Disclaimer: I don't own Yugi-Oh.

---Rating: PG13---

"" is talking
is for thinking and reminiscing
is for coughs or sighs
--- --- is for mental conversations or mental voices
--"( )"- Sacred Ancient language used by Shadi
--( )-Same as language except in mental conversation.
"+" - Usually a language that is spoken by someone but the person listening doesn't understand.
- Dream Sequence

---MAJOR WARNINGS---
Yaoi - As in homosexuality – gay
Cursing

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE – Are you so pathetic?

Tea brushed aside the flap of the large tent and bustled in, spitting sand from her mouth and grimacing at the gritty taste. The wrap that Isis had kindly lent her was barely doing its job – the intensity of the storm managed to shove sand in every available opening in the garment and Tea was pretty sure that she now had sand in places she didn't even know she had.

It was frustrating. The storm had lifted momentarily when the moon had risen but then returned (from god knew WHERE) with twice as much force. On top of all these problems, Tea was still in silent disbelief at all the events that had taken place since they had entered the Shadow Realm.

Isis had gone back into the real world shortly after they had entered it, leaving them with Solomon in a makeshift camp made of Isis's large sash. When she had returned she was pulling a camel. A terrible storm is coming was all she said and refused to speak to any of them as she and Solomon skillfully erected the tents. A storm worst than this? Tea had said bitterly but she held her tongue and gratefully went into the safety of the tent.

They had barely settled in when Isis left them, riding the camel off into the distance without a word. Solomon did not seem too concerned about where she was going, so they chose not to question him. When she returned, she brought startling news; Yugi had been found and he was being taken to them.

Tea asked her how she knew this but she refused to speak to any of them more than was necessary. Instead Isis busied herself with making a partition in the largest tent.

The day after the storm had subsided, she told them that he was near and hurried over the nearest dune. They had followed her and watched in a sort of daze as Yugi 'arrived', being carried by two weirdly garbed persons who has covered their faces though Tea managed to catch a glance. Something about their faces were hauntingly familiar though she wasn't able to place them – it hadn't mattered a second later when she saw the state Yugi was in.

She had never heard anyone cry like that before…it was traumatic even to those who didn't know what had happened.

God, she needed to know what had happened.

It was barely ten minutes after settling Yugi in the tents when the storm hit. They couldn't move from that position but the tents were strangely secure no matter how the winds lashed at it. You had to be thankful for small things, she supposed.

And so here they were. Isis was fussing over Yugi behind a large piece of cloth that served as a partition with only Solomon being allowed to enter. They were all too nervous to ask Solomon anything – the old man looked like he was about to break down and weep right there.

"Any word?" Tea asked Joey who was sitting grouchily on the ground, one hand pushing another flap of the tent. It was just enough to look outside but not enough to let the storm in, well, not all of it anyway, there were nice little dunes building up around his legs. Tea wondered why he bothered, there was nothing much to see anyway. Joey grunted irritably and wrenched the flap shut with a savage yank.

"No!" Joey snapped. His was a voice that was always sounding resentful now.

"They just keep behind the curtain, walking back and forth and talking in stupid whispers. How the hell do you expect me to know anything when they won't even talk to me?"

Tea let that one pass for nerves and took a drink of water from the flask that hung from the support beam of the tent.

"Did you see those two weirdoes that brought Yugi back? Where do you think they went?" Triston inquired. He had suddenly appeared behind Tea, heard the end of the conversation and decided to throw his own question to them as well as a ton load of sand. Tea hastily gave him room as he brushed the grains from his hair; she preferred not to have anymore of that element down her shirt, thank you very much.

"We seem to be meeting a lot of weirdoes lately…" Joey said darkly. "First freaky guy in the hospital, what was his name? Malik? Then this Isis-lady who claims she's his brother… and to top it all off those two weirdo looking people who returned Yugi – you saw how they covered their faces? And where's Yami? I'm not saying I care for the jerk but…"

"I wonder why Yugi was crying…?" Tea asked softly to herself, tuning out Joey's rambling. "I felt my heart was going to break, I've never heard a boy cry like that…" She pressed her hands to her chest and her gaze seemed to dim.

"And why won't they tell us what's going on?" Triston asked angrily. "Why haven't we gone home? We have Yugi! Everything should be okay! Shouldn't it?" He glared at Joey and Tea as if expecting an answer to grow from the sides of their heads.

At that very moment, Isis finally pushed the partition aside and stepped out. She looked extremely weary. The trio attacked her at once, bombarding her with questions simultaneously.

"How's Yugi!"

"Why was he crying?"

"Who were those two people!"

Isis managed to look startled; a sign of just how tired she was. "Wait…please…One question at a time." She was pressing her temples with her thumb as if repressing a building headache.

There was a silence for a moment then Tea volunteered the first question. "How is Yugi and why was he crying like that?" She'd left off Triston's question feeling that the identity of the strangers who had returned Yugi could wait just a little longer.

Isis looked thoughtful for a while examining all their faces. "Yugi has been through…more than you can imagine… At this moment, I feel he is battling just to keep his sanity…I have been trying to keep him calm these past hours."

"Battling to…" Joey snarled, Isis's words sinking in far too quickly. "What the HELL did they do to him?"

Isis frowned slowly. "I cannot even begin to explain…it seems…that we have found our Pharaoh."

"Found the …" Tea exclaimed breathlessly. "That's great! Who is it?"

"Yami." Isis said softly.

There was a moment of silent disbelief and then…

"WHAT?" they all exploded and Isis winced again.

"YAMI?" Joey roared. "The same pain in our ass who got Yugi in this very same situation, he's this almightily pharaoh?" Joey's face was a contorted mask of utter fury.

"The same one Malik is controlling?" Tea choked, covering her mouth.

"What the HELL is going on, Isis?" Triston growled, fierce green eyes riveted on the shorter woman. "How can you be sure about this?"

"The Chosen One would fall in love with the Pharaoh…that is how we would identify him." Isis said calmly and waited for the others to put two and two together.

"What kind of bullshi…" Joey began but Tea made an irritated shushing sound and he fell silent (resentfully).

"Yugi fell in love with Yami…" Tea whispered, there was a slow dawning comprehension on her face. "Of course…why didn't I see it before? He's been in love with Yami ever since he clapped eyes on him."

Joey and Triston blanched. "WHAT?"

"And this is where everything gets difficult to explain…" Isis said, nodding at Tea.

Solomon sat dozing at the edge of the tent on a cushion. His mind exhausted from tending to his grandson the entire night. Isis had stepped out to 'explain to the others' what was going on and had advised him to get some sleep in the meantime. Yugi seemed to be sleeping, his back turned to him, and so Solomon had taken the opportunity to rest.

Yugi lay curled up on a very large cushion, wide awake with blank eyes staring at his hand that lay on the sandy ground in front of him. His mind told his arm to move his hand away from the dirt, his body told his mind to go fuck itself.

He didn't care…

NOTHING mattered anymore.

Some woman who called herself Isis kept coming and going, asking him questions. She claimed she was a friend, that she was trying to help him, claimed that she was with Shadi. He had answered her questions, dumbly, like a computer spewing out answers. What did it matter anymore? His grandfather had sat with him for while, listening. Some things Isis seemed to know already, that Yami was the Pharaoh for example, that Yami had betrayed him. He didn't care how she knew, it didn't matter anymore.

How could…how could …HOW COULD HE?

The tears began again, clouding his vision. Why had they saved him? Why hadn't they let those damned followers of Malik kill him? It would have been better than this…

All he could remember was the contempt in Yami's face as he leaned forward and told him that world-shattering sentence.

You were a good fuck…

He squeezed his eyes closed; the cushion by his face was soaked through with his tears. It had all been Yami and Malik's plan? It just didn't make sense…

You were a good fuck…

Those words hurt so much he choked every time he thought of it. He felt like he'd been raped, except that he had gone along with it, smiling all along, had even made friends with the rapist. And yet…

He still loved him. He couldn't help it… He loved him with every fibre of his being. He would have died willingly for Yami, anything for Yami…

He slowly moved…forced himself to painfully move a hand to his chest where his broken rib had been. That was all he had left now…a broken heart and a healed rib, an aching internal scar he would never go away.

Can you go on?

Yugi sat up; he could dimly hear the sandstorm raging outside.

Can you survive without Yami? Are you so pathetic that you can't conceive the next five minutes without him?

Can you?

"No…" Yugi murmured softly, his eyes had ceased to see. "…I can't…"

Isis placed the centre of the millennium puzzle on the ground in front of the three teenagers. Joey and Triston looked at it rather blankly but Tea leaned forward and picked it up almost reverently.

"The same gold material of the puzzle…what is it doing here?" she asked while cradling it in her hands, almost as if afraid it would break.

Isis's did not respond, her mind dwindling on the evening he had come to her. Finally she began to retell her encounter.

Isis touched the millennium item around her neck gently, prodding its power to recognize the life signature of Yugi. It had been some considerable trouble doing it but the elders had managed to get the necklace to work as a sort of homing beacon for the chosen one.

She was grateful for all their trouble now as she 'felt' him somewhere to the east.

The storm was still raging and Isis was considering going back to the tents. The camel was getting angsty. This was the worst storm she had ever encountered…and she had encountered many.

Then she saw the silhouette in the distance and she slipped off the camel, eyes narrowed. She had no idea who it could be; to her knowledge only Malik and his followers dragging the two children were in this world. Her knowledge of this world was limited, she had been raised to guard the gate and she had done so. Now that she thought about it, she wished she had gotten more time to talk to Shadi when he had visited them, to ask him about the Shadow Realm. If it was one of Malik's followers and he got away, they would all be in trouble.

Throwing caution to the wind, she pulled her small blade, abandoned her camel and swiftly ran towards the figure, fully intending to kill whomever it was.

The person did not move, either they were very confident or they hadn't seen her. It couldn't be the latter; if she had seen him then they had seen her. She circled the figure and came in for the kill.

"Isis." She heard her name…more in her head than anything else and nearly tripped in her attempt to stop in time. Hands reached out and steadied her and then she was looking up at two very familiar blue eyes.

"Shadi…" she breathed in shock.

He smiled at her and gathered her shawl around her properly. "You've changed since I saw you last." He said warmly.

"Well…I…it has been four years…" Isis replied, clasping her hands together and trying to look regal. Something she found hard to do when around him.

"I probably look old now…" Shadi laughed. "Why else would you try to kill me?"

Isis blushed from embarrassment. "No…no, you look exactly the same, it was my carelessness, forgive me."

"I felt you when you entered the Shadow Realm, and I am grateful you have come." Shadi said, his voice no longer conversational. "I need your help Isis."

"Anything." Isis said a little too quickly and blushed furiously. She was acting like a sixteen year old fool again!

"I have found our Pharaoh, Isis." Shadi said gathering her hands in his own. "The Chosen One has found him."

"Him?" Isis said confused. "I thought the Pharaoh would return as a woman since the chosen one was a…"

Shadi smiled a little darkly. "You of all people should know life is not always as straightforward as that."

Isis felt stupid again. Why did Shadi do this to her? "Where is he then?"

"Right here in the Shadow Realm, with Yugi." Shadi replied.

"Yami…" Isis said, realization growing in her voice. "It was Yami!"

"My clever Isis…" Shadi said looking pleased. "Nothing escapes you."

Isis tried to not look happy at his compliment but failed.

"I will be bringing Yugi to you tonight Isis…I saw your settlement in the distance, two friends will be bringing him. He… he will not be well, I think."

Isis's pleased feeling faded leaving a gaping worry in her chest. "What…what have they done to him?" she asked.

"It's not what they have done but rather what Yami will do." Shadi replied, looking extremely angry.

Isis stared at Shadi. "But Yami is the Pharaoh…" she whispered. "What are you saying?"

Shadi gripped Isis's hand and gently placed a gold item in it. "Take this Isis, take it and Yugi when he comes. Go back through that gate and never come back here, do you understand?"

Isis opened her hand to stare down at the gold thing…she frowned slightly and realized what it was. "It's a piece of the millennium puzzle…Shadi…how did you?"

"Promise me you will take Yugi home Isis! Guard him!" Shadi growled dangerously and gripped Isis's shoulders. "Do you understand?"

Isis blinked furiously; sensing something terrible had gone wrong. "What has happened Shadi?"

But he was already heading off in the distance, her question unanswered.

"Isis?" Tea asked softly and snapped the woman out of her seeming trance.

"I was told to take Yugi back to the real world." Isis said suddenly. "But my heart tells me to wait, I do not know why…"

Tea looked troubled. "But Yugi needs medical help… he didn't look well…"

Isis blinked and nodded slowly. "You're right of course…when the storm dies down we shall…"

"ISIS!" Solomon bellowed suddenly.

Isis turned sharply in surprise and stared at the bewildered figure of Solomon who stood staring back at her with terror in his eyes.

"IT'S YUGI! HE'S GONE!"

To be Continued

A/N: Ur… A year huh? Sorry about that. Life got in the way.

In case you're interested I've updated Blind Love to Chap. 5 and Chap. 6 will be posted by Wednesday latest. I'm not sure when this story will be updated again – Soon I hope. I tend to run out of time to do things…Thanks for sticking with this story so long xo… and all the reviews.