Epilogue
Music, laughter, and shouts of "Throw me something, Mister!" rang through the air as one of many parades went down the New Orleans street. On the sidewalk were hundreds of onlookers, including the extensive group from Domino City, plus three locals.
"You know, I think Angelique and Evangeline are really hitting it off," Téa smiled, watching as the two laughed and pointed out their favorite parts of the current float.
"Evangeline said they might move in together as roommates if it doesn't work out to stay at the family home," Serenity said. "She's still not sure." She shuddered. "It would be really hard to leave home. . . ."
"It sure would, especially under those circumstances," Téa frowned.
"We're going to have a fun girls' day out," Serenity continued with a smile. "She's going to show me the nearest Build-a-Bear store."
"She's still into that?" Joey blinked. Evangeline was ten years older than Serenity.
Serenity just smiled. "Sure. Why not?"
"No reason, Sis. I'm sure you'll have a blast," Joey said. He was, too.
Tristan watched as Evangeline and Angelique both leaped to catch a flying stuffed animal. Evangeline caught it and Angelique laughed, clearly enjoying herself despite not catching it herself.
"So much for that rivalry between families," Tristan said. "What was that all about?"
"It's some story about two rival vodun priests clashing," Lector said. "Eventually things settled down when some people married into the families who didn't believe in vodun. Apparently when my father first started having trouble with Dr. Raven, Dr. Raven brought up the rivalry and insisted that he was going to force it to start up again unless he was allowed to stay on in the building my father wanted vacated. My father went along with it for a while, but kept trying to find ways to evict Dr. Raven when the customers complained. After he stole the amulet to keep it from Dr. Raven, that madman started this deal about threatening the family members."
"That's sick," Téa said in disgust.
"It sure is," Tristan scowled.
"Luckily, these two don't buy into it," Mai said, nodding to Angelique and Evangeline.
"Not to mention, Angelique is pretty well set after finding out her uncle lied about being the only relative she had left," Joey grinned.
"Lucky for her that Marcel Germaine seems to be more reputable than Dr. Raven," Mai commented.
"She was so surprised when we told her about another relative," Serenity said. "But happy too." She smiled.
"And he was pretty happy himself," Yugi said. "He didn't want to think that someday he had to leave the business to Dr. Raven as his only heir."
"Not that he could inherit anyway when he's in prison, and will be for a long time thanks to the attempted murder charges," Seto grunted with pleasure. "His hocus pocus won't get him out of that."
"And he doesn't even have magic now that his staff is gone," Serenity said.
"Ooh, let's hope," David winced.
"So what's going to happen to the staff and the amulet?" Mai wondered. "Shadi said the amulet needed to be turned over to him, but he hasn't come for it yet."
Atem sighed. "I suppose we'll have to hold onto both objects until he does."
"And I'm sure Lector's father is going to be dealing with the repercussions of his actions for a long time," Mai remarked. "Even though Lector isn't going to press charges for almost being killed in the explosion, Kaiba's going ahead with what he promised to do and suing the guy for almost killing Mokuba with his very illegal explosion."
"And the state itself is probably going to bring a lot of charges against him," Seto grunted. "We'll see if he owns up and pleads Guilty or not."
"I think he will," Lector said. "Everything's all out now; his reputation is shot." His eyes flickered. "And I don't know how to feel about that. Part of me says he deserves it. The other part knows how he must feel . . . and that part of me feels sorry for him."
"He should sure be willing to forgive you, after all the terrible things he's done," Téa spat.
"Forgive him?! Heh, that creep's the one who needs to beg for forgiveness!" Crump retorted.
"If he ever does, what will you say, Lector?" Atem asked.
"I still don't know." Lector looked away. "I don't want to be like him . . . but I don't feel I can just set everything he did aside and pretend it didn't happen. He was willing to let me die, even if he didn't want it to happen by his own hands."
"You shouldn't set it aside," Yami Bakura grunted. "He has a great deal to make up for . . . if he ever can."
"If I don't forgive him, I suppose I'll be a hypocrite since I'm trying to turn my life around despite all the terrible things I've done," Lector said.
"Forgiveness takes time," Seto said matter-of-factly. "And even if you forgive, trust may never come at all. I have never forgiven Gozaburo for what he did."
"And even if he was still around, trust would be totally out of the question," Mokuba said.
"I'm amazed any of you can forgive or trust me," Lector said.
"It's taken time," Seto said. "But you've given me enough reason to believe that you can be trusted."
"I'm glad," Lector said.
"And now you're finally able to bond with your nephew Gabriel," Bakura smiled.
"Yes," Lector said. "I'm glad of that."
Gabriel, who was standing near Lector, beamed. "I wish I could have met Uncle Démas before, but I'm glad I was finally able to meet him now."
"He's a much nicer boy than your other nephews, apparently," Yami Bakura grunted.
"Definitely," Lector declared.
"And a friend for Mokuba." Seto looked pleased at that.
So did Marik. "It's a shame we'll have to leave soon," he said. They had given their statements to the police and needed to get back to Domino City, especially since the trials might not be for several months. But they would all have to come back at that time.
"At least we're getting to enjoy the city now," Téa said. "And maybe we can enjoy it some more when we come back."
"We'll see," Duke grunted.
"Do you always have to be cynical?" Tristan said in frustration.
"Somebody has to," Duke said.
Oreo suddenly meowed. Beads were flying overhead and she reached out with a paw to catch them. She succeeded, and they landed around her neck.
"Oh Oreo," Bakura chuckled, gently taking them off for her own safety.
"It figures the cat would be the only one of us to actually catch something," Yami Bakura said with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, we all caught some crooks," Téa smiled.
Yugi nodded. "And we can be proud of that."
"Hey," Crump said suddenly, "do you think we'll have to deal with more voodoo when we come back?"
"Oh please, no," Johnson groaned.
Evangeline chuckled. "If you do, may it only be true, good voodoo." She linked arms with Lector. "I was thinking of presenting all of you with dolls—the real kind that are used for good luck and blessings—but I wasn't sure how some of you would feel about that. So Angelique and I decided what you might enjoy more is an edible Mardi Gras tradition: King Cake."
Joey's eyes gleamed. "Cake?!"
"Oh yeah!" Tristan exclaimed.
"That sounds delicious," Serenity beamed. "We've been so caught up in this mystery, we haven't even had the chance to visit a local restaurant."
Téa nodded. "When we've ordered room service at the hotel, we've pretty much stuck to what we're familiar with."
"That's what we figured," Angelique said. "I've had several King Cakes prepared at the diner, so we can all go eat after the parade."
"Awesome!" Mokuba grinned.
"Why is it called King Cake?" Yami Bakura wondered.
"The tradition is that somewhere in each cake is a small figure of the Baby Jesus," Lector explained. "Whoever gets the piece with the figure has to buy or bake the next King Cake."
"And every person makes King Cake a little differently," Evangeline said, "so it's always a new experience."
Joey was still confused. "So . . . the figure bakes in the cake?" he blinked. "Why doesn't it melt?"
"You put it in after it's baked," Lector told him.
"The frosting hides where you put it," Angelique added.
"Oh. Well, that makes more sense," Joey said.
Following the parade, everyone headed down the street to Angelique's. The King Cakes were set on the tables, and Joey and Yami Bakura especially eyed them with hunger.
"Oh dear," Bakura suddenly realized.
Crumbs flew everywhere as Yami Bakura took a bite. Bakura tried to hide behind Oreo.
"Really?!" Lector exclaimed.
"Um . . . we're still working on table manners," Bakura whispered.
"So is there a figure in every cake?" Crump wondered.
"Yes," Angelique told him. "So there will be several cakes to collect next time. Hopefully all of you will be back."
"We will be," Gansley said.
Yugi ended up finding one of the figures, while Crump and Yami Bakura located the other two.
Yami Bakura blinked in bewilderment as he held one up. "I know nothing about baking," he grunted.
Bakura chuckled. "Well, maybe we'll just have to buy a cake," he admitted.
Oreo meowed. She just wanted to eat it!
"So, a good Mardi Gras tradition?" Evangeline asked.
"Works for me," Crump said. "The cake is great!"
"And of course, the best Mardi Gras tradition is being able to share it with our loved ones," Yugi smiled.
No one could disagree with that, especially after the time they had all had. Being able to walk away from it and come together with family and friends was the best possible celebration, for Mardi Gras or anything else.