Wow Chapter 12 already! I can not believe its taken me so long! Thank you so much for all your comments and reviews, they are really inspirational! So, I decided to give you all a holiday treat and update ! I hope you and your families have a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year! I hope this break that I will have enough time to sit down and write this whole story in full so that it can be finished!

Thanks again for all your support! Enjoy the chapter!

" I believe it's the second place Duel Monsters World Champion, Joey Wheeler, Mr. Tsunami." The attendant said pleasantly as she offered the phone to Ronan.

Ronan took the phone from the woman and brought the receiver to his ear. He smiled in excitement that he was getting the chance to speak to his brother's friend. Mako had told him stories about Joey Wheeler, and from what Ronan could gather seemed like a very charismatic person.

He placed the receiver to his ear,

"Hello?! MAKO?" A loud and cheerful voice boomed from the telephone. It was so loud that Ronan actually jerked the receiver away from his ear in surprise.

"MAKO? DUDE! YOU WON!" The voice continued. Despite the phone being away from Ronan's ear, he could still hear the voice clearly.

"MAKO? YOU THERE? ARE YOU IN SHOCK BUDDY? THAT MOVE WAS KILLER!!"

Ronan brought the phone back to his ear, "Uhm…"

The door of the suite burst opened, "Is that Joey on the line?" Mako said as he rushed into the room. An attendant was close of his heels, "Wait Sir! We have to get you ready for the press conference!"

"That can wait!" Mako called over his shoulder as he plucked the phone from Ronan's grasp, "Joey?"

"MAKO!" Ronan heard the voice cry on the other end of the receiver.

"JOEY! It's been awhile, man!" Mako cried happily as he proceeded to walk into the next room with the phone. Sadly Ronan could still hear a good portion of Joey's end of the conversation as Mako disappeared into the other room. He gave a sympathetic smile to the attendant, who looked rather flustered.

"Excuse him. He always paces when he's on the phone," Although, now that he though about it, Mako was rarely on the phone. And when he was they were usually short conversations…but Mako did pace, "Do you want me to send him down when he gets off?"

The attendant sighed and checked his watch, "Well, the commentators still have another 20 minutes, and then we go to commercial break…so 10 minutes or else I am coming back here with security to drag him down there."

Ronan laughed, "He'll be down there I promise."

As he watched the attendant leave the room, he could hear Mako's excited laughter in the next room.

He sat down on the couch, he didn't know why but his whole body felt jittery. Perhaps he was still recovering from the match. Although, the more that he thought about it he couldn't deny the fact that hearing the blonde's voice had sent a thrill down his spine….

Blonde? Where did he get that from? He hadn't seen any pictures of Joey…had Mako mentioned it? Ronan frowned, that wasn't it. The more he mulled over it, he was certain that Joey had to be a blonde…because, well that's what he knew Joey had to be.

A blonde loud mouth. A voice in the back of his mind smirked.

Ronan's mouth went dry. Why was he thinking like this? He hadn't even met Joey Wheeler and already his mind was almost insisting that Joey was a blonde…and a loud mouth.

"I think I am going crazy…"Ronan moaned to the empty room. "First dreams, now headaches and voices."

He stretched out on the couch and stared out at the ceiling. Ronan didn't know why, but his mind refused to leave the subject of Joey Wheeler. In fact the more he thought about it, especially the unique timbre of Joey's voice, lead him to believe that he had heard it before.

"I'm gonna miss ya. I love you…"

A bolt of pain ripped across Ronan's skull. The youth gasped.

"How long are you gonna be gone for?"

Another searing pain. Ronan whimpered.

"I heard that Yugi's gonna be lookin' over for you. That's good! I'm moving in with Yug, after the tournament, so I can look after him for you too!"

Ronan writhed in pain as jolt after jolt tore across his mind. That damned voice. Ronan cried out and everything faded to black.

"I love you…"

"Thank you! Come again." Mokuba said cheerfully as he ushered the last customers out of the shop. Once they were gone, he quickly flipped the store's sign from "open" to "closed".

"Man, Yugi wasn't kidding when he said it was going to be a rush." He muttered rubbing his temples as he went in search of the broom so he could clean up the mess the customers had made that day.

He wandered through the empty house looking for the broom. Knowing his housemates, they (Yami and Joey) had used it to sweep the porch in the backyard, even though he and Yugi had told them countless times not to use the inside broom for the outside.

He opened the backdoor and heard the sound of the broom falling and hitting the porch. It seemed Mokuba had disturbed it from where someone (most likely Joey…Yami at least had the decency to lean the broom in a place where the broom wouldn't be knocked over) had propped it against the door's hinges.

The youth retrieved the broom and turned to go back inside. A soft buzzing caught his attention. Grey-blue eyes flicked towards the modest garden in the Mutoh's backyard. He managed to catch sight of a silver dragonfly as hovered momentarily over the bushes before zipping off into the twilight.

Mokuba sighed. Don't think about it. He told himself Go inside, don't waste your time; you got a lot of things to do before everyone comes home.

He all but fled back into the house, brandishing the broom like weapon as he attacked the mess the shop.

They'll be home soon. Don't worry, someone will come home…no one's going to leave-

"Stop thinking like that." He hissed aloud.

He gripped the broom handle with enough intensity to leave nail marks. He didn't know why he was acting this way. He had been left alone enough times at home due to everyone's schedules not overlapping. Then why did he feel like he was on the verge of a panic attack?

It's been three years. Well it was going to be three years soon…next week. Three years since Seto didn't come back after his "necessary business" for Kaiba Corporation. Three years since he was disowned and left to the mercy and care of the Mutohs.

He swepted vigorously now attempting to get a stubborn bit of dust from under the corner counter.

Stop thinking…focus on your work.

A bitter smile formed on his face. How many times had Seto told Mokuba not to become like him? And here Mokuba was diving into a project in order to escape. He had always suspected that Seto's workholism had been Seto's way of dealing with whatever issue had been bothering him.

How much pain were you in, brother? You never got a chance to grieve for mom and dad did you? You dove into getting us out of that orphanage. That man was hurting you, and yet you strove and pushed your self to your limits in order to make sure I was happy.

Mokuba swallowed, his throat having gone dry. He wasn't going to cry. He had been taught not to indulge in something so childish.

He leaned his head against the broom as he tried to collect himself against the torrent of memories that his mind was now fixating on.

He walked through the hallways of the airship looking for his brother. The shock that Seto had lost again the Yugi had been too much for him. He was so sure that Seto could win it this time…especially after what they had gone through in the VR World. Seto had come out of there more determined to prove to their stepfather, if not the world, that he was the best.

Seto looked devastated after he had lost. Mokuba shuddered at the memory of his brother's stunned face as the life counter had hit zero.

Shortly after Seto had left the arena he had gotten a call from Kaiba Corp. What that call was about was Mokuba's guess. It had hurt that Seto hadn't allowed him in the room. What was Seto thinking? He was the vice president of the company, so why was Seto not allowing him in the call?

Whatever it had been about, Seto wouldn't tell him, in fact he wouldn't let Mokuba into the room.

Mokuba had felt hurt that his brother was shutting him out, but the youth had decided to give his brother some space.

Then Yugi had entered the room. Seto had actually allowed his rival entrance to the room. He felt hurt and angry and Seto chose to speak to Yugi and not him. He had pressed his ear to the door, and could only hear the muffled voices of his brother and the King of Games.

After twenty minutes, he had given up. It was never said that the Kaiba brothers were patient men. He wandered the ship to pass the time, hoping that after he had made the rounds Seto's door would be open, and his brother willing to talk.

No such luck, two hours later Mokuba discovered that Yugi had left but Seto's door was still locked.

"Nii-sama?" He had called out tentatively. Beyond the door there was a hurried sound of shuffling and mumbled voices. Mokuba opened his mouth to call out again but he was cut off.

"You can come in, Mokuba."

The doors had opened and he stepped through the vestibule bracing himself for whatever mood Seto was now in. He had expected to find Seto brooding in front of the computer screen, replaying each of his and Yugi's moves and analyzing the strategies. He moved into the room, almost tripping on a lone beat up tennis shoe that seemed like it should have been hidden better, to find his brother laying face up and shirtless on the bed.

"Hey there, kiddo." Seto had called out to him. It broke Mokuba's heart to hear his proud brother sound so broken.

He climbed into then bed next to Seto and wrapped his arms around the taller boy. He remembered how odd it was for Seto to be shirtless; normally Seto was very modest around Mokuba. But as they laid there in silence, Mokuba stole a glance at the scars that lined his brother's torso. It sickened him because he knew that Seto's back was in worse condition that his front. The scars were the reason that Seto very rarely allowed anyone to see him shirtless. They were the signs of his suffering, the sign of his weakness against Gozaburo; permanent reminders of the hell he had struggled with in order to come out on top.

"Mokuba."He had said gently, as he gently stroked Mokuba's raven hair, "I am sorry for keeping you away…I didn't know how to face you..."

"Kiddo?! I'm home!" A cherry voice called from the front of the house area.

Mokuba's head snapped in the direction of the voice, "I'm in the shop, Joey!"

The blonde appeared in the doorway, "Wow,"he said as he surveyed the shop, "Man looks like we did some business today."

Mokuba smiled, "We did very well. Yugi is going to be happy when he sees today's total."

Joey pushed passed Mokuba, as he pulled a key out of his pocket. He ruffled Mokuba's hair affectionately as he walked by, "You close out the register yet?"

Mokuba shook his head, returning to his sweeping job, "No. Yugi didn't leave me a key. You should do it since you're in charge of making the deposit tomorrow."

Joey opened the safe and began to close out the shop register, "You hold up okay today?"

Mokuba nodded.

"Are you okay kiddo?"

Mokuba gave a short nod, "Yeah. I am okay…I was just thinking about…" He didn't need to finish the sentence. Joey knew. He didn't lift his head because he knew he'd see Joey's concerned golden eyes; he would cry if he saw them…he just knew. Joey, in these past few years had been trying to be a big brother for Mokuba in Seto's absence. Mokuba knew that Joey wasn't trying to replace his brother. Mokuba knew that the blonde felt bad for him, buy he had the inclining Joey was doing it because he too was missing Seto. He felt bad for Joey; as much as Seto and the blonde tried to hide it, Mokuba was pretty sure that there was something going on between them, and so he knew the blonde was feeling lonely from Seto's absence.

It had started when he had noticed the subtle changes between his brother and Joey during the first virtual world incident; the way Seto's eyes had all but undressed Joey while the blonde had been wearing that ridiculous "hero's outfit". Or, how the mutually hurled insults, had become a bizarre form of endearment between the two of them; Mokuba was fairly certain that there had become a lack of bite in the way Seto called Joey, "Puppy" or "Chihuahua".

As far as Joey was concerned, Mokuba felt that Seto's feeling had been returned. Unless he was imagining it, Mokuba had noticed Joey blush on several occasions when Seto had called him a whole manner of names that were meant to have been insults. Yugi had mentioned once, that during the Duelist Kingdom tournament, that Joey had dreams concerning Seto. While Yugi had reassured Mokuba that Joey had probably been reacting to the defeat Seto had handed Joey earlier that day, Mokuba was inclined to think differently. Besides, Joey hadn't dated anyone in the almost three years that Mokuba had lived with Yugi and Joey. Not that people hadn't tried to date Joey ; for awhile Mai Valentine had circled the blonde like a vulture, even going as far as blatantly displaying her well endowed cleavage almost to the point of almost exposing herself; Joey had good naturedly asked her to "put them away as there was a child present". While Mokuba had been slightly annoyed for being called a "child", Mai had finally gotten the hint that Joey wasn't interested and had backed off.

"Hello! Earth to Mokuba! Do you copy?"

Mokuba's head snapped up, "What?"

A large hand descended once more upon Mokuba's raven hair and ruffled the locks, "You spaced on me," Joey smiled warmly, "You having one of those days?"

Mokuba nodded, "Yeah. I guess I am."

"Wanna talk?" Joey asked softly, "I know you're missing him."

As much as Mokuba wanted to surrender himself to the outstretched arms that were offering him a hug, Mokuba shook his head. "No. Its okay." He had to be strong. He was getting to old to be a crybaby or coddled. Seto would frown if he knew that Mokuba sometime cried at night for him and that on those occasions, Joey, who somehow knew that Mokuba had been crying, would climb into his bed and hold him until Mokuba eventually fell asleep.

He smiled at Joey, hoping that this would distract the blonde from worrying about him, "I am fine, Joey, thanks."

"You sure?" Joey's blonde eyes were softening, the way they usually did whenever Joey was being serious or concerned. Mokuba was tempted to just spill all his thoughts but he couldn't. As much as he wanted to outright ask Joey about his and Seto's relationship, he could never muster the strength to do so. What would happen if he was wrong, and wound up upsetting Joey? Up until recent events, many could still say that Seto and Joey weren't on the best of terms. What if what Joey had been doing all this time had been for him, because Joey had felt bad that Seto had disappeared?

"Okay, so you don't wanna talk right now," Joey said flashing his goofy-grin, "but I do know that you're probably hungry, so lets get some dinner."

"Dinner?" Mokuba questioned, "Yugi said that the oven is off-limits to you and Yami after the last time…"

Joey waved his hands in front of him, "No, no, of course not. I am too tired to cook right now! I figured we'd go get dinner at the diner, I told Yami to meet us there; he wants to discuss today's match before I get on shift."

Mokuba followed the blonde out of the shop, "Shift? I thought you didn't work on Saturday nights?"

Joey shrugged as he handed Mokuba's hoodie to him from the closet, "Normally I don't but in order for me to have been at Duke's today, I had to switch my afternoon shift with the guy that normally works Saturday night."

"That was nice of him to let you switch with him," Mokuba commented as they shut the door behind them.

Joey pushed against the door to double-check that it was locked, "Tch. I practically had to bribe th' jerk. You'd think someone who works the late shift would love to have an afternoon shift. Get work over with for the day, y'know? I had to get him and his girlfriend passes to the next big event at Duke's plus VIPs privaleges…"

"Let me guess," Mokuba said dryly as he followed Joey down the sidewalk, "Duke doesn't know you gave them those privileges."

Joey gave Mokuba a sheepish-grin, "Nope. But if Dukie wants to keep a nice image amongst his customers, he'd better honor his 'promises'."

Mokuba sighed, "That has to be the most moronic thing I've heard today. Duke is going to kill you this time, Joey."

The dragon duelist gave a bark of laughter, "Man, you just sounded like your broth-" The words instantly died in Joey's throat. The blonde turned his head away from Mokuba, "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's okay." Mokuba said softly.

Joey rubbed his temples, "Naw, it's my fault. Here I was trying to make you feel better and I go and fuck it up by bringing up the thing that was making you upset."

"I said it was okay," Mokuba growled, "I shouldn't be getting upset over it any more…"

Joey stopped short, "What do you mean?"

Mokuba shrugged, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, "Its been almost three years, I have to stop being a crybaby about it…I can't let Seto's actions hold me back. He's gone…"

Joey grabbed Mokuba by the shoulder and turned the boy to face him. Mokuba looked at Joey with a surprised look, "Joey? What are you?"

"Don't" Joey voice dropped low, giving Mokuba a stern shake. "Don't ever, say that again. He's going to come back."

"Say's who?" Mokuba snapped.

"He did. Your brother told me he'd come back for you, so drop the I-Can't-Show-Weakness-Because-I'm-a-Fucking-Kaiba act. I know you miss him, and there's nothing wrong about expressing that you're missing him." Joey released Mokuba's shoulder and pushed past Mokuba. Mokuba massaged his shoulder; his surprised expression still on his face.

Joey paused, back still turned to Mokuba. He absently scratched the back of his neck, "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. He'll probably punch me when he gets back, when he finds out that shook you like that…"

"I won't tell him." Mokuba said softly, "Even if he find out, he'd probably think I deserved it…I'm sorry for upsetting you, Joey."

"It's okay. It is just that, I thought I never hear you, of all people say that he's not coming back. I figured you'd be the last person to give up on him."

Mokuba swallowed; his mouth felt so dry, "I'm such a bad brother, aren't I? Seto did everything for me and here I am giving up on him…Its not that I don't love him…its just…"

"…What happens if he really is gone?" Joey said quietly. Mokuba nodded, not caring if Joey saw the tears welling in his eyes.

Joey wrapped his arm around the younger teen and pulled Mokuba close to him, "I dunno, kiddo. I've thought about that possibility a lot, but the thing is, for now all we can do is just hope and keep on hoping." He felt Mokuba nod against his jacket before he decided to continue, " Hope that one day he'll show up at the game shop looking for you."

They walked in silence for a few moments before Joey added with a short laugh, "He'll probably be wearing new trench coat…probably as ridiculous as the one he wore in Battle City…"

Mokuba smiled, "Hey, I helped design that 'ridiculous' thing…he'll probably be wearing his purple one. It's the one he usually wears when he's on business trips…I've always like that one."

"He'll probably be scowling too. He'll be waiting by the counter, arms all crossed acting all impatient. Like it's our fault he's been gone for so long and that we'd have the audacity to make him wait."

Mokuba laughed at the image in his mind, it was so perfect, "He'd probably go, "Where have you been, mutt? Has it honestly taken this long for you to fetch some talent?'"

Joey chuckled, "Damn. That was a good impression. And then I'd probably yell at him, then Yugi would have to come in and be the diplomat and you'd come in…" Joey's voice turned almost wistful, "And that cold exterior would vanish. His scowl disappear he'd look with you with that gentle smile of his…you can always tell how much he loves you by the way he'd look at you in those moments where he feels safe or relieved."

Mokuba watched Joey's expression; the blonde was glassy-eyed with a gentle, but sad smile on his face; completely love sick. Mokuba recalled his suspicions about Joey and his brother. If it was true that there was something going on between the two of them, did that mean that Joey wanted Seto to look at him in the same way he looked at Mokuba?

"Hey Joey?"

"Hmm?"

"I got a weird question for you. It about Seto…."

Joey looked at Mokuba with a concerned expression, "Uh…okay, shoot."

"I know you and brother, never really got along in the tournaments or at school, but since he's been gone, you have been really supportive of Seto. Its like you two changed…."

Joey shrugged all traces of the love-sick Joey had vanished, "Well, your brother is a good guy deep down; I mean sure he's acted like an ass to me and Yug, but we've seen his good side. I've come to respect him, I guess."

Mokuba shrugged, talk about a hypocrite. Where did Joey get off telling him to not put up an act to hide his feelings, when the older boy was practically hiding his some-what obvious love for Seto?

"Joey, you don't have to pretend-"

A loud beep screeched from Joey's pocket. The blonde pulled out his cell phone and check the display, "Oh crap. Yami's already there. C'mon, kiddo we gotta hurry before his highness throws a temper tantrum. According to his message he's 'hungry. NOW.'"

Mokuba sighed, "He's finally figured out text messaging? Too bad he still can't work the oven…"

Joey shrugged, "Baby steps, man. Since he's gotten his own body it's a brand new world for him." He flipped the cell phone closed and stuffed it into his pocket, "C'mon, lets get going. On the way you gotta help me figure out the best way to break the news to Yugi and Yami later."

"What news?"

Joey smiled, "Mako's coming to visit, and he's gonna stay with us!"

TBC...

Whew! This chapter was a toughie to write (although it so far is my favorite) I love Mokuba and I love his and Joey's interaction. Did you all get who the random tennis shoe belonged to in the flash back? Oh, Seto trying so hard to keep Mokuba innocent. Although, I think if circumstances were different and if Mokie had caught them in the middle of their smootch-fest Mokuba probably would have cheered (and started panning a wedding). Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and as usual, please R&R!!  Happy Holidays!