Notes: Thanks to Ladyamberjo for plot help!

Epilogue

"Umbra!"

Umbra awoke in the middle of the night to a blood-curdling scream from the other bedroom. Sometimes it was difficult to fully process the waking world after being peacefully asleep, but tonight he understood instantly what was happening. It had happened before; Lumis had experienced nightmares of Umbra's parachute not opening, although he had never admitted to it. Tonight, he was no doubt reliving the past day's horrors.

Quickly Umbra threw back the covers and got up, making his way into the hall and then into Lumis's room. The little man was still asleep, clutching a pillow for dear life and sobbing into it.

Umbra gripped Lumis's shoulder, gently but firmly shaking him. "Lumis!"

Lumis jumped a mile. The pillow almost fell from his grasp, but then he managed to grab it again just in time. He always had possessed incredible reflexes. "Umbra? . . ." He laid back down, looking up at his friend.

Umbra sighed. ". . . Do you want to talk about it this time?" Judging from the past, he doubted it, but he felt he should ask.

Lumis went red and looked away. "This time? . . ."

"You don't have to pretend with me," Umbra said. "We both know that whenever something happens to me, you have nightmares about it for a long time."

Finally Lumis nodded. ". . . You're right." He turned back. "It's foolish, though. You're here safe. The nightmare doesn't mean anything."

"It means you're hurting pretty badly about it," Umbra said.

Slowly Lumis sat up. He felt less vulnerable and less like a child that way. Laying down made him remember waking up from nightmares as a boy and his parents generally not being very sympathetic about it.

"I . . . it was awful," he choked out. "You were just standing there, fine, and then the whip cracked and you fell . . . and you didn't get up. . . ." His voice tightened. "I couldn't wake you up!" he sobbed. "I couldn't do anything. . . ."

Umbra imagined this was more about reality than a dream. That was likely how things had really happened earlier. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry. . . ."

"We weren't even doing anything to him or trying to stop him!" Lumis exclaimed. "We were just minding our own business and he . . . he just . . ."

"I know," Umbra sighed.

Lumis looked at him. "You handle things better than me, but . . . aren't you upset at all? Or shaken up or something?"

"I'm really upset," Umbra said. "But I'm not even sure I've fully processed that it all really happened. After I . . . fell, everything seems like a dream, especially now. Even though I know it's not."

". . . Then you're probably numb about it and it'll come back to bite you later," Lumis said.

"Probably," Umbra said. Memories of his reaction to seeing the image of the building shaft below the bridge came back to him. He probably never would stop being shaken up about having fallen during Battle City. Lumis had tried his best to help him through that once he had realized, but it just wasn't something that Umbra could get over.

Lumis hesitated. "When you get to that point, I . . . want you to talk about it," he said. "Just come to me and talk, whenever or wherever it is. You shouldn't keep it bottled up inside, and I . . . I'd like a chance to really do something to help. . . ."

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even be here," Umbra frowned. "You used that magic thing to get me back."

"I'm sure any of Yugi's friends would have been shown the same option and chosen it to save you both," Lumis said. "They're good people. I just . . . I didn't really realize that . . . I'm good too. . . ."

Umbra stared at him in surprise for a long moment. "Lumis . . . of course you're good," he said. "I saw that in you all along. I . . . should have told you."

Lumis stared back. "You did?"

"You didn't know," Umbra realized in sickened sorrow. "What did you think I saw in you years ago?"

A shrug. "I never really knew," Lumis said. "Marik saw the potential to be a Rare Hunter, but I never had the feeling that was what you were interested in."

"I saw undying loyalty," Umbra said. "You wanted to be with me. You weren't going to abandon me and move on."

"But Kaiba made me think you were going to do that to me," Lumis said sadly. "I let him manipulate my feelings because I'd been betrayed so many times in the past."

"But then you tried to show me that you weren't going to abandon me," Umbra said. "I never had any thought of abandoning you, even though I was frustrated when our attack failed and I was worried that I should rely on my own strategies after that. But I never should have snapped at you. I knew you wouldn't handle that well, but I was too upset to care at the moment. When I thought you might never wake up . . . I couldn't believe I'd let myself treat you like that."

Lumis smiled a bit. "Umbra . . . I always saw good in you too. You wanted to protect me. . . . Some of the times when you bossed me around, you were really trying to look out for me, weren't you?"

"Yeah, I was," Umbra said.

"I hope we never have to get into a situation like this again," Lumis said with a shudder. "I can't take it when you're hurt . . . or worse. . . ."

"I know. And even if I seem to handle things better than you, I can't take it when something happens to you either." Umbra laid a hand on Lumis's shoulder.

"I don't feel like going back to sleep," Lumis said. "Let's get something to eat."

Umbra was slightly amused, but he didn't really want to sleep either. "Okay."

xxxx

Atem sighed to himself as he sat at the kitchen table in the Muto residence. Yugi was sleeping peacefully now, after having many long talks with all of his friends. But for Atem, sleep was not processing. He slowly drank the remains of the hot chocolate Téa had made earlier for them all to share.

"Well, hello there."

Atem started at the voice. Solomon was standing in the doorway with a friendly smile. But despite the easy-going appearance, concern flickered in his eyes.

"Hello," Atem said, suddenly feeling awkward. "Er . . . I'm sorry, this is the last of the hot chocolate. . . . There wasn't much left. . . ."

"That's alright." Solomon came in and sat at the table with him. "But I want to have a talk with you, man to man." He laced his fingers on the table. "I know something terrible happened today. That was obvious in how all of you were acting. What I don't know is what exactly it was. But the fact that I don't know means it must have happened to Yugi. Am I correct?"

Atem swallowed hard. ". . . Yes . . . partially."

"And no one wanted to let me know because they were afraid an old man like me couldn't take it?" Solomon continued.

". . . We were concerned," Atem admitted. "Nothing like this has ever happened before. . . ."

Solomon's eyes narrowed. "I have a right to know what it was," he said. "I'm tougher than I'm given credit for. And Yugi seems to be alright now. . . ."

". . . Yes," Atem agreed. "Now. . . ." This felt very uncomfortable. But he knew Solomon was right; he deserved to know. So did Mrs. Muto, for that matter. It was easier to think of telling Solomon, however.

"Just how bad off was he before?" Solomon all but demanded.

Atem sighed. ". . . He was dead."

Solomon wavered, but quickly caught the edge of the table. "Tell me everything," he exclaimed.

It was difficult to revisit the horrible day, but Atem complied, telling in detail of what had happened and how it had been fixed. Yugi awoke and came in before the tale was through.

"I'm really sorry for putting everyone through so much," Yugi said sadly. "I just didn't know what else to do but run out to save Nesbitt. . . . He and Lector have been through so much lately, and I didn't want to see them suffer any more with being separated. . . . But I didn't want you or anyone else to be sad missing me either, Atem. . . ."

"I know, Yugi." Atem gave him a sad smile. "That's always the problem, isn't it? We want to do what we can to protect our loved ones, but sometimes that means risking or even giving up our own lives for them. I did that in Egypt. You did that today."

"And thank goodness you're alright," Solomon exclaimed. "Yugi . . ." He stared at the boy and slowly shook his head. "I can't believe we almost lost you today. . . . And that this was all going on right across the street!"

"We didn't want to tell you until we knew Yugi was safe, at least," Atem said.

"I understand that, but if anything like this happens again, I want to know toot sweet, do you understand?!" Solomon gave them both a stern look.

"Of course," Atem said. He lowered his gaze to the mug.

"But let's hope nothing like this will happen again," Yugi interjected. He hugged Solomon, then Atem. "I did what I had to do, but I'd rather stay with everyone for a long time to come!"

They both held him close. "And that is most certainly what we want too," Atem said.

For a while the three of them sat and talked. But at last Solomon encouraged them to go on to bed and they both went back in their room, wanting a private conversation more than sleep.

". . . He took it better than I thought he might," Atem said. "I'm relieved."

"Yeah." Yugi looked at his friend. "But you're still really hurting, aren't you?"

Atem sighed. "It's . . . never easy to get over losing you. Losing you to Dartz was worse in one way because it was my fault. But today, when you first fell . . . I didn't know if there was any way to get you back, especially considering the heartless scenario Yami Marik devised. At least with Dartz, I could always believe there was a way to rescue you."

"I'm really sorry," Yugi said softly. "I'm sure that even with knowing I had to try to save Nesbitt, it doesn't make it hurt any less."

"No, it doesn't," Atem admitted. "But at least you're back now, Yugi, and hopefully in time the wounds will heal, even if they leave scars."

"I hope so." Yugi laid his hand on Atem's.

". . . And how do you feel, Yugi?" Atem asked. "Surely it was strange or upsetting for you to be dead. . . ."

Yugi looked down. "It was," he said, "but I didn't really have time to be too upset. I had Umbra to worry about, and then Shadi came to tell us we had to go on that journey to get back. . . ."

Atem smiled a bit. "Umbra was lucky he had you with him."

"I was lucky too," Yugi exclaimed. "He saved me!"

"Really." Surprise flickered in Atem's eyes.

Yugi smiled and nodded. "And I wouldn't have even had the chance to come back if Lumis hadn't picked that option. They're both good guys."

"Yes," Atem mused. "They certainly are."

"Our group of friends just keeps getting bigger, and that's awesome all around for all of us," Yugi beamed. "We're all growing and getting closer, and we'll be strong enough to handle whatever disasters come our way."

"It does seem that we will be," Atem said. "But I still hope it will be some time before our next calamity."

Yugi finally sobered. "Yeah," he said, looking out through the skylight at the winter night. "I sure do too."

xxxx

The night passed peacefully, to everyone's relief. Come morning, they all journeyed to the airport to say Goodbye to the Paradox Brothers and Vivian.

"Let us know when you get there safe," Téa said.

"And when you get all these things locked away where they belong," Joey added.

"We most certainly will," said Para.

"But we will most likely ask you to pay the phone bill," Dox concluded.

"Sure," Yugi chuckled.

Vivian looked longingly at Lector. It was clear that she was debating something in her mind. Mai caught her eye and shook her head in warning, but Vivian didn't feel like listening.

"You know," she said at last, "this is a leap year. Do you know what that means?"

Mai's jaw dropped. She definitely did.

"Oh, give me a break," Téa scowled with a facepalm.

Lector, however, just frowned. "No, Miss Wong, I don't know."

Nesbitt and Seto also looked clueless. But they were sure that for Vivian to talk about it, it didn't bode well.

Vivian smiled. "There's a tradition where women can propose to men in leap years. Of course, that's completely ridiculous and they should propose whenever they feel like it, but still . . ."

"No, Miss Wong!" Lector was staring, his voice firm.

Vivian was undaunted. "And if the proposal is refused, you have to pay a fine decided by the woman," she smirked. Before Lector could say anything to that, she climbed on a chair and bent down. "Goodbye, Darling," she told him, and suddenly kissed him on the lips before he had the chance to react.

"What are you doing?!" Nesbitt boomed.

Vivian just smiled and waved before jumping down from the chair and bounding through the gate. "Bye!"

Still in utter shock, Lector stared after her in complete disbelief.

"She knew he'd refuse!" Nesbitt cried, wildly pointing after her departing form. "She did that on purpose to steal a kiss!"

"I have this feeling she's not going to give up on Lector come Spring," Johnson groaned.

"Probably," Gansley grunted.

Crump was also stunned. But then he looked to Lector with wide eyes. "So what was that like?!" he exclaimed.

"It was completely intrusive and inappropriate!" Lector sputtered. "I don't know what I'm going to do with her!"

Yugi gave an awkward chuckle. "She is pretty hard to handle. I discovered that at Kaiba's tournament."

". . . Well, we should be getting to Penguin World for the day," Johnson said, wanting to change the subject, "and you kids had probably better get to school."

"I'd rather show Noa the penguins," Mokuba said. "But maybe we can come after school?"

"Sure," Crump said, although he didn't know how interested Noa would be in penguins.

Yugi sighed as they all headed for the exit and their vehicles. "I just hope things are going to settle down for a while," he declared. "We could all use a break."

"We sure could," Téa said.

"And who deserves it more than us?" Joey said. "For once we should be able to stop savin' the world and just enjoy it!"

"Makes sense to me," Tristan said.

Soon most of the group was talking at once, making various plans for fun things to do to just relax for a while. The Big Five fell back to just observe.

"Heh," Gansley smirked.

"They certainly have the ability to bounce back quickly from near-tragedies," Johnson remarked.

"But that won't last indefinitely," Nesbitt grunted in concern. "If things keep happening, eventually even they won't be able to take it anymore."

"Let's just hope things won't keep happening," Lector said. "That Shadi person said there would come a time of peace."

"But even he didn't know when!" Crump sighed.

"So for now we'll simply have to find enjoyment wherever and whenever we can," Gansley said.

"Right! And right now, that's with George and Sammy and all our other perfect penguins," Crump gushed. "And with each other, of course."

Lector smiled. "Always."

Nesbitt finally managed a gruff smile. He was still angry about Vivian's brazen behavior, and still worried about what would come at them in the future, but he certainly appreciated that they were all still together. Hopefully, no matter what perils they had yet to contend with, that would never change.

xxxx

Being absorbed into the darkness was not an enjoyable experience, at least not at first. But by now it had happened to him several times, and he had learned how to harness the darkness and make it bend to his will. He always emerged from it stronger than ever.

Of course, he was more than a little annoyed that his best efforts to sow disharmony had failed. All of those people were closer now than ever. He snarled. So many of his plans had backfired likewise. Was there no way to break up their happiness?

"Well, well. So once again you have failed."

He started. "Who's there? Where are you?"

"I am everywhere that darkness exists. I always have been and I always will be, because the darkness will always exist. The light can never extinguish it; the light wouldn't exist without it. No one would even know what the light is without the dark to counter it."

"Hmm." His lips started to curl in an intrigued smirk. "I know who you are."

"And I know you. What do you say we combine our forces to wreak havoc on the world?"

"You were once my enemy," he said.

"Partially. But we were both born from the darkness itself. Wouldn't it make more sense to be allies instead?"

He threw back his head and laughed.