Hi! ^^ Hmm, the last chapter got 4 reviews... I'd like to thank my regular reviewers, xfallenangel13x, Scaehime, ChangeOfHe4rt and samaurai, you guys always seem to be there ^^ Also to TheCrystalEevee, you review a lot, too! ;)

I hope you enjoyed the fluff last time, because we're back to our angsty themes ^^ But hey, look, it's the first Blindshipping of the collection! XD It's AU and angsty, with implied Blindshipping, and Atem is a little kid! Because how adorable is that?! ^^

#17 - Stuffed Animal

Words: 600

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh does not belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.

Low murmurs rang through the otherwise silent home.

"He still has that ridiculous thing? I thought you threw it out!"

"I did... He must've got ahold of it again somehow."

A small boy was fast asleep in his bed, a smile on his face as he clutched his stuffed white tiger teddy tightly. Several stains covered it from it's time in the trash.

The woman bent down as she tried to pry it from the sleeping six year old's hands. Even unconsciously, his grip remained strong, and one large, sleepy garnet eye cracked open, worried.

"Atem, honey..." she said softly with a sad smile. "Come on, let go of the teddy. You don't need that silly thing, we'll buy you another-"

"No!" He protested, pulling the beloved object closer posessesively. "It wouldn't be the same! Leave Yami alone!"

"Yami?" His father narrowed his eyes. That boy, always teaching their son Japanese, too.

"That's his name," Atem said innocently. "Every teddy needs a name."

His parents exchanged a glance, before the man grabbed the toy and yanked it from his arms.

"NO!" Atem shrieked in horror. "GIVE YAMI BACK!" Tears sprang to his eyes. "It's all I have left to remember Yuugi by..." He kissed the tiger's nose. "He doesn't know when he'll be back in Egypt, so he wanted to give me something as a present... Don't take Yami away from me! Please!"

Both looked at each other concernedly. Of course they knew the toy was a gift from Yuugi. That was the reason they were taking it away.

They had seen the exchange between the two small children just before the Japanese boy and his grandfather drove off to catch their flight home, and they were not amused. Their son was getting far too attached to the boy... Disturbingly attached.

They'd had no problem with housing Sugoroku and his grandson while he was visiting Egypt for a dig, and they'd been happy to see Atem, usually a rather quiet boy who kept to himself, making new friends. But Atem seemed to like Yuugi a little too much for his parents' taste.

Yuugi had given him the tiger, saying he knew it was the tanned boy's favourite animal, and Atem said he wished that he could have got him something, too. He decided to give the paler boy a kiss on the cheek, making both blush, while his parents could only stare in horror.

It was then that they decided that they would have nothing more to do with the child, and had immediately thrown the toy away and hidden all Yuugi's letters from their son, telling him Yuugi didn't want them to be friends anymore.

That hadn't stopped him from writing.

'Why do you never write back, Yuugi? Mommy says you don't care about me anymore. Is it true? I really like you a lot, and I don't want to lose you! Do I annoy you? I never meant to, Aibou!'

His last letter had almost broken his mother's heart, and she'd been tempted to just hand him all his letters. But, as she reminded herself, he was writing these to a boy, and it was wrong for two boys to love each other. Keeping the letters from him was the only way to get her child to stop thinking in such an immoral way. One day, he'd understand. He'd grow up, find a girlfriend...

After his parents left the room, he curled up in a ball and cried. His last gift from Yuugi... Gone. He slowly opened his door, and wrote one more thing down.

'We might only be six, but I know I love you. And I won't stop waiting for you to come back for me.'

Cheesy ending or..? Anyway, obligatory angsty story with asshole parents in it? Done! XD And also, I know Atem calls him Aibou in one of the letters, but as I mentioned slightly earlier in this one, Yuugi was teaching him little bits of Japanese. Maybe at some point I'll revisit this AU with fluff, and lots f it. ^^

And also, I know a six year old wouldn't write like that, but if I threw in spelling mistakes it would just make me look like I don't check through my work ^^ With that in mind, tell me if there's anything you notice in this that sounds stupid, and please share your opinions of the drabble with me, I'd love to hear them as even though I don't ask for a particular amount for another chapter, reviews motivate me! ^^

I'm also taking the time to tell you guys that I'm working on a new oneshot as a commission for Sissie131 on DeviantART. It'll have fem!Yuugi, and it's Puzzleshipping. Although since I'm not particularly fond of making Yuugi a girl, I've twisted it around slightly, and the plot... Well, it still makes me giggle. It's an AU, of course, set around the time of season 0 in canon. I'm really looking forward to it, I've even drawn something for it on dA ^^ So, keep an eye out for that, guys! :D

Thank you to everybody whose stuck by this story so far, be you a regular reviewer, occasional reviewer or silent reader. I appreciate it a lot and I hope to see you next chapter ^^ Speaking of revisiting old drabbles... *Winks*

Next drabble - #18 - Sound