A/N: Okay, so it quite literally took all afternoon, but hey! I got this chapter done from scratch today! Gotta love May Day. A day off for NO good reason WHATSOEVER! (happy happy smiley smiley)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, Alice in Wonderland, Spiderman, Daffodils,Star Wars, the numerous Love Hina references or any other things I've written that inadvertedly break copywrite laws. Detailed enough?

Now, I struggled hard to get this done, so here goes!

Two: A White Rabbit

Ryou didn't have to wait for the teacher to introduce their new student to know her name. Penelope Hightman. A name he'd so desperately tried to forget. His past seemed to be jumping up to bite him nowadays…

A seat was allocated to her, right behind Téa, right in the midst of them. Ryou was on the right, followed by Téa, and then Yugi, in the row running to the left. Behind Yugi was Tristan, and behind Ryou was Joey, as the two had not been trusted to sit together. And then, between them, in the middle of them all, was Penelope Hightman. As she slid into the seat, she didn't look at Ryou, and he tried not to look at her. What was he even supposed to say…?

That day was hard on them both. His friends were being their usual helpful selves, making her feel welcome, showing her round, introducing her to the class teachers and generally being good people. Ryou had been to enough schools to know that this would be much appreciated on Penelope's part, provided, of course, that she and Ryou were able to avoid each other like the Plague. It came down to some careful calculations that ensured he left each class either slightly before or after the rest of them. At break time, he saw them approaching, and, after the briefest of conversations- in which Penelope managed to stare at the floor- Ryou managed to make his excuses and leave. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to shake Téa off. He quickened his pace slightly, hoping she would take the hint. She did not, and soon drew level with him.

"Ryou," She began, not beating about the bush. "Are you okay?"

"I… I'm fine." He replied, pulling his usual smile. "And you?"

"Don't give me that." Téa sighed, curling round in front and forcing him to stop. "You've been acting weird all day. All week, to. In fact, you haven't been yourself for ages now…" She looked at him in concern. "What's the matter? Why are you suddenly avoiding us?"

"Nothing's the matter." He lied. "And I'm not avoiding you. As I said, I have to go and return a book to the library."

"Ryou…"

"Téa! Nothing's wrong!"

"But…" She blinked, taken aback at his tone. Ryou never used to speak like that. Even when he had been in possession of- or possessed by, most of the time- the Millennium Ring, he could be relied on for his optimism and general happy disposition. But recently, she was getting more and more of a feeling that it was an act, to stop them worrying. Or to stop them asking questions.

"Really," He insisted, customary smile back in place. "I'm fine." His actions, however, disagreed, as he pushed forcefully past her and headed off in a direction that didn't even lead to the library.

"What has got into him…?" She wondered, worried. Shrugging, she wandered off to find the others. She didn't know what else they could do until he was ready to open up. And knowing how shy Ryou could be, that could take some time.

Ryou waited till he heard Téa's retreating footsteps fade away and then doubled back on himself, sighing deeply. He hated speaking to her like that; it was completely contrasting to the manners that had been beaten into him. More then that, though, it was a friend that was just concerned for his well-being and wanted to help. But this one no-one could help with. It was all such a mess… As he spent that break time hidden in the Library, trying to loose himself amidst the wood of words, he found himself wishing that life could be sorted as easily as the books on the shelves. And memories kept surfacing. Memories of old friends, and old family, and old days that he would give anything to have back and others that he would give anything to make go away. He'd almost been able to forget, and now, despite his best efforts, whenever he saw her, he remembered things that had passed between the four of them, places he and Amane and Jason and Penelope had all been to, what a group they had been…

The bell rang shocking and piercing and loud, and he left the solitude of the books to go and try to bury himself in the mechanics of the cosine rule instead.

The next barrage of questions hit him in the lunch queue, in the form of Joey, burdened with a tray so laden with food that it positively dwarfed Ryou's Cheese-and-cucumber sandwich. Not that he minded. Ryou didn't eat a lot; if he ate at all. But he did like cucumber. And cheese. And sandwiches, on that count. It wouldn't take him long to pick up a drink and pay for, either, so maybe if the guy in front was quick enough he'd be able to get through before-

"Yo!" Joey said, from behind him.

"Hello, Joey." Ryou replied, hoping he wouldn't start asking or demanding anything, hoping that Téa had warned him off, but it wasn't to be. In fact, in retrospect, Téa had probably asked someone else to talk to him if he wouldn't open up to her.

"So," Joey began, selecting a cake from the rack while Ryou got a bottle of Oasis from the next counter. "What's bugging you?"

"Huh?" Ryou asked, trying to sound oblivious.

"You're acting all weird and freaky and stuff." Joey explained, as Ryou handed over some money to the dinner lady managing the till, Joey trailing after him.

"Am I?" Ryou asked, innocently, fully intending to find somewhere to sit on totally the opposite side of the canteen to her- To them. "I'm sorry, I haven't meant to."

"Sure." Joey answered, unconvinced. "Look, there they are! And they got two tables together! Excellent… No squashing today!" He cheerily, but forcefully, propelled Ryou against his will across the canteen, eventually forcing him onto one table and sitting on the one behind with Tristan.

"Hi." Ryou said, uncertainly. He was sitting in the worst place imaginable, next to Téa, who was opposite Yugi. Not that they were the problem. Penelope, who was suddenly very interested in her food, was sitting directly across from him.

"Hey!" Téa replied happily, as though she had conveniently forgotten their earlier conversation. "So…" She looked back and forth between Ryou and Penelope, who were avoiding eye contact with each other. "You two know each other?"

"That's right." Ryou answered, monotonously. Neither offered any more elaboration.

"Did you go to the same school?" Téa pressed, confidently ignoring Yugi, who seemed to be trying to discreetly commune that this was a very bad idea indeed. "For a while." Penelope answered this time, stabbing at her pasta as though it had a death wish.

"…I'll bet you have a load to catch up on!" Téa enthused. Of course, it was a bit of an act. But she knew Ryou was a great friend, and Penelope seemed to be as well, so she couldn't imagine what the possible cause of their awkwardness was. Probably just shyness. Well, whatever it was, she was sure it would pass if only they'd talk to each other…

"Not really." Penelope said, quickly. She risked sending Ryou a quick look, as though telling him not to try. But he had to. He couldn't carry on like this; it was unfair to his friends. He'd have to face her eventually. Storing up his courage, he looked at her, and spoke.

"So… How have you been?" He asked. Penelope gripped her fork so hard that she practically bent it in two. "…And Jason?" He added, hesitantly.

"Please…" She begged, quietly, anger creeping into her voice. "Don't talk to me, Ryou. I don't want to talk to you."

"If we're at the same school, I think we're going to have to." He pointed out, regretfully.

"I don't want to talk to you!" She repeated, more forcefully. "I don't want to talk to you! I don't want to see you! I don't want to remember you! So just stay the hell away from me!"

"Please…" Ryou pleaded softly. "I… I am so, so sorry…"

Penelope's hands clenched into fists, her breathing harsh and ragged. "Don't you dare…" She whispered. Suddenly, the rage took control; she was on her feet, her lunch and drink was all over Ryou. She'd dumped it all over him. "Don't you dare say you're sorry!" She screamed, eventually. "How can you say that you're 'sorry'! Just… just stay away from me Ryou…" She turned on her heels and ran out of the room as though it was on fire.

Ryou just sat there, numb, picking Coca-Cola stained pasta shapes from the front of his shirt, which was now sticking rather unpleasantly to him. He'd probably have to replace his uniform, which was not a good prospect- his funds were almost drained dry. And he didn't like to use the account unless he had to; it was only a matter of time till he was discovered. Perhaps the stains could be removed at the dry cleaners…

He slowly became aware that he was in a canteen surrounded by people who were just beginning to start muttering again. Not good.

"Dude, what did you do?" Tristan asked, sounding awed, from behind him.

"He didn't do anything!" Téa answered, instantly leaping to his defence. But she didn't sound totally convinced. "He only asked how she was!"

"That's right." Yugi agreed. Ryou frowned, unable to stand the fact that his friends were on his side despite the fact they had no idea what was going on.

Joey snorted. "Ryou, of all people, does not get pasta dumped on him for asking how a girl is." He leaned in towards Ryou. "D'you two have a history that we should know about?"

"Not really." Ryou replied, through gritted teeth.

"Awww, come on…" Joey wheedled. "What'd you do? I bet you dumped her, didn't you?"

"Joey!" Ryou snapped, standing up. "Why don't you-!" He bit back on the insult that was dying to slide out. He couldn't take it out on Joey… "Look, just… just shut up." He finished, irritably, before leaving the canteen to. His friends stared after him, and then Joey and Tristan moved to fill the vacated seats.

"Guys…" Yugi said, slowly. "I think we might have a problem."

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Serenity came out of the exam room with a smile on her face. Despite spending all of last night on a train, and most of the day visiting various schools, she had found one that had accepted her, and a bonus was that it was only about twenty minutes walk from Domino High. She would have liked to go to Domino High, but there were no places there. Ah well. Hinata High may have done slightly longer hours then the other schools in the area, but the results showed that it paid off. The school was famous nation wide for it's excellent achievements and facilities. The entrance exam that Serenity had just sat, alone in a small classroom, was difficult and highly contested- she was lucky that the pass rate that year had been very low, and so there was plenty of room for her if she could make the grade.

At first, with no preparation done, she had been worried she wouldn't be able to make it. The five questions, she'd been informed, came from across a wide range of subjects, selected randomly by a computer for each exam paper, and demanded full essay-style answers of about a page in length. When the first one had been to explain why Iron, Tin and Copper were extracted using carbon, she had felt very worried indeed. But she had written in a logical order- first by talking about the general extraction methods, and then adding her theory as to why Carbon was used as opposed to Hydrogen; which would work equally well and more cleanly. With a few symbol equations to help show that it would be more expensive to produce the same amount of pure copper using hydrogen, she moved onto question two; suddenly very glad she'd paid attention in Chemistry after all.

Question Two was a dodgy one, asking her about how realistic the themes in Twelfth Night wereThe problem was, she had never studied the play. However, she had seen a modern film that was a very poorly done rip-off, and, more helpfully, the hilarious time when Joey was in his last year at Elementary school and his class had been forced to perform it, him in the part of Sir Toby Belch. She was certain none of the students, including those performing, had any idea of what they were talking about at the time, but it came back to haunt her now. Piecing the fragments together, she wrote as best she could about how twins could be distinguished from each other, unrequited love, and yellow cross-gartered stockings without actually mentioning the play; and hoped desperately that she could make up the score on the other questions.

The hoping paid off as Question Three simply presented a list of ballets and asked how successful the choreographers and composers had been in telling a story without using any words. Serenity had got lucky- the very last time she'd come to town had been to watch Téa perform in her Dance School's recital of Swan Lake. She wrote on the subject quickly and easily, name-dropping people she'd learnt about from Téa wherever possible in the hopes that it would get her extra marks.

You could certainly tell the questions had been 'randomly selected from a database on the school network', because Number Four was another about Literature; this time asking her to describe Lewis Carroll's use of the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, and the effect it had on the reader. Serenity grinned much like the Cheshire Cat herself. She loved Alice in Wonderland. In fact, she had written several things on the subject; so this was no problem. Feeling confident again, she flipped over to Question Five, to the worst scenario imaginable.

'Define and give abbreviations for the following musical terms:-' it read 'Largo, adagio, andante, vivace, alla marcia, calmato, dolce, mezzo forte, amoroso, risoluto.'

Serenity knew nothing about music, and musical terms may as well have been Greek to her- although, of course, they were all Italian. Sighing deeply, she had leant back slightly in her chair, wondering which school she should try next. In doing so, she noticed the poster about Music from Around the World on the wall behind her. As she glanced around, there were music displays and posters everywhere. They'd seated her in an empty music classroom, and the answers that she needed were pinned to the walls. The moderator had no reason to suspect she was cheating- after all, she was the only one there, who could she be cheating from? Besides, it wasn't cheating. It was showing initiative.

And so, Serenity completed what was possibly the weirdest Entrance Exam ever, and left with good marks, a place in the school, an address of a shop from which she could buy her new uniform; and a smile. She would show her mom yet. She was perfectly capable of making it on her own.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Penelope washed her face as best she could from one of the grimy taps, not brave enough to fill the sink, but it made no difference. Her eyes remained red, and you could tell she had been crying. Whether they had been tears of rage or of something else, she wasn't sure. He was supposed to be dead. She could have dealt with that. She didn't mind him being dead. But no, here he was, alive and kicking and on the other side of the planet.

Not that she wanted to kill him. It just would have been so much… easier if he had been dead after all. Why did he have to be here? Why here, why now, why him? Anyone else that she used to know would have been just fine. Amane would have been fine. But not him. Just seeing him made her blood boil. Just thinking that he was probably in the room next door, trying to clean his uniform, made her mad. He had no right to be going about life like he had not a care in the world. She hoped it was irreparably stained. She hoped it conveyed just how much she hated him, but wasn't sure if that was possible. She had been glad when he'd been so anxious to avoid her. She had hoped he would stay out of her way and she might have been able to refrain from… dumping her lunch all over him. And now she was hungry, to. What a jerk.

"Way to go, Penny…" She muttered, drying her face on her blazer sleeve, as it was the only cloth readily available. "Not even a full day in, and you've lost your temper. What are people going to think of you?" She closed her eyes tight, hoping to blank Ryou and everyone else out of her mind. It didn't work. He'd ruined her life once, and, just as she and her family began to pick the pieces back up, he was back for a second go. It just wasn't fair…

"Penelope…?" Téa said tentatively from the doorway. Penelope couldn't help but smile a little. Evidentially, Téa was the sort of person who wanted to be friends with everyone, and for everyone to be friends. Amane was just like that to.

"Hi, Téa."

They stood for a moment, awkward, silent.

"Well?" Penelope asked eventually, arms folded across her chest. "Did he tell you what that was about?"

Téa, looking slightly wary, shook her head.

"Somehow, I didn't think he would."

"Um…" Téa began, hesitantly. "I don't know you very well, Penelope, but… Well. I do know Ryou, and he really is a good person." Penelope looked at her, waiting for her to finish. "So… I… um… I don't know what happened between you two, but I'm sure that if you gave him a chance you'd find he's a good friend."

"Yeah?" Penelope asked, moving towards the door. "I thought that once to." Téa looked at her in confusion. "Class is about to start." Penelope continued. "We'd better get back…"

Téa lead the way in silence, not daring to say anything more. This time, she probably didn't want to know.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Meanwhile, in the gents toilets, Ryou was absently rinsing the left hand side of his blazer. It was too big for the sink, so he could only wash one side at a time- although it didn't seem to be working very well. Perhaps the royal blue would always remain orange and brown. He had changed his school shirt for his PE one, hoping none of the teachers would notice between now and the end of the day, but he didn't have a spare blazer, and if he didn't wear it, he'd be in trouble. And so, he rinsed and washed as best he could despite how futile it all was.

As he did so, he wondered about things. He wondered if the stains would ever come out. He wondered where he would get a new blazer from if they wouldn't. He wondered if Jason had come to, and how he was. Judging by Penelope's feelings towards him, not too well. He wondered if she missed Amane as much as he did. He wondered if he'd ever have chance to ask her without being hit by the heaviest projectiles she could find. He wondered why nothing happened for a year or so, and then everything happened at once. He wondered when life had become so very complicated.

"Hey, Ryou?" Yugi's head appeared round the door from the corridor. "Um… class is about to start…"

Ryou glanced at his watch, sitting on the side so it wouldn't get wet. To his surprise, the bell to signal the end of lunch really was about to go. "Oh… Alright. Thank you." He replied. Yugi left again, and Ryou removed his soggy blazer, wringing it out- which didn't make a blind bit of difference- and put it back on, dampness and all. The stains were as obvious as ever. He felt this description was beginning to fit his life. Sighing, he put his watch back on, and painted a smile on his face- ready to find the whole ordeal quietly amusing.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

The straw slurped noisily as he fought to get the dregs out of the bottom of the plastic milkshake container. And it wasn't just Joey. After a second, Tristan joined in and they had slurping in Stereo. Téa eyed them in slight distaste, and Yugi tried to look like he didn't know them; which was hard, given the fact that the four were seated around the same table in the local McDonalds. They had wanted to go to Burger World, but Téa was adamant that she would never go back there. So here they were. And the topic of discussion was, naturally, Ryou's sudden mood swing.

"I am kinda worried about him…" Yugi admitted. "His personality's done a U-Turn."

Téa nodded in agreement. "And it's not just since Penelope arrived, either. It kinda makes you realise how little we actually know about him…"

"I thought that to." Yugi said, looking slightly downcast. "It's just that from the moment he got here, we had the Ring to deal with, and one thing was followed by another, and another… I guess we never really asked him about himself."

"So you're saying we don't know him at all?" Tristan asked, eyes narrowed. "That he probably deserved to have pasta chucked all over him?"

"Of course not!" Téa answered, looking appalled at the idea. "I just meant we don't know much about his past. Like Penelope. He never mentioned her. In fact, I don't think he's ever mentioned anyone… Has he to you guys?"

They shook their heads.

"Well," Joey put in. "I still think he dumped her. It looked an awful lot like a lovers' tiff to me!"

"I don't think so…" Téa shook her head, slowly. "I think there's more to it then that. I just don't know what…"

"The way I see it," Joey began, stubbornly. "They- Whaa!"

"Whaa…?" The other three chorused in confusion.

"It's Serenity!" Joey yelled, stabbing a finger in the direction of the window. "What's she doing here!"

Yugi and Téa swivelled, with Tristan peering over their heads. One of the people walking past outside was, without any doubt, Serenity. They came to the conclusion that the best way to answer Joey's question would be to ask Serenity herself, and so, they ran out of the restaurant to catch her up.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

As the days passed, Ryou's apparently natural optimism reasserted itself, until he was almost himself again. His friends were relieved- whatever had been getting him down was apparently over and done with. After the rocky start, Ryou and Penelope had developed a working relationship- they ignored each other wherever possible. Penelope ignored Ryou because if she didn't she would end up losing it again, and next time it might be something worse then a blazer that had to go to the dry cleaners'. Ryou ignored Penelope because he knew that was what she wanted, and he owed her that. But it still hurt. He wished, sometimes, that he could talk to her about the old times…

But it was alright. Ryou's walk home brought him past the Hinata High School, usually just as the students were being allowed out. And, recently, Serenity had started there. While Joey had a far more direct route from his school back to his flat, Serenity had to circle all the way round due to the canal and a railway that wound around it. This took her Ryou's way, and, he had to admit, while had at first been dubious about having company at a time he was used to spending alone, he enjoyed walking with her. She was intelligent and funny, and about as shy as he was. Sometimes they barely said more then hello and goodbye to each other. Sometimes they'd be so deep in conversation that they'd pass right past where Serenity turned off and she'd have to go back on herself. But, most importantly, it distracted him. Usually, in that mile or two that he walked alone, he would end up thinking about before, mistakes he'd made, people he'd left behind or that had left him, and sometimes that was just too much to bear. The company stopped these sombre thoughts, and that was in no way a bad thing.

Serenity enjoyed the walks home to. At first, she had been a little concerned about walking home alone on unfamiliar streets, but ever since she had bumped into Ryou on her way back after the first day, and he'd insisted on showing her the way when she expressed her uncertainty, she'd been doing just fine. It had even got her talking to people- she was the 'new girl', she didn't know anyone, and apart from some people who were merely trying to be friendly out a sense of decency, Ryou seemed to be a real conversation started. Everyone wanted to know who the guy who met her every night was. From this, she had got over her shyness and was now embarking on several new friendships that she was certain would only grow over time. He knew all about them- not why they got talking, but whatever- and everyday, when he politely inquired how her day had been in his customary way, she'd tell him all about everything. He'd changed schools a lot to. He knew what she was talking about.

Plus, when she had company, she wouldn't have to think about the parent she'd left behind, or the one she was going back to. Not that she saw her dad all that often. When Joey had said their dad was 'better then he was', he'd been speaking the truth- he rarely said or did anything to Joey now. In fact, when their dad was in, they made every effort to be out, and when he was out, they would be in. She wasn't even sure if he knew she was there. But she knew that she couldn't go back. She wouldn't.

Just as Ryou turned the corner onto the road holding the school, he faintly heard the bell signalling the end of the day ring. Hinata High was an impressive place, the fence high and the posts made of black marble. In time with the bell, the massive iron gates were sliding open, the double H insignia splitting in half. He and Serenity agreed that, posh as it was, it was also slightly chintzy. Inside the grounds were neat paths and a front lawn that made it look more like a Manor House- and indeed, it was a converted one- then a school, all red brick and windows with the shutters thrown open. What had once been the Front Door opened, and the students spilled out, nowhere near as ordered and civilised as the building and the prospectus suggested. Ties were loosed before even reaching the gates; students trampled directly across the carefully maintained lawns, girls in groups and boys in gangs. Some got out as fast as they could, and others took a quick detour to speak to someone before he left. Some girls even sat down in the corner of one of the lawns and started eating. But he couldn't see Serenity among them…

There she was, hopping down the stone steps and still trying to switch her indoor shoes for her outdoor ones while balancing the brown briefcase-esque monstrosity Hinata called a 'bag'. She'd had to buy both specially- the regulation black outdoor shoes and the soft brown ones that were more like slippers so they wouldn't damage the old wooden floorings, as well as the bag. She had told him that inside, the wooden floors were highly polished, that some rooms were made entirely of marble fittings, that the ceilings were painted Sistine-chapel style and that some of the rooms still had stuffed animals in them. Ryou wasn't sure which apparent features he believed were true. Whatever it had been in the past, the Hinata Estate was now Hinata High, and would have been converted to do that job. One thing was for sure- he was more bothered by the stuffed animals then she was. He didn't care how much she teased him, they were darned creepy…

She saw him and waved, quickening her pace but then slowing down as someone called her. The two girls were dressed identically, in their school uniforms; and they looked far smarter then Ryou's own still-slightly-orange-in-places blazer. The uniform itself was a black blazer, with a flattened collar and Hinata's double H crest on the breast pocket. It was quite long as well, falling just short of where the knee-length pleated skirts ended. Between this was a white shirt, and a dark blue tie that was worn short as opposed to full length, again with the school crest on the knot. One thing was for sure, they wanted people to know where these kids were from. Above the shoes Serenity had now managed to get on were white socks, as per school regulations. They even insisted that anyone with long hair had it tied up while in school, and so everything from pigtails to buns to ponytails bobbed around on the back of people's heads. That was why Ryou knew he could never go to Hinata High. He hated tying his hair up.

"Hi!" Serenity said, cheerily, finally reaching him. The second she got out of the gate, she pulled the band out of her hair and let it fall free.

"Hello." Ryou replied, calmly. "Good day?"

Serenity sighed, blowing strands of her hair out of the way as they began walking along. "It was alright. I get on fine there. It's dead posh, though." She rolled her eyes. "I quite find myself talking like this!" She added, in her best upper-class accent. Ryou looked at her with such suspicion that she felt slightly off put. "What?"

"Well, that sounded very like your brother's impression of how I speak!" He said, indignantly. "Are you mocking me?"

"No…" Serenity replied, uncertain, not sure if he was joking or not. He just smiled, which was no indication whatsoever.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud." He said, suddenly. Now he'd lost her.

"What?"

"The sky." He said, by way of explanation. "The clouds are wandering…"

"Sure." She laughed slightly, used to him being random.

"But the question is, where's the comma?" He mused. "Is it 'I wandered lonely as a cloud', or 'I wandered, lonely as a cloud'? Is he the lonely one, or is the cloud?"

"Good question…" Serenity answered, thinking about it. He did that. He'd say something random and you'd think about something you'd never thought about before. Like if clouds were lonely.

"And here's another good question." Ryou continued. "Cyclops, in the X-Men. Why is he called Cyclops if he's got two eyes? And how do those glasses stop the lasers? And when he shuts his eyes, why aren't the lids burnt shut?"

"…That was several good questions." Serenity shrugged. "And, having never seen X-men, I have no answers."

"Ah well. Life goes on."

"I have a good question." She said, just as suddenly. "Can you imagine Mai as the Queen of Hearts?"

"Yes." Ryou said, completely unfazed. "And I always thought Yugi would make a very good Dormouse in the teapot."

"That's just what I thought!" Serenity agreed happily. She was happy. One of her favourite pass-times was imagining little parodies of famous books and films for people she knew to fill the roles. She hadn't ever told anyone about them before. She thought she'd be laughed at- it was a strange thing to think about, certainly. But she had taken a gamble with someone who seemed to have an equally erratic thought pattern, and it had paid off.

They continued discussing Alice in Wonderland casting; with Téa as Alice, and Joey as the Mad Hatter, and Tristan as the March Hare, Duke as the Cheshire Cat, Kaiba as the grumpy caterpillar, and Rex as Tweedle Dum with Weevil as Tweedle Dee. It had took some debate as to which one of the duellists should be which Tweedle, but he had conceded to her point eventually.

"You have to be the White Rabbit." She giggled, eying his hair.

Ryou sighed deeply. "Oh, surprise." He said, but then obligingly added "I'm late! I'm late!"

Serenity laughed, but it petered out as she came to a realisation. "Oh…"

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"There's no-one left for me to be…"

"Of course there is." Ryou smiled. "It's obvious which part you are."

"It is?" Serenity asked, puzzled. She had read the book many times, and she couldn't think of any more characters, at least not of any significance…

"Yes." Ryou nodded, seriously. "You're the Narrator."

She stared and he just smiled as he always did until she shook her head in exasperation. "Fine… I'm the Narrator, then. What next?"

"It'll have to wait." Ryou replied. "I've just realised something."

"What?"

"We've walked past your turn off again. Opps-a-daisy."

Serenity sighed, waved, and turned around. She could hear him laughing to himself as she walked away. But she'd have the last laugh. Whenever she needed to, she could envision him with bunny legs and an oversized pocket watch, hopping himself into a flap.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

This time, Ryou was prepared for the attack, and greeted Joey before the boy could hit him round the head from behind like every other morning.

"Hey, Ryou." He checked around to make sure no-one was listening in, but only about half of the students had arrived and the classroom was almost empty. "I need a favour…"

"Well, I'll help if I can…" Ryou answered quietly, putting Spidey down for the moment.

"Serenity." He said, sounding worried. "You know she's run away from our mom's, right?"

Ryou nodded. He'd guessed.

"She seems really serious about it, to." Joey continued. "The school, and now she's planning to get into the house while mom's at work to get the rest of her stuff…"

Ryou said nothing, not sure where this was going. Surely, Joey liked having his only sister around…?

"But all it's gonna take is my dad to get home early one night and…" Joey trailed off. "I don't want her mixed up in all that. And my mom… she always liked 'Ren better- said I was too much like him." He snorted. "They're close- or they were. I don't want her chucking all that away."

"No." Ryou agreed, as it seemed to be a good time to same something.

"So I wondered if you would talk to her." Joey said, finally. "She just tells me that she doesn't want to talk about it. But if you ask her- y'know, you're not family, so she has to be polite- I thought maybe you'd…"

"I'll try." Ryou promised, saving him from saying any more. Just then, Penelope arrived, and so he hid back in the pages of the Marvel-illustrated book.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"Darth Vader."

"Kaiba!"

"Obi Wan."

"Um… Ishzu. Even if she is the wrong gender."

"C3PO."

"Tough one…" Ryou pondered. "Téa."

"Are you suggesting Téa's whiny and annoying?" Serenity quizzed, having heard his earlier opinion on the android.

"Of course not." He said, innocently. "Carry on."

"Right. Yoda."

"It has to be Grandpa Motto." Ryou said, without hesitation.

Serenity giggled and they subsided into a companionable silence. Serenity knew he was only just starting to get more chatty, was making a real effort at it, and so she didn't push him if he thought the conversation was over. However, this time, he spoke first.

"Serenity…" He said, carefully. "What are you doing here?"

She blinked. "What are you asking?"

"Why you're here." He repeated. "Not that I don't enjoy your company… it's just we have to wonder why you left home so suddenly."

"I… I had a bit of an argument with my mom." Serenity said, eventually, not at all sure if she wanted to tell him. "Well, a lot of an argument. She was trying to control my life."

"That's what mothers do." Ryou pointed out. "Are you sure she wasn't thinking in your best interests…?"

"I know she was." Serenity sighed. "But she was trying to hide me away from the world. She didn't want me to leave her side, like it wasn't safe to be alone… I just had no space to be me. When it got to the point that she wouldn't let me make friends either, I just… I had to get out of there."

"I think I would have done to." Ryou surprised her by saying. "Still… if she's only thinking about you, don't you think that's the most important thing?"

"No." Serenity shook her head, holding her briefcase-bag close to her, like an infant with a teddy. "It had gone past the point of over-protective love into obsessive, paranoid behaviour. She wouldn't even let me go down to the shops. I think she was worried I'd be kidnapped. Or that I'd run away."

"And then you did run away." Ryou pointed out, mildly. "So she wasn't that far off."
"I guess not…" Serenity agreed. "But… I had to go. I was going crazy. She already was crazy. It was scary… My mom's gone in the head…" She looked at him imploringly. "That was part of the reason, to. Maybe if I wasn't there, she could get herself back together."

"I see." Ryou said, softly. "So, when is it going to be time to phone her? To go home?"
"It's not home." Serenity stated, coolly. "And it's never going to be time to go back. I can't go back, Ryou, I just… can't."

"Okay." He said, simply. His tone held no judgement or accusations, but she felt them anyway, swelling from the uncertainty inside her.

"You live alone to, right?" she pointed out. "So you're even worse then I am! At least I'm with family!"

"You're quite right." He nodded. "But I would love to live with my family. More then anything."

"Then… why…?" Serenity asked, slowly.

Ryou swallowed. He supposed, as she had opened up to him, he should tell her. "I used to live in England." He began. "All over England, really. We had to keep moving because… That is, my mom, and Amane, and I."

"Who's Amane?" Serenity asked, carefully.

"She was my twin sister." Ryou said, smiling to cover the painful memories. "My other half. You would have liked her a lot, I think. But… well, I was out, and when I got home, the fire fighters were putting out the last of the blaze. I saw my mother's body being lifted out of the wreckage of the stairs. She was dead before they got her into the ambulance- she was gone, and our house had gone, and Amane was gone…" He bit his lip slightly. "And I just ran away. I didn't know what else to do." He shuddered a little. "My dad was- still is- alive somewhere. I just have to find him. He was- he is- an archaeologist of some eminence. And ever since Amane and I were born, they started putting money into accounts for us to use when we were grown up… Of course, I needed it a little sooner. I know my dad had close links to the museum here in Domino, his home town, so I came here hoping…"

"Hoping to find him." Serenity finished. Ryou nodded.

"So far, no luck." He shrugged, making out it was much less of a deal then it really was. "So I've built a life here. But sometimes I wonder if he even knows that mom and Amane…"

"Oh…" Serenity sighed. What could be said to that? Joey had never told her. Maybe he didn't even know. It didn't seem like the sort of thing Ryou would broadcast. "…Thanks for telling me." She said, eventually. "And it worked."

"Worked?" he asked, confused.

"I'll give my mom another chance, as she's still here." Serenity said, looking at the floor. "It hardly seems fair that you want to see your family but can't, when I'm being so pig-headed about my mom…" She shuddered slightly at the thought of seeing the Wicked Witch of the West again. But she'd try. "Just not yet." She added. "I'm not ready to go back yet. But I will, one day. I promise."

"Thank you." Ryou said, with nothing else to be said. Actions spoke louder then words, and, rather then offering empty consoling statements, she had taken it into account and very quickly got things back into perspective. That was more then anyone had ever done.

"Do you miss them?" Serenity asked, quietly.

"Dreadfully." Ryou admitted. "I try not to think about them to much."

"But you should think about them!" Serenity protested, loudly. "When you loose someone close to you, you should think about them everyday! Not to get sad because they're not around anymore; but if you loved them that much you need to think about them! You owe more to them then to just forget! You need to remember the good times, and when things are bad, remember that things were better and will be better again! And if you went to them for advice, you need to wonder what they would say! If you went to them for help on homework, you need to remember what they taught you!"

Ryou looked a little taken aback.

"If they were that close to you, you can't just wipe them out of your life. People that are close to you change your life. You can't just ignore them after they're gone anymore then you would when they were alive. The only way they're still here is through you, and your memories, and the way you do as they showed you." Serenity concluded. "At least, that's what my granddad told me when my grandma died…"

Ryou didn't say anything for a long time, and they continued walking along in silence, as he stared at the pavement. Serenity wondered if she had overstepped the line, but really, he was just mulling it over. He had pushed the memories aside as best they could, because they hurt so; but they just kept bubbling back up to the surface. Would it really be so bad to let them come…? It would hurt a lot. But he should be able to deal with that now, when he had so much going for him. Maybe he shouldn't try to forget.

"You know…" he said, as they reached their time to separate. "I think that's quite possibly the best advice I've ever had. Bar my mom telling me not to play with the electric drill."

"I think I maybe got the best advice I've ever had to." Serenity replied. "Including the time when my brother told me that if I left drawing pins around an anthill, the ants would come out and use them as umbrellas in the rain."

They parted, both heading home, both with a lot to think over.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

The phone rang out into the office, piercing and intrusive. He really needed to get one that wasn't quite so loud… Seto Kaiba picked up, expecting to hear the voice of Okawa telling him it was so-and-so from the such-and-such department of the-I-couldn't-care-less company. But the voice at the end of the line was defiantly not Okawa's.

"Yes?" He barked.

"A nice tone to answer with, Seto." He chirruped. Seto knew that voice. "I'd be quite offended if we didn't need you."

"Hang up." Seto commanded, recovering. "Right now, and never ring this number again."

"Oh, but we have so much to catch up on!" The man continued. Seto slammed the receiver down. Immediately, it began ringing again. Seto did not answer. It did not stop. Seto ignored it. It did not stop. The answering machine didn't cut in. It still didn't stop. Eventually, Seto forced the cord from it's socket in the wall. That stopped it.

But he was fairly sure it wouldn't stop them. And he would be ready for them.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

A good question is 'Can blind people see in their dreams?', and, as always, the answer is not a definite one. If the person was born blind, they cannot. If they once had the use of their eyes, then in some dreams they will.

'To see', however, is the very most ambiguous word. See what? To see physically what's in front of you? To see through people? To see with the mind's eye? To see what others do not?

Serenity came very close to losing her eyesight once. But I get the feeling that even if she had, she would have seen far more then I do. She thinks in a way different to my own. Compared to her, I feel positively blind.

I had never looked on remembering people in that way before. But perhaps it really is time I stopped shutting my eyes on the past, and admitted that it's there.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

A/N: My apologies for the rushed ending. Mine sister was going to bed, so I had to finish fast. (Sweatdrop) She's not ALWAYS in bed, I promise... Actually, I ought to go soon. So... Rhetorical questions? Okay. What does Penelope have against Ryou? Will the sauce ever come out of his Blazer? Who would play Hans Solo? Find out- well, some of them- in the next chapter- A Superhero Story Chapter Three- A Villian...