originally, this story was going to be called pretty amethyst eyes but i feel like this title fits better. once i started writing it, the original title i chose did not fit for the direction i was going. i hope y'all enjoy the story. let me know what you think in a review at the end of the chapter. this story takes place in mid-july, 2017, just so that y'all are aware of the timeline.
Find Your Way Back
Authored By: MadgeWriter
.i don't own yugioh!.
-1-
"Are you coming to my baby shower this weekend, Makoto?" the pregnant woman asked as she turned to glance at her best friend who was checking a chart for one of her patients. A head of long, light brown hair tilted to the side, a brow irked. "And what about your mom and brother?"
"Of course, we're going to come, Amunet," Makoto, a petite, tri-colour haired woman said, turning to look at her taller friend. There was a grin on her face as amethyst eyes flickered to her long-time friend's rounding stomach then back to her fuller looking face. "My vacation starts on Friday, plus, I found the cutest gift ever. You're going to love it. Masato was also able to take time off to attend as well. He and his girlfriend are coming, too. Unfortunately, Mom won't be there. She's still out on a dig for another two weeks. She does send her love though. Grandpa wants to go but, it all depends on how he's feeling Saturday if he'll go or not. Who all is going to be attending?"
"Aw, I would have loved to have Miss Yūgi there." Amunet sighed, a pout gracing her features. She looked to be on the brink of crying, and Makoto was not looking forward to enduring the water works, again. Before she got pregnant, the tri-colour haired woman had never seen her best friend cry nearly as much as she had in the last eight and a half months. She blamed the hormones. "Just my family mostly, and some close family friends. I don't really talk to anyone from high school anymore. But hey, what about Ichiro? Is he coming with you, too?"
"That's to be determined," Makoto answered as she turned to leave from the nurse's station and make her way towards the hospital room of a patient they were both tending to. Amunet was quick to waddle after her best friend. She'd be glad when she finally went out on maternity leave, her feet ached horribly after standing on them for twelve hours a day. She just had to make it through the rest of the week, and she'd be free for the next two and a half months. "He and his dad are out on business. He's not sure if he'll be back in time to make the shower. But he said he'd try. They're meeting with Pegasus about some new game they've developed."
"Always on a new venture, eh," Amunet laughed lightly.
"You know those Otogi boys," Makoto laughed in return. "Always looking for a new way to make more money. Like they need it at all."
"Nothing wrong with it though," Amunet shrugged nonchalantly. "Just look at my family and Uncle Seto's. They run multi-billion-dollar businesses and are forever coming up with innovative ideas to make more profit. Besides, when Ichiro finally proposes to you, he's going to need to be able to take care of you. Your mother would have his head and so will your brother if he doesn't do right by you."
"Here you go again," the shorter woman said laughing. "Who says Ichiro's going to propose to me, ever?"
"The fact that the two of you have been together since you were seventeen years old, and that he loves you, like really loves you," Amunet pointed out. "If he doesn't propose someday, he'd be a damn fool. You're a great person. Besides, both of you are going to be Minako's godparents so… that pretty much predetermined everything. And your Mom likes him, but she didn't like the three guys before Ichiro though. That should tell you something, too."
"Funny thing is, Masato likes him too," Makoto mentioned. "And my brother never likes anyone. Even though he's only ten minutes older than me, he acts so overprotective, never mind the fact that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much."
"I guess that's a "big brother" thing, then," Amunet mentioned as they continued down the hall. "Because my Uncle Mahad was like that about my Mom. And my Dad is super protective of my Uncle Yami especially since they're like three years apart in age. And don't get me started on Ahmed. When I told him I was pregnant, he literally threatened Hiroshi into proposing to me."
"Must be. I thought Ahmed was going to try and kill Hiroshi when he found out you were going to have a baby. The look on his face said it all," Makoto laughed as they reached the room before entering.
.findyourwayback.
"Hey Dad," eighteen-year-old Hisa Sennen said as she walked into her father's home office.
She was greeted by her father holding up a finger, silently asking her to give him a moment, his cellphone to his ear. She waited patiently as he finished his conversation, coming to sit in one of the office chairs. He hung up a minute later before turning to look at her, motioning for her to continue as he slipped the phone in the pocket of his slacks. "I need to ask you something."
"What is it, Hisa," Yami asked, brows knitted together as he tried to gage what his daughter had come to him for. "Something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong," Hisa answered, quickly quelling his worry. "It's just, Amunet's baby shower is this weekend and I really want to go and see her. So, do the twins. Do you think we can make it?"
"This weekend," Yami asked, his brow knitting in confusion again. "I thought it was next weekend?"
"It was supposed to be," Hisa laughed. Her father was always so forgetful. It was a wonder he remembered anything sometimes. "She changed it to this weekend because of the rain showers they're expecting us to have next weekend since it's an outside venue. She sent a text message to everyone, reminding us about the change of date three days ago."
"How could I have forgotten about that," Yami chuckled to himself, shaking his head. He vaguely wondered if he'd put it in his reminders on his phone at all. "When I saw her last week, she mentioned it to me then, too. I've just been so busy with work, I completely forgot. But we can certainly go. Looks like we'll have to go buy that baby shower gift earlier than originally expected, hm?"
"Yep," Hisa chirped. "Can we go now? Or are you still working?"
"We can go now, then stop and grab dinner afterwards," Yami said as he stood from behind his desk. Lithe fingers reached up and un-knotted his tie, removing it from his neck. His cuff-links were the next things to go. "Go get your sisters and meet me at the car."
"Okay," Hisa said before she bounded out of the office, leaving her father to smile after her.
Hisa reminded him so much of her mother when she was her age. So loving and carefree. And he wondered, honestly, where things had changed that led to their divorce seven years before. They'd been happy for so long, built a family together, only for it to all come tumbling down in the blink of an eye. He was sure his daughters resented him for letting their mother walk out of their lives. But there had been nothing that he could do to stop Nguyen. She made the decision to leave. Nothing that he could have done or said would have changed that. He just wished that she hadn't walked out of the girls' lives as well when she walked out of his.
"Daddy, are you ready to go," his youngest daughter, Hima, asked as she peeked into his home office several minutes later. "Miyo and Hisa are waiting at the car."
There was a smile that crossed his features, fingers un-linking the second cuff-link before putting them away as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready to go. Let's get going, especially if we want to make this shopping trip as short as possible so we can head out to get something to eat."
.findyourwayback.
"Would you like to come over for dinner," Amunet asked as she and Makoto walked out of the hospital. "Hiroshi's making ful medames. I know you love it."
"I would love to, but I promised Masato and Grandpa we'd have dinner together tonight," Makoto politely declined. "Maybe next time? Especially if you're having kofta. It was delicious the last time."
"That's Friday night's dinner," Amunet laughed, clicking the unlock button on the key fob she held in her hand. "I think we can squeeze in one more person."
"Then I'm definitely there," Makoto said doing the same.
She offered a quick hug to her best friend, before kissing her belly and stepping into her SUV. The engine started and she pulled out of the parking space, pausing to wave goodbye to Amunet, before driving off into the setting sun.
Thirty minutes later, she pulled to a stop in front of her great-grandfather's home that doubled as a game shop and cut the engine. Grabbing the gym bag she'd thrown into the backseat that morning, she slipped out of the SUV before heading to the back door, using her key to let herself in. When she walked in, she was greeted by the sight of her great-grandfather and twin brother sitting at the coffee table, a miniature Duel Monster's virtual game board sitting between the two of them in the midst of a very intense battle. Folding her arms under her bust, Makoto watched, waiting to see how this duel would play out.
Just like her brother, great-grandfather and mother, Makoto absolutely loved the game. As a teenager, she'd been a professional duelist, winning many a tournaments over the years. It was only when she'd graduated university a year and a half prior that she'd hung up her crown as a master duelist, just as her mother had done before her. She still played on occasion, but she didn't see herself engaging in any tournaments any time soon.
"One more attack, Grandpa, and I win," Masato boasted, a large grin on his face.
Makoto rolled her eyes. They were going to be playing a while longer, if the cards in her great-grandfather's hand told her anything. So, instead of sitting there watching them, she decided to go and get changed for dinner that night. Maybe by the time she got back, the duel would be over.
Not bothering to announce her arrival, Makoto quietly made her way to the upstairs loft that once served as her mother's bedroom many years before. She entered the bathroom, turning on the shower before stripping and washing off the dirt and grime from the workday. It'd been a heavy workload, but she enjoyed her job. She wouldn't trade it for the world.
After showering and changing into the extra set of clothes she'd brought along with her, Makoto wrapped her long, tri-coloured hair in a ponytail before heading back downstairs. Just as she stepped off the bottom step, she heard a victory whoop from her twin brother.
"Good game, Grandpa," Masato said, grinning at the elderly man. He noticed Makoto behind them a moment later, jumping up to his feet in surprise. "When the heck did you get here, Makoto? We didn't even hear you come inside."
"I've been here for a good twenty minutes now, big brother," Makoto laughed, her hand coming to rest against her hip. "Long enough to take a shower and change clothes without either of you noticing I was here. I see you finally finished your match?"
"Yes we did," Sugoroku said as he stood, hugging his great-granddaughter tightly before releasing her again. "How was your day, dear? Anything interesting happen?"
"It was a typical day for the most part," Makoto answered as she made her way into the kitchen. "I can tell you that we had about thirty or so new births today, alone. Amunet cried every time we went to check on a new mom and her baby to make sure they were adjusting well."
"She's due to have her baby soon, isn't she," Sugoroku asked, he and Masato following the young woman into the kitchen.
"Mhm," Makoto answered. "Her baby shower is this weekend. She asked if you were going to go, I told her it depended on how you were feeling on Saturday."
"I'll try to make it if I'm able," Sugoroku said, taking a seat at the dinner table. "So, what are we having for dinner tonight?"
"I was thinking curry and rice," Makoto answered as she pulled what she needed from the refrigerator.
There was a chorus of "yes" in the background from both her brother and great-grandfather, making the young nurse laugh aloud. She knew they would like that idea, which is why she'd planned to make it for them.
While she cooked, her mother had Face-timed her brother and spoke with them for an hour before they'd sat down to dinner after bidding her goodbye. The rest of the evening was spent enjoying each other's company, Masato challenging his sister to a duel monster's game and Makoto completely demolishing her brother while their great-grandfather watched on with much amusement.
.findyourwayback.
"Daddy, if we don't leave now, we're going to be late for Amunet's baby shower," Hisa said, poking her head in her father's home office.
Despite it being the weekend, Yami was still hard at work, going over the numbers for Sennen Inc. It was his job to make sure the finances for her family's company were in check and nothing was out of place. Hisa wondered if he ever took a break. Even when they were supposed to be on vacation, her father's phone was always in his hand; always checking an email or answering a phone call before quickly hanging up and apologizing to herself and her sisters. She wished he would take a break sometimes, one of these days he was going to work himself to death. But, being the eldest, she understood why he worked so hard. Helping maintain a multi-billion-dollar company took a lot of work and much sacrifice. And even though he was a busy man, he always took time to be with them, even if he did get a little distracted from time to time.
Yami glanced up at the sound of his eldest daughter's voice, brows shooting upward as his pen paused. "What, is it already after two?"
"It's two-fifteen," Hisa answered, smiling softly at her father. "If we don't leave now, we're going to be late. The venue is already a thirty-five-minute drive from here."
Yami smiled, he could always count on Hisa to keep him on track. He didn't know what he was going to do when she went away to university in a few weeks.
Placing his pen down, the elder man stood from his desk, grabbing his cellphone and keys before heading towards his daughter. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as he smiled, the two leaving the office together. "Then, we'd better get a move on so that we're not late, shouldn't we?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, silly," Hisa laughed as they made their way to the front door where the twins were waiting for them with the gift they'd picked up earlier that week.
Grabbing the key to the 2017 Range Rover Sport, they headed out the door, Yami pausing to arm the security system and lock the door, before heading to the SUV and getting in. Yami pressed the engine start button, checking his mirror before putting the SUV into gear and backing out of the driveway and heading off in the direction of the venue for the baby shower.
By the time they arrived, it was four minutes to 3 pm. They'd made it just in the nick of time. Together they exited the vehicle before making their way to the main garden where the shower was being held. As they walked up, they could see that pretty much everyone had already shown up. When his brother spotted himself and the girls walking towards them, he waved, smiling largely at them.
"Bout time you guys showed up," Atem teased, hugging, and kissing his nieces cheeks before moving on to hug his brother. "Amunet was ready to send a search party for you four. Everyone else is already here, now we can finally get started. I'll take the gift, Hima."
"Okay," Hima said, handing the bag over before she and her sisters took off to say hello to everyone.
"Did you get wrapped up going over numbers for the company again," Atem asked, a knowing brow irked.
"Am I that obvious," Yami asked as he and his brother made their way towards the piles of gifts that had been brought for the elder Sennen brother's daughter.
"More than a little," Atem chuckled, placing the gift down in an empty space. "I get it though, making sure everything is in order, especially on the financial front does consume you. But, you gotta remember to give yourself time to rest and recoup. We do have other analysts that watch the finances as well. You're not the only one that has to keep an eye on it. You can take some time off from working 24/7 every now and again, little brother."
"I'll try," Yami said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his slacks. "Hisa's going off to university soon, and I want to spend as much time as I can with her before she leaves. Those months while she's in school, away from me and her sisters, are going to be hell. I'm used to having all three of my girls at home at the same time."
"Hah, you're preaching to the choir, Yami," Atem pointed out. "Need I remind you that both of my children are grown and out of my house. And one has a child of her own on the way. How do you think I feel? At least you still have time before the two youngest ones are trying to go off on their own."
"You know what, you're right," Yami chuckled, nudging his brother with his elbow. "You know better than I do about having your kids out of the house, grandpa."
"I can't wait until the day one of your girls makes you a grandfather," Atem grumbled, cutting his eyes at his brother for the jab before the look was quickly wiped away when his wife and daughter approached them.
"Uncle Yami, you made it," Amunet said, throwing her arms around her Uncle's waist as best her pregnant belly would allow. "We were worried you guys weren't going to show up. I'm glad that you made it."
"We would have been late if Hisa didn't come and pull me out of my office when she did," Yami chuckled, hugging his niece back.
"Did you get wrapped up with the numbers for Sennen Inc. again, Uncle Yami," Amunet asked, irking a brow.
"I hate that you guys know me that well," Yami grumbled.
Amunet opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped mid-word when she noticed four people walking towards them. She grinned brightly, quickly excusing herself from her father and uncle before waddling towards the newcomers. She threw her arms around the tri-colour haired girl, moving her from side to side as the other laughed.
Yami recognized the male standing beside the girl Amunet was hugging as Ichiro Otogi, Ryuji Otogi's son. And if it hadn't been for how young the girl looked, he'd have mistaken her for Yūgi Muto, the undisputed Queen of Games. Perhaps she was related to her somehow, as well as the boy that looked like the spitting image of the former duelist. Atem must have noticed his brother's confusion, a small smile pulling at the edges of his mouth.
"Those are the twins, Makoto and Masato Muto," Atem said suddenly. "Makoto is a former professional duelist, just like her mother, Yūgi Muto. The other girl with them, is Masato's girlfriend. You must have thought Makoto was Yūgi at first, didn't you?"
"You guys really have to stop calling me out like this," Yami protested, unamused.
"It's alright, she does look just like her mother did at that age," Atem chuckled. He remembered how in love his brother had been with the former duelist when they were teenagers. He, honestly, wondered why Yami hadn't continued to try and pursue a relationship with the former champ. They'd been great friends and Atem could tell that Yūgi cared for Yami as more than a friend for quite some time. Maybe they'd find a way back to one another after all these years. His brother deserved happiness after all. "If I didn't already know who she was, I'd have mistaken her for Yūgi as well. I actually did the first time I met her. But, she and Amunet have been friends for years. And Makoto was named Minako's godmother, so I think she'll be around for quite a while."
"I wonder how Yūgi is doing," Yami murmured more so to himself.
"I'm sure she's fine," Atem hummed as Amunet and her friends drew closer. "Last I heard, she was on a dig in Egypt for a few weeks. She should be coming home soon enough."
"You didn't have to answer that question," Yami pointed out.
"No, I didn't, but I wanted to," Atem said before his attention diverted to his daughter and her friends. He offered a hug to the twins and Ichiro. "Hello Makoto, Masato, Miyako and Ichiro. Glad you all could make it."
"We wouldn't miss this for the world, Mr. Sennen," Makoto spoke, grinning brightly holding out a gift for him to take and place with the others. "My mom extends her apologies for not being able to attend. She's still away in Egypt working on a dig. Ya know, being an anthropologist and all."
"It's quite alright," Atem chuckled, taking the gift that she handed to him. He turned and placed it on the table they were standing near. "I definitely understand."
"Now that everyone is here, let's get this party started," Amunet said, grinning brightly as she clapped her hands together. "We've got games and tons of other things to do today! And we've only got this venue until seven so let's get a move on people."
Makoto laughed, linking arms with her best friend as they walked away (Amunet waddled more than walked) to the centre of the area, with Masato, Miyako and Ichiro following close behind them.
Once he was sure they were out of earshot, Atem turned to his brother, a knowing look on his face. "You're making that face again, Yami. Something on your mind?"
"It's nothing," Yami promised before moving to follow after his niece and her friends; hands stuffed in the pockets of his slacks, "Absolutely nothing."
Atem, however, knew better than that. Something was on his mind, but he wouldn't push it. Instead, he would enjoy the baby shower for his granddaughter that would be coming in a matter of days. Amunet was pretty far along and they'd had to push the shower off until late in her pregnancy due to constant scheduling issues and the venue she wanted not being available at an earlier date.
"Daddy, are you going to come guess the circumference of my belly," Amunet called, gaining her father's attention. "You too, Uncle Yami! You gotta guess how big I am!"
"I'm coming," Atem responded, nudging his brother who he'd caught up with.
Yami simply chuckled, following his brother's lead.
The rest of the day was spent celebrating the new life Amunet would be bringing into the world in a matter of days. Everyone had gotten along well, and all the people in attendance seemed to be enjoying the food, music and games that had been offered. The expectant mother cried after as she opened every gift, her family and friends teasing her relentlessly throughout the whole ordeal. The entire shower had been a success, if Amunet did say so herself. But, she couldn't help but notice that her Uncle Yami had, had a far off look in his eye every time he thought no one was paying attention and she wondered, honestly, what he could have been thinking about. She'd made a mental note to ask him about what he was thinking about the entire time, until her water broke as they were cleaning up to leave.
Hiroshi had rushed her to the hospital without a second thought, her brother close in tow. Mana and Atem promised they would get everything cleared out before joining them at the hospital. Makoto, despite being on vacation, had clocked in to stay by her best friend's side through every waking moment of her labor before finally helping her deliver her goddaughter fifteen hours later. She'd cried just as much as Amunet did, a fact that her best friend would never let her live down.