The night pulsed quietly like the heartbeat he no longer possessed. He roamed the streets in a predatory manner, stalking the living with the eyes of the dead. His sharp senses alerted him to the movements of each of them, recounting where they had been and where they were going. A drunken man returning from a trip to his favorite pub; a fragile teenage girl dragging books home from the library on the corner; a young couple smelling of cemetery dirt as they clutched at a tear-stained teddy bear. They passed, unaware of his presence, each just a face in the crowd, a glimpse into humanity. As he glared into the darkness with intensity, a smallish figure caught his eye, a hint of familiarity in his innocent violet eyes and spiked, tri-colored hair. "Someone from before…"

From nowhere, a sudden surge of emotion overpowered him. The boy had triggered something, an urge to hold and protect the innocence and purity that looked back at him in a mirror image. Slightly dazed and flooded with human sentiments, he stumbled a bit in his dark corner, an uncharacteristic move given his usual catlike grace. The noise was faint, but enough to cause his look-alike to glance in his direction. A light came to the widened eyes in a soft flicker. "Yami?" he asked hopefully, "Is that you?"

No…Memories surfaced, memories that he had purposely locked away in order to hold back the pain of a love he could no longer keep. Visions of long ago, joyful and bright, tore at his soul in a rushing torrent. A name moved from a forgotten corner of his heart into his consciousness, and from there continued its journey past his lips and into the frigid air on a misty cloud. "Yugi…" He stood, caught in the past, as he unwillingly remembered.

Yugi, his light, his partner. A person who possessed such a beautiful view of the world that he caused people to rise high above their own expectations; extraordinary in all aspects of the word. He had hidden the memory of his hikari from himself for his own peace of mind, an attempt to keep from drowning in sorrow and despair as he wandered the world alone. This boy was the one thing he had continued to treasure as his humanity slipped away, causing him both comfort and torment. As Yugi approached him, shattering his solitude, conflicting instincts arose. This was his partner, he couldn't hurt him, wouldn't hurt him…and yet…

The boy was no more than another mortal. And all mortals died eventually. Why not let this one serve a purpose with his demise? Isn't that what he would want, to give his life to help a friend?

No, please no! I can't do this to him! Anyone on earth but him! He struggled within himself, distant emotions battling bloodlust with all they had to offer. He could feel this onslaught of his past compassion weakening as he stood there, giving way to the coldhearted killer he had become. He moved towards his aibou, desperately desiring to call out a warning, to tell him to run home and lock the doors, to forget ever seeing his long lost darkness. Wishing he could do something, but incapable of following through, he gathered Yugi into an embrace.

"Little one…it's been ages," he murmured, gently stroking the unsuspecting face in the moonlight, a serene expression gracing his features. His hands moved gently, caressing Yugi's smooth neck with a sort of twisted affection. Steadily, he brushed golden bangs from his hikari's face, head bent and fangs skimming across the skin.

"Yami? What are you—" Yugi broke off in confusion as his darker soul suddenly held him in an iron grip, whispering quiet words in his ear with a sinister tone.

"Don't move, little one. It won't hurt as much."

Lightning fast, the razor-sharp teeth plunged into Yugi's neck, paralyzing him with shock and fear. If this is the lesser pain, I'd hate to find out what it feels like when you are moving… He was conscious of thinking this just before the world took on a fuzziness at the edges of his sight, fading to black as everything turned cold. He fell, simply buckled as the last of his strength drained away, only partially aware of strong arms catching him just before he hit the ground and spiraled into a fog of oblivion.

"Not Yugi, not him. Of everyone in the world, why did it have to be him? Why?" He held the frail body close to him, trying desperately to find a spark of life in the dull amethyst eyes. A steady stream of copper-scented liquid trickled down Yugi's neck, shining scarlet as it coated Yami's teeth and cascaded over his fingers. The pulse he felt was a pathetically weak one, substantial for no more than a few more minutes at the most. Huddled in the shadows over the dying form of his light, he felt a warm presence overtaking him as a quiet voice echoed in his thoughts. "Partner, it's been so long since I've seen you last. I really missed you, my yami." The carefree, innocent form materialized within his mind as it had in the past, smiling as if nothing had changed. His trusting expression was enough to bring bitter tears to the eyes of his darkness.

"Little one…I am so sorry. I didn't want…I didn't mean to."

"Don't worry about me. I'm just glad I could see you one more time." Sincerity radiated from the hikari's words, even as his breathing grew ever labored and shallow and his skin became pale. His semi-transparent image faded a bit from Yami's mind as he weakened further with each passing second.

Yami found himself facing an internal struggle yet again. I don't have to allow him to die. I can make him like me. We can be together, then. His eyes clouded in indecision. I can't do that. To make someone so pure into something so dark and lifeless would be worse than letting him die, worse than killing him. It wouldn't be right. Agony tore through his soul and ripped into his heart, but he knew deep within himself that he couldn't turn the boy into a murderer like himself. An apologetic glisten filled his crimson eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "Please forgive me for what I have done." Tears streamed silently down his face and into his hikari's hair as he held the dying boy.

With the last of his physical strength, Yugi softly returned the hug, a tiny smile upon his angelic face. "I'll always be with you. Remember that." This final murmur faded away as his body became still, cuddled against Yami lifelessly. Their figures remained this way, still as stone statues save for the sparkling droplets that fell from one pair of eyes, until dawn grayed the edges of the eternal sky.

With a tearful sigh, the undead darkness effortlessly lifted the unresisting form and rose to his feet. He carried him lovingly and gently, gliding gracefully through the streets toward Yugi's residence. He could not bear to face his friend's family, even if he could enter their home on his own. It was a weakness within him, and he admonished himself for it, but nonetheless took the cowardly way out. Carefully, he placed the small body on the doorstep, a short letter written in midnight ink by a shaking hand beside him.

"With tears in his eyes and an ache in his soul, the demon slaughtered his pure hearted angel, the only one he truly loved. He knew that his deepest apology could bring no condolence, but he offered it anyway, and it came from his broken and bloodied heart."