'Ever since they returned from Egypt, Yugi just hasn’t been the same, and his friends are beginning to worry.'
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After we hit the series finale this one crept into my head. There was no way, in my mind, that Yugi would not spend some time mourning the loss of Atem/the Pharaoh after his departure. How could he not? He shared a body with him for several years and he was a close friend. His departure was basically dying.
Also Bakura is a natural sweetie would definitely comfort his friend in need. Also he would know what it's like to lose someone close to him-drawing again from manga canon, its revealed he had a younger sister that he lost in a car accident. It's also implied that his mother is deceased though we don't know how, for the purpose of this story, I'm going with that she died in the same accident.
So yes, sad warning ahead for post series feels!
Originally posted
here!
Mourning!
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“Has anyone else noticed that Yugi hasn’t been himself lately?” asked Joey, leaning against the wall of the school, arms folded over his chest.
Teá nodded, “Now that you mention it, he has been a little distant.”
Tristan snorted, “A little? He spends more time staring off into space than he does paying attention to class, he didn’t even realize when the bell had gone till I said something.”
“That’s why I’m worried,” said Joey. “It’s not like him to be, like this. He even turned me down for a friendly duel the other day, because he didn’t feel like it. Yugi’s never turned down a duel before.” He shook his head, “I asked what was wrong but he said everything was fine. I don’t think it is though.”
Teá bit the edge of her bottom lip, “What do we do, if he won’t talk to us how can we help?”
“Perhaps I can be of some assistance?” asked a soft voice from behind them.
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Yugi sighed as he trudged home, head bowed slightly as he let the facade drop. It was tiring, putting on a smile everyday for his friends. But he had to, he had to put on a brave face for them, to be strong, he’d promised he would. He just wished he didn’t have to be so strong all the time.
“Yugi, Yugi!”
He lifted his head at the sound of his name being called from down the road. Turning he saw a familiar face running to meet him. “Bakura? I thought you lived in the opposite direction? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I saw you leaving school and you looked a little down, so I thought you could use the company,” he said, offering a smile.
“I-I’m alright, but I guess some company would be nice.” He didn’t get to talk to Bakura as often as he did the rest of his friends, for one Bakura lived on the opposite side of town, and up until recently, the spirit of the Millennium Ring had been keeping him isolated from them.
Bakura watched him quietly as they walked, Yugi’s friends had been right, he wasn’t his usual chipper self at all, and he had a hunch he knew why.
“You know,” he said, breaking the silence, “You don’t need to pretend.”
“Pretend?”
“That everything’s alright.”
Yugi looked away quickly, hoping to doge the question and move on, “Everything’s fine.”
Bakura sighed, ‘
You’re a terrible liar you know that Yugi?’ he thought. “It’s the pharaoh, isn’t it?” he asked. This got his attention, Yugi’s head snapping up suddenly at the mention of the pharaoh. “I thought so. You miss him, don’t you?” Yugi only response was a small nod, so Bakura continued. “You know, it’s alright to feel sad, you don’t need to pretend that nothing’s wrong, it’ll only make it hurt that much worse.”
“You wouldn’t understand, nobody does, they weren’t as close as we were.”
“Actually Yugi, that’s where you’d be wrong. I do know what it’s like, to lose someone close to you, that’s why I want to help.”
For the second time that walk, Yugi found himself without words, what did Bakura mean he knew? He hadn’t been close the Ring Spirit at all, quite the opposite in fact and Yugi was sure he was glad to get rid of it.
“Who did you lose?” he finally asked.
“My little sister, and my mother. So believe me when I say that talking helps, and I think there’s a part of you that wants to talk.” I know I’d have loved to have someone to talk with.
He sighed, Bakura was right, he did want to talk but he didn’t know who to talk to that would understand where he was coming from. None of his friends would understand, they couldn’t.
“It hurts Bakura, I can’t not think about him and it hurts. It’s not fair that he had to leave. I know why he left but, that doesn’t make it any easier.” Warm tears stung the corner of his eyes as he clenched them shut. “I feel selfish, wishing he could have stayed, leaving was for the best for him after all.”
“Of course it hurts Yugi, you lost someone very close to you, he left but you’re still here.”
Yugi wiped his eyes quickly with the back of his hand before looking up at Bakura. “Does it ever get better? Does it ever stop hurting?”
A small frown formed on Bakura’s face, and he reached a hand to touch Yugi’s shoulder reassuringly, “I’m not going to lie, it’ll probably never stop hurting, but it will get easier to bear. I can promise it will get better though.”
“It’s not fair, why does it have to hurt so much? It feels-it feels like a hole’s been left in my heart.”
He could feel Yugi shaking under his hand, trying to fight back tears and sobs as he talked. The poor guy, he must have been hurting more than he’d been letting on.
Despite the trembling he continued speaking. “When I get up in the morning, there’s a moment when, for a moment I think I’ll hear his voice greeting me. Then I remember that he’s gone. The silence, I can’t stand this silence any more. I hate it Bakura.”
He bit the inside of his lip, he was enjoying his newfound silence, no longer having to hear the whispers of the dark spirit in his ear. But he did understand what he meant, the silence after losing his mother and sister was deafening.
Under his hand he felt Yugi tremble again as he tried to hide his face into the crook of his arm.
“You know, it’s also alright to cry, you’ll feel a lot better after I promise.”
Yugi shook his head, “I can’t, I promised I’d be strong.”
“You are strong Yugi, but bottling everything up isn’t the way to go. And there’s nothing wrong with crying once in a while. I won’t tell anyone I promise.”
To his surprise, that earned a half laugh from Yugi, the other half being a sob. “Thanks Bakura, you’re a good friend. Think you could stick around for a little longer?”
He smiled, “Of course, now let’s get you home.”