Greetings. Sorry for the delay in getting this part out. Hopefully, it was
worth the wait.
Thanks, as always, for all the reviews! I'm feeling more confident in my writing, so I might extend this story out a bit more than I originally planned. Any thoughts on whether I should do it or not would be appreciated.
Enjoy!
**~~**
Part 6: Best of Friends
Yugi watched Yami carefully, his anxiety rising as the spirit got closer and closer. Everyone he'd met in this dream state, with the exception of Téa, had made it absolutely clear that they'd be better off if he weren't around anymore. It had been devastating to hear that from Joey and Tristan, and Yugi didn't think that he could survive hearing it from Yami too.
He didn't say anything, waiting patiently for Yami to approach. The spirit walked purposely forward, but Yugi could tell that his movements were slow, and that his face was shadowed with exhaustion. Could an apparition really seem tired?
"Your negative thoughts will be your undoing, Aibou."
Yugi's eyebrows raised in surprise at not hearing what he thought he would hear.
"What do you mean?"
Yami was standing directly in front of him now, and Yugi could see the worry on the spirit's face. He smiled slightly, and reached out to put his arms around Yugi. Yugi tensed momentarily, before letting himself relax and return the embrace. When he stepped back, his smile matched Yami's.
"What was that for?"
Yami shrugged, but the spirit managed to make the move seem elegant and refined.
"I have been trapped in the puzzle for the past few days, Yugi, imagining nothing but the worst about what happened to you. Our link was broken so suddenly that it took me a while to realize that the puzzle had been unassembled again. All I could sense were your conflicting thoughts and feelings, along with your sense of loss and desire to give up." Yami took a deep breath, and patted Yugi's shoulder before finally releasing him. "It is good to see you well."
Yugi frowned, Yami's words hitting a chord with him. "What do you mean, you've been trapped in the puzzle? You're not another apparition come to taunt me?"
Yami raised one eyebrow at the inquiry, before shaking his head. "Technically, I am an apparition. I have always been one, as only you can see me. I don't believe I'm an apparition in the sense that you mean, and I certainly am not here to taunt you."
Yami turned around and examined his surroundings. He chuckled softly as he took in the moonlit landscape and bright stars.
"Nice place you have here. It's nothing like your soul room in the puzzle. I don't know why, but I assumed that your subconscious mind would be bright and airy." He turned to Yugi. "I am the dark half of you, after all."
Yugi took a look around his surroundings once again and shrugged. "My subconscious has its dark side too, Yami. It's just dormant most of the time. I guess this is a representation of it."
Yami nodded, as if he understood exactly what Yugi was telling him.
Yugi walked over to the boulder and once again plopped himself down upon it. He studied Yami as he studied his surroundings, feeling the weariness finally descend, making his soul feel heavy as if it were weighted with stones.
"You didn't answer my question."
"What question was that?"
"What you meant when you said that my negative thoughts will be my undoing."
Yami walked over to the boulder and sat down beside Yugi.
"Before I explain, tell me what happened? Why didn't you call me for help?"
Yugi looked away, instead choosing to study the darkened blades of grass at his feet. He didn't want to think about what had happened in the alley. The experience was still clear in his mind, as was the memory of the pain those two men had inflicted on him. He didn't want to remember how helpless he'd been, or how violent they'd been. Yami's presence beside him, however, gave him a measure of strength.
"I didn't have time to call for you, Yami. Before I knew it, the puzzle was in pieces. I tried to fight back, but I couldn't."
Yugi's voice broke as the tears welled up in his eyes. An overwhelming feeling of failure engulfed him, making him wish that the injuries had taken his life so he wouldn't have to deal with it, much less explain it to someone much more powerful and better able to take care of himself than him.
"They wanted to know where my God card was. They said that Seto Kaiba had one, so I must have one as well. They insisted I give it to them, but I didn't know what they were talking about."
Yugi paused to collect his whirling emotions and to wipe the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. He didn't glance up at Yami because he was afraid of what he would see in the spirit's face.
"I tried to tell them that I didn't know what they were talking about, tried to reason, but they didn't believe me. They thought I was lying to them, and they hurt me to make me tell them what they wanted. But I didn't know what they wanted.."
Yugi trailed off and buried his face in his hands, trying hard to control the sobs that wanted to rip from his body. He remembered the desperation he felt at not being able to get through to his attackers, the fear and the helplessness at not being able to protect himself, the anger at being attacked, and the numbing pain in every part of his body. He closed his eyes, but opened them when a flash of him on the floor, wanting to shrink in on himself and disappear as the two men kept hitting him threatened to overwhelm him. He quickly jerked upright, and found a strong hand encircling his shoulders.
"The memories hold only the power that you give them," Yami said soothingly. "It is not right to forget or deny the experience, because it is a part of you. You must understand that it is okay to seek help, reach out to someone else while you're dealing with the memories."
Yugi nodded absently, his cheek rubbing against Yami's chest. He took a few more moments to compose himself, before he pulled away to find Yami looking at him serenely.
"The puzzle was shattered, Yami. How can you be here?"
Yami actually smiled. "You have your friend Joey to thank for that."
Yugi's jaw dropped in surprise. "Joey put the puzzle back together? Not that I think he couldn't do it with enough time, but it took me forever to do it the first time."
"No, little one, Joey didn't complete the puzzle. He did put enough pieces back to allow me to come to you."
"I see. So why are you here?"
Yami let his arm drop back to his side, and he looked around at the landscape. "I am here to tell you that it is time to return. You do not belong here, nor do you belong in the afterlife."
Yugi listened to Yami's words, frowning. "They don't want me. I'm a nuisance to them. I can't help or protect them and they all have to do it for me. My friends would be a lot better off if I wasn't around."
Yami regarded him carefully, weighing what he'd just said. "What about me? Do you think you're a nuisance to me?"
Yugi swallowed the lump in his throat and glanced away from Yami. "Aren't I? You drove the bullies away, you can protect my friends while I can't. You're a great duelist, so what couldn't you do without me? Except for maybe exist. After all, you do need the body."
As soon as he'd said the words, Yugi wished he could call them back. Yami's face immediately hardened and he got up from the bolder he'd been sitting on. Yugi opened his mouth to apologize, but then realized that what he'd said was true. Yami did need his body to survive.
Yami's back was to him, but Yugi could still hear the words.
"You are correct, Yugi. I do need your body to live. However, that is not the reason for my presence here. I have lived inside the puzzle for millennia already; I could easily do so again. If you die, I remain in the puzzle until someone else puts it together. After everything we've been through together since you finished the puzzle the first time, I can not understand why you feel that way."
He paused for a moment before pressing on.
"The truth is that I would feel lost without you, and not because I need your body. You're a strong, intelligent and courageous young man, even if you don't see it yourself. I have grown quite fond of you and do not wish for you to die."
Yugi sighed, feeling even guiltier than he had before. The sadness in Yami's tone was as touching as it was heartbreaking. Yugi found that he was angry, he was tired and afraid, but it wasn't Yami's fault that he'd been attacked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I mean, I did, but just as a fact. I know that you're here to help me and I appreciate it. You're probably the only one that would want to."
Yami turned to face him then, nodding in acceptance of the apology. "I am not the only one who is willing to help you, Yugi. All you had to do to find that out was listen. I am not the only one that wishes for you to return to your body and awaken."
"What do you mean?"
Yami opened his arms, encompassing everything around him. "We're in your mind, so all you have to do is truly listen to what its hearing. Close your eyes and pay attention."
Yugi figured that he had nothing to lose, so he did as Yami instructed. He closed his eyes, and concentrated.
"Come on, Yug, wake up. It's been way too long already and we're missing you."
Yugi smiled when he heard Joey's heartfelt words. He kept his eyes closed, letting himself bathe in the warmth Joey was sending him.
"I don't know if I'm doing this puzzle thing right, or if Yami is going to be able to help you, but I'm going to keep trying until you open up those eyes, you hear me? Don't you dare check out on us now, Yug."
"Is that wise?"
Yugi recognized the second voice as Téa's.
"Is what wise?"
"You messing with the puzzle."
"Yami asked me to, he said that he needed more pieces put together to get into Yugi's mind."
"Oh, I hope he was able to. I want Yugi to wake up. He's got to wake up, Joey, he can't die.. He can't leave us."
"I know, Téa, I know. I'd be lost without him too."
Yugi opened his eyes to find Yami staring at him. "You see? I'm not the only one that cares."
Yugi nodded. He wrapped his arms around himself momentarily, before squaring his shoulders. He smiled.
"Maybe it is time to go back."
****
"How can I help you, Bakura?"
Bakura glanced up at Tristan, comforted by the concern in his eyes. He didn't know how to explain, all he knew was that he wanted it all to stop. He reached up to his face and hastily wiped his tears, before looking back at his friend.
"I don't know. I really don't know.." He trailed off when his emotions started clashing again. He took a deep, cleansing, breath to calm down, but found himself still shaking slightly. "You've seen the evil spirit before, so you know what he's capable of doing. Even now I can hear him laughing at me in the back of my mind."
Tristan reached out to grab Bakura's arms and slowly helped him stand up. He guided the shorter teen to one of the chairs and sat down to listen. Bakura smiled gratefully at him, while at the same time, fearing that his Yami would take over the body again and harm Tristan.
"How did you get the ring back after I threw it away?"
Bakura shrugged. "I really don't know. When control of the body returned to me, I had it again."
Tristan nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to get much more of an answer than that.
"I'm sorry, Tristan, this isn't really your problem."
Tristan smiled. "You're my friend, Bakura. Even if I can't help you deal with the spirit, I can be here to listen when you need to talk."
"Thanks."
Tristan got up and motioned for Bakura to do the same. "Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"Back to Yugi's room."
Bakura took an immediate step back, away from Tristan. "No, I'm not going back there, not after what I.."
"You didn't try to do anything, Bakura, it wasn't you. You have to go back, Yugi is counting on all of us to be there for him. Come on, I'll be with you."
After a long moment, Bakura nodded. He let Tristan take his arm and lead him back into the hospital.
****
"This is impossible!"
Joey threw down a few of the puzzle pieces that he had in his hand, wincing when one landed by Yugi's chin. He was alone in the room, after Téa had left to check on Gramps, but that didn't stop him from talking to himself.
"I could be seriously screwing with the puzzle. I mean, who's to say I haven't already? I haven't heard from Yami, so what if he's gone because I put this thing together wrong?"
He closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. He couldn't lose his patience or his confidence. Yugi was counting on him, and he had to be there for him no matter what."
"Yami was busy talking to me."
Joey's head jerked up so fast at the sound of the soft voice that he got a bit dizzy. When his vision cleared, he found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes. He grinned widely and took Yugi's hands.
"It's about time!"
**~~**
YAY, Yugi is awake! More to come soon ( I hope).
Thanks, as always, for all the reviews! I'm feeling more confident in my writing, so I might extend this story out a bit more than I originally planned. Any thoughts on whether I should do it or not would be appreciated.
Enjoy!
**~~**
Part 6: Best of Friends
Yugi watched Yami carefully, his anxiety rising as the spirit got closer and closer. Everyone he'd met in this dream state, with the exception of Téa, had made it absolutely clear that they'd be better off if he weren't around anymore. It had been devastating to hear that from Joey and Tristan, and Yugi didn't think that he could survive hearing it from Yami too.
He didn't say anything, waiting patiently for Yami to approach. The spirit walked purposely forward, but Yugi could tell that his movements were slow, and that his face was shadowed with exhaustion. Could an apparition really seem tired?
"Your negative thoughts will be your undoing, Aibou."
Yugi's eyebrows raised in surprise at not hearing what he thought he would hear.
"What do you mean?"
Yami was standing directly in front of him now, and Yugi could see the worry on the spirit's face. He smiled slightly, and reached out to put his arms around Yugi. Yugi tensed momentarily, before letting himself relax and return the embrace. When he stepped back, his smile matched Yami's.
"What was that for?"
Yami shrugged, but the spirit managed to make the move seem elegant and refined.
"I have been trapped in the puzzle for the past few days, Yugi, imagining nothing but the worst about what happened to you. Our link was broken so suddenly that it took me a while to realize that the puzzle had been unassembled again. All I could sense were your conflicting thoughts and feelings, along with your sense of loss and desire to give up." Yami took a deep breath, and patted Yugi's shoulder before finally releasing him. "It is good to see you well."
Yugi frowned, Yami's words hitting a chord with him. "What do you mean, you've been trapped in the puzzle? You're not another apparition come to taunt me?"
Yami raised one eyebrow at the inquiry, before shaking his head. "Technically, I am an apparition. I have always been one, as only you can see me. I don't believe I'm an apparition in the sense that you mean, and I certainly am not here to taunt you."
Yami turned around and examined his surroundings. He chuckled softly as he took in the moonlit landscape and bright stars.
"Nice place you have here. It's nothing like your soul room in the puzzle. I don't know why, but I assumed that your subconscious mind would be bright and airy." He turned to Yugi. "I am the dark half of you, after all."
Yugi took a look around his surroundings once again and shrugged. "My subconscious has its dark side too, Yami. It's just dormant most of the time. I guess this is a representation of it."
Yami nodded, as if he understood exactly what Yugi was telling him.
Yugi walked over to the boulder and once again plopped himself down upon it. He studied Yami as he studied his surroundings, feeling the weariness finally descend, making his soul feel heavy as if it were weighted with stones.
"You didn't answer my question."
"What question was that?"
"What you meant when you said that my negative thoughts will be my undoing."
Yami walked over to the boulder and sat down beside Yugi.
"Before I explain, tell me what happened? Why didn't you call me for help?"
Yugi looked away, instead choosing to study the darkened blades of grass at his feet. He didn't want to think about what had happened in the alley. The experience was still clear in his mind, as was the memory of the pain those two men had inflicted on him. He didn't want to remember how helpless he'd been, or how violent they'd been. Yami's presence beside him, however, gave him a measure of strength.
"I didn't have time to call for you, Yami. Before I knew it, the puzzle was in pieces. I tried to fight back, but I couldn't."
Yugi's voice broke as the tears welled up in his eyes. An overwhelming feeling of failure engulfed him, making him wish that the injuries had taken his life so he wouldn't have to deal with it, much less explain it to someone much more powerful and better able to take care of himself than him.
"They wanted to know where my God card was. They said that Seto Kaiba had one, so I must have one as well. They insisted I give it to them, but I didn't know what they were talking about."
Yugi paused to collect his whirling emotions and to wipe the tears that had fallen down his cheeks. He didn't glance up at Yami because he was afraid of what he would see in the spirit's face.
"I tried to tell them that I didn't know what they were talking about, tried to reason, but they didn't believe me. They thought I was lying to them, and they hurt me to make me tell them what they wanted. But I didn't know what they wanted.."
Yugi trailed off and buried his face in his hands, trying hard to control the sobs that wanted to rip from his body. He remembered the desperation he felt at not being able to get through to his attackers, the fear and the helplessness at not being able to protect himself, the anger at being attacked, and the numbing pain in every part of his body. He closed his eyes, but opened them when a flash of him on the floor, wanting to shrink in on himself and disappear as the two men kept hitting him threatened to overwhelm him. He quickly jerked upright, and found a strong hand encircling his shoulders.
"The memories hold only the power that you give them," Yami said soothingly. "It is not right to forget or deny the experience, because it is a part of you. You must understand that it is okay to seek help, reach out to someone else while you're dealing with the memories."
Yugi nodded absently, his cheek rubbing against Yami's chest. He took a few more moments to compose himself, before he pulled away to find Yami looking at him serenely.
"The puzzle was shattered, Yami. How can you be here?"
Yami actually smiled. "You have your friend Joey to thank for that."
Yugi's jaw dropped in surprise. "Joey put the puzzle back together? Not that I think he couldn't do it with enough time, but it took me forever to do it the first time."
"No, little one, Joey didn't complete the puzzle. He did put enough pieces back to allow me to come to you."
"I see. So why are you here?"
Yami let his arm drop back to his side, and he looked around at the landscape. "I am here to tell you that it is time to return. You do not belong here, nor do you belong in the afterlife."
Yugi listened to Yami's words, frowning. "They don't want me. I'm a nuisance to them. I can't help or protect them and they all have to do it for me. My friends would be a lot better off if I wasn't around."
Yami regarded him carefully, weighing what he'd just said. "What about me? Do you think you're a nuisance to me?"
Yugi swallowed the lump in his throat and glanced away from Yami. "Aren't I? You drove the bullies away, you can protect my friends while I can't. You're a great duelist, so what couldn't you do without me? Except for maybe exist. After all, you do need the body."
As soon as he'd said the words, Yugi wished he could call them back. Yami's face immediately hardened and he got up from the bolder he'd been sitting on. Yugi opened his mouth to apologize, but then realized that what he'd said was true. Yami did need his body to survive.
Yami's back was to him, but Yugi could still hear the words.
"You are correct, Yugi. I do need your body to live. However, that is not the reason for my presence here. I have lived inside the puzzle for millennia already; I could easily do so again. If you die, I remain in the puzzle until someone else puts it together. After everything we've been through together since you finished the puzzle the first time, I can not understand why you feel that way."
He paused for a moment before pressing on.
"The truth is that I would feel lost without you, and not because I need your body. You're a strong, intelligent and courageous young man, even if you don't see it yourself. I have grown quite fond of you and do not wish for you to die."
Yugi sighed, feeling even guiltier than he had before. The sadness in Yami's tone was as touching as it was heartbreaking. Yugi found that he was angry, he was tired and afraid, but it wasn't Yami's fault that he'd been attacked.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I mean, I did, but just as a fact. I know that you're here to help me and I appreciate it. You're probably the only one that would want to."
Yami turned to face him then, nodding in acceptance of the apology. "I am not the only one who is willing to help you, Yugi. All you had to do to find that out was listen. I am not the only one that wishes for you to return to your body and awaken."
"What do you mean?"
Yami opened his arms, encompassing everything around him. "We're in your mind, so all you have to do is truly listen to what its hearing. Close your eyes and pay attention."
Yugi figured that he had nothing to lose, so he did as Yami instructed. He closed his eyes, and concentrated.
"Come on, Yug, wake up. It's been way too long already and we're missing you."
Yugi smiled when he heard Joey's heartfelt words. He kept his eyes closed, letting himself bathe in the warmth Joey was sending him.
"I don't know if I'm doing this puzzle thing right, or if Yami is going to be able to help you, but I'm going to keep trying until you open up those eyes, you hear me? Don't you dare check out on us now, Yug."
"Is that wise?"
Yugi recognized the second voice as Téa's.
"Is what wise?"
"You messing with the puzzle."
"Yami asked me to, he said that he needed more pieces put together to get into Yugi's mind."
"Oh, I hope he was able to. I want Yugi to wake up. He's got to wake up, Joey, he can't die.. He can't leave us."
"I know, Téa, I know. I'd be lost without him too."
Yugi opened his eyes to find Yami staring at him. "You see? I'm not the only one that cares."
Yugi nodded. He wrapped his arms around himself momentarily, before squaring his shoulders. He smiled.
"Maybe it is time to go back."
****
"How can I help you, Bakura?"
Bakura glanced up at Tristan, comforted by the concern in his eyes. He didn't know how to explain, all he knew was that he wanted it all to stop. He reached up to his face and hastily wiped his tears, before looking back at his friend.
"I don't know. I really don't know.." He trailed off when his emotions started clashing again. He took a deep, cleansing, breath to calm down, but found himself still shaking slightly. "You've seen the evil spirit before, so you know what he's capable of doing. Even now I can hear him laughing at me in the back of my mind."
Tristan reached out to grab Bakura's arms and slowly helped him stand up. He guided the shorter teen to one of the chairs and sat down to listen. Bakura smiled gratefully at him, while at the same time, fearing that his Yami would take over the body again and harm Tristan.
"How did you get the ring back after I threw it away?"
Bakura shrugged. "I really don't know. When control of the body returned to me, I had it again."
Tristan nodded, knowing that he wasn't going to get much more of an answer than that.
"I'm sorry, Tristan, this isn't really your problem."
Tristan smiled. "You're my friend, Bakura. Even if I can't help you deal with the spirit, I can be here to listen when you need to talk."
"Thanks."
Tristan got up and motioned for Bakura to do the same. "Come on."
"Where are we going?"
"Back to Yugi's room."
Bakura took an immediate step back, away from Tristan. "No, I'm not going back there, not after what I.."
"You didn't try to do anything, Bakura, it wasn't you. You have to go back, Yugi is counting on all of us to be there for him. Come on, I'll be with you."
After a long moment, Bakura nodded. He let Tristan take his arm and lead him back into the hospital.
****
"This is impossible!"
Joey threw down a few of the puzzle pieces that he had in his hand, wincing when one landed by Yugi's chin. He was alone in the room, after Téa had left to check on Gramps, but that didn't stop him from talking to himself.
"I could be seriously screwing with the puzzle. I mean, who's to say I haven't already? I haven't heard from Yami, so what if he's gone because I put this thing together wrong?"
He closed his eyes, willing himself to calm down. He couldn't lose his patience or his confidence. Yugi was counting on him, and he had to be there for him no matter what."
"Yami was busy talking to me."
Joey's head jerked up so fast at the sound of the soft voice that he got a bit dizzy. When his vision cleared, he found himself staring into a pair of violet eyes. He grinned widely and took Yugi's hands.
"It's about time!"
**~~**
YAY, Yugi is awake! More to come soon ( I hope).