"Nooo!" She sobbed on the floor, clutching the boy closer to her.

It was a strange sight to see... the Téa Gardner in such a state of distress as she cried her heart out. She became known to many as a strict, stern and robust leader in the resistance against zombies. Rarely did she let her emotions be shown unless it was the gleam of determination that her eyes usually held. Both Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor stood in shock at the raw emotion their leader showed before them, for perhaps what was the first time.

"Noooo!" Téa cried again, holding her childhood best friend, Yugi Mutou. "Not you, not you!" She screeched, as she showed trouble in controlling her breathing.

"Téa, it's alright." He tried to calm the girl in his shaken state. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, but it did nothing to put an end to her cries.

"You weren't supposed to get bitten. Not you... Not you..." She repeated. "When this was all over... we could finally be happy...We could be together...We could have a life together..." An endless river of tears continued to tread down her face.

A gasp was heard from not just Yugi, but their two friends who stood near them. "Téa." He breathed, his stomach tossing and turning at her declaration.

She sniffed, and wiped away a tear as she finally squeezed back Yugi's hand. "I love you Yugi." She finally confessed, affectionately passing her hand over his cheek softly.

Yugi's heart lurched. He never thought he'd hear her say that. He had loved her, always. But she never seemed to return his feelings. Perhaps all this time, she felt the same... but she tucked it away just like everything else. Téa had changed a lot after the apocalypse. She'd toughened up, and tried to stifle her emotions. She had to be strong to survive, and had to devoid herself of feeling too much, she had reasoned back then.

"I love you too, Téa. I always have." He confessed, immediately saddened that this confession would do nothing for them for the future.

She choked in a sob. "Why Yugi, why did it have to be you? You're the only one left." She'd lost her parents... She'd lost Miho... She'd lost virtually everyone important to her from her past, except him.

After the apocalypse broke out, both of them had stuck together. Téa had lost her parents early on, as did Yugi, who also lost not only his parents, but his grandfather too. Téa was quick to adapt to the new way of living, but Yugi was a bit more slow; so often, it was Téa who picked up his slack and protected him. For that, Yugi was always grateful and plagued with guilt-thinking his best friend was surely better off without him. However, Yugi made up for his weaknesses with resourcefulness and strategy. What Yugi also didn't know was that without him, Téa surely would have given up all hope, with nothing worthwhile left for her in the world. He was the dream that she looked forward too. He was the dream she fought for.

Except, now Yugi was a goner. He'd been bitten. She'd be forced with the excruciating burden to shoot the man she loved. Lover or not, she had to before it was too late- before the transformation would take place.

"I'm sorry Téa." He whispered, starring into her eyes, dripping wet with tears flooding them. He reached out and tried to wipe them away, but as quickly as he wiped them away... new ones fell.

She choked in another sob and looked into his amethyst eyes. Both of them surged forward, each capturing one another's lips with a kiss. Smooth, warm lips glided over each other and neither of them parted. Instead, more passion was supplemented. Téa wrapped her arms around Yugi's shoulder, and Yugi found his own arms wrapping around Téa's waist. Their bodies moved forward on their own accord, no serious thought involved in the movement.

A moan. Sounds of smacking of the lips. Another moan, and then a while later, a retreat.

Their foreheads met each other's, as they held on tightly to one another, neither moving an inch further. Their cheeks were both flushed and rosy, and their breaths sharp and uneven. They kept their eyes closed, basking in the touch and feeling of having their arms around the person they loved so dearly. A small, but confirmed smile was evident on each of their faces.

They were lost in the their own world, and they certainly forgot about their audience of Joey and Tristan...

Téa and Yugi's friendship had developed much earlier than their's with those two. It wasn't until later on that they had met the acquaintance of Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor. Yugi and Téa had been together on their own for a quite a while after the apocalypse. They had met the two boys after the second outburst of zombies, and Joey and Tristan had already been a team of their own. The four of them worked together to pummel a herd of zombies simply due to coincidental timing, and found they worked well together.

A consensus was made that it seemed beneficial for them to all team up, and so an alliance was made. Téa has taken the position of authority in their group, as she seemed to possessed the greatest skill sets for survival and resistance, as well as a good commanding personality. It had taken a while, but friendship bloomed between them. Now each cared for the others more than they would simply for an ally.

The sudden realization on Yugi and Téa's part that they had an audience, forced them to pull apart, rather quickly. They could do nothing, however to hide the very obvious bright tint of red on their cheeks. Joey and Tristan could only grin and scratch both their heads nervously.

It was still a sad moment. The bubble had been broken. Yugi only had a few hours before the transformation would both begin and fully overtake him. They had to shoot him- kill him before that could happen.

"We still have time." Téa croaked. "A little while longer."

Tristan and Joey looked at one another, frowning and then nodding solemnly. They had at least another hour or so to spare. Each boy took their turn embracing their shorter friend and saying their goodbyes. With then heavy hearts, and tears in their eyes, they moved to sit against the other side of the rooftop wall to give the new couple some space.

There weren't a lot of words spoken afterwards between Yugi and Téa. Just a few more shared kisses, and lots of embracing. Téa had found her way somehow into Yugi's lap, as he held her there and she held onto him, not willing to let go. The silence became too much and soon it became replaced with hushed whispers of reminiscing about their precious memories. There was some muffled laughter, some nudges and smiles- anything to try to forget the circumstances of their situation.

"Did you ever get to finishing that puzzle?" Téa murmured softly as she ran her fingers through Yugi's hair.

Yugi shrugged. "Almost! I have just a little bit left. It's in my bag." His eyes drifted to the bag, a few feet from him. "Oh well..."

Téa got up quickly, grabbing the bag and fishing out the almost completed puzzle in her hands. It was one of the only things Yugi had kept from the life he had known before everything went dark. It was a memento from his grandfather, a treasure from an expedition in Egypt.

"Finish it." She told him, handing it to him and getting the soft mini string bag out that had the remaining pieces. Yugi hesitated, but then grabbed it. Téa grinned at him, perching next to him to watch his progress as she laid her head on his shoulder. It took a few minutes, but soon only one piece remained, and both of them shared excited glances. Yugi twirled the last piece as it shined in the sun. He gently, but firmly locked the final piece into place. Immediately, a shining light transmitted throughout the rooftop, instantly knocking out everyone cold.

Téa felt weary and tired when she awoke, basking in her sleepiness a few moments longer before opening her eyes. She drearily opened her eyes and met sharp, red crimson eyes. "YUGI!" She screeched, blinking and seeing those eyes replaced with her friend's rounded amethyst ones.

"Téa?" He breathed out.

She blinked again, pushing away her last shards of sleepiness as she rubbed her eyes. "Wha-" Then she froze, and gasped at the night sky. She reached out a trembled and shaking hand to touch Yugi's face that displayed his confusion. "How... are you still here?" Tears formed at the top of the lower rim of her eyes.

"What do you-" Another gasp from him now as he took notice of the darkness of the sky. He should have been long turned by now. Yet, here he was...seemingly normal.

"Téa!" The yells of Joey and Tristan echoed as they dashed towards them. Their reactions to Yugi was similar to their female friend's.

"Oh God." Joey slipped out.

"You're alright! You're alright!" Téa cried, repeatedly running her hands over the sides of Yugi's face, his cheeks, his chin-everywhere. Tears kept slipping from her eyes; she did not try to conceal her joy. She crashed her lips against his, overwhelmed with happiness. She regarded this as a miracle from above that left her with an unchanged Yugi.

Alas, she was wrong. She had seen crimson eyes when she awoke. It had not been a figment of her imagination... and those eyes did not belong to Yugi.

But at least, for now...she still had her Yugi and she was happy.

I'm not sure where the idea for writing a Peachshipping zombie apocolypse fic came from, but I'm grateful to it for helping me tame some of my writer's block. It seems like I'm getting in the habit of writing cliffhanger endings, no?

The story behind this is that due to Yami's release from the puzzle (whom Téa saw when she awoke), Yugi was shielded from transforming into a zombie. Of course, having a Season Zero type Yami is not something to be taken lightly either; it's interesting to headcanon what would Yami be like in this AU. This version of Yugi reacting to finding out he has another person inside him is also interesting to think about. Not to mention, how this twists up the love triangle.

Any who, if you left a review, I'd be very happy.

~Startistica