Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!.
Hi everyone!
Not only am I side-tracked from my movie sequel AND White Tiger, I've also started another one-shot before I even started this one, and am side-tracked from that as well. So many unfinished projects!
Anyway, here's another one for morbidity. Though I must say (without giving too much away) that you really should read from beginning to end, because you might like the ending. Just throwing that out there.
Oh yeah, a couple more things: rated T for a few language slips, aaand... as you will probably figure out shortly: present-tense Yami's POV.
Sorry for the crappy, crappy title. I honestly can't think of a better one and I should have been in bed 5 hours ago.
Is This What Death Feels Like?
I've always been fascinated by blood.
Not to an extreme, but I have thought of it often, pondered it even – how it's as simple as a crimson-colored bodily fluid, and yet it holds much symbolic meaning.
Seeing it, witnessing it being shed or perhaps gazing upon the splattered walls or floor, human skin or clothing...thinking of death, destruction, violence... pales to feeling the blood spilling out of you in copious amounts... feeling the warmth of the blood as it exits your veins and begins to crawl over your skin, staining it...feeling the overwhelming possibility of death introducing itself to you, ready to take you by the hand and lead you away...
And the pain... of course if there is a leakage of blood of this frightening amount, there must be some sort of pain involved – It was like nothing I've ever felt before; it came so fast I did not have a chance to imagine what it would feel like, what it would do to me, if I had any chance of living through it. It was as if my body's reaction to the penetration of menacingly sharp metal into my solar plexus rendered the rest of my body useless; my limbs were frozen for a few seconds which, given the situation, seemed much longer...everything refused to move, no matter how much I begged, pleaded... it was of no use; I stood there, hunched over, the knife embedded in my body, piercing the skin as if it were rice paper... I let the force of gravity overtake me and my body began to descend towards the cold cement below...
I knew as soon as my face collided with solid surface – I was defeated. What was worse was that the perpetrator had won. He won...over me. A man of whom had no more to him other than disgusting filth and a mental illness, stemming dastardly intentions towards Tea... for the young woman that I truly love and care about... he would do harm to her, and he will...
But no; that was still not the worst thing of all.
With my defeat, came Tea's own. With those defeats in tandem with my failure to protect her, the opponent walks away with a hefty victory. However, it is not as simple as that; he will not merely walk away. That is the worst thing – knowing that now, as I lie here on the cold pavement, dying in a pool of blood (and still growing in fact, I feel as if my life is draining away as my blood is leaving its vessel so freely), that there was truly nothing stopping that man... that animal... from...
I cannot think of it; it pains me more than the mortal wound in my stomach, filling the entire length of my body in a truly unbearable, burdening pain. Darkness begins to float into my vision; I know that this is truly the end, nothing will save me, there is no hope for me; the only focus now is to save Tea... somehow... and yet though my eyes would soon become useless, I could still hear her screaming, and some shouting to follow.
"Shut up, you bitch!"
"You killed him, you killed him!"
"You better shut the fuck up before I slit that pretty little throat of yours."
"Yami, hang on! I'll save you!"
"You'll do nothing!"
"Help! Somebody please!"
Damn it, Tea, shit! Don't call for help! He'll hurt you for that, I know it! And I can't help you...
In fact, I feel slightly angry, not only at myself, and not only at the perpetrator, but at Tea as well. I remember now (though my mind is rapidly growing hazy from the loss of blood), instructing her to run... to flee from the scene. But no, she insisted on staying by my side, refusing to leave me alone with a man holding a knife and the intention to kill. Bless her; her heart was in the right place. But God damn it, she couldn't have done anything more stupid. Had she done what I told her, there is still a possibility that I would be in the same predicament, however she wouldn't be. No – she'd be safe at home or with someone to protect her, instead of being cornered into the wall by a psychotic madman in a deserted alley, with no one to save her...
How did we end up in a deserted valley, anyway? That part of my memory is gone now, as is everything before. I start to feel numb, the agonizing pain slowly fading away, the blood flowing down my abdomen becoming nothing more than light, faint tickling of liquid skating across my skin.
It was then that I realized something: I never told her I loved her.
The man's filthy hand is over Tea's mouth now, with the other holding a second knife, heading straight for Tea's exposed throat...
I hear a high-pitched, yet muffled distressing cry, and then...
...nothing.
Where am I now? I see nothing but darkness surrounding me, taking hold of me in its ice-cold clutches as I spiral down a chasm of black abyss...
Is this what death feels like?
Has my spirit finally departed from Planet Earth, on a journey to wherever the deceased go?
Finally, I think I have stopped falling; I feel like I'm in a different place, a different realm, almost. My eyes had remained open the entire time – shapes, though still dim, were drifting into my awareness as I survey my surroundings. The ground underneath me feels soft, giving into my weight.
I'm not on the ground – I'm on a sofa.
Just then it dawns on me, where I am and was; I quickly scan my surroundings with watchful eyes, noting other presences in the room, lying on several various pieces of furniture, a couple of figures lying on the floor.
At last my brain processes the familiarity of everything around me – I'm in Yugi's living room.
That's right, I remember now. The gang had a sleepover last night. Feeling slightly dim-witted for doing so, I ran my hand down the middle of my stomach, finding nothing but smooth, healthy skin. No knife, no blood, and no pain.
Something occurs to me suddenly; my eyes darted around the room once again, searching for her... at last I find the brunette girl, sleeping soundly on the recliner, completely unharmed. I sigh in relief.
Was it really all a dream?
No... It couldn't have been. It just felt too real; I could recall almost every sensory detail – the pain, the sight of Tea, the sight of that man... the actual feeling that I was there, rather than outside of myself, as normal dreams are...
It couldn't have been a dream; the blood that was there, the warm, crimson liquid leaving me and surrounding my body, how the loss of blood consequentially caused my body to slowly shut down, how I believed that I was beginning to experience death... It was just too realistic...
If this were certainly not the case, then I am forever grateful that nightmare never really did happen. I thank the almighty Gods above as I stare at Tea's sleeping form, wanting so much to just hold her – not only for her protection, but for my own comfort as well.
As I continue to watch over her as she sleeps, I notice her stirring, faint grunting escaped her lips, her body rolling a bit before sitting all the way up. She rubs her eyes tiredly, before opening them slowly. I look away before she detected my gaze on her. Instead I crossed my legs and stared downwards.
"What's the matter, Yami?" Tea asks groggily, as her sock-covered feet meet the floor.
"Nothing, Tea, don't worry. I just had a nightmare, is all."
She stands, combing her sleep-mussed hair with her fingers. "I'm sorry, nightmares are awful. You can tell me about it in a second; I'm getting a glass of water. Would you like me to bring you one too?"
"No, thank you."
Tea shortly returns with a small plastic cup, and sits beside me on the sofa. "What happened in your nightmare?"
I sigh heavily. This dream was too scary and mind-boggling to explain to her; she'd most likely think something's wrong with me, though I am not completely dismissing that possibility myself.
"I dunno, Tea. It was really weird and frightening, to say the least." How long can I stare into her soft cerulean eyes before I finally give into this insanity...?
Tea's eyes held concern for me, I could see it clearly. "Oh, if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to." She gently set her cup down on the coffee table.
"I know, and to be honest, I don't want to get into it. However, it did make me think about some things..."
Her head tilts to the side in curiosity. "Like what things?"
This could be it... I could either make a major step in my life, or ruin everything.
"Like... my feelings for you."
My response is a blank expression and several surprised blinks of her eyes. Her head gives a small nod for me to continue.
"Tea... I believe my dream was formulated from my subconscious... to show me what could happen if I failed to protect you – if I let you go without ever telling you how I truly feel about you."
Still, Tea's face remains unreadable, emotionless, and I begin to regret the words flowing so freely from my mouth and into her ears...
"So you're saying..."
I take a deep, noisy breath. "I'm saying that I love you, Tea."
The air is still after that, almost painfully so; Tea seems to let go a breath she's been holding, and her eyes seem to glow a brilliant blue in the darkness surrounding us.
She looks happy, which is all I ever wanted. That, and for her to be safe and protected at all times.
"Yami..."
Words do not come through, only her face meeting mine in a sudden, sensuous kiss. After the initial shock wears off, I finally remember how to kiss, and return it with the love that I am glad and relieved to finally give to her. We broke apart after a while, my arms encompassing her warm body, hugging her for the briefest moments, before gently pulling her down with me to where she can comfortably lie beside me.
And with that, we both found harmonious slumber, always holding each other close.
THE END
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