***AN: Minor Citronshipping lemon.***

Kaiba set up five distribution centers throughout Domino City to pass out locator cards and register everyone that wanted to enter the tournament. The Kame Game Shop – completely looted of Duel Monster cards, but otherwise unharmed – was one such distribution center. With the day almost over and all their locator cards handed out, Yugi and Anzu stood behind the counter, filing registration forms into boxes and preparing to leave.

"That was madness," Anzu wiped sweat off of her forehead. They had the door opened for a breeze, but it was still warm inside the shop without air conditioning.

Yugi nodded. "I'm really glad Seto had enough foresight to assign armed guards at each location. Otherwise, I think there would have been riots."

"I hope . . ." Anzu sighed. "I hope this works. Did you notice? Everyone we saw today looked sick."

"I did notice." He smiled for her sake. "But don't worry. We're going to fix this. It's not the first time we had to fight in a tournament to save the world, right?"

She snorted. "Let's get these boxes in the truck so we can go home. I'm beat."

"Okay. Where's Jonouchi? He should carry these instead of you."

"I can get it." Anzu jutted her chin out and grabbed one of the three cardboard boxes to carry past the armed guards and to the truck that would ship them back to Kaiba's mansion.

"Did someone say my name?" Jonouchi's voice called down the stairs.

"Where have you been?" Yugi asked.

Jo grinned. "Well, all the people were gone, so I decided to look upstairs to see if I could find anything."

Yugi sighed. "I already did, everything's gone."

"Not everything." Jonouchi flashed a pile of cards at Yugi.

"Where did you find those?"

"Under your bed, hidden in the box-spring, remember?"

Yugi's face beamed at the memory. "Our decks from college. We wanted to try new cards, so we decided to hide them, like a time capsule."

"Yup. We were going to dig them out after we got tired of our new decks, but we forgot about them."

"How'd you remember?"

Jonouchi shrugged. "I was just thinking . . . about old times, and then the memory hit me."

"Glad it did – there may be something we can use." Yugi lifted one of the remaining boxes. "Grab the last one, Jo, so we can get out of here."

They loaded the files, and were about to jump into the back of the truck when the squeal of tires cut through the air. The guards aimed rifles towards the noise until the familiar black Porsche appeared.

Mokuba stuck his head out the window. "Come on! We gotta go!"

"What's wrong?" Anzu shouted as they sprinted towards the car.

"Her water broke this afternoon!" Mokuba cheered. "The labor seems to be getting serious now. Thought you'd want a faster ride."

"Hell yeah we do!" Jonouchi jumped through the open, passenger side window without opening the door.

Anzu rolled her eyes, using the door properly as she sat in the backseat. "You guys have no idea how labor works, do you?"

"Of course not. I'm a dude."

"Sorry to tell you Jono, but it can take an a few hours before the baby's actually here."

"Maybe, but why take chances?" Mokuba laughed as he shifted gears and pushed them all back into their seats as he drove forward.

"Mokuba!" Yugi shouted. "You can't drive this fast with Anzu in the car!"

"Hey!" Anzu protested.

Jonouchi rolled his eyes. "Oh here we go. Another feminist war."

"Shut-up, Jo, and Yugi, you are not going to start treating me like a flower."

"I can't help it. I mean, of course I'm going to worry more now."

"Why?" Mokuba's eyes shot up to the rearview mirror for a second to look at Yugi before darting back to the road. "Are you sick, Anzu?"

"No."

"Then why is Yugi worried?"

They glanced at each other. Anzu shrugged, giving Yugi the call. He scratched the back of his head. "Well . . . we weren't going to say anything until later, but . . ."

"But what?" Jonouchi leaned to the side in order to look at both Yugi and Anzu in the backseat.

Anzu put a hand on her belly. "We sorta thought that maybe your niece or nephew needed a friend."

Mokuba's eyes jerked back to the rear view mirror, this time staring at Anzu. "Wait, does that mean –"

Anzu smiled and nodded her head.

"All right!" Jonouchi cheered. He and Mokuba hi-fived each other.

Yugi thumped the back of Mokuba's seat. "Keep both your hands on the steering wheel!"

"Congratulations!" Mokuba ignored Yugi's advice, instead shifting into the next gear so they could go a little faster.

Jonouchi wrung his hands into nervous knots. He watched Honda pace back and forth in front of the door. On the other side, Shizuka screamed while doctors and nurses tended to her. Anzu and Mai were with her for moral support, but Anzu insisted that all the males wait in the hallway.

Jonouchi stared at the rug, a scatter of golden paisleys floating in a maroon sea. Another scream from his sister made Jonouchi's hands clench into fists. "If she doesn't stop screaming like that, I'm going in there and clocking the doctor."

"Jo, she's having a baby," Honda muttered as he continued to pace.

Jonouchi released a frustrated growl, but stayed quiet. Another scream made Jonouchi wince, but afterward, a smaller, shrilling crying reached their ears, and Jonouchi jumped to his feet. Honda stopped pacing. He stared at the door and waited.

The door swung open and Anzu peeked out with a bright smile on her face. She gestured for Honda to enter the room. "Come and meet your son, Daddy."

Honda's face broken into a proud grin as he disappeared into the room.

"Yes!" Jonouchi punched the air in excitement. "I knew it'd be a boy! I'll teach him to catch, and play Duel Monsters, and I'll take him to his first strip club."

Yugi laughed. "All the strippers are zombies now."

"By the time he's eighteen, things will be fixed enough for there to be strip clubs," Jonouchi insisted. Thinking about his new nephew in the next room made Jonouchi want to help Atem retrieve the Tome even more than before. He'd beat the tar out of the asshole who caused the plague and then they could work on putting things back in order.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jonouchi noticed a quiet form gliding, rather than walking, down the hallway. When Jonouchi looked up, he realized it was Atem. Yugi's former other half grinned at them, brandishing a box in both his hands. "I convinced Seto to let me have these for the occasion."

He opened the box and displayed a dozen cigars.

"Hell yeah." Jonouchi snatched one out of the box.

Seto's voice echoed down the hall. "Someone cut and light that for him because I swear if I see that fool just shove the tip straight into the flame I'll end him for ruining one of my cigars."

"Fuck you, Kaiba!" Jonouchi shouted.

Atem chuckled. "Let me help, Jonouchi."

It still pissed him off, but since it was Atem, Jonouchi let it go. He looked at Yugi, "We'll have to save the extras for when Anzu has her baby."

Atem and Seto both raised eyebrows at the news. "Anzu's pregnant?" Atem asked.

Yugi's cheeks grew coral. "Yeah, we weren't going to say anything until after Shizuka had her baby, but we found out a few weeks ago that she was."

"Congratulations." Atem patted Yugi on the back.

The door opened again, and this time both Mai and Anzu stepped into the hall.

"Thank the gods that's over with. That was waaay too much biology for me for one day."

Anzu sighed. "How can you say that, Mai? That was beautiful."

Mai snorted, stealing the cigar from Jonouchi's mouth and puffing on it.

"What's the big idea?" He scowled at her.

He tried to steal it back, but Mai took a calculated step backwards. "Can't take the cigar into the delivery room." Mai grinned. "I'll hold it for you while you go say hi to your nephew."

Marik knew he dug his nails too deep into Bakura's back. He could hear the way Bakura growled with a mix of pain and anger, pleasure and lust, each time Marik scored his nails into Bakura's nut-brown skin, but Marik couldn't help it.

During the last few weeks, ever since Marik brought home the Winged Dragon Card, Bakura started taking a more active role in bed. Each time that Bakura lead, their lovemaking ended up hard and desperate, almost feral – as if each time could be the last chance they'd ever have together and Bakura used sheer force of movement to deny the possibility.

And each time Bakura drove into Marik with unrelenting passion, the former tomb-keeper couldn't hold himself back, biting and clawing at Bakura until he drew blood and pulled dark blue-violet welts onto the surface of Bakura's skin.

They came at the same time, screaming each others' names. Bakura kissed Marik's left temple, and then his right temple while Marik went over the bruises on Bakura's collarbone with gentler kisses.

"I told you, Bakura," Marik whispered. "It won't be the same this time because we're not the same."

"I don't trust fate." Bakura grabbed Marik's wrist and dragged his lips against the sensitive flesh.

"I'll take a break." He already had almost all the locator cards he needed. "I mean, it's not like I'm playing to win. I'm just holding onto Ra until I see the Pharaoh. Then I can forfeit my game again and give him the damn card like I did last time."

Bakura sank next to Marik, using Marik's shoulder as a pillow. "If it were simply your life on the line I wouldn't be so worried. I know what happens to the dead and it's nothing to mourn, but this shit—" He sprang up and swiped Marik's deck of cards off of the nightstand.

The brightly colored slips of paper fluttered down like leaves caught in a dust-devil, but the Winged Dragon of Ra blew towards them, landing on Marik's sweat-damp chest.

Bakura gritted his teeth when he saw what happened. "The Shadows are worse than death."

And Marik knew that Bakura spoke from experience. He plucked the card off of his chest and set it to the side, leaving the other cards on the floor. "I'm not worried."

"You weren't worried last time either – we still ended up in the Shadows."

"And now we're fine."

Bakura crossed his arms over his chest and snorted. Marik couldn't help but laugh. He knew the situation wasn't casual, but Bakura looked cute when he pouted. Marik looked up at the sky. They didn't have a roof yet – Bakura was being obstinate about telling Marik why he hadn't added it yet, but Marik didn't mind because the summer weather made sleeping straight beneath the sky pleasant.

He elbowed Bakura. "Let's not build a roof. We can leave it like this. It never feels dark without a ceiling."

"What about when it rains?"

Marik smirked. "You can summon Diabound and have him lay over everything." It wasn't a large place. A common room with a hearth for cooking and heat in the winter, and a bedroom. They had a latrine, but it was separate from the main building. Miyu ate meals with them and trained with Bakura throughout the day, but stayed in her own place at night, and that suited everyone.

"You'll want a roof when it's winter."

"Too bad roofs can't be invisible." Marik sighed, thinking out loud. Bakura started laughing, Marik scowled at him. "Stop laughing at me, you asshole. I—"

Marik didn't have the chance to finish his sentence. Bakura chose that moment to roll over, grab Marik's face, and kiss him silent.

Dear Amane,

I sent thirty-seven people to the Fields today, and Kek did the same for one-hundred and seven people. I hope they all made it through the Duat safely.

Our current safe-house is halfway between Market Town and the Kaiba Corp Stadium. We alternate days between building traps, and culling the undead – who are still gathering around Market Town no matter how many we send Home and burn. Kek is excited about the fire pits in our obstacle pits. I told him to wait until I was taking a break from the fighting to light them. I'm not as enthused as him about the idea of flaming zombies surrounding me.

Sorry if this all sounds morbid. The world's kinda morbid now – but it's beautiful, too! This summer has been mild, and the roses and hydrangeas are everywhere. I found some purple hydrangea that matched Kek's eyes, so I braided them into his hair. It was nice . . . that day was nice. It's been a long time since I could just sit outside in the grass without worrying about getting attacked. I got sunburned, but I didn't mind. It was worth it. I think one hundred grasshoppers jumped on us – Kek caught a bunch and we fried them for dinner. It tasted better that it sounds, I promise.

I can't wait until next spring when the red tsubaki bloom. I think Kek will really like those – they'll remind him of blood. He likes the roses. He says they remind him of me – pretty, but you have to watch the thorns. Every morning when I wake up, there's a bundle of roses next to my pillow. (Yeah, I'm just as bad as ever about waking up late. Kek always has breakfast ready by the time I'm up.)

I'll write another letter soon. I don't want you sending Bakura after me again. I mean, he seems a lot different from before, but I think the less Kek sees of Marik the better. He's seemed a little down ever since that day, but he won't talk about it. It must be hard for him, to think about it.

Anyway, don't worry about me because I'm as good as someone can be after the end of the world. Tell mom and dad that I miss them.

~Love, Ryo.

"You're open!" Bakura shouted.

Miyu tried to block, but Bakura moved in quick as wind, using wooden daggers to deliver three mock slashes.

"You're dead. You're dead. You're disabled. I told you to keep your guard up."

"Fuck!" Miyu swore, gripping her wooden daggers a little tighter. She wrapped the handles with strips of cloth, but she still had a splinter in the palm of her left hand. Miyu dug at it with her teeth before spitting it out and glaring at her mentor. "Again."

Bakura nodded, trying not to grin at her. "Guard up. Watch my eyes – damn-it, Miyu, what have I told you about footing."

"God dammit." She corrected her stance, turning sideways to reduce Bakura's target.

"Better." Bakura slashed at her, but she blocked the attack and moved out of the way.

She knew Tiamat like a second self. After they weeded and watered the garden, Bakura made her meditate every morning to hone the power of her ka. In the afternoons they sparred, and in the evening he made her study out of school books he filched from an old school building. She thought it was retarded to learn algebra in the middle of the zombie apocalypse – at least the damn garden fed them and the knife fighting taught her to protect herself, but every time she tried to get it through his thick skull that she didn't need to read Sun Tzu's The Art of War, he gave her a twenty minute lecture that always bored her so much that she'd start reading the damn book just to ignore his nagging.

The sun burned down on the top of their heads. Miyu wondered how dark haired people managed the heat. At least her white hair reflected most of the light away from her scalp, but her skin had grown dusky from all the outside training instead of lazing around under awnings and inside her hut. Miyu blinked sweat out of her eyes, knowing if she turned her gaze from Bakura for even half a second to wipe her eyes dry, that the bastard would whack the back of her head with the flat of his wooden dagger and yell at her about taking her eyes off of her opponent.

She saw Marik appear, and that meant it was time for lunch. "Finally!" Miyu cheered, sheathing her training daggers in her belt and walking towards Marik.

Bakura grabbed her hair and pressed wood to her throat. "You don't walk away from the middle of a battle for a lunch break, Miyu."

"Gimme a break, Bakura! I'm hungry."

He tched and put his daggers away, looking up at Marik. "Did you bring the extra?"

Marik pulled a sack out of his backpack. "Yeah, but why do you need two lunches each?"

"Not for us." He took the white sack out of Marik's hands and handed it to Miyu. "You need field practice. Go take this street level and find those two morons from the other day."

"This is bullshit." Miyu grabbed the sack. "You're just trying to ditch me so you can get smoochy."

Bakura shrugged. "If you're afraid to go alone, just ask and we'll go with you."

Miyu growled. She knew he was playing her, but her pride wouldn't let the comment slide. "You're pissing me off today."

Bakura chuckled. "You're pissed because you didn't keep your guard up. You always get pissed when you make a mistake, but I told you – getting angry won't help you fight."

"Whatever." Miyu snatched her lunch with the other two and stormed off, making sure she picked up her hat from where she'd left it before she went to the street below.

She wasn't sure why she always listened to Bakura when he turned her into an errand boy. She didn't really need him to train her anymore – and she was a better thief than him. They had a contest and she won. He whined that he was a tomb robber and not a pick-pocket, but a loss was a loss.

It was more trouble than it was worth, really. All the stupid weed eating, and the blisters on her feet and hands, and waking up before dawn, and passing out every night because she was so tired from all the work she did. It was stupid. At least, that's what she told herself. Still, no matter how much she slapped at his hands whenever he messed up her hair, maybe it wasn't so bad. Maybe she listened to Bakura because he was the only adult that ever gave a damn – even before the zombies.

***Dadkura!***