Borath: Right. Any of you who expected me to hang around in this 'serious-phase' (shudders) long enough to have that whole 'healing' bollocks between Yami and Seto are going to be sadly mistaken.

Yami: No time.

Bakura: Even less energy.

Borath: I got down-right abusive about this fact in Chapter 22's opening paragraphs so you have been for-warned. Anyone who has read any of my other stuff (cough-Submission-cough) will know that I get pretty deep when dealing with angst-

Bakura: (Without any pretense.) Freak.

Yami: Bitch. I can't believe you did all of that to me in that fic as well as this in this fic.

Borath: SO I won't be focussing on this 'baby-gone-bye-bye' issue for much more than 3 more pages. If you wanted this topic to be taken seriously and had your hopes up about it then you shouldn't have expected it from me. Go read either 'Grave' or 'Submission' if you want dark, deep, emotional crap.

Bakura: She's only saying all this because she wants you to read them.

Yami: She lost many good reviews.

Bakura: She is pissed.

Borath: You don't know what I've gotten planned for you next so don't get sarcastic with me.

Yami/Bakura: Planned for which of us?

Borath: (Smiles)

Chapter 24: Broken

YVO

//Urgh, what century is it? My head hurts a lot, and the fact that the memories of the events of the last few hours have just started returning is not helping at all. I can feel through the bond that Yugi is near to tears with worry; I think he sensed something was happening inside of my Soul Room, despite the barricades I locked in place to prevent him from entering.

I'm not sure how long I have been asleep but the time that I was resting has allowed some of my strength to be restored. I don't think I'm up to tackling a Dance-Dance-Revolution just yet but I'm feeling stronger.

A quick check on the child hovering above the middle of my bed has assured me that he is healthy and happy now, energies throbbing around and inside him in a reassuring manner. I feel better with the knowledge that my daughter's spirit has been melded with my son's rather than being lost completely, but the consequences of such an action leave me with a larger headache just thinking about it.

Two souls. One body. Where do this sound familiar? Will the relationship be similar to hikari and yami or will their personalities simply be combined to form a hybrid? Urgh. My head hurts again.

I'm strong enough to leave here now and with Tetsuo's words I'm coping with this loss fairly well, but I fear having to tell Seto. How in the Seven Hells am I supposed to tell a father than I've effectively wiped out one of his children? I know that that isn't *exactly* what happened but I doubt Seto is going to be in any mood to heed logic should I even try to explain.

At least I haven't truly lost a child through all of this; not truly. She still exists within my son so there has been no great tragedy. But I'm still scared to leave this Puzzle.//

****

"I'm going to talk ta Kaiba," Joey announced suddenly, breaking the tense silence that had bestowed the group after Yugi had said that he had felt something going on inside the Puzzle. It was likely too much to hope that it was the recuperation of both children and the tension had grown unbearable.

Yugi nodded vaguely at the teen before watching her leave the room and head out of the shop, both knowing that no solid plan had been concocted to deal with the temperamental CEO. Seto was touchy after losing a Duel. How was he going to react to this?

Minutes after Joey's departure the Puzzle glowed fiercely before Yami was deposited behind Yugi, instantly leaning on the back of the chair his Hikari was sat in with a groan. //Oh yeah, I cracked two vertebrae. I wonder how badly I broke Bakura's wrist...//

"Yami?!"

"What happened?"

"Is everything alright?"

"Why were you in there so long?"

"I was worried!"

Quirking a brow at the barrage of concerned questions that were immediately lobbed at him, Yami gave them a small reassuring smile before starting towards the door, hell-bent on finding Seto and breaking the news to him. A vein of white fire up his spine made him reconsider this halfway through the first step. //Should my vision be doing that?//

"Hey, Yami? I think you should stay here for a bit before you find Kaiba. You know, until you're not so white anymore," Honda suggested seeing that the Game King looked like he was about to faint. "You can call him on his cell in a bit."

Nodding slightly in agreement to that suggestion, mostly due to the fact that he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to walk for a bit let alone face Seto, Yami leant back in one of the chairs that had been offered him. Placing one hand across his stomach under the table and the other in his hair, he took a breath before starting to even begin to explain what had just transpired.

The pain seemed to be ebbing away slowly and he suspected that Tetsuo had initiated a weak charm to repair the minor damage. The spirit couldn't cast anything powerful, particularly after the power drain a little while ago, but Yami was immensely grateful all the same.

****

Four hours and numerous crying spells later, all of which Yami was relieved to note were not his, the Game King found himself back at the mansion alone. Yugi had left minutes ago after repeated assurances from him that he would be fine, taking Mokuba with him so that he and Seto would have some space when he came home.

Joey had apparently disappeared off the face of the planet with him, but Yami wasn't overly concerned about that. Whatever they were doing was probably going to make things easier for himself and Seto later.

He had called her a little while ago and relayed the details to Joey so that she could break the news to the other teen gently. It had taken a good half-hour to get the entire story relayed and fully explained but Joey seemed to understand and promised that she would do everything she could to calm Seto down before she brought him back home. Yami was content to sit back and wait.

And perhaps break something to pass the time and anxiety.

It was midnight when Seto finally did come home, well, stumble is probably a more accurate description of his *attempt* to walk. Joey tailed him and shut the door behind her, watching the older teen wander silently into the kitchen before turning eyes on Yami.

"God, I'm so sorry," she said wholeheartedly as she approached him slowly. Yami nodded stiffly to acknowledge the sentiment before tipping his head towards the kitchen.

"Oh, Kaiba? Me and him went out 'round a few places. Drinkin' mostly. Well, he drunk and ah listened. Kiara is with the sitter. He gave her to her 'fore he left and she took her home. I already called; she's fine. Figured it would be best if you two were on your own tonight."

"Yes. Thank you Joey. I'll, see you tomorrow," Yami replied tiredly, not really sure if he wanted to know the details of what the pair had talked about and done in addition to drinking. Joey was walking with a slight limp so it was obvious that they had taken out some frustration in a scuffle.

"Yeah. Don' worry 'bout me. I'll sleep at Yuug's tonight. Call if ya need anything, alright?"

"Alright."

After escorting her to the door, Yami hovered on the threshold for a moment before steeling his resolve and shutting it, heading back inside the house and striding into the kitchen. He entered quietly before leaning against the cabinets beside the sink. Seto was stood next to the fridge eating something.

Frowning when he found that he couldn't identify the food article, Yami asked, "what are you eating?"

Seto didn't even look at him. "Lard."

Now, Yami knew what that was and from the way Seto was grimacing as he chewed, well, *moved* the substance around his mouth, it was obvious that it wasn't the most pleasant thing to eat on its own. "You are eating, *lard*?"

"Yes, well I'm hungry but I'm too drunk to cook."

Nodding slowly Yami walked over and took the solid fat off of him, using a knife to cut off a slice and dumping it into a pan on the stove. Kneeling next to the fridge he foraged for a bit before producing some fish, standing again and showing it to him by way of an offering.

At the grunt of approval, Yami flicked the stove on before finally facing the other properly. "So what did you do tonight?"

Seto sighed as he scrubbed a hand through his air that looked to be in even more disarray than it usually was. Dropping into a chair around the table he looked at Yami seemingly trying to recall the memories. "Well, first Joey talked. A lot. Then we went out and killed some brain-cells. Then I talked a lot. Then she hit me and I shoved her. Then we drank some more. And then we came back here."

Yami shook his head slowly in wry amusement. "I just don't understand you mortals."

"'T worked," Seto shrugged back offhandedly before turning his attention to his hands, seemingly fascinated with his fingernails.

Smiling wryly, Yami absently dropped the fish into the pan and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the soft fizzling and spitting sound coming from behind. "Are you okay?"

A long pause. "No." Yet another pause, one which Yami was prepared to scream through just to break that dreadful tension. "I will be though. You?"

"I'm okay." Exhaling softly another thought occurred to Yami, one that needed to be addressed and would take the focus off of this current topic. "The Puzzle's broken."

Seto looked up then, eyes wide and brows raised. "I think you should tell me about that when I'm-"

"-Sober? I agree."

"Lard doesn't taste very good."

"No it doesn't."

"It feels worse. I think there's a film on my teeth now."

"Then you're getting absolutely no comfort off of me tonight."

"Damnit."

*****

It was noon when Yugi and the gang dared to approach the house the next day, knocking tentatively on the door and smiling supportively up at Seto when he opened it for them. Finding his brother wrapped around the vicinity of his knees and Kiara clinging desperately to his neck, it was little wonder that it took them all a while to get inside.

"How's Yami doin'?" Joey asked first, sitting down opposite Seto and Mokuba who had managed to peel himself off his elder brother.

"Alright. He got up a little while ago and he's in the shower now; I think all that magic using drained him pretty badly. Has he told you about the Puzzle yet?"

Many pairs of eyes turned on him very quickly and Seto sincerely wished that he hadn't spoken. "I'll take that as 'no'. Listen, I don't fully understand it so let's wait for him to come down and explain it properly, alright?"

Yugi scowled at him lightly. "You've got me worried now."

"From what I *did* understand, I think you should be."

And on *that* happy note everyone sat around in silence until they heard the water shut off, Kiara seemingly sensing that her other father was going to be joining them shortly and proceeded to bounce up and down in Yugi's lap excitedly. The all blinked in surprise when Yami came down the stairs wrapped in a towel and stalked into the kitchen without so much as looking at them.

"Are you sure he's alright?" Tea asked quietly, casting Yugi and Seto a worried look before looking back towards the kitchen.

Seto quirked a brow at her. "He's still pregnant if you've forgotten. *That* was normal *last* week."

"I'll go and say 'hi' to him. Let 'im know that we're 'ere," Joey stated before standing, obviously with a death-wish, and walking into the kitchen.

Stepping inside she found Yami with his back to her standing against the sink, obviously trying to open something before placing the tin on the work surface and beginning to hunt through the cupboards for clean cutlery. Stretching up is not a good thing to do whilst wearing a towel.

Retrieving a bowl from the top shelf, Yami put a hand to the towel at his hip and turned around, promptly jumping back against the cabinets and dropping the dish. "Don't *do* that," he growled out, rubbing his now-free hand over his chest to slow his heart down to a rate that was somewhere near acceptable.

Joey smirked as she knelt down and handed the bowl back up to the teen, not missing the scowl and taking a few steps back to avoid getting hit with something. The towel had slipped a little when Yami had jumped in fright though, and she just couldn't resist the temptation.

Actually it would have been a crime to let it slip.

"Are those stretch-marks?" Joey asked innocently, a hint of a smile playing and her brow furrowing minutely as she supposedly leaned forward again to get a better look.

Yami turned purple, snarled and promptly threw the open tin of rice pudding at her head.

Ducking the can but not the contents, Joey grabbed a damp dishcloth off of the side as she ran out again and moved to stand at the opposite end of the couch to the kitchen, putting both it and the Kaiba brothers between herself and the pissed off Game King.

"He knows we're all here," she announced as she started to work the pudding out of her hair.

****

Ten minutes later, stomach full of a new batch of rice pudding and the former batch safely washed away out of the blonde's hair, Yami dropped himself down on the couch between Seto and Mokuba. The later instantly swapped places with Yugi so that the hikari could snuggle into his Dark, cherubic face burying into he taller form's shirt before pulling away slightly.

Returning the hug equally, Yami narrowed his eyes menacingly at Joey one more time before leaning forward onto his knees. Joey didn't look too scared; death threats towards her had become something of a common occurrence from him now, and he had yet to carry one out entirely.

"A new problem has come up," he began smoothly, casting crimson eyes about the room before bringing them to rest on Yugi at his side. "The Puzzle is damaged."

"What? How bad? Is it serious?" came the instant reply, large violet eyes welling up with fear for his Dark half.

"It is serious, as the last few days has shown. Tetsuo, a Guardian from the Shadow Realm, filled me in on the details last night whilst I was sleeping; the boundaries between this world and the Shadow Realm are naturally weaker at night so he was able to communicate with me then. He said that the Magical Conduits had been damaged to the extent where it is imperative that I get them repaired."

"Hang on a sec- the what?" That was Joey. And her confusion.

"The Magical Conduits. It's a little like piping; what my magic goes through when I use it. They've been strained for the last year and now have been damaged to the degree that I cannot use my magic at all. Not even to help you, Aibou. I'm completely powerless until they are fixed."

"And that's a bad thing," Honda stated flatly, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried to sum up how much crap the three people opposite him have had to put up with over the last year.

"Yes. There is a way to fix the damage; if I take the Puzzle to the place where all the Items were created I should be able to repair them without too much difficulty. Tetsuo assured me that he would be able to manifest himself there to help as I once summoned him in that location when I was Pharaoh," Yami explained, shrugging marginally to signal that all the information that he possessed had now been dispersed to the group and that he knew squat other than that.

"So," Ryou asked from behind Mokuba. "Where are we going?"

Yami actually smiled at that, something that somehow made everyone feel very nervous as well as reassured. "We're going to Egypt."

*****

Borath: Long chapter. Love me. Praise me. Review me. And we're heading back to humour! Yay! Out of the phase! Thank you for coming through it with me if it was hard to bear!

Bakura: Joy. Now we all get to skip continent, right? Or am I staying in Japan?

Yami: (Consulting computer screen) Nope, you're coming too! Borath is only leaving the characters that she can't be arsed to write for anymore behind. Cool. No Tea to name one.

Borath: Review me because I skipped homework for three nights to get this chapter done. (Titters) I am far too loyal to you people. I have so much to do over the weekend now... (sighs)

Bakura: Next chapter... (Switching to sarcasm and right eye twitching slightly) Egypt! Camels! Pyramids!

Yami: (Deadpanned) We are surely going to die.