Disclaimer: Never have, never will own Yu-Gi-Oh! But maybe one day I'll own one of those cool jet packs that Kaiba wears in season 5. ;)

Author's Note: So… hi! I haven't really been on this site much in, well, years, but recently I just started dabbling and then somehow this story started to slip from my mind to my fingers to the page. I'm not too practiced when it comes to writing fanfiction for "Yu-Gi-Oh!", but hopefully, you find something you enjoy within this journey of ours!

This story takes place about 6 years after our heroes graduate from High School, so all of the characters are clearly older. The story I think started primarily from a question of 'well, what would happen after Yami left?' I felt like there was so much more that could be explored as there were so many unanswered questions that we were left with, despite having a conclusion.

In case anyone is curious, a number of feelings in this story come from music and I'll list a link to my muses for this story on my fanfiction author's profile homepage. I briefly want to mention too, that chapter titles may be written in either Japanese or English. English Translations of the chapter titles will be available in the top A/N's in the case of a Japanese title, along with any explanations for other relevant Japanese terminology.

Finally, I want to dedicate this story to HiKariMokubasGuardian for eternally being one of my best friends in the world. So glad that I met you. :)

Today's Chapter Title literally means "Welcome home". Because being home is a wonderful thing.

Terms -

"前前前世" - pronounced 'Zenzenzense', means 'Past-past-past life'. In other words the lyrics below mean, "Since your past-past-past life 'til this day I've been looking everywhere for you".

Defying Destiny

"前前前世 'til this day

Been looking everywhere for you

I follow the sound of your innocent laughter

And it guided me in the right way

Even if every piece of you disappeared

And if it scattered everywhere

No, I won't waver, I will start back at one

Look for you all over again

For millions of light-years yet to come with a verse

On my lips that will never end"

"前前前世" by RADWIMPS

Chapter One: お帰り(Okaeri)

It wasn't his own hunger that woke him up. Rather, it was the light streaming into the room. He debated momentarily as to whether or not he preferred the hard desk as a pillow to the idea of getting up and ready for the day. The latter won out and begrudgingly, Seto raised his head and stood up to stretch. They needed to get ready to head out anyway.

The halls of the mansion were quiet and dark. He suspected that Mokuba was likely dead asleep in his room like he always was. Upon reaching the younger's bedroom, a simple twist of the doorknob proved him correct. Lying twisted up in his sheets, his feet up by the headboard and head near the bottom corner of the bed, Mokuba had somehow managed to astound him with his ability to move around in his sleep.

"Mokuba," He said, but his brother didn't stir, "Mokuba."

Still nothing. He rolled his eyes, "Mokuba!"

Suddenly, Mokuba woke with a start falling off the side and yelping upon hitting the floor. The messy bedhead poked up with an angry look.

"Nii-sama! What was that for?" He yelled, rubbing his head where the apparent impact had occurred.

"You're going to be late for school again," Seto told him quietly.

"This wouldn't be a problem if you hired a private tutor to homeschool me," Mokuba whined, but was cut off by a shirt being thrown at him.

"Put a shirt on," Seto scolded the teen.

"Don't ignore me," Mokuba set, sitting cross-legged and doing as his brother told him.

"You would die if I had you homeschooled," Seto stated simply, digging out a clean gym uniform and slacks for his brother.

"Your logic being?" Mokuba asked as he took the slacks from his brother and hopped into them, "And why are you making sure I get dressed? Don't you have that thing tonight?"

"Clarify 'thing', Mokuba, and you'd have no social life, that's why," Seto answered.

This social life was perhaps the biggest difference between the two. Seto preferred silence and isolation to human interaction; it was too much of a hassle otherwise. However, with age, Mokuba had grown into a real social butterfly of sorts. Though he had always been well liked among his classmates, high school had treated him very well and the younger of the two Kaiba brothers had become quite popular.

Seto half suspected part of that was because now most of the students realized Mokuba was loaded, or well, close to loaded as they were brothers, but he knew that to simply disregard the fact that Mokuba was charismatic and smart, not to mention starting to hit a growth spurt and had cut his hair to shoulder length so now everyone could see his amethyst eyes, would be a rather sinful error.

Regardless of his growing popularity at school, Seto was astounded that Mokuba continued to be so loyal to him, for lack of a better word. While Mokuba always had held the title of "Vice President" of Kaiba Corp and Seto had always trusted him a large number of things that most people would call absurd to give to a kid, Mokuba had begun to invest a substantial amount of his time in the company, seeming to absorb and assist Seto more than usual whenever he could.

Whenever he couldn't though, Mokuba was either having a social life, going to cram school, studying, doing homework, or getting into some kind of trouble it seemed. Thankfully, not the kind that required Seto to pay some sort of ransom though. Even still though, Mokuba was often around the mansion, lighting the place up with his good hearted nature and beaming smile, ready to assist, listen, or see to something whenever Seto asked, even if it meant cancelling plans (though Seto had started to become more aware of Mokuba's social life so that such things wouldn't have to happen). Yes, loyal. That was the word.

"That thing with Pegasus," Mokuba stated finally standing up and zipping up his pants, "You know, the exhibit gala-party thing or whatever."

"Don't remind me," Seto stated.

"Awww, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the desk this morning," Mokuba teased with a baby voice, "Come on, Nii-sama, he's not that bad and Yugi and the others will be there too."

"I repeat, don't remind me... and I can't believe you're saying that," Seto said as he moved to leave.

Mokuba shrugged, "It helps that he hasn't attempted to kidnap me since I was ten."

"Just get ready."

-YGO-

"Flight 717 from Cairo, Egypt: Now Arriving."

Narita airport was packed with people. It always was. Normally, Tea never came out here, but today was different. Today he was coming home. She resisted the urge to jump up and down as she waited by the barrier and instead opted for standing on her tip toes peaking over people to see. Travelers seemed to come out in waves. Just as her toes were starting to give out though, she glimpsed a spiky head of hair coming out.

"Yugi!" She yelled and as soon as he got beyond the gates he was engulfed in a bone crushing hug.

"Hi Tea," He laughed.

"It's so good to see you! How was the flight?" She asked.

"Eh, long, you know, normal," Yugi told her smiling.

"You got a tan," She commented.

Though, as Tea had pointed out, tan, Yugi blushed a little, "Yeah, it happens when you're outside there a lot. And that's basically all archeology is."

She nodded as they walked to baggage claim, "So are you jet lagged at all?"

"Not really; I slept on the plane," He told her.

"Well that's good. Joey and Tristan wanted me to apology to you for them for not being able to come. Wrapped up with work and studying. But they'll be at the reception tonight though," Tea told him as he reached for his bag on the conveyor belt.

"Naw, it's all good. I understand," Yugi told her, lifting up his bag and inadvertently flexing his arms.

It was at this point Tea found herself blushing though. Even though they talked on a pretty regular basis via Skype, seeing Yugi in person was different. He had changed quite a bit since he had left for his job in Cairo and while she had seen him a few times since when holidays occurred, she still found herself used to the image of this short little high school student that she had been friends with years ago. But that's not at all how he appeared anymore.

Instead, Yugi had certainly grown a bit. He wasn't taller than her, but he wasn't a head shorter than her like way back then. In fact, his outrageous hair sort of made him look taller than her. It wasn't just his height that had changed though. Once a scrawny kid who sat in the corner playing games in class, when Yugi had decided to study archeology it had meant that he suddenly had to become more physically active... and strong. So while still lean, it was times when he was picking up luggage that Tea noticed that Yugi had certainly gained some muscle. In fact, come to think of it, really, he looked a lot like Atem had during that last shadow game...

Atem.

She bit her lip before deciding to fill the silence, "So... Ishizu didn't come with you?"

"No, she came early with the tablet shipments. You know how she is. She's a bit particular about letting just anyone handle those artifacts," Yugi explained.

"Have you... found anything of note lately then?" Tea inquired hesitantly.

They both knew what she was hinting at, but Yugi appreciated her bid at being subtle, "Well... not... exactly. We keep finding more from that era of Egyptian history. Lots and lots of tablets. You know, they had several kinds of tablets. They had the actual tablets that they sealed away beasts inside of, but then they had miniature ones that kept a kind of record for ease of access and accounting, and then there were just art pieces similar to that of the tablets so it all really can be hard to..."

Yugi then realized he was rambling, "Uh... but um, yeah, the tablets are the only things we've really been able to find. I haven't found anything really new about Atem."

Tea nodded, "You still miss him?"

Yugi shrugged, "I suppose I always will... I mean, he was a part of me for three years... He was like a brother, you know?"

"Except he lived inside your head," Tea added teasingly.

"Yeah, but... you know what I mean. It's just weird to be... alone, you know?"

"You know, if you moved back here, you wouldn't be so alone. We miss you," Tea told him.

"Hey, I come back on occasion!" Yugi argued.

"Only when Pegasus whistles," Tea argued back.

Yugi pouted before mumbling, "I have to eat somehow. Archeology isn't exactly a bread winning career."

"As I have pointed out before," Tea noted, "But I know you love it, so you should follow your heart."

Yugi shrugged, "Speaking of which, can you spot me for the train ticket?"

"I thought Pegasus was paying for your trip!" She exclaimed.

"Kidding, kidding!" He laughed.

"So who else is going to the gala?" She asked.

"Um, I really know of Pegasus and Ishizu for sure. Marik couldn't come, Kaiba probably got an invite though," He told her.

"Think he'll come?"

Yugi pursed his lips in thought, "Probably... though begrudgingly. I hope he does though. I think he'll find some of what we've found really interesting."

Tea looked dubious but said nothing. They both knew Kaiba really never cared about Yugi's archaeological finds. If anything, he found it annoying if not laboriously taxing on his patience. No, nothing about Kaiba had changed. He was always looking to the future while Yugi seemed hopelessly dedicated to understanding to the past.

"The train is arriving. Please watch your step."

"Hey, though, before I forget, I got you something," Yugi told her.

"Aw, thank you! But give it to me after we get back to the game shop ok. I don't want to lose it," She told him as they shuffled on board.

"The doors are closing. Please watch your step."

With the slide and the snap of the closing of the doors, Yugi let out a sigh. They were certainly back home. The ride back to the game shop was surprisingly short though. Through their skyping, neither of them really needed to catch up, so instead, they just talked about local news, Tea's recent dance lessons, and Yugi's latest game finds.

Jumping off at the appropriate station, they decided to grab an ice-cream cone or two before walking to the shop. As they did, Tea pulled out her phone for a selfie of the two of them. Yugi smiled as Tea clicked the phone's camera button and he watched as she scrolled through Instagram filters before posting "#BFF is back! :D :D :D #Cairo #Archeologist #IceCream" as the tagline. Her enthusiasm made him feel special. She had missed him and her smiling at him and his return meant the world to him. Something cold dripped onto his finger and he noticed his ice cream melting.

"Oh!" He quickly brought it up to lick off the drip, when he found his nose smothered in ice-cream from the scoop above.

"Yugi, you goof," Tea laughed.

He blushed a bit as he took a napkin to wipe it off his face before discarding it in the trash, "There, better?"

"You missed a spot," She said.

Yugi looked around for another napkin before realizing he had none, "You tell me that after I threw the last one away?"

"It's fine," She said, "Just lick it off."

"My tongue doesn't go up that far," He argued.

"Well fine," She said before shocking him and kissing his nose, effectively getting rid of the last bits of ice cream.

It also effectively made him go beat red and upon seeing this, suddenly, Tea went red as well. What had she been thinking?

"There, you're fine now," She told him, turning away, "Come on, we're almost there."

It took a moment for Yugi to move his legs again to follow after her. No, nothing had really changed. They were still like they had been back in high school. And that meant he still didn't know if Tea would ever feel at all the same way he felt about her.

"I'm home!" He called upon opening the door, "Grandpa?"

"Hey, Yug, you're home!" Came a call.

"Joey?" Yugi asked before getting tackled again by the bleached blonde brute.

"Yeah, man, what's happening?" Joey asked, "Your Grandpa's lying down upstairs. Not sure if he's napping or not, but if you want..."

"No, I'll wait, it's important that he rest," Yugi said, "I'll see him in a few. How's the shop holding up?"

Joey's smile seemed to beam brighter than usual, "It's going great! Duke and I have been working to update some of those games you've told us about. The prototypes are just flying. And of course, Pegasus is always sending us those card promos at discounted prices. You should warm up to him more, we'd be rich, Yug."

"That's... alright..." Yugi said, side stepping the comment.

Since deciding to go into archeology in college, Yugi had spent most of his free time digging in the sands of Egypt during internships and now a full time job. However, getting away from the title of King of Games was one that he couldn't easily run away from and, as his grandpa had pointed out, playing in Duel Monsters tournaments and doing appearances with Pegasus allowed him to pursue a more thankless and paycheck-less career. Additionally, Pegasus also made exceptions for the game shop and discounted them trading cards at a rather high cut, which helped the shop to thrive above what it had when he had been in college.

It wasn't that Yugi didn't enjoy playing Duel Monsters any less than he had back in high school and it wasn't that he wasn't inexperienced. If anything, he probably knew the game better than anyone, considering he unearthed parts of it for work. In fact, some said he was even better than he had been back in high school and when Atem had been around to help him. But playing in tournaments and doing appearances always left an oddly empty taste in his mouth afterwards. Going it alone, it was... depressing... just a little maybe.

"Well, I'm going to go get ready," Tea said, "I'll meet you guys there ok!"

"A'ight, Tea," Joey called as she left the shop, the door jingling behind her.

Yugi smiled before turning back to Joey, "So, he's really okay then?"

Joey tilted his head, "Well, you know, Yug, he's old. But, if you ask me, he's just as creepy as he was when I first met him."

"Nice, Joey, really," Yugi commented.

Joey smiled, "I just tells it like I sees it."

Yugi pulled his bag behind the counter before going to the main door to the house and kicking off his shoes. Joey followed behind, keeping an ear out for any customers. He wasn't too worried though. There wasn't much of a customer swarm until after school let out, so they should be fine to head into the house for the time being.

Sliding inside and into a seat, Yugi collapsed at the kitchen table and placed his head down to rest. Joey looked at his friend, trying to gauge what exactly Yugi wanted to do before giving up and grabbing two cans of coke from the fridge. Popping one open, he hit the other against Yugi's arm which was cradling his head on the table.

"Can't have you fallin' asleep before Pegasus' party tonight, Yug," Joey said, "Flight that bad?"

"No..." Yugi said, muffled by the table, "It was just long..."

He sat up and took the coke from Joey, hoping that the caffeine would wake him up quickly. Joey sat down after taking another listen for store activity.

"Something happen with Tea?" Joey asked.

"No..." Yugi started.

"Yug."

"No... yes... no..." Yugi grabbed at his hair and pulled himself down on the table again.

"I don't know what's worse, being confused as to if she liked me or Atem or just being confused as to if she likes me or not," Yugi complained.

"Aw, you overthink this," Joey told him, "I think she has a thing for you."

"Really?" Yugi asked sarcastically.

"Well... I mean, she skypes with you like every day. That's something," Joey remarked.

"Unlike someone who's supposed to be giving me updates on how my grandfather is doing," Yugi stated.

"He's fine! I told you! Would I let my employer die on me?" Joey asked.

"Yes, and afterwards you'd hide the body to hide the evidence of mistreatment."

"Mistreatment?!" Joey gasped in feigned horror, "How dare you impugn my honor good sir."

"How dare you forget to call in once a week!" Yugi argued back, "And after you couldn't get a job anywhere else after dropping out of school!"

"Hey hey, alright, fine, I get it, was just teasin' ya a bit that's all," Joey said defensively, "I'll do better when you go back."

Yugi paused, "Actually... Joey, I'm uh, I'm going to be sticking around here for a while."

"What?!" Joey snapped, "That's great! But wait, why? Weren't you saying that everything was going well? And wait, for how long?"

"Well, uh, it's a long story, but essentially, there's better equipment here to look at some of the artifacts we've been finding... And Pegasus has been funding the Ishtars' digs for a while and he wants more information because there's only so many shiny cards he can make of the same monsters..." Yugi explained, "So I'm going to be doing some more translations for him."

"Man, that guy's got you on a tight leash," Joey commented.

"Tell me something I don't know," Yugi said, taking another swig.

"Um... well, Tristan will be swinging by in about an hour. Said he could drive us over," Joey told him.

"He got a car?" Yugi asked, surprised.

"Yeah, he never explained it to me either. Not sure how he managed to get the money."

"Did he sell his bike?"

Joey shook his head, "Naw, he's still got it."

"Hmmm..." Yugi mulled over the rather bland news for a moment before finishing the coke and placing the empty aluminum can back on the table.

Standing up, he stretched and moved for the stairs, "I'm going to go see if Grandpa's awake."

"A'ight Yug, I'll be here," Joey replied.

"Thanks, Joey," Yugi said as his feet carried himself upstairs to his grandfather's room.

Sliding across the floor in his socks like one well versed ice skating in this particular hallway, Yugi skidded to a halt in front of his grandfather's door. Hesitantly, he knocked before gently sliding the door open. Joey had been right. His grandpa was asleep. It was an odd site, but one he was becoming more familiar with as time went on. After all, his grandfather wasn't immune to the tolls of mortality. None of them were.

Almost tiptoeing over to the bed, he sat down on the side before noticing his grandpa's water glass being empty. His grandfather as of late was suffering from Dry Mouth due to some new medications. Joey had told him that much. Knowing that his grandfather would likely want a glass of water upon waking up, he reached over to the pitcher also nearby and began to pour a glass.

"Hey there, kiddo!"

Yugi gasped in surprise and spilled the water all over his front.

"Grandpa! You scared me!" He yelled, annoyed.

"Aw, it's only water, it will dry," His grandfather laughed, "Now where's my hug?"

A mischievous look crossed Yugi's face before he gave his grandfather a big hug, being sure to soak his grandfather's front in the process with his soaking shirt as well. Solomon Motou laughed, realizing that he had been asking for the pay back as they parted so he could look Yugi over.

"I deserved that," He laughed, "But look at you. Did you grow again? You know I don't appreciate it when you do that."

Yugi laughed, but answered, "No, I think I've stopped growing."

"Shame, it would be nice if one of the men in our family could break 5' 10"," Solomon lamented, "But you've got a nice tan and it looks like you've taken to pumping some of that iron too."

Yugi shrugged. It was the same questions and comments over again, but he knew that this would be the case, "Not really. It's more like I have to move heavy things slowly and carefully."

"Well, regardless, you look good and healthy," Solomon told him, "I'm glad. But I'm more glad that you're home."

Yugi smiled, "Yeah, it's nice to be back."

"You've told everyone that you're going to be staying for a while?" Solomon asked.

"Uh, I told Joey, but no one else just yet," Yugi admitted, "Tea left before I could tell her."

"Don't you talk with her on the phone every day?" Solomon pointed out, slightly annoyed.

"...yes?" Yugi stated hesitantly, which earned him a hard smack on the back.

As if he's seriously ill, Yugi thought as his grandpa continued, "If you don't ever say anything to her, you're never going to get anywhere with that girl. You'll lose her!"

"Yeah, I know, I know," Yugi complained, "Can we talk about something else?"

"Such as?" Solomon asked.

"Your health perhaps, since Joey hasn't told me anything since three weeks ago," Yugi filled in.

"I'm doing fine, Yugi, I'm just a little more tired than usual," Solomon told him.

"You sure? Everything's alright?" Yugi asked earnestly.

"I'm sure. Don't let me stop you from anything you want to do while here," Solomon answered.

"Could I let it stop me from working?" Yugi asked, jokingly.

"Not on your life!" Solomon cried, "Pegasus' discount is phenomenal because of you and I'd sooner die than keep you from fulfilling that man's wishes!"

"Glad to know you'd sell me off for trading cards, Grandpa," Yugi stated sarcastically.

"Only holographic ones," Solomon said with a wink, "Now go get ready for tonight. I expect you to clean up well!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Yugi said, standing up and heading for the door, "Hey Grandpa."

"Yes?"

"It's good to be home," He said.

Solomon smiled, "It's good to have you home."

They nodded at each other before Yugi left for his room. Upon reaching it, he noticed how very sparse it was in comparison to how it had once been. One thing that was present though was a suit hanging up under a sheet of plastic. Knowing that he would not get the time to send it to the dry cleaner beforehand, he had sent it early to have it prepped here. Looking at it, he found himself realizing how incredibly foreign it seemed to him. He knew he needed to get ready, but his bed was calling to him.

Collapsing onto the old thing and sinking into it, he looked up at the ceiling. No matter how many times he told himself that he need to move it, he just didn't seem to be able to manage it. He reached up for the ceiling and swiped at the air as if trying to grab something that wasn't there. It was odd to have nothing up on the walls or hanging above from the ceiling. It was... lonely. He turned to his side to see the one photograph still in the room of him and all of his friends.

Despite all they had been through, for some reason, he was nervous to be back and around them. As though they'd disappear or leave if they were around him again. He knew that was illogical, but nonetheless, he couldn't shake the fear completely away. He sat up and stretched again.

Regardless of if he was afraid or not of losing his friends to the passage of time or the changes that come with getting older, he knew there was no use dwelling on it. Things would unfold around him, unabated and unperturbed by his personal relationships. Like this party.

He stood up and headed for the bathroom to get ready. The party wouldn't be all bad. After all, they had found a few things he knew would be of interest to everyone. Especially Kaiba. In fact, thinking about that almost excited him. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn't be so bad.

-YGO-

A/N: I admit, a little bit of a slow start up, but I hope you continue reading! This is only my 3rd time writing YGO and I'm a little rusty. But bare with me and I think you'll greatly enjoy what you read! Also, Happy National Friendship Day! HiKariMokubasGuardian and I decided to post our new stories on the same day, so be sure to check out her new story as well titled 'Wingman'! I've already read a few chapters behind the scenes and I've had to keep from snorting soda up my nose, she's that great at comedy. Anywho, let me know what you thought in your reviews and can't wait to bring you the next chapter!

Later,

~Rena