Small Note

Sakura: It's sad that I only got two reviews for the last chapter when all the other chapters got more than two. Oh well I know I probably have some readers that don't review. It can be a little upsetting, but I'll always keep my stories going for those that do read.

Chapter Eight

Winter Ball

The tradition that goes on forever

The palace normally calm and quiet in the early mornings was not so quiet on the day of the winter ball. Servants and messengers raced up and down the halls running errands and doing early preparations for the party that was to be held that night. It was the one day a year when everyone in the city would be under one roof. This caused the workers of the palace to feel a little on edge as they wanted everything to be perfect or risk making their two kings upset.

Yuugi enjoyed when they held the winter ball, but it was the one day a year when his stress level went up. His husband stayed trapped in his office most of the day finishing early paper work that needed his attention. He was often bombarded with workers going in and out of his office letting him know how things were going or to get his approval on something. Thanks to his marriage to Yuugi, however that load was cut in half. Instead of Yami having workers bug him all day, Yuugi took over that job and thus why he was stressed until the party was over.

The younger King sighed as he finished looking over the food list and signed his name at the bottom so the chefs could get to work on preparing the meals for the night. He had only stepped into the kitchen to get a snack before lunch when one of the younger chefs stopped him to get his approval. They were cooking for more than the palace people tonight and there really was no telling how big the crowd would be. Mostly likely the whole city would be in attendance unless they were spending Christmas day night with their families.

Christmas day was a time to spend with families and enjoy the holidays, but the winter ball had been held on the night of Christmas day even before Yuugi had entered the city. He never knew why it was like that and never questioned his husband about it either. The only guess he had was that Yami figured it would be nice for the whole city to come together for the holiday even if they did not celebrate Christmas. In a way the whole city was like one big family or at least Yuugi liked to think of it that way.

The only people who were working on Christmas day were the police, firefighters, hospital staffs and the people in the palace who wanted to, did not celebrate Christmas, or wanted a little extra money. Yami always paid those who worked on Christmas day extra since it caused them to be away from their families. It was amazing how many palace workers loved working on Christmas day instead of staying home. Even Yuugi and Yami were working, but they had spent that morning giving out gifts to the children. All their children were too old to believe in Santa Claus, but Yuugi liked the fact that Yami always made an effort to get his children something no matter how old they were. The two even gave out gifts to their close friends and even received a few from their friends.

The atmosphere had been of joy and good moods when everyone woke up to Christmas morning. It was stressful sure, but Yuugi couldn't help the small smile that stayed on his face. He watched as chefs raced around the kitchen getting their cooking sections ready to start meals that would be needed to be cooked early. The young King could just picture the good smelling food lining table after table and the citizens digging in to the glorious meals. In the end everything would turn out amazing as always and the city would come together as friends to party the night away.

Yuugi took one last look around the kitchen before he snatched a couple apples from a local fruit basket and quietly left the kitchen. As he started down the hall he thought about checking up on his children to see if they liked their gifts and hopefully to take a minute to relax. However the hand that came down on his shoulder quickly squashed that thought. He closed his eyes for a minute before reopening them and turning around to see who needed him now.

Instead of a palace worker however, he found Yumi and Sakura standing behind him with smiles on their faces. This confused the younger greatly since he was sure they probably had things they needed to tend to.

"Just the man we were looking for…" Yumi said as she wrapped an arm around Yuugi's shoulders.

"What did you need me for?" Yuugi asked as Sakura came up on his other side and wrapped an arm around his shoulders too.

"Oh we just need a little help with something," Sakura replied with a grin and a nod toward Yumi.

Before Yuugi could do anything he found himself being lifted up by both girls and dragged off toward somewhere. "Hey! Where are we going?" He shouted as he tried to get out of their hold while also trying to hold on to his snack.

Yumi smirked at him and it was sometimes scary to Yuugi how much she looked like her brother. "It's a surprise, but no worries we promise nothing will happen to you."

That should have bought comfort to Yuugi but he knew the two girls were up to something. Sure, they would never cause bodily harm to him however the two were known for their pranks. Besides the trouble making Marik and Bakura, Yumi and Sakura could be just as devious as any prankster out there. Sadly the only thing Yuugi could do is relax and let them take him where ever they were going. The two were much stronger than him, plus if he helped them then maybe he could get a few minutes away from the stressed out palace workers.

Of all the places for Sakura and Yumi to take him, the last place he thought would be his husband's office. The door was firmly shut with a do not disturb sign hanging off the handle. Yami only used that sign when he was either in a meeting, did not wished to be disturb, or other things that would forever remain private between Yuugi and Yami.

The two girls set him down and stepped back so he could straighten his clothes back out. Yuugi then turned to look at the two confused on why he was there. "Honestly, why am I here?"

"That thing is on the door," Yumi pointed at the sign. "We have some things to talk with my dear brother about, but the last time I walked in there, back when he first got that stupid sign he nearly bit my head off. Since then I have learned to never go in there. However now that he has you as a lover it shouldn't be hard for you to go in."

Yuugi could not believe they needed him just so they could talk to Yami. "Oh for the love of…" He turned to the door, ripped the sign off, and opened the door walking straight in. "Yami! Your annoying sister needs to speak with you."

"Hey!" Yumi shouted causing Sakura to cover mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Yuugi I'm busy at the moment…" Yami groaned as he looked up from his paperwork when the three entered. He had wanted to get his work done at a decent hour so he could enjoy the party that night. Honestly a Kings work was never done even on holidays.

Yuugi gave Yami a sweet smile and walked over to the desk. He laid the do not disturb sign on top of the desk before giving Yami a kiss on the lips. "Well apparently they really needed to speak with you, so I helped them out."

Yami sighed as he put his pen down. "Fine what do you need Yumi?"

The younger sibling grinned. "Well since you wouldn't listen to me yesterday, I figured now would be the best time." She pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it showing her older brother what it was. "We want a fashion show for both men and women at this year's winter ball."

"A fashion show..?" Yami asked as if he did not believe it. "Why in the world would I host one of those?"

"Because dear brother of mine, it will allow all the lovely ladies to show off their dress, plus it would give the party a little more excitement." Yumi put an arm around Sakura. "Plus we are not the only ones who want the show. Raven, Chan, and a few others want to join in."

Yuugi chuckled as Yami started to rub his forehead. Every year it was something different with Yumi as she kept trying to give the winter ball something more so it would be more interesting. Year after year it was the same boring ball and Yuugi couldn't blame the girl for wanting a change of pace. He placed a hand on his husband's shoulder. "Honey it may be last minute, but would it really hurt to change the tradition a little?"

The King looked up at his husband and regretted it the moment he did since Yuugi was giving him the puppy dog eyes. He sighed again and held out his hand for the paper which Yumi happily gave him. "Just so you know it will be up to all three of you to plan and make it happen before tonight."

Yumi reached across the desk to hug her brother with such speed that Yami was completely caught off guard. "Oh thank you! Tonight is going to be awesome!"

Yami smiled a little and patted his sister's back. "You're welcome, but you better run along if you want to make it happen."

The younger sister nodded and pulled back before grabbing Sakura's hand and running out of the room. Yuugi smiled and leaned down to kiss Yami's cheek. "She is lucky to have a brother like you."

"I try, but I still don't see how she will pull it off before tonight." Yami said as he went back to his paper work.

"If I know Yumi, she has probably had this planned for weeks, but never found the best time to ask for fear you might back out on the plan." Yuugi guessed as he handed Yami one of the apples he was still holding before heading for the door. "Don't work too hard. I'll see you for lunch in a few hours…"

The King raised his apple in a silence agreement as his eyes were glued to the work he was doing. Yuugi left the room with a smile and a shake of his head, closing the door behind him.

"Yuugi, are you ready yet?" Yami gently called to his lover knocking on the bathroom door. Night had fallen over the city finally and the winter ball was about to begin in another thirty minutes. As always once everyone was inside the throne room, the royal family would make their entrance. Yuugi had taken a shower after Yami but had yet to come out of the bathroom. The King was dressed in black dress shoes, black slacks, a crimson button down shirt, and a black vest. He wanted to look both professional and casual during this event. The council often wanted him to dress more as a King, but Yami knew there was no need for that. He never liked wearing crowns or jewelry when he was a young prince in Egypt, so when he became King of Vampire City there had been some major changes to his look.

"This is embarrassing!" Yuugi whined from inside the bathroom. "I will never understand why Chan and Raven picked this out."

Yami chuckled. "Honey, I'm sure it's not that bad. Besides you would look good in anything you wear."

Yuugi pulled open the bathroom door to glare at his husband. "This coming from the King who likes to see his husband dressed as a girl. I'm a boy for crying out loud!" The outfit he had one was not that bad, but it was more of a woman's outfit than a man's outfit. He wore black boots with black slacks that much was okay, but the top was Yuugi's worst enemy at the moment. His top was of amethyst color, had a low curve to show off his collar bone, bell like long sleeves that stopped just before covering his hands and the worst part of it was that the back was open. The bottom of the top was tucked neatly into Yuugi's pants helping to show off his slim figure and to complete the look he had an amethyst belt around his waist to match the top.

It took the King a minute to pick his jaw up off the floor and address his beautiful mate. "I don't see a thing wrong with your outfit."

"You might not, but there is no way I am going out in this. I mean look at how much of my back is showing." Yuugi said as he turned to show Yami the back.

Yami smirked as he approached his husband and gently ran his fingers up Yuugi's back. The movement caused a shiver to run up the younger's spine. "You look ravishing and it would really make the children happy to see you in the clothes that they picked out."

As with every year the battle was lost with those words. Yuugi knew the children met well and he like to make them happy, but sometimes he felt like their dress up doll every time around this year. "Yeah I know… I just wish they would pick something that makes me look like a King rather than a Queen."

"Well you make a very sexy Queen tonight…" Yami said with a chuckle and got a good whack on the arm because of it. However it was so worth it to see the flustered look on his partner's face.

Yuugi moved passed his husband to their dresser so he could grab his locket. He put it on and then looked at himself one more time in the mirror to make sure his clothes look good enough. The younger did not want any more skin showing then had to be. The last thing he needed was some creeps grabbing him and making Yami go into possessive mode. Once he was satisfied with how he looked Yuugi turned to Yami and held out his hand.

Yami got the message as he took Yuugi's hand and placed a kiss on the back of it. He then linked his arm with Yuugi's as they made their way out of their shared bedroom. Tonight was sure to be interesting and in a way both of them were looking forward to it.

The children were all waiting for them when they got to the doors leading into the throne room. Raven and Chan were all dressed up in their beautiful dresses they had picked out the day before. Taylor, Ethan, and Jason were all dressed up in suits with different color shirts. Taylor had blue, Ethan had green, and Jason had white. Kotaro was dressed in tan pants with a white shirt and a pink tie to match Chan's dress. They all looked their best for that night's event and it made Yuugi curious to know if any of them were going to be in Yumi's fashion show.

Since the show had only been approved last minute, Yumi told the guards at the front door to pass out flyers to the guest coming into the palace to let them know about it. The first one hundred and fifty people to sign up at the table that was set up near the stage in the throne room could be in the show. If things worked out Yumi hoped to have another show next year so more people could be in it. There would be fifty women in one category, fifty men in another, and last a group of fifty teens and children. This show allowed both vampires and humans. There were no special prizes, but the best outfit out of each of the three categories would get a ribbon. In all Yumi was sure it was going to be a big hit so long as people signed up.

After having to go shopping with the girls yesterday Yuugi had no doubt that Chan and Raven would enter the show. He had a feeling they had probably helped Yumi and Sakura plan most of the show at the last minute. In any case all his children looked their best and it was moments like those that Yuugi enjoyed the most.

However his children all seemed to have a different reaction when they caught sight of his outfit. Chan and Raven both were ecstatic that he was wearing what they picked out. Kotaro simply smiled and told Yuugi he looked good, while three older boys bit their lips trying to stop from laughing. However a glare from their father kept their laughter at bay. Yuugi smiled glad to see the whole family in such good moods even though it seemed to be over his clothes.

They only had to stand outside the throne room for a few more minutes, before it was time for the royal family to make their appearance. Yuugi took a deep breath as the doors to the throne room opened. Chan and Kotaro went first, followed by Jason and Raven, and then Taylor and Ethan were the last of the royal children. Once the children disappeared through the doors, Yuugi and Yami linked arms once again and made their way into the room. They paused for the moment to look over their people and see all their happy faces.

The throne room was filled with humans and vampires alike all standing together. The room had been decorated as it was every year with its Christmas theme. There was a tree not far from the thrones and a stage that had been newly built that afternoon. As usually there were two other rooms, one for humans only and the other for vampires only, but those were empty at the moment. Everyone was gathered in the middle room parted down the middle to watch the entrance of their two Kings.

Yami squeezed Yuugi's hand as they smiled at their people and made their way down the path toward their thrones. After twenty years of doing this Yuugi still became nervous with all the eyes watching him. He always feared of messing up or tripping on his way to the throne. Just as all the years before and this one, it seemed his fears were silly as both he and Yami made it to the thrones with no problem.

Yuugi took his place on his throne with Yami giving him a kiss in front of everyone, before the King took his rightful place besides Yuugi. The King then looked toward his people with his head held high and in a loud enough voice for everyone to hear said, "Begin the Festivity!"

Sakura: Yes, this chapter is a little shorter than normal, but there is a point for that. I had something big planned next chapter so I needed to end this one here instead of making it longer. As I have promised things are going to start to get interesting and the next chapter is a very important one!

Yumi: Review!