this part is mostly a fluff chapter
i don't own Yugioh
Chapter 9: healing
Let's take a break.
Everyone felt a sense of peace and hope throughout the house the following day. They are all sitting in the living room waiting for Atem and Yugi. "What's taking Atem and Yugi so long?" Joey said with stomach growling. Tea hit him in the back of the head. "I am not sure they will be getting up anytime soon. When we all went to bed, Atem didn't look good last night." She said. Grandpa sat back in his chair. "I agree. Aknamkanon and I stayed up for a bit, talking, and I saw Yugi leave their room about an hour after they went to bed. She headed out to the backyard, and she looked upset. I would have followed her, but Aknamkanon told me to let her be for a bit. A little while later, she came back in, running. soaking wet from the rain we had last night." He said. "I wondered how she was taking all this, learning about Lady Yuki and watching Atem's reaction to seeing her die again," Ishizu noted with concern.
Mana was sitting on the floor next to Mahad on the couch. "what do you mean?" she said. She was grateful to Yugi for letting her borrow Kuriboh last night. She needed it. Mahad looked down at his daughter. "Mana, take his title and the past away. Yugi sees the man she loves and claims to love her. Breakdown over another woman. How do you think Yugi would feel?" he said. "oh, they will be okay, won't they?" she asked. No one had the answer. "you also have to consider Yugi herself is in a fragile state of mind. She finally has the body she is supposed to have, along with hormones. Like normal girls her age, she wonders if she is pretty enough, tall enough, or even skinny enough. Is she enough?" Isis said in her doctor's voice. "I still don't understand. Atem loves Yugi. when we were in the afterlife, he told how much he regrated leave her. he had loved her since Dualist kingdom." Mana said with her knee brought up to her chin.
Joey, Tristen, and Tea look at Mana with wide eyes. "He knew he loved her back then," Joey said, impressed. "Well, if you think about it, we all saw evidence of his love for her. In Battle city and during the thing with Dartz." Tea said, thinking back. "And don't forget Yugi's love for him. Yugi refused to leave without the puzzle when she was caught in that fire." Tristen added. "when she was in the hospital after the fire, she was asleep, and I tried to take the puzzle off and put it on the table next to her. Yugi growled at me in her sleep and curled herself around the puzzle." Grandpa said, knowing the kids didn't know that. "I think that was the first time I saw Atem myself." He added. "what do you mean, gramps?" Joey asked, knowing no one could see Atem when he was a spirit. "it was only for a second, but I was leaving her room to get her some breakfast and turn, and I thought I saw him sitting on her bed, playing with her hair." He explained. "Could you four tell us more of their adventures together? Atem told us some, but I think he keeps something to himself." Aknamkanon ask. Isis, Mahad, Mana, and Seth nodded in agreement that they also wanted to know.
"Well, it all started with Pegasus. We went to the duelist kingdom to save grandpa, whose soul was stolen. The creep told Yugi if the two of them had a dual and he lost, he would return grandpa's soul along with the souls of Seto and Mokuba. During the dual, Pegasus used his millennium eyes to take Yugi and Atem to the shadow realm because they had found a way to stop him from reading their minds by using the mind shuffle. According to Yugi, she felt like she was being suffocated. At one point, she must have passed out. For a bit, we couldn't feel her anymore. It was one of the few times she scared us." Joey said. "I don't know how they won, but Atem must have found a way to save them both. When the shadow realm disappeared, Yugi was standing there." Tristen said.
"what fire were you talking about, and how did Yugi end up in one?" Isis asked. "Yugi and I were walking to school. They had just started talking to each other, and Atem didn't know who he was but knew he had a destiny to fulfill. So as we walked to school, there was this fortune teller who later was revealed to be a mind-controlled bandit Keith. A cheater and a real jerk." Tea said. "Who was controlling him?" Seth asked. Marik cleared his throat. "Me. As you already know, I had problems, and using the millennium rod, I could control people's minds to do my bidding," he said. Mia leaned on his shoulder, trying to remind him it was her fault too. ". Keith challenged Yugi to a dual, the first one; I think, where Yugi, not Atem, had to dual. Halfway through the duel, Keith must have been free from mind control, but he started freaking out and hitting things with a pole, hitting a gas line and electrical box, causing a fire. From what we are guessing, he smashes the puzzle into pieces in the middle of his freakout. When Joey and I got inside, Yugi was putting it back together. She refused to leave until she had the puzzle put back together. Once we got to her, she started to lose consciousness, but she would not let go of the puzzle on a chain attached to a pole attached to the wall. It took some doing, but we got it loose and got them out of there." Tristen said.
"During the dual with Marik or Mia, I guess, they again were in the shadow realm, and Yugi held captive where when Atem lost life point, Yugi would lose part of herself. Whenever he lost points, I saw him looking at Yugi in fear. Of course, they won, and Atem looked so relieved." Tea said.
"What happened with the Dartz guy?" Mahad asked. "Dartz was stealing people's souls with a card called the seal of orichalcos. It taps into a person's anger. Atem was trick into playing, and when you lose a duel while it's in play, it takes your soul. Yugi sacrifices herself to save Atem. His response that day was the same as yesterday. I never hear him so broken. It took a bit, but we did get Yugi back and beat Dartz." Joey said. "during that time, we were all pushed past our limits." He added remembered when he faced Mai.
After hearing the stories, everyone agreed. Atem would do anything for Yugi, and she would do anything for him. They love each other. "Do you think we need to start making wedding plans soon?" Grandpa joked, which made everyone laugh.
A few minutes later, they hear footsteps coming down the hall. Atem and Yugi walked into the living room with smiles. Yugi was slightly limping, which made everyone raise an eyebrow. "morning," they said together. "it's about time you two got up. We have starving here," Joey said, crossing his arms. Tea slapped him in the back of the head again. "Well then, let's eat," Yugi said, starting to go into the kitchen, wincing. "Yugi, are you alright? I could…" Isis said, being cut off by Yugi. "No, Isis, it's alright." Yugi said, laughing. "it's a good kind of pain," she added, looking at Atem with love. Atem leaned over and kissed her. Everyone got up to got but grandpa and went into the kitchen. Yugi saw this and smiled, knowing they needed to talk. "Atem, we will be there in a bit." She said. Atem nodded and smiled at her as he left the room.
"Grandpa, before you said anything. We did use protection. You did raise a smart granddaughter." She said to him. Grandpa sighed. "it's not just that, Yugi. Come here." He said, patting the seat next to him. When she sat down, Grandpa took her hand into his. " when your parents died; I made them a promise. I would look after you and keep you safe. I guess somewhere along the line; I forgot you were also growing up. I thought if the same thing happened to you as your cousins, I'd lose you too. I didn't want to lose my little girl." He said, tearing up a bit.
Yugi wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. "I may be growing up and get hurt along the way, but I will always be your little girl. You can look at it like this. Our family just got a lot bigger. They don't have the last name of Moto." Yugi said with a smile. "and another thing." She added. "what that, my child." Grandpa asked, looking into her eyes. "You started all of this. You, Solomon Moto, found the puzzle, dared me to solve it and introduced me to Atem. I'll tell you this. When Atem and I married, You will be walking me down the alley and gain a grandson-in-law. And nothing will change that." She said, giggling. Grandpa sighed happily, knowing he wasn't going to win. "Well, he got to ask for my permission first." He said. They both started laughing. "let's get something to eat." She said, pulling him into the kitchen.
They all sat down and started eating. Tea was the one who broke the Ice. "what is the idea for today? Are we going back to the museum?" she asked. Everyone looks at each other. No one said anything until Yugi stood up. "I don't think we should." She said with everyone staring at her. "Hear me out. Yesterday we learned a heavy truth. How did Lady Yuki die? I am not sure what you all did in Egypt but here after we lose someone. We take the time to get our bearings, to moan about those we lost. We take walks. We see a movie. Some of us have a drink or 20." She said, staring at Grandpa, who started choking on his coffee. "that was seven years ago. I haven't touched a drink since." He said. "yes, you had a good reason, but I still heard it at 2 am." She said, glaring at him. "anyway, I think it would do us all some good if we took a day or two to reconnect. Let's go on a date, checking in with our stores before we dig up more shit." Yugi said.
Atem stood up, took Yugi's hand, and kissed it. "I think Yugi is right. Last night, I was a wreck, and until I reconnected with Yugi, I couldn't think straight. I don't think I could have handled any more information. Let's do this. It is 9:30; let's spend the morning and early afternoon doing whatever we want. Then meet back here say 4:30, and we go out and do something as a family." He said. "and do what?" Joey ask. He agreed he needed to check in with his sister and Mai, who didn't go with them to the Island. Yugi look at Marik and smile. "Marik's nightclub," she said. Everyone agreed and started making plans for the morning and afternoon