long time no see! sorry, i was unable access the internets for a long time, and i may not again for a while. goin teh college~! but i aint forgett'd about yous peeps. thx to all you who stood by me! :3

Yuugi squeaked in surprise and froze. He stared up at Yami, who looked mildly confused and somewhat angry.

"Yuugi… I know you still aren't ready." Grandpa Solomon stated. "But we think that it's best that you two get, at the very least, engaged by the end of the summer."

"Mutou-sama, I think I understand where you're coming from." Yami started. Yuugi looked back up at his friend. "However, I don't believe that either of us is ready for that step yet. I want to know Yuugi the best I possibly can before proposing."

"I know… however, child, the people whom are looking to you to lead their country in the next few years are beginning to wonder if the next Pharaoh will be just as hard pressed for an heir as your father was." The Queen stated. Her gray eyes searched both boys with unerring precision.

"I have to have KIDS?" Yuugi shrieked. He ripped himself from Yami's arms and dashed off, the Prince of Egypt in hot pursuit.

"That went amazingly well." She replied, getting a pair of incredulous stares from the remaining men. "What? I was expecting him to run when he was told he had to get married."

Yami dashed after Yuugi, almost loosing the boy several times. A wall, that the smaller boy had somehow managed to shimmy up, eventually stopped him, allowing Yuugi to disappear over the edge of the carved stone.

"Yuugi!" there was no response. Yami expected none. His koi was upset, and it was up to him to fix it. Looking about carefully to make sure none were watching. He stripped and transformed. Once a cat, he easily pounced over the wall and into the rafters. From there, it was easy enough to follow the soft sobs that echoed freely.

"I don't wanna have a baby yet…" the small boy muttered as the massive leopard wrapped around him, purring.

You don't have to yet, Little One. Yami purred. His tongue was warm and comforting against the other's cheek. Yuugi whimpered softly.

"Boys can't have babies anyways…"

Verngeos CAN, kitten. It's completely up to us whether we have them.

"I don't wanna get married yet." Yuugi continued.

They asked how soon, little one, so we don't have to wed for a while yet. When you're ready, no earlier, no later. Yuugi gazed at Yami sadly, then snuggled against the other's side, relishing in the soft pelt. They remained that way for probably a half hour before they heard the voices searching for them. Carefully Yuugi detangled himself from the large cat, and wiggled himself back over to the shear surface of the wall. Yami landed beside the youth, having been roused by the other's movement. Yuugi gazed at the other with soft eyes.

Only when you are ready, my light. Yami purred tenderly, before stalking off to get dressed. Yuugi watched him go, and then ran off. He made it his own personal mission to avoid the other's family until the end of the trip.

Yami watched sadly as the other left. Yuugi had not spoken with him since the incident with the pharaoh, and therefore there was the overwhelming sense of something lost, and something that needed fixing. No one questioned WHY the Prince wandered about the castle with a bucket of paint tuning up the hieroglyphs, they just let him. It was better then him moping again, they guessed.

Back in Japan, Yuugi was feeling, as well as rather guilty for not saying goodbye, rather ill. There was something wrong, and he'd not a clue as to what it was. It wasn't until a week to the start of the new term that something became very, very apparent that all was not well, in the form of the young man collapsing into a fit of seizures.

The doctor ran his tests as Solomon worried to himself in the hospital waiting room. There was a definite need for something more distracting then the whitewashed walls… he should offer to paint them up with hieroglyphs or SOMETHING. Later, when Yuugi was better. Then the lad could help him. There was another long, awkward silence as the elderly man went back to waiting for another two hours. There was definitely something to be required in here… or at least more non-fashion magazines.

Finally, the doctor came out. There was a steady silence as the elderly man followed the younger diagnostician into the latter's office.

"Bad news I'm afraid. Your grandson appears to have suffered some long-term effects, which we missed initially, from the accident his parents died in."

"And?" he didn't care HOW he got it; he just wanted to know what he could do to STOP it.

"His mind is functioning fine; however, his brain is not. His body is receiving the signal to begin the final steps of the Verngeo life-cycle."

"You mean he's-?"

"Starting his final transformation? Yes. He'll be alright for about a week… but he's not going to make it back to school at his current rate. Does he have a partner that he would be willing to start out early with?"

"They were alright about two weeks back, however, I think they got into an argument recently, they didn't speak all the last week of our Egypt tour."

"Is there a friend whom would be willing to perform in the other's stead? There has been success with the blindfolding technique."

"I… I can ask. But not before I consult Yuugi."

"Then please do so. I would hate for the kid to have to go through that." He was just a boy after all.

Yuugi stared at his grandfather for several minutes in shock. No, this was too soon, this was not right, there was- he needed-… time he didn't have… he was always a rather easy-going child. There was no way his grandfather would lie to him. Neither would the doctor be brought into any scheme that his grandfather might have been tugged into. There was just no way.

However, it was happening none-the-less. There was a definite thought period's worth of silence in the room. Yuugi needed to make his choice. He wasn't ready for Yami yet… he thought… but… he wasn't… wasn't ready for that either…

However, he had no choice. One or the other, he couldn't be leaving his grandfather alone with Option C, after all. Options A & B weren't in his favor either…

"Can I think about it?" Yuugi asked softly.

Solomon sighed, and then nodded. A few hours wouldn't hurt.

-GASP- actual PLOT! r&R plz~!