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IMPORTANT! ANIME NOTE: Kaiba's first opponent in the DOOM arc is Amelda. He has vowed revenge on Kaiba because he is also an older brother, who's beloved younger brother was killed by Kaiba Corporation weapons. (They were living in a country that was in the middle of a civil war – and Kaiba Corporation was keeping the war going by selling to both sides.) He joins DOOM to get revenge, and is one of the few opponents that Kaiba seems to have some sympathy for.

NAME NOTE: Yugi's grandfather is referred to as Jichan (Which means Grandfather) in the manga, by Yugi and Jounouchi.

CHAPTER 7: THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR

YUGI'S POV

We had ended up staying over… well Yami, Jichan, and me. I wasn't going to push it further. It seemed like the least I could do for Yami. When I saw how thrilled he was to be in his own body, I wondered for how long our being joined had chafed at him. I didn't think he could hide anything from me, but he had sure hid that. Or maybe he hadn't been aware of his longing, until Shadi had granted his wish.

It was strange being separate, being myself again. But I was relieved to discover that I liked myself; that all my strength had not come from him. That I now longer needed him as a protector, but simply wanted him as a friend.

And I could have jumped for joy to find it was Kaiba-kun he wanted, not Anzu.

As powerful as Yami was, he was helpless in this. He was just learning to be his own person: just starting to discover his own interests, to listen to his own desires. Despite his 3,000 years, for once, I was the one who had been there before.

So I was more than happy to do what I could to help things along. I didn't really know Kaiba-kun, in spite of all the stuff we had been through together. But the one thing I did know was that given how aloof he was, they would need to see more of each other. Which meant they would need to be in the same house….

If I didn't know Kaiba-kun, I knew Yami. As attracted as he was in Kaiba-kun, he wasn't ready to leave me. So that meant both of us were staying. And there was no way that Jichan was going to let me go and stay at Kaiba-kun's house, even with Yami as a guardian. As much as he liked Mokuba, the only time he had met Kaiba-kun (if you wanted to call it that) had been at Death-T. Talk about bad first impressions…

But Jichan had been surprisingly agreeable. He had heard all about Duelist's Kingdom and Noa's World, of course. Maybe he was curious.

I was concerned with much more than Yami's love life. I was worried about his heart.

When Yami had lost to Rafael, he had lost his faith in himself along with the duel. I didn't blame Yami for losing. Rafael had been clever. He had used Yami's strengths… his confidence, his pride, his need to protect us… to bait his trap. Yami wouldn't have been Yami, if he hadn't fallen for it.

When I had protected him from the consequences of his defeat; when I had pushed him out of the way; when I had let my soul be taken in place of his – I had done it out of love. But I had also done it because it was the only way to prove to him that even after all that had happened, I still trusted him. That even though I had seen his fall, I still had faith in his ability to stand back up; to win through. But he hadn't come back, yet – not all the way. Oh, he had gone on to defeat DOMA, to save me and the world, once again. But he had never forgiven himself. And every time I tried to reach him, there was a hesitation… as if he was afraid to let me see him; as if he felt he didn't deserve to be a part of me. And he didn't realize that by denying our bond, he was denying me its wonders as well.

I looked on this latest adventure with relief. It had taken me a while to realize, and even longer to admit – but Yami needed something I couldn't provide. So, for once, I looked on Kaiba-kun with cautious hope. After all, if there was anyone who knew what it was like to do something unforgivable, it was him. Whether he would want to help was a more open question. He was, without a doubt, the craziest person I had ever met, and, besides Yami, one of the more dangerous. It sometimes amazed me he was still walking around alive and free – that no one had managed to kill him; that he wasn't in a mental hospital somewhere – or in jail. And yet… every time Yami or I had needed his help – in his own rude, graceless, often insane way – he had given it.

In the end, staying over had proved surprisingly easy. I took a deep breath before approaching Kaiba-kun. I had spoken to him rarely, myself. His appearance was usually immediately followed by Yami's. At the time I had assumed it was because Yami considered him an ongoing threat – a reasonable assumption given the other boy's well earned reputation for unpredictability and his violent temper. But now, I wondered whether Yami had just liked talking to him.

For whatever reason, Kaiba-kun had accepted at face value my assertion that we wanted to stay at the mansion so that in case Shadi returned, we would all be in the same place… and that Jichan was needed in case we discovered any ancient texts that needed translating.

Without comment, he had arranged rooms for us, shown us to the kitchen, or rather kitchens. One was fully stocked; complete with a chef. The other seemed to contain only coffee, snack foods and a table. Jichan settled into that one immediately. Kaiba-kun surprised me by arranging for a limo to take Jichan to and from the shop each day, merely remarking that he didn't expect him to neglect his business.

"Yami," I called into his mind. As I felt his momentary hesitation, I added, "Please, let me in."

"I'm sorry, aibou," he answered immediately.

I tried to cheer him up. "Kaiba-kun seemed surprisingly agreeable, almost out of character…"

"I know. But he is unpredictable. And your explanation was logical. He couldn't argue without revealing that he can read hieroglyphics, also."

"Maybe… but I still think something else is going on. He'd never ask, but maybe he wants your help protecting Mokuba from Akunadin. Or maybe…" I took a deep breath and continued, "Maybe, it's because this way he gets to see you, without having to admit he wants to. Maybe, he was too glad of a chance to spend some time with you to raise any objections. What was it he said to you… that day at Alcatraz, when we fought Malik?"

"That if friendship truly resided in the cards, his card had possibilities," Yami smiled. "His card was the one that enabled us to endure long enough to prevail. It was fitting thatKaiba's card meant life. For as often as he has won, his true victory has always been in survival – his own… and Mokuba's. Kaiba's and my soul crossed that day. He didn't just give me a card; he willed a piece of himself to me."

"Then maybe it's time for you to claim it."

He looked at me hesitantly. "There'll always be a place for you with me, if that's what you want," I reassured him. " I'll stay with you, until you decide where your true home lies."

"I don't deserve you, aibou," he said seriously; too seriously.

I smiled, "Well, then that makes two of us.

YAMI'S POV

Yugi had been right, as usual. I was seeing more of Kaiba than in our years of dueling. I was enjoying the slow, almost unconscious unveiling of his thoughts. We were often the only people up at night. Although I was in a human body now, I didn't seem to have much more need for sleep than as a spirit. A lack Kaiba seemed to share.

Not that he did anything as overt as show a desire for my company. He was usually at his computer late at night. But he left his bedroom door open, as if in silent invitation. Seto and Kouma were still next door in Mokuba's old room. Kaiba had transformed his connecting office into a bedroom for Mokuba, and moved his computer equipment into his own bedroom. It seemed a curiously make-shift arrangement for a billionaire with a half-empty mansion.

He would usually be typing when I came to find him. I would lean against his desk. I soon noticed that his hands would still on the keyboard as we talked.

"I haven't seen you much since DOMA," I said.

"Ah, you're here to talk about the recent, not the ancient, past."

"I've never forgotten it… Rafael, I mean."

"So it seems that even though you've avenged it, you can't let go of your losses any more easily than I."

My eyes flashed at that. "It wasn't just losing a duel." I ignored his snort. "I lost because, for once, I didn't listen to Yugi. I was so sure of my own strength, it never occurred to me that it could become my weakness."

"For what it's worth, I would probably have made the same choice." He laughed, a little bitterly. "I don't suppose that's much comfort." He looked at me seriously, "Will you make that mistake again?"

"No."

"Then at least you learned something. No mistakes this time – do you remember telling me that?"

I was surprised that he had been able to hear – much less that he remembered what I had said to Mokuba, as Kaiba had sat in the Shadow Realm, piecing his heart together.

"Is that why you could resist DOMA where I could not?"

"No. My case was different. Amelda was not attacking my weakness, but his. After all, Amelda was telling me that I had the blood of countless, unknown people on my hands – both for my own part in creating the designs Gozaburo used – and for the sins that I inherited when I took control of Kaiba Corporation. That everything I was, and am, is based on murder. What was he telling me that I don't already know? Amelda's words held no surprises for me."

"Why are you accepting his version of your life? Doesn't all you've done, all you've built, since then count for anything?"

"Why don't we ask Amelda's brother?" he answered, quietly.

I had admired, often reluctantly, Kaiba's fearlessness in facing his life, his resolution in meeting its challenges. If, at times, he had gone grievously awry, he had always struggled on.

But he held on to his guilt with the same determination; was as merciless to himself as to his opponents.

The one thing I had learned from Yugi was to understand my adversaries, despite the need to defeat their actions. Malik, Pegasus, even Kaiba himself… I had tried to look into their hearts, not merely shatter them; to leave them with a way to rebuild. I looked on Kaiba's grim face, as he stood there like a warning beacon – I thought of the way he insisted on punishing himself, when I had shown him mercy – and I began to wonder if I could afford to be any less generous with myself, than to my enemies.

Our conversations were occasionally interrupted by a cry from one of the bedrooms at either end of Kaiba's room. Kouma's child's wail had Kaiba up and running, leaving the door open behind him – either in his haste, or in an unspoken signal for me to remain. I would hear him singing lullabies in his resonant baritone, Seto joining in with his lighter tenor. They made a good duet, once I had gotten over the surprise that Kaiba knew any lullabies, much less would sing them.

Some nights the interruption would come from the opposite door: Mokuba crying out in a nightmare before realizing he was awake. Kaiba would talk to him softly, his deep voice rumbling, to low for me to make out the words, even through the open door. Invariably the opposite door would open, and I would see Seto stare across at Mokuba's room. He never acknowledged my presence; neither spoke nor crossed the threshold. He would stand a moment in silence, as if reassuring himself that all was well, before closing his door.

Kaiba would usually return after he had gotten them to sleep; making no comment on what had passed… an unspoken line I did not cross. And I could not tell if their nightmares had been brought on by the unusual circumstances in which they found themselves, or if they were a semi-regular occurrence. Some nights, when the wait grew, I would peep into one or the other bedroom. I would find Kaiba and Seto asleep, with little Kouma like a prize between them. Or turning in the other direction, I would discover Kaiba and Mokuba dreaming peacefully, in each others arms. I noticed – all the beds were far too large for a child, as if they had been made to accommodate Kaiba's tall frame.

More rarely, as we talked, I would hear a single whimper, hastily choked off. As Kaiba slowly headed, face grim, towards what I thought of as Kouma's room, I realized that hushed cry could only have come from Seto. On those nights Kaiba closed the door and did not return.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Although I've shown Yami as being pleased to be in his own body, I also see him as being a little unsure of himself -- after all he hasn't had a physical existence in 3,000 years. And I could see Yugi being pleased at being the one able to help Yami.

RESPONSES

Yami x Seto: (AnimeFan-Artemis) I hate to say this, but it's going to take a while for these two to come together. As you can see, as attracted to Kaiba as Yami is, he has some serious things to work out with his other significant other, first. And as the next chapter starts to make clear, Kaiba has his own reasons for not only refusing to admit that he could love anyone – but for refusing to admit that anyone could love him. So, I hope everyone's patient.

Seto: (Desidera, samurai-ashes, Tuulikki) Seto's been a lot of fun to write, mainly because there really isn't much about him in the manga or the subtitled anime. You see flashbacks of him at 10, and the manga starts at Death-T. I guess I'm trying to show the boy who's in the middle – is still recognizably like the ten year old who gave everything to save his brother – but is in the process of becoming the teenager who almost killed him. I've tried to make him almost painfully aware – yet still a young teenager. I was surprised to read something on birthdays – and realized that Kaiba is actually the youngest of the YuGiOh characters (except for Mokuba and Serenity). Also, I wanted to show the side of him that could outwit an International Grand Master at 10 – the sort of driven, implacable child that could have set this all in motion, and could hold his own with just about anyone.

Mokuba: (Desidera, Mistal: The Poisoned One, samurai-ashes, Tokemi) One thing that's always impressed me about Mokuba is that his love isn't blind. He has a very clear sense of who his brother is – it's part of his love. The story goes on to look at their life in a little more detail, and to show why Mokuba has kept this love, even through Death-T.

POV Changes, plot, pacing: (Desidera, Leland Lancaster, Tuulikki) I'm trying for the most part for the linking narratives in each chapter to either carry the story forward, or show different perspectives on the same events. I find it interesting to see who ends up with whom.

Shadi, Yami: (Leland Lancaster, samurai-ashes, Tuulikki) It's funny – I hadn't thought about it consciously – but between them, Shadi, Yami and Kaiba have all possible opinions on memory, and its importance, covered.

Kouma: (AnimeFan-Artemis) It's funny – I hadn't realized how many letters they have in common. I picked Kouma because it means "Pony" so I thought it went with "Wooden Horse" which is what Mokuba means. Besides, I think he does look a little like a Shetland Pony.

Thanks to Ecogoth for your encouragement. When writing a long story, it's nice to know people are enjoying it.