Ok, I know I have two unfinished fanfictions already. Don't worry, they're not going to be abandoned and they will continue to be updated. But this minor, not-so-epic but highly insistant plotbunny has been nibbling at my brain and I'm finally giving in.
What you should know... this is an AU (alternate universe) that's built on a skeleton of the tradition storyline. Also, I don't know the name of Yuugi's parents. If you know the real one, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll use the one I made up.
...I really can't believe I'm posting this... ;;
Warning- Yaoi. If not at the beggining (I'm not sure yet) there will be eventually. The pairings will probably be my favorites, I'll have to see how it evolves. Other pairings will also be figured out as other characters come in/gather roles/etc.
Disclaimer- I don't own Yugioh.
O.o.o.O
"Yuugi?" Sugoroku called, hesitantly knocking on his grandson's door. "Yuugi, its me... it's your Jii-chan," he said, before pausing to listen. Hearing nothing but muffled sobs, he sighed and cautiously opened the door.
His six year old grandson was curled on the bed, clutching his pillow tightly. As he walked into the room, large violet eyes turned towards him, glittering with tears. The young boy's whole face was red, lips quivering as they were tugged downward into a frown, tears mixing with mucus unnoticed. He sloppily wiped at his face, hiccoughing, and turning away so he didn't have to look at him.
"Yuugi, I have something for you." Sugoroku began, but there was no response. "Yuugi, its something your father wanted you to have."
Slowly, Yuugi turned to stare up at Sugoroku. "Dad...?"
Sugoroku nodded, and approached his grandson, sitting down on the bed. Yuugi crawled over to him, leaning against him and sniffing. Sugoroku gently wrapped an arm around Yuugi, hiding the object to his side. "It's a very special gift, Yuugi. He told me, before..." pause, "before he dissapeared, that he wanted you to have it, to protect you."
Yuugi stared up at him with wide eyes, listening intently. Feeling he was ready to see, Sugoroku carefully unveiled the object- a gold box- and deposited it carefully in Yuugi's hands. It wasn't large, but compared to Yuugi, it seemed to be, and he stared at it with reverent curiousity, eyes scanning the strange, foreign inscriptions (it looked, he decided, like ancient egyptian) before setting it on his lap and carefully opening it.
For a moment, Yuugi thought it must be broken, seeing the many oddly shaped gold pieces. Realization hit, however, and his still-moist eyes widened. "A puzzle?"
Sugoroku nodded. "A very special puzzle... it took a lot for me to get it for you, Yuugi, but I wanted to honor my son... your father's... request... and I know it was the right one." He smiled, ruffling Yuugi's hair. "Maybe, if you solve it, it will grant you a wish..."
Yuugi stared hopefully up at Sugoroku. "Do you think it can bring daddy back?"
At this point, some would agree, hoping to ease the pain and return hope to their children. Sugoroku, however, could not bring himself to give Yuugi false hope, or worse, consumed by obsession over an impossible goal. "Yuugi..." He began, pulling the boy onto his knee and looking into those large, hopeful eyes. "I know it hurts, but sometimes people have to leave. They don't want to, believe me. They want more then anything else to stay with the people they care about. But there are always things you can't control."
Yuugi looked down, tears tumbling down his cheeks again. "So, daddy won't be coming back, even if I wish it?"
Sugoroku stared sadly at his grandson. "I'm sorry Yuugi... it is because he loved you and wanted to protect you that he had to go..."
"Couldn't he have done that here?" Yuugi asked, voice shaking and a bit higher then it naturally was. Before Sugoroku could think of an answer, he continued quietly, "Is... is it my fault then that he's gone?"
"No!" Sugoroku quickly replied, hugging him tightly. "Don't you ever think that, Yuugi."
"But..." Yuugi was sobbing between words now, "I didn... I didn't want him to leave..."
"Shh... I know, I know..." Sugoroku held Yuugi tightly. "It's ok to cry..."
Needing no more encouragement, Yuugi buried his head in his grandfather's chest and cried helplessly for his father. Sugoroku could do nothing but hold him and do his best to comfort him. He knew his grandson was hurting, but... Children were resilient. He'd grow past it, eventually. Until then, Sugoroku would do his best trying to ease the pain.
OoOo()oOoO
It was almost an hour before Yuugi's sobs finally died down, and he fell into a fitful sleep. Carefully his grandfather tucked him in, placing the puzzle next to his drawer, before tiptoeing out the door and downstairs.
"How's he doing?" Yuugi's mother asked worriedly, wringing her hands together. She had wanted to go, to comfort her son, but Sugoroku had said he had insisted on giving Yuugi the puzzle himself.
"He's upset, of course... as would be accepted." Sugoroku said, sighing heavily. 'I'm too old for this... a man should not live to see his son die.'
"Yuugi..." The woman bit her lip, then looked at Sugoroku, a bit scared. "Sugoroku, are you sure this is a good idea? That... thing... it's..."
"It's the only thing that will be able to protect him." Sugoroku said firmly. "And I don't think it will hurt him."
"Don't think? That's my son Sugoroku!" Yuugi's mother exclaimed, staring at Sugoroku a bit angrily.
"Yes, I think- as did your husband! You said you trusted him, should that end with him too?" Sugoroku snapped back, then sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Kosuke... all this is taking its toll on all of us. But I truly believe Yuugi will be safe."
"But the... the thing that's supposed to be sealed inside..." Kosuke began worriedly.
"I think, because the very nature of both, it will not harm him."
"How can you be sure?" Kosuke asked accusingly.
"I can't. But I have a hunch. We're already trying to change the fate we were given, Kosuke. I'm just taking it a step further..."
Kosuke sat down, sighing. "I just want my son to be safe, to be happy..." She bit her lip, fighting back tears. "I want my husband again..."
"And I want my son." Sugoroku said quietly. "But I know I'm not getting him back. We have to keep fighting, Kosuke, to move forward."
Kosuke put her head in her hands, sobbing softly. Sugoroku watched her with pitying eyes. "I'll make us some coffee," he said gently, before walking into the kitchen.
Kosuke looked at the ceiling, eyes wet with tears. 'Love... I... I hope your right. I hope that your gift will help our son... I... I'll trust you.'
OoOo()oOoO
Yuugi wasn't sure how long ago his grandfather had left when his eyes opened again, but the first thing he saw was the gift... his father's final gift. Carefully, arms shaking a bit, he crawled over and picked it up. He looked at it carefully, before quietly began speaking to it.
"I... I'm going to put you together... and when I do, I... I wish..." He closed his eyes, remembering what his grandfather had told him. "I wish that I could meet someone who would never have to go away... someone who could be safe and warm and loving forever..." His hands trembled. "I wish that I never had to worry about the people I meet not coming back..." He swallowed loudly, staring hopelessly at it. "Please... I... I want daddy back, but I know I can't. So please... I don't want to loose anyone again."
Closing his eyes, Yuugi carefully kissed the box, not sure how it worked but remembering how many fairy tales involved kisses. Setting it down again, Yuugi crawled back into bed, rolling over and falling asleep, but with new determination.
He would, he promised himself, solve the puzzle... He would find people who would always come back to him again. And, he hoped, wouldn't have to hurt so badly again.
Of course, life is never that simple. And even if it was, it would be over ten years before the deceivingly complex puzzle was solved.
OoOo()oOoO
He didn't remember.
He didn't remember anything. His name. Who he was. What he was. Time. Others... he didn't even remember enough to know that he was lonely. Scared. Cold. Sad. Angry. Hurt. Betrayed... Trapped.
Not that it was surprising- three thousand years can eat away at the memory.
Three thousand years trapped, being consumed by shadows... Shadows that wanted to use him. Shadows that wanted to change him into the very opposite of who he was, what he had been... Shadows that wanted him to be their new God.
Shadows that had succeeded.
Ironic- he had power. Great power, greater then he ever should have. But he didn't know it. He didn't even know what power was. All he knew was chaos and darkness. Void- his senses had been forgotten as it had been far too long since he could hear, see, smell, taste, feel.
That's why it startled him, that thing. It was feint, ooh so feint. But... it was different. It was something He had forgotten and longed for and forgotten he longed for for so long. He had been mesmerized by it... the... sound. Barely audible through the nothingness... almost as if it were imagined, but He had stopped imagining far too long ago, and had later still forgotten what it meant to imagine.
But even if he wasn't sure, it was something. Something amid so very much nothing. So He had waited for it to return.
It didn't come often, and when it did, it was always distant, but He welcomed it. And it seemed it came with more frequently, and slowly, slowly, seemed to get less muffled, less distant. And as he heard it, the voice, he remembered things. Little things.
Words. Feelings. Nothing epic... not even his own name or being. But he remembered what it meant to listen. He remembered what it meant to long for something. He remembered so much, so many little things that all the other beings frolicking in their wonderful light and societies, unknown to him, took for granted.
He grew to sense the feelings of the Voice, too. Sometimes it was hurt and he could hear tones and sobs he knew was crying. This made him hurt and angry, for his Voice was important. However, other times there were different inflictions, giggling, signs of happiness, and this made Him smile again, and remember what it meant to smile, what the word 'smile' itself was.
And there was so many more... so much emotions the voice was slowly teaching him, slowly getting stronger, closer. He waited for it, waited with a patience that had been forced on him in his confinement (though he still did not remember that he was confined.) He didn't know fully what he was waiting for, but he now knew not just his longing, but its association with the Voice, which grew welcomingly closer.
Time passed. He waited. Ten years... ten years were nothing to him, especially now that he had his Voice (how was he to know it was no more then a small boy slowly going through puberty then becoming a teenager, a boy named Yuugi who had taken a habit of speaking to the puzzle as he solved it?)
And then the day came, the day that all his confinement and suffering and pain and loss over three thousand years was compensating him for- because suddenly, he had access to everything... and now, he also had control over one of the greatest powers in the world. Not that he knew it, of course. No, there was only one thing he felt when all that light and warmth and being and feeling and smell and sound washed over him.
Shock.
But as it wore off, he felt other things. First and formost, he felt... connected. He didn't know what, but he couldn't question, for then, brightness... too bright, painful! He cringed and instinctually the shadows lashed out, surrounding the room, darkening it.
Ahh... much better.
He heard something then, though- a frightened cry... a familiar frightend cry- his Voice! Delight spread across His features. His Voice! Now he knew what he wanted, what he could have! He'd be able to hold him and hear him and feel him now... The voice that had saved and comforted and taught and reminded him...
Eagerly He turned, and beheld, for the first time, the Voice. And he remembered a dozen new words- Beautiful. Perfect. Exquisite. Gorgeous. Wonderful. MINE. Possessiveness and greed flared through his veins after thousands of years of slumber, and he gingerly stepped forward, approaching the boy...
The perfect boy with huge, gorgeous violet eyes, shining like amethysts, with strange, many colored hair, with small and delicate features and a cute little button nose. The boy whose large lip quivered slightly, whose pupils were dialated and who whimpered softly. Suddenly, He realized. His Voice was scared. Of me? No! Don't be afraid of me, never...
He willed his thoughts to tenderly embrace the boy, offering protection, sanctuary... love.
Love. He paused as he remembered that word. It was a powerful word, he knew. He had known it before, too. Before... he didn't remember before. Only now. Only his Voice...
OoOo()oOoO
Yuugi was in shock. He had solved the puzzle, finally- he had been overjoyed as he placed the last peice...
Then suddenly there was light, bright light. It blinded him, and it almost felt as if it were... binding him... to what, he was not sure.
But when he opened his eyes again, he saw a boy, no, a man, standing before him. A strange, exotic, dark, regal man. The man opened eyes, red as fresh blood, then flinched, and suddenly, everything was cloaked in darkness.
Yuugi had yelped, eyes widening as he staggered back, scared, wondering if this were a bad dream... and that's where he was now, wide eyed and trembling. What was going on?
He heard footsteps approach, and he whimpered, edging back again. The footsteps stopped, and then Yuugi felt something- it felt... nice... Yuugi felt himself calming down, though still unsure.
There was confusion, and strange chaotic thoughts and emotions-
Wait, that wasn't him... those weren't his thoughts... another's thoughts? Yuugi found it hard to catch anything, it all seemed to slip away like shadows, and it all seemed to be utterly chaotic, driving him back a bit.
Hesitantly, Yuugi reached his own thoughts forward- /H...hello/
Eerily, the chaos, the movement of the other's thoughts, all of it seemed to still for a moment... then all at once it was surrounding Yuugi, overwhelming him, almost drowning him.
\Yes!Lo?What.MINE!Voice-Please?More!Touch?Yes?WanthavenowPleaseMINEvoiceWho?What-Help!-dark-feelNICEgoodLOVEmoreMORE\
Yuugi clutched at his head, crying out in pain as the foreign voices and thoughts overwhelmed him, and once again it died down. Shakily, he caught his breath. After a moment, he felt it attempt again, but this time carefully controlled, minimal. It was mostly feeling- tentative, careful, soft, and above all, apologetic.
Yuugi felt himself smile a bit despite it all. /It... its ok.../ He sent over, accompanying the words with reassurance.
Delight! Then, after some effort, he heard a voice in his head, foreign and strangely beautiful. \You... Voice... name...?\
Yuugi blinked in surprise. 'This is so surreal... Is this a dream...? It must be... but... it doesn't feel like it...' /Yuugi... my name is Yuugi./
\Yuugi!\ Repeated the Other happily. \Yuugiyuugiyuugiyuugi... YES! Good. My Yuugi?\
Yuugi felt himself blush, though he wasn't entirely sure why. /I don't understand, what do you mean? Is your name Yuugi too/
There was silence for a moment, then, \I don't know my name.\ Pause. \Yuugi name me!\
Yuugi blushed. /M, me? But... I... I never have before, I mean, what if its not good, and... I don't even know where to start.../
\I want you to. Give me name. Tell me what I am.\ This time it wasn't a request, it was a command... though there were still those gentle undertones.
Yuugi was silent a moment, not knowing what to say. /What you are/ He paused, before he remembered something. /You... are you the one who made it dark.../
\Dark?\ Came the quizzical response. \What is dark?\
Yuugi blinked surprised at the question. /D, dark... like it is right now. The shadows that block out the light... remember, the bright light when you first came./
\Yes, yes, I remember! It hurt, so I made it go away... I made the shadows come.\ Replied the Other, proud of himself for remembering now the name of the things that had caged him for so long. Well, now they were HIS to cage and command...
/You... what! How/ Yuugi's eyes were wide.
\It does not matter. I need name. Name me!\
/I.../ Yuugi was silent a long moment, before he softly replied. /I'll name you after my father, Za-/
\No!\ Yuugi jumped in surprise and flinched at the intensity of the interruption. He felt a guilty, apologetic mental nuzzle as it continued. \That is his name. I need a name. My own name.\ Frustration, then, \Your word for the dark. Speak it.\
/There... are many.../
\Choose one. Speak.\
"Yami..." Yuugi said softly.
Satisfaction. \Yami... the beginning and the end are like your name... Yes, I like it. I will be called Yami.\
/Yami.../ Yuugi repeated, a bit surprised by the choice, before he tentatively sat up. /May... may you make it lighter again, just a little? I can't see... Yami... do you know what's going on? I don't understand... I... I finished the puzzle, then you appeared.../
Yami was surprised at the request- his Yuugi couldn't see in the dark? Quickly he toned it down a little, wanting to please him... and surprising himself when he found he could see Yuugi better too. 'The dark hides things...?' Shoving the question away for later, he consentrated on Yuugi's questions. He was careful as he answered them, not letting himself get carried away lest he hurt him. \I was trapped.\ He said simply. \Trapped in darkness... for... for forever. No, there was a Before, I think. But... it was too long ago to remember... I didn't remember anything until I first started hearing you.\ Adoration seeped into his mental voice as he practically purred. \But then your voice found me, and then you freed me, and now I can feel everything... its wonderful Yuugi. I love the feel of floor and breath and sound... I love your thoughts Yuugi. They're... warm... and bright. But not painful, not like that other light. They're a nice bright...\
Yuugi found himself blushing again, staring up at the form he could now barely see. Yami, talking about how Yuugi's thoughts felt should have scared him or weirded him out, he knew, but it didn't, not at all. Quite the opposite in fact, something about Yami made him strangely... happy. And admittedly overwhelmed...
So much had happened so quickly... he finished a puzzle he had been working on for ten years, and suddenly there was a man there who could control shadows and feel Yuugi's thoughts and emotions 'and I his,' Yuugi reminded himself...
Suddenly the weight of everything fell on Yuugi all at once, and he felt overwhelmingly tired.
Not surprising- he was wearing pajamas, ready for bed... Suddenly he winced, remembering why he was trying to distract himself instead of sleep. Suddenly, worry and inquest as Yami caught this. /It's nothing/ Yuugi quickly reassured, tentatively standing up and trudging towards his bed a bit tiredly. /I'm just tired./
\Tired?\ Inquired Yami, curiously following him. He watched Yuugi crawl onto the bed and curl the covers around him. He pouted. That wasn't fair- he wanted to wrap around Yuugi like that! It was then Yami realized- he hadn't touched Yuugi yet... well, he had, but only with his mind, he was so used to using his mind.
But... he could feel physically now... Yami flexed a hand testingly, before walking over to Yuugi and sitting beside him. Already, however, he could feel Yuugi's mind clouded with unconsciousness, the sleep Yuugi had said he needed.
Yami tilted his head, watching him carefully. He really was incredibly, Yami decided. He didn't need memories to tell him. Even though Yuugi had been overwhelmed, tired, strained, and unsure, he had still had strength to inquire, to try to understand and help Yami.
Carefully, feeling strangely nervous, Yami reached a hand forward to hesitantly touch Yuugi. Soft... so very soft... smooth and warm. He felt... wonderful.
Yami wanted more.
He slid behind Yuugi, wrapping his arms around him like the blankets and holding him close. He breathed deep, taking in his smell, sweet and seductive... All those centuries, he had been missing this? Yami felt a spark of anger. Never again. This... Yuugi... his Yuugi... Yami would hold onto this forever.
OoOo()oOoO
Ok, I know its not good. I think I wanted to get more done on the prologue (since the actual story doesn't begin until after they've been together for a while) and I think I wanted Atemu to be more sane and... Atemu like when I first started. Which, btw, he'll definitely become.
However, its 9 oclock in the morning and I've literally been writing all... well, I guess, technically, morning. But the point is I havent' gotten to bed yet and I think this writing is heavily effected by sleep deprivations.
Course, the same could be said about the second chapters of my other fanfictions cuz for some reason this seems to be the only time I can really write, but none were THIS bad. / Anyway, I hope you nonetheless find some enjoyment from this fic. Yay.