Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters from the anime. I own the plot and the Tide Whisperer.
Warning: Undercurrents of YAOI and mentions of death by smallpox.
Chapter Twenty-One – Decision
Atemu didn't care anymore. He had seen the odd look on his cousin's face out in the courtyard, where Mahado had been carefully watching Atemu as though he had been a science experiment that had gone horribly, tragically wrong and Mahado had been trying to understand where he had gone wrong. He had felt the uneasy tension in the room between Mokuba and the others when Atemu had thrown Louis to his slow, agonizing death. Even Yugi had looked at him strangely.
For a while, Atemu had begun to wonder if he had done something, or had he changed somehow? He was no fool; he had noticed the gripping darkness that lay just beneath his skin…could that have been what Mahado, Yugi, Mokuba, and the others sensed and that was why they had acted so strangely around him?
But now…? Now he couldn't give a damn what anyone else thought. Atemu was firmly locked in Seto's arms while the captain ravaged like a starving man. There was an underlying affection that Seto gave off, and Atemu couldn't get enough.
As long as I have you…
Seto pulled away only far enough to take in a few gulps of air. He rested his forehead against Atemu's and drank in the sight of Atemu's eyes. Beneath the torchlight, they were still dark, but even so he knew that they were steadily returning to their original scarlet color.
One hand skimmed up the boy's back and buried into Atemu's thick hair, clasped the strands in his fist to ground him in the moment.
There had been far too many close calls, too much distance between them, way too many dangers they had faced trying to get back to the other. And here they were, Atemu, panting from exertion and from their earlier extended kiss, smelling of raw, earthy pine, sweat, and that tantalizing twinge of cinnamon and citrus. Broad shoulders, sculpted features. Seto traced his thumb over the burn scar from a bullet that had gotten far too close to Atemu's face. It was deep and red and angry, and when he touched the tread, Atemu's eyes flinched closed in pain for a millisecond before he opened them again to look Seto in the eyes.
It was so surreal. The last few days seemed like an eternity without Atemu there, and now he had him. And by God, Seto would not let him go again.
"Where's Louis? Phillip?" Seto wondered vaguely.
"Phillip never showed. Apparently his mental health is declining and he couldn't leave his suite. Louis is back in the prison block, locked inside the smallpox quarantine quarters. Mokuba, Ryou, Ryuji, and Tristan are back there too. They should be on their way soon."
"Smallpox, huh?" Seto mused.
Mahado panted heavily as he doubled over, clasping his hands to his knees.
It's over…
Finally, after two grueling hours of seemingly endless battle, Mahado and the members of the White Dragon pirate crew had finally dwindled the Royal guards down to a measly lot f quivering cowards. The courtyard was littered from the numerous bodies of the dead soldiers and men who had tried to help retrain the pirates.
He looked around after a moment, when he finally caught his breath, and was shocked to discover Yamir wasn't there.
"Yami?" He called out.
A couple of the White Dragons picked their way through the bodies, trying to make sure none of their kindred pirates had fallen in battle. Thankfully none had been lethally wounded, although most were heavily wounded from the battle.
And yet, still there was no sign of Atemu to be found.
"Yami!" Mahado called out, worry making his voice sound a bit shrill.
"He's probably inside the fortress." One of the pirates, the blond man named Jounouchi, commented when he finally understood who Mahado was looking for.
Mahado had just started for the door to the fortress when it opened, and both Yamir and Seto came out, followed closely by four other pirates.
"Is anyone severely injured?" Seto inquired as he scanned the courtyard filled with dead soldiers and his White Dragons. "Any casualties?"
There was a chorus of replies that they were all relatively all right, considering that sixty-eight pirates had just gone to war against however many Royal Guards Louis had brought along with him.
Seto looked over to the platform that had been built solely for the purpose of Seto's death. It seemed so long ago that he had been so helpless and staring death in the face.
Atemu strode down the steps toward Mahado and his eyes traveled down the older man's body from head to toe, searching for injury.
Mahado must've understood what he had been wanting, because the man smiled warmly at him and shook his head, "I'm unharmed, for the most part." He had a few gashes and bruises, and a bullet had clipped Mahado in the side, but hadn't pierced the skin. Other than that, there wasn't anything more threatening.
"Good." Atemu commented with a small smile of his own.
"And you?"
Atemu spread his arms and held them out away from his body to show that Atemu had sustained several injuries during the battle.
The boy was almost completely covered in blood. Some of it was his, while most was the blood that he had drawn from his enemies. There were deep wounds that lined the length of both his arms; there was a pooling of blood in Atemu's hip that the boy had noticed before. His black trousers hid well the blood that was no doubt also coating his legs.
"I'm in dire need of a good bath." Atemu commented evenly with a grin.
Mahado convinced Atemu to return to his father's cottage for a visit, and Seto decided to come along, if only to meet the man who was Atemu's father.
The cottage was a modest, one-story home made from sturdy oak. The house was surrounded on all sides by fields of lush green lawn, multi-colored specks of flowers dotted the courtyard on both ends of the cottage. There was a small intersecting section of the house that was separate from the living space of the family. There were a few horse stables and a decent-sized corral, and that seemed to be the extent of the Rodriguez household.
Seto spotted a flurry of motion off to one side of the house, and he could see the distant form of little Yugi romping with what looked to be a chocolate colored dog. Even from that distance, he swore he could hear the boy's joyful laughter as he played with the animal, and it wasn't long before he realized Atemu had also picked up on the scene.
They watched as the dog seemed to sense their presence. It barked at them, but it didn't seem threatening, as was testament to the dog's wagging tail and lulling tongue.
They saw the boy spin toward them and started sprinting across the space between them.
"Yami!" Yugi shouted exuberantly, and Seto saw that Atemu was braced for impact.
It was fortunate for him, because even though Yugi seemed to have tried to stop before he barreled into his brother, his feet weren't cooperating and he ended up being propelled toward Atemu. Atemu's arms wrapped around Yugi's waist and he scrambled back a couple of steps to keep his balance. Seto saw Atemu bite his bottom lip to keep from crying out at the pain that motion most likely had caused to Atemu's leg.
It just so happened that sometime during the battle, unbeknownst to himself, Atemu had been stabbed with a knife in his hip. It had been too deep, the blade roughly as long as Atemu's signature dirk, but now, when the adrenaline from the battle was gone, Seto could see the boy limping quite prominently.
"Hey, little one. I missed you too." Atemu told his brother.
"I was so scared, Yami. You just rushed off without a word, and Mahado looked really worried all of a sudden, and then…I was just so scared." Yugi rushed.
"Shh, it's all right now. I'm fine." Atemu replied soothingly as he stroked his brother's head affectionately.
Yugi sniffed and finally he nodded, his face still buried in Atemu's midsection.
Seto knew he shouldn't have been, but for some unknown reason, he felt incredibly intimidated by Atemu's father.
Akunumkanon was a large man, tall and muscular with large bones and imposing aura that immediately set Seto on edge. The man had short but thick salt-and-pepper hair and well trimmed beard, he had Yugi's amethyst eyes, Atemu's golden-copper skin, and although he was decidedly older than any of them, Seto had a feeling that Akunumkanon could be quite strong in battle should he be needed.
The reunion between father and son had been a heart wrenching experience.
Yugi, Mahado, Atemu, and Seto all had come in through the front door of the house, and Yugi called out for his father. The man had emerged from one of the back rooms of the house and had come to an abrupt stop upon seeing Atemu.
"Yami." The man breathed the name as if it was a sacred prayer, and hesitantly he had stepped closer, but not by much.
Atemu simply smiled warmly at the older man and he'd strode across the remaining space between him and his father.
He reached out, clasped Akunumkanon's hand, and pulled the older man into his arms.
Seto had seen the sheen of moisture in the older man's amethyst eyes at his son's touch, knowing that he wasn't imaging things. The older man returned the embrace immediately and the two held on to each other for a moment before Akunumkanon stepped back a little to look down at Atemu.
They were measuring each other, studying the other's faces. Akunumkanon was looking for any accusation or bitterness in his son's eyes, but all he got was a look of pure love and affection, one that made Seto was begrudgingly jealous of the older man.
He wanted Atemu to look at him that way.
Well…sort of.
Father and son finally got over the initial shock of seeing each other again.
"I'm sorry, Yami. I-"
"Don't, father. It wasn't your fault." Atemu had replied, and Akunumkanon had looked as though he had just been given a cauldron full of gold.
As the night went on, Atemu had introduced Seto to his brother and father. Yugi had greeted him without a second thought, remembering that Seto had helped Yugi escape from Louis the night before. Akunumkanon was a little more suspicious, but once Mahado and Atemu began to helped the older man's initial skepticism, Akunumkanon had welcomed Seto happily.
The whole situation felt strange and yet welcome, but something made Seto feel quite melancholy.
Atemu could stay. Louis was no longer a threat to him now. He doesn't have to run away from Spain. He could stay with his father and brother and continue on living as he had before Atemu had been dragged into Louis' mess.
That thought made Seto feel incredibly empty inside, made his chest feel suddenly hollow.
No, he could stay, but he won't.
Yeah, Seto would like to believe that, but still…
Seto climbed the rope ladder up onto the deck of the Tide Whisperer an hour after dusk. He was so relieved to be back on his beloved ship, and yet he couldn't enjoy the feeling of home for long.
Atemu had stayed behind at his family's cottage.
Seto strode across the deck toward the crew living quarters and went straight to his cabin. He was exhausted, and he decided that he'd sleep for a while and then they'd castoff when he awoke…whether Atemu was on board or not.
Atemu walked out onto the porch of his father's cottage and he looked out at the landscape, looking, but not really seeing anything. It had become rather dark and outside the ring of light coming from the lanterns hung out on the porch, there wasn't much else to be seen.
He remembered Seto's talk about perhaps staying here. He ought to stay; this was his home after all.
And yet, it wasn't any longer.
He only spent one month out on the Tide Whisperer. One month to get to know the White Dragon crew and he even made several friends among the pirates. He couldn't see himself going back to his old life, living in this house and working as an underpaid blacksmith for no real reason. Atemu never had an interest in blacksmithing, he had simply known it was necessary for him to learn.
Now, with everything out of the way; Louis was going to die slowly and painful from smallpox. It doesn't matter how long it takes for someone to find him, Louis would still be infected, and it was just a matter of time now. Phillip was becoming senile, and posed no real threat without Louis' influence. His brother was almost twelve and he'd start in on his apprenticeship soon enough, his father was now at ease knowing that Atemu was alive.
He had no ties to this place anymore. His family…his home was on that ship. Seto was on that ship.
Making up his mind, Atemu stood and walked back into the cottage to say his goodbyes.