Special thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! I love all your comments and reviews!

Next chapter: The lost Angel and the Wicked Swamp Woman

Anyone who can guess who the Swamp woman is will get a reward (a sneak peek of the next chapter) no joke! (unless you know ahead of time, in that case, please don't spoil it for anyone else)
Disclaimer:
(c) Thumbelina---by Hans Christian Anderson
(c) Yugi, Yami, Aky and all related characters--K. Takahashi
(c) Adinna, Ida, Sparks, Alastair, the swamp spirit theory and the opening scene, kidnapping battle scene and scene with the court where Sparks flies in to warn the court are all by me. No stealing.


Chapter 6: The Abducted Bridegroom

Yugi's nervous fingers danced across the blankest of his bed as he swung his legs back and forth over the side as he waited patiently for his grandfather to finish with his work for the day. Ironically, this was the busiest day the old man had in years. That morning, Yugi had decided to follow Yugi's example and break the news to his grandfather before formally introducing him to his "fiancé".

Needless to say, Yugi hadn't stopped shaking. In the morning after breakfast Yugi, as calmly as humanly possible, told his grandfather he had to talk to him about something important, but the news was good. Solomon's expression had changed from his normal cheery smile to suspicions in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, fear got the better of him and Yugi decided that two should talk that night when there were no costumers to interrupt them. He was lying of course, and Solomon knew it, but if his grandson needed the time to calm down and tell him his secret he happily complied.

Each second of waiting was pure torture for Yugi, as if he was walking towards a death sentence. He loved Yami, he knew that and nothing was going to change that and he didn't care what anyone said, never did. But still, his grandpa was his only family: the man who raised him and took care of his mother before the winter frost took her away and he loved him too. And Solomon's blessing would be the greatest gift in the world to Yugi; his refusal would no doubt leave him devastated beyond even Yami's ability to repair.

The sound of the bell over the door chimed, signaling the last costumer had left. Yami's necklace suddenly felt a hundred pounds heavier around his neck and his entire body started shaking before he could stop it. Alastair wrapped his tail around him but it did little to ease his tension.

"Now little one what did you want to talk about?" Yugi jumped and screamed, not noticing his grandpa enter the room. "Sorry," the elder man chuckled "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay; I'm just a little nervous." Yugi mumbled, clenching the sun of Yami's pendant tightly.
"About what?" Solomon sat down in his chair with worried, aged eyes.

Yugi gulped. "Well, I need to tell you something," he looked down unable to meet the old man's eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Solomon asked with concern in his voice.

"NO!" Yugi replied immediately. "It's something good, really good, but…I'm not sure how you'll react."

"Yugi, whatever it is I can handle it. I promise I won't overreact." Solomon promised with kind understanding eyes.

Yugi exhaled a breath and took another before continuing. "Well for starters, you know how I always ask you to leave the window open at night?" Yugi gave a nervous smile as Solomon nodded. "Well there's a reason for that. You see, one night I…I met someone, he heard me singing and we introduced ourselves that night and he took me to see the forest, please let me finish" He added when his grandpa opened his mouth worried. "Every night since then he's come to visit me and we spend the night together, but all we do is talk, sometimes we go flying, and play games and every night we get to know each other better. And grandpa, his name is Yami, the faerie prince. The real faerie prince, not the one from faerie tales! He has wings and they're beautiful, and he's so strong, and confident and free-spirited and he loves to fly and he's rebellious and fiery and feisty but he's so gentle and kind, and whenever I'm with him I always feel so safe…"

Solomon's aged violet eyes had widened during his tiny grandson's passionate speech. Each word carried a passion he'd never seen in Yugi's eyes and the sparkle was brighter then he'd ever seen. Whoever this fairy prince Yami was, he'd clearly made a lasting impression on the young boy. But another question stood out in his puzzled mind. Why had Yugi been so afraid to tell him about his friend? Naturally, he'd been concerned when he heard the boy had come to visit him every night, but relaxed upon learning the visits were just that—innocent visits. But their feelings had obviously become something more. It was then he noticed the miniature, but beautifully sculpted pendant around Yugi's neck: the symbol of the Fairy royal lovers (after the miracle Mahad had performed, he'd taken it upon himself to learn as much about the fairies as possible). The keys and locks suddenly fit perfectly, and the old man smiled and moved a large finger to silence his young grandson having solved the puzzle.

"Yugi?" said teenager blinked. "Are you in love with the faerie prince?"

Yugi's eyes, if possible, bulged out of his skull. He opened his mouth to speak but the words either died or came out as a voiceless babble, and his face had skipped red and had gone straight to purple.

"Is that what you were so nervous about telling me?" Solomon smiled, gently scooping the boy into his hand, even though Yugi had grown over the years, he could still fit in the man's palm.

"Well…um, ah…yes." Yugi admitted tilting his head to hide his face in his bangs.

"Well, I wish you would've told me sooner. I would've let you sleep in if I'd known you were staying out all night. How long have you and your boyfriend been seeing each other? I feel bad though that you two had to sneak around, but I guess Yami hasn't told anyone about you yet either."

Yugi's jaw hit the floor. "Uh…you're not mad?" Yugi leaned forward on his knees unsure of what he was hearing.

Solomon just laughed. "Now why on earth would I be mad? I mean, you do love him right, and you mean not like a crush or an infatuation right? You truly, truly love him?"

"With all my heart, and I know he feels the same because he gave me his." Yugi smiled dreamily with bright eyes, clutching the pendant again loving the warmth radiating from it.

"Than how on earth could you think I'd be mad, little one? I love you, and all I want is for you to be happy."

"Really?" Yugi's eyes lit up. Solomon nodded, and almost fell over when Yugi jumped into his chest and hugged him, chanting "thankyouthankyouthankyou" over and over again like a hyperactive broken record. Solomon simply laughed and returned the hug, before gently prying the boy off him, when he yawned.

"How on earth can I be tired?" Yugi demanded, rhetorically, trying to rub the obvious sleep from his eyes.

"Well, you stressed yourself out all day. Your mind and body are simply relieved." Solomon smiled and gently placed the boy in his bed, not bothering to ask him to change his clothes, after all with the cold weather approaching in less than a few weeks, it would be better for him so sleep in his long-sleeved shirt, legging and tunic as opposed to the light summer tunic he usually slept in. "Why don't you get some sleep."

"Alright," Yugi caved and snuggled into the warm quilt. "I'm sure Yami will wake me."

"Speaking of which, when to I get to meet this faerie prince of yours?" Solomon asked.

"Tonight, I hope." Yugi yawned through closed eyes. "He said he wanted to talk to his parents first, than tonight he'd come to see me, then I could meet his mama and papa, the fairy queen and king and he can meet you." He moaned before finally giving in to sleep.

Alastair purred and curled around him, before retiring to sleep himself.

"I look forward to meeting them then." Solomon smiled, before turning out the light, and making sure the window was open just enough for the fairy prince to slip through. Making sure everything was secure for the night he blew out the candle and let his grandson sleep.

He didn't notice the sticky trail of slime among the stream bank, he and Yugi usually used to water the flowers, or the stray line of muck, staining their colorful petals. Or the mud pooling around the claws hand as it latched onto the windowsill, waiting for the old man to leave so he could slide through the crack, and capture his prize: his daughter's bridegroom.

*

The elderly swamp spirit slithered like a muddy snake up the windowsill, completely anamorphous in this form as all creatures of the swamps and bogs were, only revealing their true forms when they didn't need to travel long distances. It had been quite a journey tracking the boy here, but the starlit dust left behind from the prince's last visit had certainly helped. After the tail had become too ambiguous to follow, he simply listened to the sprites, thankful faeries loved to gossip, even more so because this boy that seemed to consume the prince's attention was their favorite topic. Luckily, there had been no word of the two being married yet, or even engaged, they'd simply given their hearts to the other. It was no different than the promise ring tradition humans used; meaning the boy was unclaimed and unwed and therefore still able to be claimed until his after wedding day. Good thing too; his daughter would no doubt be upset to hear her love had been married to another man and the faerie prince no doubt. The Queen and King may have no power over the creatures of the marshes but many of them had a great deal of respect for her and her husband's attempts for peace, and would no doubt help them in any way. Especially, if the issue concerned their son.

Which was why he had to move quickly. The night was young but the faeries would no doubt be out soon to begin their nocturnal duties and he needed the bridegroom if he was to prepare the wedding. His daughter would be so happy. The snake slithered through the window leaving a dank trail of grime in its wake as it spiraled into its true form: an old man much bigger than a fairy, with a beard of oak leaves and sticks and hair of swamp weeds. The mud and grim dripping from his skin melted away revealing the wrinkled skin, daunt hands and ancient face of the antiquarian spirit, as old and terrifying as the swamp itself. The Wetlands of Ireland were as natural as the rolling green hills and endless forests that blanketed the emerald isle, but were treated and tended by the faeries and sprites and the spirits of the woodlands. The marshes, though just as valued, were the most dangerous: the mires carried to façade of a forest or moor, luring unsuspecting travelers towards the quicksand and holes in the marsh where the water would swallow up any foolish wayward traveler in and instant. Only those born in Ireland and the faeries knew the safe paths through the marshes and guided those who came to them to safety. It wasn't their nature to leave unsuspecting innocents to such a fate; and that was why the Faerie Monarch had no power over the mires or the spirits and creatures that resided within them, though it was her subjects that kept their lands safe. As long as the humans knew they needed the wetlands and that they posed no threat, then the humans would leave it be. Ironic, how the only creature with no "technical" magical powers held such control over the realms of the fantasy

The elder spirit chuckled at the irony. The queen and king's love of peace and tolerance would no doubt he their Achilles heel.

Slowly, so not to wake the black-furred cat purposely wrapping its body around the bed where his prize slept, he moved with the silence of rapids and approached the delicate matchbox bed, and smiled as he gazed upon the slumbering angel there. It was no wonder his daughter had fallen for the boy; he was absolutely breathtaking: so delicate and fragile like a flower; flawless skin perfectly pale and white like moon. His hair sparkled in three different colors: midnight roots blazed with amethyst and magenta tips and lightning bangs like golden sunbeams framed a perfectly rounded face, tinted a slight pink on his cheeks. His perfect rose petal lips contrasted nicely with his skin. He chuckled; had he been centuries younger the boy would no doubt be appealing to him. But no, he was his daughters and his daughters alone, but he was unable to resist the temptation of stroking the boy's cheek, and snarled when the boy visibly flinched and scrunched his eyes shivering at the unwanted touch.

A dark glare crept into his eyes and a wicked smirk form upon hideous face. "What a handsome husband you shall make my daughter." He chuckled, but his triumphant expression plummeted to one of pure rage when he gazed upon the trinket around the boy's neck: a beautiful necklace bearing the mark of the Royal Faeries. "Damn, those winged rats!" he growled, recognizing the object: the necklace the current faerie heir gives their chosen until the new couple's eldest child comes of age. Without thinking, he clenched the object in his bony, branch-like hand, and released a loud howl of anguish when a ferocious shock of light galvanized his body forcing him to retract his claws. And effectively waking, the boy he had every intention of bride-kidnapping. The second Yugi's eyes met the sight of the intruder in his room, he screamed in absolute terror, but before anyone could react, the swamp spirit lunged at him and smashed the matchbox closed effectively trapping the boy inside.

But his screams did not go unheard and his guardian feline awoke and was on his feet in an instant, lunging at the intruder with a wicked pounce. The spirit barely dodged the cat's ferocious claws, and transformed into a stream of marsh water and slime with the boy's box, ignoring the cries and pleas for help.

Alastair lunged at the watery snake pouncing on it, but it melted to water in his paws. The feline, however, refused to surrender and did all he could to block the window and keep the kidnapper inside. His loud, furious hisses and yowls of warning alerted everyone in the house and in the garden that something was terribly wrong. The flowers were immediately awake, and the night sprites that tended them heard the commotion and gasped when they recognized the familiar of their beloved prince's intended fiancé, and even more at the hideous creature clutching him trapped in his bed, screaming to be released, but the vermin captor refused to give up his bounty. The racket awoke the kind man who lived there and Solomon stormed into his grandson's room fearing the worst. Stunned for only a second at the sudden arrival Alastair jumped, but that single moment was all the swamp spirit needed. He clenched his prize and lunged beneath the cat's paws diving through the window with the swiftness of a viper, and into the garden following the water trail towards the stream.

"YUGI!!" Solomon screamed and ran towards the window, fearing for his grandson's life. Cursing himself, Alastair crashed through the open window and chased after the swamp spirit with the speed of a cheetah and a newfound strength but the spirit was in his element and evaded the persistent feline. It was like trying to catch smoke with nothing but claws. Still, Alastair refused to give up and hearing his precious charge's pleas and tears only increased his determination. The cat leaped, teeth bared, hissing and claws flexed ready to tear the beast apart, but he was only a second too late. The spirit dove into the stream and vanished with his charge beneath the water, and the cat crashed into the stream determined to follow but even the fast creature alive could not catch a swamp or water spirit in its truest element. Even with the extra burden it did little to slow him down and soon he was far from the tiny cottage and entered the river through the forest, taking him on a straight path back to the mire, smirking. His prize had been silent for quite some time, probably passed out from his paranoia but no worries. Soon nothing else would matter to him…except his future bride.

Solomon crashed to his knees on the side of the stream and scooped and soaked feline from the cruel water. His eyes were shiny from wetness that was not the water, and he hugged the Cat close to him and he too had tears rolling down his eyes. His grandson, his Yugi, was gone! Kidnapped by a terrible creature for Lord only know what purpose but he feared the worst.

"My baby." The old man sobbed. "What are we going to do, Alastair?! Who can help Yugi!" He cried until he heard a silent whisper and the sound of tears. He turned to his garden and his eyes widened as the flowers blew in the silent breeze. An innocent, common sight, but not to one who had wisdom of faeries and common sense told you flowers didn't bloom in late November, even in an Indian summer. "The flowers… of course!" Yami!" Hope suddenly sparkled in the aged violets. "Yami's the only one who can save Yugi now. All we can do now is hope." Alastair nodded, silently praying to whomever deity was listening, to protect his charge and to help his charge's beloved rescue him: praying for their safety and happiness, and to hear the golden blissful words and they lived happily ever after. He prayed his master received his happy ending. All he could do now was trust the faeries. Before the night was over, the Royal Court would no doubt hear the terrible news: the future Faerie King had lost his mate.

*

Yami was fidgeting like there was no tomorrow. "Mother, please! Yugi must be wondering where I am by now, and you look brilliant, can I just fly ahead, and you follow me, I can fly faster anyway." The prince complained, not caring if it was childish. Complying with his mother's request, he'd spent the entire day in his room and each torturous second felt like an endless hour, until miraculously he'd survived to night fall. But instead of flying like a shooting star to his soon-to-be fiancé, Adinna and Aky had insisted on going with the Prince to meet Yugi and his grandfather officially, and both had wanted to look their best for their future son-in-law. Yami didn't mind, of course, except that his mother had spent practically all of dusk preparing and the moon would be in the middle of the sky soon. Yami was inches from ripping out his unruly spikes and stomping all over them.

"Please, mother, Yugi won't care what you look like, he's not that kind of person, and if we wait any longer the night will be over." Yami pleaded, as his mother snapped the last of her crimson braids in place.

"All right, all right," Adinna chuckled, "Heavens, I forgot how impatient you are."

Yami rolled his eyes until he felt a hand on his shoulder and cast his eyes over to see his father smiling. "Calm down son, there's nothing wrong with wanting to look special for a special occasion."

"It is when it takes the entire night." Yami mumbled. "If I didn't know any better I'd say everyone as conspiring to keep me separated from my Yugi."

"All right, all right, I'm finished." Adinna sighed and shook her head. Yami burst with enthusiasm, his wings instantly alive with glitter. He moved his thumb and forefinger to his lips to whistle for Sparks, but before the sound could reach his lips, the dragonfly suddenly burst into the room, altering the entire court of his presence. His eyes burned with distress as he made his way to his master.

"Sparks? What on earth—" Yami questioned as everyone suddenly surrounded the dragonfly.

My Prince! Something terrible as happened! The flowers, the sprites! They all speak of it; the night flower sprits saw the whole thing! The dragonfly stuttered and screeched, holding his head and shaking.

"Sparks come down!" the prince demanded, the command calmed the creature. "Now tell us what happened?"

Oh my lord I'm so sorry, but the young master… Sparks couldn't finish, wishing he could cry.

"WHAT!" Yami was on his feet in and instant. "What's wrong? Is Yugi alright? Please, Sparks tell me!"

No my Lord, he is not alright! He's been…he's been…this night, he was. THE YOUNG MASTER'S BEEEN KIDNAPPED! The flowers and his guardian saw the whole thing! His grandfather is devastated but nothing can be done! He was kidnapped by a fair folk!

A roar of fear and outrage erupted in the court: disbelief and cries of shock and distress. Adinna was beyond furious, and the glass vase next to her was in a thousand pieces on the floor, listing the punishments the offender would receive for such a heinous act. Aky's eyes had darkened to garnet at the thought of another being harming the boy his son had loved so dearly. Sparks was trembling in distress. Ida was instantly at her nephew's side as well as Seto. The prince had not moved at the news but the blank gaze in his normally vibrant eyes and frozen horror on his face spoke for him. If it weren't impossible the faerie prince would've gone into shock.

Yugi, his Yugi, his beloved angel who he loved and treasured more than life itself…had been taken. Forced from his home and family, forced from him against his will, by another whose intensions he knew nothing about, but knew instantly they were nothing short of horrendous…anger burned in the prince's heart. Anger and fury burned together, incense at the thought of his little one scared and in tears, in a foreign location separated from all he loved. "They. Will. PAY!!!!" Yami's fury erupted around him in a blazing haze of rainbow fire that forced his aunt and cousin away from him, as the first blazed like the supernova and with the force of a super volcano! "WHERE ARE THEY! WHO TOOK MY YUGI!" Yami demanded, furiously. His temper stunned everyone in the room, even his parents who'd never seen their son so angered in his life.

Sparks took a breath to calm himself down as all eyes returned to him once again. Rage and fury burned in the King and Queen, determined to make the assailant pay for violating one of the most sacred laws. Contradictory to folklore, faeires never stole anyone who didn't wish to follow them to the faerie realm and if they wished to return they were more than allowed to, a years and a day later, or years later if they so desired.

It was… Sparks choked back a sob. It was an old swamp spirit.

Crash!

All eyes, even Yami's turned to the vase that was now in a thousand pieced at the queen's feet as she clenched her fists, so deep, blood began to seep. "Damn them!" she cursed "Damn them all to the hole and muck they crawled out of!" The Faerie queen thundered, forcing herself to remain in control. "Those wretched sprites care nothing for others and steal only what they want, not caring what anyone else says or thinks! They think they can get away with it just because we have no power over the swamps. They take advantage of it and mar it beauty into decay. I should've know they'd try this!"

"Swamp sprits?" someone asked.

"They are one of the few creatures the Faeries have no power over. They live in the mires where humans avoid but keep because they are a necessity for life, but the bog sprites as they're also called take advantage of the realm they live in and take whatever they want and give nothing back with no care towards anyone else." Aky explained. "And it seems their habit of bride-kidnapping is still as alive as ever, of all the heinous sins!"

"And they have my Yugi!" Yami's eyes darkened, nails digging into his palms.

"They can't do that!" Ida announced "Yami already proposed to Yugi even if it wasn't official he still gave him his pendant, he's protected?"

Seto opened his mouth to continue the question but Adinna cut them off. "It doesn't matter to them. That necklace will protect Yugi from any danger, physical or anything else, but once he's married, even if he's forced into a marriage, its spell will break and unless that marriage is to Yamiu or he concedes to it, it will fall off and he'll be left unprotected. Those monsters are smart. They'll want the wedding as soon as possible but they'll wait until it's too cold for Faeries to search." The darkness in the queen's voice sent a shiver down everyone's spine.

"Than I have no time to lose," Yami announced, instantly climbing onto Sparks' back, unintentionally commanding the attention of the room.

"Are you daft boy?" Aknadin scolded. "You can't go out there; the boy could be anywhere by now and the winter solstice will be arriving in less than a week, you'll be trapped until spring!"

"I don't care!" Yami thundered with such force even his stubborn uncle flinched. "Yugi is everything to me, and I am not gonna sit here and sleep and pretend nothing is wrong, while he's out there in the clutches of a tyrant!! I WILL find him! I don't care how long it takes me, I will! I'll brave the winter solstice if I have too, I know what I'm risking but I'll take it! Anything if it means his safety! So you can either help me or get out of my way!" Yami ran out of breath before he ran out of defenses, but he'd made his point quiet clear, and for the first time in as long as anyone could remember Aknadin was speechless. With as much dignity as he could muster, Aknadin turned on his heels and left, mumbling a 'good luck' to his nephew.

"My prince," Karim turned. "I hate to say this but Aknadin is right, there simply isn't enough TIME to look for your fiancé and if you're not back—"

"He goes into suspended animation until spring, we all know this, Karim" Seto interrupted, rudely as he approached his cousin. "And you can't go looking for Yugi if you're frozen cousin?" Yami opened his mouth to argue but the wink in Seto's eyes silenced him, more out of confusion than anything else. "Which is exactly why I'm going with you."

"WHAT!!!" The entire room hollered.

"You?" Yami gasped in surprise.

Seto ignored everyone else and hurled himself onto the dragonfly. "I am an ice fairy; I don't freeze in winter and if you do, you'll need someone to defrost you, in case we run out of time. Besides, Yugi's a tough kid and he's smart too, and there are a lot of other spirits out there who would no doubt be willing to help him escape those filthy slim buckets. We may not be as alone in this as we think, since word spread so quickly."

"Boys," Adinna opened her mouth, the force in her voice made it clear she wouldn't let either of them leave. "You can not—"

"I'm going with or without you approval mother!" Yami interrupted, defiantly. Adinna's voice died at the retort, never before had her son spoke to her in such a tone, but before she could scold him, he halted her again. "I'm not a child any more, mother! And regardless, you cannot keep me here while Yugi is in danger! I refuse to stay here unless he's either safe in my arms or with his grandfather, and Lord above help me, I will fight you if I have to do so. I don't want to, neither do I wish too, but you know as well as I do, I have to do this! I can't just abandon my lover in his time of need. I can't! And I won't, you would no doubt do the same if father was in danger. Please mother, for one in your life trust me to take care of myself!"

Silence echoed like a silent dawn after the prince's speech, and the fierce, determined look in his eyes surprised even Adinna. She opened her mouth to protest but the look in her son's eyes stole her voice. What on earth could she say to contradict it?

Sighing in defeat, Adinna cradled her forehead in her palm, with a sad smile. "I prayed this day would never come." She mumbled to herself before returning to Yami. "They day I finally had to accept that my little angel is no longer little. You're absolutely sure about—"

"Positive!" Yami answered before she finished the question. "More than I ever have been in my life."

"Then, I have no choice. Please, be careful, both of you." She smiled sadly.

"I will mother, I promise." Yami smiled, before telling Sparks to fly.

In a second the dragonfly was in the air and Seto had latched an arm around his cousin's thin waste, not used to the intense speed. The two were gone in less than an instant, until only a tiny blue dot and a trail of blue, crystal and rainbow glitter was left.

Adinna could only watch as her angel left to find his true love. Praying to the Gods of Ireland and the Lord in Heaven for the safety of her son, her nephew and the boy her son loved so much. She knew she would not see her son for some time, but she prayed this would not be the last time she saw him. She prayed for the happy ending she'd envisioned for him the moment she heard of her son's fairy-tale love: the two boys dancing on their rainbow wings, a lavish wedding, the two of them flying in the gorgeous golden sky, and you could almost see the rich cursive writing: and they lived happily ever after written in the sky. She could only pray it wasn't just a faerie tale.


The beginning was a pain to write but necessary since i didn't want Solomon to be in the dark the whole story, but how natural was his reaction to Yugi being in love with the faerie prince of all people? Seriously, its grandpa.
This is where the dark stuff begins, as i said life is no faerie tale and it never shall be and if you wanna a happy ending there is one, but only if you fight for it! (which is why both Alastair and Adinna made that wish).

The swamp spirit is an evil bastard isn't he. As i mentioned this is based off Irish mythology but the swamp spirit are my idea since i didn't wanna use a frog. I got the idea from my best friend Nina who is a total fairy nut and showed me both negative faerie and good faerie. Basically, the swamp faeries and those like them are the dark sides of the faeries and the opposites of the good faeries like yami in every form, which is why Adinna and Aky have no power over them, yet despite that they still fear them.
The part with Alastair trying to save Yugi just came like that(snaps fingers) and i hated writing it, cuz I wanted so much for Alastair to catch him but i knew he couldn't. Plus i had to give Solomon hope that yugi would be alright: hence why the flowers and the sprites were already spreading the news.

Now the thing with the swamp spirits is very important aside from the fact thumbelina was kidnapped by a frog is the story: it expressed the issue of bride-kidnapping. I think Hans was trying to make a point when he wrote this and thumbelina was almost forced into marriage twice. I did research and bride-kidnapping is the equivalent to white-slavery or illegal prostitution cept with forced Marriage. In this case, its means its legal for a man of any age to kidnapp girls as young as 11 and marry and rape them until they get pregnant both because no one else would want to marry a pregnant woman and both cuz of the old Victorian error belief that a consummated marriage cannot be annulled. Thank fully its illegal in some areas but what's really sick is it still takes place in part of Africa and in China, due to the one-child policy, and the lack of woman. And the legal system does little to stop it! ITS FUCKIN APPALING!!!!!

Which is exactly why Adinna was furious when Sparks said the swamp spirits kidnapped yugi. The idea of yami's charm protecting him came as a result but it can only last until Yugi's married because he gave his heart to Yami and vice Versa, so if he married someone else, even against his will, the protective charm (love) will break.
You'll see the full extent of what happens in the next chapter but I assure you all, I will not allow anything tramatizing to happen to Yugi. I couldn't live with myself. But as i said before this story is also about change, and this will begin Yugi's journey to find himself and to learn to take care of himself, and as Yami stated his chance to prove he's not a child anymore and to be more responsible.
I cracked up writing the part where Yami totally shuts up up Akhadin. Seriously, who wasn't laughing at him getting told!
Seto also rocked in this as well. Hey, I wasn't kidding when i said He would have a bigger role in this.