SW: Okay, this one is a little sad but I hope you like it! (I'm gonna try and put a happy ending into it if I can)
Marik: This is your third song-shot in one day!
SW: Yeah, my mind has kinda been wandering lately…can't seem to focus.
I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Temporary Home by Carrie Underwood!
Enjoy! Oh yeah and I might change the lyrics a little like I normally do in song-fics to fit the situation
Little boy, six years old
A little too used to being alone
Another new mom and dad
Another school, another house that will never be home
When people ask him how he likes this place
He looks up and says with a smile upon his face
This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This is my temporary home
Ryou smiled and looked up at the woman gently holding his hand. He didn't understand it entirely but he knew he couldn't be with his family anymore. He remembered Daddy crying when he picked him up from the hospital and then had driven them to the bridge.
Daddy had scared him and he had started to cry. Ryou couldn't remember what happened next or why Daddy had been crying because the doctors had told him his brain was being protective and didn't want him to remember. It made him giggle at the thought of a pink mushy glob standing in front of protectively.
He hadn't seen Mommy, Daddy, or Sister in one whole year and Ryou wondered where they went. Every time he asked the people who took care of him they always said they were in a better place so Ryou could only hope that he would go there one day too.
"Well, Ryou, here we are." The woman let go of his hand to unlock the door and opened it, gently guiding the small boy inside. "How do you like it?"
Ryou smiled brightly, innocence coming off him in waves. "It's pretty but it isn't really home."
A few months later and Ryou was once again moved to another house, this time into a family with a dog and two older boys. They said he would be staying for longer than a few months this time and Ryou was happy. Ryou smiled and greeted the two boys in the living room politely but they ignored him and went back to their video games. Ryou's smile faltered for a minute before it came back and he sat on the floor in front of the couch the boys were sitting on, watching the game they were playing.
The lady and man were kind and gave Ryou a lot of attention and for once he felt happy in a new place. They gave him snacks and said to call them 'mom' and 'dad' but Ryou was confused at that. He already had a mommy and daddy so why did they want that? Ryou shrugged it off as weird adult behavior and turned back to the television, holding onto his milk and cookies.
The parents left to go to work and that's when the boys struck. Ryou cried out as a fist hit his back and sent him sprawling, the milk spilling on the carpet and the cookies crumbling. Ryou whimpered and turned around, looking at the two angry faces above him. "You little prick! I bet you think you're so special and deserve everyone's pity, huh?" The one talking started to kick him and Ryou curled in a ball. The other joined his brother. "Well, let us be the first to tell you. You're nothing special and you never will be! You always be scum leaching off of other people's money."
Ryou sobbed and scrambled up, avoiding as many of the kicks as he could so he could stand and run to the door. He reached up and twisted the door handle, running outside and into the woods behind the house.
He stayed there all morning, crying his little heart and wondering why his new friends would hurt him. He pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, burying his head in the gap between his chest and his knees.
"Hey." Ryou gasped and looked up with teary eyes at a small boy around his age. "Why are you crying, weakling?"
Wiping away the tears, Ryou pouted a little. "I'm not weak." He took in the boy's appearance, the stalk white hair that looked like his but was spiked, and the dark brown eyes that were a shade darker than his. He giggled and looked at the now confused boy. "You look like me."
The boy shook his head and smirked. "Maybe you look like me." He offered a hand to help Ryou up. "My name is Bakura. What's yours, weakling?"
Ryou blushed and took the hand, not letting go once they were standing and following Bakura to the house next to his. "Ryou."
Ryou and Bakura played until late, until the lady and man who got him from the foster home came over worried. Ryou was picked up and carried away, and he waved goodbye to Bakura over the lady's shoulder. The two brothers were punished for picking on Ryou and they apologized, saying that they could consider having a little brother.
Later that night, in his new room, he looked out the window and saw Bakura staring back at him from the window next to his in the house over. He smiled brightly and waved, his smile growing bigger as Bakura slowly waved back. Ryou thought over his day, his new family and neighbor, and he smiled and walked away from the window. Crawling into his bed and letting his eyes drift close, he mumbled something he never thought he would say again. "I'm home."
Young girl, on her own
She needs a little help, got nowhere to go
She's looking for a job, looking for a way out
'Cause a halfway house will never be a home
At night she whispers to her baby brother
"Someday we'll find our place here in this world"
This is our temporary home, it's not where we belong
Windows and rooms that we're passing through
This is just a stop on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know
This is our temporary home
Isis sighed and made her way back to her and her brother's small apartment. She had been denied another job because the employer had found out where she lived. The woman carefully picked her way up the stairs, being sure to give a wide berth to the doors of people she knew would jump out at her.
Hearing happy humming from behind the door she was placing a key in, she put on a smile and greeted her brother. "Hello, Malik."
"Isis!" Malik looked up from his homework and went over to hug his sister. Though he played it off to his friends, acting like he was doing horrible in school and he didn't care, he pushed himself to get good grades. Even Ryou, one of his most intuitive friends, had no idea that Malik focused almost all his free time on school work. He hoped one day to get a scholarship to help the two of them get out of this place. "How did the job interview go?"
Isis smiled and hugged her little brother back. "It went just fine. Now you go back to your homework and I'll see what I can whip up for dinner." Malik nodded and launched himself over the back of the couch, plopping himself down and picking up his calculus book. Both knew it was a lie and they probably wouldn't be eating anything that night, but Isis still liked to pretend that they weren't suffering and Malik allowed her that.
After a small dinner of a sandwich, if you could call a piece of bologna folded in a single slice of bread a sandwich, the two siblings hugged each other in the night, sharing the only bed in the apartment since neither would allow the other to sleep on the couch. They ignored the sounds in the night around them and tried their best to fall asleep.
Isis softly petted Malik's hair and the boy let her, knowing it comforted his sister. "Don't worry, Malik." Malik could hear the sleep in her voice and smiled at the thought that at least one of them would have a good night's sleep. "We'll get out of here…one day…" Isis' breathing slowed and Malik stared at her face before closing his eyes and tried to follow his sister's example into sleep.
Malik laughed as he skipped into their apartment the next day. "Isis, you'll never guess what happened! Marik hit me in the head with his football – I know not romantic at all – but he apologized and he asked me out! He said he finally got the guts when I glared at him, yeah, I have no idea how that works either." Malik laughed at the happy turn of events, but paused after a moment. The room was silent, it appeared that no one was home. Malik's brow furrowed and he called out. "Isis? Are you home?" He walked into the kitchen and gasped when he saw the blood.
Malik sobbed and held Isis' limp hand with one of his, the other gripping the hospital bed sheets. His big sister had been stabbed, and the doctors had done all they could to save her, and had been successful. Isis was going to be okay, but he had no idea how they would deal with the bills.
A hand on his shoulder caused him to turn and look into familiar dark purple eyes. "Ma-Marik? What are you doing here?" His gaze moved to the doorway and his eyes widened at seeing his orphaned friend and his boyfriend. "Ryou? Bakura?"
Ryou stepped forward and smiled lightly. "We heard what happened. We thought maybe you would like some company." He walked forward and placed an understanding hand on the shoulder not taken by Marik. Though he had moved away from the family that took him in so he could stay at the home he had inherited from his family with Bakura, he would never forget the care and love they had showed him. "My time in foster care taught me that no one should ever be alone in times like these. We can only stay for a little while, but Marik agreed to stay here with you."
Malik smiled through his tears and wiped at his eyes. "Th-thanks, guys." Ryou and Bakura nodded and moved to the doorway and Malik looked at them in confusion.
"Yugi's grandfather had a heart attack." Bakura gruffly answered his unspoken question.
Ryou looked back at Malik with a sad smile. "They don't think he'll make it out of the hospital. We are going to support him." They left the room, leaving Marik and Malik behind.
Marik placed a small kiss on Malik's forehead, causing the boy to blush. "Malik, you don't have to worry about money. I can more than cover for it. In fact," He pulled the boy up and turned him around to place a soft kiss on his lips. "why don't you and Isis come and live with me? My 'rents are never home and the place is often too empty for my own good." Marik smirked at the blushing boy. "What do you say?"
"I think it is a splendid idea." A soft voice came from the bed and Malik cried out and whipped around to face his heavy-lidded sister, who had taken in the situation and saw the love that surrounded the two boys. "I know I will regret the decision to allow you to live with your boyfriend eventually, but this might be our one chance out of that district. Say yes, Malik."
Malik nodded his head and gently hugged his sister on the bed, who hugged back with the arm that didn't have an IV attached to it. "Now go see Mister Mutou. I know he is dying, I overheard it when I was trying to wake up."
Malik started to protest, but Isis held up a tired hand. "I am safe here, Malik. And I will be falling asleep soon anyways. Go tell him hello for me."
"Okay, Isis. Feel better." The woman nodded and Marik put an arm around Malik to guide him out of the room. When Malik looked back when they reached the doorway, Isis was already asleep again.
Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers
"Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says
"I can see Ra's face"
This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This was my temporary home
Ryou, Bakura, Yugi, Yami, and the newly arrived Marik and Malik all gathered around Sugoroku Mutou. Arthur and Rebecca Hawkins, Joey, Seto, and Mokuba all crowded in the small hospital room to listen to what everyone knew might be the man's last words.
The old man smiled at his crying grandson. "Don't worry, my boy, I know I will be fine." This didn't seem to comfort Yugi, but only made him cry harder.
"Please don't go, Grandpa." The boy was kneeling next the hospital bed and was gripping one of the man's withered hands. "You still have so much to live for."
Yami placed a firm and comforting hand on Yugi's shoulder as they shook with sobs. There wasn't a dry eye in the room as the old man slowly and painfully shook his head. "It is my time, Yugi. We all have one." He moved his hand from Yugi's grip and picked up the boy's chin. He wiped away a tear away with his thumb. "Don't cry, we will meet again, I promise you." He let out a sigh and his hand fell onto the bed.
Yugi whimpered and looked at the relaxed face of his grandfather, his eyes closed shut. "Grandpa?"
The old man smiled and opened his slightly. "I'm still here Yugi." His gaze grew distant and everyone in the room saw his shoulders un-hunch and he straightened in a way that his arthritis shouldn't have allowed him to. "Ra. Yugi, I can see Ra." Yugi sobbed harder and shook his head as his grandfather breathed in deeply, before releasing it all at once and letting his eyes fall closed for the last time. There was a long beeping sound as the heart monitor flat-lined and tears fell from every eye, even Seto spared one for the man he had stolen Blue Eyes from.
Professor Hawkins ushered his granddaughter out of the room, and Joey, Seto, and Mokuba all slowly left, arms wrapped tightly around one another. Yami knelt next to Yugi and pulled the crying boy into a hug as a doctor came in and checked Solomon Mutou's vitals for the last before pulling a bed sheet over the man's face.
Ryou and Malik each clung to Bakura and Marik, watching their best friend sob his heart as it hit him hard that his grandfather was dead.
Ryou and Bakura helped Yami get Yugi home and Malik and Marik returned to Isis' room. Each had gone through a hardship, but each had overcome it with the help of friends and love. Every one of them knew that even though they felt safe and happy here on Earth, they wouldn't entirely be home until the end.
This is our temporary home.
Yugi: You killed Grandpa!
SW: I'm sorry! It was in the song!
Yami: Shouldn't matter!
Ah! Review please!