The Scientist
By: Shini Q. Akusai
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, or any of it's characters. I also don't own The Scientist by Coldplay.
This is based loosely on the final chapter of Yu-Gi-Oh!, so there is a spoiler warning for those who haven't read it yet. Some of the dialogue is changed, but the general gist of it is here. I suggest listening to the song itself to get a feel for the mood of this fanfic. I normally hate songfics, but I gave in for this one. I hope no one has used this song yet, but they probably have. A result of not liking songfics is the whole bad timing thing. The lyrics don't always go with what's being done/said in the fanfic. Sorry.
There is some mention of shounen-ai, but that's about it.
Enjoy, I suppose.
Key:
/Yuugi to Atemu/
Atemu to Yuugi
Yuugi's thoughts to himself
Lyrics
Come up to meet you
Tell you I'm sorry
You don't know how lovely you are
I had to find you
Tell you I need you
Tell you I set you apart
Yuugi was on the ground on his hands and knees. One hand clutched at slightly abused cards, the other digging into nothing but its own skin, the tiny pieces of nail clawing into his soft, pale palms. Palms that were so white, so smooth, so small..
Not like his…, Yuugi thought absently, far in a corner of his mind that seemed to be ignoring the rest of his emotions.
He couldn't feel the dull pain coming from that palm, could feel nothing but the low ache starting to grow in his chest, the hot, salty water falling from his eyes, down his cheeks, and their short lives ending brutally on the stone and sand ground.
He'd won. Mutou Yuugi, never defeated, had defended this title, had won another duel. He won the most important duel of his entire life. But it was an empty, hollow victory, and it had hurt more than anything to spring forth that final trap, to send his opponents life points down to the zero mark. Winning was supposed to be a good feeling, but this time, it felt like a piece of him had curled up and withered away into dust.
Winning shouldn't feel like this, he thought bitterly. He had done the right thing, done what was needed; the win shouldn't have been so emotionally harsh. He should been feeling good right now.
He didn't. He wanted nothing more than to flip back time and tell his other that this was a bad idea. That he wanted him to stay, to hell with the afterlife! He needed him here, now, to stay with him, and those long dead could wait to gain him back.
But that would have been selfish, wouldn't it, Yuugi?
Tell me your secrets
And ask me your questions
Oh, let's go back to the start
Runnin' in circles
Comin' up tails
Heads are a science apart
Footsteps were heard over the almost deafening silence the room had lapsed into after that final blow. He knew who was coming to him, but could not make himself look up. He didn't have to, as the owner of those steps had kneeled down in front of him, one hand finding a place on his shoulder.
With that touch, he simply had to look up, gaze up into those vibrant red eyes of his other. It was almost ironic. He'd wished for so long for his other to have a body of his own. One of his own that he could interact with, so he could truly hug him, hold his hand, kiss his lips..
What irony that here, at the end, his wish was granted, only to have it taken away from him in a few more fleeting minutes.
He had no idea what to say, his own eyes so full of tears, his mouth as dry as the Egyptian sand. Thankfully, his other handled that part, too.
"I've been defeated, aibou. Get up! You won, but you're crying? If I were you, aibou, I wouldn't show my tears." Atemu stated, voice firm and more full of emotion than Yuugi had ever heard. Reaching up a hand to brush away his own tears, he shakes his head sadly. "It's because I'm weak. You.. You've always been my goal. What I've wanted to be. I've always wanted to become strong, just like you."
Atemu shook his head, his other hand coming up to join it's twin on Yugi's shoulders. "No, aibou. You're not weak. You've been strong all along. Your strength is found in your kindness, aibou, you've shown me that. You've taught me that kindness is one of the greatest strengths of all." He pauses a moment, his lips twitching slightly into a sad smile, his eyes locked on Yuugi's own. "Your courage in accepting this battle has proven you a far stronger person than I."
Yuugi's eyes widened at the statement, the shock of it running through his system. He the stronger one? But his other had always had that title, had always been the one people had turned to. He was most definitely the weaker one here; he was the one crying his eyes out! "Mou hitori no boku.."
Another calm shake of the head. "No, Yuugi. I'm no longer the other you. You, too, are nobody else. You're Mutou Yuugi, the only one in the world, and you are a whole person all on your own."
Yuugi wanted to deny it, wanted to shake his head and scream at Atemu to see that he was the other part of his soul, that he could not live if the darker part of him left. However, he knew deep down that Atemu was correct. He was himself, Atemu was himself, they were two separate people, and it was time to let go of one another, no matter how much it hurt.
Nobody said it was easy
It's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be this hard
Oh take me back to the start
He heard Honda and Jounouchi-kun talking, with a reply starting up by Isis, but he wasn't listening to them. He was thinking back, back to the few short years ago, when he had finally finished that puzzle and the spirit locked away inside had come to live inside his mind. He was scared of his other- Atemu- at first, but they had grown close, inseparable.
How could you not grow to love someone who had nothing else on their mind but your happiness and protection? How could anyone resist someone so darkly fascinating as Atemu? How wouldn't want to drown in his deep thoughts, curl up next to him somewhere secret and quiet inside both of your minds, get lost with him through the endless hallways of the past? He wasn't able to resist, didn't want to really, and he could only confess that he loved Atemu in a way he really probably shouldn't have.
The Pharaoh, accepting and caring as ever, accepted Yuugi's feelings, and had eventually returned them himself. Yuugi figured that the other had always loved him, but it took the old spirit a while to recognize his feelings of possessiveness and protectiveness as love.
And for a while, despite not being able to hug him, kiss him, or have any real sort of physical contact with him, things were good. Just knowing his other had returned his feelings brought a wide smile to his face, and it made his heart lighter.
Yuugi didn't know if he blamed Isis for the whole thing or not, but he knows in the end it would have happened even without her being around. Atemu needed his memories, wanted his name back, had to know what his past was. How could Yuugi deny the man something as basic as knowledge of his own life?
He didn't know he would have to let go of him, didn't know he was going to have to send him off like this. It was just so hard to say goodbye to him, so hard to put on a smile and show Atemu it was all okay, that his leaving wouldn't leave him empty and hopeless.
I was just guessing
At numbers and figures
Pulling your puzzles apart
Questions of science
Signs of progress
Don't speak as loud as my heart
Tell me you love me
Come back and haunt me
Oh what a rush to the start
Runnin' in circles
Chasing our tails
Comin' back as we are
Atemu stood up, making Yuugi stand with him. Apparently Isis had said something about the Eye of Wedjet, and Atemu, squeezing Yuugi's shoulder once, walked up to the Eye. "My name is Atemu." He stated, for all the world of the living and the dead to hear. The Pharaoh knew his name finally, and it was time for him to go home.
The doors to Atemu's final resting place were opening, a blinding light spilling from beyond. Yuugi hated the very light he represented for the first time in his life. Light was going to be what took Atemu away, not darkness, and he resented it deeply. His friends were talking to Atemu, telling him not to go, that they would always remember him and think of him as a friend. They were trying to tell him that he would not be forgotten again like last time, that this time his memory would stay.
Yuugi was pretty sure that his other felt less anxiety because of these promises. Giving Jounouchi a thumbs up in reply to the blonde's earlier one, he headed into the light.
Yuugi desperately clawed at his own mind, trying to find their link and found a very small, weak bond still there. He used it as frantically as he could. /Mou hitori- no, Atemu… I won't forget you, either, definitely. …Thank you. I hope we meet again./
He could practically feel the Pharaoh smile as he heard the reply in his mind. Good bye, Yuugi. I won't forget you, either. Come and see me when your own great life's story is over. I'll be waiting for you.
His eyes filling up with tears once more, he nodded firmly, watching Atemu start to fade in the light. The typical leather gear fading into his old Pharaoh's clothes, and the forms of his Priests coming into view in front of him. The ruler of Egypt was finally home, where he had been trying to get to for the past 3,000 years.
Yuugi had to smile at this. Finally, Atemu. Your story is over. And mine.. mine is just beginning.
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm goin' back to the start..
A/N: Uh yeah. I don't like that ending. It kind of sucks. Okay, it really sucks.
I'm done now.