Hey there everyone! Well, this weekend was pretty decent. Saturday, I spent the day working in the hay for my dad. I enjoyed it a good bit like usual. I know, that's strange, but working in the hay has always been a bit relaxing to me for some reason. The only thing that sucked about it was my allergies really began bothering me during the day. I'm on prescribed medicine, but that didn't help at all, lol. I finally got better, but still, it sucks when your allergies are killing you. Other than that, nothing is really new I suppose.

Writing wise, things are moving along on both stories, and I did come up with another idea for a fic. If I ever get time, it'll be a Naruto fic, but still, I'm like a long ways from ever writing on it.

Last time, the duel between Jaden and Jesse against Kevin raged on, with Kevin revealing he was truly being controlled by Yubel. In the end, Yubel and Jesse lost the duel, with Yubel opening a portal and transporting the two away. Illidan and the others found Arya was gone and went back to save the others, who were buried in the rubble of the dueling arena. The question now is what will the group do?

It's once more review time!

Vyser Dragoon: Yes, you knew it, lol. I know, it was very obvious, lol. Thanks for the review!

Aelsthla-Mental: Yep, you knew it was Yubel like everyone else, lol. True, it might not be Yubel also. Glad you liked the fight. Things are interesting, that is for sure. Thanks for the review!

Metal Overlord 2.0: Yeah, Rainbow Dragon and Yubel were definitely visible, but that last chapter made them very visible. Yes, true, interesting that Yubel decided to deal with Jesse and Jaden herself/himself. It's hard to figure out what Yubel is really, lol. I think it is caught in the middle, hehe. True, lots of emotions last chapter, with Illidan and Marie learning their precious daughter is now gone. Yes, I think you're right, when children are in danger, it seems like a primitive part of a person's brain kicks in. The urge to protect them flows out. Thanks for thinking I played on that well. I had hoped I captured what they would really feel. Things will be interesting from here on, that's for sure. Thanks for the review!

Well, that's it for the reviews. Thank you, all three of you, for your reviews. I appreciate them.

At any rate, I'm done for today, so I'm out. Enjoy!

Chapter 22

Laying in bed unconscious still, Jaden's body began tensing up and sweating while he gripped the sheets around him tightly. Tossing and turning, he slowly began to lowly mumble something within his sleep.

Sitting by the bed, Alexis moved closed and took his palm into her own, but he quickly pulled it away, shocking her a bit. Frowning, she reached out again and tried to take hold of his palm, but like before, he jerked it away.

"Yubel… no, don't do it." he whimpered from his restless sleep.

Feeling her heart breaking while watching him lay in bed, seemingly in pain, Alexis decided to do the only thing she could think of. Slipping under the sheet, she wrapped her arms around the backside of his body and pulled him gently up against her own body. Jaden struggled slightly at first, but after a moment, relaxed and melted into her embrace. His breathing quickly lowered to normal and he rested much more peacefully. Slightly smiling, Alexis felt herself becoming drowsy and allowed herself to slip into a blissful sleep.

--

Holding Marie in his arms still on their bed, Illidan couldn't shake the feeling of dread as the hour approached that the group had decided to meet on. Ever since they had left the others a few hours before, he had been holding Marie in his arms while she had sobbed out over the missing daughter. The feeling of being powerless to help her filled him.

Still, he had held his wife, for it was all he could think to do, not to mention it helped comfort himself. Marie was his life, along with Arya. With half of the equation missing now, he only had Marie.

"I will find Arya, no matter what it takes. Even if I have to go to Hell itself to find her, I will bring her back to Marie." Illidan silently vowed.

Glancing up at the clock, he decided it was time for the pair to get ready. Gently, he kissed Marie's cheek. She had cried herself to sleep an hour before, and he had simply been letting her rest.

Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, revealing glassy brown orbs. She rolled over and looked into Illidan's own brown eyes. "It wasn't a nightmare, was it? Arya is still gone?" she asked hesitantly.

Feeling guilty, he swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded lightly. "Yes dearest, she's gone still. It's nearly time for the others to come over." he quietly mumbled.

A few tears spilt out of her eyes upon hearing Illidan's words. Not wanting to dwell on the thoughts any longer, she quickly sat up and swung her feet over the side of the bed and walked out to the bathroom.

Sighing, Illidan rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "She always gets this way whenever she is sad. When we lost Yami this last time, she was this way for a while till she finally let me into her heart again. I just wish I could help her more, but till she's ready, I have to wait."

With a light grunt, he got out of bed and walked down the hall to the room where Jaden was resting. Opening the door, he softly smiled at the sight of Alexis with her arms wrapped around Jaden in the bed. Frowning slightly, he realized as an adult, it may not be the best thing to let the two do this, but he also knew how it was to be in love at a young age and not want the one you care about in pain. Sighing, he closed the door gently and left the sleeping pair.

Making his way downstairs, Illidan jumped lightly at the sight of Seto sitting in a chair within the living room. Calming down, Illidan smirked and sat down on the couch near Seto.

"Breaking an entering, come now Seto, that's not like you." Illidan teased.

Letting a small smirk appear from underneath his scowl, Seto responded "It's not my style usually, but I didn't want to wait for you to get up."

A small lapse of silence filled the air till finally Illidan asked "Did you get rid of the press?"

"For now, I hope." Seto grunted out. "I gave them a half truth. I said a terrorist attacked and blew up the dueling arena. It's technically true, since the duel between Jaden and Kevin apparently destroyed the dueling arena."

"I suppose." Illidan murmured. "I guess Jaden will explain once he wakes."

In a concerned tone, Seto asked "How is Marie?"

Lightly sighing, Illidan clenched his fists and replied "She's devastated. When we got back, we laid down and she sobbed till she fell asleep. Arya's disappearance is very hard on her right now."

"It's hard on you too." Seto added, earning a look of surprise from Illidan.

Sadly smiling, Illidan replied "I suppose so… I still can't understand what anyone thinks they'll gain by taking Arya. She's just a child. Her Shadow Powers aren't even fully developed yet, plus if they wanted me, why bother sending someone to try and distract me while taking her."

"We'll find out. Don't worry." Seto comforted.

"Thanks."

Standing up, Illidan quietly said "Excuse me for a few minutes. I need to go get Jaden and Alexis up, and see if I can get Marie on down here. With company coming, we should all be here."

"Right…" Seto lightly remarked.

"Excuse me." Illidan slightly bowed and went up the stars while Seto watched the retreating figure.

--

An hour after speaking with Seto, everyone had piled into Illidan and Marie's home for the meeting. Yugi, with Tea and Yoshi next to him, sat on the couch. Nearby, on the loveseat, Joey and Mai sat. Seto and Pegasus, much to Seto's chagrin, sat next to one another in wooden chairs. Beside of them, Chazz, Alexis, and Jaden sat together in the floor against the wall. At the far wall, Zane leaned against it with his arms folded on his chest. Near the front, Illidan and Marie sat together.

"Thanks for everyone coming. I know it's been a busy day, but we need to discuss what has happened." Illidan announced.

The group all nodded, allowing him to proceed. "Earlier today, Kevin came to the auditorium saying he had explosives hidden, or so we thought, throughout the dueling arena. The arena was immediately emptied, thankfully, allowing Kevin to prove he didn't have anything. He was instead just a distraction."

Getting a light nod towards her from Illidan, Tea returned the nod and spoke up. "While everyone was at the arena, a young man came to mine and Yugi's home. I didn't recognize his face, but after thinking for a few moments, I remembered his name, and I'm sure it's him. He said his name was Syrus Truesdale."

"SYRUS!" Zane burst out loud. "Are you sure!?"

Nodding, Tea replied "I'm sure of it. At any rate, where was I? Ah, yes, Syrus had come to my door, telling me that Illidan and Marie had asked him to fetch Arya and bring her to them immediately. I didn't believe that for a second, knowing that Marie herself would come before she'd send anyone else. Upon coming to that conclusion, I tried to shut the door, but he stopped me. He burst in then and knocked Yoshi unconscious with his Shadow Powers…"

"Shadow Powers!?" Zane asked in shock. "But he had none when he vanished!"

Throwing a sharp glare at Zane, Illidan hissed "Be quiet till she's finished! I know you're worried, but just wait till she's done to ask questions!"

Glaring back himself, Zane finally quieted, prompting Tea to continue. "I was afraid, but I attacked Syrus. He managed to dodge all of my attacks. Eventually, he hit me in the gut and went to go get Arya from her playpen. I stopped him by knocking him off balance, which didn't go over well for his anger. We fought some more till finally he knocked me down again and then hit me hard enough to knock me unconscious. That's all I remember till I woke up to find Yugi by my side."

Squeezing Tea's hand, Yugi quietly said "I'm very thankful that both of you are alive."

"We're fine Yugi. You had no way of knowing we'd be attacked." she smoothly remarked.

"You said Syrus had Shadow Powers?" Zane interrupted, prompting Tea to look up at him and nod.

"Yes, he fired a blast of Shadow Magic at Yoshi and knocked her into the kitchen wall. That was all the Shadow Magic I saw, but I know what I saw. Being with Yugi all these years, I'd never forget what it looked like." Tea confirmed.

Nodding lightly, Zane asked "May I ask one other question? Was there anything out of the ordinary about him?"

Tapping her chin lightly, Tea thought for a moment till finally saying "His eyes and demeanor changed completely whenever I refused to let Arya go with him. He got aggressive."

"His eyes?" Zane asked with a touch of shock.

Replying with a nod, Tea calmly said "His eyes changed from a green color to an icy blue color." Shivering lightly, she added "Peering into them was a bit frightening. They were like looking at something you know you shouldn't."

"I see…" Zane lightly commented and bowed. "Thank you Tea."

Glancing around the room, Illidan asked "Any other questions?"

The group remained quiet, with a few shaking their heads no. Seeing he could move on, Illidan calmly said "There is the issue of the letter that was left behind."

"A letter?" Zane questioned.

Nodding, Illidan picked it up off of the coffee table. "I haven't opened it yet. I think now is as good a time as any." he commented.

The group nodded in reply, causing Illidan to open the letter and pull it out. Carefully, he began reading through it.

"To the former Shadow Court,

As I'm sure you're aware by now, Illidan and Marie's daughter has been taken captive. Do not worry, no harm will come to her. No, my Master has no intentions of harming the child. Why he wishes to have her, I'm unsure myself. That is not the important matter at hand though.

I'm sure each and every one of you in the room would love to retaliate against the ones that pulled this off. You wish to take revenge for the little girl, but as I'm sure you are aware, you have no direction to go in. Well, I'm going to give you a direction, more like a location and time so that you can join in this little game.

In three days, at midnight, a portal will open to another dimension. Within this dimension, precious Arya is being held. Those of you with the courage to venture into this dimension, my Master welcomes you and hopes you will seek him out once you are here so he can crush you in a duel and take away your Duel Energy.

I do hope to see all of you in this dimension. It will make things much more interesting, to say the least. Till then, let the fear of what my Master may do with Arya consume you all. Let it feed your anger and darkness, then unleash it once you arrive.

Syrus Truesdale"

Finishing up, Illidan clutched the paper tightly and began to wrinkle it. Not wanting to damage it any further, he placed it onto the coffee table and sat back down onto the couch while glaring down at it. Clenching his fist, he could feel his anger boiling over, slowly consuming his emotions.

Making a decision, he stood up and said "I'm going, with or without any help. I will not allow this insanity to harm my daughter. I'll fight for her, no matter what!"

"I'm going too." Marie piped up while standing. "My daughter is very precious to me, and I won't allow whoever this is to harm her! If it takes my very life to save her, I'll do it."

"Marie…" Illidan murmured, but regained his focus. "Who else will go with us?"

Yugi stood up and said "I will. I can't forgive whatever or whoever was controlling Syrus. They harmed my wife and child, thus I will fight with all that I have to stop this person or persons."

"I'm with you pal!" Joey chimed in with a big goofy grin.

Shaking his head, Illidan replied "No Joey, you should stay here."

Shocked at Illidan's words, Joey growled out "Why not!? I'm strong enough to help!"

"I wish to only take people who have Shadow Powers. It's true, you are very resistant to them, but that's all. You have no natural Shadow Powers, thus you wouldn't be able to help out that much is why." Illidan explained.

"But…" Joey began, but was cut off by Yugi. "Joey, I agree with Illidan. This mission, it will require people with Shadow Powers, that much is for certain. Whatever awaits us in this new dimension, I'm sure it will require us all to have incredible strength."

Slumping his shoulders in defeat, Joey grumbled "Alright…"

"I do ask that you stay at the school though." Illidan commented, earning him a look from Joey in surprise. "I wish for someone to stay around here, just in case something happens again while we're gone."

Smiling, Joey nodded and confidently replied "You can count on me! Me and Mai will protect this place to the best of our abilities!"

"Thank you." Illidan replied with a small smile.

"I'm going." Seto remarked. Staring at him, Yugi asked "Don't you have to run Kaiba Corp and all instead?"

"I don't care. This is personal to me, and I won't abandon the duties that feel I need to stay loyal to. Mokuba can take care of things anyways." Seto explained.

Smiling, Illidan replied "Welcome aboard then."

The group glanced at Pegasus next, who sweat dropped. "You can't be serious about me going, now can you Illi-boy!?" he asked with nervousness in his voice.

"No, actually, I can't. We do need someone with Shadow Powers to stick around also, so if you would, it would be helpful." Illidan remarked.

Nodding, Pegasus replied "I would be happy to help. Rest assured, the students at this school will be safe with me here."

"I feel better already." Illidan smartly remarked.

Looking up to Illidan, Jaden said "I'm going."

Frowning, Illidan slowly replied "Jaden…"

Cutting off Illidan, Jaden said "No, I'm going. This is my fault that Jesse was taken captive too… He didn't deserve to be captured like that, so I'm going."

"What exactly happened anyways?" Marie asked with a curious voice.

Looking down at his clenched hands, Jaden slowly began. "When you guys left, the duel hadn't started. Jesse jumped in to help me. We challenged Kevin to a two on one duel. He accepted, but his voice had changed. It wasn't his own, but a female voice. Near the end of the duel, the one controlling Kevin released him, revealing their true form…"

Clenching his hands tighter, Jaden felt small tears forming within his eyes, but continued on. "The one controlling Kevin was a Duel Spirit that I used to know, called Yubel."

"Yubel?" Seto asked with a look of concern on his face. "That name, it's familiar."

A few tears slid down Jaden's cheeks when he weakly nodded and replied "It should since I sent it in to Kaiba Corp when I was just seven years old."

"When you were seven?" Kaiba asked in shock.

Weakly nodding, Jaden replied "You were having a contest for designing cards. I'll get to that in a moment though."

Taking a deep breath, he attempted to reign in his emotions. Receiving a small squeeze from Alexis's hand, Jaden softly smiled at her and slowly began his tale. "This all started when I was around six years old. For my birthday that year, my foster dad bought me some Duel Monsters cards. I was so happy with them, and he had bought one really special one for me."

Sadly smiling, he said "I remember how happy I was when I got it. It was Yubel. I soon enough built my first deck and was ready to begin dueling. I spent a lot of recess at school dueling. Unfortunately, my foster mom and dad spent a lot of time at work, so when I'd get home, no one was there, but usually I went over to someone's home at the apartment complex."

His face fell while the memories slowly flooded back to him. "One day, I was dueling a friend of mine, Osamu. The duel was pretty fun, and I had a few monsters out. I drew my next card and picked up Yubel. She was my favorite card. Like everyone can surmise, I could commune with her Duel Spirit. Anyways, I played her, only to hit a trap that returned her to my hand. I lost the duel the next turn."

Tears slowly slid down his cheeks when he continued on. "Osamu consoled me in my loss, which I was mostly upset over Yubel not getting to fight. Yubel's spirit had told me it was alright and then suddenly, her card began to glow. Next thing I knew, Osamu slumped to the ground."

The crowd lightly gasped in shock while Jaden wiped away a few of his tears with his coat sleeve, but it didn't stop the flow. "He was taken to the hospital and evaluated. They couldn't find anything wrong with him, but I knew Yubel had done something to him, and she refused to tell me. When I dueled other people and lost, the same thing happened again and again. Eventually, everyone got scared of me. I was afraid too, for every time I dueled, someone got hurt."

Sniffling lightly, he added "Then, near my seventh birthday, I heard about a contest that Kaiba Corp was throwing. It was a create a card contest, so I decided to enter. I drew up several card designs, all of them were the Neo-Spacians and Neos."

Gasps filled the room, with Pegasus asking "You're the one who drew those cards!?"

"Yes, it was me." Jaden replied, making Seto smirk.

"So they were your cards. I should have known… After all, there was an extra card sent with it." Seto remarked.

Nodding lightly, Jaden sadly smiled. "When I sent in my entries, I sent in Yubel too. I knew that the cards were going to be sent into space to collect space energy. My hope was that Yubel would inherit the same power Neos and the Neo-Spacians would, thus making her give up her cruel ways of hurting people I lost to."

Clenching his free hand, he lowly growled and muttered "But something went wrong…"

"I can fill in why it may have gone wrong." Kaiba spoke up, earning everyone's attention. "When we launched the cards into space, we launched two rockets instead of one."

"Two? Why?" Illidan asked, seemingly confused.

Sighing, Seto slowly said "There were two space phenomenal events happening at the same time. We wished to put cards through each to see what would happen. The first was a wave of darkness. The second was a wave of light. We were unsure what the effects would be on the cards, but we were curious, so we sent one rocket loaded down with Jaden's created cards into the wave of darkness. The other rocket was sent into the wave of light."

"Let me guess, you loaded the second with Yubel?" Yugi asked, if not stated.

Nodding, Seto replied "Yes, we placed Yubel within the second rocket. The first rocket successfully made it through the wave of darkness and returned to Earth with no problems at all. There were no real differences in the cards, so we decided to give them to Pegasus."

Looking to Pegasus, the group awaited an answer. After a moment, Pegasus finally said "I kept the cards for several years till about two years ago. Maybe a little less. Anyways, I put them up for grabs in a tournament, and wouldn't you know it, Jaden-boy won it. I gave them to him, who was ecstatic."

"Still, what happened to the other rocket?" Jaden asked, seemingly a touch worried.

Sighing, Seto looked down to the ground and said "We lost contact with the rocket the day it went into the wave of light. No matter what we tried, we couldn't find it. It was as if it vanished into thin air."

"Yubel… she must have survived and returned somehow." Jaden quietly remarked. A few tears slowly slid down his face and he buried his face into his hands. "This is my entire fault. If I hadn't of sent Yubel away, she wouldn't be doing this!"

Looking at Jaden with sad eyes, Alexis felt her own heart breaking. Unable to sit and watch any longer, she moved in front of him and pulled him into a warm embrace.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself." Illidan spoke up, getting Jaden to look up from Alexis's shoulder. "You did what you thought was right, and don't forget, Yubel is responsible for her own actions. Duel Spirits have a will of their own Jaden, and you did the only thing you could do, which was send her away."

Being released from Alexis's embrace, Jaden glanced down at the floor and asked "Then why does it hurt so much?"

"It'll ease in time Jaden. For now though, we have to focus on the task before us." Illidan quietly responded. "We must save Arya, and see if we can find Jesse. If he's in the same place that Arya was taken to, we'll save him. Jaden, will you go?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Jaden answered without any hesitation "Yes, I'm going. We'll find Arya and Jesse, I swear it!"

"I'm going too!" Alexis chimed in.

"And count me in too." Chazz added.

Shaking his head slightly, Illidan replied "You two shouldn't go."

"And why not Illidan!?" Alexis heatedly fired back with fire in her eyes. "Jesse was our friend too! Besides, you said you needed duelists to go that had Shadow Powers. Both me and Chazz have a Shadow Charm, making us eligible to go!"

About to reply back, Illidan was stopped by Marie taking hold of his hand, making him glance at her. She only shook her head and said "Alexis and Chazz, you are welcome to join us on this mission."

"Marie…" Illidan lowly growled, but got a hot glare back from Marie. Backing down, he grunted out "Very well, you may come."

"We won't let you guys down." Chazz commented with a small smirk of victory.

Lightly sighing, Illidan mumbled lowly "I hope not."

"I'm going also." Zane flatly stated.

Glancing at the young man, Illidan nodded lightly. "Alright Zane, you can come too."

Looking around the room, Illidan calmly said "Then the team is set. It will be myself, Marie, Yugi, Seto, Zane, Jaden, Alexis, and Chazz. The eight of us will go to this other world and find Arya, and attempt to find Jesse. Once we're successful, we'll return. Agreed?"

"Agreed!" the group called out.

Nodding, Illidan stood up and added "We'll convene tomorrow to discuss what we're taking and strategies. I want to be prepared for when we cross over in a few days, understood?"

"Yes." each and every member of the team replied.

"Good. For now, we should rest. This day has been hard enough as it is, and I'm sure some of us need more rest than others." Illidan remarked while glancing at Jaden. "We'll meet again tomorrow at noon."

--

Laying in bed on his side with Marie in his arms, Illidan had his eyes closed and poking his nose into Marie's soft hair, but he was very much awake. The pair had gone to bed a few hours earlier, but neither had fallen asleep yet. Worry filled each of them.

"The house is so quiet…" Marie mumbled with a hint of sadness.

Cracking his eyes open, Illidan felt fresh tears preparing to spill upon her words, but held them back. "Yeah, it is… It's so eerie."

"Do you think we'll see our daughter again?" she asked randomly.

Forcing his emotions back, Illidan began to answer, but was cut off by Marie turning over to face him. "I want the truth Illidan." she sternly admonished.

Taking a deep breath, Illidan leaned his forehead against her own and murmured softly "I don't know… I honestly don't know."

A silence filled the air between the two, making each a bit uncomfortable. Finally, Illidan said "But I hope we'll find her. I know if we don't give up on her, we'll definitely find her. Have faith my love."

"I do…" Marie voice creaked out. "I want to believe so badly that our baby is fine, and that we'll rescue her from whoever did this. But I'm so worried about her."

"I know… I'm very worried too." Illidan muttered. Quieting for a moment, he took a deep breath and mumbled "If something happens while we're over in this other dimension to me…"

"Don't say anything else like that!" Marie cut in sharply. "I won't lose you too, so don't even start talking like that!"

Sighing lightly, Illidan grunted out "Alright… I'm just worried."

"I'm scared too." Marie mumbled in reply. Apologetically, she whispered "I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. We won't lose one another, alright?"

Lightly chuckling, Illidan asked "Since when have you become the positive one of the two of us?"

"I guess you've rubbed off on me some." she giggled.

Slightly smiling, Illidan gently placed a chastising kiss on her lips and pulled back a bit to stare into her eyes. Even though it was dark, the light coming in through the blinds from the full moon in the sky gave the pair enough to see into one another's eyes. Staring deep into them, he felt himself becoming lost in her orbs while she did the same to him.

"Don't ever leave me." Marie whispered lowly while leaning her forehead onto his and lacing her fingers with his.

Tightening the grip the pair had on one another's hands, Illidan leaned into her forehead a bit more and whispered back "I will never abandon you. I'll be with you forever."

Laying there, seemingly finally quieting their minds, the pair fell asleep in one another's arms.

--

Staring a hole into the bed above his, Jaden restlessly turned over once more. Since he had gone to bed, he had laid in it for five hours, not feeling one bit sleepy. His body ached for rest, but his mind refused to give in. Thoughts of the day's events continued running through his mind over and over, and only two figures would always end up at the end of the cycle each time. The images of the two figures that had vanished at the end of the duel, leaving him with the consequences of it's results.

"Why Yubel? Why did you take Jesse!?" he groaned out loud. He had asked the same question aloud multiple times already, but each time, he couldn't answer it.

Clenching his fists, he felt fresh tears beginning to fall. "Why Yubel, why did you take Jesse away? He didn't do anything to deserve to be taken by you!" he fiercely declared.

Sobbing softly, he continued to lay in his bed throughout the night till finally he cried himself to sleep.

--

Staring at the ceiling, Zane had a scowl implanted upon his face. Tea's words continued to ring throughout his head.

"... He said his name was Syrus Truesdale."

"Syrus…" he mumbled softly. "Could you have been taken control of as well? But by who, and why?"

Fear crept into his mind of a second possibility. Shaking his head, he grunted, muttering "No, Syrus would never willingly join someone like Yubel."

Still staring at the ceiling, he sighed lightly. "What will I do though if he is still under someone's control? Can I set him free?" he pondered aloud. "And if I free him, will he be the same Syrus I've always known?"

Closing his eyes, he sighed and felt hot tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. Reaching up, he wiped one away and sadly smiled. "I was so tough on him growing up, I wonder if that is why he left? Or if someone used that to take him away."

Heavily sighing, he rolled over onto his stomach and finally felt a twinge of sleep entering his body. Yawning, he laid still till sleep finally took hold of him.

--

Laying in bed with Tea wrapped protectively in his arms, and Yoshi in hers, Yugi softly smiled. Yoshi had had a nightmare and couldn't sleep, and asked to stay with the pair. They had been accommodating and let her into their bed. Both Yoshi and Tea had fallen back into a blissful sleep while Yugi still remained awake. In fact, he had never been asleep before Yoshi had asked to join them.

Listening to his wife and daughter's deep breathing, Yugi closed his eyes and enjoyed feeling the warmth of Tea's back to his body. Just hearing their breathing somewhat calmed his mind, but still, the fear from earlier that day lurked within.

"This is the first time in a long time that I've feared for my wife's safety. When I fought Marik in Battle City, I was terrified of losing her during my duel with Joey, but she was saved. Then when Dartz attacked, she was with the Pharaoh through all of his trials and tribulations. And when we went into the Millennium Puzzle to save help discover Yami's past, I again feared for her."

Lightly sighing at the past memories, the day's events once more rolled through his mind again. "Damn that Yubel... She was nothing but a decoy while whoever controlled Syrus attacked my family to steal Arya. It was bad enough for Illidan and Marie to lose their only daughter, but the sight of seeing Tea and Yoshi on the ground unconscious, that was almost too much to bear... If I lost either, my world would crumble down around me, without a doubt. They're my life, even when I was gone away for all those years. The hope of seeing them once more spurred me on to keep fighting and to live for them."

Feeling anger well up within himself, he took a deep breath and opened his violet eyes, slowly calming his mind. "No need to get all worked up over this. I'll find this person once we're in this other world, after we find and save Arya and possibly Jesse. But if I find Yubel, I'll make sure she never harms another person again."

Yawning, he softly smiled once more at Tea and Yoshi. Closing his eyes, he whispered in his mind "At least they're alive and with me still. No matter what, I will protect both of you."