Chapter 24

Joey was starting to understand now why Mai always woke up in such a bad mood. All night Jo had been moving or kicking or doing something, stopping him from getting a proper amount of sleep. On top of that his whole body felt tired and heavy as it ached against the weight of itself. He wouldn't recommend being pregnant to anyone and he certainly didn't want to continue being pregnant himself.

'How you feeling?' Duke's voice was little more than an early morning whisper.

'I don't envy pregnant women,' Joey groaned as he opened his eyes.

'Shh,' with a slight smirk on his face, Duke placed a finger over his lips, 'the others aren't awake yet.'

'And?'

Duke pointed towards the fire and Joey's eyes followed. He wasn't sure if he was disconcerted or amused to see Kaiba curled up asleep in Tristan's arms, but it definitely wasn't a sight which would have him jumping for joy anytime soon.

'Aw, don't they make a cute couple,' Joey rolled his eyes.

'You don't approve?' Duke studied him for a moment.

'I know Tristan's changed a lot in the last year or so, but he's still my friend and I still worry about him,' he shifted his gaze away. 'I don't want to see him get hurt.'

'You think this situation would end badly for them?'

'It depends on who those feelings belong to; Kaiba or the Pure. And... that's when things get complicated for me.'

'What do you mean?'

'Do you have any idea what it's like having the Pure's older sister in the back of my head? I'm here worrying about Tristan and she's worrying about the Pure, it gets confusing.'

'Speaking of the First, I've been meaning to ask; what does she make of this situation?'

'I... err... I don't know,' Joey squirmed, 'I've not been able to talk to her since we arrived.'

'What do you mean; you've not been able to talk to her? You just said...'

'The First has been worrying about that whole possible scenario since she found out Tristan was a Win part,' Joey rolled his eyes and shook his head. 'She has this... need to look out for both of her sisters all the time, especially the Pure. I know she's not the most... emotionally invested being in the multiverse, but when it comes to her sisters the First's feelings are always strong and clear. And at times it can make things a little... uncomfortable for me, because... well...' he gave a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck, 'her sisters aren't actually my sisters.'

'I see... I think,' Duke frowned at him. 'So you haven't been able to contact her at all since we arrived then?'

'No,' Joey shook his head, before reaching his hands up to Duke, 'do you mind?'

'Ah... sure,' Duke took hold of his hands and helped him up.

'I seriously don't know how Mai does it; I mean, I've been pregnant for less than a day and I'm already wishing it was over.'

'I'm sure it's not that bad.'

'You want to switch places and find out?'

'I think I'll pass,' Duke's face filled with a wry smile, 'after all I don't have the hips for it.'

'And you're saying I do?'

'What's going on?' The sudden sound of Yugi's voice made Joey start more than a little.

'Nothing,' Duke shrugged as they both turned towards him.

'I was thinking about what you said last night,' Yugi yawned, stretched and pulled himself to his feet, 'about Piper I mean. Do you really think she was Téa's onchasen?'

'To be honest, I really don't know. I mean, if you asked me that before I found the deck in my pocket, I would have said yes.'

'But now you're not so sure?'

'Unless Téa has something to do with this whole mess, I'd be more than willing to bet she and Piper are probably two entirely different entities.'

'So you don't think Téa will be awake when we get back?'

'Sorry,' he shook his head.

'I guess I'll just have to go back to waiting then,' Yugi gave a heavy sigh.

'Hey Yuug, just out of curiosity, what does the Face of Friendship make of that?' Joey indicated towards Kaiba and Tristan.

'Uh...' Yugi shifted awkwardly, 'I'm not totally sure what her current opinion is, I haven't spoken to her in a while...'

'You haven't spoken to her in a while?' Joey cut him off. 'How long is a while?'

'I... I'm not totally sure, she... we... haven't really been speaking since just before the whole Re incident happened. I mean... just before... whilst I was becoming Re... we just... stopped speaking. Not that we really spoke all that much before, she's not overly talkative when she doesn't need to be.'

'Yeah, that was the impression the First gave me about her too,' Joey folded his arms. 'I suppose when your sisters have such dominating personalities it's hard to compete. But... out of interest... could you try asking her what her opinion is now?'

'Why?'

'Call it general curiosity. I mean, I know what the First thinks about...' he indicated towards Tristan and Kaiba again, 'but I want to know if the Face of Friendship agrees or not.'

'Okay,' Yugi half closed his eyes for a moment. 'I can't contact her,' he frowned.

'I didn't think so,' Joey pressed his lips together, 'it's the same with me and the First. I've not been able to reach her since we came to this place.'

'What do you think it means?'

'I'm not sure,' Joey frowned as he spotted someone familiar looking in the distance, 'but I think I know how to find out.'

Without explaining himself to the others, he took off in the direction of the approaching figure. He could hear them calling after him in confusion, but this just caused him to pick up speed. Walking might have been awkward and uncomfortable, but he was determined to reach his target as quickly as possible.

'Hello Sta,' Joey kept his voice as curt as possible, 'I should have known one of you would show up sooner or later.'

'You say that as though we gods can't be trusted,' Sta's face filled with an insincere but toothy smile.

'You can't. Not after everything you've put me and my family through.'

'And here I was hoping you weren't the type to hold a grudge,' he chuckled, 'oh well, it doesn't really bother me one way or another what you think, my brother on the other hand...'

'What about him?' Joey narrowed his gaze.

'This is all his work, a little way of proving which village is better, yours or ours.'

'Village?' He frowned.

'My brother's words, not mine. Something to do with it taking a village to raise a child or some such nonsense. Can't saying I was paying much attention myself; all I really cared about was getting the chance to test you.'

Sta waved an arm in front of himself and a glass case holding a duel monsters card rose up out of the ground.

'Mai,' Joey's jaw dropped in horror when he saw the card, 'what did you do to her?'

'I didn't do anything to her,' Sta chuckled again, 'I told you, this is all my brother's work. Can't say I totally understand its purpose myself, but... Worthiness should always be challenged and tested. I spend my entire existence testing myself against Du, never giving up no matter what the odds. Even if I never beat him, I will remain worthy just for trying. That's the code we Wen live by. Your village has to prove its worthy because, compared to the realities you will be faced with, this little game of my brother's is nothing but a simple test.'

'How did you convince me to wake up so early again?' Ahna groaned as they continued their search for Jay.

'You should be used to early mornings by now.'

'Why exactly?'

'Because you have a baby silly,' she giggled.

'A baby who now sleeps peacefully through the night and actually enjoys sleeping in,' Ahna stretched, 'okay, maybe I'm still up earlier than most, but this is just ridicules.'

'I'm sorry, but... I'm worried about Jay,' Catilin came to a very sudden stop. 'This is a long way away from the henge now, it doesn't feel right.'

'I wouldn't worry Cat, he's probably doing this on purpose, you know what he's like.'

'I wish I could be so sure, but... I still can't sense anything.'

'Look, I'm sure he's fine,' Ahna forced a smile onto her face.

'Your eyes say you're lying. I may not be able to see the air move anymore, but I still know you Ahna. I know what your eyes look like when you lie; you think something bad might have happened to him.'

'No... no that's not it, it's just...'

'I'm not a little kid Ahna, you can tell me what's wrong,' Catilin's face was a serious as her voice.

It's just... this place... it's really starting to frighten me. I mean, you're right, not even Jay would wonder off this far just for a laugh. Something has to be wrong. Maybe something happened to him in the storm last night I don't know, it's just...' she lowered her gaze, 'what if what ever got him got Crovell too? If anything bad's happened to him I'll never be able to forgive myself.'

'This isn't your fault Ahna,' Catilin placed a hand on her shoulder, 'you didn't make this happen.'

'Then why do I feel like it is? Why do I feel so guilty?'

'Because you're a good Mummy and good mummies don't like it when bad things happen to their babies.'

'I wish I could be as sure about it as you are, but... it's just so hard...'

'Don't worry Ahna, everything will be okay,' Catilin's face filled with a weak smile.

'Look at me,' Ahna gave a choked laugh, 'I'm supposed to be the one reassuring you, not the other way around.'

'I told you Ahna, I'm not a little kid,' she grinned. 'We should get going again now, because we can't make everything alright again just standing around here.'

'No, you're right, we can't. So what are we waiting for?'

'What we're always waiting for,' Catilin sounded strangely poignant, 'faith.'