AnimeKiwi369: I don't remember the last time I updated.

Copper: You are stressed aren't you?

AnimeKiwi369: Yeah. High school is tough. Homework is tough. Getting around to reading is tough. Getting around to writing is tough.

Copper: Didn't you make a new scheduling chart?

AnimeKwi369: Yeah. So now I will be more organized.

Copper: Well that's good.

AnimeKiwi369: Yep. And now we see how things are going to pan out between you and your friends.

Copper: That's what all of us have been waiting for.

AnimeKiwi369: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's or its characters. I own and will only ever own my own characters and the storyline. And all the cards I own are bolded.

Chapter 18

Rekindling Friendships

Yusei gently stroked Copper's hair. She had fallen asleep about ten minutes ago. He had told her to rest because she was exhausted from the lack of sleep she had been getting. The dark-haired girl was very relaxed as she slept with her head against her father's chest.

She was still feverish, but it was just exhaustion, he had decided. Whenever the young psychic got sick, while she did have a fever, there were many other things, but glazed eyes always gave her away. With enough sleep and water, the fever would break soon.

"Mmm…Lane…" Copper slept talked. Yusei smiled down at her; his daughter was having her first crush. Or possibly in love, "Dad…Mom…" she spoke in her sleep again.

He was waiting for Akiza, still. She was almost there, though. The headlights from her car could be seen from a little ways away. The dark-haired man was going to put his daughter in the car with his wife and then ride home on his runner. His wife was going to tow their daughter's runner too. The redhead silently pulled up and got out of the car. She came over to hill and sat next to them.

"I'm so glad you found her." She whispered, relief dripping in each word.

"I am, too." He replied.

"Are you two all right?" the female Signer asked with concerned eyes.

"Yeah, thankfully." He responded, "I don't think I've ever been that worried. For a while I thought she wasn't going to forgive me."

"Is she all right?" Akiza inquired, seeing her child asleep against her husband's chest.

"Yeah, she's just exhausted from lack of sleep." Yusei replied.

"I should've guessed as much." The redhead commented.

"She is feverish though." He said, "But it's just exhaustion, again."

"All right." The psychic responded and stood up, "Come on, honey. It's late."

He nodded, "Right."

The dark-haired man slipped his arms under Copper and carefully lifted her. He took her over to the redhead's car, where his wife had the passenger door open. He gently set his daughter in the passenger seat and strapped her in. The Signer placed another kiss on her forehead before closing the door.

He silently pushed his daughter's runner to the towing line behind his wife's car, putting the helmet in the backseat. He secured the runner to the line before going to his wife. He looked her in the eyes and smiled slightly. She smiled slightly back and pressed herself close to him. Akiza pecked his cheek briefly before moving away from him.

"I'll see you at home, Stardust."

Yusei nodded, "See you at home, Black Rose."

A Little While Later

Copper stirred slightly as her mother's car pulled into the garage. She looked a bit dazed at her mother. The relief on her face was more than obvious.

"M-Mom?" she croaked out. The brown-eyed woman looked at her and smiled a little. She reached a hand over and ran her hand down her daughter's cheek, "You're not mad?"

Akiza shook her head, "I'm just relieved and happy you're safe."

"I'm sorry, mom." The blue-indigo-eyed girl apologized.

"It's all right." She replied, "Why don't you just go upstairs and to bed?" she suggested, "I'll make you a special breakfast later today."

"'Today'?" Copper repeated.

"It's nearly two in the morning."

"Oh."

The redhead laughed a little, "Just go get some sleep. You really need it."

"All right." The dark-haired girl replied, unbuckling the seatbelt as her mother did. She got out at the same time as well. She didn't head towards the door, instead going over to her mother, tightly embracing her, "I'm sorry for worrying you. I love you, mom."

Akiza kissed her daughter's forehead, "It's all right. I love you, too. Just go to bed before I need to materialize a card to get you to go."

Copper smiled, "All right."

A Few Days Later

Yusei went upstairs to check on his daughter again. It had been about three days since the dark-haired girl had snapped and reconnected with him. He was a little worried, though because the psychic hadn't woken up since she fell asleep three nights ago. But she hadn't been sleeping well and needed the rest. Her fever had broken the previous day; it had only been induced by exhaustion.

He quietly opened the door. Copper was still asleep on her right side. She looked so peaceful; the dark circles under her eyes were gone by now. The dark-haired man went in his child's room and sat next to her again. The girl buried her head deep in her pillow, taking a deep contented breath. She stirred a little and cracked her left eye open.

"Welcome back to the world of the living." Yusei greeted with a chuckle.

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning onto her back.

"You've been asleep for about three days. Martha, my mother, and your grandmother and grandfather Izinski wanted to come over and up to see if you were still alive." He replied, chuckling; all of them had wanted to do that, "But you needed the rest."

"When were they over?" she asked, "Martha, grandpa, and grandma, I mean. I know your mother's here."

"They were over here earlier today and yesterday." He replied, "They were all very worried. They're going to be stopping by later as well. How do you feel after seventy-two hours of sleep?"

Copper sat up a little and yawned slightly, "I don't think I've ever slept so great. No nightmares. Just peaceful dreams."

"I bet I can think of a time you slept just as peaceful." He argued slightly.

"When?" She asked curiously.

"Whenever you slept in your mother's arms, you were peaceful." He replied softly, brushing her hair away from her face with his hand.

"Oh." She said quietly, "Is mom all right?"

"Yeah, she's fine." He responded, "She's at work, but only for a few more minutes. She's worried, but not so much as to stay home from work. I stayed because I took the next few days off for you."

"Oh." She repeated with a smile, "Thank you. Umm, dad?" Copper asked a bit sheepishly.

"Yes?" he inquired.

"Can I have something to eat?" she asked, "I'm starving."

Yusei chuckled again, "Of course."

A Few Days Later

Copper walked downstairs as she tied her hair in a braid. Fairwin was hitching a ride on her shoulder. She had taken a shower and her hair was still damp. She was wearing a pair of black jean shorts with her black stockings and gloves. She had a gray v-neck T-shirt that showed a somewhat decent amount of skin; she had a burgundy undershirt that covered some of the skin along with a burgundy stripe across her stomach and lower back. But the goggles she wore around her neck sometimes covered most of her skin.

She knew both her parents would be at work. They had to begin having full days again sometime. But she had enjoyed the last few days with her father. They had spent a lot of time together. He had taken her to the Kaiba dome, which he reserved for a couple hours (he did have that power being the King of turbo duels), and turbo dueled her a couple times.

Martha and her mother's parents had come over a few times that week. Not only to check up on her, but also to get to know (or in Hideo and Setsuko's case get to know again) Nan. They had all been relieved the young psychic was all right now. But the dark-haired had felt a little bad for worrying them. They had reassured her it was all right.

The blue-indigo-eyed girl had been sleeping a lot better. She'd had a couple of visions, but they didn't scare her. They were sweet comforting ones. Copper felt relieved. She wasn't worrying about those nightmares anymore. The psychic went into the kitchen, where her grandmother was cleaning up from her breakfast. Her father's mother noticed her.

"Good morning, Cyli." She greeted. Nan was still calling her by the first part of her actual name.

"Good morning." She replied; she was still getting to know the brunette.

"Food's still hot." The former professor told her.

"Okay." She responded, setting her ferret on the table. She set up her plate. Her grandmother sat back down at the table as she poured a glass of juice. She laughed a little at the memory of being told about "the incident". The dark-haired girl got a small bowl filled with Fairwin's food before sitting down herself.

"Do you have any plans today?" the brunette asked her.

Copper swallowed a piece of toast and shook her head, "No; I normally do things with John, Raven, and Lane, but I still haven't really spoken to them. I was thinking about asking them to meet up with me later so I can apologize to them."

"Sounds like a plan. They called earlier to see if you were all right. And the boy, Lane, I think; the one that's Ava and Will's grandson, called several times when you were asleep for three days last week."

"H-He did?" she stuttered slightly, a blush forming. He still cares. She thought.

"Yes; is something wrong?" Nan asked, seeing the blush. A flicker of realization crossed across her face, "Do you like him?"

The psychic nodded, taking a bite of a strawberry, "Yeah."

Her grandmother laughed lightly, "I remember being in love for the first time." She commented, "I can still remember meeting him for the first time…"

"My father's father?" Copper asked.

"Yeah." The brunette replied slightly absently, "He could be so silly sometimes. I don't think I will ever stop loving Hakase."

"I positive the same applies to my parents." The dark-haired girl commented.

"I can see that." Her grandmother agreed, "They truly love each other."

The double-Marked Signer smiled, "Yeah, they do."

Later That Day

She took a deep breath and dialed Raven's cell number. It rang several times. She sighed; she had a feeling she wasn't going to answer. Her friends were still probably mad.

"Hello?" a feminine voice asked. But it wasn't Raven's.

"Robyn?" Copper asked, "What are you doing with Ray's phone?"

"She was charging it and forgot to take it with her." The younger girl responded.

"Do…Do you know where she is?" she asked, hopeful.

"She said she was going to be with John and Lane at the park."

"Thanks, Robyn. Bye."

"Bye, Copper." The blonde girl on the other end replied, hanging up.

The dark-haired girl pup her phone in her pocket and grabbed her jacket and helmet. She headed out to the garage.

"Going to meet up with your friends?" Nan asked her, setting down the novel she borrowed from Akiza.

"I'm going to apologize to them again." She responded, "I don't know if they'll respond, but I have to try."

"Be safe, Cyli." Her grandmother told her.

"I will." She replied, going into the garage.

She mounted her runner and took off. She went towards the spot she and her friends always went to, to hang out and duel. She had a slight feeling that they may have wanted to duel her before they would accept her apology.

The girl's thoughts drifted back to what she had done to have her friends so mad at her. She deeply regretted slapping Lane. But what made it worse was that Copper had been ignored when she tried to apologize the first time. Though she was doing much better than the previous couple weeks, she felt like there was a hole in her chest from the anger her friends had towards her.

The psychic pulled into the normal spot, where her friends were already parked. She slowly got off and put her duel disk on. She looked around the park for her friends. She saw them sitting on the ledge by the fountain. John's hair was dripping; Raven must've splashed him.

The ginger was in a light blue tank top with a black cardigan that was tied in front. She was wearing tan shorts to match her boots and gloves. The blonde was in a red shirt with a white jacket that was similar to the one that Jack wore when he was little with blue jeans that were tucked into white boots like Jack's. The ice-blue-haired boy was in an indigo colored v-neck T-shirt with black jeans and tennis shoes. His hair was pulled back.

They looked bored. Copper nervously approached them. They saw her as she came near them. Their expressions were neutral as she went over to them. She looked each of them in the eyes. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she looked at them. The psychic looked down a little.

"I'm sorry." She told them, "Guys, I'm so, so sorry. I know I probably don't deserve to be forgiven for how I yelled at you guys and then slapped Lane. But I can only ask to be forgiven. I miss you guys. I miss my best friends." Several tears slipped from her eyes as she spoke, "I want my friends back."

Lane, John, and Raven looked at each other and then at their psychic friend. Her apology had been more than sincere. They could tell she felt really bad about what had happened between them. The ice-blue-haired boy got up from the fountain. He went over to her and pulled her close. The other two followed suit.

"Huh?" Copper asked as her friends hugged her.

"We forgive you." Lane told her, "Right guys?"

"Yeah." John agreed.

"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't forgive you?" Raven pointed out, "We should apologizing for being so angry when you were angry."

"No, you guys shouldn't. I was mad." The dark-haired girl commented.

"But you had a right to be." John said, "Not to mention you hadn't been getting much sleep."

"But that is done and done. Past is past." Lane stated, as he and the other two tightened the grip.

"Guys…Can't breathe!" she exclaimed, but couldn't help but laugh, "You're going to break all of my ribs at this rate!" Her friends let go of her, laughing at her comment, "Guys, I really am sorry." She repeated.

"Like we said, we forgive you." The other three replied simultaneously.

"Thanks." She responded, drying her eyes, before giving them a smile.

"There is one thing you may want to do to make sure you have our whole trust." John said with a sly smirk.

"And what would that be?" Copper asked, knowing what it was.

"Duel me." he responded, holding up his duel disk.

"I know I can take you out in two rounds, tops." She told him, readying her duel disk.

"I hope you remember what you're getting into, John." Raven commented.

"He does." Lane replied for his friend.

"Let's DUEL!" the blonde and the psychic shouted simultaneously.

Copper: 4000; John: 4000

"Chivalry's dead, Fudo. I go first." John announced.

"Whatever, Atlas." Copper replied.

"I summon Fortune Dragon Fire in attack mode." The blonde boy said as a small red dragon appeared.

Fortune Dragon Fire: Lv. 3. ? ATK/? DEF

"Thanks to its ability similar to my mother's Fortune Ladies, its attack and defense are equal to its level times three hundred."

Fortune Dragon Fire: Lv. 3. 900 ATK/900 DEF

"I'll place one card down and end my turn." The gray-blue-eyed boy said.

Copper: 4000; John: 4000

"Then I draw!" Copper looked down at her hand. Well this is gonna be fun…For me. She thought, smirking slightly, "I think I'll play one of my favorite spells Clustering Stars."

"Y-You got that?" John stammered.

"Yep, and I summon Star Sorceress Nova! And its level is boosted by one and its attack and defense are increased by 1000." A blue-white witch appeared on the dark-haired girl's field.

Star Sorceress Nova: Lv. 7. 3300 ATK/3000 DEF

"And while I could use her ability to wipe your field clean, I won't because as luck would have it, I also have my Blooming Rose spell, so then I special summon Rose Oracle!" she laughed at her luck. The red and black female oracle appeared next to the sorceress.

Rose Oracle: Lv. 6. 2300 ATK/1200 DEF

"This was a bad decision." The blonde muttered.

"Now I think I'll have Rose Oracle attack your Fortune Dragon Fire!" Copper commanded. "Go, Wilting Future!"

Rose Oracle: 2300 ATK; Fortune Dragon Fire: 900 ATK

John's small monster was destroyed as he life points took a big hit.

Copper: 4000; John: 2600

"And now my Sorceress attacks you directly." The psychic said, "Go Nova Strike!"

The sorceress hit her friend, taking the rest of his life points.

Copper: 4000; John: 0

"Well, at least you still aren't afraid to do your one-turn-kill." Their ginger-haired friend commented with a giggle.

"And you still get luck in the hands you draw." Lane put in, "If I didn't know, I'd say you stack your deck."

"But I don't." she shot back, "You can even look if you want. I just have luck on my side."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I know that." The blonde replied irritably, "At least it's only you I can lose to in an O.T.K." he said, using the acronym they used for a "One Turn Kill".

"So we are friends again?" Copper clarified. The other's nodded, "I don't think I've ever felt so relieved."

Coming Up in Lost and Found:

"Well, then, it's a good thing I came to do some of your bidding. I am at your disposal."

"Good. Find Cyli-Elizabeth Fudo. And make that little witch pay. Force her into a turbo duel, don't go easy on her, and by any and all means, make her crash. Destroy her even."

"I will do as you wish sir."

"Overriding duel runner."

"What the…?"

"Copper; she should be home now. She knows I don't like her staying out too long after its dark."

"If she's not here in twenty minutes, give her a call on her cell phone."

"Why does he want to turbo duel me? I don't even know the guy."

"That is true. But I am doing my master's bidding. And you'll duel me. You can't escape, Miss Fudo!"

NEXT TIME—PSYCHIC FORCE

AnimeKiwi369: Oh, I got you wondering now, don't I?

Copper: More torture?

AnimeKiwi369: Oh, wait and see.

Yusei: This can't be good.

Akiza: I have a really bad feeling about this.

AnimeKiwi369: You guys have to trust me more, but considering my history of stories, I don't blame ya.

Copper: So how many reviews do you want before the torture re-commences?

AnimeKiwi369: I think just 10.

Copper: Just 10?

AnimeKiwi369: Just 10. At least. Please. I appreciate everyone that will leave and has left reviews.

Copper: And please, please, please give her 10 or more reviews so she can update!

AnimeKiwi369: What she said. Hopefully, I will be able to update soon. So please be kind and please review! ;D