Queer As Tachi – Chapter 2

                “Yugi!” Grandpa Muto called out as he pushed open the bedroom door.   “Come on, you’re going to be late!”  He looked to see Yugi was still in bed, in the same position he had been the night before when his grandpa looked in on him – more or less on his back, eyes closed, mouth slack, arms limp.   Grandpa frowned.  “Yugi, this is no time for fooling around,” he said sternly.   “You had better get moving right now or I’m sending you to school without breakfast…”  The volume of his tone did not cause Yugi to even stir, making Grandpa wonder.  He crossed to the bed and shook Yugi’s shoulders, firmly but not violently.  “Yugi!  Come on now, it’s time to get up.”  Yugi’s head only flopped back, completely senseless.  Alarmed, Grandpa stopped shaking him and let him lie down, leaning over him to listen.   He was breathing, but shallowly, and didn’t twitch a muscle.  The pulse in his neck was light and thready.  “Oh no.  Yugi!”

                In seconds, Grandpa Muto was in the next room, trying not to panic as he explained the situation over the phone to the emergency personnel sending an ambulance.  “I don’t know, he just won’t wake up.  No, not that I know of.  He’s breathing, yes, he seems fine, but he won’t wake up.  Yes, Kame game shop.  I’ll be waiting.”

                Shortly after, Joey was in the process of locating a clean pair of socks when the phone rang.  Cursing it for being so good at interrupting otherwise important matters these days, he answered more politely than he had in the middle of the night last night and promptly dropped it on the floor.  He scrambled to pick it up before Grandpa Muto could realize what had happened, yelping in reply, “The hospital?  Why is he in the hospital?  What happened?”

                “I don’t know,” Grandpa answered, starting to fail to keep the panic out of his voice.  “I went to wake him up for school and he wouldn’t wake up.  They’re going to run some tests, but…Joey, I don’t know.”  His voice hushed seriously.  “Did anything happen to him yesterday at school that might be to blame?”

                “No,” Joey said in the same hush, shaking his head.  “Everything went normal.  Classes, lunch, everything.  We walked home, we talked, that was about it.  Nothing happened that I know of.”  He paused to swallow, finding it difficult.  “Is he going to be okay?”

                “I don’t know yet.  I’ll keep you posted, though.”

                “I’ll be down there in a bit.”

                “But Joey!  What about school?”

                “Fuck school!  My best friend is in the hospital!  I’ll be right there, Grandpa.”  Joey gave up on the socks, stuffing his feet into his sneakers without them, grabbed his bookbag, and ran out the door.  Then he came back, just long enough to grab the scrap of paper on the kitchen counter with the phone number of the hotel where Mai was staying while visiting Domino City.

                Grandpa Muto stood with his arms at his sides, blankly staring down at Yugi’s motionless form in the bed, when Joey burst through the door disheveled and panting, his school jacket askew on his shoulders and his bag tucked under one arm.   He took a moment to study the scene – banks of equipment crowded around the bed, Yugi’s small body lying still, his pajama top unbuttoned to accommodate sensors and instruments, Grandpa’s hunched shoulders making him look smaller yet as he watched and waited in silence – and tried to quiet himself as he crossed to the bed.  He felt like a ruffian intruding as he stepped up next to Grandpa and gazed down at his best friend.  “He looks so pale,” he noticed, keeping his voice to a whisper.  “Do they know what’s wrong?”

                “They’re just as stumped,” Grandpa Muto sighed.  “They say he’s…his body seems to be shutting down, slowly, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason.  It’s as if there’s no life in him.  They think before too long, they’re going to have to put him on machines to keep him alive.”

                “Yugi…”  Joey reached down, brushing the limp strands of blond hair away from Yugi’s face, hoping to see any response, even the slightest flicker of an eyelash.  There was nothing, and he understood now what Grandpa meant by there being no life in him.  “I was just with him yesterday,” Joey fretted, “he was fine.  He was so…happy.  We were talking about university.”  He touched Yugi’s cheek with gentle fingertips.  “What happened, buddy?”

                “Joey, you should go to school,” Grandpa said encouragingly.   “There’s nothing you can do here.   You should go, tell the others.  They should know.”

                “But…”  Joey turned to him.   “Someone should stay here with you.   You shouldn’t have to watch over him alone, Gramps.”

                Grandpa Muto patted him on the shoulder.  “Thank you, but I’ll be fine.  Go, tell Tristan and Téa, and then you can all come back after school to see him.  I’ll be here, and I’ll let you know if anything changes.  All right?”

                Joey sighed, hanging his head.  “Fine.  Just don’t let them pull the plug on him, all right?  He’s got a lot to live for.  I’m sure he’ll be fine, we just have to give him time, you know?”  He began to feel the hot needles behind his eyes that warned of tears, so Joey busied himself pulling a chair over from the corner for Grandpa to sit in.  He hesitated for one more glance at Yugi, one more brush of his hand over his friend’s forehead, and then noticed something else besides his pale skin and lifeless bearing.  “Where’s the Millennium Puzzle?”

                “Probably still on the desk where I put it,” Grandpa replied.   “There was no time to grab it.”

                “He should have it,” Joey said absently.  “He would want it near him.  Okay,” he added quickly, taking a deep breath to sober himself.  “I’m going to class.  I’ll be back with the others later.”

                The school administrator had already been informed that Yugi would not be in school that day, and why, but it wasn’t until Joey showed up that Yugi’s close friends had as full an explanation as they were going to get.  Predictably, Tristan looked stunned and unsure what to say, while Téa burst into tears and demanded to go right away to see him.  But they had no means of excusing themselves from class, and skipping was too risky this close to graduation, so they had to suffer through the day in maddening silence while all around them, people whispered.  It wasn’t until late in the day that they even had a chance to spread the news to Ryo Bakura and Duke Devlin, who cared just as much but knew better than to invite themselves along with the trio of close-knit friends.  Just before leaving, Joey asked to borrow Téa’s cell phone and called the number on the scrap of paper in his pocket, because he figured as long as she was nearby, Mai had better know.  She showed her appreciation for the call by coming by to pick the three teenagers up from school and take them all down to the hospital together.  Grandpa Muto looked to have not moved from that chair all day, he sat with his eyes focused on Yugi and didn’t move them when he heard the others come in, though he smiled.   “I’m glad you all came,” he said in a very rough voice.

                “How is he?” Joey asked for all of them, as Téa clapped her hands to her mouth to stifle the sob that wanted to come out when she saw Yugi.  “Any change?”

                “No, not really.  He’s getting weaker, but that’s about it.”

                “And they don’t know why?” Tristan wondered.  Grandpa only shook his head.

                “Poor kid,” Mai murmured.  “After all he’s been through.  He doesn’t deserve to go out like this.”

                Grandpa Muto looked up in surprise at the sound of her voice.   “Mai Valentine?  Well, I’ll be.”

                “Hi.”  She waved half-heartedly.  “This isn’t exactly the party I expected to come back to.”

                Téa went to stand behind Grandpa’s chair, putting him between her and Yugi.  Monitors beeped steadily in the oppressive silence.  She moved to place a hand on the old man’s shoulder.  “Is there anything we can do for him?  Or you?”

                Grandpa didn’t answer right away, but after another long silence listening to the machines beep their affirmation that Yugi was still alive, he slowly pried himself out of the chair.  “Maybe I’ll let you kids have a few moments with him by yourselves.  I’m sure he’d like to hear from you.”  He smiled kindly at Téa.  “I need to stretch these old legs.”

                The others just looked at the floor or at their fidgeting hands as he walked through them to the door, except for Mai, who stayed back out of the way and smiled sympathetically at Grandpa as he passed her at the door.  After a minute, Yugi’s friends took slow steps to bring them closer to his bed, to force themselves to finally look at him and comprehend the reality of what was happening to him.  Joey placed a hand on top of Yugi’s and gave it a gentle squeeze.  “He’s so cold,” he mumbled, “his hand…it’s like ice.”

                “And you have no idea what could have done this to him?” Tristan pressed.

                Joey scowled at him.  “What makes you think I know anything?”

                “You were the last one of us to see him.  Did he say anything to you?  Like he wasn’t feeling good or he was thinking of going out and overdosing on something?”

                “Tristan!”  Joey let go of Yugi’s hand and instead grabbed Tristan’s shirt, hauling him up.  “Yugi wouldn’t do anything like that!  We all know him, he’s not that stupid.  A little naïve, maybe, but not stupid.”

                “Besides, I think the doctors would know by now if he took anything,” Téa snapped.  “Stop jumping to conclusions…and stop fighting already!”  Her lower lip trembled with tears.  “What would Yugi say if he saw you two like this?”

                Joey’s anger deflated, and he and Tristan parted and brushed themselves off.  “Sorry, Téa,” Tristan said.  “I’m just…I just don’t know what to do, what to think.  This can’t be happening!”  He wandered away from them, throwing his bookbag violently into a corner and then leaning against the wall with both hands, taking a few minutes to calm his racing thoughts and catch his breath.

                “At least he’s not on life support yet,” Mai offered.   Téa shot her a glare across the room.  “What?  He’s not,” Mai insisted.  “He’s just in a coma.  People come out of those sometimes.  Once he’s hooked up to machines to keep him alive, then you need to start saying your goodbyes.”

                “Mai!”  Téa fairly quivered with rage, her fists clenched at her sides.  “You’re so insensitive!”

                “She’s just telling you the truth.”  Joey had gone back to gazing sadly down at Yugi.  “He’s not dead, and he won’t be.  It’s just scary seeing him like this.  So helpless.”

                Téa sidled up next to him, taking him by the arm and giving his shoulder the barest of hugs.  “What if she’s right?  What if they do have to put him on life support?  What is his grandpa going to do, let them do it or just let him…”

                “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Joey said sullenly.

                Téa closed her eyes and shook her head rapidly, flinging tears in all directions.  “I can’t, I just can’t see him like this.  I can’t take this anymore!”  She dashed to the door and out, and after a moment Tristan called her name and chased after her.

                Joey took Yugi’s cold, lifeless hand in his and knelt down beside the bed, searching his face for answers.  Mai quietly came over and stood behind him, but refrained from offering any closer comfort.  “What is it, buddy?” Joey whispered.  “I wish you could tell me what was wrong.  After all you told me yesterday, I know it isn’t anything you did to make it like this.  You have someone to live for, someone who loves you.  I just hope the doctors can figure out what put you here, so they can bring you back to us.  Please, Yug.”   He bowed his head.  “Please come back.”

                Yami had left Yugi to sit by the door of the Puzzle for a time while he explored its nearer regions, climbing stairways to nowhere and peeking into closed doors in the chance a clue could be found that would tell him what circumstance had broken the connection between Yugi’s mind and his body.  He was fairly certain that the Puzzle had been taken away somehow, but not dismantled, for their spirits were not rendered dormant.  Their only hope was that someone would attempt to use it, for then Yami could sense a soul he could touch even peripherally in order to get a message through.  But everything was cold and dark, and in the end, he only returned to the door and his weakened lover, deciding to sit with him and just hold him to protect and comfort him.  Yugi was scared, but he did his best not to complain or whine.  He felt too weak to join Yami in his explorations, and was content to sit quietly and wait until the pharaoh returned to his side and wrapped his arms around him again.   “Didn’t find anything, huh?” he asked his elder spirit.

                “No, I’m sorry,” Yami replied honestly.  “There isn’t anything I can do to help you this time, Yugi.   We must simply wait, and hope someone tries to claim the Puzzle and use it.  I can enter their mind, then, and force them to take the Puzzle to you.”

                “Freaky,” Yugi breathed.  “Kind of like in the first days when you entered me, after I solved the Puzzle.”

                “In a sense.”  Yami hugged the young one to him.  “But I don’t plan on bonding with anyone else.  You are my one and only, Yugi.”

                Yugi snuggled into his arms, feeling temporarily safe despite the uncertainty and fear.  “Good, because I was about to get all jealous or something.”  He closed his eyes and sighed softly.  “I’m so glad we got to know each other, and learned to bond, instead of just having you take over control all the time.  We’re a good team.”

                “It took a while,” Yami remembered.  “I had to learn to respect you, to understand your role in my existence.  I know I hurt you, and frightened you sometimes, and I’m sorry.”

                “That was so long ago,” Yugi murmured.  “I forgave you already.  That’s why we bonded, and I let you be a part of my life.  And look at us now.”

                He curled up even further in Yami’s lap, drawing his knees up to his chest and letting the pharaoh hold him like a lost child.  Yami kissed his temple and gladly snuggled him, hoping it would keep away the fears of continued degradation of his spirit’s strength until he wasted away to nothing.  “Our bond has been tested so many times, and we always come out closer than before.  I truly believe in what you say – that we are soulmates.   That destiny brought us together for more than just standing against the shadow games.”

                Yugi lifted his head a little, looking into Yami’s solemn eyes.  “Joey told me you cried for days when you lost me that one time.”

                Yami bowed his head in embarrassment.  “Yes, I did.  I’m afraid I wasn’t very nice to your friends – they were trying to cheer me up and I just brushed them off.”

                “It’s okay.  I think they understood.”  Yugi ran his fingertips delicately along Yami’s cheek.  “I wasn’t afraid.  I knew you were going to come for me.  And, well, save the world too, that was just as important.  But you saved me.”  He closed his eyes, as if savoring a memorable vision.  “You always do.”

                Yami’s expression darkened.  “I just wish I could save you now,” he murmured just above a whisper.

                Yugi let his head fall against his lover’s shoulder.  “You don’t have to be brave for me anymore.  I know the truth.  I know I’m going to die this time.  Unless someone on the outside helps us, but they’re not going to know what to do.”

                Yami’s breath caught in his throat, and tears sprang to his eyes.   That was so like Yugi, to bravely accept what was about to happen to him, and not rail against it or wait impatiently for a hope that would not be coming.  He clutched Yugi to him and hugged him fiercely, their foreheads pressed against each other.  “It’s not fair,” he seethed, his deep voice trembling with grief.  “I’m supposed to protect you, not be the cause of your pain!  You came here to be with me and now you’re trapped, and I can’t do a thing to save you.”

                He felt soft fingertips on his face again, and opened his eyes to find himself staring straight into Yugi’s wide, tender, violet eyes and his most loving smile.  “It’s not your fault,” he said kindly.  “I made the choice.  We didn’t know there were risks.  It is kind of stupid, but…of all the places I could be, I would want to be here, with you, most of all.”  His voice was growing faint as his spirit’s strength ebbed, but he kept speaking so long as he had something of value to say.  “I know you’re trying to be strong for me, but you don’t have to be.  Remember, our minds are still connected.  I know your thoughts.  You’re trying to hide something from yourself, or from me, one of the two, but you shouldn’t.  I already know.”

                Yami blinked at him, and then smiled wanly.  “That I’m going to die, also.”

                “Yeah.”

                Yami’s eyes closed, allowing the tears to run streaming down his cheeks.  “I’m sorry, Yugi.”

                “It’s okay.  I wouldn’t want you to go on without me.”  Yugi pushed himself up just enough to kiss the tears away.  “If it hurt so much last time, even though you knew how to get me back, just think how much worse it would be if you had to go on without me forever.”

                “I can’t even think of such a thing,” the pharaoh said with a shake of his head, “it’s beyond my capability.  You don’t have to worry about me, though.  You are my vessel, my bond.  When you die, I die with you.”  His voice was steady, even though the tears continued to fall.  “My spirit can finally rest.”

                “Isn’t this how all the great romantic tragedies go?” Yugi faintly wondered.  “The lovers die in each other’s arms, so they can spend eternity together?”

                Yami chuckled sardonically.  “I never liked those.”

                “Yeah, me neither.”

                Yami held his young love to him, his confused and darkened mind filled with a million conflicting emotions.  All he wanted was to save Yugi, that was all he ever wanted, and was willing to sacrifice himself in order to do so.  This was just unfair.  Yugi was not supposed to lose everything too.  All Yami could do was hold him and kiss him, wanting to savor him fully until the very end.  “I have only one regret,” he whispered into the space between them.

                “What’s that?”

                “That we didn’t have longer to be together.”  More sweet kisses.  “I was just starting to get the hang of this romance thing.”

                Yugi laughed weakly.  “And you were getting really good at it, too.  I wish we had longer, too,” he added wistfully.  “I wish I could measure the relationship in decades, rather than just…what’s it been?  Has it been a year?”

                “Somewhere around there.”  Yami kissed his forehead again, a favorite target when he wanted to be sweet and cute.  “I didn’t know keeping track of the time was an important thing.”

                “What, didn’t they have anniversaries back in ancient Egypt?”

                “I wouldn’t know, I don’t remember.”

                Yugi purred tiredly.  “It’s okay.  It doesn’t matter.  All I care about is being with you, in whatever way I can have you.”  He settled into the strong arms holding him, closing his eyes.  “I’ve always liked hearing your voice in the back of my mind.   It’s so…powerful, commanding.   Like a pharaoh should be.  It always gave me shivers…the good kind.”

                Yami smiled through his tears, and opened his mouth to say something further, but everything sounded so trite in his mind, and emotion rendered it all useless anyway as he broke down at last, sobbing silently into Yugi’s shoulder as they held each other.  Yugi opened his eyes for a moment to see his brave, powerful pharaoh reduced to a broken, weeping lover, and just smiled.  For as long as he had known Yami, he had been an aloof, stoic sort of person, who kept his hands to himself often with arms folded sternly over his chest.  In a short space of time, as he grew to love his young charge, he had grown steadily more tactile, and more emotional.  Seeing him like this felt to Yugi like the final stage of their journey together, him finally surrendering to his heart and no longer holding his emotions locked so deep inside.  Yugi summoned up his fleeting strength and hugged Yami as hard as he could, letting his own tears finally fall.

                Grandpa Muto had done more than just stretch his legs, for it took him almost a half an hour to come back to the room.  He found Joey sitting in his chair, holding Yugi’s hand between his, and Mai standing behind him.  “Where did Tristan and Téa get to?” he wondered as he came in.

                “Téa’s probably crying in the bathroom,” Joey muttered.   “Tristan…I don’t know.  I don’t blame him, though.  We’ve been through a lot, but we’ve never had to deal with this before.”

                “I really feel for Tristan,” Mai said thoughtfully.   “After you saw me in a totally mindless coma just like this, he had to stand there and watch over you the same way.  And now Yugi?  It’s got to hurt.”

                “That’s right, I forgot about that,” Joey said.  “Not about you,” he quickly added, glancing over his shoulder, “about me.  It didn’t seem that bad from where I was, but hey – I was having the craziest dream.”

                “And how do you think your friends felt, having to stand there and watch you hover near death?” Mai sniffed.  “Knucklehead.”

                “Yugi didn’t worry.”  Joey turned his attention back to his best friend.  “I know he was hurting, but he still put on his game face and went out there and kicked Kaiba’s ass.  It almost makes me wish there was a tournament right now, because that’s what he’d want me to do.”  He lowered his shimmering eyes to gaze at the small, soft, pale hand between his.  “Only, putting on your game face to deal with everyday life isn’t so easy, bud.  There’s just no meaning in it anymore.”

                Mai folded her arms and frowned toward Grandpa Muto.  “Where are the damn doctors, anyway?  We’ve been here almost an hour and I haven’t seen a single one come in to check on Yugi.”

                “They say he’s stable,” Grandpa replied.  “I guess they only need to come in if he gets better or worse, so right now I don’t mind them not being here.  But I could really use some answers.”

               “He didn’t eat anything funny?  He’s not allergic to anything?”  Grandpa only shook his head.  Mai huffed an annoyed sigh.  “Well, this is just great.  He likes puzzles so much he left us one to deal with.”

                The word “puzzle” lifted Joey’s head.  He glanced once more to the place on Yugi’s chest where the Millennium Puzzle should have been resting, even though the medical sensors and other equipment probably would have required they remove it anyway.  Its absence screamed loudly at him, but he didn’t quite understand what it was trying to say.  “Hey, Gramps?” he wondered.  “Did he have the Puzzle with him last night?”

                “He fell asleep with it on,” Grandpa admitted.  “I checked on him before I went to bed, and took it off so the chain wouldn’t strangle him in his sleep.  Poor boy, he can be so careless sometimes when it comes to his own needs.”

                Joey frowned at that, but somehow two and two were still not quite adding up to four in his grief-stricken brain.  But before he could let it ponder any more, an alarm on one of the monitors went off, startling them all.  In moments a doctor had rushed into the room, with Téa and Tristan right behind wanting to know why people were hurrying into Yugi’s room.  “What is it?” Joey questioned the doctor.

                “His heart rate is slowing even more.”  The doctor switched off the shrill alarm but kept checking the monitors, while nurses busied themselves investigating other outlets.  “He’s growing weaker.  Very soon, you will have to make a decision, Mr. Muto.  If his heart rate slows at the same pace, he will need to be placed on support within the next couple of hours.  That is…”  He turned and looked straight at the old man.  “…if that’s your wish.”

                A moment of silence passed through the group, and then Téa burst out, “You can’t let him die, you can’t!” and broke down sobbing.   Mai went to her and put an arm around her, guiding her out of the room and to the waiting area down the hall where she could cry all she wanted.

                Joey had been forced to back away when the doctors and nurses came in, and stood now at the door with Tristan, staring in disbelief.  “No,” he breathed.  “This can’t be real, it can’t…”

                Tristan put an arm around him, hugging him.  “I can’t believe he survived the shadow realm and having his soul captured only to die like this.”

                Another jolt passed through Joey’s mind, like the one that had awakened over “Puzzle.”  Yugi looked just like those who had had their souls taken once upon a time, Joey remembered too clearly watching Rex and Valon slump over into complete senselessness.  Still, a stubborn block remained in his way.  He thought instead of the pharaoh, remembering how he had stood up when they all thought Yugi was gone.  “The poor pharaoh,” he whispered, thinking aloud.  “I bet he doesn’t even know what’s happening, if he’s back home in the Puzzle.  He needs to know.   Yugi would want him by his side, too.”   He caught himself, then, before accidentally revealing their secret, and that moment’s pause to think pushed aside the block in his brain.  Realization spilled in like light breaking through the clouds.  He clutched hard at Tristan’s arm until he heard an “ow!” and then shoved him aside, racing down the hall to the waiting room.  Mai looked up, startled, as he stormed in and skidded to a stop behind her, grabbing her by the jacket.  “Joey!  What the…?”

                Téa also looked up, rather upset at having her only shoulder to cry on yanked away so rudely.  Joey didn’t heed either of them.  “Come on, I need you to drive me somewhere, fast.”

                “What the hell?  Joey!”  Mai followed him back down the hall, not needing him to drag her along.  “Would you tell me what’s gotten into you?”

                “I’ll explain on the way!  Tristan!”  Joey ran to the door of Yugi’s room, as Tristan poked his head out curiously.  “Don’t let them do anything to Yugi until I get back!  Keep him alive, I don’t care how!”

                “What?  Why?” Tristan called after him as he bolted away.

                “Just do what I say!” Joey shouted back.  “Yugi needs to live!  I’m going to save him!”

                He and Mai ran to the car and leaped in, and she tore away from the parking lot at illegal rates of speed.  “Would you mind at least telling me where we’re going?” she demanded.

                “The game shop.  Yugi’s house,” Joey said curtly.  “I know what happened to him.  I know how to save him.”

                Mai stared at him.  “What?”

                “Just drive!  We gotta get the Millennium Puzzle for him, and get back before they do something stupid like let him die.”  Joey belatedly reminded himself to buckle his seatbelt and sat back, teeth gritted grimly.  Hang in there, Yug.   I’ll save you.  Just don’t give up till I get back.

                Yugi’s spirit was growing weaker with every passing minute, being separated from its house for nearly a day.  He understood now what Yami meant about his soul not belonging to the Puzzle, not meant to survive in this form for so long.  Had he still some notion of rescue, he would have vowed not to do anything so stupid again, but he had long since given up and resigned himself to this cruel fate.  At least Yami would not have to just watch him die and try to struggle on alone, without his Chosen One, their spirits would fade together.  They sat just in front of the door with the Eye, Yami cradling Yugi in his arms now as Yugi no longer had the strength to sit up.  They had talked, and cried, and now just held each other, content with the silence.  Yami’s only request to Yugi had been to hang on for as long as he could, to not give up too soon, just in case.  He had strength enough, and willed some of his energy into the youth in order to keep him going.  Their spirits were so closely bonded now that they could share, and Yugi would not weaken entirely before Yami did.  But the more he slipped away, the more Yami began to bow under the weight of his own soul, to drift into a tired stupor for short moments.  It was the first signs of the bond working, that it would do as they suspected and take the pharaoh along with his charge.  Yami bowed his head and nuzzled Yugi’s cheek, grateful for his closeness.   “It has been an amazing journey with you, Yugi,” he murmured, the first words between them in quite some time.  “I must be the most fortunate man in the world, to have lived two lifetimes instead of just one.  And in the second, to have found someone as wonderful as you.”

                Yugi smiled tearfully.  “I miss you already.  We’ve had a lot of adventures.  I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.”  He lifted his chin slightly to nuzzle back.  “Thank you for making sure I had anything but a normal, boring life.”

                Yami chuckled.  “Thank you, for giving me life at all.  If not for you, it might have been another five thousand years before anyone set me free.”

                “Told you.  We’re soulmates.  I was meant to find you.”  Yugi closed his eyes and rested his tear-stained cheek against Yami’s bare shoulder.  “And even though this is goodbye, know that I’ll always love you.  Even beyond.  Death can’t stop this kind of love.”

                Yami caught him up and wept over him, his tears falling on Yugi’s eyelids.  “I love you with all my soul, Yugi,” he breathed between sobs.  “I would give up everything to restore you if I could.”

                A faint smile touched Yugi’s lips.  “At least now no one is going to steal your power.  We don’t have to worry anymore.”

                “No, that’s true.”  Yami gathered his fleeting strength and tilted Yugi’s face toward him, so he could kiss him one last time.  “Farewell, my love.  I will go with you into the darkness.”

                “How do you know it’s darkness?”  A glimmer appeared in the violet eyes.  “All I see is light.  Pure light.”

                On account of their close friendship, it was only natural that Joey should have a key to the game shop’s attached apartment.  And good thing, too, because he had run out of the hospital too quickly to remember to ask Grandpa Muto for one if he had needed it.  Mai had barely screeched to a halt at the curb when Joey leaped out of the convertible, key already in hand.  He let himself in and pounded up the stairs, going straight to Yugi’s bedroom and the golden Puzzle lying so obviously on a corner of the desk.  He swept out a hand and snagged the chain even as he turned and lunged back toward the door, and thundered back downstairs with the Puzzle swinging dangerously from his fist.  Mai gaped at him as he flung himself back into the car and demanded, “Floor it!”

                She gunned the engine and peeled away, merging safely but quickly back into traffic before collecting herself enough to speak.  “You’ve got to be out of your mind!”

                “No, I’m not,” Joey said with grim certainty.  “Yugi said something last night about going into the Puzzle to talk to Yami.  I’ll betcha that’s it.”

                Mai eyed him sideways.  “I still don’t get it, but I’ll take your word for it.  Buckle up, sweetie.”

                Joey did so, and then held the Puzzle in his hands, frowning at the Eye in raised relief on its surface.  Then, figuring he had best take good care of it so it could be safely delivered to its owner, he looped the chain over his head and settled the Puzzle around his own neck.

                As they crouched together in their growing weakness, both Yami and Yugi felt a sudden surge of energy bolt through them, a clearing of their minds of the fog that seemed to be consuming them from inside the Puzzle.  Yami felt it moreso than Yugi, and held his young love close, afraid that some other kind of change was taking place.  But the energy was warm, friendly, and somehow familiar.  Yami had felt it before, touched it tangentially.  It took him a moment to remember where.  “Joey?” he whispered into the silence of the Puzzle.

                “What?” Yugi wondered, “what is it?”

                “I think it’s Joey.”  Kissing Yugi’s forehead for reassurance, Yami gingerly laid him down on the floor and got up, going to the door once more and testing the latch.  It clicked, signifying that it was no longer locked to keep him in.  He didn’t trust Yugi to be able to withstand any foreign power sources at a time like this, so he tested it himself, opening the door just a crack.  Instead of the corridor and the adjoining door to a second mind, however, there was a great swirling darkness outside, as if the shadow realm lay just beyond the Puzzle’s confines.  Yet, in that shadow was a pinpoint of light.  Yami stared toward it, and chanced a call.  “Joey!”

                There was no response, but Yami felt no fear that someone or something else was hiding behind that light.  Then, he could hear something:  it wasn’t talking directly to him, but the distant, echoing voice was unmistakable.  “Dammit!  Why do we have to hit every red light between here and the hospital?!”

                Yami’s mouth fell open in stunned laughter, as he dared to believe what he had heard.  Stepping back, he closed the door and went back to Yugi, picking him up in his arms.  “It’s Joey,” he said, somewhere between laughing and crying in relief.  “He’s got us, he’s wearing the Puzzle.”

                Yugi struggled to look up into his eyes.  “Are you sure?”

                “I could hear him.  We’re not connected, not like you and I are, but I can sense him.  His powerful heart.”  The pharaoh hugged Yugi tightly, no longer afraid that he might hurt him.  “Hold on, Yugi.  Joey is bringing us to the hospital.  They must have taken you there.”

                “I don’t believe this.”  Yugi smiled wearily.  “Just when I think I’m doing the right thing, accepting my fate, he goes and saves me.”

                Yami held him close, opening his spirit to share as much of his power with Yugi as he could.  “You must hold on, be strong.  I don’t know how much time we have, but you must hold on until the Puzzle can be returned.”

                Yugi clutched at him, his fingers digging into Yami’s shoulders.  “I’m trying.  You hold on, too.   Don’t give me all of your spirit, you need to live too…”

                Yami nodded absently, only partially hearing.  The rest of him was concentrated on trying to open a connection with Joey’s mind, though he had lost so much of his energy that doing so was next to impossible.  At the very least, he could sense the vivid life force of the young man, and it was just enough to keep both spirits in the Puzzle alive.

                Mai wove expertly through traffic and was almost there when the worst of stupid mischances popped up in their path; she glanced in her mirror and saw red and blue lights.  Swearing in a most un-ladylike manner, she swiftly pulled over and buried her face in her hands.  Joey pounded a fist on the edge of the window.  “I don’t believe this!”

                “I’m trying, Joey, I really am,” Mai insisted.

                “We don’t have time for this!”

                The cop stepped up alongside the convertible, looking rather concerned and authoritative as  he reckoned the potential ages of driver and passenger.  “Ma’am, you do know why I stopped you, don’t you?”

                “Officer, please…” she began.

                “This is an emergency!” Joey interrupted, practically straining against his seatbelt as he leaned toward the officer.  “My friend is going to die if I don’t get to the hospital!”

                “Whoa, calm down, there,” the cop said, gesturing placidly.   “Emergency, huh?”

                “That’s right!” Mai said, catching on to Joey’s cue.   “I’m trying to get my friend to the hospital, he’s got an emergency…an emergency…”

                “Transplant!” Joey yelped, seizing on the word.  “My friend is gonna die and I’m the only one who can save him.  I just got the call!   I have to get down there or they won’t be able to…to do the thing they have to do to save him.  Please!”  He gave the cop his most plaintive of looks with big, wide, watery brown eyes.  “You have to help me!”

                “You can follow us to the hospital if you don’t believe us,” Mai added.  “We could use an escort.  It’s a matter of life or death!”

                “All right, all right!” the officer relented, backing away a step from the sheer forcefulness of their begging.  They certainly looked panicked enough.  “I’ll follow you to the hospital.  But if you’re lying to me, I’ll have your licenses.”

                “It’s a deal!”  Mai started the car back up, giving the officer incentive to hurry back to his.  She pulled away and sped the rest of the way to the hospital with the cop car just behind her, its siren going the whole way.  Joey just stared at the road, practically willing the cars to get out of the way so they could get there faster.  With a police car screaming down the road at them, most of them did.  They drove straight to the emergency room entrance, and as soon as Mai had come to a stop, Joey leaped out of the car with the Puzzle clinking around his neck and ran inside.  Mai stayed right where she was just to catch her breath, and then got out to speak with the officer.  He had stopped behind them, and only watched in surprise as Joey disappeared into the hospital.  Mai sashayed up to him with the most innocent and grateful look she could manage.  “Thank you so much, officer,” she gushed.  “You’ve saved a young man’s life today.  You’re a hero.”

                The officer scratched under the edge of his hat, trying not to blush at the pretty lady with big, pretty eyes, batting big, pretty eyelashes at him.   “Well, I wouldn’t say that, but…”

                “No, really,” she persisted.  “If not for you, why…we would have had to go slower, so we wouldn’t hit anyone.  I should check and make sure he made it in time, but I’m sure our friend is going to be okay now.   Thank you, we owe you our lives as well.”

                “Yes, well…”  The cop coughed, cleared his throat, and straightened up.  “I’ll just let you off with a warning, then.  Next time, you should call for an ambulance, they can speed all they want.  But…I hope your friend is going to live,” he added lamely.

                “Thanks to you, he will,” Mai said with pure gratitude, giving him a lovely smile.

                This time, he did blush.  “And you’re not going to speed like that any more?”

                “It was only because of the emergency, I swear,” Mai insisted, raising a hand like a girl scout giving a pledge.

                “Okay, that’s good.  Well, um…”  The officer bowed and turned to go.  “Drive safely, ma’am.”

                Mai swallowed her giggle, and only nodded back and thanked him profusely once more.  Once he had driven away, she pocketed her keys and ran inside to see what was happening.

                Joey ignored the looks and shouts from doctors and security as he dashed through the hospital, angry that the emergency door had to be so far away from Yugi’s room.  Tristan and Téa leaped up when they saw him pass through the waiting room like a whirlwind, and more nurses scattered when he plowed through them to get into the room.  Yugi was still lying there, cold and pale, with doctors crowded around poking at the monitors and Grandpa Muto standing nearby, presumably discussing the situation with them.  Joey heard, “If you could wait just one more minute…” as he came in, followed by the complaints of the doctors and “Joey!”

                “Out of my way!” Joey demanded, elbowing one doctor aside so he could get to the bed.  Tristan, Téa, a couple of security guards and burly male nurses, and lastly Mai tried to crowd into the doorway all at once to see what he was about to do.  Joey pulled the chain over his head and laid the Puzzle on Yugi’s chest, calming himself to gently lift Yugi’s head from the pillow and drape the chain around him.  He helped Yugi settle back and then just stood aside, watching to make sure that the action had its intended effect.

                Inside the Puzzle, Yami could only hear a jumbled chaos of voices as Joey made his way through the hospital, but the life force was pulsing so strongly that he had no trouble staying alert.  Yugi lay in his arms breathing shallowly, his eyes hazy but his mind willing to cling to life with this spark of hope so near to him.  Then, the Puzzle changed hands, and Yami straightened up as he felt the connection that had been missing from his senses for the past several hours.  Yugi suddenly took a deep breath, his eyes opening wide.  Yami picked him up from the floor and carried him to the door, kicking it open.  The corridor, the opposite door, it was all there like it should be.  He let Yugi down, and with tottering steps, the young man lurched into the corridor that separated their minds.  He paused for just a fleeting second to look back at Yami, his eyes full of tears and joy and gratitude, before yanking the door to his mind open.

                The Eye on the Puzzle began to glow golden, startling the doctors hanging around the bed.  The security guard who had managed to get a hand on Joey let go, and they all watched in wonder as the Puzzle flashed magically for just a moment, and then Yugi’s eyes blinked slowly open.   His hand on the bed twitched, and he turned his head to regard the collection of faces staring at him in shock and incredulity.   His eyes went straight to the one face he expected to be there, and a faint whisper crossed his lips.  “Joey…”

                Friends fell into each other’s arms in relief.  Grandpa Muto dropped heavily into the chair with his head in his hands.  The doctors waved off the perplexed security guards and clustered around the monitors to verify that what they had just witnessed really happened.  “This is amazing,” one remarked.  “His heart rate is back to normal, and his brain activity is where it should be.   It’s like he was raised from the dead.”

                “Almost.”  Joey smiled at Yugi, their eyes connecting, and then collapsed to a seat on the floor as the adrenaline wore off and left his knees weak.

                Despite the wishes of everyone there to have their chance to touch Yugi and hug him and speak to him to assure themselves he was okay, the doctors shooed them out so they could complete their tests and make some recommendations.  They had no idea what had happened, and were not about to record that the simple act of placing a pyramid around his neck restored him to life, but they did a good job of looking important and official before declaring that they wanted to keep Yugi in the hospital overnight, just to be sure there was no relapse.  Though his spirit had regained its house, Yugi was exhausted and only wanted to sleep, though he asked Joey to stay by his side for a short time in order to thank him for figuring it out and saving him.  Joey told him all about his heroic dash to recover the Puzzle, getting pulled over, everything, glad to see Yugi laugh at the improbability of a speeding ticket nearly costing them precious time.  “Really, though,” Yugi said as he quieted down, “how did you guess?”

                Joey sobered as well.  “Yesterday, you told me about how you guys…um…go see each other inside the Puzzle,” he explained.  “I’m so stupid, I didn’t put it all together until it was almost too late.  But it didn’t occur to me till your grandpa said he took the Puzzle away from you after you’d already gone to bed.  Then Tristan said something about you looking like you’d lost your soul, and it hit me.”  He squeezed his friend’s hand.  “Whatever you do, go easy on your grandpa.  Don’t blame him for doing this to you, he didn’t know.  Once he finds out it was his fault you got trapped in there, he’s going to feel horrible enough.”

                “I know, I know,” Yugi breathed tiredly.  Grandpa was currently out of the room, seeing the others off for the night and promising them they could look in on Yugi once he was home the next day.  “It’s nobody’s fault, really, unless you want to blame me for doing something so dangerous as letting my mind wander inside the Puzzle, or Yami for being the lover I wanted to go see.  It was just an accident.  A weird accident,” he admitted wryly, “but even so.  I just need to tell Grandpa that I know enough about the Puzzle to know I’m safe with it on.  I know he was just being helpful.”

                “And you be careful, too.  I know you don’t want to stop seeing Yami, but you have to be more careful with it.  Magic isn’t something to be messing around with.”  He pushed himself to his feet and ruffled Yugi’s hair kindly.  “But you don’t need me lecturing you about that.  I’m sure you and Yami are already aware of that.”

                “Yeah, we are,” Yugi sighed.  “He feels terrible, I feel stupid.  We’re not going to let this happen again, don’t worry.”

                “Okay, then.  I won’t tell your grandpa about you two.  It’s up to you to phrase it however you need to.”  Joey tugged the thin hospital blanket up around Yugi’s chest.  “You get some rest now.  I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”  He winked as he stepped away from the bed.  “I get to bring you two days’ worth of homework!”

                Yugi groaned and pulled the blanket all the way up to cover his head, hiding himself from Joey’s flippant laughter as he disappeared through the door.   As a plain sort of quiet settled around him, Yugi rolled over onto his side with his face away from the door, afraid to let himself fall asleep but not wanting to face anyone else now, especially not his grandfather.   After a few minutes, Grandpa came back in and said he was going to let Yugi sleep, while he went home and prepared to bring him back when the hospital discharged him the next day.  He didn’t seem to want or need a story or an excuse just now, he only laid a hand on his grandson’s head and told him he was so glad he was okay, and then left him alone in the darkness.

                Except, he wasn’t alone.  A vision awakened before him, the pharaoh’s lean figure dressed down in jeans and black shirt sitting on the side of the bed.  His vision could not touch him or hold him, but he could watch him and speak to him, and for that, Yugi was glad.  Yami leaned over him, gazing concernedly at him.  “Are you all right?” he asked, his rich voice quieter and deeper than usual.

                “Yeah,” Yugi said softly, rolling back towards the vision.  “But that’s the problem.”

                A curious frown appeared on Yami’s face.  “I’m not sure I follow.”

                Yugi looked plaintively up to him, directing his comments to the vision even though Yami was not actually physically there.  “How could we be so stupid?  We got so caught up in each other that we didn’t stop to think.  And even though I feel fine now…I almost died!”

                Yami bowed his head contritely.  “Would it help you if I apologized all over again?”

                “No…”  Yugi sighed forlornly, glancing briefly at the door to make sure no one had come in to catch him talking out loud to someone who wasn’t there.  “It’s not your fault, Yami, I’m not angry with you.  I’m just frustrated with myself, for putting my selfish needs first like that.   But…I never imagined that going inside the Puzzle could be so dangerous!”

                “Neither of us did,” Yami said reassuringly.  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Yugi.  You said it yourself – it was just an accident.  Now that we know such a thing can happen, we can take steps to prevent it.”

                Yugi nodded silently, looking down at the Puzzle resting comfortably around his neck.  He then sat up just enough to take the chain off, though he kept the pendant lying right where it was.  “At least I know this won’t keep me from talking to you,” he murmured.  “As long as it’s within reach, our bond is still strong enough for me to hear you.  It’s not quite the same, but…for now.”

                “Everyone is right, you need to rest,” the pharaoh implored.   “Get some sleep.  I will watch over you, I’ll make sure your mind doesn’t go into the Puzzle again.  And if it does,” he added with a smirk, “I’ll kick you out under no uncertain terms.”

                Yugi smiled at that, glad that Yami was still able to hear his unspoken thoughts and fears.  “Thanks, Yami.   I would have done it, you know.”  He gave the spirit a timid look.  “Died, with you?  I wasn’t afraid of it.”

                “I know.”  Yami rested a hand on top of Yugi’s, though the boy could only feel it as a tingle across his skin.  “Sleep, now.   You’re safe.”

                Yugi nodded and curled up on his side, keeping the Puzzle tucked safely in the curve of his body against his chest, holding it to him with one hand.   He hoped that with it merely near him instead of on him, even at its most restless his mind would not intrude inside the mystical world, but Yami’s reassurance helped.  It took a long time for his brain to stop winding in worrying circles around what had happened, and only then could he fall asleep.  The spirit hovered close to him, watching, longing more than ever to be able to touch him and cuddle him in comfort and frustrated that just such a longing nearly cost them both their lives.

                In the middle of the night, when most of the hospital wing was quiet and dark and only the light of a waning moon shone through the windows to illuminate Yugi’s sleeping form, an unusual presence crept into his room through the far wall and materialized beside him.  It had been a long time since he had come to see Yugi in this same manner, but he hadn’t felt a disturbance that required his intervention until now.  His long desert robes swished softly around his feet as he stepped up beside the bed, looking down at the sleeping boy with mingled concern and sternness.  He looked perfectly fine, strange considering that his life force had almost completely vanished earlier in the day.  Even as the stranger stood there contemplating whether to wake him up, another mystical figure coalesced before him, a phantom visage with arms folded and wary eyes staring from under punked-out hair.  The intruder took a step back in surprise that he could see the translucent spirit.   “My pharaoh!” he breathed.

                Yami raised an eyebrow.  “Shadi?  What are you doing here?”

                “I sensed an unusual disturbance in the mystical energies surrounding you and your vessel,” the turbaned figure replied in his usual cryptic way.   “Something went terribly wrong here, today.  I must know what happened.”

                Yami closed his eyes and nodded.  “You should wake Yugi, then, and hear it from him.  I’ve been watching over him, but it’s all right.”

                Shadi bowed reverently as the pharaoh’s apparition stepped aside, and then reached out to Yugi to gently shake his shoulder.  Yugi moaned under his breath and stirred, looking pouty and annoyed at being woken up, but seeing who had done it made him start and sit up sharply.  “Shadi!”

                “I apologize for waking you, Yugi,” the Egyptian guardian said in his even, placid voice.

                “What are you doing here?”  Yugi rubbed his eyes, and then cringed.  “Uh oh.  Does it have anything to do what happened to me today?”

                “I sensed there was something wrong, so I came to find out what it was.”  Shadi’s eyes darted around the darkened hospital room.  “It must be serious indeed, if you are here.”

                “Yeah…kind of.”  Yugi sat in silence for a moment, composing himself, and then told Shadi the whole story, dancing around the issue of exactly what he and Yami were doing with each other inside the Puzzle – talking seemed a good enough excuse for now – but otherwise sharing everything.  Shadi listened without interruption, and both of them sensed the presence of the pharaoh lingering somewhere over Yugi’s shoulder, observing but not needing to add to the story.  When he had finished, Yugi shook his head sorrowfully.  “You don’t have to tell me it was a stupid thing to do, or we should be more careful, or any of that.  I’ve already spent most of the night beating myself up over it.  Whatever the case, I’m not going to let it happen again.”   He shot the pharaoh’s envisioned spirit a fearful look.  “Though, I can’t promise I’m not going to go visit him inside the Puzzle anymore.”

                Shadi only stood there looking at him for a long, silent time, as he thought.  Yugi fidgeted a little under his gaze, rubbing his fingers over the Eye on the Puzzle.  At last, Shadi murmured, “I see.  And, you go into the Puzzle in this manner often?”

                Yugi gave Yami another hunting glance, like a naughty child caught trying to lie his way out of punishment.  “Um…yeah.  A lot.”

                “May I ask why?”

                Yugi didn’t want to answer, but he heard Yami within his mind.  “You may as well tell him, Yugi.  I think he already knows, or at least suspects.”

                A blush dashed across Yugi’s cheeks, and he looked away, toward the window and the moonlight sky.  “It’s the only way Yami and I can be together,” he answered in a very small voice.  “The only way we can…touch.”

                A warm smile spread slowly across Shadi’s inscrutable face.  “It is as I thought, then.  Your connection to the pharaoh has changed into something more.”

                “We love each other, all right?” Yugi pouted.  “We just wanted to be with each other.  Is that so wrong?”

                “No.”  Shadi folded his hands patiently in front of him.  “It is rather unexpected, but knowing this, I understand how you could have been accidentally trapped.”  He bowed his head solemnly.  “It is unfortunate, but I am grateful to find that you are alive and well in spite of it.”

                Yugi glanced his way, cautiously hopeful.  “You’re…not going to tell me not to do it anymore?”

                Shadi gave him a pointed look.  “Would you obey me even if I did?”

                Yugi averted his eyes again in embarrassment.  “Probably not.”

                “I am no one in authority, Yugi,” the guardian explained.   “I am only a messenger and a servant.   You carry with you the one who has any authority, and I have no right to question him.  If the pharaoh wishes this, if he loves you truly, I have no reason to deny him his happiness.  Has he asked you not to see him, after what happened today?”

                “No…” Yugi replied thoughtfully.  “He just said he’d help me make sure we didn’t have another accident.”

                “Very well, then.”  Shadi still wore his serious face, though it was pretty much the same face he wore all the time regardless of the gravity of the situation.  “Perhaps I may have something else that may be of use to you both.”

                Both Yugi and the vision of the pharaoh perked up slightly.   “Oh?” the younger one wondered.   “Like what?”

                “I have been researching the written record of the pharaoh,” Shadi began, his piercing gaze steady, “though little of it remains intact to this day.  Much has been lost to time and thieves.  I have recently discovered mentions of a little-known magic ritual that has to do with the Millennium Puzzle.  It seems the pharaoh had some idea what would happen to him, and prepared for the possibility of losing himself.”

                Yugi’s eyes widened.  “A magic ritual?  What does it do?”

                Shadi shook his head slowly.  “I do not wish to stir your hopes in the case it turns out to be mere rumor or something that cannot be done,” he cautioned, “but considering what you are willing to risk in order to carry on your relationship, it might be a better option than becoming trapped again.”

                “Please, Shadi,” Yugi begged, “tell us!”

                “There is a mention of the shadow magic being able to restore a spirit to its body, but only for a brief time,” the Egyptian guardian intoned.  “It is still chained to the Millennium Items, but preparations were made to allow the pharaoh a chance at embodiment once more, when his spirit was reawakened and he had need to walk among his people again.  I have searched and studied, but all I have found is that the method is not meant to be permanent.  He will never leave the Puzzle,” he warned, “but for this one chance.”

                Yugi glanced aside at the vision of the pharaoh near to him.   Yami wore an expression of yearning and desperation, but was shocked into silence.  Yugi spoke for him.  “You mean…he can have his body back for a little while?”

                Shadi’s eyes closed, as if he were grieved to have to say it.   “For one day.”

                Yami winced, his head falling to his chest.  Yugi glanced from him to their visitor.  “Just one day?  Does it matter which day?”

                “The ritual must be performed under a particular set of circumstances.”  Shadi looked out at the window, lifting his head to regard the gibbous moon standing high in the blue-black sky.   “It can only take place at midnight of the full moon.  If done properly, the ritual will draw the pharaoh’s spirit from its house and restore it to a body, but only for twenty-four hours.  At midnight again, it will vanish, and the spirit will once again return to the Puzzle.”  He turned his gaze back toward Yugi, and the faint shimmer that spoke of the invisible pharaoh standing beside him.  “Such a promise will not protect you forever, but if it were to be done, perhaps it would give you enough of an experience to treasure, to whet your appetite in a sense.  Perhaps then you would not feel the need to go into the Puzzle so often.”

                “Just one day,” Yami said softly.  “That is more than I ever expected to have.”

                “Would one day be enough?”  Yugi turned towards him.  “Are you sure it wouldn’t just make it worse, and make me want you even more?”

                “There’s no way to know for sure.  But, before we say yes or no, we must know more about it.”  He glanced at Shadi, aware that the guardian could at least sense his ethereal presence, if not hear him.  “I won’t do anything that would harm you, Yugi.”

                “I have not yet uncovered any further information on the effects of the ritual,” Shadi continued.  “But in all my time as guardian of your tomb and your charge, my pharaoh, I have come to understand much about the nature of the Millennium Items.  The Puzzle holds your spirit, and is your connection to Yugi.  Since you would return to it at the close of the day, it is my thought that separating the two of you for that short space of time would do him no harm.   If you wished for insurance, perhaps he could keep the Puzzle with him while you were embodied, so as not to break your connection.”

                “For just one day.”  Yugi clasped his hands around the Puzzle.  “One day to experience a lifetime.  Just imagine all the things we could do with a day.  I know you can see the world through me, and you even lived in me alone for a few days, but this…”  He smiled faintly.   “This would be different.  I could hold your hand, and look you in the eyes for once, and I wouldn’t have to be in the Puzzle to do it.  Your breath and your heartbeat wouldn’t just be an illusion, it would be real.”

                “But I caution you,” Shadi added, “choose a day worthy of it.  If the pharaoh set aside this ritual in the chance he may need it, do not waste it for trivial reasons.”

                Yami shook his head wisely.  “In all my time with Yugi, I have never needed a body of my own in order to fight the darkness.  My mind, soul, and power can be accessed anytime through him, so having a body for one day would be pointless in a battle over the Millennium Items or a shadow game.  And, it is my experience that the shadows never wait for a particular time to spring themselves on me, they will come at random.  I can’t ask the forces of evil to wait until the moon is right so I can come out of the Puzzle and face them on my own.”

                Shadi gave a wry smile.  “True.”

                “It’s our destiny to fight the shadows together,” Yugi reminded him.  “That would be harder to do if we had separate bodies and couldn’t bond our minds like we do now.   It seems to me, if there was any need that this ritual was meant to fill, it’s the need to get out and stretch once in a while.  You know?”

                Yami chuckled quietly.  “I may not remember why I may have prepared this ritual, but if I am the same person now that I was then, I’d have to agree with you.  Having a body of my own again would not be logical in terms of fighting the shadow games.  All it would be good for is reminding me why life is so precious, and why I must protect it.”  He blinked, hearing the words coming from his own mouth, and then directed his commanding gaze to Shadi.  “Do you understand all the steps of this ritual?  Could it be performed soon?”

                “I have translated enough to be able to perform it at the next full moon, if that is your desire.”

                “Yugi…”  Yami turned to face his young love.  “I would like to give it a try.  I don’t see any reason to delay, unless you have some special day in mind further in the future.”

                “Not really,” Yugi shrugged.  “I don’t have a calendar near me so I don’t know if the full moon falls on any day like my birthday or something.  I guess…if you want to do it, let’s just do it.”  He met the pharaoh’s eyes.  “You think it’ll work?”

                “I think I can trust myself,” Yami said dryly, “even if I can’t remember my reasons for setting such plans in motion so many eons ago.”

                Yugi giggled.  “Of course.  And I trust you.”  He nodded firmly and returned his attention to Shadi.  “We’ll do it.  We want to do it at the next full moon.  It doesn’t matter what day it is, any day is as good as the next.  Although…”  He gave Yami a sheepish look.  “If that’s a school day…”

                “I believe the next full moon rises on a Saturday night,” Shadi broke in, “about three weeks from now.”

                Yugi gasped happily.  “Perfect!  That gives us a Sunday to be together!”

                “And you don’t want to wait?”

                “The suspense would kill me,” Yugi groaned.  “I’m too impatient.”

      &nbs