Chapter 3: A New Life
Atem couldn't stop staring at his new family member. He was still coming to grips with the fact that he had a twin brother. He'd always wanted a brother – seeing Bakura and Ryou together had always made him envious. But now that he had his wish, he didn't have the slightest idea what to do. What do you even ask a long-lost twin with memory problems? And how do you ask it without seeming awkward?
Meanwhile, Yugi didn't seem to be having the same dilemma. He was too busy staring out the car window. Then again, he seemed to be purposefully avoiding eye contact... was he mad about the accident after all?
As they passed a view of downtown, Yugi straightened. He leaned towards the glass. Atem could tell, somehow, that he was smiling. "I was wondering if they'd finished building it," he murmured.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
Atem shook his head. Yugi was an enigma, that's for sure. The way he looked at everything around them – like he was seeing it for the first time – made him seem so innocent. And younger than he was. Yet at the same time, a shadow would occasionally cloud his features: sorrow, discomfort, longing. This guy wore his emotions on his sleeve, and they betrayed the ruminations of an old soul – or at least someone who had been through more than he should have.
Yugi was a riddle that would take some doing to figure out.
...Just like my Puzzle...
He flashed back to the thought he'd had at the hospital: "did he come out of the Puzzle?"
Atem shook his head in an effort to banish the thought. Why did his brain keep going back to that?
...
Staring out the window seemed the only way to avoid staring at Atem. It had been over a century since Yugi had seen him, after all; he was still shocked he was able to form complete sentences when he and Ishizu – wait, no, Isa – had walked into the hospital room. Thank his lucky stars or whatever Egyptian gods were responsible for the fact he had been able to hear what was going on outside the puzzle. It had given him some preparation for all this.
Even so, it had taken all of Yugi's willpower not to break down in tears or hug-tackle Atem on sight. Even now, he was struggling not initiate physical contact to reassure himself that yes, this was real.
Meanwhile, since no one in the car seemed to have any idea of what to say to each other, Yugi had the entire car ride to wonder why the heck he had his body back... and younger than he'd left it, to boot.
He squinted at his ghostlike reflection in the window. He looked... seventeen? Eighteen? Given the hospital tests categorizing him as a minor, Atem's most recent birthday, and the fact that he and Atem were supposedly twins, Yugi settled on seventeen.
There was no explanation as far as he could tell. Oh, well. Stranger things had happened. And at least he hadn't regressed in age far enough to undo that growth spurt he'd had senior year. He was still an inch or two shorter than Atem, but at least he wasn't a shrimp. Even so, in the back of his mind, he could remember Joey's voice teasing him about how he was still shorter than the rest of the gang.
He risked glance at Atem as memories flooded his mind. He wanted so badly for things to be like they were before. But the unfamiliar skyline out his window reminded him that there was no going back. The past was in the past.
He would have to be patient. Build their friendship from the ground up. Again.
I'm gonna have to do that with everyone. Mokuba was right. I didn't think this through. And to top it off, everyone thinks Atem and I are twins! He sighed to himself. Oh, well. I'll figure something out. It will all be worth it in the end.
He inwardly flinched at his choice of words. But, hopefully, the end doesn't come nearly as fast this time.
...
Since the cops had wanted to ask Yugi a few questions, getting him released from the hospital had taken longer than expected. It was eight A.M by the time they got home. Atem had officially been awake all night. He had been surprised when Isa hadn't told him to sleep while they were in the waiting room, since it was a school night. Then he had overheard her calling in an absence for school on the way home.
Sure enough, the first thing Isa did once they got in the door was to order Atem to bed, assuring him that she'd look after Yugi to make sure he stayed conscious.
Atem only gave a small protest before complying. He trudged up the stairs, now aware of how tired he was. Hearing a blip, he fished his phone out of his pocket and scrolled through several new texts from his friends.
Joey: Hey where u at?
Joey: u still sleepin?
Marik: Where are you?
Ryou: You're going to miss first period.
Joey: You didn't ditch w/o telling us, right?
Bakura: Do you know a good dry cleaners?
Atem didn't even want to know what that last one was about. He typed out a quick message as he entered his room, then turned his phone off.
To Everyone:
Sent my long-lost twin brother to the emergency room at 3 AM. Just got back. Going to bed now.
He collapsed onto the bed and was asleep in minutes.
...
As Atem trudged upstairs, Isa made her way to the kitchen. "Would you like some tea, Yugi?"
"Um, sure. That would be great. Need any help?"
She shook her head. "I have it well in hand."
Yugi looked at his surroundings, still trying to believe this was real.
Isa and Atem's house was only a little bigger than the game shop had been. Small pieces of technology were placed on the walls and furniture in seemingly random locations, but closer inspection revealed several to be (most likely) such things as the TV or house phone. The atmosphere was cozy, partly thanks to the cream color of the interior and a few pieces of old-fashioned furniture. Of course, by "old-fashioned," Yugi meant "what I used to see in my house."
For lack of anything better to do, he wandered over to a bookshelf in the hall. A digital photo frame on the third shelf down moved through a parade of memories: Atem and his friends at the park, Atem and Isa at Christmastime... it was heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.
At length, Yugi tore his gaze from the frame, only for it to land on an old-fashioned, two-paneled photo frame next to it. The picture on the left showed Isa sitting at a table, signing something, while a very young Atem looked on expectantly. The other photo showed the two embracing, most likely a minute or two after the first had been taken. Atem had his back to the camera, arms locked around Isa's neck. She was bending down to accommodate him, her own arms wrapping his waist and cradling his head. Her mouth was open in what Yugi assumed to be laughter, eyes half-shut with a tear running down her cheek.
"What's this?" he asked, pointing to the photos.
Isa looked up from the stove. When craning her neck failed to give her a satisfactory view, she left the kitchen to join Yugi at the bookcase. A fond smile graced her lips. "Adoption day," she said.
"Atem's adopted?"
Isa raised an eyebrow. "You didn't realize?"
"What do you mean-" Oh. Ohhh. Everyone thinks we're brothers, which means we would've had the same parents!
Yugi turned to look Isa in the eye.
"Isa... it's all right if I call you that, right?"
She nodded. "Of course."
"Thanks. Isa, I... I don't really think Atem and I are brothers, even with the DNA test." He looked down. "But even if I did, I... never met my parents."
"Oh. I see."
He glanced back at the bookshelf. "How old was he? In the photo, I mean."
"Seven years old."
"What happened to his parents? If you don't mind me asking."
"No one knows."
"Does he remember them?"
Isa shook her head. "He spent his entire life before the adoption in foster care."
"That must have been awful."
Isa nodded. "It took a long time for him to trust me before that day. To learn to love someone else. To hope for a future."
Yugi nodded slowly. "I had a couple friends like that. Atem's lucky he found you."
"Thank you."
The following pause was interrupted by the teakettle's whistle. "Just a moment," Isa apologized. She left to remove the kettle. After a moment's debate, Yugi followed her.
Separating the kitchen from the living room was a long counter that reminded one of a bar. A few stools were pulled up to it on the living room side. Yugi sat down on the nearest one. As Isa poured the tea, he ventured to restart the conversation. "Do you know anything about Atem's parents?"
Isa paused, lips pressing into a thin line. "No," she said at last. "No one does that I'm aware. Not even the police were able to find anything." She handed him his mug.
"Thanks."
Isa nodded before continuing. "There wasn't even a record of Atem's birth. It's why he went through so many foster homes."
Yugi's brow furrowed. "Are you saying they rejected him just because he had no birth certificate?"
Isa nodded reluctantly.
"That's not right! Records have nothing to do with a person's value!" He froze, realizing he was almost yelling.
Isa was unfazed. "My sentiments exactly." She sipped her tea calmly. "You seem to feel quite strongly about it."
Yugi flushed from embarrassment. "Y-yeah. I uh, had a... really close friend – a long time ago. No one knew who he was, either. Not even him."
"He had amnesia?"
"Yeah. That's why I was joking about it at the hospital."
She hummed thoughtfully. "I had thought that sounded like an inside joke." She paused, considering something. "If you'll forgive my asking, were you in foster care, Yugi?"
The young man shook his head. "My Grandpa raised me." He smiled down at his tea. "He was the best. I... get the feeling he would have liked Atem. He died a couple years after- after I was old enough to take care of myself. I was okay at first, but... then things went a little nuts."
"Meaning?"
"...My friends. They all... passed on shortly after he did."
There was a pause before Isa spoke. "I'm sorry. May I ask how it happened?"
Yugi sighed. "It's been a while since I've said anything about it." He nodded his head, staring at his tea. "I guess you could call it a cruel twist of fate. After everything we'd been through, I lost them all to –for the most part – ordinary, everyday accidents. Vehicle wrecks, a fire, gang violence."
"How awful."
Yugi grimaced. "There are worse things. And I guess I misspoke. I didn't lose them all that way; just the ones I was closest to. In the end, though, I did lose them all, one way or another." He paused. "There may be one or two who are still alive, now that I think about it, but I can't know for certain – we've been out of touch for too long, now."
Isa shook her head. "I can't imagine what all that must have been like."
Yugi forced a smile. "It's all in the past, now." He paused to take a sip of his tea. He set the mug down as something occurred to him.
"Um... can I ask you something?
"What is it?"
"Why are you doing this? I mean... you're being really generous and open with me, and I... I'm really grateful, but... you don't even know me. Isn't that a little dangerous, letting in a stranger like this?"
Isa smiled. "Perhaps. But I get the feeling you can be trusted."
"Really?"
She nodded. "I have what some of Atem's friends call a 'sixth sense.' Every so often, I get an idea of things as they really are without having to see much of them."
Yugi huffed a laugh, muttering under his breath, "boy, that sounds familiar."
She smiled. "That 'sixth sense' has yet to fail me, and right now, it is telling me I can trust you, Yugi. And at any rate, with you staying here, there's little I can do besides being hospitable."
Yugi smiled.
"All jesting aside, you're free to stay here as long as you need to."
"Thank you. I'll do my best to make all this up to you."
Isa's eyes became tender. "Yugi. There's no need for that. You're Atem's brother. That makes you family. Family looks out for one another. And besides, you already are 'making up for it' as you say."
"What do you mean?"
Isa took a careful sip of her tea. "You may not be convinced that you and Atem were born of the same parents, which I find puzzling, frankly. That aside, I wish you could have seen the look on his face when it finally sunk in that he had a brother... I have never seen him so full of hope and excitement." She chuckled. "Which is of course when he started panicking about how you'd hate him for the accident."
Yugi couldn't help laughing.
"Until tonight, Atem had no living blood relatives. But now..."
"...Now he has me," Yugi finished.
She nodded. "It means more to him than you might..."
"No, no, I get it." He thought back to Grandpa, the only blood family he'd ever known. "Believe me, I get it. But I still feel dishonest about it."
Isa straightened in her seat. "Your DNA is identical. Your appearance is nearly so. Neither of you have met your parents, and you are both without blood relatives of any sort. What conclusion can you draw from that?"
Yugi winced. "That we're related, I guess. But that doesn't make it true."
"You are right. Now consider this: the three of us are living in the same house for the foreseeable future; you and Atem are legally under my care, and I intend to be a mother to you both, regardless. What do you suppose that makes us?"
Yugi thought for a moment. "I'm... not sure."
"Family. There is more than one way of reckoning it, Yugi. Perhaps this is one of the more convoluted ways, but that does not change my point. That point is: just as blood ties are not the only definition of family, shared parentage is not the only definition of siblings."
Yugi gulped. "Yes ma'am."
She blinked, and her form relaxed a little. "I apologize. I didn't mean to intimidate you. Being part of a family is a choice, not just an inheritance or an obligation, and I really do hope you will choose to be part of ours. But the bottom line is that your doubts have little basis, Yugi."
"I guess you're right... I just don't want to give Atem false hope. You know, for information on his family. I can't give him that."
Isa nodded. "I understand. But I don't think information is what Atem really wants. What he really wants is a brother. That is something you can give him, if you are willing."
...
Isa had fallen asleep on the couch more than two hours ago. Yugi was using the opportunity to bring himself up to speed with the news. Some (relatively) new things about the world surprised him, others not so much. Of course, the loophole he'd found through being stuck in the Puzzle was mostly responsible for that.
During the commercial breaks, he mulled over his situation. Everything had happened so fast: one minute, he was in the puzzle, the next, he was being accepted into a family! It blew his mind.
To top it off, the reborn Ishizu was his self-proclaimed mom, now. Oddly, it wasn't all that weird to think of her that way: in her previous life, she'd always seemed older than she was, and she'd provided himself and Atem with vital advice and support on more than one adventure.
He glanced over at Isa. She looked different, in this life. Ishizu had been in her late twenties, early thirties at most when Yugi met her. Isa was at least forty-five, with faint wrinkles and grey streaks beginning to show. Though, now that he thought about it, Ishizu was probably around this age when she died. He bit his lip, trying not to think about how it might have happened.
Isa stirred. "Atem?"
Yugi smirked. "He's still asleep. It's just me down here."
Isa blinked slowly, processing the information. Then she sat bolt upright. "How long was I asleep?"
"Three or four hours. Don't worry, I've been awake the whole time." He set down the remote and made tracks for the kitchen. "Want me to make you some breakfast?"
"I'm not very hungry."
"You should still eat something. I've seen Grandpa like this before, and believe me, you'll hate yourself later for not eating. You've been up half the night, after all. And it's almost two in the afternoon."
"It's that late?"
"Yup." Yugi poked his head into the fridge. "Hmm. It looks like you might be out of eggs."
Isa groaned. "That's right. I was going to go shopping today."
So, eggs were out. Yugi opened the nearest cabinet, hoping for a new idea. He yelped as a cereal box toppled out.
"Are you alright?"
"Fine! I'm fine! Just, uh, trying to figure out what to make..." he stooped to retrieve the box from the floor.
"Perhaps I should help. You need to take it easy, after all."
Yugi smiled at her. "Maybe, but if I'm going to be part of the family, I might as well act like it."
a/n: READ THIS!
If you're confused about a few comments Yugi's made (i.e. "the loophole he'd found through being stuck in the Puzzle"), read my companion piece One Hundred Years. Its events are vital to this plotline, so I highly advise reading it. One Hundred Years is also a crossover piece, so Yu-Gi-Oh!: Reincarnate will have a few crossover elements from Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's, starting now.