Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoy what I came up with.

Special thanks to hinatagirl16, Cyberbee15, and batousaisgirl16 for their help with this chapter. the first part of Yugi and Airi's duel was based on Season 5's Bakura/Tristan vs Yugi duel. Hope the rest of the duel made sense.

Don't own Yugioh, just my OCs

Enjoy :)

Chapter 74

Spirit Realm: Several Weeks Earlier

Yami set up the top rim of the arena. It reminded him of some pictures he'd seen of racetracks in ancient Rome. Stretching out in a long oval with clumps of spirits standing around small portals flickering in the middle watching the events beyond. These were the duels with the duel-disks. With so many few shadow duels the larger portals were a rarity. It was mostly boring, not watching the actual duels.

Yami didn't want to get in the way. The groups were made up of shared decks, with only a few spirits jumping moving between groups to watch different duels. That was the most entertaining part to watch. Every so often the different spirits would disappear into the electricity portal as they were summoned. Yami had been told since they weren't a shadow duel the spirits didn't have to appear in the game since there were holograms, but most would possess their holograms to feel like they were part of the duel.

Yami could understand the feeling. He had been a duel spirit for only a few weeks and already the monotony was getting to him.

"You're in my spot."

Yami spun around and was face to face with the green single eye gaze of Timaeus

Yami moved to the side of the bench as the other spirit slid into the seat next to him.

"You're late," Yami observed.

Timaeus shrugged. "I couldn't get out of the armor."

Yami finally noticed the knight was no longer in his full turquoise armor and traded it for long sleeve turquoise and silver tunic and leggings under his cape.

"It took you this long to get changed out of your armor?" Yami said. "You've been here for several months."

"Picky picky." Timaeus turned to watch the current duel portal. "Sentimental really. I suppose grasping on to the chance I would be summoned. But they got rid of my card after we saved the day, so that will never happen."

Yami became more aware of the other groups sitting around the edges of the fields. There were more than he realized before.

"I haven't seen Critius and Hermos around," Yami observed.

"They don't find watching these duels as interesting as I do. The God Monsters find them boring too." Timaeus looked at the newer spirit for a while.

"What?" Yami finally asked.

"You need a card,"

"I know that." Yami muttered.

"No, I mean it, you NEED a card," Timaeus said. "You've got the hint of crazy eyes and you've only been a spirit for several weeks." the dragon knight leaned over, his blue-silver bangs sliding in front of his stitched-shut eye socket as he stared at Yami. "Cabin fever is a real problem here. Trust me, we have enough insane spirits. If the Ujamas don't drive you nuts, never being summoned will."

Yami watched Mystical Elf reappear on the floor. Remembering duels with Yugi and Airi made him smile.

"Don't you want to get into the game?" Timaeus asked.

"It's going to be holograms. I won't really be there."

"It's that or just spectate."

"You don't have a card." Yami pointed out.

"Not worth it really. Because of my power level, I'll probably be in rank like the god cards; not lots of chances to get played." It sounded like a flimsy excuse.

Someone ran into Yami's back, and a pair of arms wrapped around his chest. After a short moment of confusion, Yami grinned as Dark Magician Girl appeared on his other side.

"I knew you'd be here." she beamed. "You can't believe what I found out. My master Yugi is going to be in another tournament."

Yami's mouth dropped open. "Already."

"Where did you get this jewel of information?" Timaeus asked.

"Blue-eyes, of course. Her master has been dueling like crazy and she heard him talking about this tournament he was planning or something. Apparently it was hard to hear because he kept complaining about someone called 'shameless doppelganger' or something like that."

Yami frowned. "I guess I made an impact."

"Well," Timaeus stood. "We have to get you a card now."

"Wait, how?" Yami said.

"We bug Pegasus until he makes one. I'd hurry. You don't have the ability to threaten his life so it might take him a while."

Present Day: Second Battle City Finals

Yugi checked his deck before the next duel. He'd been keeping the card Pegasus sent him at the bottom of the deck the entire tournament, carefully holding it back as he shuffled. Now, this was the final duel, and nothing had happened so far. Facing off against his sister was the least insane thing so far. Now seemed like a good enough time to let the heart of the cards take over. He slipped the card into the middle of the deck and shuffled.

"Duelist, report to the field." the announcer boomed above them.

Airi had already disappeared to her side of the field. Only Yugi's friends stood near his entrance to wish him luck.

"Good luck." Tea said.

"Go get her, Yug." Joey ave him a thumbs up.

Waving to them all Yugi ascended the stairs to the field above. The crowd erupted at his presence. He waved at the crowd, still blown away by the support.

Airi and Yugi faced each other across the field. For some reason, she held her blue vest in her hand.

"Hey champ," Airi called to him.

Yugi blinked at her using his childhood nickname. "What?"

"It's getting kinda hot. What you say we ditch the jackets." she held up her vest.

Yugi looked down at his school uniform jacket draped over his shoulders like how Yami had worn it during the last Battle City. he looked back up to find his sister waiting. She gave a half-smile, waiting for his response. Confused murmuring echoed through the audience.

The realization hit Yugi. This look had been his and Yami's look. Each competition they'd worn this uniform as they alternated between who was in charge during the duel. They had been indistinguishable. But now Yami was gone. Yugi had to defend his title on his own. Looking off to the side he noticed Kaiba was watching from the main box, watching them carefully.

Yugi shrugged off his jacket. Holding it for a moment he tossed it off to the side.

"It kinda is, Princess," he called back.

Airi grinned as she also tossed hers off to the side. "Ready for a duel?"

"Always."

The duel started.

Yugi drew looking at his cards. "I set a face down and a face-down monster in defense mode. I end my turn."

"That's it?" Airi said.

"Learned from the best."

"Cute." Airi drew. "I summon Ancient Elf in attack mode. Ancient Elf, attack his face-down monster."

The face-down monster flipped over to reveal it was Marshmallon. The weird pink monster smiled across the field at her.

"You activated Marshmallon's special ability," Yugi said. "When it's attacked, the attacking monster loses 1000 points."

"Forgot about that one." Airi placed a face down and ended her turn.

Yugi looked at his cards. So far his new card hadn't appeared. "I summon Silent Swordsman lv0 in attack mode. I activate my spell card Marshmallon Glasses and place them on Ancient Elf, so now your monster can only attack Marshmallon. I end my turn."

Airi frowned at her cards. "Will I guess I don't have any other options. I play Stop Defence, turning Marshmallon to attack mode. Ancient Elf, attack Marshmallon."

Yugi's life points dropped.

"I place a face down and end my turn."

Yugi drew. "My Silent Swordsman raised to Lv1. I play Turn Jump, speeding up the process, raising my Silent Swordsman to lv4."

Silent Swordsman attack points rose from 1500 to 3000. "Now my Swordsman is strong enough to take out your elf." the monster's sword sliced through the elf with ease. "Now Marshmallon can attack your life points directly." Airi flinched as the pink blob with teeth bared jumped at her. Hologram or not, it was unnerving to see teeth like that on something that shade of pink. "I end my turn," Yugi said.

"Nice one Champ." Airi drew, examining her cards carefully. "Now, I play Spirit Sword of Sealing, allowing me to choose any monsters from your side of the field and remove it from play. I chose, appropriately, Silent Swordsman."

"If you say so, Princess." Yugi removed his card from his duel-disk.

"I also summon Victoria in attack mode and attack Marshmallon. And I end my turn."

Yugi's life points dropped to 1350.

Yugi drew, and eyes widened. The card appeared in his hand.

Yami waited at the portals to the duels. All the other monsters waited along the edge, most of them being summoned regularly through the tournament. Yami hadn't been summoned once, but for some reason, he wasn't worried about being overlooked. After all, the powers on his card were for summoning Egyptian Gods, something Yugi didn't use often.

But he hated to admit it, he was nervous. He wasn't worried about using his powers, it was a hologram after all. But seeing Airi and Yugi again. Should he even go? It had only been a few months. But he also knew if he didn't he'd regret it forever.

The game was nearing the end. Both siblings' life points were low, less than a thousand. Yugi still hadn't played his new card. He hadn't seen any reason to yet. Though the way things looked he might be needing it soon.

Airi had taken out Yugi's monster with her Athena.

"I end my turn," Airi announced.

At this point, it was now or never.

"I play the spell card Spirit of the Pharaoh."

The card appeared as the figure on the card. The figure was exactly like it was on the card, but the face was visible. The eyes were closed and looked stoic, almost as if it was composing itself before unleashing an attack. There was a slight ripple in the hologram and the posture of a familiar figure, the eyes snapping open. Yugi's heart stopped then started to pound. From the look on Airi's face, she recognized him too. Yugi glanced to see if Kaiba realized it too.

Yugi cleared his throat to continue his turn. "Spirit of the Pharaoh allows me to summon a God Monster to the field. If I do not win on my next turn I automatically lose. I summon Slifer the Sky Dragon."

The new monster disappeared to be replaced by the slithering scales of Slifer. The three cards in his hand raised the monster's attack points to 3000.

"I place a face down and I end my turn." The placing of the card dropped Slifer's attack points to 2000, lower than Airi's monster.

Airi continued to stare at the dragon, the spot where the Spirit of the Pharaoh had been standing. Then she looked at Yugi. He couldn't read her expression.

She drew, still glancing between her cards and her brother. "Athena attacks Slifer."

"I activate my trap card, Dark Magic Retribution. I summon a monster destroyed in my graveyard to fight with your monster. I bring back Buster Blader."

Both monsters hit each other head-on. Both had the same attack points so both were destroyed. Airi stood with an empty field while Slifer watched her with glittery eyes.

"Nice one, Champ," Airi said. "Because Athena was destroyed in battle, I can summon Minerva: Sister of Athena to the field."

The other armored monster appeared on the field, 3000 points standing on her side of the field. Airi gave the monster a sad smile. Yugi realized that was one of the cards Yami gave her.

"I end my turn," Airi said.

Yugi drew. "I play Card of Sanctity, each player draws until we each have 6 cards in our hands." Slifer's attack points grew to 6000. "Slifer, attack Minerva."

Slifer's mouth opened and an energy blast hit Minerva, engraving her in light. Airi shielded her eyes, and even Yugi had to squint. Thankfully the hologram's blast wasn't as earthshaking as they'd experienced in shadow games.

Airi's life points dropped to zero.

The crowd went wild.

Airi ran across the field to hug Yugi.

"Did you see him?" Airi said it in his ear.

"Yeah." Yugi said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Yugi shook his head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have the winner of the Second Battle City. Yugi Muto, Champion and still the King of Games!"

A whoop came from across the field and Joey ran towards them, nearing running both siblings over as he joined the hug. The three-place winners stood together in the field.

"I already did this year." Yugi glared at the full-length mirror in the hotel room.

Similar to the last Kaiba sponsored tournament, there was a reception for the winners, mainly for the press to get pictures and 'networking' whatever that meant. Something about this felt more stuffy and formal, like a school assembly.

His mind reflected on the duel. That new card was Yami. There was no doubt of that now. Now he wished he hadn't summoned Slifer so soon. He'd banished Yami from the field so soon after appearing. None of them had had a chance to say anything.

Though , , , maybe.

Pulling out his duel-disk he activated it laying it on the bed. Yugi turned back to his deck. Shuffling through his cards he pulled out the Spirit of the Pharaoh. Hand shaking, he placed it in the spell slot. The hologram appeared in the room, facing Yugi with closed-eyed stoicism. The posture Yugi had seen on the field was gone. Besides the physical features, there was nothing remaining of his friend.

"Yami?" Yugi's voice came out as a whisper.

Nothing changed.

A knock on the door jerked him out of his revelry. Clicking off the duel-disk, he slipped the card back into his pouch.

Joey stood there, also in a suit, no tie, and a scowl.

"Do you know anything about buttons?"

"Huh?"

"I don't know how this is supposed to go." Joey motioned at his suit coat. "Open or closed. Do I have to button all of these?"

"I don't think it matters."

Joey checked himself again in the mirror. "Yeah, I don't want to look too stuck up."

Airi appeared in the doorway wearing a simple black dress. "You guys are still here? We're going to be late."

"Hey, we're the guests of honor. They have to wait for us." Joey left the room, calling down the hall, telling them to hurry or the food would be ruined.

Airi turned back to her brother, her gaze resting on the duel-disk still on the bed. She looked up, her expression hopeful.

Yugi shook his head, his heart sinking as the light left her eyes.

She shrugged. "Come on, we better make sure Joey doesn't make a fool of himself on camera."

"Why couldn't I go down there?" Yami shouted at Timaeus. "He played my card! I should be there!"

"You're not in battle," Timaeus repeated. "That's the requirements for possession."

"But spirits can interact with humans. I've seen it before."

"That's Spirit Monsters, and you need to be summoned then too. And you're not Yugi's spirit monster."

Yami glared at the Dragon Knight. "Then what is my purpose if I can't protect him anymore?"

The knight looked at him; Yami's pain reflected in his eye. Yami waited, hoping for an answer.

Timaeus shook his head, his smile sad. "I can't answer that."

Reality hit Yami. The Spirit of the Puzzle was gone. His purpose was over. Now, The Spirit of the Pharaoh was just a piece of cardboard. Useless.

At the celebratory banquet, Yugi and the other finalists were given seats at the head table. Yugi hated it because his other friends were seated a table away. At least he had Joey and Airi sitting next to him, making him feel less like an island among all the Execs. Kaiba was absent, leaving the MC job to Mokuba. Even more confusing, Pegasus was also sitting with them, placed next to Airi, who didn't seem thrilled about the situation.

The meal was good, some of the best food Yugi had ever had. What he didn't understand is all of the different speakers talking about different dueling greats, mostly talking about how awesome it was to see the King of Games in action and a god card. It got really old after the second one.

The final speaker was Pegasus. Airi and Yugi shared a look.

Pegasus stood at the main table. "Ladies and Gentlemen. I'd like to thank KaibaCorp for allowing me this opportunity to watch such impressive dueling expertise. Many of you have no doubt heard of Industrial Illusions' new launch of our education branch. Tonight we'd like to announce our new scholarship, the Cecilia Pegasus Dueling Scholarship."

This sent a ripple through the crowd. Even Mokuba looked taken aback.

Pegasus continued. "Tonight we're delighted to announce the top three ranking winners of this tournament have shown dueling skills worthy of being the first recipients of this award."

The room erupted in applause. Joey just sat shocked, gaping at the air in front of him as his friends applauded. Airi and Yugi stared at each other.

Finally, the banquet ended and the entire gang disappeared into Yugi's room. Pegasus had provided the three brochures with information about the scholarships.

"I don't know why I need this," Joey said. "I'm going to be a pro duelist. Why do I need to go to school for that?"

"Maybe get a day job, just in case." Tristan said.

Yugi stared at his information, still shocked that this was access to enough money to get him to college. Even Airi kept looking at it, not sure what she was holding.

"Hey, are you guys going to stare at them all day long, or are we going to celebrate?" Tea said, holding up the drinks she got from room service.

Partying got underway. Mostly it was joking and laughing about the crazy stuff they'd seen during the duels. Mokuba showed up to congratulate them and ended up hanging out with them. Somehow Yugi managed to push the card out of his mind.

Around 3 am Airi woke up to realize everyone else had fallen asleep, including Mokuba. She picked up her phone to text Kaiba the whereabouts of his brother, to find her phone was out of minutes. Muttering to herself she slipped out of the room. The last thing she needed was Kaiba banging down the door looking for his brother.

After some wandering down the halls she located the KaibaSuits floor. The security looked limited, but she did notice the camera down the hall. The hall ended in double oak doors. Knocking on the door she heard a click and the door opened. Glancing back down the hall, she entered.

The room was spacious but reminded her more of an office than a hotel room. The only light came from several large computer screens against the walls showing spreadsheets and security camera footage. Kaiba sat behind his desk, his back to her. He didn't turn around.

"Hey," Airi said.

"What do you want?" his tone was curt.

"I'm letting you know Mokuba is in my room. You can collect him in the morning, but I'd let him sleep."

He didn't turn. From his tension in his shoulders, she could tell he was upset. Losing to her must have hurt him more than he let on.

"Well, goodnight." she turned to leave.

"You let him win."

She turned back. Kaiba had turned his chair around to face her, his eyes flashing in the dim light.

"He won the duel. Yugi doesn't cheat."

"I was talking about you."

Airi stiffened. "What are you talking about?"

"I saw the way you looked at the spell card your brother summoned. I was there at that duel in Egypt. Even I could see that the card was based on that spirit. You were unprofessional and let that card get to you."

"Goodnight, Seto." Airi turned to leave.

"Did you love him?"

She froze at his words.

"That pharaoh that leached off Yugi." Kaiba clarified. "did you love him?"

Airi's nails dug into her palm. "What's it to you?"

"It's got everything to do with me." Kaiba stood. "You couldn't even pick someone I could challenge. Wheeler is worthless but I knew he existed. Having an invisible lover right under my nose. You really went out of your way to spite me."

Airi glared at him. "Funny, I didn't consider you as a factor in me falling in love."

He stood in front of her now. "If you're going to replace me that easily, give me a chance to prove myself."

"That's always the way you deal with things." Airi snapped. "How good a person is at dueling. That's your measurement for everything. What if you beat me in a duel someday? Will I lose all my value?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Why shouldn't I be. That's the only qualifications that matter to you; blood relations or duel monsters. That seemed to be the only requirement for you to care."

"Why do you insist on pushing me away?" Kaiba was shouting now.

"You did it first!"

"What are you blabbering about now?"

"Three months I waited. Three months and I heard nothing from you. After everything we'd been through, all I became for you, and you couldn't be bothered to at least send Roland over with a note."

Kaiba stayed silent so she kept going, wiping tears out of her eyes.

"I went to the company to talk to you. Gramps told me not to, but I went anyway. The receptionist wouldn't let me in the doors. You even kept me from talking to Mokuba. Mokuba! He's as good as my brother. I held him in my arms after Gozabora yelled at him and moved on to you. I've always been loyal to you and Mokuba, before I was your girlfriend and even now. Though, I'm not sure why I bothered. You stopped caring years ago."

While she'd been talking he'd come closer to her, stopping barely a foot away. At her final declaration, he froze, glaring down at her. They stared at each other for a long time.

"Despite what you think of me," Seto's voice was the softest she'd ever heard. "I've always cared. About you being the best so you'd fit in by my side. I cared that your shrimp brother was a great duelist because there had to be a reason why you'd leave everything for him. You've been irritating, but you've always been part of my life. I don't need any of this, but you're wrong about me not caring."

The tears were coming full force now, but Airi didn't stop them. "Why couldn't you prove me wrong three years ago?"

"You know now, what's different?"

"Everything. Back then, my heart was yours. Now . . . I don't know."

His hand brushed one of the tears off her cheek.

Then he kisses her.

A moment of shock melted as she kissed him back. Muscle memory took over as she reached up to grab his hair. Already she felt Seto's hand on her waist as he pulled her closer. It was like the years slipped away and they were a teen couple again.

The band on her arm snagged on his shirt, clicking her back to reality.

"No." she gently pushed him away. "I'm sorry, I, I," she turned and slipped out of his room.

She didn't stop running until she reached the emergency stairs. The floor below her room she stopped, allowing her knees to give out and she sank on the top step. Bringing her knees up to her chest she buried her face in her knees. She was pathetic. She was offered a chance to move on and she screwed it up.

"Yami I'm so sorry," she said to the air. "I can't . . . I just can't."

Kaiba glared at his monitor. The security footage showed the stairs and Airi crying. He couldn't hear her but he could guess the reason. It was worse than he thought. Airi was no longer the duelist he thought. Her emotions were too strong. He'd have to prove to her who was the greater duelist.

Yugi might have been talented enough to beat that spirit, but all the wins he'd won with the pharaoh still had tainted Kaiba's opinion of him. It was clear to him. If he wanted a true opponent, he was going to have to revive him.

A call symbol glowed on the consol.

He pressed it. "Update"

"We've got a permit to dig." Roland's voice came through.

"Good. commence immediately." Kaiba smirked, clicking off the call.

A/N: Wow, that was a ride. Well, we should start the movie in the next chapter. Hope you guys like what I have planned. Please review. Take care, stay safe, and God bless.