Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Newton's Third ❯ Lost and Found ( Chapter 8 )

NEWTON'S THIRD by Kiraya

~*~*~

<Yami.>

His light's mindvoice seemed distant, and he shrank from it even further, wrapping himself tighter around the knot of agony that twisted inside him. He'd rather be alone with the darkness, right now.

<Yami, answer me. Please?>

"I think I need to go lie down," he mumbled groggily, rising to his feet and staggering from the room. And then he was on his bed, staring blankly across at the opposite wall.

A part of him idly wondered what had happened to the stairs.

Yugi came in, looking anxiously at his darker half. He lay there holding his knees tight against his chest, his vague expression unable to hide the pain obvious in his dark red eyes.

The smaller boy sat down, laying a comforting hand on Yami's shoulder.

The King of Games moved his head to rest in his hikari's lap. They sat that way for a long time in silence broken only by the quiet drip of tears on Yugi's knees.

"I wish," Yami said suddenly, "that our last meeting could have been on slightly better terms, at least."

"Tell me about it?" Yugi asked hesitantly.

His companion did so.

There was an extended pause, and then Yami spoke again.

"You were right, aibou - I have to talk to him about what happened Friday night. Nothing will be helped if we just dance around trying to avoid each other." He sighed heavily. "But what if we - I - never see him again? They could search for months and still not find any trace of him." His voice became so hushed as to be almost inaudible. "What if... what if he didn't make it?"

"You can't give up faith," came the soft reply. "And you know Kaiba - he has a habit of weathering tough situations pretty well. I'm sure he's probably doing okay..."

Yami voiced his light's own unspoken thought.

"I hope..."

~*~*~

The sun was setting again. The supine youth glowered at it in annoyance - the glare in his dry and bloodshot blue eyes did not make things any easier. And with its descent, the bitter cold would simply get even worse.

Worthless piece of shit, he thought acidly.

They had been adrift for nearly three days, give or take an hour. They had no water at all, and their only food had been half a soggy bag of barbecue potato chips, long since finished.

He still had his dueling deck, at least. Not that it really mattered at this point - it wasn't as if he could drink his dragons, though he would gladly have given all three of them for half a shotglass of potable water...

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink. He licked parched, cracked lips with a dried-out tongue. Somewhere in his delirium, he realized that none of them could last much longer. Those six or seven people he shared the raft with were all lying motionless - either unconscious or dead, he wasn't sure which. Not that he really cared anymore.

He watched his thoughts skitter like wind-driven leaves with a vague amusement. It was all so pointless, really. Pointless, pointless...

A shadow fell across his vision.

He squinted at the small figure he remembered so very well, standing at his feet with the sun at its back, and smiled, a bit sadly. "I'm coming, little brother."

The figure shook its head and moved closer, changing as it did so. It knelt next to him, a great deal taller, yet just as familiar - and, though it he had only realized it after nearly three days of intense reflection, just as deeply loved.

Took you long enough, stubborn idiot, muttered the voice in the back of his head. He ignored it.

His eyes widened. "You..." he rasped.

The figure smiled at him gently, ruby-colored eyes affectionate.

"I... I'm going to miss you," he whispered hoarsely, reaching up with a wind-chapped hand to touch its face.

The figure vanished.

He let his head fall back and his arm drop with a disappointed sigh. Closing his eyes, he waited for the end.

Time passed. The gilded wavelets dulled as the sun sank further.

The raft bumped gently against something.

He opened his eyes and curiously peered upward - it was quite a long way, actually - at a small crowd of uniformed men staring over the rail of a ship. At him.

"It's okay," one of them, no more than a few years older than himself, yelled down in rudimentary Japanese. "Everything's going to be fine, now..."

Darkness claimed Seto Kaiba.

~*~*~

To be continued.