In a crouched, defeated position, with no particular incident on his mind, Yami slept. He slept only as a means to pass the time, for the passage of time meant the passing of pain, discomfort, and frustration. Being awake brought all of these ails and more. Ever since the incident, Yami's eyes became a door way to the worst possible dimension, one filled with blood, angst, and Tea's tears; the insufferable onslaught of Tea's tears. Those tears had enough power to fill Yami's mind forever and lull him into a dense slumber, rocking him slowly back and fourth like a buoy floating freely in the ocean and yet chained to the rocks below. The only way to close the dimension was to close his eyes, and so he did.

Having lost enough blood to not care, Yami's slept distortedly on the floor—half-way up and half-way down. His awkward position had not changed ever since Tea left...ever since she ran out on him leaving him alone. When he attempted to reassemble the dilemma of his deck, piece by piece, his body gave out having not enough blood to spare to his fingertips and limbs. And so he was frozen, until either Yugi or his blood came rushing back to save him. In the meantime, there was nothing to do but pass the time...

"The adventures of Joey and Yugi!" Joey exclaimed as he walked down a path through the dense green. "That's gonna be the name of my book. Its gonna be about our adventures here, Yug. And guess what, you're gonna be in it!"

Yugi tried his best to look excited. He understood Joey's need to make the situation seem less dire through his jokes and positive attitude, but Yami was back at that place possibly dying. He had no time to play around. "I'm just glad Tea's there with him," Yugi thought.

"Man, this guy's not doing to well," Joey whispered as he noticed Yugi's forced reaction. Joey fully understood what was going on, but he couldn't allow Yugi to loose hope.

"It's gonna be a bestseller, I'm tellin' ya," Joey commented.

Yugi was walking beside him. They were finally going back to the cabin. It had been several hours and so far they had learned quite a few things about their surroundings. One: they now know there is a river not too far north where they can always get fresh water. Two: they were surrounded by vegetation and fruit bearing bushes...some of which had to be edible. But since they weren't sure, Yugi suggested they not experiment with that until Tea had a look at it. Three: they were in the middle of nowhere. They had been walking for hours and the entire terrain was unfamiliar. Not exactly the best news, but its news.

"How does your book end," Yugi asked in a solemn voice.

Joey wasn't prepared for that one. He quickly searched his mind for the answer that would bring him hope.

"Well, that's the problem with unwritten books," Joey smiled "you never know what's going to happen next."

Yugi smiled, a little more genuinely this time and nodded.

"Thanks, Joey."

"For what, Yug?"

"For helping me to realize that... we can still make it."

"Hey, it's not over 'til it's over," Joey said as he lifted his thumb into the air, signaling that everything was going be ok. "I just hope Tea hasn't let us down...again," Joey quietly added.

"What do you mean?" Yugi gently asked. His large violet eyes surveyed Joey's.

"Yug, I already told you. She really is acting weird. I mean, she's already a weird girl but what happened back there was kind of..." Joey hesitates to add "...psycho."

Yugi at once feels the need to scold him for calling her that, but he is calmed instantly by his own nerve to respect Joey's opinion. It wasn't unjustified or out of spite, it was the truth. Tea was acting strangely. However, Yugi always had a way of mitigating her actions.

"She's just nervous," Yugi added.

"No, she's just a nervous break down waiting to happen...if it hasn't already. How can you not see that?" Joey said.

"Something this bad has never happened to us before. She needs time to relax and heal." Yugi lectured.

"No, you need time to relax and heal, and so does Yami. You're the ones with the wounds. When she freaked out back there she was a completely different person. Why can't you see that!?" Joey added.

"I need her there Joey, so stop this now," Yugi impatiently added as he lowered his head to the ground. She...is not a psycho, Joey," Yugi looked up "She's...my friend. We have to be there for her like she's been for us."

And with that said, Yugi took the lead and Joey followed him silently back to the cabin.

Joey cocked his head in frustration. "Yugi is protecting Tea as if he hadn't noticed what happened back there," Joey thought. "Is it possible he didn't? I mean, one moment he was unconscious on the floor and the next he was talking to Tea, asking her to take him to Yami. But did he say all this after or before she started going crazy? I can't remember!"

Joey grabbed his head in frustration. "If only I could turn the pages back and see what happened in that chapter!"

Joey continued behind Yugi. They were about 50 feet away from the cabin steps.

Yugi slowly made his way up the steps. Each step brought with it the scraping of cloth against wound; however, his main concern was Yami. He stood at the summit, slightly out of breath and slowly continued forward with a certain image in his mind. This image was somewhat reminiscent of the way Yami and Tea were when they left initially. Except Yugi expected that Yami be bandaged up by now and lying comfortably as possible on the table, with Tea not far from his side. He imagined her stroking his forehead and wiping his face. He imagined her holding his hand and talking him through the pain. He imagined her being the exact opposite of the image Joey had bothered him with. Yugi placed his hands on the door and with minimal strength to spare, pulled it open.

It did not take long for Yugi to notice that Tea was missing. Her presence could not be felt. It also did not take him long to see that Yami was not lying comfortably on the table. That space was empty. It did not take him long at all to recognize the misshapen silhouette leaning on the table's leg for support. The ruby tips of hair and blonde bangs were the only identifying marks...the rest was black. This image was the only image, and there was no Tea, no comfort, and no care...just the faceless shadow of a man lying on the floor holding a few cards in his hand.

"What the..." Joey stated.

"Yami!!" Yugi shouted as he rushed to Yami's side.

Yugi landed on his knees, grinding his delicate knee caps into the uneven planks. Yugi placed his arms around Yami and straightened his spine. Yami's upper body was bandaged, so that was relief. But Yami was not responding.

Joey came to his side and aided Yugi with untangling the pharaoh.

"Looks like he fell off the table," Joey stated.

"No he couldn't have," Yugi said with tears in his eyes "Not with Tea
by his side!"

"Maybe she left."

"No! Why would she leave!? Why would she let this happen!?" Yugi looked down into the closed eyes before him. Yami had been crying. The tears had left their marks. Yugi felt his soul sink. Then he noticed something else. "Huh? ...cards?" He slowly picked up a face down card and flipped it face-up: kuriboh.

"What's goin' on? Why are his cards all over the floor?" Joey questioned.

Yugi took the card and placed it in Yami's hand.

"Help me pick him up, Joey."

"No, he'll just fall off the table again," Joey responded.

"He didn't fall off the table," Yugi muttered "I know he didn't."

Yugi tried to pick the pharaoh up by himself but failed.

"Here, let me help," Joey said.

They both lifted Yami up and onto the table.

"So what makes you so sure he didn't fall...I mean, my scenario seems good enough. Tea went out for a breath of fresh air and Yami turned over...KAPOW."

"Tea wouldn't just leave him like that, not for a breath of air. And it seems as though he took out his deck before he fell...how could he do that if he was sleeping?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

Yugi turned to face his partner. He was hesitant to wake him. It was possible that the pharaoh was finally at peace somewhere. But the fact remained that Tea was missing. Maybe he knew where she is and why she left.

Yugi's hand rested upon Yami's shoulder. "He was finally breathing normally," he thought. Yugi softly began to ask the pharaoh to awaken. Yami's eyes began to twitch as though Yugi's voice was pulling him out of a dream. It was not long that Yami lay awake before his beloved friend.

"A...aibou...uhh." A deep growl escaped Yami's throat.

"Are you okay?" Yugi's voice was trembling. Yami's eyes were tracing the ceiling...it was as if he was not fully awake.

"Yami? Are you okay?" Yugi's small hands reached out to massage Yami's temples. He began to breathe deeply and slowly. "Please say something?"

"Aibou?" Yami blinked his eyes repeatedly. "Are you...really here?"

"Can't you feel my hands?" Yugi asked with a smile.

"Yes...I can," Yami responded. "I can feel your pulse as well. Why is it beating so fast, aibou?"

"Tea's missing...and when we got here we found you and your cards on the floor. Do you know what happened here?"

"Yes. Can you help me up, Joey?" Yami asked.

"I dunno, you don't look ready," Joey responded.

"I am ready Joey...please..." Yami began to lift himself off the table once again. If he didn't get help, it would once again result in his exhaustion.

"Alright buddy, take it easy..." Joey said as he assisted the pharaoh to his feet.

"How do you feel?" Yugi asked.

"Terrible," Yami said with a smile. "But that's a lot better than what I felt like before you got here."

"So what happened to Tea? Lemme guess, she went crazy again?" Joey asked.

"She ran outside and I'm not sure where she went," said the pharaoh. He pointed his violet eyes towards the door. "....I'm going to go bring her back."

"Woah!" Yugi and Joey said simultaneously while holding Yami back.

"You can't do that," Yugi exclaimed. "You have to rest."

"Aibou, she ran away because of me."

"What?!" Yugi eyes widened.

"I was the one who lost her, and now I'll bring her back."

"Yami, she ran out on her own," Joey said. "It's not your fault. I told you that girl was crazy."

"No matter what, she's not safe out there and one of us must go get her," Yugi stated.

"Lemme guess, me? Right. I'm not going after her. How in the world would I know where to start?"

"I'll come with you." Yugi added. Yami's eyes widened. "We can follow her footsteps."

Joey sighed. The last thing he wanted was to find Tea, but Yami and Yugi were in no condition to do it themselves and she was in danger out there.

"No Yug, you stay here with Yami. I'll go."

"Are you sure?" Yami asked.

"Yeah...I'll quickly look around. Just do me a favor and be here when I get back, okay?"

"Can do," Yugi nodded.

With that, Joey was gone, out looking for Tea.

Yami was finally beginning to look like his old self again. He stood taller than Yugi, with his arms loosely crossed and eyebrows lowered. "There only thing missing is his shirt," Yugi thought. Yugi kneeled to the ground. Yami noticed his partner bend to pick up his deck. Yami felt the urge to bend and assist him, however, he was not capable of moving on his own. Though the pharaoh was standing, he couldn't walk. Yami grasped the edge of the table. His body was trembling. He was thinking about Tea again.

"Let me help you pick these up, Yami."

"Aibou, I must tell you something now that we are alone."

"What about?"

"It's about Tea."

"Don't worry Yami...it's not your fault."

"I'm sorry Aibou, but I must tell you this."

Hello All. Looks like Yami's getting better. It's about time. To all of those who have written reviews for Yami and Yugi Apart thank you so much. Your support motivates me. I'm trying to update at least once a week so stay tuned for that next chappie!