Conflicted Feelings
It felt great for everyone to be back home in their world. Leon was happy to be back in his room and back in his bed. He also made a promise to himself never to inform his family of the adventure he had with his friends. He also looked at his game system. He thought about playing Kingdom Hearts again. Then again, after the adventure he had in Paris, maybe not. Why play the game when you can live the adventure? But it was still fun, so he decided, maybe later. Leon also hoped that he and his friends would have more adventures and maybe even see the other worlds featured in the game. He thought about it even more as he looked at his collection of Disney films.
Even Rebecca was happy to be back home with her grandfather. After missing him like crazy, she just wanted to stay home and eagerly help him with his work. She was also glad to get back to her own studies. She felt she needed to get back to something she was familiar with and sort of enjoyed after being away for so long.
Naturally, the first thing Mokuba did when he came home was smother Guilmon with hugs and laughter. Now that he was feeling better and happy to be home and he and his brother had finally made amends, Mokuba was eager to help Kaiba out with the company. He also knew Quasimodo was right. The raven-haired lad needed time at home not only for his protection, but for his well-being. Still, he would make sure to contact Leon and Rebecca so they could get together and pay the hunchback a surprise visit in the future.
Kaiba wanted to forget everything that happened while he and his friends were in Paris, but he knew it would be impossible. After all, his brother had a new friend and apparently, the heroes had a new enemy. Kaiba also wondered, Maybe there's more to that snake. Kaiba had no idea how incredibly right he was. During the fight, Frollo said he was one of four 'Dark Masters'. I wonder who the other three could possibly be. He made a reminder to himself to go to headquarters in the Secret Garden and do some investigating.
After returning home, Emily made an appointment to see the doctor. Thankfully, her sickness wasn't anything too serious, but she still needed her rest. Even though she was on the path to recovery, the doctor advised Emily to stay at home for another day or two.
Dressed in a white nightgown with a blanket over her, Emily sat on the couch with Gatomon beside her and watched television. She was tempted to watch her favorite movie, but decided against it after the adventure she and her friends had. So she decided to watch something different like her old favorite Sleeping Beauty.
There was a knock at her door. She got up to answer it. It was Yugi. "Hi, Yugi."
"Hey, Emily. How are you doing?"
"A little better," she answered. "Just a little rest and I'll be good as new." She opened the door widely. "Want to come in?"
Yugi nodded and removed his shoes and stepped inside. He laughed as he saw that she was watching Sleeping Beauty. He remembered watching it with her when they were young. He also remembered how their class performed the story when they were in elementary school. Of course, Emily was cast as the princess and Yugi was cast as the prince. He sat down beside her.
There was a silence between them for a moment. Emily was afraid to ask, but it came out anyway. "Hey, Yugi, do you think we did the right thing?" As he looked at her, she added, "Letting Frollo go, I mean."
Yugi understood her thoughts. They both knew what a despicable man he was. Even Yugi was unsure, but the man needed his lesson on what true justice meant. "Well, if we hadn't, we'd be no better than him."
"That's true," she replied.
"What's wrong?" Yugi asked her.
"It's just," she was saying, "when I looked inside his heart, I didn't just see feelings of impurity or hate. I saw that deep down, he was suffering. And I wondered if it had to do with his past."
Yugi sighed in acknowledgement. Having read the book, he had some knowledge of Frollo's past.
"At the same time, he almost reminded me of Dartz," continued Emily. "In a sense, he had been suffering for a long time too. Of course, that was because he was under the influence of an evil force. But he was still corrupted and filled with hate and prejudice. He also had that manipulative nature. And the more I thought about all that, the harder it was for me to develop feelings of hate for Frollo. But I couldn't develop feelings of love for him either for that same reason. All I could feel was shame and sorrow."
She sighed and added, "There's a passage in the Bible that says we should love our enemies, but regarding someone like Frollo, who could possibly feel anything like love for him after what he's done and who he is? And the more I think about it, the more it torments me."
Yugi scooted closer to Emily. "You know, Emily, just because you represent the element of love doesn't mean you have to love everyone and everything. You know that, right?"
She did know. But be that as it may, it didn't bring her any peace of mind. "Do you remember what Max said when we came back from the world of the Sailor Scouts?"
Yugi did remember. "She asked you if you had never met someone you couldn't love."
"Back then, I didn't have an answer," she stated. "Now after what we went through, I might actually have."
Yugi turned away for a second, then smiled at Emily and told her, "Well, when you stop and look at it, your actions prove that you really are the hero of love." As she looks at him, he explains, "Even though you already said with honesty and conviction that you didn't have feelings of love, you still performed an act of love though he probably didn't deserve it. You defended him from Kaiba and then you healed him. You chose not to be selfish and think about your own feelings. You chose not to give in to hate even though you were angry with him. You proved that you're a much better person than Frollo is and ever will be. I know you're worried that your efforts seem to do more bad than good, but, Emily, in my eyes, you're a good person. There's a reason why you represent the element of love and what you did in the Palace of Justice proves it."
Emily was silent for a minute, then she finally smiled and said, "Thanks, Yugi. And you know, you're a good person too." They smiled and hugged each other.
They also knew that their feelings for each other were pure. That was another reason Yugi and Emily loved each other. And whatever enemy they would face or whatever challenge they would meet, they would face it together.
