[ Chapter 1 ]

"No!" shouted Mai Valentine, falling to her knees. Her violet eyes were swimming with unshed tears. Her long golden-blonde hair cascaded into her eyes.

"That's right, my dear, Wheeler is to be erased from your mind forever," said Yami Marik with an evil laugh.

"No, not Joey! Please, don't make him go!" cried Mai, the waiting tears escaping her. She hung her head, shielding her face from the outside world.

"Mai!" shouted a blonde-haired teenager, Joey Wheeler, his brown eyes flashing angrily. "Marik, stop dis!"

"Joey... no..." moaned Mai quietly. And in a barely audible whisper, she finally admitted, more to herself than anyone else, something she had been holding in for a long time: "I love him..."

"What? Mai, what did you say?" said Joey. But Mai had forgotten Joey - his face and voice were but a distant memory to her.

"Who is that? Where is that voice coming from?" said Mai vaguely, forgetting why she was upset.

"OK, I heard I-uv-im... what does dat mean?" said Joey curiously. The rest of the group groaned. They knew exactly how Mai felt about Joey, and how Joey felt about Mai in return. "I is probably de first word," continued Joey, determined to decipher what Mai had said. As Joey figured out what was going on, Marik and Mai continued their duel. "A-uv, buv, cuv, duv, e- uv, fuv, guv, huv, i-uv, juv, kuv, luv... love's a word! OK, I love... now de last word. A-im, bim, cim, dim, e-im, fim, gim, him, i-im, jim..." Joey continued through the whole alphabet. A boy, with brown hair shaped like a horn, sweatdropped.

"He really is dim," he said to the brown haired girl next to him, named Tea Gardner.

"Tristan! Be nice!" whispered Tea, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Try again," said Joey. He began to recite the all the possibilities again. "A-im, bim, cim, dim, e-im, gim, him... wait a sec, him's a word!"

"Joey, Mai's in serious trouble!" shouted a boy with unusual tri-coloured hair. It stuck up like a star on the back of his head, where the bulk of it was black, and the edges were crimson. A couple of blonde streaks ran through the arms of the star, and a small mass of blonde bangs in the centre. Joey, realising he hadn't been paying attention to the duel, turned to see Mai attempting to unlock the golden sphere that was the Winged Dragon of Ra. However, she was failing.

"Mai! C'mon, you can beat dis creep!" shouted Joey, trying to make up for the fact that he had been ignoring her and her duel for the past 10 minutes.

"It's that voice again..." said Mai. That reminded Joey of why he had been trying to figure out what Mai had said.

"I... love... him... she was talkin' about me!" shouted Joey three minutes later, after thinking it over several times. Mai's current situation was even more dire than her last. She was chained to a huge stone tablet by the Holding Arms and Holding Legs monsters. The Winged Dragon of Ra was about to deliver the final attack.

"Mai!" shouted Joey, jumping the barrier between the spectator stands and the duelling arena.

"Joey!" shouted a girl with long brownish-red hair. She was Joey's sister, Serenity. Joey ignored her, and ran to Mai.

"Mai! Can you hear me, Mai?" called Joey, even though he was less than a metre away from her.

"That voice... it sounds... so familiar... like an old friend," said Mai dimly.

"Mai, it's me, Joey! And I've got somethin' to tell you. You know how I got struck by lightnin' durin' my duel with Odion? And den I had dat freaky dream, when we were back at school, but for some reason I couldn't get up. Den all my friends helped me up. Well, dat was only what I told you. You were dere too Mai. I know I told you you weren't. But dere's more. When everyone reached out deir hands to help me up, I chose your hand. Do you know why? Because I love you Mai," he said finally. Suddenly, Mai's eyes widened.

"Joey? Joey! I remember now!" she shouted. Joey's eyes brightened. Mai suddenly looked curious. "What did you just say? Just then?" Joey blushed and looked away.

"Nothin'," he said quietly. Mai smiled. She had heard him, but she wanted to hear it again.

"Really?'Cause I thought I just heard you say that..." She was cut off by Joey grabbing her face. He leaned in and kissed her. She returned the kiss with equal passion.

There was a stunned silence. Mokuba, a boy with long, messy, jet black hair and violet eyes, stared at them like he was transfixed. His eye was twitching slightly. His big brother, Seto Kaiba, host and finalist of the Battle City tournament, was trying to shield Mokuba from the sight.

"Mokuba, go and have a glass of water and forget what you saw," hissed Kaiba, pushing Mokuba into the Battle Ship. Serenity was slightly disturbed by the fact that her brother was kissing Mai, but was happy for him nonetheless. Tristan and the last member of the group, Duke Devlin, looked away in disgust. Yami, the boy with the weird hair, shut off the Soul Link between him and the usual inhabitant of their body, Yugi. Yugi looked much the same as his alter ego, but was about half a foot shorter and did not have the blonde streaks through the arms of the stars.

"Yami! What's going on? Yami! Let me see!" shouted Yugi, pounding on the door of their soul room, which was usually occupied by Yami. Tea looked happy for the couple, but looked away so they could have some privacy. She then became uncomfortably aware that she was standing next to Yami, and immediately blushed.

"Look's like the mutt's found a bitch," sneered Kaiba once he had ushered Mokuba inside the blimp. Joey immediately broke the kiss to scowl at Kaiba.

"How very touching. But I'm afraid your story will not save you from the wrath of the Winged Dragon of Ra!" shouted Yami Marik. The Winged Dragon of Ra began to charge up its final attack.

"Joey! Save yourself! I'm facing this beast on my own!"** shouted Mai, but was unable to push Joey away because she was chained to the tablet.

"Sure you are, Mai, and I'm facin' it with you!"** shouted Joey. He placed his body against hers, so he was in between her and the Winged Dragon of Ra.

"Thank you," said Mai quietly. They placed their foreheads together and waited for the attack to hit. But the hit never came. They opened their eyes and looked around to see what had happened. Yami was being hit by the Winged Dragon of Ra.

"Yugi!" shouted Mai and Joey. Most people in their group were unaware that Yami and Yugi were different people.

"No, Yami!" shouted Tea. The attack stopped, and Yami fell to the ground, unconscious.

"The winner of this duel is Mister Marik Ishtar," said the referee. Mai was released from the stone tablet, which disappeared. She fell into Joey's arms. Tea imitated what Joey had done previously, and jumped the barrier so she could help Yami.

"Yami," she cried, gathering his limp body into her arms. She started to sob. "No, Yami, don't leave me. Please, come back. I love you," she whispered. Yami's eyes shot open.

"Did you just say...?" he said hoarsely. Tea nodded, smiling, her face still wet from tears. He smiled widely. "I love you too Tea," he said. Tea smiled even wider. Yami shut off the soul link between him and Yugi again.

"Yami! What are you doing?" shouted Yugi from within the soul room.

"Ssh," said Yami to Yugi.

Back outside, Tea leaned down. Their lips met.

Mokuba, who had just returned from getting the glass of water, stood transfixed at the sight. Kaiba was furious, and he pushed Mokuba back inside, and followed behind, glaring back at the couple in disgust. Tristan and Duke turned their heads away again. Serenity found it harder to watch this kiss, so she stared at the floor.

As Tea and Yami broke away, Joey held Mai close to him. "Joey, promise you'll be with me 'till the end,"* whispered Mai.

"Not until de end... always,"* said Joey in reply. Mai gave him a small, weak smile. Marik approached the two couples, grinning manically.

"Aww... how sweet," he said in a mocking voice. Tea grabbed Yami and held him close to her. Joey put his arms around Mai's shoulders protectively.

"Marik! You've caused enough damage!" said Yami in a croaky voice.

"I should send you to the Shadow Realm right now," said Marik. Tea gasped and held Yami up against her. "Don't worry, girl, I still need him," spat Marik. He approached Mai and Joey. Every step closer he took, Joey held Mai closer and closer to him, in a hope that if he held her, Marik wouldn't be able to hurt her.

"If you even put a finger on Mai..." he growled. Marik grinned.

"Oh, I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice in the matter," he said. Joey suddenly felt his bones and muscles freeze, as Marik used his Millennium Rod to paralyse him. Unfortunately, he had paralysed Joey while he was still holding Mai.

"Joey! Joey, what's the matter?" cried Mai, clinging onto him. Joey couldn't respond.

"Now to deal with you, my dear. We did have an agreement. If you lost, your mind gets sent to the Shadow Realm," said Marik, grabbing Mai's chin and making her look at him.

"Leave me alone, Marik," said Mai, jerking her head out of his grip. Joey was gradually recovering from the effects of the Millennium Rod. He regained full movement, and moved Mai out of Marik's line of sight. He shielded her.

"Leave her alone!" he shouted furiously.

"How about... no?" said Marik, and he once again used his Rod to paralyse Joey. He moved on to Mai. "You still have my Egyptian God card, my dear. But first, let's take care of our deal." His Rod glowed slightly, and Mai collapsed.

"Mai!" shouted Joey, once he was able to move again. He took her lifeless body by the shoulders and shook her gently. "Mai, wake up," he said.

"She will not wake up. Her mind is in the Shadow Realm," said Yami.

"But Yuge, can't you get her out of dere?" asked Joey desperately. Yami shook his head.

"It is not within my power," he said sadly. Joey, to everyone's surprise, started to cry softly. Marik left the arena, leaving the scene of chaos behind him.

Later on that afternoon, Joey could be found by Mai's bedside, with the rest of the group around him. "Why did ya have to leave me, Mai? While we were so happy," he said quietly.

"Mai didn't leave you, Joey. She still loves you," said Tea, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"I swear, Mai, I will get you back," said Joey through gritted teeth. He wasn't giving up. Not until Mai was back with him. He loved her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**This is a pun on Lord of the Rings that was made up by my friend Impish-Angel for this fanfic.

*These lines were taken from a JouxMai support banner on Together By Fate. The website is now closed, so don’t bother looking for it.

To be continued...

[ End of Chapter 1 ]