Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mai giggled when she thought it was black jack. "I guess I can safely assume youre not a duelist... um, sorry hun I forgot your name..." She said to Akiko. She smiled warmly at Joey. "I came in fourth. Rebecca and Leon were there... and Valon" She said. She had been in love with Joey but then she kind of fell for Valon. Had she not turned to Valon her and Joey might have been together. But she was too independent to be committed to a relationship right now.

Sam grabbed the clothes Akiko let her borrow and she walked up into Atem's room. She couldnt help but grin once she was in there again. She got changed quickly and then went into the bathroom. She brushed her hair and just used some toothpaste on her finger to brush her teeth. Then she went down the stairs and slid back onto her chair next to Atem, leaning against him once again.

Yugi sweatdropped as Akiko guessed the game wrong and laughed a little. He wrapped his arm around her and then looked at Atem a bit competitively when Mai talked about the tournaments. "We should enter one. We havnt dueled in a long time... and we can finally see which of us is the better duelist." He said cheerfully. He missed dueling too. It was part of who he was. He had been so focoused on Akiko that he forgot all about dueling, which his life used to revolve around besides his friends.

Sam smiled as Atem wrapped his arms around her. Shesnuggled into his embrace and smiled. "A tournament? that sound great. I havnt dueled in a while." She said excitedly. When she was a servent in her old home she always speant any money she got on duel monsters cards and practiced dueling in her spare time. Since she didnt get toys or anything she dueled for profit and gambling. She became pretty good at the game.

Yugi felt a but bad since she didnt like duel monsters as much as him. Its not like it mattered to him if she could play or not. There were so many other things that he loved about her. But he didnt think there was anything else he was good at other then games, espcially duel monsters. He just wanted to show off and make her proud to be his girlfriend. He smiled at her. "I could always help you out with your deck if you wanted." he offered.

She chuckled at Akiko's response. She seemd to be a perfect match for little Yugi in Mai's opinion. She looked back at Joey. "I guess. At least it was a challenge unlike the last six tournaments before that." She said with a roll of her eyes. She had placed first in each one. They were smaller but still she was hoping for a challenge. Thats what the US tournament got her, a challenge. But she was extreamly dissapointed in how she dueled. She thought she could have done much better.

Sam smirked a little. "Yeah Joey, I'm still better then you." She said playfully. She tilted her head to look at Atem. "You should be, this time I'll make sure the Queen surpasses the king." She said with a wink. She laughed, hearing about Akiko losing to her little cousin. "haha whens the next tournament? at this rate youre not going to have enough time to teach Akiko. She's worse then Joey when he started. And he even lost against Tea." She joined in with the joking, making sure to note how bad of a duelist Tea was. That was one definate thing she could beat tea at.

Yugi smiled. "well of course it doesnt count since you were probably too nice to beat your poor little cousin so you obviously let him win." He said with a wink and laughed a little. He looked at Sam and laughed a little. "I bet she's a quick learner.

Mai chuckled. "There's no way she's worse then Joey!" She said, elbowing joey playfully as she laughed.

"Dont forget mai, Joey beat you." Yugi pointed out with a small laugh, making Mai pout.

"Well in the next tournament I'm going to beat you Joseph!" She declared confidently. "While you guys were playing around down her I was traveling the world, perfecting my dueling skills." She bragged with a smile.

"My dueling skills are already perfect." Sam said extrat arrogantly to show she wasnt serious. She even gave a dramatic flip of her hair.

Yugi smiled. "Traveling sounds fun and all but I'd rather be here with my friends and Akiko then at any tournament." He said.


((yeah they are, the kids my mom babysit always beat me at my video games!))

((I have been having extream Yugioh withdrawl. I miss it so much. its been like two years but I still miss it! So today I took out all my cards and I was looking through them as I watched duelist kingdom episodes))

Yugi smiled. "But dont forget Joey, your first deck was filled with nothing but monster cards. You didnt even know what a trap card was." Yugi said to tease him a little but then he got more serious. "But you shouldnt be ashamed because look how far you've come since then..." he said supportively. He looked at Akiko happily. "Really? You'd come? Thats great. Then lets not wait for a tournament around here. We'll go to the very next one announced.

Mai rolled her eyes playfully as Joey stuck his tongue out at her. "Well we'll have to have a rematch in the next tournament. She looked at yugi as they mentioned the next tournament. "I head a rumor about one in America comming up. They say Pegusus is hosting it. But its just a rumor since he hasnt had a tournament since duelist kingdom." She said, almost suspiciously. None of them were too fond of pegusus even though he seemed no threat anymore.

((I was thinking we could have them go to the tournament, thats when we can have the fangirl incident since duel fans will be there. Maybe we could have rebecca there too and that vivan girl from the tournament at Kaibaland. and for Joey and Seto, Seto can maybe agree to give Joey another time limit as his boyfriend, like they only date while in america and then they go back to being normal after. I'll have Seto think he just needs to get his desires out of his system))

Sam laughed at Joey when yugi said he didnt know what a trap card was or how to build a deck properly. "Oh wow you were worse then I thought!" She said laughing. She settled down and looked back at Atem when he said he wouldnt go easy on her. "Good. But we wont have to worry about that anyway cause I'll win!" She said confidently. She wouldnt be with him if he was the type to let her win anything. When people who go easy on others that means that they think they're weak and cant win on their own. Sam would hate it if Atem ever let her win like that since she cared a lot about being strong. She giggled when he responded to her saying she was perfect. "Alight, ALMOST perfect." she said.

((yeah it was an awsome duel! I just hated that Atem had to go! I cried! redface xd sweatdrop oh and I did notice Yugi's sudden tallness! but I like it!

do you watch yugioh gx? I used to but then I stopped because I thought it was just so horrible. But I watched yugioh original character appearences in gx on youtube and it reminded me of when jaden bumped into yugi right at the beginning. but when yugi talked and the way he looked made him seem way more like Atem. I wasnt sure if that meant Yugi grew up to be like a duplicate of Atem or if it was some kind of weird spirit stuff that I just didnt catch on to...))

"Well... I guess the person that could best figure it out would be... Kaiba." Mai said logically and then looked at Sam. "So how bout it? Should we go ask you brother?" She asked. She knew nothing of why Joey was upset. She didnt even know he was gay yet. But she did know that Kaiba could get any information he wanted. "I havnt heard of him dueling in a while. So he's bound to want another shot at Yugi." She said, convinced that he would help them out.

Sam frowned, not knowing what to say when Mai brought up Seto. Sam knew he could find out for them but she wasnt sure if he would help them. Plus they werent exactly on speaking terms and Joey was still upset. "Ummm... I dont know..." She said uneasily.

"You should be in it, I'm sure you'll do great." Yugi said to Akiko. Yugi really wanted to know when the tournament was and if it was true. Kaiba was their best way to find out. "Maybe we could just stop by real quick and ask him on the way to the mall..." He suggested, glancing at Joey worriedly. He didnt want to upset Joey. Especially now that Joey was happy again and forgetting about Kaiba.

Mai looked around at them a bit confused. Did she miss something?

((Well I think we should have them all go over so Seto can see Joey and mai together then he can ask to speak with akiko privately or they tell Akiko to be the one to ask him since he was mad at everyone else or somthing))

((And after this should they still even go to the mall? I was thinking when we ran out of ideas we could just fastforward to when they go to America.

also I was thinking about Seto placing a bet with Atem on their duel

but I dont know how we should do the dueling...))


((I have to go to work I'll be back in like 4 1/2 hours))

[[Oooo, I wanna see the picture! I can't wait for you to post it! I have a picture of her- I still have to color it though. I used the picture that you posted to draw her. I did another picture of Akiko- it came out rather cute ^__^ I think I'll draw her a dueling outfit- meh why not?

I'm not to sure about the mall either- the fast forwarding should be fine. Maybe when they are on the plane or something? If your interested in the past flash thing- that can be either before the tournament, or after. Though after might be good so we don't lose sight of it. I guess, Akiko will be an above average duelist- but not as good as her friends. Probably the same level as Joey. She can be better in other things ^__^

I think Seto should ask to speak to her privately, since he isn't mad at her. And yes, Seto and Atem's deal should happen. Also, maybe Seto won't talk to Joey until the tournament, where he makes another deal with him. Poor Joey, being set up for disappointment. Or, the discussion with Akiko helps him and Joey but the tournament dampers things for him. Which ever one you like more- or if you have a better idea.]]

A strange silence came over the room when Kaiba was mentioned. Atem looked at Joey. They all wanted to know, so did Joey. And the best way to find out was Kaiba. Though he wasn't very thrilled to see Kaiba either, it was the best and easiest way to find out. "It's up to you Joey," he said. If Joey wasn't comfortable with it, then they wouldn't bring him. Atem probably shouldn't go, but he would go anyway.

It was as if Joey's spirit dulled when Kaiba was mentioned. Such disappointment, he just felt used. Only one question filled his head, 'Why did it have to be like that?' He snapped out of it when he was asked the question. He paused, truly thinking about the situation. "I.... just don't want to see him. I'll go, but I'll wait outside or something," he said. He felt a bit like a coward, but it was too soon to reopen that wound.

Akiko smiled and slightly blushed. He seemed confident in her. He also seemed like he wanted her in the tournament. She looked at Joey with sorrow. "Jou, you don't have to go if you don't want to. Please don't feel like you have to," she said trying to show him that they wouldn't force him. How could he do that to Joey? She knew Seto used people, but hurt people like this? Why Joey? Why of all people did he have to hurt Joey?

"No, I'll go. It's cool," he said. He didn't want to look like a coward. He had to be a man about this. "I don't mind, really," he said.

Atem looked at Yugi and nodded, "Really quick." He held onto Sam- remembering last night. Nobody was taking her away from him. He'll show Kaiba how stubborn he himself could be. He wasn't losing his treasure.

[[Very nice! I can see the Kaiba in her. ^ ^ Oooo, now I wanna draw her]]

Akiko smiled as Yugi walked off to get changed. She slouched a bit in the chair and said, "Do I have to get changed? Can't I just go in my PJ's?" She then stood up and walked to her bag, "I'll answer my own question: no Akiko- you can't." She grabbed her bag and went off to the bathroom to change into her clothes.

Atem also noticed he was still in pajamas. He too blsuhed a bit. "I should change as well," he said as he stood up. As he walked past Sam, he ran his fingers through her hair gently. He walked up to his room and looked through his closet. He grabbed his usual black tank-top and black pants. As he changed, he thought about Kaiba. He didn't want to take the chance and have Kaiba say or do anything he may regret. They could simply say he was with the group- but he didn't want to take that chance. Perhaps he would just stay outside- he'll keep Joey company.

Joey nodded at Sam though he did say anything. He took a seat and waited for the remaining of his friends to come back down. There was a long pause before Joey said to Sam, "Will you be able to get the answer from him at work?" He wasn't sure if Seto would have the time to give them the answer, or to even bother with them.

((I'm going on a little trip, I'll be back in two days. either tues night or wed morning))