The following takes place during Friends 'til the End.

"You… love me?" Rebecca asks in surprise. She hasn't got that warped voice anymore: it's her!

"Yes" I answer "I didn't want to tell you in this scenario, but… since probably one of us is going to die… I wanted you to know"

I see tears coming out of her eyes. "Richard…"

She then turns her head for a second and, when she faces me again, she has that blank expression again. "Love won't help you in this duel" she says with the voice of Marik "Just return to your place and continue the duel"

My face turns sad again and I obey. "I only have 20 minutes before the anchor drags both of us into the ocean" I think "I can't give up now. I'll find out a way to save us both in this little time"

"It's your turn!" she says as I get into position again.

"Step by step Marik's spell is going off" I think "I don't have much time, so I'll fight 'til the end!"

I then silently draw my card, which is Mad Lobster. "I hope this works" I think "I place two cards face-down and Summon Mad Lobster in Attack Mode!"

A red lobster with a demonic face and a pair of giant pincers appears on the field (ATK: 1700).

"Forgive me, Rebecca. Mad Lobster, attack directly!"

The lobster closes its right pincer and delivers a powerful punch to Rebecca.

LP Richard 900

LP Rebecca 600

"It's my turn now!" she says drawing her new card and placing it on the Duel Disk. "I Summon Luster Dragon!"

A blue humanoid dragon appears on the field (ATK: 1900).

"Attack Mad Lobster!"

Luster Dragon launches from its mouth a fire attack, aiming at my monster.

"Activate Trap Card! Negate Attack!"

She makes a surprised face as her attack is blocked.

"I'm going to fight until you break free!" I think as I draw my card "I sacrifice Mad Lobster to Summon Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness!"

The giant orca appears on the field (ATK: 2100).

"Destroy that Luster Dragon!"

My monster dives into the water and resurfaces right under Luster Dragon, eating it in the process.

LP Richard 900

LP Rebecca 400

"You can't reduce my Life Points to 0 with such a weak attack!" she says smirking.

"Just as I thought: an attack like that cannot wake you up" I think "There are only 10 minutes left! What do I do?"

"It's my turn" she says drawing her card. I see her scanning her hand.

"Rebecca" I say "Did you forget what we've done in the past week? Did you forget our first date?"

She ignores me and takes the card she drew along with the last card on her left. "I place two face-down cards and end my turn"

"I have no choice. Looks like I have to fight back!" I think as I draw my card, which is Spell of Pain "I place this card face-down and I use Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness to attack you directly!"

She smirks as my monster attacks. "You fell for it!I activate my Magic Card Scapegoat! This card Summons four Sheep Tokens to my field to protect my Life Points!"

"I won't let you!" I exclaim "I activate my face-down card Spell Shield Type-8! By discarding 1 card from my hand I negate the activation of your Magic Card and destroy it!"

A weird looking device appears on my field. It shoots a beam and destroys Scapegoat.

"Damn!" she curses "I activate my Trap Card Gravity Bind!"

Suddenly my monster stops as an invisible barrier blocks it.

"With this in play, only Level 3 or lower monsters can attack" she explains.

"With it we're in a stalemate" I think "I need to reduce both our Life Points down to 0 at the same time. It's the only way to escape"

All of a sudden, I hear a car coming. I turn and see that Tristan, Mai and two guys (one male and one female) I never met are here. Mokuba goes to them to explain the situation.

"We only have 4 minutes left!" I think "If we continue like this we'll both lose!"

"It's my turn now!" she says drawing her card.

All of a sudden she starts groaning in pain. "Ri… chard…" she says weakily with her own voice.

She then groans again and shouts in the sky. "SHUT UP! I'M NOT KILLING THE GUY I LOVE!"

"Rebecca…" I simply say, tears starting to drop "We're almost out of time! I have to act!"

I then get up and shout: "Marik! I know you're watching us! Let me tell you this: the real loser of this Duel is neither me or Rebecca… it's you! You can manipulate your mind with your hocus pocus magic crap, but Rebecca will not give in! We've only got one minute left! In this minute, I'll bring Rebecca back!"

"Ri… chard…" she simply says as she starts crying as well.

"Maybe we'll both sink into the ocean, but you'll remember this loss for your whole life, Marik!" I continue "Come at me now!"

I see Rebecca holding up the card she drew. At the same time though I see she's trying to resist. All of a sudden then, she screams and a Wedjat eye appears on her forehead. "TAKE THIS!" she yells "METEOR OF DESTRUCTION!"

As she activates the card a giant black hole appears above us, a huge meteor coming out of it.

Rebecca then opens her eyes. "I LOVE YOU TOO, RICHARD!"

As said that, the Wedjat eye on her forehead disappears.

"Richard!" she says as she looks at me. She's back again!

"I did it!" I think "Marik, my face-down card is Spell of Pain! A card that allows me to bounce any kind of damage I would take to my opponent! But I won't use it, because I will never kill the girl I love and that I know that loves me back!"

I then face Rebecca again. "I guess this is over, Rebecca"

"Over?" she asks.

"You broke free of Marik's spell and you're back again. We won"

Finally Meteor of Destruction hits me as Rebecca shouts my name between tears.

LP Richard 0

LP Rebecca 400

As the smoke fades, I lay on the ground, fainted. The last words I hear are Rebecca's, asking Orca Mega-Fortress of Darkness attacking her because of Meteor of Destruction's other effect.

LP Richard 0

LP Rebecca 0

When I open my eyes, I'm all wet and Rebecca is right in front of me. "What… just happened?" I ask.

"When both our Life Points hit 0, I managed to unlock my handcuff and then the anchor went down" Rebecca explains, still in tears "You fell down with it and I dived into the water and saved you"

I smile. "Thank you, Rebecca"

She hushes me. "Don't say anything"

Our faces slowly come closer and we finally kiss, the last lights of the sun giving us the right atmosphere.

We're now in front of Rebecca's hotel and the moon is the only thing that enlightens us.

"Listen, I want you to go back to America" I say to her "Right now, it's too dangerous here and I don't want Marik to do anything funny with you again"

"But if I go back, when will I be able to see you again?" she asks worried.

I caress her hair. "As soon as this tournament is over, I will come. I promise"

She smiles at me. "I'll be waiting for you"

We share a quick kiss then she enters the hotel.

And cut! I just love writing fluffy stuff, but I don't think I'm very good at it. Anyway, this chapter ends and Richard still needs to gather 2 Locator Cards in order to go to the finals. Will he be able to do it in time? You'll find out next chapter. Until then, hasta la vista!