Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Meeting My Yami ❯ The Calm before the Storm ( Chapter 22 )

Once we had reached Seto's mansion, we all collapsed from the stress and the battle we had today. The yamis were exhausted from using their powers to defend the others. Malik and Ryou appeared on the verge of collapsing. Tea, Serenity, and Mokuba were exhausted from defending themselves, even if they didn't have to deal with the main army. Isis was currently in the same position as they were. Our duel monsters were exhausted as well. They faced the army directly. As for me, I could say that I was tired, but I wasn't. With all this energy flowing through me, I was surprised I didn't explode at the fight. Anyways, back to the situation at hand. I had forty eight hours to decide whether I want to join their side or not.

If I joined their side, my grandpa will definitely be alive, though I don't know how long he will stay that way. To tell the truth, he was getting old. We didn't know how many years he will be with us. The world will be under this person's control and we can't make our own decisions. On the other hand, if I didn't join, I will definitely lose my grandfather and we will have a battle of the century raging on. I couldn't let any innocent people die, because of my decision. Then again, I couldn't lose my grandpa. He was the only family I had.

"What do you plan on doing?" Bakura said from the chair that he was currently lounging in. His hikari was on his lap, playing with his wild hair.

"I have no idea," I sighed, leaning against my darker half and current lover. "I'm not about to let innocent people die, but I'm not going to let my grandpa die either. He's the only family I have."

"I know that feeling all too well," Seto said sympathetically. "Mokuba is the only family I have. I don't know what I would do without him." The aforementioned boy was asleep next to his brother. Today had been an eventful day for everyone, including yours truly.

"I say we call it a night," Tea suggested. "All of us are pretty worn out and I could use the rest from all that fighting."

"For once, I agree with her," Ishtar said.

"Hey!" Tea scowled at the former tomb robber.

"That was rude of you to say, but at least it wasn't a lie," Malik said yawning at the same time. "You tend to do that a lot."

"I'm working on it," Ishtar protested. He shifted around to accommodate his hikari's movements. "It takes time."

"Okay," Malik sighed.

"We could use the sleep," Isis said, standing up from her chair. "We'll be able to think clearer and make better decisions. I know I'm not of use to you now. I assume we'll have our former rooms?"

Seto nodded his head. "Since you all know where you are staying, I don't have to show you where it is. Everything is the way you left it."

"That's good to hear," Bakura said, picking up his hikari, who was still playing with his hair. I wondered why he found them so fascinating. It could be a result from his lack of sleep or he was bored out of his mind, though I was leaning towards the former. We soon saw his retreating back. Duo, of course, followed his masters to their room; however, this time he wasn't annoying as usual.

"I hope that duel monster doesn't give his masters grief," Joey said irritated. "I like to sleep in, ya know?"

"We all know," we said in unison. The mentioned blonde glared at the rest of us, but it looked rather pathetic. He was worn out from the battle, not to mention we all had an early wake up call this morning from a certain annoying duel monster.

I heard the others stumble towards their respective rooms. Joey and Serenity had a room together, even if they weren't the same gender. They were family and Joey wanted to guard his sister. Isis, Malik, and Ishtar were all in the same room for the same reason. Well, Ishtar was in the room, because his hikari was there. Seto and Mokuba had their own rooms; however, the younger Kaiba brother wanted to be with his older brother so Seto allowed him to stay in his room. Tea had a room to herself. Tristan and Shadi shared a room. Pegasus also had a room to himself. Not everyone trusted him, especially after the incident on Duelist Kingdom. Our duel monsters had stayed close to us, with the exception of our dragons. They were too large to fit into the bedroom, though they remained on guard and alert.

"I don't know what to do," I sighed into my pillow.

"Master, we cannot make the decision for you," Mirai said sorrowfully. "We can give you advice."

"I want to be able to save the world," I said, turning over onto my back. "At the same time, I don't want to lose my grandpa. He's the only family I have alive."

"We understand," Calin said softly. His footsteps were light and firm. "Know this, we support you no matter what decision you make."

Yami nodded his head. "I agree to that. We're all behind you one hundred percent."

"Thanks, you don't know how much that means to me," I had a genuine smile on, even if it was a small one. I closed my eyes. "Good night, guys."

"Good night," they said simultaneously.

That night I couldn't sleep well. My thoughts kept going back to the decision I had to make. I was given two days to decide, but even if I had an eternity, it was still a hard one to make. Give up the life of a loved one or give the lives of countless lives of others. It seemed like forever before I was able to drift off into sleep.

The next morning, I woke up surprisingly refreshed. I glanced over to the clock and noticed it was nine o' clock in the morning. Normally, Duo would have woken up his masters, who then would have woken up either Malik or Ishtar, who then would have woken up the rest of us. Somehow, that chain reaction didn't occur this morning. Yami was still fast asleep in his bed. Calin was already up and wandering around, typical elf. He normally rose with the sun. Then there was Mirai. He was busy looking through those spell books of his to even notice that I was awake.

I quietly hopped out of bed and made my way to the kitchen. After that fight and the anxiety I experience, I was extremely hungry, but not enough to eat the same amount as Joey or Tristan. Those guys were living garbage disposals. Anyways, I padded my way to the kitchen, when I heard sounds coming from there. Obviously someone was cooking. I hoped it wasn't Duo or Mokuba. The younger Kaiba was a good kid, but he couldn't cook squat. Duo was in the same predicament, but he will make a mess of things. Seto had banned the Change of Hearts duel monster from any of his kitchens. He didn't want a repeat performance.

"Good morning," I said entering the room.

The person turned around and greeted me. "Good morning to you too. Is your yami awake?" He had a bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"He's busy sleeping," I yawned. I wished I could have gotten more sleep though. "Is your yami awake?"

He chuckled and went back to stirring the dough. "No, he's still asleep. I don't blame him. Duo can be quite a handful at times."

"I know what you mean," I sighed. "Even though I don't have him as a duel monster, he still annoys me to no ends. I thought your yami would have strangled him by now."

"He's learning anger management," he giggled. "I have to keep reminding him that every single time they are in the room together."

"I have to remind myself not to send him back to the shadow realm," I said, sitting down in a chair. "So who else is awake?"

"Let's see, Seto is awake and typing away on his computer as usual. Shadi had gone to retrieve a few things of his. He wouldn't tell us what they were. Isis has been going over the scrolls with Malik and Ishtar. They're still working on it, though I don't know what they are looking for. You know me. I can't read hieroglyphics even if my life depended on it. Calin had been up for some time now. The others are still sleeping."

"I guess it's kind of good Duo decided to sleep in for a change," I chucked at my own joke, even if it wasn't intended.

Ryou also laughed. "Yeah, then I won't have to deal with a cranky yami and an annoying duel monster. Maybe we should tire him out every night so we can get a good night sleep. It's only a thought."

"What are you making?" I inquired, nodding my head towards his current bowl.

"I'm making pancakes," Ryou replied. "Knowing this group, I have made several kinds of them: blueberry, raspberry, strawberry, banana, chocolate chip, cherry, oat, regular, butter, and raisin."

"That's a lot," I said with widened eyes.

"I know," Ryou giggled. "I'll give you two guesses as to why I'm making this large amount of food."

"Could their names be Joey and Tristan?" I said sarcastically.

The white haired hikari nodded his head. "Yes. Those are the two reasons. I never knew someone could eat that much in one sitting until I met them."

"I know what you mean," I sighed.

"Have you made your decision?" Ryou asked with a worried look.

"It's too soon," I sighed, laying my head on the table. "I need time to think about it. This is the fate of the world as well as my grandpa. The decision I make will impact me greatly. If I save the world, then I will feel guilty leaving my grandpa to die. If I save my grandpa, I will feel guilty for betraying the world to him."

"Yes, that is a hard decision to make," Ryou agreed with me. "I wish I could help you, but I don't know how."

"I understand," I said. "Maybe one this entire thing clears up, we'll all take a long vacation. I know I could use one."

"Yeah, but we still have school to deal with," Ryou said, shaking his head. "Since we have been gone for awhile, I can only guess our assignments have been piling up."

"Why can't they give us a break?" I mumbled, though it was muffled by my arms. "We are trying to save the world here and the last thing we need to think about is school. If we weren't saving the world, then there wouldn't be a school in the first place."

"I know what you mean," Ryou said, pouring more batter into the pan. "Adults don't understand us, well, the majority of them don't. I have some pancakes already finished. Would you like to have some before the two come in here and eat everything in sight?"

"Yes, please," I said politely. I picked up my head from the table and glanced towards him. "Maybe we should wake up the others before we wake up Joey and Tristan. That way everyone can get something to eat."

"Good point," Ryou laughed. "I'll set the table while you round up the others. Make sure not to wake up Joey."

"You know how Joey is," I said smiling a small one. "A herd of stampeding elephants can't wake him."

"True."

I headed towards the lovely sounds of clicking. It can only be Seto typing away at his computer. I wondered what he could be doing at this time. Raising my hand, I gently knocked on the door.

"What is it? I'm busy."

"I was wondering if you wanted to eat breakfast before the two human garbage disposals," I said.

"I'll be down in five minutes," Seto replied, still typing on his computer. I swear we can't tear him away from his computer for one hour.

Moving along, I decided to go inform the Ishtars that breakfast was ready. Ishtar of course didn't eat, but his hikari needed to. I knocked on their door, catching their attention. Needless to say, they weren't thrilled about being interrupted, but I informed them that breakfast was ready. If they wanted to eat some before Joey and Tristan got to it, they had to come. Malik was on his toes and sprinted out of the room. Isis laughed at her little brother's antics, before following him. Ishtar went back to reading the scrolls that his hikari had abandoned.

The next room was Seto's. I knew that Mokuba wasn't in his usual room, because he was scared. I didn't blame him For someone his age, I was proud of the way he was dealing with our recent encounters. I knocked on his door and opened it to find the younger Kaiba brother still asleep. Making my way to him, I nearly tripped over something on the floor. I managed to catch myself before I fell down.

"Time to wake up or all the pancakes will be eaten by Joey and Tristan," I said, shaking him. "Ryou has even made chocolate chip pancakes."

Mokuba's eyes shot open. "Really? Chocolate chip?"

I nodded my head. Before I could even open my mouth, the raven haired kid was racing towards the kitchen at full speed. That took care of him. I stood up and headed towards the Wheeler's room. Since I didn't want to wake up Joey, I quietly walked towards his sister. She woke up without any problems, though she wanted to wake up her older brother. I politely asked that she not wake him up just yet. We wanted to eat our breakfast, without having to hurry up. She nodded her head and accepted our decision. She knew that Joey could eat a lot.

Within ten minutes, we were around the table. Malik was having some berry pancakes. He wanted one of each. Mokuba dove into chocolate chip pancakes. Seto had ordinary pancakes with margarine on them. Isis had whatever her little brother was having. Ryou took strawberry pancakes. I decided to try one of each of the berries and a chocolate chip one. Hey, out of all of us, I was the one who used more power last night, even if it didn't drain me of my energy.

A half an hour after we had started eating, the two trash disposals walked into the room. They were upset that no one had woken them up for breakfast, but seeing the large amount of pancakes; they quickly piled the circular items on their plates and started to devour them. I should say inhale them. You would think they'd choke on one of them eventually, but I guessed it must be from all the practice.

Seto stood up and headed towards his office room. Obviously, he didn't want to be there while Joey was stuffing his face. Malik was disgusted with their table manners and clearly showed it. He quickly left the room with Isis in tow. They were most likely heading back to their studies. Ryou didn't seem to mind the messy eaters. Tea like Malik was disgusted with it and excused herself from the table. She headed off somewhere. Shadi returned from his excursion and immediately headed to his room. Who wouldn't blame him?

I needed some time to myself so I padded down to the library. It was usually quiet in libraries. This one was no exception. I sat down in a comfy chair and began pondering my options. I wanted to save both the world and my grandpa, but that was not an option for the meantime. I had to think which one I was willing to sacrifice. I hated to sacrifice anything, even duel monsters, but some things must be done; whether I liked it or not.

Leaning back in the chair, I began to drift away in my thoughts. What was I going to do? Before I had faced several obstacles, but then it was a cut and dry situation. It was black and white Now, I had shades of grey to deal with and I did not like it at all. I can attempt a rescue of my grandpa, but it would place his life in jeopardy. I could always, leave him to their hands, but I couldn't dream of doing it. On the other hand, I can let this person take over the world with their ideals, but it wouldn't be much of a place to live in.

"A penny for your thoughts," a deep voice sounded behind me, interrupting my thoughts.

I turned around to find my darker half standing next to the chair. He wore a serious face and his crimson eyes were narrow. "Yes," I replied with a sigh. "This is the hardest decision I had to face in my entire life. I know I have faced obstacles in the past, but then I knew what was at stake and I was willing to risk it. Now, I don't know whether I should risk the life of my grandpa or the life of the entire population."

Yami sat down next to me and pulled me onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around me. "I know what you're going through. As pharaoh, I had to make critical decisions all day, which would affect the lives of my people. I had to sacrifice myself in order to seal the shadow realm."

"How did you know which choice to make?" I inquired, looking deeply into those crimson eyes of his.

"I followed my heart," Yami responded with a cliché. "I know you have heard several people saying this, but it is true. I followed my heart and look where it has led me."

"Where did it lead you?" I inquired.

"It led me to you," Yami said. He tightened his grasp on me and nuzzled my neck. "I didn't choose this, because I will meet you again. I chose this, because it was the right thing to do. I wasn't about to let my people be destroyed by the shadow games. Seeing you was an unexpected bonus."

"I wish it could be easy as that," I sighed against his well built chest.

"You didn't think it was easy for me?" Yami blinked his ruby red eyes. "I had to give up my life and my children. They were left with my relatives. I never knew what became of them, but I hoped they grew up to be honorable men and women."

"I'm sure they did," I tried to assure him. "They had a good father for an example and I'm sure your relatives were similar to you."

"Yes, we were," Yami said with a small smile. "My brothers and I were taught to be honorable. Our father wanted us to have integrity, though some of our distant cousins weren't. I don't know what happened to them either, but I hoped they haven't gained any power over Egypt."

What does my heart tell me to do? I wondered what it was feeling right now. "What are you thinking right now?"

"I'm trying to figure out who is behind this mess," Yami stated firmly. "Obviously, this person knows us. He or she knew that they could get to you through your grandfather. I don't think they knew you were the eighth item, but they figured that they could get the millennium puzzle that way. As for the others, they had to search for them manually. They seen Ryou with the millennium ring during the tournament and maybe could locate the other items with it. However, I don't think Bakura would allow them to attain that millennium item easily."

I chuckled. "Knowing him, he will send them to the shadow realm or sealed them within their favorite card, before he hands it over. Thanks for listening to me."

"You're my hikari and lover," Yami said placing his lips on my lips. He gently kissed me. "How can I refuse?"

"I know," I giggled, while giving him puppy dog eyes.

"You don't play fair do you?" Yami smirked.

"Nope!" I chirped and snuggled against him. "I wonder what the others are doing."

"Knowing Joey and Tristan, they'll still be eating breakfast," Yami sighed. "It's a wonder they don't eat their families out of house and home. Tea went off somewhere, but she didn't say where she was going. Isis, Malik, and Ishtar are going through the scrolls again. Shadi is helping them. Seto is typing away on his computer as usual. Mokuba and Serenity are playing with each other. Our duel monsters are getting to know each other, not intimately, though I think Mirai and Calin are. Duo, as you know, is pestering the other duel monsters."

"We can't take that Change of Hearts anywhere," I said. "How does Ryou put up with him? I know Malik and Ishtar will either strangle him or send him back to the shadow realm. I don't know how much patience I can take of him."

"I know what you mean," Yami said. He stood up with me in his arms. "You need to spend time away from this and clear your thoughts. They won't do anything to you, since they have given you three days to decide. At least, that is if they are honorable people, but you never know."

"Let's go somewhere not crowded," I said, leaning my head against his shoulder. "I could use a bit of a distraction."

"Let's go to the arcade?" Yami suggested.

"We go there too often," I said. "Let's try something new."

"Then where shall we go?" Yami inquired, carrying me through the hallway.

"Why don't we take a look at the magic shop," I said. "There's one around here and I want to see what kind of spellbooks they have for sale. Who knows, I might be able to pick up a spell or two?"

"I don't see why not," Yami said. He carried me to our room. "First we'll have to change. I have no intention of showing the world my night attire."

"Same here," I giggled.

Half an hour, my yami and I had finished changing into our day clothes. We also had our wild hair to deal with as well as some missing clothing. Malik and Ishtar heard that we were going to a nearby magic store. They wanted to come along. I hoped they wouldn't cause too much trouble, knowing them even if it was for a short while. I said they could go as long as they behaved. Malik wanted to purchase spellbooks like me. We wanted to learn as much magic as possible. Maybe there might be other magical items, which will be useful in the future. We had run into Seto on his way to his room. He gave me specifically some money to purchase these items. He saw that having a magical expert came in handy.

"I hope this is enough," I said, fingering the wad of cash in my pocket.

"I would think ten thousand dollars is enough," Malik said sarcastically.

"I guess so," I said. "We don't know how much these items will cost."

"Kaiba said you could call him if you run into financial trouble," Yami recalled the conversation. "I don't understand why he would be giving you so much money to spend without wanting anything in return."

"I think he's investing for the future," I informed my clueless yami. "He sees it to be beneficial to know an expert in magic. That is why he is allowing me to spend his money for magical supplies. You never know when someone will attack his company, using unusual means."

"Now that is very Kaiba like," Yami said with a low growl. "Still, it would be useful to have another expert in magic. We need all the people we can get."

"I know what you mean," Malik said thoughtfully. "I had been studying magic, using whatever I could get my hands on, which isn't much. Ishtar would help me with what he knows, but he doesn't know several spells."

"I can hear you," Ishtar scowled as his hikari talked about him.

"We know," Malik teased his darker half. People were giving us strange looks as we passed down the streets. It was like they weren't used to seeing a pair of look a likes walking down the street. "What are they looking at?"

"They're looking at us," I replied. "They're not used to seeing doubles around here, I think. Or maybe they remembered you from the news." I shrugged and headed down the street at a faster pace.

"Aibou, slow down," Yami said, catching up with me. "What was that all about?"

"I was thinking that we should hurry up," I said. "They can be watching our every move now that they know where we are."

"You do have a point," Yami said thoughtfully. A pair of footsteps was heard behind us as the other pair caught up with us.

Turning around the corner, I saw the most unlikely person talking to the warrior that attacked us last night. It didn't look like that person was being attacked or kidnapped. They were talking like normal people. Why would they do that to us? I couldn't understand why that person would turn against us? Out of all the people, I would never have suspected this person to betray us.