Chapter Nine: No Where Near

"Okay," Seto said, "What happened?" They were all in the kitchen, sitting at the table, sipping coffee. Yami was sitting at the end of the table; Joey and Seto were on the sides. Yami sighed before answering the question. He took out his wallet and took out the Anzu and Yugi photo. Joey and Seto looked at it, both giving him a look that screamed "WHY DO YOU STILL HAVE THAT?!"

"See the way she's hugging Yugi?" Yami asked. Seto and Joey didn't answer. "Yugi's burn patterns match up with her arms." He paused briefly. "I think Anzu's back." Seto and Joey looked around the room nervously.

"Is that why Seigyoku left?" Joey asked. Yami shook his head.

"After we got home from the hospital, I began thinking Anzu was back. Seigyoku got annoyed with that and told me to stop." Yami paused, remembering the argument. "Then, we kinda got into an argument and I left the room. She followed me to the porch and…" He trailed off. Seto and Joey looked at each other, then back at Yami.

"And?" Seto egged on. Yami sighed.

"She found out."

"What?" Joey asked.

"That I still miss Anzu," Joey's mouth fell open as Seto began to choke on his coffee. Yami closed his eyes.

"Can you run that by me again?" Joey said.

"You're not serious, are you?" Seto asked.

"I haven't been missing all of the nine years." Yami explained. "It just came back last night!"

"Well, what started it?" Joey asked.

"When I thought about how Anzu and Yugi in the hospital!" Yami sighed.

"Why did she come to mind?" Seto asked.

"Because you were hugging Yugi and the way he smiled reminded me of how happy he was when Anzu was still alive!" He groaned and put his head down. Seto and Joey were silent.

"What do you think Yami?" Joey asked gently. Yami looked up at him. "Do you think this is a phase or what?"

"I don't know," Yami said. "This all just happened so suddenly." He looked up at his friends. "I still love Seigyoku and Seimei very much."

"We don't doubt that," Seto said. "We're just worried about your marriage."

"What should I do?" Yami asked.

"Maybe you should get professional help," Joey suggested. Yami gave him a light glare.

"Look," Seto said. "Don't tell Samara, but I'm still seeing Dr. Ari. Remember, she helped Yugi?" Yami nodded. "Maybe you should try it out." Yami said nothing.

"Maybe you should call Seigyoku," Joey suggested. Yami shook his head as he handed them the note. They read it and looked back up at him.

"I only have one chance." Yami said. "I have to get all my facts straight before I can call her." They fell silent. Yami sighed. "I'm scared, guys."

XXXX

Yugi walked into the house with a very pissed off look. He slammed the door shut. Yami poked his head out from the kitchen. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Besides the fact that school let out over an hour ago!" Yugi shouted. Yami looked at the clock.

"Oh Yugi," he said. "I'm sorry. I was just…" He trailed off and sighed. They were both silent. "We need to talk," Yami said gently.

"About?" Yugi asked. Yami sighed again.

"Just come see," He stepped back into the kitchen. Confused, Yugi followed. Seto and Joey had left, so Yami and Yugi were alone. Yugi began to feel nervous. He sat down at the table.

"What's up, dad?" Yugi asked. Yami stood, leaning against the counter.

"Yugi," he started with a sigh. "When your mother first died, I felt so lost. I didn't know if I had the strength to raise you on my own. I was so scared I'd mess up at one point or another. Finally, about two weeks after Anzu's funeral, I dropped you off at Seto's and left."

"You left?" Yugi asked, giving Yami the "HOW COULD YOU?!" look. Yami nodded.

"I didn't tell anyone where I was going, how to reach me, or when I'd be back." Yami paused. "I came back three months later."

"What were you doing?" Yugi asked.

"Anything that I thought would make the pain go away." Yami answered. "Drugs, alcohol, you name it." Yugi's eyes widened.

"What made you come back?" he asked. Yami could see the guilt building in Yugi's eyes. He had expected as much. Yugi would blame himself for a while, then Yami would have to prove it wasn't his fault.

"This," Yami said, showing Yugi the photo of Anzu hugging him in her lap. Yugi took it from Yami and looked at it. "You're three in that picture." Yami said. "One day that fell out of my wallet. I picked it up and remembered you. Then, I knew I couldn't stay the way I was. I had to go back and take care of you. You had just loss your mother to unfair circumstances; you had no right to lose your father too." Yami sighed. "So I cleaned myself up and went back to get you."

"Where did you go?" Yugi asked.

"To tell you the truth," Yami said. "I don't remember. I just kept driving until I came into a big city." They were both silent. Yugi looked at the photo. He traced over Anzu with his fingertips.

"Then what happened?" Yami asked without looking up.

"After I picked you up from Seto's," Yami sighed, also sitting down. He sat next to Yugi. "I spent all the time I could you." A small smile spread across Yami's lips. "Sometimes we would just kid around or talk…" Yugi smiled too.

"I remember bits and pieces of that…" Yugi admitted. Yami nodded.

"After a year or so, Seto and Joey wanted me to start dating again." Yami said "Personally, I didn't think I was ready, but…" Yami shrugged. "Anyways, around this time you were thinking that talking about your mother was forbidden. Every time you'd bring her up, you'd fall silent and look at me with this apologetic, nervous look." Yami sighed. "One night we went out for a bite and I almost hit someone." Yugi's eyes widened. "That someone was Seigyoku." He paused for a moment. "She went off on me and we exchanged names. The next night, I met her again at a local club."

"You went to a club?" Yugi asked. Yami laughed.

"I know how to have some fun." Yugi rolled his eyes. Yami smiled. "From there, Seigyoku and I just got closer, with some unwanted help from Seto and Joey." Yugi giggled. Yami smiled, then frowned. "But," he started again. "Not everything went so great. After Seigyoku and I began going steady, strange things started to happen."

"Strange?" Yugi asked nervously. Yami nodded.

"Slashes and cuts would appear on you for no apparent reason, things would fall over, not to mention Seigyoku's cat would go crazy." Yami sighed and looked at Yugi. Yugi swallowed nervously.

"What was happening, dad?" Yugi asked. Yami sighed.

"You are not going to believe me when I say it," Yami laughed lightly. "Your mother's ghost was haunting us."

"I beg your pardon?!" Yugi blurted out. Yami laughed lightly.

"Your mother was haunting us," he repeated. "Apparently she didn't like the fact that I'd moved on."

"Okay," Yugi said awkwardly. "Is she still here?" Yami shook his head. "How do you get read of a ghost?" Yami sighed.

"I believe she was here because she wanted to get back at me through you." Yami sighed again. "We got rid of her, well you did by telling her to leave." Yugi stared at his father. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Okay," he said. "Anything else you wanna tell me about mom?" Yami nodded, his face becoming grave.

"Your mother had been getting her revenge for a while, before she died." Yami reached out and held Yugi's hand. "Yugi, when you were first born I had a job that kept me away from you and your mother a lot. As you got older, it annoyed her more. She asked me to change shifts or find another job, but I told her that it would only be worse if I did."

"What was the job dad?" Yugi asked.

"I don't remember, probably some restaurant job or something. But my hours pissed her off more than I thought. She got back at me in the worse way…"

"What did she do?" Yugi asked.

"She molested you, Yugi." Yugi's eyes widened in shock and he turned pale. "I found out after she died. I found a calendar; she used to mark the dates―!"

"NO!" Yugi shouted, standing up from the chair so fast, it was knocked over. "You're lying to me! You're just trying to get me to hate her!" Yami slowly stood up and walked over to Yugi. Yugi made a bolt for the stairs, but Yami caught his wrist and pulled him into a hug. Yugi squirmed to get away. Yami held him tightly.

"See how you're acting?" Yami asked. "That's exactly how you acted when the psychiatrist put you under hypnosis." Yugi stopped squirming; he looked away from the father. "That's how I confirmed my suspicions," he continued. "Under hypnosis, you were begging your mother to stop, tell her 'it hurts', and…" Yami trailed off. Yugi rested his head on Yami's chest. A few quiet sobs escaped him. Yami gently rubbed his back.

"What happened after her ghost left dad?" he asked. Yami sighed.

"Nothing," he said. "It was a normal eight years." There was a pause. "But now, I think she's back Yugi."

"What?" Yugi asked looking up.

"Everything that's happening to you and Seimei can't be explained." Yami said. Yugi swallowed nervously.

"Why would she be back dad?" Yami frowned. He stared into Yugi's frightened eyes.

"Because son," Yami gently ran his fingers through Yugi's bangs. "I'm starting to miss her again." Yugi's eyes widened as he stared at his father. "I don't know why, it just happened when I saw the photo in my wallet." He sighed.

"So you think mom is haunting us again because you miss her?" Yugi asked. Yami nodded. "Dad…Seimei hit her head―!

"She hit her forehead and got an aneurism in the back!" Yami said. "And try to explain your burns to me, Yugi!" Yugi fell silent. "Your mother was holding you exactly the same way in the photo! Your burns are in the same place as her arms!" Yugi still said nothing. Yami sighed. "Seigyoku's gone," he said. Yugi looked up at him.

"What?" he asked.

"Seigyoku found out that I was starting to miss Anzu again. It upset her and she left, taking Seimei with her." Yami started at his son, trying to see how he would react.

"When will she be back?" Yugi asked. Yami shook his head. Yugi said nothing; he rested his head on Yami's chest again. Yami hugged him tightly.

"We'll get help Yugi," Yami whispered.

"Dad," Yugi said. "I know how mom got back…"

"What?" Yami asked surprised.

"Malik and I," Yugi started. "We summoned her back…through a gothic spell." Yami stared at him in horror.

"What were you two thinking?!" Yami asked.

"I felt bad because…for some reason…every time I would try to remember mom…I would remember Seigyoku instead." Tears filled his eyes. "I was afraid I'd forget about mom completely….I just thought that if I could talk to her…" He stopped for a moment. "So I went to the library to find some books on ghosts and spells…I met Malik while looking and he offered to help after we got to know each other. But we got closer and we started to worry about what our families would think and the process was delayed. Finally we got to the point where we didn't care anymore…then we hand the dinner party and…" He trailed off, breaking into sobs. Yami stared at his son in horror.

"You summoned your mother at the dinner party?!" Yami asked. Yugi managed to nod. "Yugi, that was weeks ago!" He stared at his son in horror. Slowly, he released his son and stepped away from him.

"Dad―!" Yugi began to plead.

"Go to your room." Yami commanded.

"But―!"

"NOW!" Yugi ran up the stairs and to his room, tears streaming down his face. Yami fell to his knees and buried his face into his hands. He hand nothing to do with this; all of this was Yugi's fault…

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I hate that saying…."Go to your room" God! I got chills just typing it! I hate it when parents say that…It scares me. I always think "What are they gonna do to me?" because, I don't care how big your room is, you have limited space…and normally your parents are stronger than you….Man, the possibilities! (calms herself down) Okay, is giving me trouble with uploading my documents, so my updates might be delayed, which is really pissing me off! I hate to keep you guys waiting…it makes me feel mean…Leave reviews and hopefully fanfiction will be nice to me from now on! Later guys! Love you!