Hello!!!!! It's a beautiful day out there and the suns out; I had a half day so I spent my lunch with my friends and had loads of fun! So being in a good mood I decided to be nice and write up the next chapter...although the angst is gonna make me feel a bit crummy after, but still! It's for the sake of writing! Anyways, must thank all the nice people who reviewed:

Osiris Lee: *shields self* I promised a happy ending! I really did! Just the chapter before won't be! But glad to know you like my work!

Rowan Girl from mediaminer.org: Well, you'll find out now won't you? Hehe...and yes it will be a happy ending!

Jou: Heh, that's a good loop hole! I love doing that, out smarting someone in a bet by logic, it's so fun to see their faces all surprised and stuff! Hehe...anyways I was laughing when I read it, pretty funny!

Yuri Rikusentai: Yes, there will be an epilogue! I will make it a happy ending! Like I promised! As for the tootsie pop thing...wow...you must have been really bored! I tried to do that, but I ended up forgetting to count, miscounting, or losing my patience and giving up...it's nice to know though, now I can tell everybody about it! Hehe!

DaLizzie: Well, you are angsty! I'm just countering your angstyness! Hey, it's actually a word! Weird...anyways, Essence of Time? Cool...might change the title though...what do you think?

Duenna: Thanks, yeah I'm gonna miss writing it...*sniff sniff* T- T

Evil Chibi Malik: Heh...Giant Pocky...*drool* ^^! *blushes* Do you really like it? Good to know, I thought the ritual was a bit rushed, but I wanted to fit it into one chapter...as for Kharue- sama's kohl? *Checks to see that Kharue-sama is still unconscious* *whisper, he was crying, whisper**snicker* Big, brave yami ain't he? He'll wake up any second now to strangle me now I bet! Hehe...anyways, thanks for the plushie! *glomps*

Dragon Masters: Aw...thank you! It's nice to know that I have readers beyond the reviewers! Thanks of liking my fic!

Anime Crazed: of course they'll be back together! I can't bear to separate them at all...well except the couple times in this fic, but other than that! They are destined to be together forever! *hugs Bakura and Ryou plushie*

DreamingChild: SHIT!!!! *runs off to second authoress lair as door finally crack open and sweaty screaming mob pours in* *Hiding under bomb shelter/desk and typing away* Sorry? Hehe, but I promise it will get better...after this chapter...-.-; as for the story? Yeah it'll take convincing, but maybe I'll make it like the Stockholm syndrome or something happens or something, but they will fall in love! As for depressing? Yes, all my stories are most likely to be depressing...I'm a sad, sad girl...-.- ;;

Occi: A sequel? Never thought of that before and your ideas are not bad! Nobody's ideas are! Anyways, dunno, I'll think about that one!

NOTE: this is the last chapter! Yes, the last! There will be an epilogue next, but still this is the official last one! *cries* I'm gonna miss writing this ficcy! It was my baby!!! *rants and raves while crying* Anyways, thank you for being here with me all the time people! I love you all!!!! Vote for whatever fic you want to see next from my bio and be prepared for the angstyness of this chapter! *deranged cackle* Yes, the angst still lives!!!!

Warning: Yaoi between Ryou and Bakura and major angst ***************************************************************** ******************* The moon hung high over the desert skies, shimmering behind the dusky veil of sand and wind. Too the common eye it looked at its fullest, but those who resided in the palace of the Pharaoh knew better. They had one more day until the last of the ritual was to be completed...one more day until they were ripped away from existence of the world they knew...whenever their eyes looked up at the seemingly full moon their hearts fluttered and sweat began to build on their foreheads...one more day was the repeated mantra in their minds. One more day...

No one was more nervous than Bakura, the thief paced the halls of the palace, muttering under his breathe only to run down the hall once more to return to his Ryou, gathering the sweet angel in his arms and covering the pale face with kisses. Ryou only clung to the warm body and quietly accepted them with large teary eyes. Tension caused the thief to snap at anybody else and those dark cold crimson eyes made them all turn away...it was not the eyes themselves, but rather the sheen of tears that covered his eyes. Malik just met the gaze evenly, lavender eyes calm and unworried. It was then Bakura who turned away.

Isis sat at her chair once more, facing the flames when a tanned face looked up at her from the floor. Large lavender eyes stared up lazily at her before he spoke.

"You know that I love you right?"

"Yes"

"You know I worry right?"

"Yes"

"You know I don't want you to do this ritual right?"

"Yes"

"You know I won't stop you right?"

"Yes"

"Good"

With that he closed his eyes and let his arms cradle his sun bleached head. After a moment of silence that blanketed them both it was Isis who spoke.

"You know that I love you and worry about you and don't want to do this ritual right?"

"Yes"

"You know that I'm still going to do it right?"

"Yes"

"Okay"

Both met each other's gaze before they went back to lazing like nothing was to happen the next night.

~*~

"I love you"

"I know"

"I love you, I love you, I love you"

Harsh garnet eyes were closed as the tanned scarred cheek rested on the long silvery mane. Large sea green eyes were wet as the long lashes clung with unshed tears like diamonds. His small hand was cradled in the other's larger one and the sweet mouth rested on the tanned throat, slowly responding to the tomb robber's rare show of emotion.

Both lay on the bed, covers swathed around their figures as the cursed moon let gleaming moon beams light the room. Bakura finally opened his eyes and stared down at Ryou's pale face, drinking in the features again and again, memorizing over and over again the face he loved so much. He could feel his heart beating hard against his chest as it clenched with a pain he never felt before. It made his body feel hollow and dead and as he thought of what was to come the next night he felt his breathe taken away. Ryou reached up and caressed the tanned cheek letting cool fingers rake through the ragged silvery locks of his own.

'Ryou, Ryou, Ryou, Ryou...don't leave me, don't go away, Gods above can't you see what you're doing to me? Don't you see you're killing me?'

Bakura slowly reached down and traced the circle of gold that lay on the smaller boy's chest, tracing the features of it, feeling the cold metal bite at his skin. How he hated that thing, how he abhorred it! He wanted to rip if from Ryou's neck and smash it, melt it, throw it over a cliff, anything! Anything to stop it from taking Ryou away from him. He tightened his grip on the lithe body next to him and inhaled the sweet delicate scents, relishing the feeling of Ryou's breathe against his neck. With a swallow he tried to wet his lips, but found them dry. Despite that he bent down and kissed Ryou on the lips before letting his hands tangle in the silken locks. Desperately he tasted his Ryou again and again before he let his tears mingle with Ryou's.

That night as the moon rose high above the sky and sealed the fate of the seers and Pharaoh below, it seemed to be mourning, the soft silvery beams of light caressing each soul. It could almost see the pain that they all felt, the fear, the apprehension. As the moon left to the land of the dark and Ra rose above again, the moon let her stars shine brighter as if they were all crying and mourning with the seers as well.

That night neither thief or seer slept, both stayed up, just staring at each other, stealing passionate, desperate kisses and staring up at the fading sky as the overly bright stars faded away and the moon began to fade. They watched the sun rise slowly over the horizon as streaks of bright vibrant pinks and orange painted the sky and dusky pale blues and mauve moved lazily across the slowly coloring canvas of the sky. Bakura drew Ryou closer, if that was possible, and stared up at the gaze of Ra for the last time with his lover. For the first time Bakura felt scared...not just scared, terrified. The very marrow of his bone froze as he chanted over and over again,

'Last sunrise with Ryou, last sunrise with Ryou, last sunrise with Ryou, last...with Ryou...Ryou...last...Sweet Bast above!'

It was then the tomb robber broke down into the arms of his lover as the seer embraced the shaking body and mourned as well.

~*~

The morning seemed to go both too slow and too fast. Tension was spread so thick in the air it was hard to breathe without shuddering. But somehow before they knew it, the sun began to sink slowly down the horizon and the sky began to turn a dusky blue as the stars began to appear one by one. The harsh heat of the desert disappeared and the chilled winds began to sweep over them, brining biting cold.

In the palace torches were brought to life as they flickered in the hallways yet they were all empty and deserted. The only sign of life coming from seer's hallway where all six seers and the Pharaoh had gathered one last time. They all sat solemn with the glittering gold items either hanging from their necks or in their hands. Bakura sat close by Ryou, still holding the small pale hand in his calloused ones while Malik just calmly sat next to Isis, no emotion flitting across his face or eyes; he seemed somewhat content and impartial. Atemu glanced around and cleared his throat.

"Are we ready? Is everything set?"

"Yes"

An awkward silence hung over the atmosphere until Atemu rose and they all followed suit, standing while their hearts beat against their chest like drums and their mouths grew dry.

"Then let us begin"

One by one they all left the room, following the figure of the Pharaoh, their golden items gleaming like a miniature sun by the torchlight. At last they reached a room which had been specially made for the ritual. A stone figure stood carved before them, imprinted in his sandy body where places where items were to be placed. The one window that was placed in the room gave a full view of the moon as it rose high above them all, facing below the small figures. A stone alter stood before them where stiff parchment had been placed, hieroglyphics painted on the papyrus.

Malik slowly stared at the room, lavender eyes trailing around to each small detail, the incense burners hanging from the ceilings where they emitted a musky scent, the oil lanterns giving off a soft glow, the columns that supported the room itself painted with images of the seers. What a room it was! It held an atmosphere of ancient wisdom, or tragedy and pain, of something that made his bones both shake in fear and bow in awe. Quietly he slipped his hand in Isis's for just a second and gave a brief squeeze before letting go. That was all Isis needed and with a small smile she gave the tiniest of nods and felt her very soul at peace.

Bakura felt his heart ramming at his ribs, he was afraid it'd rip out of his flesh and lay on the floor beating like a drum, but it didn't. His hand tightened their grip on Ryou's to the point of pain, but he didn't seem to notice, Ryou was doing the same. It couldn't be now! It couldn't be! This all had to be a dream, yes a nightmare! It was! He felt his mind screaming as he heard the low chant of the high priest. No! No, No, NO, NO, NO! His whole body seemed to seize up and freeze as he heard the sweet voice of his Ryou joining in and with horror filling his very being tears began to roll down his face.

Set voice seemed to meld with the air as did the others. Somehow it was as if their very being was being poured into the air. Silently Set began to pray to the Gods.

'Great mother Ma'at bring peace to those we leave behind, make them not suffer, bring to them happiness, Great protector Bast, defend with your sword the kingdom we leave for, and Gentle Hathor bring peace to the lovers before you and bring to them no tears of pain...bring them happiness...'

He eyed the face of the thief and to his dismay he could see the tears glittering on the tanned face, eyes shining like the stars he could see from the window. Swallowing hard he continued to chant and watched the Pharaoh walk forth to the alter from which he wrote a few hieroglyphs with the brush and with a small smile he faced the seers before him and bowed his head to them in one last sign of peace. Stepping to the stone figure he placed the puzzle to its engraved space and all the seers watched with amazement as a golden light began to outline his body. Atemu never stopped chanting and oddly enough he didn't seem to mind. The crimson eyes smiled at them and his body relaxed before finally the glow stopped and slowly a transparent copy of Atemu was seen. Giving a bow he slowly disappeared and the puzzle before them glowed. The Pharaoh's soulless body fell to the cold stone floor, eyes closed and voice silenced.

Bakura stared, his eyes wide with shock. Already one gone! Just like that! He watched both amber eyed youths walking to the papyrus and writing before they too placed their items onto the stone figure. Both figures embraced each other as they began to glow a deep earthen green and a faint pale yellow. Their eyes were closed and soon transparent copies of them appeared, smiling at each other before they too were gone, items glowing to make small patches of light dance across the grey floor. One by one, the high priest, the dark haired one all made their way to the alter first where they wrote a few characters and then offered their items to the imposing immobile figure before them. And they too fell on the floor, eyes closed and voice silenced. As each one disappeared the lights from the items grew stronger yet, almost overpowering the lights provided by the lanterns.

Isis stepped forward, he skirt cool against her skin. She turned once to catch a glimpse of Malik and Bakura one last time. The poor tomb robber seemed to be on the verge of breaking down again, but as he met her gaze he straightened. His lips were pressed together and he swiped at the tears. Isis gave a small smile and she too lifted the brush to her hand writing her name upon the yellowed parchment. Somehow even as the body of the seers grew silent, their voices seemed to ring in the room, chanting never ceasing even when both she and Ryou had stopped by now. Taking off the necklace she slowly placed it on the neck of the cut figure before her and she turned. She was glowing, she could tell. Her eyes were locked with lavender ones. Aquamarine and lavender, meeting each other, understanding something only they could. She felt the slightest of pulls and slowly she felt a dark haze blocking her view. It was painless, almost cool. And as she felt herself being pulled away to something unearthly she let her eyes fall shut and the last thing she saw was bright lavender piercing her body.

"Bakura"

He turned to see his beloved Ryou smiling sadly at him, cool hands touching his cheeks.

"Bakura listen to me"

He didn't say anything, just stared down with pained garnet orbs.

"Bakura, when I'm up there, when I'm ready to go, you have to put the ring in its place."

"Why me?"

Ryou smiled again and placed a sweet kiss on Bakura lips, tasting the salty tears mixed with Bakura's own taste. Tears began to sting his eyes but he blinked them away.

"You will know when you do...I love you"

"I love you"

Bakura echoed and he watched as Ryou went to the alter and placed the last of the seer's names to it. He walked to the stone figure before him from where six items lay glowing before him. It awed him to see such beauty and power from such small items. Facing Bakura he slowly began to say the last words to the ritual, the ring clutched in his hands.

"With the power blessed to me by Ra I offer the Gods my soul to save light from darkness and the item before me from which another soul shall live, I implore to the great power of Bast to lay her protection in the realm from which we live and bring to the innocent to gift of peace so mote it be."

With the last words uttered from the ritual Ryou felt a tug in the deepest heart of him and as the pure light that had enfolded him when he began to chant glow brighter he let out a small smile. It was painless; almost welcoming as he felt himself being lifted to somewhere else. As he began to close his eyes he felt someone lift his body which he didn't know had fallen. Opening his eyes he looked up at Bakura, the item still in his limp hands.

The large sea green eyes began to droop but Bakura shook the younger boy awake again. Ryou smiled sweetly and as the tears began to drip onto the pale skin Ryou spoke in a whisper.

"Do not be afraid Bakura; once the ring is placed in its place you will feel no pain. Bakura...I...I love you. I love you more than anything, even life. We will meet once more. I vow to you with my last dying breathe I will see you again...do not forget me my love for the next time you open your eyes to this world again I will be by your side to aide you. Do not lose hope and remember my promise...do not forget it! We will meet again love, always again..."

Ryou's voice dropped off and Bakura quickly ran his hands through the silken locks one last time before he too spoke in a whisper as if afraid that if he spoke any louder Ryou might disappear quicker.

"I will remember, always. I vow to you on my very soul I will not think of anything else but your promise of us. I will see you again may it be a thousand years or till the Gods tear my soul and feed my heart to Ammit, I will see you again. I...I...I will never forget, never."

Bakura felt his voice become choked off as he felt the lithe body in his arms growing limper by the second and as he could see that his love was disappearing from the earthly world, he bent down and sealed his vow with one last kiss from which the sweetness of Ryou over powered the salty tears that mingled in his mouth. As he felt the body grow limp he opened his eyes and looked at the dead face of his love. The pale sweet face relaxed as he had fallen asleep, the silken hair framing it. The long lashes rested on the cheeks and the sweet mouth from which he had stolen the last breath were still stained a rosy red, but what made his heart break was that the ring which lay on his beloved chest did not rise as the breathe of life no more passed through him...Ryou was dead...

Drawing in a ragged breathe he brought the body close to him, savoring the still warmth that the body held. He breathed in the dying scent as he chanted the name over and over again in his mind. Sobbing, he quietly pleaded for his love to awake, smoothing away the soft moon light locks. Ryou just lay there in shi arms, limp and pale. The lovely sea green eyes he loved did not flutter open nor did the sweet breathe of light pass through the small nose...Ryou was gone...wailing in heart ache the thief pressed his face into the soft long locks and began to rock back and forth, trying to bring comfort to his own soul. He glanced at the golden ring that lay unmoving in the limp pale hands. The eye was glowing faintly and as he laid the sweet body on the cold stone floors he rose on shaky legs, his mind overtaking his heart. He mechanically placed the ring into the last space. Suddenly an overwhelming light flared out from all seven items and Bakura felt a tug in his heart. In surprise he tried to open his eyes but found that he wasn't able to, instead he felt his self begin pulled and pushed in several directions, wind buffeting his body and whipping his hair across his cheeks.

When finally he felt his body land on the floor again he opened his eyes and to his surprise he found himself in a stone room, no alter, no stone statue, nothing but a room. Surprised he blinked and rose quickly, and tried to open the door before him only to find it stuck. Bewildered he tried hopelessly to open the door but stopped when he heard a whisper of a voice echo in the empty chamber.

".... I vow to you with my last dying breathe I will see you again... We will meet again love, always again..."

~*~

Bright lavender orbs stared down at the body before him and smiled wistfully. The seven items had stopped glowing and he felt safe enough to come close to the statue. He saw the ragged silvery hair spread out, fanned beneath his head and he garnet eyes closed, the tear track still glistening in the dim light. He smiled and watched as all the bodies of the soulless ones slowly become transparent like their souls had become and slowly disappear.

'Bakura...you shall now wait in the ring until your vow has been fulfilled...you shall see your Ryou once more...I can promise you that...'

Making his way to the alter he picked up the brush and with that he wrote the last sentence to the parchment,

"And as the sacrifice had been made and the souls sacrificed, there was only one soul left and he would be the keeper of the items...Malik Ishtar, Guardian of the Souls." ***************************************************************** ******************* Um...damn that was long! And crappy too! Okay, this was definatly not a good ending and I'm sorry!!! Well...for both being crappy and killing almost all of them off!!! *runs to hide* Please don't hurt me!!! *sniff* it's done! Well, actually there's the epilogue to come, but other than that, it's done! My baby's done and over with! I'm going to miss it!

Oh and as for the Guardian of the Souls thing? I know Malik's supposed to be a tomb guardian, but for here he's sort of like Shaadi, only less freaky and cuter! I know it's supposed to be Shaadi, but I couldn't fit him in the story, sorry!

I hope you liked this better than I did! I really do! Anyways, please vote for a fic you want to read next and please read and review! Thank you for supporting me and my fics all the way through! I love you all!! *throws to the readers and reviewers Ryou and Bakura plushies and pixie sticks* Ja minna-san!!! ^_^