Author: Junko the Lost

Title: Valentine's Day and Pink Hair

Disclaimer: Me no own.

~~~~~

It had been four years.

Four years since I'd left him.

Four years since I'd last seen his face.

Four years too many.

I can remember the day clearly now, even though after it had happened I had wanted to forget it had ever happened.

"Yuugi," I'd whispered to my hikari. My life.

He looked up at me, and he must have seen something in my eyes, or known that this was coming, because before I could say anything he began to cry.

"Yuugi, look at me," I pleaded with him. I couldn't tell him if he wouldn't meet my eyes. He shook his head, more tears pouring out.

"Yuugi, I have to go," and even though I whispered, the words echoed across our minds for many years to come.

"No, Yami, please. You can't leave me alone . . . again," he finally looked up to meet my eyes and I shivered at that look. There was so much pain, so much hurt.

"I can't stop it, Yuugi. I would if I could, but I can't. I can already feel my soul disappearing."

He stood up and gripped me in a hug. "What can I do, Yami? I would do anything for you."

I smiled at him half-heartedly. "Cry for me, as you know I will cry for you." He tried to pull me in closer to him, but before he could I disappeared, and he found himself hugging air.

There are so many things I should have told him. That I could've told him.

That he was pure.

That he was perfect.

That he was mine.

And that I loved him.

That I would always love him.

~~~~~

I was returning to college for another year. I was twenty now and very different from the teen I'd once been. I'd had girlfriends and boyfriends and had my heart broken several times. But they all had healed.

Except for one.

God, I still miss him.

My roommate, Jounochi Katsuya, strode into the room carrying his own luggage. Silently, he made his way over to his bed and began sorting out his own clothes. I frowned. He'd changed a lot as well. We'd all changed.

None of us laughed as much anymore.

I had my back to him when he tapped me on the shoulder. I whirled around and gripped his wrist. Years of karate practice. The first time I'd been beaten up after He left, I'd signed up for karate. It had been a long time before I'd been able to beat my enemies, but it had happened. Jouno grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, Yuugi, Honda and I made this for you." He was holding out a large, paperback book that looked like a photo album. I raised my eyebrows and took it from him. There were pictures of all of us. Anzu and Honda and Jouno and Ryou and me, and a few of us with Kaiba. I laughed over the pictures.

"Thanks Jouno," I whispered to him as we sat on my bed looking at the pictures, each recalling our own memories. "I needed that since it's been, well, you know."

"It's been four years, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," I replied. Jouno had never really understood my love for the ancient spirit, but he'd accepted it all the same. Suddenly I saw a picture of me and one of my ex-girlfriends. She'd been kind and caring to me. She and I were still friends. But she wasn't Him.

"Alright, no moping today. The gang's going to the movies together today since Anzu's in town so you can't be sad."

I laughed and forced down the tears threatening to overwhelm me. I stood up and finished putting my clothes away.

Life goes on.

Wish I believed that.

~~~~~

Does he remember me?

Will he recognize me?

A thousand questions enveloped me.

When I had come back to the present, I'd created my own body. Now I could completely protect Yuugi.

I had been watching him for a couple days now, waiting for the right moment to go back to him.

I'd heard him say he was going to the movies today. I followed Jouno and him in my silver Nova. I parked a ways away from them as we pulled into the parking lot. He got out of the car and I allowed myself to once again marvel at how much he'd changed.

He'd gotten taller, now only about an inch shorter than me. His eyes were less innocent, less pure. My heart broke when I saw that. The biggest change in him though, was one that confused me.

He'd dyed his hair.

White.

Now, instead of the beautiful tri-colored hair that we'd shared, his hair held the same shape but was pure white.

I followed him and Jouno and him into the movie theater, being careful not to let them spot me.

There they were, probably the only reason my aibou had survived this long. His friends. Anzu, Honda, Shizuka, Ryou and Otogi stood there waiting for them. But, wait; there was someone I didn't recognize. He was about Honda's height and had handsome brown eyes and black hair.

Before I could wonder anymore about him, he leaned down and kissed my aibou on the lips. He wrapped his hand around Yuugi's waist and they all walked into the theater. I sat down on a bench.

This can't be.

I knew he'd be suffering the same pain as me. He'd be putting up with the same heartbreak. But it had never occurred to me that in order to escape the pain he might have run to someone else. I had put up with the pain without running into someone else's arms.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. He hadn't had to put up with 3000 years of loneliness.

~~~~~

As soon as I walked into the movie lobby, Devon was there. Devon was my 'boyfriend' that my friends had set me up with. He was nice, like all the others, but as I had told them before, they weren't Yami.

In the movie, he kept trying to kiss me. When I kept turning away, he moved his lips to my neck, sucking and biting the sensitive flesh. I stood up and mumbled a quick, 'I'll be back in a few minutes.' I walked out of the theater into the lobby.

~~~~~

I look up suddenly as he walked back out of the theater. He stood there for a couple of seconds, pensively thinking. It took me a couple of seconds, but I finally noticed the tears on his cheeks. Concentrating my shadow magic, I changed my appearance so that I looked fairly normal except for my eyes. This may be mean, but . . . I just couldn't reveal my true self to him . . . yet.

I started to walk past him, pretending not to notice him, but then I turned around and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around suddenly and looked at me.

"You okay there?" I asked.

~~~~~

I gasped as I looked into this stranger's eyes. They're _red_. Like Yami's. No, Yuugi, damn it, no. He's gone just get over it.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I managed to mumble out.

He looked at me over the top of his glasses. The fluorescent lights of the lobby gleamed off his red-brown hair.

"You sure? You didn't seem alright a minute ago," his voice seemed genuinely worried. I forced a fake grin.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Besides, it's not like anything else bad can happen. Not after- No, don't think about it!

His eyebrows arched upward. "Mind if I ask you something?" he asked.

"N-no," I respond. His voice is so much like His. Dammit! Why can't I stop thinking about him?! It's not like this guy even resembles Yami anyway.

"Is this your natural hair color?" he questioned.

Whatever I'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. I looked up at him, shocked. He looked at me pensively.

"N-no."

"Why do you dye it?"

"I-I started four years ago, wh-when something had happened, and I _needed_ change. It never occurred to me to stop."

~~~~~

I frowned. He'd needed change so bad that he dyed his hair. And he probably did so just to not have to see the face that was so similar to mine in the mirror every day.

"You should dye it pink," I said without thinking. He looked up at me, wide-eyed. "Valentine's day is in two days after all."

With that, I walked away.

~ The Next Day Yuugi's POV ~

I walked slowly down the corridor, my feet tired and my eyes slowly blinking in their weariness. It had been another long day. School was always like that, long and tiring.

I walked into the dorm room and threw myself on the bed.

"Hey, Yuugi, something came in the mail for you."

I sat up and took the letter from Jounouchi. Slowly, I opened the letter. Inside was a piece of stationary paper adorned with the most beautiful handwriting I'd ever seen. Awe-filled, I read the poem that sat upon that paper.

"So many things I could have done

So many words I could have said

So many wishes I could have shared

So many dreams that are now dead

I wish I could have been there

To see you grow

But now all I want

Is for you to know

I was so wrong to leave you

To pretend away my love

I never thought that you

Would ever return my love

P.S: Nice hair"

I lifted up a hand to touch my now light pink hair. Faintly, I smiled. I so wanted the poem to be from Yami. I wished from the bottom of my heart. The words were so beautiful, only Yami could ever sound like that.

"Hey, Yuugi, who is it from?"

"I dunno," I replied, handing the poem over to him. He read it over quickly.

"Looks like you've got a Secret Admirer."

"Looks that way."

~ Valentine's Day Yami's POV ~

It's finally Valentine's Day, and I promised myself this would be the day I would reveal my presence to Yuugi. I hadn't been able to help myself with the poem yesterday. I slipped a note under his door only a few minutes before he got out of class.

The note read, 'Happy Valentine's Day, love. Please meet me at the coffee house across the street.' The words were in Ancient Egyptian, and I was glad I had taught him how to speak my native tongue. This way, he might have a heads up that it was me, or he might refuse to believe it.

I sat down at the table and waited for him. I was so anxious I could hardly breathe. And I didn't want to. I wanted to hold onto this moment of apprehension forever. I wanted every moment I spent with him to be like this. Full of my love for him.

He walked through the door like an angel. The weather was still cold enough that it was snowing outside, and the white flakes created a beautiful light around him. He looked over at me, and I could see the startling realization in his eyes. Then I saw his eyes turn to anger as he walked over to me. I feared the worst.

"Hello," he said, calm as could be.

"Hi," I replied, nervousness inching its way through my body. Was he . . . mad at me?

"You're finally back?"

"Y-yeah, I guess I am," I didn't look at him, instead studying my fingers in shame. I'd kept him waiting all those years. He had a right to be mad. What I wasn't prepared for was when he threw himself at me and caught me in a tight hug.

"You ever leave me like that again and I swear, Yami, you are so dead." We both laughed, and I think we cried too.

He sat down across the table from me, and I knew we weren't through yet.

"Um," he began, pulling my note out of his pocket, "you better be glad I still remember Ancient Egyptian, Yami."

I nodded calmly, a smile on my lips at just being in his presence.

"But . . . what's this character?" He pointed to the symbol for 'love.' I blushed, he was teasing me. But at the same time, there was slight hopefulness in his voice that I had meant what I wrote.

"You know what it means, Yuugi."

"I may or may not, but I want to hear you say it," he seemed nervous.

"It's the symbol for love . . . and I meant it. I love you, Yuugi." I leaned across the table and kissed him. He responded beautifully, returning the kiss with unrestrained passion that rivaled my own. After a few more seconds I pulled away.

"Aishiteru, Yami," he whispered.

"Happy Valentine's Day, love."

~~~~~

Good? Bad? Too sappy? Whatever the thought, please review!

Hope you liked the V-Day fluffiness.

BYE!