Mobiumshipping (Yami no Yugi x Yugi x Atem)
(Directly follows the previous chapter, Monarchshipping)
Yugi was riding on a pink elephant. There were llamas with bat wings flying around in the sky, but that was perfectly normal. This was, after all, a dream.
The moment he had though that, however, he realized that this was anything but normal, and the dream started to fade away. Instead, he was sitting a room very similar to his soul room: a brightly-lit play room filled with toys from his childhood. He picked up a firetruck and looked at it. One of the wheels was broken. He was noticing that a lot more, lately. In his soul room, there were often less toys, and some of them were sometimes broken. He wondered what that meant.
In the corner of the room was a pile of golden sand with some small pyramids built into it, like something a child might build in a sandbox. He put down the firetruck and wandered over to the sand pit, crouching down to admire the little pyramids. They looked just like the real ones in Giza. But then, this was a dream, so they could look as perfect as they wanted.
A sigh echoed through the dream. Somewhere at the back of his head, in a part of him that was still a little bit conscious, he could feel the thoughts of his other self turning around in circle after circle, worrying, afraid to fall asleep like usual, afraid of the dark and claustrophobia that the darkness of a dreamless sleep brought with it.
The dream playroom faded away, and Yugi was wandering through a labyrinth of stairs and doors. He was far away from the conscious part of himself, now. He thought that he probably wouldn't remember this dream when he woke up. He was, after all, somewhere in what appeared to be his subconscious.
In the dream, he felt like he knew a little bit more than he normally would. He wasn't sure if it was true or not, but it seemed so in the dream. He seemed to know that his and his other self's subconsciousness were connected. The thoughts of his other self twirled through the dream like pieces of paper on the wind.
Was I a good king?
Who was I?
Yugi walked to a door and opened it. Inside, he saw the glint of red eyes and the hint of a dark smile. A golden eye glowed on his forehead.
"Penalty game," the figure said.
Yugi closed the door. He walked to the next one and opened that.
He saw his other self standing on a castle wall, facing against a dragon whose head's appeared to be melting. Kaiba was standing on the edge of the castle.
"I'll jump if you attack," he said.
His other self almost did it. The past Yugi stopped him and dropped to the ground in a burst of tears. The Yugi watching from the dream frowned, as a thick haze of sadness fell over the room. It wasn't hist. It was his other self's.
He closed the door. He turned around to open another one across the hallway.
Inside, his other self was sitting, hugging his knees, his forehead resting against his legs so that he could look up at the tablet that hung on the wall in front of him.
Was I a good king?
Yugi lingered at the door for a moment, his hand resting on the frame. There was a tear growing in the corner of his eye, but he brushed it away. He hated to see his other self like this. He hated it when his other self had these thoughts about himself
You're not evil, Yugi wanted to say. You were the best king. I'm sure of it.
But in the dream, he felt like he didn't have a voice.
He glanced out into the hallway. At the far end, there was a doorway edged with golden light. He could feel a gust of hot, dry air fluttering against his face. There, he realized. That was where he had to go next.
He looked at his other self, still sitting on the floor, trying not to look at the stone image of himself.
Yugi walked inside. The sound of his footsteps caused his other self to look up and all around. Yugi put a hand on his other self's shoulder, who looked up at him with surprised red eyes.
"Yugi...?"'
Yugi only smiled, because he didn't have a voice here. He slid his hand into his other self's, and pulled him up to his feet. His other self looked at him, confused. Yugi pointed out the doorway.
His other self did not protest or hesitate as Yugi pulled him through the doorway and into the hall. He led his other self by the hand down to the door edge with light, and there they stopped.
"Yugi?" his other self said again. He looked at the door, unsure, then back to his partner.
Yugi smiled again, and nodded. Without letting go of Yugi's hand, his other self pushed open the door.
A hot wind blasted past them, sending up a flurry of sand for a moment. But this was a dream, so they didn't even feel the sand even as it flew into their eyes. His other self hesitated, so Yugi gripped his hand a little tighter and stepped through the door first.
The moment they stepped out into the endless desert, the scene changed. Instead, they were standing in the shade of a building, looking out onto a balcony. On the edge of the balcony stood a man.
A long purple cape draped from his shoulders. His silhouette was unmistakable, the star shape of his hair black against the bright blue sky. A cheer went up from the crowds below, and the man in the cape raised one hand to greet them. The cheers grew louder.
Then the man turned around, and paused.
He looked just like Yugi's other self, but for the sun-bronzed skin that replaced the fair. A golden crown glinted on his forehead, and the Millennium Puzzle shone at his chest. Yugi looked up at his other self. He was staring, unable to stop himself, his mouth hanging open slightly. Yugi could feel a slight tremble in his other self's hand. Yugi gripped his hand tighter.
Slowly, he led his other self forward to stand in front of the pharaoh version. Both of them stared at each other, unsure of what to make of the other. Yugi reached out for the pharaoh's tanned hand and pulled it up, until he was pressing their hands together – both versions of his other self, fingers laced together, as they looked at each other's red eyes. Yugi cupped his hands around theirs, gripping them together.
And then he had his voice again.
He looked down at the blurred crowd, the impression of their happy faces. He looked up at his other self, both the modern day version and the ancient version.
"See?" he said. "You were a good king. The memory was trapped in here somewhere."
His other self – both of them – looked down at him as one. And almost as though they were mirrors of each other, they smiled at the same time as well.
Then the ancient world faded, and Yugi and his other self were left alone in a cold stone room of the labyrinth, still holding hands. Yugi looked up at his other self.
Silently, a tear ran down the spirit's cheek. Yugi squeezed his hand.
"I know you don't want to sleep," he said. "I know it's because you don't have dreams."
His other self squeezed his hand back.
"So you can share mine, if you want. I mean...if you're okay with pink elephants."
His other self couldn't help himself. He laughed. His hand came up to mute the sound, but his shoulders were still shaking. Yugi grinned. And when his other self finally stopped laughing, he looked back down at Yugi, face shining.
For a moment, his skin turned to deepest bronze, and gold glinted on his forehead. For a moment, he was fully and completely himself, the two versions of himself combined.
"I would like that," he said, finally. "I would like that a lot."
A/N: Well, that actually went much better than I expected. Still a difficult one for me to wrap my head around. Next is Mnemoshipping (Yami no Yugi x Marik).
