Disclaimer: I do NOT own Yu-Gi-Oh!, or KUSC, or Sleeping Beauty. You heard me right. My secret identity is, in fact, not Tchaikovsky.

*collective gasp*

I decided to do something I have never really done before... I revised an old story! I went back through my older stories on here, and I picked out the reader favorites as possible candidates for revision. I can't tell you how much I cringed reading those. Lol. I mean, I wrote this story almost 7 1/2 years ago!

Anyway, this version is very different from the original, so much that it's basically an almost complete rewrite, and it's possible that it might not have the same charm. But, I hope you enjoy it anyway. I mean, there are literally a thousand more words in this version than the original. I hope I chose the right ones.

Dance With Me [revised]

It didn't matter how dark the room was, how tightly the blankets were secured over her body, or how iron clad the lock on her door was… Téa did not feel safe.

Mai's shrill cry of terror as Marik ripped her soul from her mortal body refused to leave her ears, her blank soulless eyes as she hit the hard floor of the dueling platform refused to leave her mind. Though she was never particularly close to Mai, a tentative friendship had formed between the two women, and Téa felt like she had lost something close to a big sister figure that night. The same feisty blonde duelist who stared down her opponents fearlessly and then openly teased Téa in front of "Yugi" when she believed them to be on a date, was now lying comatose in the infirmary under the careful—yet fruitless—care of a medical professional.

It was a never-ending string of horrifying events that night. Mai was supposed to win. The outcome was all but spelled out; she had clearly outdueled her opponent. But… Mai shared an unfortunate fatal flaw with the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle—she got too cocky, preferring to deal her opponent a poetic justice kind of defeat rather than the quickest and most efficient, and revolved her strategy around harnessing control of the Egyptian God Ra for herself. Marik seemed to had been banking on her doing so, and was able to turn it against her with just a simple technicality no one had even heard of, including Kaiba. And she paid a heavy price for it, and was no doubt swimming in both regret and suffocating darkness while trapped in the Shadow Realm.

Téa shuddered. She remembered the look of total defeat on Mai's face as she was chained to the wall and was forced to watch her demise, in the form of a terrifying blaze cannon from the Winged Dragon, heading straight for her. She remembered not quite being able to stop Joey in time before he leapt on the platform to protect her, preparing to take the fatal blow in her place. She remembered yet again being too slow to keep Yami from leaping onto the platform at the last possible second to intercept the attack himself.

With Yami physically weakened, Mai comatose, and Joey completely and utterly broken, Marik should've gone to bed perfectly content with the amount of damage he had dealt her friends that evening. But he soon made it clear that he was not yet satisfied.

Téa was walking quietly to her room, her heart heavy from all that she had witnessed, when a heavy-gaited footstep resounded behind her. Her body tensed when a rough hand grabbed her shoulder and roughly pulled her aside. She yelped in surprise.

"We'll see how brave the pharaoh is when your soul is on the line, my dear," a sinister voice slithered into her ear. It didn't take much to deduce who it was that was speaking to her. Téa dared not look at his face. Truth be told, just the thought of it terrified her.

Marik tightened his fingertips on her flesh. "When your precious hero loses our shadow game, I'll see to it that your weak soul is shredded. I will feed you to the hungry spirits of the Shadow Realm until there is nothing left of you. And I will make him watch."

He removed his hand, cackling loudly all the way to his room. Téa stood frozen in place, shaking violently. Her breaths came in short gasps, letting a small whimper escape here and there. Barely a minute had passed before another hand, a gentler one, appeared on the same shoulder. She jumped and yelped, whirling around to find herself face to face with Yami.

Her sharp reaction seemed to startle him as well. "Téa! I apologize for sneaking up on you. Are you alright?"

Yami's voice, smooth and low, was a welcome contrast to Marik's menacing tone. His eyes, warm like an amethyst flame, watched her with concern.

Téa obviously wasn't alright, not even close. But something felt so very wrong and terrifying about telling him what had just happened, not to mention it would undoubtedly make him worry about her. He simply had no time to worry about her, as much as he would deny it. There were much higher stakes he needed to concern himself with.

"Y-y-yes," she lied. "Sorry for worrying you. I'll… I'll see you in the morning." She wasted no time hurrying off to her room, not waiting for Yami to respond. She didn't look back, but she could feel Yami's suspicious gaze bearing down on her back as she walked away from him.

Téa sighed in frustration. That was not by any means a favorable way to handle the situation; in hindsight, Yami likely felt like she blew him off. After all, how could she be so dismissive of his concern for her like that? No matter how scared she was, the short response she gave him was uncalled for.

Three knocks on her door brought her out of her thoughts. Her stomach lurched. Was it Marik, ready to capture and parade her as his hostage tomorrow? "H-h-hello?" she called meekly.

"Téa?"

The dancer sighed in relief and leapt off the bed at once. It was exactly the voice she expected to hear the least, but hoped to hear the most. She opened the door with one arm modestly crossed over the satin nightgown thinly covering her chest.

"Pharaoh."

Yami's voice was gentle. "May I come in?"

Téa nodded, opening the door wider and stepping aside. As his light footsteps entered the room, Téa glanced at the clock. It was nearly half past one in the morning. She didn't realize how late it was, which made Yami's presence all the more puzzling.

The pharaoh was at her nightstand, turning on the lamp resting on it. The dim light glowed handsomely on his face, though now Téa could clearly see the concern etched in his eyes.

"I apologize for my intrusion, especially at such an uncomely hour."

Téa shook her head. "It's alright, I was already awake."

He nodded slowly. "I know. You may know this by now, but it is easy for me to sense turmoil and distress, even from a distance. And right at this moment, I sense great suffering within you, Téa. Correct me if I'm wrong, but beyond the obvious, I believe something is bothering you very much. I can't help but feel responsible for the source of it. The way you responded to me earlier—"

"I'm sorry I was so rude!" Téa interrupted without being able to stop herself. "I… I promise I didn't mean to; I was just…" she trailed off. The terrifying feelings from before were resurfacing again, and it caused her voice to shake.

"You did nothing wrong," he assured her. Téa stared at him, as if searching for the sincerity in his words in his eyes.

"Was it Marik?" Yami asked after a few seconds of silence. "I saw him." A shade of crimson passed over his eyes, and his jaw rippled in anger. The fists at his sides clenched tightly. "Did he… hurt you?"

Téa shook her head. Marik's fingers digging painfully into her shoulder didn't count. "No."

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing," Téa responded too quickly. "He did nothing."

"Téa!" he didn't shout, but his voice was infinitely harsher and more strained as if he did. With violet eyes piercing into her startled blue ones, he held her upper arms in a firm grasp. "You must tell me the truth. If he truly did nothing worth mentioning, you would be resting, not wide awake and as frightened as you are right now!"

Téa whimpered, stiff in his hold. One thing she seemed to forget often about Yami was that he was still learning to reign in his emotions, and he could switch from calm to furious at the drop of a dime. It was likely he had no idea how truly intimidating he could be to the person on the receiving end. In any case, he eventually cooled down and released her. He averted his eyes shamefully.

"Téa… I'm so sorry. It was insensitive of me to press you like that." He returned his gaze on her, his eyes significantly softer but full of regret. "I am just very worried about you. Nevertheless, I came here to help ease your suffering, and my... aggression only worsened it."

Yami headed towards the door, keeping his head low. "Please excuse me."

"Wait!" Téa's hand shot out to grab his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. "I'll tell you what happened, but you won't like what you hear. Also, it's not very useful information to you."

The solemn spirit turned around to face her again. "I don't care what you believe is useful to me or not. I will be the judge of that." Upon hearing how unintentionally stern his voice sounded to his own ears, he inhaled deeply and shed the edge off of it. "I just want the truth, as much or as little as you're willing to share."

Téa nodded, her shoulders relaxing a bit. She motioned to the bed. "Alright. Have a seat."

Yami obliged wordlessly, and for the proceeding five minutes, Téa relayed the events that had happened in the hallway prior to her interaction with Yami. As she expected, Yami frowned deeply at every mention of Marik's name, even cursed under his breath a couple times. It was clear that Téa's encounter with Marik was adding to the stress that was already piling to monumental proportions on his shoulders. But he insisted that she continued every time she hesitated, squeezing her hand reassuringly each time. By the time she was done, her tears trailed freely down her face. Her voice was reduced to snips of words and sobs until she finally could no longer speak coherently.

Téa felt her head being pressed against a strong chest a moment later, with warm arms encircling her trembling body. Having had no pride or guard left, she accepted the embrace and cried into his shirt, muffling her voice. "I'm scared," she choked.

"I know," Yami replied. His voice resonated from his chest to her ear; the vibration alone calmed her some. "And I won't tell you that you shouldn't be afraid. And I know that my failing to protect you or Joey from Marik's reach, or the people already having fallen victim to his shadow magic is poor evidence to support what I'm about to say, but… you should know that I will never let any harm come to you again. I will not lose to Marik, no matter what. And his putting your life on the line only motivates me further to end him."

Téa acknowledged him with a nod, causing the side of her face to rub against the fabric of his shirt. Silence ensued as she continued to weep softly, sniffling here and there. Yami brought up a hand to graze lightly over her bare back. His voice returned to the calm and velvety quality from before. "Téa, what would you say right now if I asked you to dance?"

The girl was, as predicted, surprised at the odd question. "Hmm?"

"Dance. It's your passion. Could you… show me how?"

Téa blinked. This was not the direction she expected them to go, and she wondered if she heard him correctly. "Dance? Right now?"

Yami nodded, and loosened his arms on her. Puzzled, Téa emerged from his grasp and pushed off the bed, wiping her face as she turned her back to him. A small radio sat on the desk, and she switched it on. It happened to be on KUSC, the classical station. She let the orchestral piece play for a few moments, looking to Yami for approval. "Is this alright?"

The spirit let out a chuckle out of nowhere, instantly lightening the mood and bringing some fashion of joy back to Téa's heart. "You're the expert, not me." He stood on his feet, extending his hand to her. Téa took it tentatively, and within seconds found herself flush against his toned body, to her embarrassment. His right hand found her waist, and her hand slid up his arm and rested on his shoulder, led by instinct.

"What should I do?" the pharaoh inquired. With a small smile, he added, "You must lead, of course."

"Oh, right," Téa flustered, laughing nervously. She had never been so close to him before, and her senses absorbed his touch, his musky scent and the beauty of his violent eyes and endearing smile all at once, making it immensely difficult to concentrate. "Well, uh, I'll move my right foot here, and when I do that you'll move your left foot here to match me. We do the same with the other feet, and as long as you follow me we will just move in a circle."

Yami nodded, and waited patiently for Téa to make the first move. They eventually found a slow, but steady rhythm as they spun around the small room. Whether it was from the physical activity or something else, Téa couldn't tell, but her face was growing warmer as they continued to dance.

"Are you feeling any better?" Yami asked with genuine concern.

"Yes," she sighed, resting her lips and chin heavily on his shoulder. She didn't want it to end, even if they danced until the sun came up. Her anguish was finally melting away, thanks to the care, thoughtfulness and devotion of her beloved pharaoh. He had his flaws, but a large credit she could give him was his determination—if he felt that he could accomplish something, nothing in the world could convince him otherwise, especially if it involved doing something helpful for someone he cared about. Some would call it stubbornness to an obnoxious degree, but it had saved them many times, and had even gotten through to his opponents on occasion.

Téa's heart soared at the realization. Whether or not he would ever return her feelings, it was undeniably clear that he cared deeply for her. And for the moment, it was enough.

"What is this piece?" asked Yami. "It's nice."

"The waltz from the Sleeping Beauty ballet," Téa answered. "This was one of the pieces that inspired me to try ballet when I was little."

"Sleeping Beauty, you say?" he asked, nodding at her anecdote. "Interesting."

Téa was too hypnotized by the way his voice vibrated from his throat to her cheek to notice the peculiar words he was saying. That, and by the way her eyelids felt heavier and heavier after each circle they created.

"Heh, I must be getting sleepy," she whispered as she started to sway out of step. Even her voice was losing strength.

Yami quickly caught her as her knees buckled from beneath her. Normally he would have called to her in concern, but he knew exactly what was happening. She didn't even last a full chorus before she was completely fast asleep, fully limp in his arms.

The Puzzle around his neck gleamed in the moonlight, as if to say 'mission accomplished'. A sleep spell was an extraordinarily difficult spell to cast with it, especially with Yami's lack of practice, but tonight it managed to get the job done. Yami effortlessly carried the young woman bridal style to her bed and tucked her in her sheets and blankets. He sat on her bed for a while, watching her protectively as she slept. She looked peaceful, sleeping soundly and quietly as her mind danced in the solace of pleasant dreams. Her exposed ivory skin caught the moonlight, making her glow like the pure and compassionate soul she possessed, a soul he very much adored.

He'd be damned if he ever let Marik take that away from her.

Though keeping his feelings for her concealed from Marik's—and for that matter, anyone else's—notice was essential to her safety, he allowed himself this one single, treasured moment to show them openly and unguarded, for it was unlikely such an opportunity would rise again. He leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on her forehead, his lips lingering on her skin for as long as he dared.

"And here we have a Sleeping Beauty," he murmured affectionately.

The waltz was starting to swell to an unacceptable volume for the hour, and so Yami swiftly rose to switch off the radio. Silence befell the room, not even Téa's deep breaths disturbing it. Yami returned to her side one last time, placing a hand over hers lying palm-up on the pillow.

"I will protect you," the spirit assured the sleeping girl with conviction, "even if the cost is my life."

His hand slipped away from hers, and he exited her room quietly, closing her door as noiselessly as he could. Even after the lock in the door clicked, Yami's hand remained on the handle. He closed his eyes in concentration, only to open them moments later slightly short of breath. A spark of light raced around each edge and corner of her door frame and disappeared in a flash, confirming that the spell had worked.

Now, she was truly safe. No one could get in that room, except for him and Yugi. If Marik ever tried, he would instantly regret it.

The spells, along with the previous duels and physical strain he had earlier endured, were beginning to wear on him. He yawned softly and turned on his heel to walk back to his room, whistling the Sleeping Beauty theme along the way.

END

(*gasp* What's that? A reference to the manga? What's that doing in there? Lol jk, the manga rawks.)

Longer? Yup. Darker? You betcha. Cheesy? Still kinda cheesy. Better? You decide.

I'm thinking about doing other revisions. PM me if you have a favorite story of mine you'd like me to rewrite!

Until next time,

xx ALG