Well, I'm glad some people liked it :)

And because there's apparently a rule about commenting on reviews, here's a link for you.

geocities . com / marikluvsmakky / eh . html

Oh, and I forgot to mention: I don't own Yu Gi Oh.

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Learning to Live Again

Chapter One

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Two years ago, Malik had been in Egypt, trying to get back to a life that was comfortable for his new family. His yami, given a second chance at a life, had been trying to fit in and the two were beginning to find that there was a bond growing between the two of them. If given time, the bond could have grown into much more.

But it was never given a chance.

Early one morning, before even Ra had awakened, a loud banging had alerted the Ishtar family of a visitor. Marik had answered to find the tomb robber standing there, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

As Malik had watched on the stairs the two had whispered to each other excitedly. Marik had quickly run up the stairs, returning minutes later, dressed and with a bag of his own. He took a moment to bend down and place a gentle kiss on the corner of Malik's mouth – the first they'd ever shared. "I'm sorry." He had whispered softly before leaving with Bakura.

Three days afterward, Malik had yet to come out of his room. He wondered how his other could just up and leave him and he sometimes thought of the tomb robber and his host. Had the thief just left his Hikari too?

After a few weeks and no sign or word from the Egyptian yami, Malik gave up on Marik ever coming back. He'd packed a bag for himself, needing to leave. And after saying goodbye to his brother and sister, he left for Domino Japan, where he figured he could get some answers from the tomb robber's other half.

Upon arriving, the youngest Ishtar had gotten a cheap hotel room for a few days, seeing as how it had been about 3:00 in the morning and Malik doubted Ryou would have liked to have been disturbed at that time. As soon as he could though, he went in search of the other boy only to find that something was wrong. Ryou's house had been sold and none of the boy's friends had seen him since Bakura had left.

Malik had returned to his hotel room, worried, knowing that something had happened. After lying in bed trying to fall asleep, he eventually gave up; his mind was too full of horrible thoughts and ideas. Instead he'd gone for a walk to clear his head. It was on this walk that he'd spied the familiar white hair on what looked to be a…prostitute?

"Ryou?" Malik called.

The being turned around and dull brown eyes widened in disbelief, "M-Malik?"

Ryou had been whoring himself.

Shocked, Malik had taken the boy back to his hotel room, getting a perverted grin from the man at the front desk. After ordering room service and getting food into the frighteningly skinny boy, Malik had gently forced the story out of him.

Bakura had been restless, being bored day in and day out. He'd been a thief and a tomb robber; he'd never just sat around and did nothing. Ryou had told him to go explore the world and to find what he was missing. So the spirit had gone to find himself.

Two days after he'd left though, Ryou's world was turned upside down. His father had disappeared on an excavation, along with his team. With the archeologist missing and presumed dead, greedy relatives began to show up and take what they thought was theirs.

Upset about losing his father, and having entered a state of shock, Ryou had been unable to stop them and in a matter of days, everything he held dear to him had been taken away. He'd literally been left with just the clothes on his back and a leather jacket his yami had left behind.

He'd tried to get a job, but nobody wanted to hire a kid who was living on the streets. And the boy refused to seek help from his 'friends', since they had never been close and he didn't want them to somehow blame the thief.

After the first two weeks without food, Ryou had tried once more to get a job. He was turned down of course, but the employer had gotten an idea. He could easily see that the boy was desperate. He offered to pay Ryou for a few services. Malik didn't know any of the details, Ryou refused to tell him anything, but the Egyptian could guess what his friend had to do and he vowed to keep Ryou away from hooking himself again.

Not having money for both of them to get plane tickets, Malik had gone out to find a job. Using the hotel room as an address, he'd gotten a place in a fast food restaurant. It wasn't much, but it seemed to just be enough for the both of them to survive. Malik realized that it was going to take quite a while to get enough saved for two plane tickets, and he had no way of contacting Isis, considering they hadn't planned on having a phone in Egypt. He'd sent a few letters from the hotel room, but nothing had ever been returned.

Eventually the owner of the hotel kicked them out and the two of them had to find an apartment. It was a hellhole, but it was the only thing they could afford. The neighbourhood was horrible and Malik quickly learned that Ryou couldn't walk around by himself anytime of the day.

It wasn't safe.

Having spent time together for two years, they'd learned everything there was to know about the other. Malik had easily realized that something had happened to his friend, Ryou still seemed to be in a state of shock, or else he'd been so traumatized by what had happened that he had never gotten passed it. Malik often found that Ryou would just spaced out on him for no apparent reason. (Because of this it was hard to keep a job.) He'd also lost count of how many nightmares he'd been woken from, or had to wake Ryou from.

They told each other their secrets, like how Malik had started to love Marik and how Ryou had already been in love with Bakura. Malik had told Ryou things from his childhood that nobody else, not even his sister, could have known about. Ryou shared the memories of his sister, and his mother and his father. He even explained to Malik that the pharaoh and his group had only been his friends while Bakura was actively causing trouble. If it had nothing to do with them, then they weren't interested.

Ryou learned that Malik was afraid of being abandoned. Since Ryou had nowhere else to go, and really, nobody to go to, he'd promised himself that he'd never leave Malik by his own freewill.

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A deep coughing brought Malik from his thoughts as a cold nose pressed into the side of his neck. He wrapped an arm around Ryou as the boy coughed from somewhere deep in his chest, quickly followed by the shivering of teeth.

Mornings were always the worst from the cold.

Sleepy brown eyes opened and blinked up at open lavender. "What time is it?" A hoarse voice whispered.

"A little after nine." Malik replied, running his fingers through Ryou's white hair. Throughout everything, Malik had kept his watch, the batteries were inexpensive, and they lasted for years – he had yet to change them. If it hadn't been for the watch – which had an alarm on it, and the date – the two would have been seriously lost.

"It's Christmas then." Ryou yawned to himself as he cuddled closer to Malik's chest. "Merry Christmas." He muttered into the thin material of Malik's shirt.

"Merry Christmas." Malik replied, kissing the top of Ryou's head.

"Oh!" Ryou suddenly gasped, then giggled as he pulled away from Malik's arms. "I have something for you!" He left the tiny bedroom and ran toward the Christmas tree.

"What?" Malik followed him, "Why'd you do that? You shouldn't be spending what little you yearn on me…that could have been for a lunch or something." He watched as his lover pulled back a piece of the wall to reveal a hidden space.

"Oh hush." Ryou waved him away as he brought out a box. "They aren't new or anything…but I thought they'd be better than what you have." He explained shyly as he handed Malik the plain brown box.

Taking the box he sat down beside his friend before opening it. The Egyptian's eyes lit up. "Shoes?"

Ryou giggled as he nodded, "Yep! No holes in these ones yet…you can't walk around winter time with wet feet, you'll get sick!" He stated.

Malik smiled and pulled Ryou to him, "Thanks Ryou." He said, burying his face within the boy's hair again.

Ryou hugged him back, "Welcome." He whispered and the two sat together in silence for a few moments. "So what are we going to do today?" He wondered, "Practically everything's closed…I don't want to be cold all day." He whimpered, shivering to himself.

Malik hugged him closer for warmth, and then smiled as something ran through his mind. "I have an idea." He announced.

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