Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay.
Enjoy!
Chapter 19- Discovery and Stubbornness
It had only been a few hours since Yugi had returned to the Millennial Kingdom.
Yami had gone back to his room right after that since he could feel that his heart was being ripped to shreds again.
The moment that his bedroom door was shut, Yami had let the tears fall down his face. He walked over to his bed and collapsed on the bed. He buried his face in his pillow as he started to cry out his pain and grief. Yami's entire body was shaking from the force of the sobs.
'Damn it! I didn't want to lose him again! I didn't want Yugi to leave me! I can't live without him! I know that now! Why does everything have to be so hard?!' Yami was pretty much screaming to himself by now.
Yami had never known pain like this before. His heart felt like someone had driven a knife into it and were ripping it out pf his body. He felt broken and he knew that there was no way to stop the pain he was in.
Yami didn't hear the knock on the door nor did he hear the door opened.
Atemu had gone to Yugi's room and had been worried when Yami didn't answer his knock since he knew that Yami had gone into his room. Wanting to make sure that his brother was all right, Atemu opened the door and walked into the room. He felt his heart wrench painfully when he saw his brother laying on the bed, crying. Atemu shut the door before he walked over to Yami's bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed before he ran a hand down Yami's back in a soothing motion.
Yami tensed when he felt someone rubbing his back. He turned to find himself looking into his brother's worried-filled crimson eyes. "At-Atemu, what are you doing in here?" Yami asked a little shakily as he sat up and wiped the tears from his eyes.
"Do you want to tell me what's gotten you so upset?" Atemu asked.
Yami looked away from him. "It doesn't matter." Yami said.
"Don't even try that with me, Yami!" Atemu snapped, rather angry.
Surprised, Yami turned to look at Atemu.
"Yami, I am not stupid! I know that its Yugi's leaving that has you this upset." Atemu told his brother.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Atemu. Yugi was just a visiting king of another kingdom that aided us in the war. He's a friend. That's it." Yami said, getting off the bed and walking off a little.
Atemu jumped up and grabbed Yami by the arm, turning Yami around to face him. "Don't tell me that bullshit, Yami! I'm not stupid!" Atemu snapped.
Yami glared at him. "Just knock it off, Atemu! There is nothing for you to know because there is nothing to be upset about! It's not about Yugi!" Yami said angrily.
"Yami, I saw you two back in the Millennial Kingdom. When we went and found out about the Millennium items, I saw you two kissing each other." Atemu said more calmly.
Yami looked at Atemu in shock. "Y-you saw that?" Yami asked.
Atemu nodded. "I know that something more went on between you two back in the Millennial Kingdom. Besides, I've been seeing how you are depressed." Atemu said.
"Atemu, you don't understand." Yami said as he wrestled out his brother's grasp.
"Don't understand what? What went on between you two?" Atemu asked.
Yami sighed. "W-we fell in love. We didn't intend for anything like that to happen. We really did just start off as friends, but then it escalated to love." Yami said.
"That explains why I saw you kissing him and why you were so worried about him when that explosion happened back in the battle." Atemu said.
"I didn't want anything to happen to him anymore than you wanted anything to happen to Heba." Yami said.
"Yami, I don't understand why you came back if you were in love with Yugi." Atemu said.
"I had to come back, Atemu. I didn't have a choice." Yami said.
"What do you mean you didn't have a choice?" Atemu demanded.
"Atemu, I have a duty to Egypt! I couldn't turn my back on my homeland!" Yami said.
"But you're not happy." Atemu stated.
"I'm fine. I can get past this." Yami said.
"Really? Yami, I have never seen you cry for any reason as long as we both have been here. I find you sobbing on your bed, and you think that you can get past this." Atemu said.
"I can, Atemu. I have to." Yami said.
"No, you don't. What you should be doing is going after Yugi." Atemu said.
"I can't! Atemu, don't you get it! I have a duty to Egypt! I can't deny that! I can't dismiss it! I know that I am needed here, and there is nothing that I can do about that! I have to be here! This is my place! This is where I belong!" Yami snapped.
"No, it isn't. You don't belong here. How can you say that you belong here when your heart is somewhere else entirely?" Atemu asked.
"I can live through this. I have to. Yugi and I both knew when we started that relationship that we would have to give it up at some point. We both knew that we could only be together for a limited amount of time. We knew it wouldn't last because we come from two entirely different kingdoms." Yami said.
"What about me and Heba. Or Seto and Joey? Bakura and Ryou? Marik and Malik? We all come from different kingdoms. We are all together and happy." Atemu said.
"Atemu, that is different." Yami said as he started to walk around the room. "You were all forced to get married. You did fall in love, but it was forced." Yami said.
"And we're all very happy now. Yami, just because you two are from different kingdoms doesn't mean that you can't be together." Atemu said.
"Yes, it does. I have a duty to Egypt. I can't fail in that." Yami said.
Atemu sighed. "Yami, I get that, but you're not happy doing this anymore." Atemu said.
"How do you know that?" Yami demanded.
"Because you used to do things with determination and enthusiasm. You don't anymore. You do them with dread, and you don't put your best effort into them. Yami, you don't like your duties when you used to like them." Atemu said.
"It doesn't matter. I knew that this is what would end up happening in the end, so it's not like it's a surprise." Yami said.
"Yami-" Atemu started.
"Atemu, just stop it!" Yami said, turning to glare at his brother. "I can't just drop everything and move! I have responsibilities to the people of Egypt, and I intend to carry them out!" Yami snapped.
Atemu stood up and faced Yami. "All right. You can go on believing this delusion of yours, Yami, but let me ask you this. What happened to duty to yourself? Duty to your heart?" Atemu asked.
Yami stood there stunned at what Atemu had just said.
"Think about that." Atemu said before he turned and walked out of the room without another word.
Yami just stood there. 'Duty to myself? I hadn't thought of that.' Yami thought. He shook his head. 'No. I can't think about that! I have my duty to Egypt, and that's the only one that matters.' Yami thought, although he was still trying to convince himself of that fact.
Heba was lying on his and Atemu's bed as he read a book on pregnancy that he had gotten from Isis. "I am in so much trouble." Heba said. He was getting rather worried about having a baby now that he had read this book.
The door opened and slammed shut.
Heba jumped and watched as his husband stormed into the room. "Are you okay?" Heba asked.
"No, I am not okay! My brother is complete idiot!" Atemu said.
Heba closed the book and put it aside. "What happened? Did you two get into some kind of argument?" Heba asked.
"Oh, yes, and I would love to kill him! I could your brother, too, for that matter." Atemu said.
"Why do you want to kill my brother, too?" Heba asked.
Atemu turned to look at his husband. "Heba, when Yami was staying in the Millennial Kingdom for those six months, he and Yugi fell in love, and they started a relationship." Atemu said.
"What?" Heba said, a look of disbelief on his face.
"Yeah. They basically had a short relationship because Yami felt he had a duty to Egypt, and Yugi has a duty the Millennial Kingdom. That's why they broke up. Those two are as in love as you and I are." Atemu said.
"I knew something was up with Yugi. He acted on edge since we were back. That must have been what it was." Heba said.
"I wouldn't doubt it. This is killing Yami. He wants to be with Yugi more than anything, and he just won't go because he thinks that hid duty to Egypt is more important than his duty to his own heart." Atemu said.
"Well, Yami and Yugi didn't have the pleasure of being forced into marriage like us." Heba said.
Atemu glanced at Heba. "You know, at the start of the marriage, neither one of us would have called it pleasure." Atemu said.
"Okay. So we weren't happy with it at the start, but we are now. Yami should be true to himself." Heba said.
"You know, I think that we're going to need a little extra help with this problem." Atemu said as he lay down on the bed, putting his head in Heba's lap.
Heba started to run his fingers through Atemu's hair. "What did you have in mind?" Heba asked.
"I'm not exactly sure. I just know that Yami can be a stubborn ass, and I know that it'll take more than me to convince him of the fact that he should go to Yugi." Atemu said.
"Let me ask you this. If your parents knew that Yami was in love with Yugi, what do you think they would do?" Heba asked.
"Well, after my dad stopped yelling at Yami for being so stupid for leaving Yugi because he felt that he had a duty to Egypt, Dad would tell Yami that he should go back to Yugi." Atemu said.
"There's the answer to what we need to do." Heba said.
Atemu rolled over onto his back so that he was looking up at Heba. "What are you talking about? What is the answer?" Atemu asked.
"Sometimes, I question your intellect." Heba said.
"Meaning?" Atemu asked, not really taking the insult seriously.
"Atemu, what I mean is that we need to tell your parents about this. They might be able to convince Yami to go after Yugi." Heba said.
Atemu sat up suddenly. "Heba, you're a genius!" Atemu said, grabbing Heba and hugging him tightly.
"Atemu. Can't. Breathe!" Heba said.
"Sorry." Atemu said, letting go. "But really, it's a great idea. Maybe Mom and Dad can help convince Yami otherwise." Atemu said.
"Okay. I'm glad that you got that." Heba said.
"Come on. We need to tell them now." Atemu said. He grabbed Heba by the wrist and practically dragged him out of their bedroom.
Aknankanon and Amara were in the lounge with Seto, Joey, Bakura, Ryou, Marik, and Malik relaxing after all that they had been through.
"At least we have a time of peace now." Amara said.
"I agree. We really need it." Aknankanon said.
"You cheated!" Marik shouted.
"I did not cheat! You're just lousy at this game!" Malik retorted.
"How the hell did you manage that?!" Joey shouted.
"Because I'm a better chess player that you!" Seto snapped.
"Than again, there's never really a time of peace in this palace with these boys around." Amara said.
"Indeed." Aknankanon agreed, watching as two couples argued and the other one was making out.
The door to the lounge opened, and Atemu and Heba came in.
"Hi, boys. Come to join the party?" Aknankanon asked.
"No, Dad. I need to talk to you and Mom. It's rather important." Atemu said.
"Oh. What is it about?" Aknankanon asked.
Heba shut the door so that no one would hear them.
"It's about Yami." Atemu said.
"Is he all right?" Amara asked.
"No. not really." Atemu said.
"WHAT?! WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?!" Amara shouted.
Everyone jumped.
"Mom, calm down! He's not physically hurt." Atemu said.
"Then has something gotten him upset?" Aknankanon asked.
"Oh, yeah. It's about Yugi and Yami." Atemu said.
Waterstar instantly perked his ears up. He looked up and said, "You know about that?"
"You know?" Atemu and Heba asked at the same time.
"Yes. Firestar told me everything before he left with Emperor Yugi." Waterstar answered.
"Firestar knew?" Heba asked incredulously.
"Yes. He was the only one that knew." Waterstar answered.
"Knew what?! What went on between Yami and Yugi?!" Aknankanon demanded, wanting to know what had gone on with his son and the Millennial Emperor.
"In short, while Prince Yami was staying there for six months, Prince Yami and Emperor Yugi started a relationship, but because Yami had to return to Egypt, they had to break things off. Emperor Yugi had to remain in the Millennial Kingdom rule, and Prince Yami felt that he had a duty to Egypt and had to return. Now, they're both pretty much miserable because they want to be together, but feel like they can't because of the duties that they are bound to in each other their kingdoms." Waterstar explained without taking so much as one breath.
Every jaw dropped, except for Atemu and Heba's since they already knew.
"They were involved!" Aknankanon exclaimed.
"And they never told us!" Amara added.
"I don't think they wanted anyone to know. I mean, both felt like they had to leave, so it's not that surprising that they didn't tell anyone." Atemu said.
"Have you talked to your brother at all about this, Atemu?" Aknankanon asked, turning to look at his oldest son.
"Yeah. I actually went and confronted Yami about it before I told Heba what I knew." Atemu replied.
"How did you find out if no one told you?" Seto asked.
"Well, when we went to the Millennial Kingdom when we found out about the Millennium items, I noticed that Yami and Yugi had disappeared, so I went to find them, and I saw them kissing. Because of what was going on, I couldn't talk to Yami about it until now." Atemu said.
"Why not on the plane? You had plenty of time then." Ryou said.
"I wanted to talk to him about in private. That wasn't something I was going to talk to him about in front of a crowd of people." Atemu said.
"With Yami, that was the best idea." Aknankanon agreed.
"I never thought that Yami would do this. He should have known that we wouldn't mind him being in love with Emperor Yugi. We would have let him go and stay with him." Amara said.
"I think he feels like he needs to follow through with his duties to Egypt." Atemu explained.
Aknankanon sighed. "This is entirely my fault then." Aknankanon said.
"What do you mean?" Bakura asked.
"Never mind. Atemu, where is Yami now?" Aknankanon asked.
Atemu glanced at his watch. "Well, an hour ago I left him in his room. He was pretty upset, so I would say that he is most likely still there." Atemu said.
"Come on, Amara. We have some things that we need to straighten out with him." Aknankanon said.
The two then left the room.
"Should someone go with him?" Marik asked.
"I'll go. It's my brother that he's having to talk to." Atemu said.
"I'll go with you." Heba said.
The two then left the room.
"Wow. Yugi and Yami. That's one that I didn't see coming." Joey said.
"You don't see most of what happens, coming." Seto said.
"Oh, knock it off!" Joey snapped.
"No." Seto said calmly.
"I hope that they can get Yami to go back. I mean, if they are really in love, then they deserve to be together." Ryou said.
"No kidding." Malik said.
"Well, that won't be easy because Yami can be a stubborn ass when he wants to be." Bakura remarked.
"Yeah. It'll be hard for even all four of them together to manage to convince Yami to go back." Marik stated.
Yami was sitting on his bed. He was thinking about what Atemu said. 'I know that I should stay here, but I want to go back. I want to be with Yugi, even if that means leaving Egypt permanently. I want to be with him.' Yami thought. His duty-centered mind then crept back up. 'But I have a duty to Egypt as well. I have to be loyal to it. I have duties that I have to perform, and I can't change that fact.' Yami thought.
Sighing, Yami stood up and walked out onto the balcony. 'What do I do? I know that Atemu won't let this rest. I want to be loyal to Egypt, but at the same time, I have to be true to myself. But being true to myself and my duty to Egypt are two entirely different things.' Yami thought.
Once more, Yami's mind was filled with visions of Yugi. It was all that Yami could really think about at the moment.
There was a knock on Yami's door.
'If that's Atemu again, I swear that I'm making sure he doesn't get in here.' Yami thought. He walked over, opened the door, and was surprised to find that his parents were outside. "Mom. Dad. What are you doing here?" Yami asked.
"We needed to talk to you, Yami. It's rather important." Aknankanon said.
"Can we come in?" Amara asked.
Yami noticed that Atemu and Heba had walked up behind his parents. 'They know.' Yami thought. Remembering his mother's request, Yami said, "Sure." He stepped aside so that everyone could come into his room.
Atemu and Heba decided to stand off to the side and let Aknankanon and Amara talk to Yami.
'I hope that Mom and Dad can do some good. I really want Yami to be happy, and I know that he won't be happy unless he's with Yugi.' Atemu thought.
"Yami, Atemu told us that you and Emperor Yugi started a relationship when you were staying in the Millennial Kingdom for six months. Is this true?" Aknankanon asked. He knew that Atemu was telling the truth. He just wanted to hear Yami say it.
'Atemu is dead for this.' Yami thought. Yami sighed and said, "Yes, Dad. It's true."
"Yami, why didn't you tell us?" Amara asked.
"Because it wasn't important, Mom." Yami said.
"Not important?! I don't call being in a relationship that probably went on for months not important, Yami!" Aknankanon said.
Yami jumped slightly, started at his father's raised voice. "Dad, it was in the past. I came back, so I had to move on from it." Yami said.
"Yami, you just don't move on when you love someone. Did you love Emperor Yugi?" Amara asked.
Yami opened his mouth to answer.
"I want an honest answer." Amara added sharply.
Yami sighed again. "Yes. I did love him. Still do." Yami admitted.
"Then why didn't you just tell us that and stay with him?" Aknankanon asked.
Yami sat down on his bed. "Dad, I couldn't just leave Egypt. I mean, I have duties to Egypt. I couldn't just turn my back on my people." Yami said.
"Yami." Amara said as she sat down beside her son. "You have a right to be with the one that you love. No one is asking you to give him up. I can tell that him leaving is bothering you. You don't deserve to live unhappily, and neither does Emperor Yugi." Amara said.
"But-" Yami started.
Aknankanon sighed. "Yami, I believe part of the reason that you feel that you cannot leave is my fault." Aknankanon said.
"Dad, this isn't your fault." Atemu said.
"Yeah. I have duties that I can't ignore." Yami said.
"No, Yami. You don't. You know that you have a handful of duties as does Atemu." Aknankanon told them.
"We know, Dad. Yami and I both have duties as Princes of Egypt." Atemu said.
"No, you don't. The duties that the two of you carry out are duties that are supposed to be solely by the Crown Prince. Those combined duties were supposed to be the ones that Atemu was supposed to carry out." Aknankanon said.
"They were?" Yami asked.
Aknankanon nodded. "When I was the Crown Prince, I had to carry out al those duties, and it left very little time for myself. I wasn't able to have fun like I wanted to when I was younger because of the duties that I had. I hated that, so when you were born, Yami, I decided that I would split the duties between you so that both of you would be able to have a little bit of fun in your lives. I may have misled you into thinking that these were duties that were meant for you." Aknankanon said.
"Dad, that doesn't change the fact that I have a duty to Egypt. I can't just abandon my homeland because of this." Yami said.
"That's exactly why you can to do it. Yami, you have no real duty to Egypt. Those duties are supposed to be carried out by Atemu, and I know that he will carry them out." Aknankanon said.
"Of course I will." Atemu said.
"Yami, you're unhappy like this, and we don't want you to live your life being this unhappy. It's not good." Amara said.
"Mom, I can't just leave. This is my home." Yami said.
"Yami." Heba said.
Yami turned his attention to his brother-in-law.
"People do sometimes find new homes to live in. I did. Maybe the change wasn't easy, but I was able to make it, and I am happy now. I know that I wouldn't be happy in the Millennial Kingdom apart from Atemu now. I wouldn't be able to stand it." Heba said.
"But-" Yami started.
"Yami, you have heard the phrase 'home is where the heart is', haven't you?" Heba asked.
"Of course I have." Yami said.
"Did you ever think that maybe that phrase is true?" Heba asked.
Yami looked down.
"Yami, your mother and I don't want you to be unhappy. You aren't happy. We can tell that. If being with Emperor Yugi makes you happy, then by all means, go to him." Aknankanon said.
"Yes." Amara said, taking her son's hand in her own. "Go on. You and Yugi are happy together, and we aren't going to hold you back. Don't let yourself be unhappy because of this." Amara said.
"I can't." Yami said, getting up and walking away from her. "I just can't do that. My place is here." Yami said.
"You can't really mean that." Amara said.
"Yes, I do. I can't just leave. It would be unfair to everyone. I have to stay here." Yami said.
"Yami, if you stay here then you are just going to be miserable. You and Emperor Yugi both will be miserable." Amara said.
"Mom, I know what I have to do, and I need to stay here. Yugi and I knew before we even started a relationship that it would end. We knew that it wouldn't last. It wasn't something unexpected. There's no point in me going back." Yami said stubbornly, sitting down in a chair.
Amara and Aknankanon looked at each other, knowing that there was no way they could convince their son to go, and they couldn't force him to.
Atemu sighed. 'Well, they tried, but Yami's just too stubborn for his own good.' Atemu thought.
Heba decided that it was time for him to step in and say something. He started to walk over to where Yami was.
'I hope Heba knows what he's doing.' Atemu thought.
Heba knelt down in front of Yami and covered Yami's hand with one of his own. "Yami." Heba said.
Yami looked up into Heba's amethyst eyes.
"No one can tell you what you should do. You have to make this decision on your own, so I'm not going to tell you that you should go or you should stay. I am, however, going to ask you to think about this. What will you regret more: going to be with Yugi and leaving everyone here behind or remaining here and giving up what you could have with Yugi? Just think about that." Heba said.
Yami was stunned by Heba's words.
Heba then formed a medallion that would allow Yami to go to the Millennial Kingdom, which he pressed into Yami's hand. "Whatever you decide, make sure you can live with it. Just be true to your heart when you make this decision, Yami." Heba said. He then left the room.
"Well, I think that that says just about all of it. I hope that you're decision is one that you can live with, Yami." Atemu said.
Aknankanon and Amara followed their oldest son out the door.
"That was productive." Atemu said as they walked down the hall.
"I know. I can't believe that he's so stubborn." Amara said.
"Well, we all know how Yami is. He just won't listen. I wish I had never split the duties now." Aknankanon said.
"Dad, you can't blame yourself. You didn't know that this would happen." Atemu said.
"He's right. Yami is the only one to blame." Amara agreed.
"I wish that I could believe that." Aknankanon said.
Atemu glanced at Heba. "That was actually some good advice that you gave Yami, Heba." Atemu said.
"Well, this is his choice, so no one has the right to make the final choice except for him. He also needs to look at what he's giving up and what he would gain in both scenarios. I just hope that he does make the right choice." Heba said.
"So do I." Atemu said.
"Well, we just have to wait and see what he does decide on in the end." Amara said.
Yami starred down at the medallion Heba had given him. 'I can go to the Millennial Kingdom and be with Yugi, but can I really give up Egypt? I feel like I am betraying my homeland.' Yami thought.
Yami knew that he had a duty to Egypt. He knew that he couldn't leave. He had to remain there and be the Prince.
'But Yugi means so much to me. I want to be with him. I know that I do. Just what pain I have felt so far tells me that. Atemu's right. I'm miserable without him.' Yami thought.
Yami wanted Yugi. He wouldn't deny that. He hated being apart from the tri-haired Emperor. He loved Yugi with all his heart, and he wanted to be with him.
'What do I do? I have to choice between my people and the love of my life. I don't know that I can really do that.' Yami thought.
Yami tightened his fingers around the medallion as he contemplated everything.
'Damn it! Why does this have to be so hard?' Yami asked himself.
"I love you, too. No one will ever take your place." (1)
"What will you regret more: going to be with Yugi and leaving everyone here behind or remaining here and giving up what you could have with Yugi?"
'What will I regret more?' Yami asked.
Remembering that statement made Yami start to think about what Heba said. He started wondering what he would regret more.
'This is my choice, and I have to make it.' Yami thought.
'Whatever you decide, make sure you can live with it. Just be true to your heart when you make this decision, Yami.'
'I need to be true to myself.' Yami thought.
That was it.
Yami knew what he would choose.
Hope you liked it. Sorry for making Yami so stubborn, but he has to be stubborn. It's part of who he is in my opinion.
(1)- this is a quote that I took from chapter 7 of this story.
Next: You find out what Yami chose.
I've taken down the poll. I'm going to revamp the summary for that story and put up a new poll.
R&R.