This is not a songfic, but it is inspired by the song "I'm Already There" by Lonestar. It was written specifically for Cathrath's Alternative End to YuGiOh community.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.

Guardian

It is written in the Book of the Dead that he who solves the Millennium Puzzle inherits the Shadow Games. He becomes the Guardian of Right and passes judgment on evil. - Duel 1 – Puzzle Of The Gods - YuGiOh manga.

Three months had passed since Motou Yugi had watched his mou hitori no boku pass into the shadows of the underworld, using the key of his name. Three months since a part of his life had disappeared forever, leaving him unsure and alone. The magic was gone; and if it had scared him, it had also thrilled him – if the power had been used for harm, it had also been used to protect and heal. A part of him wondered if he would ever get used to that.

Not that he was friendless. Jounouchi, Honda and Bakura - who had been freed of his own yami – still hung around with him at and after school. He was still Duel Monsters Champion of Japan, despite the fact that every time he played the game he thought of his lost darkness with a little pang. He still had all the victories and trophies he and Atem had earned together – including 60 of Industrial Illusions, which guaranteed that he would be able to pay, not only for the rest of high school but as far in university as he wanted to go. And it would be wrong to say he was depressed, because he wasn't – his yami would never have wanted that, so he shied away from the destructive emotion. He'd even dated Anzu a few times before they came to the mutual conclusion that they were friends and that was all they would ever be – a fact that had come as something of a relief after he realized that a serious relationship might have held her back from Dance school in New York. She was gone – thanks in part to, of all people, Kaiba Seto, who had unexpectedly paid for her travel, room and board, and tuition at Juilliard.

Kaiba also remained on surprisingly friendly terms with him – at least he didn't try and beat him in duels every second day. Yugi grinned to himself. Not that Kaiba was any nicer...on the outside. But he'd talked the multi-billionaire into letting Jounouchi rent a room in his sprawling mansion so that he could get away from his drunken, abusive father – and to his surprise Jou had agreed too.

So the two were steadily driving each other – and Mokuba – crazy...and enjoying every minute of it. At least KaibaCorp was never quiet with Jounouchi working in the mailroom. The grin grew wider. Kaiba, it appeared, and decided since he couldn't out-duel Yugi – yet- he would outdo him in any other way he could. Including helping his friends.

Yeah, life was good – but he still missed his yami. Not for magic or duels or wild, crazy, save-the-world adventures, but for that constant presence in his soul, the comfort of having a best friend who always understood.

And sometimes, on dark night in his room, he would remember the last words of his other in that cave.

"I am not 'another I'...you are you, Yugi Motou, unique, like no other in the world." And his heart would clench at the raw truth – for in the end, he was alone.

"Get away from me!" The scream drew Yugi out of his thoughts abruptly, sending him at a dead sprint down the sidewalk. He saw it then – a group of thugs, seniors by the look and the uniform, pushing a younger girl around. It was quiet this morning; only they and Yugi himself were on the street. The girl, a pretty little redhead in a school uniform different from Anzu's, cried out again as one of the thugs grabbed her arm in a crushing grip.

"It's okay sweetie, we just want to take you out...have a good time, you know?"

Another of the thugs caught sight of Yugi watching and sneered. "Get lost, squirt. You didn't see anything."

"I can't let you do that." Yugi answered bravely, stepping into the circle. "I don't believe in fighting, so please just let her go." To his private astonishment, he wasn't actually scared – oh, yes, they could hurt him and pretty badly, but compared to what he had already been through...this would be painful, but ultimately nothing. The thugs had them boxed in now; the girl couldn't even run for it.

Kuso...Yugi wrapped an arm protectively around her shoulders. "We are leaving now." He stated, trying to sound like he remembered mou hitori no boku had – never wavering, utterly confident. "Please get out of the way."

The first fist hit his cheek – he rolled with the blow, many years of being beaten on coming to his aid. The second and the third hit him the chest, and the stomach. He gasped for air and took a step forward, never relinquishing his grasp on the redhead.

The second wave of assaults were harsher – Yugi gasped as they all attacked at once, the blows falling like rain until he was ready to collapse. The girl was ripped away and she screamed again – Yugi could just make out one of the thugs groping her through the torn top of her uniform.

Something opened inside him with a sigh; all around them the sky began to darken. The girl fainted as the thugs looked around them to find out what was going on.

Yugi closed his eyes as he felt his body stand, still under his control...felt the warm power flowing through him...felt the cold light of the Eye glowing on his forehead.

A strange and utter calm flowed through him; three words escaped his lips. "Now we play..."

He felt the shadows moving to his will when he opened his eyes to gaze on the thugs, who were staring at him in a mix of shock, fear and bravado.

"Crazy kid..." one muttered. Another stared at Yugi, his eyes open wide with fear. But the leader stood up as tall as he could and gestured to his minions.

"Get him!"

Yugi just looked at them, but in the light of the Eye of Ra his bright lavender gaze seemed to see more than the physical. He saw their souls – and knew he could shatter them with a word, destroy them...or heal them with the same power. The rules were clear – in the Shadow Game a person's true nature is revealed to decide their fate.

But the name of this game was Fear, and they had already lost.

The teenager knew what he could do – what his yami would have done. Had done before, so many times.

:Mou hitori no boku...: he thought at a being on the other side of death. He watched the thugs charge him as if in slow motion. :I don't know what to do.:

As if in answer, a breeze murmured through the air, carrying words in a voice he never thought to hear again. I am not 'another I' and you are Yugi Motou, unique in all the world.

Follow your heart, aibou.

Yugi raised his hand. "Batsu no Game" he whispered. "Soul Illumination."

The shadows moved, not to destroy, but to heal; like what his yami had done to Kaiba, but gentler. He opened the closed doors of their hearts and souls to their fellow man, freeing their minds of the hatred that consumed them from within – and the meaningless fears that birthed it.

When it was done, the shadows vanished. Yugi felt the power fade to almost nothing and the utter calm leave him. But he still felt the warmth it left behind. The warmth and comfort of his darkness.

Take a look around
I'm the sunshine in your hair
I'm the shadow on the ground
I'm the whisper in the wind
And I'll be there till the end...

- 'I'm Already There' by Lonestar