Sorry I've been…dead for awhile. It's been so hectic with Christmas. I'm trying to buy my friends presents, and I guess they think its funny to not tell me what they want so I have to think of what to get them which makes things even more hectic.
But that's enough of my ranting; let's get on with the story!
Hope you like it and Happy Holidays =]
The Wonders of Christmas
It was a dark, snowy, and cold night. The street lamps illuminated the ground, causing the snow to sparkle. A boy sat on a bench in the stinging cold. He rubbed his hands that were covered with red gloves together to try and keep them from growing numb. His same colored hat sat on his head, almost covering his eyes. His snow white hair was wet with melted flakes.
The place was deserted. Anyone that would look out their windows would have thought that Ryou was a lunatic to be outside on a cold night like this. But he didn't care. He was waiting, waiting for his friend Malik to meet him here. The Egyptian promised Ryou that he would return in a year. Ryou marked his calendar for Christmas Eve, crossing out the days as they went by.
Malik left Domino to go back to Egypt with his Yami. He couldn't wait to see Marik either, Bakura on the other hand...
Ryou shivered. Not because he was cold, but excited when he saw the bus. Ryou stood; ready to greet the two when they made their way out of the moving vehicle.
"Ryou!" He heard his friend shout. Malik jumped off the last two steps of the bus, running straight into Ryou's opened arms, almost knocking him down into the cold wet pile of white. Ryou looked over Malik's shoulder to see Marik standing against a sign, his arms crossed, looking down the street toward Ryou's house.
"I'm guessing Bakura didn't come…" The yami trailed off. He sighed when Ryou shook his head.
Ryou remembered that day when the two Egyptians were leaving. Bakura had a fit, throwing things at Marik, cursing; he was absolutely out of control. He screamed at the top of his lungs, saying that Marik promised to be there for him no matter what happened. That's the first time any of them realized that Bakura really cared about anyone.
Ever since they departed Bakura has been very clingy. He'd sit next to Ryou whenever he did his homework or watched television, he'd ask him where he was going when he was ready to walk out the door, and sometimes decided to go with. What hurt Ryou the most was that he saw the pain in his eyes. But Bakura never talked about his feelings.
It didn't take that long to understand that Bakura was heartbroken. He loved Marik with all his heart. Ryou could tell. He also thought that maybe Bakura felt betrayed that the Egyptian left after he said he'd stay by Bakura's side.
"Maybe we should get going." Ryou was interrupted by his thoughts by Malik's shivering voice. He hadn't noticed he was thinking that deeply.
Ryou looked over to Marik whose gaze did not leave the direction toward the albino's house. Malik linked his arms through Ryou's and the three started heading to his and Bakura's house.
"Are you coming in?" Malik asked impatiently at the opened front door. Marik hesitated at the front of the sidewalk and stared up at the house.
Malik felt someone grab his shirt from behind and before he knew it he was being tugged into the house. "Absolutely not," He answered for Marik. "He doesn't belong here." With that said, the ex-tomb robber slammed the door.
"Bakura!" Ryou shouted with disbelief. "How could you!?" He opened the door to reveal Marik in the same position.
"Marik, come on! It's freezing out there!" Marik looked over at Ryou and nodded, walking toward the house.
The hikaris could feel the tension in the air as Bakura glared at Marik. Ryou was at a lost for words. He didn't expect Bakura to act this way. It's like he was a ferocious dog and Marik stepped into his territory. He was afraid Bakura would become berserk.
"Look, Bakura, let's go watch TV while Marik and Ryou cook us something to eat." Marik grabbed Bakura's arm and led him over to the living room. "Marik picked up a lot of recipes-" The hikari's voice trailed off and Ryou sighed in relief.
Ryou turned to Marik's face full of hurt and regret. "I'm really sorry. I didn't know he was going to act like that. I thought he would be happy to see you…" They headed toward the kitchen.
"Did…did he even want to come meet us at the bus stop?" Ryou made a little "hm" as he turned to look at Marik. They were silent for a while. Ryou knew the truth would hurt Marik, but he couldn't lie to one of his friends.
"He…put up a fight and…I couldn't get him out of the house," Ryou answered with eyes full of tears. Marik walked over, gently removing the tears with his thumb.
Ryou decided to make baked potatoes, corn, and beans for Christmas Eve dinner. He and Marik talked about all his adventures in Egypt while they waited for the potatoes to bake. He wanted to keep Marik's thoughts off of Bakura for as long as possible. They were interrupted by Ryou's yami's obnoxious stomping toward the kitchen.
"Hey, Bakura." Marik tried to start conversation.
Bakura made a humph, got two drinks out of the fridge and returned to the living room. Ryou could feel his patience growing very little. He was tired of Bakura treated Marik this way. He didn't deserve this. It wasn't his fault that their sister wanted them back in Egypt.
Dinner was eaten in an awkward silence. No one bothered trying to talk, not even Malik who used to always make conversation when they all had their little get together dinners. Ryou would sometimes catch Bakura glancing over at Marik. I'm going to talk to him before bed, Ryou thought. There was no way he was going to have Bakura and Marik not on speaking terms for the rest of their lives. He glanced over at Malik who read his eyes. They had this special thing only true best friends could do- talk with their eyes and the other one would understand exactly what they were thinking. They smiled at each other. Ryou couldn't wait to make up a plan.
"So what are we going to do?" Malik sat on top of the kitchen counter as Ryou washed the dishes.
"I have no idea, but…" Ryou told Malik how Bakura ended up being clingy since he and Marik left. He felt like it was none of his or Malik's business to know, but Bakura's happiness meant the world to him, and he'd be willing to do anything to have him happy.
Malik's face became more surprised as Ryou went on. "Ra, I never would have guessed. I never knew Bakura could feel that way about someone." Ryou nodded. Neither did he.
"It'd be nice if they started talking tonight. I don't want Christmas day to be awkward…"
They lied in Ryou's bed for the rest of the night, trying to come up with a plan with no success. They became exhausted, falling asleep against their will.
Marik looked up from his wrapping. While in Egypt, he tried finding the perfect gift for Bakura. Two days before Christmas Eve he found a gold necklace. Nothing very fancy, but something told him it'd be enough for Bakura.
He heard footsteps on the roof and decided to go investigate. It was Bakura no doubt. He and his old friend used to always sit on the roof. Sometimes they'd have a lot to say, other nights it would be quiet.
He debated going out, but instead grabbed a blanket out off the bed and opened the window.
Marik thought Bakura would tell him to go away, or try to push him off the roof. But he didn't do either of those things. Instead, he stayed exactly the way he was; arms across his legs and his head resting on his knees.
They sat in silence. The Egyptian sat close to Bakura as much as possible, wrapping the blue blanket around him. Without warning Bakura's head leaned against Marik's shoulder.
"This is just like old times." Marik stated. He never thought they'd bed sitting out here again.
"We could have kept doing this every night, but..." Bakura trailed off. The memory of Marik leaving was too painful.
Marik wrapped his arms around Bakura, burying his face in his snow white hair. He didn't know what to say. Isis wanted him and Malik back to take care of things in Egypt. But he didn't think Bakura would understand it. To him, Marik just left.
He sighed, "You're right." Bakura looked up at him. "I never should have left. I should have kept my word." His arms held Bakura tighter. "I want to go back to the way things used to be; all four of us happy together, Malik and I coming over for no reason-"
Bakura snorted. "You two only come over for Ryou's cooking." They both laughed. Marik had to admit that that was part of it.
"And to see you." Marik stated bluntly. Bakura's heart skipped a beat. Everything became silent. His breathing became uneven as he tried to keep his tears under control.
"And I want to fix everything." Marik went on, "And I want us to have a good Christmas, and for you to be happy, and for you to tell me everything…" Marik kept going on.
Bakura rolled his eyes, turned around and sat on Marik, wrapping his arms around his neck and his feet around his waist. He could tell he was confusing the other, but didn't care. What he was about to do would explain everything. He slowly moved his head toward Marik. Their lips touched ever so slightly. When Bakura was ready to depart, Marik grabbed the side of his face, forcing his lips back to his.
Bakura was surprised at first, but his lips started moving with Marik's. All his pain, his doubt was forgotten.
Marik walked back toward the room he was using with Bakura in his arms, not breaking contact. They departed only to enter through the window. Once inside the room, Marik brought Bakura against his body, their lips connecting again.
"You are the only Christmas present I want." Bakura smiled to Marik who raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?" He walked over to his desk, taking whatever wrapping paper he had on the necklace off. "So I guess you don't want this than?" He held the gold necklace in front of Bakura's surprised face, grinning
Bakura grabbed it. "I'll take that too." He smiled; a smile that told Marik he was forgiven. A miracle has happened. Seeing Bakura smile was the best present he could ever receive.
Outside of the room stood two quiet hikari's.
"Another mission accomplished," Malik whispered. They gently gave each other a high five and tip toed back to the room they were sharing.
I don't know how I came up with this, but I absolutely adore it. Hopefully you guys liked it, maybe a little?
I thought the ending was a little funny since those silly hikaris didn't do anything.
Again, Happy Holidays!