Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Love Gave the Wound ❯ Come Dance With Me: Yami Yugi ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I don't own "Yu-Gi-Oh!", Sir Philip Sidney's Astrophel and Stella, or Dance Dance Revolution, and thanks SO much for rubbing it in. *^_^* On with the fic.

Love Gave the Wound

Come Dance With Me: Yami Yugi

And now employ the remnant of my wit

To make myself believe that all is well,

While with a feeling skill I paint my hell.

(Sir Philip Sidney, from Astrophel and Stella)

I'm staring down at a syrupy sludge esteemed by these modern people as "soda". My stomach pleads with me not to attempt the drink the substance. I'm feeling sort of nervous as it is, and I don't think anything bubbly will help.

The reason I'm nervous is sitting across from me, sipping her own soda, looking less than bubbly herself. She seems as uncomfortable as I am, but every time I look up from my soda I catch her sneaking peeks at me. I can't tell if she's blushing or if it's rouge. Did she make herself up just to come see me?

"Hey, I know something we can do!" she says brightly, as if she's suddenly inspired. She fishes in her purse and waves a newspaper at me. "It's the new Egyptian exhibit at the museum. You might find it interesting. I'll go with you if you like. I bet we can even get Joey to come if we tell him there are nude carvings."

I raise my brows at her, a little startled, and she tries not to laugh at my expression. "That was a joke," she informs me gently, in the kind of voice you would use with a very young child.

"Ah-we can do something else, if you don't want to see the exhibit," she tries, blinking those big blue eyes at me, and I suddenly feel guilty. Poor Tèa. She's trying so hard to make me smile, to lighten the mood, and I'm lost in my own thoughts. Poor thing-if Yugi was half as ambiguous with her as he was with me when he said we should "hang out", then she's probably thoroughly confused, and she's still being such a good sport about this.

"Tèa. Please forgive me," I tell that selfless smile. "I'm just...not very good company lately."

She tilts her head to one side, considering me, her hair falling over her shoulder. "It's all right. I'm right here with you, and I want to help. The way I see it, you shouldn't look at the unknown as your enemy. And no matter what happens, your friends will be right by your side, facing the challenge."

I smile at her. As ambiguous comforting lines go, it's a good one. I raise my cup of bubbly sludge in a mock toast. "To facing the challenge."

"Cheers." She taps her cup against mine, then sips.

Hey, this soda stuff isn't half bad.

We walk down the streets, and she tries to fill my silence with chatter about weather, games, everything and anything that catches her fancy. I let her go on talking until I find myself becoming too interested in what she's saying, at which point I change the subject. I'm finding it easier to carry on a conversation with her-she's actually interesting, and it's much better than being locked in a puzzle with my own brain.

"Look, Tèa. Players can trade their Duel Monsters cards here," I say, looking in the window of a shop we're passing.

"It must be your lucky day!" Tèa chuckles happily, pulling me towards the shop. "Let's go check it out!"

She follows me around the shop, watching me as I look over cards and compare statistics. I feel much more comfortable in here-the cards have flip effects that are carefully outlined, attack points that tell me how strong they are. I know just how much damage they can take, and I don't have to worry that I might put them in danger. People are vastly different-they bruise and cry, they fear and dream, and sometimes their hearts break without warning. I don't know many people in this modern life, but the ones I do know are dear to Yugi Motou, and as such are dear to me as well. I worry about them constantly. Such fragile things, people.

"Who's she?" Tèa asks, interrupting my thoughts. She's looking at my cards over my shoulder. Sometimes I wonder if she ever gets sick of Duel Monsters-she ought to know the game better than anyone; she's watched us duel often enough.

"She is the Dark Magician Girl," I tell her, holding the card up for her to see.

"Cool," Tèa exults, taking it carefully to look at it more closely. "I didn't know there was a Dark Magician Girl."

I smile at her; I can't help it. "Sure there is. She's very special. When the Dark Magician gets sent to the graveyard, she gains extra attack points."

Tèa turns the card over in her hands, then handing it back to me. "So it's almost like she's avenging him."

I blink. "I've never thought about it like that before, but yes, you could say that."

Tèa seems to be thinking it over. "Good for her," she pronounces, nodding fiercely. The card seems to have struck a chord in her, and I wonder silently at her as we leave the shop, the bell above the door jingling its good-bye.

I look over my acquisitions with a grin as we walk down the street. Tèa watches me flip through the cards. "What's that one?" she asks, pointing.

"Life Force Sword," I tell her. "It's a very powerful trap card, and an excellent trade."

She laughs softly.

"What is it?" I ask, wondering if she's laughing at me or with me.

"Somebody's a little excited," she says, smiling at me.

I smile back and shake my head at myself. "Yes, I guess I am," I admit.

"Don't shake your head, I think it's great!" Tèa protests. "If you have something you love, you go ahead and love it. Don't let anything stop you."

It's good advice, and I'm in awe of her, a sage in a miniskirt and sandals that only have one strap.

"What do you love, Tèa?" I find myself asking.

She smiles, looking a little shy. "Dancing. I love to dance more than almost anything in the world. It's always been my dream to be a dancer, and someday I want to go to New York and study ballet!" The ferocity is back in her eyes, sparkling like sun on the water.

"And you will," I hear myself murmuring, my eyes locked on her. Somehow I know it as I watch her move down the block, hear her tell me her dreams-she can do it, and she will.

"What did you say?" She stops, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

Somehow I can't say it to her face-I'm suddenly shy. "Nothing. What would you like to do now? I kept you in that card shop long enough-why don't you pick what we do next?"

When I see her grin I have a feeling I'm going to regret giving her the choice. She lights up as if someone's touched a match to her, and without warning she's grabbed my hand and we're off.

My head is spinning, and the loud electronic music ringing from every game in the place isn't helping.

The arcade is where we finally ended up-Tèa and I must have walked up and down every street in Domino City. I'm ready to collapse from exhaustion, which doesn't make any sense- Tèa's wearing heels as high as candy canes and she's just as energetic as she was two hours ago. If she breathed on me, I wonder if I'd catch her enthusiasm?

"Come on, Yami," Tèa cajoles-she must have seen me frown as we walked past the "Lethal Enforcers" game. "You like games."

"Well, we didn't have 'Guilty Gear X' in Egypt, Tèa," I tease.

"We don't have to play 'Guilty Gear'," is her answer, and I chuckle.

"Okay, what do you want-" I begin, but she's already run ahead, having seen something that catches her fancy. I follow her and find myself at the edge of a crowd. They're watching a dreadlocked man on a platform who appears to be...dancing?

"Who's next?" the dancer asks arrogantly. "Anyone think they have the moves to take on Johnny Steps?" His gaze sweeps the crowd and comes to rest on Tèa. I feel a snarl tickle my throat as his eyes slide over her body.

"You, girl in the pink! Wanna try your luck?"

I sigh. "Why don't we just ignore him and go someplace else?"

"No way," Tèa says, hopping up onto the platform. I have just enough time to look surprised before her pink jacket is tossed onto my head.

"Tèa! What are you doing?" I ask incredulously. "Besides treating me like a piece of furniture?"

"Having some fun," she answers, adding, "my little coat rack," with a smile and a wink.

I shake my head and frown, unable to bring out the full force of my icy glare on her. The game begins, synthesized pop music spilling over the crowd, arrows pointing six ways to Sunday on the large screen in front of Tèa and Johnny Steps. Tèa's smiling like it's her birthday, and I'm suddenly anxious to see her dance, to see her do this thing she claims to love.

I believe in miracles, baby, I believe in you

I watch them dance, and Tèa's never looked more alive to me. Does she walk through the rest of her world half-asleep and only fully wake when the music runs through her? Is that love-her bright-eyed smile, the focus with which she moves? Do I look like that when I duel-when I love?

They say the day is ending

Let's watch the sun go down and plan a holiday for two

For all eternity I'm gonna try so you can see the world I've created just for you

I try to figure out the object of the game as I watch. Apparently they're dueling, but instead of cards or dice, they're using the dance itself as a weapon-whoever uses the platform's pressure plates in the correct sequence gets more points and wins the game. An unorthodox method of dueling, but still a-

Hey, Tèa's good.

In fact, she's great, I realize as I pay closer attention to the game. She's moving through the sound as if it belongs to her, every movement graceful and lovely. She steps and spins, her shoes flickering over the lighted platform as she dances, dominating the game effortlessly.

Oh I saw you standing on the street

I wanted to meet you and talk for a while

You gave me a smile and said hello

You're everything so good inside that I realized that I couldn't hide

Defending the game when you felt the same

I can hear her win the crowd over as the dance continues.

"Hey, that girl's good."

"She's busting moves that even Johnny can't do!"

"Hey, the chick's beating him!"

"That girl is so awesome!"

Tèa's not paying attention to any of them. She has ears only for the music, and all she wants to do is dance. It's very nice to watch her do something that makes her happy, so I'm even more angry than I would usually be when her opponent trips her. The crowd doesn't sound too pleased either.

"Foul!"

"No fair, Johnny!"

"She's still beating him!"

I'm all set to rush the platform and knock the stuffing out of that cheater when I realize that Tèa's regained her feet without missing a count in her dance. She's not smiling anymore-instead she looks even more determined to do well, and her moves are almost violent in their grace, their precision.

I realize my hands are curled into fists, my teeth clenched. "You can do it," I murmur. "You can do it, Tèa."

I believe in miracles

Don't you?

Tèa's opponent is unnerved by her skill and her determination-he's getting nervous, making mistakes, and when the game ends, Tèa turns to me and grins, with the words "New High Score" on the big screen behind her. The crowd is clapping and cheering for her, but it's my hands she reaches for. I help her off the platform and hand her back her jacket. "Wow," is all I can say.

She smiles. "Not bad, huh?"

I smirk. "Not bad at all."

Tèa's leaning on the boardwalk railing, watching the sunlight on the water. "Isn't it beautiful?" she asks.

"More than I realized," I say, but I'm not looking at the sea at all.

"You were great today," I add, and mean it.

She turns away from the ocean to smile at me. "Praise from Caesar."

The wind ruffles her hair and I realize that she's managed to make me forget my troubles, over and over again, all day. She's given me confidence again, just as Yugi promised she would. I want to repay her somehow, but I don't know where to begin.

"Hey losers, behind you!" a voice calls, and we turn to see the recently-dethroned Johnny Steps. Tèa frowns. "What do you want now?"

I smirk and can't help it. I can give her something, and it's my specialty. "Tèa, may I finish off your opponent?"

She chuckles. "Sure. You deserve a little fun. Don't be too rough with him, though-I think the dance battle wore him out!"

We share a smile, and I feel very warm despite the chill wind around us.

"All right, Johnny," I say to the dancer. "If I beat you in a game of Duel Monsters, you must promise not to bother Tèa anymore."

"Fine with me," he snorts. "But if I win, the girl's gotta go on a date with me!"

My eyes narrow and my lips curl into a smirk. "Sorry, Johnny," I say, standing between him and Tèa. "She's with me."

"Thanks for saving me from a date with Johnny," Tèa giggles as we watch the sun become a bloody smudge at the edge of the world. I'm basking not only in its light, but in her praise. I don't think I've ever enjoyed winning a duel more, except for possibly dueling Pegasus. At any rate, there was no way in hell I was going to subject her to a date with that dancing fool, but I decide to tease her a little bit.

"What? You didn't want to go out for a romantic evening with Johnny Steps?" I tease.

She smiles. "About as much as a toothache. Thanks again for your help-you really saved my life!"

"You're very welcome, Tèa. It was the least I could do." How sad, that the least I could do is my very best.

She's silent for a few minutes, her smile fading. She doesn't frown, but her blue eyes go distant. "Yami? Do you think she misses him?"

I blink in confusion; the question's caught me by surprise. "Does who miss who, Tèa?"

"The Dark Magician Girl. Do you think that she misses the Dark Magician when she's summoned? Do you think she'd give up the extra points if it meant she would have him back from the graveyard?"

I look at her, silhouetted against the bleeding sky, the wind teasing her hair. I suddenly want very much to comfort her, as she's comforted me.

"Maybe...she knows he's with her, adding his strength to hers," I say slowly, thinking about it for the first time. I walk to where she's resting against the boardwalk railing and turn her gently to face me. "They're partners, and they work together. Even when he is struck down, he helps her, and he knows she will always fight for him."

"Partners," Tèa says, looking at me very closely. "I like the sound of that."

"Thank you for today, Tèa," I say softly. "It was very nice of you to spend the day with me."

"You don't have to thank me, I had a wonderful time. I like you, you know," she tells me.

I shake my head. "Yugi-"

But she interrupts me. "No, I like you," she repeats. "I like you."

I don't know what to say.

"And," she continues, a little shyly, "if you wanted to...you know...hang out...again sometime, that might be nice."

The day's events form a slideshow in my mind, and I want to simply be free to do as she asks. "I would like that," I tell her, but my heart sinks as I say the words. Yugi just randomly shoved me out into the spotlight today, and who knows when it will happen again? It's Yugi's choice, Yugi's world, and technically I have no place here. Will I ever get a chance to spend a day like this with Tèa again? And if so, when?

We came out here to get a line on my past, but suddenly, all I want to know about is my future. "I think that you're right about that Egyptian exhibit," I tell her, trying to lighten the mood. "It might hold some clues to my past. I'm unsure about it, but you're right-I shouldn't be afraid."

"Right," she clarifies. "And your friends are going to be with you, every step of the way. Promise."

"Shall we, then?" I offer her my arm and wait nervously...

...but she takes it right away. "Let's go!"

I smile and we walk down the street, past the shops and streetlamps. I focus on Tèa's arm wrapped around mine, the click of her sandals on the pavement, the scent of her perfume-anything to keep me from seeing my reflection in the shop windows. Its eyes stare almost balefully back at me-Yugi's eyes, the eyes of my lighter half, my prison, my fate, the shadow that I will always live in.

Tèa touches my arm lightly as we cross the street, and I remember my words to Johnny Steps as that reflection stares me down.

It's your world, Yugi. But today...she's with me.

Author's Notes:

Yami Yugi is a wonderful character-he's mysterious and tragic, every inch a king. Yami is tragedy in its purest form, and it is he that I thought of first when I read Sidney's Astrophel and Stella, because I can hear his deep, dark voice cursing the heavens and bleeding for love.

I love to play Dance Dance Revolution, and I am not nearly as good at is as Tèa, but I have tons of fun when I do play, because I love to dance. I was thrilled when they used the game in the episode this fic is based on, because I love the idea of a dance battle. I don't remember which artist recorded "I Believe in Miracles", but it is my all-time favourite DDR song, so I wanted to include it in this story. *^_^*

Reviews are greatly appreciated-should I keep going?