Well I ran out of time, again. -_-; So I have another drabble to present, mostly because this time I combined this week's pairing with the YGO Drabble prompt (which I would link too but still fail epically) 'loyalty.' Killing two birds with one stone. Or fic. ^_^
xxx
His dreams always started the same way, always followed the same path, always ended with a scream. They were never nice, and they never stopped. He would always look down and see the ring there, mocking him once again, poised and ready to strike.
The feeling was always the same, as if after everything he had been through; after all the soul stealing, possessing, sealing away and torment he always felt the dread, that something worse was coming. That he would once again find himself in the Shadow Realm, once more a part of yet another game. That he was their pawn once again and he could try to fight but he always found himself alone, or worse, alone with parasite that tormented him for years.
He could always hear the other voice in his head, doing things he shouldn't and making him follow. And for a long time, his friends would never hear him no matter how loud he yelled or how hard he tried to gain their attention.
His nightmares were always the same.
'You sure you don't want to stay over?' It was Honda who asked the question. It was always Honda. 'You know we'd love to have you.' He always sounded somewhat sheepish saying that, as if the words didn't belong no matter how deeply he felt it. But Ryou knew he couldn't take him up on the offer, he was too afraid to fall asleep in their presence. It would trigger too many memories.
But eventually Honda won. It had taken months of persistent pleading, but he eventually decided to stay. If the others were shocked to see him with them they hid it well, and if they were disturbed by the screams they didn't show it.
'You should know us better than that.'
When Honda had said it, it was light and teasing, but it was deep and sincere at the same time.
'We went through some of it too; you know we'll be here for you.'
He wished he could say it only took one night for everything to fall into place, but in reality it took countless. Countless dreams, countless screams and countless words of comfort.
His dreams always started the same way, and were usually tempted to follow the same path. But one night it was different, his friends would support him. One night he was finally stronger. This time he knew he wasn't alone, and he couldn't help but wonder how he'd missed it until now. He was a part of a close knit group now, with members who bore scars of their own. They were loyal to one another, and never gave up.
That was why when the monster reared his ugly head one night, he faced him, stood his ground, and fought. He was no longer alone and for the first time in a long time didn't wake up screaming.