A/N: Hey, look! Another chapter! How spiffing. Please excuse all the angst, for there is much angst in this chapter. But, if you like angst, well, you'll be quite happy. Anyway… I might end up going back and forth between updating this and my new story, Beneath the Surface. I haven't yet figured out which one is my top priority. I suppose I should finish this one first… Oh, let's just go on to the next chapter.

In Memories Forgotten

Chapter 10

Yugi shivered and wrapped himself up tighter in his cloak as the wintry night breeze whistled through the garden. He was suddenly glad that he had managed to find a warm dress with long sleeves that also had a short enough skirt that it wouldn't get caught on the underbrush as they walked through the graveyard.

He frowned, trying to remember the location of the grave that he and Atemu would be looking for that night. He smiled slightly to himself for a moment, realizing that thinking of Yami as Atemu was becoming a habit, then went back to thinking about the cemetery. He knew that their destination was in a much older section, an area shaded with massive trees and overgrown weeds that no one ever visited. It seemed so sad to Yugi; the gravestones had been standing there through the decades, bearing the names of those who lie beneath them, but now there was no one left alive to remember the people behind the names.

Well, except for one person.

Atemu appeared next to Yugi rather suddenly, but Yugi was so used to it by then that it didn't startle him anymore. They stood in front of the house looking out over the shadowed gardens for several moments.

"Shall we go?" Yugi finally asked. Atemu only nodded. Yugi took Atemu's hand, rubbing it reassuringly, and they walked down the path from the house to the gate.

"Can you transport us to the graveyard?" Yugi asked.

"No," Atemu said. "I can't transport anywhere outside of the house."

Yugi frowned. "Why is that? I would think that you'd be able to transport anywhere. Is your magic limited to this house?"

Atemu's brow creased in thought. "No… I think I've lived in this house for so long that my magic has spread into it and become part of it. I'm connected to it in such a way that, when I'm inside it, I'm truly a part of it, and I can move about the rooms as I wish regardless of distance boundaries."

Yugi nodded. That sort of made sense…

"But, when I'm outside the house, I don't have the same connection with the world around me and cannot transport myself anywhere like I do in the house. Thus, we must walk."

Atemu smiled as he finished his explanation. Yugi smiled back, glad that Atemu seemed so relaxed. The gate opened of its own accord and the two pulled their hoods over their heads and stepped out into the dark forest.

It had been so long since Yugi had been outside of the house and its surrounding garden that it felt very odd and rather frightening to be in unfamiliar territory. Atemu seemed to sense Yugi's uneasiness and squeezed his hand briefly.

They had been walking for about ten minutes when they reached the crest of a hill. Off in the distance, they could see the lighted windows and darkened rooftops of the town. A vague memory of a time before Yugi had been in his life flitted through Atemu's mind and then was gone. They went down the other side of the hill and, after a few more minutes of walking, came to a clearing. The two of them stopped for a moment, letting memory take hold of them.

"Do you remember this place, Atemu?" Yugi asked.

Atemu looked around, then quietly said, "Yes."

Yugi could see the tree that the boys from the town had tied him to, and he remembered how frightened he had been of Atemu when he had first seen him. But oh, how glad he was now that he had met Atemu…

"We'd better keep going," Atemu said. Yugi nodded. The town wasn't much farther from there. Slowly, lights appeared through the trees and became brighter and brighter as Yugi and Atemu walked along. The trees began to thin out and the dark outlines of houses were visible. Their destination, however, was not the town, and they turned away from the town to the cemetery that lay on its outskirts.

Yugi glanced at the familiar houses and streets as they passed them by under the cover of the night trees. He could see the small wooden shacks of the farmers that were close to the outskirts so they could travel to the fields each day. Beyond that were the homes of the artisans, the blacksmiths and carpenters and clockmakers. Their shops were in the bustling town square, the center of the little village. The square was home to the schoolhouse and the town hall and the courthouse and the jail, as well as the houses of the rich. Except, Yugi thought suddenly, for his father's house. It, for some reason, had been built slightly outside of the town. Yugi felt his palms become clammy as he realized that they would be going past his father's house to get the graveyard.

Just as this thought passed through Yugi's mind, he could see the house looming just beyond the trees. His eyes focused in on a little window, high in a corner of the attic, a little window that had bars on it.

Yugi tore his eyes away and groped for Atemu's hand. Atemu stopped and looked at Yugi with concern. He glanced up at the dark house, then realization dawned on him.

"Is this your father's house?" he asked. Yugi only nodded. Atemu put an arm around Yugi and determinedly led him away from the house and towards the cemetery. Yugi took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. He couldn't let this get to him; he needed to be there for Atemu.

The lights of the town became dim behind them as they saw the rusty iron fence of the graveyard. The fence was very old and unkempt, so it was easy to find a place where part of it had fallen over and never been repaired.

Yugi had never been in the graveyard at night, and he had to admit that it was rather spooky. The bare tree branches above cast eerie moonlit shadows on the leering gravestones. Every so often a cold breeze would dance through the branches and the shadows would dance in return, giving the stones the illusion of movement. Yugi shivered and was suddenly very grateful that he wasn't there by himself.

"Which way do we go?" Atemu asked quietly. Yugi bit his lip; to be honest, he really wasn't sure. Everything looked so different at night, and he hadn't been to the graveyard in several years. Yugi kneeled down by one of the graves and squinted to see the date on it.

"Well, this one is fairly recent, so we need to go farther back," he said, pointing away from the town. They walked, it seemed, for a very long time, going farther and farther back into history. They passed by generation after generation, century after century, of those that had been born, lived, and died without the world giving them much notice.

Finally, Yugi saw something familiar. There was a gnarled tree stump sitting innocently among the stones. He remembered that Hikaru's stone had been just beyond it.

"There," Yugi said, pointing. "Just behind that stump."
Suddenly feeling a sense of urgency, the two hurried over to the stump. There, just a few feet beyond it, was a small, plain stone sitting off by itself. Yugi kneeled down next to it and squinted to see the engraving, which was the only thing visible amongst overgrown weeds that covered the grave. Indeed, the stone said Hikaru Hana, but not much else except for the date of her death.

"This is it," Yugi said. He looked up at Atemu but couldn't make out his face in the darkness. Atemu also kneeled down next to the grave. He reached out a hand and traced the letters of his mother's name. There were several moments of silence, then Atemu took a deep breath.

"I missed you…" he said softly. "I tried to get back to you, I really did, but…"

Atemu had to stop for a moment, his voice thick with grief. He reached under his cloak and took out a small bag, which he opened and reached inside. When his hand reappeared it was holding a long chain, and on the end was a plain gold ring.

"I know that he didn't keep his promise to you," Atemu said. "I know that he said he would come back and that he wanted nothing more than to see you again. He came back, but he came back wanting power."

Atemu looked down at the ring in his hand, smiling sadly. "I've come back to you, mother," Atemu said, and he laid the ring and chain down on top of the grave. "And I want nothing more than to see you again."

Yugi's eyes widened as the ring and chain melted into the ground, never to be parted from her again. Atemu then concealed his face with his hood, bowed his head, and remained that way for a long time. Yugi quietly sat staring at the gravestone.

He saw that the date of Hikaru's death was Sept. 18, 1066. The current year was 1742. That meant that Atemu was at least seven hundred years old. It wasn't any wonder that Yami had let his memories go; they were only a reminder of what he had lost and what he could never have again. He would never have been able to escape the pain any other way.

Eventually, Atemu lifted his head and looked at Yugi. Yugi looked back at him with a smile. Atemu mustered a slight smile, then looked back at the gravestone. Yugi put a hand on Atemu's shoulder and said, "Let's go home."

Just then, they heard voices and footsteps from behind. The two looked at each other with wide eyes, then sprang to their feet and ran. The voices kept coming closer and Atemu and Yugi ducked behind a large tree that loomed over the graveyard. The voices came nearer and Yugi could see lamplight spilling across the ground.

"I tell you, I heard voices out here!" one voice was saying. "And I saw some shapes movin', too!"

"Well, I sure don't see anythin'. I didn't hear nuthin', either." The other voice sounded skeptical.

"I tell you, I saw two people runnin' around out here!" the first voice insisted.

"First they were just shapes, now they're people. Make up your mind, will you?"

"I tell you, they were people! One of 'em is probably that monster from the forest! He's come to eat the dead right out of their graves!"

Yugi looked over at Atemu in time to see him roll his eyes.

"All right, so if one's the monster then who's the other one?"

"Probably that girl that got lost in the forest a couple months ago!"

Yugi froze. He was sure that all the townspeople would've thought him long dead by now.

"You know," the first voice went on, "the rumor is that the girl was a witch and that she went out to find the monster and become his accomplice. And now, they roam the forest together, searching for victims!"

Now it was Yugi's turn to roll his eyes.

"Well, monster or witch or whatever, I don't see anyone 'round here. Next time you're gonna wake me up in the middle of the night, make sure you got some proof first."

The footsteps faded off into the distance and the lamplight disappeared. Yugi peered around the tree trunk to make sure that they were gone, then the two of them stood and made for a hole in the fence as quickly as they could.

"Hmph. Witch, my ass. Where do they get these crazy ideas?" Yugi vented indignantly as soon as they were safely amongst the trees again. Atemu snickered softly.

"You think that's funny, do you?"

"Well," Atemu said, "first of all, I believe that's the first time I've ever heard you curse, and second of all you now know how I feel about all the stories they make up about me. I mean, at least you're not a hairy, horrifying monster."

"Oh, don't be silly, Atemu," Yugi said. "You're not hairy at all."

Atemu glanced at Yugi sidelong. "Watch it, witch girl."

"Or you'll what? Roast me and eat me?"

Atemu suddenly grabbed Yugi and pinned him against a tree, their faces only inches apart. Yugi looked up at Atemu, quite startled.

"That does sound quite tempting…" Atemu said, running his tongue down Yugi's neck.

Yugi giggled. "Let's at least get back to the house first," he said, then yelped as Atemu swept Yugi up into his arms. The next thing Yugi knew, they were gliding along across the ground. The forest around them passed by in a blur, and within a moment Yugi could see the house looming before them.

Atemu, however, was not slowing down. They were still gliding along at top speed towards the iron fence.

"Uh… Atemu…" Yugi said nervously. They were almost to the fence; they wouldn't be able to stop in time.

"Atemu!" Yugi hid his face in Atemu's chest, and then there was a sudden rush of wind. Yugi looked down to see the iron fence below them and realized rather quickly that they were at least twenty feet in the air. Yugi stared in amazement as they passed over the fence and into the gardens, Atemu landing softly on the partially-frozen turf. He gently set Yugi down on his feet

"How did you do that?" Yugi asked in amazement.

"Teleporting is not my only skill," Atemu said. "I can move very quickly if I want to, though I haven't leapt that high in a long time."

"Well, why didn't you just do that when we were going to the graveyard?" Yugi asked.

Atemu shrugged. "We needed to sneak quietly into the graveyard; moving like that tends to make a bit too much noise. But, now that we're back at the house…"

Atemu took Yugi's hand and they were immediately in Yugi's bedroom (which had quickly become "their" bedroom). It was dark for a moment, but all Atemu had to do was snap his fingers and the many candles were magically lit. Yugi tossed his cloak onto a nearby chair, kicked off his shoes and started unlacing the back of the dress. He wasn't overly surprised when Atemu started helping him.

Yugi made soft, appreciative sounds as Atemu unlaced the dress and kissed his way down Yugi's back at the same time. When all the laces were undone, Atemu gently pushed the dress down off Yugi's shoulders Yugi let the sleeves slide down off his arms. However, the room was not very warm and Yugi started shivering as the dress cascaded to the floor in a little pool around him.

"Cold?" Atemu asked. Yugi nodded, and Atemu led Yugi over to the bed and wrapped him up in thick blankets. Yugi sighed as the covers became warm from his body heat, then he noticed that Atemu hadn't joined him. He poked a finger out from under the blankets and seductively curled it towards himself several times, gesturing for Atemu to get into bed with him. But, Atemu seemed oddly reluctant.

"What's wrong, Atemu?" Yugi asked.

"You… you were already cold, and I… I wouldn't be helping that very much," Atemu muttered.

Yugi chuckled. "Atemu, just get into bed. You don't have to feel guilty about it, and besides, you'll warm up in less than a minute."

Atemu smiled gratefully, undressed and snuggled under the covers next to Yugi. Atemu's skin was frigid, as it usually was, and Yugi went through his nightly ritual of rubbing warmth into Atemu's body. Slowly, Atemu's skin would absorb the heat and Atemu would finally relax. After that, he would either become sleepy or very aroused. Tonight seemed to be a sleepy night, and with good reason. The emotion evoked by seeing his mother's grave had undoubtedly drained his energy.

Atemu looked over at Yugi through half-lidded eyes, then he scooted in closer and brushed his lips against Yugi's.

"Thank you…" he murmured, then laid his head down on the pillow and instantly fell asleep. Yugi wasn't sure if the thank you was for the warmth or for accompanying Atemu to the graveyard. He decided that it would cover both.

Yugi yawned, finding that the warmth was also making him sleepy. He curled up next to Atemu and happily surrendered to sleep.

A/N: Yay, I finished it! And, with the issues of Atemu/ Yami's past finally resolved, the heroes of our story seem to be ready for the happily-ever-after schtick. But, the innocent conversation between the two keepers of the cemetery may be a sign of something far more sinister. . . Please review!