Valkyria: Hello! For those of you who read my other story, Shining Light, then you know that this will be the last chapter until Spring Break. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: I claim no rights to the anime/manga Yu-gi-oh!

"I didn't know what to do. For the first time in my life, I didn't know what to do about the situation that stood before me. I felt lost, but that didn't mean that I couldn't find my way. Eventually." Ryou Lindel

Chapter Thirty-Eight : Emotional Sandstorm.

Flowers. They came in many shape forms, colors and Ryou often found them beautiful to look at and was flattered when a date or even a friend gave them to him on a birthday or on a holiday, but at the moment Ryou despised them because they would stop coming to his door or to his workplace. The sender or culprit as Ryou dubbed decided that if he didn't speak or answer any phone calls then he would shower him with flowers or old artifacts that he would drool over should the situation be different.

Never in his life did he want to choke the life out of someone. If he got one more arrangement or even a single white, yellow, blue, red rose then he would make sure that he would have a toe-tag with Bakura's name on it.

Unfortunately, another arrangement came to his office Monday evening and with fire in his veins, he demanded the delivery boy either take it back to the store or give it to his own lover. The refusal was met with a wary nod and look before the delivery boy left the museum quietly leaving Ryou with a guilty pit in his stomach. He didn't mean to yell at the young man, but dammit, he was frustrated and tired of flowers.

"I don't think that was quite called for, Ryou." Ishizu murmured, stepping beside him and startling him quite soundly. "He was just delivering those beautiful flowers to you."

"From Bakura," Ryou spat acidly. "Who is engaged at the moment. I don't take flowers from engaged men."

"You did at the beginning." Ishizu pointed out softly, causing Ryou to blush brightly. "In fact, you were quite flattered when he sent you the first two bouquets."

"I thought they were a friendly gesture, an apology for the way things ended." Ryou spluttered. "I didn't think it would go this far, honestly."

The ending of the ball didn't go as planned and Bakura went back to Egypt on a sour note with Kisara and his parents, while Ryou, stayed behind with a jealous heart and a bruised ego. It was well deserved because not only did Ryou pleaded with Bakura not to break the engagement, but to respect Kisara who would do nothing but get caught in the middle of their love affair. It wouldn't be fair to her or to them in the end. Bakura, wearing his usual scowl, quietly agreed and gave him one last kiss before going to his private jet with his parents and Kisara who gave him a sad, but grateful look as she too departed for Egypt.

Ryou thought that would be the end of it. He and Bakura would remain friends and see each other once in a while, but no more than week later did the flowers started flowing in, each of them with a message inquiring as to how he was and like a love-struck fool, Ryou was flattered at the attention bestowed upon him, but that wonderful flattery turned into annoyance, frustration and outright anger. He quickly caught on to the fact that the flowers weren't meant as an apology or as a friendly gesture, but as romantic gestures. The language of flowers: roses, forget-me-nots, lavenders, morning glories and a wide variety gave Ryou plenty of clues and when he realized this, he tossed every single flower out in a fit of rage. He didn't like Kisara or her uptight attitude, but he would never goad Bakura into cheating on the poor creature.

And so, he ignored the flowers, accepting them or sending them back. He wasn't going to be a house-wrecker. No matter how handsome Bakura was.

"Some things are far beyond our control, Ryou." Ishizu laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know that you still care for him-do not lie, I can see it on your face- and he still cares for you." she took her hand off his shoulder. "Is this really such a bad thing?"

"Yes." Ryou had to force the words out of his mouth not only because he wanted them to be the truth, but because he needed them to be. He could handle his own broken heart, but he couldn't handle breaking someone else's.

"Really?" Ishizu questioned, sounding skeptical. "I don't believe you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Ishizu, but however much I care about Bakura, I'm not going to get in the way of his engagement." Ryou held up his hand to stall Ishizu's protests. "I will move on and I will find someone else just as he will move on and marry Kisara."

"So, you will settle for this?" Ishizu waved her hand idly. "You will settle for loneliness and despair?"

"It is better to settle for that than to settle for an eventual broken heart."

"I thought you were stronger than this, Ryou." Ishizu placed her hand against her heart. "The Ryou Lindel that I know would not give up so easily-"

"The Ryou Lindel you also know is not a home wrecker-"

"Yet."

"It doesn't matter." Ryou said desperately, wanting to tug his hair out at the roots at how stubborn his boss was being at the moment. "I'm not going to do this, Ishizu. I'm not going to go and rip up an engagement."

Ishizu gave him a sad look and patted him on the shoulder. "You can not destroy something that it is already ripping at the seams."

"I-what?"

"If you take a closer look at them both then you will realize that their "relationship." is not of a natural course." Ishizu smiled as she caught the look of realization on Ryou's face.

"You mean that it was arranged?"

"Exactly," Ishizu replied, folding her arms and giving him an amused look. "Kisara and Bakura are indeed a match of grace, intelligence and sexuality, but you have something that she does not."

"And what is that?" Ryou asked, trying and failing to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice, but Ishizu stared at him calmly and he knew that it was no use to hide what he wanted.

"You have his love."

It was such a simple statement, but it caused Ryou's heart to skip a beat and a blush to rise on his cheeks. He lowered his head and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Ishizu?"

"Yes?"

Ryou raised his head and stared into those calm blue-green eyes. "Thanks."

Ishizu smiled brightly. "You're very welcome, Ryou."

The flowers eventually stopped-much to his eventual disappointment. But, instead of flowers he started receiving small artifacts and trinkets that made his heart swell despite the fact that he didn't want it to. The first gift was a small ankh locket with three well placed diamonds which Ryou wore under his shirt and over his heart.

The second gift came in the form of a small picture of Bakura who was wearing shorts and green shirt. Ryou laughed at the missing tooth gap that Bakura proudly displayed in the picture. This gift wasn't expensive or rare, but it meant that Bakura was opening up to him, showing parts of himself that he wouldn't do under the threat of torture and Ryou found himself elated at the fact.

He knew he should have refused the gifts, but he remembered what Ishizu told him the other day; he had Bakura's love and the gifts that sat on the coffee table were proof of that and he couldn't send them back, not without breaking Bakura's heart.

This was the last thing he wanted to do.

So, he took the gifts with a light, but cautious heart for he did not want to jump too far ahead and humiliate should he read Bakura the wrong way. Fortunately, the third gift arrived two days later and the contents made Ryou's heart swell and seize at the same time. There, on the velvet cushion, was a pair of silver dog tags with Bakura's name and information carved carefully in Arabic.

"Is something the matter, sir?"

Ryou looked up at the worried question and shook his head, giving the delivery boy a weak smile. "No, it's nothing to worry about." he reached into his pocket and produced a small wad of yen. "Here," he placed the money into the younger man's hand. "Thank you for delivering this."

The delivering man grinned brightly. "You're welcome! Have a pleasant day!"

Ryou closed the door and leaned against it, the box against his wildly beating chest. Bakura was a soldier and these dog tags were a part of that. He never could get Bakura to tell him about his days in the military, and recieving these dog tags meant something to him and to Bakura. It meant that the man was opening up to him little by little and knowing that fact caused his face to heat up in joy.

As if knowing he was being thought about, Ryou's cell phone rang, a bright, cheery ring tone echoing in the living room. It was Bakura's ring tone and Ryou smiled shyly at the sound of it. He walked back to the couch, grabbed the cell phone and flipped it open.

"Bakura." Ryou greeted happily. "Good Afternoon!" he frowned when Bakura didn't return the greeting as he always did when he got a chance to call. "Bakura?"

"I thought that it was time for us to talk, Lindel-san." Kisara's cold and aristocratic voice came back calmly. "I wanted to know why Bakura was so amoured with you."

Ryou's heart froze at the sound of the woman's voice. "K-Kisara?"

"Hello." the woman greeted, amusement in her tone starkingly clear. "Good Afternoon!"

Ryou plopped down on the couch when his knees felt weak. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"So polite," Kisara murmured from the other side. "I'm beginning to see why he likes you."

"He doesn't like me."

"I'm sure the both of you are good friends, are you not?" Kisara's questioned was inquistive and light. "He talks about you often enough."

Ryou narrowed his eyes at that. He knew Bakura enough to know that he wouldn't bring up potential love interests if he was in a relationship-no matter how sour said relationship was. The man wasn't that horrid.

"Does he now?" Ryou asked, deciding to play her game for the time being. "I hope it's not anything too bad?"

Silence came from down the line before Kisara spoke up again, her tone hard and unamused. "He says that you are a good friend and he wishes he could visit you more often."

"Bakura and I clicked when he was here visiting Ishizu-san." Ryou felt inclined to inform her. "We both regretted that he returned to Egypt."

"I didn't. For if he didn't then I would have never would have met my future fiance."

Ryou raised an eyebrow at the haughty tone Kisara had. She was definitely turning into a little brat, wasn't she? "Well," he huffed playfully. "I offer you my congratulations."

"Thank you." the reply came back confused and wary and Ryou reveled in the fact that he changed the tables on the intelligent woman. He could see why people loved manipulating each other. It was constant game of cat and mouse.

"Can you give Bakura my regards?" Ryou asked hopefully, smirking when the woman hissed on the other line. "I hope to hear from him soon."

"I'll do that, Lindel-san. I hope you have a pleasant afternoon." Ryou didn't have a chance to return the gesture before he was met with a busy signal; Ryou smirked and flipped the phone shut, tossing on the couch next to him.

"That was fun." Ryou said softly. "Bakura might be a little mad, amused, but mad." Ryou picked up the box that were holding the dog tags. "I'm sure thanking him for the gifts will cheer him right up."

"You can not destroy something that is already tearing at the seams."

Ryou frowned thoughtfully at Ishizu's words. The jealousy, coldness and manipulation screamed insecurity and despite the amusement he felt at the phone call, he couldn't help but feel a rush of pity for Kisara who stepped willingly into an engagement with a man who had no visible interest in her. One part of him wanted Bakura back and the other wanted to leave them in peace, but he had a dreadful feeling.

A dreadful feeling that his desire to be with Bakura was winning.