Queer As Tachi – Chapter 13

                It snowed in January.  Not that it never snowed in Domino City, or that such events were particularly memorable, but Yugi would always know that it had snowed that day in that month because Yami was there, and his reaction to the falling snow was priceless.  It had been a while since he had experienced something so drastically first-time that it left him speechless, as wide-eyed as a child in wonder, and Yugi stood aside giggling to watch him.  They were out with Joey in the late afternoon, as neither had a class and could freely get away for some fun, when coming out of a store they noticed that the overcast sky had finally opened up and light flakes were steadily cascading down.  Yami watched them in amazement until the three boys had walked as far as the park, where they could step aside through the gate and let the pharaoh get his fill.  Yugi and Joey stood nearby with their hands tucked in the pockets of their coats, grinning as they watched Yami with face upturned, blinking at the snowflakes alighting on his eyelashes.  Some schoolgirls giggled at him as they walked past, to which Joey just shrugged and explained, “He doesn’t get out much.”

                Yugi reached out and took Yami’s hand, pulling him closer so he wouldn’t be in the way if anyone else needed to pass them on the sidewalk.   “Even if he could remember his past, this would be a big first,” he pointed out to Joey.  “I really doubt it snows in Egypt.”

                “Too bad it’s not a big snowstorm,” Joey sighed.   “I’d like to see them cancel classes.”

                “It never snows that much here,” Yugi complained.  “Did you get Téa’s email, about the big blizzard that shut down the whole city of New York?  Now that’s a lot of snow!”

                “No kidding.  Did you see the pictures she took?”

                “That snowbank outside her school was taller than her!”

                Yami only half heard their conversation as he watched the white flakes drifting down at him from the gray sky, like falling stars in extremely slow motion.  “How much will it snow here?” he wondered.

                “Probably just a dusting,” Yugi answered.  “It’ll cover the grass, but that’s about it.  The biggest storms we get, you can actually make snowballs, but I don’t think we’ll get that much today.”

                “Snowball fight,” Joey snickered.  “That would be fun.”

                Yami finally stopped gazing at the snow and turned his head toward their companion with a faint smile.  “I think I remember you doing that to Yugi, when you were still in school.”

                “Oh yeah!”  Joey punched his best friend in the shoulder.  “That was last year, when we had that big snow!  I got you so good.”

                “Because you snuck up behind me,” Yugi pouted.  “And you’re bigger than me.”

                “Yug,” Joey said in exasperation, “everybody’s bigger than you.”

                Yugi grumbled under his breath.  “Come on,” he demanded, tugging at Yami’s hand.  “We’d better not keep Tristan waiting.”

                They decided to take a shortcut through the park, since winter days like this left it quiet and mostly deserted, to go and meet Tristan at a shopping mall so they could all go out for food eventually.  It gave Yami more opportunities to gaze in wonder at the falling snow, noticing it collecting in undisturbed hollows like the folds of Yugi’s coat collar or the crooks of the bare trees in the park.  “Man, poor Tristan,” Joey was saying as they walked.  “I can’t believe he got stood up.”

                “I know,” Yugi said sympathetically.  “After all this time, he finally meets a girl who wants to go out with him, and she stands him up.  He’s got to be feeling pretty low.”

                “All the more reason for us to cheer him up,” Joey decided.   “Guys’ night out.  Though, maybe you two should keep the cute to a minimum,” he warned.  “Don’t want to rub it in or nothing.”

                “We’ll be good,” Yugi promised with a giggle, though he only ramped up his connection to Yami by threading their fingers together for a more pleasing hand-holding moment.  “He didn’t get a phone call or anything?”

                “Nothing,” Joey affirmed.  “She just never showed.”

                “Well, maybe she has a good reason…”

                “Yug, it’s been almost a week.  He tried calling her twice and just got her voice mail.”

                “Oh…yeah, that’s a bad sign.”

                “Oh well.  I told him he could do better.”  Joey shrugged.   “He was just kind of hoping that he wouldn’t have to spend another Valentine’s Day alone, and I can’t say as I blame him.”

                “Well, there’s still over a month,” Yugi reasoned.

                “Valentine’s Day?” Yami questioned, his mind seizing on the word for its familiarity.  He knew someone with that surname.  “What is the significance of it?”

                Yugi grinned cutely up at him.  “It’s a romantic holiday.”

                “Oh boy.”  Joey shot Yami a wary look over Yugi’s head.  “Are you in for it, pal.”

                “What?”  Yami frowned curiously.

                “You know, come to think of it…” Yugi glanced aside at Joey.  “How in the world do people like me and Yami celebrate Valentine’s Day?”  He left Joey a moment to ponder an answer while he explained to his partner, “It’s a holiday for lovers, sort of.  The traditional thing is, on Valentine’s Day, girls give presents to boys, either platonic friendship gifts or romantic gifts to let the boys know they like them.   And then, one month later is White Day, when the boys get to give presents back for the same reasons.”  He returned his attention to Joey.  “But what do two boys do?  Do we wait until White Day, or what?”

                “Bah, it’s just a stupid tradition,” Joey snorted.   “If you want to do cute things for each other on Valentine’s Day, go for it.  That’s when all the cutesy pink and red crap is in the stores, anyway.  Not everyone thinks of White Day as a romantic holiday, they all zero in on Valentine’s Day.”

                “You sound rather cynical about it,” Yami noticed.

                Joey made a face at the ground as they walked, nearly at the end of the park and needing to consider which direction to go now.  “You would too if you never had a reason to care about it.”

                “Aw, it’s okay Joey,” Yugi assured him with a pat on the back.  “Remember, I never had a reason either.”

                “You do now.”  Joey smiled aside at him.  “And don’t pretend you don’t for my sake.  This is your chance, finally.  You two should do something nice together.”

                “The full moon’s going to happen at least a week before Valentine’s Day, though,” Yugi noted.  “And a week after your birthday.”

                Yami perked up.  “Your birthday is coming up, Joey?”

                “Yep.”  Joey lifted his head and grinned.  “Three weeks.”

                “Perhaps we should all do something together, then,” the pharaoh said considerately.  “I would like to celebrate with you, even if I am a week late.”

                “Eh, no worries.”  Joey gestured for the pair to follow him as he turned left onto the sidewalk and followed the street.  “It’s still a month away.  You got time to decide what you want to do.”  He tossed a hand flippantly.  “I still say you should go do the date thing, since you two are together, but do what you want.  It’s all good.”

                “Maybe we can do both,” Yugi suggested.  “It’s not like I’m not going to skip class again that day.   We’ll have lots of time.”

                Another semester had begun for the two friends at university, as both had passed their exams and were able to continue on with their studies.  Yugi discovered after the first few weeks that he didn’t enjoy these classes any more than the last round, and in particular, his distaste for a rather dull history course that he needed for an archaeology major didn’t bode well.   Despite his best intentions, he wasn’t sure he could make something of himself for Yami’s sake if he couldn’t even stand to be in a history class.  He found himself once again simply passing the month day by day, week by week, looking ahead to the full moon instead of concentrating on the present.  He and his lover made no particular plans for the next visit as of yet, considering carefully how to balance celebrating with Joey against a pre-Valentine’s date, but Joey insisted he didn’t need a second party.  They rounded up any other old friends they could find – which was basically only Duke Devlin, and Tristan of course – to go out and have a blast on Joey’s birthday as only four young men could.  That way, Yami could be forgiven if his boyfriend decided during his next visit to drag him off on a private date instead.  Unfortunately, Téa had not been able to come home over the holidays, as she had sent all her friends email to tell them she had to audition for a show that would begin rehearsals immediately at the start of January, but she did mail Joey a card.  It got to him three days after his birthday, but it still made him smile.

                As much as they tried to keep their schedules roughly even, there were times when Joey and Yugi were not on campus together, as one or the other had a class independently, meaning that more often now, each had to find his own way to school without the pleasant company of a best buddy.  A few days before the full moon, Joey ended up walking home alone late after his literature class, since Yugi was already back home doing his homework so he could help his grandfather man the game store.  They usually had an odd upswing in female patrons about this time of the year, as girls came in looking for small game-related gifts for boys in their classes, so the extra help was a good thing.   Joey, alas, was stuck with his class and the subsequent reading assignments, necessitating extra trips to the bookstore.  On this particular blustery day, with a bitter wind ruffling his blond hair, Joey was on his way home at last after picking up another novel the professor neglected to tell them he wanted them to have when the course started.  The wind nipped at his nose and ears, making him huddle down into the collar of his coat and wish it would go away and bother some other unfortunate soul who didn’t own a scarf.  He heard the horn of a car behind him and glanced over his shoulder, naturally curious even though it was very unlikely they were honking at him.  After all, he wasn’t even at the stoplight waiting to cross the street yet.  A compact car signaled and pulled over to the curb, making Joey do a double-take as he realized the window was coming down.  He paused, wondering if he was about to be either kidnapped or asked for directions.  To his utter surprise, the face peering across the passenger seat at him made his heart skip a beat.  “Hey,” a sultry voice called out to him.  “You look cold.  Want a ride?”

                Joey stood frozen to the spot in shock.  “Mai?” he said incredulously.

                “Well, don’t just stand there, dimwit,” she demanded, smirking at his reaction.  “Do you want to get in out of the cold or not?”

                Joey blinked himself alert and hurriedly pulled the door open, sliding gratefully into a warm and happily wind-free interior.  Mai Valentine gave him a few seconds’ worth of a dazzling smile before putting the car in gear and pulling away.  For a few moments, neither said anything, until Joey mustered his proper manners.  “Thanks,” he said.  “It’s ass cold out there.”

                “Well, what are you doing walking out there anyway?” Mai chided him.  “Doesn’t the bus go past your place?”

                Joey was surprised she remembered that small detail.  “Yeah, but my stupid professor made us all go out and buy another book for class,” he grumbled.  “I had to go to the bookstore first, and the only way back home from there is to walk.”

                “You’re lucky I ran into you, then,” Mai purred.

                “What are you doing here?” Joey had to know.

                “Looking for you, actually.”  Mai picked up the cell phone resting beside her elbow in the cup holder and waved it.  “You don’t have your phone on you, do you?  I tried to call you, but I didn’t get an answer, so I swung past your place first.  When I saw you weren’t home, I decided to see if I could meet you halfway.”

                Joey shook his head.  “No, I forgot my phone at home today.  But…”  He glanced aside at her, confused.  “How?  It’s been ages since we saw each other last, how did you know I was going to school and stuff?”

                “You told me,” Mai replied dryly.  “Remember?  You said if you made it through high school, you were going to university here.  I’m not dumb, I can put two and two together.”

                Joey sat back and relaxed, now that he was growing pleasantly warm, and not just from being in the car.  His heart was doing crazy things in his chest, but he sat quietly and took a few deep breaths to calm it.  He wanted to ask so many things, say so many things, but he had to play it cool and approach it delicately.  Mai liked springing surprises on him, because she liked disarming him, so he knew to just accept it as her quirk for showing up like this out of nowhere.  “Hey,” he said, then, “make a right here.  I’ll take you the back way, it’s quicker.”

                “As you wish.”  Mai zoomed into the other lane and made the turn, forcing her passenger to grip the arm rest in terror.  “So,” she said casually.  “You are going to school after all.  I have to say, I’m proud of you, Joey.  You made it.”

                “Yeah,” Joey admitted, taking another deep breath.  “It wasn’t easy.  Yugi and I both made it, somehow.”

                “Oh yeah?”  Mai smiled to herself.  “How’s he doing?  I won’t forget that crazy day we all spent together, when the pharaoh was out of the Puzzle.  I never thought I’d see anything like it.”

                “Actually,” Joey said brightly, “you’ll never guess.  Turns out that wasn’t the only chance he had after all, he and Yugi found out they can do the ritual every month, on the full moon.”

                Mai’s eyes widened.  “Really?”

                “They’ve been doing it ever since – since last summer,” Joey reported.  “In fact, he’s gonna be out again in a couple days.”

                “That’s amazing,” Mai sighed, paying enough attention to Joey’s directions to make another turn just then.  “It really works?”

                “It really works,” Joey confirmed.  “They’re doing fine.  Yugi’s head over heels in love, you should see them together.  It’s like Yami’s one of us, he doesn’t seem like just a spirit anymore.  And everybody knows,” he assured.  “It’s not like he can hide his relationship from anybody even if he wanted to.  Left at the light, and you’ll be able to turn into the parking lot behind my building.”

                “Gotcha,” Mai affirmed.  “Wow, that’s great.  Good for him!  You know, maybe we should hang out with him, as long as the pharaoh’s going to be out of the Puzzle again in a few days.  I’d like to see him again.”

                “I’ll have to find out what they’re up to,” Joey said, watching as Mai turned into the parking lot and found a space to pull into.  “They were talking about going out on a date, but they also said they might want to hang out with me, since Yami couldn’t be in his own body for my birthday party.”

                Mai shut off the car and turned to smile at him.  “I missed your birthday, then?”

                “Yeah.  A week ago.”

                “So now you’re…?”

                “Nineteen.”

                The smile took on a shade of sentiment.  “Growing up so fast.”

                “Yeah, I’m a big kid now.”  Joey unsnapped the seat belt but didn’t move, not wanting to end the conversation even though they had arrived to drop him off.  “So…where’ve you been?” he asked quietly.

                “Around,” Mai answered, lowering her gaze to her hand on the wheel.   “Having some fun, kicking some butt.   You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to make money from gamblers dueling.  Even in this enlightened age, a lot of them still don’t think a girl could possibly be a master of Duel Monsters.”

                “Hope you set ‘em straight,” Joey remarked with a smirk.

                “Sure did.”  Mai still wouldn’t look at him, and her voice was soft and solemn.  “At least I can duel again.  I was kind of worried, there.”

                Joey glanced at her.  “Huh?”

                With her eyes still downcast, Mai barely smiled.  “You remember, after I saw you last spring, I said something about getting my head on straight?  It’s taken a long time.  That day out, with the pharaoh, that was the first time I’d even sat and watched a duel since…”

                She trailed off, but Joey knew what she meant.  “Since Dartz,” he said bluntly.

                Mai nodded.  “It was kind of my test.  I passed, having fun with you guys was a huge step for me.  After that, I thought I’d go out and prove myself all over again, work my way back into my ‘A’ game the hard way.  I finally feel like I’m back on top, it feels good.”  She finally turned her head to regard him, her eyes clear and kind like they used to be back when they used to flirt with each other under the pretense of dueling trash talk.  “And the first thing I wanted to do when I got my head back on straight was come and see you.”

                “So, here you are,” Joey said heavily.  “Does that mean…your head’s on straight?”

                A smile curved her lips.  “As normal as I ever was.”

                His instinct wanted so badly to make a joke out of that, but Joey let it slide.  Instead, he smiled back.  “I’m glad to hear it, Mai.”

                Mai smiled shyly in return and glanced away, through the windshield to the building they sat beside.  “Well, you’re home.  You’ve got schoolwork, I would imagine.”

                “Don’t remind me.”  Joey also glanced at the building, loathing having to go inside and sit down with his new book.  “Say…you got a place to stay?”

                Mai sighed softly.  “I’ll get a hotel.”

                “You sure?  ‘Cause…I’ve got a second bedroom, you know,” Joey offered.  “It’s clean, I promise.”

                Mai chuckled.  The sound made Joey tremble, he always used to consider Mai’s laughter like music.   “I believe you.  But…I think it’s better off if I just get a hotel room.   It’s okay, I can afford it.”  Her voice softened again.  “Thanks, though.  I appreciate the offer.”

                Joey nodded his understanding.  “How long are you gonna stay, this time?” he wondered, steeling himself inwardly for a less than positive answer.  When there was no tournament to occupy her attention, she never stayed in Domino more than a few days.

                “I don’t know.  A while.  Maybe…”   Mai lowered her gaze again, now that she was fiddling with her cell phone out of nervousness.  “…longer than you think.  I kind of like this little city.”

                Joey couldn’t help the thrill that welled up in his heart, though he breathed deeply to keep it from spilling out of him in the form of some stupid comment.  “That’d be nice,” he forced himself to say, though it still sounded stupid to him.  “Maybe you’re right.  Maybe we should do something with Yugi and Yami in a couple days.”

                “That would be fun.”  Mai glanced at him again.  “What are you doing tonight?”

                Joey groaned, mentally cursing his scholastic misfortunes.   “I gotta read a book,” he grumbled.   “A whole book.”

                “Yuck, that’s no fun…”

                “Believe me, I’d much rather go do something with friends,” Joey quickly added.  “I’m not trying to blow you off or nothing, it would be great to go out and get some food.   But if I don’t read this stupid book, I’m screwed.  I need this class, it’s for my major.”

                “It’s okay, Joey, I understand,” Mai said honestly.  “School comes first, I’m behind you all the way.  We’ve got time.  We’ll do something later.”

                “Call me,” Joey implored, “tomorrow night.  I’ll know by then what Yugi and Yami are planning, and if they don’t want a pair of third wheels, we’ll go do something else.  All right?”

                “Works for me.”  Mai put the key back in the ignition as if to go.  “A double date, huh?  I bet you can talk Yugi into it.  I’ll call you to find out the plans.”

                Joey glanced sharply at her, a blush rising in his cheeks.   He had never said the words “double date,” though some part of him had been thinking about it.  “Yeah, okay,” he stammered.  “Thanks for the ride.”

                “Anytime.”  Mai smiled brightly at him.  Joey smiled sheepishly back and got out of the car, standing there a moment longer to wave as she pulled out of the parking space and drove away.  The wind ruffled his hair again and bit through his coat, making him hurry to go around to the door and get inside, but the entire way up to his flat, the words “double date” continued to echo in his mind like the striking of a bell.

                “That’s a great idea!” Yugi enthused, after getting over his surprise at Joey’s announcement that Mai was back.  They had a short break between classes and had met in the university commons for a snack and a chat.  “The four of us can go out together, it’ll be fun!”

                Joey grinned at his best friend’s excitement.  “You sure that’s okay with Yami?  You two didn’t have nothing private planned, did you?”

                “Not really…”  Yugi looked away, gazing distantly at a random spot on the far wall.  Joey recognized it as a sign that some brief internal, mental discussion was taking place.  After a minute, Yugi smiled at him again.  “Nope, Yami’s okay with it, too.  We’ll have plenty of time earlier in the day to spend by ourselves, we can make time to go out with you and Mai.”  He beamed cutely.   “It’ll be a double-date!  That’ll be cool!”

                Joey clapped a hand to his forehead.  “There’s that ‘double date’ thing again!  Why do people keep saying that?  I never said it was a date!”

                “But you want it to be, don’t you?”

                Joey looked at Yugi again, finding him gazing back with a sincere, friendly smile of encouragement.  “Well?” Yugi prodded.

                His friend sighed in exasperation.  “Okay, maybe I do,” he grumbled.  “But you know what she’s like.  Miss high-strung, independent woman there.  I never know what she wants, I’m always left completely in the dark while she goes off and does her thing.”

                Yugi’s hand slid comfortingly over Joey’s and squeezed it lightly.  “She’s here now, isn’t she?” he said quietly.  “And you said she sounded like she was thinking of sticking around this time.  That’s a good sign.”

                “Yeah, but you never know,” Joey said morosely.  “Something can come up all of a sudden and scare her off again, and I’m back where I started.”

                “I think you’re over-thinking it.”  Yugi let go of his hand and sat back, taking a sip of his soda.   “You always do your best when you’re just being yourself, Joey.  You don’t have to try so hard.  Just be natural, have fun, and she’ll come to you when she’s ready.”

                Though Joey sat with his chin on his fist, fiddling with the empty straw wrapper crumpled on the table in front of him, Yugi’s advice was sinking quickly in and cheering him up a bit.  “It’s like chasing butterflies,” he muttered.

                Yugi giggled.  “That’s a pretty good analogy.”

                “All right.”  Joey glanced aside at him.  “So what should we do?”

                Yugi set down his soda.  “Actually, I had a great idea about that.  When Yami and I were trying to decide if we wanted to go out on a date, I was looking around and found something in the paper.  There’s an indoor carnival of sorts this week, down by the waterfront in some of those old warehouses.  Not really any big rides, but games and stuff.  We can go down to the ocean, there’s this awesome restaurant Yami and I went to on our first date, and then we can go to the carnival.  How about that?”

                “Sounds like a better plan than I had,” Joey relented.

                “Which was what?  Nothing?”

                “Pretty much.”

                “Then it’s settled.”  Yugi nodded firmly.  “We’ll meet you guys at your place?  At six?”

                “Sure.  I bet I can talk Mai into giving us a ride down instead of taking the train.”

                “Awesome!”

                While getting ready the following afternoon, Yugi got a phone call from Joey warning him that he and Mai were on their way to pick up their friends, since his place was on the way to the waterfront district and it would save time.  Not that Yugi needed it; he and Yami had already spent a wonderful day together, mostly holed up in Yugi’s bedroom so as not to bother Grandpa Muto with their desire to waste a day making out almost nonstop.  The scheduled date would be a great way for them to get out and enjoy something else besides each other.  Yugi’s grandfather was not exactly thrilled that he so flippantly blew off classes whenever Yami was able to come out of the Puzzle, but he understood the rarity and strangeness of this lifestyle and knew Yugi was aware of the consequences of placing a lower priority on his classes.   In fact, he smiled kindly and wished them well as Yugi and Yami dashed through the store holding hands to go meet the car that had just pulled up.  Mai turned around and grinned as the matching twosome piled into the back seat.  “Hey, guys.”

                “Hi Mai!” Yugi crowed.  “It’s good to see you again!”

                “Hello, Mai,” Yami said with more restraint.

                “Good to see you, too,” she smiled.  “Especially you, pharaoh.  Joey gave me the lowdown – this must be like a dream come true for you.”

                “Something like that.”  His eyes glowed with happiness.  “And please.  My friends call me Yami.”

                “If you insist.”  Mai turned back and put the car in gear.  “Now let’s go, I’m starving.”

                The way Mai drove, they ended up at the ocean in half the time it would have taken on the train, though Yami wasn’t sure it was worth saving time if he feared for his life the entire way.  He kept his thought to himself, though, as Yugi eagerly took his hand and entwined their fingers to guide him on the walk to the restaurant.  They had chosen to park closer to the carnival than the food, but the weather was not terribly cold for February and a brisk walk along the ocean did them good.  At the very least, it made for four ravenous souls by the time they got to the restaurant.  There would be no sitting on the patio this time, though Yugi suggested they come back in the summer to try that again.  Instead, they settled into a corner table, one pair facing the other, and looked forward to great food and good company.  Though they were being rather subtle about it, Mai had noticed the interaction between Yugi and Yami, the comfortable way they seemed to fit together, be it physically or emotionally.  They never missed a chance to make eye contact, they always smiled for each other, and the otherwise placid pharaoh looked perfectly normal sitting there with Yugi’s hand in his, always reaching back for him immediately if he had to pull away for a second.  “Look at you two,” she commented after Yugi laughed at something wry Yami had said.  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people as made for each other as you guys.”

                Yami smiled warmly.  Yugi blushed.  “Well, what can I say?” he said shyly.  “We kind of are…at least, I was made for him.”  The lovers shared a glance.  “It seems so easy when your souls are bonded together.”

                “Yet, forming that bond took time and patience,” Yami noted.

                “You’re just so cute together!” Mai exclaimed, clasping her hands together.  The squeal made both Yugi and Yami blush this time.  “I may be a little rough around the edges, but deep down I’m a big sucker for romance like any other girl.  What you two have is nothing short of a storybook romance, and who doesn’t like those?”

                Joey coughed suddenly to prevent himself from saying anything.   Yugi laughed at him.  Yami pretended not to notice.  “Thank you, Mai,” he said politely.  “It’s a comfort, having friends who support us.  My relationship with Yugi is so unusual, it would be more difficult without you, and Joey and the others.”

                “It’s not that unusual.”  Mai casually sipped at her coffee.  “The magic part, yes, but the rest is totally natural.  You shouldn’t be afraid.”

                “Yeah, but Joey told you what happened to us a few months ago,” Yugi reminded warily.  “I still catch people every now and then looking at us like they can’t believe we’d do something so disgusting as hold hands in public.  It bothers me less than it used to…but it still bothers me.”

                “Yeah, that part sucks,” Mai conceded, glancing at Joey beside her.  “But you know you’re not alone in that fight.  There are lots of people just like you, men and women, and they all go through it.  And it’s not just being gay.”  Her violet eyes sobered.  “Some people will give you crap if you choose to date someone of a different race, or even a different class or social group or tax bracket.  It’s completely irrational, so there’s no use trying to reason with them.  You just have to hold your head up and go your own way, and don’t let the naysayers get you down.”

                Yugi smiled across at her.  “You’re okay, Mai,” he complimented.  “I feel so fortunate, having friends this understanding.”  He glanced down at his hand enfolded in Yami’s, resting on the table between their plates while they waited for their food.  “And you’re not bothered by us?”

                “Of course not,” she assured him with a wave of her hand.   “What, you two being all cuddly and stuff?  No way.  Have at it.  I’ve known more than my share of gay men in my lifetime, and I never had a problem with any of them.  I even lived with one, briefly,” Mai sniffed.

                Joey started.  “You what?  When was this?”

                A shadow suddenly flitted across Mai’s face.  “Well,” she began hesitantly, “I don’t want to bring up dark times, but…you remember Dartz’s three monkeys?”

                “I remember Valon,” Joey said spitefully.

                “Yes, we remember,” Yami assured more patiently.

                Mai kept her gaze turned away from them as she explained, trying her best to be casual about something so obviously painful to all of them.  “It wasn’t for very long,” she said hastily, “things really started happening fast after they brought me in, so…I only crashed at their place for a couple of weeks.  They had a nice beach house in L.A., lots of room for a boarder…”

                “One of them was gay?” Joey burst out.  “Which one?”

                “Alastair.”

                “Which one was he?”

                Mai snorted.  “The tall redhead.”

                Joey frowned in surprise.  “Wait, the one who went after Kaiba?  He’s gay?”

                “Duh,” Mai retorted.  “Do you remember how he dressed?  No self-respecting straight man would wear a shirt like that in public.”

                Yugi laughed a little at that.  “Makes sense, though that doesn’t necessarily mean anything.”

                “I know.  No, he was seriously into boys.  I never saw him bring one home, but I know that’s what he was into.”  Mai smiled very faintly.  “He was pretty sweet when he wasn’t mouthing off to Valon or stealing people’s souls.  He told me about all the best gay clubs in L.A., which ones had the best DJs.  But, like I say,” she sighed, “it was only for a couple of weeks.  That still counts, though.”

                Joey eyed her warily.  “You haven’t crashed with anyone else I ought to know about, have you?”

                “It’s no big deal, Joey,” Mai said, rolling her eyes.  “At least a gay man won’t hit on me.”

                “She has a point,” Yami offered.

                Joey grumbled under his breath but let it go.  Acting jealous now would have derailed a perfectly good evening before it even got started.  “So, maybe you can answer Yugi’s question for him,” he said to change the subject.  Yugi sat up in interest, wondering what he was referring to.   “You had gay friends, you say.  So, what do they do on Valentine’s Day?”

                Mai shrugged.  “Same thing we all do.  Shack up or sit home and cry.”

                “Is it different in other parts of the world?” Yami wondered curiously.

                “Oh, you mean that.”  Mai smiled knowingly.   “White Day is only here in Japan.  Everyone else just has Valentine’s Day, so it’s every man and woman for him or herself, no matter what they’re looking for.”  She shifted her gaze to Yugi.  “You didn’t think it counted because you’re both guys?”

                “Well, I…” Yugi stammered and shrugged.

                “It’s just a day on the calendar, kiddo.  Do whatever you want, whenever you want.”

                “Now there’s a philosophy I can get behind,” Joey smirked.

                The conversation turned lighthearted after that, as their food came and they sat enjoying a particularly splendid meal.  It meant that none of them would be much in the mood to indulge in even more snacks at the carnival later, but not a single one seemed to mind.  They toasted Joey’s past birthday and left the restaurant full and happy, meandering slowly along the ocean walk in no hurry to get to the carnival.  There was a nip of frost in the wind coming off the water, but it did nothing more serious than put a bit of color into their cheeks.  Yami and Yugi were firmly joined at the hand again, and seemed to have slipped into their own world where they existed alone for each other, not talking much but mostly glancing at each other or away at the restless ocean at the same time.  Joey and Mai walked a few paces behind them, Joey with his hands shyly in his pockets and Mai with her arms wrapped close around her to keep warm.  “I’ll say it again,” she murmured to her companion, “those two are so cute.”

                “Yeah,” Joey agreed.  “Kinda makes you believe in true love again, doesn’t it?  If an ancient spirit and my little gamer buddy can find each other…”  He sighed softly.   “I’ve never seen him this happy.”

                “Yeah?” Mai wondered.

                “Yeah.”  A strange, wistful look came into Joey’s brown eyes.  “We’ve been through a lot together.  The best and the worst.  Winning tournaments, saving the world…none of it even comes close.  Yugi’s happier than he’s ever been in his whole life.”

                “He should be,” Mai said gently.  “He’s found something very few people in this world can say they have…a soulmate.”  She, too, sighed.   “The rest of us should be so lucky.”

                “I don’t know about lucky,” Joey warned.  “The reason they’re soulmates is because of who Yami is.   And if you think about it, he’s been responsible for some of the worst things that have happened to Yugi just as much as he’s the reason he’s so happy now.”  He shook his head.  “That’s the way it is, though, isn’t it?  The only person in the whole world who can cause you so much pain is the person you love the most.”

                Though they shared nothing, both Mai and Joey were thinking the exact same thing about each other at the same time.  “I suppose you’re right,” Mai murmured after a bit.  “If you can’t let someone that close to you, they can’t hurt you.”

                “If you ask me,” Joey said heavily, gazing intently at Yugi and Yami, “the tradeoff is worth it.”

                They walked the rest of the way in silence, snuggling deeper into their coats as night drew on and brought a chill with it.  The indoor carnival had been set up in a complex of three adjoining warehouses near the harbor, mostly vendors and games with a few smaller kids’ rides that could fit into the space.  For just a few yen, people could go inside and wander, try their luck, and generally have a good time in the middle of winter for a change.  The doors stood wide open letting in cold air to balance the warmth of bodies and activity, and letting out splashes of light, color, and raucous sound.  Yami blinked in surprise as he was yanked headlong into the carnival chaos by his lover, his senses overwhelmed by the crowd.  Joey and Mai followed more casually, carrying their coats under their arms as they walked around and looked at things.  It seemed the families with small children all around them were having the most fun, but there were a few things that interested even the young adults like them, once they could separate out the decent games from the complete rip-offs.  Joey forced himself to pass most of those by, even though several of the barkers taunted him by calling out that he should win his pretty lady a prize.   He finally caught up to Yami and Yugi at a balloon-toss booth, something he knew he could do, and the four stood around laughing at the attempts by each to win even a tiny prize.  All Joey got out of it was a little fuzzy keychain, which he promptly offered to Mai with a laugh.  “Ew, no way,” she protested.  “That thing is ugly.”

                “Aw, come on,” Joey exclaimed.  “I won it for you, didn’t I?”

                “I don’t know, did you?” she teased him back.  “What do you expect me to do with that?”

                “It’s a keychain.  You put keys on it.”

                “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it, Mai,” Yugi suggested.

                “Hey!”  Joey snatched the keychain into his fist and hid it behind his back.  “Have your own boyfriend win you something!”

                “Come on,” Yami chuckled.  “Let’s see what else there is.”

                Yugi hooked his arm and cuddled to his side as they shouldered their way through the crowd.  Mai stalked next to Joey with a smirk on her face, but after they had gone a few paces, she held out a hand.   “Fine,” she sighed.  “Give me the stupid keychain.”

                “Not if you don’t want it,” Joey pouted.

                “You won it for me, didn’t you?  At least, that was what the carnie said when he suckered you into playing.”  Mai cast him an aloof smile over her shoulder.  “Honestly, Joey, if I wanted it that badly I could have won it myself at that stupid game.”

                Her hand was still out, so Joey yanked the fuzzy trinket from his pocket and slapped it into her palm.  She took it with a haughty sniff and pocketed it.  “There’s got to be something more my style, here,” Joey complained.   “I used to be really good at some of these.”

                “Guys!  Over here!”   Yugi and Yami were some distance ahead, and looking back towards their friends eagerly.  Yugi waved wildly to get their attention.  As they joined the other pair, Yugi wondered, “What about this one?”

                It was the classic game of knock-the-cans-over-with-the-ball, at which several people, young and old, were currently failing to win.  Joey waved his hand dismissively.  “Nah, these things are rigged,” he scoffed, heading away.  “The cans are weighted so you can’t knock them over all the way.  You gotta find a game that just takes good aim…”  He pointed across the way at a different stand.  “Like that.   The ring toss!”

                The others followed him to the booth, giving it a good once-over to decide that it was the sort of game that couldn’t be rigged, and watched as Joey spent a little too much time and money trying to prove it.  He came away empty-handed, though, groaning at his lack of a good aim.  “It has nothing to do with your aim,” Mai chided him.  “It’s all luck.  And here I thought you’d have plenty of that to go around.”

                “I’m lucky when I duel,” Joey noted.  “I guess it doesn’t rub off on other games.”

                Yami’s attention had been distracted by the game next door, where people were trying to throw balls through certain-colored windows in a board to rack up points, which could then be spent on prizes.  The carnival worker standing with his arms crossed looked rather pleased and not at all sympathetic as the patrons trying their hardest just couldn’t get the balls through the holes, they only bounced off the board.  “Better luck next time,” he exhorted one kid who walked away dejected.  “You there!  With the spiky hair…”

                Both Yami and Yugi looked at him.  “Huh?” the younger questioned.

                The carnie pointed to Yami.  “You look like you’ve got a good arm on you.  Care to give it a try?”

                The pharaoh glanced at his companion.  “May I?”

                “It’s up to you,” Yugi said warily, “but I don’t know.  What if it’s rigged like the other one?”

                He slipped his partner the money to play, and stood aside to watch.  Yami gazed patiently at the balls stacked on the counter before him as the carnie explained how he could win points and which prizes he could get for them, at which point he glanced at Yugi.   “It doesn’t seem hard.  It’s like Joey said – it requires good aim.”  He picked up the first ball and turned it over in his fingers as he decided which point window to aim for.  Joey and Mai came over to watch just as he made his first toss.  It sailed remarkably close to a hole, but like the others he had watched, bounced off the rim.  Frowning, he took another ball and tried to send it through a different hole, but once again it ricocheted and rolled away across the floor.  Yami was getting fairly annoyed by now, and tried the last three a little more carelessly, wondering if it really did have less to do with aim than luck.  For a moment it looked like the last one was going to go in, but it, too, was deflected by the rim of the hole and fell.

                Yugi patted his lover on the back.  “You did your best.”

                “Dude,” Joey snorted.  “This game is totally rigged.”

                “What?” Yami growled, turning to him.

                “You have a problem with my game, sir?” the carnival worker snidely put in.

                “Yeah, your game is rigged,” Joey accused.  “And I can prove it.  Give me that ball.”

                The carnie handed him one, and to his utter surprise and anger, Joey hopped over the counter and walked straight up to the board Yami had been aiming at.   He thrust his hand out and set the ball into one of the holes, where it sat perfectly like an egg in a cup.  Yami started.  “The holes are too small for the balls to fit into!”

                “Exactly.  ‘scuse me,” Joey added to the carnie, leaping back out of the stall before he could be grabbed and punched in retaliation for exposing the scheme.  “Sorry, Yami,” he said to his friend.  “You got ripped off.  You should have waited, I could have warned you before you played.”

                Yami turned narrowed eyes on the carnival man.  “This isn’t fair,” he complained.  “You cheated me.  You cheated all the people who came to play.”

                “Welcome to the carnival,” the man smirked.  “Now get lost.”

                “No.”  The pharaoh faced him squarely, hands at his sides.  “You will give us our money back, for not giving us a fair chance.”

                “Hey, you tried, you failed,” the carnie shrugged.  “Don’t stand here and cry about it or I’ll make it so you have something better to cry about.”

                “Yami,” Yugi fretted.  “Let’s just go.”

                “Not until I get a fair game.”  A deadly smirk began to awaken on the pharaoh’s face.  “Even if I have to make the game myself.”

                Joey and Yugi stared.  “What are you doing?” the latter asked worriedly.

                “Do you have your deck on you?”

                “Of course, but…”  A hand appeared before him.  Yugi slipped the deck out of his belt pouch and laid it in the offered hand, warning, “Don’t make a scene, Yami.  It’s just a few yen, it’s not worth it.”

                “It’s not about the money.”  Yami faced the carnie again, who was now eyeing him suspiciously.  “I propose a little game of chance.  If you win, I will let it go.  If I win, I get the prize I was trying to claim.”  He looked up at the row of stuffed animals hanging over the booth and pointed to a little bear with a heart embroidered on its stomach.  “That one.”

                The carnie frowned at him.  “What kind of game are we talking about.”

                “One in which we have an equal chance of winning.”  He deftly shuffled the deck and laid it on the counter between them.  “Each of us will draw a card randomly from this deck.  Whoever chooses the monster with the highest level stars wins.”

                His friends looked at each other, not sure what to make of this development.  The carnie, however, began to grin.  “I’ll take your bet, kid,” he snarled, spreading the deck out so that he had his pick of any card in it.  He ran his finger up and down the line until he chose one, and gave a prideful laugh.  “Not too bad,” he crowed, holding it up:  Beast of Guilfer, a six-star monster.  “Let’s see you beat that in one draw.”

                Yami was actually smiling, in his cool, superior way.  He glanced at Yugi and offered his hand.  “For luck?”

                Yugi took his hand and sidled closer.  “For luck.”

                The carnie snorted at them.  Yami simply closed his eyes, extending his free hand over the deck and holding it still, as if sensing what was in it.  Because of the way Yugi stood, no one saw the flash of light from the Puzzle as Yami’s fingers suddenly darted in and plucked out a card, holding it up so the carnie could see it.  The man’s jaw dropped, and he stepped back in surprise.  “How did you do that?”

                Yami opened his eyes and looked to see that he had drawn the Magician of Black Chaos – eight stars.  “As I said,” he murmured smugly, “we each had an equal chance.  The heart of the cards is simply with me, tonight.”  He snatched his Beast of Guilfer back from the man’s grubby fingers and swept up his deck.  “My bear, please.”

                A few minutes later, they were walking together down the aisle, Yugi hugging tightly to the little bear with an exasperated look on his face.  “You totally cheated,” he groused at his lover.  “You used your power to pick that card.”

                “Not deliberately,” Yami protested, though he was smiling broadly.  “I simply trusted in the heart of our cards, as I do every time I duel.”

                “That was hilarious,” Joey cackled.  “Nothin’ like a little payback, I say.”

                Yugi grumbled again, but let it go.  After all, were he to start badmouthing the heart-of-the-cards philosophy now, it could spell trouble for his dueling as well as his relationship.  Secretly, he very much enjoyed seeing his lover get the better of the cheating carnival man, but he had to play his part of moral outrage to cover it up for now.  “What do you guys think?” he asked his friends.  “Are we done here?  Or is there more you want to see?”

                “I think that’s enough excitement for one night,” Mai decided.  “If we stick around, Joey’ll just keep losing money.”

                “Find me a game that involves Duel Monsters and I’ll kick some serious butt,” Joey vowed.

                “Perhaps it would be more fun to go somewhere and duel,” Yami put in, glancing aside at his partner and smiling to see just how tightly he held the prize.

                “There’s a coffee shop around the corner near where we parked,” Mai said.

                The four of them went to the coffee shop and sat around for another hour, talking and laughing while swapping chances to duel each other the old fashioned way, laying their cards out on the table between them.  Yami and Joey fought a particularly spirited battle, and though Yugi teased his partner that he wouldn’t help him by giving him a connection to the Puzzle around his neck, Yami still managed to display some rather amazing luck with his cards.  After that, they just sat and talked, finishing up their coffee drinks and considering having to go home and end the fun night.  It was nice being in each other’s company, but it was getting late and the pharaoh only had a few hours left in his day.  He sat quietly stroking Yugi’s hand with his thumb, listening more than talking as the others discussed Mai’s current situation.  She was finally loosened up enough and in the mood to share her mind.  “No, I don’t really have any useful schooling,” she was saying, swirling the mocha sludge around the bottom of her empty cup.  “I’ve got my looks and my charm, though, and you’d be surprised how far that can get you.”

                “So are you sure you’re staying?” Yugi asked.  “Or are you still just figuring things out?  I know you’ve only been in town a couple of days…”

               “I don’t know yet,” Mai said flippantly, tossing her head in a casual shrug.  “I’ve got a nice wad of pocket change to last me a while, I can take my time looking around, seeing what there is to see.  I’m probably going to go visit my parents at some point, too.”

“Oh, where are they?”

                “Tokyo.”

                Yami smiled warmly.  “I would like to see that city sometime.”

“It’s quite the place,” Mai agreed.  “Lots of cool places for a girl like me to settle down and have some fun.  But of all the places to put down roots, Domino’s not so bad,” she added with a gentle smile.

                “That’s right.  You have friends here,” Yugi encouraged.

                “I sure do.  And hanging out with you guys is a lot better than some of the places I’ve been in my days, believe you me.”  She looked into the cup and sighed.  “I suppose we’d better call it a night.  Midnight’s coming fast.”

                “And we have classes tomorrow,” Joey reminded them all with a pointed look at Yugi.

                Mai dropped Yami and Yugi off at the side door to the house, since Kame was already closed for the night, wishing them a good night and hoping to see the pharaoh again in one month when his next ritual day came around.  Yugi waved back, and gave Joey a hopeful wink as he said goodbye for now.  Joey grinned but said nothing.  He figured he was just going to be dropped off and that would be it, but that was more than he ever had before.   Mai was there, and she wasn’t suggesting that she’d be off on another trip of her own devising soon.  As she drove him home, he tried to casually pick her brain while he had the chance.  “So…is it too soon to wonder what you’ll be up to next week?”

                “Probably,” Mai answered with her eyes on the road.  “Why?  What’s next week?”

                “Nothing.”  Joey turned his attention out the window.  Man, why is it so hard to say anything to her?

                “I had a good time, Joey,” Mai said suddenly.  “We should do this again.”

                He glanced toward her, but she was very much paying attention to her driving.  “You don’t have to keep the prize I won if you don’t want it,” he offered in a humble voice.

                “It is ugly,” she admitted.  “And I don’t have any keys I’d put on it right now – this rental car has to go back eventually.  But…”  She tossed him a sideways smile.  “…what do they say?  ‘It’s the thought that counts?’”

                Joey smiled in relief and sat back, feeling a bit better about the whole exchange.  Even if all she did was drop him off and disappear into the night, as usual, his day felt complete.  But she was right…the fuzzy little creature on the chain was rather ugly.

                Up in his room at the top of the house, Yugi set his little bear on the shelf at the head of his bed, next to his alarm clock where it could look over him.  He scratched his finger over the embroidered heart on its tummy and smiled.  “Of all the prizes you could have picked,” he chided his lover.

                Yami prowled up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him back into his embrace.  They were already sitting on the bed together, though whether it would progress to the shedding of clothes and the writhing of bodies depended on how tired Yugi was.  “All of the other ones were…ugly,” he protested.  “I thought you might like this one.  After all that talk about Valentine’s Day.”

                “Aw…that’s sweet of you.”  Yugi laid back in his partner’s arms and sighed happily.  “I guess it was worth the trouble after all.”

                Yami chuckled a little.  “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
                “It’s all right.”  Yugi lifted his head and kissed Yami’s cheek.  “It was pretty funny seeing that guy get what he deserved.”

                The pharaoh gave a thoughtful purr but said nothing more.   They sat together for a while just enjoying the closeness, gazing blankly at the bear next to the clock which held their fate.  Time was passing and they weren’t moving, so it was likely there would not be any more strenuous activity before the ritual expired.  Yugi didn’t want to think about the classes he had to go to tomorrow, nor the work he had to resume after this nice day out, but he was getting tired.   With an hour to go, he decided just to get into pajamas and spend the rest of their time together cuddling, so long as Yami didn’t mind vanishing out of a pair of sleep pants at midnight.  They laid down together and wrapped up in warm blankets, so Yugi could lay with his head on his lover’s chest and be held, safe and happy.  His mind was full of memories to savor, of double-dating and Mai’s honest encouragement and watching her and Joey dance around the possibility of showing each other the slightest affection, but as much as he felt like talking to Yami about it, all he ended up doing was lie there and kiss and touch, caught up in his companion’s warmth and taste and scent.  It was far better than ruining the perfect contentment with words, and so that was all they did.

                University was blissfully different from high school in one regard, Yugi thought as he walked across campus to his late afternoon class on Valentine’s Day.   There weren’t any roaming packs of girls stalking the hallways and classrooms in search of the boys they wanted to pass gifts to.  In fact, the campus seemed to have completely forgotten that it was a holiday, apart from some red flyers pinned to bulletin boards announcing events for those students living on campus.   For people like Joey and Yugi who commuted from town, it was going to be extremely easy to escape notice.  It also meant they likely weren’t getting any gifts, as the only girl who had ever given them platonic boxes of chocolates on this special day in high school was now halfway around the world.  Yugi didn’t care, he had something better to go back home to, but his best friend was another story.  Joey always hated this day, but the feeling was even stronger now that he was being teased by the thought that the woman he loved was right across town and he was going to chicken out of calling her or seeing her.  He even blew off Tristan’s suggestion of going out guys-only to thumb their noses at any notion of romance.   At least he had a lot of homework to give him a decent excuse for not going out, or so he told himself up until he was startled out of reading his required novel by the door buzzer.

                Though he wasn’t sure who could be bothering him at this time of night, Joey pressed the buzzer to admit them anyway, figuring it was one of his friends.  He could hear footsteps quick on the stairs outside, and was ready to open the door the moment his visitor knocked.  It swung open to reveal Mai, her hands hanging empty at her sides and a rather nonplussed look on her face.   “Hey,” Joey greeted her, trying to cover his surprise.  “What’s up?   You didn’t call…”

                “Let me just start by saying, I hate Valentine’s Day,” she said sharply.

                Joey stepped aside to let her in, as she was already starting to walk past him anyway.  “Kinda funny coming from someone with the last name ‘Valentine,’” he muttered.

                “It’s such a crap holiday,” she griped as if she hadn’t heard him.  “It’s all made up by the card companies to guilt you into thinking you have to buy something for somebody.  It’s so stupid.   Flowers die, the cards are all mushy, the chocolates are usually the nasty kind, and all the other things they try to sell you are all cute and cuddly and bleah!”  She stalked through Joey’s flat, pacing, making a fist as if to punch the lights out of any and all greeting card marketing executives she could find.  At last, she stopped and faced him, huffing a sigh.  “I’ve never seen you wear jewelry so I didn’t get you any.  All I could think of was this.”

                She started to reach into a pocket on her jacket.  Joey gave a sudden start.  “Wait, what?  You got me something?”

                “Of course,” Mai sniffed, though she didn’t meet his gaze.  “It’s Valentine’s Day.  Here.”

                She extended her hand towards him, holding one single Duel Monsters card between slender fingers.  Joey took it and turned it over to see which card it was, frowning curiously.  “Change of Heart?”

                Mai had lost her rant and shrank down into a shy girl, curling her arms around herself and looking away.  “I tried to think of a card that meant something,” she explained in a murmur, “that had to do with our relationship and all we’ve been through.  That one seemed right.”  She tossed her hair casually.  “Not to mention, I’m betting you could use one in your deck.”

                Joey stared at the card a while, trying to puzzle out the meaning.  “These have gotten pretty rare, now that the new card lines are out,” he noted.  “I used to have one but I traded it for Scapegoat.”   He lifted his eyes and gazed across at Mai.   “So…what change of heart have you had?”

                She gave a huge sigh and finally lifted her eyes, facing him with a serious look.  “I said some pretty nasty things to you when my head was very much not on straight,” she replied.   “It feels like it wasn’t me, like someone was in control of me, making me say those things.  I’m sorry for every single one, and I wish I could take it all back.”

                “Nah, it’s okay,” Joey said gently, lowering the card.   “I forgave you a long time ago.  I knew it wasn’t you.  The real you.”

                Mai gazed contritely at him, trying to smile.  “I’ve had a change of heart about everything,” she said, “including the way I keep running away whenever someone tries to get close to me.   I’m done running.  It’s stupid and childish, and it keeps getting me into more trouble than it’s worth.  I like having friends, it’s about time I stopped pushing them away.”

                Joey smiled and nodded in acceptance, but the true meaning hit him a second later, making him start.  “Wait…does that mean…?”

                “I’m done running away from you,” Mai said plainly.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

                Joey looked at the card again, and then to her.  “You’re going to stay in Domino?”

                “That’s not all, stupid.”  Mai stepped closer to him, coming straight up to him.  Joey straightened up in surprise, not sure how to react as she reached him and wrapped her hand around his, so that they were both holding the Change of Heart card together.  Mai was very tall for a woman, nearly the same height as Joey, so they were able to meet each other’s eyes directly.  At last, staring into Joey’s widened brown eyes, Mai found her smile.  “I’m not leaving you, either.”  She leaned in, and Joey took a quick, startled breath before her lips touched his in the barest of kisses.  So short and fleeting, it couldn’t be enough, so Joey darted in and kissed her back, a little more deeply.   The magic card fluttered to the floor as his hand went limp, sliding into hers so they could kiss a little while longer.

                As they broke away, Joey put his arms around Mai and held her, sighing with relief as she leaned against him, putting her hands on his shoulders.   Everything he had been hoping for, wishing for, for years had finally come true.  “It’s about time,” he murmure