Title: Left Behind
Theme: 27 – Faith
Summary: Yami has questions. And Yugi will do his best to satisfy them, no matter the answer.
Rating: K
Genre: General/Drama

"Partner. Partner."

Yugi, who had been building a go-cart with Duke to race underwater, was startled from his dream by the spirit's gentle voice. "Nnn – Yami?"

A pause. "Yugi. I'm… sorry, but I was…"

"Is something wrong?" Yugi asked around a yawn, his voice still soft as he woke up.

"Yes. No. There's – something outside."

"Something outside?"

"I don't know what it is. But it might be…"

"Dangerous?" Yugi was alert now, nearly jerking up. "What? What is it?"

"I do not know if it poses a threat. But here – come to the window."

Yugi rose from his bed, pushing aside the sheets to follow the spirit's nearly translucent body to the window. The room somehow seemed darker than it should have been; the skylight was covered with something, something thick and immovable that blocked out the moon's glow from above.

"Here," Yami said, gesturing outside. "There. What do you think that is?"

Yugi peered through the glass, looking for any sort of trouble, any sign of something that shouldn't be there. But the neighborhood was quiet, silent with sleep, covered with winter's gentle blanket of snow that they had probably received last night. All he found out of the ordinary was the neighbor's red van was missing from its driveway, but considering the folks next door were out of town to spend Christmas with their family in England, there was hardly anything to worry about.

"I don't see anything," he said honestly. "What's wrong?"

Yami paled at these words, obviously concerned that he might be the only one seeing the posed danger – or worse, that he was hallucinating. "Partner – it's everywhere. The… thick, white material – and it's growing, too. I have been watching for hours. There was not nearly this much at midnight."

Yugi nearly laughed with relief – but, seeing how concerned Yami was, decided that that would probably only serve to humiliate him even further with the explanation. Really, he should have known better. Why hadn't he explained snow before it came?

"Yami, it's okay," Yugi said, smiling. "It's snow. It happens every year. It's actually common during winter. It's okay."

"…Sn – what?"

"Snow. It comes with the cold weather. It's completely normal."

"…This is normal."

"Yes," Yugi said. "Do you remember how I explained rain to you in the spring?"

"Yes," Yami said, still concerned and confused, though the urgency from his voice was gone. "Rain is your name from water that falls from the sky. You told me that was normal as well, but – this is not rain…"

"No, but it is something similar," said Yugi, and Yami's brow wrinkled in further confusion. "Do you remember my explanation of water vapor and condensation?"

"I believe so. Water vapor – the moisture in the atmosphere. It gathers together and eventually grows heavy enough that it falls to the ground." He blinked. "Er – correct?"

"Yeah, that's right. Snow is pretty much the same thing, except – do you remember the seasons? Winter?"

"Winter is when it gets cold," Yami supplied. "The opposite of the greatest season, summer, which has heat and normal temperatures."

"Right," he said, grinning. "Well, snow is – well, it's just rain, really. Except winter makes rain so cold that instead of falling to the earth as water, it freezes and falls as snow. And it gathers on the earth. But it's harmless, really, it's just there. It's pretty to look at, though. And it messes up the school schedules."

Only one word of this seemed to have registered with the spirit. "Harmless?"

"Yes, completely harmless. It's fine. More than fine, actually; we'll probably get out of school today."

"…I see. I'm sorry for waking you."

Yugi recognized that tone. Yami had obviously felt concerned, concerned enough to wake him, and was now completely and utterly embarrassed that that it had been an overreaction to a completely normal phenomenon.

"It's okay," Yugi said immediately. "I'm glad you did. I should have explained this to you before so it wouldn't have shocked you when it came."

"It's not your fault, partner."

"But don't feel guilty for waking me, okay? And please don't be concerned about it, it's really normal."

"Normal," Yami repeated, looking out at the window again. "Right." He seemed much more subdued now, calmer, reflecting.

Yugi wasn't sure what to say.

"There are still many things strange to me in your world, partner," Yami said slowly. "I try my best, but sometimes it is hard. I hope you understand. And I thank you for explaining them. There are not many others that would take their time to do so, and fewer still that would not grow tired or frustrated with me. I appreciate it. And I hope these questions will come less and less frequently as time passes. I do not wish to be bothersome."

"You could never be bothersome," Yugi replied immediately and honestly. "I understand. I want you to feel comfortable in this world, or as comfortable as you can be – and I want to share what I know with you so you can feel welcome. I know it's… it's a strange world to come into, but I hope you don't feel weird about asking questions when you need to."

It was strange, talking about this. Yugi had taken on his role without question or qualms, sharing his world with Yami, explaining the technicalities and differences where he needed to as best as he knew how, but had never thought that Yami might be under the impression that he was only putting up with him because he had to.

Which couldn't be further from the truth.

"You are a very humble host, Yugi," Yami said suddenly. "If there is one thing in this world to count on, I believe it to be you."

In that moment Yugi saw a glimpse of what was lost, what the Millennium Puzzle, after three thousand years, still could not take away from him. The power was still there, the glory and the majesty of the great pharaoh was still lurking beneath the surface of this confused, wandering spirit that resided in a golden necklace… but shed the crown and the gold and he was only a man, a confused and curious and lonely being. The world had moved on without him, and he had been suspended in time, forever young, which little chance or opportunity for recovery. Yugi found it rather unfair that Yami had only a few questions and the world would not respond to, no matter how many times he may curse it and beg it and plead for answers that he had long been denied.

The universe had remained stubbornly silent, and, eventually, he had given up asking, for in his mind, no one answering meant that there was nothing or nobody there to do so. Here was a man whose core had been shaken, whose faith had been tested, who was still trying to figure out a why, with no direction or help at all from the stars above.

So Yugi knew to be honest. Yugi knew not to hide him from the truth. The idea to do otherwise had never crossed his mind; if they were to do this, this task that the world wanted of them, then they were going to do it right.

Whatever gods were up there certainly weren't helping. So Yugi took their position with grace, stepping up to Yami's side to explain and guide, as best he can, while he looked to the sky and hoped for the best.

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