Mamono:^.^U Forgive me! I took way too long to post this!! Sorry!!!
Seto: She's been *busy*...
Mamono: Not funny....anyway thanks everyone for the reviews! Hopefully this extra long chapter makes up for the delay! Okay review response time!!
DarkShadowFlame: ^_~ I knew you'd like this story! Thanks so much for reviewing! It makes me happy!(That sounds so egotistical...) Anyway yes, more Bakura madness today, and Bakura confronts the candy sellers about the turtles!! ^_~ It's gonna be great!
Camille: Thanks for the review! I hope you like Bakura's *reaction* I thought it was funny!!!
Kelly: Yay! I'm glad I this story got you into the Christmas spirit! I hope this chapter is as good as the last! Thank you so much for the kind words! ^___^ I'm so happy! Hazzah!!
Aura Black Chan: ^_~ Don't worry, Ryou won't be sad on Christmas! I don't have the heart to do that to him! But I'm glad you liked this! You're probably wondering why I'm not doing one about Seto, right? Well dont' worry, he'll make an appearance soon! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
Flower Petals: *squeals* Your really think this is the best Ryou&Bakura Christmas fic?*does a happy dance* Thank you so much! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you! It's really cool that you like my writing style! Oh I feel so happy! Thank you!
Zorra Lombardi: *mesmerized by the lights* Huh? Oh! ^__^ I know, Christmas trees rock! Oh the Santa w/shadow magic part was my favorite too! Don't think that that's the last you'll see of it though! Thank you so much for reviewing!!
Okay so without further adieu....Part 2!!!
Seto: She doesn't own Yugioh......
Mamono: Shh! Don't tell!
~Silver and Gold~
Part 2: Tis the Season?
The sun rose that morning to a snow covered Domino; the white powder had piled up since the previous night. The ashen eyes of Bakura glared through the frozen windowpane at the crystal powder that drifted across the yard; a low growl resonated softly in his throat.
"Ryou, there's more of that white stuff on the ground," he nagged.
The white haired boy walked up to his yami and peered out of the window. He chuckled, smiling at the wonderland outside.
"Yami, it's called snow, and I happen to like it," Ryou informed.
"Snow? I don't like it," Bakura declared.
"Well, that's too bad," Ryou snickered. "You're going to see a lot of it from now on..."
Ryou walked over to the front door and grabbed his brown leather coat. He pulled the long leather sleeve across his arms and pulled the golden zipper all the way up; then he grabbed two black gloves from off the table and slipped them over his fingers; finally he took a light blue scarf and wrapped it around his neck carefully, the soft cotton fabric snuggled cozily against Ryou's face. Then he turned to Bakura and waited expectantly for his yami to follow suit.
"What?" Bakura asked.
"Come on, we have to get the tree," Ryou replied.
Bakura stared at his hikari; Ryou actually wanted to go outside? He just glared at his lighter half and stood firm in his spot near the window.
"I'm not going out there," Bakura affirmed, pointing out the window at the snow-covered city.
Ryou just continued smiling cheerfully. The stubborn yami gaped when his hikari's eyes became blank and eerie. He stepped back, clutching onto the window pane behind him.
"Yami," Ryou said dangerously; not matching his face's cheerful appearance. "You're coming with me to get the Christmas tree..."
Bakura gulped; his hikari was scary. Groaning, he sulked over to the door and grabbed his trench coat off the coat rack and disdainfully put it on. Ryou handed him a pair of slick leather gloves, which he grumpily took and placed them over his hands; the pouting yami glared at his hikari, signaling that he was ready to go.
"Okay, I'm glad you decided to come," Ryou said with a smirk on his face. "This should be fun!"
'Fun as being bitten by a cobra, I'm sure,' Bakura grumbled.
*******
A few sparse snowflakes drifted among the morning sky, but otherwise it was a nice day; the snow crunched beneath Ryou's feet as he walked into the tree farm, Bakura sulking behind him. As they entered, the thick smell of pine filled their senses. The cinder-like eyes of Bakura gazed at the trees wearily.
"There is something amiss in these trees," he whispered.
"Yami," Ryou turned around, noticing his darker half's weariness. "Relax, they're only Christmas trees."
Bakura looked away from his hikari, his white hair whipped across his face, covering the scowl on his lips.
"Come on, Yami," Ryou chuckled. "We're almost there."
Ryou turned back around and continued trudging through the snow covered pathway with Bakura following behind. The two continued and soon they came upon a wooden stand; the boards that made it up were worn and the shack looked as if it might fall over in the next gust of wind.
"I take it this is our destination?" Bakura questioned.
"Well, it would seem to be..." Ryou said unsure.
Bakura walked up to the stand and a woman with shimmering red hair came to the counter. Her blue eyes gazed down at Bakura cheerfully; she smiled and spoke to the white haired yami before her.
"So, I take it you want a Christmas tree?"
"Yes, where can I acquire such a thing?" Bakura asked.
"Well you can acquire one anywhere on the farm, but there are some rules," the woman replied.
"Rules?"
"Yes, you can only cut down the one's without the yellow tags on them, and you'll have to get an axe and sleigh to carry your tree on,"
"An axe?" Bakura inquired; he was starting to like this little setup.
"Yeah that's right, also don't cut down a tree that won't fit in your home, you don't want to have to kill an innocent tree, do you?"
"Yes,"
"What?!" the woman roared.
Ryou then stepped in front of his yami; his chocolate eyes gazed apologetically and the white haired boy began to reason with the woman. Totally absorbed with the idea of murdering innocent things; even if the things were only trees; Bakura snuck off into the thick of the forest...
****
"So you see, he really doesn't want to kill the trees....he's just a little excited for Christmas, that's all," Ryou pleaded; so far he seemed to have the upper hand in the argument; but the already pale boy became as white as the snow around him when he saw that the axe was missing from in front of the stand.
"You know what? I think we'll just get a fake tree this year. Sorry to bother you. Bye!" Ryou yelped.
The boy then dashed into the thicket after his yami.
'I swear, I should get you a leash...'
*****
"She said not the ones with the yellow tags," Bakura muttered; his ashen eyes scanned through the many trees that surrounded him; much to his annoyance though...
"They all have yellow tags!!" he spat.
Bakura grumbled and tossed the axe to the ground, causing the fluffy snow to fly into the air and slowly drift through the air; but before it could reach the ground, Bakura had stormed off.
*****
Ryou ran frantically through the pine trees, sharp needles would bury themselves into his silky hair and snow was piling into his shoes; this was not what he expected to do when he went out to get a Christmas tree.
"I should be decorating, not searching for my yami, who wants to murder the trees! Oh dear..."
*****
A loud murmur filled the streets of Domino; people were all rushing to get their last minute shopping finished; it was hectic to say the least. Bakura was among the crowd, the tomb robber sulked through the crowds; he was still upset that he didn't get the chance to kill anything; he stopped, though, when he spotted a sign hung in a store window, it was bright red in color and something peculiar was written across it.
'Come on in! We have the perfect Christmas Gifts!'
"Christmas...gift?" Bakura questioned; peering at the happy-go-lucky sign.
A young girl who happen to be staring at the same sign, giggled; he rosy cheeks beamed as she turned toward Bakura.
"Don't you know what a Christmas present it?" she questioned.
"No," Bakura said truthfully.
"It's a present you get for your friends and family for Christmas to show that you care about them," the girl giggled.
"I see..."
*****
Ryou ran through the busy city streets, his chocolate eyes becoming jaded; all this worrying probably wasn't the best for him. He dashed across the street; when he reached the other side, he bumped into a small girl.
"I'm terribly sorry," Ryou said.
"Hey, it's you," the girl said happily.
"Me?"
"Don't you remember? We talked at the department store,"
"Oh right, thank you. See you then!"
"See you!"
*****
Bakura wandered aimlessly through the city streets; his ashen eyes peering into the store displays, looking for a suitable gift for his hikari.
"Well, I suppose I should give him a gift, after all I wouldn't be here without him. I wonder if he would like a dagger?" Bakura mused; he pictured the timid Ryou with a dagger; he chuckled, that image wasn't exactly suiting to his hikari's personality.
"Perhaps not...Ryou is to weak for that sort of thing,"
It had been over three hours since they had left the house that morning, and Bakura was growing hungry. He absentmindedly reached into his pocket and was surprised to find that the chocolate turtles he had purchased the before were still there. Bakura reached into the bag and pulled out a turtle, its creamy chocolate surface gleamed deliciously back at him; but what Bakura was really interested in, was the inside.
After gazing at his prey for a few more seconds, he popped the ill-fated chocolate into his mouth. The smooth chocolate melted in his mouth, filling his senses with a sugary sensation. After the initial flavor had past, Bakura cringed and spat the chocolaty mess from his mouth.
"There's no turtle in here!" he barked.
He then glared at the rest of the chocolates as if to warn them to have a turtle-filled center.
"Your misleading title upsets me, turtles,"
Bakura sighed and shoved the bag into his pocket; arguing with a bag of chocolates had now became his all time low.
*****
"Where is he?!" Ryou cried.
He had searched all over the big department stores and still no sign of his yami.
"I give up. If he wants to go around killing innocent trees, then I'm not going to stop him," Ryou muttered.
Chocolate eyes widened and Ryou clasped his hand to his mouth.
"What am I saying?"
Quick crunching of snow was heard as Ryou dashed forward; and the lighter half of Bakura raced out of sight.
*****
Two girls were merrily chatting behind a counter; the tantalizing smell of chocolate filled the neat store; a ginger haired girl snuck underneath the glass display case and she quickly scooped up a handful of chocolate raisins. She was about to gobble up the candies when a loud ringing was heard at the door; the sudden alert of a customer caused the girl to drop every chocolate she had; she pouted and stared with her jaw hung open at the chocolates scattered on the ground.
"Ten second rule!" she shouted, dropping to the floor and snatching the candy up. She quickly placed it all in her mouth and popped up from behind the counter; a pair of ashy eyes glared disapprovingly at her.
"Cyran Iwa helpa ywoug?" she garbled.
The light brown haired girl sighed and swiftly introduced her hand to the back of the other girls head; her coffee-brown eyes glittered as she turned to Bakura.
"Can I help you?"
Bakura quickly pulled a glittery green bag from his pocket and shoved it into the girls' faces. A fierce scowl formed on his lips.
"These aren't real turtles, you owe Ryou his money back!" he snapped.
The two girls gazed blankly at Bakura. Was he serious? Dark brown met golden brown as the two girls looked at each other, wondering what to do.
"Of course they aren't turtles, what did you expect?" the golden eyed one spoke.
"They are called turtles, so where is the turtle?"
"There aren't any turtles," the coffee-eyed one laughed.
Bakura sighed angrily; then why are they called turtles? These sellers were sure odd. Bakura remembered what he had heard from them though....
~"Thank you very much! Merry Christmas!"~
They must know something about this Christmas. Perhaps they could help...
"Do you know about Christmas gifts?" Bakura suddenly questioned.
*****
"What did I do to deserve this? I'm a good person; why did I have to be stuck with a deranged tree murderer?"
Ryou collapsed onto a bench, its cold surface sent chills down his spine. White puffs of mist drifted above his head as he panted, out of breath from all the running he had done.
"Maybe he went home? Highly unlikely, but I'm sure he'll show up sometime or another; he'll have to get hungry sometime. Perhaps this is a good time to get some things done..."
*****
"A Christmas gift?" the coffee-eyed girl inquired.
"Yes, for Ryou," Bakura replied.
"What did you have in mind?"
"I don't know, that's the problem,"
"Oh, I see..."
While Bakura talked with the coffee-eyed girl, the other shop owner was busy talking on the phone; as the call progressed, her face became more and more troubled. Finally she clicked off the phone and leaned up against the wall, obviously distressed.
Bakura searched around the shop as the girl in front of him kept naming off useless gift ideas; Bakura didn't know what half of the things she said were, anyway. He stopped when his eyes came across some things that were quite interesting; there stood chocolate figurines of popular Duel Monsters; there was a Blue Eyes, a Dark Magician, and the thing that had caught Bakura's eye; a Change of Heart figurine; half of it was made of white chocolate and the other half of dark, it was beautifully crafted and highly detailed.
"What about that?" he suggested, pointing to the chocolate.
"How about some CD's, or movies, or some fruit...huh? That?" the girl at the counter spoke.
"Yes, would that be a suitable gift?"
"Oh yes! Chocolate is the best gift!" the coffee-eyed girl laughed.
"Amen to that," the golden eyed girl chuckled and walked over to Bakura. "That is kind of expensive, though; handmade."
"I don't have any money," Bakura said flatly.
"Oh," the coffee-eyed girl pouted. "But it'd be so perfect!"
"Well perhaps there is a way we could work this out..."
*****
The sun was beginning to set and Bakura was still out among the city; the white haired yami walked up to a door of a house and knocked briskly on its surface, each loud rap heard clearly against the frozen door. He shifted a white box between his hands; after waiting a minute or so, the door swung open, the ice formed against it made a cracking noise as a woman opened the door. Her light brown hair whipped in the cool wind and her warm blue eyes gazed down at Bakura.
"You must be the delivery boy," she said and took the white box form Bakura. "Thank you so much dear, Merry Christmas!"
Bakura only gave a weak smile; he was forced down to the level of delivery boy just to pay for that chocolate; it was degrading.
"Well, you aren't too talkative now are you?" the woman chuckled. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a stripped candy cane and handed it to Bakura who hesitantly took it. Suddenly a large shaggy dog appeared behind the woman; it leapt through the doorway and tackled Bakura. The dog began licking Bakura ruthlessly; the surprised yami struggled to get onto his feet; the woman pulled the dog from Bakura, who glared daggers at the happy dog.
"Sorry, he just likes to make new friends," she apologized.
'I've got a friend for him,' Bakura thought, his hand placed on his Duel Monsters deck in his pocket.
*****
Now at another door, this one gigantic; Bakura gaped at the enormity of the house. The door slowly opened and a young boy sneaked out; his unruly raven hair and cheerful blue eyes were easily recognized as those of Mokuba Kaiba.
"Hey, Bakura! I didn't know you were a delivery boy?" he giggled.
"Let's not speak of it. Here your chocolates," Bakura grumbled and shoved the box into the young boy's hands.
"Thanks! Oh and don't tell Seto, it's a surprise!" Mokuba snickered. "Ha, Seto can't refuse a gift from me, but I just want to see him hyper after I make him eat every last chocolate!"
Mocking his trademark puppy dog eyes, Mokuba ran into the mansion, waving to Bakura as he shut the door.
*****
The rest of the evening continued on like this; finally the last box of chocolate had been delivered and Bakura trudged into the familiar store, a bell sounding to signal his return. The golden eyed girl grinned as he walked in.
"Great job! We got all our deliveries in today! We couldn't have done it without you!" she praised and then handed him a silvery box that had a golden ribbon draped across the top.
"Here's your reward; I hope he likes it!"
Bakura took the box and tiredly walked out the door. The yami could finally head home.
"I don't think I'll ever figure out this Christmas thing..."
*****
Ryou was admiring the beautiful decorations on his newly acquired Christmas tree; without Bakura to look after, he was able to get a lot done, including the tree. A soft thud was heard as Bakura walked into the house; he hid the package behind his back and walked into the room where his hikari was.
"Where have you been?" Ryou scolded.
"Don't ask," Bakura replied.
After an awkward moment, Bakura shifted his gaze over to the tree in the living room; golden lights sparkled; long strands of silver garland were wrapped beautifully around the tree; it was beautiful. Ryou noticed his yami gaping at the tree and a feeling of pride washed over his body.
"Like it, eh?" he queried.
Bakura only nodded; his hikari was still a mystery to him. Ryou smiled and walked up next to Bakura; he patted him on the shoulder before walking off and up the stairs.
"Well good night then. It's a big day tomorrow, better get some sleep," Ryou yawned.
Bakura, also tired, followed Ryou up the stairs and retired to his room for the night. He flicked off the lights, the Christmas lights from the next door shined through his window. White hair fluttered as Bakura fell on to his bed; his eyelids began to droop over his catlike eyes and sleep crept over his body.
"Christmas is tiring..."
******************
Mamono: So how was it? Review and let me know!
Seto: What's this with Mokuba buying chocolate behind my back?
Mamono: ^_~ You'll see! Okay next part preview: It's Christmas Eve at Ryou's house! Bakura is introduced to some old traditions and the Red Man makes an appearance!
Bakura: Let's Duel Claus!!!
Mamono: So look forward to it! I should post before Christmas! I hope! Thank you all for reading!