Here's the next chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 4- Birthday
~One and a Half Months Later~
Yami had been in the Millennial Kingdom for a little over a month. He was rather enjoying the time that he was spending there.
There was just one problem. He was a little homesick.
Yami lay on his bed, looking through a book. Sighing, Yami closed the book and put it aside before he lay his head down on his arms as he lay stretched out on the bed on his stomach.
"What's bothering you, Yami?" Firestar asked.
Yami looked up at the red tiger.
Firestar had taken well to Yami, and he had been spending a lot of time with him.
"I guess I just miss home." Yami replied.
"Well, everyone misses the place that they are used to being in." Firestar said.
Yami sat up and shook his head. "That's not what I mean, Firestar. I miss my parents, my brother, and everyone else." Yami said.
"Oh. You miss your family." Firestar said.
"Yeah. I just wish that I could see them again." Yami said. He glanced out the window and added, "Especially on my birthday."
"That's tomorrow, isn't it?" Firestar asked.
"Yeah. It'll be the first time I won't have any of my family there." Yami answered.
Mentally, Firestar was snickering. 'Oh, just wait, Yami. You'll find out that you won't be as lonely on your birthday as you think you will.' Firestar thought.
Yugi was talking with Solomon and Dartz.
"All of the repairs on the palace have been completed, Emperor. The palace is completely finished now." Dartz said.
"That's good to know. What about the progress of rebuilding the kingdom?" Yugi asked.
"The kingdom is about seventy-five percent repaired. It shouldn't take but about another month and a half to two months to finish the repairs." Solomon answered.
"All right. That's good. The rebuilding of the kingdom has gone better than I thought it would." Yugi said.
"Yes. We beat what we thought it would take." Dartz said.
"And you've managed to get the economy of the kingdom back on track for the most part. Once people settle into their daily routines, the economy will be boosted even more. Plus, all if the unfair laws to the people have been rectified." Solomon said.
"We've also made all of the peace treaties that we need to make. The only one we haven't done is Egypt, and the Pharaoh has said not to worry about the peace agreement between us until we have the kingdom completely back on track." Yugi said as he looked through some of the papers that were right in front of him.
"Speaking of the Pharaoh, is everything ready?" Dartz asked.
"It will be by the time they get here." Yugi answered as he looked up with a smile on his face.
"I think that this is a great thing that you're doing for him, Yugi. Prince Yami is going to be very surprised when he learns about this." Solomon said.
"And he won't learn about it until tomorrow afternoon. I just thought that I would do something nice for him. Yami and I are friends, and I wanted to do something nice for Yami's birthday." Yugi said.
"He most certainly will be surprised tomorrow." Solomon agreed.
Yugi smiled. "We have some things that we have to do before we do that." Yugi said.
"Right. We should get back to our work." Dartz said.
The three then went their separate ways to do what they needed to.
"I can't believe that we're actually going to the Millennial Kingdom tomorrow!" Joey said, rather excited.
"I know what you mean. We haven't been back there since Yugi's coronation. It'll be nice to see the place again." Malik said.
"I'll just be glad to see my brother again." Atemu said.
The group of friends was sitting in the lounge as they discussed going to the Millennial Kingdom the following day.
"I have to admit that that was a great idea that the Emperor had. I didn't think that we would be seeing Yami fro a while." Bakura said.
"Yeah. It's great of him to throw Yami a birthday party and invite us to come as well." Marik said.
"It's not exactly a big thing with Yugi. He likes to do things for people. It honestly doesn't surprise me that he learns that he decided to this." Heba said.
"I know that my mom's excited." Atemu said.
"Well, she hasn't seen Yami in almost two months. She's happy to see her son again." Ryou said.
"It'll be great to see him again. We're all looking forward to that." Bakura said.
Heba smiled. He knew that Yugi had decided to throw the party for Yami because Yami was a bit homesick, and Yugi knew that seeing his family again would help a lot. 'Yugi, you're a great man, and I'm glad that you decided to do this.' Heba thought.
Yami was out walking around the gardens. He was a little bored.
"Hey, Yami."
Yami turned and smiled when he saw Yugi approaching him. "Hi. Busy morning?" Yami asked.
"You could say that." Yugi answered.
"Well, I understand. Firestar's been keeping me company." Yami said.
"That's good to know." Yugi said as he started to walk alongside Yami. "Lighteningstar and Earthstar haven't been giving you any trouble, have they?" Yugi asked.
"They've been trying, but Firestar has been stopping them. Plus, Waterstar and Windstar have been telling Firestar what they're up to." Yami said.
Yugi laughed. "Yeah. That's just like them. Unfortunately, Lighteningstar and Earthstar are a lot like Joey and Malik in the fact that they enjoy tormenting people. It's hard to stay one step ahead of them, but I manage as much as I can, and Firestar usually catches what I don't." Yugi said.
"Doesn't that get on your nerves?" Yami asked.
"You have no idea how much it gets on my nerves. That's why I would greatly appreciate it if I could somehow get the Pharaoh to allow them to go to Egypt. They could be his headache then." Yugi said.
Yami laughed. "My father would have them killed." Yami said.
"Well, that would be his choice. Heba and Ryou can usually keep them in line with a little help from Waterstar and Windstar." Yugi said.
"Trust me when I say that my father would basically hand responsibility over to their owners, and the owners would be the ones getting chewed out when their tiger did something." Yami said.
"Well, I think that that would work, too." Yugi said.
The two then laughed.
Yugi noticed Yami's down expression. "You miss your family, don't you?" Yugi asked.
"Yeah. I didn't think that it would this hard." Yami said.
"Well, it's your first time away from your family. It's always harder that way." Yugi said.
"Yeah. I guess so." Yami agreed.
'Well, come tomorrow, you won't have to deal with that.' Yugi thought.
"So, what do you have to do this afternoon?" Yami asked.
"There's just a few little things that I'll have to do. Nothing real big." Yugi replied.
"Really?" Yami asked.
Yugi nodded. "The kingdom is seventy-five percent repaired, so I won't have to help quite as much as I have been. Plus, I have made the peace arrangements with almost every kingdom that my father caused problems with." Yugi said.
"What kingdoms are left?" Yami asked.
"Egypt is the only ones left." Yugi answered.
"You won't have much trouble then." Yami said.
Yugi nodded his agreement.
After Yugi finished the few things he had to do, which had to do with Yami's birthday party the next day, Yugi decided to spend time with Yami so that Yami wouldn't think about his homesickness quite so much.
The two were currently playing a game of chess.
The two were very focused on the game and carefully planned out each move that they made.
Yugi made a move and then Yami would make a move to counter it.
The game went on like this pretty much the entire time.
Yugi made a move and said, "Checkmate."
"You win every time." Yami said, exasperated.
"No, I don't. You have won some." Yugi said.
"Not as much as you have." Yami replied.
Yugi laughed. "You don't take to losing too well." Yugi said.
"It's not that. It's just that Atemu's been one of the few people that have actually managed to beat me." Yami said.
"Well, you have someone else that can beat you then." Yugi said.
"I guess so." Yami agreed.
The two continued to play some games for a while, enjoying a little down time.
After they played, the two then left the game room.
"I hope that you didn't brush anything off today, Yugi. You don't have to do that on account of me." Yami said.
"Yami, everyone needs some time to relax, and that includes the king. I haven't really taken a day to myself since I became Emperor, so I figured that it was about time that I take day to rest and relax." Yugi said.
Yami glanced at him. "Yugi, you only took half a day to yourself." Yami said.
"Okay. So I took half a day. At least I am taking a little time to relax." Yugi said.
Yami nodded his agreement.
The following day, Yugi had gotten up earlier than normal so that eh could greet the visiting Egyptians as well as make sure that they remained hidden until it was time for Yami to see them.
Yugi met them when they arrived.
"Emperor, it's good to see you again." Aknankanon said.
Aknankanon, Amara, Aknaudin, Atemu, Heba, Seto, Joey, Marik, Malik, Bakura, and Ryou were the ones that had come to the Millennial Kingdom.
"It's good to see you, too. I'm glad that you were able to come here." Yugi said.
"We wouldn't miss it for anything." Amara said, who had been ecstatic when Yugi had made the suggestion of them coming to the Millennial Kingdom for Yami's birthday.
"Is everything ready?" Heba asked his brother.
"Yes, everything is ready. All we have to do now is make sure that he doesn't see you until time for the party." Yugi said.
"Will that be hard?" Atemu asked.
"I don't think it will be. Come with me." Yugi said.
Yugi then led the group to the room that the party would be held in, which was lightly decorated for the occasion.
"This looks great!" Amara said, clapping her hands together.
"I'm glad you like it. The servants will be getting the food and the cake in here before long." Yugi said.
Solomon and Dartz then walked into the room.
"Ah. I see that you made it safely." Dartz said.
"Yes, we did, Lord Dartz." Aknankanon said.
"I know that Prince Yami will be very surprised when he sees all of you. I noticed that he seemed to be a bit homesick recently." Solomon said.
"I don't think that he'll have that much of a problem once he sees us." Seto said.
"No kidding." Marik agreed.
Heba then pulled Yugi aside. "Yugi, this is a great thing that you're doing for Yami." Heba told him.
"Heba, it's nothing. Since Yami came here, he and I have become good friends. I knew that he was homesick, and I also knew that he didn't like the fact that he was going to be away from his family on his birthday, so I thought that it might help if he had them here at least. Besides, I wanted to do something for him. He's been a big help to me." Yugi said.
Heba smiled. "I'm glad that you're doing this for him and giving his family the chance to be with him on his birthday. And I'm glad that I get to see you for a little while." Heba said.
Yugi nodded. "I'm glad to see you, too, Heba." Yugi said.
The two brothers then hugged each other.
Atemu watched this and smiled. He knew that Heba missed having his brother around, and he was glad that his husband was getting the chance to see his brother again.
Yami woke up the next morning. He sat up and stretched slightly. He glanced out the window before he climbed out of the bed.
'It's my birthday, and I am going to be alone.' Yami thought.
Sighing dejectedly, Yami went to get a shower and after that, he got dressed.
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in." Yami said.
The door opened, and Yugi walked in.
"Morning, Yami." Yugi said.
"Morning." Yami replied.
"I thought that I would come and see if you wanted breakfast." Yugi said.
"Sure thing." Yami said.
The two then left the room and headed down the hall.
"By the way, Yami, happy birthday." Yugi said.
Yami smiled. "Thanks, Yugi." Yami said.
The two then went to eat breakfast.
Yugi kept Yami busy the entire morning as everything else was set up for the party that Yugi had planned out for Yami.
"So, is there anything special that you're doing today?" Yami asked.
"No, not really." Yugi replied.
"Oh. I thought that you might have some things to do today since you took so much time off yesterday." Yami said.
"No. I'm good for the day." Yugi said.
Yami smiled. He was glad that he wouldn't have to spend the entire day alone.
Yugi glanced over at Yami. 'Don't worry about a thing, Yami. You won't have to wait much longer before you have your birthday surprise.' Yugi thought.
Meanwhile, the Egyptians were talking.
"I can't believe that we have to wait this long." Bakura grumbled form where he sat with his head in his hand.
Ryou rolled his eyes. "Kura, take it easy. It won't be that much longer." Ryou said.
"Besides, the Emperor was very kind to do all of this. I think that it's a wonderful thing that he's doing for Yami." Amara said.
"Indeed. It is." Aknankanon agreed as he put an arm around his wife.
"Besides, we all wanted to be with Yami to celebrate his birthday, and this is the best way. Besides, we agreed with him to have the party at lunchtime so that we could all eat together. He wants us being here to be a surprise." Aknaudin agreed.
"I think that we're going to be the best birthday gift that Yami gets today." Atemu said.
"I agree with Bakura. This wait is the worst." Marik agreed.
Malik shook his head. "It's not like you're going to be waiting the rest of your lives." Malik said.
"It feels like it." Bakura muttered.
"Oh, take it easy. We only have another half hour before they come here anyway." Seto said.
"Finally!" Bakura said, getting up.
Aknankanon shook his head. "At least show a bit of curtsey to the Emperor while we are here. This is something that he didn't have to do for Yami or us." Aknankanon said.
Yugi glanced at his watch and saw that it was time for him to get Yami to go to the room for the party and his surprise.
"Hey, Yami." Yugi said.
"Yeah." Yami said as he turned to look at Yugi.
"Come on. I have a birthday present that I want to give you." Yugi said.
"Yugi, you didn't have to get me anything for my birthday." Yami protested.
"I know, but I wanted to. Now, come on." Yugi said as he grabbed Yami by the arm and practically dragged him back into the palace.
"Okay, Yugi! I'm coming!" Yami said. He managed to work his wrist free of Yugi's grip and followed Yugi as he walked down the hall.
Yugi was smiling. 'He is going to be so surprised.' Yugi thought.
'I wonder what Yugi's giving me. I didn't even think that he would give me anything. I wish that he hadn't.' Yami thought.
The two then arrived at the door.
"Go on in, Yami. What I got you is inside." Yugi said.
"Okay." Yami said. He walked forward and opened the door. He got quite a surprise when he looked in.
"Surprise! Happy birthday, Yami!" everyone inside shouted.
Yami was in shock, but he quickly got over it. "What are all of you doing here?" Yami asked as he went over to the group.
Amara immediately hugged her son. "You should thank the Emperor. He's the one that made all this possible." Amara said
Yami then looked at Yugi. "You did this?" Yami asked.
Yugi nodded. "I knew that you missed your family, so I invited them here so that you could spend your birthday with them." Yugi said.
"Thank you. That means a lot." Yami said.
The group then started talking with Yami/
Heba, Joey, Ryou, Malik, and Yugi all stood to the side to let them talk.
"Yugi, I think that you just made Yami's birthday great." Heba said.
"That's what I was aiming for." Yugi said.
After a while, the group sat down to eat.
"You really didn't suspect anything, did you?" Atemu asked.
"No. I didn't even know you guys were here. When did you get here?" Yami asked.
"This morning." Aknankanon said.
"We had agreed to have the party this afternoon, so I had to make sure that you didn't find them here until now." Yugi said.
Yami smiled. "Well, I have to say that I didn't expect this when you told me that you had gotten me something for my birthday." Yami said.
After eating lunch and the cake, the group started to sit around talking again.
"So, had anything interesting happened while you've been here, Yami?" Bakura asked.
"One thing certainly stands out." Yami said.
"What's that?" Aknaudin asked.
Before Yami could answer, several roars were heard.
Turning, the group saw that Waterstar, Lighteningstar, Earthstar, and Windstar were in the room.
The four tigers then jumped forward and pounced onto Heba, Malik, Joey, and Ryou respectively.
There were several horrified screams.
The four tigers looked down at the ones they had pinned before they leaned down and started to lick them in the face.
Heba started to giggle. "Okay, Waterstar. I get the point. You're happy to see me." Heba said.
"Get off of my, you big lug." Malik said, pushing the tiger off.
"Man! It's great to see you." Joey said as he rubbed Earthstar's head.
"It's great to see you, too, boy." Ryou said as Windstar started to rub in his face.
The four tigers got off of their respective owners.
Yugi laughed. "I had a feeling that they would be happy to see you." Yugi said.
The four tigers were rubbing up against their owners.
"What the hell are tigers doing here?!" Bakura shouted, starring at them wide-eyed.
Lighteningstar looked at Bakura and said, "That's your husband, Ryou?"
"You can talk!" Amara shouted.
"They all can. Maybe I should explain." Yugi said.
"They belong to us. Have since we were kids." Heba said.
"How can they talk?" Atemu asked.
"They're magical tigers." Yugi answered.
Yami laughed at the expressions on the faces of his family members. "I had that same reaction when I first met them." Yami said.
"When did you first meet them?" Marik asked.
"About a month ago. I was wondering around the palace and came across them. I was scared because they acted like they were killing to me." Yami said.
"Hey! We didn't know who you were. For all we knew, you were there to hurt us!" Earthstar said defensively.
"I know, and I'm not mad." Yami said.
"So, they're not dangerous?" Aknaudin asked to make sure.
"No. The only way they are threat to you is if you intend to bring harm t their masters. Then they attack." Yugi said.
"Who are their masters?" Aknankanon asked.
"The ones they pounced on." Yugi answered.
Heba shrugged "We're used to them." Heba said.
"Why haven't you mentioned them before?" Marik asked.
"Didn't think about it, honestly." Malik said as the four stood up.
"So, they're not dangerous to us, right?" Atemu asked.
Waterstar walked over to Atemu and rubbed up against him. "No. In fact, given that you're married to my master, that automatically makes you my master as well." Waterstar said.
"Damn it! That means he's my master, too!" Lighteningstar said.
Yugi shook his head. "You are such a drama queen." Yugi said.
"I am not!" Lighteningstar snapped.
"Yes, you are." Yugi said.
After some time, the Egyptians got used to the tigers.
"Hmm. Since they're your tigers, do you guys want to bring them to the palace in Egypt?" Amara asked.
"Can we?" Joey asked, excited at the prospect.
"What do you think?" Amara asked, turning to look at her husband.
"Not a bad idea really." Aknankanon agreed. He then turned serious. "You are all responsible for their actions, though." Aknankanon said.
"No problem." Heba said.
The four tigers looked rather happy at the thought of being reunited with their masters permanently.
"Well, I guess we've got some new residents at the palace." Atemu said.
Aknankanon rubbed his head. "I'm going to have a field day explaining this to the priests." Aknankanon said.
The group stayed a while longer. Nice night fell, the Egyptians knew that it was time for them to leave.
"Well, it's been fun, but bye." Bakura said, going through the portal.
Ryou shook his head. "He's so irritating." Ryou said before going as well as Windstar right behind him.
"See ya, Yami. Happy birthday." Marik said before going through the portal with Malik and Lighteningstar behind him.
"Well, we'll see you later." Seto said.
"Bye." Joey added.
The two walked through the portal along with Earthstar.
"Bye, Yami. Happy birthday." Amara said as she hugged her son.
"Bye, Mom." Yami replied.
"Take care." Aknankanon added.
The two then left with Aknaudin.
"Happy birthday, Yami. Glad that we got to see you again." Atemu said.
"Bye, Atemu." Yami said.
Atemu and Heba then left with Waterstar before the portal closed.
"Happy?" Yugi asked.
"Very." Yami replied as they headed toward their rooms. "Thanks, Yugi. This means a lot." Yami said.
"No problem." Yugi said.
At Yami's room, Yami turned to him. "You really didn't have to do it, but I'm glad that you did." Yami said.
"Anytime." Yugi said.
"Well, I'll see you in the morning, Yugi." Yami said.
"All right, Yami. Good night." Yugi said before he walked off and went to his own room.
Yami smiled before going into his room. He went to his bed and got out his diary.
May 13
Today ended up being a better day than I thought it would be. Yugi invited my family here so that they could be here on my birthday. I think he knew that I was a little homesick and wanted to do something to help ease my homesickness. He really is a great friend to me. I'm glad that they all came, and I was able to see them again. I have no doubt that I'll see them again before my stay in the Millennial Kingdom is over.
Yami then closed his diary and out it away before he went to bed.
Hope you liked it. I thought that Yami deserved to have his fmaily around on his birthday.
Next: Things heat up between Yugi and Yami.
R&R.