Chapter 2-I'm Coming
Yugi sat, watching his hands twiddle on his knees, Ryou was gone, he was alone. He watched with narrow eyes, despair filled, wondering what Yami was doing, how Yami was doing. He closed his eyes, the last seconds of Yami's physical life flashed before him, walking away, not looking back, his thumbs up, showing he was fine and was going to be fine. If only he had known what lied ahead for him. Yugi could feel the tears forming again, his hands grasped the hairs at the edge of his head, clawing at his skull, his eyes screwed shut tightly, it was too much. Yami had willingly gone and now he was being tormented, his alter ego, his Pharaonic yami, his closest friend and partner who he had finalised his departure. He opened his eyes, noticing the Silent Magician Lv 8 card before him on the coffee table. Tears subsided as his blood boiled, glaring at the card with disgust, it was the very reason Yami was gone, the final element to Yami's doomed fate. He slipped two fingers until the card, securing it with his thumb before bringing it to his face, glaring at it through the tears.

"Yami, forgive me" he choked.

He ceased the card with his other hand before applying pressure onto the flat surface, his fingers shaking from trying so hard. He pulled. The card ripped. The assailant was torn into two. Yugi then relinquished the card, watching it fly pathetically towards the ground, the two broken severed halves landing and lying far from each other. Yugi sighed, wiping away the tears of anger and fury towards himself. Yami had been so calm, been so fine with what Yugi had done. Yugi felt guilty, broken, alone. It had been him who had chosen, Yami had told him through the mind-link it was fine, he had been hesitant, he shouldn't known how badly he would take it. Seeing Yami over him, his own body, his own eyes gleaming down at him, feeling his hands, it felt like a distant dream of his. A dream that shattered before his very eyes, only moments later, Yami was a memory. Yugi sobbed quietly, cursing himself, calling himself every name under the sun, his emotions beating him up, he couldn't help but feel alone - more alone than he had ever been, despite his friends being close by, al but one - he buried his face into his hands. Despair and regret washed over him in a way that he had looked fine over the past 3 years, he sobbed loudly, only the occasional word would be audible through the muffled cries, begging Yami would return, begging he could see Yami, begging he knew how Yami doing and praying he could save him from the versioned fate. His heart had been shredded once again, a physical pain in his chest where his heart was stabbed away, eating at him, destroying him. It was too late to take back the attack; it had been too late for three years now.

"Yami" he choked through the sobs. "I'm sorry...forgive me...I didn't mean...for this to happen...I was trying to...help you!"

After that a new set of coughing sob broke out, Ryou peered through the door as he returned, his eyes watched Yugi narrowly, despair also found within the glistening optic nerves, he wiped away a tear that Yugi's pain and suffering - only a fraction of what Yami could be going through - brought to him. He snuck into the room, signalling for the other to wait outside, he glided slowly across the floor, not wanting to have his presence discovered, but not exactly wanting Yugi to jump in fear thinking someone had broken in. He stood behind the broken teen, soon they would be entering the life of older adults, it would be long before they entered their twenties and learn just how life would work for real adults, this was only a taste and yet, it felt like they were still kids, big kids whose lives had been the same since the age of sixteen. The only difference was their leaving school and getting jobs around Domino. Ryou smiled gently as he remembered the days at college, together they were; Yugi, Joey, Anzu and himself. He slowly bent his legs, descending down towards Yugi, he placed his hands on Yugi's shoulders, Yugi's sobs immediately halted, a gasp had taken their place, he turned back, seeing Ryou not too far from his face, still lowering himself more slowly now. He smiled compassionately, he lifted a finger and began to tug at the tears that clung to Yugi's eye sockets, Yugi didn't move, he allowed Ryou to do whatever; he didn't have the heart to slap away his hand when he was trying to help, and trying so hard. Instead, he just sighed, his shattered heart lying in pieces somewhere where it should have been.

"Yugi, it's going to be OK" Ryou whispered.

"Yeah, I...I just miss him" Yugi choked, his voice almost fading as he held back the tears.

"I know, but listen, Destiny's outside. We should talk to her and then head off to Egypt with everyone" Ryou whispered.

"But how? Any flights will surely be booked" Yugi muttered.

"I know, we could ask Kaiba. I know he's missed the Pharaoh because I've seen him in his office, a lone, depressed. Heck, his life revolved a lot around Duel Monsters and doing his best against the Pharaoh. Maybe he'll understand" Ryou claimed.

"Really?" Yugi hiccupped.

"Yeah, I promise you Yugi, we're going to do everything we can for the Pharaoh" Ryou whispered.

He wrapped his arms around Yugi's neck loosely, his upper arms resting gently on Yugi's shoulders; he placed his head beside Yugi's nuzzling against Yugi's hair, burrowing his face in almost. Yugi closed his eyes, his thoughts instantly returned to Yami, he hadn't been loved or cared about for three years, he had been a fading memory in their heads for the few years in which they had been separated, already too much damage had been done and this was all before a lifetime without the Pharaoh over his shoulder. He's been on his own for his entire life until that night he solved the Millennium Puzzle, releasing the spirit of the Pharaoh, for four years they had been almost inseparable, that was until the fateful day that Yami was damned for eternity by leaving them, almost the exact amount of time in which Yami had been present had now flown past without any sign of him. Yugi had usually turned his eyes to the sky, the stars, the clouds; they all reminded him of the Pharaoh who he pushed into the next life, thinking it was for the best. Every second of that day - from the attack smashing into Yami's body to him vanishing into the light and the doors slamming closed behind him had replayed themselves to Yugi thousands...millions of times, each time, the heartbreak was the same, he had never gotten over it truly, every night he would cry himself to sleep, thinking about that day and everything since. At that point, Destiny entered, walking slowly, watching the pair as Ryou released Yugi, returning to his full height, leaving a hand on Yugi's shoulder. She stood tall, just taller than Ryou himself, she looked down at Yugi sympathetically, narrow lilac eyes, glistening in the light of the day, Yugi pulled away at the last tears that remained clinging, the trails of recent tears remained, drying.

"Yugi" Destiny muttered. "I know you want to meet up with Yami, Ryou told me everything on the way over".

"But?" Yugi sighed.

"But?" Destiny repeated, a hint of surprise in her voice.

"You're going to tell us that it's impossible or that it's too dangerous or something" Yugi guessed.

"You want me to tell you that it's too dangerous? It is" Destiny replied. "But that's why I'm coming too".

"What?" Yugi gasped.

"I've talked to Vicky, Anzu and Joey, we can all go together" Destiny insisted.

"But how do we open the doorway?" Ryou asked.

"That's why I have to come, the Ishtars don't know it, but a group of Egyptologists that Yugi's Grandpa used to work have been working on opening up that place" Destiny explained. "His dying wish was that Yugi would be happy again some day, he knew the best way to do that was for me to help you see Yami again".

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Yugi asked.

"The collapse was pretty rough and its taken them the entire time since your Grandpa's passing. But they broke through, I just got word from Rebecca, her Grandpa's working on it too" Destiny stated.

Yugi threw himself against Destiny, Ryou smiled, stepping back as Yugi leapt past him, he understood why Yugi was so caught up to leap at Destiny like he had. She had given him to answer to his prayers, the reply to the same wish he had made thousands of times everyday. A chance to see Yami once again.


Anzu smiled softly when Ryou told her the news, she sat withdrawn, her hands on her knees which refused to part, almost like a high class woman, Joey and Vicky sat nearby, both hanging onto every word of the near future. Ryou explained that he and Destiny would talk to Kaiba about the transportation, despite the news, everyday Yugi had been getting worse and prolonging the journey wouldn't help. Joey grinned widely when he heard of the news that they were heading off to Egypt once again, the Pharaoh's homeland, however, he and Anzu had had no knowledge of the dreams, Yugi had made Ryou promise to keep the hellish reasons classified until they had reached the underground room in which Yami had left the world and Destiny would reopen to the door to give him a second chance.

"It would be nice to see the Pharaoh again, see how's he's been doing in his new life" Anzu chirped happily.

"You don't know the half of it" Ryou sighed.

Vicky turned her eyes away from them, Anzu had recovered from losing the Pharaoh in a way that neither she nor Yugi had. Her wiped away the tears when she turned away, hiding the truth from the others, they would be devastated when they were to find Yami - wherever they would find him, whenever they would find him, if they would find him. The thought of losing him drove her out of the room, she rushed away, hiding her face from the others, the three watched with wide puzzled eyes, Anzu looked back at Ryou who's face had lost colour.

"Ryou?" she asked. "What's going on? Is she OK?"

"Yeah, she just misses him still. You know how close they were" Ryou sighed.

Anzu looked back at the door that had slammed shut behind the distraught partner, she had moved between living with Tea and living with Yugi depending on the situation at the time. Anzu sighed, Joey rested a hand on her knee closer to him, she glanced at him, he smiled softly back at her, she smiled back, a half-hearted smile, she looked back at Ryou as he stood close by, his eyes fixed on the door before he realized she was watching him and looked back at her.

"Don't worry. When we find the Pharaoh, everything can get back to normal" he insisted.

"But how?" Anzu muttered sorely. "He belongs there, he went for a reason. He'd lose his body, wouldn't he? Besides, he might want to stay there".

"Anzu, don't worry" Joey whispered. "We're going for Yugi's sake more than the Pharaoh's".

Ryou mumbled under his breath the truth - they weren't going for Yugi, they were really going for Yami, to save him, but he had promised - he coughed to clear his throat of the low growling whisper that had tickled his throat. Anzu and Joey both looked up at him, the three of them had been familiar with the presence of Yami by the time Duellist Kingdom they had all had some sort of close attachment with him before the rest had known - Tristan, Duke, Mai - even Kaiba had known, but his constant denying nature meant he had missed the true identity of his rival,. Those very thoughts brought doubt to Ryou's mind, Kaiba had never been interested in helping them whilst Yami had been with them and there was no reason that said he had to assist them, Ryou closed his eyes, this was one of those very rare moments he wished that the spirit that had dwelled inside his Millennium Ring would just take over his body, ready to force Kaiba into helping them. But that was impossible. His own yami had left for that next world along with Yami and all of the Millennium Items lay far underground under the rubble of the collapsed tomb.


"I can open the door myself, we just need them to recover the Millennium Items" Destiny stated.

Yugi looked at her as they sat, her hand placed on his far shoulder, almost like a one armed embrace, they had spoken about everything that could happen to open the door, the Egyptologists that were once his Grandpa's colleagues now working on unearthing the Items that had been so precious to him.

"Was Grandpa's dying wish really that I could be happy again by seeing Yami?" Yugi choked.

"Yes" Destiny whispered. "He had seen how depressed you had been over the time since the Ceremonial Duel. He felt so bad because his last memories of you were you and your heartbreak, he regretted never being able to make you smile again".

She slipped a finger under Yugi's chin, gently grasping the front of it with her thumb and gently tilting it back, he looked up with tearful eyes, she had been so good to him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. You were just feeling so down now, I didn't think you could feel much worse, I thought maybe it was time I tried to bring your spirit back up" Destiny apologized.

"It's OK. It'll all be worth it when Yami comes back" Yugi whispered.

"Yeah. And because he gained his body back for your duel and departed with himself intact, he'll be able to survive outside of the Millennium Puzzle, live in that body" Destiny stated.

Yugi smiled through the tears, Destiny wiped away one heading past his mouth, before placing the hand on his shoulder, smiling back at him.

"See" Destiny spoke with a small laugh. "I knew hearing about saving Yami would bring a smile to you".

"He deserves to be set free for real. He was trapped inside the Puzzle for five thousands years, then he was able to experience our lives for four years" Yugi recalled. "But now his torture has resumed, three years of hanging there, destroyed inside and out everyday with no-one knowing for sure or being able to do anything. That wasn't setting him free, it was more like locking him away again, damning him for all eternity".

"It's OK. Things will get better when we get him back" Destiny whispered. "This is where he wanted to be. This is where destiny led him the first time, it will lead him back again".

"But you still don't have any control over his fate do you?" Yugi muttered.

"No, I'm afraid I don't" Destiny sighed. "But I can influence yours so maybe we can indirectly change his".

Yugi smiled, she had been the one that had brought him and the Puzzle together and chosen him to be the one to solve it. She had been the one that had guided them through the four years and now she was defying her duty of being who she was and going to help bring back his closest friend from the world beyond. He couldn't have asked for a better guardian from the forces of so high above that she had been born from, she could be anywhere in the world and yet she had chosen them. Chosen them for their understanding of who she was. Chosen them because of the Pharaoh's destiny that she had been following. Yugi felt proud that Destiny had chosen to stay with them despite the troubles having been apparently over for three full years, she could have left and yet, remained rooted to Domino, almost like it was her original home - her only home.


Anzu watched the buildings pass by slowly as she stared out the window of Joey's car, he drove along slowly, staring ahead, thoughts of everything flooding his mind. He stared ahead dully, neither knew why things were so quiet and why they had felt less ecstatic now than they had been when they had heard of the plan to bring Yami back from the life beyond their reach.

"Joey?" Anzu asked.

"Yeah?" Joey replied.

"With Atem back, do you think that there'll be people after us again? After him and Yugi?" Anzu mumbled.

"Nah, they've faced everything. I think this is the chance he's been waiting for, the chance to be a normal guy. He has his memories. He'll be out of the Puzzle. He has his own identity. This is his chance to live" Joey answered.

Anzu smiled, she knew that, she had dreamt of him returning to their lives everyday since his leaving, she had been crying herself for weeks, reoccurring dreams of seeing him walk away, rushing forward despite Joey's hand clamping down on her shoulder. She cried out for him to stay, not to leave them, but it was too late, he'd vanish into the light, leaving her and them all. She'd wake after that and cry for hours, cry into the night until her throat was sore and her voice would leave her, cry until she felt she had cried everything out of her. Joey had handled things much better, he had been the one to encourage the Pharaoh to face his final destiny, to enter his resting place, claiming that they would not forget him and he would not forget them, promising they'd meet in the other world one day, all together again. But since then, he had felt slightly depressed, both he and Tristan had grown desperately quiet at the school in their remaining year, both had actually buckled down with their work rather than joke like they had before in the lighter years of their friendship. When they had started their reform, teachers were astonished, almost shocked into submission that the pair of troublemakers and jokesters were actually working of their own will - and doing well at that. Yugi said next to nothing after the day, Joey had sworn he had forgotten what Yugi had sounded like to try and bring him around to utter even the simplest of statements.

"So I guess things will be back to normal when he gets back" Anzu guessed.

"Yeah, they'll go back to the way things were when we could just relax with the Pharaoh around. He'll be relieved, he deserves a rest with the world he wanted to be in" Joey mumbled cheerfully.

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked. "You were the one that said for him to go".

"Calm down Anzu" Joey called. "I didn't want him to go, but it was what his fate called for him to do".

"Then why is he being called back?" Anzu growled.

"I don't know, listen, I'm sorry. OK?" Joey protested calmly.

Anzu leaned back against her seat, looking a little taken aback from her own outburst, she glanced downwards before turning away.

"I'm sorry. I just feel like there's a reason behind all of this" she sighed. "Like something's wrong. Why else would Vicky run off sobbing? It feels like there's more to this than the others are telling us".

"I get that feeling too. But what could they be hiding from us?" he called, perplexed by her point. "We were...are just as close to the Pharaoh as them".

"I don't know. I know that we're closer than most, we knew about him before Duellist Kingdom" Anzu whispered. "But there has to be a reason if they're hiding something from us. I just wish I knew what, we have no idea how bad this secret could be".

"Well, it'll be fine when he gets back and can be himself" Joey chirped, placing a hand softly on her shoulder nearby.

She glanced at him, his warm smile and compassionate eyes, friendly. She smiled back, Joey had never been one for friendship and even when they had entered the Memory World, he seemed to have been slightly hacked off at the constant reliance on their bonds and how they had been verbally displayed.

"Thanks Joey" she replied gratefully, gripping his wrist with her hand, smiling warmly back at him, her eyes narrow in the friendly look he had been giving her, returning her appreciation.