Warning(s)

Mentions of death, minor cursing

Puzzleshipping: Rated T

It had been four days since Yami and the others had been rescued. After Set managed to heal most of their wounds, Solomon decided to go back to his shop and home along with Yugi. Serenity would continue to stay at Shadi's house with Joey while Marik and Set watched over them. Kisara stated that she would watch over Malik, Ryou, and Amane along with Tristan at her family's home. The young boy that mysteriously appeared would also be staying with them. When asked how he appeared, the boy told them that a few years ago when the Ishtar family had explored the ruins of a temple, he said that they unknowingly unsealed him and he'd chosen Kisara as his "temple" to recover since his powers were drained and Kisara had the power of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon within her.

Yugi watched as his mate slept, tracing a few of his scars on his torso since his mate had slept only in his boxers. Yami had been staying with him and his grandfather since they got rescued. He knew that Yami hadn't been getting much sleep since he always went out to try and find Arkana so he could rescue his comrades. He felt sorry for him, knowing that his mate was really worried about them.

Yami stirred and opened his eyes, looking over his shoulder at the window. "What time is it?" he asked groggily.

"Eight-thirty," Yugi replied. "You should get more rest."

"I can't rest," Yami said wearily. "I have to find them."

"And you can't do that or fight if you're not well rested," Yugi pointed out calmly. He rolled over onto his stomach, looking down at his mate. "Please get some sleep?" As much as he hated using this method, he gave his mate his most convincing pair of sad puppy eyes. It came in handy for situations like this and he hoped that Yami would be fooled into doing what he wanted.

Yami looked over at him and sighed. He was trying his best to resist and explain to him why he couldn't simply rest when his comrades could be in danger. But at the same time, he knew that Yugi was right as well since he hadn't gotten much rest since they got back. "Yugi…"

"I will find a spell to bound you to the bed if you don't," Yugi threatened playfully and winked at him. "My grandpa and I do have a lot of spell tomes. I think I can one."

The older man chuckled, rolling over on his side. "Little Light, I don't take threats lightly," he said with a dark smile.

Yugi smiled back in challenge and leaned over to him, their lips barely touching. "And I am very stubborn when I want something," he said, brushing his lips over his mate's. It was meant to be just a peck, but when Yami wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him closer, he couldn't help but want more at the moment. The kiss deepened and before they knew it, Yugi was straddling Yami while the older male had his hands on the younger male's hips and grinding their groins together. When Yugi felt how hard they were, he pulled away from the kiss and rested his forehead against Yami's.

Yami looked up at him as they caught their breath, hoping that he didn't scare his little mate. "Yugi…?"

The younger male shook his head and smiled nervously at him. "It's okay, I just…I don't mind," he said quietly. "W-We can do it again…if you want."

"Are you sure?" Yami asked. He had wanted Yugi since their first time, but he knew that his little mate needed time to come to terms with their relationship since everything had happened so fast.

"I'm sure," Yugi replied, feeling his cheeks turn a little red.

Just as Yami pulled him down to kiss him again, they heard a knock on the door that made of them jump in surprise. "Yugi, Yami, breakfast is ready," Solomon said through the door.

Both of them looked at each other and laughed, resting their foreheads against each other's. "Well, I guess we can wait until tonight?" Yugi asked him.

Yami nodded, giving him one last kiss. "Only if you want to, Yugi. I'm willing to wait until you're comfortable with this. There's no need to rush." He got up from the bed and pulled on his pants that he'd left on Yugi's chair next to his desk. He felt Yugi's arms wrap around his shoulders from behind and smiled when he felt Yugi kiss his cheek.

"Tonight," Yugi stated then got to change, putting on a pair of blue jean and long-sleeve black shirt.

Yami put his shirt and walked out of the room with him, seeing their breakfast on the table. He couldn't even remember the last time he had breakfast with company. Knowing his life, it was probably back when he was still pharaoh, but then again, the only people he had most of his meals with were Mana and Mahad. His heart clenched a little in grief at the thought of her, feeling like he'd failed her in some way.

"You okay?" Yugi asked him. He felt through their Bond that Yami was thinking of something that made him a little sad.

The older man nodded and gave him a small smile. "I'll be fine. Just thinking of the past," he replied.

"Mana?" Yugi figured that was probably why. He knew that Yami loved her like a younger sister from seeing his memories and that his last memory of her was when she got Yami to the temple then ran into the burning city to save as many people as she could.

"Yes. Sitting here, eating a meal with you and grandfather reminded me of how I usually ate with her and Mahad. My mother had passed away when she gave birth to me and my father had been killed when I was five. Mahad was only fifteen and he practically raised me and Mana with Shadi and Karim's help," Yami told him. "Mana was an orphan and Shadi could see that she had potential to be a great magician so he adopted her and we were raised together."

"Ah yes, I remember reading that," Solomon said. "Sadly, the last record of her was that she went into a burning building to save some children, but it is written that it collapsed and the bodies were never recovered."

"I figured as much," Yami said quietly. "She always did tend to act before thinking things through. Mahad always told her that would be her downfall. But I never thought she would…"

Yugi reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "I'm sure she's watching over you." He saw smiled when he felt Yami's mood lighten up a bit.

"So…I don't mean to change the subject, but it's a little hard to ignore the elephant in the room," Solomon began. "What are we going to do? That crazy man is still out there and holding your comrades captive. Not to mention, what about that little boy that appeared out of nowhere?"

Yami sighed and finished eating his breakfast. "I don't know, Mr. Muto," he answered honestly. "I will find Arkana and save my friends. He can't run away forever. He'll try to strike at Yugi and his friends to get to me. Or threaten to kill the ones he has now. The one I'm really worried about is Mahad. I tried contacting him, but he hasn't responded."

"And Arkana did say something about sending a 'Diabound' after them?" Yugi asked. "What is that?"

"It's a fragment of Zorc that he used to assassinate his enemies. He tried to use it on me, but he didn't count on Mahad and the Kaiba twins being there when it came," Yami stated. "It kidnapped Bakura once, but we were able to find him a few days later. He was almost dead after what it did to him."

"Is that why…he is the way he is now?" Yugi asked.

Yami shook his head. "No, it's because of the Kul Elna Massacre. He lost his entire family in one night."

Solomon nodded in agreement. "I remember reading about that. They were used to create the Millennium Items by Priest Aknadin after the pharaoh allowed-"

"My father didn't know that sacrifices were required!" Yami raised his voice and stood up, glaring at the older-looking man. "If he'd known that, he wouldn't have let my uncle do that to kill all those people. He became ill after learning what had happened and died a few months later. My uncle did it because he knew my father would feel immense guilt and wanted to become pharaoh himself. What he didn't count on, was me being ready to take throne so early and Set and Seto turning on him."

Yugi grabbed his hand, sensing the chaos going in his mate's mind. "Yami, calm down. My grandfather and I didn't know that. We only know what the history books tell us and can only go by what we know from them." He felt Yami calm down and squeezed his hand in support.

"My apologies," Solomon said to him. "I never knew that. History books have always said that Pharaoh Aknamkanon knew that he was ordering a whole village to die and died shortly after because the gods had cursed him."

"That's not too far from the truth," Yami muttered. "Aknadin didn't tell my father how the Millennium Items were made, only that he knew how to make them and that our kingdom would safe from the armies invading our home. My father ordered to make the items, not know that making them would require the lives of people. When he learned of the massacre that took place to make them, he begged the gods to punish him for allowing it to happen. After he died, Aknadin began to make plans for my assassination. However, Set and Seto stopped him when he tried."

"Seto and Set betrayed their father?" Yugi asked quietly. He didn't think they would ever do that, but then he remembered reading that they had gone against their father after Mokuba was born.

Yami nodded and sighed. "Yes, when he tried to kill me, both of them stopped him. After that, he ran away and went missing until about a year before the fight against Zorc. He kidnapped their mother."

"Wait, so why did he kidnap her? Did she know as well?" Solomon asked.

"No, she never knew what was going on," Yami replied. "He kidnapped her to get her pregnant with Mokuba. We figured he wanted another child so that he could use Mokuba for his schemes, but luckily we found their mother a month before she gave birth to him and Aknadin was never found. After their mother died in childbirth, Gozaburo Kaiba offered his family name and lands to them since Noah's mother had passed away as well after giving birth to him. Set and Seto knew that if anyone found out that they were related to Aknadin, no one would trust them and Mokuba would be shunned. Set was hoping that this would be their chance for a clean slate for them."

"So that's why they took on the Kaiba name. It would be a new beginning for them and Mokuba would never know the horrors of what happened," Yugi said quietly, finishing his breakfast.

"We've looked everywhere in the surrounding area and haven't found anything," Seto stated. "My brother and I are trying to see if there's even a hint of a pattern of where he could be heading next."

"But we honestly don't know where he is," Set told him.

Yami sighed as he looked at the map. "We have to keep searching. He's got everyone right where he wants them. It's only a matter of time before he comes after us again."

Seto scoffed at that. "Your mate is not the only one that's in danger, Yami. All of those humans are in danger. You should've never gone after him. You've only brought nothing but danger to him since you two have been together."

"Abandon him like you abandoned Joey? Even with you binding your souls together, his wounds are healing slowly and he's still in a coma. Why do you think that is?" Yami shot back.

The older man growled and took a step forward. "Don't even bring him into this. He's a weak human that-"

"And yet you saved his life and bond his soul to yours," Yami pointed out.

Seto growled at that and turned away. "We're done here." He walked off before Yami or Set could say anything. He was furious that Yami has tried to use Joey against him. A part of him still wondered why he saved the damn boy. The boy was very obnoxious and had no manners, the only time Seto ever saw the boy behave was around his sister and she was just as useless and weak as him. He passed by the room that Joey was staying in, seeing Serenity sitting next to his bed. It was obvious she was tired with the dark circles shadowing under her eyes. Yugi and their other friends were there as well. Tristan had his hand on her shoulder and told her to go rest.

He continued walking, seeing Mokuba on the stairs and looking up at him. "What is it?" he snapped.

Mokuba didn't react to his anger. "Why are you being like this, brother?" he asked. "You have something all of us don't and-"

He growled again. "I swear if one more person gives me a lecture about Joey…"

"You won't do anything to me," Mokuba stated calmly. "If I were Noah, you would since you don't like him." Seto looked down at him in shock that his brother would say such a thing and was about to state otherwise, but Mokuba interrupted him. "It's true and you know it. You've always disliked him."

Seto didn't say anything and walked passed him. While he could ignore the weak heartbeat coming from Joey's room…he couldn't ignore his dragon roaring in his head that his mate needed him.

"So what's the plan?" Yugi asked Yami as they walked back to the shop.

"We're still figuring that out," Yami replied. "It's only me and the Kaiba family left to protect you and your friends. We need to find someone who can protect you and your friends."

Yugi huffed and stood in front of him. "Yami, we can protect ourselves. I know my friends and I might not be as powerful as you, but we have powers of our own."

Yami chuckled and cradled his face with both hands. "I know, Little Light. But I won't be able to focus if I know I left you unprotected. You've seen for yourself how cunning Arkana can be." His phone vibrated in his pocket and saw that it was a text message from Set, saying to call him when he got the chance.

"Who is it?" Yugi asked.

"It's Set. He said to call him when I get a chance," Yami told him. They quickly hurried to the game shop and he called him as soon as they stepped inside. "What is it, Set? Did you find Arkana?"

"No," Set replied coolly. "But I did find some people we can trust to watch over your mate and his friends while we hunt him. I'm emailing you their files to your email."

"And how do we know we can trust them?" Yami asked him, walking over to Yugi's laptop that was on the dining table.

Set let out a humorless chuckle. "Trust me, we know them. After all, they used to be warriors in your army."

"There are still other survivors? I didn't think there were others that survived this long. How did you know about them?" As far as he knew, it was only him and his comrades that were still alive. "Who is it?"

"I just sent their information to you. You can see for yourself," Set replied.

Yami opened the files once he was able to log into his email, eyes widening at who he saw on the screen. "They're still alive? I thought all of them were…"

"Apparently they survived, along with your friend," Set told him. "They've been living on the island not too far from Domino for quite some time. But only your friend and the two guardians can come. The others are still asleep; they have been for the past three hundred years."

"I see…," Yami sighed. "Contact them and tell them we need them as soon as possible." He hung up, turning to see Yugi walking to him.

"Is everything okay?" the younger male asked. "You sounded shocked at something."

"I was, but I think we've found some people that can help," Yami told him.

Yugi looked at the screen, seeing three windows opened with three different files and pictures of men. "Who are these men? Did you know them?"

Yami nodded. "Yes, you're about to meet the other man that helped Mahad raise me and Mana."

Yugi's eyes widened and looked up at him. "You mean this is…?"

The former pharaoh nodded. "Yes, Karim is still alive along with another group of our comrades that are living on the island not too far from Domino City."

Author's Notes/Rambles

Yes! I'm still alive! Just haven't had time to write anything these past few months because of work(two jobs is NOT easy to handle!) and my attempt to move out! But that last part will have to wait since I need a car now! :'(

Anyways, I cut this chapter short because I wanted to hurry up and post it so no one thinks I'm dead and two, well…I don't know. But yes, I'm still planning on finishing this story and write the next story ASAP!

Thank you so much for being patient with me! I really do appreciate that you've been very patient with me and my never-ending struggles with the real world taking up my writing time. But I haven't forgotten this story and I WILL finish this!