First Christmas

by xyugiohluvrx

It's Sarah's and Yami's first Christmas in Domino City. As they spend the day together, both find funny feelings burning their insides and wish they knew what it was. After meeting someone who had an excellent point about the past, they were set straight.

Author's Note: *wearing a Santa hat and throwing candy canes all over the place* Hi everyone! How are you this winter? I'm, as you can see, really excited! *blasts a fresh wave of gingerbread men from a canon and into the air* Uh...yeah. I'm excited. ^^' So, I WISH EVERYONE AN AMAZING CHRISTMAS! And if you don't really celebrate Christmas, I wish you the best for the new year. ^^ Hope everyone has an amazing time this winter and hopefully I'll see you guys after the old year and into the new! ^^ Wish you guys the best!

NOW FOR THE FANFIC: So, since this is my first Christmas at Fanfiction .net, I decided to make a funny, cute, Christmas fanfic on Yami's and Sarah's first Christmas. Haha...because they've never experienced such a thing in Ancient Egypt! Hahaha...oh man. Sorry I'm laughing. XDD But I got this amazing idea to start it all. Oh and as you keep reading...oh man, just read and find out. XD Hope you guys like it! And again, all the best! ^^ *throws confetti into the air, making it land on the characters*

Characters: O_O

Me: ^^' Enjoy! *continues handing out cake to all readers*

Characters: xD

Me: ^^''

Disclaimer!: Fan fiction, and I do NOT get any money out of it either. Thanks. ^^

Oh and by the way...Yami has his own body in this fanfic. I'm not going to make a reason for it, this is just a random fanfic for Christmas. Meaning that it doesn't really have anything to do with the current fanfic I'm working on. Except for all the major things like Sarah being the Guardian. All righty? Cool! So enjoy! ^^' lol.

---

First Christmas

It was a peaceful day in Domino City; a normal, calm day with the exception of the weather changing from the fall warmth to the winter cold. Frost blanketed the grass lawns on everyone's property and the roads were shiny under the white-grey clouds. Speaking of people's property, they were heavily decorated with the upcoming holiday. Light-studded reindeer and Christmas trees littered the front yards, colourful and flashing Christmas lights were hung on the roofs of houses, and some people even changed their porch lights to green, red, or a bright white to make the atmosphere more holiday like. Community helpers even hung banners with snowmen, candy canes, wreaths, poinsettias, and other themes for the holiday on them on every street lamp down the street. Yes, the atmosphere was full of happiness and good will, just like the holiday about to come. The air smelled fresh and cool, just in time for the snow about to arrive.

And speaking of which, snowflakes materialized from within the clouds above and began slowly falling down to the ground. They fell breezily through the air, until they touched a spot on the ground, just the building blocks to the start of snow piles, where they stayed until more of its companions arrived.

I blinked through the window at one that fell down right next to the house. I wasn't at my apartment, today I decided to come over to Yugi's house just to keep him and Yami company while Grandpa Mutou was out shopping. He said it was a surprise, which kept me thinking, but at the moment, the fluffy white stuff falling from the sky caught my attention.

It was pretty quiet in the Mutou home at the moment. Yugi was in the kitchen, saying he had a grocery list to make from lack of anything in the refrigerator while Yami was lounging around in the recliner next to the couch I was sitting on. He had a book on Egypt in his hand, which Yugi insisted he'd read to apprehend the way people nowadays see things from the past. He didn't really like some of the things inside, mostly because it was way out of truth. Mainly because everyone in the modern day had scientific reasons and not magical ones.

Well, while the house was eerily quiet, I knew that if I'd make a sound, everyone would hear it, but that thought was being pushed back as more of the flurry of white stuff rained down. I had a horrible speculation in mind about it. It didn't look like rain at all. Instead, it was more white, powdery, and frozen, and just by looking at them, I felt my body shivering like I was hit with a cold front.

My consideration was scary...but I believe it to be true. The world was ending today. For outside, was little falling pieces of—

My scream beat me to the punch before I could fully contemplate the above sentence. Everything just stopped and it actually did feel like the end of the world.

"HOLY RA! THE SKY IS FALLING!"

From my sudden outburst, Yami almost fell back from the recliner and his book was sent flying onto the other lounge. From the kitchen, something crashed like metal on tile and was immediately followed by a muffled "Ow.". My breathing became rapid like I was hyperventilating when I hid under a blanket that was sitting idly on the corner of the couch I was sitting on. It's like it knew I would have needed something to hide under.

Yami blinked at me harshly, trying to recall anything sugary I might have eaten before we began hanging around in the living room that could have caused my explosion. Yugi jumped into the doorway separating the living room with the kitchen holding a frying pan in his hand like he was ready to strike. Once he saw my hidden and shaking figure, he blinked at me before switching his gaze over to Yami who merely shrugged, baffled as well.

"Um...Sarah?" called Yami, carefully making his way over to me, while giving the window a quick glance to see what could have caused me to be frightened. He saw the gently falling white fluff and simply blinked at it curiously instead of panicking like I did. He gave Yugi a shake of his head before placing a comforting hand over what he thought was my shoulder, but was my head, and said, "I think you're over exaggerating. The sky isn't falling, Sarah."

Yugi tried holding back some laughter that was bubbling inside him. Despite the calm and confused composure Yami had on, he could see the same mirth playing in his eyes. He thought this was funny beyond belief too, but unlike his light, he kept it hidden.

Slowly, I peeked from underneath the mess of the blanket roof over my head. I blinked at Yami a little too innocently when I didn't really mean to. "The sky isn't...falling?" I asked him astonished.

The corners of Yami's mouth threatened to pull upward in a small smile but he forced his mouth into a straight line. After that miniature battle, he shook his head. "No it's not." he said softly, thinking it was unbelievably cute when my head was peeking out from under the blanket I was hiding under. "And even if it was, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be so quiet outside."

Everyone stayed silent, only to listen to the light, and very light, wisps of wind carrying the little petals of powdery fluff down from the heavens.

I gave the boys a sheepish smile and sat back up onto my knees. "Oh...oops..." I laughed nervously. "S-sorry guys." Yugi couldn't hold it in any longer. The poor guy burst out laughing, holding his sides and doubling over trying to control himself. I pouted.

Yami merely smiled and shook his head at his hikari's behaviour before placing a contented hand onto my head, patting it gently. I flushed momentarily at my own behaviour.

"At least...you're...all right." Yugi managed to say while trying to control his bubbling laughter that didn't seem like it wanted to stop. His face was cutely flushed and the sparkle in his eyes had increased it's normal glitter. "I thought someone was attacking you. That's why I came out here waving a frying pan."

Yami and I exchanged glances.

"Um...why would I be attacked?" I asked Yugi cautiously. This seemed a bit strange seeing how even if I was, let's say, being attacked by someone, wouldn't Yami do something to stop it? Or I could've taken care of it myself with my ninja—or excuse me—fighting skills.

Yugi shrugged, thinking of all the possibilities. Then his eyes voluntarily landed on his dark. Yami blushed.

"Yugi...don't even think of that for one moment." he said defiantly, in a warning tone that made Yugi stop what he was about to suggest only to have him smile. He shrugged.

"All right...whatever you say Yami." he said. "But I'm sure you know it could happen."

If it was possible, Yami blushed even more. I titled my head to the side while gazing at him curiously through scarlet orbs. What could those two boys possibly be thinking about?

"Ok then...so!" I turned on Yugi who almost jumped back from the sudden thrust I gave to the blanket, making it flutter until it landed beside me, lopsided, at the pure excitement from the world not ending. "If the sky isn't falling, then what are those little thinqies outside?"

"Thingies...?" Yugi said, arching an eyebrow at me at my choice of word. Apparently it wasn't very advanced from the people of Ancient Egypt because even Yami blinked. I made room on the couch to let Yugi come over and have a look at what I saw earlier. He accepted and looked out the window to see what had made me panic so much to make him drop the frying pan on his toe earlier.

Outside, the tufts of soft bits of what looked like slightly frozen rain, began falling down in a larger number than before. It was still soft and gentle but they increased in number now, telling Yugi that there would be piles and piles of those now, building on lawns and driveways much faster.

Yugi smiled at me once before hopping off the couch and heading back into the kitchen. "It's called snow." he said. "They appear during the winter time. It's a lot like rain, but this one isn't that bad and wet. Surely they melt in your hand like very thin and small pieces of ice at times, but they don't hurt. I'm pretty sure, just by judging at your reaction and all, that it didn't snow back in Ancient Egypt?"

I sweat dropped at my previous stupidity. "Yeah. It didn't snow back then." I admitted, the word "snow" sounding very foreign but soft on my tongue. "We'd be lucky if the temperature ever hit 20°." I almost laughed at the memory of the hot days. There weren't a lot of those around here in Domino. I mean not for the whole entire year at a time.

Yami probed his brain for any hint of the weather back from his time as Pharaoh. When nothing came up, he gave up searching with a sigh. I gave him a small smile and touched his arm. I guess he really missed the old days. And the memories that came along with them.

Yugi's voice rang from within the next room. "The gang is outside if you want to meet them!" he said. "I think after seeing the snow, they decided to come see how you two were doing!"

Blinking at the door leading outside peculiarly, Yami and I exchanged glances before racing through it to the other side, only to be met with a strike of cold wind and Jack Frost beginning to nip at our cheeks and noses. Well, I ran outside anyway. Yami followed me carefully.

"Hey guys!" I greeted the gang, who were standing there about ready to knock on the door until I opened it. Joey, Tristan, and Tea blinked. I was probably grinning like a fool, happy to see them.

"Hey you two." Tea greeted back with a warm smile. Joey was a little too speechless at my sudden appearance to even put his raised fist down. So I'm guessing he was the one about to knock.

Yami gave each of them a smile back. "Hey. How are you three?" he said.

Tristan gestured around them, motioning to the falling fluff from the sky with a happy expression. "Are you kidding me?" he said. "Who wouldn't be excited after seeing snow?"

Yami jokingly pointed to me, who started blushing almost immediately. Either from the snow of from the tease I received. "This little person." he said, answering Tristan's question, knowing what it could lead too. Especially this: "She saw the snow falling through the window and started yelling that the sky was falling."

Everybody blinked. And just like the time of Yugi's fit, everyone started laughing their heads off. Even Joey broke out of his reverie.

I gave them a pout. Why oh why did Yami make fun of me? I'll have to make him pay later...

"It wasn't my fault!" I cried in protest. "I never saw the damned white thingies before! I could've known better if everyone told me of this sooner!"

Joey tried catching his breath while holding his sides. "We didn't think it would come this late." he tried to say all at once, before choking at the very end and falling into another laugh attack. Tristan and Tea were much more organized, they managed to stop, well kind of stop their laughing, just in time for me to tilt my head in confusion.

"Wait, does that mean you guys weren't expecting the snow to arrive this late?" I asked them. Of course...I just repeated what Joey said...

Tristan nodded. "It usually falls on the first week of December." he explained. "Then it stays until around February. It was very unusual when it didn't start until now, what with December almost gone."

"But at least it's here in time for Christmas." Tea countered and we knew she was right. "Without any snow at all, Christmas won't feel exactly the same."

Joey nodded, finally after stopping his fit of laughter. "Yeah, it's like this bond for the whole holiday." he said.

I looked at Yami from over my shoulder. He had the same feeling running through him that I felt. I know because I could see that pained look in his eyes. That feeling of potential emptiness. I mean we both had nothing to do with this world. Yami and I were only reborn to defeat the evil that's come back. This holiday that's coming up, Christmas, we've never heard of such a thing. It sounds magnificent from the gang talking about it during school and when we hang out, but we would just smile and nod as a response to their gibbering, because we didn't really know the meaning of it.

Tea gave me a sympathetic smile and placed a hand over my shoulder. I turned away from Yami to look at her. "I know you had no idea about it." she said. "But now that you're with us, we'll show you everything there is to know about the upcoming holiday."

Joey was bent over, tossing his hands around in the thin blanket of snow that had begun to form on the road, when he started to say, "Yeah. Let's show you everything about the winter and all it's glory." When he turned back around to face us and no longer bent at the waist, he held both a ball of snow in his gloved hands and a smirk. I immediately found something wrong with the picture. Especially when he pulled his hand back, looking like he was about ready to throw the snow.

"Like a snowball fight!" He shouted a battle cry and threw the ball of snow at me. With a yelp, and thanks to my fast reflexes, I ducked down in time for the snow to whisk past the top of my head and hit smack into Yami's face. The group whistled at Joey.

"Oh damn." said Joey nervously, watching the Pharaoh blink through the snow first before glaring at the blonde sharply. "This isn't good."

I covered my mouth from letting any laughter escape before Yami went for my throat too. With the gang almost at the same point as me, Yami shook his head to let the snow fall off his face before shooting Joey a full-out glare. "No..." he growled. "It isn't. Prepare to get demolished!"

"Hit the deck!" I shouted, just in time to miss the snowball Yami threw back at Joey. The blonde had time only to register Yami's glare before he got hit in the face with the snow. He blinked through it just as Yami had before, making the Egyptian smirk and making him look as skillful as ever.

Tea, Tristan, and I sweat dropped. Leave it to Joey to start some sort of challenge. The blanket of snow on the road soon began thickening as the powder crystals kept falling. It landed in everyone's hair and clothes. Now looking at the gang's coats, I realized that they might not be feeling the cold of the snow while Yami and I were on the verge of shivering from lack of anything near a coat. I subconsciously hugged myself with my arms, just to stop my teeth from chattering.

Yami didn't seem to mind the cold, or maybe he wasn't paying attention. I could very well see his body shivering within his leather attire but the smirk on his face told me he was definitely not feeling it. Maybe he was too distracted with Joey's face full of snow, thanks to his accomplishments.

Joey shook his hair until all the snow was gone, or most of it anyway. He matched the Pharaoh with his own game smirk. "All right, then." he said nonchalantly, ready to make another snowball. "You see Yami, in Ancient Egypt, which is your town, you got all the moves and talk, am I right? But now you're in my world, which involves something you never had. Don't you think I would have the upper hand?"

I sweat dropped again. "Please be careful Joey. You have no idea what this guy is capable of..."

Yami's smirk never left his face. "That's right." he said. "I'm capable to adapt into "your world"." He added quotation marks with his fingers at the end of his sentence, to emphasize his point. I wanted to laugh so badly at the predicament but I kept my bubble of giggles in, again, just in case Yami would come after me too.

Not that he would...he knew I could kick his ass with my awesome ninja—fine—fighting skills.

Hah! Yeah right! More like I'd be preparing for my own death just by challenging him. (xD)

"Then adapt to this!" cried Joey, hurling a ball of snow into the Pharaoh's direction. I wonder why Yami would challenge Joey in the first place. It wasn't like he would get anything but challenging comments back, maybe even challenges themselves so Joey could prove he was better. If not, and Joey actually minded, he would attack him. Then I would have to come protect him...

...oh...oh my gods that sneaky little—! Yami was on purposely challenging Joey just so he could continue taunting while I take the snowballs for him! So he was basically like a Link, throwing comments at a bad guy and using his shield to take its angry blows. In this case, Yami was Link, and I was the shield! That way he could continue taunting and not get hurt at all!

Gr...that got to me. I tackled Yami into the snow behind him before Joey's snow ball could strike. I landed on top of him, staring into his startled eyes, but I knew I had the sweet victory. He wasn't only shocked at the tackle. He was also shocked at what I had tackled him into. The snow. And boy did his body start growing colder.

Haha...I'm so evil.

Now I know what you're thinking. Why in the world would I tackle the Pharaoh of Egypt? Well...if you recall...he told me not to be so formal. This wasn't formality, was it? It was frank!

The astounded look in his eyes had very small glints of anger. Oh damn...maybe tackling him wasn't a good idea...

Joey didn't care if his snowball hit Yami or not. He was blinking at the mass of tangled arms and legs to contradict anything. His opponent was on the floor, covered in wet snow and forcefully glaring at the person responsible. He didn't find anything else challenging about that. But Joey could see right through it. He knew Yami was actually laughing inside.

And so was the gang. Both Tea and Tristan couldn't help but start laughing at us kindheartedly, just happy we were enjoying one of the many things winter had to offer.

"Muahahaha!" I laughed, trying to imitate some sort of evil. Yami's eyes started showing something like enjoyment. No wait, that sounded wrong. Something like...yeah enjoying. Like he was almost laughing at the thought of me trying to be evil because of the tackle. I cried my signature battle cry, "I conquer!" (lol. I do that all the time. XD) and smiled down at the Pharaoh, vaguely aware that I was dead on top of him.

Yami smiled up at me. "Now why would you do something like that, Sarah?" he asked me in mock innocence, referring to the tackle.

"I couldn't really let you take advantage of me, Yami." I said, giving him a small wink which surprised him. "Even though I devoted my life to your safety, throwing snowballs at Joey and expecting me to catch them instead of letting them hit you was a bad thing to think of. Didn't you see me duck on the very first one? Even though it was headed straight for you?" There was a very small glimmer of guilt for that. Very small glimmer. XD

Yami gave me a defeated sigh. I suppose he figured out his mistake there. Or he could have been trying to control his shaky breathing from the cold hitting his back and legs.

"All right." he said with a twinkle of mirth in his eyes. "I understand. Now may you be so kind as to get off me? I can't really feel my rear." With a small blush, I stood back up onto my feet, bringing Yami up with me. I brushed the snow from off his back but didn't go any further. He got the rest of snow off him and stretched, trying to get back the feeling in his back.

I sheepishly smiled. "Sorry about that." I said. "But I had to, one, tell you that, and two, save you from Joey's snowball, like you predicted I would do."

Yami's lips forced him to show me a smile. She really is smart... he thought amused. I wonder what else she knows...

Before he could test any theories of my intellect, Yugi appeared in the doorway, wearing an electric green winter coat and brown leather gloves. He had a piece of paper in his hands and from what I could see in his eyes, it was like he was sharing a joke with himself. A bright smile was on his face, lighting him up.

"Hey guys." he greeted everyone. Tea and Tristan had stopped laughing when Yami and I had got up, so they weren't trying to calm themselves long enough to even say hi to Yugi.

"Hey man. Ready to go?" Joey gave his pal a small wink, like he knew the joke too. Now that I thought about it, when I looked at everyone else, they had that same look in their eyes that Yugi has. There was something going on. What was everyone thinking? And where were they about to go?

Yugi nodded at the blonde, that funny look not leaving from his eyes. "Yup. I'm ready. We can leave as soon as possible."

"Er...hold on one second." said Yami, stopping the gang from taking a step. Then he turned to his hikari. "Aibou, where are the four of you going?"

"Sorry Yami, Sarah." he said. "We have a few errands to run. We'll be back as soon as possible."

A sudden chill ran up my spine. I just got a funny feeling. If Yugi and the rest of the gang are gone...then that means...

"Y-you're leaving me with him?" I asked with my eyes widened in alarm and surprise while my finger pointed to the Egyptian Pharaoh standing behind me. He blinked.

Tristan snickered playfully. "Yeah." he said coolly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You two will have to put up with each other until we come back. Don't worry, it won't be too long, I think."

Yami and I glanced at each other. Unbeknownst to the other, we were both blushing lightly inside at the thought of having to spend the day together. I mean with these strange feelings about the Pharaoh bubbling inside me all at once sometimes, I have no idea what they mean, and now we have to survive a whole day with those feelings stirring in our guts. Gods I wish I knew what they were. Usually I thought I ate something bad or I was allergic to something.

Oh that was an idea. I could tell the gang that I was allergic to Yami that way I didn't have to spend the day with him and have those funny and warm feelings course through my veins. I was just about to open my mouth to let those words out when Joey held up a finger, making me stop.

"And you don't have any allergies to the Pharaoh so you can't use that trick on us." he said, making me snap my mouth shut. He was actually smarter than I thought... I'm beginning to think I hang out with him and Tristan too much. "Besides. If you had allergies to the Pharaoh, how were you able to pass the magics school you attended to become his Guardian? I mean surely you wouldn't have wanted the job of being his Guardian in the first place if you were allergic to him, right?"

I sighed, not seeing any way out of this, and decided to just give in to their wishes. If they wanted us to stay at the Game Shop while they went to go do some errands, I guess I can live with those fluttery feelings for a while. "All right." I nodded to the blonde. "I was just kidding anyway." I saw Yami's slightly hurt look which made me immediately say my last sentence. Tea and Yugi almost chortled. "You guys have fun with your chores. We'll stay around here trying to amuse ourselves with...something...while you're gone. Probably play Duel Monsters or something."

Tristan coughed to the left, trying to cover some of the words he was saying. "Don't amuse each other too much." was what I heard but that didn't make any sense. Especially when Joey made a move to clobber him over the head. Tea and Yugi merely blinked at the two and when I looked over my shoulder to see Yami's reaction, I saw light streaks of pink across his face. I actually had a sudden scary thought that he was going to catch a cold or maybe even frostbite. My hands were beginning to turn into the same shade of pink too and I immediately thought we should go inside and warm up.

"Um...that's a good idea." said Yugi a little uneasily, giving Tristan another blink. "But maybe you won't have time to duel seeing as how I'm about to give you guys something to do too." It was then he handed me the piece of paper he held in his hand. Curiously, I opened it up and read it over, only skimming the job through before my eyes widened in realization.

"Oh no..." I murmured. Then I looked back up from the piece of paper to find Yugi with a small and all too innocent smile on his face, and as an added bonus, his amethyst eyes showed some sort of expectancy. Like I would accept this ungrateful challenge. "Yugi, you can't possibly believe I would do this with Yami..."

Yami's head perked up at what I said. Then he looked over my shoulder curiously. "Do what with me?" he asked a bit too quickly and the gang gave him a weird look. He quickly shook his head from giving them the wrong idea but the small blush on his face told the gang otherwise.

Yugi nodded as he turned around to begin walking down the sidewalk. "You'll have to." he said. "I need it done before we get back, so hope you guys can enjoy it while it lasts!" The gang chuckled together merrily before heading down one of the streets and disappearing from view.

I stared down at the piece of paper and felt my blood almost boil. How could Yugi put me through this kind of torture! I'll make him pay later on... Before Yami got a chance to read what Yugi had written on the parchment, I had already scrunched it up in my hand from the anger I felt toward the younger boy. The gang left us shivering slightly under the falling, but light waterfall, of snow.

---

"I can not believe Yugi would do this to me!" I shouted in fury, throwing the piece of paper I had crinkled into my hand earlier on towards the kitchen counter. Yami and I had walked back into Yugi's house after him and the gang left for their supposed "errands". Tch. Yeah right! More like he was giving me a chance to be tortured!

"Sarah, for the last time, what is Aibou making us do!" He wanted the paper to say each other.

(O_O

...nah I'm just kidding. XD) But truth of the matter was that he's been asking me ever since Yugi and the gang left. I haven't given him an answer because I was too anger at what Yugi had written on the page. I don't know why it was something to get worked over. I mean, sure I'd have to deal with the funny feelings the Pharaoh gives me every time he's around but...I mean come on! Get a grip, Sarah! He's not all bad!

'And like Joey said, if I really was allergic to him, I wouldn't have taken the job of being his Guardian in the first place.' I thought to myself while leaning against the counter top with the sink with my arms crossed. Yami was standing next to me calmly, but he couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey Sarah, I was just wondering..." said Yami all too quietly. I blinked at him in concern before turning my full attention to him. I thought he did get sick from the cold outside.

"What is it Yami?" I asked with worry.

"...what in the world did Aibou tell you to do to make you so uncomfortable?" he asked me.

I blinked. Ohhh, right. I forgot about that.

"Oh right!" I said, slapping my forehead in remorse. "I'm sorry. I guess I got too caught up in it." He waited for me to explain expectantly and I led him over to the Counter Island (Yes...that's what I call 'em.) in the middle of the kitchen. I brought with me the scrunched up piece of paper too, and straightened it out for Yami to read before presenting it to him on the counter.

He took it into his hands and read it over, his brow was furrowed forward in curiosity. After he had read enough to get what Yugi wanted us to do, he looked up from the piece of paper to give me a long and hard look.

"...Aibout wants us to go...grocery shopping?"

By the way he said it, I wanted to laugh really loudly, but I kept my manners and didn't. I knew I would get this reaction from him. You see, Yami hasn't really gone shopping of any kind, either it be for groceriess or just to hang out. Grandpa Muto or Yugi would go out and get whatever was needed. He knows how everything legal works, like paying and stuff, but he's never actually physically gone and done it. Now with me, it's a whole different story. Because I live by myself, I have to go shopping and take care of the complex myself. So shopping is something I can do pretty easily. But now I have to take Yami...and that will be very interesting, seeing how he's never been out of the house to actually see how it's done here in Domino. While the markets in Ancient Egypt were out in the streets and stall keepers shouted their bargains, here in the modern day world, it's a whole different story. It took me a few tries to get used to it. So I guess Yugi wants us to go grocery shopping for the upcoming holiday. How did I know it was for the holiday? Because the list was incredibly long. That's why.

"It isn't only grocery shopping, Yami." I said, pointing to the bottom of the page. He looked to where I was pointing and blinked again. The list seemed so incredibly long because we had to go to a different store after getting the food. This one was all about Christmas decor. I think Yugi needed some new decorations. So along with buying food, we had to get decorations.

This should be fun.

"Oh." was all Yami said before he gave the paper a small frown. There was something in his eyes that moment. Something like confusion. Then he looked up from the piece of paper to me. "Why is it so bad that I go with you?"

I opened my mouth to speak but I closed it. That was a really good question. Why in the world was I getting so worked up over Yami and I having to go do the shopping together? It's not like he was going to bite me or anything...

It was those butterfly feelings. I knew it. The funny feelings in my stomach whenever Yami was around, like now. How he was just standing, waiting for my answer. I don't know what it was...but it felt both good and bad. Good because I like Yami's presence around me. Bad because I might be coming down with something. I don't even have a clue of what it could be. Maybe I'll think about that later. I'm hurting Yami's feelings right now with my freakishness.

I shook my head giving him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Yami." I said. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that. I mean, I'm glad you're around me. I have no idea what was going through my head."

Yami almost smiled in relief but he covered it up with a smaller one. He wasn't about to look overjoyed with the fact that Sarah didn't have a problem with him and scare her off. "Oh." he said. "It's all right. So, when do we go?"

I gazed at him for a moment, trying to read something I saw flash through his eyes for a second. Something I never saw before, but I couldn't see it anymore and merely pocketed the piece of paper into my jeans' pocket. I handed Yami a black winter coat from the coat rack and pulled mine on too, which I had brought earlier but didn't get to wear before I went outside into the snow for the first time. "Now." I said, and I took his hand (don't even ask me what drove me to it) and pulled him towards the door, all the while with him having that small smile on his face and never resisting.

---

We left the Game Shop. Yami had locked the door and we were on our way.

Since we had no transportation, we had to copy what the gang did and walk to our destination. I knew I held a debit card in my wallet, so the money I use from it is transferred to the bank here from Cairo. Ishizu aid she would look after it for me and I was grateful. So whatever I buy here in Domino, I'll just have to use my debit card because I don't really have any actual cash on me. I kept my wallet and cell phone safe in the pockets of my jeans.

As Yami and I pulled the collar of our coats up to cover the back of our necks from the still falling snow, we made our way down the sidewalk to get off the residential streets and onto the intersection separating us from the mall and the foods store. Cars drove by down the roads as the snow underneath them packed onto the tires, making a deep ripping sound when they rotated to move the car. Yami took in his surroundings in fascination. I guess the snow was clearly getting interesting, as the thin blanket of snow on the lawns and streets transformed into thicker ones. Our shoes were beginning to get a little wet but when I looked over at Yami, he didn't seem to mind.

When the green lights turned red, and the cars stopped, Yami and I walked across the street, still holding hands which I'm beginning to think is the only source of comforting warmth. I blushed slightly as I thought about it.

After we walked to the end, we headed into one of the parking lots for the mall. On the other side of it was the food store so I led him around the parked cars and empty lots into the much smaller one for the food store. Yami seemed almost blown away by the very, and I mean very, different settings of markets compared to the ones back in Ancient Egypt.

"Yes, Yami. The cars drive in through the entrance, park themselves into the empty lots and then the people come out of their cars and walk into the stores." I teased. It was fun, seeing the playful glare shot at me through Yami's crimson eyes.

"Fascinating." he said just as jokingly. Then he held up our hands which were still connected. "Just like this, fascinating."

I blushed bright red but I hope Yami thought the cold was hitting my face instead. I lightly whacked his arm and walked around one corner to enter the food store. Yami smiled and held onto my hand tighter.

"You're hilarious." I said, rolling my eyes as we walked in through the automatic door. A gust of warm air rushed up at us and I almost sighed in content because I could feel my face and hands again. Yami and I brushed off whatever snow we could from off our heads and jackets in the doorway on the mat so we wouldn't be trailing water around with us everywhere we go.

"I know I am. Thank you." he said with a smirk, patting his hand on my head to get rid of a few flakes of snow. His hand lingered by my bangs for a second before returning back to his side. I felt a hot streak of warmth from where his hand had touched my forehead, making me blush slightly.

"Yeah, yeah." I said waving it off with shadows covering my face to keep from Yami seeing the blush. Then I pulled him into the direction of the carts and baskets. "Let's just get shopping already." And I still haven't noticed that our hands were still linked. Maybe I did know but I made no move whatsoever to unlink them. I grabbed a green basket from a stack at the door and led Yami into the produce section.

Not only were houses out on the residential streets the ones with decorations, it seemed like the people in the store did the same thing here. To spread the holiday cheer, and holiday prices, clerks and store workers stuck cardboard Christmas trees and reindeer in random places throughout the store. All the stalls of produce had ornaments situated in the corners and snowflakes hung from the posts where the plastic bags were hanging. Wreaths and different coloured tinsel were hanging around the edges of the stalls. The long lights hanging down from the high ceiling, made everything almost glow. I had a feeling that if the produce section was like this, then the shelves holding all the preservatives and other stuff, like jams and cookies, would also be heavy in decor. I found it very comfy. There were many other shoppers too. There weren't a lot of people here that it would be hard to get around, and it wasn't too small of a group to make the store seem empty.

"So what did Aibou want to get from here?" asked Yami, looking over a strange fruit. It was pink and there were small spikes sticking out from the sides.

I giggled to myself at Yami's reaction to it. It was dragon fruit. I remember seeing something like that at the market back in Ancient Egypt. It was extremely rare and I only got to see it once, but the name and shape of the fruit stayed in my mind.

I pulled the list Yugi gave me out of my pocket and held it up. I decided to take everything in baby steps. So shopping will take a while but at least Yami can keep up. "Well...he said we need apples and strawberries, for one." I said, reading the first two lines.

Something tugged at my sleeve and I looked up from the list to see Yami with this puzzled look on his face. He was staring at the different kinds of apples sitting in their stalls. I blinked.

"Oh..." I said.

"Yes. Oh." Yami almost growled in frustration. He saw the apples Yugi brought home before but he didn't know what kind they were. "How are we supposed to know which one we're supposed to buy?"

I took a look at the list again and showed Yami the words before the word "apples". "We read, my Pharaoh." I said, reaching for a plastic bag and filling it with a few apples from one stall.

Yami's shoulders sank and he sweat dropped. "Oh..." was all he said.

I smirked. "Yes. Oh." I said, repeating what Yami had said earlier. He gave me a playful glare to which I laughed.

I tied the top of the plastic bag to keep the apples from falling out and deposited it into the basket around my arm.

"Here, you get everything we need and I could hold the basket." offered Yami, reaching for the handle.

I smiled and willingly hand it over to him. "Thanks." I said. He gave me a small nod and followed me towards the stall holding the strawberries. I was grateful Yami wanted to help. Those feelings in my stomach returned. They felt like little butterfly wings fluttering inside me. I cursed mentally at my luck and forced my face to show no emotion of anything changing.

The strawberries weren't separate like everything else. They were actually put into small thin-plastic containers in bunches, like ten for a container. Yami noticed this and watched me place one of the boxes into the basket Yami had in his hand, which he had held up for me to access easily.

"Why are the strawberries in boxes?" he asked as I brought out the list again.

"I guess it's because they're too small to be on their own." I shrugged, reading the next two lines on Yugi's list and returning the paper back to my pocket. That kind of reminded me of Yugi and Yami. I mean, Yugi was much too timid before he met Yami. Now he's grown older, physically and mentally with the Pharaoh's help. That made me feel warm inside, just from the joy of seeing Yami helping Yugi with the world. When the both of them worked together, they were much stronger. Like the strawberries.

"I suppose that makes sense." he said, not being able to help himself to remove his eyes off me. I didn't notice it when I was reading the list, but Yami hadn't dropped his eyesight anywhere else. It wasn't creeping me out or anything, it was actually making those feelings in my stomach grow. The fluttering became rapid.

When he didn't make a move to look away, I switched my gaze from trying to locate the peaches and tomatoes from where I was standing to lock with his. A sudden surge of something like electricity sparked through me when I stared into those crimson pools called eyes. They were so exotic and so assertive, yes I can find those in only his eyes, that I almost got myself lost in them. I couldn't tear away.

But the feeling only lasted a split second and I broke out of the spell. "Is something wrong, Yami?"

He gave me a warm smile. "Your eyes are as bright as the strawberries." he said. Then he walked over to the peaches stall that was standing right beside the strawberry one we were at. The one I was trying to find before Yami locked me in his gaze. I was so distracted, I didn't notice the small thoughtful smile on his face when he had merely walked around me.

Flushing at my sudden race in heart beat and the fluttering in my stomach, I tried to collect myself and picked up another strawberry box to put into the basket. I still couldn't really believe what I heard.

'Your eyes are as bright as the strawberries...' I found myself blushing again, but tried to hide it as much as I could. I found the compliment unable to forget. I didn't want to anyway. I mean, I didn't get them often and this one intrigued me.

When I was about to reach for a plastic bag to put in the peaches, Yami beat me to it. Not only the plastic bag part, but also putting the peaches into it and tying the top. He finished the miniature bow on the bag and handed it to me with a bit of a shy smile. Well...I think it was shy...that would be a shocker that the Pharaoh of Egypt would be shy about something. I mentally shrugged it off as nothing and kept it as only a smile, then reached for the bag in his hands. Our fingers brushed against each others and we blushed, hoping the other wouldn't see our red faces.

"Ah, thanks." I said with a small smile of my own, holding the bag close, in case it would fall.

"I believe I'm beginning to get the hang of it." he said, shuffling his feet as he watched me put the bag into the basket that was still hanging from his hand.

"I believe you are." I said, agreeing with him. I gave him a smile and that seemed to make him beam.

"What's next?" he asked. I tried remembering what I read from the list before finally realizing that I haven't even told Yami about the peaches. He must have read over my shoulder when I was too busy reading.

"Tomatoes." I replied, and we went over to the stall homing said vegetable. Or...at least it was a vegetable...I still couldn't figure that dilemma out. It had seeds in the middle like a fruit, yet it wasn't sweet like one so there was a debate whether it was a vegetable or a fruit. Which reminded me, I was blushing like a tomato not a few moments ago. XD

When Yami saw the many different kinds of tomatoes, he almost groaned. "Again?" he said, with a small pout. Now he was pouting...why is he so different all of a sudden? Whenever the gang's around him, he's all serious and cunning, but when he's around me, he has this totally different soft side. I didn't find it weird...I found it actually...kind of better.

I laughed quietly, but Yami still heard it. "Yes, again. It's not like there's only one kind of anything, you know."

Yami's eyes suddenly seemed far away when I said that. I grabbed another plastic bag and put in the tomatoes Yugi asked for before tying it up and carefully placing it into the basket.

"Really, Sarah?" he asked, as I led him into the next row of stalls. This one was against the wall and every few minutes, water would sprinkle onto the greens to keep them fresh. I pulled out the list and quickly read over the next few items because now I could see that Yami was catching up. I put it back into my jeans' pocket before inserting some leeks Yugi had asked for into another plastic bag. Jee...I wonder what he's gong to do with those...

"Really what, Yami?" I asked, tying the top of the bag while my eyes were on him, wondering what in the world he was talking about.

He had something shimmering in his eyes, like a mystery. "Do you really think there's no one kind to anything?" he asked and I realized it was about what I said about the tomatoes.

I thought carefully about the question for a second. "Well..." I began and Yami edged a bit closer to hear my answer. I eyed him curiously. "Well, for food I believe there's more than one kind. Actually, for anything there's more than one kind. Take trees, for an example. There are evergreens, pine, spruce; all sorts of them. Just like metals. There's gold, silver, calcium; and tonnes more I've had to memorize from the Periodic Table. Hmm...do you get my point?"

He nodded, but his eyes seemed distant as he stared into mine like that lock in not a few moments ago, but it wasn't as intense. "Can you think of anything that is one of a kind?" he asked me.

Now that was a sort of tricky question. What was there in the world that was one of a kind? Biomes...no. Deserts? No, there's such thing as a cold desert along with the hot one everyone knows about. What could it be?

And why was Yami asking me this question all of a sudden?

"Um..." I placed my chin in my hand in thought. This was a very good question. And considering the fact that it wasn't on my tests back in Ancient Egypt didn't help. I wasn't having any luck with that question and not to mention we were in the middle of the grocery store.

Sarah...it's you...

Suddenly, a voice rang throughout the store and when I looked around, so did everyone else. Until I caught sight of someone familiar waving toward me as he made his way through the crowd.

"Hey, Sarah!" he said and my face almost paled.

"Oh my gods...what a surprise!" I said with a forced smile on my face. Yami grumbled something about sending the person to the Shadow Realm for ruining his time with me. I thought it was about the question, (lol. Yeah sure Sarah. XD) and decided to just answer it later. Hopefully Yami wouldn't mind. He seemed to get my thought because he didn't say anything.

Eric Hall, in all his glory, with his black skinny jeans, blue hoodie thrown over a red shirt, and his mop of orange spiked hair, strode on over to us like his shoes were drowned in soap. He was wearing a red pointed hat on his head which I thought was actually cute, and his smile was shining so brightly, I almost looked away.

"Hey you two." He greeted, his eyes beaming with excitement. Not to toot my own horn, but maybe because he saw me. After all, he said that himself back at the tournaments. Gosh...he liked me, and I found that cute. A little too cute. That's why I can stand him. But Yami didn't like him at all, and for some reason too. He radiated anger and I could almost feel his dark power growing in his hands as a one-way ticket to the Shadow Realm. I didn't know what drove me to it exactly, but I stole his hand into my own to calm his anger down. It worked and I felt the cold in his hand decrease dramatically.

"Hey there, Eric." I said with my forced smile.

He smiled brightly at me but when he got to Yami, he turned almost completely serious. "Hello, Yugi. Nice to see you, too."

Yami gave him a small glare but remembered my hand over his. He gave him a small nod. "Hello to you too, Eric. How are you?" I could tell it was forced, but I'm glad he's covering up is anger so he wouldn't make Eric's soul disappear.

Eric nodded. "I'm pretty well. Excited for the holidays. What about you guys?"

I shrugged. "It's...my first one in this city so I'm getting the feel for it with Yugi and the gang." I couldn't exactly tell him it was Yami's first one too. I mean, Eric thinks he's Yugi so obviously Yugi has had more Christmases here. Yami didn't seem to mind though, although he found playing with my fingers enjoyable. He ran his thumb over my own and the butterflies almost drowned me. XD

"Ah, right!" he said. "This is your first year in Domino. Well Sarah, I actually have something for you and Yugi." He gave Yugi a sideways glance, dipping his hand into the shopping bag he was carrying in his hand. I think he already paid but instead of going back home, since he saw me, he wanted to stick around. "Hope you don't mind..."

He brought out two small boxes. One was wrapped in red and white wrapping paper with a white bow on the top and the other was wrapped in a wrapping paper that was completely filled with different shades of purple with a blue bow on the top. They were already wrapped too? Forget about my current theory of how we ran into him here...

"I carried these wrapped presents everywhere I went for the past two days." Eric sweat dropped. "I was hoping I'd run into you guys sooner or later."

He handed the both of us our gifts and I could only gawk at it speechless. "Oh, Eric." I said softly, this time, really touched. "This is so nice of you. Thank you!"

He shrugged and smiled again that I liked it.

"Yes." said Yami. "Thank you." He stared at the little present in his hand, then put it into the basket he was holding. I did the same and then realized that this was Yami. Eric only thought it was Yugi. So the gift was for Yugi not Yami. I didn't feel so good. In fact, I almost felt sick. Because now I figured out that Yami didn't have a gift.

But I decided to think about that after Eric had left. So I momentarily let go of Yami's hand to give Eric a hug. Hey, it's Christmas. The season of giving. Yami didn't seem to like the idea and almost glared a hole into Eric's back while the guy himself was blushing like a fool.

When I let go of him, I gave him another smile. "Thanks so much Eric." Then I frowned. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't get anything for you yet."

He shrugged it off as nothing, though his face was still covered in a shade of light pink. "N-no problem." he stammered. "That hug was good." Then he cleared his throat and waved us off. "Well, I gotta go. Hope you guys have a good Christmas!"

Yami and I gave him a small wave back. "Merry Christmas to you too, Eric!" I said after him. He threw his hand into the air in a good-bye and turned away, running out of the doors to the store. After, I sighed. Right before I heard a high yelp from outside the store's entrance. It sounded happy and I knew instantly it was Eric, excited that I gave him a hug. Oh man...but I still felt kind of guilty for not getting him anything. Maybe while we're shopping I'll get something?

"That...baka..." I heard Yami mutter under his breath. His hands were clenching themselves open and shut every second and I knew he was trying to control his anger. It seems like nobody really liked Eric, but I knew that he was just trying to learn the proper way to a girl's heart. I found his likeness to me actually pretty cute, even though he's done some pretty low stuff.

"Oh...calm down." I said playfully, grabbing one of his unable-to-control clenching hands into my own and leading him down the row of stalls. His previous actions ceased and he stared at our linked hands in surprise. Most likely because I've never done it so much before today.

"How can I calm down when he'll probably attack you?" questioned Yami as I let go of his hand for a moment to bag some herbs. Rosemary and tyme were some of my favourites and Yugi had added them onto his list.

"He can't attack me." I said defiantly, plopping the bags of herbs into the basket before moving on to the dairy section of the store. Rows of different dairy foods sat on the selves of the cooler. It was pretty cold and when I reached down to grab a couple of cartons of milk, my hands stung. The harsh plastic scraped against my hand but I pushed that annoying pain away and put the cartons into the basket Yami was carrying. Then I grabbed a carton of eggs and put them in next to the milk. The basket nearly tilted but Yami caught it in time.

"Er...I think this basket is tired." he commented, looking the basket over carefully.

I chuckled at him and held one side of the handle to help keep it straight. "The basket's fine. It can hold out." Then I glanced at him and smirked jokingly. "I'm more worried about you though. Are you still able to lift it?"

Yami straightened his back as much as he could and I almost saw the muscles in his arms flex. "I think I can handle this." he said taking the basket into both his hands making me let go.

I smiled and shrugged. "Ok, muscle man. We have to get the bread now and then we're off." Yami gave me a small and playful glare to which I laughed. "Oh and don't worry about Eric. He won't attack. I'm sure of it."

"But if he does," warned Yami. "find me." I gave him a smile and a nod. Although that left me curious.

We found ourselves winding through more shelves of packaged foods before finding the bread section. I put into the basket two loaves of bread before Yami said something. "Are you sure that's all?" he asked me curiously. "Because I distinctly remember Yugi saying something about flowers."

I blinked at him harshly. "...flowers?" I said confused and Yami nodded. Then I realized what Yami might have meant. "Oh, you mean flour!"

Yami didn't seem to find the difference so he arched an eyebrow at me. "Isn't that what I said?" he asked.

I opened my mouth to tell him his mistake, but I just smiled and shook my head. "What did Yugi say he was going to do with the flour?"

Yami thought for a second then frowned. "He said he needed the flour to make cupcakes...but putting flowers in cupcakes doesn't seem like a good idea."

My sympathetic smile stayed on my face. "He probably meant F-L-O-U-R. Not F-L-O-W-E-R." I said, watching Yami's eyes blink at me in slight confusion. I laughed silently but tried holding it in as much as I could. It was so like those two. Teasing each other about things they were too innocent to find out. "You know, the white powdery stuff people put into their baking?"

That seemed to click something familiar in Yami's mind. "Of course." he said. "After Yugi made apple pie one day, he walked out of the kitchen covered in the white powdery stuff. That probably was the flour."

Imagining Yugi covered in flour was pretty funny but I kept my giggles at bay. I didn't want to lose my manners and just burst out laughing. "That would be our Yugi." I said with a grin.

Yami nodded. "I suppose." he said with a small smile. It was then we shared an amused chuckle. So I grabbed a small bag of flour and carried it with me all the way to the cash registers towards the entrance. Yami insisted that he could carry it but I knew by the way the basket was filled that there was no way. We argued the whole way until I finally put it down for the person at the register to scan. Yami gave me a small but playful nudge on the arm and unloaded the basket. I wanted to help him there but he insisted, like I had with the flour, that he's got it under control. We told the cashier that the small wrapped boxes were given to me in the store by a friend. He nodded and put them aside before going through everything else. I sighed and simply waited for the cashier to scan and type everything before sliding my card into the card reader and typing in my password. I received a receipt and pocketed it before reaching for some of the bigger bags the cashier had put the smaller ones into. He had bagged everything to make it easier for us to carry and with a thanks, we were on our way outside, back into the cold.

"I think I liked it better inside." I said to Yami as we made our way back to the intersection just outside the foods store. Him and I were both carrying the same number of bags to even it out and that way neither of us thought anything was heavy. But I still think Yami switched the sack of flour from one of my bags into his that way I wouldn't have to carry it. I made a mental note to get him back for that later. I mean I appreciate the help, but he didn't have to. I didn't want to give him the trouble.

"I agree." said Yami as the green lights on the intersection turned red and we made our way across. The snow was still falling down, turning everything into white. We walked past the houses on Yugi's street and finally reached the Game Shop. Without any warning, I took hold of one of the bags Yami had in his hand so he could take the key from out of his pocket. He was a little surprised at how quick I had thought of it and merely shrugged as he reached into his tight pockets to grab hold of the key. Fumbling with it a little bit, because of the cold stinging his hands, he took a few more seconds than normal to open the door. He let me in first and with a grateful smile, I walked inside, Yami following me close behind. The lights turned on automatically when they felt our presence.

"Well...I'm glad to be back." I said to him, as I rested the shopping bags onto the kitchen counter. Yami did the same and brushed his hands together to get them to warm up.

"Me too." said Yami with a sigh as he watched me take out a pencil from the stationary drawer, and the list from my pocket. I drew a line halfway across the page, marking what we've done so far and what we haven't. So all we had left to do was the decor shopping. I felt Yami's eyes boring into my side. Why was he looking at me again? What the hell is going on these past few months?

And those dreaded feelings in the pit of my stomach returned. I concentrated on highlighting what was left for us to buy instead of Yami's intense gaze almost burning me in their presence. When I stopped only to look back at Yami, he turned his gaze away and began taking out the groceries from the shopping bags so he could put them into the refrigerator. I sighed, not understanding what was going on, and finished what I was doing so I could help Yami.

"We only have one more stop, correct?" asked Yami, turning around from the refrigerator to see me standing there holding out the carton of eggs to him. He brought it into his hands gratefully and placed it onto the upper shelf.

"That's right." I said. "So we'll have to go to the mall beside the foods store we just came from."

Yami glared at his still pink hands. They hadn't gotten any warmer since they came back into the house. "Aibou better have gotten me gloves...I don't think I can take much more of the cold. It's a miracle I'm not sick yet."

I shut the refrigerator close with the heel of my foot and took a hold of Yami's hands, inspecting them closely. "It's true you haven't become sick, Yami." I said, stroking his hands to get them to warm up faster. I missed the tiny blush on his face. "The whole reason behind that is because I kept this small bit of fire inside your skin to keep your soul warm, although it doesn't do the same thing to your outside. It's a shame really...because then I would have been doing my job more exceptionally."

Yami smiled and held my fingers, making me stop what I was doing and stare him in the eyes in slight confusion. "You're already doing so much." he said. "How can you say that you aren't doing it exceptionally?"

I went back to thawing out his hands and soon I saw some of that fair colour return. "Because you're still cold! The evidence is in my hands!"

Yami sighed. When was Sarah going to learn that even though he appreciated her help a lot, she didn't need to make everything so perfect. "No one can be perfect." he said quietly, looking down at his hands in my own.

I shrugged and mumbled the last part as quietly as I could. "Well...I can try, now can't I?" Yami was quiet for a moment, perhaps because he heard. And it was all right. He needed to know how far I would go just to keep him safe. I'm not babying him; he's the Pharaoh of Egypt for crying out loud, I'm simply guarding him, and I can truthfully say with my life too.

There wasn't a limit existing I wouldn't cross if it means Yami would be ok. So many different enemies we've made in the past years with Yugi and the gang, it was hard for me not to be concerned. I didn't want anything to happen to Yami. I took an oath to guard him. And I will never go back on my word. Even if it means sacrificing my life to do so. Judging by how much the modern day world and Yugi changed him, Yami seems much different than before, and especially when he was around me, so maybe he wouldn't like the fact that I would put myself in front of him as a shield. I decided to still keep that a secret. Maybe I would tell him, eventually I will, but not now. Right now, what was on my mind, was one, and always will be just to get this clear, to keep Yami from trouble, and two, to get the shopping done.

"Hmm...maybe there's some gloves around here you can use..." I said, looking his hands over again. When I saw that they were back into their normal colour, I let them go and walked down the hall to a closet. I remember Yugi's grandpa saying that he kept all the miscellaneous stuff in there and decided that maybe there would be some gloves in there too. Yami looked down at his hands and saw how much the pink had disappeared. He opened and closed his fingers, trying to feel that strange tingling feeling he received when Sarah held them.

I came back holding two pairs of grey gloves. They were a little worn, but they were still bearable. I handed a pair to Yami. "I found some." I said, noticing Yami staring at his hands a little intrigued. He broke out of his reverie and wore the gloves.

"Thank you." he said, dipping his hands into the gauntlet, but he didn't feel the same soothing warmth my hands had given him.

When I clothed my hands, I almost sighed in bliss. My hands soon began warming up and the cold disappeared. "I should have thought of this earlier." I said, satisfied now. I grabbed the list and pocketed it, while making sure my coat was still zipped up properly. "Ready to go then?" I asked Yami.

He gave me a small smile and nodded. "Yes. Let's go." So we got out of the house all over again, for another shopping trip.

When we crossed the intersection, we noticed that the snow was turning everything much brighter. It filled my heart with a holiday happiness, the same feeling everyone had around us. After we reached the mall we were practically snowmen. The snow wasn't about to let up and it was falling down in a much heavier number but still very softly. Under the shade of the roof above the doorway, we removed as much of the snow as we could. We even helped each other that way we wouldn't make puddles of water everywhere.

The inside of the mall were brightly lit. Lights were strapped to the walls and booths for different phone companies were covered in tinsel. Even the separate little stores that made up the mall had their own decorations hanging all over the place. They looked cozy but the larger stores run by larger companies at the different ends to the mall were looking more like hotels. Shoppers were everywhere, finishing their last minute shopping for the holiday tomorrow. I believe tonight was the night they call Christmas Eve. It sounded exciting. Maybe the gang should stay up until midnight. Yugi probably has it planned.

"So which store did Yugi talk about?" asked Yami, instinctively reaching for my hand. I guess he saw the vastness and the bustle of people in it a harm. His fingers curled protectively into my own and I felt glad he did, because I had the sudden feeling that we were about to lose each other in this mass too. The soft glove material he was wearing was static and fuzzy against my own.

I tried remembering the route to it from where we were standing, which was one of the many main entrances to the mall. "It's down this right side and then to the left." Yami nodded, and led the way based on my directions.

The mall was in the shape of a snowflake; each arm leading to a point was a wide hall adorned with dark tiles and light walls. There were five major company stores at the end of each point, they could be included as a marking point for the initial spot. The halls were grand and there were two floors to the mall. On the top floor, the blue print designed a railing to be built so people could look over it and watch the second floor, kind of like those fishing boats where a screen was built into the floor so people could see all the different kinds of fish swimming about. Only the ones in the mall were actual apertures and not screens. In the middle of the mall were the elevators and escalators and it was also where the big showpiece stands; gigantic snowflakes made of crystal hanging down from the ceiling. They were absolutely beautiful. They shone under the brightness the snow made outside, which was reflected through the glass roof. The only glass roof in the whole mall was in the middle, so it turned the mood and atmosphere so much more sparkly.

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something, Sarah." said Yami and he turned from the spectacular show piece to me and his face showed question.

"Yes?" I said, not really sure where this was going.

"Yugi never said anything about money to pay for everything..." he said. Then he raised an eyebrow. "He did talk to you about it, didn't he? Or are you just using your own to pay for his cupcakes?"

A very tiny sweat drop formed on the side of my head but only from the word 'cupcakes'. I knew this might come up sooner or later...I just wish it was later. "Welll..." I began uncertainly.

Yami gave me a small groan. "Don't tell me he didn't." he said.

I shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry," I said. "but no. He didn't tell me how he was going to pay for everything. He might have just forgot, it seems much more likely. And instead of asking him what the plan was, I just picked up my debit card."

"Oh, Sarah," said Yami. "You didn't have to go do that. You're paying for our food-,"

"Which the gang comes over to eat some times." I said referring to all the times everyone hung out together and Joey and Tristan would help each other to eat everything.

Yami gave me a soft glare. "That's not the point." he said. "We're all friends there, Yugi doesn't mind."

"And neither do I, Yami." I said. "We're all sharing, and if you say it's ok for that situation, then it's no different in this one."

Yami sighed, defeated. He knew I was right, but I got the feeling that maybe he just didn't want me to spend all my money on them. I would if I wanted to. (Muahaha. xD)

"Luckily, this isn't my area of expertise," he said. Then he put on his world famous smirk. "but when Yugi finds out what you've done, he'll have your throat."

I laughed a little nervously. "He doesn't seem like the one to be violent." I ciphered, before playfully nudging him in the side with my elbow. "However YOU I have to be careful of."

Yami's smirk never faltered. "Jee...I wonder what gave that away?"

"That look in your eyes."

"Oh yeah? And what does the look tell you?"

"...I dunno. It's covered in something red."

"That's called the iris, Sarah."

"Riiiight...I knew that."

"And you graduated from the magics school. Sure."

My jaw dropped at him while he was standing there with this smug look on his face. This joking side of him was getting out of hand. I wonder what else this Ancient Pharaoh could think of?

(Me:...hahaha...some people might take that the wrong way...xD Sakura (my dark half): Oh, like you? Me: -.- I have no further comments at this time. Sakura: XD)

"No but really, what gives it away?" asked Yami, his smirk faltering into an expectant look.

I didn't know how to answer this. How DID I know?

"I guess it's because of your superiority." I said shrugging. "You know, when you're Pharaoh, it's hard not to follow your orders and you're the one who gives out punishments to the people who deserve them."

Yami seemed to get an idea from this. "Punishments to those who deserve them, hm?" When I nodded, I almost saw the dark presence in his mind from what he was thinking. What WAS he thinking, anyway? Then he gripped my hand a little bit tighter. "Then I suppose when Yugi asks me to, I will give you the punishment for your actions."

I faked a scared act. "Oh no!" I said while trying to contain my laughter. "I'm so scared! The Pharaoh of Egypt is coming to get me!"

Yami smirked mischievously and shook his head. Oh if she would only know...Suddenly he found himself blushing. What the—did I really say that?

Wow...what in the world is going on with these characters? XD

I didn't notice the change in Yami, but by then we had reached the shop Yugi had left directions for. I'm pretty sure it was the only shop in the whole mall that was the most decorated. Stockings and ornaments hung in random places and there was a Christmas tree in one corner, fully covered in ornaments, tinsel, and lights. Underneath was a pile of boxes, all wrapped in different coloured wrapping papers and bows. Beside them was a sign, saying that it was donations collected from the customers and friends. It was going to the children's hospital downtown. I thought that was very thoughtful and decided that maybe I should give them a donation too.

This shop was one of the larger companies in one of the five branches of the mall. It had two floors, so that meant half of it was on the second floor. The section with the decorations was on the main floor so we didn't find a need to go to the second one. I grabbed a basket from the stack near the entrance and went to one of the shelves for ornaments. There were so many different kinds, I almost heard Yami blink.

"Er...which one do we choose?" he asked me.

I shrugged and reached for a set that had assorted ornaments as white as the snow outside. "I have no idea." I admitted. "What kind did he have last year—oh. Never mind. Hmm..."

Yami tapped the side of his face thoughtfully. "Let's see...I know what you were about to ask, but I still know what kind Yugi used last year. He showed me these gold ones which were dulling and he had to store them away. Does that help?"

I sighed and gave him a thankful smile. "Yes." I said. "Do you like these ones? Or do you think we should Yugi another set of gold?"

"Well..." Yami seemed only a tad bit nervous all of a sudden but you couldn't really see it unless you looked really hard. "Which one do you like?"

I held my chin in thought as I scanned over all the different kinds. The basket was at my feet because I didn't want to let go of Yami's hand. He didn't make a move to let go either and it was just fine with me. I actually began liking those fluttery kind of feelings in my stomach because they were just a signal to me that Yami was close by. I blushed inwardly and didn't let it out at the conclusion.

"Hm...the white and silver ones are pretty." I said, really amazed at how they shone in the light even though they were in their plastic box, but they still looked lovely and I was sure once they were out of their plastic box prison, they would shine brightly under the sun.

Without any warning, Yami reached over and plopped the box with the white ornaments off the shelf and placed it carefully into the basket by my feet. I blinked at him in confusion.

"There." he said, straightening back up and giving me a small smile. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

I just shook my head, amazed for some reason, and said, "Ok...that was one thing done. Now we have the lights to worry about."

Yami picked up the basket with his unoccupied hand and led me around the stack of shelves to the other side. Leading ME this time, too. I really did believe he was getting the hang of it now.

On the other side of the same shelves, there were hundreds of different kinds of lights. So many of them were entrancing, but I knew there was so much we could choose. The boxes were neatly stacked in front of its same kind making all the different kinds of lights visible.

"All right." I said. "You're turn."

Yami thought over what to choose. Then with his hand on his chin, he turned my way only to give me a look up and down. I blushed and playfully whacked him across the shoulder which just made him smile and try to block it.

"I didn't say it was your turn to ogle at me." I said to him with a small glare. "How can it be your turn if I haven't even done my turn for that yet?"

Yami shrugged artfully. "Maybe I'm the one to start?" he said with a small wink. I blinked at him.

"Oh yeah?" I said, shaking myself free from the trance his wink had left me in only to give him a smirk of my own. "Well we'll have to start this game later when there's no one here to bother us." The reason I said that was because if we just started doing something random, anything random, in the middle of the store, then people would stop to wonder what the hek was going on.

Yami seemed to like that idea because he was smirking his classic smirk. "That's fine with me." he said. "But I knew what you meant so don't eat my head, ok?" He kept going when he saw my brow raised. "I was about to say the red lights because they go so well with your eyes—I mean the carpet in the living room..." I blinked at what he said only to see him with a tiny blush tinting across his face as he held up the box containing the red lights to have a closer look.

I could feel myself blush at the comment I had clearly heard. It was this tingling feeling now in my stomach that asked me, "What in the world is going on?".

"Th-they're pretty." I said, cursing myself for stuttering. Then I decided to say what's been bugging me since Yami said what he did moments ago.

"But I'm pretty sure your eyes are the most brightest of any lights."

Yami looked up from the box in a little surprise from what I said. I felt my cheeks burn while I took a look at another box of lavender coloured lights just so I wouldn't have to meet his gaze. I missed the small smile on the Pharaoh's face.

Yami turned to face me with the box in his hand. "How about we take these red lights..." he said before gesturing to the box I was holding. I understood what Yami was trying to say.

"...and these amethyst ones?" He nodded. The two colours weren't bad but I know I've seen the combination somewhere before...

Then it clicked. "Oh right!" I said. "The red lights match your eyes, and the amethyst ones match Yugi's! That's a prefect combination for you guys!"

Yami seemed to smile from the thought. The colours their eyes were, the iris is the most easiest way to describe someone's personality in a first glance (it was a symbol of the person), were going to be represented through the colour of the lights on the tree. That was a wonderful idea.

"That's a really good idea." said Yami, placing the boxes of lights into the basket. Then he poked me in the ribs and I flinched, causing him to smile. "How come you've got so many good ideas all of a sudden?"

I gave him a small glare, which only made him poke me again. "What, I can't give ideas?" I said, giving him a small pout but he poked me once more, this time in the arm.

"No." he said in formality, while crossing his arms over his chest in authority. I blinked. "Your Pharaoh says you can't have any ideas."

I stayed silent for a second before busting into a fit of giggles. Yami didn't like the fact I wasn't taking this seriously, but believe me, it was hard to keep straight face in this situation. He gave me a glare which made me laugh even more.

"I—I'm sorry—," I stuttered helplessly. The hand Yami was holding of mine tightened in his grip. How he had managed to cross his arms with my hand still in his, I have no idea, but it happened before he started this glare. "I'm sorry." I said again, finally able to catch myself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but you should have seen your face! It was hilarious!"

Then I saw the serious look on his face and my smile died.

"...oh you were serious..."

"Yes. I was."

"Well you know I didn't mean that you looked funny, right?"

Yami gave me a small smile, though I knew it was mischievous in some ways. Yeah, he's been hanging out with Joey and Tristan too much. "Yes. I knew you were only kidding, but now I'll have to think of another punishment for you." Then suddenly something sparkled in his eyes. "Oh but this one doesn't need Yugi's permission. I could do this one with my own consultation." Ok, I'll have to admit, that made me swallow nervously. But he wouldn't harm me, so I wasn't particularly concerned.

With a roll of my eyes, I sighed and led him over to the next few set of shelves for something else. "All righty then." I said. "I look forward to it." Er...why did I say that?

Yami smirked all over again. He was beginning to enjoy the time he spent with Sarah. Not that he didn't like her company before, but now, he's starting to understand what he was missing for the past 5,000 years.

"We need something for the walls too." I said to him, the butterfly feeling returning to my stomach. Gosh...they could be so annoying some times.

Yami nodded and looked around the shelf before pointing out a box of green wreaths the size of paper. There were fifteen to a box and they were paper thin. "These could work." he said, finding a wall-safe sign on the back of the box.

I picked up a box of pinned poinsettias, which were the flowers of Christmas. "Sounds good." I said. Then we put them both into the basket until something caught my eye. It was a kind of white flower hanging on a pin with a bunch of others lining up behind it. They were sold individually and the name looked familiar to me...

"Mistletoe..." I said trying the word on my tongue. It sounded mysterious, almost elegant. Then I pulled out Yugi's list from my pocket and read over the bottom. "Yugi asked for one." I said.

Yami gave a careful look about the ornament. It just seemed suspicious to him for some reason. "All right." he said with a shrug. "If Yugi said so, go for it." With tentative hands, I placed it into the basket.

"All right then! I believe we are finally done shopping!" I said happily, stuffing the list back into my pocket before leading Yami to one of the cashiers' tables in a side corner. She had a tonne of stock behind her like they were returns and a jar to one end of the table with a label saying "Donations going towards the Children's Hospital". That reminded me...

Yami gave a satisfied sigh when he finally put the basket down onto the other end of the table, "That shopping actually took a longer while than I had thought."

After the cashier scanned everything and put all the items into a larger bag with the store's logo on the front, I swiped my card into the reader and typed in my password in before giving Yami a small pout. "You don't like spending time with me?" I asked him, pretending to be on the brink of tears.

Yami gaped. Haha...got him. xD

I gave Yami an innocent smile before saying to the cashier, "I'd like to make a donation to the Children's Hospital."

The lady smiled in her tied up blonde hair. "That's great to hear." she said kindly. "Would that be on your card?"

I nodded and wrote out the small paperwork for the card use. At the bottom, I wrote "Merry Christmas!" Then I swiped my card and typed in my password all over again before getting a receipt for it and the decorations Yami and I bought. Yami took care of the bag just as I was about to pick it up. We thanked the cashier and walked out the doors and back into the mall.

Or at least, I thought we were. I turned to my right to give Yami a smirk from before but saw that he wasn't there. I almost started panicking.

But then I saw him in the store we just left, right before I called his name into the hall. I saw him giving a donation of bills into the jar on the table as he gave the cashier a small smile before heading back out the door, where I was waiting patiently for him. I gave him a smile for his actions to which he returned.

But then after a couple seconds of walking, Yami seemed to remember what I had said before. And he poked me in the side again. I glared.

"Of course I enjoy spending time with you." he said. "It was just...tiring is all."

I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but decided against it. "I know, I know." I said. "I was kidding. I enjoy spending time with you too. Oh hey look!" Before Yami had a time to comment, I had already stopped at a window to a jewelry store. Yami blinked at me in confusion before seeing what I was staring at. Then he scoffed.

"You women and jewelry." he said jokingly. I almost whacked him but instead gave him a small glare.

"No, it's not that." I said. Then I pointed to one of the boxes sitting on a stand in the window. It was a diamond pendant that was cut in half to make two necklaces, that you could hook together like one of those "Best Friend" necklaces. The person would give one half to their best friend and the other they would keep, and when you clicked them together, it would form one whole necklace. This one didn't have any words on it, but one half was a beautiful ocean blue while the other half was an alluring rose red. They were sparkling and almost hypnotizing, but it being jewelry didn't catch my attention.

It was the fact that my father had given this exact same necklace to my mother. He kept the crimson half while my mother kept the azure half, so my father would be reminded of my mother from her flaming red hair and my mother would be reminded of my father from his sapphire hair. He gave it to her on their first anniversary, the year my brother was born.

"It's...the same necklace my father had given my mother." I said, my voice suddenly quiet. I felt Yami tense beside me. I wasn't expecting something like this. I mean...it's been over 5,000 years.

"It's shining just like it always has." I said, running my fingers along the glass separating the necklace from me. "I never even thought about ever seeing something like it again. I remember the first time I laid my eyes on the one around my mother's neck. It shone so brightly, like the life in my father's eyes. The necklaces reflected what both my parents have for each other. The diamonds burned brilliantly whenever they were around each other, too. It was like a lock to their bond, making it so that the bond between my parents would never break."

A tear trickled down my cheek and I made a move to wipe it away while I felt something over my other hand. Yami was holding it delicately. I looked up from the necklace to him and saw kindness and compassion in his eyes. He ran his thumb daintily over my hand and I felt a blush through the sadness in my heart.

"I'm really sorry." he said softly. "That must have been so hard to accept what Bakura had done to them."

It was true I cried for days when I first heard they were nowhere to be seen amongst the rubble in the battle. I didn't accept it until Isis had taken me in as her own. Then I knew what had happened and I learned that it was no use dwelling in the past. I realized that if I can't help my family now, the next thing to do was serve the country of Egypt by being the Guardian of the Pharaoh.

My hand tightened itself in Yami's grasp when I realized that I was there; that I was right beside him, actually serving him. My goal of being the Guardian was in motion. And I was proud that I made it from all the hard work I had done to get here.

"Thanks..." I said rubbing at my eyes furiously to stop the burning sensation behind my eyelids. "But...man, I had not been expecting this at all."

"Do you...want to go in and see it?" asked Yami. I gave him a shy nod and he led me in through the door around the corner.

The shop was much smaller than the department store we were in a while ago. It was like one of those miniature ice cream stores you'd find in the corner of the block but this one held jewelry. Gold and silver chains were linked with hundreds of different kinds of rock combinations. It was sparkling and eye-catching. But we all know which one had caught my eye.

A middle aged woman stood behind the glass counter that was homing more of the trinkets. A small cash register sat on the left of it and a tiny Christmas tree was on the right. It was adorned in small rings and bracelets covered in different gems as the ornaments. A small angel sat on the tip of the tree.

The woman looked up from a book she was reading when she heard the bell above the door ring as we walked through, with Yami leading the way. She had slightly grey hair outside and behind her gold rimmed glasses were shimmering blue eyes. She smiled when she watched us walk up to the counter.

"Hello." she said kindly giving us both a gentle smile, putting her book down. "How are you two today?"

We returned her smile with one of our own. "Hi. We're all right." I said. "You?"

"I've been busy." she said dryly, motioning around. "As you can see, the stocks are still full. No one's been here since a fellow yesterday. But other than that, I'm great, thank you. So, what can I do for you two?"

Yami pointed a thumb behind him into the direction of the necklace. "The necklace in the display case caught our eyes. May we see it, please?"

The woman's mouth shaped into a perfect 'o' of surprise. "Of course you can!" she said happily, making her way around the counter, making some of the bells hooked onto her green dress ring. "I'm always glad there are some people out there with taste. This necklace is actually one of my favourite kinds. Made completely of real gold for the chain and real diamond for the blue stone and the red stone." She brought out the box holding the necklace from out of the locked display case using one of the many keys dangling on her wrist by a chain. She carried the velvet black box with her back to the counter and placed it onto it. The stones glittered.

"Here you are." the woman said settling the box neatly onto the counter. She gave us a smile. "Come have a look hun, since I'm sure it's the young lady who had her eyes caught into this necklace's trap."

Yami gave me an encouraged nod, a small smile on his face. I returned the smile and stepped closer to the counter just as the woman took the necklace out from its case. She held it out to me and with a shy smile, I let go of Yami's hand. I held the gold chain with shaking fingers.

The chain and pallet the stone was set on were cold against my fingers and my breath almost hitched. Tears begged to run out of my eyes at the sight of the necklace. It was something my parents wore ever since they were married and seeing it after so long made me feel somewhat closer to them in a way.

"It's a beauty, isn't it?" said the old lady kindly.

I traced my thumb over the edge of the blue and red stones with awe. Yami looked over my shoulder, close enough that I could feel his breath on my neck. "It is." I breathed quietly. I looked up to meet her gaze. "It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

The woman gazed at me thoughtfully. "You know, dear." she said, which made me look up from the necklace again. "There's something about they way you're looking at the necklace...this isn't your first time seeing it, is it?"

Sadly, from remembering my parents wearing their own necklace, I shook my head. "No." I said. "This isn't the first time. On my parents' first anniversary, my father had given this exact same necklace to my mother. He kept the red half and my mother kept the blue half. But there gone now...so I've never seen it since."

The lady's smile faltered. "Oh, I'm so sorry." she said. "I didn't mean to bring up a sensitive subject."

"It's all right." I said, because it's the only thing left to say. There's nothing I can do now. "Seeing this necklace just makes me feel somewhat closer to my parents. I'm kind of glad I get to see it again."

The lady put on a brave smile to try and lift my spirit. "Are you interested?" she asked.

I blinked in confusion. "The necklace?"

"Yes. When you buy it, you'll have a reminder of your parents everywhere you go." she said.

I stared down at the necklace in my hands. It would be a good idea. I mean, if I look at it everyday, I'd feel so much closer to them, like they were right in my grasp. "I-I suppose." I said, but something was bothering me. I think it was the price. The gold chain and the diamonds being real and all.

"What do you say?" asked Yami, and it tickled when his breath flew across my neck. But I knew my choice.

I gave the necklace a small sigh and placed it carefully back into the velvet box, then I pushed it back towards the woman, who blinked in confusion. "Thanks for showing it to us." I said. "But I don't think I should."

The woman gazed at me sympathetically. "I can see it in your eyes." she said, which confused both me and Yami. "With something so huge as what you've been through, seeing the necklace also brought you hurt." Now that she mentioned it, she was right. My heart was actually beating rapidly at the sight of it after so many years and my chest began to hurt.

I bent my head to look down, saying that she was right. Beside me, Yami's hand found its way back over mine.

"Let me tell you something." she said, and her voice was soft. "Life can be tough. Destiny has its reasons for everything it lets happen. Your parents' death was tragic, I can tell, but the fierceness in your eyes from something you're doing for someone else is so great, and it's covering the hurt temporarily. It hurts, I know, and seeing the necklace again helped your hopes rise somewhat because it was so close to your parents. And if you don't want to take it, it's fine. I can understand that too." Wow...this woman really knew a lot just by looking into my eyes.

"These days, things changed." she said. "My store has been here for over 10 years and back then, boy was it busy. Men came in here to find that special something for that special girl. In those days, my heart always soared. Not because of the business it gave me, oh no, but from the feel of love in the air. It was a beautiful, happy feeling and I wished it would last forever.

"But of course, technology arrived." The women gave the word "technology" and disgusted look, like she ate rotten fruit. "Soon people hopped into the new trends and decided to give each other flat screens with buttons on them. Bah. They have no respect for the classic gifts anymore and after my customers diminished, little by little, every time my heart just plummeted to the ground. I mean when someone gets something rare like this diamond necklace for someone, it has this special meaning to it. Because not everyone else in the world has something exactly the same, and because the person who cared for you bought it for you. The thought counts especially, but if the person doesn't know how to express their care, the item they give to the other tells them 'Oh right. This person had me in their mind constantly.'. Now, because there's not so many people wanting to buy jewelry for their loved ones, I might have to close down the shop. But the love I used to feel in here, and when I look around, I remember the old times, I say no. There's no way I'm going to close this place down. Because there's always someone out there who has the taste for the classics.

"So what I'm trying to say is to not stay so far away from the thing that'll keep you closer to the person you care for; in this case, me and the store. It's been in my family for years and I absolutely adore it. Embrace the feeling, my dear. The feeling of being whole when you're close to something special."

I gave the woman a smile. "That was absolutely inspiring." I said. "And I completely understand what you're saying; I don't really want to stay away from that feeling of being whole either when I saw the necklace and realized it was the same one my parents wore. But..."

The woman laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I understand, dear." she said. "You just don't want to risk losing it like you did your parents. It's tough to part with something when you know it's your only hope. Maybe next time, you'll think about it again, and decide to risk the chance of getting it lost.

"If the bond is stronger, it can't get lost. Remember that."

I nodded and smiled again. "I will." I promised. Something like this wasn't exactly about to leave my mind any time soon. It was too true. "Thanks so much, for everything."

The old woman smiled. "Of course." she said. "Have a Merry Christmas you two."

Yami and I waved to her on our way out of the shop. "Merry Christmas." we said and then we disappeared out. The old woman stared after us until we were out of view before sighing.

"Just hold on to those who care." she said, gazing at the box sitting in front of her, holding the necklace I was looking at earlier. "Just...hold on. Never let go."

---

We were silent half way through our walk back out of the mall. Yami was thinking quietly to himself about the words the old lady had said.

Men came in here to find that special something for that special girl... she had said. Could she have been hinting about something? Along with telling the story? His thoughts drifted back to the necklace. He was beginning to think of something; something he's never thought of before...

"Thank you." I whispered quietly, while looking down during the walk. Yami looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"For what?" he asked.

"For going into the shop with me." I said. Then I looked up and into his eyes, feeling my eyes tempt themselves into tearing open with my sorrow. "If you weren't there...I would have cracked."

It was then he realized it. What he could do for what he was thinking.

He gave me a nod and a smile. "Of course." he said. "If you're there for me, I'll be there for you. We're a team."

I gave the idea a smile. "I like that." I said, just above a whisper and before Yami could hear, we were through the doors of the mall with snow rushing at us from all sides.

---

When we finally reached Yugi's house for what felt like the millionth time that day, we shuffled our feet on the welcome mat before heading straight in. The snow outside got heavier and it was colder than ever. Yami and I unstuck our hands, which had frozen in place from the cold outside and shook the coats off our shoulders. I carefully placed the bag with all the decorations onto the kitchen counter just as the lights turned on, startling us.

But what startled us even more was the yell of surprise.

"Surprise!" yelled the gang from their hiding spot in the shadows. I jumped back into Yami who was right behind me and almost yelled for my life. Yami merely smiled at how his hands ironically fell onto my arms when I jumped.

"Dudes!" yelled Joey, high-fiving Tristan with a joyful look on both faces. "You should have seen the look on both your faces!"

I gave them both a glare and went over to pummel them but Yami's arms around my shoulders pulling me back stopped me. "You two better run!" I hollered, trying to free myself from Yami's grasp as the two retreated into the living room in a fit of giggles. "When I'm free, you're gonna wish you never had brains to pull this kind of stunt!"

"I don't think they have any brains to begin with." commented Yugi from beside the door. Joey and Tristan heard what he said and glared at him through the door to the living room. Yugi sweat dropped.

"So, how'd everything go?" asked Tea with an innocent smile on her face as she tried to distract me from my current predicament of Yami practically clinging onto me and the guys hiding in the living room from my wrath.

"Oh, it was great." I said. "We got everything Yugi asked for." I kicked my shoes off in the doorway and tried moving forward but was held back when Yami didn't move. It was then I realized what happened before I began blushing into the colour of a tomato, again. Yami sweat dropped.

"That's great." said Yugi, raising a brow at the situation before him. With tentative fingers, I tried wrenching Yami's hands off me but he didn't budge. "Thanks so much for the errands, Sarah."

"No problem." I said, knocking lightly on Yami's head. He only gave me a nervous smile before I huffed and gave up.

"Especially a big thank you for restocking the refrigerator." smirked Joey. I almost glared at him but merely sweat dropped. These guys and their stomachs.

"I would love to move as much as you do, Sarah," he said and I felt his breath on my neck again, which made me blush even harder, if possible. "but I seem to be frozen."

Joey yells through the door, saying, "Sure you are, Pharaoh. Let's pretend that you're frozen."

Yami shot him a glare right when Joey hid back into the living room with a laugh.

"Uh...guys?" I said, failing in my attempt to try walking again. "A little help here!"

Yugi and Tea ran forward to help pry Yami's arms off me while I tried holding myself back from attacking the two laughing idiots in the other room. Once Yugi ripped Yami's arms off me, we heard a loud crack and blinked at the sweat dropping Pharaoh in confusion.

"S-sorry." he said, with the smallest bit of pink on his face. "I think the snow froze all over my jacket, preventing me to take my arms off you, Sarah."

I gave a small nervous laugh. "It's no problem, I guess..." Truly that was funny but for some awkward reason, I kept blushing and those damned butterflies returned, to make matters even more sarcastically amazing.

Joey and Tristan peeked from out of the living room door with these smirks on their faces. "Pharaoh and Sarah sittin' in a tree—," I had no idea what the hell those guys were singing about and what the rest of the lyrics were going to be because Yugi instantly threw the gloves Yami had given back to him at the two, square onto their faces, making them fall to the ground on top of each other.

"You two need to shut-up." muttered Tea, pushing them back into the living room. Yami and I blinked simultaneously at the three before turning to Yugi for an explanation to all this.

The boy simply shrugged with a smile and beckoned us into the living room. Before I could take off my gloves and thank him for letting me use them, haha, without his permission too xD, he beat me to it and ripped them off from my hands and threw them into the box sitting on the kitchen table. Yami and I hung our coats onto the rack and Yugi gave us a smile.

"Come on. Let's go put the decorations up." he said, pulling Yami and me into the living room by our hands. So we were going to dress the house up together? That sounded like fun. Especially with the whole gang here.

When we walked into the living room, we noticed that the room was already partially decorated. The evergreen tree sat in one of the corners of the room and it was almost tall enough to touch the ceiling. Stockings dangled from the hearth on the fireplace; seven in total, one for everyone in the house. It already felt like a holiday scene.

Joey and Tristan had already tangled themselves in the lights we bought. Luckily they weren't plugged in, otherwise they'd be fried to crisps right about now.

"Boy...aren't you two smart?" I scoffed playfully. The two boys glared but went back to trying to free themselves without ruining the lights.

Tea was sitting on one of the lounges opening the box of ornaments. "Oh, these are so pretty!" she exclaimed, holding one of the spherical ones up. "Did Yugi tell you to get these ones?"

I shrugged. "He didn't exactly tell me any specific ones to buy." I said in my defence. "Yami said Yugi just wanted new ones and he asked me which ones I liked and I told him these white ones were cool so he just chose that box."

Yugi smiled at me from his seat next to Tea. "Well there a good pick." he said. "They match the snow still falling outside."

I smiled. "That's what I had in mind." I said. "So it's going to be, what you call it, a White Christmas?"

Tea nodded. "Yup. It's a good thing too, because like what Joey said earlier, the snow binds the holiday together."

Joey and Tristan finally managed to free themselves from the binding trap of the lights. They set them onto the coffee table carefully before giving it a confident grin, like they were saying "Muahahaha! We conquer!"

"That's right." said the blonde. "And what makes it even more special is that we're here together."

"You're just saying that so people think more highly of you." derided Tristan with a smirk.

"Why you little—," Joey went straight for a whack across the head but Tristan dodged him in time.

"Enough horseplay, you two." said a new voice from behind us. I nearly jumped out of my skin and ran into Yami again. He seemed to smile again at the touch. "You might break something."

It was Mr. Muto, holding a tray of shortbread cookies made into different shapes like trees, stars, and snowmen. There were gingerbread cookies too and they smelled delicious, like they just came out of the oven.

"Sorry, grandpa." they said mournfully, hanging their heads in shame. Everyone shared a quiet laugh.

"I'm glad you're back, Mr. Muto." I said, smiling at the caring man. "How'd everything go?" He seated everyone down onto the couches and placed the tray onto the coffee table for everyone to enjoy. Without any hesitation, everyone picked up a cookie.

"First of all, Sarah," he said in a bit of a stern voice. I thought I did something wrong and stopped my teeth from digging into the cookie I just put into my mouth. "How many times have I told you; you have the privilege to call me grandpa, just like everyone else! No need to be so formal!"

I sweat dropped while the others held their giggles in. Yami smirked behind the shortbread cookie he was eating. Yeah, so I was still being formal. Is it illegal to though with your elders? I couldn't help my habits.

"We need to make you grow out of your habits." said Tea.

Yugi grinned. "She's over 5,000 years old and she didn't let go of the habit then, what makes you say she will now?"

Joey licked the crumbs off his fingers. "You got a good point there, Yugi." he said. "How could a stiff and formal nitwit not be formal? Such a mystery..."

I raised a brow at the blonde and Yami must have know what I was going to say because his smirk was still in place. "You want to know what's not a mystery, Joey? The time it'll take for me to get over there and whack you over the head—,"

"Now, now you two." said grandpa. "I said no horseplay." We hung our heads again and murmured an apology. xD

"All right, Mr. Mu—I mean grandpa." I smiled tensely when grandpa glared at me expectantly. "I'll say grandpa from now on."

Tristan raised a hand and I gave him a high-five. "That's right man." he said with a smile. "You're part of this family now."

You know what? I think I feel it. That love I had felt from my late family before they passed on began to come back to me. At first my heart was always cold from their lack of presence, being dead and all, but now I realized that whenever I was around the Muto family and the gang, a small bit of the feeling sparked in me. I knew then that I could honestly call these guys my family. They cared for me just like my real ones did, and I cared for them too.

"Thank you." I said with a sad smile from the thought. "Thanks so much for what you guys have given me." Tea gave me a hug and that feeling grew even more. It was warm and so full of the feeling of love, I couldn't think otherwise anymore.

"You know we're there for you." said Yugi.

I gave him a nod. "Yeah...I know now."

Joey, however, couldn't stand touchy scenes likes this. So instead of saying something mushy, he gave Yami a small nudge with his elbow and a wink. Yami knew what he was hinting at and he blushed a bright crimson colour which streaked lines across his face. "Hey Pharaoh!" he said with a smirk. "Don't you got somethin' to say to her? You know...about her being a part of something...?"

I blinked at the two in minor confusion, but all Yami did was stare back at Joey and then glance at me before turning away and start blushing all over again.

Yugi sweat dropped at his dark's behaviour. "Oh well. Maybe later." he said. "Thanks for the cookies, grandpa."

Remembering our manners then, everyone else thanked him, but Mr. Muto only chuckled. "You're welcome, kids." he said. "Let's finish with the decorating and then we'll get onto the presents...if anyone has any..."

So everyone set to work. Yami and Yugi put up the lights onto the Christmas tree while Joey and Tristan hung up the wreaths onto the walls. Tea tied the white flower Yugi had asked specifically for onto the ceiling above one of the couches with a delicate white ribbon. Mr. Muto brought out a box of more decorations from the closet and I helped him attach sparkly snowflakes onto the ceiling in random spots. Everyone talked to each other, telling everyone of old stories from their childhood or just laughing at the randomness in Joey and Tristan. It was a happy time, precious moments flowing together and it felt like peace. Laughing and sharing, everyone just enjoying the time we were spending with one another. It was beyond description; the pure happiness we felt just now.

I reached up onto my tippy toes on the small stool I brought in from the Game Shop and tried fastening one of the snowflakes I held in my hand onto the ceiling but the string was shorter and I couldn't really get it on. The reason all the snowflakes had different lengths of string were so they could either dangle lower or higher than the others so it would give that feeling of snow more. But this snowflake wasn't focusing and I couldn't get my grip on the string. And what sucked even more was the fact that it was the last one. And a small factor helping in this ordeal was the fact that I couldn't get any higher. I was already on my toes and I wasn't getting taller from stretching myself past the limit. And Mr. Muto had his attention turned to Joey and Tristan who couldn't decided if they should put the last poinsettia flower on the door or the frame. Curse my height...!

With a small groan I stepped down from the already-small-step and gave the snowflake in my hand a good glare. It was causing some problems.

"Having any problems?" asked Yami from behind me and I jumped for the third time that day. With my hand over my racing heart, I turned around and smiled sheepishly at the Pharaoh, who smirked at the fact that he scared me.

"Gosh...you guys really need to stop scaring me half to death!" I said, calming my heart down. Then I gave him a small whack on the shoulder when he didn't get rid of his smirk. "But yes..I AM having a slight bit of a problem. This snowflake doesn't want me to put it up."

Yami smiled, then, at me. I find her stubbornness quite adorable at times. Oh, why did I say that? He shook himself of those thoughts and blushed inwardly before thinking of an idea that could help.

"How about I hold you up higher?" he suggested, not realizing how it sounded until it left his lips. He cursed himself for being so naive.

I didn't find a problem in that solution. In fact, I thought it was great idea. (Curse this innocent mind that knows nothing! XDDD) "Hey, that's not a bad idea!" I said with a joyful smile. Then without hesitation, I stepped back up onto the step, even though it only gave me a few inches of height. Then I gave Yami a smile. "All right, let's go airborne!"

Yami swallowed a little nervously. He never thought I'd comply, but he didn't want to let me down now. So with a small nod, and tentative fingers, he secured his hands around my slim waist and pushed up, lifting me up high enough to actually touch the ceiling with the palm of my hand. The muscles in his arms flexed but I practically didn't weigh anything. Maybe all the times she spent training kept her light on her feet and stealth-like...

"Oh yeah...this is much better." I said excitedly, now beginning to tie the length of plastic attached to the snowflake, supposedly called the string, onto the ceiling. It was much easier now that Yami was helping. When it was tied securely in place, I gave it a satisfied nod and then said back down to Yami, "All right, man! You can let me down now! It's finally up."

With very slow movements, Yami reluctantly brought me back down, placing my feet firmly onto the ground. The delicacy in his motion confused me slightly but when he, it seemed like it was unwilling, because when I looked up at him flustered, he had this look in his eyes telling me that he didn't really want to bring his hands back to his sides, but when he had that unwilling look in his eyes, I was even more agitated. I didn't get what it was at all.

"Thanks." I said, with a smile nonetheless. "That almost took forever. If you hadn't come by and offer help, I'd be stuck in the situation of how to put that snowflake up for who knows how long." I was hoping to have been able to share a laugh with Yami, but instead, when he looked at me in the eye, I saw that longing again. Gosh, he thought about that so much. And I was so curious as to what it was!

Then a blush streaked across his face. It was light, but I could still see it. Man, would it be awesome just to hear him laugh. I've never heard him laugh or chuckle, he would just smile all the time if something was funny, but if something was amusing, he'd just smirk. I wonder what his laugh would sound like. Of course, being the Pharaoh of Egypt, it would have to be impressive.

"A-anytime." he said with small stutter. Then we noticed the quiet and looked around to find the gang staring at us wide eyed. What was up with them...? And was it just me, or did Yami start blushing even harder?

"Er...are you guys ok?" I asked in concern, wondering why in the world everyone was staring at us in shock.

Joey shook his head in utter disbelief at us. "They're so close...yet they're so clueless...it's unbelievable..."

Grandpa waved a finger at the blonde. "Now, Joesph," he said. "Don't disturb the precious moment. Seeing as how they are as clueless as you say. But you should be careful with what you say. Sarah might run for your throat."

Joey suddenly reached for his neck and yelped.

"Right..." said Yugi. "but we can't really help it, grandpa."

Mr. Muto gave his grandson a sigh. "All right, but don't scare them."

I blinked at everyone for a good moment. "I'm sorry, but I'm very confused." I said, earning an anime fall from everyone. XD

"That's...exactly what we're saying." said Tristan with small sweat drop.

I didn't really understand what in the world everyone was talking about so I simply shrugged. I suppose there were some things I wasn't meant to understand. But seriously though, the butterflies won't leave me alone! Ever since Yami's hands...bleh...now I'm blushing too, I can feel it on my cheeks. xD

Yami and I exchanged glances but before we looked away, the blush streaked across our faces.

The gang seemed to find some magic working because they started smiling and glancing across the room to each other. Grandpa gave the two of us a smile.

"H-hey, is the tree done?" I suddenly asked, picking up the step I brought in from the Game Shop into my hands so I could return it. I wanted to get out of this awkward predicament as quick as I can before my cheeks burn to a crisp.

"Yes, maybe we can do something else to make it more intriguing." said Yami next, with the blush still on his face as well.

Yugi looked up at the tree. The lights were twirling around it with the red light hoops tilting down to the left and the purple ones tilting down to the right. Both lights crisscrossed over each other every time they met at the front of the tree and at the back. It looked like it was on fire, but we liked its brightness.

"Yeah...almost." he said. Tea brought up the box of ornaments. "Now we just have to put up the ornaments. I thought everyone would do this one together. Are you guys done with your jobs?"

Tristan looked up from the upside down box he was holding, that used to contain the pin-up wreaths, and blinked. "Yes, mother." he said and grandpa raised a brow at him. Tea glared at him playfully.

I looked up at the ceiling at the bunch of snowflakes hanging around in the random places. "Yup!" I said looking back to Yugi. "Grandpa and I got our job done too...with Yami's help." The small blush returned and so did the butterflies.

Tea nodded her head and something shimmered in her eyes like a mystery. "And I hung up the mistletoe, just like you asked Yugi."

Yugi smiled and the same mystery shimmered through his eyes. "Great! Then we can put these ornaments up." He held the box up to each of us as we chose one. There were many different shapes and sizes of them in the box and each one had a small little hook on them so they could be hung onto the tree. When the box came to me, I got a spherical shape, like the one Tea was holding before. Now that I held one in my hand, I got a much closer look. On it, were pictures of snowmen and snow, coloured with silver glitter. It was dazzling.

Yugi put the box onto the table, that way once we put up the ones we were holding, we'd go back and get another one. "All right guys, let's decorate this tree!"

With new enthusiasm, the gang put together the tree. Mr. Muto brought out gold tinsel from the box that had the snowflakes in them and decorated the tree with that. With every step we accomplished, the more the tree came to life. Soon, it was the brightest thing in the living room, lighting up the corner behind it and the walls around. We stood back a bit to admire the work and cheered. The room was complete for the holiday.

"Now...the final touch." Mr. Muto pulled up the box again that used to home old decorations. He pulled out a porcelain figure, clothed in elegant white robes, with blue eyes on its face. The eyes were in the shape of moon crescents and the points faced down, making it look like the angel was smiling. Its wings were feathery soft to the touch. Just by its simplicity, it was beautiful.

"Oh, who's going to put it up?" asked Joey eagerly. I suppose by the way he said it, it was an honour to be able to put the angel onto the Christmas tree.

Grandpa looked at all of us carefully, but his gaze rested on me and Yami for a bit longer. "It'll have to be the new comers." he said with a kind smile. "Just so they can experience the finale of decorating and sharing the happy moment."

Yami and I glanced at each other then to the gang. They gave us smiles of encouragement. Even though we were new to all of this, did everyone really want to break their tradition just so we could put up the angel?

"Go on you guys." said Tea and her smile wasn't the only thing urging us to go ahead, her eyes said the same thing. "It's all right. We talked this over before you came back from shopping. We made up our minds that you two were going to be the ones to put it onto the tree."

With a nod from everyone in the group, how could we say no? It was an honour, and Yami and I smiled. "All right." I said, holding my hand out. "Let's do this."

Yami did the same, and now our hands made a cradle so half the angel would fit into each of our hands. It seemed equal. "I'm ready too. This is an honour, really."

Grandpa shook his hand in dismissal, concluding to the discussion. "Good luck," was all he simply said, before handing the angel to us.

Its cloth was smooth under my touch, even after a long while, because certainly this has been in the Muto family for a long while, being traditions and all. With a turn, Yami and I faced the tree. The tip was just within my reach, I knew it.

"Ready?" asked Yami, sounding like this was some roller coaster and I was scared for my life. Maybe I was, I mean, it was the first time and all.

I gave him a determined nod. "Yup." I said. "You?"

He gave me a smile and behind it, I saw that look of ache in his eyes again. Then, as quietly as a hummingbird's wing beat, he slid his hand over mine. The butterflies returned for round one hundred.

"With you, I'm always ready to face anything."

That thought made me smile. And with the stretch of our arms, we settled the angel carefully onto the tip of the tree. It shone beautifully over the lights on the tree and with our arms just reaching back to our sides, everyone cheered. That warm, abounding feeling of having a family brought back so many memories of my own family. But I knew I couldn't dwell in the past. It was done. But I wish it hadn't. Like the old woman at the jewelry store said, Destiny had her reasons. But I wonder what the reason could have been.

Maybe I'll find out sooner or later. Right now though, I had to spend Christmas with my new family. Oh, how I missed that pleasant feeling of having people who care about me around.

Yami's hand tightened around mine and I looked up to return the smile he was giving me.

However, with Yami, the feelings were somewhat different. But I couldn't explain them as well...

---

It was now 8 and everyone was just finishing the dinner Mr. Muto had prepared in the kitchen. Turns out that was the surprise, and it was awesome; just the right thing to top off a decorating night. It was delicious; it beat my homemade meals for sure. Turns out everything Yami and I bought from the grocery store was needed for the dinner too and I was glad we could help. Yami felt the same way and when Yugi walked into the dining room while everyone was talking, and covered in flour no doubt, everyone shared a laugh, but like always, Yami just smiled at his hikari's behaviour. Turns out Yugi was making cupcakes again and the flour supposedly 'jumped up at him'. Ah...Yugi's so cool. XD

After dinner, everyone was hanging around back in the living room. Yami and I were seated together, funny how it always works out like that, on one of the lounges while the rest of the gang and grandpa were on the other ones. Grandpa was sitting in the lounge perpendicular to us while Tea was seated on the one parallel to us on the opposite end of the room. Joey and Tristan were hanging around lazily on the floor, sitting with their legs crisscrossed, but leaning back on their arms.

"Oh man!" cried Joey, with a small yawn. "That was awesome gramps! Mind if I stay here for a while?" Everyone shared a chuckle, but as usual Yami just smiled at the two and leaned back into the sofa crossing his arms and legs. He looked too stern then, but with the smile on his face, it looked like he was having the time of his life.

Grandpa chuckled. "No thank you. I'd prefer not to handle another teenager."

Everyone was just laughing at grandpa's response when Yugi walked into the living room holding the two boxes Eric had given Yami and me at the foods store. I forgot all about those and from the look Yami was giving the boxes, he wished his mind had kept the memory forgotten.

"Hey what are these?" asked Yugi, looking under the one with the purple wrapping.

"Sorry, Yugi." I shrugged. "I forgot to mention that Eric got you something. We met him at the foods store. He actually thought Yami was you and gave it to him. Then we put them onto the counter and accidentally forgot about them."

Yugi handed the red one with my name on it to me and seated himself next to Tea. "It's ok." he said with a curious smile as he started opening the box. "It's no big deal. I would have found them sooner or later..."

"Yugi! Wait until tomorrow!" grandpa scolded the younger boy and Yugi looked up blinking with his fingers just unwrapping the bow.

"Aw, but we'll only have to wait for midnight, and it's not that far away!" said Yugi, with a small pout.

Grandpa sighed. "All right, but just because it's from that fellow Eric."

Yugi cheered and ripped apart the wrapping and box. Everyone leaned away from him in case. Once he got the box open, Yugi pulled out a small snow globe with a snowman in the middle holding a sign that read "Merry Christmas!". He shook the snow globe, making little silvery and gold confetti swirl all over the place inside.

"This is cool." he said. "And thoughtful. What did he give you, Sarah?"

With a curious shrug, I pulled apart the bow and peeled away at the wrapping. Everyone looked over curiously to see what Eric might have given me.

When I finally got the box to open, inside was also a snow globe, but this one had a decorated Christmas tree in the centre and on the base was a hand written message which said, "Dear Sarah, Hope you have an amazing Christmas. -Eric."

I almost awed. This was unbelievably thoughtful and cute. "I should frame this." I said after showing it to everyone. Yami reacted the worst, by sulking into the lounge after reading Eric's message. It was like he thought the guy was pure venom.

"If it was frameable, then that would be a great idea." said Tristan.

I shrugged and put the snow globe back into the box, so it could be kept safe, then put the box onto the coffee table. "Yeah. You have a point."

"Hey by the way," started Joey, looking around the room like he just noticed how decorated it was. "How in the world did you pay for everything? I mean there was food along with the decorations. It couldn't have been easy..."

Before I could answer, a cry pierced the air. I looked up to find Yugi's eyes widened and a hand clamped over his mouth in complete shock. Uh oh...here it comes...

"Yugi..." I said, calmly, thinking that once he heard my calm voice, he'd decide to calm down too. "Don't worry about this...it's all a bad dream..."

My bad dream idea wasn't working and before I knew it, what I was trying to prevent that moment, happened. He shot to his feet. "Oh my gods! I am so so so sorry! I didn't give you the money to pay for all this!"

Everyone in the room, except for Yami and me, yelled in utter hysteria. "WHAT?" they yelled, and I was sure that if I was back at my house, I would've been able to hear that.

"Yugi, how could you?" hollered Joey, standing to his feet, and his brow creased forward in anger.

Yugi dashed across the room until he was directly in front of me. "I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to forget...-,"

Grandpa shook his head forlornly at his grandson. "Yugi, something as irresponsible as this?"

"No, really! It was nothing to worry about!" This caught everyone's attention. Yugi stopped beating himself mentally to listen to what I had to say. "I just thought that it would be a great way to help so I used my account. Honest though, it wasn't a very big deal."

Yugi wasn't really sure about this. He had this apologetic look in his eyes that told me he was ultimately sorry but I knew it was nothing to fret over. "You guys taught me yourself that friends help each other, so what if I did this tiny thing?"

"I mean...the trouble...-,"

"It was no trouble, Yugi. That's what I'm saying."

Yugi looked uneasy, but he reluctantly sighed and nodded. "All right." he said. "But I'm still going to ground myself."

I sweat dropped. "All right, man." I said. "You go do that. But ground yourself after Christmas."

Yugi sat back down onto the couch he was sitting on before and sweat dropped. "Right." he said. Joey grumbled something about me being a mess and sat back down the way he was sitting before.

I glared at him. "Can someone get me some chains so I can tie this blonde guy up?" Joey glared at me back, starting a glaring contest.

"Chain..." Yami suddenly jumped beside me, making me jump, and causing me to lose the staring contest I had going on with Joey for the second. He whooped when he saw me look away.

"What happened, Yami?" I asked. All of a sudden, he jumped from murmuring the word 'chain'. Did he remember something he wanted to do?

Yami's eyes were overjoyed at his new thought. I wonder what idea could've got him so jumpy. He hopped to his feet and was beside Yugi in a matter of seconds. He whispered something into his light's ears and waited for an answer. We all were. No one knew what was going on and we were eager to know.

Yugi smiled brightly and gave his dark a nod. Both smiled like they were sharing a private joke. Yugi jumped out of his seat and grabbed a couple of coats from off the rack by the door. "We'll be right back, guys!" he said. "There's something we have to go do!"

I stood up then. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Yugi shook his head just as Yami zipped up his jacket. "No, we'll be fine. It'll only be a little while."

"Be careful you two!" said grandpa. "Call us if anything happens!"

"Will do! See you guys!" The last thing we saw out the door was the retreating figures of both Yami and Yugi. The door locked behind them and we blinked.

"Well...that was interesting..." I commented, totally confuzzled on what the two boys were up to.

Tea shook her head. "They came up with the idea on their own, of course it'll be interesting for us."

"Still..." said Tristan, holding his chin in his hand. "I wonder what they're up to."

I wondered the same thing, but most of all, I hoped they would be all right.

---

It was near midnight when everyone decided to just stay up until it was Christmas. During the time Yami and Yugi were gone, we played a few board games, even Duel Monsters, and told each other stories again. The more I hung out with everyone, the more I got to know them so much better. I was glad I had these guys as my friends. They meant a lot to me, and as we spend more time together, that warm comforting feeling from my past returned. I loved my family first, and now I'm beginning to love the gang and grandpa, like their one of my own. I was captivated by that feeling and I didn't want to let them go.

After all the talking and laughing, I guess I fell asleep. Today was a fun and busy day and I guess I was completely out of it. So while everyone else talked amongst themselves, my eyes slowly began to close, and I was out like a light.

It was only after a few moments, when Joey noticed me asleep. He nudged Tea a bit, who looked at him puzzled, until he motioned towards me laying down on the couch. Tristan looked over too and everyone stifled an awe.

"I think she was really tired to fall asleep in the middle of the conversation." said Joey, crawling over to where I was and poking me softly. "She's out."

Tea swatted his hand away. "Don't bother her." she said. "Just let her sleep until the Pharaoh and Yugi come back."

Grandpa came into the living room holding the blanket I was wearing earlier in the day and spread it over me gently. He must have known when I had fallen asleep before everyone else knew. I snuggled closer into the warmth of the blanket and smiled contentedly in my sleep. Mr. Muto smiled.

"Yes, just give her a few minutes. Why don't you three exchange your gifts now?"

Everyone thought that was a great idea and brought out their gifts for each other from out of their hiding places. Tristan scratched his head as he looked over his gifts, wondering if they were still intact.

"Remind me again why are we doing this in secrecy?" he asked the others questionably.

Tea handed grandpa a brightly wrapped package with a warm smile and answered Tristan's question. "It's all because we want the Pharaoh and Sarah to just sit back and take in what Christmas is all about." she said. "We never even told them anything about getting us presents. It's all about them realizing their feelings for each other and nothing about us."

"You know Sarah and the Pharaoh won't think that." said Joey smugly. "We're the ones to tell them Christmas is all about hanging out with the ones you care for. They'd want us in too, I know them too well."

"We all know them too well." said grandpa. "But the whole reason Yugi sent both the Pharaoh and Sarah to do the errands was because it was a great way for them to spend some time together. The feelings they have for each other is too oblivious for everyone else except for them. So we aren't going to pester them with presents."

Joey shrugged as he gave a present he wrapped in ornament coloured wrapping paper to Tristan. "That's not a bad idea." he said. "I mean, Christmas is such a magical time for this sort of thing. It's better if we hang around with these guys for their first Christmas first before bothering them for presents." The group shared a quiet laugh just as the door to the house opened.

---

A gust of wind billowing through the door later, both Yami and Yugi walked in, trailing a small amount of snow behind them. It was still falling outside, but gently, like the petals of a flower. Both boys hung up their coats and walked into the living room to be greeted by the gang.

"Hey everyone." greeted Yugi. "Sorry it took a while."

"Try like the whole night!" said Tristan. "What took you guys?"

Yugi put a finger to his lips and pointed to Yami, who had decided to take interest in the couch on the far end of the room that was beside the window Sarah had looked through before to claim that the sky was falling. What caught his eyes was mesmerizing, and he couldn't tear away.

"When did Sarah fall asleep?" he asked, almost in a daze, walking across the carpet to where Sarah was. She was sprawled underneath the blanket with her head pillowed by the arm rest. She looked peaceful, drifting farther into her dream world with a small smile on her face. Yami was tempted to reach out and stroke her cheek for a second.

"Nice to see you too." grumbled Joey who earned himself a small whack across the head by Tristan.

Tea smiled at the sight he couldn't look away from. "It's been near a half hour."

"Is it all right if we wake her up?" asked Yami with a slight hint of hope in his voice. Grandpa smiled.

"I think it's best if she wakes up." he said, casting a look of acknowledgement at Yugi who was seating himself down next to him. He gave him a nod.

Everyone waited as Yami took his time to wake her. I mean, it wasn't everyday he could see her seem this peaceful. Some of her bangs played around her eyes and Yami finally made a move to swipe them carefully away. She shifted under his touch but didn't look disturbed. He wished so badly to just hold her. Even for only one time. The gang held back awes that were begging to break out. The scene was just too cute. It was about time Yami decided to make a move.

With an intake of breath, Yami placed a hand onto Sarah's shoulder and lightly shook her awake. He didn't want to really, because of the way she was just laying their all kitty like, but he had to have her awake for what he had planned. For what him and Yugi had gone out to get.

"Sarah," called Yami quietly. "Wake up. It's almost midnight."

She gave a small moan which made Yami blush a little bit but for who knows what reason. Maybe it was the fact of confusion over whether he was doing the right thing or not. But he had to do it. There was no turning back now.

"Mmm...five more minutes..." she murmured, depressing herself even farther into the blanket. Everyone behind Yami sweat dropped. She seriously looked like a cat.

Yami tried again, this time a little more sweetly. The sight of her sleeping—he didn't know what caused it though, maybe hormones—it made him melt inside. Especially the way she kept snuggling closer into the couch, trying to preserve the comforting warmth she had gained. It took everything in his power to keep himself from jumping on her and hugging her to death.

"Come on, Sarah." he cooed. "You don't want to sleep through Christmas, do you?"

That must have done it, because he saw Sarah's eyes tighten for a moment before beginning to open. A spark of electricity jolted through him when he saw her rose red eyes. They were dull for a moment at the confusion of being awake but when she blinked again to gain back her bearings, her eyes began to sparkle with the life that had made him fall for her.

This was it.

---

After I felt someone shaking me to try and awaken, and the sweet voice trying to bring me back from Dream Land and into reality, I pried open my eyes to see who it was. Everything was blurry at first, like it always is when someone first wakes up from a deep sleep. When I blinked again, I was flooded with my surroundings. Especially Yami who was standing over me with this affectionate look in his eyes. I smiled at the sight of him. For some reason I was happy all of a sudden. Maybe it was because I've grown so much into him. I always have this other special feeling whenever I was around him. And I liked it.

"Why hello there~!" I said with a tired smile while I stretched my arms to the sky. "Is it morning yet? Merry Christmas everyone!"

The gang shared a laugh and a shy giggle from me, but as usual, Yami just smiled. But it looked like he needed one more happy thing to make him laugh. So I was close to hearing it.

"Good almost-morning." greeted Yami with a happy smile to see me awake. "How was your nap?"

I sighed wearily and sat up to stretch again, and to give Yami room to sit down, to which he complied. "It was...plain." I said. "Nothing interesting except for the snow clogging my brain. Christmas is leaving its mark."

Yami smiled again, on the verge of sharing a laugh with me, but he couldn't get himself to do it. I wonder what was keeping him back?

"That's interesting." he said, gazing at me discreetly. I found his eyes captivating, did I ever say that before?

"Mhm. So is the fact that you guys are so late." I playfully punched Yami in the arm, but it was light. He gave me an embarrassed look but he also knew I was teasing.

"Sorry. There was something I needed to do." Here, he gave Yugi a glance. The other simply gave him a reassuring nod and then an encouraging thumbs up. I felt Yami take in a deep breath beside me and the room just turned slightly tenser.

"Oh?" I asked curiously. "So you got it done now?"

Yami stared at me thoughtfully. It was like he was in a trance all of a sudden, just like that moment at the foods store when we couldn't tear away. But there was something else in the look he was giving me. Like he was debating on something.

I saw the look disappear, telling me that he had found a conclusion to his problem and decided to tell me what was on his mind. "Yes." he said. "I've done what I needed to. But now, I need to give it to you."

I blinked as the room got quieter. "Y-you bought me something?" I asked with a quiet voice. It wasn't something I was expecting at all. What would Yami have gotten me?

Yami nodded and slowly reached into the pocket of his jeans. "Yes, I did." he said. "I thought it would be great for you. Seeing as how it's the best way to express something I can't with words."

Ok...I...is totally confuzzled. What is up with my brain to be so confused? I couldn't understand what Yami was saying. I mean, I heard him say that he got me something, but what I couldn't contemplate was, why. Why did he get me something for Christmas?

I must have looked utterly confused because it was then Yami pulled out a black velvet box, hoping it would explain everything to me. Once I saw it sitting in his palm, my eyes widened. It was like the box I saw at the jewelry store that was holding the necklace I was looking at. But what could be inside?

My heart was racing and my jaw almost dropped when Yami opened the box, displaying what he said would express what he wanted to tell me. You won't believe what it was. I couldn't believe it either, my hands clamped over my mouth in complete shock and my heart nearly stopped beating.

"Merry Christmas, Sarah." he said, holding the box for me to see it clearly. What was in it, almost tore my heart apart in the shock Yami gave me.

Inside, on two sets of gold chains, was the same two halved diamond necklaces that I was looking at through the window at the jewelry store. Instead of one blue half and one red half though, both halves were red. The diamonds sparkled under the light of the living room, shining daintily.

I looked from the necklace to Yami. I couldn't believe my eyes. Yami got me something the both of us could treasure at the same time. Excitement suddenly coursed through me, because this was incredible. It was the best feeling in the world. Then the words the woman said at the jewelry store came back me in a hush.

People gave each other gifts like these for the person they cared for more than the other can imagine. That's what her words meant. If Yami gave me this necklace, does that mean...

...that I was the one he cared for?

"Oh...Yami..." I was incredibly speechless. Something I would never have imagined was right there in front of my eyes. Emotions swirled around me, but what showed the most, out of the excitement, shock, and surprise, was the tears of happiness begging to free themselves from behind my eyelids. Everyone was just as surprised as I was. No one had been expecting something like this to happen. They never knew how much Yami actually cared for Sarah. Yugi was the only one though, being his hikari and all. He leaned back into the couch with his arms behind his head in prevail.

Yami had told him he needed to go buy something from the mall and he knew from the look in his eyes that it was important...and about Sarah. So he immediately jumped to help him. Yami insisted that he wanted to use the money he saved while living with Yugi and grandpa that he kept at the bank. You can tell now why it took the two so long, with it being Christmas Eve and all the banks and shops were beginning to close early. Mr. Muto had given him an allowance and with the money everyone gets from the government every month, there was enough for the necklace. He used every cent and you could tell he put all his Faith into this buy, hoping Sarah would return the same feelings. All Yami needed for that Christmas, he had said on their way back from buying the necklace, was Sarah to accept the necklace. Because she knew the meaning behind the two halves; both persons would keep one half to remind them of the other. Even if he held the cherished feeling he had for Sarah in his heart, he needed to show her solid proof of how much he cared. This necklace would show exactly that.

"I wanted to give you one half..." started Yami quietly, with a small blush on his face but he forced aside his emotions so they couldn't mess with this chance. He needed to tell her and nothing was going to stop him now. "Since both our eyes were red, I bought the one with two red halves. That way, when you wear one and I wear one, we'll be reminded of each other's eyes and then of each other.

"...what do you say?"

My hand was still over my mouth from the shock and I tried recovering but the tears of joy spilled from my eyes, staining my cheeks. Yami's heart almost stopped. Was he doing the right thing? Why was she crying?

When I removed my hand so I could wipe at my eyes to rid them of the tears, everyone saw the smile on my face and were overjoyed. I wasn't going to turn Yami down. The smile could only mean one thing...

"Oh my gods..." I sniffed, trying to rub at my eyes even harder. "This is such a surprise...Yami...really?"

He knew what I was asking, and he nodded without any sort of hesitation at all. "Really." he said. "I want you to have one half, that way we could think of each other all the time. I know I already do that without the necklace because you're always on my mind, Sarah. I can't get you out of my heart, and I wanted to tell you so badly, but I couldn't bring myself to say it...until now. Like I said, if I can't tell you how much you mean to me, at least I can try to show you with this."

Now the tears were streaming out on their own. I gave Yami a wide smile out of pure joy and happiness. "Yami...this is so incredible...of course I'll take the other half."

It was Yami's turn to be wide eyed now. She...she didn't...she returned the feelings?

"You...you feel the same?" he asked in astonishment.

I nodded my head and reached for Yami's hand that wasn't holding the box. I curled my fingers around his and the warmth spread. "I never knew what the butterflies in my stomach meant." I said. "I always thought it was something to do with being in the modern world or something.

"But now I realize that I was wrong. There's always a little butterfly parade going on whenever I'm around you. I couldn't understand that before, until just now. Yes, Yami. I feel the same about you. You're constantly on my mind, clouding everything. Sometimes even so much that my heart would burst."

"This is amazing." he sighed happily, feeling his heart start beating faster instead of plummeting from thinking he'd be rejected. "All this time...and I could've told you..."

"And I could have told you." I said with a smile. Then I took the velvet box into my hand and gave Yami a tight embrace. "Thank you so much, Yami."

Yami returned the gesture and hugged back just as tightly, trying to get in as much of this moment as possible. "Sarah, merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too."

It was then the gang jumped up cheering. Happiness seemed to flood the room, leaving no room for any other emotions. The gang finally brought these two together, after so long, the feelings they held inside for each other was finally known. Both cared for the other more than the other could have imagined. Sharing a past and predicament brought these two closer together. The gang was proud of them.

I didn't want to let go of Yami from the hug but I had to let him breath. Right as I let go, Yami gave me to most dazzling smile, telling me once and for all that he was honestly very happy. I'm so glad he was happy, because when he was, so was I.

I gave him the box back and he knew I definitely wasn't returning it. When he saw me lift my hair up to expose my neck, he was even more sure. We weren't about to let go of each other now.

Yami slipped the necklace from out of the box and unclasped the two halves of the diamond shaped pendant. He put one half back and put the other half around my neck. The cold gold sheet of metal the diamond gem was sitting on rested on my collar bone as Yami clasped the two ends of the necklace together. He paused when I put my hair back down, only to hug me around the shoulders to place the softest kiss in the world onto the clasp, hooking the necklace shut. I looked over my shoulder at him with a small blush and smiled.

Then I turned around to face him so I could put on his half of the necklace. With shy hands, I snapped the necklace into place around his neck and gave him a smile. He returned it with a hug and I melted into his arms.

"This has got to be the best First Christmas ever." I murmured quietly into his chest. We could still hear each other from the party going on in front of us. Grandpa just shook his head and laughed with the rest of us.

Yami chuckled softly for the first time ever. With his chest against my cheek, I heard soft thrums from inside him, like soothing music. His body jolted with each note and like I thought, his laugh was like music to my ears, just like his voice is.

"Yes, it is." he said, giving me a gentle kiss on the top of my head. "It's going to be my favourite forever."

I tore away from him, partly, only to gaze into his eyes. Exemption showed in his face, like he finally did something he's been meaning to do for a while. Was it to tell me how he felt? He had kept it in this long?

But his eyes showed something different. Overjoy and pure happiness dwelled in this man. He was thrilled how this night turned out and so was I. We were both content in each others arms so much, we could cry from the amount of happiness we ravished. And the smile never left his face.

"Mine too." I whispered to him quietly. His smile brightened. We couldn't be anymore happier. It was official. There were no more words to describe the happy and romantic feeling in the air. Only that it turned the butterflies in my stomach to pure warmth.

"Hey guys." called Joey, making us look away from each, and despising every moment of it, to look up at the blonde. He had this smug smirk on his face, like he just won a game. "Sorry to ruin your romantic and happy moment guys, but there's something you gotta know..."

We blinked at the blonde curiously before he pointed up. We followed the direction his finger was pointing in to find a white flower hanging over our heads. I remembered Tea was the one to put it up there.

"What about the mistletoe?" I asked, not getting what he was saying. The others groaned.

"Right...you don't know the story behind it." sighed Tristan.

"Well, we're just going to have to tell them. Yugi didn't ask for it for no other reason other than this." said Tea, turning to Yugi who was sitting on the lounge now from all the jumping he was doing a moment ago when they were celebrating.

The hikari smiled. "That's right!" he said. "Take it away Joey!"

Joey smirked. "Thanks man. Now, when two people walk, or are sitting in this case, under the mistletoe, the two have to kiss."

Yami and I blinked at the gang before blinking towards each other with huge blushes covering our faces.

"K-kiss?" I asked nervously. I never even thought about the word until now. How was I supposed to kiss someone when I haven't done it before? And with the Pharaoh of Egypt no less!

"That's right." smirked Tristan. "Now pucker up. It's going to be the seal for the holiday."

Yami and I looked at each other again, and I could see he was just as nervous as I was. I couldn't believe Yugi had this planned all along! He was sitting there on the couch in conquerment because of the trap he set us in.

I shrugged. "Oh well. Might as well." I said with a blush.

Yami gave me a small pout. I never knew he could, you know, with him always holding this calm and collected posture all the time. "You don't want a kiss from me?" he asked.

I gave him a small pout next. "No. I believe you're going to give me my punishment now, aren't you?"

Yami's pout vanished and he began smirking himself. It was intense and I felt my heart beating faster all over again just at the sight of it. "You know, Sarah, it's not a punishment if you like it."

I smirked next. He knew my joking skills like I didn't know his calm skills. "Fine." I said, sitting a bit closer to him, making him raise a brow inquisitively at me. "Give me the punishment later then."

His smirk dissolved and what replaced it was a smile. "Sounds good to me." he said, before leaning down to capture my lips with his own. A bolt of electricity shot through us and we parted, staring into the other's eyes with ecstasy; our eyes glazed at the sweet taste of the other's lips.

Joey and Tristan yelled at the top of their lungs in a cheer. Tea and Yugi awed while grandpa smiled at the scene of young love. It was a stunning moment, to find the two in each other's arms.

"It only took over 5,000 years, but they're finally together!" cheered Yugi, shooting his arm into the air along with Joey and Tristan. Tea clapped happily and grandpa had settled down onto the couch with the camera in hand.

"All right, kids!" he said. "Gather around the two lovebirds so we could make a Christmas photo."

Everyone huddled around the lounge Yami and I were seated on. Joey sat down beside Yami while Yugi, Tea, and Tristan stood behind the couch. Mr. Muto set the camera upon the box sitting on the coffee table and set in a timer. He hurried to the empty seat beside me and everyone smiled. Yami pulled me closer into him and I bet we were the ones with the biggest smiles on our faces. Yugi, Tea, and Tristan had their arms around each others' shoulders, Joey had his thumbs up with a huge grin plastered on his face, while grandpa sat with his hands neatly folded in his lap.

"Just a few more seconds, everyone..." said Yugi with a slight bit of difficulty through his smile.

Joey's eyes almost began to water from how wide his grin was. It was beginning to hurt his face. "Hurry up! I can't hold it!" Everyone tried their best to hold in their laughter until three seconds were left for the camera to take the picture.

From out of nowhere, Yami pulled out my hand, the one I had used to hold his hand, and put it up to his lips. I turned away from the camera to see my hand right where his smile was, which made me smile too.

And the camera flashed.

Everyone complained about the picture afterwards when it was developed. But I gave them a great point:

I wouldn't have wanted to look anywhere else other than at Yami.

Our pendants dominated the picture; small glowing red triangles sitting upon our collar bones.

I was the happiest that day then I could have ever been. Yami seemed to have the same feeling about that too.

The day was simply magical.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

---

Author's Note: Gods...that took over two weeks! I'm SO sorry it took so incredibly long to post this story one-shot up! And I know it's so late but I still want to wish it to you guys:

Merry Christmas everyone! ^^' And a Happy New Year! I wish you the best for this year and for many more in the future! :)

I really hoped you enjoyed this one. I know I did when I was writing it. XD Thank you so much for supporting me through my stories, and for reading, reviewing, messaging, favouriting, and everything! I really appreciate your support!

And thanks for being patient while I typed this up. Thanks so much everyone! And I wish you the best!

2011! Oh yeah baby! XD

Enjoy the new year everyone! :)

(Oh and sorry for any mistakes in there...I typed the document into OpenOffice and it should have caught all the mistakes...but if it didn't, I'm terribly sorry. ^^' Critique, criticize, comment. All is good. Thanks guys! ^^)

[29, 424 words and 35 pages on OpenOffice. xD Wow... ^^']