Summary- Yugi's having a hard time coping with the loss of his alter ego. When he goes to find comfort in his best friend Joey, something is slightly amiss.

DISCLAIMER- there's no way i could even attempt to say that these characters are mine.

WARNING- im not a very good writer -D this is the first story im posting up here

Pinky Promise

Yugi sat on his bed clutching his millennium puzzle close to his heart, as if trying to reabsorb the pharaoh's spirit that had abandoned it. "He's really gone isn't he?" Yugi let out a long sigh lowering his head as his chest emptied of breath. "It's been so long since I've been alone." Yugi looked at the phone longingly, "No one's even called since we got back." Suddenly the answering machine clicked without ringing,

"Yugi?"

"JOEY?!"

Yugi eye's lit up. His friend's voice was as musical to him as a choir of angels. Yugi hastily ran to get the phone, tripping himself in the process. Joey continued on the answering machine.
"Yugi are you there? Of course your not, you never pick up your damn phone any more. Well if you get this meet me at the park at three… I'll be leaving at four, I'm not gonna be waiting for hours just because you decided you didn't feel like showing up on time." The phone clicked as Joey ended the message, and the room fell silent. Yugi drew himself up and looked at the phone his eyes wide and innocent.

He didn't understand. He hadn't left his room since loosing his alter ego, and he always answered the phone even for telemarketers. Voices seemed to soothe him at the moment, most likely because he was so used to the lulling sound of the pharaoh's voice chanting in his head. This was probably why he had clung to the phone for the past couple of days, hoping for someone to call.

Maybe he'd dosed off at some point and didn't hear the phone. That must have been it.

Yugi rushed to put some fresh clothes on seeing as it was already 2:15 and he wanted to feel the comfort of his best friend as soon as possible. He jumbled through his clothing coming first to a pair of leather pants. He held them tenderly, gently moving them from one hand to the other, but they felt colder then usual. A tear trickled down Yugi's cheek, falling onto the pants he was holding.

Quickly he shoved them back into his dresser and slammed it shut, as if trying to shut his memories away with it. The loss of the Pharaoh was taking its toll, anything that could bring back a small memory sent Yugi spiraling into disparity. So he opted to wear his school uniform.

The short high school student set out for the park, his uniform draped over his features perfectly, except for the pants that hung just a bit to long as if the boy was planning to grow at any given moment. His walk there was strange. Things seemed to move slowly and no one seemed to respond to him. Not even the young lady whom Yugi had bumped into and hastily apologized to. They just walked past, as if Yugi was just a phantom haunting the streets. This only saddened the small teen more. If he'd felt alone before, what should he feel like now? Invisible?

Yugi reached the blue eyes white dragon statue at the center of Kiaba land; this is what Joey always meant when he said "the park", and waited.

"Huh, no one's here, that's strange." Yugi shrugged off this discrepancy, attributing it to some event he didn't know about due to his current state of solitude. Everything in Domino city seemed to remind him of what he'd lost and just drove him in to a state of depression. So Yugi had stayed inside the past few days. But not today he needed to be with someone. He wanted to be comforted.

He waited for what felt like hours but finally a human figure morphed into view. Something in the back of Yugi's mind told him that this was Joey. And following this an impulse sent him sprinting towards the person. Something Yugi felt might be a smile crept onto his face for the first time in a long time.

The figure continued to walk looking at the ground, Yugi noticed the speed of the figure remaining constant so he slowed his pace to a brisk walk. More details about the being were becoming apparent. Yugi could now see that it was a blond with clothing similar to his best friend, but there was one more test before reaching one another that would tell Yugi if this was truly his friend.

"JOEY!" Yugi cried.

The figure stopped and looked up eyes dull. Yugi knew for sure now that Joey and waited for him. Even though his lungs were filling and empting as fast as the could a full blown grin was plastered on Yugi's face forcing his eyes to squint; but Joeys was still, cold, emotionless. "Joey! It's been so..." Yugi was stopped in the middle of his greeting

"Yugi, you know what pisses me off about you the most?" Joey's cold eyes met Yugi's.

Yugi looked at his friend, perplexed, head tilted to one side. He didn't know that he did anything to make Joey mad. And surely if he did Joey would have brought it up when the action was taking place so that Yugi could avoid doing it.

"Joey, what are you talking about we…. we're friends?"

"Me and you friends! Ha, don't make me laugh. Yugi you have no friends, you just tricked us into liking you. You made us your puppets, you two faced bastard."

"JOEY WHAT ARE YOU..." Yugi yelled, fingers beginning to coil around his millennium item.

"Don't act like I don't know about your little "treasure" Yugi!" Joey pointed to the puzzle which Yugi was reluctant to remove from around his neck "It was all a trick; it's always been a trick. You probably just used a silly little mind game to make us stick around you. After all you are the 'King of Games'" Joey rolled his eyes. Yugi looked at Joey his face twisted with disbelief. Joey would never say this, not to him. There's just no way! Yugi hugged his puzzle close as if trying to regain the pharaoh's strength, his confidence.

"It's like you turned into another person, but now the old one's back and he's just as annoying as ever!" Hearing this caused Yugi's hands to release the puzzle and start reaching for his own heart, which felt as if it would erupt from self hatred.

Joey took this moment to pick up the puzzle that lay limp on Yugi's chest, and remove it from his neck. Yugi's eyes quickly snapped shut with pain; only two words could slip from his mouth. "Aibou help!"

Yugi's eyes opened slowly, pain still pulsing through small his body. They rested on Joey, who had began chuckling to himself,

"Aibou, who are you calling aibou? Yugi you have no aibou, you have no friends. No partner." The pain grew more severe; Yugi's heart felt as if it was tied to horses running in the opposite direction of each other, ripping it into two separate pieces. His face was dripping with sweat from the agony. "Is this you aibou?" Joey asked in a mocking tone, slightly tossing the millennium puzzle in the air. Yugi seemed to sink deeper into a pit of never ending pain that was almost unbearable. He attempted to draw himself into his own mind. Trying to lock himself in his soul room, as he used to.

Joey laughed out of the side of his mouth as he pulled the center piece of the millennium puzzle out, tossing the rest carelessly on the ground. "Yugi if you love your aibou so much why don't you two go play fetch!?" Joey threw the puzzle piece as hard as he could into the direction of the sun. The golden puzzle piece glistened in the light, sending a ray of sun onto Yugi's pain stricken face.

Yugi screamed as if the pain in his chest had finally caused his heart to burst, it was excruciating. Yugi fell to his knees and his arms lay limp beside him. His body was shaking and there was a ringing sound in his head. The ringing increased in volume rapidly. Within milliseconds it was beginning to form a word, "Yugi".

"YUGI! YUGI WAKE UP! AIBOU PLEASE WAKE UP." the pharaoh was yelling at Yugi, whom was shaking uncontrollably and whimpering in his sleep. Suddenly Yugi's body fell listless "Yugi?" The pharaoh started shaking Yugi slightly while biting his lip, had he been in a physical body blood would have been drawn from the puncture he'd created.

Yugi's eyes drifted open to see his aibou in front of him, eyes full of concern. Without thinking Yugi's arms shot up embracing Yami, sobbing at the same time, still shaking slightly. After overcoming the original shock Yami's arms slowly drifted to complete the embrace of his partner.

"Yu-Yugi what's wrong?" Yugi stayed where he was for a second, till he could somewhat regain control of his emotions. He looked up at the pharaoh,

"Promise you'll never leave me."

Yami didn't understand where this was coming from and just looked at Yugi's innocent tear stained face, still dripping with sweat. "I promise?" Yami said unsure of what was going on.

"Pharaoh, please, promise me you won't leave me alone!" Yugi said starting to hiccup with sobs again. But that word, alone, it brought memories from Yugi's mind flooding into Yami's.

He saw Yugi by himself, no one willing to listen to him. He felt longing for companionship, a need for interaction. Yami's expression turned from utter confusion to one of compassion.

"I promise Yugi, I will never leave you alone."

"Do you pinky promise?" Yugi said sitting on his knees holding out his delicate little finger his violet eyes, wide with innocence, had rings of scarlet around them.

Now Yami's mind was once again perplexed. He had never heard of such a thing. He held Yugi's pinky in-between his thumb index and middle finger, examining it to see if it held some mystic power. If it did why was Yugi only mentioning this ability now? Yugi felt as if he needed to explain. "It means that no matter what you wont break this promise."

Yami's face softened, he cupped his alter ego's hand in his own. Then pressed his forehead to Yugi's and smiled closing his eyes. "I swear on the prosperity of Egypt, that I will always be with you Aibou." Yugi slowly closed his eyes too and with a slight chuckle he whispered.

"Yes but do you pinky promise?"

Yami withdrew from his aibou once again confused. But this time he was slightly angered as well. He promises on his kingdom's prosperity and that is not enough for Yugi! Does this pinky thing really hold some sort of power? A power that makes it worth more then Egypt? Yami glanced sharply at Yugi, his deep purple eyes stern. But one glimpse of his hikari and any anger he felt seemed to melt away.

Yugi's arm started to slide down to match the other by his side as he stared at his bed sheets. He attempted to shield his thoughts from Yami. Yugi felt separated from the pharaoh, unwanted, for the first time since receiving the ancient spirit. His eyes grew hot with tears once again as he attempted to fight this sentiment.

A wave of guilt washed over Yami as he noticed small imperfect circles appear on Yugi's pajama bottoms. He reached a transparent hand to the short teen's cheek, adjusting the blond bangs as he smeared a tear away. The pharaoh guided Yugi's head to be level with his. But the small teen's eyes still gazed at his bed not willing to look into the eyes of his yami, feeling as if he was a burden to the Egyptian spirit.

The ancient spirit sighed; his hand recoiled from Yugi's cheek and slowly drifted towards his host's hand. Yugi flinched, readjusting his weight, as the spirit grasped his hand, but kept his gaze fixed on his bed.

It stayed there till the felt the spirit manipulating his hand. By the time the curious violet gaze had looked at what was transpiring a small transparent finger had wrapped itself around his own. Yugi blinked a few times before he fully realized what was going on. A grin crept onto his face. Yami bowed his head smiling, a slight blush on his face. "Aibou!" Yugi beamed. Yami just looked at his partner straight in the eye.

"Yugi, I PINKY promise that our souls will always be together," he broke the gaze a little, but Yugi didn't seem to notice,"no matter what." Yami said the last part slightly sullen, but Yugi's cheerful disposition must have kept him from hearing the change in tone. He just smiled slightly rubbing the spirits transparent pinky with his ring finger. This action agitated Yami a bit. "Alright Aibou, you still have to get up in the morning. So go to sleep so I am not stuck wandering around attempting to read your culture's cryptic writing while you sleep in your soul room." Yugi smiled remembering a few weeks ago when Yugi had stayed up late one night playing duel monsters, Yami had to take his history test for him. Yugi thought everything would be fine considering the test was on ancient Egypt, but it turned out that while Yugi's teacher may teach the subject of ancient Egypt, that did not mean that she could comprehend hieroglyphs. "Aibou smile all you want but that won't change the fact that you are failing most of your classes. That is not acceptable for someone who has royalty inhabiting their body." The pharaoh poked his partner in the cheek, Yugi rebutted by sticking his tongue out at the spirit beside him.

"Alright Aibou, I'll try to sleep."

"Pleasant dreams Yugi." Yami smiled his eyes soft.

Yugi climbed under the covers and rested his head on his pillow. "I don't know what I would do without you Aibou." Yugi sighed as he closed his eyes drifting off to sleep. Yami's expression hardened. He stroked Yugi's hair, as he looked into the innocent face that was so much like his.

"I do not know what I would do with out you either Yugi. I do not wish to face a reality where you and I part."

Yami moved to the chair that sat across the room from Yugi's bed. He started fiddling with the millennium puzzle that was always present around his neck. "Five thousand years of solitude in this prison, just wondering the labyrinth that is my soul, I thought I was just a punishment. I thought that I had done something unforgivable in my life that I had no memory of, and this was the price that was to be paid." Yami gripped the puzzle tighter, his knuckles whitening. "But all this time it was just holding my soul, preserving it, so that it could be connected to yours."

The spirit glanced up as his other half sleeping peacefully. "From what I have learned I may not be able to uphold my promise. But I hope you will always know, Aibou, that it was never me that wished us to part." Yami tilted his head back with his eyes closed, and wiped his face with his hand.

Yugi cooed softly in his sleep, bringing a smile to the pharaoh's tense face. "Compared to you, and your happiness, the prosperity of Egypt means nothing to me." Yami receded back into the real millennium puzzle that was rested beside Yugi's bed on a cushion. As the spirit allowed sleep to over come him he simply stated. "This form suits me fine, now that I have you; this pyramid is not a prison. But a haven."

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Author's note..

Alright so my first story's up ummm i know it's not good but could anyone who actually made it all the way through please review it for me ^^ it would be very helpful... i asked my Yami to BETA read it for me.... a lot.... im sorry Yami . why do you put up with me and my cruddy writing ablities? but i seem to have a problem with punctuation and well spelling is most definantly not my strong suit. most of this was written at what i like to call "magic hour" meaning i couldnt sleep and wrote it or edited it at around 1 am.... a large chunk of the story was written at 12 o'clock the first night the idea came to me but im most definitely a slow editor

ok so this really is just a picture idea that i came up with that Yami and i want to do once we have our cosplays done for Yami and Yugi.. well one night i was terribly board and decided "hey i have a crazy awesome idea for a story based on that pic idea and plus this way we wont forget about it -D" and this little lovely *ah sarcasm how i love you* came out. but on that the story was actually supposed to stop at "yes but do you pinky promise" because that's the pic we're going to do so yea. also i dont think Yami uses contractions... idk why

Please dont hurt me just because this sucks....

if anyone did like the story im probably going to do atleast one more chapter on it. *if you throw things at me can you atleast make them soft things D-?* sorry for babbling here and wasting your time.