Hello! Back with chapter 2! This one will go a little more in depth with… well, you'll see!
Note: I made a mistake in my last chapter: Yukari's nickname is "Yuki", not "Yuuki."
This is now a challenge fic with my good friend CuringAngel and don't forget to check out her story "As Season's Change" as soon as she posts it up! She'll appreciate it very much!
Thankies for the lovely reviews! Here are the replies!
Jellybob: Thankies sooooo much for the review! You have absolutely NO CLUE how much it means to me! (How would you feel if one of your favorite authors reviewed for you?) Here's chapter 2!
Xxtaintedcv: FAVORITE'S LIST! (Very shocked) THANK YOU! That's so sweet of you! I LOVE your fics too! They are all just SSSSSSSOOOOOOOO GOOD! Here's chapter 2!
xKuroSeraphimx: AWWW! Thanks! ' IT took me a while to think of the storyline! Here's chapter 2! (It's Jounouchi, right? Thanks for the spelling tip!)
evanescenceyugiohgirl: Thanks you! And no, you are NOT a lame reviewer! Seriously, I felt very touched that you reviewed! Here's the second chapter!
Bradybunch4529: Blush I thought that the perspectives were pretty lame on my behalf! Thanks for giving me that wonderful comment! Here's chapter 2!
Camille: I glad that you enjoyed it! I had fun myself, writing this chapter! I hope you enjoy chapter 2 as well!
C.A.M.E.O.: Sorry that you got confused! ' Here are the pairings: Atemu/Anzu? ;Mai/Jounouchi ; Serenity/Seto-Kisara/Seto (you'll see how this works out! Trust me! They both end up with Seto! .) ; Honda/Miho ; Vivian/ Duke ; Yuki/ Takashi ; Sarah/ Min Sung ; Susan/Aaron.
I probably missed some, so I'll tell you the rest in the next chapter!
Chibi Mizu Tenshi: face turns crimson I am SO NOT a good writer! But thanks for your awesome review! I'm so excited that you reviewed for me! I greatly admire your work! Here's chapter 2!
Moonfree: I did continue this story! I'm glad that you enjoyed the first chapter! It took me a while! Here's the second chapter!
Animeaddict99: Thanks for the compliment! Yup, here's chapter 2!
Little Atemu: OMG! . You reviewed for me! And I do NOT have a good writing style! It's sort of weird if you ask me! .' Is it going to be a YamiXAnzu? Hmmm…. (Of course!.)
Enjoy, everyone! Healing Spirit
Chapter 2: "The Beginning"
Staggering back onto my feet, I thanked Serenity, Miho and Mai for helping me. But then I observed them smile at each other slyly and then rush off, leaving me standing alone.
"Hey! Where are you guys going?" Okay, now I was totally confused. By the look of my surroundings, I was dropped off in the hotel indoor restaurant. However, the peculiar thing was that even though some people occupied the giant room, the lavishing marble walls were bordered with party favors and streams of ribbon.
"AAANNNNZZZZUUUUU!"
Bombarded with boxes upon boxes of colorfully wrapped presents, I barely even had time to catch my balance. Shaking my head to regain some sense into them, I glanced about for whoever was the one who were responsible. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when I saw who were standing in front of me.
Yuki, Sarah and Susan, along with a shy Takashi, were standing with the rest of the gang: Shizuka, Seto, Mai, Jounouchi, Miho, Mokuba, Vivian, my two nephews, Ishizu, Odion and Malik. Though I noticed that there were a few missing from the group, I was too overcome with astonishment to comprehend what was actually going on.
"SURPRISE!" Susan screamed excitingly, rushing forward and handing me a nicely wrapped present dotted all over with little kitties. "Happy 18th birthday!"
I must have looked pretty stupid, standing there with my mouth hanging wide open. Yuki came up second and wrapped her arms around me in a tight embrace. "Oh Anzu! You looked so surprised!" Giggling elegantly, she also handed me a tiny box wrapped in sparkly, pink wrapping paper. "Happy birthday Anzu-chan!"
It wasn't until Jounouchi and Mokuba threw confetti onto my head from behind that I finally got a hold of myself. Mai had turned on the music and "1 2 Step" was blaring from the boom box.
"Whaoooo! Let's get this party started!" Jounouchi yelled in his comical way, grabbing Mai by the arm and dragging her into the center of the restaurant. Seto just stood grumpily against the wall, as if wanting nothing to do with this celebration. Serenity was trying to coax him into dancing with her. If not a fast dance, than a slow dance, she was saying to him. At that, he gave in. "But away from your brother," he spat out brother; well, at least he's not calling him a bonkotsu!
I smirked when I become aware of Takashi noiselessly watch Yuki as she began to lay down the rest of the freshly made food from the kitchen. The intensity of his gaze made his longing sad, for Yuki was as unaware of him as though he were part of the prolific decorations. After about only a few minutes, the song was stopped.
Silence fell suddenly as Jounouchi rushed into the kitchen, as if called there by someone.
It seemed as if the current outsiders occupying the room were given a heads up on this little 'surprise party' and were now clapping and cheering as Yuugi now emerged from the back of the gang, holding in his hands the largest and prettiest cake I had ever seen!
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UN Conference on Global Warming – New Delhi
"…the natural greenhouse gases in the ice cores are thawing out the artic glaciers. This runaway warming triggered an ice age which lasted two centuries. That occurred 10,000 years ago. Our climate is extremely fragile; pollution is to blame for the dissipating of the ozone layer. Just last week, a chunk of artic ice the size of Rhode Island broke off. We best act soon," Professor Hawkins stated grimly, clutching firmly onto his stand for support. Blinding flashes occurred every so often from the cameras held in the hands of as many reporters permitted in the international conference room.
"Yes?" he pointed politely to an aged man wearing the traditional Indian turban wrapped on top his head.
"I don't understand," he said, leisurely due to his accent and slow pronunciation. "I thought we were talking about global warming, not the next ice age?"
Breathing in perceptively to his wishful thinking, the Professor responded generally, "We are, however, global warming can trigger a cooling trend. Allow me to explain: the northern hemisphere's climate is based primarily on the north Atlantic current. The heat from the sun arrives at the equator but then is carried north by the ocean currents. Nonetheless, Global warming is disrupting this flow and will eventually…" he stopped, staring consciously into the eyes of his peers to give the wanted effect. "…shut down."
Mumbling arose in the room, filling it to the brim with comments of disbelief and incredulous shaking of heads. Some agreed with Professor Hawkins and his plans of action, others thought that he was a nut who had read too many horror stories.
"Ahem," he clapped his hands loudly, hoping to catch their attention once more. When he had succeeded, he continued.
"My partner, Dr. Motou was recently doing research in Cairo, Egypt and is studying climatology there. He indicated almost exactly the same findings I have. He is currently residing in Domino City, Japan, investigating his findings. If you would just-"
"Excuse me," all eyes turned to the one who interrupted. The Vice President of the US sat nonchalantly in his seat, grinning a small smile at what he assumed, the credulous Professor.
"If what you and your partner are both linking is true, then how long until devastation is going to occur?" he asked smoothly, as if challenging him to answer his question. A few moments passed until an answer was firmly introduced into the conversation.
"In about 50-100 years. Or maybe even a million," he stated brusquely, his patience wearing dangerously thin. "But if we don't act now, it would be our grandchildren who will have to pay the price."
"However, our economy is also fragile," the aggravated Vice President frowned once more in divergence. "Where are we going to find the money to pay for this Kyoto accord?"
The professor stood wordlessly, knowing that he would not be able to back up a good enough answer to defend himself. Defeated, he said, "I-I don't know…"
Mumbling filled the humid air; reporters swarmed in on the meeting and hollered out questions concerning Professor Hawkin's theory. None seemed to take his warning seriously and that was a huge mistake.
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"So you guys were in the hotel the whole time?" Anzu exclaimed disbelievingly to her friends. Susan smiled contemptuously and nodded. "Yup! Did we fool ya?"
Anzu crossed her arms and struck her nose up in the air, pouting jokingly. "Hpm! Why didn't you come get me then if you knew I was lost?" She turned to them, anxiety shinning in her eyes. "Didn't you hear how desperate I was!"
"Of course! We just wanted to see how you would react," Sarah laughed at the funny expression planted on Anzu's face. Yuki just shook her head slightly and giggled at the recent secret they had hidden from Anzu purposely. Takashi almost gave it away though, that's why they bombarded him with pillows: so that he would shut up. "We're sorry but, it was supposed to be a surprise party, so we couldn't help you."
Jounouchi grinned playfully and jumped on her from behind, engulfing her with his huge, heavy body. "Oww! Jonouchi get off me!" Everyone laughed (except Kaiba) and was then disrupted by Mai who popped her head inside the room.
"Oi, come on outside! The party just got set up!" Whooping in excitement, Jounouchi, Susan and (surprisingly) a usually shy Takashi rushed out of the room. Leaning over to Yuki, Anzu whispered, "Did you give Takashi a cookie today?" When Yuki nodded innocently, Sarah and Anzu sighed.
Soon, all were outside, dancing lively to the upbeat songs and laughing at the good-natured jokes and hysterical pranks pulled by Jounouchi and Susan.
"Hey! I say that we play a game! Boys against girls!" Anzu suggested. "Yeah! We're sure to win anyway!" Serenity giggled when Mai cast a smug smile towards Jounouchi who teasingly glared at her.
"Sure!" Miho smiled.
"All right!" Mokuba explained excitedly.
"It's fine with me!" Yuugi grinned widely.
"But wait! What game are we going to play?" Sarah asked reasonably; silence clamped onto the camp as each individual pondered over their options. "We could always play football," Serenity recommended with a smile tugging at her lips. She remembered how she and Jounouchi would always play that when they were younger. She was never really good at it, but Jonouchi always made it really fun for her.
"No." Jounouchi stated simply.
"Why not?" Mai asked, placing her hands on her hips. A dark expression loamed over her alluring eyes. "Afraid we'll beat you up like a scared little bonkotsu?" That did it. Honda sweat dropped at the numerous veins popping into view on Jounouchi's fuming forehead. "That dog bit gets him every time."
"Bon-BONKOTSU! I'll show you a bonkotsu! Honda, hand me the ball," trying to act expertly, Honda threw the football without looking; assuming the direction it went was toward Jounouchi's outstretched hand. But a snarl erased that possibility.
"Why you little," Kaiba had his scary look on his face, glaring down at poor Honda.
"OKAY!" Susan yelled, trying to prevent one of those fights she heard so much about from Anzu. Although she never witnessed one herself, from the sound of it, they usually didn't end up so pretty. "Let's play football already!" Sarah agreed.
5 minutes into the game and the game was tied. "Hey Yuki," Mai called the shy girl over. Cupping her mouth so that their conversation would be private, she whispered, "I have an idea to tip this game into our favor. You know your friend, Takashi?" Yuki's cheeks tinted pink at the sound of the handsome, athletic classmate. "Y-Yeah?"
"Distract him."
Yuki eyes grew wide, not sure if she heard Mai correctly. "What?"
Mai sighed, watching Miho fumble with the ball thrown to her and drop it right into Honda's hands. "Look, we're women. Tell all the other girls, all right?" Seeing the discomfited look on her face, she added, "Don't be nervous, okay hun? Why, with your looks, it'll be easy! Besides," she winked at her. "Anyone can see that he already got his eyes on you."
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The elevated sand plateaus shifted ever so gently with the soft sweep of wind, the burning sun overhead casting its persistent warmth upon the kingdom. However, what defied this beauty was the rampaging footsteps of the army general, adorn in his pleated tunic and golden armor. Citizens were hushed in wonder as they watched him and 5 of his soldiers stride past them with elegant grace; just that sight was enough to make anyone believe that something was afoot.
Going past the palace gates, receiving respectful bows from the guards, they stepped through the grand doors held open by two servants. Now quickening his steps, he removed his binding helmet and kneeled, his head cast down, to Pharaoh, surrounded by his 6 trusted priests.
"My Pharaoh," his head was lifted prudently to stare into the elegant hues of his king. "We are going to be attacked in less then 30 sunsets. There's nothing we can do to stop it." Pharaoh stood, his hand resting on his throne. His face was hidden in the shadows untouched by the flickering flames present in torches all about him. He raised a delicate hand to signal the fan-bearers to stop. His mouth was now defined into a straight, emotionless line, free of any anxiety.
"How long, Jono?"
Moonlight reflected off the illimitable stars, shinning through the window pane of a young dancer, currently sitting up in bed with ceaseless beads of sweat traveling down her face. Anzu gripped her bed sheets for needed comfort while her mind swirled with bewildered thoughts and emotions. Her clock beamed a blinding green that glowed with the numbers: 5:00 AM.
"Wha- What was that?"
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Hedland Climate Research Center, Scotland
Ming Song was aroused suddenly by the annoying consistent beeping that never ceased to stop. It was vague and his surroundings were blurry due to the fact that he had just woken up. He cast a fleeting look at his watch and groaned as it read off 5:00 AM.
Finding the source of the noise, he staggered over to the computer analysis screen and examined the problem. Brushing his ebony bangs out of his face, a gasp was stifled as he gazed upon the screen. Disbelief and confusion contoured his face as he immediately rushed over to the bed beside his and shook awake his partner.
"Aaron, Aaron wake up!" Groaning his sleep, the blond haired meteorologist opened a groggy eye followed by an eyebrow raised in question to his partner. "What is it weirdo?" That was his nickname; all the guys called him that.
"Nomad Buoy 4311 is showing a temperature drop," he peeked out from the screen. "Of 13 degrees."
Aaron groaned and stretched his long arms. "It's probably a malfunction. There were some nasty storms the other day. Probably knocked it about."
However, suddenly another set of beeping stung into the cool atmosphere as another buoy indicated the same thing.
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This chapter was sort of bad so, I'm sorry! I'm just winging it now, just writing whatever pops into my mind. Well, it's not THAT bad, right? Please leave a review! The more I get, the faster I will update!
Note: There may be some character injuries, but no one dies, okay? Promise!
Healing Spirit