Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh!
Umm…this is, as of right now,…mostly sad, I was listening to a variety of love ballads and decided to write this…the music I listened to were : All Cried Out by Allure and 112, Have You Ever by Brandy, Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen, Hands by Jewel, Viva Forever by Spice Girls, Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton, Every Step You Take by Puff Daddy, Big Big World by Emilia, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon theme song by Coco Lee, songs from Nicolas Tse, of course, my favorite Asian International singer, Jay Chow, and First Love by Utada Hikaru.
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The haunting melody floated past her hunched form as she slowly stared at her now-cold coffee. Tea sat huddled with a fleece blanket wrapped around her, the vibrant stripes of the cloth mocking her memories of him. Memories which she was desperately trying to suppress to the deepest recesses of her mind.
"No," she breathed, her hand tightly clenching the white porcelain cup with the faded sunflowers painted near the base. In the distant background, the radio on top of the white shelf continued it's aching song, the flickering flames of the fire just below the ledge making dark shadows dance upon her figure.
Seated upon her leather armchair, Tea faced the latticed window, the rose curtains drawn aside so that the glittering expanse of snow could be seen. The corners of the window panes were fogging up, crystals of snow forming at the edges.
Tea felt so cold inside although physically her skin was warm under the blanket and from the heat coming from the fire burning gently in the fireplace. She shut her cerulean eyes tightly, her dark eyelashes accentuating her almond eyes.
"No," she whispered fiercely to herself, "I will not cry!" Too late. A droplet of water trickled from the edges of her closed eyes leaving a trail of moisture on her pale cheeks. "Damn it," she hissed, opening her eyes to reveal glittering tears.
A hand moved jerkily to wipe her eyes as the other set the cup on the stained coffee table beside her.
She stood up, letting the blanket fall from her, and crossed the room to the window. Gazing outside, it was like a Winter Wonderland. The snow blanketed the earth, the feathery flakes spiraled downwards to lightly land on tree branches, parked cars, and everything that it could reach.
"You're a big girl now, Tea," she said softly, her breath slightly fogging the window panes., as one hand caressed the window.
It had been done gently, she was grateful at least for that. Of course, the worst part was that she couldn't find fault in the break-up, it would've been better if she could blame the end of the relationship on Yami. But that wasn't possible, his reasons, well, let's just say that no one could find any error on his part.
She should have known it was coming, but she had selfishly clung on because she was afraid to be alone again. Cradled in his gentle arms, she felt safe and protected from her fears. With him, her fears for her friends, her fear of failing to enter into Julliard, the prestigious ballet school, all these insecurities were banished just by his touch.
Tea bowed her head, as she trailed her fingers on the sill. But at least he was gentle, she thought again to herself.
Unable to stop herself, she thought again about what happened a few hours before.
It had been just after school and she was watching Joey and Tristan have another fight over who had gotten the last ham sandwich at the cafeteria.
"No, I touched it first, you ignoramus," howled Joey, pounding his fists on Tristan's back.
"Yeah, but you cheated in order to get it!" Tristan yelled in response, pinning the struggling Joey down. "You tripped me as we were racing toward it!"
"It doesn't matter," snorted Joey as he wriggled out of Tristan's furious grip and punched him in the stomach. "Ha!" he said triumphantly to the downed Tristan. "Take that! It's your fault that you fell for it, it's survival of the fittest when it comes to those ham sandwiches!"
Tea giggled at their antics as Tristan grabbed Joey into a headlock and proceeded to ram his head into the fence.
"Take that! And that!" Tristan grunted. "Now who's laughin,' huh?"
A chuckle of laughter was heard.
Tea smiled, "Hello Yugi!" she said cheerfully. "I suppose everyone else is there with you?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"You guessed it," Yugi Moto replied back, his short form moving to sit next to Tea. Tea craned her head around as she was greeted by Mai, Ryou, and Yami. The others, Malik, Marik, and Bakura, stood farther apart from the group, cold expressions on their face. They hung in the group but spoke little, and if they did, it was usually a disparaging comment here and there.
An arm draped itself over Tea's shoulder as she leaned into Yami's chest.
"Hey," she said as she buried her nose into his thick blue jacket. Mmm, he smelled of the forest.
As the gang watched in comfortable silence as Joey and Tristan continued to duke it out, Yami leaned down to whisper in Tea's ear.
"Tea…" he said uncertainly. "Can I talk to you in private?"
Tea glanced up at him, a questioning look on her face. "Sure, of course," she said as she scrambled to her feet, the boots skidding slightly in the snow.
"Hey guys, I'm gonna leave with Yami now," she announced.
Everyone murmured their good-bye's to them, eyes flicking briefly at the pair, they were too engrossed with the fight. Joey now had the upper hand, he had Tristan's arm bent behind him as he was furiously pounding poor Tristan's face into the snow.
"Had enough?" panted Joey, his face red.
"Nevuh!" cried Tristan, his mouth full of snow.
Shaking her head, Tea lead Yami to the park, the bare trees covered in lumps of snow. As they reached a bench, Tea sat down, and after a moment of hesitation, Yami did as well.
"So," Tea said, crossing her legs, "What did you want to tell me?"
Yami looked away at the trees for a long moment, his profile was dark and stern. The epitome of a courtly prince. Then he turned back to Tea.
Taking Tea's gloved hands with his, he gently looked into her eyes, violet eyes serious.
"You know that it's been a few months since we were together," he began, his voice thick with suppressed emotions. "Being with you, made me feel as if I was a regular human, not a five thousand year old pharaoh, who's past died a few millennia ago. You've…you've made me feel alive, and for awhile…you drove out my doubt over whether Shadi had made a right decision in giving me a body. And for awhile, I could escape all these doubts being with you. But it's come to a point where I can't anymore. My memories of my previous life still haunts me, I can remember my family, my old friends…everything still so clearly."
"By the holy feathers of Ra," he swore, looking away. "This is so hard for me. I feel like I am using you Tea, to forget about my pharaoh life. And that's where I had to make the decision to…end things. I can't keep on escaping my past and ignoring it, I just keep on having this feeling like something is missing from my life."
Tea looked down at her tightly laced hands. "Yami," she said, blinking away tears, "But you're past is dead though."
"Yes, it's dead," Yami said in a muted voice, "But I'm not."
He wearily put his hands over his face, "I bought a ticket to Egypt to look for Shadi. I believe he can help me."
"I understand," Tea said quietly.
Yami gave a surprised look at Tea.
"What?" Tea said with a trembling smile, "Didn't think I knew that you were still brooding whether it was fair that you were given a body when your family and your entire past were dead? Yami," she leaned forward, eyes brimming with tears, "I understand…I took this risk when we first got together. And," she gave a small laugh, her voice catching, "You say you used me…yet I believe that I used you. You were my shield against my worries over Yugi and Joey, whether they'd be alright in their duels, my own doubts over my dancing, my safe haven against all the other people who wanted to see my friends fail in the dueling tournaments."
She broke off, biting her lip. Then she squeezed Yami's shoulder tightly.
"Go to Egypt and get the answers to all of your questions," she said, looking deep into his eyes, and stood up, brushing off the snow from her jacket.
Yami stood up as well, and grasped her hand.
"Tea, but this doesn't mean that I don't want to be with you…it's just that it could take years to find out what I'm missing in my new life, that I don't want you to be left unhappy, waiting for me. But if I do come back soon…would you wait for me?"
Tea smiled sadly, "You know my answer Yami. Yes." As she turned to leave, Yami caught her sleeve.
"I'll walk you home."
Tea gently disengaged his hand, "Yami, your first step is to let go of me. If you really want to find your answers, you'll have to let go of your present life in order to get back to your past life."
Yami slowly drew back his arm, she was right.
"Don't worry, I'll wait for you," she promised and walked away.
Don't look back, Tea chanted in her mind. She knew that if she did, she would probably fling herself back into his arms and hysterically ask him to stay.
Yami watched Tea slowly trudge away. He suddenly felt even more lost with the disappearance of Tea by his side.
He gripped the silver chain hanging from his neck, it was a gift from Tea.
"I won't forget you, no matter how my journey ends," he whispered.
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Okay, slightly…hehe…sappy…but hey, a sappy scene every once in awhile is okay! Hmm…I think this will be a one-shot fic, just because I already have too many stories out there. But if you guy's disagree otherwise…tell me. But tell me the truth and not just because you want another chapter…oh however if you do..it's not gonna be guaranteed that Tea will stay with Yami…depends on how I feel..hehe, gonna for once, decide who she stays with. But that's only if you want to continue it. ReMeMbEr though! Tell me the truth, plz!