Last time, the gang attended the funeral of Mr. and Mrs. Truesdale. Syrus is going to spend the night with Zane, instead of in the hospital.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh GX
Warning:
--
It was twilight as Zane began driving home. Syrus was curled up in the passenger's seat, sleepily watching out the window. One, two, three… he counted the passing headlights and yawned. Zane glanced over as if to check that he was okay, and returned his attention to the road. All was going well, but then a horrible sinking feeling came over the younger Truesdale quite unexpectedly.
What if Zane crashes? What if an animal darts out in front of us? Syrus began shaking and his body tensed up, preparing for an impact that would probably never come. He hadn't been this scared driving to the funeral, but then, it had been daytime. Oh my God, oh my God. I think I'm going to throw up. Calm down. Zane's a good driver, he won't let anything happen… He tried to fight down the panic, but it came back stronger than before.
Your parents were good drivers, too. But look at what happened to them. It could happen to anyone…you could be killed in the next few seconds. He tried to breathe slowly, to force his heart rate down, but that made him feel even more nauseous. "Zane…" he whispered.
Zane looked over, slowing down as he did. "Syrus, what's wrong?" Syrus didn't respond, however. He took his eyes off the road; we could have been hit. "Syrus!"
A semi truck was roaring up from the other direction. Syrus closed his eyes and waited for the hit. It didn't happen, and when he opened his eyes, Zane was watching him out of the corner of his eye, looking concerned. "Syrus, talk to me!"
"Please look at the road. I'm okay." He gasped out. "I'm okay."
"You are not okay!" Zane parked at the side of the road, put on his hazard lights, and went around the car to Syrus's side, where his brother sat stiff as a board. "Syrus, I want you to close your eyes and take some deep breaths."
He tried his best to do as Zane said, but every time he closed his eyes, he saw the twin caskets of his parents being lowered into the ground. Syrus burst into tears.
Zane held him until the crying jag passed. "Look at me." He put his hands on both sides of Syrus's face and made him look into his steel- blue eyes. "Nothing is going to happen to us. I will not let us crash. Do you understand? What happened to Mom and Dad…" Zane broke off, trying to gather himself, "was a freak accident. A one-in-a-million thing."
"It could happen again, though!" Syrus practically wailed. "You never see it coming."
"Shhhh. I know how scared you are. You have every right to be scared, after the nightmare you've been through. But you cannot let fear rule your life." Syrus wiped his eyes and nodded. "Now, we're at most five minutes away from my house. Can you hold on until we get there, or do you need to sit for a bit longer?"
"I'll be fine. Just be really careful, please." Zane gave him a final hug and went back to the driver's side.
"I will." Syrus remained alert for the entire 4 minutes and 46 seconds that they were on the road. "We're here."
Syrus looked out the window at his brother's house. "It's really…secluded." And dark, and creepy. But maybe that's because it's night time.
"I like my privacy. It's an escape from the fans." He half-joked, trying to further alleviate the tension. Syrus laughed a little.
--Inside--
Syrus stood in the hallway, looking around. The house was darkened, and there was dust on some of the surfaces. "You don't stay here a lot, do you, Zane?"
"Only when I'm in town. I have to go traveling to tournaments, and so I stay in hotels. But these past few nights I've been staying at the hospital, so I can be close to you."
Syrus felt warm inside. "You didn't have to do that. Thanks."
"I did. I wanted to stay close by in case something happened." Zane led him up the stairs, and showed him to the guest room. "Um…this was the guest room, but now that you're living here, it's yours, unless you'd like one of the other rooms."
"No, this'll be fine." Syrus sat on the bed, and looked around. It was a fairly plain room with a bed, a dresser, and a closet. One window served to shed moonlight into the dark room. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Syrus. If you need me, I'm just to the left, two doors down. I love you." He added the last bit just as he set foot out the door. From now on, I'm always going to say that. If Syrus dies wondering if I love him, I'll never forgive myself.
"I love you too, Zane." Syrus pulled off his glasses and set them on the night table. He dug his way under the blankets and rested his head on the pillow. He prayed that he wouldn't have any nightmares. Goodnight Mom and Dad. I love you. The stars outside his window twinkled brightly. They're up there, watching over me. Syrus had never been so sure of something in his life.
--
The next morning, Syrus woke up feeling a little disorientated. Where am I? The sheets felt different, and he didn't recognize the room. Oh, yeah…this is Zane's place. He sat up and put on his glasses. The image before his eyes didn't change. What the...?"
"Syrus?" Zane poked his head inside the room. "Oh, good. You're up. How did you sleep?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued talking. "I have to head over to the hospital for about half an hour; I managed to talk them into releasing you early, since you're feeling better and your eyes don't seem to be giving you trouble."
Syrus forced a smile onto his face. "Thanks, Zane! That's great." Oh, no, now I can't tell him, or I'll be sent back to the hospital. Maybe it's just sleep in my eyes. It'll be fine. "So, can I stay here while you go? I don't really want to see that place again for a bit." He looked at Zane hopefully.
"I don't really want to leave you alone, but…" he pressed his fingers to his head. "I must be crazy, but okay. Don't leave the house; don't touch the stove, the oven, the microwave or the fridge. Stay in the living room, on the couch, and watch some TV."
"Sure thing." Syrus stood up and managed to navigate his way to the couch without giving away any hints that his eyes were less than perfect. "If you're that worried, call Atticus to baby-sit me."
The expression on Zane's face was akin to horror. Syrus had to laugh, but inside, he still felt raw from the previous day. "Oh, right. That sounds like a great idea. I'll see you in an hour." Zane picked up his coat and went out the front door.
--Two hours later--
"Sorry I was gone for so long." Zane came in, holding a stack of papers, a pizza, and a cardboard box. "I decided to pick up lunch and some of your clothes and things from Mom and Dad's house."
Syrus looked up from his place on the couch. His eyes had improved a little, but he still couldn't see totally properly. "Yum. What are the papers?" The two brothers sat down and started munching on the cheesy, pepperoni pizza goodness.
"Business. I'm entering a tournament next month. Different companies are applying to sponsor me, and so I have contracts to sign."
"Right." They were both quiet for a while, not really thinking about anything in particular. "Zane, can I go back to Duel Academy at the end of the week?"
Zane was surprised. "Are you sure you'll be up to it? Your psychiatrist phoned me and she's concerned about the psychological effects the accident is going to have. Can you handle the separation from me so soon?"
Syrus traced a pattern on the couch, thinking about these things. "Well, there are counsellors I could talk to at the Academy, right? And it's not like I'll be totally alone. All of our friends would be there." He put on his best puppy-dog pout.
His brother hesitated. His common sense was telling him to keep Syrus close by for at least two or more weeks, because he was still concerned about the overhanging threat of blindness that only he and Alexis knew about. But he says that his eyes have been normal, so it couldn't hurt...and it's not good for him to miss school, especially with exams coming up…
"Fine. You can go back on time with everyone else." Syrus was about to cheer in delight when Zane held up a hand. "There are some stipulations though. You have to see a counsellor three times a week, you are not to take any gym classes, and you can't duel anymore than necessary. I expect you to tell me of any change in your eyesight, or any headaches you may have."
"I promise. Thank you, Zane. I'll call you every night to give updates." He hugged his brother.
"I'm sure you will." He may be ready to head back to DA, but am I ready to let him be so far away? Am I doing the right thing?
--
That night, when Syrus was safely in bed, Zane picked up the phone and dialled a number by heart. It rang twice before it was picked up.
"Hello?"
"Alexis, it's me. Zane. I need to ask you a favour."
On her end, Alexis sat down on her bed, and shifted the phone to her other ear as she began to paint her toenails. "Um, sure. Do you want Atticus to be in on it too?"
"I'd prefer not. It has to do with a secret that only the two of us know." Alexis put down the polish bottle, glanced around, and lowered her voice.
"About the blindness?"
"Yes." He whispered back. "Syrus is going back to school with the rest of you in a few days, and I need you to tell me if you notice Syrus doing anything strange. Any weird headaches, eye aches, if he's acting oddly. I want to be informed immediately. Can you do that for me, or should I just get one of the teachers to watch him?"
Alexis shook her head, even though they couldn't see each other. "That would be too bizarre. We hang around together at school, so it wouldn't seem too strange."
"Thanks, Alexis. I knew I could trust you." She blushed a little.
"You always can. Night, Zane."
"Goodnight." He hung up, feeling a little bit better about the situation. You're being paranoid, nothing else could go wrong. The little voice in his head (that sounded mysteriously like Atticus) told him.
'Bad things happen in threes' had been a saying his mother lived by, and he sincerely hoped that it wasn't true.
--Four days later--
Syrus snapped shut the locks on his suitcase. He had finished repacking all of the things he had brought home for Spring Break. The horror of the past two weeks weighed heavily on his mind. How can I be slipping back into a normal life so quickly? My parents are dead, and I'm skipping back like nothing happened. Is this normal?
"Ready to go?" Zane came in the room.
"Everything's packed." Syrus responded, gesturing towards the case with his good arm. "Zane, is there something wrong with me?"
Zane raised an eyebrow, and looked down at him in concern. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, I feel like I should be grieving more or something like that. I'm sad, but it's not affecting me so much." The two sat down on Syrus's bed.
"Dr. Salin mentioned this to me. You're just getting over the shock of it. It's part of the grieving process; you move back and forth through anger, denial, sadness, bargaining and acceptance. You're probably just experiencing sadness just now."
"I guess so," Syrus sighed. "I feel like I should be sadder."
"It'll get better in time. You have to live your life, not matter what happens."
"Zane? I'm glad we can do this more comfortably now."
"What more comfortably?" Zane asked in slight confusion.
"Have talks like this. Even before you came Hell Kaiser, I couldn't really talk to you this with this much ease."
"I was trying to make you stronger by isolating you. Stupid technique, I know." Zane looked down a little guiltily. "And anyways, kids who lose parents have a higher suicide rate than the rest of us. I don't want to lose you."
"I don't want to lose you either." Syrus stood up and picked up the case. "Let's head out. The ship is leaving in an hour. I don't want to miss it."
The elder Truesdale tugged the case away from him. "Of course you don't. If you did, horror of horrors, you'd have to stay here with me." Syrus detected a bit of teasing in his voice and grinned.
--
"Bye! See you in a few weeks!" Syrus waved to his brother from onboard the ship heading back to Duel Academy, standing with all his friends. Zane raised a hand in return.
"Well, we're off for more fun and adventures!" Jaden announced the obvious. "I wonder what else will happen?"
"Hopefully nothing else," muttered Alexis, glancing over at Syrus. She fully intended to watch him for the slightest change.
--
The End.
Syrus: Are you serious?! What about my eye problems?
Shroud: I say we string her up until she agrees to write another chapter.
Zane's Agent: Agreed. We still need to torture Zaney and Syrus more.
Zane: Excuse me?
LunarEclipse31: Chill guys, I was kidding. This is most certainly not the end. R&R!