Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Thoughts

"Speech"

Chapter 4

Three years later, the prince ran through the castle, trying to find his father. He found him in the study.

"You wanted to see me father," the nine-year-old asked.

"Yes, my son," King Aknamkanon replied. "Come with me." Atem nodded, silently apologizing to his "twin" for leaving him suddenly.

The Pharaoh led his son through corridors, past hundreds of rooms, and down thousands of stairs. Atem followed diligently even when they reached the lower parts of the palace. The tombs, the dark endless tunnels where the only light came from his father's hands, where the ever-burning torch was held. Father and son walked down into the darkness, until they came to a cavern.

Torches lined the narrow walkway with a bright-orange light. His father motioned him to follow. So Atem did, looking all around him, not noticing he was walking precariously close to the edge. When his foot slipped, he cried out, and barely caught the ledge.

"Father! Help me," he pleaded. But Aknamkanon just stood there watching his offspring.

"Pull yourself up son," he ordered. Not cruelly ordered, but an order to say "You can do it, so prove it". Atem stared at him. He didn't have a choice. It was like when he was a baby. When he fell down, his father didn't pick him up. He had to walk the distance to his father's arms in order to find comfort.

Atem's face was that of concentration and he hoisted himself up. And they continued walking like nothing happened. When they reached the end, Aknamkanon knelt on the ground before the altar of the gods and pleaded.

"Please, spare my son. The horrors that occurred have nothing to do with him. I take full responsibility." Atem looked at his father and was surprised to see tears fall.

"It was the first I ever saw my father cry," Atem told Yugi later. A hand placed itself on the one he had rested on his lap. Atem looked up and saw Yugi giving him a sympathy smile. "What do you think he meant? What happened that he needed to beg for the Gods' forgiveness?"

Yugi squeezed his hand. "I don't know, but I'm sure whatever it was, your father wouldn't want you to worry. If he thought you should know, he'd tell you." Atem looked at Yugi's comforting smile and smiled back. He nodded.

"Thank-you Yugi," he whispered and pulled him into a hug.

"YYUUUUUUUGIIIIIIIII! AAAAAAAAAATEEEEEEEEEMMMMMM!" Both boys groaned as a familiar female voice drifted to their ears. Mana came bounding into the courtyard a few minutes later. "There you are," she said. She plopped down beside Yugi, making the formation of the children like a sandwich. Dark, light, dark. "I found Yugi helping his mom earlier, but he said he hadn't seen you since this morning. Where'd you go," she asked her best friend.

"Father took me to the underground temple," Atem whispered. Yugi's hand had not left his and the fact it was still there made him happy and less scared of the whole thing. But he still shuddered at the memory.

Mana's eyes widened. "Really," she asked, apparently shocked at this statement. Atem nodded. This caused Mana's eyes to widen even more, if possible.

Yugi looked back at his friends. They worry too much, he thought. If it was something to fret about, Pharaoh Aknamkanon would have said something to Atem, right? Yugi dwelled on his thoughts alone. The other two were still trying to find a reason for the king's behaviour.

But they couldn't dwell for long. Several minutes after the deafening silence began, a scream rang out across the city. The three children froze at the sound, and watched a group of guards run in the direction it came from. After them ran the Holy Court and the Pharaoh.

"What was that about," Mana whispered. Atem and Yugi looked at each other with the same scared, shocked, worried, and curious expression.

"Should we go check," Atem suggested. Mana gasped but nodded. Both Egyptian children stood up and looked down at their Oriental friend. Yugi avoided their gaze and hesitated.

"I'm not sure if we should-" he began. Just then, pounding feet came from the direction the scream had come from. Mahad, Isis, and Seto, in all their Holy Court robed glory rushed to them.

"Come with us," Mahad said urgently. Everyone grabbed a hand and the group ran off to the library.

"Wait here," Isis ordered. The three young adults then ran back in the direction they came.

"Hmph." Atem didn't like it. They were sitting here, not knowing what was going on, and worse, they had to stay in the library. "Well, what are we gonna do here," he asked his friends. Mana shrugged but no response came from Yugi. Atem turned to his look-alike, only to find he was not there. "Yugi?"

The two children of Egypt searched the library and found the young boy sitting in a corner with an old tome on his lap. He was shaking slightly. Atem walked over to see what had his best friend so shaken up. Atem took one look at the book and gasped. He glanced at the shelves.

"Yugi! This is the forbidden section! If Uncle Aknadin knew we were here, he'd skin us alive!" This brought out no response from Yugi, except for a small sniffle.

"Did you know that when I was born, I was to be killed because I look like you," he asked in a quiet voice. Mana gasped as Atem asked, "What?" Yugi lifted his head and amethyst pierced into crimson. "Your father thought it was a bad omen that I looked like you, but Auset, Isis's mother, said differently. If she hadn't come, things would be so different." Atem wrapped his arms around Yugi just as the latter had done so many times for him. Yugi leaned back into the hug. "Why didn't they tell us?"

Atem looked down into the soft amethyst eyes he loved. "Like you said. If they wanted us to know, they would have told us. So stop worrying." Yugi nodded and wiped his face. It was then the two Egyptians looked at each other in shock. They hadn't realized Yugi had been crying. Granted the small sniffles should have given it away, and the slight shaking, but Yugi was not one to cry easily. Out of the three of them, Yugi was the one to depend on during an emotional "crisis".

So, when Yugi looked back up, they were not surprised not to see any traces of the tears. Then he sighed. "I wonder who screamed. It almost sounded familiar." Then his eyes widened and a few seconds later he was running down the halls, his friends hot on his trails.

"YUGI! WAIT!" The young trio passed the older trio, and the chase was on.

"WAIT! Don't go down there," Mahad and Isis cried. Seto just growled. Mana and Atem ran even harder, to keep up with Yugi, and stay ahead of the faster, older kids.

"MOTHER," Yugi yelled. They were nearing the kitchens when his mother came out, a little paler and green, but she smiled when she saw her child.

"Yugi! You shouldn't be here," she said. Tsarina glanced at the panting children behind him. "In fact, none of you should," she said with more strength than she felt. The other five children collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. Tsarina gave a weak smile and turned back to her son. Yugi ignored everyone else and stared at his mother intently.

"Mommy, what happened," Yugi asked, his eyes huge. "Why did you scream?" Tsarina sighed. She swore that boy had the best ears in the city. But, then again, she was his mother.

"I saw a sight I didn't want to see," she answered while brushing back his bangs.

"Was it Grandma," he whispered. When she gave no response, tears began to fall and Yugi wrapped his arms around his mother's neck. She hugged him tightly, trying not to shudder from the memory.

A few days later, the whole village watched as the old cook was laid to rest during her funeral. Yugi hadn't let go of his mother's hand from that point nearly three days ago. He held Atem's hand in his, silently they comforted each other as they said farewell to their self-appointed caretaker.

"How did she die," Atem asked Isis. They sat in the courtyard along with Mahad, who held Isis's hand; Seto, who sat, arms wrapped around Kisara (he found her in the city during a routine search); Mana and Yugi sat side-by-side, Mana holding one of Yugi's hands while Atem held the other. Both children held on to him like he was their anchor to the earth.

Isis gave him a sad smile. "Grandmother was very old," she explained. "Her heart failed. Osiris hosts her now."

Atem looked up at her. "Like my mother?" Isis nodded and whispered, "Like your mother."

Atem sighed and Yugi wrapped his arm around his shoulders, allowing his tanner look-alike's head to rest on his shoulder. "Well, she'll take care of us. She's still watching you know," he said trying to ease the mood into something brighter and more relaxed. Everyone nodded, but Yugi felt their discomfort deepening a little. He sighed. "We're still kids. Do you honestly think she'd be happy to see us all sitting here, all depressed? No. She'd walk up to us and ask what is wrong. Then she'd tell us it's not the end of the world and make us feel better and then we'd be up and playing in no time. Like when Mahad was bitten by the snake. And when Seto's village was burned down. And when Isis had to leave for trip with her mother for a few months to train, Grandma told us it wasn't the end of the world. And she'd say the same thing now." All eyes looked at him, but the ones he was most focused on were crimson.

"You're right," Mahad whispered. Yugi felt their moods lighten and relaxed a bit. Small, slow smiles crept onto everyone's faces.

"Come on," Mana cried. "Let's play the game Grandma loved to play!" Six heads nodded and soon all seven children were playing and running around.

From the shadows, a pair of eyes watched the smiling group. "It seems many people depend on him, even at his young age," a deep voice observed.

"Yes, Pharaoh," a female voice replied. "My Yugi is a very good friend. I just hope he can hold the position many people have lain of him."

Aknamkanon looked down at the female beside him. "I hope so too, Tsarina. Atem would be devastated if something were to happen to his best friend."

Both adults gave each other a knowing look and walked away. The happy, oblivious group running around stayed until they were too tired to play anymore. So, as a result, the weary nineteen-year-olds had to carry the already-asleep nine-year-olds to bed, which then resulted in all seven of them sleeping in Atem's bed. To say the servants were confused, shocked, and amused is a bit of an understatement.