Author: Star Lin
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: a little angst at the beginning, fluff and sugar and lots of cookies. Also spoilers for the Ancient Egypt arc.
Genre: General and Romance
Pairing: Y/YY
Disclaimer: Sorry don't own Yugioh, wish I did then Atemu would have refused to move on to the next life and stay with Yugi. wiggles eyebrows
Special thanks to RogueMoon for betaing. huggles Rogue Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Pharaoh's Hikari Yahoo Group December Challenge fic. Christmas.
Brief summary: It's Yugi's and his dad's annual Christmas cookie making. Yami is invited to watch and he realize that you find out more about a person when you see through their eyes.
/..../ Yugi's thoughts to Yami
.... Yami's thoughts to Yugi
…o…
Yami watched his light as Yugi spoke excitedly into the phone. The spirit caught only a few words: something about not being able to go to Honda's party. Yami couldn't figure out why not going to the party was such a great thing. Yugi had been acting strangely since the boy's father had phoned the day before.
"Aibou, why aren't you going to Honda's Christmas party?" Yami asked after Yugi hung up.
"Dad's going to be here in a couple hours," Yugi replied as he bent over and rummaged under his bed. "He hated having to miss Christmas last year and took off early so he wouldn't miss it this year… Every Christmas we make cookies for the family." The boy grinned in triumph as he tugged a folded piece of cloth from under his bed. Standing up, he shook it out to reveal an apron that said 'Cook's Assistant' on it.
"You were able to bake cookies last year," Yami stated matter-of-factly, still confused. "Even if it was after Christmas."
Yugi sighed and sat down on the bed, "True… But it wasn't the same as when we made cookies before Christmas." The small boy patted the spot next to him, a silent signal for Yami to sit. The spirit did so, wrapping his arms around Yugi. The boy smiled at the affection and leaned against his dark, "You have your memories back, Atemu… Surely you have memories of your dad that you treasure."
Yugi only used the pharaoh's true name when he wanted to make a point and Yami knew it. The spirit closed his eyes and thought about his former life, finding the memories that meant the most to him. "Yes," Yami whispered, "when father would challenge me to play 'Jackals and Hounds'." The spirit opened his eyes and smiled, "I cherish those times the most. Never more so than just after Father died and Shimon told me that he hated the game. He only played it to spend time with me."
Yugi grinned, "Then you can understand why I like making cookies with my dad." The boy took Yami's hand and traced it with his own, "We could make cookies with my dad. I know it won't be the quite the same… But if we merge, then you could have another memory of us doing this together."
"But Yugi," Yami protested. "This is your time with your father…"
"Yes, but I want to share this memory with you the same as you shared your memories with me." Yugi squeezed the spirit's hand and then went in for the kill by turning his large puppy dog eyes on the other.
Yami stopped himself from laughing outright, but couldn't keep his lips from twitching. His aibou was pulling out all the stops this day. "Okay! Okay," he sighed, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'll come out to bake cookies with you and your father." He couldn't help the groan that escaped him as Yugi smiled in triumph and had wonder what exactly he had gotten himself into.
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Sugoroku opened the door and gave the man standing there a once over. "You're early, Takeshi," the old man said with a smile before pulling the other in to a hug. "It's good to have you home, Son."
"It's good to be back, Dad," Takeshi said, removing his hat and shoes before stepping into the back of the shop. "I wanted to surprise Houmei and Yugi."
The two started up the stairs that led to the apartment above the game store. Takeshi had acquired his fathers passion for finding treasures in the dirt. Not for ancient buildings or clues to civilizations, but for things far older: for bones. At one time he had planned on going into archeology, but a summer in China awakened a passion for paleontology. The man never regretted the decision, "Where are Houmei and Yugi?"
"Yugi's in his room finding his apron," the man chuckled. "And Houmei is in the kitchen placing bets with herself on what she will lose this time while you boys make cookies… If I remember correctly, last time you and Yugi were cleaning off the ceiling long after the cookies were baked and eaten." Sugoroku laughed at the groan that escaped his son as he opened the door to the living room.
The younger man sighed and chuckled, "I'll go help Houmei remove anything that we might break. I'll put my suitcases away after we're done."
"I'll let Yugi know you're here," Sugoroku replied. He watched in amusement as his son headed into the kitchen to surprise his wife. Leaving the living room, he took a shorter flight of stairs up to his grandson's room. He paused as the sound of Yugi's voice came through the door. 'Either he's on the phone, or he's talking Yami into something,' the old man thought as he knocked and waited for Yugi to open the door. The sound of footsteps followed and when the door opened, the old man recognized the slight changes in his grandson's features, "Yes, Yami is in control… What is Yugi planing?'
"You knocked, Grandpa?" Yami asked.
Sugoroku nodded, "Yes. Your mother is removing the breakables from the kitchen in preparation for your father getting home. I would help, but I need to set up a display for Magic and Wizards." When the boy didn't take the hint, the old man pulled him out of the room, "Go help. The sooner it gets done, the sooner you can start your annual baking disaster. Then you and Takeshi can help me with the last of the decorations...if you're not scraping dough off the ceiling again."
Yugi's eyebrow raised. The spirit of the puzzle didn't know what Grandpa was talking about and had to ask Yugi to clarify. The boy explained that he had been kneading the dough and must have pushed to hard because some of it had flown off and hit his dad right between the eyes.
/Dad didn't believe me when I told him it was an accident, so he retaliated with his own clump of dough/, Yugi finished, not needing to explain further. Yami nodded mentally. He had slept through most of the fight since he hadn't sensed any danger to Yugi.
"We'll try to keep that from happening again, Grandpa," Yami said, giving the old man a small smile.
"I certainly hope you three don't!" Sugoroku replied mischievously. "If Yugi remembers correctly, he and Takeshi got quite the reprimand from Houmei. It was very entertaining."
Embarrassed violet swirled behind laughing red as the boy turned his eyes and his attention to the kitchen. Takeshi's laughter echoed into the living room and Yugi's countenance changed as the light took over his body once more and rushed into the kitchen with shout of 'Dad!'
"Ah...to be that young again," Sugoroku murmured, trailing after the teen.
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After many hugs and questions from Yugi about the latest dig, father and son pulled on their aprons. Yami and Yugi were merged again, but Yugi stayed in control while Yami watched through his aibou's eyes.
Takeshi tied on his 'Master Cook' apron and started pulling out the ingredients they would need, "You get the bowls and spoons."
"On it," Yugi said, pulling out the requested items as well as the Christmas shapes cookie cutters. "What are we making?" He asked, setting the bowls, spoons and cutters on the counter. Yugi eyed the ingredients his father had pulled out, licking his lips at the brown sugar.
"I was thinking the usual sugar cookies and ginger snaps," Takeshi replied. "Maybe some citrus drops and peanut butter with chocolate chip…" He looked over the ingredients they had on hand, "We might even have enough to make coconut dips."
Yami smiled in amusement as Yugi practically bounced at the mention of coconut dips. What are these 'coconut dips'? he asked his light as the boy got out the milk.
/It's a sugar cookie with white chocolate icing that you dip into shredded coconut./ Yugi replied, pulling the frozen coconut from the freezer. /We make two different kinds, toasted and un-toasted./
Yami 'hmm-ed' mentally as Yugi went back to helping his dad. Faint flickers of the spirit's memories flitted through Yami's mind as he compared what he was seeing to what he had known with his father so long ago. Yugi's memories also drifted in to the comparison: from the first time he had stood on a chair to stir the dough, to last year's battle of ingredients. It was strange and familiar at the same time. The two measuring ingredients and mixing things was the same, was familiar. But hearing them speak was strange.
The discussion started out simple: the two figuring out what to make, which should be made first, how many of each, etc. Then came the talk of who would be getting the cookies this Christmas. Yugi politely ignored Yami's grumbling when he mentioned Kaiba. Then the father and son moved on to other subjects: school, friends, Takeshi's latest dinosaur dig. That of course led to talk of Yugi's own studies in Egyptology and from there straight into Magic and Wizards.
"You're just like your Grandfather," Takeshi told his son.
Yami and Yugi both raised an eyebrow as the light put the first batch of cookies into the oven, "What makes you say that, Dad?"
"He used to tell me about this dig he went on and how he found this strange box," The man replied with a grin. "Dad admitted he was a gambler at the time, before he met Mom. It was only after he found that gold box that he really got involved in archeology." Takeshi set the next batch aside, handing the used bowls to Yugi so they could get washed and used for the next batch. "Although I think he stretched the truth a bit in those stories," the man laughed. "Like having to battle against stone soldiers or having the ghost of pharaoh save him from falling into a bottomless pit."
Yami and Yugi looked at each other in surprise, speaking at the same time, /A ghost of a pharaoh? Why hasn't Grandpa told us of this?/
"You should have dad tell you that story. I think you'd like it," Takeshi continued. When Yugi didn't say anything, he turned around to find his son staring off into space. "Yugi? …Yugi…" the man frowned when the boy didn't react, but it was quickly replaced with a mischievous grin as he reached into the bag of flour. Pulling out a handful, he stepped quietly behind his son and dropped it onto Yugi's head.
"Ack!" Yugi cried as he was blinded by the white. Stumbling away, he did his best to shake the flour from his hair, "Dad!"
"Yugi, Yugi, Yugi," Takeshi smiled and shook his head, "you have to pay attention."
Yami took control, his usual smirk playing on Yugi's lips. "So, you want to play?" He asked, taking control of mixing bowl. A handful of flour and sugar went flying with perfect aim, hitting Takeshi squarely in the face.
"You do know, this means war," the older man replied. Flour and laughter flew between the two.
The noise carried into the living room where Houmei and Sugoroku were sitting. Yugi's Mom raised an eyebrow at the noise as her maternal instincts kicked in, telling her that her boy was causing mischief.
"I'm going to check on them, "Houmei told her father-in-law, ignoring the chuckle that was his response. Marching into the kitchen, she was immediately accosted by the white powder of choice. "What are you two doing?" she yelled, giving the two a glare that would make Kaiba flinch.
The two troublemakers exchanged looks and then pointed at each other and said in unison, "He started it!"
"I don't care who started it," Houmei replied. "You are both going to clean up this mess." She reached for her 'ladle of death' when they didn't move fast enough.
"Were cleaning! Were cleaning," they cried, mock terror in their voices as they tried to smother their laughter.
"Men..." she huffed as she left them to their work, not quite keeping a smile from her lips.
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A few hours later, after he and Takeshi both took showers and helped with the decorations, Yugi left his family for the comfort of his room. He took a plate of cookies up to share with Yami. "You enjoyed yourself," said with smile, spotting the spirit leaning against the desk. "What do you think of it?"
"It was interesting: the relationship between you and your father," Yami replied with a smile of his own before turning his attention to the decorated tree outside Yugi's window. "I still don't understand why this time of year is different though…" This wasn't the only time of year Takeshi came home from a dig.
"You know why," Yugi smiled. "This isn't just a tradition for us. All the other times he comes home, our relationship is just father and son." The boy licked icing from his fingers before running them over Yami's hand. "It's at Christmas that we drop the father and son bit. We're equals, best friends doing something fun, and sometimes getting in trouble for it."
Yugi could see that Yami was starting to understand. Picking up one of the snowman shaped cookies, he bit it's frosted head off and continued, "Whether he knows it or not, Dad is teaching me that when I find my own equal, we'll be able to do anything."
Yami took Yugi's hand and leaned closer to the boy, "So does that also mean he is teaching you that with the right ingredients you can make something delicious?"
"Yes," Yugi smiled, leaning in to meet Yami halfway. "After all, you are my equal, my darkness."
"Just as you are mine. My light," Yami added, taking Yugi's lips with his own. The world faded to just the three of them: Yami, Yugi and the taste of white chocolate with coconut.
…o…
The End.
Notes: For me, Christmas was a time spent making cookies with my dad. The rest of the year, Mom would cook but it was only at Christmas that me and my sister would help our dad make cookies. I really miss those times that we spent together.
Since we never see Yugi's dad, I decided it was time to bring him back into the family. Also, this is a sequel of a sequel to a Christmas fic I did a while ago, titled "Yami's First Christmas." I promise to try and get the sequel to "YFC" out before Christmas.
The thing about the 'Jackals and Hounds' is from RogueMoon's story "Of Gods and Men."
For those that want a lemon, I'm sorry but I'm afraid that a sex scene would ruin the ending I want.