12. Lost

"Hey, Rip Van Winkle awakens!"

"What?" Yugi slipped onto a stool at the island in the common kitchen. He'd come in search of coffee, but Tristan was at the stove making breakfast again—pancakes, from the smell of it—and he realized he was very hungry. Not surprising, since he'd slept through dinner.

"Rip Van Winkle. American fairy tale about a guy who slept for twenty years." Tristan flipped the pancakes, then looked over his shoulder. "You feeling any better?"

"I… yes, I suppose I am." He still felt shell-shocked from the loss of the wrong memories, but the sleep had definitely done him some good. "Well-rested, anyway, and a little more clear-headed."

"Good. Want some pancakes?"

"Absolutely. I'm starving. And please tell me there's coffee."

"I put a pot on to brew a few minutes ago. Should be ready soon."

"Thank you."

"Oh, I almost forgot." Tristan looked at him over his shoulder again. "Mokuba just called. Sara stayed over with them last night. I guess Kaiba had them pulling an all-nighter, and they fell asleep on him."

Yugi's brow furrowed. "Kaiba wanted to work all night? On this? I'd expect that of him on his own work, but considering Téa had to twist his arm to get him to help at all, it seems a bit odd."

"Mokuba said he thought Kaiba was afraid Téa would go back and chew him out again." Tristan chuckled and Yugi tried to find amusement in that image as well, but picturing a pissed-off Téa wasn't exactly hilarious at the moment.

Tristan slipped some pancakes onto a plate and brought them over to the island, setting them in front of Yugi, He hesitated a moment beside him. "Speaking of Téa, I was up pretty late last night, and I never saw her come in. Think we should check on her?"

Yugi shook his head. "I saw her when she came in last night. Let her sleep. She… she's had a couple of rough days."

Tristan frowned. "I thought you were asleep all night."

"I slept until sometime around midnight, and then got up for a little bit. She was just coming in." He saw Tristan eyeing him with concern, so he was quick to add, "But I did go back to sleep not long after that. I didn't stay up and work all night, if that's what you're worried about."

Tristan sat down on a stool across from him. "That's not all I'm worried about. I don't mean to pry, but are things okay with you and Téa? Everything's been so tense since Egypt, and Serenity said you guys had a fight or something, which is totally not like you two."

Yugi sighed. Choosing his words carefully, he said, "I hope that in the long run everything will be fine, but what happened has made things very… complicated right now."

Tristan nodded. "Listen, Yugi, I know I'm not Joey or anything, but you know I'm here for you, don't you? If you wanna talk about it…."

Yugi felt another pang of guilt for neglecting his friends. "Tristan, there's nothing I would tell Joey that I wouldn't tell you. You both are my closest friends; I hope you know that. I couldn't have made it through everything in Luxor without you guys. I know I've been… distant lately, but it's just because I feel lost with my… my other self in the Shadow Realm, and I'm terrified we won't find a way to fix it."

"We will, dude, no doubt about it." Tristan squeezed Yugi's arm before getting up and returning to the stove. "Coffee should be ready now."

"Thanks. And not just for the coffee and food."

He went over to the coffeepot and was pouring himself a mug when Serenity came in. She stopped short in the door, looking a little stiff and hesitant. "Uh… good morning."

Yugi looked up and thought he saw her exchanging an uncomfortable look with Tristan, but it was gone in an instant, and Tristan was giving her a friendly smile. "Morning, Serenity. Want some pancakes?"

She smiled in return, but it was somewhat faltering. "Yeah, I'd like that." She slipped onto the stool beside the one Yugi was using as Tristan served up some more pancakes.

Yugi sat back down with his coffee, stirring it idly. "Not that I don't appreciate it, Tristan, but you don't have to keep cooking for us."

"Nah, I like cooking breakfast. After two years of army food, I like being able to make something myself that doesn't come out of a little foil package."

Pancakes delivered, he headed back to the stove just as Joey slumped in, hair damp and hanging limply around his face as if he'd already showered, although it obviously hadn't done much to revitalize him. He poured himself onto the stool opposite Serenity and sagged down onto the table, mumbling something unintelligible.

Tristan shook his head as he spooned more batter onto the griddle. "Bro, you look like ten miles of bad road. You need some coffee?"

"Yeah, just pour it through a funnel right into my mouth."

Yugi leaned forward over his plate. "Are you all right, Joey? You're not still sick, are you?"

"I didn't get any sleep."

Yugi blew out a breath of air frustration. "There's been too much of that going around. Listen, you guys have already burned through most of the English and Japanese books. Why don't you take a break today, Joey?"

Joey raised himself up on his elbows. "That's not why I didn't sleep. We've got a huge problem, guys."

Tristan put down the bowl of batter. "Oh good. I was just thinking we didn't have enough problems right now."

"Did Mai have another nightmare?" Serenity asked.

Yugi's eyes widened as he looked from Serenity to Joey. "Mai's having nightmares again?"

The phone rang at that moment. Joey was sitting nearest to it, so he held up a finger to Yugi as he reached for it. "Hold that thought." Into the receiver, he said, "Yo, Joey Wheeler here. Talk to me."

His eyes widened and his expression lightened to something approximating a smile as he shot Tristan an appraising look. "Oh, hey, Paige."

Serenity stiffened, and she and Tristan exchanged another tense look.

Joey was making faces at Tristan as he talked on the phone. "Eh, it wasn't a great trip. But he's mostly better now, yeah. … Yeah, he's right here. Hold on a sec." He hit the mute button on the receiver. "Oh, Tristan, Paige is on the phone for you," he said in a singsong voice like a second grader accusing a classmate of liking girls.

Tristan and Serenity held their gaze a moment more before Serenity dropped her eyes to the counter in front of her as if conceding a contest. Tristan lowered his eyes a moment, too, then turned to Joey and grabbed the cordless phone away from him. "Gimme that."

"Ooooh, Tristan's gotta crush!"

Tristan stared daggers at him. "You have no idea what a colossal jerk you are. I'll take it in my office." He thumbed off the mute button and put the receiver to his ear. "Hey, Paige. … No, it's not too early. I'm really glad to hear from you." He sounded cheerful as he walked out of the kitchen to get some privacy.

Joey was beaming. Well, not really beaming because he still looked like hell, but he definitely looked satisfied. "I knew they was hitting it off before we had to leave London."

Serenity stood up abruptly. "I'm gonna go get started reading. There're still a few Japanese books left to look through."

As she started to head out of the kitchen, Mai walked in. Joey's amused grin fell from his face and was replaced by an anxious look.

"Morning, Serenity. Morning, Yugi. Tell me there's coffee." Mai was already dressed and her face made up, but her tired wave and weary voice belied her lively appearance.

"There's coffee." Serenity arched her eyebrow at Joey as Mai made her way to the coffee pot.

"Mai?" All amusement was gone from Joey's face, and his voice was tight and dry. "How you feeling this morning?"

Mai continued pouring her coffee, not even bothering to look in his direction.

Joey clenched his jaw. "Mai?"

She turned, her coffee mug in her hand, and looked at Yugi and Serenity. "Okay, kiddos, I'm gonna go give the French another go. It's become a personal challenge to crack it." And then she walked out of the room without so much as sparing Joey a glance.

Yugi and Serenity both turned to Joey, and Serenity shot him an accusing glare. "Whoa. What did you do?"

"I didn't do nothing!"

"Yeah right. Must've been some fight for her to be ignoring you like that."

"I wish it was just a fight." Joey looked pale. "It's not me."

"What is it, Joey?" Yugi asked.

Joey's gaze went from Yugi to Serenity. "Go ask her if she's seen Téa this morning."

Serenity and Yugi exchanged confused looks, and Serenity frowned at Joey. "Téa? Why?"

He jerked his head toward the doorway. "Just ask her."

Still baffled, Serenity headed out into the common room, Joey and Yugi getting up to stand in the doorway behind her and listen.

Mai was settling onto the couch with a book in her hand as Serenity approached her. "Hey Mai, have you seen Téa this morning?"

Mai turned to look at her. "Huh?"

"Téa. Have you seen her this morning? I just wanted to make sure she got in okay last night."

"Hon, I don't know what you're talking about." There was a sort of blank look in Mai's eyes that bothered Yugi. He glanced at Joey, whose lips were pressed into a tight line.

Serenity glanced over her shoulder at them before turning back to Mai. "You know Téa? Brunette? Dancer? Likes to give pep talks? Went out in a huff the day before yesterday and we haven't seen much of her since?"

Mai's brow furrowed, then she shook her head and, without answering, turned back to her book.

Yugi, and Joey retreated back into the kitchen with Serenity close behind them. Joey glared at her. "You think she had a fight with Téa, too?"

"Onii-chan…."

"Joey, what's going on?" Yugi asked. "Is this what you were going to tell us when the phone rang?"

Joey nodded. "It took me all night to figure it out. Last night, she had another nightmare and was thrashing around so bad, she knocked me out of bed and then grabbed her Duel Disk and almost flattened me with it. All without waking up. And then when I did wake her up, she was looking right through me like I wasn't there. I had to shake her to get her to see me. After she went back to sleep, I was too freaked out to sleep myself, and then I finally figured out where I'd seen this before."

"Battle City," Yugi said, his eyes widening as he remembered.

Joey nodded. "Mai's duel with Marik. Every time she lost Life Points, she lost her memories of one of her friends. I was the second she lost."

"And Téa was first." Yugi's shoulders slumped.

"And that's when I realized she was completely oblivious to Téa's presence the last couple of days." Joey looked at Serenity. "Remember the total hissy fit Téa threw about Kaiba not wanting to help, and how Mai completely missed it? Then later when I mentioned something about Téa, she gave me that same blank look she just gave you now."

Serenity's eyes widened and she turned and went back out into the living room. Rounding the couch, she sat down beside Mai. Joey and Yugi followed.

"Mai? I need to talk to you a minute."

"Sure, hon. What's up?"

Instead of answering her, Serenity put her hand on Mai's arm and closed her eyes. She frowned and then opened her eyes, looking over Mai's shoulder toward Yugi and Joey. "It feels like when Yugi felt the attack on the Pharaoh. Like she's connected by a thread to the Shadow Realm."