A/N: Okay! I return! With one review! On the first day! *does victory dance* *ahem* Anyway, I want to thank Eclipse 2.0 for my first review! And I want to thank Kitsune's gurl for putting me on her favorites! Now, y'all go and listen to Hikari by Utada Hikaru! *fake Southern accent* ^_^
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~Flashback~
Malik leaned on the railing of Ryou's porch and watched as he and Yugi(who was currently Yami) and his group of friends have a snowball fight. (not one of my better sentences… Oh well)
"Malik!" Ryou called. "C'mon! Get out here!" Malik grinned.
"Hey," he said, "If the Pharaoh's afraid of that stuff I'm not touching it!" Ryou grinned walking up to him.
"He's not afraid of the snow, he's afraid of the momentum, there's a difference," Ryou said with a smile. Malik couldn't help but smile.
"Would it make you happy if I joined your silly fight?" he asked. Ryou nodded.
"Yup, and one more thing."
"Which is…?" Malik asked.
"You'll show me a good time tonight, right?" Ryou said. The look on his face was just too precious.
"Of course, love," he replied. Ryou jumped down the stairs while Malik walked, careful not to fall. "Okay," he said, "So, you just throw it?" he asked.
"You act like you've never seen snow before!" Anzu said with a laugh.
"I haven't," Malik replied.
"In which case," Jounouchi(I have no clue if I spelled this right…) said, "You two should become acquainted." He picked up a snowball and threw it straight at Malik's head. Malik, not realizing what was happening, got a face full of snow. And so the war began.
~End flashback~
Ryou laid in the hospital bed while Malik stared at him. "Ryou… You can't be serious! Really, I promise, you're gonna be fine!" Ryou shook his head.
"No," he said, "I know I'm dying. But, I'm not afraid." Malik stared at him.
"How… How can you not be afraid?" he asked. "I'd be terrified."
"I'm not afraid because I'll be free," he said. "I'll be happy."
"Aren't you happy now?" Malik asked, forcing himself not to begin to cry.
"I didn't mean it like that," Ryou quickly said, "I meant that I'd be away from my yami. The one who did this to me."
"Do know what he did?" Malik asked.
"No," Ryou replied. "I don't have the slightest idea. I think I was going out and he took over. I woke up like this." He sighed. "You know I love you, right?" Malik nodded.
"Of course I do. How couldn't I?" He leaned forward and touched Ryou's hand. Ryou seemed to wince. "I'm sorry," Malik said quickly.
"No," Ryou said, "it wasn't your fault." He rubbed his side. "It just hurts to breathe. Kind of." Malik stared at him. "I'm fine, really."
"How can you say your fine?" Malik asked choking back tears.
"You're here," Ryou said simply. "And I know you love me. Do you remember last Christmas?" he seemed to ask out of the blue.
"Yeah," Malik said with a smile, "Jounouchi was kind enough to introduce me to snow." Ryou smiled.
"Do you remember what you got me?" Malik began to feel guilty. He hadn't really had much money, so he had gotten Ryou a book that he already had, but he didn't know that at the time.
"I got you a book," Malik said. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have gotten something better but-"
"Not the book," Ryou said. Malik thought. He hadn't given him anything, had he? "The kiss." Malik remembered.
"Oh yeah…" It didn't seem like much… Why was he brining it up?
"That was the best present I've ever gotten," Ryou said leaning toward him. "Really."
~Flashback~
"Good bye Yugi!" Ryou called. Malik waved. Ryou turned toward Malik.
"You sure you don't mind me staying?" Malik asked. "I could always try to find a hotel that's open."
"I'm sure," Ryou said. "Besides, if you didn't stay I'd be alone for the rest of the night," he said regretfully.
"Listen," Malik said, "I just wanted to apologize for getting you such a crappy gift. I didn't know you already had it…"
"It's fine," Ryou said, "I don't really mind. Besides, it's the thought that counts." That made Malik feel even worse. He had been in a hurry and was desperate. The only thing he could think of was a book, so he ran into a bookstore and grabbed the first one he thought Ryou would even relatively like. "Malik?" Ryou asked bringing him out of his train of thought. "Would you like some hot coco or something?"
"Sure," Malik said.
"Okay," Ryou said, "I'll go get some."
"Lemme help you," Malik said quickly hurrying after him. Ryou waited at the entrance of the kitchen.
"Hey Malik," he said glancing up, "mistletoe." Malik look up too where Ryou's eyes were. Sure enough, mistletoe. Ryou was smiling sweetly.
"Ya know what?" Malik said with a playful smile. "You're too damn cute."
"Why, thank you," Ryou said. Malik walked over to him and leaned forward. He passionately kissed Ryou. By the time it was over, Ryou felt almost empty without Malik right next to him. Ryou made the hot coco quickly, Malik offering to help every five seconds. When it was done he handed Malik a mug of steaming hot coco. Malik raised it to his lips.
"Er, Malik," Ryou said quickly, "I wouldn't-" But it was too late. Malik had downed almost half of the mug. He began to cough. "-do that yet. It's still pretty hot."
"Now you tell me…" Malik said. "I think I burnt my tongue…"
"I wouldn't be surprised…" Ryou smiled and sat down his mug. "Would you like some ice water, or something else?"
"No," Malik said, "I'm fine. I shall conquer you, evil coco of burning death!" Ryou began laughing.
"Malik," he said between gasps for air, "I can't believe you didn't know that it was hot!" Malik glared.
"I knew it was hot!"
"Then why did you drink it?" He remained silent.
"Shut up." Ryou began to giggle again.
"Fine, fine. Would you like me to make your bed?" He paused. "Our would you rather sleep with me?" Malik thought about this for a second.
"I'll just take the couch. It'd be kinda crowded, wouldn't it?"
"Good point," Ryou said. He walked over to the closet and grabbed a few blankets and pillows.
"I can get it," Malik said taking the blankets from Ryou(NICELY, okay?). Ryou yawned.
"I think I'm going to turn in," he said. Malik hugged him.
"Good night, love," he said kissing his forehead. Ryou smiled.
"I'll see you in the morning… Or sometime after I get up," he said, remembering that Malik wasn't a morning person. Malik smiled and nodded. Ryou headed up to his room. He ran a hand through his hair before getting changed and going to sleep.
~*A few Hours Later*~
"Malik?" Ryou said quietly. "Malik, are you still up?" No response. Damn, Ryou thought. He shivered. The heat had gone out. And, being nice, he had given Malik the warmest blankets there. So, he had spent an hour trying to ignore the cold and try to get some sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't work. "Malik? C'mon, please still be up." He poked Malik's back. Malik just grumbled and rolled on to his back. Ryou sighed. This was going to be difficult…Ryou carefully climbed under the blanket, not that it really mattered. The apocalypse could be happening and he still wouldn't wake up. Ryou snuggled close to Malik and rested his head on his chest. Not after long, Ryou was asleep again. Malik woke up for around five minutes, and watched him sleeping. Malik touched Ryou's hair and smiled. Ryou meant so much to him…He shut his eyes and went back to sleep.
~End Flashback~
"Ryou," Malik said, "what really happened to you?" Ryou stared at him.
"I told you, I don't remember." He seemed to grow nervous.
"You're not a very good liar, you know," Malik said gently.
"I-I'm not lying!" Ryou said quickly. Malik looked him over.
"Will you please tell me? I already saw your yami… Not that he was much help." Malik touched his face gently. Tears began to well up in Ryou's eyes.
"He did this to me…" he said. "He wanted me to love him." Malik stared at him.
"He… Weanted your love?" Ryou nodded. "Oh God…" Running through everything he'd seen so far, Ryou had to have a broken rib or two, there were cuts all over his body, there were bruises too. He had marks on his neck like Bakura had tried to strangle him. Tears ran down Ryou's face.
"I'm sorry," he said. What was he apologizing for? Malik thought. He didn't do anything wrong. Ryou shut his eyes. "I'm so sorry."
"For what?" Malik asked. "You didn't do anything."
"That's it. I didn't try to fight him off," Ryou said.
"You…" Malik stared at him. Was he saying that he did want to fight him off? No… He must have been surprised and didn't have time to react…I hope.
"I'm sorry," Ryou said again. Malik moved his hand to brush some of the hair off of Ryou's face. He flinched.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Malik said. "I would never hurt you." Ryou smiled.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm happy you're not mad with me." Malik smiled.
"I'm happy you're happy," he said. Tear began to rise in his eyes. Ryou couldn't die. He wouldn't let him. Ryou shut his eyes. He looked like he had stopped breathing. "Ryou," Malik said quickly. Ryou's eyes opened.
"Don't worry," he said, "I'm going to try to get some rest, okay?" Malik blushed.
"Sorry," he said.
"Don't worry about it." Ryou shut his eyes, and with a content smile drifted off to sleep.
Hountou ne taisetsu na mono igai subete subteteShimaetara ii no ne
Genjitsu wa tada zankoku de
Sonna toki itsu date
Me o tojireba
Waratteru kimi ga iru
Itsuka eien no nemuri ni tsuku hi made
Dou ka sono egao ga
Taema naku aru you ni.
A shrill noise arose and Malik turned around. The machine he recognized as a heart monitor had flat lined.
"Ryou!"
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I am evil, aren't I? The Japanese part is lyrics to the song Dearest. The rest of the song will appear in the next chapter. But if you go to Anime Lyrics.com it has the translation for this song… It so cool. Go check it out! Right after you review though. ^_^
Eclipse 2.0- I wouldn't let Ryou die miserable… He was happy. Malik was there. ^_^