OK, I can't stand homework in the holidays! I'm going to stuff it under my bed and get on with something more productive, like this. And if my teachers kill me…well…then this story will be finishing a few chapters short
Thank you all you wonderful reviewers, especially:
spidy007, unseenwater, GerardYuroshi (sorry, but there will be a little bit of Puppyshipping. Sorry:bows: ), Natoya, kingleby, Darkyami7, Una1, Evil Pharaoh Atem, Yami Kkwy, Shire, Daikaio, Yana5, HikariAngel, DMHPluv, HarperLe-Beau
Thanks guys! Your reviews continue to motivate me!
And because of you, I've also decided to rewrite this chapter. So I hope you like the new and improved version!
/Yami to Yugi through the mind link/
/Yugi to Yami in the mind link/
'Thoughts'
"Speaking"
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or any of the characters. If I did, it would NEVER finish.
-I-
Rekindled Love
Chapter 5: Forgive And Forget
-I-
Yugi hit his head on his steering wheel.
"I must be mad to go through with this."
Since Domino Park was about a half an hour walk away from the Duel Academy, Yugi had thought it best to drive there. Plus, if he wanted to, he could get a quick get away.
Sighing, he looked at his watch. 12:57pm. OK, so he was a little early. But the sooner he got this over with, the better. At least, that's what he told himself.
He opened his car door, taking off his blazer and throwing it onto the backseat, before slamming the door shut and locking his car. Replacing his keys in his jeans pocket, he walked into the park, towards the lake.
The sun shone down happily on the people of Domino, lighting up the lake with its bright rays. The park was filled with people of all ages, all wanting to make the most of the warm Spring weather. Business men and women came out with their lunches, taking up places on various benches. Young children ran around chasing the squirrels, their mothers keeping a close eye on them so they didn't trip or fall. Elderly couples walked arm in arm, enjoying a relaxing walk together.
Yugi walked past all these people, smiling and greeting people as they walked past. He was quite famous in Domino. After all, he (as well as Yami) was known as the "King of Games".
He soon reached the lake, and gave a small moan when he saw who was already there. Yami, dressed in dark blue jeans, a plain black t-shirt and trainers(/sneakers) was leaning on the metal railing around the lake, gazing out in a day dream. His half of the Millennium Puzzle dangled around his neck. Yugi sighed. 'Does he always dress like me?' Swallowing hard, he made his way over.
Yami heard someone approaching him. He looked up and was a little surprised to see Yugi.
"Yugi," he said, surprised. "You came?"
"Did I have a choice?" Yugi asked a little too harshly. He came to the railings and leaned on them a few feet away from Yami.
Yami nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah. Sorry about that. I didn't mean to black mail you like that. I just…really needed to talk to you."
"So you keep saying. And by the way, Kaiba says if you call him like that again, he'll personally leave his office to come and hunt you down."
Yami flinched slightly at Yugi's tone of voice, but shook it off. He didn't expect Yugi to act too kindly to him. After all, he still hated him. Hopefully, that would change within the next few minutes. He gazed back out at the lake.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Yugi asked.
Yami swallowed. He hadn't actually thought Yugi would have turned up. He wasn't prepared. He knew what he wanted to say. He just didn't know how.
"I wanted to…apologise…again, for leaving you like I did. It was a stupid thing to do, and I regret doing. It was one of the worst mistakes I've ever made." Yami cringed at how pathetic he sounded.
'You can say that again.' "Why did you leave anyway?"
Yami lowered his head. "I…I don't want to talk about it. It's still…painful to talk about."
"Yeah, right." Yugi said sarcastically. "So you want me to forgive you when you won't even answer one simple question? Good one, Pharaoh."
"Yugi, I told you." He clenched his fists on the railing and looked away. "It's…too painful for me to talk about. I'm not ready to talk about it right now. Can't you see how sorry I am?"
"Actually, no. I can't. You say all this bullshit but you don't actually mean it."
"How can you say that?" Yami whirled his head round to face Yugi. "You know how hard it is for me to…to…talk about my feelings. Remember when we went through that whole "Orichalcos" thing?"
"How could I forget? That's when you lost my soul!"
"I-I didn't mean for that to happen, Yugi. I promise you I didn't. I know it was painful, but you managed to forgive then. When I saved you, I struggled to tell you how I truly felt. I struggled to tell you how sorry I was. But you forgave me, Yugi. You forgave me. Why can't you do that now?"
"Because I don't know if I can. You hurt me, Yami. You hurt me more than anything. You have no idea how much I suffered!"
"It was a mistake. I'm sorry for what I did-"
"Bullshit!" Yugi spat.
"Please Yugi," Yami pleaded. "I didn't want to hurt you like that. Why can't you believe me?" Yugi turned away. "Yugi, please, look at me. Look at me!" Yugi slowly turned his head and stared daggers at Yami's hurt eyes. He ignored the tears that threatened to fall.
Yami felt his body trembled as he felt the tears prickle in his eyes. "Yugi. For the thousandth time I'm sorry. I spent six years going over my actions again and again in my head. I travelled the world trying to forget about my mistakes. But no matter where I went, memories of that night would still haunt my mind." He could see his pleading wasn't working too well, so decided to cry something else. "But when I reached my homeland just over a year ago, that's when things…changed."
Yugi's curiosity got the better of him. He asked harshly, "What happened when you got to Egypt, Pharaoh?"
"Well," Yami continued. He sniffed and wiped a tear away from his eye. "Just like all the other places I went to, I got a job." He broke a weak smile. "I enjoyed being back in Egypt. I almost felt at home there…"
'Almost?' Yugi wondered. But he let Yami continue.
"My boss wasn't as nice as some of the others, and the pay wasn't very good either. But I enjoyed working there."
"Where did you work?" Yugi cursed his curiosity. It always got the better of him.
"In the Ancient Egyptian Museum. I helped out with the "Pharaohs" section."
"Typical…" Yugi sighed, amused.
Yami broke another weak smile. "Well I did used to be a Pharaoh, didn't I? Anyway, back to the point. I had been working there for about a year, and I still couldn't get you out of my mind. If anything, I couldn't stop thinking about you. You were…are my first love. Day and night the events of that night just kept replying over and over again. I hated myself for what I'd done. I still hate myself now. But then I met an old friend who decided to help me."
"Who was this "friend"?"
"That's not important," Yami shook his head. "What is important was that they helped me with my sorrow and regret. They convinced me to return back to Domino City to try and make amends for my past mistakes rather than to continue running. They convinced me to come back and try and ask for your forgiveness. Then, maybe, things could go back to the way they were."
"Things will never go back to the way they were, Yami." Yugi stated harshly. "You know that."
"I know that now. I was stupid to think we could ever be together again. Especially when you're with Anzu." He shivered, and not due to the small breeze. "But these past few days I thought "maybe he can forgive me, and we can be friends at least"."
"And why would you think that? What makes you think I can forgive you anyway?"
"It was worth a try, wasn't it?" He looked into Yugi's eyes. "I truly am sorry for what I did to you. I know it is unforgivable…"
"Now you realise."
Yami ignored the comment. "I beg you, Yugi, to look inside your heart and forgive me for my past mistakes so we can at least be friends. Not even that! I just want us to talk to each other again. Even if it's a small conversation once every month, I just want you back in my life again." He clenched his fists again. "I'm trying to make up for my past mistakes. Can't you see that?"
"I can see that," Yugi said, closing his eyes. "But I just don't know if I can forgive you when you won't even tell me why you left me in the first place."
"I told you," Yami said, a little too angry. He turned away. "It's too painful for me to talk about!"
Yugi watched as Yami's body trembled as tears rolled down his cheek.
"Please," he heard Yami whimper. "Please, Yugi…"
Yugi cursed as he felt his heart soften. He could easily how upset Yami was over what had happened between them, and saw he was sorry for what he had done. He could clearly see that the memories of his mistake still haunted his mind and heart. He understood more than anyone about not being able to talk about certain painful things. It had taken him a while to find the courage to tell Anzu exactly what had happened between him and Yami so she could help.
But could Yugi forgive him, just like that? He had done before, as Yami had pointed out. Back when the Orichalcos had threatened to destroy the whole world. When Yugi had had his soul taken (thanks to another one of Yami's mistakes), Yami had desperately tried everything to get him back. Everything. And Yugi had forgiven him. Because, at the time, Yugi had loved him and couldn't bare to see Yami hurt so much. He had known he regretted what he did, and he had proven that he wanted to make up for his past mistakes. So Yugi had forgiven him.
But what about now? Yugi didn't love Yami like he used to. Yami had broken his heart. How could he forgive him for doing something like that?
But something at the back of his mind, and in his heart, was telling him to forgive Yami, if only a little. These nagging thoughts were urging Yugi to forgive his former other half, for they knew that Yami regretted what he had down. It was tearing his soul apart. But could Yugi truly give in to what his heart was saying and forgive Yami?
"I'm so sorry," Yami cried. He clenched his fist on the railing. "I truly am, Yugi. Words cannot begin to describe how sorry I am. I just want to make up for my mistakes. Can't you allow me to do that? Please?"
Yugi felt his heart soften again. The nagging feeling in his heart and at the back of his mind was beginning to break through. He tried to fight it, but it was a losing battle. 'Grandpa did say to give people the benefit of the doubt,' a voice said in his mind.
Yugi took a deep breath. 'I'm going to regret this.' "Yami, I can never truly forgive you for what you did to me six years ago. You know that as well as I do. I will always hate you in some way for what you did to me…
Yami closed his eyes and looked away. 'I knew it.'
"But…"
Yami's eyes shot open with excitement. He looked up at Yugi's sweet face.
"I can see that you truly are sorry for what you've done. Even though I hate to admit it, I can see that you are willing to make up for your past mistakes." I can't believe I'm doing this.' "Even though I still…hate you in some why, I guess we can…sort of…start over. Not as friends just yet," he added quickly.
Yami's face lit up. "You mean that?" Yugi nodded reluctantly. "Oh thank you Yugi!" He stepped forward and tried to embrace Yugi.
But Yugi placed his hand on his chest and stopped him. "Don't push your luck."
"Oh…right…" Yami stepped back. He blushed. "Sorry."
Yami had never thought it possible to feel so blissfully happy. Yugi had forgiven him. Yugi had forgiven him! OK, so he can't fully forgiven him (if that made any sense), but still, it was something, right? Yugi was willing to give him one more chance. Something that Yami was truly grateful for. 'I promise you Yugi. I will do everything it takes to gain back your trust. I'm not going to hurt you again. Ever.'
Yugi eyed the spaced out ex-Pharaoh curiously, before looking at his watch.
"Do you have to go soon?" Yami asked, his disappointment clearly heard in his voice.
"Yes. Like I said one of the other teachers is off sick today, so I have to oversee the afternoon duels." 'Plus, I want to get out of here as fast as I can.'
"So you weren't lying then?"
"No! Of course not! Since when do I lie?" Yami raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms across his chest. "Don't give me that look!" Yugi protested, momentarily forgetting his anger towards the former pharaoh.
Yami gave a small hum of amusement, before he left the matter for the moment. Uncrossing his arms he slipped his hand into his jeans pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Yugi.
Yugi looked down at the piece of paper, before looking up curiously at Yami. "What's this?"
"My numbers," he answered as Yugi reluctantly took the paper. "The top one is my mobile number, and the bottom one goes straight to my hotel room."
Yugi looked at the second number. He recognised it. "You're staying at the Domino Inn?"
"What? I told you my job didn't pay well. I could only afford it for two weeks. Besides, everywhere else was booked."
"What about your "old friend"?"
"He's…err…busy right now." Yami scratched his chin nervously.
Now it was Yugi's turn to hum in amusement. He glanced back down at the numbers. "Why have you given me these?"
"Just in case you…I don't know…want to get in touch?" He ignored Yugi's you-really-think-I'm-going-to-call-a-bastard-like-you look. "I-I thought we could meet up. You know, so we could…catch up or something."
"You really think I want to meet up this soon? And besides, what if Anzu-" he stopped when he saw the look on Yami's face. "Oh no…"
"What?" Yami asked innocently.
"Please tell me you're not."
"Not what?"
"Doing the face!"
"What face?"
"The "puppy dog eyes" face! That's my trick!"
"What can I say?" Yami shrugged. "I learnt from the best." He put back on his puppy dog eyes and put on a pleading voice. "Please Yugi? Please can we meet up again? I'm only here for two weeks. Please?"
Yugi groaned when Yami's puppy dog eyes increased in size. And here he thought Yami wasn't even capable of begging, let alone doing the puppy dog eyes. He never expected the former Pharaoh to pull something like this. And he had to admit, it was working (surprisingly). He felt himself become the victim of the infamous "puppy dog eyes" trick.
"Oh alright!" Yugi sighed in defeated. He slipped the piece of paper into his pocket. "We can meet up again. But only once."
"I know." Yami smiled. The puppy dog eyes vanished instantly. "Why not same time, same place, tomorrow?"
"Well, I am suppose to meet Anzu tomorrow, but I guess I could reschedule." He looked up at Yami. He sighed in defeat, knowing that once again he had dug his own grave. "Sure. Why not?" He quickly glanced at his watch again. "But I really have to get going now."
"OK" Yami said happily. "I'll meet you back here tomorrow. Enjoy the duels!"
Yugi gave a small wave goodbye, before quickly walking back to his car. 'Why did I do that?'
Yami smiled happily as he watched Yugi walk away. That went better than he thought it would.
And it could only get better.
-I-
Yugi did meet up with Yami at the park on Thursday. And on Friday too. And, surprisingly, he enjoyed it. It felt good to be with Yami again. It reminded him of the old times when he had first discovered Yami's presence in the Millennium Puzzle.
Yami had asked Yugi what he had done with his half of the Millennium Puzzle, but Yugi never gave a straight answer. He just said it was somewhere safe before quickly changing the subject. Yami had wanted to ask Yugi again and again until he told him, but he decided against it. After all, he wasn't ready to talk about why he left Yugi in the first place. Why should he force Yugi to talk about something he didn't want to discuss when he was in the same situation?
Saturday quickly came around, bringing more beautiful weather. Yugi spent the morning busying himself in the Kame Game Shop, calling Honda in to help him out, for a new order of games had just been delivered. They managed to finish unloaded the numerous boxes just before lunch. Yugi asked Honda if he could watch the shop for a while whilst he went out to lunch, to which Honda agreed. Yugi promised he wouldn't be too long and left before Honda could question where he was going.
Yugi spent the rest of the day giving Yami a quick tour of Domino City, taking him to his old hangouts and duel sites. Yami was thankful that Yugi had (somehow) managed to forgive him, even if he didn't fully forgive him. Even though he wanted Yugi to be more than his friend, he wasn't willing to destroy Yugi's happiness again. He decided he would just let things be for the moment. And if anything happened, Yami would be more than ready.
It wasn't until the sun began to set that Yugi realised what the time was. Knowing that Honda would be closing the shop soon, he apologised to Yami for cutting the tour short before running back to his shop.
When he arrived, he saw that the shop had already been locked up and the sun had almost set. Feeling guilty, he unlocked the front door to the "house" part of the building, closing it softly behind him. He took of his shoes and hung up his jacket before wondering into the living room.
"And just where have you been?" a voice asked in an angry tone.
Yugi jumped slightly at the sight of an extremely angry Anzu standing by the sofa. "A-Anzu! W-What are you doing here?"
"One of my classes was cut short because only two children showed up," Anzu answered, still angry. "I came back to find Honda locking up. He said you had popped out to lunch but had never come back."
Yugi rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I-I can explain."
"I'm sure you can. So lets here it."
"I was just meeting up with an old friend when I lost track of time. That's all," Yugi shrugged.
"Really?" Anzu asked sarcastically. "And just who is this "old friend"?"
"Erm…" Yugi panicked. He didn't want Anzu to know about Yami. Not just yet. "No one important."
"Well they must be pretty important if you missed the afternoon shift just to be with them!"
"Erm…"
"Spill it! Who is it? Is it Mai?"
"No."
"Vivian?"
"No."
"Rebecca?"
"No."
"Then who the hell is it then?"
"I…I can't say…" Yugi lowered his head.
"You can't say?" Anzu asked for confirmation.
"N-No," Yugi shook his head. "I promised them I wouldn't."
"You promised…" A horrible idea suddenly came to Anzu's mind. She let out a small gasp. "You're having an affair…"
"What?" Yugi looked up in shock.
"You're having an affair, aren't you?" Anzu shouted, her voice shaking.
"No! Of course not-"
"You're having an affair with another woman!"
"No! That's not true!"
"Don't lie to me Yugi!" Anzu yelled. "First you cancel our lunches together, then you disappear during your shift. And now you're lying to me!"
"I'm not lying!"
"Then why won't you tell me who you supposedly met? Tell me that!"
Yugi was about to answer, but decided against and remained silent. He just couldn't bring himself to tell Anzu about Yami.
Anzu took Yugi's silence as a confirmation of her accusation. "You are having an affair."
"No! I'm not. Please believe me!"
"Shut up! Stop lying to me Yugi! You're having an affair with another woman. And you're too much of a coward to tell me! Well I've had it!"
Tears streaming down her cheeks, Anzu buried her face in her hands and barged past Yugi. She ran towards the door.
"Anzu!" Yugi called after her. "Anzu! Wait-"
SLAM
Yugi froze. He could hear Anzu crying as she ran down the street, away from the shop. 'What…What just…happened?'
Shocked, Yugi collapsed onto the sofa. His mind was a confused mess. Everything had happened so fast. Had Anzu just left him? She had, hadn't she? She thought Yugi was having an affair, so she's left him.
Yugi pulled a pillow towards him and clutched it against his chest. He breathed heavily. His fiancée had just left him. Wasn't he suppose to feel…upset? Heartbroken? Suicidal? That was how he felt when Yami had left him all those years ago, so why didn't he feel like that now? Sure, he felt shocked. Sad even. But he didn't feel as devastated as when Yami left him.
"Yami…"
Doing the first thing that came to his find, he pulled out his mobile phone. He flicked through his contact list until he came to the newest number that had only recently been added. Pressing the green "call" button, he held the phone to his ear and listened to the dialling tone.
RING RING
RING RING
RING RING
RING-
"Hello?" came a deep but friendly voice.
"Y-Yami?" Yugi said tentatively into the phone.
"Yugi?" Yami asked gently. "Is that you? Is something wrong?"
Yugi felt a small sense of relief rush over him at the sound of Yami worrying over him. "Anzu…she…she left me…"
"She did what?"
"She left me," Yugi repeated, tears prickling in the corner of his eyes. "She left me Yami…"
"Yugi, I'm so sorry." And he truly was. Even though he wanted Yugi all to himself, he wanted Yugi to be happy. Even if that meant he married Anzu. "Do you want me to come over?"
"No. No, that's not necessary."
"Oh…"
"Could you…" Yugi asked quietly and uncertainly. "Could you just talk to me? Until I fall asleep?"
"Of course I can. I'll stay right here until you want me to leave." After a slight pause, he added, "I'll always be here for you, Yugi."
"Thank you Yami…" Yugi whispered. "I'm…glad you're back."
"Me too, Yugi. Me too."
-I-
See, this is where things start to get very interesting.
I hope you liked this chapter. Did I let Yugi forgive Yami too quickly? Because I feel like I did.
Now, I know what you're all thinking (or hoping). Yami and Yugi are going to get back together very quickly, right?
Well let me just tell you one thing…
"Expect the unexpected."
Keep that in mind. You'll know what I mean soon
Please R&R! Happy Easter everyone:showers readers with special YGO Easter eggs: