Lithium

Disclaimer: Woo! All I can say is the newest events of this chapter aaaare - Lemon between Atemu and Yahshi, and a convo between Bakura and Maibe which'll give you some hints on their background. I'd say the renewed sequel to this story would mostly focus on Maibe and Bakura's relationship with Atemu and Yahshi's family. ENJOY! Oh, and don't be a silent reader please X.x; Or I just won't continue the rest of the story, so please review to let me know you're reading/want me to go ahead with it!

The night didn't feel so cold anymore. But it wasn't young, either. The sun was soon to rise.

Yahshi stared restlessly into the apparent lights in her Pharaoh's eyes, his arms draped around her and her fingers to his collarbone. They remained curled up into one another against the mattress of Yugi's bed, staring…

"…Can I chant you a secret?" Yahshi whispered, the drowsiness of sleep wading over her amber eyes.

"What kind of secret?" Atemu muttered lazily, not in the last bit tired.

"A secretive secret…" She grinned.

Atemu could only put on a faint smirk. "Alright…tell me your 'secretive secret'."

"After our spirits were sealed in our Millennium items, I won't deny it that…I forgot who you were, Sa-Ra." She struggled to confess herself to him. "I forgot…your name and our past. But I kept seeing your face constantly when I lied awake or when I laid down to sleep. I loved your haunting face, to be honest. And as I searched the portals of my mind, I found four chapters of our past together."

"So then…you know how I felt when I said—"

"Yes, I do. But listen to me closely when I say this," Yahshi's nose nearly brushed his. "Your Millennium Puzzle and my Sennen Bangle were not created through the same spell. My Bangle was constructed by my mother, the reincarnation of Nephthys, as her mother before her and my grandmother. Her name is not just a name. That means 'I' am the reincarnation of the Goddess herself."

Atemu's eyebrow quirked, blinking in a bundle of muddling thoughts. "So then how are my Puzzle and your Bangle connected?"

"Because they were all made by one God. The Sennen Bangle and the Sennen Puzzle fell in love long ago…but they were in different forms, and not of jewelry." She then chuckled at her words. "It's not as cheesy as it sounds, but you see, your father and my mother had their moments of love. Yes, she has loved many…and yes, she has kept the secret of her feelings for your father from me, but the Bangle revealed that to me tonight. Atemu, the holders of our items before us were lovers, because of their items, not necessarily because of their hearts. They are all linked. So in a way, you and I had no choice when our destinies interlocked. That is why Yugi and Isolde are beginning to fall under such a tight spell. If it hadn't been for this, Yugi would be blushing over Tea still."

"…I…never thought of it that way." Atemu blinked more, but soon eased his face on hers. "So then…no matter what…despite our old doubts and gaps, in the end we WILL remain together because of the Sennen items…"

Yahshi nodded, kissing the glossy light shimmering on his bottom lip.

(Later in the Midnight)

Yahshi watched her King sleep. His face wasn't so stern in his dreams, either. He looked peaceful and almost innocent…like his little Aibou, Yugi. But he also looked vulnerable…something Yahshi also desired to see. Her eyelashes fluttered while her toes curled, daring herself to do something bold…

"…Mmm…" She draped her arms around her King's waist and dipped her head into his eardrum, slickly flicking a tongue at his ear's frame to test his reactions. Would he like it? Would he moan? Would he grunt and brush her away?

"Hmph…" Yami Atemu shuddered, eyebrows creasing back. He muttered something and turned onto his side, his back facing her now.

Yahshi pouted. He thought he'd ruin her fun? Well he could guess again.

She once more found herself seeping her salivated tongue into his eardrum, flooding it. The wet sensation caused him to groan huskily in his slumber. She giggled mentally, and traced her tongue into his nape, kissing into the crook of his neck.

He tasted yummy.

Yami Atemu gave a strangled breath, his fists tightening against the sheets underneath him. He felt her small hands hiking over his nude stomach and chest underneath his vest like a spider. His member hardened and prodded against the leather of his pants…

Yugi and Isolde watched from afar in sweat drops, hands clasped over their mouths.

Yahshi felt curiosity plague her. She licked her lips when she saw his teeth grit in a sexual grunt. To see the powerful Pharaoh in torment was her fetish at the moment.

Her fingers traveled down his thigh and hesitated at the bugle throbbing there. She had always wanted to touch him, but never had she ever acted on it. Just before she could bring herself to even rest her fingers over the erected manhood, Atemu's hand snatched her wrist.

Yahshi yelped sharply at the unexpected move and stared into his awakening face, seeing the red flush of lust feverishly upon his face.

"Y…Yahshi…?" His voice even seemed to be steaming with heat as he glanced up at her. "What…a-are you—"

She took the boldness firing her heart and draped her tongue over his lips, her slaver leaking into his mouth while she slowly ran the mouth-based appendage up along his lips. She watched him hesitantly tender his eyes, which were now dipped in ecstasy.

The sudden rush of their intimacy became familiar to both their minds…

/Flashback/

His hands massaged her flat stomach before roaming down along her waist. Feelings of temptation spurted through her.

"…Sa-Ra?" She breathed hotly.

"Mm?" Atemu was on the verge of closing his eyes, with his lips to her forehead.

Alone in their bedroom for Kings and Queens, she couldn't help but feel the wet warmth settling there between her thighs. No one was here and they could get away with many things in the musical night.

"…Is it a crime to be intimate?" Yahshi breathed audibly against his mouth while stealing short kisses from him once he retracted himself from her forehead. Her eyes were forever drowned in his. She guided his hand down her thigh, right beneath her Egyptian robbing.

He watched her with his mouth open, eying the candy-caramel tone of her breasts half-exposed as she began to sensually slide out of her garment. "…Should it be?"

"I'll take this as an invitation…" Yahshi just licked her lips and nipped at her Pharaoh's lower lip hungrily, fingers tight on his Pharaoh garment.

She slowly went on flickering her tongue at his, as Atemu watched with lazy eyes that were seemingly heavy with covetousness. She moaned with desperation and caressed his face closer to hers to bury her tongue into the mine of his throat, lugging out a deep groan to rumble in his chest. Atemu's fingers journeyed up her thigh and buttock, grasping her there.

Yahshi drove him to the mattress of the room, soon withdrawing from his lips to leave a string of saliva between their panting mouths. She scanned over her King's expressions and reactions, looking for a sign to tell her she wasn't doing anything wrong. Before she could read his intensified expression, he grumbled in rising urge and yanked her down beneath him.

"Tonight, you belong to me…" The Pharaoh firmly verified, pinning his hips to hers so she could experience the compressing stir of his member jabbing into her between the garbs. "Not Cairo, not Ra, just me…"

"A…Al-Always…and forever." Yahshi obliged to his demanding voice of hardheartedness and arched her back to squirm. Her heart felt ready to burst and the tickles nipping at her body were driving her into madness. "Y-You are my God, my King…I-I am your Kingdom Cairo, so c-conquer it like you shall t-tomorrow…"

"Yes…" Atemu sighed with a breath of hotness before dipping his tongue past hers, enveloping her mouth with his own.

His tongue explored every crevice and secret of her mouth, marking every valley as his territory with the sogginess of his aggressive tongue. Yahshi almost felt overwhelmed by his hostile dominance, but nonetheless her body rose with an increasing temperature, and her thighs were leaking….

Her King felt a jolt of electrical static waves from his heart to his crotch. He stripped off his upper garment, revealing a caramel-tanned torso, beautiful and leanly masculine. As Atemu left himself occupied with his royal accessories of the circlet and bangles, Yahshi dragged her fingers up his lean stomach.

"Sa-Ra…" She whined, a tear dribbling from the corner of her eye. "…Let me give you each and every one of Egypt's midnight stars…let me give you the love the Gods could never grant you with…" She scooted herself down so her fingers could be touching against his knees with his legs beside her collarbone. His pulse quickened. "Don't be startled…"

Atemu's eyes softened as she kissed his knees and massaged his naked thighs, showing her affection and care, not her eagerness.

After a moment later, Atemu rumbled in pleasure to feel her head slipping between his garb and the slant of her tongue wagging at the head of his solidified appendage. "Y-Yahshi…" He sighed, head tipping back. "Th-That's…." His words faded into a moan.

She took the Pharaoh of Beauty's authority into her sizzling mouth, wanting to please his aching wishes and gratify her craves. She had never craved anything so badly, but the body, mind and soul of her lover tonight. He felt and tasted fantastic, to where her head was light and spinning.

"O-Oh Ra…" Atemu gently danced with his hips to force himself deeper into the tunnel of wet heat.

His soon to be queen moaned and took more of him into her, as the deliberation of drinking the seed of her King's power and love left her marveling. His fingers threaded in her scalp to thrust himself further as he felt his world melting into her throat. Atemu achingly released an ejaculation of all the love he had to offer. His limp, drenched member sluggishly slid out from between her lips once the offering was given.

"Omorose Y-Yahshi…simply b-beautiful…I've never felt anything c-close to th-that…before…" Atemu exhaled and inhaled hoarse breaths, feeling a wave of relief and satisfaction sweep over his cool and hot body.

The sweat kissed his tan breasts, the knobs of his bosoms hardened and his full black eyelashes gemmed with crystallite tears. He swiped away the river of his sap from the corner of her lip, preparing to plant himself into the bud of her untouched flower…

/End of Flashback/

Yahshi and Atemu broke off from their zealous kiss. They stared and blinked into one another's moon lit-kissed face, breathing rapidly.

Atemu began, "…So we did—"

"Do it…" Yahshi finished.

Awkwardness seeped into their minds and bodies. Yahshi rolled off her King and sat on the edge of her bed, rubbing her elbows as Yugi's Yami sat up and stared into space. Both watched the stars diminish and the sun rise in empty silence.

…Did they really ever have a child way back then?

-(Shadow Realms)-

"So you're telling me…that y-you're…" Maibe croaked on her knees, her brown body scarred by splinters of blood. Her now profound turquoise irises found the bottomless floor her fingers were trying to grip between. "B-Bakura…" She choked while bowing her head in agony, black curly locks of hair straddling over her face.

("Lithium/Farther Away" by Evanescence)

(Lithium – don't want to lock me up inside

Lithium – don't want to forget how it feels without)

"You FAILED Zorc, King of DARKNESS, and YOU'RE taking the blame for it…" The white-haired immortal glared at the witch from over the hill of his shoulder. His brown eye narrowed in hatred. "You failed ME, Nominie (Non-men-nay like…Kingdom Hearts, lol)…"

"Then I sh-shall make it up to you!" Maibe begged through rare tears.

(Don't make me sleep alone

Couldn't hide the emptiness,

You let it show)

When was the last time she cried? She reminded stealing the souls of the innocent and making them hers and it was all to hide away the light she once used to be, but…

(I

Took

Their

Smiles and I made them mine

I

Sold

My

Soul just to hide the light)

Bakura rasped, his throat sizzling with the blaze of disgust. "You're not NEEDED anymore, don't you understand? You were just another puppet. You're nothing…"

"You are WRONG!" Maibe compressed her brown palm over her eye, confused by the falling tears. "I-I…was SOMETHING to both you AND Zorc…I was EVERYTHING to y-you…"

By Bakura's expression, she had obviously plucked a string in his blackened heart's solo guitar. He rotated himself fully to her and growled, fist balled. "SILENCE. What you were to me was a whore and a string-puppet!"

Maibe jolted her head up to him, almost snapping her neck. "…"

(And now I see what I really am

A thief, a whore and a liar)

Bakura swiped his thumb across his lips to reveal a deceitful grin. "What? You thought you and I were…" he finished his sentence with maniac laughter. "You're more naïve and gullible than you were when I first MET you if that's the case, my Dear…"

"Wh…Wh-Why?" Maibe scowled weakly, her fingers clutching the cloak in her bosom's area.

Her heart was returning…

The numb, the guilt, the pain, it was slowly revisiting to her chest…

(I'm numb to you - numb and deaf and blind
You give me all but the reason why

Never wanted it to be so cold

Just didn't drink enough to say you love me)

Bakura just chuckled, his left eye hidden by the thick white bangs. "Do me a favor and DIE in darkness, Nominie…"

Maibe inhaled a venomous breath of air and stretched her bony fingers out to him. Bakura just tucked his hand in his pocket and turned his back on her, walking off into the path of blackness.

"B…B-Ba…" she could not even whimper his name. She caressed her cheeks, overwhelmed by all the human feelings suddenly reuniting with her.

She lost her Lithium – Bakura.

(I reach but I feel only air
Not you, not love, just nothing

Call out your name,
I see you there, father away

Don't leave me here, by myself
I can't breathe

Here in darkness I know myself

Lithium – I want to stay in love with my sorrow

Oh but God, I want to let it go)

(End of Song)

But as Bakura strolled on, he bowed his head to watch the pattern of his feet. His expression dimmed from crafty to contemplation. 'That was too close…' He grunted, closing his eyes with the lines upon his cream-colored face. 'I don't need her giving me a human HEART. Those days are through with, and our time ended long ago.'

-( Next Day – Domino High School)-

"HI, IZZY! MORNIN'! DON'T YOU LOOK LOVELY TODAY!" Tristan, Joey, and Duke greeted in unison.

Isolde sweat dropped at their excited tones. "Um, h-h-hello?"

Duke suddenly appeared at her right. "Those books must be heavy, would you like meeee to carry them for you?" he draped an arm around her.

Izzy took his arm off her and nervously backed away. "Th-that's very kind of you, but I think I can manage…"

"You head her, Dice boy." Tristan stabbed his finger into Duke's bosom. "Lay off, will ya? The girl needs to breathe!" he then dashed up to Isolde's left. "I'LL carry the books for you INSTEAD!"

Joey grinned. "I CAN CARRY YA' BACKPACK!"

"Back off!" Tea roared. "She doesn't want you guys all in her face! Why are all of you so generous and helpful all of the sudden? You never carry my things for ME."

All three teens whistled and glanced away, trying to disregard the statement

"Uh..." Joey beamed. "Sorry Tea, but…you're jus' not worth it!"

Tea walloped him with her fist.

-(Hall Lockers)-

"Soooo Yugi…you uh…tell her yet?" Tea inquired on her short friend while sealing her locker door to a closing.

"Ummm let's see…" Yugi looked down with an edgy chuckle. "…No…?"

"Oh come ON, Yugi! You have to confess sooner than later!"

"I know, I know! Grandpa already lectured it to me. But I…you see, when I try to…my heart ties in a knot, I choke on my words and my palms get extremely sweaty! I'm a nervous wreck when I try to even speak to her…" Yugi looked up to Tea finally. "I don't think I can do it! I'm giving up!"

"Yugi, it's not a choice! You worship this girl, you have to say something to her and not wait until four years later!"

"…I can't…aw man, The Pharaoh's so lucky he was brave enough to admit his feelings…" Yugi mumbled under his breath.

Tea tilted her head. "Why is he lucky?"

"…Izzy's Millennium Bangle holds a spirit too; the spirit of his Queen Yahshi…"

Tea's jaw dropped. "He has a wife…? So then…Yami actually got married to someone he fell in love with 5,000 years ago?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, they met when they were little. Those two are like two sticking gummy bears on a hot summer day." He snickered at his own words.

"That close, eh?" Tea tried to pull off a smile, secretly disappointed.

"They're close alright. There is no gap between them at all! If you were to tear them apart, their sides might even rip…"

Tea and Yugi walked past their earlier classroom and suddenly saw Izzy speaking with their English teacher.

"There she is!" Tea whispered.

Yugi automatically made a U-turn and tried to run away, but Tea quickly grabbed him by his belt and yanked him back. "Yugi, c'mon this is your chance!" she pleaded.

"You're right, Tea…" he sighed, his face full of scarlet. "I think it's time I faced her…" he headed for the doorway as Tea let him go, unexpectedly about-faced and marched back toward her. "I GIVE UP I CAN'T DO IT!"

Tea seized him again, "Yugi, this is the perfect time!" she used all her might to push him in front of the entryway. "Go get 'im tiger!"

"What?" Yugi squealed with a blush. "B-But…I, I, I, I—"

Tea hid behind the doorframe as Izzy came to exit, looking down in deep thought. She then looked up, Yugi freezing with his eyes growing wider and a large lump struggling down his throat.

"Oh, hi Yugi." she smiled.

Yugi only stood there, stiff with the broad beam.

…

"Yugi?" Isolde asked, waving her hand in front of her.

No Response…

"Aha, uhhh…" she nervously grinned. "Are you feeling alright?"

No Response…

Tea sighed quietly and slapped her forehead.

Atemu watched and slightly sweat dropped at this. His 'vessel partner' was an embarrassment, he swore…

"Well, um…I guess…I guess I'll see you after school then. Yeah" Izzy walked around him and out of the classroom.

"What happened?" Tea blurted after she had left around the corner, herself looking rather jaw-slacked.

Yugi shook off the frozen effect. "..I-I froze…I told you I can't do it!"

"Yes, you CAN! You have to or else you might never get that chance again." She quickly became sincere about the situation, instead of annoyed. "…For your own sake, tell her before it's too late if…" Tea gazed down sorrowfully with her hand pressed against her heart. "…if…you don't wanna cry…It hurts to cry…it hurts your heart…especially when you feel like each day you could be losing them…"

"Duhhh…Tea? Tea?" Yugi felt awkward yet worried. "You…okay?" He blinked twice.

Tea snapped back to reality and out of her self-pitying state. "I'm sorry!" she waved her hand about dismissively. "I'm always going off like that!"

"Oh no, that's alright. But, did that happened to you or something? You seemed…depressed all of the sudden."

"Well…I..." Her bangs hid her eyes away under a blanket of shadows. "…I don't want to talk about it…not right now."

"We don't have to talk about it...But I know what it's like when you're falling for someone who hasn't fallen as hard back."

Tea looked up with cheerless eyes. "…And that's why you shouldn't let them slip away…" The teenaged girl quickly recovered and went back to her happy mood. "Er, enough about all that. Let's finish talking about what we're gonna do with you!"

"Well, actually I have to make plans for me and Izzy's…" he turned red at the thought. "…o-our d-date…" Yugi began to walk off.

"Yeahwellokayseeya'!" he explained quickly to where she barely caught it, power-walking offwards.

"Whoa! Wait a minute!" Tea dragged him back by the backpack. "You and her are going on another date? Since WHEN?"

"W-Well, she doesn't know about it yet b-but I was buying her this gift and I wanted to give it to her tonight when I say…y'know…"

"So then, you'll tell her how you feel?"

"Hopefully, yeah…"

"Then good luck!" Tea gave him cheering pat on the back, grinning.

Yugi smiled at her sheepishly and set his hand behind his head. "Thanks, Tea. I'm glad you're so supportive about all this…"

"And remember to tell me ALL about it when you get home!" her lips curved into a catlike smirk.

Yugi only flinched and sweat dropped in fear.

Game shop

"Yugi," Mr. Motou spoke as he slithered his arm into the sleeve of his jacket. "I'm going to head out for awhile, so watch the shop while I'm gone, and don't leave the cash register until I return!" he headed for the door, grumbling, "…Darn kids, eating me out of house and home after I just got groceries yesterday!"

Now the two, Yugi and Isolde, were left in the game shop alone.

Yugi traced circles in the dust implanted in the surface of the table. "This place is like a ghost town…" he sighed miserably.

Everything felt so awkward now…

Isolde had been doing a little cleaning on her own free time to occupy herself.

Yugi tried to make conversation, "You don't have to do that you know."

She shook her head sternly. "I want to be of some use."

Yugi cocked his head, finally noticing her accent had died away completely.

Isolde spun around and gave him a cute, childlike smile.

During the moment, he lingered on her lips…their shiny glow of smoothness astounded him, his eyes falling low as her observed the perfection of the gleam against their pout. I wonder what it would feel like if…if I kissed them…

Isolde giggled at his expression, causing Yugi's face to turn all red as he flinched out of his daydreams. He quickly looked away and pretended to find the counter attractive.

Izzy's entranced eyes softened in delicateness. "Oh Yugi."

Those oceanic eyes dazzled with mixed emotion. She blushed and looked down with a small smile, heading for the closet. "I'll get the broom."

Yugi kept his eyes on her once he felt she had turned away, and slowly tendered his amethyst eyes. "…I wish I could tell you." He whispered as he leaned his cheek against the table in a depressed state. "…Tell you everything I think of you…"

The door's bell chimed as a young boy walked in, ruining Yugi's lovey-dovey moment. He carried an untamed mane of black hair that bounced on his shoulders and swished at his lower back. His hardened purpled gray eyes focused entirely on Yugi. This boy, only a pre-teen, then broke out into a grin.

"Hey, Yugi!" He greeted, hand lifted.

Yugi looked up, surprised to see this familiar stranger here. "Mokuba? What are you doing here? Does…Kaiba even know you're here?"

Mokuba hiked to the counter and scratched his cheek with a finger guiltily. "No, not…really. I didn't tell Seto."

"Well, it's good to see you." Yugi felt skeptical, nonetheless smiling. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but is there a certain reason you're here? I know it's not because of cards…"

"I heard about the rumors, Yugi." he automatically explained. "So I wanted to see if they were true!"

Yugi's face crunched up some. "What rumors?"

"The rumors about you and your rich girlfriend! Almost everyone knows! You are the champion duelist after all..."

"Wait, what? Rich girlfriend? What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend!" Yugi suddenly paused as he heard Izzy walk in.

"Yugi I"—she noticed Mokuba. "…Oh…hi there!" she coughed, waving to him.

Mokuba's eyes widened as he gazed at her, repeatedly rubbing his eyes. "Woah…nice DIAMONDS…" he then shook it off, and blushed faintly in her presence "Hi! My name's M-Mo-Mokuba!"

Isolde laughed gently. "You're Seto Kaiba's younger brother, isn't that right?"

"Y-yes m'am!"

"It's very nice to meet you, little Mokuba. I'm Yugi's friend, Isolde Isiserah. But you can call me Izzy." She leaned over, bowing respectfully.

Mokuba just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Isolde turned back to Yugi. "Anyway, I was going to ask where the broom was. I really need to sweep that back room. It's crying SOS."

"The broom's in the empty closet on the right…"

"I'm such a ditz…." she turned away, saying her farewells to Mokuba. "It was nice meeting you, Mokie! Can I…call you that?"

"…S-Sure!" Mokuba watched her leave, waving slowly in a cute smile. He then leaned over the counter at Yugi anxiously. "IS THAT HER?"

"Um, I don't—"

"So the gossips were right for once! She even dresses like she has a ton of cash…she's pretty, too. And polite – something NEW for a change compared to all the rude girls here…"

"Well I'm not hanging out with her because of what she wears or her MONEY. I like Izzy for…IZZY—Anyway, Mokuba, she's not my girlfriend! We're only friends! That's all…okay?" he blushed with a slight disappointment in his face and voice. "…That's all we'll ever be from here on out…"

Mokuba narrowed his eyes slyly. "You like her don't you?"

Yugi quickly spun his head around to him. "…Wh-What? No!"

"Yeah right. It's not too hard to see…"

"Okay…maybe I like her a bit…" Yugi shook that off. "No, let me rephrase that. Maybe I like her a lot…"

"Does she know?"

Yugi shook his head.

Mokuba gave him a perplexed face as he leaned back. "Well why haven't you told her?"

"I choke when I try." Yugi shrugged, head bowed.

"That's pretty sad. Liking her and not telling her I mean." Mokuba gave him a pitiful look. "If you truly cared for someone, you'd let them know instead of running away."

"…You're only ten, what do you know about love…?" Yugi chuckled.

"…I'm twelve…"

Just then, the door's bell rang roughly against the wall, and this time it wasn't anywhere near a happy customer. "YUGI!" the girl roared.

Mokuba and Yugi both turned around in surprise to see a little eight year old girl, long trimmed blonde hair, glasses and bluish green eyes staring angrily into Yugi's petrified soul.

"Rebecca…?" Yugi croaked out, feeling his air passages tighten.

Mokuba sweat dropped and mumbled under his breath, "Speak of the devil…"

Rebecca Hawkins stood with her hands on her hips, looking terrifically upset. "I heard the rumors! They say that Yugi Motou has a girlfriend and I'm pretty sure that they weren't talking about me!"

Yugi sweat dropped at this. "Rebecca the rumors aren't—"

"SAVE IT! You lied to me!"

"What? Lied about what?"

"You said I was your girlfriend!"

"I-I never said that! YOU did!"

Rebecca came marching up to the counter, roughly pushing Mokuba out of her way—"Move it kid!"—as she slapped her hands on the table. "You're supposed to give your heart to me and only me! That's how a relationship works! But now I find you snooping around with some horse faced girl!"

"What?" Yugi panicked. "I'm not yours to begin with! And I wasn't snooping around! And she's not a horse face!"

"So you admit it! You do have another girlfriend! You're supposed to be with me!" Rebecca was straining to hold back her fussy tears. "…Y-You don't care about me! How dare you cheat on me! How could you do this?"

Yugi gave her a hideous frown. "Rebecca, you have to understand that I only see you as my friend and that's it! You're not even close to my age! You're an eight year old girl and I'm a sixteen year old boy! See anything wrong with that picture?"

(A/N: SEVERELY!)

"Why does age have to do with love?" Rebecca went back to rage. "Where is this girl of yours anyway? Where is she? I wanna meet this-this tramp the city is talking about!"

Isolde suddenly trotted out from behind Yugi, standing beside him. "I heard all the yelling. What's going on? Is everything alright?"

Rebecca looked her up and down and gasped mentally.A frown came upon her face. "Who's the BLONDE broad?"

Mokuba eyed all this with his sweat drop sliding lower. "That was just cold…"

"REBECCA!" Yugi steamed.

The eight year old gasped out loud this time. "Are you her? Are you Yugi's girlfriend?"

"…Girl…friend…?" Izzy blushed with a question mark above her head.

Rebecca pointed her finger at her face. "YOU ARE HER!"

"You know it's not nice to point." Mokuba pointed out.

Rebecca gave him a glare. "SHUT UP YOU!" she quickly turned back to Izzy. "You, girl, what's your name?"

"…Isolde Isiserah." She said slowly, still trying to figure out what was going on.

"Isolde Isiserah?" Rebecca repeated scornfully. "Where are you from, the 'Tristan and Isolde' script? You know what, for all I care, you can just go find your own Romeo, Juliet, and stay away from mine, understand that?"

"Rebecca!" Yugi yelled again, standing before her. "Calm DOWN."

"No!" she shook her head. "This girl stole your heart and now I'm gonna take it back!"

Izzy looked down in dwelling thought, suddenly looking back up to Yugi with a soft smile. "Yugi, I just remembered…I have something important that I left at the house, and I need to go get it…I'll, I'll be right back …" she began to trot off in a sudden need to get out of the game shop.

"Hey wait a sec'!" Yugi grabbed her arm to stop her.

"No, really i-it's not an excuse, I-I need to check if my father is still home…" Isolde faked her smile. "I promise I'll come back…"

Yugi's eyes dropped low in misery. "...Hurry then…" he hesitated to let go.

Isolde roughly brushed past Mr. Motou without an apology just as he had walked in. "…Did I miss something?" he asked.

"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU GO HOME YOU BOYFRIEND STEALER!" Rebecca piped after her as she went.

Mokuba, irritated, walked toward Rebecca with a pitiful yet disgruntled expression. "Hey kid, don't you know you can't do anything about Yugi liking someone else? What you're doing here is just wrong." He crossed his arms.

"But Yugi's suppose to be mine!" She eyed him up and down, snorting. "What do you know, anyway? You've never been in love before!"

"And neither have you! You're just his fan, while Isolde's his girlfriend! All you have is a huge crush on him! Matter of fact, no matter what you feel for Yugi, he's feeling for someone ELSE. You can't make a person stop liking someone else! Not even CUPID can reverse his aims, so what makes you think you can?"

"Yeah but," Rebecca struggled to retort. "I love Yugi too! It's not just fandom!"

"Yeah and I repeat, Yugi likes someone else. If you truly 'LOOOVED' him, you'd think about him, and let him be happy, riiiight?"

Rebecca gave Mokuba a look that this time wasn't so hateful. She lowered her head in reflection of what he said.

"Right now, you're being rather selfish for someone who loves Yugi so much…" Mokuba shook his head. "If you loved him, then you'd show it by doing him a favor…"

20 minutes later

Rebecca had stayed while Mokuba left to return to Kaiba Corp. She sat on a stool, forever pondering over Mokuba's harsh words. Her fingers tightened into a balled fist against her knees as she gritted her teeth. She wanted to cry, almost…

Yugi had been hers for awhile. Or so she thought.

Not Tea's, not Isolde's, just hers…

But now she was beginning to understand he sold his lullaby song to someone else? Who wasn't Tea, nor her?

As time passed on, Yugi resided next to her on another stool.

"Yugi?" she quietly called for him as her head remained lowered. "Do you really like her?"

He stared at her for a minute and then gazed up at the ceiling timorously. He had trouble admitting those words to or around anyone. "Well, uhhh…" He scratched his reddened cheek by the finger. "Y-Yeah…you can say it like th-that."

"…Does she…does she really make you happy? Like, what do you feel? Just curious…" She twiddled her thumbs, hoping her voice didn't show her pain.

"Well…" Yugi gazed at his swishing feet, smiling as the red appeared to be neon on his cheeks. "…E-Each and…every time I see that smile on her face, I feel the happiness boil within me sometimes in nervousness if she's standing right beside me. I've never felt this way in my life, like I'm actually floating on air, even when—"

"Besides all that," Rebecca suddenly interrupted, not wanting to hear him preach his love about someone who wasn't her. "Did she ever make you cry at all?"

His eyes flattened in emotion. "Only when she's put herself in danger…"

"…She…she doesn't know how you feel about her, does she?" she furrowed her eyebrows.

"No…"

"Well why not?" Rebecca's voice came crackled and watery.

Yugi stared wide-eyed into her moisturized eyes, the lights wavering in trembling emotion. He soon smiled.

"I never told her yet. I'm afraid she won't feel the same way…if her answer is rejection, it'll hurt me. Above all else I'm not in the mood to be let down. I've gotten so excited about the thought of her and me holding hands, that it would take me a year to get out of my depressed state if she rejects me."

Rebecca stared into the depths of his sorrow filled purple eyes. She softened her own.

The phone chimed.

Yugi motioned a finger to Rebecca for her to stay put as he got up to retrieve it. "Hello, Mr. Motou's Game shop." He chirped.

His friendly smile drooped as he heard sobbing on the other line. "Uh, hello?"

"…Y-Yugi," it was Isolde.

Yugi blinked. "Izzy? Izzy, what's wrong?"

Finally she broke down into stifling sobs. "…Yugi…" she moaned under throttled whimpers. "…M-My father…is…m-making me move again…!" she sobbed harder, muffled under tears she swallowed. "…I-I'll be leaving the city…tomorrow morning. He doesn't want me here in this town with y-you, especially. H-He says…it's my punishment for overstaying here without him kn-knowing."

Yugi choked upon a rasp. His pupils quaked tremendously as the color from his face drained off his cheeks.

He dropped the phone…

Domino Streets

Isolde stood on the bridge that hovered over the sewer water that traveled downstream. The hissing splinters of rain tackled her wet back. The darkness was quiet, all but the bustling of cars on the lightless road. Her pale arms wrapped over the banister while she tucked her chin into them.

("I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne)

(I'm standing on the bridge…

I'm waiting in the dark…

There's nothin' but the rain…

No footsteps on the ground…

I'm listening, but there's

No sound…)

She hiccupped and sniffled, wiping mucus off her upper lip. Izzy raised her head to gaze out into the afar distance clouded by the film of rain. Her eyebrows knitted back. Where was she…?

(Isn't anyone tryna

Find me?

Won't somebody come take me home?)

Isolde hiked the streets with her fingers clinging to her dress. She was constantly bumped and shoved by the citizens walking into the opposite direction of her. She gasped as a tidal wave of mud splashed over her once a bike messenger wheeled by.

(I'm looking for a place

I'm searching for a face

Is anybody here

I know?

Cuz nothin's goin' right

And everything's a mess

And no one likes to be

Alone…)

Isolde finally found herself crawling through the alleys, away from civilization. She wiped rain and mud from her eyes and cheeks, trying to to escape her father's house yet hunting for a refuge. There was no way in hell she'd leave with that psychotic bastard. She needed Lithium…

Lithium was used to treat episodes of depression, and it was something she had been secretly popping into her mouth when Yugi wasn't near. But it's probably the main reason her depression built up into its own empire in the back of her head.

(Why is everything so

Confusing?

Maybe I'm just outta my mind)

However, in the distance of the narrow passageway, she could just vaguely make out the splinter of gold light shining ahead of her. It looked to be in the shape of an eye…

She squinted against the heavy rainfalls and wiped her eyes…

Was it an Angel?

(It's a damn cold night

Tryna figure out this life)

As she kept her sights in front of her, the light was moving forward. The outlined silhouette of spiked hair and broad shoulders walked leisurely toward her.

Isolde stood on her quavering legs. "…Y…Yugi?" she outstretched her wanting fingers.

(Won't you

Take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new

I don't know who you are, but I…)

At last, narrowed amethyst eyes came into recognition. The matured face and broad torso of Yugi's Yami stood before her.

(I'm with you…

I'm with you…)

"Izzy?" The childlike voice of Yugi echoed in her eardrums instead of the profoundly deep tone of Yami.

Isolde smiled to herself as Yugi came running for her. She nearly collapsed at the thankful sight of him, but Yugi caught her just in time. He stared worriedly into her weary face as she smiled into his breast.

(It's a damn…

Cold…

Night…

Tryna figure out…

This…

Life…)

Yugi wrapped his arm under her waist, pulling him to her, and finally into his arms for an embrace. "Where were you? Everyone was worried sick about you. Your father's been running all over town for you."

Isolde turned somewhat red in the face as her hands were against his chest, and her face was against his shoulder. "…Yugi…" her eyes softened gently, her breathing a little easier in his arms now. "Forget him…"

(Won't you…

Take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new…)

Yugi smiled warmly again when he heard her whisper his name lightly. "I know you're upset about leaving, but I am too. But we've at least gotta try and have a positive attitude towards it.

(I'm with you

I'm with you)

"Yugi…" she whispered hoarsely to him, lips brushing his ear's skin. "…we'll be so far apart." She wrapped her arms around his neck as if he were going to slip out of her embrace anytime soon. "…We'll never see each other again…L-Let's just run away together."

He smiled. "Izzy, it doesn't mean we're out of each other's lives forever. It doesn't mean we are completely apart. Because I know…you'll always be here, with me…where my soul is if you can do the same for me..."

(Take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new)

Isolde raised her head and looked into his loving eyes, stroking the back of his neck, eyes looking up and down his face. "Really…?"

"Really." He leaned in closer to her; wanting to say those words now and then feel her lips against his.