Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Dueling Love ❯ New Meaning ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. If you have a problem when then go take a long walk off a very short peer!!! (I love that saying!)

Anyway…

Dueling Love

New Meaning

Annaara was just finishing her homework when the door bell rang. She quickly shut her math book and hurried out to the entry area where her mother was greeting Yugi.

"Welcome, you must be Yugi Mutou?" she said as she gestured for him to come in.

"Yes," he answered, and then he saw Annaara. "Hey Annaara!"

"Hey Yugi," she said, turning to her mother. "Mother this is Yugi, Yugi this is my mother, Antra."

"Nice to meet you," Antra said. "Well, I better get back to the kitchen. Your father should be home soon, Annarra." She then walked off to the kitchen.

"So what's up?" Annaara asked.

"Nothing much."

"Wanna a tour of the house?" Annaara offered.

"Sure." The two toured around the house while Antra was finishing dinner. They stopped at Annaara's room.

"Wow, you seem to like pottery or something close to it," he commented.

"Yeah," Annaara agreed. "My mother does pottery with techniques that may date back to B.C. times. She made all these vases and pots for me. I used to do some painting but I gave it up."

"You paint any of these?"

"Just the two over there on either side of the window," she answered. They went over to examine the vases. They were both the same size and design but the paintings were different on each one. One the vase left of the window, the goddess, Bast, was painted with many hieroglyphics and flowers painted around it. The other one right of the window was an elaborate portrait of Ra, the sun god.

"You are pretty good at painting," Yugi admired. "I wonder why you stopped painting."

"I just had too many things to do and there wasn't in enjoyment or meaning in it. Back then life didn't seem to have any meaning in it. It was like we were alive just to be slaved around or something like that. We don't have the rights you do."

"That's sounds terrible," Yugi said. "Maybe you can find a new meaning or inspiration one day." Something in his voice made Annaara consider what he had just said. What new meaning could I possibly find here that I didn't find back in Egypt? Annaara thought. Maybe there is something here I can do or be a part of that I didn't have a chance to do back home. Annarra snapped out of her thoughts as she heard the front door open and close

"Sounds like Father is home," Annaara said and she started out of the room. "Coming?" she called over her shoulder. Yugi followed her out of the room. Annaara's father had brown hair, brown eyes, a mustache, and a short beard.

"Annaara, my sweet daughter, how are you?" he asked in a very cheerful voice. He embraced his daughter, who blushed a little from the slight embarrassment. In Egypt, he never was never really perky and never really hugged Annarra.

"Uh, Father, this is my friend, Yugi," she introduced, "and Yugi, this is my father, Sarba." The two shook hands and said their 'hello's' and 'nice to meet you's'. Then Antra peeked her head around the corner of the hall.

"You're just in time," she said. "Dinner is ready."

"Great!" said Sarba. Everyone washed up and sat down at the dinner table. The first few minutes of dinner was quiet until Sarba decided to start some conversation.

"So how did you two meet?" he asked then added quickly, "Not to be nosy or anything." The two friends chuckled.

"We were assigned as partners on a project at school," Annaara answered. "And then I was invited to hang around with them. So I guess we kind of became friends quickly."

"Speaking for myself," Antra put in, "I think I like your newer personality after you met Yugi and the others rather than before."

"What's this project about?" Mr. Neferti asked.

"It's a project on Egypt. We're supposed to make a 3D model and give an oral presentation to the class. Mr. Wagashi usually starts new units with projects. According to him, he says that he likes to get us to do some research before he details what we find," Yugi explained.

"How far are you now?" Mrs. Neferti asked.

"We just about finished with our oral presentation," supplied Annaara. "We are working on our 3D model after dinner." Both of her parents nodded. Sarba smirked and said in a devious tone, "If you get any lower than an 'A' on this, consider yourself grounded!"

"Hey!" Annaara protested. "How on-"

"I was kidding, honey," laughed her father. Her mother and Yugi then started laughing and Annaara took the chance to glare at her father while her mother wasn't paying attention. When they gathered themselves, she abandoned her death glare.

"That was mean," she said flatly.

"I thought that was funny," her father said. "Your shocked face was priceless. Anyway, are you into Egypt, Yugi?"

"Yeah, Grandpa was in Egypt some years ago at a dig or something like that. He did bring back an artifact. It was some puzzle and he gave it to me to solve," Yugi told.

"Did you ever solve it?" Antra asked curiously. Yugi nodded. "Yeah, just last year before I started high school." (A/N: You won't find me putting these in more than once or twice. Anyway I have it so that Yugi is now a 10th grader along with Annaara and his friends. And I love playing with characters so I consider Yugi a few inches taller than he was. OK, use you imagination!) He held up his Millennium Puzzle.

"That was the puzzle your grandfather gave you?" Sarba asked. Yugi nodded his head. Sarba stood up. "Well, I have some things to be doing. It was a pleasure meeting you, Yugi. I hope we meet again."

"Me too," said Yugi and Sarba walked off. When they finished, Annaara helped her mother with the table while Yugi worked on the model. When she joined him, they started to build their model and chatted. A few hours later, they nearly finished their project. It was turning out pretty nice. When Yugi left, Annaara decided to call it a night.

The next day at school, Annaara did wear that strange pendent, all for her dear mother. It wasn't heavy but rather very light. When she first put it in, she could've sworn that she felt a chill flow through the room, even though the vents and windows were closed. Shrugging it off, she hurried off to school and caught up with Yugi. Unlike most days, this day seemed to past very slowly. What's worst, Tea is out of town for a visit to her Grandma's, Bakura went to Egypt with his parents, and Tristan ended up sick. That only left Joey, Yugi, and herself. At her last class, Annaara just sat there waiting for the bell to ring. When it did, she went straight to her locker and met up with Yugi outside the school. As she was just getting there, she saw Joey taking off. Walked to Yugi, she asked, "What was that about?" Yugi turned to her.

"Oh, Joey just had to visit his little sister, Serenity," Yugi said. "She had an eye appointment. Last year she had eye surgery so she gets regular check ups."

"Poor girl," Annaara said sympathetically. 

"So where did you get the pendent?" Yugi asked suddenly. Annaara snapped out of her daze. "Huh?"

"Where did you get your pendent?"

"Oh, it was a gift from my Uncle Sabashi," she replied quickly. "I have no idea why he sent me something like that. I don't even know why he is sending me stuff at all. He hates me. All because I was slow in learning our daily customs like bow your head when confronting a man; never look someone directly in the eye unless told too, ect, ect…"

"That is strange. Though I can't believe he hates you just for being slow in learning," he commented.

"You can say that he has no patience," Annaara said dryly.

"Your pendent has the same symbol as my Millennium Puzzle," he observed.

"Yeah, I know. I never did ask but what happened to your parents?" she asked looking at Yugi. A sad expression crossed his face. He unlocked the door to his Grandpa's shop and walked in. "Grandpa's out for the night," he said simply. They walked up to his room in silence.

"They left me," Yugi said.

"What do you mean by that, Yugi?" Annaara asked softly.

"They left me with Grandpa when I was probably about four. I guess they just didn't want me or they couldn't raise me. No one knows," he replied sadly.

"I'm sorry, Yugi."

"Don't be. It couldn't be helped, and besides, I like living with Grandpa."

"We never have problems like that back home. It's either you raise the child until it's an adult or you abandon it. It is rare that a child is given to another to be cared for. The abandoned ones don't last for long. I knew one and he got killed only days after being abandoned."

"That's awful," Yugi said. "Did you have any friends back home?"

"No, you guys are my first friends," Annaara said dejectedly. "The closest person I knew was Karia and we hardly saw each other."

"Why could you not have any friends? You are someone many would want to be friends with."

"Thanks, but back home girls my age weren't encouraged to make friends. They say that the bonds could make us weak and all that nonsense." Annaara sighed and looked out the window. "Trust me; it is not fun to be lonely."

"I trust you," Yugi said gently, taking her hand. "Joey and Tristan used to pick on me when we first met. That wasn't any fun either."

"Hard to believe you were teased by your best friends," Annaara commented sullenly. "Everyone seems fond of you to some point. Whereas I was hopeless, trying to survive my town's expectations. No one cared one iota about me. Even my parents couldn't do anything for me. I am just a doll to be toyed with. Everyone messes with my life. It's…un-" Annaara trailed off as she started to cry. Yugi held her close, trying his best to comfort her. "It's alright. I care about you."

"I bet your saying that just to make me feel better," she whispered coarsely.

"No, I'm not, Annaara," Yugi stated firmly. "I really care about you. All your friends do." She gave him a small smile and then hugged him.

"Thanks, Yugi," she said.

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Hey, I really don't know what really happened to Yugi's parents. I don't think anyone knows. I believe this is as long as my chapters may get. Like I said, don't ask about the names I create. I think these up within seconds so…

Sarba- s-ar-bah

Sabashi- s-ah-bah-she

Antra- ann-tra

Annarra- uhn-nar-ah

Wagashi- wha-ga-she

Neferti- ne-fur-tee

Karia- cah-ree-ah