Chapter title: Apologies
Word count: 3.200
Chapter: 14/15
Chapter summary: Juudai realized his mistakes and tries to make up
Chapter warnings: -
Pairings: YamixYuugi
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

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Chapter 14: Apologies

Juudai hadn't paid any attention where he went as he ran. Somehow, he had ended up at Yuugi's house. He had remembered the way when Yami brought him over there to be babysat or when they would go to the shop to buy new cards. Since he had lived on the streets for a little while, he knew the city of Domino quite well. Finding the place really wasn't that hard.

He stood in front of the red door for a while. He was breathing heavily from all the running. The cold, crisp air immediately froze his breath into a smokey vapor. The sign hanging in front of the door said it was open, but he was afraid to go in. Yuugi hated him, too. He really was a meanie. What if Yuugi yelled at him? What if he just kicked him out? O-Or call the police?!

Juudai started shivering as his body cooled down. He had gotten so hot he barely noticed the cold when running away from home. Add the sweat and his soaked back, it started getting chilly really fast. He couldn't really take it and pushed the door open. The game shop was as cheerful as always. Different kinds of toys were stocked on the shelves. At the register, instead of the usual Yuugi, was an elderly man.

"Hello there, little man. Isn't it a bit early for you to be out of school?" The man asked with a jovial smile. Juudai blushed, glad to finally hear something nice today.

"Y-yes…." He answered and then gulped. "I-Is Yuugi home?" He asked. The man looked in wonder.

"Yes he is. Why do you want to see him?" The man asked out of pure curiosity.

"I-I'm Juudai… I need to talk to him."

The man immediately recognized the name and his kind eyes suddenly darkened. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

Realizing the mistake he made, Juudai stepped back. Of course he would be hated by the whole family. "I-I really need to talk to him! I made a big mistake and I want to apologize to Yuugi." His voice became very small in the middle of the sentence.

The man's eyes softened a bit. The child was still just five. Children were stubborn and did and say what they wanted, not thinking about the consequences. Omote was at school, too, so it was better to let him see Yuugi now, without traumatizing the little boy even more. "Alright." He finally agreed. He opened the door and called for Yuugi.

The moment Yuugi saw Juudai, he shut the door again. The glimpse Juudai got of Yuugi wasn't really good. The eyes were red and bloodshot. He looked really tired and pale, kind of how his own father looked and it was all his fault. He was wearing sloppy, dirty clothes. Juudai looked crestfallen as this happened, he got the message and went to leave. Just as he wanted to exit the shop, the door to the living quarters opened again. "Come in." Yuugi said. At first he was enraged that the kid showed up on his doorstep. But thinking more about it, he reminded himself that Juudai was still just a child. A messed up one, that is.

Juudai nodded and followed Yuugi into the living room, where they both sat down. Yuugi said nothing and waited for Juudai to speak. Juudai was too nervous to speak. The ticking of the clock got louder and louder, grating on his nerves.

"Well?" Yuugi finally prompted. Juudai couldn't take it anymore.

"I am so sorry Yuugi! I realize I did mean things and that I am a meanie! Daddy wants to give me back to the orphanage but I really don't want to go back. Please Yuugi!" Tears were rolling down the puffy red cheeks and drops of mucus were coming out of the little nostrils. He looked like a mess.

"You know… I told myself that if this happened, I would just ignore you and send you away." Juudai looked up at Yuugi, all hopes leaving him. "But seeing you here like this… how could I possibly do that?" Juudai tilted his head in confusion. Yuugi sat down on the couch and patted the space next to him. Juudai shuffled over hesitantly and sat down, feeling incredibly awkward.

Yuugi pulled a tissue from the tissue box sitting on the coffee table and wiped the face clear of the tears and snot. With the help of Yuugi, he blew his nose into the tissue to clear his nose. "Now what did you say about Yami kicking you out?" Yuugi asked.

Juudai looked downcast again. "I heard him talk on the phone with Katsuya-oniichan. He said that the woman was right and… and… and that he was going to give me back!" Juudai was crying again at this point. Yuugi looked concerned. Even though he hadn't really liked Juudai from the start, he would never wish this to happen to any child. Yami had, of course, told him about Juudai's past and how the orphanage had treated him.

"He wouldn't do that…. Would he?" Yuugi wasn't so sure about that question either. Juudai didn't answer and rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater. "Juudai… why did you hate me so much? I don't think I ever did anything wrong to you?"

Juudai fidgeted in his seat, playing with the sleeves of his sweater, sniffling occasionally. "I… daddy always forgot about me when you were there… I-I was so afraid if you and daddy got closer he wouldn't want me anymore." He admitted.

Yuugi hummed lightly as he thought. Had Yami really not looked at Juudai when the two were together? He honestly couldn't know because he never paid the kid much attention, himself.

"A-and when you stayed the night over daddy wouldn't even make breakfast." Juudai said sadly. Now it was Yuugi who felt guilty. "Also I'm sorry Yuugi… I didn't meant to hurt you… I jumped on you on accident… also I never knew Yuuki would die out of water… I wouldn't have done that if I knew. Also… I'm sorry for throwing paint on you… and throwing your food on the ground… but I really did fall then!"

Yuugi chuckled lightly, a small smile forming on his lips. "Juudai I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I shouldn't have said all the things I did yesterday. I felt pretty stupid arguing with a five year old. I acted like a child while I was supposed to act like an adult… but you know what? Yami had forgotten about me too for a while. He hadn't really forgotten me, it's just that he didn't have any time for me because of work. I was a little needy too."

"Needy?" Juudai asked, not knowing what the word was. Yuugi blushed and frantically waved his arms in front of chest.

"I-I just missed Yami a lot so I wanted to see him." He quickly said, calming afterward. "You know Juudai… you and I are actually the same…."

"What do you mean?" The little boy asked, not knowing what Yuugi was saying.

Yuugi smiled. "We were both just desperately looking for someone who would love us without hurting us. We both found that in Yami and we just couldn't share. But you know what they say, sharing is caring, right?" Juudai nodded. He never knew this about Yuugi. So Yuugi had been lonely too, even though he had a grandpa, little brother and even a mother.

"You were lonely." Juudai worded his thoughts. Yuugi nodded.

"My little brother, even though he loves me very much, he will most likely leave me when he gets older and starts living his own life. My mother has long forgotten us because of her illness and especially now with her new boyfriend. Grandpa is getting older and sometimes won't even recognize me." Yuugi looked so sad as he confessed this to the little child.

Juudai scooted closer to Yuugi, putting his hands on the arm of the man. "I want to be your friend Yuugi… and I'm sure… daddy…," the word came out very unsure of itself, "wants to be with you too."

Yuugi looked at Juudai for a moment before smiling. "Say Juudai… haven't you ever thought about it like this? All you wanted was a loving parent, right?" Juudai nodded in confirmation. "If you didn't chase me away, and Yami and I got married." Yuugi blushed and smiled dreamily at the thought. "Wouldn't you have two loving parents instead of just one?" Yuugi said, holding up two fingers to emphasize the amount.

Juudai's mouth gaped at the thought. Yuugi was right. He had known Yuugi was a sweet person and he would have two parents instead of one! Why hadn't he thought about that? All of a sudden, he got even more fidgety but this time he was smiling and even blushing a little. "Yuugi… would you like to be my mommy?" He asked shyly.

Yuugi laughed and ruffled the fluffy brown hair of the little boy. "Yes, Juudai, I would love to." He said with a broad smile, happy to have made up with the child. "But… I have something to ask of you. Why did you bully Omote?"

Juudai looked away from Yuugi, shame evident in his whole posture. "H-he just looked so much like you and very cute too… so I was scared daddy would switch him for me." He admitted. "I am really sorry about that too… I really didn't want to hurt him or anything…."

"You're going to have to apologize to him yourself when he gets home." As if on cue, the front door opened, showing Omote and Yuugi's mother and another man entering the house. The moment Omote saw Juudai, he gasped and ran for his room. Yuugi's mother promptly ignored them all and pulled the man into a different room, closing the door and locking everybody out. Juudai could now understand Yuugi a lot better though.

"Wait here, I'll get him." Yuugi said as he got up and followed his little clone. Juudai waited patiently and nervously until Yuugi got back with Omote in tow. Yuugi entered the room but Omote didn't. He hid behind the wall in the hallway, only his head poking out from behind the doorpost.

"Juudai?" Yuugi prompted.

Juudai swallowed hard before he hung his head. "Omote, I am so sorry that I kicked over your sandcastle and that I said those mean things to you. Please will you forgive me?" He asked as sweetly as he could. He meant every word he said. He had felt guilty from the beginning when he started bullying Omote, it made him no better than the children from the orphanage.

"Omote." Yuugi said a little firmly.

"I forgive you Juudai." Omote said softly and entered the room. He looked like a skittish animal. Yuugi and Juudai were both too scared to move. Scared any sudden movement would send the little boy bolting back into his room. But Omote sat down in the chair farthest from Juudai, distrust in the boy's eyes.

"Glad that's settled." Yuugi said happily. He fished his phone out of his pocket and unblocked Yami. Perhaps he went a little too far by blocking Yami from his phone. After he was done unblocking, he dialed Yami's number and held it against his ear. It rang a couple times before Yami picked up.

"Yuugi I can't believe I'm saying this but I can't talk right now." With that Yami hung up. Yuugi was shocked. First Yami practically stalks him by calling him nonstop, and now he doesn't have time to even talk to him. Had he already found another? Thoughts were racing through Yuugi's mind. He shook the thoughts away and redialed.

"Yuugi I told you, I'm too busy!" The words weren't harsh or anything, still it irked Yuugi.

"He hung up on me! Again!" He shouted out to no one in particular. Juudai looked at Omote, who looked back at him. Omote made himself as small as possible in the chair he was sitting in while Juudai just felt the aura around Yuugi get more ominous. The phone was against Yuugi's ear again.

"Look Yuugi I– "

"Don't you hang up on me!" Yuugi said with such sass, even Mai would be jealous.

"O-okay?"

Yuugi sighed with annoyance. "Why are you so busy anyways?" He asked, kind of curious what was so important Yami hung up on him after their bad breakup.

"Oh… I thought you wouldn't want to hear it… but Juudai ran away. I got a phone call from the kindergarten after I dropped Juudai off and had a talk with the principal. I talked with Jounouchi for a bit and after that call I immediately received a call that Juudai had been missing from class. Apparently some children ganged up on him for Omote's transferal and he ran away. Anzu was trying to get Johan out of the bathroom when this happened so there was no supervision at the time but we saw it back on the security cameras." Yami told.

Yuugi glanced at Juudai. The child must have felt horrible when that happened. Kind of explained why Juudai was in the state he was when he arrived.

"Uhm Yami… Juudai is here at my house." He said a little awkwardly. Maybe he should've alerted Yami of Juudai's whereabouts earlier.

"What Yuugi? Seriously?" Yami sounded excited.

"Yeah… He came here around one in the afternoon." Yuugi told.

"Oh thank goodness, what a relief. I'm on my way." Yami said. There was a slight pause. "I-if that's okay with you…" He added tentatively.

"Yeah that's okay. We need to talk too." Yuugi said. Yami hung up and it was silent for a little while. "Yami is coming here Juudai. We still have a few things to fix. So how about some lunch until he comes?" He asked, looking at Juudai and Omote.

The other little boy was smiling brightly. "I want pancakes!" He cheered.

"Yes pancakes!" Juudai joined.

Yuugi sighed. "Couldn't you have asked for a sandwich?" He mumbled as he went into the kitchen. Pancakes were messy to make and took a lot of work, but he and Juudai were finally on friendly terms, and that called for a mini-celebration.

After a few bad attempts to catch flipped pancakes, the three were sitting at the kitchen table where Yuugi was just checking his Facebook. Juudai was teaching Omote how to play Duel Monsters with the cards they borrowed from the store.

"Juudai!" The sudden shout startled them all, making Yuugi drop his phone onto the table.

"Yami!" Yuugi shouted out in shock. The man didn't respond as he ran and embraced the child in a tight hug. All that Juudai said were muffled by Yami's chest. "Yami you're choking him!" Yuugi shouted, standing up and pulling the two apart. Juudai inhaled sharply as he could finally breath sweet, sweet oxygen again.

"Oh… oh." He said awkwardly. Then he went into full parenting mode. "What were you thinking running away?!" He said angrily to the child. Juudai got shrunk from embarrassment and fear. "Do you know how worried everyone was? I searched all over town for you!" Yami shouted at the child.

Tears started gathering at the corner of Juudai's eyes. "Y-you said you wanted to give me back… so I was scared and ran…." He told. This earned Yami an icy and harsh glare from Yuugi.

Yami flinched and thought recalled what he had said. Then he remembered. "Oh! Then you haven't heard the last of it!" He quickly covered. "I said that I was considering to give you back, indeed. But, I also said I promised I wouldn't leave you. I would never give you back." Yami said with a warm smile.

Juudai's eyes were filled with tears right now. "Daddy!" He cried and threw himself at the man. Yuugi and Omote watched from the sidelines. A warm smile graced Yuugi's lips while Omote hid behind Yuugi, since he was still too shy around Yami, also partly from fear that Juudai would get mad again.

"Look Yuugi. I really wanted to apologize to you… I should've realized what was going on but I was so busy with work and–" He was cut off as Yuugi placed his finger on his lips. Yami let go of Juudai who stuck by his side, happy that his daddy wasn't going to give him away after all.

"You really don't have apologize Yami… you didn't do anything wrong…. Neither did Juudai. This all just happened because we were driven by our fear of losing the one we loved, so we got a little selfish. I should apologize to you for overreacting… and saying all those horrible things." Yuugi had hidden his face in his hands from shame. "I wanted to ask you if you would like to take me back…." He asked shyly, looking at Yami through the gaps of his fingers.

"Are you crazy? I was going to beg you to take me back!" Yami exclaimed in happiness.

"So… are we together again?" Yuugi asked. Yami answered by opening up his arms with a big smile plastered on his face. The same smile appeared on Yuugi's as well and he launching himself into Yami, closing his arms around the middle of the other man. "I missed you." He said in such a tired voice.

"I missed you too." Yami replied. "By the way… what's with this picture?" Yami asked, gesturing at the kitchen table they were sitting at moments ago filled with Duel Monster cards, leftover pancakes and Yuugi's phone. He released Yuugi so the other could look behind him.

"Oh. Juudai and I made up." Yuugi said with a happy smile. "We decided we could just share you." He added with a wink directed at Juudai.

"Yeah! Yuugi will be my mommy from now on!" Juudai added happily.

"Oh?" Yami drawled in amusement. "Does that mean I get special daddy privileges?" He asked while wagging his eyebrows.

Yuugi gave him a playful shove. "Don't push your luck." He laughed. After the laughter died down, Yuugi looked a little sad. "I never really wanted to break up with you." He said softly, looking at Yami with those tired eyes. "I'm sorry." Yuugi apologized again. He kissed Yami briefly before resting in the man's arms.

"Hey! You're stealing him again!" Juudai shouted jokingly.

"Whoops! Sorry." Yuugi laughed and opened up one arm. Yami did the same and Juudai joined the hug. Seconds later, they heard a whimper. Looking at the source, they saw Omote standing in the room all alone.

"Aaaw! Come here!" Yami laughed, opening his arm again. Yuugi did the same and Juudai scooted over. Omote smiled shyly and joined the hug. "Now you have two big brothers Omote. Yuugi and Juudai." He added.

"Yes! I will build you a new sand castle and protect you from bullies!" Juudai vowed. Yuugi smiled and tightened his arms around the group hug. Finally life was working out for him. This was the happiest he had felt in ages.

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Author Notes: Sorry for the long wait! My beta was very busy plus I got really into gaming again after getting Ni no Kuni and Alice Madness Returns. Both were really good games and I played non stop, pretty much neglecting my life.

Thank you all who read, faved, reviewed and followed. I'm glad you liked it! The next chapter is the last one. It really shouldn't take too long to update.

Next chapter: Epilogue