Yugi looked down uncertainly at the white slope of the Mount Ruapehu nervously, over the past week him, Kya and Ryou had progressively made their way up the mountain set level trails and had reached the black, high experience track. Yugi was slightly worried, the snow on the mountain was completely different to the artificially created snow back home so it was a lot quicker and had taken Yugi awhile to get use to the faster pace. Kya and Ryou had encouraged him all the way, pushing him harder every day and he knew today would be no different, once they had perfected this track they would begin their trick training for the next three weeks and he was determined to make sure that they had it down pact by the end of the day. He looked over to Kya who was in her black snowboarding pants, bright pink camouflage pattern jackets with matching black beanie and pink googles, she smiled at him encouragingly. Ryou stood next to her on his ski's in a matching pants but green jacket and goggles.

"Are you ready for this shorty?" Yugi bit the bottom of his lips, his worried amethyst eyes hidden behind his blue googles. He could hear the comfort in Kya's voice but it did nothing to calm his nerves

"As ready as I'll ever be I guess, what about Ryou?" Ryou nodded his head and smiled, he seemed a lot calmer to Yugi, probably due to him having more experience than him on a proper mountain slope

"No time like the present Yugi" They all checked that their bindings were secure before unanimously nodding and Yugi took a deep breath in, if he didn't go now he would chicken out and that was the last thing he wanted. Without a word he faced his board downwards, the thick clouds blocking his vision from seeing the lower part of the mountain and took off. Ryou and Kya followed suit and they all began twisting their way down, making sure to look out for the black sign post's that were their only guides. Yugi's nervousness disappeared quickly, every time he hopped on his board he felt free, his mind stopped thinking about all his problems and he felt completely care free. He pressed forward, determined to make it to the bottom without fault and leaving Kya and Ryou behind and not hearing their yell's to slow down. Instead he increased his speed, enjoying feeling the wind across his face and feeling as if everything in the world was in harmony as the snow shot out from the trail he was carving in the white powder. He had made it about half way down without any hassle until he came across a person who had fallen, they were right in the middle of his path and he had no way to avoid them due to his speed, he attempted to stop but found himself falling forwards and slamming into the person with full force, causing them to slide down the slope for a few minutes. Yugi was spread eagle on his back, groaning in pain as he attempted to push himself up, he could feel the bruising on his arms and back already forming and his ankles had taken a jolt as well, he was more concerned about the person he had run into though as he knew they could be worse off

"Are you okay?" he offered a hand to the female figure in a complete purple outfit only to have it slapped away angrily

"What the hell were you thinking moron! Didn't you see me there?" The woman stood up slowly, clutching her ribcage as if the wind had been knocked out of her. Yugi gapped, he would know that voice anywhere

"Mai? Is that you?" the women looked up and removed her hood and let her long waist length blonde hair fall out. She lifted her goggles up showing her lavender eyes and one eyebrow was raised curiously

"Who's asking shrimp" Yugi couldn't help but laugh, it had been a long time since he had last seen Mai during the ordeal with Dartz

"It's me, Yugi!" he heard her gasp and a hand flew over her mouth in shock before looking around wildly, Yugi knew she was looking for Joey "He isn't with me Mai, I'm here with other friends"

"Oh, I was hoping…I have some apologising to do" Yugi shook his head, a part of him was thrilled to see her but it also reminded him of everything he was trying to leave behind.

"YUGI MUTOU WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING" Kya and Ryou skidded to a stop behind him, gasping for breath. Yugi held up his hand's in a submissive manor, he had never seen Kya this angry at him before "Didn't you hear us yelling at you to slow down! You could have seriously injured yourself Yugi! All your hard work would have been in vain!"

"I'm sorry Kya, I just got caught up in it all" he was pulled into a tight hug and awkwardly patted the angry girls back. Ryou stood off to the side waving shyly to Mai who smiled back at another familiar face

"Don't you EVER scare me like that again shorty, we don't know this trail at all and if you had hurt yourself I would never have forgiven myself" she held him back with both arms and inspected him, a small bruise was forming on his cheek and he flinched when she pressed against a bruise on his arm "Come on, we'll get you checked out"

"I'll come with, you sure did a number on me Yugi" Mai's thick American accent broke Kya's concentration on Yugi who was now taking off his board to carry down the mountain, there was no way Kya would let him board the rest of the way down

"Who the hell are you?" Yugi cringed, Kya's over protectiveness of the smaller boy sometimes came across far more aggressive then she meant it to. Mai just raised her eyebrow again and held out her hand

"The name's Mai Valentine, Top ranked duellist and Yugi's friend" Kya glared at her and Yugi frowned, she was thinking that Mai was one of the people who had abandoned him when in reality Mai was just a drifter, she could disappear for ages and come back as if she had never left

"Another one of them" Yugi grabbed Kya on the arm and shook his head, he knew she meant well but he knew Mia and he didn't want Kya scaring her off

"No Kya, Mai's a good friend of mine, she didn't have a part of any of that" Ryou stood next to Mai as a sign of his approval

"We may have not seen Mai in age's but that just her nature, So Kya please, play nice" Mai crossed her arms and sized Kya up but was clearly happy that Yugi had such a strong friendship with the girl. Kya's protectiveness was gone as quickly as it came and took Mai's hand, her usual bubbly smile on her face

"Sorry about that, my name's Kya, I'm Yugi's coach and friend aswell" Mai smiled back warmly at the girl and turned back to Yugi

"Come on, we'll go get sorted and then catch up at the café properly, I want to know everything that's been going on"

…..

"THEY DID WHAT!" Mia's voice cut through the café icily and Yugi, Kya and Ryou blushed in embarrassment. Yugi didn't want to talk about the people he left in domino but he didn't know how else to answer her questions when she asked how they were all doing

"We'll once Yami got his own body they just kind of…forgot about me I guess. They we're all so excited about him staying and competing himself we just grew apart" Mai looked furious but Yugi smiled back at her brightly "Hey it's okay Mai, if none of that happened I would never have stepped foot in Snow Planet and meet Kya here! And now I have a new passion, if I win the Domino regional Snow Boarding Championship I could get sponsored!"

"And if I don't say so myself he has a pretty good shot at it to! All thanks to my coaching I may say" Yugi laughed, Kya never failed to let people know she was responsible for where he was now

"But…what about duel monsters Yugi, you loved it, you're the top duellist in the world and you're just going to give it all up?" the question hit Yugi hard, how could he explain to her about Yami, about how he had given everything to a man who didn't love him back

"Yami's the king of games Mai, I've found a new path now…" Mai slammed her hands on the table angrily and Kya stood up, leaning over to her.

"Mai…he gave it up for Yami" Ryou's soft British accent broke the tension, confusion was still evident in Mia's posture and Yugi nodded to Ryou to continue knowing he wouldn't be able to say it himself "After the ceremonial duel Yami chose to stay here and I watched it all happen. I saw the group ignore Yugi, push him aside and treat him as if he never existed and Yami was so wrapped up in it all he did it as well. I watched day after day as Yugi tried to get the pharaoh to notice him again, he loved him so much that one day at school…he handed him the deck they made together and told him he could have it, that he no longer felt that he was worthy of the game. Of course the gang were too wrapped up in the prospect of Yami duelling that they didn't see that sacrifice Yugi had made for him…Yami took it as a gift, he didn't see what it meant. That day I saw Yugi's heart break and for months he wandered around as if he was an empty shell, it was obvious he wasn't eating or sleeping and I did my best to cheer him up but it was useless, the man he loved had forgotten him, his passion in life he had given to him as a last ditch effort to get him to see how he felt and his friends had chosen him as well. Yugi was left with nothing until he met Kya, he had found that passion he had with duel monsters again and ever since I've watched him grow and become a stronger person and that's why he's here training, not duelling. He has a new direction in life now Mai and I hope you understand that and support him because he doesn't need to loose anymore friends"

"Of course you have my support Yugi, I just hate knowing you gave up everything you worked so hard for to get nothing in return…it isn't fair" Mai's cheeks were stained with tears and Yugi got up and hugged her, it was nice to know she still cared about him and that she was still a true friend to him "When I see Wheeler next I'm going to give him an earful!"

"Don't worry about it Mai, as Ryou said I've got a new direction in life now and none of that matters anymore. If anything I've learnt a valuable lesson, never give someone everything if they can't do the same for you. Sure it's been hard to pick up the pieces and I feel like I still am but I'll get there" all three at the table gave a nod of support and looked down at their coffees "How about we get out of here early today? I'm way to sore to keep practicing"

"Shorty…" he knew Kya wanted him to keep going but after talking with Mai he felt that it would be useless, his heart wouldn't be in it so he gave her his puppy dog eyes and he saw her cave "Alright, where are you staying Mai we'll give you a ride"

"At the backpackers in Ohakuni" Yugi, Kya and Ryou all gave each other a knowing smile and turned back to Mai

"Not anymore Mai! You're coming to stay with us, Seto's rented out this ridiculous lodge for just the three of us so there's heaps of spare room and may I add a full stocked bar

"You don't have to ask me twice doll" Yugi smiled brightly, a part of him felt like it was fixing itself knowing that he had another person behind him.

…..

Yami sat at the desk in his room, his brows knitted in frustration as he organised his deck for the fifth time; no matter how many times he did it he couldn't help feeling that it wasn't right. He put the cards in his hand down and looked over to his two favourite cards, the Dark Magician and Dark Magician girl. I wish you two were really here, it would be good to see some old faces. He pushed the chair backwards and stood up, knowing he should probably try and get some sleep for school tomorrow and he hated how worried the gang was about him lately. He quickly got changed and lay down, looking at the roof and his mind flicked to Yugi, he had avoided going downstairs every second day as he knew Yugi would be skyping Grampa and he couldn't face him again; not once had Yugi mentioned his letter. Yami tossed and turned, begging his brain to stop thinking about his Hikari

"What did I do that was so wrong for you to leave me aibou?" he whispered into the darkness, many time's he wondered what the exact moment was when they had grown so distant and he couldn't come up with it. Suddenly light lit up the room from the desk where his duel monster cards were and he sat up quickly in surprise. Two shapes stood in the darkness, one the form of a tall male and the other a small feminine frame "Whose there!"

"Really Atem, that's the way you treat your two best friends after five thousand years?" he heard the light switch click and gapped, standing in his room was his former priest Mahad and his childhood friend Mana

"H-how is this possible?" his voice wavered in shock, they both were wearing modern day clothes. Mahad in a pair of blue jeans and a white dress shirt while Mana was in a pink sundress. Mana marched over to him, her finger pointed at him and he knew she was about to scold him

"Your father convinced the god's to send us here because you're screwing everything up Mr! They didn't give you a second chance at life to throw away the one thing worth staying for! You broke poor Yugi's heart and you're doing absolutely nothing to win him back!" The small spikey haired brunet jabbed her finger into his nose, her hand on her hip and Mahad chuckled

"That's enough Mana" Mahad's calm and cool voice made Yami smile, even though he could feel they were disappointed in him it was good to have them by his side again

"I wrote him a letter-" Mana cut him off, waving her arms in the air erratically

"A letter! He lost the damn letter Atem and even then what did you think would happen? That he would read it and come running back to you? Where has my best friend gone? The Atem I knew would go to the ends of the earth for his loved ones and here you are sitting around moping feeling sorry for yourself. Word's don't mean anything! So stop being such a baby and fight for Yugi, show him you love him because right now he thinks you couldn't care any less about him and if you really want to be with him you will hop on a plane to be with him"

"It's not that simple Mana, he's starting a new life and if he doesn't want me in it then I will respect that" this time Mahad stepped towards him a frown on his face and he shook his head in despair

"My King, Yugi loves you, he has always loved you and just because he has begun to carve out his own destiny that does not mean it is not one you both can share. Mana is right, you need to prove to him that you love him and you need to be the king I know you are, the king who stared down pure darkness to save those he loved; Yugi supported you then and now it is your turn to support him" Yami nodded, he felt his chest swell with determination and he knew his friends were right, for too long he had sat around wallowing in his despair. He wanted Yugi and he would do anything to prove to his aibou that he loved him.

"You both are right, I have been a fool" Mana smiled and clapped her hands together excitedly and jumped on one of her oldest friends and pulled him into a giant hug

"Of course were right, we've known you since you were in diapers!" Yami chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, enjoying having her in his arms again

"How long will you to be able to stay?" his face dropped, now that he had them back the thought of losing them again clawed at his heart, trying to force him back into despair again

"The gods gave us a choice, if we chose to come back we must remain here like you until we die a natural death. We have made our choice to stay with you Atem, we have been given the chance to live out our friendship till old age like it should have been" Yami nodded and pulled Mana off him gently before and walking over to Mahad who he took by surprise by bringing him into a hug as tight as the one Mana had given him

"Thank you, you have once again saved me"