Disclaimer: I don't own Evanescence or Yugioh. How unfortunate.
ToothyOne: This story is based on my favourite song by Evanescence, "Hello". I can't give you a good summary because it will give away the story, but it's basically about Ryou's nightmare that gets a little out of hand. There's a bit of a twist at the end.
--------------------
Dreamscapes
--------------------
Hello? Is anybody there?
{I'm here}
Am I all alone? Does nobody love me?
{I do}
They aren't breathing. What has happened here? Everybody is gone.
{I'm not}
I have nobody.
{You have me}
I love you.
{I love you too}
I want to go home.
{Then go}
I can't. They'll find me. They know I did it. They always know. I won't get away again.
{Then come with me}
Where?
{Home}
Your home?
{Yes. Come with me. We can escape them forever, and we'll never be apart. We'll never be lonely.}
They aren't breathing. What did I do? I didn't mean to...
{There there. Don't cry. Don't cry my aibou}
I can't take it anymore. I'm so alone...
Ryou woke suddenly with tears on his face. It was still dark. So it had all been a dream. Settling back down slowly in his bed he rolled over to put an arm around his lover. The man stirred slightly but still slept. Ryou snuggled closer and tried to go back to sleep. The quiet breaths of the man beside him, rising and falling, soon sent him into a light sleep, but not for long.
"Ryou?"
The choked voice startled him out of sleep and he pulled away from the body instinctively. The man suddenly started to breathe again.
"Thank you." He said, catching his breath again. "I'd appreciate it if you don't use me as a stress ball next time."
"Sorry, 'Kura."
"That's alright. What was it this time?"
"I killed them all. Yuugi, Jou, Honda, all of them."
Bakura knew about Ryou's nightmares. He knew all to well, especially before he had gained his own body. Then he had been drawn into them and trapped with the creatures of Ryou's imagination. He shuddered slightly at the memory.
"You're going to tell me it was just a dream, aren't you?" Ryou said quietly. Bakura nodded and sat up. He knew when his aibou needed to talk.
"But it was so real." He continued. "I could taste their blood in my mouth even after I'd woken up. And I could see their eyes staring at me from the corners, asking me why I had to take away their lives."
"That can happen sometimes." Bakura replied softly, putting a comforting arm around Ryou's small shoulders. "Dreams are real. But that's all they are. Dreams. They seem real because they ARE real in the sleeping world. Do you understand?"
"I understand." Ryou moved closer into the older man's embrace and drank in the warmth of his body. It had suddenly become very cold in their room. Bakura noticed it too, as small goose bumps had sprung up on his smooth skin. He pulled the doona up over both of them and they went back to sleep, still in each others arms.
What am I doing here?
{I'd like to know the answer to that.}
It's so dark...
{It's the Shadowrealm. You've brought it here.}
Make it go away.
{I can't. You have to.}
"Ryou!"
That's Yuugi's voice. What's he doing here?
"Ryou, help us!"
"Help us, please Ryou!"
"Hey buddy! We're over here!"
"Please Ryou! Come here!"
Yuugi, Téa, Jou, Otogi...
"Ryou! Quickly, before it's too late, man!"
Honda...
{Ryou... help me...}
No... Not you, too, Bakura...
"Ryou... Ryou... It's so dark in here..."
"Won't you come and save us?"
Mai and Shizuka... Where are they?
Bakura?
Don't make me do this by myself...
It's just a dream. I'll wake up soon.
{Don't say that!}
Why not? You taught me that it's all just a dream.
"NOOO!"
Jou! What happened!?
{You killed Shizuka.}
How!?
{By not believing in dreams you are killing their dream spirits.}
But they're just dreams!
"Stop it!!"
Téa?
Oh no. Not Mai.
{You found us, then.}
Yes. I can see you.
{Let us out}
What are you in?
{Your dream prison. We can not get out.}
Wake up and you'll be out.
{We can't wake up. Not while we're in here.}
/ Listen to him. /
Atemu?
/ Yes. I'm here, too. /
What are you doing in my dream?
Holy shit, no.
{You killed Téa. Happy now?}
/ Let us out and get out of here, for Ra's sake! /
They'll be alive in the real world, won't they?
Shit.
No.
Bakura?
BAKURA!?
/ He's dead. /
Will he wake up?
/ No. /
IT'S JUST A DREAM!!
/Stop it! /
IT'S JUST A DREAM!!
/Stop IT! /
IT'S JUST A DREAM!!
/STOP IT! /
IT'S JUST A DREAM!!
/ STOP IT!! /
IT IS JUST...
/ DON'T... /
A DREAM!!
Ryou woke again, screaming and throwing the covers off him in a fury.
"It was just a DREAM!"
He clapped a hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to scream so loud. Then he realised that Bakura hadn't woken up. He rolled the man over slowly.
"It was not just a dream..."
The knife slid out of its sheath almost silently.
"I'm not sleeping..."
Faintly he could hear the school bell ring. There was a memorial assembly for the students that had been found, suddenly dead in their sleep. The doctors couldn't tell what had killed them. The only conclusion they had come up with was that it was some freak act of nature.
"I'm not broken..."
Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the classroom he had taken refuge in. He had made it to school somehow that day, but he knew he was not going to make it home.
"All that's left..."
The pain was sweet, then the cold took him, darkness crept across his vision...
{Hello, my sweet aibou}
"Hello."
Playground schoolbell rings, again
Rainclouds come to play, again
Has no one told you she's not breathing ?
Hello, I'm your mind, giving you someone to talk to...Hello... If I smile and don't believe
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream
Don't try to fix me
I'm not broken
Hello, I'm the lie living for you so you can hide...
Don't cry... Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping
Hello, I'm still here, all that's left
Of yesterday...
.:Evanescence:.