"May I have this dance?"
Yami looked up, startled at the familiar voice that broke through his thoughts. It was Yuugi, holding out a hand with a wry smile on his face.
The party was a reunion between all of their friends. Even Bakura was here - the one from his time, making an almost shy conversation with his hikaru at one of the decorated tables and catching up on events.
He had returned to the attire he had worn while he was but a spirit residing in Yuugi's heart. The leather was comfortingly restricting, and he had been idly playing with one of the cuffs on his jacket whilst he had been captured by his thoughts.
Even though about eighty years had passed since he had last seen his aibo, it still felt like yesterday when he had walked through the gates. The memory of Yuugi with tears on his face abruptly came into his mind, and he blinked frantically to hide the sudden pull on his heart.
Nothing ever escaped his other, though. The other man - for he was indeed a man now, especially after all these years - grasped both of his hands, gently leading him out of his chair to stand beside him. He didn't dare meet his eyes, and momentarily thanked the gods that Yuugi had chosen to come here when he was tallest while he was living.
A hand came up and cupped his jaw, forcing him to meet the other's eyes. There was a faint smile on his face, tinged with the knowing look in his eyes.
"We're not going to have to leave each other again, mou hitori no boku," he said, a thumb stroking across his cheek in a gesture of familiarity and comfort, "We have all the time in the world, now."
He nodded minutely. It hit him then, that they did. The entire time that he had been here, the thought that this was all going to disappear and he was going to wake up at his desk instead of doing some paperwork circled in his mind. It had happened before.
"I've been waiting so long for you," he said honestly, the hoarse tone in his voice indicating that waiting for his aibo's death was but one part of his heartsickness.
Yuugi nodded in understanding, leading him to the small ballroom floor with a hand wrapped around his waist. Slowly, they relaxed into the next song, a slow one that spoke of faithful lovers.
"I missed you every day, yami no boku," His partner whispered in his ear, a morose tone of nostalgia in his voice. "Sometimes I had recollections of when our soul was split from each other in Egypt, and I knew that this one life was not that long to wait."
"Not when we had waited so many thousands of years," He concurred quietly, nodding. Yuugi made a noise of agreement, tightening his hold as they swayed to the song.
"I'll love you for a thousand more."