"I want to know your true feelings, III!"
"You accepted the current me. You are my first true friend."
III didn't know how long he had been unconscious before he blinked back into the world. An hour, a day, it was one huge blur to him. His body had taken a major beating from his duel with Yuuma, exhausting all of III's energy and strength, thus put him into a deep sleep. He remembered Tron holding his hand; he focused on that feeling of familiar comfort instead of the quiet sense of foreboding III tended to associate Tron with whenever they interacted.
The thick maroon curtains were drawn over the windows, and there wasn't a clock anywhere to let III know what time it was. He pressed a hand on the sheets to push himself upright, but flopped gracelessly back on his bed, still too weak to support his own weight.
Guess that duel with Yuuma took a lot more out of him than he thought.
III idly wondered what the kid was up to at the moment. With his victory against III, Yuuma would have moved on to the finals.
The youngest of the Arclights draped an arm over his eyes. At least IV didn't know about this yet. III could only imagine what his sadistic older brother would say to him.
"You're pathetic."
"Yeah."
III was ready to doze off again when it registered. Those two words certainly didn't come from his brain. Nor did he remember his inner voice sounding so much like his brother's.
"You're still as troublesome as when you were a silly little kid," IV went on. III felt a weight press down on the right side of the mattress. "Tch. Can't be helped."
"… IV."
The weight shifted slightly. "You're awake, huh?"
"Mm," III lifted his arm off his eyelids and let it rest on his stomach over the sheets. His forest eyes turned to address his brother's crimson ones. "How long has it been?"
"V tells me it's been sixteen hours," IV followed this with an exasperated sigh. "It's just the two of us now, you know."
That's right – the three of them had planned to proceed to the semi-finals together. All three brothers, not one short.
"I'm sorry, brother," III murmured, eyes downcast. "Looks like I'm still not strong enough."
IV placed his hand into his younger brother's then, and gripped it loosely. III's mind brought him back to a time when they were younger and removed from their present burdens, to a warm summer's night when he was bed-ridden with a forty-degree fever, and the memory of his brothers keeping vigilance at his bed, even though III kept telling them to return to bed for fear of passing his illness to them. His brothers spent the night draped over his sheet-covered body, asleep; III woke up the next morning to find that their dog had joined them as well.
Their bond as brothers was tight, if only because their dad used to be out in the field for days on end, leaving them with their elderly nanny at home. They passed a lot of time playing games – mostly tabletop duels –, reading books, simply hanging out with each other. They were all each other had.
III let out a dry laugh. These memories were coming back to him like water trickling from a tap. They, the Arclight brothers, had committed to put their past far behind them, along with their names and identity. For them to be dredged up again…
"What are you laughing about?" IV said, forehead creased.
"… Brother," III started. "What if we stopped this revenge of ours?"
"What?"
"It's not getting us anywhere," III said. He was getting tired. "We couldn't stop Tron then, but it's still not too late-"
"Are you kidding?"
IV snatched his hand away and stood up forcefully, back towards his younger brother. His hands clenched into fists, and III could see his jaw tighten. "We've come so far. Don't you want our father back, III?"
"Of course I do!" III cried, wincing a little after. He sunk further into his pillows and continued at a calmer tone. "But… there should be another way around this. There must be some other way, some other way that doesn't focus on revenge and hatred-"
"Don't you remember, III?" IV whipped around, his irises aflame with fury. "How much our family has suffered?"
"It doesn't mean… that others have to suffer too."
"Why should I care about anyone else?" IV snarled. "I'll personally see to it. I'll prove to everyone that I'm every bit a capable and strong duelist!"
"IV…"
"Anyone that gets in our way will suffer! And they'll regret ever crossing me."
They had their fair share of arguments as kids and when growing up – being siblings it was hard not to get into a fight once in awhile. They rarely fell into serious disagreements, but the number had increased since they decided to follow Tron. III resigned to the fact that it would be difficult for IV to see any other path to take.
IV's slipping grip on his sanity did not evade his radar, but what could III do in his current state? If only he had done something about it sooner.
"Promise me something, IV."
"What is it?"
"… Stay safe."
"Promise me something too."
"Hm?"
"Stop worrying," IV's tone had softened considerably, as did his eyes. They once again fell on his younger brother. "Just rest."
"A promise for a promise, right?"
"The word for it is 'compromise'," IV said, lips tugging upwards at the corners. "See? You're still a silly little kid."
III sighed. His eyelids were drooping again. "Isn't it almost time for you to go, IV?"
"… Go to sleep. And then I'll leave."
III shut his eyes; moments later, he heard the click-clack of IV's boots moving away from him and the sound of the doors shutting. "A promise for a promise, brother," he whispered as sleep took him again.
"Yuuma. Won't you… save my family?"
A/N: There will most likely be a sequel to this, but I'll wait till more episodes air before I even think of writing it. I'm honestly not sure about IV's characterisation here, especially in light of the latest episode. I had started this right after 49, but hit writer's block halfway through, and only found inspiration to finish it this afternoon.
3/9/12: Canon has completely debunked any chance of this story happening. I'm going to revise this soon as well because I just re-read it and shook my head at some parts.
Revised: 5/10/12