Ranko: The ending to this story really snuck up on me. I completely forgot that this was the last chapter! Sorry for the late warning guys.

Yuugi: How can you fix everything in just one chapter?

Yami: I guess we'll find out.

Ranko: Since I didn't get as many reviews last chapter I think I'll answer them all.

GirlsRule2013: Oh, well I adore you too! I really think that you will like how this story ends!

Animesaki: Hey! Don't tell me what I can or can't do, Seto! By the way, love you. The story is over, I'm so sad! But I broke my heart for you guys so I hope that you're happy! I just can't resist the puppy eyes!

Magi Magi Magician Gal: Yeah, that would make more sense, wouldn't it? Oh well! I don't know what I was smoking when I was doing that whole switch up scene but I just went with it. Because you do know that Seto, Atem, and Malik were in a different room than Bakura and Ryou, right? Oh well, yes, Seto was tied up because he refused to cooperate so that is why Malik disguised himself as Atem.

anonimous: I think I understand what you mean, I guess you'll find out this chapter, huh?

SincerelyChristina: I knew that I liked you for a reason ;) Tristan as the uke forever! I know, I like Tender too but I think that Puzzle will forever be number 1 in my heart. It is a shame that we can't teleport into the story, huh? All I have is the tardis and that is useless in that kind of situation. I'm always in a weird mood. Yes, I have succeeded in confusing you! You can think of the evil shadow as Zorc but I didn't give it a name or anything. I hope that you enjoy this chapter!

breana: Well, I don't understand why you asked me that two times, but in answer to your question: Yes there will be a chapter 11 (obviously) If a story has ended there will be "Complete" somewhere in the information bar (or whatever it is called). And trust me, you will know when I end a story.

Yuugi: That is all of them!

Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!

Ranko: Thank you for all the wonderful support throughout this story and without further ado…the last chapter! Enjoy!

-/-

Yuugi awoke with a start. He sat up so quickly that he got a head rush. He groaned and rubbed his temples with his hand. Then he stopped. His eyes widened. He held his hands away from his face and instead of green webbed fingers, he saw human fingers with five completely functioning digits.

He made a little noise of surprise. He felt along his face. Nose, two eyes, mouth, two ears, hair. Everything was normal! He looked around and saw that he was no longer in the cemetery but he was sitting up in his bed from home. Everything was exactly where it should be. He furrowed his eyebrows. Has everything been just a dream?

Before he could ponder this thought a little longer, he heard a knock at his door that made him jump. Then a feminine voice called, "Yuugi! Are you up, darling?" Yuugi's eyes widened in disbelief; it couldn't be. The door creaked open and Yuugi's mother stuck her head in through the door. She smiled at Yuugi and opened the door fully so she could stand in the doorframe. "Good morning."

Yuugi felt his eyes begin to water. He jumped out of his bed and ran towards his mother, flinging his arms around her waist. "Mama!" he cried as the tears began to spill down his cheeks. He hugged her tightly as he cried into her chest. His mother ran her hands up and down in back a soothing manner.

"Yuugi…Yuugi, what's wrong?" she asked.

Yuugi shook his head against his mother's bosom. "Nothing, nothing is wrong. I just had a really bad dream is all."

His mother patted his head. "Why not tell me about it."

Yuugi raised his head to look at his mother's face. It has been so long since he has seen that face. "I don't really remember what it was; all I know is that it was bad."

Yuugi's mother nodded in understanding. "Alright, well, get dressed."

Yuugi blinked. "Huh? Why?"

His mother put her hands on her hips. "Yuugi! Did you forget? You told me that you would go with me to the Mazaki mansion today. I need to get to work on Anzu's wedding dress."

Yuugi sputtered. "Anzu's getting married?"

His mother sighed. "Well, that dream must have really worn you out. Yes, Anzu is getting married. To a rather wealthy prince from a foreign country, I believe. They are very much in love."

Yuugi didn't know why but he felt his heart lurch painfully. What his mother just said didn't sound right. Yuugi nodded anyway and asked his mother to leave the room so he could get changed.

He went down the stairs and smelt the intoxicating scent of breakfast. He walked into the kitchen and saw his grandfather making a tradition Japanese breakfast. He went up to him and kissed his grandfather on the cheek. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Yuugi. Oh, the restaurant called today and—"

"What restaurant?" Yuugi asked, sitting down at the table.

His grandfather sighed. "Your restaurant, Yuugi. Anyway, they—"

Yuugi's face lit up. "I own a restaurant?"

His grandpa looked at him confusedly. "Yes, it is very successful."

Yuugi smiled brightly and did a little cheer in his head. He was so glad he had woken up from that horrible dream and was met with a sweet reality. "That is so wonderful!"

"Yuugi, come on, we have to go!" his mother called from the doorframe.

"What about breakfast?" he asked, gesturing towards his grandfather who was working by the stove over a pot of miso soup.

"We'll have it when we get back; we probably won't be long."

Yuugi shrugged and stood up from the table. "Bye, grandpa."

They stepped out of the house and Yuugi saw that they weren't living the poor part of New Orleans like they were in his…dream? Now they were living in a nicer neighborhood with white painted shutters and yellow daisies in flower beds on the front porch. It was exactly what Yuugi saw pictures of in magazines.

They didn't have to take a trolley to get to the Mazaki estate, apparently, they could walk there now. Yuugi couldn't wipe the rather large grin that was on his face. Though, he couldn't help but think that there was something out of place here.

They waltzed right on in through the front gate and were greeted at the front door by one of the workers. "You will find Anzu Mazaki and her fiancé in the sitting room," the man directed.

Yuugi's mother nodded in thanks and they went off to the sitting room.

Anzu and her fiancé were sitting on a loveseat, facing away from the entrance. All Yuugi noticed of Anzu's fiancé was his spiked hair that was similar to his own.

"Hello Anzu," his mother greeted.

Anzu jumped a little in surprise and then turned around quickly. She squealed in delight when she saw Yuugi and his mother standing there. "Oh! Kyoko!" She jumped up and ran to hug the woman. "Yuugi!" she cried, equally as excited. She encircled him in her arms.

"Thank you so much for doing this for me, Kyoko. You have no idea how much this means to me," Anzu said excitedly.

"It is no trouble at all, dear," Kyoko reassured.

"Yuugi, I don't think you have met my fiancé yet, have you? You've been so busy with the restaurant lately that you haven't really had time, huh?" Anzu asked, pouting.

Yuugi shrugged. "I guess not."

"Anyway," she said, taking Yuugi's arm and leading him over to the couch. "Yuugi, I would like you to meet my fiancé, Atem." Anzu stopped in front of the couch and Yuugi could see the front side of the man. Yuugi couldn't help but think that he had seen that face before. It caused a strange feeling in his chest. "He is the Prince of Kehmet."

Atem rose off the couch and offered a hand; Yuugi knew that he had been offered that same hand once before, but he couldn't remember for some reason. "It is very nice to meet you, Yuugi. Anzu has told me such wonderful things about you."

Yuugi put his hand in his, still entranced by those eyes. Those eyes that were so familiar and comforting to him. Atem was an attractive man and had this very manly façade up, but Yuugi couldn't help but think it was all fake. "Do you play the ukulele?" Yuugi asked suddenly and expectantly.

Atem raised an eyebrow. "I don't see why I would. It is not a custom musical instrument from my country. Why do you ask?"

"Because your fingers are rough; from strumming, I suppose?" Yuugi guessed; he had no idea where this was coming from.

"So when are you two getting married, Anzu?" Kyoko asked as Atem slipped his hand out of Yuugi's.

"On Mardi Gras," Anzu said.

"Oh, how lovely!" Kyoko gushed.

"Mardi Gras?" Yuugi repeated; his eyes glazing over in thought. Why did that sound so important?

"Yes," Anzu responded slowly.

"Anzu," Kyoko said, trying to distract the girl from her son's odd behavior. "I know I've asked you this before but when did you realize you loved each other?" Kyoko giggled. "I am such a hopeless romantic."

"Well, it was love at first sight," Anzu said, blushing.

"No," Yuugi said, still in a slight daze. All heads turned towards him. Yuugi didn't even know what he was saying; his mind was just running wild. "No, that's not right."

"Yuugi-honey," Kyoko said, walking over to her son and putting the back of her hand against his forehead. "Are you feeling alright? You've been acting strange since you woke up this morning."

"What happened?" Anzu asked, concerned.

"He had a bad dream and he has been a bit frazzled," Kyoko said.

Yuugi felt his head spinning; he held it in pain. "No, it wasn't a dream…" He didn't know why he was saying that; he saw these flashes of images in his mind that didn't make sense but were like memories to Yuugi. Then it all came rushing back in one sweep. It was so sudden that it made Yuugi stumble backwards. Everything was clear to him now. "No, it wasn't a dream!"

"Yuugi?" Anzu asked worriedly.

"Darling, I think its time to go home; you need to rest," Kyoko said, taking her son by the hand.

Yuugi snatched his hand back. "No! I'm not leaving! You aren't even real; you died years ago in a car accident when I was thirteen."

Kyoko gasped in shock. "Yuugi…"

"Anzu isn't engaged to Atem. Atem has never even met her before!" Yuugi cried.

Atem furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Yuugi felt the tears rush to his eyes. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, knowing what would be there. He pulled out the engagement ring that Atem had made for him. "You don't love Anzu, you love me! And I love you too."

Atem sighed. "Yuugi, I'm flattered, but we've only just met…"

Yuugi shook his head furiously. "No! We met days ago. You were turned into a frog by the Shadow Man and then you changed me into a frog by kissing me. We spent days hopping around the Bayou searching for a way to break the spell! Don't you remember? We went to Duke Devlin and he told us the only way to break the spell is to kiss a princess! And…!"

"Yuugi, enough!" Kyoko shouted. "This has gone too far."

Yuugi shook his head and started laughing. "No, don't you see? This is all an illusion set up by the Shadow Man or his shadow or something! It was all so I would forget about the talisman." He finally felt the pressure of the necklace around his neck and resting against his chest. He took it off and held it in front of his face. He watched as Atem's red blood glistened in the glass. "If I destroy this, this illusion will disappear."

He raised it above his head to smash it but Atem caught his hand before he could let go of the glass Talisman. Atem chuckled darkly and squeezed Yuugi's wrist tightly; the boy winced. Atem looked up at him and Yuugi gasped; Atem's eyes were not the same ruby color as they used to be; now they were completely black. "I don't think so."

The sitting room around them began to dissolve and they were back in the cemetery, but Yuugi was still human. Bakura's shadow was standing in front of him in human form. He looked like a regular man but there were thorns rising from his head. He grinned at Yuugi evilly. "You are very smart, Yuugi. You caught onto my little trick quicker than I expected."

Yuugi struggled against his grip as he began to dig his nails into Yuugi's skin.

"You know, I would have let you stay in that fantasy world for the rest of your life. I created it especially for you with all of your dream come true. I guess that doesn't matter to you then. Oh well, I'll just kill you." The strange man with horns lifted Yuugi off the ground and threw him against the wall of a mausoleum. Yuugi gasped as all of his air rushed out of him. He fell to the ground in a heap.

The strange man walked forward and stood in front of Yuugi. "I was going to let you live, but now I don't think I will." The man rested the heel of his boot against Yuugi's temple. "I'll try and make it as painless as possible. You are such a pretty little thing; I wouldn't want you to suffer too much."

"I…" Yuugi said weakly from under him. The dark man raised a questioning eyebrow and looked down at Yuugi. He saw the boy smiling up at him. "I am not a girl."

It was then that the man realized Yuugi still held the talisman in his hand. "No!" But it was too late. Yuugi raised his weak arm and smashed the glass talisman against the stone ground.

"No!" the man screamed, backing away from Yuugi quickly. "What have you done?" he screamed in pain, his body folding in on itself. He grabbed at his hair and literally pulled chunks of it out of his head. "No!" His eyes were wild and crazed, like a caged animal. His skin began to blacken and crumble away. Tears of blood began to fall down his ashen cheeks as he screamed again. "You have no idea what you have done!"

The ground opened up under his feet and skeleton hands reached up and grabbed the shadow's legs. "No! Please! I'll find another host and I will make up a new plan! Please! Spare me!" he cried out desperately as he was dragged under. He clawed at the stone ground, peeling away his fingernails and making the tips of his fingers bleed. "No!" he shouted one last time before the ground closed up again and Yuugi was left alone in the creepy cemetery.

He had sat up and had crawled as far away from that scene as possible. He was gasping for breath and felt his forehead. He was still human.

"Yuugi!"

The boy jumped in fright, curling up in a tight ball.

"I knew he was here somewhere." Yuugi recognized the thick Brooklyn accent.

"Where could he be?"

Yuugi recognized that voice as well. He gasped as fresh tears leaked out of his eyes. He stood on shaking legs and walked closer to the familiar voices. Standing in a circle were all of his friends. Standing. They were human. Except Tristan. Duke, Joey, and…Atem. Yuugi choked on a sob.

Everyone turned when they heard the strangled sound of crying. They saw Yuugi standing there in his human form as well. Atem gasped and took a hesitant step forward. "Yuugi…?"

Yuugi nodded, covering his mouth to keep from sobbing.

Atem smiled brightly and ran towards Yuugi. He picked the boy up in his arms and twirled him around, laughing brightly. Yuugi couldn't help but let out a watery laugh as well. "We're human again!" Atem cried happily.

"Yeah, but how?" Joey asked.

"I can answer that," a voice said from behind them.

Every heard turned and they saw Bakura standing there. Everyone took a step back but then they saw Ryou standing next to him. Malik was standing on his other side while Seto appeared next to Joey.

"Bakura…" Atem scowled, setting Yuugi back down on his feet and stepping in front of him to protect him. "What are you doing here?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Relax, princey. I don't have my shadow controlling me before, I'm not the same man you met before."

"What the hell does that mean?" Atem growled out.

Yuugi remembered the shadow that had chased him and then almost killed him. He patted Atem's shoulder. "Don't worry, we can trust him now." Yuugi nodded towards Bakura.

Bakura nodded back in thanks. "Anyway, as soon as my shadow was destroyed, so were all of the curses that I cast while being controlled."

"Then why haven't I been changed back?" Tristan asked in frustration.

Bakura shrugged. "Not my spell that made you that way. And I can't change you back; with my shadow gone now, I am merely a beginner in magic."

"You know what you have to do to break the spell, Tristan," Duke said in a sing-song voice.

Tristan sighed tiredly. He leaned forward and kissed Duke on the cheek with his alligator lips, shuddering. Duke blinked in surprise and blushed furiously. "Happy?" Tristan asked. Duke just opened and closed his mouth, doing a wonderful imitation of a fish. "Can you change me back now?"

Duke nodded slowly, grabbing a handful of green dust and throwing it in Tristan's face. A cloud of green surrounded him and when it cleared, the man was a human again. Tristan sighed in relief as he wiggled his fingers and felt his hair. "Thanks," he said and kissed Duke on the lips.

Joey laughed at his friend. "You are such a dork! I mean, Duke waits for this moment, like, most of his life and you treat it like its nothing new!"

Tristan raised an eyebrow and smirked at Joey. "Who said that it was anything new?"

Joey's eyes widened and he gaped, blinking a few times as he processed the information. "Uh, but you…and him, and what about…I don't understand!" He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Seto patted Joey's shoulder. "It's alright, mutt, you don't have to understand."

Joey growled. "Don't call me a mutt!"

Malik twiddled this thumbs and turned towards Bakura. "So Bakura, did you mean whenever you said you could bring people back from the dead?"

Bakura exchanged a sad look with Ryou. "Malik, even if I had that kind of magic, it is impossible to bring back the dead."

Malik gasped and tears sprung to his eyes; he covered his mouth to keep from crying. Bakura put a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I just want you to know that it wasn't me who lied to you. Everything was the shadow's fault. He was controlling me and all of my actions."

"So were you still controlled by your shadow when you told me you loved me?" Ryou questioned.

Bakura smiled wistfully. "No; I know that it sounds cheesy, Ryou, but I have always had these feelings for you. Even when I was being controlled, I never forgot those feelings." Bakura opened up his arms to hug Ryou but the boy took a step back, shaking his head.

"I believe you, but it's going to be a while until I can trust you again," Ryou said, smiling slightly.

Bakura sighed and nodded. "I understand."

Atem laughed and looked down at Yuugi. "And everyone lived happily ever after?"

Yuugi's face was rather solemn as he shook his head. "Not quite."

Atem furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Yuugi bit his lip and tears collected in his eyes. "Atem, I…" He shook his head. "Atem, we are still two completely different people with two completely different goals. I still have a dream of opening a restaurant for me and parents, and you…" Yuugi sighed, rubbing his eyes. "You probably don't want someone like me. I mean, you still have Anzu and…"

He was cut short whenever Atem hooked his arms around his waist, pulled him closer and kissed him. Yuugi blinked in surprise and then closed his eyes, looping his arms around Atem's neck. They pulled away from each other and Atem rested his forehead against Yuugi's. "My only goal is to be with you and to help make your dreams come true. I don't care about marrying a rich girl and getting money. You are the only thing that truly matters to me. Your dreams are my dreams, and you want to know why? Because I love you, Yuugi."

Yuugi gasped and felt the tears roll down his cheeks. He closed his eyes and kissed Atem briefly. "I love you too!" He clung to Atem, hooking his legs around his waist and burying his face in his shoulder.

Yuugi dropped to his feet and reached into his pocket, pulling out the ring made he for him. He slipped it onto his left ring finger and smiled up at Atem. Atem smiled brightly. He picked Yuugi up and spun him around, laughing in pure happiness.

"So, my grandson and your son, eh?" Suguroku said, nudging the Pharaoh's side.

Pharaoh Aknamkonan shrugged and watched as his son stared lovingly into the shorter boy's eyes; they were just exchanging vows. "I didn't even know my son was gay. I guess you learn something new everyday."

His wife slapped his arm. "Stop that! Just be happy for your son!" she chastised.

Aknamkonan cringed. "Yes, dear." He looked back at his son and saw how happy he was as he put a ring on the boy's finger. He put an arm around his wife. "You know what, maybe it was a good thing we cut him off. I think I'm ready to bring him back home now."

His wife smiled and shook her head. "I already talked to him about that," she said. "He doesn't want our money, he saws he's going to stay in the states with Yuugi and help him open up a restaurant."

Aknamkonan raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Really?" He looked across the church and saw Seto sitting next to a shaggy blond. The old pharaoh smirked. "I'm guessing Seto is staying with him then to…keep an eye on him?"

His wife sighed and shook her head. "Oh dear…"

Suguroku chuckled and then saw Yuugi—his beloved grandson—share a kiss with his new husband. Atem scooped Yuugi up in his arms and twirled him around; Yuugi giggled. Suguroku looked across the church and saw Anzu was smiling and crying in happiness. Suguroku looked up towards the ceiling. 'Kyoko, Megumi, I hope that you see how happy your son is from up there.'

Yuugi and Atem stood in front of Pegasus's desk in his realty office. Yuugi smirked and pushed all the full coffee cans he had collected towards the silver-haired man. Pegasus raised an eyebrow at Yuugi. His wife sighed and smacked her husband upside the head, handing the key to Yuugi.

Yuugi smiled and clutched the key close to his chest as Atem put an arm around him.

Later that day, they both stood in front of the old sugar mill with all of their friends behind them. Yuugi smiled at Atem and waved a hammer in his face. Yuugi and all his friends worked on fixing up the old mill all day and all night for weeks, decorating the inside of the restaurant like the Bayou.

They finally had it finished one night and Yuugi stood with a cable in his hand, his finger hovering over a switch. He smiled excitedly and flipped the switch. The building was lit up with fairy lights and through the glass windows, warm light from inside spilled out. The sign above the restaurant read brightly: Evening Star.

After a few days of it opened for business, it was already popular.

Tristan stood on the stage in the restaurant and blew his horn.

Yuugi walked through the restaurant as a host and greeted all of his family and his friends.

"In the South Land there's a city, way down on the river."

Yuugi stopped at the table where his in-laws and his grandfather sat and greeted them with a bright smile.

"Where the women are very pretty."

Atem came up behind him, holding a silver tray out of his parents.

"And all the men deliver."

"They got music, it's always playin'"

Atem set the tray down and jumped up on the stage beside Tristan, strumming his ukulele.

"Start in the daytime, go all through the night."

Yuugi stood at the foot of the stage, looking up at his husband. Atem held out a hand for Yuugi. The boy gladly accepted it and danced up on the stage with Joey.

"When you hear that music playin', hear what I'm sayin', make you feel alright!"

A man came up behind where Anzu was sitting and tapped her on the shoulder. Anzu turned around and raised an eyebrow when she saw a young, attractive brunet smiling down at her goofily.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

The boy grinned. "The name's Jaden; would you like to dance?" He offered a hand to her.

She looked at it quizzically for a moment, then smiled and shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Atem and Yuugi hopped off the stage and Atem led as he and Yuugi danced on the floor.

"Grab somebody, come on down."

Bakura made a flower appear in his hand and presented to Ryou. Ryou shook his head and took Bakura's hand, kissing the new restraint tattoo that was on his palm.

"Bring your paintbrush, we're painting the town."

Duke leaned in for a kiss from Tristan and Tristan pushed him away, grinning.

Joey sighed and shook his head, leaning into Seto.

"There's some sweetness going around…"

Malik was sitting alone at a table when someone sat down next to him. He was a tan-skinned man with white hair and a scar running down his left eye. He smiled at Malik and Malik smiled back.

Yuugi stopped and smiled. Everything was finally going right. Everyone was happy. Yuugi thought for a moment that he saw a couple sitting at an empty table that looked a lot like his parents. When he blinked, they were gone. He grinned and looked up at Atem, his new family all around him.

He kissed Atem and put all of his feelings into that kiss. That kiss spoke of the first time they met, when they had to work together in the Bayou, their growing feelings, what they learned from each other. Their dreams come true.

"Dreams do come true in New Orleans!"

Then they lived happily ever after.

-/-

Ranko: I really hope that everyone enjoyed this story! I know that I did!

Yuugi: I really liked this ending, its better than Checkmate.

Yami: The ending is happy!

Ranko: Hey! There is still one more chapter to Checkmate left so calm down!

Yuugi: I did like this ending though. It was much sweeter, no one died, and everyone found love!

Ranko: This is why I love you, Yuugi. Anyway, review!