Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.

I definitely forgot my password. Guess it's been a long time.

Finally off of school for the semester and began a nightly activity of reading new fanfictions while drinking hot tea. So I decided to write again and see if I still have it. I suppose that's up to you guys.

Semi-important A/N: Not a sequel to my other Christmas story. Not really a lot about Christmas in the main plot either. But it's nearly Christmas time and I'm feeling romantic tug-of-war angsty.

Precious
by Atemusluckygal

Christmas was just around the bend – a joyous occasion for most of Domino. Crystal white snow had begun to fall, creating the beginnings of a snow bath on the streets, sidewalks, and rooftops. Every single store and business building along the main roads were framed with lights, tinsel garland decorations – some even had painted holiday memos painted on their walls promoting their December sales. On nearly every street corner was a local music group playing Christmas music of various styles. In front of grocery stores and supermarkets stood a volunteer for some sort of charity, dressed in a Santa hat and ringing a bell while heartily wishing passersby a Merry Christmas.

Yes, everything was jolly and well, aside from the aura that thinly blanketed the city in slight unease. Something that everyone seemed to attempt to ignore or disregard.

For this year, Seto Kaiba's dueling tournament was still taking place. And with every serious duelist out there who is registered, there is an unshakeable determination to win everything and make it to the top within every one of them. To a lot of them, winning this tournament would be much more than a cool Christmas present this year. Unfortunately, the extra passionate duelists have inadvertently dispelled their holiday spirit until they have crushed their competition.

For Yugi, Tea, Joey, Tristan, and others, winning this tournament has an entirely different purpose, and importance. Especially for the ancient nameless Pharaoh, there was absolutely no resting until he won this tournament, to prevent any harm to befall the world and its inhabitants.

Still, they all did make an effort to enjoy themselves a bit. It was hard to completely ignore the feverishly cheery disposition that Domino carried during the holiday season. Or the deliciously suave arrangement of "Silver Bells" being played by a local jazz trio on the corner of Spring St. and West Howard Blvd. Or the bitter crispy smell of coffee grounds and sweet pastries emanating from coffee shops and bakeries.

Just like last year and every year before that, the gang did get together on Christmas Eve night to spend time together. Although this time there was less drinking, and a more serious, guarded atmosphere despite the usual laughs, story-sharing, and cookie munching. With so many lives hanging in the balance of this ongoing tournament, feeling completely secure was a luxury, at best.

And there was indeed a bit of unrest within the group as well. The Pharaoh was thinking scary things, of which Yugi could easily sense. The ponderous spirit was considering all possible opponents he could potentially eventually face in the tournament, what dangers could arise to him and his friend that were unique to each adversary, and most importantly how to outmaneuver and defeat each one of them. The most prominent enemy on his mind being Marik, of course. All the while, he strategized how to keep his friends the least involved as was within his control, which frustrated Yugi to no end.

What caused the unrest was Yugi's, and eventually Tea's (when Yugi would relay his fears of his partner's thoughts to her in confidence) protests against continuing on with the competition. And furthermore, since the Pharaoh refused to hang up his duel disk and drop out, Yugi and Tea tried at the very least to stop him from being stuck in the mindset that this was his, and only his, burden to bear.

Unbeknownst to the Pharaoh (she was sure Yugi could sense it), Tea was in her own turmoil in her head with the upset caused by the pharaoh's irrational thinking. The more she heard about Yami trying to save the world on his own, the more terrified for him she became. In truth, she cared for him much more than what was appropriate, especially for the current predicament. But she dared not admit it… there was no telling what more problems she could stir up by complicating things that way. She was at least still level-headed enough to let that reasoning steer her clear of false hope… for the most part.

She still was very fond of him, however, and admired his beauty, confidence, and bravery from afar. His intelligence and mental strength so overwhelmingly surpassed anyone she ever knew. And on top of that, every single thing he did was from his heart, which Tea believed was the winning trait that captured hers. As far as she was concerned, how could she not fall for him? It was almost like he was intentionally doing this to her, but he wasn't. He was just… everything she ever wanted to love, and then some – which made it all the more painful each time she reminded herself that she never could, and he could never requite it, even if he felt that way.

"Tell him to come out of that Puzzle, have a cookie and a drink, and loosen up a bit," Tea brazenly told Yugi, who was in the middle of explaining to her Yami's musings of Marik's Millennium Rod capabilities. She was only half joking, of course.

To her surprise, the Millennium Puzzle glowed – Yugi became taller, his eyes sharpened, his hair grew slightly wilder, and his expression morphed from youthful restlessness to stern and serious distress. It was a typical face of his, perhaps his default expression as of late, but his eyes softened a bit in the face of the young woman before him.

"Hello, Tea," greeted the Pharaoh to his living room companion. Tea slightly stammered in his presence, something that happened distressingly often whenever she looked into his enigmatic violet eyes. He gazed into hers in turn, a crystalline blue, with subdued astonishment at her abrupt change in behavior – from familiar and joking around, to shy and sheepish. Tea chuckled lightly while running a nervous hand of fingers through her brown hair, her cheeks turning a bit pink as a hint of a blush heated her face. She didn't think he actually heard her and took her words that seriously.

"Wow… I didn't know you'd actually come out," she murmured softly, almost too much so for his ears to hear. Nonetheless, he nodded in acknowledgement.

"I figured it would be nice to spend a bit of time with the people I am protecting," he replied flatly.

Tea waited a few seconds for him to say something else, but he didn't, so she hesitantly offered him a glass of wine, of which he politely declined.

Upon noticing the lack of background noise and banter, Tea realized that the boys – Joey, Tristan, and Grandpa Motou – were probably still downstairs in the game shop looking over the new shipment of cards for the holiday mega sale. It was just her and the Puzzle spirit, alone with the warm glowing fireplace. She was sure there was mistletoe hanging somewhere, but she dared not look for it.

"Yami…" she savored his name on her tongue, almost distractingly enough to make her forget what she was about to say. "… I want you to… to have a Merry Christmas."

Yami blinked at her sentiment, recalling the modern day proper response to such a thing, finally replying, "Merry Christmas to you too, Tea." The phrase sat funnily on his tongue.

Tea shook her head, her chestnut colored tresses swishing side to side with the motion, which startled the spirit slightly. "No, I want you to have a Merry Christmas, I mean it. I want you to relax, have fun, laugh a little, and just be human for once. You worry about mankind far more than anyone ever has to, and it's because of that that we're all safe, for now. But it's Christmas Eve, and I think you deserve to celebrate more than anyone else."

The Pharaoh furrowed his brow slightly, mulling over the thought in his head, genuinely dumbfounded at what she said as something he never expected someone to say to him. To be frank, he barely acknowledged the holiday itself; mostly he chained himself within his vessel of highly critical and strategically intricate thought – not to mention his frequent, horrific visions and nightmares of his friends being kidnapped, magically manipulated… or worse.

Never had he even considered having a "Merry Christmas" when there was a psychotic maniac with ancient old powers running amok. He was fairly certain Marik wasn't exactly celebrating at the moment, either.

"I… suppose I can… sit down, for a second," Yami mused out loud, and reluctantly seated himself on the large teal sofa beside the fireplace, gently letting his hands fall in his lap. The Millennium Puzzle chain rattled faintly at his movements. He figured he spent all of his actively thinking moments on his feet and pacing all over the infinite doors and stairwells within the puzzle, it was admittedly nice to physically sit down and let his spirit legs rest.

Tea sat down next to him, a simple small grin lying on her lips, perhaps in small satisfaction that she had succeeded this far in getting the weary spirit to wind down some, even if that's as far as she'll ever manage. She casually sipped at her red Merlot while gazing at the fire, secretly relishing her time alone with the spirit in a nice, cozy place.

"Good," Tea uttered softly. "That's a start." And before she knew what she was doing, her hand was resting on his shoulder and squeezing it gently. She absentmindedly stroked his shoulder with her thumb as she took a second to admire the glow of the fireplace framing the perfect dimensions of his face.

To the young girl's surprise, Yami responded to this gesture by suddenly taking her hand resting on his shoulder and wrapping it in his own, although most of Tea's attention was forcefully taken to Yami's wide, piercing violet orbs staring into hers. What startled her was that they were so uncharacteristically… worn. Worn and sad… desperate, even. It was so unlike him to wear this expression.

"Tea…" he began, genuinely troubled by his thoughts despite having been encouraged to wind down. "What would happen… if I fail?"

Tea blinked several times in bewilderment. "Fail?" she questioned.

His hand twitched around hers. He turned his gaze to stare at their hands conjoined between them. "Fail… as in I do not amount to enough to save mankind. Or if I slip up and something happens to Yugi… or Joey… Tristan… Bakura… any of them? How could I even bear to live with myself?"

His response was a long, sympathetic gaze of eyes lost in the sea of blue. Her long dark eyelashes kissed her cheeks as she blinked sadly. After an intense silence that seemed almost as if it lasted an eternity, in barely above a whisper, he heard, "you are not alone."

With that, Tea's other hand set down her wine glass on the table and set itself on his. "You need to stop believing that our safety is more important than yours. You have the world to save. And you have people who care for you enough to help you achieve just that, whether you like it or not." She averted her gaze. "People… care a lot about you."

"But I just couldn't bear to lose any of you in the process," the spirit protested. "I must keep you all safe… and the world from ultimate destruction, even at the cost of my own life. It's honestly the most terrifying truth I've come to face, but it is one I must face fearlessly nonetheless, if I am to be victorious."

Hearing him utter these words to her made Tea's heart feel as if it were dropped in a pool of acid. So did her eyes, as they grew heated with burning tears sitting on the brims of her eyes within moments. She hated those words he spoke, as painfully realistic as they were.

"Yami…" Tea's voice shook and choked and stuttered, "I… I really admire your bravery, but you're scaring me. I couldn't bear to lose you either. And right now you're talking real crazy." A tear waited no longer to fall and inch its way down her face, and it somehow served as a trigger for Tea to take a leap of faith.

She lifted her right hand from his, placed it delicately on his cheek, and latched her lips onto his.

Her lips trembled with emotion against his, which was easier to notice considering the pharaoh was too startled to react for a few long seconds. The spirit's lips were warmed from the fire, and angelically soft, unmoving as they were. She released him quickly after realizing what she had done, and turned away, red-cheeked, shamefully. Her hand removed itself from his face and fell back into her lap.

Out her peripheral vision, Tea caught Yami's hand moving up towards his face, and brought her teary eyes up to see his fingers on his lips, eyes still wide and bewildered, staring right at her.

"Tea… I –"

"I'm sorry," interrupted the young brunette, tears starting to flow more freely as her defeat sank in. "I only wanted to show you… how much you mean to us. To me…"

And even those words she uttered herself, completely impromptu and unplanned, somehow gave her the incentive to try again, and locked lips with him once more.

Only this time – and Tea prayed she did not imagine it – she could've sworn she heard and felt a deep groan rumbling in his throat. Very brief, but it was still there, and it was all the encouragement she needed to continue, and he did not fight back.

She kissed him on and on with minimal response from him, massaging his lips with hers. She gently introduced her tongue into his mouth little by little, retreating each time. Although Yami did virtually nothing to respond, he still let her kiss him persistently as she continued to attempt to elicit a response.

For little did Tea know, Yami found himself powerless to do otherwise. He was scared to admit it to himself that, no matter how much he tried and continued to try, he could not deny that he had a soft spot for his female companion that he dared not admit to anyone. Not even to Yugi.

He knew of Tea's feelings for him. He had hoped she would never do this. It tore his heart in two.

She finally pulled back, slightly short on breath, and they were able to make direct eye contact. It was then that Tea noticed that Yami was fighting tears of his own. Tea had never seen him like this before. Why was he looking at her like she just murdered someone?

"Tea…" he choked, his eyes now very noticeably misty. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

The only thing Tea could think to do was helplessly shake her head. "I just… kissed you. I know it was wrong of me, I knew you don't feel that way, it was stupid of me – "

"Yes, I agree. Doing this is not, by any means, wise," he interrupted her, trying to sound stern while choking back oncoming sobs. "But not for that. You just put yourself in much more danger than anyone else, Tea."

"I don't understand," was all she could say, utterly unable to process anything that happened in the last few seconds. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Yami roughly grabbed her shoulders with his two hands, forcing her to face him full front.

"Tea, listen to me… you can't… be fond of me this way. You just… can't. This isn't right."

Tea could only whimper and shake in his grip.

"You don't understand Marik or what kind of man he is. He has already controlled your mind before, and my biggest fear is him doing it again, or worse… I just couldn't stand it."

He blinked, and tears fell, his breathing becoming ragged and uneven. "He's the kind of man who would use you against me, if he knew. If he knew how much I truly care for you. The truth is… you are so much more precious to me than you will ever, ever fathom. I've felt it for a long time and I've never prepared myself to communicate that to you, because anything that we share is impossible. And it pains me immensely to have to tell you to bury your feelings, but please believe me when I say it's for your own safety."

Yami saw Tea's world crumble in her eyes, and it squeezed at his heart so intensely. It was torturous for him to see. He lifted a hand from her shoulder and cupped her cheek with it, his palm gracing the wetness from the tears. "I'm sorry, Tea. It has to be this way, and I wish with all of my heart that it didn't have to be. I can't let Marik win… and he will try anything."

And in a small sticky breath, with a voice that barely made it past her lips, she mouthed, "but I love you."

That was it, Yami could stand it no longer. Placing his other hand on the other side of her face, his lips propelled forward and collided with hers, sensuously kissing her as if he would never be able to again – indeed it felt like this was his last chance. The fire cackled loudly beside them, as the silence grew between them as they continued to devour each other in the throes of passionate love that after so long being held captive has been set free.

As they finally broke apart, desperately gasping for breath, Yami noticed that he had subconsciously intertwined his fingers within hers. Or perhaps, it was her doing. Nonetheless, it was an unbelievable feeling to be connected to her.

Finally, he spoke, "I can't help myself. I love you too much to deny your heart what mine wants, too."

Tea sat straight up, her back tall and commanding of attention. "I want you to stop thinking of me as your friend that you have to protect. I will always be fighting at your side, no matter what. Marik can't touch what we share, not with his Millennium Rod, his magic… anything. What we have is ours and ours alone."

For the first time that evening, a grin crept on the young pharaoh's face. "You're right. With you at my side, I feel like I could save the world. And I will."

Tea let all of her weight release into the pharaoh's body as he hugged her tightly, positioning her head against his beating heart with his hand. "Merry Christmas, Pharaoh. You will win this battle, and I'll be there to help you."

The spirit let his eyes close for a few blissful moments. "I would not have it any other way. Merry Christmas, beloved."

-THE END-