Ahem...Marik has something to say! [pushes him into the room and slams door behind him]

Marik: [blink blink] COWARD! i apologize for the author's tardiness, and can't promise that she won't be late again. Midnight does not own Yugioh, enjoy! [JAPANESE and ENGLISH]

Chapter 18

Yugi woke up and ordered a large plate of food to be brought up to his room. A random slave was sent off to accomplish the task. Sighing he walked over to Malik's and Mira's doors, and opened them. He sat on his bed and waited for them to come out. They did, slowly and cautiously, unsure of their Master's mood. Yugi looked over at them, smiling. They let out their own sighs and approached him. He grabbed them both and pulled them into a hug.

"You know I don't like being strict with you," he said softly.

"Yes Master, w-we know," Mira stuttered.

"You scared me yesterday, you scared me so bad. I thought, when I didn't see you guys in the room, that something bad was happening to you. That you were lying in some hallway beaten, bloodied, and dead. I thought I would have to show the world my cold side again. Today, I want you at my side, all day, understand?" Yugi explained pulling away from them and caressing both of their cheeks with his thumbs.

"Yes, Master," Malik said nodding and turning his head away from the caress. He sighed and lowered his hands as a timid knock sounded on the door. He walked over and opened it allowing the two servants inside with the large plates of food. He saw Yami walking down the hallway towards him.

"Allow no one entry, I wish to be alone today," Yugi said quietly to the guards before shutting the door with one more glance in Yami's direction.

"Yugi, wait!" he heard Yami cry before the door was completely shut. Hesitating, he opened it enough so only his eye could be seen out of it.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go on a ride with me today?" Yami asked attempting to open it more, but Yugi held it firmly where it was.

"I'm afraid that is impossible, I will be spending the day with my servants today, to re-educate them," Yugi said looking away from him and towards the floor.

"Haven't they been punished enough?" Yami asked a little coldly.

"How I treat them is none of your concern," Yugi said with a fierce glare his eyes snapping up to meet Yami's.

"Um, Prince, may we get out?" two small voices asked from behind him. He stepped out of view of the door for a second and opened the door just enough for them to slip out of, before moving it back to the position it was in before.

"I am your fiancé, everything you do concerns me," Yami said in a reminding tone as he once again tried to open the door more.

"Think again," Yugi said sharply closing the door with quick snap, as if the pressure Yami was putting against it was no more than that of a child's strength. Yugi sighed, as he leant against the door before pushing off of it and walked towards his servants who were eating the, no devouring, the food off of one plate. They looked up at him with slightly frightened eyes as he sat down before them.

"Eat, you will need your strength for today," Yugi said calmly picking up a piece of honey drizzled bread off of the other plate.

;p;p;p;p

Yami stood staring at the door in disbelief. When he went to open it, one of the guards stopped him by standing in his path. Yugi must have given them a direct order to allow no one entry. They had been hesitant on not letting him in yesterday after his roars, but today they seemed to be firm on the idea of no one gaining entry.

"Surely, there is something else you can do today, my Prince?" one of the guards questioned looking down the hallway. Yami huffed in disbelief before storming away.

He found Bakura and Marik lounging on a wall not too far away from where he was. He stopped in front of them for a second before continuing on. They followed, not even saying a word. He led them out to the public garden used by everyone. He sat down on the edge of the fountain and placed his head in his hands.

"Something wrong?" Marik asked.

"Why does he have to be so stubborn?" Yami asked.

"So, I take it he turned you down?" Bakura asked.

"Yes, in favor of re-educating his servants," Yami grumbled crossing his arms.

"Well, to be fair, they did disobey him," Marik pointed out.

"And to be fair, you really don't have a say in how he treats them. They're his property, he could kill them tomorrow and no one here would bat an eye about it because they're not under Egypt's care, only their master is," Bakura continued shoving the facts into Yami's face.

"He wouldn't," a voice spoke up from behind them. They whipped around to see Ryou standing there, his own servants standing behind him, heads bowed.

"Yugi would kill himself before he allowed or inflicted physical harm onto those two," Ryou said wisely.

"So what does he mean when he says he's re-educating them?" Yami asked since Ryou seemed to know, but he simply shrugged and walked away. Yami sighed and stood up, starting to pace.

"Yami, stop it. They're Yugi's servants, and if Ryou doesn't think Yugi would hurt them, then you should trust him. He knows Yugi better than any of us," Bakura said placing his hands on his shoulders.

"Yes, but there are so many things you can do to a person that can scar them mentally, in ways that the eye cannot see," Yami said looking up at him.

"I…I hadn't thought of that," Bakura said dropping his hands to his sides.

"But Yugi loves his servants too much, he wouldn't harm them mentally or physically, would he?" Marik pointed out seeming unsure of even his own words. No one answered him, because no one had one.

;p;p;p;p

"Come on, again, do it again," Yugi said clapping his hands.

"We just need a small rest, just a small one," Mira begged.

"I said again, now hop to it," Yugi said a scowl on his face. Mira and Malik looked at each other before climbing back onto the bed and giving their Master 20 more jumping jacks. They collapsed back onto the bed after Yugi had counted the final one.

"Now, you may take a break," Yugi said as he walked towards the door. He poked his head outside and asked if the guards could get a slave to bring up some water, and food, his servants were done with their re-education now. They nodded with grim looks and said they'd get it themselves. Yugi smirked at their backs; he could only assume what all those noises sounded like to them out here. Pulling his head back in he shut the door, and walked over to the balcony.

He watched as the sun started to set over the wall of the Egyptian Palace. They'd been at it all day, not even Yugi taking a rest to eat. He didn't think it would be fair of him to eat in front of his servants. Besides it wasn't like he was being horrible to them. He just made them give him pushups, jumping jacks, sit ups, crawls under the bed, and laps around the room. Outside, it probably sounded like torture though, from all the times that Mira and Malik fell, tripped, and tried to give up.

There was knock on the door, and Yugi stopped Mira from getting up to get it, she needed to relax, as did Malik, he'd worked them pretty hard today. Still, he doubted they would disobey him again. So, the lesson had definitely been learned. Yugi opened the door and was presented with Yami. He folded his arms as he prepared himself with whatever argument he needed to defend his actions against the elder in front of him.

"Are you done inflicting mental damage on them now?" he asked.

"Huh?" Yugi asked. He had prepared himself for every argument imaginable…except that.

"You heard me," Yami said glaring down at him. Yugi had no response, so he shut the door instead.

"Um, did I cause any mental damage on you two?" Yugi asked leaning against the door. He hadn't thought of that.

"No more than usual," came Malik's tired response. Yugi grinned at the floor and opened the door.

"Yes," he said smiling brightly at Yami who had his hand raised like he was going to knock again, before closing the door in his face again. A thought occurred to him and re-opened the door. "Oh, and I'm spending the day with Ryou tomorrow," Yugi said shutting it once more. Poor Yami, when Yugi had glanced at his face, he looked beyond confused. He looked bewildered, like he didn't know which way up and which way was down anymore.

The next knock on the door was the guards. One of them handed Yugi a plate of food while the other was trying to get Yami to respond to him in some sort of way. Yugi laughed at the expression on Yami's face before kicking the door close with his foot. He hadn't appeared to understand a word of what was being said to him.

"What's so funny?" Mira asked as she sat up to take the cup of water that Yugi was handing her.

"Yami," Yugi answered.

"Why is he so amusing?" Malik asked taking his glass of water too.

"He looks so bewildered," Yugi said shaking his head.

"Why are we talking in Japanese?" Mira asked.

"I miss home," Yugi said with a shrug, "no one questions me there, and everyone questions me here, I just miss it." Yugi sighed before sitting down on the floor. He picked up an apple from the plate and tossed it back and forth in his hands. He lifted the plate off the floor and onto the bed. They started to eat with a ravenous hunger as Yugi took a bite out of his apple.

"Aren't you going to eat any more than that single apple?" Malik asked him.

"No, I'm really not all that hungry," Yugi lied standing up and walking over to the desk and sitting down at it. He pulled a piece of papyrus to him, and a quill and some ink. He started to write a letter to home.

Dear Jou, Mai, Honda, Otogi, Rebecca, and Grandpa,

I know it's been awhile since I left, and have attempted to make contact with you. I miss Japan so much right now. There was an incident here yesterday. Lady Anzu saw fit to call my servants away from their posts, and by default I had no choice but to punish them for disobeying me. I still feel guilty, but I think they're starting to grow on the guards outside my door. They gave me disgusted looks after I gave my servants a work out today as further punishment for disobeying me yesterday, but enough about that, let me tell you how the engagement is going so far. Yami is attempting to seduce me at every turn available to him, and Ryou is here as well, I invited him for company. I'm not sure if you heard yet, but Noah has been engaged to a Lady Serenity Trust, and Ryou's own engagement ended, so he's on the hunt for a new betrothed. He's looking for it in Bakura, the white haired guy that was there hovering close behind Yami. Marik is trying to court Malik, still. He doesn't seem to understand that Malik isn't interested in him that way. I played a prank on the council which got me confined to my room for a month by the Pharaoh. It was harmless, I swear, but the council took offense for some reason. Oh, and I discovered the reason for why Seth complimented you, Jou, it was because you look like his lover here. Really, the resemblance is uncanny, you could be twins. I suppose that's why I came to trust him so easily. I hope you guys are visiting Mum for me, since I can no longer do so. I wonder if the sakura trees are in bloom, or if the snow is already falling there. I will never see another snowflake again, Yami told me, to my great horror, that there is no such thing as snow here. He didn't even know what I was talking about until I explained what snow was. It's a shame, but the sand can get so white here sometimes, that I suppose I can pretend that it is snow. I just can't walk on it barefoot, or else I'll burn my feet. Not that I've tried. Yami wouldn't let me. Oh, and they've seen 'cold Yugi' as Mira calls it. Really though, the Guard Ushio had it coming. He's just lucky Yami got there in time, or else I would have beheaded him then and there. He went after my servants, and he got Mira once with the whip he was handling before Malik protected her with his own back. I gave him my shirt to wear; there was no way I was going to let anyone see the scars he already bared from before he was my servant. As I mentioned before Yami is attempting to seduce me, but I think we're being spied upon. Every time we're in a compromising position or Yami seems to be making headway with it, Yami's teacher Mahad shows up to ruin the moment. It's more annoying than anything else to be honest. Like for instance, yesterday, Yami was teaching me what I should do when I'm on top, and Mahad comes in dragging him off saying he had lessons to attend to. And he never came back to finish the lesson either, it was very off putting. Well, that's really all that's happened so far. Oh wait, no it isn't. Ryou and I have discovered that Yami knows absolutely no Japanese, but he has learned English, unfortunately. Ryou and I enjoy talking in Japanese around him, about him, as we watch his eyes grow narrower and narrower with jealousy. Oh, it so amusing! We're spending the day together tomorrow, Ryou and I, just the six of us. Ryou and our servants, if you didn't get the math there. Now, that is it. I love you all and miss you very much

Love Yugi, Mira, and Malik.

He folded up the paper, surprised with how much he wrote; his words nearly took up the entire page. He wrote who it was for, on the outside, and placed it back on his desk. He walked over to the bed, and after moving Malik over a bit, slid in next to him. He wasn't going to make them move back to their own beds, he knew they were too exhausted to move. He thought, briefly, that he should take one of their beds, but decided against it. They would just sleep here tonight, all three of them, just like old times.

;p;p;p;p

"He's avoiding me," Yami complained as he continued in his search for his elusive fiancé.

"No, I believe he said he was spending time with his friend," Marik reminded him.

"And that they were going to explore the Palace," Bakura added.

"No, he's avoiding me," Yami insisted.

"Whatever you say, Prince," Bakura and Marik said together. Yami threw a glare over his shoulder at them.

"I thought I told you not to call me that?" he asked.

"You're still our Prince, and the Crown one at that," Bakura pointed out quietly as a guard passed them.

"Still, I can stand it from everyone else, but not you two," Yami sighed as he stopped the next guard and asked if they had seen his fiancé and fiancé's friend. They muttered something about stables and horses before walking on. Yami suddenly had a bad feeling creeping within him. They wouldn't, would they? Running off in that direction, he hoped to make it before they could leave.

;p;p;p;p

"Hmm, that was easy," Yugi said as he pulled his horse into a soft trot.

"I'm still surprised that one, no one stopped you, and two we actually made it in time," Ryou said. Yugi glanced back at their servants. They had borrowed; he swore he only borrowed them, two more horses for his and Ryou's servants to ride on.

"Do you think they would mind if we actually stopped and saw town life a little?" Yugi heard Jenny ask Mira. They were on a horse together and Malik and Ryan were on the other.

"You ask, Malik and I are still in trouble with our Master," Mira said back.

"Um, Master Ryou, do you think we can stop and view the town life a little bit?" Jenny asked her voice just loud enough to be heard over the sudden wind that had picked up.

"What do you say, Yugi? Want to stop?" Ryou asked turning to him.

"Sure, I mean a few more sun movements won't hurt anyone," Yugi said shrugging and walking his horse over to a guard and handing him his reins before jumping off.

;p;p;p;p

Yami stood there with jaw hanging down. Yugi's, his, Seth's, and Mahad's horses were gone. They were gone. That left his Father's, Isis's, Jou's, Marik's and Bakura's left in the stables. His fiancé was a little thief.

"Close your mouth, you're attracting insects," Marik said tapping his jaw shut.

"Besides, you're little Prince only deserves the finest of transportation, right?" Bakura teased grinning.

"Shut up," Yami grumbled as he saddled and mounted his Father's horse. He looked back down to see Bakura and Marik had yet to move.

"Are you coming or not?" Yami asked rudely.

"Oh, we're coming," Bakura said as he saddled and mounted his horse.

"We wouldn't want to miss all the fun, bedsides your Father would kill us if we let his son go alone," Marik added.

"Where do you think they are?" Marik asked.

"We'll check town first, and then the spot that I took Yugi one time. Yah!" Yami kicked his Father's horse into a gallop taking off towards town at a breakneck speed down the main path. Marik and Bakura were quick to follow him.

;p;p;p;p

"So how did you find that shortcut back to the Palace?" Ryou asked as their horses came trotting up to the stables, two minutes after Yami had left.

"The guard that was watching our horses pointed it out. He muttered something about Egypt Prince freaking out," Yugi said as he slipped off his horse before helping Mira and Jenny down. Ryou slipped off Yami's horse and helped Ryan and Malik off of Seth's. They led the horses into their proper stables, and thanked them for letting them ride them. Yugi slipped the horses an apple each before they went inside to find his frazzled fiancé.

After searching the palace of all the spots Yugi knew that the Prince liked to hangout in, he went in search of Jono, he should know where to find the Prince in question. Though, Yugi had no clue as to where he could find Jono. However, as soon as this thought passed through his mind, he spotted him making his way ahead of them down a different hallway.

"JONO!" Yugi shouted running after him. His head poked back around the corner, his eyebrows rising in surprise as Yugi stopped in front of him.

"Have you…seen my…frazzled…fiancé?" Yugi asked between breaths.

"You've been released from your confinement?" Jono asked.

"Yes, have you seen Yami?" Yugi asked again.

"Last anyone saw him, he was headed towards town," Jono said grinning.

"Oh, well can someone be sent after him, I'd hate for him to grow too worried about us." Yugi said biting his lip.

"As amusing as that would be," Ryou added in Japanese. Yugi nudged him with his elbow.

"What was that? I couldn't understand you," Jono said a frown creasing between his eyebrows.

"Don't worry about it. Tell my fiancé, when or if you see him, that I'll be somewhere in the Palace. Tell him we're playing hide-and-seek, so far he's losing," Yugi said before walking off.

"I'll make sure to relay the message," Jono said.

"Thank you, Jono," Yugi said looking back at him to see a crestfallen expression on his face.

"Uh, do you want to join us in our exploration?" Yugi asked awkwardly.

"Oh, uh, no, Seth's probably wondering what's taking me so long, I should get back," Jono said nervously though his face said he'd very much like to join them.

"Oh, come on guard Jono, join us, join us!" Mira said grasping his hand.

"Well, I suppose one sun movement wouldn't hurt," Jono said taking a step towards them. Yugi grinned brightly.

"Hey, maybe you can tell us some more of those stories about Yami, Marik, and Bakura?" Yugi suggested.

;p;p;p;p

"What?" Yami asked his mouth dropping open as he stared at the guard that was shuffling his feet.

"I, err, sent them back up to the palace half a sun movement ago," he repeated.

"But we would have seen them," Yami protested.

"I sent them along the shortcut path," the guard said looking more and more nervous by the second.

"Not the one with all the bandit sightings lately?" Marik asked suddenly at attention.

"Oh, uh, I hadn't heard of that," he said looking towards the path that he had sent them.

"You idiot!" Bakura shouted following his gaze to the path that he had apparently sent them down.

"YUGI!" Yami shouted re-mounting his horse and heading that way in a fast gallop.

"Your Highness! Wait! It's not safe! Come back!" Marik and Bakura shouted at the same time making it unclear who said what as they jumped onto their own horses and raced after him.

;p;p;p;p

"So while Yami was out gallivanting through the city, poor Marik was forced to stay in bed acting like the Prince, who was supposed to be sick," Jono said finishing the story to shouts of laughter from his audience. They were currently in the common garden, and about six sun movements had gone by since they had run into Jono.

"Oh, Jono, you have the best stories," Yugi said wiping tears from his eyes.

"Yeah, I know, and Yami is to thank for all of them. He was a very devious child," Jono said back.

"THERE YOU ARE! I've been worried sick about you! Do you know what I've gone through today while looking for you, well Jono, do you?!" Seth shouted marching up to the group.

"No, but I have a feeling you're about to tell me," Jono said uneasily.

"Up and down this Palace I've gone searching for you. The last anyone saw of you, you were headed towards me to tell me that the Prince of Japan and the Crown Prince were missing. Well, I'm glad you found the Prince of Japan, but where is our Prince?" Seth asked seething.

"You."

Yugi cringed at the word; it was said with so much disdain and anger. He was very fearful to turn around and face his wonderful fiancé. He had yet to deal with Yami's temper, and didn't think he would have to so soon. In all honesty, he should have been happy that he was safe and sound in the Palace and not lost somewhere in the deserts of Egypt.

"I found him," Yugi whispered at Seth pointing behind him.

"You don't say?" Seth asked dropping formality for a second.

"Come with me," Yami said gripping Yugi tightly by the upper arm and hauling him to his feet. He started to drag him away.

"Ah, Ryou, my servants, take care of them!" Yugi shouted as he tripped over his feet whilst walking backwards.

"Okay!" he shouted back waving at Yugi.

"Slow down, Yami," Yugi complained as Yami continued to drag him through the hallways.

"No, get in there," Yami said yanking open a seemingly random door and throwing him inside. Yugi stumbled, tripped and fell to the ground. He turned around and scrambled to his feet hastily backing away from the furious Yami. He was scared; Yugi was scared by the rage that was placed upon Yami's face. He backed himself into a wall, and Yami slammed his hands on either side of his head. He pressed himself against that wall, hoping it would swallow him whole.

"Do you have any idea the worry that you've put me through today?" Yami hissed at him. Yugi turned his head away, closing his eyes, he couldn't find the courage to face Yami's rage. He slammed his hand against the wall. "Answer me, Yugi!"

"I-I was just sending a letter to home. I wasn't gone long," Yugi whispered. He felt his face gripped in a broad hand as he was forced to look up at his fiancé.

"Up and down the desert I looked for you, and I come home in a panic only to find that you're already here," Yami growled at him.

"I'm sorry!" Yugi whined.

"Sorry doesn't stop the worry," Yami said letting him go and backing away slightly, only to slam his fist in the wall next to his head. Yugi jumped and winced.

"D-don't hurt me," he stuttered reaching for the handle of his katana.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Yami sighed looking at Yugi. He backed away and sat on the bed in the room. Looking around he noticed that he was in Yami's room. Yugi slowly relaxed his body, but not his grip on his katana.

"You wouldn't dare," Yami said his eyes narrowing as he noticed where one of Yugi's hands were.

"I will if you leave me with no choice," Yugi said back in a resigned voice.

"Oh, really? And what would you consider to be no choice exactly?" Yami asked standing back up and advancing on his smaller fiancé.

"Um, uh, I…" Yugi trailed off unable to come up with an answer.

"I knew it," Yami said grabbing his face and kissing him aggressively. Too aggressively, Yami was reminding him of his rough manner. Never with him, but what he's witnessed with… It was the reason for why he learned how to handle the katanas with expertise in the first place. The reason, why he kept his servants so close to him at all times. He got scared, and reacted.

SHING!

;p;p;p;p

Yami pulled away at the sound and feel of cold metal at his throat. It seemed that his little fiancé had more courage than he thought him to have. He wrapped his own long fingers around Yugi's throat as a warning to back off, and tightened them when the message didn't seem to be received. He looked down into scared eyes, eyes that didn't seem to be here in the present, but focused on something of the past.

"Remove it," Yami said simply as the metal pressed harder against his throat.

"You won't hurt us, I won't allow it to happen, not again," Yugi whispered as he reached up and grabbed at Yami's wrist with his free hand.

"Remove your katana from my throat," Yami said looking down at Yugi in a way that said he would obey, like he was a mere servant instead of a Prince. Yugi merely tightened his grip on Yami's wrist.

"Well, they've had plenty of time to talk, so they should be all lovey dovey again," the obnoxious voice of Jono said as the doors swung open.

Hi, that letter really took up an entire page on word though. Don't worry I'm already writing the next chapter, so I don't intend to leave you hanging for long. Right, I need to go update my other story, the one I usually update on Sundays. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p