Narutos sis and Itachis Girl – lol. I'm glad you seem so into it and to find out what happens next you'll just have to keep reading.

Mystralwind – Yes, it would be a shame not to have those four in it.

Dragonlady222 – hehehe, now you don't think I'm that do you?

Cheetahkit – yes, sadly, life is getting in the way. Trust me, even I had to go back and read all the chapters a couple times to get back in the groove of things.

B R E A K

Yugi woke to the sounds of birds in the window and a rustling of leaves, feeling completely warm and safe in the strong arms wrapped securely around his waist. He wasn't usually one to lounge about in bed all day and, if not for those arms wrapped around him, he would've been up even faster than usual out of surprise. Yami had most certainly not been in bed with him when he went to sleep.

The hammock they lay in creaked and the ropes that held the hovering bed rubbed against the trees, all sounding loud to his ears, but nothing disturbed the pirate from his quiet snores. That immediately seemed odd to Yugi though as it seemed that Yami would be the kind of person who wasn't a deep sleeper. Perhaps there was definitely more to the pirate than he initially thought.

In that very next moment Yugi was deposited unceremoniously on the wood floor as Yami shifted, mumbling under his breath a very distinct word that Yugi had never heard before.

Becca he repeated, mouthing the word. Who was 'Becca'? Someone he had obviously not met yet that was for certain. He knew that for a fact. The few women he had met since he scrambled into his crazy adventure had made it easy for him to remember their names and there had been no 'Becca' or anything resembling the name either. Perhaps he would have to ask Yami when he woke up. After all, the yearning ache left in his chest at the endearing way he'd said the name made it all too easy for him to assume that whoever Becca was she was certainly very close to Yami. Anyone who could make the roughened pirate speak in such a soft tone had to be wonderful.

He didn't have very time to entertain himself with different ideas of what the girl in Yami's dreams might've looked like or acted to gain such a hard-earned gift as the pirate's care when crimson eyes blinked open and started into bright violet orbs. "Yugi," he greeted, voice thick with sleep. "Have you been sitting on the floor long?" His joking statement was followed by a slim raise of an elegantly arched eyebrow that had Yugi finding it hard to swallow.

"Good morning, Yami," he answered quietly, unable to tear his eyes away from the handsome and sharply defined face. He briefly had to wonder if the pirate had ever once been or related to someone of noble standing. Otherwise it would be hard to believe that he'd ever been someone of lower standing. Any chance the teen thought he might've had with the pirate soon flew out the window at that sudden realization and he regrettably lowered his eyes to the floor, eyes flowing the different sketches in the wood. Why is it that I always fall for the people I have no chance with? First Ryou and now Yami….his standards must be considerably higher than anything I could hope to come close to. At least Ryou was my friend before he realized the nature of his position. With Yami I'm just some peasant rolling the dirt while he walks by on a fine bred horse without a speck of dirt on him. His depressing thoughts came not without a price and he soon felt the sharp burns of hot tears in his eyes, which he made no move to hide from Yami. Whoever that 'Becca' person was, Yami must've loved her very much. 

He would never feel that way about me no matter what promises he might've made. I bet if she stood right next to me and told Yami to choose between us no amount of promises he might've made to me would keep him from hesitating to choose her.

When Yami rolled off the cot gracefully, muscles rippling underneath his arms and stomach, Yugi couldn't help but stare. Ryou had muscles too and there had been plenty of times where he'd seen him with his shirt off, but he sadly had to admit that he had nothing on the pirate in front of him. Yami with his shirt off and low-riding pants that hugged his hips and thighs….Yugi couldn't even begin to think of the words to describe it. When a shirt covered the well-defined muscles curving sensually underneath Yami's tanned skin Yugi forced himself to look away and tried to think of anything else that would keep an embarrassing situation from occurring.

"Who's Becca?"

He failed.

The pirate immediately tensed visibly and he stared harshly into Yugi's violet eyes enough to make the teen shiver violently. "Where did you hear that name," he demanded, voice losing all trace of careful gentleness that he'd been using since departing the ship and sleep that usually laced his voice for at least an hour after waking. His patience was obviously much shorter too when after only a couple seconds in silence he grabbed Yugi by the collar of the shirt he'd slept in and glared, snarling the question again.

Yugi could only stare hopelessly into Yami's crimson eyes that only seemed to redden with his anger and his heart beat in his chest so harshly that he had to wonder if the pirate could hear it as well. It only took him a second to realize that his heart may have been racing because of the rage directed at him for a two-worded question, but the race took an unexpected turn as he stared at the well-chiseled face when he realized just how sexy the man before him was when he emblazoned with anger. Their faces were so close that all he would have to do was lean forward just a couple of inches and press their lips together. He couldn't help but wonder how he would taste, if he would return the kiss, if he would compare him to other kisses he had undoubtedly had. That last thought sent Yugi spiraling downward again in a mental corkscrew of heartache, remembering – reminding himself – that the pirate would have much higher standards than Yugi could ever be. Tears pricked at his eyes for the second time that morning and looked into Yami's eyes just quickly enough to see the metaphysical string in Yami's rage that had been close to snapping suddenly loosen and just as fast he was dropped on the floor.

Just as quickly as Yugi had time to look up after being unceremoniously dropped on the floor was just as fast as he had to be when he instinctually ducked his head when a glass object exploded into fragments, obviously not aimed at him but being purposely shattered because of his thoughtless question. And thoughtless it had definitely been and he found his tears dropping for entirely different reasons than thinking – knowing – he was no good for Yami or thinking that he had upset him, but because he had never felt more stupid. Obviously if this Becca person was so important to Yami to get caresses of her name in his sleep yet never mentioned outside of his dreams, than it must've been very painful. Surely if the person was so important to Yami, much more important than Yugi could ever hope to be, that it would've mentioned by someone that Yami's wasn't up for grabs. It clicked together all too well for Yugi that he found himself suddenly not caring that he was in the middle of a very small room with an enraged pirate with a temper well-known throughout the entire island no doubt as well as his own ship of pirate buddies with several broken things crashing into the wooden walls, not caring that he should probably go find someone to help calm Yami down, or caring that there were bits of glass from 

the first explosion embedded in his arm and now bleeding little rivulets down his skin and dripping on the floor.

As it turned out, the noise had drawn attention anyway and it had to look very interesting from an outsider's point of view. A little boy huddled by the wall, bleeding and sobbing, with an arrangement of several broken oddities on the floor, and a very pissed of pirate punching the wall enough to bloody his knuckles and kicking said wall enough to rupture a whole through a weak piece of wood. Bakura could count several occasions where'd he'd seen his first-mate in a similar temper tantrum, but could count zero times where it had happened at all very recently. Curiosity only made him wonder what could possibly have gone in the very minutes Yami could've been awake to piss him off this badly.

"Yugi," Ryou whimpered behind him. Pale, slim fingers were knotted into his shirt and he could just feel the panicked waves coming off his young charge when he saw his huddled best friend. Brown eyes darted to the captain's and back to Yugi's hunched over, shivering form in a silent plea. The captain nodded to the younger albino, telling him in a serious, no-business tone to take Yugi away from here while he dealt with the odd-tempered pirate.

"Take him to Serenity if you have trouble patching him up," he ordered. Ryou didn't even waste time nodding as he darted into the tree house, careful to not step on any glass and bring attention to himself. At least the pirate was no longer causing dangerous, sharp-sided fireworks to explode or Bakura would definitely not have let him even attempt to rescue his friend. The captain watched with intrigued side glances as Ryou touched Yugi gently on the shoulder, whispering to him and hugging him gently before Yugi finally turned to bury his face in Ryou's shoulder and allowing himself to stand and be half-dragged from the room. The noise of pushing the broken objects out of the way or crunching smaller pieces under their shoes didn't deter Yami from taking his anger out on the wall still, which now had a sizably cannon ball hole in it now. As Ryou passed him, offering a small, sad smile in thanks, Bakura smirked. "Just out of fascinated interest," he said in a sarcastic tone and in a volume that clearly wasn't for Yami to hear, "what exactly happened so I might take care of this as quickly as humanly possible?"

Yugi quickly looked away, obviously wanting to pull away from Ryou's less than tight grip and make a run for it while at the same time hardly trying to escape the comfort of being in warm, familiar and safe arms that held him leveled where he was. Bakura hardly thought he would make it very far in his condition if he tried to run anyway. His knees were shaking and his hands trembled even against Ryou's unwavering self, Bakura couldn't help but size him up and immediately the sarcastic question became quite serious to him. He asked it again in a much more serious tone and Yugi met his eyes. The first half of his question was rendered incomprehensible due to near silent and quaking voice, but one word managed to make the captain's own form seize up in a lightning fast reflex: Becca! It was the very same word that made Yami lash out years ago and, after years of control and careful concentration, Bakura had foolishly thought his first-mate had forgotten, or at least repressed the less than wonderful memories of the only romantic interest he'd ever held in his life, before and after he became a pirate. There was only one appropriate word that his fumbled brain could think of at such a time and he wondered if even that was an appropriate enough for the messed up situation at hand.

"Fuck!"

That one word was enough to make Yugi feel sicker to his stomach than anything else in his life had. His feet gave out underneath him and the only thing that kept him from crashing to the elevated wooden path was Ryou's arms holding him tightly. What had he done? Bakura had never lost his cool quite that before, nor had he ever seen him move as fast as he did after he answered when he entered 

the hut. Was it possible for him to screw up anything more than he already had? As soon as the teen had asked him that there was another large crash as yet another glass object was subjected as an angry fireworks display indoors and a yet another curse from Bakura. He was immediately led away when the barrage of glass and other broken objects started hurling through the open door way.

B R E A K

He was in shock. That was the only possible explanation for what could have possible happened in Yugi's mind the way he saw it. Yami was in control. He was strong and never showed a weak front, he was serious in every way and even a smile or gentle tone was a natural disaster to the pirate. There was only reason that his front had broken and that was because Yugi had hit his head when he fell from the hammock they slept in and imagined everything that had occurred afterwards. However, if that were all true than how could he be sitting in Bakura's tree house room with several sharp fragments imbedded in his arm, bleeding, and utterly miserable? Would he have really hurt himself over the fact that his personal, unseen force of a possible-crush radar constantly pointed out people who he had no chance with? Life was cruel.

Ryou worked silently beside him, sitting on the bed with both of their bare feet off the floor to avoid the falling pieces as he picked at the small abrasions from Yugi's arm to get various glass free, occasionally wiping his fingers on his shirt when they became too slippery with blood to pick out more. His fingertips definitely hurt with the small commodities, but he'd already looked around the small room in an attempt to find something to help but he didn't find anything and he hadn't wanted his best friend to sit there for Bakura come back. Serenity might've had something, but he didn't want to leave Yugi alone to get her but he also didn't think he'd be able to carry him in his vegetable-sack of a state. He would just have to make do with what he had.

"Hey, Bakura," a loud voice called from outside the doorway. Both teens looked up as a vibrant Marik stepped into the room before he looked at both of them and the scattered remnants of various artifacts beyond recognition, whistling loudly. Malik appeared behind me and stared in awe. "What the hell happened to you, squirt?"

Yugi immediately looked down, pulling his injured arm to his chest and cradled it self-consciously, tears pricking his eyes for what had to have been the umpteenth time in just that morning. What's wrong with me? You're so stupid, Yugi! You knew you couldn't stand a hell's chance next to Yami so you shouldn't be acting like this! Ryou's arms wrapped tightly around him as he glared at the two uninvited guests. "If you're just going to make this harder for him than just go away," he heard his friend scold.

Boots clicked on the wood floor and then crunched into the glass on the floor, kneeling despite the pricks he must've felt through the pant leg when his knee touched the floor. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that, Ryou," Marik's cheerful voice rang in Yugi's ears. Dull violet eyes glanced up and he got a good look at both. Their hair was even more mussed then usual and an ethereal glow just seemed to envelop both males in a way that was impossible to ignore. Even with his own lack of experience he wasn't that innocent to not knowing what those two had been up to. When Marik's slim, tanned fingers reached for his arm he flinched harshly and felt a pleasing chill when the pirate's advanced paused and then pulled back with a sigh. He certainly didn't want to be touched after the knowledge that he could be happy with the person he wanted while he was still the stable boy pining after the high lord of the house. "What happened to you?" The voice was quiet almost to the point of inaudible.

Though the arms around him didn't shift or lessen their hold, Ryou sighed audibly and painfully to Yugi's ears. Just as quickly as his sour mood came it left and knew that he'd done something wrong. Was it possible for him to do anything anymore without hurting at least one person anymore? He'd known, even with the atmosphere around them with what happened at Yami's, that Ryou had at least been really happy because he was with Bakura. Now, because of his behavior, he was the reason that his best friend had been separated from the person he wanted to be with and his heart dropped to his stomach with an inaudible thud. First Yami and now Ryou, with the possibility of Marik too. How many feelings would get hurt before they just left him alone?

"He hasn't said anything since Bakura and I found him this morning," Ryou explained, shoulders shivering before Marik sat beside him and rubbed his back soothingly. "We heard the sound of something breaking, a lot of it, and Bakura went to look. He was just sitting against the wall with broken things all over the place and Yami was at the wall throwing a fit." He looked up with sad brown eyes, pain reflecting in their depths. "Bakura asked him what happened. It was hard to understand and only one word really came out that we could hear but it was enough to make Bakura panic. I've never seen him like that."

A vice like grip came down on Ryou's arm enough to make the white-haired teen flinch. Malik stood in the doorway, unable to understand anything that was really happening except that Marik obviously knew something if such a rough explanation could make him lose his usual cool. Yugi was visibly scooting out of the embrace and against the back wall on the bed, hiding his face in his knees and rocking back and forth. He briefly heard Marik ask which word and Yugi shook as though the weather was ten degrees below freezing rather than over eighty. Ryou stuttered, staring into the sharp violet eyes of the first mate pirate and he sputtered a bit before answering that he couldn't remember.

Marik stood, towering over the now frightened albino. "You don't seem to understand. There's only one thing that Yami's ever really lost control over and if it's what I think it is than you have to tell me before I run over there and make it worse. What was the word, Ryou?" He shook the teen's arms roughly and Malik was about to grab him to keep from hurting the boy when Yugi's voice, as cracked as nails on a chalkboard, answered him. Fingers limp and strong form trembling, Marik stared with disbelief. "Say that again," he whispered, almost ghostly and afraid.

"Becca."

"Rebecca." He said the word as though it was a curse and spun on his heel, hurrying past Malik and almost running right into the captain and other first mate, cursing loudly as he stared at the all but dead person who was once one of the most ruthless pirates he'd ever known next to himself and Bakura. His whole body was stiff as he expected Yami to react to the taboo name, but visibly relaxed when it seemed as though the word went unnoticed.

Walking right past him, ignoring everyone but his one young charge huddling away from him, cowering now in the corner of the room, he knew what his expression must've looked like. He was too tired, exhausted, from his episode to care much what his appearance no doubt gave the impression of. Even on the days when weather was bad and stormy, rocking the ship back and forth to the point that sea water sloshed all over the deck without a chance of cleaning up until a break in the clouds came; he knew he looked better on those days than this simple day. He took only a simple glance at little Yugi, forcing his slim body away from him, cowering with his face in his knees and arms wrapped tightly at his sides, his sobbing audible even with the muffled noise. As soon as he knelt in front of the teen he knew that they were alone even without having to hear the others walk out of the room.

Despite the struggles Yugi put up the pirate managed to force the injured arm straight. He put his cracked lips to the pale skin and ignored the whimper of pain when he suckled. All his times on the pirate ship and he'd never shown this trick to anyone even when it would've proved invaluable. He'd never thought that the one time he finally used it, it was because of the same thing – the same person – who had taught him how to do this in the beginning. Each time a piece of glass loosened from the skin he would spit it on the floor along with a mouthful of blood before returning to the injuries.

"I'm sorry," he said roughly when he had finished. Tearing the bottom edge of his shirt he wrapped it tightly around the entire forearm with a secure knot ending it at the wrist. Then he pulled the teen closer and sighed. There was no way out of this now and he knew Bakura would end up telling him everything if he didn't. Yugi deserved to know what had happened. Even with his captain telling him that he knew he'd eventually have to do. Taking a deep breath and, relieved when the teen huddled into his chest, he let it out in a slow, painful exhale. His chest constricted painfully at the next sentence he had to force out. It was the only thing to him that still managed to make old wounds feel as though salt was being pushed into them. The name alone made him go numb and he shivered as the unfamiliar yet all too familiar word fell from his tongue. It was the best thing Bakura had ever done for anyone after it had happened, when he had ordered everyone from saying the word. I'm sure it had never occurred to the captain that one lone teen who couldn't possibly had heard that name from anyone would be the one to break the silence. "Yugi, I need to tell you about Rebecca."