Hello again people! Well, this week has been cool so far. I visited my grandfather Monday, and man, he was doing pretty good. They got him a new wheelchair that day and had him pushing himself! He ran it with his right hand and used his right leg to steer. He was getting pretty good before he laid down to rest. They also downsized his trachea once more, and the next step is to take it out. The breathing therapist said she'd rather have it out, but the doc told her to just to downsize it. One thing that does get to all of us is his short term memory seems really fuzzy sometimes. He called me David again, which is my uncle. Lol, I don't look like him really, so we're not sure why he called me my uncle again. He figured out who I was soon enough though, so I can't hold it against him. Lol, at least it wasn't as bad as when my sister left Monday night. She told him she loved him and he looked at her and said "I'm too old for you." LOL! My poor sister was distraught that grandpa didn't recognize her, but we are all thinking he was joking. He told my grandma the other night when she told him she loved him "How do they say it… Ditto." Heh, he loved the movie Ghost, plus he's bored too, so we're guessing maybe he's trying to spice things up. That or just pulling our legs, we hope, lol. Other than that, life is normal here.

Alright, onto where I am in my writing. I've gone back and fixed a few plot holes, but also began work on the last duel I had in mind. My mate, real life Marie, read the opening of it and thinks it'll be good, so we'll see. If only I could get her to read the rest of the story, lol. Anyways, if I keep working at it, I may finish by next week or so. I'll just have to see about it. Once I finish up, I will permanently be posting 3 chapters a week, plus I'll write up a few one-shots/song fics that I've had on my mind for a while. When I get that done, I'll begin my new story idea, the Inuyasha fic called Another. I've got a lot of my ideas for it wrote down in an outline and an idea file I created. I think it'll go good, but for now, I'm set on finishing this story.

Last time, Illidan and Marie finished their duel with Jaden and Chazz, who didn't fare too well against the dynamic couple. Not long after that, the pair went to Egypt where they met up with Shadi and Ishizu for Thanksgiving. Now that the vacation is over, what will happen? And where is our favorite mystery man!?

So cool, I got more reviews! Time to go through them.

ardee: Ouch, that sucks that you got attacked. You should hire the half demon protection agency to deal with people like that. After all, you point, we carve them up. I'm glad you really liked this chapter. Heh, you never know about Zell. After all, Illidan says he died long ago in a cave in. Could he be alive? Or alive within Jaden? Yes, yay, I finished the last chapters! Now I get to go back and write more!!! Well, it's longer than TWS, but shorter than ToP is about all I can say about it for now. I know there is no way I can beat the length of ToP with this story. Plus, in ToP, I somewhat cheated. I had really short chapters in the early stages, then longer ones at the end whereas FG has some long chapters and then some really long ones. I just set a standard in which I can't beat really, chapter wise, lol. I can beat it word wise, but that's all. In reality, TWS was only a 120k words shy of beating ToP, and it only had half the chapters. This story, I have a feeling, words wise, will beat ToP because so far, it has 118k, which is 230k less than my goal. But there is a lot of story left, and it may beat it in words. I could be wrong though, heh. Anyways, thank you for all of your comments and ideas, and about grandpa.

x-knight20: Thank you. Heh, ironic you ask about Jaden learning of Illidan and Marie's past. It may happen sooner than you think. LOL! (/Holds Marie back.\) RUN! She's got a frying pan! (/Let's go and watches a red eyed Marie chase after you.\)

Ultimate Legendary Master: Thanks. Yeah, I used Skyscraper like season 1. Really, originally, I used it like how it's really used, but eh, I changed my mind when I remembered the show did it differently. You'll see about how they were given to him soon enough, and there is more later on what happened when he got them.

Isis the Sphinx: Lol, yes, food is always an obsession. That sucks you skip lunch at school. Thanks about the duel.

Knives91: Wow, a new reviewer! Welcome aboard the chaos, lol. Thank you btw for adding me to your favorite stories. Yes, Marik hasn't changed too much since the last time the gang saw him. Lol, I think everyone wants their hair to do what his does. Thank you for the comments. Yes, chocolate ice cream is good, but I still prefer a different flavor. After all, chocolate is bad for half dog demons… Lol, hurray, I get to live longer!

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I really enjoyed them. Remember, to anyone who hasn't reviewed, feel free to. As you can see, I love to answer them, plus I can take criticism (refer to ToP for further proof, lol), good or bad. Thank you everyone though who has reviewed. I look so forward to them every time I post a chapter. I hope everyone likes this new chapter. It's a sad chapter to a degree. Enjoy!

Chapter 33

The remainder of the Thanksgiving break was calm for the most part. Upon returning to Duel Academy Island, Illidan and Marie continued to teach through to the Winter Break.

Before sending the kids out on break, the finals were given. Both Illidan and Marie were thankful that all students had passed their finals in all of their classes.

As Winter Break began, the dorms emptied. A majority of the students in the dorms left, while a very few stayed. Mostly the students who didn't care to go home or the ones who really had no one to go home to stayed behind.

Both Illidan and Marie decided to stay for Winter Break, with some of their friends and family promising to come visit for the holidays. It was a little over a week before Christmas, and most were coming a few days before.

Seeing this was a time to speak with Jaden about Shadi's letter, Illidan started to leave to go to the dorm, but Marie grabbed hold of his arm.

"Be gentle in telling him." she remarked.

Lightly smiling, Illidan kissed her forehead and said "Of course. Do you want to come?"

Shaking her head, she replied "No, I'm going to continue to prepare for our guests."

"Alright. I love you." he said as he dipped in and lightly kissed Marie on the lips.

Pulling back, she smiled, saying "I love you too. See you soon."

Grabbing his coat, Illidan left the warm home to trek over to the dorm. Walking out closer to the dorm, he pulled his coat closer as the air was rather gusty and frigid. Small snow flakes could be seen in the wind, making him believe snow was coming.

Arriving at the dorm, Illidan walked up the steps on the outside to the second floor. Finding the room that was designated for Jaden, he lightly knocked.

After a moment, Jaden came to the door and smiled, kindly saying "Hello Professor Illidan."

"Hello Jaden. Mind if I come in?" Illidan asked.

Nodding, Jaden led the way into the room. Taking his coat and shoes off, he placed the two together next to the door.

"Well, I'm glad to see the rooms are well heated." Illidan admitted as he looked around.

Smiling, Jaden nodded, saying "The dorm may not be much, but it keeps the cold out pretty well."

"Good." Illidan shortly replied.

Taking a seat on a chair, Illidan noted that no one else was staying in the room currently. "Syrus head home for the holidays?"

Looking slightly sad, Jaden nodded, replying "Yeah, him and Zane headed out a few days ago."

"I see."

Smiling again though, Jaden said "But it's all good. I don't mind a little bit of alone time I guess. It gives me a chance to work on my deck."

"Yeah, I know what you mean Jaden." Illidan replied with a small smile. "By the way, where did you get those interesting space monster cards? Everyone told me you ran an Elemental Hero deck, but never mentioned the Neo-Spacians."

"Oh, I got them this past summer." Jaden nonchalantly commented. "I won them in a small tournament that Maximillion Pegasus threw. When I won, he awarded me the Neo-Spacians and Elemental Hero Neos. When I got the cards, I definitely felt connected to them, just like how me and Winged Kuriboh are."

Nodding in response, Illidan softly smiled. "Sounds pretty cool."

A small awkward silence immediately followed, leaving the two in thought. Thinking for a moment, Illidan sighed. "How do I say this?"

"Is something wrong professor?" Jaden asked, snapping Illidan out of his thoughts and breaking the silence.

Looking up at him, he shook his head, saying "No. I came to talk to you about something. I guess I'm just trying to think how to say it."

Slightly looking worried, Jaden asked shakily "Am I in trouble?"

"No, of course you're not." Illidan reassured.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Jaden replied "Good, because I'd hate to be."

Lightly chuckling, Illidan said "Don't worry, this isn't something bad I suppose."

Taking a moment to think again, Illidan finally asked "Jaden, do you mind me asking you something personal?"

"Like what?" Jaden replied with a curious glance.

"Why do you not go home during any of the breaks, other than summer?"

Frowning, Jaden lowered his head, saying slowly "It's… complicated."

"You don't have to explain. I was just curious."

Looking back up, Jaden asked "Why didn't you and Professor Marie leave during this break?"

Lightly smiling, Illidan replied "Our family and friends are coming to visit us here. We normally go to see them in Egypt…"

"EGYPT!?" Jaden asked with some shock.

Chuckling, Illidan nodded, saying "Yes, Egypt. I have… hmm, what kind of relationship would she be to me?"

Sitting with his index finger under his chin, Illidan pondered what relationship Ishizu and Marik actually were to him. "Well, I never did think about this before. Hmm, I guess since they're my son's family, I'd be like a grandfather of some type."

After a moment, he finally said "The relationship doesn't matter. Anyways, they're coming here to visit this year. Usually we go to visit, but we went during Thanksgiving instead this time, so it's their turn to visit."

"It must be cool to see Egypt." Jaden said, seemingly lost in thought.

Smiling, Illidan nodded, saying "Yeah, it is pretty nice there."

Sighing once more, Illidan decided it was time. "Jaden, there is something I found out recently that I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Jaden asked, somewhat curious about it.

Nodding, Illidan responded with "It's about something you may or may not understand. Let me ask, have you heard of the Millennium Items?"

"Yeah, you spoke of them in class, but I knew about them before. They were seven mythical items that housed dark energy that was called Shadow Magic. A pharaoh had them created to save the world from itself." Jaden explained.

"Correct. There is more to the story though that I didn't tell in class." Illidan said as he wistfully smiled.

"There is?" Jaden asked, puzzled.

"Yes. But it's easier to show you. Do you trust me?" Illidan asked, trying not to worry Jaden too much.

Curious, Jaden nodded, saying "Yeah, I trust you. How are you going to show me?"

"Take hold of my hand and I'll show you." Illidan simply replied.

Taking hold, Illidan closed his eyes, calling up forth his Shadow Powers. Jaden immediately let go as his Shadow Charm he wore reacted. There was also a brilliant golden glow within Jaden's desk drawer, making Illidan believe Jaden has his other charms stashed there.

"What was that?! Why did I feel the use of Shadow Magic?!" Jaden asked, putting some distance between himself and Illidan.

Lightly smiling, Illidan stood up, causing Jaden to say "Stay back!"

Sighing, Illidan put his hands up in defense, saying "Jaden, I won't hurt you. I promise."

Jaden still stayed his distance, causing Illidan to ask "Have I ever given you a reason to not trust me?"

"That was before I knew you had Shadow Powers. I dealt with enough of that last year, and I don't want any part of it now!" Jaden replied roughly.

Sighing once more, Illidan said "I promise I won't hurt you."

Reluctantly, Jaden finally gave in and walked over to Illidan. "Alright, but if you try anything…"

Chuckling, Illidan replied "Don't worry, I would never harm you. Now, let me see your hand once more."

After a moment, Jaden finally reached out, grasping Illidan's hand. Being cautious this time, Illidan said "I'm going to show you a vision of the past. Please, don't be alarmed, ok?"

Jaden nodded, causing Illidan to nod back. Concentrating once more, Illidan summoned up his memories within a vision, showing Jaden a glimpse of the past.

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After two hours, the visions finally ended. Upon ending, Jaden sank to the floor. Sinking to the floor himself, Illidan only lightly chuckled, saying "That may have been a bit too much for your first time."

A moment or two later, Jaden asked "So, you and Marie were in the past? Are you five-thousand years old then?"

Shaking his head, Illidan responded "Not exactly. We both actually died five millennia ago, but were reincarnated recently. The reason we have our memories is due that our Millennium Items, which we picked up about ten to eleven years ago, revealed our memories of the past. We each now have our full memory back, so we know what happened back then due that it's our memories."

"I see. So, why show me all this?" Jaden asked.

Lightly smiling, Illidan replied "Well, you are one of the three people who have a Shadow Charm. By the way, the creation of them was my fault. About ten years ago, the mighty Pharaoh Yami, the one you saw in my memories, crossed over into the realm of the Pharaoh. Before he left, he decided to destroy the items. The problem was, he wasn't strong enough to absorb their powers, nor was the other seven of us."

"Seven?" Jaden asked, somewhat confused.

Chuckling, Illidan replied "The other seven of us were Yugi Moto, myself, Marie, Seto Kaiba, Bakura Ryou, Maximillion Pegasus, and Shadi. We were a group comprised of reincarnations and vessels. Me, Marie, Seto, and Pegasus were all reincarnations of past figures. The other two, Yugi and Bakura, were vessels to two spirits. The spirits were the Pharaoh, Yami, and our other friend Bakura, a spirit whom I locked in the Millennium Ring for turning traitor after Yami's death."

Seeing Jaden nod with understanding, Illidan continued with "Anyways, we absorbed a lot of the power, but were still not strong enough to take it all in. So, I created the Shadow Charms instead. Oh yeah, the reason you only got half was due to Marie dropping your charm after they were created."

"I figured someone dropped it." Jaden said with a chuckle.

Nodding, Illidan replied "Anyways, for the next four years, we hid the Shadow Charms across the world. Once we finished, we started school and finally came here to teach when we graduated."

Jaden's brow furrowed once again, as he said "Still, I don't understand why you're telling me. You could keep it secret."

"True, we could, but we learned something recently about you. In my memories of the past, you saw that I had five children, didn't you?" Illidan questioned.

Thinking for a moment, Jaden finally nodded, saying "Yeah, I did. So?"

"Two of the descendants from my son, Kai, live in Egypt still. My friend Shadi, who did live out the last five millennia, married the girl descendant named Ishizu. The other is currently unmarried."

With his brow still furrowed, Jaden asked again "I still don't understand."

"There is a reason. What I'm trying to tell you is that there are two descendants of my family line living here at this school. One being Mariah, whom you know. She is Shadi and Ishizu's daughter."

Jaden nodded, knowing full well who she was. Seeing this, Illidan lightly smiled, saying "And the other is you Jaden."

"HUH!?" Jaden completely blurted out in shock. Looking flustered, Jaden asked "How can that be?!"

Lightly chuckling, Illidan replied "Well, it's hard to explain. You see, Shadi, he tracked my family line for the last five millennia. He has contacted each and every one of my descendants, with the exception of you."

"So, he knew my parents?" Jaden asked with an unreadable face.

Nodding, Illidan replied softly "Yes, I suppose. He said he did, at the least. Anyways, Shadi said that you come from my son's, Fahd, side of the family. I guess that would mean we're very distant relatives."

"Oh…" Jaden quietly said.

Seeing the quiet reaction, Illidan asked "Is something wrong?"

Sighing, Jaden turned away, saying "It's just… I barely knew my parents."

"I see. I didn't know. Shadi never told me much about your family." Illidan responded gently.

Still with his back to Illidan, Jaden replied "It's alright. I've never been one to talk much about them."

Curious, Illidan bit his tongue to keep from asking questions he knew he shouldn't. Placing a kind hand on Jaden's shoulder, he smiled, saying "Well, you're among friends and family here."

"Yeah, I guess." Jaden mumbled.

"I didn't mean to upset you Jaden." Illidan said with true meaning in his voice.

Turning to face Illidan, Jaden smiled sadly, saying "Don't worry about it. Besides, you had no idea."

A moment of silence filled the room. Having a tough time to resist, Illidan finally asked "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sighing lightly, Jaden sat in silence for another minute. Finally, he slowly said "I guess. I really never knew my parents."

His eyes started becoming glassy as Jaden said "My dad died on the way to hospital when I was born. From what I understand, mom had gone into labor that morning, right after dad had gone to work. She was taken to the hospital immediately by an ambulance. The doctors then called my dad, telling him what was going on."

Tears began forming, as he sniffled, saying "Dad tried to make it before I was born, but a driver ran a red light, smashing into his car, killing him on impact. I never got to know him. All I have are stories, a few pictures, and nothing else really."

Slowly, the tears slipped off his cheeks, as Jaden sobbed, but he continued on. "Mom took it rather hard from what I was told. A year after I was born, mom died on my birthday. She was visiting my father's grave and left me with a friend. Apparently, the grief was too much for her to handle. She died at the grave, from some kind of aneurism. No one noticed she was dead till that night."

Pulling his knees up to this chest, Jaden placed his head against them and wrapped his arms around himself. "Both died on my birthday. In many ways, I feel like it's my fault."

Seeing the raw pain, Illidan pulled Jaden into his arms, embracing him. Reacting to this, Jaden placed his head on Illidan's shoulder, sobbing loudly now.

"It's my fault!" he cried out.

Cooing to him, Illidan patted Jaden's head, saying "Now, now, it's alright. It's not your fault."

Letting Jaden cry out some of his grief, Illidan slowly remembered how he had taken the death of his own father. "I blamed myself because I believed I was careless in that battle. Squall told me it wasn't my fault, but I refused to believe him. It took me a long time to realize it wasn't. Jaden, I know how it feels. All you need for now is to let it all go."

Jaden eventually regained some control. Pulling back, Jaden sheepishly smiled, saying "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of Jaden. I know how you feel." Illidan said, sadly smiling.

Lightly sighing, Illidan softly said "I lost my parents in this life early on too. I guess it's fate that I lost them."

Looking at Illidan oddly, Jaden asked "What do you mean?"

"Well, I lost my mother at childbirth in my previous life. My father died when I was eight in order to protect me from the pharaoh."

"Oh…" Jaden said, semi shocked, but still crying lightly.

Lightly smiling, Illidan replied "It's alright. I still have memories from both lifetimes of my parents that I hold dearly. I know I blamed myself in the past about my father's death, but I realized several years later it really wasn't my fault. He died protecting me, and didn't want me to think it was my fault. He wanted me to live a happy life, and I think I did."

"Even in this life, I've found myself happy even though I lost my parents when I was young. You just have to learn to let go is all." Illidan said with a small smile.

Nodding, Jaden took in what Illidan said as he dried his eyes with the sleeves of his coat. Putting his arm around Jaden, Illidan lightly ruffled his hair, saying "Trust me, with time things get easier. Don't blame yourself, you're not really at fault."

Jaden thought for a moment and finally slowly said "I guess…"

"No guess. It's the truth Jaden. And besides, you're not alone. You have your friends, and now you have a little bit of family here with you." Illidan said with a small smile.

Lightly smiling, Jaden nodded, softly saying "Thank you."

"No problem. Now, how about some lunch? Marie should be fixing something."

Jaden lightly cringed, saying "You sure she is fixing something?"

Chuckling at his reaction, Illidan replied "Yeah. Let's hope it's not burnt…"

"Last time I ate her food, it was beyond extra crispy." Jaden said honestly.

Laughing, Illidan patted him on the back, saying "You're most definitely one of my long lost descendants. Just don't mention it to her. If you do, well, I can't guarantee your safety."

Both laughed as they stood and grabbed their coats, heading out for to face Marie and her cooking.