Lizzie: Okay, so this idea has been bouncing around in my head for a while, so I thought I should put it down.
Pairings: None, but I think if you squint really hard, there's some RyouxJudai
Warnings: Slight angst, maybe.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
-x-
So many people called me perfect. They also said that my strategies were perfect, my grades were perfect and my deck was perfect.
But that's all I can reach. Perfect.
When people say the word perfect to me, they mean it as a compliment. But for me, it's a reminder I can't go any further.
I never thought I'd meet someone who could go beyond that. Until I met you, Yuki Judai.
When we first duelled, I saw something in you I couldn't figure out. It took me a while to figure it out, but then it hit me:
It was potential.
The potential to improve, the potential to go beyond everyone's expectations, the potential to break every limit.
And the potential to go beyond perfect.
At first, it scared me. How could someone have so much potential? How could someone break the highest limit there was?
But, slowly, I started to realise that for you, perfect wasn't a limit. It wasn't something for you to strive for. For you, perfect was just a word.
So I watched you. I watched as you grew with each duel, getting closer and closer to what I thought of as a limit. I knew it wouldn't be long until you surpassed me.
But, even though you grew with each duel, you still acted like a kid. You still had that aura of innocence that was rarely ever found in humans any more.
As I went into the Pro Leagues, the pressure to stay at perfect grew until it was too much to bear and I fell below people's expectations of me. I hated it. So, I chose to go to the underground duels to struggle my way back to being perfect again, and I finally managed it.
That's why I duelled Sho, to prove that I was at everyone's expectations of me again. To prove that I could once again be called 'Perfect'.
When we went to the dark world, you finally grew up. Maybe it was seeing everyone dying around you, maybe it was the memory that you had killed many people or maybe it was fusing your soul with Yubel's that did it. But with you growing up, you broke the limit of perfect. You surpassed me before I knew it.
When we returned home, I once again watched as you still continued to grow beyond a point I could never hope to catch up to.
When Makoto Inotsume(1) came to the island, I knew I was taking a risk by duelling him, but I had a reputation to uphold, and I wasn't going to let my heart condition stop me.
But then, Sho surprised me by also surpassing me and breaking the limit of perfect. And you told me that everyone had the potential to go beyond perfect, they just needed to try.
So, thank you, Yuki Judai. Not only for being there for Sho, but also for showing me perfect is not a limit.
It's just a word.
-x-
(1) Makoto Inotsume is a 'Psycho-style' duelist who wanted to challenge and defeat the master of the 'Cyber-style'. He challenged Ryou and Ryou's heart condition got the best of him and he collapsed. Sho took Ryou's deck and challenged Makoto. Sho won by combining Ryou's deck with his deck, therefore surpassing Ryou.
Lizzie: That turned out differently than what I expected, but I like it.