened his hold on her, practically having her sitting in his lap but he didn't care at the moment. He could feel her stiffen in his arms as her breath hitched in her throat, barely daring to breathe.

"It's not your fault," he told her, glad that his voice didn't waver. "No matter what Noah says, it's not your fault…"

She pulled out of his arms so that she could look at him, her green eyes round and watery as the tears still flowed. "B-but… M-my parents…"

He shook his head slowly and grasped her face gently in his hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. "Your dad knew what he was doing. He wouldn't have told you to defend yourself if he didn't think you could." He paused as he heard her sniffle before continuing. "If anyone is at fault, it's the man who broke into your house. And he got what he deserved. It wasn't your fault." His voice was firm as he said the last part, trying to get it through her head.

She whimpered and lowered her head as more tears fell. She reached up to grasp one of his hands, but didn't pull it away. She just simply held it. No one had been there for her through all those years to tell her anything like that. She had blamed herself for it all this time, and pushed her loathing onto Malekos in the long run. She had always wondered why she couldn't have just died, why Malekos had saved her that day. She could've just died and her suffering could've ended right there, and the cycle could begin with someone else.

Yet Yugi was the first. She had forgotten about it all those years, but he was the first person back then and even now to want to be her friend. To stay by her side despite her faults, despite the horrors of her life, despite the curse she had received in her early childhood. And he was still showing it. Showing that he cared for her despite everything he'd seen. Her book of scars in her heart lay open and he had flipped through them without flinching away. Instead, he had consoled her as she broke down from reliving the memory.

The rest of the group watched on silently, nobody daring to move. Until Serenity stepped forward and knelt down beside them. And she wrapped her arms around Jessica, causing the girl to stiffen and hiccup in shock. And then Téa walked over and joined her, kneeling on Jessica's other side to hug her. Then it was Joey's turn, hugging her from behind. Then it was Tristan. And then Duke.

It was the largest hug Jessica had ever received, and it left her speechless. She didn't cry, she didn't even move. She simply trembled in their arms, still clutching Yugi's hands with her own. She could even feel the warm presence of Yami's hand on the top of her head. She was accepted. She was cared for. Nobody asked questions or accused her of anything. They just quietly consoled her.

And now we know the big secret about Jessica's past. I almost cried writing it ngl xD

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