Magi Magi Magician Gal (MMMG): Sorry for the wait, but here is Chapter 14... and yes, I kept the vacation.
Yugi: Thank you to everyone who supported us as we struggled to get this chapter rewritten.
MMMG: I'm still not 100% happy with it, but it's much better than where it was. I didn't like it because the boys went to a lot of different locations, and I gave a brief summary of each spot. This was because I used a college/university tour as my outline, and when you go on "vacation" offered by a college/university, it's for educational purposes… and I didn't delete any part of the tour.
Yami: I think the other reason you didn't like it was because it didn't match the flow of the rest of the story.
MMMG: That too.
Seto: This chapter is based on a college vacation tour called Australian Escapes, from the year 2013. Any story points (the Puzzleshipping) are from MMMG's imagination.
Mokuba: MMMG does not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Enjoy.
MMMG: Also, thank you to Cyberbee15 and Amanda27A.g for your suggestions about vacation locations in Australia. Some of them did make it in.
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AmaikoxD: Yes, poor Yami, telling Joey and Tristan the truth and them not believing. It is a bit much to believe though.
Killer-Fangirl: I'm glad you can see the improvements to my writing, it means a lot for it to be noted. Seriously, though, are you a psychic?
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Chapter 14: Australia
Yugi would admit that the following Monday at school after winning the Digital Pet Competition had been extremely awkward. People he barely knew were suddenly being very nice to him, and it didn't take long to figure out it was because they all wanted to be his plus one on his vacation.
"This is ridiculous." Yugi groaned at first break, after Joey and Tristan intimidated off anyone else who tried to approach the group of friends.
"Maybe it would be easier to announce that you have a 2nd ticket holder, it you have one." Téa pointed out. "Can any of your family go with?"
"Mom has job interviews, and grandpa doesn't want to leave the store during a week that is a bit notorious for bad weather because that means more people will stay inside and play game, and maybe purchase new ones." Yugi explained as he shook his head, and decided to answer the unasked question. "Any my dad died of illness shortly before I turned 8."
"Ooh, sorry about that, man." Tristan sighed.
"It's okay, not like I ever brought it up in casual conversation." Yugi shrugged.
"So, if your fam can't go, are you going to ask someone on the trip?" Joey asked a bit uneasily.
Yugi nervously bit his lip, nervous to explain his choice to his friends. And then something caught his eyes, standing behind Joey, Téa, and Tristan, was a transparent Yami. The spirit smiled at Yugi and nodded his head. Taking a deep breath, Yugi steadied himself.
"I asked Yami to go." Yugi said firmly. "He doesn't remember any of his life before last September, and I want to give him the chance to see a part of the world outside of Japan before the foster care system dumps him."
"That's… a good idea." Téa admitted as she nodded her head. "He's in foster care?"
"Oh, that's right, you left before he told us on Saturday." Tristan realized. "Yeah, the dude has amnesia, so he's in foster care and is being homeschool to bring his education level up to our level since the system isn't sure how old he is."
"I think a trip will do him some good." Joey added. "You two have fun, and take lots of pictures."
"That's the plan." Yugi laughed.
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Almost 2 weeks later, Yugi was finishing his packing for the trip to Australia. He had been very busy the last couple of weeks with Yami, explaining what the teen would need in order to travel outside of the country, and also worried that he wouldn't be able to. Thankfully, the magic Yami had was able to make or mimic everything he would need, so all he needed to do was 'meet' Yugi at the airport on Saturday evening before the flight left.
They had also experimented with how far a physical Yami could be away from the Millennium Puzzle before he was forcefully pulled back into it. As it turned out, distance didn't matter, it was actually a time limit that extended every time that Yami made and held a body. Yugi and Yami agreed that Yami probably only needed magic to make himself a body, but maintaining it wouldn't cause strain unless he got hurt or used magic.
"I am so excited!" Yugi grinned as he finished packing on Saturday morning, the new suitcase his grandfather had given him filled to the brim. "This is going to be so fun!"
"I see that, but let's go over your checklist to make sure that you didn't miss anything." Solomon chuckled at his grandson's enthusiasm, but was happy to see the eagerness since he had never been able to take Yugi on this type of vacation before .
"Okay." Yugi sighed dramatically, but knew that the last thing he wanted was to forget something.
"Pajamas?"
"Two pairs; check."
"Shirts?"
"Short and long; check."
"Pants and shorts?"
"Five of each; check."
"Formal wear?"
"Ironed and ready to go; check."
"Swimming trunks?"
"And goggles; check."
"Underwear and socks?"
"I should hope so; check."
"Toiletries, such as deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap?"
"All of the above; check."
"Shoes, your sandals, and hiking boots?"
"Ready to be put to use; check."
"Sunscreen?"
"Lots of it; check."
"Passport?"
"As if I'd forget that; check."
"Condoms?"
"Grandpa!"
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"I can't believe he did that to me." Yugi groaned much later, a transparent and amused Yami watching.
"You're going on a vacation where lots of girls in bikinis are, and you haven't told him you're not sexually attracted to them." Yami chuckled softly from where the spirit sat at the desk chair. "Can you blame him?"
"True." Yugi sighed as he rolled onto his side to look at Yami. "How are you feeling about all this?"
"I have to admit, I'm very excited to be traveling outside of Japan." Yami replied.
"It's a 10 and a half hour long flight." Yugi replied with a small frown. "Think you can stay out that long?"
"As long as I sleep through most of it, which we'll be doing anyway, given the time the flight is leaving." Yami replied.
"Okay." Yugi stretched his arms above his head and glanced at his alarm clock.
"It looks like you and your grandfather will be leaving for the airport soon, so I'd better return to the puzzle." Yami commented as he also noted the time. "I'll 'meet' you there once it's closer to the time that the plane will depart."
"Works for me." Yugi agreed as he stood up with a grin, ready for the vacation to begin.
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A few hours later that Saturday evening, around 11 pm, Yugi was practically vibrating out of his seat in excitement in the waiting area at the Tokyo Airport. Solomon warily watched his grandson, trying to figure out if the idea of the vacation was causing the hyper behavior, or if Yugi had somehow snuck some caffeine or sugar when he wasn't looking.
"I know you're going on vacation, but how can you be so excited?" Solomon finally asked.
"I had a cappuccino sample from the coffee shop a few minutes ago." Yugi explained as he bounced in his seat.
"I thought you went to the bathroom." Solomon scolded.
"That too." Yugi giggled.
"Yugi!" Yami called as he pressed his way through the crowd.
Yami was wearing some jeans and a red t-shirt. His suitcase had already been checked in, and was the same kind as Yugi's but was a different color. The clothes inside were the larger sizes that Yugi's grandfather had bought him with the hopes his grandson would grow, but had agreed to give Yami after he found out about the teen being in 'foster care'.
"Hey Yami." Yugi grinned as he bounced over to hug the secret spirit of his puzzle. "Ready to go?"
"Definitely." Yami replied. "And don't worry, Grandpa Mutou. I'll take care of him."
"I know you will." Solomon nodded. "I would have gone with, if it wasn't for the mad rush of people over spring break. And nice to see you finally got out of the habit of calling me 'Mr. Mutou'."
"I was trying to be respectful." Yami protested.
"He's teasing you." Yugi giggled.
"What's with you?" Yami asked with a warily look.
"A mix of a caffeine and sugar high." Solomon explained.
"Oh no." Yami groaned, recalling what Yugi was like after the ice cream.
"Well, your flight doesn't board for another hour, so maybe he'll calm down by then." Solomon sighed.
Much to Yami's relief, Yugi was somewhat calmer when the announcement for their flight to Australia came over the PA system midnight. The other teen had taken the younger on several walks to try and exercise the energy out, and it seemed to have helped.
"Flight 207 from Tokyo, Japan non-stop to Melbourne, Australia is ready to board. I repeat, flight 207 from Tokyo, Japan non-stop to Melbourne, Australia is ready to board."
"That's us!" Yugi squealed as he jumped up.
"I know." Yami chuckled as he stood up.
"Both of you have fun." Solomon smiled as Yugi picked up his carry-on, which was filled with several crossword puzzles and other games to keep himself busy on the flight. "Take lots of pictures."
"We will." Yugi promised as he and Yami headed towards the gate. "Bye, Grandpa!"
"Bye." Yami waved with Yugi.
"Goodbye!" Solomon called as he waved.
Once the boys were gone from his sight, Solomon sighed in relief. Those boys had been through a lot since Yugi had solved the Millennium Puzzle. He didn't have all the details, but based on what he had been told by Yugi and Yami, there had been some pretty crazy stuff. If anyone needed a vacation, it was those two.
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"I'm so excited!" Yugi squealed as they sat down on the plane.
"You've said that 53 times in the past hour." Yami replied with a chuckle.
"Really?" Yugi looked at Yami, eyes wide with disbelief.
"I don't know." Yami admitted as he shrugged. "53 just seemed like a good number."
"Oh, you." Yugi pouted, but soon laugh softly with Yami.
Soon they were up in the air, and on their way. Yami and Yugi quickly manage to fall asleep, and woke in time for the offered breakfast/brunch. Not long after that, the plane landed in Melbourne around noon on Sunday. After gathering their luggage, and telling Yami they would have to speak English until the end of the vacation if they wanted people to understand them, Yugi hailed a taxi to take them to hotel that they and the rest of their tour group were staying at.
"Welcome, how may I help you today?" the lady at the front desk said flirtily to Yami.
"Reservations for Mutou." Yugi told the lady, trying hard not to glare at her for flirting with Yami, since it wasn't like the teen was his boyfriend…
"Mutou… Mutou… let me see." the lady clicked on her computer and handed them both a room key. "Room 314. Take the elevator to the third floor and turn left."
"Thank you." Yami nodded briefly, looking completely bored at her flirtation attempts.
"Anytime." the lady replied with a wink.
"How obvious can you get?" Yami growled.
"Ignore her. Ignore her. Ignore her." Yugi chanted, not sure if it was more for his benefit or Yami's.
"Relax, Yugi." Yami chuckled as they entered the elevator. "I wasn't kidding when I told Téa I wasn't romantically or sexually attracted to females."
"Thanks, Yami." Yugi smiled.
Finding their room, Yugi giggled and jumped onto one of the 2 queen sized beds, the pillows floofing up around him. Yami chuckled as Yugi's actions, finding the shorter boy's eagerness to be contagious, and jumped onto the other bed, finding that the pillows were very comfortable, along with the bed… maybe he needed to add the hotel bed to the chamber in his soul room that he was always able to find, where he spent most of his time resting unless Yugi needed him, or he was physically out and about.
"I need to call the tour company that's sponsoring our vacation and let them know we arrived." Yugi said suddenly as he sat up and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, noting he needed to charge it soon.
"Okay." Yami said as he scanned their tour itinerary again. "Day One of the tour, we arrive, check into our hotel, then we have the rest of the day to ourselves."
Calling and checking themselves in with the tour company only took a couple of minutes. Hanging up, Yugi turned to Yami. He was full of nervous energy after realizing that he was going to be alone with Yami for the next week, but he could put that energy to good use.
"Want to explore the city or stay in the hotel?" Yugi asked.
"We can explore the nearby city" Yami replied as he stood up. "I don't think we'll have much time once the tour gets going tomorrow."
For the next few hours, Yami and Yugi walked around and visited a few of the local stores. Neither of them wanted to spend a lot of money at the moment, and were simply looking around. The did stop in at the Melbourne Zoo, something that Yami only knew of from Yugi's memories, and Yugi hadn't been to one in a very lone time. They enjoyed themselves immensely, and stayed until the zoo closed at 5 pm.
After the long day out, Yugi and Yami returned to the hotel for dinner. It was hotel policy that the guests who eat the evening meal at restaurant attached to the building to dress in formal wear, and Yami and Yugi had wanted to try it out, so they picked the night when they wouldn't be worn out from tour activities. Both males changed into formal clothing and headed down to the hotel restaurant.
"This is fancy." Yugi mumbled with wide eyes.
"We'll do the breakfast buffet tomorrow morning before meeting with our tour group." Yami replied.
Yugi ordered a medium-well steak with a baked potato topped with sour cream and butter, with a salad with ranch dressing for his side. Yami tried the 3-meat lasagna with garlic bread and a salad with Italian dressing for his side. After dinner, they went back to their room, but quickly left join a bus heading out of the city for a chance to see the Southern Lights after it got dark enough.
As it turned out they got really lucky, the stunning purple, red, green, and blue light show in the sky dazzled the teens, in awe of nature and its pure beauty. Neither Yugi nor Yami had even seen the Northern Lights in Japan, living too far in the city with all the light pollution. The boys watched in rapture until the lights faded from their sight, and they headed back into the city, where they went straight to their hotel room and fell fast asleep.
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Yugi woke the next morning before his phone alarm and looked around. There was no sign of Yami, which wasn't that surprising. The other teen needed to be able to keep a physical body all day while they were with their tour group, so it made sense that he would be resting the Millennium Puzzle with every chance that he got. As Yugi's phone alarm went up, Yugi could hear Yami's mental grumbling, and received the mental impression of a very certain hand gesture at the device, which left Yugi giggling.
-Time to wake up, Yami.- Yugi whispered down their mental link.
-Don't wanna.- Yami grumbled, sounding like everyone who had to wake up before noon on a Monday.
-Yami, as much as you want to spend time sleeping in your soul room, you have to get up so we can meet our tour group.- Yugi replied.
-Okay.- Yami sighed and phased out of the puzzle, dressed in a t-shirt and boxers.
Yugi heading into the bathroom to tackle his hair so Yami could get changed, and they swapped places a few minutes later. Once both males were presentable, they went down to the breakfast buffet, which was included with their stay at the hotel, and ate their fill. Once done, they headed back into their room to make sure they had everything before leaving, (camera, sunscreen, hats, money, etc.). After tying down their hair so they could put on their hats, Yugi and Yami headed outside and hopped on the waiting bus with the rest of their tour group, and started their Australian Escape Tour.
The first place the group headed to was known as The Royal Botanic Gardens. Apparently, it was an internationally renowned botanical garden, even though Yugi and Yami had never heard of it prior to their tour. But that didn't mean that they weren't impressed by the well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants that were labeled with their formal scientific names, as well as a few names that they were better known as.
Their next location was the Queen Victoria Market, which Yugi described as an outdoor Farmer's Market, but with a lot more. On the food side, there was an offer of a variety of fruit and vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood, gourmet, and deli foods, as well as specialty delicacies. It was here that the tour group split apart to have lunch. Yugi snagged a cheese bratwurst and hamburger from The Bratwurst Shop & Co while Yami followed his nose to the Tram Shop Dutch Pancakes that he topped with jam, the pair swapping bite of their purchases for the other to try as they headed to the non-food side of the market, where there was an extremely diverse range of clothing, shoes, jewelry, and handmade art and crafts.
"See anything you like?" Yugi asked as he looked at some paintings.
"Not yet." Yami replied as he looked at some clothes. "Hold that thought."
Yugi watched as Yami looked over some t-shirts and then beckoned him over. Yami grinned as he held one up for Yugi to read, "I'm on The Squad", with a cheerful Kuriboh perched behind the words. Yugi's eyes widened as Yami turned the shirt around for Yugi to read "If lost, please return to The Squad.", with a picture of a very confused Kuriboh. As the words sunk in, Yugi couldn't contain his snort of laughter and doubled over as cackles of delight fell from his lips.
"Winner?" Yami asked.
"Winner." Yugi agreed. "What about you? Is there one that you like?"
"Yup." Yami picked up the shirt with a confused looking purple spellcaster requesting help to find The Squad on the front, the same purple spellcaster seriously declaring he was on The Squad on the back of the same shirt.
"These are genius." Yugi declared with a grin.
"Thank you." the vendor, a tall, tan skinned man with what appeared to by hieroglyphs tattooed onto his face, replied, his name tag declaring his name to be 'Rishid'. "We do also have shirts with just one of the phrases instead of both if you have that one friend, family member, or acquaintance that keeps getting lost or is the designated group finder. They do seem to be quite popular with the duel monsters on them."
"Oh, that's the Dark Magician." Yugi snapped his fingers as he pointed to Yami's shirt as he remembered. "It was on a duel monsters booster pack at the Game Shop recently."
"Really?" Yami asked. "I just thought he looked hopelessly lost. Kind of the way I feel on some days."
"Confused duel monsters is the goal." Rishid agreed, and gestured to his own shirt, which declared that he was The Big Brother with frightening looking scorpion, (that the catalog called the Mystical Beast of Serket), perched behind the words. "My younger brother has the matching shirt with a confused Revival Jam and is wandering around to promote the product."
"Genius." Yugi praised as he looked at more of the shirts. "Hey Yami, what would everyone else like?"
After sending a text message to his grandfather and friends declaring he needed to know what duel monster they liked best, Yugi and Yami selected several more shirts declaring one was looking for The Squad or was on The Squad. Téa adored the way Dark Witch was ready to gracefully spear you, Tristan liked the look of Super Roboyarou, Joey had a hard time deciding between the Flame Swordsman and the Red Eyes Black Dragon (eventually choosing the dragon), and Solomon asked if they had the Ancient Dragon (they did) but would settle for Exodia (which they did not have).
"Would you like to wear one or wrap all of them?" Rishid asked after the clothes were purchased.
"Dibs on the confused Dark Magician." Yami grinned.
"I guess I'm baffled Kuriboh, then." Yugi shrugged, but grinned as well.
Rishid gestured to the changing rooms made of cloth for them to change behind. Yugi had to tie down his hair again since he had knocked his hat off while getting changed, and based on Yami's grumbling he did to. Yugi stepped out after he finished changing, and saw a young man with tanned skin, shoulder length white-blond hair, lilac colored eyes, and a dark blue crop top that said, "If lost, return to my Big Brother.", with a confused looking blob of gel, that Yugi assumed was a Revival Jam, hovering behind the words.
"I hear you're our latest customer." the blond grinned, and Yugi noted the name tag that read 'Namu'.
"I love it." Yugi replied with a grin.
Something black shot passed Yugi's face from behind, and he flinched, ducking down as he heard Yami utter several curse words he hadn't realized the other teen knew. Namu picked up the object that had flown passed him after it landed on the table, and Yugi knew exactly what had happened to Yami once he caught of glimpse of the broken hair tie.
"Oof." Yugi breathed out with a wince, reaching for the spare tie around his wrist. "Do you need a hand?"
"Please." Yami admitted.
Yugi quickly slipped into Yami's changing area and helped the teen tie his hair down, knowing a few tricks that Yami hadn't mastered using yet to get his hair down. Once that was settled, Yami put his hat back on, and the two stepped out.
"I'm curious, why did you get so many Squad shirts?" Namu asked.
"We have a group of friends that will also enjoy this, so these are their souvenir gifts." Yami explained.
"Oh, it looks like our group is leaving." Yugi pointed to the tour guide, who was gesturing to them. "It was nice to meet you both, Rishid, Namu. Keep up the shirts, I love them."
"Have a good time!" Namu waved as Yugi and Yami left.
Once they were done, they traveled via bus over the Bolte Bridge, which was 490 meters long, just under 1/3 of a mile. Yugi held back his giggles as Yami took pictures of the boats in the water below. After crossing, they went to Shrine of Remembrance, a memorial that was built to originally honor the men and women of Victoria, Australia who served in World War 1, but was now a memorial to all Australians who have served in war.
There final location of the day was the Italian Quarter, or most commonly known as Little Italy, and was most famous for its Italian food and where Melbourne's café culture had been born. The tour group did a "pub crawl", but was more like a café crawl, where they traveled from café to café to sample some food and drinks from each location. By the time Yugi and Yami returned to their hotel, both were still stuffed from the delicious food.
"What a day." Yugi sighed as he flopped down onto the bed he had claimed back at the hotel. "I think I gained 10 pounds from all the food."
"Same." Yami agreed, and snagged their tour brochure to see what to expect tomorrow. "Looks like we'll be travelling by bus for an estimated 12 hours to Sydney tomorrow."
"I thought the trip took 9 hours." Yugi wrinkled his nose in confusion.
"I think that's taking bathroom breaks and lunch into account." Yami pointed out.
"True." Yugi sighed as yawned and watched Yami's physical body become transparent so he could rest within the Millennium Puzzle for the night. "Night, Yami."
"Good night, Yugi." Yami smiled as they both fell asleep.
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Yugi and Yami groaned as the alarm on Yugi's phone went off at 7 am on Tuesday morning, but they had to get up, get ready, and breakfast, and board their tour bus, which was departing at 9 am.
"Wake up, Yugi." Yami said as he phased out of the puzzle and gently shook Yugi's shoulder. "It's time for some breakfast."
"No." Yugi groaned as he hid back under to covers.
"Yugi, we need to repack and eat." Yami replied as he pulled the covers off. "We don't want the tour bus leaving us behind."
"Okay." Yugi sighed as he lurched out of bed with a yawn. "Let's get some food."
The breakfast buffet was just as good as the morning before. After eating, repacking, and checking out, the tour group boarded the bus that would take them to Sydney, Australia's largest city. Yugi and Yami got to know of few members of the tour group better, but mostly talked with each other as they travelled. They stopped a few times for food, bathroom breaks, and to just stretch on the roadside, but they eventually arrived in Sydney around 8 pm and went to the hotel the tour group was staying for the next couple of days. Yugi took in the front lobby of the hotel as Yami did his best to ignore the girl at the front desk, who was flirting with him as they retrieved their room key.
"That's getting irritating." Yami growled softly as he and Yugi traveled quickly to their room.
"Are you going to be alright?" Yugi asked.
"Yes." Yami nodded as he set his suitcase down. "Now, are you hungry, or are you okay with settling for the evening?"
"Settling." Yugi decided. "That gas station burger was more filling then I thought it would be."
Yami happily agreed to staying in the hotel room, and the pair watched some TV shows for a little while before going to sleep.
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After breakfast on Wednesday morning, Yugi and Yami's tour group went to the Sydney Opera House, where they received a backstage view of what happened behind the curtains, as well as seeing one of the shows. After traveling over the Harbour Bridge, the tour group made their last stop at the infamous Bondi Beach, or infamous to those who had seen the TV show, where the group was free to stay or see more of Sydney as they pleased.
Yami and Yugi had talked things over before the day had started, and they had agreed that they didn't want to stay at the overcrowded beach that had film cameras recording everything that the lifeguards did. Instead, they were going to go to Luna Park, a harbor-side amusement park that contained many rides and games. The boys enjoyed themselves immensely, and found the Pharaoh's Curse ride was down for maintenance to be quite amusing. Laughing, Yugi and Yami made their way back to the hotel, agreeing that the rides had been worth it.
Once back inside the hotel room, Yugi took a shower, where he took several deep breaths as he thought of the past few days that he had spent with Yami. It had been amazing, Yugi was more than willing to admit, and he knew that he was blushing at the idea of spending more time with his friend… finally shutting off the water, Yugi looked at himself in the fogged up mirror, and was finally able to admit to himself that he was romantically attracted to Yami on that level… now all he needed to do was confess that to Yami without combusting from embarrassment.
"Yugi, is everything okay?" Yami asked as he knocked on the door.
"Yeah." Yugi replied as he quickly tugged on his pajamas before opening the door. "Just wish I'd grow a little taller already."
"I do believe your grandfather is right in saying that you are a late bloomer." Yami replied as he slipped into the bathroom. "Give it a little more time."
"I'll show you little." Yugi scowled playfully as he picked up a pair of pillows.
"Uh-oh." Yami snickered as Yugi stalked towards him, gently swinging the cushions in each hand.
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After breakfast on Thursday morning, Yami and Yugi checked out of the hotel and went to the airport the next morning to catch their 9 am flight to Cairns, which lasted for 3 1/2 hours, compared to the 27 hours it would take to drive. The city was known as the 'Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef', and it was amazing. After checking in at the hotel, the tour group headed back out to Mareeba, a small town a little over an hour away for a hot air balloon ride.
Yugi and Yami were amazed at the landscape and took lots of pictures. Once that was done, the tour group went back to Cairns for dinner, and shortly after that, everyone went to bed. Everyone except Yugi, who lay awake, trying to figure out how he was going to confess to Yami. As his mind tumbled about, he didn't notice when his eyes grew heavy, and he finally dropped off to sleep…
Dream
"Look me in the eyes, Yugi." 'Yami' firmly commanded.
Yugi gulped in fear and did so, shocked at what he saw. There was no disgust or horror, instead, there was gentleness and… love? Yugi didn't have time to think on this last thought though. 'Yami' had leaned down as Yugi had tilted his head up to obey his order, making their face's less than an inch away from each other. 'Yami' saw the fear in Yugi's eyes, and assumed it was because he was scared of what his reaction would be. Taking a guess, hoping he was right, and before Yugi could jerk back, their lips met in a kiss. It was somewhat surprising, but they soon didn't care about that. All they cared about was that the one they secretly loved and wanted to be with was kissing them.
"If you don't want this, tell me to stop." 'Yami' whispered as he pulled back a little. "I won't force you to be with me sexually because you are my personal servant. Tell me to stop, and I will."
Yugi panted as he recovered from his first kiss. Why would he want 'Yami' to stop? He didn't! But at the same time, 'Yami' didn't know that. He thought Yugi was doing this because the recently turned 16 year old was his personal servant, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. Yugi had only ever experience positive emotions around the Crown Prince, despite the servant/slave lifestyle, and those emotions had grown into love.
"I want this." Yugi whispered, and after waiting a few seconds, his eyes searching for any uncertainty that Yugi might have, 'Yami' kissed the younger again.
Yugi's eyes slid closed as his arms slowly wrapped around ''Yami's' neck. ''Yami's' eyes also shut as his arms slid around Yugi's body, bringing him in close, sheltering him from the outside world. 'Yami' gently ran his hands up and down Yugi's back, trailing his fingers until he found the tie on the belt and undid it, allowing it to fall to the floor, for the kalasiris to fall open, and pulled it off of the pale skinned body. When the lack of air forced them apart, Yugi found he couldn't think properly. 'Yami' found his mind sharp and focused. Yugi looked so beautiful with his face flushed, eyes partly closed as he panted of breath.
As Yugi's eyes came into focus again, he leaned up against 'Yami', searching for another kiss that was gladly given, along with a little extra gift. ''Yami's' tongue. ''Yami's' tongue had slipped between his lips and was running itself along the inside of his mouth, filling him with shivers of delight. ''Yami's' tongue gently coaxed Yugi's own tongue into moving, and the two battled for dominance, though Yugi quickly allowed 'Yami' the win, enjoying the feeling of his mouth being plundered by the other's tongue.
As this was happening, 'Yami' moved them both slowly towards his bed. When the back of Yugi's legs hit the edge of the bed, 'Yami' pulled away for air again. Moving slowly, he ran his arm down Yugi's back, and to his knees. Gently picking him up, 'Yami' laid the small, gentle soul on the bed, and joined him.
End Dream
Yugi jerked awake, panting. Rubbing his hands on his face, he thought about what he had dreamed about, and blushed. He and Yami had never kissed before, and those weird dreams of himself in Ancient Egypt seemed to be trying to play matchmaker now. Come on! He was still working up the nerve to ask Yami to be his boyfriend, save the make out session dreams until after he did that!
Yugi's phone alarm went off, and the teen jumped with a yelp. He felt Yami stumbling around in his soul room and transparently appeared by the bed, his hair looking as bad as Yugi's did some mornings.
"Is everything okay?" Yami asked as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.
"Yeah, the alarm just startled me." Yugi nodded his head.
"M'kay." Yami nodded as he yawned and gained a physical body. "What are we doing today?"
"We're going out to the Great Barrier Reef." Yugi replied.
"Ah." Yami nodded as he remembered. "Right."
Roughly 17 miles off the coast of Cairns was Green Island, and it didn't take long for the modern air-conditioned catamaran 'Reef Rocket' to reach it. Yugi was really excited for a closer look at one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, and once there, Yugi and Yami had the choice of snorkeling, taking a glass-bottom boat tour, or walking through the island's rainforest.
After talking it over, they agreed on the glass-bottom boat tour, since Yami's swimming skills needed some work (he only knew how to swim from Yugi's memories, but have never actually swam before), and Yugi wasn't too keen on walking through the jungle. Yugi and Yami were both amazed at all the sea life. The seating had been built so the people were actually sitting in the water. It was like they were snorkeling, minus getting wet.
Once they were back in Cairns, the tour group split up since they were free to do whatever they pleased. Yugi and Yami went back to the hotel, where Yugi gave Yami a How to Swim 101 course. Yami took to it rather quickly, and the pair agreed that Yami had probably learned before he had become a spirit, so his muscle memory took over once he got the hang of the motions Yugi showed him. Not long after that, the pair left the pool for some dinner, and then headed to bed.
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That night, Yugi had the same dream that he'd had the night prior, the one about Yami as a prince and him as a slave but thing had taken a rather intimate turn. Jerking awake, Yugi felt like a bit of a jerk for having such… inappropriate thoughts about this friend. They weren't dating yet, so how could he possibly be thinking about those things, even if Yami did look hot in the Egyptian clothes his imagination had come up with.
-Yugi?- Yami's sleepy voice drifted through their link.
-I'm fine, Yami.- Yugi replied quickly.
-You sure?- Yami asked, sounding a bit more alert.
Yugi started to reply, but stopped himself. He was physically okay, but his mental state was still tumbling around. He knew that until he told Yami that he was ready for the next step in their relationship, he was going to stay this way.
-I want to talk to you, but you need to save your energy for the plane ride back tomorrow.- Yugi admitted.
-How about I bring your soul into the Millennium Puzzle, to your soul room?- Yami asked. -We can talk there without worrying about me not having the energy to maintain a body.-
-How do I do that?- Yugi asked.
-Hold on a moment and let me…- Yami trailed off.
Yugi felt a pull from all parts of his body, similar to the ones he would get when Yami would first take over after the Millennium Puzzle was solved. After a brief sensation of falling, Yugi was standing in a room toys scattered all over the floor, a desk, and a queen-sized bed. A knock had Yugi turning to see a door in the wall, so he walked over and opened it to see Yami on the other side. With a smile, Yugi stepped back to let the other in.
"Your soul room reflects who you are." Yami said as he entered. "This is where I would leave your soul when I took over, back when I didn't want you to know what was going on just yet."
"It feels familiar." Yugi nodded. "Maybe I remember being here."
"Or it just feels familiar to you because it is you." Yami teased with a gentle hip bump.
"Shush." Yugi teasingly scolded as he took a seat on the bed, and Yami joined him. "Yami, there's something I wanted to ask you."
"What is it?" Yami inquired.
"Have we been… are we kind of…" Yugi paused and wondered how he should word this. "How would you describe the time we've spent together?"
"Well…" Yami considered. "Based on what you know and what I've observed, I guess that the time we've been spending alone together could be seen as getting to know each other as friends, but it could also be seen as dating. Especially this last week."
"I've thought the same too." Yugi admitted. "I've thought a lot about us, our relationship, what that might look like down the road… I don't know what will happen in 10 or 20 years, but I do know that I want to give us a chance… as romantic partners, as boyfriends."
"You're sure?" Yami asked, eyes filled with hope.
"I am." Yugi nodded. "Yami, will you be by boyfriend, my partner?"
"Gladly, Aibou." Yami whispered, pressing his forehead to Yugi's.
Yugi smiled as his eyes slid shut, his forehead still pressed to Yami's. The nervousness he had been feeling since his understanding of his new feelings for Yami had disappeared. Slowly opening his eyes partway, Yugi saw that Yami was also looking at him with a gentle and pleased look in his own eyes. With a sigh, Yugi suddenly felt tired, so he lay down on the bed as Yami gently ran a hand up and down Yugi's upper arm, and sighed as the slightly tanned teen's ministrations lulled him to sleep.
Yami whispered a quiet goodnight to Yugi as the teen dropped off to sleep again, his heart filled to the point of bursting with joy. He had been very surprised when Yugi admitted that he wanted to progress in their relationship on a personal level, once again floored at Yugi's openness and compassion, and the second chance he was willing to extend.
Yami knew that he was very much in love with Yugi, and he was very much willing to confess that love, once Yugi was ready to hear him say it. For now, he was willing to wait, and would let Yugi set the pace of their relationship. Once the younger was ready, Yami would give him all the love he deserved.
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When Yugi woke to the alarm on his phone the next morning, he was back in his body, with Yami lying next to him, blinking as the alarm pulled him into the land of the living. Yugi shut the alarm off, and then turned to curl into Yami's warm embrace. Yami chuckled, but wrapped his arms around the younger.
"Morning." Yugi murmured.
"Good morning." Yami replied. "You're in a good mood."
"It's nice to be together like this." Yugi sighed, and Yami couldn't do anything but agree.
They lay together for a while longer, but had to get up so they could get some of the hotel provided breakfast before serving hours were over. After that, Yugi and Yami check out of the hotel, their tour officially over, but they have a very long time to wait until their flight home. Thankfully, Yami was able to take their luggage into his soul room so they wouldn't have to worry about it, and they headed to the Cairns Aquarium for the day.
Yugi felt giddy the entire time he and Yami spent looking at all the aquatic creatures, since it was their first official outing as boyfriends. They only stopped for an excellent lunch, and then continued on. After the aquarium closed at 3 pm, Yugi and Yami went on a round trip on the Kuranda Scenic Railway. They enjoyed the views and the waterfalls, and by the time they got back, they had a late dinner and headed towards the airport.
Yugi ducked into a bathroom so Yami could retrieve their luggage from his soul room, and then they waited until they were called for their flight. Of course, poor Yami kept having people trying to flirt with him while waiting for the boarding call, just like he had all vacation.
"Why can't people stop flirting with me?" Yami growled as another girl winked at him around 10:30 pm.
"They just don't know you're taken." Yugi replied. "What's with all these people on the late night flights?"
"Cheaper?" Yami shrugged.
"Flight 694 from Cairns, Australia non-stop to Tokyo, Japan is now boarding. I repeat, flight 694 from Cairns, Australia non-stop to Tokyo, Japan is now boarding."
"Homeward bound." Yugi sighed with a smile as he and Yami stood up. "I had a great time together. Thanks for coming with me."
"Anytime." Yami agreed.
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7 and a half hours later, Yugi and Yami arrived back in Tokyo, they both had slept as much as they could, with Yugi actually staying awake as much as he could so he could poke Yami if he started to look transparent. After the plane landed around 6:30 am, Yugi and Yami yawned as they gathered their luggage and set off to find Grandpa Mutou. It didn't take too long, and they were soon on their way back to Domino City.
Solomon chuckled as he glanced in the rearview mirror. Yami and Yugi had buckled up next to each other, and had fallen back asleep during telling him what they had done on the vacation, Yugi's head against Yami's shoulder, and Yami's head against Yugi's. While Solomon wasn't much of a betting man (these days, his youth was another story), he would say that his grandson's relationship with the spirit had progress while they were in Australia, just like he had hoped.
Once they arrived back at the game shop, Solomon woke the boys, encouraging them to head to Yugi's room for some more rest since they apparently didn't get much on the plane ride back, and he will send away and friends who wanted details about the vacation. Yugi and Yami yawned, but agreed, and headed up to Yugi's room, where they again curled up next to each other. Feeling contentment in their hearts, Yugi and Yami fell back asleep, ready for the next chapter in their relationship.
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The Vacation
Day 1 (Saturday): Travel to Tokyo, Japan via car, travel to Melbourne, Australia via plane (10 hr & 30 min flight).
Day 2 (Sunday): Arrive in Melbourne, Australia, check in at the hotel and with tour company, the Melbourne Zoo, and the Southern Lights.
Day 3 (Monday): The Royal Botanic Gardens, Queen Victoria Market (Lunch), The Shrine of Remembrance, and The Italian Quarter (Dinner)
Day 4 (Tuesday): Travel to Sydney, Australia via bus (9 - 12 hr drive)
Day 5 (Wednesday): Sydney Opera House, Bondi Beach (briefly), and Luna Park
Day 6 (Thursday): Travel to Cairns, Australia via plane (3 hr flight), Hot Air Balloon Ride
Day 7 (Friday, last day of the tour): The Great Barrier Reef
Day 8 (Saturday): Cairns Aquarium, Kuranda Scenic Railway, and travel back Tokyo, Japan via plane (7 hr & 30 min flight)
Day 9 (Sunday): Arrive in Tokyo, Japan, travel via car to Domino City
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MMMG: Chapter 14 is done! And now that this chapter is done, I need to figure out what I'm doing with Chapter 20, the other vacation chapter in this story.
Malik: Did you just randomly include myself and Odion? And if yes, won't that cause a few problems in Battle City?
MMMG: Yes, I did, and I'm willing to take that risk.
Marik: Why didn't Malik or Odion recognize Yugi or Yami? And why call Malik and Odion by the names of Namu and Rishid?
MMMG: Because Yugi left the Millennium Puzzle in the hotel room under several layers of Shadow Traps set by Yami, (remember, Yami is on a time limit, not a distance limit), and both of them had their hair tucked under their hats. They were unrecognizable. And Malik and Odion don't give out their real names in public since they're part of a criminal organization.
Odion: Please let MMMG know how the chapter went. Any likes, dislikes, spelling or grammar mistakes that may have been missed, or if you have any questions.
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Original Word Count: 4,697
Repost Word Count: 7,156
Next Chapter: 07/25/2022