Chapter 13- Breakdown
Yami finally broke out of his shocked trance and ran over to where Yugi was on the floor. He knelt down and put a hand on Yugi's shoulder, hoping that Yugi would respond to him.
Yugi felt the hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Yami looking at him with worry evident in his crimson eyes.
"Yugi, are you all right?" Yami asked.
Yugi stood up and said, "Shouldn't you be with your family?"
Yami stood up as well. "Yugi, my parents wanted to rest. What is wrong with you?" Yami asked.
"It's nothing that concerns you." Yugi said.
Yami looked at him in shock. "I fond you crying in the floor of your bedroom, and you say that nothing is wrong. Something is definitely up." Yami said.
"Why? Just because I'm not the cold, emotionless Emperor that everyone makes me out to be." Yugi snapped.
Yami was startled. "Yugi, what are you talking about?" Yami asked.
"It doesn't matter. Just forget about this." Yugi said, starting to walk past him.
"Yugi, please talk to me. Don't shut me out." Yami said, reaching out grabbing Yugi by the wrist.
Yugi stopped. "Yami, please just let this go." YUgi said.
"I can't, Yugi. I'm worried about you." Yami said.
"Why? Just because I'm the Emperor I can't have moments that I can't cry?" Yugi asked.
"No. Everyone has the right to cry sometimes. But it helps not to have to go through it alone." Yami said.
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't concern you." Yugi said.
"Yes, it does. Please, Yugi. Talk to me. What's going on?" Yami asked.
Yugi shut his eyes, trying to hold back the tears that he could feel coming, but he isn't able to.
Yami could feel Yugi shaking under his grip. Yami moved so that he was in front of Yugi and saw that Yugi was crying again. Feeling sympathy and worry, Yami pulled Yugi into a hug.
Without thinking, Yugi wrapped his arms around Yami and buried his face into Yami's neck as he sobbed.
Yami didn't understand what was happening, but he knew that Yugi needed him to be there for him, and he was glad to be able to do that for him.
Heba and Atemu were sitting on their bed. Atemu had his head laying in Heba's lap, and Heba was running his hand through Atemu's hair.
"It was great to be able to see my parents again." Atemu said.
"Hmm-mm." Heba replied.
"I didn't think that I would ever have the chance to see them again." Atemu said.
"Hmm-mm." Heba said.
"Did you like my parents?" Atemu asked.
"Hmm-mm." Heba answered.
Atemu rolled his eyes. "I slept with someone else, and I got pregnant by him, Heba." Atemu said.
"Hmm-mm." Heba said.
Atemu let out a frustrated sigh at his husband's distraction. "Heba!" Atemu snapped.
Heba jumped slightly. "What?" Heba asked.
"Will you listen to me?" Atemu asked.
"Sorry." Heba replied.
"What has you so distracted?" Atemu asked.
"It's nothing." Heba replied.
"Heba, we made a promise to always be honest with each other, remember." Atemu said.
"Yeah, I know. I guess something about Yugi has me confused right now." Heba said.
"What's that?" Atemu asked.
"Well, when you were sill talking with your parents after they first arrived, Yugi slipped out. I followed him because I realized that Yugi had brought your parents here for you guys." Heba said.
Atemu sat up and looked at Heba. "Your kidding." Atemu said.
"No. I saw it in his eyes. Unless you know to look for it, you wouldn't have seen it, but when you five were with your parents, I could see joy at knowing you were all together again. When I asked him about it out side his room, he said that he did it because the palace needed a new cook and blacksmith. I could tell that he was lying." Heba explained.
"Why wouldn't he want us to know any of this?" Atemu asked.
"I don't know, but there was something else. I could see something else in Yugi's eyes. He was upset. I don't know why, but seeing you and your family together made him upset." Heba said.
Atemu frowned. "Why would he be upset if he was the one that brought us together?" Atemu asked.
"I don't think it was the fact that you were together. It was something else. I just don't know what." Heba said.
"Well, I guess I have him to thank for-ah!" Atemu said, rubbing his stomach.
"You okay?" Heba asked.
"Yeah, but this kid is really active." Atemu replied.
Heba smiled. "When you have one of our kids, a calm child you aren't going to have." Heba said.
"Yeah. Seto, Marik, and Bakura warned me of that." Atemu replied. He looked at Heba and said, "Why do you think your brother was upset?"
"I don't know. I don't understand him anymore, so I don't have the faintest idea why he does anything." Heba said.
"Maybe you'll find out later." Atemu said.
"Maybe." Heba agreed, although he wasn't completely convinced that that was true.
Yami handed Yugi a glass of water, which took and drank.
"Thank you." Yugi said.
"Your welcome. Mind telling me what is going on?" Yami asked.
Yugi sighed. "It's hard to explain, and theirs so much to it. I don't know where to start." Yugi said.
"Start from the beginning." Yami said.
Yugi sighed. He stood up and started to pace around the room.
Yami could tell that Yugi was thinking.
Yugi's POV
I can tell that Yami really wants to help, but will he understand? Will he care?
I ask myself these questions, but something tells me that I should tell him.
I haven't trusted someone in so long.
I think I should start.
Yami's POV
I can tell that he is having an internal debate.
He wants to tell me what it is going, but he's not sure that he wants to.
I want him to trust me. I want to be his friend and help him.
I can't do that if he doesn't tell me what is going on.
Normal POV
Yugi sighed. "I guess I should start of by telling you that I wasn't always cold and unfeeling. I used to be a cheerful person. I would joke, laugh, play, and have fun with Heba, Jou, Ryou, and Malik." Yugi laughed a little. "Heba and the others sued to joke that my joy and cheerfulness were infectious because anyone around me would feel that way. My father used to call me The Cure for Depression." Yugi said.
"What changed?" Yami asked.
"Well, my father passed away. I was crowned the new Emperor two days later." Yugi paused. "I was seven at the time." he said quietly.
Yami's eyes widened. "You were seven when you became the Emperor?" Yami asked.
"Yeah. I told you before." Yugi said.
"Oh, yeah." Yami said, remembering the conversation they had the day of the attack on Seth, Crystal, and Inchan.
"Well, I hadn't learned everything that I need to know at the time, so Rishid, the head of the council now, had been my father's best friend and took it upon himself to each me what I needed to know. I was forced to spend all my time studying and working to be the best Emperor I could be. I couldn't play or have fun or anything like that. I rarely saw my brother or my cousins. I out all my effort into being the Emperor. I lost touch with my family." Yugi said.
"That's what started this." Yami said, reading between the lines.
Yugi nodded. "I tried to reconnect with them, but they wouldn't have it. Not directly, but they had moved on, and there just didn't seem to be any room for me. I eventually gave up. It hurt, knowing that my own family no longer wanted me around, but I was the Emperor. I wasn't to show weakness. I couldn't show weakness to anyone. I buried the pain. I threw myself into running the kingdom. I buried myself in what I needed to do. Eventually, I become cold and unfeeling to everyone. I didn't lose the compassion I felt, but there was less warmth in it. I wasn't open with anyone. I felt I couldn't be." Heba said.
"So, feeling abandoned by your family was what lead to being cold." Yami said.
"Yeah. Pretty much that's why. Eventually, Heba noticed that I wasn't around and tried to reconnect as did Jou, Ryou, and Malik, but by then, I had become too used to being cold. I wasn't willing to let them in. Ryou, Jou, and Malik just let me go. They said that they wouldn't waist the time on me and gave up. Heba didn't, though. Eventually, he broke through my walls, we managed to be on talking terms. He'd come to me and talk to me some, but it still wasn't on the level that we were on before." Yugi shrugged. "I guess a lack of trying to communicate and letting differences get in the way destroyed my-family." Yugi said quietly.
Yami looked at Yugi sympathetically. "You miss the closeness you once had with them, don't you?" Yami asked.
"Yes, but there's not much that I can do now." Yugi said. He smiled ironically. "People think I don't hear, but I do. They call me the Ice Emperor or the Unfeeling King." Yugi became quiet. "I hear what Malik, Ryou, and Jou say about me. They say that I don't care about them. They say that I'm a cold-hearted bastard. They say all the power went to my head. I don't give a damn about my power. I just lost them." Yugi said.
"Is that why you looked sad when you left the room earlier?" Yami asked.
"Yami, that was your family, not fine. I had no right to be there." Yugi said.
"What about Heba, Ryou, Jou, and Malik?" Yami pointed out.
"They are married to your brothers. That makes them a part of your family. I had nothing to do with it. I don't even have a family anymore." Yugi said.
Yami stood up. "Maybe your family needs to be reminded that you are their family." Yami said.
"How? They are not going to listen to me." Yugi said.
"Maybe not. Yo need to show them." Yami said.
"The only person that they are going to want is who I used to be." Yugi said.
"Maybe not, but you could try to let go of some of that coldness." Yami said.
"How? I don't even know who I used to be." Yugi said.
Yami raised a hand and placed it against Yugi's cheek.
Yugi looked up into Yami's eyes.
"I'll help you. I'll help you to let go of some of it. Together, we can try to help you at least regain some of your childhood heart." Yami said.
"Why do you care so much?" Yugi asked.
"Because I don't see a cold hearted person. I see someone who lost their way when they had a great responsibility thrown at them at an age that they were forced to grow up. You were expected to be an adult when you were still a child. You lost your way, but I will help you find who you are again." Yami said.
"I'm not sure I'll ever be the same person." Yugi said.
"Who is? Yugi, I am not the same person that I was when I was a child. I still retain of the qualities I had as a child, but I also have new ones. I sort of integrated being a child with being an adult. I know when to be serious, but I also know when I can have fun." Yami said.
"So, I need to know when to be the Emperor and when to just be Yugi." Yugi said.
"Right, and that's going to mean taking more time for yourself." Yami said.
Yugi sighed. "I don't know how the council will feel about this.' Yugi said.
"Yugi, do the members of the council have families?" Yami asked.
"Yes." Yugi replied.
"They take time for their families. You have that right, too." Yami said.
"Okay. I'll try this." Yugi said.
"Good. I really would like to not have to hurt your cousins for how they talk about you." Yami said.
"Yami, why are you doing this? Why do you care so much?" Yugi asked.
Yami was silent for a moment. Then, without warning, he leaned down and pressed his lips lightly to Yugi's.
Yugi was startled and by the time he recovered, Yami had pulled away. "I am in love with you, Yugi. I fell in love with you." Yami admitted.
"How can you love someone like me?" Yugi asked, astonished at this.
"Because you let me see what no one else would. IN this room, I saw the real you. You were less cold and you would talk to me. I saw the person that no one wants to see because of this image that they have set for you." Yami said.
"No one's going to like this." Yugi said.
"I don't care what they think. As far as I am concerned, you are a part of my family. I know that you might not feel the same way, and that you may not want-" Yami was cut off.
Yugi had pressed lips to Yami's in another chaste kiss. Yugi pulled away and said, "I fell in love with you, too."
Yami smiled. "I was hoping for that." Yami said.
Yugi sighed. "Yami, we're going to have to take this relationship slow. I'm not very open still, and I want to work on that before we take this too far." Yugi said.
"I understand, but I'll be here to help you. We'll figure this out together." Yami said.
Yugi nodded. "Thank you for understanding, Yami." Yugi said.
"I'm glad to help. It'll be fine." Yami assured him.
Yugi nodded. "I hope so." Yugi said.
Yami slipped a hand under Yugi's chin and raised his head to meet his gaze. "We will figure this out, Yugi. I promise." Yami said.
Yugi nodded, amazed that this man could love him.
Yami leaned down and kissed Yugi again.
Yugi kissed him back, feeling a little bit of the ice around his heart start to melt at knowing that this man loved him.
I want Yami and YUgi to take thier relationship slow, but they are together now.
The next chapter will have Yami helping Yugi regain who he was.
R&R.