A/N: So close! Almost there! *gasp* Thank you to everyone that reviewed.

Little Angel

Chapter 10

Yugi could feel himself falling. Cold, harsh winds howled all around him, throwing him around violently. All that he could see around himself was dark swirls of mist as he vainly tried to make his wings work in the hurricane winds. Suddenly, the mist cleared, and below him Yugi could see masses of beautiful green and blue. 'Earth…' Yugi thought to himself. 'Where Yami is…" The thought of Yami made Yugi fight the winds with renewed strength, his eyes locked on the land below him.

Suddenly, all thought was banished as a pain greater than anything Yugi had ever felt coursed through him like a thunderbolt. His scream was lost in the wailing storm, and tears of pain were swept from his cheeks by the wind.

It felt as though Yugi's wings were being slowly pulled right out of his back, the pain so great that Yugi nearly passed out right then. The winds continued to grow stronger and stronger, tossing his small body around violently as he continued to fall. More and more tears were pouring from Yugi's eyes as the pain in his wings grew and grew. Finally, a last sharp, shooting pain ripped through his body, causing him to cry out again.

Then, it all faded away. The wind stopped, and Yugi was falling through clouds towards the Earth. His blurred vision processed blue mixed with white, but his mind was still in the aftershock of the pain that had now faded down to a throbbing ache.

He felt a gentle wind caressing his face, and knew in the back of his mind that he was still falling. Automatically, Yugi tried to extend his wings, but found that there were no longer any wings to extend. He fought down his panic, and instead closed his eyes and thought of Yami until darkness took him and he knew no more.

It had taken nearly an hour of searching, but Jou had finally found Yami. Seto was at work and Honda was out with Shizuka, so Jou had gone searching for Yami to find that he wasn't home. His grandfather said that he had headed to the park some hour or so ago, but when Jou finally found him he was sitting on the beach, looking at the colorful sunset.

Jou sat down beside him, ignoring the fact that Yami didn't even acknowledge his presence. Jounouchi thought back over the past few days; Yami had made a full recovery, but that had been second to the doctor's other worries. Yami's outburst when he had finally woken up had earned him a few trips to a psychologist, to whom Yami very calmly explained that he had simply had a bad dream that had been very "intense". Neither the psychologist nor Yami's grandfather bought it, but the crimson-eyed boy wouldn't offer them any other information. He hadn't even told his friends about it, which really disturbed Jou. Yami was usually really open with them, if not his grandfather.

Deciding to break the fragile silence, Jou said quietly, "Yami? Will you please talk to me?" A fist clenched in the sand. Jou's honey eyes watched Yami carefully, trying to detect a clue to the cause of his friend's strange behavior. Yami sighed, shook his head slightly, then flopped backward onto the sand.

After staring up at the stars that were gradually appearing for a few moments, Yami pulled himself back up into a sitting position. He then pulled a small, white feather out of his pocket, playing with it idly. Jou stared at the feather for a moment, wondering what it meant to Yami, and was about to try again when Yami's soft voice reached his ears.

"I'm still trying to convince myself that it was just a dream," he began, eyes fixated on the feather. "It was so very real, like I had truly gone to Heaven, even if just for a little while." There was a momentary silence, than Yami smiled bitterly. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

Jou put his hand on Yami's shoulder, which startled the boy into turning his crimson eyes to the blond. "Yami, I want to help you. I'll believe you no matter how crazy your dream sounds, okay?" Yami nodded slowly, and Jou smiled at him reassuringly.

Taking a deep breath, Yami began to speak again in a distant voice, "I… I dreamed that I almost went to Heaven… But not quite. I landed in this garden… and an angel took me away to his home. The angel was beautiful, with these wonderful lavender eyes that would just shine whenever he looked at me… In the dream, we fell in love. I didn't remember much of anything from here, so I didn't even really know for certain that I had a previous life. And right then, all I wanted was him…" Yami's voice lowered to a whisper. "All I needed was him…"

Jou wasn't sure what to say, so he stayed silent until Yami took another shuddering breath, and continued, "Then, something happened. I had to be sent back here, and…" Yami nearly choked on his words, but kept going, "And I left because I didn't have a choice. The last time I saw him, he was crying… crying for me as I left. Then, I woke up."

Jounouchi's eyes widened as he saw tears flowing freely down Yami's face as he spoke, the feather now clenched in a white-knuckled fist. Yami had never cried in front of anyone to Jou's knowledge, and it was almost frightening to see Yami's cool, confident demeanor fall to shambles before his eyes.

"I… I've fallen in love with a dream. I'm not… even sure if it really was a dream, but… that might just be wishful thinking." Yami's shoulders were shaking, his composure quickly going out the window. "I wish it was real, though… I want so bad for him to be real… because I love him…" Yami's voice finally broke, and he hugged his knees to his chest as he sobbed out all his grief and frustration.

Jou put his arm around Yami's shoulders, the sight of his friend so broken up tugging at his heart. Yami leaned in close to him, seeking comfort from the pain of his breaking heart.

A/N: Well, this is almost the end, but not quite! The next chapter will be the last on this fic. So, I need some opinions. I've thought of writing a fic that sort of ties into this one, except it involves Ryou and Bakura. What do ya'll think? Please R&R!