Hey, everyone! I hope you all had a good easter! ^_~

Not sure what y'all are gonna make of this one, but I hope you like it! ^^ Hey, one of our less frequent ships are back, guys! o3o

Anyway, enjoy, and remember to give feedback!

#43 - In Your Memory

Words - 807

Rating - K+

Setting - AU (Some of you might recognize what this is based on... *Winks*)

Shipping/s - Hinted Blindshipping

Warning/s - Implied character death

Disclaimer - Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn't belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.

The gasps of many young children filled the air as they listened to the tale being told before them.

"But what happened next?" A small boy asked, tilting his head in confusion. The young man before them smiled sadly, finally opening his mouth to speak.

"After being betrayed by the famous explorer, the prince and his friend woke up in what appeared to be a cell. Everything was dark. Very dark. There was not a single source of light in the whole dungeon. The explorer's minions dragged them out before the friends could figure out what was going on, and tried to get rid of them!" More collective gasps, and he chucked slightly. Yes, it hurt to tell his tale, but at the same time, it was what his Ay-boo would want. Aiboo? Aibou? He could barely even remember the word his friend had taught him anymore. It had been so long since his partner had been amongst them. So long since he had lost Yuugi.

But the main parts of their story had remained. The young now-Pharaoh could still remember meeting the other in the barren desert as children. Could still remember how they'd met, their fight to reclaim the puzzle from the bullies of Kul'Elna. Could still remember the color of the other's eyes, the brightness of his smile, the trust that he inspired. His days with Yuugi made all else pale in comparison. Yuugi's last words to him still rung out in his head. He'd wanted Atem to carry on their legacy, to tell future generations of their tale, to make sure nothing of the sort would ever happen again. A few times he'd considered simply ending his life to join his love, but the thought of anyone else suffering what they had, and the thought of the world being threatened as such ever again spurred him on. Atem would continue to live... For Yuugi.

"...Pharaoh?" One of the children spoke timidly, as if afraid that they would be punished for speaking out of line. He seemed to snap back to attention, shaking his head clear of his thoughts. "Ah, yes. So, where was I?"

The sound of lightning alerted the pharaoh to a happening that had not occurred for several summers; a storm. A real, full-on thunderstorm was raging throughout the land, rivaling the likes of the one he'd seen when he was a mere thirteen summers old. Back then, it had provided him with joy, a sense of adventure, and new opportunities. But now, all the storm did was bring up painful memories. He'd met his partner on the day after a particularly rough storm, unconscious by the side of an oasis, luckily just in time to recover his Millennium Puzzle from the bullies that would often wander around the area, picking on the weaker kids and stealing anything they could get their grubby hands on. That storm had been the catalyst that triggered many future events, and without it, they'd have never met.

Without it, he wouldn't be a complete wreck right now.

He was royalty, as he always told himself, he was supposed to be stronger than this! And now he was pharaoh, exposing weakness of any kind could result in his death, there were many who could take advantage of him in moments like this. But he couldn't help it! He never meant to become so dependent on Yuugi!

A few tears escaped his eyes, and he batted them away with ferocity. There was a reason for the other's... Departure. He refused to acknowledge Yuugi as dead; well, to be more accurate-

"No..." He whispered to himself. He couldn't even think about it. And though he had good reason and though the world couldn't have been saved without the younger teen's sacrifice, Atem still wished his partner had trusted him enough to tell him what their victory would mean for him... For them.

He sucked in a breath, desperately trying not to cry. Yuugi had trusted him, he'd just been too afraid that Atem would refuse to let him go. And he was right to be.

But Atem knew one thing for certain - Yuugi didn't want to be mourned, didn't want Atem to suffer, didn't want any of this. But what he would want would be for Atem to carry on doing what he did best, and to tell their tale. He would want to be remembered, but at the same time, didn't want Atem to be held back by the past. He had to be strong. He had to honor Yuugi's memory. Sitting around and moping would never accomplish that.

Even if, afterlife-forbid, everyone else did forget about the teen who was Atem's entire world, he would not. And he would continue to do anything he could to protect his people, he would face any threat launched at them, and no matter what, he would honor his partner.

...Did anyone figure out what it was based on? XD

If any of you did, good for you. And I plan to make a full story in this AU, but this is set after the events of the fic. (Doesn't really spoil anything though!) I actually have the first chapter written out already, but I want a good few chapters before I upload; I still don't know who to assign some of the characters to, not to mention I need to unlock all the music I need to listen to while I'm writing, so I'll be playing my DS nonstop soon. I also need to work out my own twists and such... It could take some time. :/

Oh, and when Atem tells the children that 'the explorer's minions' tried to 'get rid of them', he is basically sugarcoating the fact that they were going to kill them. This is basically what the writers of the thing this is based on did in canon. *Facepalm* Oh, and if anyone successfully guesses what this is based on... I'll write them a bonus drabble with a prompt and side pairings of their choice. XD

The next chapter's been giving me a LOT of trouble. I actually had to brainstorm ideas for it, and it wasn't until about the sixth one that I decided I'd made my decision. I literally only started it yesterday and I'm having trouble putting it into words... I hope it works out. Like this, it will be from an AU I wanna write, only ou guys HAVE seen this one... That's all I'm saying though. x3

Thanks to al my reviewers! I got those 300 reviews! In fact, now I have 320! Wooooo! XD Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; ASAP Rocky, a, Chasmatias, 4Pharaoh9Snivy7, samaurai, the-original-catalyst, Scaehime, TheCrystalEevee, Fragments of Imagiation, Envytastic, Lunagale, TexasDreamer01 and happychica! I love all of you. XD

Also, thanks to Envytastic for bombarding this fic with reviews on plenty of chapters! O.o I think you're most of the reason this is waaaaaaay further past the 300 mark than I was expecting. XD

Next drabble - #44 - Holy Shit