The figurine's face was stern, but there was a kindness to the red eyes that Ryou Bakura had ensured to add. Stately and tall, she wore her maroon dress with ease, elfin ears poking out past her pink hair. Her hands of wood, like the branches and stumps of oak trees, poked from the ends of her sleeves as if they were the most natural things in the world.
Ryou hoped he captured the Queen of Autumn Leaves well—the card only showed her upper half, leaving her lower body free for him to design. A less chivalrous person would have seen it as an opportunity for lewdness, but Ryou kept an open mind to all that he made—after all, he wasn't exactly creating them, now, was he? He merely borrowed their likeness.
No, the Queen's dress remained closed and covered all but her feet. Her legs stood straight, shoes regal, but not unsuitable for long walks in the Emerald Forest with the Green Phantom King. (Ryou felt it was important to keep in mind her husband, as well.) As he waited for the paint to dry, he compared her with the card's image once more. At first he'd been worried he'd made her leaf crown too bright, but looking at the image again he was satisfied. Like a dying star, they blazed brightly before going dim.
The Queen stood proudly, solemnly, and Ryou saw in her face the face of his mother's. Instantly, an ache filled his heart. It wasn't as often he thought of her, compared to Amane, but when he did, it overwhelmed him. He wondered what he had inherited from her, compared to his father—the love of sweets, perhaps, or the way he had learned to roll with life's punches.
It was hard to remember his mother alive and warm, just as it was impossible to reconcile his memories of Amane with the body lowered into the cold earth.
Ryou tousled the figurine between his fingers, thinking, and it suddenly occurred to him that autumn leaves were a symbol as much as cherry blossoms. Perhaps there was another reason why the Queen reminded him of his dear mother—while her husband represented the new life of spring, she represented impending death.
Appropriate, little host, snickered a voice in his head. This world is near autumn—and soon it will be wintertide.
Ryou started at the spirit's voice and dropped the figurine. To his horror, the paint hadn't yet dried. As he bent to pick her up he saw an angry red blotch where the Queen's face should have been pale pink, and the model had a slight dent from the impact with the floor. It reminded him too much of that accident, the—
No, he growled to himself. Not this time. He wouldn't let him desecrate her. Ryou slowly dipped his brush in pink and carefully moved it towards the figurine. Only when he was sure that the spirit had turned away did he brush it against her head.
It wasn't a complete success—there were still traces of scarlet that refused to fade—but Ryou looked on his work and smiled. The red gave her a healthy blush, a rosy tone, and he hoped that she wouldn't be too angry for this one discrepancy that wasn't his fault to begin with.
It made her look alive, he thought.
When he was sure she was completely dry, Ryou packed the Queen of Autumn Leaves and her card with his other figurines. No matter whether he won or lost the Capsule Monster tournament, the important thing was the memories he made there.
When Yugi defeated him, as he knew he would, he smiled and showed his friend the custom Duel Monsters capsule figurines he had made—stopping at the Queen.
Ryou tilted her face up to meet his and smiled.
"Isn't she lovely, Yugi? She reminds me of my dear mother."
The Queen of Autumn Leaves seemed to smile back.
This is partially based on the PlayStation 2 video game Yu-Gi-Oh!: Capsule Monster Coliseum and partially based on a true story. Ryou Bakura's stage in the game is a moonlit cherry blossom garden, which likely references his deceased sister Amane and his mother. One of his monsters is the Queen of Autumn Leaves. As he was moving her around the board, out of nowhere I heard Ryou's voice in my head. "Isn't she lovely, Yugi? She reminds me of my dear mother."
I had to work that line in somewhere, so I did! The rest of the fic came to me from that jumping-off point.