A/N: All right, I swore I wouldn't do this until I had at least one of the other two finished, but this story is just sitting on the hard drive mocking me. It's going to be chaptered, I dunno how long though. I'm not even entirely sure where it's going yet, so this will be an adventure.
Reincarnation fic, AU. Hope it's not too cheesy.
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The double doors to the throne room flung opened wide as a guard entered, her blonde hair wafting after her. She made her way through the royals in court to kneel at the throne of the King of the Land of Darkness.
The normally bored looking royal sat upright at her entrance. "Mai, tell me," he said.
The woman was hesitant. "We- we found him, my king," she stated.
The man's eyes shone with hope. "And? Did he come with you?"
She kept her head bowed low. "A- Although he was not given willingly, that was how he himself came with us."
Atem's vizer, Mahado, sighed and made a face. "I have to clean up after you again, it seems," the man said.
The royal paid him no attention. "Well? Bring him in. Quickly!"
"My king, if I may be so bold, I would like to suggest you welcome him in a more… private place."
Confusion dared to cross the man's face, but he shook it away. He knew his personal guards well, and this one would not make such a suggestion without good reason. There was something she wasn't telling him. Or perhaps, couldn't.
"Very well, he said, standing. "Take him to my study."
"Yes, my king," the woman complied, and took her leave.
"Shall I dismiss the court?" Mahado asked.
"I care not," the other told him, and vacated hastily toward the mentioned room, his midnight robes billowing after him.
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Practically the entire Kingdom of Darkness knew of its ruler's desire to find his other half in the Land of Light. Everyone had such a double, but not everyone wanted to have contact; in fact, it was more commonly quite the opposite and the two kingdoms were often at war with each other.
Now, the King of the Land of Darkness opened the door to his private study. The other person inside had their back to him, but there was no mistaking that gravity-defying hair, messy and unkempt as it was. Then he saw what the other was wearing; the most worn peasant clothing he'd thought he'd ever seen. It barely covered his thin body. He'd been right. His other half had been calling out to him. He'd needed him.
"Ai… Aibou?" the king asked tentatively.
The other spun around, alert at the sound of his voice. "Other Me?" he asked. "Is that you?" His eyes were clouded violet, and he made no other move toward the king.
'Dear Ra,' the king thought in realization. 'A child of light, born without the simplest form of it… No wonder…'
"Other… Me?" the teen asked again, his voice becoming fearful.
Atemu walked to the other and wrapped his arms around the trembling teen. "Yes, Aibou," he said. "I'm here."
The other wrapped his arms tightly around the king and began to cry violently in relief.
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Once the teen's tears had finally dried, Atem unfastened the long black cape he wore and wrapped it around his worn-out mirror image. Picking him up bridal-style, he said, "Come on, Aibou. Let's get you cleaned up, hmm?"
"I don't care where we go," the teen said sleepily. "As long as I'm with you."
The king smiled, and walked quickly to his private bath. After shooing all the attendants away, he undressed them both and lowered his other half into the water. A concerned frown crossed his face when he saw more than just a few cuts and bruises covering his hikari, but Yuugi had a question for him before he could voice his own.
"Atemu?" the teen whispered.
"Yes, Aibou?"
"Are you really king again?"
The man chuckled. "Yes, it seems that this side of our soul has a knack for the job. I was hoping you would be born here too."
"Yeah, but I don't know much about it. People haven't exactly been willing to talk to me," the violet-eyed boy replied with a weary smile. "Is it like where we were last?"
"There are many similarities," Atemu told him, scrubbing his other half's hair as gently as he could. "The Land of Light resembles it quite a bit. Where you are now, though…"
"Kingdom of Darkness?"
"Yes. It is more barren and the sun doesn't shine here. But there's always a moon, and people survive here, just the same, and quite well. Life spans are very different, though. A person's life expectancy here is almost twice what it was where we were before. Magic is normal here too."
"Yeah, I knew that," Yuugi said, almost smiling.
"Oh? Do I have a natural user in my midst?"
The teen blushed softly.
The crimson-eyed king smiled. "It seems I do."
"I- I'm not completely blind. I can see shadows, so I was able to hide it for a while. But in large groups, I can't pick out any one person. Not on my own, anyway. Someone noticed that every time I was sent to find someone, something, or anything like that, I'd use magic to aid me, no matter how simple it was. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on." He paused a moment, letting the other rinse his hair and then cling to him. "I- I was sent away from the orphanage to a 'special' facility. "Atemu, it was horrible there. I was so happy when Mai and Jou found me."
That explained the cuts and bruises. "There are others at this… 'facility?'"
The teen nodded. "Yeah, anyone who's not what they call normal. 'The Land of Light doesn't want any dark unpleasantness in it.' At least, that's what the headmaster said."
The king's eyes narrowed. "Come on, Aibou. Let's get you some clothes and food. You must be hungry."
"Kinda. Mai and Jou always had lots of food."
"Oh, good. They did stop bickering long enough to feed you."
The teen laughed, giving the other reason to smile again.
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While his other half ate with Jou (the two seemed to share a love stuffing themselves), Atemu pulled his advisor aside and told him everything the teen had. Mahado's eyes darkened in anger, but otherwise his expression did not change.
"I agree that it is awful, Atemu," the brown-eyed man stated. "However, if we intervene…"
"Yes, I know, war. But this needs to be stopped!"
"The Land of Light sees itself as such. To call them otherwise would lead to the onslaught of this entire kingdom. Atemu, you finally have your precious light. Be content with that."
The king sighed, looking over at the teen that was currently hard at work gorging himself happily. "I suppose you're right." He conceded.
"I know you want to, but you can't save the world."
Atem looked thoughtful. "Or maybe I just need a new strategy."
"Get that look of your face."
"What look?"
"The one that means a lot of political clean up for me. Now."
"Mahado, I'm afraid I don't know what you're referring to," the crimson-eyed man stated matter-of-factly.
"I'm already going to have to deal with that ruler!"
"And that's my fault?"
"Well, yes. You did technically steal one of his citizens."
"He came willingly."
"But was not given willingly."
"He's a person. He can't be given," Atemu said logically.
"I agree, however, your fellow king will not."
"Are you fighting about me?" A small voice asked. Both men spun around to see Yuugi looking up at them.
"Ai- aibou," Atem stammered. He cast a harsh look in Jou's direction, but found the blonde gone. Damn, he must have thought Yuugi would be fine with him and Mahado right there. "Weren't you eating a minute ago?"
"Now I'm done. I'm causing you trouble just by being here, aren't I? I don't belong here either, do I?"
Atem took the teen in his arms tenderly, but his voice remained stern. "If anyone ever tells you that you don't belong here, I want you to hit them as hard as you can. Understand me?"
Yuugi nodded. "My magic doesn't work as well here, either. I don't know if I could have found you if you weren't talking. Do you know why?"
The king was thankful the other couldn't see the look on his face. He did know why, and he wasn't in a rush to tell him if he was already questioning his right to be in the palace. "Well, yes, Yuugi, however-"
He was cut off but Jou's reentry. "Atemu," the blonde said, approaching the trio.
"What is it?" Those closest to him only had to treat him as a king when in the public's view. They were alone at the moment, so Jou had neither to bow nor use his title.
"King Bakura was just sighted. He'll be at the main gate in five minutes."
"That prick doesn't waste any-" Atem stopped, noticing the form in his arms had begun to tremble. "Aibou? What's wrong?"
The teen only latched on tighter to the man. The king looked up at his friends. "I want you two, Mai and Seth in the throne room in two minutes," he ordered. "Aibou," he said more softly. "I need you to release me."
Yuugi shook his head and maintained his grip.
"Now, now," he said. "The aibou I remember was able to stand against creatures of darkness. Is one man so different?"
Yuugi nodded rapidly.
Now Atem was genuinely worried. "You will be protected, aibou, I promise. They are two each of the most powerful magicians and warriors in this kingdom that you also know well. And I will be nearby, I promise."
Tentatively, the teen relaxed his hold. "Thank you," the crimson-eyed man said. "Now, I need you to go with Jou. I will see you again soon."
Still obviously not a fan of this plan, Yuugi nodded. Jou took him by the hand. "Hide 'im in the crowd?" the blonde asked before leaving.
"Yes," the king replied. "As close to me as possible without drawing attention to yourselves."
Jou nodded, then turned lead Yuugi down to the throne room.
"All right. Yuugi protected, now-" Mahado began.
Atemu's voice was so low the vizer barely recognized it. "Now we find out what that bastard did to my hikari so I can pay him back tenfold."