All hail the arrival of the new chapter! Full of Ryou angst and Yugi development.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu gi oh it is the property of its copyright holders.
Thought speech //
Spirit of a Boy: Beautiful Goodbye
"Yami! Yami, get up now!"
"Yugi, it is the middle of the night what could possibly be so important that you have to wake up the entire neighbourhood?"
"Ryou is at the hospital!"
I snapped wide awake. "That definitely qualifies as important."
The lights came on as Seto and Helen both walk into the room.
"What is going on?" they asked
"Our friend Ryou just called he needs us to come to the hospital right away." Yugi answered.
"Who's Ryou?"
"You know, Seto, that guy at Duellist Kingdom with the white hair," I replied.
"Oh, yeah him I'll get the keys for the car since this seems to be my week to be chartable," he said going to the kitchen. He came back with them and tossed the set to Helen.
"I'll bring the car around front," she said and left. A minute later a car horn sounded from out at the gates.
"We're coming hold on!" Seto yelled.
"Since when do you take orders from anyone, Seto?" I asked
"Since I lost the position as boss of this household and no I don't want to talk about it or have you talk about it with anyone else. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
We piled into the car and rushed to the emergency room.
"Yami, what do think happened to him that he needs to be there at two in the morning?"
"I don't know, Yugi."
"When he talked to me he sounded like he was hiding from death itself, I don't see how this could possibly be any worse."
"It could have been, Yugi."
"How!?"
"It could've been the police we received that phone call from."
Yugi sat in silence after that completely lost in his own world. When we arrived at the ER and the receptionist directed us to the ICU. We went up the elevator to the third floor and spotted Ryou in one of the chairs in the waiting area his head buried in his knees in what looked like a feeble attempt to make the world go away.
"Ryou?"
He looked up at us and we collectively stopped cold. A mess and horrible did not even begin to describe him. His hair was dishevelled; the entire left side of his face under his eye was varying shades of black, blue and purple. A long deep cut made its way down his right cheek and his jacket was covered in blood from his nose which from my perspective seemed to have only stopped bleeding itself a short time ago. But what totally floored me was not his appearance but he said when he saw Yugi.
"Yugi, what happened to you? Are you all right?"
"That is not important, Ryou, you like you've just been hit by a car has anyone even looked at you!?"
"No I don't want them to!" Ryou shouted. "I don't want them to help me or even think about me that will only take away from their ability to save him!" He started crying the tears only bring forth more tears as the salt stung in each of the wounds.
"Who, Ryou, who are they trying to help?" Seto asked as he sat in the chair beside Ryou.
"My other half."
It was then that I noticed the artefact around his neck, the Millennium Ring.
I growled "What did he do, Ryou?"
"He saved my life," Ryou broke down fully and started sobbing. "My-my father took on a border. He-he was not a nice man to put it mildly. That's why I have... isolated myself... I didn't want anyone to know... Tonight...tonight he came home drunk and went all out and I... I was sure I wouldn't-wouldn't live to see morning then he somehow separated from me. He-he put himself between me and that man... He saved me! ...a weak pathetic! ...excuse for a human being! ...and he put himself in harms way... for me!
Just then a nurse came over. "Ryou Bakura?"
"Yes how is he? Is his all right? What is wrong with him?"
"Well the doctors have managed to stop the internal bleeding but two of the vertebrae have shattered. Now this may not be permanent but as of now he um…"
"What?"
"He is paralyzed from the waist down I'm sorry."
Deathly silence fell upon the room and was quickly shattered as Ryou screamed his anguish to the ceiling and started pounding his fists into the floor.
"Ryou, you have to calm dow-" Helen was cut off as Ryou started coughing violently. We stood frozen not knowing what to do just watching as he pulled some sort of tube from his pocket placed in his mouth pressed down on the button at the top and slowly the coughing subsided and he collapsed on the ground. Leia took this chance to carefully roll him over and started cleaning up his injuries from a first aid kit she must have gotten when Ryou was talking.
"Ryou, my name is Helen I am here to help you but I need you calm down and relax for me or you are going to make yourself worse."
Ryou slowly nodded his head.
"Ryou, what is that thing you used just now?" I asked
"It's an inhaler it's for my asthma."
"Asthma?"
"It is a respiratory disorder if I get myself too work up it causes my chest to constrict so I have difficultly breathing, the inhaler contains medication that helps my lungs open so they can take in air."
"But how come we never saw you use your inhaler at Duellist Kingdom? With all the running around we did and all the stressful situations we we're in wouldn't you have needed it?" Yugi questioned further.
"No, I didn't have asthma then, this came about back in February. Yugi do you remember that Tristan asked us to help him with his presentation?"
"It's a day I will never forget."
"Well I never made it to class one of the cuts on my chest opened and I spent that period in the bathroom trying to stop the bleeding. When Tristan found me afterwards he was furious that 'betrayed him by not being there when he needed me'. He threw me into the lockers and causing one of my cracked ribs to break and bend in so that it punctured my lung. I spent the next three weeks in this ICU unit in a coma fighting for my life. I developed asthma because my lungs were too weak to fight off the infection."
Nobody said anything after that; no one asked why he didn't tell anyone about what he was going through although we didn't realize it at the time but we all knew the answer to the unasked question. We just helped Ryou off the floor and slowly walked to room the nurse said his other half was in. It was a sobering experience for me to see the soul stealer lying there covered in that thin white sheet looking dare I say it weak.
(Yugi)
We never left the room for anything even when the nurses and doctors came in and told us we had to go we just stayed rooted in the chairs watching Ryou stroke his dark's hand and looking at his face with pleading eyes. Slowly each of us fell asleep, I was the last one and before succumbing to the rest my body cried for I heard the exchange between Ryou and his counter part.
"Why? Spirit, why? Why did you do it?"
"Because I care, Ryou, because I care."
&&&
I opened my eyes and I found myself in what looked like my soul room but it was different from how I remembered it. The walls were slowly changing from bright yellow to a soft shade of orange; the toys that once littered the floor were pushed to one side and seemed to be waiting to be put on the selves that had appeared on the back wall.
"Not quite the same is it?" A voice asked.
I looked towards the middle of the room and down slightly and saw me standing there. At least he looks like me, when I was innocent and naïve. In my childhood.
"No it isn't. Why?"
"Because your soul room is a reflection of your inner self, you're changing so it is changing too."
"That makes sense but you are me so why are you outside me?"
"I represent your past, your innocence, your trust in others I am the boy you use to be back when people liked to call you little Yugi and I know you've spent these last months mourning my passing."
"Aren't I allowed to? Excuse me for thinking that being thrust into adulthood in a matter of months is a bit hard."
"Yeah, But it's not just that is it? You know that the longer this goes on the more of that wall you've put up for yourself crumbles and you don't want people to see the real you. You want your shield back you want to hide behind the mask of smiles and childish games so you won't have to deal with this anymore."
"Yes, please help me."
"You know as well as I do that I can't."
"Then what good are you!"
He stepped back in fear and I immdeatily apologized.
"I'm sorry. You know with all that's happened you would think I 'd be more mature about this. I know I've changed too much- grown too much to ever be you again, but knowing it doesn't make it any easier."
"Yeah, but you can't keep holding yourself back like this. That part of your life is over and it is high time you let it go. Also you will have to tell him you know. You can help Ryou through this and they'll wonder how you know so much."
"I know I just don't think I'm ready."
"You will never be truly ready. You just have to trust that they'll understand and besides you owe Yami at least. After all he agreed to send the rest of his life with you doesn't he have the right to know all of you?"
"Yes, but I really don't want to."
"It's not all about you, you know. People need you now especially Ryou. We both know Ryou is strong, but he shouldn't have to go through this alone."
I fell silent letting his words sink in. I knew he was right and I knew what I had to do. I steeled myself and answered.
"He won't."
"Good to hear."
"I've been afraid of changing I guess because I've based my life around you and the ones who hold you dear."
"But time makes bolder."
"And children get older and I am getting older too," I bent down and embraced little Yugi, "thank you."
"You're welcome," he said as he returned the embrace, "just promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"Don't forget me okay? I encompass a lot of important lessons you and Yami need to teach your child, about friendship and trust and determination. Even knowing then what you know now would you have changed it?"
"I wouldn't trade those times with them for anything in the world and I won't forget you I promise."
"Hey, Yug, you coming?"
Behind little Yugi the soul room faded to show Téa, Tristan, and Joey.
"I have to go," he said.
"Yugi, are you coming or are you just going to stand there all day." I looked behind me and saw Yami, Seto, Helen, Ryou and his other half.
"Me too."
We stepped back and looked at each other one last time before we both turned around and started running towards our friends, I heard his final words as I reached them.
"Remember you promised."
I woke with a start and found myself in the hospital room sitting in a chair with Yami's arms draped around my neck. I quietly got up and walked towards the door.
//Yugi?//
//I'm okay, Yami, I am just going out for some air.//
//All right, Yugi,// he mumbled and went back to sleep.
I climbed up the stairs to the roof and walk to the edge. I pulled out that picture which was now faded from tear stains and falling apart and looked at it.
"It was a wonderful time guys and I enjoyed it while it lasted. Goodbye guys we've really had us some good times, but it is time I that was strong and it is time that I moved on." I took the picture and tore it in half and then tore it in half again, the sun started rising as I threw the pieces over the edge and watched them drift away in the morning breeze.
"I'll miss you guys, especially you little Yugi. But you were right Yami, you said someday we would get over this and someday has finally come."
(End chapter 8)
