Epilogue

"Serenity!" Joey dashed into her room, trying to hide under the bed. He panted for breath, listening to her laugh before giving up the idea of hiding under the bed, instead cowering in the small space between the corner and the dresser. "Mai is torturing me."

"What is it this time?"

"She's trying to put a bow on me." Serenity was silent for a while, her head turned in his direction before she stood up and walked over to the door, leaning out of it.

"Mai?"

"Yes?"

"Are you trying to but a bow on Joey?"

"Yes." The blonde appeared, Joey leaning momentarily out of his hiding spot before cramming himself back in, praying that Mai hadn't seen him. It annoyed him that he couldn't see her face, but he decided it was better to remain hidden. "It's for that charity picnic event."

"Mai…"

"It's festive and it shows our support."

"Mai, Joey's a boy."

There was a pause, Joey resisting the urge to growl as the silence seemed to go on too long, the sound dying in his throat as Mai finally spoke up. "Fine. A bandana then."

"There you go." Serenity almost skipped back to her bed, jerking her head in Joey's direction. "He's over there."

"Traitor!" Joey realized he was trapped, staring up at Mai with wide eyes before she grabbed his collar and began dragging him out of the room.

"Mai, hold on a moment." Joey was ready to thank the heavens when Serenity called the halt, beaming up at the young woman as Serenity seemed to ponder something. "Just make sure that it won't interfere with the harness. I don't want anything to rub since we're going to be out there a while."

"Of course." He whimpered as he was dragged from the room; Serenity coming to the door again.

"Come on, Joey, it's not that bad."

Of course it wasn't, at least, not to her. She couldn't see the stupid bandana that Mai would pick out for him. She didn't have to put up with the stares from the other dogs and the laughter that would come. He sulked as he was dragged into the main room, sitting on the floor and pouting as Mai ran up to her room.

Knowing Mai, it would be pink.

He shuddered at the idea, glancing up the stairs and contemplating running to Tèa for help. But there was a better chance that he would be caught by Mai. And Tèa never took his side in anything anyway. He was on his own.

Joey curled up on the floor, hoping that someone would stop by and see him looking miserable. After all, he was a poor abused dog; a dog who had risked life and limb to return to his blind owner because she had needed him. A dog who had fought against the forces of evil to free his own kind and bring down an evil scientist. He was the dog who had stood by his owner and her friends for months now, allowing himself to be dragged around nearly everywhere and protecting them from harm when they pulled all nighters for their classes. He had even cooked them breakfast a few times. And this was how he was treated.

A bandana.

Of all the torturous things only a bow was worse.

Joey sighed again, rolling onto his side and staring at the door, knowing that when he heard footsteps on the stairs it was too late. His dignity was about to leave forever. Joey gave another melodramatic sigh, looking hopefully up at Tèa as she avoided him, the brunette looking at him before shaking her head. Tèa turned to yell up the stairs, Joey fixing her with a glare. "You're right, Mai, he's just sitting down here moping."

"Looking like a condemned man?"

"Exactly like that."

Joey flinched at the good natured laughter, staring balefully up at Tèa before sitting up, listening to Mai come down the steps. Mai held a square of fabric in her hands, Joey surprised that it was green before she folded it in half and wrapped it around his neck, tying it. She hummed to herself and twisted it one way and then another before sitting back, holding Joey still. "Tèa, does this look alright to you?"

Tèa paused in the middle of reaching for something in the fridge, glancing as Joey before shrugging. "Looks great."

Mai still didn't seem too sure. "Serenity? Do you think green would look good on Joey?"

"Green?" Serenity walked out of her room, her hand occupied with pulling her long red hair up into a pony tail. She finished with that task, tipping her head to the side before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I think so."

"Alright!" Mai beamed and patted him on the head, Joey still sulking. He stood up automatically as Mai brought over his harness, quickly securing it on him before stepping back and nodding. "Perfect. All ready to go!"

Joey ducked his head, leading Serenity out of the house and ignoring all the giggling females. It would be torture, he just knew it.

Ryou watched as Bakura paced past the porch again, shaking his head before returning his gaze to the street. Amane would be home from school soon, Landon was picking her up. The girl could now move about, although her arm was in a cast and her foot in boot, but she had wanted to go back to school as soon as possible. Ryou smiled at the memory of that, glancing over at Bakura. The smaller white dog and looked at her and called her a geek. Mere moments later, Bakura had been on his back with a look of extreme happiness as Amane scratched his stomach. Even the tough Bakura had his weak spots.

He perked up as the car came around the corner, making it safely into the driveway. Bakura immediately pretended to be searching through the small front garden, Ryou knowing that everyone could see through the act. Ryou stood up, walking over to the car as Landon got out, quickly rushing around to the back seat to help Amane out. Ryou just leapt up into the car, carefully extracting Landon's briefcase before walking back towards the house, noticing that Bakura was watching as Amane was carefully helped from the car.

The girl smiled, walking a bit unsteadily into the house and up the stairs, her father helping her the entire way. Ryou watched long enough to be sure that they were safe before ambling into Landon's study and placing the briefcase down, walking back out into the main house to see Bakura coming in, the white dog stretching at the door before bounding up the stairs, muttering something about checking the perimeter. Ryou shook his head and wandered into the kitchen, knowing that Bakura would be nearly asleep as Amane scratched him in a few moments.

He looked up as Landon walked into the kitchen, checking the calendar as he stood by the fridge, Ryou hesitating between letting Landon cook and offering his own services. While Landon wasn't bad, there was a limit to what he could cook, and they had reached that limit within a week of Amane returning to the house. It had surprised Ryou that he was so good at cooking, but he had quickly taken over the job, with the excuse that it would give Landon more time for his job and visits to the hospital. In truth, Ryou had tired of hamburgers after the second night.

"Victoria comes home tomorrow." The words snapped Ryou out of his thoughts, the cocker spaniel wagging his tail happily. It would be good to have Victoria home, although she would be confined to her bed or the couch. Still, it would mean that his entire family was back at home, where they belonged. His tail increased speed for a moment before he tipped his head to the side, watching Landon run a hand through his hair.

"Long day at work?"

"Yeah. I swear, I teach a class of idiots." Landon sighed before walking into his office, Ryou following him in concern. While Landon was better, Ryou still thought that the man was pushing himself too hard. Although, it gave Landon something other to do than worry. Ryou tipped his head to the side, glancing up before shaking his head.

"I'll cook tonight."

"You don't have to."

"I want to." He moved towards the door, pausing for a moment. "I'll just check on Amane and Bakura, make sure those two aren't getting into trouble."

Landon laughed at that, leaning back in his chair and stretching. "Can't trust them."

"I know. Amane is a bad influence on Bakura." Ryou left the room to the sound of Landon laughing, the sound not as forced as before. He hummed quietly to himself as he bounded up the stairs, smiling as he heard a voice coming from Amane's room, peeking through the door.

Bakura was sprawled out on the bed in his human form, having pulled on sweatpants and a t-shirt, Amane cuddled up to him. He was holding a book in front of the both of them, reading as Amane followed the words on the page. Ryou shook his head before sitting on the ground, tipping his head to the side as he listened to Bakura read to the girl.

"'Dam-Darn it!' Arnold said, punching buttons on the console. 'It's all screwed up.'

"Muldoon was standing at the windows, looking out at the park. The lights had gone out all over the island, except in the immediate area around the main buildings. He saw a few staff personnel hurrying to get out of the rain, but no one seemed to realize anything was wrong. Muldoon looked over at the visitor's lodge, where the lights burned brightly.

"'Uh-oh,' Arnold said. 'We have real trouble.' I know you're out there Ryou." Bakura didn't even look up from the book, Amane the one to glance up and pet an empty spot on the bed. Ryou bounded into the room, jumping up onto the bed and settling down, mock glaring at Amane.

"Homework first."

The girl blushed. "I know, but we had only a few more pages until the end of the chapter when it was time to quit for the night. I just want to finish the chapter, promise."

Ryou faked a grumble before settling down, staring at the title of the book before shaking his head. Only Bakura would pick Jurassic Park to read to a fifth grader. Of course, it was funny to watch Bakura try to edit the language, Amane perfectly capable of reading the words herself. Still, it was part of a ritual that she and Ryou had set up before and Bakura had been allowed in on. Amane and Ryou would take turns reading a book to the other, just because it guaranteed more time spent together.

He closed his eyes and listened as Bakura finished up the chapter, nearly falling out of the bed as he leaned to place the book on the nightstand. Ryou didn't open his eyes as he spoke, hearing Bakura move about the room at Amane's request to grab her backpack. "What book is next?"

"Well, Bakura said there was this really interesting one and I wanted to read it too."

"Which is?"

"The DaVinci Code."

Ryou opened on eye, staring at Bakura as the man shrugged before letting it drop. Amane was a voracious reader and he wouldn't stop her. He would just steer her around the parts of the book not quiet appropriate for her. While he hadn't read the book, Bakura probably had, which meant that he could tell her to skip the bad parts. Ryou yawned before stretching, glancing at the clock before deciding that he could spend about an hour with Amane before going to start their dinner.

And speaking of dinner…"What do you guys want to eat?"

Both Amane and Bakura spoke at the same time. "Anything but hamburgers."

"Can do." Ryou laughed before curling up at the foot of the bed, Bakura flopping into whatever free space he could find, absently flipping through Amane's textbooks as she began to work. The room was silent aside from the sound of Amane's pencil moving across the paper and the sound of Bakura as he made comments on something that he found. Ryou looked at the both of them, shifting so he could use Bakura's leg as a head rest, ignoring the protests of the human. "Sh, my pillow."

"Ryou, I'm not a pillow!"

"Yes you are. Now quiet, Amane is working on her homework. We shouldn't disturb her." Bakura stared at him before grumbling, eventually reaching down to scratch behind Ryou's ears, drawing a happy sigh out of the Cocker Spaniel. Ryou shifted a bit to have Bakura's fingers reach a particular spot, his hind leg twitching a bit in pleasure before he settled down, watching as Amane continued to work on her homework, Bakura seeming to get lost in his own thoughts until Amane called on him for help, Ryou watching the two.

It was strange seeing Bakura like this, almost caring and without his usual gruffness. But, then again, it was strange to even have Bakura here. Many things were strange about this whole arrangement, but Ryou didn't want to think about him. He had once taken his family for granted, then the crash had happened and then Yakou had demanded that he had to leave. And, suddenly, he couldn't take anything for granted. It was a hard lesson to learn, but a precious one once learned properly. He would forget be looking upon scenes like this and storing them away in his memories for the time when life decided to strike at him again.

But for now…"Bakura, it's the other way around."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Prove it!"

"Page 326, bottom. It's in the caption." There was the sound of pages fluttering, Ryou and Amane sharing at smile before they both glanced at Bakura, watching him mouth the words before staring at the page. "Was I right?"

"It's the other way around Amane." Ryou snickered at that, knowing that Bakura would never admit that he was wrong, and he wouldn't press Bakura to. The Cocker Spaniel stretched, giving himself a shake before ambling down the stairs to start dinner.

Seto watched the ball arc through the air, staring at it as it bounced along the grass before coming to a stop. He turned to look at Noa before looking at the brightly colored ball, shaking his head. "No."

"Come on, Seto, other dogs do it."

"I am not 'other dogs'." Seto sniffed, looking down his muzzle at the ball. "Besides, you're procrastinating."

"But it's Friday! I don't have school until Monday. Why should I do my homework now?"

"So you have more time over the weekend to enjoy your free time." Seto held back a laugh as Noa pouted, the boy storming over to the ball and picking it up, bouncing it on the ground every once and a while. "You know I'm right."

"Which is why I'm not listening to you. Your ego is already big enough without me feeding it."

Mokuba laughed from his place at the table on the porch, pointing a pencil at his cousin. "Good one Noa!"

Seto growled as Noa took a bow, shifting on the ground before nodding. "Indeed. Touché, Noa."

He walked over to the side of the pool, stretching out on the cool concrete with a sigh of relief. Summer was fast approaching, the heat almost too much for him to bear. Some part of him said that he should go back inside and enjoy the air conditioned house, but he still wanted to watch the boys, even if that strictly wasn't necessary anymore.

"Hey Dad, am I doing this right?"

Aknadin looked up from his book at Mokuba's question, shifting his chair over to look over the black haired boy's work, nodding to himself before shaking his head, tapping a certain part of the page. "You forgot to add the number you carried. Be careful with that."

"Oh," Mokuba blushed, flipping his pencil in his fingers and hurriedly erasing his work, "right."

"Numbers are tricky things." Aknadin laughed along with Mokuba, returning part of his attention to his book, but Seto could tell that the man wasn't really paying attention. Most of Aknadin's attention was on his son and nephew, making Seto's job almost completely obsolete. Aknadin had slowly started to do this, spending time with the two boys as the company settled down, becoming visible around the house again. It surprised Seto how much Aknadin tried to spend time with his son and nephew, Seto having previously thought that Aknadin didn't care.

For once, he was glad to be wrong. Aknadin's increased presence had brought a welcome change to the house. Mokuba was more confident and stopped having so many nightmares. Noa, while still belligerent, wasn't fighting as much or getting better at hiding it. Seto still had to figure out how to boost the boy's work ethic, something that was greatly reduced. But it was a start at least.

"Noa, you should listen to Seto."

"But Uncle Aknadin," Noa whined, flopping on the grass, "he's our dog! If anything, he should listen to us. And I don't want to do my homework! It's too nice outside to study."

Mokuba stuck his tongue out at Noa, the gesture returned by his cousin before Noa leaned back on the ground, staring at the sky above him. Seto raised his head from the cool concrete, carefully watching Noa before settling back down, shifting so more of his body rested against the cool surface. Even with nearly constant brushings by the boys and some of the mansion staff, he was amazed that he still had enough fur to feel like he was being stifled. For once, he envied Atemu and Marik, allowing the thought to linger for a moment before dismissing it.

He perked up as he heard Noa stand up, the boy pulling off his shirt before rushing towards the pool. Seto had only a moment to think over the action before Noa jumped in, Seto scrambling to his feet too late to avoid the wave of water that splashed over him, the husky glaring at Noa. The boy just laughed, floating on his back. Seto turned his head to glance at Mokuba, noticing that Mokuba was laughing as well, Aknadin hiding his amusement better than the two boys. Seto gave himself a shake, enjoying the cool sensation of the water before turning to glare at Noa, watching the boy cringe for a moment before rushing towards the pool himself, jumping into the water.

Seto bobbed up to the surface, paddling serenely over to the steps before smiling back at Noa, the shock still evident on Noa's face. Seto shrugged and slipped off the steps, paddling around the pool. "Maybe you were right, Noa. A swim does sound good."

"He got you again, Noa." Mokuba nearly fell out of his chair laughing, Aknadin reacting without looking up from his book, reaching out to steady his son. Seto glanced over at them, continuing his lap around the pool. He kept an eye on Noa as the boy splashed in the shallower end, completely a second lap and contemplating a third when Noa got out of the pool, Seto jumping up the steps after him. The husky waited until he was standing beside Noa to shake himself off, ignoring the protest from the boy before sauntering over to a good grassy spot and flopping down, panting happily.

Noa soon followed him, flopping down onto the ground and giving his head a shake, Seto ignored the water that landed on him. There was an annoyed huff from Noa before the boy lay back, using Seto as a pillow and staring up at the clouds. The husky smiled to himself, ready to drift off into a doze when Noa spoke in a low voice. "I promise I'll run in and start my homework, just let me dry a bit. The maids will kill me if I drip on their floors."

Seto gave a soft grunt of agreement, knowing that the maids were ferocious creatures whenever their cleaning got messed up. He had snuck around the house, in the most dignified manner possible, often when they were on the war path, most of those times Noa had something to do with that. He also knew that he wouldn't be going back in the house soon either, at least not until he had been towel dried within an inch of his life. Once again, he envied Atemu and Marik for having short fur, but the smile quickly returned to his face. He had the advantage on the colder days of the year. It was his own version of revenge to watch them shiver, or laugh at the coat that Marik wore proudly, saying that they were signs that his family loved him. Personally Seto thought loved was too strong a word. Marik was something to be put up with, not loved.

"But don't tell Mokuba, alright?"

"Promise."

"Right. Because I have a reputation to uphold."

"Of course you do." Seto shifted slightly, Noa laughing as he wrapped his arms around the dog's neck in a hug.

"You're no fun, Seto."

"I'm no supposed to be. Toys are fun."

"But you're fluffy."

Seto opened one eye to stare at the boy before closing it again. "Not talking to you anymore."

"My fluffy Seto." Noa laughed and snuggled closer, Seto making sure to act like he barely allowed the move, really enjoying the closeness with the boy.

"Sure, whatever. Trying to sleep."

Malik looked over at the door as it opened, revealing Marik and Mahad, the man looking exhausted. Marik, on the other hand, looked just as energetic as he had been when they had left. The Vizla was let off the leash, Marik bounding over to flop next to Malik, cuddling up to him and showering him with his usual endearments. Malik rolled his eyes and put up with it, nearly immune to it now. Of course, he thought he was beginning to like it, something that he was trying to resist and failing.

He did growl when Marik crawled under his blanket, the other dog settling comfortably so only his noise was peeking out, Malik glaring at him before getting out and walking into the kitchen, preferring to listen to Ishizu and Mahad talk instead of sitting with Marik. He paused at that thought, wondering when he had changed from putting up with Marik to something else. He shook his head and sat down near Mahad, secretly hoping for some table scraps and he and Ishizu talked, covering the normal boring human stuff.

Malik peeked under the table, looking at Ishizu's stomach. If he remembered correctly, she was maybe five months along, Malik not really knowing when the baby would be born. He had tried to pay attention to that stuff, but ended up fainting along with Mahad when they had watched the shows on television. Marik, strangely enough, had looked worse for the wear, not enjoying the sight as much as Malik suspected that he would. Still, Marik had managed to be the only one to stay upright, something that Ishizu had loved him for. She had been in one of those moods that night and threatened to take Marik to the hospital with her instead of Mahad. Marik had taken that chance to hide under Malik's blanket again.

He looked hopefully up at Mahad, watching as the man sneaked a glance as Ishizu before offering a bit of meat to him, Malik quickly swallowing it. Both of them put on their best innocent faces as Ishizu glared at them. Malik suspected that he and Mahad needed a new ploy to keep from being yelled at. Marik would probably come in handy there, seeing as Ishizu seemed to favor him at the moment. But that meant sharing with Marik. Malik was already sharing his bed, his house, his food and, the most outrageous of all, his blanket with the other dog. What more could Marik want?

He huffed and settled down, disappointed when dinner ended with no other scraps. Malik slunk back into the living room, watching as Ishizu and Mahad settled down for a few hours of television, disappointed when they turned on the news. Apparently, nothing fun was on tonight. He sighed and scratched behind his ear, shooting a glare at Marik as the dog peeked out from under his blanket, staring at the television before wagging his tail.

Malik found himself walking over, despite the fact that everything told him not to. Deciding that it was for the best and he could at least get part of his blanket back, he settled beside Marik, the two of them watching the images on the screen flicker without much interest.

"Malik-pretty should come on more walks. It's fun."

"Why do you still call me that?"

Marik grinned. "Because it's fun. And you make the funniest face when I say it."

Malik schooled his face into a blank expression, trying to ignore Marik. The Vizla just shifted around, about to rest his head on Malik's back, earning a half hearted growl from Malik. "Do it and I will rip your face off."

The Vizla tipped his head to the side, seeming to think about it before shrugging and resting his head on Malik's back. For a moment, Malik was tempted to carry of his threat. Then he remembered that he would be yelled at not only for killing Marik, but for getting blood on the floor. And, honestly, ripping Marik's face off wasn't his highest priority at the moment. Malik ignored the fact that it felt good to be so close to Marik, reminding himself that he was just acting this way to lure Marik into his trap, realizing that he had yet to figure out what that trap was.

Still, he grumbled a bit before settling down, telling himself to ignore the smile that crossed Marik's face and the happy wiggle he gave. He could survive if he told himself that all was going according to his plan. It was in his best interest to keep Marik happy and then, when he wasn't looking, steal back the most important thing. His blanket.

Malik smirked, lowering his head between his paws so that his muzzle could rest on the pink and teal fabric, a silent promise that it would be his again. Marik would pay for stealing it from him, until then he would plot and ignore the fact that having Marik resting against him was probably the best feeling in the world.

Atemu bounded into the shop just before Solomon shut the door, smiling sheepishly at Yugi. The Shiba Inu sat down on the ground, tipping his head to the side. "Sorry, Yugi, I got held up at home."

"Well, at least you got here." Yugi smiled, standing up as Solomon began to slowly walk off. He glanced back at the stairs before giving Atemu a worried smile. "They're all upstairs. Please make sure they get a nap in sometime and that they finish their dinner."

"Yugi…"

"I know. I know." Atemu walked over, nuzzling Yugi as the Shiba Inu continued to glance up at the stairs. "But I worry."

"They'll be fine, I'm not completely incompetent."

"I know you're not." Yugi finally stood up, giving an apologetic smile to Solomon before following the elderly man out the door, Atemu walking over to the glass door of the shop.

"Have a nice walk!" He managed to get the phrase out before the door shut behind Solomon, the man waving before he locked the door, Yugi giving the house one more long look before following Solomon. Atemu sighed, stretching before turning to walk toward the stairs. It was the first time in a long time that Yugi had gotten to go on his nightly walk, the little dog should get a chance to enjoy it instead of worrying over the puppies as he had been doing since they were born. Atemu chuckled to himself and bounded up the stairs, enjoying the feeling of having his paw unbound, Gekkou having given him the go ahead to remove the bandage.

He reached the top of the stairs, pausing before moving into the room. His ears pricked forward as he heard no sound, tipping his head to the side in confusion. Yugi would have warned him if the puppies were asleep, unless they had all fallen asleep during their short exchange. Atemu blinked in confusion before venturing out into the room, glancing around at all the usual place, his eyes widening as he saw that the bed was empty. The only good sign was that the toys were still scattered about the room and the puppies' scent was still fresh.

"Daddy!" The cry came before the charge, Atemu halfway through a turn, so he was off balance when all seven puppies rushed to meet him. He went down with a yelp of surprise, closing his eyes as the puppies clambered all over him, rolling onto his stomach and waiting for them to settle down. It was only then that he opened his eyes, counting four squirming pups in front of him and feeling three still climbing on him. He huffed and tried to glance over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of gold colored fur before staring forward.

"Iras, Pentu, I am not a toy." He heard whimpers from the two pups, the female and male sliding from his back and shuffling over to where the others sat, ducking their head and muttering, "Sorry Father."

He smiled at them to show that he wasn't as angry as he sounded, counting them again and blinking when he came up one short. Atemu repeated the process, frowning when the number remained the same. "Where's Tjety?"

"Here Father." Atemu had to keep himself from jumping back in surprise as Tjety peered down from on top of his head, Atemu smiling before lowering his head so the puppy could slide down from his perch, happily bounding to join his brothers and sisters. A few entertained themselves with a wrestling match as Atemu got up, glancing down as the smallest of the litter sidled up to him, looking up at him with wide purple eyes.

He laughed and continued walking to the kitchen, glancing at the bowl that usually held the puppies' food, smiling as he found it empty. He went to turn back around, carefully stepping over Nefer, almost tripping over the small female. Atemu caught himself before glancing down at her, the puppy whimpering and curling up into a ball. "Sorry, Father."

"Oh, Nefer." He sat down, shaking his head with a fond smile on his face. "What are we going to do with you? Come on, let's rejoin your brothers and sisters."

Atemu picked her up by the scruff of her neck, walking back into the other room to see most of the puppies still wrestling, hearing Nefer whimper and shrink back with a shiver. "Can you tell us a story, Father? Before bed?"

He carefully set her down on the ground, stretching out himself before nodding. Neferu gave a happy yip before scurrying off to join her sisters, Iras and Sitre as they tackled one of their four brothers to the ground, Atemu laughing as he watched them play, only interfering when the play got too rough. He hoped to tire them out enough for them to fall asleep, allowing himself to be climbed over in the process.

Atemu turned to watch as Tjety and Pentu tumbled down his side again, the two of them laughing. "Having fun?"

"Yes, Father."

"You promised a story!" The females bounded over, Atemu finding himself following their bouncing with his eyes and wondering where they got all of the energy from. Part of him said that they inherited it from Yugi. "Story, Father, please."

"I thought you said before bedtime."

"Story now!" All seven of the puppies had gathered in front of him, staring at him. Atemu fully blamed Yugi for their ability to make their eyes seem larger. It seemed to be his only weakness towards him, though why it didn't work on Yugi he would never understand.

"Promise to be asleep by the time Yugi gets home?" All the puppies nodded frantically. Atemu sighed and stood up. "Alright."

"YAY!" The puppies bounded over to the bed, Atemu picking his way over them before flopping on the bed, suddenly feeling old when faced with all of their energy. He had little time to wonder about that before the puppies swarmed him again, all of them finding comfortable places to lay down, eventually forming into the usual mass that they slept in, bright eyes peering at him as he lay there watching them. He quickly shook himself out of his reverie and began talking, manipulating a fairy tale so that his children would understand it.

It was sad in a way that the puppies were just dogs, but it was better than what their parents were, although Atemu was sure that it wouldn't bother them. It was better this way, they would get to live out a normal life without worrying about the things that humans worried about, which Atemu was finding out was a lot. And he suspected that they would live better lives for it. He was sure that even more diseases or disabilities would begin to show up in the radiation treated dogs, meaning that he and Yugi might have shorter lives than normal.

Still, it was nothing too horrible. He had everything that he had ever wanted, and a bit more. Although, he was eagerly awaiting the moment when he could spend more time with Akhnamkanon and Mana, as he was basically living with Yugi now. He had even gotten a talk from Akhnamkanon, incredibly confused the entire time.

He trailed off as he realized that all the puppies had fallen asleep, smiling to himself before carefully pushing them slightly apart so they wouldn't break into a fight when they all woke up. He sighed and stretched out himself, perking up as the side door to the house opened. He didn't bother to turn around to see who had come in, the faint jingle of the collar and familiar scent of his mate told him enough. "You're back early."

"Yugi wouldn't stop worrying about the puppies, so we cut it short. Maybe a longer walk next time." Solomon bent down to unhook the leash from Yugi's collar, the Shiba Inu bustling over to where Atemu and the puppies were, carefully checking over all of them before looking at Atemu.

"How long?"

"A few minutes maybe." Atemu smiled at Yugi, watching as his mate quieted one of the puppies before curling carefully on one side of the bed, resting his head on Atemu's paws. "See, I'm not such a horrible father."

"Never said you were. You're probably better than me."

"I'm not."

"Well, then, we're both equally as bad." Yugi smiled. "I'm not that sleepy actually, but I know I should, especially for when those terrors wake up, but I don't want to. How long has it been since I got to just spent time with you?"

"Too long." Atemu licked Yugi's muzzle, smiling when his mate shifted closer.

"Can you hold up for a few more weeks?"

"Sure." Atemu moved back from the puppies, allowing Yugi to snuggle up next to him, cleaning his mate's face with slow strokes of his tongue, feeling Yugi relax under the attention. He settled for nuzzling Yugi, delighting in the smell of his mate and listening to the soft sighs that came form him. "For you, Yugi, I would wait forever."

"Me too, Atemu. Me too."

END

What Bakura reads to Amane is from page 176 of Jurassic Park.

And it ends on more teeth rotting fluff. I hope you guys enjoyed this story.

Please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcome.