A/N: I deeply apologize for not updating this story in so long. I had to keep up with school and work and my writing got bumped down on my list of priorities. But, I'm back now, and I'm hoping to finish this story and I have two other stories in the works that I hope to post. The Alone may be discontinued; I need to go back and look at it and see if I can find the inspiration that I had for it originally.

Anywho, on to the fic!

Chapter 8

Yugi sat on the edge of one of the many balconies jutting out from the sides of the house, his legs dangling over the side. The sun was setting over the mountains in the distance, spreading a red-gold light over the thick forest below. Although he was tired, Yugi was very happy.

It was only two nights ago that Yami and Yugi had first made love, and ever since then Yugi had felt as though he was floating along down a calm river. It was the most wonderful feeling he ever remembered having. Today, Yugi had been outside for most of the afternoon. Although it had been cold because of the approaching winter, the sun had been out and brightly shining down on the forest and the house nestled within it. It had felt so wonderful to be out in the sun again; it seemed like so long since he had seen daylight. The only thing that made him sad was that he had to enjoy it alone; neither Yami nor the kegawa could survive in the sun, which, though it was warm and comforting to Yugi, could kill Yami and cause the kegawa to simply disappear.

Now, Yugi was high up on the balcony watching the sunset, his legs tired from running around in the garden all day (something that he had rarely gotten to do as a child), and quite ready to get some sleep. As soon as the sun had sunk low enough that it was only a faint glow on the horizon, Yugi stood and went back into the house. As soon as he had closed the door, the kegawa made a flying leap at him, purring wildly.

"Did you miss me that much?" Yugi asked, then giggled as some of the little black creatures climbed up to tickle his neck.

"Did you have fun?" a voice asked. Yugi looked up to see Yami standing in the shadow of the doorway. Yugi smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it was wonderful," he said. Yami smiled back. Yugi stepped over to Yami, the kegawa still purring and clinging to his clothing. He looked up at Yami shyly, then quickly planted a chaste kiss on his lips. Yami's smile widened, and, tracing Yugi's cheek with his fingertips, leaned in for another kiss. The kegawa began making a very deep purring sound, and Yugi broke the kiss laughing. He leaned his head against Yami's shoulder, taking one of Yami's hands and rubbing it gently, an action that was quickly becoming a habit. He unsuccessfully tried to suppress a yawn.

"Tired?" Yami asked. Yugi nodded, and they suddenly found themselves in the bedroom. Yugi shed his cloak and his shoes and fell into bed. Yami kissed his forehead affectionately, and within moments Yugi was asleep. Yami sat on the edge of the bed, watching Yugi's sleeping form. His brow creased in a frown as he fell deep into his own thoughts. For the past couple of days he had been trying to remember all that he could about his mother and his childhood, but aside from knowing that he had had a mother and a childhood he hadn't managed to formulate much else.

The thing that haunted him most was the covered painting in the east turret. He hadn't yet worked up the courage to look at it. Yami also hadn't yet worked up the courage to ask Yugi to help him, which he had been meaning to do. Even though taking the cloth off the painting seemed like a simple task, the thought of what might be behind the painting and what memories might arise from it terrified him (an emotion that he was not used to at all). He doubted that he could weather the storm without Yugi, but there was an irrational fear nagging him in the back of his mind, a fear that Yugi would only laugh at him despite the fact that Yugi had been nothing but kind and loving since they had met.

Yami's frown deepened. Images of his mother and of unknown men in black cloaks were constantly flashing through his mind, but they were disconnected and unclear. He would have to tell Yugi at some point, before he really lost his mind. Yami lay down on top of the covers next to the human, listening to Yugi's steady breathing. He decided that he would tell Yugi as soon as he woke up. Yami closed his eyes, and within minutes Yugi's soft breath had lulled Yami to sleep.

Yugi awoke feeling warm and rested. He sat up, expecting to see Yami lying next to him, but instead Yami was sitting in a chair next to the bed.

"Good morning," Yami said when he saw that Yugi was awake.

"Good morning," Yugi replied, stretching. "How long have you been awake?"

"About an hour," Yami said. Yugi frowned, looking at Yami a bit closer.

"Did you sleep well, Yami? You don't look very good."

Yami ran a hand through his hair. He actually seemed nervous, which was highly unusual. "Yugi, I…" he started, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

Yugi nodded. "Okay… what about?"

"Well, a couple days ago when you were playing that… that song, I remembered some… things. About my past."

Yugi frowned slightly. What had Yami forgotten?

Yami sighed. Yugi couldn't understand why Yami was so nervous.

"But these things, they… they don't make much sense right now, they're just… random images. There's nothing really specific about any of them, but…"

Yami paused again, running his hand through his hair. Yugi got out of bed and went over to Yami, taking his hand and rubbing it soothingly. It was suddenly clear to him: Yami hadn't just forgotten a few things about his past. He didn't remember anything. Yami took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

"In the east turret, there's a painting, and it's been covered up for as long as I can remember. For some reason, I know that I'm not supposed to take the cover off, but I don't know why. It's just something… something that I know. But I think that, if I look at it, it might help me remember."

Yami looked up at Yugi in an almost shy manner, then quickly looked down at his lap again. "I just… I haven't been, uh… able to, uh… do it yet."

Yugi kneeled down and looked Yami in the eye. "Do you want me to help you?" Yugi asked. Yami just nodded. Yugi smiled at him and pulled Yami into his arms.

"Of course I will, Yami. We'll figure it all out, okay?"

Yami nodded again, closing his eyes and leaning into Yugi's touch. Yugi was surprised to find that Yami was trembling slightly. His past was very uncertain territory, and Yugi imagined that it was probably very frightening for Yami to not know where he had come from, or even who he really was.

"When do you want to do this?" Yugi asked when Yami seemed to have recovered a bit.

"Now?" Yami asked.

"Okay," Yugi said, and they were suddenly in a room that Yugi had never seen before. There weren't any candles lit, so it was very dark, and the air smelled musty and damp. Yugi hugged himself, suddenly cold. The room had an uneasy, almost oppressive feel to it, and the uncomfortable feeling of being trapped came over Yugi.

Yami lit a few candles, but even then their light seemed confined to a small area, as though the darkness was too dense to be broken. Yugi could see an armchair sitting by a window with heavy drapes. The only other piece of furniture in the room that wasn't covered with a sheet was a dusty table next to the armchair. Looking around, Yugi saw the walls were bare except for one item. On the opposite side of the window, right next to the door, there was something hanging on the wall covered by a cloth. Yugi assumed it to be the painting Yami had spoken of.

The two of them stepped over to the painting. Yami seemed wary of it, as though something might jump out from behind the cloth and attack them. Yugi took Yami's hand, trying to reassure him. Yami squeezed Yugi's hand gratefully, then took a corner of the cloth in his other hand. He took a deep breath, then pulled the cloth down in one fluid motion. The dusty fabric cascaded to the floor, and the two of them stared at the revealed painting.

It was a woman, a woman with warm, deep violet eyes and long black hair with streaks of red in it. She was wearing a dark green dress with cream-colored lace around the neckline, and there was a silver chain around her neck with a gold ring on it. But that was not what surprised Yugi. In the woman's lap there was a boy of maybe three or four years old, wearing clothes that were a style of many centuries past. He was painted with a smile on his face, and one of his hands grasped the woman's hand. His hair, oddly colored with black, gold, and crimson, stuck out in all directions, and his jagged bangs fell into his dark red eyes.

"Yami…" Yugi said softly, breaking the silence, but Yami didn't seem to hear him. He stepped forward slowly, as though in a trance, staring intently at the painting. Slowly, he reached out and touched the painting where the child's hand held onto the woman's. There were several long moments of silence.

"That's…" Yami said finally. "That's me…" he said softly. "And that's my mother." His voice became thick with overwhelming emotion. Yugi could feel tears welling up in his eyes, then he gasped as Yami fell to his knees.

"Yami!" he cried, but Yami didn't seem to hear him. He was still in an entranced state, staring up at the portrait that had faded through the centuries. Suddenly, Yami could remember. He remembered his mother clearly, and why he had no memory of a father. He remembered who those cloaked men were, and what they had done to him under the moonlight so long ago.

Yami found that he could no longer hold in his grief; it was just too much for him to keep back. A single tear fell first and was followed by many. The raw pain that he had kept pent-up throughout the centuries began to consume him from within. He suddenly remembered why he had covered the painting and vowed never to look at it again. It was because he had not wanted to experience this pain again, this pain of being alone in the cold darkness with only his bitter memories.

But… he wasn't alone. Not anymore. He could feel Yugi's arms around him, Yugi's body holding him up against the storm. There was warmth and there was light, and there was a soothing voice to whisper words of love to him. He wasn't alone.

Yami wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, Yugi holding him while the grief came and passed. He felt exhausted after it had all been let out and didn't feel like moving, but he knew that he would have to tell Yugi everything eventually.

Slowly, Yami raised his head. Yugi's eyes looked back at him worriedly, and Yami tried to reassure him with a weak smile. Without having to say a word, Yugi helped Yami up and they sat on one of the sheet-covered sofas. Yami took a deep, shuddering breath, and felt Yugi take his hand.

"You remember now, don't you," Yugi said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," Yami said, nodding. "Almost everything."

There were several more moments of silence. Yugi waited patiently until Yami was ready, not wanting to rush him.

"I remember my mother now," Yami began, a smile touching his lips. "I remember the house we lived in. It was on the edge of the town, with huge trees all around that would blossom in the spring and a stream that came down from the mountains."

Yami paused for a moment, savoring that sweet memory, but knowing that he would have to move on from it.

"I have no memories of my father before I turned twelve. It had always been just me and my mother. She made and mended dresses for the other women in the town, and her sister's husband was a weaver, so they often did business together. The other women in the town loved the dresses that she made, but…"

He sighed and went on, "… for some reason that I didn't understand, the other women in the village never liked to talk to my mother. The only one that ever visited us regularly was her sister. Whenever we went into town, people would stare at us and whisper things to each other. I tried to ask my mother why they did that, but she never gave me a direct answer."

Yami paused again, and looked over at the painting. "When I was twelve, a strange man showed up at our house. The only thing I remember about him now is that he had eyes like mine. He and my mother talked alone for a while, and then she shouted at him to get out. He left, and we didn't see him again for three years.

"A few months later during the winter, my mother sent me up my aunt's house to get something, but there was a storm and I had to stay at my aunt's. When her husband had gone to bed, I asked her the same question I had asked my mother, about why people stared at us and whispered behind our backs. I think that my aunt had had a little bit too much to drink that night, otherwise she wouldn't have told me.

"My mother had always worn a gold ring on a chain around her neck, and my aunt told me that my father had given it to her before I was born. He had gone off to fight in a war in some far-off place that I'd never heard of, and he promised that when he got back they would get married. But, of course, he had never come back, and my mother had to raise me by herself, and the reason that everyone always stared whenever we went by was because she was an unmarried mother and I was an illegitimate child."

Yami paused again, and Yugi remembered a woman that used to live in his town when he was very little. She had twin daughters with long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The girls had been very nice and Yugi had played with them a couple times when he had been allowed to go outside, but his father never wanted him associating with the girls or their mother. When Yugi was seven or eight, the woman and her daughters simply disappeared and no one ever spoke of them again. Yugi wondered if the same horrible thing that had happened to Yami and his mother had happened to that woman and her daughters, and that they had finally been forced out of town because of it.

"Three years later, my father came back," Yami went on. "But he didn't come alone. There were four other men with him, and they were all dressed in strange black cloaks and were wearing heavy gold chains with a large golden eye on each. My father told my mother that he wanted to take me on his travels for a while. My mother refused, and told them to leave. They did, but only for the moment. They came back a few days later during the night and dragged us out of the house, took a bunch of things including the picture, then burnt it down. Two of the men grabbed me and one held a knife to my throat, telling my mother that if she didn't cooperate they would kill me."

Yami took another deep breath, closing his eyes and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Yugi squeezed his hand and rubbed it gently, and eventually Yami opened his eyes again and continued.

"They took us a long ways through the forest and over the mountains, going towards the east. We eventually stopped somewhere near this general area," Yami gestured vaguely towards the window, "and that was where they separated us. Some of the men took me towards the foot of the mountains, and the rest of the men, along with my father, took my mother into the forest."

Slowly, a tear escaped and fled down Yami's cheek. "I could hear her crying. I tried to get back to her, but I wasn't strong enough." Yami looked up at the painting again. "She was wearing that dress," he said in a whisper.

Yugi scooted closer and put his arms around Yami, fearing another breakdown.

"That was the last time I saw her…" Yami said quietly. He put his head against Yugi's shoulder and was silent for several minutes. Eventually, he sat up again, took another shuddering breath and went on.

"We got to the foot of the mountains, and there was a strange stone structure in the shape of an oval with an altar in the center. It was late afternoon when we got there, and they just tied me up and then sat around. Just before nightfall, the rest of the men and my father arrived. They chained me down to the altar, and my father started asking me strange questions. He asked me if I'd ever killed anyone, which I hadn't, and he asked if I'd ever wanted to. I said no. He seemed disappointed, then said that I soon wouldn't have any other choice, that it was all I'd be good for."

Yami had to pause again. He was grasping Yugi's hand so tightly that it was almost painful. Yugi could only sit there, wishing that he knew a better way to comfort Yami.

"After that, there was only pain," Yami continued. "I can remember the men all around me in black cloaks. They were chanting something in a language that I didn't know. My father stood at the foot of the altar and talked for a long time about this "Guild of the Sennen" and how it was his destiny to make the will and my destiny to carry out his will. I stopped paying attention after a while because all I could think about was how much it hurt. I wasn't sure what was causing the pain. They didn't seem to be doing anything to me. It wasn't until later that I learned what they had done to me.

"I think that I must have passed out sometime during the night. I woke up the next day, but I was inside a cave somewhere in the mountains, and none of the men would let me go outside. I eventually learned that I wasn't supposed to be in the sun. As soon as night fell, we left, and I didn't return here for a long time.

"I'm not sure how long I traveled with my father. I didn't really have any concept of time, but I remember what they made me do… what they turned me into."

Yami smiled bitterly. "They made me immortal, and used another spell to control me. They used me…" Yami had to stop for a moment, his voice becoming strained. Yugi held on to his hand tighter.

"They used me to kill people, Yugi. Hundreds of people. Whole villages disappeared overnight. And it went on for years… I can't imagine how many people must have died…"

Yugi pulled Yami close to him. "It wasn't your fault, Yami," Yugi said. "You had no control over what they did. They were cowards who needed someone else to do their work for them."

Yami shook his head, shutting his eyes. "No… they didn't have complete control over me. If I had really tried to break away from them, I could have done it eventually. I was strong enough. But… I…"

Yugi felt Yami's body shaking. "I enjoyed it, Yugi… I started to enjoy killing people. It was a thrill." Yami put a hand over his face, obviously ashamed of himself. "I think I secretly hated all of them," he said. "They could walk in sunlight, and I could only hide in the darkness and the cold. I began to believe my father when he said that all humans were worthless parasites that deserved to die; it was all I ever heard. And I began to believe it.

"I only resisted when they made me destroy a school. There was a woman there, a teacher, I suppose, and she tried to stand between me and the children as if she could protect them." Yami looked up at the painting. "She looked just like my mother. I had almost forgotten her by then, after all of the hideous lies that had been pumped into me by my father. But, I tried to resist killing her. They made me eventually, but I tried to resist."

Yami paused for a moment. "Shortly after that, one of the men came to me while everyone else was asleep. He said that he knew that I hadn't been completely consumed by the curse, and that there was a chance that I could escape it. He revealed that he had been working to destroy the cult, but that the only way he could do that would be by keeping them from using me. Therefore, he thought it his duty to help me escape.

"This man told me that my father had become involved in some kind of cult while he was in the military. He became completely obsessed with it, and pursued it for years instead of returning to my mother. The cult is based on a dark magic that was practiced by a civilization that has long vanished, and eventually my father began to believe that he was somehow destined to carry out its legacy. The man said that most of what this cult claims is false, but my father believed in it so strongly that he wanted to bring my mother and me into it. My mother knew that it was ludicrous and refused.

"Eventually, my father became the leader of this cult. When he did, he discovered a very dangerous but very powerful spell. It's basically an immortality spell. It allows a person to be completely invincible to magical and physical attack. He knew that if the cult had a commodity such as that, they would be able to dominate the whole continent. He would have cast it on himself, but he knew the consequences of it. An immortal being would not have been able to walk in the sun, or even feel warmth. He decided that whoever he put the spell on would have to be his heir, and lead the cult on into the future. Then, he remembered that he had a son.

"I didn't understand everything that the man had told me at the time, but I knew that I had to escape. I didn't have the desire to kill any longer. This man thought so, too, because lately my father had more and more trouble controlling me. Apparently, I'd almost turned on the cult members a couple times, though I don't remember much of it. If my father ever lost control, then it was possible that I could destroy everything in my path until the sun came up. So, the man set me free and told me to head south. It was snowing that night, but I hardly felt the cold anymore. When I reached the top of a hill, I looked back at the tents where my father and his men were. A patrol from some nearby city was heading towards them, and there was frantic shouting coming from the camp. I assumed that some kind of authorities had finally caught up with them, and without me to protect them they had no way of defending themselves.

"I don't know what happened to that man. Maybe he got killed in the fight, or maybe he was rewarded for ending the cult single-handedly. Either way, I never saw any of them again. I wandered for a long time, traveling at night and hiding in darkness during the day. Eventually, I found my way back here. I remembered that my father had taken my mother somewhere in the forest, and so I asked around in a village near here and someone said that he remembered a woman like my mother living in an old house in the middle of the forest. There was also an old man that lived there and took care of the house.

"I found the house, but my mother wasn't there. He said he remembered her, but that she'd died almost fifteen years ago. I hadn't any idea that it had been that long since I'd seen her…

"He said that while she was there, there were always two strange men in dark cloaks that guarded the house, but when she died they had left. I assumed that the men had been there to keep my mother from coming after me, and I supposed that my father may have wanted to come back and try to convert my mother to the cult after his world conquest was finished."

Yami looked up at the painting again. "I lived here with the old man until he died. No one complained about me living here, so I stayed. All of the things that had been taken out of my mother's house were here, and by that time I had forgotten the name of the village we had lived in. I didn't even know if it still existed."

There was a moment of silence. Yugi wondered for a moment if Yami had finished, then he began speaking again.

"I sat around and looked at my mother's things often. I had nothing else to do. At some point, I decided that there was too much pain for me to remember her and all that had happened. I put all of her things in boxes in the attic. I don't remember why I didn't just put this painting in the attic, but I do remember covering it up and vowing never to look at it again. Time went by, and the memories faded away until I didn't even remember who I was or where I was from. I didn't even remember why I had covered that painting. Eventually, the only name I remembered having was Yami, which was what the Sennen Guild called me. It means darkness."

"What was your real name?" Yugi asked.

Yami shook his head. "I don't remember," he said.

Yugi felt tears well up in his eyes. He had thought that his life was hard, but Yami's had been nearly unbearable.

"I had forgotten…" Yami said softly. "I had forgotten her." He sounded ashamed.

"But you remember her now, Yami," Yugi said. "You remember her now."

Yami nodded. He suddenly looked exhausted. Reliving so many horrible memories must have drained him of all his energy. Yugi let Yami lay his head on his shoulder, and Yami slowly relaxed into Yugi's warmth.

"Thank you, Yugi…" he murmured, and then fell into a much-needed sleep.

A/N: That took so incredibly long to write. XP Thanks to all of the folks who reviewed on the last chapter, I'm sorry that all of you had to wait so long for this chapter. I'll try to get the next one up in a more timely fashion. Review, please!