A Change of Heart

By: In Fair Verona/Sibby

Summary: Bakura 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 favourite card can help.
Rating: PG (Rating Will Elevate)
Shipper: Bakura x Tea
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, cards, settings, or basicly anything else from Yu-Gi-Oh!
A/N: I had this idea in mind for what actually happened to Tea but Tea Fan's guess just really struck me and I think that what she said would actual fit more into the ancient egypt mythological part of the fic as well as... well, I'll shut up now.

Reveiwers:
Thanks to: Tea Fan, Anzu Masaki, Wind of the South, K-chan, and Setowriter. (I love DMB too!)

~*~*~

"There she is!" Rikku said, pointing at Tea as she walked out of the ladies room and flipped up her hair. She pushed Ryou towards her gently. "Go, go!" Ryou complied and quickly darted through the crowd and ran over to his ex-girlfriend, standing in the way of where ever it was she was headed in such a hurry. Tea crossed her arms and looked at Ryou expectantly.
"Ryou, could you get out of my way?" She asked coldly, looking distractedly past his shoulder. Ryou eyes flickered like they had the night before and revealed a glossy coat of hurt and pain.
"Tea, can we talk. I just have to ask you something." He didn't even wait for her answer and quickly grabbed her hand leading her outside into the lobby of the gym. "Did we dance tonight?"
"Um. Yeah. Yes we did." Tea nodded, "Can I go now?"
"Wait! Where are you going in such a hurry?" Ryou asked quickly, placing his hands on her shoulders to prevent her from running away.
"Uh!" Tea collasped under his grip and fell onto her knees, ripping the side seams of her red dress and then coughing onto the ground. Ryou was instantly at her side and placed a hand comfortingly on her back and looked upon her with worried eyes.
"Tea! Tea what's wrong! Are you okay!?" He asked pleadingly while rubbing her back gently. What he saw next was probably one of the most disturbing images he had ever seen. Tea continued to cough rapidly, and stuff came out. No, not stuff. Someone. Someone came out. Ryou's eyes widened as his ghostly counterpart was actually coughed out of his ex-girlfriend and laid there on the ground before them. Tea took a deep breath and slumped up against the couch in the lobby while Ryou turned on his Yami furiously. "Bakura, what did you do to her!?" He yelled. Bakura glared back up at Ryou and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, brushing light specks of blood off. "What the HELL did you do!?"
"He didn't succeed." Tea mumbled, struggling to straighten herself up. Ryou quickly helped her to a standing point and let her lean on him for support. "Why thankyou... wow... you look just like him." Tea giggled, looking back and forth between Ryou and Bakura.
"Tea, are you allright?" Ryou asked with concern, looking deep into her eyes. There was something different... they were... grey.
"Never been better, now that he's out of my system." Tea said, placing her hands on her hips and stepping forward and then bending down to her knees and looking at Bakura curiously. "Nice try sweetheart. Trying to take over this body by fusing some of your power into this necklace."
"So... that's what you tried to do! You tried to take over Tea! But why?" Ryou asked, looking over at Bakura. Bakura turned his head towards the gym and both Tea and Ryou turned their heads in suite. "Yugi. You were going to use Tea's body as a vessel to get to Yugi and get the Millenium Puzzle! You're sick!" Ryou exclaimed in disgust.
"Well, you've got to give him an A for effort." Tea said, cocking her head to the side. "Bet you didn't expect this. This is probably what you were trying to prevent all along... wasn't it sweetheart?" Ryou arched an eyebrow at Tea suspicously. Why did she keep calling Bakura... sweetheart? It was a bit... disturbing to say the least. Nothing half as shocking however as what happened next.
"Tea!" Ryou exclaimed as the girl leaned forward and actually planted her lips onto Bakura's. "This isn't happening... " Ryou trailed off, taking a step back from the pair. It also made him even furious that Bakura wasn't doing anything to stop this! Tea pulled away and looked over her shoulder at Ryou and gave him a flirty wink. "Oh, sweetheart there's something you should know. I'm not your little girlfriend."

"I don't understand... who are you?" Ryou asked, sitting down on the couch in the lobby and looking up at her. "Your eyes are different."
"You know I'm thinking the blue hue suits me more as well. Grey just seems so... emotionless? Don't you think Bakura? Weren't those your exact words? That I was emotionless?" She looked in the spirit's direction and chanted as if to provoke him. Ryou looked back and forth between the two and swallowed a gallon of saliva building up inside of his throat.
"Tell me I'm wrong... but you two... wouldn't be..."
"Quarreling lovers?" The girl answered, nodding her head. "Well that's exactly it. Allow me to introduce myself as Naomi. The most wanted female jewel thief of the time!"
"The only female jewel thief of the time." Bakura muttered.
"You've got to be kidding me. So you two must've been like Bonnie and Clyde or something?"
"Not even." Naomi laughed, shaking her head. "We were bitter adverseries. Always after the same catch. He wanted the Millenium Puzzle for it's power and I for it's beauty." She sighed in contentment and then continued. "I had just stolen the Millenium necklace when the guards had come and seized me. Who should be trying to steal the necklace at the same time but came in too late? No one but your Yami of course. Well I was about to be taken to the Pharoh, and executed most likely. So then Bakura creates a diversion by breaking into the palace all over again and those stupid guards went running towards the commotion like hell, not even bothering to take care of me. Unfortunately, they had taken the necklace with them but maybe it was worth it. I know Bakura doesn't think so however. All he ever cared about was that stupid puzzle." At this comment, Bakura only grunted in reply. "But he grew fond of me whether he would admit it or not and eventually we teamed up. After 'hooking up' as you say now-a-days." Ryou cringed at this thought. "We were going to get the millenium puzzle once and for all. I knew I wouldn't get anything out of it but I loved him so much so I complied. We were so close we just there, almost touching it when we got caught. So we were then running out of the palace like hell, and I told Bakura that no matter what happened we'd find ourselves back together again one day... then I jumped."
"Jumped?" Ryou repeated, looking at Bakura.
"She jumped into the river." Bakura answered, glaring up at Naomi. "She found her way to the Sorcerer's palace. Accordingly the two were pretty good friends."
"He got me out of a few nitches here." Naomi shrugged.
"She and that crack-head sorcerer forged a plan. He obviously did care about her so it must've been more than a few favors she returned to him." Bakura said bitterly. "The Pharoh was looking for us high and low so the Sorcerer issued his guards to corner me just as the Pharoh and his own guards were parading down the street. Needless to say I was trapped and as his guards scampered away the Pharoh's came in and recognized me at once as the famous thief, Bakura, and they hauled me away. I never even muttered a word about her. Never a word... the last thing I saw before being taken away was the two of them standing by each other so close it made my blood boil... the look across their faces... I remained in prison for a few years, that push-over Pharoh never had the heart to kill me, then I made my escape one evening and joined forces with Malik. The rest is history." Bakura finished, standing up.
"So what's happening to Tea right now?" Ryou asked with concern.
"She's resting. You see, naturally I shouldn't be here. I owned no millenium item to transfuse my soul into as the others did. Otherwise you would realize alot of your friends; Joey, Mai, Rikku, and Tristan... they would have Yami's as well because they are all reincarnations of spirits that lived in Ancient Egypt long ago. As how you are a reincarnation of Bakura, and Tea is a reincarnation of myself. However, Mr. All-Mighty here had a bit of an ego-boost with his newly strengthened power. Strengthening your power Ryou, is all a state of mind. Do you realize why he forced you to break up with Tea? His past was confronting him and the closer to two of you got the more memories of his own past would emerge and he didn't like it. He wasn't sure if she would betray the both of you, or if she would just get in the way. Whatever it was, he didn't like her because of his feelings for me. He knew he could never get the millenium puzzle so long as I or Tea were involved so he made sure she stayed out of your way and he thought that the road to the puzzle would be paved clean for him, but it wasn't. Ryou, you and Tea share a very special bond. Not just because of the relationship between myself and Bakura but because... well, I can't tell you why. You'll have to discover that on your own, but I know I have already answered plenty of questions. However, I'll finish my story of how I got here. With Bakura on this power boost he thought that by infusing his power into a piece of jewelry he would be able to temporarily take control of Tea and get to Yugi. What he ended up doing was infusing his power into a relative object of the past. I was a jewelry thief after all. With Tea's body on a stress overload, she needed to relax and her body was begging for some relaxation so with all thse things combined I just came to be! When your Yami is in control it lets you rest for a little while and things are more serene and less stressful."
"I don't know about that." Ryou said, looking at Bakura accusingly.
"Well now that that all's said and done I'll be off!" Naomi said, spinning on her heels and opening the lobby door to enter the gym.
"Hey wait!" Ryou and Bakura both shouted in unision as she slipped away. Ryou turned to Bakura accusingly. "You're not seriously going to let her run loose in there!"
"Shut up and let's go!" Bakura said, becoming one with Ryou and then running back into the gym.

"Tea!" Tristan ran over to her happily and grinned, trying to show off in his tuxedo. "Sucks that I missed the whole flower thing. Sounded lame anyway but these girls just won't dance with me when I ask them too!" He laughed. "So how are you- hey! That necklace... I can't beleive that jerk got it for you!"
"What? Oh this little thing?" Naomi looked down at the necklace. "Just a gift from my sweetheart." She winked. "Um... who are you again?"
"It's me Tristan!"
"Right, just joking. Well, let's say we dance then. We'll make those girls crazy and they'll realize what they're missing out on!" She took Tristan's hand and pulled him onto the dance floor as a slow song came on and wrapped her hands gracefully around his neck. Tristan just stared at her with astonishment. Was this really Tea? Well, he was certainly glad that she was having a good time.
"So I'm guessing you saw Ryou. That would explain the necklace. I told him he should get it for you, you know."
"Well isn't that sweet." Naomi smiled, leaning in close and whispering into his ear. "So really it's a gift from you, then? Is that what you're implying?"
"N-no! Not at all, I was just informing you..." Tristan stuttered while laughing nervously. The close proximity between them was something else to worry about.
"You know what... I remember someone like you from a long time ago... someone I knew very well." Naomi said while running her hands across the back of his neck and leaning in close. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted her white-haired bickering ex-boyfriend making his way towards them. "We were just friends though. Nothing ever happened between us. Sorry, but I just thought that you should know so you stop... I've gotta go." Naomi cut herself off and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before dispersing into the crowd. Tristan backed away and touched his cheek gently. What was that all about? What was she talking about, or more importantly what was she inhaling!?
"I don't think it even matters." Tristan sighed, touching his cheek and then shaking his head furiously. "I, Tristan Taylor am not that pathetic! I'm not." There was a long pause and he looked off into the distant crowd. "She knew... she told me to stop trying to win her over! I can't beleive I didn't relize it..." He scratched his head as if some epiphinal moment had just come to him. "Allright Tea. If that's what you really want, then I won't try anymore... but I'll never stop caring about you." He said with a sad smile while sticking his hands in his tux pockets and walking away.

"Where do you think they all went?" Rikku asked, looking around the gym.
"Who cares." Seto shrugged, crossing his arms. "Can't you go bother Yugi or Joey & Mai or somebody! Ryou and Tea can't be your only friends."
"Well you're right, at least I have friends besides them!"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Seto asked, glaring down at her. "I'm running a corporation, there isn't much time for friends. Tea and Ryou are my classmates."
"Can we say denial?" Rikku scoffed, shaking her head. There was a long pause as Seto kept glaring down at her. "Fine then. I'll be your classmate too."
"You already are my classmate-" Seto shut up quickly after realizing what he may have just said. He grumbled under his breath and leaned against a speaker. Rikku simply smiled up at him.
"That a boy! If you just open up a little you'll be making new classmates in no time!"
"Can we cut the symbolism?" Seto asked, tucking some hair behind his ear.
"Aww, come on! Just open up a little, bloom to the world!"
"I AM NOT A DAMN FLOWER!" Seto snapped, "There will be no blooming!"
"Too late." Rikku chuckled. "You might not realize but there are a lot of people dying to be your friend. They just want to get to know you a little better."
"Oh right, like you for instance, Miss-Let's-Be-A-Bitch-To-Kaiba-And-Only-Kaiba!"
"Hey now! I realize that was wrong and I shouldn't have judged you based on a business decision but you weren't exactly nice to me neither!"
"I'm never nice to anyone. Anyway, you started it."
"I started it!? You were the one who fired my father!"
"I didn't fire your father!" Seto exclaimed, pushing himself off of the speaker and lookign down at her almost pleadingly. "The suits did."
"The suits?" Rikku repeated, arching an eyebrow.
"They were like my council. I trusted them with all my executive business decisions and they betrayed me. They just wanted the money and they plotted with Maximillian Pegasus to get rid of me so that they could have the company. The Australia Project was something I had been wanting to work on for a long time... and when I start something, I always finish them. They sabotaged me..."
"Oh... I'm sorry. I had no idea. Who would've thought Seto Kaiba needed help with decisions." Rikku chuckled nervously.
"I didn't need help with decisions. I had alot to handle." Seto muttered to himself, shrugging slightly. Rikku placed a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.
"Can we start over?"
"What?"
"You know, start over. Push past impressions away and just you know, have a fresh start!"
"I suppose. That couldn't hurt." Seto said, contemplating the situation in his head. "Allright."
"Yay!" Rikku exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around him.
"Oh my Gods." Naomi approached the odd pair, staring at Seto with wide-eyes.
"Hey Tea!" Rikku said with a smile. Seto simply nodded at Tea.
"I can't beleive it's really you!" Naomi chuckled, poking Kaiba in the shoulder. "We were friends... back then..."
"Huh? Tea, are you... did you have some of the punch? I heard it was spiked..."
"We were really close friends... too close... I threw my heart and my love for Bakura away over you... I was so selfish! I allowed you to go along with the plan and frame him!"
"Or maybe she was just sniffing something?" Rikku offered, looking at Seto. Seto returned a rather confused look back at Rikku and then looked back at Tea.
"I know you didn't love me. You always had your eyes on someone else. You knew I didn't love you either. Why did we go along with it?"
"GO ALONG WITH WHAT!?" Seto exclaimed, nearly falling over if it weren't for Rikku who pushed him off of her. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh. I'm sorry. I... forgot for a second. You can't remember any of this. You don't even have a Millenium Item..."
"Millenium Item?" Seto repeated, furrowing his brow. Could this have anything to do with his supposed past where he was an evil sorcerer and Yugi was a noble pharoh? But how would Tea have anything to do with this?
"I'm sorry. That must've shocked you, and been confusing. I had many friends in Ancient Egypt. Mostly males, and Bakura never really did like that. But you were the final straw. He saw us together before he was taken away. Now, I realize why I gave into the utter nonsense that was our relationship. I wanted Bakura to hate me, because I couldn't let him be sent away and still be in love with me when it was my fault he was taken away... so I had him hate me."
"Tea? How do you know anything about Ancient Egypt?"
"Forgive me, I'm not T-" Naomi never got to finish her sentence before she collasped onto the gym's hardwood floor infront of them.
"Tea!" Rikku ran over and bent down, trying to nudge her away just as Bakura pushed past the crowd and kneeled down next to Rikku, cradling Tea's head in his hands. "What happened? Why was she acting so strangely? What's wrong with her?"
"She was saying absurd things... I don't want anything to do with those things." Seto said, glancing at the group gathered around Tea's limp body.
"Tea!" Now it was Tristan who pushed the crowd aside and stood behind Bakura who stared down at her intently.
"She's gone." Bakura whispered to himself. "Naomi's gone." With that said he retreated from Ryou's body, giving control back to the other young man.
"What happened?" Tea muttered, her eyes fluttering open as she looked all around her. "Wh- what's going on!?" She shot up from the floor, only to be enveloped in a pair of arms and pulled against a strong, supportive chest. Tea looked up at Ryou with wondering eyes. "Ryou, what happened?"
"Tea, you had too much of that punch." Ryou said, smooth her hair gently with his fingers. "You were a bit delerious but it wasn't your fault. Then you just... passed out. That's all."
"That's all?" Tea repeated, looking up into his warm brown eyes.
"Yes, that's all." Ryou said sternly, almost too sternly. "Why don't you go find your purse, and I'll take you home. You're in no condition to stay here." He helped her stand up and sent her off with Rikku to go collect her belongings while turning to the other guys. "Please, don't mention this to anyone. Tea just drank too much punch and if rumors got around, if her parents found out she had been drinking, it just wouldn't be pleasant. Please keep this under your hats... for Tea." Ryou stepped away from them, followed by Yugi.
"Ryou... " Yugi rushed up to his side, looking up at him. "The punch wasn't spiked. That wasn't Tea. What's going on?"
"I think your Yami may know." Ryou replied, "But I'd like you not to mention anything to Tea and confuse her more than she already is."
"Yes." Yugi nodded, stopping in his tracks and watching Ryou walk off towards Tea. He has handled himself very well tonight, he had taken charge in a confusing situation and was taking care of everything. He did it for Tea. It was such a shame they weren't together... Ryou wasn't such a coward any more after all.

~*~*~

I wrote the ending to this really quickly and I apologize if I got something wrong, or confused you, or made something seem unreal, etc...
I'd like to thank Tea Fan for mentioning the whole Tes has a Yami thing. I don't know why I couldn't think of that. All I knew was that I wanted some type of Tea/Ryou thing in the past that involved Bakura and I wanted Tea to be a bit OOC in this chapter- get a little more flirty and out there, etc...

*SPOILER WARNING*

Hope I didn't confuse you all too bad! The next chapter will involve Tea finding out about Naomi. I'm not sure where to go with Tea and Ryou in the next chapter so if you have suggestions, please share!