Title: The Dream of Daylight
Part: 1?
Author: Callow
Warnings: AU, fluff, possible citrus-y content
Genre: Romance, fantasy
Pairings: Yami no YuugixYuugi (and others, but poor planning means I haven't really decided yet)
Constructive Criticism: Yes
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I don't make money from fanfiction
Description: There's a place where daylight's just a dream and the nightmares won't go away. Yugi follows Yami into dreamland, and if he's lucky, they'll both wake up.
Prologue
Out all of the In-Between, the Library was his favourite place. Time in the In-Between flowed slowly, and there were no people, no animals, just endless grey forests beneath equally grey skies. He'd whiled away the endless hours cradled in the arms of an ancient chair, a heavy book open across his lap.
Years ago, his father had joked with him about venturing outside to play with his brother, or help his mother to tend their garden (such as it was). But Father had understood; who'd want to leave the friendly silence of the Library, where he had the worlds at his fingertips?
And then his mother had died, wasted away in the unending twilight of the In-Between. He'd taken refuge in the Library, his Library, where he was found comfort in the Lifebooks, watching thousands of everyday miracles unfold before his eyes. From behind a fortress of books, he'd watched his brother retreat from the world, spending longer and longer out in the lonely forests. He'd seen his father stop smiling, stop joking, grow old long before his time, and soon Father had joined his wife.
With both of their parents dead, his brother had taken up their father's role; patrolling the worn paths around the edges of their world. He wondered, sometimes, if his brother didn't do it to avoid him: he'd always looked so much like their mother.
He, on the other hand, had taken refuge in his Library, where he could watch over the worlds from the safety of his armchair.
Later, he knew that he should've seen it coming. Day after day, he'd sat with his brother's Lifebook cradled in his lap, and still he'd missed it. Failed to see the signs. To be fair, there was only one incident like what had happened to his brother that he knew of. It certainly hadn't happened in the In-Between, shouldn't have been possible there. Still...
It'd only happened a couple of days ago, but that was in In-Between time: more than two weeks had passed where his brother was (he'd worked it out on a scrap of paper). As usual, he'd been watching over his brother via the Lifebook. Words had bloomed across the pages with every step his brother took. Even, comforting, immaculate in black ink.
And then suddenly -- the page was sprayed with random splotches of ink. The words, suddenly disjointed and meaningless, were scrawled madly in his brother's handwriting.
For several minutes, all he'd been able to do was stare.
Then his mind had begun working again and he'd flown from his seat, sending the book on his lap clattering to the floor. He could feel the panic rising in his throat as he tore book after book from the shelves. Several minutes of frantic searching later, he'd found the book he wanted, and he knew what'd happened to his brother.
That's when the tears had started. His brother had been taken somewhere he couldn't follow, one of the few places that neither he or the Library could never touch. Not without help...
And so he'd forced himself back to his feet and begun a search through the thousands of lives stored in the Library. It was a desperate hope, but it was enough to keep him going: perhaps he'd find someone, somewhere, who could help.
Three days later, he was on the verge of giving up. He'd searched endlessly, sleeplessly, and still he'd found nothing. His eyes itched and his hands shook.
So it was with very little hope that he'd pulled a slender book bound in red leather across the table toward himself. He'd read it with the tip of his nose brushing the page. The paper smelled of nutmeg, he noted absently, nutmeg and candle wax. The scent was sweet and comforting, lulling him to sleep.
That was why, when he read that one paragraph, he thought it was just a part of his waking dream. But then he'd jerked awake and looked again, and again, and again... No matter how many times he looked over the words, they remained the same.
He was dizzy with hope as he flipped back to the name printed on the cover: Yugi Mutou.