Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. Please don't sue, I've got no money. Only original things of mine are the Millennium Bracelet/Collar, the cat and Tora.

Alright time for the codes to come out. And the winners are:

/aibou to yami/

//yami to aibou//

"speech"

'thought'

{Telepathy}

[Aibou interjecting her own thoughts during a telepathic conversation] (Ya I know the codes are going to get very confusing.)

* * * * * * * * * *

It was that very annoying feeling of something tickling her nose that slowly dragged Tora from a sound sleep. Not wanting to wake up she twitched the offended appendage. It worked for a second, but then the gentle brushing of something ventured into her left nostril. Tora let out a small snort whatever it was out. Unfortunately, like all things determined to waken those comfortably asleep, the light tickling thing returned. In complete retaliation she sneezed.

And was promptly elbowed in the gut.

Startled Tora leapt up. Or at least tried to.

In her only partially awake state Tora had forgotten two things. One was that she was still in the form of a rather large feline. The second was that Yugi had been tucked into her curled form. Because of this Tora tripped over the smaller teen, got disoriented when she did this and because everything was the wrong size. The resulting effect was a blur of black and grey landing ungracefully on her back and in a bush.

Yugi was, needless to say, also startled by the abrupt movement. That and having a very large and heavy cat step on your arm is not the most pleasant of awakenings. Letting out a small squeak he quickly scrambled out of the way and backed up against the nearest tree. Bright violet eyes darted around as he tried to figure out what had attacked him and/or woken him up. He quickly spotted Tora thrashing and growling in the bushes. He held his breath, still unsure if this creature was a friend or not.

Tora finally managed to extract herself from the offending vegetation. She promptly sat down and started to clean all of the dirt, leaves and twigs off of her coat. She didn't even look up when someone chuckled.
{[This is not funny Yami!]}

The ancient spirit gave another soft chuckle. "Oh but it is my friend. You should have seen your face. A cross eyed cat is something of a sight."

Yami then focused on his aibou. "How did you sleep last night Yugi?"

"A lot better." Yugi's face became shadowed for a brief moment. Then it passed and he smiled up at Yami. "So Tora is a friend?"

"Yes, one from my past." Yami took a seat next to his hikari and pulled him into a light embrace. He was inwardly pleased when Yugi rested his head on his shoulder. Both watched the disgruntled feline rid herself of any dirt. Yami sighed. "I wish I could remember more about her though."

"Why? You don't trust her?"

"No it's not that. I just feel. . .as if I am letting her down by not knowing anything about our pasts. She will know more about me than I do. I just am unsure about how to approach her."

Yugi glanced up at his friend. "Just be yourself around her. If she is truly your friend then she will still hold your friendship close, even if you can't remember."

Yami shook his head. "Still I feel as if I am betraying her somehow by not remembering."

{[Except that you are not my Pharaoh. You should listen to your aibou. I would never abandon you. We will just have to restart and rebuild our friendship that is all.]} Tora commented without looking up from her grooming.

"You heard us?" Yami asked startled.

Tora leveled a very sarcastic glare at him. {[I'm a cat, I happen to have extremely good hearing. Now we should probably leave as soon as possible. Where are we going?]}

"Domino City. But I don't know where it is from here." Yugi replied, his voice soft. Yami gave him a small squeeze.

Tora got up and stretched. {[Yami, didn't you say that you were going to try and use the puzzle to find one of the other items?]}

Yami nodded and got up. "Yes, hopefully that dust for brains tomb raider hasn't left Domino. Yugi I will need to take over for a bit."

Yugi nodded and Yami disappeared in a brief flash of light. Tora watched in slight amazement as the puzzled glowed again and Yugi's eyes changed from violet to ruby red. She was also slightly surprised to note that Yugi had also grown a couple of inches. 'I wonder if Aibou changes when I take over.?'

Yami closed his eyes and framed the Millennium Puzzle in his strong slim hands. In a flickering rainbow light the Sennen Eye appeared on the Pharaoh's forehead. The Puzzle gave off a soft golden light, flared once and then died. The puzzle danced a frantic jig on its chain trying to pull to the left then settled down. The crimson eyes opened and a tired sigh escaped from the teen.

"I don't think I can locate the other item. The puzzle may be one of the strongest items, but its power is not in locating." Yami looked dejected.

{[Maybe it's not suppose to be as showy as the Millennium Ring, but it did point in a direction]} Tora said staring to Yami's left, more importantly south. {[We should at least try this direction. If anything hopefully we'll run into a house with friendly people.]}

Yami shivered. "Whatever we find let it be quick. Yugi cannot take much more abuse and this cold weather is not helping."

Tora smirked. {[Are you sure it's just Yugi the cold is bothering?]}

Yami growled at his former captain. "I'm a person of warm deserts and harsh winds. I do not enjoy this weather either. But it is Yugi's body that I inhabit. I do not want him to catch a cold or worse. If we are going to leave lets!" With that the former Pharaoh stalked off.

/He is worse then cat in water./ Aibou mused.

//Yes and sometimes twice as stubborn.// Tora said, trotting to catch up to her slim friend.

{[If we are going to get home anytime soon then you and Yugi had best ride.]}

Yami glanced at the feline. "Are you able to carry so much weight?"

{[Yugi doesn't weigh that much and I'm very strong in this form.]}

Yami climbed on and then let Yugi take back his body. Truth to tell he had spent a good deal of the night watching over his aibou. He sighed and gratefully retreated to his soul room. Yugi sent him comforting thoughts and wished him a good rest.

Yugi focused on the real world once Yami had settled in his soul room. Carefully he shifted on Tora's back, hoping that he did not hurt his friend. Once he was settle he looked down at the feline's broad back, how was he ever going to stay on?

Tora glanced back at her passenger. {[Wrap your arms around my neck Yugi. Don't worry about hurting me, you're very light.]} Yugi wrapped his thin, bruised arms around the cat's neck. The effort making him lay completely on her back, her soft fur tickling his chest and warming his body. {[Alright. Now hang on tight.]}

That was the only warning Yugi had before he felt the muscles bunch between him and push off. Instinctively he tightened his hold on Tora's neck as they set off at an astonishing speed. Trees and bushes became a green-brown blur with only occasional gaps between them. The cold wind whipped at Yugi's face making him shiver and try to bury himself further in the mass of writhing muscle. Yet the whole time he never was jostled or bounced like he had expected. Tora moved with the grace of water, leaping smoothly over obstacles without jarring her passenger.

"Tora how did you find me?" Yugi asked after a while of silent travel.

{[I used the power of the bracelet. It gave me a general direction of where to look.]}

"Why didn't you use the power to help Yami look for the Millennium Ring?"

{[I did that before, when I first left the city where Aibou left. For some reason I can only sense the Puzzle. Not that I really care about the Ring.]}

Yugi digested this new information along with the tone of it. It didn't surprise him that the Bracelet couldn't find the other items. That special trait seemed to belong solely to the Ring. But the way Tora had mentioned the Ring perked his interest. The captain seemed to be angry at the Ring. Or maybe the yami that inhabited it.

Just like all long rides Yugi started to feel himself nod off. The steady rhythm of Tora's stride and her soft panting lulled the small teen into dream land. Before he could think of what might happen if he lost his grip his eyes closed and his head nestled gently at the base of Tora's skull.

* * * * * * * * *

A slim youth with honey blonde hair and sad amber eyes viewed the small group gathered in the tiny kitchen. He wore the uniform navy jacket and pants with a white shirt of the Domino High School. A slightly taller youth with brown hair stood next to a slim girl in a pink skirt, jacket and white shirt. Those two were also students at the blonde's school. The fourth person in the room was an elderly man with spiked gray hair. He wore a white shirt and overalls; his wrinkled worn face was the picture of misery.

Joey gave a small sigh. He, Tristan and Tea had been visiting the Turtle Game Shop ever since Yugi's disappearance two weeks ago. Mr. Mouto had just received word from the police that they were closing the case. Without any hard evidence that Yugi had been kidnapped they had ruled it a runaway.

But Joey knew better. Yugi was kidnapped along with Yami. But the police weren't into gut feelings and refused to listen to anyone. He and his friends had searched, without any luck. Now they faced a very difficult road. To keep trying with absolutely no clues or to admit that they might never see their small friend and his dark half ever again.

Joey shook his head, trying to clear those traitorous thoughts. He would never stop looking for Yugi. His smaller friend would never give up on him and Joey would be damned if he gave up on Yugi. He needed some air that was all. Quietly he opened the door that would lead out to the very small back yard and was almost run over by something extremely big.

Yells of surprise, a thunderous roar and the crash of plates erupted in the small kitchen. Tea and Tristan had jumped to one side of the room. Mr. Mouto had scrambled out of his chair, knocking it over. The. . .whatever. . . had crashed into the table, upsetting the dishes and becoming covered by the tablecloth.

Joey dashed over to Mr. Mouto to make sure he was okay. Except for slightly shaken the elder seemed to be okay. Then all eyes turned to the moving lump under the cloth. Everyone jumped when a very large feline emerged, assisted by the last person anyone in the room expected.

"Yugi!?!" Mr. Mouto whispered, unable to believe his eyes.

Yugi's head jerked up so fast his spiked locks swayed on his head. "Grandpa!"

The youth basically fell of his strange mount in his rush to get to his grandfather. The elderly man quickly embraced his beloved grandchild and burst into tears. He had almost given up hope and now he prayed that this wasn't some sort of twisted dream. He hugged his grandson close.

"Yug? Is that really you buddy?" Joey couldn't believe his eyes.

Yugi broke away slightly from his grandfather's embrace just enough to smile at his friend. Tears welled up in his eyes. "Of course it's me Joey. I missed you guys."

Tea was having an all out flood coming from her eyes. "Oh Yugi. . .we. . never thought."

The girl was unable to finish her sentence and Tristan seemed to be unable to speak. He just nodded at Yugi and scrubbed his eyes on his sleeve. He had never realized how much his smaller friend had meant to him.

Joey, still needing reassurance that this wasn't his mind's sick joke, walked up to his friend and enveloped him in a massive bear hug. "Man Yug, I'm glad your back."

"Yugi what happened to you?" Solomon was now able to get a good look at his grandson's battered form. He felt sick and enraged at the many cuts, bruises and gashes that decorated the gentle youth's back and chest.

"It's. . .a long story. I'd rather not talk about it." Yugi replied quietly.

"Okay, then how did you get here? And what was that that barged in?" Tristan asked.

"Oh Tora helped. . ." Yugi looked for his large feline friend. He cried out in fear when he spotted the gentle beast collapsed on the ground, in her original small form, panting hard. Quickly he dashed over and picked up the faithful captain. "Tora are you okay?"

There was no response. Yugi gently shook the small form. Still nothing. Worn hands crept into his line of vision. Yugi glanced up as his grandfather gently went over the unresponsive feline.

"She passed out. Probably from exhaustion." Solomon said.

"Uh, Yug? Wasn't she a lot bigger before?" Joey asked.

"Yes, she's a holder of a millennium item." Yugi gently exposed the glittering item. "It helps her change her form. She did run straight all day. What should I do grandpa?"

"We'll take her up to your room and make a little nest out of some old sheets. Then you are going to take a shower, eat and the sleep." Solomon stated.

Yugi would have protested but his stomach growled loud enough so that everyone heard. Yugi blushed as everyone chuckled. "Okay grandpa."

"Hey Yug, we'll be back over tomorrow to see how ya doin'." Joey said as he firmly guided Tea and Tristan out the door.

"Okay guys. See you tomorrow." Yugi watched as his friends left.

"All right young man, lets get Tora settled." Gently Solomon ushered his grandson upstairs.

* * * * * * * *

Treska: *Does happy dance in black robes and stupid hat* All right! Finally another chapter.

Yugi: *Pointing to getup* What's with the robes.

Treska: *Still dancing slightly* I graduated from college this past weekend. Now I'm free for a couple of weeks and hopefully I can get another couple of chapters done. Plus I have another idea for a Yu-Gi-Oh story.

Yugi: *Cringes* Are you going to torture me in that one two.

Yami: *Dashing in and putting a very protective arm around Yugi* She'd better not or I'll send her to the shadow relm.

Treska: I'm just going to torture him a little. Nothing really serious.

Yami: *Growls at Treska then pulls out tongs and some nails.* Oh no you won't.

Treska: Eep. *Runs away with Yami right on her trail.*

Bakura and Ryou enter

Ryou: *Sweatdrops* Treska must be planning on torturing Yugi again.

Bakura:*Brings out cheesegrater* I think I'll join Yami for this little session.

Ryou: Why?

Bakura: I had Marik look into Treska's mind to find out what is going to happen in the story. And there was something about me and Tora. But Marik wasn't to keen on sharing. So I'll just go and ask Treska myself.

Ryou: *Watches Bakura leave and shakes head.* Please review.