A/N: Wow… am I that bad at writing shounen-ai fics? R+R this please!

Salyria: Stupid mortals…::crosses her arms and glares ice-daggers at everyone who doesn't review this fic::

Jun: ::was too busy drooling over a picture of Seto:: *_*

Salyria: -_-;;; Jun-chan… you need to get your mind off that boi…

Jun: Seto-san… 3_3

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*…* = Jun.

**…** = Salyria.

[…] = Ryou.

[[…]] = Bakura.

/…/ = Yugi.

//…// = Yami.

"…" = Speech.

'…' = Thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Day: Friday.

Time: 4:00 p.m.

Jun's POV:

            Something was going on…

            I saw Yugi and Ryou talking in hushed voices—as they walked in Seto's and my direction—from where I sat with Seto's arms around me, curiosity burned in my mind, clawing at me, urging me to go find out what was going on…'What are those two boys talking about…?'

            "Konnichi'wa Yugi-kun, Ryou-kun… What's going on…?" I asked in a curious voice.

            "Konnichi'wa Junsui-chan." Yugi said cheerfully with a friendly smile.

            "Hai, konnichi'wa." Ryou mimicked him.

            'Now I know something's going on!'

            "Where is Bakura-san?" Seto asked before placing his head on top of mine.

            "He's with Yami… talking about something…" Ryou said in a timid voice as he fiddled with the Sennen Ring that hung around his neck on a thick rope.

            "Ryou-kun… you two are having a communications problem, aren't you?" I said in a calm and soothing tone to make sure he knew I was worried.

            A blush masked his cheeks as he nodded truthfully.

            "And you two thought it was best that Yami-san talked to him about it, ne?" I said.

            **What's going on out there Jun-chan…?**

            *Ryou-kun and Bakura-san are having trouble getting their feelings across to each other*

            Salyria fully woke up after that, she had been asleep in her soul room in the Sennen Anklet.

            **Let me talk to Ryou-kun, help him straighten things out…**

            I relayed Salyria's message to the others and Ryou blanched.

            "Okay… Let her talk…" Ryou said.

            With a glowing eye on my forehead and the Sennen Anklet glowing, I let Salyria take over…

Salyria's POV:

            I opened my eyes and was in Jun's body, but with my hair and eyes. It was strange, being in Seto's arms… It was Jun's rightful place, not my own…

            "So you two are falling hard but don't know how to get your messages across, ne?" I asked in a quizzical tone.

            "Hai…"Ryou said in a tone that made my heart wrench.

            I was truly worried now. For as long as I've known Bakura—which is a very long time—he's always been able to tell the person he loves how he feels. Why the sudden change?

            "It's not like him to hide things from me… We always told each other what was on our minds…" Ryou said in a pained voice.

            I slipped out of Seto's grip and hugged Ryou. His form was trembling from fear and sadness. 'Oh dear sweet Ryou-kun… Gomen nasai…' I had to find Bakura and tell him about Ryou soon…

            "Onegai… Salyria-chan… Please help…" Ryou said in a hushed voice.

            "I will do the best I can, Ryou-kun." I whispered to him. "I promise…"

            My heart wept for him. It was too much for him to have to go through this every day… I have a mission now… and it's time I get on it!

Yami's POV:

            How can a millennia-old tomb robber be so stubborn?! Here I am, wasting my time that could be spent on Yugi-chan and telling him how I feel about him. And now Bakura won't even tell me what is wrong?! It is in times like these that I wonder if Ra is punishing me…

            "Dammit Bakura! Ryou is waiting for you to tell him how you feel about him. And you're sitting here feeling sorry for yourself?!" I snapped at him, not really watching what I was saying.

But Ra dammit! Bakura should know better! He should know how much his hikari loves him. I shouldn't even have to be here to tell him! But what can I do? I have to help him… Yugi-chan made me promise to help…

            "I know, Pharaoh… I've been going over this countless times now…" He snarled. "Do you think I don't know this?! Shouldn't you be worrying over your Hikari…?"

            "I promised Yugi-chan I would help you and Ryou open up to each other." I replied coolly.

            "Then it is a promise kept for naught…" He said as he started to walk away.

            But he wasn't able to walk far. Salyria blocked his path.

            "Ra damn it, Bakura-san… Why do you have to be so blind?" She said in an exasperated tone as she crossed her arms.

            "Blind? What do you mean by that?" He asked her with an annoyed look on his face, cold brown eyes glaring at her as she stared back with the unbridled anger of a hurricane.

            "Ryou-kun is near tears because he doesn't know how you feel about him! And what are you doing right now? Chatting idly with Pharaoh Yami!" She spat.

            That struck home. He knew Ryou was having a hard time sleeping lately. But he didn't know he was causing his hikari this much pain by being afraid. I could see it in his eyes, an internal struggle for control, even though he didn't seem to realize that I was staring at him.

            "Bakura-san…tell him. Telling him how you feel about him will end the misery and start the relief and joy." I said in a firm voice.

            "I will…" he said in a resolute voice.

3rd Person POV:

            The three went back to where the others were, Bakura held his head up high and strode determinedly to Ryou. But once he got there, he froze again. Salyria nudged him from behind and motioned for him to speak his mind to Ryou.

            "Ryou-chan…" He started nervously.

            "Hai Bakura-san…?" Ryou said in an uncertain tone, deep in those chocolate orbs there was a raw and unhealed pain that nearly made Bakura break down in tears.

He hugged his hikari close and let the tears fall. For the first time in many millennia Bakura cried as he held Ryou close.

[Ai shiteru, Bakura-chan…]

[[Ai shiteru, Ryou-chan, my koi…]]

And for once in too long a time their lips met and they let go of their pains and fears…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Day: Saturday.

Time: 6:00 a.m.

Yugi's POV:

            I woke up to a cold sweat and tears streaming down my face.

            It was the same nightmare… That same horrific nightmare that haunts me every night…

            Only now it seemed more vivid, more clear. It had more details than any dream I've ever experienced. I've been having this one for over four years now… I never mentioned anything about it to Yami-san because I was afraid he'd get too worried over me… That he would send me to a psychiatrist…

            I'm very much afraid of if this nightmare will happen… or not…

            Maybe I should show you what happened… In fact I think I will…

Nightmare:

            Yugi was standing in the city square, preparing for a duel when the sky turned dark and just as he took a step back Saint Dragon God of Osiris, Sun Dragon God of Ra and God of Obelisk appeared in front of him. The three Egyptian God cards were there in front of him with no duelist commanding them!

            "Yugi Mutou…" Sun Dragon God of Ra said in a voice that sounded exactly like Yami's, "You have broken the laws by which bind you as holder of the Millennium Puzzle…"

            "…And now you must face punishment. Let the one who shall carry it out come forward!" Saint Dragon God of Osiris finished Sun Dragon God of Ra's sentence.

            "Wait! There must be a mistake! I wasn't aware that there were laws for the Millennium Items!" Yugi said just as a figure dressed in what had been the Ghouls' purple robes with the Millennium Eye symbol on the hood.

            The figure then pulled back the hood and revealed himself to be none other than…

            "Yami-chan!" Yugi cried. "Please don't do this to me!"

            "It is by the will of the Gods that I must, aibou…" Yami said with a saddened look on his face.

            "If you love me then please don't carry out their punishment!" Yugi was in tears now, his hope slipping farther and farther away from his fingers, "Please…! Ai shiteru!!"

            Tears formed and misted Yami's eyes as he hugged Yugi. But then just as quickly they turned to malice as he sent a gold-hilted, jewel encrusted dagger into the young man's back, twisting it ever so painfully deeper until it pierced his heart.

            /Yami-chan…? Naze…? Naze?!/

            //My duty has been fulfilled… I no longer need you…//

Yugi's POV:

            Now do you see why I fear the nightmare so? I suppose it would come as a surprise… I never really meant to be a burden to Yami-chan…never meant to be a pain. Why can't he see that I need him so? I pray he will find out soon before this nightmare eats away at me even more. Yami-chan, can't you see how much I need you?

Yami's POV:

            I had sat by Yugi's bed watching him sleep before the clock struck 5:55 a.m. He was having a nightmare again… And from the way he was reacting to it, it had to be the same one he's been having for a long time…

            It pains me not to be able to protect him in his dreams or nightmares. To not be able o sense them coming or if they are reoccurrences… Why hasn't Osiris taken me to the Underworld yet…? I can't bear to watch my hikari suffer that nightmare anymore. I will have to find a way to protect him from it. There has to be a way, hasn't there?

            He will be waking up soon… Then he won't be able to look me in the eye because he thinks I cannot know what happened. I hate not being able to help him. It's like my hands are tied behind my back whenever he needs me. It seems funny… that I, Pharaoh Yami, can't even tell my hikari how much he means to me.

            He started to stir… I quickly got to my feet because I knew what was to happen next, it happens every night… my hikari… I went out of the room and to the kitchen to get a glass of water, knowing he would need one when he fully woke up.

3rd Person POV:

            Yugi wiped the tears from his eyes just as Yami came in with a glass of water. The young man sat there with a plaintive look on his face as he fidgeted with the bed sheets that covered the lower half of his torso. Yami could tell he was afraid to speak to him and keep from crying. It nearly broke his heart to see his hikari in such excruciating pain.

-End Chapter-

A/N: Nice cliffhanger, ne? Find out what happens in the next chapter ^_^

Translations:

Onegai = Please.

Ai shiteru = I love you.

Naze = Why