.
up the steps, out of the basement
.
He is a man of the world... although one might need to double-take him as he, pale and strong and elegant, sweeps the entrance to the game shop.
"Boy! You're holding it all the wrong way!" his grandfather chides, repositioning the broom in his hands, "You've this ability to turn everything into a challenge, haven't you?"
He laughs. He does, he knows he does.
"I'm sorry, I can't remember the last time I did this..."
They both share a minute of silence.
"No," he concedes, although no one spoke, "You're right. I've never done this before."
His grandfather smirks. "Score!"
Time may pass, or it may not, and he might have returned to this world hours ago, or minutes ago, or millennia ago and never left-
but he knows with his heartbeat it's been precisely two years and three months since he walked through a gate bright with the promise of an afterlife,
because every second his blood pulsed he thought how could he have an afterlife when he had hardly lived-
because the Gods heard their child recoil and Maat passed her judgement again...
(And the basement of the game shop had been as dark and damp and homely as any womb as he awoke and climbed up the stairs; and Grandpa was still bright and cheerful and young inside and
Yugi is still at school.)
...
(Or not.)
And an old man smiles at an old pharaoh, a teenager is a block away, and they both think at the same time that he's in for a... they're both tempted to call it a surprise, but it wouldn't be the best choice of words. In the attic of their hearts, they always knew something extraordinary would pull a soul together again, some day, some how.
.
Yugi... double takes him. Then it happens in a flash- he smiles, shakes his head, extends his arm, shakes the hand of someone who once ruled a kingdom.
"Hey, Other Me..." he says, grinning his disbelief, "...is that a broom?"
.
.
.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. It was hard to write.
Two years have passed already.
Thanks for the reviews, guys. I'm thrilled you like the story so far :) I love you =)
