"I know you've got questions."

Yami couldn't sit down. He just started pacing. Where to begin?

"Ok. Let's start with why you're here. You never told me you were planning on going anywhere. Is that why you didn't want to come? Were you planning this all along?" Yugi looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"Yes. But I had to deceive Jii-chan. He never wanted me to come back. But I had to! These are my friends. I'm not staying," he added hastily, seeing a look in Yami's eye. "But just sending money isn't enough. This is part of who I am. It shaped me more than you know, and more than he," meaning his grandfather, "wants to admit. I don't blame him. He thought he had lost the rest of his family, though he never stopped looking. You should have seen his eyes.

"When I told him that mom, dad, Jolandra and Alessa were all dead, it was like this huge part of him died. His eyes went dead. I never told him how they died. And he's never asked. He's…recovered some, now, but he doesn't want to admit that it happened. He wants to keep me safe. But I can't pretend!"

Yugi forgot his injured arm and slammed it against the ground, wincing as the movement stung a little.

"I can't forget, either," he said ruefully, rubbing nervously at his arm again.

"Tell me…tell me some things you can't forget. Please?" Yami was trying his hardest not to push the barrier Yugi had on their mind-link, even as everything inside of him wanted desperately to break straight through and find out who and what had hurt his hikari so much.

"I can't forget the children. They're the real casualties." Yami broke in to ask, "like your sisters?" Yugi nodded. "Yes."

Leaning back and sighing, Yugi continued. "I also can't forget things. Like how to look for traps, where the minefields most likely are, patrol formations, the natural painkillers. I'm actually pretty good at emergency medicine. I've had tons of practical experience," he added wryly.

"So, at the age of eight, you watched your life burn down. At nine, you started going on rescue missions. At eleven, you were put in a prison camp. At fourteen, your grandfather found you and took you back to Japan," said Yami, summing up. Yugi nodded. "Yep. That's my line. When Kaiba comes off his little excursion into the wonderful world of painkillers, we'll have a talk about Kaiba Corporation's role in this debacle. Not that Seto did any of this. This," said Yugi, gaze narrowing, "is all about Gozaburo. But I can finish that explanation later," he muttered.

Yugi seemed to notice he was rubbing his arm and stopped. "Bad habit," he said. "Perhaps I should explain this a bit more, though." Yami sat, outwardly the picture of patience, though inwardly he was…for lack of a better term, freaking out. Not that he would let it show. Pharaohs did NOT 'freak out'.

"It was my mistake," Yugi began. "I thought I had heard something while scouting ahead. I went too fast, got caught. Shouldn't have happened." Unconsciously, his hand had started rubbing the numbers again. Looking down, he stopped and tucked his right hand away.

"I was captured. Given a number. 01742." He spoke the words in a monotone, whether from habit or forced disregard Yami wasn't sure. "I was there for three months. Had a friend there. Not that we let anyone know. Really bad idea, that." He gave a half shudder, not speaking for a few moments. The mind-link barrier leaked a few emotions, and Yami got a taste of…pain…fear…but that was all.

Yugi continued speaking.

"It was bad there. Really bad. It was, of course, a relatively 'new' camp, but it was the worst. They had a contract, of sorts…for experiments. The nasty sort. Not just new medicines or treatments, but new torture devices as well. Anything that's not legal to test on humans-or animals, for that matter- you just send it to Camp 3, and you had your test results." Yami felt his insides frozen in horror.

"One of the favorite things they tested, which is now standard practice, is this…growth stunting thing. Biological warfare. They contaminate the drinking water. It stunts growth. Also increases the chances of getting and dying from disease. Lots of nasty side effects." Yami felt the question forcing its way out of his mouth.

"Is that why you…I mean, your growth…"

Yugi shrugged. "Yep." Yami wasn't sure he could handle this new information. He got up and started pacing again. "So that's why you, Eliana, the two boys-" "and Leanna. We'll all be short. Done growing. Nothing can be done, at least not yet. The kids- they might have a chance. We've got a way to purify the water, so if the kids can be kept from drinking any more water that's been contaminated, then they should grow to about their normal heights."

"That explains a lot," came a voice from the door. The plank of wood was moved aside, revealing an almost back to normal, Seto Kaiba. Yugi gave a half-hearted smile. "Feeling emotionless, yet?" Yami asked, no force behind the teasing, but he wanted to cheer up his aibou. Surprisingly, Seto shook his head no.

"This is a rare chance. Tell anyone about this, and you'll never live to regret it."

Yugi ignored the threat. "That's fine. I'm glad you came, some of this involves you-well, your company, to be strictly accurate."

Seto raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Yes. Specifically, Gozaburo Kaiba."