Hi, everyone! Finally, the holidays have started... For me, anyway. Yesterday was our last day at school, but... We have exams when we come back... *Groans* Ah, well. Only a couple months of school left!
I had a couple of ideas for this, but... This one made a lot of sense with the prompt so I couldn't pass it up. Besides, I like the idea of making the other a oneshot... Or finding another prompt for it. This one brings back an AU you all wanted more of... And this is the second Blindshipping drabble in the collection! (Wow, this needs more of those...) Anyway, I hope you enjoy! ^_~
#42 - Not Over Yet
Words - 839
Rating - T
Setting - Sequel to Stuffed Animal
Shipping/s - Blindshipping
Warning/s - Atem swears a bit.
Disclaimer - Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn't belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.
Yuugi rifled through the papers in desperation, searching for the one in particular that made him realize what was really going on back in Egypt. It had to be around somewhere, surely...
"Aha!" he let out a victorious cry as her held up the letter. It had been near the bottom of his keepsake box, which was basically just a shoebox filed with letters He'd received from... Him.
'We might only be six, but I know I love you. And I won't stop waiting for you to come back for me.'
The writing was scruffy, barely legible and filled with spelling error, not to mention that in the past eight years, the paper itself had definitely seen some wear and tear. But without that letter, He'd never have noticed what was really going on. They'd promised to write, Yuugi had even given away his favorite tiger plushie for the other boy before he returned to Japan, but the letters he received back always had the same kind of message.
'Hi, did you not get my last letter? I've missed talking to you...'
'It's been a month! Are you getting my letters?'
'Why do you never write back, Yuugi? Mommy says you don't care about my anymore. Is it true? I really like you a lot, and I don't want to lose you! Do I annoy you? I never meant to, Aibou!'
The letters gradually became more frantic, until the letter he'd just found. He, of course, had been very confused, he HAD sent letters back!
'Huh? Atem, I'm writing back! At least every week! Are you not getting my letters? What's wrong?'
'I don't think the postman saw the stamp. So I made sure to put lots and lots of stamps on, this time! There's no way the postman won't see it!'
'Atem! I always write back! Why can't you see that?! I haven't seen you in five years, but I still write! Grandpa thinks I should stop now, but I won't. I'm not losing you, not ever!'
At the age of thirteen, the letters had stopped. It appeared that Atem had finally given up. But now that he was older, Yuugi had a very good idea as to why Atem never seemed to get his letters, but without proof, there was nothing he could do.
When they were fourteen, another letter finally made its way through the post.
'Yuugi,
I really hope you haven't moved out, because I really need to tell you this.
Those bastards! I found out exactly why I never heard back from you. Turns out my parents have been hiding EVERY SINGLE LETTER you've sent me. And you know why? It was just because they saw you kiss me on the cheek! And they've been reading all your letters, too! It turns out they have something against gays. I don't care what the fuck they do though, they're no parents of mine. I still can't believe they'd do this.
It's been too long since we've actually spoken so I doubt you'd even want to, but if by any chance you're STILL interested in getting to know each other, don't send me any letters, email me, here's my email address:'
Scrawled rather quickly underneath that was Atem's email address, untidily and crossed out several times before being rewritten, as if rather frantic.
'Also, if you can, send another letter. My parents are out right now, but they know I'm really mad at them, so I'm sending this off without them knowing I've written it. When they're back I'm going to go and send another and let them 'accidentally' see it, basically just being whiny and telling you in a more sugarcoated way what I just said now. Just reply saying something like you don't care, you've moved on, or pretend you've moved out and you're the very confused new house owner. Just... This'll help keep them off my back.
Thanks,
Atem.'
It was rather surprising in retrospect to see how much Atem had grown up, and the letter had been quite a shock. Which was why he was now looking through all the old letters he'd been sent, refreshing the memories of what had happened over the period of almost a decade.
But did he want to see Atem again? He was surprised to find that the answer was yes. Even after eight years of not seeing each other and being stuck in a rather onesided conversation all the time with him, he still wanted to see the egyptian boy. He grinned to himself. Even if there was no longer any spark, it would all be worth it just to see the looks on their faces when Atem's parents realized their son had no intention to live up to their own image of a perfect child. It wasn't over yet. Neither would be denied the love that could have bloomed all those years ago. With a look of determination, Yuugi switched his computer on, immediately creating an email and carefully copying his old friend's email address down into the field.
'Hi, Atem. It's me.'
Finally, after eight long years of waiting, the two could once again be together.
Just like the prompt, this isn't over yet. I WILL be writing more for it; so far they're finally speaking again as they're older and smarter therefore finding ways. But Atem still has his parents to worry about, and there's still the fact that they're in completely different countries. Not to mention, it's been almost a decade since they saw each other last, so they have a friendship to rekindle before anything can happen between them.
I hope I did this justice. I know it's shorter than it has potential to be, but I felt like adding any more would drag it out, and this seemed a good place to stop.
Anyway, thanks to all those who reviewed last time; TheParasiticComplex, 4Pharaoh9Snivy7, ChangeOfHe4rt, TheCrystalEevee, Scaehime, samaurai, Hime no Yuugi and Lunagale! This fic now has 291 reviews, 32 favorites, 42 followers (Hey, the same as the theme number! XD) and over 15,000 views. Needless to say I'm delighted! Thanks everyone, it means a lot, I'm still really shocked! ^.^ I hope we can reach 300 reviews by the next chapter, that would be an awesome accomplishment. Thank to all those who reviewed, favorited, followed, or even just read this through! I've ran out of words to describe my gratefulness without sounding like a drama queen.
Next drabble - #43 - In Your Memory