Lion's Mouth: Part I (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The thrill of victory surged in my chest, and I found it impossible to contain. I detached myself from Yami and ran around to face him. "You did it!" I said with a grin. Before I knew what I was doing, I flung my arms around him in a hug.

I understood Yami's surprise, for he probably had not been hugged in thousands of years (and who knew how culturally appropriate the action was in ancient Egypt). He soon recovered, however, and I felt his warmth seep into me as he gently held me.

"I could not have done it without your help," Yami said. "Thank you, Samia."

I pulled away and smiled at him. I did not have the words to tell him how much he had helped me. I would not have had the courage to get this far without his example.

"You were right about everything, including Yugi."

Then he changed right in front of me, and my heart leapt in Joy upon seeing the other boy. "Yugi!" I did not hesitate to hug him as well. He felt different from Yami, but I enjoyed his presence as well. "I'm glad you're alright."

Yugi chuckled lightly as he hugged me back. "It's thanks to you and Yami. Thank you for staying with him and helping him."

I took a step back and nodded at him. It perplexed me that these two were thanking me. I could not recall doing much, but I appreciated the sentiment.

Yugi's expression hardened as his gaze fell on Pegasus. "You're finished, Pegasus. We've won."

Pegasus stood frozen in shock. Finally, he collapsed over his duel station, his head in his hands. "I've lost!" he cried in agony.

The remaining tension in my body evaporated as the purple smoke faded and I felt us return from the Shadow Realm. I felt fatigued, but it was the good kind of tired that is earned after a hard day's work. I turned and smiled sleepily as Joey, Tristan, and Tea rushed towards us.

"You guys, thanks," Yugi said.

Joey placed his hand on his friend's shoulders and smiled at him. "Man, Yug, you did it. You really did it. You really, finally did it."

Annoyed, Tea pulled Joey off of him. Then she smiled at Yugi. "What Joey is trying to say is that it's really great you and your grandpa are going to be reunited."

"Yeah, sure," said Joey, "but also, Yug-"

"Also," Tristan interrupted him, "we wanted to say how impressed we are with you for being so brave and all."

"Yeah, impressed. And we're-"

"And," said Tea, "we're proud too."

Irritation rolled off of Joey. "You guys stole everything I was going to say!" At that, the rest of us laughed.

Then Tea's eyes found mine. "Samia, thank you for staying with Yugi. I don't know how you were able to get in there with him, but at least he had one friend to support him."

I looked at her in surprise. I searched her emotions but found no ill will. I smiled slightly. "Of course. I did what I had to." I sudden realized something was off. "Hey, where's Bakura?" I scolded myself for missing something so obvious. What kind of best friend was I?

Tristan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, you see, during the duel, we tried to rescue Mokuba, but we got caught and Bakura suffered for it. But I brought him and Mokuba back here. They're recovering on the balcony now."

I knew he was not telling me the whole truth, but I was too tired and relieved to care. "Okay. Thanks for looking after him."

Tristan smiled sheepishly. "No problem."