The Dream

Tea's entire body trembled with excitement. Within her mind a certain scene was playing out and it repeated itself endlessly, just like a movie stuck on instant replay. She held her knees close to her face as she contemplated her exact words.

"Yami, do you love me?"

-No, that's too presumptuous.

"Yami, could you ever love me?"

-No, I sound desperate.

"Yami...I...love you."

-What if I just told him that?

In her mind's eye, the pharaoh was smiling back at her declaration. "Well, that's a relief Tea, because I have something to tell you." He then stood up, combating the pain of his wounds and slowly limped over her. "Take my hand. I want you to be close to me as I tell you this." Then Tea reached out, feeling the strong yet gentle fingers Yami possessed. "Those fingers...so precise," Tea noted. In the instant of a breath, she was standing 3 inches away from him. She could feel the warmth of his skin affecting her temperature. She pictured his bronze skin as the sun, slowly tanning her and causing her to sweat. He was leisurely making her weaker and weaker and parched for liquid. The pharaoh painfully got down on his knees, signifying his complete humbleness to Tea and bowed his head. "I could have never imagined..." the pharaoh lifted his head "that you could ever love a man like me." Before long, Tea was on her knees with Yami on the cabin floor. "Shhh," Tea whispered. "I want to be with you," Tea declared as she put her head on the pharaoh's chest. Yami slowly enclosed her delicate crown in his arms and then the scene faded to black, only to start over again and again and again.
Tea was tied up in this dream for hours. Yami's promise to speak of the matter when he woke had the girl slung to her imagination like a fly to a spider's web. Only, there was no spider there to devour her—no tragedy to discourage her from asking Yami about love. She was free to struggle and flex in the strings of her imagination forever. The only thing now was for Yami to rise.

Yami's head was throbbing and his pulse quickening. He lay on a small brown table in the middle of the unknown hoping the pain would pass. The pharaoh drifted in and out of sleep—in and out of pain—for 2 hours and it showed no signs of letting up. "Trying to find a dream is useless," the pharaoh thought and decided to assume his previous position on the table's edge.
Within his restless sleep, however, he did find a means of dealing with Tea. He would tell her the truth, answer the questions she asked him, and would not mislead her in any way. It was essential for the protection of his aibou, and for Tea's own protection.

"Yami, are you up?" Tea asked from across the room.

"MmHmm," Yami deeply hummed.

Tea stood up using the wall as a crutch. Tea's hands were so dirty by now that not even the splinters could catch her skin. She slowly walked closer to Yami holding a small portion of her shirt in one hand, and her dream in the other. Together, they must have given her courage.

Tea stood three feet away from him, a proximity that was close but still allowed the pharaoh his space. She then folded her knees and sat on the floor.

Yami smiled. "You can come closer to me Tea." His purple-crimson eyes had never seemed so inviting.

Exactly what Tea wanted to hear. "Everything's going according to my dream!" she thought.

She positioned her feet for a standing thrust but was interrupted buy the sight of a hand. Yami's hand. "He's reaching out to me," she thought. He pulled her up and slowly patted the dust off a space beside him. He was inviting Tea to sit close. This was all too much. She sat down and felt the table moan in angst but the fear of falling was not on her mind. "The words..." Tea thought. "What are the words I want to say?"

The pharaoh was sitting with his eyes closed grasping his side.

"Are you okay?" Tea asked followed quickly by "What a stupid question." But the pharaoh responded, "Nothing that time won't heal...combined with your bandages anyways," he smiled. Tea's heart was gliding on ice...Yami smiled at her.

"I want to ask you something Yami," Tea declared.

"I know Tea. Go ahead, I'm listening," Yami responded.

-"Say it!" Tea thought.

"I...have...have you ever been in love?" she finally sighed.

This caught the pharaoh off guard. He was expecting Tea to be a bit blunter, thus this would be much simpler to resolve. But Tea could not bring herself to be so forward and opted for the scenic route. He knew this was true by the look on her face. A face of dissatisfaction. Yami lowered his eyes and began to think.

"I don't remember much, Tea...about my past," Yami replied.

Yami looked at Tea and noticed the disappointment on her face. Seeing her like this led him to find a deeper answer. So he did something different. In three precise movements, Yami's deck had moved from around his waist, to his hands. He had unlocked the belt around his waist which contained his dueling deck and took out its contents.

"But memories are not always purely intellectual. In fact most memories are exactly the opposite...a feeling...an emotion that cannot be explained in words." Yami spread his finger across his deck causing the cards to spread. "The heart of the cards is exactly that. Something I can't describe—a feeling. I feel like we have a deep relationship that cannot be explained in words. I wouldn't call it love. But its close...the closest I've ever come to it."

"Not that kind of love. You feel you have to protect your cards because they are a part of your past. But forget about the past. What about now?" Tea inquired.

Yami was completely taken aback by her response. It had not occurred to him that the love he had been feeling was not the "right" kind of love. It was as if she was prepared for him to say that. As if she had acted out this scene before and was determined to get the outcome she desired.

Yami searched his mind for the truth.

"Aibou," he eventually whispered.

"What?" Tea asked.

"I have never felt the bond for another like I do for Yugi. He is...my light and I hope we are never separated."

"No...no Yami," Tea smiled. "He too is a part of you that you feel needs protection. Just as you felt about Ancient Egypt in the past...and for your friends in the present." Tea placed her hand on Yami's thigh. A move he was not prepared for. "I want to know if you've ever loved someone." Tea declared.

Yami was growing more and more uncomfortable. He was loosing control of the discussion. However, moving away was not an option. "Please, come to my aid Yugi," Yami thought. The pharaoh removed Tea's hand from his thigh and held it in his hand.

"Tea, what is it you really want to say?" Yami stated in an attempt to regain control.

Tea looked stunned...as if this was not a part of her vision.

"I....I...." she stuttered.

She was leaning ever closer to Yami. Yami peered deep within her eyes, trying to sense the truth within her.

"Yami, do you even know what kind of love I mean?" Tea asked.

Yami turned his head to cough—a reminder of his present condition.

"I mean true love that makes you crazy...to the point you don't even know who you are...love like...I have..." Tea sighed.

Yami felt a sharp pain in his heart. He didn't know whether the wounds on his body caused such pain or Tea's suspenseful confession. He just knew he couldn't take either much longer.

Tea was growing impatient with Yami. He bowed his head and seemed to be deep in thought.

"Tea...I don't know how to say this..."

"You don't have to. Love can't be explained in words. But I can show you..."

Yami had no time to react before the girl was in his lap. She was cautious not to put too much pressure on his body and quickly searched for a certain part of his body. Before long, she had found them—his lips. She pressed his lips to her own and closed her eyes tightly, perhaps to avoid Yami's objection, or to lose herself in the moment. Yami's eyes were wide open. He could feel the inner part of her lips greeting the tip of his tongue. The kiss wasn't deep, but it seemed to last forever. Tea couldn't tell if he was kissing back, so she continued to kiss until she got some sort of reaction from him. Yami didn't know what to do. His heart was breaking. He could in no way kiss the girl back; he wasn't in love with her. But the prospect of breaking her heart caused him much pain. He decided to wrap his arms around her in a tight embrace and prepared her for the worst. Tea felt the pharaoh's hand wrapped around her waist. A tear almost fell from her eye. The scene was picture perfect...Yami and Tea in a tight embrace, kissing for the first time. But the pharaoh's intentions were not the same. He slowly moved his head away and used his arms to keep Tea still. His was very gentle with her.

Tea was searching for something...anything from him. He slowly wiped her check and held his hand under her chin.

"Tea..."

Tea's eyes lit up at the sound of her name.

"I...cannot love you. Not how you want me to," Yami slowly declared.

Tea froze. Her expression went blank and she attempted to turn her head away, which is precisely why the pharaoh placed his hand on her chin. He turned her eyes to him and smiled.

"I will be here for you always, Tea. You can count on me to protect you and to love you like I love all my friends."

Tea's eyes were fixed on Yami's. She noticed he was shaking...struggling to tell her this. Tea's face contorted into a ball of frustration and she began to weep. Yami quickly grasped her in his arms and embraced her closely.

"Please...Tea...there is someone else who loves you so..."

"But it's not you, right..." she inturrupted.

"No."

Tea broke his embrace and ran away from him with no clear direction, knocking all of Yami's cards to the floor.

"Tea!" Yami pleaded.

But she pretended not to hear him. She bolted out of the door, into the outside world leaving Yami completely alone with arms out reached. He lowered his eyes and arms in ache and trembled.

"Aibou," Yami softly quivered "please come to my aid..." A small tear found its way down the pharaoh's face. "I need you now more than ever."

Yami glanced down at his cards, strewn across the floor. Some were face up, some face down...some were caught in between the cracks. He then used his arms to guide him off of the table and onto the floor. Yami grunted in frustration. His legs were determined not to cooperate. So he dropped to his knees and began assembling his deck, card by card.