(Alea's POV)

My eyes squinted open to the bright light of the sun. "Good, she's waking up," Alexandria said.

"Bakura, you should have been more considerate about how she would take it," Kiko said.

"How was I supposed to know she was going to faint?" Bakura fired back.

"Regardless, it was a bad idea to make her go through all of that," Kiko said.

"And who, may I ask, made you the boss of me?" Bakura argued.

"Alright, you two! Break it up!" Alexandria said. "It's all over and done with and there's no point in arguing about it."

"Ugh…does someone have a towel?" I asked, noticing the blood was still on me. Alexandria took off her pink sash and poured water on it. I practically rubbed my skin off trying to clean the blood off. "Thank goodness you both came when you did," I said. "If you hadn't…well, let's just say Alexandria and I wouldn't have made it."

"Well, it was from your quick thinking that we were actually able to get out of that cell, Alea," Alexandria complimented. "You know, for a princess you certainly think like a thief."

I blushed. It wouldn't sound right to anyone else, but after living with this group for about a week, it flattered me. "Bakura," I said. "I was wondering…why did you keep me with you during the fight?" He paused for a moment.

"Well…there were two reasons, but…they were pretty selfish ones," he said. "The first one was to prove my point to Cobra that he wasn't the greatest thief in the world anymore." Selfish, but quite understandable. "The second…well, if I had lost the fight somehow, I wanted you to be the last thing I saw."

I blushed radiantly. "But…why me?" I asked. He smiled softly.

"Because I-"

Suddenly, he let out a yell of pain and fell over. "Bakura!" I exclaimed. An arrow was sticking out of his back. One surviving member of Cobra's thieves had followed us and shot him. Before he could escape, however, Kiko took one of her own arrows and shot him in the middle of the back. Bakura's eyes were barely open and groans of deep pain escaped his mouth.

"What are we going to do?" I asked worriedly.

"Let's get him inside, first," Kiko said, lifting him up.

We took him back into the hideout and down into the tunnel. As Kiko entered Bakura's and my room, she turned back to Alexandria. "Keep Alea out here," she said. "I need to work quickly." Alexandria just nodded. With that, Kiko closed the door.

My back fell against the opposite wall and I sank to the floor. I couldn't believe it. How…How could he get hurt so terribly? I couldn't help but think, He's going to die. I began crying. Alexandria put her arms around me. "Don't worry," she said. "Kiko is very good at this…and the arrow wasn't even close to hitting his heart."

"But it hit something," I said. "He was bleeding really badly."

Alexandria seemed to be unable to answer. "I know he'll be alright," she said. "Bakura doesn't give up, even if he is wounded as badly as he is now."

She was right. He would never give up on life. I folded my hands. Osiris…please…don't let him die. I prayed. I know he has done terrible things before…but he's done very good things, too…let him live…please.

Hours seemed to pass and my anxiety grew. Finally, as nightfall came, Kiko came out of the room. I instantly stood up. "Is he okay?" I asked, my heart beating quickly.

Kiko smiled. "He's made it through the worst of it," she said. "He just needs to rest now." I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"He wants to see you, Alea," she said.

I took a deep breath and entered the room, Kiko closing the door behind me. Bakura was lying on the bed, the upper part of his torso completely bandaged. He turned his head towards me. "Alea," he said quietly.

I ran over to the bed and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Bakura…I thought I was going to lose you," I cried. He held me close to him.

"I thought I was going to lose you, too," he said. I felt my shoulder become wet. Is he…crying?

"Bakura?" I questioned. "Are you…crying?" He was. But…he never cried.

"Sorry," he said. "I just…really thought I was going to lose you." He held me closer.

"I was so worried that that arrow had pierced your heart," I said.

He looked at me and lightly grasped my hand, placing it on his chest. "I'm not so sure it didn't," he said. I blushed brightly and my heart started to melt.

In that instant, his lips touched mine and we were kissing. It seemed so wrong, a princess kissing a thief, but…it felt so right. I couldn't believe we were actually doing this. I wanted it to last forever, but he lightly pulled away from weakness and instantly fell asleep.

I couldn't deny it to myself anymore. I was completely in love with Bakura. It felt great to finally listen to my heart and not worry about how the world viewed what went on between Bakura and me.

I soon became tired myself and lay down next to Bakura, curling up close to him.

Before I fell asleep, I heard the door open quietly. Kiko came in and blew out the two candles in the room, allowing us to sleep better, and exited the room. "Took them long enough," I heard her whisper to Alexandria.

I felt so happy…so…complete…