Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the computer I'm using.

Chapter 10

Confused Feelings

The feelings that coursed through Serenity's heart and mind were a mixed up jumble. While she deeply wanted to relish in the kiss she also knew that it was wrong. It was too soon and something she wasn't entirely prepared for. Raising her hands she gently pushed Yami Bakura away taking a step back herself. Yami Bakura's eyebrows knit together in confusion and a bit of anger at her actions. Serenity took a small breath before explaining why she stopped him.

"It's too soon. I don't want this kiss to be a heat of the moment that you or I will regret later. A kiss should mean something not to be used because it felt right at the time. As much as I wanted it too it felt to cliche and different. I'm not sure how I feel about you just yet."

Serenity's gaze fell to her mud covered sneakers and pants. She didn't have the courage to look at the male in the eyes terrified that she would see nothing but contempt towards her. Yami Bakura smiled a bit before placing his hands on the younger girl's shoulders gently. Placing a hand under her chin her tilted her head so he could look into her eyes. Serenity quickly diverted her gaze.

"Serenity, look at me." Serenity kept her eyes turned as tears began to well up in them. "Serenity. Please look at me." Yami Bakura said firmly but softly. This time her brown eyes looked into his tears streaming down her face. "It's nothing to be sorry over. You're right. Maybe one of us would regret it later if we continued and I respect your feelings on the matter. I'm not entirely positive how I feel either so I'll drop the subject, we have bigger things to worry about. Like finding a new place to take shelter. Tonight we can stay here in the cave but tomorrow when the rain ends we can look for a better place. Perhaps we can find one of the newer cabins to take refuge in."

The auburn haired girl nodded slowly sniffing a little as she raised her hand to wipe away a tear. A pale hand stopped her and did the action for her. The spirit in front of her walked away leaving her to her own musings. She sat down and tried to figure out what to do. While Serenity was grateful for Yami Bakura saving her she was still terrified of him and wasn't entirely sure if his actions actually made her love him. Did he even feel the same way? What if he did like her and she just messed it all up? Placing her head in her hands she let out a silent scream of frustration.

Yami Bakura knelt down in front of his bag opening it to figure out exactly what he was working with. While the weather was decently warm he knew that it could get cold at anytime. Amongst the items he shifted through was the blanket he had for the bus ride, an outfit that had been missed underneath the blanket, his dueling deck, a dead iPod, a few poptarts from the cabin, a dead cell phone, his book, and a small package of matches which were of no use now. Sighing slightly in frustration he looked back at the girl who was now staring out into the stormy night. He was just as confused as she was when it came to sorting out how he felt. While he had felt the urge to kiss her at the moment she had point. He would've used the excuse later that he had gotten caught up with it all and that he felt nothing. Of course, he knew that was a lie and that he felt something for her.

Now that he had time to ponder it he asked himself a question that had him frowning in concentration. Did she like him and he just screwed it up? Maybe she didn't like him and that's why she stopped him or maybe she did like him but he tried rushing it and now she was scared he might go a little too far. Fist clenched tightly he sat against the wall of the cave. What was it about her that attracted him to her? Thinking back to the dream he had been having before he had been awoken by the intruder he tried to recall the images.

Yami Bakura stood at the end of a long sidewalk his back facing the house behind him. He stared up into the clear night glad to be finally home. Hearing a giggle behind him he turned with a smile on his face to see two kids running towards him. One was a girl with snow white hair and the other was a boy with pale red hair. Both looked no older than the age of five and both had their own brilliant smile which shown in their equally dark brown eyes. Yami Bakura knelt down to one knee arms open as the two children ran into his arms.

"Daddy! You're home!" They both cried merrily as they hugged him tightly. Two sets of small thin arms wrapped around his neck as he stood chuckling.

"I told you I was coming home today." Yami Bakura stated with a grin as he kissed his son and daughter on their heads. "I hope you didn't give your mother any problems. Especially you Ariel, you're following my footsteps way to quickly."

"We listened." Ariel pouted as she crossed her arms. Her brother shook his head.

"Nu uh! You didn't listen! You got me in trouble a bajillion times!" The small boy said pointing a finger at his sister.

"Bajillion isn't a number Brian, and I did not!" Ariel glared trying to fake innocence.

"Alright you two, that's enough. You're father just got back from a long tournament and I'm sure he wants to eat and relax. You promised you wouldn't fight with each other when he got back." A female voice lightly scolded from the doorway.

Yami Bakura growled as that was where the dream had ended. Who was the woman in the doorway? He didn't get a chance to see her let alone place her voice to anyone he knew. Scowling he pulled out the blanket from his bag. It was just a stupid dream, it didn't mean anything. Right? Looking over at the young teen who was still lost in her own thoughts he wondered what she was thinking about. He didn't wish to disturb her but he knew that she had to be tired from the ordeal she had experienced. Yami Bakura was wide awake himself and didn't really plan on sleeping. Instead he'd take a watch and ensure the girl would be safe.

"Serenity?" Yami Bakura asked as he squatted down next to the teen. She turned her gaze to him her expression nearly blank. He frowned a bit at this but said nothing on the matter. "I found a blanket in my back pack. If you want to you can sleep and I'll take up a watch. If anything it'll keep us warm considering we're both soaked from the rain."

Serenity nodded silently before following him to where his bag was leaning against one of the cave walls. He sat down and patted a spot next to him which she took. As he wrapped the blue and green blanket around them both, their feet poking out from the bottom, Serenity felt an odd sort of comfort fill her. Letting the feeling overwhelm her she placed her head on Yami Bakura's shoulder. She felt his hand on her head as he gently petted it in a comforting manner. Everything felt so right at that moment before Serenity was overcome by sleep.

Clarissa sighed as she hit the off button on her alarm clock. She had barely slept a wink the previous night as she worried over her two missing friends. The girl had barely been asleep for an hour when she awoke feeling that something was wrong. Turning on all the lights in the room she gave it a quick look over, locking the windows and bolting the door in the process, to find nothing amiss. After that she was too shaken up to fall asleep. Still she tried and dozed off with the lights still on only to wake up at odd increments later. Now, she sat with her phone looking at her Facebook page to try and calm her rattling nerves.

A soft knock on her door caused the worrying girl to jump and stare at the barrier eyes wide in alarm. Who would be up at this ungodly hour of the night? Standing slowly she made her way to the door quietly. Another knocked filled the silence before Clarissa peered through the peep hole. A sigh of relief escaped her lungs as she saw Tea standing in front of the door in her pajamas. Clarissa opened the door not bothering to hide the feelings etched in her expression.

"Can't sleep either?" The two colored haired girl asked the brunette. The other girl nodded silently as she bit her bottom lip. "Come on in I've been up for about an hour now."

"Thanks." Tea whispered due to tiredness and worry. "Do you mind if I spend the night here?"

"Go ahead. Hell maybe having the two of us in here will allow us both to get a bit of sleep. God knows how much caffeine it'll take to keep us both up tomorrow." Clarissa muttered trying to lighten the mood with a joke. It brought a tiny smile to Tea's face but even Clarissa knew that is was somewhat forced. She didn't care, her own joke didn't even make her chuckle which was something that rarely happened.

"I'm just surprised the guys are able to sleep through all this. I haven't been able to get a good night's rest since the day before all this happened." Tea stated as she sat on the bed Serenity had slept in. Her plaid outfit provided a great way to keep her hands busy as she wrung the fabric in her hands.

"They're guys, they aren't so attuned with their feelings as we are." Clarissa kicked off the white slippers that had been provided by room service and laid on her back. Tea followed suit staring up at the white and blue ceiling. Both girls escaped into their own minds before falling asleep once more.

In all reality one of the guys was not fairing well at all. Joey hadn't slept since they heard his sister was missing. Several cups of coffee during the day, along with sugary snacks, kept him up and running to hide his charade. At night he pretended to fall asleep so Tristan wouldn't get suspicious but as soon as the brunette was asleep he'd get up and start roaming the resort. Currently he was sitting in the lounge watching a late night rerun of an old classic cartoon. The show provided a temporary escape from the dreadful thoughts that began to form in his head. The somewhat talking dog and the four teenagers with the dog were solving some sort of mystery.

"Scooby-Doo will return shortly on Cartoon Network!" The invisible host announced as they went to commercial. Joey took that time to go to the kitchens. After all of the students had been cooped up inside all day they opened the kitchens for free reign until the end of their trip. It didn't stop the cooks from leaving out snacks for the teenagers that stayed up late or had midnight cravings. Picking up a paper plate from a counter Joey looked around before his gaze landed on a pan of chocolate brownies with powdered sugar on top. Licking his lips in glee he quickly filled his plate with six before filling up a large paper cup with milk. He headed back into the lounge with his dessert just in time to catch the ending of the last commercial before the show started up again.

"Alright gang, let's split up!" The lead blonde male said on the TV. Joey bit into a brownie sighing in frustration at being stuck in the hotel until morning while his sister was lost in the woods. His attention was never focused on what was around him and he wondered if his friends noticed at all. Yugi had offered to duel him but he declined saying his heart wasn't into it at the time. That's when he walked out and strayed into the lounge.

Thunder boomed and lightning flashed outside as the storm continued to rage on. Blue eyes turned to the window as the blonde reflected on what he had said to his sister. Would she be mad with him for telling her who she could and couldn't be friends with? Serenity had seemed hurt and angry when he spoke those horrible words. Now as he sat here thinking about the past few days he realized just how much Clarissa's words rang true. He really did need to loosen his grip and allow his sister to spread her wings.

A loud clap of thunder caused Joey to jump and nearly lose the plate of brownies in his lap. Regaining his composure clumsily his thoughts returned to his only sibling. Remembering how much she hated thunderstorms when she was little he prayed that she was doing alright now and that Ryou was protecting her. What Ranger Dean had said the other day had him on edge. Were those men really gone from the area and if not would they attack two lost teens? Serenity was fragile and had no skills in self defense. Ryou may be able to hold out for a short time but even he would be doomed to fail. Now that the evil spirit was gone there would be no chance for them at all. Something about the evil spirit disappearing as suddenly as he had made Joey come back to his thoughts about Ryou. Was the Spirit of the Millennium Ring truly gone and if not would he do anything to harm Serenity?

"Get a hold of yourself man!" Joey berated himself as he bit into another brownie. "If the Spirit was back Yugi would know and have told me so. It wouldn't matter if the storm was going on right now or not all of us would be out looking for him. No, he's gone and if he isn't, any harm he does to my sister will be his funeral." With that said to no one else in the room Joey turned his attention back to the TV.

A white haired teen sat in silence while his companion slept on his shoulder. Now that he could think clearly he began to go back to the events from earlier. What spurred him to try and kiss Serenity? Could it be the fact that she was actually willing to listen to his side of the story? She hadn't judge him for anything she herself hadn't seen. Maybe it was the fact that she reminded him so much of Selana. If that was the case than he better cut off ties with her quickly before both of them got blasted. That's exactly what he would do in the morning once she woke up. He'd crush any hopes the girl had for him before she got burned playing with a fire she couldn't control.