Note: This is based on a work of historical fiction, set in London in 1665. The book this story is based on is called 'At The Sign Of The Sugared Plum'. This fic will include some dialogue which will be written in a similar style to that of the book, so some of it will sound strange as it is paraphrased from the 17th century, but it should all be easily understandable.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX or 'At The Sign Of The Sugared Plum'

Prologue

Arrival

The two youths waved their goodbyes to the cart that dropped them off as close to the bridge into London as it could get them. To tell the truth, the younger of the two was glad to get away from the stupid cart - the old farmer they'd traveled with talked non-stop about everything and nothing.

"You boys sure you want to be stopping in London now?" he said, concerned.

The two innocent boys from the country, one eighteen and the other sixteen, looked up at the farmer questioningly. In an answer, the farmer sighed.

"Thought you'd want to keep away at this time."

"Oh no, we've been desperate to get here for so long!" the younger of the two said enthusiastically. "Why wouldn't we want to be here?"

"I guess you'll find out yourselves."

The farmer and his rickety old guard trundled off in the opposite direction, leaving the two males to look at each other in confusion.

"What did he mean by that?" the younger wondered aloud.

He was quite a small boy with a face that made him appear somewhat younger than he actually was. He wore white on the bottom half of his body, like everyone else did, and red, as was his custom - he didn't know what the current fashion was and didn't really care; red was his colour - and he was a two-toned brunette. The patch of hair on the top of his head was closer to orange, really, but hey, what did he care? Being sixteen and a male teenager, the boy hadn't a care in the world. His bright chocolate eyes scanned the crowds that rioted the bridge.

"Oh well, it probably wasn't important, anyway" he said, shrugging it off, and grabbing his cousin by the arm - clever considering the amount of luggage they each carried. "Come on, Aster, we have to get going!"

"Slow down!" his cousin called, racing after the brunette as he ran towards the bridge.

The brunette's cousin looked nothing like him. The elder of the two boys, Aster, had silver hair and bright blue eyes, and he dressed in complete white - hardly fashionable, not like he cared anyway. He was two years older than his cousin and more mature by decades, if it was possible.

The two boys, fair excited out of their wits to finally have reached London, rushed across the bridge and towards the small bakery which was now theirs.

"Is this it?" the brunette asked puzzled, as he stared at the small shop.

There was no glass in the window and, on going inside, they discovered that there was only the front room where baked goods were to be made and sold, and a small living area in the back of the shop. It wasn't exactly what his recently deceased uncle had made it out to be, but oh well.

"If Uncle Haou was still alive, I'd kick his ass for lying" Jaden, the brunette, muttered softly.

"Jaden, watch your language. There'll be ladies in the shop soon - you can't curse in front of them. It's not right!"

Jaden laughed at his cousin's good manners. The two had been brought up in the country all their lives and had been taught good manners, but Jaden normally chose to forget his. It wasn't as if London was exactly known for its good manners, either, so why should he be so bothered by his lack of them? Besides, Aster had enough manners for the both of them. If he was so worried about the opinions of the lady folk, he could deal with them.

Jaden Yuki was the younger cousin of Aster Phoenix. Their Uncle Haou had recently died in a fire, not from this bakery which he had owned and loved, but from one on the other side of the city. On hearing the news, Jaden and Aster had pledged to go to their uncle's bakery - for Haou had never produced any children himself - and take over it for him. The two were disappointed with the shop's grimy appearance but were willing to overlook that and work as hard as they could - well, on that last part, Aster was willing to work hard. Jaden was a slacker but would have fun messing around baking the sweet treats they'd sell. And hell, Aster could use the help. He'd never had a business before, being only eighteen. Besides, Jaden was young and innocent and funny. It could be fun.

The two immediately set to finding out what they had to buy, clean, tidy and generally fix up the shop. One day, when they had the money - being poor farmers from the country, money was something they'd never had much of, but if they made a success of their business, they could have as much as the rich did - they would buy a bigger shop and run the best bakery in all of London. How many were there to compete with? Lots. It was 1665 and bakeries were all over the capital of England. But Aster was competitive and Jaden was confident. They could do it easily.

After only a few hours, there was a knock on the door. The two cousins looked at each other in confusion, for the shop was closed and nothing was made, but opened the door nonetheless.

Standing there was a young man dressed all in yellow, with slightly dark skin and black hair which stuck out in braids around his head. He passed the two a bottle of wine and flashed them a grin.

"Hey, there. I'm Hasselberry" he said, waving his arm in their faces. "I work in the sweet shop in the next alley. Welcome to the neighbourhood, friends!"

"Hi, thanks for the wine" Jaden grinned. "I'm Jaden Yuki, and this is my cousin, Aster Phoenix."

"Pleased to meet you, Hasselberry" Aster said in a bored voice.

"You, too" Hasselberry said in a friendly way. Then his face fell. "Hey, it might be none of my business, but why are you boys just setting up shop now?"

"Huh?"

"Thought you'd have wanted to wait until all the trouble's over."

Okay, now the cousins were severely confused.

"What do you mean by that?" Aster questioned.

"Well, it's just … surely you know?" Hasselberry struggled.

"Know about what?" Jaden asked innocently.

"About … about the plague" Hasselberry whispered, shuddering when he said the last word, as if he feared the plague was right behind him. "The plague is taking hold of London, boys."

Aster rose one eyebrow and Jaden laughed openly. Hasselberry almost fell back in surprise at the reactions.

"Well, that explains the farmer on the cart" Aster muttered.

"It's only plague" Jaden said, still grinning like a fool. "It's not here is it? Like, right here?"

"Well, no. It's not in this neighbourhood. But in nearby neighbourhoods other houses have been shut up…"

"Shut up?"

"See, if somebody in a house gets the plague, they and their family get locked up in their house for forty days" Hasselberry said, his voice low and his face pained.

"So there! It's all shut up, so there's no need to worry!" Jaden laughed.

He was sixteen. He was happy.

He had all his life still in front of him.

There was no way he could die.

Please R&R