[God, right, how in the hell had that happened? Yugi was the one with the talent for making friends, and without him...
...without him, Atem had made a circle of his own. Yugi had shared all his friends with Atem in Domino, people who had helped him and supported him and lent him strength...now it's his turn to return the favor for Yugi. Atem's glad he can.
But he's not glad Ryou feels so sad about what happened. Now, he thinks, might be a good time to talk, actually. He turns his head to look at Ryou directly.]
We both got hurt in the fight against the parasite. You got hurt helping me. I could never think any kind of bad word about what you went through in the aftermath of that.
...
I don't know if you want to hear this, but when I died, I was at peace. Before you took my pain, it was -- well, you know what I was feeling, better than anyone. But after, it felt like I could go peacefully. I died surrounded by my friends, knowing that you'd won.
[A moment of silence, a darkening of his expression, a furrowing of his brows as he looks away.]
It was an easier death than I deserved. You were all unhappy, and I, the person whose error led to the situation that caused that, got to die without unhappiness...that's not fair.
cw discussing the experience of death/shade-brand emotional self harm
...without him, Atem had made a circle of his own. Yugi had shared all his friends with Atem in Domino, people who had helped him and supported him and lent him strength...now it's his turn to return the favor for Yugi. Atem's glad he can.
But he's not glad Ryou feels so sad about what happened. Now, he thinks, might be a good time to talk, actually. He turns his head to look at Ryou directly.]
We both got hurt in the fight against the parasite. You got hurt helping me. I could never think any kind of bad word about what you went through in the aftermath of that.
...
I don't know if you want to hear this, but when I died, I was at peace. Before you took my pain, it was -- well, you know what I was feeling, better than anyone. But after, it felt like I could go peacefully. I died surrounded by my friends, knowing that you'd won.
[A moment of silence, a darkening of his expression, a furrowing of his brows as he looks away.]
It was an easier death than I deserved. You were all unhappy, and I, the person whose error led to the situation that caused that, got to die without unhappiness...that's not fair.