"YUGI!"
…! That name!
The inevitable, irreversible future represented by the blinding light of the door's yawning chasm suddenly and completely gripped each of the most intimate onlookers. These inward, individual heart cries of loss and fearful sadness collided and merged, finally released in a gasp of desperate passion. A gasp that uttered the syllables forming that name. My name. The name I shared with my partner. The name that had encompassed my bonds, my resolve, my identity until I re-entered the world of my memory.
Hearing that name sung on chords of such desperate ache, I halted my forward stride. Overwhelmed and violently rocked with fresh emotion, I kept my head downcast and my shoulders rigidly square. I heard the faintest drop as newly shed tears hit the cold, limestone floor. I sensed the tension and despair, but I could not bring myself to turn around and face my friends once again. I feared one glance into their tortured eyes would crumble my resolve to enter the afterlife. A gentle voiced finally pierced the silent mourning.
"Other Yugi...Atem...I mean…" Tea began. The use of my real name, my nomen, my ren brought back the bittersweet reality that I no longer belonged. My existence could no longer be tethered to the modern mortal world, nor joined so harmoniously with my partner's soul. The distance evoked by the use of my name echoed with hollow isolation. "You need to go to the other side of that light…" Tea continued, driving the sword Yugi wedged within my soul still deeper. "I know that…" As do I, I mused silently. "But...Once you go through, you can never come back!
Why? I don't get it!"
I stood standing so still I thought the slightest movement would rupture every muscle fiber in my body. The ache grew harsher...how...how could I respond to that? I barely had the courage to enter into the beckoning light myself. Yugi's final strike is what emboldened me but...what solace could I offer Tea?
"Tea! You don't need to get it...You just need to accept it, y'know?" This was the voice of Joey. The truth in his reasoning at once both stung the edges of my soul and poured healing balm over the bruises. With head bowed and heart heavy, I clung to his every word as he continued, "And burn these memories into your brain! The time you spent with him...the feelings...burn it in so you never forget!"
Swirls of memories at once assaulted me on every side -dueling, laughing, sharing, eating, hurting- every feeling and experience with my modern friends returned full force, nearly swallowing me alive in its ruthless, cherished torrent.
"YUGI!"
The name rang out once again, though now it seemed oddly out of place. Haven't we accepted that I am no longer a part of the gang? That I can no longer be a part of their world, their lives, their adventures? I am Yugi no more…
Yet Joey persisted. "Even if you're king, you're still Yugi! Even if a thousand years pass, we'll always be friends!"
Yes! My whole being reveled in the declaration. No future - no matter the distance in miles or years - could ever undo my place in their hearts. Comforted by this revelation, I stuck out my arm in my characteristic it's your move thumbs up. The last of the sadness and darkness melted effortlessly from my soul. As my leather attire morphed into the linen threads of my pharaonic life, I graciously conceded. With words of thanks in my heart, and my Theban friends in my mind's eye, I stepped wholly into the light, letting eternity consume me at last.
Satisfied.
In one moment, I understood why the afterlife was called the Field of Hotep. Reed bushes - thousands upon thousands of endless rows of reeds - swayed within the warm wind. Off in the distance, the glittering of water mesmerized my senses. Aaru was nearly an immaculate replica of the Nile Valley, though a replica gently pulsing with the sheerest, purest light I'd ever laid eyes on. Captivated, I reached out and caressed the tip of the reeds of the Nile's ka. The unfathomable tender softness of the reed sent a sliver of pure, unadulterated pleasure twirling up my spine. Intensely gratified by my surroundings, I whispered to myself, I'm home.
Blissful among the softly dancing reeds, I relished my perfect contentment. So this is what peace feels like, I mused. In my euphoria, it suddenly hit me. After a hiatus of over three thousand years, I would finally be reunited with the friends of my past. Exhilaration swelled within my being, as the yearning to bask in the reality of this long-awaited reunion inflamed me to my core. Striding excitedly through the reed bushes, I began to make my way toward my friends. The images of their dumbstruck, triumphant faces came floating up to meet me as-
"Bakura."
I froze.
TBC