I think this is update day, ne? I always hate the transitions between months; it messes me up for updating. Well, my exams start on Wednesday and will continue through until June 20th, so if any turn out sloppy or are late, you'll know why. Nevertheless, I hope that won't happen! x3
From your reviews, I'm gathering that a lot of you have been slightly disappointed with recent chapters, and I'm assuming it's because of the lack of established Puzzleshipping/them being to friendshippy for some of your tastes. I'll admit that it saddens me a little, but I'll try to use your advice to improve.
That being said, please, when you review, let me know what you're looking for in all of this; what kinda categories and ships you want, ect. I can't write things you'll like if you don't tell me what you want. I'll try to compromise in order to make everyone happy and yet only write what I want to, because in the end, I write this collection for all of you reading this, and myself. I don't write it for any one person, but I won't write it away from what I like.
Anyway, thank you, and please remember to let me know what kinda drabbles you want more of!
As an extra couple of notes, I'm sorry to Scaehime that I didn't go with the Waterfall Cave idea; it's just that I already had this one planned, and I'm actually currently working on a multichapter fic that's based on PMD and will contain scenes similar to In Your Memory and Jump anyway, so the ideas you gave me will most likely end up in that.
And to everyone else, this one isn't friendshippy, really, but it's another contemplation one, meaning Yami is just doing a lot of thinking about Yuugi. And yup, it's Puzzleshippy. Enjoy.
#46 - Fall
Words - 993
Rating - K
Setting - Sometime during canon
Shipping/s - Puzzleshipping
Warning/s - None
Disclaimer - Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn't belong to me, but to Kazuki Takahashi.
It's natural to have a fear of falling.
The fear of being pushed off a tall building or cliff, the fear of falling on your face after being tripped by some bully at school, the fear of falling off a roller-coaster when you don't think it feels stable... All perfectly normal things to feel, I guess.
I don't fear any of them, and yet I do still have a fear of falling.
A fear of falling in love.
Yes, I know it sounds cliché and stupid, and it's actually sort of embarrassing to voice, but it's true. Not in such a way that I dislike the idea of love, nor that I think myself unworthy of it, but it's not true what they say; love really does have limits. Because I can't love Yuugi.
I fear I already do, and I really, really shouldn't. I didn't even notice myself begin to tumble, but when I look up, I can barely see solid ground at all, just an endless chasm around me as I continue to fall. I've been falling for... A long time, now. How could I not? It was cold and dark, but he saved me. He freed me from the confines of the Millennium Puzzle, my golden prison, the very object that made me bitter and violent in the earlier days of being freed. But never to him. I was always gentle to him. His silent protector, his guardian angel. Although I am no angel.
I know this, and I accept it, albeit bitterly, but it's still acceptance. I was a killer, aggressive and sadistic, challenging my foes to shadow games that I knew from the start that they couldn't beat. In a way, they were rigged; I always knew they'd give into temptation. That was the reason I initiated them in the first place. And I would often put my life on the line, confidently claiming that if they could beat me, I'd let them kill me. I was a fool. What if something had gone wrong? What if I'd misjudged my opponent's mental strength? Back then, I'd had no idea that me and my Aibou were separate individuals, so gambling our life didn't seem all that terrible. I didn't think much of myself, all I knew was darkness, the world wouldn't miss me. But Yuugi could have been killed! And it would've been all my fault...
He didn't hate me for possessing him. Yes, he was rather horrified with the things I'd done, but he was grateful that there was someone there to look out for him, grateful to have a friend who quite literally couldn't leave him... Well, unless it was on his own terms. He wished for friends who would always be there, who would never betray him... I always told him it was Jounouchi, Anzu and Honda, but privately, I still considered myself to be a part of that wish. I was always with him, and just the thought of hurting him made me sick to the stomach.
I was a fool. I should never have told him I wished to be with him forever.
It wasn't a promise, it was a simple want, spoken out loud. Plain and simple, and not disguised as anything else. But it was stupid. I gave him hope that I'd never dare leave him, that once all the issues with shadow games had settled down, things could be simpler. Maybe I was almost even promising myself to him.
But we both knew I had no choice in the matter; as a mere spirit, how could I possibly remain on the mortal plane for eternity? Yuugi was the chosen one; only he could solve the puzzle, only he could get me to the afterlife. And if I stayed, he would grow old and die, and I'd still be the teenage spirit of a long-deceased pharaoh living in a golden pendant.
I think that was around the time when I opened my eyes and realized there was no ground beneath my feet. I was falling... And that couldn't happen. Even though it would be me who felt the impact as I hit the ground, I knew it would be Yuugi who would be in the most pain if I fell any further. Or, at least, if I cried out for help. No, only I could know about this. Maybe I could find a way to stop falling, and to climb back up to firm ground again.
I could never tell him. Telling Yuugi would be a ridiculous thing to do. He could completely reject me, and never speak to me again, meaning he would refuse to give up control when he was in danger, and I would blame myself for eternity for letting anything happen to him. Or it could become awkward between us, and I'd have to live - well, exist knowing that we both wanted very different things from each other. The tension would be unbearable.
But the thought of him loving me back would be worse. I'm a spirit. I could never give him anything more than conversation and protection from our enemies... Well, actually, I never considered our soul rooms but I've never attempted to see if there we can tou- No! Bad Yami! Don't let your thoughts go there!
And of course, I would stay young-looking and eternal while he would age and die. And if he died, I would have no way of getting to the afterlife, while he would be there. If I leave, at least one day we'll be reunited, hopefully not for a very long time of course. But that's just it - I love him. If we were together, I'd leave him, and that was guaranteed. We'd be in a relationship doomed from the start. He deserves better.
I jumped, hearing a noise. Yuugi was stood by my soul room door, eyes wide. My own eyes widened in horror as I realized I'd been vocally monologuing.
Crap. He'd heard everything.
And I could see the ground below my feet.
I hope this was okay for you guys. The next one is rather... Odd. Although maybe you'll be happy with it; it has established Puzzleshipping after all, and it's a weird mix of light and fluffy and dark and worrying. Don't worry, noone's going to die. Think back to Kiss... XD
Again, I apologize if my standard has been slipping or something, the prompts are getting more and more difficult and I don't wanna be cheesy. Remember what I said at the start, I'd love to hear what I can do to be better. I'll take all your opinions into account and mesh them with my own in order to get something that hopefully everyone will be happy with. I know it's impossible to please everyone, but I wanna get pretty damn close to it. x3
As usual, thanks to everyone who's ever read this, and a shout out to those who reviewed the last chapter; samaurai, Scaehime, Envytastic, Chaos Twin Of Destruction, Fragments Of Imagination, Dark-Wiccan-Goddess, xfallenangel13x, TheCrystalEevee, Invader-Techno, happychica and Lunagale!
Next Drabble - #47 - Soul