Chao- Man, hopefully this chapter will be smoother.

"Talking."

"Thinking."

/Yami and Yugi's mind link./

Chapter 5: Connections

Yami watched helplessly as Yugi slept in pain. His breathing turned rough, and his skin became paler. He also appeared frightened. However, the darker half of the ill boy was not willing to only stand by.

/Yugi, can you hear me?/ he tried to contact his partner through their mind link. /Yugi? Are you all right?/

Despite the dutiful attempt, he received no reply. He narrowed his eyes and clinched his fists together tightly as he could only wait and see if the younger boy would recover soon.

He sighed and took a seat on the boy's chair. Hunching over and lacing his fingers across his face, he pondered about Yugi's nightmare that occurred earlier. He grew puzzled about the phrases the teen shouted in agony. They repeated in his mind.

He wondered who was leaving him. Everyone he knew who was part of Yugi's group was still here. None of the teen's friends or relatives was dying, and no immediate danger involving evil magic showed.

Now the young Yugi was asleep with his already afflicted body fighting against an illness. But his mind and soul remained restless.

Yami feared his partner may suffer from further torment with horrific visions during his sleep.

"Yugi… please be safe."

Xxx

Yugi continued walking through his new area. He did not know how he arrived but noticed he kept on his pajamas. As he glanced down at his sleeves, he did not understand why he remained in that other than that was what he wore last before falling asleep. He looked up and witnessed the sky around him turned gray. The wind rushed by, causing him to feel a bleak chill throughout his entire body.

"Where am I?" he asked himself, observing his surroundings. He reached down in front of his chest in hopes of clinging to his precious treasure for both comfort and reassurance. To his surprise, no pendant laid around his neck.

"Where's the Puzzle!?" Yugi shrieked, becoming scared. He panicked but calmed himself down as he attempted to contact his darker half, /Yami? Are you there?/

However, he received no response. He felt no connection with the older boy. He felt completely alone, a familiar emotion he no longer desired to bear.

"Yami! Can you hear me!?" he tried once more in desperation.

At that moment, a strong, burning sensation emitted from his left arm. He grasped his arm in pain as he knelt down on the soft, emerald green grass. Pulling down his sleeve, he gasped in shock. On his arm stood five slashes in a perfect line with an even separation from each other, like a loose leaf line paper.

"Where did these come from!?" Yugi yelled, scared and confused. Tracing his finger around the marks, he became relieved they were not deep. He turned baffled why they grew on his arm. He did not recall any times where he fell and received bruises. He also had no contact with any sharp objects recently.

"What does this mean?"

He gathered as much strength as he could and stood up. Looking around, he found a door a few steps away. He walked closer and observed it. The gateway carried a dull silver color and was far taller than he was. It was not at all fancy, and the only decoration that caught his eyes was a star on top of the door.

"What is that?" Yugi asked himself out loud, unsure what he should do. He debated if he should walk around further to see where he was or take a chance and step through the door. Reaching for the handle, he stopped.

He had no idea what lied on the other side. He didn't know if the door in front of him was a way into another world or an exit to the one he was in. Pulling his hand away, he decided to keep walking and exploring rather than risking falling into an endless pit of despair.

He strolled over towards the lake. The cold gray water reflected the bitter sky above. He took a seat on the soft grass and brought his legs close to him. He hugged them tightly. He looked over himself in his still reflection.

The water remained calm, and there appeared no signs of life in the lake or woods. No sounds emitted from anywhere other than a gentle breezed that passed by. Yugi watched as his gold bangs swept gently across his face in his reflection. He observed his features, such as his puppy dog eyes and small mouth.

He had no connection with anyone.

He felt lonely.

He couldn't stand the dreadful emotion.

He didn't want to feel the frozen experience anymore.

"If I'm going to find out where I am and find Yami," he told himself confidently, "then I'm going to need to do something."

He decided to take action. He figured his other half was permitting all he could to reunite with him.

Quickly, Yugi stood up and marched back towards the door with the single star on top. His mind questioned what lied behind the mysterious gateway. Reaching for the handle once more, he remembered he said to Yami that people need to take journeys on their own two feet. He wondered if this was part of his journey.

"I really wish Yami was here with me." he thought dejectedly. "But I may need to do this on my own… I won't get anywhere if I don't try."

He took a big breath and opened the door. Before entering, he cautiously looked in but could not see anything. Gathering as much courage as he could, he stepped in.

"I didn't fall," he noted. He took another step. Nothing appeared happened. Continuing on, the door shut quietly behind him. He looked back and observed his eyes had adjusted to the new, darker lighting.

He looked ahead to see a single beam of light shining. Carefully, he walked closer towards the light. Coming into view, he saw on the floor were ten cards flipped upside down as well as an old fashion mini hour class with white sand.

"What is this?" he wondered with curiosity. "It looks like a set up for the game, Concentration."

Just then, a familiar, burning sensation emitted from his left arm. Scrunching his face in pain, he gripped his arm with his right hand firmly, attempting to put out the flame-like pain. He noticed he only felt one burn. Opening one eye, he pulled down his sleeve and saw the first cut on his arm radiated a faint, pink glow.

"What's… going on?" Yugi questioned as the pain slowly diminished.

He knelt down on the floor and observed the objects placed in front of him. The game Concentration was something he had always enjoyed when he was younger, namely because it could be played with one player.

"The object of the game is to find as many pairs as possible," he remembered. "And I always tried to challenge myself to break my old record for finding as many pairs before time ran out."

He was tempted to flip the hour glass and start the game. However, he did not know if the pieces belonged to anyone. He did not want to get scolded by the person who owned the set.

"But I haven't seen anyone," he debated with himself. "Maybe I can get things moving… if I try playing this game."

He knelt on the ground. He grabbed the hour glass and flipped it upside down.

"Game start," he announced bravely. He merely pointed at his card of choice, and without even touching it, the card flipped over.

"What?" he questioned with awe. A picture of a smiley face was printed on it. He then pointed to another card that had an image of a pair of ballet shoes.

"No match," he observed with attraction.

The two cards quickly flipped over by themselves.

"That sure was… interesting." he remarked. He pointed towards two more pairs.

One image was the Millennium Puzzle while the other was Red Eyes Black Dragon. Yugi's eyes enlarged upon seeing the artwork. The Puzzle was his most precious material treasure as it contained his connection with the dark spirit and friend. The dragon was a card his blonde companion had won at Duelist Kingdom that showed his skills as a duelist against a well-known champion. Before he could say anything, the cards quickly returned upside down.

"Guess that wasn't a match either."

He looked over at his timer and agreed to keep on trying. He decided to choose two cards he had yet to see. One image was a victory hand sign, and the other was Tristan. The two cards glowed then vanished.

"What was that!?" He shouted completely shocked. He never expected to see his friends on the cards. He recalled his tall companion with the brunette hair was always cheering on his comrades while having a strong, courageous spirit.

"What kind of game is this!? Are any of my other friends behind these!?"

He quickly touched as many cards as he could. However, the only two cards to respond were the first two he touched. To his surprise, but correct theory, one picture was Tea and the other was Yami.

Yugi paused and remembered the other images he saw in the beginning. They appeared to be just illustrations of normal ideas. Despite that, when he had chosen his pal Tristan and the hand sign for victory, a match was made. He now only had eight more to complete.

"Maybe there's some sort of the connection between all of these options," Yugi deducted. He decided to pick two cards he knew were behind them. He chose Tea and the smiley face as he figured the two matched well in reality. To his dismay, that was not a couple. He couldn't help but feel his own heart sank.

He sighed and looked over towards the hour glass. He noticed he needed to quicken his pace before all of the white sand shuffled down to the bottom. Deciding to try another idea, he chose the two cards that had Yami and the Millennium Puzzle.

"Guess that's a match."

He was now down to six pairs. He remembered the image of one of his first choices. Choosing Tea and the ballet shoes, he saw the two cards glowed and vanished.

"Tristan and the victory sign was a match … so was Yami and the Puzzle… Tea and the ballet shoes… There was a smiley face and a Red Eyes Black Dragon… Does that mean Joey is also behind one of these cards? And if so, then who is a match with the smiley face?"

To his luck, a pair was formed between Joey and that Duel Monster. Just like before, the two cards shined then disappeared. Yugi was left with two cards. He knew one was a smiley face, and the other was someone else. His mind tried to figure out who had a connection with the happy symbol. He quickly glanced up and saw he only had a few grains of sand left before the game was over.

"Guess I'm not beating my old record," he sighed as he chose his last pair. The first card to turn over was the smiley face he knew, but the other image caused his heart to almost skip a beat: The other image was him.

"What!?" Yugi yelled stunned.

The two cards disappeared, and the game was over. The last few grains had stopped falling in midair, as though time had stopped.

Yugi stared at the floor perplexed. He understood about his friends and their cards: Tea held a dream of studying dance, Yami was the spirit of the Puzzle, Tristan had always given a helping hand, and Joey had his pride with the dragon.

Yugi did not understand the connection between himself and the smiley face. His concentration was interrupted upon feeling a strange sensation on his left arm. He pulled down his sleeve and saw his fist cut had slowly disappeared.

"What?" he questioned puzzled.

A bright light flashed. His eyes were drawn to the door he had entered through. He walked over towards the gateway and opened it. He stepped through and saw he was back to where he started. He exited the room and the door vanished.

"What was that all about?" he asked out loud.

Xxx

Yami continued with the endless task of watching over the teen. He observed Yugi's breathing stayed deep but not as rough as before. Even if he did have a body of his own, the pharaoh would have chosen to not budge from his spot. He would spend eternity by his companion's side even if the young adult was bedridden for the rest of his life.

Earlier in the morning, Yugi's mother came in and placed a cool cloth over her son's forehead. She left and allowed the boy to rest. Yami immediately noticed the worried expression on her face.

He drew his attention towards the smaller boy. He had only wanted to assist his partner onto the road of recovery by having the teen talk about his problem. Despite hearing the kind plea, the teen pushed away the dark spirit.

"Why did he do that," he pondered.

For a brief moment, the teen appeared to be in even more pain.

/Yugi!/ Yami tried to contact. But as he did, the smaller boy continued on with his sleep. He appeared less in pain but remained frighten.

"Yugi," Yami thought as he knelt down to the ground closer to the boy's mattress.

Just then, a man with brown skin wearing a turban and a light tan robe appeared in the room.

"Shadi," Yami gasped as he stood up. He did not know what business the man had but listened attentively to any information that seemed to be important; the man only came around in times of crisis. His heart beat with anticipation. He worried his own uneasy thoughts and emotion may disturb the young teen through their connection, but the small boy still slept.

"This is no ordinary illness," explained the man with hollow blue eyes.

"What do you mean?" Yami questioned. To him, it appeared Yugi only had a fever and a stomach ache. He did not understand what more could be wrong with his partner.

"This is another test from the Puzzle." Shadi explained in an even tone. "To see if the one named Yugi can truly handle the powers hidden within the Puzzle as well as to find your memories."

"But Yugi was the one who solved it!" Yami pointed out. "He and I had faced our enemies together and won… Surely he has been tested enough."

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"The souls of people change over time," Shadi continued. "Some turn good while others become evil."

Yami grew insulted as he interrupted, "Are you saying Yugi became corrupted? How could that be!? His soul has not been destroyed by the Shadows?!"

"It is true you and the soul of the boy hold a great bond," Shadi agreed. "But the Shadows also judge those harshly with weak hearts. Perhaps the Chosen One will allow his own personal fears to interject with his and your destiny."

"What!?" Yami questioned in disbelief. He glanced at the floor. He could not understand why his partner would allow himself to stop his journey and purpose in life. He then realized something important: Yugi had always called the Puzzle his second heart.

"Could Yugi not be strong without my heart as well?" Yami whispered forlornly. He would draw his courage from the young boy in times of trouble. He did not want to part from the boy he had grown a bond with.

"Isn't there anything I can do?" he finally asked, wanting to assist in his friend's time of need.

"Your friendship has pulled you both out of difficult situations," Shadi stated with his usual blank expression. "Perhaps it can be the key to finding a way to defeat the Shadows."

"Is there a way for me to enter the Shadow Game?" Yami questioned.

"There is a possibility," the man answered.

Yami listened carefully.

"I can take you into the world, but because the game is set for one player, the boy who placed together the Puzzle, no one else may enter the playing field."

Yami nodded as he understood and accepted the terms.

Shadi lifted up the Key around his neck and placed the smaller end on the sleeping boy's forehead. A bright glow formed, and the two men found themselves within a compact hallway.

"Yugi!" Yami called out seeing shadows surrounding his partner's soul room.

"Dread cautiously," Shadi advised.

Yami carefully took a step towards the giant dome that covered his partner's Soul Room. Just as he was about to enter, he witnessed another bright flash of white light molding.

"What's going on!?" Yami bellowed confused.

Shadi's eyes widened for a moment, caught off guard as well.

The pharaoh turned around and saw only he was being consumed by the radiant.

"What is this!?" he yelled with anxiety.

The man with the blue eyes returned to his normal, stoic composition.

"The Puzzle wishes to show you something," Shadi informed as the last bits of the dark spirit was swallowed whole.

"Yugi!" Yami yelled.

Xxx

All the students at Domino High were enjoying their break. Tea, however, stared out into the ceiling as her mind drew elsewhere. She worried deeply about her friend; she hadn't visited him as the group was informed he had been asleep at the time. She could only hope she could see him today. She hoped he was better.

"Don't worry so much," Tristan assured towards the girl.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "We'll just try and see him after school. And if not, then we'll toss him out of bed!"

The two boys were arm wrestling each other.

Tea heard what her two companions said, but she still couldn't help but be anxious. Within her mind were memories from long ago. She recalled Yugi hadn't been this ill in a while. She really wanted to visit him and ensure he was emotionally stable.

"Yugi, wait for us," she prayed quietly.

Xxx

Yugi looked around once more. He wondered if the game he had played was a waste of time. He pulled down his sleeve once more and saw that there were only four cuts on his arm. Before, there were five.

"What now?" he questioned lost.

To be continued…

Chao- Warning: the next chapter will be very, very dark…. Please review!