It had been a month since they returned from Japan and came back to Egypt after leaving four years ago. Heba had noticed that Yami had purposely been avoiding Atem.

Not that he didn't blame him, if Yugi treated him as Atem treated Yami, he would avoid his brother to. What annoyed him was that Atem had no idea why Yami was avoiding him.

Though, Heba's nature made him wait and see if his husband would notice himself.

"I just don't understand it," Atem said as he paced back and forth in his and Heba's room.

"Understand what?" Heba asked as he turned the page in the book he was reading.

"Yami," Atem said with a sigh. "Anytime I try to talk to him he comes up with some excuse or if I see him in the halls, he'll head the other way. I just don't understand."

"Have you tried asking your cousin or his husband?" Heba asked as Atem sat down on the bed.

"They refuse to tell me," Atem said with a sigh.

"What about your parents? Surely they must know," Heba suggested.

"Perhaps, I'll speak with them tomorrow," Atem said turning to Heba with a smile. "Thank you."

"That's what I'm here for," Heba said leaning over and kissing Atem's cheek. "Now let's get some rest, it's late."

The next afternoon, Atem headed to the garden where his parents were enjoying some afternoon tea.

"Mother, Father," Atem said getting his parent's attention.

"Atem, how are you today?" Amara asked with a smile.

"Well, but I need to speak with you both about something," Atem said.

"What is it son?" Aknamkanon asked.

"It's about Yami," Atem said, seeing how his parents both tensed up. "Every time I go to speak with him he finds some excuse to leave or if I see him he'll go the other way to avoid me."

There was a few moments of silence before Amara let out a soft sigh.

"Why don't you sit down Atem?" Amara suggested, motioning to the free chair to which Atem sat down on. "Yami isn't just avoiding you for no reason, he has his reasons."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember when you first met Heba?" Amara asked to which Atem nodded. "You and Yami were always so close growing up, we could almost never keep you two apart."

"Like when Yami refused to let you travel with me to visit Japan for business, we ended up taking your mother and Yami with us because he wouldn't stop crying," Aknamkanon said with a soft chuckle. Atem smiled remembering how clingy to him Yami was when he was younger.

"You both were so close but that changed when you met Heba," Amara said with a frown. "You would blow Yami off to spend time with Heba, I suppose you could say that he felt replaced by Heba."

"Why didn't Yami just tell me?" Atem asked in confusion. If Yami felt that way, why didn't his brother just speak with him about it?

"Because of how happy you and Heba were together," Aknamkanon said with a sigh. "Anyone could see how happy you two were, Yami didn't want to ruin that for you."

"This went on for months, the Harvest festival incident really cracked his heart," Amara said with a deep frown, remembering Yami coming home alone and in tears. It took hours of Amara cuddling her youngest before he would fall asleep and even then he woke up in tears. He actually ended crawling into his parent's bed like he did when he was younger and cuddled up to his mother for comfort for his broken heart. "You promised Yami that you, Heba, and him would spend the day together."

"Until you left him alone, one minute you were there and the next you both were gone," Aknamkanon said giving his son a dirty look to which Atem winced. "He came home alone and in tears, it took your mother forever to calm him down until he fell asleep, and even then he woke up in tears and sought your mother out in comfort."

"I-"

"There's more," Amara interrupted, Atem's heard dropped. What else could there have been?

"Yami's heart shattered when you and Heba left for Japan," Aknamkanon said remembering how he and Amara found Yami at the docks, sobbing his heart out.

"He had been abandoned by you for years and then all of sudden you were gone forever," Amara said with a sigh. "He fell into a depression for two years, nothing we could do could snap him out of it."

"It wasn't until two years ago when Joey and Seto managed to snap him out of it," Aknamkanon said with a soft smile. "I don't know what we would have done if they hadn't managed to snap him out of it, they've been close ever since then."

As his parents finished explaining, Atem could feel tears sting his eyes and spill down his cheeks. He wondered how many tears Yami had spilled over those years. He finally understood why Yami was avoiding him, he was scared to let Atem in and risk getting hurt all over again.

"Do you know where he is?" Atem asked softly. "I have to apologize and make this right."

"Usually he's in the music room," Amara said with a soft smile, her eyes glossy. "He grown attached to the piano these years."

"Right, thank you for telling me," Atem said with a smile as he stood up from the chair and started heading back into the palace.

"Do you think they'll work it out?" Amara asked turning to her husband who shrugged in response.

"We can only hope."

Yami sighed as he finished the song he was playing. His fingers pausing over the keys of the piano.

The door opened and Yami heard the person slowly walk towards them. He figured it was Joey or Seto who had come in, maybe both of them.

"Mother said you would be in here," a familiar voice said which made Yami froze. "I heard you playing down the hall, you play wonderfully."

Yami's heart clenched. He so badly wanted to speak to his brother but his heart had been broken over the years that his throat closed. His voice felt frozen in his throat, unable to move, unable to allow him to speak. He only nodded softly and stood up.

His reflexes were telling him to get out as quickly as he could. Get out and run away before he could open himself up and get hurt all over again.

As he made his way to the door, he felt a hand grab his arm and stop in his tracks.

"Wait, please," Atem said softly, his grip tightening softly. "You've been avoiding me."

Yami felt his heart freeze.

"Mother and father told me why," Atem said as he let go of Yami's arm. "What happened all those years and what you went through."

"That wasn't their place to tell you," Yami said with a soft shake of his head. He couldn't believe his parents told Atem.

"No, you're right," Atem said with a nod. "But if they hadn't, I wouldn't have known the pain I caused you."

Neither brother said anything.

Yami was afraid to say anything in fear of opening his heart and getting hurt once more. His heart would never recover.

Atem was scared to say anything. What do you say to someone whose heart you had broken? Let alone that person being your own brother who you promised to protect.

"I'm sorry," Atem said soft enough that Yami had to strain his ears to hear it. "I'm am deeply sorry for forgetting my promise to you all those years ago, I'm sorry for pulling away from you, but most of all, I am sorry for being the one to break your heart."

Yami's eyes widened seeing tears sliding down his brother's cheeks. His eyes screaming apologies that Yami had long waited to hear from him.

Yami felt his own eyes fill with tears and slid down his cheeks. He pressed his face into his hands and felt his shoulders start to shake.

He froze as he felt Atem wrap his arms around him, pulling him into a familiar warmth that had Yami's heart aching. He missed this, he missed his brother's embrace. Sobs spilled from Yami's mouth before he could stop them and he fell to the floor as his knees gave out. Atem following him, never letting Yami leave his arms.

"I'm sorry," Atem whispered again, leaning his head on top of Yami's.

"I forgive you," Yami whispered back, wrapping his arms around Atem's. His heart warming feeling his brother's embrace once again. Feeling the love being poured into the hug, praying this wasn't just a dream and that he would never leave Atem's arms again.

Amara smiled as she peeked through the cracked open door. She was glad Yami had chosen to forgive Atem for his wrongs.

She turned and was met with Heba.

"Did it work?" Heba asked. Amara nodded with a smile.

"As far as I can tell, it did," Amara said as they headed away from the music room.

"That's good," Heba said with a nod. "If Atem hadn't figured it out without asking you, I probably would have bitten his head off."

"I'm surprised you didn't," Amara said with a chuckle. "There were times that I felt like yelling at him for treating Yami the way he did but Yami wouldn't let me, nor would he let his father."

"Well, hopefully things from now on will get better for them both," Heba said with a smile.

"Yes," Amara agreed with a nod. "I'm sure they will be."