Once Apon A Summer's Night

(Started off as a Cinderella adaptation and I went from there, so there will be a few similarities but I've changed the story a lot so it's not so much the same)

Yugi Mutou's family was once wealthy and happy, until his mother passed away when he was 9 years old. With that brought the downfall of their wealth and his father's happiness. Now, the only child lives with his father among the less fortunate in their town, with nothing but a small stone house and a horse stable to their name.

Up in the wealthy part of town, Atem Sennen lives in the largest and most luxurious mansion known to the small village. Being the son of the wealthiest family certainly has it quirks. But when his family hosts a high class gathering and invites all of their wealthy friends, Yugi finds himself sneaking in thanks to his friend Joey, and it's this decision that could possibly change his life forever.

Chapter 1: Decision Of A Lifetime

Yugi sighed as held up the long sleeved shirt that may once have been white, but hadn't been for a very long time. Now it was a light brown colour, with years of wear that were clearly visible. He dropped it back down into the wooden tub and continued to scrub at it, determined to get out the most recent stains. It was his best shirt, after all.

Yugi's family wasn't very well off, well not anymore anyway. They used to be quite wealthy, not the richest of families but they were still in the upper class. He was an only child, and ever since his mother had died his father went into a state of depression and their fortune went down the drain as the man drowned himself in alcohol. Yugi's father was a great man, and he still believed that, but lately there were more times than not when he seemed to be a better parent back before Yugi's mother passed. With an absent mind, Yugi wrapped his hand around the silver chain that hung around his neck. On the end of it hung a locket that his mother had given him just before she died. It had once been hers when she was young, but she had gotten a message engraved in it just for him when she gave it to him as a gift.

He shook his head, throwing away the countless thoughts that he'd had about his mother and wishing she didn't have to leave. He just had to deal with what life had given him and that was that.

Finally content that he'd washed the shirt the best he could, he pulled it back out of the tub and squeezed out the water. He then turned to hang it up on the washing line, but to his surprise he became face to face with his best friend.

"Hey Yug," Joey grinned, having effectively snuck up on the boy. Yugi let out a startled noise and jumped back, before waving the wet shirt in Joey's face.

"Don't do that!" He said, before pushing past the man to hang the shirt on the line. Joey just laughed and followed him, eager to tell him of a brilliant idea that he had. Devious, maybe, but definitely brilliant.

"You know how you're always complaining that you never get to have any fun?" Joey asked from behind him, leaning down to talk close to the boy's ear just to irritate him.

Yugi pulled his head to the side, holding his ear protectively after the verbal onslaught it had just received. "Maybe," he said suspiciously, turning to look at his friend. "What do you have planned?"

Joey's grin widened, showing all of his teeth, "A little birdie told me that one of the noble households were hosting a party tonight," he said with a devious smirk.

"And?" Yugi said, walking past Joey and back towards the wooden tub.

"And it's the most wealthy family in town!" he exclaimed, "Imagine the kind of shin dig these guys are able to throw!"

Yugi sighed, picking up the tub as Joey followed him eagerly. "Yes, but the un-wealthy, like ourselves, aren't invited to those parties, Joey."

"Oh come on, Yug!" Joey pestered, "We have to get ourselves into that party!"

After tipping out the water, Yugi turned back to look at his friend, "And how do you suppose we do that?" he asked, crossing his arms after placing the tub back on the ground.

"Easy," Joey said, "We sneak in the back and throw on some clothes we find in the house, that way we'll look wealthy and nobody will recognise us so we can just pig out on awesome food!" he cheered. "Come on, Yug, it's brilliant! You can't let an opportunity like this pass up!"

Yugi sighed, looking at his friend who was pleading him with his eyes. He did want some excitement in his life, all he did every day was general household chores while his father worked day and night to earn their keep.

"Well..." Yugi said, throwing the idea around in his head, "I guess I could sneak out while my father is working tonight..." he drawled, his face scrunched into a look of concentrated thought.

"Yes!" Joey exclaimed, taking that as a yes, "Tonight is gonna be awesome!" he grinned widely, before grabbing Yugi and ruffling the boy's hair. "Alright, it starts at sundown, so I'll meet you at the town center just after then so we can sneak in!" His grin was so wide Yugi thought it would burst off of the man's face.

"Alright," Yugi said, "I better not regret this, Joey."

"You won't!" He said, before turning and jogging off in the other direction, "See ya tonight Yug!" he called over his shoulder. Yugi just stood there shaking his head, how did he let his friend talk him into these things?

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud husky voice, "Yugi!"

The boy suddenly turned and briskly made his way to the back door of his house, poking his head inside, "Yes, father?" Yugi could see his father sitting down in the kitchen, having just arrived home from his job as an Ironworker, and he only had a few hours before he would have to go out again. Because they were so tight on finances, he had to take two jobs and work twice as hard to get them the money they needed. Yugi was very grateful for how much work his father did, but he just wished that he wasn't so grumpy all the time because of it.

The man didn't turn around to speak to him, "We need some more fire wood, why don't you go fetch some from beside the stables?"

Yugi sighed, "Yes, father." As he turned to go collect some more firewood that he'd chopped up earlier, Yugi began to look forward to his and Joey's adventure that night. He wasn't used to sneaking around the place like that, but the idea excited him.

...

"Joey?"

"Over here, Yug!"

Yugi walked around the fountain that sat at the town centre, to see his friend sitting on the other side. He had an eager grin on his face as he jumped up.

"Ready to live like the rich kids?" he asked, still holding the grin.

Yugi laughed, "I guess. But how are we going to get in?" he asked. The front gates certainly weren't an option, there were people flooding through them and they would certainly be stopped if someone saw them trying to get in.

"No problem," Joey said, waving a care free hand at the boy, "I got it all covered." Joey lead the way as they inconspicuously made their way over to the rich part of town. Most of the people who lived here would be at the party anyway, so they didn't have to worry about being seen on the wrong side of town. They carefully sneaked up to the mansion, surrounded by a high stone wall. Joey seemed to have scoped the place out already, and knew the best place to climb over the wall without detection.

"Okay Yug, I'll give ya a boost," Joey said, "Once you're over, just duck behind the tree. There's a hug one on the other side of this wall," he explained. Yugi nodded, and Joey kneeled down so the boy could jump on his back, before pulling himself up and over the wall. When he jumped down the other side, the landing shook his ankles, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. He ducked behind the trunk of the tree Joey had mentioned as the other boy jumped up, grabbing onto the top of the wall, before he hoisted himself up and jumped down the other side.

"Okay," Joey said, "Now, you see the second set of doors from the left up there?" he said, pointing towards the top story of the mansion, which had a balcony running all the way around it. Yugi nodded. "I'm pretty sure that's their son's bedroom. If we can get in there, we can swap these rags for some decent clothes, then nobody will suspect that we're not from this part of town."

"That's brilliant, Joey," Yugi said, surprised at how much his friend had thought into this. "But how do we get up there without getting caught?"

"Easy," Joey said, "We can just climb up that trellis," he pointed towards the wooden frame that had beautiful flowers blooming on it, which lead straight up to the second story.

"Perfect," Yugi said with a grin, before the two slowly made their way over to the building. They quickly and quietly scuttled through the garden, hiding behind bushes and branches, until they finally reached the bottom of the trellis. The windows of the mansion were closed by red velvet curtains, and they were still out of sight from the front gates, so they were able to take a breather before they started to climb up the trellis to the balcony.

Once they reached the top, Joey tip toed over to the double doors, peering inside. There were heavy curtains across the doors, but there was a small gap that he could see though. Just like he suspected, the room was empty. He tried the handle of one of the doors, and made a silent fist pump when it opened. All was going well.

"Quickly!" he said, ushering Yugi in before closing the door behind him. Without stopping to think, Joey threw open the doors to the wardrobe and Yugi was amazed at all the clothes this boy had. They were extravagant and he was sure that they all would look gorgeous on whoever this kid was. He probably had enough outfits that he would never have to wear the same one twice, a luxury Yugi never had. Joey quickly grabbed a random shirt and some pants for Yugi, tossing them to the boy.

"Here," he said, before grabbing some for himself, "Now nobody will suspect us," he grinned.

"What if he comes up and catches us in here?" Yugi said as he quickly stripped and replaced his daggy clothes for the expensive ones.

"He won't," Joey said, waving a care free hand at the boy, "He'll be down in the party with everyone else."

...

Atem walked out of the drawing room with a sigh. His parents had asked him to actually be present during this gathering, and couldn't understand why he would want to just stay upstairs and out of the way. The answer to that question almost ran straight into him as he turned the corner.

"Why hello Atem," the girl said, flickering her eyelashes at the man. He gave her a half hearted smile and tried to move past her, but she stepped in front of him, still looking at him with those lustful eyes.

This is why I don't like being a part of these stupid parties, he thought to himself with an internal roll of his eyes.

"Where are you off to?" the girl asked with a seductive smile.

Atem thought for a moment as he inched himself away from the woman, "You know, I was just about to go for a nap, I'm awfully tired. I'll see you later," he quickly turned and walked away from her, hoping that she wasn't following. He reached his bedroom door, and turned the handle just in case she was watching him, but when he looked back over his shoulder, she was gone. He sighed a breath of relief and turned to head in the other direction. At some time during this party he would have to make his presence known to the guests, but not right now.

...

Yugi and Joey suddenly froze when the door handle started moving. Joey cursed and closed the wardrobe doors as they panicked and tried to figure out what to do. They stared at the door handle as it stopped, and then went back to its original place. Obviously whoever it was had decided not to enter this room. Thank goodness for that, Joey thought.

They decided they should hurry up so Joey threw Yugi a pair of decent shoes, and he threw them on, having already thrown on the expensive clothes. Joey did the same, commenting that the kid wouldn't even notice that the clothes were gone because he had so many, and turned to the boy with a proud nod. Yugi suddenly noticed his mother's pendant hanging around his neck and thought that it would be best to hide it just in case, so he shoved it in the pocket of the comfortable pants he had on.

"Alright, let's go," Joey said with an eager smile.

"Wait a minute," Yugi said, stopping the man. "What do we do with our clothes?"

"Just shove them under the bed," Joey said, "I think its a fair trade," he said with a joking smirk. Yugi laughed, kicking their dirtied clothes underneath the lush comfortable bed, and they carefully made their way to the door. Joey cracked it open and looked out into the corridor. "All clear," he said quietly. "Now, let's go enjoy wealthy life!"

Okay, so I know I said I wouldn't post this until I finished one of my other stories, but I couldn't help myself xD

So prepare for drama and feels, because that's what I'm going to give you :D

Let me know what you think! :)

PharaohsThrone