Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-gi-oh or the Nutcracker.

Summary: A Christmas party was held at the Motous and Yugi received a special gift from his grandfather. One of his friends was jealous of it and broke it. His grandfather mended it and little Yugi, still worried about it, went downstairs and was soon whisked into a magical world where the Nutcracker came to life and took him on a wondrous journey. But is it all real or only a dream?

Characters

Clara: Yugi

Nutcracker: Yami

Fritz: Anzu

Drosselmeyer: Sugoroku

Mouse King: Pegasus

0

The Nutcracker

0

At the Motou house, a wonderful Christmas Eve party was going on. Yugi sat in the chair, marveling at the large tree his parents was able to get for Christmas this year. The soft music was playing as more of his family arrived with presents and such. It was not long before his friends arrived as well and he got up to greet them.

"Hi, Yugi. Wonderful party your parents set up this year." Ryou said as they followed him into the living room. "Thanks. You know how my mom and dad are." Yugi said. They nodded and Diamond leaned down to him. "Sorry about this, Yugi, but we couldn't get rid of Anzu. She wouldn't go away so she came with us." she muttered.

"That's alright. She'll go away after a while." Yugi replied softly. Soon, the music became more festive at the arrival of his grandfather who was a great clock and toy maker and always came from out of town especially to give Yugi and his friends some of his hand made toys. He walked over to them and smiled as Yugi jumped up to give him a hug. "I'm so glad to see you, jii-chan! What did you bring for us this time?" he asked, eager to receive his present from him. He smiled and pat Yugi's head lightly as he pulled the present from his bag.

"Here you go; I made it especially for you." Sugoroku said. Yugi's smile brightened as he took the gift so tentatively from him and went to sit back down in the chair he was in before as he grandfather went to pass out gifts to his friends. Anzu waited patiently and seeing that there was no present for her, she huffed. Yugi opened his present and grinned. His friends came to stand next to him to see what he got. "Oh wow, it's so beautiful." Diamond said in awe as he took out the nutcracker that sat in the box.

The nutcracker was carved from wood and looked so much like him only with different features from its hair to its eyes which were a vivid cerise color. It wore a richly tailored uniform and hat and a little wooden sword was held in its hand. Sugoroku smiled as he watched the joy light up Yugi's face as he gazed at his present. "It's a very special gift I made just for you, Yugi. Take good care of him and you may get the wish you always wanted." Sugoroku said. Anzu watched with a sneer and walked over to them.

"You think you're so special, getting a gift like that. I don't see it being any different than any other gift they could've gotten." Anzu snapped, looking to his friends. "Well, I think he's special and besides, what makes you think we care about what you think?" Keara said with a snort. "I'll show you, it's nothing but a simple wooden nutcracker." Anzu said as she tried to take the nutcracker from Yugi. She grasped it but he wouldn't let go of it. "Let go, Anzu!" Yugi cried, trying to pull it away from her.

"No! I'll show you and your friends that there's nothing special about your nutcracker!" she growled and soon, they heard a slight cracking sound, causing both Diamond and Keara to get up in a flourish and forced Anzu let go of the nutcracker. "Is it broken?" Jou asked as he knelt down beside him. He tried to move the little mouth and seeing it wasn't moving, he nodded sadly. Keara growled and she along with Diamond dragged her away. "Ok, your invite was only temporary anyway but breaking Yugi's gift wasn't on the list." Keara snarled as they both threw her out into the snow.

Sugoroku walked over and asked Yugi to let him see it. He handed it to him gently and Sugoroku examined the toy. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." he said as he took out a handkerchief and fixed it quite quickly. "Now, why don't we put him under the tree so he'll be safe among the other presents." he said and Yugi nodded as his grandfather placed the nutcracker under the tree.

0

As it got late, the guests started to leave and Yugi with his friends headed upstairs to his room to retire for the night. Yugi was still heartbroken about his gift but Diamond hugged him and told him it's alright. "I'm sure that he'll be fine tomorrow just for you. Maybe even better, ok?" she said and he nodded. "Alright." he said as he climbed into bed. She watched him quietly before lying down on her sleeping bag to go to sleep as well.

As it was approaching midnight, Yugi still couldn't go the sleep and with one thought in mind, he got up from his bed and snuck downstairs without waking his friends and walked over to the tree. He knelt down and pulled the nutcracker out from under the tree. He gently stroked the wooden head of the nutcracker and sighed. "Jii-chan said I would get the wish I always wanted. Seeing you has made me want to wish to see you alive. But I don't know if that wish will come true." Yugi whispered as he hugged the toy close to him.

He lied down on the floor with the nutcracker in hand and soon fell asleep.

As he was sleeping, he didn't notice that the room was changing, everything becoming larger as he was getting smaller. He didn't know that the room was starting to fill up with an army of mice, led by their Mouse King, Pegasus. "Alright, go in for the attack. Take down the nutcracker." he said and the mice nodded as they charged in. Yugi woke up quietly and saw the mice coming towards him. He realized that his nutcracker wasn't in his hand, but standing, alive and leading his toy soldier army into battle.

'I can't believe he's alive. My wish came true.' he thought as he stood up and ran over to him. The nutcracker looked down to him and pulled him to stand behind him, slashing away as the mice tried to come after him. Soon, Pegasus came towards him, ready to fight. Yugi back away as they clashed swords He looked around, seeing that some of the toy soldiers were starting to lose again the mice and tried to think of a way to defeat Pegasus since the nutcracker was about to be beaten, causing the loss of morale with the other soldiers.

He looked down to his slippers and took one. He ran over to the nutcracker's side and threw the slipper towards the Mouse King's head. Pegasus cried out in pain and soon fell over. The mice all looked towards him and seeing he was down, ran over to him and picked him up before running off once more. Yugi sighed, glad that it worked and looked up to the nutcracker that soon turned into a prince. He looked down to him and smiled. "Shall we go now?" he asked. "Go where?" Yugi questioned.

"Why, to the Land of Sweets where the Sugar Plum Fairy resides there as the queen." he said as he held out his hand. Wanting to spend more time with the nutcracker, he took his hand and they were soon out the door and into a wondrous winter forest known as the Land of Snow. As they walked, the snowflakes danced around them, making Yugi smile. They soon reached the Kingdom of Sweets and entered the palace where the Sugar Plum Fairy sat on her throne. She looked up and smiled to see him.

"Ah, I'm glad to see the curse broken. How did this happen?" she asked. "This young boy defeated the Mouse King and freed me from the curse." he said, letting Yugi step forward. She clapped her hand in delight as she walked down and up to them. "Thank you, young one, for helping him. An honor such as this should be rewarded." she said as she led him up to a miniature throne that was next to hers. "Oh, you don't need to give me anything. I'm just happy to have my wish come true."

"Oh heavens no, you deserve this." she said as she clapped her hands and dancers came up, giving him sweets and tea. He took them happily as the prince came to stand next to him. He looked down to him with a smile and Yugi looked back up to him with a smile of his own. As the night went on, many of the dancers started to dance and soon, the Sugar Plum Fairy with her cavalier came to do a dance by themselves.

Yugi was happy to be here but knew he soon had to go home. He really didn't want to, especially coming upon a place such as this. Yugi tugged the prince's sleeve and he looked down to him with softened crimson eyes. "Is there something you need?" he asked. "I wish to go home now. I love this place, I really do but I must get back. Christmas will come soon." He nodded. "Before you go, let the people give homage to you for your defeat of the Mouse King and helping me, close your eyes and you will soon be home." he said before taking something out of his pocket.

It was a pendant with a ruby tied at the end. "And take this with you so you will remember this night." he said and Yugi nodded as he placed the pendant around his neck. The people in the room praised and thanked him once more before he closed his eyes and soon, everything disappeared like a distant memory.

0

He woke up to someone nudging his shoulder and he sat up, looking around. "Yugi, it's time to wake up." Diamond said as he knelt down beside him. He sat up from his placed on the floor and looked around. "Where did the nutcracker go?" he asked as he looked around for it. It wasn't in his arms when he woke up and he started to worry. But he did notice that he still wore the ruby pendant that the prince gave him the night before and knew it wasn't a dream where he went to.

"We don't know. We looked everywhere and didn't see it." Kaiser replied. He sighed lightly as he stood up. Keara placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll turn up soon." she said and he nodded. "Come on, let's open your gifts. Your parents said you could while they're fixing breakfast for us." she said and he nodded as he took the first gift from his dad from under the tree.

0

As he was opening his last gift, there was a knock at the door. Sugoroku got up from his chair, placing the book he was reading down and walked towards the door, opening it. A hooded person stood there with another right behind him, a small gift in his hands. He smiled and nodded. "Glad you can come. Please, come in." he said and the hooded person nodded as he came in from the cold and followed Sugoroku.

They looked up and were curious of the new visitor. "Yugi, I wish for you to meet someone." Sugoroku said. He stood up, placing his last gift beside the others and walked over, his friends watching him. The person didn't say nothing yet but handed him the wrapped present he held in his hands. He took it and opened it and his eyes widened as he saw his nutcracker toy sitting inside the box. "But how?" he asked, looking to the hooded figure. The figure's smile was hidden in the shadows of his hood and he pulled it off, causing Yugi to gasp.

"You're-you're the prince that I saw in my dream." Yugi said softly. "It wasn't a dream, Yugi. It was real as you thought it was and it was your Christmas wish that brought me here. And I decided to bring a friend." he said. "Who are you?" he asked once more as he clutched his toy to his chest. "I'm Yami and he's Aqua. We are here to stay with you." Yugi smiled and hugged him who hugged him back. Sugoroku watched with a smile before telling the others to head into the kitchen and leave them alone for now. They nodded and left into the kitchen.

Yugi looked up to him. "But I thought my wish was to only see you come to life, which I did."

"Yes, that is true but your wish meant deeper just as your feelings for me does. That is why I am here now. Not only that but I do love you back. I didn't get the chance to tell you before you left." Yami said. Yugi blushed lightly but smiled as he hugged him again, kissing him lightly on his cheek. "I'm glad you did come and I'll never take off this pendant either." Yugi whispered as he released himself from Yami's hug and placed a hand on the ruby pendant.

Aqua nodded. "We know you won't. It's very special to you just as the nutcracker is. We will make sure you never lose both." Aqua said and Yugi nodded. Yami walked over to him and took his hand lightly in his. "Come, I bet that breakfast is ready now." Yami said, placing a chaste kiss on his soft lips. He returned the kiss softly and nodded, placing the nutcracker on his favorite chair and followed Yami and Aqua into the kitchen.

In the chair that his grandfather was sitting in earlier sat a book. It was opened onto the last page where the nutcracker prince and his princess were dancing. Forever together through dream and reality.

0

Zypher: And that's the end. Lots of fluffy goodness. Hoped you enjoyed and will leave a review. Now I shall get the work on another chapter so I'll see you all next time.