A/N: Thank you for the reviews! Enjoy.

Following their meeting at breakfast, Yami went back upstairs to his bedroom to get dressed. Yuugi, of course, came with him. Seto and Jou left to go to Kaiba Corp. Ryou and Bakura were going to be making a visit to Ryou's old home, while Mariku and Malik - well, Yami wasn't totally sure where those two were going, and he thought it was likely that he didn't really want to know. After the noises he'd heard coming from their bedroom a couple of hours ago, he suspected that Malik and Mariku were familiarizing themselves with each other now that Malik was a little more comfortable with being touched. It was good for both of them, they certainly deserved the time alone, but not something he wanted to know too much about.

He held the door to their bedroom open for Yuugi, then let it fall gently closed once they were both inside. He watched as Yuugi wandered over to the bed and sat down on the edge. His aibou looked almost lost. There was really no other way to describe it. Things had happened while Yami had been gone, and he knew that every single event had left a deep impression on his partner. Not for the first time, he cursed Hafiz for having cast that damn spell. Of course, the man would have been only too pleased to know how much he had screwed up. If only Yami could have been there: he knew that it must have been a difficult struggle for Yuugi to have dealt with everything all by himself. He hated the fact that he hadn't been there.

"Aibou?" he said quietly, breaking the heavy silence that had fallen. Pushing away from the door, he moved across the room until he was standing right in front of Yuugi. He reached out and took Yuugi's hand, gently intertwining their fingers. Yuugi's hands were so small, so delicate. It made him feel like he was holding onto something fragile. But now he knew that Yuugi was capable of handling so much more than Yami could have guessed.

"I really missed you, you know," said Yuugi, not lifting his eyes from where he was making a detailed study of the floor. "There were so many times that I wished you could have been with me. And..." He took a deep breath, pausing before releasing it slowly. "Sometimes I hated you for not being there, for breaking your promise. Even though that's not fair, and I know it wasn't your fault, I still hated you."

"I hated me too," Yami said before he had the chance to think about how that would sound. "Okay, that didn't come out right. I just... thinking about how you must have felt, it really bothers me." He knelt down in front of Yuugi, looking up into his face. "I remember how it felt before I found you, when I was waiting for my light to solve the Millennium Puzzle. I never wanted to admit how much I needed you, even though I knew that I did. It was like a physical ache in my chest that I could never get rid of."

Yuugi's violet eyes widened and he sat up straighter. "Really? You never told me that before."

"I know. It was something I had a hard time admitting even to myself. It was proof of how important you were before I even knew you." Yami shrugged a little. "How could I have known how wonderful you would turn out to be? What with the way my parents went on, you can't blame me for being worried that'd you be a horrible person. And then, after we met and I knew that wasn't the case, there just never seemed to be a time for me to bother bringing it up."

For just a moment, he allowed himself the weakness of looking away from Yuugi's face. He needed those precious few seconds to organize his thoughts into something that would sound a little more coherent. He began slowly. "You know that my life growing up was not ideal. My parents were... are obsessed with the idea of having the pharaoh's gold. The things that Atemu owned are what matters to them. I was very bitter about that when I was a child. I didn't understand why that was all so important to them. They put the burden of the Millennium Puzzle on my shoulders when I was very young, and I resented them for that. It got even worse when they refused to adopt Seto and Mokuba from the orphanage. We had plenty of money. There was no reason for them not to.

"You should have seen the looks on their faces the day that they realize Kaiba Gozaburo was dead, and that Seto and Mokuba now had control of Kaiba Corp. It's the one day in my life that I have seen my father shed tears. I think that he would have tried to approach Seto at that point had it not been for his own instinct of self preservation. That, and the fact that Gozaburo had died under fairly suspicious circumstances, was enough to keep him away. It's a pity, really, had he bothered Seto it might have saved me the trouble now." He tried for a smile that felt awkward and probably came out as more of a grimace.

"Growing up, I was really only close to Bakura, Mariku and Seto. And Mokuba, and then Jou and Shizuka to some extent, later on. So I was very apprehensive about you and what would happen between us. I was not expecting to care for you so quickly. So deeply. It annoyed me that I had to make you want to spend time with me, even though I should have realized that it was actually a good thing that you weren't falling all over me. When I think about how close I came to letting you just walk away..."

"But you didn't," Yuugi pointed out, squeezing Yami's hands gently. He looked fascinated. "You kept pushing until I gave in."

"It was close," Yami murmured, hoping that Yuugi never learned how close. It was curiosity that had driven Yami to take an interest in his hikari. He'd developed a fascination with the fact that Yuugi was nothing like he had imagined. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Yuugi, I feel like I should tell that you that even though I also hate Hafiz for everything that he put us through there is also a part of me that wants to thank him."

"What?" Yuugi's voice had gone shrill.

"Hear me out, little one. Before Hafiz, I never understood how strong you could be. I wanted to protect you, to keep you safe from everything that could go bad in the world. That's why I wanted us to remain together. I didn't know if you could survive if we were separated." Yami felt cruel speaking these words out loud. He didn't know if Yuugi would understand what he was trying to say. "But then Hafiz changed all that. You have no idea how amazing you are. Even though you were alone, you somehow managed to keep going. You stopped Hafiz from taking over the world."

Yuugi's cheeks flushed. "Yami, I wasn't alone. I had Ryou and Jou and Malik with me. I would've fallen apart without them."

"You're not giving yourself enough credit. You have no idea how much your words meant to Atemu. I remember everything that you said and did, and I know that there were times when you kept Atemu from giving up completely. When he wanted to push everyone away, you were there making sure that he knew he wasn't alone. Even when you didn't know what to do or say, you were still there. And that meant more to him than you could ever imagine. Yuugi, you never once gave up. You kept fighting. And because of that, Hafiz is gone.

"So now I know that if we are ever separated, I don't have to worry about you. You're strong and resourceful and you can take care of yourself. Now I know that I don't want us to be separated because I love you." There, he'd said it. Everything that had been on his mind since they'd returned was finally out in the open between them, and it was a huge relief to clear the air before they had to face his parents.

It took almost a minute before Yuugi responded. His expression was very thoughtful, and he stared at Yami hard. "I never thought about it like that," he said very quietly. "I didn't know you felt that way. Well of course I knew that you wanted to protect me, but I didn't know that - that you felt obligated to."

"That's not what I meant!" Yami said, so sharply and so forcefully that Yuugi's eyes widened. "Yuugi, maybe that's how I felt in the beginning. I think all of us were annoyed and frustrated that we were forced into this position. But things are different now. I feel like I'm not saying this right, but I... I just wanted you to know that I'm proud of you. It gives me comfort to know that you can handle yourself. I still want to protect you, that hasn't changed. It's just now I understand that I don't have to."

"Yami..." This time Yuugi's smile grew into something that was genuine, and he slipped off of the bed right into Yami's lap. He took Yami's face in his hands and kissed him on the mouth. "I love you too."

Yami let out a breath he hadn't even realized that he'd been holding and wrapped his arms around his partner. Hopefully nothing would ever come between them again, but if it did Yami felt as though they would both be more prepared. It was a good feeling, one that he had never really experienced before. He pressed a kiss against Yuugi's head and sighed. "I hate to ask this of you, but will you come with me to talk to my parents?"

"As though I would let you go alone!" Yuugi replied, indignant that the thought had ever crossed Yami's mind. "What are you going to tell them?"

"I've been thinking about it for the past couple of hours. I wanted to talk to Seto, but I know that he's really too busy." Seto had more than enough to worry about with Kaiba Corp, Yami knew. His cousin would be lucky if he got more than a few hours off here and there for the next several weeks. "I also know that he would stand behind me in whatever choice I made. So I think I'm going to tell them to piss off."

"Really?" Yuugi looked impressed. "Can you do that?"

"I'm not twenty yet," Yami admitted, hating to even say as much out loud. If he could just hold off for a couple more years, he would be considered a legal adult and his parents would no longer have any say in what he did. But his suspicions had been growing for a while that there was no way his parents would let that happen. They were going to do something before then, especially now that the Millennium Puzzle had been solved, he just didn't know what.

"Then they could still have some control over you. They could make your life really hard." Yuugi was frowning, his excitement dimmed. "Yami, you need to be careful. I remember back when I was at the orphanage, the things some of the kids used to tell me..."

"I know," Yami said quickly. He could all too easily imagine what kind of preparation Akemi and Daichi had probably already put into place. Keeping him from seeing Yuugi would be the very first thing they would do, and the idea that they would even try to use Yuugi as leverage against him was enough to fill him with a seething rage. "That's why I think I'm going to ask Seto to help me file for emancipation if they won't agree to just leave me alone. Kaiba Corp's lawyers are the best. I have no doubt that they could see this through in no time." He looked away. "I don't think my parents will let it go that far. That would reflect badly on them, after all."

Yuugi considered this, absently drawing a circle on Yami's hip with his thumb. "As much as I hate to admit it, that might be the best idea. Sometimes I can't believe that you came from those people."

More pleased by the compliment than Yami wanted to admit, he gave Yuugi another quick kiss and then stood up, lifting Yuugi to his feet as well. He wanted to talk to his parents on his own terms, before they came storming over to the mansion and tried to make a scene. "Come on, little one. Let's get this over with."

They borrowed one of the Kaiba family cars and left within half an hour. Yami was tense on the way over, staring resolutely out the window. In a way, he could not believe that it had come to this. Then again, he had always known that something would need to be done about his parents. There had just always been a small part of him that hoped they would eventually overcome the depth of greed that had consumed them. He couldn't help remembering what it had been like when he was very small, before it became apparent that he was the pharaoh. His parents had been much more loving back then.

It had all changed so quickly. Now they were strangers to him, and he just didn't want to have to deal with them anymore. That was part of the reason that he was doing this. He straightened his shoulders as the car pulled into the driveway and came to a stop. Resolute, he climbed out and started walking towards the front door. He was startled when a small hand slipped into his and gently tugged him to a stop. Yuugi was standing right behind him. Before Yami could ask, Yuugi spoke.

"Yami, are you sure that this is what you want? I just don't want you to regret anything."

"I think it's my best option," Yami said carefully. Their bond was not as strong as it had been before Hafiz had meddled with his spell. But every minute that they spent together meant that the bond was repairing itself. Yami carefully eased his shields and let Yuugi feel exactly what was going through him: determination mingled with resignation. "Yuugi, I would never forgive myself if you or someone else got hurt because of me. And what it comes down to is that I can't trust my parents not to cross that line."

"No." Yuugi sighed and shook his head. "I suppose you can't. You're right."

It made him feel a tiny bit better to hear Yuugi say that. Yami smiled and kissed the back of his hand before he kept going. He did not bother to knock, just opened the door and stepped inside. The house was fairly quiet. "They must not be home yet. It's pretty early in the day. It's just as well, really. I've got some things upstairs I'd like to pack."

"I'd like to come. I've never seen your room."

"It's nothing special," Yami said, but he led his partner up the stairs and down the hall. His room was the very last one, and it was fairly large. Bigger than the room he had at Seto's, the walls were stark white and decorated with portraits of faceless grey silhouettes doing a variety of strange things. The bedspread and pillows were grey as well, and the furniture was made from a simple pale wood. The only thing that really stood out was the large eye of Ra that had been painted on the opposite wall in bright gold. It was the first thing they saw when Yami opened the door.

Yuugi stepped inside and looked around slowly. The look on his face was priceless. It was obvious he was struggling to find something polite to say. "This is... um, different."

"I hate it." Yami would be glad when he never had to step back inside this bedroom. It had been decorated by Akemi, and she hadn't asked his opinion on anything. Nothing had been changed since he was ten years old, with the sole exception of the eye of Ra. That had been added when by his father when he was about twelve. It was supposed to a reminder for Yami to never forget what was really important. The only thing Yami had ever used it for was dart practice.

"It's certainly not what I would have expected," Yuugi said. He wandered around while Yami fetched a suitcase and began to put what little he wanted to take with him inside. He already kept most of the truly important things at Seto's, but there was some clothing and school things he needed.

"I'm sure that once I'm gone, they'll totally change it to erase any hint of me," Yami replied, trying to make it sound flippant. He wasn't sure he succeeded. He was surprised when a small hand touched his, and he looked down into Yuugi's eyes. His little one was smiling with mischief.

"Have you ever, you know, christened your room?" Yuugi asked.

Yami closed his suitcase, suddenly a lot more interested. "No. Why, are you suggesting that you could give me a hand?"

"Maybe." Yuugi was blushing, but he didn't take his hand off of Yami's arm. "We have some time to waste until your parents come home."

"Little one, with you I'm never wasting time." Setting the suitcase aside, Yami scooped Yuugi up and dumped him on the bed. He was pleased when Yuugi giggled. He sat down on the edge and leaned down, brushing his lips against Yuugi's. "Thank you," he whispered.

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