Letters to the Dead: #9
It's been so long...
I'd forgotten how I once
sent you my heart in letters,
the desperate act of a young
fool...or an old one.
No, to love you was not foolish.
Rather, to hide my love
in wishes and dreams,
loving you in silence...
I broke my own heart.
And now that it's too late to speak,
I find I can't be still.
I would shout to the heavens
and hope you hear: I love you!
My companion soul, my Pharaoh...
My beloved Other.
After so long, do you still remember?
After so long, could you take me back?
If I come to you now,
old and gray...and a little wiser...
would you love me?
Yugi felt the pen fall from his hand, but he was too tired to retrieve it. He let it lie where it had fallen on the quilt, his other hand shaking only slightly as he held the paper on which he had written his final letter to Yami.
And, in his heart of hearts, he did know it was his final letter; he would write no more, letters or anything else. He could feel his heart laboring inside his chest, feel the strain of drawing yet another breath. Strangely, he wasn't scared. His life had been a long and eventful one, his days filled with friends and the everyday adventure of living. He had been happy, he supposed, though a part of him had never stopped missing his "darker side" who was so full of light.
It was peaceful here, the sunlight from the window filling the room with a soft, golden glow. The warmth seemed to permeate his aching bones, easing the stiffness that had been his constant companion these last ten or so years. He relaxed with a sigh as the warmth seemed to fill him up, taking the strain from his heart, easing the breath in his lungs.
Yugi blinked his eyes open. He sat up with a fluidity that surprised him, and took a deep breath. When he looked around, the sterile hospital room was gone, replaced by walls on which brightly painted fish swam between water-lilies just opening to the sun. His bed was carved of some dark wood, the head slightly higher than the gilded footboard he could see just beyond his feet. Instead of the heavy quilt, he was covered with a sheet of finely-woven linen. Draperies of even finer linen, so sheer it was transparent, hung from the gilded frame surrounding his bed.
Cautiously, Yugi swung his feet to the tiled floor--again, surprised at how easy it was to do--and made his way to the edge of the raised dais on which the bed and its canopy sat. The rest of the room, far larger than his hospital room had been, was equally amazing, filled with wooden and woven reed chests, delicate-looking tables, and a single low-backed chair. All of it faded into nothing, though, when the door opened and a very familiar figure stepped into the room.
"Partner," said a deep voice so full of affection it sent a shiver down to Yugi's bare toes. "I have been waiting for you."
"Yami!" It was all Yugi could do to gasp out the name. He wanted to fling himself at the Pharaoh, to wrap his arms around that slender waist and never let go...but he couldn't get his frozen body to move. His eyes filled with tears, though exactly what emotion prompted them he would have been hard-pressed to say. "I...I've missed you so much!"
"As I have missed you." Yami was at Yugi's side in three long strides. He was dressed in a simple white kilt, his jeweled broad collar and armbands gleaming against his bronzed skin. A faint smile played across his lips as he gazed at the new arrival. "I hope you are not disappointed to find yourself here. I confess, I never did truly come to understand your modern beliefs..."
"No!" Yugi gaped at him. How could Yami think that he'd be disappointed? Hadn't he been dreaming of this for... He frowned suddenly, realizing what had to happening.
"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Yugi crossed his arms defensively over his chest, nearly overwhelmed by the sinking sense of disappointment that settled uneasily in his stomach. His heart ached once more. "This is just another dream and when I wake up, you'll be gone again and I'll still be old and dying and I...I won't have been able to tell you..."
Yami cocked an eyebrow. "Tell me what?"
"...That I love you." Yugi's voice was very small, but Yami heard. He smiled, a true smile that lit up his entire face and took Yugi's breath away with its beauty.
"I love you, too, partner." Yami reached out and carefully enfolded Yugi in his arms, pulling him gently closer. "I always have."
He leaned down and added, his lips brushing Yugi's ear, "And this is no dream."
Unheeded, the tears spilled down Yugi's cheeks as he returned the warm, very real embrace. His heart felt as if it were soaring on falcon's wings, as if he could stretch out his hand and touch the golden disk of the sun.
He lifted his head and met Yami's tender gaze. "Never leave me, again."
"I promise," Yami said, and bent to kiss him.
Yugi met him halfway.
(c) 9-09-2005 Lucidscreamer
Author's Note: Well, that's the end. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. All review responses can be found in my LiveJournal (look for the link in my profile). If you enjoyed this poem series, please take a look at my Yugioh AU novel "Chariots of the Gods" for more YamixYugi romance.