No, I'm not dead! :D I just seemed to have fallen into a rather deep depression as of late and was unwilling to write pretty much anything. As a result, I really hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it ^^ I was bitten by the bug this morning and finished it at pretty close to 1:30am, working nonstop all day. As a result, the ending isn't quite what I had in mind, and seems rather rushed, even to me, but I was tired and wanted to get this out. I may fix it later if I feel so inclined to.
Note: Riley is my OC. I figured, since she doesn't really play a prominent role in the story, using her was as good as using anyone in her place. I'm sorry if you don't like this, and urge you to look past it since the story really isn't about her.
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"A little early for Halloween, isn't it?"
Riley's ears picked up the sound of these words, followed by the unmistakable noise of a blow being landed. With little hesitation despite the danger, the girl turned and made her way down the alley, where the commotion was coming from. What she saw made her do a double-take.
The victim had her back to her, but the hair and outfit were unmistakable. But it couldn't be... However, before she could do anything, one of the three attackers noticed her and a small smile appeared on his face. Before she could do anything a fourth, unseen, bully pulled her aside so roughly she lost her footing and fell face first into the ground.
"Just stay out of this, ya hear? It's none of your concern."
"Riley?!" a deep voice she hadn't heard in months called out to her and, despite her bruises, she was able to reach into her pocket and grab the one thing her brother would never let her walk around the city without. Working herself back to her feet, she aimed it at them all.
"Out of the way," she said to the victim of this attack, who didn't question her, "As for you, get out of here or I'll spray you all. And I'll make sure I aim for all the right spots..." she warned and they all eyed what was in her hands and scoffed, sure this was all a bluff, so one of them approached her. She pulled the trigger and a cloud of noxious pepper spray filled the air, causing the attacker to scream out in pain and all four of them to turn tail and run. Riley had pulled her shirt up over her mouth to protect herself but, unfortunately, the other had no such luxury and ended up coughing roughly.
"What is that stuff?" he asked his voice rough.
"Mace," Riley answered, as she repocketed the canister and looked over at him, "Come on. Let's get you out of here."
She reached over and grabbed his arm before leading him out of the alleyway and into the sunlight where she could get a good look at him, and something hit her just now that she wasn't able to process before, with everything else going on.
"...Pharaoh?" she asked, taking in his tan skin, not to mention the shenti and jewelery he seemed to come with. However, he was still breathing deeply, trying to get his body to recover from the exposure to the pepper spray. When he didn't answer, she placed a hand on his upper arm, as though making sure it was really him. When he was finally able to speak, it seemed there was only one thing on his mind at the moment, and she couldn't really blame him.
"... where's Yugi?"
She offered him a small smile before she answered him, "Unfortunately, Yugi is away at a Duel Monsters tournament at the moment. He gets back the day after tomorrow." She waited until he offered some recognition, in this case a nod, to her words before continuing, "For now, we should get you cleaned up and in some decent clothes."
He turned to look at her, and his eyes widened in surprise, "Riley, you're bleeding!"
She reached up and traced a finger over her lip, which had indeed been sliced open by the scuffle, but she shrugged it off.
"I'm fine. Come on, the Game Shop is only a few blocks away. I was just on my way home from my shift there," she said, turning and leading the way back to the Kame Game Shop. She tried to go quickly, knowing full well the Pharaoh was getting strange looks due to his unusual garb.
A few moments later, she pushed the door open causing the little bell to tinkle over their heads.
"Mr. Moto?" she called out to Solomon, who appeared a moment later out of the living quarters behind the shop.
"Did you forget something...?" he started to ask but trailed off when he saw who she had brought with him, "Oh, my! Is it really you, Pharaoh? You've returned to us? What happened to you two?"
It seemed it took him a moment to realize the bruises and scrapes they were covered in from the run-in with their attackers.
"I'm fine, Mr. Moto," Riley insisted, "I really need to get home soon or my brothers will start to worry. I just wanted to get him into the safety first."
Without another word, not giving them a chance to argue, she turned and left the shop, leaving the two of them to figure themselves out.
"Well, Yugi's gone for the next few days on a tournament, but I guess we can get you settled in until he returns home. Any idea how you were able to return to us?" Solomon asked, taking the Pharaoh to the kitchen so they could clean out his scrapes.
"The gods must have allowed me to when they heard my pleas. I just couldn't stay away from Yugi for any longer. I miss him..."
"And he's missed you. It took us all to convince him to go to this tournament. It's nothing big, but he just needed to get back into dueling again. Joey is there with him."
"... he stopped dueling?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Lost all his confidence in himself after you left," Solomon admitted, earning a shocked look from the other, "We were hoping this tournament would help him get some of that back."
"Ra, I should never have left him..." the Pharaoh admitted, putting his head in his hands, feeling guilty for all the pain he seemed to have put his little Yugi through.
"Don't go beating yourself up over this now," Solomon said, "Yugi will be back in a few days and things can get on their way to being back to normal. Now, why don't you go clean yourself up and we'll get you into some other clothes."
The Pharaoh nodded and stood, Yugi still heavy on his mind. However, he followed Solomon's instructions, cleaning up in a bath before dressing into some clothes left out for him by the elder man.
The next day passed slowly for the Pharaoh and it seemed to take forever for the day that Yugi finally came home. He was told the plane would be landing and noon and Solomon was going to get him; they didn't want Yugi to have a complete shock in the middle of the airport by discovering that his other self had come back from the dead.
This left the man with the tanned skin pacing incessantly in the Game Shop while Riley, left in charge in case of the appearance of any customers, watched him.
"You're going to wear down the carpet if you keep that up," Riley commented, "They'll be back soon. It's only a twenty minute ride to the airport from here."
"I'm just so nervous. What if he's angry with me for leaving? What if we can't connect the way we used to? What if –?"
"Stop," Riley interrupted, standing and catching his arm, making his movements stop, "Yugi will be more than happy to see you. He's missed you ever since you left. You're worrying yourself over nothing."
She was cut off by the sound of a car pulling up and the sound of people getting out. The Pharaoh paled and bit his lip as the door to the shop opened, revealing Solomon and Yugi, who was lugging a suitcase that was almost as big as he was. Looking up, he locked eyes with the Pharaoh and almost dropped what he was carrying.
"Atem...?" he asked, "Grandpa... Grandpa said you were back but..." he stuttered leaving his suitcase in the middle of the floor and making his way over to his other half, "It's really you?" he reached up, as though wanting to lay his hand on Atem's face, but he hesitated, until the other man grabbed his hand.
"Yes, aibou... it's me."
He was almost knocked over when Yugi hurled himself into Atem's arms, wrapping his own around the taller's body, and wiping his tears on his chest.
"I missed you... mou hitori no boku."
"I missed you too, akhu."
The first one to speak was Solomon who had taken to carrying Yugi's suitcase for himself.
"Why don't you two catch up while Yugi unpacks his things?" he said, using any excuse he could think of to get them to get their own moment alone, instead of in the lobby of the shop, where customers could show up at any moment. Yugi pulled out from Atem's arms, his face colored in a blush.
"Right, Grandpa. We'll do that," he reached out to grab his luggage, but Atem beat him to it, hoisting it up over his back.
"I've got this," he said, flashing his award-winning grin at Yugi, "Let's go."
Yugi was silent for the trip upstairs to his room, at a loss of what to say. Both of them were, really, but as soon as the door to Yugi's bedroom was shut, they turned into each other and both spoke at the same time.
"How was the tournament?"
"How are you back?"
They both blushed and turned away from each other, but Yugi spoke first after a brief moment of silence.
"It was fine," he asked, not quite meeting his dark's eyes. After he didn't elaborate, Atem sighed and reached out to Yugi's hands, gently leading him to sit on the bed. Even so, he didn't address what he wanted to at the moment, but instead provided his own answer.
"I pleaded with the Gods to let me return, Aibou. I couldn't stand to stay there. I was miserable without you, my akhu," he said, pulling Yugi close to him. However, this did not seem to have the desired effect on Yugi as the little one seemed to be fighting tears, "What's wrong, Yugi?" Atem asked gently, having an idea. It took Yugi a moment to compose himself, but Atem gave him the time he needed so he could speak.
"After you left... I just... I fell apart. I stopped dueling. I locked myself in my room. I... I felt like I couldn't go on... without you."
Atem didn't say anything to this right away, but merely hugged Yugi even tighter, rocking the smaller boy gently. When he finally did speak, his voice was gentle and consoling.
"It's all right, little one," he said, shifting so Yugi was basically sitting on his lap, head resting on Atem's shoulder, "It's all right. You don't need to feel shame for what you were feeling. I understand."
With that, he let silence fall between them, save for a couple more sniffles from the smaller of the two. Atem lost track of time sitting there with his hikari, but he didn't mind, more content than he had been in a long time. It seemed Yugi was happy where he was as well, as he merely shifted into a more comfortable position against his dark, his eyelids beginning to droop, causing Atem to chuckle lightly.
"Just sleep, my light," he said, carefully laying the two of them down and pulling the blankets over them, "I'm sure the tournament wore you out quite a bit."
A few hours later, Solomon cracked open the door to check on them and let them know that dinner was ready. However, upon seeing them both slumbering, Atem's arm wrapped protectively around Yugi, he decided to let them be for now. He would just leave something in the refrigerator for them if they were to wake.
However, Yugi didn't find himself waking until the next morning, despite their early night. At first, the arm around his body startled him, his sleepy mind not quite remembering the day before. One look at the person who was seemingly holding him captive, though, and it all came flooding back to him.
Atem had returned to him.
And the Pharaoh was still sleeping it seemed, so Yugi was careful not to wake him. Not that he planned on moving from his spot just yet. Instead, he just shifted ever so slightly to press himself even closer to Atem, enjoying the closeness between them. This movement caused Atem's arm to tighten around Yugi but the elder did not awake just yet.
In fact, it took almost another hour for Atem to open his eyes groggily. In that time, Yugi had dozed on and off, but mostly just reveled in the feeling of being held in the way he was. He sensed, more than anything, Atem wake up, and he craned his neck to look back at him, smiling brightly when his amethyst eyes locked with the crimson ones of the man behind him. Though the smile turned into a quiet giggle when Atem yawned widely.
"Sabah elkhayr, habibi," he muttered out, inadvertently using his native Arabic tongue in his state of awakening. However, he soon realized his mistake and corrected himself, blushing lightly, "Good morning, Yugi."
Yugi didn't seem to mind as he returned the statement before making to wiggle out of the Pharaoh's grasp. Atem let him go without any struggle and sat up himself. Looking down, he realized they had slept in yesterday's clothing, so he could probably use a bath, since he still wasn't used to the mechanics of showers, even though Solomon had offered to teach him just two days ago. Still, he wasn't worried about that just yet. Standing, he let out a light groan as he stretched out his muscles before leaving the room for the day.
Yugi had already claimed the bathroom for now, so Atem merely made his way downstairs to the kitchen, eager to get breakfast in him. His stomach was grumbling from having slept through dinner the night before so it was with eager anticipation that he looked to see what Solomon had prepared. It was usually something simple; some eggs and toast, or maybe some instant pancakes, but Atem was willing to accept anything at the moment, even if it was nothing compared to what he had been feasting on in Egypt.
Just as Atem had gotten settled at the table with his plate and cup of juice, Yugi came into the room, looking equally as hungry. However, he made straight for the Pharaoh, wrapping his arms around the shoulders of the other. It was a simple gesture just to let Yugi convince himself that his dark was still solidly there. Atem let Yugi hold him for a second, before gently pushing him away.
"Go find some food, aibou. I'm sure you must be hungry."
Yugi nodded in agreement and made himself his own plate, though he made sure to sit as close to Atem as possible without getting in the way of each other. Soon enough, the only sound in the room was them eating, for Solomon had already gone and opened the shop, letting the other two rest.
Ten minutes later, both plates were cleared and Atem made it a point to stand and gather the dishes for himself, rinsing them off before placing them in the sink. He noted that Yugi's eyes never left him in the process. It almost made him laugh, how intensely the other boy was watching, as though expecting Atem to disappear into thin air and leave again. But the elder of the two had no intentions of doing that. He had come back for a reason and he was there to stay. Once he was done with the chore, he took a seat back at the table.
"So what shall we do today, aibou?" he asked. He didn't really care if they went out or if they stayed inside all day, as long as he was with Yugi. They had been apart for far too long.
Yugi, it turns out, didn't have an answer either, and merely shrugged in response. It was silent for a few moments before he spoke. However, instead of an answer to Atem's query, he posed his own question.
"What does 'habibi' mean?" he asked, getting a slightly surprised look from Atem, "You called me that this morning, in Arabic. What does it mean?"
Atem let out a small sigh, knowing he couldn't lie to Yugi. But telling the truth could open a whole can of worms that may make things, well, complicated. Looking deep into his light's eyes, he spoke.
"It means 'my beloved' or 'my love'."
"Your love?" Yugi asked, blushing his own tinge of pink. He wasn't sure if Atem had meant the love they shared as friends, the bond they shared as light and dark, or... something else. However, when the Pharaoh just nodded, Yugi was left to delve into his own conclusions.
There was a slightly awkward silence between them for a moment or two, before Yugi spoke again.
"... I love you, too," he said, not quite able to meet his dark's eyes. Atem looked up at him in surprise, not expecting that. He had been inwardly kicking him for the slip of the tongue when his mind had still been half asleep, but he hadn't been expecting Yugi to pick up on it, or for it to turn into this ordeal.
He especially wasn't expecting for Yugi to stand and make his way over to him. Though the teen was still a head shorter than Atem, he stood on his tiptoes and bravely pressed his lips to the Pharaoh's. It was light and chaste and over all too quickly in Atem's mind. As a result, he grabbed Yugi before he was able to take even a step away, and bent down to kiss him, sucking on his lower lip until he was granted access. Even then, the clashing of the two only lasted a few moments before they broke apart, both flushed and panting. Yugi then stepped into Atem's arms for a simple embrace.
As Atem held his hikari, he knew this didn't change anything. Not really. Even so, he continued to thank Ra every moment for his ability to come back to Yugi. It was all worth it, just for this moment. And he knew many more moments like this were to come.
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Again, sorry for the rushed ending ^^ It was late when I wrote that and my brain wasn't quite working at full capacity. However, reviews would be nice! Any constructive criticism on how to fix any mistakes is welcomed!