They were trapped in a cave by an angry dragon. Yugi had played many scenarios like this in video games and tabletop games. Still, he had never dealt with it so literally. He, Silent Magician, and Kuriboh (still in the bag) backed up slowly from the cave entrance. The Gandora stayed by the opening, growling at anything and everything.

Silent Magician pulled on Yugi's shirt. He slowly turned, always keeping an eye on the dragon, and saw the mage's worried expression. She didn't have the magic to write it, but Yugi could translate well enough.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here," Yugi whispered. He then turned around to see the back of the cave. The cave wasn't very big, only just tall enough for the dragon to crouch down and only long enough for them to give her twenty feet of space. If she lashed out, there was nowhere to run.

Yugi then looked back to the still growling dragon, but it wasn't the threatening rumble that caught his attention this time. It was the dragon's eyes. There was no hate or bloodthirst in that gaze. It was an expression Yugi had seen often, the eyes of someone too tired and too confused to even notice that they were on the brink of collapse.

Yugi swallowed hard and slowly raised his hands. The dragon's growls turned into a snarl as he moved. Then, she stopped altogether when she saw him in slow, exaggerated movements, unbuckle his sword and bag and place them on the floor. Yugi then looked back up at the dragon and made sure she watched as he pulled Kuriboh out of the bag. He then turned away, leaving the sword and sack in the middle of the cave. Silent Magician soundlessly yelped, but the beast didn't attack when Yugi turned his back to her. Instead, she gawked at the sword lying on the ground, her crimson eyes wide.

"Hey Silent, there's water trickling out of this rock here. You think it's drinkable?" Yugi called over. Silent Magician just about jumped at his voice. She quickly faced him, clearly not believing he was thinking of water at a time like this. Yugi then let his body language talk for him. His slumped shoulders and lopsided smile said all he needed. He, like the Gandora, was too tired.

A sort of silent truce was made. If they stayed on one side of the cave, the Gandora remained on the other. Yugi's sword representing the midway point. Things managed to become somewhat peaceful as the hours went by. Each resting from a hard-fought day. However, if anyone dared move near the sword or exit, the dragon snapped at them. It was warning snaps, but the harsh crack that echoed around the cave when her jaws shut made her point clear. They could not leave.

Yugi tried talking with the Gandora. First, asking important questions like why her species was invading, then resorting to silly conversation starters like favorite colors. In the end, all he got was more growls. Eventually, he gave up and focused on talking with Silent Magician and Kuriboh (or he talked and the others pantomimed). As the three spoke, the dragon either surveyed the skies or focused on them. She always tried to hide the fact she was watching them, but Yugi and the others could sense when her eyes were on them. She never spoke, only snapped and growled. This left one unspoken question hanging in the air above the group. Why had this Gandora saved them, and why wouldn't she let them leave?

…

Outside the cave, the sun was still shining, as it never moved, but there was a change in the air. It was what duel monsters in this domain called night. Every creature here got a sudden need to close its eyes, and it was a powerful urge. Dark Magician Girl had explained it to Yugi before he left the castle. While it didn't affect himself, he could still sense the difference. The air seemed to get lighter as a cool wind blew by. The dank cave smell was replaced with the scent of a summer's evening in the country. It would have been truly relaxing… if the scent wasn't multiplied ten times over. It was like someone had taken a concentrate of the perfect evening and sprayed it all in Yugi's face. This pungent relaxant made him gag. Silent Magician, still worried about his unhealed wounds, pulled on his shirt to ask if he was ok.

"It's fine, just this night air." Yugi wheezed.

Silent Magician was concerned for her friend's well-being, but her eyelids were drooping even as she tried to help him. Kuriboh was no help either as the little monster was out as soon as the scent wafted by. The puffball had curled up next to Yugi, and Silent Magician found herself doing the same to Yugi's other side. She tried to fight it so he wouldn't be left alone, but she could do little as her head seemed gravitated to the floor.

"Wow, they fell asleep fast," Yugi said to himself. This got another rumble from the Gandora. Yugi turned to see the dragon clearly fighting the need to sleep too. She, however, was more successful than the others as she managed to stay upright with her eyes open. She shook her head vigorously, and when she stopped, she ended up staring right at Yugi. Earning him another growl.

"It's fine. There's no need for such language." Yugi half-heartedly responded. He had given up on talking to her hours ago, but he still tried to say something to her whenever she looked his way. "I'm just talking to myself. Though, I suppose I've been doing that the last few hours, huh?" Yugi said offhandedly as he returned his gaze to his silent friends.

The Gandora kept staring, clearly confused. "Was… was that a joke?" She asked. This made Yugi sit up straighter. This had been the first time the dragon had actually responded to him all day.

'Maybe this is her way of staying awake?' Yugi guessed to himself, then said out loud. "I suppose it was, though it wasn't a very good joke, I'll give you that." Yugi tried, keeping his arms out wide to show no hostility. She looked at him as if he had been speaking gibberish. He even began to worry that maybe she didn't speak English that well when her eyelids started sliding down again. She immediately fought the slumber and even began banging her head against the ceiling.

"Woah, Woah! You're going to bring the place down on us. You don't need to fight sleep!" Yugi yelled. The dragon stopped and snorted. She clearly wanted to stand, but the cave was much too short.

"I don't enjoy this world forcing me to rest." She huffed.

"Oh, I can see that… Isn't sleep always beyond our control, though? I know a few people that would never sleep if they had the ability." Yugi said, more wanting to keep a conversation up with the dragon than any real question.

"Hrumph. Having the choice taken away because 'a full eight hours is healthy' is... demeaning." She grumbled.

"So, other lands don't have this sleep rule?" Yugi asked.

"Of course not!" The dragon stated as she slammed her fist down on the ground, turning a flawless boulder to dust. She then looked down at the pebbles between her claws. "I should have expected this from such a 'perfect' land, I suppose." The word 'perfect' rolled off her tongue as if it was some foul curse.

"Why are you here then if you don't like it?" Yugi had to ask. The expected snarl soon followed, with the Gandora even lunging at him.

"Don't question us, little pharaoh! You barely understand the world as it is. Don't stick your tail into traps you can't pull it out of." She snarled as she turned away.

Yugi sat back, trying to take in what she said. Eventually, he let out a long breath that blew his now messy bangs out of his eyes. He just didn't know what to do. First, these powerful dragons get into the domain even though there's a barrier. Second, the Legendary Knights go AWOL, then he's teleported here, and now this Gandora. She seemed just as destructive as all the other dragons, even being one of the biggest. Yet, the others abused her and even wanted her dead for losing. And what was that about Giga saying the two could be mates again if she beat Yugi?

'This is one tricky puzzle.' Yugi thought to himself as he rested his chin in his hand, making the Millennium Puzzle jangle slightly around his neck. Yugi then suddenly felt a lonely pang in his stomach. He really missed everyone, his family, friends, the Pharaoh. Things had been going by so fast that he didn't have time to really think about them until this moment. They would have helped him figure this out. They would know what to do. Where were they now anyway?

'Probably looking for me. They must be worried sick.' Yugi thought. He could see everyone coming together to get him back like they had done when he was taken by Dartz. Even his dad and mom getting involved this time. That thought made Yugi slightly smile. He had always dreamed of his family finally meeting all his friends, and he meant all his friends.

Yugi had wanted to tell his family about his adventures and friendship with the Pharaoh for years now, but it had never been the right time. Their trip to California had been the closest the two came to telling the family thanks to their family friend, Arthur Hawkins, being kidnapped. Then the duel in the desert happened.

Another thought then shot through Yugi. This idea made ice replace the lonely pang. What if the Pharaoh blamed himself again for Yugi's disappearance? What if he shut down? What if Yugi didn't get back in time and the Pharaoh didn't go to Egypt. Ishizu had said the door the Egyptian God cards would open wouldn't stay unlocked long. What if his dearest friend missed his chance, forever? This thought terrified him more than any angry dragon mob ever could.

Another growl rang through the cave, but this time it wasn't from Gandora. The dragon twisted her head around to see Yugi clutching his stomach. Her teeth were bared, but that disappeared when she realized Yugi was hungry.

"Sorry, I haven't had anything to eat since this morning." Yugi tried to smile, but it came out more like a wince. He had to make himself focus on the present instead of the nightmare in his head.

The Gandora looked him over, her eyes scrutinizing him. "You eat fruit?" she said in a low voice. Yugi raised an eyebrow as he looked up at the dragon. "Do, you, eat, fruit?" She repeated in a growl.

"Fruit? Ah, yes! I do." Yugi stuttered.

"Fine, I'll go get some. You stay." She said as she shakily got to her feet. The cave made her bend low and the sleep she was still fighting made her bend lower, but she eventually climbed out and up the mountain.

"Hey, wait!" Yugi called. From keeping them trapped all day to so quickly leaving them alone was quite the whiplash. Yugi originally thought she had trapped them, so she had bargaining chips if Giga or the others came. That idea fell apart when she wanted to leave to feed him. That gave him an easy chance to escape. Maybe she thought since he couldn't safely move his sleeping friends, he wouldn't risk escaping? She would be correct, but that reasoning didn't quite feel right to him.

Yugi didn't want to linger on his fears for the Pharaoh, and he needed more pieces of this strange puzzle he found himself in. This alone time with the sedated dragon might be his only chance. As Yugi got up, he looked back at his two companions, still sleeping soundly. He had to hope that any enemies would also be asleep too. He checked them over one more time and ran after the dragon.

When Yugi got outside, he looked up the mountain to see the Gandora trudging up a small path. This path was near vertical in some places, but it eventually led to a group of trees growing straight out of the rock. Yugi immediately began to follow the best he could. As he climbed, the burn on his back that he had gotten from the she-dragon earlier began to scream. He had Silent Magician look at it when she was still awake, but she couldn't do much for it. What was strange was even with the burn on his skin, the attack didn't seem to affect his clothes. Yugi should say, weird to him, Silent Magician thought nothing of it. He had to shake it off as another weird quirk of this world and kept going.

"I said stay!" The Gandora growled once she noticed the human following her.

"Are you going to stop me?" Yugi asked, making sure to not have it sound like a challenge. The dragon turned back to him with nothing but a scowl. Yugi could tell she was barely fighting sleep as it was. She wouldn't waste time grabbing him.

"I know you're hurt. You may have hidden your real pain from your comrades, but I can see it clearly." The Gandora said. Yugi kept climbing.

"I know your hurt too, probably much more," Yugi responded. "Why else aren't you flying right now?" He could hear the dragon growl in frustration, but she didn't stop. Yugi grimaced at the pain, but he forced it into a smile as he followed after her. He had been climbing mountains all day, and his muscles were blaring that fact to him. At least on this path, he could walk occasionally, but still. This day had been the most he had walked since being stranded in the desert.

"How far are we going?" Yugi managed to ask in-between gasps.

"It's just up here." The Gandora called back. She was thankfully right as when the ground leveled off, Yugi found a tiny grove of perfect trees with one enormous central tree. This center tree had branches that stretched higher than even the dragon. Its many leaves were pure white and seemed to glow. Sprinkled amongst its branches were humongous, peach-shaped fruit just as angelic as the leaves. This was all made better by a deep shadow cast over the grove by the mountain's shadow. While the sun was still in the sky, it truly felt like night here.

"Wow." Yugi gawked as he circled around the tree, amazed at its beauty.

"Well, get your fruit since you were so insistent on coming here." The Gandora said as she crossed her arms. Yugi had to crane his neck to be able to see the lowest fruit. This time he didn't hide his grimace as he thought about more climbing. He then looked to the dragon. She was still watching him, not moving.

"Can you help me?" Yugi asked. The dragon's only answer was a snort.

Yugi knew he couldn't climb anymore, but he was starving. He looked around his feet for a solution. The fruit in this tree was about as big as his head, so he didn't think he was strong enough to knock them down. He then noticed silver ivy growing up the tree. He went up to the plants and tried to pull a length off. It was then he saw that this ivy had the occasional sleeping face on it.

"Ivy tokens." Yugi sighed. He was about to put them back when he remembered Dark Magician Girl saying that sleep here was nearly permanent until the eight hours were up. Hopefully, these sleeping tokens wouldn't wake when being tied together and used as a lasso.

The Gandora watched closely as Yugi gently tied the tokens together (making sure not to break their plant skin) and, with surprising grace, pulled down a low-hanging fruit. Before he ate, he went about untying the ivy and putting them back on the tree, taking extra time to make sure no one was hurt. Yugi was shocked when the Gandora nodded at him.

'Is she studying me?' His stomach cut that thought short. He finally plopped down and took a big bite out of the white fruit.

As soon as his teeth broke the skin, its angelic glow disappeared. Yugi stopped for a moment, worried that this was the sign of an attack or trap, but the taste of the fruit made him brave enough to finish the bite. The fruit was like candy, every bite being the pinnacle of sweetness. Yugi didn't think any plant life could be as amazing as this. But of course, like everything in this land, it tasted too good. As Yugi ate, he couldn't help but think he really was eating artificial candy. While it was delicious, it left a waxy feeling in his mouth and stomach he didn't think would be leaving anytime soon. His awkward state must have been clear on his face since the Gandora actually chuckled.

"You find it weird too?" She asked. Yugi, shocked at any levity from the dragon, stared at her. This made her step back. She was about to bare her teeth again when Yugi realized his surprise might be read as a threat. He quickly wiped his mouth on his arm and smiled.

"Um, yes. I suppose it's because I'm a human, but this fruit… No. This entire land feels odd to me." Yugi said. Then quickly added. "Not that I'm ungrateful for the food."

The Gandora nodded, surprising Yugi more as she sat down next to him (still keeping her distance, however). "It's not only humans. It's strange to everyone. This land was rumored to be perfect, something all the other warring lands strived to eventually become. But when we migrated here, we weren't expecting it to be so…."

"Unnerving?" Yugi asked. The Gandora nodded, and Yugi grinned. "Finally! Someone else gets it. I've wanted to ask Silent Magician about this, but I felt like I would be insulting her home. No matter how beautiful everything is, it's equally skin-crawling." Yugi said. The Gandora echoed an agreement. "Even this tree is slightly freaking me out. Its beauty is terrifying. I feel like angels are going to come down from on high and smite me for eating this fruit." Yugi joked as he gestured to the tree.

The Gandora looked at the tree, then to Yugi. "I can fix that."

Yugi paused in confusion. Then, the dragon turned and smashed her head into the tree's trunk. A branch crashed off from the tree's top and hit her squarely in the head. The entire tree shook as the ivy tokens also fell off. They all woke up enough to squeal and limp away with their vine-like limbs before falling asleep again. Yugi winced as they ran.

"What are you-?" Yugi began before he saw her red orbs spark. However, the light left just as quickly as it came as the beast then punched the trunk. This left an oozing gash in the tree.

"I've been meaning to do that." The Gandora said. She was still fighting sleep, and to help, she started doing push-ups.

"Why?!" Yugi yelped as he got to his feet. The Gandora seemed confused at his outrage.

"Doesn't it look better now?" She asked.

"No, it's- Do Gandora have to destroy everything-?!" Yugi then looked at the tree again. The gash was big but superficial. The tree would live with nothing but a scar to show for the experience. However, its ethereal beauty still remained, and its unnerving quality was gone.

"Just one flaw is all it takes. Shouldn't a creature have the right to make their home comfortable?" She asked.

"That's fine, and all, but your kind have taken it too far when you hurt others. There are many refugees because of the Gandora 'making yourselves comfortable.' Monsters lost their homes! They got injured!" Yugi shot back. The Gandora grumbled but didn't take her focus off of her workout.

"They only got hurt because they attacked us. Just ask the 'great' leader Dark Magician Girl. She was the first to attack and, in turn, feel Giga's wrath." She said in a condescending voice like she was explaining simple math to a child.

"Dark Magician Girl would never do something like that. I don't know the whole situation, but I know Dark Magician Girl. She would have never attacked without provocation."

"We did nothing to deserve her anger."

"Breaking into this domain and tearing stuff up seems like a good reason."

The dragon's crimson eyes stared Yugi down, making sure she had his full attention. "I walked in."

"I'm sorry?"

"I walked into this domain, like any other monster. I did not break-in."

Yugi paused. Something in the dragon's eyes told him that this was the truth, but not all of it. This completely shook up the puzzle and sent its pieces flying.

"But… no strong monster can come in here. This place, unnerving as it is, is a refuge from fighting. You Gandora seem to only want to cause more trouble." Yugi tried, the Gandora only laughed.

"I thought you were smarter. When you didn't stab my neck when Giga asked, I thought you got it. I must have been overestimating your intelligence." She said with a tail flick.

Yugi gritted his teeth but knew it was no use. He was too tired for this kind of arguing. So, he sat back down and started on his fruit again.

It was silent between the two for many moments. Yugi eating and the Gandora trying to keep herself from falling asleep. As Yugi stewed over what the dragon said, one sentence stood out to him. 'When you didn't stab my neck when Giga asked….'

"Giga was your mate?" Yugi decided to begin, trying to get his answer in a roundabout way.

"Why would you care?"

"As you said. I'm not the brightest bulb, but that doesn't mean I don't want to understand what's going on." He casually said. The Gandora remained quiet. Yugi decided to push the conversation. "Your name's Hakairyuu?"

This made the dragon immediately stand. Her wings flared, and her fangs were ready to bite. "You do NOT get to use that name!" She snapped.

It was the Gandora's own tiredness that brought her down this time. She couldn't stand any longer, and her legs gave out. Yugi quickly fled from the falling dragon. The ground seemed to shake as the dragon collided with the rock.

When Yugi turned back, he saw the dragon completely sprawled out in front of him. She struggled to even keep her head up. As she fought, she looked to the still awake Yugi and sighed.

"Little pharaoh, you're right. He was my mate and that name... I go don't by that name anymore," She said as she let her chin rest on the ground. Yugi sat down too. He saw this as his chance and scooted closer to her. She couldn't stop him even if she wanted to.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect," Yugi said. Though with everything he had seen of the bully Giga, he did mean a bit towards him. "By the way, I'm not the Pharaoh. I'm his friend, Yugi."

"Yugi… You can simply call me Gandora."

Yugi moved a little closer. "Well, then Gandora… I should thank you for saving us back there. I don't know how we would have gotten out if you didn't grab us."

Gandora didn't answer.

"If you don't mind me asking. Why did you save us? Did you finally have enough of Giga and the others?" Yugi asked.

"No… I-I don't know why. I was already a weakling to my archetype when you came in. I blew my chance to fix it, and… I guess I couldn't see anyone else get hurt." She said in a whisper of a voice.

Yugi leaned in. He raised his hand to rest it on her neck, but he stopped himself. "You don't seem like a weakling. You're bigger than almost all the other Gandora."

"I lost my fighting spirit. As a brood mother, it's my job to protect my hatchlings. When I stopped doing that, I failed them and everyone."

"…Well, I know it's not much, but you didn't fail me." Yugi smiled.

Gandora could only shift her eyes to look at him. "Why aren't you leaving or attacking? I have nothing left to give you. You gain nothing by staying here." She asked. Her voice was stern, but Yugi could hear a hint of panic. She didn't want him to leave. Keeping him in a cave all day made that pretty clear, but he still couldn't figure out why.

"Why would I attack? I would have nothing to gain from that either." Yugi said. Gandora tried to open her mouth, but sleep was taking her fast.

"Why did you keep us in a cave all day?" Yugi asked, not really expecting an answer since she couldn't answer the last question.

"I… I wasn't going to let them take… my hatchling… again…" Gandora trailed off as she finally closed her eyes. Yugi watched as her breath became slow and rhythmic. He then stroked her smooth neck. She didn't so much as flinch. He knew then that she was truly asleep.

Yugi looked around at the grove. He was too tired to go back to the cave and move Silent Magician or Kuriboh. He would have to hope Gandora stayed as sensible as she was this night instead of trapping them again tomorrow.

"Take your hatchling?" Yugi asked the night air. No one responded. He then looked down at the Millennium Puzzle. "I wish I had you here with me to help figure this out." The silence after made his lonely pang returned in full. Now it was a heart-encompassing ache.

Yugi looked around one more time before curling up on Gandora. She was warm and marginally softer than the rocky ground. It was better for his burns and sore muscles, he told himself. What he actually wanted, though, was support. And at that moment, this large, angry dragon seemed the most comforting out of everything. Sleep came for him just as violently as it did the others. He was out as soon as he closed his eyes.

…

As Yugi slept, his wounds, burns, and torn muscles included began to melt away. So did the leftover pieces of fruit also melt. Gandora had chosen this tree for a reason. It was a tree that gave back hit points equal to the number of stars a chosen monster had, multiplied by a hundred. As Gandora had hoped, Yugi had unconsciously chosen her. He would be healed fully, and that thought is what let her sleep easy for the first time in a long while. She had actually done something right, for once.