Note: This is set during the final episode of GX, specifically in the time between Jaden leaving the Slifer dorm and duelling Yugi.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

That Jacket

With a final glance around the room he had called his home for the past three years of his life, the young man closed the door to his dorm room for the very last time. He stepped away and merely stood still, taking in the scenery around him and realising that this would be the last time he would ever see this. Some students of Duel Academy did stay on for a few extra months to complete extra credit courses - these could be necessary for college and certain career paths - but Jaden Yuki was not going to be one of them. He knew that most of his friends were, in fact, not choosing to stay on the island for the extra months over the summer; Alexis was the only one who had told him that she was going to complete an extra course, one which would allow her entry to the most prestigious college within thousands of miles. He was happy for his friends, all of them.

With a gentle sigh, Jaden walked down the stairs - he noticed now how creaky they were, how unstable they felt and realised that he was going to miss these stairs - and began his walk away from the Slifer Red dorm for the last time. He had already left behind his trademark red jacket; even though he had altered the style when he matured after his fusion to Yubel, the basic idea of the jacket was constant, and it pained him to leave it behind. But he was closing a chapter in his life - a much loved chapter - and the jacket was too much a symbol of the boy he had been at the Academy.

Now he was going on to be a man, to do something with his life. His new ambitions were so different to what they had been when he had entered Duel Academy for the first time. Back then, he had had his heart set on becoming the next King of Games, and nothing else was acceptable to him. Now, he simply wanted to help people, with powers he had only recently realised that he had always carried within his soul. Thinking of himself and not seeing the Supreme King was so bizarre now that he did occasionally wonder just how he had managed to not notice that something was hidden within him for his entire life.

Now he was all grown up.

He had planned to just leave - although he cared very much for his friends, he could not face that final goodbye. It would feel too much like saying farewell forever and he knew that this wasn't what he wanted; just because he was moving on didn't mean that he had to remove those special people from his life. No, their presence in his life was still very much welcomed and encouraged. They had done so much for him, accepted so much from him ... How could he ever want them out of his life?

Still, there would be no goodbye. It wasn't a scene he wanted to face and he knew that his friends, who knew him so well, would understand. They might not be happy about it but they would realise why he wanted to depart on his own. They were all at the graduation party and so this was the ideal time to do it.

Of course, he realised too late that his plan was dependent on all his friends actually staying at the party.

Jaden had taken, you see, a slight detour around the island in order to see the Obelisk Blue dorm one last time, just because he had memories here, too. He might never have been a student there, but he remembered the times when he had been inside that gorgeous building and wished to see it in passing one final time. Seeing his friends through the fine paned windows would be a treat, too...

But Jaden Yuki didn't even get far enough to look into through the windows; before he could even reach the main entrance to the building, he saw a slight movement to his right and turned abruptly. His automatic tense stance relaxed when he saw the form of his best friend standing there, alone with his back to Jaden.

The young duellist held his breath, unsure of what to do. He knew that if he moved now, Jesse would never even notice him. But somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to do it; leaving without saying goodbye to his friends as a group was understandable if not desireable, but he couldn't do it to Jesse when the young man was standing right there, looking so alone. All his friends deserved better, it was true, but Jesse in particular deserved better. After all, he had forgiven Jaden completely for what had happened to him and had even attempted to forgive Yubel. Jaden knew that he had not done so yet but he appreciated greatly that Jesse would try - try for his sake, for the sake of their friendship.

And so Jaden took the necessary, quiet steps over to his friend and stood beside the slightly taller young man, almost shoulder to shoulder. Jesse glanced at him and nodded when the brunette met his eyes; he had elected to remain outside when Axel and Alexis had gone back inside to rejoin their friends because he felt like his best friend was not inside the party, and he was closer to Jaden out here.

"I thought you'd have gone already" he said quietly, keeping his voice even.

"Oh really?" The tone was neither offended nor teasing, just simple.

"We knew that you wouldn't say goodbye. What are you doing here?" Jesse offered a humourless grin. "Come to join the party?"

Jaden laughed with him, also without humour. "No."

"Then what?"

"Just getting a last look around before I go." Jaden followed his friend's gaze to where it had settled, off in the direction of the Slifer Red dorm; he pretended that he didn't know why his friend had been stood in this specific place. "This is my home. Was my home. It's difficult to leave it all behind."

There was a tense moment of silence before Jesse asked, "all of it, Jaden?"

"Almost all" Jaden confirmed, realising that he should probably tell his friend that while he was ready to move on and leave Duel Academy behind, he wasn't about to force his friends out of his life.

Jesse took his answer without question. He had always trusted Jaden, right from the very beginning and even in the other boy's darkest moments. He had known that Jaden was different after his 'incident', but hearing that he was fused to Yubel cleared up the questions. All but the 'why?' question, which Jaden had not answered and Jesse knew better than to ask a second time. The answer hung between them in the silence: Jaden had done it because he had to, because he knew it was right, because he wanted to.

The silence hung between the two young men right now and both kept their gaze fixed on a hidden point in the distance: Jaden's specific Slifer room with it's lack of space and messy beds. But it couldn't hang there forever.

"You're missing something."

"I am?"

"Yeah. Your Slifer jacket." Jesse glanced down at the brown thing that his friend was wearing, mentally noting that this colour did not suit him the way the brilliant red did. "You look different without it."

"Gotta grow up sometime, Jess."

This time the silence threatened to strangle both boys with its force.

"You've changed a lot, Jaden." Jesse turned his gaze to the floor althouh he held his head up high. "I'm not saying that I mind, just that you've lost something."

"You mean the jacket?"

"No" Jesse whispered. "You used to have this ... passion inside you Jaden, when you duelled. You've lost that. You're still an amazing duellist but I haven't seen you with that sort of passion since before Dark World."

Jaden had no way of responding to this. He didn't really know what his friend meant and yet he did feel, somehow, that he was missing something.

"What are you going to do now?" Jesse asked, switching to a lighter subject although his tone remained dark. "I always thought you'd go into the pro leagues but Chazz said you never even applied."

"I didn't." Jaden turned so that he was facing his friend. "There's just so much out there, Jesse. So much that I still have to do and see. There are so many things that I can help people with that nobody else can. I have to try."

"Jaden?"

"The Light of Destruction isn't dead. It's my job to keep stopping it; make sure it never comes as close to destroying the world as it did last year."

"Because you're the ..."

"Yeah." He was already aware that Jesse knew; it didn't need confirmation. "Are they mad at me?"

"Hmm?"

"The guys" Jaden elaborated, nodding his head in the general direction of the party and their friends. "Are they mad that I didn't show?"

"Not really" Jesse assured him, turning to face Jaden with a smile. "They expected it, Jay."

Jaden nodded and steeled himself before continuing. "And what about you? Are you mad at me?"

Jesse looked surprised. "No, why?"

"I don't know." He reached out and put one hand on Jesse's shoulder. "Maybe because I put you through more than anyone else and didn't even show up to say goodbye."

"Everyone else went through..."

"I know. But not what happened to you."

Of all his regrets concerning what had happened to his friends in Dark World, his biggest regret was that Jesse had suffered the pain of being possessed by Yubel. It was his biggest regret because it was a gross violation of privacy and boundaries and worse than the most terrible of crimes; it was his biggest regret also because it meant that he knew Jesse could never feel comfortable around Yubel, even if he did manage to forgive her. His guardian and his best friend in the world should be able to get along; Jesse was able to see her spirit after all. But because of how he had been reunited with his beloved Yubel, because of what had happened to Jesse, that seemed too much like a fairytale.

Jesse wasn't replying. Jaden let his hand fall from his friend's shoulder down his upper arm, finally resting on his elbow; this position unintentionally brought them physically closer, until Jaden's forearm was resting comfortably against Jesse's. The two were close now and when they finally met one another's eyes, they both laughed at it - this time, their laughter contained genuine humour.

Once this died down, Jaden's face grew serious and Jesse felt his smile slip from his face; he felt like he wanted to cry but managed not to. Without speaking, the two flung their arms around each other, caught in the familiar embrace. They had always been close and had hugged many times before, so this was not new, and yet it felt very strange; this was a genuine embrace, much more than a simple hug.

This embrace was close and lingering, the two holding onto each other for a long time. Jaden felt his friend's head slump onto his shoulder, and he wondered if Jesse knew that he could feel his tears against the bared skin where his shirt was slightly askew. He said nothing, merely tightening his hold on his friend. Jesse responded by running his hands gently across Jaden's back. Then he laughed.

"What?" Jaden whispered, not bothering to pull back or push his friend away.

"Your jacket feels rough" Jesse whispered back. "You should really put the Slifer one back on. It suited you."

Jaden just laughed and replied that he would think on it.

The two duellists continued to hold one another for a few more moments, simply enjoying the embrace and both recognising it for what it was - this was their goodbye. Jaden would never say it aloud and Jesse would never force him to; this was their farewell, until the next time.

When they finally pulled away from one another, standing now side-to-side with their shoulders touching, they both separately wondered if that embrace had looked as intimate as it had felt. Jaden thought that it had felt right; Jesse thought that it had felt very odd but rather nice.

After a short while of saying nothing, Jaden sighed loudly and hoisted his bag - abandoned on the ground early on in their conversation - onto his shoulder. Jesse looked at him pointedly.

"That's you off, then?"
"Yep."

"I'll miss you." It was out before he could stop it and Jesse closed his eyes, wondering what his friend's reaction would be to that.

Jesse could only gasp lightly when he felt Jaden's warm hand gently grab hold of his own; their eyes met and then travelled downwards together, both of them watching as they interlocked their fingers.

Jaden squeezed Jesse's hand. "I'll miss you, too."

Jesse held onto his friend's hand tightly for a few more seconds and then relaxed his grip; he felt Jaden's hand slide out of his and suddenly that left hand of his felt very cold and empty.

"See you around, Jay." Jesse forced a smile and threw Jaden's trademark signal - two pointed fingers, arm extended, classic 'that's game' pose - at him.

Jaden wordlessly returned it and smiled once more before turning and walking briskly away into the darkness.

Once his friend was no longer in sight, Jesse sighed and wiped the couple of stray tears that had escaped away; he was silently praying that Jaden hadn't noticed them. Still, at least he had got to have one final moment with his best friend. That had been a strange farewell, with an intimate embrace and hand holding, but it didn't feel in any way wrong; strange but not wrong. Instead it had felt very, very right. He wondered if he would hold Jaden's hand again the next time he saw him - and he would, he knew that. Jaden would see them all again, whether they all realised it right now or not.

Composed, Jesse turned and walked back into the Obelisk dorm and back to the party, off-handedly saying that he'd been getting some air when Hasselberry asked where he'd been.

"Did you see the Sarge?"

Jesse smiled slightly and shook his head, knowing that those last moments with Jaden were his and his alone. Nobody else needed to find out.

Meanwhile, not too far from the Obelisk dorm, Jaden Yuki felt an all too familiar presence beside him and glanced over to see the spirit of Winged Kuriboh floating next to him, making those noises which nobody seemed to understand but which Jaden could interpret.

"You want me to go where?"

The little furball just floated off, knowing that Jaden would follow. And follow he did.

He followed, unknowingly, straight into one of the most fantastic duels of his life, straight into a new outlook on life and straight into that Slifer jacket.

Please R&R