Okay guys ^_^ Just so you all know, there will be a zoo scene in this chapter. The words of Kaiba (on the subject of the tigers) were actually spoken to me by my old foreign exchange student, Carlos. I miss him so much and we had lots of fun together. So I'd like to dedicate this chapter to him. I miss him more than anything, really. *sigh* Well, here you go.

I don't own YuGiOh.

Yami's POV
I was surprised to see Yuugi take initiative and be affectionate for once. It was pleasant, actually.
I didn't know why, but it felt like... more, when he touched me. I wasn't sure if it was just because I wasn't used to it or if it was something that just naturally occurred.
To be honest, I assumed that it was some of both.
It was quite strange, but it seemed like whenever we were close, I felt so much more complete than I did on my own.
I supposed that we must have been best friends. Inseparable, even.
"We're here! " Said Yuugi's grandpa, but only after about thirty minutes of awkward silence driving in to a mysteriously forested mountain.
We all shuffled out of the car and onto the solid earth. The scent of grass and general wildlife was astounding. Somehow, Kaiba managed to still remain pissy through all the beauty.
Must be a talent of his.
"Where's the trail, old man?" Kaiba demanded, scanning the trees for any sign of a break.
"Right there." He responded flatly, gesturing towards a small break in the trees. Kaiba looked offended.
"That trail looks like it was made for a deer, not people. I'm not walking that." Kaiba said flatly. Yuugi's grandpa started down the little trail, pushing leaves and branches out of the way as he went. No surprise, Kaiba did end up following him and sucking it up.
I started down the musty trail, dodging branches along the way and praying that one wasn't going to get tangled in my hair. That wouldn't exactly be my definition of fun. I hadn't gotten to brush it yet this morning, meaning that I'd have to actually stop and slowly work the branch out of my hair.
We hiked on for what seemed like forever, Yuugi having trouble getting over logs and just generally conquering the forest floor. After about half an hour, I could tell that he was already tired and sweaty.
I wanted to offer my help somehow, but I didn't think he'd take too kindly to being offered a piggyback ride.
"Are we getting close?" I asked, not wanting Yuugi to suffer any longer.
"We're halfway there." He responded, dodging a couple more branches. I had to swoop even lower this time, and all this dodging really was killing my back.
"Halfway to going crazy." Kaiba mumbled, kicking a leaf.
Yuugi's climbing ability continued to get worse and worse as the time went on. He was panting heavily and having a lot of trouble keeping up. After fifteen minutes, I'd had enough. He couldn't keep suffering like this.
"Can we stop and have a break?" I demanded, sitting down on the nearest log and sighing as if I were exhausted.
"I guess if you really need one... Actually, we're closer than I thought. We'll just go on ahead and walk the rest of the way there. When you're done, just follow the trail." Yuugi's grandpa responded, charging on.
"I'm getting this over with." Kaiba mumbled, following him.
Yuugi wordlessly sat down next to me, panting and huffing as his body regulated itself.
"You shouldn't work yourself that hard." I said quietly, glancing over at him. Ra only knows why or how I still cared so much for this person, despite knowing few things other than his name.
"I know, but I just wanted to get it over with."
"You still could've tripped and hurt yourself or something."
"I'd be fine. I've tripped before and I'm still alive." He said, crossing his arms stubbornly. I smiled a bit at his determination.
After sitting for a moment, my curiosity crept up.
"So we were best friends, right?" I asked, because that's all I could think of that he would actually answer. Everything seemed to be a 'long story' with him.
"Close enough, yeah. We were a bit closer than that." He said, turning away. I saw his ears turn red with a blush and when he looked back there was a faint mark on his lip, as if he'd been biting it.
"So we were like brothers?" I asked. I wanted to know the definitive lines to my relationship with him.
"Yeah, except not related." Yuugi replied, glancing back at me sheepishly. I nodded my head, sensing that there was much more to the explanation than that, but not wanting to push for information if it would make Yuugi uncomfortable. He clearly needed some time to explain everything; maybe things were complicated between us and he didn't want to explain just yet.
I let the silence sit, turning and looking into the forest.
About ten minutes passed and Yuugi stood, seemingly regenerated and ready to start our walking anew.
I began to follow him through the woods, following his steady pace. I noticed that he was certainly determined and wondered idly if it was something he was born with, or if he'd been through something that caused it to develop. Either way, something I liked about him was that he could hold his own.
After about ten minutes of walking, he started to trip over a small stick that he hadn't noticed in his path. Thinking fast, I grabbed his body and yanked it against mine to keep him from falling over.
His eyes sparkled as he looked up at me, leaning back against my chest, and I almost, almost leaned down to gently brush our lips together...
I looked at his lips, drawn in by his boyish beauty. Suddenly, we weren't in the woods. I was standing back in his bedroom, in Japan, and I had my arms around him in a similar fashion.
"I love you." He whispered to me, and I smiled at the thought.
"I love you, too." I said, leaning down to press our lips together. Except, for some reason, I couldn't feel him. I tried to hold back my frustration and longing, but I ultimately failed and broke away from him with a long sigh. I wished desperately to feel him, even if only once...
Why was I, of all people, having fantasies about another man? Especially fantasies that made me want to, so badly, to take him in my arms and kiss him breathless. A fantasy that felt hauntingly like a memory, especially since I couldn't possibly know what his room really looked like.
However, it couldn't be a memory. I'd kissed him, and he'd made it clear that we were only friends. Maybe, though...
I forced myself to stop there. I couldn't even get my hopes up about that! I'd only have my heart broken by someone I didn't remember.
No matter how much it felt like a memory.
How could it be a memory anyways? I couldn't feel him; that was impossible.
"Let's go on ahead." I said with a sigh. He shook his head yes, still watching me warily.
We continued on the trail and through the woods until we reached the meadow, acompanied by a small number of pill bugs that had hitched a ride attached to my boots.
I looked around to find Yuugi's grandfather and Kaiba sitting at a small blanket laid out on a rock. There was a small creek to the left, running clear water that promised a nice, fresh-from-the-mountains taste.
I walked over to the picnic and plopped myself down, stretching idly as Yuugi's grandpa prepared the sandwiches.
Yuugi came over and I gestured for him to sit beside me. He walked over and sat right down, never breaking eye contact. I'd noticed by now that he almost never did break eye contact with me, and I wondered if it was something he'd learned from habit or if it was new. I'd been wondering about him a lot lately.
I barely noticed that Yuugi's grandfather was holding out a sandwich, and snapped my focas from Yuugi to take it, mumbling my thanks. It had been... almost difficult to break my focus from him.
I waited until Yuugi had his to begin eating, trying to concentrate on the flavor rather than the young boy sitting beside me. In my defense, he did have mesmerizing beauty.
After I was done, though, I was able to continuously sneak glances at him. Kaiba was taking forever to finish eating, so I had plenty of time to kill.
Yuugi stood up and headed over to the creek, kneeling and seeming to look for something. After a moment, his eyes lit up and he moved a few inches, dipping his hands into the water as if to retrieve something. A few moments later, his hands emerged from the water and he turned, standing up. He walked over to me with his hands cupped.
He held out his hands to reveal a heart shaped rock, and when I looked back up-
We were in his bedroom again. He was holding something very different from a rock; a puzzle with an eye on it. It was a bright golden color and in the shape of a pyramid, but it was hung upside down. I reached out and put my hands over his, even though I knew that he couldn't feel them.
"Yami?" Yuugi asked, dragging me back to the present. I reached out and took the rock, blushing slightly. I slipped it into my pocket, deep down so that it wouldn't fall out.
If I kept having these crazy delusions out of desperation to remember, I was going to have to go to the hospital again.

Yuugi's POV
When everyone was finally done, we struggled along the path again and climbed back into the huge car. I still couldn't believe that I'd done something as risky as giving the Pharaoh that rock, but I decided that dwelling on it would simply make me more nervous, and I certainly didn't need that.
After a few minutes of driving, I noticed that we weren't headed back to the cabin.
"Grandpa, where are we going?" I asked, and he smiled fondly.
"Surprise! We're going to the zoo!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together excitedly. He had to stop quickly, though, because he was sort of trying to drive. I smiled a bit, glancing at the Pharaoh. The one time we had gone to the zoo, his reactions had been hilarious. He didn't know so many animals had existed, let alone could be kept!
We pulled up to the zoo, finding that most of the parking spots were already occupied.
We ended up parking a ways away, and we had to walk 1/4th of a mile to get to the ticket booth.
After dealing with the people there, we continued into the zoo. First up, we headed to ride the train since we didn't have long there. I sat next to Yami, while Kaiba and my Grandpa were unlucky enough to have to sit next to each other.
"Everybody fasten your seat belts, because it's gonna be a bumpy ride!" A stewardess said, causing some of the younger kids to gasp in surprise. "Hold your partner tight!" She said, encouraging people with an enthusiastic, "Come on!"
A couple of the little kids tightly grasped their friends, and she frowned in disappointment. "Come on! We're not moving this along until everyone has participated!"
Yami tentatively reached out to wrap his arms around me, pulling me close to his body.
I melted, leaning back against him Oh, how easy it would be to just forget about the past year, forget that he'd forgotten. How easy it would be to just whisper softly that I loved him, how sweet...
That was exactly why being in his arms felt so very dangerous.
Looking for something to distract me, I glanced back at Grandpa and Kaiba, who had locked arms reluctantly. I choked back laughter from the sight. Kaiba was looking at my grandpa like he was getting poor people germs on him, while my grandpa was smiling widely.
Yami glanced back and saw the sight, letting a few bars of laughter himself. Hearing his happiness was music to my ears. Oh, how I'd missed his rich, deep laugh and warm smile. He may have been the darkness, but that didn't necessarily mean he was all bad.
Plus, he was mine.
Scratch that, used to be mine.
The train started up and it took us over some exhibits and across the lake, giving a show of the variety of different animals. I constantly had to translate what the stewardess was saying to Yami, seeing as how he couldn't understand one word of English.
When the train ride was finally over, I watched sadly as Yami's arms moved from around me he and climbed out of the seat, holding out a hand to help me.
I gratefully took the hand, happy that I wouldn't have to jump out for once. (Yeah, I'm freaking short.)
I had to hold back another fit of giggles when I saw Kaiba take out a bottle of hand sanitizer and use it on the arm that Grandpa's had been locked with. I found it much too amusing to take any real offense to the gesture.
Next, we went on to the monkey exhibit. We encountered a couple of monkeys that appeared to be attempting to hide from the growing crowds, but most of them were out showing of and, well... monkeying around.
After that, it was off to the petting zoo.
Yami stared in amazement at the goats, seemingly never having seen one before. I found it amusing that he'd had more of a reaction to the goats than the monkeys. Goats, of all things.
We walked into the pen, seeing the goats moving to and fro, fighting over food, or being brushed, or shade. Regular goat things, I'd presume. Yami sat down on the stone wall and eyed them warily.
"You can touch them, if you want." I said, smiling slightly. His eyes widened slightly and he tentatively reached a hand out to stroke a goat's fur.
While he was distracted, another goat snuck up next to him, jumping onto the stone wall to get closer. I watched in mild amusement as Yami petted its friend, unknowing.
The goat nudged him with its head hard, seemingly asking for some attention itself. Yami immediately jumped up, looking at the other goat in fear as he tumbled off the wall, hitting the pavement hard right on his bottom.
Kaiba, (Who, of course, wouldn't dream of going near goats, let alone voluntarily) started laughing like a maniac. He was doubled over, laughing harder than I'd ever seen him laugh before. Even I had to admit that it was a little funny. I had a hard time not laughing myself when I got a look at the Pharaoh's bewildered face.
I tried not to smile as I helped him up, and he turned and scowled at the goat, as if blaming him for everything that happened. At that, I couldn't help but laugh a little, and he turned back to glare at me, but I could tell he was being playful about it. He was having a hard time not smiling himself.
"Well, it looks like I know the winning card for my next duel. Scapegoat!" Kaiba declared happily, laughing at his own joke.
"Duel Monsters?" Yami asked, and Kaiba sobered up.
"Yeah. The children's card game. You do remember how to play, right?" Kaiba asked warily. Yami waited a moment, seemingly scanning his memory before shaking his head yes. I let out a breath that I hadn't even been aware I was holding. I was happy that he remembered Duel Monsters... but I did feel a bit like I'd been upstaged by a card game.
Next up, we decided to go to Big Cat Canyon.
We walked along to the Canyon, keeping an eye out for the Big Cats. We eagerly followed the signs to the white tiger exhibits, where two tigers were soundly sleeping in a cave that had been built into the enclosure.
"Wow." Yami said, leaning over to the side.
"It's really not that magnificent. Look at the poor things; they're just waiting to die. They're probably trying to find a way to kill themselves as we speak." Kaiba said flatly, crossing his arms and looking at the Tigers in disgust.
"Well that's cheerful." I said flatly, rolling my eyes.
"Why would they want to kill themselves?" Yami asked, genuinely confused. "Death is never a way to solve your problems. Running from life doesn't make anything better." Yami argued.
"Well, if you were locked into a pen with say, Yuugi here," He started, and I glared at him for dragging me into this, "A small pen, day after day with him as your only company, you wouldn't like your life."
Yami pondered this for a moment.
"Well, it wouldn't be so bad if I had someone interesting for companionship. If it were you, on the other hand," The Pharaoh started, glaring at Kaiba as he spoke, "I might consider killing myself."
I laughed for a little while while Kaiba scowled openly, and he didn't stop until we'd moved on to the next exhibit.
"Yes, because I'm sure you'd be much more entertained with Yuugi." He said, a slight suggestive tone barely detectable in his voice. Luckily, Yami didn't hear it.
Next, we decided to try and find a bathroom.
After we finally did, I quickly went in and hurried along, reminding myself that we did have a time limit for how long we could be there.
I found a small butterfly on my way out of the bathroom, sitting on a wall. I held out my hand, making the butterfly crawl onto my finger. (I knew better than to touch the wings.) The butterfly fluttered its wings a few times before settling down on my finger, and I eagerly headed back to the group to show off my discovery.
Yami gaped in amazement. I laughed and held it out to him, and he tentatively reached out to let it crawl onto his fingers.
"Be careful." I warned. He shook his head in understanding and brought the butterfly closer to him. He studied it a moment before it suddenly fluttered it's wings and began to fly away, using his finger as a launching pad.
"It liked you better." Yami said, leaning over to hug me affectionately. I jumped a little in surprise before absolutely melting, happy to be in his arms. He released me all too soon, looking off to the side warily, looking absentminded. I wondered what had happened to make him so jumpy all of a sudden, but decided not to question it.
After that was the final stop. The crocodiles at the reptile house.
The snakes were all mostly asleep, but the crocodiles were active enough. Instead of looking at them, though, I decided to look around at the sleeping snakes, frogs, and lizards. I read the facts on the cages with mild interest until I felt Yami's eyes on me. I glanced back at him momentarily, making eye contact.
It absolutely crushed me. Everything, all together, a blow right in my stomach. The worst part? I was slowly convincing myself that he did like me a little, that there was still hope that we would get back together. I cursed myself for that. Couldn't I just accept it? Couldn't I just be satisfied with the fact that he was here with me, that I could finally touch him and every little brush felt like electricity? Couldn't that satisfy me?
The car ride home seemed like forever, but we finally arrived back home at 10:00 at night, so at least I could avoid socializing and go ahead to bed.
Though, when I got back to my room, sleep was the last thing I was going to do. I took out my poetry book, a book that had been hidden in the bottom of my bags for awhile now.
After the Pharaoh had gone, I'd almost completely stopped writing in it. Where before I'd been writing in it constantly at least once a week for almost a year, I dropped down to about once every two months, only accomplishing six poems in the time that he had left. None of them should be spoken of, due to the fact that they were incredibly depressing.
None of that mattered at the moment, though. It was out, and I had two or three more less depressing poems to write. At least I had the Pharaoh back now.
I took my pen and began to write, words seeming to flow out of me and onto the paper seamlessly. This was probably going to be a late night.