Umm… nothing much to say this chapter. Word is (temporarily most likely) working again so I can finally type this. Sorry for the delay. Oh and…

IMPORTANT: For all you potential flamers, Holly had much fun writing me a friendship speech (Maybe too much fun… Should I be worried?...) So I have one ready to torture you with (almost makes me want a flame… ). Constructive criticism is OKAY. In fact, it's quite helpful (note the word constructive).

DISCLAIMER: 'With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands we sing for change' –Rise Against, Bricks ( Don't own them). And by change I mean changing the stupidity of people who actually think I own Yu-Gi-Oh… Sorry, I'm a weird anti-social chick not an amazing Japanese man…

Something's going on, what is wrong? I want you to be here, why don't you come; and spend some time with me? Can't you see? How we come undone? Is this the end of our song? –Our Song, M2M-

… Shut up. No comment.

It was really late by the time the door closed behind their friends. Yami and Yuugi were both utterly exhausted but refused to go to bed. They'd spent the entire day with Jou, Honda, and Anzu and even though they'd barely moved three feet from each other all day whenever possible, they wanted to spend some time together with just the two of them. But even though they had the same thoughts they both refused to admit it.

Yuugi tried to hide the fact that he was about to yawn when he turned to Yami. "I'm not tired. Do you want to do something?"

Yami grinned, trying to banish his tiredness. Sadly it wasn't something you could just banish to the shadow realm. That would make this a lot easier though. "A movie it is then." He didn't have to ask or even think about it really. Whenever they did this they watched a movie; and every time Yuugi ended up falling asleep; and every time Yami would smile and pull Yuugi closer so he didn't fall off; and every time he convinced himself that that was the only reason; and every time Yuugi would wake up first in the morning, blush, and pretend to still be asleep; and every time Yami would do the same thing, minus the blushing maybe.

Yuugi grinned and bounced over away from the door and into the living room, dropping to the soft carpet in from of the TV and opening the cabinet to study the movies inside. "Umm... How about, 'The Lion King'?"

Yami had followed Yuugi into the living room and now just rolled his eyes. "You know I don't even know what that is." Unspoken was the fact that he didn't even care what movie they watched. It didn't much mater; Yuugi always fell asleep and Yami was too busy watching Yuugi to pay attention to the movie anyway.

Yuugi just laughed. "True. I'll just take that as a yes." He turned on the TV and popped the tape in before grabbing the remote and skipping over to join Yami on the couch.



"You know mou hitori no boku…" Yuugi said a few minutes in, turning around and flashing Yami a grin. "You kind of remind me of Simba."

Yami didn't comment, deciding that he should maybe pay attention to the movie to figure out if that was a compliment or not. He watched Simba sing about how he 'couldn't wait to be to king' and raised an eyebrow at Yuugi. He was still trying to figure out if that was a good or bad thing; he hadn't watched enough of the movie to be sure.

"Yep." Yuugi said as the song finished. "You would definitely make a good Simba."

Yami rolled his eyes. "Because I sure love to prance around and sing, don't I aibou?"

Yuugi just shrugged, pretending not to notice the sarcasm in Yami's voice. "You get a little more mature later on." He paused the movie, a mischievous smile playing across his face. "Mou hitori no boku? I'm your best friend right?"

Yami looked at Yuugi out of the corner of his eye. He had no idea where this was going and he definitely was slightly scared of that smile but he decided to go with the truth. "Oh course."

Yuugi smile got a little bigger and Yami had a bad feeling Yuugi was going to try and make him do something he didn't want to, he just had no idea what. "And you'd do anything to make me happy, right?"

Yami's suspicion grew; this was not going to end well. Still he couldn't exactly lie. "Yes…" His answer was slightly hesitant, his suspicion clearly evident.

Yuugi broke into a wide smile and rewound the tape. "Sing with me!"

Yami stared at him, incredulous. "You're kidding, right?"

Yuugi turned to him, his eye wide and pleading, and a slight whine in his voice. "Please?"

Yami groaned, he really couldn't refuse whenever Yuugi asked for anything; and it wasn't as if there was anyone else around… He sighed in defeat. "Fine." Anyone who didn't know him would have said he was pouting. Anyone who did know him would have only thought it quietly to themselves and known better than to say it out loud. Yami was scary when he got angry.

Yuugi grinned at him and pressed the play button. "Thanks." And for Yami it was all worth it for that smile. He sang with Yuugi and was surprised at how much fun he was having as soon as he pushed the thought of how ridiculous he must look out of his head. He guessed it was probably because it made Yuugi so happy and it was… kind of fun to let your guard down every now and then.

"You know…" Yami said when the song ended. "If I'm Simba, that would make Seth Zazu…" They both laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the thought. "And you would have to be Nala then." He said, naming Simba's best friend who went practically everywhere with him.



He watched in surprise as Yuugi turned bright red. "I-I guess…" He didn't look at his Dark but kept his attention fixed on the TV. Yami frowned trying to figure out what he'd said wrong. Yami stared at Yuugi for a minute, silently asking for an explanation, he didn't get one and with a sigh turned his attention back to the movie, determined to find the reason there.

The movie wasn't even halfway over when he realized Yuugi was barely awake. No surprise there really. "Here." He pulled Yuugi closer and positioned him lying down with his head in Yami's lap. "There, now you can fall asleep like you always do."

Yuugi cracked his eyes opened slightly and stuck his tongue out at the taller boy. "I don't always fall asleep."

Yami rolled his eyes, not even bothering to argue. "Whatever." He mumbled, earning himself a halfhearted poke from Yuugi and Yami was surprised he could even do that considering he fell asleep within the next thirty seconds. Normally the movie would be long forgotten by now but Yami was determined to figure out what made Yuugi blush. He got his answer not much later. 'Yuugi's more like Nala then I thought.' He mused as he watched Simba fall in love with her. That would explain why Yuugi was embarrassed to be called Nala. By the time the movie finished Yami was too tired to even get up and turn off the TV. Not to mention he might wake Yuugi up. So he left it on, carefully moving Yuugi off his lap and lying down next to him, holding him tightly like always. The couch wasn't meant to hold two people like this so he always had a good reason.

XxXx

Yami had countless dreams and the only thing consistent in them was the endless blackness, but despite the lack of any change in his surroundings he still knew the moment he stopped dreaming. If he was asked to explain how he knew he never would have been able to explain; but he was positive he was right; which wasn't a good thing. He didn't want to be right. Because if he was, then the cloaked figure stepping out of the darkness was real too.

XxXx

Yuugi yawned. Attempting to sit up and rub the sleep from his eyes he found himself pinned down. Frowning slightly he cracked his eyes open. The first thing he registered was the TV, static dancing across the screen. It wasn't until he turned around to see Yami next to him on the small couch; his arms firmly around him that he realized that he must have fallen asleep during the movie last night. He laughed lightly as he watched Yami sleeping. 'Ha. I won again.' Grinning he snuggled back closer to the other, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to get up as long as Yami was holding him and he wasn't about to wake Yami up. He didn't really want to get up at the moment.

XxXx

The next thing Yuugi knew he was waking up to Yami calling for him desperately. "Aibou?! Aibou?!" Missing the warmth at his side he rolled over to press his now cold side closer to Yami only to find he wasn't there.



He sat up and slowly rubbed his eyes. "Mou hitori no boku?" Yami, still terrified from his 'not quite dream' moments before, relaxed slightly when Yuugi woke up. Yuugi noticed the fearful look on his other's face and frowned, worried. "Mou hitori no boku? Are you okay?"

Yami closed his eye and took a few deep breaths, making sure he was completely calm before meeting Yuugi's eyes. "Hai, I just," he looked away again "had a bad… dream."

Yuugi gave him a small smile, reaching out to comfort him. "It's okay. It was just a dream."

Yami took a step back out of Yuugi's reach, still refusing to look him in the eye and forcing a small smile on his face. "I know." But he was lying; he knew it wasn't a dream.

"Telling him will mean his death."

Yami felt an icy stab in his heart. "I-I'm gonna go eat." He choked out before running out of the room and into the kitchen. He leaned against the counter and buried his head in his hands. "Get a grip on yourself." He mumbled. "It's more important than ever that he doesn't find out." His thoughts were a million miles away as he made himself a bowl of cereal. 'Should I l-leave?' He felt tears form in his eyes at the thought and hurriedly wiped them away, thinking about his light. His adorable, bouncy, cheerful other half who… loved him back. He banged his head against the counter. "It's not fair!"

"What isn't?"

He glance up quickly, startled. He hadn't heard Yuugi enter the room. "Nothing." He muttered quickly turning his gaze back to his cereal, poking it with his spoon and watching the pieces sink and then bob back up before realizing what he was doing. He risked a look up and saw the worried look Yuugi was giving him, he quickly looked back down. So far this whole 'acting normal' thing wasn't working out so well. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up.

XxXx

"YUUGI!"

Yuugi blinked, tearing his gaze away from the stairs and turning to Honda. "What?" His eyes drifted back towards the stairs hoping to see Yami coming down to join them.

Jou sighed. "YUGE!"

Yuugi glanced back over to his friends. "What?!"

He sighed again. "You keep zoning out. We've been trying to get your attention for awhile now." Yuugi felt his heat up and mumbled an apology that Jou just shook off. "Seriously dude, I'm sure Yami's fine. You heard him say it himself, he's just tired."

Yuugi bit his bottom lip. "But Jou," He turned once again to the stairs. "He's barely said a word to me all day and it seems like he's trying to avoid me… he's been acting so strange and he retreated upstairs as soon as you guys came…" He trailed off. "I just don't understand what's wrong; he was perfectly fine last 

night. I mean, I got him to sing so I'm assuming he was." He frowned. "I don't think he'd be mad about that… he seemed to be having fun…" He ignored the shocked looks his friends were giving him. His frown deepened as he tried desperately to think of anything else. He groaned in frustration. "I can't think of anything else." 'Other than the fact that he called me Nala…' he added silently 'but he'd never seen the movie before so it's not like he knew…' He just couldn't figure out what was bothering Yami and it really bugged him. He didn't want Yami to keep ignoring him. He personally hated every second they had to spend apart.

"Umm… Yuugi?" He glanced over at Anzu who still looked more worried for him then Yami. "I think you're overreacting. I'm sure he's just tired."

"I guess…" he mumbled not really believing it. It was unusual for him and Yami to be this distant. Even though Yami didn't share his body anymore they were still practically connected at the hip. And though Yami never really was one to talk much to most people he usually talked to Yuugi about everything that was bothering him. It wasn't usual for them to have secrets. And Yami almost never blocked their mind link this much; all his thoughts and feelings were blocked leaving only a faint feeling of his presence.

Anzu gave him a reassuring smile and decided to change the subject. "You got Yami to sing?" She couldn't imagine they normally composed pharaoh singing. It was almost as weird as the thought of Kaiba singing.

Yuugi smiled slightly remembering. "Yeah. He acts really different when no one else is around. He smiles instead of glares and sometimes I can get him to drop his guard completely. I got him to make cookies once. That didn't go so well but they were edible…" he paused "Sort of…"

Anzu still looked shocked. "Wow… just… wow. What did he sing?"

Yuugi smirked slightly at that. "We were watching 'The Lion King' so…"

Jou laughed. "Let me guess, 'I just can't wait to be King'?"

"How'd you guess?"

Anzu smiled as she watched Yuugi start to calm down a bit, but then his eyes would catch the stairs and his smile would disappear. She sighed. Yuugi really did worry too much in her opinion.

XxXx

"He-he what?"

The man laughed. "He loves you too. Wasn't that obvious?"

"Umm… No…?"

Yami tried to shake the memory from his head but couldn't no matter how hard he tried.

"Why are you here?"



"To warn you."

"Warn me? About what?"

Yami banged his head against the wall; he really didn't want to hear the rest again. He jumped when there was a knock at his door. His breath caught in his throat and he tried desperately to calm himself down before he opened the door. He wasn't the least bit surprised to find himself face to face with Yuugi. He tried to make his smile as real as possible. "Sorry I was too tired to hang out with you today. Did you have fun?" Yuugi still looked concerned; apparently he wasn't fooling him in the slightest.

"Mou hitori no boku, please tell me what's wrong. I'm really sorry if I did something." Yami didn't answer. "Can you please just tell me what's wrong so we can fix it?"

Yami still wasn't sure how to answer, he desperately wanted to reassure Yuugi that it wasn't his fault but to do that he'd have to tell the truth and he knew he couldn't. An image of Yuugi's dead body flashed through his mind and he turned his gaze to the floor. "Nothing's wrong." Without looking up he closed the door and turned the lock, trying to ignore Yuugi's muffled sobs. He threw himself down on his bed, wanting nothing more than to run back out into the hall and comfort Yuugi. He could feel sobs of his own building in his chest as tears ran down his face but he still didn't get up. Yuugi could never know.

A/N Sorry if that was slightly confusing. I couldn't get the curse-ish-thing scene right so I cut it and added some flash-back-things. I'll try to explain more later where it makes more sense to…

So umm… TAH DAH! Something more dramatic for you to read! I officially have this whole story written out in my notebook and now it's just a matter of typing it out and revising it. Ugh. I hate this part. Oh well.

Erm… yeah. About the whole Lion King thing… he he I couldn't help myself. I was tempted to write a Yu-Gi-Oh Lion King spoof but with all the ideas I have I know I'll never have the time. Thus, the beginning was born. Also it worked well because I figure I should add a bit more fluff before everything went wrong… Anyways. There's an amazing video on YouTube of Atemu singing 'I just can't wait to be King' with Seth as Zazu. It's AMAZING and you should go watch it. Right now.

… Whoa. Off topic much? Anyways. Please push that little purple button. It's a special little button that keeps your computer from blowing up (sadly no matter how many times I push it my internet tends to 'splode anyways).Handy little button, isn't it? I think so. So go ahead and try it out.

Till next chapter,

The authoress (who thinks authoress is a silly word.)