Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Still don't own Yu-gi-oh!

Yami tiredly sighed as he made his way into the large botanical garden at the Pharaoh's palace. The garden was filled to the brim with exotic imported flowers from all over the world. It was a plethora of colors and smells and was truly beautiful to see. Yami loved spending time here and this was where he had spent the vast majority of the past three weeks he had been here at the capital.

Yami made his way to the direct center of the garden where he had discovered tucked in between some flowering hedges was a small pond with lotus blossoms. Yami sank down on the edge of the pond, slipping off his sandals and dipping his feet in the crisp, cool water.

The last three weeks Yami had developed a monotonous routine. He would wake up in Atemu's room alone. Get bathed and dressed to find a breakfast of fresh fruits had been left on the nightstand by a servant. Yami would then wander around the wing his and Atemu's rooms were before giving up and heading over to the garden. There was not really anything for him to do or really anyone for him to talk to.

The monotony and loneliness was really starting to make him miss home. Don't get him wrong he saw Atemu every night and they would talk for about an hour while they ate a late dinner before they would go to bed. Atemu would tell Yami about different things that had happened on any given day and Yami would just listen while he talked since he himself didn't really have anything worthwhile to discuss.

Back at home Yami had his lessons and his classmates. There were always things to do, whether that was helping his father do some work around the house, hanging out with Yugi or playing a game in the school yard. There was always something. However, Yami had no idea how to discuss that with Atemu without upsetting him.

Yami smiled wryly as a bright red coy fish brushed against his foot as it swam around the pond. It would be nice to be one of the coy fish. They may live in isolation in this pond but then again at least they weren't alone. There were twelve others to keep them company. They also didn't really know of a world beyond the pond so they had no concept of how isolated and a lone they really were.

Unlike the fish Yami knew there was a large world outside the palace walls that he was itching to explore. From their brief ride through the capital Yami had seen what looked like a bustling city which he could undoubtedly have countless adventures and probably make a lot of new friends. The only people he saw other than Atemu were servants and they did not speak, hell even look at you, unless you addressed them specifically and only looked at you if you ordered them to. They did not have names and they would only address what you wanted them to at that moment. Not exactly the best candidates for friends.

Yami had vaguely thought about just leaving the palace and going to explore but he quickly dismissed it, if for no other reason than he still had no idea how to navigate his way through the maze like palace complex to find the front door. He had asked Atemu three days ago why the palace was so confusing and Atemu had chuckled and said it was to confuse would be thieves or assassins. He also had assured Yami he would learn his way around but that it was just going to take time. Newcomers usually learned their way around after a couple of months.

Yami wiggled his foot in the water watching at the coy fish quickly swam back off to rejoin his friends and family. At this moment in time Yami wished he could do exactly that. His only contact here was Atemu and even though they were supposed to be romantically involved it wasn't looking like they were ever going to be romantically involved. Other than the kiss that the two had shared that first night nothing else had happened that could be argued as 'romantic'. Atemu seemed to be perfectly content just talking and getting used to each other. He had said that for them to take it slow would be the best thing to happen in the long run. And that if Yami tried to push himself into a relationship too quickly before he had had the time to fully get over things with Yugi then it would only hurt them.

Yami was really started to get frustrated. How was he supposed to force himself to get over Yugi if Atemu wasn't too interested in helping him to forget about Yugi now and just start his new life? If he was going to end up marrying Atemu and being romantically involved with him shouldn't they be getting on with it?

Yami resumed his starring contest with the fish. He wondered what kind of problems those fish dealt with day in and day out? Was there a way for him to turn into a fish? Yami was drawn from his thoughts quite abruptly when some literally jumped on him from behind. Yami flew forward away from his unknown assailant and landed right in the ice cold pond. Yami slowly got to his feet, water streaming off him, his hair lying flat around his head as he turned to face who had jumped on him.

He glared at the brunet girl who was laughing uncontrollably on the bank by the lake. "I got you good Pharaoh. You should see your face." The girl chuckled.

"Well for starters I'm not the Pharaoh. And secondly I don't need to see my face since I'm pretty sure its showing that I'm pissed right now. I'm soaked to the bone in ice cold water. I fail to see how this is funny." Yami growled. It would have been different if Jou or Yugi had shoved him into a pond and laughed, for starters they were his friends. Another thing they would have meant to shove him into the water, not someone else.

The girls bright green eyes widened in apparent shock as she took in who she had actually shoved into the water. Now that she saw him he was absolutely right, he wasn't the Pharaoh. He may have looked similar to him but was definitely not him.

"I am so sorry. I thought you were someone else." The girl said.

Yami carefully started to ring out his shirt, shaking his head in a vague attempt to get some of the water out. Great now he needed to go all the way back inside to dry off and change unless he wanted to catch pneumonia. "Clearly." Yami snapped as he carefully stepped out of the pond.

Yami picked up his sandals and slipped them on before he started making the journey back to his and Atemu's room, his feet squishing as he walked. Stupid girl.

"Hey, hey wait up!" The girl yelled as she jogged after Yami.

"What more could you possibly want?" Yami asked as he walked.

"You don't have to be mean. I said I was sorry. Anyway, what's your name? There aren't a lot of people who come into Pharaohs gardens. Usually it's only Pharaoh which was why I thought you were him. Are you a trespasser? If you are then I am not sorry I shoved you into the water." The girl replied.

Yami sighed, "My name is Yami. And no I'm not a trespasser. Atemu said I can wander around freely which as of this moment is limited to this wing since I don't know my way around the whole palace yet." Yami said.

The girl paused briefly, "Oh. Ooooh. I know who you are. You must be Pharaohs God Chosen! I'm sooooo sorry. Please don't be mad Mr. God Chosen. I didn't know it was you when I jumped on you." The girl said.

Yami sighed, "I already told you my name is Yami, not Mr. God Chosen. Yes Atemu is my God Chosen. Now if you don't mind I would like to get changed out of these wet clothes." Yami said.

The girl nodded, "I'll wait out here so you and I can finish talking?" The girl said.

Yami just walked into Atemu's room and closed the door firmly behind him and grabbed a towel from the bathing chambers and started to towel off. Once Yami was dried off and changed he sat down on the bed for a moment. Sometimes the old say be careful what you wish for, Yami had wished to know what it was like to be a fish, only to end up swimming in the icy water. He had complained he was lonely and bored and now he has some girl following him around.

Yami got up off the bed and headed back out into the corridor. He might as well face the music as the saying goes. The girl didn't seem like the type to give up. Although a tiny part of Yami thought about just staying in the room until Atemu came back tonight. The girl definitely would have left if Atemu told her to. The only drawback with that was he would go absolutely stir crazy if he sat in this room all day.

The girl was still waiting patiently in the corridor when Yami came back out. The girl gave him a wide smile, "You look much better now that you don't look like a drowned rat." The girl said before she got a more serious look on her face.

"Now you and I need to talk Mr." The girl said before she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the study at the end of the corridor. Yami gave the girl a pointed look as she shoved him down into one of the stiff chairs in front of the desk. The girl did not go behind the desk but rather perched herself carefully on the edge making sure not to disturb any of the neat piles of parchment sitting on the desk.

"Can I ask just what the hell you're playing at?" Yami asked, giving the girl a rather pointed look.

"First of all my name is Mana. And secondly I just want to make sure you know you had better not hurt Pharaoh. I have been learning my whole life how to best protect him. You are clearly the person who would be able to hurt him the easiest. I'm just telling you right now that if you do hurt him, in ANY way, I will turn you into a fish and stick you in the coy pond." Mana hissed.

Yami snorted, "Your precious Pharaoh is in no danger from me." Yami said he then got to his feet, "Now, if that would be all then I would like to go back to what I was doing." Yami said.

Mana glared at Yami, "I don't think you're taking me seriously. I said that you had better not hurt him. God Chosen or not people try to take advantage of him and you would have the easiest time to do so. He is a god among men and you had better treat him like he deserves to be." Mana growled.

Yami waved his hand dismissively as he walked back out the door, "Got it." Before he wandered back off. He didn't feel like going back to the garden so returned to his and Atemu's room. He did pause briefly to grab a book from the small library near their room before curling up to read.

Yami must have dozed off while he read because the next thing he knew Atemu was laughing at him. Yami gave Atemu a playful glare. "What is it with people laughing at me today?" Yami growled.

Atemu slowly stopped laughing as he plopped down on the bed next to Yami, "Who else was laughing at you?" Atemu asked.

Yami sighed before he relayed the entire incident with Mana from earlier. Atemu sighed, "I apologize about her. I will say something to her about what happened. She had no right to speak to you that way." Atemu said.

Yami just waved his hand dismissively, personally there were more important things on his mind than that girl who was trying to protect a man who probably needed the least amount of protection. "It really is nothing. Now, there are several other things I much rather discuss with you than her." Yami said.

"Like what?" Atemu asked.

"For starters you need to find something for me to do so I don't go crazy here." Yami said.

Atemu just sighed and gathered Yami close to him. "Beloved, please don't ask for things when you aren't ready for the result." Atemu said.

Yami gave Atemu a strange look, "What are you talking about? I'm bored during the day. I need something to keep me entertained." Yami said.

Atemu sighed once more, "I would enjoy your downtime while you have it because soon you won't have any down time. You will be quite busy." Atemu said.

"Busy doing what?" Yami asked.

"Once you and I are married you and I will be running this kingdom as equals. You would be spending your days with me in court." Atemu said he paused briefly, "The counsel has been pushing for you and I to marry now. I have denied them hundreds of times. You will take you place beside me eventually but not until you are ready which I know you are not." Atemu said.

"Wait, are you saying that your counsel wants us to get married like now. They do realize we've only known each other like a month, right?" Yami said.

Atemu reached his hand up and gently brushed one of Yami's bangs out of his face before pressing a kiss to his brow. "The counsel is only concerned with the politics of the matter. Our personal lives are not their concern and they consider a foolish thing to consider. I refuse to marry you until it is something that we both want. Call me a foolish romantic but I want the person I am married to to love me as much as I love them. I want that person to WANT to be mine and mine alone."

Yami reached grasping Atemu's chin firmly yet tenderly forcing Atemu to look him straight in the eye. Yami then leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly to Atemu's. Atemu gasped in surprise and Yami decided to be bold and slipped his tongue into Atemu's mouth, stroking Atemu's tongue with his own. Atemu groaned into the kiss, his hands gripped Yami's shoulders tightly as he kissed Yami back in return.

Yami then slowly broke the kiss continuing to stare Atemu right in the eye. "I may not be ready to marry you tomorrow, but the idea of marrying you in the future is something I am very much open to. You and I will get what you clearly want. But we have to start somewhere. You and I talking every night is great but if that is all we do then the only thing we will ever be is just friends. Which is fine if that is all you want to share with me. That isn't all I want to have with you nor do I think it's all you want with me." Yami said.

Atemu gave Yami a look, his finger brushing over Yami's lips as if they held all the answers in the world. "I want to have everything with you Yami but I don't want to just pin you beneath me tonight and us just be together. I want our relationship to be what we both want. I have never been involved with anyone in my entire life. I want to be with you more than you could ever know. But, I know that you love Yugi. You and Yugi started off as friends. I thought perhaps we should start off the same." Atemu said.

Yami grinned, "Yugi and I also were operating under the constraits that we were both under the age of 16 and didn't know who our God Chosens were. That limited us a lot on what we could and could not do. Yugi and I 'dated' for 7 months before I met you. We also only kissed the once that you saw. We can certainly date but we can also kiss and explore a physical side to our relationship that I never had with Yugi. You and I are not me and Yugi. And perhaps with time I will come to love you in a way Yugi and I never got to experience. But we have to try. If we don't try we'll never get anywhere." Yami said.

Atemu gave Yami a smirk before he pressed his lips back to Yami's. If Yami wanted him to treat him like his lover instead of just his friend Atemu was more than willing to do that. Atemu broke the kiss before he got too carried away, "Perhaps tomorrow I'll play hookey for a while and you and I can spend the day together." Atemu suggested.

Yami grinned, "That sounds like a wonderful date to me Ate."

Atemu nodded before he released Yami and got changed. The two climbed into bed and cuddled close. Atemu told Yami all about his day and he laughed when Yami declared he had decided he no longer wanted to be a fish. The kiss that night had certainly had a lot more fire than any of their prior kisses to date.

Atemu really was looking forward to seeing where this went. They weren't going to rush things no, nor would they be getting married tomorrow. But maybe in six months the idea wouldn't be so outlandish. He knew he was falling for Yami fast and hard, he just had to convince Yami that he was the man that was meant for him. After all, the Gods did put them together for a reason.