Past Repeating - Book 1

Everything's Relative

Star Chips: Yugi: 5/Joey: 2/Sarah: 3

"Oi, where did the two of you go?" asked Joey, raising his brow in question as Yugi and I finally returned. After our little exchange, the Pharaoh had disappeared back into the Millennium Puzzle. I couldn't help but wonder if he paid any heed to what I said.

"I was making sure Sarah didn't get lost," said Yugi with a wide smile. "She was the one who fell behind first so I needed to bring her back."

I blinked. He didn't mention to the others that I was leaving some food for Mako.

"Oh, that's right!" Joey said suddenly. Then he put his arm around my shoulders from my right. "We need to take care of this one!"

"Yeah, she's pretty delicate," said Tristan, doing the same thing as Joey but from my left. "Téa's strong, and can hold her own, but Sarah's smaller and requires more attention."

I blinked, confused about what was happening.

Téa smiled. "Guys, don't tease her so much..." she said, and it was then I realized that these two were just playing. I was slowly getting used to their odd little touches, having never recently been touched before. But then again, I was buried for the last few millennia. Not to mention that I haven't been teased since I was very young, but I liked it. It made me feel like I belonged.

"I don't mind..." I said with a small smile. I learned something else just now: I don't look as though I've practiced combat and magic during the hardest years of my life with the most intense training I could ever imagine, even if it was for only a few years. My appearance as a simple girl lowers their suspicions of me being dangerous. They will continue to think of me as a potential friend instead of a crazed lunatic spouting about the ancient past.

But this poses a problem for the future: they may not believe me when I tell them who I really am.

I felt a headache threaten to start, so I forced myself to stop thinking about the future, and only focus on the present.

"Us friends have to stick together anyways, right?" said Joey.

"Ah, but she is still being tested..." said Tristan, raising his brow and inspecting my face closely.

"How am I doing so far?" I said, blinking at Tristan's proximity.

He smiled and pulled back. "Well, you did feed Joey and his empty stomach..." he started.

"She fed all of our empty stomachs, Tristan," said Joey matter-of-factly.

"Right." Tristan grinned. "I'd say you're doing a swell job so far."

"Even if you didn't give us any of your food, we would think the same," said Téa with a smile.

I felt relieved. "I'm really glad..." I said with a smile of my own.

"Still want to go ahead with this test?" asked Yugi. "You're passing with flying colours so far."

I was glad that we had become a bit closer within the last few duels, but I still felt as though I wasn't worthy. This group of wonderful people were already very close friends, and when I first joined them on this journey, I thought of only the Pharaoh.

But they were growing on me now...

And so, I decided to see this "test" through to the end. I wanted to be worthy of their friendship, because I really did wish to be friends with them.

"How about... until the bonus question?" I suggested, cleverly using the theme of a test to my advantage. Usually bonus questions on tests would show whether a student could solve hard problems at their current level of study. And, sometimes, it showed how keen they were - how far they were willing to go to show how much they cared about their studies.