A Thousand Years
Yami Bakura ran through the winding tunnels. He could hear his friend telling him to go faster. The tomb robber looked ahead, they were almost there. Moonlight blanketed the steps to the outside. He heard his friend cry out and he looked back and saw the guards come out form another passageway. His friend had been caught and her eyes grew wide as the guard in front of her stabbed her. Yami Bakura turned back around and as fast as he could up the stairs.
The young grave robber burst out into the night and sand. He stopped for a moment and began to sob. Then, he heard the guards coming for him. Yami Bakura ran out into the night, with tears streaming down his face
Yami Bakura shot upright in his bed in his soul room. He took shuddered breaths and his eyes were wide. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
A thousand years, a thousand more A thousand times a million doors to eternity I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times An endless turning stairway climbs To a tower of souls If it takes another thousand years, a thousand wars,
The towers rise to numberless floors in space I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,
A million names but only one to truth to face
Yami Bakura stared off into space. The tears streamed down to his chin and dripped to his hand that was clutching his blanket. He shut his eyes tightly and let out several quiet sobs.
"Yami?" a gentle and concerned voice called into the darkness. Yami Bakura's eyes shot open and he looked toward the door of his soul room. A soft light glowed from outside and he could see the figure of his hikari, Ryou Bakura.
The grave robber quickly wiped away his tears. "What do you want?" he demanded. Bakura walked slowly into the room.
"I could feel your pain," the boy said softly. "Are you okay?" Yami Bakura wiped his eyes as more tears threatened to escape his eyes. "Have you been crying?" Bakura asked as he took a few steps forward.
"If you don't leave you'll get the beating of your life," Yami Bakura hissed. Bakura ignored the empty threat. His yami couldn't hurt him as long as Yugi and his yami were around.
The brave, white-haired boy walked up to his yami's bed. "You were dreaming about the past," he said. "Can't you tell me what it was?" Yami Bakura glared at him.
"No, I can't," he said. "It's something I'd rather forget." He laid back down and turned his back to his light.
"Please tell me what's wrong, Yami," Bakura begged.
"Nothing!" Yami Bakura snapped as he closed his eyes. "Now get out of my room." The tomb robber could feel Bakura's eyes on him.
"Good night, Yami," his soft English accent carried as he closed the door behind him. Yami Bakura opened his eyes for a moment, looking into the darkness, then closed them again.
Images form his dream flashed in his mind. A tear escaped from his closed eyes and slid down his pale cheek. Several quiet sobs escaped from his throat as he buried his face in his pillow and began to cry.
A million roads, a million fears A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty I could speak a million lies, a million songs,
A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time But if there was a single truth, a single light A single thought, a singular touch of grace The following this single point, this single flame This single haunted memory of your face
Throughout the entire night, the images went through his mind again and again. All Yami Bakura was capable of doing was crying for the friend he'd lost three- thousand years ago.
I still love you I still want you A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves Like galaxies in my head
The next morning, Bakura woke up without remembering his yami's oddness. As he got ready for school, he realized that he hadn't heard any taunts or threats form his yami.
Bakura wasn't sure as to be glad or disturbed. The white-haired boy went into his soul room. Trying not to make too much noise, he opened Yami Bakura's door and poked his head in.
Yami Bakura was lying flat on his back in his bed. The sheets and blankets had been thrown over the edge and so had one pillow. The tomb robber was staring at the ceiling with a blank look.
For a moment, Bakura wondered if Yami Bakura was dead, but the thought was quickly tossed aside. He walked up to the left side of the bed and looked at his yami.
The Egyptian's eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed. His pale skin made it seem worse than it really was. The pupils rimmed by brown looked empty. Yami Bakura's body was almost completely rigid.
Young Bakura waved a hand in front of the other's face, but he didn't even blink. The boy was almost tempted to shake him. "Okay, you're scaring me, Yami," he said out loud. His darker half didn't move a muscle.
'Maybe I should call Yugi,' he thought. 'His yami would know what to do.' As the boy turned to leave, he noticed something on the night stand.
It was a small box and it looked Egyptian. It was dark wood with different sea shell patterns in squares on each side of the rectangular box. It looked out of place in his yami's dark and undecorative room. Bakura looked back at his unresponsive yami. The white-haired boy placed a hand on the lid to open the box. Suddenly, a firm hand grasped his wrist. He was too frightened to cry out. He slowly turned his head to see his yami sitting up. His eyes were filled with molten hatred.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yami Bakura snapped as he squeezed his light's wrist.
"I . . . I . . ." Bakura stammered frightfully.
"Don't you ever touch that box!" Yami Bakura shouted. "Do you understand, weakling?" Bakura tried to weakly pull his wrist away.
Yami Bakura brutally squeezed harder and twisted the boy's wrist. "Do you?!" Bakura tried to pry his yami's hand away from his wrist with his free hand.
"Yami! You're hurting me!" he cried desperately.
"Answer me, hikari!" Yami Bakura roared. Bakura nodded furiously.
"Yes! Yes! I understand! Now, please, let go!" Bakura cried as tears stung his eyes. His yami terrified him when he was this angry.
Yami Bakura let go of his light's wrist and shoved him away. "Get out," he growled as he slid his legs off the bed in a motion to get up.
Bakura nodded, then ran out of the soul room. When the door was shut, the thief's shoulders slumped. He looked over at the box of his night stand. With one hand, he opened the box and took out its contents.
Yami Bakura grasped the contents in his fist and rested it on his forehead. The spirit's elbows rested on his knees. He shut his eyes tightly, and he let out several shuttered breaths. Desperately, he fought to keep the sobs from escaping his lips.
During lunch, Bakura sat with his friends in the corner of the lunchroom. Yugi noticed his friend was unusually quiet. "Is something wrong, Bakura?" The white-haired teen looked up with a worried expression.
"My yami has been worrying me lately," he said quietly.
"Hey, he worries up all, pal," Joey said.
"I mean that he's been acting strange lately," Bakura said.
"And when isn't he?" Joey asked.
"JOEY!!!" Tristan, Tea, and Yugi all shouted at once. Joey shrank back.
"Go on, Bakura," Tea said encouragingly.
"Something's really been bothering him. Last night was when it started. I could really feel his pain. And this morning he was about ready kill me because I tried to open this box he had in his soul room."
Yugi spaced out for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "Yami said that he couldn't think of anything that could have been bothering him."
"Thanks anyway," Bakura said softly.
I may be numberless, I may be innocent I may know many things, I may be ignorant Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crime Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief
Yami Bakura tossed and turned in his soul room. Sweat gathered on his forehead and his bangs became damp and plastered on his face.
The dream repeated itself over and over again. Each time was more painful than the last. Time always seemed to slow down when he turned and saw the pain on her face.
Yami Bakura ran out of the tomb and across the desert sand. This was where all the dreams became slightly different. There had been so many times when he had started to turn around, only to see the guards and keep running.
The thief forced himself to stop. He wiped his tears off his face and swallowed hard. Then, he slowly turned around and forced himself to run back, and when he got there, he hid behind a boulder until the guards left.
Yami Bakura leaned against the boulder, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then darted into the tomb.
It was darker than it had been. The torches he had set up were beginning to die out. He walked down the tunnel and saw a solitary figure lying on the floor. Yami Bakura ran over and saw her mangled body. Tears welled in his eyes. He had seen many of them in his life, and many had been much worse, but this was his friend . . .
He knelt next to the still figure and saw that there was a small rise and fall in the chest. Yami Bakura sniffled a couple times and few tears slid down his cheeks.
Slowly, the young woman's eyes pried themselves open and she looked up at the thief. "Bakura . . . ?" He nodded and swallowed hard.
He reached down with a gentle hand to stroke her cheek when she turned her head away from him. Yami Bakura took his hand back and felt a cold knife run his heart clean through.
"You left me to die," the young woman said bitterly. She turned back to him and saw pure hatred in her eyes. Yami Bakura couldn't find a response.
"I'm here now," he found himself saying. She looked at him with disgust.
"You're too late, Bakura," she snapped. "I've been dead for three thousand years!" Then she looked at him hatefully. "I. Hate. You." Yami Bakura felt like he'd been slapped viciously. He then stood up slowly and staggered back slightly. Yami Bakura looked at her with hurt. He looked completely innocent, and yet crushed. Harsh reality sunk in.
"But I thought you loved me . . ." he whispered, his voice trembling all the while.
The young woman spat out the words harshly. "I could never love you. I never did love you. It was all for the thrill, Bakura. There was nothing between us, ever. I hate you." She glared at him. "I hate you, Bakura, King of Thieves!" Yami Bakura backed away in disbelief. The words continued to repeat inside his head. "I hate you."
Yami Bakura's eyes snapped open and he found himself in his soul room. Several tears ran down his blank face and landed on his pillow as he laid on his side.
Bakura came home as the sun began to set. He had gone to the arcade with the others, but he found that kept worrying about his yami, so he had come home early.
As Bakura walked through the front door, he found that all the lights in the were off. "Yami?" he called when he found that the thief was not in his soul room.
Bakura walked upstairs to see if maybe the Egyptian was there. This was also unsuccessful. He was about to go back downstairs when he saw that the attic door had been left slightly ajar.
The teen decided that it was worth a look. He slowly went up the old stairs and up into the attic. When he got up there, he saw that the window to the roof was open. Bakura sighed and began to make his own way out.
Once on the roof, he looked around and quickly found Yami Bakura. He was standing on the edge of the roof, looking down towards the ground. Carefully, Bakura made his way over to him. The thief didn't even acknowledge his presence as he stood right next to him for several moments.
"She hated me, Bakura," the yami whispered as he gripped something in his palm. Bakura looked up at Yami Bakura and saw unshed tears welled up in the old thief's eyes.
"Yami?" The yami inhaled sharply.
"I loved her so much, Bakura . . . And she hated me." He looked at the ground below longingly. "Do you think the fall would kill me?" Bakura looked at his depressed yami with bewilderment.
"Yami, you should really go back inside." Yami Bakura shut his eyes tightly. The object he had been holding slipped out of his hand and began to fall. Bakura shot out his hand and caught the item.
When he opened his fist, he found a small pendant of the goddess Isis on a silver chain. Somehow, he knew that this was what his yami had been hiding in the box.
"It was hers," Yami Bakura spoke up. "She always left it behind, afraid she was going to lose it." Then, he looked straight into his other's eyes. "And she hated me." A single tear ran down his cheek.
"No, Yami!" Bakura cried. "She loved you! I know she did! That dream was merely your mind playing with your fears! She didn't blame you for anything!" He took his yami's hand and put the necklace in his palm, then closed his fingers around it.
"She loved you so much!" Bakura continued. "She loved you more than anyone ever has!" Yami Bakura studied his hikari intently.
"Even more than you?" he asked softly. "Do you even love me, Bakura?" Bakura just gaped at his yami. He had completely caught him off guard.
"Of course I love you, Yami," he said softly.
Yami Bakura gave a small, sad smile, then disappeared into the Ring. Bakura found himself completely alone on the roof.
Yami Bakura walked across his soul room over to the nightstand next to his bed. He slowly lifted up the lid to the box and let the necklace slide out of his hand and into the box.
I still love you I still want you A thousand times these mysteries unfold themselves Like galaxies in my head On and on the mysteries unwind themselves Eternities still unsaid 'Til you . . . Love me
The End
Yami Bakura ran through the winding tunnels. He could hear his friend telling him to go faster. The tomb robber looked ahead, they were almost there. Moonlight blanketed the steps to the outside. He heard his friend cry out and he looked back and saw the guards come out form another passageway. His friend had been caught and her eyes grew wide as the guard in front of her stabbed her. Yami Bakura turned back around and as fast as he could up the stairs.
The young grave robber burst out into the night and sand. He stopped for a moment and began to sob. Then, he heard the guards coming for him. Yami Bakura ran out into the night, with tears streaming down his face
Yami Bakura shot upright in his bed in his soul room. He took shuddered breaths and his eyes were wide. Tears streamed down his cheeks.
A thousand years, a thousand more A thousand times a million doors to eternity I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times An endless turning stairway climbs To a tower of souls If it takes another thousand years, a thousand wars,
The towers rise to numberless floors in space I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,
A million names but only one to truth to face
Yami Bakura stared off into space. The tears streamed down to his chin and dripped to his hand that was clutching his blanket. He shut his eyes tightly and let out several quiet sobs.
"Yami?" a gentle and concerned voice called into the darkness. Yami Bakura's eyes shot open and he looked toward the door of his soul room. A soft light glowed from outside and he could see the figure of his hikari, Ryou Bakura.
The grave robber quickly wiped away his tears. "What do you want?" he demanded. Bakura walked slowly into the room.
"I could feel your pain," the boy said softly. "Are you okay?" Yami Bakura wiped his eyes as more tears threatened to escape his eyes. "Have you been crying?" Bakura asked as he took a few steps forward.
"If you don't leave you'll get the beating of your life," Yami Bakura hissed. Bakura ignored the empty threat. His yami couldn't hurt him as long as Yugi and his yami were around.
The brave, white-haired boy walked up to his yami's bed. "You were dreaming about the past," he said. "Can't you tell me what it was?" Yami Bakura glared at him.
"No, I can't," he said. "It's something I'd rather forget." He laid back down and turned his back to his light.
"Please tell me what's wrong, Yami," Bakura begged.
"Nothing!" Yami Bakura snapped as he closed his eyes. "Now get out of my room." The tomb robber could feel Bakura's eyes on him.
"Good night, Yami," his soft English accent carried as he closed the door behind him. Yami Bakura opened his eyes for a moment, looking into the darkness, then closed them again.
Images form his dream flashed in his mind. A tear escaped from his closed eyes and slid down his pale cheek. Several quiet sobs escaped from his throat as he buried his face in his pillow and began to cry.
A million roads, a million fears A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty I could speak a million lies, a million songs,
A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time But if there was a single truth, a single light A single thought, a singular touch of grace The following this single point, this single flame This single haunted memory of your face
Throughout the entire night, the images went through his mind again and again. All Yami Bakura was capable of doing was crying for the friend he'd lost three- thousand years ago.
I still love you I still want you A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves Like galaxies in my head
The next morning, Bakura woke up without remembering his yami's oddness. As he got ready for school, he realized that he hadn't heard any taunts or threats form his yami.
Bakura wasn't sure as to be glad or disturbed. The white-haired boy went into his soul room. Trying not to make too much noise, he opened Yami Bakura's door and poked his head in.
Yami Bakura was lying flat on his back in his bed. The sheets and blankets had been thrown over the edge and so had one pillow. The tomb robber was staring at the ceiling with a blank look.
For a moment, Bakura wondered if Yami Bakura was dead, but the thought was quickly tossed aside. He walked up to the left side of the bed and looked at his yami.
The Egyptian's eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed. His pale skin made it seem worse than it really was. The pupils rimmed by brown looked empty. Yami Bakura's body was almost completely rigid.
Young Bakura waved a hand in front of the other's face, but he didn't even blink. The boy was almost tempted to shake him. "Okay, you're scaring me, Yami," he said out loud. His darker half didn't move a muscle.
'Maybe I should call Yugi,' he thought. 'His yami would know what to do.' As the boy turned to leave, he noticed something on the night stand.
It was a small box and it looked Egyptian. It was dark wood with different sea shell patterns in squares on each side of the rectangular box. It looked out of place in his yami's dark and undecorative room. Bakura looked back at his unresponsive yami. The white-haired boy placed a hand on the lid to open the box. Suddenly, a firm hand grasped his wrist. He was too frightened to cry out. He slowly turned his head to see his yami sitting up. His eyes were filled with molten hatred.
"What do you think you're doing?" Yami Bakura snapped as he squeezed his light's wrist.
"I . . . I . . ." Bakura stammered frightfully.
"Don't you ever touch that box!" Yami Bakura shouted. "Do you understand, weakling?" Bakura tried to weakly pull his wrist away.
Yami Bakura brutally squeezed harder and twisted the boy's wrist. "Do you?!" Bakura tried to pry his yami's hand away from his wrist with his free hand.
"Yami! You're hurting me!" he cried desperately.
"Answer me, hikari!" Yami Bakura roared. Bakura nodded furiously.
"Yes! Yes! I understand! Now, please, let go!" Bakura cried as tears stung his eyes. His yami terrified him when he was this angry.
Yami Bakura let go of his light's wrist and shoved him away. "Get out," he growled as he slid his legs off the bed in a motion to get up.
Bakura nodded, then ran out of the soul room. When the door was shut, the thief's shoulders slumped. He looked over at the box of his night stand. With one hand, he opened the box and took out its contents.
Yami Bakura grasped the contents in his fist and rested it on his forehead. The spirit's elbows rested on his knees. He shut his eyes tightly, and he let out several shuttered breaths. Desperately, he fought to keep the sobs from escaping his lips.
During lunch, Bakura sat with his friends in the corner of the lunchroom. Yugi noticed his friend was unusually quiet. "Is something wrong, Bakura?" The white-haired teen looked up with a worried expression.
"My yami has been worrying me lately," he said quietly.
"Hey, he worries up all, pal," Joey said.
"I mean that he's been acting strange lately," Bakura said.
"And when isn't he?" Joey asked.
"JOEY!!!" Tristan, Tea, and Yugi all shouted at once. Joey shrank back.
"Go on, Bakura," Tea said encouragingly.
"Something's really been bothering him. Last night was when it started. I could really feel his pain. And this morning he was about ready kill me because I tried to open this box he had in his soul room."
Yugi spaced out for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders. "Yami said that he couldn't think of anything that could have been bothering him."
"Thanks anyway," Bakura said softly.
I may be numberless, I may be innocent I may know many things, I may be ignorant Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crime Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief
Yami Bakura tossed and turned in his soul room. Sweat gathered on his forehead and his bangs became damp and plastered on his face.
The dream repeated itself over and over again. Each time was more painful than the last. Time always seemed to slow down when he turned and saw the pain on her face.
Yami Bakura ran out of the tomb and across the desert sand. This was where all the dreams became slightly different. There had been so many times when he had started to turn around, only to see the guards and keep running.
The thief forced himself to stop. He wiped his tears off his face and swallowed hard. Then, he slowly turned around and forced himself to run back, and when he got there, he hid behind a boulder until the guards left.
Yami Bakura leaned against the boulder, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then darted into the tomb.
It was darker than it had been. The torches he had set up were beginning to die out. He walked down the tunnel and saw a solitary figure lying on the floor. Yami Bakura ran over and saw her mangled body. Tears welled in his eyes. He had seen many of them in his life, and many had been much worse, but this was his friend . . .
He knelt next to the still figure and saw that there was a small rise and fall in the chest. Yami Bakura sniffled a couple times and few tears slid down his cheeks.
Slowly, the young woman's eyes pried themselves open and she looked up at the thief. "Bakura . . . ?" He nodded and swallowed hard.
He reached down with a gentle hand to stroke her cheek when she turned her head away from him. Yami Bakura took his hand back and felt a cold knife run his heart clean through.
"You left me to die," the young woman said bitterly. She turned back to him and saw pure hatred in her eyes. Yami Bakura couldn't find a response.
"I'm here now," he found himself saying. She looked at him with disgust.
"You're too late, Bakura," she snapped. "I've been dead for three thousand years!" Then she looked at him hatefully. "I. Hate. You." Yami Bakura felt like he'd been slapped viciously. He then stood up slowly and staggered back slightly. Yami Bakura looked at her with hurt. He looked completely innocent, and yet crushed. Harsh reality sunk in.
"But I thought you loved me . . ." he whispered, his voice trembling all the while.
The young woman spat out the words harshly. "I could never love you. I never did love you. It was all for the thrill, Bakura. There was nothing between us, ever. I hate you." She glared at him. "I hate you, Bakura, King of Thieves!" Yami Bakura backed away in disbelief. The words continued to repeat inside his head. "I hate you."
Yami Bakura's eyes snapped open and he found himself in his soul room. Several tears ran down his blank face and landed on his pillow as he laid on his side.
Bakura came home as the sun began to set. He had gone to the arcade with the others, but he found that kept worrying about his yami, so he had come home early.
As Bakura walked through the front door, he found that all the lights in the were off. "Yami?" he called when he found that the thief was not in his soul room.
Bakura walked upstairs to see if maybe the Egyptian was there. This was also unsuccessful. He was about to go back downstairs when he saw that the attic door had been left slightly ajar.
The teen decided that it was worth a look. He slowly went up the old stairs and up into the attic. When he got up there, he saw that the window to the roof was open. Bakura sighed and began to make his own way out.
Once on the roof, he looked around and quickly found Yami Bakura. He was standing on the edge of the roof, looking down towards the ground. Carefully, Bakura made his way over to him. The thief didn't even acknowledge his presence as he stood right next to him for several moments.
"She hated me, Bakura," the yami whispered as he gripped something in his palm. Bakura looked up at Yami Bakura and saw unshed tears welled up in the old thief's eyes.
"Yami?" The yami inhaled sharply.
"I loved her so much, Bakura . . . And she hated me." He looked at the ground below longingly. "Do you think the fall would kill me?" Bakura looked at his depressed yami with bewilderment.
"Yami, you should really go back inside." Yami Bakura shut his eyes tightly. The object he had been holding slipped out of his hand and began to fall. Bakura shot out his hand and caught the item.
When he opened his fist, he found a small pendant of the goddess Isis on a silver chain. Somehow, he knew that this was what his yami had been hiding in the box.
"It was hers," Yami Bakura spoke up. "She always left it behind, afraid she was going to lose it." Then, he looked straight into his other's eyes. "And she hated me." A single tear ran down his cheek.
"No, Yami!" Bakura cried. "She loved you! I know she did! That dream was merely your mind playing with your fears! She didn't blame you for anything!" He took his yami's hand and put the necklace in his palm, then closed his fingers around it.
"She loved you so much!" Bakura continued. "She loved you more than anyone ever has!" Yami Bakura studied his hikari intently.
"Even more than you?" he asked softly. "Do you even love me, Bakura?" Bakura just gaped at his yami. He had completely caught him off guard.
"Of course I love you, Yami," he said softly.
Yami Bakura gave a small, sad smile, then disappeared into the Ring. Bakura found himself completely alone on the roof.
Yami Bakura walked across his soul room over to the nightstand next to his bed. He slowly lifted up the lid to the box and let the necklace slide out of his hand and into the box.
I still love you I still want you A thousand times these mysteries unfold themselves Like galaxies in my head On and on the mysteries unwind themselves Eternities still unsaid 'Til you . . . Love me
The End
