Disclaimer: I own a YouTube account on which I watch YGO subs. This should indicate how not mine the whole franchise is.
A/N: I set myself the challenge of putting my play-list on random and writing a fic based on the first song that came up. So, of course, the first thing that came up wasn't a song at all but the orchestral version of Unchained Melody from the movie Ghost. Incidentally, I only got around to watching that recently and was struck by its inherent naffness ("Take the love and keep it inside." – uh, pardon?) but also by the graphic violence and disturbing imagery. This is romantic cinema?
Anyhow, this is my response to my own challenge. Set at the beginning of Battle City. Or … not. Enjoy.
Unchained Elegy
© Scribbler, February 2008.
"Yuugi?"
It was barely a whisper, and for a second Yuugi thought he was dreaming, when he realised he wasn't he sat bolt upright in bed. "Anzu?"
She smiled at him, radiant. Then she totally ruined the gravity of the moment by giving a little wave and sticking out her tongue. "Hi."
Despite his damp pillow, Yuugi's eyes filled with fresh tears. "Anzu, how-?"
"I'm not entirely sure myself. I think there are special procedures for this sort of thing, but I'm a little hazy on the details. I just knew I couldn't go without saying goodbye."
Yuugi leaned forward, one hand splaying on his blankets, the other reaching for her – as he had done before, countless times, only she'd always slipped away from him. This time was no different. "Wait, please. Y-you can't go."
Anzu's expression became sad, though her lips still turned up at the edges. It was the same sad smile she'd worn when he held her in his arms on the dock. He'd tried hard to forget that moment (the smell of her blood and seawater soaking his shirt from his plunge into the bay, ankle throbbing where the manacle cut in, Shizuka dragging Jounouchi ashore and Mokuba's breath hot in his ear as he yipped the paramedics were on their way when it was obvious they'd do no good even when they got there); and yet he'd also held onto it, savouring the shape of her face, the warmth of her hand around his and the sound of her voice as she told them all that she regretted nothing as long as they were safe.
"I don't have a choice, Yuugi," she said now. "I'm pretty sure I'm breaking a million rules just by being here, but I knew you'd just martyr yourself if I didn't. It's okay. It wasn't your fault. And if Yami tries to blame himself you can tell him the same from me."
(Yami's guttural scream as Yuugi's own despair leeched into him, guilt coursing through the link between their minds, the foetid promise of vengeance, all dissolving into a haze of flashing lights, uniforms and unanswerable questions as Seto Kaiba's Battle City tournament crumbled around them, tainted by this incident, never to recover).
"He's asleep in the Puzzle, just wait and I'll-"
"Sorry, Yuugi." Anzu seemed suddenly lit by an inner glow that highlighted her translucency. Her limbs, crushed beneath the falling crate, were whole again and moved with a familiar grace as she bent and wrapped ethereal arms around him. It felt like being brushed with cobwebs. "Please don't be sad because of me. I couldn't bear it. You're definitely someone who should always be happy."
Tears sliding down his cheeks, Yuugi tried to hold onto her but couldn't. "How can I be happy? Anzu, please, don't go. Stay a little longer."
"I wish I could."
"Don't leave me. I never said – I thought … I-I just wanted to say…"
Another sad smile. Anzu pulled back, away from him. "Oh, Yuugi." The kiss to his forehead felt like that time the whole group went to the park together for Hanami and one cherry blossom landed right where her lips touched now. The kiss wasn't a real touch, but an impression of it, and like the pale pink petals it was gone far too soon. "I'd be insulted if it didn't hurt, but promise me you won't let this ruin you. Promise me you won't become that miserable little boy I first met, or turn into someone you're not trying to get revenge on Malik. I'd never forgive myself if that happened."
(Jounouchi holding him tight, fingers digging into his shoulders because he didn't know how to do comfort without punching something, Honda standing straight and tall against this overwhelming thing that had happened, while Otogi and the Kaibas looked on and Shizuka cried softly into Mai's shoulder for the girl she hadn't known but who was obviously so important to her precious brother, people all around Yuugi, in pain but still around him, still alive to touch and hear and see…)
"You still owe Jounouchi a duel for his Red Eyes," Anzu whispered.
That promise, so important once, so insignificant now. Malik spoiled what should've been Jounouchi's chance to prove himself as a true duellist by forcing him to battle his friend too soon. That promise had been Jounouchi's shining goal – the defining line between who he was now and everything he used to be.
"Promise me like you promised him."
"Anzu-"
"Promise, Yuugi!"
"I-I promise," he started, and then tried to argue. "But I need you -"
"We'll see each other again." She was fading away into the light, so bright he could barely see her anymore. "That's a promise, too. You'd better keep every promise you make, Yuugi, so I can keep mine to you."
And then she was gone.
Yuugi stayed where he was, blinking against the afterimages of light against his retinas. Then, slowly, he sank back into his nest of blankets. He sat up again only to turn over his pillow and press his face into the dry side, first wiping his tears onto the corner of one sheet and staring at them as though unsure whether they actually existed or not.
The Millennium Puzzle on his bedside table glinted in the poor illumination of the streetlight outside. He'd scrubbed and scrubbed to get the bloodstains off, and wouldn't understand the irony of this for a long time.
Somewhere in the world, the person known to him only as 'Malik' nursed his wounds and made his plans. Without Battle City it was uncertain how their paths would cross, but Yuugi was sure they would meet again someday. His memories of Anzu would burn inside him until that day, but so would the recollection of Yami's corrosive remorse and fury, and the terrible things his vengeance suggested if left unchecked. So, too, would the promise he had just made to her.
"I promise," he murmured with more conviction. "I do promise."
Not quite alone in the dark, Yuugi waited for the sun to rise.
Fin.
Side-flings, Homages and Downright Rip-offs
The kiss to his forehead felt like that time the whole group went to the park together for Hanami and one cherry blossom landed right where her lips touched now.
-- Hanami means 'flower viewing' in Japanese, and refers to the custom of going to see the new blossoms (generally cherry blossoms) during late March to early May in order to reflect on the temporary nature of life, love and beauty. From what I understand the cherry blossom is a symbol of mortality in many parts of the world (making it extra significant in this fic) and Hanami is considered an important occasion. People plan parties around it and take it very seriously, even camping out in parks and places to get the best spot for watching them. Those more in the know than I can add to this if they like, but that's the basis I've used in this fic.