Chapter Text
In a large penthouse suite in Saint-Tropez, France, six women gathered around a counter top on a cool mid-October night.
Sophie Paquet, the 25 year old owner of the penthouse, is the oldest daughter of a Frenchman who owned a few bed and breakfasts located in the French and German countrysides, and is the accountant for said business when she's not in the European Professional Dueling League.
Vivian Wong is known as a model, actress, and Kung Fu Champion. The 32 year old is a long-standing top duelist in the Asian Dueling League.
Mai Kujaku also is in the Asian Dueling League, but tends to participate more in private tournaments where there is a hefty ante. Otherwise, she tests cards for Industrial Illusions.
Natalie Young is the single member of the group from Dueling League of America. She also owns a soft drink bottling plant along with her brother out of their small hometown in the States. She's 38, the oldest of their group.
Kasumi Fudo, like Mai, hails from Japan and is a pro in the Asian Dueling League. She also works as a Systems Engineer Manager in Kaiba Corporation's Research and Development. Even though at 28 she's the second youngest of their group, she is also the only one who is married.
Poppy Baccus, like Sophie, is in the European Professional Dueling League. The 33 year old also works as the UK district representative of Industrial Illusions, and prides herself as being Sophie's rival, though the rivalry is just friendly competition rather than anything serious.
At first glance these women seemed to have little in common. Only two of them were even from the same country. But, dueling brings the six of them together. After all, dueling is a male-dominated game, so girls tended to stick together when they met.
"I'm still laughing at the look on Monsieur Parker's face when you played Mirror Force, Vivian!" Sophie laughed as she stirred a sauce pan on the stove.
Vivian smiled from where she was pouring wine into six stemmed glasses on the stone tabletop.
"The man's awful. And you only had to deal with him for a single duel I'm matched with him all the time." Poppy added.
"I don't know. We get some real interesting guys in the Asian branch." Kasumi said, as Mai nodded in agreement from where she was looking through the mail her manager had given her earlier.
"Hmm. I just have Pegasus and his card professors. They're all pretty... Unusual." Natalie commented while setting out silverware.
"Let's be real, though, aren't all duelists a little quirky." Vivian said as she.
"Agreed." Sophie said as she carefully spooned pasta onto the plates that were placed on the table.
The six women sat around the table with their pasta dish and wine glasses. "Okay, ladies, time for rose, bud, thorn!" Natalie excitedly said.
This was a game that she had introduced to them the first time they had spent time together away from the dueling arena. They would each tell a good thing (rose), a bad thing (thorn), and something they looked forward to (bud). Since they never got more than a few hours together every few months, this was a way for them to quickly catch up before they parted ways again.
This kind of friendship was the kind that Mai liked. Seeing them every once in a while, no way to hurt each other or to let each other down. They also were unaware of how she was when she was younger, and she could pretend around them that she had never been selfish or superficial or anything other than a confident, independent woman who, while not an extrovert, was not unfriendly either.
That's why, as she told her own rose, bud, and thorn, she felt a slight ache in her heart.
For the first time in her life, she was genuinely happy with who she was. She wished that she had been this person her whole life. If she had been like this, then she would have never hurt or been hurt 12 years ago. She would not have taken things to heart the way she did back then, and would have laughed them off.
That's why, even though she wanted to pretend that she had never been part of Doma, she also wanted to see Jounouchi, Anzu, Yugi and their friends again. She wanted to show those people, who were always talking about the importance of friends, how much she had changed.
Soon she promised herself. Because, before she could even approach any of them and apologize for anything, she would have to resolve to forgive herself for it. For wanting to kill people who cared about her. For wanting to hurt innocent people. All for the pursuit of power.
But, that would be an issue she would face later. Right now, she had a delicious Penne pasta in front of her, a glass of quality wine in her hand, and good company to enjoy the two with.