"… Yami?" Ryou whispered, crawling onto the platform. As before, his actions went unnoticed by the gods. "Yami?"

His trembling hands shook the unconscious body, but it gave no response. The blast from Osiris' weapon could have destroyed an entire world. Ryou could only sit and imagine what it could do to one tiny spirit.

"… Yami…" Ryou felt the tears fall down his cheeks. The room was silent again. His mind was silent again. And it would always be silent. "It's not fair…"

Whether or not they were truly ready to separate was irrelevant.

"Fate… fate brought us together. Isis said so… I… I don't want to lose you… Please… don't leave me all alone…"

Ryou laid his head over his yami's lifeless spirit. Many images and sounds poured through his fragile mind.

Yugi and the pharaoh were joined by fate, as Isis had revealed during that final duel. Fate had chosen them, not only to save the world, but also to save each other. At least, Ryou thought to himself, that's what Yugi had said during the last duel with the pharaoh.

The pharaoh had learned compassion from Yugi. He had learned, when things looked impossible, he could turn to his friends. He learned to protect them and help them…

"Protect them from people like me…" Ryou finally whispered aloud.

He looked at his yami. He had certainly not learned compassion in these past few years. Or if he had, he only displayed it in a few, unconnected moments. Ryou knew there was a brief moment in Battle City where his yami had saved his life. He took a strong attack that was meant for Ryou. He protected him from the red dragon of Osiris.

But that was only one moment.

It was one moment in years of danger and abuse, of wounds and sickness. It was one moment through years of having his body taken away, having it used against his will, and then being returned to him at its weakest points, just so he can pull himself back together again. His yami would use him, and then expect him to pick up the pieces, nurse their shared body back to health, and then readily give it up again.

And yet, despite all of this, Ryou thought to himself, when it's taken all away, nothing's left!

"Despite all of that, yami… I… I know you are capable of compassion… You… you have to be…" another tear slid down his cheek. "You… just now… in… in that cell… You didn't want to see me in pain. You wanted to protect me… from watching you die again…"

Ryou rubbed his eyes, remembering what his yami had said to the gods – that he would take them down as well.

"You… could have sent me in your place, couldn't you, yami… You could have seen to it that I… I died too… But you didn't…" he whispered. "It's… a start… anyway… You just… needed more time. That's it. Just more time."

He looked back up at the gods.

"But that wasn't all of what Isis said, was it…" he continued to think aloud. "She said that Yugi learned something from the pharaoh too. He… he gained confidence. He… he used to be shy… with no friends… and… and lonely… before the pharaoh came."

The judges began a procession out of their seats. The second part of the trial was about to begin.

"You… were a lot like me…" Ryou whispered to himself.

Years of co-existing in the same body with the pharaoh had given Yugi a new sense of self-esteem. He had made numerous friends, won dueling tournaments, even saved the world. Ryou, on the other hand, was right back where he started.

"I… I guess I've learned about as much from you as… as you have from me, yami…" he rubbed his hand over the thief's scarred face. The other spirit still didn't move. "Yugi learned bravery… but… all I can do I sit here… and… and watch them take you away again…"

Suddenly, Ryou looked up.

"Wait…" he whispered. "I… I'm sitting here…"

He looked down at his yami.

"Yami, that's it!" he shook the silent body again, no longer trying to wake him up. "We… we are just like Yugi and his yami. It's… just we… we aren't ready to separate… And… and this is the test! This is the game!"

Ryou could hardly believe what he was saying. But he felt in his soul that it was true.

"I… I learned enough bravery from you… to… to get here, didn't I?" he whispered to the unconscious soul. "I'm in the chamber of…"

He froze, quickly covering his own mouth. He almost said the name of a god, a magic word that would make him real to the gods around him.