Waiting forever

Yugi remembered the moment so clearly. Atemu had stood there, dressed into half of his clothing and half of the clothing of the Pharaoh. He had been almost what he had been three thousand years ago, but not quite, as bit of what he had been to Yugi lingered on him. He had been half pharaoh and half yami in the moment where he would stop being Yugi's other self and return to the royalty he had been - return, and pass on never to be seen again.

Yugi could remember. He had been crying, his face wet as more and more tears trailed down, his throat hurting as sobs tried to go back and forth undecidedly, his chest aching. He had been hurt by his own thought and emotions. Denial, denial, denial… and horrible acceptance. It had to happen. This was what everything had been spiralling down to. Atemu, yami, his other self… had to go. No matter how it hurt it had to happen and that hurt even more.

Last words of goodbye had been already exchanged and no matter what they had said and what emotions ha been attached to the words it didn't matter, because Atemu would still leave and they would still never see him again. Goodbye, I'll never forget you… you're still you and you will always remain with us. Even when you won't.

"I love you, please don't leave me!" Yugi hadn't said it out loud, of course not. He hadn't wanted to give such parting to his other self, hadn't wanted to give him the knowledge that by leaving he would be destroying what little was left of Yugi's heart. And most of all, he hadn't wanted to be rejected. Even if he would never see Atemu again, he hadn't wanted to be rejected.

But acceptance could hurt so much more than refection. Atemu had proved that, because Atemu had been able to hear his thoughts and feel his emotions. He had turned around and stood there just for a moment, half pharaoh and half yami. And he had cursed Yugi, cursed him into hell of his own. "Wait for me," he had whispered to Yugi in his thoughts. "I'll come back to you."

Then he had left. Yami had vanished and pharaoh had taken over everything that Yugi had loved. The ground had rumbled as the great doors had closed - and then everything had started to collapse. Both pharaoh and yami were gone, and Yugi had to run to save his life as the earth itself groaned with the passing of the greatest being ever to walk on earth.

And there the slow path way down to ruin and hell had begun. Laced with hope and smile, Yugi had waited. He had gone to school and waited, he had spent time at home and waited, and he had helped his grandfather in the game shop and waited. He had smiled and laughed with his friends, done his homework with them, played games with them, listened to their worries and thoughts and dreams for the future… and he had waited. He had even duelled against his rival and waited while doing so.

Yugi waited until his school was over, and waited while celebrating graduation. He waited in the first day at college, through the hard studying that he went through, through the lessons and holidays, through homework and assignment all the way to the final day there. He waited while turning down his oldest childhood friend, and waited while she left to chase after her dream of dancing career - waited while telling her "Good luck, Anzu". He waited while best friend took off to chase after dreams of gambling and duelling and future with the woman he loved, he waited through their wedding ceremony; "Congratulation, Jonouchi, Mai". He watched one of his friends move out in search for a better education; "I'll see you around, Honda". He was there when yet another of his friends started to spread his wings and boarded plane; "Goodbye, Ryô."

Wait for me. I'll come back to you. A way to comfort someone upon final farewell. One day he would come back and all would be well again. Bittersweet lies; from anyone else they would've been just that. But Atemu wasn't just anyone. His words weren't just that, his emotions weren't just that and even his comforting lies weren't just that. And because of that even after years and years, Yugi still waited.

Yugi waited through his final years of childhood into adulthood, waited after finishing his education, waited at the beginning his duelling career, waited at the end of it. He watched Anzu achieve her dreams, turn to another man, get married and then pregnant and he was there when she gave birth to twins - his first two godchildren. He waited while watching Jonouchi's firstborn get his name, and smiled down to his third godchild. He read from papers how Honda became a business man and how he made his first millions. He heard that Ryô became a famous historian and archaeologist and he waited.

Yugi was still waiting when he buried his grandfather. He was waiting when he took over the Game Shop - when he went through the finances and such of his shop, when he made the books, when he ordered new merchandise and he was waiting even when he opened it for the first time since his grandpa's passing. He waited while smiling to his customers, waiting when they asked for newer games, waiting when he ordered those games… always waiting.

They split apart in the winds of the world. Anzu moved into another country and became a star of the show business. Jonouchi and Mai build business of casinos and moved out as well. Honda had moved even before them, and Ryô hadn't been seen in Japan for years. Careers and families and futures came into way of 'life long friendship'… until there were only random phone calls with awkward discussion. "Hey, it's me… how are you?"

And what could he say? That he was fine? No. He wasn't fine but he wasn't unwell either. Just stuck between past and future, waiting for a sign that tortured him by making him wait.

Time went by. Waiting, Yugi watched through the television of the report of the birth of yet again another company. KaibaLand was born as sub-corporation to Kaiba Corporation. Run by Kaiba Mokuba, the KaibaLand Corp. built empire of theme and amusement parks not only to Japan but all around the globe, all of them filled with amazing games and such created by the Kaiba Corp… It was such a successful business, it made the two Kaiba brothers even more filthy rich than they were already.

Jonouchi and Mai build a great fortune with their casinos as well, until Jonouchi and Kaiba were rivalling with money. Somewhere between them Honda was making millions with stocks and shares, and whether it was surprising or not he seemed to have his fingers in both the two businesses. Anzu would more than once be seen performing in Jonouchi's casinos, her husband and ever growing amount of children watching her perform…

Eventually phone calls stopped coming, and Yugi fell into certain haze, doing same thing every day in exact same way. Time became continuous flow of same events which repeated themselves, and waiting was all there was. Waiting for pair of eyes that he hadn't seen in years, for dark and deep voice he could hardly remember.

Waiting, waiting, waiting…

He didn't realise that something was wrong - horribly, terribly wrong - not until he was invited to a funeral… funeral of Jonouchi Mai. Like waking up from haze he looked around and begun to slowly, painfully realise, to take in the world around him. Over forty years had passed. He had been waiting for over forty years now. He was sixty already. Anzu and Jonouchi both had grandchildren and Mai had died in the age of seventy one.

When he had arrived to the funeral that was held in another country entirely, they asked him who he was. They said that he looked exactly like Yugi had looked so long ago. Had the petite duellist had children he hadn't mentioned in phone, had Yugi hidden something from them? And Yugi, staring at Anzu's wrinkled face that held hint of old beauty and greying hair that had just a spectre of brown in it, could do little more than stammer. Sight of Jonouchi's silver hair and Honda's white beard had struck Yugi completely speechless.

He hadn't realised. It hadn't mattered because waiting had been so much easier, it had been a single goal to concentrate on. Atemu had promised, hadn't he? He would come back, and so Yugi had waited until he had no longer paid attention to anything that happened. Nothing had any meaning when Atemu wasn't there, so why should he pay attention? His life would restart when Atemu would return, so…

He hadn't had the heart to tell them. Instead he had smiled to greying Anzu, silver Jonouchi and white bearded Honda and had told them that he was someone else. No, he wasn't Yugi's grandchild, or anything, just assistant in the Game Shop. He said that Yugi was sorry that he couldn't make it and they bought it, smiling and blessing the short duellist under their breath before turning to the funeral again as if nothing was wrong. But nothing was right. It had taken Yugi over forty years to realise that nothing was right.

Because he was supposed to be old and wrinkled like they were… and he wasn't. Instead he looked like he was the same sixteen-year-old boy who had promised ancient and powerful pharaoh that he would wait for him. He had not aged a day in the last forty years.

Still he kept on waiting, because that was all that there was. Instead of returning to the Game Shop he stayed around his friends for a while. He watched Jonouchi turn depressed because of the death of his wife, until his old best friend was finally buried beside Mai, their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren watching the burial with teary eyes. Yugi's third godchild took over the casino business and what he did with it would've made Jonouchi and Mai proud.

Eventually Anzu and her husband were laid to similar rest, whole nations crying after the diva that had moved the hearts of thousands with her dancing and singing. Anzu's granddaughter sung in her funeral with beautiful crystal clear voice. The funeral was remembered for years afterwards.

Honda died childless and wifeless, but loved by his workers and students who then took over his business and made sure to keep his old way of working and his old values alive. Kaiba Seto died childless as well, but his brother, his nephews and his grandnephews were there to give him final farewell.

In Britain Yugi watched as one of the greatest professors of ancient cultures and archaeology was buried with grand ceremonies. Sir Ryô Bakura had changed the history by rediscovering it and bringing forth truth about the ancient times no one had ever witnessed before. His children and grandchildren wept rivers when he was laid to final rest, and Yugi felt jealous because Ryô was now where he couldn't be - with his yami.

And then all that he had known, all the people he had loved as friends… were gone. Yet still he waited. From behind the counter of the Game Shop, he watched how Duel Monsters became something bigger and greater in the hands of Mokuba's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren… he watched as new games were created and restocked his shop with them as they gained popularity…

He watched how times changed, how humanity grew and evolved, how wars begun and ended, how nations developed. New technologies came and went until Duel Disk was part of history and belonged in a museum, until cars were considered part of dark past, "Greatest dis-achievement of the age of pollution" they said. Time went by, more and more, and he still waited, no longer even sure what he was waiting for.

Sometimes he looked back to days long gone. He remembered the puzzle and sometimes he wished he had never completed it. If he would've never solved the puzzle, Atemu would've never entered his life. If he had never met Atemu, he would've never loved him and he would've never cried after him when he had passed away. If he had never met Atemu, Atemu would've never asked him to wait. If he had never met Atemu, he could've died like everyone else instead of living even after hundreds of years.

But Yugi did get the Thousand Puzzle and he solved what hadn't been solved in three thousand years. Atemu did awaken, without memories and flickering like shadow, but he awakened nonetheless. Atemu learned the art of companionship and comforting from kind people like Mazaki Anzu. He learned the art of bluffing and lying from ruthless people like Kaiba Seto. He learned loyalty and protectiveness from the likes of Jonouchi Katsuya. He learned self sacrificing bravery from the rare people like Honda Hiroto. He learned to put his friends first. He learned never to harm them. He learned to sooth them.

And thus, in the moment of final passing, he soothed Yugi's tears. And with his final bittersweet act of kindness, he cursed Yugi with eternal life.

Age brought no weakness and no tiredness to Yugi and therefore it was bearable, but it brought loneliness like no other. If he made friends he would eventually bury them and you could do that only so many times before it started to become too painful. Eventually Yugi just avoided making that kind of contact, just living behind the counter of the Game Shop, taking in shipments and selling newer and better games to children of dozens of generations through the decades.

Waiting for his shadow to return to him… waiting forever.

This has been on my mind for a while, I may write a longer sequel to this one day, one where Atemu will return to Yugi. Oh well. Reviews are much appreciated. :)