A/N: Wasn't going to post tonight, and then I noticed I'd updated the last chapter two days after the first, so I figured I should do the same with this chapter, since it was mostly written. I wound up changing the ending, though. Not what happens, just what they say.

This take on pre-Doom!Mai was inspired by chapter 47 of Scribbler's As Deep As The Sky.

The crowd cheered. Mai and Jounouchi watched each other, holographic smoke clearing from the field. He was too far, too expresionless for her to tell what he was thinking. She could say something now.

"Jounouchi," Mai called, and promptly forgot everything she wanted to say as he looked at her.

He spent the duel silent because he thought that's what she wanted. With the way she acted earlier, he thought she didn't... return his feelings. Now, hearing her call, he raised his head. There was hope again. If she didn't want to be with him, he would accept it. Or he would deal with it, at least. Whatever she said, it would decide everything. He knew what he wanted, now what did she want?

Now what? Staring, she could think of nothing to say to him. Nothing could change what happened between them. Students roared, and it filled her. They cheered for him. They were glad she lost. No one wanted her. Jounouchi didn't want her. She didn't want to duel him, he didn't want to duel her. The duel was over and done with, now they could leave and get on with their lives.

Jounouchi stepped forward, and the last bit of Mai that wanted to try to talk to him vanished.

"I wish... things hadn't turned out this way," she managed to get out. Turning her back on him, she walked out the way she came. If she wanted to leave, Jounouchi meant to let her leave. But as she walked away, he found himself unwilling to watch her go. Not with an answer like that.

His footsteps were lost under the cheers. He grabbed her shoulder before she knew he was there. Mai jumped, and he stepped back. Finally, she looked at him, but he glanced away. Jounouchi stood there; she watched him. What to do now? Run away again. That's what she was good at, right?

"Sorry," she muttered. Turning, Mai ran away from him once more.

"No," Jounouchi pleaded. He'd let her go too many times. "Wait."

Mai froze. Her head said, no, keep walking, but the rest of her wouldn't listen. She wanted to stay with him, how much she wanted it. Glancing over her shoulder, she finally caught his eye. He picked his head up, and he wasn't angry. He'd never been angry. Or at least not at her. She should have known that.

"What's that mean?" He asked. "How do you wish things would've turned out?"

"It doesn't matter," she muttered, trying to get away. He blocked her path.

"No," he said, firmly this time. "I won't watch you walk away again."

"Again," she repeated. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at it by now, aren't I?"

"No, that's not what I meant--" he tried, but she cut him off.

"It doesn't matter what you meant. It's true."

"Mai, you don't... it's not..." he tried, struggling for words. He had nothing to say to counter it.
"Forget that. Will you just hang on a sec and talk to me?"

"What, here, now?" Mai was tempted. It wasn't like she wanted to abandon Joounouchi yet again, but if talking with him came at the cost of facing her own guilt, she'd rather run away. That, and thousands of students watched, suddenly quiet, trying to hear the duelists' conversation.

By the look on his face, Jounouchi didn't notice, let alone care about eavesdropping teenagers. "Yes, here, now. What do you wish would turn out different?"

"Stop it," she said angrily. "Get out of the way."

"What does it mean?!" he shouted. He was losing it, but he didn't care. The chance would never come again if Mai disappeared now. He had to know what was between them. Please.

"I wish I wouldn't always run away!" As soon as she'd said it, she wished she hadn't. It was getting too hard for her to leave. She couldn't face these things right now, why did he have to drag them out of her?

"Then... don't," Jounouchi replied after a short silence.

Walk away, she told her herself. "I can't. Nothing good ever comes when I stick around," she replied. "Maybe that's why I like to travel. I never could stay in one place. Always had to move around, ever since my parents--" she stopped. She talked too much. That wasn't something she wanted to bring into this conversation.

"Your parents?" Jounouchi realized, with some guilt, that he knew nothing about her family.

"I never could settle down," Mai ignored his question. Dealing with her immediate past was bad enough, let alone her time as an orphan.

"Mai...?" She wouldn't meet his eyes, but the conern in his voice still made her cringe. With that tone, she could picture his face, somber for a change, wishing he could make things better. How could she stand his concern when she was relating the details of her betrayal?

"Not even to stay away from you, no, I kept going back and forth. If I hated you so much, I should have stayed away. I was messed up, you've no idea how messed up I was, but that's no excuse--"

"Yes it IS," he said firmly, cutting her off. "The Orichalcos screwed with your head. Malik screwed with your head. The world kicked you in the ditch, you didn't have any friends, and--"

"Thanks, that makes me feel better."

"People've had less to deal with and done worse!" He shouted, startling her. He was upset enough to stop her from replying with something sarcastic again. "I've done worse! The only thing Malik did was tell me to kill Yuugi, and I tried to kill Yuugi. After all the stuff we'd been through, I forgot about it all beacuse Malik had a damn magic stick. Nearly did kill him, and you all told me to just forget about it.

"You won't let yourself off the hook for the Orichalcos, how do you think that makes ME feel? Malik did all that crap to you during the duel, tortured you for all that time, nearly killed you, and left you screwed up for months afterward. Then the Orichalcos came in and did I don't know what..."

Mai heard him berating her, but even though it made sense, something in her still carried the guilt. Jounouchi had been possessed. She did it of her own free will. But when he called up images of Malik, memories she tried to block resurfaced. 'screwed up'... he had no idea. And the Orichaclos! What it had done...!

"It took it away," she blurted. She looked through him, remembering. "After Malik, I couldn't do anything, I was too afraid, too... I don't even know what. It was like there was something inside of me, like... like a poison, eating away at me, and I couldn't get it out. And then Varon showed up, and it went away." She laughed, a little crazed. "I hadn't felt so alive in months! I could live again, I actually felt worthy enough to live again... and I got it in my head that I had to prove it..."

She blinked, and focused back on Jounouchi. "I thought it fixed me. I was as good as dead after Battle City, and when it made that go away... I thought it was right, even if it made me want to duel you. I thought..."

It was the first time she'd let herself admit the Orichalcos caused her betrayal. All this time, she'd taken it all on herself. She thought she was weak to make excuses. Being weak had gotten her into the mess in the first place. She wanted to be strong. Strength was blaming everything on herself. Strength was staying away from Jounouchi, even if he forgave her, and even if she wanted to see him again...

"If I blamed myself... I thought... that would make up for it. I blamed the world for forcing me to the Orichalcos, and so if took the blame myself this time, then I wouldn't make the same mistakes."

"Why didn't you come back, then?" he asked. "If you wanted to change... since you stayed away before."

"I don't know. I wanted to," she tried to find words. "...but I couldn't face you."

"Can you now?" he asked. "Will you... will you stay this time?"

Stay. There were so many meanings behind that question. "I don't know," she repeated.

"Mai... if it's the Orichalcos stuff, I don't care. We can work through it." Jounouchi stepped towards her, taking her hand. "I just want you to stay."

"Jounouchi..." she looked at their hands. It felt right. We. "That's not it... I don't... I can't stay in one place, I can't settle. You won't want me to be around that long." The excuses were pathetic. She just couldn't commit.

"I will," he insisted. "I'll go with you. We won't settle."

"You want me to stay, you want to go with me... What do want from me, Jounouchi?"

"I want... to stay with you."

"Why?" He'd nearly died at her hands, and he still wanted to stay with her. What had she done to deserve that?

"Nng..." Jounouchi hesitated. "I don't want to say... 'f you don't feel the same... I don't want to put that on you."

Her heart beat faster as she looked up, stunned. "Jounouchi?" His head lowered, but she could catch him blushing. There was only one thing that kind of answer could mean. She felt his hand, and laced her fingers through his. Taking a breath to steady herself, she replied. "Tell me. Please."

His hand tightened. "Mai, I love you."

That was it. Now it was her turn. If she said no, she was free to go, free to leave him alone for the rest of her life. But if he forgave her, and if she could forgive herself after what they'd been through, then leaving him alone wasn't an option. Shewanted to stay with him. She wanted to say the same thing back to him, but how did she feel? Could she say it? Could she mean it? She'd prompted him to reveal his feelings, it was only fair that she'd do the same.

"If you don't... don't want to answer, or y'want me to leave, or whatever, just say it--" Jounouchi offered, but Mai moved and her arms found their way around him.

"I want to answer," she murmured, feeling his hand on her back, unsure of what her embrace meant. "I... don't know if I can. Will you wait?"

"'course I will." His arms tightened, more confident. But he hesitated again. "...can I be with you while I wait?"

She pulled back, to look at him, and nodded.

"Yeah?" he smiled, hoping, moving closer.

"Yeah," she admitted, his smile catching. Eyes met. They moved together, unknowing, on instinct. His hand on her face, her arm around his neck, they kissed to the sound of thousands of cheering Duel Academy students.