Chapter Three: The Beauty Underneath the Rough

The next morning Mana was awoken to the delicious smell of eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. The smell was intoxicating. It was a smell that she had never smelled before in her life. Slowly Mana sat up in the couch bed to see Abigail working at the stove and Yugi was setting the table. As Abigail turned to set the food on the table she saw that Mana was up.

"Good morning Mana. Grandpa is downstairs in the shop and the three of us are going to eat and then we're going to meet everyone at the mall."

Abigail sat the eggs in the middle of the table, then to the refrigerated to get the milk and orange juice.

Mana got up from the couch bed and made her way over to the table. See the feast laid out I front of her made her mouth water and her stomach growl. She never had food like this before.

Once all the food was set on the table Abigail and Yugi also sat at the table to start eating their morning meal. Mana slowly started to eat as, wanting to enjoy every single taste of the food. Fitting erg to just gobble down the food.

"You don't have to so safe with your food Mana. You can eat as much as you want, I'll make seconds if I have too." Abigail saw how careful Mana was being with her food.

"I'm just enjoying the food. Back at the D.M.S.C we don't get meals like this."

Mana started taking bigger bites of her food and started eating at a faster pates. She ended up eating three helpings of food. After eating Abigail took Mana up to her to let her barrow some of her clothes while Yugi cleared off the table. Abigail went through her closet, pulling out everything she could and showed them to Mana. One by one Mana didn't see anything that she would like until she pulled out a light blue sundress with pink trim around the edges.

Mana was about to put on the dress when Abigail suddenly pulled her out of her room, down the hall and to the bathroom. She turned the water on warm.

"You should take a show before we head out. I'll lay out the sundress of for you and I'll find the shoes that go with it."

Abigail quickly shut the bathroom door and ran down the hall. Mana could hear Abigail's footsteps rushing down the hall and could slightly hear her talking to Yugi. Mana took off the pajamas that she had borrowed from Abigail and jumped into the shower. When she felt the warm water hit her back she could feel all the dirt, grime and sweat run off her body.

When Mana was done with her shower she quickly rushed back to Abigail's room where the sundress and the shoes were laying out on the bed along with underwear and a bra. Slipping on the sundress and the shoes Mana saw herself in Abigail's body mirror.

She was amazed at what she saw. Never before had Mana ever wore something this beautiful before. All she ever wore was the rags that the D.M.S.C always made them wear. Still looking at herself in the mirror she almost didn't notice Abigail coming through the door.

"Mana you look so pretty," Abigail walked up to Mana with a smile. "Here Mana, I found this while looking for the shoes." Abigail handed Mana a long, light blue hair ribbon. "Use it to hold your hair back, it'll look good on you."

As Abigail was about to leave about to leave Mana suddenly reached out to her.

"Wait, Abigail, can you help me with it? I don't know how to tie something like this in my hair."

"Sure thing."

Once Abigail helped Mana get ready the two of them made their way down stairs, passing Yugi's room as they went. Again, Mana saw the strange item that he was wearing the day before and once again a strange feeling that she knew the item struck her. She stopped in front of his doorway to see Yugi also getting ready. Instead of wearing his school uniform like he usually did, he was wearing black pants, a black sleeveless shirt, and wore several wristbands and an armband. Abigail noticed Mana looking in at her cousin.

"Mana... this way." Abigail whispered, but was loud enough for Mana to hear her.

Mana slowly started to walk past Yugi's doorway again, still wondering what the strange item was that he wore around his neck. With her thoughts still consumed around the strange pyramid shaped item the walk to the mall seemed to take no time at all. Waiting at the food court was everyone from the day before. Joey was staring to get impatient causing Téa to get irritated with him until they saw Yugi, Abigail and Mana making their way towards them. When Téa saw Mana and how pretty she was she couldn't help but ran up to her.

"Mana you look absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you Téa. You're the second person who's said that to me." Mana said in an embarrassed tone.

There were light giggles at Mana's embarrassment. It was a making fun of giggling it was like "aww, how cute" giggling. Everyone made their way through the busy mall, quite usual for a Saturday. They went from store to store with Mana at first not really looking for anything, but as she started to get more comfortable she began to look and actually found something's that she liked.

With each outfit she tried on Mana started to feel like an ordinary girl. One who actually had a life of not being locked up in a dark cell and being tested on every single day.

It was getting close to being three o'clock and some of them (mostly Joey and Tristan) were starting to get hungry. Everyone made their way back to the food court to get something to eat. Not everyone wanted the same thing, so everyone split up. Mana stayed with Téa, not wanting to go off on her own.

After ordering her food with Téa, Mana noticed Abigail and Joey off together. Joey had ran off to a place where they sold ice cream. Joey had gotten chocolate ice cream while Abigail got vanilla and chocolate twist ice cream. At first Mana didn't think anything of it, that was until Joey's and Abigail's fingers started to intertwine with each other.

"Hey Téa, are Joey and Abigail together?"

"You mean as a couple?" Téa asked and then looked in the direction that Mana was looking.

"Yeah."

"They actually just recently started getting serious. Joey can be a little bit on the slow side sometimes, but he really is a good friend and with both of their backgrounds they actually make a really nice couple."

Mana looked back at Joey and Abigail. This time they were goofing off and trying to wipe ice cream on each other's faces. It really was something that Mana wasn't used to seeing, but it looked like something that would be fun to do with someone you cares deeply about. It was something that she hopes will one day happen to her.

When Mana finally got her food before Téa, Téa pointed Mana to where the others were sitting. Sitting in the middle of the food court was a giant table that big enough for the entire group to sit at. Bakura and Chloe were sitting next to each other, as were Duke, Jade, Joey and Abigail. James sat next to his sister and next to him was Tristan. Yugi was sitting on the other side of Joey, leaving two empty seats for Mana and Téa.

"Hey Mana, come sit next to Yugi, Téa can sit next to Chloe!" Abigail pointed to the set next to Yugi.

Mana took the seat next to Yugi and Téa took the seat next to Chloe. Everyone started to enjoy their lunches and laughing. Mana was also starting to relax even more then when they first arrived at the mall. While enjoying her lunch Mana suddenly felt someone starring at her. Looking over she saw Yugi, trying not to stare at her. Yugi then finally build up the courage to talk to Mana.

"Mana... I wanted to say this earlier, but..." Yugi's face started to turn a little red. Was Yugi getting embarrassed? ".... you really do look pretty."

Mana could feel her face turn an even brighter red then Yugi's.

"Thank you, Yugi."