Disclaimer: You should have caught on by now that I don't own Yu-gi-oh.

Once again, thank you to everyone who took the time to review. They are all so wonderful I'm going to have to start a reviewer hall of fame.

Realizing her glass was empty, Annie reached to pour herself another glass of lemonade. When she was done with that, she once again turned to face her grandmother.

"Well don't just stop there, keep going. I have to find out what happens."

Not needing any further prompting, Annie's grandmother proceeded to show her the next photo. It contained a group shot of everyone before what appeared to be some sort of church or temple. Yugi and Jounouchi were in the forefront of the photo along with an elderly man whose spiky hair betrayed him as one of Yugi's relatives. Annie assumed it was most likely his grandfather. Ryou and Malik were standing of to the side with a women whom Annie determined to be Isis.

"They all look so somber," she commented.

It was true. Not a single one of them was smiling at the camera. They seemed to be generally dazed if not completely miserable, and aside from Jounouchi, who was in his dress uniform, they were all dressed in black.

"This was taken at the memorial service Yugi held for his brother..."

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Jounouchi had been late. He knew that a memorial service wasn't the type of thing it was ok to be late for, but subconsciously he hadn't really wanted to go and it had manifested in his inability to get himself there on time. It wasn't that he didn't want to take part in honoring his best friend. No, it was the simple fact that he didn't think he could face Yugi.

"I promise I'll come back Yugi, and I'll bring Yami with me."

Well here he was, and he hadn't been able to keep the second part of his promise. He knew Yugi could never blame him as much as he blamed himself, but he just didn't think he could bear to see any blame in those loving lavender eyes.

When he'd finally arrived, the ceremony began. He had expected it to of already started, but it seemed that they had been waiting for him. He threw out an excuse of his train running late, and no one had questioned him on it much to his relief.

As he slipped into the seat beside Yugi, he kept his eyes fixed on the floor. He could feel the younger boy's gaze on him, but he couldn't bring himself to meet it. If Yugi hated him now, hated him for not protecting Yami from such an undeserved fate, then he didn't want to know it. In truth, he didn't really know what Yugi was feeling because he had avoided returning his calls for the last week. It may have made him a horrible person, but he was so wrapped up in his guilt and pain that he didn't want to have to explain the incident to his lover. If he was going to tell Yugi what had happened he wanted to do it face to face. However, now that he was seated beside the smaller boy he realized that doing so was going to be a lot harder than he imagined. How was he supposed to explain why he came back but Yami didn't when he didn't even know himself?

He was only able to attend the memorial today because he was home on leave. He'd taken as much as he could when he received the message Yugi left for him about when the service would be held. He had two weeks before he had to return to base, and he intended to use every second of that time begging for Yugi's forgiveness if he had to.

As people began to get up and speak about Yami and how he had impacted their lives, Jounouchi tried not to let his grief consume him. He hadn't really taken the chance to mourn his friend since that horrible explosion, and it was all hitting him like a ton of bricks as he sat there among friends. Alcutz had sent them back to that village the next day and, after a bitter fight with the locals and the Songim forces that had apparently been hiding nearby the entire time, they had driven the enemy off. Although Jounouchi was sent back to base, they had proceeded to shift through the ruble and it was then that they found Yami's body. Or what remained of it after the explosion anyway.

Since Yami had quite literally been at the center of the explosion, there hadn't been much to recover. In fact, they didn't even have a body to bury. Only a few of his personal items that they had recovered- his ID tags, his class ring, a family photo he had carried with him that was now charred around the edges- had been sent home to his family. What the government had told them, once again in an extremely impersonal letter, was that they had found enough to make an identification, and to list Atemu Mutou as deceased.

When Malik finished speaking and stepped down from the podium, a silence fell among the mourners as noone else seemed to be heading up to give a eulogy or even say a few words. A large number had already done so, and it seemed that would be it. Sugoroku was just getting up to move the memorial along, when Jounouchi beat him to it.

Standing in front of so many people mourning a life that he should never have allowed to end in such a way, Jounouchi spoke off the cuff and from his heart.

"I didn't really intend to say anything today. I'm not that good with words, and I wasn't sure I could face all of you." Jounouchi made sure to keep his gaze from settling on the petite form of his lover in the first row. "But Yami was my best friend, and I owe it to him to share the impact he had on my life."

"To say that he saved my soul is the best way to put it I suppose. As many of you probably know, I've been Yami's friend since preschool. We met on the swings and just couldn't get enough of each other. But you see, I wasn't always a nice person. In fact, there was a time when I truly got a rush out of fighting other people. At least that's how it started out. I was so upset by my parent's divorce that my anger needed an outlet and as a result I'd take on just about anyone. I fought older kids and stronger kids, even kids wielding a weapon or two. It didn't matter to me as long as I could fight them. The harder I had to fight for the victory the better I felt about it. It was that kind of pig-headed bravery that got me noticed by one of the street gangs. I was looking for a thrill and a place to belong, and joining them seemed as good an idea as any."

Jounouchi took a shaky breath. "So I fought for them, and tried to earn some respect to replace the void in my life. But instead of getting better, it got worse. I started stealing and picking even more dangerous fights. I even started to bully other kids at school in an attempt to gain some sort of reputation. I couldn't tell the difference between true respect and respect born of fear back then. My life was spiraling downwards, and I just couldn't bring myself to care."

"And then Yami intervened. He had stood by me in everything that I did, never supporting the path I had choosen but not abandoning me either. He realized that I had some things I needed to work through and that things wouldn't get better until I wanted them to. So he kept our friendship and bided his time."

"It wasn't until I got arrested that he decided to step in. I'll never forget the conversation we had that day. He told me what an idiot I was being. Couldn't I see I was putting my future at risk? Couldn't I see I was hurting the people I loved? Didn't I realize that the path I had chosen was leading me no where? Yami decided to make it his personal mission to open my eyes to the truth; and he did, even though I fought him every inch of the way." Again Jounouchi had to pause to get a hold of his emotions. "Yami showed me the type of person I wanted to be, the type of brother I wanted to be. He didn't give up on me. Even when everyone else turned their backs and told him it was hopeless he stuck it out, and I owe him so much for that."

He looked up to address the crowd directly. "So I want to apologize to all of you. We joined the war together and we promised we'd come home together...I promised I'd bring him back. I think I took for granted how strong he was, and against my better judgement I didn't protest when they separated us. I wasn't there when he took his last breath... I wasn't there to save him. To repay him for everything he's done for me." Jounouchi's voice was choked with tears, but he continued on. "I don't expect you to forgive me. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself. Just know that I'm sorry...so very sorry, and that...and that I-"

As Jounouchi's sobs finally broke through his defenses, he felt arms wrap around his chest from behind. A small body that was so familiar to him pressed up against his back, and the soft voice that he had been longing to hear whispered to him.

"It's alright Katsuya. It wasn't your fault. I'm here now, and we'll get through this."

And then it hit Jounouchi. Yugi's voice was filled not with anger and blame, but with love and comfort; and the gaze he had felt earlier wasn't one of malice, it was one of concern.

"Please don't push me away," Yugi continued. "We need each other now more than ever."

It was true. The grief was too much for either of them to deal with alone, but together the strength of their love would see them through. Together they could find a reason to go on. Together they would live their lives.

Together.

In that moment they both knew that as long as they had each other they would be alright. Unmindful of the audience before them, Jounouchi turned to face Yugi and brought his smaller lover into a clutching embrace.

"I love you," he said with all the strength of his heart.

Yugi's lavender eyes looked deeply into his own, echoing the sentiment before the words left his mouth. "I love you too."

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It wasn't until they were on their way home that Yugi broached the subject with Jounouchi.

He had known all along that it was guilt that was causing Jounouchi to avoid him. Guilt over something that the blond saw as being his fault even though such an accusation seemed irrational to everyone else. But Yugi understood his lover better than anyone, so even though it hurt him, he gave Jounouchi time.

He had wanted so badly to run into the blond's arms when he saw him enter the memorial service, but he remained where he was. He had intended to wait until after the ceremony to see if Jounouchi approached him or not, but as he watched Jounouchi's guilt consume him as he spoke upon the podium, he couldn't take it anymore. He was beside his lover in an instant, and they had cleared things up then and there.

After they had made their way back to their seats, the memorial had continued on as planned. It had been a beautiful ceremony and even though they hadn't been able to afford much, he felt his brother had been done justice. No, even after the ceremony as people came up to him and his grandfather to give their condolences, or some matronly women with a camera had requested those close to Atemu get together for a photo, only one thing had bothered him. Only one thing had eaten at his mind.

Seto wasn't there.

The brunet had adamantly refused to come, insisting that they were wasting both their time and money mourning someone who wasn't dead. Yugi had wanted so desperately to believe that was the case that first day in the rain, but with the arrival of his brother's personal items and the letter saying they had made a positive identification, he had been forced to face the facts.

But even the new evidence hadn't been enough to convince Seto. The tall boy's denial was so complete and consuming that he wouldn't even entertain the possibility of Yami's death being true. He was hiding from the truth, and Yugi was worried.

"I'm sorry to hear that Yugi," Jounouchi said when Yugi had finished explaining the situation with Seto. "But what do you want me to do about it?"

Yugi leaned further into the strong arm that held his shoulder in an embrace. "I want you to talk to him."

Jounouchi tensed up and suddenly became rather fidgety. It was almost as if the idea made him nervous. "I don't think that's such a good idea..."

"But you were there," Yugi reminded him. "Maybe if he hears it from you he'll see that it's the truth."

"Yugi," Jounouchi sighed. "If Seto Kaiba doesn't want to believe something, my telling him it's true isn't going to change his mind. Now I understand your concern, but I just don't think I'm the right person to talk to him about this."

"But if you don't do it who will?" Yugi looked at him with pleading eyes. "I'm afraid if we don't reach him now we might lose him. He's already shutting himself off. He barely eats, he spends most of the day off by himself, and when we do talk it's more like he's talking at me rather than talking to me. He's rapidly becoming the old Seto again."

As Jounouchi took in what Yugi was describing to him, he also studied Yugi. The smaller boy was obviously very concerned about their friend, but the way he seemed to be carefully choosing his words seemed out of place. Jounouchi knew his lover enough to know what the signs meant.

"What else is going on?" He asked. "What aren't you telling me?"

This time it was Yugi who fidgeted nervously. He should have known better than to try and hide something from his boyfriend, but he was ashamed of his actions.

Sensing Yugi's discomfort, Jounouchi took the smaller boy's hand in his own and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "If you don't tell me what's going on I won't be able to help."

"Alright," Yugi nodded, squeezing back the hand that held his. "I want you to know that I didn't mean to invade his privacy, I was just so worried and I didn't know what else to do. You see, ever since that letter came he's been acting strange. But aside from the ones I told you earlier, there's one behavior that I just couldn't understand. Several times a day he'll pick up the phone and dial a number. He waits a few seconds, and then just hangs up. He does it so often, and yet I've never once heard him speak to anyone."

"Do you know who he was calling?" Jounouchi asked.

"That's the thing," Yugi continued. "At first I thought maybe he was calling Atemu's voicemail; you know, just to hear his voice or something. I asked him if that was the case though and he said no. He wouldn't say who he was calling though. He just kept making the calls."

"And he never once spoke to anyone?"

"Not that I ever heard," Yugi replied. "Anyway, I didn't know what to do so I did the only thing I could think of. I made sure not to use the phone after he made one of the calls, and then once he went to bed I hit redial."

"So who answered?" Jounouchi was now very interested in the cause of Seto's strange behavior. He wouldn't openly admit it, but he too was becoming rather concerned about the arrogant brunet.

"Well that's what so odd. The number he'd been calling was the main line for Kaiba Manor."

Jounouchi blanched. That just couldn't be right. He didn't know much about the agreement Seto had made with Gozaburo to get away from him, but he knew that the brunet hated his adoptive father and wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. He also knew that getting in contact with the man would put an end to the agreement. The terms had been something along the lines of Seto would leave with Yami and break all ties. Until he heard what Yugi just told him, Jounouchi would have bet his life on the fact that Seto would never again want anything to do with Gozaburo Kaiba.

But then why was he calling him?

"It just doesn't make sense," the blond thought aloud.

"None of this makes sense," Yugi confirmed, a sadness tainting his words. "So what do you say, will you talk to him?"

"I'm not going to make any promises; but yeah, I'll talk to him." Jounouchi just knew he was going to regret this.

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"Why weren't you at the service this afternoon?"

Jounouchi found Kaiba exactly where he expected to: out on the back porch. Yami and Seto had often spent their evenings out here engaged in discussions, or simply wrapped in each others arms. Seeing the younger boy out here alone was like looking at half of a set; the night sky without it's stars.

Seto heard the slightest bit of accusation in Jounouchi's question, but he chose to ignore it. In fact, he opted to ignore the other boy entirely. He kept his sharp blue eyes on the glass he held in his hand, passing the time memorizing the way the early evening light was reflected back at him.

Undaunted by Seto's icy silence, Jounouchi settled into the chair next to him, angling it slightly so he could view the brunet when he spoke to him. He knew the other boy was aware of his presence, but he was unsure if he should let Seto make the first move or simply plunge into the topic himself. With things the way they were and the topic being so sensitive, one wrong move could ruin any chance he might have of talking to Seto.

The minutes ticked by as Seto still failed to acknowledge him. Realizing it was now or never, Jounouchi let out a frustrated sigh and began.

"The memorial was beautiful. It was a fitting tribute to the amazing person he was."

Seto glanced at him passively for a moment. In those fleeting seconds Jounouchi was faced with someone he didn't know, and the seriousness of the situation hit home. Gone was the arrogant self-assured teenager he was used to dealing with, and in his place was a dimmed shadow. Seto seemed to have aged, and he looked so very weary as he sat in the evening twilight. But even with the bleeding colors of the sky behind him, the brunet seemed to be shrouded in black. The darkness that was falling over the world as night came seemed to be coming from the teenager himself. The boy seated on the porch was Seto, but at the same time it wasn't.

"Are you ok Kaiba?" Jounouchi's sudden concern for the younger boy overrode his initial plan of forcing him to face the truth. He was suddenly pressed with the thought that perhaps Seto was in such an extreme case of denial because subconsciously he knew he couldn't handle the truth.

"Go away." Even Seto's whispers were commanding.

Or perhaps the old Seto was still there after all. Jounouchi straightened in his seat, preparing himself for the confrontation he could sense was coming.

"I know this isn't easy for you Kaiba. It isn't easy for any of us," he sympathized. "We lost someone who-"

"He isn't dead."

Jounouchi flinched at the statement. Based on what Yugi had told him earlier, he had assumed Seto was just in denial. Such a thing would certainly have been understandable. But as he sat there and listened to Kaiba say the words, he realized that he had been wrong. With denial, the suffer knew deep down that the event had happened, they just refused to accept that because they didn't want it to be true. Seto seemed to honestly believe what he said. The brunet had somehow managed to ignore all the facts and convince himself his boyfriend wasn't dead.

The mere thought of it pissed Jounouchi off. It wasn't fair that the rest of them had to mourn while Seto got to pretend that nothing had happened. Why should he be spared the pain the rest of them were forced to shoulder?

It was only the remembrance of the worry in Yugi's eyes and words that held the blond's temper in check. "I know you want to believe that, but-"

Seto rose to his full height and cast his glass aside. "Don't sit there and tell me what you know, when you don't KNOW anything!"

All the hurt and anger that had been polluting the two boys had finally found an outlet in each other, and now that it had been released, there was no stopping it.

As expected, Jounouchi rose to the challenge. "He's gone Kaiba. I saw him die."

"Did you? Did you actually SEE him die?"

Jounouchi fought the urge to look away from the narrowed blue gaze. "No, but I was there. I saw the explosion. There's no way-"

"How do you know then?" Seto cut him off.

"What?"

"If you didn't see him die how can you be so certain that he's dead?" The question was harsh and accusing.

"How can you be so certain that he isn't?" Jounouchi countered.

Seto gave a cruel mockery of a smile. "Because if he were dead I would know. I would have felt it."

Jounouchi's fists clenched at his side, firm fingernails pressing painfully into the soft flesh of his palm. The action didn't keep the anger out of his voice though.

"Is that what this is about?" He scoffed. "He can't be dead because you didn't feel it?"

A look of hurt disbelief showed on Seto's face, but it was instantly replaced by a more familiar anger. "Shut up!"

"No. How can you be so damn selfish?"

"Shut up!" Seto spat the demand at Jounouchi before turning his back on the blond and heading over to the railing. His hands gripped the wood so hard his knuckles turned white, but he wouldn't allow his body to tremble. He was stronger than his emotions.

Jounouchi wasn't about to let him off that easy though.

"You're not the only one who loved him you know! I lost my best friend. And Yugi, Yugi lost his brother. Do you have any idea what you're doing to him?" The question was rhetorical, but Jounouchi gave a brief pause anyway. "Thanks to you he feels guilty about wanting to mourn his own brother."

The tension was all around them. Jounouchi realized he shouldn't be yelling at Seto, realized the brunet had goaded him into it because it was familiar territory for them, but he still couldn't stop himself. He didn't want to hurt Seto, he just needed him to see the truth. It was the only way Seto would ever be able to move on with his life.

Seto, for his part,had long since realized that he and Jounouchi were never going to agree upon this point. Jounouchi needed to believe Yami was dead the same way he needed to believe he was alive. Neither could deal with the consequences of the other being right.

"Don't ask me to believe that he's dead."

With his gaze fixed off on the horizon and his back to him, Jounouchi couldn't be sure if Seto was talking to him or if he was merely talking aloud. The brunet had always been hard to read, but he was so shut off now that it was nearly impossible.

A slight breeze came in from the south and Jounouchi had to reach up to push his bangs out of his eyes. In the short time his hand blocked his vision Seto must have turned around, because as he lowered his hand he was met with an intense blue gaze.

"I'm going to find out what happened to him. You can either help me or you can stay the hell out of my way." It was a statement and a warning in one.

Jounouchi wanted to scream at him, wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he understood. There was nothing to find. Nothing awaited Seto on the path he had chosen but misery. All he was doing was prolonging the inevitable.

Seto made to walk back into the house then, and Jounouchi watched him go. As he passed by the blond to get to the door he heard a soft whisper that stopped him in his tracks.

"Why are you doing this?"

He hadn't intended to ask, but knowing Seto was leaving and that this topic would forever be off limits after this moment, Jounouchi couldn't stop himself from asking even though it came out as only a whisper.

Seto turned to look at him and for the first time he saw what appeared to be tears in Seto's eyes.

"Because he would never stop looking for me," he answered simply.

Jounouchi heard Seto's footsteps disappear into the house, heard the door close behind him. None of it really registered though because his mind was caught up on the teen's last statement. Of all the things he had heard Seto say that evening, of all the accusations he had made and the emotions he had invoked, he knew that one to be the truest.

The bond Seto shared with Yami wouldn't allow him to give up until he found out for himself what the truth was. No price would be too high for that information, and one way or another Seto would get it.

Jounouchi ran a hand through his hair before shoving it into his pockets. He just hoped Seto wasn't too disappointed with what he found.

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Author's notes: Whew. I've been looking forward to writing that scene between Seto and Jounouchi for awhile. Here's hoping I pulled it off. It was actually one of the first scenes I envisioned while I was planning this story out initially. I do hope neither one of them came off looking like the bad guy. Even though I'm sure you'll take sides depending on who you want to be right I hope as an author I was able to present both positions. Jounouchi needs to believe Yami's dead because otherwise he left his best friend behind, and Seto needs to believe Yami's alive because it's that thought that's keeping him going. Pretty messed up huh?

Anyway, leave me a review so I can be happy and set to work on the next chapter.

Jade