Yu-Gi-Oh is the property of Konami and Kazuki Takahashi, and this work is only a very appreciative celebration, from which we hope to derive no profit of any kind.
"Father!" Yuugi knew better than to press his father to reconcile before he was ready. This Christmas morning he'd been getting comfort where he could, from Mother, from Yami, and – Sort of! – from Pegasus. He'd almost managed to forget his father was there, until Father jumped up, and stepped right on top of the book he'd just given Pegasus, and then hurried off grumbling. "It's Christmas," he called after him, "can't you…" and then, "wait!"
Yami put a hand on his arm, shaking his head. "No."
"Why not?" Yuugi looked at him. "Why does he have to live in the past?" He caught himself as the words tumbled out, as he found himself looking into the pained faces of his mother, as well as Yami. Donald was still just barely inthe past, for any of them. His memory was still alive. But why did it have to get in the way of what was real, what was present now? Couldn't Father let go of his memories long enough to see the son he still had?
"He needs more time." Yami picked Pegasus' book up off the floor, his slender fingers caressing the binding, carefully smoothing the pages back into order. He put it back on the table, then looked at Yuugi. Yuugi looked back. He warmed his heart in the caring expression on his lover's face; he tried to be happy with what he so evidently had, and not to go yearning after Father.
"He'll come around, dear." Mother's voice was gentle. "It has to be in his own way though. We can't push him, that will only make it take longer."
Yuugi nodded, still feeling downcast. He understood, but that didn't make it any easier to wait.
"Now dears, it's time to get busy." Mother rose in a swirl of lavender-scented skirts. There's still so much to be done. You and Yami had better hurry upstairs and get dressed. Our guests are going to start arriving any minute, and I want my sons" – She caressed the word, looking lovingly from one to the other in a way that made Yuugi's heart warm. Truly, Mother was a special person. – "downstairs to greet them with me."
"Yes Mother, right away!" Yuugi's smile returned, and his eyes shone with excitement. "I can't wait."
The house was a hive of activity, with servants running this way and that, and musicians being accommodated, and Gilmour the butler, in the middle of it all, directing his underlings to make everything perfect. This year he'd outdone himself, Yuugi thought as he came downstairs in his dinner clothes. The tree was the tallest one ever, and covered with twinkling candles, as well as the little joke-gifts his mother always provided for all the guests. The dinner sent ravishing aromas all the way up to his nursery on the top floor of the house. And the musicians tuning up in the drawing room sounded as lovely as any London orchestra. He hugged Yami's arm as they went downstairs, whispering, "have you ever seen anything so beautiful?"
And Yami, even though he'd spent his Christmases all over Europe, and seen things that would dwarf this little family celebration, must have caught his excitement, because he hugged him back and whispered, "never."
The first guests were already arriving, Yuugi and Yami standing next to Mother to greet them. Yuugi would have loved to hold hands with his lover, as he'd done on the stairs, but of course that wouldn't do. He comforted himself with the reminder that good manners would have required that they stand apart even if they were husband and wife, much less in this setting, where they were supposedly brothers. And every time a new person came in, Mother put out her hand with a smile, and then passed them along to her supposed "sons" for a second greeting.
Yami smiled and bowed very properly and nicely, to each new guest that came in. Yuugi, by his side, did the same of course. And then as they passed on by into the drawing room, he leaned in and whispered questions and reminders. "You recognize them, don't you?" for example, as the Devlins passed by, his cousin Duke dressed flashily as usual, and his wife Serenity in bulky, modest robes, to conceal her pregnant condition.
"Duke Devlin, am I right?" Yami whispered back. "Only didn't you tell me they'd just had a child a year ago?"
"And one a year before that. Duke is what Father calls a proper heir," Yuugi said. "He's got so many sons already, that there's sure to be someone to inherit the title after he's gone."
"I don't understand." Joey had just arrived with Téa, and was waiting to greet them, but Yami took the time to ask a question first. "Don't you become Earl after your Father dies?"
Yuugi nodded. – He threw a smile toward his friends first, then turned back to answer Yami's question. "You'll be the next Earl," he said. "You know, because everyone thinks you're Don …my brother. And then I'm next after you. Only we're not going to have any children, are we? And Duke's next after us to get the title. I'm sure Father's very happy about it," he said, hoping that the pain of knowing it was never going to be him who made his father happy wasn't too obvious. "His precious title will be secure until the Twenty-First Century."
Yami squeezed his hand. A look passed between them. – Not a long one, not one that took them away from greeting guests, but just a quick, warm look, that lifted Yuugi's heart and reminded him why he'd chosen to spend his life with this man. Soulmates, there was a word that belonged in sentimental novels, but what he and Yami had together did feel like a bond between souls. It went beyond love and affection, an union so deep that nothing could break it.
"Hey Yuug'," Joey, as always, rambunctiously and cheerful, called out so loud that he must have been heard all the way into the drawing room. He punched his friend's shoulder. "Take a look at Tristan when he comes around," he said with a wink. "That's some chicken he brought with him today."
"Your manners!" Téa looked like she wanted to punch Joey but, being in public, she contented herself with a glare. "Ribbon is a well-bred young lady," she said. "I'll thank you to speak respectfully."
"Ribbon?" Yami looked at them, but Téa was already headed into the drawing room, half-leading, half-dragging Joey with her.
Yuugi threw him a grin. "You'll see."
Tristan was coming toward them now, with Ribbon at his side. – Yuugi didn't know the girl very well, she'd left school at 14, but he'd seen her around the village. She might be, as Téa said, "a respectable young lady," but she certainly liked dressing noticeably, the ribbons she always wore in her hair (that were responsible for her nickname) being one example, and she certainly liked flirting with boys. She'd flirted with him, and that was rare. Most girls treated him like a child, just because he was a little on the short side… In truth, Yuugi had always rather liked Ribbon flirting with him, because at least she was treating him like a man. Not that he'd breathe a word of that to Yami, or to Tristan either."
"Yuugi!" Ribbon put both her little hands into one of his. "It's ever so lovely of you to give this delicious party!" A lilting laugh, a ripple as she tossed her long hair back. "I don't have to call you Mr. Jardine, do I? Or Your Lordship? We're old friends." She turned, her blue eyes catching sight of Yami, and instantly all her smiles were for him. "And is this your handsome brother I've been hearing so much about? Oh tell Ribbon, do, what shall I call you, sir?"
Behind her, Tristan trailed. Yuugi might have felt sorry for him, as he would for anyone, trying to keep the force of nature that was Ribbon all to himself, but his friend seemed perfectly happy. To coin a phrase, he looked like a little boy on Christmas morning.
"She's lovely, isn't she?" He shook Yuugi's hand warmly, then moved on to Yami's, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that he had to practically pry his lady friend's hands out before he could shake it.
They both moved on into the drawing room, leaving Yami and Yuugi to look at each other in amusement. "Your father wouldn't want him for an heir, would he?" Yami said in an undertone. "With Ribbon for a wife, he'd never know for sure that his heirs were his own."
"Yami!" Yuugi gulped back a spurt of laughter as the next guest came near, his Great-Aunt Sophronia, who made herself memorable each year by remembering his birthday with a single gold sovereign, and a note telling him not to spend it all in one place. Her kisses, he remembered just a moment too late, were just as memorable in their own right. He pulled back, but too late, as her bony fingers caught hold of his shoulders, and he was enveloped in the smell of mothballs and eau de cologne.
"Donald," she said, moving on to envelop Yami as well, "what were you whispering about?" She kept her tight grip on his shoulder, dragging him with her as she entered the drawing room. "You've been abroad so long I thought you were dead," Yuugi heard her tell him. "You aren't an imposter, are you? It would be just like my godson James to be taken in."
Yuugi sighed, finding himself alone at the door. "Go on in dear," his mother told him, noticing. "I'll greet the rest of the guests myself."
"Are you sure?"
She gave him a warm smile. "It's a party. Go find your friends and have a good time."
Yuugi didn't wait for the little shooing motion that accompanied her smile. He went in, the quiet elegance of the hallway vanishing instantly, to be replaced by music, and laughter, and groups of happy people passing by, talking excitedly about the lights, the tree, the aromas of the dinner to come. He caught sight of Joey and Téa at the opposite end of the room, admiring the Christmas tree, and Joey apparently trying to read the tags on the joke-gifts that hung from it. He made his way toward them.
Before he'd gone two steps though, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Yuugi turned, surprised to see his father beside him.
"These parties," he grumbled. "Vulgar crushes, I call them. Why your mother can't be content with a simple family dinner, or a small gathering, just a few people of our own station…"
"Mother is generous." Yuugi wasn't sure what his father wanted him to say, but he couldn't stand by and hear him criticize his mother. "These parties give so much happiness to so many."
His father snorted. "Naturally you'd take her side." He swallowed, then added, "can't we ever talk without arguing any more?"
Yuugi looked at his father. For once he didn't sound stern, or critical. He wasn't blustering, or bragging about the family. Instead, he sounded uncomfortable, almost unhappy.
"Father?" Yuugi looked up into eyes that were violet like his, eyes that looked back at him with something like longing in them.
"You've always been your mother's boy," his father said. "And Don …ah, your brother was always more mine. He overshadowed you a little, didn't he? He was the grown-up one, the achiever."
Yuugi looked down. "We all miss Donald," he murmured.
"Dammit boy, that's not what I'm trying to say!" That was the Father he knew, the stern tone, the quick check to his own words. But when he looked up, the expression of longing was still on his face.
"I just wanted to tell you you've grown up yourself." Father stumbled over the words, as if they came hard. "That when you stood up to me for your …ah, for Yami: It's what a man should do, Yuugi. That's all I wanted to say."
"Oh Father, I don't know what to say." Yuugi wasn't sure what he should do either. He'd have hugged someone else, if they'd said that, but his father had never seemed to want his hugs. He stood there, first irresolute, and then very surprised, as his father took him into his arms for a quick hug. – A very quick hug, and then the Earl pulled away.
"You're a good man, Yuugi," he said. "I'll be proud to have you succeed me as Earl."
Yuugi watched, as his father hurried away. He knew he'd just been paid the biggest compliment the Earl of Kirkconnell was capable of making.