Chapter 21

'So Lus didn't turn up last night then?' Joey studied Yugi for a moment, as the three of them sat round the airy kitchen of the Southern Palace.

'No and Téa's pretty much on the warpath with me today,' he sighed. 'Problem is I can't seem to find him anywhere. I mean, even Taylor had no luck in finding him and you know how connected the cousins are.'

'Strange,' he lowered his gaze. 'No, it's more than strange; this can't all be coincidence.'

'You mean you think Lus's disappearance might be connected to Seto and Tristan?' SK licked his lips.

'To that and…' he hesitated. 'I… I think Crovell might be behind this.'

'Why?'

'Because he's back.'

'Isn't that a good thing?' Now it was Yugi's turn to study him.

'It would be if…'

'If what?'

'I can't,' he cringed. 'But let's put it this way, he's back and he's definitely here to cause… some kind of chaos.'

'But why would he do that to Kaiba and Tristan? And… and why would he make Lus disappear; I mean, that is what you're suggesting, isn't it?'

'Did he appear to Arados first?' SK jumped in, before Joey had a chance to answer.

'Yeah,' the blond guy nodded.

'Then isn't it obvious, he's targeting the trio.'

'Why would he do that?'

'Because the trio are the reason Jo gave up her powers,' his tongue moved back and forth across his lips, 'which is why he left in the first place.'

'Are you saying he's out for revenge?' Yugi cocked an eyebrow at him.

'I'm not saying anything, but it's a possibility.'

'Oh my god, Lus,' he felt his face turn pale.

'Don't worry,' SK licked his lips again, 'I can assure you he's not up there either. Not that that's a whole lot of comfort I know, but…'

'But at least he's not dead, yet.'

'Well... yeah.'

'For what it's worth SK, what you're saying makes a lot of sense,' Joey lowered his head. 'I mean, why else would he… he tell his brother something like that, unless he wanted to torture him somehow.'

'What exactly did he say to Arados?'

'I can't repeat it,' he shook his head, 'not again. But put it this way, we're doing everything in our power to make sure he can't get anywhere near Jo.'

'I can't imagine him wanting to hurt Jo,' Yugi frowned.

'That's not what we're trying to stop him from doing,' for a moment Joey's face filled with an awkward look and he shifted uncomfortable, folding and unfolding his arms several times; not able to meet either of their eye lines.

'Then…?'

'Don't make me say it Yuug, just trust me, I don't... I will not have him anywhere near my daughter.'

Silently Taylor stood watching his parents, hoping beyond hope to see some sign of life. Some small movement. Anything. Anything to let him know they were alive. They look so peaceful almost as though they were sleeping. But if they were sleeping, they would wake up and everything would be okay. So why wouldn't they? Swallowing hard, he buried his face in his hands and desperately bit back the tears. Crying didn't help; all it did was make the whole situation hurt more.

'Tay?' Drake's voice sounded from beside him.

Turning his head towards the voice, he saw his friend stood there sadly watching him. Without even thinking about it, he threw his arms around him and buried his face in his shoulder. He was still determined not to cry again, but that resolve was quickly breaking.

'It's okay,' Drake gently wrapped his arms around him.

'No its not. How can it be? How can anything ever be okay when they're like that?'

'Because they're not dead.'

'But they're not alive,' he could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks and he cursed every single one of them. 'They're... they're not alive.'

'I know,' the grip on him tightened, 'that's why I'm not going to offer you empty words. That's not why I came here,' moving himself back slightly, he gently wiped the tears away from Taylor's cheeks. 'I came because I needed you to know… to know that I'm here for you. And that… and that I'm not going to leave you on your own until they're alright again. That's… that's if you want me to.'

'Drake…' he could feel his expression tremble with the sorrow brimming beneath it.

'I'm not leaving you,' the younger boy's voice was soft and quiet. 'Please don't make me leave you. Not like this, not when you need me. Not when…'

With a strong, irresistible impulse running through him Taylor suddenly kissed Drake; his heart leaping in fear the second their lips met. Pulling away from each other they spent a long time silently gazing at the other, trying to work out exactly what it was that had just happened.

'Drake, I'm…' he began, before finding his friend's lips on his own again.

Finding a strange kind of comfort in this he deepened the kiss, enjoying every moment of its bittersweet flavour.

'I love you,' Drake breathed. 'I'm sorry, I know... I know now's not the best time and... and you'll probably hate me for doing this but... but I wanna be like that. I... I want to be with you.'

A strange kind of laugh half sobbed its way out of Taylor. A million or more emotions were running through him and even though he'd be the first to admit this was probably the worst timing in history, something told him it was also the best. Without saying a word he leant in to kiss Drake again, forgetting his pain for a single instant in order to savour the long overdue moment.

'Now this is quite a show,' the sound of Crovell's voice instantly broke them apart.

'What do you want?' Taylor's grip on Drake became more protective as he sense a dangerous aura emanating from the Heir to Chaos.

'To see if you'd been a good boy and done what I'd asked you to and from the look of it,' he grinned, glancing towards his parents' lifeless forms, 'you're most certainly not acting like a Kaiba.'

'You...? You did that to them?' He gritted his teeth.

'I'm not sure if I should be insulted by how quickly you came to that conclusion,' his tone was as overly theatrical as his body language. 'You have no evidence I had anything to do with it. Maybe, just maybe I was forewarned in one of my visions; did you ever think about that?' He laughed. 'Still, offensive assumptions aside I can tell you if you ever want to see your beloved parents walking around again, you will do as I say.'

'And not act like a Kaiba?'

'Oh no,' he shook his head, 'that was just your first task; I have something else in mind for you now.'

'Like what?'

'I want you to make a pass at my brother.'

'What?' Both he and Drake choked in unison.

'I want you to make a pass at my brother,' he spoke each word with a more than deliberate slowness.

'But... he'll kill me for that,' Taylor's head half trembled from side to side. 'And besides, I couldn't do that to…' his eyes drifted down to Drake, whose face was filled with a look halfway between fear and thoughtfulness.

'Oh but you will,' Crovell sounded almost too amused, 'unless you never want your parents to wake up, of course.'

'But…'

'Do it,' Drake's voice was small, but strangely confident.

'But...?'

'Your parents mean everything to you Tay,' their gazes locked, 'so you have to do this for them. And don't worry; it won't hurt me, because I said you could, because… because I know he's making you and… and because I understand.'