Chosen Pharaoh Chronicles Part 1: Longing Reunion & The Beasts Within

Based on the original Yu Gi Oh storyline. (Combination of anime & manga canon)

Rated M

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh it belongs to Kazuki Takahashi

Chapter 3: Lost Daughter

(Flashback)

Two months had past since Yugi and Tea began their odd relationship. One would call it odd due to the circumstances of their agreement. The king of games may have been head over heals for the brunette but she was still in the process of loving him. Well, she did love him but more in a means of friendship. As far as romantically she was still in the mists of liking Yugi. One could argue that it was mostly the lust between them keeping her happy and satisfied at the moment. Just mind numbing carnal pleasure to keep away the thoughts of missing the higher man. Yet as time passed she began to realize that Yugi was an excellent boyfriend. He generally acted the same way as he did while they were friends but now all his passion and affection went straight to her. She sometimes felt like a princess as he cared for her every whim.

However, they had decided to keep to themselves these past few weeks. The only contact they had with the others of the group were small conversations via phone calls and Skype. Not to mention neither had mustered up the courage to explain that they hooked up. Both were not sure why they were keeping the relationship a secret. Perhaps it was circumstances surround its beginning. Or the embarrassment of explaining the numerous hickies surrounding their necks. Although Yugi and Joey did have a tendency of bragging to each other on occasion. There was also the thought of Tea returning to her dance school back in New York. She was taking six months to a year off. What would there relationship be like when she left? Hell would she even truly love Yugi by then? She hoped she would get over that damned monarch. Anything but these nights of dreaming of something that will never be. This new relationship was her last chance to finally be estranged on Atem.

"Hey love." Yugi's voice broke her toppling thoughts. A wrap of his arms around her waist from behind brought a little ease to her occasional anxiety. "I had a cool idea."

Tea was currently washing dishes. She normally let Yugi do this but it was a good distraction from her own head. "Oh dear. I don't remember the last time you used your big head as opposed to the little one."

Her sarcastic tone was something that always made Yugi laugh, even if he was the butt end of the joke. "Ha, you are hilarious. But seriously, why don't we invite the guys out for dinner and we spill the beans about us."

She stopped herself from washing the knife in her hand. Tea didn't want to risk her nerves. "You think they will take well to this?"

"Pretty sure they have been waiting for us to be together for a while." Yugi placed a kiss on her shoulder. "Pretty sure I occasionally spoke with one or two of them about my attraction to you back in high school."

"I must have been really thick to not notice." She gave a rough laugh. 'Or more likely I was too busy trying to hook up with your sexy alter ego.'

"Nah, I just didn't have the balls to say anything. Plus we were always busy saving the world right?"

Tea finished some other dishes before drying her hands and then placing them over Yugi's. "You know, you have grown a lot Yugi. I mean it. You have truly become everything any of us wanted you to be and I'm proud of you."

The man couldn't help but notice a warm fuzzy feeling in his heart. He cracked a smile. "Aw shucks Tea." He swayed her a bit. "You mean it?"

She turned around to face but remained in his grasp. "Yes, babe. Every word." She was still getting used to calling Yugi the normal relationship pet names.

A quick kiss rest assured any worries he had about her words. But as usual her touch always sparked his primal motivations. Honestly, he never thought he had so much pent up carnal drive in him.

"How about we have a go before we have to dress and act like civilized people?" Yugi threw his new signature smirk.

Tea cursed herself for letting the replica expression capture her the same way it did with the other guy. "Alright as long as you let me start things off this time."

"Oh don't worry I'll act as if my hands were tied."

Sooner then they realized, the couple were walking to the nearby diner. Surely enough Tristan was the first to arrive with Serenity by his side. It appears he finally won with the contest between Duke and himself. Of course Joey would be the last to arrive to any scene. With the gang all together they all grabbed their seats at a large semi circle booth and placed their orders. The conversations were small and related to how everyone was doing with their futures. Tristan decided that he might want to be a patrol officer, Serenity was still undecided with her choice of schools, and Joey had a long journey in becoming a professional Duelist. At the moment he was working as packer at a local post office. It wasn't until everyone started receiving their meals that Yugi decided that it was time to reveal the big news.

"Hey guys I'm glad that we are all together after all these months concentrated on our own paths. I know I have been pretty secluded after we lost grandpa." He paused for a moment. "But we all came out of it stronger and more grown. It is best that we all focus on what makes us happy and our own successes. So without further adieu I want to announce that...Tea and I are now together."

Joey snorted and ended up partially spitting up his drink. Tristan stopped chewing his piece of steak. Only Serenity gave a clap and a bright smile. Tea sat back and patiently waited for the way she thought the guys would react. Joey especially knew how she felt about Atem and surely shared his thoughts with Tristan. Undoubtably, they would end up questioning her decision.

The hotheaded blonde quickly cleaned up his mouth. "Well, let me be da first to congratulate you guys. It's bout time you guys got together."

"Yeah, you both deserve to be happy. Congrats guys." Tristan followed Joey's lead.

Serenity decided to add a little extra. She lifted her drink up. "Yes congrats. C'mon guys let us toast on it! To Yugi and Tea!"

The boys were not as verbal as Serenity but they all clanked their glasses together. While the rest of the evening went smoothly, something felt odd about it. Joey and Tristan's response did not feel truly genuine or that they were hiding something. Yugi did not pick up on it but Tea certainly did. She doubted that they thought about the relationship negatively but it was almost certain that they had some remarks or doubts. Little did Yugi know, upon returning home he received a phone call from Joey.

"Who is it Yugi?" Tea pondered.

Yugi put the phone aside for a moment. "It's just one of my gaming contacts. Why don't you head to bed, I'll meet you when I'm done."

Tea had a feeling he wasn't being completely honest, but she was feeling pretty exhausted for some odd reason. "Alright night babe."

"Night love." Yugi then quickly moved into the bathroom and shut the door. "Alright I'm alone and she is going to bed. What is it you wanted to talk about Joey?"

Joey could be heard sighing deeply. "Look man I'm happy for you. I really am. But what concerns me is how is she doing. Is she happy?"

Yugi felt his heart drop for a moment. "Of course." He felt doubt's cold touch. "I am mean she has told me that everything is fine."

"I don't doubt she at least enjoys your company. You are a good dude Yuge. It's just...ugh I should have said something months ago."

"Months ago? Said what?" Yugi was becoming confused.

Another deep sigh came through. "She called me a while ago. I can't remember da exact date. I wanna say a couple months before gramps left us. Tea was really distraught. Sounded like she had been crying for while."

Yugi interjected. "Why did she call you and not me..."

"If you let me finish I'll tell ya why. Now she did want to talk to you but was afraid of hurting you. The reason she called was she needed to vent about how much she missed Atem. That wherever she went, whoever she saw, anytime she slept...something always brought her back to him."

Yugi's throat felt dry. It was something he sort of already knew, this was just more icing on the cake. If you could even call it that. "I see."

"Yuge, she was in deep with this guy. Like she loved him so goddamn much and I should have know that she would end up like that. Shit the way she acted when he left. Begging that he stay just when we were learning how he truly was. It wasn't us that wanted to know, it was mostly her. I know this sounds like I'm trying to sabotage your happiness but I just feel guilty for not coming to you about this. Even though she told me not to speak of word of this to you, it just isn't right...keeping this bottled up."

Yugi bit his lip for a second. "Look Joey, I really appreciate you telling me this. But truth is she already went through something similar with me. Hell I think she visualized me as Atem and then professed her love for him to me. I've always had a feeling she was head over heels for the guy. Let's just say we made an agreement about the situation. I didn't force anything on her and she was to feel however she wanted to. Yet, still somehow she gave me a chance."

"Please tell me you guys didn't rush into fucking each other..." Joey's voice sounded like he had experience with the situation.

Well, Yugi shut up for a few seconds. "What is it to you..." He tried to sound confident about it but failed miserably.

"Holy fucking Ra Yuge. C'mon I thought I knew you better..."

"I thought I knew myself too."

"Alright all I'm going to say is just be careful with her. Give all the love you got but also give her the time and space to move on from the other dude. I'm afraid if she holds on for too long one or both you might end up in a lot more hurt than either of you expect."

"I will."

"Okay Yuge. We besides everything I said, congrats anyway and I wish for the best with you guys. Night."

"Night, Joey. And thanks for talking to me about this."

"Anytime man. Later."

"Bye."

Yugi snapped his phone shut and rubbed his temple. "Even in death you continue to be in our lives huh? But this time you live in her heart..."

Slowly Yugi walked out the bathroom and did some last minute chores before heading up to bed. Too much from Joey's conservation was racing through his mind. Was this relationship even legit? Was she really happy? Then he remember his own words. '...I'm not saying you have to stop loving him but I ask that you love me as well...'

Well, what was the harm in that? He was only trying to ease her pain and make her happy. 'It's not like Atem was coming back.' Yugi startled himself. The fact he would think in such way about his best friend. The fact that it was Yugi's advantage that the guy was gone somewhat unnerved him. Overall, he figured he was thinking too much about it. A good night's sleep should help.

By the next morning, Yugi was woken up by his partner rushing out the door. Despite his groggy behavior, he was genuinely concerned. Rushing down the stairs to the bathroom he found his beloved puking her guts out. Instinctively he ran over to hold her hair back and try to comfort her. At first Yugi wasn't sure how Tea had gotten sick so suddenly and then it hit him.

Tea stopped vomiting and quickly reached up to flush the gross contents. "Fuck, I was hoping that I was just a week late. But this just adds to what I don't want it to be..."

Yugi knew what she was talking about. He mentally cursed himself for not using protection sooner. "Do you want me to go buy you some test strips?"

She slowly stood up from the floor. "Yeah. I'll go make a doctor's appointment too."

All the tests she tried later that day were positive and she was pretty confident the result would be the same at the doctor's. While Tea was planning to take the year off, a baby would not allow her to go back to school. So the question now was what to do with the baby. She liked kids so part of her thought about keeping it and the other part was thinking how she wouldn't be able to go back to school in New York. It was best to discuss the options with Yugi.

The past couple of weeks Yugi had converted part of the living room into a bit of a work space for his occupation as a game designer. Lists of rules lay all over the foldable tables and various sketches of characters and boards were pinned to the walls. Yugi wasn't bad at drawing. But no matter how busy Yugi was today, they needed to talk about this situation.

"Hey Yugi...we need to talk about this." She took a breath. "The baby."

The game king stopped his typing on his laptop. He turned slowly to face Tea. "Of course love. Take a seat at the kitchen table, I'll be there in a minute I just want to save this document."

Moving the scene to the kitchen table the couple sat across from each other. Yugi grabbed Tea's hand. "Love, I know this is something neither of us intended but we were foolish enough to let it happen. I also know you are probably thinking about how this will affect you going back to school. How long were you planning to take off."

"About a year. If my math is correct the baby will be born before I go back. But...I don't think I could focus on my classes if I'm taking care of the baby."

Yugi squeezed her hand a bit. "Look if you want an abortion then I completely understand..."

Tea shook her head. "I don't want to do that. I don't want to lose someone else..."

"Tea, having a baby isn't going to ease things if you don't think you can take care of it. I mean yeah part of me would love to have a family with you but do you really think this is the right time? Especially with all the emotional stuff you are going through."

"I honestly don't know right now. Maybe this baby will help me get over my own bullshit or maybe I'm not ready. I'll figure it out through this pregnancy. That is my final decision."

"Well, just know if you go back to school I'll have the baby stay here and I'm sure Joey and Tristan will help out."

"Alright." Tea tapped her figures slightly. "I have have pretty good health insurance but I hope your job makes a decent amount to cover the differences."

Yugi nodded. "It will and grandpa left me with quite a lot. I doubt I'll even go through half of it for medical bills. Plus the shop is still open so I'll have more saved up during the week."

Tea gave a sigh of relief. At least she was with someone who was financially secure and good with money. Yet it was a test of time whether she will be stable enough to have this child.

As the months passed by Yugi and Tea's relationship began to show cracks. While money wasn't an issue, it seems that the two had difficulties with agreeing on certain issues. Whether it was work hours, intimacy, who was doing what, or Tea's weak emotional state, neither could find a solution on equal ground. It never got violent but the stress of the pregnancy was certainly taking a toll on both of them. It was pretty clear neither of them were ready.

December 5th, it was a cold night and Tea was admitted into the hospital since mid afternoon. Labor contractions were far apart for a few hours but as the night progressed they happened closer together. Yugi was outside in the lobby waiting for a nurse to bring him in to see his newborn. He would be in that room with her but a month before this birth the two broke off their relationship. Tea had too much emotional baggage to deal with and Yugi was trying too hard to force the relationship to work. Even still he felt like a idiot for the way he handled the situation.

'Should have thought about this with my head and not my dick...' His hands rubbed against his temple. 'Not to mention she probably still loves him.'

Joey and Tristan had just arrived at the hospital. Catching sight of their friend, both looked to each other.

"For a guy about to become a father he doesn't look too good." Tristan whispered to Joey.

Joey nodded. "Didn't he tell ya? He and Tea split up. Because of that they decided to put the baby up for adoption."

Tristan gave a surprised look. "No, I wasn't told this and are you serious? I thought they were doing well."

"There is a lot I gotta bring ya up to speed with but I can tell you things were not all what they seemed." The blonde sighed a bit. "As sad as it may sound, I actually agree with this decision. A child shouldn't be living in a broken home or with people who haven't solved their own problems. Besides Tea should be allowed to go back to New York without anything holding her back."

"I guess you are right. But what about Yugi?" The brunette looked over at his friend again. "Is he okay with all of this?"

"It doesn't matter Tristan. He has to be okay with the decision because he started all of this. He rushed this relationship at a very wrong time. I should know..." He looked at Tristan as if to remind him of what happened between himself and Mai Valentine.

Another hour had past and finally a nurse called Yugi into the room where they were holding Tea. Apparently she had asked for him. While he cared for her greatly, he had to choose his words carefully. The last argument they had was quite intense and he did not want a repeat. Slowly he opened the door and their she was laying exhausted in her hospital bed.

"Yugi..." Tea called out in a weakened voice.

"Yes, I'm here." He took a seat next to the bed.

She slowly lifted up her hand to point to the clipboard on the counter ahead of the bed. "There is the paperwork for her. Just sign it and you can leave if you want."

Yugi nodded. He was aware that they would remove the child to be cared for. Looking at the birth certificate he signed where it was needed but not without catching the name Tea selected for their daughter.

"Hanna Yuki Mutou" He gave a slight smile. "It's a great name for her."

"I figured you would like it. It's the least I can do to name her after you."

Placing the clipboard and pen down on the counter, Yugi turned to face Tea. "I really hate it when you talk like that. You aren't taking her away from me. She needs a home where their isn't two adults who are struggling to figure themselves out. Or that they are still grieving."

"It doesn't make the fact that we have to resort to this any better..." Tears began to fall from her face. "They told me she has your eyes."

Yugi quickly rushed to her side and stroke her face. "Hey, hey...she will be loved by good people. If not for our dire circumstances I know you would be a great mother. You just need to help yourself from now on Tea. When you are ready I'll cover your flight back to New York. So you can continue your schooling."

"Yugi you don't have to..."

"I insist Tea. Dancing is your true passion and you should continue it. Not wallow in your sorrows here."

Her eyes began to feel the weight of her exhaustion. "Th...thank you, Yugi."

Seeing her tired state Yugi decided it was best she caught some much needed sleep. "Anytime love. Get some sleep." He placed a light kiss on her forehead before leaving the room.

(Flashback end)

Yugi took a deep breath as he ended his explanation. He may have left out some details such as the promise he made to Tea about who she really loved and the conversation he had with Joey, but the rest was left for Atem to absorb. The former pharaoh had a lot to process. He had no idea that he left Tea in so much pain. His feelings for her were the same as her for him. The question now was did she still love him. But he did not dare ask such a thing. Instead he would seek information in a different manner.

"Did you two ever end up getting back together?"

"Yes, two years after the fact. Tea had a huge play she was performing in. Even got paid for it too. So the guys and I bought tickets to see her." A smirk twisted his lips. "After the show she called me to her powder room back stage. Apparently all the girls had left for drinks but she wanted to go with us instead. Yet when I saw her..."

Atem smiled. "Amazing what beauty does to a man huh?"

"Yeah." He licked his lips in memory. "She look so damn good. Toned to all hell and that outfit, just too much for me. We hadn't see in other aside from the occasional Skype call so it was pretty tense. One thing led to another and well that was the first time I had a quickie like that in the back of a Broadway stage. Thank goodness she was on the pill at the time."

"So you have been back together for a about a year then."

"Yup. After a few more shows Tea moved back here. Gave up her career as a dancer while in her peak and just became a local instructor. She said that she was happy to experience her life long dream and it was worth giving up for a life filled with genuine love. We may have lost a daughter but in learning from our mistakes we gained a better relationship."

"I'm sure she is living a loving home. Maybe one day she will want to learn about her real parents."

"Maybe." Yugi looked at the clock and noticed it was going to get dark soon. "Well, Tea is gonna be home in a few more hours so is there anything you want to tell me about yourself? You know anything happen in the afterlife aside from dealing with Kaiba."

Atem gulped quietly. Yeah, he had a lot to explain. Like how he was married before becoming pharaoh and that he too had lost a daughter.

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