So, this should be the next to last chapter. Then I've got the last chapter and the epilogue to go. If I make it, this will be the first fic I've actually had the chance to complete on Fanfiction. How awesome is that? So, enjoy!

Chapter 8: Evening the Scores

"This is fantastic!" A tall, Australian man exclaimed.

Serenity, from her hiding spot behind a statue, beamed with pride. Her cheeks flushed as she heard the man continue on with a stream of compliments.

"Where is this young lady? I want to meet her."

Serenity cleared her throat and stepped out from behind the statue.

"Right here, sir. I'm Serenity."

The man smiled kindly at her and shook her hand.

"Dion McCarthy. I write for a fine arts magazine called 'Creations Count'."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. McCarthy."

Dion, his eyes bright with excitement, looked up at her artwork again in reverence.

"Serenity, I want to write an article on your work. Would that be all right?"

Serenity's vision clouded over suddenly and she forgot how to breathe.

"An…an article? On my work?" She gasped.

"Yes! For such a young person, this is truly amazing. At first I didn't believe Odom when she told me, but—"

"Dion, I asked for you to wait." Said a woman's voice from behind Dion.

Serenity giggled when Dion grimaced. He turned to face the woman and Serenity beamed when she saw it was Odom.

"Sensei!"

Odom offered her a small smile and put her hand on Dion's arm.

"Your excitement drives me insane, McCarthy."

"My apologies, Odom."

"Accepted. So? What do you think?"

"Well, I think she's extremely talented."

"And what about the artwork?"

"Beautiful. She sees the life in everything and brings it out—"

"So you want to write the article, yes?"

"Well, yes. You interrupted me when I was in the middle of telling her, Odom."

"Sorry."

"No worries. So, Serenity, I'll make an appointment with you for an interview and a photo sometime during the week. Here's my card. Just call the first number and tell my secretary who you are. She'll connect you through to me and we can figure out a time to meet. Sound okay?"

Serenity nodded eagerly.

"Yes, sir! Thank you so much! You too, Sensei."

Odom laughed.

"Why me? I'm only your sensei. You did this yourself, Serenity."

Serenity opened her mouth to respond, but Jou, Ryou, Bakura, Anzu, and Yugi came walking towards her from the entrance.

"Seren! There you are!" Jou called, pulling the others behind him in his rush to get to Serenity.

"Jou, guess—!"

"Wow."

Serenity followed his gaze to her most recent painting of the streets of Tokyo and blushed tremendously.

"Oh, umh…"

"Mr. McCarthy?" Ryou asked suddenly.

Dion looked at Ryou and blinked. Hard.

"Ryou 'Alabaster' Bakura? That you?"

Ryou grinned and shook hands with Dion.

"All right, McAustralia?"

"All right. You?"

"Eh…you remember the bird Krissy?"

"Oh, yeah! The one always going after your brother."

Bakura's eyebrows rose.

"Really? Must've never noticed her."

Dion rolled his eyes.

"I don't know how that's possible. But anyways, go on Ryou."

"Well, when I went home two weeks ago…"

"Ohh. Yeah, I should have warned you. Sorry about leaving you in the middle of Surrey, by the way. You know…duty calls."

"I know. I hope you got your refrigerator filled again."

Dion threw back his head and let out a deep, booming laugh.

"Alabaster, someday…you're going to have your fridge cleaned out. When I'm a hobo."

The others, leaving Ryou and Dion to their inside jokes, turned back to Serenity and Odom.

"These are really good, Ren." Anzu commented, giving Serenity a one-armed hug.

"Thanks. Mr. McCarthy's going to write an article about them."

"Seriously?"

"Uh-huh! And I get the scholarship too!"

"Yes you do, to any college you get into. If you want, I have a list of schools all over the world that are the best in fine arts. I can bring it on Monday for you to look at."

"Oh, yes! That would be—!"

"Hey, where's the tree one? I thought you were going to put that one in, too." Anzu interjected, examining the five pieces carefully to make sure she hadn't skipped the tree one.

"Oh, I'm redoing it. It was only a pencil sketch, so I'm thinking of doing it in charcoal."

"Why not oil paints?" Odom suggested.

"I don't have them."

"Oh, I do. I'll bring them with the list of schools, then. So, what is the tree one?"

"The one she made for Malik." Anzu teased.

Odom quirked an eyebrow at Anzu.

"You mean that boy she drew for homework…?"

"Yup. That's the one."

"You met up with him?"

"And then some." Anzu answered.

"Anzu." Jou growled.

"Sorry, sorry…just trying to get her to call him."

"Anzu." Serenity sighed, rubbing her temple.

Anzu smiled innocently and took a few steps towards the statue Serenity had been hiding behind.

Dion broke through the circle of friends and shook Serenity's hand again.

"I have to go act like I'm considering other people for the article now. Have a nice night!"

"You too, Mr. McCarthy."

He smiled and left the group. Ryou stepped into the hole he'd made.

"So…celebration dinner? Burgers, maybe?" Yugi asked.

Ryou made a face and Serenity put her hand on his arm consolingly.

"I'm sure they have veggie burgers."

He brightened.

"Sure! When can we go?"

"Do it."

"No, I don't—!"

"Do it!"

"What if it's three in the morning over there? Besides, I have to finish painting this—"

"He can wake up for you! And you can finish the mural after you're done talking to him. Do it."

Serenity sighed in exasperation and snatched the phone out of Anzu's hand.

"Fine. But if I wake him up, you owe me."

"Done."

Serenity dialed in Malik's number from memory and put the phone up to her ear. Anzu grabbed it from her and put it on speaker.

"Not fair." Serenity hissed, pouting.

"Get over it."

They heard a click after two rings and instantly shut up.

"Hello?" A teenage girl asked from the other line.

"Uh, hi. Is Malik there?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll get him. He's messing around with his guitar right now."

"Oh…'kay…"

The girl called for Malik, her voice muffled. The girl and Malik called back and forth to each other a couple times in their native language and finally Malik picked up the phone.

"Hey, it's Malik." He said, his voice lower than normal.

"Hi, it's Serenity."

"Ooh, Malik! Who is she?" The girl from before asked, obviously still on the phone.

"Jess, put the damn phone down! I don't know why we pay you!"

Jess, the girl, giggled.

"Because I clean more than you do. Ask your sister."

"Whatever. Hang up or I'll tell Isis you were out with what's-his-face again while she was out."

"Hmph. It's on, Ishtar."

"Bring it."

The phone clicked and Malik coughed lightly.

"Sorry. She's our hired help, but…well…"

"Oh. Umh…how's your brother?"

"He's better. The doctor said he'll be able to come home in a few weeks."

"That's great!"

"Yeah. Oh, Bakura called me and told me about the art museum. Congrats."

"Thanks! My sensei told me if I get another five pieces done in a month, I can have my own exhibition at the school's open house."

"Wow. A month, right?"

"Yeah. Right before summer to show the parents the best of the best."

"Maybe…oh, never mind. So what pieces are you going to do?"

"I'm in the middle of redoing the tree one in oil paints, then I'm thinking about a couple nature scenes."

"I have to see the tree one when it's done."

Serenity smiled.

"Okay. It's not going to be exact, since I don't have the original, but…"

"It's a tree with an iron gate around it. Of course it's not going to look exact. Do you know how many friggin' trees there are out there with iron gates around them?"

She giggled.

"No, I don't know. How many?"

"There's a lot. But that's not the point. No matter how you draw the tree and the gate, it'll still look amazing and it'll still mean a lot."

Anzu gave Serenity a look that clearly read 'awwwwwww'. Blood rushed to Serenity's cheeks.

"Thanks, Malik…"

Jess picked up the phone again.

"Mali, Isis is home. She wants to talk to you."

"Can you tell her to wait?"

"She's in one of her bitchy moods."

"Damn. Serenity, can I call you back?"

"Oh, sure. I'll be up late painting, so go ahead."

"Thanks. It shouldn't take long."

"Okay."

They exchanged their goodbyes and Malik hung up the phone. Anzu grabbed the phone and turned it off.

"How sweet was that? Oh my God, Serenity, I'm jealous."

"Uh-huh. C'mon, I've got to work on this."

Serenity pulled her paint pallet towards herself and picked up a thin paint brush.

"Anything I can do?"

"Uh, yeah. Can you put a second coat of paint on that wall?"

"Sure. Hey, Ren?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you sleeping every night?"

"The couch."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Nothing. Just wondering."

"Whatever…"

Serenity had just finished putting the second coat on Yugi's hair (on the mural, of course), when the phone rang. Anzu dropped her paintbrush, causing Serenity to cringe, and snatched up the phone.

"Hello, you've reached the Katsuya's residence." She chirped, searching for the speaker button.

She found the button right before Malik responded.

"Hey, it's Malik."

Anzu gave Serenity a warning look and Serenity rolled her eyes.

"Anzu, put him on speaker!" She said, playing along.

"Hold on, Malik. She's working on a mural."

"Really? How's it coming?"

"Umh, I'm almost done. It was just Yugi's hair I had problems with."

Malik chuckled.

"I could imagine."

"So, what was up with your sister?"

"Oh, jeez. I don't even want to start on her. Ever since the accident, she's been—Jess, I swear, if you don't get off the phone, I'm firing you."

Jess, obviously eavesdropping, giggled.

"Sorry, Mali. I just think it's kind of funny."

"What is?" Serenity asked.

"Well, he called the police one time on this group of girls who were stalking him—"

"But we don't need to get into that. Don't you need to go clean out the guest rooms or something?"

"Why? No one's staying in them."

"Of course someone's staying in them, loser. Why d'you think Isis asked for them to be dusted?"

"Umh…'cause she's psycho?"

Malik snorted.

"Either that or you're mentally impaired."

"Ouch! You're on a roll tonight!"

"Whatever. The Bakuras are staying with us for a while."

"Oooh, the twins?"

"No, the bums down the street."

Jess sniggered.

"Malik two, Jess zero. All right, I'll leave you alone now."

"There is a God…" Malik muttered.

Serenity and Anzu giggled and Jess whined.

"You're mean, Mali. You better watch out. You never know when I'll slip something in your bed."

"Hence why I got a lock installed…"

Jess huffed and hung up the phone. Anzu and Serenity burst out laughing.

"Wow. That was great." Serenity stated.

"Yeah, even better than the hair comment he made when he met you."

"Oh, yeah."

Malik didn't answer for a moment.

"You know…I think I'm being attacked here."

"No! You're being made fun of! There's a difference."

"Right."

"So Ryou and Bakura are staying with you?"

"Yup. Mr. Bakura wouldn't help them pay for the stuff Bakura destroyed, so they're being evicted as soon as the school year ends. I told them they could live with us while they find a new place to live."

Anzu and Serenity looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Oh my God. I had no idea."

"Yeah. Not many people know what's up between Ryou and his dad. I'm the only one he's told about the eviction."

"Is he going to live in Egypt after this?" Serenity asked, horrorstricken.

Malik laughed.

"Of course not! He hates it here! No, what he's doing in liquidating his college funds and buying a condo. He just needs to be in a country where he's a legal adult."

"Oh. Thank God. I was about to say, if Ryou moved away…" Anzu trailed.

"I know! After he was so awesome last weekend? I wanna keep him around for a while!"

"He was awesome last weekend?" Malik questioned.

"He's the only reason I got away from Jou."

"Oh. All right then, he is awesome."

"Because he danced in the middle of a restaurant." Serenity said.

"Yeah, well, so did the cross-dresser."

"But the cross-dresser wasn't half as good as Ryou."

Anzu gave her a strange look and Serenity giggled.

"The cross-dresser didn't have a neon yellow skirt either."

"So that makes me awesome, too?"

"Basically."

Serenity smiled to herself and set down her paint pallet.

"Well, you're awesome 'cause…umh…"

Malik chuckled.

"I'll give you a while to think about it."

She blushed.

"No, you're awesome 'cause you protect trees. And wildlife."

Malik sighed.

"I told you, it's not a humanitarian cause. It's just me."

"Uh-huh."

"Serenity!" He whined.

Anzu's eyebrows shot up.

"Did you really just make Malik Ishtar whine?"

Serenity flashed an uncharacteristic smirk at her.

"Maybe."

She stepped back from the mural and studied every inch of it.

"Hey, what happens in this conversation stays in this conversation." Malik mumbled.

"Done!" Serenity declared proudly, smiling at her wall and ignoring Malik.

"Huh?"

"Wow. Looks good, Ren!"

"What does?" Malik asked, confused.

"Her mural."

"Oh. You finished it?"

"Yup. Just now."

"What's it look like?"

"Well, it's Yugi, Anzu, Jou, Honda, Ryou, and me sitting around a tree with Duel Monster cards scattered around, and we're surrounded by an iron gate."

"Wow. Must have taken you a while."

"Almost three weeks."

Malik whistled.

"Better than anything I could do."

"Probably."

Anzu laughed.

"Nice one!"

"Thanks."

"I'm gonna ignore that…"

"You set yourself up for it." Anzu replied.

"I know." He sighed.

"I could take a picture and have Ryou send it to you." Serenity offered, cleaning up her paintbrushes and paint.

"Uh, that's okay. It would ruin the effect. So, umh, this open house thing. When is it?"

"June twelfth."

"Okay."

"Why?"

"No reason. Hey, I gotta go. Isis is bitching downstairs."

"Okay. See you later."

"Yup. Bye."

"Bye, Malik." Anzu chirped.

Malik chuckled to himself.

"Bye, Anzu."

Anzu ended the connection with a push of a button and looked at Serenity seriously.

"When's the wedding? 'Cause I better be your maid of honor."

Serenity gave her a flat look.

"Help me clean this up, will you?"

"Don't avoid the question!"

"Anzu, we're not getting married. I'm sixteen."

"That's old enough!"

Serenity stared at her in disbelief.

"You're out of your mind. Go take this to the kitchen and wash it out."

Anzu scrunched up her nose, but took the paint tray from Serenity and left the room. Serenity hastily picked up her paint pallet and painted in two lavender eyes on the gate. She heard the water in the kitchen turn off and put her pallet back down, acting as if she'd been cleaning the entire time.

Anzu came back in with the cleaned paint tray and watched Serenity quizzically.

"What're you smiling about?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing…"

Serenity stared at the letter of acceptance in awe.

"Jou!" She called.

He came into her room looking concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Look! I just got this from the school today!"

He took the letter from her and skimmed through it, his jaw lowering further and further with each line.

"Holy crap, Seren! This is great!"

"I know! They want me to get another two pieces in, too!"

Jou pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'm proud of ya, sis."

"Even though this all started with Malik?"

Jou was quiet for a moment.

"Yeah. Even though this all started with Malik."

She beamed pulled away from the hug to take her letter back.

"I have to tell Sensei Odom! I wonder if she'll let me borrow her pastels again…?"

Jou watched her scurry about for her planner and her sketchbook with vivacious excitement. A small smile formed on his lips and he left the room silently, leaving her to plan for the open house. Heavens knew what would happen if he got in her way.

One more chapter and then the epilogue! Yay! Oh, and I lied about this chapter. It's a lot longer than I thought it would be. I wasn't expecting to write all that dialogue…so, sorry if it was confusing or time-wasting.

In the next chapter, you can look forward to seeing what happens at the open house. I think most of you probably know by now. I tried to make it obvious. :) And I promise it'll be hell of a lot shorter than this chapter.

Anywho, thanks to my reviewers! I love you all!

Please read and review!