Beforehand:

This fic takes place after the movie Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions, but I think you don't have to have seen the movie to read this FF.

In the beginning there won't be any romantic stuff, since those two didn't ever have had those feelings.
So it will take a long journey before love can come to be. 

In any case, have fun. （＾∀＾●）ﾉｼ

Sound.

So delicate.

So soothing.

A gentle sound drifted distantly to his consciousness in an irregular beat. It reminded him of the shallow song of the ocean. Oh the ocean, how often he had sought out this wonderful sound when life lay heavy on him and the thoughts seemed never-ending. When he needed distance again. Could not express what was tearing him apart inside.

It was the only friend with whom he could drop the facade and let himself sink into the deep blue. He associated something very special with this clear blue.

Forgetting.

Calming forgetting and looking forward. Remembering that things can get better at any time. Following the waves, letting himself drift empty inside until they washed away all problems like a work of art in the sand and gave his optimism new strength again.

Yes, he could trust this blue. It was the only true home for him. And he therefore did not feel the urge to wonder where this sea noise came from. There was, nevertheless, the most shelteredness here.

But...the noise, it became louder. Came closer and closer until it changed from a gentle soothing sound, to a deafening roar which was unpleasant to his aching head.

It scratched at his consciousness. Tried to tear him from the comfort of his beloved blue ocean, and as he flinched slightly from the irritating sounds, an uncomfortably bright light forced its way behind his closed eyelids.

His body felt strangely heavy. His fingers lightly gripped the ground and let fine sand slide through them.

His face was softly bedded in it.

Joey opened his eyes sluggishly.

The bright light burned in them, not allowing him to see his surroundings. He squeezed them painfully shut again and was about to curse loudly when only a whistling caw left his throat, quickly turning into a tortured cough.

Joey leaned heavily on his arms and knees to get better air. The brittle lips, which had not seen water for so long, cracked at the sudden movements in his facial expression.

Fine grains of sand stung his chest and he struggled to get rid of them. The dryness of his throat did not allow a relieving swallow but only left him longer in the aching circle of his raspy cough.

It took Joey a while to finally get over this irritation, while he realized something else. His body was so hot.

His blond hair was sticking to his neck and forehead with sweat. It was the bright sun that literally baked him in his long clothes. Especially the green leather jacket and bleached jeans were not made for this weather. Well, at least he was spared a worse sunburn because of it.

Joey lifted his gaze and looked in front of him. Still a little blurry, deep green lay before him. A thicket of tropical plants which was lined with tall palm trees on the edge of the white beach.

The brown eyes turned confusedly in the opposite direction and saw only the endless blue ocean, which reflected the incoming light glittering on the horizon.

And at that moment Joey asked himself merely one thing.

'Where am I?'

He tried to recall what had happened, but this headache did not allow him to think clearly. All that was in it at the moment was water. The incredible desire for water which his body needed so much.

Joey struggled to get his tired limbs up and swayed a bit before finally standing upright. For a moment the world spun around him and he would have loved to just fall back into the soft sand, but he knew that was the end of him. He would not be able to get up again.

Shakily Joey put one foot in front of the other. It was difficult to trudge through the soft beach, but he had to get to the palm trees.

Palm trees meant coconuts and coconuts meant coconut water.

...Water...

But when Joey reached the first palm tree and leaned against it, catching his breath, he didn't see even one coconut on the ground. No matter where he looked, the only ones he saw were far up the trees, out of his reach. Joey briefly considered trying to climb up the trunk, but quickly dismissed the idea.

In his present condition, such physical exertion was simply impossible.

He wouldn't last much longer without water. Joey already felt like he had the hydrated status of a dried raisin. His head hurt so much and he felt on the verge of collapse.

But he couldn't give up now. Not now when he was so close to getting his life together and especially he didn't want to do that to his little sister.

Here at the stand he had little chance to meet fresh water. Even if he would find a coconut somewhere in the distance, it was not sure if his strength would be enough to open it.

He would just have to hope to find a river or spring further inland. As in his duels, he staked everything on his luck and ultimately began to make his grinding way into the thicket.

But luck did not seem to be on his side today. Joey was already struggling to take each step after only a few minutes. He was so dehydrated that his sweat flow already didn't really want to work anymore, making him hotter and hotter. The high humidity only made things worse.

A branch got caught in his green leather jacket and not thinking twice Joey just let it slide off his shoulders as he continued on his way. At the moment it only hindered him with its warmth and it was far more comfortable to fight the heat in his simple white t-shirt. He was driven only by the thought of water.

But it did not come. No matter how long body and will fought with each other, water just didn't come. For Joey, it felt like he had been trudging through this dense jungle forever.

But with each passing minute, more of his remaining hope disappeared.

At some point Joey had difficulties to perceive his surroundings clearly and to let his will prevail over his body.

It finally came to what had to come.

His legs only dragged on the musty ground, when in his confused state a tree root finally brought him down.

Hard, the blond collided with the leaf-covered earth as his slowed reaction couldn't catch him in time.

Joey still tried to get up at first. He just didn't want to die here like this. He had to survive for his sister. For his own new life.

But he simply lacked the strength.

His arms and legs were failing. They just wouldn't move anymore and the heat wore his spirit down even more.

He was at his end.

And the worst part was...it was all his drunken father's fault.

All the years Joey had worked his ass off, all his plans for the future. If it wasn't for the old man and his gambling addiction...

Joey felt tired. He just didn't want to waste his last thoughts on the person who had ruined his life.

Instead, he just tried to remember the good times. The exciting feeling of somehow winning a duel at the last second. The shit he and Tristan had always done. The adventures he had gone through with his friends. How they had managed to give his sister back her sight. How proud he had been every time Yugi had kicked Kaiba's golden ass. How he missed the stupid fish face that self-absorbed moneybags always made when he lost to Yugi.

Ah yes the good old days.

These memories brought a satisfied smile to Joey's lips. One couldn't say he hadn't experienced anything.

Maybe it wasn't so bad. His future was uncertain anyway, so he couldn't disappoint anyone. They would simply remember him as their always good-humored friend, instead of maybe someday an old classmate who had failed in life.

At least now he didn't have to worry about the future.

Joey's vision was already so transfigured that he could only perceive the outlines of his surroundings. The fatigue enveloped him like a soothing blanket and would take away all his current suffering. He was so close to just letting it happen.

But Joey suddenly heard the leaves rustling behind him and muffled footsteps approaching him.

Probably some animal that was happy to find such easy prey. At least his body won't rise in the heat like a fresh yeast dough.

But something was not right in this assumption.

A black leather boot entered his field of vision. Animals did not own leather boots. Especially not ones with blue belts around.

Wait a minute...he knew those shoes from somewhere.

Joey felt himself being roughly pulled up and something holding him around his waist. His arm was wrapped supportively around something whose soft hair tickled his exposed skin. Most of his weight hung on it, preventing him from falling back to the floor.

Joey's head just swung limply down. He was so exhausted and just couldn't continue anymore.

Yet the worst voice he knew in this goddamn world, of all things, prevented him from giving in to his fatigue:

"Get a grip, mutt. You'll fall into a coma if you give in now."

Ohhhh...fuck. Of all the possibilities in this universe, why was the moneybags here?

"K-Kaiba?"

Almost silently, Joey's weak voice crept from his dry throat. He was surprised himself at how pitiful he sounded.

"L-let me..."

This snob wouldn't even let him die in peace. Was he even here, or was he just hallucinating. After all, this had to be the ass end of the world. Never ever can Kaiba be here and even more impossible would help him.

"Believe me, I'd like nothing more. I merely clear off ... debt. So don't you dare...a-..."

Joey quickly couldn't follow him. His head stopped. Was drained from the heat and lack of water. He could only hear his own heartbeat pounding rapidly as it tried to get the thickened blood through his body now that he was no longer lying horizontally.

Only dimly did he hear that annoyingly arrogant voice trying to keep him conscious, but it was to no avail.

No matter how hard Joey tried to fight it, he soon found himself no longer in his body.

And if he was unlucky, he never would again.