Umbrae: I love drama. ^_^ I simply adore being all melodramatic and putting my obsessions through such horrors. They hate me for it, I realize.

Yami: ((arms crossed in annoyance)) Yes, yes we do.

Umbrae: Aw, be nice, Yami. I love you, and you know it.

Yami: …

Umbrae: At any rate, I was feeling like I still needed to do another YuGiOh! fic based on the duel with Pegasus; one of my favorite episodes. So melodramatic. ^_^ Anyway, this fic is a tad AU – has a bit of a Yami/Yugi hinting and the like. It's based on what happens directly after Pegasus loses all of his Life Points; it occurs before Yugi regains control of his body. After all, he did technically lose his soul, and I think the show could have had a bit more drama there, but alas, I am picky. Thank goodness for fanfiction. Anyway, this is technically a sequel to The Loss of Light, and AU – Yugi's grandfather never showed up in Yami's mind to explain that Yugi's friends held his soul from its destruction. For all intents and purposes, Yugi's souls was shredded, and he is gone.

Bakura: Do you ever shut up?

Umbrae: ((smiles)) And for some off reason, I'll feelin' the "characters joining me in the Author's Note section", so bear with me. I don't own YuGiOh! – woe is me. I love hearing what you all think, so please remember to review, and as always…

Bakura: Yes, we know. Live long. Live well. Write.

Umbrae: ((smirks)) Give the thief a cookie; he's not a complete idiot after all.

My Love, My Life, My Soul

He had won. He had defeated Pegasus. He had freed the three prisoners of his monstrous opponent.

But none of it mattered to Yami. His Aibou, his Light, was gone.

Yami was in Yugi's Soul Room, trying hard to ignore how horribly dark the walls were. They had turned as black as ashes, crisp and falling into dust at a mere breeze. No light… only darkness… only death…

There was only death within Yugi's small form.

Emptiness.

Yami held the small boy in his arms. He had sank to his knees and was gripping the child tightly to his chest, willing that the boy take his soul in place of the one he had lost. He wanted to strength to leave him, for the child to take it and live. He deserved to live, not Yami.

Yami deserved to die.

"I failed you, Yugi," he whispered, and he felt again that burning sensation behind his eyes. His cheeks were wet and he didn't understand why. He was… crying?

Yes… he was crying. He was shedding tears… such an act he hadn't done in over three thousand years. He released his sorrows in a physical form for one small boy. His Light, his other half…

His love.

Yami tried hard to bite back the admittance, but it whispers from the depths of his subconscious nonetheless. His love… his Aibou.

"Partner," he whispered. "My partner, my light…" A tear rolled down his cheek, racing his sorrows to the floor of a room once filled with light. "My love, please… please come back to me…" He closed his eyes in pain. "What am I… without your light? Darkness… darkness and pain… I am all that's left of you…"

The room around him mocked his pain, for it took the form of his own. Darkness, walls burnt by fires caused by rage. Darkness and death… what he was and what he caused.

Yami choked back a sob and buried his tan face into Yugi's wild mane, willing his own heart to cease its mocking beating. He didn't want to enter Yugi's vessel again. Such a thing would be blasphemous. He wanted to die… to follow Yugi into the darkness of his own traitorous soul.

"Shadows… take me," he pleaded.

He garnered no response. He was a traitor and they knew it. They had left him and his murderous ways. His light had left. Now, he was alone.

Yami squeezed Yugi's form tightly against his chest, trying not to feel the frozen ice that had become the young child's flesh. Fresh tears shed from his eyes, dripping onto the pale flesh of Yugi's face. Yami was shaking softly, shivering in a pain that burned his heart.

"Yugi…" he whispered.

His crimson eyes flared open suddenly in surprise. There was something… something…

"Uhnn… Y-Yami?"

Yami jerked back in surprise, his crimson eyes searching, his heart not ready for the disappointment he feared that he would find.

But there… eyes… violet… innocent… gazing at him tiredly, but… alive.

"Y-Yugi?" he whispered, his voice cracking, hardly daring to believe.

Yugi's eyes were locked upon those of the puzzle's spirit; the man who held him gently in strong arms. Exhaustion seemed to weight heavily upon his soul, but he managed a slow, tentative smile.

"Hi…" he whispered faintly.

For some reason, that simple phrase made Yami sob even harder. He pulled the boy tightly to him, burying his face yet again into that wild hair.

Something tickled the edge of his consciousness. A voice… quiet, weak, full of concern, and so much light. "Yami?" Yugi's voice echoed in his mind. Yami found that the boy's eyes were still searching his own, searching for the cause of his tears.

"Aibou…" he whispered, fearful that he would open his eyes in any moment and find that he was dreaming… he didn't want Yugi to leave him… never again. "I thought I lost you…"

That smile came again, soft, reassuring. "Yami… I'll always… be with you."

Yami managed a smile of his own. Happiness filled him, true happiness. "Always," he whispered. He kissed Yugi gently on the forehead, and the warmth that rose from the boy's flesh made him want to dance. His soul… his soul… he could feel it.

Yami closed his eyes, tears of happiness escaping his crimson orbs.

"Yami?"

"Yugi," he whispered back, using the intimate touch of their mind link to relay such an important message. "Yugi… thank you." Yugi looked surprised. "Thank you… for showing me what it is… to love."

Yugi blinked in surprise, and then smiled.

"I love you, too, Yami," he whispered softly.

Yami smiled, in true happiness. "I love you, Aibou. My love, my life... His lips brushed Yugi's tenderly. "I love you, my light… my soul."

Bakura: Bloody Hell! That sucked!

Umbrae: ((sigh)) To tell you the truth, I don't think it's that great, myself. However, it is 4 o'clock in the morning and I have been up since 8:30 am yesterday. I'm going to post this anyway and hope for reviews. ^_^ I may end up doing a revision later, when my brain is functioning again.

Bakura: ((snorts)) Well, don't expect a revision, in that case.

Umbrae: ((contemplates slaughtering Bakura in her next fic)) Please review and let me know what you think. I'll try to think of a new idea for another YuGiOh! One-shot, while I work on my YuGiOh! Novel fic! ^_^ That should be coming up soon enough!

Please review, and as always…

Live long. Live well. Write.