Echoes.
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Silent Shadow
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[A/N] Pairing- Yami Yuugi, Yami no Yuugi, Dark Yuugi, Atemu, Atem, or whatever you will call him, with Anzu. The man has too many names.
The first scene takes place after the memory arc were he got his name. They are currently sailing their way towards Egypt. (Strangely, in the anime- the memory arc is in Egypt. Why? I'll never know.)
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The ocean gently lapped against the boat's side. clumsily bobbed up and down, sort of like a child's seesaw, in an infinite span of sober water.
Anzu leaned on the ocean-rusted handrails placing her hands on them and bent down so her head was supported by her hands. There was a lot of wind today, yet the ocean didn't create large waves. How strange. She let the wind run its fingers over her short brown hair and she closed her eyes as it caressed her face.
Even on this picturesque night she felt sick. But Anzu did not get seasickness.
It was more like a growing dread in her stomach, a feeling of death that taken over, sprawling all over her body… her heart.
"Anzu," a voice called.
She purposely didn't answer. She would like him to say her name once again.
"Anzu."
"Hello," an uncertain pause, "Atemu."
Her heart could no longer be comforted by the fact that he just may be another Yuugi. Just a part of her best friend that she cared for, and that she will always be with.
He was now… Pharaoh Atemu.
"Hello. Up late." A statement. Not a question. There's been too many questions that have had answers they did not care for.
Anzu looked at the man standing beside her. He looked like Yuugi, but there was always a difference- she always found it easier to noticed than her other companions. His face was sharper, his eyes were piercing, his posture was stiff. But what it mostly was his aura of confidence and strength, she had a few feet on him but he always seem to tower over her.
And his voice. She could not forget his voice, not if she willed herself too.
"It's… a good night."
It wasn't a brilliant statement, or a particularly significant one but neither of them expected it to be.
"The stars sure are bright tonight," he said.
Sure enough, without the lights and pollution of the city one could probably see heaven on a cloudless night. The swirls of light in an ebony nigh glistened like lost gems locked with the greedy dark hands of angels. The only thing that ended it was when the cerulean ocean reached it in the horizon.
"It's a lot like the nights in Egypt," he finally said, "before everything…"
Anzu sighed but it was lost within the sounds of slapping water.
"Aren't you scared," she could not stop the urgency in her voice, "Can't we just go back and forget this?"
She faced him, something heavy brimming at the edges of her azure eyes.
"We don't have to do this… if you are scared."
Atemu stared at her, and Anzu thought she might have seen a glitch in his perfect stone face.
"I… am afraid."
The glitch disappeared and he returned to his standard poker face.
"But I can't run anymore. I've defied destiny for so long that it's come back to drag me back. Destiny does not bother with mercy to those who deft it."
Atemu rubbed his sennen puzzle, a nervous habit of his. He was rarely nervous.
"How silly of me…" Anzu murmured, "Shouldn't have suggested something like that."
"I'd be lying if I said I haven't thought of running," he confessed.
"Oh?"
"Because… I fear destiny."
"I do too."
Atemu stopped rubbing his puzzle and, almost timidly, he put his hand over Anzu's. Without saying anything he stroked it awkwardly. His fingers traced hers softly, as if calculating it. Or maybe he was memorizing it.
Under normal circumstances she would flush and be pleased. But there was something so tragic about it that she had to avert her eyes instead.
"I'm sorry…" he began to take his hand off hers; instead Anzu shifted her hand so their fingers laced together.
"I wonder," she said, "If you could defeat Destiny herself?"
"We will see," he said but added, "But be careful Anzu. It's dangerous to linger on the echo of a voice that has long since gone."
With that he carefully unlaced his fingers from hers but allowed his hand to brush against hers more than necessary.
Her eyes lowered to the necklace that he wore around his neck.
"Atemu. The name really does fit you."
"Oh?"
"Which do you prefer- Atemu-kun or Atemu-sama? Pharaoh Atemu?"
"How about just, friend."
"Just friend?"
"… Anzu, don't linger on an echo."
"…Yes."
Atemu smiled at her, a cheap imitation of happiness, and then the smile slowly fell. He walked back to his cabin where he would get some minutes worth of anxious sleep.
"But I couldn't forget your voice. Even if I tried," she whispered when she could no longer see his figure.
For some reason, the night seemed duller.
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"What a memory," Anzu breathed. It was unwelcome, but not unexpected. Thoughts of Atemu never dwindled from her mind or anyone else's. Atemu, he who lived for three thousand years, was gone. Gone but not forgotten.
People began to notice how quiet Jounouchi was, how often Honda stared at a group picture in his wallet, how Yuugi was prone to have tears slipping down his soft child-like features. And how Anzu forgotten how to eat.
Her graceful stride of a dancer was lost to crude half-steps.
How long was one suppose to mourn the death of an already dead person? What excuse could she give her parents on why she could not concentrate on her exams?
"Atemu, I haven't forgotten your voice. Because it still echoes in my head."
"… Don't linger on an echo."
"Yes."
"I lied. I'm sorry."
Anzu paused and then she gave a hollow laughed, "I'm talking to myself. I think I'm going crazy."
Lonely people often do.
Mazaki Anzu. Almost reaching seventeen. Aspires to be a dancer. Intelligent. Athletic. And obsessed with voices.
"I am crazy."
Anzu looked in the mirror. Her hair was the same, cropped brown. Her eyes were still a startling blue. Her skin was creamy. She hadn't grown or gained weight. She looked the same.
She was still Mazaki Anzu. Only…
Anzu then grabbed her own hand; it was cold.
"I wonder if Yuugi is awake." She looked at her clock- midnight. Only a madman would think of hanging out a friend's house now. Then again, she did not think Yuugi would be asleep.
Anzu looked down at her clothes, she hadn't changed into pajamas. Instead she just wore wrinkled shorts and a large baggy t-shirt. Acceptable for the public.
Not like there was a public at midnight.
With a certain resolve, Anzu crept stealthy through her door and down the carpeted hallway of her condo. She easily slipped into her sneakers and, as quietly as she could, opened to door.
Anzu decided against the elevator and walked down the two flights of stairs. Once free from the building, she breathed with relief of her smooth escape and turned her face to the sky.
There were no clouds but it was hard to see anything. A city's sky looks muddy in her opinion. Or maybe she's just use to Egyptian nights.
She stared mute at the sky for a long time before she continued walking in her crude half-steps, each of them rang in the distance.
Midnight is quiet.
Somehow, when she had almost reached Yuugi's house, something interrupted the rhythm of her feet hitting the sidewalk. Another set of footsteps sounded behind her.
A familiar feeling of dread grew, and her steps doubled in size. So did the others.
Then she ran, all her energy she had rushed to her legs to give her the boost of speed she needed. Adrenaline kicked in and she mustered all her strength to start quick race.
She only got a few steps before she was pulled down by the culprit. She could see herself from outside her body, falling down in slow motion, her legs trapped by an unfaced thief.
She watched herself curl, and then raise her arms to protect her from the fall. And she saw them not reaching the ground in time, as her hand slamming on the cold pavement.
There was a lot of red right before everything dissolved.
Destiny had caught up to her.
There were a few images that passed her. Doctors. Her parents.
Mostly, though, it was her friend at her death watch. Death watches… they were funny things. It wasn't like Atemu's blaze of glory exit. There was nothing to do but wait. Nothing to watch. Just waiting for her passing.
Her friends said nothing. Some walked in and out of the hospital room. Jounouchi was fidgeting, Honda finally put away his picture- looking at it now hurt too much. Yuugi?
Yuugi was sobbing.
"I'm sorry," Anzu said.
No one could hear her. Because she was already dead.
She was going to cross over, see the other side.
"I wish I could comfort you, but..."
The images were gone, the crying was gone. All she could see were two large forbidding doors.
She paused curiously, tilting her head. She wasn't scared anymore, just interested. She lifted one of her small hands to push the door, though it seemed silly to think she could budge them.
But only a brush of her hands and the doors swung invitably open. It was incomprehensibly bright, Anzu shielded her eyes with her arms and hands.
"Don't worry, it'll get better."
A very familiar voice. Not just an echo but a voice. Anzu felt a lump grow in her throat.
"Atemu?"
She felt him lace his fingers with hers, and push away her arm from her face. She couldn't see him but she could feel him smile. She started crying again and then lunged herself into him.
"Anzu."
Her eyes adjusted and settled on his piercing ones. So he really was smiling.
Her eyes move behind him as the light faded and she could see around her.
"Is this," she gasped, "Heaven?"
She looked could see-
…
The door to the other-side closed. No one could deny, the skies looked really beautiful that night.
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[A/N] Wohoo. I finally finished my Anzu parirings collection (don't feel like doing a BarkuraxAnzu). It's not all to good, this fic. I could have done it better, but then again I thought and wrote of it in one day. It's sort of weird. Blame Enya, I've been listening to Caribbean Blue over and over again.
I'll do a much better next time. I didn't go too much into detail. The angst- it's overwhelming in this fic… I guess I overdid it since I didn't feel like writing more fluff. But angst is so easy. Normally I tried to stray away from character death but I found this the most natural way for AtemuAnzu.
Does it seem I have obsession with voices? Eh, it just spawned from the part in the manga when is blindfolded and she gets saved by Atemu (Yami no Yuugi). She doesn't know it's Yuugi and falls in love with him- just by hearing his voice.
Viva la AtemuxAnzu.