A/N: THANK YOU ALL OF YOU WHO ARE READING THIS RIGHT NOW! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE IT! "Frozen Flames" has been dead for so long...but I plan on reviving it as best I can! AND THANK YOU EVERYONE WHO REMEMBERED ME AFTER MY 1.5 YEAR "DEATH" PERIOD! I'm SO grateful you actually read the new chapter of "An Angel in Disguise" after all this time (and thought it was still good!) :sobs happily: I hope this new chapter of "Frozen Flames" can meet your expectations as well!

Don't worry, this was a lot easier to type up than I thought it would be. There are so many ideas swarming in my head that it'll probably be a while before I hit a block:) I still can't believe so many people enjoyed this strange idea of mine though! It still has a loooong way to developing, so please bear with me.

Sorry, I probably should have done this for AiD, but I'll just briefly summarize what's happened so far in FF so you won't have to read the two previous chapters again. Basically, Yami, the prince of Netsyu, the land of fire, was framed for the murder of his father by a power-hungry invader, Pegasus, and was banished from his homeland as punishment. He landed in Kooryu, the land of ice, where he was found and tended to by Yugi. Now both have fallen asleep in a cave. Oh, and Yami and Yugi are forbidden from contact of any kind because of their drastically different natures and origins. Once they did touch accidentally, but it caused both of them extreme pain (Yugi got burned and Yami got frozen).

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the idea/plot...which I'm not even sure I own anymore. O.o I've stopped reading Yu-Gi-Oh fics, so please let me know if any part of this is similar to another fic's!

Info: This fic is completely AU and contains Yami/Yugi shounen-ai! If it bothers you, PLEASE LEAVE NOW!

Random Note: WHAT THE HECK:kicks Fanfiction(dot)net: File upload doesn't allow you more than one punctuation mark at the end anymore?(insert a row of !s) WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO HOW CAN WE EXPRESS OUR SOULS WITHOUT EMPHASIS? NOT ONLY ARE THE SMILEYS GONE BUT NOW THIS? (+o+)

Thank you. Here's a very belated chapter 2!

.oOOo.

Frozen Flames

Chapter 2: Protection

Yugi's eyes fluttered open as the chill of the night air pierced his face in a wave of refreshment. Thinking it was simply an open window, he was prepared to roll over and return to sleep when he finally noticed the discomfort of his wings. They had uncurled while he was sleeping and were now both splayed on the floor behind him. And they were tingling with an odd...warmth.

The heat fully awakened the boy's senses as a rush of the recent events of the day swept through his mind. He sat up and whipped around to meet a pair of watchful crimson eyes through the flames of a small but blazing fire. Startled and a bit embarrassed that he was caught watching, Yami returned his eyes down to his source of life and fed another stick to the hungry flames.

"Sorry...did I wake you?" Yami had tried to keep the fire as small and as far away from Yugi as possible, but given the size of the cave, it still wasn't enough to keep some of the heat from reaching the icy boy. And of course he dared not try to move Yugi after their last painful contact. Instead, he had taken the time to ponder his options and to study the new fascinating companion he had made.

"No, it's all right! It was a good thing you did, actually. I wasn't planning on sleeping this long," Yugi replied sheepishly. He then frowned as he looked outside at the darkness that had fallen over Kooryu. The bright snow prevented everything from being pitch-black, but he still disliked nighttime. At least it had stopped snowing, though. "Grandpa's probably worried sick by now."

"You should go home, then."

"What?" Yugi spun back to meet Yami's eyes in surprise, as if the very notion were preposterous. "But I can't just leave you here!"

Surprisingly, Yami remained calm, even if he also was a bit sad at the idea of Yugi leaving. "It's okay. I'm no longer in critical condition, and as long as I have this cave and some sticks, I can survive." When the other was about to protest, he added, "I don't think I can go with you, either, in all that snow. And what about your people?"

The violet-eyed boy fell silent at that. He dared not even imagine the probable reactions of others of his kind to a foreign fiery creature who posed as much danger to them as they did to him. Yugi had accepted him, but that didn't mean others would. Sometimes being one of the few open-minded, kind-hearted ones of such an icy civilization had its downsides. He sighed as he tried to think of another solution. "At least you should move to a cave closer to my village. If you can't walk in this snow, I'll go back and find something you can ride in. A sled, maybe."

Yami blinked at the foreign word, but he dared not ask what a "sled" was. If it was a means of transportation, it was good enough for him. He was still in awe of Yugi's determination to help him. All the while he had been watching the boy as he slept, he had been wondering what it was that drove the other to do so much for him. He knew he had Ra to thank for letting him fall into the hands of such a caring, selfless creature.

"I'll be right back," Yugi announced as he stepped outside into the snow. Before Yami could say anything, he vanished into the misty night, leaving the fiery creature free to return to his thoughts.

.oOOo.

As he trudged through the waist-deep snow, Yugi felt annoyed by the weather for the first time in his life. It had to be today of all days for an extra-long period of snowfall, which left the entire area blanketed in about twice as much snow as it normally received. Normally he would have loved the extra fluff to play in, but today it was only being a hindrance. It was as if Nature was also trying to divert him from interacting with such a foreign stranger. Still, he plowed on, not daring to fly, for he wished to leave a path to follow back to the cave.

He was so busy looking down and glaring at the snow that he didn't notice what approached him from the sky.

"Yo! Yugi, is that you?" A voice called from above. Yugi barely had time to register who it was before he was gripped in a tackle-hug.

"J-Jou?" He mumbled in surprise. "What're you—?"

"It's already midnight, so I was sent to look for you." Jounouchi finally released the startled boy to shake some snow out of his golden-blonde hair, which seemed to shimmer with a light of its own in the darkness. He was dressed in a similar fashion as Yugi, in clothes spun of pure ice, or rather, pants spun of pure ice. Yugi was one of the few males who actually bothered to cover their chests. "Where have you been? Your gramps and I have been really worried!"

"I'm sorry, I kind of...ran into a dilemma." Yugi was about to explain when he spotted the sled that had been tied to Jounouchi's waist. Apparently Jou had feared he would have found his friend unconscious in the snow. "Can you follow me for now? I'll explain on the way."

Seeing the earnestness and anxiety in those large violet orbs, Jounouchi found that he couldn't refuse.

.oOOo.

Yami was already on the verge of sleep by the time Yugi returned. The wait had felt like such a long time that the crimson-eyed boy had nearly given up. With a sigh of disappointment, he had lain back down on the musty ground and tried to sleep. It was for the best, he supposed. Anyone with any common sense would have gone home and stayed home, and he didn't want to trouble Yugi further. He shouldn't be feeling so disappointed; he should be feeling relieved that the other was safe. Yami cursed himself for being so weak. It was a new feeling indeed, but he couldn't deny that he already felt a sense of loss when Yugi wasn't there with him anymore. He couldn't explain why.

"Yami? I'm ba—"

"WHAT THE—?" Jounouchi's yelp of shock and disbelief was what really jarred Yami to his senses. He turned around to find a pair of huge honey-colored eyes staring at him as if he had three heads. "Yugi! You didn't tell me you found and rescued a Netsyurian! Don't you know those things are dangerous? They're the absolute opposite of our race, and they can burn our entire world into outer space if they wanted to!"

Yugi's frown turned into what could almost count as an angry scowl (A/N: ...if he didn't have such an angelic face!). "Jou! First of all, he's not a 'thing,' second of all, he was dying, and lastly, we can hurt them just as much as they can hurt us!" Even though his eyes were focused on his friend, his mind thought of his hand, which still had visible burn marks from touching Yami's chest. Jounouchi apparently hadn't noticed yet. "And he won't survive unless we bring him to the village, if not from the cold, then from hunger."

Jounouchi still looked ready to argue, but he was taken aback by the serious concern that laced Yugi's otherwise light, carefree voice, and he swallowed his complaints. He had never seen his friend so bold or firm before. Little did he know what trouble the shorter boy had taken to think of an appropriate response and to express it in such an uncharacteristic way. He took one last suspicious glance at Yami before untying the sled from around his waist and placing it in the snow at the mouth of the cave.

"Come on, Yami. This is a sled. Just sit and hold on. It's not wood, so you won't burn it." Yugi smiled at Jounouchi before explaining.

Yami, who was still alarmed by the quarrel he caused, slowly and silently made his way onto the sled. It was cold, but it didn't matter at the moment. He was washed with more gratitude toward Yugi than he could have ever thought possible. Those violet eyes were fixed on his as well with such gentleness that he felt even worse about dragging another stranger into helping him. "Thanks, Yugi," was all he could manage.

Jounouchi said nothing the entire way as he grudgingly helped Yugi pull Yami along by the rope. It was easy to start off since the cave was on a small hill, but afterwards they had to pull the sled at a high speed to keep it from sinking into the deep snow.

With the two of them flying at top speed, they reached the village in record time. Yugi was relived to find that most of the people had gone to sleep, so it was easy to sneak Yami into his own house, which was thankfully big enough to withstand melting from the flames on Yami's body. After the ride in the cold, however, the Netsyurian's flames were once again alarmingly small. Yugi immediately noticed this and started to prepare a stone hearth in order to make another fire.

"Yugi!" A gray-haired man popped out from around a corner and turned a relieved yet disapproving eye on his grandson. "Where have you been? And where are the winterber—" Sugoroku was stopped short when he took note of Yami, who was still sitting on the sled next to the stone hearth Yugi was busily making. However, he, unlike Jounouchi, did not have an outburst. Instead, he remained silent until Yugi finished lighting a fire. Yami refused to meet the old man's eyes as well, instead, focusing on the pile of sticks and stones and wishing he could light them. He would ask to ask permission first, but now didn't seem like the right time.

Thick silence filled the room.

"Yugi..."

"I know, Grandpa, I know!" Yugi cut off the old man before the lecture started. He had already heard enough from Jounouchi's outburst, which had been pretty painful to hear, and he didn't think he could take hearing the same things repeated in one night. "But I couldn't just leave him in the cold!"

"Yugi! You don't understand what you're doing, my boy! We shouldn't—we can't keep him here!" In his distress, Sugoroku started to approach Yami, forgetting momentarily that he couldn't have done anything anyway. He couldn't touch Yami either, but he was too caught up in the moment to think logically.

At this movement, Yugi felt panic rise up in his throat. "NO!" Forgetting his knowledge of Netstyurians as well and just relying on instinct, he rushed forward to stand in front of Yami, his arms flung out. Unfortunately, he wasn't too careful.

"OWW!" Yugi yelped when he accidentally stepped on Yami's toes. The other boy, too, winced in visible pain, but in an effort to keep his pride and politeness in such a delicate situation, he bit his lip from shouting out. While he tried to melt his partially frozen toes by the hearth, Yugi was tending to the nasty burn on the sole of his foot on the crystal sofa. It took a moment for the others to figure out what had just happened before reacting.

"The ointment's over here!" Jounouchi exclaimed, tossing a bottle to Sugoroku who also sat down to help his grandson.

The elderly man sighed as he applied ointment to Yugi's burn. "This was what I meant. It's too dangerous to have him in the same house as us."

"I don't care. A few burns here and there can't compare with having your entire body immersed in pain." Surprised at this bold response, Sugoroku was at a loss for words. He remained silent as he finished bandaging Yugi's foot. Jounouchi, who felt that the atmosphere was finally calm enough, decided to speak up.

"Yugi's got a point, Mr. Mutou. He'll die if we leave him out there." Sure, Jounouchi was still ambivalent about the whole thing himself, but he trusted his friend's judgment and decided to stand by him.

"Please, Grandpa?" Without noticing it himself, Yugi turned the full force of his puppy dog eyes on his grandfather. Sugoroku saw in those violet depths that the boy was earnest and genuinely concerned.

'How typical of Yugi...' He thought with a sigh before finally conceding. "All right. Just for tonight, though. In the morning, we'll have to think of something." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he was glad he had said them. Yugi's entire countenance brightened up in a way only he could achieve. Not only did the boy's face light up, but his wings perked up, and his entire body seemed to shimmer. Sugoroku chuckled inwardly before patting his grandson on the head and getting up from the couch. "Now if you'll excuse me, this old man has been kept up long enough. Jounouchi, you're welcome to stay too."

"Nah, I think I should be getting back to my own place. It's not too far anyway." The blonde turned to Yugi and made a face of nervous apology. "Sorry I can't help you out further, but my dad's going to have a fit." Taking one last, wary look at Yami, he waved goodbye and raced out the door.

Sugoroku didn't even look at Yami before disappearing into his own room, and no one expected it out of him. He was merely acting as any other Kooryurian would act, with that same, icy indifference towards foreigners the race was known for. Yugi sighed when he realized he was once again on his own when it came to helping Yami.

"...Thank you," Yami murmured into the silence, still overwhelmed by what had just happened. Someone had actually gone through so much to defend him, protect him, something that even Shimon hadn't done for him. His guardian had always meekly stepped down after a few exchanges, like he had done when he tried to contradict Pegasus. Yami knew the man had a kind heart, but he couldn't express his opinions firmly and skillfully enough to actually win an argument.

"Oh, it was nothing," Yugi responded, suddenly feeling embarrassed until the grateful scrutiny of those intense crimson orbs. "I-I was just doing what's right. After all, life's more important than anything else, right?" He said with a warm smile.

Yami blinked as he felt his heart skip a beat. This boy was so...philosophical. He had such a broad way of thinking that even Yami, who was quite intellectually skilled in this area himself, was amazed. He felt sheepish as he nodded in agreement, matching Yugi's smile with a small one of his own.

It was then that Yugi remembered the makeshift hearth. "Ah! I almost forgot! You must be freezing right now." Like before, he brought a stick to one of Yami's body flames and used it to light the entire pile. As Yami bathed in the orangey red flames gratefully, Yugi backed up until he was at a comfortable distance from the heat and just watched the phenomenon with fascination. He couldn't help but stare extra long at the still visibly torn fiery wing. "Does it still hurt?"

"Hmm?" Yami followed Yugi's eyes to his own injury, eyes widening slightly. He had completely forgotten about it. He wasn't sure if it was because his body was now too numb to feel anything or he was still too caught up in everything that had just happened. But either way, the pain was gone temporarily, and he was grateful for that. "No...surpri—"

He was cut off by a sudden chill rushing up his leg. It was then that he realized the fire he had made had melted the icy floor and made a small puddle surrounding his feet. Jerking his feet upwards from that ice-cold puddle, he scrambled to put out the fire with his good wing.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I should've realized the floor..." Yugi rushed forward to help him, but was stopped by the blast of heat that reached him, and he couldn't help but shudder in pain.

"No, it was my fault!" When the fire was effectively stamped into a pile of ash, Yami leaned back onto the sled, drawing his legs up so his feet could rest on the cool metal surface as well. Seeing the concerned look on Yugi's face at the now-extinguished heat source, he tried to reassure him. "It's all right. I'm quite warm now." The flames on his body proved it; they were now blazing brightly.

Yugi sighed in relief, but the worried look didn't leave his eyes. A new dilemma just struck him. Where was Yami going to sleep? All of the beds in his house were made mostly of ice, which would not only melt by daytime, but more importantly, hurt the fiery creature. Both boys' eyes met briefly in understanding.

"It's okay. I can sleep while sitting," Yami motioned to the sled underneath him, which wasn't big enough to lie down on, but enough to support his entire body if he sat on it as he was doing now.

"The sled! Oh, I have some other ones!" Yugi rushed out of the room and came back later with a few other similar sleds. As he laid them side-by-side to create a makeshift bed, he was mentally thanking his odd habit of keeping everything even when they were no longer functional. Most of the sleds had rusted and/or broken blades, but the seats on top were still usable. His grandpa had made fun of him for keeping such "trash" cluttered in the house, but Yugi bet he couldn't say anything now. After laying out the foundation, he covered the frame with a big piece of silk, the only fabric his race knew of. (1) "I'm sorry, it's kind of a hard bed and I don't think you can use our snow-filled pillows..."

"No, it's fine." Yami assured, gratefully lying down on the bed. "Besides, I've always got my pants."

"W-WHAT?" It took a few seconds for Yugi to figure out that Yami meant using his pants as a pillow. But when it did hit him, his face flamed an incredible pink that stood out even more compared to the rest of his pale body.

"Just kidding," Yami grinned at the shocked expression on the other's face. Even if he was wearing something under those leather pants, (2) he knew it would be too discourteous to the people who had done so much to help him. "Thank you...and good night." Inwardly, he was beginning to feel a bit bad for scaring the other, but the words had slipped out of his mouth almost involuntarily. It had happened many times back in Netsyu, and he was always reprimanded by Shimon afterwards, but he just couldn't shake the habit.

Luckily, Yugi recovered quite quickly. "Aa...good night."

As Yugi turned off the lights and left for his own room, he couldn't help but smile when he realized Yami felt better enough to joke around.

.oOOo.

"WHAT? HE'S ALIVE?" Pegasus nearly roared in outrage. As it was, his voice was probably loud enough to wake most of the people in his new home—the palace. After Yami's banishment, he had carefully accepted the throne with such modesty that he knew he had already hooked the trust of the people. It would only be a matter of time before he finally revealed his true nature as an invader and took over the planet, but first, he planned on enjoying the quirks of royalty until it began to bore him. Getting rid of the prince had been easier than planned, and he had plenty of time to play around. Still, he had barely even broken into his new lifestyle when he was struck with such horrible news.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Pegasus Your Highness Sir." A man with grayish hair and dark black glasses murmured, his head bowed deeply in apology. Croquet, one of Pegasus's most trusted minions, had been able to sneak into Netsyu amidst all the commotion and rioting of the people. He too had an artificial outfit that allowed him to blend in as an inhabitant in the fiery world. "Our sources have pinpointed him in the icy land of Kooryu. Don't worry, he won't survive long." At Pegasus's skeptical and slightly worried expression, he added, "But we'll still send some to finish the job, if you wish."

"Very good, Croquet. You've read my mind." Slowly the anxiety began to vanish from Pegasus's features, and he leaned back in his throne once more relaxed, his silvery hair swishing in front of his face. "Just make sure no one else finds out."

"Of course, Mr. Pegasus Your Highness Sir."

"Please, just 'Your Highness' is fine," the long-haired man smirked, reveling in his new, powerful position. He watched complacently as Croquet nodded, bowed, and exited the room. Once he was alone again, he pulled out his favorite stuffed bunny from his pocket, the miniature of Silly Rabbit, and began to snicker to himself in the eerie silence. "Ah, Yami-boy, how lucky you are, how lucky." As he spoke softly, he pretended to address the animal. "I'm not a bloodthirsty man, but knowing your nature, you leave me no choice." He fingered the rabbit's ears as his grin widened and his snickers gradually turned into outright maniacal laughter. "Banishment was just the beginning...just barely the beginning..."

To Be Continued...

.oOOo.

(1) The land of fire uses leather exclusively, the land of ice uses silk. Eheheh, I don't know why, it just seems to fit.

(2) ...Which means Yami DOESN'T wear underwear! xD I've talked to many people before about this very subject, and we've all agreed it's impossible to fit anything under those skin-tight pants. ;)

A/N: Wow...hehe. Yugi was quite dominant in this chapter, ne? Standing up to Jou and taking care of Yami...O.O I hope that's okay. I just realized this after I had typed all this. But sometimes a reversal of roles is good!

I'm so sorry this chapter is so late! V.V I promise there WILL be regular updates in the future! I'll be updating this fic more often than AiD though. I hope that's ok. -.-;;; The chapters are shorter than those in AiD, but there's a purpose to their cutoff points because there's actually a plan to this fic!

Sugar Child:gasp: You don't say!

YXW: ...SINCE WHEN DID YOU COME BACK!

Sugar Child: Uh, duh. I'm your muse! I always haunt, I mean, I'm always with you!

YXW: ...Right. Well, you can stay, I suppose. I've missed you all the time I wasn't writing! (Yes, pathetic, I know. Even though I've gotten into new fandoms briefly, I've never written for them.) Oh, Miyosuke, thank you so much for caring enough to wonder what fandom I've gotten into nowadays! I'm not sure if you're reading this since you reviewed AiD, but I'll answer in both places. I've been floundering for a while without a true obsession though I did watch a lot of anime and read a lot of manga. About half a year ago, though, I become a Full Metal Alchemist fan...more specifically Roy/Ed. Maybe since I'm older, I'm not as obsessive with it as I was with Yu-Gi-Oh, but I still get kicks out of fanfics, fanart, and recently, Live Journal Communities!

Many of these people probably have forgotten this barely-started fic, but I still want to thank them all for their reviews! Thank you It'sHardtoBelieve, Fields of View, Miami-chan, Kay B. Toyas, HikariEryaviel, Akuma Malick, Fin Phoenix, xxinfinity, Celestial Magician, Difinity (Extra glomps to you! I've missed you so much!), Anime-fan Meepa, Perpetually Annoyed, Tadashi (Thanks for reading chapter 23 of AiD!), DaLizzie, Digimagic, Destiny, YumeTakato, Carmen-Nemrac, Kitty Neko, jkateel, NeonWorld, smilez, Sadame XX, Malfoy's Kitten, Yelene-ryudream, Dreamer Wolf, Vsakura, Cerul the White Paragon, Sansi, Darkstar, Latias gang, Shire, SoulDreamer, citcat-chan, Jade McDohl AKA Sweet Madison, Vampiress24, Darkstarsara, Lady-of-Dark-Ice, the moon at twilight, OmegaScorpio, SPUW Commander, Ruler of the e, Wolf and Dragon, Daikaio, and Abbey!

If this chapter hasn't scared you off/bored you already, thank you so much for sticking through it to the end! I tried to make the ending a bit more fast-paced with less description, but I'm not even sure what pace is suitable. I'd really really appreciate constructive criticism, especially after my writing skills have rusted after such a long time!

Thank you! Please R/R!