Chapter LXVII: What Dreams May Come
Hello again, fans of the version of the Yugi-verse beginning with A Guy's Worst Nightmare! Yes, we are back with a vengeance and glad to be back!
Disclaimers: As usual, we don't own Yu-Gi-Oh GX, its related characters or anything else. Further, Belowski paraphrases Crosby, Stills and Nash's immortal Teach Your Children Well when he talks about why he wants to know about his biological family. The line in the song is "Feed them on your dreams." Since Belowski is a throwback 60s child, him paraphrasing the song seems appropriate. We also do not exclusively own the title of this chapter. It comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet and the 1998 movie, What Dreams May Come. Thank you for your attention.
Authors' notes: This chapter's title comes from the 1998 movie of the same name, starring the late great Robin Williams. We respectfully dedicate this chapter to him.
Elsewhere on the Academy grounds, Belowski sat under Jaden's chilling tree. It had been over a month since he'd seen... he couldn't explain it fully, but somehow Fonda had reminded him of his mother. And so again he sat, trying to make sense of things. His mind drifted back to that first day…
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"What on Earth?" His gray eyes opened at the exclamation of an unfamiliar male voice. Belowski's head hurt, though he wasn't sure why. But this man with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes was kneeling over him, clearly worried. "Superintendent!" he shouted.
An old man with white hair and a beard hobbled over and into the little boy's field of vision. "What's this?" Superintendent Kagemaru murmured, kneeling as well. "Are you all right, little fellow?"
The boy blinked again and again, his head swimming with confusion and pain. "Where am I? I have boo-boos."
The two men exchanged glances. "We'll get the boo-boos taken care of, little guy," the blonde man said gently, keeping Belowski lying down. "Where are your parents?"
The little boy tried to remember, but all he could clearly remember was a warm female voice and then a lot of smoke. "I don't know."
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The present-day Belowski sighed as the scent of the leaves wafted over him. I can see more now; I want to know, but it's hard.
"Belowski...? Is that you over there?" a familiar voice called out. A few moments later, Professor Sartyr stepped into view, worry and slight relief in his grey eyes. "There you are."
"Hi, Dad," the boy called back. "I just needed to think."
Don made his way over to the tree, placing a hand on its trunk as he looked down at his surrogate son in concern. "Is it about what you saw, before?"
The gray-eyed boy nodded. "Some things are startin' to come back, and it is so not awesome. I wish I could just..." He bit his lower lip and heard Mokey Mokey beside him. The fluffy duel spirit bumped against his master comfortingly, murmuring in his own language what were probably words of reassurance.
"You wish you could forget again?" Don asked gently, unsure if that was what Belowski had been about to say.
"I wish... I wish I could get this stuff and make sense of it. I know I don't wanna forget it again, but it's hard to remember it, Dad. And it scares me."
"Hmm... well, unfortunately we don't have much to go on except for what you can remember. Maybe if you let yourself remember more, instead of holding the memories back, it will become clearer and less frightening," the older man offered.
"Okay. Just hug me while I do," the boy pleaded.
"Of course. I'm right here for you, Belowski." Don dropped down to sit beside the boy, pulling him into a warm embrace.
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Belowski closed his eyes and caught the thread of memory that had evaded him all those years in his confinement. It was of a boat ride. He couldn't have been more than three years old. He could walk and talk, and even giggled at the movement of the deck beneath his sandaled little feet. A tall woman with laughing gray eyes like his held out her arms and he toddled toward her, giggling more. She pulled him into her arms, hugging him tightly. She had dark hair and smelled like tropical flowers. A male voice shouted out to him, and when the boy looked up, it was at a man with hair like his. "We should be back in Domino in about three hours, honey!" he shouted to his wife.
The woman holding him, clearly the man's wife, smiled. "All right. That leaves me plenty of time to get dinner going." She then turned back to Belowski's younger self and kissed him on the forehead. "Your first big trip out on the ocean, little dreamer. See how big it is?" She moved over to the boat's railing with him safely tucked in her arms so he could look out over the water.
"Yeah! Mommy, the water's so blue," he said, watching as a dolphin breached the water next to their speeding boat.
"Oh? Well is it... more blue than the sky?" she asked, walking alongside the railing as she made her way around the boat.
"It's a different blue, Mommy," Belowski said seriously, as somehow only little children can do.
The woman chuckled softly and ruffled his hair. "You're right, little dreamer, it is. Michael, our Belowski is going to be so smart when he grows up!" she called to the man from before, her husband.
"He already is... just like you, Yukano," Michael said with a smile. Belowski could tell Daddy was smiling even if he couldn't quite see it.
His mother's cheeks turned a bit pink and she laughed, moving over to Michael to press a kiss to his cheek. "You flatterer. You always did know how to make me blush. Want to hold him, Captain Daddy?" she teased, offering Belowski.
"Of course," Michael answered, taking his son. Belowski now had a look at the man he'd called Daddy. He looked much as the boy would look some eleven years from now. Well, maybe not quite as mature as this, but he'd still look a lot like his son. The only major difference was stormier gray eyes. "You have fun with Mommy, little dreamer?"
"Yeah, Daddy! Can I drive the boat?"
"Honey, what do you think? Should he 'drive' the boat?"
Yukano pushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, ever present smile on her face. "I think he'd make a very good boat driver, just like his daddy. Go ahead and try it out, Belowski."
Belowski sat on his daddy's lap and took the wheel of the little speedboat. In a fit of humor, his father placed a cap on his little boy's head. Belowski couldn't see! But this was still fun since Daddy was right there.
His mother laughed, pulling up the hat enough to uncover his eyes. "I think it's a little big, honey, don't you?"
"Yeah, but I couldn't resist! Too bad our parents couldn't see this..."
Yukano's smile turned bittersweet as she gently brushed Belowski's cheek with her thumb. "Yeah... oh, they would have loved our little dreamer... He's always talking to someone, just like your mother used to."
"And like your dad," he countered.
It had seemed to happen so fast. The sky and sea were calm and clear when they started out, but now everything was a murky, gloomy grey. The waves were beginning to push harder at the sides of the little boat, and thunder boomed in the dark clouds high above them. Yukano frowned nervously, once again holding Belowski close to her. "Honey, maybe we should head back to Domino. This looks like a bad storm."
"You two should get below," Michael said, gesturing to the entrance to the galley and sleeping quarters.
Yukano moved over to the door, but paused to look back at him. "But what about you? Michael, if the storm starts before we reach the harbor it'll be dangerous on the deck."
"But one of us has to stay above to steer the boat. Might as well be me," he said.
She sighed, knowing he was right. "Well... okay. But promise me if it gets too bad, you'll just come down here and we'll weather the storm until it passes."
"All right, Yukano. Just keep our dreamer safe." In the present, Belowski started to wail.
"I will," she promised in turn before heading below deck with their only child.
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Outside of the flashback, Don's hold tightened on Belowski as the boy began to cry. "Shh, shh, it's all right, Belowski. Just let it come back to you," he murmured, rubbing the boy's back.
"It's not all right," the boy choked out. "It's the bad part!"
"Belowski, I know it must hurt, but if you don't accept it then it will only become worse and worse until it drives you crazy. Once you have seen it again, it will be easier, I promise," the professor urged.
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Belowski hung on and again, he hurtled back along his past's path. The boat had begun to toss and pitch in the waves churned up by the sudden storm. He heard the anchor being deployed and his father coming down the stairs, shutting the hatch. "It's bad, but it can't be a hurricane," Michael said, holding his wife and child.
Yukano's hold on Belowski tightened, the child snug between his parents. "Michael, what are we going to do? What if the boat capsizes? We're so far from shore, and with the ocean like this..."
In response, Michael had put on their life vests. "We're near a couple of islands," he stated softly. "And there's the lifeboat too."
"I'm even more worried about Belowski. He's too young for this, Michael. He must be absolutely terrified, especially with all of that thunder outside," she continued, rocking the little one. But Belowski, safe in his mother's arms and with his father holding them both, was slowly drifting off. He heard his father mentioning this and then nothing more for what seemed like a minute or two.
What Belowski remembered next was being on deck. The wind whipped rain into his face, even though Mom was trying to shield him. "I think we need to get him on the lifeboat, Yukano!" Dad called out.
"Yeah, then I can help you with the ropes," his mother agreed, gently and carefully tucking him into the lifeboat. She had wrapped him in a blanket in an effort to protect him from the wind and rain, but it was practically soaked through already.
"Mommy," Belowski called out, shivering.
"Shh, it's all right little dreamer. Mommy and Daddy will be with you in a minute, we just need to untie the boat. Don't be afraid," Yukano soothed, working at the wet knots alongside Michael. The little boy remembered watching them untie those great big knots. The lifeboat began to move and it wasn't a long drop to the water, maybe six feet. And then...
There was a horrible cross between a grinding and screeching sound that could even be heard over the roar of the ocean and the thunder crashing. His mother had barely opened her mouth to question it when an even louder sound followed, an explosion that rocked the entire boat. Fiery orange and yellow licked at the dark clouds, and there were screams, but it was impossible to tell who they belonged to.
Belowski's big eyes widened as a chunk of the big boat hit his lifeboat, knocking a portion of it free. He could hear them... and then another explosion. The screams stopped and the boat began to sink. A wave rocked his boat and his head hit the side of the wood. And then blackness...
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"...ski... lowski... Belowski...?" Don's voice gradually echoed back into the other's conscious, the man giving him a worried look. It had been a while since the boy had responded to him.
The boy blinked, tears in his eyes. "I remember that... and then... I remember Dr. Crowler finding me along with Superintendent Kagemaru."
"So then... you remember what happened to your parents? Are you sure?"
"Y-yeah... I heard 'em and saw..." He couldn't say anymore, burying his face in his soon-to-be adoptive father's shirt.
Don frowned, rubbing Belowski's back soothingly. It must have been an awful thing to relive, but it was better now that he knew the truth. "Just take a few deep breaths and try to relax. You got through the hardest part."
The boy was wracked with sobs now. He cried out for them, his lost parents. How could he have forgotten that much? He'd never grieved for them.
Don chewed on his bottom lip, unsure of what to do next. He could not even imagine what Belowski must have been feeling. Oh, if only Fonda were here, he thought, sighing.
As if by magic, there she was. "Don... oh, he remembered didn't he?" she asked, sitting next to her fiancé and son-to-be. "Just let him cry," she advised softly.
His eyes widened, but he took her advice. "Fonda... how did you find us? Not that I'm unhappy about it or anything..."
"I was looking for you," she answered, "and something told me to come this way."
"Hmm, is that woman's intuition at work again?"
"Nurse's intuition, honey," she countered, smiling.
Don chuckled. "Of course, of course," he answered, sobering. "Well, Miss Nurse, he did remember. It's understandably upset him a lot, and I have to admit I was rather at a loss of what to do," he admitted sheepishly.
"You're doing fine. Let him cry. Belowski, sweetie, it's okay to cry. Let it out, sweetheart," she soothed, joining the hug.
"We're right here, Belowski. Don't be afraid," Don added, enveloping the both of him in his arms.
It seemed like forever before the sobs quieted, and then he looked up. "I remembered it... and them."
Don nodded. "And how do you feel, now that you remember and know?"
Belowski considered it. "I want to know who I am. I want to know who wanted to feed me with their dreams."
"Well, now that you know details, we may be able to figure it out, Belowski."
"I need you guys to help me," the boy pleaded softly.
"We'll be here for you, every step of the way, baby," Fonda soothed.
"We can start first thing in the morning, if you'd like," Don agreed with a nod.
"The morning? Can't we start looking tonight? I won't be able to sleep," Belowski answered, sounding much more like a frightened child than the lovable 60s child that he'd been. Fonda met Don's eyes. Should they search now?
"Belowski, I understand how frantic you must be feeling. But I assure you, it will be more difficult to find anything so late, when we're all tired. Tomorrow we will have clear heads and we can even ask the others to help us."
It was eight o' clock at night and the sun wasn't down quite yet. Belowski shivered as they stood. "O-okay... t-tomorrow... but... can I sleep in your room, Dad?"
Don's frown morphed into a gentle smile. "Of course you can... son. Would you like me to carry you back?" Even though Belowski was a teenage boy, he gladly took the piggyback ride he was offered. He drifted off to sleep that night, safe in his surrogate father's room.
We hope you enjoyed this latest chapter and Belowski's back story. We hope to see you next time. Until then, read and review! Thank you!