Epilogue

The Domino City Community Center Christmas dance was in full swing. A local band was playing Christmas songs both religious and secular, in various music genres. Many people were dancing. Those who preferred other forms of entertainment were hovering around the food tables or talking with other like-minded attendees.

Serenity smiled as she and Duke danced to a jazzy rendition of Home for the Holidays. "This has been a wonderful evening," she said. "Everyone's safe and happy and ready to celebrate one of the most beautiful holidays we have. Joey even decided to try dancing so he could dance with Mai."

Duke looked to where Joey was perhaps getting a little too wild with his improvised dance moves. By now, however, Mai had tried to learn how to anticipate him and was unfazed by his crazy jumps and spins. She was countering with some wild yet more practiced dance moves of her own.

"Well, this is one dance Mai probably won't forget for a long time," Duke commented wryly.

"I think she was really touched by Joey wanting her to come, though," Serenity smiled. "And I think she's having fun."

"Meanwhile, Mokuba is perfectly content to hang out with the cookies," Duke smirked a bit. "And Kaiba has mostly been leaning against the wall, watching him."

"I'm surprised they came at all," Serenity said. "Well, Kaiba, anyway. Mokuba kind of likes community events, but Kaiba isn't really big on anything that he isn't organizing himself. Especially if it doesn't have anything to do with business or dueling."

"And Téa's been stealing the show on the dance floor, even when she doesn't have a partner," Duke remarked. Téa was indeed having a blast, dancing up a storm to the jazzy music. The other dancers often made room for her and stood back, just enjoying her performances on the various songs.

"And Yugi and Atem have danced with her on some songs," Serenity said. "I'm glad."

"She is too, I'm sure," Duke said. "And Yugi and Mokuba both invited the Big Five. And they actually came."

"Poor Crump's trying to get some of the young girls to dance with him," Serenity chuckled. "A few actually have."

"Well, they must be desperate," Duke grunted. "Or they're nice girls and feel sorry for him."

As the current song ended and everyone clapped in appreciation of the band, Téa suddenly spotted Crump coming towards her from across the room. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she groaned.

"Well, why not?" Crump smirked as he came to stand in front of her. "The next song is going to be something slower, so I could keep up better. We're not at odds anymore, are we?" He held out a hand to her.

Téa finally sighed and took his hand in acknowledgment. "Okay. One dance."

As they calmly moved across the dance floor, Téa decided she would have to make conversation. Maybe that would make this very awkward situation a little less awkward, or so she hoped.

"So . . . how are you and the other guys doing?" she asked. "It's been a few days now. . . ."

"Oh, we're fine," Crump said. "We're hiring new servants to replace the messed-up ones. You don't know of anybody who might be interested, do you?"

"Nope, sorry," Téa said, unable to refrain from eye-rolling.

"Oh well," Crump shrugged, not too bothered.

"How are Nesbitt and Lector?" Téa wondered. She found she genuinely wanted to know the answer to that. "I know Nesbitt was really struggling because of what Yami Marik made him do."

"Lector's fine," Crump said. "Nesbitt . . . I think he'll be okay with some more time. He's getting there."

"I'm glad," Téa said, and sincerely meant it. "I can't think of anything worse than being forced to attack your loved ones."

"Me either," Crump said. "And there hasn't been any trace of the guy who did it to him."

"Oh, he'll be back, you can bet on that," Téa said darkly. "Dr. Portman too."

"Yeah. That's what we're afraid of," Crump said.

"It's good reason to be afraid," Téa said.

Téa was definitely relieved when the dance was over. But at least, she had to admit to herself, Crump had been a gentlemen, unlike in Noa's world . . . or even on their misadventure a couple of months ago.

She went over to where Seto was still leaning against the wall, now watching her as well as Mokuba. "Hi, Kaiba," she greeted. She had spoken to him when he and Mokuba had first arrived, and he had responded before moving to his current location.

"Alright, I'll admit that you actually managed to surprise me," Seto grunted. "Dancing with Crump?"

Téa sighed. "Well . . . the Big Five aren't our enemies anymore. . . . I guess I thought it would be a nice gesture. But hey, aren't you going to dance at all?"

"We both know I'm not into that," Seto said.

"I know, but what about just one dance? Here, I can show you how it goes," Téa offered. "I promise it won't be anything wild." This time she was the one holding out a hand.

Maybe it was just not to make a scene for publicity reasons. Or maybe Seto was actually curious as to what Téa was planning or why she was extending such friendliness to him. But he took her hand and pushed away from the wall. "Alright," he said. "Show me."

Joey looked over, and his jaw dropped. "What the heck?!"

"Téa's just full of surprises tonight, isn't she?" Mai remarked. "Although now Kaiba is too. Who would have thought he'd actually agree?"

Mokuba was beaming. "This is great!" He looked up at Marik, who had also been largely hanging around the dessert table when he could escape the girls flocking around him. Bakura, of course, had been having much the same problem.

Marik smiled, happy to see Mokuba so happy. "Your brother really is starting to open up to us."

"It's starting to be kind of how it used to be, before Gozaburo," Mokuba said softly. "Seto is smiling again . . . having fun again. I didn't think I'd ever see that again."

Yugi smiled too. "I'm really happy for both of you, Mokuba." He looked to Atem. "And what do you think of your first Christmas dance?"

Atem started. "Oh . . . er . . . it's interesting," he said. "I'm surprised by all the attention we've been getting. . . ."

"The consequences of fame," David intoned. "You haven't been entering tournaments lately, but Duel Monsters fans still remember you from the ones you were in."

". . . That makes sense," Atem said.

Ishizu and Rishid came over to their group after engaging in a fun dance as siblings. "That was nice," Ishizu said. "There are so many people here. . . . I believe I've seen everyone except the bikers."

"They're here," Marik said. "According to Alister, Valon wanted to come in the hopes of dancing with Mai. Alister is probably hiding somewhere. . . ." He looked around.

"Raphael's talking to that man over there," Rishid noted.

"I think that's his boss," Mokuba said.

"So I'm still unclear on one thing," Tristan said. "Who put the bomb in Lector's mailbox? Was that really Alister, being controlled?"

"It was Lector's maid, using Alister's coat and the hat from Crump's guest closet," Marik said in disgust. "Then, after she ran off and disappeared, Yami Marik gave the hat to a mind-controlled Nesbitt to take back, hoping to implicate him as the bomber."

"Sick," Tristan scowled.

"It sure is," Mokuba said. "But I'm glad it wasn't Alister. I know he must be relieved."

"Definitely," Marik said.

Yami Bakura took a large bite of chocolate cookie and crumbs flew in all directions.

Bakura went red. "Yami . . ."

"What?" Yami Bakura grunted.

"Remember, you were going to try to practice good manners in public, at the very least," Bakura sighed.

"'Try' being the key word," Yami Bakura answered.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "And still the girls come after you."

Yami Bakura laughed. "They appreciate my physique, no matter what kind of terrible table manners I display."

"They appreciate something, that's for sure," Tristan grunted. But he wasn't too bothered, really. Serenity had danced with him a couple of times, and even though he knew that she saw him as a friend and a second brother, it still made him happy.

The Big Five were also observing.

"Well, Crump, you actually got that girl to show you some attention," Gansley remarked. "And some others."

"Of course, probably only because it's Christmas," Johnson said.

"Eh." Crump shrugged. "That's okay. At least there's one time of year when they appreciate me."

Nesbitt grunted and leaned against the wall, folding his arms. "Why is it we decided to come here anyway?"

"Just to check it out," Crump said.

"And because we were invited," Lector mused. "We didn't want to turn down a thoughtful invitation. Or at least I didn't."

"You've had better luck getting the girls to dance with you," Crump said. "Southern charm?"

"I suppose," Lector drawled. "That, and I'm willing to accept a greater age range than you are, Crump."

Gansley smirked in amusement at the banter. "My dancing days are past and Nesbitt isn't interested. And you seemed to be more interested in talking to people, Johnson."

"I'm promoting our plans," Johnson said. "It doesn't hurt to get an early start on publicity."

"Actually, dancing itself is interesting," Nesbitt said. "As a kendo master, I appreciate the complex moves it takes to get a dance right. What I don't like is that it's often associated with some type of romantic interest, which I do not have."

"Sometimes you really do act like a machine," Crump complained. "How can you not have any interest in beautiful girls?"

"I find submarines and tanks beautiful," Nesbitt said. Suddenly realizing a passing stranger was looking at him funny, he quickly added, "But I'm not attracted to them that way!" He scowled.

Johnson laughed.

Téa and Seto danced past them, bringing their attention up.

"Kaiba and Téa, huh?" Crump mused. "Maybe there really was something to my thinking that taking her was a good way to get at him. Not that it matters now."

Johnson nodded. "We've moved on. It's a strange feeling, though not a bad one."

"I feel . . . free," Gansley said. "Now that I'm not bogged down by thoughts of constant revenge."

"Of course, it doesn't hurt that we really are free now," Nesbitt grunted. "We have our bodies and can really move on. It would be much more difficult to move on if we were still wandering spirits like Gozaburo."

"Lector wanted to move on whether he had his body or not," Gansley pointed out.

"I'm sure the rest of you would have wanted to eventually," Lector said, feeling slightly embarrassed to be hailed as the reason why the others had changed.

"I honestly don't know about that," Nesbitt said. "We were all feeling hateful. We didn't even remember how much we care about each other by the time we got to the Shadow Realm." He looked haunted. "It was a dark time."

"Well, it's over now," Lector said. "Hopefully nothing like that will ever happen again."

"I don't think it will," Johnson said quietly.

Téa, meanwhile, was smiling. She had never thought she would enjoy dancing with Seto, but it was honestly fun. And Seto seemed fairly relaxed and not tense, to her further surprise.

"You're doing really well," she told him. "You caught onto the rhythm really quick."

"I always was a fast learner," Seto deadpanned.

"So be honest," Téa said. "This isn't so bad, is it?"

"No," Seto said. "But you realize we're going to be all over the newspapers tomorrow morning."

Téa blinked. "Seriously?"

"There's always someone with a camera who manages to report on whatever I'm doing," Seto said matter-of-factly. "It's just something someone in my position has to expect."

"Well, that's messed-up," Téa scowled. "Don't people have anything better to do?"

"Not usually," Seto said.

As the song ended, the community center director went up to the microphone on the stage. "Alright, everybody!" she called. "It's time for Christmas carols! Gather around and sing!"

Téa looked to Seto. "Are you going to sing?"

Seto grunted. "I wouldn't, except Mokuba will want me to." They had used to sing carols, long ago when their parents had been alive. Mokuba had always longed for that experience again. Although Seto cooperated for Mokuba's sake, his heart hadn't been in it like when they were both children. Mokuba wished for those days to return, although he knew it was unlikely. Seto was too cynical and he didn't like revisiting the past.

"Then it'll be a good experience!" Téa insisted.

Yami Bakura grunted too. "I don't sing. Nor would anyone want me to."

"Probably right," Tristan quipped. He couldn't imagine that gravelly voice sounding good on a song.

"Oh Yami," Bakura chuckled. "Here, you can just follow along on the lyrics sheet. There'll be so many people singing, no one will even hear you."

"Then why should I bother?" Yami Bakura countered.

"It would be fun," Bakura said.

"That is a matter of opinion," Yami Bakura retorted.

In the end, the entire group did band together and they all did sing. Mokuba beamed as he saw both Seto and Marik joining in. He had dreamed of something like this for some time. He still deeply missed his and Seto's parents and he always would, but this Christmas really was starting to feel like the old ones that he loved so much. Seto was opening up more and their extended family now included so many friends. Mokuba smiled up at Lector as they all launched into Silent Night.