The rematch begins! A little less action-packed than before, but please read and enjoy anyway!
Chapter Five: Friends - an hour and a half later…
Dad's pickup pulled into the parking lot of the enormous KaibaCorp Dueling Dome, where I saw that Yugi was waiting at the entrance.
"Good luck, Sarana." Dad kissed the top of my head. "Show him who's the boss, and give me a play-by-play when you get home."
"Sure thing, Dad." I exited the car, slammed the door shut, and jogged over to where Yugi was.
"Hey, Sarana," he greeted.
"Y'know, you can just call me Sara," I informed him, "Everyone in America does. Well, okay, that was because my mom forbid me to use Sarana…"
"Why?" Yugi looked alarmed.
"She didn't want anything to remind her of my father," I said flatly, "She was enchanted by his obsession with Egypt when they were dating, so they fell in love and got married and had me two years later…but when Dad was suddenly away for long periods of time on some archeological find of the decade…well, for Mom the fantasy was over." I turned away, immersed in memories. "All I remember is that they had a really long and hard fight. I was only three at the time, but I remember hiding behind the couch. Mom's shouts…" I shook my head to clear away the nightmarish memory. "After screaming that my father won't have to deal with us burdens and can go dig in the sand as much as he wants, Mom packed our bags, and we left for South Carolina, where she grew up." I furiously blinked back tears and turned to look at Yugi.
"Three Christmases after that, my father sent us an excavated jar from one of the tombs his team searched. My mom sent it back, to show her continuing feelings for him. What she didn't know was that he also had sent me a Duel Monsters deck…" I pulled it out and gazed at the card on top, Guardian Angel Joan. "Somehow, whenever I was going through a hard time, all I had to do was think of these cards or even look at them, and I would feel stronger…"
"The heart of the cards was watching over you," Yugi said quietly, taking my hand. "My parents are dead," he added in a soft voice.
I gasped slightly. "Yugi, I didn't mean to – I shouldn't've thrown my problems on you, that was – that was so heartless of me - !"
"No, it's totally okay," Yugi assured me. "Nothing to worry about, I promise. Now," he let go of my hand, "Let's go and duel Kaiba!"
I watched his enthusiastic expression for a few seconds, and then nodded and smiled.
"Welcome to Kaiba Duel Dome," a female voice said coolly when we entered an elevator headed for the Sky Top Platform, when I remembered something!
"Oh! Yugi," I pulled out my deck and sifted through it until I found Slifer, "this is yours." I held it out to hm, but he shook his head.
"Keep it for now," he insisted, "You can give it back after your duel."
"But then Kaiba will think of me as a cheater who can't win without the help of an Egyptian God Card!" I protested.
"You have a point." Yugi scratched his head. Suddenly, Yami appeared beside him.
"I want you to still have it," he said firmly, "I think it might help with this mystery of mine…" He vanished just as the elevator door reopened with Kaiba right in front of it, holding two Duel Disks, one of which he thrust into my hands.
"All duelists need one of these," he muttered. "I hope you're ready, Yugi," he said louder, "Because tonight you will experience your long-delayed fall from fame!" With a twirl of white coat, he turned and walked away.
"He says that every time," Yugi said with a grin, "But my 'fall from fame' has yet to happen." His Millennium Puzzle gleamed as he and Yami switched places.
"Well, this will be interesting," I commented, "I haven't seen you duel yet. Are you as good as everyone says?"
"You'll just have to see," Yami winked.
"Oh, and Yami? What do you mean when you say trust in the heart of the cards?"I asked curiously. "I mean, I guess I sort of know, but I don't, if that makes any sense."
He nodded in understanding. "They are the spirits of the cards, and they will serve one who trusts them well, but not as well someone who believes them only to be tools of violence and war. That's why you won this afternoon, because the heart of the cards believed you to be pure of heart and completely trusting in them. Kaiba, on the other hand, has never believed that cards have a mind of their own, and so he has never defeated anyone who does."
"I guess that makes sense…"
After that exchange, we made our way to the dueling arena. I gasped as I took it in.
The arena was huge, and I mean huge, at least the size of a football stadium! Tall bleachers covered the walls, and when I looked at the ceiling, I realized that it could open up to the sky. Lights and other special effects were everywhere. I realized that truly spectacular duels could take here. Who knew that anyone took Duel Monsters this seriously?
Kaiba was waiting for us in the monster of an arena, his Duel Disk already on his arm. "I'll be on the bleachers," I muttered to Yami, who nodded. I whispered, "Good luck," and I headed over to the bleachers and waited my turn to be creamed.
"Oh hey, Sarana," I heard Joey say as he, Tristan, and Tea sat down beside me, "You come to see the match, too?"
"Sort of, Kaiba demanded a rematch," I explained.
"Ah, that will nice to watch," Joey approved, "Kaiba losing three times in one day!"
Watching Yami and Kaiba duel was amazing. It was as if they could read each other's minds and could anticipate their opponent's moves as soon as they knew it themselves. The special effects the dueling arena provided added a nice touch, too.
In the end, however, Yami finished with a triumphant direct attack with his Dark Paladin. I applauded quietly as the knight faded away and Yami silently switched back to Yugi.
"Nooo!" Kaiba moaned, falling to his knees, "Just wait, Yugi! I will win one day, just you wait!" He shouted to Yugi.
Yugi shook his head in a "he'll never learn" kind of way, then beckoned for me to join him and Kaiba. "You ready to take your turn?" he asked.
Nope, I thought. "Let's duel," I said. I put on my Disk, inserted my deck, and activated it.
"This is for the humiliation you gave me today," Kaiba snarled as he stood and re-shuffled his deck. He inserted it and activated his Duel Disk. "If I win, you will tell the media tomorrow that the duel earlier was completely fraud and that you cheated the whole time."
"Deal," I agreed, a little nervous, "I win, and we both keep our mouths shut."
We both declared "Duel!" and our rematch began.
"Vanity's Ruler! Direct Attack!" I shouted, and ended the duel to Yugi and Co.'s cheers.
"I knew you could do it!" Yugi exclaimed delightedly.
"No sweat," Joey added. "Hehah, look at the look on Kaiba's face!" Indeed, Kaiba looked murderous. "How d'you like them apples, Kaiba?"
"Not a word," I reminded him, and walked away to where the others were waiting.
"You were awesome!" Tea informed me.
"Yeah, combining those two cards was an awesome defense!" Yugi raved.
"Uh, thanks," I muttered, grinning awkwardly, "So, um, I'll be seeing you guys." I started to walk away. Dad was probably waiting for me.
"Hey Sara, wait!" Yugi called after me, and I stopped. "We're hanging out tomorrow, you wanna join us?"
What? I turned.
"Yeah, you're our friend now," Joey explained, "And we're always together, so it only seems fair that you're with us too."
Friend…it took a moment for the word to register in my head. Back in South Carolina, there were only two people that I considered friends, but we went to different schools, and I rarely ever saw them. Sometimes I wondered if we were still friends.
"Uh, okay," I said with a small grin.
Yugi nodded and said, "We'll see you outside your apartment, then, at 10." I nodded with another smile, and walked away.
When I wasn't looking…
"Alright Yugi, what's the deal?" Joey demanded once Sarana was gone.
"What's what deal?" Yugi asked innocently.
"You like her, don't you?" Joey probed.
"She's a new friend, of course I do…" Yugi seemed confused.
"Not that like, Yug, I mean as in like like," Joey said, exasperated.
"Oh," Yugi understood, "No, not that way. I'm just bringing out the duelist in her. She has all the marks of a champion, and I want her to understand that. I also just want to be her friend."
"You're not telling the whole truth," Yami said quietly from within his heart.
"Care to elaborate?" Yugi asked, but he received no response. Out loud, he said, "It's getting late; we should probably be heading home."
Back to me…
"How was it?" was the first thing my dad said as I entered his pickup.
"Intense," I answered. "Watching Yugi duel was amazing. He really is a champion."
"And your duel?" Dad pressed.
"Just as intense…I won again," I said as quickly as I could.
"Congratulations, sweetie!" Dad ruffled my hair. "I'm so proud of you! How did you do it?"
So, all the way back I gave an elaborately detailed description of my duel with Kaiba.
"…And I won with a direct attack with my Vanity's Ruler," I finished as we walked into the apartment.
"That was awesome, Sarana," Dad said happily, giving me a bear hug.
"Oh, and Dad?" I asked, my voice muffled by his sweater, "Yugi wanted me to hang out with his group tomorrow. Is that okay?"
"Oh sweetie, how convenient and wonderful! I have to work tomorrow, and I didn't know what you were going to do while I was out." He broke out of the hug and put his hands on my shoulders. "Just have fun, okay? I'm so glad that you're already making friends here."
That word again: friend. I smiled and shrugged his hand off my shoulder. "Good night," I whispered, and went to my room. With a sigh, I put my new Duel Disk (that Dad had admired for a little while in the car ride) on my bedside table and threw myself backwards onto the thick comforter.
So much had happened today: I visited a tomb, learned how to play Duel Monsters, beat a champion twice, and…I became the keeper of a huge secret. Over and over I envisaged his burgundy eyes staring at me, heard the frustration in his voice as he found little answers about his past, and heard his unfamiliarity with speaking the word love out loud. He seemed almost…adverse to the idea of loving someone, but why? Then again, sharing a body with a pubescent adolescent could make complications…
My eyes started drooping after a somewhat long period of pondering, so I put on my pajamas and went to sleep, ending a long, productive day, but my dreams were once more filled by a similar dream from before…
So Sarana officially is a member of the circle of friends. She definitely need the suppport with everything coming her way, especially next chapter...oops! Did I write that out loud? Sorry, but you'll just have to keep reading if you want to know what I mean! Please R&R!