I'm sorry if Bakura's speech sounds similar to the one i did in 'Thieves have Hearts Too', it wasn't intentional.

Chapter 10

Bakura was led through the corridors of the prison to a place Bakura remembered as being near to the exit. They stopped outside a room where another guard was already waiting. Bakura recognized him; he had been there when he was arrested.

The blond guard pushed himself off the wall and addressed the one in-charge. "Wait outside. Master Seto said I was the only one allowed inside the room."

The commander nodded. The guards that had been holding Bakura's arms released him and backed away. The blond guard motioned for Bakura to enter. Bakura walked inside, the guard slipping in behind him.

As soon as the door was shut a weight collided with Bakura's chest. Bakura's eyes widened when he looked down and saw a mass of white hair. "Ryou," Bakura whispered in a mix of disbelief and joy.

Ryou looked up, his eyes shinning brighter than the stars. He pulled Bakura away from the door before embracing him again. "I missed you," he said quietly.

"I missed you too angel," Bakura replied, tilting Ryou's chin so they could share a kiss.

"What the hell?" Both Ryou and Bakura turned to see a rather distressed looking Jou. They had both conveniently forgotten about him.

"You asked why I wanted to see Bakura," Ryou said quietly. "Well that's why."

"Don't tell me…you two are…Oh hell." Jou seemed to understand the situation quite well.

"Why did you bring him here; let him in on our secret?" Bakura asked Ryou seriously.

"It was the only way I could think of that would let me see you…touch you," Ryou replied, trailing off dreamily as his eyes focused on Bakura's lips.

Bakura too had become enchanted by his angel. He threw his shackled hands over Ryou's head then brought them down to the boy's waist. He reeled his angel to him, Ryou flinging his arms around his god's neck and threading his fingers into his hair as their lips met in a kiss full of passion.

Jou turned away from the couple. This was terrible! They were in love! They shouldn't be in love! Why the hell did they have to make things so complicated!?

Jou turned around to see the couple gazing into each other's eyes, breathing heavily. Jou cleared his throat to gain a fraction of their attention. There was no way he was going to get their whole attention since they were so focused on each other. "So how did…this happen?"

"It was love at first sight," Ryou told him.

"So you weren't kidnapped?" Jou tried to clarify.

"No."

"So why haven't you told Seto yet?"

"Would you want to tell Seto?"

Good point. If Jou had said that to Seto he would've been killed. If Ryou had said it however the whole conversation would have been disregarded. Jou couldn't see Seto believing Ryou had fallen in love with a criminal and left willingly.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Ryou answered truthfully.

Bakura smiled sadly and placed a kiss to Ryou's forehead. "I doubt they will believe the truth. Even if they do it won't make a difference. I was a thief and must be punished for my crimes. If I am not sentenced to death then I will be imprisoned for the rest of my life. Either way we will not be together."

Ryou's eyes widened, threatened tears. "Couldn't Seto stop it? Couldn't he say that you weren't the one who tried to rob the palace before? I could ask the pharaoh to free you."

"They'll only think that I'm using you, deceiving you," Bakura replied. Ryou buried his face in Bakura's chest as the tears silently fell. "It's alright angel, I accept my fate – I won't let it bother me. If death is the price to pay for loving an angel then I'll pay it. I would never have known true happiness, true love, without you Ryou. I tell you all this now because it may be the last time we'll ever be allowed to talk privately. If I am sentenced to death I want you to carry on living. It would kill me again if I was the cause of your death. Even if I am merely left to rot in prison I don't want you to feel that you can't have other relationships. If my fate is prison then there is no point holding out, hoping one day I will be able to come back to you because I won't be able to. I love you more than words can describe Ryou – never forget that. I'd give you the world if I could but I can't. Instead I give you my life and my heart."

Ryou sobbed harder. It felt like his heart was being ripped in two. Why was life so unfair? Why couldn't Bakura and him be together, why did they have to be separated? It was all so unfair.

As Jou watched the two he also felt tears threatening to come. That was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. Bakura couldn't be all bad if he could come up with something as romantic as that on the spot like he had. If only the pharaoh had been there to hear it. Jou was sure that he would have pardoned Bakura if he saw how devoted Bakura was to Ryou and vice-versa. Seto wouldn't though.

A sudden hatred for Seto burned in Jou. That bastard wouldn't believe any of it. He'd say Bakura was making it up; he'd convince the pharaoh to have Bakura executed. He'd do anything to keep Ryou to himself.

Jou let the couple have a few more minutes while he quelled his anger. Eventually though he knew that they would have to return to the real world. He cleared his throat and motioned to the door. They all got the point.

"Goodbye my love," Ryou whispered, the tears still glimmering on his face as he stroked Bakura's cheek.

"Farewell my angel," Bakura whispered back, a lone tear sliding down his face.

Bakura released Ryou from his grasp. Ryou backed away slowly, trying to maintain eye contact with Bakura for as long as possible. Unfortunately Bakura had to turn away and be led outside to the waiting guards. Again they held Bakura's arms firmly and silently walked him back to his cell.

Ryou and Jou waited in the interrogation room for a few minutes after the guards had left. Once Ryou had regained his composure Jou checked to see that the coast was clear. They ran up the stairs as quickly as they could before acting natural, like they were merely passing the dungeon on their way to someplace else.

"Thank you Jou," Ryou whispered when they were alone in one of the corridors.

Jou knew what he was talking about. "No problem. You deserve to be able to say goodbye properly."

"You really think there's no hope?" Ryou asked, his voice quavering.

"It's very unlikely," Jou told him truthfully. "I can't see a way out of this mess anyway."

They then walked in silence for the rest of the trip back to Ryou's room. As they neared the place Seto's door swung open and the room owner strode out looking furious. "Where have you been?" he asked angrily. "I've looked everywhere for you Ryou; don't you know how worried I've been?"

"I'm sorry Seto," Ryou whispered.

"Sorry? Sorry! At first I thought you might have gone off to see someone but then when I'd looked practically everywhere there was no trace of you. I thought you'd been kidnapped again Ryou! Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"I'm sorry!" Ryou shouted before rushing into his room, tears pouring down his face.

Seto stood stunned for a second. He hadn't been that harsh had he? Didn't Ryou understand that he was only worried about his safety? He could usually deal with Seto's moods; he never normally burst into tears when he raised his voice.

Seto turned from watching Ryou's closed door to Jou. The blond guard was giving Seto a look of pure hatred. And it wasn't one of his normal hate-filled looks that he gave the brunet after one of their arguments. This one was filled with pure loathing that made Seto's chest constrict.

"You asshole," Jou ground out. "Ryou doesn't need you being mad with him right now. He has more than enough on his plate at the moment. You being over-protective does nothing for him right now."

Seto was again stunned by the amount of controlled fury in Jou's voice. Jou wasn't usually one to control his anger, he just let it rip. The change scared Seto. "He needs to learn now so that something like this doesn't happen again and he won't have to go through the same trauma twice."

"You don't understand!" Jou shouted, loosing his controlled composure. "I've not known him as long as you and yet I still know more about him than you do! Ryou can cope with being kidnapped. You say you found him on the streets, alone, abondened, starved and beaten. If he can cope with that as a child he can cope with most things. What he can't cope with is loosing a loved one. When he first came here there were rumours that he still cried at night over his dead mother. The boy's too sensitive to cope with things like that but will eventually put them behind him. You helped him to do that and he never wanted to leave your side. But now he's avoiding you. Don't you think there's a reason behind it? He's loosing another loved one right now Seto."

Jou gulped the air into his lungs. If he had said too much it was too late to take it back now. Jou saw the stunned, hurt and angered expression on Seto's face. He turned, deciding it was best to leave and let Seto sort things out in his head.

Before Jou could go too far though a voice made him stop. "How do you know so much?"

Jou swallowed the lump in his throat brought on by Seto's almost broken voice. "I'm not as stupid as I appear," was all Jou said before walking away.

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