A/N: Sorry for the bit of a delay. I would like to send a HUGE thank you to everyone that has reviewed so far. It was such a pleasant surprise to see people responding so positively.

A very special thanks to MissYennon, who was kind enough to offer her services and beta this story for me. She has been very sweet and VERY helpful. If you haven't already, I highly recommend checking out her work!

Hope you enjoy!

Let It Out

Chapter Two

The last time Anzu had gone to bed at six o'clock on a Friday night, she was seven years old and protesting eating her vegetables. When she had stared at the plate in front of her piled high with asparagus and potatoes, (and some smelly green things she didn't quite know the name of) she promptly hopped out of the chair and demanded to have something less, "icky" to eat.

"You'll eat it because it's good for you, Anzu." Her father said knowingly.

"But it looks like cat poop!" She protested, leaning in and wrinkling her nose, "Smells like it too..!"

"It does not, now eat."

"Can I have something else?"

"No. Eat."

"How come you don't have as many as I do?"

"Because I ate mine."

"Nu uh!"

"If you don't eat what's on your plate, then you can go to your room for the night." Her mother interjected.

"But... But it looks like poop!"

It went on that way for some time before finally Anzu, stubborn as a mule, dramatically decided that she would much rather starve than eat the offending smelling food on her plate and stomped upstairs to her room.

"It's just not fair, Toto," She had huffed, falling back on her bed while hugging the small stuffed dog close to her chest. It reminded her of her favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz and often as a child she found herself wishing she could be swept off into a dreamlike world like Oz and have an adventure of her own, full of danger and magic. It wasn't out of the ordinary for her mother to catch Anzu in her closet, walking around in her mother's favorite pair of red high-heeled shoes, clicking them together.

Of course, things like magic just wasn't real. No matter how much she wished it, something like that would never happen.

She had stayed that way for some time before her eyelids had grown heavy and eventually slid shut. The stuffed dog remained clutched in her arms.

The clock read 11:11 when Anzu's eyes eventually fluttered open. She felt slightly dazed as she rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand and sat up slowly. The room was dark, save for the faint glow of the moon through her window. She groaned when her eyes fixed on the neon green light of the clock.

"Great," She muttered, letting herself fall back on the pillow. She should have known not to let herself fall asleep so early. It was like clockwork. Each time she did, she would wake up in the middle of the night and find it impossible to fall back asleep, always leaving her exhausted the next day.

With a groan, she pushed the covers back and stood up stretching. She ran her fingers through her long dark hair and smoothed out her clothes. Noticing she was still wearing the long pleated skirt and blouse from work, she lazily made her way to the dresser and opted for her favorite pair of blue pajama pants and a lose fitting T-shirt.

She knew if anyone were to take a glimpse into her life at that moment they would sigh at just how boring she really was. Anzu didn't have too many close girlfriends, but the ones she knew never could understand how a twenty three year old, single girl got more joy out of watching cheesy soaps alone on a Friday night than going out with friends to the clubs and bars.

"Anzu, come ON," They would always say, "Stop being such a grandma and have some fun."

"I'm tired. I had to work all day," She would say with a shrug, "Maybe next week, okay?"

The truth was, she hadn't always been that way. In the time after graduation, she was always pushing for the gang to go out dancing with her. It was her life and her passion, after all and she wanted nothing more than to share that part of her life with the boys. Her boys. She smiled faintly thinking about it. She remembered how awkward Yugi would look on the dance floor while she spun around him every which way, brushing up against him playfully and pulling at him to move. He would just stand there smiling sheepishly; he was lost and couldn't seem to find the rhythm. Honda and Jou stood back laughing, but Anzu knew they weren't much better. Jou would usually stick to bobbing his head up and down, and Honda looked like he was having a seizure when he danced.

The two would then eventually announce that they needed to find girls to dance with and would wander off into the crowd, usually leaving Yugi protesting feebly.

Anzu remembered one night in particular, after the other two wandered off, she turned back to Yugi and danced over to him. She grinned and bumped his hip with hers.

"Guess it's just us now." She laughed, spinning around him. "They just can't take our moves."

She grinned broadly, before noticing he wasn't smiling anymore. The sudden change in her best friend initially alarmed her. His eyes seemed darker; his demeanor changed from that of a embarrassed slouch, to a stiffer, more confident stance.

"I guess Yugi convinced you to take over, huh?" She said to the spirit.

He glanced at her and smiled softly, "I assume he thinks I would be more comfortable in a place like this," He stated, looking around uncertainly.

Anzu chuckled and stepped closer to him, "Yeah, he never was much into dancing."

"Though I don't know why he thinks I would be any better... I can't even remember the last time that I danced."

"Probably feels like a few thousand years or something, huh?" She winked at him.

He actually laughed at that, "Yes. Something like that." And then his eyes settled on hers, smiling. Her breath almost caught in her chest. She couldn't deny the blush that rose to her face as he watched her. He was so... perfect. Perfect and unashamedly good-looking. It should have been a crime.

She remembered moving closer to him and smiling coyly, "Well maybe we should fix that."

And she had grabbed his hands, pulling him out further on the dance floor. He was hesitant and awkward at first, stammering his uncertainties to her, but she paid no attention and continued pulling him. With much coaxing from her, he eventually allowed Anzu to place his hands on her hips and sway them slowly to the music, which had changed to a slower song... A sexier one.

"It's ok," She leaned into his ear. "Just relax... I'll help you." He looked at her without blinking for a moment, before finally the look of discomfort changed to a soft smile when she turned around to face him and draped her arms around his neck. She was being bold, she knew. But it was a slow song, after all. And he was her friend. Her good friend. And good friends could dance with each other to a slow song, right? The simple fact that she was madly in love with him didn't necessarily have to mean anything right then.

Only it wasn't a simple fact. And it did mean something.

She could feel his hands grow slightly tighter on her waist and felt him pull her ever so slightly closer as he began to get used to the feeling of dancing. She chanced a shy glance at him, hoping he was still smiling at her, but was pleasantly surprised when she saw his eyes had closed and she felt hid head slowly lower to hers. With the dim lights, the slow beat and the feel of his hands on her sent her body on fire as she let her own eyes shut, content.

It was honestly one of the happiest moments of her life.

Being so close to him and feeling those strong hands rest steadily on her hips was enough to send a pleasant chill down her spine and her stomach turn. And when the song ended, she didn't know if her mind was playing tricks on her or not, but she could have sworn his hands lingered a moment and his eyes stay closed.

Anzu shook her head and groaned out loud, pushing the memory out of her mind before it threatened to make her even more depressed. She had to ignore that ache in her chest. "Enough, Anzu. Get a grip. The past is the past." She whispered to nobody but herself. "Just... Let it go."

She was feeling low and knew her current mood was all due to the letter she got earlier that day. She honestly had thought that maybe tonight would be the night she put on a cute outfit and went out for once. According to the talk of some of the other girls in the office, there was a new club that had opened in the summer that was supposedly the new hot spot, and she had actually let herself think, oh, why not.

But no. That small ray of hope went right out the door once she saw that letter at the bottom of the stack of bills in her mailbox.

Of course... did she even have any cute outfits that still fit? The last time she had actually dressed up to go out was when she was set up on a blind date and she had to fake illness to get out of listening to him talk about his figurine obsession for another hour.

That was about a year ago.

She didn't really think she had gained any weight in the past few years. Of course, she wasn't as active as she used to be, either. Much to her dismay, she was forced to quit dance so she could focus on a full time job, and she wasn't able to work out as much as she would have liked. She grimaced and pinched her butt self-consciously.

Mental note. Get a gym membership.

Sighing heavily, Anzu decided she was hungry and trudged downstairs to the kitchen. She glanced through the cabinets and refrigerator casually, but turned up her nose at most of what was in there. Although she had a fairly decent sized house, her kitchen told everyone that a single girl was the only resident here. Guess it was time to go grocery shopping. Half a carton of milk and leftover Chinese food wouldn't last much longer. Grabbing an apple off the table, she halfheartedly took a bite and slowly walked to her couch and sat down. She made no move to turn on the television, and instead sat staring at the ground. The house felt so silent.

After working at Kaiba Corp for about a year, and with the help of her parents, she was able to get a small house of her own right outside the city. It was nice enough, and Anzu enjoyed having the space, but it was lonely sometimes with it just being her. She thought briefly about getting a dog, but knew work would just get in the way. The thought just depressed her further.

So here she was. Alone.

Frankly, it just wasn't fair. Anzu was a nice enough girl. She was always pleasant to anyone she met. Sure, she could have a bit of a temper at times, but it never prevented her from making friends in the past. So why couldn't she seem to find anyone?

Was it all really because of her best friends leaving? Was she so down all the time because of it? Mostly, she thought she had put it completely out of her mind. What was done was done. She even managed to let herself start dating again right after, thinking it would help. If someone else came into her life, it would ease the pain of her friends leaving.

She had met a guy at work, Satoshi. Nice enough guy with a charming smile and nice eyes. What Anzu immediately liked about him was his voice. It was a deep, powerful voice. He asked her out to dinner one night to a fairly expensive restaurant and she had agreed. She didn't know him too well and was surprised when he asked her out so suddenly, but she decided to give it a shot anyways. Besides, if it didn't work out, at least she would get a free meal out of it.

As the night went on, she found she actually did enjoy his company. He cracked jokes at the right times, complimented her a lot, and listened to her when she talked about her dreams to become a dancer. He smiled at her warmly and held her hand on the car ride home.

He was charming.

So much so in fact, he charmed the clothes right off of her.

When he first kissed her on her doorstep, Anzu was quite hesitant. How long had it been since someone kissed her? Did she even still remember how to be a good kisser? Oh god. What if she forgot? She honestly couldn't remember. But the feeling of someone being so close to her, holding her hips steadily in his hands was such a powerful feeling that she couldn't resist. It reminded her of a time when someone else did that...

When she began to kiss him back, she felt his smile and his tongue immediately dart in her mouth.

When they stumbled through the front door, he pushed her down on the floor and immediately began fumbling with the buttons of her blouse. She remembered gasping at the cold floor. Already? Here? Shouldn't there have been a couple more dates first?And he was supposed to pick her up and carry her up to her bedroom and lay her down gently on her bed. She wasn't so sure she was overcome with throes of passion to the point that she couldn't wait until they got upstairs. It wasn't exactly her idea of a romantic moment. The floor was hard and uncomfortable, and she really didn't know him very well. And even so, she didn't stop him.

As long as someone was there with her.

She let him remove her shirt and he helped her wriggle out of her skirt. He unclasped her bra and threw it across the room, immediately grabbing her breasts roughly. She winced, but let her eyes flutter shut. His mouth moved to her ear and he began whispering in her ear.

"Oh, baby, you like that, don't you?" He breathed in her ear. "You want me to fuck you? You want me to fuck you right now, don't you?"

His voice... it was so... familiar sounding. So deep, so powerful... It sent a jolt straight to the pit of her stomach. This could work... She let her hands move to his head and ran her fingers through his hair. She imagined long, spiky locks...

"Yes..." She whispered back.

He didn't remove any of his own clothes. He simply unzipped his pants and pulled himself out before thrusting into her, making her eyes snap open and grunt in displeasure.

It only took about a minute of his moving for her to realize how much of a disaster this was. With each thrust she came more and more to her senses. No matter how much she could try to pretend... It wasn't him... It would never be him.

But the fact of the matter was they were this far, and so she might as well try to enjoy it.

Anzu may have been tipsy, but not enough for her to enjoy this pathetic display. He was pumping frantically and selfishly into her so fast that she had to actually stop him so she could at least try to catch up. She wriggled underneath him to try and adjust herself, but the movement must have made things worse. He groaned and began moving faster again. And when he leaned down and whispered in her ear again, her eyes widened at the name the escaped his lips.

A name that was not hers.

"Anzu." She stated coldly, staring at him.

"What?" He panted, trying to kiss her neck. Her body remained still, but she craned her neck away from his lips.

"My name is Anzu."

"Oh... Shit."

He was close to finishing, and Anzu knew it. Yet somehow she couldn't bring herself to care as she pushed him off.

It was embarrassing to say the least. Scurrying around him to collect her clothes and attempt to blink back the tears that were beginning to streak down her cheeks. This was all wrong. How could she be such an idiot? Even with someone there with her-hell, literally inside of her, she was alone. He muttered his apologies feebly but she couldn't face him. Instead she silently opened the door for him and waited for him to leave.

Between him and the figurine guy, she hadn't gone on a date since.

Looking at the apple in her hand, she wondered if this was similar to what Ryou must have felt in high school. To the untrained eye, he lived a relatively normal life. Went to school every day, was kind to people... One would assume he had plenty of friends and a warm, loving family. But because of the Ring... Because of Bakura, he was really always alone.

Like her.

And it wasn't until now that she realized what a terrible feeling it was.

A creaking sound of the floorboard broke Anzu out of her thoughts. She looked up quickly and glanced around the room, suddenly becoming aware of just how eerily quiet her house was at that moment. She stood up and walked to the stairs and looked up, listening.

"Huh." She said dismissively.

When she decided it was nothing, she turned to walk back to the couch but stopped, almost dead in her tracks.

The front door was cracked open.

Coldness ran through her veins, but somehow she knew it wasn't from the cold air blowing gently through the door. Her brows furrowed together as she walked slowly over and closed it. Had that been open the entire time? She was sure she had closed it when she came in. Was she that distracted that she didn't notice it not close? Slightly alarmed at her own stupidity, she firmly locked it.

"Dummy..." She muttered to herself.

And then she felt it.

She gasped when the coolness of a blade touched her neck. Her body went stiff and cold when a large, rough hand clasped over her mouth. The feel of hot breath and an icy voice on the back of her neck sent a shiver down her spine and her mind reeling. The apple dropped from her hand and rolled away.

"If you try to move I swear to Ra I will cut your throat out, understand?"

Her body was shaking, but she managed a quick nod. Was she being robbed? Her mind couldn't formulate any thoughts. Everything suddenly seemed blurry and she was sure her heart was about to pound right out of her chest. In that moment, all she knew was terror.

When the hand slowly removed itself from her mouth- perhaps testing if she was going to scream or not, she hesitantly opened her mouth.

"T-Take anything you want... Just... P-please just don't-"

"I want answers, mortal," The voice cut her off, "and you're going to give them to me."

Her body went rigid.

Did he just say... Mortal?

She felt large hands move to her shoulders and roughly spin her around, blade still pressed tightly to her. Her breath caught in her chest when her eyes darted to the face of her intruder. Even with shadowed features, there was no denying it.

"Bakura..." She breathed.

"If you value your life in the slightest, you better start talking now."

To be continued...

A/N: Please review! It's so important to me to get feedback on this story! Wouldn't you want someone to review your story? ;)