Hey guys, sorry for the late chapter. My Command had a major inspection to get through this last month that had me working extremely long hours. The only days off I had were Sundays which were spent grocery shopping, sleeping, and cleaning. Preparations for that inspection started in January and screwed up my fanfiction writing time. Luckily the inspection is over and I can now focus on my story in my spare time. Also, to add to all of that, I found out a few months ago that my husband and I are expecting our first child. We don't know the gender just yet but the baby is due in October. Don't worry I'll get the kid into Yu-Gi-Oh and fanfiction really quick.

Disclaimer: Need I repeat myself? The only thing I own is the sugar in my cabinet and the Sunny D on my desk.

Chapter 13

Don't Walk Away

Tension filled the air around two teens who were locked in a battle of glares. Neither were willing to break eye contact with the other as anger flooded their veins. The female tried to pull her wrists from the ever constricting grip that the male had on them but it was no use. Chocolate colored eyes narrowed in defiance as their owner readied her leg to swiftly kick the male in front of her.

In a darkened area of the male's mind a set of violet eyes opened in earnest. The feeling that something was off had awoken the white haired male from his mental slumber. Standing up he walked in an unmarked direction investigating the reason to be woken up. A dark feeling wrapped around him as he got closer to the source of the motive. Frowning in concern he made his way towards the light that would soon show him the scene that was unfolding.

"Now what trouble did you get yourself into," Thief King questioned as he looked through a pair of brown eyes that were still glaring at Serenity. Tapping into his other side's thoughts he relived all of the previous events until this point. "You are such a fool!"

"The only fool is her for believing she'll get away with this." The other white haired male snapped as his inner mind formed next to his ancient self. The younger one let out a cry of pain falling to his knees while rubbing a spot on the back of his head. His older half had taken it upon himself to hit him upside the head as hard as he could. A pair of dark brown eyes narrowed in anger and pain at Thief King who shot a glare down at him.

"If any harm comes to her through your hands I will personally make sure your life becomes more of a hell then it already is. What she did to you is something you deserved and far better than what I would've done to you. That poor child thought you were dead and how do you respond? By toying with her through a stupid prank. I'm beginning to question how in this day in age you could become so brain dead."

"It was only a joke. I didn't think she'd get so damn upset." It came out as a snarl but the face on the younger male showed a hint of remorse. Yami Bakura slowly rose to his feet still gingerly rubbing his now aching head.

"Apologize to her. I didn't put her through my tests just for you to toss her aside." The younger man's head snapped up in alarm as he turned a set of wide brown eyes towards the darker tanned male.

"What did you do to her? What tests are you speaking of? You sit there and gripe at me to not harm her and you had already thrown her through-" A hand rose cutting him off.

"The tests she went through are none of your concern at the moment. No harm was done to her and the only thing they did was open her eyes to what she was getting into. Serenity agreed to the tests willingly and even surprised myself. If I deem her valuable to you then you should be able to take my word. Now, apologize to her before you lose the last shred of light in your world." With that said and done Thief King Bakura vanished into thin air back into his own part of Yami Bakura's mind.

The red haze that the male had been seeing recently slowly began to dissipate as he regained control of his emotions. Dropping his clutch from the young woman's wrists he turned around and strode back to shore. The red head stayed put looking slightly confused as she watched the male unfold the blanket and spread it out on the ground. Setting himself upon it he laid back basking in the sun before patting the area next to him.

Serenity's eyebrows knit together in confusion and distrust as she slowly walked out of the water and towards her school partner. Walking up to the blanket with a swirling blue and green pattern she slowly sat down on the edge. By then Bakura had his arms folded behind his head as he soaked in the warm sunlight. Crossing her legs she looked down at his prone form not saying a word.

"It's rare for me to apologize so this is going to be one of the few times you'll ever hear me say it but I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd get so upset over a joke. What I did wasn't exactly smart on my behalf. I thought it was funny until you slapped me and then I got pissed off. You're the first person in a long time to not hesitate in striking me out of anger and not suffer repercussions. I'm not going to beg for your forgiveness and honestly I don't give a damn if you do or don't." Yami Bakura said all this with his eyes still closed not wanting to meet the look that Serenity was probably giving him. Looking into those eyes would only make him feel more guilty than he already was and he wasn't about to have that.

"You're right, you didn't think. Do you realize what was going through my head at that time? I was terrified for both you and myself. What if you really had drowned, what could I do then? I couldn't just leave your body here and try to find my way back to the resort by myself. What if there were more of those men from earlier running around in the woods here and they came across me by myself? You are the only one keeping me safe and sane at the same time. If I were on my own I would've given up a long time ago despite the act I put on for everyone else. Deep down I'm still that pitiful girl from Battle City and she started to return when I thought you had died. You're someone that keeps the weaker side of me at bay and one of the few people that lets me be me and not some puppet to be controlled by strings."

A brown eye cracked open to glance at the auburn haired girl who was now playing with a corner of the blanket. Her back was to him but he could tell by the motion of her shoulders the girl was close to tears once again. Taking a deep breath he closed his eye and let it go slowly. How do you respond to something like that and not have the glass in your hands shatter into a million pieces? Opening his eyes slowly Yami Bakura sat up and grabbed his bag. Opening it he pulled out the outfit that had been left in there.

"Here, put these on until your clothes dry. I know we've been through a lot together but I'd rather you keep the last of your decency then have it given up to me. The pants may be a little big but you can borrow my belt if you need to." With that Yami Bakura gently tossed the folded clothes so they landed next to Serenity.

The girl turned her head to look at the offer before turning slightly to look at him. By that point he had his back turned to her so she could change. Taking the opportunity she tugged on the black cargo pants and pulled the blue and white striped shirt over her head. Turning back around she found that Yami Bakura still had her back to her so she tapped him on the shoulder to let him know she was done.

"Thanks for the clothes. I'll give them back once mine are dry." Serenity blushed as she started to tug a little on the bottom of the short sleeve shirt. Yami Bakura turned to look at her and tried not to look too stunned at the fact the pants fit her decently.

"Either the store put the female jeans in the male section by mistake or I need to put on weight." The albino muttered with a raised eyebrow. "Anyways, take a seat, I'm going to be straight up honest with you and you towering over me at the moment has me worried you're going to kick me in the face at some point."

"Don't think I haven't thought about it a couple of times," the red head giggled as she sat down legs crossed. Yami Bakura let out a snort of amusement as he laid back down.

"Serenity, I'm not some prince in shining armor like your brother and his friends are to the rest of the world. If it doesn't fit in with my plans then it doesn't get a second look. So why you've taken a sudden interest in me I have no clue. I'm evil and that's never going to change. Girl's like you tend to go for the bad boys in hopes that you can change them for the better but what happens when that back fires? You have a girl in tears, a guy who doesn't care, and a bunch of people calling the man a jackass because the stupid woman wouldn't listen. What goes through your heads is beyond me but I wish you all would stop that sappy crap. I'm not going to lie and say I don't feel something for you just don't expect it to be some happy fairy tell ending. God knows how many times my past self has bitched me out for saying shit to you. I've never dated a girl, never planned to, and even if I did date a girl I can't exactly say it would go well. Besides that my plans don't exactly involve a life style any girl would want. Especially when I control the darkness and tend to disappear into it for long periods of time. The shadow realm isn't a lovely place to get sent to and each time I go in it's harder to get out."

"The shadow realm, Joey and the others mentioned it a few times and told me it's a horrible place where you live your worst nightmares. You claim you're evil and that you control the darkness, so how much of an affect does it have on you? Why is it so hard to get out of a place you control?" Serenity's hand moved to touch Yami Bakura's hair out of fascination of it but hesitated. A hand grasped hers gently and placed it on its master's head to let her know it was okay.

"Imagine the most complicated labyrinth you can think of. Now imagine finding your way out and you still remember the path you took to get out. You walk away from that maze for several months and come back. Except now the labyrinth is bigger and more complicated but you are unaware of that. The path you remembered now just has you lost and confused. As an added twist there are monsters around random corners that you need to defeat to move on. Some are easy, others can actually rip you to shreds and you become one of the monsters forever doomed to live in that labyrinth. With every new person that gets added to the shadow realm the maze changes and more monsters are created. Even though I can control the shadows my powers are limited. The maze gets stronger against those that are fortunate to have authority over the darkness. After a point many give up and merge with the shadows. Others, like myself, just continue to get stronger by sending more souls to feed to the shadows."

"So, how did Mai and my brother get out of the shadow realm after Marik sent them there?" Serenity couldn't help but shudder when she spoke Marik's name. His darker side still haunted her nightmares from time to time and each one was worse than the last.

"If someone with a pure heart defeats the one who sent them there then the labyrinth releases them. The more vulnerable the victims that are sent there are the less likely they'll survive more than several days without having something wrong with them when and if they return. You're friend Mai may seem strong on the outside but I saw her in the shadow realm. It broke her in more ways than one. She's hiding something from all of you and quite well I might add. What Marik's darker half had done to her wasn't pleasant."

"You didn't try to stop it?" The question was asked in horror as the red head stopped her ministrations on the male's head.

"Serenity, what did I tell you before? I'm not a good guy and if it's not in my plans I don't act on it. Besides, she wasn't mine to save, she was your brother's and then that god damned pharaoh."

"Why do you keep calling Yugi pharaoh?" A quizzical look appeared on the female's face as she started to lay down on the blanket.

"It's a long story that is extremely hard to believe. Besides that, I'd need my past self and Selana to fill in the blanks. I'll to tell you the story if we make it out of this situation."

"I'm holding you to that." Serenity giggled as she turned over to look at Yami Bakura.

"As long as you promise me something in return." The male said looking over at the girl.

"What?"

"Should we stay together as a couple, you promise not to walk away from me unless I tell you too for your own safety. I'm going to mess up and we both know it. I haven't been in a relationship in thousands of years and-" A small hand covered the albino's mouth muffling his next words.

"I understand, you're not perfect and I know that. You're hot tempered, psychotic, and disliked by my friends. Now would you quit being so damn cliché and saying things I already know? Yuck!" Serenity quickly yanked her hand away from Yami Bakura's mouth as the male teen decided to lick it. He laughed as she wiped her hand on his pants grossed out a little.

"You never said you promised." Yami Bakura said after he finished laughing.

"Well I was going to until you licked me!"

Five heads turned to look at the set of doors that made the entrance to the room they were sitting in. A tri-colored haired boy had just walked through them and his once cheery face was now full of concern. All eyes followed the teen as he sat down at his original spot on the couch.

"Yugi? What's wrong?" Tea asked her question breaking the quietness and causing everyone to jump.

"The Millennium Ring. It's missing." Yugi stated simply his gaze never leaving his lap. The room went deadly silent as everyone took in the news.