Author's Note: My horoscope says I feel focused… It's such a liar! D:

Never mind my randomness. Please enjoy.

Chapter 7

Akunumkanon sat back in his seat, astonished. Atem had just gotten through repeating everything Yugi had told him. The Prince was quivering with rage by the time he finished, the hands lying on his lap clenching and unclenching every minute or so, obviously eager to strangle Yugi's brother.

Immediately after Atem recited the last detail, he stood up and commanded, "We must hunt down that demon posing as Yugi's brother! We cannot let his crimes go unjustified!"

"I agree," Akunumkanon managed to reply through his shock. Inside, his mind was racing with thoughts such as: How could I have not known about this? Why did no one bring this to my attention? Have I met this notorious brother of Lady Yugi's before?

"Then, what are we waiting for, Father?" Atem's questioned, cutting through the Pharaoh's thoughts.

Akunumkanon looked up at his son and noted pure rage swirling in Atem's blood red eyes. The Pharaoh wasn't ready to jump to any conclusions or actions yet, which he knew would upset Atem. So, hoping to postpone Atem murdering someone before he could get a hold of himself, Akunumkanon changed subjects.

"Do you love her?"

Atem was taken aback. "L-love who?" he stuttered the question, but the color draining from his face was proof that he knew exactly to whom his father was referring to.

"Lady Yugi," Akunumkanon supplied.

"I- I want to protect her…" Atem trailed off in his stumble. His eyes began to cloud, and he picked up, "… Is that love?"

"Partly," the Pharaoh answered, smiling.

Atem shook his head, arguing, "This is no time to be thinking of such things! That demon is coming, threatening to take Yugi away! I won't let it happen! I need her safe! I need her here! If she's not, I'll-"

He stopped abruptly.

Atem repeated in a different context, "Is that love as well?"

"At its finest," Akunumkanon replied, his smile now growing into a wide grin.

Atem sat down, now overcome with new thoughts. Did he? Did he really? Did he really love Yugi? He felt so comfortable around her… He hadn't even noticed this foreign emotion entering him. It had slipped in, undetected. How had it done that?

"Why don't you tell her?"

The question tore the Prince out of his thoughts. "Um…" He searched for a reasonable excuse in his mind. "… Well, Lady Yugi has far too many things going on for me to bother her with such trivial matters…"

Akunumkanon was still smiling. He remembered feeling the same way about his wife, like he was not worth her time. That's when people truly knew they were in love, when the other's time was more valuable than your own.

"I don't think this will be a burden to her." Akunumkanon informed, "Priestess Isis has been reporting to me that Lady Yugi likes you very much."

"She does?"

The Pharaoh chuckled. His son was completely oblivious. "Yes," he promised.

Atem nodded slowly.

"Are you going to go tell her now?"

Another nod. But, Atem's feet refused to move.

"Don't tell me that Prince of Egypt is scared of a little blind girl…"

"Of course not!" Atem instantly denied. Yet, a nervous feeling was resting in his stomach. Despite this, he stood to leave and search for Lady Yugi.

"Wait," Akunumkanon gently called him back.

Atem turned and questioned, "Yes?"

The Pharaoh took a small whiff of the air and asked, "Why does it smell like roses?"

Atem's face flushed. He admitted in a stutter, "It- it's probably me… Lady Yugi was crying on my shoulder…" Before his father could begin to tease him, he swiftly snarled, "Say anything; I dare you."

Akunumkanon bit his tongue but silently chuckled to himself.

-transition-

"Yugi!" Atem called when he spotted her walking across the courtyard. He realized he had forgotten to add "Lady" in front of her name, which would come across as strange to her, he thought.

Luckily for him, Yugi's mind was on other matters.

She swerved to Atem's direction. Her expression was as readable as if actual words were inscribed on her face. She portrayed a mixture of fear and guilt.

Atem trotted up to her and inquired, "Is something wrong?"

Yugi bit her lower lip, thinking it was becoming a horrible habit to do so. She shook her head, but it was not very believable when accompanied by quivering.

"Something is wrong, Yugi," Atem insisted. He forgot the title again. He found it surprisingly easy to overlook that she came from a noble family. Because, all she was in his eyes was Yugi, not a Motou, not a suitor, and not even a blind girl. All he saw was Yugi.

Yugi closed her eyes to think over her reply carefully. Finally, she told him simply, "I am leaving." Three little words. Just three. Yet, they left such an impact.

Atem took in a sharp, shallow breath in surprise. Yugi could immediately sense the panic growing in him.

"Atemu-"

"You're not leaving." Another three little words, yet they caused so much.

This time, it was Yugi's turn to be alarmed.

"What-"

"I mean," Atem corrected himself, "Is that you can't leave."

"You don't understand, Atemu," Yugi explained, "My brother will be here. He is tenacious about these things. He won't cease until he has brought me back to where I belong."

"You belong here." Again, three words.

Yugi looked in Atem's direction with large, innocent eyes. She stuttered, "It- it wouldn't work. As much- as much as I wish it was so…"

"You wish to stay here?"

The simple question echoed.

"I just said that, did I not…?" Yugi wondered aloud with a small smile as she recalled her previous statement. She continued on to say, "As much as I want to stay here, people will get hurt if I don't go with brother and…"

The rest of Yugi's explanation was lost on Atem. He was too occupied with thoughts to listen. Atem felt like laughing aloud. He felt so much relief. Yugi did want to stay here- with him, no less. But instead, Atem decided to do something else.

Atem took Yugi and gently pushed her into him, their lips meeting and Yugi's talking ceasing on contact. Yugi gasped through the kiss, afraid at first. But, the closer she was to Atem, the better and safer she felt. She began to lean into it, her lips taking over her senses.

Atem couldn't believe how soft Yugi's lips were. They were sweet, much like her scent. The tension in his body screamed that he wanted to be even closer to Yugi, but his mind kindly warned him of how fragile the situation was at the time. He chose to just enjoy the warm kiss, gently tugging at Yugi's lip with his tongue.

When the two finally pulled apart to breathe, Atem rested his chin on Yugi's forehead. He was consumed with thoughts and enjoyed mulling them over in the comfortable silence that was left to linger between them.

But, what Yugi whispered shortly after their first kiss ceased every thought Atem had received within those few, pleasant minutes.

"What is the Prince going to say about this?"

Author's Note: I could have gone on, but I really wanted to leave it there… Yeah, I'm just evil like that. XD

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