Note: Sorry this took so long. I've finally realized that you can't force what wasn't meant to be. I'm serious, if you were thinking something else was going to happen than what actually does in this chapter, well, think again. I tried so many approaches to writing this chapter and it just wouldn't come. You can't write what doesn't come naturally; what's meant to be is what's meant to be. I originally had a very different perspective on what was going to happen, but when I tried to write it down, it didn't want to be written. So, after a long time of denial, I just let flow what comes naturally. Enjoy and please review.
SUNBURN
CH 11 Fusion
Boom, boom...Boom, boom.
That's when he felt it. Vibrating through his rib cage and coming in sync with the rhythmic beating of his own heart. It ran through his bones, pounding its way through his system until Yuugi was shaking with the very essence of it.
Is...Is this a heart beat? Yuugi tentatively asked himself. He suddenly realized how long it had been since he'd had coherent thoughts. When the pain had started, he'd let go of full thought and just let his emotions and feelings rule him. Seems his conscious had stayed intact though, he thought with relief.
...Boom, boom...
Yuugi finally found his voice and tried to cry out. What came out was a croak, but that didn't stop him trying again.
Somehow, this beat is comforting, he noted, distant from his own body. The steady pounding had a soft, rhythmic lull to it that soothed his aches. Curiously, the outside pain he had been feeling before stopped and dissippated.
No more kicks, Yuugi thought detatchedly, he knew they were bound to start up again. He really couldn't summon the energy to move, or even to really care. The steady beat continued to circulate through him and he closed his eyes, letting it wash over him.
Yuugi finally let out a broken sigh as his pains began to throb, the new pain joining the old in a drunken dance all over his body.
His head seemed to bent of its own accord, and collide painfully with the bricks. Yuugi just stayed like that, closing his eyes and sighing one last time.
He had no regrets, except not being able to see his Yami, one last time. Yuugi didn't notice the tears leaking out of his tightly shut eyes, or the way his fists clenched and shook at his sides. He didn't even notice as the wall on which he was leaning, began its own throbbing and slow disintegration.
XxX
Frantically, Yami dug away at the wall, pounding with his fists until huge chunks of it collapsed and fell to the side. HIs skin broke, and shiny, red, and glistening droplets fell from his palms and struck the earth, with a silent scream.
None of this registered with his mind, however; Yami had eyes only for the brick wall in front of him, which had strangely shifted color from a tan, sandy color to a dark, musty red. He was immediately reminded of the alleys in Domino, and Yami didn't like that one bit. Something nagged at the back of his thoughts, something that spoke of apprehension and urgency in the same flowing breath.
This only fueled his urgency and he picked up his pace even further. Yami didn't know what had compelled him to look through that hole in the wall, and he didn't know the reason why he was currently ripping it all away.
All that mattered to him right now was getting to the other side, whatever may lie there.
As he worked, tendrils of some consciousness reached out and wrapped around his apprehension, squeezing it into nonexistance. Something managed to lift off his pain and fatigue and stress, until his determination was all that was left.
Something's familiar, he thought absent-mindedly as he scrambled to enlarge the opening, Something I've known before, should know...
He gave a sharp inhale as a new sound pierced his awareness.
Boom, boom...
He furrowed his brow in thought, searching throughout his entire being to determine the source of such a familiar sound.
...Boom, boom...
Why did it seem to familiar, as if he'd felt this before? As if he had known this beat, as it were, before?
The deep, steady pounding increased in volume then, until it echoed strangely through Yami's entire being. Or was that him beating in response?
Wait a minute, he was beating? Yami's eyes shut for a moment as he turned his attention inward, his hands continuing on their own.
Why?...There it was. Yami's heart was pounding, his normal rhythm altered to match the beating without. Then, his eyes widened almost comically.
It was a heart. Beating in response to his own...Or maybe it was the other way around? Yami wasn't sure anymore, his mind twisting itself inwards to grasp this concept left no room for him to follow intricate paths of thought.
Yet why was this beating so familiar to him? So frustratin familiar that he could have mistakened it for his own?
Then, like the rays of a sudden sun, the answer flared in his mind. How could he have forgotten what he knew better than himself?
"Yuugi..." He breathed, both mentally and outwardly, his voice only a whisper, yet rising above the clatter of his hands' work. Yami didn't know how, but he'd managed to continue working, never easing his pace or succumbing to the fatigue he knew was lurking around the corner. No, Yami kept clawing away at the stone wall before him, enlargening the hole and being able to see more, bit by precious bit.
Almost there...His muscles screamed and cried red, steady tears.
Small things slowly came into focus, but not enough to see the whole picture. When the hole finally became big enough for him to pass through, he dove in, head-first. He sighed in relief, he'd made it.
Until...Yami gasped as everything sharpened into horryfing detail. The alley, one of many in the backstreets of Domino, was crowded by shadow creatures, not unlike those that he made out of the Shadow Realm.
But there was something different about the ones here. Yami squinted, sending his mind outward and probing the creatures. They have no will, he realized with shock. They were, he searched for a word to describe them, imitations.
His eyes skimmed past them and he realised that, that was not all. What was causing Yami's chest to tighten painfully was the crumpled form of his hikari, his head tilted back, eyes closed, to see past the darkness and into the sky.
He looks...So fragile, Yami thought, as he tried to gently open the mind link between them...And found it severed. What? His eyes widened in disbelief and he tried again, sending his mind out to where Yuugi was lying.
No response. He felt the beginnings of panic cloud his mind and forced it away with his growing anger.. Who could have done such a feat? There is nothing in this world that can break us apart!
Yami's eyes widened suddenly as he felt white hot rage flash through him.
"No one, but no one, dares to touch my hikari," Yami stated in a low and dangerous voice, "NO ONE!
And with that, he launched himself at the nearest shadow creature as the Sennen Eye blazed into existence on his forehead.
Flashes of light began resounding around the alley as Yami directed the powerful magic at those that had hurt Yuugi. As the light his the creatures, they exploded with a red finality and an inhumane scream that left Yami wanting more.
He wouldn't stop until they had been destroyed, all of them. Their pain was his pleasure now, and Yami was fully enjoying it.
When all had dissolved but one, Yami began stalking it like a cat after its mouse. He was in a deadly mood, only partially dampened by his concern for his hikari behind him, but nevertheless, Yami was angry. No, he was beyond angry, he was vivid with rage.
Never again, he vowed, Never again will I leave Yuugi, ever.
With a final, piercing shriek, the last shadow creature flew apart as light erupted from within. Yami's face shown in the blast, becoming almost demonic in the light.
And just as quickly, all his anger was whisked away, to be replaced by absolutely anxiety for his soulmate.
"Yuugi!" Yami's cry came out choked as he ran as fast as he could, sliding to a stop inches from Yuugi's still form, deathly still.
Gently, he lifted Yuugi and propped him up in his lap. But there was still no movement, no anything, to say that Yuugi acknowledged the contact.
"Yuugi," Yami was almost sobbing by now, so terribly did he want for his light to awaken. "Yuugi, please...Open your eyes..."
Yuugi groaned then, and through Yami's suddenly blurred vision, he smiled down at him. Yami's heart restarted with a jolt, and he began to breath again. The presence of his Light was what kept him going, without Yuugi...Yami was nothing, absolute nothing.
"Not real," Yuugi mumbled but Yami didn't catch it. He leaned closer and turned his hikari's face upwards to meet his own; Yuugi's eyes were still tightly shut.
"You're not real," Repeated Yuugi as Yami gasped in surprised. What was his aibou saying? "You'll just dissappear like before. I won't even be able to touch you. No," Yuugi gasped for breath, as painful reality pushed at his breaking heart, "It's better that I don't see you, then I can't be hurt when you go again!"
By now, tears were freely falling down Yuugi's cheeks and off his face, landing in Yami's lap. With a trembling breath, he reached up his hands and wiped them away.
What had happened in all the time they'd been apart? Why was Yuugi so afraid?
"Yuugi..."Yami spoke so gently, his voice was like a caress against his Light's skin. "I am real. Only open your eyes, and see."
"Can't be!"Yuugi denied, closing his eyes tighter as if Yami would force them open. Yami was about to continue when Yuugi remarked, although he wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear or not, "You're nicer than the others were, though. You're not trying to trick me, are you?"
Yami's eyes lovingly roved over Yuugi's form, trying to see where he could heal the hurt, but nothing was visible. No visible scratch marks, or bruises, or broken bones. The pain was purely psychological, but in this case, that was even worse.
"I'm not, Yuugi," He whispered, bringing his face closer to his Light's, "I'm not..."
As their lips met, Yuugi arched his back and gasped into Yami's mouth, who grabbed the chance to delve into Yuugi's mouth.
It was then that Yuugi's eyes flew open and were caught my Yami's gaze; they stared like that even as their lips came alive and brought the passion dormant in each other awake.
Yuugi's hands came up to grab either side of Yami's face, his fingers moving until they curled into his hair. A moan escaped Yami at the touch, his Light did know what got to him.
But then, Yuugi broke the kiss, just before all control was lost. "It really is you?" His tone was questioning; he would not be able to survive another illusion.
"Yuugi," Yami's voice was low, meant for his hikari's ears alone. "It is me. I will never allow us to be parted like this again, ever. I love you, aibou."
Something clicked in Yuugi's mind, as he connected his Dark's actions to what they're supposed to be, and how they differed from the others. It was him, it was Yami, HIS Yami.
And then a light erupted from within him, to be joined by Yami's, as their bond was renewed, the barrier between their link broken apart with a thunder of power.
A sobbing cry escaped his throat as he threw himself at his Dark, wrapping himself around him as much as he could. And Yami had tears in his own eyes, and his whole body was trembling, as he finally realized how close he'd come to losing his Yuugi forever.
After what seemed an eternity, Yuugi finally leaned back enough to see into his Dark's eyes. "Yami?" His voice was a shadow of what it had been before, now whispery and cracking, "Never again, please," He pleaded, "Please don't leave me, I...I won't be able to bear it, I can't! I love you, Yami..."
He turned his panicked gaze onto his Dark and pleaded for Yami to understand. The pain from being apart from his other half had been unlike anything he'd ever experienced. It had been white hot agony, torturing him in every way possible, and leaving scars on his fragile heart; the affects were only beginning fading now.
"And I love you, Yuugi. You're right, never again. It just hurts too much," His voice broke on the last word and he buried his face in Yuugi's heaving chest.
They stayed like that, Yuugi slightly rocking Yami in his lap, both calmed by the presence of the other. When Yami had calmed down enough release his death grip on Yuugi, he smiled and stood up, offering a hand to Yuugi.
Arms around each other, Yuugi smiled as Yami bent down and claimed his lips in another heart-searing kiss. And all around them, the alley disintegrated into pixels, everything flying away to be replaced by a blank whiteness that surrounded the couple.
As the whiteness threatened to claim them, Yami and Yuugi just clasped hands and walked into the bright light, letting their faith in the love they shared to guide them. Nothing was going to keep them apart ever again.