Yuugiou owned and copyright to Takahashi Kazuki.

R e s t I n P i e c e s

"Mou hitori no boku…" the soft whisper penetrated Jonouchi's ears for the umpteenth time that night. The groggy teen lifted his head slowly and glanced across the dark cabin. His roommate was sleeping soundly, so deeply that he was muttering in his sleep. Jonouchi, still half-conscious, pushed himself up. The ship was gently rocking beneath them, the sky outside clear and cool.

His eyes adjusted fairly quickly from the deck lights glowing through their window. He blinked and saw Yugi's small form curled up underneath the blanket. He could see the bundle moving slightly with his breathing.

Jonouchi sighed. This was the fourth time he had to do this in two days.

Was this some kind of separation syndrome?

Jonouchi knelt next to Yugi's bed and pushed the blanket away to reveal Yugi's sweating, pale face. He was breathing hard, and his eyes were squeezed shut. Jonouchi pushed his bangs off his face and placed a warm hand on a cold face. Yugi looked like he was sick as could be. Jonouchi patted his cheek and sighed.

"Hold on, Yugi, I'll get… someone," he said, stretching and yawning. Yugi gave a small moan and rolled onto his back. It was then that Jonouchi noticed the tears streaming down Yugi's face, mingling with sweat on his face.

"Oh, dear God," Jonouchi muttered, opening the cabin door. He was hit with a full blast of cool air mixed with the scent of salt water. Jonouchi close one eye and placed his hand in front of his face, shivering slightly. The wind made the salty air even colder.

"Ugh… where was Anzu's cabin again? Ohh, this sucks so much…" He glanced around and noticed the cabin closest to his own. He grabbed onto the door handle and pounded on the door.

"Honda! Otogi! Open up!" he called. He heard a lot of clattering, and a yell. Then, a groggy Otogi grumpily opened the door, rubbing his eyes.

"Whaddya want? At… one o'clock in the mornin'?" he asked, frowning at the blonde hair teen. Jonouchi frowned.

"Why else would I be up at this hour – not to mention out in the cold – Unless it was Yugi again?"

"Again?" Otogi said, his face becoming disheartened. Honda came up behind Otogi and yawned.

"He okay?" Otogi asked. Jonouchi shook his head.

"I need someone who knows anything about his condition. Otogi, you come with me. Honda, go find someone. Preferably Isis. But anyone you can find. Now." It was then that they realized the urgency hiding in Jonouchi's voice beneath the annoyance. Otogi followed Jonouchi back to the room and knelt down beside Yugi's bed.

Yugi seemed much calmer now, which was a relief. But he still wasn't well.

Otogi pressed the back of his hand against Yugi's face a forehead, then against his neck. Yugi reacted to the warm touch of Otogi's hand, since his face was cold and clammy. Otogi withdrew his hand and sighed.

"It's the same thing that's been happening every night – He feels like he has the flu, or pneumonia, but when he wakes up…"

"He's fine," Jonouchi muttered. For the past few days, Yugi had woken up his roommate with inane mutterings and incoherent conversations with himself in the dark. He would be cold, clammy and sweaty, his temperature rising with every beating second. But as soon as the sun rose and brightened the room, Yugi would wake up, perfectly fine, as if nothing had happened. He never recalled the events of the night before, either.

But this time was different. Jonouchi began to grow impatient. There was only so much Otogi could do for Yugi, which was next to nothing. He tapped his foot and glanced at the doorway. Surely someone would come by now…?

"I don't get it," Otogi muttered. Jonouchi glanced up.

"Don't get what?" he said, nervousness edging his voice. Otogi sighed.

"He's worse, Jonouchi. This is the worse I've seen him yet." Jonouchi closed his eyes and leaned against the wall.

"I wonder if this has anything to do with—" Jonouchi started, but he was cut off as the door banged open.

Isis was there, her hand on the door, her hair pulled back, wearing a robe. She was breathing slowly, walking towards Yugi. Otogi moved out of the way for Isis to lean over him.

Honda had been behind Isis, who was followed by Anzu, who had woken up Malik and Ryou.

"I think it's worse this time," Otogi said to Isis. Isis nodded in agreement. The others crowded into the room, robes and jackets thrown on quickly to be protected from the cold night air.

But Jonouchi just leaned against the far wall, his arms crossed, half-listening to the conversations around him. He had his own theories about Yugi's strange "sickness".

Jonouchi closed his eyes, biting his lower lip.

Damnit

The next morning, for the first time in two days, the sun didn't come out when dawn broke.

And Yugi didn't recover as quickly as he usually did.

Yugi had been moved to a small infirmary beneath the deck of the huge ship, so he could sleep peacefully in a safe environment, and hopefully begin to recover.

Jonouchi wanted to voice his opinion, but was afraid of the reaction it would generate. Who would listen? Would they think him crazy for thinking that?

He had to tell someone. But no one was listening. Besides, would they want to be reminded so quickly afterwards? Would they? He wouldn't know…

The clouds were thickening.

"It looks like rain," Honda muttered, leaning against the rail beside Jonouchi. Jonouchi didn't respond; he just stared out at the rippling waters that brushed against the hull of the ship.

The two friends stood in silence, Jonouchi mulling over his theory, Honda blissfully innocent of Jonouchi's brooding thoughts.

Jonouchi glanced around for a moment, then leaned close to Honda.

"Honda," he said softly, "I want to tell you something." Honda blinked at him, confused.

"What is it?" he asked. Jonouchi sighed.

"It's about Yugi. I think I know why he's so sick." Honda tightened his grip on the metal rail. "I think… I think it's because he's sad." Honda blinked again.

"What?" Honda said. Jonouchi sighed. "I'm his roommate; I've been given a lot of sleepless nights to come up with this. It's just a theory, but I think it might be some kind of separation-anxiety–type-deal." Honda just stared at Jonouchi blankly for a moment, when a sudden understanding washed over his body.

"Ohh… I think I get it," he said. He stretched his arms and let them hang over the rail. "Y'think that's what causing this?" he asked. Jonouchi nodded.

"Yup. It makes sense – at least in my mind. And whenever the sun rises, he's perfectly okay. What if this continues? What if it happens everyday of his life? And on days when the sun doesn't rise, will he be doomed to a sickness? What if it's slowly killing him? Honda—"

Honda put a hand over Jonouchi's mouth. In his excitement of curing Yugi, he became anxious. Honda became stern.

"Jonouchi," he said slowly, in a foreign, serious tone he'd never heard from him, "We have to talk to someone about this. If… if he's the cause—"

"I know! I know!" Jonouchi cried, swatting Honda's hand away. Honda sighed.

"Are you alright, Jonouchi-kun?" a voice said behind the two. They turned to see Anzu, hands in her pockets, giving them curious looks. The two looked at each other, then turned to Anzu.

"Anzu, I have a theory on what's happening to Yugi…"

Sweat rolled down his face, following the curves of his cheek. Yugi's eyes remained closed, although he had come close to awakening many times already. He sighed slowly while breathing, unknowingly doing so. He was on his side, one hand by his head, so deeply asleep one would think him to be unconscious.

He flexed his fingers, shivering a little. Could he move? Barely. There were so many thoughts running through his unconscious mind, that he couldn't wake up. He didn't want to wake up. Not yet.

That damn song.

It haunted his mind. It ran through his head, etching into every corner of his being. It was telling him what he needed to do, what he needed to do to continue living, and to break this curse, this cycle of sickness.

He had to let it go. At first, the sickness, the tiredness, it had been a toll on his body after such a quick separation. Over time, his body and mind had grown used to two occupants, sharing the amount of energy, and producing more energy from the other soul. Because of two souls, both souls produced twice as much energy as before so two souls could inhabit there.

It had taken awhile, but the body became accustomed to the feeling. It was like a drug of sorts; soon, neither the single mind nor the body could function without that other presence. It was what kept them together.

But now that that second soul was gone, the energy, safety, and protection it offered left with it. Even though he could take care of himself, the sudden separation left him drained for a few hours.

But his heart grew empty and cold. The sudden separation had left him weakened, and that feeling of loneliness and emptiness fed a disease of the mind. That grew to a disease of the body.

He could hear that voice, ringing in his mind. But he couldn't understand what it was telling him. He knew it was telling him to…

No, Yugi thought. Please, don't make me let go. Not yet. Please.

"You're absolutely right, Jonouchi," Isis said with a sigh. Thunder rumbled in the background as a summer storm approached. She placed her cup down on the table, lifting her head to face Jonouchi. Jonouchi sighed.

"If you knew this, Isis… Why haven't you done anything about it before now?" he said, almost in a pleading tone. Isis shook her head.

"There's nothing I can do about it, Jonouchi. Yugi has two options: accept it and get better, or not accept it and waste away like he is." Jonouchi clasped his hands together and rested his chin on them. He strayed from looking directly at Isis. She was right. But Jonouchi didn't want to accept that. Because, given the choice, he knew Yugi would do anything to remember him.

"It's all I can do for now," Isis said gently. The two sat there for a moment, when someone began pounding on the door.

"Sister! Sister! Jonouchi! Open this damn door!" The pounding continued. Jonouchi got up, his head throbbing just from thinking all this time and whisked the door open.

"This door is like, two inches thick, you jughead," Jonouchi said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. But his mood changed when he saw the look on Malik's face.

He had an expression of sheer terror. He was breathing hard, as if he had just run around the entire boat twice, sweat beading down his face. And he looked as if something horrible had just happened.

"What is it?" Jonouchi said, alarmed.

"I-it's Yugi," he stammered. "He's barely breathing, and he isn't responding to anything we do!"

Shit, Jonouchi thought. Has he already made his decision? Jonouchi and Isis followed Malik on the decks of the ship, hurrying down stairs and through narrow hallways, down to the infirmary.

No one noticed the gently falling snow around them…

Jonouchi nearly slid on a small patch of snow that had formed right outside the infirmary. The sudden coldness on his arms stung horribly, and he cursed under his breath over and over.

"W-what the fuck…?" he whispered. He glanced upwards.

It was snowing. He looked around them.

How can it be snowing! He thought. Not only is it summer… We're on the Nile River!

No time to dwell over this now. He followed the other two into the small room, where others had gathered around Yugi. Jonouchi was in a daze the entire time. It seemed as if his world had suddenly become slower and dream-like, as if he wasn't even there. He stood over the head of Yugi's bed.

Yugi's limp form loomed back at him. An actual doctor had boarded that morning, and now was checking Yugi's vital signs. Jonouchi stared at Yugi. Yugi's eyes were closed, his mouth open slightly. He looked pale as death, and he couldn't see any signs of life about him. The last time he had spoken – or anyone had really spoken to him – was almost two days ago. Yugi kind of almost resembled a doll. A fragile doll.

Jonouchi almost felt that, if he reached out and touched Yugi's forehead, the little doll would turn on…

All sounds had been eliminated from his mind. All he could see were people's mouths moving, frantic faces, people moving in and out and about the room, the doctor leaning over Yugi, trying to get him to breathe…

All sound came back when Yugi took a huge, gasping breath and let it all out again. Sounds came rushing back into his head, the scene before him becoming reality.

"You have to let me go, Aibou."

Jonouchi spun around. Someone just spoke behind him. He glanced around, seeing no one behind him. It was coming from the doorway. Jonouchi walked to the door and peered out. Snow was now falling rapidly around them, confusing the people on the shores they were near. Jonouchi ran out of the room and ran down the deck hallway, thinking he had caught a glimpse of someone. He grabbed onto a pole and spun around the corner, thinking he would have caught that person—

Not a soul. No one was there. Not one person. Jonouchi blinked, confused. Something was glinting on the floor near the center of the hallway.

Slowly, Jonouchi walked towards the glinting object, and squatted on the floor in front of it.

He gasped and fell over, scrambling backwards a few feet in surprise.

It was the center piece of the Puzzle.

But no one was around. Slowly, Jonouchi reached out and picked up the golden object. It was cool in his hands.

"Yugi is suffering from a separation from the Pharaoh's soul inside his body," Isis said. "You were exactly right."

"But, I don't understand. It has to be deeper then that."

"Oh, it is. Much deeper."

Jonouchi fingered the piece, rubbing it in his hands to warm it.

"He has to let him go. Just like you thought. He has to accept what has happened; he has to let the Pharaoh rest in peace, or neither of them will ever be happy."

"Where'd you come from, punk?" Jonouchi whispered, glancing down at the piece. "Can't you leave us alone?" but he chuckled and pocketed the piece.

"What do you think he'll do, Jonouchi?"

"I hope… I think he will eventually move on…"

"Do you, now?"

"…Why? Do you think otherwise?"

"Unfortunately, yes, I do."

Jonouchi sighed and squeezed his hand around the piece. That's it, he decided, I'm going crazy. That's what I've thought since the beginning of this crazy ride, it must be true.

"…I think he's about to die."

"…"

"Tell me truthfully what you think. I know you can feel it, too."

"…he's going to leave us, isn't he?"

Jonouchi walked to the railing, and laid his bare arms on it. Snow stung his arms, causing him to flinch. He reached into his pocket and held the piece in his hand.

"…I believe so. However, he does have a small chance left… if he changes his mind about leaving now…"

Jonouchi kissed the piece, holding it near to his mouth. He then tightened his fist, drew his arm back, and launched the piece as far as he could, so it dropped into the river's deep abyss.

"There," he whispered, lowering his arm. "Now no one can do any more harm."

"…I think… he'd much rather not be a part of this world any longer…"

"Rest in peace… both of you," Jonouchi said softly, before retreating back down the hallway to the others.