A/N: This one was influenced in part by a comment from MyAibou about how I seem to write a lot about girls in wheelchairs.

58. Defying Gravity – Glee Cast

"Big day today."

Yuugi was good at keeping a smile on his face and in his voice, but not in his eyes. Maybe it was because his eyes were so big; he couldn't make emotions stretch all the way across them. His feelings were stretched thin enough for even an emotional retard like Jounouchi to see through. Or maybe it was because Jounouchi felt things so much and so deeply he had to fool himself into believing everything was okay before he could convince the rest of the world that he believed it. The problem was that what should have been acting became elaborate self-deception with Yuugi. The lines between fantasy and reality had been blurred for him long before ancient Egyptian magic, curses and all the shit came into their lives. It explained why he was such a goddamn innocent when they first met. Yuugi's mind was practically tailor-made to accept weird stuff – like a couple of thugs could be good friends, or a megalomaniac with a magic stick was worth saving, or Seto Kaiba was human.

"You said it," Jounouchi replied. He was a lot better at fooling the world without fooling himself. He had spent his childhood convincing everyone he was hunky dory when in reality his father knocked him around on a daily basis and he only got proper meals when he ate at Honda's. He never could have convinced himself his life was anything but shit.

Yuugi stared at his feet. Honda caught Jounouchi's eye over his head. They exchanged a nod.

"You wanna go in first, dude?" Honda asked.

Yuugi looked up. "You think I should?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Pretty sure."

"Oh. Right." Yuugi swallowed and looked at the swing-door. He made no move to go through it. "Right. Okay."

As one, Honda and Jounouchi put a hand on his back and shoved. With their combined strength, Yuugi shot through and staggered to a halt in front of a doctor and couple of nurses. Hot nurses, Jounouchi noted, and then immediately dismissed the thought. Not now. He caught sight of the figure between them.

Definitely not now.

Anticipation was already in the air. It had been thickening, like mould on top of an overripe pudding, in the months leading up to this point. All the physical therapy, counselling sessions, muscles exercises and special dietary requirements – but also the crying jags when they weren't there, and the fake smiles when they were; the Positive Thinking, Empowering Speeches and Keeping On, Keeping On (she had a habit of talking so he imagined titles with capital letters). She didn't want them to think she wasn't coping well, but on bad days she was even crappier at getting the belief into her eyes than Yuugi.

Jounouchi wondered what their lives would be like today if Seto Kaiba had pulled off that rescue on the docks. Jounouchi knew he'd be dead right now if Shizuka and Yuugi hadn't pulled off their miracle, but apparently there was only so much miracle to go around, and he'd taken most of it. Kaiba never said he felt guilty about screwing up, but the fact he was bankrolling all this medical attention spoke volumes. To his chagrin, Jounouchi had learned not to believe it when Kaiba claimed he was only doing this because Mokuba insisted.

"I was lucky," she had said more times than he could count. "At least I'm alive."

Only because Kaiba didn't screw up totally, Jounouchi thought but never said. Only partially. So you get to be paralysed instead of dead. Whoop-de-doo.

Except that today was the big day. No, it was the Big Day. The capitals seemed appropriate even to a lughead like him.

They waited with baited breath. Her hands gripped the parallel rails so hard her knuckles bleached. Concentration showed on her face as sweat trickled down her forehead despite the AC.

Jounouchi had secretly looked up statistics on success and failures in circumstances like this. Research Boy wasn't a role he usually played, so he hadn't had to lie about doing it. He hadn't told anyone, especially Yuugi, but what he'd found wasn't encouraging. One thing they'd learned in their dealings with the supernatural was that hope was a frail thing and needed a helping hand now and then, even if that meant the odd white lie until after all the bad shit was over and you could afford to be realistic again.

Jounouchi worked to keep his face blank. The old brotherly desire to protect those frailer than himself was banging cymbals in his head, but he knew she'd kill him if he ever used the word 'frail' around her. Probably she'd use those same cymbals on his balls.

"C'mon," Honda muttered under his breath. "You can do it."

The sweat dripped off her chin. It left a line through her foundation. She'd put on make-up today. This was such an important day – her mom was on the other side of the room, willing her on just as hard as them. It was a miracle they'd been allowed to see her at all after the crate did its damage she was rushed to hospital, but her mom had realised it wasn't their fault. She was okay, for a clueless adult. Jounouchi's stomach clenched with the desire for this to go right.

We deserve a break, universe, he thought. You owe us that much.

Her hands unclenched. Her left foot skated forward a little, twitched, then lifted and came down again. Her right foot did the same. Her concentration was intense. The left foot wobbled, but managed to take another step. A smile broke out across her face. It hadn't been a fluke. Suddenly she was the most beautiful creature Jounouchi had ever seen. He knew Mai would understand if she were around. All the make-up in the world couldn't compete with the glow of accomplishment.

Finally she sagged, muscles trembling. The nurses caught her elbows to keep her from face-planting on the floor. She blew out a breath and smiled happily. "I did it." She sounded surprised. She could afford to now.

"You sure did!" Yuugi was equally aglow. "You did it! You walked on your own!"

"I did, didn't I?"

"You'll be dancing again in no time," Jounouchi added.

He heard a noise behind them, and glanced around kin time to see blue coattails and the back of a head disappearing out the door. He frowned at the brown hair, but he had better things to think of right now.

He looked back and his grin returned. "Then you can teach me the Cha-Cha-Slide."

Anzu didn't bother with her usual spiel that the Cha-Cha-Slide was the dumbest dance since the Macarena. She just smiled, and smiled, and smiled.