Again, sorry I lied, this is my last ever YGO fic, you won't see me in this column again. (tips her hat) Have fun! (walks away and vanishes)

&&& THANKS TO ANY AND ALL WHO REVIEWED!! (I'm too lazy to go back thru and see who all reviewed, but thanks to you, this thing is FINISHED!) &&&

((( " :P " indicates new scene)))

Chapter 6: The Beginning of the End

Bakura stepped in through the window and approached Marik slowly, who was sitting on the bed stony faced. He sat in between the two and glanced at Marik.

"What?" Marik was nearly spitting venom.

Bakura shrugged. "I just wanna hear the rest of the story."

At this, Marik folded his arms and nudged Bakura's butt off the narrow perch it had on the mattress. It hit the floor with a thud.

Bakura made a pouty face. "Why can't I hear it?"

"Because it doesn't involve you!" Marik shouted. Bakura merely raised his eyebrows. "Okay, it DOES involve you, but I don't want to talk to you about it."

Bakura glanced at Malik, still seated on the bed, watching them both cautiously. "No, I think this is something we DO need to talk about." Marik glared at him and turned to Malik.

Malik shrugged and scooted out of the room.

Bakura took both of Marik's hands in his. Marik pulled out of his grasp and glowered at him. "This is all your fault in the first place," he hissed.

Maybe it is, but I don't want to start throwing blame right now. What I want to know is where we went wrong. What happened between us?"

Marik turned away. He stared out the window for a moment, before replying, "Everything happened between us. I just didn't want so much attention. I didn't want to be suffocated like that. I didn't want to be loved…so much."

Bakura said nothing.

Marik knitted his brows. "You were smothering me, how else could I protect myself? You weren't even listening to me. I didn't mean to push you away, but I did and I don't want you back."

A throbbing pain started up in Bakura's chest, like someone was stabbing him through with a bent, rusty, anthrax-covered knife. His fists were tense balls of pain.

Marik sighed, and placed a hand on Bakura's clenched fist. "Look, I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."

"I'm sorry I was jaded for so long."

"Bakura—"

"Stop it, Marik. You've hurt me enough for one day." He stared back at the Egyptian spirit. "It's hard to believe, but I still love you. I can still feel it. You can deny me all you want, but I'll always love you, no matter how hard you try to hurt me." [AN: (breaks out into Dolly Parton's "I will always love you"….) XD Silver: Stop it, this is a painful moment here.]

He turned, and was gone.

Marik sank onto the bed as Malik reentered. He felt awful. Malik put a hand on Marik's shoulder. "You okay?"

His lip quivered. "No." Malik pulled Marik close. Marik leaned his head on Malik's shoulder. After a minute of trying not to, Marik was crying, a lot harder than he'd expected. He had never cried so painfully before.

Maybe it was because, deep down in his heart, buried somewhere from forever ago, he had been lying to himself. He still did love Bakura, no matter how hard he tried to convince himself he didn't.

:P

A new light stood at the end of Marik's tunnel. He didn't like the light, but it was inevitable, like a moth drawn to a flame. At least Ishizu was still clueless.

Bakura sent him notes now and then, suggesting they talk somewhere, like a park after dusk, or in a comfy back alley during sunset. Marik declined every offer.

Day after day, he went back through his memories, back when he and Bakura seemed so god damned happy, back when everything was so freaking simple it took a monkey to figure out what was going on.

Now it's 'what do I do, where do I do, should I talk or be silent?'

Marik handed a new note, nice blue paper tied with a soft blue ribbon. "It's from Bakura."

"You think I don't know that?!" Marik snapped. Then, seeing the expression on Malik's face, added, "Ra, I'm sorry. I'm just getting really upset over this. I don't know what to do."

"Well…you could count on me to help you," Malik offered. Marik stared at the young boy as though seeing him in a new light. He quickly grabbed his descendant in a suffocating bear hug.

"I love you kiddo, I really do."

"Gah…okay!"

:P

Bakura was waiting near the fence, staring out into the pink-tinged sunset over the lake. Footsteps timidly bounced off the stuffy night air; Bakura turned around.

Marik stood a few feet in front of him, looking extremely lost. He was standing defensively, as if he expected Bakura to attach him at any given moment.

The tomb robber smirked. "So, you made it after all."

Marik looked down at his feet. "Sure."

"I thought you'd have another excuse ready."

Marik looked even more uncomfortable. "I'm sorry; I just didn't know what to do!" He stared up at the other man's face, almost pleadingly. "Bakura, I'm so lost. I feel like I'm slipping away from myself and everything I've ever known. I think I'm losing myself, just like I lost you."

"You never lost me." Bakura wrapped his arms around Marik's shoulders. Marik didn't resist this time. "I'm gonna help you find yourself, Mar. It's the least I can do." Marik looked up at him, wide-eyed.

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would, silly." He kissed the top of Marik's head and stared off into the sunset. Marik snuggled into Bakura's warmth and sighed. "I love you," Bakura whispered.

A second later, he thought he heard a muffled, "I love you, too". He smiled.

End chapter six.

Finito.

:P

Suchan: WOOTNESS! This is my last ever YGO fic. I hate YGO. I really do. They've corporosized it! It's lost its meaning and got too stupid!

Silver: You're just mad you lost your YGOdungeon mail.

Suchan:…that too. Stupid bastards, I'm gonna—

Silver: (worried smile as she clamps her hand over Suchan's mouth) Heh. Um… reviews would be nice, that'd be greatly appreciated, YGO lovers, please don't be angry, she's just angry at Yugioh dungeon…. That's all…really…

Suchan: (claws her way out of Silver's grasp) I'll be over in the Harry Potter section, if you want to keep up with my works, but I highly doubt you want to.

Silver: Hey! C'mon! We have work to do, remmber?

Suchan: Ah. My latest HP fic. Truly a work of crap. Reviews greatly appreciated! (sets out a donation box and scuttles away) :P