Wishful Thinking

A/N: Sage: andddd I'm back. Surprised? With 23 some reviews how could I not?

Kaley: Yep, after reading all the reviews, we decided…

Bakura: That these two are glory hogs and want to continue.

Kaley: (hits Bakura) Kura-kun! We are not glory hogs!

Sage: Speak for yourself! I am!

Kaley: Anyways, we decided to continue the story. However!

Bakura: However, we wouldn't mind getting so many reviews for a normal chapter! I mean, I love the attention.

Sage: And I use reviews to gage what story to work on. So to stop such a silly event from happening in the future, make sure to review ^_^

Kaley: But I'll make her continue either way.

Ryou: Um, I know I'm not a muse but I decided to come in to say…there will be no more cliffhangers.

Bakura: Uh, this is Sage here, there are going to be a lot more cliffhangers…

Kaley: (ahem) Well, back to the story. Last chapter Ryou and Bakura were left at the mercy of a strange, flood that was created by Aries, Ai's husband. Now we see what happens next and…well…I'm surprised no one noticed that Amane is missing. Shame on you! Actually, it's ok because most people forget her anyway. Or is she missing? (evil laugh)

Sage: You hang out with me too much…anyways, Ryou, want to do the honors?

Ryou: Oh, well, umm…Please, start the fic?

Bakura: (grins) You need to work on that, try again…

Ryou: Um, well…(coughs) START THE RA DAMNED FIC!!

Kaley: Nice ^_^

"What the hell is going on?" Bakura cried out, instinctively grabbing Ryou and pulling him from the raging waters. The icy cold wave rushed through the room, engulfing everything in it. Bakura backed away, pulling the frightened Ryou with him.

"What do we do?" Ryou asked as Bakura bumped against the wall.

"That's easy, get out of your soul room!" Bakura shouted, shoving Ryou out of the room. Ryou's eyes opened and he sat up in his bed. The floor of his room was soaked and so were his bed sheets. He frowned, touching them lightly as Bakura appeared next to him.

"Bakura, why is my room so damp?" He wondered, a bit distantly. After all, his soul was drowning in a flood at that moment.

"I don't know but it's magic…" Bakura muttered, his eyes narrowed as he looked about the room. "Something's up…"

"My head hurts…" Ryou mumbled. Bakura grabbed his hand and tugged him up.

"C'mon, let's go find a way to stop that flood." The older teen said gently. He and his light moved into the hallway when Bakura suddenly froze. Ryou looked up at him, his mouth open.

"…Kura?" Ryou muttered. Bakura gripped Ryou's hand tighter.

"Shit." Bakura said darkly. Suddenly, the window at the end of the hall burst open, glass flying everywhere. Water rushed in from what seemed like the sky and moved swiftly down the hallway, faster then either boy could move. It grabbed the two and yanked them off their feet and down the stairs. Bakura tried to pull Ryou to him in the chaos of the white foamy waves but felt Ryou's hand slip from his. The younger boy was torn away by the flood.

"Kura!" He heard over the roaring waters.

"Ryou!" He yelled before his head went under the waves. It bobbed back up just as he smacked into a wall. He grunted and pushed himself against it, trying to avoid the water. "Ryou!" He called again but he didn't hear anything but the liquid pounding against his ears.

"God damn it…" He cursed. The water still flooded down into the living room but now much of the area was underwater. Bakura swam away from the wall and kept his head above the water. His white haired, usually spiked, was now stuck to his face. He growled and glanced around. No Ryou. "Ra…damn it Ryou!" He took a deep breath and dived under the blue mass. His eyes opened and he saw nothing but the carpet underneath him. Again he swore and rose to the surface.

"Whoever did this…I'm going to kill you for this…"

********************

Ryou felt his body bump against the floor. The kitchen table was floating above him, near the overhead light. It caused a large shadow to fall over him. He couldn't breathe but right then, his mind was so flooded with water and memories that he didn't care. He rested on the linoleum bottom and stared up at the ceiling. The table floated away and he was left to watch the light dance across the water. It was kind of pretty, very pretty in fact.

"Don't give up…" He heard suddenly, clear as a bell. His eyes looked lazily for the source but saw no one. Then, as they went to stare up again, he saw a figure. A small girl with long, flowing white hair and big beautiful green eyes was floating down through the water towards him. Attached to her back was a set of delicate angelic wings.  The light shimmered around her, forming a bright halo.

"Angel…" Ryou mouthed, only he ended up taking in more water. His vision was starting to get blurry and his mind was fading. The girl smiled at him and cupped his face in her hands. Her hair intertwined with his and she pressed her lips to his.

"Please open your mouth Ryou…" He heard in his mind. He did and found himself gasping in sweet air.  He kissed the angel until his sight returned to normal and his mind began to clear. This girl looked just like…but his brain couldn't finish the sentence. The girl drifted up off the boy.

"Who…?" Ryou stared at her. She just gave him the same heavenly smile and stroked his cheek.

"Ryou…it's alright, I know you don't remember me…" The angel said. "Your darker side wiped those painful memories from your mind. Somehow he missed your loneliness and mother though…odd huh?" She grinned. "But…please try to remember your little sister?" Ryou's eyes widened and suddenly it hit him.

"Onii-chan! Come play with me!"

"Please big brother, I can't reach the sink!"

"Ryou…he broke my toy!"

"Let's go to the park big brother!"

"Are you ok Ryou?"

"I miss mommy Onii-chan…I want her back…"

"It's hurts big brother…it really hurts…"

"You remember me?" The gentle girl asked. Ryou stared at her, her voice echoing in his mind.

"Amane!" Ryou cried out as tears welled up in his eyes. The girl smiled and quickly kissed Ryou again, giving him more life replenishing air. "Amane, sister…I, I'm so sorry I…I can't believe…how could I…Amane!"

"It's alright Ryou…" Amane said. "Your darker side erased your memory of things that caused you pain. My death caused you a lot of pain, I know it did…" Ryou stared at her, unsure of how to react.

"You're dead though…you're an angel…" Ryou whispered. His sister nodded. "And Bakura…he made me forget?" Amane paused again to kiss her brother.

"He did it to protect you…" Amane sighed. "But I must admit it was pretty extreme. Then again, you regained some of your memories today didn't you? Of Bakura hurting your friends, ruining your life as he tried to keep you to himself."

"Amane…I'm sorry…I can't believe Bakura did this…"

"It's alright now…" The angel girl said. "But you know, I thought there'd be trouble when I heard Benten had come to you."

"You know Ai??" Ryou said in surprise. Amane took this moment to press her lips to his once more.

"Of course silly, she's a Goddess and I'm an angel." Amane giggled. "Then she called her husband to help her and this…" She paused and waved her hand in the water. "Would be his idea of help. I knew Bakura wouldn't make it to you in time to save your life-"

"I'm dead?!"

"I didn't finish…" Amane rolled her eyes but she still smiled. "I knew he wouldn't make it so I decided to intervene. I only get three visits to earth you know, since I'm not your guardian angel."

"Oh, I…I didn't know that…but Amane, this is amazing!" Ryou grinned. "I can see you and I finally feel…complete…I didn't even know I was missing memories…Bakura…I don't get it…"

"Don't worry about it now." Amane said. "You can't just lay here all day you know. You have to get up sometime…or you'll drown."

"But, Amane the whole house is flooded!" Ryou cried. Amane gave him more air and sighed.

"I know that but…this is what the dragons call a Gairu Flood. It's a flood that is a total illusion except to those who are in it." Amane shrugged. "I'm not sure how it works though. It's the same with the flood in your soul room. I got rid of that because it was tiny."

"So…what do I need to do then?" Ryou asked.

"You need…to relax and try to think this out. I'm sorry but my time here is done…I'll try to visit you again soon ok?" Amane smiled and hugged the boy to her. Ryou threw his arms around her.

"No! Wait please! I just remembered you and and and this isn't fair!" Ryou sobbed. His tears mixed with the swirling waters around him. A strange force pressed on his lungs, making it hard to keep his breath. "Please, Amane!"

"I love you big brother…I hope he'll take good care of you…" Amane whispered as she faded back into the light she came from. Ryou reached out to her but found his body too heavy to move. He could only watch as she disappeared into the darkening waters.

"Amane…" Ryou shut his eyes. She was gone…now he was left alone at the bottom of the ocean. He couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried. Maybe this was it, after all you saw your dead loved ones when you died. Maybe his mother would come next…

"Ryou!" A familiar voice called distantly. Then the silence returned to press around him again.

 "That voice…I've heard it before…where…" Ryou wondered as his eyes shut. His lungs were about to give up on him, though that didn't seem to matter as much as the voice. "Wait…that was…Bakura…I wonder what happens to him if I die? Guess I'll find out…I hope he's not mad at me…its Ai's fault anyway…" A sound above him forced his eyes to open ever so slightly. He saw another figure diving down to him, one with long white hair. Was Amane back?

"Doesn't matter now though…" Ryou thought as his body shut down. His eyes shut again and the world was torn away from him.

****************

Bakura wrapped one arm around the boy's waist and kicked off the kitchen floor. He and Ryou shot upwards, breaking the waters surface with a gasp. Bakura pushed away his bangs and turned to the limp boy in his arms.

"Ryou, hey Ryou c'mon!" Bakura lightly slapped his face but the younger one didn't wake. Bakura growled and swam back through the living room and up the stairs to Ryou's half submerged room. The teen laid him on the bed and clenched his hands into a fist. Ryou wasn't breathing.

"C'mon Bakura think!" Bakura snarled at himself. "You saved Marik back in Egypt from drowning once right? Think! What'd you do to make him breathe again?" He hit himself in the head and thought hard. The he remembered and without another thought he plugged Ryou's nose, threw open his mouth and pushed in air. He pulled away and pounded on the unconscious one's chest. He repeated this many times.

"Damn it Ryou wake up!" Bakura shouted as he pressed against Ryou's chest. "Don't you dare fucking die on me!" Bakura gave one more pound and suddenly Ryou's eyes snapped open and he vomited water all over Bakura. Bakura, instead of yelling however, lit up and hugged the coughing boy. "Ryou!"

"Ba-Bakura?" Ryou doubled over and threw up another gallon of water.

"You're alive!" Bakura grinned and held the boy tighter. "Damn don't you ever think of dying again!" Ryou waited a few minutes, after he'd coughed up the rest of the liquid before answering.

"I wasn't planning on it…" Ryou mumbled. The two sat there, Bakura gently hitting Ryou's back and Ryou coughing harshly. "Bakura…did you…save me?"

"I found you through our link." Bakura said, running a finger down the Millennium Ring. "I heard you muttering to yourself on it and you said something about the kitchen table so I figured you where there."

"Thanks…" The two fell back into silence, only the water churning below them making any noise. Ryou's mind was swimming with too many thoughts to talk. Bakura had erased his memories…and now he had them back. Everything Bakura had ever done to him and his friends was now playing like a broken record. He raised his head to say something but ended up only staring.

"What?" Bakura asked, feeling Ryou's eyes on him. Ryou didn't speak. Bakura was drenched, his hair flat with only tiny points where his spikes usually were. He looked so worried yet so relived at the same time. It'd be kind of mean to say something now.

"Nothing…just…don't worry ok?" Ryou smiled remotely.

"If you say so…" Bakura shrugged and then he stood up. "Well, we need to figure out what to do then because I don't think this flood is just going to go away." He sighed and pushed his sticky bangs from his face. "Lemme think, how to get rid of a magical flood…"

"Can't we go look at some of my dad's books?" Ryou asked.

"Well, depends on how long I can hold my breath." Bakura pointed at the door. "Cause I'd have to swim down through the living room, the kitchen, down to the basement, acquire some books then-"

"Alright I get it." Ryou held up his hand. "So that's a no then." Ryou frowned. This was Ai's flood. So maybe only she could get rid of it. "I need to…go to the bathroom…" Ryou stood up and headed for the door but was stopped by Bakura's out stretched arm.

"You aren't going by yourself." Bakura said sternly. "You're still too weak. I'll come with you."

"Bakura, you can't!" Ryou cried, though his voice sounded a bit hoarse now.

"Oh?"

"Well…umm…you don't want to be in there trust me" Ryou paused, knowing his face was red now. "But um, I'll be right back I promise."

"…five minutes." Bakura stepped away from him.

*****************

Ryou quickly ran to the bathroom. It too was half underwater.

"Ai!" He called quietly. Sure enough, the bright Goddess appeared next to the sink. Her hair, however, was a complete mess and her robes were half falling off. She bit her lip and laughed nervously.

"Yes?" She was blushing deeply.

"What were you doing?" Ryou's curiosity got the better of him.

"Oh, um well…my husband and I…we were just…umm…" Ai grinned suddenly. "Making out really."

"…oh…WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THIS FLOOD??" Ryou shouted, though carefully not to get too loud.

"Er, I know, I'm sorry about that." Benten sighed. "My husband went a bit overboard. It was supposed to be a thunderstorm, not a flood."

"Why??"

"To get you and Bakura closer of course!" The goddess said in an 'it's so obvious' tone. "Anyways, want me to clear it up?"

"Yes!" Ryou yelled.

"Alright fine fine!" Ai crossed her arms. "I'll take care of it…just go…distract Bakura ok?"

"For how long?" Ryou asked.

"Oh, about three hours."

"Three hours?! What the hell am I supposed to do for three hours?!"

"…"

"…"

"…" Ai grinned.

"…you are such a pervert." Ryou mumbled.

A/N: Sage: Odd place to stop but that's all.

Kaley: Remember, the more reviews the fastest the update!

Bakura: And the less likely Sage is to stop the fic.

Ryou: So please review…

Sage: See ya next chapter!