Shadow: Round four of Compy's contest…it is four, right? Um…sorry, mind blank. Anyway, this is Liberashipping – Yugi x Malik. It's a cute pairing, and I'm in love with the shipping name. The actual pairing's alright, but the name equals (and Compy, I'm gonna have to nick one of your quotes for the contest for this) 'twoo love'. –grins-
Disclaimer: I own nothing. That covers everything, right?
Notes: This…is kinda long. –sheepish- And it's shonen-ai, which means boy x boy. You don't like, you don't read, 'kay? Malik is the lighter half of the insane two in hold of the Millennium Rod in this, and this is set post-series.
Khanh – (Arabic) Chief/Master/leader/Prince
Jii-chan – (Japanese) Grandfather
Hikari – (Japanese) light
That First Glimpse of Sky
As far as the eye could see in all directions – a sea of shifting gold. The sun was hot, beating down on his head, the sky an ocean of never-ending blue. It was beautiful, strange and exotic, and made for quite enchanting surroundings when riding through on the slow-swaying back of a camel.
Mouto Yugi had the distinct feeling he'd be enjoying his journey a whole hell of a lot more if his camel wasn't such an ill-tempered, spitting, hell-spawned beast. It had tried to toss him three times, run away twice when he'd clambered off to double-check where he was going, lost one of his water bags and tried to eat his favourite sandals.
…Neither of them liked the other very much…
But still, they were getting somewhere. Not relationship-wise – Yugi hated his camel (henceforth dubbed 'Beelzebub', or 'Bez' for short), and the camel him – but in terms of distance. It was a long trek from Cairo to the destination Yugi was heading for and, quite contrary to the endearing little tale Yugi's grandfather told to anyone that asked for him back in Japan, there weren't any olives out there. In fact, there was very little out there, from what he'd been told, but still he journeyed. Why? Well…it had been five years since he'd last been able to speak with some of his more long-distance friends…
Yugi was hot, sticky, and thirsty. Though he didn't seem to burn under the Egyptian sun he still felt greatly uncomfortable, especially when the wind picked up slightly and blew sand into his face, small grains sneaking through the gaps in the cloth he used to cover it and getting into his mouth. His legs felt a little cramped from being in one position too long, and his bum was getting rather sore for the same reason as well. By his estimations he should've been drawing near to his destination, but nowhere about could he see any form of rubble or ruin. Tired, fed-up, and trying to get a better view Yugi loosened the headscarf he wore, letting the white material flutter down about his shoulders as his soft purple eyes scanned the landscape around him.
Almost immediately: "Pharaoh!"
Yugi jumped and Bez made a hissy noise, and the sands before them both wavered, a heap of stones appearing to their north-west, a young man sitting among them staring at both camel and rider in abject awe.
"No, not Pharaoh." Yugi corrected the youth gently as he rode up, stopping Bez before clambering off and sliding down to the sand below. The camel tried almost immediately to wander off, but Yugi halted that action almost immediately, giving the creature's reins a sharp tug. "Not me." A glance around the ruins…this would most likely be – "The Ishtar clan resides here still, does it not?" A nod from the other male. "Then please inform your Khanh – or his sister – that Mouto Yugi is here." The watcher scampered off, disappearing down some trapdoor he'd miraculously pulled from the sands. The pit yawned, black against gold, a gaping hole.
Golden sands, golden heat…it was dreadfully hot out there, in the desert. Yugi missed Japan. It had been three years since he'd left to go travel, three years since he'd left school, started his course at university and now…a break. A rest, a chance to catch up with old friends under the burning Egyptian sun. First time he'd set foot in Egypt in five years. Egypt was not Japan. Odd freedom this, bittersweet – he'd have to send his jii-chan a postcard, if only to let the man know how he was doing. No WiFi out in the desert…
"Yugi?" A familiar head, a little older now, poked itself up from the trapdoor's edge. Platinum blond hair topped a tanned face, handsome as ever – though grimy, a smudge on Malik's defiant nose. Mucky – it appeared the other man had been playing about with his beloved bike again for he was covered from head to foot in oily grunge, abandoning his 'baby' to run to meet him with all his traditional impatience.
The thought brought a fond smile to Yugi's lips. Typical Malik…
"Yugi!" Lavender eyes lit up in recognition upon espying him, their owner running forward to embrace Yugi before awkwardly stopped short, barely a few inches away. "Er…" A sheepish glance down at his stained clothes, and Malik hastily wiped a hand on his dirty trousers before offering it to Yugi to shake. "Long time no see?"
Yugi laughed. It was a pure, honest sound, free of malice and mockery. After a time Malik's lips twitched and he smiled, leaning back slightly to regard his friend with an expression lost somewhere between looking wounded and amused.
"I'm not that bad, am I?"
"Malik Ishtar," here Yugi drew a breath, eyes alive with light and laughter, "you're worse. Been at your bike again?"
"Yup." Malik stood a little taller, proud of his machine. "Just regular maintenance, but I enjoy it."
"You can't tell," the lightest trace of teasing in Yugi's voice, gaze flicking across the smudge on his companion's nose. "You've got a bit on your face, just here." Playfully, he prodded the mark. Malik wrinkled his nose; Bez snorted.
At the camel's noise, the blond frowned. "…I forget my manners – Ishizu would have my head. You'd think she'd figure that being twenty-one means I'm fully capable of looking after myself but noo…" (Yugi smiled at Malik's ramble, inwardly wondering whether his rather spastic and flighty friend was capable of looking after himself at any age.) "- Anyway, you coming inside?" Bez butted his head over Yugi's shoulder, determined to not be ignored. "…And I'll get someone to care for your camel."
"That would be wonderful, thankyou." Yugi quickly tied Bez to a jutting piece of rock nearby, following Malik over to the open trapdoor. Both of them paused at the lip of the entrance – and then Yugi smiled truly. "It's good to see you."
Side by side, they both descended into the tombs.
Underground was a whole new world. Where the sun's light never touched nothing grew, and so what existed beneath the sands was all entirely man-made. The walls were hewn rock, some areas plastered and painted with two-dimensional figures praying to long-dead gods. Long tunnels stretched for miles, gloom closing in around distant ends of corridors to hide their destinations from view. Torches flickered, shadows thrown crazily about as people passed, and the silence of the dead filled every space not taken by mortal words.
Yugi almost felt as if the Earth had opened its maw, and swallowed him whole. This was another Egypt to the one he was familiar with, the forgotten scraps of a past tied together in this odd shadow-land of drifting souls. Eyes peered out at him from behind doors as he passed, hushed whispers trickling out from cracks and echoing off endless stone. This…this place was Malik's home. The wraiths who lived here were Malik's people, members of the great Ishtar clan of the sands. Yugi breathed the slightly stuffy air and felt something within him shiver, the small bird of his soul shuddering at the thought of how very deep underground he was, the many heavy layers of rock and sand above his head.
"Are you alright?" Malik had stopped, looking back at him concerned. "You look somewhat pale. I…forgot what an effect the tombs can have on people when they first enter – we don't get visitors here often, and -"
"I'm alright, thankyou. Really." Yugi added the last word seeing his companion's look of disbelief. "About this place…how come I couldn't see it, until your…'guard' – I assume that was what he was – called to me? I could have wandered for hours without finding the ruins."
A light shrug. "I'm really not all that sure. During his life my father spoke occasionally of the old spells that cloak this place, protection for the Pharaoh's past. I never really listened all that much; I was too young to remember, and much too easily distracted to pay attention." Malik smiled vaguely. "Ishizu will be able to tell you more I should think, if you ask her. We're going to see her now." And so they went.
Someone must have sent word ahead, for Ishizu was waiting. As soon as Malik and Yugi entered she was standing, smiling serenely in greeting. She moved over to stand in front of Yugi, dark hair swinging about her face as she bowed slightly. "Pharaoh."
"Ishizu, no." The Japanese male took the woman's hands, raising Ishizu to stand upright once more. "That's not me."
"But -"
"No." Yugi insisted. "That was me five years ago, with Ya – with Atemu at my side. That was Yugi, bearer of the Puzzle. I'm not that Yugi anymore. The Puzzle – and the pharaoh with it – is gone."
There was a small pause, Ishizu looking at her guest. Her clear gaze was so very blue. "You are not him, that is true. You are yourself, and there is some part of you that is a King… Was it not you who solved the Puzzle? Who wore it day after day? The power was yours as well as his. You are Pharaoh." Yugi frowned but accepted the woman's words, about to speak but – "Malik Ishtar!" Ishizu had espied her brother. "Don't tell me you've been out about the clan looking like that!" The blond was still wearing his oil-stained clothes.
"Er-" Malik looked a little sheepish, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly in the face of his sister's wrath, "what would you like me to say instead?"
Ishizu grabbed hold of his shoulders, and pushed him out of the room. Yugi blinked a little as the blond was effectively manhandled, Ishizu getting about halfway down the corridor outside the room before yelling: "Rishid!" The tall, sedate man appeared almost as if by magic (knowing the Ishtars, it most probably was), melting from the shadows of the tomb and standing at Ishizu's side. The woman shoved a protesting Malik into her adoptive brother's arms. "Go see he actually gets himself clean, would you? Yugi's come to visit."
Rishid seemed amused, glancing back along the corridor to where Yugi leant around a doorpost, a little taken aback by the siblings' interaction. The older male nodded to him politely, lips quirking faintly as Malik remained completely oblivious to the exchange, crying 'abuse' in his grasp and doing his best to be free of his brother.
Yugi found himself ushered back inside the room, Ishizu's hand on his shoulder. Malik got carted off by Rishid to get changed and –
"He really hasn't changed much superficially, has he?"
"Hm?" Ishizu looked a little surprised at the question. "Malik, I guess…yes, 'superficially' would be the best word there… Malik is…a lot…lighter than he used to be. With his darkness stripped away, my little brother can be the person he was born to be, and not the person his life forced him to become." The woman's tone was fond, her gaze alighting pointedly on Yugi. "You helped him there, Yugi. More so than anyone else. The day you gave him his freedom was the day you gave the world Malik Ishtar back."
"I…I mean I didn't really do so much as…" Yugi gestured a little helplessly at that comment.
"You did so much for him, and for us." His companion's gaze was calm. "Now, would you like something to eat? Drink? A wash? I doubt my little brother had the sense to offer you a room here to refresh yourself in. No doubt you've been travelling a while…"
"A wash and something to drink would be great, actually." Yugi admitted.
Ishizu nodded. "I'll show you to your room then. I do assume you're staying some time?"
"If it's not too much trouble."
"None at all." A brisk motion. "Now, if you'll follow me…?"
Malik watched, dressed in a fresh outfit, as Yugi drank a cup of water. Both of them had been washed and dressed since they'd last spoken, Malik because he'd been so mucky after meddling with his bike, Yugi because he'd been so dusty after riding.
The room they were in was quiet. Ishizu had left to…attend to something or other – she hadn't seen fit to inform her brother as to what – and so Malik had escaped Rishid's clutches as soon as he physically could, and planted himself firmly at Yugi's side. No matter the other male was busy; Malik put great faith in Yugi's nigh eternal patience, and sat and studied the other doing the simple act of drinking. (There was nothing else to do, waiting for Yugi to finish.)
Suddenly: "You've gotten taller."
Yugi removed the cup from his lips, raising an eyebrow inquiringly. "Did you expect me to remain short forever?"
"No, it's just…" Malik studied the other's frame once more, "it suits you."
"Uh…thankyou?" Yugi looked a little awkward. "Yam – I mean, Atemu always said I'd…'grow into myself', whatever that means." A slightly self-conscious laugh, edgy.
A pause. Quiet again.
"He was right."
Yugi coloured.
Yugi had meant to stay with the Ishtars three days, but – when the three day mark rolled around – he had no desire to leave the tombs. And so, at the urging of Malik and Ishizu, he decided to hang around a little longer, promising himself he'd go at the end of the week.
Eight weeks later, Yugi was still staying in the tombs, far out from Cairo in the desert. If anyone had asked him he wouldn't have been able to tell them what he'd done during all that time, hours flying past in a blur of golden sunshine, darkness, laughter and talk. His presence was a breath of fresh air to the tomb-keeping clan. Clean and new, breezing through the dusty tombs stirring up sand in his wake. The wind…perfect and pure. Relief.
One day, not long after the eight week milestone had been passed, Yugi found himself stuck out in the desert in a sandstorm with Malik. The blond had taken him out on Bez to see some older ruins spelled so they were hidden from those who didn't know where to find them, and originally the day had been quite a pleasant one.
Malik had been admiring the way the sun overhead brought out the crimson and blonde streaks in Yugi's hair…
"…Yugi, tell me a story." The two young men had sat down for a rest, having clambered through the ruins all morning. Together they sat in the shade of a dying tree, hiding from the hottest time of the day. Malik fanned himself with one hand, leaning back against the tree's slender trunk with a sigh.
"What about?"
"Whatever comes to mind."
Yugi looked around him, at the ruins they'd just finished going through, and began to speak. "…Once upon a time, a long time ago, the gods lived at peace on Mount Olympus, ruled over by their King -"
Malik raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me a Greek story?"
"Yes, I'm telling you a Greek story." Vaguely fond exasperation, Yugi reaching out to lightly bat his companion on the back of the head. "Now, hush." Malik obediently fell silent, adopting an air of sheer – and unconvincing – innocence. "As I was saying – the gods lived at peace on Mount Olympus, ruled over by their King – Zeus. Now…Zeus wasn't very well known for his fidelity, and often lay with others that were not his wife, entranced by the beauty of passing immortals and mortals alike. One such beauty – a goddess, name of Demeter – bore a daughter from her union with Zeus, and she named the child Persephone.
Demeter was a goddess of the Earth, and she raised her daughter to be the same. As the child grew older she as beautiful as her mother – Demeter was forced to hide Persephone away from all the gods on Mount Olympus, both mother and daughter living away from all other deities in Nature.
One day, Persephone was out picking flowers with some nymphs in a field in Enna, when all of a sudden the ground broke in two, Hades – god of the Underworld – riding out from the cleft on a chariot, snatching up Persephone and bearing her away.
Demeter was distraught. Angry at the nymphs for not better protecting her daughter she changed them into sirens, abandoning the newly created creatures to scour the earth for her beloved Persephone.
Life ground to a halt. Flowers grew and died before ever reaching bloom, fruit rotting on the vine. The grass refused to grow and the livestock went hungry, the soil poisoning all seeds sown in it. Demeter forgot everything in her grief for her lost daughter. Eventually Helios, god of the sun, took pity on the bereaved woman, telling Demeter what had happened to Persephone.
Zeus was angry. The cries of the hungry people of the earth pressurised him, as well as the complaints of the other gods who were forced to listen to the peoples' pleas. Unable to live with a dying earth Zeus commanded Hades to release Persephone, sending his messenger Hermes to bring the girl out from the Underworld.
Persephone had been having a hard time down in the Underworld. Hades had professed he loved her, and yet she had removed herself from him, detesting his offers of matrimony. She had refused to eat or drink anything he offered her, treating anything that had came from him like poison, and, as a result, was slowly starving. Eventually, consumed by hunger, Persephone caved, and allowed herself to eat six small pomegranate seeds.
Hermes arrived in the Underworld, and demanded Persephone's freedom. Hades claimed the girl could not be allowed to go – Persephone had eaten food of the Underworld and, as a result, was bound to the land. Demeter mourned, and the earth died a little more, and Hermes kept insisting.
Eventually, Hades relented – but at a compromise. From every seed Persephone had eaten she would spend a month of the year in Darkness, as Hades' wife in the Underworld. The other six months were given to her to be with her mother.
Joyfully, Demeter was reunited with her daughter. For six months of every year the sun shone, and the earth was plentiful. Demeter rejoiced, and the world was full of life. At the end of every summer Persephone left for the Underworld, and the earth slowly began to die as Demeter mourned, only for it to leap to life once more the following spring."
There was silence after Yugi had finished his tale, an odd, bittersweet note hanging in the air.
"…That's…" Malik tried to find words, "a strange story to tell me."
Yugi didn't look at him. "Was it appropriate?"
A thoughtful pause. "I…yes, I think it was."
"Do you know," Yugi's voice had taken on a light-hearted, informative quality, "Persephone has many names throughout mythology? The Romans called her Libera."
"Libera?" Malik frowned, raking his sweaty fringe back out of his eyes. "That sounds familiar."
The sandstorm had sprung up out of nowhere. Both of them had still been in the shade, cooling off after their morning's scramble through the ruins when:
"What's that?" Yugi shaded his eyes, spotting something on the sands in the distance. "The sky…"
"What are you talking about?" Malik looked up, following his companion's line of sight. "Oh…damn." The blond was up and standing in less than a second, grabbing hold of Yugi's arm and dragging the smaller male up with him. "That's a sandstorm!"
"What?!"
"We have to get undercover, Yugi." Malik's voice had taken on an urgent tone. "Now."
"But where…?"
"Get on your camel!!"
Both Yugi and Malik had scrambled up on Bez's back, the latter chivvying the beast into movement as soon as both humans had got a seat. Glancing behind him Yugi could see what he now knew to be a sandstorm – the Ancient Egyptians' dreaded khamsin - approaching at a terrifying speed –
"Malik!"
"A few minutes, Yugi!"
"The sandstorm will be on us in 'a few minutes'!!"
Malik had never replied, urging Bez on faster. For once the recalcitrant camel had been behaving himself, perhaps sensing the urgency of his riders. And yet the howl of the khamsin kept coming closer; Yugi could look back and see it's opening maw –
"Malik, for the love of -"
The sandstorm swallowed them whole.
Everything was sand. Yugi coughed, choking, leaning forwards to press his face against the shirt of Malik's back to cover his mouth, eyes screwed shut. It was hard to breathe, and the sand stung every inch of his exposed skin. Reaching around his companion's waist Yugi pressed his hand against Malik's, seeking some human contact in the darkness behind his closed eyes. Malik shifted, and pulled him off Bez.
Yugi yelped, and got a mouthful of sand for his efforts. Spitting, choking, the King of Games felt himself being dragged relentlessly along by Malik's hand. How did the blond even know where he was going in the storm? Yugi didn't dare to open his eyes to find out, enduring an eternity of pain as the sand flying about them felt as if it were scraping away the top layer of his skin. And then – it stopped.
Why did it stop?
"Yugi…?" Malik's voice, a little hoarse, his hand reaching up to brush clinging sand from Yugi's face. "Yugi, are you alright?"
If Malik could speak…slowly, reluctantly, Yugi opened his lashes. They were in a cave, Malik holding onto Yugi with one hand, Bez's reins with the other. The khamsin howled at the entrance, but little blew in.
There was sand everywhere. In his mouth, in his hair…gritty and stinging in his eyes. Every crease was lined with sand in his clothes, a small trail following his every movement.
Yugi deplored of the stuff. He looked helplessly at Malik, reacquainting himself with the ability to speak. "How do you stand all this sand?" His lips were dry, caked with dust.
Malik looked relieved. "You're alright."
"Yes." Yugi's voice cracked, so Malik undid the pouch hanging on Bez's back, handing a water-skin to his companion. Grateful Yugi opened it, taking a deep drink.
Malik took another skin from one of Bez's pouches, reaching in to fetch a drink for himself. After he'd done: "We should conserve the water." His tone was serious. "There's no guarantee the sandstorm will end soon."
"Won't your sister worry?" Yugi took a seat on the floor with a sigh, sand trickling from his person in a thousand little rivulets.
"She'll…she'll know we're fine." Malik bit his lip, glancing to the cave entrance. "I've been caught out by the khamsin before."
"The desert wind can be kind, and it can be cruel." His companion let out another sigh, leaning back to rest his head against the cave wall and letting his eyes slide closed.
Thoughtfully, Malik studied the other male. "…That's true." He crouched down at Yugi's side. "It's the bad things that make you appreciate the good things in life, ne?"
"You've certainly had your share of the bad…"
"It was worth it."
Startled at the conviction in the blond's voice, Yugi peered at the other from under his lashes. "Oh?" The question was curious.
"I find…" Hesitantly, Malik took Yugi's hand in his own, tanned digits wrapping around paler skin, "I find that when I look at my life, even when I count all the majorly bad parts, the good still outweighs it all. The good that lifts me up back on my feet, and makes me smile when I'm down."
Yugi glanced down to their joined hands. "And what are those good parts?"
Libera…
A long pause, and it didn't look as if Malik was going to answer, but then - "…You."
A little embarrassed, Yugi blushed slightly. "Um…Malik, I can't honestly have -"
"Yugi, I -" Malik faltered, dropping his own gaze to where Yugi's fingers were still twined with his own. "Yugi, you mean a lot to me." When he looked up, his expression was serious – meaningful - and he leaned forwards…
Yugi froze. Is he going to…? Purple eyes slid past the blond suddenly and: "The sandstorm's dying down!" Unintentionally Yugi had slid past his companion at his own remark, scrambling to his feet to stare out of the cave entrance.
Libera.
Behind him, Malik sighed. "So it is."
Eight weeks, ten weeks, thirteen weeks, seventeen… Time ceased to hold meaning in the tombs. To Yugi the days flew past in a blur, marked only by the letters he sent home to his grandfather and the date he wrote at the top of them.
Half a year… Yugi noticed that. It had been half a year since he'd first set out from Cairo to visit the Ishtars, and he'd been with them ever since. Ishizu had become in effect almost a big sister to him – albeit one who still occasionally bowed to him from time to time despite his protests. Rishid had become a silent big brother to him, watching protectively from the shadows to see he came to no harm, and Malik –
Malik was a conundrum.
The blond was…loyal, fierce, gentle, loving, a leader, a liar, a joker, a friend. His smile was always warm whenever he looked Yugi's way, his lavender eyes filled with that…something Yugi could never quite put his finger on, a strange feeling lurking just out of reach –
"We'll be there in a few minutes."
They were out visiting an oasis that day – Yugi and Malik -, which the native young man said was quite beautiful. Having nothing better to do that day Yugi had agreed to go with the other to have a look – quite missing the bright conviction in the other's eyes, and the delighted smile that had followed his agreement.
Yugi laughed, riding behind the other on their shared camel, arms wound around Malik's waist. (It wasn't Bez that day, as the grumpy creature had taken ill.) "Malik Ishtar, I remember the last time you said that."
"Oh…" Malik himself joined in the laughter. "The sandstorm?"
"As if it could be anything else."
"Pah. Anyway…if you'll look ahead, you'll see the oasis."
"…What are you, a tour guide?" Malik shifted his arm so he could elbow Yugi in the gut. The smaller male let out a quiet 'oof' behind him. "Ah, that's abuse!"
Malik's lips curled upwards in satisfaction. "Quiet in the back."
Yugi merely smiled, before propping his chin up on the Egyptian's shoulder to stare at the oasis ahead. "Ooo…that's pretty."
"Told you so." The blond spurred the camel on, and it wasn't long before Malik was sliding from the creature's back, slipping his hands up to Yugi's waist to lift the other down as well. The touch was almost intimate, bringing the two impossibly close together. Yugi shivered.
"Cold?" Malik drew back with a smile, tone light. Yugi nodded. "In the desert?"
"I…" The faintest of blushes touched pale cheeks. "It's often quite cold in the desert. Frequently." Embarrassment stole away Yugi's innate eloquence, replacing in its stead a series of short, blunt sentences.
"Yes, at night." Marik's eyes were alight with amusement, his touch warm against his companion's already heated skin. "Yugi, it's barely an hour past noon; you shouldn't be cold." He moved forwards again, pressing his body against Yugi's. "Is this better?" His tone was husky – teasing – in the smaller male's ear.
Yugi's cheeks were still pink. "Malik, I – weren't you going to show me the oasis?" His companion raised an eyebrow, stepping back with a smile and gesturing with one hand the blue waters of the haven in the desert. "I meant in more detail!"
Malik laughed, bringing his hand up to cup the other's cheek. "Yugi…you spoke of the sandstorm before?"
"The khamsin…yes. What of it?"
"Do you remember…the conversation we had in the cave? About the good and bad things in life, and you being one of my greatest good things?"
"Yes…" The blush had returned.
"Good." Malik raised his other hand to Yugi's opposite cheek, so both palms cradled the King of Games' head. "Would you mind if I kissed you?"
Yugi blinked once, twice, mind going completely off the rails and scrabbling for an answer –
And then…no answer was needed.
Malik's lips were surprisingly soft for one who lived in the desert, his kiss chaste. Yugi stopped thinking for a little while, if only to enjoy the tender touch, but all too soon Malik was drawing away, looking at him with pensive eyes.
Yugi went with the first thought the popped into his head. "Do you use lip-balm?" Malik stared at him in utter disbelief for about half a beat…and then collapsed against Yugi, laughing into the other man's shoulder. Startled, Yugi took the other's weight, a little alarmed by such odd behaviour. "Ma-kun? Malik? Malik, are you alright?"
"I'm…I'm fine, Yugi." More laughter, Yugi's alarm dissolving a little as he felt the other smile against his neck. "It's just…I think I'd quite forgotten why I first…" abruptly the laughter stopped, and Malik's serious expression had returned, so much closer to Yugi's face than before. "Did you mind me kissing you?"
"Um…no…?"
Relief flashed through lavender eyes, Malik reaching out to grab Yugi's hand and haul the other with him to shade under a nearby tree. They both sat down (though Malik tied up the camel so it couldn't run away first). "Yugi, do you like me?"
A pause. "…I assume you mean 'like'-like when you ask that, and not 'friendship'-like?" A nod. "Then…I…" another blush, and Yugi damned his still-light skin tone, "I guess maybe I do."
"Then I could kiss you again?"
"I'd like you to." Obligingly Malik leant across to do as he was bid.
Afterwards they lay together in the shade lazily, half awake and drowsy in the afternoon heat. Yugi's eyes were half-lidded, his pose languid as he stretched out on the warm sand, comfortable in the groove his body had made. Malik's pose was quite similar, pressed against Yugi's side. He rested on his side sleepily regarding the dozing young man beside him, occasionally brushing back the fringe that fell into his own eyes, blocking his vision. The wind blew lightly over them both from time to time, refreshing and delightful, stirring the tips of Yugi's brilliantly-coloured hair.
' "'Libera' is the root of the English word – 'liberation'. It means deliverance, or freedom." '
Malik owed Yugi his freedom. Freedom from a forced life underground, from a life protecting old ruins. True, the tombs were his home, but now…he no longer had to stay within them every day, every night, he was free.
Libera.
Earth. Land of Death. Land of Rebirth… Yugi's brushed a hand across the other's exposed arms, his touch gentle, healing, replenishing… Malik allowed it, trailing fingers across Yugi's skin in return. Soft sighs, contentment, an occasional half-dreamt kiss… The whispering breeze wound around both young men.
Yugi laughed softly as Malik's fingertips brushed over a ticklish spot. "You know I originally came to Egypt to visit old friends, not find a boyfriend."
Malik pressed a kiss against the other's forehead. "Do you regret finding one all the same?"
His companion leaned against him, slender fingers curling around the curve of the blond's hip. "If I regretted it, I would not be lying with you here still."
"…Are you going to stay here, Yugi?"
"Hm?"
Malik repeated the question. "Are you going to stay here, Yugi? In Egypt?"
A faint smile. "If you'll have me, I don't really see why not…" Malik didn't reply, only pressing another kiss to Yugi's forehead, the tip of the other male's nose, Yugi's mouth.
Libera. The sound of a key turning in the lock, a creaky cage door opening after so many years.
Libera. The heavy stone door being rolled away, elevation, that first step…
Libera. The sun, the whispering wind, a soft touch, a warm kiss, that first amazing glimpse of blue never-ending sky.
Yugi.
Libera.
Freedom.