What Yami didn't know when he went to the after-life is that "after-life" is literal. His after-life is Yugi's "Present-life". He is confined as a spirit, able to see Yugi in his world from afar, but unable to interact with him. Minor YxYY, all from Yami's POV.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
A/N: I wanted to get out the ending to this story. Its short, but there is an explanation for WHY at the END of the story. ENJOY!
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Forty Three Days after Leaving (very early morning)
My eyes flash open as I hear footsteps come slowly up the stairs. It must be Yugi. But for a change, it's not the rushed footsteps of an excited lover, but the dragging footsteps of a broken heart, one tired of running. I glance around my settings and realize it is dark, and I am hidden shielded by the darkness. I rub my eyes as I hear the door open, and I freeze. Yugi is walking in, choking back what sounds like tears. From his body silhouetted in the hallway light, he looks literally like a shadow of his former self. Not the vibrant, happy kid I used to know; now, a slumped over, sickly young man, who has been through too much for anyone.
I stay frozen in the chair, hoping he doesn't notice me. But in the darkness provides me good cover, as Yugi walks past, glancing for just a moment at the chair, where I wait with baited breath. He continues to the desk and walks over and pulls out his chair. I suddenly realize, with shock, that I left the diary with note in it on his desk, in a corner, not where I found it. I pray that he doesn't notice but he is too consumed with his feelings to notice as he subconsciously takes the black book and begins to open it.
But then he pauses.
I can only see his side-profile, but it is enough to see him take in a breath as he notices the note sticking no more than one-eighth of an inch out the top. I realize that he thinks his grandpa has discovered his diary and left him a note, as a glimmer of fear passes over his face. He slowly pulls out the note and begins to slowly, deliberately unfold each crease.
I slowly rise to my feet, silently, and step behind him, afraid of the fact that he can actually see me. As I do, I sense his eyes scanning the page. The tension in the room can be cut with a knife. I have no idea what is going through his head. Out of the corner of my eye though, I see his lips contort.
Into a small, sad, smile.
There he sits, tears silently streaming down his face. I can wait no longer. I know that if I can touch things, I'm sure my hikari can hear me. After all, we share the same soul. I slowly, SLOWLY walk forward and wrap my arms around him from behind. I feel him jump slightly but then slowly relax.
I slowly feel him turn around and stand up, arms still wrapped tightly around my waist, as he buries his head into my chest. We just stand there like this.
There is a time for talk, a time for love, a time for understanding.
This is a time for being.
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**Epilogue**
One Hundred and Ninety Four Days after Leaving (one rainy afternoon)
I stand with the others, on this dark and dreary afternoon.
A fitting day, to match the fitting mood.
As everyone else eventually walks away, I still stand there. Again a spirit, again invisible. We have both passed on, so we are both…
…together…
I kneel down by the tombstone where Yugi is sitting. For the first time, I see that the pain has gone away. He is whole again. I take him by the hand, as he gets to his feet.
As I do so, the clouds begin to part, and a watery sun begins to poke through the clouds. We shyly smile at each other, as I put my arm around his shoulder. He just looks up at me and nods his head as we start walking out of the graveyard. Walking towards our new life.
In the after-life.
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A/N: Okay, okay, OKAY! I know this was very short and rather abrupt. But I wanted to get the ending out for my fans, and in a way, I want it to be very limited in words. If you notice, Yugi and Yami say nothing in words, even in this chapter to each other. It's an unspoken affection.
HOWEVER, I know there are probably some questions people want answered. IF I get enough, (like more than 15) reviews telling me to, I will write one FINAL chapter that tells what happens between the ending and the epilogue. I WAS going to write it, but it got to just be filler, and I wanted to leave it out, unless you all tell me otherwise!
I want to give a huge shout out to ALL the people who have stuck with this story. This is the first one I've written, and I promise you it will NOT be the last! Thanks you too for all the reviews! They literally keep a desperate writer like me going. MUCH APPRECIATED.
But until the next chapter…