Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ University Daze ❯ Another Kodak Moment ( Chapter 15 )

*Warning* Fluffiness! No really! This time I swear it's fluffy!

Kali: Look out!

*CRASH*

Caitlin: Ow Ow Ow! *rubs head*

Ryou: Oh dear. Malik are you alright?

Malik: @_@

Marik: Nope. He's out cold.

Bakura: What was the big rush Caitlin?

Caitlin: I just had a brainwave for a fluffy Yugi/Yami chapter. I was hurrying to get to my computer before I forgot it! Besides, this'll be the epilogue.

Yami: We'll take care of Malik.

Yugi: You go ahead and do the story.

Caitlin: If you're sure ...

Kali: Go for it. And, hey! She still doesn't own Yu-Gi Oh! or Kodak.

Pairs: Yugi/Yami, Ryou/Bakura, Marik/Malik, Joey/Mai, Tristan/Serenity, Kaiba/OC?, Ishizu/Isis

Chapter 15 - Epilogue

Another Kodak Moment

**Dedication: To Yami_no_Yume! Thanks for your reviews and your request! Enjoy!**

While the blonde Egyptian duo and the other yamis and hikaris were ... busy, Kaiba and Shadi sat down with Pegasus and Professor Hawkins to discuss how to handle the sudden appearance of the Palace.

It took much discussion and haggling (and on Kaiba's part - several pointed threats) until a satisfactory agreement was made.

The group left late that afternoon, returning to their hotel. They all gathered in Kaiba's penthouse suite to watch the news reports on TV, then dragged themselves off to their own suites to get much needed rest.

The rest of their stay went without incident and they all enjoyed their time in Egypt while it lasted.

Yami, for the most part, was content with most of the changes he saw from the times he remembered. He acknowledged at one point that Isis had been right. He was finally able to put the past behind him. And as he watched his Light walk towards him, he could only see the future - his future - in Yugi.

They returned home the day after New Year's Day. As they came off the plane, they were greeted by the rest of their friends and family.

Mai and Kala exchanged hugs with Joey and Serenity while Tristan and Duke shook everyone's hand in greeting.

Yugi suddenly spotted another familiar face and cried, "Grandpa!" before launching himself at his grandfather and hugging him hard. Yami smiled and approached with a bit more dignity.

"Hello boys! Did you have a good trip?" Solomon inquired. "I heard all about the Palace that suddenly rose up out of nowhere and I just knew you two had something to do with it."

Yami chuckled. "Yes, Grandfather, we did. Don't worry, though. Yugi will want to tell you everything."

A hand came down on the Pharaoh's shoulder, lightly. "I have to go, Yami." Kaiba inclined his head at Yugi's Grandpa. "Mr. Moto."

"Kaiba."

"Office already begging for your attention?" Yami asked, sympathetically.

Kaiba rolled his eyes. "Yes. I can just see the paperwork I'm going to be swamped under." He sighed. "Oh well. I'll see you and Yugi later. Oh, and you two really need to have a party or something." He nodded at them and strode off, Mokuba in tow.

"A party?" Solomon asked.

"You know, Yug, a party sounds like a good idea." Joey came up to them, hand in hand with Mai. "A post-celebration, you know?"

"Well, if Yami doesn't mind." Yugi looked at his Darkness.

"I think it's a wonderful idea, aibou."

Malik cheered. "Alright! Party!"

"You can have it at our place, Yugi." Serenity offered and Joey nodded. "We've got plenty of room."

"Excuse me, but a party for what occasion?" Tristan interrupted.

Yugi shrugged out of his jacket and showed everyone his armband. "Ah ... Yami and I went through this Ritual and ..."

"You guys got married!" Mai exclaimed, hugging Yugi then Yami enthusiastically.

"Sort of." Yugi blushed. Yami calmly explained about the Osiris Binding Ritual. When he was finished, he turned and gave Solomon an apologetic bow.

"I regret that you were not present for the Ritual, Grandfather, but as I said, it was necessary to do it before we reached Egypt and ..."

"Yami! It's fine, my boy. I'm very happy for you both." He smiled at them. "As long as my grandson is happy, then I'm happy."

"I am, Grandpa. I really am." Yugi slid an arm around Yami's waist and Yami drew him in close to his side.

"Well, since we're celebrating one thing, we might as well make it a late Christmas Party, too." Duke mused.

"Good idea. Let's have it Sunday, all right?" Joey slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Great!" Yugi grinned and waved as everyone went their separate ways. He and Yami went home with Solomon to tell him about the Ritual, the trip, the Palace - everything. It was very late when they said goodnight to him and went back to their apartment.

"Oh, wow! What a day!" Yugi collapsed on their couch and sighed. "It's good to be home, huh, Yami?"

"Indeed, aibou. I must admit, I am glad to be back. Much as I enjoyed being back in Egypt, my home is here. With you." Yami sat next to Yugi and his Light snuggled up close. He bent and kissed the top of Yugi's head, nuzzling his hair fondly.

"We'll have to call Kaiba and let him know about the party." Yugi yawned, tired from all the traveling and excitement.

"Yes. I'll do that in the morning, aibou." Yami scooped up his half-asleep hikari and carried him to their bedroom. "Let's go to bed, Yugi. We can unpack tomorrow."

Yugi nodded and got undressed, crawling under the covers and waiting for Yami.

Yami turned out the light then stripped before sliding in next to Yugi and pulling the covers over both of them. Yugi turned over to face him and snuggled into Yami's warmth with a sigh of contentment.

Yami curled around him and smiled before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

***********************

(Two days later)

"Agh!"

Yugi's frustrated cry filled the apartment. Yami strode into their room, wondering what the problem was.

"Something wrong, aibou?"

"Yami, I just can't decide what to wear!" Yugi gestured at the room. The closet was open, clothes were strewn all over the floor and over the bed, and Yugi stood in sock feet and boxers amidst the chaos. "Nothing works for me today!"

"Hmm." Yami tried not to laugh. He was used to these sudden fashion fits his hikari had on occasion. "Did you know leather is quite warm, aibou? Why don't you wear that pair of pants I bought you for your birthday? Besides," Yami planted a light kiss on Yugi's bare shoulder. "You are absolutely delectable in leather, aibou."

//Well, if you like it that much ...// Yugi folded easily, as Yami knew he would. He dug out the black leather pants and stripped off his boxers before slipping the pants on. Yami just leaned against the wall and watched lustfully.

//I also like watching you put them on ... or take them off.// Yami grinned as Yugi rolled his eyes and began searching for a shirt.

Yami gently shoved him aside and dug out one of his own shirts. It was leather (duh!) but softer than the pants and it was dark purple and sleeveless. Then he handed Yugi a black leather belt with gold studs across it and a buckle choker like Yugi's metal one but this, too, was gold. Yami nodded approvingly, as Yugi buckled on his dueling belt and slid the Millennium Puzzle around his neck.

"You just need one more thing." Yami said. "Hold out your arms, please."

Curious, Yugi did so. "What are you going to do?"

Yami held out his hands over Yugi's wrists and concentrated his Power there. Soft golden light surrounded Yugi's wrists and when it faded, there were golden wristbands like Yami's, and Malik and Marik's, wristbands.

"Oh! Thanks Yami! I always wanted a pair of these." Yugi kissed his Darkness softly.

"You're quite welcome, aibou. Now, are you ready to go? We don't want to be late."

"You've got the gifts for everyone?"

"In a bag by the door."

"Then let's go!"

***********************

They arrived at Joey and Mai's at the same time as Ryou and Bakura.

Kala let them in and took their gifts to put them under the huge Christmas tree set up in the living room where everyone else had gathered.

"Everyone's here now! Can we please open presents now?" Malik pleaded. He sounded exactly like any excited child at Christmas. Marik had a similar expression on his face and they were both looking at Ishizu and Isis with chibi-eyes.

"No!" Ishizu said firmly. "Because everyone is not here yet. Kaiba and Mokuba haven't arrived."

"Oh, they aren't coming." Yugi piped up, feeling sorry for Malik and Marik who looked absolutely crestfallen. "Mokuba has the flu and Seto didn't want to leave him home alone."

"Poor Mokuba." Ryou sighed. "It's dreadful to be ill and miss all the fun."

Mai took pity on the two blonde Egyptians and said, "In that case, we might as well open gifts before we have diner."

Malik and Marik glomped her in their excitement.

"Whoa! Easy there boys."

Serenity, being the youngest, was drafted to pass out the presents. Soon the living room was littered with plastic, wrapping paper, gift boxes, and bows and ribbons. It was a noisy, joyous, fun filled two hours.

It was, Yami reflected, family.

After cleaning up the mess and tidying up, they trooped into the kitchen to fill their plates.

Serenity and Kala had done the cooking and decided to serve dinner buffet-style and on paper plates, in an effort to keep messes to a minimum.

After dinner, they all sat around chatting for a while. At one point, Joey exchanged a covert nod with Kala and they disappeared for a moment. They came back carrying several big boxes, setting them down in front of Yami and Yugi.

"Hey guys! We all chipped in some money to buy you guys a 'wedding' present. So go to it!" Joey grinned at them.

"Oh, guys, you shouldn't have!" Yugi protested.

Malik, sitting on Yugi's other side, nudged him. "Well we did. So open them already."

Yami and Yugi glanced at each other, then began ripping open the wrapped boxes. "Oh, my!" Yugi gasped as he saw what the box in his hands contained. "Guys! A home theatre system?!"

Bakura was grinning. "Yep. The whole thing. Speakers, surround sound, equalizer, CD/DVD player, the works."

"We all know how much you two love your movies, Yugi." Kala smiled at Yugi's shocked expression.

Ryou added, "Kaiba got something else for you from him and Mokuba, but since he's not able to come, he asked Bakura and I to give it to you." Bakura rushed off and returned with a shopping bag. He handed it over.

"Ack! There must be 50 DVD's in here!" Yugi cried.

"Kaiba apologized for not wrapping them but he didn't have time and he said Mokuba isn't very good at it." Ryou handed Yami an envelope. "That's a card from all of us and Kaiba and Mokuba."

Yami opened the card and read it, smiling as he passed it to Yugi to read.

"'To their Majesties Yami and Yugi. Congratulations from us all. May the Gods be forever with you and may your love shine its Light on the world for all time.'" Yugi read aloud, tears silently falling. It was signed by everyone as well.

"Thank you everyone. We do not deserve such a generous gift. But we are very grateful to have you all in our lives." Yami said quietly. "You are our family."

Yugi, still crying, jumped up and proceeded to hug everyone in the room. Yami took their gifts and placed them with the others in the spare bedroom.

"Oh! Hey Kala! Should we bring out desert now?" Serenity asked.

"Gosh, I almost forgot!" They hurried into the kitchen.

"Desert?" Bakura, Malik and Marik chorused.

Joey rolled his eyes. "You would not believe how long those two worked on it either."

Mai nodded. "All day yesterday."

The two girls came back, one carrying a stack of paper plates and utensils, the other carefully carrying a huge, beautifully decorated cake. (A/N: Warning! Yami's + sugar = CHAOS!)

"That is one big cake." Duke admired.

"Mmm. Chocolate." Bakura was trying not to drool.

Mai helped the girls cut the cake and pass out slices to everyone. Bakura had been right - the cake was chocolate. Four layers of it - with fudge icing in between each layer not to mention on top.

Everyone ate their cake, making approving noises and praising Kala and Serenity's baking skills.

No one really knows how it happened, but suddenly Marik was wearing chocolate cake smeared on his face and Bakura was laughing hysterically.

Marik licked his lips of chocolate and said with fake calm, "So you think that's funny, Tombrobber?"

"Hell yes!" Bakura replied, still giggling. Malik winced as Marik scooped up a handful of cake and flung it at Bakura. Unfortunately, he missed.

Ryou squeaked and spluttered. "Marik!" He grabbed some of his own cake and tossed it at Marik, who dodged, and hit Malik instead. "Eep! Sorry Malik!"

Malik just gave him an evil smirk, scooped up more cake and let fly at Bakura, hoping to hit him for Marik. But he missed too and this time it hit Duke. Malik, knowing he was going to get it, jumped behind the couch and crawled over behind Yami and Yugi, hoping no one would dare throw anything at them.

He wasn't that lucky.

Yami growled and wiped his eyes clear of icing then calmly hurled his slice of cake at Duke, but hit Joey instead.

That started an all out cake fight. Needless to say, there was absolutely no edible cake left when they were done - or rather, Mai called a halt when she noticed her living room was getting trashed.

By the time they'd cleaned everything up (including themselves), it was late. Everyone gathered their gifts and thanked their hosts for everything, congratulated Yugi and Yami once again, and left.

"We'd better go too." Yugi said. "We've got classes tomorrow. First day of a new semester."

"No kidding. Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow then, Yugi!" Joey waved goodbye as they got into the cab that would take them (and their gifts) home.

************************************

FIN

Kali: So that's your epilogue?

Caitlin: Yep! Don't worry though. It was only the first semester. I wonder what the next will bring?

Kali: R/R! And thanks for everyone's reviews! Bye for now!