Ah…
I see…
Hmmm…
Anzu, please understand.
You are a beautiful, wonderful person. You have proven yourself to be more of a friend than I truly deserve. I mean that.
Oh, I would like to think that, but I know it is not so. Try as I might, I am afraid I will never be able to match the kindness you, Yugi, and all of the others have given me.
You see? Your words are exactly what I mean. You have always been there to encourage me when I lack the strength to push forward. I thank you for that.
Anzu…I don't mind holding you, but please, understand.
As beautiful as you are, as wonderful as you are, you are still a child in comparison to me. I have lived in a time you would not be able to imagine, a time so vastly different from your world that I would not be able to fully explain it. For centuries I have sat within my own mind in solitude with my thoughts, struggling with the mystery of my past and the darkness in my heart.
No, no, Anzu, it is true. There is darkness in me, I do not try to deny it. Yugi and all of our friends have slowly introduced light into my soul, and though I do not think I will ever be able to measure to Yugi's brightness, I do not worry anymore that I will leave this world an empty void.
Thank you, that is good to know…but Anzu, do you understand? When I look at you, and Yugi, and all of our friends who I have come to care for, I see light and innocence, children among the darkness.
I…I know that you are indeed developed into the body of a woman; I did not mean to insinuate…
Ahem…yes, well…
I-I suppose I am blushing…
Ah…my dear Anzu…come here…
I know you want me to hold you…in that way…but I can only hold you like this, like how a person holds a beloved friend, or a father to his precious daughter…
Actually, I am technically too old to be your father, not too young.
Anzu, you are precious to me.
No, not like our other friends. They, too, are precious to me, but not as you are.
What I mean is that you are the one I would be most disappointed to lose, and I do worry that, if I am not careful, I will lose you.
Look at your hand Anzu, compare it to mine. Do you not see the difference? You are a strong person, I do not doubt that, but you are still so small and delicate. You are easy to break, my friend, and I would not forgive anyone who took advantage of that. I have never felt a stronger desire to protect a specific person than when I came across you, someone so incredible and yet so easily destroyed. I can see why Yugi worried so much about you in the beginning.
Yes, of course he worried.
No, I do not think it was fear of any specific event, but of the possibilities of what horrible things could happen at any given moment.
Is it really so foolish, dear Anzu? Have you forgotten the man in the restaurant?
Just a once-in-a-life-time-occurrence, hm? Then what of the man with the supposed dance studio?
I could go on, you know.
Well, if you insist.
…
Anzu, please look at me.
Will you continue to stand by me, even though I cannot care for you the way you wish? I would hate to have to be without you.
Why? Well, because…
You are precious to me.
Maybe…I suppose it is possible that you are precious to me in the same manner that I am precious to you.
I am not ruling out the possibility, but do not get your hopes up Anzu. I'm not familiar with such feelings, but even if I do care for you in the way you care for me, it will not be acted on. It cannot be acted on.
It cannot because it still stands that you are a child in your heart, while I am but an ancient spirit searching for the answers to my past.
Think of what you are saying! I have told you my answer, and that is the end of it.
…
…
Anzu…?
Are those tears?
…
Yes, please…sit with me a little longer…
I would like that very much.
…
and I to you, Anzu.
Always.
Kudo's to TheSkyWolves for being one of the first to write in this style, and also to Chicary for introducing me to it in the first place. I am actually a huge Yami/Anzu fan, but I could definitely see Yami viewing his friends as children in comparison to himself, and so I'm sure it would be difficult to develop romantic feelings.
oh, and the "and I to you" line, what was it that Anzu said to him? ...well, you'll never know for sure. ^-^ I hope everyone enjoyed!