"Chosen Duelists!"
Yami felt goose bumps break loose and scatter across his flesh when Timaeus spoke. He hardly noticed, so caught was he in the intensity of the scene unfolding before his disbelieving eyes.
The three Legendary Knights raised their hands high to the white scar that had been slashed through naught but the empty air. With a singular, unified purpose, they called out to the ones trapped within. Power and authority dominated their actions, leaving little doubt as to their effectiveness; next to their majesty, the Seal became no more threatening than a child's toy.
"By the power of Atlantis, we release thee!"
He felt as though he had been waiting his entire existence for this moment. Was this really happening? Had he truly succeeded? Or was it all a cruel joke, some sort of dream?
A great rumble from the tear in the planes between the worlds seemed to answer his wordless question; the spirits of Joey, Kaiba, and Yugi responded to the call.
"Now, Duelists of the Prophecy," Timaeus commanded in a powerful voice that shook the very stones beneath their feet. "By order of the Knights of Atlantis, cross into the human world!"
Purple eyes lay transfixed, caught in the light as if they could not accept what they were witnessing. Three glowing orbs of the purest white he had ever seen shot from the opening, careening across the room. The passage to the other world closed behind them, leaving the rest of the wandering innocents still trapped within the Seal, and within the Leviathan.
The first light to return to its owner was Kaiba's. It sank into his unmoving chest without pause, beginning the immediate process of reconnection. Almost before he had opened his eyes, his lips had eased themselves into their customary scowl.
Though the look softened somewhat when he saw his brother.
Kaiba sat up with an involuntary groan that startled him. He had never expected to make such a noise ever again, even with his expressed faith (if you could call it that) in the Pharaoh. Truly, he was surprised to be returned to his own body. Blurry-eyed and groggy, it would have taken him a good moment to recover his wits if he hadn't spotted Mokuba. When he noted that his brother was unconscious, it scattered his nausea to the far corners of the earth.
Scared that Dartz may have injured him, Kaiba swiftly leaned over and tried to rouse him with his words.
"Mokuba, are you alright?" He shook his brother gently. "Come on, wake up!"
To his intense relief, Mokuba opened his eyes, dizzy as Kaiba had been. He worked himself into a sitting position, trying to show that he was disoriented but unhurt.
"Seto." Throwing his arms tiredly around Kaiba's waist, the younger of the pair allowed himself to show a glimmer of weakness. "You're here!"
The second orb made its way speedily toward the helicopter, outside of the temple. Joey jerked violently as his soul abruptly entered his body, the spastic reaction nearly throwing him off the bench. Confused and utterly lost, he nevertheless stood up quickly, holding his head in his hand and stumbling towards the door as fast as he could... which made him slam into just about every stationary object in the room. One thought alone occupied his mind and commanded all of his attention in that dizzying moment.
Yugi...
The last light drifted toward the Pharaoh with unswerving certainty; it came to rest at the eye of the Millennium Puzzle, subtly twinkling. Yami placed his hands around it, the calm assurance of his actions belied by the quiet qualm in his stormy eyes. He was afraid; afraid the light would shy away at his touch, afraid it would reject him. Yet when it did none of those things, he cupped it more securely, quite willing to pretend that it simply did not recognize him. For the sake of his foolish notions of corruption, he held tight to the idea that if this orb that housed Yugi's soul knew who held it, certainly it would dance away. He did not deserve to so much as look at such beautiful light, not even now.
Yes, he understood the treasure that he held between his fingertips. But the knowledge brought such a mix of pain and sadness to him; he cradled the ball carefully for just a second longer in a silent, desperate plea for forgiveness.
To think that he had almost lost it...!
Yami could not deny his heart was warmed at the familiar presence that waited so patiently in his hands. Even now, a faint aura of compassion and forgiveness leaked through the barriers of flesh and into Yami's guilt-laden and undeserving heart, and though he wished for nothing more than for things to return to normal, he knew there was yet more to be done. It was time to make amends.
He looked to the Knights of Atlantis, an emotion that cannot be clearly described shining in his eyes. They nodded in understanding and vanished in a soft blue light.
"Yugi." Yami murmured, letting go at last. Freed, the orb eagerly moved into the Puzzle, the familiar realm that its inhabitant called home. Flickering tendrils of memory and consciousness reached out and bound themselves to the Item, weaving seamlessly into the depths of their dual mind. Yami closed his eyes as a surge of emotion that was bright and happy and utterly Yugi sped through him; and at last the merging was complete. He unintentionally let out his breath in a sigh as the missing piece of his heart fell into place. Separate pieces were whole again, or at least in part.
He concentrated on the blackness behind his eyes, willing time to slow itself.
What will he say? Will he speak at all?
He ignored the aching within at what he knew was to come, instead devoting his focus solely on his surroundings. Soon he stood within his own mind; peaceful silence and calming blackness enveloping him in soothing waves, and he allowed himself a moment to steady his nerves and prepare to face his other half with dignity.
Surely I will see him?
"Pharaoh?"
Despite his outward preparedness, Yami froze as the voice cut through the darkness. The wall of uncaring he had carefully erected around his emotions cracked and crumbled in that one second; he could not maintain the facade with his heart crying out so clearly in return.
The call came again, edged with an unmistakable desperation. Yami could scarcely believe his ears. Where was the anger? The hurt? The consequences of his actions were far from played out, (at least to himself, whom he had yet to forgive,) certainly there must be some mistake?
"Yugi?" He returned tentatively, not sure if he should answer, if he had a right to answer. He felt torn, lost between the ferocious desire to scream and call out for his partner until his throat was bleeding and raw, and the knowledge that he had no place to seek comfort in the friendship they had shared. Not after what he had done.
The choice was not his to torture himself with, for Yugi was before him then, running to him with all speed.
"Yami!" Yugi cried, forgetting to address him by his formal title, and in that moment, hardly caring.
Yami blinked in surprise at the honest relief in Yugi's tone, the heartfelt tears glittering on his face. He spread his arms out to catch his friend in flight; but Yugi simply blew right past such straightforward tactics and tackled him with a great hug that threw them both to the ground. The youth clutched him close and bit back his cries, content with clinging to the knowledge that the nightmare was over. He needed that assurance, the promise that everything was going to be just fine now. At last, they were reunited.
Yami was likewise overwhelmed, holding Yugi tightly to him for fear that if he let go, he would lose him as before. But this was no illusion this time, he knew, no spirit alone that came to him. Flesh and blood he held in his arms, and he knew then that he had succeeded in his promise to save the youth. Thank the Gods, he was back where he belonged.
However, the joy he wanted to lose himself in was tempered. Guilt, agony, and doubt were coldly mixing in his heart. Despite Yugi's apparent delight at seeing him again, Yami wondered how much of the comfort was misplaced, or perhaps even forced. He felt his own tears begin to fall, and wondered what was to happen next. He knew Yugi as well as anyone alive, but even he felt at a loss. The spirit had betrayed him, had broken his trust and his heart. And for what? A taste of corruption; new life breathed into old self-doubts and uncertainties. How could Yugi possibly forgive him for that?
"Yugi," he whispered brokenly, trying to find his strength, though the tears streaming down his face seemed to be washing it all away. He had to swallow, the unusual lump wedged in his throat made it rather hard to speak. Confessions had never been his strong point.
"Yugi, I'm sorry." He tried again, hugging him closer and trying to speak quickly in the hopes he could get his apology across before Yugi became disgusted with the useless gesture and pushed him away.
"I never meant- I didn't want- I would never..."
But try as he would, he could not find the words he needed. No matter what he sought to speak it all sounded so empty, so futile. No petty words could mend what he had done, no amount of useless apologizing would heal the damage that had been wrought. So he believed, and so his words were lost in a meaningless babble.
What could he possibly say? What words could describe what had been done, the changes that had been wrought in Yugi's absence?
His frustrated inner monologue was silenced with a swift, gentle squeeze. Yugi smiled quietly but did not speak, inaudibly explaining that sometimes, the most can be said without words.
He helped pull the spent king into a sitting position, locking eyes with his dearest friend. So much was made clear between the two, brothers in mind and soul, in that one instant. So much that was unseen and unspoken passed between their kindred hearts. Yugi reached up and tellingly brushed the tears away.
"I forgive you."
There it was, the one sentence he had craved since he could finally admit to himself that he was to blame. He could not believe it. The beleaguered and agonized spirit had just heard the very words he had longed to hear since the very beginning; finally it was there in front of him...!
But he could not accept it. As much as he wanted it, as much as he pleaded for that very forgiveness, he could not accept it. No one, not even Yugi, could so easily brush away the horrible crime he had committed. How could he pardon so grievous an error so swiftly? If he that is forgiven did not forgive himself, then how could the first forgive?
Yugi's gaze grew troubled as he searched Yami's violet orbs for his reaction. "I forgive you," he repeated, making certain there could be no mistake. "I know you never meant for this to happen. That's not who you are, not what's in your heart." Again, he wiped away the freshly falling tears, and this time left his hand cupped to Yami's cheek, forcing the spirit to look him in the eye.
"I understand, you don't have to explain. You were trying to do what was right; you just became too caught up in the wrong way of doing it." Yugi frowned sadly at the bolt of pain that shot behind his features at those words. "The Orichalcos used you as its tool, it wasn't entirely your fault."
"But it was," Yami argued, sounding old for the first time since he had awakened from the Puzzle. His voice had aged, ringing with sad tones, tired tones. His eyes, too, had changed, looking so deeply into Yugi's own he seemed to be searching for his soul.
"The Orichalcos only brought forth what was already growing, the darkness that was already festering in my heart. I had been lying to myself all these years in thinking I could hide from it." He tried to speak as plainly as he could, not giving himself any excuses. But his voice wavered and shook, conveying his mixed feelings clearly.
"It tore at me daily, trying to crush me with the weight of my own evil. I could not sleep, the nightmares brought the pain of your loss back so vividly and frequently I feared I would simply give up and let the shadows take me. Anything to escape the pain..." He sighed and looked away, beating himself mercilessly for actions he could not rightly shoulder the blame for, not after everything he did to try and correct his mistake. Yet he felt a wretched thing indeed at that moment, and for a horrible instant Yami honestly wondered if the uncontrollable rage he'd felt when he played the Orichalcos would ever truly leave him. He didn't want to hurt Yugi again, but what if it was not his choice to make?
A touch upon his hand brought his mind back from its dark and miserable wanderings. He looked down and felt his guard soften in the compassionate look Yugi gave him. He took the spirit's ethereal hand in both of his own and spoke, leaving no room for any more unhappy musings.
"Pharaoh, everyone makes mistakes." He began. "Everyone is given challenges that they must overcome, moments of weakness that will test their inner person. Sometimes we pass these tests, sometimes we fail. And everyone will fail once in a while." He smiled gently. "Just because you're a great and powerful king doesn't mean you're an exception."
"But..." Yami started to protest, determined to make Yugi understand that he could not make mistakes. He was the exception to that rule, the one person that should have been able to stand against that temptation. His own expectations of himself demanded no less than perfection, how could he look at himself with the same respect and unshakable confidence if he knew he had fallen before? He meant to go on, to explain that he couldn't control that horrible darkness, that all consuming rage. He meant to argue, but what Yugi said next stopped his thoughts as surely as if he'd struck him.
"Would you do it again?" The seriousness in his tone forced Yami to swallow his planned explanations and carefully consider his response. "If you could repeat the entire experience, go back in time and stand on the precipice of that decision, would you play the Seal again?"
"No." Yami choked. "I would let the Seal consume us both before I would break the Heart of the Cards again."
"Then I think you've learned your lesson." Yugi stated confidently. "What is done is done, and you have suffered the consequences of it already. Can you not see? The doubt, the hatred that has followed you and weighted your every step since that day have served to teach you what it means to be responsible." He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts and allowing Yami to do the same. "I don't think I would change anything, though."
Yami started, shocked that Yugi would say such a thing. Yugi caught his expression and elaborated.
"You are who you are today because of what happened in your past. If we went back and somehow changed the outcome, altered the past and made it so that the mistake was never made, you would not be the same person right now."
"And would that be such a very bad thing?" Yami whispered, smiling weakly.
"Yes, I think so." Yugi hugged him again. "I know the scars you carry are painful." He murmured, closing his eyes. "I've been there. But trust me when I tell you they will heal, if you will let them."
They were silent for a long while after that, trying to comfort one another as best they could. Yugi decided to let one more soothing thought be spoken, just to be absolutely sure that Yami could not find anything to brood over later.
"I'm not angry, you know. I never was. I was scared at first, of course, but I understand now that it had to happen. We had to go through this, together. My only thought was that I'd lost my best friend; I thought you'd lost yourself."
"I almost did."
"Almost." Yugi returned, a smile teasing his mouth. "But you didn't, and you managed to defeat the darkness inside your heart once and for all when you defeated me, remember?"
He did remember, and in looking at his dearest friend now, he could find no more arguments to make.
"You've proven to me that our friendship is stronger than anything. By putting aside your inner turmoil to rescue me; by fighting to right the wrong you committed despite the fact that it would have been so much easier to let the darkness rule you, you've proven that the evil has no lasting place inside of you. And that's all that matters... to me."
You are Pharaoh. You do not make mistakes.
I made one that day.
You are King. You are the vessel of the Gods. Your word is law. These transgressions never happened, they shall be erased from the annals of time.
No, Yami decided. No, I will not erase the changes that have come. Yugi is right, perhaps this needed to happen.
Perhaps now I can learn to forgive...
A delicate smile was the only response that Yugi wanted, and that's exactly what he got. He wrapped his arms tighter around his friend, and let the tears flow unhindered. He determined then and there that nothing short of death would ever again come between them.
Neither spoke (content to share thoughts rather than words) until the stolen moment had to come to a close. Both would have easily sat for much longer, enjoying the close company after so long apart, but eventually they realized that there was still much to be done. They could not afford to waste time with any more apologies and reconciliations, even if that was exactly what they would rather be doing.
Time may slow for them in their Soul Rooms, but it never stops completely. Yugi left to take control, and Yami let him go gratefully, happy give the body back to its rightful owner.
- Just in time to catch Tea as she wrapped her arms around his neck, tears streaking her face.
"I thought we'd never see you again!" She sobbed, holding him as tight as she could.
"It's good to see you too!" Yugi gasped, trying to breathe through her near choke-hold. Tea backed up a bit, but the reprieve was temporary, because Joey came barreling into the room next, shouting wildly.
"Alright, outta my way people, where's my little buddy?" The adrenaline pumped teen/bulldozer charged over and grabbed Yugi in yet another tight hug. "Yug! Man, did I miss this spiky head of yours!"
Yugi laughed, his face muffled by Joey's shirt. "Hey Joey!"
"The gang is back!" Tea cheered, the sparkle returned to her eyes for the first time in days.
"Don't forget the rest of the gang!" Tristan intoned, loudly. Not to be left out, he happily gathered all of his friends in strong arms for a crushing embrace. And it seemed a joyful meeting indeed; a happy reunion to friends far too long parted from each other.
"Yugi," Yami finally had to pull his attention away, not wanting to disturb the moment, but realizing that they had to move on. "The Legendary Knights were the ones who set you free."
"Does that mean you beat Dartz?" Yugi asked, wondering if the man was still lurking in the shadows, perhaps waiting for just such a distracted moment to strike.
"Yes, but as soon as our duel ended he disappeared into some vortex, and I have a bad feeling the worst is yet to come." He stood solemnly for a moment, letting his words sink in, but then he smiled warmly. A smile that touched his lips and his eyes.
"But at least we'll face it together!"