A/N: Hey, look, another chapter! And it didn't take me three months! dances How amazing is that? This chapter is quite a bit shorter than the last one, but I don't have the next part written yet and I felt like I needed to update. However, I'm going to be in Europe for a couple weeks, so I might not get done with the next chapter until after that (probably sometime in July). Thank you to everyone that reviewed!

In Memories Forgotten

Chapter 9

Yugi jerked awake suddenly, not sure of what had woken him. He looked around at the unfamiliar room, then memories of the painting and Yami's story came back to him. Yami was lying across the sofa, his head in Yugi's lap. Yugi smiled and gently brushed a few strands of hair out of Yami's eyes. Trying not to wake Yami, he stretched, his neck and back aching from having fallen asleep sitting up. His eyes wandered over to the painting.

It was obviously ancient, and it was miraculous that it was still intact after so long. The clothes were of a style that Yugi had only seen in history books. Yugi's eyes lingered on the happy child sitting in the woman's lap. The boy was obviously Yami, but there was something inherently different between the Yami in the picture and the Yami that lay asleep next to Yugi. The little boy in the painting still had his innocence, and didn't know of the evil that would someday fall upon him. Yugi had to look away, fearing that he might start crying, but then he noticed something. There was a little brass nameplate on the bottom of the frame.

Yugi carefully laid Yami's head on the sofa, stood, and went to inspect the nameplate more closely. There were letters engraved on it, but the brass was so grimy that they were unreadable. Using a corner of the cloth that had once covered the picture, Yugi wiped the nameplate clean. He could read the names. It said "Hikaru Hana and child Atemu". Yugi read the names several times over. He now knew that Yami's real name was Atemu, but that wasn't what shocked him. He had seen the name Hikaru Hana before, but he couldn't place where. He searched his memory, but found nothing.

"Yugi?"

Yugi turned to see that Yami had woken and was sitting up. Yugi quickly went over to Yami and sat down next to him.

"How do you feel?" Yugi asked.

"I feel all right," Yami said rather sleepily. He looked over at the painting. "What were you looking at?"

Yugi smiled. "There's a nameplate on the frame, Yami."

Yami looked at Yugi quickly. "What does it say?" he asked slowly.

"Your… your real name is Atemu," Yugi said.

Yami mouthed the name. "Atemu…" he said softly. "That was my name, wasn't it… And my mother?"

"Hikaru Hana," Yugi said softly. Yami's eyes began to fill with tears. He whispered her name several times over, as if afraid that he would forget it again. A smile flitted across his face.

Yugi smiled and wrapped his arms around Yami, glad that Yami was finally able to come to terms with his past. But something nagged at Yugi in the back of his mind; he had seen the name Hikaru Hana somewhere before, but where? Yugi then noticed that Yami was nuzzling his neck gently, and he abruptly decided that he could try to figure it out later.

Yami transported them back to the bedroom. Yugi was quite glad to be out of the cold, confined east turret and willingly fell back onto the bed, allowing Yami to climb on top of him and start kissing his way down his collarbone. Yugi wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, his hands rubbing warmth into Yami's skin, and Yami hummed in appreciation. Yami began to move farther down Yugi's chest, planting butterfly kisses on the pale skin as he went. Yugi sighed happily.

"Mmm… Atemu…" Yugi said softly, deciding to use Yami's real name. Yami stopped suddenly and Yugi looked up, fearing that his use of the name had only brought up more painful memories. Yami crawled back up Yugi's body and looked down at him with an unreadable expression.

To Yugi's relief, Yami smiled at him and said, "Say that again, please."

Yugi smiled back, and whispered, "Atemu…"

Yami's smile widened. Yugi decided that from then on he would only use Yami's real name, since it seemed to make him so happy. Then, on a sudden whim, Yugi leaned forward and whispered in Yami's ear, "I love you, Atemu."

Yami's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that. Before Yami could formulate a reply Yugi leaned forward and kissed him. He didn't expect Yami to say it back to him so soon; he just wanted Yami to know that he was there for him. Even though Yami couldn't say it back just yet, he showed his appreciation thoroughly for the next several hours.

Yami opened his eyes, his dreams fading out of his memory as he awoke. The first thing he saw was Yugi lying next to him, and the sight made him smile. Yugi was already awake, and Yami saw that he was holding something in his hands and studying it closely. Yami scooted over to Yugi and put his arms around him.

"Good morning," he said softly. Yugi grinned at him and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"If it even is morning," Yugi said. Yami chuckled, then saw that Yugi was holding Yami's engraved knife.

"I remember this," Yugi said. "You used it to cut the ropes the first night we met."

Yami only nodded. Yugi turned the blade around in his hands, then smiled to himself.

"What's funny?" Yami asked.

Yugi blushed slightly. "It… it seems so silly now that I was so afraid of you when we first met. When I saw you come out of the woods toward me, I thought for sure that I was going to die."

Yugi's smile faded a bit. "I remember thinking to myself that maybe you would kill me quickly and… and that it might save me from having to face my father again."

Yami wasn't sure what to say. He was relieved when Yugi smiled again.

"Of course, I was completely off, except for the part about not having to face my father again."

Yami smiled back at Yugi and squeezed him tightly. He leaned in close and said softly in Yugi's ear, "He'll never hurt you again, Yugi. I promise."

Yugi gave Yami a chaste kiss in thanks and went back to inspecting the knife that he still held in his hands.

"Where did you get this, Atemu?" The use of his old name surprised Yami for a moment, but he supposed that he should start thinking of himself as Atemu rather than what the Sennen Guild called him. "Was it with the stuff that came from your mother's house?" Yugi went on.

Atemu blinked, then frowned as he tried to remember. He knew that he had had that knife a long time… But, he remembered having it while he was with his father. Did he get it from his father? No, that didn't seem right…

"Atemu?" Yugi asked. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm just thinking," Atemu replied. Maybe he had gotten it from his mother…Then, just as that thought passed through his head, the memory came to him.

"My mother gave it to me when I turned twelve, just a few months after my father came to find us for the first time. She said that it had belonged to her father, and that he had given it to her to pass it on to her child."

He ran his finger along the flat of the blade. "The symbols engraved on it translate to "Bring luck and protection to the wielder of this blade". My mother gave it to me to protect myself with. For some reason, my father never took it away from me, and I didn't put it away in the attic with the rest of the items from my old life. I guess I must have pushed the memories associated with the knife out of my mind until it didn't remind me of my past anymore."

Atemu touched the knife's handle. He smiled sadly. "So many things that I'd forgotten…" he murmured. "So many things… I let them all slip away from me…"

Yugi put the knife down on the table near the bed and put his arms around Yami. "It's all right, Yami. You remember them now, and that's what matters."

Yami rested his head on Yugi's shoulder. "Yeah…"

There were several moments of silence, the two of them simply enjoying their embrace. Then, Yugi suddenly sat up and cried, "That's it!" Yami only grumbled; Yugi's shoulder had been quite comfortable.

"What's it?" Yami asked.

"I remember where I've seen the name Hikaru Hana before!" Yugi exclaimed. Yami sat up just as quickly as Yugi had.

"You've what? Her name? Where?"

"On a gravestone, in the cemetery by my town. The cemetery is really, really old and there are some stones in there that are from hundreds of years ago. I went there with my father for the funeral of one of his friends and I wandered out a ways, looking at the gravestones, and I saw her name on one of them!"

Yami and Yugi stared at each other for several moments, then a tear coursed down Yami's face. Yugi gently wiped it away, but more and more came until Yami was sobbing into Yugi's chest. Yugi put his arms around Yami, waiting patiently until the storm passed.

Yami eventually calmed down and the two of them simply sat there for a few moments, Yugi holding Yami in his arms. After a while, Yami slowly sat up again.

"Sorry…" he said, ashamed of his outburst.

"It's all right," Yugi said, holding one of Yami's hands between his own and rubbing it gently.

"Do you… remember where the grave is?" Yami asked.

Yugi nodded. "I have a pretty good idea."

Yami nodded absently, seeming lost in thought. Yugi laid his head on Yami's shoulder and brushed his lips against Yami's neck affectionately.

"Is it day right now?" Yugi asked.

Yami's eyes grew distant for a moment. "It's about mid-afternoon," he said.

"Tonight, then?"

Yami put his arm around Yugi's waist and squeezed him briefly. "Yes," he said. "Tonight."

A/N: Hey! They finally get to go out of the house again! Astounding, isn't it? I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible when I get back from Europe (egad, I can't believe how long this story is getting; it might be the longest fic I've ever written). Please review!