"But Grandpa, I don't want to go. Everyone is going to laugh at me even more than they already do when they find out that I'm going to be taking dance lessons." Fifteen year old Yugi Muto complained from the back seat of his grandpa's blue Toyota Camry.

"You used to love to dance .You and Atem loved dancing together but after Atem moved away you stopped dancing , why?"

Yugi's face saddened greatly to the point it looked like he was about to cry., "It's not the same Grandpa, yes I loved dancing but it's not the same without my dance partner. I miss him. It just doesn't feel right without Atem."

Solomon Muto sighed, he knew Yugi Atem moved away a few years ago. They have been best friends since they were five.

Solomon remembers when they met. They didn't always lived in Domino. They used to live in Kyoto but moved when Yugi turned 4.

One night he heard a frantic knocking at his door. When he went to go see what was going on, he found his daughter , Airi with a sleeping Yugi in her arms who had a purple cast on his tiny arm.

"Airi? What's going on? It's three in the morning, why are you here? and what happened to Yugi's arm?" Solomon questioned his daughter as he stepped aside to let them into the house.

"I Can't stay long. I told Diasuke I was done today, he flipped out when I told him. He started trashing the house. I found out he's been abusing Yugi while I was at work. He's also been having an affair. I wanted to see what he was doing when I was working because every time I come home Yugi and the house are a complete mess and he hasn't eaten. So I installed a nanny cam. I was suspicious after he told me he had to take Yugi to the hospital because he fell off the monkey bars at the playground. I don't know what actually happened Yugi wont tell me. But I know one thing, Yugi is too little to reach the monkey bars himself."

"I also found out that he locks Yugi in his room with a pack of crackers and a juice box, then leaves for hours at a time. Probably to go see his mistress. When I got home I found him in our bed with his mistress. I told him to get out of my house, and that I never wanted to see him again. He then threatened me and Yugi. That's when I decided that I would take Yugi and leave".

"So I waited till he fell asleep. Then I grabbed Yugi and came here. I need you to take Yugi. He will be safe here. I will come back. Once everything settles down." I know once I file for divorce he will come after me and try to take everything from me. I need to build a case against him." She told him, handing him the small three year old, tears running down her face.

She kissed Yugi on the head and gave her father one last kiss. She told them she loved them and left. Watching his daughter drive off like that he knew in his heart that was going to be the last time they ever saw her.

They never saw her again after that. When he couldn't get in touch with his daughter he knew something was wrong. After a week of not hearing from his daughter, he went to the launched an investigation but they had no luck. It was like she just vanished.

Solomon tried for a few months to find her but was having no luck whatsoever. So he called in a favor to an old friend of his, Detective Arthur Hawkins who was a private detective, to see if he could find her. He said he would see what he could do and that it might take a while.

A few months later Solomon had taken Yugi's father to court for full custody of Yugi. Solomon had won and had gotten full custody of Yugi. He then sold his house and bought a little game shop in the little town of Domino, fixed it up and made the upstairs into an apartment for him and Yugi.

The day after they moved into the game shop. Yugi went outside to play. Solomon had told him to stay in the backyard while he unpacked the house. The little boy told him he would and went out back to play. About ten minutes later he went to check on Yugi.

When he walked into the back yard he was shocked to see Yugi playing with another little boy around his age. The other little boy looked just like Yugi except he had sun kissed skin, narrow maroon eyes and was about a head taller than Yugi. But other than that they looked alike hair and everything.

Yugi ran up to Solomon hand in hand with Atem and told him he made a new friend. Yugi said the other boy's name was Atem and he lived right next door. They became fast friends.

Almost every night after that either Atem was sleeping over Yugi's house or Yugi was sleeping over Atem's house. Solomon had found out that Atem's father was a friend he lost touch with a few years ago. Soon enough the boys were best friends. You never saw one without the had the same friends and had all the same classes together,

When Atem and Yugi turned six and seven Atem's mom signed the boys up for dance lessons. Atem was thrilled to learn he would be taking dance lessons, Yugi , not so much. But after a few moments of Atem talking to him Yugi agreed to try. He found he had actually really liked it and told Grandpa that he and Atem wanted to compete in dance competitions

They competed and won quite a few competitions up until Atem was ten and Yugi was nine. Atem had found out he and his family had to move. Yugi was heartbroken when he found out that Atem's father had to go back to Egypt and could not get away to come for a visit.

A few months after Atem moved, Yugi's life was turned upside down. Diasuke, Yugi's father, tried suing Grandpa for sole custody of Yugi. He had told the court that he changed his ways and wanted the chance to raise his son.

Once Solomon learned he was suing for custody, he hired a lawyer and went to court to prove that Yugi's father was an abusive parent that didn't care about his son, and that he was certain he had something to do with his daughter's disappearance.

Solomon had found out that Daisuke was currently under investigation under the suspicion that he had something to do with Yugi's mother's disappearance. So Solomon had brought it up during the custody battle.

The judge asked Yugi, if given a choice, who would you want to live with? His Grandfather or his Father? Yugi chose his Grandpa. The judge looked over everything in front of him and then turned his head to look at the little boy caught in the middle of all of this. Yugi looked scared out of his mind and the Judge knew it was because he didn't want to leave the only one who had taken care of him since his mother disappeared.

The Judge ruled in favor of Yugi and his Grandfather and gave him temporary sole custody pending the investigation. If Daisuke was cleared , depending on Yugi's age there would be another hearing. If he was found guilty Solomon would get sole custody and his parental rights would be revoked.

A few years went by without a word from the police department who told them they would give them an update if anything changed. When Yugi turned fifteen it had come to light that Yugi's father had murdered his mother. So he was given life in prison without the possibility of parole and was stripped of his parental rights permanently, and Solomon was awarded sole custody of his grandson.

Even though Yugi was beyond happy that he would be living with his grandpa permanently he was still very sad. He missed his best friend. Today was rough and Yugi wishes Atem could have been here for him. They still talk on the phone every night, and they video chat every now and then. But it wasn't the same as seeing each other and hanging out together in person.

Yugi remembers when he and Atem were little and he would always ask if they could have a sleepover, and his grandpa always said yes he could not resist the puppy dog eyes the boys would give him.

Yugi's Grandpa and Atem's father have been good friends for a while and talked frequently. A few months ago Solomon overheard Yugi talking to himself. He was crying about how much he missed Atem, how he wished he would never have left.

It broke his heart listening to his grandson cry like that. Solomon could tell Yugi was very much in love with Atem. Since the boys were older now and he didn't have to watch them like a hawk, and he wasn't fighting Yugi's abusive father for custody anymore, he would talk to Atem's family about Atem coming to live with them and finish up high school with Yugi then onto Nihon Kogakuin College for game design. He knew that's where both of the boys were applying to.

Solomon had talked to Atem's father Aknamkanon, he convinced him to let Atem come and stay with them . He told him how sad Yugi had been since Atem left.

They talked it over and it seemed Atem missed Yugi and Solomon just as much. Aknamkanon thought it was a wonderful idea. Atem had overheard his fathers conversation and wanted to surprise Yugi for his birthday so he asked them not to say anything to him.

Both Atem and Yugi's birthday were nearing. Atem's was first his is June 2nd and Yugi's is June 4th. Atem was one year older, he was born in 2007 and Yugi was born in 2008.

So together Solomon, Atem, and his father devised a plan to have Atem and Yugi attend dance competitions together again. Since Yugi had to have something to replace gym class with,

The teacher told his grandfather that he is a walking accident and caused three students to be sent to the hospital with broken bones while playing soccer.

So Solomon signed him up for dance again. He knew his grandson was not cut out for sports.

"Please don't make me go in there grandpa. I'm begging you, everyone will laugh at me. I'll be the only boy there, and why do I need to dance? Why can't I do something else?" Yugi whined.

"If you don't have something to replace gym class they won't pass you and if you don't pass you wont get into that college you want to go to with Atem and as far as why you can't do something else is the very reason why I enrolled you in dance when you were little. You are not gifted at sports . You are an amazing dancer though." Solomon chuckled looking in the rear view mirror at his grandson's pouty face as he parked the car.

"Alright son, go sign yourself in, I'll be there in a moment."

Yugi half glared at him. "Fine but I'm not happy about this. It won't be the same without Atem." He pouted as he walked into the dance building.

A deep baritone voice chuckled behind Solomon as the green doors to the dance building closed behind Yugi. "He does not sound happy at all."

Solomon turned around , "Atem! It's good to see you, my boy." the old man exclaimed. "Ah, no, I'm afraid he's not very happy with me right now."

Atem smiled and brought the older man into a hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you and Yugi in person. I have missed both of you very much."

Solomon chuckled and returned the hug. "Come here son, let me get a good look at you. I haven't seen you in person since you were ten. You've grown into a fine young man, you look like your father when he was your age." Solomon beamed grabbing Atem's cheeks like he used to when he was little.

Atem pulled the older man into a tight hug."Thank you Sir and thank you for letting me see Yugi again. I've missed him terribly." He mumbled into the man he thought of as a second father's shoulder.

Solomon smacked Atem upside the head. "Boy!, what did I tell you about calling me sir? I've told you many times, call me Grandpa, your family, besides it makes me feel old."

Atem laughed loudly. "Alright, alright I'm sorry Grandpa."

"Put your stuff in the trunk and then we can head inside." Grandpa said, popping the trunk of his car.

"Does Yugi know about me coming to live with you guys?" Atem asked Grandpa.

"Nope I figured I would leave you to tell him. I'm glad you're here, Yugi has missed you terribly."

"I'm glad I'm here too. I've missed him just as much." Atem said, putting his luggage into the trunk of Solomon's car.

"Alright my boy let's go in, Yugi's going to be so excited to see you." Solomon said with a smile on his face.

"I'm excited to see him too. It was funny because I remember how hard I had to convince him to try dancing when mom signed us up. Whenever I danced with him his face would go all red." Atem chuckled and now he has no choice in the matter. He's failing gym class right ?"

Yes, yes I remember." Solomon laughed loudly as he held the door to the dance studio open. They stood in line waiting to register Atem.

"I'm afraid you're right. The principal and the Gym teacher told me my grandson is a walking accident. They don't want him to take Gym class anymore. Apparently there have been too many injuries this month and several broken windows. They told me he needs some type of class that involves physical activity."

"I already had to pay for three windows he broke while trying soccer. Needless to say, Yugi is not very athletic. So I signed him up to dance again. If I didn't he would fail and he would be taken off the list for his college. I figured he can't break anything or cause anyone serious bodily harm and despite him saying he hates it, he is an amazing dancer and actually loves it. He just didn't want to do it because his dance partner was gone." Solemn explained.

Atem had to bite his lip as he tried not to laugh. He knew how clumsy the smaller teen could be. He remembered when he and Yugi were little, his dad was called away on business. Atem's father is a highly sought out architect, and when he said to him that he had to go to work, Solomon had offered to watch Atem for him as long as he needed.

Later that day he and Yugi had started a game of soccer. Yugi had gone to kick the ball but he missed and went flying into what looked like a small pond but was actually a mud puddle that was mostly mud.

When Yugi stood up he was covered from head to toe in mud . He looked like a tiny swamp monster with purple eyes. He had globs of mud falling off of him. His normally spiky hair was coated in a thick layer of gooey mud that was falling off him in clumps to the ground below.

Atem took one good look at him and then started laughing.

"It's not funny other me!" Yugi pouted and threw a half hearted glare at his best friend as he crossed his arms and stomped his little foot making more mud fly.

"You can't glare aibou it just makes you look even cuter." Atem said and laughed even harder when he saw the look Yugi gave him after he laughed the second time.

Atem didn't want to hurt Yugi's feelings so he tried to help him up but Yugi wound up slipping while trying to climb out, and pulled Atem into the mud as well. They laughed about it but Grandpa sure didn't when he saw the two muddy little boys. He grabbed the hose and rinsed them both off before letting them inside where he gave them both a bath. He missed those times. He was ecstatic to see his best friend again.

Atem remembered being very upset when his father told him someone had hired him to build an underwater hotel in Egypt and they had to move back because he didn't know how long it would take and Atem had to come with him. He will never forget the look on Yugi's face when he told him he had to move. The small boy was absolutely heartbroken, tears were running down his small face as he hugged Atem tightly. It broke his heart to see Yugi that sad.

"I wonder where Yugi is? I don't see him anywhere." Atem wondered out loud.

Grandpa looked around, "hmm he's probably sulking in some corner. Like I said earlier he's not happy with me right now. At least this way I hope no one will be injured.

Atem didn't say anything, he was too busy looking around for Yugi. Soon it was their turn to get registered.

Atem had gotten registered and went to stand in the large crowd with the rest of the teens. There must have been about 30 other kids there, some their age, some younger.

Atem was still trying to spot Yugi but was finding it difficult as he and Yugi were pretty short. Atem is only a little bit taller than Yugi ,so it was kind of hard for him to see over the other teens in the room.

The teacher finally came out into the room. "Hello everyone my name is Miss Kato. I would like all of you to stand in front of me." All the kids in the room gathered in front of the instructor.

"All children under ten please go with Miss Mazaki into studio room two" With that instruction about twenty of the kids in the room left.

For those of you that are Eleven and up please go to studio room three with Mr. Ren." Seven more kids left.

"Now those that are left I assume you are at least thirteen to fifteen if you are a year older or younger it's ok. We will be going to dance competitions to compete against other studios.

"I have notes from some of you that attend Domino High and a few that attend other schools. So I have decided that when we attend competitions, how you place will be part of your grade, like a test. Every few weeks we will go out to competitions. I will pair each of you up and that person will be your partner for this year." Miss Kato explained.

"When I call your names please step forward and you will meet your duet partner. Every dance that I choreograph will be a duet. At the end of the year I will tally up your placements of each competition of how you placed at each one. Then tally up the number halfway through the year you will get your final dance and practice it till it becomes second nature. You will perform it at nationals After Nationals you will receive your grade."

Yugi was standing behind all the other students in the room taking everything in he heard the teacher explain. His wide violet eyes were scanning the room anxiously, wondering who the teacher would pick to be his dance partner.