Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Family Bonds ❯ Chapter 15: A Trip to Remember ( Chapter 15 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Sailor Mini Venus 
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.15.2006 | Updated On: 11.01.2006 | Pages: 9 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 301 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 10.15.2006 | Updated On: 11.01.2006 | Pages: 9 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 301 | Status: Completed
Disclaimer: Saying I own Yugioh is like saying the world ended on June 6, 2006. It hasn't happened and it's not gonna happen. (Obviously, as it's way past that date)
Warning: Hmm... small warning for this chapter. There's quite a bit of cursing in this one because of a certain three yami's and Damian and his 'devil car from Hell' as it has been affectionatly named.
Review replies are at the bottom of the very end!
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
Making sure to be as quiet as possible, Anzu picks out her clothes for the day and ventures to the bathroom to get dressed. She emerges from the room dressed in a baby blue tank top and a pair of jean shorts.
After depositing her nightgown in her shared bedroom she makes her way to the kitchen, her mind still foggy enough that she’s not really thinking or feeling anything in particular except for how sleepy she is. Walking into the kitchen she breaths in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the haze around her mind begins to lift.
“Good morning, Anzu.” Yugi greets from the kitchen table where he’s stirring what looks like pancake mix. Somehow, some of it has gotten on his clothes and in his hair. “Did you sleep well?”
Anzu smiles, her heart warming at the simple question. Yugi cares so much for his friends. “Just fine. Although Shizuka did roll over and hug me for part of the night.”
Yugi giggles.
“I hope everyone’s hungry!” Tama says as she bustles into the kitchen with Malik and Mokuba in tow. “We’re havin’ waffles!”
“And from the looks of things, we’re making enough to feed a small army.” Malik says, taking note of the two bowls by Yugi full of waffle batter, the bowl of fruit setting on the counter, and the various syrups.
“We are a small army, Malik.” Mokuba jokes. “I’ll eat at least two and a half waffles, Tama will eat two, Seto will eat one and three quarters, Jounouchi an probably eat about three, Honda might be able to handle two, Ryou can probably eat two, and everyone else will probably just have one.” He says. “Altogether that’s like feeding around… sixteen or seventeen people instead of ten.”
Yugi looks at Mokuba in confusion. “Just how big are these waffles? And you forgot about your bodyguard.”
It’s at this time that Tama drags a Belgian waffle maker out of a low cabinent and Yugi sees just how big the waffles will be.
“Adding in Blue it’s like feeding… nineteen or twenty people.” Mokuba estimates. “Blue eats about the same as Joey. Maybe more.” He explains.
Blue shuffles into the kitchen just seconds after Mokuba says that. “I heard my name and smell the heavenly aroma of coffee… come to me, my precious.” With that said he shuffles over to the table and sits down beside Yugi, letting his head fall with an audible ‘thunk’ onto the table.
Anzu and Yugi both look at him worriedly.
“Is he alright?” Anzu wonders if Blue’s really cut out for being a bodyguard.
“He’s fine.” Tama says, walking over to the table to retrieve one of the bowls. “Blue has low blood pressure, so he has a hard time waking up. Just be careful because he subconsciously defends and attacks. Isn’t that right, Blue?”
“Mmm…” Blue mumbles in reply.
While Tama heads back over to the waffle maker, Malik prepares a cup of coffee for Blue and sets it on the table beside the young man. Then he goes over to the coffee pot to make a cup for anyone else who wants one. One of those people is Seto.
Seto shuffles into the kitchen with his hair in complete disarray. It doesn’t even look like he’s changed out of his bed clothes yet, as he’s wearing an old gray shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “Coffee.” He grunts.
Malik wordlessly hands his cousin a cup of black coffee that he only put a single spoonful of sugar in.
Seto takes a sip as he sinks down into a chair at the small table across from Yugi and breaths a sigh of relief as he feels his head begin to clear.
Within the next fifteen minutes everyone else begins to wake up and make their way to the kitchen, the scent of waffles and coffee too strong and tempting to ignore. It’s in this fifteen minutes that they discover that Ryou and Serenity are not morning people. (1) At least, not while they have jetlag.
The others try not to annoy the two with their cheerfulness as they really don’t want to know how they’ll act when provoked. Joey has told them enough stories about Shizuka snapping at him, and from the sound of it, an angry Shizuka is a very scary thing.
After they’ve eaten breakfast and cleaned up the dishes, everyone is completely awake and Shizuka and Ryou are back to their normal polite, sweet selves.
Their next activity for the day? While they could stay inside and unpack, the group makes a unanimous decision to go swimming. Until they take a good look at a map of the lake, they’ve decided not to go out on the boat or the jet ski’s.
Around noon Tama and Malik go back to the house ahead of time to start on lunch. Ryou follows a few minutes later, feeling a little out of place without Malik there.
With no one else around, the Darknesses within the three Lights are able to come out without any problems.
Inside the house in the kitchen, Tama and Malik are cracking jokes and laughing while getting out everything they need to make sandwiches. That is, until Bakura leans against the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Well look at the two domesticated housewives.” He chuckles as if he just made a funny joke.
The reactions are instantaneous. Malik’s eyes darken to a bottomless purple and his hair spikes up wildly. Tama’s eyes change to a deep crimson-purple color and her lightning bolt shaped bangs go from sandy blonde to pitch black.
“Tomb robber.” Yumeri hisses, narrowing her eyes in distaste. “What are you doing here?”
Mariku crosses his arms over his chest, almost mirroring the thiefs stance. “And I thought we agreed not to reveal ourselves to our lighter halves. Or have you had a change of heart?”
Bakura smirks. “I was testing you, shrine guardian.”
Mariku stiffens at the mention of his old title.
Yumeri steps away from her fellow spirits, not trusting either of them at all. Although she can’t help but direct a comment to Mariku.
“It’s a pity you gave up your title and became a common thief. You missed your chance at becoming the keeper of the Millennium Rod.”
Mariku smirks. “Yes, well I got it in the end now didn’t I?” Calling upon his control of the Shadows, he summons the Millennium Rod to his hands.
Yumeri growls. “You bastard! That belongs to Seth!”
Deciding it’ll be more fun to pick on Yumeri than Mariku, Bakura joins in on the fun. “You mean your lover?” He bites back a grimace at the very thought and ignores the prick of pain in his heart.
“He’s my cousin you sick bastard.” Yumeri hisses.
“That didn’t stop you from becoming engaged to that damn pharaoh!” Bakura shoots back angrily.
“You think I wanted to marry my own cousin! You think I even had a choice in the matter! Why the hell do you think I fucking snuck out of the damn palace whenever I could!” Yumeri angrily yells. “Don’t guess about shit you know nothing about!”
Mariku stands back and watches the two fight like an old, very strange married couple, highly amused by both of them. His inner self squeals when the two step so close to one another that they’re yelling in each others face. ‘Now if we can just get Yumeri to remember everything. Then they can go back to arguing about stupid pointless things again!’ He thinks giddily. “This is going to be so much fun!” Mariku squeals.
Yumeri and Bakura stop their arguing to stare at Mariku with raised eyebrows.
“I don’t want to know.” Bakura mutters to himself. “The last time I asked, we ending up drunk in a barn and talking to a male camel the idiot named Sanura.(2)”
Yumeri sweat drops while Mariku grins and says, “I remember that! That was also the night I dared you to steal something random and useless from Isis’s closet while she was getting dressed.”
Bakura glares at his old partner. “Well that explains why I woke up with bruises and small rocks stuck in my hair.”
Yumeri can’t help but laugh at the mental image of the ‘Great Thief King Bakura’ being beaten up by Priestess Isis.
“It’s not funny.” Bakura mutters. “That woman was fucking insane. Thank Ra she’s dead and gone.”
Mariku smirks. “Actually, she’s quite alive and still here.”
Bakura twitches and Yumeri finds herself wanting to giggle. She ignores the feeling, forcefully pushing it away.
“My beloved hikari has an older sister who looks just like my dear older sister. And guess what her name is!”
“Isis.” Bakura says dispassionately.
“And guess who she’s the reincarnation of!”
“Isis.”
“And you wanna know what else?”
“We’re screwed.”
Mariku blinks. “Well, I was gonna say that she’s still in Egypt, but that works too!”
They hear the door slide open and then shut and fall silent. Yumeri walks back over to the counter and Bakura backs up to the doorway.
“Tama! Malik! The others are coming in and Jounouchi says he wants more than three sandwiches! I hope we have enough bread!”
As soon as they heard Mokuba yelling for Tama and Malik, all three yami’s automatically gave control back to their hikari’s. Now there are three very confused hikari’s standing in the kitchen, wondering where the time went. Malik also wonders when he picked up the Millennium Rod and how he got it when he doesn’t even remember taking it out of his suitcase.
Mokuba bounces into the kitchen with a bright smile on his face. When he notices that no sandwiches have been made a surprised look comes onto his face. “Guys, where are the sandwiches?”
Hiding their fear, Malik and Tama quickly make up a rather feeble excuse while Ryou slips out of the room unnoticed.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Damian twitches as Ashling sighs heavily for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. Not that he’s been counting or anything…
“Come off it Ash!” Liam suddenly exclaims, banging a fist onto the Pizza Hut table. “So what if Holly’s living in Alaska now and you won’t be able to see her for a few years! That’s no reason for you to be depressed and not have fun all summer!”
Damian glances around the mostly empty Pizza Hut before focusing on the annoyed twin. “Chill, Li. Unless you’d like for us to get kicked out and then be chewed out by Lexus.”
Liam mutters something under his breath about crazy pink-loving psycho’s.
“Well that’s friendly.”
Ashling snaps out of her daze to look up at the newcomer. The sight she sees is a normal one of a boy with really long turquoise and light blue hair hugging Damian, who’s trying his best to escape. She laughs. Nobody can stay depressed for long when Nixxus Lexus is your friend and in the same room as you.
“You actually made it.” Liam comments, snickering as Damian gives up trying to escape from Nixx’s grasp. “Roman actually drove you out here?”
Nixx shakes his head. “Actually, Alex drove me.”
Roman and ‘Alex’ are Nixx’s older brothers who are fraternal twins. Roman has black hair and is jokingly called “the evil twin” and Alexandrian has brown hair and is “the less-evil twin”.
Nixx lets go of Damian, which makes the older boy sigh with relief, and takes a seat beside Ashling. “So what’s on our agenda for today and who’s driving what car?”
“We’re going to eat here, go watch ‘Pirate of the Caribbean two’ again, go grab a milkshake at Hardee’s, and then go home. I’m driving and I’ve got the Pearl.” Liam says.
“So it’s the usual activities with the added risk of stalling out at stoplights on the way home.” Nixx says cheerfully. “Sounds fun.”
“Hey, I’ve gotten better at driving the Mazda! I only stalled out once this week!” Liam protests. “And that was because I slammed on the brakes because there were some guinea chickens in the road and didn’t even think about the clutch.”
Ashling laughs. “Yeah! That’s my twin, the humanitarian who brakes for chickens but chases ducks with the jet ski’s and the boat!”
Nixx and Damian laugh, knowing this to be completely true and totally like Liam. Liam just grins.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Later that evening about an hour after the twins get home after dropping off Nixx and Damian and while Ashling is taking a shower, the phone rings.
“Liam! It’s for you!” Cheyenne Phoenix, Liam and Ashling’s younger sister yells. “It’s the purple freak and gay boy!”
Liam scowls at the names Cheyenne refers to his friends by and then smirks when he hears his mom chastising her. He picks up the phone by the computer and runs through his customary greeting. “Hello, Pig Farms and Tai Qwan DoDo’s Incorporated, this is the president speaking.”
“Hello, Mr. President!” Nixx greets cheerfully. “Is your better half around?”
Liam rolls his eyes. “Nope. Want me to get here?”
“Naw, that would ruin our grand master plan.” Damian says. “See, me and Nixx came up with a plan that might cheer up Ashling. We were wonderin’ if you wanna help.”
“Say yes, say yes!” Nixx chants loudly.
Liam winces and rubs his ear. “Not so loud, Nixx. And who gave you candy?”
“Ally!” Nixx says cheerfully.
On his end of the phone, Damian snorts. Liam merely raises an eyebrow.
“Nixx, one of these days Alexandrian is going to find out about the twenty-billion nicknames that you’ve come up with using his name. And then he's going to kill you.” Liam says. “And yes, I’ll help you with the plan. Anything to get Ash back to her normal self.”
“Great! See, I figure we can ‘kidnap’ Ash early one morning, shove her in my old station wagon and go on a road trip!” Damian exclaims.
Liam’s silent for a moment. “Kidnap her.” He repeats.
“Yup! Oh, and of course you’ll have to pack her stuff beforehand ‘cause we can’t tell her.” Damian says. “But that shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Oh no, not at all.” Liam says sarcastically. “Come off it, Damian. There’s no way that Ash won’t notice if some of her clothes go missing. And there’s no way on Earth that I’m going to go through sis’s underwear drawer.”
“Doesn’t Ash wear your underwear?” Nixx asks.
Liam grits his teeth. “Nixx. Shut up.”
“Does she really?” Damian questions, sounding intrigued.
Liam sighs, knowing he’s going to have to explain this one or else risk Damian questioning Ashling. “Yeah. She steals the underwear I get for Christmas almost every year. So they are clean, Damian Cerberus Mizu.”
“What?” Damian says innocently. “I wasn’t thinking anything about letting Ash wear mine.”
“Yeah right.” Liam and Nixx say unanimously.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
July 22, 2006: Morning- Phoenix Residence
A digital clock sitting innocently on a bedside table reads 5:59. Suddenly, it changes to 6:00.
The door to Ashling and Liam’s bedroom suddenly slams open, scaring it’s two occupants half to death. A masked figure with purple hair drags the twins out of bed and rushes them out to the old station wagon in the driveway. Meanwhile, a masked figure with turquoise and blue hair gathers up the CD’s in the room, along with a few of Ashling’s notebooks, a large book to read out loud, and some pencils. Then he hurries out to the old station wagon.
Mr. Phoenix watches as the station wagon takes off, kicking up gravel as it goes. Shaking his head and putting out his cigarette, he wonders if it was really wise to let his son and daughter go on a road trip with the two crazy boys. Deciding there wasn’t much he could do, Mr. Phoenix heads back inside to watch TV.
The clock reads 6:01.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
“Damian Cerberus Mizu, Nixxus Gene Lexus, and William Joseph Phoenix! (3) I can’t believe you three! What the hell possessed you to drag me out of bed at six in the morning on a weekend during summer vacation and shove me into the backseat of this accursed vehicle!”
To say Ashling is pissed would be an understatement.
Damian keeps on driving while Nixx tries to find the perfect rock CD that Ashling can sing along to and possibly calm down by. Poor Liam is stuck trying to explain why they got her up so early.
“-and furthermore I-”
“Ash.”
“-what went through your minds-”
“Ashling.”
“-that I would want to be stuck in a--”
“ASHLING!” Liam bellows.
Ashling stops yelling and looks at her twin. “What?” She snaps irritably.
“We’ve been really worried about you because you’ve been completely out of it since Holly moved.” Liam says. “Then Damian and Nixx brainstormed and came up with this idea for us to go on a road trip. And you know where we’re going first?” He grins when Ashling shakes her head negatively. “Hershey, Pennsylvania!”
Ashling laughs, her anger dissipated instantly by that proclamation. “Is it really wise to take Nixx to a place that makes the most delicious chocolate in the world?”
“Hey, I can control myself! I have great self-control!” Nixx exclaims.
“Lexus, you have horrible self-control.” Damian says. “Does the chocolate cake incident ring a bell?”
“That was just that one time.” Nixx says defensively. “And you wouldn’t feed me.”
“How about the chocolate soup incident.” Liam teases. “Or the giant Hershey kiss fiasco?”
Ashling joins in on the fun. “And remember the chocolate fondue mess? And when you ate all my chocolate ice cream when I asked you to put it away? Which, by the way, you still owe me for.”
Nixx huffs and crosses his arms over his chest. “Some friends you all are. Just for that, we’re listening to the Spice Girls!”
Everyone else in the station wagon laughs as Nixx puts in his Spice Girl’s CD. For the next half hour or so, they sing along to the music. All of them.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Many pit stops and a day or two later the four are in New York and heading to the original destination the boys chose; a little town in upstate New York called Jordan.
An hour or two after crossing the state line, while they’re singing along to Good Charlotte, Ashling spots a sign that has a familiar name on it.
“Liam, are we going where I think we’re going?” She asks over Nixx and Damian’s loud, enthusiastic singing.
Liam grins. “Depends on where you think we’re going.”
“Hmm…” Ashling pretends to think. “We’re in New York, we just passed a sign that had ‘Auburn’ on it, and the place we’re going is suppose to cheer me up. I know!” She snaps her finger. “We’re going to Niagara Falls!” She jokes.
Up front Nixx stops singing and thoughtfully says, “You know, I’ve always wanted to see Niagara Falls.”
“No. No more detours.” Damian groans. “I’m sick of driving and this old gal wouldn’t be able to handle the extra miles.”
“It’s not like she’s gonna break down in the middle of the road.” Nixx scoffs. “And anyway, we’re in New York! Why can’t we go? I wanna make Lexi’ and Ro’ jealous! Please? Pretty please with sugar and chocolate and caramel and whipped cream on top?” He begs.
In the back, Liam whispers to Ashling, “That sounds like something that would be in one of Nixx’s fantasy’s - Damian covered in sweets.”
Ashling can’t help but crack up laughing right alongside her brother.
“What’s so funny back there?” Damian asks.
At the sound of Damian’s voice, the two laugh even harder. So hard that tears come to their eyes. They both soon begin running out of air and have to force themselves to calm down.
“Are you two done yet?” Damian asks, slightly amused and rather curious to know what they’re laughing at. “And what are you two laughing about anyway?”
The twins exchange a look before they once again crack up laughing. Ashling tries to convey what they’re laughing about, but fails miserably.
“You… sweets… Nixx… covered…” She chokes out.
Nixx and Damian sweat drop.
Liam’s the first to calm down from the third bout of laughter and says, “You don’t want to know.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Damian says, before directing the conversation back to Niagara Falls. “And I told you, Lexus. The Wagon won’t be able to make it. I’m pushing it as it is with this lengthy trip.”
“And I say she can make it.” Nixx says stubbornly. “Come on Damian, the chances of the car breaking down in the middle of the road is like, one out of a million! It’s not gonna happen!”
The engine makes a weird hissing sound and some smoke comes from under the hood and then one of the tires blows out.
Damian glares at Nixx as he eases the car to a stop off of the road and almost into a ditch. “You were saying?”
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
An hour passes and they’re still stuck on the side of the road. The spare tire has been put on already. The only problem is the engine.
Currently, Ashling’s laying on the roof of the car writing about their misfortune in the ‘travel log’ Nixx put together, Damian’s working on the engine trying to find out what’s wrong, Nixx is looking for fish in the ditch that actually does have water in it, and Liam’s helping Damian the best he can.”
Ashling finishes writing in the journal and shoves it though the open window in the back. The she rolls over onto her back and looks up at the sky. “Looks like rain.” She comments, noticing the storm clouds hovering ominously above them.
“Great. Could things get any worse?” Damian mutters.
Ashling wisely climbs off the roof and rolls up all the windows in the station wagon while muttering, “No way I’m taking any chances.”
Overhead, lightning streaks across the sky and thunder booms loudly. As the downpour hits, Liam yells, “Does that answer your question!”
A truck zooms by, drenching Ashling with water. Sputtering, the blonde kicks water after the truck. “F- you, jerk!” She yells. “Frickin’ Georgians…” She mutters, having noticed the license plate.
“Did ya get the number of that truck?” Damian jokes as Ashling approaches.
“Hardy har har.” Ashling responds sarcastically. “You’d better get this hunk of metal fixed soon. I’m wet and hungry and am about to fish Nixx out of the damn ditch. Nixxuss Lexus! Get out of that ditch!” She marches off to get her friend.
Liam and Damian sweat drop.
“So much for cheering her up.” Damian says, turning his attention back to the engine. He messes with a few more things and then backs up. “Alright, go start her up.”
Liam hurriedly gets into the station wagon and turns the key in the ignition. To everyone’s relief the car starts and begins running smoothly with no problems. Ashling and Nixx even make up a cheer and dance to celebrate.
And then smoke issues from something under the hood and Damian yelps. “Turn it off! Turn it off! The Wagon’s on fire!”
Liam cuts off the engine while muttering, “It’s raining. How could the engine possibly be on fire?”
Nixx and Ashling climb out of the ditch and wander over to where Damian is beginning to panic over the state of the car. Liam gets back out of the vehicle and joins them. It’s still raining, albeit lighter than before.
“Looks like the radiator has a hole or something.” Liam says, gesturing to the still smoking part. “Where’s an egg when you need it?”
“This is no time to think about food!” Damian exclaims. “It’s smoking! Why won’t it stop smoking!”
As if by magic, the radiator stops smoking and Damian breaths a sigh of relief.
“An egg in the radiator will block up the hole.” Ashling tells Damian. “We saw it on MythBusters (4) one time and it seemed to work pretty well. It’s just a momentary fix though and I doubt people who know a lot about car engines and stuff would recommend doing that.”
“But where are we going to find an egg!” Damian flails his arms. “We’re in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a storm and the only other car that’s gone by was that damn truck!”
“Look, a car!” Nixx suddenly yells, pointing to the headlights coming down the road. “Quick! Put on the emergency light thingy’s! Maybe they’ll stop!”
Liam once again runs over and jumps into the drivers side of the Wagon, this time to put on the ‘emergency light thing’s’. Meanwhile, Ash goes to stand on the side of the road and tries to flag down the car.
To everyone’s relief the car slows down and the passenger side’s window rolls down.
“Looks like you’re having some car trouble.” The guy driving says.
Ashling scratches the back of her head. “Yeah, just a little.”
“A little!” Damian has yet to finish panicking. “Ash, the car was smoking! Smoking!”
“Ash?” A girl’s voice says questioningly from inside the car. A girl with wavy brown hair and glasses leans forward from the backseat to see who they’ve stopped to help.
Ashling’s jaw drops. “Nicole?”
Nicole looks at Ashling in shock. “Ashling? But how-? What are you doing here? Where’s Liam? Who are they? Does Riley know you’re here? How--”
Someone else in the back of the truck hits Nicole lightly in the head. “Jeez, Nicky. Let Ashling talk.” A second girl with long brown hair comes into view. “Hey.”
Ashling laughs, a little relieved that the people in the car are actually people she and Liam know. “Hi Harley.” She turns to face the guys. “Hey Liam! It’s the Coon’s!”
Liam nearly falls out of the car after opening the door. “You’re kidding!”
“No kidding.” Ashling says, turning back around to face her old friends. “Think you guys can help us? All we need is an egg or something more proper to fix the radiator and then we can be on our way to Riley’s.”
Harley nearly laughs. “Ashling, Riley’s house is right up the road.”
Ashling blinks and looks up the road, staring in shock when she sees the Poplar’s two-story blue-gray house. “Well I’ll be… it is.” She turns and glares at Damian. “Why didn’t you tell me we were already in Jordan!”
Damian shrugs. “Wanted to surprise you?”
Ashling smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Right. Forgot.”
Ten minutes later the three guys find themselves pushing the station wagon up the road to the Poplar family’s house. Ashling sits in the drivers seat, keeping the car on the road.
At least the rain has stopped.
Twenty minutes later they’ve finally gotten the park parked in the driveway and are standing on the small front porch. Ashling rings the doorbell as she says, “I hope they have room for us.”
“Don’t worry. I called Mr. And Mrs. Poplar a few days before we left on the trip. They know we’re coming, but Riley and Max don’t.” Liam assures his twin.
The door opens and the four of then look at who it is who’s opening the door.
Damian’s breath catches in his throat at the sight of the girl standing at the door. His brain takes in as much information as it can in the few seconds he stares. ‘Ashling’s height, dark blonde hair, hazel eyes… pretty eyes... I want to hear her voice. I wonder if it's as pretty as she is.'
“Hello?” She asks uncertainly.
‘There is a god! And he likes me!’ Damian thinks giddily. ‘She’s perfect.’
“Hey Riley.” Ashling says. “You probably don’t recognize us since we’re soaking wet at the moment. ‘Tis us! The Phoenix family dynamic duo! Oh, and our friends who are the cause of this mess.”
“We are not!” Damian and Nixx protest immediately.
Liam raises an eyebrow. “Really? Who were the ones that came up with this whole plan? Who were the ones who said, ‘the chances of braking down are one in a million. It’s not gonna happen’ and in reference to the storm clouds, ‘could things get any worse?’. Which they did. It rained. Heavily.”
“Stop blaming Damian for the weather.” Ashling says with a sigh before she looks back at Riley. “Any chances of us coming in? Riley? Riiii-leeeeey?”
Riley jumps, having been studying Damian, who’s now arguing with Liam. “O-oh! Sure. Come on in, all of you. Let me get you some towels.”
The four step into the house and are immediately hit by a blast of cold air. Riley rushes off to fetch the towels, leaving them to close the door.
“Well,” Nixx cheerfully begins. “at least things can’t--”
Ashling slaps her hand over Nixx’s mouth at the same time as Damian and Liam hit him on the head. They all have a bit of a hard time reaching though.
“Say it and die, Lexus!” Damian hisses. “We do not need another disaster. My car’s already soaking wet and has more problems than before.”
“The wet part is really your fault.” Ashling points out. Then she wrinkles her nose when Nixx licks her hand. She quickly removes her hand so it won’t happen again and wipes her hand off on her soaking wet jeans. “Was that entirely necessary, Nixx?”
Nixx grins almost evilly. “You bet! Although you taste horrible.”
“Dweeb.” Ashling says. “And I probably taste like rain water and grass.”
“Whatever it is, you taste bad.” Nixx says.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” A voice says loudly.
The four wet teens look up the stairs to see a boy with brown hair leaning against the rail looking down at them.
“Nice to see you too, Max.” Liam says.
Max practically dashes down the stairs, questioning them as he goes. “How did you get here? Why are you here? Why are you all wet? Who are they? How-” He cuts himself off when he notices Liam and Ashling trying not to laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“Nicole went off into a question spaz too. We promised to answer questions later when we’re all together.” Ashling says. “As for the two color-obsessed idiots, that’s Damian,” She points to him. “and that’s Nixx.”
Riley bustles into the area with an armload of towels. “I’m sorry it took so long.” She apologizes. “I had a little trouble finding these.” She hands out the towels but still have a few left. “You can use these for your car. I overheard that it got a little wet inside.”
Damian smiles appreciatively. “Thanks. The twins here did get it a little wet.”
“And I’m sure it’s all our fault Mr. ‘let Ash steer and Liam try to turn on the car’.” Liam says.
“Maybe we shouldn’t listen to him anymore. Afterall, he did think the car was on fire.” Ashling says thoughtfully.
“In the rain.” Nixx adds.
All of them have to stifle laughter as Damian dramatically drops to his knees and proclaims, “Please forgive this lowly Damian for losing his head in time of a crisis! Allow me to bow and kiss the feet of the ones who didn’t go crazy in the middle of a downpour when the radiator busted and started smoking! Oh woe is me!” He dramatically mock-faints at the end and that proves to be the cracking point for everyone else, as they all double over laughing.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
A few days later, after visiting Niagara Falls and New York City, the four travelers are preparing to head back to Virginia. This time, Riley is going with them. The twins have tried several times to get Max to come with them as well, but he has things to do.
This time it only takes them twelve hours to get from New York to Virginia. The only reason it takes that long is because Nixx likes lots of pit stops and the Wagon’s guzzling gas at an abnormal rate, ran out of oil, and got yet another flat tire.
By the time it putters down the gravel road and then the Phoenix family’s driveway, Damian is convinced that his poor car has seen the last of it’s days, Riley is convinced that Damian is quite possibly the craziest person she has ever met, Ashling and Nixx are in hysterics because they’ve had too much sugar and too little sleep, and Liam’s just relieved to have gotten back without any major problems.
Before Damian has a chance to break down into hysterics and start crying, Liam leads him away from the station wagon. “We’ll work on the Wagon tomorrow and see if she’s salvageable. If it’s not, I’ll write one of those, umm… odes? No.” He thinks for a moment. “Eulogy? Hmm… damn, if Ash were actually sane at the moment then I could ask her what it’s called. Anyway, help me get her and Nixx inside. You and him are both staying the night.”
“It’ll be a mess trying to find a place for us to sleep.” Damian warns.
“Nonsense.” Liam waves his hand as if brushing away the thought. “You and Nixx can crash with Ash like always, Riley can have the top bunk, and I’ll take the old recliner.”
Damian looks like he’s about to protest, but decides against doing so when he sees Ashling and Nixx dancing around singing the hokey pokey. “Fine. I’ll keep the sugar children under control.”
Liam grins. “We’re going to have a very happy Nixx in the morning.”
Damian twitches. “Shut up, Liam.”
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
For the rest of July and on into the second week of August, the twins and Damian show Riley around the small town they live him. They also introduce her to the rest of their friends; Kaylie Good and Roman and Alexandrian Lexus.
During the first two days they, meaning Ashling, Liam, Damian, and Riley, hang out at the Phoenix house and goof off down by the river with music cranked up and they tell crazy stories. After that the days become filled with random trips. They go bowling a few times and meet their friends there, take many trips to Wal-Mart, go to the mall once, go to the fair one night, and make several trips to Ashling and Liam’s grandparent’s lake house. One day they make a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina to go to Wet ‘n Wild. Everyone goes that day, including some of Ashling and Liam’s family members.
Then comes time to take Riley back to New York. With Damian’s old station wagon proclaimed safe to drive (and fixed), they decide to use that car to end the trip that started in it. Nixx insists on coming along for the ride and since none of them have ever been able to deny him something he has his heart set on, they let him come along for the ride.
They make it to New York in a record time of nine and a half hours and only one flat tire. They spend the night at the Poplar’s house and leave the next morning. (without Riley, of course)
Damian, not at all worried about the car, doesn’t look it over that morning, figuring it’s still okay. Which is why, barely an hour into the drive, they’re pulled over to the side of the road trying to figure out what went wrong this time.
After a half hour of tinkering with things under the hood, making sure to check the oil and the radiator, and then making sure they have gas, Damian and Liam get the car running again.
They all cheer and pile back into the Wagon, eager to get going again.
Things go well for about an hour or so longer. Then they have to stop at a stoplight, singing along to Hoobastank, when the inevitable happens.
The car stalls.
“Ra damn it!” Damian roars.
The light turns green.
“Ra forsaken piece of crap!” Damian yells, trying to get the car started. “Work, damn it!”
The cars behind them begin honking, so Damian yells out the window, “I’m doing the best I can!!! Go around me you morons!” Cursing all of the deities he can think of, Damian turns his attention back to trying to get the station wagon to start. “C’mon, c’mon…” He mutters, turning the key.
“Think we should tell him to try sweet talk?” Ashling jokes to Liam.
“Uh oh… here comes trouble.” Nixx says.
The others look out the window to see what Nixx is talking about.
The chaos that has been caused by the station wagon stalling out has attracted the attention of the local sheriff, who’s coming over to see what’s going on.
Nixx quickly turns the knob on the radio down, so that when they do get the car running, they won’t blast away the nice officer.
“Is there a problem here?” The sheriff asks once he’s by the window. “Because it appears to me that you’re holding people up.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Damian replies politely, keeping his tone calm. “My car’s pretty old and she stalled when he came to a stop and won’t cut back on.”
“Well I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to push your vehicle over to the side of the road so the other people can get past.” The sheriff says. “And for good measure, I need to check your license and registration.”
Resisting the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel multiple times, Damian nods. “Yes sir.” He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and he tells Nixx to get the registration papers out of the glove compartment.
Nixx does so, and hands them over to Damian, who hands them and his license to the sheriff, who looks them over and hands them back.
“Everything seems fine with that. Now just push your car to the side of the road and I’ll call a tow truck to come and get it.” He says.
“Sir, not to be rude or anything, but we really don’t have the time to have it towed and fixed. Nor do we have the money. And we’re suppose to get back to Virginia by tonight because he has a dentists appointment tomorrow,” Damian gestures to Nixx, “and she has an orthodontist appointment.” He gestures to Ashling. “You don’t mind if I try and get it to start again, do you?” He asks pleadingly.
The sheriff agrees to let him try and start it up and to everyone in the Wagon’s relief, it starts up with a steady purr. They all resist the urge to cheer triumphantly, although Damian can’t help but mutter, “Finally.”
Bidding the nice sheriff goodbye after gaining his permission to leave, they hit the road once again. This time with no problems, much to their immense relief.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
England- August 11, 2006
“Alright, that’s it!” Mokuba exclaims, fed up with the tension in the room because of Tama and Ryou.
After the day Mariku, Bakura, and Yumeri came out there have been other incidents. Despite the three yami’s best attempts at hiding themselves from everyone, especially their hikari’s, their feeling leek into their lights which has resulted in several early morning arguments between Ryou and Tama. After each of these arguments Tama, Ryou, and Malik’s recollection of them is hazy at best.
“What is it?” Tama asks.
Mokuba stands up and points an accusatory finger at Tama and then Ryou. “You two! You’re both driving me insane! All of the stupid morning arguments, the avoiding one another, the fact that we have to practically force you two to be in the same room as one another. The tension’s so thick I could cut it with a knife!” He exclaims. “And I’m tired of it! I want you two to go for a walk on the beach and sort this… this.. Whatever it is, out! And don’t come back in until you’ve worked things out!”
Seto and Malik agree with him, soon followed by everyone else but the two causing the tension.
“Fine. If it’ll make you all happy.” Tama mutters as she stands up. “But it’s just since we have no choice or else you lot will think up something bloody horrible.”
Less than ten minutes later the two teens are walking along the beach in silence. Neither of them even know how to begin, for neither of them even know why they act the way they do around one another. It’s unexplainable to them, but they can’t tell the others that.
“Now this feels familiar.” Bakura suddenly says.
Yumeri whirls around to face the white-haired thief. “Really?” She practically snaps. “Care to enlighten me? Or does this involve one of your nightly ‘lets kill the pharaoh’ plottings?”
Bakura doesn’t answer. He just looks out at the dark water and then up at the starry sky.
Yumeri crosses her arms over her chest and looks away. When Bakura remains silent, Yumeri finds herself looking over at him, studying him intently to figure out what he’s up to.
An old memory floats to the top of her mind; an old memory of Egypt at night near an oasis in the desert. A young man stands atop a sand dune, looking up at the starry sky, his white hair providing a stark contrast against the blackness of night. The red cloak he wears rustles as he turns around. A scar runs across the right side of his face, light against his dark skin. He speaks something that Yumeri can’t decipher.
Pain erupts in Yumeri’s head as the memory ends and she stumbles backwards from the pain, nearly falling over if it weren’t for the warm arms that wrap around her waist.
Yumeri closes her eyes, waiting for the pain to dull to a light throb instead of a sharp intense pain. When she opens them, she looks up at her savior. “Bakura?”
Bakura smirks as he picks her up. “The one and only!”
“Put me down now, tomb robber!” She orders.
Bakura just keeps smirking as he walks out into the water. “Do you really want me to put you down?”
Not paying attention to where they’re at, Yumeri growls, “Yes. Put me down. Now.”
“Okay.” Bakura nonchalantly drops her into the water. His smirk growls wider as Yumeri comes up sputtering and cursing.
“You bastard!” Yumeri shrieks, hitting Bakura in the chest. “I didn’t mean for you to drop me in the damn water! I can’t believe how inconsiderate you are! Actually, I take that back. I can believe you would be that inconsiderate.” She continues ranting.
Bakura grits his teeth. ‘Damn it, I forgot about her damn ranting when it comes to shit like this. That’s not something I’ve missed. Now how do I get her to stop ranting…’ He thinks for a minute, tuning out Yumeri’s yelling. ‘Ah yes, that will work.’
“And furthermore, I- Mmph!” Yumeri’s forced to stop ranting when she feels Bakura’s lips on her own. Her heart hums, overriding her protesting mind, and she kisses Bakura back. A strangely familiar warmth courses through her body, making her feel lightheaded.
Needing air, the two break the kiss and stand there looking at one another, taken away to a time in the past by the familiarity of the moment.
Then Yumeri’s mind breaks free of her hearts hold and she gasps and runs off down the beach, giving control back to Tama in the process.
Bakura curses loudly and abruptly retreats, leaving a slightly dizzy Ryou in his wake.
The two horribly confused hikari’s meet back up, both shaken and wondering what happened and why they don’t remember how they both got wet. The two sit down on the beach a with about a foot between them and just talk for a few minutes.
“I… I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be alone together.” Tama says hesitantly. “Every time it happens, something happens and the tension it… it gets worse. And it scares me. From now on we need to have someone else around us. It never happens when the others are around.”
Ryou nods in agreement. “That would be a good idea. And… maybe it’d help if we tried to stay away from one another.”
Tama nods, wondering why she has to hold back tears. ‘It’s a good idea. So why am I crying?’
Ryou stands up and holds a hand out to help Tama up. With a soft smile, Tama takes his hand and stands up.
“Shall we go in?” She asks lightly.
Ryou nods and together the two walk inside, both of them wondering why they’re so sad and why their heart hurts.
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A- M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
(1) Imagine sweet innocent Ryou not being a morning person. Scary and funny at the same time!
(2) Sanura is an Egyptian name that means 'kitten. So Mariku basically named the camel 'kitten'.
(3) William is Liam's full name, but everyone's always called him 'Liam' and eventually he got his parents to legally change it to just Liam. Ashling still uses 'William' when she's mad at him though. And does anyone want to take a guess as to where I got 'Joseph' for Liam's middle name?
(4) Ha ha! MythBusters rocks! I love that show! So yeah.
AN: Is it obvious that I know nothing about cars? Damian doesn't either, which is probably why he has such a problem with his. Hmm... I've gotta include the devil car later. It's fun! Yeah, and I originally didn't write the last bit of the chapter. The ending somehow changed in the transition from paper to the computer. I'm still wondering how that happened... I blame the chocolate!
0-0-0-0
Shiro: Holy freaking Ra... This is the longest chapter I have ever written. Ever. And I have a feeling that the only chapter that will come close to rivaling it will be the 'Memory Arc' chapter. Which isn't too many chapter from now, actually. What'd I put?
Bast: Chapter 22.
Shiro: Yeah, so that's only 7 chapters from now. Seven chapters that shouldn't take me too long to write. I hope. And after that there's going to be even more chapters. O.O
Bast: Going for a record here, hikari?
Shiro: Oh yeah. Definently. This thing's going to be 35 chapters. And plus some deleted scenes. And maybe an 'interlude' chapter here and there. It's unbelieveable how many scenes I took out of this chapter. Could you imagine the length it would be if I had put those three scenes in? O.O
Damian: Why do I have to have the troublemaking car from hell!
Shiro: (sighs) At least use it's proper name. It's the devil car from hell. And I gave it to you because it's funny. Don't worry about it too much.
Damian: I hate you.
Shiro: No you don't. You love me and you know it.
Damian: (twitches)
Keitaro: (growls)
Shiro: (smirks)
Bast: Oh for the love of Ra! Hikari, stop causing trouble!
Shiro: (innocently) I'm not causing trouble.
Bast: Yes you are! Stop it!
Shiro: No I'm not!
Bast: Yes you are!
Shiro: Am not!
Bast: Are too!
Shiro: Am not!
Bast: Are too!
Keitaro: This is going to take a while...
NEXT CHAPTER: School, a tournament, and dice.
REVIEW REPLIES
Tanzanite Falcon- Who knows why people aren't reviewing this story much here. I suppose some of them read it on fanfiction(dot)net and review it there or something. I wouldn't mind having more reviews for it though, as it helps me stay motivated when it comes to writing this story. Thanks for reviewing!
GrayPhoenix- Well, I'm back to writing now. On top of school and knitting, but I'm going to try and get some writing for this done each day. It drives me nuts that I haven't been writing much lately. There may be a possibility of me using that dragon card at some point during this story. It'll be many chapters away though. In the next chapter you'll get a little puppyshipping, so you can look forward to that! Thanks for reviewing!
Warning: Hmm... small warning for this chapter. There's quite a bit of cursing in this one because of a certain three yami's and Damian and his 'devil car from Hell' as it has been affectionatly named.
Review replies are at the bottom of the very end!
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
Chapter 15
Anzu awakens late the next morning and nearly panics when she forgets where she’s at.. After calming herself down, she slips out of the bed, being careful not to disturb Shizuka who is still asleep.Making sure to be as quiet as possible, Anzu picks out her clothes for the day and ventures to the bathroom to get dressed. She emerges from the room dressed in a baby blue tank top and a pair of jean shorts.
After depositing her nightgown in her shared bedroom she makes her way to the kitchen, her mind still foggy enough that she’s not really thinking or feeling anything in particular except for how sleepy she is. Walking into the kitchen she breaths in the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the haze around her mind begins to lift.
“Good morning, Anzu.” Yugi greets from the kitchen table where he’s stirring what looks like pancake mix. Somehow, some of it has gotten on his clothes and in his hair. “Did you sleep well?”
Anzu smiles, her heart warming at the simple question. Yugi cares so much for his friends. “Just fine. Although Shizuka did roll over and hug me for part of the night.”
Yugi giggles.
“I hope everyone’s hungry!” Tama says as she bustles into the kitchen with Malik and Mokuba in tow. “We’re havin’ waffles!”
“And from the looks of things, we’re making enough to feed a small army.” Malik says, taking note of the two bowls by Yugi full of waffle batter, the bowl of fruit setting on the counter, and the various syrups.
“We are a small army, Malik.” Mokuba jokes. “I’ll eat at least two and a half waffles, Tama will eat two, Seto will eat one and three quarters, Jounouchi an probably eat about three, Honda might be able to handle two, Ryou can probably eat two, and everyone else will probably just have one.” He says. “Altogether that’s like feeding around… sixteen or seventeen people instead of ten.”
Yugi looks at Mokuba in confusion. “Just how big are these waffles? And you forgot about your bodyguard.”
It’s at this time that Tama drags a Belgian waffle maker out of a low cabinent and Yugi sees just how big the waffles will be.
“Adding in Blue it’s like feeding… nineteen or twenty people.” Mokuba estimates. “Blue eats about the same as Joey. Maybe more.” He explains.
Blue shuffles into the kitchen just seconds after Mokuba says that. “I heard my name and smell the heavenly aroma of coffee… come to me, my precious.” With that said he shuffles over to the table and sits down beside Yugi, letting his head fall with an audible ‘thunk’ onto the table.
Anzu and Yugi both look at him worriedly.
“Is he alright?” Anzu wonders if Blue’s really cut out for being a bodyguard.
“He’s fine.” Tama says, walking over to the table to retrieve one of the bowls. “Blue has low blood pressure, so he has a hard time waking up. Just be careful because he subconsciously defends and attacks. Isn’t that right, Blue?”
“Mmm…” Blue mumbles in reply.
While Tama heads back over to the waffle maker, Malik prepares a cup of coffee for Blue and sets it on the table beside the young man. Then he goes over to the coffee pot to make a cup for anyone else who wants one. One of those people is Seto.
Seto shuffles into the kitchen with his hair in complete disarray. It doesn’t even look like he’s changed out of his bed clothes yet, as he’s wearing an old gray shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “Coffee.” He grunts.
Malik wordlessly hands his cousin a cup of black coffee that he only put a single spoonful of sugar in.
Seto takes a sip as he sinks down into a chair at the small table across from Yugi and breaths a sigh of relief as he feels his head begin to clear.
Within the next fifteen minutes everyone else begins to wake up and make their way to the kitchen, the scent of waffles and coffee too strong and tempting to ignore. It’s in this fifteen minutes that they discover that Ryou and Serenity are not morning people. (1) At least, not while they have jetlag.
The others try not to annoy the two with their cheerfulness as they really don’t want to know how they’ll act when provoked. Joey has told them enough stories about Shizuka snapping at him, and from the sound of it, an angry Shizuka is a very scary thing.
After they’ve eaten breakfast and cleaned up the dishes, everyone is completely awake and Shizuka and Ryou are back to their normal polite, sweet selves.
Their next activity for the day? While they could stay inside and unpack, the group makes a unanimous decision to go swimming. Until they take a good look at a map of the lake, they’ve decided not to go out on the boat or the jet ski’s.
Around noon Tama and Malik go back to the house ahead of time to start on lunch. Ryou follows a few minutes later, feeling a little out of place without Malik there.
With no one else around, the Darknesses within the three Lights are able to come out without any problems.
Inside the house in the kitchen, Tama and Malik are cracking jokes and laughing while getting out everything they need to make sandwiches. That is, until Bakura leans against the kitchen doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Well look at the two domesticated housewives.” He chuckles as if he just made a funny joke.
The reactions are instantaneous. Malik’s eyes darken to a bottomless purple and his hair spikes up wildly. Tama’s eyes change to a deep crimson-purple color and her lightning bolt shaped bangs go from sandy blonde to pitch black.
“Tomb robber.” Yumeri hisses, narrowing her eyes in distaste. “What are you doing here?”
Mariku crosses his arms over his chest, almost mirroring the thiefs stance. “And I thought we agreed not to reveal ourselves to our lighter halves. Or have you had a change of heart?”
Bakura smirks. “I was testing you, shrine guardian.”
Mariku stiffens at the mention of his old title.
Yumeri steps away from her fellow spirits, not trusting either of them at all. Although she can’t help but direct a comment to Mariku.
“It’s a pity you gave up your title and became a common thief. You missed your chance at becoming the keeper of the Millennium Rod.”
Mariku smirks. “Yes, well I got it in the end now didn’t I?” Calling upon his control of the Shadows, he summons the Millennium Rod to his hands.
Yumeri growls. “You bastard! That belongs to Seth!”
Deciding it’ll be more fun to pick on Yumeri than Mariku, Bakura joins in on the fun. “You mean your lover?” He bites back a grimace at the very thought and ignores the prick of pain in his heart.
“He’s my cousin you sick bastard.” Yumeri hisses.
“That didn’t stop you from becoming engaged to that damn pharaoh!” Bakura shoots back angrily.
“You think I wanted to marry my own cousin! You think I even had a choice in the matter! Why the hell do you think I fucking snuck out of the damn palace whenever I could!” Yumeri angrily yells. “Don’t guess about shit you know nothing about!”
Mariku stands back and watches the two fight like an old, very strange married couple, highly amused by both of them. His inner self squeals when the two step so close to one another that they’re yelling in each others face. ‘Now if we can just get Yumeri to remember everything. Then they can go back to arguing about stupid pointless things again!’ He thinks giddily. “This is going to be so much fun!” Mariku squeals.
Yumeri and Bakura stop their arguing to stare at Mariku with raised eyebrows.
“I don’t want to know.” Bakura mutters to himself. “The last time I asked, we ending up drunk in a barn and talking to a male camel the idiot named Sanura.(2)”
Yumeri sweat drops while Mariku grins and says, “I remember that! That was also the night I dared you to steal something random and useless from Isis’s closet while she was getting dressed.”
Bakura glares at his old partner. “Well that explains why I woke up with bruises and small rocks stuck in my hair.”
Yumeri can’t help but laugh at the mental image of the ‘Great Thief King Bakura’ being beaten up by Priestess Isis.
“It’s not funny.” Bakura mutters. “That woman was fucking insane. Thank Ra she’s dead and gone.”
Mariku smirks. “Actually, she’s quite alive and still here.”
Bakura twitches and Yumeri finds herself wanting to giggle. She ignores the feeling, forcefully pushing it away.
“My beloved hikari has an older sister who looks just like my dear older sister. And guess what her name is!”
“Isis.” Bakura says dispassionately.
“And guess who she’s the reincarnation of!”
“Isis.”
“And you wanna know what else?”
“We’re screwed.”
Mariku blinks. “Well, I was gonna say that she’s still in Egypt, but that works too!”
They hear the door slide open and then shut and fall silent. Yumeri walks back over to the counter and Bakura backs up to the doorway.
“Tama! Malik! The others are coming in and Jounouchi says he wants more than three sandwiches! I hope we have enough bread!”
As soon as they heard Mokuba yelling for Tama and Malik, all three yami’s automatically gave control back to their hikari’s. Now there are three very confused hikari’s standing in the kitchen, wondering where the time went. Malik also wonders when he picked up the Millennium Rod and how he got it when he doesn’t even remember taking it out of his suitcase.
Mokuba bounces into the kitchen with a bright smile on his face. When he notices that no sandwiches have been made a surprised look comes onto his face. “Guys, where are the sandwiches?”
Hiding their fear, Malik and Tama quickly make up a rather feeble excuse while Ryou slips out of the room unnoticed.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Damian twitches as Ashling sighs heavily for the fifth time in the past ten minutes. Not that he’s been counting or anything…
“Come off it Ash!” Liam suddenly exclaims, banging a fist onto the Pizza Hut table. “So what if Holly’s living in Alaska now and you won’t be able to see her for a few years! That’s no reason for you to be depressed and not have fun all summer!”
Damian glances around the mostly empty Pizza Hut before focusing on the annoyed twin. “Chill, Li. Unless you’d like for us to get kicked out and then be chewed out by Lexus.”
Liam mutters something under his breath about crazy pink-loving psycho’s.
“Well that’s friendly.”
Ashling snaps out of her daze to look up at the newcomer. The sight she sees is a normal one of a boy with really long turquoise and light blue hair hugging Damian, who’s trying his best to escape. She laughs. Nobody can stay depressed for long when Nixxus Lexus is your friend and in the same room as you.
“You actually made it.” Liam comments, snickering as Damian gives up trying to escape from Nixx’s grasp. “Roman actually drove you out here?”
Nixx shakes his head. “Actually, Alex drove me.”
Roman and ‘Alex’ are Nixx’s older brothers who are fraternal twins. Roman has black hair and is jokingly called “the evil twin” and Alexandrian has brown hair and is “the less-evil twin”.
Nixx lets go of Damian, which makes the older boy sigh with relief, and takes a seat beside Ashling. “So what’s on our agenda for today and who’s driving what car?”
“We’re going to eat here, go watch ‘Pirate of the Caribbean two’ again, go grab a milkshake at Hardee’s, and then go home. I’m driving and I’ve got the Pearl.” Liam says.
“So it’s the usual activities with the added risk of stalling out at stoplights on the way home.” Nixx says cheerfully. “Sounds fun.”
“Hey, I’ve gotten better at driving the Mazda! I only stalled out once this week!” Liam protests. “And that was because I slammed on the brakes because there were some guinea chickens in the road and didn’t even think about the clutch.”
Ashling laughs. “Yeah! That’s my twin, the humanitarian who brakes for chickens but chases ducks with the jet ski’s and the boat!”
Nixx and Damian laugh, knowing this to be completely true and totally like Liam. Liam just grins.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Later that evening about an hour after the twins get home after dropping off Nixx and Damian and while Ashling is taking a shower, the phone rings.
“Liam! It’s for you!” Cheyenne Phoenix, Liam and Ashling’s younger sister yells. “It’s the purple freak and gay boy!”
Liam scowls at the names Cheyenne refers to his friends by and then smirks when he hears his mom chastising her. He picks up the phone by the computer and runs through his customary greeting. “Hello, Pig Farms and Tai Qwan DoDo’s Incorporated, this is the president speaking.”
“Hello, Mr. President!” Nixx greets cheerfully. “Is your better half around?”
Liam rolls his eyes. “Nope. Want me to get here?”
“Naw, that would ruin our grand master plan.” Damian says. “See, me and Nixx came up with a plan that might cheer up Ashling. We were wonderin’ if you wanna help.”
“Say yes, say yes!” Nixx chants loudly.
Liam winces and rubs his ear. “Not so loud, Nixx. And who gave you candy?”
“Ally!” Nixx says cheerfully.
On his end of the phone, Damian snorts. Liam merely raises an eyebrow.
“Nixx, one of these days Alexandrian is going to find out about the twenty-billion nicknames that you’ve come up with using his name. And then he's going to kill you.” Liam says. “And yes, I’ll help you with the plan. Anything to get Ash back to her normal self.”
“Great! See, I figure we can ‘kidnap’ Ash early one morning, shove her in my old station wagon and go on a road trip!” Damian exclaims.
Liam’s silent for a moment. “Kidnap her.” He repeats.
“Yup! Oh, and of course you’ll have to pack her stuff beforehand ‘cause we can’t tell her.” Damian says. “But that shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Oh no, not at all.” Liam says sarcastically. “Come off it, Damian. There’s no way that Ash won’t notice if some of her clothes go missing. And there’s no way on Earth that I’m going to go through sis’s underwear drawer.”
“Doesn’t Ash wear your underwear?” Nixx asks.
Liam grits his teeth. “Nixx. Shut up.”
“Does she really?” Damian questions, sounding intrigued.
Liam sighs, knowing he’s going to have to explain this one or else risk Damian questioning Ashling. “Yeah. She steals the underwear I get for Christmas almost every year. So they are clean, Damian Cerberus Mizu.”
“What?” Damian says innocently. “I wasn’t thinking anything about letting Ash wear mine.”
“Yeah right.” Liam and Nixx say unanimously.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
July 22, 2006: Morning- Phoenix Residence
A digital clock sitting innocently on a bedside table reads 5:59. Suddenly, it changes to 6:00.
The door to Ashling and Liam’s bedroom suddenly slams open, scaring it’s two occupants half to death. A masked figure with purple hair drags the twins out of bed and rushes them out to the old station wagon in the driveway. Meanwhile, a masked figure with turquoise and blue hair gathers up the CD’s in the room, along with a few of Ashling’s notebooks, a large book to read out loud, and some pencils. Then he hurries out to the old station wagon.
Mr. Phoenix watches as the station wagon takes off, kicking up gravel as it goes. Shaking his head and putting out his cigarette, he wonders if it was really wise to let his son and daughter go on a road trip with the two crazy boys. Deciding there wasn’t much he could do, Mr. Phoenix heads back inside to watch TV.
The clock reads 6:01.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
“Damian Cerberus Mizu, Nixxus Gene Lexus, and William Joseph Phoenix! (3) I can’t believe you three! What the hell possessed you to drag me out of bed at six in the morning on a weekend during summer vacation and shove me into the backseat of this accursed vehicle!”
To say Ashling is pissed would be an understatement.
Damian keeps on driving while Nixx tries to find the perfect rock CD that Ashling can sing along to and possibly calm down by. Poor Liam is stuck trying to explain why they got her up so early.
“-and furthermore I-”
“Ash.”
“-what went through your minds-”
“Ashling.”
“-that I would want to be stuck in a--”
“ASHLING!” Liam bellows.
Ashling stops yelling and looks at her twin. “What?” She snaps irritably.
“We’ve been really worried about you because you’ve been completely out of it since Holly moved.” Liam says. “Then Damian and Nixx brainstormed and came up with this idea for us to go on a road trip. And you know where we’re going first?” He grins when Ashling shakes her head negatively. “Hershey, Pennsylvania!”
Ashling laughs, her anger dissipated instantly by that proclamation. “Is it really wise to take Nixx to a place that makes the most delicious chocolate in the world?”
“Hey, I can control myself! I have great self-control!” Nixx exclaims.
“Lexus, you have horrible self-control.” Damian says. “Does the chocolate cake incident ring a bell?”
“That was just that one time.” Nixx says defensively. “And you wouldn’t feed me.”
“How about the chocolate soup incident.” Liam teases. “Or the giant Hershey kiss fiasco?”
Ashling joins in on the fun. “And remember the chocolate fondue mess? And when you ate all my chocolate ice cream when I asked you to put it away? Which, by the way, you still owe me for.”
Nixx huffs and crosses his arms over his chest. “Some friends you all are. Just for that, we’re listening to the Spice Girls!”
Everyone else in the station wagon laughs as Nixx puts in his Spice Girl’s CD. For the next half hour or so, they sing along to the music. All of them.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Many pit stops and a day or two later the four are in New York and heading to the original destination the boys chose; a little town in upstate New York called Jordan.
An hour or two after crossing the state line, while they’re singing along to Good Charlotte, Ashling spots a sign that has a familiar name on it.
“Liam, are we going where I think we’re going?” She asks over Nixx and Damian’s loud, enthusiastic singing.
Liam grins. “Depends on where you think we’re going.”
“Hmm…” Ashling pretends to think. “We’re in New York, we just passed a sign that had ‘Auburn’ on it, and the place we’re going is suppose to cheer me up. I know!” She snaps her finger. “We’re going to Niagara Falls!” She jokes.
Up front Nixx stops singing and thoughtfully says, “You know, I’ve always wanted to see Niagara Falls.”
“No. No more detours.” Damian groans. “I’m sick of driving and this old gal wouldn’t be able to handle the extra miles.”
“It’s not like she’s gonna break down in the middle of the road.” Nixx scoffs. “And anyway, we’re in New York! Why can’t we go? I wanna make Lexi’ and Ro’ jealous! Please? Pretty please with sugar and chocolate and caramel and whipped cream on top?” He begs.
In the back, Liam whispers to Ashling, “That sounds like something that would be in one of Nixx’s fantasy’s - Damian covered in sweets.”
Ashling can’t help but crack up laughing right alongside her brother.
“What’s so funny back there?” Damian asks.
At the sound of Damian’s voice, the two laugh even harder. So hard that tears come to their eyes. They both soon begin running out of air and have to force themselves to calm down.
“Are you two done yet?” Damian asks, slightly amused and rather curious to know what they’re laughing at. “And what are you two laughing about anyway?”
The twins exchange a look before they once again crack up laughing. Ashling tries to convey what they’re laughing about, but fails miserably.
“You… sweets… Nixx… covered…” She chokes out.
Nixx and Damian sweat drop.
Liam’s the first to calm down from the third bout of laughter and says, “You don’t want to know.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Damian says, before directing the conversation back to Niagara Falls. “And I told you, Lexus. The Wagon won’t be able to make it. I’m pushing it as it is with this lengthy trip.”
“And I say she can make it.” Nixx says stubbornly. “Come on Damian, the chances of the car breaking down in the middle of the road is like, one out of a million! It’s not gonna happen!”
The engine makes a weird hissing sound and some smoke comes from under the hood and then one of the tires blows out.
Damian glares at Nixx as he eases the car to a stop off of the road and almost into a ditch. “You were saying?”
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
An hour passes and they’re still stuck on the side of the road. The spare tire has been put on already. The only problem is the engine.
Currently, Ashling’s laying on the roof of the car writing about their misfortune in the ‘travel log’ Nixx put together, Damian’s working on the engine trying to find out what’s wrong, Nixx is looking for fish in the ditch that actually does have water in it, and Liam’s helping Damian the best he can.”
Ashling finishes writing in the journal and shoves it though the open window in the back. The she rolls over onto her back and looks up at the sky. “Looks like rain.” She comments, noticing the storm clouds hovering ominously above them.
“Great. Could things get any worse?” Damian mutters.
Ashling wisely climbs off the roof and rolls up all the windows in the station wagon while muttering, “No way I’m taking any chances.”
Overhead, lightning streaks across the sky and thunder booms loudly. As the downpour hits, Liam yells, “Does that answer your question!”
A truck zooms by, drenching Ashling with water. Sputtering, the blonde kicks water after the truck. “F- you, jerk!” She yells. “Frickin’ Georgians…” She mutters, having noticed the license plate.
“Did ya get the number of that truck?” Damian jokes as Ashling approaches.
“Hardy har har.” Ashling responds sarcastically. “You’d better get this hunk of metal fixed soon. I’m wet and hungry and am about to fish Nixx out of the damn ditch. Nixxuss Lexus! Get out of that ditch!” She marches off to get her friend.
Liam and Damian sweat drop.
“So much for cheering her up.” Damian says, turning his attention back to the engine. He messes with a few more things and then backs up. “Alright, go start her up.”
Liam hurriedly gets into the station wagon and turns the key in the ignition. To everyone’s relief the car starts and begins running smoothly with no problems. Ashling and Nixx even make up a cheer and dance to celebrate.
And then smoke issues from something under the hood and Damian yelps. “Turn it off! Turn it off! The Wagon’s on fire!”
Liam cuts off the engine while muttering, “It’s raining. How could the engine possibly be on fire?”
Nixx and Ashling climb out of the ditch and wander over to where Damian is beginning to panic over the state of the car. Liam gets back out of the vehicle and joins them. It’s still raining, albeit lighter than before.
“Looks like the radiator has a hole or something.” Liam says, gesturing to the still smoking part. “Where’s an egg when you need it?”
“This is no time to think about food!” Damian exclaims. “It’s smoking! Why won’t it stop smoking!”
As if by magic, the radiator stops smoking and Damian breaths a sigh of relief.
“An egg in the radiator will block up the hole.” Ashling tells Damian. “We saw it on MythBusters (4) one time and it seemed to work pretty well. It’s just a momentary fix though and I doubt people who know a lot about car engines and stuff would recommend doing that.”
“But where are we going to find an egg!” Damian flails his arms. “We’re in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a storm and the only other car that’s gone by was that damn truck!”
“Look, a car!” Nixx suddenly yells, pointing to the headlights coming down the road. “Quick! Put on the emergency light thingy’s! Maybe they’ll stop!”
Liam once again runs over and jumps into the drivers side of the Wagon, this time to put on the ‘emergency light thing’s’. Meanwhile, Ash goes to stand on the side of the road and tries to flag down the car.
To everyone’s relief the car slows down and the passenger side’s window rolls down.
“Looks like you’re having some car trouble.” The guy driving says.
Ashling scratches the back of her head. “Yeah, just a little.”
“A little!” Damian has yet to finish panicking. “Ash, the car was smoking! Smoking!”
“Ash?” A girl’s voice says questioningly from inside the car. A girl with wavy brown hair and glasses leans forward from the backseat to see who they’ve stopped to help.
Ashling’s jaw drops. “Nicole?”
Nicole looks at Ashling in shock. “Ashling? But how-? What are you doing here? Where’s Liam? Who are they? Does Riley know you’re here? How--”
Someone else in the back of the truck hits Nicole lightly in the head. “Jeez, Nicky. Let Ashling talk.” A second girl with long brown hair comes into view. “Hey.”
Ashling laughs, a little relieved that the people in the car are actually people she and Liam know. “Hi Harley.” She turns to face the guys. “Hey Liam! It’s the Coon’s!”
Liam nearly falls out of the car after opening the door. “You’re kidding!”
“No kidding.” Ashling says, turning back around to face her old friends. “Think you guys can help us? All we need is an egg or something more proper to fix the radiator and then we can be on our way to Riley’s.”
Harley nearly laughs. “Ashling, Riley’s house is right up the road.”
Ashling blinks and looks up the road, staring in shock when she sees the Poplar’s two-story blue-gray house. “Well I’ll be… it is.” She turns and glares at Damian. “Why didn’t you tell me we were already in Jordan!”
Damian shrugs. “Wanted to surprise you?”
Ashling smacks her forehead with the palm of her hand. “Right. Forgot.”
Ten minutes later the three guys find themselves pushing the station wagon up the road to the Poplar family’s house. Ashling sits in the drivers seat, keeping the car on the road.
At least the rain has stopped.
Twenty minutes later they’ve finally gotten the park parked in the driveway and are standing on the small front porch. Ashling rings the doorbell as she says, “I hope they have room for us.”
“Don’t worry. I called Mr. And Mrs. Poplar a few days before we left on the trip. They know we’re coming, but Riley and Max don’t.” Liam assures his twin.
The door opens and the four of then look at who it is who’s opening the door.
Damian’s breath catches in his throat at the sight of the girl standing at the door. His brain takes in as much information as it can in the few seconds he stares. ‘Ashling’s height, dark blonde hair, hazel eyes… pretty eyes... I want to hear her voice. I wonder if it's as pretty as she is.'
“Hello?” She asks uncertainly.
‘There is a god! And he likes me!’ Damian thinks giddily. ‘She’s perfect.’
“Hey Riley.” Ashling says. “You probably don’t recognize us since we’re soaking wet at the moment. ‘Tis us! The Phoenix family dynamic duo! Oh, and our friends who are the cause of this mess.”
“We are not!” Damian and Nixx protest immediately.
Liam raises an eyebrow. “Really? Who were the ones that came up with this whole plan? Who were the ones who said, ‘the chances of braking down are one in a million. It’s not gonna happen’ and in reference to the storm clouds, ‘could things get any worse?’. Which they did. It rained. Heavily.”
“Stop blaming Damian for the weather.” Ashling says with a sigh before she looks back at Riley. “Any chances of us coming in? Riley? Riiii-leeeeey?”
Riley jumps, having been studying Damian, who’s now arguing with Liam. “O-oh! Sure. Come on in, all of you. Let me get you some towels.”
The four step into the house and are immediately hit by a blast of cold air. Riley rushes off to fetch the towels, leaving them to close the door.
“Well,” Nixx cheerfully begins. “at least things can’t--”
Ashling slaps her hand over Nixx’s mouth at the same time as Damian and Liam hit him on the head. They all have a bit of a hard time reaching though.
“Say it and die, Lexus!” Damian hisses. “We do not need another disaster. My car’s already soaking wet and has more problems than before.”
“The wet part is really your fault.” Ashling points out. Then she wrinkles her nose when Nixx licks her hand. She quickly removes her hand so it won’t happen again and wipes her hand off on her soaking wet jeans. “Was that entirely necessary, Nixx?”
Nixx grins almost evilly. “You bet! Although you taste horrible.”
“Dweeb.” Ashling says. “And I probably taste like rain water and grass.”
“Whatever it is, you taste bad.” Nixx says.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” A voice says loudly.
The four wet teens look up the stairs to see a boy with brown hair leaning against the rail looking down at them.
“Nice to see you too, Max.” Liam says.
Max practically dashes down the stairs, questioning them as he goes. “How did you get here? Why are you here? Why are you all wet? Who are they? How-” He cuts himself off when he notices Liam and Ashling trying not to laugh. “What’s so funny?”
“Nicole went off into a question spaz too. We promised to answer questions later when we’re all together.” Ashling says. “As for the two color-obsessed idiots, that’s Damian,” She points to him. “and that’s Nixx.”
Riley bustles into the area with an armload of towels. “I’m sorry it took so long.” She apologizes. “I had a little trouble finding these.” She hands out the towels but still have a few left. “You can use these for your car. I overheard that it got a little wet inside.”
Damian smiles appreciatively. “Thanks. The twins here did get it a little wet.”
“And I’m sure it’s all our fault Mr. ‘let Ash steer and Liam try to turn on the car’.” Liam says.
“Maybe we shouldn’t listen to him anymore. Afterall, he did think the car was on fire.” Ashling says thoughtfully.
“In the rain.” Nixx adds.
All of them have to stifle laughter as Damian dramatically drops to his knees and proclaims, “Please forgive this lowly Damian for losing his head in time of a crisis! Allow me to bow and kiss the feet of the ones who didn’t go crazy in the middle of a downpour when the radiator busted and started smoking! Oh woe is me!” He dramatically mock-faints at the end and that proves to be the cracking point for everyone else, as they all double over laughing.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
A few days later, after visiting Niagara Falls and New York City, the four travelers are preparing to head back to Virginia. This time, Riley is going with them. The twins have tried several times to get Max to come with them as well, but he has things to do.
This time it only takes them twelve hours to get from New York to Virginia. The only reason it takes that long is because Nixx likes lots of pit stops and the Wagon’s guzzling gas at an abnormal rate, ran out of oil, and got yet another flat tire.
By the time it putters down the gravel road and then the Phoenix family’s driveway, Damian is convinced that his poor car has seen the last of it’s days, Riley is convinced that Damian is quite possibly the craziest person she has ever met, Ashling and Nixx are in hysterics because they’ve had too much sugar and too little sleep, and Liam’s just relieved to have gotten back without any major problems.
Before Damian has a chance to break down into hysterics and start crying, Liam leads him away from the station wagon. “We’ll work on the Wagon tomorrow and see if she’s salvageable. If it’s not, I’ll write one of those, umm… odes? No.” He thinks for a moment. “Eulogy? Hmm… damn, if Ash were actually sane at the moment then I could ask her what it’s called. Anyway, help me get her and Nixx inside. You and him are both staying the night.”
“It’ll be a mess trying to find a place for us to sleep.” Damian warns.
“Nonsense.” Liam waves his hand as if brushing away the thought. “You and Nixx can crash with Ash like always, Riley can have the top bunk, and I’ll take the old recliner.”
Damian looks like he’s about to protest, but decides against doing so when he sees Ashling and Nixx dancing around singing the hokey pokey. “Fine. I’ll keep the sugar children under control.”
Liam grins. “We’re going to have a very happy Nixx in the morning.”
Damian twitches. “Shut up, Liam.”
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
For the rest of July and on into the second week of August, the twins and Damian show Riley around the small town they live him. They also introduce her to the rest of their friends; Kaylie Good and Roman and Alexandrian Lexus.
During the first two days they, meaning Ashling, Liam, Damian, and Riley, hang out at the Phoenix house and goof off down by the river with music cranked up and they tell crazy stories. After that the days become filled with random trips. They go bowling a few times and meet their friends there, take many trips to Wal-Mart, go to the mall once, go to the fair one night, and make several trips to Ashling and Liam’s grandparent’s lake house. One day they make a trip to Greensboro, North Carolina to go to Wet ‘n Wild. Everyone goes that day, including some of Ashling and Liam’s family members.
Then comes time to take Riley back to New York. With Damian’s old station wagon proclaimed safe to drive (and fixed), they decide to use that car to end the trip that started in it. Nixx insists on coming along for the ride and since none of them have ever been able to deny him something he has his heart set on, they let him come along for the ride.
They make it to New York in a record time of nine and a half hours and only one flat tire. They spend the night at the Poplar’s house and leave the next morning. (without Riley, of course)
Damian, not at all worried about the car, doesn’t look it over that morning, figuring it’s still okay. Which is why, barely an hour into the drive, they’re pulled over to the side of the road trying to figure out what went wrong this time.
After a half hour of tinkering with things under the hood, making sure to check the oil and the radiator, and then making sure they have gas, Damian and Liam get the car running again.
They all cheer and pile back into the Wagon, eager to get going again.
Things go well for about an hour or so longer. Then they have to stop at a stoplight, singing along to Hoobastank, when the inevitable happens.
The car stalls.
“Ra damn it!” Damian roars.
The light turns green.
“Ra forsaken piece of crap!” Damian yells, trying to get the car started. “Work, damn it!”
The cars behind them begin honking, so Damian yells out the window, “I’m doing the best I can!!! Go around me you morons!” Cursing all of the deities he can think of, Damian turns his attention back to trying to get the station wagon to start. “C’mon, c’mon…” He mutters, turning the key.
“Think we should tell him to try sweet talk?” Ashling jokes to Liam.
“Uh oh… here comes trouble.” Nixx says.
The others look out the window to see what Nixx is talking about.
The chaos that has been caused by the station wagon stalling out has attracted the attention of the local sheriff, who’s coming over to see what’s going on.
Nixx quickly turns the knob on the radio down, so that when they do get the car running, they won’t blast away the nice officer.
“Is there a problem here?” The sheriff asks once he’s by the window. “Because it appears to me that you’re holding people up.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Damian replies politely, keeping his tone calm. “My car’s pretty old and she stalled when he came to a stop and won’t cut back on.”
“Well I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to push your vehicle over to the side of the road so the other people can get past.” The sheriff says. “And for good measure, I need to check your license and registration.”
Resisting the urge to bang his head against the steering wheel multiple times, Damian nods. “Yes sir.” He pulls his wallet out of his back pocket and he tells Nixx to get the registration papers out of the glove compartment.
Nixx does so, and hands them over to Damian, who hands them and his license to the sheriff, who looks them over and hands them back.
“Everything seems fine with that. Now just push your car to the side of the road and I’ll call a tow truck to come and get it.” He says.
“Sir, not to be rude or anything, but we really don’t have the time to have it towed and fixed. Nor do we have the money. And we’re suppose to get back to Virginia by tonight because he has a dentists appointment tomorrow,” Damian gestures to Nixx, “and she has an orthodontist appointment.” He gestures to Ashling. “You don’t mind if I try and get it to start again, do you?” He asks pleadingly.
The sheriff agrees to let him try and start it up and to everyone in the Wagon’s relief, it starts up with a steady purr. They all resist the urge to cheer triumphantly, although Damian can’t help but mutter, “Finally.”
Bidding the nice sheriff goodbye after gaining his permission to leave, they hit the road once again. This time with no problems, much to their immense relief.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
England- August 11, 2006
“Alright, that’s it!” Mokuba exclaims, fed up with the tension in the room because of Tama and Ryou.
After the day Mariku, Bakura, and Yumeri came out there have been other incidents. Despite the three yami’s best attempts at hiding themselves from everyone, especially their hikari’s, their feeling leek into their lights which has resulted in several early morning arguments between Ryou and Tama. After each of these arguments Tama, Ryou, and Malik’s recollection of them is hazy at best.
“What is it?” Tama asks.
Mokuba stands up and points an accusatory finger at Tama and then Ryou. “You two! You’re both driving me insane! All of the stupid morning arguments, the avoiding one another, the fact that we have to practically force you two to be in the same room as one another. The tension’s so thick I could cut it with a knife!” He exclaims. “And I’m tired of it! I want you two to go for a walk on the beach and sort this… this.. Whatever it is, out! And don’t come back in until you’ve worked things out!”
Seto and Malik agree with him, soon followed by everyone else but the two causing the tension.
“Fine. If it’ll make you all happy.” Tama mutters as she stands up. “But it’s just since we have no choice or else you lot will think up something bloody horrible.”
Less than ten minutes later the two teens are walking along the beach in silence. Neither of them even know how to begin, for neither of them even know why they act the way they do around one another. It’s unexplainable to them, but they can’t tell the others that.
“Now this feels familiar.” Bakura suddenly says.
Yumeri whirls around to face the white-haired thief. “Really?” She practically snaps. “Care to enlighten me? Or does this involve one of your nightly ‘lets kill the pharaoh’ plottings?”
Bakura doesn’t answer. He just looks out at the dark water and then up at the starry sky.
Yumeri crosses her arms over her chest and looks away. When Bakura remains silent, Yumeri finds herself looking over at him, studying him intently to figure out what he’s up to.
An old memory floats to the top of her mind; an old memory of Egypt at night near an oasis in the desert. A young man stands atop a sand dune, looking up at the starry sky, his white hair providing a stark contrast against the blackness of night. The red cloak he wears rustles as he turns around. A scar runs across the right side of his face, light against his dark skin. He speaks something that Yumeri can’t decipher.
Pain erupts in Yumeri’s head as the memory ends and she stumbles backwards from the pain, nearly falling over if it weren’t for the warm arms that wrap around her waist.
Yumeri closes her eyes, waiting for the pain to dull to a light throb instead of a sharp intense pain. When she opens them, she looks up at her savior. “Bakura?”
Bakura smirks as he picks her up. “The one and only!”
“Put me down now, tomb robber!” She orders.
Bakura just keeps smirking as he walks out into the water. “Do you really want me to put you down?”
Not paying attention to where they’re at, Yumeri growls, “Yes. Put me down. Now.”
“Okay.” Bakura nonchalantly drops her into the water. His smirk growls wider as Yumeri comes up sputtering and cursing.
“You bastard!” Yumeri shrieks, hitting Bakura in the chest. “I didn’t mean for you to drop me in the damn water! I can’t believe how inconsiderate you are! Actually, I take that back. I can believe you would be that inconsiderate.” She continues ranting.
Bakura grits his teeth. ‘Damn it, I forgot about her damn ranting when it comes to shit like this. That’s not something I’ve missed. Now how do I get her to stop ranting…’ He thinks for a minute, tuning out Yumeri’s yelling. ‘Ah yes, that will work.’
“And furthermore, I- Mmph!” Yumeri’s forced to stop ranting when she feels Bakura’s lips on her own. Her heart hums, overriding her protesting mind, and she kisses Bakura back. A strangely familiar warmth courses through her body, making her feel lightheaded.
Needing air, the two break the kiss and stand there looking at one another, taken away to a time in the past by the familiarity of the moment.
Then Yumeri’s mind breaks free of her hearts hold and she gasps and runs off down the beach, giving control back to Tama in the process.
Bakura curses loudly and abruptly retreats, leaving a slightly dizzy Ryou in his wake.
The two horribly confused hikari’s meet back up, both shaken and wondering what happened and why they don’t remember how they both got wet. The two sit down on the beach a with about a foot between them and just talk for a few minutes.
“I… I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be alone together.” Tama says hesitantly. “Every time it happens, something happens and the tension it… it gets worse. And it scares me. From now on we need to have someone else around us. It never happens when the others are around.”
Ryou nods in agreement. “That would be a good idea. And… maybe it’d help if we tried to stay away from one another.”
Tama nods, wondering why she has to hold back tears. ‘It’s a good idea. So why am I crying?’
Ryou stands up and holds a hand out to help Tama up. With a soft smile, Tama takes his hand and stands up.
“Shall we go in?” She asks lightly.
Ryou nods and together the two walk inside, both of them wondering why they’re so sad and why their heart hurts.
-F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A-M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S--F-A- M-I-L-Y--B-O-N-D-S-
(1) Imagine sweet innocent Ryou not being a morning person. Scary and funny at the same time!
(2) Sanura is an Egyptian name that means 'kitten. So Mariku basically named the camel 'kitten'.
(3) William is Liam's full name, but everyone's always called him 'Liam' and eventually he got his parents to legally change it to just Liam. Ashling still uses 'William' when she's mad at him though. And does anyone want to take a guess as to where I got 'Joseph' for Liam's middle name?
(4) Ha ha! MythBusters rocks! I love that show! So yeah.
AN: Is it obvious that I know nothing about cars? Damian doesn't either, which is probably why he has such a problem with his. Hmm... I've gotta include the devil car later. It's fun! Yeah, and I originally didn't write the last bit of the chapter. The ending somehow changed in the transition from paper to the computer. I'm still wondering how that happened... I blame the chocolate!
0-0-0-0
Shiro: Holy freaking Ra... This is the longest chapter I have ever written. Ever. And I have a feeling that the only chapter that will come close to rivaling it will be the 'Memory Arc' chapter. Which isn't too many chapter from now, actually. What'd I put?
Bast: Chapter 22.
Shiro: Yeah, so that's only 7 chapters from now. Seven chapters that shouldn't take me too long to write. I hope. And after that there's going to be even more chapters. O.O
Bast: Going for a record here, hikari?
Shiro: Oh yeah. Definently. This thing's going to be 35 chapters. And plus some deleted scenes. And maybe an 'interlude' chapter here and there. It's unbelieveable how many scenes I took out of this chapter. Could you imagine the length it would be if I had put those three scenes in? O.O
Damian: Why do I have to have the troublemaking car from hell!
Shiro: (sighs) At least use it's proper name. It's the devil car from hell. And I gave it to you because it's funny. Don't worry about it too much.
Damian: I hate you.
Shiro: No you don't. You love me and you know it.
Damian: (twitches)
Keitaro: (growls)
Shiro: (smirks)
Bast: Oh for the love of Ra! Hikari, stop causing trouble!
Shiro: (innocently) I'm not causing trouble.
Bast: Yes you are! Stop it!
Shiro: No I'm not!
Bast: Yes you are!
Shiro: Am not!
Bast: Are too!
Shiro: Am not!
Bast: Are too!
Keitaro: This is going to take a while...
NEXT CHAPTER: School, a tournament, and dice.
REVIEW REPLIES
Tanzanite Falcon- Who knows why people aren't reviewing this story much here. I suppose some of them read it on fanfiction(dot)net and review it there or something. I wouldn't mind having more reviews for it though, as it helps me stay motivated when it comes to writing this story. Thanks for reviewing!
GrayPhoenix- Well, I'm back to writing now. On top of school and knitting, but I'm going to try and get some writing for this done each day. It drives me nuts that I haven't been writing much lately. There may be a possibility of me using that dragon card at some point during this story. It'll be many chapters away though. In the next chapter you'll get a little puppyshipping, so you can look forward to that! Thanks for reviewing!