*~*~*
Rebecca debated apologizing, but with an inward groan realized that she'd been gaping at Yugi for about thirty seconds now, and it would seem ridiculous if she started now. She settled for staring determinedly in the opposite direction, hoping Yugi might think of something to say. And hopefully not about the fact that she'd been standing on his underwear for the last few minutes.
Her eyes darted over to him. Yugi was giving his head a little twitch. Her eyes flickered away, and then back: Yugi was still shaking his head. His brow was furrowed in annoyance. "Gah!" he muttered under his breath.
"Yugi?" she asked timidly. Had she done something wrong? Well, besides the obvious?
His head jerked up. "No!" he cried in exasperation.
She cocked her head in confusion. Maybe she should leave…
She gave a half-turn, heading for the door, when Yugi's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. Stopping dead in her tracks, she pivoted to face him, reminded of the incident in the ice cream shop. It seemed like ages ago…
"I'm sorry, Rebecca," Yugi apologized, keeping his grip on her wrist firm. "I'm not angry with you. I was talking to Yami… sometimes when that happens I get distracted."
"Oh," she said, unsure of where to go. His tight grip was making her a bit uncomfortable and she tried to gently tug her hand away. Yugi seemed about to let go, but all of a sudden his fingers clenched again. "Ah!" she cried involuntarily.
"I'm sorry!" Yugi cried again, looking anxious. "Yami took control of my hand for a second. He wants me to… well." He stopped, feeling himself dangerously close to blushing again. "You don't have to worry, though. He doesn't usually do that. Actually… I don't think he's ever done it before."
"Are you in control again?" Rebecca asked quietly.
"Oh… yes. I am."
The two of them looked at Yugi's hand still clutching hers. He didn't let go.
Rebecca searched her mind for something to say. "What did Yami want you to do?" she asked, giving Yugi a tentative smile.
He looked startled at the question. After a few seconds of staring into her eyes, Yugi seemed to make up his mind.
"He wanted me to kiss you," he said, grinning at her slightly. It took a moment for this to register in Rebecca's mind, but when it did, her eyes went wide.
"He wanted me to keep my grip on your wrist," Yugi continued, feeling Yami lend him some courage to keep going. "And reach out with my other hand…" he reached out slowly… "and pull you towards me."
Rebecca's feet moved on their own, not needing Yugi's encouragement. "And then what?" she asked breathlessly, feeling strange.
Yugi shrugged, moving his hands to grab her shoulders. "And then do this," he pulled her even closer. There really wasn't that much different in their heights. Rebecca found herself staring directly into those sweet purple eyes, and remembered again her dream.
She'd always imagined her first kiss – yes, her first kiss – to be eye-popping, making her swoon, and very firm. In truth, she didn't realize they were kissing (as she'd closed her eyes as his lips got closer) for a few seconds. Yugi was so gentle… soft… hesitant. It was… perfect…
And his breath smelled pretty good this time.
*~*~*
Yugi grazed Rebecca's lips with his own, praying that she couldn't hear his heart pounding. Dimly, he heard his yami laughing. After a few seconds of light, barely-touching kisses, the Pharaoh grew impatient. //Come on, Yugi// the spirit urged. //Didn't you say she was a tough girl?//
/Yami!/ Yugi sent, horrified. /Mind your own business!/
//I'll make you a deal,// Yami offered. //I'll separate from you and leave the room. But you have to start stepping things up when I'm gone!//
Yugi thought about it, breaking apart from Rebecca just long enough for the two of them to breathe. /Just go already./
Without further ado, Yami sprung free and was out the door before Rebecca could really register what happened. "Yami left," Yugi reassured her. "We, um… we have privacy now."
"Oh," Rebecca said, staring at his shoulder. With a small smile, Yugi reached over and tipped her face back towards his. In unison, the two broke out into huge grins. Rebecca enthusiastically threw her arms around Yugi, giving him a big hug. "You're awesome," she whispered in his ear.
Yugi laughed, nearly falling backwards. "You're pretty cool yourself," he said, returning her hug. That was enough for the two of them for a while. Until, of course, Yugi remembered Yami's request, and with a grin…
Began tickling her.
*~*~*
Yami made his way down the stairs, feeling very self-satisfied. "Hello!" he said, marching into the room where Solomon and Arthur were wrapping up their Duel Monsters Game.
"Yami! Lovely to see you again," Arthur said with a wink at the spirit. "How go the two little lovebirds?"
"Lame," he offered, taking a seat on the couch. "One kiss that was barely a kiss. Yugi is too shy for his own good."
"It's rather unlike the two of them," Solomon mused. "They're such forward people."
"Ah, well, perhaps they were embarrassed that Yami was watching them," Arthur said reasonably.
Yami nodded. "I told Yugi that I would come down here and leave them alone, but that they had to step things up." At this, the older (depending on how you looked at things) men raised their eyebrows.
"We can count on Yugi and Rebecca to be responsible," Solomon said, looking at Arthur for reassurance.
"Of course we can!"
The three men fell silent, glancing at each other thoughtfully, when they heard hysterical laughter. "Yugi! Stop that! It tickles!"
As one, they shot out of their seats and bolted upstairs. Yami was first into the room, since the spirit didn't need to throw open the door like Solomon and Arthur. He simply passed through the wall.
Yugi stopped tickling Rebecca and looked up curiously. "Hi guys. Who won the game?"
Solomon threw Arthur a guilty look. "We, uh… never finished it," he mumbled.
"We wanted to… uh, to see if you two wanted dessert!" Arthur lied, smiling cheerfully.
"Sure!" Yugi said, helping Rebecca up. "Let's go!"
The two young ones led the way, holding hands and giggling, as Yami and Grandpa and Professor Hawkins followed sheepishly. "I told you we could trust them," Yami muttered.
Solomon and Arthur exchanged knowing smiles. "Ah, yes. We should have listened to you, Yami," Arthur said with a wink.
*~*~*
Okay, I realize that 'tickling' thing was a little clichéd, but… yeah. ^_^()
This was the last official chapter! I'm going to miss this story… well, there will be an epilogue. ^.^ Oh, and someone asked for a sequel. To tell the truth, I planned a sequel. I changed the epilogue to lead up to it, and even wrote the first chapter… then I realized I'd made a giant, huge, major mistake with the timeline. Like, a twenty-year mistake. -_- So I don't think I'll have one, but you never know!
Thanks for reading, and reviews are embraced with open arms. (and sometimes I travel through the computer screen and yank them forcibly from you…)