THE PARTING OF LOST SOULS
Last Chapter: Holding On
Kaiba left the balcony. On his way out, he saw the other Yugi standing by the hallway in front of her bedroom door. Unknown to him, his rival witnessed the entire scene between him and Emrys.
Unlike before, the other Yugi did not feel any anger towards Kaiba.
There was a long pause as the rivals' eyes met with such depth.
As the CEO stood face-to-face with the amethyst-eyed duelist, he firmly said to the other, "Don't hurt her, Yugi..."
Knowing the true reason behind his rival's words, the other Yugi replied, "I won't..."
The sable-haired young man then resumed his calculated walk towards his office.
As the azure-eyed duelist was about to enter his office, the youth with the tri-colored mane said, "Kaiba -- "
Even though the driven CEO did not turn around, he stopped and gave the other his undivided attention.
A somber other Yugi murmured, "Thanks. I owe you."
Still tight-lipped, Kaiba deadpanned as his expression became grimmer, "We don't owe each other anything. I did it for me, not for you." He then quietly entered his office.
The other Yugi knocked on the door and joined Emrys at the balcony. The lovers stood side-by-side as they stared at the moonlit sky and kept silent. Minutes later, he then turned around to face her. He chose not to say anything about the fact that he knew that she cried. As his amethyst eyes focused on her, he murmured, "Is everything okay?"
With a slight grin, Emrys responded as she wiped some of her tears, "Yes. Kaiba and I just had a little talk."
The other Yugi's eyebrow rose and his forehead crinkled. "About?"
"About how I feel about him and you...that in spite of how I feel, I'd always be there for him and Mokuba."
The gentle smile that the other Yugi gave Emrys had a mixture of joy to hear her words as well as marked sympathy for his rival. "He cares a lot about you. He went through great lengths to keep you safe."
Emrys deeply sighed to dispel the tension inside her. "He and I agreed to keep our friendship the way it is. He took it well."
Amethyst eyes probingly but understandably gazed into Emrys' eyes. "You really love him too, don't you?"
The singer's hazel-brown eyes further misted from the other Yugi's question. "I love both of you differently. I'm very fortunate that you and I feel the same way for each other."
During the silence, the other Yugi remembered when he told her the truth about him and the Millennium Puzzle. He would have let her go had she wished to because he wanted her to be happy. Empathizing with Kaiba, he pondered, "He respected her feelings for me. He must really love her, too."
Emrys then said as she gave her lover an intent gaze, "Now that you know how I feel, I hope that you're okay with it."
"Okay with you and Kaiba being good and close friends? No, I wouldn't have a problem with it."
"It wouldn't bother you even though your fiercest rival is one of my closest friends?"
The otherYugi gently squeezed Emrys' hand and softly reassured her, "I trust you. That's all that matters."
Feeling the authenticity behind the other Yugi's response, Emrys whispered in a semi-choking voice, "Thank you... It means a lot to me..."
The two lovers were quiet for a long time until the other Yugi murmured, "When I saw you at the hospital...the time that he was about to kiss you on the lips..." He then stopped and leaned forward on the railing. He looked down at the streets below and sighed. "The whole thing just...bothered me..."
Emrys affectionately placed her hand on the other Yugi's back.
In response, the other Yugi glanced upward and gazed into Emrys' eyes. Minutes later, he felt a slight gnaw of guilt. Clearing his throat, he then said, "I have a confession to make and a question to ask you."
With piqued curiosity, Emrys looked at him.
"When you were in a coma, the Millennium Items showed me your past." After what he said, the other Yugi then braced himself for Emrys' response.
Instead of getting angry as the other Yugi had expected, Emrys sighed. Returning to her chair and leaning back, she stared at him and said, "So now you really know why I don't want Rebecca to follow my footsteps."
The other Yugi approached and sat beside Emrys. After the momentary silence between them, he murmured, "Why didn't you tell me that you were hurting so much?"
"For the longest time, I thought I had the upper hand. I did my best to change for the better..."
The other Yugi turned sideways to completely face Emrys and gently took her hands. "I just don't see why you had to keep everything inside. You have all of us. We're your friends."
"Not everyone is like you or Yugi. When my parents died, people made a lot of assumptions about me. They either over-estimated or under-estimated on what I could do or handle. I didn't want anyone's pity. I just wanted to understand why things happened the way they did. I love my parents. I just couldn't understand why they both had to die so soon."
Gathering up the courage within her, Emrys then explained, "The courts then wanted to send me to a foster home and take my parents' estate. To stop them, Uncle Arthur pulled a few strings and became my legal guardian. Three years ago, the courts granted my request to be recognized as an adult."
"You've achieved so much yet it still wasn't enough for you, was it?"
"I was so screwed up. I took that instability during field excavations. I even endangered Uncle Arthur's life a few times. Not wanting to endanger anyone anymore, I was on my best behavior during the day and went underground at night. I hung out with scoundrels, thieves, and occultists. I conversed with and observed them. I was dying to find out what really made them tick. I wanted to know if I had something in common with them."
As hard as it was for her, Emrys looked at the other Yugi straight in the eye as her eyes misted. "I then realized that what I really wanted was to end everything. However, my conscience kept saving me..."
Delicately, the other Yugi asked, "Is that why you had scars on your left thigh?"
Emrys grimly nodded. "I'm not proud of what I did in the past, Yugi. I thought that if I truly knew myself for all the good and bad that I was capable of, then I could finally understand myself enough to move on."
"You have already moved on. It's not an easy task to face your demons and discover yourself. It's a life-long journey."
Emrys then sadly and quietly asked, "Now that you know the real me, do you still love me the same way you did before I left Domino City?"
For the other Yugi's response, he affectionately planted a gentle kiss on Emrys' forehead and then tenderly embraced her. Being as gentle as he possibly could, he then initiated a series of kisses...first starting off as chaste and the subsequent ones having more passion in them. He did the best that he could to communicate what he felt about her through those kisses, and she also did her best to do the same.
After all, this would be the second time that the two lovers would part ways. The two did not want to be apart from each other again but they knew that they were doing so for a future that they were looking forward to.
Kaiba stood outside Emrys' bedroom door all this time. Although it broke his heart to see them together, two truths consoled him. One was that he now knew she had feelings for him too. Two was that she would take a stand for their deep and complicated friendship.
As Kaiba clenched his fists and walked back to his office, he renewed his promise to never give up on anything…
Kaiba swore not to give up on Emrys...not just yet and especially not to the other Yugi.
Author's Notes
So there you are, dear folks: the last chapter of The Parting of Lost Souls.
The third installment of the Lost Souls Story Arc - The Descent of Lost Souls - will answer the rest of the questions that remain unanswered. For Pegasus, Shadi, and Isis fans, this next story arc will be a welcome treat!
I hope you enjoyed reading this fan fiction, as much as I enjoyed writing it!
To all the reviewers, I give my undying gratitude and appreciation to you. You guys are awesome!
PJ Zatken
Normal Disclaimer
Yu-Gi-Oh is the copyrighted property of Kazuki Takahashi. Alexandra Emrys, Yoshiko, Detective Garson, other original characters, and this fan fiction are the properties of the author. This fan fiction is written for entertainment purposes only, thereby releasing the author from any and all liabilities.