Chapter 12: Yugi's Secret is Revealed

*Eh.....* Tea was glad she was lying down. Otherwise, she probably would've fainted. I said that to Yami, not Yugi? OK, now I feel stupid. How embarassing.

*Hey, you didn't know. How could you? Yugi and I have made it a point to keep it as secret as possible.* He paused, unsure of how to ask, *Tea, I must know something, for Yugi's sake. Who is it that you love? Yugi, or myself?*

*What does that matter? Yugi's dying! I can't think about anything but his well-being right now!* Liar, a voice deep in her heart retorted, you know very well that it matters!

Yami smiled knowingly, *That's all I needed to know.

*What do you know?* Tea was a bit on edge, to say the least.

*That you love Yugi, of course,* he replied calmly, then laughed as much as he ever did, *You've just saved us so many people, and you have no idea!*

*What are you snickering about, spirit-boy?!* Tea's temper exploded, *A fat lot of good it does for me to love Yugi when he's going to die, before I even get a chance to him, baka! All I'm going to end up with is a life of painful memories of my best friend and love of my life, and you're laughing like it's some wonderful joke!*

Yami smirked, *I knew you had a temper, but wow! Next time you blow like Mt. Fuji, kindly give us lowly villagers a little bit of warning, would you? Anyway, it's unnecessary.*

*What are you blathering about?*

*Oh, for pity's sake, would you calm down! The theatrics are quite unbecoming of you, Tea.*

*Who's play-acting?! I mean it!*

*I'm sure you do, but we're wasting time arguing like this.*

*What are you saying?! Just tell me straight out, please!*

Yami closed his eyes, rather exasperated, *Fine. Yugi is probably going to pitch a supremely royal hairy conniption over the fact I that I told you this, but it seems I have no choice. Besides, as shy as he is, I'm not sure if he'd ever tell you on his own. Yugi needs your love and friendship because he loves you, too. Thinking that you love me, he's lost the will to live. He won't fight to stay alive, even though he knows what's at stake. He's willing to give up, sacrificing not only his life (and mine), but countless others if the shadow games return, and he's doing all of this because his heart is so badly broken over you. Happy now?*

Tea blinked, shocked, *You realize, of course, that with as many bombs as you've dropped in my lap tonight, I have every right to be scattered from here to your precious Egypt. This, however, has to be the grandaddy of them all! You're really serious?*

*I make it a point to never lie, Tea, even to make someone feel better. I find that it's better for all in the end if the truth is unshrouded by deceit. In any case, it's dishonorable, and unworthy of one such as myself.*

She scowled, *I can't decide whether you're being incredibly arrogant or simply honest, being that you're an ancient pharaoh, and all. Maybe customs were vastly different back then. How strange.*

*I'm going to ignore that, but only for Yugi's sake.* Yami rolled his eyes, *God help me if I ever fall in love! Human relationships are not my forte. Anyway, it'd just too incredibly awkard, being that Yugi and I share a body, but not a heart.*

Tea shook her head, laughing at his discomfort, *Normally, I'd say that you'd deserve it, but you've got a point there. It would make for one serious problem, wouldn't it?*

Yami grinned, *Well, now that you're not mad at me anymore, are you going to see Yugi, or not?*

*I don't even know if he's out of surgery yet, though. Even if he is, how are we going to get into the ICU? No one's allowed in there, as far as I know. Besides, we don't even know where his room is!*

*We'll manage,* Yami smiled cryptically. *Come on. Take that I.V. drip with you as you get up, by the way, and walk very slowly. We don't need you pulling that needle out or collasping, right?*

Tea muttered under her breath about ancient tyrannical pharaohs as she inched off the bed, her bare feet hitting the cold floor. She yelped.

*Serves you right,* Yami laughed at her, *Tyrannical pharaoh, indeed. I sure hope Yugi appreciates all that I go through for him.*

Tea glared sullenly at the puzzle, putting her feet gingerly on the floor again, *And he actually thought I was in love you?*

*Yup. I should probably tell you that he was rather ticked at me right then.*

She slid slowly off the bed, *What's that got to do with anything?*

*Well, at the clearing, he wouldn't let me take care of Bandit and his thugs. No matter what, he wanted to be the one to protect you. He told me, and was very insistent about it.*

Tea staggered and grabbed onto the railing on the bed, *What? He was fighting Bandit Keith on his own? That scuzbucket is almost three times his size! How could you let him do something like that by himself??!!*

*Of course I didn't let him! He fought tooth-and-nail to keep me from interfering.* Yami's mental voice was suddenly regretful, *I blame myself for the situation we find ourselves in now. If I'd tried harder, succeeding in taking over, he wouldn't be lying on the brink of death right now.*

She stood stock-still, clutching her I.V. pole, *How do you figure that? Are you immune to bullets? Self-recrimination never did anybody any good, you know.*

Yami sighed sadly, *Perhaps you're right, but I could've stopped it before it got that far, and even if it did, I could've used my powers to keep the bullet from reaching it's destination.*

Tea's eyes widened as she remembered something, *Like you did when Panic tried to kill you with the fire!*

*Yes. If he had let me, I could've saved all of us from even being here,* Yami half-smiled, *It was rather impressive that he could control me like that, really. No matter what I did, he stayed strong. I think it was his love for you that gave him that strength, Tea. His desire to protect you at all costs gave him a power greater than even mine. That's why I have to believe that your being with him can bring him back from the brink.*

"The power of love..." she murmured as she opened her door, poking her head out to look left and right. The hall was clear, the only light was at the end, where the nurse's station was. *How are we going to get past everyone, especially in ICU, Yami?*

*Leave that to me. You just keep walking. Follow your heart, and your feet will know where to go.*