Yami gasped as he sat up, throwing off his covers in a desperate attempt to somehow reach her. To let her know he was still here for her. Then Yami paused. Who was her? He could only shake his head as the distant, anguished dragon roars disappeared from his memory. He then sighed as he noticed he was in Yugi's room. The morning light was barely trickling in from the window. Dark Magician was gone, but that didn't worry Yami too much. The spirit came and went as he pleased. If things got desperate, Yami knew he could summon the magician with his card.

"Pharaoh?" Yami jumped as he turned to see Grandpa walk into Yugi's room. His brows were furrowed, one hand holding a glass of water and the other held out like Yami was about to run from him. "Are you ok?" he asked, his voice low and gentle. Yami couldn't help but give a small smile.

"I'm fine, Grandpa." He answered. Grandpa didn't look convinced.

"You were having quite the nightmare. Are you sure you're fine?" Grandpa asked.

Yami then noticed Junior peeking around Yugi's door. Once Junior realized Yami saw him, he pulled away. He passed by the door while carrying a chair and disappeared down the hallway. Grandpa also glanced back but only saw the empty doorway.

"Junior was the one that got me…." Grandpa whispered as he stood by Yami's bedside. "You were whimpering the name Gandora."

Yami's smile immediately disappeared. "Oh…" His eyebrows bunched as he tried to catch the fleeting tails of his dream. In the end, they all slipped away from him. "I'll be honest. I couldn't tell you what was bothering me."

"Hmm." Grandpa studied Yami for a few moments, then handed him the glass of water. Yami took it and greedily gulped it down.

"Did you talk to your da-, my son last night?" Grandpa asked. Yami silently nodded after putting down the glass. "And I'm guessing he knows about you now?"

"Yes," Yami answered. "I know we were going to tell him together, but it just kind of came out."

"Oh, that's just fine, my boy." Grandpa smiled as he patted Yami's shoulder. "Since my son's still here, I think he took it well. That just leaves my daughter-in-law."

Yami nodded and stepped off the bed. For a moment, it felt like carbonated soda filled his head as he fully stood up. His shock must have been evident because Grandpa put his arms out as if to catch him. The Pharaoh quickly got control of himself and rubbed his face. He was still exhausted from last night, he also had a new headache to boot, but he could stay awake. He decided to be thankful for that as he looked around Yugi's room. He didn't remember making it here after the gas station. He noticed Yugi's accessories stacked on a nearby table and chair in his glance through the room. Grandpa saw the surprise on his face as he looked at the pile.

"Junior hasn't quite told me what happened last night. I guess you two went on an outing?" Grandpa asked as Yami went to his pile of accessories.

"Yes, it was a bonding experience," Yami answered dryly, not saying anything more even as Grandpa waited for him to speak. Once Grandpa realized Yami wouldn't fill the silence, he only sighed.

"Was it that bad?"

"How do we go about telling Yui?" Yami asked as he lifted one of Yugi's chokers.

Grandpa closed his eyes as he put his hand to his chin. "Good question. If I remember right, you tried to tell her once before. She didn't take it well?" Yami shook his head. "That would make sense. I'm sure you've noticed, but Yui can be a bit, overprotective towards Yugi. Especially when it comes to his physical and mental health."

"She wants to be proactive in case he inherited her diseases… or mine." Both turned to see Junior leaned up against the door. He had dark bags under his eyes, yet his mild smile remained. He then turned to Yami and asked. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Yes. I feel much better from last night." Yami lied. Junior studied him for a few moments, looking so much like Grandpa as he did so, then he sighed.

"Either your good at hiding lies in your words, or I'm getting rusty. Because you look like a wreck." Junior said as he crossed his arms.

"Or I'm telling the truth," Yami said as he also crossed his arms.

"True, true," Junior sighed. He then looked back to Grandpa.

"Explaining things to Yui is today's priority, and I'd like for us to strategize beforehand. We don't want her chucking all three of us in a mental hospital because we couldn't get our story straight." He slightly chuckled. "But before that, Yami and I have to head down to the police station. I want to leave immediately for that... Err, as soon as you feel ready for it." He quickly restated to Yami.

"Why do you have to go down to the police station?" Grandpa asked. There was no surprise or anger in his voice. There was almost a fatherly exasperation to his tone as he looked to Junior.

"Things didn't quite go to plan last night," Junior stated, his face conveying no emotion. Grandpa then turned to Yami for more information.

Yami only shrugged. "Nothing too bad happened."

"Ok… Well then, I'm coming with you two. We can talk on the way about what to do about Yui." Grandpa stated. Both Yami and Junior glanced at each other, but they both knew they were in no state to try and stop the stubborn man.

"Honey? Solomon?!" Yui's voice came from down the hall. She sounded panicked.

Junior and Grandpa headed out, and Yami tried to follow. The keyword being tried. His head bounced off something hard and invisible by the doorway. Yami cringed as he rubbed his forehead, his headache becoming worse. He then reached out and found even his hands couldn't get past this barrier. He looked around the room for any explanation. Then he noticed the bed's small side table. There, carefully laid out, was the Millennium Puzzle.

'So even when it's just me in the body, I still can't get five feet from the puzzle.' Yami thought as he went back and put on the stone item. Having it again on his person made him feel instantly better. While he was still tired, it wasn't as severe as before. It now felt like he got a few hours of sleep. The headache, though, chose to remain as throbbing as it was previously.

Yami wished he knew more about mortal bodies at that point. Was this pain from his overuse of magic or his lack of sleep? Maybe it was the lack of food yesterday. After lunch, he did only have a slushie. The image of the purple slushie crushed in the two robbers' faces suddenly flashed in Yami's mind. His heart rate raised for a moment. Yami then gritted his teeth and buried the memory. This was not the time to dwell on that. He strode out of his room, determined to face the day with his usual regality.

Yami peaked his head out to see Yui come out of her room at the same time. She was worriedly looking side to side until she saw Junior heading her way. Her smile grew wide as she ran to him. Junior was taken by surprise as Yui tackle-hugged him with what little strength her body had.

"Oh, you're still here!" She breathed a sigh of relief. Junior grimaced briefly before bending down to kiss her.

"Yep, I'm staying a whole week, remember?" He said with a smile as he held her close. Yui grinned back with probably the biggest smile Yami had ever seen on her face.

"I haven't forgotten. I was just a little worried that maybe you forgot." She said while playfully poking his chest. She then noticed Junior's clothes. "You sure got up early if you're already dressed." She then saw Yami's wrinkled clothing. "You too, Yugi…." Her eyes narrowed as she glanced at her husband. "Did you two get any sleep last night?"

"They went on a late-night bonding exercise," Grandpa added with a sly smile.

"Oh?" Yui asked, genuine surprise on her face. Then her eyes widened as she looked over Yami's clothes. "What is that red splatter? Were you bleeding?!"

Yami glanced down to see that the cherry slushie from last night had stained the front of his shirt. Yami then noticed Junior's grape-dyed clothes from the other, more lifesaving, slushie explosion. Their tired expressions, plus their dyed and wrinkled clothes, made them look like zombies that just survived a paintball war.

"Yeah, about that," Junior said as he tugged on his newly purple collar. "Hey, Yam-er-Yugi. Do you mind getting dressed so we're ready to go? I'll explain the details of our adventure to these two."

Yami nodded and turned away as quick as he could, thankful that Junior would be the one to talk to the others and not him. While Yami was positive he was past what happened last night, he was just too tired to explain it all.

Yami just about ran to Yugi's room. He opened the closet and was almost buried by a mound of unorganized fabrics. The closest thing to order was that shirts and similar items were on hangers, but that was it. Yami looked on with no clue on what to grab. Even with existing in Yugi's mind for a few years now, Yami had never needed to choose his clothes, not once. While he had an idea of what Yugi's style was, he had no idea how to put it together in a cohesive way.

'Did this go with this shirt, or did it go with that?' Yami frantically thought as he gawked at the new monster in front of him.

"You did WHAT?! With Yugi right THERE?!" Yui's shouts got through Yugi's closed door and made Yami cringe. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Yami grabbed Yugi's old school uniform and the accessories he wore yesterday. He then made a break for the bathroom. He passed Junior as both Mutos were grilling him. Yami gave him a sympathetic smile before running for it and closing the bathroom door behind him.

Yami at first sighed as he slid down the door, finally in a part of the house where it was quiet. Then he looked around the small room, a frown returning to his face.

'Ok… how do I get ready?' Yami thought. The bathroom was one place he never followed Yugi into. Yugi would usually open the door for him later in the morning so the two could talk. Yami witnessed the brushing of hair and teeth, putting on weird acne stuff, and then applying makeup. Before that process, Yami knew a shower took place, but that wasn't something he understood the details of. However, he did know that he needed one after running around in the humid summer heat yesterday.

Yami hung the school uniform on the door handle and slowly turned to the shower. It seemed simple enough: a basin with two faucets, a lower one for baths, and a higher one for showers. The real thing that worried Yami was the handle. When his friends had stayed in a hotel in California, he heard the group joke that no one could figure out how new shower handles worked. Yami found it much less funny now.

Yami reached up and started rubbing his temples, his headache now pounding.

'Don't think of it as alien technology. It's just a puzzle, a puzzle that can be solved.' Yami told himself as he looked over the handle.

It was an elephant trunk-like metal tube that was pointed down. Beside it was a color strip that circled the handle, going from blue to red. Yami took the handle and twisted it around towards the red end. As he guessed, water came out of the lower faucet. 'Great, now how do I get it to go to the showerhead?' Yami looked frantically around the bathroom. There was no other handle or lever to pull. He knew to let the water run for long was expensive, so he thought about just crouching down and cleaning off with the lower faucet. He then shook his head and determinedly studied the handle again, even stepping into the bathtub to get a better picture of the contraption. The great pharaoh would not be defeated like this!

Yami started pushing the handle back and forth, wondering if it had to be in some specific place. All that did was change the temperature. Yami grumbled and, in his frustration, pulled the handle towards him. There was a deep gurgle, then, victory! The stream of water somehow went from the lower faucet to the showerhead. Yami would have been prouder of his victory if he hadn't been crouched in the bath still clothed. He let out a very unroyal yelp and leaped from the steaming water. He then forgot to close the curtains behind him, letting water splash everywhere. Yami grumbled as he yanked the plastic sheets. The modern water seemed finally under control as it patted against the plastic. Yami sighed and turned to the hanging towels to clean up the puddle, only for him to then slip. Thankfully his head avoided injury, but his rear wasn't so lucky.

"Gah!"

This example of kingly grace was followed by a light knock at the door. "Are you ok in there?" Grandpa asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Yami huffed as he stood up. He then threw one of the towels on the spill and kicked the sheet around until the floor was relatively dry.

"It doesn't sound like it."

"Well, I am!" Yami snapped. Grandpa didn't say anymore, but Yami saw as his shadow remained by the door. After a few moments, he walked away.

'Great, now I'm yelling at people." Yami thought as he sighed. He could only suck it up as he unclothed and got in the shower.

After Yami got control of the cursed modern water, the rest of getting ready was more manageable. He quickly figured out which bottles in the shower were for him. There were only two male choices in the end, strange since there were about ten different shower bottles. Yami wondered what Yui needed with so many shower products but decided that the mystery would be for another day.

As Yami stood in the warm water, he felt his headache started to ebb away. He almost felt comfortable until a sudden memory of the gun pointed straight at his head flashed by. Yami's knuckles turned white as his hands gripped into fists.

He was fine.

He was fine.

He had dealt with many worse situations. Last night was nothing compared to the games he had played in the past. With what he had already done to keep the world from ending, it was insignificant even. No one was cursed or maimed this time. He shouldn't bother thinking about it anymore.

The pure terror in Fuwa's and Trudge's faces burned through his thoughts.

Yami placed both hands on the wall as he leaned forward, letting the water roll off his back. The Pharaoh was fine. He was just alone without Yugi, in a body that ached, and still, still... scared. Yami then gritted his teeth and shut off the water.

He wasn't scared. What would he even be scared of? Junior certainly wasn't a threat. The robbers' had no chance of getting out, and even if they did, they couldn't do much against him. It wasn't like Trudge or Fuwa was going to come back for revenge or anything like that. He wasn't scared.

Then why couldn't he stop these intruding images from making his heart race?

As Yami dried himself off, his gaze landed on the Millenium Puzzle again. His eyes lit as he realized the answer — Shadow magic. Without the Millenium Items, the use of shadow magic was said to drive people insane. That's what was wrong with him. Since the puzzle wasn't right, along with draining him, his use of shadow magic must have made him more easily unnerved. It was such a simple explanation. Yami wasn't actually scared. He was fine.

Once Yami got outside the shower, even with his self-assurances, things weren't much better. Yugi's zipper felt the need to grab every bit of fabric it could reach. The hairbrush had to be pulled with all of Yami's might just to get through his tangled mess. It was only another knock on the door that stopped Yami from throwing Yugi's eyeliner and mascara across the bathroom.

"Yugi? Are you dressed enough for me to grab my morning pills?" Yui's voice came from outside.

"Yes. Sorry, I forgot to open the door." Yami said as he quickly threw all his used makeup removing wipes in the trash under the sink.

Yui opened the door and walked right to Yami's side. She smiled at him as she pulled the side mirror open and grabbed several plastic bottles. Yami could tell she was forcing her smile. Her worry for him was clear on her face. Yami kept his mouth shut as he returned his gaze to the mirror, avoiding any more eye contact.

Yami decided to try one more time to work out this makeup thing before he gave up. He had seen Yugi do it a million times.

'It shouldn't be that hard, right?' He thought as he tried once more to swipe on the black felt pen. Once he felt safe to open his eye, he looked back in the mirror to see this was his best attempt at eyeliner so far. He was ready to try the next eye when Yui looked over.

"Your eyeliner is a bit crooked. You might want to fix it before you go out." Yui smiled.

"That's it. I'm done." Yami snapped as he closed the pen and took out another wipe. He rubbed his eyelids red and tossed the wipe under the sink.

"Oh dear," Yui whispered when she saw the mound of removing wipes. She then turned to Yami, who looked away from her gaze. "Your father said to let you explain it in your own time, but… Are you ok, honey? You can talk to me about it if you need. What happened last night would have been terrifying for anyone."

"I'm fine," Yami flatly said as he started to put away Yugi's makeup bag. He was about to close the cabinet when Yui stopped him.

"Here, let me try. I can at least get your eye makeup right." Yui said as she pulled out the bag again.

"There's no need," Yami said while heading for the door.

"It's really nothing, Yugi. Remember, I've been putting on makeup longer than you've been alive. I can deal with a little eyeliner, even with one hand in a cast." She said as she pulled out the pen and mascara again. Yami sighed but decided it was better than nothing. He turned back to her and nodded.

"Ok, just come here…." She then tilted his chin up with her cast-covered hand as she worked with her other hand. As she applied the makeup, Yami couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed. He was grown… well, Yugi was the grown man, but still. He shouldn't have needed to ask for Yui's help. He just wanted this over with. His displeasure must have been apparent on his face because Yui tutted.

"Come now, Yugi. There's no need to be so flustered. Everyone needs a little help sometimes." She cooed as she worked. Once she was happy with what she had done, she clicked the mascara's top on with a satisfied nod. "It's not much, but it should get you through the day."

Yami turned back to the mirror and paused. It was leagues better than his attempts. She even added more of a wing than Yugi was brave enough to do. He looked good.

"Thank you." Yami breathed. For the first time that day, he grinned.

"Oh, there's my handsome son." Yui smiled as she surrounded him in a close hug. Yami stiffened for a moment before he realized what Yui was doing. She then rested her head on top of his. "Remember, even when you're as wrinkly as Grandpa, you're never too old to ask for help from Mom. Got that?" She chirped as she squeezed Yami tighter. "I will fight tooth and nail for you, even if I don't always understand what you're going through. So, if you need something, be it be someone to talk to or eyeliner help, or even just a hug, I will always be here." She said with such sincerity that Yami had no choice but to believe her.

Yami was frozen. He felt as his fatigue dampened emotions suddenly woke up. It was the tiniest of things, but Yami realized he had never been hugged like this before. Yugi was the one that got the hugs from their friends. Yugi had tried to hug him before, but in their mind room, physical touch didn't work the same as in a real body. Yami supposed he had once hugged Leon von Schroeder, but that was for the confused boy's own comfort, not Yami's. This hug had been nothing but unconditionally warm and loving. Then Yui's smiling face lit up the rest of Yami's grey morning. Looking at her, Yami saw so many similarities to Yugi he didn't notice before. While Yugi did take mostly after the male side of the family, he had Yui's wide-rounded eyes and her face shape. Even her pastel purple eyes shone with the same gentle light as Yugi's. Yugi really did look like her… Yami looked like her.

"I understand you have to get to the police station, so- Oh." Being a brave pharaoh went out the window. Yui started to pull away when Yami threw himself into another hug, burying himself in her arms. Yui didn't question it; she immediately wrapped him in a full-body hug and held him close. No words passing between the two. Yami couldn't help but shiver as he felt his fears melt. Yui felt the small quiver and moved her hand up to start rubbing the back of his head. Everything, from the harrowing night before, to the ever-encroaching loneliness, to even the stupid shower, every hidden pain disappeared, even if it was just for that moment.

It was great to collapse onto someone. No judgment or explanations needed. Yami felt it wasn't the same as his friends or even with Yugi, though they loved him dearly. Be it with Yami Marik after Joey was knocked out or when Yugi was stolen from him the first time, Yami had to be the Pharaoh around them. His friends did try to encourage him, but there was always that concerned edge to their voices as they tried to get him back in the fighting spirit. He couldn't just sit in an embrace of a hug. Yui didn't speak, didn't try to pump him up for more dueling, or try to remind him of his destiny. Yami hugged tighter as he wished he could have this all the time. He wanted a family. Gods, he just wanted a mom.

"Are we ready to go-?" Junior asked as he turned the corner. He then shut his mouth, spun 180 degrees, and walked away. Though Junior had left them alone, Yami reluctantly pulled out of the hug. Much to the sinking of his heart, he had to remind himself Yui didn't love him; she loved Yugi. It also must have been weird for Junior to see his wife tricked into hugging a complete stranger.

Yui studied Yami's face. Though she kept her smile, Yami could tell she was still worried for him.

"Thank you. I can't tell you how much I needed that." Yami whispered as he started to leave the bathroom.

"Yugi, wait," Yui said as she put her hand on Yami's shoulder. Yami looked back at her and saw her eyes dart back and forth as she thought of what to say. Eventually, she took her hand off his shoulder.

"Whoopsie, I messed up your eyes. Let me fix that real quick." She said as she pulled out the pen again. Yami blinked in surprise and looked to the mirror. Sure enough, he had pushed his face into her too hard. He had smudged her work; He had even left a dark patch on her pajamas. She didn't mention that fact and instead took Yami's face back in her hand. Yami happily let her this time. As she started, Yami found a new determination in him.

The Pharaoh had always wanted his memories. He wanted them bad. He wished to understand more about himself, to know he wasn't always some time forgotten ghost. To know at one time, he really did have something all his own, not shared with Yugi. Now though, he also had a burning need to know his family. Even if they weren't in his life. Even if his real family turned out to be not biological, Yami had to remember them. He needed to know for absolute certainty that at one point, he was loved like this.

The alternate chapter title: Yami and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. He's Moving to Australia and Mom's Coming With.