A/N: FFFFFFFFF I JUST GOT A LETTER FROM THE COLLEGE I WAS ACCEPTED IN. *deep breath* I'M IN. FOR REAL THIS TIME. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *dies*
Oh, yeah, something relevant to this, no, what comes next isn't from my demented mind. This is what actually happens in the manga. I can understand why the yaoi fangirls leapt upon that pairing now. XD
Luna and Cocoesloco: YOU ARE WELCOME, I'm glad you liked my article on LJ about that Sue, and I'm even happier it inspired you two to leave constructive critisisms and not flames, like some people have before. Flames bore, concrit helps.
~Ava
~XxX~
"NO!" Teá and I shrieked at the sight of Yugi being hit by the meteor, which in his selfless-ness he had directed at himself, and the anchor falling into the sea. Joey attempted to swing across the gap but fell in also. Our scream was echoed from across the dock, by Mokuba, Tristan, the blonde woman I had met a week ago and...two people I did not know. I froze alongside my friends, staring at the sea in shock when Yugi broke the surface; coughing and spluttering, but still alive. Teá, Kaiba and I ran round the edge of the platform agin, Teá and Tristan helping Yugi onto dry land. I caught a glint out of the corner of my eye, spotting the key to Joey's cuffs which I quickly snatched up, I turned, ready to dive when I felt the key snatched from my hand and fabric hit me in the face.
Kaiba had dived into the sea.
I pulled the coat he had flung at me from my head and shoulders, folding it over my forearm as Mokuba, a fellow red-headed girl with a long white bandage hanging limply from her hand and myself ran to the edge of the platform, looking to see if he had dived in time when they too, surfaced, Kaiba with one arm hooked under Joey's armpit, keeping him afloat The three of us helped them scramble ungracefully back onto the platform, grabbing Kaiba's hand I helped him pull himself up and out of the water, for once neither of us making a sarcastic comment. Joey spluttered a little as the red-head flung her arms around his neck, something clicked in my brain, that must be Serenity; his sister, the identity of the black-haired guy still eluded me however. I got to my feet, shaking a little from the adrenaline come-down and offered my hand to Kaiba, who looked at it before getting to his feet of his own accord. I shrugged but kept a tight hold of the coat; not willing to let the tech in it get soaked, I started a little at the strange scene around me.
My friends were alive, after a near death experience.
My sparring enemy being the one who saved them.
I sighed exasperatedly, I was going to have to do something I hated and I wasn't looking forward to it. I walked over to Teá, deciding to put it off for now and instead hugged my friend from behind, surprising her, (and almost stabbing her in the eye with the collar of Kaiba's coat), she laughed and patted my hand slightly, knowing that it wasn't easy for me to show outward affection towards people. I let go and stood in part of the semi-circle that we had found ourselves in.
"So...what now?" I asked, looking at Yugi and then to each of my friends, nodding politely at the black-haired guy and Joey's sister, smiling slightly at Mai as I rememberedher name.
"We have to stop Marik from gaining the power of the Pharaoh..." Teá said, tailing off.
"And we need to get to the finals..." Yugi finished for her, looking at the sun as it signalled that the day was ending finally. We all stayed silent for a moment, watching the picturesque ending to a horrifying day for a while. One of us, I don't know whom, cleared their throat and brought us all back to reality, I decided to take the moment to introduce myself to Serenity and the new guy.
"Hi," I said, shifting the coat I was still unwilling to give back to my left arm as I proffered my right hand, "I'm Sophie, I...m a friend of your brother's." I hesitated for a second over how to introduce myself, I've never followed up my name with anything other than, 'and I'll be showing you around today.' She nodded and smiled, taking my hand.
"I'm Serenity, i-it's nice to meet you." I smiled at her, she had a very sweet voice and it looked like, judging from the protective arm he kept around her, Joey was very protective of his little sister.
"It's nice to meet you too, especially another red-head." I smiled at the end of the sentence, feeling the discomfort of an introduction to someone related to a friend of mine ease slightly, I turned to the other guy next, who was standing inbetween Mai and Tristan. "I'm sorry, we've never met I'm-"
"Duke Devlin." He cut me off with, what I imagined was a smile that made many girls weak, but, while I wasn't going to deny his attractiveness, I was unfortunately more interested in the owner of the coat I was currently holding hostage. However, as I caught the glance that he gave Serenity and in turn the glare that he recived from Tristan, it didn't seem that my not being attracted to him would bother him unduly. I smiled back and shook his hand, feeling a tad smug that I was getting all the psychological cues correct and greeting Mai, telling the rest of my friends that I was leaving for home.
"If you're planning on taking that Callaghan, you'll have to pay to replace it." I sighed as I rounded the first container, knowing from the way we had run earlier that one more right would lead me to an easy-to-follow path and then to the road near the school.
"I assure you I wasn't," I said, stopping and refusing to turn around just yet, I took a deep breath, this wasn't the kind of thing I enjoyed doing. Ever. "I-I'm..." Another breath, "I'm sorry." No answer, I turned round and saw both Kaiba and Mokuba about four metres behind me, Mokuba not looking any different, maybe slightly confused as to my apology but Kaiba seemed to either be having fun with my sudden predicament, or shocked that I was apologising to him. Another breath, "That is to say, I'm not sorry for Physics or the canteen, or anywhere where I was actually justified in or you started-" I took another breath, an apology doesn't work if you point out all the other person's flaws, "but I apologise for my barbs pertaining to your personality and your dedication." I closed the gap and held his coat at arms length, a peace offering, "You saved my friend's lives today and the humiliation of apologising to you still can't sour that for me. So, thank you and I'll reign it in a little more when it comes to you." An eyebrow shot into his hairline and I grimaced, "Okay, that's a lie, but I'll try to be nicer."
"Well," He hesitated for a second and cleared his throat, "you're welcome Callaghan, but I didn't do it for you. I couldn't have someone die during my tournament. Even if it was the mutt." His smirk back in place as I felt myself mirror it slightly. Turning away quickly before either he or his brother could catch my newest blush I began to head towards where I knew the school to be and from there home.
"Get cleaned up Kaiba, you smell like fish." I shouted, repeating the words he'd said to me only six hours ago.
~XxX~
"Sophie! Cinema! Now!" I replayed the voicemail that Teá had left on my phone as I was washing my hair back at home, the urgency in her tone making me rush so much that I barely had time to scarf down some toast, dose up on antibiotics, (and stuff the vial of pills in my bra), change into a different suit before bolting out the door with wet hair and my highly impractical work shoes. A decision I was now thoroughly regretting. I made it to the cinema near my house in a record ten minutes, by which time the sight that greeted me was...unusual to say the least.
"Uhhhh...Teá...wha-" I said, my eyes unbelieving as I saw Mai letting go of a flapole and landing on Joey, what had Teá called me to?
"Sophie! You made it!" She smiled at me and dragged me over to the rest of the group, ignoring the scene behind her as she pointed out a shape at the end of the road the cinema was on.
"What is that? And why did you call me out here at 10pm? The streets are only safe during this tournament thing y'know, if I tried to do that at any other time inthe yea-" She was still pointing at the shape, looking at me expectantly, I frowned and squinted my eyes, trying to discern what it actually was whe I saw it clearly.
"Is that...a stadium?" Teá nodded, smiling and seeing the look of confusion on my face fade in favour of incredulity as I realised why she called me. "He's holding the finals in a stadium?" I groaned and rolled my eyes, what had I expected? Something understated? Teá laughed and let go of my arm as we walked back to our group of friends.
"Yep, I don't believe it either, but it seems that that stadium is the only thing around her that can contain his ego for the time it takes to duel." She shook her head slightly.
"So..why am I here again?" I asked, still not picking up on why I was called all the way out here, Teá looked at me like I had just grown another head.
"Because you're our friend, you've got to be there for the finals." I blushed a little when she actually openly said the word 'friend' in conjuncion with me, but my mouth dropped open.
"The finals are being held now? As in, this late at night?" I gaped at her as she understood my question, nodding again as I shook my head in exasperation.
"And while we ere on our way here we got ambushed by an ex of Mai's, who Joey was completely star-struck by, the ex kidnapped her, or, well, tried to-" I stared at Teá, not wanting to believe that so much could have happened in the short few hours I was at home and just how brilliantly Teá and everyone else seemed to be taking it. I surmised that my friends were amazingly together if they were, as they actually were now, laughing, joking and walking towards the stadium after a kidnapping. Either that or the kidnapping attempt was lame..
"We're here." Teá hissed in my ear as I almost walked into a street light, my mind had been so otherwise occupied I had barely noticed my surroundings, or the fact that we had walked the entire length of the road in ten minutes. Steadying myself, I filed into the stadium behind my friend and couldn't surpress the gasp as I saw inside the structure for the first time.
"Th-this place is-Wembley." I finished with conviction. This place was as big as the inside of Wembley stadium back home, but all this for a card game? I was about to ask Yugi a question about the usual conduct of the finals in tournamens when I laughd loudly, cutting off Kaiba from whatever it was he had been talking about, my attention not focused on him I had completely missed the blimp coming in to land, now I was staring at something I had never seen in my life and laughing.
"That, my friend," I said, not looking at Kaiba while I spoke but pointing in his general direction as I still stared at the blimp, "is probably more than a helicopter..."
~XxX~
A/N: I'm no expert, but I would think that a helicopter costs less than a fully functional and stocked blimp. XD
YES. In the manga, Joey/Jounochi was saved, not by his sister, but by Kaiba. I know, I as shocked too. But then again, it makes sense, in the original Japanese anime, not only was there brilliant music, an actual plot, psychology in the dialouge and difficult moral descisios, but Teá wasn't a sap and Kaiba wasn't a douche. Go figure.
~Ava