A Note From the Authors: Sorry if the drama was too much. The story has proven to be a very complex one, and it covers all areas of writing...Anyway here's the next chapter!! Starting to head back into the comedy genre hopefully. ^_^

Chapter 21

"Broken Puzzle Repaired"

Joey made quick work getting back to the hotel. He knew that's where Yugi would've gone. In this foreign country, there weren't really any places that the fourteen-year-old would feel comfortable. He pushed the door to their room open slowly and peeked inside, "Yug…you in here??"

Yugi looked up from his seat on the bed, saw who it was, and quickly started wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Oh…Joey…hi," he said.

Joey shut the door behind him and knelt down on the floor in front of Yugi, "Hey…you ain't cryin', are ya?"

"No, of course not," Yugi said, wiping the last of his tears away, "Just got something in my eye."

"Hey, it's okay man," Joey told him, "So what's going on? Why'd that Egyptian girl give me this??" he asked, pulling out the Puzzle.

Yugi stared at it, "No…I don't want it. She was supposed to keep it."

"Funny…she told me to give it to you," Joey said, "And then she just took off."

"She…did…?" Yugi said. He reached towards the Puzzle, and then pulled back, turning away.

"Look, Yug," Joey said, "I'm not sure what's goin' on with you and Yami, but maybe you should give him a second chance?"

"I already did," Yugi said bitterly, "That's twice he's let me down. It's obvious he'd much rather be with his Queen…"

"So that's what this is all about," Joey said, sitting back. "I dunno if you're old enough to know about this yet, but whenever there's a girl involved, guys can be pretty big idiots."

"I'm starting to understand that…" Yugi said cynically.

"Come on," Joey said, holding up the Puzzle, "Just talk to him. Give him a chance to explain and let him know how ya feel."

Slowly, Yugi took hold of the Puzzle. "Alright…" he sighed, "But I don't see what good it'll do." He put the chain around his neck and lay down on the bed. "You can go find the others, Joey. I'll probably be zoned for quite a while."

"Okay," Joey said, getting to his feet, "I'll be back in a little while." Then he quietly left the room.

Yugi shut his eyes and all at once, he was standing in the narrow hallway between the room of his mind and that of Yami's. He made a quick stop in his room, picking up a large bag of marbles and a black marker, before crossing the corridor and entering Yami's room.

He always hated going into Yami's room. It was musty, cold, and now it looked as if everything had been falling apart and was just getting under repair. Half-broken bricks lay scattered on the ground, but Yugi ignored them. Selecting one marble from his bag, he opened one of the countless doors and tossed it in. Immediately, the small, blue sphere was engulfed in a blast of flames and incinerated. The young boy sighed. One down, only 3 billion to go… He drew a check mark on the door with the marker and moved on. One by one, the marbles were destroyed by the many booby-traps.

He'd gone about three-quarters of the way when the marble he'd tossed in wasn't touched. It just clacked across the stone floor harmlessly. Nervously, Yugi gripped the doorframe with both hands and put one foot inside. Nothing happened. He swung the door fully open and light streamed into the room. Against the back wall, a figure Yugi knew must be Yami was sitting on his throne. His face was buried in his hands, and when he looked up, Yugi saw that he was blinking back tears.

"Yugi…" Yami said quietly, "…I…didn't expect to see you…"

"I didn't expect to come," Yugi said, "I'm still not sure why I'm here."

Yami hung his head, "I don't blame you for being angry…I know that I…let you down…"

"I just dueled the scariest duel of my life…all by myself…" Yugi said, his voice shaking.

Yami wrung his hands desperately, "I know…by the gods, Yugi I never meant to abandon you, I swear it…please, just try to understand…having her back again after so many eons…I wasn't thinking clearly…I know it's a bad excuse…will you be banishing me now…?"

"No…" Yugi said, stepping closer to his counterpart, "I don't want you to leave…I just want to stay a part of your life…is that too much to ask??"

"Absolutely not!" Yami said, grabbing Yugi's hands, relieved.

Yugi couldn't help but smile, "Okay then…do you think you could try balancing your time between me and her?"

"You'd think as a political leader I'd be good at that…" Yami said, grinning ashamedly, "Will you help me?"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded, "Come on."

Yami stood up and the two of them headed out of Yami's mind. As they walked off, Yugi asked, "So…where were you last night, anyway?? With Dedi…?"

"Um…yes…" Yami said, "You've…taken health class, right…?"

"Yami!!" Yugi cried.

"We're married! It's allowed!!"

"Still…"

* * *

"Did they get away?" Lord Jetsu's voice was neutral, but inside he was seething. The two cold metal slits in his helmet concealed his eyes, but Vitani could feel his gaze burning into her pounding head.

She swallowed hard, "Y-yes, m'lord. Most sincere apologies, sir. They ganged up on me – you know I'm not fit to be a security force member. They overpowered me…" She turned her eyes to the floor and braced herself for the inevitable punishment. Failure as large as this never went scot-free.

Jetsu growled impatiently and his Millennium Shield began to glow again, as if feeding off of his anger. Henchmen that failed were to await their punishment, like the loyal Vitani. Loyalty such as this was so hard to find these days. That alone would save her- this time. The Shield let out a flash of magical light and knocked Vitani off of her feet.

Jetsu stepped down off of his pharaoh's throne that he had built for himself and walked past his shaken right-hand woman, leaving her with several parting words, "Summon Void. NOW!"

* * *

When Yugi returned to his body, it was still dark outside. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, trying to adjust them to the light (or lack there of, in this case). He felt movement off to one side and turned to see Yami, back in his normal translucent state, standing beside the bed.

"Yugi…" he said, "I have to find Dedi. Do you think Tsuki would still be across the hall?"

"Only one way to find out, I guess," Yugi shrugged.

A minute later, Yugi peeked inside the girl's hotel room. "This feels so wrong on so many levels…" he said nervously.

"Relax," Yami said, walking through the only half-open door and into the room, "Our intentions are innocent. If we don't wake anyone up, we'll be fine."

Yugi followed after him hesitantly, and he had no sooner than closed the door when a voice made them both jump, "What was that about not waking anyone up?"

They both turned. Dedi, in her translucent form, was sitting on the dresser, smiling. "I didn't expect to see you so soon," she said, "I trust everything's alright between the two of you?"

"We're working on it," Yami said, smiling at Yugi, "That's why we've come to talk to you, darling."

"Yes?" she said, leaning forward putting her folded arms on her legs.

Both star-haired boys went slightly red, as they tried not to look down her shirt. "It's just that…" Yami began, "I have to start dividing my time more evenly. Especially with this Lord Jetsu character at large…I won't be able to come and…see you every night."

"Oh…" she said, pouting, "Alright then." She sat up, considering this, and then asked, "Have you told him that we…?"

Yami went scarlet and nodded.

"Ahh…" she nodded, "Okay. Don't worry about it, Yugi. I've lived without him for all these eons; a little while longer won't hurt. That is…" she said, hopping off the table and taking hold of Yami's arm, "as long as he can live without me."

Yami continued to blush and Yugi shifted uncomfortably. "I-I think I'll manage," Yami said, rubbing the back of his neck embarrassedly, "We'd better get back to our room now…"

"Yeah," Yugi agreed, and zipped out of the room.

"You're sure you're okay with this??" Yami asked Dedi.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. She kissed him gently on the lips, "You just fix things with your boy."

"I will. Thank you, my love," he said and departed.

Back in his own room, Yugi placed the Puzzle on his nightstand and climbed into bed. All the exhaustion he'd been ignoring had finally caught up with him and he fell forward onto his pillow thankfully.

He'd almost dozed off, when he heard another voice, "Hey, Yug?"

"Joey…?" Yugi asked drowsily, "Izzat choo?"

"Yeah s'me," Joey's voice answered from the bed next to Yugi's, "How'd it go? Is everything okay??"

"I think so," Yugi yawned, "G'night, Joey."

"Night, Yug…"

* * *

Yugi awoke the next morning a little later than usual, around 8:15, to the sound of voices. He blinked groggily, and Tristan and Joey came into focus in front of his eyes. They were both sitting on Joey's bed and seemed to be arguing about something.

"Come on!" Tristan pleaded, "You said you'd give me details last night and you didn't! Now spill!"

"I said 'later'," Joey insisted, "That could be three years from now, for all you know."

"Guys?" Yugi said, "What's goin' on?"

Both Joey and Tristan nearly fell off the bed in surprise. "Now look! Ya woke up Yugi!" Joey said, smacking Tristan on the back of the head.

"Ow! So what??" Tristan shot back, "It's not like he wouldn't wanna hear about this."

"Hear about what??" Yugi asked.

"Joey was just about to give me all the details about what he and Mai did up on the roof yesterday afternoon," Tristan said.

Joey's face reddened, "I was not!"

"Why were you even up on a roof in the first place?" said another voice and they all turned. Bakura had finally woken up and was staring at them all curiously.

Yugi sighed and quickly recapped the events of the past afternoon for Bakura.

"Right," Tristan said, "So anyway…"

Joey bit his bottom lip nervously, "There's not really that much to tell…"

"There's gotta be something," Tristan persisted.

"Oh, alright…" Joey said, and blushing, reiterated the events on the roof, trying to keep it rated PG (for Yugi's sake). When he finished, he glanced over at Tristan, expecting him to burst out laughing. But Tristan was clenching his fists and looked like he might cry. "What's with you??" Joey asked, "It wasn't that pathetic was it??"

"You…are…so…LUCKY!!!" Tristan cried, gripping Joey by the shoulder, "To think, a babe like her would so much as look at you…! Wow!"

"Hey! What's that supposed ta mean?!?" Joey demanded.

But Tristan never had to answer, because at that moment, who should come bursting through the door, but the girls, all dressed and ready to go! "Who's ready for breakfast??" Mai asked cheerfully.

There was an awkward silence as the two groups just stared at each other. Then Joey exploded, "WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?!?"

"Well, excuse me," Mai said, "We even gave you an extra half-hour this morning. How long does it take a couple of teenage boys to get dressed anyway??"

"Come on, Mai," Tea said, grabbing her sleeve and pulling her back out the door as she simultaneously ushered Tsuki in the same direction, "Let's just go wait for them downstairs."

As the door closed behind them, Joey snorted, "Ya know, that's getting ta be a really bad habit…"

Silently, Yugi was glad that he was not yet "man enough" to sleep without pajamas.