Disclaimer: Do not own anyone but Kematso.
Atemn stared in shock at the artwork before him.
It was simplistic enough; a child's scrawl, even. But it carried such meaning, such heartache, that even Joey couldn't look at all the panels.
In the first panel, a group of people were depicted, with two in the front particularly detailed (eyes, mouths, and hair). The two detailed people looked a lot like himself and his brother, to be honest. Maybe that's what originally drew him.
In the second panel, the person on the right began to follow the group as it departed, a smile still on his face. The one on the left wasn't smiling anymore though,and the people behind him, two of the three remaining, seemed to be shouting at the others. The small person next to the one no longer smiling had a frown on its face.
The third panel hurt. A lot.
It showed the "departed" group, with the one brother, laughing among themselves, while the other brother now stood alone, in his brother's shadow. The ones who had stood with him as the group left were departing in the opposite direction, anger obvious in their faces.
The fourth panel was a shattering to the third's ache. In it, the abandoned boy sat alone, crying, in his "brother"'s shadow, as is brother struck a pose and one of his old friends laughed at his pain.
The fifth depicted the boy, apparently fed up, walking away into a new group's welcoming arms. The old friends were laughing among themselves as The boy's brother finally noticed him leaving. The brother had his mouth open, as if he were saying "Hey... wait...!"
Cinnamon eyes misted over, looking at the last panel. The brother's group was still there, but they were faded, a background. The brother was frowning and looking out at Atemn, his eyes accusing.
Down in the left-hand corner, scrawled in Kanji and Egyptian, was Yugi's name.
"Please... help me make him hear..." the once-pharaoh sobbed, on his knees before Yugi's guardian and his own one-time brother. Kematso looked sadly at him, before giving him a large piece of posterboard and a permanent marker.
"No one can make a person hear if they are unwilling. The heart must be willing to open up and hear. I can give you the tools, but only your heart can give you the right words."
Yugi viewed the new addition to his work with a cautious gaze. In Egyptian fashion, the red-eyed brother was running away from the group he had followed, appearing to chase his purple-eyed brother.
The panel after that showed red-eyes trying to get purple-eyes' attention, but failing to draw him from the group he had joined. Purple-eyes viewed him with a kind of caution and fear, staying well within the group's protective circle.
The next panel showed red-eyes on his hands and knees, crying and seemingly begging for his brother to speak to him. Purple-eyes was at the edge of the group, apprehensively watching.
Atemn's hands began to shake as his brother approached him. Purple eyes were bluish with apprehension as Yugi handed over a duplicate of the card he'd found before, this one directing him back to the display for what he guessed was the final time.
Tear-filled cinnamon eyes viewed the last three panels of the story. The first, now with the detail he'd known his brother capable of, showed Yugi smiling gently and approaching him, still kneeling on the ground with tears pouring down his face.
The second panel showed them rising back to their feet, a look of disbelief written on Atemn's face. The last depicted them in a tight embrace, with the caption "Welcome back, Brother." beneath the picture. Both groups were gathered behind them, the Kaiba brothers, Bakura, Kematso, and SEES behind Yugi, and Joey, Tristan, Tea, and the other Duelists behind Atemn.
"Brother, I don't think I've seen you cry over a picture before..."
Atemn spun around, finding Yugi smiling gently at him and leaning against the wall.
"Before you ask, you were forgiven before the first drawing was even thought of." The words didn't seem to stick for a few minutes, as Atemn just watched his brother with tears flowing freely down his cheeks. Yugi chuckled slightly, and pulled the shocked Egyptian into a brotherly hug.
"Come on. The others are waiting on us."
With that, a smile began to grow on Atemn's face, as his followed Yugi out of the building.
A/N: I came up with this while having The Fray's "How to Save a Life" loop in my head.