A/N: Here's the final chapter! Again, there will be a sequel, so this isn't technically the end. Oh, and there's a run-on sentence in here, but it's intentional. Enjoy! We don't own Yugioh GX.

The sun was just starting to rise when the gang finally made it back to town with Judai. Kathleen stopped on the edge of town, and the others followed her lead.

"And this is as far as I go, folks!" she said. "I so didn't tell my folks where I was!" She rubbed the back of her head, giggling.

"I doubt anyone did," Asuka said. "With Judai in trouble and all."

Akiko shrugged and said, "Meh, mine probably think I just went overboard scolding Jim again and lost track of time."

Haruko shook her head, smiling mischievously. "One of these days, they're gonna get the way wrong idea, Aki," she told her friend.

Disturbed, Kathleen said, "Okay... Well, bye! See ya at school! Glad you're okay, Judai! Later!" She ran back into the woods, not sure which was more disturbing—the idea that Akiko's parents would think she was doing that with a guy, or Haruko's suggestion that they would think she was doing it with Jim.

"We should get going, too," Johan told Judai. "My mom's gonna wonder what happened to you, though," he muttered. Silently, he added, This should be fun...

"I should get home, guys," Haruko said with a sigh. She ran off, calling back teasingly, "Take care, Judai! Don't get kidnapped by any more psychos, okay?"

"Yeah. I'm going to go home, too," Asuka said quietly. And try to pretend this whole thing never happened.

She lowered her head and started off.

"Tenjoin-kun..." Manjoume said sadly.

"Asuka," Judai said. "It's not your fault."

She stopped. "It's nice of you to say that, but—"

"No," he interrupted. "There's plenty of blame to go around, so don't blame yourself."

Sho took this the wrong way. "Yeah. I was supposed to be with you guys, so... Aniki! I'm the worst! Please forgive me!" He sped up as he went on, "I mean, assuming you can, since it's my fault she hurt you, and if I'd have gone along, you'd have been okay, and—"

"No, you'd be dead," Judai interrupted before Sho could get too into his tangent. "It's not your fault, either, Sho."

Sho blushed and asked, "You think so, too, huh?" Silently, he wondered, Am I really that wimpy?

If Judai knew what the little guy was thinking, he'd be kicking himself for what he'd said. Although, as it was, he was thinking that part of the blame was his. After all, he'd been the one to wander off all those years ago... Now he may never see his family again, and he couldn't exactly stay with Johan forever...

"Excuse me, but may I interrupt?" someone asked from behind them.

The group turned to see O'Brien standing there...with an older man, a man with brown hair and green eyes.

"Ah, there you are," Akiko said to O'Brien. Didn't answer because Haruko was calling, no doubt.

Judai stared at the man for a moment. "...Dad...?"

"Hello, son," the man said, fighting back the urge to charge his son and hold him tight.

"Dad!" Judai cried, running over.

"Judai!" Kenta caught his son and hugged him tight, tears forming in his eyes. "I can't believe it! I thought I'd lost you forever, and, yet, here you are! Your mother's going to have a heart attack when I tell her!"

"I'm sorry," Judai said, tightening his grip on his dad as tears ran down his cheeks. "I'm sorry I wandered off."

Johan sniffled, trying really hard not to cry. "Man. That's s-s-so s-sweet! I'm happy for you, pal."

Kenta pulled back, holding Judai at arms length and said, "Look at you, son. You're a mess. Where on earth have you been all this time?"

"It's a really long story," Judai said, not wanting to get into it right now. Heck, maybe he shouldn't ever get into it, especially if his mother was anything like he remembered. They'd both have heart attacks if they heard this one!

"So, in the end, Yubel learned her lesson, and Judai found his dad," Johan said, hands on his hips. "I'd say things turned out pretty good. Right, guys?"

"You forgot. I got a bunch of new friends!" Sho added.

Asuka glanced at Judai and said, "And I got to meet an interesting guy."

"And that means I just got myself a rival!" Manjoume said, flames burning in his eyes.

"And Johan got himself a girlfriend, who annoys the crap out of me," Akiko added teasingly.

Jim laughed.

"I guess you're right," Johan admitted. "Except for that last bit!" he snapped, pointing at Akiko, blushing, and talking way too fast to be convincing. "Kathleen's not my girlfriend!"

"Right," Jim said, nodding sarcastically. "We believe you, mate."

Kenta turned to the others, his hands on his son's shoulders. "I thank you all for looking out for my son. How can we ever repay you?"

"Don't mention it," O'Brien said. "Just doing my job."

Akiko smirked. Yeah, because he totally gets paid to find random, lost kids' parents. No, that's Jim and Karen, and even they usually do it for free. Besides, Judai didn't offer to pay. Heck, he didn't even ask O'Brien to find his dad! He just asked if we knew where he could find the guy. O'Brien's just that nice. And Kathleen thinks he's soulless... Yeah, right. Red-head's got a lot to learn about this group, if she's gonna hang with us.

"Yeah!" Johan said, putting a hand on the back of his head and smiling widely. "No biggie! Just helping out a guy in need!"

"Well, at any rate, thank you," Kenta told them. He turned back to Judai and said, "Well, let's go, son. Let's get you cleaned up and go see your mother." Silently, he added, There's no way I'm letting Hikari see him like this. Who knows what she'll do?

Judai nodded, then turned to his friends and said, "Thanks, guys."

"Don't mention it, pal!" Johan said. "See ya around!"

A light bulb went on in Sho's head, and he realized that Judai would be going somewhere that wasn't Johan's apartment, meaning he wouldn't have a clue where his friend was!

"Wait!" he exclaimed. "Can I get an address or something!? Where do you live, sir!?"

Kenta laughed at Sho's reaction. "Why don't you come with us, kid?" he offered.

"Is that really okay?" Sho asked. "I don't want to intrude..."

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Judai said, smiling. "Come on, Sho!"

Sho returned his smile. "Okay, Aniki! I'm coming!" he said, rushing over to stand beside Judai and his dad.

Kenta looked at Judai and grinned. "Aniki?" he asked.

"Apparently not selling him out to a creep who wants his money earned me that title," Judai said, grinning back at his father.

"Well, at any rate, let's get going, boys!" Kenta said to the two. "We have a long drive ahead of us, and I'm sure you're going to want to get home before school starts, right, kid?" He looked at Sho.

"Uh, right!" Sho said. Almost forgot I have school today...

They said their goodbyes and left.

"Speaking of school," Asuka said, "don't we have a huge science test today?"

Johan's eyes widened. "Crap!" he panicked. "We did! I gotta get home and finish studying see ya, guys!"

As he ran off, Akiko stared after him lamely.

"Funny," she said. "I'd be more worried about the fact that we were just up all night, running around a labyrinth, trying to save our friend. But, hey, needing to study's a good one, too."

O'Brien sweat, watching Johan run off. "And, as usual, he's going the wrong way."

It never failed—when Johan was in a hurry, he got lost. Jim ran after him, not really wanting to get called out of school by the principal later to go look for him when his parents called to see if he was at school.

"Heh." Asuka smiled. "You guy's sure are fun to be with."

"Yeah," Manjoume countered. "If you like hanging out with idiots all the time."

"Well, I clearly do," Akiko said. "I mean, they're my idiots..." She made a list in her mind, Haruko, Johan, and now Judai and Kathleen. How many idiot friends does one girl need?

The remaining members of the gang stared after Jim and Johan as they ran off into the city.