Aneko: As I said, this is the brother fic to Pennies. Younger brother? Older brother? I'm going to go with older. Not that it matters…But still. This is basically the opposite scenario of Pennies. Sometimes Yugi cheers Yami up, but sometimes Yami cheers Yugi up. That's just the way it works. You know? Or at least I like to think that…
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!
Dreams in the Sand
Yami was wandering through the interwoven passages of his soul room, deep in thought, when he got a chill. He frowned, perplexed, rubbing his arms a little.
That's strange…He thought. I can't get cold in spirit form. Unless— He looked up at the ceiling, invisible in the darkness. Yugi.
Yugi was asleep, so the only way for Yami to reach him was to project his image outside the Millennium Puzzle and try to wake him.
When he appeared, he saw Yugi, asleep, tossing back and forth, a frown on his young face. He must be having a nightmare, the spirit figured.
He rested a hand on Yugi's shoulder. As an intangible spirit, he couldn't touch anyone or anything without passing right through it. Except for Yugi. Perhaps it was because they were so in tune to each other.
"Yugi. Yugi, wake up, it's just a dream!"
Yugi groaned once, and his eyes fluttered open. For a moment, he looked unfocused and lost, but then he gasped, and sat up straight, startling the Pharaoh.
"Yugi, are you alright?"
"Joey and Tristan! They were about to be sent to the Shadow Realm," he sobbed. "And Tea's already gone, and—"
"Yugi, calm down," the Pharaoh soothed, his voice gentle as he put his other hand on the boy's shoulder as well. "It was just a dream."
"Ph-pharaoh?" Yugi whispered. His purple eyes blinked in confusion. He looked around his room, saw the moon sending soft white light down through the window, and his dark companion beside him. "A…dream."
The Pharaoh nodded. "Yes. It's alright. Everyone is fine. I promise."
Yugi pulled himself up, leaning his back against the wall. He ran a hand through his blonde bangs, and Yami noticed that he was shaking.
"Are you alright, Yugi?" He asked again.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Yugi gave a shaky laugh, but the Pharaoh saw the tears in his eyes.
"What happened in your nightmare?" He asked bluntly. To someone else, his words might have seemed a little rude, asking so directly, but not on Yugi. Yugi was his partner, the person he understood and who understood him above anyone else. They had no secrets from each other. Even if they had tried, it probably wouldn't have been possible. The bond between them was too strong.
Yugi looked at the floor guiltily "Can't hide anything from you, can I?" He pulled his knees up to his chest, lost in thought. "We were trying to get your memory back. B-but…right when we were about to finally get it, we were attacked. It was someone I've never seen before. He sent Tea to the Shadow Realm, and he was about to do the same to Joey and Tristan." Yugi paused and shuddered. "And then he…took you away. I don't know how, but you were gone, and I was all alone."
He closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to forget the pictures he could still see there.
Yami could understand the boy's panic and fear. He remembered feeling the same horror when Yugi had been taken by the Seal of Orichalcos. Although Tea, Joey and Tristan were still there, he had never felt so alone before in his life. The reason that he and Yugi worked so well together was because each of them had something the other didn't. Without Yugi, his other half, he had felt an unbearable emptiness that couldn't be eased.
"But it was just a dream. See? I'm right here." Yami squeezed his shoulder.
"That's what I keep telling myself," Yugi whispered. "It just…it felt so real." He laughed sheepishly. "Sorry. This must seem kind of silly, crying over a dream, huh?"
The Pharaoh shook his head seriously. "Of course not. Everyone has had a bad dream once in a while. I've had a few myself, and they always seem real when they happen."
Yugi frowned. "Yeah, but probably not since you were a kid."
"That's not true. Sometimes I still do. Like, when you were taken by the Orichalcos…" He trailed off, looking away.
"I thought I told you that that's over now. You don't have to keep thinking about it," Yugi said.
"I know. I'm trying. But," Yami looked at him. "It was my fault."
Yugi shook his head. "The Orichalcos stone was clouding your mind. Don't feel that way."
Yami closed his eyes. "I'll try."
Yugi looked up at the sky through his window. The stars blazed in the clear night, so many that he couldn't have counted them if he tried.
"A penny for your thoughts, Yugi?"
Yugi smiled at the question, remembering the time he had asked the same thing. Yami winked at him.
"I'm just a little worried, that's all. We're always saving the world, and I know that we're supposed to. That's not what I'm afraid of—I'm used to it. It's just that our friends are always so willing to follow us and help us, but they're also always in danger. They could get hurt. They already have a few times."
"It's their choice. You know that. They'd rather fight beside us than wait somewhere for us to return, not knowing what's going on. And you know that there have been a few times that we wouldn't have been able to win if they hadn't been there for us."
"I know that, but…what if there's a time when we won't be able to protect them?" He looked up at Yami, and his eyes were starting to tear up again. "I—we—could lose them. I don't want to see any more people end up getting hurt or going to the Shadow Realm because of me."
"Yugi, you must have faith in our friends."
Yugi sighed. "I do, but it's not like they get a say in whether or not someone crazy tries to send their minds to the Shadow Realm for all eternity."
"I know, but there is more than one kind of faith."
"Huh? I don't understand."
"You have to believe that our friends will be able to stand beside us no matter what. I know it's hard, but you should trust me. Our friends are strong, and if you believe in them, they won't let you down."
"I guess you're right. I just worry about them. They're so important to me, and I don't know what I would do if I lost them."
"I know. I feel that way as well."
Yugi yawned.
Yami sighed. "You should get back to sleep," he said. Immediately, Yugi sat up straighter, looking more alert.
"But—!"
A tendril of his thoughts reached the Pharaoh. The nightmare was still a fresh memory. If he slept now, it might come back again.
"I see," the Pharaoh murmured. He fell silent, trying to figure out how he could put Yugi at ease. His partner sat still, turning the Millennium Puzzle in his hands and looking at the four golden sides.
"Yugi, at least lay down. You don't have to sleep, but just lie down and rest."
"Okay," Yugi said doubtfully, but he did as he was told.
The Pharaoh sat on the edge of the bed for a thoughtful moment before he began.
"You know, I still don't remember anything about my past, but sometimes, I can remember Egypt. I can remember how it was always warm there. It was blessed by the sun, but also by the mighty waters of the Nile. It was a fertile land. It was hot, but the wind would always blow gently. If you close your eyes, you can almost see it."
Entranced by the description, Yugi closed his eyes.
"Every building was made of the strong sandstone, even the palace. It made you feel…safe. Protected. Our Egypt was an oasis within a sea of sand. The desert was everywhere, more brilliant than the most beautiful gold. The dunes could be endless and dangerous, but if you knew them well enough, beautiful in their own right." He glanced down and saw that Yugi's chest was rising and falling rhythmically. He smiled and brushed a few bangs out of the boy's face. "The sands of the desert can cover over many things. While that may sometimes be a bad thing, I hope that they may also bury your nightmare."
He allowed himself to disappear back into the Millennium Puzzle.
"Sleep well, Yugi," he whispered, his words echoing softly into the night.
Aneko: Well. This turned out better than I thought it would…
In other news, LittleKuriboh was once again banned from Youtube. This time it was his CardGamesFTW account. I think it happened earlier today, because I watched some of his videos last night. Oh well. There's always his website.
I decided to go back and rewatch Yu-Gi-Oh! in Japanese after I noticed the first signs of dub fail. The only problem is, the subbed episodes are pretty much impossible to find. :(