Title: The Key to My Heart – Chapter Three

Author: Erudit

This chapter is dedicated to all those who are still willing to read my stories.

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Blablabla- Thoughts

"blablabla"- normal talking

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„Is the rumor true?" Yugi wanted to know.

"What rumor?" Seth asked back. The two of them were currently walking through the city. Or better said: Seth was walking and Yugi was balancing on the wall next to the street, arms spread out in an attempt to balance himself.

"That Yami is in love with a boy, living in the palace. Everybody is talking about it." Yugi clarified.

"Well, most rumors are based on some truth at least."

"Have I met the boy then?" Yugi scrunched up his nose as he thought about it.

"I would think it very likely that you've met him." Seth said, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I don't remember meeting him." Yugi pouted, and almost fell of the wall because of not paying attention to where he was putting his feet.

"He's not one who likes to be in the center of attention." Seth explained.

"Oh." Yugi nodded in understanding. "So…what's he like?" He stopped and turned to fully look at Seth.

Seth shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. "It's hard to describe a person with just a few words."

"Teana told me that he is nothing special, that he has no talents whatsoever. She said nobody understood how Yami could fall in love with somebody like him." Yugi stared at his shoes, a pensive look on his face. He didn't like it when people talked bad about somebody. Even though he couldn't recall ever meeting him, he still felt sympathy for the slighted boy. Yugi then continued his balancing act on the wall.

"Well, I sure hope you put more trust in Yami's opinion than in Teana's. Do you really think he'd fall in love with somebody who didn't deserve it?" Seth questioned in a stern voice, as he always did when lecturing the younger boy.

Yugi shook his head immediately. "Of course not. I'm sure the boy's a great person!" Yugi smiled broadly, as always in a good mood and quite used to Seth's harsh sounding voice.

Then, after some contemplating: "But why does Teana say those things about him? Surely she must trust the pharaoh's decisions as well?" Yugi once again stopped his balancing and crouched on top of the wall, so that he was as tall as Seth who had been walking on the street a meter below him.

Seth sighed, a slight scowl on his face. "Because she is jealous." He would have to inform Yami about this. How dared Teana talk bad about Yugi in third person to Yugi himself!

"Jea-lous?" Yugi asked mystified, tilting his head at the new word. "What does **jea-lous** mean?"

"It means that she wants to be the person that Yami is in love with. She envies the boy for having Yami love him. She is talking bad about him because she is angry that he has something she lacks." Seth explained, hoping it had made sense to the boy. He hated having to give definitions.

"Oh." Yugi mumbled, in his mind still pondering over the words, trying to find out if he really understood what he'd just been told.

"We should go back to the palace, little one. It's time for you to go back to your studies. I think Bakura wanted to teach you something about algebra." Seth gently reminded the younger one.

Ryou Bakura was a great fan of numbers, and therefore a terrific mathematician, his only fault being that he wished everybody loved figures as much as he did. Since Yami had taken over the throne, Bakura had been in charge of the kingdom's budget and everything else concerning calculations.

"Okay!" Yugi said enthusiastically, and jumped down from the wall next to Seth.

The older one watched amused as Yugi ran back towards the palace, pretending to be an insect, arms stretched out, and flailing wildly. He was humming and buzzing loudly, hoping to sound as real as possible. Sometimes Seth wondered how Yami could have known that Yugi would like to play so much.

Once Seth arrived at the palace he could see Yugi and Bakura talking avidly to each other, the older one trying to explain what you had to do if you wanted to solve a square root, and the other wondering if they couldn't tackle more difficult topics by now, as he was quite bored with those simple equations.

With a smile Seth said his good-byes and went inside to look for the pharaoh. It always surprised him how Yugi was able to be so enthusiastic about everything without dropping dead in the evening. To every normal person it was exhausting to be doing and learning as many things as Yugi did, but the younger one seemed to have a limitless amount of energy.

Seth found Yami in the throne-room, where the king was currently scanning through a pile of papers, requests, gifts and else. The former king Akhenaden hadn't really cared for his subject's problems and needs, and Yami had spent the past four years trying to remedy his father's errors and neglect. The trade had just begun to flourish once again, and most people were by now quite satisfied with their circumstances.

Yami was a good king but because of this he was also quite busy. They hadn't been able to leave the capital unless it was to inspect rotten bridges or dams, rebuild houses, defend the country against savages or solve minor disputes. All the free time Yami spent with Yugi, intent on getting to know the younger one as good as possible, and letting Yugi get to know him as well.

"How are you today, pharaoh?" Seth asked good-naturedly, knowing he'd once again get a rebuffing for his formal address. Yami didn't like being called pharaoh by his friends.

As Seth had expected Yami looked up with a glare, and snorted annoyed. "Why don't you help me sift through all these papers and ask me that question again once we're done?"

Although it most certainly didn't fall into Seth's responsibility to look through the pile of documents, he nevertheless sat down next to his cousin, wanting to relieve him of as much work as he possibly could. Yami deserved having some spare time to spend with Yugi. Especially when Teana told the little one such nonsense!

Meanwhile Yugi and Bakura had sat down under one of the few trees that surrounded the palace, and were skimming through the problems to find an adequately difficult one for Yugi to solve.

"Your birthday is coming up soon, isn't it Yugi?" Bakura questioned even though he knew the date as well as his own birthday. All of Yami's and consequently all of Yugi's friends knew the date by heart. They'd even planned a surprise birthday party for him. "How old will you be then?"

"Ten." Yugi answered with a knowing smile. He was too smart for tricks like that. He'd found out about the planned party weeks ago.

"And what do you wish for?" Bakura wanted to know, not having realized that the younger one was already onto him. Yami had asked him to find out what Yugi wished for, so that he could get it for him. The others already had most of their presents. It was easy to find something to give to Yugi. He loved games and challenges of all kind, liked to read, was quite fond of animals, and took care of almost every plant in the palace (which was probably the reason for them still having some plants in the palace).

"Why would you want to know?" Yugi asked back, feigning innocence, and then became absorbed in solving one of the difficult problems. Absentmindedly he remarked "I thought you already had a present. Didn't you get the book?"

"Oh…well…" Bakura stuttered, caught by surprise. He should have known Yugi had found out about his presents already. He just wondered how Yami managed to keep his own a secret from Yugi all the time.

One of the first magic abilities that Seth had made Yugi aware of had been of reading somebody's mind. Yugi had been barely seven at that time, and by now because of the young one's extensive practicing Yugi had become really good in it, excelling even most of the elder demons. Yami had been quite proud, Bakura remembered, but now even the pharaoh had to be careful that Yugi wouldn't read his thoughts. It wasn't time for Yugi yet to find out that Atemu was in love with him.

"I was just wondering what else you've wished for." Bakura said, glad that he'd been able to think of something plausible.

"Oh." Yugi remarked, not entirely convinced but he let it slide. He scribbled down a few numbers, and handed the paper over to Bakura.

Bakura smiled, once he had skimmed through everything that Yugi had written down. "You're really good by now. I think you are right about it being time for us to tackle more difficult assignments. Why don't you accompany me into the observatory, and we calculate the distance of the stars together? Maybe we'll even discover a new one, what do you think? I'll let you name it…"

Yugi nodded enthusiastically but that was nothing new. He had nodded the same way when Bakura had suggested measuring the roads, and he'd been quite bored the entire rest of the afternoon.

"There's something I've always wished for but didn't dare mentioning." Yugi finally answered Bakura's question from before. "I was afraid you'd think me ungrateful. After all, you've done so much for me…"

"None of us would ever think you ungrateful." Bakura contradicted. "We want you to be happy. If it is anything that can be acquired, then tell us about it."

Yugi looked up at Bakura unsurely. "I just wish for more trees and flowers. The entire city is grey. There are no colors anywhere. And I'm not allowed to leave the city without any one of you accompanying me. I just wish there was a park somewhere to sit in." Yugi looked back to the ground sheepishly. "But I know demons don't like the flora that much. Most of them even hate it."

Bakura looked at Yugi thoughtfully. Partly the younger one was right. There were some demons that really detested vegetation of any kind. But most didn't. There had even been a time when there had been a park behind the palace. The reason for it not being there anymore was that parts of it had always gotten destroyed, animals eaten. It had simply been too much work to keep the garden as it had been.

"Do you think Seth is ever going to teach me illusion spells?" Yugi changed the topic skillfully. "Teana told me how she used an illusion spell on one of her more tiring costumers, making him think they had already finished their business. She said if you were really good at it, you could even make a person believe he was dying or nurse a person back to health much faster than he'd normally heal; but she also mentioned you had to be really good to be able to concentrate enough so that the illusion seems real. She said mortals don't have enough skill to do so." Yugi looked at his toes sadly.

His greatest wish was to get as good as all his friends. He didn't want them to constantly worry about him, and he wanted to be able to help them instead of them always having to help him. He'd been told his entire life that mortals couldn't really achieve anything in their lives; that he was only able to do magic because the pharaoh was lending him some of his powers. Although most of his friends had told him otherwise several times, he had never truly managed to believe them. His ability to read other people's minds hadn't done anything to help him in that regard; he'd heard demons call him frail, pathetic and many other things, equally damaging to his pride.

"You'd just have to ask him to teach you, and I think he would jump at the chance." Bakura told Yugi.

"Are you sure?" Yugi mumbled. "I wouldn't be too weak to concentrate enough? Could I be able to create realistic illusions?"

Bakura shrugged his shoulders. "Why shouldn't you be? After all we've seen you do at such young an age, I'm pretty sure you could master any technique you wanted to learn." Bakura smiled, bent down, and ruffled Yugi's hair gently. "But you're still a child. You should play more instead of spending all your time learning more difficult spells. You'll have enough time to learn them once you're older. Believe me; the time when people expect you to take on responsibilities comes faster than you think."

Yugi nodded, but wasn't entirely convinced. Teana's words still haunted his thoughts.

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"She did what?!" Yami yelled once Seth had told him about Teana. His fists tightened, and clouds of electricity surrounded his hands, effectively destroying the desk beneath them.

"I don't think that was the only thing she told Yugi. I'm quite sure there was more to it, and Yugi just didn't think it was worth mentioning. If you ask me, it's time to send her away. I cannot say for sure how much damage she's already done." Seth said, his blue eyes looking out the window, directly at Yugi, who was currently inspecting his toes.

"He's getting shyer by the minute. As if somebody was telling him he wasn't worth being in our presence." Seth told Yami. "I'm almost certain she is the reason for it."

"I think it's time I have a few words with her." Yami's eyes flashed dangerously as he went to the door.

Seth felt the magic swirling dangerously around the pharaoh. It was in situations like these that Yami's power was obvious to all those around him. The king could kill with a single thought if he wanted.

The only reason Teana had been allowed to stay in Yugi's presence despite her continuous misbehavior had been Yugi's feelings for the whore. They hadn't wanted to separate the boy from somebody he considered his friend. But Teana's removal from the palace had been long since overdue, Seth thought satisfied.

Yami stalked darkly through the corridors in the direction of the dungeons, slaves ducking into adjoining rooms and hallways when noticing his sour mood. The king wasn't known for unjust treatment; nevertheless nobody wanted to risk the possibility.

"Where is Teana?" Yami growled to the closest concubine once he had entered the dungeon. The girl flinched and trembled beneath his gaze, and shakily indicated a room to the far right.

With a gush of magic, Yami pushed open the door, and strode inside, his magic furiously reaching out and destroying the closest ceramic vases while shaking all the furniture in the room, and making the bed flow three feet up in the air.

"Did you think none of us would pick up your atrocious behavior?!" he growled.

Teana spun around, trying hard to look innocent. As Yami never voluntarily approached her for anything else beside Yugi, it was pretty obvious to her what this talk would be about. "I'm sorry, my pharaoh, but I have no idea what you could possibly mean." She said, nevertheless.

Her faked innocence only incensed Yami further. "Do not ridicule my intelligence, whore." He snarled, his eyes flashing a bright crimson and promising death. "I expect you to be gone in the morrow."

"What?!" Teana's eyes widened horrified, suddenly realizing that the pharaoh was serious. For a concubine her age it would be impossible to continue her work outside of the palace. Nobody would take her.

"Did you think Yugi's innocence would forever keep you safe from me?" scoffed Yami. "I've given you one too many chances, whore. It's time for you to once again learn how to reap what you sowed. For Yugi's sake I have indulged your behavior far too long."

Having said all that needed to be told, he elegantly turned around and left the room, his cloak billowing around him, and his nose scrunched up in obvious disgust. He hated being in the presence of one of the concubines.

Over his shoulder he called: "Should I or one of my advisors still find you somewhere on the palace's grounds tomorrow, I shall take care to see you adequately punished, and not even Yugi's presence will keep me from doing it."

Actually, Yugi's presence would very likely keep him from doing anything that could frighten or disgust the boy but the concubine didn't need to know it. Additionally, it would be easy to lure Teana away from Yugi and take care of her privately without the boy ever finding out.

Five minutes later, Yami was once again in the throne room, his mood not yet completely improved. He noticed his cousin had taken it upon him to ask the servants for another table they could work on.

"You actually told her to be gone by tomorrow?" Seth repeated incredulous once they were alone behind closed doors. It would not do for any servant to overhear their talks.

Even though Yami paid them well, they both knew that other demons had spies in the palace, informing them of every event taking place. Also, some of the servants were quite fond of Yugi and would tell him anything they said about Teana (that was, if the young one ever considered asking).

"What explanation are you going to give him?" Seth asked, his thoughts still on the small boy that now sat in the astronomy tower together with Bakura, looking up at the stars through a huge telescope.

Atemu sighed.

"You realize he will know you sent her away." Seth continued. "It's impossible to keep it silent; even if he didn't go look for her every day."

Another sigh followed in the silence, telling the high priest that his cousin had not yet found an adequate answer.

"Maybe you can convince Marik to act as a scapegoat." Seth suggested. "He's insane enough to agree to that."

"And what reason do you want me to tell Yugi exactly?" Yami wanted to know, a sarcastic smile touching his lips. "That she indecently approached Marik?" It was only a rhetoric question, of course.

Seth made a face. He had not yet met a woman who had wanted to be closer than five feet to Marik.

The grave-keeper looked scary with all his battle scars and tattoos, his behavior was atrocious because he loved to insult everybody he didn't like (which was anybody aside from his friends Bakura, Yami, Seth, Jono and Yugi).

The worst part about Marik were his dark violet eyes, though. They sent shivers down everybody's spine when he looked at them directly, a feat that Yami only managed when he was really incensed. And when the pharaoh was livid, people were usually too distracted by lightening crashing down all around them to notice his deadly eyes.

Even Seth and Yami had difficulty looking Marik into his eyes. They could only wonder how his relationship with Bakura worked. Yami had suggested they never looked at each other, which would explain why Bakura sometimes walked around with chocolate-covered hair from one of his meetings with his boyfriend without even realizing it.

"Well," Seth hesitated, "you never know with Teana." Of course they both knew Teana had never expressed any interest in anybody else besides the pharaoh.

Yami snorted undignified. "I think I need a better reason. Yugi will never believe this, and Marik cannot guard his thoughts well enough from him." As an afterthought, he added: "Besides, I think Marik left for this bridge-affair."

"Too bad." Seth mumbled. "There goes a perfect argument."

Yami rolled his eyes.

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"Yugi!"

The boy looked up when hearing his name, and saw a blonde figure running towards him. He smiled brightly when he recognized his friend, and greeted politely: "Hello Jono."

Bakura had just left him to his own device a few seconds ago. The white-haired demon had wanted to say good-bye to his boyfriend. Marik was supposed to look at another bridge that needed to be repaired. This was approximately the twentieth bridge one of the advisors had looked at during only that one month.

"I hope you are hungry." Jono said enthusiastically. "I've tried something new and you have to test it for me."

Because Jono loved to eat, and devoured giant, long prepared meals in seconds, the previous head cook of the palace had quit his job in an angry huff about two years ago when one of his fabulous creations had been insulted by disappearing into Jono's stomach too fast, and ever since then Jono had taken over this position.

Everybody always declared that Jono was much better at this position than the previous cook had been, but these people consisted of Seth, Jono's boyfriend, Bakura, who was nice to just about everybody, and Marik, who always seconded his boyfriend's claim; therefore, Yugi suspected, they were all a bit partial. Nevertheless, Jono had yet to cook something that Yugi didn't voluntarily eat. And that was the reason why Yugi let the other drag him into the direction of the kitchen.

"Did you hear that Yami finally kicked out Teana?" Jono wanted to know on their way.

Yugi shook his head distressed. Why had the pharaoh asked Teana to leave the palace? She was one of his best friends!

"Yes." Jono continued, knowing that he had the young boy's attention. "Seth finally asked him to. She's simply tried to get him one too many times. She literally jumped him this time, you know? They tumbled down one entire staircase because of her enthusiasm."

Yugi frowned. This reaction to Seth wasn't really typical for Teana. He wouldn't put it quite past her to jump the pharaoh; after all even he knew she was in love with Yami, but to also act this way with Seth…

"Yes." Jono continued, oblivious to Yugi's skepticism. "And last time she absolutely refused to leave our bed-room." He scrunched up his nose. "How she even managed to get in without one of us is beyond me. Seth usually wards our chambers."

Maybe Teana had mistaken Seth for Yami, Yugi decided after thinking about this affair for some time. Even though Seth was normally a lot taller and Yami a lot stronger magically, they sometimes disguised themselves as the other one to suit their own purposes. Maybe Teana had expected Yami to come into Seth's room. After all, Jono had no reason to lie to Yugi.

Once they had entered the kitchen, Jono took distinct pleasure into stuffing Yugi with one of his new creations after the other until Yugi was so full that he absolutely refused eating anything else. The young boy couldn't even return to his own chambers after having eaten all this food. He had to wait for somebody to carry him upstairs.

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Yami found Yugi in the kitchen, rubbing his belly and moaning from time to time. He immediately assumed the worst, and began checking Yugi over for any signs of fever or poisoning. After having checked Yugi's temperature for the fifth time, he finally relaxed to Yugi telling him innocently he had only eaten a little bit too much. This statement, of course, earned Jono a light glare.

"How was your day, little one?" Yami inquired once he had calmed down. He gently traced the boy's cheekbones with one finger. Yugi was so delicate that the pharaoh was always afraid to somehow harm the boy. Demons were known to possess extraordinary strength even without adding magic to their gestures.

"Ryou and I calculated the distance to Atair, Wega and Capella." Yugi told the pharaoh enthusiastically. "And he said tomorrow we would continue with Beteigeuze, Sirius and Aldebaran." The young boy was now almost bouncing in his seat because of his excitement.

"I take it you like to calculate the distance to the stars." An affectionate smile touched Yami's lips.

"Yes." Yugi nodded vigorously. "Of course it would be even better if Bakura let me calculate how long the light of these stars takes to reach us or how fast they move away from us or when they will most likely implode but Bakura said I'm not ready for this kind of calculations yet." Yugi pouted endearingly. "He fears they might be too difficult."

"I'm sure Bakura will let you calculate when these stars are going to implode soon." Yami purred, tracing Yugi's stubborn chin with his finger. "Just give him a little bit time. Maybe it's too difficult for him." He jested, feeling Bakura's presence somewhere behind him.

"Hey!" the tomb-robber exclaimed indignantly, just as Yami had expected.

Yami winked at Yugi, and rose back to his feet in one fluid motion.

"Ah, you absolutely have to try this creation as well!" Jono reappeared by Yugi's side and pushed something sweet and squishy into Yugi's mouth just as the boy wanted to protest to eating even one more bite.

Yami wanted to save Yugi from Jono's over-enthusiasm but Bakura's next words made him forget his intention: "He told me what he would like from you for his birthday."

They stepped into the hallway, Yami now completely focused on Bakura. "And what did he say?"

Bakura whispered to him Yugi's wish for a park because he wasn't allowed to leave the city on his own. Then, he added: "I'm almost certain he knows about the party already. Somebody must have slipped up." The tomb-robber complained, finishing in a childish whine.

Yami frowned. "Most likely not. He probably saw it in one of the servant's minds. You know how their thoughts sometimes jump at you even when you try not to listen. After all, this fact has given any of us a headache some time or another."

Bakura simply harrumphed, glowering at the wall in front of him.

Yami took his time to make sure Yugi was still alright. He secretly let some of Jono's food experiments disappear. Jono sadly failed to realize that not everybody could consume as much food as he himself tended to on a regular occasion.

"Next time we have to try to organize everything without anybody's help if that's the only way to keep Yugi from spoiling our fun." Bakura finally decided. "It's most annoying that we can't surprise him this year." The tomb-robber sighed disappointed. He loved nothing more than to see astonished or shocked faces.

There had been times when Bakura had enjoyed hiding in shadowy corners and jumping out in front of servants unexpectedly just to give them a good scare. He had unfortunately had to stop, though, because those ungrateful slaves had complained to Yami and had announced they would quit if Bakura continued having his fun. The tomb-robber had been miffed for weeks after this until Yami had allowed him to install all kinds of traps in the new crypt for the previous pharaoh.

Bakura had been especially amused when just one day later they had been asked to rescue a priest out of the tomb, who had incidentally taken a wrong turn into the antechamber of Akhenaden's treasure room. It had taken them some time until they were able to come to aid because they had all been laughing so hard. Of course, this thieving priest had shortly after been dismissed.

"And we cannot change the date anymore because Marik will not return until the day of the party." Bakura complained, a gloomy look adorning his face. Once again all his fun had been ruined.

One of the stoves across the room exploded because of Bakura's bad temper. Luckily, Yami had been able to raise an adequate shield for Yugi and Jono in time. He was used to the tomb-robber's disappointed reactions.

"When did Marik leave?" Yami wanted to know. He had thought the grave-keeper had left hours ago.

"Just now. He wanted to say goodbye to me appropriately before leaving." Bakura had the grace to blush at his words.

"Thank you for your advice." Yami looked back to Yugi, and remembered he had wanted to save the little one from Jono's cooking abilities. Jono never knew when to stop.

"That's quite enough, Jono." Yami said, sweeping back into the room and glowering at the cook for good measure. "Yugi still wants to fit through the door once you are done."

"Forgive me, pharaoh." Jono smiled sheepishly, and turned immediately to his new victim: Bakura. The white-haired demon would have fled had he known what was in store for him. Alas, he didn't know about it, and he remained to be tortured with delicious food and several sheet of papyrus for distinct descriptions of his sensations while eating.

"What would you like to do now, little one." Yami turned to Yugi, ignoring Bakura's wails for help, and once again traced the younger one's cheek. He simply couldn't keep from touching the boy.

Yugi smiled at him and suggested they went back to his room. Because Yami had bought Yugi a lot of games, he didn't protest, thinking the boy might want to play something with him. He always encouraged Yugi to treat him as he would treat anybody else in the castle.

Yami was therefore very surprised when Yugi asked him surreptitiously to show him an illusion and then wanted to know the mechanics behind the spell. In the end, Yami had to defer these explanations to the next day, and told Seth to take care of it. As much as he liked to teach Yugi himself, he could think of many other things he wanted to do with the boy. The little time he spent with Yugi was supposed to be filled with something else beside studies.

Furthermore, now that he knew about Yugi's birthday wish, he had a lot of work to do.

-tbc-

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Thank you for bearing with me!

If any of you have wishes or suggestions for what should happen next, please feel free to inform me of them.

I will probably write one more chapter with Yugi being ten (including the party), and then he will be at the age of 16, and the relationship with Yami will become more than just platonic love.

Please tell me about any scenes you'd like to see (or even just words that should be included).