DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fanfiction produced for entertainment purposes only. Yu-Gi-Oh! and all related characters are the creations of Kazuki Takahashi.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 1: I'd just like to say a really big 'Thank you!' to everyone who's reviewed so far! All of you have been so nice with your comments, they really make my day.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: If anyone's interested, I've done a few images up of Bakura in both his kitten and chibi forms. The link is on my bio page. If it isn't on the page when you look, try again in a few hours. Changes like that take a while to appear sometimes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 3: Because of the changes in FF.net's upload system, changes in scene in all of my stories will now be represented by - - -, since the asterisk no longer works. I am also unable to use my signature happy-face smilie for the same reason.

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Another Source of Magic
Chapter 28: Sealed with a Kiss

By Shadow's Mirror

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The house was silent except for the steady ticking of the grandfather clock in the downstairs hallway and the drip of water from the leaking tap in the bathroom. In Ryou's bedroom, both those noises were shut out by the closed door, so the only sound was the soft breathing of the boy sleeping peacefully in his bed and the chibi he held protectively in his arms. Then a new sound whispered through the room.

The faint rustle of ancient pages turning was accompanied by a soft golden glow that enveloped the large spellbook sitting on Ryou's desk. When the book's pages stopped moving, the glow did not fade. Instead, it grew brighter. Oddly though, the bright glow seemed to be restricted to the area immediately around the book. Its light did not pierce the shadows covering the rest of the room, or disturb the two boys who continued to sleep just a few feet away.

As the glow began to fade, a shimmer of golden light appeared in the middle of the room. By the time the book had returned to its usual appearance, the shimmer had taken on the form of a tall, thin being. Then the shimmering light suddenly blinked out, as though it had never existed, leaving the familiar form of the Dark Magician in its place and plunging the room into darkness again.

The Dark Magician waited for a moment while his eyes adjusted to the sudden change in lighting. When he could see again, he looked around as though searching for something. His eyes fell on the two forms in the bed and a slight smile settled on his face.

He crossed the room slowly, taking care to keep his steps as silent as he could. This was the riskiest part of his plan. If either of the boys woke up now, he would have no choice but to leave and he might not get another chance to do what he had to do. He breathed a soft sigh of relief when he finally stood at the side of the bed, with both boys still sleeping.

Ryou stirred, a slight frown on his face, as though he sensed that something was out of place. The Dark Magician quickly held his staff out over the boy and whispered a single word. "Sleep." A fine violet mist fell from the staff, vanishing into the air before it touched either boy. Ryou immediately sighed and settled down again. In his arms, Bakura-chibi also sighed and remained sleeping.

With the sleep spell in place, the Dark Magician was free to do as he wished. The spell would ensure that both boys remained asleep until dawn and what he needed to do would take only a few minutes. He could have done it there and then, but… He looked down at the two slumbering boys and couldn't resist.

After gently brushing a stray lock of Ryou's hair back off his forehead, the Dark Magician gently eased Bakura-chibi out of Ryou's hold. Much to his surprise, both boys immediately stirred despite the powerful spell upon them. "So… your bond still holds true, despite the spells and Bakura's current form. Interesting." He waited a moment while they settled down again, noting with great interest how Ryou's sleep was now rather restless. He brushed another light touch over the boy's cheek, silently reinforcing the sleep spell. A slight frown creased his brow as the boy groaned softly before finally lying still. "Do not worry Ryou, your little yami is safe with me."

As soon as Ryou was sound asleep again, the Dark Magician carried Bakura-chibi over to the window. He settled down on the wide windowseat, the small child cradled in his arms with all the skill of someone who was very familiar with handling chibis. Bakura-chibi made a dissatisfied noise in his sleep and the Dark Magician responded by rocking him slightly. "Hush, Bakura. It is all right. You will be back in the arms of your light soon."

He smiled slightly as the child settled down at the sound of his soft voice. When he then lightly brushed the chibi's bangs out of his eyes, Bakura-chibi responded by hugging his toy closer in his sleep. The movement caught the Dark Magician's attention. "What have you there, little one?" He peered more closely at it, trying to make it out in the faint moonlight. When he realised what the toy was, he blinked. "Ah. So that is why Dark Witch was so smug when I saw her earlier." He sighed and shot a disappointed look over at Ryou. "I suppose a Dark Magician toy was out of the question…"

With another sigh, the Dark Magician shifted Bakura-chibi slightly so he could get a better look at his little face. He studied him for a moment in silence and then nodded. "Yes, so far, so good. Things are progressing rather nicely. Not quite as quickly as I had hoped, perhaps, but then again this sort of thing needs to develop in its own time. I should not interfere. I know that. But…" His hand lightly stroked the child's soft hair, causing Bakura-chibi to snuggle against him happily in his sleep. The Dark Magician smiled down at the little boy. "What can I say? I never could resist a happy ending."

He looked over at the boy sleeping across the room and sighed softly before returning his attention to the sleeping chibi in his arms. "If anyone deserves a happy ending, it is you and Ryou but I cannot help there. That will be up to the both of you. But there is something I can do for you now."

The Dark Magician closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The words of the spell filled his mind and he took a moment to make sure that he knew them all off by heart before he began to speak. His voice was never any louder or stronger than a whisper, but by the end of the first line it seemed to fill the entire room, such was the power of the spell and its caster.

"All that you have seen or heard,
Every action and spoken word,
Everything that you'd regret,
If you knew that you'd forget,
Although the spell will try to bind
All that lies within your mind,
When you grow, let these things be
Safe within your memory.

Not only recall his heart so true,
But one more gift I give to you…
The thoughts that through your link, unknown
From his mind to yours have flown,
Let them be as crystal clear
As a whisper in your ear.
The spell I cast to bring you this,
I now seal it, with a kiss."

The Dark Magician leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Bakura-chibi's forehead. As he did so, a shimmer of golden light flowed over the child sleeping in his arms. The spell had been cast.

For a few moments once his job was done, the Dark Magician allowed himself to relax as he cradled Bakura-chibi. He looked out of the window, staring at the darkness beyond with troubled eyes that seemed to be gazing at something that only he could see. He sighed heavily and returned his attention to the chibi stirring restlessly in his hold. "Well little one, as much as I enjoy being here, it is time for me to return to the Shadow Realm. I just have one more thing to do before I go."

A few moments later, the Dark Magician smiled as Ryou's arms moved protectively around his yami-chibi. The child made a satisfied sound and snuggled into the bigger boy's embrace before they both slipped into a deep and untroubled sleep. Despite the sleep spell, it was the first time that neither of them had been restless since the Dark Magician had separated them.

The Dark Magician moved around the bed until he was standing at the base of it. He raised his staff and pointed it towards the two boys. Then he grinned, a surprisingly wicked gleam flashing through his eyes. "Imprint." There was a flash of light that lit up the entire room as bright as day. When the shadows had claimed the room once more, the Dark Magician held out his hand. Immediately, a piece of paper appeared in his grasp. Moving around to Bakura-chibi's side of the bed, he placed the paper on the bedside table.

He was about to turn when he paused, a thoughtful look in his eyes. When he grinned, his eyes gleamed with mischief. "Oh, why not? I will probably never get this chance again, after all."

Raising his staff again, this time pointed at the piece of paper, the Dark Magician gave another verbal command. "Copy…" he paused to consider, "… times two." There was another flash of light, although this one was nowhere near as bright as the first had been. When it faded, two more pieces of paper lay on top of the first. The Dark Magician chuckled softly as he slipped them into his robe. He grinned at the sleeping light and yami-chibi and then raised his staff again.

When the shadows reclaimed the room after the third flash of light, the Dark Magician was gone.

- - -

The small study was warm and cosy with a cheerful fire crackling merrily in the hearth and bathing the room in a rich golden glow. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with books of all shapes and sizes, while more books were piled in gravity-defying piles wherever there was a spare spot of floor or furniture. The only places left clear were the desk, the chair behind it, several paths around the room and the large overstuffed armchair positioned directly in front of the fire. The Dark Magician took a deep breath of the familiarly musty air, filled with the scents of old books and scented wood and let it out again in a contented sigh. "Ah… home sweet home."

"Have a nice trip?" The soft voice surprised him for a moment and he tensed, his attention turning to the back of his armchair. His occupied armchair, apparently. He relaxed again as his mind belatedly recognised the voice. The Dark Magician released an amused chuckle.

"I should have known that you would be here. Although… I don't remember telling anyone where I was going…" His voice was its usual mild tone and only someone very familiar with it would have noticed the unspoken question it held. The chair's occupant easily did so.

"When we met in the forest earlier, you questioned me about Bakura and Ryou. It's Wednesday, so I knew you would be alone here tonight while your apprentice studied at the library. I figured you'd try something tricky. I never thought you would dare interfere with my sweet masters, though."

The chair moved slightly as Dark Witch stood up and turned to confront the Dark Magician. Her eyes were hard and cold as she glared at him and a shiver ran up his spine as he looked into the twin pools of fury. He backed up a step when he noticed that she was holding her spear. "What did you do to them?" Her voice matched her eyes and the sharp question made her opponent wince.

"I did nothing to them." He quickly held up his hand to stop her protest. "All I did was cast a simple spell to enable Bakura to remember that his wishes had been granted! Nothing more!" Noticing that Dark Witch had lowered her spear and was listening intently, the Dark Magician relaxed slightly and elaborated.

"There is a fault in that particular spell. It grants the caster's wishes, yes, but it takes the wishes very literally. Wishes for items are fine, but if the wish is for something to happen, then sometimes it may happen without the caster realising it. Like Bakura, in this case. He would have remembered nothing, since he was too young. I thought it best to make sure that he knew his wishes had been granted. Otherwise, he probably would have cast that spell again out of sheer stubbornness."

Dark Witch thought for a moment before nodding slightly. She blinked and her spear vanished. The female Shadow Monster smirked to herself when she noticed how the Dark Magician relaxed at that. "I guess that's fair enough." She gave him a sharp look. "As long as that is all you did."

The Dark Magician looked away from her, a faint tide of colour washing into his pale cheeks. "Ah… well… there was one other little thing…" He shifted uneasily as Dark Witch raised an eyebrow and waited in ominous silence for him to continue. "I… couldn't resist… I mean they looked so relaxed and it is so rare to see them like that so I… I…" He sighed heavily. "I took an imprint of them."

Dark Witch glared at him. "You did what?! Why you… you…" She spluttered for a moment, unable to come up with anything descriptive enough to say to him.

The Dark Magician ducked his head, his cheeks now burning with embarrassment. He reached into his robe and held out one of the copies he had made of the imprint. It was basically a piece of paper with an image imprinted on it, rather like a printed version of a photograph. In this case, the image was of Ryou and Bakura-chibi sleeping peacefully. "I made you a copy…" he offered weakly.

"You… you…" Dark Witch paused in her spluttering and blinked at him. "You did? Oh. Thanks." She took the paper from him and studied the image for a moment. A slight smile stole over her features. "Aw… they're so adorable like that!" She caught herself and quickly frowned at her opponent again. "But you still should not have done it!"

"I left the original for them. I wasn't going to take copies but…" He shrugged sheepishly and tried a small smile, which faded when Dark Witch kept glaring at him. The Dark Magician stared down at the floor and did his best to look as miserable as he felt. Dark Witch sighed.

"Oh for the Shadows' sake, will you stop it with the pouting already? I guess there's no harm done." The Dark Magician looked up hopefully and Dark Witch fixed him with her most serious look. "But you know, if Bakura ever finds out that you have a copy of that imprint…"

The Dark Magician winced at the thought. "I'll hide it in my bedroom. No one but me ever goes in there," he assured her quickly. Dark Witch suddenly smirked.

"You said it, not me!"

- - -

The first fingers of dawn crept into the room where Bakura and Ryou lay sleeping. They inched across the floor, bringing the faint light of morning into the complete darkness that had been there moments earlier. On the bed, Bakura-chibi shifted as the Shadow Magic gathered around him. Awakened from a deep sleep by the strange feeling, he whimpered softly in fear, not knowing what was happening.

The sound woke Ryou and he blinked open his eyes and looked sleepily at his chibi-yami. When he saw the faint glow surrounding the little boy, he was immediately wide awake. Somewhere deep down inside his soul, Ryou knew what the glow meant. "Bakura!" He quickly gathered the frightened child into his arms and hugged him close, knowing that it might well be the last time he would get to do so. "It's all right, Bakura. Everything is all right."

Bakura-chibi looked up into the gently smiling face of the boy who had come to mean so much to him and he stopped being afraid. The boy was with him. He was safe. A sudden understanding flashed through his mind and sorrow filled his heart. Somehow… he knew that everything was about to change. He didn't want it to. He wanted to stay with the boy forever.

Ryou gasped as Bakura-chibi suddenly hugged him as tightly as the small child could. The glow around the little boy grew brighter, but Ryou kept his eyes on his chibi-yami until he could no longer stand the brightness. As he closed his eyes, he hugged the child, not wanting to let go.

With his eyes closed, Ryou could feel the change as it happened. The little form in his arms began to grow rapidly. It was only a few moments before Ryou knew that Bakura was back to his normal size. He knew the light was fading again, but still he didn't release his hold or open his eyes. He just couldn't bring himself to face the fact that the adorable little child was really gone.

Ryou started in shock when a hand brushed his cheek, his eyes opening instinctively to see who had touched him so gently. He thought he caught a glimpse of something oddly like tenderness in his yami's dark eyes, but it was gone so swiftly that Ryou decided he must have been imagining it. He blinked uncertainly up at Bakura. He wanted to say something, anything, but his mind was blank.

Bakura frowned. "You're crying. Why?"

His gruff voice caused a strange dizzying sensation in Ryou's heart. He'd missed that voice badly over the past few days. Before he could gather himself enough to answer though, Bakura's frown deepened. "And why are we… why am I… like this. In physical form, I mean," he added quickly, his eyes suddenly looking everywhere except at Ryou.

It felt as though someone had just driven their fist right into Ryou's chest. He gasped as he found himself unable to breathe because of the pain in his heart. At the same time, he realised that Bakura was no longer hugging him. Embarrassed, he moved, easing himself away as he sat up. He felt the bed shift beneath him and knew that Bakura had sat up too, but he couldn't make himself look.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to reply. "You fell asleep that way." He kept his reply as simple as possible, knowing how confused his yami had to be at that moment.

"I…" Bakura started to speak but Ryou shook his head and looked up at him. One look from his light was enough to silence Bakura.

"No. Please. Let me explain." Ryou was determined to break the news to Bakura as gently as possible. He really didn't want him to get angry again, as he had been when all the trouble had started.

"You cast a spell that would grant you your three greatest desires. That was three days ago." Again, Bakura tried to speak but Ryou shook his head and continued. "The spell… gave you a different form. Apparently, you needed to be in that form in order for your wishes to come to pass. You've been in that form ever since. I spoke to Dark Witch yesterday. She knows of the spell and she said that because of the form you were in, you wouldn't remember much, if anything, of what had happened to you." Ryou looked anxiously at his yami, trying to determine how the news had affected him. Bakura looked like he was in a state of shock.

"This… other form that I was in…" Bakura said slowly.

Ryou shifted, suddenly uncomfortable. He'd been hoping that Bakura wouldn't ask that. "You were a… chibi." He held his breath, waiting for Bakura's reaction.

Bakura closed his eyes but otherwise showed no emotion. "Did I… get my wishes?"

Ryou was surprised by the quiet question, and more than a little disappointed. He had thought that perhaps Bakura would wonder what had happened while he had been a chibi, but instead it seemed that his yami was only interested in knowing if it had all been worth it. "You must have. The spell wasn't supposed to end until you did and you're back to normal now. I don't know what your wishes were though, so I'm afraid that I can't tell you anything more."

Bakura nodded but remained silent. He was silent for so long that Ryou began to wonder if something was wrong. He really didn't want to interrupt his yami's concentration but he was starting to get worried. "Um… Bakura? Do you…" When Bakura made no sign that he was even listening, Ryou gathered his courage. "Do you know what your wishes were?"

"No." For a moment Ryou thought the single word was all the answer that Bakura was going to give. "But like you said, they must have been granted. So it doesn't really matter, does it?"

Ryou looked away, stung by his yami's apparent lack of interest. After everything that had happened… after how he had come to cast the spell in the first place… how could he just dismiss the spell and the wishes so easily? Still, if Bakura didn't care about it, then Ryou knew that nothing he could say or do would make his yami change his incredibly stubborn mind! He took a shaky breath to calm himself before replying. "No, I guess not."

When he felt the tears threatening to fall, they were unexpected and most unwelcome. Ryou didn't want Bakura to know how upset he was, so he did the only thing he could think of doing. He slipped back down into the bed and burrowed under the covers. "Well, it's still early. If you don't mind, I think I'll get some more sleep." He hoped Bakura would think his voice was shaky from tiredness rather than anything else.

"Whatever." At Bakura's unconcerned reply, Ryou pressed his face into his pillow and tried desperately not to make a sound as his tears began to fall.

He felt the bed shift as Bakura got up. After a moment, Ryou risked a glance to see where his yami was. Bakura was stalking towards the window. Ryou watched him for a moment before hiding his face again as another tear slid down his cheek.

- - -

Bakura sat on the window seat, gazing sightlessly out at the early morning sky. His mind was whirling but, despite the conflict raging within his soul, he still sensed the pain and sorrow that his light was trying so hard to keep from him.

He was furious with Ryou. Why did his light have to be so… passive! Instead of facing him, light to yami, so they could have a good argument about what had happened and get it all out in the open, Ryou had closed himself off in his own little world of sadness. A world that Bakura was all too well aware he was not welcome in. True, there was nothing actually stopping him from intruding. Ryou's emotional defenses were laughable and Bakura had never had any trouble getting past them when he wanted to. So why wasn't he doing it?

Bakura sighed as he admitted the truth to himself. Although a part of him wanted to confront Ryou, another part of him was nervous about what would happen if he did. No… not nervous… scared.

'Curse the spell to the Shadows! I should never have cast it. I was a fool to do so. I should have known that it wouldn't do what I wanted it to do. I thought it would make everything right, but it just messed things up even more! Now I can barely tell up from down and Ryou…' Bakura closed his eyes, trying to ignore the pain he could feel through his link to his light. 'Ryou is hurting… and it's all my fault.'

Turning his head, Bakura looked over at the boy huddled miserably in the bed. 'Ryou keeps forgetting that I can feel everything he's feeling. He can hide nothing from me. He never could. Unless I allow him to. But at least I can give him the impression that I don't know. He needs that right now. I know him well enough to know that, at least.'

Bakura sighed softly. 'If only I didn't know how he'd react if I told him the truth. He'd be horrified. Mortified. Things would never be the same between us again. No. I can't tell him.'

He looked down at the piece of paper he'd found on the bedside table. He didn't know where it had come from, but it was probably some obscure part of the spell. At least he'd found it before Ryou had seen it. If Ryou had found it first, then Bakura knew he would never have seen it and he was glad that he had. His fingers lightly traced over the two boys in the image and he smiled slightly. 'Oh Ryou… how can I tell you that you're wrong?' He sighed again.

'How can I tell you that I remember everything?'

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to be continued…