DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The link mentioned later in this chapter was added to my bio page a few minutes before this chapter was uploaded. So if it's not there when you look, please wait a couple of hours and try again. Updates to bio pages take a while to show up sometimes.

Show aired May30, 2004

The scene opens with a wide-angle view of a comfortable library, with floor to ceiling shelves filled with books and more piles of books covering every available surface except for a few well-placed paths across the floor, the top of the desk and the chairs. The camera zooms in on the squishy armchair placed before the cheerfully crackling fire and then zooms in further to detail the long stick, complete with toasting marshmallow, currently being waved in the flames. There's a gasp and the stick is suddenly withdrawn. The camera pans back up to the occupant of the chair.

Dark Witch smiles and tries to look innocent as she discreetly licks marshmallow off her lips. "Hello there and welcome to another Interview with the Authoress, Shadow's Mirror."

"Oh, now this is really going too far!" Dark Witch's smile widens into a smirk as the Dark Magician comes into view. Hands on his hips, the tall mage gives the unperturbed witch his crossest look. "My dear Dark Witch, I believe you're in my chair!" Dark Witch smiles up at him.

"And a very comfortable chair it is, too. Um... do you mind? I'm trying to do an interview here." She makes a shooing motion with her hand. The Dark Magician blinks and looks embarrassed.

"Oh, sorry about that. I'll just... Wait a minute... Dark Witch!" He glares at her as she starts laughing. "Honestly! Well if it's a duel you want, then I'm only too happy to oblige! I would just like to remind you that I have 2500 attack points. How about you?" Dark Witch immediately stops laughing.

"That's right... rub it in..." Grumbling and shooting irritated glances at the smug 700-points-more-powerful-than-her mage, the female Shadow Monster hauls herself out of the cosy chair. "Just you wait. The first chance I get, I'm teaming up with a Blue Eyes White Dragon."

The Dark Magician gives a satisfied sigh as he settles down into his chair. "I seem to recall your trying that a time or a hundred before."

"Yes... well this time I'll do more than scorch your kitchen!" Giving him another glare, Dark Witch perches herself on the arm of his chair and crosses her arms. As the Dark Magician blinks at her, she shrugs. "What? Do I have to have a reason for being here? Oh fine. I like this show. You're not much of an interviewer but at least Shadow's Mirror is usually entertaining."

"Gee. Thanks. Why do I suddenly feel like I should start swinging on a trapeze while juggling half a dozen ducks and a bottle of chocolate sauce?" At the sound of the wry voice, the camera pans back to reveal the black-hooded figure of the Authoress, Shadow's Mirror, sitting in another plush armchair on the other side of the fireplace.

The Dark Magician looks thoughtful. "I wouldn't recommend it. You know what Bakura's like with ducks and I'm afraid we are currently all out of chocolate sauce."

Dark Witch nods. "Malik and Marik came for a visit yesterday."

"Also," the Dark Magician ignores the interruption and continues, "our trapeze isn't the most reliable at the moment. It keeps getting blown away because of all these magical storms we've been having lately." He gestures out the window to the weather outside, which seems to be an odd mix of torrential rain, gale-force winds and purple snow.

"What is with this crazy weather, anyway?" Dark Witch looks expectantly at Shadow's Mirror.

"It isn't just the weather. All of the Shadow Magic is unsettled and quite a few of the Shadow Monsters are being affected by it also," the Dark Magician reminds Dark Witch before sighing heavily. "At first it was just the weaker creatures, but it's starting to affect some of the stronger ones now. Although, I don't believe you've really mentioned any of this in your stories yet, have you?" He directs the question to Shadow's Mirror.

Under the watchful gazes of both Shadow Monsters, Shadow's Mirror shifts uncomfortably in her chair. "Uh... yes and no. I made a brief mention of something odd going on, during the Christmas chapters of 'Source'. There was supposed to be a discussion of it in those chapters too, in the section where everyone was at Yugi's, but I ended up cutting it out because it was rambling too much."

Dark Witch blinks. "You mean you actually curbed your rambling? I don't believe it..."

Shadow's Mirror grins. "I know. Just goes to show you how bad that part of the story was! Seriously, I will be detailing the situation in the Shadow Realm in more detail during 'Library' and 'Source'. Probably in 'Shadows' too, although I haven't planned that far yet. Basically, it starts during 'Source' and gets progressively worse until the end of 'Shadows'. By then it should have been explained in full."

"Just so our audience knows," Dark Magician smiles slightly as the camera zooms in for a close-up of him. "You are referring to your stories by the nicknames that you have for them, correct?"

He frowns as he realises that the camera has slowly moved to one side and is now focused on Dark Witch's legs and skirt. The skirt that her position on the arm of the chair has caused to shift until the hemline is barely decent. The Dark Magician frowns at the camera. "Ahem! Do you mind! We're trying to keep this show more or less PG! Who's on that camera anyway?"

"That would be D. Human." Dark Witch smirks as the Dark Magician sighs.

"Well, that certainly explains it. He's had a fascination with your legs for the past 5,000 years. Why should today be any different?"

Shadow's Mirror somehow manages to keep from laughing long enough to answer the Dark Magician's original question about the story references. "Yes, because of the length of some of my story titles, I tend to refer to them by one key word used in the title."

The Dark Magician nods. "Could you just run through them all for us, to avoid any confusion later?" Shadow's Mirror grins.

"Sure! 'Source' is 'Another Source of Magic', 'Library' is 'The Shadow Library', 'Shadows' is 'The Shadow Tournament' and shouldn't be confused with 'Hearts', which refers to 'Hearts, Souls and Shadows'. 'Conversations' is 'Conversations', obviously, and that just leaves 'Interview', which I'm sure everyone will realise is what they're looking at right now. They're all of my current ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! fics, any others that I mention I'll call by their full titles."

"I see. Thank you. So you currently have six ongoing stories?" the Dark Magician winces as Dark Witch prods him in the shoulder.

"She just said that, idiot."

Shadow's Mirror grins and shakes her head. "Actually, I said 'ongoing Yu-Gi-Oh! fics'. I also have three others that are currently being written. Two for Inu-Yasha, both of which are up to their last chapters, and one for Angel. Which is as much of a surprise to me as it will be to anyone who knows me. I don't write Angel. Me, write in a non-anime fandom? It's unheard of! And yet... it's happened."

"So, does this mean that you're branching out into another fandom, or is it just a one-off?" Both Shadow Monsters eye Shadow's Mirror warily as they await her response. For once, the Authoress is silent for some time as she gives the question serious consideration.

"At this point, it's a one-off. I had a half-hour free a few days ago and an idea just came to me so I wrote the first chapter. It's not going to be a major story. It's certainly not going to be in the same league as 'Source'. It's just something that I felt compelled to write after reading a review of the show's last episode. I won't get to see the actual episode until July, but considering that just the review made me cry by the halfway point, it's already made a definite impression on me."

The Dark Magician nods. The mood in the room has become surprisingly serious but for once he makes no attempt to lighten it. "You said you had two other fics that were up to their last chapters. Did you want to say anything about them?"

Shadow's Mirror blushes. "I'm rather embarrassed about them, actually. I haven't updated either of them for quite some time. I always find the last chapter of a story to be the hardest to write. It's certainly the most emotional, for me. The more effort I put into a story, the harder it is to finish it and these two stories are both very dear to my heart. It's difficult to write them, especially when it's to end them. I'm sorry for the delay, but writing isn't something that I can force myself to do. If a story is still simmering in my mind, then no amount of trying will get that story onto a page. Once it stops simmering, then it's ready to go and all I have to do is start typing and it sort of flows out of me and onto the computer screen. That's the only way I've ever been able to explain it."

"You can only write if you feel like writing." Dark Witch nods wisely as Shadow's Mirror grins at her.

"Yes, that's a part of it, too. There are times when I simply don't feel like it. Usually, that means that something else that's been simmering in my mind is ready to go. Most things take longer to simmer than stories though, so I spend most of my free time writing rather than doing other stuff."

The Dark Magician blinks. "You mean you do other things besides write?"

Shadow's Mirror laughs. "Well I do have a life, you know!"

"You do? Since when?" Shadow's Mirror, Dark Witch and the Dark Magician all blink at Bakura as he saunters into view. He smirks at Shadow's Mirror. "You're not allowed to have a life. You have a job to do. You need to spend as much time writing about me... I mean us... as possible!"

Shadow's Mirror sighs and shakes her head, but her eyes are twinkling with amusement as she replies. "Not everything is about you, Bakura. Although you have definitely been on my mind for the past few weeks! Almost everything I've done has been related to you in some way or another!"

The Dark Magician leans forward in sudden interest, but Dark Witch's attention is on Bakura, who has suddenly gone surprisingly pale. "Oh really? Have you been writing about Bakura? Anything you can tell us about?" The Dark Magician eyes Shadow's Mirror with eager anticipation.

"Oh Ra... No... You wouldn't dare tell them about..." Bakura winces as he catches sight of the gleam in Shadow's Mirror's eyes. "Oh who in the Shadows am I kidding? Of course you'd dare... But that doesn't mean that I have to be here to hear it!" He hurries for the door and is gone before anyone can do more than blink.

"Well... that's one way to get rid of him. I really must remember that, for future reference," the Dark Magician mutters as he gazes thoughtfully at the doorway. He turns to Shadow's Mirror and raises an eyebrow. "Does this have anything to do with why you haven't updated any of your stories for over three weeks?"

Shadow's Mirror smirks. "You could say that. Three weeks ago, I had to go offline while my computer was being repaired. By the time I got it back again, a week had passed and I was climbing the walls from going without email for so long. But during that week, I'd had time to catch up on a few things that I'd been meaning to do, including a few sketches."

Dark Witch blinks. "Sketches? Since when have you sketched?"

"Since I was four. I was a real sketch-demon back in my childhood. I've calmed down some since then. For the past twelve years, I've averaged about one halfway decent sketch every three years. But while my computer was away, that changed a little."

Dark Witch and the Dark Magician trade a wary look before Dark Witch tentatively asks the question that's on both their minds. "Define 'a little'."

"Five in a week." Shadow's Mirror grins as both Shadow Monsters blink at her in shock. "Yes, it surprised me too. Of course, once I had the sketches done and my computer back, I had to turn the sketches into proper pictures. Since I'm not much of an artist, that took a lot of time. Being both fussy and not good at art is a recipe for frustration. I like to think that I get there in the end though."

"So..." The Dark Magician shakes his head as he tries to overcome his continued shock at the number of sketches. "Since you said that Bakura was on your mind the entire time, I assume that these are all sketches of... him?" His attempt at not looking disappointed is a complete failure.

"Not all of them and not entirely." The Dark Magician looks hopeful. "I have two of Bakura-chibi and two of Bakura-kitty. The kitty ones are just of him, as is one of the chibi ones, but the other chibi pic is of Ryou holding Bakura-chibi as he sleeps. You can just make out Bakura-chibi's Dark Witch plushie."

The Dark Magician sighs. "Of course you can..."

Shadow's Mirror ignores the muttering mage and continues. "The last pic is an illustration for a co-story that I'm currently working on. The story's not finished, but I get into an artistic mood so rarely that I thought I'd better do the pic while I could."

Since the Dark Magician is still muttering to himself about plushies (something about why it couldn't have been a Dark Magician plushie) Dark Witch takes up the questioning. "So, are these pics online somewhere for the audience to go look at them if they wish to?"

"Yes, they are! Eventually, they'll be on my own website, but it's currently in desperate need of updating so for the time being they're only on my Deviant Art site. The link is at the bottom of my bio page." Shadow's Mirror is bouncing happily in her chair as she speaks.

"I see." The Dark Magician, apparently through with his little sulking session, returns his attention to the conversation. "So, if you've been doing art instead of writing, do you have any news about your current and upcoming stories, or is everything still as it was when last we spoke to you?"

Shadow's Mirror thinks for a moment, which gives her a chance to calm down enough to stop bouncing. "I haven't had much time to write, but I have made a bit of progress with some of them. The ones that were simmering have had plenty of time so they're mostly ready to go now. Which ones are you interested in knowing about?" She grins at the Dark Magician.

"'Source'!" Dark Witch immediately replies, earning a laugh from Shadow's Mirror.

"As of when this goes to air, Chapter 28 is done and I'm about to upload it."

"Wonderful! Anything you can tell us about it?" Dark Witch looks as innocent as she can. Shadow's Mirror laughs again and shakes her head.

"You know, that look really doesn't work for you. But I guess I can tell you a couple of things. Let me think... Okay... this next chapter contains one kiss, one spell-poem, quite a bit of magic, some tears and even more cuteness. Oh, and the plushie is in it too." Shadow's Mirror grins as Dark Witch beams.

"Oh good. I like that plushie!"

"You would." The Dark Magician ignores Dark Witch's glare and focused on Shadow's Mirror instead. "How about 'Conversations'?"

"I'm up to chapter 14 and I'm actually posting it at the same time as this interview goes to air. Chapter 15 may take me a little while though. I still have to work out what's happening in it."

The Dark Magician nods. "I see. What of 'Hearts'?"

Dark Witch smirks. "Trust you to ask about that one." The Dark Magician ignores her.

Shadow's Mirror grins. "I'm almost up to page four and I also have the last two paragraphs written."

"Excellent! Is 'Shadows' coming along also?"

"Not really. I have five original characters in it and I was having a bit of trouble with their descriptions, but I managed to do up a picture of all of them before I went offline so now it's just a matter of waiting until it stops simmering. I think the next chapter is going to include the start of the tournament, so there's a good chance that there'll be at least one duel in it."

The Dark Magician nods but it's Dark Witch who replies. "Just as long as we don't see Rex Raptor or Weevil Underwood in their boxers again!" She shudders at the memory as the Dark Magician winces.

"Not in the next chapter, no. But it probably will happen at some point. It's too funny to leave out." Shadow's Mirror smirks as the Shadow Monsters both go pale at the thought.

"'Funny' isn't the term I'd use for it..." Dark Witch pulls a face.

"So... what does that leave? 'Interview' is obviously being updated soon. What about 'Library'?" Dark Magician tries desperately to return the conversation to more pleasant topics.

Shadow's Mirror winces. Apparently this isn't what she considers to be a pleasant topic. "I'm having some trouble with it. Every time I put it on 'simmer', the flame goes out entirely and the whole thing ends up like cold porridge."

"Problems?" Dark Witch asks sympathetically. Shadow's Mirror sighs and nods.

"With the timing of it, yes. I'm starting to think that it's set after 'Source', but that doesn't give me much time to work within before 'Shadows', and there's supposed to be a sequel to it!" Shadow's Mirror sighs and then smiles. "On the bright side, I've finally worked out where it's going and what it's all about! Which is more than I had a week ago."

Dark Witch is wriggling on her armrest impatiently and the Dark Magician sighs. "If you have a question, why don't you just go ahead and ask it? Like you've been doing all through this interview..."

"She said the magic word! Sequel!" Dark Witch laughs at Shadow's Mirror's confusion. "You said 'Library' was going to have a sequel! Tell us more! You know you want to!" She grins and winks.

Shadow's Mirror chuckles. "Oh all right, I confess. Yes, 'Library' is going to have a sequel. It doesn't have a title yet, although I'm considering 'In Search of a Prophecy'. It's going to be a crossover. Between Yu-Gi-Oh! and..." Shadow's Mirror pauses to take a deep breath, "Harry Potter."

"What?!" Dark Witch and the Dark Magician both stare at Shadow's Mirror as though she has grown wings, although only Dark Witch speaks. The Dark Magician seems to have been struck speechless at the very thought of such a story. "You're joking! Please tell me that you're joking!"

Shadow's Mirror grins wryly. "It's not as bad as it sounds. Really. You know my writing style so it's obviously not going to be something out of character, or the realm of possibility for that matter."

Dark Witch eyes the girl warily. "This is another of your 'writing tests', isn't it? Something that you're doing just to see if you can do it and what the results are like?"

Shadow's Mirror looks thoughtful. "It's more a case of there being some things that a fanfiction writer simply has to try at least once. It's practically an unwritten rule of fanfiction writing that you have to write at least one unlikely crossover."

"All right. So if you want to write an unlikely crossover, why a Harry Potter/Yu-Gi-Oh! one?" Dark Witch winces as she says the words. "It's not a bad combination, necessarily. I know there are some stories in which it works, but it's just so..." She pauses in search of the right word.

"Overdone?" the Dark Magician offers helpfully. Dark Witch nods in agreement.

"I know. It's a popular combination, and I usually avoid that sort of thing, but in this case... Well there's one approach to it that I haven't seen done before and it fits in with something that I had in mind so I figured I might as well give it a try. If it doesn't work, then I'll just rewrite it and no one will ever see my failed attempt." Shadow's Mirror grins as the two Shadow Monsters nod.

"Fair enough," Dark Witch agrees.

"So, that's one new story on top of your ongoing ones. Do you have anything else planned? I believe that earlier you mentioned a co-story that you were currently working on?" The Dark Magician leans forward in interest as he changes the topic away from crossovers.

"Well... yes. I'm co-writing a Yu-Gi-Oh!/Nights Into Dreams crossover." Shadow's Mirror grins as the Dark Magician turns pale in shock. "It's not as bad as it sounds. I'll admit that it's not a serious story, but it's not a parody. It's just a bit of fun. I write mainly Yu-Gi-Oh! and my friend writes mainly Nights Into Dreams, so that's how we've divided the writing. The end result is a story that is turning out to be very funny, but where the characters remain true to character throughout the story. It's actually shaping up to be a rather good story."

"I'll take your word for it." The Dark Magician looks unconvinced, but he asks his next question anyway. "How far into it are you? Is there still time for you to stop?"

Shadow's Mirror pokes her tongue out at him. "Very funny! We originally wrote it as a series of emails, so we have the whole storyline, including dialogue, actions and commentary. Now it's just a matter of converting it into story format. As in, putting it into proper sentences complete with grammar and spelling. It will probably be a while before that story's ready to appear in public."

"Wonderful." The Dark Magician is completely sincere... and apparently relieved that it won't be showing up online anytime soon. Dark Witch nudges him and he winces. "So is that all that you have planned at the moment?"

"Well, obviously I want to work on my ongoing stories as much as possible, so I'm trying not to come up with too much other stuff right now. I did have an idea for a Yu-Gi-Oh!/Inu-Yasha/NiGHTS crossover a few nights ago though, and I'm giving serious consideration about writing it soon."

"Please tell me you are joking..." The Dark Magician goes pale at the very idea. Dark Witch frowns at him and gives him a very less-than-discreet nudge that's apparently very hard, judging from his wince.

Shadow's Mirror grins. "Don't worry, it's going to be written as an Inu-Yasha fic. But I'm pretty sure that at least one yami will make an appearance in it. Probably Bakura. The storyline I have in mind would suit him best. Although I think the card required is actually in Yugi/Yami's deck..."

The Dark Magician blinks. "Yes, that would be a problem." He blinks again as a loud crash comes from somewhere downstairs. "Oh dear... Well, it seems as though we've come to the end of another show."

"In other words, you need to go see what the Dark Magician Girl has broken this time." Dark Witch smirks. The Dark Magician ignores her and smiles at Shadow's Mirror instead.

"Shadow's Mirror, thank you very much for joining us today. Before we go, is there anything else that you'd like to say?"

Shadow's Mirror suddenly grins very wickedly. "Actually, yes. Throughout my 'Conversations' series, I've mentioned on a few occasions that I couldn't have written certain sections of certain chapters without the assistance of my very dear friend Cheryl. That is absolutely true! She is a genius when it comes to picking up on things that I've either missed or haven't taken as far as they could go. I am truly in her debt and I don't dedicate stories to her nearly as often as I should."

Her wicked grin smoothes into a pleased smile as she looks directly into the camera. "I would also like to thank everyone who has ever read any of my stories, especially all of you wonderful readers who have also taken the time and trouble to let me know what you've thought of my writing. I truly appreciate and love every comment you've all made. Thank you all!"

"With two exceptions." The Dark Magician frowns and Dark Witch suddenly looks rather fierce.

Shadow's Mirror shrugs. "Naturally. I didn't appreciate the comments made by the two flamers who targeted 'Source' a month or so back. I'm not upset or angry about them though. They were too cowardly to leave their real names, and their comments were so ridiculous that they were laughable. Honest criticism is one thing, but flames that have no basis in fact, especially when they are written using vulgar terms that have no place on a public review board..." She shrugs dismissively again.

Dark Witch smirks and holds up two pieces of burning paper. "To those two flamers, this is what happens to flames around here." Dark Witch calmly drops them... right onto the Dark Magician's hat.