Chapter 26

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Yugi lay stretched across his bed. Even though it was the same size as last he left it, it seemed three sizes too large. It felt cold and empty. The room seemed barren and quiet. Too quiet. Brain numbingly quiet. He rolled over and grabbed the remote for his stereo. Good Charlotte started playing noisily in the background, but it was still too quiet. Yugi sat up, frustrated and sighed.

Life wasn't the same without Yami. Ever since they got back to Domino, he's felt like a major part of him was missing.

Yami, Set, and Sarah had stayed behind in Egypt with Ishizu. She had been more than happy to take them in and learn in detail the ancient mysteries and rituals long forgotten and lost. Yami took a job with her, and Set and Sarah chose to help where they could and live peacefully together in a quiet town just outside Cairo. Within reach, but just out far enough from most tourists. Yugi knew the day was coming ever since he helped set up the trip to Egypt, but now... Now it was real. His neck felt naked without the puzzle dangling off of it.

He wished he had had some more time with him. Just to say goodbye, or something. Yugi sighed sadly. At least he still had Tea...

"So, pink? I think you'd look good in pink. It suits you." Serenity found herself nodding along with what Tristan was saying. She had finally given up, feeling she had no choice anymore. Tristan was determined to talk about the upcoming dance. It was the next day, and she had put off talking about it all week. She had been depressed and lethargic since Monday. Joey seemed happy, but she just couldn't bring herself to feel happy for his joy. She sighed deeply and continued to look at nothing out the cafeteria window.

"You... haven't heard a word I've been saying have you?" She barely heard Tristan say. She snapped her attention to him.

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Tristan, I've just got... something on my mind." She almost drifted off again, but caught herself and forced her gaze up to the boy to fake a smile.

"Yeah..." Tristan paused a moment. "You... You don't like me do you?" He asked, more than a tinge of sadness in his tone. Serenity's eyes widened.

"What? Of course I like you Tristan." She said, wondering where this was coming from.

"Yeah, as a friend right?" He asked. Serenity apathetically gave a nod. It was hard trying to show fake emotion when you no longer felt anything. She still did care for her friend, she was just tired of pretending. "You like him... right?" He deflated a bit as she tore her eyes away from him. He knew the answer. He could see the hurt in her eyes. It wasn't a shock. He had noticed from the first time he saw her at lunch on Monday that she was not as bright and cheery as she had usually been. She's been slowly falling deeper into herself, and he wondered exactly how much more hurt she was hiding, and for how long.

"I'm really sorry Tristan. You've always been there for me, and you've been kind and caring, but..." She tried to find the words to explain that she couldn't help what she was feeling, but he put a silencing hand up.

"Serenity, I love you." He admitted. "I've loved you since the moment I first saw your picture. I know it's stupid. I didn't even know you. But I wanted you to be happy. And I thought you'd be happy with me. But you're not." Now Serenity felt something. She didn't want to hurt him. She felt absolutely awful. "I still want you to be happy Serenity. I'll talk to Joey." Serenity's spirits raised. She truly had the most amazing friends. Suddenly a dark thought had crossed her mind.

What if Kaiba didn't want her anymore. He hated- no, worse, he feared rejection. And she had put him through that. What if he wasn't willing to take that risk again? What if he didn't think she was worth it anymore? Just the thought sent tears to her eyes.

"S-Serenity... Whats wrong? Isn't that what you wanted?" Tristan asked worriedly. Serenity leaped at him, hugging him to her.

"You're just so wonderful Tristan. Why couldn't I have fallen for you?" She asked herself. Tristan asked himself the same thing and rubbed her back before she pulled away. "I'm just scared." She admitted, feeling close enough to open up.

"I'm pretty sure I could take Joey if he tries anything with me." Tristan said half joking.

"Not that, though, that is... I was worried... what if Seto doesn't want me back?" Tristan lifted her chin with one finger, gently guiding her eyes to his.

"Then I'll just have to steal you from that crazy fool." He said sweetly. Serenity's heart warmed. She had someone who actually cared for her, about what she wanted. She gave him a peck on the cheek and she turned to look at the magazine he had been browsing.

"So," She said, re-energized by the friendship she never realized she had. "What dress were you thinking?" She said poking at the pink ones.

"Well, I was thinking this one," he said, pointing to show her. "But that was when I was gonna buy it for you. It's too expensive for you to get yourself, friend." Tristan poked fun. Serenity stuck a playful tongue out, but appreciated how nice he was being. "Of course... I really cant pass up the opportunity to make the Seto Kaiba jealous as all hell." Tristan had a mischievous ring in his voice.

"I don't want to hurt him Tristan." She said, not quite sure what Tristan had in mind.

"Oh, of course not! But we can make you even more irresistible." Tristan said slyly. "He wont know what hit him." His eyes grazed the magazine intently, until they landed on one particular dress. Serenity wasn't quite sure how she felt about this.

The week had been the longest and most frustrating he had ever recalled in his life. Nothing had happened out of the ordinary. Two of the reports for the new gaming prototypes had been misplaces and one of the purchase orders for custom built casings had been mislabeled, but that wasn't quite enough to send him over like this.

It could have been due to the fact that every time he stepped into piano class, Victoria talked non-stop about the upcoming dance, and what she'll wear and what he would wear and how certain colors brought out his eyes... It was so utterly annoying that he almost wanted to skip the rest of the day, and the dance that night.

Then he looked up at her. Every cell in him itched for her to come closer, but he knew it was futile. She made her choice. She chose to leave. And he had accepted her choice, but some part of him screamed to fight. It screamed out for him to walk over, lift her up and leave right then and there.

He laid his fingers on the ivory keys in front of him. What he would give for her to sit next to him again. For them to play together again. Her light hannons and his complex symphonies. Her simple and sweet melodies and his dark, full harmonies. It was as if she was meant to be there, with him, making music that the angels themselves would envy.

But she had made her choice.

What the hell was wrong with him? When did he just take no for an answer? When did he start just taking it. Laying down and accepting life even if he didn't like it... He was Seto fucking Kaiba. And he was far from done.

"Joey, just think about it. No one cares for your sister more than I do. O-Other than you, of course." Tristan finished. Joey had finally calmed down, the words 'traitor' and 'backstabber' finally leaving his tone. He was actually starting to mull around his friends words.

Serenity had been the most miserable he had ever seen over the last six days. She blankly wandered around, performing chores and doing her homework without mentally being all there. He hated seeing her like that. He was sure it would pass, and that she would come to see that this was the right thing for her, but as the days stretched on and her mood only seemed to worsen, he began doubting his decision himself.

"He'd better... If what you think is true." Joey said, not liking the thoughts in his head. He sighed and stared up at the night sky. 'Why him?' He thought to himself for the millionth time.

Yugi sat in the middle of his friends. He didn't understand how he could feel so very alone while completely surrounded by the closest people in his life. Serenity seemed different. Yugi was unsure of exactly what was different, but she certainly was not acting the same as the rest of the week. Tristan, he noticed was also a bit different. He wasn't swooning all over Serenity as he'd previously done. Joey was quiet and pensive the entire day through and honestly that scared Yugi.

He hadn't realized when another student called him. Normally it was just him and his friends.

"Yugi? Hey," The boy called. Yugi recognized him from his last class of the day, and nodded his attention to him. "I didn't know your cousin was starting school here." The kid said. Yugi gave him a confused look. He didn't have any cousins. A deep voice broke him from his daze.

"Thank you, but I think I can manage on my own." Yugi heard the voice bid farewell to someone, then move towards the door to the cafe. Immediately Yugi jumped up. His heart pounded as questions poured through his mind.

"Is... Is that..?" Tea began. Before she could finish, Yami walked into the cafe, giving Yugi a confident smile.

After the initial pounce/hug from Yugi, everyone else began asking all the questions that simultaneously poured into everyone's consciousness.

Yami laughed as he explained that he had spent the last week working with and getting to know Ishizu. She and he flew back to add more artifacts to the collection that was being held in Domino, and that he would be there for a few months. Yami proudly announced his engagement to the egyptologist and everyone congratulated him. Yugi smiled, finally feeling whole again.

Serenity smoothed the dress against her. She was nervous, and it was showing. Tristan had said he talked to Joey, but her brother hadn't made any notion that such a conversation took place. She was beginning to think it was useless. Tristan squeezed her hand and gave her a comforting smile.

"He'd be crazy not to go for you." He said, giving her hand another squeeze then opening the door to his car for her. He was really turning into her best friend. The ride to the dance hall was pleasant. Serenity found her time with Tristan much more comfortable and was happy to have a real friend be with her and know how she felt.

When they arrived only a few dozen people were there, but Serenity was keenly aware of all the eyes on her. She gulped hard and looked up at Tristan. Her arm was hooked under his, and he smiled down at her.

"I told you, you're beautiful. Heck, if he doesn't want you, you'll have a huge line of guys willing to take his place. Starting of course, with me." He winked at her. Somehow, this time, she wasn't as comforted.

The ride had been terrible. Victoria had chosen to fill his much preferred silence with all the happenings that took place the second she had started getting ready for their night. He hadn't realized how much there was to talk about over a twenty minute car ride, but apparently there was plenty more by the time the car stopped. Kaiba relished the brief moment of silence he was able to experience between leaving the limo and walking around to open her door for her. He almost wanted to leave it closed.

She stepped out, immediately continuing where she left off. Kaiba rolled his eyes. He wanted to go home. To get out of there before-

It took an entire minute for him to force himself to breathe again. He had only just made it into the hall, when everything in the room seemed to disappear. Even Victoria's relentless chatter faded as the room blurred. The only thing in crisp focus was her.

The emerald gown shimmered with a metallic tone. It was a long gown, all the way to her ankles and it had a cream accent around the neckline and down the back. Her hair was styled in a half french twist, taking on the shape, but spilling out over one shoulder to her front. That left a lot of skin showing. He had to stop himself from striding over to her, grabbing her close and kissing the soft creamy skin she left so exposed.

His eyes darted around the room, looking desperately for a particular person. He knew what he had planned to do. He just didn't think his resolve would whither so quickly. He was trying hard to focus on finding the individual he needed when Victoria's voice started to fade back in. He had had enough. To hell with appearances.

"Listen," He said silencing her. She jumped a bit at his tone. He thought for a second and an idea came to mind. "Listen. You're... great... and all. But it's just not going to work. I'm not interested in you." He watched the girl deflate. "If you want, I know Devlin doesn't have a girl right now." She perked up a bit.

"Devlin? Duke Devlin?" She said, starting to get a bit more excited. He knew it. She wanted a rich boy. Well, Duke wanted an easy girl, so he guessed it worked out. He scribbled Duke's number on the back of a card and handed it to her.

"You might have to share him. He doesn't tend to stick with one girl too long." He warned, feeling guilty about setting up even her with that... kid. To his surprise she merely shrugged and hugged the card close to her. He was finally free. Now where was he?

Joey was glaring at a few guys who dared to let their eyes linger on the foxy blonde attached to his arm, when a strong hand grabbed him. He watched confusedly as Mai stared up, past him, smiled and turned away. Joey had no clue what was going on, but he was sure it wasn't good. By the time he could get to his feet to turn around, he had been dragged out a side door.

Before him stood a tall familiar brunette. He didn't get mad. He didn't shout and cuss. It was actually the person he'd wanted to talk to. Joey had been doing a lot of thinking lately.

"Alright Wheeler. What do you want?" Kaiba asked coldly. He was in business mode, and 'no' was just not acceptable. "Money? Cars? Fame? Spit it out. What do you want." Joey smirked up at him. He had already made up his mind about Kaiba, but he wanted to see just how desperate this guy really was. Kaiba noticed the smirk and took it as Joey ignoring him. "Listen, I don't have to ask you. If I wanted, I could convince her to run away with me. I'm only doing this because she cares about what you think. So spill it, what do you want?"

"It could be anythin?" Joey asked. Kaiba's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. Joey pondered for a second, making Kaiba growl. "Bark." Kaiba's eyes widened. Did he just say what he thought he did? Joey waited, tapping a foot and giving him a look that spelled out impatience. "On your hands and knees." Joey added.

This was absurd. He would never in a million years- Images of Serenity filled his mind. Her eyes, her hair, her mouth... He could almost hear her saying his name. His head lolled down, not believing himself what he was about to do. He dropped to his knees, and forced himself on his hands in front of Joey. He opened his mouth but couldn't quite bring himself to make the noise. Joey raised his eyebrow. Was the Seto Kaiba really about to do this? To humiliate himself so thoroughly in front of someone he hated so much.

"Kaiba." Joey called, before the boy on the ground could make a noise. "For Christ's sake, get up." Kaiba's head snapped up, confusion written all over his face. He slowly lifted himself up. "You really did fall for her eh?" Joey said, smiling to himself and shaking his head. "Well, she'd kill me if she found out I'd actually made you bark... though I still kinda wanna see it." Joey laughed. He smiled genuinely up at Kaiba. A sudden wave of emotion flashed across Joey's face and he turned dead serious. He walked forward, backing a still dumbstruck Kaiba against the wall. "You ever hurt her again, and they'll neva find ya." He threatened. Kaiba felt himself smile, making Joey raise an eyebrow.

"You wont have to worry about that Wheeler." He said, completely sure he was telling the truth. "I'll never let anything hurt her again. Never." He assured him.

Joey clapped him on the back then led the way back into the dance hall, where he was sure he'd have to ward off some suitor wannabes from his precious Mai.

Kaiba walked straight to Serenity.

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I think we all know what's going to happen. I should just end the story here, right? Should this be the last chapter? Hmmmmmm I think not. One more chapter. Then the tale ends. Let me know if you want me to write the prologue of how Set and Sarah got together.

Remember, writing reviews burns carbs, makes you live longer, and makes you more attrective to members of the opposite gender (or same, if you're into that)

Please review.

R+R+E ~love