by WSJ

WSJ: ^~ Just a strange idea I had this afternoon... Inspired by Montgomery Gentry's Speed, which is a really great Pegasus-song if I ever did hear one. ^^v I've also borrowed a few elements from the book Avalon: Return of King Arthur, by Stephen R. Lawhead.

I had to tweek the timeline a bit, making Pegasus older. In this story he's about twenty, and this takes place twelve/fourteen years before Duelist Kingdom. *sweatdrop* Like I said, I had to make Pegsy a bit older. You'll see why later...

Summery: Pegasus has a secret. He has a son. A son he can never know, never hold, a son who will never know Pegasus is his father, but a son no less.... It all started when Pegasus, grief-striken by Cynthia's death, took an extended vacation to Greece...

Disclaimer: I don't own YGO. It may seem like Angeline is an OC of mine, but she isn't. ^~ She really is a character from YGO, I just gave her a name, since hers is never mentioned. Same thing with Shen. Try and figure out who they are, and no fair skipping ahead to the end, since they will be reveiled. (If you've read some of my other stories you may know already. However, this isn't connected to VotH or any of my other fics in any way. ^^)

Dedication: To Hikari NoTenshi, who's in Japan right now (I'm so jealous!!!), Eruantale, who's frustrated over college courses, (I think. ^^;; I didn't quite understand that part...) and Brood Mayran, my sort-of onee-san (*kicks her computer*). Those three betaed this fic for me, and all said they liked it despite its weirdness, and E-chan's the one who convinced me to actually post it. ^^v Thanks bunches you three!

One last note: Yes, I am a Pegasus fangirl, and yes, I am proud of it. ^^v

()()()()()

Pegasus J Crawford sat at his desk, going through yet more paperwork on his upcoming Duelist Kingdom venture. Very soon, he would have Yugi's Puzzle, and he would be one step closer to bringing the love of his life back to life.

Glancing up for a moment, he smiled slightly at the picture taped to the corner of his computer moniter. It had been taken almost ten years ago, and the little boy was only four. He'd have to be in his teens by now, but his mother, saddly, had passed away and been unable to send Pegasus more recent pictures.

He stopped his work momentarily to brush his fingers over the boy's face, sparing a small smile for the son he could never know...

"Master Pegasus..."

"What?" twenty-year-old Pegasus J Crawford snapped, tossing another shirt into his over-sized suitcase. It was already over three-quarters full, filled with enough clothes and necessities to sustain him for months. In fact, that was what he planned. He wanted to get as far from Crawford Manor in upper-state New York as was possible.

His wife of just three months, his beloved Cynthia, had died two days before of cancer of the heart. The funeral had been yesterday. Pegasus was leaving tonight.

Croquet, his cheif of security, winced slightly. "Sir, you cannot just take off like this. We need you here."

"Oh yeah?" Pegasus half-snarled. "Watch me." He stuffed a pair of boxers into the suitcase and slammed it shut, glaring at Croquet defiantly across the bedroom.

Croquet just sighed and rubbed his eyes under his sunglasses. "Sir, we've only recently lost your father. Who are we to turn the company over to while you are away? Kaiba?" He held up a hand as Pegasus snarled. "I thought not. But you are still the master," Croquet gave a mock-bow. "What would you have me do?"

Pegasus sat down on the bed with a deflated sigh. "I don't know Croquet... I just know I have to get away from here."

"I understand sir," Croquet said, looking at him with sympathy, "We've been friends for a long time, you've been my charge for even longer." He sat down on the bed next to Pegasus. "Go. Kemo and I will take care of things."

"Are you sure?" Pegasus asked, looking up at the older man through a fringe of silver bangs.

Croquet nodded, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I'm sure. I know what it is to have lost a love. Go on. Forget, so that it won't hurt so much when you remember."

"Thank you Croquet." Pegasus said, standing up and gripping his suitcase with both hands. "I don't know where I'm going, or when I'll be back, but I'll be sure to write you."

~*~

"Kemo! Croquet! Get down here!"

The two brothers* bounded down the stairs in answer to the maid's summons. "What is it Rosa?" Croquet panted, skidding to a stop.

(* For some reason I've always thought of Croquet and Kemo as brothers, in manner if not in looks. Maybe it's because I can't remember which is which. ^^; Croquet's the one with green hair....Right?)

"Postcard from Master Crawford." the maid said, handing it to Kemo. "It's been what, six weeks? Seven?"

"Eight." Croquet said, peering over his younger brother's shoulder. "What's it say Kemo?"

"Hold on, hold on, I'm getting there... 'Dear Croquet, Kemo, and everyone...'"

...I am currently in France, studying the great works of Leonardo da Vinci. Did you know that the Mona Lisa is really barely bigger then an eight-by-ten picture? Well, anyway...

I've met some great people over here, although the food is terrible. I've taken up the name of Anchali Crawford, since even over here people have heard of Industrial Illusions (I'm actually rather flattered).

Hope you all are doing well without me. I don't know when I'll be back, but my next stop is Italy. Bye until then.

Yours,
Pegasus "Anchali" Crawford

PS: Funny Bunny is twice as funny in French! And I can't even understand French!

Kemo chuckled and shook his head. "Now that's the Master Pegasus I know..."

Croquet smiled slightly. "Anchali... Where have I heard that name before...?"

"Cynthia had a brother named that." Kemo pointed out. "And it means 'painter'."

"Ah, that's it." Croquet nodded. "Well then, I guess we can only wait for the next postcard..."

The next postcard came five weeks later, stating that Pegasus was on his way to Greece. It was almost a year before they heard from him again, and just when they were all beginning to worry, they received a postcard, saying he was en route to Egypt. In Egypt, he followed a certain guardian to a certain tomb and acquired a certain Item... But that is not the story I am here to tell. You all know that story, or at least the bare bones of it, already. No, the story we want is the one no one ever knew, the one that happened during the incredible year that Pegasus J. Crawford spent in Greece...

Pegasus settled back into the airline seat, tucking his carry-on bag under the seat in front of him. It was stuffed to overflowing with farewell presents, and he smiled slightly to remember the friends he'd made in Italy. He'd miss them, of course. Maybe he'd keep in touch with a few of them, too. Of course, none of them knew he was really Pegasus J. Crawford. Everyone in France and Italy knew him as Anchali Crawford, a "distant cousin" of the real Pegasus.

While in Rome, Valeraine, a wealthy French woman, and Sayers, a Welsh businessman stationed in Italy, had dragged him to a salon, insisting that the long, straight hair thing was, like, soooo over. And Pegasus had to admit, he did look good with his hair shorter. Now it was about chin length, and he had bangs that fell over one eye to hide it from view. It was pretty annoying at first, but he was beginning to get used to it now.

Pegasus looked up as his seat-mate arrived. She looked to be a little younger then him, maybe eighteen or nineteen. She had long, straight white hair that was pulled back into a loose braid and blue eyes. She had on a pair of jeans and a purple tank top. She stuffed her bag under the seat in front of her, then turned to smile at Pegasus. "Hiya."

"Hi," he said. "I'm Anchali Crawford." He held out his hand, forgetting for the moment that Italians didn't normally shake hands. To his surprise, she took it without hesitation.

"I'm Angeline Briars. You're American?"

"Yes," he said, smiling at her. "I'm from New York."

"Ooooh," she said. "I've always wanted to go there. I'm from the little middle-of-no-where state of Indiana. What are you doing in Italy? Going to Greece, no less?"

Pegasus looked down at his lap. "Old memories... I'm... trying to forget about something that I know I should get over, but just can't."

"Oh..." Angeline's smile faded, and she put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. Duh Angeline..."

Pegasus gave a weak smile, wondering why her hand on his arm gave him chills. She did remind him of Cynthia, a little, but... "So what are you doing in Italy, heading for Greece?" he asked, talking mostly to cover up the pounding in his heart.

"Connecting flight. My fiance is excavating some ruins they found recently near Athens, and my father has his summer home near there. So I'm really going for two reasons." she said, sitting back in her seat as the plane taxied to take off. "Shen's an archiologist." she smiled. "His dream is to work in Egypt. Papa's really strict with me, and I'm surprised he let me go to college in America, where I grew up." She made a face. "He really likes Shen, and is gung-ho for our marrage..."

"Ah," Pegasus said, and then frowned slightly to realize he was actually disappointed. 'Stop it!' he told himself firmly. 'She's engaged, and you're recently widowed! What about Cynthia?'

A small, traterous part of him whispered 'Cynthia's dead. Angeline is alive.'

He shook his head to clear it. "So what are you doing marrying an archiologist? Don't think me rude, but you don't look like the type to get your hands dirty."

Angeline laughed. "Okay, you've got me there. My dream is to be a writer." She frowned. "I guess Shen just swept me off my feet. He's Japanese, actually. He came to my college, and just blew me away... And since Papa likes him... He's actually a little boring, but I love him." her mouth quirked slightly into a little half-smile. "We'll survive." She gasped suddenly as the plane took off. "Ohoh, I knew I should have taken a boat..."

"What's wrong?" Pegasus asked, concerned.

Angeline smiled wanely, clutching the armrests of her chair like there was no tomorrow. "Fear of flight. My mother died in a plane crash when I was eight. That's why Papa's so strict with me. I hate planes! I should have never let Papa and Shen talk me into coming to Greece, I should have just stayed home and waited for him to come back..."

Pegasus hesitated a moment, then put a hand over hers. "It'll be all right. So, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

Angeline recognised this for what it was, an attempt to distract her. She smiled gratefully. "Well, I love to read and write, and I draw a little bit too."

"Really?" Pegasus asked, perking up. "Before Cynthia died I was a painter."

'Cynthia? Oh, his wife, probably.' She'd noticed that he wore a wedding ring, and a black ribbon of mourning tied around that same wrist. "What do you mean 'was'? You aren't anymore?" Angeline asked.

"After Cynnie died, I just couldn't paint anymore... I had no inspiration at all."

"Oh... I'm sorry," Angeline said again, feeling like an idiot.

"It's nothing." Pegasus said, and was surprised to find that he meant it. "I still do sketches and such." He reached down to his bag and pulled out a sketch book. "Here,"

Angeline flipped through the pages, oogling at the beautiful drawings, most of them pencil, a few in charcoal or pen. "Wow! These are wonderful! What's this one of?" She pointed at a picture of a man dressed in armor, with a tall, pointed helmet, carrying a long staff.

"That's just a magician. I saw him in a dream, and thought he'd make a good drawing."

"Does he have a name?"

Pegasus shook his head. "No. Look at that one," he flipped over to the next page. "I dreamed about her the same night. I think she's supposed to be the other magician's sister or something."

"They do sort-of look alike." Angeline agreed, looking back and forth between the two drawings. "Maybe they're shadow magicians? Something about the boy's eyes makes me think of black magic."

"Hey, that's it!" Pegasus said, taking a pen out of his bag and uncapping it. He took the sketch pad back from Angeline and wrote 'Black Magician' under the picture of the male sorcerer and 'Black Magician Girl' under the female. "There."

Angeline grinned. "Well, now they have titles... What about names?"

Pegasus scratched his head. "I dunno... Firas?"

"Nah..." Angeline wrinkled her nose, and Pegasus's heart skipped a beat. "Elyssa and Fiore."

"If you say so..." Pegasus said, rolling his eyes.

The flight passed quickly, Angeline forgetting all about her fears as she laughed and talked with Pegasus. "Anchali, you're hilarious! Hm... Anchali really is a mouthful... Do you have a nickname?"

Pegasus hadn't thought about that. "No, not really."

"Then I'll call you Anch." Angeline said, pronouncing it 'ankh'. There was a gentle thud, and she looked around in surprise. "Have we landed already?"

Pegasus grinned at her, putting his sketch book back in his bag as they prepared to disembark. "It seems so, m'lady. And never a fear, neither."

Angeline smiled at him. "Thank you Ankh." She said. "I guess this is good-bye."

"..." Pegasus made a sudden decision. "It doesn't have to be. Would you allow me to escort you to your hotel? I assume your fiance is busy at his dig."

"Of course," Angeline said, delighted. Then she snorted. "He's always busy at his precious digs..."

Pegasus smiled sympatheticly. "Ah well. Shall we go?" He held out his arm, and giggling Angeline hooked her elbow through his. "Lets!"

They collected their luggage, and had a pleasent walk to Angeline's hotel. It wasn't far, and, in fact, happened to be the same one that Pegasus was staying at. They laughed about it, checked in, and Pegasus walked his newfound friend to her room. "Would you delight me by accompanying me to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Sure!" Angeline said, grinning. "Ankh? I'm glad you're my friend."

"Me too m'lady," Pegasus said as the door closed behind her. "Me too..."

He stood staring at her door for a good few minutes, and then walked to his own, which was two floors up. He let himself inside, dropping his bags down beside the bed. He dug out a pair of boxers and his bathrobe, and then headed to the bathroom for a long, hot shower. When he was finished, his towel-dried hair sticking up in clumps, he wandered out onto the balcony. It was small, barely big enough for a potted plant and a lawn chair, but it was big enough.

Pegasus sat down with a glass of wine, the bottle of which he'd found in the room's mini-bar, and his sketch pad and a pencil. He sipped at it and stared at the stars, wondering if Cynthia was watching him from somewhere up there. Was she feeling betrayed? Proud that he was able to move on with his life? Hurt that he could fall in love so quickly?

This thought stopped Pegasus dead in his drinking. Was he really in love? Could he be? He'd only known Angeline for a matter of ten hours! And she was engaged, shimatta!

But... He'd certainly fallen in love with Cynthia so quickly, on that night twelve years ago when they'd met at one of Pegasus Crawford Senior's parties. That had been love at first sight, or at least, as close as you can get with eight-year-olds.

He sighed heavily and stared at the stars some more. After meeting Cynnie he'd never seen anyone else. Could it be he'd missed out on something by dedicating his life to one girl so early? Was it possible he was in love again, so soon after her death? Was he allowed to fall in love again so soon?

It was times like this that made Pegasus wish that his mother was still alive. She'd always been able to give him good advice. Or even his father, who'd barely noticed him during his childhood, would be able to advice him a little. Oh hell, even Croquet and Kemo would be help at times like this! But there was no one. Just Pegasus and the stars and his Spongebob boxers.

Never noticing, he sketched a pretty woman with white hair and blue eyes, over and over.

~*~

"Ankh!" When Angeline opened the door to her room the next evening, Pegasus's jaw nearly hit the floor. She was gorgeous. She was wearing a long, elegant black gown what had a split in the side nearly up to her hip.

"W-wow Angeline... You're beautiful! Stunning!" Pegasus closed his jaw with a snap and remembered the boquet of roses he was holding. "These are for you."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a dazzling smile. "For the compliment and the flowers. Just a moment, let me put them in water." She went back inside, mercifully giving Pegasus a few minutes to collect his thoughts and tame his wild blush. When she came back out she was wearing a loose black coat over her dress. She smiled at him again. "Shall we go?"

"Yes, lets." he said, grinning back.

They made their way down to the hotel resteraunt, where Pegasus had made reservations that morning. They were led to a table by a big picture window, in a small, private corner. The table was covered in a red table cloth, and a candle was burning in the middle. They sat down and ordered, and talked while they waited for the food to come.

"So what kind of archiology does your fiance do?" Pegasus asked, sipping at his chocolate milk.

Angeline grinned at him. "Why so intrested? Thinking of taking it up to impress me?"

Pegasus raised an eyebrow. That thought had occured to him. "Maybe. Probably not. I've got a big company going in the states, and I don't really have time for anything else."

"Ah, I see." Angeline teased, adding sugar to her iced tea. "So what kind of work do you do?"

"Oh, this and that," Pegasus shrugged. "Technology, mostly."

"Really?" Angeline looked up, intrested. "Holograms?"

"Sometimes."

Angeline grinned. "Well hot dog."

Pegasus threw back his head and laughed out loud.

Angeline cocked her head slightly at him. "You have beautiful eyes."

Pegasus blinked. "What?"

"Your eyes..." Angeline blushed and looked down. "They're so beautiful."

"They're brown." Pegasus said flattly. He'd always hated his eyes. They were so... plain. Brown. Just brown. Nothing more and notheing less.

Angeline shrugged, giving him a sly smile. "I like them. I think they're wonderful. No one in my family has brown eyes."

"Almost everyone in my family has them." Pegasus said. "I like your blue ones."

They grinned at each other, and slowly they started to lean toward each other. But, as seems to be a law in stories like this, it was then that the waiter appeared with their food.

The next morning, Angeline hummed as she got ready to go out to the dig to see her fiance. And every time she passed the mirror, she caught herself grinning. She stopped suddenly. "Oh my God.... I'm in love with Ankh..." She hurried through her preperations, hoping that maybe the sight of her fiance would dispell what she judged to be a silly schoolgirl crush. But what happened was very different.

Shen was happy to see her, but noticed her distraction right away. "What's wrong?" he asked, wiping a few beads of sweat from his forehead.

"Oh... Nothing at all."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." she said firmly. But she wasn't at all. Usually, the sight of Shen made her heart race and her palms sweat, but this time she had no reaction whatsoever, except, perhaps, annoyance. 'Oh God...' she thought. 'What do I do now...?'

~*~

About a week later, at about ten in the morning, Pegasus heard a knock on his door. He got up from the bed, where he'd been sitting and watching TV, and opened the door. Standing on the other side was Angeline. "Hiya," she said, grinning at him. "Ready to go?"

Pegasus blinked at her, and then remembered that they'd planned to go sight-seeing around Athens. "D'oh! Sorry Angel," he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Do you mind if I finish watching TV first? There's only a couple more minutes."

"Sure." Angeline said. "Mind if I come in and watch with you?"

"Not at all."

The two of them sat down on the bed just as the TV came back from commercial. A tinny tune started playing, and a pink cartoon rabbit in red overalls ran across the screen, chased by a impossibly plump cartoon dog. Pegasus started laughing, and so did Angeline. "I didn't know you watched Funny Bunny!"

"It's a passtime." Pegasus said, shrugging. "I love cartoons."

"Me too!" Angeline said, clapping her hands in delight. "It's even better when it's in a foreign language, and you can't understand it."

Pegasus laughed again. "I know! I don't know why, but it just is!"

"Gee, Shen never watches cartoons with me." Angeline said a couple minutes later. "This is great!"

"I know what you mean." Pegasus said. "Cynthia thought cartoons were babyish."

"Never!" the two of them chorused, and then burst out laughing again.

They never did go sight-seeing. They spent the day in Pegasus's room, laughing at Funny Bunny, Spongebob, and Scooby-Doo in Greek.

The next weeks seemed to pass so quickly. Pegasus fell more and more in love with the firey Angeline, and, if he was any judge, she for him. They shared many more dinners, and several movies, and once Pegasus and Angeline went up to the Parthanon at midnight to watch the stars, just five weeks after their first meeting, and he proposed.

"Oh Ankh...!" she breathed, her eyes and white hair fairly glowing in the moonlight. "I'd love to marry you! But..."

Pegasus's heart sank. "But what?"

Angeline flashed him a reassuring grin. "But you'd have to talk to Papa first."

It was two weeks after his proposal and just a week after his meeting with Angeline's father when Shen, Angeline's fiance, dropped in for a surprise visit to find them together.

He was heartbroken, of course, but he knew what love was like, and knew that his beloved Angeline loved Pegasus.

"Please, help us," Pegasus pleaded with Shen. "I want to marry her."

"So marry her." Shen said stiffly.

"It's not that easy," Angeline said, laying a hand on her fiance's arm. "Papa doesn't like Ankh! In fact, he threatened to disown me if I married him. He says I must marry you."

Shen frowned. "You've gone to see her father, already?"

Pegasus dipped his head in a half-nod, half-bow. "I have. He all but chased me off the premises." He sighed. "Although if I'd had Croquet and Kemo with me it would have been a different matter."

"Croquet and Kemo...?" Shen's eyes widened. "I've heard those names before! You're Pegasus, CEO of Industrial Illusions!"

Angeline gaped, and Pegasus sighed, taking her hand in his. "I would have told you eventually, Angel. Yes, I'm Pegasus Crawford. Please Shen, will you help us?"

Shen looked at Angeline, and she looked back at him, asking him with her eyes to help them. Finally he sighed, dropping his shoulders. "Hai, I'll help. What do you want me to do?"

A month later, Angeline Briars and Pegasus Crawford stood in a chapel and became man and wife, and Mr Briars didn't know, and never found out. Shen wasn't happy about it, but he knew that in the end Angeline would be happy, and so would he, and that was what counted. So he really wasn't surprised, a month after the wedding, when Angeline found out she was pregnant with a son. She and Pegasus shared a moment of joy, and then Pegasus saddened.

"What's wrong love?" Angeline asked. "Aren't you happy?"

"Of course I am!" Pegasus said, running a hand through her hair. "But I've already been gone almost too long. Kemo and Croquet will worry."

Angeline's eyes filled with tears. "Oh please Pegga, at least stay until the baby is born!"

Pegasus nodded, and then hugged her close to him. "Until the baby's born. But after that, I must leave." Angeline sobbed quietly, and Pegasus rubbed her back. "Darling Angel, I'll never forget you..."

The plan that Pegasus and Shen had worked out was one that left all three parties unsaticfied, but one that had to be done. Shen went along willingly now, and not just out of love to Angeline, because he'd become a friend to Pegasus. After the baby was born, Pegasus would divorse Angeline, and she would marry Shen. The baby would grow up thinking Shen was his father, although his birth certificate would still list Pegasus Crawford under the heading of 'father'. Angeline's father would never know, because Shen and Angeline would claim to have adopted the baby almost immediately after their wedding.

~*~

"I love you Ankh."

Pegasus smiled, trying not to cry. "And I you. Forever."

"Forever," Angeline whispered, and then gasped as another contraction rocked her frame. "Good-bye."

"Not good-bye," Pegasus whispered. "Never goodbye. You'll be in my heart always."

"And you in mine."

Angeline still called Pegasus 'Ankh'. It had become something of a pet name. Angeline began to cry, and smiled at him one last time as she was wheeled into the delivery room. Pegasus stood staring after her, until Shen put a hand on his shoulder. "Pegasus?"

"I'll be all right," Pegasus said faintly. "Do you have the papers?"

"Right here." Shen handed him the divorse papers, and, swallowing the lump in his throat, Pegasus signed his name. One tear slid down his face and smeared the ink, but it was still readable. "Take care of her Shen."

"You know I will." his friend said. "You take care of yourself."

Pegasus nodded, and the two friends embraced, before Pegasus turned to leave.

"Pegasus!"

He turned around. "What?"

"What do you want to name him?"

"No matter," Pegasus said. "Let Angeline decide." Shen nodded and bowed slightly, and when he looked up again the American CEO was gone.

Pegasus never forgot Angeline, and loved her more then anyone. Though he kept the paintings of Cynthia up in his castle, a portrait of Angeline hung in his heart. One sketch book, every page filled with pictures of Angeline, sat among a hundred others, never noticed but often thought of. He gave her the highest honor he knew to, the Change of Heart card was her. Or at least, based on her.

A couple weeks after Pegasus left, Angeline married Shen, and he officially adopted Pegasus's son although, true to his word, the birth certificate still bore Pegasus's name. Four years later, Angeline gave birth to a little girl, fathered by Shen. She wrote to Pegasus often, and he would always write back.

They planned that as soon as Angeline's father died, they would remarry. But no one suspected that Mr Briars would out-live his daughter. Angeline died of cancer, the same disease that had taken Cynthia, six years after she and Pegasus first met.

Pegasus shook himself from his memories, sniffled slightly, and looked down at a larger photo, which was sitting framed next to his keyboard. It was of Amane, Angeline and Shen's daughter, and his own son, Amane's older half-brother.

Both children had the white hair of their mutual mother, but while Amane's eyes shown with the blue-gray that was a mix of both her parents', Ryou had the beautiful brown eyes of his father.