AN: No I am NOT dead. At least, not yet, but give me another few months and my current personal habits, and you may be onto something. I originally wrote the ending to this fic, and the next two chapters of my other fic 'Whirlwind', but then I lost the USB key I'd kept them on, and I didn't want to rewrite them. I now realize that as a writer, I have to suck it up for my readers and do it, so, I shall, and I shall include another of my songs. If you'd like to see my others for possible use in a fic (or possibly have me write one for you, I'd enjoy a challenge, being a lyricist/songwriter is quite fun once you get it down), private message or email me. Time for things to come full circle, and I'm sorry to say, it might not be a pretty circle… character death. Not who you'd expect, though, so just be on your toes. There are several more close calls as well.
Mirei: YAYYYYYYY, ARA'S BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So mature, Mirei… oh wait, never mind, you can't be mature, you live next to my inner child in the sanctum.
Yami: How dare you leave us all hanging while my precious hikari kills himself!
Yugi: How dare you have me kill myself! You-
Zip it, midgets!
Yami and Yugi::smoking in rage:: WHAT WAS THAT?!!!- ::POOF – duo as chibis::
Mirei: Awww… ::scoops them up and begins babying them mercilessly:: SO CUTE!!!!
Chibi Yami and Chibi Yugi: Leggo! Leggo! Arwa, stop it! ARWA!!! PWEASE::tearing up, causing Mirei to go into overdrive in her obsessing::
I think Mirei deserves this after being deprived of attention, food, and life for so long… besides, this is what you get when you upset the authoress. Oh but I have one better. OH CLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHIBIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chibi Yami and Chibi Yugi: No, not Cwaws!! Anee-ome but Cwaws!!
Claws: KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII::appearing, takes Chibi yugi, begins tickling, teasing and cuddling him without stopping::
Chibi Yami: YUGI!!!!!
Chibi Yugi: I suwwender! I suwwender! Make it stoooooooooooooop!
That's one, but what about my other antagonizing chibi…
Chibi Yami: NEBER::surrounded by mobs of adoring fangirls all fighting to reach him and cuddle him within an inch of his afterlife:: Otay! Otay!! I giwe!!
Now promise to do the disclaimer.
Chibi Yami and Chibi Yugi: ARWA NO OWN YGO, JUST 'ER SONGS AN' OH-SEE'S AN' PLOT::POOF! – teens again, wearing only bondage pants and puzzles, mobbed by fangirls:: GAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My appeasement for being gone so long. Now that you ladies have had your piece…
::fangirls vanish, teens collapse, magic crackling around them::
Now what do you boys have to say for yourself?
Yugi: you're a twisted, evil, conniving little- ::POOF! Little crimson fairy in jar suspended above fangirl mob::
Yami: Turn him back, you fiend- ::POOF! Kid-sized Inu-Yami with ears, claws and tail, in cage below Yugi:: I take it back! I TAKE IT BAAAAACK!!!!!! I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!
Yugi:: muffled:: So do I!! I'M SORRY!
::POOF! Fangirls back, Inu-Yami and Human-sized Fairy Yugi::
Yami and Yugi: What?! …but we apologized!
So what? You're staying like that to make a point to the others. Be thankful I'm just keeping Mirei and Claws away.
Yami and Yugi::roll eyes, sarcastic:: Oh, you're so merciful… ::magic crackles around them:: You're the most merciful goddess we know.
Yeah, right, I'm the only goddess you know… Now, on with the story.
OH! And if you're an Anzu fan, you'll hate this, or at least, part of it.
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Yami approached the hose, and rammed the door, only to feel a faint ache in his back. Yugi was right behind it, then… but how would her get to him? He looked at the kitchen window a moment.
"Reinforced glass, all the windows are. The locks are all magic-proof, too, so don't bother." Ryou supplied to earn him glares, "What? We did it because we feared you two would hunt us down and come after us."
"Well, now it just made it a deathtrap! I can tell he dead bolted and the door, but isn't there a back door you've got the key to?" Yami reasoned desperately.
Ryou nodded, "Yeah, c'mon, follow me!" He darted off around the side of the house, darting into the narrow alleyway with two yamis in hot pursuit. He came to the back door and stuck his key in, unlocking it quickly and flinging open the door as Yami shoved past him inside, sending the hikari to the ground for Bakura to help up.
The pharaoh knew he hadn't much time, he was feeling lightheaded. Sliding into the front entryway, he yelped as his balance abandoned him and sent him to the floor. It took him all of three seconds to realize what he'd slipped on: blood. Looking to the door, he didn't fight the gasp at his hikari, still glaring daggers at him through half-glazed eyes before he went limp, switchblade still in his hand. Yami darted forward, blade embedding itself in the wall behind him as he tossed it away and then focused his shadow magic on healing his light, the light he'd finally realized how much he'd damaged by allowing himself to taint them both because of an outright lie. The shallow breathing slowed and Yami threw the puzzle back over the light's neck after praying to it to help it's rightful master. Golden light shone like a beacon before him for a few moments, only to falter and vanish to reveal a still hikari, wounds gone, but still bathed in his own blood and… not breathing.
"Oh Ra…" the Egyptian breathed, the look on his face indescribable. After a moment of shock, he pushed through it into action, shadow magic flaring around them both as he desperately fought to revive his light before the inevitable happened. He abandoned his body, whether by the force of the item forcing him back or his own accord, and darted into his light, forcing his very life energy into the corpse- no, he refused to believe that his light was truly gone yet!
'Dammit, Yugi, I lost you once because of my stupidity, I'll be destroyed before I lose you again to my weakness!!' He bellowed through his collapsing bond, 'I'M NOT DONE LOVING YOU!!!'
The dark and crumbling soul room of his light flickered before the dark as he poured himself into the only thing he knew he had left to live for now. He finally had back the light and the love in his life he'd been missing for so long! It couldn't be gone for good now before he had a chance to make things right again for Yugi as the light had done for him. It just couldn't! Slumping down, in exhaustion and devastation, crimson eyes shut sadly, unable to cry in his constantly weakening state as he destroyed himself in what seemed a vain hope to help his light.
Shadows withered his transparent form into nothingness as he fell forward into unconsciousness, nothingness... Now all that was left was a crumbling room full of decaying toys, mocking the innocence that no longer walked the land of the living… until a light flickered into being, nearly extinguished by the shadows it had to contest with, but the light grew, and covered the room in the glow of life before two figures reappeared within its wake, the room dimly lit by it's remnants. Amethyst eyes blearily opened and looked around indifferently at his soul room. So he'd fallen back into it's sanctuary once again… wait, why was it so dim? He knew it grew dimmer when he wanted to fall asleep, but this was different. Why was it different though?
A low moan that was deeper than he knew himself capable of drifted through the room. Then it all flooded through him with a sickening dread. He'd looked death in the eye again… for the same reasons as the thousands of times before… but someone had tried to bust down the door; someone had come after him. Yami had come after him. What had happened next, though? Why was it all dark from there on in? He'd succeeded… he'd killed himself, he remembered being judged, only to have his feather ripped away from the scale and back into his body before he too was painfully dragged back into the realm of the living… he faintly remembered hearing something during that trip… 'I'm not done loving you…' Sitting bolt upright, he saw Yami a few feet away, unmoving, crimson eyes dulled as they stared into a realm unseen by all others.
"Oh gods… Yami." He gasped after a moment of stunned observance, rushing to him and trying to shake him awake. There was no reason to bother with a pulse, he'd been dead for centuries. He was cold as ice, and if Yugi pressed down too hard, his hands just went through the dark. Wait! Why did he care? This was the person who'd beaten him within an inch of his life more times than he cared to count! Why shouldn't he be aloud to fade away into nothingness?! Because he saved him... Yami gave himself up to keep Yugi from fading. He knew he had a debt to the dark, and as much as he hated that, it meant he still had to help him. Yugi set his hand once more upon the dark, one hand on his chest and the other his forehead. Then he closed his eyes, and pushed his energy back into the dark, who he knew had given it to him in the first place. He found himself pushing down harder but still not going through him, a sign that he was indeed coming back, slowly. Then he felt it. Had it been before he ran that night, before he came into himself his a job requiring skill and hobbies requiring attention to detail, it would've escaped him. The slightest shudder... and then the boy felt the exertion of his task overwhelm him, forcing him to stop as he fell forward onto the spirit.
Now, this could go on forever, the whole pushing the same energy back and forth between light and dark, but someone decided to take pity upon them both and end it. A golden glow covered the duo and pulled them apart, yanking Yami out the door back to the puzzle and Yugi into bed. Both weakly protested, but were forced to give up out of sheer exhaustion. The golden aura covering them both as they lay in their separate beds, forced into a energy-conservative sleep, slowly seeped in, leaving only one mark that either had ever been touched by it: three golden flecks in each iris, almost touching in a triangle. Then both were left, in perfect health and life force, to sleep the soreness and exhaustion of the last few minutes off. Amazing how fast things can happen, no?
Yami was the first to awaken, and immediately his first thoughts were: 'why am I in my soul room', 'why am I so sore', and 'what happened last night'. Then it hit him like lightning, he'd failed to save Yugi! But then how... how was he not chained up in the heart of the puzzle? And why did he feel so energetic? Throwing open the door to the hallway, he saw Yugi's soul room still there, looking as it always had. Taking the handle hesitantly, he braced himself for the worst and opened the door. He wasn't prepared for what he saw, though. Yugi was sleeping soundly on the bed, moving around every so often and pulling his blankets over his head to keep the light out. He was okay...
Yami was stunned speechless, which was great, considering if his light had been dragged from his dreams right now, he'd be peeved, to say the least. The dark stumbled forward, avoiding toys strewn about the place, and came to the foot of the bed, sitting on it while just staring at his light with eyes unfit for the occasion. They'd had a miracle, they'd both been saved, and they were both fine. He should be screaming for joy! Why was he looking the light over with sad eyes? Because he didn't deserve him... not after all the shit he'd put him through since he got his body and Anzu starting feeding him those lies. Speaking of that little bitch, it was time to go pay her a visit... Yami took one last look at his light, and then ported himself out of the room and back into his own body. Waking, he looked up at two pairs of eyes, one chocolate and one obsidian.
"Yami, you're okay!" Ryou exclaimed, "What happened? Is Yugi okay? Why isn't he waking up?"
"Hikari, calm down, there'll be plenty of time for questions in a minute." The dark laughed before sobering up at Yami's eyes, "Nice eyes, pharaoh, as if enough of you wasn't gold already."
"What?" Yami shot the dark a look of confusion before seeing the mirror to his right and turning to see himself in it. His eyes were still that lovely shade of crimson, but three gold specks still shone brightly within them. Analyzing them for a moment, he then looked down at the puzzle and smiled, "So that's who saved us..."
"Yami." Bakura's toe indicated exactly wht he wante,d and the pharaoh turned to the white-haired light easily.
"I'll tell you once Yugi wakes up. He's sleeping in his soul room, he is fine. He will wake when he is ready to. I need you to watch him a moment while Bakura and I tend to something." The young man was already halfway to the door, the thief king hot on his heels. Outside in the hallway were Jou, Seto, and Mokuba. Yami merely nodded to them before walking past, eyes set. The duo headed outside past the magical wards to vanish into the shadows. They appeared in a pink room decorated liberally with dance decorations and pictures of a brunette with the lightning-haired dark. On the bed, sleeping, was the witch herself, a dark smile on her face at her dream.
Standing at the foot of her bed, Yami nodded to Bakura, who slapped her awake roughly. "Dammit, thief, that hurt! What the hell was that for?"
"Your obliviousness to your situation is pathetic, bitch, and don't you dare try pulling the innocent card with us." Yami's tone told her everything she needed to know: the jig was up, and there wouldn't be a force in existence to keep her from paying the price of it.
The albino smirked at this: he knew this was going to get exceedingly fun, if not messy, "To think, one lie is going to keep you from those dreams of dancing in the spotlight... I think you can kiss your future goodbye."
"You can't kill me..." She breathed shakily, "If you do, they'll lock you up; you'll never see those little brats again. Good riddance..."
"That's where you're wrong, Anzu. I won't kill you. I don't need to deal with covering it up, even though they'd never find a hair, much less the body." He smirked, "I have much simpler ways of dealing with people like you. First things first, though..."
The puzzle flashed before the room melted away into the darkness, leaving Anzu to fall on her ass as her bed vanished below her. Fear in her eyes, the girl backed away, only to find her legs frozen in place. The puzzle glowed once more, and Anzu felt herself weakening as a sickly fuchsia light flew out from her into the air between her and Yami, the light widening and fading away to reveal what looked like a princess wreathed in evil, former beauty twisted in horrifying hideousness. Bakura drew a black card and sealed it into that, the title given I the card as 'Anzu, Maid of Deceit'. The card then burst into black flames in his hand, leaving a ghost of the soul monster to fade into the abyss before Anzu's eyes.
"That was to ensure you would never use magic again, nor would the gift of luck ever fall to you. Your soul monster took that ability away with it's destruction. Now to deal with the rest of you."
"You don't mean that, do you, Yami?" She pleaded vainly, scurrying forward and begging like the scum she was, "Come on, Yami, it's not my fault you were so easily misled by me! It's not my fault you believed me! It's not my fault you were so hot, dark and mysterious! It's not my fault you made me want to get rid of that insolent pup so I could be with you!"
"You realize you've done absolutely nothing to help yourself, right?" Bakura laughed from where he stood behind her and to her right, to ensure she wouldn't try to run off before her punishment. She was digging herself such a hole...
"You are right, Anzu... it isn't your fault that I was so easily fooled, "The dark said so calmly it scared Anzu, "It's my fault I believed who I thought to be a friend. It's my fault for being you I am. It's not your fault I made you want me that badly... It's your fault for being too weak and evil to deal with it like a good person would have."
The gold light flared around him like flames before shooting out to bind her as she stood to flee. She screamed as the light overcame her and began to work as it's master commanded it. Her screams were muffled before finally ceasing. Left in the place of the lying, backstabbing, heartless person who'd crossed him, was a middle-aged, obese woman with a crooked nose, grey hair, pudgy feet and hands, plain office attire, thick-lens glasses with out-of-style octagonal frames, and beady eyes of the dullest sickest green. She looked at herself and screamed, and the noise that came out was screechy and nasally. "What have you done to me?!"
"Your name is Laverne von Husster, you're an average woman who is possibly the most ugly woman on the planet. You're two-hundred pounds overweight, formerly married to a colleague who took all of your money with him, and have been teaching at schools in seven different states over the last thirty-five years, always having to leave under mysterious circumstances, though amazingly, you still find work. You have a second job at a chicken joint, and are trying to pay off that loan you should never have got twenty years ago. You teach seventh-grade math at Polk Middle School, and you have yet to find a student who likes you. Oh, and by the way, you're one of the most avid lesbian rights activists your town has ever seen. You're fifteen years from retirement to a nursing home. Have a nice life, Herr von Hussey!" With that, the flabbergasted woman was taken back to her rowdy class of kids.
Yami and Bakura watched the class prank her senseless until her big breakdown, after which she was carted away to a physc ward. They then returned to their light's home, walked back in, sharing twin looks of dark satisfaction. The dark look to them vanished the second they saw their hikaris conversing avidly inside the room with the other three guests.
"Yugi!" Yami was at his light's side in a flash, "You're alright! You are all right, aren't you? No ill effects from last night?"
The light turned from Yami back to Ryou, pulling his wallet from his back pocket and handing him a thousand yen bill with a sheepish grin, "I really need to learn not to bet on yamis, they always surprise you... I'm glad you're back, though. So, what were you two off doing?"
"Giving that witch her just desserts." Bakura smirked once more as he put his arms around his grinning hikari's waist, "I've never seen Yami take revenge so far before, not even on me or Marik."
"That's what happens when you mess with me and my hikari." The pharaoh grinned, ruffling Yugi's hair affectionately, "So, where do we go from here? You moving back to domino with us?"
"No way." Ryou shook, "We've got great jobs here, and I'm sure Chris would love to have you guys there. With so many famous duelists hanging around, he might even be able to open that second shop he's been aiming for."
"Yeah, and you could move in with us. We've got plenty of room. We could probably even add on to this place if need be."
"We can add on to this place whenever we want to, we've all got shadow magic."
"We don't need to use it on something as petty as a renovation. Besides, people will get suspicious, and the wards on this house are still up, though we'll alter them to accept your magic soon enough." Yugi reasoned smoothly before falling back into his dark embrace, "Besides, I fixed up this house almost entirely on my own. A little help from some friends, and a teensy bit of magic so I wouldn't have to call out some professionals for the stuff beyond my skill, but other than that, it was all me. It's fun."
"Yeah, besides, if you make it with your own two hands, you treasure it all the more." Jou quipped from the seat he was sharing with Kaiba.
The CEO snorted, "How would you know this? I buy you just about everything you need, pup."
The caused the hikaris to frown, "Wait, if Jou wasn't relying on us for cash or anything, why were you in on all of this?"
"I played along to ensure that no one took things too far, but then once I caught wind of Anzu's lies and started believed them, I was in it like Yami, for the payback. Anyways, Seto and I had been going steady since a few weeks after you left, Ryou." Jou replied with a blush, "Besides, we're getting off topic. And who do you think fixed up your grandpa's house, anyway? They weren't gonna spend a lotta money on fixing it, and they couldn't risk using shadow magic on it, so we were stuck fixing it the old fashioned way. It looks better than ever now."
"Wow..." Yugi was speechless, "Uh, thanks Jou... oh, speaking of Grandpa, did any of you visit his grave at all while I was gone? To change out the flowers, get rid of any leaves, things like that?"
"Yes, I went once every three months." Yami nodded, "I thought you were gone, and even if Anzu's lies had drove me to do what I'd done, I still felt something at your loss, and since we hadn't found your body to bury, I'd tended to your grandfather's grave as a way of atoning."
"Well, I'm very thankful for that." Yugi smiled, eyes drifting to the wall, and onto the atomic clock: 8:36. Eyes wide, he darted out of the bed and out the door, "I'M LATE!!"
Ryou looked up and panicked as well. He knew Chris would expect them to open if he was still in the hospital with Tatiana, who was still recovering from the bug that had gotten her at the tourney, "Sorry, guys, but we really need to get to work! You can come with, if you like, but we've gotta go now!"
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Yami had been amazed at how much work Yugi did, but once he revealed that it was just a side-job, the dark was left speechless. Then he'd seen Yugi exchange his jacket for his tuxedo shirt, and promptly fainted. A short while later he found Yugi serving up drinks at the bar, and decided to go get one, only to have him yanked away by someone Yami had briefly seen at the tournament, who shoved a guitar case in his hands and shoved him out of the bar. Sighing, the light made his way to the makeshift stage and took the mike after dropping his case behind him.
"Alright, ladies and gents, it's that time again... Karaoke Night!" The crowd went wild, "You know the drill, ladies and gentlemen, come one up and sing your heart out, and tonight, we premiere a fun twist. You can pay to have someone dragged on stage to sing, or pay to have them removed from it. The price to get you off stage is triple the price that got you on it. Oh, and you can pay for encores, too. Any takers, or are you gonna make me bring out my guitar?"
The cheers this got caused the dark and the gang he'd found to quirk brows at young Ryou, who merely laughed before calling, "Hey, Yugi, show us something new!"
"Fine, but you guys better get up here!" He called back, beckoning them before unlatching his case and pulling out the guitar easily. The quintet hopped on stage, and immediately they settled into their respective pairs: Seto and Jou, Ryou and Kura, and Yami next to Yugi as he began strumming out a soft beat.
"I glance at you, first time in years...
You look so high, can't see the fears
You had when we had shared our tears.
I see you now, you're up so high!
What is it like, up in that sky?!
I look at you, I wonder why,
You don't fall down, cause you can't fly!
You're not as strong as them, or I!"
His guitar was louder, and his voice higher.
"I watch you now, can't help but cry,
You fell so far, and I'd want to die.
You've fallen fast, and fallen far,
You look like just a distant star.
A falling star can never last,
Now, let's go back,
Let's go back, back to the past!"
Yugi strayed a longing look at his dark before taking the mike again.
"I see you now, you're not so high,
And falling still through heaven's sky!
Reach for me now, or else you'll die!
These men can't save you from the lies.
But we both can, me and your light.
We've watched you fall, we've seen your plight.
Come now with us, and leave this night,
Come back to days, where life is right.
I reach for you, can't help but cry,
You've spiraled down, fell from the sky!
You've fallen fast, and fallen far,
You look like just a distant star.
A falling star can never last,
Now, let's go back,
Let's go back, back to the past!"
He was deep into it now, and the crowd was swaying with the beat as he swung his guitar to his back and grabbed the mike, dragging it close while his other hand extended to the crowd.
"Reach for my hand, reach for the light.
I'll catch your star, and make it bright!
I want to know, what began you plight?
What plunged you into this cruel night?!
Now look at me, I see your face.
I did before as I saw this place.
This cruel dungeon, this cruel cage,
Is where played out will be your fate!"
He strummed his guitar once more, voice more controlled once more.
"Now come along, come back and stay.
Return to him, and with him play.
You were falling fast, and falling far,
You looked like just a distant star.
A falling star will never last.
You came back,
Let's go back-"
Yami and Ryou joined in, arms around the singer as he belted out to his amazing audience, containing more than one talent scout, not that Yugi knew that.
"You were falling fast, and falling far!
You looked like just a distant star!
A falling star would never last.
So you came back,
You came back, back to the past..."
He leaned back into the mike, singing softly and vibrantly,
"We need you back, and back to stay...
Yes, he needs you back, needs you back, one last day..."
With the final chord, the audience roared like never before, and all the teens grinned as they congratulated the teen on his song before Jou took the mike, "Now c'mon, who wouldn't wanna sing after hearing that? Give it up for Yugi Motou!"
THE END ...or not.
Yugi went on to publish his first album the following year, with a remix album released a short time later done by Ryou. The quartet pairs, Yami/Yugi, Ryou/Kura, Malik/Marik, and Kaiba/Jou, still all participated avidly in Duel Monsters, taking great joy in each of their matches. Ara and Mokuba started dating a few weeks before Yugi's album hit the top 40 global charts. They were married three years later, at a duel-themed wedding. Tatiana's water broke during the ceremony, and Taiko's birth was announced before desert at the reception. Ryou caught the bouquet. Nine months to the day after the wedding, Ara gave birth to triplets Yumi, Ryku, and Maliri. Chris' Card Center went on to become a global chain, and the social hotspot for every teen scene from Tokyo to Texas. They all live outside their headquarters in Domino and Kyoto. Oh, and if you were wondering about Anzu, the gang went and got her out of the mental hospital... they turned her into a clumsy, tone-deaf little boy being raised by Marines called Abd-Al-Muna (Servant of Desires). He was cursed to grant every wish made of him except a wish freeing him or for him to reveal Anzu's life. Last time they checked in on him he showed proper respect to everyone he met, he couldn't lie unless someone wished him to, didn't sleep, always gave his food to those in need of it, unable to show emotion, and did the chores for his entire squad. Oh, did I forget to mention the other little part of his curse? He couldn't die until he retired, he was always in perfect shape, and he'd never be promoted to a position of authority. Oh, and he could never run away from his job. He's currently serving his sixth tour in Iraq.
NOW we have the end.
And it's finally over. CCC is done, and now I have 18 days to finish one of my screenplays before school starts. Review, PM or Email me if you want to see them and see which one you think I should finish. Oh, and you think I should finish one of my other stories before school starts, tell me which one, and I'll work on it.
-Ara, Goddess of the Broken