Me: Okay, here's chapter 13, of Starry Skies :) I'm so excited, I'm getting all my stories going, I'm able to update every day so far... I hear another blizzard is headed my way again... And if that happens it could be up to a week before I update again... :( Damn Snow. :P Anyway!

Yami: Nickey doesn't own YGO or anything pertaining to YGO.

Me: Yami, you've been unusually nice to me this week...

Yami: T.T Aibou says I have to be... Or I'm grounded for a year...

Me: :D Thanks Yugi!

Yugi: You're welcome ^.^

Me: I'm going to cry you guys! :/

Yami & Yugi: Why?

Me: This is the last chapter for this story! D:

Yugi: *Giggles* I'm sure you'll write one more, you always write another one as a sort of round it all off chapter :)

Me: Yeah, you're prolly right! :D

Starry Skies

Chapter 13

Truth

The group of friends went lazer tagging once again. After their fun at the carnival, they decided to enjoy some quality time together at the lazer tagging arena. Yami and the other vampires had gotten better at this game since their first visit here. Unfortunately for their human counterparts, these vamps were regular hunters, and knew how to avoid everything. So, while the others ended up getting out, it was a battle between the vampires. Marik and Mai were on the same team, Duke and Yami were on the same team, and Bakura was already out due to Marik being an asshole. Yami and Duke were behind a crate and Marik and Mai were sneaking over to them from the front of the crate. "Ready?" Yami whispered.

"I'm ready" Duke whispered back.

They scooted to opposite sides of the crate. Yami looked up once before laying on the ground and crawling around to the side. He spotted Marik's purple light and took aim. Mai jumped in front of him, pointing her lazergun in his face. "I wouldn't pull that trigger if I were you Sennen."

"DAMN IT!" Marik yelled.

Mai turned to face Marik, giving Yami his chance to escape. "I got Marik!" Duke jumped up and cheered.

"DUKE GET DOWN!" Yami yelled a little too late.

"Ah hell, she got me" Duke whined.

"Oh Sennen, come out come out wherever you are" Mai sang.

Yami was nowhere near her though, no one knew where he had taken off to, except Yugi, who had watched Yami jump on to a crate and flip up to the skywalk. He was currently sneaking around to get the perfect shot on Mai, and Mai had no clue. Yami took aim at Mai and waited for her to turn. Mai turned and Yami fired, getting her out. "What the?" Mai looked around "Where the hell is he?"

Yami chuckled and whistled, gaining Mai's attention. "Looking for me?" Yami taunted.

"How the hell did you get up there?"

Yugi giggled "He jumped off those crates you were behind and flipped up there on the skywalk."

Yami chuckled "Wow Yugi, you have better eyesight than we do." Yami jumped up on the railing that went along the skywalk and flipped down, landing on a crate. Yami jumped down to the floor and caught Yugi as he came running over, tackling them both to the floor. "Oof! You really gotta start warning me before you tackle me."

Yugi giggled "Let's go home guys."

"Agreed" Yami said. "I'm extremely exhausted, especially considering how I was up all night. As was everyone else. That was great hussle last night guys."

"Thanks, we got your message pretty quick" Duke said.

"I called for you as soon as they left Seto's house" Yami said.

They all headed out to hang up their vests and lazer guns. "That was so much fun" Ryou said as they walked out. Yami growled low in his throat and stood protectively in front of the others. Mai, Duke, Marik, and Bakura joined him, creating a protective wall in front of all the others.

/You guys sense that too right?/ Yami asked.

/Yeah, something isn't right/ Mai said.

/But what the hell is it?/ Bakura asked.

/I dunno, but I'm not letting these guys get hurt/ Yami said.

"Hey you guys" Tea said coming out from behind Yami's truck. Everyone's eyes widened. "So, you guys think you can become friends with a million dollar vamp and then just ignore me?"

/Yami run, she's after you/ Mai said.

/I won't leave these guys, they need me/ Yami growled.

/You won't hurt a human either, now go! We'll protect these guys/ Mai said.

Yami's ears twitched, if he ran, he had a chance of saving Yugi and the others by leading Tea away. If he didn't run though, he could stay and protect Yugi himself. Yami bent his knees /You have to get them out of here, now! I'm going to distract her, you guys get them to safety/ Yami said. Yami launched forward after Tea. Mai grabbed Serenity and Joey, Duke grabbed Tristan and Seto, Marik grabbed Malik, Bakura grabbed Ryou and Yami bounced back and grabbed Yugi.

The five of them ran with their passengers. They jumped to the rooftops and jumped roof to roof. They skidded to a halt when they ran out of roofs to run to. The vampire hunters were specially trained and specially equipped to be able to keep up with them, so it was no surprise that Tea climbed to the roof a short time after they had. Yami put Yugi down and stood protectively in front of him. Yami growled low in his throat, his diamond shaped pupils narrowing, like a cat's. "I wouldn't launch at my daughter again if I were you Sennen." Yami spun around and saw Tea's mother standing there "You see, we paid a little visit to a store earlier... And we picked up a piece so that way we can play a game..." She smirked as she turned Solomon out in front of her and put a knife to his throat.

"SOLOMON!" Yami yelled.

"I'm fine, just go!" Solomon yelled.

"Shut it you!" Tea's mom said. "You come with me, no fighting, and the old man goes free."

"Deal" Yami said quietly.

"What? Yami!" Mai yelled.

"Shut it! Mai, keep Yugi and Solomon safe." Yami held up his hands as he walked forward. "I'll go with you, just don't hurt any of them."

"YAMI NO!" Yugi lunged forward and Mai grabbed him. "YAMI!"

Yami turned and grabbed Yugi's hand /I'm sorry, I have to do this. I won't let you or anyone else be hurt because of me. I love you Yugi, and I always will. Take care of yourself./ Yami let go of Yugi's hand and turned back to face the vampire hunters. "Let Solomon go, and I'll go with you... I won't fight anymore."

Tea's mother released Solomon, and he ran over to Yugi and the others. /Go Mai, get out of here with Yugi and the others./

/Alright. Goodbye Yami./

/Goodbye Mai./ Yami sighed and looked down sadly. He was defeated, captured, after he had just begun his happy ending, it was being brutally ripped away from him. 'Not if I have anything to say about it' Yami heard the voice growl. A bright light flashed from Yami's chest and the voice in his head told him to run. And so he did, it didn't really sound like he could argue with that voice.

"What the hell was that light?" Duke yelled, Tristan and Joey in his arms.

"I don't know, but there goes Yami!" Mai yelled pointing at a black blur that was rapidly getting smaller, another black blur on his heels.

The all watched after them until they were no longer able to see the two blurs. "You guys should've ran while you had the chance" Tea's mom said, standing in front of the vampires. "Unfortunately your leader made a mistake in leaving you guys behind..."

'What the hell was that?' Yami asked the voice. It hadn't answered him yet though. It was probably sleeping... 'Do voices sleep?' Yami shrugged and kept on running. /Mai, are you guys alright?/ Yami waited for her response but never got one. /Mai?/ Yami's eyes widened and he skidded to a stop.

"Gotchya" Tea yelled.

"Not quite" Yami yelled back, running back the way they had came. Yami ran past the warehouse that they had been playing lazer tag in and caught sight of people inside. He skidded to a stop and saw Yugi and the others inside. 'I have to get them out. But how?' Yami ran off, headed towards town.

"So, are any of you going to tell me where he went?" Tea's mother asked.

"We don't know! What the hell you want us to tell you?" Duke yelled.

She walked forward and slapped him in the face "You shut up."

The door to the warehouse slammed open, and Yami walked in. He was holding a cup of steaming liquid, and he was chanting something. The others were looking at him. Mai, Duke, Marik, and Bakura smirked, and secretly grabbed the human's hands. Yami looked up at Tea's mom and smirked, his lips moving with words unspoken. He threw the hot liquid in her face, causing enough panic between the two hunters to get the humans out of the warehouse and get everyone to safety. Yami had Seto call in a helicopter, to the roof of a building they were standing on.

"Here Mai, take him" Yami said handing Yugi to Mai, who was in the helicopter. Yami tapped twice on the window of the helicopter and told him to take off.

/What are you doing?/ Mai yelled.

/Let's face it, they're not gonna stop. It's time I stop running./ Yami smiled and waved to his friends as the helicopter took off. /That chopper is NOT to come back for me./ Yami told Mai as he turned and headed towards the edge of the roof. Yami jumped off the roof and ran through the streets back to the warehouse. "I had to make sure you weren't going to hurt my friends. Now that I'm sure they're safe, I'll go with you. No tricks this time." Tea appeared behind Yami and slammed him into the warehouse, cuffing his hands behind his back. "Wasn't really neccessary, but whatever."

Yami's friends circled in the helicopter and saw Yami get slammed up against the warehouse, cuffed, and then punched to the ground. He mouthed something off that they couldn't hear and was picked up by the collar of his shirt, and punched back down.

"Yami really needs to learn when to shut his mouth" Seto said, a bored expression on his face.

"Your cousin was on the short end of the stick with the common sense thing." Mai said, the same expression on her face.

"Seto, I have a question" Yugi said.

"Okay, what?" Seto asked turning to look at Yugi.

"If you and Yami are cousins, why is he half vamp and your not any part vamp?"

"Well Yugi, our grandparents were both half vampires, half humans. Yami's father took both parts of the vampire from our grandparents' DNA. My father took both human halves of the DNA. Yami's father married a human, and Yami was born, part vampire part human. My father married a human, so I was born all human."

"Oh... That makes sense..."

"They'll take him to the council" Solomon said.

Everyone turned to look at him. "Trust me, go to the old stadium." They flew away towards the old stadium. They landed the helicopter away from the stadium, and walked over to go in.

"Grandpa? Are you sure they'll bring him here? There aren't many people here..."

"These are all the hunters, they've been searching for Yami for a while, so no one would miss this. Luckily they don't know he changes." Solomon whispered.

"You didn't tell them?"

"Nope, Yami made me promise not to."

"Good. Then he may be able to make it out of this." Yugi sighed. They walked forward and took a seat so they weren't very close, but were close enough. Duke, Mai, Marik, and Bakura were in robes with hoods on them, so no one knew who or what they were.

"Bring him up here! We have thirty minutes until sunrise!" They heard a man yell.

"That's the head hunter" Solomon said.

"Great."

Yami was being shoved along towards a stairway that led up, back into the night. After having the crap beat out of him, he was glad to be able to see the moon again. Yami walked up and his ears twitched, he felt his friends' presence and the presence of all the hunters. Yami looked up as he was brought up the stairs and caught sight of Yugi, whos eyes had went wide, his hand went up to his mouth, and tears welled up in his eyes as he caught sight of him. "Keep moving" the executioner said hitting Yami in the back of the head.

Yami walked forward and was standing on the edge of the platform, looking up at the head hunter. "State your name and your relation" the head hunter demanded.

"My name is Yami Atem Sennen, and I'm the son of Aknamkanon."

Yami was chained to a rock in the center of the platform he stood on.

"Yami, you realize why you're being killed correct?"

"I realize a little bit of it, but would you mind explaining a little more?"

"Yami, not only are you here because you're a vampire, but your also here because you brainwashed one of our own. I-"

"Whoa, WHOA, back up. I what?"

"You brainwashed one of our-"

"Okay, one, I didn't BRAINWASH anyone. Vampires can't do that crazy shit. We-"

"You watch your tongue" the executor said.

"NO! If I'm gonna die I'm gonna tell you guys a few things for future references. One, these chains suck ass! If I wasn't cooperating with you guys, I could easily do this" Yami yanked his arms, legs, and neck free of the chains. "And I could escape. But I'm not trying to escape. Anyway!" He turned and glared at the executioner. "We can't BRAINWASH people, we can't do spells, or make potions. I dunno where the hell you people are getting this information from, BUT STOP STEREOTYPING! Do you people have any idea how annoying that is?"

"What about the stuff that you threw in my face!?" Tea's mom yells.

"It was hot coffee. You shouldn't have trapped my human friends."

"But you were chanting!"

"Yeah, I was singing an old song to be honest."

"Get to the point Yami" the head hunter says.

"You want the point? Here it is. My father never hurt anyone. You wanna know why Solomon is okay with me? It's because my father saved his life when they were younger. My father saved Solomon from his impending doom." Yami started circling around the platform he stood on. "You people call us monsters, look at you guys. You know what I was doing tonight when those two caught me?!" He asked pointing at Tea and her mother. "I was protecting humans. Humans that those two were going to kill, just to get to me. You people really think that I'm the monster here? I've never killed a human. I've never even dreamed of killing a human. Hell! I'm in love with a human, and I don't care who knows it. But, you guys have just proved my point, the point I've been making my whole life." Yami lowered his voice. "Happy endings don't happen for people like me." He raised his voice again. "But the point is, you people are judging me for WHAT I am. I can't choose WHAT I am. Thats like you choosing to be white! Or him choosing to be black! Or her choosing to be a girl! Or him choosing to be a boy! You can't choose WHAT you are! You can only choose WHO you are. I've never hurt anyone... Not on purpose... I'm not a monster. I'm just like you guys. So my ears are pointy, and I have fangs, and my pupils are shaped like diamonds instead of circles. So what! I have flaws, I fall down, I stumble over my own feet just like anyone else! You wanna know the real difference... I have flaws, and I'm not afraid to admit it... How many of you can do that?" Yami looked around at the crowd. "And the whole brainwashing thing. Yeah, that's just a bunch of bogus bullshit. Because Solomon Motou's grandson told him the same thing that he told me. Judge someone for WHO they are, not for WHAT they are."

"Well, you have a valuable point there Yami."

"Can I just say a few more things?"

The head hunter sighed but waved his hand "Continue Mr. Sennen."

"A great philosopher once said, judge all you want in the light, but when you turn out the light, we all look the same. If we were in a dark room, you would never know what I was. If we were to talk in an unlit room, I guarantee that you would like the kind of person that I am."

"What point are you making here Mr. Sennen?"

"Give me five more minutes. Then judge me for the person that I really am."

The head hunter sighed again. "Very well Mr. Sennen, five minutes, but no more."

"Thank you. I'll continue on my speech while I wait. I have friends. Friends that are just like me, and human friends alike. And let me tell ya, they're the best friends you'll ever know. They don't care about theirselves, they care for others first. I've seen them open their hearts, and offer their lives in the place of others. I've watched the one I love stand up to his grandfather and step in front of a gun just for me. He's brave, and he's a determined young man." Yami turned to look at Yugi and smiled. "He's proven his love countless times, and I only just recently believed that even someone like me could fall in love. My heart beats for him, and him alone." He turned and continued talking to the audience. "My friends are beginning to show their feelings for his friends too. I saved them all, and in return those guys were willing to do anything to make sure that you guys didn't catch me. But, in the end I ended up giving my life so that they could all live. But, I'm glad that I had friends like them, before it was all over." Duke, Mai, Marik, and Bakura jumped on the platform to stand with Yami as the sun comes up. "Close your eyes guys, and don't open them until your pupils have returned back to normal" he whispered.

The five of them closed their eyes as the sun came up. The vampire hunters watched as their fingernails shortened, their ears shrank and rounded out, and their teeth retreated back into their mouths. "What the..." The head hunter gasped.

The five of them open their eyes and the hunters notice their pupils have rounded out. "So if you guys are going to judge me, judge me for me, not because of what I am at night. This is why I asked for five more minutes. I want to know what you guys think of me as the person I truely am, not of the thing I turn into at night."

The hunters sit quietly taking it all in. The head hunter stands up and smiles at Yami. "Mr. Sennen, I'm impressed. You're the first one to ever stand up to us. And you're the first one to open our eyes to what we've really been doing. You and your friends will be protected from future hunters, along with any children that come from your clan. If one of you are accused of a crime, I will have a trial held, and unless it can be proven that you guys were the ones that did it, well, it'll be the same with you as it would be for us. Innocent until proven guilty."

"You mean..."

The head hunter nodded "I can't rightfully kill someone as courageous as you without any proof that you committed a crime. You are free to go."

Yami's smile was the brightest that it had ever been. "YAMI!" Yami turned and was tackled to the ground by none other than little Yugi. "YOU'RE OKAY!" Yugi sobbed into Yami's chest.

Yami smiled and lifted Yugi's head gently. "Did you ever have any doubts?"

"Not with the kind of person you are" Yugi whispered, tears still running down his face.

"I love you Yugi Motou."

"I love you Yami Sennen." Yugi stretched up as Yami leaned forward, meeting in the middle for a kiss.

"He truely loves him doesn't he Solomon?" The head hunter asked Solomon.

"He sure does" Solomon said, a smile on his face.

'I am proud of you my son. You have found love in the craziest of places. Love Yugi with everything that you have, and know that you are loved back. Respect Solomon as if he were your own grandfather. And always remember, we'll be watching over you my sweet baby boy.' The voice whispered. 'Thank you mom' Yami thought back as a tear ran down his right cheek, still in his liplock with Yugi.

"Yami? Are you okay?" Yugi asked once they had broke apart.

Yami smiled and looked up to the sky. If it were a movie his parent's ghostly reflections would've been up there in that sky looking down at him. But this wasn't a movie, so Yami looked back to his boyfriend. "Everything is perfect" he said quietly.

Yugi grinned his big grin, making Yami's smile widen to a grin of his own. The two of them hugged, and Yami sent out a silent prayer.

'May you never be judged based on your appearance. And if you are, then that person doesn't truely know you. Don't let judgement based on your appearance bother you, because you know the truth, they do not. Don't judge people by the color of their skin. They weren't able to choose what color they were born. Don't judge people based on their clothing. That may be all they can afford. Don't judge people by how big or little they are. They can't choose how tall or small they grow. Don't judge people based on how their parents acted. They don't choose their parents, and that means they're not always the same as them. Don't judge people based on any disablities, or "diseases" they have. Some of those disabled people are the kindest sweetest people you'll ever meet. And it's not their fault that they were born that way. Things just happen. Don't judge based on what sex people are. They can't choose whether they're a boy or a girl. Sure theres surgery that can change all that, but still, you were born you for a reason. Someone up there has a plan for you. Whether you believe it or not. Most importantly, don't judge people because they're gay or straight. Being gay really isn't a choice. Have you ever tried to be gay, if your straight? You can't do it can you? Sure you can pretend, but you're uncomfortable with it. Be who you are, and if someone judges you, don't listen. You are who you are. You are a great person, and a great friend. May good luck fall upon you and bad luck be blown away. I wish you many more good days my dear friend. Best wishes, and good luck.'

Me: Moral of the story, don't judge based on WHAT people are. Get to know that person, if you think that person isn't so great, well, at least you got to know WHO they are. I am against bullying, and bullying is a terrible thing. I am so so so sorry if you found any offense in me saying black, instead of african american, it's just, black kinda got my point across more. I just ask that you don't take it offensively, because I don't mean it in a bad way or anything. If you found anything offensive that I said in this chapter, I am so sorry. :/ I tried to make it polite, while still getting my point in there. That's the end of this story folks. And as always *waves* Until next story :) Goodbye everyone! :)