I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

by Rhapsody Moonschild and Tat Claire Kokoro

|~*Tat: **is humming**

Rhapsody: **looks at Tat** Welcome back, everyone…  Whatcha humming, Tat-chan?

Tat: Our disclaimer.

Rhapsody: ???

Tat: **starts to sing** Yu-Gi-Oh! don't belong to me/ Yu-Gi-Oh!'s not our property/ It belongs to Takahashi/ Now you're not allowed to sue me!

Rhapsody: O.O  My ears hurt…

Tat: If you give me a quarter I'll never do it again.

Rhapsody: Done! **hands triumphant Tat her quarter back** Start the fic…*~|

CHAPTER EIGHT (by Rhapsody)

Yami's POV

Quietly I smile down at Ryou.  He is asleep, had almost collapsed during the walk home from delayed shock, tiredness, and my forcing his body to heal.  Immediately I had picked him up—I wasn't exactly human, one might recall, and he wasn't very heavy—and we continued on our way.

I am almost home.  The sun shines high in the sky, making me squint a little.  With all the events today it seems later than mid-afternoon.  But the sun hasn't even gone down yet and coats Ryou's hair with a golden sheen.

"Yami…" he mutters in his sleep and grabs my arm.  Is he about to awaken?  I stop moving, but after a moment his face relaxes and he sleeps easily again.

Yugi answers the door for me.  His eyes are full of questions but I give a pointed look to the sleeping Ryou in my arms and he stays silent, as to not awaken him.  Gently I lay Ryou on my bed and then go back downstairs, where Yugi waits.

"What's up with Ryou?" he asks immediately, of course.  I give him the short (least bloody, he's still an innocent lad) version and he stands dumbfounded for a minute.

"What did you do to Bakura?" he wonders finally.

I shrug.  "I cursed him.  If he tries to hurt Ryou then he's sent back into his Ring again and can't come out for at least a day the first time, and longer the next times."

Yugi's eyes are wide.  "Wow, Yami, you must like Ryou a lot…"

"Yugi!" a female voice calls from the other room.  "Hon, who was at the door?"

"It was just Yami!" he calls back and takes off for the kitchen without a backward glance.  I am left to wonder over his casual words.

Yeah, I like Ryou a lot, I guess.  He is kind and funny and as lonely as I am sometimes.

But is 'like' all of it?

……

I don't know the answer to that question.  But I do know that helping a friend in trouble is almost as important as Anzu says it is, and he had needed my help.  I am glad he can finally be happy.

I go upstairs to wait at his bedside for him to awaken.