A Change of Heart
By: In Fair Verona/Sibby
Summary: Bakura (Ryou) and Tea have had a serious and steady relationship for 1 year, and suddenly Bakura wants to call it off. How will he end the relationship without hurting her? Maybe his favorite card can help.
Rating: PG-13
Shipper: Bakura (Ryou) x Tea
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, cards, settings, or basically anything else from Yu-Gi-Oh!
A/N: Hmm. Longer than I expected, but there's not alot of things happening in this one, but what happens is muy importante! This is a very very important chapter and the next chapter will be the Valentine's Day Dance so I think it's worth it. Also, if you keep reading... you'll see I've thrown in a certain very very special flashback.
Reveiwers: Thanks to lili, Anzu Mazaki, Blue-Kool-Aid, and K-chan!
Anime Lover Girl- Yup. Poor Tristan. I feel bad for him in this chapter, because he really does care about Tea.
R Amythest- Sorry for the lack of updates. AOL parental control problems wouldn't let me into document manager but I got my mom to change it mwahahahaha!
Lynderia- Thankyou so much, I think no one else (except Yugi) could've fallen into the back-up boy role like Tristan. *pats Tristan* I love you Tristan, even if I am making your life a living hell in this fic!
Tasha- Seto is such a hard character to write, probably why I could never write a fic with him as the main character, but I still want him in my story! I'm glad some one thinks I put him into character lol. He's so hard to write... *hands Seto the best supporting actor award*
Quanlckyr- I can't tell you if they'll get back together or not, lol. I'm not even sure myself. I just write the story as I think it up. ;)
~*~*~
Ryou's eyes bolted up from his interveiw sheet upon hearing the doorbell ring downstairs. He looked up at Rikku.
"I'll be right back." He put his paper and pen down on his desk and then got up from his chair before he walked out of his room and down the stairs. "I got it Dad!" He called in a direction towards the TV room as he unlocked the door and pulled it open. He stuttered in surprise. "T-tea!"
"Hello Ryou." Tea said calmly, clasping her hands together infront of her.
"What are you doing here?"
"I needed to talk to you."
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry about earlier. I went to the library a bit later and you weren't there."
"That's allright Ryou. That's not what I wanted to talk to you about though." She said, brushing some hair behind ear and looking up at him. Her eyes narrowed slightly and Ryou looked over his shoulder.
"Rikku, um, what... what are you doing?" Ryou asked nervously.
"Just curious to see who was at the door. Hi Tea!" Rikku said happily.
"Hello Rikku." Tea said through gritted teeth, putting on a slight smile.
"Well, I think I'll just be going. I'll see you guys tommorow night. Tea, you are going to the dance, right?"
"Yeah I am." Tea nodded.
"Ooh. With who?" Rikku grinned, rubbing her hands together curiously.
"Um. With Tristan." Tea shrugged.
"Awesome. Well, just making sure that you'd be there. Later!" She pushed past Ryou and Tea, hopping out the door and running off. Tea turned back to Ryou.
"May I come in?"
"Uh, yeah. Sure."
"We may want to talk in your room." Tea said, making a side glance at the TV room where Ryou's father sat watching his nightly sitcoms.
"Are you sure about that?" Ryou asked, thinking back on the last time they had been in his room alone... and the horrile things that happened.
"I'm positive Ryou." Tea said, leading the way up the stairs and into his room. Ryou followed and left the bedroom door slightly open and then plopped down in his desk chair. "Allright Ryou." Tea exhaled a deep breath. "I wanted to say... I needed to say that I'm not 100% sure what the deal is with you, but I think I have a pretty good idea. Or should I say, bad idea."
"What?" Ryou blinked and looked at her in shock. There was no way she could've found out about Bakura... unless Yugi told her... but there was no way that he would!
"And I saw you after school... with Rikku. And let me just say that it is obvious what is going on between you two." Tea said, ringing her hands nervously.
"Rikku? Rikku and I..."
"No. Don't talk Ryou. Because once you say something, nothing else that I say is going to matter." Tea said forcefully. Ryou closed his mouth and looked at her helplessly. "I can't be your friend Ryou. I most certainly cannot be your friend who you kiss or engage in any other activities with either."
"Tea-"
"No, listen. You kissed me and then you broke up with me. Then you kissed me again. Then you acted like a perverted lecher- and then you were an angel." Tea said, tears breaking free of her eyes. "It's like there's two sides to you and I don't know which one is the real you, Ryou. I don't even think I know you anymore. And I don't want to torture myself by finding out."
"What are you saying Tea? You never want to talk me again?" Ryou said softly, furrowing his eyebrows.
"I don't want anything to do with you Ryou. After this project... I just don't want anything to do with you. Going out with you was one huge mistake..." Ryou's jaw dropped open in shock. How, how could she say those things? He knew how much this was hurting her... how much it was hurting both of them... but wasn't she as thankful as him for the time they actually had together?
"Tea, please listen to me. There's nothing going on between me and Rikku I swear!"
"Why should I beleive you, Ryou? You told you me you loved me and then you broke up with me!" Tea said, her voice rising quickly as she glared accusingly at him.
"Tea I know this whole situation is entirely my fault but..."
"Ryou... you're not trying to change my mind. Because something is holding you back. You're just defending yourself. Well... maybe that's a good thing."
"What?" Ryou frowned, standing up so that he towered over her slightly. He looked down at her questioningly.
"It's a good thing that you've finally learned to defend yourself. Now I don't have to do it for you. Now I don't have to make sure you don't get hurt. Heh, it's funny."
"What's funny?" Ryou asked hastily, holding onto her shoulder with his hand. Tea quickly shoved his hand away.
"The fact that this whole time I was trying not to hurt you... and you ended up hurting me." Ryou's confused expression didn't falter. "Ryou... I never wanted to hurt you. You were too nice and respectable, or so I thought, and I didn't want to break you heart."
"What are you talking about Tea..."
"I mean, I had never had a boyfriend before, no one had ever even asked me out and since Tristan didn't seem to be making any moves..."
"Tristan!?" Ryou practically fell backwards over his bed but grabbed onto the edge of his desk, knocking over his lamp to stable himself.
"Yes. Tristan. I... had this... huge crush on him back then. I was just waiting for him to ask me out but it seemed like it wasn't going to happen. Then at the fair, when you asked me out... I wasn't going to say no... it would've broken your heart Ryou. So I said I liked you too. Then I realized that I could use this to my advantage..."
"... to make Tristan jealous." Ryou concluded, looking up at her and struggling not to cry out. Tea simply nodded. "Tea, listen to me..." He lifted his sweater up, revealing the scar from the day before. "It was Tristan. I didn't want to tell you at first..."
"Oh so now you're trying to use that as an excuse!? You are pathetic Ryou. You just... I admit... after awhile I had begun to grow fond of you. Who wouldn't... you were patient and respectable. But it wasn't like I fell in love with you. However, it did sting when you dumped me after I tried to spare your feelings."
"Is this really the truth... Tea?" Ryou asked, looking up at her and staring her hard in the eyes. Tea bit her lip, allowing a brief pause to pass through them before nodding. "So, everything was one big lie?"
"You could say that." Tea said quickly, her voice beginning to break. "Bye Ryou." She quickly pushed open the door and ran out down the stairs. She stopped when she reached the door, pausing so that she could hear... hear the agonizing cry from his room. Ryou's father turned from the TV and glanced at Tea curiously, and in that moment, filled with fear and guilt and disgusted with herself, she fled.
"Ryou...?" Rikku pushed the bedroom door open slowly, taking tentative steps inside and glancing around before spotting him at the base of his bed, tucking the sheets gently while sobbing a mess of tears onto them, giving the creamy linen dark splotches. "Ryou!" Rikku exclaimed, rushing over to his side.
"Rikku? What are you doing here..." He mumbled, pushing her away and tucking in more corners of his bed.
"I forgot my interview sheet, and when I came back I saw Tea running out as if her life were on the line or something..." Rikku said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine."
"No you're not! You're in tears! What happened? Do you want to tell me about it?"
"No." Ryou muttered, crossing his arms and leaning against the base of his bed.
"Do you want me to leave?" Rikku asked, beginning to stand up.
"No..." Ryou said softly, looking up at her as she lowered herself next to him. "Can I tell you a story?" Rikku nodded and placed a hand comfortingly over his and opening her ears to his story.
"Tea, what's wrong?" Ryou asked, opening his arms to encircle her as she practically collasped into him. Tea shook violently in his hold and sobbing mercilessly into his shoulder. Ryou stood there, dumbfounded, and stroked her hair gently while trying to appease her menacing emotions. "Tea, do you want to tell me about it? Was it... was it your parents again?" He asked in a soft whisper. Tea nodded and rubbed her eyes with the back of her palm harshly before Ryou grasped her arm away and pulled off his cream colored sweater, dotting her tears with it and then tying it around her shoulders and placing his arm around her comfortingly. Tea looked up at him, her eyes were glossy from crying.
"I'm sorry Ryou. They were fighting again... cussing... my dad hit her... he doesn't hit people Ryou. He's not a bad guy... he'd never hit me... he's never hit her before!" She began to break down again, almost falling to the concrete if Ryou hadn't have caught her quickly. "She said she was going to call the police! She told me to call the police and my father told me not to and I didn't know what to do so I ran away!" She cried, grasping her hair in her hands and tugging it furiously.
"Shh. Don't do that Tea. Don't hurt yourself. None of this is your fault, this is a problem between your parents and they shouldn't drag you into like that. It's not your fault..."
"But what if because I didn't call the police, my dad hits my mom! Or my mom does call the police and my dad goes to jail!"
"I... I don't know what's going to happen then, Tea. I don't know but you can't blame yourself. Your father won't go to jail... I'm sure... if worse comes to worse the police will be able to calm and seperate the matter. I'm sure your mother cares enough about your father not to let them take him away, and I know he cares enough not to hit her again. That's why they married each other, and that's why they had you..."
"Marriage is stupid!" Tea exploded, tears falling free from her eyes once again. "You get married, have children, start a family... only to have it fall apart by the time you're 50! Then you have almost half of your life to live in sorrow and loneliness! Why does anyone even bother with relationships?!" Ryou took a tentative step away from her, hurt apparent in his eyes. Never had he seen his usually chipper girlfriend in such an emotional state of wreckage and nothing he said was helping... it appeared to be only making it worse. "...I'm sorry Ryou. I didn't mean it like that." Tea said softly, stepping towards him. Ryou nodded and wrapped his arms around her again.
"Tea... after one scientist completes an experiment and finds the answer to one of life's greatest questions- how many scientists trying to find the same answer are going to drop their work and just go with what the first one says?"
"Ryou, this isn't time for science-"
"Answer me, Tea."
"Well. None. Scientists are weird like that..." Tea shrugged.
"So should every couple break up, just because Romeo and Juliet didn't get their happy ending?"
"No."
"So then... have I proved my point? I know this is hard for you Tea, so hard, and I can only imagine..." He led her over to where his car was parked in the lot of Domino Park, opening the door for her. "Tea, don't lose faith in me. Don't lose faith in us. Because I'll always be there if you need me." Tea nodded and seated herself in the front seat while Ryou walked around and hopped inside the driver's seat. His convertible was pulled down so as they pulled out of the parking lot the warm summer breeze dried her tears and made her feel comfortable and she snuggled into the seat.
"Ryou... take me somewhere. Away from here. Please..." Tea asked, leaning against the door but looking at him pleadingly.
"Of course. Don't worry about a thing Tea." Ryou said with a smile as they drove down the road and toward the coast...
"The beach... it's beautiful." Tea said, getting out of the car and walking along side Ryou towards the nearby carnival.
"We can go grab a bite to eat, then go on the beach. It's really pretty at sunset." Ryou said, taking her hand and walking into the carnival. Tea nodded and smiled, leading them over to a restuarant. They ate seafood, drank sodas, and played footsie under the table while cherishing their time together. Afterwards they played a few carnival games, although Ryou tried he couldn't win her anything, but Tea was content. Then they walked by the ferris wheel, stopping there. "Remember that?"
"How could I forget." Tea sighed, looking up at it. "Shall we?" She said, extending her arm. Ryou linked his arm into hers.
"We shall." He grinned. "Tea, I'm so glad you're feeling better."
"It's all thanks to you Ryou!" Tea smiled. They approached the entrance to the ferris wheel, when out of no where the ride engineer slammed the gate closed infront of them.
"Sorry kids, no ferris rides after 5 on a Sunday." The beefy man said, slapping a fat pad-lock onto the gate.
"Couldn't we just have one ride?" Ryou asked, pulling out his wallet. "How much?"
"Listen kid, I said no. Beat it. I'm going home." The man said in a cranky manner, grabbing his tool box and then walking away. Ryou sighed in defeat.
"I'm sorry Tea."
"It's allright! We can come back any other time, but we might've missed the sunset if we got on- c'mon!" She took his hand and led him onto the beach, kicking sand and getting it in her shoes.
"Here's a nice spot." Ryou said, leading them to a solitary patch of sand at the water's edge. Tea kicked off her shoes and they sat down, Ryou wrapped his arm around her but shuddered involuntarily as the sea breeze ruffled his thin green shirt.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I still have your sweater-" Tea said, beginning to un-tie it before Ryou stopped her.
"Tea... look." They both turned towards the sky as the hot pink sun lowered itself behind gray-purple clouds and it's casted reflection in the cerulean blue water followed alongside and they hid themselves behind the horizon. Within seconds, the sky was a dark blue map dotted with stars and a moon in the corner to light the way of lost ships and anything else that needed it's guide.
"It's beautiful Ryou." Tea said, looking at the enchanting scenery.
"I know... but not as beautiful as you." He whispered to himself. Tea sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. The comforting sound of the waves rolling against the shore, and distinct scent of sea foam in the air as well as the call of sea gulls flying across the sky above created a perfectly serene and at the same time, magical atmosphere. Ryou glanced down at Tea... her soft breathing and closed eyes hinted that she was falling asleep. He hoped her parents would not be worried right now, but the perfect feeling of Tea leaning against him drew his thoughts away from that. She was so beautiful, her auburn hair gently ruffled by the breeze and soft ivory skin that glowed under the moon. He leaned in close, whispering into the side of her ear, "I love you."
"Oh... Ryou, that's really romantic." Rikku said, wiping her eyes.
"I'd never said to anyone before... except my father... I could never say it to anyone else." Ryou said softly, staring blankly at his wall. Rikku glanced at him hopelessly and then in turn, stared blankly at the wall.
"Tristan." Tea slammed open the door to his room, looking straight at him with tears flooded down her eyes and anger in her soul.
"Tea, what happened?!" Tristan said in alarm, getting up from his chair and running to her. Tea raised her hand and moved it forward- slapping him hard across the face. Tristan stood there, stunned, holding his cheek.
"You hurt him! Why!?" Tea yelled, staring accusingly at him. Tristan took a deep breath and stared at the floor.
"He hurt you first."
"Then let me deal with it!"
"You weren't doing anything Tea, you were letting him play with your mind, and your heart!" Tristan said defensively.
"Well, I did do something." Tea whimpered meakly. She walked forward and Tristan looked down at her, seeing the look in her eyes he hadn't seen since the day Bakura had dumped her. She must've really done something...
"Tea... are you allright?" Tristan asked in concern, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll never be allright Tristan. All those lies I told him... they were so cruel... so... not true..." Tea sobbed. "I'll never be allright... but I can't let him know that."
~*~*~
Dun. Dun. Dun. The end. Of the chapter. The next chapter is the Valentine chapter (part 1) and I will try to have that up by Thursday because I have a date on V-day! *dances* But seriously... writing this chapter makes me wish my bf was more like Bakura, not that he isn't perfect already but my Bakura is such a sweetie, don'tcha think?
Anyway I even have some goodies for you guys on Valentine's Day! Nothing much, just a little fan-art type things I did for the fic, so stay tuned!
X Peace X
x Sibby x