Summary: It was a moment that ended so much good. But it was one that needed to happen.

End

For a too long moment, Yugi couldn't breathe. He collapsed to his knees, hitting the ancient stone floor so hard it hurt. The floodgates broke. He started trembling, trying desperately take deep breaths, only succeeding in getting in hitched, shallow gulps of air. Grief swelled in his chest, blocking out all the traces of triumph he should have felt and only left hollow pain in its place.

It was over.

He had won.

After that intoxicating thought, the realization of what would happen now had come crashing down on him.

I just killed my best friend.

A more reasonable side of him – one that sounded suspiciously like his other self – was quick to correct him:

No. You didn't kill. You set free.

Even his rational side sounded a bit fragmented right now.

He heard footsteps. Leather boots on stone. They stopped somewhere close, and Yugi felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, get up," Yugi had never heard his other self speak so gently, "The winner shouldn't be on his knees."

He wasn't sure if it was the touch or the words or just the voice that broke his shock, but suddenly he wasn't hyperventilating any longer. He took a deep breath so abruptly he almost surprised even himself. He looked up at his other self through a haze of tears. The Other Him was smiling.

"If I were you I wouldn't be crying right now," he said.

Of course he wouldn't. He was so much stronger than Yugi was.

"I... I'm too weak..." Yugi's voice didn't seem to be working properly at the moment, "You were my hero... my goal. I wanted t-to be strong l-like you."

The hand on his shoulder tightened its hold for reassurance. Yugi realized properly for the first time that the separate form the Millennium Items had given his other self was real. Solid. His breath hitched again.

"Yugi," his other self said in a firm tone that automatically drew the eyes of the listener to him, "You are not weak."

Yugi blinked in confusion. His vision cleared just enough so that he could see the Other Him more clearly. He didn't think he had ever seen him so happy and so sad at the same time.

"You've always had that power no one else could beat," his other self said, "Kindness. That's what I learned from you. And the courage you showed by fighting me showed me the path I must take."

His other self stood, pulling Yugi back on his feet as well. Yugi's knees ached from the impact against the floor, and his legs felt like they wouldn't be able to support his weight. Through some miracle he managed to stay standing, though, even when his other self stopped supporting him and put his both hands on Yugi's shoulders.

The lingering link between their minds was sending back and forth a mess of emotions. Yugi couldn't even make sense of it all. They were close to taking him with their tide, and he felt like crying again.

His other self was leaving him.

"Other Me-"

"No," his other self corrected, "I am not the other you any more. And you are no one else but you. You are Yugi Mutou. The only one in the world."

Yugi smiled through his tears. His other self... no... Atem was right. Yugi was his own person. And so was Atem.

That was all they had always, yet in a way never been.

Next to them, the door to the afterlife cracked open.

Atem would finally be free of this world.

Yugi was so happy and sad that it hurt him.

Don't go.

He forcefully tried to silence his incredibly selfish side that kept chanting those words so many times he almost let them slip out loud. He knew he couldn't say those words any longer, because Atem might actually stay if he asked him to. Yugi couldn't possibly do that to him. Atem had just praised Yugi's kindness. It was what made Yugi strong. He had to hold true to that.

Did being strong always hurt this much?

The door opened slowly. It was a massive thing, and it moved with the lumbering majesty it deserved. Unearthly light filtered through the gap.

Yugi couldn't hold back his tears any longer. They spilled again.

Then Atem's arms were around him, strong and comforting. Yugi hadn't expected it, but he hugged back almost on instinct. It was the first and last real hug Yugi ever shared with his closest friend. For some reason that thought felt important to Yugi's rather overwhelmed mind at the moment. He held on as tightly as he could and buried his face in Atem's shoulder.

After what felt like a way too short moment, Atem stepped back. He held Yugi at arm's length and his eyes shone with the special kind of light that only fathers could usually generate. The kind of light that said "I'm so proud of you". Triumph suddenly fought its way back from under the grief.

They had won together.

Everything was how it should be.

Atem was going home.

Thinking about it like that made it a little easier to watch when Atem shouted his name at the door and the door opened fully. The ancient Pharaoh was bathed in brightness that made him glow and his wild hair looked like it was catching fire.

Some of their friends shouted the words Yugi knew he couldn't say. Some were in denial until Jounouchi, in one of his moments of surprising wisdom, set them all straight. Atem had to go. But he would never be forgotten. Atem smiled, looking over his shoulder one last time before turning his back to them, raising a thumbs-up as his last good bye. The light welcomed him, and for a moment they could all glimpse faces that had been waiting for so long for their king to return. Atem shed his dark blue Domino High uniform and pale skin, his true, dark copper skin and the royal garments of the Pharaoh replacing them.

The door boomed shut.

Then, as if its duty to the Pharaoh's soul had been the only thing keeping the ancient place intact, the tomb started collapsing around them. When they hurried out into the open air and into the intense Egyptian sun, Yugi felt lonelier than he had in what felt like a very long time. But he knew he would be all right.

He knew they would all be all right.

No, they would never forget.

Why should they?

Yugi glanced over his shoulder at the ruins that now concealed the remains of the door and the secret of the Millennium Items.

Goodbye, Atem, he said silently, then hesitated.

A farewell didn't sound appropriate, because Yugi knew they would see him again one day.

Thank you for everything.

Much better.

Author's Note: Well, there you go. It's done. Over. And yes, it was mostly just narrating what happens in the last few pages but really, I can't see any other way to end this. It was the moment both the original series and this fanfic was building up to, and it was what everyone knew would happen. So there you go.

It has been a fun journey. I never really imagined I would be writing so many of these, but I'd say it was well worth my time. Thank you all who read, reviewed, favourited, followed or just showed a passing enough interest to click on it and give it a glance. Thank you so much. You guys are awesome!

Like I said in the previous chapter, I won't have much time or energy to write just for fun right now (the only reason I'm posting this now is that I wrote this one ages ago and it has just been waiting for its time), but I will do my best answering reviews and messages so feel free to ask if you have any questions/things you want to say. I might still write some more one-shots for either this fandom or something else, depending on what feels right to write about at the moment. I can't be sure, but I'm not going to say "never" because I will keep writing something for sure.

Whew, what I do know is that the next story won't hopefully be so much littered with stupid things I need to obsess over. Like in this one I had a one-shot collection so I could have just put the chapters in random order, but noooooo I had to have them all in more or less chronological order AND make sure all odd numbered chapters would be from Atem's POV and the even numbered from Yugi's POV... and all the chapter names had to be just one word. It made things tedious sometimes and I had no reason to do any of that but I for some reason decided I wanted to. Ugh... I make things too hard for myself.

Anyway, have a lovely time you all and if you feel like checking out some of my other stories, I'd be happy. But I don't want to force anyone... not that I even could. :)

Bye!