Téa felt guilty.

Atem was so tender and loving towards her and she just didn't know how to respond at times. Sometimes it even hurt to look at Atem. She'd get angry at him for a split second, just like when they lost Yugi to the Orichalcos because of Atem. Except, this time it wasn't Atem's fault. He'd tried to save Yugi, but he couldn't. Téa couldn't imagine what that must have felt like that—to be desperately trying to save your friend from dying, but ultimately failing.

Yugi had always been so gentle towards her now Atem was the same way. It didn't help that Atem had nearly the same face. It was true, Yugi and Atem were so alike. That's why she had fallen in love with both at one point. They were distinct and she'd loved them each for entirely different reasons, but part of it were the wonderful qualities that both of them overlapped in.

It felt a little like déjà vu, because when Atem had left in her 'supposed' hallucination, it hurt a little to look at Yugi too. But she was able to get over it quickly enough because she'd been mentally preparing herself for Atem's departure for a very long time. But this was abrupt, sudden, and suffocating.

She wondered how Atem handled having to live every day as a fraud. He wasn't Yugi… Did his mother even know that?

"You ok?"

Téa broke out of her thoughts and looked to her companion to the left. "Oh sorry Atem. I was just thinking."

Atem nodded, still eyeing her while taking a sip of the hot chocolate Téa's mother had made for them. Atem usually stayed with Téa most of every day. The only real time he'd be away was when he went to go and work at the Game Shop while Téa went to her dance lessons. Speaking of which…

"Atem?" She tilted her head.

"Hm?" He turned.

"Does… does" she breathed, her eyes widening slightly "Yugi's mother know? Y'know about you and what has happened?"

Atem sucked in a deep breath, putting his mug on the coffee table. "Well… not exactly… but I think she just knows." Atem's eyes darted down. "When I came back, I wasn't exactly in the best state. I may have said some things that eluded to the fact that I wasn't Yugi and well, her son was dead."

Atem shivered recalling the moments he came home and Yugi's mother wept because she thought her son was ok. She had hugged him crying "Yugi, I was so worried you were dead!" when Atem couldn't handle her and pushed her back.

He still remembered the shock on Mrs. Mutou's face. He was too upset at that point to care. "Don't you get it?" He screamed, running towards Yugi's room crying. "Yugi is dead." He cried, his voice hoarse as Yugi's mother tried running after him before he loudly slammed the door, locking it. "Yugi's dead and I couldn't save him! Now I'm here."

After that point, Atem tried to be more agreeable and make Yugi's mother happy. Mrs. Mutou wasn't sure what to make of the situation and Solomon wasn't any help. She thought it was just the trauma of it all when Atem finally tried to reach out to her and "act" like a son. But she quickly realized, that this Yugi wasn't acting like her son at all. Trauma couldn't have done all this, could it have? She slowly began to withdraw and distance herself. She still cared for "Yugi," and she couldn't make sense of anything anymore, but she felt that maybe her real son had truly died.

Solomon had just gone silent after everything. He knew what had happened because Atem had told him everything. It was painful, but Solomon knew that Yugi would have wanted Atem to have lived out his life normally in Yugi's body if Yugi wasn't able to. So, Solomon helped Atem do just that, no matter how painful it was. He also had allowed for Atem to start sleeping over at Téa's every day. Solomon just wasn't ready to see Téa at the time.

"Do you think maybe would could visit the game shop today?" Téa questioned gently. She hadn't seen Mrs. Mutou or Solomon ever since, even though they both generously sent cards and flowers.

Atem stared at her for a moment. "Yes, we could do that…" Let me just let Grandpa and Yugi's mother know." He took his phone out and sent a quick text.

Téa squeezed Atem's hand as they stood in front of the Kame Game Shop. It looked the same, yet it no longer held quite that happy spark it once did for her. The chime above the door went off as they walked in. Mrs. Mutou had been manning the register when she heard the chime and turned around.

"Téa…" She breathed, her eyes suddenly locking with the girl.

"Mrs. Mutou…" Téa bit her lip, as Mrs. Mutou ran over to Téa and engulfed her into a tight hug. They didn't let go.

Both women were sobbing now. It was instantaneous. "I'm glad you're alright." Mrs. Mutou gently patted her head.

"I know. I know." Téa cried back. "But it hurts so much. They're all gone. All of them except Atem."

Mrs. Mutou felt a pang in her stomach and in that moment, she didn't know how, but she realized that Yugi was really gone. He son was truly dead. She started sobbing harder.

"I'm sorry." Téa cried over and over again.

In the meantime, Solomon had finally made his way over, finding the two crying women. He placed his hand on Téa's shoulder.

"Grandpa Mutou," she turned to look at him, with teary eyes.

Solomon could only give a saddened smile at him. "I'm sorry we didn't visit…" He wiped a tear. "It was just difficult…" He gave another warm squeeze on her shoulder. "But we are glad that you are awake and safe."

Mrs. Mutou and Téa didn't let go for quite a while-even after their tears had stopped. It was Mrs. Mutou who gently let go first. "You know..." She whispered softly, breaking into a soft smile, her hand on Téa's shoulder. "I always hoped that maybe one day Yugi and you would get married. He had quite the crush on you." She sighed looking up to the ceiling, as Téa just stared, her eyes open wide. "Then you would have become my daughter." She added. "But," she looked down again, smiling deeper this time. "It doesn't matter. You have been always like a daughter to me, and you are welcome here anytime. And anytime you need me, I will be there." Mrs. Mutou said earnestly. Téa choked in a laugh as she threw her arms around Mrs. Mutou.

"Thank you." She said. "Thank you."

I felt this was important to address. How did Yugi's family react to Atem taking over? As for Mr. Mutou, according to sources, he's a traveling businessman of sorts, so in my mind he does notice something is different, but since he's away too often, he thinks it's Yugi just growing up/changing.

Let me know what you thought!

~Startistica