Olivia: Happy Candependence Day!

Desirae: Are you on something? Chocolate maybe?

Olivia: Well, since I missed the holiday of my home and native land and most of the holiday of my neighbours, I figured I'd combine both.

Desirae: It's chocolate, isn't it.

Olivia: ... maybe.

Desirae: I knew it. But why "can dependence" day? We're honouring cans now?

Olivia: No, it's a combination of-

Desirae: *places hand over stomach* I pledge dependence to the can, the shelf on which it stands, one tin for food, deliciousness, with preservatives and nutrition for all.

Olivia: ... you are so weird.

Desirae: Says the girl who came up with "can dependence" day.

Olivia: Touche. Okay thanks to DarkHeartInThe Sky, Sairey13, HAVOCSTRIKE2395, and Luna Vampire Princess for reviewing, and sorry for such a huge delay.

Desirae: And thanks for putting up with her weirdness.

Olivia: Hey!

Desirae: Enjoy!

To get to Florida, we first needed a means to get there. We decided to try to contact Kaiba, the only one we knew with the power to send us anywhere in the world with his will.

After setting everything up, all of us gathered around the web cam, Joey leaning in close so he was no more than an inch away from the lens. Kaiba took the call, much to the surprise of the others. I still wasn't feeling much of anything at that moment. Even if I did feel something more than hollowness, I still wouldn't have been too surprised. Despite everything Kaiba might have said or done to prove the contrary, we were his friends. Joey started talking to the Kaiba's before Mokuba interrupted him.

"Joey, leave the cam alone." Joey laughed then leaned back, apologizing. The image of Kaiba on the screen rolled his eyes.

"What do you want, Wheeler?" We explained our situation to Kaiba, hoping he would be sympathetic for once, or at least want to know about Doma enough to be generous. It seemed as though we had him at least interested until Joey brought up Aibou's—no, I didn't deserve to have him as a partner anymore, so that name no longer felt right—until Joey brought up Yugi's name.

I remained as stoic as possible, trying to ignore the stabbing pain of guilt in my heart at hearing his name, and turned my head. I think it was this action that confirmed what Kaiba suspected Joey had meant. I had lost.

That's when the shouting started. I hadn't expected him to be this angry with me, though I guess I should have known. He had been trying to beat me ever since we first met, and for someone else to do so was like a slap in the face to him. He said as much to me in his rant, in his own conceited and condescending manner. I spoke his name quietly, both out of shock and to get him to calm down.

For Kaiba to be this emotional only stood to make me feel lower than I had before, if that was possible. He may not have cared much that I lost my best friend, but he did care enough about my loss to become verbally violent, even calling me a stray dog before hanging up. We would need to find some other way to Florida.

-YGO-

Silence. Deafening silence. I never knew before that such a thing was possible. I had always assumed it was some kind of metaphor. But the absolute soundlessness that pressed on my ears was definitely not metaphorical. That quiet only worked to amplify the feeling of loneliness that grew steadily within me.

I could handle it though. It wasn't anything I hadn't felt before. Actually prior to solving the puzzle, I didn't have any friends. It was pretty pathetic, I was pretty pathetic. To be surrounded by people and feel completely alone is the worst feeling imaginable. Granted, at that time the people I was surrounded by were, well, conscious, but the feeling is still the same. Completely, utterly alone.

Memories of a past I chose to forget welled up without warning. Sitting alone during lunch while everyone else talked happily. Getting pushed around because people didn't notice me or they took too much notice. Lying awake at night because I was too afraid to sleep, knowing what and who was waiting for me the next day. Those were the worst days of my life… and reliving them was just as horrible.

I was wrong. I couldn't handle it. The overwhelming sense of isolation was too much. It brought back too many familiar emotions I had thought I had gotten past.

All I could do was sit there and drown.

-YGO-

I took a deep breath. I knew Tea meant well, but her trying to cheer me up wasn't helping my mood. All it did was make me more depressed. I excused myself and left the train car. I needed to be alone.

Alone. That word was all too true for me. I was alone without my part—without Yugi. All I could do was see it over and over in my head like a video. I kept seeing him disappear, me helpless to stop it. No, not helpless. I could have pushed him back out of the way, like he had done with me. But I hadn't done anything. I just stood there and watched. If I had only listened to him and not played the seal, he'd still be here with me. We would have lost, but we would still be together.

With that thought, I instantly felt incapable of anything. How could I possibly hope to be of any help to anyone, to him, if I couldn't even save him when I had the opportunity? How could I hope to live up to my position as a chosen duelist if I couldn't do the right thing? If I couldn't win duels? By disregarding Yugi's words, by going against his warning I had failed.

Oh Ra, I was not cut out for the task. I was nothing without him. There was no way I could fight Doma. If I couldn't fight, I couldn't win. If I couldn't win, I couldn't free those trapped from Doma. If I couldn't save them, then…

The image of him disappearing made its thousandth appearance before my eyes and I felt all hope abandon me, as I had abandoned him. Dispirited tears cascaded down my cheeks and I punched the wall. Sharp pain erupted in my hand from the abrupt contact.

At that moment, my vow to protect his body felt silly. There was no point. Was he here to feel his heart beat? Would he feel it if I broke this skin and shed this blood? Would he ever again smile that once eternal, wonderful smile I, and everyone, took for granted? No, no, and no. He would never know any of these again, nor would he ever know of anything else connected to this life. Because I—because I—

I sank to the ground as the truth, the horrible, detestable truth, I had hoped to forever deny escaped my lips.

"I've lost him forever."

It was a while before I did anything other than sit there. The only reason I got up at all was because I couldn't stand feeling so alone anymore. This feeling of isolation was unbearable. Of course I had our friends, and they were trying to help, but none of them were him. They could never hope to replace him.

I started wandering aimlessly around the train until Tea, Joey, and Tristan found me. They told me that all the people on the train had vanished and they suspected Doma. My grief turned to anger at the mention of that wretched group, and something within me snapped back into place. I sprang into action. We had to get to the conductor. This train needed to be stopped. If Doma was behind this, it could only mean trouble for us and a runaway train would only add to our problems.

I ran down the aisle with the others behind me, and tore open the door at the back. The air was cooler as the wind currents blew in through the space between the two cars. I crossed the coupling and was about to open the door, when I felt a jolt from behind and heard a metallic wrenching sound. I looked back to see the rest of the train and the others falling behind. The coupling had snapped.

Desirae: Why do you keep including Yugi's POV? I thought we agreed it was stupid.

Olivia: No, you said it was stupid. I like it.

Desirae: Whatever.

Olivia: You're too critical of me!

Desirae: What a coincidence, you're so annoying to me. I want a popsicle, you want one too?

Olivia: Oh, um... sure.

Desirae: Great, they're in the freezer. Make sure to get me cherry.

Olivia: You suck.

Desirae: Yea, yea I know, now make with the popsicle gettin'.

Olivia: Ugh, please review!

Desirae: Popsicle!