STORY SUMMERY: Nearly a year has passed since Ya-'Atem' passed on, and things are no easier for Yuugi. However, in Egypt, a truth emerges from the sand, and everyone discovers a mistake they made that night a year ago. YxYY

STORY WARNINGS: Shonen-ai, Romance, Fluff, a bit of angst

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

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CRAVING

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))Day: 0((

It was dark.

He knew that.

There was something heavy wrapped around his neck (he had a neck), something heavy on his ears (he had ears), something hard around his forehead (he had a head). His chest (he had a chest) was covered by something soft, as were his legs (he had legs) and feet (he had feet). There was something cold and heavy around his legs and ankles (he had ankles) as well as his arms (he had arms), and smaller cold-heavies around some of the fingers (he had fingers) on his hands (he had hands).

Something thudded against his chest, something hard and ancient and dead and cold and soft and new and alive and warm. He gasped, pausing. Had he been moving? Yes, he must have for him to have stopped. His fingers, quivering, reached up and touched the object that had interrupted his self-discovery. It was a triangle. Or, rather, several triangles pressed together on a square base.

'A pyramid then,' he thought. Then he grabbed the object, unable to see in the dark. 'No…' his mind told him as his fingers felt the individual pieces that made up the pyramid, 'a Puzzle.'

A Light in the Darkness.

The doors of the tomb seemed to slide open of their own accord, sending bright sunlight flooding into the ancient pyramid of Atem. Sand danced at his ankles.

'Yuugi.'

And Yami remembered.

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"Silent Magician attack!"

Joey blinked a few times as the white and blue female Magician rose into the air, holding out her small staff, which glowed brightly. The beam of white light shot forward, blasting into his Red Eyes Black Dragon and taking out his remaining life points. He then shook his head, chuckling as the holograms faded, and reshuffled his cards together.

"Nice one, Yuug'!" he called, stepping off the red duel platform. Yuugi smiled back at him, gathering up his cards and jumping down from the Dueling Arena.

"You didn't do so badly yourself, Jou!" Yuugi exclaimed, rushing over to Jounouchi. Jounouchi chuckled, moving towards where Anzu, Honda, and Mokuba had gathered.

"You're bein' too kind, Yuug'," Jounouchi said, shaking his head. "Maybe last week when you were still a bit mopey, I mighta had a chance, but now? Pfft."

Yuugi grinned, smiling. It was easier to do now, as if talking with his friends about his feelings for Yami had somehow given him the ability to breathe without pain again. Earlier in the week, it had still been difficult- his heart had still ached all the time, and any passing thought of Yami had made him pull back into himself. Today, however, he had finished lunch with his friends and Joey had offered to duel him, and Yuugi felt the tension ease in his chest, the pain fading away.

And he was alright.

Yuugi gave him a gentle elbow to the side. "I doubt even then, Jou!"

Jounouchi paused, thinking, when he spun around, mouth open.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, and Yuugi broke out in laughter and jogged to their group of friends, taking refuge behind Honda.

"Save me!" Yuugi cried, and Honda held up his hands to Jounouchi, who was marching towards them, brown eyes bright.

"I have nothing to do with this, Jou! I swear! Take him, just don't maim me!" the brunet wailed. Yuugi gasped in mock-indignance.

"Honda! Traitor!"

"I fear Jou's wrath more than yours, Yuugi!"

Yuugi broke into laughter that turned into a yelp when Jounouchi and Honda turned on him, snatching him up and giving him a noogie.

"I'll show you, pipsqueak!" Jounouchi declared, messing up the shorter-teen's hair. Yuugi tugged fruitlessly on his arms.

"Release me! Gah! Not the hair! Not the hair!"

Anzu watched this, standing back with Mokuba, who only shouted encouragement to the duo, with a happy smile on her face. She wasn't foolish enough to think that everyday would be like this- no, Yuugi was going to have bad days and good days. Hopefully now the good days would happen far more often.

Anzu jolted out of her thoughts when Jounouchi hoisted the yelling Yuugi over his shoulder, handing the violet-eyed boy's deck over to Honda. "I'm gonna take him for a swim!"

"Jounouchi Katsuya! Don't you dare!"

--

Yami wasn't sure what was worse- the whole 'walking for hours through the desert' thing or the 'not knowing what had happened after the door closed' thing. He knew that it had been a spell since he had walked into the afterlife, but how long? Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Lifetimes?

Yami shuddered at the thought of his aibou dead already, even in the blaring heat of the desert. The Pharaoh had his blue cape wrapped around his head to protect it from the sun, keeping only his bright crimson eyes exposed to the world. His massive hair had long since fallen from its normal height to a sweat-dampened look, lying flat on his head and falling down his neck and the sides of his face. He had been following a sand dune for the past four hours, heading what looked to be northwest from Atem's tomb.

'My tomb,' Yami reminded himself harshly. 'I am Atem. I am Atem.'

The mantra still hadn't worked. Like when he and his hikari had played the Monster World shadow game with Ryou and Zorc where Yuugi and his friends had all taken control of little figurines, the Memory World had been more like Yami playing a character that looked and sounded like him. And it bothered him. Why couldn't he get used to the fact that he was the Atem from the memory?

'Of course, it might be an easier task from now on,' Yami thought with dark amusement, looking down at his tanned, wind-worn hands with rings scattered across them. 'Now that we look alike.'

Yami licked his dry lips, wishing once again that Atem- he had built his tomb closer to the Nile. Now, however, he could only stumble through the desert and hope he found either some water or an archeological dig site. If not, well, he would have a use for his tomb, after all.

He stumbled, and Millennium Puzzle smacked him hard in the chest, as if punishing him for having such morbid thoughts. Yami wasn't sure where the Puzzle had come from, since the last he remembered it had been placed on the Millennium Tablet. Another mystery that swam in his head, which he really didn't have time to ponder. Yami then groaned, feeling a wave of dizziness wash over him. Lack of water and sustenance was making him weak, and if he didn't find something…

"Yuugi," the name crept past his lips before he marched onward, one hand clutching the cape tighter around his head and the other holding the Puzzle tighter to his chest. There was no time to think of such things- he had been given another chance, and he wasn't going to waste it. He just had to keep thinking of his friends, of Yuugi…

Nearly twenty minutes passed before a noise besides the wind whipping past him reached his ears. Yami squinted into the distance, and nearly collapsed in relief. There, not even quarter of a mile away, stood tents with smudges that were moving around. People. Yami had found people. Sure, he still had to cross that quarter of a mile, and then determine if these people would help him or kill him, but he'd worry about that when he wasn't about to collapse.

Yami began to run towards the tents, letting the Puzzle dangle as his arm shot into the air, waving it wildly as he called out with his hoarse tone.

"Hey! Hey!"

Some of the smudges paused, and a few fled back towards the tents. Yami stumbled during his running, and fell to his knees. When he looked up again, a vehicle, a Jeep maybe, was moving towards him.

They stopped a few yards from him, and three people piled out of the tan car and rushed towards him. One of them, dressed in white, dropped beside him, pressing a bottle into his hand. Yami pulled his cape down from his mouth, and he greedily slurped it. He stopped after a moment and he began to cough. The figure in white rubbed his back soothingly. A soft, familiar voice reached his ears.

"Be careful, desert wanderer," it said, "you would do well not to drink so fast."

Yami's eyes widened, and he looked up into the faces of his rescuers, disbelief written over his face.

"Isis?" he croaked, reaching out and grabbing onto her shoulders, the water bottle forgotten. Her face swirled in to focus- blue eyes confused and long black hair tied back. "Isis!"

Her eyes widened in shock and she grabbed onto him, gasping, "My Pharaoh?!"

Yami nodded quickly, and suddenly Marik and Rishid came into view when they dropped down beside their sister. Yami smiled gratefully at them. "I should have known the Gods would not leave me to wander without friends," he spoke breathlessly. Isis wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"My Pharaoh! Atem! How?!"

Yami shook his head, closing his eyes and leaning heavily against her. "I do not know the wills of the Gods," he murmured, exhaustion suddenly increasing. He felt two sets of arms pull him to his feet, and he blinked open his eyes, staring at the bald Rishid whose green eyes showed utmost loyalty and blond Marik with his kind violet eyes. Violet eyes that reminded the Pharaoh of another.

"Yuugi," he groaned, before he sagged in their arms, ignoring Isis's startled cries. Once more, he welcomed the onslaught of darkness, although this time he knew he would awaken in the arms of friends.