Okay, there's a lot of mis-spellings in this chapter, but that's because children are speaking, and you know how they mispornounce things. If you can't translate it, you're not trying hard enough. I tried to make it as simple as I possibly could. Also, there's a time-laps of two years. Yugi goes from being One to Three. Enjoy!

---

The room was small, but not too confining. Atem sat on the suede love seat – couch while Yugi played with some toys and colored on some scrap paper. Another man sat in a desk chair, writing down things on a clipboard every once in a while. "So Yugi, do you like to color?" Yugi looked up from his artwork and looked at the man with a smile.

"Yeah." The man with the clipboard smiled and wrote on it.

"That's good. Do you know your colors very well?" Yugi nodded. "That's good too; can you draw me a picture of something?" Yugi smiled and turned to another piece of paper. The man looked up at Atem and smiled.

"It's good that he knows his colors. He can use them to communicate." Atem cocked his head.

"Communicate?" The other man nodded.

"Yes, most children express their feelings through their pictures such as: red means anger," Atem nodded in understanding, "green can mean envy or not feeling well, yellow can mean happiness and so on."

"I understand … Dr. Shanker; did the tests come back with any news at all?" The man, named Dr. Shanker, nodded and reached for a few files. A few weeks earlier, Yugi had to be put through a PET scan and they had yet to see the results.

"Here they are." The man gave Atem the results of his son's tests.

"What are these red spots?"

"Oh, those are the areas of the brain that may have some difficulty developing as he grows." Atem blinked.

"What do you mean difficulty?" Shanker sighed and flipped through some of the other files in the folder.

"You told me that Yugi said that he couldn't remember where he was when he started to run off? Or how that man came to be on top of him?" Atem nodded.

"Yes, that's right … what's the problem?"

"The problem is …" he leaned in closer to Atem and lowered his voice before he continued, "the problem is that the damage that Yugi took when he when he was in his biological mother's womb is starting to take effect on his growing mind; particularly his memory. The abuse probably caused a case known as Dissociative Fugue, in which case the person outwardly appears normal, but at the same time, the person has extensive amnesia and is confused about their identity. Yugi's cases seem to only be a few seconds or minutes, but as time goes on, they could grow to days, weeks, or even years. And Yugi wouldn't remember anything that happened in the Fugue state." Atem's eyes were widened with horror. He was breathing very rapidly too.

"Oh no … is there anything we can do?" Shanker looked at Yugi who had finished the picture he was asked to color.

"That's very nice, Yugi. Who are these people?" The people in the drawing were circle people with arms and legs; they were colored in yellow. Yugi pointed to the taller person he drew.

"Das Daddy." He said. Atem smiled and kissed Yugi's head.

"And I guess this is you?" Yugi nodded.

"Das 'a 'ouse." On the other side of the house were two other characters.

"And who would these be?" Yugi pointed to the taller one.

"Unka Mawic 'n Unka Koowa." He said. If you couldn't understand that, it was Uncle Marik and Uncle Bakura. Suddenly, Atem looked at the small drawing that Yugi did of himself and noticed that he drew himself with a frown on his face. The young father took the picture and held it in front of his tiny son.

"Yugi, why are you sad in this picture?" Yugi snuggled into his father's chest before answering.

"I hut …" Atem wrapped his arms around Yugi and held him tightly.

"Perhaps I could keep this." Shanker said, putting the drawing in Yugi's file.

"Dr. Shanker, you didn't answer my question … how am I going to help Yugi's memory problem?" Shanker took a small pad of paper and quickly wrote something down on it.

"Here, this medicine should do the trick. It's a ninety day prescription and it's only ten grams right now. I want to see how he does on this medicine first before I increase the dosage. Have him take this medicine once a day at breakfast. It should help keep the Fugue episodes under control." Atem nodded.

"Thank you, Doctor." Atem stood up with Yugi in his arms and walked out the door.

---

Two Years Later …

Yugi was now three years old. Other disorders had surfaced as well. Apparently, his 'life giver' liked to smoke when she was pregnant, so a case of Asthma developed. Due to the malnutrition he was given as a fetus, his system couldn't produce sugar properly, giving him Diabetes. Yugi's ADD was starting to surface as well as his dyslexia. The child was given a number of medications that Atem was beginning to think that someone was trying to overdose him. But all of these medicines proved to be helping his fragile son instead of hurting him, so he kept his mouth shut.

Now that Yugi was three, it was time for him to start preschool. Atem knew that Yugi had never been around other kids his own age and he didn't know how that would affect his ability to make friends. The young father took a look in the rear-view mirror and snuck a peek at Yugi. The child was bouncing up and down in his car seat with a smile on his face. He was so excited to start school. Atem sighed as he pulled into the parking lot of a day care center known as Kindercare. (This was the name of the preschool/day care I went to … and I hated that place!)

Once inside, Atem signed Yugi in and noticed all the children that were playing; different kinds of children all over the place. Yugi's fist clung to Atem's pant leg, gaining his attention. He had a small back pack with a blanket, a pillow, and the panda bear stuffed animal, whom Yugi had officially dubbed 'Ping' inside of it. Along with Yugi's inhaler, insulin, and anxiety medicine, which he'd take at lunch with his insulin. Atem walked into the room with Yugi trying to hide behind his legs. A young looking lady came in with a big smile on her face.

"Hi, I'm Ms. Lisa, and welcome to Kindercare." Atem nodded; he was not comfortable around this lady's perky attitude.

"Hello, I'm Atem Darkling, and this bundle trying to hide behind me, is my son, Yugi Darkling." Yugi peeked out from behind Atem's leg and blinked one large amethyst eye.

"Oh aren't you just the cutest thing!" Yugi quickly hid behind Atem again. "Oh, there's no need to be scared, Little Yugi … see, we're all friends here." Yugi smiled, but hid it in his father's leg. "Come with me and I'll show you to your cubby." Ms. Lisa walked to the other side of the counter where a row of boxes and hangers were. One box said 'Yugi' on it in big blue letters. You could tell that one of the older kids colored it with markers. Atem hung Yugi's jacket on the hanger and put his pillow, blanket, and Ping into the box.

"Alright now, this is his attention medicine; he's supposed to take it at lunch after he'd been given this, his insulin; but check his sugar level before you give it to him. His inhaler must be taken before he can go outside or else he won't be able to breathe." Ms. Lisa giggled.

"Don't worry, Mr. Darkling. We'll take good care of Yugi." Atem didn't seem too sure, but he nodded.

"Well, also, he's a Hemophiliac, meaning that if he gets a scrape, it could be very serious if it starts to bleed."

"Oh my …"

"Yes, so please keep an eye on him at all times."

"We will, Mr. Darkling, don't worry." Atem kneeled down and brought Yugi into a deep hug.

"Alright Yugi, I'm gonna go now, alright?" Yugi looked at Atem with sad eyes.

"Yoo goin' 'way?" The father nodded.

"Yes, I have to go. But don't worry, I'll be back to pick you up later." Yugi flung his arms around Atem's neck.

"Wanna go wif yoo!" Atem sighed and kissed Yugi on the cheek.

"No, Little One … you have to stay here … go make some new friends." Yugi started to cry and shiver. "I know you're scared, Yugi, but you don't have to be. I promise I'll come back for you."

"Pinky pomis?" Yugi asked, holding out his tiny pinky. Atem chuckled and wrapped his own round the smaller one.

"Pinky promise." Atem gave Yugi one last kiss before walking away, not looking back. When Yugi heard the door close, he knew for sure that his father had left him. Tears of fear and abandonment filled his eyes, but before they had a chance to fall, Ms. Lisa took his hand.

"Yugi, would you like to meet everyone?" Yugi sniffled and nodded. Ms. Lisa took him over to the carpeted area where a circle of boys and girls was. "Children, children! We have a new friend joining us today. Yugi, this is Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Tea Gardner, Malik Ishtar, Ryou (okay, gonna make up a last name here, and then I'm gonna add some made up kids, just to make their class seem bigger.) Walker, Seto Kaiba, (Can you imagine seeing him as a three year old?) Ricky Lograsso, Emily Greene, Nick Mayberry, Melissa Scholle, Scott Smith, Courtney Mets, Alexis Carpenter, and Justin Morris. Children, this is Yugi Darkling. Let's all give him a big welcome.

"Hi, Yugi Dawkin'!" All the children said at the same time. Yugi blushed and waved his hand.

" … … Hi … …" The blonde boy, known as Joey, snickered.

"Wat's wif yo hair? Aww yoo a fweek?" All the other children laughed loudly as Yugi blushed and tears formed in his eyes.

"Joey Wheeler, that was not nice, say you're sorry this instant!"

"Otay … sowy Ugly!" The children laughed again. And Yugi started to cry this time.

"That's enough, Joey! Three minutes of time out in the corner!" Joey pouted and stomped off into the corner. Ms. Lisa turned her attention back to the other children. "Now, let's treat Yugi with as much respect as you want to be treated, okay?"

---

A few hours later, all the other children still ignored Yugi. And Joey didn't miss a chance to make fun of the new kid. A couple of times, Ms. Lisa had to pull the blonde class-clown away from the shy tri-haired boy. Right now, Yugi was currently sitting at a table, minding his own business with his coloring. One of the older kids, who Yugi knew as Mai sat and colored with him. "That's very good, Yugi." The older blonde girl said. Yugi smiled.

"Tanku." She just couldn't get over how adorable Yugi was. Too bad this was her last year at Kindercare; she was turning thirteen this year and that was the last year for everyone in the day care. "I wuv my Daddy." Yugi said, randomly." Mai smiled at him.

"I bet he loved you too." Yugi was drawing another picture of him and Atem in front of their house. Suddenly, a tan girl with long black hair hopped over.

"Hey Mai, we need you over in the four year olds' class … who's this?"

"Oh, this is Yugi; it's his first day today. Yugi, this is my best friend, Ishizu." The girl known as Ishizu kneeled down to Yugi's level.

"Hi, Yugi, how are you?"

"Good …" Ishizu laughed.

"Mai, he's adorable!"

"Isn't he? That Joey kid has been giving him trouble all day, though." Ishizu's face saddened.

"Awe, I hope my bratty little brother hasn't done that too …"

"No, Malik's been minding his own business." Ishizu laughed.

"Well, like I said; we need your held with the fours'." The tan girl took one last look at how cute Yugi was.

"I'll be right back, okay Yugi?"

"'Kay." Just as the two girls left, a little boy with white hair who strangely looked like Uncle Bakura came up to him.

"Hi, New Kid." He said.

"Hi … I Yugi … wat's your name?"

"I Wyoo." Suddenly, Yugi's head started to hurt. He put his hand on his head and started to groan out of pain. There was a strange tingle in his eye and he felt dizzy, but then suddenly, it went away. He blinked and looked at the boy next to him, who was looking at the smaller boy in confusion.

"Hi, I Yugi … wat's your name?" The other boy blinked and raised an eye brow at him.

"Yoo weird …" He said, leaving. Yugi's eyes started to water. He smashed the crayon down on the paper he'd been coloring on and broke it. He put his head down and started to cry. Suddenly, a shadow covered him. He looked up to see Ms. Lisa standing over him.

"Oh Yugi, what's the matter?" Yugi sniffled and pointed at Ryou.

"He say I weird …" Ms. Lisa kneeled down and hugged Yugi, rubbing his back.

"There, there … you know what; I bet I know what would make you feel better." Yugi sniffled again.

"Wat?"

"It's time to go outside. C'mon, let's get your inhaler." Yugi nodded and followed Ms. Lisa into the office.

---

Some time later, Yugi found himself wandering around the playground. He didn't know what to do; there was a plastic jungle gym with a curly slide, but it looked crowded. The basketball court had lots of different kinds of balls in it, but they all looked bigger then he was. Then he saw something he really loved: swings! He loved to swing; which is why his father had to put up a swing set in the back yard. He slowly walked over to the swings. There were only four, and three of them were occupied by Tristan, Tea, and Seto. The other children watched him walk over to the last swing. All of a sudden, he was pushed to the ground by someone … and who was that someone? Why, Joey Wheeler of course. "Hey, I was gonna swing!" Yugi whined. Joey spat a raspberry at him.

"On yo' feets, lose yo' seats!" Yugi continued to pout while the others laughed.

"I'm telling!" Yugi turned around to find Ms. Lisa, but when he did, Joey's shoe kicked him right in the temple, causing him to fall to the ground. Tristan, Tea, and Seto, along with Joey all laughed when he was covered in grass. Suddenly, Yugi didn't feel so good anymore … he didn't even know where he was. "Daddy …?" He couldn't remember anything that happened and his head was really starting to hurt. "Daddy where aww you …?" He put his fingers to his temple and saw red sticky stuff coming out of it. The stuff was coming out of him really fast. He crawled around the grass, hoping he'd find his daddy soon. "I want my Daddy …" The world was spinning and he felt like he was going to throw up … where was he? Where was Daddy? He wanted to go home where it was safe. Pretty soon, he started to cry. The blood running down his face was starting to sting his eyes. Finally, he stopped crawling and sat in the grass with his fingers on his head. There, he began to weep out loud.

Ms. Lisa heard him and ran up to him. She gasped when she saw the blood on his face. "Yugi, what happened?" Yugi wouldn't stop crying, he was now hysterical.

"I WANT MY DADDY!" Ms. Lisa picked him up and ran inside to get help, Yugi still crying hysterically.

---

Forty-five minutes of cleaning later, Atem raced through the glass door of the day care. "Where is he!" He demanded. A lady in a nice suit walked Atem to the twos' class room. There, he saw Yugi hiccupping with Ping clutched in his arms. "Yugi …" Yugi looked up at the sound of his name.

"Daddy!" He raised his arms. Atem immediately picked him up and hugged him for all he was worth. Yugi's tears were still falling. Ms. Lisa stood behind them, looking sad.

"How did this happen?"

"The children were playing outside and I found him crawling in the grass, crying."

"Fine, but what about the cut? I told you he was a Hemophiliac!"

"One of the other boys kicked him in the head, and don't worry, we're going to speak to his parents about this." Atem sighed.

"It was a mistake making him come here … he's not ready."

"Mr. Darling, with all due respect, Yugi needs to start his education now, and he needs to be around children his own age."

"What, so they can do this to him again?"

"I'm going to try my best to keep the two boys away from each other. Please don't shield Yugi like this, it'll only hurt him in the end." Atem looked at Yugi who was resting his head on his shoulder.

"Yugi, go get your things together." He put the child down, who slowly walked to his cubby.

"You're right … but I think this may be too much for him … perhaps I should just ease him into coming here for a little while."

"What do you mean, Mr. Darkling?"

"I mean that instead of him coming every day, I'm going to make it every other day for a while."

"But then he'll be behind the other children."

"He watches preschool shows, so I'll make sure he won't … and it's only for a little while." Ms. Lisa sighed.

"Well, you're his father. If that's what you want to do, then so be it." Atem nodded.

"It's for the best."

---

Meanwhile, Yugi put on his jacket and held Ping in his arms. Suddenly, two boys stood in his way. It was Ryou and Malik. "Yoo goin' home?" Malik asked. Yugi slowly nodded. Ryou blinked.

"Why?" Yugi rubbed his head.

"'Cuz I gots a boo-boo …" Malik just stared at him.

"When yoo comin' back?" Yugi shrugged. Ryou took a step closer to him.

"Sowy I calld-ed yoo weird." Yugi looked up and smiled.

"Tanku … wat's your name?"

"I told-ed yoo aw-weddy." The smallest boy looked at the floor sadly.

"I fo-get awots …"

"'Kay, I Wyoo, dis Malik." Yugi smiled.

"I Yugi." Ryou and Malik smiled at Yugi. "Yoo wook wike Unka Mawic and Unka Koowa." Ryou and Malik looked at each other. The tallest one, Malik giggled.

"When yoo come back, we can pway." Yugi's eyes lit up.

"Otay!"

"Yugi, time to go!" Atem suddenly said. Yugi waddled to his father's side. The two boys waved at their new friend.

"Bye-bye, Yugi!" Yugi waved back at them.

"Bye-bye!"

---

End of Chapter