Though she had been trying to avoid it, Valdis does as Pepper asks, lifting her gaze away from the sketch and placing it squarely on Pepper.

"I am not angry with you for loving Bakura." Valdis' tone was nearing freezing temperatures, a stark contrast to the bloody-red glow of her eyes. "God knows that man needs something to keep him from destroying the world on a whim."

She hasn't forgotten the threat he made when she visited him either.

"Love, it seems, is an unfortunate accompaniment to human emotion and I am well aware of how irrational it can make people. It makes people do things they wouldn't normally consider." Like destroying an entire city. "I am angry because you treated me about as well as whoever posted that message on the network. You were mistrustful, questioned my morality and did it rather loudly, though I'll admit far less publicly. You may have been there as family for Bakura, but you are still an officer, you can't separate the two aspects of yourself."