FLY WITH ME
Chapter 4: Confusion
By Amphitrite II

.

Notes: Chapter four is here! ^^ I like this fic, a lot. I guess that's because I can actually write fluently in it. Like…I can write a whole chapter in one sitting. Heh. Usually the chapters of my fics take forever to write. Seriously. I just hope I won't get Writer's Block in the middle of this…

Last Revision: June 29, 2009

.

While Bakura was lost in his gloomy thoughts inside his soul room, a certain former pharaoh was pondering Bakura's parting words in his own soul room.

//Yami?//

Yami snapped out of his thoughts at his partner's call. He still hadn't gotten used to being called by that name, but Yuugi had insisted that he was his own person now and therefore deserved his own name. He had tried calling him by his Ancient Egyptian name – Atemu – but Yami had decided himself that he didn't feel right bearing the royal name, seeing as he wasn't exactly that person anymore, even if his memories of his past life had returned.

//Yami, are you there?//

Yami sighed, slightly irked that his concentration had been interrupted. /I'm here, Partner. Is something wrong?/

//I'm worried about you. Are you feeling okay? You've been kind of…off recently.//

/I'm fine./

He could feel Yuugi sighing. //I don't believe you.//

/I'm fine,/ Yami repeated. /Please believe me, Partner. Thank you for your concern, but I just need some time alone to think./

Yuugi ignored his plea and continued: /We're going to the ski resort tomorrow. Well, in a few hours, anyway. Are you going to come with me?/

/The what resort?/

//Ski, Yami. Remember, our school field trip? I told you about it.//

/I don't remember,/ Yami insisted, annoyed that this conversation was going on for way too long.

Yuugi sighed again. //We're going up into the mountains. Would you like to come with us or not?//

/Who will be there?/

//All the upperclassmen.//

/I meant, who?/

//Oh. Ryou, Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Otogi, Kaiba… Oh, and Ryou's going to try to convince Bakura to come too,// Yuugi said offhandedly, masking his impish grin.

Yami jumped at the mention of Bakura. /Bakura? Why is he going?/

Yuugi shrugged, vocalizing: //Ryou wants him to. Yami, you still haven't answered my question.//

Yami was silent, mulling over Bakura's last words for the hundredth time.

"You will soon, Pharaoh. I know you will. Just remember to come to me when you figure it out. I hope you come soon."

/No, Partner. I won't be accompanying you./

//But, Yami! You have to!// Yuugi cried out, extremely disappointed and shocked; he hadn't actually expected Yami to refuse the offer. //I want you to!//

/Well, you must learn then that not everything in life will go the way that you want to,/ Yami refuted firmly.

//I can't believe you! What has gotten into you recently?// Yuugi shouted mentally. Yami shook his head and shut off the mind link. He stared at the stone walls around him, entrenched in deep guilt. He hadn't meant to make Yuugi angry; he had merely relayed his true feelings to his other: he didn't want to be there with Bakura. He wasn't ready to face the thief again; it was much too early. He hadn't figured everything out yet.

Although Yami sensed Yuugi waking up, he ignored it easily. Apparently, Yuugi didn't want to speak to him yet. He separated himself from his other and made his way to the guest bedroom swiftly. Lying down on the bed, he closed his eyes in false slumber, making sure to become invisible to anyone who didn't know he was there. Instead of sleeping, he waited as Yuugi ran downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, and left the house.

When he was sure that Yuugi was gone, Yami sat up on the bed and tapped into Yuugi's conversation with Ryou.

"Is the pharaoh coming?"

"He decided not to come," Yuugi answered, shifting his feet awkwardly.

"Oh. Well, that's good." Yuugi's head snapped up suddenly, his violet eyes clouded in confusion.

"Huh?"

Ryou shook his head sadly. "Bakura didn't want to come. Said he was waiting for something. I didn't catch it."

Yuugi sighed. "Why are they so stubborn?"

Even more confused than before, Yami closed his part of the link. What could Yuugi and Ryou be talking about? Why would they want him and Bakura to go on the trip so much? Why didn't anything make sense anymore?

Sighing, he stood up and walked out of the room. After going downstairs, he headed for the back door, but was halted by Yuugi's grandfather in the kitchen. "Other Yuugi?" Yami looked at him. "Are you going somewhere?" Sugoroku asked curiously. Yami nodded, but still did not speak. "All right. Have a nice time," the old man answered awkwardly. The pharaoh nodded again before walking out the front door.

The weather was comfortable – overcast but warm and breezy; the light wind felt refreshing on Yami's bare arms. Letting his feet take him wherever they wished to go, he eventually found himself at the park again. It seemed as though ages had passed since he had last visited the park, even though he knew it had only been a few hours.

Walking in circles, lost in thought, Yami pondered everything that Bakura had said to him recently. Vaguely, he wondered why Bakura had even been at the park in the first place. The silver-haired spirit had said himself that he usually wasn't out so late. So then why had he been there?

In addition, he debated why Bakura would accuse him of being afraid of love. Was it just his own strange way of mocking him? But then he wouldn't have admitted his own fear if that had been the case.

Would he?

No… The other must have spoken the truth; he couldn't have intended just to poke fun at him. Bakura must have truly believed that Yami was frightened of love. But why? What reason did he have to believe that particular theory?

And then there was the question of the identity Bakura's mysterious love. Who could it be? Who did the thief love who didn't love him back? Yami wondered why someone that Bakura loved wouldn't love him back. Bakura had probably fallen for some fellow troublemaker or thief, but there was no reason someone like that wouldn't return his feelings. At least Yami didn't think so – but then again, he had a bad habit of lumping people into categories based on their behavior towards him. Still, Bakura was hardly an unattractive specimen, and he was clever and intelligent to boot, and he wasn't so bad anymore…

Frowning, Yami halted his thoughts before he started singing praises of his former enemy.

He sighed and returned to pondering Bakura's words, his own words, and his own lies. Several fragments of their strange conversation just kept coming back to him: Bakura's calm words; his stubborn ones.

"I'm not afraid."

"I believe that it's worth it. All the fear, all the pain… I think it would all be worth it if I didn't have to be alone anymore."

"Who wouldn't love you?"

"I want you to know… What I said to you the other day… I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it at all."

"Don't lie to me, Pharaoh."

"I don't understand."

"You will soon, Pharaoh. I know you will. Just remember to come to me when you figure it out. I hope you come soon."

None of what they had discussed made any sense to him. But he knew that he felt guilty –

guilty! Why should he feel guilty? He had done absolutely nothing wrong. There was nothing to feel guilty about. But then why did he feel so bad? Why did he feel that he had been lying to Bakura? And why did he care?

So many questions had become jumbled up in Yami's head, giving him a headache. He sighed for what felt like the hundredth time: it was all too much for him. He might excel at puzzles, but this puzzle just refused to be solved. He knew that he had to figure it out, though, not just to get rid of his confusion or his headache, but because Bakura seemed so confident that he would figure it out.

Overwhelmed by the faith the thief seemed to have in him, Yami's brain kept flashing back to that look that Bakura had worn as he had spoken his parting words: his expression had been so open, so full of hope and trust. It just made Yami all the more motivated.

He had to figure all this out.

He would do it.

He would do it for Bakura.

Notes: Awww…I like that ending. ^_^

All right! Another chapter completed. I'm proud of myself! Heh… Was in a good mood when I came home from school today, so I decided to finish this. Finally. It's a little on the short side, but just be happy that I posted at all. XP

Be sure to leave a review! You can't imagine how much it'll help! Thanks for reading.