CHAPTER 14: THE IT WAS ALL A DREAM CLICHÉ

THE IT WAS ALL A DREAM CLICHÉ: Dorothy travels through a magical world full of talking scarecrows and flying monkeys, only to wake up in her bed with everyone insisting her adventure was a concussion-fueled dream, indulgently laughing every time she tries to explain.

But how could her journey be merely a dream when we were with her every step of the way? We tripped down the yellow brick road with her and met the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. We stood by her side as she threw a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West. Regardless of whatever the movie gods decree, I agree with author Frank L. Baum and Dorothy, herself: Oz is a really real place.

MORAL: What happens when you go on a magical journey only to find out that everyone you fought to get back to has stood still?

Kaiba's eyes drifted open. He blinked, puzzled by the weight on his torso. Atem was lying against him. Atem's head was resting on Kaiba's chest, his hair was tickling Kaiba's neck.

They were naked, although they'd pulled the covers up somewhere in the night. Kaiba's memory flooded back. A grin threatened to split his face in half. Kaiba wanted to shake Atem awake and cheer, but Atem looked too peaceful and his weight felt too good. It was hard to lay still and enjoy the prize in his arms, but Kaiba was half-afraid that moving would break the spell and he'd wind up back in limbo, or worse, alone.

He drew in a breath. They were in his bedroom. Atem was with him.

Atem had insisted he wanted Kaiba.

He'd told the truth.

Even the tickling of Atem's hair felt good.

Kaiba tried to catalog the unfamiliar emotion flooding through him. Euphoria: that was it, a word Kaiba had previously had no use for.

Kaiba gritted his teeth, then eased his body from under Atem's. Atem immediately rolled into the spot that still held Kaiba's body heat and grabbed Kaiba's pillow.

Kaiba went to the bathroom. He relived the night before as he showered. He'd once told Atem that he trembled with desire every time his rival was near. Kaiba grinned as he soaped himself down. He hadn't had a clue. Atem growling his given name, grinding against him, touching him… he'd gone off like a dragon's attack, all fire and noise. Atem had been just as eager, just as wound up. He'd come just as fast and hard.

And unlike that other geriatric pair, they hadn't needed a bathtub to get off.

Kaiba got out of the shower, dried himself, shrugged into his bathrobe and headed back into the bedroom. Atem was sleeping lightly. Kaiba gave into the impulse to kiss him on the top of his head.

Atem smiled and sat up, his hair going in all directions, even more than usual.

"What are your plans for today?" Kaiba asked, as if this was a normal morning, as if they were their 40-year-old selves, with decades of living together behind them.

Atem bounced out of bed. "I'm heading over to Yugi's! I'm sure the gang has plans."

Kaiba nodded slowly, refusing to give into the fear that Atem could only care for him in a vacuum, that if Atem had a choice, it would never be him. Atem had asked for his faith. He'd come home with Kaiba when it counted.

For the first time, Kaiba felt some sympathy for that other version of himself, the one who'd brought Atem back from the after-life and then avoided him just as thoroughly, the one who'd been afraid to confess, afraid to ask, afraid to risk hearing the answer, even though all the reassurance he needed had been staring him in the face – the Kaiba who'd needed Mokuba and Yugi to set up a duel. Kaiba frowned. In this world, neither of them had a wingman.

Kaiba nodded again, more determinedly this time. He'd promised to let Atem go his own way. That held in all things, big and small. "Sounds like a plan."

Atem looked at Kaiba, head tilted in surprise at the sudden silence and equally abrupt declaration. He kissed Kaiba, feeling an impulse to push them both back into the bed, but the tension in the air felt wrong, like the tension of their first days in limbo.

"What are you going to do afterwards?" Kaiba turned away to get dressed, hoping he didn't sound beseeching.

"I thought… I was expecting…" Atem swallowed, suddenly awkward. "I was hoping to see you after you get off work?" Atem asked, his voice equally unsure. Why did an image of Kaiba in a short skirt, standing in the Domino High School hallway, waiting for rejection, flash before his eyes. Hadn't they left that world behind them?

Kaiba ducked his head and smiled. "I'd like that."

Atem smirked. "It's a date!"

Kaiba's smile bloomed across his face, growing like his philodendron, threatening to take over his walls. Atem wondered if Kaiba was also seeing the Domino High School hallway.

Atem dressed. They went downstairs to the dining room for breakfast. Mokuba was still asleep. Kaiba headed off to work after checking with the staff to arrange for Mokuba to get a ride to Kaiba Corporation when he woke up. Atem wandered towards Yugi's house, enjoying the feel of his feet hitting the pavement, marveling at the solidity of his own footsteps.

He'd sacrificed his body 3,000 years ago. Last night, it had been his in a way he'd never anticipated… clutching Kaiba, caressing him, giving and receiving, building to an elation that could only be screamed to the heavens. Atem's breathing quickened at the thought of touching Kaiba again, of running his lips over Kaiba's body, of pushing deeper this time, of claiming Kaiba and being claimed. He drew in long slow breaths, tempted to turn towards Kaiba Corporation instead of Yugi's house, then continued towards his original destination. Kaiba would be there tonight and every day onwards. He believed in that promise. Atem thanked the gods; they'd granted him not only his life, but all the things that made living a precious gift.

Atem arrived at Yugi's house in time for a second breakfast. Sugoroku went to open the shop. Atem and Yugi headed off to meet the gang at the arcade.

The arcade was noisier that Atem remembered, or maybe, as with most things, having been part of Yugi had buffered the experience. Everyone else seemed happy. They kept shouting at him to try different games. They wanted him and Yugi to compete directly, something they both managed to avoid. Everyone kept comparing their scores anyway.

"I never realized how loud it was here," he said to Bakura, leaning forward and half shouting to be heard.

Bakura nodded. "Maybe I'm just too used to quiet. My apartment's nice." He paused, then said, his lips almost in Atem's ear to avoid being overheard, even though no one was near enough or interested, "About all those different worlds…"

"Go on," Atem encouraged.

"Did you ever… on any of them… did you see…"

"The Thief King? No. Not alive." He put his arm around Bakura's shoulders. "But I only caught a glimpse of a few worlds among infinite dimensions. There may be worlds out there where Kul Elna still stands, its people safe and free."

"I'd like to think so."

Atem nodded. "So would I."

"What was it like? Seeing version after version of yourself, of who you could be if things had turned out differently…" Bakura's voice trailed off to a whisper too soft to be heard as he added, "...if I'd never picked up the Ring."

"Disorienting. Isolating. Claustrophobic. Strangely exhilarating. And now I'm back and this world feels just as jarring."

"Can I see your phone?" Bakura asked.

Atem handed it over, the glossy KC on the back like a golden brand.

Bakura added his address to the contact information. "If you ever need a place to be alone and not alone, I have an extra bedroom and no roommates."

Atem returned his phone to his pocket. "Thank you."

Bakura blushed. "I'm glad everything worked out. Some cycles need to be broken."

Bakura drifted away. Atem walked over to watch Anzu win at Dance Dance Revolution. He escorted her to get a soda.

"Thank you," Atem said.

"I don't understand," Anzu replied.

"For trying to hold on to my life chip when I was ready to hand it in, for trying to teach me to value it."

"Kaiba seems to have succeeded." Despite her best efforts a note of resentment lingered in her voice. She shook herself. "I'm glad. You're our age, Atem."

"Ghosts don't have an age."

"You were never a ghost to us!"

"But I was to myself." Atem scanned Anzu's worried face. "I know better now," he offered.

"I didn't want to watch you walk away forever." She colored. "None of us did. Yugi did it for you."

"I know." Atem searched for something to add. "Maybe limbo was where I needed to be." He chuckled. "Then again, even if I'd made it to the after-life, Kaiba would just have come after me anyway."

"So would we, if we'd known that was what you wanted."

"I've never doubted that." Atem frowned in frustration. Why was it so hard to talk to his friends without Yugi to translate?

Anzu linked arms with him. "Let's find a game for you to play."

Kaiba still had the high scores on some of the games. Atem settled into one, putting in token after token. At the end of six tries, the leader board still read KAI. He slammed his hands on the game.

Yugi chuckled behind him. "I guess he's still your rival if you're trying so hard to knock him off the top spot."

"He'll always be my rival," Atem answered.

Yugi shook his head, smiling. That, at least, was familiar.

They joined Jounouchi and Honda. Their friends were just finishing a fighting game. Jounouchi won. He waved at Atem and Yugi as they approached.

"Now, if only you were this good at showing up on time for school," Honda said. "Too bad fighting doesn't count towards your grades."

"Don't I know it! I'd be top of the class. I keep trying to get to school earlier. I dunno what happens. Time just seems to vanish somewhere when I'm not looking."

"That's because you don't have anyone depending on you to be on time, except the teachers and they'll just glare at you and mark you down." Honda turned to Yugi (who was standing next to him) and shouted in his ear, "Hey, Yugi, why don't you meet Jounouchi before school on Monday! That way we know he'll be on time because he won't want to ruin your attendance record."

Atem gasped.

Yugi flashed him a thumbs up. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

"Am I a genius or am I a genius?" Honda gloated.

"So, if I graduate, it'll be all thanks to you?" Jounouchi asked.

Honda laughed. "That's a big 'if!'"

Jounouchi grabbed Honda and put him in a headlock. "Who needs fighting games when I can do this?" he teased. Honda tried to shake Jounouchi loose. They crashed into the game they'd just finished playing. A staff worker looked up. Jounouchi let Honda out of the headlock and stepped back, holding his hands up, palms outward in a sign of peace. The staff worker shrugged and walked down another aisle.

"I'm sure your plan will work!" Atem said. "I can almost see it coming true."

Eventually they all headed home. Atem walked back with Yugi.

"That was a really good idea of Honda's!" Yugi said. "I know Jounouchi will come through!"

Atem laughed. "He has before on at least four other worlds, so far."

Yugi stopped short and stared at Atem. "That's so creepy."

"It wasn't. At least not all the time. Or maybe I got used to it."

They walked in silence for the rest of the block. As they waited for the light, Yugi asked, "So how was your first night at Kaiba's?"

The blood rushed to Atem's face. "Uh… good… great!"

Yugi shook his head, too caught up in his own thoughts to notice Atem's heightened color or his response. They crossed the street. "I don't really get it. I mean, I know you two had this whole adventure, but for me, it's like one moment you were gone and five minutes later you were back and with Kaiba."

"Kaiba and I went through lifetimes of good and bad choices together. I can't ignore that."

"So did we," Yugi whispered, too softly to be heard.

"What?" Atem asked.

"Nothing," Yugi mumbled.

Atem tilted his head to the side.

"We're here for you too," Yugi said.

Atem grinned. "I know."

Yugi smiled back. The question: "Why isn't that enough?" flitted through Yugi's head, but he would have needed Jounouchi's brashness and buoyant confidence to ask. And Yugi was starting to wonder if the answer was they'd never been enough; Atem had always needed more and it had just taken them this long to figure it out. "I understand," Yugi said. "I guess you have to… I don't know…"

"Find my own way," Atem said.

"Yeah." Yugi's grin was more natural this time. "That's what you tried to do for me, right? I learned so much about myself through you."

Atem waved goodbye to Yugi when they reached his house and headed to the Kaiba mansion.

Kaiba was already at home, sitting on the game room couch, trying to hide his impatience. He'd only been away from Atem for the day. Kaiba wondered if this was some strange side effect of limbo. Whatever the reason, he felt uneasy without Atem by his side. They'd been thrown into such a strange, hothouse intimacy; it was hard weaning himself off of it.

Mokuba watched his brother look down at his phone again.

"You can stop checking the time. He'll be here soon. He just went to the arcade. Want to play a video game?"

"Sure."

Kaiba played without his trademark focus. He won anyway.

Mokuba groaned. "You know, if you're going to be all distracted, the least you can do is lose."

"Never!" Kaiba concentrated on the next game, rising to the challenge of seeing how fast he could beat his brother.

Mokuba grinned. Mission accomplished.

They'd just finished the second game when Atem came into the game room to find them. He beamed at the sight of Kaiba and rushed over to kiss him. "I missed you," he said.

Kaiba nodded. "Me, too," he replied, wrapping Atem in a bear hug, refusing to let go.

Mokuba looked away. They broke apart. Atem sat down on the sofa next to Kaiba.

The evening passed quickly. But once Kaiba and Atem were upstairs, once Kaiba's bedroom door had closed behind them, they stopped and stared at each other, momentarily unsure what to do next. The first night had been unbelievable. A second night made it real.

Kaiba broke the staring contest first, lunging forward, shoving Atem against the wall and covering Atem's mouth with his own. Atem yanked off Kaiba's shirt as they staggered towards the bed, shedding clothes along the way.

Kaiba landed on top of Atem as they stripped off the last of their clothes. He barely paused to take in the sight of Atem naked, stretched out beneath him, before leaning forward, tonguing Atem's nipples. He grinned as they hardened, as Atem twitched under him, unable to hold still.

Kaiba dropped to Atem's groin as though following a trail, licking, nibbling. Atem groaned. Kaiba smiled and then sucked a little harder. Atem's moans grew louder, his body writhing under Kaiba's hands. Kaiba could get into this: figuring out the right movements to unlock Atem. He moved to Atem's shaft with repeated lathed motions before engulfing it in his mouth, almost ruining things by diving deeply enough to gag. He eased off slightly and raised a hand to grip Atem. He picked up the pace, his own arousal growing at Atem's needy, keening cries.

Kaiba knew Atem would want to make Kaiba just as greedy, just as unstrung. He wanted to hold on to his advantage as long as he could.

Atem suddenly stiffened. He flooded Kaiba's mouth. Kaiba held on until Atem relaxed and then eased off, bringing on a final round of spasms. Kaiba moved up on the bed and lay next to Atem. "Mission accomplished," he said smugly. "I'm one up on you."

Atem raised himself on an elbow. His grin turned from satisfied to feral. "We're only halfway done." He covered Kaiba's body with his own, then moved down.

At first, Kaiba thought Atem was simply going to follow where he'd led – not that he was complaining, not with Atem's mouth sheathing him. Then Atem paused, reaching for lube. Kaiba clicked his tongue in annoyance and anticipation. He'd watched porn in preparation. He'd bought the dame lube. How had he forgotten it existed?

Then Atem slipped a finger inside, breaking Kaiba's concentration. He froze. But Atem's mouth was still on Kaiba, as if Kaiba was a meal he was about to savor and then devour, and suddenly everything felt right… no, better than right… an absolute and unending cornucopia of rightness.

The heat of Atem's mouth… the pulsing fingers. It wasn't just right. It was perfect.

It wasn't enough.

"More," Kaiba moaned. "I want all of you."

Atem positioned himself. "You sure?"

"Did I stutter?" Kaiba said impatiently.

Atem complied. Kaiba stiffened again. Atem held himself still, then began to move. It took a while to find a rhythm, going slowly at first, then picking up speed and force, hitting a spot Kaiba thought only existed in porn movies. One hand returned to Kaiba's arousal, each clumsy stroke raising the ante.

Kaiba flicked his eyes open. Atem's face was blissful, strained, focused on Kaiba as if nothing existed for him but Kaiba and the bed. The look on Atem's face spurred Kaiba onwards. He groaned as he arched into Atem, impaling himself more deeply, wanting all of Atem.

This was everything Kaiba had ever wanted, since the moment they'd faced each other in limbo and placed their hands, palm to palm.

This was everything he'd ever wanted, without knowing it, when he'd chased Atem through the streets of Domino demanding a duel.

This was throwing his life chip on the table – and against all odds – Atem picking it up and cradling it to his heart.

This was his soul shattering and reforming in an endless cycle.

This was Atem shouting his given name, as if no other words existed.

This was winning.

And for once, his victory didn't vanish in the moment of completion, didn't disappear, even when they lay next to each other, spent and boneless.

Kaiba grinned. "I'm still ahead, two to one."

"You keep telling yourself that. Right up until I even the score."

"I'll just beat it again," Kaiba boasted.

"You're welcome to try."

Kaiba leaned over to kiss Atem, but if he was thinking of returning to the competition, the lure of drifting off to sleep with Atem in his arms proved too strong.

Kaiba was surprised to find that the next few days settled into a routine. He went to work. Atem hung out with Yugi and his friends during the day, sometimes stopping by Kaiba Corporation for lunch. The staff had been alerted and let Atem up without question or comment. Most days, Mokuba joined Yugi and the gang, at least for part of the time, before heading off to Kaiba Corporation and coming home with his brother. Atem was usually waiting for them. The nights were a sensual blur of arms and legs, of moans and gasps and a strange peace, so like the peace of limbo, as they lay in each other's arms, afterwards.

Kaiba woke up first each morning. But instead of jumping into his day's work, he found himself lying in bed. It was a strange addition to his life: waking up without the ramped-up whir of his brain as it raced through options and strategies.

Atem had once told Kaiba he had to reconcile with his past. He hadn't had an answer for Atem then. He still didn't. What could he say? That he had no idea what was right or wrong, up or down? That after breaking his vow never to look back he was now drowning in memories from twelve different worlds, sifting through them desperate for a plank of wood to hang on to?

But true to the transactional nature of the universe, limbo had given Kaiba something as well. Kaiba had clung to his belief in the future, afraid that the past would swallow him whole. It had been a talisman to clutch when the shadows drew too near, like the stuffed dragon that had disappeared into the maelstrom of his childhood; an act of desperation, not hope. Now, he'd seen the future. Now, he had something better than desperation. He had proof.

He'd discovered a Seto Kaiba he wanted to be and a future he wanted to have. He'd do anything to make it a reality.

Kaiba pressed his lips together. Stubbornness had saved him before. He started organizing events across each reality, searching for patterns, as if they could bring him safely to shore. Gozaburo had been a bastard in all of them; Kaiba had sought his validation and fought against his influence without winning either battle. Atem, for better or worse, had been crucial, as if some red string of fate really did connect them. He'd loved Mokuba, even if he'd rarely shown it wisely or well.

He nodded to himself. If he concentrated on the last two bullet points, he couldn't go far wrong. Kaiba's brows drew together as he evaluated his performance. Mokuba had been going out with Yugi's gang. They usually did ordinary people things like going to the arcade or the movies. Kaiba didn't see the appeal. Was that another way of drifting apart? Atem often stopped by for lunch and the weekend was coming up, but suddenly, after days of being together in limbo, limiting himself to evenings wasn't enough. He was sure Yugi had another outing in mind for today; he always did. Kaiba smiled and leaned over to kiss Atem. It was time to put his next plan into action.

After they'd both gotten dressed and headed downstairs, Kaiba surprised Atem and Mokuba at breakfast by announcing he was going to the zoo with them and Yugi's friends. Mokuba jumped out of his chair at the news. Atem grabbed his hand and smiled. They piled into Kaiba's car; something about the shape and paint job bore a suspicious resemblance to a dragon. They roared off for the zoo, as if it was on fire and Kaiba was responsible for bringing the water.

Mokuba couldn't keep from glancing at his brother as he followed him from the priority parking to the zoo entrance. His brother never took off work. And now Kaiba had canceled his appointments to go to the Domino Zoo with them. His brother had taken him to the zoo before, of course, but those had been stolen moments under Gozaburo's reign. Mokuba wondered, uneasily, if they'd really gotten away with those secret outings, or if his brother had been caught and punished. There was no way to know.

It was different now. They could take off whenever they wanted. They didn't have to pretend to be spies behind enemy lines. Instead, they were meeting up with a whole bunch of people that could be friends – or as close as they'd come to having any.

And Atem.

Mokuba wasn't quite sure what category Atem fit into. Boyfriend was too weird a word and his brother hadn't used it although Atem was living with them and sharing his brother's bedroom. In the past, changes had usually been bad news, but ever since Death-T, there'd been good ones as well. Most of all, his brother seemed to be almost, kind of happy, when he wasn't trying to hide his agitation at Atem's absence. Mokuba shrugged. His brother was smiling more. It was what he'd wanted.

"Remember when we went here, before?" Kaiba asked Mokuba.

Mokuba nodded. His brother never brought up the past, even the good parts. Hopefully this meant they'd gotten away with the trip. "You loved the giraffes."

"Of course, you did," Atem said with a smirk. "You have the legs for it."

"We'll see your favorites too," Seto promised. It was unclear if he was talking to Mokuba or Atem.

They met Yugi and the gang just inside the entrance. Everyone hugged Atem and Mokuba and nodded to Kaiba. They wandered past the bird house then started arguing over what to see. Kaiba ended up standing next to Anzu, out of range of the debaters.

"On one of those other worlds," Kaiba began stiffly, discharging an obscure obligation to another Anzu on behalf of another Kaiba.

"Are you going to tell me we were besties?" Anzu asked skeptically.

"No. We were kinda friends in one world, but I was thinking of this other world…" Kaiba shrugged. "You didn't like me in that one any more than you do here. But you defended me when it mattered."

"I hope I'd always do what's right, whatever the world," Anzu said, unsure whether she'd just been insulted.

"You did."

"You weren't there… at the Ceremonial Duel, not 'til the very end. I tried to tell them to stop and think. No one listened."

Kaiba nodded. He remembered that other Seto, the one who'd been a girl. She'd been eager to design weapons, just to get Gozaburo to focus on her, desperate to be anything other than an unnecessary daughter. "It's hard not being heard."

Anzu laughed. "Really? Is there a world where you don't get listened to?"

Kaiba thought for a moment, remembering his training, his pleas not to use his designs as weapons of war. "On all of them. Lately, I usually have the luxury of screaming louder."

Anzu stopped short and searched his face. Her lips twitched. "They say travel broadens the mind. I'm not sure this is what's meant, but hey, whatever works."

Kaiba wandered back to Mokuba as the gang walked over to the Indian subcontinent enclosure. They watched a tiger pace, tail twitching, in his spacious home. Mokuba slipped his hand in Kaiba's. "I'm glad you came. I guess you wanted to see Atem."

"Yes." Kaiba paused. "He wasn't the only one I wanted to spend the day with."

"Really?" Mokuba beamed.

Kaiba thought of the world where Mokuba had moved away, where a ten-minute weekly phone call had been their only contact. He shuddered. "Absolutely," he told Mokuba. "I was with Atem…" Kaiba paused, remembering how much he'd loved being marooned in their own little world. "I'm not going to lie, it was special, but the whole time, I kept trying to get back to you." Kaiba cleared his throat. He wasn't going to let Mokuba drift away, not without doing his best to hang on. "I missed you."

Mokuba smiled up at his brother. "I'm glad."

His brother was obsessed with Atem. Mokuba had known that for a while, although Atem living with them was a curve ball he'd never seen coming. But his brother didn't lie. He'd missed Mokuba. He'd said it. Mokuba smiled again, more shyly this time, trying to get used to the new normal.

After looking at the tigers and leopards and paying their respects to the elephants, they headed – over Jounouchi's laughing protests – to Bakura's favorite, the House of Darkness. The penguins and polar bears were next. At each stop, Atem pulled out his phone to take selfies and photos of the gang, their smiling faces and waving arms obscuring the animals behind them.

"You learned to use the camera real quick," Mokuba said.

"I love it! I can capture a moment when I'm truly happy and say to the world, 'See! I exist! I have friends and a life!' And then I can look at it later when I'm alone and feel like everyone's still around me."

"You can share it with friends, too!" Yugi added.

"That way we can all see what a goofy grin Honda has," Jounouchi laughed.

Mokuba frowned in thought, then tugged on Atem's arm while the gang were distracted by Jounouchi and Honda wrestling. "Would you mind taking a picture of just me and Nisama? Like when he doesn't realize anyone's looking?"

Atem smiled. "Already done."

Mokuba got out his own phone as they approached the otters. He waited until his brother was laughing at something Atem had said and snapped a picture of them, their heads close together. A Kaiba always pays his debts. And he had to admit, Atem was right. There was something satisfying about capturing his brother mid-laugh.

Anzu joined Yugi as they reached the Monkey House. Atem and Kaiba were by the ring-tailed lemurs when they entered. Kaiba was studying them as if he was planning to recreate them holographically and needed to store the data in his mind. Atem was laughing as the monkeys chased each other from branch to branch.

Anzu turned to Yugi. "Do you remember coming here as a kid? I don't think I've been back since then."

"Me neither," Yugi said.

Atem and Kaiba moved on to the next exhibit. "Look! I found them!" Atem exclaimed, pointing to something hidden in the leaves.

Yugi chuckled. "We did that too, play find the animals."

"The aquarium… the zoo… I might not be a duelist, but I'm seeing a pattern. That's so you, planning all these trips just so Atem can experience them for the first time, too."

Yugi blushed and ducked his head. No one else had noticed.

"I can't believe how many different kinds of monkeys there are!" Atem shouted. "I've decided! Monkeys are my favorite!"

"You said that about the penguins, polar bears and otters," Kaiba pointed out.

"I didn't know he liked animals so much," Yugi said. "There's so much I didn't know," he repeated softly.

Anzu and Yugi looked at the macaques in silence.

"Yugi?"

He turned to look at her.

"You got so quiet. For a moment it was like you were talking to Atem again."

"Just me in here," Yugi said, tapping his head.

"And that's enough," Anzu said firmly. "This is a new start for you as well." She smiled. "You might even find parts of yourself you didn't know about, too."

Yugi's grin widened. He took her hand as they drifted through the rest of the Monkey House and over to the ice cream stand near the sea lion pool. Everyone else was already there. Jounouchi got a strawberry plum cone. Kaiba ordered next.

"A cup of plain vanilla?" Jounouchi asked, slurping at his cone.

Kaiba shrugged. He wasn't going to explain that his father had brought home a package of vanilla ice cream every Friday night. He thought back to the world where his parents had lived. Was his father still bringing home vanilla ice cream somewhere? Kaiba ordered pineapple topping. He turned to Atem and smirked. "Your hair still reminds me of a pineapple top."

"Giraffe legs," Atem taunted back. He stepped up to the counter to place his order as Kaiba moved away.

Atem got his ice cream and joined the gang. Everyone transferred their attention to his cup. He'd ordered anchovy ice cream. The container had been labeled: "For Sea Lions and Brave Humans, only."

"Why?" Yugi asked.

Atem took an exploratory lick. "I've never had it before."

"There's a reason for that!" Jounouchi laughed.

"They have a container of it as a joke because it's near the sea lions. They don't expect people to order it," Honda added.

"That must be why they looked so surprised." Atem waved his arms in excitement. "Isn't it amazing? Life is made up of all these endless, almost invisible decisions that carry us from moment to moment and year to year!"

"I guess," Yugi said awkwardly.

"They don't have to be unnoticed or unintentional," Kaiba pointed out. "Decisions are more effective in the service of a goal."

Atem stuck out his tongue at Kaiba. "But you're still the one setting the goals and choosing to follow them, day by day." Atem smirked when Kaiba didn't answer. He took a large bite of his ice cream and gagged, his eyes opening as wide as Yugi's.

"Don't worry," Yugi said. "Everyone makes mistakes."

"It wasn't a mistake. I wanted to see if I liked it."

"There's a difference between a hypothesis that's been disproven and a mistake," Kaiba agreed.

"Exactly! I learned something. Fish and ice cream don't mix," Atem said triumphantly.

"I guess not," Yugi said faintly.

Atem threw out his cup and returned with a blackberry coconut charcoal ice cream cone. "This is much better. Look, it's even turned my tongue black!"

"My turn to pick the animal next!" Mokuba announced when they'd all finished their ice cream. He led them to the hippos wallowing in an artificial river.

"Your favorite animal is the hippo?" Atem asked, shuddering.

"Yup. Why not?"

Atem grimaced. "Horrible, hateful creatures, harbingers of destruction. Look at them, plotting our deaths. I remember them on the Nile."

"Well, now they're in the zoo and they're fun to watch," Mokuba said.

Kaiba smirked. "Times change."

Atem drew himself up to his full height. "But hippos don't."

"Let's go look at something else," Yugi suggested quickly.

"Excellent suggestion!" Atem theatrically turned his back on the hippo enclosure, dismissing them from his thoughts, branding them creatures unworthy of his attention.

"I'm sorry you don't like the hippos, but it's great you got your memories back," Yugi said.

"I have you to thank for it."

"You're my partner," Yugi said awkwardly.

"Forever," Atem promised as the gang caught up with them.

.

Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since Kaiba keeping score on everything, including sex, was inevitable, I spent way too much time trying to decide how Kaiba would keep score: whether he'd count the number of times he came, or the number of times Atem did. (It's a tough job being a fanfic writer, but someone's gotta do it.) Anyway, I decided that Kaiba would be more likely to count every time he made Atem come as a point on his side of the ledger, although he clearly has no problem with Atem trying to even the score.

Ice Cream Note: I wanted to come up with a really unappealing sounding ice cream, and figured anchovy ice cream would fit the bill. I figured the premise – that a zoo would sell anchovy ice cream as a gimmick– was somewhat farfetched, but as I was researching ice cream flavors, I found out that the Kamo Aquarium in Tsuruoka, Yamagata is famous for jellyfish ice cream. So maybe anchovy ice cream isn't as far off as I'd thought!

Stay safe everyone!

SOCIAL MEDIA NOTE: I am on Tumblr, Dreamwidth and Pillowfort as Nenya85. Come check me out there!

To paraphrase Louise Rosenblatt, "A story's just ink on the page until a reader comes along to give it life." This is my way of saying that I'd really like to hear what you think. Please comment.