Hidden Truths

Part Ten

A Shroud of White

I do not own Yu-Go-Oh!, or anything else related to it.

Actually, I don't really own much of anything, so please don't sue me!!!


~~~~~Two Months Later~~~~~


Darkness sank into the bedroom, the lights of passing cars cutting though the inky sketch like cold steel through a wispy paper, the clock ticking silently in the background. Yugi rolled over in her sleep, curling up next to Yami with a sigh, the chime ringing four. Within two hours, it would be the frozen light of December cutting through window.

"Yami...." Yugi mumbled in her sleep, her eyes shooting open as she tried to curl up further, pressing against the ancient spirit. Yami mumbled and sighed, rolling over to face Yugi, arms wrapping around her, still very much asleep.

"Yami!" Yugi hissed, much louder this time, kicking Yami in the stomach, hard. Yami groaned, glaring at Yugi with a yawn.

//This had better be good.// Yami sighed, and Yugi glared, kicking at him once more.

"Yami! It's time!" Yugi hissed painfully, Yami's eyes shooting open as he stumbled out of bed, reaching frantically for the phone....


"So, how is she!?" Yami demanded as the doctor came out of the delivery room with a sigh.

Yami had been pacing the waiting room floor for well over twelve hours, his nerves running his mind into the ground, his frantic energy driving everyone else around him insane. He refused to leave, not until he knew how his aibou was. He knew she was suffering, he could feel the pain as it trilled through the Millennium Puzzle, pain that had dulled into a dark emptiness not long ago.

But beyond that, no one would tell him anything.

"I'm.... I'm sorry sir...." the doctor gulped as Yami hauled him up by the collar, pure fury burning in his eyes.

"What do you mean you're sorry!? Is she okay, or not!?" Yami hissed, the doctor gulping loudly, motioning for the security guards to stay back. He had expected a reaction like this the instant he had seen Yami begin his pacing.

"She... she's resting now." The doctor sighed as Yami lowered him, looking over at the room, worried.

"She..... she's not going to live, is she?" Yami whispered, tears, trailing down his face. The doctor paused, and shook his head.

"She lost a lot of blood. We've made her comfortable, it was the best we could do." the doctor said, resting his hand apologetically on Yami's shoulder.

"Thank you, then." Yami sobbed, pausing at the door, closing his eyes.

"The children, they're fine. Healthy, too." the doctor said, looking over at the nurse, "She can show you, when you're ready." Yami nodded, and entered the room with a heavy heart.....


Once more, Yugi was lying there, her face pale, her hair limp, her soul troubled. And once more, all Yami could do was sob, and grip her hand, praying that she would make it, and survive, that he wouldn't lose his precious aibou so early in her young life, so late in his.

"Yami....?" Yugi sighed, looking over at Yami weakly, her eyes glazed and dull.

"Precious, shh, save your strength." Yami whispered, tears streaming down his face as Yugi smiled.

/Elendil and Estel? Are they all right?/ Yugi asked, looking frantically around the room. Yami smiled, and nodded.

//They're fine, Yugi. Healthy, too. But you have to rest, aibou. It wouldn't do for them to grow up without you.// Yami sighed as Yugi smiled, holding her hand to his cheek once more, lifting a tear gently from his face.

/Shh, shh. It's okay Yami, I'll always watch over the three of you, I promise..../ Yugi smiled, her eyes closing as snow drifted down outside, slowly blanketing the city in a white shroud of mourning.......


Yami looked into the window at the screaming babies of the nursery, tears streaming down his face as two children, a boy and girl, were shown to him. Elendil and Estel, his precious hikari's little angels.

"Sir, do you want to hold them?" the nurse asked, handing him the tiny boy, Elendil, his eyes giant little orbs of innocent hazel staring up curiously at him.

"Yes, thank you. Where's.... Estel?" Yami asked, taking Elendil with a tiny smile. He looked so much like his Mother.

"She's right here. She's a little on the small side, the runt of the litter, I guess you could say!" the nurse cooed, holding up the younger child, Yami's eyes going wide.

And there she was, a tiny cooing baby, with wisps of white hair, and tiny little amethyst eyes, and Yami wondered if he could bring himself to love the child. She was pale, so very pale, just like Bakura, and Yami took her with a tear.

"Looks like her mother, eh?" the nurse asked with a smile, and Yami shook his head, sobbing.

"Just her eyes. Just her innocent eyes...." Yami whispered, rocking the two children to sleep.....


"Yami, where is she? Where's Yugi?" Seto asked as he entered the tiny hospital room, Yugi holding the sleeping twins.

Yami paused, tears he didn't think he had left trailing down his cheeks as he looked up, eyes bloodshot, face swollen.

"She... she didn't make it." Yami whispered, standing up, resisting the temptation to just toss Estel and Elendil at the ground, and kill them, like he would their father.

But Yugi wouldn't have wanted that. Yugi would have said that it wasn't their fault, that they had no more choice in the matter than she had had. Yugi would have picked them up, and laughed, with sparkling eyes, and loved her children.

And it was that fact that helped hold Yami together, as he looked down at the two sleeping infants, wrapped in blankets of pink and blue.

"I'm sorry, Yami. I really am." Seto whispered, resting his hand on Yami's shoulder sadly, honestly. Yugi had been a good friend to him, and he would be an even better one to her children, now.

"Seto, I , I have one last favor to ask." Yami whispered, gently handing the two over to the nurse, for their feeding.

"Ask anything, Yami." Seto watched the two children coo as they were brought back into the nursery.

"Take care of them. Grandfather is too old, it shows in his face, no matter what he says otherwise, he is too old for two children." Yami whispered, his hand pausing at the glass before trailing down into a fist at his side. Seto looked at Yami suspiciously.

"Yami, what are you planning? They're your children too, you can't just desert them!" Seto hissed, glaring at Yami. The ancient spirit shook his head, and smiled.

"It's not that, Seto, it's not that. I have so very little time left..." Yami whispered, looking back over at the two children, praying momentarily that they never have to face the hardship that he and Yugi had had to endure.

"What do you mean, Pharaoh!?" Seto demanded, glaring at Yami.

"Without Yugi, I'll fade, disappear back into the Puzzle, like intended. Give them the Puzzle, when they're old enough, won't you?" Yami asked with a choked sob, his skin glowing transparent, looking over at Elendil and Estel one last time.

"I promise, Yami. They'll always be taken care of." Seto vowed as the Puzzle, chain and all, collapsed upon the floor, nothing more than a jumble of golden pieces, glittering faintly beneath the floresent hospital light, the blizzard howling a solemn epitaph outside, for those with ears to listen......


~OWARI~


So, here it ends.

Sad, ne?

Well, if I get enough reviews, I might just consider a sequel, you know.... *hint hint*

R&R people!!!