Notes: Tristan has a dog in both the manga and the video game Reshef of Destruction, but the name is different in each. I went with the video game name, both because the game is closer to anime verse and because I like that name better.

Chapter Two

Yugi sighed as he leaned over the counter at the Turtle Game Shop. It had been a slow day for business, which was usual, and he'd had plenty of time to think about Tristan and other problems. It was depressing not knowing what to do to help. In the past, he had been able to help fix the things that had gone wrong. Strange that saving the world seemed easier than healing one soul.

Or several souls. They were all hurting after the string of terrible things they had been going through. Yugi was tired, so tired. He just wanted it all to stop.

"Yugi?"

He looked up at Atem's concerned voice. "Oh. Hi." He smiled and straightened. "I think I'm just about done for today. Do you want to take over?"

"I can," Atem said. He paused. "Yugi . . . you've done all you can for Tristan. It's up to him now."

Yugi sighed. "I know, but . . . it just seems like there should be more we could do."

"Words don't always help. No one can know exactly what Tristan's feeling," Atem said.

"Maybe Kalin would know," Yugi said. "Or Mai, or Marik. . . . Anyone who's made some pretty bad mistakes. . . ."

"Perhaps Tristan will seek them out," Atem said. "He may have even done so already."

"Yeah, I guess," Yugi said slowly.

"Meanwhile, I know you and the others are struggling with other sorrows as well," Atem said.

Yugi came out from around the counter and stared out the door. "It's just . . . there's always so much to deal with," he said. "So many enemies, old and new, and so many times we're in danger. I thought it would stop after Yami Bakura proved himself, but then we had the Chinese Items and the Viking Items and Lawton. . . . Shadi promised peace, and it never lasts! We know Zero Reverse is coming years from now too, unless we're able to stop it. . . ."

"That is a heavy burden," Atem said. "I worry about all of these things as well."

Yugi placed his hand on the door. "I'm just . . . really tired of seeing our friends hurt . . . or worse. I know what happened to Radley wasn't the only time something horrible has happened to us by far, but . . . a lot of us actually saw him fall. . . . We don't always actually see something terrible when it's happening. And Kalin was hurting so much, after we thought he was doing so much better. . . ." His shoulders slumped. "I don't want anything to happen to anyone again. But there's probably nothing I can do to make it stop happening!" He shut his eyes tightly, but tears still managed to leak out.

"Oftentimes, we can't," Atem agreed. "But at least we can try to lighten the burdens of those suffering."

"How, though?!" Yugi exclaimed. "When Radley fell, there was nothing we could say or do to help Kalin feel better. I always thought friendship could fix anything, and . . . sometimes it just can't." His voice caught in his throat.

"No, it can't," Atem agreed. "But it's still far better to walk through the darkness with friends than alone."

Yugi sighed but finally nodded. On that, at least, he had to agree.

". . . Is that all we can do, though?" he wondered. "Just walk with them? We can't stop any of the horrible things from happening?"

"We can try to stop some," Atem said. "But that won't take away what's already happened. I hope you won't try to use time-travel to reverse anything, as Duke did." He gave Yugi a concerned look.

"No, I don't want to mess with that," Yugi said. "Duke was just lucky everything turned out pretty much okay even though he rewound time." He frowned. "I still don't get how that worked. Some things were set back, like our ages, but other things weren't, apparently, like that one bad guy being killed."

"I don't understand it either," Atem admitted. "Since everything is proceeding normally and has been since then, I don't want to question it too much."

Yugi suddenly froze. "You don't think Tristan would try to do that, do you? Reverse time, I mean."

"I don't think Tristan is that irrational, despite his sorrow and frustration with himself," Atem said.

Yugi sighed. "We need to make sure he stays that way. I just wish I knew how to help him feel better."

"I wish I knew how to help all of you feel better," Atem said sadly.

Yugi paused, considering that admission. "It helps me just having you here, Atem," he said sincerely. "But Tristan keeps isolating himself. I'm not sure he feels the same."

"Perhaps. But I believe that even if he chooses not to come to us right now, he's still glad we're here for him," Atem said.

Yugi sighed. "Yeah. . . ." He tried to smile. "Thanks, Atem. It's always good to talk to you."

"Of course." Seeing that Yugi was now trying to help him feel better despite his own continuing turmoil, Atem just smiled and dropped the matter.

Truly, they were all struggling right now. He could only pray that somehow they would be able to find peace.

xxxx

"You're drifting again."

"Huh? Oh." Téa snapped back to the present just in time to catch her fork from clattering to the plate. She was sharing dinner with Seto and Mokuba, but as was usual lately, her mind was indeed wandering, especially when Seto inevitably started looking at business-related matters on his phone and silence fell over the table. Usually she scolded him for that, but tonight she had barely noticed or cared.

"Are you okay, Téa?" Mokuba asked.

She managed a smile. "Yeah, sure, I'm fine. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"We all do." Seto had miraculously put his phone away and was focusing more on her at the moment. "Are you thinking about Radley again?"

"No. . . . It really helped when we went out to see him and Kalin recently," Téa smiled. Sobering, she added, "But maybe we made a mistake not to bring everyone. . . ."

"You thought that would be overwhelming for them and you wanted to check with them first," Seto reminded her.

"Yeah, but they were fine with it," Téa said.

"We could all go out soon," Mokuba spoke up. "Or we could invite them here!"

"That's an idea." Téa perked up. "They were interested in seeing more of Domino from the past. Maybe we could have a party."

"Would that really solve all the problems?" Seto pointedly asked. "If you're not thinking about Radley, it must be Taylor. The way he is now, I doubt he would be much more interested in a party than I would."

Téa sighed. "Oh, you're right. I don't know. . . . Maybe I was hoping that if we made things like the good old days, Tristan would start getting into it. Instead, it would probably remind him that everything's changed now."

Seto nodded. "It might just make everything worse."

"I don't see you coming up with any ideas," Téa grumbled.

"There aren't any to come up with," Seto countered. "You and Yugi and the others are all alike, always wanting to fix everything with hearts and rainbows and friendship. And some things just don't fix that way."

Téa shot up from the table and glowered across it at Seto. "Well, it sure didn't do you any harm!" she snapped. "So maybe it didn't work right away, but we finally got through to you with patience and love!"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Patience?" he repeated. "From Yugi and the Pharaoh, maybe. But you? I always seem to make you lose your patience." He smirked a bit.

"Because you're the most frustrating, stubborn, narrow-minded guy I've ever known!" Téa declared.

"And like it or not, you know I'm right on this," Seto said without batting an eye. "Taylor already has your friendship and he knows it. The problem is, he doesn't feel worthy of it anymore. That's something he has to work out for himself. You can't hold his hand and fix it for him."

For a moment Téa stood there and seethed, not wanting to accept that Seto was right. But then, sighing sadly, she slumped back in the chair. "I know," she admitted. "And I just feel so helpless about it!"

"We all do, Téa," Mokuba said. "But . . . I really think Seto's right on this. I know I was never able to help Seto feel better about himself when he just didn't. I felt helpless a lot of the time, but I just had to stand by and wait for him to work it out. He always knew I was in his corner, at least, and I'm sure Tristan knows that about all of us. That's all you can do right now."

Téa nodded forlornly. "Maybe you're both right. I just keep wanting there to be another answer, but maybe there really isn't." Then she frowned. "No—Yugi told me I gave him the strength to keep fighting when he shut down in Duelist Kingdom. I didn't think I'd done that much, but he said I had! So there must be a solution like that for Tristan too!"

"Tristan's still fighting," Seto said. "He's just not happy anymore. Like it or not, you can't give that back to him. He has to find it for himself."

Out of steam, Téa finally picked up her fork again to return to eating. "I know that too," she admitted. "I just hope it won't take him too long to find it. . . ."

Mokuba exchanged a sad look with Seto. It could take years, as they both knew all too well. But he didn't feel like pointing that out to Téa, and from Seto's weary look, neither did he.

She probably really knew it deep down anyway and was just hoping it wouldn't be the case here.

xxxx

Lector was hard at work in his office at Penguin World when a crash and a familiar cry came from the next office over.

"What the . . . ?! George, get down!"

Lector had to chuckle and shake his head as he got up. George the temperamental Emperor Penguin always wanted his way, just like a cat. And "his way" often involved jumping on Nesbitt's lap. None of them were really sure how he managed it, and what Nesbitt was even less sure of was how he managed to hold such a heavy bird.

Although that crash had sounded louder than usual. . . .

Slightly concerned, Lector made his way to the next room and then stopped and stared. Nesbitt had tipped over in the chair and was in it on the floor, while George squawked and flapped his wings and did not get down.

"My word, he's getting more and more obstinate," Gansley grunted from behind Lector.

"Just get him off!" Nesbitt exclaimed.

Lector quickly went over to the scene along with Gansley, and together they somehow succeeded in lifting the large bird to the floor. Relieved, Nesbitt took a deep breath and stumbled up before reaching to right the chair as well.

"I wish he wouldn't do that," he grumbled.

"Crump would say he just does it out of love," Gansley remarked.

"Some love," Nesbitt retorted. "I could have broke something!"

"Are you alright?" Lector asked in concern.

"Yeah, yeah." Nesbitt sighed, running his hand through his hair. ". . . Have you heard anything more about Tristan?"

"I'm afraid not," Lector said.

"I didn't think so." Nesbitt sat back down at his desk. "I'm sure we won't hear anything more for a long time. Feelings like that just don't change easily."

"That is very true," Lector said. Nesbitt had certainly struggled for ages with his and sometimes still did. But he had to smile a bit at Nesbitt's obvious protectiveness over Tristan. Some people wouldn't be likely to believe it, but Nesbitt was both very sensitive and very protective. He worried about all of those who had once been their enemies, but he seemed to have a particular soft spot for Tristan and Serenity.

"But I've had calls from several of the kids asking if I have any advice," Nesbitt sighed. "The hardest was Serenity. I hated having to tell her Tristan would have to figure it out himself and admitting it could take a long time."

"Who'd ever think they'd come to us for advice on anything?" Crump remarked as he arrived at the doorway. "The percentages of that were astronomically low after what we did! Hey, George!" He started petting the pleased penguin.

"We were lucky they were forgiving and willing to give us another chance," Gansley remarked. "Most would not have been."

"Tristan probably feels like they shouldn't have given him another chance," Nesbitt said.

"Maybe it would be a good idea if you took counsel with Tristan," Johnson mused, arriving at the office. "As someone older and wiser, you might be able to offer a helpful perspective."

Nesbitt grunted. "Pretty much all I could tell him is that time's the only thing that can help heal him, the pain won't ever go away entirely, and he'll keep feeling unworthy to be around his friends. Do you honestly think any of that is good to tell him right now, unless he asks?"

"Objection sustained," Johnson sighed.

"So we're just bumps on a log then?" Crump scowled.

"In this particular matter, perhaps," Gansley said.

"But everyone's so worried about Tristan, they can't seem to focus much on anything else they need to do," Nesbitt said.

"What happens to one happens to all," Gansley remarked.

"Maybe it's the others we should be advising," Lector said. "As much as they're worried about Mr. Taylor, they shouldn't grind their own lives to a standstill. They should keep working towards their goals and dreams."

"That is a good point," Gansley said. "I doubt we can make any headway with Tristan, but perhaps we can with the rest."

Nesbitt perked up to finally have some kind of a plan. "Let's do it," he said.

Crump and Johnson agreed, and George gave a loud honk.

"Well, we're all in this then!" Crump grinned.

"Do you really think George understood the conversation and was voicing approval?" Nesbitt flatly asked.

Crump smirked. "Of course! Why not?"

Nesbitt just shook his head. "Nevermind."

xxxx

Tristan was deep in thought as he returned to his house. He half-absently petted his German Shepherd Lucky in the front yard, and the dog nuzzled him in concern and barked.

"Yeah, I know," Tristan sighed. "I'm just not all with it anymore."

He sat down on the lawn, continuing to pet the animal. Lucky whined, snuggling closer to him and placing her large paws on his lap.

"I don't know what was wrong with me," Tristan told her in disgust. "I know I was mad and couldn't seem to turn it off, but how could I let it get as bad as it did? David was right, too. He told me it was a cycle that just kept repeating: I'd be mad at Duke, stay mad until something really went wrong, and then feel bad about it. The last time was the worst it's ever got. Duke died because of me not being able to control my feelings in time to keep that evil spirit from using them to get power! Ugh, how could I have let that happen?!"

Lucky woofed and nudged him under his chin.

"I know, I forgave him and that saved him, but I can't just think about that," Tristan said. "I have to make sure nothing like that ever happens again! But how am I going to do that? What can I do that will really make me stronger?"

He stared off into the oncoming night. "When Joey wanted to get stronger, he joined a gang and dragged me into it with him. I don't want to go down that path again. It didn't help anyway. It made us weak, if anything.

"Kaiba thought winning against Yugi would solve everything for him." He snorted. "Yeah, right."

Lucky whined.

"Maybe a new job?" Tristan frowned. "I still don't want to work in my dad's factory. Would doing a job I hate make me stronger? Or maybe it would just make me mad and bitter. That's the last thing I want.

"Or there's what Kalin suggested. Should I do that, Lucky? Should I form a support group with me and a bunch of others who are trying to get their lives back on track? . . . It seems like all of them are doing pretty well at it. Maybe inviting them to a support group would look like an insult. Or maybe it would drag up all those bad memories they're trying to get past." He hugged the dog around the neck. "I don't think it's a good idea."

Lucky just opened her mouth and let her tongue hang out.

"What I really need is a way to feel good about myself again. But how will I find out what that is when I've always been pretty directionless in my life?" He pulled back to look at her. "I've always been on the sidelines cheering everyone else on. When I try to be a big hero, everything always goes wrong. I kept lying to Serenity about my skills as a Duelist and digging myself in deeper when I couldn't bear to tell her the truth. I tried sacrificing myself for her in Noa's world, but that was just a humiliation and caused a lot of trouble and heartache for everyone. I'm no good at fighting virtual enemies or rule the world nutcases, but that's what we always run up against.

"Should I try to hone my skills as a Duelist? We always have to fight these creeps by dueling or by using white magic. If I really knew how to duel, maybe I could really be useful and help out at least sometimes. I wouldn't always have to give up in defeat and call for Yugi to help."

He pondered, petting Lucky more. "You know, I didn't do too bad in that Capsule Monsters world," he mused. "That was more like Pokemon or Digimon instead of Duel Monsters. The problems were weird, but I really helped make a difference figuring them out. Do you think maybe something like that would help? Going on a weird fantasy quest, I mean. Hey, I wonder what happened to Pegasus on his. He never really said." He scowled. "I hate the thought of asking him about it. He might not even give me a straight answer. I know the guy's supposed to be on our side now, but sometimes it's hard to know for sure if he even feels bad about any of the stuff he caused. He treats everything like a big joke."

Sighing, he got to his feet. "Pegasus was gone for ages on that quest of his, though. I'm worrying everybody enough as it is without going missing for weeks. There's got to be another way.

"Maybe learning how to duel better really is the best option for now. Either that or figuring out how to use a white magic object. I think I'd be better off with the dueling."

Lucky barked.

"Yeah, I'm going to see about that," Tristan determined. "Come on, girl. Let's go inside and get some dinner."

Delighted, Lucky followed him up the stairs and into the house.

xxxx

In Satisfaction Town, Radley was still troubled by their encounter with Tristan that evening. As he and Kalin ate dinner, he continued to ponder the problem.

"I wonder if it would help any for Billy to talk to Tristan?" he suggested. "Billy's sure made some bad decisions too, and he struggled for a long time over how to forgive himself for them."

"The only thing that made him feel better was proving to himself that he wouldn't betray you again," Kalin said.

"Yeah," Radley sighed.

"I'm honestly not sure what would help Tristan," Kalin said. "It's different for each person. I needed to find my usefulness again. For Tristan, maybe he needs to find it in the first place."

Radley blinked. "You think he's never felt useful?"

"Maybe," Kalin said. "It's something to consider anyway." He paused. "Since we're living in the future, technically we could actually find the Tristan here and find out what he did in his past to help himself."

Radley gave him an amused look. "And then what? We couldn't really go tell Tristan in the past about it, could we? Isn't that one of the biggest no-nos of time-travel?"

"Maybe," Kalin said again. "It's seemed to work out okay that they all know about Zero Reverse. Even though they couldn't prevent it, my telling them enabled them to be prepared enough that none of them were hurt or killed when it happened."

Radley slowly nodded. "That's true. That might just be a special case, though."

"And Yusei's already changing the future so that the world won't be destroyed by a second, worse Zero Reverse," Kalin said. "If he hadn't known about the bleak future from Z-one, none of that would be happening because he wouldn't know the need."

"Okay, okay. These cases are when the future's bad, though," Radley said. "If we find Tristan's future here is good, maybe that means the past Tristan will figure things out for himself without us telling him his future."

"Well . . ." Kalin gave a crooked smirk. "We could always ask the Tristan here what happened. If we go back and tell the past Tristan, the future Tristan will already know it before we do it, won't he?"

Radley snorted and shook his head. "Confusion, thy name is time-travel," he intoned. But then he smiled. "Okay, Kalin, you win. We'll talk to the Tristan in our time and see what he says. However, if he says he figured out what to do without our interference, then I'm guessing we shouldn't interfere."

"Yeah," Kalin said.

Radley paused. ". . . Of course, there is another possibility," he realized in concern. "We don't really know the Tristan in our time very well. What if he never has found a solution?"

"Then that's a case of needing to change the future," Kalin said flatly. "We'd have to help the past Tristan figure things out."

"Oh? You are getting protective, aren't you," Radley smirked fondly.

"I told him he couldn't do it alone," Kalin said. "I meant it. We could try to help him along with suggestions."

Radley smiled. "I suppose suggestions wouldn't hurt. It would still be up to him to take them."

"Exactly," Kalin said.

"We'll drive to the City tomorrow," Radley determined. "This isn't something we should discuss on a phone call, even a holographic one. It needs a more personal touch."

"I really do like your adherence to the old ways," Kalin smiled.

Radley smirked. "Oldies are still goodies."