All right. So, unfortunately, this might be the last update for a few days because of some real life problems.

Chapter XIV: Confrontation

Yami flinched when Yugi landed in front of him, spitting and snarling. His paw was positioned to block view of him and he'd tucked his wings to shield Yami away entirely. The newcomer had not come any closer, standing rigid and uncertain before Yugi's temper. Water sprayed up from the river edge and no doubt soaked the Gandora's flank, and yet Yugi was unwavering as he faced off with the other male. The interloper stared at Yugi for a long moment, then lowered his eyes to peer at Yami as the hatchling risked a peek. He snarled in turn, horrified he'd overlooked the additional presence, and swallowed back a terrified noise. The eyes were icy and pale, glinting silver where the sunlight touched them and the pupils became mere slits.

Yugi sprang for their throat with expert precision. The other male just barely jumped back in time. They snarled, voice rich with malice when they spat, "Did you do this?"

The Gandora thumped his tail and trembled with rage. "I thought you were told not to make your way back here," he snarled. "I should kill you for placing a paw."

Go back to the den, Yami, came the frantic thought in the midst of the words. And he would have obeyed, but his entire body was frozen. He couldn't stop trembling when he did move, and his heart was going so fast it threatened to burst. He pressed harder into the dirt and tucked his wings into his sides, trying impossibly to fade there. If he'd known how to change colors like Atem or turn to stone like Yugi, he would have.

"Raise your eyes to mine," Yugi warned, "or else I'll box them from your head. Don't you dare look at him."

"Does Atem know what you've done? That you mated with another dragon to produce that?"

"What?" Yugi sounded flummoxed for a single second, then barked a laugh. "Did you accuse me of going behind Atem's back?"

"Clearly," the newcomer spat, "or else…"

Yami didn't know when he'd gotten so angry as to move forward. But he had launched himself between Yugi's paws to snarl at the other male. He hunched his spine, thumped his tail, raised a paw with his claws aimed, and lunged. He hit him hard in the face, spitting, "Take it back!" just as Yugi let out a noise of pure shock. He grabbed him by the scruff and tossed him backwards behind his paw once more. Yami rolled, hit his back paw, and then sprang to a stand again. He shook himself out and hurried to see.

The newcomer's face was almost completely unharmed but for a trail of blood on the side of his cheek. He blinked, mystified, and then amazed as he spotted Yami again. There was no anger, just shock and amazement rather than the leer he'd worn moments before.

"Y…you're Atem's?"

Yami lost his aggression, too startled to think for a moment. And then he raised his head and peered at him, freezing in place. Seto; he was looking at Seto, Atem's eldest brother of the same clutch. He bristled and looked at Yugi, realizing only then just how dire the situation could have been. If Seto had even slightly anticipated his attack, he could have easily tried to kill him in that span of a few seconds.

"Ew," he mumbled before he thought it through, cutting them both off, "you're not nearly as pretty as Daddy."

Yugi snorted loudly, giving him a startled look before grinning stupidly. Seto blinked and stared down at him with a tilted head before plopping down to eye level by laying on his belly. He blinked and tilted his head the other way, studying intently. "He's… How…?"

"You and Kisara procured nests before. You know how it works."

A loud snort made Yami's head whip around. He trembled with excitement as he spotted Atem. The Sky Dragon seemed to loom upward from where he stood at the riverbank. His paws were muddy, as if he'd been splashing about in the excess water from the sandy banks, entire body stiff with aggression. He seemed amused outwardly, but Yami could feel the anger radiating from his body as if it were sunlight.

"He's not wrong. It was the same process."

Seto blinked as if he didn't understand. He glanced from Yami to Yugi and then Atem. "He's…half Fire Dragon?"

Yami watched Atem flick his tail. The God Dragon seemed to debate his position for a single second. Then he sprang into the water, moving so quickly across the river he was on the bank beside them in a split second. Yami sprang forward to play in the water when Atem shook himself and Yugi cringed but did not move, stiff with tension if Seto turned malicious.

"He's half and half, yes," Atem muttered. He didn't acknowledge him when Yami rubbed against his legs in greeting. Yami circled each of his legs, trembling with relief and excitement. Atem could handle things if they went south. He knew that. He was a God Dragon. He could handle Seto, even if he still remembered all of the torment from his time as a hatchling. He—

Yami stumbled when Atem butted his rump gently. He spun around, curious, and Atem snarled, head lowered and mouths parted as he stared back at his sibling. Seto had inched closer, sniffing the air, but immediately shuffled back at Atem's display. Yami stopped at his back paw, then took a seat and leaned against it. If Atem knew he was there, he would worry less.

"If you so much as move toward him again, I'll rip your entrails from your belly and strangle you with them," Atem snarled. He hadn't moved but to raise his head again. He was stiff, legs positioned to launch forward, wings pressed firmly into his sides. His tail was unmoving behind him. "Face me or I'll finish what Yugi started and take your eyes from your skull."

Yugi looked puzzled for a split second, glancing toward Atem and then Yami. His eyes stretched wide for a moment as he turned to Seto and back, laughter making his mouth twitch. The Felgrand raised his head and focused on Atem solely and Yugi rushed forward to grab Yami by the scruff, pulling him off the ground and a few feet away. Yami dangled from his jaws, peering past his shoulder at the other two males.

"You're okay," Yugi murmured, sounding so relieved it made Yami tremble. The hatchling felt his stomach loll for a moment, entire body aching with guilt. He'd scared him so badly, he realized, somewhere between ashamed and proud that Atem thought the wound he'd inflicted worthy of being described as Yugi's. He put his paws on Yugi's muzzle and licked his forehead, smiling as brightly as he could. The guilt didn't ease, but Yugi relaxed and melted into the show of affection as if he'd been starved.

"He's… You both…?" Seto was still watching Atem, but Yami felt his stare as well. "It should not be possible. You realize that, yes?"

"No one is more aware," Atem snapped. He shifted his weight and took a seat. The action was strategic, Yami realized, as Atem could watch them in his peripheral and immediately block his brother should he make any move toward them. "Yet it happened."

A split second shock of pure ice ran through Yami's senses. He paused mid-lick, mind assaulted with the words, "Their father is a God Dragon. That's never going to happen. They'll have energy in bounds and love their life and they'll ask a million questions and love you almost as much as I do!"

There was a small pause. "Father?"

"Of course. You're their father. You're Atem, the God Dragon of the East, born and still male. You laid an egg while male and you've always been male. Never once have you tried to change gender and never would I ask you to. And I know they're going to love you more than anything just like I do, and they'll understand later—"

"No," came Atem's voice, sharp and angered, "they will not. They will not understand. Because we will not tell them."

"What?"

"I don't want them to know. They'll never know I'm the one who laid their egg. I will not let them know and I do not want you to, either."

"And what will happen when they ask?"

"How do you know they will?"

"Atem, they're going to be the offspring of two male dragons and one of them is a God Dragon. Of course they'll ask. They'll want to know all about it. You have to know they'll be curious and wonder."

"I do not want them to know. Let them wonder."

"Atem, I do not believe we will be able to hide it for long even if we should tell them otherwise. What is it that you believe we would tell them when they ask?"

"We found an egg. We took it in. Simple."

The tree came to mind again, with brilliant green leaves and yellow ovals attached, their porous skins looking vibrant and healthy. Yami had not paused licking Yugi's face but for a single second, his mind assaulted with the memory. The icy prickle of unease was still there, growing until his spine felt as if it were carved from snow. Yami ignored this, though his eyes shot to Atem and Seto.

He was not denying it.

Yugi was panicking, because Atem was not denying it to Seto.

"Yugi didn't…?"

Yugi abruptly pulled away and grabbed Yami between his paws as if to snuggle him. He blinked huge eyes, startled, but Yugi began bathing him instead. Each lick was rushed and bordered painful; Yugi's tongue was laced with sharp needle-like barbs for shredding meat. But he didn't squirm as he usually would, mind still reeling as Yugi tried his hardest to distract him.

Yami pretended to be absorbed in the forceful affection, arching his spine when Yugi continued. His eyes were narrowed to slits, peering at his father and Seto intently. He'd never questioned it. He'd known in his bones and his heart and his wings and his lungs that Atem was his father. He'd felt him. He'd known him. He'd been there when he was born. He'd been there when he sacrificed his own health for Yami's as the egg incubated. He'd felt him like a blanket of heat, mellow and soft like feathers.

No part of him had ever once doubted Atem as his father.

He'd known it in his egg. He'd known it when he was born.

He didn't know why Atem thought he didn't. He didn't know why he was afraid to tell him himself. But he'd known.

It surprised him this memory had come so abruptly to the surface. And the only reason he thought it so shocking was because Atem had never once implied otherwise to him. He didn't know if Yugi had ever noticed it, but the God Dragon had never said to not call him his father. He'd never denied it. He'd never told him he wasn't his parent. He'd never broached the subject of the egg with him, but he'd never tried to deny it, either.

Atem had accepted it when Yami called him father, daddy, or dad. He'd never so much as shaken his head or flinched upon hearing it. He'd accepted it and refused denial.

He'd shown him all the affection he could muster around the fear Yami so often sensed from him. And it was not as if he were terrified of Yami, but he knew he was afraid. He knew it wasn't natural. He remembered hearing the arguments they'd gone through, snarling at each other about the impossibility of his birth.

"He is ours, yes."

"But how do you know? Gandoras aren't known for..."

"I was there when his egg was laid." The response was sharp and cold. Yami watched Yugi freeze and turn his head with huge eyes. He himself blinked and studied the God Dragon. Atem was watching him intently, stiff but refusing to lower his eyes. Seto was steadily watching his brother, though he studied Yami in his peripheral. "And it is not as if it would matter. Take a look at him. He is the perfect mixture of our features."

Yugi smiled at the declaration, then butted Yami gently in the shoulder. He grunted but did not look away. Atem nodded his head slightly, an unspoken You're my son as if he'd ever questioned it, and turned to Seto. Yami turned back, shaking slightly, when Yugi poked him again. He huffed, indignant, and then sprang forward to lick his face again.

"His name?" came the breathless request. Yami didn't pause his grooming, though he glanced over just enough to see Atem and Seto watching each other intently. Seto seemed amazed, almost heartbroken, yet warm with affection all the same. He was watching intently, with the fiercest yearning, eyes sparkling and glowing with wonder, as if he wanted so badly to reach out and touch him.

Atem turned his head to watch him now. "Yami," he said finally, and the hatchling halted to look at him as well. Yugi shivered and Atem exhaled slowly. "His name is Yami."

Seto mouthed the name several times. "Does it have a meaning?"

The Gandora stood abruptly, grabbing Yami closer to himself and shielding him behind one of his legs. "The humans in the village say it means darkness in their native tongue. But he's not named for that." He bristled and lowered his voice, snarling. "He's named for the color of his egg."

His egg? He turned to Atem, curious. Was that the meaning behind his name? He almost smiled at the fib, but smothered it.

"You're barely the size of my paw."

"I'm bigger than that!" Yami snapped, springing forward and glaring. Atem chuckled, looking away with a shake of his head. Yugi smiled and butted his side gently. Seto peered at him in amazement now that he could finally see him clearly.

There were no barriers now. He was not lashing out. Atem was not knocking him aside to shield him. Yugi had not grabbed him away again. He was standing before him, as tall as he could, adopting the stiff pose Atem so often did when he was trying to look intimidating.

"Yami, to me," Atem called. The hatchling blinked huge eyes, then sprang forward and raced to his side. The God Dragon looked warm with affection as he got closer. Then he cupped him with his paw and pressed him to his side. "Stay here, okay?"

He nodded and took a seat immediately. He pressed into his side as if he wanted to fade into his scales, and relaxed against his much larger form. Seto was still staring, head tilted further as he studied him intently.

"Your intentions upon entering my territory ought to be good, brother," Atem said slowly, voice lowering and dripping with malice. "My patience is running thin."

"Kisara wished to invite you both to see the nest again. They're several moons old, so she wanted you to meet them properly." His eyes never strayed from Yami. "You could bring him with you. She'd be so excited to meet him."

Atem stiffened. Yami sat up and craned his head back to look up at his face. The God Dragon was staring at him again, but his expression was unreadable. He seemed far away in that moment, as if he were lost in his thoughts. But he seemed curiously…blank. It was as if he were so caught in his own turmoil that it swallowed away his thoughts entirely somehow. And then he blinked. His eyes shot to Yami after a moment. He didn't smile, but did rub beaks with him before butting him and gesturing to Yugi.

"He's too young to travel so far," the God Dragon said as Yami got to Yugi's side. The Gandora paused licking him to look over. "Yugi will stay with him. I will go with you to see them."

Seto looked as if he might argue. His head turned toward Yami again and he blinked, studying him, but nodded reluctantly when Atem snarled softly. He turned back, slowly rising to his paws and shaking himself out. "Well, when he is old enough, I am sure Kisara would love to meet him."

"Maybe some day," Yugi answered when Atem looked as if he might lash out at his brother, "but likely not soon."

Yami noticed the life seemed sucked from Atem when Seto finally left. It was as if all the anger that had sustained him prior had finally faded and now he lay quiet and tired. Yami hesitated approaching him, if only because Atem seemed so lost in his thoughts, but finally moved to his side and lay against his flank. His father jolted, though it was a twitch of his flesh rather than a full body jerk, and looked to him with wide eyes. He smiled after a moment, then licked his cheek and placed his chin on his forelimbs.

Yugi yawned as he stretched and came through the entrance. At some point, they'd swapped off to take care of the matter of ensuring Seto had truly left. They'd wandered the territory, changing sentries only when Atem had seemed overwhelmed with his absence at Yami's side. Yugi had gone then, taking another portion of the territory to investigate and make sure the other Sky Dragon had gone.

Yami hadn't had the heart to tell them that he'd long since left.

Instead he'd let them reassure themselves of his absence through bodily searching and had settled for playing with a squirrel in the meantime. Atem had only relaxed when he'd realized Yugi was approaching again, then seemed to sink into this friendlier and more affectionate state.

"We'll switch dens in the morning," Atem announced, voice rough with certainty and the refusal of questions. Yugi blinked and considered him as he took the spot on Yami's other side so he was cushioned between the two adults. Yami looked over at the Sky Dragon to find him watching Yugi. "I don't want him so close to such an open area any longer. If Seto was just so lucky enough he spotted the two of you and landed like that, who else might come to visit and find him? We can't let this happen again."

Yugi flinched. "He saw me. I don't think he realized Yami was there until Yami was so close to him."

Atem lashed his tail. "It doesn't matter. He saw you, he saw him; it doesn't matter. It happened. It's over with. I have dealt with him and he relented when I told him I'd kill him if I found he'd spread word of Yami's existence. As far as I am concerned, a den move was already part of the plan but Seto's appearance makes it all the more apparent we should do so sooner."

Yugi nodded, eyes shadowed with guilt. "Right. Okay."

"As you said, the den is the safest by far. He should have been born in there. Had it not been for the necessity of snow, I would have liked he was there this entire time as well."

Yami looked between them, almost surprised. Atem was agitated, but his voice was still soft. Yugi was sheepish but Atem was not taking advantage of the fact. He was merely reasserting his decision verbally, so that all three of them understood his reasoning.

"I'll have to show Timaeus the den later, when the time comes. But until then, it'll be the three of us."

As it should always be, came Yugi's slightly frustrated thoughts.

Yami glanced at him. Did he not like Timaeus? Or was he upset he would have to share their attention? He knew he hated when Atem showed such affection to the other male. He'd known since he'd come to hear the name. Timaeus was a warm but sore spot for Yugi.

He was envious, yet knew how childish it was of him as well.

Yami didn't fully understand it. The complexity of the feeling always left him dazed. Yugi thought the world of Timaeus at times, and then others he was jealous of his bond with Atem.

He didn't want to share Yami with him as well.

He knew that much.

Yugi did not want to share the two most important dragons in his life with someone else. He harbored the smallest sense of resentment he shared Atem with someone else, and he did not want the burden of sharing Yami as well.

He looked away again.

"I don't trust Seto not to run his mouth."

Yugi bristled, turning to him. "Then why let him leave at all?"

"What would I do to prevent it? Kill him? Yugi, I won't kill in cold blood without reason." Atem fell silent for a moment, then looked at Yami. "As long as word does not get to Jaden, we should be okay."

"And when it does reach him? What do we do then, Atem?"

The God Dragon turned his head to face Yugi then. "I'll kill him."

Yami blinked huge eyes.

"And if you can't?"

"Then let's hope Yami is old enough he can stand on his own paws and protect himself," Atem snapped. "I will not worry about things to come when I cannot control them. I will make plans, but I will not stress myself to the point of exhaustion. I have spent too much time doing that already. I will not do it again."

Yugi opened and closed his mouth, anger making Yami's body prickle with heat. But the more he studied Atem, the more it faded. He opened and closed his mouth again, then huffed and turned away.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

Yami blinked and looked at Atem again.

"Seto will speak to Kisara. I know he'll tell her. I would expect nothing less of him. As for who Kisara might tell, however, I don't have a clue. Likely it will spread to Akunadin. If it should, he will…dismiss it. I should hope he would dismiss it."

"Dismiss it?" Yugi scoffed, turning to him indignantly. "Who would dismiss a miracle?"

"Akunadin does not believe me to be a God Dragon. Why would he think I would have offspring when he knows you are my mate?" Atem almost sounded bitter when Yami looked over, but his expression seemed pained rather than angered. The more his parents studied each other, the more apparent it became Atem was exhausted and scared. "It is the others I worry about. If Kisara tells others in the Clan…"

Yugi paused, then rubbed beaks with him. "We protect him until we can't. That's what parents do."

Atem looked as if he might answer, then stopped. He leaned forward to lick Yugi's cheek, then put his chin on his paws and didn't move away when Yugi lay his head on his neck. Yami watched them until he heard Atem coo in his sleep and Yugi's rumbling snore.

His stomach ached as he tossed Yugi's words about in his head.

"We protect him until we can't."

What did he mean by can't?