Aurora

By Neon Tiger and Yuki Ryu

Chapter Twelve

----

Neighs and snorts filled the air, barely heard above the chatter of people, as horses lined the fenced in coral they were stationed at. There were horses of all shapes and colors, ranging from brown and tan to pinto and chestnut. Fastened to the fence by a rope around their necks, the horses shifted and snorted at passersby and each other, occasionally letting out a neigh or whinny for one reason or another.

"Wow... look at all the horses..." Malik whispered in awe, gaping at all of the horses. He had never seen so many before, or in so many colors. He idly noted he didn't see any black ones, like Dusk, but they were still quite beautiful.

"Why don't you go take a closer look at them, Malik?" Bakura suggested as he set the numerous bags that he had been carrying down next to his feet. He then sat down on a nearby rock and stretched his legs so that he could get the weight off the bottoms of his feet. "I'll just sit here while you do."

"Okay!" Malik agreed eagerly as he hurried over to the horses, giggling happily. He couldn't wait to pet them; he had always wanted to pet Dusk but had been afraid that the horse would bite him. These horses had to be better behaved!

Bakura couldn't help but smile as he watched Malik rush off to get a closer look at the horses with such enthusiasm. "He acts like such a kid," he thought to himself fondly.

As Bakura observed Malik cautiously touch the nose of an all white horse, he allowed his thoughts to wander. It had been well over two months now since that fateful night that he had first kidnapped Malik and took the once badly abused boy home with him. Since then many things had happened, both good and bad, which turned their relationship from kidnapper and slave to friends and lovers.

At reaching that realization Bakura had to pause for a moment. For a long time he had given up hope that he could ever find anyone who would ever give a damn about him, yet now he not only had someone who cared, but cared deeply enough to become his lover. Such an occurrence had seemed all but impossible, but Malik had proved him wrong. Now he was the happiest that he had ever been in his entire life. He couldn't think of anything that he wanted more than to spend the rest of his life with Malik.

...Well, of course there were some things that could have made him even happier, such as avenging the massacre of his village and some how miraculously having everyone else he ever cared for back. Even still, he wouldn't trade a single moment he spent with Malik for anything in the world.

Bakura let out a quiet grunt, knowing that he was obviously exaggerating thinking that. For example, he would trade that incident when he had hurt Malik by tying the blond down to the bed and yelling at him for any of the Millennium Items. Really, he would rather spend only good moments with Malik, despite how impossible such an event would be.

As Bakura leaned on a nearby fence post he idly itched his ear and his face contorted with irritation. Lately whenever he stopped to think about his relationship with Malik he would act extremely sentimental to the point of being nauseating, or rather what he used to regard as nauseating whenever he would notice a couple being obvious with their love in passing while in the city.

"Wonderful... I'm becoming a lovesick moron like the rest of them," he thought in agitation.

Again Bakura momentarily was startled out of his train of thought and he turned to look back at Malik, his expression pensive. "Love..." he murmured aloud to himself as he tried to wrap his brain around the word. Did he love Malik? Of course the answer to that question came as an immediate "yes", as it was obvious, even to someone like him who had lost hope for love a long time ago.

Malik giggled as a horse nuzzled at him, beaming brightly as he gently stroked the horse's snout. He was oblivious to the thief's pensive thoughts, cuddling the curious animal.

Bakura watched the blond silently as the word continued to flutter around inside his head like a trapped butterfly. Part of him wanted to deny it vehemently for no other logical reason than it was a foreign concept. There was a little fear about it too, and how vulnerable that made him, but he was far too proud to allow himself to give in to any sort of fear or doubt, especially when it came to something he wanted, and he knew without a doubt that Malik was someone he wanted. He knew that he would kill for the other boy's sake without a second thought. There was simply no denying that Malik was extremely important to him; the fact that he had done so many things with the blond that he never even dreamed that he would do with anyone proved that. The fact that he even had to sit down and give it as much thought as he was doing now certainly gave even more credible evidence.

Even though the silver-eyed boy could logically realize the obviousness of his being in love with Malik, it still felt very strange to him. Until he met Malik the only experience he had with love came from his family, and the only sort of friendship were from the kids his age that had lived in his village. Since that time he found out first hand how dark and cruel the world could be, especially to a child who had nothing. When his village died his heart felt as if it had died along with it. The fact that he had found love so suddenly was such a foreign concept to a person like him who had gone through so much. It made him wonder what he should do about it; or rather, what more should he do?

The first thing that came to mind was to tell Malik about it, but suddenly walking up to his lover and blurting out all of his feelings seemed wrong to Bakura, even after everything that they had already done together. It would be best if he waited for the right moment to say it. Tonight when they got back into the cave seemed best. They would be alone, and they would be able to relax and be comfortable. When at home they could kiss, cuddle, and make each other scream as loud as they wanted to afterwards.

Still, just saying, "I love you", didn't seem like enough for Bakura. Three simple words couldn't possibly be enough to express exactly what he felt for Malik, could they? How could three little words possibly convey how important that fact was to his friend? How, before Malik had come along, he had never believed that anyone would ever genuinely care for him at all, even if just a little bit. How he had lost count of how many nights he went to sleep completely and utterly alone. How empty he was inside, save for a desperate yearning for justice, and an almost maddening call for revenge that was, even now, slowly consuming more and more of his soul.

Bakura frowned. For one thing, he noted, he certainly wasn't going to tell Malik any of that. The blond had enough trouble getting over his own demons without the thief adding his own. If Malik knew just how much darkness there was staining his soul, then either his lover would want to flee, or would simply stay out of obligation to make him feel better like he had done for the lavender-eyed boy. No, it would certainly not do to tell Malik anything more about the darkness than he had already let slip out, especially when it came to a declaration of love.

With that area of thought resolved, Bakura decided to certainly stick with only positive things to say when he finally admitted what was in his heart. Even still, it was hard to find any other words than "I love you", that could properly express his feelings. No matter how much he thought about it, he simply couldn't think of a way to put into words all of the embarrassing warm and fuzzy feelings that Malik seemed to spark up in him.

When it got right down to it, the thief wasn't even sure exactly what it was about Malik that drew him to his lover so strongly. It couldn't have been just the fact that Malik had a body to kill for, since Bakura had seen very beautiful men and women before yet felt nothing towards them. It also couldn't be just Malik's personality, since a lot of times the blond infuriated him to the point that he felt like screaming out loud.

No, there was something unexplainable that attracted him to Malik, something that defied all logic and description. Because of this Bakura was simply unable to explain it other than the obvious fact that he was undeniably, completely, and hopelessly in love with Malik.

If it had been someone else that Bakura had kidnapped, anyone else, he would have gotten rid of him or her long ago. That was what he did every other time he did kidnap anyone before Malik. He certainly never took anyone else back to his hideout before and would have thought the very idea to be insane. After all, he knew very well all the risks of such a thing and they all far outweighed the rewards that he might have reaped from owning a slave. Also, the only real slave that he was interested in would have been the Pharaoh... before killing him of course. It had been a delightfully amusing idea to break the Pharaoh's spirit before finally feeding his most hated enemy to the vengeful spirits that the Pharaoh had created.

It had been foolish to bring someone that the thief had abducted to the only place that he had found to be safe enough to spend most of his time hiding. The likely result could have been that his throat would be slit while he slept or that his hideaway would be exposed should his prisoner escape. Despite all this, Bakura still wanted to bring Malik back to the cave with him; even after all of the frustration that the blond had given him since their first encounter. He would never have put up with so much from anyone else.

Bakura was certainly anything but naïve and he was no stranger to attraction and flirtation. Though it was always from someone else directing it towards him, such as a pretty girl who he caught the eye of while wandering alone in the marketplace. He would always snub anyone who tried to get a little too friendly with him in or snarl at them to leave him alone. The first time he visited the Pharaoh's city after he was forced to leave the ruins of his village taught him all too well the consequences of overlooking the subtle clues that someone was simply after his body or what he possessed. At that time, for all of his life since then, no one had ever cared about him unless it was to get something from him: what he owned, something that he could do for them, or even his body.

...No one except Malik that is.

Malik had a certain obvious sincerity to him, a special kind warmth that somehow could make Bakura confident that he truly cared for the thief when no one else in the world would. Not since Kuru Eruna was destroyed and everyone the silver-eyed boy had ever cared about had been slaughtered mercilessly had Bakura felt such warmth.

Now, though, Bakura did have someone who cared about him and who he could feel free to care about in return without being afraid that it was simply a lie to use him. Malik gave him something he had been desperately missing for too many years: love.

Of course none of that necessarily meant that Malik felt the same way he did...

Malik was oblivious to Bakura's musing, instead having his time monopolized by a rather pretty white mare. The horse kept nuzzling at Malik and snorting on the poor boy, causing the blond to squeal and giggle.

Bakura chuckled quietly at the sight, distracted from his current train of thought by his friend's antics. Sometimes Malik was just so unbelievably cute, particularly when the lavender-eyed boy was excited over something new.

Out of the blue an idea came to the thief about how he could add to that excitement, which caused a mischievous smile to appear on his face.

"Aren't you a friendly one," Malik murmured as he stroked the mare's nose. The mare sniffed at him, then nibbled on his shirt. "Are you this friendly with everyone?"

The horse shifted slightly as she continued to chew on the boy's shirt, flicking her ears about as if listening.

"Hee, hee," Malik giggled at that, then stroked the mare's snout. "Tasty?"

The mare tugged at Malik's shirt, bobbing her head as if to reply. The young boy laughed and shifted slightly, straightening his shirt.

"Trying to undress me in public, are you?" he laughed.

The mare continued to tug at Malik's clothes, ears pricked upwards.

"H-hey, that tickles!" Malik yipped, then laughed again. "You remind me of Bakura... Just can't keep my clothes on, can I?"

"Not around me you can't," came a mischievous yet familiar whisper that tickled Malik's ear unexpectedly.

Malik yipped at that, then blinked and glanced over his shoulder. "Eh-?!"

Bakura smiled with amusement at Malik as he stood closely behind the blond. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked, obviously amused.

"Ah," Malik blushed, both at being startled and at being overheard. "Yes... I was just talking to this horse..."

The mare rested her chin on Malik's head before glancing at the thief and snorting at him.

"It looked more like this horse was trying to tear your clothes off," Bakura commented wryly as he eyed the mare suspiciously. If he didn't know any better he could swear that the horse was being possessive of Malik.

"Just a nibble here or there," Malik replied, glancing up at the horse as she continued to rest her head on the blond's.

The mare snorted again, ears pricked up as she peered pointedly at Bakura.

Bakura returned the gaze before he suddenly pulled Malik out from under the horse's head and surprised his lover with a deeply passionate kiss.

Malik let out a surprised noise as he was suddenly kissed. He made a slight noise before melting into the kiss, cheeks tinting at being so passionately assaulted in public.

The mare's ears canted back before she snorted again, stomping her feet in irritation.

After about a minute Bakura finally pulled back to allow them both to breathe, casting a rather smug look to the agitated horse.

"Wha... what..." Malik gulped down air, face flushed, and then stared at the thief in confusion. "What was... that for?"

The horse continued to stomp, shifting back and forth as it made unhappy noises.

"Just making sure that your new horse knows who you belong to," Bakura commented wryly, grinning at Malik as he held the other boy possessively close.

"Huh?" Malik's eyes widened at that as he stared at Bakura. "My... my new...?"

"Surprise." Bakura grinned even more, enjoying the look of astonishment on his lover's face. "I purchased her from the merchant while you were busy fawning all over her."

Malik gawked at Bakura, literally thunderstruck. The thief couldn't have been serious; there was no way that he had just bought the former slave a horse!

"Well?" Bakura prompted as he poked Malik's stomach gently. "What are you going to name her?"

Malik squeaked and covered his stomach, then made a face. He never named an animal before, so he wasn't sure where to begin. However, a name quickly came to him - it was a word that had come to him when he first looked at the horse, reminding him of a special moment. "...Moonlight."

Bakura blinked in reaction to the name, before he let out a soft chuckle as he cocked his head to the side slightly. "Moonlight, huh?" he asked, mildly amused because of the fact that the name fit with the name of his own horse.

Malik nodded, a smile brightening his face. "Moonlight, because she makes me think of the moon!"

The newly christened horse turned about to bury her face in Malik's shoulder, snorting.

Malik giggled and turned to face the horse. "You like it, then? Moonlight?"

Bakura chuckled a little more, but made no comment. Instead he simply watched Malik enjoy the gentle horse that he had given the blond. Making Malik happy like this, whether it was by giving a gift or saying a kind word, and seeing the other boy smile, hearing Malik laugh in delight, filled his soul with such an incredible warmth like no one else ever could.

It was that thought that seemed to set off a twinge within the silver-eyed boy's heart, as if a string had been plucked. For the briefest of instants he was no longer in the Pharaoh's city with Malik. He was a little boy again standing in the middle of his village, watching the retreating backs of his family as they walked away from him.

The intense emotion that filled Bakura caused him to instinctively reach out for them as something akin to panic blossomed within his heart, but then the moment ended, and his parents were gone, his village was gone, and he was alone in the Pharaoh's city.

All at once it hit the thief, a strong static in the back of his mind, feeling as if it were a tangible thorny mass scraping against his brain. The hand that he had reached out for the phantoms of his family immediately went to hold his head, as he tried to recover his senses. He knew this feeling all too well, and he knew what it and the vision he just had meant.

The spirits of Kuru Eruna were calling him.

"Bakura?"

Malik blinked at Bakura, a bit concerned. The other boy had been staring off at the distance with a glazed look in his eyes and a slightly pained face. It was actually kind of frightening.

Bakura jerked as he was snapped back to reality, and the scratching feeling within his mind seemed to lessen enough for him to be aware of his surroundings again. For a moment he could only stare at Malik as he realized that for a short while there, he had forgotten about the lavender-eyed boy. Slowly, he forced himself to lower his hand from his head and gave Malik a weak grin at the sight of the concerned expression on his friend's face. "Ready to go?" he asked, hoping to try and alleviate the blond's worry.

Malik hesitated before nodding slowly, his expression making it quite clear that he was still concerned.

"Okay, good," Bakura muttered as he slowly regained his composure, and turned away from the other boy to untie Moonlight from the post the horse was tied to. "Let's go outside the gate then. I need to teach you how to ride your horse."

"Okay..." Malik said, though he couldn't help but worry. Bakura was hiding something from him - he didn't know why, he just had a bad feeling about it. Whatever it was, it was clearly upsetting the thief.

But surely Bakura would tell him about it when the time was right, so there was no point in dragging it out.

After all, Bakura had never kept anything major from him before.

----

Despite the fact that both of the boys wanted to return to their home as soon as possible, they had soon found that by the time Malik had finished the riding lesson and was confident enough to ride Moonlight on his own, the sun had already started to set. Surprisingly Bakura had been the one to suggest that they simply return to the inn for the night and make the trip back to the cave in the morning. Although this bothered Malik for some reason he couldn't identify, he had grown rather sore from riding and did not protest.

Malik slept peacefully on the bed, cuddled up against Bakura's warm body with one arm draped across this silver haired boy's chest. Though they had not attempted to repeat the fun they had enjoyed the previous night before going to sleep, it was just as satisfying emotionally for them to lie together holding one another close.

Unfortunately that would not be for long as Bakura suddenly awakened in the middle of the night with a sharp gasp. He stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes, unseeing for a number of moments, as his body lay there, completely tense and covered in a cold sweat. The incomprehensible screams of the spirits of his people still echoed in his head, lingering long after the nightmare he had awakened from ended.

With the fading of the phantom screams, the thief became more aware of the spirits' real cries, the ones that turned into a painful sort of white noise in his brain. They were louder now, more insistent, and he knew that he had ignored their restless souls for too long because of how much time he spent with Malik.

Though his head hurt to the point that Bakura was shaking slightly, the thief managed to slip away from Malik's body without disturbing his companion too much. Even though he did not want to leave his friend alone in the city, the call of his fallen people would not ease, even if temporarily, until he appeased them. He could only hope to finish his task quickly enough so that he could return before morning, and Malik would never know that he had been gone.

Bakura barely gave himself time to pause so that he could put his slippers on and collect his knife from the table beside the bed before he was going out the door. Just before he closed the door, he took the briefest of glimpses back at his lover still lying in bed, and in that instant he knew exactly what he had to do.

As the door closed, Malik lifted his head to stare in its general direction. He furrowed his eyebrows, his expression troubled, before he sat up out of bed and hurried to the window. He peered out to the streets below, looking for any sign of Bakura near their horses.

The young boy watched as the thief hurried off into the darkness. Malik made a face, as he couldn't understand what was happening. Why was Bakura leaving him? Was it somehow related to earlier, when the thief had looked so troubled at the horse merchant?

"He was having trouble sleeping..." Malik mused to himself, chewing on his lower lip. "Something's bothering him. Something important."

And there was only one way to find out what.

Malik nodded to himself, his expression determined. He hurried to grab his own slippers, then slipped through the door as well and raced towards where Moonlight had been tied up for the night. He mounted her quickly; grimacing as his sore rump protested the action, then quickly tore off after Bakura on horseback. He had to find the thief, to find out why he was acting so strangely.

"I didn't think he'd hide something from me..." Malik thought as he rode after Bakura, or rather in the general direction he had seen the thief go. "But he's obviously keeping some sort of secret from me. Something big, too. I have to follow-!"

At that thought, the young boy brought his horse to a stop and glanced around in bewilderment. "...I have to SEE him to follow him!" he thought, perplexed. Where had the thief gone!?

Moonlight neighed disapprovingly at being forced to stop from a full gallop, causing Malik to pat her apologetically.

"He's fast..." Malik murmured as he stroked Moonlight's neck idly, glancing around for any sign of his target. "Or maybe he's just better at moving around silently. He is a thief..."

Grunting, Malik encouraged Moonlight into a light trot as he continued down along the street, glancing around for any sign of the thief as he went. In hindsight, he thought it was rather foolish of him to follow the thief without any clear direction in mind. He should've paid more attention to where Bakura had gone.

Before long Malik suddenly heard the sound of a familiar whistle piercing through the otherwise quiet night. It seemed to come from a distance away, but it was clear enough to make out which direction it was coming from.

Malik jerked up, his eyes widening. "What-?!"

Moments later the sound of hooves was heard, as if in response to the whistle. The blond had barely time to react before Moonlight reared back slightly with a whinny as the dark shape of a certain black horse charged past her at top speed.

Malik yelped in surprise and grasped Moonlight's shoulders instinctively. He blinked and looked up, eyes wide as he recognized the horse.

"Dusk!" Malik gasped, then quickly kicked Moonlight into action, chasing after the black horse as it was undoubtedly heading to only one place: wherever Bakura was.

Malik rode through the streets after Dusk before skidding to a stop, his eyes wide in disbelief. He gawked as Dusk stopped in front of a very familiar house, a house he never wanted to see again for as long as he lived.

His father's house.

As Malik had guessed, Dusk had gone to his master, who was standing just outside the place he feared to return. Shockingly Bakura was carrying a rather large and disturbingly familiar-shaped object over his shoulder, which the thief hefted onto the dark horse's back like a sack of grain. Bakura then wasted no time in leaping up onto his horse's back and riding off at top speed.

Malik stared after Bakura, momentarily stunned in to a paralyzed state. An incredible sense of déjà vu flooded through him, as he was reminded of his own kidnapping. Then, it hit him - Bakura was kidnapping someone from his old house!

In a panic, Malik kicked Moonlight to action, racing after Dusk as his mind raced. His mind churned over the idea that Bakura was kidnapping someone, more than likely someone he knew considering where the person was from. Why would Bakura do such a thing? Where was he taking the person?

All the questions made him feel sick as he raced after the thief in to the darkness.