Author's Note: Yami Bakura finds difficulty in living his life on a day to day basis since he insists on being anti-social and thrives off of being sociopathic. When Ryou follows him out on a rainy night in December, he discovers the millennium spirit's true nature. Be prepared to witness the softer side of Yami Bakura as he recounts the details of a special night that Ryou helped him to create.

Disclaimer: First person story told from Yami Bakura's POV. Yaoi between Yami Bakura and Ryou. Romantic angst. Some bad language, but it's not that bad. Both of the characters cause each other mental anguish. Since this fic portrays Yami Bakura as being emotional, I'd say that he's slightly OOC. Other than that, this is an engaging song fic that features Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon's theme song, "A Love Before Time" in italics.

Chapter One: When My North Star Died

/If the sky opened up for me, and the mountains disappeared. If the seas run dry, turn to dust, and the sun refused to rise./

All I can see is his face. More specifically, it is the only thing I want to see these days. Those passive emerald eyes and small serene smile encompassed by fair flesh is enough to make my heart ache. My dreams even possess the high honor of having him reside in them, prancing about the corners of my mind like a carefree fairy. I could imagine such a vision of loveliness quite vividly: the apple of my eye skipping around in a flower field, his lengthy silver tresses bouncing off his back as he scanned the meadow for a pretty daisy to wear. Alas, that is as close as I can get to the spirited sprite, for I'm only able to establish contact with him in my mind. The child I so desperately sought to love and care for had breached the gap between life and death, bounding off into the endless realm of eternity.

Bakura Ryou, the innocent hikari form of myself, had just recently left my side. His terminated existence came as a tremendous shock to me, for the tiny teenager was all I had on Earth. While everyone else that crossed my path reviled my very presence, Ryou accepted me for who I was and what I was about. Welcoming me into his loving arms, the gentle adolescent seemed to want to take up the task of protecting me. I was taken aback by such a warm gesture of affection, perplexed that a mere child wished for nothing more than to be my divine defender. Imagine that, a sweet little boy coming to the rescue of a creature like me that is so many centuries old that I've lost count. To be perfectly honest, I never truly thought of myself as human. Those beings were so complex with such a wide range of emotions, feelings that determined their disposition on a daily basis. They believed in miracles, ever-lasting happiness, and the magic of romance. When it came to matters of the heart, I was truly lost in its overwhelming currents. Relationships simply didn't fit into my personal schema of what my objectives were in life, so I ended up discarding them…until I entered into Ryou's realm, that is.

/I would still find my way by that light I see in your eyes./

He was somehow able to break through all of the steel barriers I put in place for anyone who dared to get in my way. No one had ever attempted such a radical action, for I was responsible for delivering harsh consequences to those who tried my patience. How was it possible that the green-eyed boy was able to tear down my strongest defenses? Why did I so willingly give myself to someone who was just a mortal that would die and leave me behind someday? It took months of the silvery-haired adolescent's constant pursuing before I finally realized why partnerships were worthwhile. What he did two years ago made me understand the value of abstract concepts like love, and how difficult it would be for me to face the fact that I would be forced to say good-bye to him someday…