You Never Forget……

Ryou stirred the sauce for the spaghetti and cut the lettuce for the salad. Malik was late coming home from school.
Malik was sometimes late coming home when his yami wanted him to get something for him from the grocery store. Ryou turned
down the sauce not wanting it to burn. Bakura came behind her and put his hands on her hips and rested his head on her
shoulder.

"Your hair smells great," Bakura said kissing her neck.

Ryou lifted her head back to kiss his forehead. "Are you feeling better now?"

"I'm Ok, Ryou. It's just…..some things you never forget, you know. I thought I would forget everything of my old life when I died. I
guess it doesn't work that way. Some memories last forever."

"I know, sweetheart. Let's just try to forget today, alright? Let's have a good meal and get a good night sleep."

Bakura nodded and they heard the front door open. Malik came in with Yugi and Yami. Yami placed two schoolbags beside the
door. Ryou and Bakura went to greet them, but Malik ran upstairs and shut the bathroom door.


Bakura winced at the loudness of the door. "What's wrong with him?"

"Malik. I'll check on him, Bakura." Ryou turned off dinner and walked upstairs to help the other hikari.

**********Upstairs……********

Ryou walked up the stairs to hear whimpering in the bathroom. She kocked on the door. "Marik???!!!"

"No. It's Ryou. Let me in, Malik. Let me take care of you."

Malik opened the door and Ryou walked in. Malik had removed his shirt revealing a bruise on his stomach. His wrists were bruised,
evidence of being restrained roughly. Malik had a very small cut on his lip and a red mark on his right cheek.

Malik grasped onto Ryou tightly sobbing.

"Malik, tell me what happened."

"Bully. Tim Cinetti happened to me! He said my chemistry class paid for me to get beat up for giving them a pop quiz."

Ryou took a washcloth and wiped the other hikari's face. "It'll be alright, Malik. I'm here. I'll take care of you."

"I can't wait until I'm done school, Ryou. That bastard needs to learn a lesson! I'm gonna tell my Marik, but I will wait until tonight."

Ryou put some cream on the injuries and kissed Malik's forehead. "Does anything else bother you?"

"I'm limping a little. I think I just twisted my leg. They ganged up on me in the park. Two of his buddies held my wrist while Cinetti
pummeled me. Yami and Yugi found me. Cinetti scurried away and told his buddies to beat up Yugi and Yami. They threw me
onto the ground and Yami mind crushed them, I think. Cinetti ran off."

Ryou cringed at the name.

[ I……..killed……….your……….mother. ]

Ryou took a deep breath. "Cinettis are cowards. They only know how to fight dirty. The only way they know how to treat others is
through violence."

"When Cinetti's buddies collapsed on the ground, Yugi and Yami helped carry me home. I didn't want to worry you, so I just ran
upstairs."

Ryou wet the cloth one more time and applied it to the knee. "That worried me even more."

"How can I face my class tomorrow?"

"Do the best you can, Malik. Do you have proof that they paid Cinetti?"

"No. Just what Cinetti told me."

Ryou rubbed Malik's hair. "Then talk to someone at school about it tomorrow. Someone has to listen and understand."

The hikari nodded. "I'll try, Ryou. For you."

"All better, then. Let's get you downstairs and put some food into you. You'll feel better."

*********Downstairs……..********

Yami and Yugi sat on the couch. Bakura walked up to the pharaoh. "So, what happened to Malik?" Yugi told Bakura the story.

Yami looked around. "Where's Marik? He's usually here on the couch."
Marik opened the door and pulled off his Happy Hamburger hat and collapsed on the couch muttering many Egyptian curses up to
the ceiling. "Who would know a baby would be this much work? One second of pleasure and I'm paying for it! Lousy customers!
Lousy job! Lousy pay! Lousy courtesy! I thought my afterlife would be so much better!"

"It's only your first day at work, Marik! Are we going to hear this for another nine months?"

Yugi shifted his eyes back and forth between Marik and Bakura. "Baby? Marik, is Isis pregnant? Did you….?"

Marik sighed and removed his button with "ASK ME ABOUT OUR SILLY HAPPY FUN FRIES!" and his name tag with "MR. HAPPY
PICKLE." "No. Isis isn't pregnant. And I don't know if I'm the father."

Yugi and Yami exchanged glances. "Who is pregnant, then?"

Marik sighed and Bakura sat in another chair almost smiling. "Ryou is pregnant. One of us is going to be a father. We don't know
who yet."

Yugi and Yami gasped in unison. "What do you mean you don't know who the father is?"

"Both of us slept with Ryou on the same night. I made love to Ryou first and then Ryou….made love to Marik."

Ryou brought Malik downstairs limping. Marik rushed to his hikari's side. "What happened?"

"Tim Cinetti happened to me." Ryou and Marik put Malik on the couch.

Yugi looked up at Ryou. "Ryou? Are you really going to have a baby?"

Ryou smiled at Yugi and chuckled. "That's right, Yugi." Ryou lifted Yugi's hand and put it on the light bulge on the belly. "Not
much now, but it'll grow."

Yugi pulled his hand back when Ryou's muscles twitched. "Yami, you wanna touch?"

Yami felt Ryou's belly and also pulled back his hand quickly. "I never thought I'd see this, Ryou."

"Neither did I."

"Will you be alright here, Malik?"

Marik brushed back his hikari's hair. "He'll be fine. I'll take good care of him."

"You better take it easy on him tonight, Marik."

"Pharaoh, I can take care of my own light without your threats."

Yami growled and led Yugi home. Bakura went to finish dinner while Ryou gave Malik a drink of water.

"How was work after we left, Marik?"

Marik grunted. "I never want to go to work again. I'm going to stay right here on the couch with Malik and never leave this house
ever again."

"But, Marik, how can we afford the bills? I can't afford this baby with the money my father left me! My father left me with not even
enough money for my heart operation. This may be hurting your ego-."

"It's hurting my feet, too! My feet are killing me!"

"This may be hurting your ego, but I really appreciate what you are doing for me."

Marik saw Ryou crying again and sighed. "I know you appreciate it, Ryou. That's why I'm going to stick with it as long as I can. But
please stop crying. If I hear another whiny brat cry today, I'm going to stab myself with my own Rod!"

Ryou stopped crying. "So I'm a whiny brat now? Well, guess what, Marik Ishtar? THIS WHINY BRAT MIGHT BE CARRYING YOUR
BABY! You think you have it bad? My back hurts, my ankles are swollen, I crave the most disgusting foods, I have a headache, and I have the wonderful honor of pushing an object out of my body the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a baseball! This
may hurt your dignity, Marik but do you realize the strain this is having on me? I could die from trying to give birth to this baby!
This is my life we are talking about!"

Bakura ran back out into the living room to see Ryou standing up from the couch, her face red, and fists shaking.

"I'm sorry if you feel like stabbing yourself. If this baby has no mother, I don't want this baby without its father. That really hurt
me, Marik. I'm scared and I can't do this without you both. So if you want to kill yourself because you regret doing this with me,
say it now."

Marik sighed and gripped onto his hikari tighter. "No, Ryou. I do not regret it."

Bakura went beside Ryou and pulled her into an embrace. "Ishtar, that was very cruel to talk to Ryou like that, especially after she
cared for Malik's injuries."

Malik sat up as Marik went to Ryou hugging her. "I'm sorry, Ryou. That was wrong of me to say that. I'm sorry."

Malik stood up as the group hug dissipated. Ryou and Malik went to finish dinner.

"Malik, I can do this. Go sit down. I can handle this. You're hurt."

"No. I can at least finish the salad." Malik cut the tomatoes. "I can tell you're going to be a great mom, Ryou."

Ryou put the dishes on the table. "Why is that?"

"Because you are so worried about other people. I'll be fine, Ryou. Really."

Ryou hugged Malik. "We hikaris have to stick together, Malik. After all, we may have two more yamis coming into the world."

Malik chuckled. "All I know is that I hope it's not two more Mariks. I can't even handle one!"




Next Chappie: Manipulator of Dreams