"There! Perfect!" I was revolted. "You lost so much weight in the hospital; we'll have to feed you some more before Joey gets home."We stepped into th...e shop's doorway."SURPRISE!" It sounded like a thousand people screaming at me at once. "MERRY CHRISTMAS, KAIBA!" NII-SAMA!" There was a crowd of people but Mokuba launched himself out of the center of the pack. If Honda and Kawai weren't holding me, I would have collapsed painfully and even with their help I could hardly stand. But nothing could. – A Week LaterEpilogueThe courier didn’t even read the sign, but knocked twice on the frosted glass door. He entered without waiting for a response, knowing he was expected. The strong scent of cigar smoke assaulted his nose and eyes as he stepped into the dimly lit room. Silhouetted by the curtained window, a large man sat at a desk. He raised his head to look at the approaching courier.The man behind the desk didn’t seem to be alarmed by the intrusion of this particular individual, though few. "Toddy couldn't come up with an adequate riposte to that."We're certainly not going to cuddle up to the Caldecot Castle," Payne reminded his captain. "They're supposed to be placing themselves between us and the threat. Besides, we're the larger ship. It would be like tryin' to hide a rhino behind a sparrow. Just makes the corvette the bull's-eye of an even bigger, more inviting target, and you don't want to do that."Toddy pondered for a moment. "OK, look. Your battle stations are the same as. I smiled and she lit up. She let go long enough to put it on, then wrapped around my arm even tighter, snuggling her face into my bicep.I pulled into the driveway and Mom ran out to the car."Are you all right?"I got out. "Yeah, we're fine. What's the matter?"Do you know what time it is?" Not really." It's 12:30. I've been trying to reach you for the last three hours. Jill's phone has been ringing right into her voice mail." Oh. I forgot to plug it back in." Jill and Sara had gotten out."I.