The Game of Life

By: Rogue Fox

Part Twenty-Nine……… The Point

A/N:

Yuki+

I was dreaming. I had to be. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't be watching myself look back, with a soft, knowing smile and whispering soundlessly, "Forgive me." A hand, almost as though my own because it moved in tune with the body I was looking through, reached out at though to grab the me I was watching. But the me that I was watching crumbled to sand just as the hands grasped her and the sand blew away on the wind. A hollow, throbbing, empty pain shot through me, growing more and more intense. The world grew dark.

" A half without its other is a dying piece of something else." Someone whispered.

" Don't go!" someone screamed, and I was jarred awake.

Downstairs, Himeko cried out, her voice fleeing her throat in a strangled noise somewhere between a shriek and a sob. I ran down the stairs, suddenly longing her nearness, her strength, her assuredness, her confidence. Himeko met me at the bottom of the stairs and we embraced. She held tightly, possessively, breathing a deep, shaky breath. Behind her, Bakura stumbled into view.

" Are you two okay?" he whispered. I nodded.

" I dreamed-" Himeko began.

" I know." I interrupted.

" I'm scared-" she started again.

" I know." I whispered, biting back bitter tears.

" Are you?" Himeko asked. My heart heaved, and I looked up at the ceiling. I'd never noticed the architecture of the mansion before. It was truly beautiful. It reminded me of the big, Southern plantation homes, like the one my mother's mother, my Gran, used to live in. I looked back down and met Himeko's fearful eyes. I couldn't answer her. I couldn't justify her fears. But my silence was justification enough. Her heart seemed to collapse in on itself. I felt Bakura hold back a sob. He knew. She knew. But I couldn't give the words reality.

In the end, even the Mistress of the Key of Ma'at is only mortal. And all return to the dust from which they came. My eyes slowly shut, and pain shot through my body.

Seto………

Malik+

I had had a very, very good week. The kind of week that makes you want to whistle on the bus and skip down the street. And that's what I was doing. Skipping, I mean. I skipped up to Ryou's house, where I all but lived. I bounced in the door. Kicked off my shoes. Ran up the stairs. Collided headfirst with Bakura, who called me a few colorful names in Egyptian.

" Go home." He told me gruffly. I cocked an eyebrow. Bakura had reacted openly when Ryou and I presented him with our newfound relationship. As a matter of fact, he'd been pretty damned pleased. I could not fathom why I should not see, hug, cuddle, kiss and otherwise make a fuss over the object of my affection.

" Why?" I asked stupidly.

" Cause your yami and sister will need to talk to you, now get." He said. I opened my mouth to protest, but just then, Ryou appeared in the doorway to his room, lugging a suitcase.

" Yami, I'm done, you should – Malik!" he cried, dropping his suitcase and running over and helping me up. He had such nice hands………

" Going somewhere?" I asked. Ryou frowned.

" You haven't heard?" he asked, twining a lock of hair on his finger nervously.

" He was just going to. From his yami and his sister." Bakura growled, shoving past us. " There's no time to be sentimental! Get!" he snapped over his shoulder.

" What's going on?" I demanded of Ryou. I suddenly felt a cold chill, and a deep longing. I was scared. My yami was calling me, and he was scared. Ryou was scared, I could see it in his eyes. Bakura was scared, I could hear it in his voice. " No………" I whispered.

" It's happening." Ryou said softly. I didn't need to ask what "it" was. I knew.

" No………" I whispered again.

" Yuki……… She collapsed again. But this time, she didn't get up." Ryou said, biting his lip. " Malik, I don't think you should hear this from me."

" I don't want to hear it from anyone else." I said, stubborn.

" She's……… weak. Himeko's hysterical, no one can get a clear word out of her. Yuki……… she can only speak a little, before she passes out again. She says it's time. She says we have to be in Egypt." Ryou told me. My chest tightened.

" Time." I repeated. " Egypt."

" Everyone's just trying to pack what they need………" Ryou said, fumbling nervously with his suitcase. Suddenly, the cell phone Isis made me carry around rang, and I jumped.

" Hello?" I asked into the contraption, not trusting it. I never did like phones.

" Malik, where are you?" Isis asked without greeting.

" Ryou's." I answered shortly.

" Well, get home, I need to talk-"

" I know." I said. " I know." I repeated. I heard Isis take in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

" I packed your clothes. The Pharaoh – Yami – is giving your yami and I a ride to the mansion. Is there anything you want me to bring you?" she asked, and I heard the sisterly warmth in her voice. I suddenly wished I were just a little kid again, so she could take me into her lap and let me hide my face against her strong shoulder and whisper in my ear that it would be okay.

" I………" I wanted to say that I was scared, and I was, but the words wouldn't come. " Just you and my yami. I just want you two." I said.

" This is no big deal, Malik." Isis promised. The tiny tremor in her voice belied her words.

" Yeah. No big deal." I agreed with no conviction.

" See you at the mansion." She said, her voice still shaking, and hung up without waiting for me to say goodbye. I hung up slowly and looked up. Bakura had disappeared, and Ryou stood in front of me, his brown eyes shining wetly with fear and his face lined with worry, holding his bag in front of him. And just as I felt like I wanted to curl up in Isis's lap and let her take care of me again, I knew I couldn't. I didn't have just me to look out for anymore. I wasn't a little kid. I looked at Ryou, whose dark brown, sad eyes blinked up at me, waiting for me to make the decision, and I knew what I had to do. Whatever I decided, Ryou would follow. I had no doubt in that. The doubt was in myself.

" Are you all packed?" I asked finally. Ryou nodded. " Go ahead and take your stuff to the front door. We'll take the bus." I said, ducking around what I had to inevitably say to him. Ryou nodded again and hefted his bag, starting towards the stairs. I grabbed his wrist impulsively as he passed. " I'll watch out for you." I promised. Ryou smiled softly, and I watched his profile out of my peripheral vision.

" I know you will. You always do." He said. " It's you I'm worried about."

" I'll watch out for us." I corrected myself. Ryou smiled and leaned against me, resting his head on my shoulder. I stood as strongly as I could, supporting his weight and mine, supporting his fear and mine, supporting us both and letting him just rest.

" Us. I like that. Us." He said. Us. It is us now, isn't it, I wondered. Us. Suddenly, the depth of everything opened up to me. Even with a yami, in the end, I'd always looked out for myself. Now, there wasn't just me. There was Ryou too. And as surely as I'd given myself to him, he'd given himself to me too. It was us, now. And I had to protect us. Even in the face of the end of the world, I had to protect us.

I'd never imagined myself loving someone so much, I would stop destiny for him.

The Kaiba mansion was quiet. Too quiet. Ryuuji greeted us at the door, without a word, and led us into the main living room. Suitcases, bags, backpacks, clothes, cards, toothbrushes, and all other sorts of imaginable and otherwise items were strewn all over, in a rushed clutter. My eyes were drawn to Himeko, who crouched on her calves by the couch. She turned to look at me, and for the first time I saw fear on her face. True terror. There were tears from it on her cheeks. Behind her, pale as death and still as the grave, Yuki lay. The only clue that life still flickered forlornly within her was the slight rising and falling of her chest. Himeko's healthy body moved easily, and I wondered at the difference between the two. Her tanned and toned skin stood out badly against Yuki's pallor as Himeko gripped Yuki's hand, almost fearfully. Himeko's breath popped in and out of her, I noticed, almost as though her fear and concentration on keeping Yuki alive made her forget to breathe. I looked at Ryou and at my yami, watching the fear-stricken princess with sad eyes, and wondered if I loved them enough to try so hard to keep them alive that I would forget to breathe.

Then Yuki's eyes fluttered open, those beautiful red-violet orbs rolling in her skull, focusing and unfocusing. She smiled up at me, almost lazily. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. I sank to my knees next to Himeko, despair suddenly welling within me. I looked into her eyes and felt her with my soul, with my fingers, willing both to give her all the warmth, all the blazing warm light I had to give. Her cheeks flushed with my warmth, but my light would not save her. I knew then, as those eyes I knew I adored looked up at me sadly, nothing would save her.

And Himeko, who had given everything to the darkness, would lose her last claim to the light. I looked at her as she stood and went to the other yamis, who welcomed her with sympathetic and sad eyes. She stood in their middle, and the four of them conversed rapidly while we three healthy hikaris gathered around our fallen comrade.

I have no explanation for why, or how, we did what we did. We were guided by a force we neither knew, nor understood. I grasped Yuki's hand, and Yugi grasped the other. Ryou grasped our other hands, and we formed a ring. Then, we shared. Sharing is what we call it when the physical boundaries of having a body are overrode, and we all become one huge entity, one mesh of souls, one huge burning light. It was a desperate attempt to hold Yuki to life, and we knew it was desperate. But it didn't matter. We were separate souls, we understood that. But in sharing, we were all Malik, all Ryou, all Yugi……… and all Yuki. Sharing hurts. Because you suddenly know, more intimately than you ever wanted to, all the pain the others have. They all knew my indecisiveness, my fears. I knew Ryou's fear too, of losing me, of being lonely, and my soul wept for it. I knew Yugi's fear, a very generalized one, and I knew his worry and his despair was mine. And Yuki. We knew her then, more closely than ever before. I knew her exhaustion. Her fear. Her worry. I knew her regret for leaving us all behind. But most terrible of all, I knew her willingness. This life had never been good to her, I knew with a shattering flash of images, her memories. Her father's death, her mother's death, so much death all around her. Her, who was the very embodiment of life in all its glory. She would not die uneasy. Yuki Motou would go to her death willingly. But she answered a call older than time and deeper than the magic that bound us all. And before death could take her, she must answer that call and make her own call. Yuki's call would be a sad one, I knew, and I wept for it. But death, I knew in Yuki's sagely way, was a mandatory part of life.

I came out of the sharing, and looked back to the yamis. They looked at us with a mixture of fear, pride, and sadness in their features. The male yamis stood around their sister, their princess, protectively. I knew as I had known Yuki's acceptance of death. They would not let their dark sister be lost once more to the maddening darkness, as surely as we would not let her lighter part be dragged to the afterlife. We would, all of us, fight for the very definition of all we were and all we would ever be. In Egypt, we would fight for this. In Egypt, where it all began and would all end.

I looked up, casting my gaze skyward, half way between cursing the universe and weeping. Yuki's hand was cold and small in mine, and Ryou's was warm and pulsating, but it shook. Yuki's, even at death's door, was steady and strong. Her soul brushed mine. I squeezed my eyes shut, knowing she was, in the only way she had left to her in her weakness, trying to comfort me.

" We love you, Yuki." Yugi whispered. He spoke for us all. I admired his ability to speak right then. I didn't think my voice would have made the words, even if I had known what to say. Yuki nodded, her eyes flickering sadly at us. She mouthed the words, but it was her soul that told us, nearly bursting with love, adoration, and joy. I felt suddenly full to the point of bursting. I felt her love, and I clung to it. I would carry this in me, this small bit of Yuki. Her love. Yuki's love. I would love every living thing with her caring, her understanding. I would learn to forgive the worst crimes, and love the most hideous sinners. I would love life itself, and I would rejoice in the art of living. I would love saint to demon, king to beggar, stately lady to homely housewife. And even as I undertook it, I knew I would never be able to truly love everyone, everything. Could I ever forgive my father, for all his crimes? I didn't think so.

/ But I can./ Yugi whispered in my mind. We would love everything. I would forgive what Yugi and Ryou could not, Yugi would forgive what Ryou and I could not, and Ryou would forgive what Yugi and I could not. It was a poor excuse for Yuki's singular, pure, and untaintable love. But it was the best we can offer.

" Kaiba." I murmured suddenly. " Has anyone called Kaiba?" I called, rising to my feet. Nearly a dozen heads shook slowly. I was still connected to Yuki, and something quite near to desperation shot over her.

" Seto………" she found strength in her wasted frame for that. For his name. I looked down at her, clinging to my hand desperately.

/ So this is who you've chosen for yourself/ I asked. Yuki nodded, and I could see tears forming in her eyes. / You helped me realize my own love./ I whispered. She nodded, faintly. I could feel her tiring. / And I can't tell you how grateful I am. I'll do anything you ask./

/ Make him come./ she whispered back, her eye lids drooping. Before I could answer, Yuki slept again. I pushed back her hair and walked over to the phone. As I picked up the receiver, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see what, and saw all four yamis tromping confidently out of the door.

" And where do you think you're going?" I asked. They froze and looked back at me.

" We're going to be leaving soon." Yugi scolded, struggling to latch an over packed suitcase while Ryou sat on it. " Malik, we need your help." He added. I smiled, despite the situation.

" We have to go get something." Yami said.

" Be back later." Bakura said, flipping his wrist in farewell, and all four turned resolutely and left. I shrugged, and dialed the number on a pad of paper that had Kaiba's neat handwriting on it, spelling out "Emergency Cell Number." The phone began to ring, and I looked back at Yuki, waiting patiently for Kaiba to pick up the phone.

Yami+

I could not have imagined a worse fate for my sister. And yet, with every passing moment, Yuki's acceptance seemed to fill her with dignity and resolve. She wouldn't go back kicking and screaming.

Outside, the air was thick and stale, and the sky was covered with dark, heavy clouds that were pregnant with rain.

" A fitting day for the end of the world." Bakura said sardonically.

" Not today. Soon." I said.

" What does it matter? Soon it will all be over." Himeko mumbled. Ishtar shook her shoulder and mine.

" At least………" he started, fumbling over the words. He frowned, his brow furrowed in concentration. " No more us. No more of……… this life. We sleep." He said. I smiled sadly.

" Yeah. No more us. No more curse, no more reincarnation. We get to go home." I said. " That's some consolation." Ishtar nodded.

" Or we get damned to Ammit's jaws." Bakura said darkly.

" After all we've done? They wouldn't." I said in disbelief.

" After all we've done?" Himeko repeated doubtfully. " They should. How many thousands have we killed? Combined? Each?" she asked. No one answered her. There was no need. " We deserve Ammit's jaws." I opened the door to the driver's side and started my car while everyone else climbed in.

" There were……… Good things." Ishtar mumbled.

" Enough to redeem us?" I wondered. No one said anything. What point was there? I didn't need to tell them how scared I was, because they knew. Or how doubtful, or how sad. And I suddenly felt a sense of comradeship.

" We've been through a lot together, haven't we?" I asked. " Together, we've done a lot."

" Separate but together." Bakura mused.

" I feel like……… All our suffering, everything we went through, was just, you know, totally useless. In vain. Now that its all going to end……… What was the point?" Himeko asked.

" There was a point." I said, a little forcefully. " It may seem insignificant right now, but there was a point, and it mattered. It still does."

" What was that point?" Bakura asked. There was no sadism or sarcasm in his voice. " What was it? I think I forgot." I thought long and hard about that, pulling out into the road and accelerating. Suddenly, I pictured Yugi's face, and there was a point again.

" Look at Ryou again, and you'll remember." I advised. There was silence. " When I look at Yugi," I continued finally. " I remember that I did everything I did for a reason. There was a reason for all the fighting, all the darkness." I paused and gulped. " For Mariah's death." We all tensed at my own personal torture. " Sometimes its hard to remember that, when the death toll soars and the end really is nigh. And sometimes it feels like nothing I did made any difference, like none of my suffering meant anything at all, like……… like Mariah died in vain. Like the fact that I loved her at all was in vain. I think about that more and more lately." I sighed, changing lanes. " But then I look at Yugi and I remember why I did what I did. Because, no matter what I do or how horrible it is or how much I just want to die to end it all, I am human. No matter how far I fall or how deep in the dark I am, I am human. I'm still a man. I'm not a pharaoh anymore, and I wonder if I ever really was. I'm still a man. If I wasn't, I couldn't love Yugi. If I wasn't……… If I wasn't, I wouldn't have killed Mariah, out of mercy and love. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be healing." I pulled into the parking lot of a gray, dreary looking building. We all sat in silence for a long moment.

" I think……… you are right." Ishtar said softly. I smiled at him through the rear view mirror.

" I wish we had a chance to heal." Himeko said sadly.

" What would you do with it?" Bakura asked.

" Sing." Himeko replied instantly, then smiled shyly. " Marry."

" I think I would want to make music on my keyboard." I admitted.

" I want to act." Bakura said suddenly. We all looked at Ishtar, who smiled broadly.

" I would tell……… our story." He said. We all kind of smiled at each other. We used to be enemies. We used to hate one another. But that hate was just a reflection of our own self hate. We hated one another because we saw ourselves in each other. How could we cling to that? I didn't hate them. I wondered if I ever did. How could I hate them, my brethren, my kin, my family? The people who understood me and what I did and why I did it and everything I'd been through the best? Weren't we all the children of the night? And didn't that make us brothers and sister?

" Well," Bakura said, sliding out of the car and looking up at the building. " Let's do this thing."

" Yeah, if we're going out, then we're going out in style." Himeko agreed, following him.

" I wonder……… How angry Malik would be if I……… spilled a little blood?" Ishtar asked haltingly.

" Does it matter anymore?" I asked in answer, slamming the door of my car. " This might be the last chance we get to be true to our nature. So let's do what we do best." I advised. There was no sympathy, no remorse in my voice. Another man might have felt bad about what I was about to do. Not me. Besides, they brought our wrath upon themselves.

We strode confidently up to the doors, all of us striving to act like we belonged there and Bakura the only one succeeding.

" So……… How do we get in?" I asked.

" I will……… take care of it." Ishtar assured me, pushing to the front of the group. I recognized the hazy look in his eyes as he invaded and took over some poor front desk girl's mind. When we got into the front lobby, Himeko having to lead Ishtar who was too busy mind-controlling to notice we were supposed to be walking, said girl had our visitation badges waiting. We all pinned them to our chests, with the exception of Himeko, who pinned hers to the hem of her black skirt. Next Bakura wiped the girl's memory of the last five minutes clear of any trace of us, and Himeko took out the security cameras with a few well-aimed energy balls. We wanted no trace left of the crime we were about to commit. We bustled down the hallways, until we found the room we wanted. I tried the door, but it was locked.

" Back up." I advised, stepping back. I'm not as big as Bakura or Ishtar, but no mortal lock was going to stop me. I kicked the door open and rendered the woman inside unconscious. A small chorus of young voices sang out our names, and Mokuba, Yoshi, and Yukio latched themselves onto my waist.

" Come on." I said roughly while Ishtar used his Rod to bash out the window. The alarms began to shrill. Bakura and Ishtar lifted all our little prizes out the window and Himeko, cradling a wailing Charity, and I scrambled out after. I was last. I was the lucky one who had a guard latch onto his foot. I turned around, my palm stretched out, ready to kill him. It was Yukio's small, frightened voice that stopped me.

" What's going on?" the six-year-old asked. The guard looked at me with such fear, any bystander would've thought I was holding a gun to his eyes. He stumbled back from me, and I finished climbing out the window. We hightailed it to the car and peeled out, people screaming at the tailgate.

" Why didn't you kill him?" Bakura asked. I set my jaw, staring out at the road.

" He's going to die soon anyway." I said.

" What's going on?" Yoshi repeated his little brother's question, a little more angrily.

" It's………" Ishtar began, gently rocking Charity, " Yuki."