The pair sat on the cliffs until the sun started to set, turning the sky a vibrant gradient of red to blue. For the most part, they were silent, each just watching the world bellow them.

"I used to sit on the roof every night and wish on the first star I saw for wings," Yusei admitted, looking up at the sky as it continued to darken.

"Wings? Like, bird wings to fly? Chicken wings to eat?" Judai teased and laughed a bit at the thought of each idea. His favorite was probably the combined mental image of a tiny Yusei with fried chicken wing wings.

"Wings to fly," Yusei clarified. His eyes sparkled in amusement as he looked at Judai with a look that said he knew exactly what the other was thinking. "All I wanted was to be able to fly. I thought if I did that, I would be able to fly Martha and all the others to Neo Domino city, and all of us would live some kind of happily ever after. Pretty silly, right?"

Judai shook his head and smiled warmly at him. He didn't know what suddenly inspired Yusei to open up to him about something like this, but he wasn't complaining. He would take anything new he could learn about the other. Yusei was such a closed book, Judai viewed each new fact like buried treasure.

"Not at all," Judai said in conformation, hoping Yusei would continue. "I used to wish on the first star I saw for the ability to become the best duelist in the world. It worked for me… so, are you hiding any wings under that jacket?"

Trying to add to his humor, Judai leaned back and stared at Yusei's back expectantly and earned a bright laugh and a playful shove as his reward.

"Hey," he protested, laughing with the other. "So, that's a no?"

"Judai," Yusei shook his head and turned his attention back to the sky. He leaned back, letting his eyes wander as he laid down. "I never sprouted wings, but I think my wish still came true. My friends and family are happy, and Satellite and Neo Domino are joined."

"What do you wish for now?" Judai asked, laying down beside him and looking up at the sky as well. "You can I both got our wishes. We should start new dreams. Right here."

He looked over at Yusei, expecting him to turn him down or regard him as childish, but instead it looked like he was honestly thinking about his proposal. Deep blue eyes he found himself lost in more and more as of late were focused on the sky above them and his eyebrows were knit together. He couldn't really see Yusei as the hardened criminal he supposedly was supposed to be. Especially not now that he knew the other wished on stars about as seriously as he did.

"It may be silly, but I wish to be happy," Yusei finally said, turning to look at Judai.

"You're not happy?" Judai asked, confused by what the other meant. Yusei seemed happy enough to him.

"No, no, I am. I just mean… I want to be content. There. I wish I was content." He tried to clarify. "Right now, there are so many things I want and need to do to achieve my goals. I just want to one day be in a position where… I'm happy where I'm at. Whether that's with a special someone or having the job I dream about now. Both would be nice."

"…Special someone, huh?" Judai turned his gaze to the sky to avoid looking at the other. He had to pick his words carefully. If he messed up, it might give Yusei the wrong impression. "Do you mean Aki? You two seemed pretty close this morning."

Stupid stupid stupid! Judai reprimanded himself almost the exact moment the words left his lips.

He didn't quite understand why he felt his own heart sink as what he said sunk in and he made the connections. Yusei and Aki were always standing close in all the pictures he'd seen of them, and Yusei often spoke fondly of her whenever she was brought up. Of course, they would be dating or together somehow. The realization upset him more than he expected.

He knew he thought Yusei was attractive. How could he not? Yusei was smart, strong and he had this mysterious dark past. Honestly, he was practically everyone's dream. Still, Judai shouldn't have thought he stood a chance. He'd seen the pictures, heard the others talk. Yusei and Aki were practically a match made in heaven.

"Not at all, Aki and I are just close friends,"

Judai froze completely, his mind drawing a complete blank as he processed what the other said. He and Aki were just…friends?

"You don't like her?" Judai blurted out. "I mean-like, you don't like like her?!"

Yusei leaned away from him and looked Judai over in surprise. He didn't think what he'd said was really worth this kind of reaction. Was it really that much of a surprise that he and Aki weren't dating? Certainly, they'd both had feelings for each other before, but it hadn't worked out. They both wanted very different things and they each agreed they couldn't start a relationship when she was just about to leave for Germany. After some time, they became more like siblings than anything romantic. Aki had become the big sister he'd never had, and he liked to think she thought of him as a brother.

"No?" Yusei raised an eyebrow at him and waited, expecting Judai to explain himself at the very least.

"S-Sorry, I just always thought there was something more between you two," Judai finally said, laughing a bit and laying down again. "So, what's Yusei's ideal soulmate like?"

"My ideal soulmate?"

"Well, yeah. You said your dream was to be content and maybe with someone special. What do you hope they'll be like?" He clarified, turning to lay on his side instead.

He watched Yusei's eyebrows furrow in thought and could practically see the gears turning as he pieced together his answer.

"I don't really know…Hopefully they're kind and gentle." Yusei offered, shrugging a bit. "I mean, does it really matter what they're like?"

"Yes! What if they're a jerk to you?" Judai countered.

"Then they're probably not my soulmate, Judai." Yusei retorted, laughing softly. "Really though, I don't have any expectations for them. If I had to though, I think I'd like them to be lighthearted like you. It doesn't seem like much of anything gets you down and you always see the lighter side of things. I really admire that about you."

Judai turned away so he wouldn't see his cheeks heat up at that. "There are just too many dark things in the world to not focus on the light."

"Mhmm," Yusei hummed in agreement, sighing softly.

Judai listened to him for a while, staring up at the sky until the chill of the night started to get to him. Rolling back over to face the other, he got up enough to lean on his elbow.

"Hey, Yusei, let's head back. It's getting cold." He complained.

"I agree," Yusei chattered, sitting up and hugging himself. The guy was practically shivering.

"Jesus, Yusei, why didn't you say something sooner?" Judai demanded, sitting up completely and helping the other stand. For as cold as it was starting to feel outside, Yusei seemed to feel 5 degrees colder. "You're really not built for this weather, are you?"

Yusei shook his head, "I'm fine. Let's just get back. The sooner we do, the sooner we can warm up."

With that said, the raven turned to head back towards his bike, but he hadn't even taken a step when something incredibly warm was draped over his shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye he could see red fabric and his cheeks rushed to match the color.

"J-Judai, what are you-what about you?" He demanded, rounding on the other.

"I can't have my driver freeze on me. Just put it on over yours and get us home safe." Judai assured. "Besides, I'll be fine. It's just chilly out."

Yusei started to protest again, but Judai was already walking back and on his bike before he could so much as get a word in edgewise. With a huff, he pulled the jacket tight around him and followed him back. He really didn't dare put it on. Judai, while not a twig, was still skinnier than him and he didn't want to rip his favorite jacket. Or was it his only jacket? He hadn't seen him wear any other one.

He was beginning to wonder how he was supposed to keep it on himself while they drove when Judai's arms wrapped tightly around his waist, securing it at least in that point. No doubt it would flap off his shoulders once they started moving, but it was the thought that counted most to him.

Much to his surprise, the jacket didn't leave his shoulders the entire drive, but then again, that might have had a lot to do with Judai's head resting against his back. He tried not to think too much about it. The other was probably really tired. They'd been out and about all day and talked most of the night away.

"Judai, we're home," he announced pointlessly, turning off the bike and getting off once Judai had.

Yusei was quick to return his jacket to him with a small thank you, and he was even quicker at retreating back into the house where Martha waited with dinner still warm on the stove. How she managed to have such perfect timing was beyond either of them, but the hot meal was great after the cold drive home.

"Dibs on first shower," Judai announced once he was finished eating, grinning up at Yusei.

"Fine, fine," the raven dismissed him with only a slight frown of disapproval. Clearly, he was looking forward to washing the dirt off himself just as much as Judai was.

"Awesome~!" He jumped up excitedly and washed his dishes before racing off to their shared room to get a clean change of clothes.

Once in the bathroom under the warm water, he couldn't help smiling like an idiot. Yusei was single and there was something he really liked about him. Besides that, he'd not only been pretty open with him that night, but he'd let Judai hug him. It was, in many other people's eyes, a small victory, but to him, with Yusei, it was huge.

He trusts me! Or at least, he's starting to! He thought excitedly, looking up at the familiar trill of his most loyal companion.

"Kuriboh, bud, can you believe it?" He whispered to him, figuring the others would get concerned if they heard him talking to himself like this.

"Don't get your hopes up too high, Judai," Haou grumbled bitterly from the corner of his mind. As usual, the king was quick to ground him and remind him that his excitement had only gotten him in trouble in the past.

He sighed a bit and let his shoulders drop, shaking his head a little to clear it. He really was acting like a schoolboy, but this was exciting. He wanted to know as much as he could about Yusei, and he'd learned so much tonight. "I know, I know," he muttered, leaning his head back instead.

"We just don't want to see you hurt, Judai," Yubel's voice spoke up this time, and he could just see the concerned face they would probably be giving him if they had decided to manifest like Kuriboh had. "I especially don't want to see you hurt."

Yusei sat out in the living room alone, not wanting to go lay in his bed to wait since he'd been sitting on the ground and laying in the dirt most of the day. Judai honestly couldn't get out of the shower fast enough for him. He wanted to wash all of this off himself. He really hated being dirty like this. Grease and dirt from working on repairs or his d-wheel? That was fine. But dirt from being on the ground or something similar just didn't sit well with him. He hated the feeling.

Mostly though, he just wanted that clear, private space that the shower provided to sort through his head and figure out what exactly had just happened out on the cliff. He hadn't intended to say so much, but Judai was frighteningly easy to talk to. Those kind eyes seemed to pull him in and make it seem like he was allowed to say anything he wanted, and Yusei wanted to pick apart why that might be.

"Yusei, your turn," Judai's call from down the hall snapped him out of his thoughts quickly and Yusei wasted no time in gathering his things and going to go get cleaned up.

Kitana: Sorry for the delay! School really doesn't leave a whole lot of room for writing these days, and it's really only going to get worse. Thank you MusicianWish for reviewing! It honestly meant the world to me to hear that you like what I've written.

Thank you so much everyone for reading! Favs, follows and reviews all greatly appreciated!