Title: "Guess how much I love you."

Summary: A tiny, young Yuugi tries to express to his faithful guardian just how much he loves him, but love is hard to measure. (Brotherly, no pairings.) My personal tribute to all shamelessly sappy one-shot brotherly ficlets everywhere.

A/N: Oh my gosh, I'm posting something. Amazing, isn't it? Sorry, everyone, I know it's been too long. All I can offer now is my apologies. I'm afraid I have little else to give right now.

Yuugi was, really, just your average five year old boy. Of course, most average five year old boys are thought to live with their parents and not their aging grandfathers. And most five year old boys do not have the fortune to grow up in a game store. And yes, it was true that most five year old boys cannot solve ancient Egyptian puzzles.

And even Yuugi, as young as he was, felt quite sure that most five year old boys did not have a Yami. And Yami seemed to agree with him. And really, if a three thousand year old spirit from ancient Egypt that was sealed in a solid gold puzzle says it is so, Yuugi thought that it just had to be true. At least if that spirit was Yami. Because Yami knew everything.

Well, at least, that's what Yuugi said. And if Yuugi said it was so, Yami thought that nobody should be allowed to disagree.

And no one did, because Yami made sure of that. It, like many other things, just came with his job, he felt. Yuugi didn't have his parents anymore and his grandfather, in his golden years, was not truly prepared to raise a child alone, however much joy Yuugi's presence in his life had brought him.

Thus, once Yuugi had solved his puzzle and readily welcomed him into his life, Yami took it upon himself to protect and care for him as an older brother, which is what they had to tell all of the confused neighbors, anyway.

Yuugi didn't care much about what those people thought. Not that that's very uncommon for a five year old, of course. He was happy with the way his world worked. It was all he knew and all he wanted, so nothing else mattered.

Well, almost nothing. There was one other thing. What Yuugi liked to do more than anything in the world, other than being with his two guardians, was to play games.

Aptly named as he was, and with his grandfather's game shop and desire to spoil Yuugi by indulging him in every possible area of his own favorite pastime, Yuugi had quite a plethora of almost every kind of game a young boy could ever want.

Lately, though, Yuugi taken to a new kind of game: the guessing game.

One night, as Yami started to gently prod Yuugi towards the stairs to get ready for bed, (having to give him a piggyback ride to the bathroom in exchange for cooperation, as usual,) Yuugi thought about how much he never wanted this to end.

How he wanted to be with his Yami, his very best friend and brotherly caretaker, forever. Longer, if there was something longer than that. Other than his grandfather, the spirit was his only family. His world. He loved Yami. And Yuugi wanted Yami to understand how he felt. How much he cared.

And Yuugi grinned. He knew what he wanted to play tonight.

"Ya-cha~aan," he more sang his guardian's name than said it, which made Yami smile as he hummed to show that Yuugi had his attention. Yuugi wrapped his small arms around Yami's neck and leaned closer to his ear, just be really sure Yami was really listening to him. "Guess how much I love you."

Yami was silent for a minute. He considered the sudden, playful request. When they reached the bathroom doorway, he paused to let Yuugi off his back before answering, "Oh, I don't think I could guess that, little one."

Yuugi climbed up on the small, purple, plastic step that helped him reach the sink and spread his arms as wide as they could go, then beamed up at Yami. "This much!"

Yami chuckled to himself at Yuugi's sweet gesture. Of course, since Yami was older and taller, and thus had much longer arms, he smiled at Yuugi affectionately before mirroring the action. "But I love you this much."

Yuugi studied the difference in their arm-spans and frowned, his brow furrowing in deep contemplation. 'That is a lot.' "Hmm…" As hard as Yuugi stretched, he couldn't make his tiny arms go that far. He turned to brush his teeth and thought about it some more.

When he finished brushing and followed Yami into the hall to get dressed in his pjs, he had another idea. Yuugi tried to stand on his tiptoes and stretched his arms up to the ceiling. "I love you as high as I can reach." He smiled.

"Well," Yami replied, smiling and stretching up until he actually touched the low ceiling, "I love you as high as I can reach."

Yuugi's eyes widened when he measured the distance this time. 'That is really, really high. I wish I had arms like that.' He pouted. Yami was too good at this game. But he couldn't give up just yet. No, he was determined to think of something else.

So, when they got to his room, Yuugi spotted the big, blue, fluffy plush rug across from his bed where he had first attempted to do a hand stand. It was very tricky, and he had hurt himself more than once trying, but that gave him another idea.

He got down on the floor and then stretched his feet up on the wall as far as they would go. "Look, Ya-chan. I love you all the way up to my toes!"

Yami chuckled. Yuugi was adorably persistent. He picked Yuugi up off the floor and spun him around as he had many times before to make his little friend giggle. As Yuugi's toes now reached much higher while being swung around in the air, Yami simply said, "And I love you all the way up to your toes."

Yuugi giggled when his guardian put him down and the minute his tiny feet touched the floor, he started jumping around. Yami was really smart, but he wasn't finished trying just yet. "I love you as high as I can hop!" He declared, laughing.

Yami arched an eyebrow as Yuugi hopped around the room like a little bunny. He shook his head bemusedly. Hopping, now, was it? Oh, well. What did dignity matter if some of it was lost to humor his little Yuugi? "But I love you as high as I can hop." He jumped up, and once again, touched the ceiling to prove his point.

Yuugi watched the display and his brow furrowed again. 'I wish I could hop like that.' Yami was so much taller and stronger and such a good jumper, and Yuugi had already gotten tired from hopping around and it was nearly time for him to be in bed.

But Yuugi was still determined to think of something else while Yami helped him into his blue and white star-covered pajamas. He tried to think someplace that was much further away than their ceiling. "I love you all the way down the street, past the school, as far as the park." Yuugi said, curling up against Yami as the older boy scooped him up in his arms to put him in bed.

Yami just smiled and said, "I love you past the park, over the hill, down to the docks."

'That is very far.' Yuugi thought, amazed. It made him tired just thinking of the time he walked there with Yami to get ice-cream, and he was already almost too sleepy to think anymore. His brow furrowed. Maybe he could try again tomorrow?

Then he looked out his window, past the trees, out into the deep darkness of the night. Oh! Ah ha. Nothing could be further than the sky. "I love you right up to the moon." Yuugi said, yawning and closing his eyes.

"Oh, that's far," Yami replied, impressed, "that is very, very far." He settled into the bed with Yuugi, cuddling up into a comfortable position as he thought over the very precious sentiment Yuugi had offered him. That the boy so freely gave Yami his trust, friendship, and love meant more to the spirit than he could say. Truly, it meant far more than Yuugi would ever understand.

But that didn't mean he had to stop trying to show it.

He leaned over and gave Yuugi a goodnight kiss on his forehead. Then, right before the little one drifted off to sleep, with a loving smile, Yami leaned down and whispered in his ear, "I love you right up to the moon…and back."

~The End~

Believe it or not, this was inspired by a children's book. I can just hear the comments of "Noooooo, really? The cheesiness was totally not at ALL a dead giveaway."

Thank you for the sarcasm. xD It's title is the same as the story's and it's about a little bunny and a bigger bunny. And while the little bunny's riding around on the big bunny's head, (a mental image that doesn't work here, but seems hilarious to me,) he decides to strike up this adorable conversation.

Coincidentally, they're not recognized as being related, (I know, I know, it's a children's book, who bothers with plot details,) but they're both boys and one is more or less child-like and small, even though they look completely the same otherwise, and well…

I just couldn't help myself. If Yami was a bunny, he would totally be that bunny.