Look at meee, writing shameless friendship fluff all day.

OOOOOOOO

I woke up last night and it smelled like you.

It was... oh, it must have been one in the morning, sometime around then. I wasn't sure; I didn't bother to check. Which was odd, because the glowing red light of my digital alarm clock was the first thing my eyes should have been drawn to in the dark- but I didn't open my eyes, at first.

I knew I was awake, even without opening my eyes, because I could feel the softness of the sheets around me. I heard the wind attacking my window, trying to find some way in, trying to freeze me to the bone. My thoughts were instantly sharp, as though someone had splashed me with ice water, so I must have woken suddenly, but why?

And then I inhaled, and it all made sense.

For through the fragrance of my freshly-washed pillowcase, your scent shone through.

You have the most wonderful, most peculiar scent, Other-Me. Even when you were just a spirit materializing by me, and materialized energy shouldn't have a scent in the first place, there it was. I'm not entirely sure how to describe it, but it seemed to be the smell of all the things I loved. Of everything that comforted me. It smelled like a newly opened Gamecube case, like roasted pumpkin seeds, like freshly-sharpened pencils and loose change.

Oh, and sand. It also smelled like sand.

I smiled, just a little, and sat up. Yawned, rubbed my eyes, that sort of thing. I blinked a couple of times. I looked around my room, at all those things that were so familiar. At the window, the desk where I had assembled the puzzle, the closet door slightly ajar, the TV surrounded by semi-organized stacks of video games, the sloped ceiling softly illuminated by moonlight. I felt warmth envelope me, and sort of hugged myself. I pressed my head against my chest, and I kind-of-sort-of-not-really heard you laugh, oh-so-faintly.

I don't miss you.

Wait, I'm sorry, that came out wrong. What I mean to say is, I'm not sobbing all over the place, ignoring my friends, withdrawing into a little hole of depression. I do miss you, as in, it would be nice if you were here, but I also understand.

I understand that you can't stay here, Other-Me. It's not the way it's meant to be. And I know that you wish you could be here with me, but you can't. You're dead. You've moved on. It's okay. I'm okay.

And yet, at the same time, I know you haven't really left us. Haven't left me, Anzu, Jounouchi, or Honda. Or Ryou, or Grandpa, or Mai, or Rebecca, or... well, you get the picture. See, on a dry, still, boiling hot day, when a breeze comes along and ruffles my hair just right? That's you. When I'm at home with ten minutes until the bell rings and Jounouchi offers me a ride to school? That's you there, too. When the weather is just perfect? You've put in a good word with Ra.

And anyway, it's not like you're gone forever. I have a long, happy life ahead of me, but when it's over, I know you'll be waiting for me with open arms. I'm not sure if Japanese people go to the Egyptian afterlife, but hey, you're the pharaoh, you can pull a few strings, right?

Still sitting, I pulled the sheets around me and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath. Your scent was there-- and then it was gone. The envelope of warmth vanished. You weren't there anymore. And I wasn't sad.

The faintest hint of a smile still on my lips, I slipped back under the covers and fell asleep.

OOOOOOOOO

That didn't turn out quite like how I imagined it, but please tell me what you thought anyway.