"Seto what are you saying?"

"I'd say it's clear. Gozaburo didn't want you to become king. So, your mother must have said or done something that made him think she was going to tell people that you were his child. In which case he would have to explain to the public that he had an affair with a maid and had a child by her… now her child not the queens would be the new king."

"Hmmm…I suppose that does make sense. I was never supposed to be born. I was to never know the truth. That's why he smacked my hand to stop me from touching the rod. If that man that we met today really was my father, then Gozaburo would have had no fear in my touching the rod. It would have shocked me. He didn't want anyone to see that I could hold it. He didn't want anyone to see the truth."

"Maybe you did touch it another time and just don't remember. Remember Ross said that your mother told him you were his. Maybe she thought that was the truth at the time. Perhaps you touched the rod and your mother saw this."

"I bet you're right. She saw I could touch it and realized that she was wrong. I wasn't Ross' son but Gozaburo's and confronted him. Maybe that's what got her killed."

"I'm sorry Yami. Gozaburo had no right to deny you a chance at the throne."

"What do you mean, Seto?"

"I mean you are the rightful king. When we get back I'll correct the mistake my father made."

But before Yami could say anything, Mokuba tugged on Seto's jacket.

"What is it kiddo?" Seto asked.

"I t-thought Yami was y-your big brother."

Seto smiled, took the boy's hand, walked over and sat down on a big rock, pulling the kid into his lap. "You see Mokuba, we always thought Yami was like you at first, just thought of as family. Now we know Yami is just like you."

"W-what you mean big brother?"

"Seto we never got around to finishing our discussion about who he is."

"Oh right I forgot we were interrupted. Okay you know we've been searching for our little brother, right?"

Mokuba nodded.

Yami bent down and placed his hands on Mokuba's that were in his lap. "Mokuba when Seto said… that is…what he was about to say was that we don't need to look for him anymore because we already found him."

Mokuba was confused. "B-but I haven't seen him."

They both laughed a little confusing Mokuba that much more as he looked between them.

"Mokuba we don't need to look for him anymore because you are the little brother we've been searching for." Seto said.

"I am?" Mokuba questioned.

"Yes, Mokuba. That necklace your doll wears was a gift Seto gave to our little brother the last time we saw him."

"R-really?" Mokuba asked.

Seto squeezed him tight and kissed his head. "Yes, Mokuba, we are very serious. You are the one we've been searching for all along. I rejected the idea because basically I didn't believe it'd be that easy, that you'd come to me not the other way around. But you are the one we've been looking for. So, what do you say to going home? Then you can start opening up your birthday gifts. Even though it is 4 months late."

"R-Really you still have them?" Mokuba asked, not understanding why they kept them.

"Mokuba we never truly gave up all hope of your coming home to us." Yami said.

"H-honestly?"

Seto scooped the boy up and put him on his horse. "Honestly."

They returned to town and returned the horses. Then made certain their carriage was in shape for the ride back and soon started on their way home. They then decided to take the long way again, so that they could stay in the hotel in that village that they passed and stayed in a few nights before. There were too many rumors about people disappearing who rode at night. But most of the rumors say it happens more often during a full and new moon. Their first night through it was a night of a new moon and tonight was a full moon. They got to town and after putting the carriage up went to see about renting a couple of rooms.

"Greetings, can I help you?" The man at the counter asked.

"Yes, we'd like 4 rooms please." Seto said.

"I'm sorry sir, but on nights of a full and new moon this place fills up quickly. I'm afraid I have only two rooms available."

"Well what are the sizes of the beds?" Yami asked.

"Well almost all the rooms come with two beds. There are a few that have one large bed."

"What do you think, Seto? Varon and Alister can share one room. We could share the other. Mokuba insists on sleeping close to you anyway so with two beds it wouldn't really matter. You and Mokuba take one, I'll take the other."

"That's fine."

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

Back at the castle, Shizuka and Bakura were nervously waiting outside Ryo's room. Ryo had slipped into a coma earlier and the doctor was still with him.

Serenity arrived to meet Yugi for her daily treatment when she ran into Joey.

"Joey."

"Serenity…what… what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for my daily treatments with Yugi. Would you walk me down there?"

"I'd love to sis but I'm about to go on duty."

"Please Joey!"

"Fine, you win, let's go." Joey said as Serenity wrapped her arms around his.

As they got closer, they soon ran into Yugi but could also hear crying.

"Yugi, what's going on?" Joey asked.

"Dr. Solomon said that he doesn't expect Ryo to live through the night."

"Can't you do something Yugi?" Serenity asked.

"Me? What can I do?"

"Your healing Serenity she can see again. You gotta help him. That kid of the kings will literally be devastated, if he dies. And if that kid is upset then the king will be upset and that will only make it that much worse for everyone around. For when the kings in a foul mood watch out, you'll be lucky if he doesn't take your head off. And I mean that literally!" Joey said.

"Please Yugi, you can't just stand around and let someone die when you know you can help them!"

Yugi sighed. "But how? Dr. Solomon doesn't know I'm treating anyone with magic. He's forbidden me to."

"I can take care of that." Joey said, grabbing Yugi's arm. "Bakura."

"What do you want, Katsuya, shouldn't you be on duty?"

"Yeah well I've heard a rumor that you and your brother have kinda made up for lost time."

"Is there a point you're trying to make?"

"Well I don't remember if I told ya this or not but my sister here was going blind."

"I believe I heard something like that. What's the point?"

"The point is, thanks to Yugi here she's getting better. I know you're one of those that don't like believing or relying on magic. But I'm telling ya. He can do it."

Bakura narrowed his eyes at Joey. "Dr. Solomon, is there no hope of saving Ryo?"

"No, we would have to move him to a hospital for surgery. But the nearest hospital that could do surgery is in Cascadia."

"I've heard their king is a wako." Joey said.

"Joey, that's not very nice." Serenity scolded.

"Actually I've heard the same thing, Ryo told me he wanted to send Mokuba away simply because he hates children but I've also heard that he has like four of his own." Shizuka said.

"That is strange." Serenity said. "Hi, my name is Serenity, I'm Joey's sister."

"I'm Shizuka, I help my grandfather run the toy store in town."

"Enough chatter. Doctor, are you saying you can't do something for Ryo?" Bakura asked.

"I'm afraid to operate without the proper medicine and know how to properly handle blood. I've never done a surgery before. I never sent him to Cascadia because that's at least a week's ride from here and I feared the ride alone could kill him. I begged the Master King Gozaburo to do something, make a hospital here, but he refused."

"Have you ever asked King Kaiba? I mean he can be a royal pain and all always calling me a dog, but I'm sure if you asked him…"

"No, I haven't, I'm not sure there are enough skilled people to do the job if we did."

"You never know till you ask." Joey said.

"Yes, you're right." Dr. Solomon said.

"Fine, if nothing else can be done then you get in there and heal my brother!" Bakura said toYugi.

"Sir, I'm not certain that's such a good idea." Dr. Solomon said.

"Did you or did you not just tell me that he's going to die while we just sit around and watch?" Bakura asked.

"Well…." Dr. Solomon started.

"Well nothing! I am not going to just stand around here and do nothing and let my brother die when there's a chance he could be healed. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by allowing this!"

"Very well." Dr. Solomon said.

"I'll just get a few healing items and be right back." Yugi said.

Joey followed. "You okay Yugi, you don't look so good."

"No, I'm not Joey. What is going to happen if I fail? What if I can't do this? What if I can't heal him?"

"Now that's no way to talk. I know I may be considered only the king's pet dog, but I have confidence that someday the king will grant me knighthood! Everyone tells me I'm stupid that it'll never happen. But you gotta keep the faith! You can do this Yugi you just got to believe."

"Thank you Joey. I believe I can do it now."

Yugi went into the room and placed lots of healing items on and around Ryo. Then he started to chant.

x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x

While this was happening, Mokuba had a dream.

"Hello, Mokuba."

Mokuba smiled and ran to the person who called him. "Ryo!"

Ryo bent down and hugged the little boy tight. "I'm sorry Mokuba, I did my best but now it's time for me to join Nosaka."

Mokuba shook his head and hugged his neck tightly. "No, you can't go, you can't leave me big brother!"

Ryo pulled the boy up. "You don't need me. You have Seto and Yami and they love you more than life itself. They love you as much as I do, if not more so."

"P-please don't go Ryo, I'll j-join you."

Ryo smiled and kissed his forehead. "No, you won't. You could never do that to Seto and Yami. You love them too much to hurt them by leaving them again, this time forever."

"But I d-don't want you to go."

Ryo smiled and touched their necklaces together. Suddenly Ryo felt weak, hugged the boy tight and then kissed his forehead. "Goodbye Mokuba."

"RYO!" Mokuba screamed. Then he suddenly shot up in bed still calling out, which woke Seto and Yami.

Seto sat up and wrapped his arms around the boy. "What's wrong Mokuba?"

"R-Ryo c-came to me and said he was going to join Nosaka."

Yami moved to sit on the bed and help Seto to calm him down. "Easy kid, it's all right. I have faith in Ryo. He won't leave you. He's strong, he'll make it through."

"Y-you think so?" Mokuba asked.

"No, Mokuba I don't think so, I know so." Seto said.

Mokuba smiled and snuggled against Seto and soon fell asleep.

"I just hope Ryo does make it through. The poor kid's had enough tragedy in his life already." Seto said.

"Yes, first this Nosaka dies to protect him…" Yami started.

"If he loses Ryo too, we may lose him." Seto said, hugging the boy tight.

"I'm afraid you may be right, Seto. I don't believe he could really kill himself physically but emotionally he'd be dead, no longer wanting to risk getting hurt. He's already skittish around strangers. This will only make it worse. He won't trust anyone."

"At this point all we can do is pray he lives. We'd better get back to sleep and get back to the castle as soon as possible."

"Agreed." Yami said.