Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh!
Warnings: AU, Character Death
Tears ran down Yugi's face, dropping to the already damp grass below him as he sat crouched in the same place he'd been every afternoon for the past three hundred and sixty-five days in a row.
That's right. Today would mark exactly one year since his world had turned completely upside down. Thanks to one awful, horrifying event, the first and best friend he'd ever had was now lying beneath him with six feet of earth separating them for eternity.
It had all begun as a simple game. The biggest thing to hit shelves in years, Duel Monsters spread quickly through Domino High School as the latest fad. And of course, Yugi and Joey had allowed themselves to get swept up in the craze along with everyone else.
They often dueled each other, although the results were always the same – Yugi victorious and Joey swearing he would cream Yugi the next time. But there was always the laughter, the warmth, and everyone around them knew that these two chums were having the time of their lives just by playing a silly card game.
As time progressed, Yugi taught Joey to be more patient when dueling, taught him to trust in himself as much as he did the cards. And in his own way, Joey taught Yugi a lesson, as well. He taught him not to get so caught up in everything that went on around him, to remember that in the end it was all a game, and that no victory was truly yours unless you took some risks to earn it.
By the time they had reached Pegasus' castle at Duelist Kingdom, they each relied heavily on the other. They borrowed strength, wisdom, and encouragement from each other and assured themselves they would always be there for one another. And then their game became something more serious, with much more on the line than pride.
Suddenly, they were torn between being there for each other and saving those they loved. Even though they had each promised the other to do anything they could to help them reach their ultimate goal, only one of them would be able to actually do so. So with tears in his eyes and his heart in his throat, Yugi did the only thing he'd been able to do since they'd begun playing this so-called "game." He won.
Seeing that Joey was still proud of Yugi even though he'd lost everything, he couldn't bear the thought of Joey's sister losing her eyesight and never being able to physically see the hero that was her brother. So Yugi gave Joey his prize. After all, what's three million dollars compared to the priceless friendship they shared?
After Yugi beat Pegasus, it seemed as if the two friends had made a silent vow never to duel each other again. There were no more games after school, no more friendly competitions between them. And they were both content to keep it that way until they joined the Battle City tournament.
Yugi knew that his friend had gained enough experience and had enough instinct to make it all the way to the finals once again. And he knew that this could turn them against each other once more, but was prepared to face that when the time came. But that time arrived sooner than Yugi had expected it to.
As he faced his best friend, his honorary brother, on that dock, his heart was torn in two. He knew that the familiar stranger in front of him was not in fact Joey, but an evil menace that had to be stopped. Nonetheless, those honey brown eyes that were gazed over with possession still held the warmth and love deep within them, and Yugi knew that even with the world's fate at stake he couldn't be held responsible for his friend's untimely demise. So just as the spell over Joey was broken, he made an attack that would affect his life in a worse way than he had originally thought.
Yugi would have sacrificed everything for Joey, and proved that when he called an attack on his own life points, revealing Joey's key and a countdown to Yugi's plummet to the ocean floor. Shaking and crying, he knew this was the last time he would see Joey's face, but could never have guessed the reason why.
Joey, being the hero he never understood he was, leaped to Yugi's rescue, unlocking the chains around him just as the anchor dropped and pulled him into the ocean's dark grip. Yugi blacked out, and his next conscious thought was why Serentiy was swimming and crying in front of him. Shouldn't people be happy in heaven? And why was Serenity in his heaven anyway? That was when Yugi felt as if someone had slammed his blood to the bottom of his body as realization settled in. Someone was pulling Serenity out of the water, he could hear people sobbing behind him, and he noticed that the anchor he had been attached to was missing, as well as Joey.
Yugi felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up through tear-blurred eyes at Yami. He stood up slowly and began to walk back toward the car, turning back only once. 'I love you, Joey,' he thought, choking back a sob.
Yami wrapped his arm around Yugi's trembling shoulder. "He knows, little one, he knows."