Now… It might be time to wrap up the Time Warp Arc! (that's what I'm calling it, hehe). It's either in this chapter, or next chapter. Cheers!
Kaiba and Joey eventually found Bakura prancing around like an idiot in what looked like another park, with tall sparsely planted trees and untrodden snow. The corner of a large building could be seen in the background, but this when pretty much unnoticed by the two of them, two busy watching Yami Bakura make a fool out of himself as Celebi danced above his head mockingly.
"Son of a b––!" Bakura snarled. "What's wrong with you!?"
With no one else around, Teddiursa could safely come out of hiding and cling onto Kaiba's neck. "Maybe you should stop trying to kill it," he drawled.
Bakura nearly fell down out of surprise when he heard Kaiba's voice. He turned to look at them. "You guys! You're so slow."
Joey frowned at him. "Maybe Celebi won't help us because we haven't learned what we came here to learn?"
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," said Bakura and Kaiba simultaneously. Joey flinched.
"C'mon, it was jus' a suggestion. Got any better ideas?"
Celebi made a sound that was like a giggle, and flew off towards the building. Suddenly, Kaiba got the sense of where he was, and dread started to fill his frame like a poison. Yami Bakura gave a shout and started chasing it again, and Joey made to run after the blanchet, but stopped when Kaiba stood rooted to the spot with a look of fear on his face.
"Eh? Kaiba, come on!" Joey urged. "What the heck! We need to get going."
The CEO slowly shook his head. "You have no idea where we are, do you," he asked flatly.
If this was any other person, Joey would have inquired what he meant by that. But as it was, the blond just shrugged, said, "Suit yourself," and ran after Bakura.
Joey caught up to Bakura soon enough, but it wasn't a fair chase. Bakura had stopped in front of a first floor window with a look of interest. He was peering inside stealthily. Joey came up behind him to see what it was.
"You worthless piece of shit!" It was a man's deep voice, heard clearly through the glass. Joey's eyes widened at the scene in front of him. There was a heavy thump. "You can't do anything right!"
"B-but, I did everything you told me to!" came the cry of a small boy. "What did I do wrong?"
The scene was bad as it was, and it was about to get worse as the events unfolded. The man in the red suit from before had his back to the window, so they could see the very expression on the young boy's face. It was Gozaburo Kaiba and young Seto Kaiba.
"Don't you talk back to me," Gozaburo shouted. He held something long and dark in his right hand. "Don't you dare talk back to me." He lashed out with the long and dark thing. There was a loud crack! and young Seto yelped as the sleeve of his shirt ripped. Tears started to roll down his small cheek.
"Don't show emotion," the monster bellowed, lashing out with the long and dark thing again. Young Seto covered his head with hands to protect his face, even twisted away a little so that the blow landed on his back. "Don't you want to be a Kaiba? Don't you want to help your pathetic little brother?" He lashed out once more, but didn't stop. He lashed out again and again until the brunet's shirt was in shreds and his skin raw and pink, and still didn't stop.
A shadow fell across Bakura and Joey, and they looked over their shoulders with guilty, stricken faces. "That was the last time I showed weakness to him," said Kaiba soberly. As it was, it was probably the last time he showed emotion to anyone. Teddiursa was still clinging to him, but now he held her in his arms. His face was as stoic as always, but his body language hinted at how depressed he really was.
"We never knew," Joey whispered as if afraid of breaking the heavy silence that followed.
Kaiba didn't reply, lost in his thoughts and the memories. It was the day he lost the ability to cry.
An interlude, as our three Trainers wander somberly away from that melancholic scene. You may be wondering why it is so important to have the ability to cry. I shall take this moment to explain to you why this is so critical.
Tears don't solve anything. Everyone knows that. But tears weren't meant to solve anything, except if you have dirt in your eye. Tears serve the duo purpose of showing others that you are sad, and releasing any built up anger or depression or even happiness that you had. Tears show that you have emotion.
Tears show that you have the ability to care.
The trio trudged back through the snow in silence. What else could they say? Celebi was momentarily forgotten as they headed back into the city, where at least the sidewalks were shoveled.
"I wish we didn't have to come during winter," Bakura grumbled at last.
"Me too," Joey said. Kaiba remained silent. "Brr! This was the coldest winter ever! Makes me wish we had your Charmeleon, huh, Kaiba?"
Kaiba didn't reply. They didn't expect him to.
They passed a shop that sold TVs. Some of the styles they sold were in the shop window and showed the local news station. There, at the bottom of the screen, was the date.
There was a flash of golden light from around Bakura's neck, and suddenly Ryou Bakura was pressing his hands against the glass. "No!" he said in horror. "That can't possibly be the date today!"
"What is it?" Joey asked, confused.
"No, no, no," he moaned, before taking off once more.
"That kid runs too much," muttered Kaiba, saying the first thing he had in at least an hour.
"Well, we have to follow him," stated Joey simply, speeding off. Kaiba took one last glance at the TV screens, eying them almost suspiciously, before following hot on the blond's heels. They turned a corner just in time to see a small tan Camry skid on a patch of ice.
Straight into the path of an oncoming truck.
People shrieked in horror as the two cars made contact. Joey flinched and couldn't watch. Ryou Bakura screamed hoarsely as the Camry crumpled like it was made out of aluminum foil. Fire erupted, but didn't explode. The truck had completely destroyed He started to run towards the wreckage, but Kaiba grabbed him by the collar of his jacket.
"Bakura, stop," he ordered in a low voice, guessing at what the blanchet was so upset about. "You can't do anything."
"I need to do something," Bakura cried, tears streaming down his face. Why did the sun have to shine so brightly today? Why today, of all horrid days?
He wriggled out of his coat and raced towards the two cars. Far off, sirens wailed, and people chattered curiously at what that white-haired young man was doing. Bakura threw car parts to the side, getting at a small white head inside.
The little girl looked up with dull doe brown eyes. Her pretty pale forehead was marred by a massive, heavily bleeding cut. "Ah," she said with a soft voice. "You must be my angel, coming to take me to Heaven."
Bakura couldn't stop his flow of tears. Couldn't force himself to smile warmly. "No, Amane," he whispered to her. "No, you can't die!"
The little girl looked confused. "Why not? You're here, aren't you, Angel? It seems silly that an angel would come all the way here just to tell me not to die." The sun was mockingly warm on his back. "And you're even glowing, like the sun," she said. Her voice was weakening. The head wound was really bad, and there were probably unseen injuries added to that.
"Amane, Amane," he chanted, grasping her small hand with both of his own. He could feel her light and frantic pulse. "Please, don't… don't go towards the light!"
Her eyelids drooped. "Oh, but I hear voices calling for me, Angel. Aren't you supposed to take me there?"
Bakura felt two warm hands rest on his shoulder and heard the deep voice of Kaiba. "You cannot change her fate. But you can help her go."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he reopened his warm brown eyes, he was able to smile at the young girl. "Yes," he whispered. He sniffed. "Yes. Amane, yes, it's time." She closed her eyes with the ghost of a grin on her lips. "I will take you to the light."
And he held her hand until the pulse between his fingers was no more.
Was that too fast? I dragged out the scenes as long as I could. I hope it was properly emotional. I feel like I should end it there. It's just too perfect. So, the arc should end next chapter. It's an okay length. But seriously. Was this properly emotional? Tell me what you thought, please. I tried to make it as sad and sweet as possible, but it's a little difficult for me.