Title: Angels Would Fall part 1

Author: Sorceress Fantasia

Pairings: YYxY, BxR, and other pairings to come

Warnings: AU, angels, light angst, romance

Archive: Fanfiction.net
MediaMiner
Anyone else, just ask.

Disclaimer: I thought of wishing for the YGO boys to fall into my arms by wishing upon a shooting star. But well, I'm still looking for that shooting star. So no, I don't own any of the YGO gang or the anime.

Note: Malik is the normal one, while Yami Malik is known as Ishtar in this fic, though I'm not even sure if he'll be in this fic...

Yami bristled his black wings, sulking alone in God's garden. It had been roughly a week since Ryou left the ranks of angels, and he was still angry with that. The others had repeatedly told him, love was a strong emotion and the white-haired angel was clever enough to stay for true love only. But even if that were true, Yami still felt that his friend had been shortchanged. Severely.

Heaven was pure, eternal and promised happiness. It was the home of God and angels, a world without deceit and scheming. How many humans longed to even set foot inside the gates of Heaven just for the one little glimpse? He had long lost count.

Yet Ryou had managed to throw all that away and then some. What was so good about earth anyway? It was filthy and polluted, full of lying people and evil plots meant to mislead others. And humans had to go through illness, old age and their eventual deaths.

He scowled again.

"Still sulking, are you?" a voice rang out, and soon, a young angel materialized near him.

Yami didn't even have to look up to know who it was. After all, there weren't many people who dared approach to him, and even fewer who actually talked to him. "Malik? What're you doing here?"

"The same thing I do everyday, Yami. Trying to get some sense inside your thick skull," he answered, folding up his wings neatly behind his. Seeing that his words had no effect, he crossed his arms, and continued huffily, "Can't you get it off your mind by now? It's already been a week!"

The crimson-eyed angel scowled even harder, if it were possible. "I don't understand him, Malik! How can he give up heaven for a... a human!? A human being! Out of all the reasons he could have chosen to leave heaven, he chose to fall in love. With a human, no less!"

Malik sighed, shaking his head. Sensing that the conversation would take a very long time, he flopped himself down on the grass patch carelessly, grimacing when a small pebble dug into his back. Throwing it aside, he sat up and looked back at his friend.

"Ryou told us, remember? He said that when he'd first looked into that human's eyes, he felt something click into place inside him. That's a sign that Ryou's meant to be with him. You can't defy that feeling, not when it's what makes you whole."

"Well, he's wrong then. He must have felt it wrong," Yami answered stubbornly.

The lavender-eyed boy rolled his eyes and sighed. "Just what is it about humans that you hate so much? You still can't get over..." he tripped over his words as his instincts yelled at him to keep away from this sensitive issue, but the slower part of his mind persisted and he found himself blurting, "...that incident?" When he saw Yami's expression harden with a glare directed at him, Malik knew instantly that he had gotten it right. That, and he had said something extremely bad for his health.

For once, Malik thought that immortality wasn't necessarily a good thing, especially for angels like Yami who found it hard in their entire being to forget. Even though the... incident -there was just no other word for it, he thought- had happened well over two centuries ago, there was still no evidence or hint that suggested Yami would ever be able to put it out of his mind.

Then again, the angel probably remembered every moment of the aftermath whenever he saw his black wings. Malik sighed, and shook his own white wings self-consciously. One black feather for every shred of regret, they said, black wings for not being strong enough.

But... he couldn't recall a time when Yami had actually liked humans. He tolerated them -just barely- or even ignored them, but it seemed that Yami had never really liked many of them. It was like... he wasn't made to love them. That incident had merely intensified Yami's low level of tolerance for humans.

"Yami," he tried again, "You should learn to let go. Honestly, you can't distrust humans just because there're a couple of rotten apples in the basket."

"Correction: you mean a couple of good apples in the basket," Yami snorted haughtily. "There're not a lot of good people down there." Adjusting his position on the rock he was sitting on, he added, "Nothing in the world is eternal except for God. Those feelings Ryou have will fade one day. Why would he give up forever just for that one second?"

"Maybe because he feels stronger for that one second than for forever. One day, when you fall in love, I'm sure you'd feel the same way," Malik explained.

"If, Malik, not when. And that's a big if. I'm not so silly as to be bound to a human being who loves not who I am but what I am. But that's the only thing they see when they fall in love, isn't it? Humans fall in love with love, and not with each other's souls."

There just wasn't any way to erase all the skepticism and jadedness in Yami, was there? Malik suppressed the urge to stand up where he was and just scream. It was a big mystery as to why the crimson-eyed one had not become a fallen angel and pledge allegiance to Lucifer yet. But even more mystifying was how he ever made it into the ranks of heaven with those almost distinctive pessimistic thoughts and trademarked cynical soul.

Suddenly, he felt something cold seeping into his body, running through every fiber of his being like deadly venom. It was as though the very air around him had frozen and weighed down heavily on every living thing around the area.

"Ryou's not in love! He's not!"

Another angel materialized, her pristine white wings spread out like an intimidating predator ready to swoop down on her prey. Her eyes were a shade of mesmerizing purple, but even the frost of ice could not be colder than the chilliness that seemed to stem from inside them.

"Miho?" Malik asked, frowning. She didn't seem like she was in a good mood; in fact, she probably looked as bad as Yami on his worst days and that was certainly saying something.

The girl's brows were deeply knitted as she said, "Ryou's mistaking pity for love. You two know he is... always too sympathetic for his own good. And that Bakura" -she spat as though it was the vilest thing she had ever heard of- "doesn't seem like he's had a good life. All the more reason for Ryou to pity him."

"Your point?"

Her annoyance faded into disbelief and she glared heatedly at the lavender- eyed angel. "I swear you are so slow I can drive stakes into the ground to measure your progress! How can you be so dense? Don't you get it? We have to save Ryou!"

Yami sighed drearily, and slid off the rock he was sitting on. "And how do you propose we do that?"

She snorted, crossing her arms and finally folded her wings neatly behind her. "Anything but sit here and whine," she chided. Then as an afterthought, she added, "Like what you're doing now. I won't sit here and wait for Ryou to get hurt. I'm going to talk to the council again."

But her words seemed to have little to no effect on the two; Malik was rolling his eyes again, muttering something that sounded like 'not another closet nutcase' and Yami was lounging on the grass with his arms folded behind his head and looking away. She huffed.

"Fine, if you two aren't up to it, I'll do it myself."

And she was gone in an instant, leaving only a few loose white feathers behind in her wake.

Yami turned bored eyes to his friend. "What makes her think I haven't done that?"

Malik shrugged, tossing a feather that had somehow found its way into his hair. "How would I know? But she's one of the denser angels around, so maybe that's the reason. Yucks, she's shedding her feathers all over me. Maybe she should slow down and take care of herself before flying around and littering the clouds..."

The other angel swept a careless hand in his hair; he had already done everything he could think of, and anything that was possible. Miho was just being hotheaded. Once she calmed down enough, she would finally come to the realization that the council's decision would never be withdrawn no matter what they tried. Plus, they still had Ryou to overcome. While the white- haired angel looked frail and fragile, he was anything but that. Once his mind was made up, it would be easier to part the ocean than to change his mind. Still... it was even harder to question the council.

In fact –he scrunched his nose- it was nearly impossible to.

The council was made up of the higher ranked angels and they were the ones who passed the laws in heaven. If truth be told though, they were the law and everyone knew it. Every angel had to abide by their words, and disobedience was always met with harsh punishment. He couldn't even remember the last time he had heard of someone disobeying the council, and he was already over 4 millenniums old.

And what a long 4 millenniums it had been...

He had gone down to the mortal realm before. After all, there were only so many times he could be entertained by frolicking amongst the clouds before he finally admitted that he was extremely bored. Technically, the only jobs most angels had was taking care of humans, but there was no stipulation how many people they had to help or look after, and they could go on vacations whenever they wanted. Better yet, vacations could go on forever if the angel wanted.

And so with all the benefits in mind, Yami had gone down before. But there was nothing to keep him there.

"...Still," Malik continued as he stood up, brushing the loose grass off his clothes, "I think I can understand why she's so intent on 'saving' Ryou. After all, she's got the biggest crush on Ryou. And she didn't even get to see him off when he left for earth. Then again, you're the only one who managed to. How did you do it anyway? Ryou's departure details were kept secret until he left."

Yami cocked an eyebrow. Had Malik been talking all the while? Gee, he'd definitely perfected the art of tuning his friend out when he was thinking. Turning to his friend, hoping that Malik had not noticed he hadn't paid him much attention earlier, he replied, "Ryou left me a message. But by the time I got it, I could only rush over to where he was going to leave and see him fall." He gritted his teeth.

Malik nodded as realization dawned on him. It was pretty obvious that Ryou would do such a thing, actually. After all, he and Yami had been the best buddies around, even though no one but them could understand how they stayed that way. In milder terms, they were as different as night from day.

"You mean go. Ryou didn't fall. To fall is to be a fallen angel, a servant of the devil. Ryou just... left this place for love."

Yami snapped, "Is there a difference? He's not ever coming back either way."

"Hey, sorry Yami. I tried talking to Isis, but you know her... she's new in the council so the others aren't taking her that seriously yet... And Rishid's just training to even get into the council..." He shrugged helplessly.

"I understand."

"Glad you do, pal."

A moment of silence settled around them, but it wasn't uncomfortable; it was more like both angels were in deep contemplation, and their thoughts served to fill up the stillness like a plug into a socket.

"So are you going to continue sulking? Or can we go frolicking among the clouds and maybe play a few pranks? I was just thinking that maybe we can perform the old-but-always-reliable switcharoo by replacing Miho's shampoo with vinegar..." Malik asked, silently snickering as he imagined the fuss that the female angel would kick up. He had put sugar solution the last time he performed the act, and Miho was absolutely livid when she had to fight off ants and other bugs before she finally realized the prank.

But Yami was so absorbed in his thoughts that he hardly heard Malik's words. "You know," he started after a moment's of silence, "Miho does makes sense actually. For once. If I just sit around, nothing's gonna happen. I should be more spontaneous and do something..."

"Like what?" the sandy blonde mumbled grudgingly, a little annoyed that his friend hadn't listened to him. "The council's not gonna budge no matter what we do."

The words seemed to click in Yami's mind, and he snapped his fingers, looking more excited than he had in a long time. "Ryou then. We can solve it by working on Ryou!"

Malik rolled his eyes. "You say it like you've found a cure for stupidity..." He prided himself when he didn't flinch at Yami's glare.

"Apparently, I've not, because otherwise, you would be keeping stupid comments like that to yourself..." the crimson-eyed angel snapped like a provoked alligator. "Anyway, as I was saying, we can prove to Ryou that humans cannot be trusted and that that... what's his name? Oh whatever..."

"Bakura."

"What?"

"I said his name is Bakura."

"Oh right. So we prove to Ryou that Bakura doesn't love him, and Ryou will come back willingly!"

"If only it were that simple," Malik murmured, sighing inwardly. "Have you forgotten that Ryou's already given up his wings? He can't come back anymore even if he wants to."

For a moment, the confidence that had been rolling off Yami in waves faltered, but the angel quickly regained his composure. "I'll find a way to let him come back. But first things first, we need to get him away from that Bakura."

The ring of finality in Yami's tone irked Malik. "No, you mean you need to get him away from that Bakura. I'm not going with you. Isis would have my head if I even remotely habour those thoughts."

"Fine then. I'll do it on my own," the black-winged angel replied icily. "I'm going down to earth to 'help'" -he made little quotation signs with his fingers- "the humans and on the way, visit Ryou and that boyfriend of his."

-----

The clouds parted slowly as though someone was drawing the curtains, and he leaned forward to get a peek. But the view he got wasn't much.

Although he had rebuked Malik arrogantly, Yami was starting to question himself. It was uncharted territory down there; he could hardly remember how the human realm looked like. How long had it been, really? One... two centuries? He couldn't recall. Or perhaps he didn't want to recall.

Shaking that thought off almost harshly, he steered his mind back to the task at hand. He had to go down. He had to help Ryou see his mistake and hopefully, get him back into the pearly gates. Suddenly, Malik's words came back to haunt him. He had no idea how to give Ryou his wings back.

Looking down again, he took a deep breath. He was never going to figure out anything if he didn't even try, he told himself. And he didn't really have much choice, really; Ryou was his best friend and he would do anything to help him. He liked him despite the white-haired angel's tendency to be overly naïve at times and too kind for his own good. Right, he had to help Ryou.

With a newfound determination, he leapt.

-----

The fall was easier and far more comfortable than he thought, hardly remembering anything from his past forays to the world of humans. The wind whipped against him, but it was barely noticeable with the rush of adrenaline in his body. His excitement was amplified by the roaring wind, the sound of his blood gashing in his ears and even the feel of the tendrils of clouds whispering across his arms.

Deciding that he had a job to do and places to go, he angled his wings and picked up speed, gliding on the air currents. It was a while, but he finally saw the city that Ryou had told him he'd be living in, and he smirked. Using a bit of magic, he slowed down and dove for a dark spot concealed by the shadows, kneeling down to soften the impact of his fall.

Landing soundlessly on his feet as though a cat on its padded feet, Yami got up. He scanned the area. Trashcans, checked; rubbish, checked; scrawny cat digging through the smelly bags, checked; barking dog chasing away the cat, checked. Yami slapped his forehead mentally. Of all the places he could have landed, he had landed in an alley. And a dirty one at that.

It was clear that he was no longer familiar with the human realm.

Not that that didn't come like a punch to his head when he stepped out of the alley to find himself on a busy street. The things that sped across the roads like horseless carriages... were those the cars Ryou had told him about before? And the buildings! When had humans managed to build things that tall... that looked as though they were some kind of jungle? The number of humans walking around the streets was nothing to be scoffed at either.

As he was standing there appraising the magnificence of the modern city, a woman hollered, and Yami looked to his side. He was surprised, to say the least, when she passed right through him. Blinking, he suddenly remembered that humans could not see him, an angel, unless he let them. In fact, they couldn't even feel his presence.

Looking at the clothes on display behind the window of the shop across the street, Yami retreated back into the dark alley. When he came out again, he had abandoned his angelic garb; instead, he was dressed in black leather top and pants that kissed every curve and bump of his body. A pair of ebony boots and a few gold accessories completed his outfit. Giving himself a quick once over, he nodded to himself. Sure, it looked a little weird, but he didn't think he looked too bad in it.

And apparently, the humans felt the same way too, judging from the way they were eyeing Yami like he was a piece of choice meat. A group of girls whispered breathlessly nearby, and when he spared them a wayward glance, they nearly swooned. And it wasn't just them. A teenage boy shot him a death glare when his female companion turned to gaze dreamily at him, as did a few other women on the streets. And that man across the street looked like he was licking his chops...

Yami snorted. Humans were definitely fickle creatures, if they could not look past mere appearances. If only they could see his black wings... they'd probably take to the hills, running and screaming for help. His wings were still folded behind him, but that was hardly a problem since no human could see it.

Strutting down the street, Yami looked around again. Just where was Ryou? The white-haired angel –ex-angel, he corrected himself irately- had told him nothing more than the city he was going to live in: Domino. That wasn't really much to work with, when Domino was much bigger than it looked from heaven. And he couldn't detect Ryou's presence now that he wasn't an angel anymore.

Suddenly, a coughing fit caught up with him. But it went away as fast as it came. Yami shrugged it off, thinking that maybe it was just the dust in the air. After all, this city didn't look very clean.

'Where should I go now? If I were a human, and I want to find someone, where would I go?' he thought, ignoring another cough. 'Is there some kind of directory for addresses? But what name is Ryou's place put under? Ba... Gods, I forgot his name again...'

-----

By the time night fell like a blanket shrouding the skies, Yami was no closer than he was when he first arrived. He had gotten hit on by a couple of girls, but none knew Ryou and hence he paid them no attention. Police records seemed to be a good place to start, but since he couldn't remember Ryou's boyfriend's name, it was useless too. Photos didn't work either, because he had no idea how that man looked like and Ryou had never offered that piece of information. It was probably too personal.

And worst of all, the coughing fits were plaguing him like a swamp of bugs.

Forcing his tired limbs to move on, Yami soon found himself in an avenue of residences. Even the thought was tedious, but it seemed that looking and asking around was the only way he could find Ryou. Shaking his head, he pressed on.

He could just imagine Malik laughing his head off at his current predicament. And maybe Isis would chide him for not paying attention during his lessons when they taught him how to trace people in the human realm in his angel form. Then Rishid would probably sigh at him and drag him off for more lessons.

Yami shuddered to even think about that.

But apparently, his shuddering wasn't just because of the mental images. Another bout of coughing caught up with him, and his entire frame shook violently as it took its toll on him.

'What's wrong with me?' he thought, leaning against a nearby wall. His throat was sore and painful, and his nose and eyes didn't feel any better either. Something was way off, but he had no idea what it was. Yami tried to revert to his angel form but couldn't.

It made his coughing worse.

Sliding down against the wall, he felt his eyes slid close and a darkness luring him away. It beckoned to him like flowers to bees, and he soon gave into blissful oblivion. But even as he did, a voice rang out, temporarily bringing him out. The voice was sweet... and was that a trace of concern there? It was so very sweet, so peaceful, so...

...familiar...

.

.

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Replies to reviews:

Chibi-sha - Yup, you're my first reviewer for this fic. Thanx! Abt what happened to Bakura's mother, can't tell you! Not now, at least. :)

Amarin Rose - Thanx for the review, but I can't tell you what happened to Bakura's mother yet. I'd be spoiling the story for you otherwise.

Carmen5-Nemrac - It's not exactly my first fic... it's my first for YGO, but I've been writing for years already.