The Bridge Between

Chapter 6: Back Home

Three brothers looked at the familiar expanse of white of the Bridge Between, their eyes continuously searching. They only had so long before their brother would be lost to them forever. Obviously, they didn't want to waste what little time they had.

Then, in the distance, they saw the silhouette of a familiar garden. Purple, grey, and blue eyes met and they nodded before starting their sprint to their garden.

They had a brother to save.

As they approached the familiar garden, the brothers could immediately tell something was very wrong.

The flowers, usually so vibrant and new, were all wilted. The grass was no longer the purest of green, but the brown of plants long dead. The once radiant marble patio was no more, a pile of white rubble in its place. The light of the not-sun was blocked completely by a ceiling of clouds so thick, it was almost too dark to see.

The sakura tree, which used to always be in bloom no matter the weather, was missing its bright petals. Its trunk darker than the night and its branches bent and twisted in a frightening caricature to its previous beauty.

And there, underneath the twisted tree, sat the one they were looking for.

A mop of red and crimson hair lay frazzled on the down turned head. His back to the sakura tree, his legs pulled tightly to his chest, and his hands gripping his pendulum pendant in a white knuckled grip. Yuya's eyes were covered by his signature goggles, the tear stains on his cheeks visible whereas his eyes were not. His body trembled from the force of the tears he could no longer produce.

Yuto took a tentative step forward, his face pulled tight with apprehension.

"Yuya?"

The other didn't acknowledge their presence. He just pulled himself into a tighter ball and continued to hold his pendulum in a desperate grip.

Yuri, giving up all attempts at being subtle, brushed past Yuto and knelt down near Yuya, within arms reach.

"Hey Yuya," he said, voice soft, like he was talking to a frightened animal, "what's wrong, little brother."

That seemed to get a reaction. Yuya's head snapped up, eyes looking startled behind his goggles. Even from where they stood, Yugo and Yuto could see the glitter of tears forming in Yuya's eyes.

The bridge keeper let out a broken sob and tucked his head back between his knees.

"I can't," Yuya said after a long silence, his voice scratchy and dry from his tears, "you want me to go with you. I want to, too. But I can't. Th-the Rules, an-and I, but I just-, I can't . I can't do it, I can't I can't I-"

"You can."

Four heads snapped up, looking for the source of the voice (voices?) that intruded where no one else ever had.

Despite their searching, the brothers found no one. Their garden was still in disrepair, everything was where it should be (even if all of it was still destroyed), and they saw no other people in the Bridge.

They did, however, feel something. Someone. A couple of someones, in fact, that three of the brothers were expecting.

They felt as the Ens settle their presences' into the Bridge Between, and with it, shape the middle dimension.

The clouds slowly peeled away, revealing a crescent moon hanging high in the sky, where the not-sun could never be. The grass glittered in the pale light, moonflowers sprouting everywhere the moonlight touched. A gentle and comforting breeze blew through the garden, bringing along a wave of feathers and the sounds of animals, all vying for the light of the moon.