FLY WITH ME
Chapter 1: A Revelation
By Amphitrite II

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Notes: Yeah, I'm finally posting a new Darkshipping fic. Emphasis on the 'finally'. I know it's been a while. Gomen. Hope ya'll like this! Oh yeah, this was inspired by Nephrite Eyes's "Crash and Burn", one of the best Darkshipping pieces out there! Do me a favor and go R&R it. :D

Pairings: Darkshipping (Bakura/Yami), Heartshipping (Ryou/Yuugi), and various other inconsequential background ships

Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to the great Kazuki Takahashi. Much thanks to him for letting me play with his amazing characters!

Last Revision: October 3, 2008
Post-Revision Notes:
Wow, this thing is ancient, haha. Figured I'd do some excavating and rewrite some of this and see where it take me…

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It's funny how just when everything feels so right in your life, it can all come tumbling down. Explanation for my moodiness? Simple, really: I'm jealous. Of who? Pretty much everyone around me. Reason? Isn't it obvious? They all have their own little boyfriends, girlfriends, lovers, soulmates—with whom they share everything, from kisses to secrets to trust.

And me? Ha. Yeah, right. As if anyone would even think about dating a 3000 year old former pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. Not exactly the kind of thing you'd look for in a personals ad. I suppose if I went looking, eventually someone would take me as a lover, but that's not what I'm looking for. Not at all.

I want someone who will understand me and like me for who I am; someone who I can trust with all my deepest thoughts; someone who I can complain to; someone who I can relate to. Unfortunately, this is all unnecessarily difficult due to the fact that despite this solid body I own now, I am still not exactly what one would call an ordinary being.

Sighing deeply, Yami pondered the heavy depression in his chest. Absentmindedly, he stirred his cup of tea and scanned his surroundings for his friends, who were casually enjoying themselves.

The cozy teenage hangout was, as usual, filled with teenagers of all ages and heights. Sharing a loveseat in a secluded corner, Ryou and Yuugi were deep in conversation, small hands intertwined. Anzu and Shizuka were at the counter, clinging to each other in giggling fits. Next to them sat Honda and Otogi, who were sharing an obnoxiously colorful drink and laughing to themselves. Jounouchi and Kaiba had disappeared together half an hour ago and still had yet to make another appearance. Yami felt a pang of loneliness as he examined each of their happy faces (and discarded the disturbing images that Jounouchi and Kaiba's absence conjured). Why had he agreed to come along? He should've just told Yuugi that he was too tired.

"Mind if I join you?"

Yami was startled out of his thoughts when a familiar, imposing voice interrupted his reverie. "Huh?" he answered unintelligently.

A sharp, amused chuckle: "I'm up here, Pharaoh." Yami looked up and instantly narrowed his eyes when he recognized who the voice belonged to.

"What do you want," he replied, deadpan. Bakura's expression reeked of indifference; he shrugged nonchalantly.

"I asked if you would like my company. It looks awfully dreary over here. Realizing your incompetence and meaningless existence, Pharaoh?"

Yami snorted. "My existence is a thousand times more meaningful than yours, Thief."

"Oh, really? Do explain," Bakura prodded, and growled in frustration when Yami ignored his taunting tone of voice and drifted back into his own little world. Bakura hated being ignored. He snapped, "Pharaoh."

"Hn?" was Yami's absent response.

Rolling his eyes, Bakura said slowly, "May I sit here? Is that clear enough for your miniscule brain?"

"Uh-huh." Yami nodded, still not paying attention. Settling in the seat across from him, Bakura raised an eyebrow and waited for something to happen. Instead, they just sat there in an awkward silence. Bored and just the tiniest bit curious, Bakura followed Yami's lost gaze to Yuugi and Ryou. Their younger incarnations were laughing about something, Ryou attempting to muffle his giggles by burying his head into Yuugi's wild hair. Wrinkling his nose at the domesticity of his host and his lover, Bakura turned back to Yami to study his expression.

He looked…envious? Envious and sad.

Strange… What on earth did Yuugi or Ryou have that could garner jealousy from the Pharaoh?

Bakura watched as Yuugi let out another giggle and kissed Ryou playfully on the cheek—and Yami's eyes instantly switched back to staring mournfully at his barely drunken cup of tea.

Ah. Now we were getting somewhere: clearly, the Pharaoh was jealous of their love. He, too, wanted someone to cherish and adore, someone to laugh with, someone to cry to. Interesting…

Bakura coughed and cleared his throat to get Yami's attention. "So, what's on your mind, Pharaoh?"

After fifteen long, awkward seconds, Yami realized that he was being addressed. "Me?" Bakura nodded exasperatedly. Yami was silent for a moment, and Bakura was afraid that he had become distracted again—but then Yami spoke: "Life. Wishes. Soul mates."

Well, that was an unexpected answer, Bakura thought. "Soul mates? The runt?" he asked, slightly curious. Yami shook his head.

"Soul mates. Lovers."

Startled not by Yami's answer itself but its honest nature, Bakura raised an eyebrow. "Would you care to elaborate?" he asked. Yami sipped his tea, which had cooled considerably by now, and suppressed a grimace at its unsavory taste.

"No, thank you."

After Yami's polite and rather emotionless reply, an uncomfortable silence settled over the two again. Unable to stand it, Bakura asked another seemingly random query, "You ever loved someone, Pharaoh?"

Magenta eyes flickered to Bakura's face, scanning for traces of mockery. 'Love' was not ordinarily a word found in Bakura's vocabulary. Finding no hint of ridicule—surprisingly—Yami carefully replied, "No."

"That's odd. With your good looks, I never would've thought…. Hmm. So you yearn to experience love?"

Yami's suspicious expression evolved into one of surprise at hearing the bold, perceptive question; then, it proceeded to become bashful and confused when he realized that Bakura had complimented him. What a strange thing for the Thief King to say to him.

"How… Well, yes…. Yes, I do. Immensely," he added.

Bakura stirred his drink and chugged it before pulling back in his seat and searching Yami with his eyes. "You say you have never loved anyone. Has anyone ever loved you, then?"

Sadly, Yami answered, "No, I don't believe so."

Smiling secretly to himself, Bakura tipped his head slightly downwards toward his now empty glass so his white bangs shielded most of his face. How wrong and blind you are, Pharaoh. Someone who loves you very much is sitting right in front of your eyes.

"Really, now?" Yami nodded slowly, not sure why the normally hostile ex-tomb robber was asking him such odd questions. "Not even in Egypt?"

Yami shook his head. The two were silent again. Annoyed by Yami's decision to keep his thoughts and angst to himself, Bakura fidgeted in his seat. Damn it, I give up. I'll never get the Pharaoh's attention. But as he stood up to leave, he was stopped by Yami's deep, calm voice.

"Have you ever loved anyone, Bakura?"

Bakura started. Leaning back in his chair again, he pondered his choices. He could do what Yami expected and just lie and say no. Then again, he could just ignore the Pharaoh and leave, like he had been about to before he'd been interrupted. Or—Bakura swallowed nervously—he could attempt honesty for once and tell Yami the truth: that he did indeed love someone, someone who was both infuriating and captivating, beautiful and tainted, noble and cruel. He settled for the honest answer (if he ever wanted Yami to think kindly of him, he had better start telling the truth):

"…Yes. I do at the moment, actually."

His honest answer was met with Yami's confused blinks; his face twisted in disbelief. Bakura mentally slapped himself, immediately regretting the impulsive decision. Lying was always so much safer.

"Who?"

Bakura shifted nervously in his seat and cursed Ryou's pale skin for its inability to hide even the faintest blush. "I'd prefer to keep that particular piece of information to myself, Pharaoh," he said tightly. Inexplainably, Yami's face fell slightly.

Yami nodded, understanding that it was Bakura's love life was his own business. But he felt a faint flutter of disappointment in his chest. Why am I disappointed? Why do I even give a damn who Bakura loves? He's just like the others, wrapped in their own little perfect lives with their lovers. Someone like him could only ever love some other maniac, anyway. It's too bad, because I just…

"…I just kind of wish that it was me."

Yami almost fell out of his seat when he heard himself say that out loud. Word vomit! Word vomit! What the hell was that? his mind shrieked as his mouth flapped wordlessly in an attempt to take the strange admission back.

Bakura was in a similar state of shock, but he calmed his fluttering heart down and merely watched Yami splutter, intensity obvious in his eyes and rigid limbs. Bright red and muttering unhappily to himself, Yami finally raised his eyes up to meet Bakura's, ashamed. They stared at each other, challenging the other to speak.

"What was that, Pharaoh? Did you mean it?" Bakura asked, ordinarily sharp voice mellowing into a questioning lilt. A miniscule amount of hope escaped into his attempt at indifference.

Yami was silent for what seemed like ages before he composed himself and answered calmly: "No. No, I didn't. It just slipped out; I don't know what got into me."

But why did such a truthful statement feel like such a lie?

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A/n: Maybe a bit on the short side, but I hope it was okay. I haven't written a pure Darkshipping fic for a while, so I guess you could say that my skills are a bit…rusty. I hope I've improved since Worthy of You.

If you review, I'll write the next part, but if I don't get any comments, this will stay the way it is: a one-shot. So please review! Thanks for reading!