Stolen Hearts Across Time
Chapter Two
Yami stared at Lily for a few minutes, eyes wide. "Adoptive father?" he repeated after a few moments.
She nodded. "Yes. While he was traveling around, searching for a way to bring back his wife, he came across an orphanage. He found me there." A laugh bubbled forth from between her lips. "He said I had his wife's smile."
"He adopted you because you reminded him of his dead wife?" The pharaoh frowned.
"No. I was like... the child he had always wanted," the teal-eyed girl replied. "He still saw me as me, but he noticed his wife's smile in mine, and over time, I've picked up a few of Dad's traits. I make the same face as him when I taste something gross." She giggled.
'Pegasus adopted a girl. Who would have guessed,' Yami thought.
~Yeah,~ Yugi agreed. ~That's pretty wild, but I don't remember seeing her at Duelist Kingdom. You'd think that she would have been there.~
'Good point.' He mentally nodded his head at his aibou. "Lily, why weren't you at Duelist Kingdom?"
Lily sighed sadly. "He sent me away while he held it, because he knew that I wouldn't approve of some of his methods to gain the millennium items." She gave him a weak smile. "Croquet told me about some of the things he put you and other duelists through, and I was planning on lecturing him until..." She drifted off.
"What happened?" Yami inquired, sounding concerned.
"Dad was sick, very sick. When someone ripped his eye out, he or she hurt him so badly." The girl shuddered. "Dad can't remember anything that happened or what the person looked like. All he knows was that his eye was stolen and the theft caused his illness. Over the course of a few months, I was able to heal him, but... he's still not doing so good. Dad needs his millennium eye back."
~Let's help her,~ Yugi thought to his spirit. ~Bakura can use his ring to help locate the eye.~
The pharaoh silently expressed his agreement. "I know someone who might be able to help."
Lily blinked in surprise. "Really? Who?" She watched the male's face, hope in her eyes. 'This is great! I didn't expect any help, but I'm not gonna complain.'
~I would not do so either. The pharaoh is a kind ruler... until you do something he dislikes,~ the princess, Lilian, added.
"I have a friend named Ryou Bakura who possess the millennium ring. He can use it to point the way to the other millennium items," Yami answered.
A bright smile lit up her face, and she impulsively hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed as she released him, noticing the slight blush on his face.
'You can take over now, Yugi,' the spirit stated, releasing his hold on the body.
Lily watched as her conversation partner shrunk a few inches and his face turned more boyish. "You're Yugi again, aren't you?"
He nodded. "Yeah. If you want me to give Bakura a call now, I can."
"Really? That'd be great!" She paused. "You don't have to though. I can find the item on my own if need be."
"Don't worry about it. I'll even help you search when I'm not assisting Grandpa in the shop," Yugi offered, walking over to get the phone that was behind the counter.
Lily watched the boy as he dialed a number and talked to someone for a few minutes, anxiety on her face. 'If Bakura helps us, then we'll be able to find the eye so much faster; and the sooner we find it, the better.'
~Your father will survive even if we don't find the eye. It would be better for him if he did have it back, but he won't die,~ Tigrililian reminded her aibou.
'But I want Dad healthy again,' she protested, mentally frowning at her spirit. 'So we need to find that item.'
"I have good news," Yugi stated as he hung up the phone. "After I told Bakura that you're looking for the eye, he volunteered to help. He said that he'd be over here in about ten minutes or so."
"Yea!" Lily jumped for joy, literally. "If I find the item today, then I can get it to Dad by tomorrow!"
"What has gotten the girl so excited?" Mr. Moto inquired, coming back out into the shop. "Something obviously made her very happy."
She turned her smile on the old man. "Yugi has been a great help!"
"Oh, he has, huh? Well, I'm very proud of him then." Yugi's grandfather went to stand behind the counter. "And what did he help you with?"
"He found someone who can help me locate a possession that was stolen from my dad," Lily answered. "And he has offered to help me search as well."
"What was stolen?" Mr. Moto frowned slightly.
"His millennium eye," the girl informed him.
The old man almost had a heart attack, his mind easily connecting the dots. "Pegasus is your father?"
"Adoptive," Yugi added.
"That man stole my soul!" the gray-haired man exclaimed.
Lily winced. "I know, and I'm very sorry that I wasn't there to stop him from doing so. Dad sent me away though..." She drifted off and gave a small sigh. "I wish that he hadn't done that to you."
Both of the Motos did a double-take. "You're... apologizing?" Yugi asked, sounding surprised.
"Well, yes. Dad did something wrong," the teal-eyed female responded, voice kind. "Aren't you suppose to apologize when someone does something wrong?"
"Yes, but... you weren't the one who committed the crime," Mr. Moto told her. "So you don't need to say that you're sorry."
"Oh... okay." Lily went back to looking at the cards.
Everyone was quiet for a while until Yugi decided to break the silence. "If your father is the guy who created Duel Monsters, why are you in here looking at cards? Don't you have most, if not all, of them back home?"
The girl nodded her head. "I do have many of them, but there are quite a few that I do not own. Dad let me pick out my favorites, as he did the same, and then he sold the others."
"I understand now," the short boy commented.
"Understand what?" a voice asked in a British accent as the front door to the shop opened. A boy with shockingly white hair walked over to the other two teens. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a simple button-down shirt. Brown eyes surveyed his surroundings, kindness in their dark depths.
"Oh, hello, Bakura," Yugi greeted his friend. "We were just talking about some things."
Lily stuck out her hand. "Bakura, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Lily."
The white-haired boy took her hand, giving it a polite shake before quickly releasing it. "Likewise."
"Thank you for offering to help. I really appreciate it," she added with a bright smile.
Bakura nodded. "It's no problem at all." He paused, then continued. "Shall we be going now?"
"Yeah, sure thing." Lily gave Yugi a quick, friendly hug. "Thanks, Yugi! I'll see you later." Then, she was out the door and heading down the street.
'Where should we search first? Perhaps I should ask Bakura.' she thought, suddenly stopping and turning around. Bakura rammed right into her, knocking her to the ground. The white-haired boy was lucky; he didn't fall.
The blonde sighed, looking up at the sky. "Is this some kind of hint that I should go home?" she demanded of the air around her.
"Perhaps it's a hint that you should be more careful," Bakura said, offering her a hand; she accepted it, feeling a pleasant shock go through her at the touch of their hands. Neither of them had felt the shock the first time that they had touched, but both had felt it the second time. "I wasn't expecting you to stop right then." He pulled her up into a standing position, dropping her hand as soon as he was able.
"I wasn't planning on it either," she added, dusting herself off.
~That felt strangely familiar,~ Lilian commented. ~I feel like I might know this Bakura.~
'How?' the girl asked her spirit.
The princess shrugged. ~I don't have a clue.~
~I know her,~ Yami Bakura thought to his aibou. ~This girl... I know her.~ Without giving his hikari any warning, he took over the body.
"Lilian...?" Bakura asked, mentally frowning when he was unable to figure out how he had known that name.
Lily blinked in surprise. "What did you just call me?"
The male shook his head, white hair falling about his shoulders. "Nothing. Never mind. Let's begin searching." He walked off, his millennium ring appearing around his neck. 'I have to keep her away from my apartment and on a wild goose chase. The eye is mine!'
Jogging to catch up, the teal-eyed girl watched him operate the ring, curiosity on her face. 'Interesting. The dangling triangles on the thing point in which direction he is supposed to go. It'd be nice if the bracelet could do that.'
~We still have the better end of the bargain,~ Tigrililian reminded her aibou. ~We can heal... among other things. No one else can make a claim to that.~
'I know. It's just... it'd be easier if we could locate the eye on our own. I like having help, but I don't want to intrude on anyone's life,' Lily commented with a silent sigh as she followed Bakura down a few streets.
'Wait a minute...I sense a millennium item, and it's not mine or anyone else's that I know. Who's is it?' Yami Bakura wondered, focusing his ring on locating the new item. 'Something is going on.'
The blonde was surprised when her partner began to pick up the pace, making it so she had to walk twice as fast. "Have you located it?" she asked hopefully.
"My ring is leading me towards something," he replied, keeping his brown eyes on his ring and where he was walking. After a few moments, he frowned, sensing the new item begin to move. Someone was carrying it away... and at a high speed.
Trying to keep up with the signal, Yami Bakura began to run, Lily on his heels. He raced through alleyways and side streets, dodging people with amazing skill.
Suddenly, the signal terminated, leaving him in alleyway with a dead end. He cursed his bad luck. 'This person knew I was after him.' He turned his brown eyes on the girl. 'Perhaps she knows something about this.'
"Lily..." Yami Bakura drifted off, trying to think of the best way to word the question. "Is it possible for the person who stole your father's eye to have more than one item?"
Teal eyes filled with confusion. "I don't know actually, but I hope not." She gave a sigh. "We might need to finish the search tomorrow." She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, the golden charms on her bracelet clinking.
The white-haired boy noticed. 'She has an item... I don't believe it. This is almost too good to be true. I can steal it from her just like I stole her father's.' For some reason or another, that idea did not appeal to him as much as he had thought it would.
"I'll walk you home," Yami Bakura offered politely, acting like his aibou would.
"That's very sweet of you, but there's really no need." Lily smiled sweetly at him. "I'm sure that I can find my way on my own."
"Neither of you are going anywhere," a man said darkly as he slinked into the alleyway, blocking the exit. He held a knife in his hands, twirling it expertly as the beads in his many braids clinked with his movements. "You're on Shark territory, and you're gonna pay for that."
"A gang member," the blond girl whispered, eyes wide with surprise. 'What in the world am I supposed to do now? I've never been in a situation like this!'
~I suggest that we trust Bakura,~ Lilian stated.
'He doesn't look like he could hurt a fly!' Lily protested.
~I'm not sure why, but I know that he is more than what he appears to be.~
The young girl rolled her eyes. 'Could you possibly be any more cryptic?'
~I'm just as lost as you,~ the princess replied. ~I'm telling you everything I know.~
"I suggest you get lost before you regret it," Yami Bakura ordered, voice suddenly dark, causing Lily to stare at him in surprise. "You have no idea who you're up against."
"I don't, huh?" The gangster chuckled. "It looks like I'm up against a little girl and her wimpy boyfriend."
"I am not little!" Lily declared, tone laced with annoyance. She hated being called little.
'She has quite a bit of courage for a girl. Strange,' Yami Bakura mused, suddenly finding her much more intriguing than before. He sunk into a fighting stance as he glared at the other male. "You want me, come and get me."
Sakura onto Hitomi: *hugs Sakura-chan* thanks for telling people about my story! I really appreciate it. *jumps up and down* It's not as good as yours, but then, I didn't expect it to.
Elen Liste Alda: I believe i gave you my answer.
Icy AngelWings: I'll check them out as soon as I have time. I'm kinda pressed at the moment.