Title: Tears For You
Characters: Yubel, Juudai||Ship: Yubel x Juudai/Juudai x Yubel
Word Count: 1,000||Chapters: 1/1
Challenges: Diversity Writing Challenge, B24, write about a canon scene; One Ship Boot Camp, #38, wept
Notes: The canon scene I wrote this about was their fusion, though it goes a bit beyond that. Their duel at the end of season 3 is one of my favorites in all of GX.
Summary: There are many kinds of tears. In one moment, Juudai and Yubel shed most of them.

Tears, hot and hard and hurting, stung at Juudai's eyes. He didn't stop what he was doing. They were tears of joy, tears of sorrow, tears of regret that he'd let things go on this long.

He knew he wasn't the only one to blame. Yubel's actions and choices were their own. The Light of Ruin had done quite a bit as well.

He could only fix what he'd done himself: he could only keep the promise that he'd made, so very long ago.

It didn't matter to him that a handful of minutes ago, he didn't remember the promise. Forgetting wasn't an excuse.

He'd remembered when he was a child, he knew that now. He hadn't had the words to express it, but he'd loved Yubel then, even if it was a pale echo of what he knew now.

Juudai didn't just remember being at the ocean, Yubel's arms around him. He could taste the salt spray in his mouth and feel it on his face. He remembered getting up that morning and putting on his clothes, woven from fabrics so different from what he had on now.

He remembered Yubel's screams and how Yubel lay so still afterward, taking days to recover enough to stand up again, let alone learn how to walk.

All of that led to the choice that he'd made, sitting there on that rock, where they'd spent so much time together over the years since they first met.

"No matter what anyone says," Juudai whispered, "I will love only you."

Juudai remembered what it felt like to love Yubel. He remembered everything.

And he didn't just remember it. He felt it, it lived inside of him, all over again.

Fusing their souls wouldn't just heal Yubel. It would heal him, too. This was what they'd been meant for since the very beginning. Juudai wasn't always one to accept destiny without question, but when it came to this point, to making this choice… he wasn't doing it because he had to, because someone told him to do it or else.

No one told Juudai what to do. He'd find a way around it: unless it was something that he wanted to do.

And he wanted to be with Yubel.

Once they were together, there wasn't anything that would keep them apart, ever again. He'd have to apologize to all of his friends for letting things go this far, too. Especially to Johan. He could only hope they would forgive him.

He could only hope Yubel would forgive him.

But as the power of Super Fusion took full effect and Juudai could feel himself and Yubel becoming one being, he was aware of Yubel's thoughts, and the tears that gleamed in Yubel's own eyes.

Togethr those tears fell, mingling together just as their souls were, and Juudai knew exactly what Yubel had on their mind.

Peace. Contentment. Love.

I love you, he murmured, his awareness fading. He didn't know if it would ever come back. I love you, Yubel.

I love you, too, Juudai. I'm so sorry. So very sorry. Other images flickered between them; those of his friends. They would be safe now. They would return to Earth, at least those who wanted to go. Misawa and Taniya would be returned to where the Amazons lived. He caught a flicker of that strange double of Johan's and Yubel's reassurance was swift and sure. He is of this world. He will be returned there.

Good. He wanted to talk to that guy if he ever had the chance. But that could come later.

So could the chance of talking to everyone else.

We'll come back, Yubel whispered to him, we just need time first. Where can we go?

He knew. He knew exactly where they could go and no sooner had the image appeared in his mind than they were on the way.

Juudai remembered. Juudai loved them. Juudai wanted them to be together forever, in a much better way than Yubel had ever thought could be possible.

Destroying all of the dimensions would be exactly what the Light of Ruin wanted, Yubel realized now. It would do nothing so that Juudai would remember them: in fact, how could he, if there wasn't any world for him to exist in? The Light wouldn't have let them both exist. How could it, when they were the ones meant to defend against it and its destructive ways?

All that Yubel believed before washed away in the truth of Juudai's love. He had never meant to abandon them. In a sense, he had sent them away because of his love, but never once had he intended suffering and pain.

More than anything Yubel knew that if he'd known about the agony, then he would've put every ounce of his heart and his strength into finding a way to get the capsule down and healing them.

Now they were in Neo-Space: a place Yubel knew existed but hadn't visited. There was a great deal about Juudai's powers that even Yubel didn't know, and this was one of the more pleasant surprises.

They sat together, Juudai's arms wrapped around Yubel, watching as the waves lapped on the shore, and the dolphins – kin to Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin no doubt – laughed and chittered in the waters.

"How long should we stay?" Juudai murmured. Yubel could feel the sense of responsibility bubbling in him. He wanted to talk to his friends. He wanted to return the Gem Beast deck to Johan. Yubel supposed that they should talk to Johan eventually to.

No big rush on it, though.

"A few days. A week?" Yubel suggested. A week sounded good. Yubel found a hint of curiosity of their own, wondering what Juudai's normal life would be like. At least as normal as he would ever be. Now they were in the perfect place to find out.

Juudai nodded, leaning his head on theirs. The tears passed for now. It was a new beginning for them both.

The End

Notes: If you haven't noticed, I genuinely love Soulshipping with all of my heart. In fact, I love it even if you have noticed.