CHAPTER 24: THE REIMAGINING CINDERELLA CLICHÉ

THE REIMAGINING CINDERELLA CLICHÉ: Once upon a time, Cinderella was a parable of womanly obedience. She had all the feminine virtues (and such a small foot!) She did what her elders ordered, she cooked, she cleaned, she lived to serve. She smiled when most of us would have screamed. And she was rewarded for her subservience with the ultimate good girl prize: marriage (even if it was to a guy who couldn't pick her out of a line-up except by her shoe size.) Cinderella was the perfect heroine for generations of girls, because who doesn't love being told to smile more?

The decades flew by, as decades will, and once upon another time, girls are still reading Cinderella. But is it the same story? This Cinderella is a courageous survivor, a testament to hope, someone who somehow discovers the strength to hang on, to walk forward, staying true to herself despite everything her family and her world throws at her. Cinderella's prince is Charming because he's willing to search the whole kingdom to find her. And the real prize isn't marriage but partnership, it's being appreciated, being seen, being loved.

Will the real Cinderella please stand up?

MORAL: Sometimes what needs to change isn't the story, but the meaning we attach to it.

Atem woke up on Saturday, confused to find himself alone in a strange bedroom. He glanced at the window. The dragons were gone; they'd stayed home guarding his rival and lover, replaced by hanging plants and wind chimes. Atem stretched and sat up.

He'd seen two choices on his return from limbo: go with Kaiba or return to Yugi. Being alone, or at least the facsimile of aloneness Bakura's apartment offered, had never made the list. But somehow this quiet room with its pale green curtains fluttering in the morning breeze was giving him the space he couldn't find in Yugi's cluttered house or Kaiba's sweeping mansion, a place where he could stop swimming upstream and rest in shallow waters.

His phone chimed. Atem pulled it off the night table, read and then reread the text from Kaiba: "I promised." Atem smirked and sent a heart emoji in response.

He got out of bed and dressed, keeping the shirt he'd slept in. He was relieved he'd successfully washed his socks and underwear. The house was quiet. He wandered into the kitchen. Bakura was slicing fruit to add to the two bowls of yogurt standing next to the cutting board. His task completed, Bakura turned to the tea kettle, poured, and brought the meal to the kitchen table. Atem sampled the fruit and yogurt, savoring its sweet creaminess. He wondered why Yugi preferred eggs. He thanked Bakura. He'd never eaten yogurt before; it hadn't been served at the mansion. "I could help next time," he offered. He'd never made a meal, even one this simple.

"You'll get your chance at dinner."

"I can shop!" Atem announced. He headed out with Bakura's list. He stopped to pick up a pair of T-shirts from a vending machine and changed into a fresh one along the way. He'd been to farmers' markets and fish stalls before on his rambles through the city, but this was his first time buying anything beyond a snack or a stray piece of fruit. He enjoyed having a mission, even one as simple as picking up the ingredients for tonight's dinner.

He snapped pictures throughout the day and sent them to Kaiba, receiving an emoji each time, or a return picture of Kaiba's day. He headed home, his borrowed backpack full.

He'd never cooked before. Yugi had never cooked before. Kaiba had a kitchen staff. There was something peaceful about cutting vegetables under Bakura's direction.

"I like cooking," Bakura said, as he began to stir fry the vegetables. "It's a daily reminder that this is my body and no one else's. I do everything with my own hands and then dinner is on the table."

Atem nodded. He'd been the one to choose the vegetables and fish. He'd brought them back. He'd chopped them. The meal was a part of him now; they were joined by the skills he'd learned. Bakura finished steaming the fish with ginger and scallions, plated everything and moved it to the table. They ate in near silence. Atem helped carry the leftovers to the kitchen and cleaned up. Wiping down counters was new as well, if less satisfying than cooking, but it still carried the rhythm of daily living.

As Atem finished cleaning, Bakura brewed tea and carried it to the living room. He turned on a detective show, then went back to the first episode so Atem could follow the story. Atem let the sound wash over him, a pleasant background hum as he sank into his chair. He imagined he was lying against Kaiba on the couch at home. His eyelids started to droop. He got up and went to bed, sleeping diagonally across it again, arms and legs stretched out to their fullest.

The next morning was a repeat of the first; only the variety of fruit on the yogurt had changed. Atem watched as Bakura fussed with the tea kettle. Staying with Bakura was the closest thing to being alone. It was comforting talking to him, knowing Bakura wouldn't comment and might not even be paying attention to anything beyond brewing the tea. Bakura poured the tea into cups and brought it to the table.

Atem stared into his cup as though he could read the future in its honey-colored depths. He had faith… in himself, in Kaiba. They could figure it out, just as they'd found a way home, even if they'd needed a goddess' help. He smiled into his cup, as he imagined Kaiba bellowing his objections. There was something romantic about Kaiba's insistence they could accomplish any miracle as long as they did it together.

He missed Kaiba, missed the way he sped through traffic, missed watching his fingers fly across his computer keyboard, missed the way he stared at the giant screen when they played video games, intent on beating him, missed lying on top of him on the game room couch until they went up to bed. He even missed watching Kaiba try to choke down whiskey.

Atem scanned Bakura's apartment: the sand white walls, the wind chimes tinkling in the background. He smiled at Bakura, who took another sip of tea, unconcerned with Atem's silence.

"Thank you. I've needed this time to clear my head, but I'm ready to go home."

Bakura nodded.

"Would It be okay if I came over sometimes? Not because I've had a meltdown or because I need somewhere to hide, just because…"

"Yes," Bakura answered.

Atem reached for his phone and texted Kaiba to let him know when he'd be home and received an emoji of a Blue Eyes White Dragon giving him a thumbs up in return. Atem missed the barrage of texts that had accompanied their first separation, as if Kaiba's desperation had bound them together as completely as he'd once been joined to Yugi.

Yugi.

Atem had ignored him as well. He texted Yugi, explaining where he was. They made plans for him to stop by on his way home later in the afternoon before Yugi met up with Anzu. Atem spent the early afternoon with Bakura, trying to follow the adventures of Bakura's favorite detective and watching him fuss with his plants. When he headed out, he was surprised to run into Jounouchi a couple of blocks from Bakura's house.

"I'm glad I caught you!" Jounouchi said. For once, his grin sat uneasily on his face.

"Caught me?" Atem said, wondering if he'd missed a text.

"Yeah, I heard you were going to see Yugi. He's upset. But you know Yugi. He's never going to say anything, but I knew you'd want to fix things."

Atem's brows drew together. "Yugi's upset?"

"You gotta admit you've been acting all weird lately. We never know if you're going to show up and when you do, you're not yourself. Of course, Yugi's worried. And I guess breaking up with Kaiba has to be a bummer, although I think a party is in order, now that you've come to your senses."

"I haven't broken up with Kaiba!"

"Then why'd you leave him? Yugi said you were at Bakura's place, not that that makes any sense either. Why wouldn't you want to be with Yugi, after everything you guys have been to each other?"

Atem opened his mouth and closed it, trying to breathe in words instead of air. He could feel the clarity he'd gained at Bakura's slipping away. He stopped short and closed his eyes, listening for the sound of wind chimes, imagining the deep greens of Bakura's plants.

He opened his eyes. Jounouchi was waving a hand in front of his face. "Hello, Earth to Atem! This is what I'm talking about."

"I just stayed at Bakura's for the weekend. I'm going back home after I see Yugi."

"You can put Moneybags off for another night. Once you get everything squared away with Yugi, let's all meet up afterwards. Hell, he can even tag along if he has to."

Atem shook his head. "Another time. I need to go home."

"I don't get it!" Jounouchi burst out. "We're your friends."

"Of course you are!"

"Then act like it! We were hanging out every day after school. Now you're missing in action half the time and not paying attention the other half. And I know who's to blame. Regardless of your friendship or rivalry or whatever it is, we both know you would have ditched him for us before."

"I wouldn't have had a choice! I was a disembodied spirit using Yugi's body to duel!"

"Then who was I friends with? A ghost? Who was the person I dueled? Who cheered for me? Who believed in me?"

"I'm still your friend!"

"Don't pretend it's the same!"

"Of course it isn't. And I don't want it to be."

"Damn that's cold! Or are we just not good enough for you anymore?"

"I have my own body! Do you really want to go back to the way things were before?"

"What kind of a dumbass question is that? Of course I don't!"

"Then what are we arguing about?" Atem asked. His fight with Kaiba had made absolutely no sense, but at least he was used to arguing with Kaiba. He had no experience being at odds with Jounouchi.

"I don't know!" Jounouchi shouted. "But Yugi's the best. I don't know where I'd be without him – probably back in a gang or in jail. I'm even on time for school, now that I'm meeting him. He always thinks of everyone else first. He's been worried about you for weeks and he doesn't know what to do. He's afraid of letting you down. And everyone can see it but you. The Atem I knew was Yugi's friend before everything else."

"How about being my friend, too? Or am I just your friend when I'm making Yugi happy?"

"You were his other self!" Jounouchi waved his hands. "I get it… you and Kaiba… blah, blah, blah… life changing experience… whatever. How could that matter more than all the shit we went through together?"

"It doesn't! But it doesn't matter less, either!" Atem's eyes narrowed. "And that's what's eating you, isn't it? For the first time, I have thoughts and feelings and experiences that are entirely my own." Atem took a deep breath, willing himself to calmness. "I owe my second chance at life to Yugi and my third to Kaiba and Horakhty. But it's my life now and the only person I owe it to is myself! I saw a lot of different Jounouchis on a lot of different worlds. But I never saw a world where we weren't friends. I never thought that would be a consequence of coming home."

"I'm still your friend. You know that! I've always been there for you! Even when you were this freaky amnesiac ghost, you were my buddy and that's all that's ever mattered. I just want you to think about what you're doing to Yugi."

Atem drew in a breath. He didn't want to fight, not with Jounouchi. "I'm not doing anything to Yugi. I'm just not part of him anymore. That's all. But if you think Yugi doesn't want me to explore this world or learn who I am, just because there's some growing pains, you've underestimated him. He's better than that. He's on my side just like I'm on his. He wants us both to grow, even if we're doing it apart." Atem took a breath and looked into Jounouchi's eyes. "It's up to you to accept that. I hope you can because I'm never going to go back to being a shadow."

Aten turned and left Jounouchi staring after him. But Jounouchi's words kept him company on his walk to Yugi's house, no matter how many times he tried to clear his mind. He hadn't known that Yugi was upset. Things hadn't been the same since his return, but whatever constraint they'd felt had been quickly papered over. It was easy to dismiss Jounouchi as a hot-head, but the suspicion he'd only seen what he'd wanted to was harder to evade.

He arrived at Yugi's house and followed him to his bedroom. Atem was reassured by Yugi's smile until he realized it didn't reach his eyes. Now that he thought about it, Yugi's smile had been ending at his lips for a while now, except when he was talking about Anzu.

"Are you okay?" Atem asked.

"Me? How are you? I'm sorry. I really thought you and Kaiba were good. I was rooting for you guys."

"Keep on rooting! We're fine."

"You said you left him."

"I said I left the mansion. It was just for the weekend."

"Why didn't you come here? You know you're always welcome."

"I couldn't wind up on your doorstep unexpectedly a second time."

"Of course you could! I want to help, just like you helped me."

"I don't need it. I'm fine. Honestly. Kaiba is the one decision I've made that I've never been tempted to look back on."

Yugi exhaled. "That's great!"

"I just wanted some quiet. I wanted to think."

Yugi tilted his head to one side. "About what?"

"Me, mostly." Atem shook his head. "I didn't expect everyone to jump to the conclusion that me and Kaiba had broken up."

"We can all see something's wrong. I'm glad it's not Kaiba, but there's something big going on with you that you're not telling us." Yugi frowned and looked down for a moment before facing Atem and adding, "It's been obvious and I've been too big a coward to say anything."

"You're not a coward," Atem said, his voice rising. "And for the last time, I'm fine!"

"You keep saying that. But which 'fine' is it? The one where you're happy and jumping into living, like when you're at the arcade and hanging out with us? Or the 'fine' where you think if you pretend hard enough that everything's okay, it will be, like if you smile enough no one will notice you're falling apart? Just tell me which 'fine' you are, so I'll know how to act."

"It's all of them all at once." Atem flung his arms out as if he could encompass the world. "I'm drowning, I'm swimming, I'm sinking, I'm soaring. I'm living and I'd rather crash and burn than stop."

"I want you to have the best life ever! But this isn't you, Atem! Bouncing back and forth from one thing to another, going to school with us one minute, then avoiding it the next, acting like picking an ice cream flavor is some big decision, running in and out of Kaiba's mansion." Yugi paused. He walked up to Atem and put his hands on his shoulders. "I know what it's like to doubt yourself, to feel like you just don't make the cut. You taught me confidence, you made me believe in my own strength. You were ready to go to the after-life just to prove to me that I could stand on my own. It's my turn to do the same for you. Listen to yourself, talking about sinking and drowning. That's not the Atem I know."

Atem opened his mouth and closed it, stunned by how little the Ceremonial Duel had changed the core relationships in his life. He was still Kaiba's eternal rival. Yugi still saw him as the all-confident King of Games. But Yugi's faith was a glass cage cutting off air. He had to shatter it before he forgot how to breathe.

Yugi's eyes filled with tears. He blinked them away. "I feel like I stole your confidence when I won the Ceremonial Duel and I'm going to help you get it back."

"I don't want it!" Atem yelled, startling them both. He paused, breathing heavily, fighting to contain his sudden anger before Yugi got caught in the crossfire.

"Of course you do! I know what you're going through!"

"No! You don't. You needed to gain confidence. Maybe I needed to lose mine."

"Why?"

"Because as long as I ignore the questions, I'll never find the answers."

"That doesn't even make sense," Yugi protested.

Atem sighed. "I had all the confidence of an arrow in flight. I went straight for the target each time. But an arrow never stops to wonder who he is. An arrow is an instrument, not a person. I don't want to be an arrow anymore. I want more."

"I never thought of you like that, not for a minute!" Yugi said hotly. "At the Ceremonial Duel, I thought I knew what we had to do. We both did. And we were wrong. It hurt like hell, but I did it for you. Are you mad at me for it?"

"No!" Atem shouted quickly, before he had time to think too deeply or too long. Atem sighed again. "I let you think I was hanging out more with Kaiba and that's why I wasn't at the game shop or meeting with the gang as much. The truth is, I was alone."

Yugi shuddered. "I know that's like... sitting by yourself at lunchtime because you're the weird kid no one likes. But you don't have to be alone!"

"What if it's what I want?"

"We're your friends! We'll always be there for you. How could you forget that?"

"And you're all waiting for me to snap back to normal?" Atem shot back.

Yugi drew in a breath and bit his lip. He'd let Atem down at the Ceremonial Duel. He should have insisted Atem stop and think, but he'd been too unsure of himself to question him. He owed it to Atem to be strong now. He raised his chin and stood straighter. "Yes. I'm going to help you the rest of the way home. I'm going to help you get back to your old self, even if it means telling you things you don't want to hear."

"And what's home? Being your 'other me?'" Atem roared, his anger finally escaping, blowing past his attempts to contain it, hydra strong, and just as many-headed. "Have you ever considered for one moment that I am being myself, purely and fully for the first time? I'm not the person who left. I'm not the person who let everyone else decide what I wanted, who went along without ever thinking for himself! Even with everything: the fights with Kaiba, the uncertainty, the nightmares… this is who I am! I'm not giving that up! Not when I've fought so hard to get this far, even if you think I've been racing backwards. There's nothing to snap back to but a ghost who didn't know what it meant to be alive, what to do with a name once he finally had one! Get it through your head – I'm done being someone else's 'other me,' even yours!"

Yugi stared at him, tears standing in his eyes. "I never asked for that. I see my friend hurting and all I want is what's best for you. Once you would have known that."

Atem turned away, refusing to look at Yugi's tears, refusing to soften. "The times that have hurt me the worst, were meant for the best." His voice gentled despite himself. "You can't graft your solutions onto me. Choices are how we define ourselves, even as they give us the chance to be something more. I need to discover mine for myself. You mean well, but when it comes to my life, you don't know best." He drew in a breath, his anger ebbing abruptly. He was tired and he still had a home to go to. For the second time that day, Atem left a friend staring after him.

Atem grabbed a bike from a nearby kiosk and started pedaling. How had he gotten into a fight with his two best friends, so quickly, so easily, as though angry words had been coating his tongue for weeks, waiting to be spat out? In the beginning, the punishment for hurting Yugi had been a penalty game. Now he was the transgressor, but the only penalty was his own confusion. He didn't want to take back a single thought, only the words he'd used.

He pulled over to the curb at the next red light and fished his phone out of his pocket. He still preferred emojis to Japanese characters. He searched until he found a hand making half a heart and hit "send." Before the light changed, Yugi replied with the other half of his heart. He shoved the phone back in his pocket and started pedaling again. He could do this. He could fix it. He'd get the chance.

The simple repetitive movements worked their usual magic. He pushed forward, eager for his first glimpse of home. He suddenly realized the mansion was home in the best sense of the word: a haven. He chuckled as he remembered one of Kaiba's stray lectures on evolution; he felt like a fish that had been thrown on land and was learning to walk.

He rode up the driveway and stopped in front of the main staircase, got off and climbed the stairs. Mokuba was at the door.

"You came back."

"I said I would," Atem answered.

Mokuba grinned. "I know. And you did. He liked your pictures, too."

"They were just snapshots of the farmers' market and the fish I picked out for dinner."

Mokuba rolled his eyes. "He liked getting them. Duh."

Atem smiled as he headed to the game room. He was definitely home.

Kaiba was waiting on the couch. He was glad he was sitting down. Atem had sent four pictures on Saturday. He'd texted this morning. And in all the times in between, Kaiba had doubted. He'd buried the relationship even as he'd gone through the rituals of belief. If he'd been standing when Atem had swept into the room, his knees might have buckled from shock and relief, and he didn't want Atem to know how badly he'd failed at keeping his promise.

"Don't get up. I have the best seat in the house," Atem said, leaping into Kaiba's lap. He leaned his head against Kaiba's chest and sighed. "It's good to be home."

Kaiba rested his head on top of Atem's and hugged him closer. "I don't know how to live without forcing the future I want, without trying to order it into existence," he admitted.

"Maybe we need to stop thinking about good and bad choices, and just concentrate on rolling with the ones we make." Atem chuckled. "I cooked dinner yesterday. Well, with help. You're not the only one who needs practice letting the future come to you. I've never lived without a mission. I'm so addicted to it, even shopping for dinner felt good."

"Saving the world is a big job, but someone's got to do it," Kaiba teased.

Atem's smile was hidden by Kaiba's chest. "Once my mission was to protect Yugi." He sighed. "We fought today."

"I didn't know that was possible," Kaiba said, his voice a blank page.

"Neither did I. First, Jounouchi was upset that Yugi was upset. I got so mad. I told him he was wrong about Yugi."

"But he wasn't."

Atem sighed again. "Yugi wants the old Atem back."

Kaiba snorted. "From where? The grave?"

"I'm not sure," Atem said, his head still down. "All the things, the solitary walks, changing my mind about school, exploring each small decision like the fate of the world depended on it… I'm not his confident King of Games, anymore. He feels like I've lost part of myself and he's determined to help me get it back, but all I could see was him trying to stuff me back in a cocoon when I'm finally breaking free. I got mad."

"As long as you didn't dump him in a coma, it's all good."

Atem head butted him in the chest. "Jerk," he said affectionately. "I know. I couldn't stand it, so I sent him an emoji on the way home. You know the one… of a hand making half a heart. He sent back the other half before I could move the phone." Atem sighed again, happily this time.

Kaiba's grip tightened. Atem had gone for 33 hours without replying to Kaiba's texts after their first fight. He winced, biting back a sigh of his own, then looked down to find Atem scanning his face. He wondered what Atem was seeing. Kaiba scowled. "How long did it take you to cave? A whole five minutes?"

Atem reached up to caress Kaiba's face, then brushed the hair off his forehead. It flopped back in place an instant later. "One thing I learned from being away is the joy of coming home. Once I was ready to leave everything precious to me behind. Now, I don't want to let go of a single thing. I couldn't lose Yugi." He paused. "The whole time we were in limbo, you kept pushing me to think of myself and no one else."

"What else is there?" Kaiba returned, eyeing Atem warily. He knew some unexpected pivot was coming.

"And yet, you made every decision with Mokuba in mind. You literally followed him home."

"I was thinking of myself. When you find the things crucial to your existence, how is it selfless to hang on to them?" Kaiba asked, waiting for Atem to spring his trap card.

"Yugi is as important to me as Mokuba is to you. I have to find a way back, just as much here as in limbo."

Kaiba drew in a breath and exhaled, oddly comforted. He was tired of pulling at loose threads until his happiness unraveled. Atem was in his lap. He'd called the mansion, "home." Kaiba leaned down and kissed him. "So, this is home?" he couldn't resist asking.

"It's where you live. That makes it home to me." Atem wrinkled his nose in thought. "Don't you think of it as home?"

Kaiba frowned. "I don't know. This room, my bedroom, they feel like home. The rest of the house…" He shrugged. "It's a spoil of war, it's the proof I won, it's a mausoleum. Take your pick."

"You don't have to live in a mausoleum," Atem pointed out.

Kaiba grunted. "Bakura's, huh?" he asked, knowing Atem would recognize his question for the tactical retreat it was.

"It was quiet. It was peaceful. Without explanation… without challenge. I could just be. It felt…" Atem's voice trailed off.

"Safe in a way I could never be," Kaiba finished.

"What I feel with you is a different kind of safety. I've never been alone. Even when I was alive, I was the pharaoh. I was surrounded by my councilors, my priests, my household… even more, I carried my nation with me, every moment of every day. I thought I'd hate being alone. I feared it. I thought it would be like being walled up alive inside the Puzzle. I felt free instead. I found a place where I could simply be myself."

Kaiba nodded. He moved Atem off his lap like he was a disgruntled kitten, got up from the couch and went to his computer. His fingers flew across the keyboard. Atem stood up and put his hands on his hips, eyes narrowed. Before he could demand Kaiba's attention his phone beeped. He stared at the screen in confusion. There was an address and a computer link. "What's this?"

Kaiba moved away from his desk. "Kaiba Corporation owns apartments all over Domino." Kaiba's voice was clipped, businesslike. "That one is close to both the museum and the Kame Game shop. Download the app. It'll open the door. Even I don't have access." He frowned. "Obviously I could get it quite easily since I can override my own privacy protections. If you want, I can deed the apartment to you. You can install your own primitive lock and key system. Of course, I could bribe the locksmith or just pick the lock, but…"

"Thank you," Atem said quickly before Kaiba could list any more ways to invade his privacy. He shook his head and walked up to Kaiba. "It's generous. No, more than that, it's loving."

Kaiba looked down. "As soon as you said you loved me, I started figuring out all the ways it was going to end. When you talked about the museum, about wanting to be alone with your past, for a moment, all I could see was that other world… where I brought you back and you regretted it… where you…"

"Died?"

Kaiba nodded. "Yes. I'd do anything to keep you happy."

"You are what makes me happy. This is the life I want. You are the man I want to share it with. Doubt everything before you doubt that."

"Knowledge and belief are such different things." As sad and twisted as Kaiba's smile was, it was there. "But I promised to trust you, didn't I?"

"And I'm going to hold you to it. Loving you is a promise as well." Atem paused. "You've never had a place with no questions, have you? No decisions. No expectations."

Kaiba frowned as though trying to piece together a puzzle of his own.

"Even alone in your office," Atem continued, "you're always surrounded by Mokuba, by your goals, your plans, Kaiba Corporation…"

"All responsibilities I willingly took on," Kaiba interrupted.

"As did I," Atem replied. "That's what has made finding a space to rest – to simply be myself, without worrying who that is – so precious."

Kaiba smirked. "So, what do you suggest? That I go to the top of a mountain and join a monastery?"

Atem grinned back. "Of course not. You hacked your way out of limbo. I shudder to think what you'd get up to if left to yourself for too long. I'd never inflict you on a bunch of poor, unsuspecting monks." He hugged Kaiba, then pulled down his head and kissed him. "I'm not inflicting you on anyone but me."

Kaiba deepened their kiss, and suddenly he was on fire. He was tired of adding up two and two and always getting five, when five was never the answer he wanted. He was tired of alternating between plotting out the future and worrying it would never arrive. Atem was in his arms. Atem was kissing him, pressing his body closer to Kaiba's as if they'd been apart for months instead of days. He'd planned their reunion out in his head. He was going to take Atem upstairs. He had a bottle of Boukha waiting in his bedroom. It wasn't 3,000-year-old beer but Atem had liked it in that hotel in Egypt, he'd said it came close. He was going to keep Atem in his bed all through the night, reminding him of how thoroughly they fit together.

Kaiba knew he was never going to make it upstairs. They stumbled backwards to the couch, half strangling each other in their haste to shed their clothes. Kaiba had intended to take things slowly, to stroke and taste every millimeter of Atem's gloriously silken skin. He'd meant to savor every moan, every choked off breath. But he'd never had that kind of patience. He'd missed Atem. He'd doubted, in his heart of hearts, that he was coming back, had contemplated endless nights alone, mourning his loss. And now Atem was here, half naked, touching him, opening his mouth so Kaiba could kiss him as though they were exchanging souls with each suspended breath.

And Kaiba craved that connection, the proof they were indisputably joined, that Atem wanted him, that he loved him, that he'd let Kaiba touch him in ways and places no one else could. They'd managed to reach the couch, and flopped onto it, then slid to the floor. Kaiba yanked off Atem's pants and underwear, then his own. They kicked off their socks, breathless from struggling with their clothes and each other. Atem braced himself against the couch, his knees deep in the soft pile of the rug. Kaiba came up behind him, kissing and biting Atem's neck. His hands ran down Atem's body, tweaking his nipples, teasing their way down his abs until they reached his groin. Atem gasped and stiffened. Kaiba's hands shifted as he started fingering Atem, preparing him.

Kaiba leaned over Atem as his rival writhed in excitement and anticipation, pliant and waiting for Kaiba to take him. This was winning. Atem's bent body was all the proof Kaiba needed; he was safe, he was almost home. Atem was a moan away from begging. Kaiba held his breath, waiting for that final, broken, "Please, Seto…"

Kaiba pushed into him, claiming him as absolutely, as ruthlessly as he did everything else. Atem felt like he was being held to his own sense of self by the force of Kaiba's thrusts, each movement reminding him he had a body that could take and give and love.

Kaiba gasped out Atem's name and Atem clung to the reminder. He was Atem. He loved Kaiba. And Kaiba's desperation, his frantic desire to claim him, to lose himself in his body, called to something nestled deep inside Atem, drawing an answering frenzy, a need to match Kaiba on this and every other battlefield, to join with him in a way that transformed them both, that transcended all their fears and doubts, transmuting them into something rare and precious, baser metals turning, through some forbidden alchemy, into gold. Everything – from their first duel, the times they'd fought and almost killed each other, their slow journey to understanding and desire – had led to this joining, this union, as if they were still in limbo, with only themselves to see each other home.

Atem had barely touched himself, pumping slightly out of time with Kaiba's thrusts, a drumbeat and its echo, when he gave a final scream. He collapsed against the couch. Kaiba leaned on him, his frame still quivering from his final thrusts, his breathing hitching as he struggled to take in air.

They lay on the floor for a moment, spent, the rug tickling their sweat slick skin, trying to work up the energy to dress and move upstairs. Kaiba gathered Atem to him, and closed his eyes. "I'm glad this is your home."

.

Thanks to Bnomiko for betaing this chapter!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: It feels almost like blasphemy to have Atem and Yugi get into a fight, but I could also see it being a potential outcome in this story. Atem had all these different experiences that helped him get a clearer idea of who he was and what it meant to be alive, but for Yugi, five minutes had passed. I could see Yugi expecting things to go back to normal, so to speak, except with the added bonus of Atem being in his own body, and I could see it being shocking when that didn't happen. To Yugi, it must feel like he lost his "other me," which in a sense, he did. I see their arcs as going in opposite directions: In the series, Yugi learned he was strong, he became more confident, he gained friends. I could see him feeling like Atem has lost his way, and feeling responsible for fixing that.

But, although Atem has been slow to admit it – because he wanted to live up to Yugi's idea of him – his needs right now are the opposite of what Yugi's were. But sometimes when you don't talk about things, they build up. Yugi feels guilty about a lot of things he has no control over and Atem feels frustrated over a lot of things he never brought up, and when that happens, sometimes things spill over, even if the way it happened was something neither of them wanted.

I could also see Kaiba taking a kind of mechanical approach to things: Atem wants to feel like he has space, therefore let me ignore the emotional component of that statement and set up an apartment he can go to for space. Problem solved!

Cinderella Note: I've loved Cinderella in all her forms, ever since I was a child, so I really appreciate the recent emphasis on her endurance and on her as a courageous survivor of a family and world that tries to tell her she's worthless in and of herself, only of value for the unappreciated services she performs for others. That's such a more positive message than the ones in place when I first encountered her.

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.