Releaseshipping (Yami no Yugi x Marik x Ryo)
"Hey," Ryo asked. "Do you think…"
He started the sentence, but it never ended. The two boys on either side of him waited a moment to see if he was going to finish.
The day was ending. The sun set across the harbor, turning it red and orange with fire, until the sky and the sea melded into one perfect, never ending spectrum of colors. Those reds and oranges filtered into the city that bordered the spectral world of the sunset, transforming skyscrapers, railings, bridges, even people into strange, ghost-like beings.
It had been an accident, the three of them meeting up on a day like today. But it was a happy accident, and that was what was important. The tallest of the three, a slender, tan-skinned boy with lavender eyes, had been lost. Not physically, but emotionally, and spiritually. He had returned from his desert home to find something, anything, that could help him find meaning again. Because he had lost his meaning when he turned around. Revenge was no longer his driving force, and without that, he didn't know how to stand. He sought release from this half-life, and that search had led him back to the city where his turning point began.
Another of the boys, the shortest but yet the most dominating presence, had also been lost. He wandered streets where battles had been fought and won, and wondered for what purpose it was. He tried to hide these thoughts from the one who shared his mind, but it had become difficult. Where was he supposed to go? What was he supposed to do now? The battle was won, but the war continued. Where would it bring him next, and what would he lose? He searched for a release from this tension, and it led him here, to the most spectral part of the city at sunset, where a wandering spirit like him could feel like he belonged for a time.
And the last of the boys, the one who had not finished his sentence? He, too, sought a release: release from the spirit that inhabited him, who remained with him even after his defeat, but strong enough to force his host to keep his presence a secret. The light-haired boy had also wandered these streets, where different battles were still fought and won for control of himself. Was there anyone else that could understand this feeling of lost control? Did anyone else long for a release as much as he did?
Of course. And he had found the both of them.
He sighed, leaning against the railing overlooking the harbor.
"What were you going to say, Ryo?" Yami no Yugi asked.
"Yeah, you just trailed off, there," Marik said.
Ryo glanced up from his reverie. Green eyes met violet, and then red. Two pairs of eyes that, although different, seemed to match his in spirit.
"Oh, right," he said. "I was just wondering…do you think…it's out there, maybe?"
"What?" Marik asked.
"I don't know…I guess…peace of mind?"
Yami no Yugi laughed softly.
"One can only hope, Ryo," he said. "One can only hope."
And all three boys turned their eyes toward the sunset…an ending that still promised a new beginning…
A/N: Whoa, I got all poetic on that one. Next is Regresshipping (Pegasus x Cyndia x Pandora x Cadeline).
