Dragonlady222 – yup, sadly Yugi had to be left behind all by himself. Don't worry though, I've got special plans coming up for little Yugi so he won't always be depressed about Yami having to go away every once in a while.

B R E A K

It had only been three days since Yami had left and Yugi had yet to find something to do with himself. All he could think of was sitting on the beach and stare at the ocean waves as they lapped up on the shore and his bare toes. It was only because of Serenity that he moved from his sandy seat to eat and go to bed.

Yugi had nighttime the most. The nights, although spent in a tropical paradise, were colder to Yugi and sleepless by far. Without Yami at his side and strong arms wrapped around his middle Yugi couldn't find the will to close his eyes and will sleep to come to him. He hated how lonely he was and the only people he actually talked to had all left on the Sennen except for Serenity.

Speaking of the young brunette as she sat down beside the depressed teen, she sighed deeply while letting her toes sink into the warm sand grains. "I've been looking for you," she told him with her ever bright smile present. He offered her a thin smile and continued staring out at the vast horizon and the setting sun. "Diner's going to disappear without you."

"I'm not really hungry today," he answered dully.

She sighed and finally a frown appeared and she sunk back into the sand to stare at the fleeting clouds. "Yami wouldn't be happy to know you're skipping meals. You wouldn't want to make him feel responsible for getting sick would you?"

Yugi shook his head and rested his chine on his knees, letting out one long deflated sigh as he continued to wish for some kind of miracle and Yami would be back. "I'd been with Yami since I was found out stowing away. I know he hated me at first, but he was still very kind after a while. Now that I'm actually away from him and the knowledge of not being able to see him for a long time it just really hurts. I never thought it would happen."

She smiled and rubbed soothing circles on his back. It wasn't the first time he'd broken down when the Sennen disappeared and she had a feeling it definitely wouldn't be the last time. She knew because Serenity had been the same way when she first knew she wouldn't always be able to be with Joey and Joey would never be able to think of her as his first priority anymore. Of course, it helped when she found out that her big brother had found a lover who would look after him for her. Seto was definitely a reliable person and treated her the same way he treated his own little brother, Mokuba, who was lucky enough to be able to stay on the ship. Exactly the same as her big brother: continuously nagging her to get out of her 'office' and get herself a boyfriend of her own.

His sniffles brought her own out of her sweet memories of her extended family and she offered him a makeshift tissue in the form of an old, torn off pocket. He snorted when he realized it, but thankfully wiped his face and took a deep breath to try to make himself more presentable. "Sorry," he told her.

"Don't apologize," she ordered. It was the same conversation and she knew he would do it again the next time it happened, but each time she told him so it got him to crack another smile for a few seconds at least. "Come on, let's get something to eat and off to bed."

With a groan he pulled himself off on his seat and wiped off his pants, Yami's old pants, and helped Serenity up. She took his hand and led him back into the canopy of thick trees.

B R E A K

Yami growled irritably as he was once again subjected to night watch. That was the only thing he could be grateful for when he found out Yugi wouldn't be coming. At least with night watches he had less time to sleep so he had less time to dream about how much Yugi wasn't there or what he could be up to at that very minute. He doubted that his young lover was doing very much at the moment either, but he knew Serenity would look out for him.

The clicks of shoes alerted him to someone and Yami straightened up and looked behind him, smirking halfheartedly. Marik grinned back and leaned over the railing with him. "Can't sleep," he offered.

"Where's your other half," Yami asked, staring at the black water beneath. He didn't really care. He actually didn't want to hear about his best friend's younger lover but it was the first thing that came to mind since he was thinking about his own little Yugi.

Marik smirked and shook his head, seeing through him entirely. "Sleeping. Of course." Yami chuckled at that and nodded. "You really miss him, huh?"

"Yeah, but I've already told him I won't be able to stop this." He waved his hands around to motion at the ship and let out a sigh. "My whole life was this ship until Yugi came along. Now I'm split between the two and I feel like a heel because he can't come with us because of…you know. Damn seasickness."

Once again nodding, Marik slapped his back and then rubbed into the shoulders. "You'll be okay. You both will." Yami just made a noncommittal sound and propped his chin into his arms and huffed. "Don't be like that. Come on, I'll help you watch." And he pulled Yami's arm and headed towards the crow's nest.

Letting Marik go up first Yami looked around the deck and somewhere it seemed a lot more lonely than this other trips. Had he really relied on Yugi's presence so much in such a short amount of time? It seemed hard to believe but he found himself realizing it was true.

B R E A K

Yugi wrinkled his nose at the fish stew in front of him and continued pushing it around with his spoon and then pushing it away with a sigh.

"You have to eat, Yugi," Serenity reminded him, continuing to eat from her own small bowl without looking up. She only glanced over at her new friend when he didn't start eating again like the past few times during the meal. "Yugi?"

The teen shook his head and sat back on the bench before sliding off it. "I don't have much of an appetite," he explained, straightening up and heading out of the bar.

Serenity watched him go before dropping her own spoon and sitting back with a light sigh of her own. It had been a week now and it seemed Yugi was only seeping further and further into himself and the depression of Yami suddenly being ripped away from him after the promise that he would stay by him. "I guess I'll just have to find some way to distract him." Clicking her tongue she took her empty bowl and Yugi's still full one and dropped them off at the cook's watering basin before heading off to her own little infirmary. She had a little Yugi friend to help.

B R E A K

Yami shifted in his sleep, groaning as he unconsciously pulled the sheets off himself and dropped them to the floor. He thrust his hips into the mattress as his breath started coming out in heavy pants. It had started out as a cool night but he was definitely beginning think, subconsciously of course, that it just wasn't cool enough.

"Yugi," he moaned quietly, turning over as his imaginary lover continued to please him. Kisses drifted down his exposed chest and teased his nipples into tiny peaks. His expression strained inside his pants, nearly to the point of pain even though his violet-eyed little Yugi made only teasing hints towards it before pulling away with ghostly whispers of his name. When his tiny hands finally rubbed over the bulge he groaned and shut his eyes tightly, hissing through his teeth and he could just feel his lover's nails as he dragged slim fingertips down the material that covered his thrumming erection.

Just as his hands hooked around the edges of his pants Yugi pulled himself over the length of the pirate's body and tugged on his bottom lip before pressing a hard, searing kiss again his mouth and thrust his tongue inside to explore. Just as he pulled away and offered one of the most blinding and heartfelt smiles that Yami had never seen Yugi give him before the teen pulled away and stood up on the floor. "Yami," he whispered again, lacing their fingers together and grinning softly. "I'm waiting." The confusion hit him immediately and as he was sitting up, grimacing against the pain his erection was giving him now, he looked over at his door and stared as Yugi than frowned and closed the door behind him.

"Yugi," Yami shouted, stretching his arm out as he threw himself out of his bed and at the door. Sunlight was now streaming in through the blocked window and the pirate was gasping loudly as he glanced around. There was no sign Yugi had been there and, hearing the waves outside and the sound of the men moving around on the deck, he knew there was no way his little charge could've been there. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on tightly closed fists while breathing heavily. He felt sticky as soon as he found his focus and found that even though in his dreams Yugi hadn't given him his completion his rubbing on the mattress had. A shame that even though that was the case he didn't feel any of the bliss or euphoria that came with it. "Yugi," he whispered again. I know you're waiting for me…

B R E A K

Violet eyes shot up as Yugi jolted in the cot with a cold sheen of sweat. He didn't notice Serenity kneeling beside him, shocked, or that the sun was shining outside his window already high in the sky. When his deep gasping had finally ended he could shift his gaze, at last, to the girl at his side. "Sorry," he breathed when he could speak past the huge ball lodged in his throat.

"Are you okay, Yugi? I was worried you'd slept for so long and that looked like some dream. What happened?"

He glanced down at his lap and looked back at the window and then to his lap again all the while worrying his bottom lip. "I-I…" He closed his eyes and tried to remember what happened but the only thing that came to mind was that it was about Yami and, if the churning in his stomach was anything to go by, he had probably been somewhere on the ocean with him. "I can't remember…" The admittance was harder than he thought and tears were already burning in his eyes. It was just as bad as the day Yami left and it seemed like rather than ten days it had only been yesterday.

Enveloping Yugi in a tight hug, Serenity shushed him and rocked him back and forth until he had hiccupped his last tear and pulled away. "All better," she grinned brightly and he nodded, offering his own slighted smile as well. "Actually, I came with a favor."

Tilting his head slight, Yugi pushed the blankets away from him and swung his legs over the edge of the cot. "A favor," he repeated. "How can I help?"

Elation and excitement rushed through the honey-eyed girl at her friend's curiosity and she just knew this was going to work. "I'm running a bit low on herbs and some of them are important. I was wondering if you'd like to help me collect them and I could teach you how to use them. Would you like that?"

The softest of smiles spread out on Yugi's face and he nodded enthusiastically. "I would like that," he told her, standing up and grabbing his shirt.

B R E A K

"…And this one," Yugi somewhat shouted, holding up a plant with several sweet smelling leaves attached to it.

Serenity smiled as she stood back up with a basket of several different herbs her and Yugi had collected throughout the day. "Yugi, you must be joking, right? That's the one I ground up for you when you first got here." She laughed at the blank expression on his face and waded through the bushes to him, plucking it from his fingers, giving it a quick sniff before nodding. "It works well with nausea and most seasickness cases," she reminded him.

Realization dawned on Yugi and he nodded. "I recognize it now," he told her after sniffing it as well. "I didn't really get to smell it last time anyway." Nodding, Serenity took his hand and started leading him back towards their civilization on their island, talking about several different things at once.

"We've got enough for now so I'll show you how I store them to keep them fresh."

As they were walking back and almost reached the wooden planks that connected the town with the pathways Yugi glanced at the basket and noticed a plant that Serenity hadn't had him pick. He stopped and pointed at it curiously. "I didn't notice that one," he told her, picking it up and caressing the soft leaves in his fingers.

Smiling, Serenity explained that it was for burns that she only recently discovered works really well. "When you wet them down and then squeeze the bottom right here," and she placed his hand over the spot and he nodded. There was a small, pebble sized sack that could hardly be seen there but by touch he definitely knew it was there. "A cool fluid comes out and eases the burn and makes it more bearable," she explained. Yugi grinned and nodded, continuing to walk once more. He didn't think this sort of thing was something he could get into, but Serenity had just made it so easy that he found himself wanting to know as much as her. He honestly wanted to help and not because it was a simple distraction for him.

B R E A K

That night Yugi was staring out at the waves again, breathing in the salty air and wondering what Yami was up to. He certainly wouldn't have needed to wonder if he was one of the rare cases that couldn't be solved. It wasn't his fault that he'd never been on a ship before. He'd been born and grew up on that one island with Ryou so he hardly thought it fair that his best friend and ex-crush could handle it with ease when he was stuck on the sidelines away from the person he most wanted to be near.

His eyes drifted from the nightly horizon to the small rowboat tied up on the shore, drifting in the shallow waves. Determination swelled up in his stomach and he stood, brushing off his pants and glancing around as he made his way over to the tiny swaying boat. Wading through the water and climbing into the wooden craft he forced his breathing to stay even and calm before tightly clutching the edges and standing up.

Eyes clenched tightly and hands in fists at his sides, Yugi didn't really think this kind of sway of all that bad. If anything it was calming so why was it that he got sick when on the Sennen, but not on this little, insignificant rowboat. Violet eyes drifted open and he stared out at the water. From where he stood it looked like he was at sea and there wasn't an island ten feet behind him. Maybe he just hadn't been ready for the Sennen that one day. Maybe he really had been cured and it was just the sudden adjustment from land to sea that threw him off and made him sick. As if he'd ever get a chance to stand on board again now. He doubted Bakura would give him a third chance after what happened.

He turned to jump in the water and go back to the beach just as a wave lifted the boat and brought it back down when it happened. His stomach churned and he quickly and purely from reflex used both hands to cover his mouth, dropping to his knees. Thinking quickly he pushed himself out of the boat, holding his breath as he slipped into the salty water and drifted easily through the waves. He was amazed at how easy it was but he suddenly no longer felt the urge to be sick. Bursting past the surface Yugi breathed deeply, keeping his closed as he trudged back to the beach and dropped on the sand.

"Well," he told himself, finally able to open his eyes and stare up at the starry night sky. "At least I wasn't sick…."

B R E A K

"Serenity," an elderly woman shouted, carrying a boy younger than Yugi in her arms into the clinic. She stopped at seeing Yugi sitting on the tree stump instead of the teenage girl she was looking for.

Catching the grimaces of pain as they slid across the sobbing child's face Yugi quickly stood up. "Is there something I can do to help?"

"Where's Serenity," the woman demanded, cradling the boy to her bosom.

Yugi explained that she went to collect more herbs closer down to the ocean and asked him to look after things for her. "I promise I can help. She's taught me a lot so I know I can help," he swore to her.

Even though she was apprehensive there was nothing more she could do if Serenity wasn't close by. She desposited the child on the cot and pulled a wet wash rag and revealed a red burn covering the whole of his forearm. "He startled me by accident," she explained, "and I pushed him back into a hot pot I was cooking with."

Yugi grinned and pulled out the jar that he'd helped store only the day before, pulling out some of the leaves Serenity had showed him and washed them throughouly in the basin filled with clean water. "It'll be okay," he promised, trying to ease the distraught woman. "I know I can help so he'll be okay." Shaking them dry he hurried over to the boy and searched the leaves for the little balls that Serenity had pointed out. Popping them open a cool, almost minty cold liquid oozed onto the burns and he gently rubbed it over the red carefully until the boy's cries finally stopped.

"How does that feel? Does it hurt very much anymore?"

Shaking his head the boy gave him a watery smile. "Nu-uh," he told him. "Just a wittle sore now but I can handle it."

"Ah, what a tough guy you are. I knew you could handle it. You're so brave."

Serenity stepped into the room and grinned. "Is everything okay in here?"

The woman turned to look at her and grinned while waiting for Yugi to bandage up the arm so the herb's juices wouldn't be rubbed off easily, tying it in a tiny knot on the end before standing back up. Patting the teen on the shoulder, the woman smiled brightly. "You've got quite an assistant there, Serenity. You trained him yourself?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"You trained a good one. I like him."

Blushing Yugi looked away, to clean up the small mess he made and helped the lad off the cot. He thanked her quietly, but couldn't look up until they left. When they did Serenity wrapped him in a one-arm hug and smiled. "So, Yugi, you want to be my assistant?"