Chapter XLVII: Dreams

"So, now what?" Timaeus asked awkwardly, looking to Atem for direction. The God Dragon didn't raise his head from his paws where he'd curled up with his back facing them and his neck angled just enough to see them when he cracked an eye. "Jaden, Yusei, and the Leviathan saw him. Are we supposed to treat this as potential war or what?"

"I have no doubt Jaden will eventually grow tired of this waiting game and come for Yami, but I don't believe it'll be soon. I think he'll bide his time for a while, and hope we might forget in the meantime that he threatened to kill him. It makes the most sense."

Yami shifted his weight and looked at Atem, then Timaeus and finally Yugi. Yugi had taken the spot next to him, pressed firmly into his side as if to declare he would protect him from Atem if he had to. The Sky Dragon had noticed, glancing at them and meeting Yami's eye before turning and laying down again. He looked tired and more than a little lonely, but Yami didn't want to go over there and further rile up Yugi. The Gandora was clearly unhappy and angry and he didn't want to put branches to that fire.

"That's a pretty bold plan." Timaeus glanced at Yami but refused to look at Yugi. The tension seemed to crackle in the den as the Gandora lay his head on Yami's shoulders and closed his eyes pointedly. "I've never known you to forgive and forget."

"No," Atem agreed. "But how should he know that? He's only ever met me a year ago."

Yami looked at Atem and met his eye, relieved to see his father merely seemed annoyed rather than pained. He cared Yugi had abandoned him in his favor, but it was not aggression he harbored and he was not in pain for it. He wanted to apologize but he wasn't going to. And Yami didn't think Yugi deserved one. He himself certainly didn't. Atem was in the right. If things spiraled out of control, it was his right to kill him.

"So, in the meantime…?"

"We wait." Atem looked to Timaeus. "I don't plan to declare war on him. I don't need the life of another God Dragon on my claws. I don't need my name carved into his hide. And I have no malice toward him for wanting to defend himself and others. I would have done the same if I thought I could figure out which of Seto's hatchlings was the problem."

"And risk war with the Lightning Clan?"

"If they fought me, I'd have killed them all. There would have been none left to risk war with."

There was a small moment of silence. The tension changed to a vibrant charge, as if there were electricity now rather than the warmth of a flame. Yami felt his belly coil and twist and he shifted his paws toward his chest, trying not to move too much as to alarm Yugi.

"Who is Sartorius?" Atem asked abruptly, turning to him. "You said Jaden supplied you the name but nothing further. Why would he have been thinking of Sartorius?"

Yami almost answered. His heart leaped in his throat as he considered, and then his words faded to nothing. He blinked and looked away. "I don't know if I can tell you that. I'm not…sure who he was. I just know Jaden cared for him deeply."

Atem narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying you don't know because you believe something will go wrong if I should know or because you truly don't? I've known you to do both, Yami."

"It's…a mix."

His father grunted in annoyance. Yugi bristled and growled softly. Yami could feel the tension in his limbs from where he lay beside him.

"Oh, enough," Timaeus snarled. "He wouldn't raise a paw to Yami. You know that!"

"I know he threatened to kill him," Yugi answered, spinning on the Wind Dragon with a snarl. "And I know that'll be the one time I raise a paw to him."

"Would you rather he die a swift, efficient death or one painful and long?" Atem asked quietly. Yugi spun on him now, snarling. "We don't know that Jaden would not prolong it."

"I'd rather it didn't happen at all."

Atem scoffed. "One day I'll likely be struck down in battle. I'd hope it was quick rather than long and drawn out. If I can give that to Yami, I consider it a blessing."

Yugi opened his mouth to answer, and Yami snapped, "Stop it!"

Both of his parents looked at him, Yugi startled and Atem expressionless. Yami huffed and squirmed away from Yugi to stomp across the den and lay down at the base of the ledge.

"It's over and done with," he spat. "I don't want to hear you argue about it anymore."

Yugi bristled, more shocked than angered. "Yami…"

"No." He looked over at Atem. "Do you really think he's going to just wait?"

His father eyed him a moment, then smirked slightly and looked away. His eyes sparkled with laughter as he murmured, "I think that's his best course of action. If he chose to come after us so soon I'd kill him on the spot, and he knows that."

Yugi nodded slightly in agreement. "Jaden isn't a coward, but he's also not stupid. And if he wants to get past Atem and I, he'll do it when he expects us to have either forgotten or moved past the matter."

Yami didn't think that would ever happen. Yugi would look over his shoulder until he died if that was the case. Atem would wait and lurk and ambush when it came to the eventual battle between them. There was no measure of doubt in his mind. Atem wouldn't let the opportunity pass. Yugi would lash out as hard and fast as he could when he thought he saw the conflict arising again.

It was why he was so paranoid about letting Atem anywhere near the other God Dragons. They might promise Atem's safety until they lost the air in their lungs permanently, and it would never sway him.

"Okay."

Atem eyed him for a moment but didn't speak again. He lowered his head to his paws and rolled so that his back was completely to them. Yami blinked, slightly hurt, and found Timaeus moving further from Yugi to lay down as well. Yugi huffed and lay with his head angled slightly toward Atem, as if he were trying to listen to his heartbeat.

Yugi relaxed visibly when Atem cooed a breath, fast asleep after several minutes of tension. Yami smiled faintly and pulled his paws to his chest again, listening as well to the gentle sound. Atem fell silent again a few moments later, and Yugi curled up with a yawn. He looked as if he might get to his paws and join Atem, but held off with pure stubbornness. He curled up and lay his chin on his paws, eyes closed and breaths soft and easy.

Timaeus didn't rest. His head turned and he narrowed his eye at Yami, voice gruff but soft. "You chose to do this. Why? You sensed them. I know you did."

Yami nodded slightly. "Yeah, I did." He paused and shifted his weight, risking a glance at Atem and then Yugi. He got to his paws and moved over to his side. He dropped his voice impossibly lower, watching his parents intently. Neither so much as stirred. "I need Jaden to exercise his abilities again. I need him at his peak."

"What? What does that mean?"

Yami turned to him. "I've seen it. There's a lot that will happen in the next couple of years. And I need Jaden to learn to wield his strengths again. I need him to…prepare. Of course, he'll be preparing to fight Atem in his head, but I need him to…embrace his powers again."

"You're willing to risk Atem's life on this?"

"Jaden won't hurt him again. I'm willing to pledge my life on that." Yami hesitated and searched his face. "I can't tell you more than that. But I promise he won't hurt Atem again. He won't hurt Yugi, either."

"And you?"

"No, not me, either."

Timaeus frowned and stared at him. "That doesn't make any sense, Yami."

"No. But it's like I said before. You don't know what I experience, and I can't explain it so that you will. I'm sorry." He paused. "I'd trust you with anything and everything, but there's so much I can't tell anyone about. Everything…relies on Atem's ignorance of things. If he knew half of what I've learned…"

"Atem is that powerful?"

"He could bring the world to ruin if he wanted." Yami looked over at the resting Sky Dragon and shivered. "Which…is why his sibling has such powers. If it wasn't for Atem, they'd be all but powerless, even with their lineage."

"Their lineage?" Timaeus repeated, snorting. "Seto is Atem's brother."

Yami smiled slightly and nodded. "I know." He wasn't talking about Seto. "And Seto is lucky he is."

Timaeus frowned and studied him. "What does that mean exactly?"

"That Atem has a choice to make soon. And depending on what happens… Seto should worship the ground he walks on." Yami lowered his head to his paws and watched Yugi a moment. His dreams would be easier to traverse than Atem's. Atem was too peaceful to disturb, but Yugi's dreams were harder and more tumultuous. Yugi needed him far more than Atem did. "Get some sleep, Timaeus. You'll need it just as much as we do."

The Wind Dragon studied him a moment as if he wasn't sure what to say. Yami smiled at him, hoping to ease some of the tension in his stance, and turned away again. He closed his eyes and lay his chin on his paws, facing Yugi and focusing solely on the Gandora.

Oddly he didn't dream of Atem saying he would kill Yami as he'd assumed he would. Instead he dreamed of Atem as he lay sunbathing, eyes closed and head on his paws. Yugi stood beside him, laughing. Yugi smiled and licked his cheek, then settled against his side as Atem continued sunbathing.

"My God Dragon isn't allowed to bleed!" he teased. He looked him over, inspecting for another spot, and then relaxed more completely. "You're too sweet and I refuse to let it happen."

"You're adorable," Atem snickered.

Yami drifted a few steps closer, waiting for Yugi to notice him. The Gandora moved to lay beside Atem, snuggling with him as Atem breathed easily and cracked an eye to glance at him. Yugi immediately beamed, though after a moment he looked to Yami. The dream didn't break and Yami realized he was savoring the phantom comfort it offered in allowing him to stay at Atem's side like that. He blinked at Yami, glanced at Atem, and then turned back.

"I'm not getting up yet," he announced.

Yami smiled and shook his head. "You don't have to."

"Good." Yugi snuggled a little further into Atem's side and the Slifer grunted but did not respond otherwise. Yugi tucked his paws toward his chest and looked at Yami again. "It's stupid that any interaction with Atem is my favorite thing, isn't it?"

Yami blinked. "I don't think so," he murmured. "He makes you happy. Why is that stupid?"

Yugi snorted and huffed. "I'm so angry at him, but I just want to snuggle with him," he mumbled, then got up and shook himself out. The area around them changed from the river and its banks to the vastness of the forests. They stretched before them like endless greenery and Yami noticed Atem was gone from sight for only a moment. Bounding through the trees came a Sky Dragon barely larger than Yami himself, darting about the undergrowth like a flame amongst moss. "You chose to visit me and not Atem."

Yami blinked and watched the phantom Atem chase a beetle and then a squirrel, darting and climbing a trunk before pushing off and twisting in the air to land on his paws. He looked almost like a squirrel himself with how quickly he raced away and began somersaulting about happily.

"He didn't need me to visit him."

"But I did?" Yugi snapped. He bristled, then ducked his head and sighed softly. "I didn't mean to snap."

Yami snorted. "I know." He looked him over. "You shouldn't be so upset with him."

Yugi scowled. "No? I shouldn't be upset with him for threatening to kill you?"

"He didn't threaten me," Yami said with a shake of his head. "I was never threatened. Atem made a pledge to protect me until I strayed from the path I should traverse. It had nothing to do with threatening me."

"He said he'd kill you! And he acted as if he wouldn't care."

Yami blinked and looked away from the phantom dragon as he raced about and darted around, pushing off the tree trunk and twisting once more to land on his paws. He looked so excited and happy, even though he was alone and seemed far too aware of the distance between himself and his siblings.

"Atem isn't you, Daddy. He can do it if he has to," Yami stated softly, staring at the dragon once more. He thought at some point Atem turned and faced him, but it passed immediately after. It was funny, he realized, how much he wanted Atem to see him. But the dragon in front of him wasn't his father as he was now and his dreams never included his younger self. He was an adult and he shunned any dreams to begin with him as a hatchling. "And he won't hesitate if it will protect you."

Yugi blinked, freezing in place and staring in bewilderment. "Huh?" he mumbled, searching his face. "Protect me?"

"He loves you more than me. If he has to choose, he'll save you before he will me. If I were to become a threat, he'll rid the world of me for you," Yami continued, watching the dragonet bound about once more. He sat down after a moment, studying as Atem darted about. "He would mourn me, of course, but he wouldn't pause if he had to. And I don't blame him. If I had to do it, I'd do the same thing. I'd wait until it was safe to mourn and then get through it. It's how he's always survived. That's how he'll always survive, whether I'm here or not. He taught himself to do that to save himself long ago, when he was so broken he was ready for death. Had he not taught himself further, he would have been the cause of the second edict against his species."

Yugi blinked, snarling low in his throat. The hatchling faded and rippled for a split second before Yami's eyes. And then finally Atem's image solidified once more. "You speak as if you don't matter!" Yugi spat.

Yami shook his head. "Don't hate him for that. He wasn't prepared to have me," he murmured, watching as Atem's image rippled once more and changed to a more mature image. He didn't rush about or even truly move. The dream phantom was statuesque and almost nonexistent. "He's never going to bond with me as much as he has you or Timaeus. I ruined that when I hurt him in the midst of his fight with Bakura. And that's okay, too."

Yugi snorted. "He should love you more than me or Timaeus."

Yami shook his head again, sighing softly. "I didn't say he doesn't. He does. He loves me more than Timaeus. But he would choose you over me if he was ever forced."

"And you're okay with that? Why?"

Yami opened and closed his mouth once, sighing and kneading at the ground. He shook his head. "Because I understand. He's only trying to do what he feels is best. You may hate him for it, but he would do it. He'd do it to save you."

"Save me?" Yugi spat. "He doesn't need to—"

"If something goes wrong with me, Jaden will blame it on both of your species. He'll turn on the Slifers, and especially the Gandora species again. He'll wipe the earth of them and any Wind and Fire Dragons that produced them formerly or that look as if they might in the future. He's not stupid. He's not heartless. He knows what's at stake each time we risk an argument with Jaden."

Yugi shook his head. "Yusei would stop him."

"Yusei?" Yami repeated, staring at the phantom in front of him and shivering. The mirage seemed to fade and flicker and for a moment Yugi glared at him, before slowly he looked over again. The phantom grew stronger, no longer as transparent, and then it finally began moving. Yugi watched the Sky Dragon as it began to pace and then settled beside the river, watching the water. A fish was flung through the air, landing and disappearing in front of Yugi's paws.

"Yusei would not stop him. Yusei can't stop him. Jaden is a lot stronger than he acts. He might rely more on emotional manipulation than physical or magical attack, but that could change at any time. If he gets used to combat, I don't know Yusei could stop him. Father could. But it'd likely kill him in turn."

"You said you couldn't see the future."

"Not…always," Yami admitted quietly. "I see the choices scattered about. I've seen the possibilities where they were available to me. But…mostly I've heard Father's thoughts."

"Atem is not always right, okay? He isn't!"

"I know that. But he's not as optimistic as you. He doesn't have so much hope or faith of any kind. I don't think he's wrong, either." He tilted his head and looked over. "Atem is too powerful to be wrong about this."

Yugi stared at him, bewildered, and then stiffened. His eyes grew wide and he stood taller, peering at him intently.

"The reason you won against him in that courtship battle…is because you had no intention to fight him. That's why he didn't know what to do. It made him violent, and that made him nearly use his tail on you. He didn't know what was going on, why he couldn't find a solution." Yami looked away. "When you fled and he chased, that's the only reason he did not realize your next move. If you'd been planning to fight him, things would have ended in your defeat."

"Then why didn't he ever fight his brothers? If he could have won…"

"You're right," Yami said, eyes brightening, and shook his head slightly. "Atem is extremely gentle at his core. He hides it now, but he would never have turned on them when he was younger. He loved them, and had hoped they would grow from it."

"How do you…?"

"He can't hide his thoughts in battle. He loses himself to instinct."

"Does Atem know?"

"He can't know." Yami bristled and turned to him, fear coursing down his spine. "It'll destroy things as they are. His abilities are what could tip the balance. Jaden is right to be afraid of him."

Yugi stared back at him for a long time, blinking. He searched his face until he couldn't any longer, turning to watch Atem throw a fish through the air once more. He watched it as it sailed, then landed at his paws. This one did not disappear immediately but rather thrashed about at his claws, scales flashing like blood and rainbow.