©DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YU-GI-OH! IT IS OWNED BY KAZUKI TAKAHASHI! I AM IN NO WAY MAKING ANY PROFIT OFF OF THIS! THIS IS FAN-MADE! I DON'T OWN, ON MY OWN! IT IS OWNED BY ASHES REMAINS! ENJOY!

AN: Hey everyone! It's Soul and here I have brought with me; a new story! Whoo~! Um well, technically it's not a new story but rather a revamped old one. Back in January I had written a story of how I think Yugi would after just getting back from Egypt and Atem's leaving. I was reading through it earlier this morning a noticed a bunch of mistakes that I made and I cringed every time I saw one. But even with the mistakes, I thought that it could make a pretty good story. So that's what lead me to doing this. It's not much different if you read the other one but there are some changes. Leave down in the comments and reviews on whether or not you give this story a thumb up and should I continue it or not. Now, without further ado~

On with the story~!

.*.*.

Chapter 1:

On My Own

Bring me out

Come and find me in the dark now

Every day by myself I'm breaking down

I don't wanna fight alone anymore

Bring me out

From the prison of my own pride

My God, I need a hope I can't deny

In the end I'm realizing

I was never meant to fight—

On my own

The tri-colored haired boy walked into the game shop, both his mind and body were exhausted and worn out from all the stress that it had endured. He hurried up the stairs and to his bedroom, passing his grandfather who was putting his own belongings away in the hall closet. Once he was in there, Yugi dumped his bags on the floor, closed the door and leaned heavily against it, letting out a shaky sigh as he slid to the floor. They had just gotten back from Egypt; after sending Yami off to the afterlife. He blinked,

He meant after sending Atem off to afterlife.

Another sad sigh left his lips; he was exhausted. He had not gotten much sleep on the flight back to Japan; he just couldn't rest without the feeling of having the puzzle nearby or the weight of the chain hanging around his neck or even seeing the gleam it got when the morning light shone down on its golden surface. He couldn't rest knowing that there was no one watching over him, to give him a peace of mind. He couldn't rest knowing that the one person that he cared for most wasn't with him anymore. Atem was his other half, just as he was to him. He lifted a hand to rub his eyes as he thought; it's not like he isn't happy for Atem—because he is—it's just…he hadn't thought that it would hurt this much now that he was gone.

"Yugi!" Came the voice of Sugoroku Mutou through the door, "I'm going out again and I won't be back for a while. Will you be alright?"

"Yes grandpa, I'll be fine." He replied softly and Yugi listened as the footsteps retreated down the hall until he could no longer hear them. He pulled his legs up to his chest and buried his head in his knees, a heavy feeling of depression weighing down on his chest.

/But now Atem is with his family and friends, he no longer has to be separated from them. He had his memories and everything. He was free…/

A hot, itchy sensation pricked at the corner of his eyes, causing him to close them as he felt his frustration begin to build. Yugi felt the tears run down his cheeks quickly as he let frustrated, sad sobs escape his lips

/Why Atem? WHY? You promised that you would never leave me! You promised to always protect me! Why did you leave?/

He knew the answer to that; he had known for the longest. It was because Atem didn't belong here; this wasn't his time nor his life and he just couldn't be happy if remained in the puzzle for the rest of eternity, only to come out by using Yugi. He had died long ago but his spirit still remained trapped. He had to be set free. It was selfish to think that Atem should've have stayed but right now Yugi had never felt more hurt and alone.

Alone.

For the first time since he had solved the puzzle, he was purely and utterly alone. There was no one who would share his body or materialize in spirit form when he needed someone, there was no one who would talk to him when he was bored or stressed, there was no one to comfort him when he was hurt, and no one would hold him and tell him that everything was going to be alright.

He was alone.

And he absolutely despised it; it felt horrible. Worse than he felt before he had solved the puzzle. It was a foreign feeling to him and he honestly didn't know how to handle it. He sighed again and hugged his knees closer to himself; he was scared. Terrified even. He was running away from his problems. From life. If it weren't for the puzzle then he wouldn't be where he was now. He roughly wiped away the unwanted tears with his sleeve. /Boy, does that sentence have double meaning./ He mused bitterly. He wouldn't be the grand duelist he was known as today if he had never solved the puzzle in the first place. But then he wouldn't be so upset if he never solved the puzzle in the first place.

His eyes became crestfallen as their usual brightness dimmed; if he never solved the puzzle then he would have never met Atem and he wouldn't have cared about him so much…he also wouldn't have his friends…

His eyes widened; his wish. He had wished upon the puzzle…for friends…

God, his friends…they've been with him through thick and thin. There were so many instances that have altered their lives forever. He recalled all of them either being possessed or having their souls being ripped from their bodies and put into a card or stone tablet on a wall or both. There were times where their freaking lives were on the line—

Such as when Malik was controlling Jounouchi's mind as he and Yugi were dueling with their ankles were shackled and the loser would be plummeted in the ocean beneath them. Anzu had been held captive, being force to sit underneath her own death trap. Then there was also the time where Dartz had trapped their souls with the Orichalcos—oh and if that wasn't enough, he just had to go and use his, Jounouchi's, Mai's and Pegasus's souls as shields for his stupid knights! And let's not forget when Noah trapped all of them in the virtual world and how the control panel was destroyed and how he, Kaiba and Mokuba were nearly blown up to nothing as the others almost were.

Jounouchi had been put into a coma because of Yami Malik, who blasted him with the Winged Dragon of Ra—which, by the way, should not have actually hurt considering it's supposed to be a HOLOGRAM but then again, nothing's normal when dark magic is involved.

Anger and frustration flooded his veins as he remembered all that had happened, god if had just never solved that puzzle-! Suddenly his phone went off,

Every little thing that I've known, is everything I need to let go

You're so much bigger than the world I have made

So I surrender my soul, I'm reaching out for your hope

I lay my weapons down

I'm ready for you now

Yugi felt the tears return, having to have stopped during his rant, as he realized why he was in this position;

It was because he had solve the puzzle.

He and only him. No one else could solve it and once he did, he was granted the greatest things he could ever have hoped for; he earned friends. Not just his close friends but also those who he battled with and changed his life forever. Starting from Pegasus and ending right down to Malik and Ishizu…

He let out a muffled, frustrated growl into his arms. He also gained the closest friend of all, so close that they even shared a body. They had known each other's thoughts, feelings, and secrets…without the other, one would feel empty. And that is exactly how Yugi felt right now—

Empty.

Without Atem he just felt so empty. He had just lost a piece of himself. He didn't want to feel incomplete, he remembered when Atem promised that he'd always be right by him, so he wouldn't be alone….

I don't wanna be incomplete

I remember what you said to me

I don't have to fight alone

He never realized how this song was so similar to how he felt; actually, it never occurred to him that he could relate to this song. Depression once again settled inside of him as his thoughts drifted back to the duel…

A small smile appeared on Atem's face as he watched his own life points hit zero. He had done it. Yugi had defeated him. He knew he would but still, that meant…

Yugi watched as the monsters disappeared and fell to his hands and knees, shaking terribly as the course of events finally caught up with him. He had defeated Atem, which meant...which meant that he had to go. Atem had to leave…

Small droplets splashed against the floor as Yugi then felt a hand grip on his shoulder. But he continued to stare at the cold stone with wide hollow eyes. "I lose, Aibou..." The deep voice murmured. "Stand up…" He spoke, "…the winner shouldn't be on his knees." Atem squeezed his shoulder gently, "If I were you, I wouldn't cry."

"I-I'm too weak…!" Was Yugi's quiet broken sob, refusing to look the Pharaoh in the eyes. "You've always been my goal! I always wanted to be strong…like you."

"You're not weak…" Atem chided lightly, "You've always had a power that no one else could beat…you have the strength of kindness!" His eyes softened, "That's what I learned from you. Aibou," Finally, Amethyst eyes met ones that were near identical to his own.

"The courage that you showed when you accepted this Battle Ceremony…showed me the path I must take."

"Mou…Mou Hitori No Boku…"

"I'm not the 'other you' anymore." That's realization struck Yugi like a ton of brick hitting him, his eyes widened even more. "And you are no one but yourself! You are the only Yugi Mutou in the world!" Yugi gazed up at the other,

Yami…

Yugi gave a growl in vexation, he hated these selfish thoughts and feelings but he also hated that Atem left. He was torn and just couldn't handle it all. His trembling continued to wrack his body. He needed to let it out, he didn't want to keep it all in right now. Without thinking, Yugi swung his right elbow behind him and slammed it into his bedroom door behind him. The pain that shot up throughout his arm and into his shoulder brought him out of his troubled thoughts. He gasped out as his elbow throbbed in pain. He quickly scrambled up, cradling his arms as he surveyed to damage.

There was a very slight dent in the dark brown wood but that minimal damage gave Yugi a brief feeling of calmness, the numbness in his elbow now felt also contributed to that relaxed feeling. But as quickly as it came; it vanished. The inner turmoil inside of him returned and Yugi visible flinched, slightly panicked. No! Not more of this! He didn't want to feel like this! He wanted to feel that relaxing high again! He needed it!

Shaking with barely suppressed emotions, Yugi tried to take calming breaths—but it was not exactly going quite well. A tight feeling gathered in his throat and one hand gripped the front of his shirt tightly as ragged breaths left his lips while he held his head in the other. With his legs feeling weak, Yugi sunk down to the floor and onto his knees; curling in on himself. He hated this feeling of despair that had his heart in a death grip. He blinked in surprise at seeing the salty droplets hit the floor. When had he started crying? He couldn't recall but it didn't seem to matter as the tears continued to fall, hitting the hardwood floor with an increasing pace. Shudders ran through the young boy's frame, uneven breathes were gasped out.

Small coughs left him as he had trouble controlling his breathing but at this point, the duelist didn't seem to care anymore, too lost in his thoughts to come to grips with reality. A small plea escaped his lips in a broken, weak whisper.

"Someone…anyone…please…Yami…"