Short update as part of my massive Christmas gift to everyone.

Amethyst-Jade: Nobody's reviewed this, why keep it up here?

No idea, maybe out of hope that someone will read it and review on their own terms.

Yugi: Great idea.

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The minute Atem passed the threshold of the ancient doors into the afterlife, they closed. Yugi felt a sharp pain sear though his body and he collapsed mere moments after they shut, gaining Solomon's attention. "YUGI!"

Odion carefully picked the small teen up and rushed to the waiting jeep. By the time they reached the closest hospital, he was struggling to breathe. Once inside the building, the staff whisked the ailing boy away and lead the others to a private waiting room.

LINE

Ishizu looked to Solomon who was lost in his own thoughts, "Is there something bothering you, Mr. Mutou?"

"Not even Yugi knows what I am about to tell you," Solomon began, deciding that his grandson's friends needed to know. "But I don't want any of you kids to tell him a word about this."

"We promise," the group of teens swore.

Solomon nodded before starting, "Yugi doesn't have any parents, in fact, his own 'birthday' is the date that he became a part of my family."

"What are you saying," Ishizu questioned.

"I took him home from Egypt as he had no family and had my daughter adopt him so that he would be able to stay with us. She passed away shortly after, naming me his legal guardian. Yugi was different from other children, so I kept him home most of the time, only allowing him to stay partial days at school until he was seven."

"I remember that," Tea spoke up. "He didn't talk until the end of the first grade and even then it was rare that he said a word."

"That's why he was always bringing games and stuff to school," Tristan mused.

Joey couldn't believe what he had just heard. His first best friend, after Tristan, was adopted! What was his original story? Why did he look like Solomon did when he was younger? Who were his real parents?

LINE

Yugi cracked his eyes open, but quickly closed them against the bright light. He realized that he was in a hospital room, but couldn't figure out why. The last thing he remembered was watching Atem walk into the afterlife. He found the remote to elevate his bed and to dim the lights. Once he was in a sitting position, he saw his grandfather sleeping in the next bed over.

He sighed as the doctor entered the room. "I see you're awake," she stated as she approached his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Alright," Yugi replied as she checked his vitals.

She wrote some notes on her clipboard, "I see no reason for you to leave today. Just take it easy and rest a bit."

Yugi nodded and sat on the bed waiting for his grandpa to wake. He caught sight of his friends peeking into the room. Yugi smiled and waved them in. "So how ya doin' pal," Joey asked him.

Yugi shrugged, "I'm fine. I get to leave today, but the doctor said to take it easy. So what happened?"

"You fainted, Yugi," Tea stated, beating the boys to the punch. She didn't want to risk Joey blurting anything out that might upset their friend. "It was probably the heat."

"I'm sorry that I made you guys worry," Yugi said as he looked to each of his best friends.

At that moment, Solomon woke up. He saw Yugi awake and talking to his friends, "How's my boy?"

"Good," Yugi replied. "The doctor said that I can leave today."

"That's great news, Yugi! Now we can go home where you can rest comfortably," Solomon stated, knowing that Yugi must miss his bed after a night in the hospital.

LINE

They made it back to Domino without any issues. Joey carried a sleeping Yugi into the Mutou house and into his room. The small teen had fallen asleep in the car on the way from the airport and nobody felt like waking him. He was tired after the long flight and the rocking of the vehicle lulled him to sleep.

After Joey returned from laying Yugi in his bed, he and the others said their goodbyes and headed towards their own homes. Yugi slept through lunch and awoke just as Solomon paid the delivery boy. "Hi Grandpa," Yugi yawned. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Solomon thought for a moment, "You could get us some drinks and a couple of paper plates. I think that's about it."

Yugi nodded as he headed into the kitchen for the requested items. When he returned, Solomon had the box open, revealing Yugi's favorite pizza; a pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, and green peppers. "Thank you Grandpa," Yugi said, hugging the elderly man.

"I thought that you deserved a special treat," Solomon replied as Yugi put a slice on both of the plates.

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Hope you enjoyed it.

Mokuba: Until next time...