Notes: Thanks to Azalea542 for plot help!

Epilogue

Still Our Song Lives On

"Umbra!"

Lumis's scream echoed through the bedroom and startled him awake. He slumped back into the bed, breathing heavily. Getting over a traumatic experience like a fatal fall would not be easy. Every time he fell asleep, he dreamed about it happening again. And when Umbra started awake too, kneeling at the side of the bed, Lumis stared at him with surprise and sadness. It would take a long time for both of them to get over it.

"Lumis?!" Umbra stared at him. "You . . . you're really alive, aren't you? This isn't the dream?"

"I'm alive," Lumis said. He sighed. ". . . It's not comfortable, sleeping down there. . . ." He indicated the floor.

Umbra flushed. "I . . . didn't want to get in the bed with you, but . . ."

"You had to see if I was alive?" Lumis supplied. "It's alright, Umbra. . . . I . . . I don't want to be alone either. . . ."

"You don't?" Umbra really stared at his friend. The horrors of what Lumis had gone through were visible in his eyes. And unlike before, when his nightmares had been of Umbra's parachute not opening, he didn't feel too prideful to admit he was suffering. The experience they had gone through had worn down his pride.

"I don't," Lumis rasped. "I . . . can't. . . . Not again. . . . Not ever. . . ."

"You won't be alone," Umbra vowed. "I'll always be here." He finally pulled himself up and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Maybe something else will go wrong and you'll be hurt next time," Lumis worried.

". . . I can't promise it won't happen," Umbra admitted. "I can only try to make sure it won't."

Lumis slowly nodded. "I know. . . ."

"And if you want to talk . . ." Umbra stammered.

". . . Or if you do," Lumis added, blushing a bit.

Umbra had to smile a bit. They were both so awkward with this "trying to be more open" bit, but they both honestly wanted to try. He was still reeling from what had happened, as Lumis certainly was, but somehow he had hope that they would make it. They were alive and together, and that was all they really wanted.

"Umbra . . ." Lumis suddenly spoke again. "I'm sorry . . . about all the things I said . . . and did. . . ."

Umbra regarded him in surprise. "It wasn't you," he objected. "I knew that."

"Well . . . I'm sorry anyway," Lumis said. "You were hurting so badly and I made it worse. . . ."

"You were hurting too," Umbra said.

Lumis looked away. "I know . . ."

"And you couldn't help what the ring made you do." Umbra sighed and finally laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He had to admit that falling asleep on the floor slumped over the bed wasn't pleasant at all. His neck and back were aching.

Lumis sank deeper into the mattress. ". . . It was so terrifying . . . falling. . . . And then I . . . hit and everything went black. . . ."

"You didn't experience leaving your body at all?" Umbra asked in some surprise.

"If I did, I don't remember," Lumis said. "Then I woke up feeling the damage healing . . . and suddenly I wasn't in control of my own body anymore. . . ." He trembled.

Umbra was sickened. "That's horrible!" He gripped the quilt. "If I'd done better in our duel with Bandit Keith, maybe it never would have happened. . . ."

"Or maybe he would have killed you instead." Lumis shut his eyes tightly. "I couldn't have handled things as well as you did. . . ."

"I didn't handle it well at all," Umbra said. ". . . Mr. Devlin told me how you handled things when Yami Marik killed me with the fox whip. You're stronger than you realize."

". . . That's nice to think about anyway," Lumis said.

Umbra turned his head to look at him. "It's true!" he insisted.

Lumis had to smile. "I'm glad you think so."

At last they both settled into a peaceful doze. While half-asleep, Umbra felt Lumis roll over against his side. He smiled as he slipped completely to sleep.

xxxx

Lumis and Umbra weren't the only ones struggling with PTSD that night. Johnson suddenly bolted awake in a cold sweat, gasping as he gripped the covers. As sleep faded and the sight of his room became more predominant, he sighed and slumped back into the bed. He wasn't dead; he was alive—as were the others in their rooms up and down the hall. He knew they were all alright, and yet it wasn't good enough to just lay there and know it. He had to get up and make sure.

He should have expected it, he supposed, but when he tried to quietly open his door and look into the hall, he discovered Nesbitt peering into Lector's room. They both jumped a mile.

"Oh . . . Nesbitt. . . ." Johnson shifted. "I . . . did I wake you?" It sounded ridiculous and weak even as the words left his mouth.

If Nesbitt noticed, he didn't care. "No," he grunted. He started to close Lector's door, but Lector was suddenly there, pushing it open again.

"I suppose we're all awake for the same reason," Lector drawled, his eyes flickering with weary sadness.

". . . So I didn't wake you?" Nesbitt said lamely.

Lector shook his head. "I was already waking up."

Gansley's and Crump's doors were soon opening as well. Crump looked especially sleepy, his hair sticking in multiple directions and his eyes sagging. But he, too, looked haunted.

Gansley sighed. "There's no point in trying to hide it. We're all badly shaken and hurting from what happened to us. Thinking Zorc was killing us was utterly terrifying. There's no shame in admitting that."

"You said it," Crump said. "And all we could do was grab on to each other and hope for the best! I don't wanna go through that ever again!"

"Who would?" Nesbitt growled. He ran a hand into his hair. "I feel like I should be stronger and more logical than to be so affected by it, but . . . if all of you are shaken up too . . ."

"We definitely are." Lector laid a hand on Nesbitt's shoulder and also reached for Johnson. "I honestly thought that was it myself."

Johnson shuddered. "I wasn't ready to die . . . even with all of you. . . . We have so much to live for."

Gansley nodded. "We do indeed. We can all be grateful that we have the chance to do it." He paused. "But if it takes us a while to be able to get over what happened, that's alright."

Johnson managed a smile. "Maybe, but I don't think I want to go back to bed just yet."

"Anyone up for hot chocolate?" Crump offered.

Everyone was willing to agree to that.

When they finally did fall asleep again some time later, after hours of talking and just enjoying each other's presence, they were sprawled all over the living room. Gansley reclined in a La-Z-Boy, while Crump snored away on a couch and Johnson flopped in a chair near him. Lector and Nesbitt were asleep on another, longer couch, each laying across one side with their heads and hands practically touching. It wasn't as comfortable as their bedrooms, but it was peaceful and happy. And right then, that was the most important thing to them.

xxxx

Bakura was also having problems settling down for a good sleep. When he tried, it wasn't long and he was starting awake again with a gasp. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes as he looked over at the bed across the room. Yami Bakura was sprawled on his stomach, mostly burrowed into his pillow. Oreo was laying across his shoulder blades, purring.

Bakura had to smile at the sight. He could see that Yami Bakura was breathing, and that he and Oreo were both peaceful. It was silly to think that Yami Bakura would allow the day's events to interfere with his sleep.

Then again, he had certainly suffered for weeks on end with PTSD after Yami Marik had tortured him for days. Seeing Zorc again today couldn't have been easy.

Bakura leaned back into his pillow, frowning. When thinking of it like that, he wondered how Yami Bakura was managing to appear so calm. He didn't look like his sleep was being plagued by nightmares of Zorc. . . .

Or maybe he was wrong. A closer look showed that the former thief was starting to tightly grip the edge of the pillow. Maybe he showed discomfort differently than Bakura and others, but it didn't mean he was alright.

Bakura threw back the covers and went over. "Yami?" He touched Yami Bakura's arm.

Yami Bakura jerked, instantly awake. He looked up at Bakura with wild, bloodshot eyes before calming and looking away again.

Bakura sighed. "Were you . . . dreaming about Zorc?"

Yami Bakura growled and scowled at the wall. "Yes." He saw no reason not to admit it. It was likely obvious anyway.

"It must have been horrible, seeing him again," Bakura said quietly. "And painful. . . ."

"What I wonder is, how was it not painful to see me again when I turned up that night after your trip to Egypt?" Yami Bakura grunted. "You just thought I was gone and then there I was again."

Bakura sighed. "I hated you . . . or I told myself that. . . . And I feared you. But . . . I hated and feared the silence of being alone more. When I realized you were not the same person as Zorc, and you were a victim too, I wanted to help you. . . ."

"I was only partially a victim," Yami Bakura said. "I did plenty of terrible things as well."

"I know. . . ." Bakura knelt next to the bed. "But it was easier to forgive you when I started to understand you. And we've come so far since those days."

Yami Bakura slowly nodded. "We have indeed."

Bakura suddenly chuckled. "Yami . . . you do realize Oreo is laying on you, don't you?"

Yami Bakura grunted. "I've gotten used to that by now. One of many things I never thought I would get used to."

"Is that a good thing?" Bakura asked.

"Yes," Yami Bakura said. "It is."

And Bakura smiled.

xxxx

Vivian was still standing wide awake in her hotel room, staring out at the night as she had for the past several hours. She had had plenty of time to think in the Shadow Realm; that was about all there was to do there. She had seen many lost souls swallowed by darkness there, but although the darkness had tried to take her too, for some reason it hadn't.

Was that part of the power of love?

She had believed that she had truly loved the men she had pursued. Lector and Mai and others had told her otherwise. She had never fully believed them. But then Nesbitt had shown her the vast contrast between his behavior and motivation and hers. She had been wrapped up in selfishness and lust, even before the Negative Ring had taken her. He had been selfless and pure, only wanting to save his friend even at the risk of his life.

That act had broken through not only the Negative Ring and its spell, but the twisted mass of confusion that was her heart. For the first time she had started to understand what true love really was, and she had realized she couldn't bear for Lector to be hurt, or for his best friend to be. She had told Lector she really did love him after she had sacrificed herself for him. Maybe that love was what had kept the darkness from consuming her even as she had waited in the Shadow Realm to be set free.

But . . . he didn't love her, did he?

She sighed, reaching out to place her hand on the glass. She still wanted him and wished that he would want her. But he and Mai had been right; she couldn't force it to happen. If she lingered on, it would only be more and more painfully obvious that he wasn't interested.

Still . . . could she bear to go away and never see him again, even if he didn't love her and never would?

Mai had once told her that she was sure Lector would be willing to be friends, but she knew that wouldn't be enough for Vivian. It still wasn't what she wanted, but . . . at least for now, maybe it would be better than nothing. At least she could still see him. And if he really did lean towards asexuality like Nesbitt, she would probably never have to deal with the pain of seeing him get together with someone else. Maybe that would make it bearable.

Finally she turned away from the window and pulled the drapes. She really should try to sleep.

xxxx

With everything settled down at last, it was time for the Paradox Brothers and Vivian to go back home with the final two Chinese magical objects. Everyone else came to see them off at the airport the next morning.

"Maybe sometime you guys can come visit when there's nothing going on," Joey suggested. "And we can . . . I dunno, all have a friendly duel or something."

"We would like that very much," Para said.

"And a victory we would clutch!" Dox added.

"Hey, don't forget, we beat you guys last time!" Joey said.

"Our decks have improved," Para said.

"So more wins we have accrued," Dox said.

"Maybe you guys could have lunch after you duel," Téa said. "You probably haven't had the chance to visit any of our awesome restaurants."

"Yes, we could have an orange," Para said.

"And follow it up with . . ." Dox trailed off, his eyes widening in horror. "There is no rhyme for orange!"

Several of the group stared in shock and then broke into laughter. It felt good to finally have something silly to laugh about. During those dark hours, it seemed like nothing would be funny again.

Vivian looked to Lector. "You know, I did save your life," she said coyly. "Don't you think you owe me something?"

Lector started. "What?! Ms. Wong . . ."

"Oh, relax. I'm just kidding." Vivian winked at him. "But I'd settle for lunch. We've still got time before the plane leaves. What do you say? A lunch . . . between friends?"

Lector started to smile. "Alright."

Crump gave a low whistle as he watched them walk off towards the airport restaurant. "I never thought I'd see her settle for friendship. She really must have figured out how to start respecting a guy's personal space!"

"And it's about time," Nesbitt grunted.

"I hope it lasts," Johnson said.

Gansley nodded. He certainly did too. Lector didn't need the stress Vivian had usually given him.

Tristan sighed, turning away from the scene. Lector and Vivian might have come to an understanding, but there were still problems he needed to see about fixing. "Duke . . ." He looked to the boy standing near him. "There's . . . still things we need to talk about. . . . I . . . I remember what happened . . . and what I did. . . ."

Duke looked to him, raising an eyebrow. "Well, this isn't a good place to talk about it."

"I know! I mean . . . could I come over later? I feel like you have a right to know . . . if you want to," Tristan said.

Duke sighed too but finally nodded. "I guess I should find out what I blocked out. Alright."

"But let me just say ahead of time—what I said and did to you . . . I didn't mean," Tristan insisted. "It was the dark magic talking."

"Fair enough," Duke said.

"So what's happening to everyone else who was a Negative Ring Holder?" Mai wondered. "Are any of them getting their lives straightened out?"

"I think Seeker's going to be okay," Yugi said. "He's still in town with his daughter."

"And of course, Arkana only joined the Negative Ring Holders to save Catherine," Atem said. "He's happy to go back to a normal life."

"I dunno what's happening with Gurimo," Joey frowned. "Or Bandit Keith."

"We'll just have to wait and see with them," Yugi said.

"Do you really think it's possible that either of them could change?" Mai frowned. "I remember Gurimo from when I was with Dartz. He was always very bitter about humanity. And Bandit Keith . . . well, we all know about him."

"I still don't wanna believe he's hopeless," Joey said. "But I'll admit it's hard to believe."

"As for Strings, I really don't know what to say about him," Marik said. "I doubt he joined the Negative Ring Holders of his own volition. Yami Marik probably just caught him and forced the Ring on his finger. I doubt he cared much about what was happening to him. His apathy was how I managed to control him so completely that he could wield an Egyptian God."

"Man, I wonder what goes on in his head," Joey said. "And hey, what was the deal with Pegasus?! He hasn't been around at all since he showed up to tell us what we needed to do to help beat Zorc! Did he skip out again?!"

Seto grunted. "He contacted me and said everyone's invited to dinner tonight. He's hosting a private banquet at the Royal Hotel. He said he'll explain everything there."

"Oh yeah?!" Joey blinked. "I wonder what he's gonna say."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it won't be boring," Tristan said. "And we'll have a good meal, in any case."

Joey's eyes gleamed. "Yes!"

Mai rolled her eyes. "You always think about food."

"Because there's nothing better than a free meal!" Joey said. "Except a free meal with good friends, of course."

Mai finally smiled. "Okay, sport. You've got me there."

"That should be interesting indeed," Gansley mused.

"Yeah! We're all free to go, right?" Crump said.

"I have nothing on our agendas for the evening," Johnson said. "Once Penguin World closes for the day, we're available."

"Boy, George is sure glad all the craziness is over," Crump said.

Nesbitt grunted. George had showed his happiness by leaping on his lap and sending his wheeled chair into the wall from the force of the jump. Still, Nesbitt couldn't deny that he was fond of that large bird.

Yugi smiled as he stood in the midst of all his friends. This was amazing, a happy morning like he had thought might never come again. But here they all were. He was sure Yami Bakura was right that there would never be complete peace. They had run into all kinds of enemies, both supernatural and human, and it was very likely that the pattern would continue. But right now he was just going to enjoy their victory and their companionship.

"Well," he said, "I've got to go meet Rebecca now. I promised to have lunch with her and Professor Hawkins."

Téa frowned but then sighed. "I'm sure she's on cloud nine."

Yugi went red. "It's just a friendly lunch," he insisted.

"But you know she's gonna think of it as a date," Joey snickered. "With the Professor chaperoning."

"It's really not like that!" Yugi insisted.

"Speaking of lunch and dates . . ." Mokuba looked up at Seto with a smile. "Didn't you have something you were gonna ask Téa, big bro?"

Seto grunted. "Just if you wanted to have lunch with us," he said.

Téa looked to him and smiled. "I'd love to."

Yami Bakura was also determined to have lunch. He went into the airport's restaurant and soon had amassed a large meal of meat. Shaking his head in amusement, Bakura sat down near him and ordered a more balanced meal.

A nearby window was open, sending a breeze through that tousled their hair. Yami Bakura looked up at it for a brief moment, lost in thought, before returning his attention to the rare steak.

"What are you thinking about, Yami?" Bakura asked.

Yami Bakura shrugged. "A lot of things. But mostly that I wondered if this day would ever come . . . and never really thought it would. I had to protect this Ring with my life because it was my life. But now . . ." He whipped it off his neck and held it in his hand. "Now, even though I still need to protect it, I don't need it to sustain my existence."

Bakura smiled. "I knew you would succeed."

". . . I wonder if I can still change my appearance with it." Yami Bakura put it back on and willed the silent command into it. In an instant he had switched back to his Egyptian form . . . and people at several nearby tables jumped a mile. Someone shrieked.

Bakura chuckled. "Oh Yami. . . ."

"Well . . ." Yami Bakura smirked. "What would life be without some harmless fun like this?"

Bakura had to smile again. "What indeed," he said fondly.