Chapter Text
The fall was terrifying. Lawton was already unconscious or dead from Rainbow Dragon's attack, and the blast had sent pieces of the ledge flying in all directions. Radley threw up his arms to shield his face and he felt the sharp pieces cutting into his flesh.
"I don't want to die," he whispered. "Please . . . if there's any way . . . please let me live. . . ."
Then he hit the water hard and everything went black.
Radley jumped, flinching at the memories.
"Radley?" Kalin looked to him with a concerned frown. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Radley said. "I'm . . . just remembering . . ." He shuddered.
Kalin laid a hand on his shoulder.
They were at a corner of the garage at Poppo Time, just waiting for everyone to gather back together. The garage wasn't really decked out for a party except for the food everyone had brought, but that was more than good enough. After delivering their prisoners back to The Facility—and making sure Lawton was admitted to the prison hospital—the group had returned to Yusei and Antinomy's home for a celebratory meal. Having a party to celebrate victory in a disaster was a tradition Yusei's group wanted to adopt from their friends through the portal. But some of the friends were late, having decided to go get the others to join the party even though they had not been present on the adventure. It was hard to say when they all might meet again, so having everyone there now that things were safe seemed a good idea.
Jack, too, had opted to go find a certain guest. Of course, Carly was not pleased at all that she hadn't been along on the trip, but she was overjoyed to actually have a personal invitation and escort from Jack to the celebration, and that more than made up for everything.
A hole opened in space and Atem and Yugi stepped out, followed by Duke, Serenity, David, Mai, and Lumis and Umbra.
"I can't believe you went on this whole magical adventure and didn't invite us," Mai said.
"It was mostly because Joey was worried about you and Serenity," Yugi said. "But there was also the fact that we needed to hurry and you guys didn't seem to be available right then. . . ."
"It sounds like it was another widescale disaster," David remarked.
"One that was finally, thankfully turned around," Atem said. "We wouldn't be able to truly celebrate otherwise."
Everyone concurred.
Duke looked to Kalin with definite understanding in his eyes. He knew all too well what it was to lose someone precious and not be able to handle it, as did Lumis and Umbra.
Kalin looked back. None of them wanted to talk about their experiences and feelings now, but perhaps sometime they would. For now, each was immensely relieved that the others had been given another chance to have their loved ones back.
A Duel Runner pulled up outside and Jack and Carly got off. "Oooh, Jack, this looks amazing!" Carly gushed. She smiled up at him. "Thank you for inviting me."
Jack went red. "Well . . . I just thought you'd enjoy the food," he said gruffly. "And seeing our friends."
Leo snarked. "Wow, he's terrible at romantic talk."
The gathering got underway, with everyone enjoying the food and talking about their different worlds or times. Leo gushed about Turbo Dueling, while Joey talked about his plans to become a pro Duelist. Dueling strategies were swapped and some casual duels took place after a while. Oreo stole several pieces of meat from the buffet table, prompting Yami Bakura to scold "Cat!" when he caught her. But he let her keep them.
Radley found Kalin gazing out the garage at the city lights after a while. "Kalin?" he asked. "Are you really alright?"
"Yes," Kalin insisted. "I'm just thinking."
Radley sighed and leaned back against the doorframe with folded arms. ". . . It will probably be a while before either of us can really recover from what happened, don't you think? I mean, I'm alright, but I still have the memories of falling . . . and dying . . . and you remember when I was dead. . . . The fact that I'm alright doesn't change any of that."
"No, it doesn't," Kalin said. He looked away. "You're probably right. I'll be haunted by those hours for a long time. Most likely always. But in time, hopefully the pain will begin to heal for both of us."
"I have the feeling that some of our friends have been through similar things," Radley said. "And we know Yusei has. Maybe we can ask him how he's dealt with it."
Kalin nodded. "I might do that. But maybe I'll wait and see exactly what there is to deal with."
"Nightmares, I'm sure," Radley said. "I had a lot of those after what happened in the mines. And maybe it will keep feeling unreal that I'm alright. . . ." He stared down at his hand.
"It feels unreal right now," Kalin said. "I keep wondering if I'm really talking to you." He smiled. "But I know I am."
Radley smiled a bit too but then sobered. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Kalin shrugged. "No."
Radley hesitated. "I heard you and Yusei talking out in the hall at the castle. . . . You tried using your powers?"
". . . Yes." Kalin looked to him again. "I was angry and in pain and Barbara showed up just at the wrong moment. We each wanted to hurt the other for our loved ones' deaths and we started to duel. I finally snapped and started attacking her. It's like I said, this power can only be used to hurt people." He stared at his open palm and then clenched his fist. "Right then, all I cared about was causing hurt."
"But you stopped," Radley prompted.
"Thanks to Yusei," Kalin said. "And you. . . . He told me you would never want to see me fall into the darkness because of you."
"I wouldn't," Radley said. He shifted and pushed away from the doorframe. "But . . . Kalin . . . do people usually feel like that if they truly care about someone? Getting that angry and vengeful, I mean. I'm sorry, it's just . . . I've never known anyone who loved me that much before, and I've been worried about you, but then I wondered if . . . it's always like that . . ."
Kalin stared at him in dismay and sadness. Radley had experienced so much pain in his life, just as Kalin had. But while Kalin had never been without loved ones—despite beliefs to the contrary—Radley truly had been alone and forgotten for some of the time.
"I think . . . if anyone truly loves someone, it would be hard not to feel anger and vengeance if they're deliberately harmed," Kalin said. "Of course, I may not be the best person to ask. . . . Yusei deeply loves, and yet if he ever starts to hate because of people being harmed, he pushes it away. I drove him to that point when I was a Dark Signer, but when we met next he'd overcome those feelings and was instead focused on trying to save me from the darkness. And some people, they love just as much, but just break if they lose someone. They don't try to hurt people; they fall apart and lose the will to go on."
"I . . . well, it means a lot to me, that you care so much about me now," Radley said. "I don't know how I'd react to losing you. I don't want to think about it."
Kalin didn't either. He had the feeling that Radley would be one of those who just broke, and that was just as painful to picture as if Radley snapped like Kalin had.
"Let's not think about it," he said. "I'm not planning on going anywhere any time soon."
"That thing that released Lawton and the others is still out there," Radley worried.
"And we'll no doubt have to deal with him some more," Kalin said. "But for now, everything is peaceful. Let's focus on that."
Radley smiled a bit. "Let's."
They turned, walking back to the others.
Yusei was talking to Yugi. "Thank you so much for coming to help us," he said.
Yugi smiled. "We were all happy to. Any time you guys need help, you can always call on us."
"That goes for us too," Yusei said. "Let us know if there's ever anything we can do for you."
"We will," Yugi said.
Lector smiled at Kalin. "I am so glad we were able to see you again, Mr. Kessler, and to know that we are leaving you well. Whatever happened to you has weighed on my mind since our first encounters."
"I'm sorry I didn't get back to you to let you know before," Kalin said.
"It's alright," Lector said. "Running a town must be very hard work."
Kalin nodded. "But rewarding. I didn't even think the portal would still be open, honestly."
"Sometimes they're open for months and then suddenly, bam! they're not," Crump said. "So it's good we've got other ways of getting over to you guys too."
"I don't know how helpful my pendant will be, though," Radley said. "It's draining to use it at all."
"You'd better only use it as a last resort," Nesbitt said.
"I intend to," Radley said.
"I am very glad we got to see you again as well, Mr. Radley," Lector said. "I had no idea you would ever meet our other friends from over here. It sounded like your life was worlds apart from theirs, even though you lived nearby."
"You're still unable to be informal, I see," Radley smirked. "Yes, I met Kalin the night after our first adventure, actually. My life has never been the same since. In good ways."
Kalin smiled. "That goes for both of us."
"Well, when that happens, I say the meeting was meant to be," Serenity smiled. "You guys are better for having met, and we're better for having met you and all the others too!"
"I would agree with you, but Yusei, on the other hand, doesn't believe in destiny or fate," Kalin said.
"At least I agree that we're all better for having met," Yusei said as he came up behind his old friend.
Marik smiled. He agreed with that as well. He still hadn't felt the time was right for telling what Yami Marik had told him, but this did give him some comfort. If they had all been supposed to meet, then surely the future wasn't a bleak one. Maybe everything would be alright.
"You know, we should really try to get together for fun and not just when things are going wrong," Serenity said.
"We should!" Carly exclaimed. "If the portal's still open, we should visit back and forth all the time! I'd love to see old Domino City some more!"
"And Satellite has really been built up," Yusei said. "You wouldn't even recognize most of it now."
"That's great to hear," Yugi beamed. "Okay! Let's plan on that then! We'll all visit with the portal as long as it's here."
Everyone agreed. No matter what the future would bring, they would face it together.