The sound of beeping brought him back into the conscious world. From what he could gather without opening his eyes or moving, he was in a bed, which was in a brightly lit room.

When his sense of hearing fully returned, he heard the sound of people talking. Familiar voices bounced around the room and into his ears. So far he knew, he heard Yugi, Yami Yugi, and his own Yami. Where were they? Where was he?

Slowly, Bakura opened his chocolate eyes, his pupils adjusting to the new light. Blurred at first, his vision finally focused enough to show him that he was in a hospital room.

He groaned softly. He wasn't too fond of hospitals, not since Kaiba's Battle Tournament where he spent most of the time in one.

"Hey," he heard Yugi say, "Bakura's awake!"

And suddenly, Bakura felt their presences beside him. Turning his head to look at the three of them, he smiled softly. "So," he said hoarsely, "you're back in your body, eh, Yugi?"

Yugi nodded.

Bakura laughed a little suddenly. "I understand now why you really hated being in that orb. The dreams were one thing. . . . . . . but actually being in there. . . . . . . I could understand why you were so afraid."

"But why did you do it?" Yami asked. "Why did you switch places with Yugi when you knew what to expect?"

Bakura looked at the spirit of the Puzzle, then up at the ceiling. "Well, I could sense how afraid Yugi was of going back there. He was. . . . . . I guess. . . . . terrified. He didn't really want to go back there, so. . . . . . ." He shrugged slightly. "I switched places with him."

"You didn't have to," Yugi said.

"I know. But I didn't mind."

The smaller boy smiled. "Thank you."

Bakura couldn't help but smile back.

Yami Bakura allowed a small smile to cross his lips before setting a scowl on his face. "All right," he said, sounding slightly agitated. "That's enough out of this shit. You two," pointing to Yami and Yugi, "get out. This idiot is so weak he probably needs to rest some more."

Yugi and Yami looked at the boy lying in bed, who just nodded to them. Glancing at each other, they both left, wanting to tell the others the good news. Yami Bakura shut the door after them.

"I heard what you said," the dark spirit heard the boy say suddenly.

"What are you talking about?" Yami Bakura snapped.

Bakura kept his eyes to the ceiling. "When you were talking to Yami Yugi about breaking the orb to free Yugi and my soul, I heard what you said."

Yami Bakura cringed slightly. "You heard. . . . . . everything?"

The young boy nodded. "I wasn't aware of much when I was out of the orb, because I was under Ishinku's control until the point where Yugi was trying to reach out to me. But inside the orb, I could hear everything that was going on outside. It's just that I couldn't make sense of anything until now."

The dark spirit let out a little laugh. "So you know my secret now, huh?"

Bakura simply shrugged. "It didn't surprise me, really. I always figured you cared, but just didn't want to let on."

"How'd you know?"

"You could have easily killed me a long time ago, like you said, even before we ran into Yugi on Duelist Kingdom. You had always complained about sharing my body with me then. But you never did anything about it, except for that one time when you trapped my soul in the Change of Heart card. But nothing that would kill me. And I suppose I just kinda guessed at that point."

The spirit rubbed the back of his neck, slightly uncomfortable. "So what do we do about that now?"

"Well, we could try to act more like Yugi and Yami Yugi to show we care, but I'm guessing that wouldn't be too comfortable for you."

"Yeah."

"So we could just try our best to care for each other. How's that?"

Yami Bakura sat beside the bed of his young life, gently ruffling the boy's hair. "Sounds fine to me."

Bakura sighed slightly, swinging gently on the child's swing. It was a peaceful, clear day,

with a gentle breeze blowing across the area. His feet dragged across the dirt as he swung, and he watched as they made a slight trench in the ground.

Though he noticed, he didn't do anything as Yugi sat in the swing next to him. "Hey," he heard Yugi say.

"Hey."

"How do you feel?"

"Better now that I'm out of that hospital."

"Yeah. I went to visit you in the hospital, but they told me you were released."

Bakura shrugged. "I guess I didn't feel like calling anyone at the time."

A moment of silence settled between them. Then, Yugi said, "Bakura?"

"Yeah?"

"I. . . . I wanted to thank you for what you did."

"It was nothing, really."

Yugi shook his head. "No. It WAS something. What you did. . . . . I'm not only talking about switching places with me that time. I'm talking about allowing me to share bodies with you while that spell was cast on me. It must have been very hard."

"I guess it was."

"So then why did you let me stay?"

"Well," Bakura replied thoughtfully, "I was remembering how you wanted to help me when I asked you to attack me as the Change of Heart. You said you wouldn't, because I would go to the graveyard. My Yami wanted to destroy you, and I gave you a chance to beat him. But you wouldn't do it, because you didn't want me hurt. I. . . . . guess I just thought that I should repay you."

"Well, what you did was enough to repay me and more. Now, I think that I should do something for you."

"It's alright. That's what friends are for, right?"

They looked at each other, and both smiled.

Suddenly, Yugi jumped up. "Oh!" he said, turning to Bakura who was still sitting on the swing. "I want to show you something!" The younger boy grabbed his friend's hand, pulling him to stand.

"Show me what?" Bakura asked.

"It's a surprise." Yugi was beaming. "Come on."

"Yugi, can I take this blindfold off yet?" Bakura asked, slightly confused with what's going on.

"Not yet. Just wait another minute."

The snow-haired boy found himself tapping his foot, waiting for when he could remove the cover over his eyes.

"Okay. You can take it off."

Removing the blindfold, Bakura inhaled sharply with what he saw. He and Yugi were at the ranch that Bakura used to come to so often. Standing in front of him was the white stallion he favored.

"I remember," Yugi said, "when I was still under the spell, that you were thinking about how much you wanted to ride him. So, I thought it would be nice if you did." He was still beaming.

"Yugi. . . . I. . . . . how. . . . .?"

"The owner of the ranch is a good friend of my grandpa's. They've been friends for as long as I could remember. When I was younger, and feeling lonely, I would come here, and I would ride some of the horses. Personally, I like riding this one."

Yugi came up to Bakura and the white stallion, gently pulling on the reigns of a straw colored horse. It nickered softly, digging its hoof into the ground.

Bakura watched as Yugi got up on the horse. "Well?" the smaller boy asked. "Get on. He's gentle, don't worry."

Smiling, Bakura got up on the horse, holding on the reigns. Both horses trotted a bit around the ranch. The white-haired boy couldn't contain his excitement, as he gently kicked the sides of the horse to get him to go faster.

Yugi laughed, riding up next to Bakura. "That's pretty good for someone who's riding for only the second time," he said, smirking slightly. "But do you think you can keep up with me?"

Bakura smirked also. "Not only that, but I'm sure I could beat you."

"Oh? You think so?"

"Yeah, I do." And the two of them rode off, trying to win their race, laughing all the way.

The End