Here's the next chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 25- The gods' Decision

~Realm of the gods~

"Are you certain?" Hathor asked.

"Yes. We decided to wait and see how Pharaoh Yami acted after Yugi was saved, and we have. Yugi is obviously starting to recover, so now is the time for us to tell Pharaoh Yami our decision." Ra answered, looking at all the other gods and goddesses around him.

"Has your decision changed?" Osiris asked.

"That has yet to be decided." Ra replied.

The other gods and goddesses looked surprised. They had all assumed that Ra had already made his decision on what he would do.

"I'm afraid that you have lost us. We thought you would have already known what you would do." Anubis said.

"On some level, I have. However, there is one other thing that I must do before I make that final decision. I will know for certain what will happen to him by the time we call him here." Ra said.

"And what is it that you feel that you must do before you call him here?" Ma'at asked, knowing that Ra would act soon.

"I must speak with the one who was most affected by what has happened. I must speak with Yugi." Ra said.

The others looked at him in shocked.

"Why Yugi?" Horus asked.

"Yugi is the one that all this happened to, and he is the one that was affected the most by the way Pharaoh Yami acted." Ra said.

The other gods had forgotten that he wanted to talk to Yugi first.

"So, your final decision will be based on what Yugi wants." Isis said knowingly.

"Naturally." Ra said.

"It is a good idea, and not even Pharaoh Yami would attempt to protest any decision that was based on what the Hikari truly wanted." Osiris said, understanding.

"That is correct." Ra said.

"And when will you speak with Yugi?" Ma'at asked.

"Very soon." Ra answered.

"I cannot believe the amount of homework we have." Yami said, glancing at all the homework he had to get done.

"Yami, it's the end of the year. Of course they're going to throw all this at us. Just think. Next year will be even harder." Yugi said.

Yami groaned. "Please don't remind me. I don't even want to think about all the work that I'll have to do as a senior." Yami said.

Yugi shrugged.

The two had gone back to the Game Shop since Malik and Ryou were going to try and tutor Bakura and Marik in everything so that they didn't fail, and Atemu and Heba had decided to go to the library to do some studying themselves.

"You know, Atemu and Heba aren't being as discreet as they think they are." Yugi said.

Yami looked at Yugi. "Meaning?" Yami asked.

"Well, I can easily tell that the reason they decided to go to the library instead of coming here was because they want us to spend time alone together." Yugi said.

"Well, they think that we do need to spend some time together." Yami said.

"Yeah. I know. They want things to get better between us, which they have." Yugi said.

"Yeah. You're not trying to kill me now." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Yeah. That's true." Yugi agreed.

Yami and Yugi had had a really serious talk about everything that had happened during the time that Yugi had been out of control due to the Shadow magic, and they had talked out everything about it. Now, the two could joke around about it.

"I don't know why they think they have to try and trick us into spending time together." Yami said.

"Well, it's not such a bad thing, Yami. I think that it's a good thing." Yugi said.

"So do I." Yami said.

"In any case, we need to get all this homework done." Yugi said.

Yami groaned. "You had to remind me." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Come on, Yami. The sooner we get it done, the better off we'll be." Yugi said.

"I suppose so." Yami agreed.

The two then started to work on their homework.

~Realm of the gods~

"I think that Pharaoh Yami and Yugi are much closer than we originally thought." Horus said.

"Indeed. To joke with something that was at one time so serious is truly a feat in itself." Isis said.

"Pharaoh Yami has done a great deal to try and make things right with Yugi. I will admit that, but that does not mean that we let this go." Ra said.

"None of us want that. We just feel that perhaps he has redeemed himself on some level." Hathor pointed out.

"Perhaps, but we will need to speak with Yugi before any such decision is made." Ra said.

"Perhaps tonight would be a good time for all this to take place." Ma'at suggested.

"Hmm. You may be right." Ra said.

Yugi and Yami had finished their homework in two hours, and the two decided to watch some TV.

"Well, it doesn't look like there's much on." Yami said.

"I noticed." Yugi said.

Yami flipped through every channel before he got sick of it and turned off the TV.

"Well, what now?" Yugi asked.

Yami glanced over at his Hikari and said, "Yugi, there's something I want to talk to you about, and I don't want you to get upset over it."

"Okay." Yugi said, wondering what Yami wanted to talk about.

"Okay. I just wanted to know if you planned on trying to talk to Joey and the others any time soon." Yami said.

"I-don't-know." Yugi said slowly.

"I'm not trying to pressure you into talking to them Yugi. I just wanted to know." Yami said.

"I take it that they've said something to you, and that's why you decided to talk to me about it." Yugi said.

Yami sighed. "Yeah. They are really sorry for what happened Yugi, and I wanted you to just think about it." Yami said.

"Well, I do want to talk to them, but I'm just not sure if I'm ready." Yugi said.

"Well, take it slow, Yugi. One or two at a time. When you're ready." Yami said.

"Maybe you're right." Yugi said.

"Again, do it when you're ready." Yami said.

Yugi smiled at him. "I will Yami. The truth is that I talked to you when I was ready, but I do need to talk to the others. Dr. Grey has been telling me the same thing, and I know that I need to." Yugi said.

"Yugi, just start with whoever you feel the most comfortable with." Yami said.

Yugi tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I've honestly thought about Joey." Yugi said.

"Joey?" Yami asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Why?" Yugi asked, wondering what it was about Joey that made Yami seem so surprised.

"Well, it's just that you and Tea have been friends since childhood. I honestly thought that you would have wanted to talk with her first." Yami said.

Yugi smiled. "Yeah. Maybe. Tea and I might have been friends since childhood, but the truth is that Joey's the best friend I had. At least before you. I really miss having Joey around. And I suppose I'll talk to Seto, too." Yugi said.

"You would take Mr. Stone Cold over the others?" Yami asked.

"Joey and Seto are a package deal, right?" Yugi asked.

Yami laughed. "Yeah. I suppose so." Yami agreed.

"I'll talk to them. I just don't know when, so don't mention this to them." Yugi said.

"Hey. I'm the messenger here. I'll tell them when you tell me to." Yami said.

Yugi laughed. "Thanks, Yami." Yugi said.

"Sure thing." Yami agreed.

~That Night~

Yugi was sitting in his room at Ryou's house. He was thinking about Yami and how much things had changed between the two of them in such a short time.

'I know that Yami is really sorry for all that happened, but I can also tell that he's not doing everything he is for me out of guilt. He's doing it because it's what he wants. He really wants us to rebuild our friendship, and I want that, too.' Yugi thought.

Yugi got off the bed and pulled out a photo album that he had taken with him to the house and sat back down on the bed, starting to flip through it.

The album was filled with pictures from before everyone had started ignoring him.

'I do miss the others, and Yami's right. I need to start trying to talk to them. I need to rebuild those friendships, too.' Yugi thought.

Yugi smiled as he looked through the photo album and started to remember those times.

Yugi let out a sigh and closed the book. 'I don't know what I would do without Yami. I'm not sure that I could handle something like that.' Yugi thought.

Yugi didn't notice the bright flash of light that had flashed in the room

"Yugi?" an ethereal voice said.

Yugi jumped at the sudden, unfamiliar voice and turned around quickly to be face-to-face with Ma'at.

Ma'at smiled gently at Yugi.

It did little to calm Yugi. He backed up until he was at the headboard of his bed. "W-w-who ar-are y-you?" Yugi asked, his voice trembling.

Ma'at sighed. "I told Ra that this was a bad idea." Ma'at muttered to herself although Yugi heard what she said.

Yugi blinked. "Ra? As in the god from ancient Egypt?" Yugi asked.

Ma'at smiled. "I'm glad to see that you do know us through your knowledge of ancient Egypt and Pharaoh Yami. Yes, that is who I am referring to. I am the goddess Ma'at." Ma'at said.

"Ma'at? The goddess of truth, right, and orderly conduct, right?" Yugi asked.

"Indeed. You do know a great deal about us." Ma'at said.

"I learned." Yugi said.

"Well, I need you to come with me, Yugi." Ma'at said.

"Where?" Yugi asked, a little uneasy,

Ma'at smiled at Yugi. "Ra wishes to speak with you. I simply want you to come with me to the realm of the gods so that Ra can speak to you." Ma'at said.

"Why does he want to talk to me?" Yugi asked.

"That is for him to tell you." Ma'at answered.

Yugi thought a moment before he figured that he had better do what they told him to do. "Okay. I'll come." Yugi said.

Ma'at stretched out her arm, and Yugi took her hand. The two then vanished from the room.

~Realm of the gods~

Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Hathor, and Anubis were all waiting for when Ma'at returned to their realm with Yugi.

"So, how are you going to go about it?" Osiris asked.

"An honest way. I will handle this. All any of you need to do is watch and listen." Ra said.

The others nodded. They knew that what happened to Yami would depend largely on what Yugi said during this time.

A moment later, Ma'at appeared with Yugi.

Yugi looked frightened with all the gods and goddesses that were there. He had thought that Ra would be the only one that would be there. He didn't realize that there would be six of them waiting for him.

"You do not need to be afraid, Yugi. No harm will come to you here." Ra assured him.

"I-I was t-told you w-wanted to speak with m-me." Yugi said, his voice a little shaky.

"He's frightened." Isis said.

"Of course he is." Anubis muttered.

"We have no intention of hurting you, Yugi. I simply wish for us to talk." Ra assured him.

"All right." Yugi said.

Ma'at went and joined the other gods and goddesses.

Ra walked forward a little bit. "Yugi, I wish to talk to you about Pharaoh Yami." Ra said.

"Yami? Why?" Yugi asked, a little surprised that this was about Yami.

"About everything that has happened over the last eleven months." Ra said.

"I don't understand. What does what happened have to do with you?" Yugi asked.

"Yugi, we were the ones who granted Pharaoh Yami, Prince Atemu, Bakura, and Marik the bodies that they have now. They are still under our jurisdiction. Also, we govern the relationships of the Yamis and Hikaris. It is our duty to ensure that the Yamis are doing their duty as far as protecting their Hikaris goes. The four Yamis you know are of special interest to us for the simple fact that they are under our jurisdiction." Ra said.

Yugi wasn't sure that he liked the way this was going.

"Yugi, you must understand that it is our duty to punish Yamis who don't do their duty." Ra said.

"Then Yami-" Yugi started.

"We have done nothing to him yet. However, we cannot let the actions that he has taken go." Ra said.

"Yami has tried to make up for everything he's done." Yugi said.

"Yes. I know. However, you had to know." Ra said.

"There's more." Yugi said.

"Yes. Yugi, you needed to know what we decided." Ra said.

Yugi wasn't sure what he would hear, but he knew that he wasn't going to like it.

"We have considered taking Pharaoh Yami's new life from him and ending the link you two have." Ra said.

Yugi's eyes widened at that.

"We feel that perhaps he is more of a threat to you than anything." Ra said.

"NO!" Yugi said.

All of the gods were shocked by the sudden shout from Yugi.

"No! You can't do that! You can't take Yami from me!" Yugi said.

Ra had to take a step back. He had not expected Yugi to react in such a way.

"I can't lose Yami! I just can't! I don't want to go through that again! I couldn't handle it!" Yugi said.

Yugi was having an emotional breakdown.

Isis, unable to bear watching Yugi, went forward and hugged him. "Calm down, Yugi. It will be fine." Isis said in a soothing manner as she rubbed Yugi's back gently.

Yugi had started to cry and was trying to calm himself down.

"You do not wish to lose Pharaoh Yami." Ra asked.

"No. I don't want to lose him again." Yugi said.

"Why?" Ra asked.

"I just, it's because I love him." Yugi said.

The gods became silent as they heard that.

It shouldn't have been such a surprise since a Yami and a Hikari were meant to be together, but none of them believed that he could bear such strong emotions for Yami after all that had happened.

"You love him, Yugi?" Isis asked.

Yugi nodded.

"Despite all that he has done to you?" Ra asked.

"I can't imagine loving anyone else. I know that the chances of ever having a relationship with him are slim, and I know that he probably doesn't feel the same or will ever feel the same, but I do know that I wouldn't be able to live without him. I can't imagine Yami not in my life, and I don't ever want to have to imagine that." Yugi said.

Ra watched and saw the truth. He saw that taking Yami from Yugi would do more harm than good.

And he could not bring harm to him.

"Thank you, Yugi. You have helped me to know what to do now." Ra said.

Yugi looked at him.

"Ma'at, return him home." Ra said.

Ma'at went over to Yugi and took him from Isis before vanishing from him.

"Well, we can't go with the original punishment." Anubis said.

"What should we do?" Osiris asked.

"What I had already decided would be the alternative should this be what Yugi chose." Ra said.

"You know already?" Hathor asked.

"Yes. Once Ma'at returns, Pharaoh Yami will know as well." Ra said.

Yami, Atemu, Bakura, Marik, and Seto were all shocked when they were suddenly spirited away from their beds, but they immediately dropped to their knees once they saw that they were in the presence of the Egyptian gods.

'This is it. Now I'll know what they plan to do to me.' Yami thought. His heart broke at the thought of being forced apart from his Hikari, but he knew that if the gods did that that he deserved it, and he also knew that Yugi would be okay because the gods would not force them apart if it would only hurt Yugi in the long-run.

"Pharaoh Yami, I believe that you know why you are here now." Ra said in an authoritative tone of voice.

"Yes, Lord Ra." Yami said. He feared what would happen, but he knew that he had brought it on himself.

"Rise." Ra said.

All of them got to their feet, but none of them looked up.

Even Atemu, Bakura, Marik, and Seto were concerned with what the gods had decided. They didn't want Yami to die, but they knew that they couldn't stop the gods. They could only hope that whatever the gods decided would not end up hurting Yugi. They knew that Yugi had gone through enough with all that he had had to deal with.

"Pharaoh Yami, your actions in regard to your Hikari are inexcusable. No Hikari should be forced to live with the type of pain that was imposed on your Hikari." Ra said.

Yami nodded, knowing he was right.

"However, your reactions to everything have gone in your favor. You never tried to deny what you did, and you never attempted to excuse it. You then fought to save your Hikari from himself when he has your Shadow magic. You went as far as to go and face Yugi, knowing that it could have ended your life." Ra said.

"I had no choice. I was the only way to save Yugi, and it wouldn't have mattered if it had cost me my life. Saving Yugi would have been worth dying." Yami said.

"Yes. Your actions proved that." Hathor said.

"You also gave Yugi the space that he needed after he was released from the power of the Shadow magic. As much as you wanted to see him, you looked past what you wanted and did what was best for him, which was staying away." Osiris said.

"Then you took things in stride when Yugi wanted to talk to you, and you were there to protect him when those men returned and you aided in getting rid of them." Anubis said.

"In the last few weeks, you have started to rebuild your relationship with Yugi, and it is clear that you have only focused on your Hikari, and you never did any of it in order to gain our favor." Ma'at said.

"Yugi was more important. Whatever you have decided to do is what I deserve." Yami said.

"Indeed." Ra said.

The room became silent for quite some time.

Yami was getting quite nervous as were the others.

"Our original decision had been to take away the life we have given you and severe the connection between you and Yugi so that he did not suffer from this. When we first brought you here, that was what we were going to do." Ra said.

Yami now knew it was over.

"However, your actions since then have caused a change." Horus said.

Yami, for the first time, looked up.

"For the next year, we will watch you and your Hikari closely. If in that year you have proven that you were not careless with your Hikari as before, we will do nothing. Consider this a sort of probationary period." Ra said.

"Then I can stay with Yugi?" Yami asked.

"For now. Should you, for any reason, hurt Yugi as you did before, I can assure you that your punishment will be much worse than what we would have done now." Ra said.

Yami nodded. "Thank you." Yami said.

"It is not us you should thank. It is your Hikari." Ra said.

"Yugi?" all five Yamis said.

"Yes. I brought Yugi here to tell him what was going on. He needed to know, and I was planning on separating you even then, but it was his reaction that stopped me. Yugi truly needs you to stay with him. He can't handle losing you. That is why we changed our minds. It is your Hikari you owe everything to, not us." Ra said.

"Thank you. I assure you that I will not mess up." Yami said.

"We will be watching you closely, Pharaoh Yami. And you will know what we think when this year is up." Ra said.

Yami nodded, thankful that he would still be with Yugi.

Atemu then realized something. "Lord Ra, may I ask a question?" Atemu asked.

"Certainly, Prince Atemu." Ra said.

"What will happen to us all?" Atemu asked.

The other Yamis looked at Atemu.

"We broke the rules by using our Shadow magic on the men who raped Yugi." Atemu said.

Now the Yamis knew and were frightened.

Ra chuckled. "Nothing. We decided that what you did was in defense of a Hikari since they would surely have gone after Yugi again, so consider this a free pass, but don't get used to it." Ra said.

"Thank you." all five said.

"And we did enjoy it." Anubis said.

"Now go and remember that we will see you in a year." Ra said.

The five then vanished.

The following morning, Yami had planned to go see Yugi, but Yugi had come over to the Game Shop first thing.

The first thing Yugi did when he saw Yami was hug him tightly.

"Oh, Yami! I wasn't sure that I would see you again!" Yugi said.

Yami hugged Yugi back. "It's okay, Yugi. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." Yami said, holding Yugi.

Yugi held onto him. "I wasn't sure if Ra would keep his promise." Yugi said.

Yami was surprised. "What did he tell you?" Yami asked.

Yugi looked up at Yami. "That he wouldn't force us apart." Yugi said.

"He's not. I'm sort of on probation." Yami said as they sat down in the living room.

"Probation?" Yugi asked.

"Yes. For the next year, they are going to watch me and you closely. If I screw up big with you again, I'm done for." Yami said.

"And if you don't?" Yugi asked.

"I suppose I'll stay." Yami said.

"You won't mess up." Yugi said.

"I don't intend to." Yami said.

"I was worried all night." Yugi said.

"You could have called me." Yami said.

"I know, but I wasn't sure if I should. I was scared of what I would find out." Yugi said.

Yami smiled and placed a hand on Yugi's cheek. "You don't have anything to worry about, Aibou. I'm not going anywhere." Yami said.

Yugi looked a little surprised. "That's the first time you've called me that in a long time." Yugi said.

"Oh." Yami said. He wondered if Yugi was upset by it.

"I've missed being called that. I missed all the nicknames you gave me." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "You don't have anything to worry about, Yugi. I'll start calling you those names again if you want me to, and I am not going anywhere." Yami said.

"Thanks, Yami. I don't think that I could handle that." Yugi said.

"By the way, I owe you a big thanks." Yami said.

Yugi blinked. "Why?" Yugi asked.

"Because Ra told me that the only reason he decided not to separate us was because of your reaction." Yami said.

"It was?" Yugi asked.

Yami nodded.

"I didn't know that." Yugi said.

"Yeah. And I don't plan on leaving any time soon, so you don't have t worry about it." Yami said.

"Thanks." Yugi said.

Yami smiled. "I'll always be here for you, Aibou." Yami said.

Yugi smiled back. "Thanks." Yugi said.

Hope you liked it.

Next: Yugi decided to move back into the Game Shop, and he talks with Seto and Joey.

R&R.