The ever present beeping, whirring, and humming of the machines in the white-washed room had become dull. Sometimes it was as if they didn't even exist at all. Instead, Yuugi liked to focus on the soft rustle of the trees outside when the breeze rolled on by. He liked to listen to the birds. His most favorite thing of all to listen to, however, was the children outside. They'd cry things like "Duel start!" or "it's my turn!" or "direct attack!" and nothing on earth could have warmed him more.
He'd been stuck in his uncomfortable hospital bed for two weeks now. There was nowhere for him to go, no one to go see, and no strength to pretend otherwise. The people that mattered most in his life, if they were still around, had come in and out of the room in as much of a mistakable blur as the machines. It was unfortunate; his memory wasn't as good as it used to be. …rather, he was so intent on holding his past memories so close to his mind and heart that the newer ones he'd formed after his old friend had left were the easiest to go. The quickest to fade. And they had. But he barely remembered them enough anymore to be sad about it.
The nurses, doctors, and old acquaintances found him dazed and confused more often than not. He was lost in a sea of memory. In truth, Yuugi was waiting for the one person he'd been holding on so tightly to to come greet him. After all, every single friend that had the capability to had done so. It was the polite thing to do. He was sure Atem would manage to.
It was when he thought about how Atem would appear to him by his bedside, hold his hand, and give him a warm smile that he was no longer afraid of dying. He'd lived a long happy life. Now that he was at the end of it, the only thing he wanted any longer was to be greeted by the warm light he'd seen his closest friend disappear into. That light would be second only to the smile he imagined for the past few months after he fell ill. That smile would make all the pain go away. In fact, just thinking about it, sometimes he forgot he was old and sick at all.
Today was not a good day. It was cloudy outside. Surely Atem would not come today. He felt more tired than usual though. With the threat of rain there were no birds and certainly no young duelists to focus on. His breathing became shallow as his heart gave a few hard pumps; if he'd been able to move his hands he would have clutched his chest. But he was much too tired for that.
His eyes closed for a brief moment and he drifted. It only took a few moments but he thought he heard the door to his room open and close. It must have been a nurse coming in to check on him. When no words came, when no poking and prodding or fixing of machines sounded, his dulled and clouded violet eyes opened and he turned his head. There standing was a figure he had not expected to see.
"Shaadi..." He murmured, frowning a little. They'd seen that man die- or rather, say goodbye. Hadn't they? He couldn't remember… But surely he'd gone to the afterlife with Atem. What was he doing now? Was he really that impatient to see Yuugi? The thought made the old man smile. "Shaadi." He said again with more warmth. Yes, Shaadi was a friend too. Of course he'd come to check up on him.
The Egyptian spirit, still all clad in white, moved from the door and came closer towards the bed. Blue eyes watched the strange older version of the young boy he once knew. He could see that this man was in pain. He could also see the end of his life flickering before his eyes. He did not smile, nor did he frown. He remained that careful distant spirit he'd always been.
"The boy they call Yuugi." He said when he'd finally reached the side of the bed, close enough to reach out and touch the man's face now. He did no such thing, of course. Merely an observer- but with a great purpose today.
A wheezy crackling laugh came from the other. "I'm not quite that young anymore."
"I suppose that is true. If you were any minute younger I would not be here." He announced with grave seriousness.
Even in his old age, Yuugi was sharp. The meaning did not go unheeded by him. A little more attention was put into his gaze as he looked up at the spirit. "I knew it wasn't long." He said seriously before smiling, still wide and as happy as he'd ever been. Even now. "Is Atem coming?" This was it. This was the moment.
Shaadi bowed his head before shaking it. "I am afraid not."
"What?" There was a note of horror, of absolute disbelief. Atem had to be on his way! There was just no way he had forgotten; no way he wouldn't come see him!
There was a small pause before the spirit circled to the other side of the bed. "I was purposed with a great task from our Pharaoh. Though he had purpose and cause enough to jump between both forms of spirit and actuality, he no longer has the means to do so. Where as I…" A sad and sort of wry smile graced Shaadi's lips. "I seem to always had the means- the reasons to do so." And an order he would never refuse from his Pharaoh.
Yuugi still didn't seem to accept this. "It's… it's important. Atem always finds a way to get important things done."
Shaadi looked him over. "Your words are childish. They do not suit this body."
The heart monitor jumped as Yuugi felt a strange sense of anger wash over him. Shaadi wouldn't help Atem get here, and now he was being insulted? This was not how he'd planned anything at all! "Go away." He gruffed. "Get away from me. I will wait for him. I don't need you."
"Here." The spirit murmured softly, reaching a hand over Yuugi's eyes. Despite being in the half-see through form he was used to, he expected the other man to close his eyes. He was not disappointed.
"What are you doing?" Though he was playing along he still wasn't happy about it.
"Can you imagine the Pharaoh you've waited to patiently for? Can you think of what you both felt like the last time you saw each other?"
Quiet enveloped the room, those whirring and beeping machines dying down completely as Yuugi lost himself to those memories he had been clutching to all his life. "Yes…" He sighed. He exhaled so calmly, so peacefully that he felt warm again. His anger subsided. "Yes I remember him."
"He remembers you." Shaadi responded.
"I know." The answer was cheerful. "That's why I'm waiting." And the moment would come. It would. It just had to.
With Yuugi's eyes closed, Shaadi smiled. Their bond had not once broken, no matter the test of time. "Come with me, take my hand, the boy they call Yuugi." He was pleased when Yuugi reached his hand up, clasping the spirit's own. It was a hard pull, but he managed to get Yuugi to his feet. "Your Pharaoh is waiting."
"I said he'd come." He remained stubborn.
A smirk then touched Shaadi's lips. "He wants to remember you the way you've always been to him."
"I don't see-"
"Yes. You do."
Yuugi was cut off then and he realized it. He realized that he'd touched a spirit's hand with his own. He'd put his hand in a ghost's hand. He'd even been pulled with such strength to his feet by someone that didn't exist. And it was when he realized this he finally looked at himself.
He was young. He felt strong. He felt energetic, even. He felt nothing he had felt in his old age, and he certainly didn't look like he'd aged past the last duel he'd had with the friend he was waiting for. Then he realized what that had to mean and his head turned.
Shaadi placed his hand on the boy's head. "Don't."
On the hospital bed lay a shell, surrounded by the family he'd grown in this time. That was no longer for Yuugi. Yuugi had made the decision, unknown or not at first. There was no going back. Shaadi did not wish that for him.
The warm light Yuugi dreamed of finally touched him and it made him forget all about looking back. Shaadi let go of his hand as a shadowed figure appeared. "Go to him."
There was nothing he wanted more. Yuugi wanted to run, to hug him and to tell him stories of everything he'd missed. Instead he turned only to Shaadi and smiled up at him. "Thank you." He reached up, wrapping his arms around the taller spirit's neck, hugging him close.
The gesture was as startling as it was beautiful. Shaadi only stiffened for a moment before his longer arms swooped around the boy. "You are welcome, Yuugi."