Summary: Training. Ryou has finally found a teacher, someone who can show him how to use his abilities. But, despite the training and hard work, Ryou is having nightmares and a ghost from his past shows up to disrupt his life.

Just a warning: Seto will be acting a –bit- OOC. Don't worry, though. He'll be the arrogant, cocky, and stoic again soon enough.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to YGO nor do I claim to.

Bakura = Ryou

Yami Bakura = Bakura

This story will eventually contain Shonen Ai, don't like? DON'T READ!

-Blah- Emphasized words

"Blah" Speaking

'Blah' Thoughts

*~*~~*~* Scene Change

*~*Flashback or Dream*~*

~*~ Character Focus Switch ~*~ (You'll get it.)

/Mind Speaking/

//Reply Mind Speaking//

*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~*

Amber Skies

*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~*

Ryou winced as Seto yelled, exasperated for what seemed the millionth time since they had begun training a week ago. "Focus! What is so hard about focusing on the object and moving it?"

Ryou replied with courage that he had been lacking since they started. "I am focusing! It'd be easier if you weren't muttering instructions in my ear. One thing at a time!"

Seto stopped his ranting and raised an eyebrow at Ryou, who had crossed his arms defiantly. "There's one problem fixed."

Ryou dropped his arms and looked at Seto curiously. "And that means...?"

Seto pushed himself off of the chair he had been sitting on in the living room and walked into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. "You have been nothing but a spineless coward since we began."

Ryou scowled and walked into the kitchen as well. Leaning against the counter he asked, "Where is your brother?"

Seto placed the glass down and looked out the window. "He's at the lodge we rented. I told him that I would be at least two weeks."

Ryou nodded distractedly. Outside the window, Ryou could faintly see Bakura's form roaming among the trees, as though looking for something. Seto smirked and glanced at Ryou out of the corner of his eye. "Watch this."

Ryou watched, and began to giggle as Bakura started to look around wildly. Seto had lifted a twig and was making it run around in circles around Bakura. Seto touched Ryou's arm, in order to get his attention, and nodded to Ryou. "Take control of it."

Ryou stopped giggling and reached out with his mind to grasp the twig. As he did so, his consciousness came into contact with Seto's and Ryou could immediately see shades of blue, which meant tranquility, a slight bit of red, which meant either anger or frustration, and a small area of purple, which stood for fascination. What on earth could the Kaiba find so fascinating in a boring mountain home teaching a 'foolish' man how to use his psychic powers?

/What are you waiting for?/

Ryou took a hold of the stick, and concentrated on making it twirl around Bakura. //Nothing.//

Bakura spotted the two in the window and disappeared. He reappeared next to Ryou, who had lost his concentration, and was now staring at Bakura in annoyance. "I was actually doing something right until you decided to pop in."

Bakura smirked at Ryou's attempted growl and held out his translucent palm, face up, to Ryou. Ryou's eyes switched from annoyed to surprised in seconds. In Bakura's palm was a pendant about the size of one's fist, in the shape of a circle with an ancient eye in the middle. Five golden points hung from the circle and they were sharpened to near blades.

"The Millennium Ring! Where did you find it? I thought I lost it the first week here!" Ryou took the pendant from Bakura and held it close to his chest after examining it.

"It was underneath the leaves." Bakura placed his hand on Ryou's shoulder for a moment before fading out of view.

Seto looked at Ryou, who was now studying the Ring with adoration in his eyes. "May I ask the significance of that?"

Ryou looked up and smiled the first true smile Seto had seen come from the boy so far. "Bakura and I found this on our first dig with our father. Father always said it had a curse on it, but Bakura and I never really paid attention to that."

Seto glanced at it for a moment longer before turning and heading up to his bedroom with the words, "We can leave things here today."

*~*~~*~*

Seto was awoken from his sleep by a heart-stopping scream. Sitting upright in surprise, he listened hard to see if he could tell from which direction it came. The scream was louder the second time, and it was coming from down the hall, in the direction of Ryou's bedroom. Seto tossed back his covers and hurried down the hallway to check on his 'student'.

Seto opened the door of Ryou's bedroom to see the younger man tossing and turning in his bed, sweat pouring down his face, drenching his hair. He walked over to the bed and laid a hand down onto Ryou's shoulder, trying to wake him. Ryou stilled for a moment, but was crying out, calling and grabbing for something.

Seto gently shook Ryou, whispering the young man's name. After a few seconds, Ryou woke with a cry, and latched his hand onto Seto's arm. Ryou looked around, his grip tightening on Seto's arm, and gasped for air.

Seto sat down on the edge of the bed, a rare, worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" His voice was soft, and Ryou stared at him with wide eyes for a moment.

Ryou loosened his grip, but didn't let go. "They.....there were so many!" His eyes were wild, and Seto had to grab Ryou's shoulders to stop him from shaking.

"There was a lot of what?" Seto questioned softly, trying to get Ryou to answer intelligibly.

Ryou didn't answer. He was looking around wildly. Only when Seto placed his hands on either side of Ryou's face did he get an answer. "Ghosts. Oh, God, there were so many! They wanted my soul! They were hurting me... I called for Bakura. I called for him, but he didn't come!"

"Ryou, calm down."

"Where is Bakura? Why didn't he come? I needed him!" Ryou started to cry, the crystalline tears creating tracks down his cheeks.

"Ryou, please, calm down."

Ryou started to speak in short, unintelligible sentences. Seto tried to think of something to do to get the man to calm, but only one thing came to mind: whenever Mokuba had had a nightmare, Seto would hold him to his chest and play with his long hair. Desperate to get Ryou to calm before he hyperventilated, Seto did just that.

Ryou clutched at his chest, and stopped speaking for a few moments as he gasped for air. Seto ran his fingers through the long whitish silver hair and was amazed; Ryou's hair was as silky as the finest silk, and was completely tangle free. Ryou's tears were cold against his skin, and Seto was glad that he was shirtless; otherwise, his clothes would have major salt stains in the morning.

Ryou pulled away from Seto after a few moments and looked at him with eyes still bright with tears. Seto stared back and frowned when Ryou appeared to start crying again. Seto took Ryou's face into his hands and forced the younger man to look in his eyes.

"I want you to listen to me, ok Ryou?"

Ryou swallowed and nodded.

"I'm going to show you how to block your mind from the spirits. You have to listen closely, because if this is done wrong, you can hurt yourself. Got it?"

Ryou nodded again.

"Now, close your eyes and picture yourself in your mind."

Ryou did as told and could see himself in a room that was filled with splashes of color, the most prominent being yellow; fear. Seto's voice gently stirred the colors, and Ryou could see more and more blue patches emerging.

"Pretend that a wall is around your thoughts and memories."

Ryou complied and gasped after a moment. A wall, just as he envisioned, was around the edges of his mind. He could still see all of the colors, and after a few minutes, all Ryou could see was blue. Seto really had an effect on him; he just couldn't put his finger on it yet.

Ryou opened his eyes and gave a small smile through the tears still drifting down his cheeks. He reached up and surprised Seto by hugging him gently. Seto awkwardly returned the gesture and stood after a moment.

"You can call if you need anything." Seto's voice sounded strange to himself.

Ryou nodded and opened the door with his mind. Seto's mouth twitched at the corners, the best semblance to a smile he could manage at the time. He turned and left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Ryou closed his eyes and pictured himself in his mind. Everywhere around him was blue, and Ryou could almost see the shade of Seto's eyes on the walls. 'What on earth is happening to me?' But this time, that question was meant in good nature.

*~*~~*~*

Ryou was sitting quietly in the livingroom, a blanket laid over his lap, and a book in hand. He had been reading for the past hour, trying to occupy his mind of anything but thoughts of Seto, who was out with his brother. He was humming softly to himself when he was startled out of his trance-like state by a soft voice in his ear.

"Ryou..."

Ryou sat up, and looked around him for a moment. Deciding it must have been the wind, he went to lay back down. That's when he heard it again.

"Ryou Bakura..."

Ryou looked around in alarm. No one but his parents knew that he had Bakura's name as his middle name, and vice versa.

"Ryou...come to mommy..."

Ryou turned around and nearly screamed when he did. Behind him stood the ghost of his mother. She was standing with her hands clasped, and was wearing a light blue dress. Her long silver hair tumbled over her shoulders, and her bright green eyes shone from behind her bangs. Ryou's heart stopped. Renee, his mother, had been gone for over twenty years. James had said that Renee had died when the twins were five.

"Ryou, is there something wrong?" Her voice was soft and gentle, as Ryou remembered her.

Ryou dropped the book he was holding as he stood. "Wh...why are you here?"

Renee tilted her head to the side. "Aren't you happy to see your mother? It's been such a long, long time."

Ryou swallowed and took a step forward. "Mother...Are you really there?"

Renee smiled at him. "Of course I am, silly. I'm here to make sure you're ok."

Ryou took a few more steps. "Why now? It's been twenty years, mom."

"Better late than never." That was all the invitation Ryou needed before he launched himself into Renee's open arms.

"Mom..."

*~*~~*~~~*~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~~~*~~~~~*~~~~*~~~*~~*~* End Chapter Seven. Hope you enjoyed!

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