CE: Oceans Apart on Doomsday

Ocean's Apart on Doomsday
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"Alright everyone, settle in. But don't get too comfortable."
Had it been any other day, Tea would have rolled her eyes.
Here she was with her friends, gathered in Kaiba's personal emergency bunker in the middle of some mountain range while the world outside fell to ruin, and Kaiba still couldn't find it in him to be polite.
But honestly, that just didn't matter much to her anymore.
The world was ending.
At least, that's what it felt like.
The level 10 earthquake just that morning had rocked Domino City: toppling buildings, creating fissures in the roads, and setting the town ablaze… no one was safe from it.
No one, that was, except for the small group of friends who had just happened to stop by a certain billionaire CEO's home before school that day.
They had still run into some trouble – Tea had nearly been crushed by a fallen chunk of ceiling and her arm was badly injured – but if it weren't for the mansions effective evacuation plan and troupe of helicopters, none of them would have made it out alive.
There were many they knew that weren't so lucky.
Tea felt tears pricking her eyes again, but she held them back. There would be time to grieve later. She needed to stay calm. They all did. For now they had to survive.
She looked around the quite cozy bunker, her eyes slowly adjusting to the blue light of dozens of computer screens and TV monitors which displayed the images of countless parts of the world being torn apart by all manner of natural disasters.
There were several doors around the room which, she guessed, led to additional passages in what appeared to be an entire underground compound.
She hoped one of the doors led to food storage; there was no way of knowing how long they would all be down there.
Just because this shelter was in the middle of nowhere didn't mean it was free from disaster.
The screens around the room were enough to prove that.
Suddenly a sound met her ears, faint against the hum of machines, but distinct; a ringtone.
Her phone was ringing.
She fumbled for it, reaching a bruised hand into her jacket pocket, thankful that at least that part of her coat had stayed intact.
A few large cracks marred the screen of her phone, but Tea barely noticed in her urgency to read the name and see which of her loved ones were still alive.
But there was no name, just a number. One she didn't recognize.
And the subscript under the number simply read 'Egypt'.
She stared at it for a few moments, but as the phone continued to ring, she realized this was no time to screen calls, and quickly answered.
"Hello?"
"… Tea. It – it's Marik."
She gasped loudly, alerting the other occupants in the room; the phone connection was full of static and somewhat garbled, but there was no mistaking Marik's unique voice.
"Marik! Wha – what's going on? Why…" She didn't know what else to say. Her mind was filled with questions. Why would he be calling her, and now of all times?
"I just… wanted to know how you were doing. I'm not sure what's happening over in Domino but…" she could hear him sigh heavily over the phone, "it's Hell here in Egypt right now. Fire's falling from the sky, the ground is exploding, the people have gone mad… they're fighting in the streets and killing each other over food and clothes and who knows what else. I doubt even the Shadow Realm is this bad."
Tea stared at the screens on the wall, saying "I… I can see it" as she found the station depicting the disasters in Egypt; meteors filled the sky like stars, and the desert was marked by craters and explosions.
Her eyes watered at the horror of it all.
"… See it?" Marik responded in confusion.
She started as her mind returned to the conversation. "Uh, yeah… We're in Kaiba's emergency bunker… he's got TV's hooked up, and they're broadcasting what's happening all over the world. It's… horrible."
"But… you're safe?" Tea was surprised by the softness and concern in his voice, and stuttered out "Y-yeah… I'm safe."
Marik sighed in relief, saying "Then I'm glad", and Tea was surprised by the warm blush lighting up her cheeks.
Her presence of mind seemed to return to her then, and she gasped into the phone "Well what about you? Are you safe? Do you need help?"
With a lighter tone Marik responded "I'm fine, for now. Odion, Ishizu and I are going to take shelter in the Pharaoh's Tomb… I used to hate that place so much, but now… hopefully… it will save our lives. It's lasted for 5,000 years, it should be able to make it through this."
Tea laughed softly, but there was still a twinge of doubt in her mind. "Are… are you sure you don't need help? Kaiba could send a helicopter… pick up you and your family and bring you here with us…."
Her heart began to thud in her chest, hope rising as she thought that they might be able to save some more of their friends. She didn't want anyone else to die.
But a small, tired laugh from Marik crushed that budding hope, and her heart wilted as he said "No, you don't understand: I'm here with all of my family. There're more than a hundred Tomb-Keepers down there. I'm sure you don't have room for all of us, and… I don't want to leave my family."
Tears brimmed in her eyes, and she could only nod mutely, not even registering that Marik wouldn't be able to see her response.
As the emotions flooded her, she let out a small sob, gasping for breath as she tried to contain the flood of emotions.
Marik patiently waited for her on the other end.
"I'm sorry Tea."
Tea didn't bother wiping her eyes as tears streamed across her cheeks, but she managed to compose herself long enough to whisper "Why did you call me?"
She didn't mean to sound so accusing, but she almost wished he hadn't bothered… then she could have thought about him later, after the fact, when there would be nothing to be done and she could simply feel guilt at not being able to help instead of this anguish at having an opportunity to save him and being kept from taking it.
His hesitation on the other end was palpable, but she could tell he was working up an answer, so she didn't say anymore.
"I… wanted to check on you, because…" she could hear his breathing start to get louder as he worked up his courage, "I suppose I should just tell you… If I don't make it through this then you might as well know, and if I do, well… you might as well know anyways."
She waited with baited breath, wondering what on earth he could have to tell her, and why it seemed so hard for him.
"I love you Tea."
Nothing. No response. She could barely formulate a thought, let alone give him some kind of answer.
He only seemed to grow more worked up in her silence. "I… I understand if you can't answer me, if you can't… return it. After all, I… know you a lot better than you know me."
The overwhelming guilt in his voice was enough to shake her from her stupor, and she responded quickly "Marik, please… how many times do I have to tell you, I've forgiven you for that, but…."
His voice was panicked as he mimicked "But…?"
Tea clenched the phone in her hand, gripping her arm and curling in around herself as a fresh wave of tears pricked at her eyes. "How can you tell me this now?"
Marik's voice was broken, full of hurt, as he responded "I know it would have never worked, I know that… you already feel for someone else. I barely deserve your forgiveness, and I certainly don't deserve anything more than that – "
"Marik! Stop! Don't talk like that, not now… I…" she dropped her voice just above a whisper, continuing "It's true I did have feelings for someone else at one point, but he's gone now. And Yugi," she looked across the room at the young man, hunched at a computer, reading a list of names and hoping he wouldn't see his grandpa's, "he's my best friend in the whole world, but I still see the Pharaoh when I look at him, and… I can't bear to hurt him like that."
A shaky breath sounded over the line, and Marik barely choked out "So… what are you saying?"
She bit her lip, unable to handle the raw hope in his soulful voice which caused more tears to course down her face, leaving streaks in the dust and dirt caked on her cheeks.
"What I'm saying is… it could have worked Marik." She choked back a sob, her voice rising as she fought to talk through her tears, "It could still work. I… think I would have liked that."
Marik's breathing had grown ragged and labored as he tried to hold back sobs. "Please… please don't say that… don't tell me I could have had another happy thing in life, if only…" a sob wracked through him, and he took a moment to compose himself before continuing "I already have more than I deserve, and it seems the gods agree, for they're taking most of it away from me. At least I still have my family."
"But… but it could still work… I want it to work! You don't know that you're going to die! We could still help you!"
Her voice had risen close to hysterics, and the others in the bunker had started to gather around her, Yugi laying a comforting hand on her shoulder as he knelt by her side, Joey and Tristan watching her with concern.
She couldn't believe this was happening… not long ago she had wondered how she would overcome her heartbreak at the Pharaoh's departure to the afterlife, and just when an opportunity for love and healing was revealing itself to her, it was also being cruelly ripped away.
It just seemed so unfair.
Tea was starting to hear explosions in the background of the call, and suddenly another voice drifted over the connection, calling to Marik. Odion was trying to get him to safety.
She could feel the sorrow radiating from Marik at that moment, but he responded urgently, in Egyptian, and jarringly Tea realized just how far apart they were.
He was a whole continent away; a fact that hit her hard as he said softly "Tea… my place is here, with my family. In our home. I… can't be selfish anymore."
She froze, her hands cradling the phone, and she whispered "I'm sorry…" into the receiver as tenderly as she could.
She could almost see his small smile.
"Don't apologize. I'm just glad to know you're alright… now I'll be alright too."
Tea managed a smile through her tears, and offered a small sound of acceptance. She couldn't manage any more than that.
"And Tea?"
She perked up, hoping for something, anything, to help her through this. The sounds of explosions were growing ever louder in her ear.
"Thank you. I'm glad to know I had a chance – we had a chance. And I'll do my best to stay alive, so that we can take that chance together. I'm glad I got to know you, Tea Gardner."
Her vision clouded; she could barely respond. "Marik… I – "
The connection crackled and sputtered.
And then there was only silence.
For a moment she sat there, frozen on the floor, straining to hear the explosions and Marik's breathing.
But she slowly drew her hand away from her ear, and in bold letters her broken phone taunted her: 'call lost'.
She stared at it until it became a blur, and then she was on the floor: a sobbing heap, covered in dirt and scratches, the garish bruises on her now wet arms nothing compared to the bruise on her heart.