Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.

It's my briefest work! It's also my peachiest (in reference to Yugi). I hope it is as sweet as it is short.

Enjoy.


The Halfway Smile
by Atemusluckygal
The ALG Series

Téa could chase the darkest shadows into their corners, illuminate the blackest of nights, and catch your eye from a mile away with her incandescent smile.

But upon noticing several instances of such, I realized that the contortion of her features, no matter how lovely and symmetrical, still paled in comparison to the smile that was not yet there.

It was when she was being told something amusing, but she was still listening for more. It was as she absorbed the details, entertained but still observant, and the corners of her lips were beginning to incline upward into a waiting grin. Her teeth began to show, but only the top row. Her features remained settled in their comfortable, neutral position, and yet the delight she felt glowed through her porcelain skin. Her nose stayed straight and not yet crinkled, her dimples waiting in the wings to make their entrance, her eyes wide open and fully engaged and fixed upon the source of her pleasure. She was ready to laugh, but had not yet arrived at the punchline.

It was the happy picture of perfection I could only hope to have the access to capture indefinitely. It was that picture I wanted to hold in my hands, to see in my mind's eye, to cherish as my memory of her forever.

As I faced the gate to his eternal rest, I thought, would the afterlife permit the permanence of such a memory?

I mentally handed the imaginary picture of Téa's beautiful halfway-smile to Yugi to behold and protect. I turned around to face Yugi as my mind did this. Yugi stared back at me, and while tears fell from his chin, his eyes defied them with the strength of a champion-the champion Téa deserved-the champion she could love forever, because Yugi would never leave her side, unlike myself.

There is no forever for me. After about ten paces forward, I am no longer available to love. Téa will never find a champion in a spirit who has already crossed into nonexistence. She will never spare a grin for an idea of a man, when there is no voice there to tell her the punchline, when there's no grin to return.

I put my full trust in Yugi, to see that she will always have a reason to show the world her halfway smile.


Welp, there it is. Is there someone whose halfway smile you enjoy?

Bye for now xx

ALG