Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Voglia Di Dance All Night ❯ Breathing ( Chapter 9 )

Voglia Di Dance All Night

Chapter Nine: Breathing

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Christmas carols blasted from small radio which sat on the cement sidewalk of the Mutou home. Outside, at the top of a tall ladder, Yami stood hanging decorations from the roof. Humming slightly to the tunes of the songs, he stapled some colorful lights to the roof.

The door to the shop jingled open and Yugi stepped out carrying a large box. Setting it down on the snow-covered grass, he began unloading its contents. "Let's see..." he said, looking up at the shop. "The wreath still needs to be hung and the light-up reindeer still need to be put together." He smiled when his cousin came down the ladder. "Yami I really appreciate you helping me with this."

Yami smiled and ruffled the younger male's hair, something he had always done since they were little. "Not a problem. I have three days to kill, why not waste them doing one of my favorite things?" he said, grabbing some more lights and heading back to the stepladder.

The twenty-six-year-old sighed. As much as he knew that decorating for Christmas really was one of his cousin's favorite things to do during the holiday season, he also knew that that wasn't the real reason he was helping. He was trying to get his mind of Anzu, and the only to do that was to keep busy. "Yami...I..." he stopped, looking to the ground. Flushing, he continued his sentence. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry she doesn't think of you that way anymore."

The features of the Egyptian man's face hardened slightly. Giving a great sigh, he took the stapler from his back pocket and resumed his job of hanging lights. "There's no reason for you to be apologizing, Yugi. She doesn't care about me. I'm...just going to have to accept that." He turned and smiled down at the younger. "Thanks anyways, though."

Yugi gave a weak smile. Turning away from the tri-haired man, he sniffed. He hated seeing his cousin like this. Though he hid it well, Yugi could tell that Yami was very deeply hurt. His heart had been broken for the second - maybe even the third - time in his life. Yugi knew what it was like to be rejected and brought down, but he knew nothing of broken hearts. He couldn't imagine how the other must feel, having to feel such pain so many times.

`No one should have to go through what he's gone through. It just isn't fair...'

The violet-eyed young man ran a hand through his messy hair. Taking the wreath from its box, he made his way to the front door to put it up. After completing his task and basking in a sense of accomplishment once seeing that the wreath wasn't crooked or anything like that, he made his way back out front.

Yami had finished with putting the lights on the roof and was now working on the icicle lights to hang from the windows and the garage. Approaching the taller man, Yugi took the stapler and pushed him out of the way. "Why don't you go inside for a bit? You've been out here all morning."

The crimson eyed man shook his head. "No, it's alright. I enjoy working out here. Really, Yugi. You should go in and rest."

Yugi rolled his eyes. "Come on, you're on vacation. You shouldn't be out here decorating my house." He laughed. "Go on inside or watch TV or something fun." He smiled. "There are other ways to get your mind off things than working yourself to death in the freezing cold, you know."

Yami blinked. "What makes you think I'm trying to forget something?"

The shorter started laughing. "Very funny...It's written all over your face, Yami. You're clearly upset over something and you are trying to forget about it by decorating my house." He smiled. "But it isn't working. You can't forget when something so terrible happens to you." He pursed his lips when a few moments of silence passed between them. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I'm probably just making it worse, aren't I?"

"No you're not. You're absolutely right. I am trying to forget about Anzu by busying myself with decorating and stuff like that." He sighed heavily, his breath appearing in front of him in a cloud of white. After finishing with the small roll of icicle lights in his hands, he turned to his cousin. "Why don't we do something more fun?"

"I don't think fun is the answer right now, Yami. As much as you don't want to, you should talk to me about this. Maybe it will make you feel better if you get it off your chest?"

Yami shook his head negatively. "I already told you what happened, aibou. I don't want to talk about it anymore." He slumped down in the snow, burying his face in his hands. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to think about it. I want to forget about it - forget about her. I want to go home to my family and not have to worry about Anzu. I want to be a good father to my kids and I want to give them a Christmas that they deserve but have never been able to have! It want...I want to treat Isis right, not the way I've been treating her lately. But I can't do all that. I just can't. Not as long as this whole nightmare is still fresh in my memory!"

Yugi watched as his cousin's hands balled up into tight fists. He frowned, seeing his form begin to shake. "Yami...?" He smiled, wrapping his arms around his cousin. "Yami don't be so negative. You are a good father and you are good to Isis, even though you yourself don't think so. Sure, you could be better, but so can every other father in the world. If you expect to go back and live a perfect life with them now, well, Yami, you're very wrong. Things won't ever be like that no matter how much you want them to. This is real life and, sadly, things won't always go your way."

"Things in my life have never gone the way I want them to, aibou. Something always goes wrong. I...I always mess my life up somehow."

Yami looked guiltily down at his hands. "When I try to tell my girlfriend, my true love, how much I care about her, she breaks up with me. When I try to ease the pain of my broken heart, I get one of my best friends pregnant. When I try to have my own brand and work so much to support the family I accidentally created, I end up never seeing my children and becoming detached from the ones I truly care about. And when I try to set things right...my ex-girlfriend almost loses her fiancé, my children find out I'm their real father, Isis ends up mad at me and I end up with the same broken heart all over again."

Standing up, the Egyptian slowly made his way to the door. "I'm going to lie down inside for a little bit, if you don't mind."

The shorter of the two nodded slowly. "Go on in," he whispered, watching the older disappear inside the house. Lowering his head to the floor, he let out a deep breath. `Yami....'

On the radio, the Christmas carol still rang out cheerfully.

AAAAAAAAAA

Anzu looked up at the Christmas tree which stood towering many feet above her in the main entryway of the Kaiba mansion. Her eyes dimmed slightly as she stared at her reflection in one of the large, golden ornaments.

`Yami always loved Christmas...it's his favorite holiday, I remember. He loved all the traditions of it. Christmas tree decorating and cookie baking and...Mistletoe...' She blushed slightly. `I wonder what he's doing this Christmas.' Smiling slightly, she tucked a piece of chocolate brown hair behind her ear. `I hope he's happy...with someone that loves him.'

She gasped slightly when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her stomach. Giggling, Anzu looked up at Seto. "Good morning," she greeted.

Seto smiled down at his fiancé, placing a small kiss down on her cheek. "Good morning to you." He looked over to the tree in front of them. "Do you like it? I had my servants find the biggest tree in all of Domino just to please you. I know you've always wanted a big Christmas and this year you're going to get that." He grinned at her slightly shocked expression. "I've already phoned your family and they said they'd come. I've invited some of your friends too...Katsuya and Shizuka Jounouchi, Mai Kujyaku, the Hirotos, and some others."

Anzu raised an eyebrow. "How did you get all their phone numbers?" she questioned.

The lawyer smirked. "You can't hide these things from me." He chuckled. "They were in your address book. And I recalled you mentioning some of their names to me. You said they were in town because of the high school reunion." He kissed her again, this time on the lips. "I knew how much you wanted a big Christmas party with all your friends and family, so I took it upon myself to make that possible. Aren't you happy?"

"Seto, I'm thrilled! I can't believe you'd do that for me!"

Seto smiled and held her tightly. "Anzu, you know I'd do anything for you. Just to hear you laugh and just to see that beautiful smile of yours. Making you happy is my favorite thing to do." He rubbed their noses together playfully.

Anzu giggled, moving forward and resting her head on his chest. "Oh Seto...I don't deserve someone as good as you." She looked down to the floor, tears flooding her azure eyes. She thought back on what she had did with Yami and the pain in her heart returned. `Really...I don't deserve you Seto...'

The blue-eyed man slipped a hand into his fiancé's. "Come, Mokuba stopped me in the hall and told me that breakfast was ready and waiting, so let's not have it get cold."

Anzu nodded and wrapped both her arms around the one that was holding her. Looking up joyfully at his handsome face, she couldn't help the tremendous wave of guilt that overcame her. In place of Seto's eyes, again, she saw Yami's. Instead of feeling the warmth of Seto's hands on her, she felt the warmth of Yami's. And instead of wanting to kiss Seto as they walked under a small stalk of mistletoe which hung from the entryway of the dining room, she found herself wishing that it could be Yami underneath it with her.

After slumping down in her usual seat, she placed a hand to her forehead. "What is the matter with me?" she wondered quietly, rubbing her head to ease the headache she felt coming on.

Seto looked over to her from his side of the table. Leaning forward, he questioned as to if she was feeling alright. Mokuba, who had come in to see his brother's soon-be wife looking so troubled, asked a similar question.

"I'm...fine. I just have a lot on my mind, that's all." She gave a forced laugh. "Only a few more weeks until Christmas...and so much to do still...." She ran a hand through her silky hair and leaned back further into the fancily carved wooden chair. "I'm hungry too. Maybe all I need is just a little energy boost, you know?"

The young man with the wide navy eyes nodded. "I suppose." He gave a trademark, goofy grin. "The chef will be bringing breakfast out at any moment," he assured, giving a thumbs-up sign.

Anzu nodded, awaiting the arrival of her breakfast.

AAAAAAAAA

Yami stood in the mall, wanting to do some shopping before he went back home to Egypt at the end of the week. He decided that it was better to do it now while he was still on vacation and had nothing else to do, than wait until he got home and was overloaded with work and taking care of the kids.

"Let's see, Mosi wanted a video game system...but I don't know if Isis would approve. She thinks those types of things open up a `world of violence and sex to kids who are too young to be exposed to such things,'" He mused, quoting from what the black-haired woman had told him one day. "But then again, with brothers like Mariku and Malik, I don't think Isis can keep him unexposed to that sort of stuff for too much longer..." he chuckled, looking through the many aisles of the toy store.

Once he game across the girl's section of the toy store, he started to think of what Sagira would want for Christmas. "She mentioned something about a new Barbie doll...but damn I hate those things. And after a few months it'll just end up lodged under the couch somewhere and she'll never see it again..." He sighed. "I never thought shopping for my own kids would be so damn difficult."

"Yami...?"

The crimson-eyed man's head shot up and he whirled around to the direction that he heard his name being called. He frowned when he saw none other than Anzu standing there. "Oh, hi... What brings you here?"

Anzu shrugged her shoulders, holding up the light pink baby dress up. "Just shopping for Jou and Mai's daughter. I don't now when their expecting the baby to be delivered, but since they think it's going to be pretty soon, I just thought I'd get a little present for her." She smiled kindly, suppressing the memory of what she and Yami had done, as it kept popping up into her mind. "What are you doing shopping at the toy store? I'd think you'd be at some ritzy clothing store signing autographs or something," she joked.

Yami shook his head, cracking a smile. "No I'm just..." he looked down at the Barbie in his hands, "shopping." He silently wondered if she had read all of the letters he had sent her yet, and that his why he didn't add who he was shopping for to his sentence.

"A friend's daughter or something?" the brunette questioned, looking towards the Barbie.

"I guess you can say that, yes." The fashion designer let out a small chuckle. Isis was his friend and Sagira was her daughter...she just happened to be his daughter too. But Anzu didn't need to know that little detail just yet. Not until she read the last of the three letters.

Anzu nodded, looking down to the floor. An uncomfortable silence passed between the two. The air became so silent that it was almost deafening. Yami thought he would die of the quietness lasted another second. Thankfully, it was broken by someone clearing his throat. Unthankfully, it was not someone that the fashion designer was too happy to see.

"Seto, I thought you were looking for some clothes for the Christmas party?"

The brown-haired lawyer held up a bag. "I'm a quick shopper. I found them easily, and at a good price." He smiled. Turning to face the tri-haired man who stood a few feet away, his expression turned grim. He greeted the other with a curt nod of the head.

Yami, after placing the Barbie doll back on the shelf, returned the greeting. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, an odd habit he usually did when he was nervous, he stood in front of the couple awkwardly. His face was flushed slightly, and he was almost expecting Seto to strike him for being near his fiancé after what had happened at Anzu's school the other day. "I...uh...I guess I'll be going. Sagira doesn't really need any more Barbie dolls, in my opinion. I...um..." he looked over to the two brunette adults. "Nice seeing you again, Zoo. Merry Christmas, in case I don't hear from you sooner."

Anzu took a step forward and caught the sleeve of Egyptian's black leather jacket. "Yami..."

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, the smile fading from his face. "Yes?"

"Well...Seto and I," She paused and gestured towards her fiancé, "We're having a Christmas party on the twenty-third. We'd...no, I'd really like it if you came. I invited Yugi and he's bringing his girlfriend with him too. It would be really nice if you came along with them. I know Seto isn't exactly too keen on the idea, but I know he won't mind." She gave a small smile. "Will you Seto?"

The Lawyer snorted in response, rolling his eyes.

"Anzu...I can't."

"Oh sure you can. Just think about it, please?"

Yami shook his head. "No, really, I can't. I'm going back home to Egypt on Thursday. The twenty-third is the birthday of two of my good friends and to top it all off..." he hesitated and then incoherently mumbled the last part of his sentence, "I don't want to miss another Christmas with my children again this year." He shook his head, "I promised them I'd be there." He spoke his goodbyes and wished Anzu and Seto happy holidays once more before exiting the toy store for good.

Anzu pursed her lips and went back over to Seto. She gave him a small smile, but it wasn't sincere. She was disappointed that Yami didn't want t come to the party. And she was wondering whether she had heard him correctly...if she had heard him saying that he wanted to spend Christmas with his children. Yami didn't have children...did he? He couldn't have! He would have told her for sure....

`I must have heard wrong....'

AAAAAAAAAA

Yami lay in his bed, arms folded behind his head as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. "Going home in three days...is it really the right thing to do?" He turned his head to the left, his eyes falling on a picture of Sagira and Mosi. Smiling, he took the picture in his hands and looked at him. "I don't want to disappoint them. Not once have I spent Christmas with them...and I promised that this year I would...but..."

He sighed, putting the picture back in its place. "There has to be another way. There has to be a way that I can stay here in Domino and resolve things with Anzu by going to that party of hers...and at the same time be able to spend Christmas with my family." He grinned suddenly, snapping his fingers. "I'll bring them here. The kids have always wanted to see snow, and I know Isis's has always wanted to meet Yugi. It'll all work out this way!" Reaching over to his bedside table, he grabbed the cordless phone and dialed home.

"Hello?"

"Isis, glad I caught you."

"Atemu, is everything okay?" Isis questioned, worry filling her voice.

Yami chuckled, shaking his head even though she couldn't see him. "Yes, everything's fine. I just got an idea. You see today I was invited to a Christmas party for a friend of mine's and I think it would be rude if I didn't go, especially since we've just seen each other after ten years."

"-Atemu you promised your children you'd be here for Christmas! If you break that promise to them again I swear to God I'll break your neck!" the Egyptian woman screeched from the other end, her voice harsher than normal.

"No, no, no I'm not planning on breaking my promise." The fashion designer grinned, resting back on the mattress. "I'm flying you all up here for the holidays."

The was a pause. And then: "WHAT?!"

"You heard me. You, Sagira, and Mosi...and Mariku and Malik, too, if I can afford it. They may have to pay for their own tickets, though." He grinned; hearing small noises of disbelief come from the other end. "I thought that this way everything would work out. The kids have always wanted a white Christmas, and I do want to spend the holidays with them. So if they come here, everyone can get what they want."

Isis was silent for a few moments. "I don't know, Atemu. I don't exactly feel comfortable about the idea. Won't we be imposing on your cousin if we come?"

Yami snorted. "Heck no. There's plenty of room, Isis. You can share my room and the kids can have the guest room down the hall." He could practically see the blush form on the black-haired woman's face at the thought of them sharing a bed. "Listen I'm pretty sure it's late over there, so you think about it and then call me back as soon as you can, alright?"

"Okay. Goodnight, Atemu."

"'Night, Isis."

"...Love you?"

"...Love you. Say goodnight to Sagira and Mosi for me."