Chao- Baleted…Delteted… Del Taco?

"Talking."

"Thinking."

Chapter 9: Lucid Dreaming Part II

Yami walked into Yugi's Soul Room. He covered his face with his hands to shield off the bright light coming his way. After a few seconds, the flash faded away, and Yami was able to see where he was walking.

He was astonished to see he did not waltz into a room filled with toys that reflected his partner's innocence; instead he came into a deep, dark forest filled with dead trees and a pitch black sky. The path he entered on was rough and cumbersome. He covered his shoulders with his hands to keep himself warm as the atmosphere filled him with chills. Despite all that, Yami marched on, determined to finally free Yugi.

"I wonder if this is part of the spell," he thought to himself as he looked around, "Could it be this was to scare the victim into not wanting to enter back into reality?"

The spirit continued on. As he searched, he used his own magic to locate Yugi. But, it was very difficult as magic everywhere, which was mainly dark. Yami stayed focused on a small portion of positive energy. He was pleased to feel the same connection he usually had with Yugi. However, he became alert when the same feeling was fading away.

He quickened his paced. The magic Yami concentrated on eventually led him out of the dank forest. Outside the sky was clear blue, the grass was bright green, and the path Yami was walking on became smooth. He immediately knew something was not right, "Now why did everything turn from dark to light? Either way, I must find Yugi."

The spirit eventually stopped when he approached a hill with three people on top. Yami looked carefully and was filled with joy when one of the people was Yugi. Yami was about to call out his lighter half's name when he was unsure who the other two people were.

He hid behind a bush while laying low. He watched cautiously to take in his situation and see how Yugi was feeling. Despite all what took place in the real world and the attitude Yugi had displayed for the past few days, Yami was torn between bliss and sorrow. He was glad his friend finally wore a genuine smile on his face, but he was crestfallen all of this was an illusion.

"Even if this is a misapprehension, then is it possible those two people are…."Yami trailed off as he observed closer. As he focused his eyes, he could see a woman with short maroon hair and male with short raven hair. Both had features similar to Yugi. Yami gasped as he remembered that photo he had seen earlier while preparing his duel deck, "Those are Yugi's parents!"

Again, the spirit felt torn on the inside. He was in a quandary about what to do, "Should I go up and just grab Yugi? Should I wait until he's alone?"

The worst part of what Yami truly felt was how Yugi was feeling, "He looks so happy… He goes around helping others at the risk of his own life. Is it so wrong for Yugi to enjoy a little happiness with the people he truly loves?"

He started to tremble behind his cover, "If I left Yugi alone for a little bit longer, will this affect him tremendously in reality? But if I do, will Yugi not be convinced this is all dream?… Maybe I should at least talk with him."

Yami gathered together his courage and walked briskly up the hill. As he approached his friend, the spirit found he was feeling uneasy; making a smile into frown is never an easy job. Yami really did not want to do this, but he was warned his task was not an easy one. He knew sometimes, in order to help someone out, you need to hurt them by showing them the harshness that is reality.

The only difference was that friends help friends see the light and make it through the dark tunnel of troubled times. Yami was only a few inches behind Yugi. He quietly lifted his right arm and was about to tap Yugi on his shoulder when the young boy turned around. He smiled. Yami immediately pulled his hand back down.

"Hey, Yami," Yugi greeted with his usual cheerfulness, "What's up?"

Yami was taken back. It had felt like an eternity since he last heard Yugi's sweet, gentle voice. He stumbled to find the right words he knew he had to say, "Err… Yugi… there's something…we need to… talk… about."

Yugi still wore an actual smile across his face, but he listen to what his friend had to say. Yami took in a deep breath, but before he could start he was interrupted.

"Is everything all right," asked a man with short, black hair. Yami could feel his chest tighten when he saw right in front of him Yugi's parents.

"Yami," Yugi began, "I'd like you to meet my parents."

Yami froze.

He was completely unsure what to do at this point.

xxx

Everyone on the outside could only sit, hope, and wait for their fallen friend to wake up. Yugi's body just lied comfortably on his grandfather's lap. His color had fully returned and was breathing fine. It didn't appear as though there was any struggle at all. Tea was looking at her childhood friend, but her mind and heart were back in the past.

Flashback

"Good morning, Yugi," greeted a young girl with short brown hair.

"Good morning, Tea," a young boy greeted back. He was sitting in his backyard alone and playing with his compact game device. The young girl took a seat by her friend and asked, "What are you playing?"

"Just a little game."

"May I try?"

"Sure."

The young boy handed over his game to his female friend. The girl was having delight into the game until she lost.

"Argh," she complained, "This is too hard!"

The boy laughed and offered her some help. It was soon time for her to go but the boy allowed his friend to borrow the game.

The Next Day

"Hello, Tea," the young boy greeted. "How was the game?"

The young girl looked very shy, embarrassed, and sad.

"What's wrong?" he asked with concerned. The girl took out the game from the bag and revealed how it had been smashed.

"What happen?" he asked surprised to find it broken. The girl explained, "I tried to get to the next level, I really did but… I… got mad and broke it."

The young boy did not say anything.

"Err… I'm really sorry," the girl apologized blushing. She was stunned to hear her friend laughing.

"What…what's so funny?" she asked both unexpected and a little annoyed. The young boy reached into his bag and took out another game for her to try.

"This one should be easier," he offered her the game and assistance.

End flashback

Tea gripped her friend's hand tight, "Please, be safe and come back."

xxx

Yami took a big breath. He knew deep down if he didn't bring back his friend at this moment, achieving the task would only be more of a challenge. Yami lowered his head to where his bangs covered his eyes, "Yugi… I need to speak with you privately."

Yugi turned to his parents and said, "I'll be right back."

His parents replied by nodding their heads. The two boys walked down the hill to where they could talk. Yami had his back to his friends while his bangs continued to cover his features.

"So," Yugi began, "What is it you need to talk about?"

Yami could feel his lighter half still had his usual warm smile across his face. The spirit knew he had to take action. Even though he may hurt his best friend, it was all for the better.

"Yugi, there's no easy way for me to tell you this so I'm just going to come out and say it." Yami stated. He spun around and claimed, "Yugi! This is all a dream! None of this is real!"

"W-what?" Yugi asked confused, but he still had a smile. "What are you talking about Yami? Of course this is all real!"

"No! It's not!" Yami argued back, "You're under a spell Akana had placed over you! We were separated from the Puzzle! We had a duel in the Shadow Realm, and I was able to come back in here to rescue you!"

There was an uneasy silence between the two.

"Yugi… I," Yami was unsure what to say next. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat. Yugi turned around. His bangs covered his face and he mumbled, "This… that's not true."

"What?" Yami asked, feeling tense. The young boy turned back around and yelled, "No! This is not a dream!"

Yami was taken back. The young boy continued to debate, "It just can't be! I know for sure because it's not like anything else I've seen before! There aren't any crazy animals that can talk, and I don't have the ability to fly!"

"Yugi! I know this is hard! But please, believe me!" Yami begged, "Think back to what happen before you found yourself within these parts!"

Yugi shut his eyes. His anger was building up, but he had tried to listen to what his friend was saying.

"Why would Yami lie to me?" Yugi attempted to reason with himself. He was thinking back to when he first had an encounter with this new area. He knew something was not right.

A memory flew in as he recalled being attacked earlier. He was scared. He was separated from his friend. He was at the mercy of a villain who had something against the Pharaoh.

Suddenly, the boy's chest started to hurt. With each beat his heart made, it became a throbbing ache within Yugi. The young boy gasped for air as he his eyes became hollow. At once, he clutched his shirt with his hand. Yami became alert.

"Yugi!" he called, "What's wrong?"

The teen felt his energy slipping away. He could only answer in a whisper, "My… chest… hurts…"

The spirit swiftly grabbed hold of Yugi by his shoulders to keep him for loosing complete balance. Yugi abruptly felt a sharp pain coming from his shoulders where his darker half was gripping. The boy screamed in agony.

"What's going on!" Yami was alarmed. Yugi was losing strength in his legs. The only thing keeping him from hitting the ground was his darker self.

"Yugi! What's wrong!" the older boy asked again.

Yugi gasped and managed to stutter, "Y-Yami… you're…. you're hurting me!"

xxx

Yugi's body was blissfully resting on his grandfather's lap. The calm atmosphere was soon interrupted when the boy started to lose his color once more. He soon began to wheeze, and his face turned to worry.

"Yugi!" everyone called out.

"What's wrong, bud?" Joey asked knowing full well he wouldn't receive an answer.

"Yugi!" Tea cried out once more, worried. She had seen this earlier in the day, but she still did not understand why he was acting like this.

"Maybe this is the work of Yami trying to break the spell." Tristan guessed.

"That Egyptian woman did say that this was not an easy task," Tea noted. Solomon did not say anything. He only looked down at his grandson as he struggled to breath.

"Come on, guys!" Joey encouraged, "If anyone can save Yugi, it's the Pharaoh!"

Everyone nodded and they continued to root for both their friends in their hearts.

xxx

Yami hurriedly helped Yugi kneel on the floor. The young boy continued to gasp for air. When Yami was confident enough to know Yugi would not fall over, he let go of his partner. He then looked at his hands with fear as well as disgust and confusion. Yugi's breathing slowly turned to normal.

"What was that all about?" Yami wondered, "Is this part of me not being able to help Yugi?"

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt something was coming to attack him. He quickly grasped Yugi and rolled over to prevent them both from being hit. Yami gasped as he saw a purple wizard with a green staff preparing for another attack.

"Dark Magician?" Yami yelled out in question. He then saw who was calling the attacks. The dark spirit gasped again once more when he saw it was himself.

"Let Yugi go!" the other Yami ordered. Yami stood up and placed himself right in front of Yugi.

"Who are you!" Yami demanded to know.

"I'm his yami." the other Yami replied.

"Is this part of Yugi's dream or Akana's spell?" Yami had to make a decision quickly. He pulled out his deck and summoned his own Dark Magician.

"I need to think of a plan fast! I need to save Yugi!" Yami prepared himself to go through another battle. "If I do have a match with this illusion, will this have any effect on Yugi?"

The spirit noticed his opponent wasn't attacking. Yami did not understand, but when he turned around he saw Yugi struggling to get up.

"Yugi!" both Yamis called out.

"Yugi! You must get away from this imposter!" the other Yami ordered.

The boy began to wheezed as he tried to make sense over who was his real friend. The other Yami took the opportunity of having the real Yami distracted, so he had called an attack of the real Dark Magician.

Yami and his Dark Magician at once moved out of the way. He then had his loyal magician attack the other monster. The battle continued on as Yugi attempted to see what was happening.

He wasn't sure if one was real and the other one was fake, but there was also the possibility both of them were real. Yugi did not want to take that risk. When he had gathered enough energy, he ran into the middle of the battle field.

"This madness must stop!" he cried out. Yami and his wizard did. The other Yami yelled out, "Yugi! We must get rid of this evil spirit!"

"But he may not be!" Yugi defended, "Please! Stop!"

Yami knew he could no longer attack that other Yami.

"What should I do?" the formal ruler thought as he brain rattled on to find solutions. Unfortunately, the other Yami did not listen.

He continued to go through with his plan, "Yugi! I have to protect you!"

Yami was dumbfounded, "If this is all a dream, is this how he sees me? Or is this just another illusion?"

Yami heard the other Yami holler another attack. Yami had his Dark Magician defended him as he ran to the center of the battle field to save Yugi from harm. The older boy wrapped himself around the younger boy as he embraced himself for a painful attack. A beam of dark energy was shot from both Dark Magicians' staff.

Yami could feel his friend tremble with fear and pain, but he continued to hold on. Suddenly, he felt a warm glow shielding the both of them form the center of war. Yami abided to hold Yugi close to him, but he looked up to see it was Yugi's parents who deflected the blow.

Slowly, everything had been cleared up. Both wizards were gone and no more attacks were announced. Yami looked over towards the hill and he could see dream versions of everyone. What had captured his attention most were Yugi's parents. He could feel Yugi slowly pull away from him, but Yami did not stop him. Yugi went over to where his parents were. He wanted to cry, but he found he could not.

"Dad… Mom…" the young teen was lost at words. Yugi's father placed both hands on his son's shoulder.

"Yugi," he began, "You are going to have make a very difficult decision."

Yugi listened carefully, but he had already known what subject his parents were talking about.

"Son," said Yugi's mother, "In life, you are always going to have to make painful decisions."

The young boy couldn't take it anymore. He ran to the other direction. He gabbed Yami's hand and headed out into the dark woods.

Yami knew the evil magic was about to put a painful toll on Yugi's body, so he took the lead while still holding his partner's wrist. As they both ran through the woods, Yugi found it was becoming hard for him to breath once more. His heart started to cause him great discomfort as painful memories swooped in and out of his mind.

He remembered times where he was alone in his room.

He remembered the times when he was picked on at school.

He remembered the times when he could hear people call him names.

Yugi tripped over a stone and fell to the floor. He could feel his energy slip away.

"Ya… mi..." Yugi whispered as he struggled to get up. Yami offered a helping hand, and Yugi took it.

"Come on," Yami encouraged gently, "We're almost there."

Yugi nodded boldly. When he was ready, the two took off once more. They were approaching a door that looked similar to the ones found in the Virtual World they were trapped in.

"I guess this is where we part." Yami said. Yugi vigorously shook his head, "But you said we were connected once more!"

"We are," Yami agreed as he tried to open the door, but he found out he couldn't.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, becoming scared.

"I believe this is your door to breaking the spell." Yami replied.

Yugi wasn't sure what to do.

"It's all right," Yami said with a warm smile. He took his hands and wrapped them around the Puzzle around Yugi's neck, "I'll be there when you wake up and so will your friends."

The teen nodded his head.

He took a deep breath and opened the door.

There was a huge flash of blinding light.

xxx

"Yugi!" everyone cried out with joy.

The young boy was able to sit up, but he was speechless. He was in the real world with his real friends, who had stood by him in so many ways. He looked at his grandpa, who took him in and cared for him as he grew up. Tears began to stream down his cherubic face.

"Yugi, what's wrong?" his grandfather asked.

"That must have been one intense battle," noted Joey out loud.

"Is the Pharaoh ok as well?" Tea asked.

Yugi only nodded but continued to sob. Everyone was quiet; there wasn't much to be said. They were all glad their friend had been able to return back to reality, but the battle the young boy had undergone had took a huge toll on him.

xxx

Everything managed to return to normal. Yugi was in school the next day and was smiling. He was able to hang out with friends and still was able to talk with his grandpa and yami without flinching. They had all gone back to their usual routine of school, trips to the Spider Arcade, hanging out at the Turtle Game Shop, and so on.

There was only one problem: Everyone knew Yugi was only acting.

They had all seen the teen who would stare out the window or into space. He wasn't really focused on anything, and his smile wasn't the same as it was before.

Everyone knew Yugi was hiding something, but no one was sure what to do about it.

To be continued…

Chao- Almost done!

YChao- Mhmm.

Chao- Although, does anyone else wonder why there aren't that many fics with an actual Duel?

YChao- Think about it for a moment…

Chao- …Oh….oohh….OOOHHH!

YChao- Yeaaaah.

Chao- Well, hopefully there will be OTHER stories out there. Please review!