Two of a Kind

Yugi and the others stayed in the Secret Garden for a while before returning home to their world. When they came to the door, they all passed through one by one, each returning to their own homes. Kaiba relieved Agumon of duty and permitted him to take a break. Joey walked through the front door of his home with plenty of food for when he would start making dinner. He also saw Biyomon playing Legend of Zelda on his game console – causing him to laugh. Yugi decided to stop for a quick snack before resuming helping his grandfather run the shop.

Later in the afternoon, Emily left her house and flew to Max's estate. The blonde wasn't a frequent visitor, but Max would sometimes invite Emily over to practice magic, play games, or have private discussions. A servant at the estate welcomed Emily and escorted her to the foyer, where Max was waiting. Max dismissed her servant and invited Emily to sit down at the table. Emily saw that the table had the layout for the Duel Monsters card game laid out. Before sitting down, she placed the macarons that she baked this morning on the stand next to the table. Then she took out her dueling deck from her purse. She and Max then shuffled their deck and drew their cards.

Emily made the first move. She played a card face down and a monster in defense mode. After her turn, she focused on the Cobalt Star shards around Max's neck. "Only three shards remain," she muttered.

Max heard her and replied, "I know. We're almost at the end."

As Max drew her card, Emily asked for her opinion. "What do you think's going to happen once the Cobalt Star has been reassembled?"

Max placed her cards on the table and answered honestly, "I'm not sure." It was true. Even she didn't know because the Dark Lord wouldn't tell her. Why spoil the surprise? As such, Max figured that it would be best if she and the others didn't know until it would happen.

While contemplating her move, another question came to Emily's mind. "And once all the shards have been found, what next? What reason will any of us have for returning to any of the other worlds?"

"We can still visit all of our friends and have more adventures," said Max. She helped herself to a macaron and happily sighed, finding it delicious. "But don't worry about it so much by trying to think too far ahead."

"Yeah, you're right," Emily said. "It's best to just live in the moment."

The girls continued to converse as they continued their game. Max was the first to speak. "You know, Em, I can actually understand why you're wondering about the future."

"Really?"

She gently nodded. "I'm sure you've noticed how our powers have been evolving since we started going to these other worlds."

Emily had noticed. Her magic was getting stronger and she was gaining new powers and abilities. But she also noticed how Max was changing too. Max's wings had almost lost all of their feathers and were almost completely bat-like.

At first, Max thought that her powers evolving was something to be happy about. But after some consideration, she thought it to be something to be worried about. "For every Cobalt Star shard I acquire, the dark power within me increases. It's caused me to wonder, what if I end up turning against you and the others?"

Emily admitted that she wondered the same thing. It happened before when Max worked for Dartz and the power of the Orichalcos caused the evil within her to overcome her. And in the ancient past, Max tried to help destroy the royal Egyptian family. But the both of them were able to conquer the darkness in their hearts and help to set things right.

But Emily had faith in Max. She trusted that her friend was a much better person now than she was in the past.

It felt good to hear Emily say so, but it wasn't enough to put Max's mind at ease. "Something I've noticed whenever we go to a new world," she was saying, "the new friends we meet don't trust me right away. They automatically assume that I'm an enemy because of these Cobalt Star shards."

The blonde had noticed that too. "But at least you prove them wrong in the end; showing them that you're our friend and that you want to help. Besides, now that we're this close to finding the rest of the shards, they're going to have to start putting their trust in you."

Max agreed. "Light and darkness can't exist without each other, but our hate and fears cause us to forget that."

That was when Emily decided to talk to Max about something she had shared with Yugi. "Max, all these adventures we've been having in the other worlds, you and me being rivals as well as friends, it's caused me to think that maybe the Dark Lord isn't as evil as I thought he was."

Max understood what she was going on about. She had noticed it too. And like everyone had discussed earlier, the Dark Lord takes advantage of his minions and followers by promising them the power to fulfill their ideals. Cobalt was leading them on the path to destruction so that the heroes could do their part and save them. "He's been using his powers of evil to do good," she mused.

Emily nodded. "The Great Goddess and the Dark Lord used to be friends before they fought with each other," she recalled. "Maybe when all of this is over, they'll be friends again."

"Don't hope for too much," Max said. "Nothing is ever that easy."

The blonde sighed. "I know. It's just, in light of all that we've gone through and all that we've learned, I don't think of darkness as an enemy, but as a friend who's easily feared and misunderstood."

Max's pride wanted her to scoff at Emily's words, but her sense of understanding wanted her to agree.

"I think it's the same for death," continued Emily.

It surprised Max to hear Emily say that. "Do you really think so?"

"Well, I thought nothing of it before," she admitted. Like everyone else, she always thought that death was unfair because it happened unexpectedly. She especially felt that way when Rachel died.

To Max, that was natural. She even learned the story of Rachel's death a long time ago when she and Emily started getting to know each other. "What changed your view?"

"Before I answer that, I have to admit I'm still afraid of death," Emily was saying. "You only get to experience it once and you never know if it's going to be excruciating or so painless that you won't even notice it."

"But you died once before," Max reminded her, "when you used the Millennium Star to destroy the Leviathan."

Emily remembered that, but she didn't remember what it felt like. After her energy was spent, her brain wasn't registering her feeling any pain when her heart stopped. "Well, I may have went through the experience of death once before, but I'm still afraid because I don't know what it'll be like when I go through it again. And when I do die again, I may not come back again."

Max nodded in understanding. "But then why would you think that death is like a friend who's misunderstood?"

The blonde looked directly at Max. "Something I've come to realize about death is that it heals those who suffer and it provides comfort for the loved ones of those who suffered their deaths." In some aspects, those words were true. Those who would die would no longer be in pain and the surviving loved ones would find comfort by being assured that the ones they lost would be in a better place.

To better explain, Emily decided to tell Max about a dream she had about Rachel. "The scene is sometimes different," she was saying. "Sometimes it's a white void, sometimes it's in the sky or an oasis. But I see Mama Rachel standing in front of me. As we embrace each other, I tell her how I miss her; how I want to see her smile, hear her voice, and be back in her arms and feel the warmth of her embrace. That's because I miss all of it. I miss all of the good and bad times we shared together. I also miss us laughing and crying together and I want to have all of that again.

"Mama Rachel tells me she misses it too and she promises me that we will be together again. Only there won't be any more bad times to live through; only good times. And we won't have to cry together for any reason anymore either; only laugh and rejoice. She told me that where she is now is in a world without sin, evil, pain, anger, hate, or sadness. No one feels resentment or hate, no one desires revenge or bears ill will either. Everyone expresses love towards each other and rejoices in the world always. She tells me that she's waiting for the time when we'll be together again, but she says I need to wait too."

Max cocked her head to the side, wondering what that meant.

"I didn't understand what she meant, but she helped me to understand," continued Emily. "She said in Heaven, we have eternity, but here on Earth, we only have a lifetime. I think the point she was trying to make was that I have to keep living the life I have here before she and I can be reunited."

"Do you believe so?" Max asked.

She did. "Mama Rachel said that it's part of God's promise that we'll be together again in Heaven and that I must trust in the promise and be patient. When I told her I don't know how, she said to keep living my life." Emily paused, then continued, "I believe she's right. As much as I want to be reunited with my mom, I'm not ready. I still have a lot to learn, a lot to do, a lot to share, and people who love and need me and who I love and need as much. She even told me so. I told Mama Rachel I don't want to keep her waiting, but she assured me that I'm not because like she said, she has eternity and she doesn't mind waiting for me. At the end of the dream, I promised my mom that I would keep living my life and trust in God's promise that she and I will be reunited."

Max thought that that was quite a story. Part of her wanted to laugh and call Emily crazy, but she knew that doing so would hurt her feelings. On the other hand, Max believed that dreams were messages from higher beings. She agreed with Emily that maybe God sent Rachel to visit her in her dreams to comfort her and remind her of His promise.

"Max," Emily was asking, "Do you believe in God?"

Max's proud side wanted her to say 'no', but her humble side wanted her to be honest. She sighed and answered, "I don't know. I used to believe, but…" she stopped herself, unsure of how to finish.

But the blonde understood. She knew that Max had been through a lot in her life. Everyone gets like that in their lives. People can go through a lot of pain and trauma in their lives and it causes their beliefs to change. It can even cause the person to lose faith.

Max cleared her throat. "I mean, I believe in Heaven and Hell, but-"

"Don't worry, I get it," Emily interrupted. "I'm just hoping that you and I and everyone else will have a chance of being redeemed by the Lord."

It touched Max that Emily cared about her and hoped that the Lord would show His love and mercy even to her. It also made Max glad to hear Emily admit that she also had her share of faults and sins and that she knew that she wasn't perfect. What really made Max glad was that Emily had faith and her faith would take her far.

The duel ended with Max's Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon defeating Emily's Dark Magician Girl, taking out the rest of her life points. The girls shook hands and agreed to play again soon. As Max watched Emily leave, she thought to herself how glad she was that the two of them were confiding in each other more. And as Emily returned home, she smiled, thinking the same thing.