Author's notes:

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh! Actually, I take that back. I own it - in my dreams!

Wah! I can't believe I'm writing a fluff _and_ song-fic *is shot down by some random flamers*.
This ficcie was a nice request from Lily-chan, who wanted to see some (very light) Yami and Yuugi shounen-ai.
She's got some great fics herself at lily22, so go check 'em out ^_^.

NOTE: The song-fic is in FRENCH! Even if you don't understand it, it provides a nice interlude XD.

~~Parts of song~~

**********************

Rever



"Who am I?"

The first thing that struck him was the immediate darkness. That, and panic.

Slowly, he looked around him, taking in the emptiness blinding his vision. The darkness was
strangling him; muffling his every sense to leave a confining prison of shadows. He could feel his anxiety
rising, heart pounding fretfully with each breath.

He couldn't move! He was surrounded! He couldn't resist nor struggle as it moved around him,
inside and outside him at the same time. The darkness stole his soul and laughed at his vain attempts,
smothering his very essence.

Then… nothing. There was no more darkness. Slowly, all around him, there flickered into view a
fantastic complexity of images. Stairways, each piled on the other, some sideways and others upside down,
leading to millions of doors. They seemed to perpetuate: to go on as far as the eye could see like an endless
labyrinth, now illuminated by an eternal light.

There was no more darkness around him…

… Because he was the darkness.

"I am Yami."

**************************

~~"Si tu n'existais pas
Dis moi pourquoi j'existerais
Pour trainer dans un monde sans toi
Sans espoir et sans regrets"~~

Yuugi awoke with a start. There was a brief moment brief moment between his unconscious and
conscious mind where nothing seemed to register. Then, the memories began yammering all at once,
creating a whirlpool of confusion.

Yuugi continued breathing in abrupt, short gasps, bringing a hand to his forehead. Slowly, he
wiped the sweat from his head with his scratchy pajama sleeve.

The small boy looked around him, eyes falling towards the only source of light, his alarm clock.

"2:30." He said these digits aloud, half to confirm his observation, half to reassure himself. Yuugi
then leant back on his pillow rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Did he dare go back to sleep? Did he dare fact those nightmares again?

~~"Si tu n'existais pas
J'essaierais d'inventer l'amour
Comme un peintre qui voit sous ses doigts
Naitre les couleurs du jour
Et qui ne'en revient pas"~~

"Yami." Yuugi said the word even before he realized he had done so.

The Sennen Puzzle beside his bed, currently resting on a chair, enshrouded by the still-night
darkness, began to faintly glimmer. Then, like some ghostly projection, an etched outline formed from the
thin air, solidifying enough to become a life-sized figure.

The figure, though a far cry from being human, was still earthly enough to look slightly
disheveled. This figure could have been the mirror image to Yuugi. And then again, something suggested
he was not. Perhaps it was those tough, piercing eyes, or else perhaps his tall, confident frame. Whatever
the reason was, it was enough to comfort Yuugi.

"Yami." Yuugi repeated the same world, turning to address his ghostly other. "I-" He faltered on
the next words, suddenly embarrassed. Why had be called on his Yami anyway? Now, the reason felt more
like an excuse, and the excuse unreasonable and pathetic.
Yuugi lowered his gaze. "Never mind." He mumbled apologetically. "Sorry I bothered you."

For a moment, Yami-Yuugi (for that was the spirit's full name) seemed to be on a different plane,
glaring eyes slightly vacant and lost. That expression quickly hardened into one of tolerance, and more
importantly, confidence. "Of course you didn't bother me." He retorted in his smooth baritone, crossing his
arms, "Now tell me what's wrong."

~~"Et si tu n'existais pas
Dis moi pour qui j'existerais
Des passantes endormies dans mes bras
Que je n'aimerais jamais"~~

Yuugi sighed. "I-I just had a bad dream."

Yami-Yuugi raised his eyebrow. "About what?" Being only a spirit himself, Yami-Yuugi didn't
experience dreams but rather, lived in a state of complete isolation. This isolation consisted of nothingness;
of emptiness; and of a deep void that sucked out all coherent thought. It was a state where one suddenly ceased
to exist. But worst of all was the loneliness. Every night, Yami-Yuugi dreaded the moment when his other made
the transition between awake and dreaming.

For Yuugi, dreaming meant resting his mind. For Yami, it meant losing his mind to the darkness
he belonged to. Stifling, cold, barren, unforgiving darkness. But, even with this acknowledgement, Yami
still accepted his punishment. He was the darkness; and it must come to him.

Yuugi sniffled, feeling slightly stupid. "I dreamt that…" The rest of his voice was a hushed
whisper, "… that you disappeared."

~~"Et si tu n'existais pas
Je ne serais qu'un point de plus
Dans ce monde qui viens et qui va
Je me santirais perdu
J'aurai besoin de toi"~~

"Oh?" Yami-Yuugi chuckled, trying to sound confident. At least, confident enough for someone
who, in actuality, disappeared _every_ night. The spirit slid beside Yuugi, solidifying enough to give the
smaller boy a gentle pat on the shoulders. "I would never dream of leaving you."

Yuugi gave a disgusted snort at the pun, pushing his Yami away with a half-hearted attempt. "Do
spirits even dream?" The question was innocent enough, framed into a joke.

Yami-Yuugi fell silent. "If they are dreams," He finally murmured, "They are empty ones that
mean nothing."

"But, what's it like, not to dream anything?" Yuugi persisted, cocking his head to one side rather
cutely.

Yami-Yuugi shrugged, trying to dismiss the topic, uncomfort swelling in his chest. "What's it like
to dream?" He finally retorted, evading his answer altogether.

Yuugi closed his eyes. "Most of the time, it's okay." He finally admitted. "But sometimes, they are
really horrible too. Especially when… " Here, he faltered.

"-When you cannot distinguish between the bad dream and reality?" Yami-Yuugi helpfully
supplied.

Yuugi nodded. "It becomes a gigantic hole of fear, trying to eat you up, and you can't do a thing."

~~"Et si tu n'existais pas
Dis-moi comment j'existerais
Je pourrais fair semblant d'etre moi
Mais je ne serais pas vrai"~~

"But most dreams aren't bad." Yami-Yuugi interjected. "You said so yourself." He was a little
jealous that Yuugi was able to escape his fear; to be able to run away from his stifling confines some
nights. Yami-Yuugi was nowhere as lucky. For he was the darkness, and it surrounded him always.
"Anyway," Yami-Yuugi continued. "When you wake up, you're no longer trapped in your
nightmare, and you can reassure yourself that it wasn't real and that you'll be okay." In actuality, Yami-
Yuugi was reassuring himself as much as Yuugi.

"I guess." Yuugi finally responded. He pursed his lips together in deep thought. "But how do I
know that _this_ is real? After all, I could still be dreaming right now."

But here, Yami-Yuugi was sure. The Yami brought a hand on top of Yuugi's hair, ruffling the
jagged spikes playfully. "There. Doesn't that feel real enough?"

Yet, that wasn't enough to convince Yuugi.

Yami-Yuugi sighed. "Sometimes, we just have to draw the best conclusions ourselves." He leant
backwards so that his back was half on Yuugi's lap. "Maybe I have been living this beautiful life as a dream
the entire time. And yet, that doesn't make me lose appreciation of my life or this dream or whatever this
is."

"But aren't you scared?" Yuugi gave a small shudder. "Maybe this beautiful dream of yours will
suddenly end."

~~"Et si tu n'existais pas
Je crois que je l'aurais trouve
Le secret de la view, le pour te creer
Et pour te regarder"~~

For a moment, Yami-Yuugi _was_ scared. He was afraid of the darkness, and afraid that he would
once again return to the oblivion, never to be released again. No - he would not be scared. He was the
darkness, so why should be fear it?
"If I'm scared, thinking about it won't make it better." Yami-Yuugi conjectured. "And since you're
sitting beside me, talking to me like you would any day, I must have a very boring mind, to be dreaming
this same type of dream again and again."

Yuugi giggled, resisting the urge to make a smarting comment.

Both stayed in that position for a while, before Yuugi's eyes began to droop. The small boy gave a
slight yawn.

"I guess this is where you wake up from this wonderful dream." Yami-Yuugi teased, watching
Yuugi give another yawn, which quickly turned into a pout at the Yami's words. The spirit then stood up from the
bed, giving Yuugi another pat on the head as if to reassure his own fears. "Go back to sleep, Aibou."

Yuugi shook his head, rubbing his bleary eyes. "But what if I get another nightmare?"

Yami-Yuugi chuckled. "Then I'll be here to reassure you that it was only a dream."

There was a pause where Yuugi seemed either to be debating with the comment or highly
contemplating it's value. Yami-Yuugi didn't rush the boy - he himself wasn't too eager to return back to his
dark confines.

~~"Et si tu n'existais pas
Dis-moi pourquoi j'existerais
Pour trainer dans un monde sans toi
Sans espoir et sans regret"~~

"Yami?" Finally, an answer, in a plaintive cry; one with a small amount of question in its tone.

Yami-Yuugi nodded. "Yes?"

Yuugi gazed back at his other with large, pleading, amethyst eyes. "I-I want you to hold me."

Slowly, and slightly hesitant, the Yami obeyed, once again seating himself on the bed. He
wrapped his arms around the smaller figure, cradling his head on one of Yuugi's slim shoulders.
"Like this?"

Yuugi nodded. "Yeah. That way, I'll know that you're here."

Yami-Yuugi chuckled softly. He continued to cradle the smaller boy in his arms, even after Yuugi
had lapsed into a deep sleep.

Now, the darkness was coming to claim him once more.

….But this time, Yami-Yuugi wasn't scared.

He was the darkness, but he had the light.

************************************

End notes:

Whew! Hope the fic wasn't too bad. It was shorter than the others, and for a good reason too! XD

My laptop recently broke down, and now its out for repairs. That means that my inventory of unposted fics
and stuff will most likely be deleted *sob sob*. It also means that my huge library of fanfics I "stole" from
ff.net will be deleted. Needless to say, I am not feeling to great at the moment.

Oh yeah! Anyone play Neopets? I've got an account at "zoo_chan" so feel free to add me as a neofriend
^^=. Otherwise, you can kill/stab/slice/infect or perform any form of adultery on Neopets that you want.
Doesn't affect me *whistles*.