"I don't want that," Téa said to her. "No one deserves to die."
"It is still living," Masika agreed. "Even if it was made to be more of a weapon than a person, it's still important."
Perhaps joining with the other Téa had actually done Masika good? She had never dared to speak that bravely toward anyone, let alone the goddess.
"I will raise it with Téa, if she so wishes to stay near me?" Masika looked toward Téa.
"Yeah," Téa agreed, "and I can still raise mine with you."
"You'll need someone to babysit when you are out in the spotlight?" Yugi said to her. "New York, here we come? Still?"
Téa didn't seem to know what to say. "It's not yours, Yugi. It's not Bakura's. It's not even mine. It's just a part of Sekhmet she used us to create, that is going to need someone to care for it."
Masika went toward Atem. He gave Silhouette back to her. "I want to stay behind. I want to learn more of this world, and I will teach this future goddess to respect humans."
"I think that's a good idea. What it will become isn't set in stone." Atem would return where he belonged. "If Zorc comes, I will be here."
"Perhaps we will have a better meeting next time, Atem." She only gave a slight bow.
"Babysitter?" Yugi was still near Téa, figuring out his own role. "You don't even have to pay me. You and Masika shouldn't be any more responsible than anyone else."
"Saying stuff like that, isn't going to be easy on Hikaru," Téa said to Yugi. "He's going to be his own person, even if he was a piece of Sekhmet."
"Yugi can learn," Bakura said to her. "I think you both would be happy in New York with Masika. I think, considering the circumstances, I would probably just stay here."
"If Masika had not joined with the other Téa, this path would have gone differently," Bastet said slowly. "Fine, I will return the two of you back to your eternities."
"Wait," Atem stopped her. "Could we delay until tomorrow? I would like to have one more day to spend with my friends, before I say goodbye."
"Yeah, one more day before we do anything," Yugi agreed. "We can take time with our decisions. Make sure they are the right ones."
Bastet nodded. "Yes, I will give you another day."
---
The Next Day
Joey met everyone on the bridge near where he left for Duelist Kingdom a long time ago on his first tournament. It looked like it was a big day. Lot of surprises. Some good. Some bad.
Most were bad. "Um?" He looked toward Mai. She'd been a little nicer that day, probably from the understanding they seemed to reach. Which was good because . . .
"I think it's . . . it needed to happen, so it happened?" Mai at least didn't tease him. "Um?"
"I know that it was really awkward," Serenity said. "I made a lot of hard decisions, so you just have to accept it too."
"It was needed for the gods," Kaiba dared to say to Joey. "Don't be shallow enough to cast blame."
"Shallow?" Jerk. "The only reason you got anywhere with my sister is because of the gods. But hey, the gods are gone now, you got your little . . ." Don't say spawn, don't say spawn! "You got the thing in her, so you can leave her alone now."
"I don't do things half-assed, ass," Kaiba responded. Then Serenity shoved him. He rolled his eyes. "Joey."
"We are going to take real good care of her," Mokuba assured Joey. "It'll be okay. It's not much different than with you and Mai. She's gonna be okay."
"But, you just did that to Tristan?" Joey reminded her. "That was cruel, Serenity."
"He already knew way before we left what had to happen," Kaiba reminded him. "Nothing personal. Following gods."
"Yes, we had to follow, Joey," Serenity agreed. "I know it was tough, but we were already on thin ice. I saw him already, so I won't stay long. I know today is some other people's last day."
Right. "You didn't get to visit too long without things getting whacked out," Joey said to Atem. "I'm guessing they are taking back your body?"
"They were being accommodating, to get us into this spot," Atem told him.
"Yeah. Well, we will be missing you," Joey said to him. "Serenity?" Serenity was already turning to leave.
"You get it, Joey," Mokuba said to him for her. "You guys celebrate your last day with your friends."
"Keep yourself prepared," Kaiba said as he followed Serenity away with Mokuba. "We might have something else to fight one day."
Yeah, and dealing with what else he heard. Joey looked toward Téa and Masika holding . . . babies. Avatar babies apparently. "So those are actually not yours, just an avatar to control from the great beyond or something?"
"If things go awry," Atem agreed. "It's best to treat them like humans though. Everyone deserves a chance."
Sure, sure. He should be nice. After all, Yugi was getting up out of there too. He wanted to go to New York with Téa and Masika to 'help with the little god babies'. Joey would miss him, but it was a good idea. He finally got Téa in girlfriend territory, and if he wanted to keep her, he'd have to go. "At least Skeezy is taken care of."
"Yeah, they came in clutch there. It's good to be free again." Mai stretched. "Yes, I'll be sticking around Domino City for a little while."
"When you leave, I'll make sure Grandpa is alright," Joey said Yugi. "Until he's off to New York too." Yugi wanted to get the shop ready there first before his grandfather tagged along.
"Thanks, Joey. I appreciate that," Yugi said. He looked toward Atem. "This has been a crazy time since you came back. I hate that when things stop getting out of control, it's when you have to go."
Atem nodded. "I know. It was good to see you, but I need to find where I belong."
"Yeah, I know," Yugi agreed.
Joey looked toward Bakura and Bandit King. "Here to say goodbye too?"
"I earned a good eternity. I am leaving too," Bandit King said. He looked toward Bakura. "Go find a wife already."
Bakura blinked at him. "What?"
"You don't like anyone around here, but you clearly want family, so stop goofing around and get one. You're a catch, but don't get stupid with them either," Bandit King warned him.
Joey just watched Yugi smile at the idea. Maybe Yugi was getting some thoughts of his own? "Hey, maybe Hikaru will get a baby brother or sister soon too, huh?" Yeah, that smile fell off Yugi.
"Don't tease right now," Yugi said with the smallest of blushes, but Joey still recognized it. "I hope you and Mai work together to figure out your own situation."
"Yeah." Tristan walked up toward them. He looked around. "This is it for the going away party?"
"Yeah," Joey said to him with a light pat on the back. "This is it; this is everybody." You know? At least Serenity decided to call him and break it off before anything happened. Not that anything should have happened. His sister felt way too much responsibility. On the other hand? Kaiba was pretty obsessed with taking care of family so, his sister was probably in . . . okay hands. For now. "So what digs are we going to?"