Yep. When I finally DO get my lazy ass in gear, all you get is this. So...feel free to shoot me. JUST DON'T FLAME ME! T-T
Written For DarkShadowRose1, who is a MUCH better writer than I. GO READ HER STUFF!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of the characters. If I did, the original series would still be going strong, and the spin-offs would not exist. ^^;
When it's true love, there are no conditions. You don't see anything you want to change; the person is perfect in your eyes. He's everything that could possibly matter to you, and he was. He truly was. Why can't anyone else see that?
Simple: because he wasn't.
Ryou-or rather, the darkness within him; he was practically their worst enemy. You never saw him in the sunshine; only at night, when the demons arise from their blood-filled hell to wreak havoc. He didn't care about anyone, not even the boy whose body he needed to stay; rather, he hated Ryo perhaps most of all, for being everything he hated.
He hated everyone. Everyone hated him. But they weren't me.
I loved him with ever ounce of my being. This being made of nothing but fear, anger, hatred, who didn't know what love or warmth was…and I loved him. I don't know why; I knew I disgusted him. I knew that if I got too close, that he would strike me down without hesitation.
Well, he did. But I was happy to go, with him at my side.
The darkness was complete. There was not one light to be seen; the moon and stars dulled, as though even they knew that tonight, hell would breathe onto this world. And here was Serenity, caught in the middle of it all. Why she was out at the hour that darkness alone could consume her for eternity, she wasn't sure. She only knew that she had the faint inkling that she was expected here.
Silence ate away at her; she was terrified of what would come next. She wished that she'd at least brought someone with her, but had the feeling that they would suffer, and that she would be forced to watch, and be helpless. As the minutes wore on, she found herself at ease; she was content in the silence and the darkness. She was vaguely aware of where she was: an alley that had always terrified her, that she would have gone miles out of her way to avoid.
And yet, tonight, the usual fear was absent.
Rain started to pour then, and she was without a jacket or even a hat; the sting felt nice. Her eyes roamed helplessly, because, of course, there was nothing to be seen. And then, suddenly, she was filled with a deepening sense of panic, her stomach hollow and aching, her head throbbing, commanding her to wake up from this nightmare!
Then she felt him emerge from the shadows, and a slap of reality hit her full force.
For a moment, they stood before each other, frozen in time, before he began to speak. "So you did come. It's funny; I thought you hadn't heard." No response, not even a look of fear. A smirk formed on his lips as he continued, "I suppose you're wondering why I called you here, darling little Serenity." Again, he was met with silence, and his small amount of patience would have faded, except that her silence was an opening for him to explain, instead of defiance.
It wasn't until she noticed something glint in his hand that a breath caught in her throat, and she instinctively took a step back. He chose that moment for a change of scenery, and before she even batted an eye, they were nowhere, yet she knew exactly where they were, and the world was even darker, and yet she could see clearly.
He began to talk casually, as though they had all the time in the world, when in fact with every passing moment she could feel herself slip away from reality and into whatever darkness he had conjured. "I guess I should start with making something clear. Miss Wheeler, for some time now, I have found myself facing an emotion unlike any I have ever felt before. Very strange when, in fact, I have felt very little emotion before that stray from anger." Studying the blade in his hand, he muttered, "Yes, very strange indeed."
While he was talking, Serenity tried to find meaning in the cryptic nonsense he was giving her, and already trying to find a way out of her certain death. This stopped, however, as the next few alien syllables rolled off his tongue: "Serenity-little angel of light and hope-I daresay that I have fallen in love with you."
So casually; so casually that Serenity took some offense. It was true, she'd fallen for him as well-though the reason alluded her-and yet the way he barely even glanced at her when he said it filled her with indignation. "You know, I hate people who lie to themselves." She bit off the last syllable as Bakura pressed his blade against her neck, losing his calm for a moment. "I am many things, angel, but one thing I am not is a liar."
She suddenly feared for her life, terrified that her time was now. Praying that she would have at least one beautiful thing to take with her to death; a star, the moon, a bird, anything. But this was Bakura's shadow, where there was nothing to see but the darkness within his heart, and nothing to feel but the ice inside his soul.
But the next sentence shook her so much that if the world had exploded, she would have been relieved: "In fact, my angel, I love you so much that I was to see the beauty from within you flow. The color red is, of course, my favorite color." Her eyes immediately welled with tears, and she regretted not being able to say goodbye to anyone she cared about. And she was even more sorry that Joey would have to hear that she'd been murdered by the very person he'd warned her to stay away from.
"That doesn't make much sense to you, now does it?" he continued, pulling away from her. Serenity silently gave thanks to whoever had granted her a while longer of life. "The thing is, you see, that I plan to go with you to the place you fear so much." When he saw she wasn't as frightened as he'd wanted her to be, he snarled, "Do you not understand, little one? I am going to kill you, and I'm going to be there to meet you when you awake once more."
She nodded numbly, her eyes suddenly soft, and this stroked his anger even more. "Yes, Ry- Bakura. I heard you." He was momentarily caught off guard by the fact that she was actually speaking, but he refused to let it show. "I knew from the minute I let my heart begin to love you that this would end badly. Yes, I'm afraid; no, I don't want to die. But I do want you by my side, and I want you to love me."
Staring deeply into his eyes, trying to see into the place where she knew his heart would be, she whispered, "But tell me. Why can't we be together on Earth?" His face grew gentle with sorrow, and when he spoke once more, a hollow voice took the stead of the usual evil trill dripping with a gleeful hostility. "Angel. Do you honestly think that's possible? Here, where I am deemed a villain, where I'm not allowed to love anyone, where everyone would dance on my rave if I were to die…do you think we'd be allowed together here?"
Her head hanging to hide the disappointment on her face, Serenity thought this over. She did love Bakura; there wasn't a doubt in her mind. But what if, while she was dying, she realized she didn't love him enough? And again, what if he was lying? What if he was just using this as a means to kill her without any protest from her, a ruse he knew she wanted to believe?
He stomped that theory down in a moment.
Tilting her chin up so he could look at her, he gently pressed his lips to hers, and all other thought faded. Any doubt melted with the kiss, and where there had before been question, she found answers. When he pulled away, she no longer tried to get out of her death, though she did have a few things she wanted to say. "Will Ryou be alright after you're gone?" He didn't quite meet her eye when he responded, "If someone find him in time, he'll be fine." She started to cry then; no matter how much she loved Bakura, that couldn't mask the fear she felt.
He embraced her, and she could tell that he felt awkward about it; she held tightly onto him to make up for it. A millennium passed before his embrace loosened slightly, but she didn't seem to notice; Serenity was too focused on how cold he was, on trying to give him warmth. But when she felt the tip of his knife press against her back, she whispered, her heart pounding, "Do it fast, okay Bakura?"
Giving her one last kiss, his eyes suddenly grew bright and glistened as he whispered, "I'll see you in a moment, Angel…Serenity."
She closed her eyes tightly, preparing for the worst, waiting for the blood, the pain, the darkness to encircle her. So she was surprised when she felt the life drain out of her, painlessly.
She dropped to her knees, the animal desire to live trying to stop the steady flow of blood. Bakura fell next to her, and the small inkling of doubt left altogether as he used the last of his strength to gather her into his arms. She was scared, she was sad, she felt regret, but more than anything, she welcomed death and an eternity with this demon who had set his eyes on her. "Watch me bleed, Bakura. Watch me to death," she choked out, coughing out blood in the process. He nodded, and with his last breath, he rasped, "This isn't goodbye. We will never have to say goodbye…Serenity…I love you…"
When his limbs went numb, she felt a mournful sadness wash over her, and she waited for death to claim her as well. When she realized that Ryou was, in fact, free of harm, and that he had begun to stir, she knew that time had gone on too far, and the Bakura had not struck her enough. She grasped the knife that Bakura had used to end his life- and try to end hers- stabbing herself in the chest, and gave out a small shriek as the blood exploded from out of her.
Death was complete now…she could feel it…and she was relieved. She wondered how she could see so many colors with her eyes closed. "Watch my heart bleed, Bakura…I'll be with you soon…this isn't goodbye…" She half heard Ryou's voice, alarmed, as distant as bells on an island. She was half-aware of her body hitting the ground, of the warmth of blood. And there was half a smile on her face when it finally happened.
And then, she was dead to the world, and the world, as it always would, went on without them.
I know. It was horrible (and I'm not talking about the plot). What do you expect? It's ScreamShipping! I don't do couples like that! Anyway, DarkShadowRose1, happy early birthday. Hope the agony I went through writing this is good enough for you. :3