To anyone reading this, I updated yesterday, but I didn't have time for an author's note or correct formatting, and after updating I found a lot of errors, so it's now fixed.

I'm so terribly sorry for missing an update! I've had exams all week and tomorrow is the only day I'll have had all week without one. To make up for the slow update, I decided to wait until the next update and just write a short oneshot rather than a long drabble. So here it is, and it's almost three times as long as the word cap allows. Remember that this is as an apology, this won't be a regular thing. Ooh, and sorry about the choppiness of the start, it may be the amount of times I reread it when I had block, but the beginning just doesn't seem to flow in my opinion... Oh, well.

Thanks, and enjoy! x3

PS. Sorry, Puppyshippers, but I've added my other YGO OTP to this... XD

#48 - You And Me

Words -

Rating - T

Setting - Post-canon AU

Shipping/s - Puzzleshipping, Polarshipping, Supportshipping, small amounts of Cheershipping and Angstshipping.

Warning/s - LOTS of character death. Sorry about that. Non-graphic, but COULD be a trigger warning.

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

Additional note/s - The term 'apocalypse' is used loosely here. No actual theories of the apocalypse have been described, but it's the best word to describe the situation in this, I think. Also, 'Ryou Bakura' is referred to as Bakura in this for authenticity. I normally call him Ryou too, but meh. I just thought I should mention it to reduce confusion, Angstshipping is mentioned not Thiefshipping or Deathshipping. Not that they aren't awesome, because they are. XD Also, Kaiba is referred to as a billionaire in this. I'm using manga and japanese anime logic rather than 4kids logic, meaning Domino is in Japan and the currency is yen, therefore why Kaiba is a 'billionaire'.

Tears stream softly down my face as you whisper into my ear, some song playing on the old, battered CD player in the corner of the underground room. It sounds broken up and offbeat with the damage done to it, and I can barely pick out the words at all, instead focussing on your voice as you whisper the words you assume are correct. It's difficult to say.

We slow-dance to the song, as if the only people in the world. Then again, that's not that far from the truth. I sigh, almost in content, though that's something I doubt I'll ever be.

I just want to forget. That's it. I have so many regrets. But you take away the pain. You help me to forget.

But deep down, I know I'll always remember, and I'll always have to, to honor the memories of those we've lost through this tragedy.

No-one knows how it began. Five years ago, our lives were absolutely perfect. You had returned from the afterlife two years prior and we were happily together. Honda and Anzu had started a relationship, though I could see how much Anzu still wished she had you. Grandpa was still running the game shop as strongly as ever, and Bakura was recovering nicely from the damage Yami Bakura had caused and had recently moved to Egypt in order to be employed at the museum where Isis worked, as a means to do the opposite of his dark by protecting ancient artifacts from thieves. He had, as far as I know, decided to try out a relationship with Marik, and the two were working things out.

And of course, there was Jounouchi and Mai's wedding, to top everything off.

Jounouchi was in such a good mood afterwards that he didn't even protest when Otogi asked Shizuka out, and two began dating. Mai was good for him.

But then everything changed on that fateful day. The day that marked the beginning of the end.

It started out with an abnormally large amount of sunshine and heat during late autumn. It was fun at first; water sprinklers, days out at the beach, ice-cream... And I loved watching you wander around the house shirtless. But things became too hot too quickly; immediate panic rising when the news warned of a meteor heading directly towards earth. No-one ever quite figured out where it came from; scientists hadn't predicted anything that would reach the planet for several millenia, at least, and there had been no previous signs of it. Still, I'd seen a lot of bizarre things with no clear explanation at that point in my life, and I knew that there was no point doubting it.

Within months, the heat had risen ridiculously, and fires were breaking out everywhere.

That was when we experienced the first loss.

My mom and grandpa were out shopping, and we were at home, trying to cool off from the ridiculous heat, when suddenly, out of nowhere, we heard something land in the backyard with enough impact to make the entire building resonate. When we went outside to inspect it, we discovered a small lump of rock, possibly from the meteor itself, and we freaked out.

It had begun.

Mom and grandpa never returned.

By now, fireballs were beginning to ravage the land, everywhere they could possibly reach. It was all over the news, and the death rate was rising to seemingly apocalyptic levels.

It was lucky that our circle of friends had so far managed to survive. Most of us, anyway. Jounouchi had never forgotten the day his sister barged into the house, reduced to tears as she told us that we'd lost Otogi to a house fire. We all vowed to stay together after that.

Several days later, and the fiery lumps of rock were beginning to decline in number, but Domino had become uninhabitable, barely a fortnight since the true damage had begun. Those who had remained were either hiding away in their homes watching all their supplies diminish, or out looting what remained of the streets and adding to the chaos. That was when we'd gotten the message from Marik and Bakura that they had so far been holding up well in Egypt, and had successfully managed to find safety underground, sending us details of the location including an address and coordinates. With all airports closed down and all planes grounded, we decided to go to the only man left in Domino with the means to help us - Kaiba.

No-one was that surprised when he immediately declined our request to board his private jet to get to Egypt, claiming that the skies were dangerous to navigate through with all the ash clouds caused by the intense heat, fires, eruptions and meteor fragments globally. He told us to find help from someone else if we really needed to escape, but he planned on getting Mokuba out as fast as he could, and he didn't want the supplies to run out quickly. After he named a few people we could try asking for help around town, we turned around and prepared to leave.

That was when the raiders came, four in all, and once again, we had yet more horrors to experience. Kaiba was gunned down, a shot to the stomach bringing him to his knees. I was shot in the shoulder and Honda in the leg, but Jounouchi, Mai and Anzu managed to eventually take them down; luckily for us, they were nothing more than a petty gang hoping to survive, completely inexperienced with weaponry and definitely unaware of the former egyptian pharaoh in their midst, luckily still with a few small traces of shadow magic, enough to help take them down.

Kaiba knew he had no chance of surviving; he was bleeding out, the hospitals had all been abandoned, and most of his medical equipment had already been ransacked. And so the once great CEO of Kaiba Corporation met his end, with one last request; to take the jet and look after Mokuba for him. To get to safety, and survive.

I wish it had taken him less time to warm to us. I wish he could've seen us as friends long before he took his last breath. We all clambered onto the private jet in silence, Anzu tending to Honda, while you held me, whispering softly into my ear to soothe my distress and bandage my injured shoulder. I have no idea what I would've done without you there, Atem, because when I'm with you, I feel as if I can face anything.

We set off at first light the next day, after successfully finding Kaiba's pilot, one of the many who had taken refuge in the billionaire's mansion before he was murdered. The ride was long, labored and extremely dangerous, the pilot struggling through ash clouds and avoiding fireballs for days, often having to land somewhere temporarily to recover and get some sleep. Without an experienced, well-rested pilot, we'd all be dead.

Three days into our journey, and we were becoming concerned for Mai, who seemed to have fallen sick. It was a common occurrence for the others to see her heaving and retching just before we'd set off flying again in the mornings, not wanting to be sick on the jet at all. Jounouchi was constantly there for his wife, holding her close despite her halfhearted protests of being treated so softly in public. Honda's leg made a speedy recovery with Anzu's help, and it wasn't long before he could walk, with her support and a limp, but nevertheless, it was a start. As for me... I'd recovered from my shoulder injury suspiciously quickly, with an inkling that you'd subconsciously managed to tap into your shadow powers for the second time since your return from the afterlife. When I confronted you about it, you shrugged, telling me you didn't think you had any control over it, or you'd have attempted to save Kaiba, or heal Honda's leg, or Mai's sickness. I gave a nod of understanding.

After what felt like years to me, we finally arrived in Egypt.

Kaiba's suspicions were correct.

How foolish had we been to think that we could escape the flames, death and intolerable heat by escaping to the land notoriously known for its barren deserts and scorching temperature? We did no better here.

Trapped out in the open, not a single town or city in sight, we settled for what looked like the remains of a small village recently abandoned, and me, Jounouchi, Mai (Who had protested insistently on being left behind despite her sickness), Honda and Anzu left in search of food, leaving you and Kaiba's former pilot to look after Shizuka and Mokuba, who we decided would be safer here. We didn't really know the pilot and weren't sure if we could trust him, which was why you had stayed behind.

However, upon coming back, once again, disaster struck. The pilot was dead, you were severely injured, and the two youngest of our group seemed on the brink of death. You were covered in blood, surrounded by several corpses of apparent attackers, and it broke my heart to see.

While we were gone, you had been attacked by several villagers who seemed to have stuck around, waiting for the chance to take anything they could. You'd been mercilessly attacked, and it had cost you greatly to stop them.

There was nothing we could do except give false words of reassurance. Mokuba and Shizuka died later that day, and I was terrified that I'd lose you, too. I'm so glad I didn't, and I refused to let you out of my sight from then on.

It had been a couple of months since our numbers had decreased, and we had gotten back on the move. Mai's prolonged sickness seemed to be letting up, but she would constantly complain that she felt as if she was gaining weight, which was the least of our worries right now. At the next town we came across, we discovered that no TV channels seemed to still be airing at all; not even the news. It was becoming clear with every corpse we passed, every day with no news and every glance up at the sky that this truly was the end, and we were among the few remaining survivors. We had to find the underground safehouse - and fast.

Unfortunately for us (as usual), our travels lead us to another barrage of fireballs; they occurred a lot less now, but they would still happen. Being on open ground, nothing but desert surrounding us was not a good idea, and strangely enough, I was eerily reminded of Death-T, recalling the huge blocks that almost crushed us in that small enclosed room, with only Anzu's quick thinking to save us. But there was no way to predict the rhythm of true destruction, and it cost us Honda, and this time, there was no getting him back.

Anzu grieved for days, and we let her. She needed time; I know I would probably never recover if something like that had happened to you. You also understood, as did Jounouchi and Mai. Finally, we continued the last part of our journey, discovering our destination, which turned out to be Marik's old underground home back when he was still a tomb keeper, but with a few extra additions, such as the reinforced steel bunker that had been built in, and the extra depth dug into the tunnels.

By now, it was unsurprising when we found our friends and their fellows hadn't survived the apocalypse. Mai was the one who found out what had happened to them when she found Marik's journal, which detailed that there had been an outbreak of some disease that had eventually affected them all. Realizing that it was contagious, the bodies had been burned respectfully.

I had you. Mai had Jounouchi. And on top of that, we had finally discovered what was really going on with Mai; from the small bump of her stomach we had realized that she was pregnant. It was a shame that she and her husband couldn't have raised their baby in better conditions, in a better world.

Still, a baby was a baby, and love was love. And the fact was, Anzu was alone. Her own love had been mercilessly torn from her, and it was slowly driving her insane.

We didn't see any of the signs until she eventually snapped. With Honda gone, some of her old feelings had surfaced, and the crushing loneliness, heat, confinement, among other factors had driven her to insanity.

Jounouchi was out hunting for food and Mai was on bedrest when she took action, pinning you against the wall and hissing that one baby couldn't continue on the human race, and that it would be much better off if she were to also have one. I always knew she had a thing for you, but I was nevertheless crushed as I saw the girl who was once my best friend trying to molest my boyfriend, ignoring your protests as she screeched that you were hers, insulting me with very colorful vocabulary and completely destroying all hope I felt.

We both fought her off gently, being careful not to hurt her too badly. However, when Jounouchi returned, she lashed out, attacking the three of us. She had completely lost it.

She proved this even more by her next move - something I would never have thought that she would ever be capable of. Mai had entered the room, curious as to what all the commotion was about, and Anzu made a lunge for her, aiming for her stomach and yelling that any child of Jounouchi and Mai would be pathetic and useless, not worth allowing to live. It was Jounouchi who managed to save both his wife and child from death, but leaping in front of her and shielding her at the last second.

She had gone too far. The two of us worked together to take her down, keeping her out of the way of Mai and Jounouchi out of fear for their safety. Killing Anzu was too much for me to bear. Bringing about the death of someone I cared so much about was painful.. But, as guilty as I feel to say it, better her than you. Better her than the life of an innocent, unborn child.

We immediately rushed to Jounouchi's side, frantically searching for all of our makeshift medical equipment, but he knew, just as we did, that there was no time, and that it was over. Anzu had hit an artery, and he was bleeding out fast. The couple managed to exchange final goodbyes before he finally passed on.

The separation was heartbreaking, but it didn't last long.

Mai remained strong for the next few months. Either me or you would occasionally travel topside to gather supplies while the other tended to her, and she remained fully sane. I think that most of the cause of Anzu's insanity was how brutally she and Honda were torn apart. It was unexpected, and she didn't even get the chance for a final goodbye. She never had the chance to move onwith her life, to stop grieving, at all. But Mai managed to get a reasonable amount of closure, even though she would never again find anyone else to love more than him. She finally gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, but died at childbirth. Before she took her final breaths, we promised her one thing - to protect her children at all costs, and to survive. At least she was with Jounouchi, now. She, like the others, was at peace.

I still can't believe everything that has happened, but I know that we can do this. We can survive, and we can fulfill Mai's dying wish, even if we failed to do the same for Kaiba. We won't fail again.

Every day that you leave to gather food, I worry. What if you don't return? What if you're attacked by deranged survivors? We've come across them in the past. It seems that the meteor crumbled on its way through our atmosphere, but every fragment of it that landed on earth has already done plenty of damage, and practically every town and city is in ruin, and sane survivors are extremely rare. They don't normally stick around for long before they're goe, like a mere mirage.

Other times, when I'm the one who goes outside, I still worry for you and the twins. What if you're attacked while I'm gone? I'd hate to lose you, not only are you the one person I care about most in this world, you're also the only other adult out here. And I've come to love Mai and Katsuya as if they were my own children. Naturally, we named them after their parents out of respect, and they definitely have the strength of their parents, I'm sure you'll agree.

We've lost everyone we once knew.

We've lost our entire world, our old lives, our old hopes for the future.

But one thing we haven't lost is each other.

You and me - we're a team. You're my Aibou just as I am yours, and I realize that I've never really voiced that enough in the past.

But all I know is that as long as I have you with me, I have at least one part of my current life that I have no regrets about.

The song has long since finished, but we're still dancing. This is our world.

May I also add, I was very pleasantly surprised with the feedback last chapter, I didn't think anyone would particularly enjoy it, but it got a lot of reviews and people liked it! I'll definitely consider making it a multichapter after I watch doma fully.

Since this chapter already has reviews it'll take time to list all those who reviewed last time, but nonetheless I want you all to know I'm extremely grateful!

Next drabble - #49 - Cold