He stood outside that same door, surrounded by a wall of pale yellow. There was a nameplate right beside the door with the surname "Yuki" engrave in it. The outside of Jaden's Dorm hadn't changed a bit since he left, Jesse thought. With any luck, neither had its only resident.

Jesse hesitated to knock on the door. On one hand, Jaden was Jesse's best friend in the world, and he wanted nothing more than to spend his time with Jaden. On the other hand, however, Jesse was afraid that Jaden didn't want to see him. He didn't mind the fact that Jaden didn't show up at the pier to meet him on his own; he knew how Jaden was when it came to sleeping in. But adding that with Jaden's lack of effort in communicating while he was away had him worried. It seemed like was putting little to no effort into their relationship at all.

Was Jaden not interested in being friends with him anymore, he wondered. Could he being trying to cut Jesse out of his life? Had he moved on? Did he-?

As Jesse was about to finish another self-conscious thought about his friendship with Jaden, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door from the other side. This was followed by a sudden opening of the door. Jesse's heart skipped a beat and his lungs came to a brief, but abrupt halt when his eyes met with those of someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Jesse?"

There he was; Jaden Yuki stood before him, exactly the same as Jesse remembered; Same multiple shades of brown hair, same red Duel Academy jacket that was rarely washed, same stunning brown eyes. It was really Jaden.

"H-Hey, Jay," Jesse said nervously, holding out a hand for a handshake. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Jaden grabbed Jesse's hand and shook vigorously, giving him an ecstatic smile. "Hey, man!" he exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Winged Kuriboh just woke me up and told me North Academy's ship just pulled into the docs." Jaden looked behind him, into his bedroom. "Come on out and say 'hi,' buddy!"

Jesse watched and Jaden's beloved duel spirit made itself known, flying out through the door and cooing happily. Suddenly, Ruby Carbuncle appeared on Jesse's shoulder and pounced on Kuriboh, starting a small scuffle between the two spirits. Neither duelist could resist laughing.

"Guess they're still the same as always," Jesse said jokingly.

Jaden nodded. He then clapped his hands in front of his face and bowed to Jesse. "I'm REALLY sorry I wasn't there to greet you!" he exclaimed. "I forgot to set my alarm clock and overslept."

Jesse flinched for a second. He didn't expect Jaden to just apologize out of the blue like he did; it wasn't like him. Usually, Jaden would make up some lame excuse - such as duel spirits sneaking into his room while he slept and disabling his alarm clock from the inside - and try to weasel his way out of whatever trouble it got him in. Instead, Jaden was... telling the truth? Admitting that he did wrong? Asking Jesse for forgiveness? With no personal experience with Jaden performing these actions, Jesse was at a loss for words.

Jesse stumbled for an answer, trying not to sound like his mind had stopped functioning up until now. A few seconds later, he found his mouth starting to speak. "Uh... you're forgiven..."

Jaden looked up from his bow with his normal goofy grin, but a hint of graciousness in his eyes. He gave a relieved sigh. "Thats a relief," he said. "For a second there, I thought I might have to start looking for a new best friend."

Jesse shook his head, inexplicably finding the words to say again. "Now come on, Jay, you oughta know me better than that," he said teasingly. "I'll still be your best friend, no matter what happens."

Jaden laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess I should."

As he watched Jaden turn around and pull out a key to close and lock his dorm room, Jesse took note of how easy it was for him to go back to casually talking to Jaden. He imagined that it would be slightly awkward, having barely talked to one another since they parted ways, but it seemed like everything was as it was before he left. He could still communicate with Jaden, even if the latter did a poor job of it while he was away, and Jaden still valued him as his best friend. Jesse sighed contently, feeling his cheeks flush and his lips curve into a warm smile.

Jaden spun around, tucking his key in his pants pocket. He smiled at Jesse. "I was gonna go down and meet the rest of North Academy..." he spoke, staring at Jesse with a raised eyebrow. "You ok, Jess? You're looking kinda spacey there... Like me in history class."

Jesse took a few seconds to respond, trying to bring himself back down to Earth. He chuckled sheepishly and started awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said. "I just kinda dozed off for a second there, but I'm good now." He followed Jaden as they both made there way down from the Slifer balcony and walked down the steps. "So, you were saying?"

"Hm? ...Oh, yeah!" Jaden replied. "I was saying that I was gonna go and greet the guys from North Academy, but is there anything you wanna do while you're here?" he asked as both boys started walking along the yellow path, which was now outlined by a small line of green grass poking out from under a thin layer of beautiful white snow. They weren't walking anywhere in particular; just following the path at their feet "I mean, you'll be gone in two days. I wanna make it last before you go home."

Jesse's smile widened. "That's awful nice of you, Jay," he said. "Although, the only thing really I wanna do is just hang out with you. We haven't done that since before the whole... 'Getting sucked into two dimensions and possessed by spirits' debacle and whatnot."

Jaden chuckled softly. "Yeah, that was a fun experience, huh?"

Jesse laughed. "Can't say it was something I've done before, that's for sure." There was a brief silence between them, neither feeling an overwhelming need to speak as they reminisced their past adventures.

Jaden was the first to speak. "I, um... I forgot to thank you for saving everyone, after what Yubel did," he spoke, glancing away. "You were willing to give up your life just to send me... and everyone at Duel Academy home. So... thank you."

"Wait... YOU'RE thanking ME?" Jesse asked, a look of surprise and subtle shock all over his face. The boys movement came to a halt, taking a moment to stare into each other's eyes. Jesse brung his hands down over Jaden's shoulders, keeping the latter's attention on him. "After everything I've heard from Syrus and the others, I should be on my knees worshipping you, Jay! You were ready to throw yourself through an unstable dimensional portal on the slim chance I might be on the other side. You put finding me ahead of everything, including the safety of you and your friends. You... you put your life on the line a number of times for me... I-I could never thank you enough for all you did for me... I owe you my whole life, Jaden."

Jesse watched Jaden's face grow red, feeling the same effect on his own. Jaden slowly, but surely, grabbed Jesse by the waist and leaned closer. "Jesse..." his voice said longingly; it dripped heavily of sadness, also.

"Jaden..." Jesse mumbled back. He started to feel his body leaning closer towards Jaden. The latter performed the same action, pressing his body up against Jesse's in a warm embrace. Their heads were locked beside each other, ears pressed firmly together. They suddenly found their chests pressing against one another; they could feel the expanding and contracting of each other's lungs.

"I missed you," they said, seemingly in perfect unison.

Jesse wrapped his arms around Jaden's neck, and Jaden had his arms tucked under Jesse's and his hands shad slid upward to his back, pressing between the shoulder blades and bringing the two closer together.

Neither body wanted to move; despite the crisp, cold air of Duel Academy's winter blowing against their bare skin and through their thin clothes, practically telling the boys to go inside. They wanted to stay put, and let the moment last for an eternity, if possible.

The warm moment was soon shattered, however, when Jesse felt a sudden jolt of pain and screamed in agony...