A/N: hi, it's me…AGAIN… I know I shouldn't be starting any new stories but I really really wanna write this one so here it is!
Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh! Though I wish I did… there'd be more Atem/Yami x Tea
/blah/ Yami to Yugi mind link
/blah/ Yugi to Yami mind link
Blah obviously the thoughts of a character
(Blah blah) my added comments
"That's it! If they don't want me here I might as well just leave!" Tea fumed as she stormed into her home.
"Welcome back dear!" Her mom yelled out from somewhere near the kitchen.
"Don't talk to me mom! Or else I'll yell at you, and you have nothing to do with this!" Tea yelled back.
Fine, if they really don't want me here, they're going to get their wish! Tea slammed the door to her bedroom closed and got out a small suitcase. She started stuffing clothes and everything she needed for a trip inside. Once she was done, the suitcase looked like it was about to explode due to being overstuffed.
Now… all I need to do is somehow sneak outside without anyone noticing… yea… how the heck am I going to do that? Now this was getting really frustrating. Oh for the love of god, she might as well sneak out at midnight! Well… that was a plan… the only one she had at the moment soo… time to execute midnight-run-away plan A!
Tea took a deep breath to calm herself. She needed to act like everything was normal, just a normal tantrum. She exited her room and went to the kitchen to get something to drink. There, she found her mom dicing and slicing (heh heh… that rhymed!) some vegetables and dropping them into a pot of boiling water.
"Is something wrong?" her mother asked, a concerned look glazing over her eyes.
"No mom… it's just uhh… well it's a long story…"
"You can talk to me while I'm cooking, and in the meantime, pass me the salt would you?"
the brunette opened the cupboard and took out a small glass saltshaker and slid it over the counter.
"Now… you were about to tell me why you were mad?"
"Umm… maybe later… because right now I'm not in the mood…'"
"Oh… ok then, pass me the pepper please"
Tea sweat dropped, jeez! Does she even care or what!
(Let's just do a little time warp here… now it is officially 11:30 p.m!)
Tea watched the numbers on her digital clock change, it was now half an hour 'till midnight. Close enough she thought.
She snuck out of bed and slowly made her way over to her closet and took out the suitcase. She was already in her daytime clothes because she put them on right before she went to bed.
Now… to go through the front door or out the window and down the tree? Since it's night time, I might as well go through the window…
Tea landed with a small 'thud' on the grassy floor just outside her bedroom window. Now all she had to do was catch a taxi…or she could save money and just take a bus… the bus was probably better.
She walked or rather, ran to the nearby bank that opened 24/7(you know, the ones with the machines that are always on?) and made a withdrawal of all her money. It would be enough to get a ticket to New York and also rent an apartment, after that, she would have to find a job and say goodbye to a nice and comfortable life.
Being lucky enough to catch a midnight bus that went all the way straight to the airport was the best thing that happened to her all day.
Half an hour later, she arrived at her destination. She stood outside the airport main building looking at the huge future that lied ahead of her, this was not going to be easy and she knew it.
Tea entered and looked at the flight board, there was a direct flight to New York but that was at 12:30… oh well, she thought, might as well go buy the ticket and get something to eat first.
(once again, time wizard will work his magic and send us to 12:30!)
"Passengers that are going on the direct flight to New York may now board at gate 22" the intercom announced.
Tea stretched her arms and grabbed her suitcase. It didn't take her long to find gate 22, truthfully, it was just a 15 second walk.
"Your ticket please miss" the flight attendant asked.
Tea handed her the small slip, but to her, it seemed like she was handing the flight attendant her entire life.
"Thank you, your seat is down this hallway and to the right, the 7th row from the front. Have a nice flight"
Once Tea had sat down and got organized, she looked out the window at her hometown, it was the place of her so called 'friends'.
She scoffed, who needed friends like them when they hated her? They told her to leave them alone and that's what they got so they should be happy.
"Passengers, please secure your seatbelts, we are now taking off." A red light in above the doorway flashed signaling for everyone to buckle up and prepare their barf bags. (LOL I couldn't resist)
Well, this is it. I'm on my own. This is going to be hard, I should probably get some rest right now…Tea thought as she dozed off.
Tea jolted awake when the intercom on the plane announced that they were due to arrive shortly and they were serving breakfast right now.
She had slept for 9 hours, enough for her at least.
After Tea had finished her breakfast the plane had started to land.
"Thank you for flying with us, we hope you have a good day"
The sun blinded Tea when she stepped out of the airport. It was too bright for her liking. She looked around, but did not know where she was.
"Are you a new person to New York? You look kinda lost" a voice asked her.
Tea whipped around to see a girl dressed in black… completely. She had shoulder length black hair, she wore sunglasses, had a black trench coat on, black boots, black pants, black tanktop, black choker, black gloves, and finally, a black suitcase by her side. She seemed to be about her age if not older by a year.
"Umm… actually I am…"
The girl looked at her for a moment then held out her hand with a smile "The name's Leona Taylor"
Tea took her hand and shook it "Tea, Tea Gardener"
"Nice to meet you. Do you have a place to stay? If not, you could crash at my place, you seem like a cool person" Leona took off her sunglasses to reveal the darkest eyes you could ever imagine. It's no wonder she likes to wear black…
"Well… I don't want to be any trouble…" Tea was hesitant to agree.
"Trust me, my house is big, and it's way too big for just me alone. Did I mention I live in a private estate? So you wouldn't be that much trouble." The black haired girl waved it off like it was nothing.
"Thanks, I really owe you"
"Ah no prob, I just like to help. Here follow me" Leona started walking towards a counter that was located near a large truck.
"Hi, I'm here to pick up my motorcycle…? It's red with yellow streaks and has leather seating."
The woman behind the counter spoke into her headset and then nodded her head towards Tea's new friend.
"Your motorcycle is here, talk to that man" she pointed to a large person wearing a white T-shirt "and he'll give you your bike"
"Thanks"
"You drive a motorcycle?" Tea asked rather impressed.
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm a pro, not to mention I have an extra helmet"
The two girls walked over to specified man and asked him for Leona's bike, he turned around and jumped into the truck, not long after, he came out with a aesthetically pleasing motorcycle.
"Wow…" Tea was at a loss for words.
"Pretty sweet eh? Hop on, don't forget to hang on tight because you're in for one hell of a ride" She tossed a helmet in Tea's direction and put her own on before mounting.
Tea got on and wrapped her arms around Leona's stomach before nodding.
"Ok, here we go!" Leona started the engine and took off.
Tea had to admit, it was pretty fun weaving in between the cars on the road and to feel the breeze. She was in the middle of admiring the shops they drove by that she almost loosened her grip when Leona took a sharp turn to the right.
"Hang on tight!" she heard her new friend yell.
Oops…Tea thought.
As they say, all good things have to come to an end, and the ride soon did. Because not long after the turn, they had driven into a rather large compound with metal gates. Up ahead was a large mansion way bigger than Tea could have imagined.
The puttering of the engine soon stopped and they dismounted the bike. An elderly man dressed in a suit came out of the front door.
"Welcome back mistress" he said while bowing.
"Thanks Leo, anyways, here's the keys, could you put my ride away for me please." Leona tossed the keys in the butler's direction, he caught it without looking. (Wow, crazy old man got some skillz)
"And Tea," Leona said as she pushed open the large oaken front twin doors "Welcome to my home"
It was simply stunning, the floor was made of marble and there was a grand winding staircase. To the right was what seemed like the living room and to the left was a waiting room of sorts.
"Whoa, what do you do for a job anyways?" Tea asked as she gazed in awe at her surroundings.
"Actually my mom owns a big company in the clothing business and my dad is the owner of many architect companies."
"Say what now!"
"You heard me" Leona said as she closed the doors. The chandelier above them shook, making the glow of the lights flicker across the room.
"It's just one surprise after another isn't it?"
"Yeah, guessing from your tone it is, anyways, how 'bout I show you your room? And after that, I'll give you a tour of the place. Then we can decide what to do after."
"Sure thing" Tea picked up her suitcase a followed Leona up the stairs.
They passed through many hallways and when they finally hit a dead end that had 2 twin doors, Leona pointed to the door of her left.
"This room is going to be yours, you can unpack and put your stuff in the closet or dresser, which ever you like. And if you're wondering, my room is right here" she pointed to the twin doors that Tea was just looking at the end of the hallway.
"Thanks again for letting me stay I really appreciate it" Tea smiled for the first time in what seemed like ages.
"Hey, don't mention it, at least I'll have company right? Besides the servants that is…"
Tea laughed and entered her room.
It was a rather large room. There was a king sized bed with 2 table on either side of it and opposite of the bed was a walk in closet (omgomg, I just LUV walk in closets) to the right of the door to the closet was a plasma TV along with a DVD player, and VCR player. In the corner was a small working desk and beside it was a stereo system. In the corner to the left of the doorway was a private bathroom with a hot tub sized bath tub and shower along with everything else you need in there. Finally, just outside of the bathroom door to the left was a dresser that stood as large as Tea herself.
Tea gasped at the sight, it was definitely a dream come true. She quickly unpacked, choosing to put her stuff in the dresser since she didn't have much. Once she was done, she exited her room and walked into the hallway. The door to Leona's room was open and it seemed that she was unpacking too.
"Um Leona? I'm done" Tea said as she knocked on the door.
"Huh? wha? Oh ok, I'm almost done too, just a sec. You can wait for me in your room."
Tea nodded and returned to her own dwelling. She took out her duel disk and her duel monsters deck, over the years, she had become a worthy player and was better than Joey.
Joey. She scoffed at the name. He was one of her 'friends' that had also drove her away. But her train of thought was broken when Leona entered.
She looked at the duel disk and deck in her hand before lighting up with a huge smile.
"You play Duel Monsters too! Oh please! Can I duel you? Please oh please! It's been too long since I've had anyone to duel!" Leona begged.
"Sure, I haven't dueled in a while either. So it'd be nice to dust off my deck." Tea stood up and put on her duel disk.
"I won't go easy on you!" the millionaire ran out of the room to get her own dueling equipment.
"Come on! I have a dueling arena here believe it or not! Follow me!" Leona dashed down the hallway, Tea hot on her heels.
The dueling arena that she spoke of was located in the basement. It looked exactly like the dueling stage at Kaiba Land except just a bit smaller.
Tea took the left side and Leona took the right side. They both shuffled their deck and inserted it into their duel disk and shouted "Let's duel!"
(ok, now we're going to go back to Domino city while those two are dueling…"
Domino City:
Yugi couldn't help but have a sinking feeling that something was just not right.
/Yugi, what's bothering you? You haven't said a thing all day/ Yami appeared in his spirit form beside his light side.
/it's nothing Yami, I just can't shake the feeling that something is well… just not right/
/well, you'd better figure out what it is soon because your fidgeting is, believe it or not, starting to get irritating…/
Yugi smirked smugly /well, the all mighty Pharaoh does get annoyed after all/
Yami rolled his eyes before disappearing into his millennium puzzle.
Yami had the exact same feeling that Yugi had, but something else was bother him also. Yami sighed as he walked through the endless maze of his mind. The fight that the gang had with Tea yesterday was really starting to get to him. He had never really liked that fight and had stayed out of it thankfully. He decided to confront Yugi on the matter.
Once again, he appeared before his other half.
/Yugi, do you think that you should call Tea about yesterday/
Yugi looked at his darker side and sighed /I don't know, I want to apologize but I'm scared that she won't forgive me, nor the rest of the gang/
/well you never know until you try/
/I hate to admit it but you're right. I'll go call her now/
/tell me what she says/
/I will/
and with that, the spirit disappeared again.
Yugi went to the phone and dialed Tea's home number.
The phone was answered on the 3rd ring, it was Tea's mom.
"Hello?"
"Mrs. Gardener? It's me, Yugi"
"Oh hello, I suspect you're looking for Tea? She not home right now, she wasn't home when I woke up so she probably went out shopping early"
"Oh, ok, thanks anyways"
Yugi hung up. Next: Tea's cell phone.
Ring…ring…ring…ring…ring…
Come on Tea… answer! Yugi thought.
Hey, you have reached Tea Gardener, I'm not available to answer your phone right now so please leave a message and your number so I can get back to you. Thanks. Beep
Great, just great, Tea wasn't picking up. Maybe she forgot her phone at home or something or an emergency came up. Hopefully it was the former.
/Yami? Can you hear me/ Yugi thought.
The once Pharaoh appeared in the dim light of Yugi's room.
/Yes/
/Tea's not answering/
Yami frowned /it's not like her to do that/
/well maybe she just left her phone at home or something/
/it's not like her to do that either/
/well then what do you think happened/
/I don't know, but you're probably right, we should wait and call her later. Aren't you supposed to meet Joey and Tristan at Burger World right now/
Yugi looked at his watch and stood up abruptly causing the chair he was sitting on to fall over.
/oh no! I'm going to be late/
Yami couldn't help but chuckle to himself as Yugi dashed out the door. His lighter half could be quite naive at sometimes but that just made him unique. He smiled as he disappeared once again.
(ok, back to Tea in New York!)
"And now I activate my magic card Pot of Greed" Tea said as she drew 2 cards, "Uh oh, too bad for you Leona, because I just drew the cards that was needed for your defeat."
"Oh yeah? Just try me! None of your monsters would have enough attack points to eliminate my life points even though I'm wide open!" Leona smirked.
"Don't be so sure about that… now I play Monster Reborn! And I bring back my Dark Magician Girl! In attack mode! And I power her up with a magic card of mine so that makes her attack points total up to 2800. Now say goodbye to the rest of your life points! Dark Magician Girl! ATTACK!" Tea yelled.
"Aahhhh!" Leona shielded herself from the attack.
"How's that?" Tea grinned as she got down and walked towards her friend on the other side of the field.
"Not bad… pretty good actually…" Leona panted.
"Ah well, I learned from the best of the best" Tea said automatically without thinking.
"What do you mean best of the best?"
oh no… how am I going to weasel myself out of this one?
"Oh! I mean uh… it's just…"
"You learned how to duel by Yugi Mutou!"
his friends and grandpa actually but I still did learn a little from Yugi…"Well… yes but… uhh… you see…"
"OH…MY…GOD! You actually know the king of games!"
"Well yes… but he's actually part of the reason I'm here…"
A large question mark appeared above Leona's head.
"Oh boy… this is going to be a long story, so you might as well make yourself comfortable…oh never mind, I'll just make this long story short. To sum it up actually, I used to be best friends with him, then just yesterday we had a huge argument, well not just me and him, my other friend's Joey and Tristan were on Yugi's side of the argument soo… I kinda ran away and here I am."
"Oh my god… you know Joey Wheeler too!"
"Um… yes"
"SWEET! Anyways, back to your story, why did you guys argue anyways?"
"Well, I'm not sure how it started but all I remember is them telling me that I was just a burden and was annoying…" Tea trailed off.
"SAY WHAT!"
"Now I quote from you, 'you heard me' "
"Hey… don't sound so smug…"
"Who said I sounded smug?"
"Oh whatever… anyways, what those guys did to you was horrible, you shouldn't be friends with them if they treat you like that."
"Yeah, I know, but I should call my other friends back home and tell them where I am… I don't want them to worry, they had nothing to do with the argument."
"Sure, you can use my phone-"
"No it's ok" Tea cut Leona off "I can use mine, so they know it's me"
Tea took out her cell phone from her pocket and dialed in Serenity's number.
"Hello?" Serenity's soft voice was heard.
"Hey Serenity, it's Tea. Listen, I have to tell you something, but first, I want to get Mai on the phone too, so could you get us into a 3 way conversation here?"
"Sure, just a sec."
The phone went silent for a while, after 30 seconds, Mai's voice came on.
"So, you said you had something to tell us hon?"
"Hey Mai, and yes I do"
"Anyways, I need you guys to promise not to tell anyone this ok? It's going to be a secret that you can't leak out to anyone."
"We understand, what is it though?" Serenity asked.
"Well…let's just say I'm out of the state and don't intend on coming back…"
"What do you mean?"-S
"…I'm living in New York"
"WHAT!"
Tea had to hold the receiver away from her ear to prevent from being deaf.
"Can you not scream like that? You'll cause me to have hearing aids by the age of what? My late twenties?"
"Sorry, but what the heck are you doing there! How did you even get there! Wait, scratch that, when did you get there!"
"Jeez Mai, you have way too many questions… well, I got here this morning which meant I left last night and right now, I'm crashing at my friend's place"
"Does my brother know about this?" Serenity asked.
"No, he's actually a part of the reason… but he didn't really do much but still…"
Serenity frowned at this.
"Hey Serenity? You still there?" Mai asked.
"Yes…"
"Oh sorry you guys, I have to go, I'll call you tomorrow ok? Bye"
Tea hung up and let a sigh of relief escape her.
"Well that was a pretty short conversation…" Leona raised an eyebrow at Tea.
"I made a long story short is all"
"Hmm… yes you did. Now what do you want to do?"
"Well, I have to go find a job, and I have one in mind, but I also need to get new clothes…"
"Then to the mall it is! But first, let's go get you a job!" Leona dragged Tea out the door.
A/N: hey, I'm going to leave it there because it's already 12 pages long so yea.