After spending the better part of half an hour trying to match Millie's energy long enough to get her to calm down, Yugi actually managed to solve the problem by dropping the simple hint that he wanted her to. After that, she announced about six times how sorry she was and that she wanted to make him happy, then seated herself on the floor of Yugi's bedroom, staring up at him like an adoring puppy while he sat at his desk.

Yugi wished he could concentrate on his homework; he really did. But with the Millennium Puzzle sitting there, acting as though everything was completely normal...it was difficult to.

He sighed to himself. It had certainly been an eventful morning, to say the least. He snuck a look at Millie out of the corner of his eye. She hadn't moved from her place on the floor and was still gazing up at him. Hesitantly, Yugi cleared his throat. "Did you...I don't know; want a book to read or something?"

Still smiling, Millie shook her head, her gold hair bobbing about ridiculously. "Uh-uh; I'm used to just sitting quietly. I never get bored."

"Never?"

She grinned. "Nope; not ever," she assured him with pride.

"That must come in handy a lot."

"It sure does."

Yugi doodled on the side of his workbook for a moment or two. "So..." He drummed his fingers against his desk. "Why did you...you know; change?"

Millie shrugged. "I wanted to."

Yugi nodded, not at all satisfied. "Fair enough."

Another question occurred to him. "The Pharaoh; what's your relationship with him like?"

Millie cocked her head to one side. "The Pharaoh?" She gave a sigh. "He's...been inside me for thousands of years; it's like he's a part of me now. I can hardly remember what it was like beforehand. He's just always been there."

Yugi swivelled on his chair to face her.

"I guess I hear him as a kind of voice inside my head; only that's not the best analogy because until now I haven't really had a head, and I didn't really hear things. It's like...he's a presence, that I always feel. Have always felt."

Yugi wished he knew what to say to her. What could he say to her?

"And it's the same with you," Millie went on excitedly. "I'm connected to you in the same way I am to him; your spirit exists within your body, but in a sense, the Pharaoh's does too, now. Only it's different now that I'm in this body, because I can see and hear and feel everything from my own point of view instead of through yours."

All Yugi could do was nod. "...Cool."

"Is it eleven o'clock yet?"

Yugi checked his watch. "Not for a while."

She crawled over to his desk and stood up. Without waiting for Yugi to respond, she jumped up onto the desk and sat down again. "Okay! Tell me when it is."

Yugi had to hand it to her; when Millie didn't want to talk, she didn't talk. Even with her sitting a few feet away atop his desk, Yugi was almost able to forget she was there and actually get onto his homework. Eleven o'clock crept up on them like a ninja.

The multitude of voices that suddenly emerged from downstairs was enough to make both Yugi and Millie jump. Yugi quickly sprang to his feet while Millie slid delicately off the side of Yugi's desk.

"I wonder how this will go," Yugi wondered.

"It's go fine; don't be silly," Millie said simplistically. "Come on!"

Yugi stopped. "So...you're just going to...hang out with us?"

Millie looked crestfallen. "You don't want me to? I can stay here if you want – I just thought-"

"No!" Yugi assured her. "That's not it at all. It's just going to take...a bit of getting used to."

Millie bit her lip. "If you're sure...hey, when we go out, can we get ice cream? I've always wanted to eat ice cream! And nachos; that looks yummy too. Maybe we can have ice cream and nachos for lunch!"

Yugi smiled; he couldn't help it. "Okay, sure; we can get some...ice cream and...nachos."

"Ice cream and nachos? What the hell, Yuug?"

Yugi almost jumped again when he heard Joey's voice right outside the door. They must have come upstairs.

Millie had a different reaction. "Everyone's here!" she squealed with delight, half-running, half-skipping towards the door.

"No Millie, wait!" Yugi exclaimed, trying to stop her on her way past him. He failed. Millie flung open the door and instantly tackled the first person she saw – Joey – almost bowling him over.

Yugi blinked, hanging back a few feet as Millie squeezed the stuffing out of her new victim, while Téa, Tristan and Joey stood in the doorway, each of them wearing the same look of utter bewilderment.

"She's the Millennium Puzzle?"

The five of them were now walking down the pavement at the request of Yugi that they leave the shop while he explained. Millie had resumed her limpet stance, this time on Yugi again, and was hanging onto him around the waist, muttering incoherently with her eyes closed.

"I know it sounds hard to believe..." Yugi said. "I can hardly believe it myself." Still hanging off him, Millie adjusted her grip on Yugi, completely ignoring her position as the subject of discussion. "But the Millennium Puzzle somehow managed to turn itself – herself – into a human."

"You'd think she could at least walk on her own," Téa muttered darkly, eyeing Millie's current position, clinging to Yugi's waist.

"But why?" Tristan asked, a frown upon his face.

Yugi couldn't shrug with Millie's weight hanging onto him. "I don't quite know yet; she hasn't told me."

"Yes she has!" Millie insisted, opening her eyes suddenly. She caught everyone's gaze and then closed them again, resuming her silent mutterings.

Yugi paused. "She said she just wanted to."

"What about the Pharaoh?" Téa asked, her brow knitted with concern. "Is he...okay?"

Yugi stared at the ground for a second. One of Millie's eyes opened and looked at him.

Yugi knew the amount of concern in Téa's voice over the Pharaoh shouldn't upset him; after all, Téa was allowed to worry about a friend, right?

"Yeah, he's fine; we're still connected."

Thinking about it now, Yugi realised another complication.

Although he could feel the presence of his other self, as he always did, he hadn't personally seen the Pharaoh since that morning, in the kitchen.

This unsettled Yugi.

He was used to not hearing from the spirit; when everything was calm and Yugi's days passed as nothing more than the regular routine of school and chores, there were times when they would go for weeks without exchanging words, simply because there was nothing that needed to be said.

But now? The Millennium Puzzle's sudden...transformation, was certainly a matter that needed to be addressed. But exactly how could they address it properly when the one thing that connected them was the one thing getting in the way?

If Yugi was honest with himself, he knew that everything was simply easier with the Millennium Puzzle as just that; a Puzzle. If he was honest with himself, it would be better if she changed back. And the Pharaoh knew that too.

But how could they say that? How could they even say anything? By her own nature, Millie was always going to hear whatever words Yugi and Yami exchanged because she was the one who allowed them to do so.

As much as Millie insisted that nothing had changed – that she was still the Millennium Puzzle and that everything could and should carry on as normal – Yugi knew otherwise. Millie's humanity had drawn a barrier between the boy and the former Pharaoh; a barrier that would never go away. They would never be able to talk openly to one another, because they would always know that somebody else was listening.

When Yugi realised this, he felt a gentle wash of sadness rush over him. The Pharaoh had always been there, hadn't he? Yugi couldn't imagine a life now where there was nobody with whom he could share his secrets. He couldn't imagine a life where every moment that passed between him and Yami was going to be awkward and uncomfortable. Could things ever be the same with the knowledge that there was always going to be a third party?

Yugi let out a sigh. He already missed the Pharaoh. More than he had imagined he could, with him still so close to him.

"That's a relief," Joey was saying. Yugi blinked, jerking himself back into reality. "It would be bad if something had happened to him because of the Millennium Puzzle – did you say you called her Millie?"

"Mizzle!" Millie shrieked. Everyone except Yugi jumped; in a few hours, he had already grown accustomed to the Puzzle's random mood changes.

Joey laughed shakily. "Okay, then; Mizzle."

"Huzzah!" Millie exclaimed happily. Winking, she poked out her tongue at Yugi.

"Why is she wearing that?" Téa asked suddenly.

Yugi suddenly realised that she was right; he had completely forgotten that Millie was still wrapped in Yugi's blanket.

"I didn't have any girls' cl-" Yugi began to say.

"Yugi told me to," Millie said. "Do you think it's a bad idea? I can-"

Instinctively, Yugi seized her thin, olive-toned hand. "Erm...the blanket's fine," he assured her, blushing as he remembered that morning. He patted her hand. "We can get you some proper clothes later."

"You can borrow some of mine," Tea offered, smiling at Millie. "You look a bit small, though; we could buy some for you?"

"Like a shopping trip?" Millie asked, her eyes widening with wonder and excitement. "I've never been on a shopping trip! Girls like going on shopping trips, don't they? Yes they do! You can show me how it's done! Yugi, can we go on a shopping trip? Yes we can! Yay! Let's go!" She released Yugi and grabbed Téa's hand. Dragging her along, she took off ahead of them.

"M-" Yugi tried to hold her back.

"And then we can get ice cream and nachos!"

Yugi gave up and let her have her head. It was futile trying to stop her once she had an idea.