Chapter 9 love changes people.

{note from the author, there's a semi important auxiliary chapter so if you haven't voted yet i would suggest you vote. . . }

Defeating Jaden wasn't the worst feeling but I know this isn't him in his prime, where he's buffed by the gentle darkness and Yubel.

Letting the illusions fade to let the park forest return around us I start to walk towards Jaden.

As I get closer I can start to hear the sound of sniffling coming from Jaden and with the look his face I can tell he feels both happy and sad at his loss.

Kneeling down so I'm face to face with Jaden I look him the eyes and simple ask him a question I guess his parents asked him.

"How do you feel Jaden?" The question catches his attention but before he can speak I continue.

"I can tell something is bugging you. with the look on your face, I can tell you were happy from the duel even though you lost, but I can tell your not sad because you lost."

My words pull a cord with Jaden and his sniffles fully devolve in to tears and then crying.

When he started to cry I try to use any parenting bone in my body to try and calm him down, after a while he calms down even though his eyes are red and puffy from the crying.

Once I feel he's calmed down enough I simply ask. "Do you want to open up? I won't force you."

Jaden gets one last sniffle in before he says. "I, I don't feel g-guilty."

Tilting my head in curiosity since he doesn't know I know about Yubel. "What would you have to feel guilty about?"

In a shout of rage he screams out. "I sent my friend to space since he was hurting people and I've been feeling so guilty that I've been experiencing nightmares but while we were Duelling I didn't feel the guilt, just the excitement of the duel."

I let him vent his feelings freely since I know the situation would so bad his parents would do a lobotomy to remove the memory of Yubel.

I place one of my hands on Jaden as a show of support and say clearly to him.

"So your feeling guilty, about not feeling guilty. I would assume since you feel guilty your friend was very close to you and the decision to send them away was a hard one."

I don't get a reply with words but he nods his head.

I continue. "If the choice was a hard one that means there was a big enough reason that made the choice hard but necessary, since you said you sent your friend away I would assume they did or were doing something wrong."

Jaden raises their head and looks at me with teary eyes. "They were hurting people I duelled with, when I asked them to stop they agreed but it happened again."

He rubs his eyes with his free arm and continues "it got so bad that I no one wanted to duel me, the I won this contest and thought if I send her to space they could calm down or something."

I nod along with his story and remembers the dynamics between Jaden and Yubel.

"I think I get the problem, you think they were doing their actions out of hate or fear weren't you." 

Hearing this he nods lightly. "Well your wrong, they were doing it out of love."

"Love?" Jaden responds with a confused look.

"Yes, love. A person or spirit blinded by love can do many things, some of those things can appear irrational to you but feel completely rational to themselves, if I had to guess their actions make it out that they felt a threat towards you or their connection to you and lashed out on instinct."

My words seems to strike a cord with him but in the process makes him seam sadder.

"I know learning this might make it hurt more since you sent them away but making some distance between you two might help. There's a saying us grown up like to say about love, the closer the relationship the harder it hurts when you have to let go."

My words cause Jaden to start crying again but he still faces me.

"Tell me Jaden do feel like you'll never see your friend again."

He nods his head rapidly.

"If the love between you two is so strong, they will return to you without a doubt, but every journey changes people sometimes not for the better so, get ready to accept them for who they are, past, present and future." I say this while staring into his eyes.

My words make him pause but in total I can tell he feels better.

"Now Jaden you should get home soon, you won't want to have your parents worry about you and I need to get out of this park."

I watch as Jaden rummages with his deck and presents me with the crystal map card and the pot of greed we talked about.

I take the cards but I'm half tempted to just hand it back since I don't feel nice taking a card from a child but I'll just blame Kiba since he sent children into a tournament with mostly adult contestants.

I watch Jaden start walking though the park, I follow him since I'm still lost.

The sight of concrete is a blessing to me, when we get to the streets I finally wave to Jaden as a goodbye.

I see him and the spirit form of Jar Brain waves, to be honest I'll miss the little pot.

I pick a random direction away from the park and head into the city.

Though my walking I find duels going off around but I can tell non of the duels will end soon due to each duel being drawn out unga bunga beat stick battles with normal monsters.

I do find some people with duel disks who arn't duelling but when I ask them they just tell me their already out or just duelled and wanted a brake after the taxing slugfest, just my luck.

I look at a duel next to me and watch as one guy just summons a normal monster with the same ATK of the other monster and just kamikaze itself against it.

Yeah that's the level of the tactics for the best of this era.

I never realised Kiba's standards were so low for the mob characters.

I do have to question how that kid with the broken field card didn't get in the battle city finals, did he just brick or something.

Mentally shrugging I just walk towards the edge of the road and lean against the wall near a wooden wall waiting for someone to get ready for a duel .

While waiting I hear a sound coming from the wooden wall to the side of me, looking at the wall I see the spirit form of Miquella who is also leaning against the wall.

[We need to talk.]