Title: Seventh Heaven

Author: Aerith Queen of Cetra

Chapters: 1/3

Summary: Yugi wants to make Yami's Christmas perfect! He sees the perfect gift for him so he takes on a job to buy it. But Yami, thinking that Yugi is upset with him, decides to buy Yugi a great gift, and he gets a job also. But what happens when they both get jobs in the same place?

Genre: Romance/ (slight) Angst

Pairings: Puzzleshipping (YamixYugi)

Beta'd: Nope (help!)

Warnings: Shonen ai (boyxboy)

Disclaimer: I'm just gonna say this once before all the lawyers decide to come around to my house, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, but I'm saving up to buy a lock of Yugi's hair :D

Author's Comments: Yay! YamixYugi christmas fic :P This idea just popped into my head, so enjoy this three part Christmas fic!

Chapter 1: The Gift Of Darkness and Light

Sucess usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it

--Henry David Thoreau

Snow, a stereotypical part of that time of year. Snow, trees, the colors red and green, all of them were a part of this season. Another was the exchange of gifts. From down below, a young boy watched with curious eyes as people shuffled from store to store, purchasing different items from a store and moving on to the next.

He blinked as some people walked by unstably with too many parcelled boxes and gift bags under their arms.

They all seemed so happy as one normally would that time of year, but strangely enough this boy wasn't happy.

He brushed a dangling lock of pure gold from his pale face and tucked it behind his ears with a sigh. His hair of normally spiky ebony and ruby lay dangling down his shoulders, and with the addition of his glittering eyes of pure amethyst, it gave him a more exotic appearance.

Sneaking out of his room, he climbed down the stairs carefully and peaked around a door into another section of his home. It was completely filled with people buying games and cards for themselves or friends for the festive season.

Tilting his head slightly, he stared at one of the three men behind the counter. This one looked a lot like him but his hair held more royal gold, slicing through the obsidian black and reaching to grab the dark scarlet that lay just beyond. The former spikes were held in a high ponytail, but it was messy from long hours of work. His eyes, a once vivid crimson, were half-lidded in a sleep deprived state.

The two males that assisted him, a tall blonde with honey glazed eyes and a frantic expression and the other a slightly shorter brunet that moved tiredly reaching to the back case and pulling out the few special offer packs that were left.

All three were over-worked and over-stressed, which was evident from their lazy motions and gazes but the customers didn't care, just continued to push through to reach the front, pay for their things and get out of there.

"Mou hitori no boku?" The young eavesdropper called out to his near duplicate who in turn gazed up at him in slight surprise before smiling and turning back to a customer who held her hand out and dropped a load of change in his hand.

"Yes aibou? What's wrong? Do you need help with something?" He spoke cheerfully despite all the chaos happening all around.

"I was wondering if you'd like a hand Yami-chan?" He spoke brightly already stepping through the door in preparation.

But Yami narrowed his eyes at that, "No no, we're find Yugi, honestly! You can go play some video games, or something, we'll soon be finished."

It was a lie. Yugi knew that, he nodded at Yami and left with his head down. Within the bond Yugi and Yami shared, the hurt would've been evident, had it not been for Yami's distraction.

Yugi closed the door with a sigh, turning the lock to it and sliding to the ground with his head in his hands. He groaned and wiped the imaginary water from his face in an attempt to rejuvenate his dampened spirits.

This was how it had been for close to 9 months now, ever since that day in late March when his beloved Grandfather passed away. Yugi was completely torn, his grandfather was his lifeline. When he was a child, Yugi had seen his parents killed before his eyes and because of it he fell into a great depression that almost no one could pull him from.

Yugi sighed and shook his head. Only Sugoroku had been able to stop Yugi from breaking down completely and now, with him gone, the young hikari nearly fell apart but his other half had been able to help him through it, acting as a father figure to him.

Yami had taken over the responibilites of the shop and doing the basic chores in the house, being the father that Yugi's once was, but there was one problem with that.

Yami wasn't his father, and Yugi didn't want him to be. Yugi wanted Yami to be Yami, not a father but a friend and hopefully something much more...

The crimson eyed teen had done so much, yet he asked for nothing in return. His attention was drawn back to the shouts of the people behind the door, and his eyes widened. They were buying gifts for their loved ones, a gift...would that be good enough to repay his wonderful other half?

With renewed hope in his heart, the teen climbed to his feet and unlocked the door before grabbing his coat, sneaking out the back door and down the street. He had to find a good gift for his Yami, it was the least he could do...

Amethyst eyes lit up as the reflection of pure sparkling gold shone in their depths. "Beautiful..." he whispered under his breath as he examined the every part of the intricate item laid atop a velvet sheet, which added to its mystical look.

He didn't dare touch it, it felt strange to look at since it looked so rare, so...priceless. Yugi's face fell though as the man who held it in the velvet sheet spoke his desired price, far more than he could've dared to pay.

Seeing the crestfallen expression, the man pulled the item away as Yugi's sad eyes trailed over to different couples looking at gifts, these people were obviously prepared to pay thousands of dollars for several simple items, yet he couldn't even afford to buy one.

With a resigned sigh, he left the shop, watching out of the corner of his eye as the item was laid in the front window once more. It was the only thing he found that was truely worthy of Yami's excellence, after all, he was once the great Pharaoh Atemu, and was so used to such great presents, but not anymore.

"Where could I get that kind of money though..." he whispered sadly and trudged on down the street. "Only the gods could help me now..."

Almost as if in response, a bright light shone from around the corner. Eyes widening, he rushed around in building excitment, he could've swore that had he paid any attention to it, his hands would've been shaking.

Groaning, he stopped and noticed it was only a sign to a building, lit up in pure neon blue were the words, "Seventh Heaven"

As he rolled his eyes and was about to walk away, his eyes caught the glimpse of a large sign plastered on the window.

Yugi walked over to it curiously and blinked, "Help wanted..."

A grin broke out on his features as he rushed inside.

Tapping...

Incessant tapping...

A growl...

An irritated growl...

Scarlet eyes snapped shut in annoyance as they finished staring at the clock in the corner. The one that didn't seem to go any faster no matter how hard the Pharaoh willed it to.

It was past midnight and there was no sign of Yugi and due to the long wait, Yami's ill patienced worry had quickly turned into angry annoyance. This had been the case for the past two weeks and Yami was getting fed up of it. At first Yami was worried about him, but the little hikari had insisted that he was just hanging out with Ryou and Bakura (Yami Bakura is referred to as Bakura) and quickly left, and being the agreeable fool he was, Yami had accepted this seeing as how he was busy with the Game Shop.

But now that it was so close to Christmas, the Game Shop could close for the holidays, which left the ancient Pharaoh with one problem off of his list so he could move onto the next. Yugi.

But he would have to continue to wait. And wait. And wait. And-

"Damnit!" He swore loudly, leaping from his seat to pace the floor. He didn't want to seem like a desperate, apprehensive guardian, not only could he not bear to deal with the Tomb Robber teasing because if his over protective nature, he didn't want to be the one to crowd Yugi, knowing how bad it could be from his experience from his preparation to be the next Pharaoh.

And so he took to glaring at what he had once dubbed, "The evil ringing monstrosity of doom that can't leave you alone for five damn minutes!" (A/N: Seriously, don't ask! -.- )

But now all he wanted was to hear that obnoxiously shrill ring and have his sweet aibou's voice sooth his tense nerves, but apparently even appliances took a break for the holidays.

Finally, the suspense and worry got him and he grabbed the phone and typed in a number, waiting anxiously as the sound of ringing filled his head. After what seemed like an eternity, a gruff voice snapped irritably at him.

Yami rolled his eyes. "Hello Tomb Robber, did I interrupt anything?"

Knowing Bakura had an all too blunt reply to this, an out of breath Ryou took over the phone, "NO NO! You didn't interrupt anything Yami, we were just...uh...wrapping some presents!"

Yami accepted this though he could've sworn he heard Bakura shouting in the background that he was unwrapping some as well. Strange... (A/N: O.o )

"Oh...kay, well if Yugi is still over there can you tell him to come home. It's getting rather late."

"Yugi? He hasn't been here all day Yami, in fact, I haven't seen him since I last came over to the Game Shop to visit. I should really come over again before Christmas day."

"You haven't seen him?" Yami couldn't surpress the surprise or fear in his voice.

"Well, no. What's wrong Yami? Where's Yugi?" Ryou's worried voice drifted down the receiver, but as Yami opened his mouth to reply, it was at that time Yugi chose to walk in.

"Nevermind, it's alright now. I'll see you soon. Merry Christmas." Satisfied with the similar reply, Yami put the phone down and turned to his hikari, who was busily pulling off his soggy coat and gloves and throwing them haphazardly around the furniture in an almost exhausted fashion.

"Hello aibou, what's the matter? Why are you so tired?" Yami questioned carefully.

"Hmm? Oh hi Yami." Yugi called out tiredly and in disinterest, but the tone hurt Yami more than he let on. "No no, I was just helping Ryou and Bakura finish decorating and wrapping presents and stuff and I'm just a little worn out."

"Really?" Yami raised an eyebrow. Yugi paid no attention to the unconvinced tone as he stretched and stood in front of the dying fire.

"Yeah, but we got finished quite early so we had a game of 'Monster World', I guess we didn't realise the time had gone by so quickly. Well, I'm tired so I'm going to bed, night Yami." With that, Yugi quickly sprinted up the stairs, eager to lie down and have a well deserved rest.

"Goodnight...aibou..." Yami felt great hurt. Yugi was so detached and impassive, he didn't even call him by his affectionate nicknames just "Yami" not even "Yami-chan."

"Did I...do something wrong...? Is Yugi mad at me because I've been so busy lately?" Yami's crushed gaze remained on the ground before him, watching the dying shadows of the fire dance along the ground for their last time.

"I'm going out to Ryou's again tonight Yami! I'll see you later!" Not waiting for a reply, Yugi skipped out the front door and down the street.

A sad frown plastered itself onto Yami's face as he listened to Yugi's footsteps fade into the distance. Have I really done this much damage to him that he doesn't even want to look at me? He thought sadly as his legs suddenly felt very weak and sent his body plummeting to the ground.

Scarlet eyes stared blankly at the floor in complete depression and misery, confused as to the meaning of their sadness.

Shaking his head, the former Pharaoh lifted himself shakily to his feet and wandered out of their home, numbly locking it behind him and drifting down the path that Yugi took.

"I was only trying to help him, I didn't mean to be so inconsiderate..." the handsome teen mumbled to himself as he continued down the street.

By pure accident, he was forced to look up when a couple bumped into him. Swirling around his eyes caught a swift glimpse of gold as Yami caught himself before he fell.

Blinking he took a step forward and pressed his hands against the cool glass of a store window. His mouth widened into an amazed smile as his eyes fastened onto a golden object resting on a stand in the midst of a small gathering of other jewellery and boxes alike.

He had fallen in love with it as soon as he seen it, and just beside it was another object that sent a similiar spark flow through him. "Yugi would love that one, maybe I could get it for him."

Yami's delighted expression faltered as he looked at the so called, "low price" labelled underneath. He couldn't afford to buy the gift for Yugi nevermind the second one for himself.

Trailing his fingers wistfully along the surface of the glass, he gave a wistful sigh before moving along the path and letting his fingers fall from the cold surface reluctantly.

There's no way I can afford that present for Yugi, we're only just getting by as it is from the money from the Game Shop and jii-san's inheritence money... Lifting his gloved hand, he held his forehead in irritation.

The only thing I could do would be to attain another job somehow. But what are the odds that I'll get one so close to Christ-...mas...

Yami's thoughts wandered off as his sharp eyes caught the sight of a certain poster that held in large lettering, the words, "Help Wanted"

With a grateful smile, he rushed into the building labelled, "Seventh Heaven"...

Muahaha! Who seen that coming? Eh?

All the intelligent world: (raises hands)

Aerith: ¬.¬ Do you have to be so brutally honest?

All the Intelligent World: (grins and nods happily)

Aerith: Hey! Your car's being towed!

All the Intelligent World: O.o (runs out but can't get through the small crowd and so starts a riot)

Aerith: Hah! Not so smart now! EEP! (dodges burning tyre)

O.o; Ok... Well, this was made extra long for all those people who thought my chapters were too short! Lol! So, please leave a review before these people set me on fire!