This is a rewrite of my Birthday fic for Yuugi, Surprise Aibou. The three reviews I got for it, and my own mind, screamed at me to do another, longer version that left no blank spaces. So, voila!
Note! The Yami's names will be their original, but they will be addressed as they were known in the beginning of it all. So Atemu is Yami, etc.
I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! the show woulda ended way differently.
Also, if this is your first time reading anything from me please check out my story Red Moon: A Snow White Tale. That is my first published Yu-Gi-Oh! story and I'm trying to continue it, but the lack of reviews for the second chapter doesn't help me to get the next chapter done so I can type it and post it. It's Puzzleshipping~!
Paradise.
That's what the Afterlife was supposed to be, right?
If so then why? Why did the great Pharaoh feel so empty? So miserable?
As if that question needed to be asked!
It was after he walked through that Ra damned door and it closed behind his back, his heart ached. He felt as if he was torn in half, and he was because Yuugi, his precious Aibou and beloved Hikari, was no longer with him.
He regretted not winning.
The ceremonial duel was honorable and enjoyable, but it meant separation if Yuugi won. Neither of them remembered that halfway through. Now he was hurting, and he was sure Yuugi was too.
Currently Atemu was sitting by a fountain looking into its clear water. His entire palace was replicated here, and he had all his friends and family that he'd been separated from for 5000 years, but that only eased his pain so much.
Thankfully he could share his pain. Akefia and Marik were there too, allowed by Atemu and Ra because they too felt the pain of being torn in half because while they were dead, their Hikari's lived without them suffering.
Often they were in each other's company at this fountain in the recreation of the palace gardens, looking into its crystal-clear water that doubled as a window to the world of the living, and they were able to see their Hikari's again. And that was what Atemu was doing now, looking at his Aibou from the other side; this was how he knew Yuugi suffered. Those once bright and beautiful amethyst eyes that won his heart on sight were now dulled to a light equaled to a flickering candle flame as the wax nearing complete melting, and he could see the longing and loneliness in those eyes he wanted to stare into every night like he was once able too. He wanted to touch the flawless cherry blossom skin of his face again, and feel how Yuugi would nuzzle into the touch like an adorable kitten, run his fingers through the soft black hair edged with violet and the blond bangs framing his heart-shaped face. Most of all he wanted to see that glowing smile that always told him Yuugi loved him, was happy with the Pharaoh at his side, and that they were enough.
"Staring again, huh Pharaoh?" a gruff voice, with hidden sadness, asked behind him.
Looking he saw Akefia and Marik, Akefia was the one who addressed him.
"You two want to do the same thing. Shut up and sit down." Atemu said coolly.
Not feeling up to fighting the order, they never did once the pain of separation set in, Marik and Akefia did as they were told. They each took different sides of the fountain and the water in front of them rippled to show them who they deeply wished to see.
Akefia saw a snow-skinned boy with white hair and doe-like brown eyes, an innocent version of his modern appearance. Ryou Bakura, his Hikari that was an earth-bound angel in his eyes; he hurt him in so many ways, but he made up for it with the love he was finally able to show him and he wondered how he had been so blessed to be loved by his Tenshi after all the heartless acts of his life. He felt he didn't deserve any of Ryou's affection, but he treasured it even now.
Marik was looking at an innocent version of himself as well; tamed corn-silk hair and lavender eyes that could reflect so much of the owner's soul if one actually tried to look. Malik Ishtar suffered so much as a child with only his sister and adopted brother to turn to; and because he was possessive out of fear of losing his Hikari, he made Malik hurt them unconsciously. The night before the duel against the Pharaoh that banished him to the Shadow Realm, he confided in Malik that he had hoped to lose in order to pay for the pain he caused. His Hikari told him he was forgiven for everything, but pleaded with him to duel his hardest so that at least the loss would be fair and he would have some dignity. That was their first and only night together. Now Marik wished he could've had more time.
"What would it have been like if we met them differently?" Marik asked quietly.
"Not as painful." Akefia answered.
"We probably wouldn't have left them at all." Atemu added.
"Master, they're pouting again!" a young female's voice said disrupting the tranquility.
The three looked to see a girl with brown hair and green eyes wearing a cream dress and head dress, a small staff in hand. Next to her was a man with brown hair and eyes in a cream robe that went to the floor.
"Mana, hush. Forgive her Atemu." The man said with a slight incline of his head.
"Yes Mahado. Is there something you needed?" the Pharaoh asked.
"You're father has summoned you, all three of you."
The three former Yami's looked at each other in confusion before they shrugged and stood up and followed the two mages to the throne room of the recreated palace where Atemu's father, Aknamkanon waited for them.
The previous Pharaoh was a man who was strong in every sense with dark hair and eyes. The cobra head dress on his head sat proudly and his purpled robe made him look regal; he was wise and could solve any conflict. Accept for the one he had dealt with since he had been reunited with his dear son, so he had gone to Ra and gotten his answer.
"Father, you called for us?" Atemu asked once at the foot of the dias.
Aknamkanon gave his son a warm yet sad smile, "Tell me my son. Are you really happy here?"
The question caught the young Pharaoh off guard and he didn't know quite how to answer without disappointing his father. The man was so happy to have his son with him again, Atemu felt if he told the truth it would hurt him.
Thankfully (or not) Akefia had no such morals, "Not in the least!"
"We miss those we love most! How can you expect us to be happy when we're separated by life and death?!" apparently Marik didn't either.
While Atemu glared at them over his shoulder his father nodded.
"I thought so."
"What do you mean Father?" Atemu asked.
"Atemu I saw it in your eyes when you returned to me. You're torn in half, all three of you are. That is why Lord Ra decided, with your consent, that you should return to the sides of your loved ones." Aknamkanon explained.
Marik and Akefia smiled like idiots, which was disturbing, but Atemu looked conflicted again.
"Father, may I speak to you alone?"
Nodding the man stepped down from his throne and led his son to his private study, "What is it my son? Is this not what you want?"
"Of course it is. But what about you and the others? You were all so happy to have me back with you."
"Yes, but we agreed that your happiness means more. Atemu would you really hurt yourself for our sake? You found love, true love and that is not something everyone is blessed with everyday."
Atemu could help but smile at the thought of Yuugi. He remembered that night after their final duel at Duelist Kingdom when they returned to Domino City, he and Yuugi met in the Hikari's soul room and he'd spilled his heart out; how he was afraid he'd lost him in the Shadow Realm and how he cherished him more than anything in the world. He told Yuugi he loved him, and the happiness he saw in the boy's eyes behind his tears made his heart sing.
"Yuugi is everything to me and more." Atemu said more to himself than his father who he remembered was in the room "But why are you willing to let me go back?"
"Because you seeing you happy will bring me greater peace than resting undisturbed in any tomb. Atemu, you speak as if we will not see each other again. We will my son, when the time calls for you to return to the Afterlife with your precious Yuugi at your side." Aknamkanon explained.
Smiling Atemu hugged his father, "I will miss you then."
"And I you, my son." Aknamkanon said rubbing his son's back.
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Ishizu Ishtar was in her office at Cairo museum contemplating how she could possibly get her precious little brother to be happy again, or at least happier than he'd ever been. But it seemed he brother had been torn apart.
More than once she entertained the thought of his Yami being gone to be the reason, but he wouldn't say.
"Ra above. How can I make Malik smile again?" she asked herself.
A knock at her door brought her out of her musings, "Odion?"
The door opened revealing her adopted older brother, "Came to take you home."
"Right. I got lost in thought again." She said gathering her things.
"Worried about Malik again?" he asked.
She gave a sad smile, "Of course. Um, did Ryou come yet?"
The albino boy was coming to visit them as he and Malik had become strong friends.
"He's back at the house. He got his late afternoon." Odion answered as he walked down the hall with Ishizu.
"Malik tells you everything, right?" Ishizu asked finally deciding to at least try to get an answer as to why her brother was depressed.
"He hasn't told me anything Ishizu. I'm sorry." He answered.
She sighed, "It was worth a try."
They got into Odion's car, a red Elantra GT, and started for home. They lived near the Valley of the Kings, so of course they had to cross through the desert, but they weren't expecting a bright light to appear out of nowhere in their path and cause Odion to screech to a halt. They wiped the temporary blindness from their eyes and got out to see what cause the light, imagine their surprise when they saw tree very familiar Yami's laying in the sand unconscious.
"What are they doing here?" Ishizu gasped out.
"I wish I knew." Odion answered stooping to shake Atemu awake.
The now former Pharaoh stirred and his eyes met Odion's, "What happened?"
"My Pharaoh, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the Afterlife." Ishizu voiced.
Akefia groaned and sat up rubbing his head, "You mean we're back?" he looked at his fellow Yami's and himself noticing they were already dressed in modern garb that suited their tastes.
Marik sat up instantly awake, "Where's Malik?!"
Atemu actually took the time to look around and see where they were, "Not out here."
"Come with us. We'll take you back to our home, where Malik and Ryou are." Ishizu said knowing somewhere deep in her heart that this was Ra's doing.
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Malik sat on the couch in the living room with the TV on, but not really paying attention to what was on. He missed Marik so much it was getting harder and harder to hide each day; Ishizu and Odion would figure it out soon. Ryou was up stairs sleeping off the jetlag he had so there was no one to talk to until Ishizu and Odion got back.
"Malik why are you watching an infomercial?" a soft voice asked breaking his moping.
"Ryou? You're up?" Malik asked turning to look at the staircase where his friend stood rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"I was dreaming about Bakura again."
The Egyptian teen's chest tightened at the mention of his friend's Yami. I reminding him of his Yami, and he owed him for housing his soul when Marik took over his body during Battle City so it wouldn't be lost to the Shadow Realm.
The sound of a car pulling up came from outside and Malik stood up, "They're back."
Not a second after Malik made the random statement the door burst open revealing a tanned man with spiky corn-silk blonde hair and lavender eyes with nonexistent pupils that immediately settled on the Egyptian Hikari.
"Marik?" Malik breathed.
Marik smiled in a way no one had ever seen and walked over to his Hikari stopping less than a foot from him, "Hey Malik-pretty. I'm back."
Feeling like he could be dreaming Malik slowly reached up and touched the Yami's face expecting his hand to go through as if it were a mirage in the desert. When it didn't he felt his heart start to pound.
"Oh please tell me this is real." He pleaded.
Smirking, Marik took Malik by his hips and leaned by his ear, "How's this?" he gently bit down right near the younger's earring causing him to gasp and confirming his hopes.
"Marik!" Malik cried out happily and hugging him tightly around his neck.
Ryou couldn't help but smile sadly at the scene they made, 'At lease Malik can be happy again.'
He felt tears collecting in his eyes and one actually got free, but before he could wipe it away himself another hand brushed his cheek wiping the tear and its trail away. He looked and was met with the russet eyes he had missed for so long.
"Bakura?"
Instead of the usual smirk that would cross his face the former Thief King smiled, "Hello my little Tenshi."
For the first time since they had been separated a genuine smile formed on Ryou's face.
"Now all we need is to reunite you with Yuugi." Ishizu said looking at Atemu.
The former Pharaoh nodded with a small smile, the thought of seeing his Aibou again warming his heart.
"Sister his birthday! Yuugi's birthday is coming up soon, so we should invite everyone here!" Malik said from his place in Marik's embrace.
"That's a great idea!" Ryou agreed "We can call Seto tomorrow, tell him what's happened, and he can arrange everything!"
Akefia laughed, "That's perfect! Make the Pharaoh a birthday present for the runt!"
"Shall we wrap you up too?" Marik added.
Atemu glared, "I will send you both back to the Afterlife if you don't shut the hell up!"
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Mokuba was on his computer working on a school assignment with the help of Noah, who's data he'd managed to find in the KaibaCorp mother board and upload onto his own computer.
"Hey Mokie, you're getting a video phone call." Noah's voice said over the speaker.
"I wonder from who?" Mokuba said putting on his headset and pressing a key to answer the call "Hello, this is Mokuba."
"Hey Mokuba! It's Malik and Ryou!" Malik answered from the other end.
"How are you?" Ryou asked.
"Hey you guys! I'm doing great! How about you? Don't take this the wrong way, but you both sound happier than ever. What did we miss over here?" Mokuba said.
There was laughing over the other end and a voice Mokuba hadn't heard in a long time spoke to him, "Mokuba, if Seto isn't busy we need a favor from him."
The young Vice President froze where he sat and the question that came from his mouth could barely be heard, "Yami? Are you really back?"
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Seto was in his home office working on a new hologram device when his brother came running in with his laptop and headset.
"Nii-sama, you won't believe this!" the boy exclaimed setting his laptop on his brother's desk and giving him his headset.
"Mokuba what is it? You look like you saw a ghost." The CEO noted his little brother's appearance as he adjusted the headset.
"Hello Seto."
"Yami?!"
"Yes. Can you do us a favor?"
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Yuugi was in the game behind the counter when Jou came running in with a bright smile on his face.
"Yuugi, guess what!"
"What is it Jou?"
Smirking the dirty blonde answered, "Wanna go to Egypt for your birthday?"
June 4th…
"Okay. I just got off the phone with Mokuba; they arrived last night and will be here in an hour." Malik said hanging up his cell phone.
Ryou smiled brightly, "Then we'll give Yuugi a party he'll never forget, with a surprise he'll forever be grateful for." He looked over to a group of three smiling, his sight on one in particular "Excited?"
A smile, "Very."
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Yuugi smiled as he watched Cairo pass by from his seat in a silver Mustang convertible*. He sat next to Mokuba who sat behind his brother Seto, who was driving, and in the passenger seat was Jou.
It had been about three months since the Ceremonial Duel and Yami had left to the Afterlife, since then a lot's happened. Seto and Jou had gotten together after a beyond heated argument at a night club that was ended only by a full on kiss that to this day no one knew who started, since then he and Shizuka had moved into the Kaiba mansion. Ryou and Yuugi kept in contact with Malik due to their similar situation when it came to their Yami's; they were like a support group to each other as well as a soul family who gave each other shoulders to cry on figuratively and literally speaking. Anzu …was nonexistent to everyone since Yami left; no one knew why and she never even hinted to a reason, but Yuugi had an inkling. Honda had been spending a lot of time with Otogi, a lot. 'Nough said. But they were in a car behind the Mustang with Yuugi's grandpa and Mai driving. Mai had been dueling and motor biking since their ordeal with Dartz, Valon constantly at her side.
Today was Yuugi's birthday and everyone was heading for the Ishtar Manor to celebrate. Ryou was already there waiting with the others; he'd actually been there for a week.
"How much further?" Jou asked.
"Another half hour Puppy. Be patient." Seto answered not taking his eyes off the road.
"I'm excited to see everyone again. It's been a while since we last hung out, ne?" Yuugi said leaning on Jou's seat.
Mokuba nodded, "They're excited too. Malik told me they have a very special gift waiting for you Yuugi. You'll love it."
The amethyst eyed teen just smiled, "Seeing everyone together again will be a great gift in itself, and that's all I need."
Yuugi didn't notice Seto, Jou, and Mokuba smirking in a knowing way.
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
Ishizu had just set the cake she spent two and a half hours making on a table that was set up like a buffet. It was a chocolate chip red velvet cake frosted in cream cheese frosting with chocolate drizzle, and 'Happy Birthday Yuugi!' written in Kanji and Hieroglyphs, a caramel Millennium Puzzle took up the center between the two lines of writing.
"Looks awesome Ishizu." Ryou said from next to her.
The woman smiled, "I just hope everyone likes it."
"Modest!" a rough voice called from the kitchen.
Ryou and Ishizu rolled their eyes.
"Why I am letting myself deal with him, I don't know."
Malik came strolling in with a mocking smirk, "For my happiness, of course."
Ryou giggled while the blonde's sister glared, "Just get him out of there. And make sure he doesn't have any knives!"
They younger Egyptian saluted and went into the kitchen.
Ryou looked at the watch on his wrist, "Ten more minutes."
*~Yu-Gi-Oh!~*
The two cars finally pulled up in front of the Manor and everyone piled out; Yuugi was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"Easy hon! No sugar and you're hyper." Mai said with a fond smile.
"Can you blame me?" Yuugi grinned.
Suddenly two people wearing ski masks came up behind Yuugi and grabbed each of his arms, "Come with us if you want to live!"
Yuugi was about to panic until he saw his friends smirking and holding back laughter, "Okay, what are you guys up to?"
"That's a surprise, now quiet runt!"
Only one person ever called him that, "Bakura?!" he looked at the one to his right.
"Son of Anubis*!" the assailant took off his ski mask revealing wild white hair and russet eyes "Oh well, it was getting hot in that thing anyway."
The other one took off his mask revealing wild blonde hair and lavender eyes with nonexistent pupils, "You're still our prisoner!"
"Marik? What are you guys doing back?" Yuugi asked.
"You'll see!" the psychopaths grinned and dragged him inside with the other following.
Yuugi was greeted with smiles from Ryou, Malik, Ishizu, and Odion, "Happy birthday!"
Once released Yuugi hugged them one by one, "Thanks everyone! Now can someone explain why Marik and Bakura are here?"
"Ask him." Odion said nodding his head behind Yuugi.
Said teen tilted his head, "Who?"
"Surprise Aibou."
Turning Yuugi met crimson eyes set in a tan face. Blonde bangs, black hair with extra blond streaking it and edge in crimson, and a heartfelt smile that melted his soul.
"Yami."
Everyone just smiled as they watched the two embrace and share a kiss long overdue.
And there's the new, improved version!
*Enjoy the scenery! You can't do that in a limo.
*I came up with that myself. I find it can be a nice alternative to "son of a bitch" and no one can get in trouble~!
Happy birthday Yuugi! Much love!