Chapter 23- Too Far
Yuugi and Yami walked out in the gardens late at night.
"You know that most of the people in the palace are in bed by now." Yuugi said.
"I know, Yuugi, but I like spending time with you, and I would rather spend time with you than go to bed." Yami said.
"And what will happen if you fall asleep in the middle of a meeting?" Yuugi asked.
"I'll probably get chewed out by Father." Yami replied.
"Yami, you really need to go to bed so that you don't get into trouble." Yuugi told him.
Yami groaned. "Fine." Yami said grudgingly.
Yuugi smiled and leaned up to kiss Yami on the lips. "We'll spend time together tomorrow when you get time. I promise." Yuugi assured him.
Yami smiled and leaned down to kiss Yuugi again. "All right, and I'll hold you to that, Yuugi." Yami said.
Yuugi nodded.
The two went back into the palace and went to their respective rooms.
After Yami was ready for bed, he sat down on the side of the bed. He let out a sigh before he reached over to the stand beside the bed and opened it. He took out a small, brown bag and opened the bag, taking out a small ring with a crimson jewel on it. He smiled.
"If everything goes according to plan, I'll ask Yuugi to marry me tomorrow." Yami said.
He had been planning for a few weeks to ask Yuugi to marry him, and he had finally decided that he would ask her.
Yami put the ring back in the bag and put the bag back in the drawer. He lay down to go to bed.
Yuugi had got into her nightgown and sat down on her bed. She picked up her diary and opened it, starting to write in it.
Day 250
Today wasn't that bad of a day. Yami and I spent a lot of the day together. Unfortunately, the few hours that we weren't together resulted in Heba, Jou, and Malik playing another one of their childish pranks on me, and it really got me angry. They are trying my patience. Anyway, Isis is about five months pregnant now, and everyone in the palace is anxiously awaiting the arrival of hers and Mahado's baby. I talked to Isis, and she told me that she doesn't care if the baby is a boy or a girl. All she wants is for the baby to be happy. Yami and I just got back into the palace after a nice walk in the garden. I pretty much had to force Yami to come back in because he didn't really want to leave me. I like how sweet he is to me, but for the past few weeks, he's seemed a little distant. We haven't spent as much time together. In fact, today was the first day in the last few weeks that we actually spent the entire day together. I hate to admit it, but I'm starting to wonder if maybe the novice of the relationship has worn off, and Yami's ready to find someone else. I hate feeling that kind of doubt, but I can't help it. I just hope that things work out, and that Yami will tell me if he has found someone else, so that I don't try and trick myself into thinking that there is something there that isn't. I'll just have to wait and find out.
Yuugi sighed as she closed her diary and put it away. She looked outside and said, "I don't know what's going on with Yami, but I hope that he tells me something soon."
Yuugi lay down to try and go to sleep.
The next day, Yuugi was walking aimlessly through the palace since she knew that Yami and the others were in a meeting.
'I wonder what has gotten into Yami. I wonder if maybe he has found someone else, someone that he really wants to be queen. I don't know. Maybe he realized that he doesn't really love me.' Yuugi thought.
With a sigh, Yuugi looked up to find herself in the gardens. She smiled slightly as she remembered the walk in the garden the night before. 'That makes me think that maybe there is something more to us, but right now, I'm not so sure.' Yuugi thought.
"Yuugi!" a cheerful voice called.
Yuugi turned to find that the owner of the voice was Mana.
Mana came bounding over to Yuugi and said, "What are you doing?"
"Oh. I was just taking a walk. I know that Yami's in a meeting, so I was just wondering around." Yuugi said.
"No he's not." Mana said.
"I beg your pardon." Yuugi said.
"Yami's not in that meeting now. They've been out for a about an hour." Mana said.
"Oh. I guess he might have had something else that he had to do." Yuugi said, feeling her hope that Yami still loved her dwindle.
"Probably. As the Crown Prince, there's a lot that he has to do, and the Pharaoh's going to make him do it." Mana said. She giggled and said, "He's more strict than Mahado."
"Mana!"
Mana and Yuugi looked to see that Mahado was approaching them.
"Eep!" Mana exclaimed and ducked behind Yuugi.
"Man, get out here! You know that you're supposed to be training." Mahado scolded.
"Master Mahado, I was just taking a break." Mana whined.
"I will tell you when you can have breaks, now come on." Mahado said firmly.
Mana nodded meekly and followed him.
"Honestly! You need to be more conscientious of your studies, Mana. You'll never become a full magician If you-" Mahado was cut off by a scream.
"Yuugi!" Mana cried.
Mana and Mahado ran back to where they had left Yuugi only to find her on the ground, covered in mud and soaking wet.
"Yuugi, what happened?" Mahado asked.
"I don't-" Yuugi started.
Laughter was heard, and they could see Heba, Jou, Malik, Bakura, and Marik killing themselves laughing as Ryou just shook his head.
"That was good. You were right abut that, Marik." Malik said.
"I told you." Marik said through his laughter.
"You'll have to help us more often." Jou added in.
"Hey. I'll even throw in some ideas just to make it even more interesting." Bakura added in.
The more Yuugi listened, the angrier that she became. She was sick of being the butt of their jokes. She was sick of being laughed at constantly. She was sick of feeling like they didn't care.
"Hey. Come on. Let's try that on someone else." Heba said.
"That's it! I've had it!" Yuugi shouted.
All six looked to see that Yuugi was standing up with her fists clenched, and she looked beyond angry.
"Come on, Yuug. It's just a joke." Jou said.
"Joke?! This isn't joking anymore, Jou! It's humiliation! Is that what you want to do?! Humiliate me?! Because that is exactly what you are doing! I am sick of being the butt of your jokes! I am sick of being laughed at by you and anyone else who happens to see it! I am sick of you thinking that you can just pull prank on me, and it be funny! I stopped playing tricks back because I thought that you would get the hint that I was sick of this childish game, but you didn't! In fact, it has gotten worse! You seem to think that playing jokes on me is funny, but it's not!" Yuugi yelled at them. She had tears falling down her face at this.
"Yuugi, we didn't mean to make you feel bad. It's just for fun." Heba said.
"Fun? This isn't fun, Heba. All you do is humiliate me, and I am sick of it. I'm not putting up with it anymore." Yuugi told him.
Heba, Jou, and Malik were rather worried about what Yuugi was planning to do.
"I'm leaving. I'm going home." Yuugi said.
"What do you mean? You are home." Malik said, confused.
"No. I am going back home to live with Grandfather. Somewhere that I am not constantly humiliated and made to feel worthless." Yuugi said.
"Yuugi, you can't!" Ryou exclaimed.
"Yes, I can! I'm leaving!" Yuugi yelled at them before she took off running into the palace, still crying.
Worried, Mahado turned to Mana said, "Man, go find Anzu and tell her to go talk to Yuugi in her room. Mana nodded and off to find Anzu.
"I think that we might have gone a little too far this time." Heba said.
"Heba, you all have been playing prank on her constantly. It was only a matter of time before she finally snapped." Mahado said.
"I didn't think that these pranks made Yuug this upset. If she would have just told us to, we would have stopped." Jou said.
"No, you wouldn't have. You would have ignored what Yuugi said and played the pranks anyway." Ryou said.
"Now what?" Marik asked, feeling bad that he had helped hurt Yuugi like this.
"Stay away from here. Hopefully, Anzu will be able to convince Yuugi not to leave on account of you, but just in case, I'm going to talk to Isis ad tell her to see Yuugi and try to talk to her." Mahado said. He turned and left them alone.
"Man. I never meant to hurt Yuugi like this." Heba said.
"I have a question." Marik said.
"What?" Jou asked.
"What's Yami going to do when he realizes that Yuugi's leaving because of us?" Marik asked.
"We might want to hide." Bakura said.
Mana ran to Anzu's room and threw the door open without knocking.
Hasina and Anzu turned to face her.
"Mana! You know better than to barge into someone's room without permission!" Hasina scolded.
"I'm sorry, but it's Yuugi." Mana said on the verge of tears.
"Yuugi? What's wrong?" Anzu asked, worried about her friend.
"Heba, Jou, and Malik played another prank on her with Bakura and Marik's help. Yuugi got upset, and she said that she was going to leave the palace and go back to her grandfather." Mana said.
"She what?!" Anzu exclaimed, jumping to her feet.
"She said that she's going to leave. Master Mahado asked me to come her to ask you to talk to her. Yuugi's probably in her room." Mana said.
Without another word, Anzu ran from the room, intent on talking to Yuugi.
Hasina looked at Mana and said, "Did she truly say that?"
Mana nodded. "She was really upset." Mana said.
Hasina sighed. "Those boys have been playing pranks on her everyday for the last few weeks. I would have broke long before now." Hasina said.
Mahado opened the door to his chambers and found Isis sitting on the bed.
"Oh. Hello, Mahado. Did Mana ditch class again?" Isis asked, knowing the only time that her husband returned early was when Mana did manage to ditch him, which wasn't very often.
"Later. Isis, we have a problem. A big one." Mahado said.
"Is someone hurt?" Isis asked, getting to her feet.
"Not in the way you think. Heba and the others played another prank on Yuugi, and she got upset. She yelled at them and told them that she was returning home to live with her grandfather. Isis, I think that she meant it." Mahado said.
Isis gasped. "Leave? That will kill Yami. He loves her so much." Isis said.
"I know. I had Mana go and get Anzu because I thought that maybe Anzu could talk some since into her, but I don't know if she can. You might need to go and talk to Yuugi yourself. She might listen to you." Mahado said.
Isis nodded. "Yes. Of course I will talk to her." Isis said.
Isis stood and left the room.
'I hope that someone can talk Yuugi out of this because it will be bad if Yuugi leaves.' Mahado thought.
Yuugi was still crying when she reached her room. She walked in and fell face-first onto her bed, crying.
'Why won't they just leave me alone. I am tired of being humiliated like this, I just wish that they would grow up.' Yuugi thought.
There was a knock on the door. "Yuugi, can I come in?" Anzu called.
"Yes." Yuugi called.
The door opened, and Anzu walked into the room. She was surprised to find Yuugi on her bed, crying.
Anzu ran over and sat down on the bed beside Yuugi. "Yuugi, are you okay?" Anzu asked.
"No. I am just so sick of this." Yuugi said.
"What do you mean?" Anzu asked, still trying to understand what was going on.
Yuugi sat up and turned to look at her friend. "I am just so sick of it. I am tired of being at the butt of Heba and the others' jokes. I am sick of being humiliated by them." Yuugi said.
"Yuugi, no one even talks about those things." Anzu said.
"Yes, they do. I hear the servants talking about how I am always having trick played on me and about how stupid I look because of them. I just want them to stop, but that's too much to ask of a bunch of children. Not one of them care about how this is making me feel." Yuugi said.
"Yuugi, that's not a reason to leave." Anzu said.
"Anzu, I cannot live somewhere where I am going to constantly have pranks played on me for their own amusement. When I was a child, I could deal with it, but now, they're just being childish. At least when I lived at home, this didn't happen to me. That's the only place that I am going to be able to go that I am not made fun of and humiliated all of the time." Yuugi said.
Anzu looked at her friend. She could see that this had really upset Yuugi. "You know, I don't think that they realized how much these pranks actually hurt you. You should just talk to them." Anzu said.
"No, Anzu. I am not talking to them. They have caused way too much trouble for me already. I just want to go so that they don't play anymore trick on me." Yuugi said.
"But Yuugi, what about Yami? What will happen to you two if you leave the palace?" Anzu asked.
"Anzu, I'm not sure that there is anything between me and Yami now." Yuugi said.
"What do you mean?"
Heba walked into his chambers and found Atemu.
"Hi, Heba. I have something I need to do, and it's going to take a while." Atemu said.
"Atemu, wait. I did something to Yuugi that was stupid." Heba said.
"Heba, whatever she does to you as a result of one of your pranks is something that you are going to have to deal with on your own." Atemu said.
"Atemu, that's not it." Heba said.
"Heba, I don't have time. Tell me later." Atemu said and started to leave.
"IplayedaprankthatreallyupsetYuugiandnowshesaidthatshe'sgoingtoleavethepalaceandgohomeotlivewithGrandfather." Heba said very fast.
Atemu froze. He had known Heba long enough to know exactly what he said, even thought he was speaking at breakneck speed. Atemu whirled around and said, "You did what?!"
"I didn't know that all of our pranks were upsetting her, Atemu. After this one, she started yelling at us about how she's tired of us humiliating her. She said that she's going to return home to live with Grandfather." Heba said.
"Heba, so you even realize what you have done? There is not a chance that things can work out between Yuugi and Yami if she leaves." Atemu said.
"I know. I didn't mean for this to happen, and I am really sorry, but I don't know what to do. Yuugi was crying when she went back to her room. I've really hurt her, Atemu, and I don't know how to go about fixing it." Heba said.
Atemu ran a hand through his hair. 'Why now? Yami was planning to propose to Yuugi tonight.' Atemu thought. He was helping his brother get everything set up for when he asked her.
"Atemu, I just don't know what to do. Mahado told me that we probably needed to stay away from her, but I really don't know what I should do." Heba said.
Atemu sighed. "Do what Mahado said and stay away from her for awhile. I'll go talk to her." Atemu said.
"Mahado sent Mana to get Anzu to go talk to her. He was also going to tell Isis to talk to her. One or both of them are there." Heba said.
"All right. Pray that Yami doesn't hear about this," Atemu said.
Yuugi and Anzu turned to find Isis in the room.
Anzu had forgotten to close the door, so Isis had walked on in.
"What do you mean that you don't think there is anything between you and Yami now, Yuugi?" Isis asked as she closed the door and walked over to where Yuugi and Anzu were.
"Yuugi, don't you love Yami anymore?" Anzu asked.
"Of course I do. I just don't think that Yami feels the same anymore." Yuugi said, wiping her tears.
"What makes you say that?" Isis asked.
"Yami hasn't spent that much time with me lately? At first, I thought that it was the kingdom and business like that, but then I began realizing that he wasn't doing anything with any of the members of the court. I tried to ignore it at first. Yami told me that they had a meeting, but that he would come and see me afterwards. He never did. I assumed that meeting was still going on until Mana told me that the meeting had ended an hour ago. Why did he lie to me?" Yuugi asked.
Anzu and Isis looked at each other, fearing the conclusion that Yuugi came to.
"I don't think that Yami feels the same for me anymore, or at least not as strongly as he used to. I think that he might be seeing someone else since he's been spending so much time away from me." Yuugi said.
Isis placed a hand on Yuugi's shoulder. "Yuugi, if there is one thing that I am sure of, it's that Yami has no intention of finding someone else. He wouldn't even think of being with another woman." Isis said.
Yuugi shook her head. "No. I can't. I don't want to stay here and find out that all this time with Yami has been for nothing." Yuugi said.
"Yuugi, I have grown up with Yami. Since I've known him, he's always had a problem with people who cheat on someone that they supposedly love. I don't have a doubt in my mind that whatever Yami is doing, he isn't seeing someone else." Anzu said.
"I don't know what he's doing, but he's not telling me the truth. And Heba and the others just think that humiliating me is the best thing to do. I just can't do this." Yuugi said. She got up and started pacing the room.
"Anzu, let me talk to Yuugi alone." Isis said.
Anzu nodded. "I'll be strangling Heba if you need me." Anzu said, She got up and left.
"Yuugi, please know that Yami would not betray you in such a way, and I am sure that Heba and the others do not mean to upset you the way that they did. Please don't make such a rash decision." Isis said.
"I can't, Isis. I have out up with those three and their antics as long as I can. I just cannot do this now. I cannot stay like this. I have to leave. I am going back to live with my grandfather. There's no other reason fro me to stay." Yuugi said.
"Yuugi, please reconsider. You're upset. I can understand that, but please don't leave the palace. If what's going on with Yami upsets you so much, then talk to him about it and see what he has to say." Isis said.
"Isis, I'll stay this week, but after that, I'll leave and go back to live with grandfather." Yuugi said.
"All right." Isis agreed. 'Heba and the others have a lot to make up for, and Yami had better have a good reason for why he's lying, and if he doesn't, then he may have lost a lot.' Isis thought.
Anzu burst into Atemu and Heba's room without knocking and shouted, "Heba, I am going to kill you!"
Heba, knowing how Anzu was when she was angry, dove right behind Atemu. "Anzu, I know, and I'm sorry." Heba said.
"Sorry! You're sister is crying partly because of pranks that you think are funny, and you're sorry! Do you know how bad those pranks make her feel?" Anzu demanded.
"What do you mean partly?" Atemu asked.
"That's only part of why she's leaving. The rest of the reason is up to her to tell." Anzu said.
"Anzu, I know that I hurt my sister, but you have to believe me when I say that I never meant to hurt her like this." Heba said.
"Well, you'd better do something. She's saying that she's going to go back and live with your grandfather, and I know that she is not lying. If you don't start making these things up to her, then she is going to leave, and only Ra knows if we'll ever see her again!" Anzu spat before she stormed out of the room.
"I really messed things up, didn't I, Atemu?" Heba asked.
"Yes, and you picked the worst possible time, too." Atemu said.
"What do you mean?" Heba asked.
"Heba, Yami planned to ask Yuugi to marry him tonight, and that might have been shot to hell by this. If Yuugi leaves, then I can assure you that Yami is going to be after your head along with Mother and Father." Atemu said.
Heba gulped. 'Damn it! We really screwed this up. I might have ruined Yuugi and Yami's lives because of my childish prank.' Heba thought, feeling even worse than before.
Please don't kill me for this chapter. I know it looks bad, but this is all going to be resolved. Also, sorry if this isn't very good. I was up late doing this, and I'm tired.
The next chapter actually has all of the resolution to this chapter in it.
Thanks to Chibi Kuriboh for giving me the idea for Yuugi leaving.
R&R.