Original Yu-Gi-Oh Series

Parallel

Chapter 052

Originally Written: Saturday, April 23, 2022 1234PM to 148PM

. . . . .

Yugi took time to dance with Tea. It was win-win because he liked break dancing too. Occasionally, Pharaoh would take over and practice. He was looking for his own style, and watching him flail whenever he wasn't using Yugi's instincts to guide him was hoot for both Tea and Yugi. The dates they went on afterward were just icing on the cake.

He checked up on Joey, sometimes with the others, sometimes not. He was recovering slowly but surely. He was released from the hospital a few weeks after Battle City. Combined with that stab wound, Yugi knew that if Seto hadn't been shielding Joey during his duel with Marik, Joey would be dead.

"My son keeps bringing me security and safety. Building it back up no matter how many times I destroy it. I need to…I should stop…He works so hard." Joey's dad had mellowed. He still struggled with his vices, but hearing and reading the list of potential medical complications Joey could have if he didn't heal fully or correctly had taken its toll on him.

Yami Marik interrupted one night when Yugi was visiting. Pharaoh watched over him, as his hands glowed. Neither had any idea how he got in. Yugi thought about the window, but Pharaoh couldn't find a window that was open.

"I hurt him." Yami Marik explained, looking at Joey. "I hurt Joey."

Pharaoh relented, but he wasn't the one who could accept it. Joey looked at him. Marik stood in the shadows of the room. Joey was laying in his bed. "Okay." Joey said with an expected wary smile.

Yami Marik hovered over Joey's stomach and healed him slowly. He didn't stay the night, nor would he accept any form of food and drink. He left like he entered. A shadow of the night. A shade of a person. He somehow snuck a note in Yugi's pocket, and left Yugi to think.

Yugi hooked up Tristan and Bakura, something the entire group had been waiting to happen, yet stalled the moment Serenity showed up. Joey was the only one amused but he wouldn't share the beans.

He called up Rebecca Hawkins, who finally realized he wasn't eight years old like she was. They played a game of chess over the telephone. She nearly won. He called up Mako, who was getting ready to take another sailing trip. Solomon gave him a gift from Rex and Weevil, and another one to give to Joey.

He met up with Mai who was about to leave on a cruise to a mental health resort, trying to figure out and remember who she was. He took her to Yami Marik instead, and that was a terrifying experience. But Yami Marik healed what he could and told her he didn't know who he was either. Mai insisted on taking the trip anyway. Yugi knew she was a little better when she said she was taking her 'mom jeans' with her and no one could stop her.

Yugi sat and chatted and planned with Bakura as his friend worked on a Tabletop RPG diorama. The mini figurine of himself looked far too adorable for his tastes if he was honest. Don't tell Bakura, but he almost ran off with it.

His parents woke him up from sleep one night. They hovered over his bed. His father held an envelope in his hands. Yugi recognized it as the one he set on the kitchen table before heading to bed in his empty house.

"Yugi…" His mother sat on the bed next to him. She had red hair much like the bit of red in his own hair.

"You didn't need…" His father's hair had the same style as his, but it was mostly black. He shook the envelope. "Why this?"

Yugi rolled over to face them. He held in a yawn. "I figured you guys could use a break. Working so much and everything. Enjoy it."

"There isn't one for yourself, Yugi." His father took out the tickets for a trip to the caribbean.

"Between school, dance practice, working at the Kame Game Shop," Yugi paused just long enough for his father to gasp and his mother to frown, "and dueling tournaments, I just can't seem to find the time for a break. I can't afford to miss any more school this year either. Sorry." This time he yawned. "Maybe next time?"

"Yugi." His father frowned.

"It's a gift. Take it." He shook his head, looking at the Puzzle sitting on his night table. "I'm not upset. I get it now. Please, enjoy your vacation. You've both worked super hard to take care of me and yourselves. So…that's all I want." He hoped to hell and back they actually went. He had to call up Pegasus to make some deals with their bosses to get them both the time off. Otherwise he knew for sure they wouldn't bother going. Their wedding anniversary never really fell in a good time for vacation. That just meant the Caribbean wouldn't be so crowded and full of obnoxious vacationers he supposed. "I'll be fine here."

"I'm so proud of you Yugi. You've grown so much. Next vacation, we are all going together." His father scooped him up in a tight hug. His mother cried. The ugly kind of crying that Yugi wasn't ever going to attempt to interrupt. Let someone else deal with that.

Yugi gave Joey three weeks. In the note he left, Yami Marik said that Seto would be back up in two more. He couldn't push the plans back, or his individual plans would topple over like a train of dominoes.

'Hey Yug'.' Joey answered the phone. It sounded like he was doing stretches, trying to get himself back into shape. 'What's up?'

"Could you stop by our usual place in like two and a half weeks from now?"

'Two weeks? I can come over now instead. Doc says I'm good to go if I take it easy. Don't know what Yami Marik did, but I feel amazing!'

"Uh uh. We're doing construction around the shop. So it's a bit hectic. That's when we'll be done." Yugi shook his head.

In the distance, Solomon pushed a heavy box across the game shop floor. The store was still closed, so Yugi got to see first hand how Solomon pushed all the heavy boxes created for people of typical height and weight around. Pharaoh stood next to Yugi in his ghostly form. He was far too distracted with the eye on Solomon's forehead to pay attention to the conversation Yugi was having with Joey. That worked out just as well for Yugi.

'...Bullshit Yug', what's goin' on?'

"You trust me, right?"

'I trust you wit ma life and soul, man. You know dat. What's goin' on? I'll come ova there asap.'

"Nu uh." Yugi shook his head, "I just need you to trust me, okay."

'...' Joey sighed, 'Okay. Two and a half weeks from today?'

"Yup." Yugi looked at Pharaoh, then back to the wall he was staring at. "Thank you Joey."

'Yea…'f course. I'll see ya soon Yug'. Stay safe out there.'

They said their goodbyes, and Yugi stared at the wall. "You'll see me then, Joey. Run fast." He whispered.

'Yugi.' Pharaoh called him. 'Look. Grandfather Shimon is amazing.'

Yugi turned around, and smiled. "Eh, I could do that."

'Yes, I know, you will, one day, but-' Pharaoh gestured like a kid in a candy store. His own eye glowed on his forehead as he waved his arms in a dramatic reenactment of Solomon pushing a box. '-it is like he is dancing. Water in a slow moving river.' Pharaoh sweeped his arms up and back down again like the curves a river carved out in the land surrounding it.

Yugi laughed.

The box Solomon pushed now floated in the air and set itself to rights on the shelf. Solomon huffed and brushed off his hands. He turned to Yugi and Pharaoh, with a wide smile on his face.

Yugi did understand. The fear that would make a son turn from their father, and years later, a father turn from their son. It was the same fear that could turn a boy from his friends, and leave him cowering under the covers. The same fear that could make a child kill their father and attack their siblings while they searched for freedom they were led to believe they never had in the first place. What Yugi could not understand however, was how that fear could push a son from their father for so long.

It's not easy to come back. To push back out of the comfort zone. But the reward. It filled Yugi's heart to the brim, and made him glad he wished what he did on the Millennium Puzzle. Nothing else would have made a better wish.