Illustration (linkyiwakura): Search "Cross country Crush - Collab" by linkyiwakura on deviantart

Deviantart fiction (pleasenoyaoi): Search "A Taste of Apple / Chapter 1: Cross-Country Crush" by pleasenoyaoi (that's me!) on deviantart

Disclaimer I: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Disclaimer II: Any reference to New York and/or the Julliard School or their respective facilities, locations, attractions, businesses, figures, or anything else you recognize associated with New York are completely real and geographically accurate. I will specify at the foot of each chapter.

Disclaimer III: All illustrations accompanying this text were solely created and owned by linkyiwakura.

An author's note:

Hello, fellow Revolutionshipper/Vanishshipper/general Yu-Gi-Oh fan! Welcome to the launch of my 10th anniversary project! It has been 10 years today that I've had an account on this site, and I'd like to celebrate with you with a really cool new story!

This passion project of mine is a collaboration with deviantartist linkyiwakura, who is an amazingly talented artist with whom I've had the pleasure of working with to bring this fiction to you! We have been carefully planning this project for several weeks and we're very proud of the result. Since neither of us live in New York (though I live in America and have visited a couple times), we both have done a lot of detailed research to make everything as real and conceivable as possible. We want our readers/watchers to be fully immersed in the story, as if they were standing in the heart of New York City, experiencing every event with our two beloved main characters, Atem and Téa, as they embark on a long-winded journey to each other's hearts.

At the top of the page of each chapter, I will provide a search guide to linkiwakura's upload of the corresponding illustration in full size, as well as my account with the deviantart version of the fiction. Please favorite and follow linkyiwakura as well; her artwork is absolutely stunning, as you can tell!

Please enjoy, and don't forget to review, favorite, and follow! Please also add this story to your communities so others can enjoy as well!

ALG

A Taste of Apple
Chapter 1: Cross-Country Crush

Written by Atemusluckygal
Illustrated by linkyiwakura

"Airport policy requires that all baggage must be supervised at all times..."

The stock female voice crooned the same announcement over the intercom at regular five minute intervals, maintaining the mundane atmosphere that seemed to always accompany waiting to fly out of a large city airport. There were no seats available at the gate, so Atem opted to sit on his suitcase, leaning against the wide window view of the runway, as he waited to board the plane to the JFK International Airport, New York.

Atem looked over the hard copy of his schedule for his week stay in Manhattan. It looked considerably sparse for an emcee, considering how important everyone made him out to be, being the reigning Duel Monsters champion and all that. He had to stay at the venue for the duration of the day's battles, which stretched to long hours, but his actual speaking time was very minimal, which relieved him.

Despite the nature of his past life as a leader and patriarch, Atem wasn't a man who typically favored large crowds, especially reading a bland script into a booming PA system for them all to cheer over. But it was a living, and a good one. He was fortunate. Since every major duel he had fought had much more riding on his victory than a champion crown or a rare card or a prestigious reputation, he hardly—if ever—noticed the press following his every public duel. There were dozens of headlines about him that he never read. Atem often wondered what sort of international gaming culture he'd unknowingly cultivated just by being the "chosen one", an old spirit of an ancient king displaced in modern society, condemned with the responsibility of keeping the modern world safe from power-hungry fanatics with supernatural powers and insatiable hunger for destruction. He wondered if that was why Seto Kaiba was so hellbent on winning the Game King title back-having the favor of the press was infinitely more important to him than Atem.

His phone beeped, bringing him back to the gate floor. He opened the message to find the confirmation number for the driver scheduled to pick him up from JFK and take him to the hotel. Minutes later, he received another confirmation number, for a different driver, regarding his arranged ride to the arena the next morning, giving him roughly an hour at the venue to prep for the unveiling of the tournament finalists. Technology is incredible. Atem wondered if he would ever get used to it.

After boarding, Atem took his seat by the window in first class, sinking contentedly in the recliner chair. This was all a bit too extravagant for his standards, but the tournament manager insisted, and he did appreciate the extra leg room and obscurity from the other passengers. With about five minutes to takeoff, he sent a final text:

"On the plane. See you tomorrow night?"

A reply came promptly. "Yes! Have a safe flight. Can't wait to see you!"

Atem smiled as he put his phone away, only distantly listening to the pilot's welcome over the intercom.

Téa hasn't changed a bit, he thought.

Anxious. Excited. Nervous. Sick with butterflies. Téa could hardly contain herself.

She hadn't seen Atem since he left them all... and by the time he mysteriously returned, she was already concluding her second term at the Juilliard School, the most prestigious performing arts school in America and among the most esteemed in the world. Advancing her dancing skills had changed her in many ways-not just in dance but in her confidence, and she wondered if Atem would notice. After all, he was to be in town just in time for the last performance of the annual spring semester Juilliard Dances Repertory Series, in which Téa had a brief, but well-earned, solo.

Since the moment she walked through the glass doors and concrete walls of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Téa had climbed to the higher ranks of the undergraduates of Juilliard's Dance Division. She worked tirelessly under the guidance of her instructors and her own perfectionism, never taking sight off of her Bachelor of Fine Arts and the promise of a fulfilling and successful future in dance.

What were the gods-blessed odds that her secret love, ever present in her mind and in her heart even after his departure, was going to be in the same city as her while she was fulfilling the same dreams and ambitions she had once confided in him? He seemed to defy the impossible when he was sent back to her time, the 21st century, and she hardly knew how or why he was here. Though, she had no complaints about it. It was, after all, a dream that visited her often in her sleep, as though he had never left to begin with.

Yugi said something about destiny. It was complicated. Téa decided she would hear all about it from Atem himself.

Her phone beeped on the kitchen counter, startling her. "I'm at the hotel, and I'm looking forward to your recital. See you tomorrow. Good luck."

Téa sighed thoughtfully. Did he even know? The way he acknowledged her, so respectfully and politely, and yet unafraid to show sentiment in the way he regarded her, how it sucked the energy from her knees and sent her heart on a sprint? How positively overwhelming his aura was, how consuming his voice was even while represented through remote electronic communication?

No. There was no way he was aware of all of that. It was simply who he was, ingrained in his character and mannerisms, and his own obliviousness to it all attracted her even more.

She turned on the radio, pushed the bed flush against the wall, and began her preliminary stretch routine in her tiny living room.

Just one more practice... it had to be perfect.

TO BE CONTINUED

Notes:

JFK International Airport, NY is real.

The Julliard School and its award-winning dance division is real.

Lincoln Center is real.

The Julliard Dances Repertory Series is real.

Chapter 2 on the way. :D