Chapter 3 - The eyes of a Stranger

Disclaimer: All the Yu-Gi-Oh!- elements are copyrighted by Kazuki Takahashi. The story, other characters etc are (C) by me (Inge Faber)! How many times do I have to repeat this? *sigh*

Japanese glossary

Ee = yes (informal)

Hai = yes (formal)

Iie = no

Masaka = no way

Hikari = light

Yami = darkness

Please e-mail/review! ^_^

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~ Yami no Tenshi ~

~ Chapter 3: The eyes of a stranger ~

Gabrielle wandered through the streets. They were pretty much deserted. It was weekend � to be more specific: Sunday � and everyone was at home or with friends. All the shops were closed, so there was no reason to go downtown. Not that Gabrielle cared. She didn�t like shopping much anyway. It was simply boring to be sitting all alone in her small apartment. There wasn�t anything interesting on TV and she had already read all the books in her modest collection two times or more. Right now, all she wanted to do was walk a little. Maybe she�d find something interesting in this big city.

She sighed. The first few weeks were always the hardest when you�d moved to a new place, all your old friends behind you and your new friends still hidden in an uncertain future.

Suddenly she stopped and looked at a huge building in front of her. Stairs were leading to a platform on which the building was build. There were pillars in front of it, supporting the roof � or so it seemed. Definitely neo-classicism.

She growled. Annoying art-classes! No, more like annoying tests. It was pretty interesting information, she had just forgotten it when she needed it the most.

�Domino Museum� it said.

She heard there was an exhibit of ancient Egyptian artifacts. Interesting. Too bad she hadn�t brought any money. Another habit of hers. She never carried any money with her, unless she was deliberately going somewhere. It had its pros and cons�

Gabrielle turned around and made a mental note to come back again another time, with money.

---

She had been wandering aimlessly through the city for hours now. The weather hadn�t changed much, though clouds covering the sky had darkened.

Her feet were beginning to hurt. It was time to go home� Too bad she hadn�t brought a map with her. She hadn�t a clue were she was. An annoyed growl escaped from her throat� and it deepened when she felt a light raindrop fall on her nose. It was starting to rain.

����������� �Gabrielle?� a voice called � it sounded vaguely familiar to her, �Gabrielle Ben?�

She turned to see who was calling her. A short boy with tri-colored, spiky hair was running in her direction.

����������� �Yugi!� she exclaimed in surprise.

He now stood beside her, catching his breath.

����������� �It�s Benoo, by the way.� she said, slightly annoyed.

It wasn�t the first time people pronounced her name wrong. It was so easy to get it wrong, when it was written in hiragana � one of the Japanese alphabets, used to write foreign words with.

����������� �What a strange name.� he blurted out� regretting it a few seconds later.

����������� �I know.� she answered, surprisingly not the least offended, �But everything sounds strange when you think about it.�

����������� �True.�

����������� �It�s the meaning of the word that really matters, right?�

Yugi nodded.

����������� �So, what does it mean?� he asked curiously.

����������� �Don�t know.� she answered dryly and slowly continued walking, though she kept her gaze on the little boy.

Her remark almost caused Yugi to tumble over, making him look like a anime-character.

Gabrielle chuckled. �Just kiddin�. It originally meant �shining resurrection�. The Benu is a mythical bird that rises from itself.�

����������� �Like the phoenix!� Yugi interrupted � he was now walking right next to her.

����������� �Hai, except that the phoenix is often symbolized as an eagle with bright red and golden feathers. The Benu is a heron with long plumes on it�s head.� � She smiled � �It symbolized the birth of the sun-god Atum.�

Yugi felt Yami stir in the back of his mind.

����������� �Egyptian mythology?� he asked.

Gabrielle nodded proudly.

����������� �You really seem to like it.� Yugi noted smilingly.

����������� �I simply devour every book about ancient mythologies.� she answered enthusiastically.

The little boy blinked his eyes in amazement. �Wow. You must know a lot about it then.�

����������� �No.� she replied a bit ashamed, shaking her head, �I usually forget most of it� It rarely happens that I remember the story�s details.�

Yugi grinned amused.

����������� �Don�t do that!� she growled laughingly.

����������� �Sorry.� he apologized smiling, �I couldn�t help it.�

����������� �That�s not the only thing I forgot.� she said softly, �I should�ve brought a map. I�m kind of lost.�

����������� �Oh!� he said, �Well, maybe I can help?�

����������� �How well do you know Domino City?� she asked.

����������� �Why?�

����������� �Because I also forgot the name of the street, and I doubt you know every building in this city��

He stopped dead in his tracks and blinked again, but this time in confusion. �You really know how to get in trouble!�

Gabrielle rubbed her neck and looked away embarrassed. �Yeah��

����������� �Don�t worry,� he tried to reassure her, �I�m sure that Grandpa has an idea. Our house is just a few streets further.�

����������� �Ah, great!� she exclaimed happily.

---

Two brown with green colored eyes were staring at the steam coming from a cup in front of them. Blink. Stare.

Sugoroku watched Gabrielle from a little distance. She looked so simple minded, acting like that. But he knew better�

The years he�d spend in Egypt digging for traces of the ancient civilization that once was there, had taught him to trust his intuition. And his intuition told him there was more to this girl than meets the eye. Something strange, he might add. When he looked in her eyes, they told him it was nothing more than an empty shell. It was an empty look, sharp of intelligence and knowledge though, but still an empty look�

Practically the same look Yugi had described, when he had told him about the Rarehunters, the look Keith had in his eyes on the day he tried to steal the Millennium Puzzle.

He kept his mouth shut though. He didn�t want to alarm Yugi unnecessarily. There was also a big chance that the look in her eyes was caused by something else. If Gabrielle truly was a Rarehunter, they would find out soon enough.

Yugi laughed, calling Sugoroku back to the real world. He returned his glance to the two teens on the couch for a moment, before continuing with his daily work.

����������� �Are you going to stare at your tea all day?� he asked laughingly.

Gabrielle grinned, but didn�t reply. Her hair, darkened by many the raindrops, shielded her face and thus preventing Yugi from reading her expression.

����������� �Well�?�

This time she looked up and placed the cup on the low table without looking. Yugi looked at her questioningly as Gabrielle smiled and turned her glance away, staring straight pass Yugi. And straight through the dimensions boundaries, into a world only she could see.

����������� �When people grow up,� she started, �they lose they innocence and wonder. They take everything in this world for granted��

She silenced for a moment and let her mind wander. Yugi frowned and tried to figure out what that had to do with his question.

�The world doesn�t look half as evil and ugly when you look at it with the eyes of a child.� She sighed sadly, but then smiled again. �Sometimes, when you give a little bit of magic back to the world, life becomes so much more bearable.�

Although she smiled, Yugi could see sadness in her eyes. He blinked in curiosity. What was going on? What was Gabrielle so subtly referring to?

Gabrielle shifted her gaze and looked straight into Yugi�s large, amethyst eyes. The sadness had disappeared from her eyes, but he knew it still lingered in her heart. Sadness wasn�t a thing that disappeared so easily.

�You haven�t lost it yet, at least not completely.� she noted.

Yugi felt Yami smile proudly.

There was hardly anything he missed when it came to Yami. As well as Yami didn�t miss anything he did. That could be rather annoying, but most of the time it felt good to know there was someone at your side. Someone far closer than a friend, and someone who would always be there for you. That is� if nobody else would get their hands on the Millennium Puzzle. Like Marik�

Yami didn�t know everything what that he did, though. He could close the door of he so-called soulroom and create some privacy, which Yami respected. But that was a thing he rarely did. Most of the time the door was wide open.

The fact that his hikari had managed to keep his innocence through sixteen hard years was a thing Yami was proud of.

His innocence was simply a part of his personality which was hard to erase, although there were times he�d like to change it anyway. To be more like Yami�

His dark half appeared next to him on the back of the couch, his feet resting on the cushions, in his ghostly form which only Yugi could see, and smiled as if to say �I told you so.�

/ Cut it out! \ Yugi growled playfully and mentally shook his head.

Yami didn�t reply, but smilingly turned away his glance. He let his eyes rest on Gabrielle who sat on his left � for the viewers on the right � studying her. Suddenly he frowned and leaned sideways. Yugi watched him curiously from the corners of his eyes.

����������� // Yugi, do you remember that I told you about a feeling that kept haunting me? \\ he asked, looking at his hikari from the corners of his eyes.

����������� / Yes. You said it had something to do with your past. \

The spirit nodded.

����������� // That feeling is really strong right now. And it only becomes stronger when I look at Gabrie-- \\

For some reason Yami had stopped in the middle of his sentence and looked at the girl questioningly.

����������� // Huh? W-what the�? \\ the spirit stammered in confusion.

����������� / What is it? \

His yami didn�t answer immediately. Instead he made a large, circular motion with his hand in front of Gabrielle. He glanced at the girl.

����������� What?!

Gabrielles eyes followed Yami�s every movement. A bit embarrassed by the spirits reaction, her facial expression grew annoyed and she looked away.

Yugi blinked in confusion and turned to make sure there was nobody else there, except Yami.

There wasn�t�

����������� / Er� Yami? \ he started hesitantly.

Yami turned to face his hikari.

����������� // There�s no way� \\ he began.

/// She can see you/ me?! \\\ they exclaimed at the exact same time.

To Be Continued

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o_O Ooooooh! Gabrielle can see Yami???!!!� What�s going on?

�Keep reading and you�ll find out! ^_~

Damn it, I made Gabrielle look a bit stupid in this and the previous chapters. I really need to fix that, she�s being a bit out of character� ^.^;;

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