A.n.-I had pretty much given up this fic...but ya'all were just so encouraging I thought I'd add another chapter. I hope ya'all like it. I may even add more to turn this into a full-blown fic… if ya'all want me to that is^_^. Review onegai^_^

Dedication-R Amythest, Platerair Queen, S.A. Bonsai, Stephanie, Firedraygon97, Mira-chan, Hikari No Yami, Breezy, AngelsKitten, Rose, Anonymous, Karadaki, Ana, White Tiger, Hie449, Bakurasgirl, Random, Yami Kasu, Bronze Eagle, ChiliBird, Lady Yami Bakura, HikariSpirit, Elusitania, Cari Starfire, Kaori the Demented Pocky Stick, Phycho Mime, Guess, Dreamchaser149, Ana, Silver Dragon, Silver Dragon, DemonWingedYamiYugi, Visual Experminets, Lily22, Gin Ryu-Chan, Starkitty, and Ame Tenshi.^_^Thankyou all so much...it is because of you I wrote more to this...ty all of you for your word n' support...it really means a lot to me when ya'all leave reviews^_^

Disclaimer-I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or this song, "It's easier to run," by Linkin Park.

~It's easier to run, replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go, then face all this pain here all alone,~



~Something has been taken from deep inside of me

A secret I've kept locked away, no one can ever see

Wounds so deep they never show, they never go away

Like moving pictures in my head for years and years they've played.~



The air was hot and heavy around me in this dank darkness that surrounds me. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying not to breathe too deep the stale air that surrounded me. Shadows danced through my vision, a mocking laughter in the back of my mind that never left echoed until my ears nearly bled.



Diamond red eyes seemed to appear in the darkness. Malevolent and filled with a god-like superiority that made me want to sink into a puddle of liquid if only to escape their paralyzing force. My breath was caught in my throat, my thin body breaking out into a cold sweat.



"Your fault!"



The whispered words echoed like a scream through the tunnels. The voice was one I knew as well as any. It was Yugioh's voice, the Yami of one Mutou Yuugi. Shame washed over me like a tidal wave, a self-loathing I could not deny all but poisoned my very being.



"No..." The word came out in a croak, the tone one of defeat...not defensive...why bother?



I didn't want to believe it, but it was true. As true as the fact that my Yami ruled the world. It was my fault. All of it. Yuugi was dead because of me, and as a forfeit, all of the powers in the puzzle, including the ageless Pharaoh within, were all my Yami's. My fault the world had been plunged into an eternal darkness. All mine.



Who had awoken the dark fiend from his eternal sleep? Me. Who had defended him against Yuugi-tachi? Me. Who was it that had shamelessly loved his other half and had been blinded to the fate that would befall the world? Me.



All my fault. All of it...



I loved him then, I love him now. I should be hated for that. Cast away and scorned for it. Because of me...Yuugi...Yuugi...Yuugi...sweet innocent, kind Mutou Yuugi. Eyes of amythest but never as hard staring blankly up, mouth frozen open in a cry of absolute horror and agony for what his Yami couldn't protect him from. For aiding the death of such an angel I deserve nothing but damnation.



I don't know what my Yami did with Mutou Yuugi's soul. I know he teared it from his body, but whether he crushed it or sent it to the Shadow Realm I don't know. I don't want to. My soul is dirty enough without adding more to it.



"How could you?!" The accusation stabbed at my very heart.



It was the voice of Katsuya Jounouchi. Another whom was killed during my Yami's rampage to power. I remember seeing his mangled body on the ground on the sidewalk, neck twisted at an odd angle, eyes wide open and sightless, crimson trickling out of his mouth and his white shirt dyed a Christmas red from his blood. And cradling the lifeless body in his arms was one Kaiba Seto, the acclaimed man of pure ice was crying buckets, his hard eyes soft with sorrow and grief as an inhuman howl had left his lips.



Yami had left Kaiba to mourn over his dead lover's body without a word. He'd always hated Kaiba, putting him through pain of any kind had kept my Yami on a high for several days. He'd stolen the Sennen Rod from Ishtar Malik, who had run away not long after me. Yami hadn't killed the Egyptian boy for reasons I didn't understand; just as I didn't understand why he let me live.



He lived under here with me, ranting and raving as he ran down the hallways. I saw him sometimes, hiding in the darkness with a hungry look in his eyes. He loved me and hated me. He sometimes attacked me when he caught me asleep because he confused me with my Yami. Poor boy had gone completely mad without having his darkness near him. Whatever edge he had on sanity during battle city was gone now...



I squeezed my eyes tightly together, trying to banish the memories that stirred inside of me. Against my will they rose in pure defiance, giving me a perfect reminder of all I had helped cause.



"It wasn't my fault..."



"Yes it was. You could have stopped it," Yugioh said coldly, his voice forcing me to open my eyes.



He was kneeling in front of me, his wild tri-colored hair waving in an invisible wind. Burning lava eyes assaulted me and I shrank back. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew he wasn't really there. That I was hallucinating from lack of water and food. But that didn't matter to me. At this moment, he was as real as I was.



"No...no...I couldn't..." I glared, a sudden burst of fury exploding in my chest, "What about you? The Almighty Pharaoh? The 'Game King!' Why didn't YOU stop him?"



"I tried. You let him kill Yuugi."



"You didn't protect him," I countered.



He tried to slap me then, but his hand passed right through my cheek to the other side. He laid one last smoldering gaze on me before fading away. It was a valid question. Why didn't Yugioh stop my Yami? Why? He was the Game King after all. I smirked, feeling a slight piece of pride bubble up. But my Yami was better. The Greatest Tomb Robber that ever lived. Strong, cunning, intelligent, cutthroat when he needed to be, so cruel, he was kind even.



I rested my head against my knees. I felt so empty, every secret I held dear back then was shoved in sunlight just before the end came. I loved my Yami...he probably knew it too, though I tried to hide it I'm sure he did. My love for him was a secret that I held deep inside, something that was not meant for anyone to know.



I'd sit in class, barely paying attention to the teacher, and stare at Mutou Yuugi out of the corner of my eye. Watch how his eyes glazed over and his lips quirked into a soft smile. I knew he was in love with Yugioh and that Yugioh loved him back. I knew they were together and didn't have to hide. And Gods damn me for it, I'd hated them for that. Hated that they could show their love while I had to hide mine in darkness.



Hell, they condemned Malik for falling for Ishtar, what would they do to me? They thought my Yami was the devil yanked down just to make their lives a livening hell. I suppose they were right about that, but still...it wasn't fair. Still isn't fair. All the same, I didn't want anyone to know of my feelings. For fear my fantasy would be ripped to shreds.

Yami didn't...love me. He cared about me, I know he did...but he didn't love me...I know that, and I even accept it, besides...as long as I can love him...that's enough for me. It really is.



~If I could change I would, take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would.~



~If I could change I would, take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave…~



~It's easier to run, replacing this pain with

something numb

It's so much easier to go, then face all this pain

here all alone~



Live in darkness, hide and weep...live and die, sleep and dream. That's all I've left. Why bother to believe there is anything really left for me? It's easier to hide, easier to dream rather then face this forsaken reality. Sometimes I sit here and dream of the way it was before. When my Yami was scheming to get the Sennen Items, when I was just Yuugi-tachi's loner friend that they sometimes brought into their group.



A hot blush of shame took my cheeks and I ducked my head down. I was desperate for their friendship, and probably showed it clearly. I was lonely, even with my other half tied to me. I wanted love, affection...I wanted to know that someone cared. Yami...he cared. Slightly, as far as in need of a vessel...but...no...no that's wrong. I can't...I won't believe that. I won't believe I was just a body for him. I had to have been something, maybe not much, but *something.*



I sighed, tightening the hold of my legs to my chest. I remember...all the nights he and I spent together...I keep each one locked away in my tear frozen heart. The way he looked with the thrall of pure unbridled passion across his face, the way those dark onyx brown eyes had been so warm and alive, the way his perfect body had felt against me...those are moments I will never forget. Because...for those few hours, he was mine and mine alone. There was no fear of his plots for the Sennen Items...no worrying whatsoever. He is mine and I am his, even if he doesn't know it yet.



Those moments...they make up more to me then you'd believe...not to say it blocks out my regrets. Regrets...gods I've so many of those...not just what happened to Jounouchi-kun 'n' Yuugi-kun...'n' Malik-chan...there are so many others. Things I need naively in the name of love. Deaths that were caused by me because...because I couldn't bring myself to betray my Yami.



The time in Duelist Kingdom doesn't count. I had no choice then. If...if my Yami had lost the duel, he'd have been sent to the Shadow Realm and I'd have been stuck in a card forever. Did the Pharaoh ever think about that? No, of course not. Did he ever think how I would feel if my Yami was ripped from me? No. Because, as long as his precious little Hikari was okay then the rest of us could go to hell. What was I to Yugioh? I was just the Tomb Robber's Hikari, a baka boy whom had released his immortal foe into the mortal realm. Who had ruined his plot to forever incarcerate my other half.



Oh, I knew that Yugioh had been the one to seal my Yami. That he had done it out of rage and hate, that Yugioh was not some brave Pharaoh that sacrificed everything to save the world from the Shadow Games. I learned from my Yami's memories (he'd allowed me access to some of them) that Yugioh's rein was the most horrendous in history. That he had been the most blood thirsty Pharaoh to ever rule, that his doings had even been tried to be erased from Egypt's history. But such heinous crimes are never truly forgotten. The tablets Isis showed Yugioh during Battle City are proof of that.



~Sometimes I remember the darkness of my past

Bringing back these memories I wish I didn't have

Sometimes I think of letting go, and never looking back

And never moving forward so there'd never be a past.~



~If I could change I would, take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would.~



~If I could change I would, take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave.~



I looked up sharply at drunken footsteps made their way toward me. I saw him then, platinum hair falling in dirty waves around his sweaty face, eyes of lavender insanity meet my own. His face looked worn and drawn, utter sorrow echoed through it. I rose slowly, staggering as my vision wavered. I couldn't remember the last time I'd ate. But that didn't really matter.



Malik stumbled over to me, confusion crossing his exotically beautiful face before a dawning understanding. His body lost its tenseness as he made his way over to me and wrapped his arms around me, a choked sob escaped his lips as he clung to me like a life line. Maybe to him I was.



"He's g-...gone..." he said, his tone broken and defeated.



"I know..." I said softly, wrapping my arms tightly around him.



I felt so angry at myself for causing Malik this sorrow. He needed his other half like air. And because I'd protected my Yami, the flamboyant Malik I'd loved like a brother was gone. So many prices are paid for falling in love with your darkness. The dependence of being with him, the destruction to the lives of others you'd held dear.



I tightened my grasp around the broken Egyptian and let out a short gust of air. Its times like these the weight of all I've done rests so heavily on my shoulders. If only...I'd done things different. Maybe none of this would have happened. But...to betray my Yami? Even now, looking at all the horror my loyalty caused, I know I couldn't do that. To betray him...it would be too much.



So I carry the burden of his sins, because in the end I am his Hikari...the one who should have balanced him and I didn't...so in the end, all of this is my doing. Malik's tears are caused because of me. Yuugi's soul was torn from his body because of me. Jounouchi Katsuya was killed...because of me. My Yami wasn't the one that was at fault, but me.



All of it.



~Just washing it aside, all of the helplessness inside

Pretending I don't feel misplaced

It's so much simpler then change~



~It's easier to run, replacing this pain with something numb

It's so much easier to go, then face all this pain here all alone~



~It's easier to run...~



I pulled away from Malik suddenly, raiseing my hands from his waist to his shoulders. "We have to leave, Malik," I said

firmly.



He looked so lost, so confused at my words. Not understanding why I would say that. Where could we go? What chance had we of surviving out there? Not much at all really. But we had no choice. I couldn't stay here anymore. Having my other half so close...but I can't touch...don't deserve to touch...I just can't take it.



It's always easier to run then to stand ones ground and take the pain. It's so much simpler just to run and run and run until your lungs want to burst. I had to leave here, let go of it all and never look back...but never move too far forward so I'd have no more regrets...not more blood to lay on my hands.



I grabbed Malik's wrist and leaned down to grab the two jugs of water I kept near by. Holding them tightly I released Malik and threw a blanket over him and myself before taking his wrist again. We traveled through the tunnels then, him following me with blind loyalty. Like I'd held for my Yami almost.



I don't belong here any more, and keeping Malik here with me so close to the Sennen Rod that probably held his other half still was driveling him further and further into the madness. Eventually, he wouldn't knowthe difference between my Yami and me...he would kill me or Yami...though I'd rather the former I can't take the chance. I have to get him out of here...and myself. It's better this way. I can try to take back all the pain that I gave.



I want to heal these broken wounds inside, I want to feel again...and making Malik happy can do that for me. And...despite all I feel for Yami...I'm probably just annoying him by staying so close. Our seeing each other the night before had most likely angered him. He will waste no effort in searching for me in these grounds. And though I want to be near his side, I can't just leave Malik alone like that...I'm all he has left in this forsaken reality. I can't leave him to the monsters of his creation.



I will never know myself until I do this. I will never feel anything ever again if I stay here. I will become a shadow, a nothing, and Malik...Malik will waste away...I can't let that happen. He and I traveled through the tunnels most of the night until I found an exit that was outside the grounds. Climbing out I grabbed a dirty Malik by the arm and lifted him out as well. Not to say was I wasn't just as filthy. But that was a good thing. We both had a lesser chance of being recognized covered in this grime...or mistaken for someone else for that matter.



I covered my head with the large blanket, wrapping it around so it covered half my face and all my hair, I did the same to Malik. We wandered away from the castle until we reached a merchant's bazaar. I was praying that was open at this hour of night. It was pitch black except for the moon and stars above, the cold air ruffled my robes that I had stolen from the Castle a few years earlier.



As luck would have it, one was open. Barely. It was then I realized I had nothing to pay for what I need. I looked over at Malik. He was still wearing his gold earrings and necklace, along with the bands of gold on his arm and forearm and he had an ankle bracelet on each ankle. The bracelets were beautiful, pure silver with little gems hanging off it.



"Malik?" I questioned.



He looked up at me, "Nani?" he said softly, he looked and acted so child like when the anger and utter hatred wasn't ripping through him. Moments like these were rare.



"I...I need to have one of your ankle bracelets...it'll help us get some quick supplies to get out of here."



He moved away, "No..."



"Malik...onegai? Don't you want to get out of here...away from...*him*?"



He nodded slightly, "Yes..."



"Then I need one of them..."



He pouted sadly but gave me one without further protest off his left ankle. I thanked him warmly and took his arm in mine as I approached the merchant. He was a tall man with thick black hair and his skin tanned to red from the sun. His face was old and hard, his black beady eyes fixed on me like a wolf would a sheep. I narrowed my eyes slightly.



"I need black dye and some bread, do you have it."



He stroked his chin like he had a beard, "Maybe. How much you got?"



I held up the bracelet, "This."



Interest flared in his eyes but he tried to cover it, "Just that tiny thing? That's not even worth half of what you want costs."



I narrowed my eyes till they were nearly closed, forcing a murderous look my Yami would have been proud of. "I know full well it's more the enough. Either you give me what I want now, or I'll go to another."



"W-wait! Alright," he grumbled under his breath and got a bottle of black dye out along with a single bag of bread.



I shook my head, "Five bags or no deal."



"That's outrages!" he shouted.



"Fine. I'm sure the others will be fine with it." I started to walk away, tucking the bracelet under my arm.



"Okay! Four bags!" he said quickly, halting me with his voice.



I looked at him. "Then a jug of water to go with the four bags."



His face had darkened to a near purple but he finally nodded his head, "F-fine." He got out a jug of water and a few more bags of bread to go with the dye.



I looked behind him. "You have a spare camel by chance?" I questioned.



He shook his head quickly, "No! I do not. Take your things and get out of here."



"I need a bag then."



His lips were in a snarl and I knew I was really pushing it now. Still he put them all of it a sack for me and held them out. I reached for them but he pulled away.



"Bracelet first, then your stuff."



I smirked knowing his game. Let him have it 'n he wouldn't give us our things. "Lay them down and you get it."



He cast me a suspicious look but did so. I laid the item down and grabbed the sack before walking away, feeling the gleeful smile of the man as I walked.



I was leaving here. Malik and I were finally leaving...I just hoped I wouldn't come to regret this...When we were far enough for the merchant I rearranged our things in the sack so the water was on bottom and the bread on top. I didn't want it crushed or anything. I tied the top shut and took Malik's hand in mine.



I wandered around until I found some camels tied to a wood pole, fortunately the guard supposed to be protecting them from thieves, like Malik and I, was snoring loudly.



Grinning I untied one of them and helped Malik onto it, I then untied another and got on as well. Setting our stuff together in front of me and securing it with a rope I'd gotten off the camel, I looked over at Malik.



"Lets go," I whispered.



And with that we took off, riding out of the bazaar without a single glance back.



~If I could change I would, take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

If I could take all the shame to the grave I would.~



~It's easier to run...~



~If I could change I would, take back the pain I would

Retrace every wrong move that I made I would

If I could stand up and take the blame I would

I would take all my shame to the grave.~



A.n.-What did you think? I hope ya'all like this...^_^Gomen for the wait...I didn't really mean to make ya'all wait so long! ^_^If ya'all still want more...I'll try never ta make ya wait that long^_^.