Finally managed to update this slightly neglected fic of mine. Sorry about the abandonment by the way, to all those who've been waiting for this to be update. I sort of made Just Pretend as my top priority fic

We get a glimpse of Ryou's past, and a taste of just what Seto meant about 'important events replaying themselves'

A question before we start…I don't have the complete manga so I don't really know what age Ryou received the Millennium Ring. Anyone who can enlighten me about this?

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Chapter 3:

Ryou: The Strict Peacemaker

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Bakura had to admit, this vacation house of Seto's was nice. Very much so. Even though the CEO said that he rarely had the time to enjoy the place, the facilities were very well-kept; every corner was dust-free and spotless. He snorted to himself, if their situation was somehow different, he would've even enjoyed staying here.

"Kaiba should've provided us a map…" he said sourly. Yami, Yugi, and Malik silently agreed. They've been wandering around for half an hour, trying to find a pool to quench Ryou's urge to swim and were having no luck so far.

"I think we passed by this painting before…" Yugi mumbled

They turned to look at said painting (a black and white bowl of fruit). Bakura was livid, "Damnit! You're right!

"Can't we ask for directions, Bakura?" Ryou spoke up, his head resting on the older boy's spiky hair. In the midst of their pool-hunt, Ryou had grown tired of being carried around and decided it would be more fun if he was perched on his 'big brother's' shoulders, much to Bakura's discomfort

"Who are we going to ask? There's no one here," he said irritably

Ryou frowned and gave him a bop on the head, "We ask Mr. Kaiba of course! If he can hear us earlier back at the main room, I'm sure he made sure he'd be able to do that all around the house.

Bakura had frozen when he felt the soft bop on head. His first impulse was to strike back but then he remembered this was a mere eight year old kid. And as strange as it sounds, he couldn't find it in him to hit a child, especially considering said child was Ryou

"Hey…you're right!" Yugi exclaimed. "That's a really clever idea, Ryou!" he said, making the boy beam proudly

"And how are we going to ask Kaiba, exactly?" Bakura said. "What? Are we just going to shout 'Hey, Kaiba! Where the freaking hell are we?' out of the blue?

"Yes, you could do that," came their host's disembodied voice. "Though it would've been better with a little politeness or so."

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skins.

When Bakura regained himself, he glared upwards, and said, "You were there the whole time? You could've told us, instead of making us wander in damn circles since the beginning!

Ryou wriggled to settle his awkward position a bit and raised his arm. The others looked at him curiously and from the control room, Seto raised a thin eyebrow in question. "May I speak?" Ryou asked politely.

This caught Seto off-guard for a moment and he peered at Ryou through the cameras he had wired all around the facility. 'Weird kid', he thought. Nonetheless, he said, "Go ahead.

Satisfied with the answer, Ryou dropped his arm, and said in an adorably serious and inquisitive voice that only a child could do, "Could you please tell us where we could find a pool, Mr. Kaiba? I'd like to go swimming, if it isn't too much trouble that is…"

The boy sure was a polite one, Seto thought. Too bad Bakura was incapable of learning from example, even if it was dancing in front of him holding an illustration board with written instructions.

"The door to your left," Seto finally said. "Then the third and last door down the hall."

They followed his instructions (with Bakura mumbling darkly under his breath) and soon came upon a set of transparent sliding doors. Through the glass they could already see the considerable-sized indoor pool, Ryou clapping his hands and eyes brightening when he saw there was a slide as well. Bakura grunted when his small light accidentally hit his chest when said boy began kicking his legs in excitement, "Oh, Bakura! Let's go in! Come on!"

Ryou slid himself down from Bakura's shoulders and trotted of to the side of the pool, gazing at the clear water in unconcealed anticipation. He looked back at the others and waved for them to come. "What are you waiting for?"

Bakura turned away, saying, "I don't do swimming," he settled himself at one of the leaned-back chairs. Ryou frowned at this slightly but decided to leave his brother be, so he turned to the others, a pleading look on his face.

Naturally soft at heart, Yugi gave in. With a warm smile, he approached the pale boy and squatted to Ryou's level. "Alright then. I think I could use a refreshing swim," he extended an inviting hand towards the boy, "Come on, we can find something to wear…maybe even some of those inflatable floats! I'm sure someone as rich as Kaiba must have them lying around somewhere…"

A glowing smile broke across Ryou's face as he let Yugi hold his smaller hand. He turned to Bakura, "Is it alright if I go with Yugi, brother?"

Though a bit surprised Ryou bothered asking him for permission, Bakura nodded callously before settling into a relaxed position once more. Yugi was definitely a better choice than the pharaoh after all. As for Malik…he doubted the other knew anything about kids. Though it would be amusing to see him try.

"Hey…uh, Yami," Yugi waved his dark over, "Wanna come and join us? We'd need a bit of help blowing air in the inflattables when we find them," he grinned sheepishly.

Yami immediately took the offer, not at all eager to spend some time in the presence of Bakura and Malik. He knew Malik wasn't as bad as the other, but the blonde didn't seem comfortable when he's near him, so this was a safe way to avoid any undesirable situation. Don't get him wrong, blowing his lungs out wasn't a particularly bright alternative from spending time with two of his previous enemies, but it was definitely the lesser of two evils.

Bakura watched the three until they disappeared from his sight, noting with unbidden satisfaction that Ryou seemed quite happy with his present company. He was ready to doze off when he caught sight of Malik, who was still staring where Ryou and the others disappeared to with something akin to forced-concealed longing on his downcast face. He couldn't resist stirring up the other teen.

"Feeling out of place?" he said loudly with a taunting grin.

His words seemed to snap Malik out of his inner musings and the Egyptian looked at him with a carefully set stony face. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know what…" Bakura said. "There they go prancing around like little gay bunnies and you're stuck here, with me."

"I can leave your ass whenever I like, you know."

"You're missing my point," Bakura remarked, eyes glinting, "Come on, be honest; doesn't it strike you odd that Yugi, or the pharaoh, for that matter, didn't even ask you if you wanted to join them?"

Malik glared at him furiously, but Bakura knew he struck home. Malik knew this as well, though he was trying his best not to grant the thief the satisfaction of seeing or hearing him admit it.

"J-Just…shut up," Malik said in a voice that he found pathetic himself.

"Cut it out, tomb robber," a new voice said. "Or Lightside might cry."

Bakura gave his fellow dark a grin, " Marik, I was wondering where you went off to."

The other walked forward with an eyebrow raised inquisitively, "Since when did you call me ' Marik'? Did you assign me a new name or something?"

"Relax…we just thought Ryou could do without knowing we're dark spirits. I'm 'Bakura' for now, and the pharaoh's 'Yami'."

Marik merely snorted. "Whatever…" he then turned to Malik, who was glaring at the two darks heatedly, "You're still here."

Malik's glare faltered and he gave him a confused look, "Where else would I be?"

"Sucking up to the pharaoh, maybe," Bakura said in a tauntingly casual tone.

A growl rose up in Malik's throat, "Just….give me a break, will you? I'm plenty happy here…"

"With us?" Marik said skeptically.

Malik gave him a glare before turning around and walking away mumbling, "No way in hell. I'm spending my time at the other side of the room," he maneuvered his way around the pool, careful not to stray too close at its edge. He didn't plan on ruining his clothes by slipping unceremoniously in the water after all.

He didn't notice Bakura sneaking behind him with a dangerous glint in his eyes until…

Splash

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A couple of towels were draped all over Yami as he waited for Yugi and Ryou pick out some floats. He silently prayed they wouldn't pick something twice his size because blowing air in it would surely be a pain.

"Oh! Yugi, I want this one!" Ryou exclaimed. The boy dragged a limp rubber starfish to his current babysitter.

Yugi just smiled and took it from Ryou's arms. "Alright, alright, we'll take it with us," he laughed at the little one's enthusiasm. "Hmm…I guess we have everything…" Yugi looked at the things they had collected for their swim. Yami already had the towels and their swimwear (nothing more than slightly loose shorts) and he had the inflatables Ryou had picked…yes, it seemed they already had everything.

"Alright, let's get back to the pool…then we can start swimming," he smiled.

Ryou visibly brightened and he grabbed a large ball (which he planned on playing with in the pool), embraced it with his short arms and skipped forward. "Come on!"

Yami looked at the small boy with clear amusement. 'Ryou sure is one heck of a happy kid…' he mused. He personally thought it was a pity their friend wasn't quite the same in the present time. But what else could be expected when you had someone like Bakura as the other half of your soul? It's not like Bakura intentionally made Ryou miserable, but the tomb robber's less decent activities would always have a negative effect on the milder boy, whether Bakura willed it so or not. It was kind of sad they never got to know this carefree Ryou. Sure Ryou was generally a cheerful person, probably only second to Yugi among their group, but there was no doubt that the boy had his sorrowful moments as well.

He heard Yugi laugh briefly before following the bouncing boy. "I never really thought Ryou was this energetic when he was younger," he said, "We better catch up with him before he jumps in the pool with all his clothes on."

The pool wasn't very far from where they found their swimming playthings so Ryou found it easy enough, skipping back to it on his own, the large soft ball still in his arms. Maybe he could get Bakura or Malik to play with him. Ryou wanted so much to spend some fun time with his new brother. As for Malik, he couldn't help but notice a sort of forlorn expression on the older boy's face as he left with Yugi and Yami and thought that he could invite the other to a friendly game to cheer him up.

Suddenly, Ryou stopped. He tilted his head to the side and listened for a moment. He could hear loud splashes from the pool room. 'I thought brother said he didn't like to swim…' Ryou frowned, but then turned into a smile, 'Maybe he changed his mind!'

With this in mind, Ryou continued onwards and let out a small surprised gasp once he had fully entered the room.

Malik was in the pool, still fully-clothed. The Egyptian didn't look too happy and was spouting out water as he attempted to regain himself. Bakura on the other hand, was laughing his head off. The white-haired teen was at the pool's edge, not far away from where Malik was splashing about.

Ryou noticed a third person present in the room. It was that guy who stormed off before. He recalled his brother saying his name was ' Marik'. The wild-haired boy was looking at his near-twin with a smirk.

Unnoticed by everyone, Ryou made his way towards Marik, an inquisitive look in his face. "Uhm…Mr. Marik?" he said politely. For some reason, Ryou felt that he should be on his best behavior while in the midst of the slightly intimidating boy.

Marik blinked upon hearing the familiar yet unrecognizable voice before looking down to see Ryou looking at him with a politely curious expression. Any other person might've gone ahead and pinched the small boy's face because of how 'cute' he looked, Marik on the other hand, looked at him with something similar to cautiousness, as if Ryou was about to turn into a rabid animal and start tearing his face off in any given moment.

Ryou shifted uncomfortably when he saw Marik giving him a weird look, but he pulled himself together and pressed on, "What is Malik doing in the pool?"

Marik seemed to regain himself. He snorted, "Why don't you ask your dear brother?"

Turning his head to look at Bakura, Ryou's brow furrowed in confusion. His 'brother' was still chuckling at Malik, who was struggling (and failing) to climb up the pool's edge, slipping and sliding clumsily all the way. The blonde was obviously furious, given that his mouth was twisted in a snarl and he seemed to be glaring at Bakura with all he's worth.

"That was some fall, Malik!" Bakura guffawed.

Said boy didn't seem to think anything was funny, "You fucking pushed me, asshole!"

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?"

Enraged, Malik moved to grab Bakura's leg, and in one swift motion, pulled the dark into the pool as revenge. If he couldn't get out to inflict some well-deserved pain on the tomb robber, then he'll just have to bring Bakura down with him, right? Let's see how he would like water inhaled in his lungs.

Bakura remained underwater for a moment before his spiky white-haired head broke the surface, spitting out water as he did so, as well as a few curses.

Malik felt satisfied with this and proceeded to exit the pool before Bakura could regain himself and drown him or something. He grimaced as he took note of his soaking wet clothes. 'Kaiba better have some change of clothes around here…'

He was about to walk away when he heard a dangerous growl behind him. That was the only warning he had before he found himself landing hard on his rear, Bakura having pulled him backwards so forcefully he ended up on the floor.

"What? You didn't think I was just gonna let you walk away, right?" Bakura said when Malik gave him a fierce glare.

Malik made a move to get up only to have Bakura push him back down with a hard kick at his chest. Before anything else could happen though, Ryou rushed forward and positioned himself between the two fighting boys. Bakura blinked, just realizing that his light was back.

Ryou had a very disappointed frown on his face, his gaze was directed at Bakura. Said tomb robber was quite shocked when Ryou said, "Bakura, didn't Dad say that you shouldn't start fights, only end them?"

Poor Bakura only blinked again, staring at the little boy as if he was an alien. Even Marik couldn't help but stare at the scene. Malik remained frozen on the floor, watching the two white-haired boys as well.

"What…?" Bakura said.

Ryou opened his mouth to speak, but before he could even get out a word, Yami and Yugi arrived. Yami was busy with a half-blown starfish, the one Ryou had picked before. Yugi was walking by his side saying, "Come on, Yami. You can do it!"

All eyes were focused on the two new arrivals (except for Ryou who remained steadfast in giving Bakura a 'look'). Yami and Yugi both looked up and noticed the scene in front of them. Ryou made quite a picture,. The little boy was giving Bakura a righteous glare (the ball still wrapped in his arms), and strange enough, Bakura couldn't seem to match it with a glare of his own.

Ryou tapped the floor with his shoe, gaining everyone's attention with the small gesture. "You should apologize to Malik, and you should be sincere about it too!"

"But—"

"Dad always told me you're a real man only of you could swallow your pride and admit your mistake and apologize to the person you wronged," Ryou said knowledgably.

Bakura's mouth closed and opened, mimicking a fish. He could feel everyone's eyes on him, and he didn't know what to do. Doing what Ryou said would probably make him a sissy (at least in Malik and Marik's eyes), but if he didn't do it…what would Ryou do? He didn't want a grumpy (or crying) child eating away at his strangely active conscience as of late.

"Eh…sorry, Malik…or whatever…" he mumbled half-heartedly, looking at said Egyptian. Malik only stared dumbstruck at him, not sure whether to feel grateful or worried.

Phooot!

Heads snapped towards Yami, Yugi particularly blinking at his dark incredulously.

Yami looked at the now completely airless starfish in his arms and groaned. "Damn it!"

Ryou looked back up at Bakura with a satisfied grin on his face. "That wasn't so difficult, was it?"

Bakura only grunted, clearly embarrassed that the others witnessed him being coerced by a little kid into apologizing of all things. Damn, that's surely going to hurt his reputation.

"Ryou," an unfamiliar voice suddenly called. Everyone in the room looked around confusedly, wondering who and where the voice was coming from.

Ryou was the only one who seemed to recognize the voice, his eyes visibly lit up. "Dad?" he looked around. "Where are you?"

The others looked lost. "What the hell is your father doing here?" Bakura said.

A look of recognition descended on Yami's face. "This must be what Kaiba was talking about earlier…he warned us about some past events replaying themselves…"

Yami was proven right a moment later. One second, they were all in the pool room in Seto's rest house, however this was not so in the next second. The room faded in and out, seemingly melting one moment and forming a new shape the next. Everyone was wildly looking around, unsure as to how to react in this very unusual situation, only Ryou seemed unfazed by this strange phenomenon. And suddenly, all the twisted colors and forms stopped.

Malik, who had been on the floor before, now fond himself seated comfortably on a sofa, Yugi and Bakura at his sides. Yami and Marik were seated in their own respective chairs. All of them looked plenty confused as they looked around the very realistic illusion around them.

"Dad!" Ryou suddenly cried out, gaining everybody's attention. The small boy was running towards a middle-aged man, who they assumed to be his father. The man looked very different from his son, and they wouldn't have thought them to be related if they didn't know any better. Ryou's father was long-haired like his son, but a midnight-blue that was nowhere near Ryou's white locks. He was also less pale than the boy. One thing that they did share it seemed, was a kindly face and warm brown-colored eyes.

Ryou's father laughed as his son hugged him around the middle. He dropped down to his knees and embraced Ryou back before letting go, ruffling his son's hair fondly afterwards.

"You're back!" Ryou exclaimed, eyes shining. Bakura couldn't help but think this is probably the happiest he had ever seen Ryou be.

"That's right! And I even brought something from Egypt for you," the man started rummaging through his shoulder bag as Ryou looked on, barely containing his excitement.

Suddenly, Bakura stiffened…something about this scene was hauntingly familiar…

And then Ryou's father handed Ryou something that glinted almost maliciously. A circular piece of gold with five triangular points dangling at the circle's edge. It did not take long for everyone to recognize that sinister item.

"That's…that's the Millennium Ring!" Yami exclaimed.

Yugi shushed him, worried that Ryou's father might hear his outburst. But the man didn't seem to hear anything at all, and continued on and slipped a cord around Ryou's head, letting the ring settle in his small chest.

Bakura's eyes widened as he realized what these scene was…

'This is when I first met Ryou…'

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And there you have it. Rather long, eh? Hope you didn't get bored :P

I was afraid I was making this chapter a wee bit too serious. Hopefully the light touch of humor was enough to remedy that. This was part of my update-marathon thing. Whoo! Three stories in one day!

I'm gonna go and die now (collapses)