Greetings Readers! Here we are at the final chapter of Loss and Blame. I hope that you enjoy it, and thanks for reading thus far.

This chapter will be a little different, as it is written in third-person. It takes place right as Yugi returns for good.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.

It seemed incomprehensible that the same rift in reality that let Dartz and the Leviathan escape would be the same one used to bring Yugi back. But as the Knights of Atlantis called out for the Duelists of the Prophecy and the three balls of light came soaring out from the rip, the Pharaoh didn't care. He barely even noticed the two balls of light that shot past him as the third came to where he was standing. Even before he closed his fingers over it, when the familiar and sorely missed warmth and light seeped into his skin, he knew that it was his hikari. At last, he had found Yugi.

He looked almost tentatively up at the Knights, regal as usual but unable to form words that could even come close to expressing how grateful he was to them. Perhaps sensing this, the three simply nodded to him in understanding and respect before disappearing. Although the prospect of letting go of Yugi's soul was almost frightening, Yami released his grip and closed his eyes, and the ball of light vanished into his chest. For one heart stopping moment, nothing happened – but then everything happened all at once.

The increasing darkness of his mind was driven away by a powerful light. Warmth poured into a spirit that had grown cold, lonely, and desolate. All of the hollow spaces within him were now filled – and he felt complete. Nearly crying from feeling his friend's presence in their body again, he closed his eyes tighter and vanished to his soul room. Yugi had finally returned, and it was only right that he have control of his body. At last, he felt complete.

When the others came back to consciousness, Tristan was the first to see Yugi, but Téa was the first to realize that it was Yugi. Even though it was nearly impossible to tell them apart from the back, something about the way he held himself, about his stance, about something that was beyond sight made it unmistakably clear that it was Yugi rather than the Pharaoh. But she held her breath in a poignant mix of fear and expectation as he turned slowly towards them…and the sight of those wonderful purple eyes and almost-smile made her heart thunder and her eyes well with tears.

When Téa ran over to him, she had meant to tell him that she loved him, but that idea fell to the side when she hugged him and burst into tears. She would tell him, later, but now the words didn't matter. Yugi was back.

When Joey came to, he knew without being told that his buddy had been brought back too. As he sprinted towards that spiky head, he meant to tell his humble friend just how much they'd missed him and that he was an incredible leader. But when he crushed the smaller teen in a bear hug, he realized that he had his buddy Yug back and the important words were shoved to the back of his mind. At the moment, they didn't matter – his pal was back.

Tristan sprinted out after the other two, intent on hugging his friend and warning him never to make such a big sacrifice of himself again. That sacrifice had almost made the rest of them fall apart, and he never wanted to lose their friend again. But when he enveloped all of his friends – together again at last – in a big hug, he forgot his friendly but serious threats. It didn't matter – their friend was back.

Nothing else mattered. The guilt they'd all harbored since he'd disappeared. The overwhelming grief they'd suffered as they'd dealt with losing him and trying to find him. The blame they'd given to themselves for not preventing his loss didn't matter. In the moment of joy and comfort and friendship, there was no loss or blame. The friends were all back together – and that was all that mattered.

···

Yugi stared unblinkingly at the Millennium Puzzle perched on the desk from his cross-legged position on the bed for several minutes and then sighed, sagging backward against the headboard. He had no idea why Yami had been avoiding him, but it was starting to drive him crazy. They had talked briefly after Yugi had been returned to his body and had worked together to bring the Leviathan down, but they hadn't really talked since Yugi had come back. When they had been busy saving the world, it was understandable that they hadn't had the time or the place for a good heart-to-heart talk, but now that they were all safely home Yugi was surprised not to have heard from the spirit.

It was lonely, having the spirit present in his mind but not actively talking with him – but to be fair the spirit had been having to bear the burden of their body for a long time without help. That must have been exhausting. I guess I'm being selfish, Yugi thought, smiling, Yami deserves a chance to relax.

/Yugi!/ An almost scolding voice said, /You could never be selfish./

Yugi's eyes lit up and he leaned forward eagerly. "Yami?"

But there was no answer, and the spirit had returned to his previous solitude. Yugi rolled his eyes. Fine. If he's not coming out, I guess I'm going in. he lay back and closed his eyes, willing himself to the Puzzle…

At a sudden solid pressure beneath his feet, Yugi opened his eyes. He was standing in the doorway of his soul room, staring at the familiar ancient door of Yami's mind which remained resolutely shut. Were it any other situation, Yugi would have knocked, but given Yami's current mood, the chances of him actually answering the door were unlikely, so he opened the door and walked in.

The complex labyrinth of Yami's mind lay before him, bright and clear and completely devoid of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh. Yugi let out a huff of mingled exasperation and concern and started to search the contours of the soul room. He was just as stubborn as his other self, and he was not going to quit until he found him. He had missed Yami.

From the shadowy corner Yami watched almost nervously as his hikari walked past, trying not to get too excited about knowing that Yugi had missed him. He didn't deserve it – he didn't deserve anything from his friend that he had so callously betrayed. But that didn't stop him from following Yugi like a shadow, longing to speak with his partner but not allowing himself that comfort.

This continued for some time until Yugi stopped in his tracks at the ledge where the two had often sat to talk about foes or strategies or anything else. He stared out over the room for a long time, and then said quietly, "Yami, you can stop following me now."

Yami's mouth fell open, an unusual reaction for the regal spirit. "How did you –"

Yugi turned around and smiled a half-smile at Yami. "We share a mind, Yami, it wasn't that hard." He sat down on the edge of the ledge and patted the ground beside him. "Come on, take a seat."

Yami nearly walked over to him but quickly caught himself and shrunk back into the shadows. "Sorry, Yugi, I can't."

Yugi sighed and folded his arms. "Fine. If you don't want to talk to me, you don't have to."

Admittedly, it was a cheap shot and Yugi knew it, but it worked. Yami quickly walked over and sit by Yugi, who had to bite back a smile. But the Pharaoh was disturbingly silent and determinedly avoided Yugi's gaze, focusing on his hands on his lap. "Yami," Yugi began, getting increasingly more worried at the Pharaoh's lack of eye contact, "are you okay?"

Yami forgot his resolve to not look at Yugi and looked up, his eyes dark with some deep pain that made Yugi start with surprise. Then he quickly turned to look at the ground. "I'm fine, Aibou."

"Yami, I'm not stupid. What's wrong?" The others had told Yugi that his capture had upset all of them but had really devastated Yami. He hadn't really believed it could have been as bad as they had said, but looking at the Pharaoh made him realize: it was even worse.

"Nothing I don't deserve, Yugi."

Apparently, Yugi's attempt to break Yami out of his depression was successful only up to a point. He placed a hand on the spirit's shoulder. "Pharaoh, that's ridiculous. You have to forgive yourself – it was just a mistake."

"Mistake?" Yami said incredulously, turning to face Yugi with guilt on his face. "Yugi, a mistake is when you oversleep and almost miss school. A mistake is when Joey eats too much and you have to drag him home. There is no way that what I've done to you could be called a mistake."

"Yami," Yugi gripped his friend's shoulder and shook it. "It. Was. A. Mistake. I've forgiven you – I forgave you a long time ago – why won't you forgive yourself?"

Yami laughed weakly. "As I have told you before, Yugi, you are an exceptional person and only you are capable of forgiveness towards someone who hurt you."

"And someone who saved me."

Yami turned to his partner, who was grinning. "What?"

"Yami, I may not have seen all that you did to save me, but everyone else told me all that you had to go through to get me back. And I could feel all the pain you were going through while you were doing it." Yugi smiled, "How could I not forgive you? You saved me. And besides, you're my best friend – that's what we do."

Yami was visibly releasing some of his tension, and Yugi continued. "You've been protecting me for the last few years. You helped save Grandpa. You've helped all of us. So, you made one mistake, so what? You're a spirit, but you're not supposed to be perfect – and you made up for it. You got me back."

He reached over and put an arm over the spirit's shoulders and gave him a hug. "You had to deal with losing me. Don't make all of us have to deal with losing you."

Yami turned to face Yugi, and then hugged him. Yugi hugged him back, feeling the warmth of Yami's happy tears drip down his shoulder…although they could have also been his own.

The loss and blame didn't matter. The two friends were back together again.

A/N: Aw, I just love it when Yugi gets to comfort the usually strong Yami - maybe that's why I write those scenarios so often. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you liked it.

I'd like to extend a special thanks to PurpleWildcat2010 for helping me out with the setting of this chapter. And for editing...which I seem to keep needing despite my best intentions. Ah well.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review. They make me happy!