Walk The Path

By: Neko-chan

A/N: Walk the path that's set out before you--and never look back on what was and what could have been. There should be no regrets and there should be no doubts. Your path is your own--and _you_ are the one who walks it.

Note: ...just... thinking. Writing what comes to mind. Fic is extremely imagery-based. Fic is emotions-based. Fic is very complex and vague. Fic is very idea-oriented. Fic is EXTREMELY confusing. Fic was inspired by a fanart--opening scene/image is the sole basis for _whole_ fic. Fic is best read when half-asleep or drunk. (Either will suffice. =^^=) Fic is also written for Uke!Foxy-chan--and she knows who she is. XD

WARNING: Shounen-ai. Twisted and disguised and Neko-chan-ified Yuugi/Yami no Yuugi and Yami no Yuugi/Yuugi. (If you can see the hints of it, then you get a Pixy Stix! =^^=)

DISCLAIMER: *stares unhappily at the copyright laws* Hn.

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He reached up, pressing a creamy-white cheek to cold, diamond-hard scales. The flesh glittered in the moonlight, sparkling like diamonds. Rubies rich in blood-red color filled his vision, blinding him, hypnotizing him. He was bespelled.

The small boy twined his arms as far as they were able to reach around the thick neck, tracing outlines of scars and small imperfections, shivering slightly as the dragon's flesh cooled the palm of his hand. So cold. So very, very cold.

"YUUGI! YUUGI, DON'T!!! WAI--"

Ryou skidded to a halt, brown eyes widening as the scene before him was slowly taken in. His yami, the Tomb Robber, quickly followed suit. Both were frozen in place--neither could move. Neither wanted to attract attention.

"Ra..." the Tomb Robber breathed softly, stepping closer to his light.

Crimson eyes slowly opened--powerful, confident, and just a tad bit cruel. Dragonfyre leaked out of the corner of its mouths, and the dragon Osiris hissed a laugh. The boy-child clutched in its embrace slowly opened his own violet eyes, shuddering from the emotions that ran through him like quicksilver.

"Yuugi? Wha...?"

The violet-eyed boy smiled slightly, tilting his head to one side to rest against the dragon's hide. "You must walk the path that's set out before you, Ryou. Never look back. No regrets. No doubts. Just continue walking until you reach tomorrow. Your path is your own and _you_ are the one who walks it and _you_ are the one who creates it. Yami told me that during Duelist Kingdom. I didn't understand what he meant... then."

Osiris lowered slightly, hiding Yuugi from Ryou and the Tomb Robber's view. It snarled at the duo, crimson eyes lighting with feverish and maddening fury. Jealousy. Rage. Desire.

Ryou Bakura's eyes widened further and he blindly reached out, grasping onto the Tomb Robber's shirt with white-knuckled hands. He could feel his yami shivering, awed by the power that was displayed before them. Terrifying. God-like. ... The impossible had occurred:

Osiris was _real_.

"I didn't understand what Yami was trying to say. I never _tried_ to understand it," came Yuugi's voice, his body still hidden. "But... Now, at least, I think I do. We all make our own pathways through life, Ryou. We each make our own choices, our own decisions. We don't always know how those choices, those decisions, will turn out. And yet we still make them. Because of that, the pathway that we walk in life--and sometimes in death, too--is a pathway of our own creating. We shape it, we form it, we mold it into what it _is_ and what it _could_ be. Because of that, there should never be any regrets. There should never be any doubts or fumbling along that pathway. We may falter at times--but we still must walk on. It's our own path. And we must walk it, no matter what."

The white-haired boy gasped for breath, stepping close enough to the Tomb Robber so that their arms touched. The ancient spirit shot him a look out of the corner of mahogany eyes, but allowed his light to stay. The dragon noticed this and once again gave the Tomb Robber and his hikari a hissing laugh, mocking them and their fear of it.

"Yuu... gi..." Ryou breathed softly, still clutching his yami's shirt tightly.

Still, the small boy-child continued on: "It's... hard... knowing that your life is one of your own creating. People may have helped create it along the way, giving twists and turns to that pathway, sometimes giving you shelter and resting places, but... The majority of the pathway is something that you made. The thorny patches, the smooth-stoned walkways... everything. I can understand a little bit of what Yami was trying to tell me, and yet... And yet..."

The dragon retreated somewhat, allowing the yami and hikari duo to see that it had gently coiled around the Pharaoh's light, protecting him and imprisoning him. Yuugi looked up at the dragon with adoring eyes, tears slowly falling from his eyes to trace their way down Osiris' scales, illuminating and sculpting them in silver.

"And yet... knowing all of that, it was still so _hard_ to walk down the pathway alone. I was scared. And I didn't want to be all by myself. So Yami promised to transform himself and walk alongside me, with me. Protecting him. Holding me. Carrying me when I needed it the most. He promised to love me and be with me always."

There was a hitch of breath, an indrawn gasp. "Kami-sama..."

Brown eyes slowly widened in comprehension, light firmly tugging its darker counterpart away from the crying boy and his dragon vigilant. Crimson eyes watched them step away, black emotions swirling deep within. An abyss of darkness.

"For my aibou, I vowed to become God. I vowed to protect him, always. _Always,_" the dragon hissed, smoke and dragonfyre slowly billowing out of its two mouths. Ivory teeth glinted in the night, shining like the stars above them. "I made a promise to him--I told him that he would never walk alone, not as long as I stood with him. But only God can walk another's pathway with them. Only God can carry them when it is needed most. But I was not God."

Finally, after an eternity of silence, the Tomb Robber responded: Chuckling, cackling, nearly hysterical with laughter. "Are... Are you saying, Pharaoh, that you've managed to become God? That you've managed to transcend Pharaoh and become an Ultimate Power? H--Have you? Truly? ... Fool!"

Red eyes glowed angrily.

"I was not God. ...but I am now."

Yuugi smiled contentedly, burrowing his pale face in his Yami's neck. The serpentine body once again closed around him and he offered no objections--just murmuring happily as the one-time Pharaoh slowly faded away.

"Walk the pathway that's before you, Ryou. No regrets. No doubts. No looking back."

~Owari~

::End::