As Atem walked through his door he was greeted by yet another void. It was as if he had never left the one he was in but this time he saw other doors and soon they too opened and he saw his friends walk through them.
"Guys." Atem said to happily as he approached them.
"You the real you? This isn't some kind memory right?" Tristan asked him.
"It's me. You saw one of Yugi's memories too right?" Atem asked them.
"Yeah. I saw myself die… it was weird. I had to convince Yug that it didn't happen by not doing what he thought I did." Joey explained.
"Similar to us. We shared one of Yugi's memories because apparently we died almost together." Tea said.
"Yeah but I saved the day." Tristan said proudly.
"You did. If it hadn't been for you Tristan I shutter to think of what might have actually happened." Tea said gratefully, which made Tristan blush slightly.
"Uhh… well you know. It was nothing. What about you Atem?" Tristan asked.
"More or less the same for me. Convincing Yugi that we were here and didn't actually die was difficult but I think I got through to him."
"Same… but where are we now?" Tea asked.
"I don't know… but did you guys get one of these too?" Joey asked, revealing his own key with a red gem.
"Ah, yes!" Atem said, revealing his with the blue gem.
Tristan and Tea did the same.
"I wonder what the colours mean." Tea asked.
"Maybe they represent us. Or… there's a specific lock they go to."
"Uh… guys…" Tristan said nervously. They looked at him to see him staring straight ahead of them with a look of confusion. "It's Yugi."
They followed his gaze and saw Yugi a slight distance from them, waiting for them to notice.
They ran to him but as they got closer they saw he was slightly transparent, like a ghost. Yugi smiled a small smile of recognition and pointed off in the distance behind him.
"What are you pointing at?" Tea asked him.
"I think he's telling us to go that way." Atem suggested.
Yugi faded into nothingness then and as he did so a large room appeared in the distance where he had been pointing.
They ran to it and as they got closer they saw it was a plain, stone cube with chains all around it but no door and no windows.
"This is abstract." Tea mocked.
"Guys what if Yugi's inside." Tristan suggested.
"He is. We've gotta find a way to get through to him." Joey said. He touched the chains, made of pure steel… there was no way they were pulling these things off them.
Thats what Atem spotted it, a lock with a pink gem on it.
"Tea… your key was pink right?" Atem asked her. She approached him with her key and he showed her the lock.
"Oh! Maybe…" She slipped her key inside with ease and twisted it and with a satisfying click the lock opened and the chains disintegrated before them, taking the lock and key with it.
"Guys find a lock with your gem on it!" Atem called to them as they circled around the cube. It was twice their height and approximately 4 meters long … it wasn't a small room but if Yugi was inside then they would find a way to open it.
"I found mine!" Tristan said as he place his key in his lock.
"Don't unlock it yet." Atem called to him. He had circled the cube many times but couldn't find his own.
Joey found his but didn't unlock his yet either.
"Where's Atems?" Tea asked.
"I have a bad feeling it might be on top." Tristan suggested.
Joey began climbing the chains and Atem followed suit. It wasn't easy and several times they had fallen or made the chains swing, but eventually they made it up and low and behold it was.
"Finally…" Atem said as he climbed the rest of the way up and Joey went back down to his own lock.
"Okay. Ready?" Atem called to them.
"Ready!" They called back and together they unlocked their chains. Just as Tea's did they disappeared and the cube began to rumble. Atem rushed to swing himself off it just in time for it to vanish into millions of little stars.
"So pretty." Tea said under her breath as they stars winked out around them.
"Yugi!" Atem exclaimed upon seeing him sitting before them, knees to his chest and head buried in his arms. He was huddled tightly and rocking slightly, muttering something under his breath.
As they got closer they heard he was muttering apologies, words of loneliness and despair… much the same as they heard upon their first arrival here. He didn't seem to notice the cube was gone now though as he continued to rock without any indication he knew they were there.
Atem's heart went out to him and he responded with crouching by him and hugging him tightly, wrapping his arms around his head and nuzzling into his neck. He didn't say anything, he just held him close.
"Yugi… We're here now." Tea said to him gently.
"Hey man, look up." Joey said kindly.
"Dude, it's okay. We're here now." Tristan finished.
Yugi stopped muttering but didn't move. Atem could feel he was frozen, be it fear or shock he didn't know but he knew they were there now.
Joey knelt down then and touched his arm, that made him move. He slowly lifted his head, saw Joeys fingers on him and followed his arm up to his face where he saw him smiling, and Tea and Tristan standing behind him, smiling too.
"Hey man. Sorry we took so long." Tristan laughed.
"We'd have gotten here sooner but-" Tea began.
"Well it's a bit of a story." Joey finished for her.
"Guys…" Yugi squeaked. He noticed Atem then, still clinging onto him tightly, not saying a word. But he didn't need to, his heart was wrapped around him with such love and protection that he didn't need to say anything.
"But… I don't understand." Yugi said slowly.
"We saw what you saw Yug." Joey began.
"Lived it in our cases…" Tea added.
"But it didn't happen in real life. We're okay Yugi. None of it was real...and if it was then it wasn't us. We're alive." Tristan explained.
"And now we're in your mind to get you out. We're right here for you Yugi." Joey finished.
"You're… alive?" Yugi asked.
"We're not going anywhere Yugi." Atem said quietly, his voice muffled by his shoulder.
"And…. thats not all. There's a little surprise waiting for you outside too." Joey said happily.
"So… what do you say Yugi? Time to wake up?" Tea asked.
"Wake up?"
"We're in your mind dude. We're all sleeping at the moment. But once we leave then it'll be up to you to wake up."
"So come on pal. Why don't we finish this reunion awake?" Joey asked, smiling widely.
He missed that smile… a smile only Joey could pull off. A smile that brought with it such trust and security. No fake Joey could pull it off… only the real one. There was no way that anyone could reach him this far into his mind, except his friends. Of course… if they were reaching him here then they must be alive; he could always count on them.
As the epiphany filled his heart with a warmth he'd almost forgotten the darkness around them was pulled away and engulfed in such bright light it almost sent them all to their knees as they shielded their eyes from the intensity.
"Woah! What's happening?" Tea asked.
"Why is it so bright now?" Tristan asked.
"This is Yugi's heart, the strength of his light." Atem said proudly as he continued to hold him.
"Wow! I guess we did it. I think we should wake up now and meet you on the other side yeah?" Tea asked him.
Yugi nodded and smiled.
One by one Joey, Tristan and Tea faded into the light, leaving Atem alone with Yugi. Gently Yugi touched his head and Atem released him carefully to gaze into his eyes. He had been crying while he hugged Yugi… that must have been why he didn't release him while the others were here.
"I missed you Yugi."
"I missed you too Atem. I thought I had lost you. All of you. I missed you all so much." Yugi said, his voice beginning to break. He caught himself before he could cry when Atem touched his cheek.
"For a moment… I thought we had lost you too." Atem said to him. Yugi nuzzled into his hand affectionately, reveling in his touch. Until a moment ago he was convinced he'd never be touched by anyone else ever again, that he would be doomed to live in his dark cell until the end of his days… to be with his loved ones again was more than he could have asked for and he wanted to cherish each second.
He looked to Atem, still smiling warmly at him.
"Let's finish this reunion out there, yeah?" Atem asked him.
"Right… I'll see you soon."
"Promise."