And, since none of you probably understood that last comment at all...

^^; Hiya everyone! *waves hesitantly* Well, I'm hoping you all liked the first chapter, even if it was super-long. I'm getting good responces over throwing Sailor Moon into the mix too. :p Yay me. But now I've got a delema, so to speak, and I want your opinions. Should Duke fall in love with one of the Senshi? And if so, which one? Right now, I'm leaning more toward Minako/Duke, but Brood-'Neesan suggested Ami/Duke. Makoto/Duke would be pretty cute too. Any of you have ideas?

Hehehe... I'm so sorry for sticking in so many cameo references, but I can't help myself! Be sure there'll be lots more in the future. :p I'm a true anime buff at heart. There's no anime I've seen so far that I've trully hated (except for *maybe* Hamtaro). ^~

For those of you asking, the main cameos will appear from these animes:
Ranma 1/2: Raiden-san's nephew (Ranma), and Keith's buddies in the Amazon village, whom you'll meet this chapter. EDIT: I've switched Raiden-san from being Ranma's son to being his uncle, Genma's older and better brother. ^^ I want Ranma and Akane in their teens for this, not way older. :p You'll see why either this chapter or next. *snicker*
Fushigi Yuugi: Serenity/Joey/Scott's cousin Miaka and her fiance, Tamahome. They'll also frequently mention other characters who don't actually show up, such as Tasuki last chapter.
Gundam Wing: Joey/Scott/Serenity's cousin, Duo Maxwell. Again, he'll frequently mention other characters, but they won't actually show up. ^^; I'm bending the rules slightly with him, since he's from the future, but I trust you guys don't mind, right?
Tenchi Muyo!: One of Ryou's students is a young lady from the Masaki shrine, and Tenchi often comes to pick her up from class. ^o~ Things get really wild either this chapter or next, so just wait and see...

Those are the main cameos, although lesser ones from these shows and more will pop up from time to time. :p I really can't help it. I've always wanted to write a massive crossover. And besides, how can the cast of YGO spread out for the summer and not meet characters from other shows? ^~ (Here's a hint on a few more of the minor cameos: Look closely at Ryou's martial arts class for a couple more Tokyo-based super-stars. ^^)

WSJ: Wai!! Kawaii!! *dancing around happily singing "kawaii" over and over in a really strange voice*

Scott: ;>> NOW what's her problem?

Ryou: *sweatdrop* Must you ask?

WSJ: The new episode was so cyute!! Yay Serenity! Yay Joey! Yay Yugi! Boo Kaiba!

Mokuba: Heeey...

WSJ: ^^v Not you, your idiot brother. *blows a raspberry at Seto* I'm glad he saved Tea and all, but he is just such a jerk!

Yugi: XP You're tellin' me...

WSJ: *bouncing up and down now* Kawaii kawaii kawaii! Wai!

Ryou, Scott, Mokuba, & Yugi: *sweatdrop* Oh help, hyper authoress...

Duke: *shudders* Beware... Beware...

WSJ: ^^v

Everyone: ....*shudders again*

Ryou: SJ doesn't own YGO, Sailor Moon, or any of the many cameos. Amoura, Yunet, Lisa, and Amoura's family are Brood's. Scott, Gwen, Hiro, Raiden-san, and other misc. characters are SJ's.

WSJ: On to the fic!

On the question of aging: Yes, Bakura would age normally, always being one year older then Ryou. I know Ishtar is a split of Malik now, but I didn't know way back when I started this. Therefore, I'm just treating him like a Millenium Spirit. He and Yami would stay the same, never aging at all.

()()()()()

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 2: Where Love Can Get You To

Grandmama and Yami didn't stop glaring at each other all the way out of the airport and to where Franz was waiting with the car. Tea and Yugi gasped, and Bakura's jaw dropped a fraction of an inch before he was quickly in control again. Yami spared a quick glance, and his eyes did widen slightly before he went right back to his glaring contest with Amoura's grandmother.

Amoura giggled as she saw her friends' reactions. "Like it?"

"It" was a stretch limo, painted white with chrome accents. It had tinted windows, and the hood ornament was a tiny Dark Magician. "Hey," Yugi said upon noticing it. "Where'd you get that? I wouldn't mind having one."

Amoura laughed. "Zere iz a ztore downtown in Paris zat zells all zorts of Duel Monzters zings. I vill make zure to take you zome time."

"Yes please." Yugi said, bending over to inspect the hood ornament. "Wow, it's so detailed..."

Franz said somethingin French, and Amoura was quick to reply. From the way she was pointing at them from time to time, the group from Domino could guess that she was going through introductions. When she was finished, Franz said something else, and Amoura laughed. "He vants to know if you like the Dark Magician, Yugi."

He nodded enthusiasticly. "It's my favorite. Yami's too, if he weren't too busy with Madame to notice."

Amoura chuckled. "Too bad you do not know French zen. Franz iz a Dark Magician duelizt."

Yugi looked delighted. "Really? I'll have to duel him then. That'll break the language barrier easy."

Franz had caught the word 'duel' and was nodding. "Oui oui monsier," he said, pulling a deck of his own out of his pocket and showing it to Yugi before tucking it away again. "Duel."

"Tomorrow." Yugi said, trying to surpress a yawn. "We'll duel tomorrow." Amoura translated, and Franz nodded, smiling at Yugi. Then he opened the door to the back of the limo and bowed, motioning for Amoura and Tea to get inside. They did, with Yugi and Bakura following closely after. Franz laid a hand on Grandmama's arm, and she glanced over at him. He smiled tightly, gesturing for her to get in the car. She did so, and Yami followed her in. The two sat in opposite corners of the roomie limo, and the rest of the passengers, including Franz, sighed in exhasperation.

The ride to Amoura's house was short and silent. Tea and Amoura talked quietly, and at times Grandmama would make quiet comments in French to either Amoura or Franz. The trip lasted less then half an hour, but it was long enough for both Bakura and Yugi to fall asleep, leaning up against each other. Snickering quietly, Tea pulled a camera out of her purse and snapped a picture. Yami smiled at that as he reached over to shake his aibou awake. "Yugi?"

"Mmm?" Yugi asked, opening one violet eye a crack. "Wha?"

Yami sighed and leaned over, allowing Yugi to wrap his arms around Yami's neck. Although Yugi had grown some, Yami could still lift him easily. As he stepped out of the limo with Yugi in his arms, Franz steadying him so Yugi wouldn't get dropped, Yugi snuggled against his yami's chest and mumbled something about apple pie. Back in the limo, Amoura and Tea were trying to poke Bakura awake. There was no way that anyone there was strong enough to carry him.

"Go 'way Ryou..." he murmered, batting at Amoura's hand as she shook his shoulder. "Not time for classes yet..."

Tea and Amoura looked at each other and giggled, then resumed their efforts in waking him. "Are you coming, ladies?" Grandmama asked, sticking her head back in the door. "We don't have all night you know."

"In a moment Grandmama," Amoura answered.

"Go on in," Tea suggested. "We'll be right behind you, as soon as we manage to wake up Bakura."

Grandmama shrugged and nodded, and led Yami toward the door to the house. Franz went around to the trunk and pulled out several of the bags, taking them toward the house.

"Wakey wakey..."

"It's no use," Tea sighed after about three minutes. There had been no sign of life from Bakura, except for a faint snore every now and then. "We may as well just leave him to sleep here!"

Suddenly, Amoura grinned impishly. "Juzt a moment T'ea. I 'ave one more idea." Lenaing over, she began to run her hands through Bakura's hair, at the same time whispering something in his ear. In a moment he was bolt upright, staring at her like she was crazy. His face went beat red and he grabbed her by the wrists, gently yanking her hands out of his hair. His eyes were wild, and Amoura began to laugh. "I did not zink you vould react zo ztrongly! I vas juzt kidding, I promise!!"

Bakura shuddered, running his own hands back through his hair, which just succeeded in sticking it even straighter up. "I should hope not!" He stared at her once more before climbing out of the limo and grabbing a few bags from the trunk. Still giggling, Amoura climbed out after him, Tea right behind her. Both girls grabbed a bag each just as Franz came back for another load.

"What did you say to him?" Tea asked as they began to walk up the driveway toward the house. It was really a rather large house, falling just short of a mansion, but since it was so dark none of the Domino group really noticed. Thinking about what she had whispered to Bakura sent Amoura over the edge, and she began to giggle again. Tea face-faulted. "It was something seductive, wasn't it?"

"Of course!" Amoura said, grinning widely. "'Ow elze vere ve zupposed to vake 'im up? I vas just kidding."

"Riiiight, of course you were." Tea said, eyeing her friend with a sly grin on her face.

Now it was Amoura's turn to blush, her face almost as red as Bakura's had been a few minutes earlier. "T'ea! It iz not like zat!"

"Suuure, it isn't like that now." Tea assured her. "Just give it a few weeks."

Amoura's blush deepened and she chased after Tea as the latter ran inside, giggling. "I'll get you for zat!"

(WSJ: *sigh* I hate writer's block. It must be summertime blues that keeps doing this to me.... But, after several hours of alternatively kicking Joey's tail on YGO: Eternal Duelist Soul, hunting down deer on "Deer Hunt Ultimate Challenge", and beating up orcs in "War Craft II"... I think I'm pretty much over it. ^^v)

"So, Duke, what do you think of Juuban so far?"

Duke chuckled. It was easy to see that at least two of Rei's friends had a crush on him, and the blue-haired one probably did too, from the way she kept sneaking glances at him. The six of them, Rei, Usagi, Makoto, Minako, Ami, and Duke, were walking around downtown Juuban. Rei had thought that if he was going to be spending the summer there, he might as well get to know his way around. They'd bought iced creame a few streets back, and Duke had insisted on buying everyone a cone. The Odango Atama, Usagi, had seemed delighted at that. Rei and Ami had turned him down, even though he'd tried to insist. So now they were off walking again, Makoto and Minako on either side of him, Rei and Usagi just ahead of them, and Ami just behind.

They were nearing Juuban Junior High, where three of the five girls went to school, when Usagi suddenly squealed in delight and took off running. As Duke watched, she attached herself to a man who had just turned onto the street. The rest of the girls sweatdropped, and Ami chuckled.

Usagi led the man back toward them, all the while chattering a mile-a-minute. " - And then he bought us ice creame! Isn't that so fabulous, Mamo-chan?"

"Woah, woah," the man said, his eyebrows raising into his hairline. "He bought you ice creame and now you're dumping me over him?"

"Nooo!" Usagi squealed again, as if that were impossible, the same time Minako and Makoto said "We saw him first Usagi!"

Mamoru and Duke sweatdropped, and Mamoru held out a hand. "I'm Chiba Mamoru, Usagi's boyfriend."

Now it was Duke's turn to raise an eyebrow, absently fiddling with a die in his right hand. "Aren't you a little old for her? I mean, I'm at least two, probably three years older then them, and you're even older then me."

Mamoru groaned slightly. "Not you too... Sorry, it's just that I have a hard enough time convincing Usagi's dad what we're made for each other..."

"It's okay," Duke said, flashing him a smile. "No biggie. I was just curious." He finally took the hand that Mamoru held out, clasping it firmly. "I'm Duke Devlin, Rei-chan's cousin from Domino City."

"He's staying the summer to help out at the Shrine while Yuuchiro's gone." Rei supplied.

Mamoru nodded, and would have said more, but at that moment screams registered to everyone's ears. The five girls and Mamoru shared a look that Duke didn't quite miss, but couldn't interpret. "Come here Duke," Minako said, pulling him away by the hand. "Sounds like a Daimon's coming."

"Daimon?" Duke asked as Minako pushed him toward the Crown Arcade. "Wait, where are you going?"

"Ask Motoki, the arcade manager." Minako yelled as she sprinted away. "Sorry, I've got to go!"

Not sure what else to do, Duke turned and entered the arcade. It seemed a few other people had heard the screams as well, and what few customers there were were over in the corner. A young man about Duke's age, maybe a little older, was holding up a trap door in the floor and urging everyone through. When he spotted Duke come in he waved him over. "Come on! Daimon shelter under here."

"I'm new in Juuban," Duke said. "What's a Daimon?" He and the blond guy were the only ones still in the arcade. The blond, Motoki, glanced once more over his shop, then hussled Duke down the steps, pulling the door shut behind him. He then squeezed past Duke and led the way to a basement, where the few customers were sitting around and talking, seemingly not concerned at all.

"You really don't know?" Motoki asked, surprised. He looked around the shelter, then waved over a red-head wearing the same school uniform that Usagi and Ami did. "This is Osaka Naru. Naru, help me explain the Daimon attacks to..."

"Duke Devlin." Duke said. "I'm visiting my cousin, Hino Rei, for the summer."

Motoki and Naru exchanged glances. "Rei-chan's your cousin? And yet you don't know about Daimons?" Motoki asked. "Oh boy, are you out of the loop..."

(WSJ: Quick note here. For those of you who've only seen the dubbed version of SM, Motoki is Andrew the Arcade Guy, and Naru is Molly, Usagi's best friend until the other Senshi came along.)

"The Daimons are basicly demons." Naru said. "Same as Youma, Droids, and Cardians, but they've all been destroyed already. Some evil people are controlling them, ordering them to steal people's energy. Or at least, that's what usually happens."

"Lately, the Daimons have been out to steal things called Heart Crystals." Motoki explained, taking up where Naru left off. "If a person's Heart Crystal gets stolen, and the Sailor Senshi don't get it back quick enough, they could get killed."

"Sailor Senshi?" Duke was beginning to feel like a parrot.

"The Sailor Senshi, pretty suited soldiers of love and justice." Naru said, putting her hands on her hips. "You say Rei-chan's your cousin, yet you don't know she's Sailor Mars? I thought everyone closest to them knew who they really were! At least their families, and look at Motoki and I, we know Usagi and the others are the Senshi."

She hadn't been talking loud enough for anyone else in the shelter to hear, but even so Motoki was making frantic "shhh!"ing motions as he watched Duke's eyes widen. "Na-ru!" he whispered in a sing-song voice through tightly-clenched teeth. "He didn't know up until you spilled the beans."

Naru gasped and put her hands over her mouth. "Oh kami! I'm sorry! But you're Rei's cousin, I thought you would have already known! The Senshi made a pact last year to tell their families and closest friends who they really were." (WSJ: Not really. I'm just making that up. ^~ So I guess Sailor Moon is slight AU after all...)

"Maybe, but I haven't seen Rei in nine years." Duke said, slightly dizzy. "Wait a second. I've heard about this on the news! Those Daimons are really dangerous, and you're telling me that my cousin and her friends, including the beautiful Minako, the brainy Ami, and the kick-butt Makoto, are out there fighting them?!" He stared hard at the two helpless teens, and then turned on his heel. He sprinted for the stairs and the way out of the shelter, when Motoki reacted and raced forward, grabbing his arm.

"The Senshi will be fine!" Motoki grit out, trying to hold on to the surprisingly strong Duke. "They have each other to watch their backs, and magical powers to boot! You go out there and you'll get your heart stolen or worse! You'd just be a distraction!"

Spinning around on the balls of one foot, Duke drove his fist into Motoki's stomach, forcing him to let go. "Distraction, smaction! I'm not letting my cousin or her friends get hurt!" Motoki doubled over in pain, and before anyone else could react Duke was up the stairs and out of the shelter. He ran out onto the street, looking around for any signs of the battle. Hearing an explosion down the street, he ran that way. He rounded a corner and then "eeep"ed and jumped back.

Five girls in sailor suits were battling against a monster, with a guy in a tuxedo watching over them from on top of a light pole. But since Duke knew what, or rather, who he was looking for, he identified them easily.

Sailor Moon, who was dressed primarily in red and blue and spinning a staff around like a club, could be no one else but Tsukino Usagi. Especially with that hair. Makoto, with her brown ponytail, had to be the green-skirted Jupiter. Ami was blue-themed Sailor Mercury, and Rei was the firey, red-clothed Sailor Mars, just like Naru had said. Venus, with long blond hair and an orange skirt, had to be Minako. Even the guy in the tuxedo could be identified as Mamoru, if you were smart enough to look that close.

Actually, it wasn't nearly so easy to identify the Sailor Senshi. Usually they have a magical discuise field that prevents them from being recognised. Duke had known, or at least suspected, who they were though, and so had been able to see through the spell.

Watching them fight, Duke couldn't help but get jittery. When Sailor Moon dusted the monster, he was already footing it back toward the Crown Arcade. He met the girls and Mamoru outside, and if they noticed that he was slightly preoccupied, none of them said anything.

(WSJ: *sweatdrop* More slight AU-ness. The Daimons have been attacking for about a month, and the Senshi know what they are and that they are after Heart Crystals, but they don't know why and they don't know who's controlling them. Neptune and Uranus aren't on the scene yet, but they'll show up soon enough.)

Long ago, almost five-thousand years ago, seven great and terrible Items of power were forged... But that story is already well known to you. Very well then, there is another story you must know. One more recent, but which also involves the fall of a great empire.

A thousand years ago, Earth's moon was inhabited by a kingdom known as the Moon Kingdom. The queen, Queen Serenity, and her daughter Princess Serenity ruled over it with a firm but loving hand.

On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, Princess Serenity met and fell in love with a prince from Earth. His name was Endymion. But alas, the match was not to be. Endymion was being lusted over by an evil queen named Beryl, and marrages between the Earth and Moon Kingdoms were forbidden.

Furious that Serenity had won Endymion's heart, Queen Beryl attacked the Moon Kingdom, using all the negative energies and dark powers in her heart to utterly destroy it. The guardians of the Moon Kingdom, who were each princesses in their own rights, did their best to protect Serenity, but they fell one by one at the hands of Beryl's generals, who were Endymion's friends brainwashed.

Using the power of the Silver Millenium Crystal, Queen Serenity was able to banish Beryl, and send her daughter, her guardians, and Endymion to be reincarnated on Earth. However, the spell used the last of her strength, and she died.

Fast forward a millenium, to modern day Tokyo. The Senshi have been reborn, but so have Beryl and her generals. Beryl attacks once again, but Sailor Moon (the reincarnated Princess Serenity) and her followers destroy her, this time for good. Over the next year they face several more trials, which brings us up to this point.

The latest batch of enemies, the Dark Moon Family, have been destroyed. But now new attacks are beginning. This time, the enemies aren't out for just energy. They're stealing people's pure hearts! Who are they, and what do they want? Only time will tell, but time is running out for the Sailor Senshi...

That is the story of the Senshi as it has been told over the years. But the two Moon Cats, Artemus and Luna, the guardians of the Senshi Guardians, never told the entire story. And the entire story is this:

Queen Serenity, after banishing the Dark Kingdom, didn't have enough power to reincarnate any more then two souls to the future. She chose her daughter and Endymion, and hoped that somehow they would survive without the Sailor Senshi. As Queen Serenity died and Luna and Artemus looked on, a figure appeared through the ruin of the Moon Kingdom.

She was tall, and had blond hair and violet eyes. She was dressed in a long white robe, and wings curved gracefully away from her back. Around her neck swung the Millenium Ring, as it was not time for the mortals to have it yet. Kneeling down next to the Queen, Fate placed a hand on her forehead.

"Peace, child," Fate said. "I will watch over them, and make sure they are all reborn. You have no need to worry. I have my own line to watch over, but someday our two factions will join together. I will watch over them all."

And with those words of comfort, Queen Serenity died.

"Who are you?" Luna asked, as Fate took the Cresent Moon Wand from Queen Serenity's limp hand.

Fate said simply, "I am Fate." and pointed the Wand at the Moon Cats. In an instant, they were locked in suspended animetion capsules, ready to be sent to the future on Earth as well. Once they were gone, Fate stood alone in the ruins of the greatest Kingdom that had ever been. In her hands, the Moon Wand was glowing softly, and the Millenium Ring was chiming slightly to itself.

Fate chuckled as she lifted her hand, letting the Moon Wand vanish into the future as well. "Calm, my friends. You will meet again soon enough. It has been five-thousand years waiting, another ten hundred will not make a difference."

"Are you sure?"

Fate turned to face Hatred, who stood behind her. The Millenium Rod was glowing softly as well, as if the two Items knew that their days with the Moon Kingdom were not over. "I am sure, Hatred. There is no question that the Moon Kingdom will rise again. We just need to be sure that it brings Egypt with it, or all is lost."

"Time says that in a thousand years, there will be a hero who rises and brings them both back, at the same time destoying the Great Evil once and for all."

"A hero?" Fate asked, slightly surprised. "Not a heroine? Not Sailor Moon?"

Hatred shook his head. "Sailor Moon will play a part, but it is the Child of Fate who will ultimately triumph."

Fate smiled slightly. "Ah, the Child. He shall do great things."

Hatred didn't bother to either agree or argue. He simply inclined his head, and then turned on his heel. With a small swoosh of moon dust, he was gone. Fate took one last look around the fallen kingdom, at where the fallen Queen lay, and then followed her fellow Elemental.

"Oy vey! I didn't know teaching was so stressful!!" Ryou moaned, leaning against the wall of the dojo. Raiden-san chuckled as together they waved goodbye to the last of their students.

"Bye Mokuba! See you tomorrow! Bye Ruki, bye Tyson!"

Well, almost. Ryou and Raiden-san turned to where the last of Ryou's students was waiting to be picked up. "Are you sure you have a ride home, Sasami?" Ryou aksed the blue-haired girl.

She nodded. "Oh yes, Tenchi said he'd come and get me. He probably just got delayed by Ryoko or Ayeka or someone. It happens a lot." she said, and shrugged, like it was no big deal.

Before anything else could be said, the door of the dojo opened and a black-haired man about Ryou's age or a little younger stuck his head in. He looked around, and when he spotted Raiden-san he grinned and waltzed inside like he owned the place. He wore red and black Chinese style clothes, and his hair was tied back in a pig-tail. A girl with hair so black it was almost blue trotted in after him, looking around. "Hiya Uncle Raiden!" the man said, waving at Raiden-san. "Pops said you had a class today. Hey," he turned toward Ryou with a look of surprise on his face. "Who's this? A student of yours?"

"No," Raiden-san said. "This is my new assistant, Ryou Bakura. Ryou-san's helping with the intermediate classes, so I have more time to work with the beginners and those advanced. Maybe you should spar with him Ranma, he even beat me." Ranma looked surprised at this, and Raiden-san turned to Ryou. "This is my nephew, Ranma Saotome, and his fiancee, Akane Tendo."

"Hi," Ranma said, sticking out his hand. "Would you like to spar? You've sure got some battle aura!"

"Sure," Ryou said, grinning as he took Ranma's offered hand. "Your aura's pretty big itself."

"That's just his ego." Akane said from the doorway, where she was talking to Sasami. Ranma stuck his tongue out at her, then turned back to Ryou. "You can sense auras?"

Ryou nodded and raised his eyebrows. "I'm a telepath. It's the only way I can do martial arts at all, since I'm blind. But I'm rather surprised you can sense people's auras."

"It's an aquired skill." Ranma muttered, for the first time noticing that Ryou's brown eyes were dull and muddied.

Before they could get into their fight, Sasami jumped up and down and opened the door wider. "Tenchi's here! And Yosho too!" Akane and Sasami stepped to either side as two men entered the dojo. One was Ryou and Ranma's age, with spikey black hair in a rattail. The other was an old man with long gray hair and glasses, dressed in the robes of a Shinto priest. Both of them seemed nervous about something, and jumpy. "What's wrong Tenchi?" Sasami asked.

It was Yosho, the older man, who answered her. "I can sense something around here. Two huge auras! They could be a danger to us all!"

Ranma and Ryou chuckled sheepishly as Tenchi looked their way. "Grampa! There, the two of them!"

Yosho frowned as he eyed them, his grandson dropping into a defensive crouch. "They do not seem threatening..."

"We ain't, we ain't!" Ranma said, waving his hands desperately. "I'm a martial artist, I've just trained my aura up! Ryou here's a telepath, whatever that means..."

Ryou was busy "eyeing" Tenchi, who also had a huge aura that almost caught up to Ranma's, if not surpassed it a bit. Of course, neither of them were really a match for Ryou. Yosho frowned. "A telepath... I thought all those with such powers had died out long ago."

"No, apparently not," Ryou said, speaking for the first time since Yosho and Tenchi had entered. "My mother was a telepath as well, and I inherritated my powers from her."

"Hmmm..." Yosho said, rubbing his chin in thought. "Very intresting..."

Raiden-san stepped forward. "I propose a match between the three boys, just for the fun of it. We can see which really is stronger." Akane and Sasami nodded and clapped their hands in delight, backing up into the corner of the dojo. Yosho and Raiden-san took up refereeing positions on either side, and looked toward the three teens.

"What do you say?" Tenchi asked, cracking his knuckles. "Up for a three-way spar?"

"You know it!" Ranma said. "I warn you though, between Mousse and Shampoo and Ryoga and everyone else, I'm used to free-for-alls!"

"Well then I guess you've never tried battling about twenty Shadow Realm demons at once." Ryou noted casually, also dropping into a crouch. "I say, let's go for it!"

"Very well," Yosho said, holding up his hand. The three boys backed into the three corners of the room not occupied by the girls and got ready to charge toward the center, as well as the other two. "It's a three-way, anything goes melee between Ranma Saotome, Tenchi Masaki, and Ryou Bakura. Ready..." The three martial artists tensed as Yosho dropped his hand, signifying that the match could begin.

"FIGHT!!"

Once all the bags had been brought inside, Amoura led everyone up to the guest rooms that had been prepared for them. The house was big, yes, but not a mansion. Considering the fact that the servents, Amoura, Amoura's brother Julien, Grandmama, and Amoura's mother all had their own rooms already, that left only two rooms open for the guests. Yami and Yugi were led to one, and Bakura got to stay in the other. Tea was going to share Amoura's room for the duration of their stay, not that she minded in the least.

Bakura yawned and stripped down to his boxers, all but tumbling into bed. Amoura and Tea inflated the air matress, then talked for awhile before they too fell asleep. Yami carried Yugi upstairs and set him into one of the beds in their room. Then he changed into a t-shirt and a pair of shorts and climbed into the other bed, asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.

Of the group from Domino, it was Bakura who woke up first the next morning, just shy of eleven o'clock local time. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, yawning all the while. Then he trudged downstairs. It was really a wonder that he didn't get lost along the way. The house was pretty big, after all. Maybe it was just the fact that he was extremely hungry that led him unerringly to the kitchen.

Inside, a man of about thirty with thick purple hair and a tall, lean build was standing over the stove, humming to himself. ^"Ah me, Annalee..."^ he sighed to himself. ^"How I love you..."^ He was dressed in a pair of navy blue dress slacks and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his elbows. Over top he had on an apron. When he turned around with a big plate of pancakes in one hand, Bakura could see that it had "Kiss the Cook" written across the top in English.

"Ah, zere you are!"

Bakura jumped and turned around to see Amoura, who was already showered, dressed, and smiling. The man who'd been at the stove stepped out of the kitchen, and Amoura talked to him for a moment or two in French. He laughed at something she said, then made his way toward the diningroom with the plate of pancakes. "Zat is Jacques." Amoura said, pronouncing it 'jjock'. "He is our cook."

"Cook?" Bakura asked, his mouth watering slightly. "As in food?"

Amoura laughed and took him by the arm, leading him toward the diningroom. "Of courze. Now come, you start breakfast and I vill go vake up zee others." Bakura nodded and entered the diningroom. He passed Jacques going the other way and nodded at the cook, who smiled back. Bakura then entered to find the round table set for eleven. Grandmama was already sitting at the head of the table, with Franz on one side and a woman about forty on the other. Another woman, about twenty-eight, sat on Franz's other side, while the other side of the forty-ish woman was occupied by a high chair and a little boy about two.

The woman next to Grandmama was immediately recognisable, though Bakura had never seen her before. She had green hair much shorted and a shade darker then Amoura's, but there was no mistaking those brown eyes for any other family. The little boy had green hair too, though his was much lighter then Amoura's, and his eyes were green as well. The other woman, sitting next to Franz, was short, with long brown hair and gray eyes. She looked shyly away when Bakura shifted his gaze to her.

As he entered the room, Grandmama stood up with a smile. "Ah, awake at last, I see. You are... Yugi?"

"No Madame," Bakura said, bowing to her and the rest of the table. "My name is Yami Bakura, but please, call me Bakura."

"Forgive me, I am bad with names." Smiling at him, she spoke to teh rest of the room. ^"Everyone, this is Bakura, one of Amoura's friends from Japan."^

"Bonjour!" several voices cried at once, and Bakura grinned, knowing that much French at least. "Bonjour."

"This is my daughter-in-law, Valeraine Letazaut, Amoura's mother." The green-haired woman next to Grandmama stood up and bowed awkwardly to him. He smiled and bowed back. She sat down again, picking up a spoon to feed the little boy. "And this is Julien, Amoura's little brother." Grandmama turned and gestured to the two seated on her other side. "This is Franz, whom you've met, and this is Annalee, our maid. I trust you met Jacques on the way in?"

Bakura nodded. "I did, thank you ma'am." He took a seat and held up his plate for Franz to dish him up a couple pancakes. Madame smiled at him. "You're so polite! Unlike that friend of yours, Yami..."

"Heeey..." Yami said as he walked in, shooting a glare at Madame. She just smiled innocently as Yami took a seat next to Bakura. Yugi entered a minute later, still rubbing his eyes, and finally Tea came in, with Amoura and Jacques right behind her, both carrying another load of pancakes. Throughout the meal, Bakura kept watching Jacques, who was watching Annalee. Wondering what was up, Bakura filed it away as something to ask Amoura about later. After all, it was none of his business, after all.

After breakfast (which was really more like lunch), everyone went off to do their own thing. Yugi and Franz adjorned to the livingroom for their promised duel, with Amoura nearby in case any translation was needed. At the same time, Amoura and Tea were playing with Amoura's little brother, Julien. Yami settled down with a good novel, while Bakura started writing a letter back to Ryou, sending him Amoura's address like he'd promised. Annalee went to clean house with Valeraine helping, and Jacques watched the duel, convincing Franz that he got to play winner.

Eventually, as could be predicted, Yugi won and Jacques fetched his own deck to battle against the holder of Time. Unfortunately, Yami had lost intrest in his book and was down on his knees pointing out good cards and combos to the Frenchman. With their combined effort, they defeated Yugi just as Madame walked in the room.

"Aha!" She yelled, pointing at Yami. "I knew you'd have to be able to duel! After all, your brother's reigning champion! All right then, I challenge you!"

Yami was a little surprised at that, but quickly rose to the bait as Yugi discreetly passed him their deck. "All right then Madame Amanda, I except your challenge." The two of them sat down on either side of the coffee table, while Amoura ran to find her mother and Annalee. This was going to be a duel to remember. Even Tea, who wasn't intrested in dueling other then the fact that most of her friends did it, wandered over to watch.

Placing their decks down on the table and agreeing that Bakura would referee and Amoura would translate for the French, Yami and Madame glared at each other.

"DUEL!"

Bandit Keith pounded on the dashboard of the van, cursing in colourful ways. Why did the stupid van have to break down now, here of all places! The middle of nowhere... Great. He was stranded in China with a bunch of rowdy and potentially horny teens, with a broken down bus. Just peachy...

He was banging his head rhythmaticly on the steering wheel when someone tapped on his window. Rolling it down, he came face to face with a buxom young woman with long, luxurious black hair and the skimpiest dress he'd ever seen.

"Well hel-lo!" he said, his eyes bugging out of his face.

Figuring out the he spoke only Japanese (and English, but that wouldn't have helped any) she said haltingly "Need place to stay, yes? Amazons too too willing have you stay there!" She smiled cutely, and Keith was sold.

"More like you? I'm in!"

"Wow!!"

Gwen's house, while no where near on par with Kaiba's or even Amoura's, was big. It had to be, what with her huge extended family. And what's more, it was backed up right against the beach, with the Pacific Ocean roaring in their ears. Gwen whooped in delight and threw her bags down right inside the door, racing for the room she shared with Kris, who was already way ahead of her. Josh wasn't far behind.

For the duration of their stay, Malik and Ishtar would be sharing the guest room, and Hiro would be staying with Josh, the only one of the kids to have his own room.

"Gwen, where are you going?" Hiro yelled. He didn't get an answer, but a moment later Josh slid down the banister in swim trunks. He looked at the three of them for a moment, and then gestured at himself. "Yeah, we have swimsuits. Gwen told us to bring them. Why?"

Gwen came down the stairs then, at a rather more sedate pace then her brother. Hiro stared and his eyes nearly fell out. Not to mention Malik and Ishtar, who hadn't seen a girl in that little clothing since Ishtar had walked in on the nuns. Gwen was in a pink and yellow Hawaiian print tankini, with a towel over one shoulder. Kris, in a blue one-piece, wasn't far behind. "Well, get into them then!" Gwen said, hopping impatiently from one foot to the other. "I haven't been surfing in almost a year, and I gotta go hit the waves!!"

"Surfing?" Malik asked. "You surf?"

Gwen looked at him funny. "Of course. Living this close to the ocean and not surfing? That'd be... Insane! We've got tons of boards in the garage. Why, never surfed before?"

Malik and Ishtar shook their heads. Hiro, having surfed once or twice on the beaches of Japan, was already rummaging through his bag, looking for his trunks. "Never surfed?" Gwen asked, slightly bug-eyed. "Where are you from that doesn't surf?"

"Egypt."

"Ah..." Gwen sweatdropped. "That would explain it, then..."

()()()()()

WSJ: *twitches*

Ryou: >> Short chapter my foot...

WSJ: *twitches more* Don't blame me...

Ryou: X( I blame you...

Chapter 3: WSJ: (Voice-over) Lots of action coming your way! Surfing...

Malik: Cowabunga!

Hiro: Bwah!

American beach bunnies: *drooling over Malik*

WSJ: (V/O) Duels...

Yami: I call out the Dark Magician!

Grandmama: *smirking* Magician of Black Chaos!

WSJ: (V/O) Spars...

Ranma: Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!!

Tenchi: *pauses* Chesnuts?

Ryou: Hyaa!

WSJ: (V/O) Fights for real...

Usagi: *gasps* It's after Rei!

Duke: *charging into battle* REI-CHAN!!!!

Daimon: Now what do we have here?

WSJ: (V/O) Or maybe not...

Serenity: Sakura!

Sakura: Serenity!

Both: BAKA YAROU!!!!!!!

Miaka: *sweatdrop* Ummm...

WSJ: (V/O) And through it all, someone gets drunk.

Joey: *slurred* Whazzat?

WSJ: (V/O) Or two...

Scott: *totally plastered* Whooie!

WSJ: (V/O) *sweatdrop* Or four...

Duo & Tamahome: *leaning against each other and singng baudy songs*

WSJ: (V/O) *coughs* All this and more on the next episode of Home Sweet Home!

I'm trying out a new way to preview the next chapter. Like? Should I just go back to the old way of listing off events? *sweatdrop* And don't forget the question from the beginning of the chapter. Should I pair off Duke with one of the Senshi?

God bless minna-san!