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

Thoughts

"Speech"

Chapter 7

"Yugi, hurry up! Mana's waiting!" An impatient thirteen-year-old Atem rushed to his friend and dragged him down the halls.

"But Atem," Yugi complained. "It's too early. Couldn't she have waited till later?" Yugi then groaned. "I hope Isis is there," he said.

Atem stopped. He looked at his paler self. "Are you okay? Do you not feel well," he asked, slightly worried. Okay, morethan a little worried.

Yugi shook his head, but stopped when it made him dizzy. "Uhh…Haha," Yugi laughed weakly. "I guess I should have listened to my mother. She's said I should take care of myself, but now look. I think I'm sick." Atem looked at his friend and slowly placed a hand on his friend's forehead. It was hot. His skin looked even paler than it already was.

"I'll take you to bed and send for Isis, okay?" Atem wanted his friend to be okay. And this time, Atem would stay by his side worrying himself to death like Yugi did when he was sick. Yugi slowly nodded before collapsing in Atem's arms. The prince didn't know whether to scream for help, worry a little, or laugh at Yugi's defiance in doing what people told him to do. So Atem laughed worriedly. A flash of blonde skipped through the edges of his peripheral vision. Oh, it was that maid. Um, what was her name again? That's right. It was..."Dalila!" The maid peered around the corner.

"Yes, your majes-Yugi!" Dalila rushed over and held the boys head in her hands. "What happened to him," she asked Atem, her green eyes full of concern for the boy she currently had a crush on. Atem stared back ad tightened his hold on his "twin".

"Nothing, he's just tired. Do you mind fetching Isis and some water and cloths? I'll take him to my room," he said as he walked away, holding Yugi in his arms all the way. A few steps later he heard the pitter-patter of Dalila's feet racing down the halls of the palace. It was definitely a good thing right now that Yugi hadn't grown as fast as he and Mana did.

Atem laid Yugi down on his bed after carrying him the whole way back. It was surprising; he hadn't seen anyone along the way. "Yugi," Atem whispered and brushed back the blonde bangs of his counterpart. "Please be okay…" Just then, Atem heard the rushing of feet, a few voices and cries coming down the corridors. Atem watched the entry and later stared as Isis, Dalila, Mahad, Mana, Seto, Kisara, and Tsarina burst into the room in that order.

"How is he," Isis and Tsarina asked at the same time. Yugi's mother rushed to the bed and felt her son's head.

"He's burning up. Mild fever," she asked Isis.

Isis walked over and placed her hand where the Japanese woman's hand had previously lain. Isis felt his pulse right after, then looked him over. When she was done, she stood up and faced all the eyes staring at her, frightened. She placed her gaze on Tsarina. "He has a mild fever, like you said, but it's accompanied by a slight sickness, which is causing the fever to be serious. I don't know what caused it but I have a suspicion he's sick because he forgot to take care of himself. I doubt he'll wake for a few days, and after that he'll be bedridden for almost a month. But if I know Yugi like I do, he'll be up in half that time," Isis finished. Atem looked at her for a moment before dropping his gaze back to his friend. Everyone barely noticed as he climbed onto the bed, and pulled Yugi close. The first to notice was Mana but she held her tongue. She knew Atem and Yugi were closer to each other than she was to them. They were like two sides of the same coin. The halves of one soul. Light and dark. A sun and moon to the sky. The sweet and sour to one of Grandma's pies. And…I should stop and get on with it.

"Please wake up Yugi," Atem whispered. He grabbed a cloth from the water bowl and placed it on his "twin's" forehead. He could feel the heat reaching through the cloth, and quickly replaced it. When it no longer grew hot instantly, Atem left the cloth on his head and laid beside him. Mana touched his shoulder and whispered she'd be back before dragging Mahad out of the room. Seto and Kisara followed, then Tsarina, followed by a hesitant Dalila, and finally Isis.

The next morning came to find the prince lying on the floor with his hand strongly gripping that of his friend. He was fast asleep so he didn't notice the person moving about the room. A hand touched his shoulder and lightly shook him awake. "Atem?"

"Mmh?" Atem looked up. "Yugi! You're awake," the prince exclaimed, throwing his arms around his little friend and pulling him close. A small giggle could be heard from his arms.

"Am I supposed to be otherwise," Yugi asked, unsure of what had the prince so scared, hugging him like he'd never see him again. "Atem?"

Atem let go and looked at his friend. The deep crimson stared into confused amethyst for a few minutes before the prince opened his mouth. "Do you not remember? You fell ill yesterday and I had to carry you to bed." Yugi shook his head. He did not remember that at all. "Isis says you have a mild fever, and with it, you became sick. She's says you haven't been taking care of yourself." Yugi's amethyst orbs glanced at the floor and stayed there. "Yugi? Why? Is there something wrong?"

Yugi shook his head, never taking his eyes off the floor as he spoke. "Nothing is wrong." Atem raised an eyebrow. Yugi sighed. He wasn't going to get away with this one. "It's just…I keep chasing after all of you, and I have to be strong. For you, Mana, Seto, Mahad, Isis, Kisara, my mother…everyone. I guess I wasn't keeping track of what I was doing. I got so worried about keeping you guys happy that I didn't check to make sure I was happy too. Sorry…" Yugi trailed off still looking at the floor. Atem sighed and pulled his friend into a hug.

"It's okay. Just be sure to tell us when something is wrong, okay?" Yugi nodded and leaned into the hug.

Unbeknownst to the individuals inside the room, three people heard all that was said. Seto looked at the other two who were just as flabbergasted as he was. "Why didn't he say anything," he asked. "We could have helped."

Isis nodded. "It certainly explains a lot." She sighed. "I should check on him."

A hand wrapped around her wrist and she cried out in surprise. She looked up to meet Mahad's dark gaze. "Not yet," he whispered, letting go of her wrist before she did anything. "If you go in now, he'll know you heard everything. Yugi's like that. He can read us like a book. Just wait a while. Atem's in there. He'll be fine."

Seto glanced at the room behind him. "I don't understand why he thought he couldn't tell us."

Mahad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you not hear what he said? He made sure we were happy, not bothering to make sure he was too. If something was wrong, he'd go to his mother or deal with it alone…Most likely the latter. He didn't want to trouble anyone with his problems." He cast his eyes to the floor. "He's always been there for us. We've leaned on him and depended on him without thinking about what it would do to him at that young of age." Seto and Isis glanced at each other.

"What do we do," Isis asked. Mahad shrugged.

"I guess it's all up to him," Mahad sighed, glancing back at the room. Yugi…Be okay.

Atem looked up when Isis walked into the room. She looked at the bed's occupant. "How is he," she asked, not giving any hint that she was listening outside the entry.

"He's fine. He woke up a while ago, but I don't know if he'll ever get better," Atem replied solemnly.

Isis's eyes widen in put-on surprise. "What do you mean? Prince, he's just sick…He'll get better. Just you wait, he'll-" Isis stopped when Atem started shaking his head.

"That's not what I mean," he whispered looking worriedly at his friend. "He's sicker than he would be and it's because of us. Because of me..." Atem let out a shaky breath. "I let him down. I didn't realize he felt that way. Why didn't he say anything?" Atem started crying right then and Isis pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sure whatever it is, he doesn't blame you. Besides, do you think he'd want you crying and worrying about it?" Atem shook his head. "Didn't think so. Now, get to the kitchens and eat something. I just have to check him to make sure nothing has changed for the worse, then I'll join you okay?" Atem nodded and slinked out of the room. Isis watched him go before letting out her breath.

"Eavesdropping is a terrible habit you know." Isis gasped as she whirled around, facing the soft amethyst eyes gazing at her. There were so many emotions swirling around in those eyes and she wondered why she's never noticed it before. "You should tell Mahad and Seto that as well," Yugi added.

Isis smiled embarrassedly. "Couldn't get past you, could we," she asked. Yugi shook his head. "Sorry…" Isis knelt on the bed and leaned him forward to check his back. "Why didn't you say anything," she asked as she worked. She felt Yugi shrug.

"Didn't want to be an inconvenience. Besides, everyone has problems they don't tell people-"

"But we always loaded our problems on you. If you didn't like it, why didn't you say something? You may not have gotten sick if you paid attention to yourself and not us."

Yugi's amethyst stared at her, pleading for her to understand. "I didn't have a problem with it, and I didn't think it was fair to leave you standing when you already told me many of your secrets. I didn't think about it. Like I told Atem, I worried about making you guys happy to even notice whether I was truly happy too or not. When you're happy, I am too."

Isis dropped his wrist after feeling his pulse. "That may be but it's causing your body to fail. You need to stop doing everything you can to make us happy and focus on yourself a little bit more. When we're happy you're happy too, you say. But seeing you happy makes us happy, and things like this just worry us. You want to makes us really happy," she asked Yugi, who nodded. "Then take care of yourself. We can't exactly enjoy each other's company if you're in bed sick all the time."

Yugi nodded. "Thank you Isis," he whispered. Isis pulled him into a hug.

"No, thank you," she whispered back.

"ISIS! ATEM ATE ALL THE GRAPES!" Isis and Yugi jumped at the sound of a certain girl's voice. They smiled at each other.

"You stay here, and I'll get something for you. If you move, I'll let Atem and Mana at you," Isis threatened with a smile. Yugi giggled and crossed his heart.

"ISIS! MAHAD! KISARA! HELLOOO! WHERE IS EVRYO-AAAHHH!" Isis looked down the hallway. She started laughing as she walked away. "SETO! DON'T SCARE ME!" Yugi heard Mana scream. The whole castle probably heard it. Gods, that girl had a pair of lungs. Yugi rolled his eyes. Mana was always screaming about something. Then he laughed at little as she kept screaming about something. He didn't think it would happen, but when his head hit the pillow he was fast asleep long before Atem and Isis came back.