Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh
Well ladies and gents, as they say, 'all things must come to an end, whether wanted or not'. I'm sad to announce that this is the last and final chapter of 'Back 2 the Future'. It almost doesn't seem real, and I'm sad to see it go... after all, it was my first fic and my baby. I'll remember it fondly and I hope you enjoyed it as I did.
And now, on a happier note, when this fic is over, I'll be able to write more on my 'Test of Friendship' fic and be able to post a new fic that I've been working on. That fic will be an angst/Drama fic staring Yugi and Yami, so Una1, if you like 'Test of Friendship' then I think you might enjoy this up coming fic. So everybody keep an eye out for it and I hope you enjoy the final chapter of 'Back 2 the Future'.
"Blah"= Talking
'Blah'= Thinking
============ = Scene change
BACK 2 THE FUTURE
Chapter 15: Final Goodbye
Yami stared in horror at the amount of blood that seeped onto his shirt from the bullet wound. The room was filled with the sounds of gasps that slow echoed into an unbearable silence.
Peter Muto's body shook slightly from the pain that coursed through his chest. He could feel the blood leaving his body as he hugged what he thought was his 'son' but was only the spirit that lived inside of him. His grip on his son was firm, as if he knew that this would be the last thing he ever did. The last time he would get to hug his boy, and after all these years of not seeing him and not being able to be the father he knew Yugi needed. Well, he needed to make up for lost time. If only there was more time to do it.
Yugi's father pulled back slightly and looked at the shocked face of the ex-pharaoh and then they both looked down at the wound. Blood was pouring from the wound and showed no signs of letting up or survival for that matter. Yami was gritting his teeth as the memory of the past few seconds flooded back into his mind and played like a scratched cd.
=====Flashback=====
"You, Pharaoh, have been more trouble to me than help, so now, I'm going to put an end to your trouble making right, now!" Toton eyes flared up in rage as he pulled the trigger. Everyone gasped at the sound of the shot.
Everything turned to slow motion as Yami watched the bullet wiz towards him. There was no time to move, no time to think, just time. He couldn't believe that after all they had been through, after they had finally been able to save Yugi, it was going to be all for nothing.
He closed his eyes waiting for the impact and was surprised when he heard the bullet hit flesh, but couldn't feel an ounce of pain. Opening his eyes, he discovered why. At the very moment before the bullet had hit, Yugi's father had jumped in the way and taken the bullet for him. Yami shook from the horror as Yugi's father turned around to face him. His chest had a very definite bullet wound carved into it, and a clear view of visible blood beginning to seep out. He expected Peter to collapse any minute now, but instead was shocked when Peter pulled him into a warm embarrass.
=====Flashback End=====
"Yugi...?"
Yami was shaken out of his memories by the weakened voice of Yugi's father.
"Tell Yugi, not to turn out like me." Peter said before he sank to his knees taking Yami with him.
"Peter!" Katharine shrieked as she ran to his side and hugged his shoulders, "don't you dare leave me." At this point Grandpa had made his way over to the scene and was standing over his son with a sorrowed expression written on his face. He knew good and well what was about to happen and knew there was nothing to stop it. And worse of all Toton had fled the scene and taking the Shadow Disk with him, so he was going to get away with everything. Joey, Tristan, and Tea stood back away from the group still in shock of what had just played out in front of them, while Bakura stood off to the side glancing at the scene every now and again.
"Katharine, you can... go home now," Peter coughed leaving a small trickle of blood behind, "It's what you've always wanted... right? Now that this is all over... you can have it. You can go back to Domino... and take care of Yugi. You can be there for him now."
"Stop talking like that!" Katharine scowled him in her own effort to keep her tears at bay, that is, the ones that weren't already streaming down her face. "Everything's gonna to be fine, you'll be okay, you'll see."
Peter didn't reply, he simply smiled at her and wiped a tear from her eye with his index finger. She gripped his hand tightly and closed her eyes and sobbed not being able to take it any longer.
Peter's smile faded as he turned to look at Yami. "Pharaoh, I need you to take care of Yugi for me."
Yami, at first, was shocked by the question, but soon became miffed at it. "No! You're going to be his father. You told me that you would come back and be the father that Yugi has always wanted and needed. Yugi needs a father, not a friend. I promised that I would be his friend until one of us passes on or the world ends, but right now, what he needs is you, and that's something I can't be. He needs a father figure to look up to. Someone that will always be there, someone that will protect him when he needs it, and someone who can give him the 'father/son' speech when the time comes."
Peter laughed slightly and wiped the trickle of blood from the side of his mouth away. "You, Pharaoh, are more... a father figure then I've ever been. Your little speech alone proves that."
Yami knitted his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"Someone to look up to, a protector..." Peter coughed a second time and then continued, "It sounds to me like a better description of you, then me."
Yami never really thought of himself as being a father figure towards Yugi. I mean, sure they looked after one another, talked, dueled, and all that kinda stuff, but that was what friends do. Was there something Peter knew?
Yami considered what Peter was telling him before Yami nodded to let Peter know that he accepted his new role. Peter simple nodded back with what seemed like a little more relief this time. Then, he continued again.
"Pharaoh..." Once again Yami's attention was brought back to Yugi's father. "Tell Yugi, never to be like me. Tell him to never take the easy way out in life, it only take's you further away from your goals until you are too far away to realize it. I learned that the hard way, and now I will regret my mistake of splitting up my family for the rest of eternity." Yami frowned knowing that the end for Peter Muto was near, and that Yugi wouldn't be able to say his last goodbyes to his father that he hadn't got to see in so many years.
Peter's body began to get heavier as the weight of death began to pull on him. Yami laid him gently down on the floor and was about to stand up when Peter grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down, "Before I go, tell Yugi one more thing."
"What is it?" Yami asked as he began to feel the familiar feeling of another spirit awakening inside of him.
"Tell him that I love him..." With that, Peter turned and told Solomon and Katharine the same thing before is eyes rolled back into his head and his life force lifted from his body and set course for its new home.
Katharine laid her head on her husband's chest and sobbed as Yami let his hand slide down Peter's face, shutting Peter's eyes. Yami quickly removed his self from the scene and walked towards his friends as grandpa tried to comfort his daughter-in-law. He's head was held low hiding his eyes from view. When he reached the group, Tea was the first to speak.
"Yami...?" She timidly asked while surveying his blood stained clothes. From under his bangs, a tear could be seen making its way down his face.
When he finally looked up at them, the group could finally see that it was no longer the sharp eyed Pharaoh, but innocent, little Yugi. He had shown up just in time to see his father pass away. He would never get to speak to him again.
"Aww Yugi!" Tea cried as she leaned forward and hugged him. After a minute Joey joined the hug as Tristan laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Bakura, on the other hand, was becoming sick with the mushy level in the room and let his better half take back over, and in no time Ryou was standing next to Tristan hoping that his presents, if anything, would be helpful.
Helpful as they all may have been, it didn't erase the fact that his father, the father he hadn't spoken to in years and will now never get to speak to, just left him for the last time... and this time, he wasn't coming back. Not today, not tomorrow... not ever.
=====One week later=====
Yugi stood in front of the grave of one 'Peter S. Muto, Beloved husband and father'. He stood silently for a moment before walking over to the tombstone and laying a small bouquet of Sweet Pea of on the top. Yugi sighed before speaking.
"In the language of flowers, Sweet Pea means 'goodbye', and since I didn't get the chance to say it... this is the best that I'm able to do. I hope you're happy, where ever you are. Mom misses you. Sometimes I can still hear her crying at night," At this point Yugi's eyes began to mist over with tears. He immediately wiped them away and let go of the bouquet that his hand still lingered on. "Well then, I guess... this is our goodbye." Yugi began to walk off not being able to take standing at the grave site any longer. He didn't noticing that the Millennium Puzzle gave a quick flash and left Yami standing on the outside.
Yami stood in front of the tombstone and watched the retreating form of his aibou. When Yugi was far enough off, Yami looked down and moved a reef of flowers out of the way and read the inscription on the bottom of the headstone.
'It's a hard life to live but you get back what you give.'
Yami smirked slightly and placed his hand on the inscription. "You were a good man, though I never knew you personally." Yami looked back up to see Yugi walking towards the park. "I know your son, and that's how I know you."
Yami then stood up, and with his last regards to Peter, he began to follow Yugi to the park.
Yugi sat under a Sakura tree just at the end of the park. The trees were in full bloom and every time a gust of wind came by the air would fill with pink and white petals. Yugi twirled a freshly fallin' leaf in his hand as he continued to think. After a minute he was aware of a presences standing behind him.
"I thought I felt you leave. So where did you go?" Yugi asked knowing exactly who was behind him.
"I stayed for a bit longer," came the deep voiced reply, "after all, he saved my life too."
Yami stood in place for a moment and watched the blooms of the Sakura tree float by before coming forward and plopping down next to Yugi. The silence remained once more. Yami wanted to talk to Yugi about how he was feeling, after all, his one and only father just died, but it was a very delicate situation. He could tell that from the way Yugi hadn't shown emotion since the day they had gotten back to Domino. But he would have to talk soon. Yugi was good at keeping things like this to himself and bottled up. He never wanted to worry anybody with his problems or feelings, but the truth was, he made his friends worry even more when he cut himself off from them.
Yes, talking now would be a good thing. He could tell Yugi was just about at his breaking point. He could barely keep up his shield at Peter's grave and from there Yami had a feeling it was only going to get worse.
"Yugi? Don't you think it's time to talk now?"
Yugi stopped twirling the leaf around in his hand and straightened his back against the tree before he answered. "Talk about what?"
Yami frowned at his answer. "You know. Don't you think it's time to talk about what's happened?"
"There's nothing to talk about Yami." Yugi said as he dropped his leaf and watched it blow away. "Things are just as they use to be."
"Now you know that isn't true Yugi."
"Isn't it?" Yugi cut in, "Before this all began I didn't have a father, and now that it's all over I still don't have a father. Nothing's changed, everything's still the same."
"What about your mother Yugi?" Yami leaned forward trying to see Yugi's face. "Have you forgotten about her? She's still here and she's waiting for you back at home."
"No," Yugi said in almost a whisper, "but she's so sad I almost can't stand it. Every time she smiles, I can see how much she's hurting, and I can't stand that."
Yugi was now leaning forward on clenched fist and his head tilted downwards. His eyes shined with a watery film of tears that threatened to give away at any moment. He tried to blink them away but once they were gone more came to replace the blinked away ones.
Yugi shook his head to help rid himself of the coming tears before speaking again. "Yami, I don't want to talk about this, can't we talk about..."
"No," Yami cut Yugi off and placed firm hands on both sides of his shoulder. Yugi yelped slightly from surprise but still refused to look Yami in the face. "We are going to talk about this now Yugi. You've keep this bottled up for long enough. It's not good for you to keep those kinds of feelings to yourself for to long. You're worrying your friends and your grandfather, and me."
Yugi kept quiet and looked away.
"Yugi, look at me." Yami ordered, but received no action. "Yugi?" Yami tried again but this time he took Yugi's chin with his finger and forced him to look at him. Now that Yami could see Yugi's eyes, he could see all the pain-filled tears forcibly held back by the feeble shield he had built over the last week. "Yugi. It's time to talk."
Yugi didn't say anything to begin with, but that's where it began to fall apart. He began to shake visibly from the effort of holding back a weeks worth of tears before squeezing his eyes shut. A tear fell from each eye before mumbling the words. "It's all my fault."
Yami was shocked by the responses and dropped his finger from Yugi chin. "Wha-what did you say?"
"It's my fault that this happened. If I hadn't been born then my parents would have never had to go to Egypt to find a job to support us, and if I had been stronger I could've held off Kuroo and we could have left and no one would have gotten hurt, and..."
"No, no!" Yami scolded shaking Yugi gently but firmly. Had this been what Yugi had been thinking all week? How could he even think that? "Yugi, listen to me. This Is Not your fault. You're the best thing that ever happened to you're parents, and I bet if they knew all this was going to happen before they had you, I bet they still would have had you, and for that we are all grateful. I know I am. I would not even be here if not for you."
Yami noted the ghostly lines of a smile appearing on Yugi's lips. That was definitely something he hadn't since in a while. "And about Kuroo, he was a strong spirit Yugi. He even got the better of me. And I have to say that you handled yourself very well against Kuroo. You stayed strong in heart and soul and you never gave in, even when it looked hopeless. It takes someone special to do that. Someone like you Yugi."
"But if I was so strong then why can't I be strong now," Yugi choked as he fiercely tried to wipe the tears away.
"You are strong Yugi," Yami said gently pulling Yugi into a fatherly hug, "but sometimes, even the mightiest of warriors needs a shoulder to cry on."
"That's right buddy"
Both Yugi and Yami looked up to see Joey standing by the tree with Tristan, Ryou, and Tea.
"Guys?" Yugi sniffled as he wiped the rest of his tears away, "What are you doing here?"
"We're here to help you get through this man." Tristan stated.
"Yeah," Tea piped in, "We were all wondering when you would break down. You should have come to us if you were hurting this bad."
"But I didn't want to burden you guys more than I had already." Yugi confessed.
"You didn't burden us Yug. Besides, dat's what friends are for. We help each other out when we're in trouble."
"Even after all we're been through?"
"Especially after all we've been through." Ryou assured him.
"Yep Yug, we'll always be there for ya," Joey said as he pulled Yugi into a headlock and ruffled his hair, "Even if it's 'getting swallowed by a tide wave of sand..."
"...Lost in the desert without a map..." Tristan added.
"...Almost blown up by a dark spirit inside the puzzle..." Tea continued.
"...and have to listen to Joey snore on the entire plane trip there." Ryou ended.
"Hey!"
Everyone laughed, including Yugi.
"Thanks guys," Yugi said wiping a tear away from his eye, "you're the best friends a guy could ever have."
"No sweat pal, it's nothing you wouldn't or haven't already done for us." The blonde hair teen stated.
After that they all sat/or stood underneath the Sakura tree and watched as the soft breeze of the day carried the petals off in a parade of pink and white. It was truly beautiful and peaceful at that, well at least it was until a loud rumble shot through the air and all eyes landed on Joey who held a sheepish grin on his face and a hand on his stomach.
"Hehe," Joey laughed scratching the back of his head. "So... who's up for burgers? Tea's paying."
"What?!" Tea yelled, "I paid last time!"
"Oh right, dat means it's Tristan's turn!" Joey exclaimed as he stated to walk out of the park and to Burger World.
"Oh no you don't!" Tristan scolded after Joey, "It's your turn and you're not skipping out on it."
"Hey!" Yugi yelled as he scrambled up followed by Yami, "Wait for us!"
"Alright den it's settled. It's Ryou's turn!"
And with that the six friends trudged off to Burger World, knowing that in the future no matter what came there way, they would always be there to face it together.
A/N: Well, sniffles that's it. That's the end of my first fanfic ever. I hope you all enjoyed it. I never thought that I would get so many reviews from my first story and I have all my reviews to thanks for it. I love you guys! BTW: I have a sequel in mind if anyone is interested in that let me know. Also, stay tuned for my next fic called 'The World'. It's got some of the same angst as this story, but at the same time these two fics are way different. Also I do not own the REO Speedwagon line I used for Peter's tombstone inscription. Well, until next time, you guys stay the same and I'll have that next fic up in a jiffy! Ja ne!
Nightlight5