*~*DISCLAIMER!!!*~* I own who I own, and the people who own other people
get the credit. And now, here's the finale, with an author's note at the
end. Enjoy!!
It had been several weeks since that fated day, too long in Yugi's eyes to ever see Marita again. Now, he looked up at the stars, not bitter, but just depressed, as he sat on the window seat in his attic room.
Downstairs, Tea was talking to Joey and Tristan, careful not to let Mr. Motou hear anything.
"Hey guys, is Yugi...."
"Still up there?" finished Joey, his eyes saddened as he nodded. "Yeah, he's still up there, starin' at dose stars like day were his only lifeline. Jeez, I'm getting' worried about him.." He crossed his arms over his white shirt with blue stripes, and turned his head down as he leaned up against the wall. "Yug hasn't come down from there in weeks, not eating very much, an' I dun think he's been sleepin' either...."
Solomon Motou, concerned, caught the last of that sentence, and unable to stay silent much longer, he questioned, "Hey, do any of you know what's bothering Yugi? My grandson has been acting so strange lately, and I was hoping one of you would know. Maybe you can rouse him to play Duel Monsters again."
"Again? What do you mean 'again'? You mean, he's stopped playing it?" Asked Tristan, cocking his head.
"Yes, he's stopped playing the game altogether, which is quite strange.... That game is his LIFE, and why he has stopped playing it, only time will tell." Solomon sighed, and scratched his graying, silver hair as he pondered. "Anyway, if any one of you knows what's going on, that would be a help to me if you told me. Otherwise, make yourselves at home and you're always welcome in here!" With that, he sighed once again, and slowly made his way into the kitchen, hearing the kettle of his herbal tea whistling that it was ready.
As soon as he was gone, the three friends began to talk once more of their 'fallen', broken-hearted comrade. "Whoa, Yug's stopped playin' Duel Monstas? He's gotta be feelin' even worse about this whole Marita thing than we thought!"
Tea slapped Joey upside the head, annoyed. "Well DUH Joey, thank you for stating the obvious! And no thanks for coming up with an idea to get Yugi's mind off of her!!!"
A sharp, sudden knock at the door diverted their attention, unsure of whether to answer it because they were in a guest's house. Another knock and then another came, and finally, with a dirty look from Tea, Tristan opened the door, and widened his eyes at who had dropped by.
"I hope we're not interrupting anything." Said Seto Kaiba sharply. His appearance was solemn, almost morbid as he released his hand from around his fiancée's waist.
Dawn nodded her greetings, and immediately asked, "Where's Yugi?"
"Still upstairs." Replied Joey, his voice quiet and so unlike his character.
"STILL? But I thought.... At least by now...." She started, but held back, as if not able to breach the situation correctly. After a pause, she continued. "I think I should go see him."
"You? Why you? Yugi can take care of himself, and he's got his friends down here anyway. Why you?" intoned Kaiba, fixing his attentive gaze at Dawn.
She scowled, "Because I was the last one with Marita, you nimrod! And next time, think about what you're gonna say before you say it, before you have to put your foot in your mouth!!!" A sudden, meek little giggle made her glare at the 2nd place Duelist Tournament champion, which immediately made Joey shut up. "And YOU keep quiet! Don't make me set your shirt on fire and watch you run around the yard until I get tired of watching!!!!!" With her last words and a couple of looks, she strolled past Joey, her mission intent in her mind and her eyes softening of how much Yugi had gone through. *Poor kid, I know how much it hurts.... I've been there too; I can't count how many times I've almost lost Seto....*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
His violet eyes piercing the darkness through his own tunnel vision, Yugi continued to stare aimlessly out the window at the glowing stars above. His eyes were slightly red, as he had been crying earlier, and his clothes were tousled because he had hardly bothered to spend the time to change. To him, everything was pointless.
"Enjoying the view?" Said a friendly, female voice, coming up the attic stairs.
Not even taking a gander at who was talking, Yugi sighed, and replied. "Nothing that is any different than yesterday or the day before that.... Or the day before that...."
Although he couldn't see, Dawn nodded, sat next to Yugi and wrapped him in a friendly, gentle hug. "You know, life goes on. I can't stress that enough! Yugi, you've got friends that love you, a grandfather devoted to you, and the skills to put even KAIBA on the sidelines. Please, for them, please.... Cheer up, ok? Nobody likes to see you all gloomy and grumpy."
He looked sadly at her and hung his head. "I'm sorry Dawn. As much as I would like to, I would rather just sit here, and I don't have the heart to smile anymore."
She pressed on with the conversation. "Come on Yugi! There's other fish in the sea, and you'll find that one special person! Just, don't dwell on what happened, ok? Nobody likes a sad person! Besides, I'd rather see ya smilin', not frownin' and cryin'." Dawn paused, as if unsure to go on, but continued anyway. "What I mean is, there are other girls in this world, and when you find one that's special to you...."
"WHAT?!?! WHAT Dawn, then WHAT?!?!?" His patience with her broken, Yugi's outbreak made Dawn jump, surprised. "That time has already passed!!!! Don't you see? I won't find anyone like Marita ever again!!! It's bad enough that I have to go through with this, because I would never wish it on anyone. But don't you see Dawn? I'm not the only one suffering. Yami...." His heart cracked at that moment, as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks, and, unable to stop them, he dabbed at his eyes with his blue jacket sleeve.
His friend's eyes widened slightly, and then softened with understanding. "Yami's hurting badly too, isn't he? That's why neither one of you have made the effort to duel again, am I right? Yami's hurting as badly as you are, maybe even more. And that, coupled with your own pain, makes it harder to keep going, to keep living, right?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, try and cheer up, ok? Listen, if I cried the way you've been cryin' for every time SETO died, fell off a cliff, got beat up, and was stabbed, beaten and bruised.... Not to mention BLOODIED.... I'd be crying 'til God knows when!!!!! Most likely water-logged!!!!!!!"
A small smile spread across Yugi's lips, a tiny one, but evident. "Yeah.... You're right I guess.... I should stop crying, and try to move on. You're.... you're right. Ok, let me think about this for a minute, and I'll come downstairs, ok?"
The brown-haired beauty smiled, genuine and hopeful. "Ok, I'll tell everyone you're coming down, ok?"
"Ok."
As she left the attic bedroom, Yugi turned to face the stars yet again, smiling at them for the first time in weeks. "I'm going to move on." He reminded himself aloud. "Marita, wherever you are, I'm going to miss you dearly love, but you wouldn't want to see me like this.... I hope wherever you are, that you're happy. When you're happy, that's all that matters to me."
*~*~*~*~*FIN*~*~*~*~*
(A/N) Hey Everybody!!!!!!!!! YAY, I'm DOOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!! OMG this took QUITE A LONG TIME TO FINISH!!!!!!!!! I sure did have fun writing it tho.. And yeah, it ain't happily ever after, but hey, that's what sequels are for, right? LOL!!! And LOOK PRUNINGSHEARS, MARITA DID DIE!!!! (you nut) lol!!!!!! Anyway, my extreme gratitude for the creator of Yugioh!!!! Without them I would have no life and would have nothing to put forth my effort into lol!!! And thanx to DAWNIE-CHAN!!!!!!!!!! My buddy, (Sailor Batgirl Beyond) who writes her OWN awesome fix and let me borrow Demona, Midnight and Dawn from her!!!! And I wanna thank everyone who reviewed, ALL OF YOU GUYS ROCK MY SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heheheh ok, well the next ficcie should be coming up, as soon as I'm ready to write it. However, here's a sneak peak of what's to come:
bYugioh!: Escape to Destiny/b
He couldn't believe his eyes as soon as he laid them upon her. The glossiness of her hair, the color of her eyes, even the nose was like hers, almost exactly, like an identical twin. It took Yami's breath away to see this girl close to him, and could feel the desire of holding her welling up from within.
"Who..... Who are you miss? Haven't we met before..? Yamara?"
For a moment, the girl looked confused, uncertain of what to do, but eventually, she came to her senses. Pulling her wrist away from Yami's grasp, she shook her head no, and replied, "I have no idea who you're talkin' about, but I don't know you at all." Again, he grasped her wrist, but instead, she used her own momentum to grasp his, and flung him over her shoulder onto the dirty, muddy ground. Again, she replied, "I'm sorry, but whoever you think I am, I'm not her. And even if I was, I don't think you would ever know." Turning away from his sorrowful, hurt face, the girl broke into a sprint, running as fast as she could away from him.
Finally alone in the darkened shadows of the alley, she stopped and panted, before leaning against the wall, and, sliding downward, her tears cascading from the corners of her eyes. In her heart, she had no choice but to be this way, and it hurt her even dearly to be here once again; she couldn't touch him, hold him, kiss him or love him anymore or any longer than she had to, and now it was near impossible.
~Marle.... Marle!!!!~ The voice of her friend and yami beckoned to her, and she couldn't help herself but to answer.
~What?~
~What did I say about going near Yami or Yugi for that matter? DO NOT DO IT!!!!~
The girl scowled. ~How can you say that? You love Yami as much as Yugi loves me! I could see it in your eyes whenever I see you!!!!!! Why do you want us to be distant? Why do you want to keep us apart? WHY?!~
~For your own damned safety, or else, we would be dead!!! You understand me Marle? We would be dead!!!!~
She gritted her teeth. ~My name is not Marle. It's Marita Alterris Shindou, and not even you can tell me otherwise....~
It had been several weeks since that fated day, too long in Yugi's eyes to ever see Marita again. Now, he looked up at the stars, not bitter, but just depressed, as he sat on the window seat in his attic room.
Downstairs, Tea was talking to Joey and Tristan, careful not to let Mr. Motou hear anything.
"Hey guys, is Yugi...."
"Still up there?" finished Joey, his eyes saddened as he nodded. "Yeah, he's still up there, starin' at dose stars like day were his only lifeline. Jeez, I'm getting' worried about him.." He crossed his arms over his white shirt with blue stripes, and turned his head down as he leaned up against the wall. "Yug hasn't come down from there in weeks, not eating very much, an' I dun think he's been sleepin' either...."
Solomon Motou, concerned, caught the last of that sentence, and unable to stay silent much longer, he questioned, "Hey, do any of you know what's bothering Yugi? My grandson has been acting so strange lately, and I was hoping one of you would know. Maybe you can rouse him to play Duel Monsters again."
"Again? What do you mean 'again'? You mean, he's stopped playing it?" Asked Tristan, cocking his head.
"Yes, he's stopped playing the game altogether, which is quite strange.... That game is his LIFE, and why he has stopped playing it, only time will tell." Solomon sighed, and scratched his graying, silver hair as he pondered. "Anyway, if any one of you knows what's going on, that would be a help to me if you told me. Otherwise, make yourselves at home and you're always welcome in here!" With that, he sighed once again, and slowly made his way into the kitchen, hearing the kettle of his herbal tea whistling that it was ready.
As soon as he was gone, the three friends began to talk once more of their 'fallen', broken-hearted comrade. "Whoa, Yug's stopped playin' Duel Monstas? He's gotta be feelin' even worse about this whole Marita thing than we thought!"
Tea slapped Joey upside the head, annoyed. "Well DUH Joey, thank you for stating the obvious! And no thanks for coming up with an idea to get Yugi's mind off of her!!!"
A sharp, sudden knock at the door diverted their attention, unsure of whether to answer it because they were in a guest's house. Another knock and then another came, and finally, with a dirty look from Tea, Tristan opened the door, and widened his eyes at who had dropped by.
"I hope we're not interrupting anything." Said Seto Kaiba sharply. His appearance was solemn, almost morbid as he released his hand from around his fiancée's waist.
Dawn nodded her greetings, and immediately asked, "Where's Yugi?"
"Still upstairs." Replied Joey, his voice quiet and so unlike his character.
"STILL? But I thought.... At least by now...." She started, but held back, as if not able to breach the situation correctly. After a pause, she continued. "I think I should go see him."
"You? Why you? Yugi can take care of himself, and he's got his friends down here anyway. Why you?" intoned Kaiba, fixing his attentive gaze at Dawn.
She scowled, "Because I was the last one with Marita, you nimrod! And next time, think about what you're gonna say before you say it, before you have to put your foot in your mouth!!!" A sudden, meek little giggle made her glare at the 2nd place Duelist Tournament champion, which immediately made Joey shut up. "And YOU keep quiet! Don't make me set your shirt on fire and watch you run around the yard until I get tired of watching!!!!!" With her last words and a couple of looks, she strolled past Joey, her mission intent in her mind and her eyes softening of how much Yugi had gone through. *Poor kid, I know how much it hurts.... I've been there too; I can't count how many times I've almost lost Seto....*
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
His violet eyes piercing the darkness through his own tunnel vision, Yugi continued to stare aimlessly out the window at the glowing stars above. His eyes were slightly red, as he had been crying earlier, and his clothes were tousled because he had hardly bothered to spend the time to change. To him, everything was pointless.
"Enjoying the view?" Said a friendly, female voice, coming up the attic stairs.
Not even taking a gander at who was talking, Yugi sighed, and replied. "Nothing that is any different than yesterday or the day before that.... Or the day before that...."
Although he couldn't see, Dawn nodded, sat next to Yugi and wrapped him in a friendly, gentle hug. "You know, life goes on. I can't stress that enough! Yugi, you've got friends that love you, a grandfather devoted to you, and the skills to put even KAIBA on the sidelines. Please, for them, please.... Cheer up, ok? Nobody likes to see you all gloomy and grumpy."
He looked sadly at her and hung his head. "I'm sorry Dawn. As much as I would like to, I would rather just sit here, and I don't have the heart to smile anymore."
She pressed on with the conversation. "Come on Yugi! There's other fish in the sea, and you'll find that one special person! Just, don't dwell on what happened, ok? Nobody likes a sad person! Besides, I'd rather see ya smilin', not frownin' and cryin'." Dawn paused, as if unsure to go on, but continued anyway. "What I mean is, there are other girls in this world, and when you find one that's special to you...."
"WHAT?!?! WHAT Dawn, then WHAT?!?!?" His patience with her broken, Yugi's outbreak made Dawn jump, surprised. "That time has already passed!!!! Don't you see? I won't find anyone like Marita ever again!!! It's bad enough that I have to go through with this, because I would never wish it on anyone. But don't you see Dawn? I'm not the only one suffering. Yami...." His heart cracked at that moment, as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks, and, unable to stop them, he dabbed at his eyes with his blue jacket sleeve.
His friend's eyes widened slightly, and then softened with understanding. "Yami's hurting badly too, isn't he? That's why neither one of you have made the effort to duel again, am I right? Yami's hurting as badly as you are, maybe even more. And that, coupled with your own pain, makes it harder to keep going, to keep living, right?"
"Yeah."
"Hey, try and cheer up, ok? Listen, if I cried the way you've been cryin' for every time SETO died, fell off a cliff, got beat up, and was stabbed, beaten and bruised.... Not to mention BLOODIED.... I'd be crying 'til God knows when!!!!! Most likely water-logged!!!!!!!"
A small smile spread across Yugi's lips, a tiny one, but evident. "Yeah.... You're right I guess.... I should stop crying, and try to move on. You're.... you're right. Ok, let me think about this for a minute, and I'll come downstairs, ok?"
The brown-haired beauty smiled, genuine and hopeful. "Ok, I'll tell everyone you're coming down, ok?"
"Ok."
As she left the attic bedroom, Yugi turned to face the stars yet again, smiling at them for the first time in weeks. "I'm going to move on." He reminded himself aloud. "Marita, wherever you are, I'm going to miss you dearly love, but you wouldn't want to see me like this.... I hope wherever you are, that you're happy. When you're happy, that's all that matters to me."
*~*~*~*~*FIN*~*~*~*~*
(A/N) Hey Everybody!!!!!!!!! YAY, I'm DOOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!! OMG this took QUITE A LONG TIME TO FINISH!!!!!!!!! I sure did have fun writing it tho.. And yeah, it ain't happily ever after, but hey, that's what sequels are for, right? LOL!!! And LOOK PRUNINGSHEARS, MARITA DID DIE!!!! (you nut) lol!!!!!! Anyway, my extreme gratitude for the creator of Yugioh!!!! Without them I would have no life and would have nothing to put forth my effort into lol!!! And thanx to DAWNIE-CHAN!!!!!!!!!! My buddy, (Sailor Batgirl Beyond) who writes her OWN awesome fix and let me borrow Demona, Midnight and Dawn from her!!!! And I wanna thank everyone who reviewed, ALL OF YOU GUYS ROCK MY SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heheheh ok, well the next ficcie should be coming up, as soon as I'm ready to write it. However, here's a sneak peak of what's to come:
bYugioh!: Escape to Destiny/b
He couldn't believe his eyes as soon as he laid them upon her. The glossiness of her hair, the color of her eyes, even the nose was like hers, almost exactly, like an identical twin. It took Yami's breath away to see this girl close to him, and could feel the desire of holding her welling up from within.
"Who..... Who are you miss? Haven't we met before..? Yamara?"
For a moment, the girl looked confused, uncertain of what to do, but eventually, she came to her senses. Pulling her wrist away from Yami's grasp, she shook her head no, and replied, "I have no idea who you're talkin' about, but I don't know you at all." Again, he grasped her wrist, but instead, she used her own momentum to grasp his, and flung him over her shoulder onto the dirty, muddy ground. Again, she replied, "I'm sorry, but whoever you think I am, I'm not her. And even if I was, I don't think you would ever know." Turning away from his sorrowful, hurt face, the girl broke into a sprint, running as fast as she could away from him.
Finally alone in the darkened shadows of the alley, she stopped and panted, before leaning against the wall, and, sliding downward, her tears cascading from the corners of her eyes. In her heart, she had no choice but to be this way, and it hurt her even dearly to be here once again; she couldn't touch him, hold him, kiss him or love him anymore or any longer than she had to, and now it was near impossible.
~Marle.... Marle!!!!~ The voice of her friend and yami beckoned to her, and she couldn't help herself but to answer.
~What?~
~What did I say about going near Yami or Yugi for that matter? DO NOT DO IT!!!!~
The girl scowled. ~How can you say that? You love Yami as much as Yugi loves me! I could see it in your eyes whenever I see you!!!!!! Why do you want us to be distant? Why do you want to keep us apart? WHY?!~
~For your own damned safety, or else, we would be dead!!! You understand me Marle? We would be dead!!!!~
She gritted her teeth. ~My name is not Marle. It's Marita Alterris Shindou, and not even you can tell me otherwise....~