Note: None of these scenes are related to each other. They're all stand-alone.

3.

It'd been two years since Judai last visited Norway. Between this and that, he hadn't had the opportunity, but his last adventure had ended with him in Finland, and that was close enough to warrant a visit to Johan, he'd thought.

To be honest, though, he could have been in Turkey or Portugal and still would have considered that close enough. It had been a long time – too long, and he had to admit that he missed Johan, to the point that he was beginning to feel it through his whole body.

He'd had the misfortune of arriving in winter, and the entire landscape he could see from the train was white and frozen over. Last time, he'd come in summer when everything had been green and breathtaking. Johan had taken him to see the fjords and shown him the midnight sun, smiling and animated the whole time he introduced his home country to Judai.

Even two years later, Johan's excited face and dazzling grin still stood out to Judai as the most spectacular feature from the trip.

He smiled to himself, watching the scenery outside the window fly by and pointedly ignored the way his heart leapt a little, even at the mere thought. Yeah… Johan was pretty spectacular.

Arriving in Oslo and exiting the train was a bit of a shock to the system. The inside of the vehicle had been warm, but the platform certainly wasn't. Born and raised in the more Southern parts of the Kanto region, Judai was not used to temperatures below freezing and his body balked at it.

"It's cold!" He whined as he climbed off the train, and his teeth immediately began to chatter. "This isn't natural…"

Still, he thought, Johan's house would be warm. Despite him hailing from the North Academy during their time at high school, Judai found it difficult to associate Johan with anything cold. He imagined that his tiny house would be brightly lit, the fireplace that had been empty and disused in summer would be warm and inviting. And then there would be Johan himself, and Judai imagined he'd be hard pressed to feel cold if the two of them were together.

Even after two years away, the way to Johan's home stuck in his memory. He followed it, jacket pulled tight around his body in hope of warding off the chill in the air, unable to arrive soon enough.

As he'd suspected, once he finally got there, the house looked warm and inviting. Lights shone from the windows, cutting through the dark and falling snowflakes, and smoke billowed from the chimney that sat atop the roof. Judai heaved a sigh of relief. He was finally here.

He knocked on the door, waiting impatiently, desperate to get out of the cold. But the face that greeted him once it opened didn't belong to the boy with the wide green eyes or artfully messy hair he remembered.

"God kveld," the woman greeted him in Norwegian, looking confused and slightly suspicious to find a foreign stranger on the other side of her door.

"Uh… hello," Judai replied in English. He was just as shocked to find someone he didn't know inside the house where his best friend lived. "Is… is Johan Anderson home?"

The woman shook her head slowly, and the look on her face told Judai she had no idea who he was talking about. "I'm sorry…" She replied, thankfully in English. "There's no one who lives here by that name."

"Oh…" Judai felt his cheeks heating up. Had he gotten the wrong house? Surely not, this one looked so familiar. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

"Don't worry," the woman assured him, a small smile gracing her face for the first time. "It's no trou…"

She paused midsentence, and then her eyes suddenly lit up with recognition. "Oh, Johan Anderson!"

Judai felt a flame of hope spark in his heart. "You know him?"

"Yes. He was the previous owner of this house. He moved out about 5 months ago." She seemed apologetic. "I'm sorry. I have no idea where he lives now."

And the flame was doused just as quickly.

"I see." He faked a smile, just for the sake of politeness. "I'm sorry for bothering you. Thanks for your help."

"No problem," the woman nodded at him. "Good luck."

Judai turned away, heading back down to the icy roads, feeling for the first time since he'd begun travelling the true gap that came from being entirely cut off from his friends.

But he and Johan… they had a connection, right? A kind of link between them that meant they'd find one another again no matter what. Surely Johan had thought the same thing when he'd decided to move – known that one day, no matter what, they would cross paths again.

He pulled his thin red jacket tighter around his shoulders.

Had he crossed Johan's mind at all?

The wind picked up in a forceful gust. Snowflakes stuck to his clothes. Judai had never felt so cold.

2.

The last winter that Judai had visited Norway, it had been Christmas. Even now, he could vividly remember how the outside of Johan's house had been laced with rainbow fairy lights, and the nine stockings above the fireplace – one for each of the gem beasts, one for Johan, and one extra for Judai that Johan had gotten especially when he'd turned up out of nowhere in late December and invited himself to stay.

The whole week he'd stayed had seemed like a scene out of a foreign movie. The tree, the lights, the lit fireplace, the stockings, the Christmas carols… it was so different to the commercial Christmas in Japan. And so, as much as Judai hated the cold, he'd bundled himself up and come again this year.

He'd actually called this time, checking that Johan would be around; it had been a month in advance, when he'd come across a payphone during his travels in the UK. Johan had joked on the other end of the line that it'd probably be the first and last time Judai did anything early – but he'd said yes, he'd be there, and he was looking forward to seeing Judai.

The reason Judai actually called this time was because last time he'd dropped in unannounced during the summer, i Johan had been on a 2 week vacation to visit their friends in Japan and they'd missed each other completely. This time, with a wrapped gift stuffed into his backpack along with Pharaoh, and constant shivers despite his thick jacket, this was definitely the time he least wanted to find himself locked out in the cold.

And yet still, this winter he was greeted by a very different house than the last.

The windows were dark holes gaping from the walls, and when Judai peered into them there was no furniture, no pictures adorning the walls or random knick-knacks cluttering corners of the rooms. It was completely empty. The For Sale sign on the tiny yard out front let him know exactly what was happening. Judai sighed. Well, Johan had mentioned a couple of times over the years that Oslo was an expensive place to live, and the home was a little too big for just him and his Gem Beasts.

Tomorrow was, fortunately, an open home, and no doubt Johan would be there. Judai would find lodging tonight and come back then, go back with Johan to wherever he was now and everything would go as planned. Judai was no stranger to last minute plans; this was nothing he couldn't handle.

Except the next day, Johan wasn't there either.

The living room seemed so large without the two sofas and small coffee table that had been here last, or the overflowing bookcase by the window. He stood to the side, not even bothering to seem inconspicuous as he watched the potential buyers milling around, waiting, hoping to spot that familiar head of teal hair.

Half an hour passed, and Judai started getting impatient. He'd never been good at waiting around and doing nothing; even four years of travelling and maturing hadn't changed that.

If Johan wasn't here, he decided, then he'd ask the next best person – the man who seemed to be running the open home, a middle-aged presumably Norwegian man to whom all questions and comments were being directed.

Judai waited until he was free and sidled up to him.

"Excuse me," he asked, in English. He'd been forced to learn over the years – if you couldn't speak the local language, English was usually the next best thing. "Do you know what happened to the owner of this house?"

The man stared at him, taking in Judai's Asian features and accented English. "You mean Johan Anderson?"

Judai nodded, and the man's face took on an expression that Judai had begun to recognise over the years as the look people get on their face when they don't want to tell you something.

"Would you happen to be Judai Yuki by any chance?"

Judai's neck straightened in surprise. He hadn't expected anyone here to know who he was. "I'm... yeah, I am. How do you know who I am? ...who are you?"

The man seemed uneasy. "I'm... well, as you may know, Johan had no immediate family."

They'd never actually talked about it, but Judai had had a good idea. The Gem Beasts had been Johan's family, and he'd never mentioned siblings or parents. It had been safe to assume there had been no one. And so Judai nodded.

"I was Johan's legal guardian until he left to study at North Academy, and so I'm the closest living person he had to family. So I'm the one who's... putting his affairs in order."

Judai felt numb for a split second before a rush of horrible tingles swept down his body. He fought the urge to shiver. "His affairs."

The man bit his lip. "I'm sorry. You and Johan must have been close. He wanted you to have this." He rummaged in his pocket, pulling out a deck of cards, and Judai felt a sudden, sharp pain in his chest.

"I..." Judai took the cards, cradling the deck to his chest the same as one might hold a child. "How..." He swallowed, trying again, but no more words followed.

Fortunately, the man seemed to understand. "There was a motor vehicle accident. He regained consciousness in the emergency room for long enough to tell me to take the cards and tell me your name. He said you'd come."

Judai nodded, but didn't speak again, face blank. He felt blank, felt like he was floating somewhere above his own head, watching the whole scene proceed below him, like a movie. Like something happening to someone else.

When he stayed silent, the man eventually told him in a regretful voice that he needed to go, attend to the open home-goers.

"I'm sorry," he said again, to little more response than another nod.

When he backed away, Judai stood there a little longer before suddenly snapping back into action and heading for the door into the cold, midday snow, oblivious to Yubel's worried presence. He couldn't stay here. Not in this empty house with nothing that had once been a home so full of Johan.

And besides. He had a grave to visit.

1.

Falling in love had always been a foreign concept to Judai, who had never identified with his middle school classmates' whispered conversations about girls and crushes. Even in high school, when he'd had a group of friends, no longer ostracized for being the oddball who spoke to his cards, he was no wiser to the feelings Manjoume spoke of when he shouted his feelings for Asuka from the rooftops, or the crushes Sho harboured on some girl or other who'd looked his way that week

But of course, being Judai, he never did anything half-heartedly (aside from maybe homework) and so his first time falling in love was abrupt, explosive and contributed to what was almost the collapse of an entire realm and the deaths of all his close friends.

Fortunately, his feelings for Johan had mellowed out a little after that and no longer lead to imminent catastrophe.

Despite both of them being well aware of their mutual feelings for one another, nothing had actually happened between them until Johan's return to Due l Academy. Even then, it wasn't even until after they'd released Yusuke from the hold of Darkness, and the Academy was saved for the fourth time in three years. It wasn't much – just a quiet moment, stolen away between Judai's victory against Darkness and the graduation ceremony, but it was enough.

Johan took Judai by the shoulders,thanked him for rescuing them all, and Judai responded by touching Johan's cheek.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said, but the feeling behind it was obvious – 'I'm glad I didn't lose you again'.

Johan's smile said that he understood exactly what Judai meant. "Of course I'm okay. I knew you wouldn't let that thing win."

Judai cracked a grin and Johan had laughed, causing Judai to chuckle along with him. When their giggles both died down, Johan leant in to rest his forehead against Judai's.

"I feel like it'll be a while before we see each other again," he murmured, hand trailing down from Judai's shoulder to rest against the small of his back.

"It won't be goodbye forever, though," Judai replied, in similarly low tones. He brushed his thumb along the line of Johan's jaw.

"If it's you and me, I don't think it'll ever be goodbye forever. Even if we wanted it to be." Johan's tone was teasing, and Judai smiled.

"I wouldn't want it to be," he whispered. "Not with you."

"So then I guess this is 'au revoir' rather than 'adieu'," Johan said, and he looped his arms further around Judai until he was embracing him.

Judai hugged back. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about."

"Yeah," Johan laughed again, softer this time. "I didn't think you would."

And then he kissed him.

That was really the last they saw of one another until Judai came to visit Johan in Norway, not long after defeating Paradox. He'd not meant to stay long, just long enough to check that Rainbow Dragon had returned to where it belonged, but the one or two days that he'd imagined the visit lasting had stretched into a whole week. It didn't feel right to leave so soon, especially not after Johan pulled him into his bed on the second night and showed Judai, without any words, just how much he'd missed him.

Following visits had been much more frequent after that, the nameless relationship between the two of them compelling Judai to return again and again. It was nothing official, without so much as an 'I love you' to give it a recognisable shape, but the feelings were there, and that was all Judai needed if it was Johan.

And then two years passed, without so much as a word. It wasn't intentional – in fact, it was quite accidental, and Judai thought of Johan often. But when duel spirits, the powers of evil and the spirit realm were involved in a convoluted scheme for power, Judai had to do what he had to do. Johan would understand, after all – he felt for the causes of spirits just as strongly as Judai did himself.

Despite the brief amount of time he'd spent in Norway if you put it all together, the flight to Europe flooded Judai with the same relief that one felt when they finally went home after a long day at work. It wasn't Norway (or even Japan, really) that was home, after all; it was Johan, Johan and his tiny apartment that was barely big enough for one person, but just right for the two of them. Excitement flooded his veins, energy tingling in his body from head to toe. He could barely wait.

Johan's apartment was on the second floor of a two-storey building, up a rickety staircase that had seen better years. Judai let his fingers brush against the little name plate above the mailbox, smiling slightly as he traced the letters, before knocking on the door.

There was no response for a few moments, and then the door opened, revealing a curious pair of emerald green eyes that quickly widened with recognition.

"Judai!" Johan's face split into a wide grin, still slightly disbelieving. "It's been so long!"

Judai grinned right back, and the two years apart already felt like they were fading into nothing. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. You wouldn't believe what's happened since I last left."

Johan was already ushering him inside, Judai still taking off his shoes out of habit even though Johan was wearing his. "I don't know, if it's you, I'm inclined to believe anything."

Judai was going to reply when a person he'd never set eyes on before stepped out of what he clearly remembered was Johan's bedroom and said something in Norwegian – Judai never had picked up the language beyond a few simple phrases. He was tall, and his features were clearly European.

"This is Judai," Johan replied in English, expressing without words which language they needed to be using. "I've told you about him, remember."

Realisation dawned on the man's face and he turned to Judai. "Oh! So you're Judai. I've heard a lot about you from Johan. It's nice to meet you, I'm Lukas."

"Nice to meet you too." Judai took his extended hand and shook it.

"Lukas is my, uh, boyfriend," Johan explained, with only a slight bump in his otherwise steady voice. "We've been dating for about eight months."

It took all of Judai's willpower to keep his expression neutral and not look like he'd taken the mental equivalent to a firm punch in the gut. "Oh, really? Eight months, huh. I guess a lot happened these last two years."

"Well, aside from that, just the usual really. I'll bet whatever you've been doing was much more interesting."

"Just the usual for me too, really." Judai forced out a joke. What else could he do right now? They were in front of Johan's boyfriend, after all.

Boyfriend. The word left Judai cold. But what had he expected? He'd been gone for two years. Two years, without contact? Had he expected Johan to wait? ... well, yeah, he kind of had. But was it fair to expect Johan to wait? No. He couldn't be angry, especially not when they hadn't been official, when he hadn't called or written or tried to contact Johan or anything. This was natural. This was what he should have expected, had he given even a moment's thought to how lonely Johan must have been, probably waiting for his usual bi-yearly (sometimes even tri-yearly) visit.

This was... this was...

"I'll make you some tea. Green, right?" Johan's smile was just as he remembered, and he hated that he had to share it with someone else now. He felt selfish.

"Sure, thanks!" Judai forced cheeriness. Maybe the tea would settle his stomach. It was suddenly churning.

Lukas left the two of them alone in the cramped kitchen as Johan made the tea, letting them switch back to Japanese to catch up.

"So, how long are you thinking of staying?" Johan asked, filling the kettle.

"Oh... hmm... I hadn't given it much thought... I guess a day or two?"

"Just a couple of days?" Johan sounded disappointed. "It's been so long, though."

"Well, you know. Duty calls," Judai smiled at him. He could tell Johan didn't buy it, but fortunately his friend knew when he shouldn't push it either.

"Well, you're welcome to stay longer if you change your mind."

Judai smiled. "Thanks," he said, adding silently, 'but there's no space for me here.'

The kettle started to bubble as the two old friends (that's all they were, right?) stood in uncomfortable proximity in the limited space. Finally, Johan broke the silence by clearing his throat.

"I missed you," he said softly, reaching out for a hug.

Judai returned it awkwardly. "I missed you too." He felt the same familiar electricity rush through his body, and from the barely perceptible tremble he felt Johan give in his arms, he'd felt it too.

Judai let go first – he didn't want to, which was probably the main reason he knew he must.

"Don't stay away so long next time," Johan murmured, turning around to pour the boiling water into mugs. "Maybe next time you come, things... things will be different... and you'll be able to stay longer."

Judai bit the inside of his cheek as his nails bit into his palms. "Yeah. Maybe they will."

0.

"How did you do it?" Johan asked Judai, in lieu of a greeting, when he turned up at his apartment unannounced.

"Would you believe me if I told you?" Judai asked, kicking his shoes off and dropping his bag on the floor. An indignant meow sounded from inside.

"Remember when you asked me the same question about travelling back in time to duel Muto Yugi-san?" Johan asked, taking Judai's coat for him and hanging it up on the coat rack. "And remember how I believed you?"

Judai headed straight for the couch in Johan's cramped living room and flung himself down on it. "Okay. So I was trying to find the guy who stole your Rainbow Dragon, and he's about to hit me with a giant fireball when this guy from the future turns up on his duelling motorcycle. Anyway, he takes me on the bike and we go back in time to where Yugi-san is, and the three of us duel against Paradox – that's the one who stole your card, by the way – and defeat him. Then Yusei, the guy from the future, brought me back to my own time, and that was that."

Johan raised an eyebrow, perching on the arm of the same couch Judai was sprawled across. "Okay. It does sound pretty stupid. I believe you, but it's stupid."

Judai grinned up at Johan from beneath messy brown bangs. "It's the part about the duelling bike, right?"

"It's all of it," Johan replied, grinning back down at him. "But you know I don't take you for a liar."

"So Rainbow Dragon is definitely back, safe and sound?" Judai asked. He scooted up on the couch a bit and patted the cushion next to him.

Johan slid down onto it, thigh pressing against Judai's knees. "Like it was never gone. Thank you. I really owe you."

Judai shook his head, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "You owe me nothing. You'd have done the same for me. Besides, I've made it my job to fix duel spirit problems."

Johan smiled at him, skin wrinkling around the corners of his eyes. "Still... thank you."

"Ah... no problem," Judai said, playing it off as nothing and hoping the pounding of his heart wasn't audible to anyone but himself.

'You seem nervous,' Yubel commented, her tone deadpan, betraying the fact that she knew exactly what was going on.

'Not now,' Judai sighed, and she shrugged, retreating back into his mind without another word. She'd long accepted the way he felt for Johan. It didn't mean she liked it, but at least she wasn't ready to possess him and have the rest of his friends locked away in an alternate dimension because of it.

"So, are you planning to stay long?" Johan asked, snapping Judai back to attention.

"What do you think of as 'long'?" Judai replied, and Johan chuckled.

"With you, I don't think it'll ever be quite long enough for me."

Judai was absolutely sure that Johan must be able to hear his heartbeat by now. "I can stay a while. You didn't get to show me around at all before I had to go off chasing Paradox last time. Want to give me the Norwegian experience?"

'You only wish he'd give you the 'Norwegian experience', don't you?' Yubel's voice echoed in his head, and she sounded so smug that Judai almost wanted to punch himself in the hopes that she'd feel it too. Instead, he chose to ignore her.

"Sure. Do you want to start that with tonight's dinner, or are you missing Japanese cuisine? Because I'm pretty sure I can make you some fried shrimp if you're craving it."

Judai laughed. "You make it sound like we're newlyweds."

The corner of Johan's mouth quirked. "That's legal here, you know."

"Huh?"

"Marriage. Between two men. It's legal. So for all anyone knows, we could be newlyweds."

Judai felt his face heating up and knew it was quite visible. He hoped Johan would choose not to comment. "I... I see... so, uh. Fried shrimp, huh? Want me to help?"

"Sure thing, honey," Johan replied innocently. He could only laugh when Judai hit him in the face with a pillow.

Hane Kuriboh seemed happy to see Ruby again, even if the two of them got into a huge tussle the second they were left alone with each other, but neither of their masters paid it any mind. By this point, they could only assume their duel spirits were like a pair of small dogs who showed their affection through fighting.

Judai hovered just outside the kitchen – there was barely large enough for one body, let alone two – waiting for Johan to finish preparing dinner.

He was cute, Judai thought absently, choosing to admire rather than make smart remarks about the purple, frilled apron he was wearing – he'd kind of gotten used to Johan and his purple frilly things by this point.

"I hope these are as good as we got back at the academy... but since you'll eat anything it shouldn't be a problem, right?" Johan looked at Judai over his shoulder, and Judai had a strong urge to lean forward and give him a peck on the lips.

"As long as it's not poison, I'll eat it," Judai assured him, trying to shake the desire off.

"You don't think my cooking will be that bad, right?" Johan raised an eyebrow, but his smirk gave him away. "Man, it's been a long time since I've cooked for someone else. Hope I made enough."

Judai couldn't help feeling a little relieved that Johan didn't have some other guy (or girl) who he cooked for on a regular basis. He didn't take himself for a jealous person, didn't mind sharing, but in this particular circumstance he couldn't help seeing green, just a little. Then again, he'd never felt this way about anyone before. Romantic envy was unknown territory for him… and fortunately it sounded like it would stay that way for now.

Johan piled the jumbo shrimp onto two separate plates and placed them on the table. He had no katsu sauce, but he did have mayonnaise and a lemon, and Judai assured him that was enough of a taste of home as it was. He could see Johan watching him with amusement written clear across his face as Judai liberally squirted mayo all over the shrimp.

"You want some shrimp with your mayonnaise?" Johan asked, and Judai paused, eyeing him playfully.

"Why, are you offering me yours?" He sounded half hopeful despite that fact that he was joking.

Johan's smile wrinkled his nose, and Judai suddenly found himself extra-specially interested in the contents of his plate. It wasn't fair that, even after saving the world four times and facing imminent death and destruction, anyone could send his heart into a palpitating frenzy with a simple upward turn of their mouth.

"You need to stop staring at it and try it," Johan urged him. "I'm getting nervous. Tell me if it's edible."

"Smells edible," Judai assured him, spearing one of the shrimp with a fork (Johan's apartment was woefully devoid of chopsticks) and taking a bite. He chewed thoughtfully, then nodded and swallowed. "It's really good! Ah, it's been so long since I've had shrimp. Thanks, Johan."

Johan beamed. "I'm relieved."

They caught up while they ate, Judai explaining his journey to the past in greater detail and Johan filling him in on everything he'd been up to since he'd graduated and returned to Norway. Conversation came easily to them, and Judai remembered for the hundredth time exactly why he always felt so free and at ease around Johan. Right up until he realised his friend was staring at him weirdly, that was.

"Do I have something on my face?" He asked.

Johan nodded. "You have some mayonnaise above your top lip."

"Oh." Kind of inevitable, really, given how he'd applied it like it was sunscreen and the shrimp was off to a day at the beach. "Thanks."

He reached up to wipe it off, but Johan leant across the table and grabbed his hands. "Don't."

Judai's eyes widened. What was going on? "Uh... why not...?"

Johan stood still holding Judai's hands, and leant down towards him. His brow was furrowed, as if he was concentrated very heavily, and his expression was serious. "Let me."

Judai's heart sped up double time. The grip on his hands was firm, and Johan's fingers had moved to lace with his own. He couldn't move, only staring as his best friend came closer and closer.

"Uh. What are you doing?" He asked, but Johan only shushed him.

"Stay still," he whispered, leaning in until they were mere inches apart, and Judai couldn't help it; his eyes slipped shut.

He felt warm breath brush his cheek, leaving the skin tingling in its wake, and then suddenly Johan's sleek tongue brushed his top lip, deft and almost playful. It left as quickly as it had come, and Johan pulled away, actually looking a little bashful, Judai realised when he opened his eyes.

"Er... sorry," Johan grinned apologetically, releasing one hand in order to rub the back of his head. "That was... I don't even know what just came over me."

"Probably the same thing that just came over me," Judai replied, before tangling his now free hand in the back of Johan's hair and pulling him back in to kiss him.

Johan put up no fight when Judai's lips covered his own, mouths fusing together and Judai's tongue sneaking out to return the previous favour. Johan settled in Judai's lap, arms winding around his shoulders so he could change the angle and deepen the kiss.

They were both panting heavily when they broke apart, and not for lack of air.

"Wow. You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Judai said and Johan snickered.

"If it's anywhere near as long as I've wanted to, I think I have a fair idea," he said, then leant in to capture Judai's mouth again.

Judai's fingers hand found their way under the hem of Johan's shirt, brushing against hot, smooth skin.

"I just remembered, I never showed you where you're going to be sleeping," Johan spoke the words against his lips.

"Want to show me now?"

Johan was silent for a moment. "We haven't finished dinner, though."

Judai grinned. "I'll eat anything. That includes cold fried shrimp. And besides." He pressed a kiss to Johan's jaw. "I suddenly kind of want dessert."