WSJ: *cackles*

Bakura: 0_o; .....Oh help.....

WSJ: *throws her head back and downs another Pixi Stick, then tosses the wrapper over her shoulder to join a pile of others behind her*

Amoura & Bakura: *gulp quietly*

Ryou: *blink* SJ, how late were you up last night?

WSJ: *smiling dreamily and wavering back and forth, as if in a drunken stuppor* 'Til about two. Kat-chan and I stayed up late watching Spirited Away and Daddy Day Care. *giggles* I think the Pixi Stix are the only things keeping me going...

Bakura: *looks up at the ceiling* Osiris take me now...

Amoura: -__-; Roll fic!

Disclaimer: I don't... aw heck, y'all know the drill! On to the fluff!

Muse-ic of the Moment: the Quest for Camelot soundtrack, especially On My Father's Wings and I Stand All Alone. :D LOVE that movie! *snuggles Garret*

WSJ: *comes running through, screaming at the top of her lungs* HCG!!!!!!!!!!! You can't do that to Kaaaaaazzeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bakura & Amoura: -__-; Ignore her. Please.

Ky and Katana: *blushes* I'm flattered! Of course you can borrow them, just make sure you give me credit! And make sure you let me know when they go up, I'd love to read them. ^_~ What I really meant was people who review something like "You're the best writer! E-mail me! My e-mail is blahblahblah!" I have no time to e-mail people who ask me to. I understand that you guys can't. I was like that for a long time too, so don't feel bad. ^_~ Your dad's just being safe.

()()()()()

Home Sweet Home

Chapter 12 -- Blood and Snow: A Revelation of Love!

Quote of the chapter:
(There's two, because I couldn't bare to choose between them. :p)

"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning."
~(Ivy Baker Priest)

"One would think you'd be bored of trying to kill yourself by now."
" Mm, yes, but it turns out that it's fabulously fun. Who knew?"
~(Bakura and Ryou; DarkGatomon, As If!)

"Amoura, where are we going?" Bakura asked, curious. They'd been out for almost twenty minutes, but Amoura seemed to be leading them in circles. Then again, to Bakura all the snow-covered trees looked the same.

Amoura smiled, glancing over at him as the two skiied along, side-by-side. "Ve're going to a place my father and I discovered, when we used to come here as a family, ven I vas really little. It's very beautiful, you can see for miles! Only he and I knew the way..." She looked sad, and Bakura bit his lip, remembering that Amoura's father was dead. From what Gwen had said, it was only a year or two ago that he died, too.

Something wet slid down his collar, and distracted he glanced up at the sky. "Amoura, it's starting to snow harder, we should turn back soon."

"I know," Amoura agreed. "But it is only a little farther. Bezides, I 'ave not been up 'ere since the last time we came, before Julien was born and before papa died..." she winced a little as she said it, and Bakura swallowed his further retorts. Ten more minutes out in the snow wouldn't hurt him.

They skiid on, their slightly longer cross-country skis making soft swish noises in the powdery snow. After awhile Bakura realized they were going ever so slightly uphill. "Amoura," he panted, "Are you sure this is the way?"

The French girl nodded decisively, then turned back to smile and point forward with one of her ski poles. "It is right through zose trees. Come on. Zee view is amazing."

Sure enough, there was a small gap in the seemingly solid wall of pine trees off the path ahead of them. Leaning her ski poles against one of the trees, Amoura shuffled herself through. Once she was clear, Bakura followed, ducking his head to avoid the low-hanging pine broughs. When he straightened up again on the other side, he felt his breath catch in his throat as he gazed at the magnificiant scene before him.

About twenty-five feet ahead of him, the snow dropped away at a steep, cliff-like drop down into a huge pine forest, which spread out below him like a blanket. On the other side of the small, sheltered valley the mountains rose like looming giants, casting their shadows among the trees. The sun was just setting behind them, visible through a small break in the heavy snow clouds, bathing everything in a soft red and orange light. The snow sparkled like gems, but nature wasn't what had stolen Bakura's breath away. Amoura had skiid forward to almost the edge of the cliff, and stood framed by the mountains that rose behind her. The setting sun turned her sea green hair almost black, and it shimmered like a starling's wing [1]. She turned away from the view, looking for him, and laughed at the expression on his face, her eyes sparkling.

Bakura was quite sure he'd never seen a more beautiful creature.

Amoura beckoned him forward, and he went to her slowly, as if in a dream, completely enraptured by her appearance and their present surroundings. Once he was even with her, she made to speak, but he cut her off, grabbing her gloved hands in his.

"Amoura... I've never seen anything more wonderful, thank you for bringing me here. This," he waved a hand at the scenery before him. "Is amazing! But, I have to be truthful, not nearly as beautiful as you."

Amoura's eyes widened and she blinked at him owlishly. "Wha-" Unable to resist the sudden temptation that had eluded them that morning, Bakura bent down and kissed her, sliding his arms around her waist. For a moment Amoura was too surprised to respond, but then she leaned into him, throwing her own arms around his neck. After a moment they broke the kiss, and Amoura looked up at him shyly from under her eyelashes. "Oh, Bakura..."

Bakura was slightly out of breath, his breath coming in little puffs that formed clouds as they left his mouth. In the dying light of the sun Amoura could see that his face was flushed, though from the cold or something else she couldn't be sure. Was this what Serenity meant, Amoura wondered dazedly, when she said your first kiss was bliss? Oh sure, she'd been kissed before, but that was on the playground when she was ten years old. This...

"We should turn back," Bakura said softly after a moment. "It's snowing harder. Your hair is almost as white as mine from the snow."

"No 'air could be as white as yours." Amoura said, her mouth curving upward into a playful smile. Then she sighed and stepped away from him, pulling reluctantly out of his arms. "But I zuppose you're right... Oh!!"

Bakura's eyes widened in horror as Amoura stepped back onto a patch of ice that had begun to form over the snow. Her skiis slid out from under her as she vainly pinwheeled her arms, trying to restore her balance. Bakura saw the danger immediately and lunged forward, his heart beating in his throat, but his grasping hands were just a second too late, and his fingers just barely brushed Amoura's coat before she was over the edge of the cliff.

He landed on his stomach in the snow, staring fearfully down toward the pine forest. He could hear rocks sliding below him, but the sun had already set, and no matter how he strained his eyes he could see nothing.

"AMOURA!!!!"

But his call was met with silence, save the echoes that the valley walls threw back at him. He sat up, his heart threatening to tear itself out of his chest. He knew he should go back, find help. But he had no idea where he was, and the heavy snow surely would have washed away all their tracks by now. If he left, he'd never be able to find Amoura again. He had to stay with her.

Fumbling in his jacket pocket with his thick gloves, Bakura finally suceeded in pulling out a small flashlight he'd had the insight to bring along. Shining it downward, he gulped. The slope wasn't very long, but it was steep. He could probably climb down it if he was very careful... but not wearing skiis.

Bakura stopped, frozen a moment by indecision. If he took off his skiis, and by consequence his boots, his feet were sure to freeze. All he had on under them were two pair of wool socks.

But it didn't matter. Amoura was what mattered. She was laying down there somewhere, hurt, probably unconcious, possibly...

He refused to let himself think of that possibility as he clumsily undid the straps that held his feet in the skiis. Pulling his feet free of the boots, he shivered as the wet snow soaked through his socks almost immediately. Leaving his skiis and ski poles at the top of the hill, and holding the tiny flashlight in his mouth, he began the long climb down into the valley.

~*~

Tea glanced out the window worridly, then turned away from it as the cabin door opened, admitting Yami and Yugi, both of them carrying armloads of fire wood. Yugi kicked the door closed behind him, and they added their loads to the quickly-growing pile near the hearth.

"I think that's all of it." Yami said, straightening up to work a kink out of his back. "It should be enough to last us the night, at least."

Tea bit her lip as the Moto men began to pull off wet coats and gloves and lay them in front of the fire to dry. "Guys, I'm really worried about Amoura and Bakura. They should have been back by now!"

Yugi put a hand on her arm reassuringly. "They're fine Tea. I'm sure they went to the lodge as soon as it started snowing harder, and are stuck there. They're probably sitting by the fire right now, laughing and talking. They'll be fine until the snow storm lets up."

Yami snickered. "Laughing and talking and doing other things."

Yugi and Tea both blushed. "Yami!"

Yami snickered again and shrugged. "I'm only telling the honest truth, aibou."

Yugi sweatdropped slightly. "Well, be that as it may..."

"So what do we do until the storm lets up?" Tea asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's not like there's a TV to watch or anything." She saw them both open their mouths to suggest something, but beat them to the punch. "And if you say 'duel' I will personally kick both your butts outside into the snow. Don't you guys ever do anything but duel?"

Yami sighed and removed his hand from his pocket, where he'd been about to pull out his deck. Yugi chuckled and headed for the left most bedroom to fetch his suitcase. "I brought a couple board games, and there's plenty of books around. Monopoly, anyone?"

Yami made a face. "I always land on Boardwalk..." he grumbled, crossing his arms. "And you always own it. What else did you bring?"

Yugi emmerged, dragging his suitcase behind him. "Chess, Monopoly, Clue, Capsule Monsters, Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit, and Sorry."

"How about Lord of the Rings?" Tea asked, sitting down cross-legged in front of the fire. "That's always fun."

Yugi nodded and pulled out the box, taking a seat on the floor next to Tea. Yami sat down as well, completing the triangle with a wide grin on his face. "Yes! I am master of this game!"

Yugi sniggered. "Unless Bakura or Ishtar were here. I tell you, it's almost scary how obsessed you guys are with those movies. You haven't even read the books!"

Yami grinned as he set up the board, grabbing the Aragorn piece before anyone else could. "Why do you think I'm learning English?"

Tea rolled her eyes and threw the dice at his head. "Just roll."

~*~

"Amoura! Amoura, answer me if you can!"

Bakura cursed under his breath as he trudged through the snow, the beam of his flashlight only penetrating two or three feet forward in the snow storm. He'd made it down the slippery slope with only a couple major slides, but even so he refused to notice the bloody trail through the snow that his numb and frozen feet were leaving.

He shivered again and cupped the hand that wasn't holding the flashlight around his mouth. "Amoura!!!"

All at once the beam of his light struck something half covered in snow and reflected off of green hair and blue nylon. Bakura's heart jumped into his throat as he stumbled forward and fell to his knees beside her, franticly digging the snow away from her face and shoulders. She moaned a little under his touch, and her eyes fluttered open. "P-papa?"

"No, no Amoura, it's me, Bakura. Are you okay?"

Shivering violently, Amoura pushed herself up to her elbows. "N-no," she said, sniffing a little in pain. "I-I vell really hard on my leg, Bakura. I-I d-dunno if I c-can stand."

(Just a short author's note: If you thought writing a French accent was hard, try writing a stutterng French accent. -_-;)

Bakura bit his lip as he moved his flashlight further down her body. When he saw her right leg he winced. "I'm pretty sure it's broken Amoura-chan, you won't be going anywhere any time soon."

Amoura's eyes were wide in fright. "But, B-bakura, it's s-so cold. Ve've g-got to get inzide."

Bakura's eyes were worried, although he didn't allow her to see it. "I know." His mind raced, trying to think of something before they both turned into living popcicles. His eyes lit up as he remembered. "I passed a cave a few minutes back. At least that'll protect us from the wind." He bit his lip as he handed her the flashlight. "I'm g-going to have to carry you."

Amoura nodded, complete trust written on her face. She took the flashlight from him so that she could light their way while he carried her. As gently as he could Bakura slid his arms under her, lifting her out of the snow as he staggered to his feet. She cried out in pain, a couple tears escaping her eyes to freeze down her cheeks. Bakura grit his teeth and set off the way he'd come, trying not to jar her too much. She buried her face in his shoulder, her shoulders shaking with surpressed sobs.

They arrived at the cave, such as it was, a few minutes later. It was about twenty or twenty-five feet deep, and the ceiling was high enough for Bakura to stand upright with a couple inches to spare. The floor sloped gently downward the farther back you went, and in the very back there was a sort of a bend in the cave, and a small, bowl-shaped dip in the floor. It was here that Bakura set Amoura down, as gently as he could. They were mostly out of the wind, although the cold was as penetrating as ever.

"I'm going to go see if I can find some wood." Bakura said, clenching his jaw to control his chattering teeth. Amoura obviously couldn't walk, and before very long his own feet would be too numb to hold him up. He had to get what firewood he could find while there was still time.

Amoura nodded mutely, her expression somewhat dull. Bakura realized she was probably going into shock. He left the cave, taking the light with him. He didn't really want to leave Amoura shivering in the dark, but he'd get lost without the light.

Not twelve feet in front of the cave was a strand of pine, with plenty of dry branches under the sheltering branches. [2] Gratefully Bakura gathered all he could carry, and then came back for several more armloads. Once there was quite a big pile beside Amoura in the cave, Bakura dragged a few of the bigger, bushier branches across the cave opening to protect them from the wind and driving snow.

Once he'd done all he could, he flopped down next to Amoura, surpressing a moan as his feet protested to such abuse. Reaching over Amoura he grabbed several of the thicker, sturdier branches and shoved them into the depression in the cave floor. Fumbling in his pockets, he pulled out the flint and tinder he carried and struck a few sparks. The outer bark was wet, and it took several tries before it caught, but in no time a small, smoldering fire was casting enough heat to make Bakura start shivering again.

"Mmm..." Amoura stirred slightly, and Bakura dragged himself over next to her. "Bakura? Are you okay?"

"Somewhat." Bakura said grimmly. "I'm more worried about you."

Amoura blushed a little. "I am vine, really. Just cold."

"That makes two of us." Bakura agreed. "Hey, I've got an idea." Moving closer to her, he gently slid around behind her so that she was mostly on his lap. She leaned back against him, and he wrapped his arms around her so they could share body heat. "There, how's that 'Moura?"

"Better." Amoura said softly. "A little. Bakura, vat if no one finds us?"

"They will." Bakura said reassuringly. "Yami and Yugi and Tea know we're gone, they'll come looking for us. Then Yami can laugh in my face about being stuck in the snow." Amoura rolled her eyes, and Bakura grinned and squeezed her a little. "We'll be all right."

"I 'ope zo..." Amoura said, blinking back tears as she lay her head against Bakura's chest. "I 'ope zo..."

~*~

"Checkmate." Tea moved her pawn into possition and Yami dropped his head into his hands.

"Checkmated by a pawn," the "King of Games" moaned, and Tea and Yugi grinned.

"Well, I had Yugi helping me," Tea said. "I guess you just weren't a match for both of us." Yami nodded, and Tea stood up and went over to the fireplace, putting another log on the fire. She frowned. "Guys, we're starting to run out of wood."

Yugi bit his lip. "That can't be good..."

Yami frowned. "If that fire goes out, we're no better off then if we were out there in the snow."

"Well, there's always..." Tea trailed off, hesitant to suggest something that would sound so absurd.

"Always what, Tea?" Yugi asked.

"Er... There's always body heat." Tea said. "Like, cuddling, I mean."

Yugi and Yami both turned red, and Tea sweatdropped. "Or not."

"No," Yami said thoughtfully. "That's actually a pretty good idea... Yugi, help me fold down the couch bed. Tea, can you get all the blankets out of the bedrooms?"

"Sure Yami." Tea scampered off to do his bidding, whilst Yami and Yugi fought with the couch.

The couch won.

"Stupid thing..." Yami muttered, trying again without success to get it to unfold. "No wonder Bakura likes it, it's as stubborn as he is!"

Yugi put a hand over his mouth, trying not to let Yami see him laugh. "Um, Yami? There's an instruction booklet taped to the bottom."

"Oro?" Leaning over to look at the underside, Yami sweatdropped. "Well I'll be, instuctions ahoy!"

Yugi sweatdropped. "Yami, remind me never to let you near snow again, it makes you loopier than Weevil on drugs..."

Yami rolled his eyes and grabbed the book, flipping through it with a groan. "French and English! And Swedish! Why would they need Swedish?!"

"Because Sweden's just north of here?" Tea rolled her eyes and grabbed the book from Yami. "Gimme that."

~*~

It was getting colder, and despite their small, smokey fire Amoura and Bakura were both beginning to feel the effects of it. Amoura kept drifting in and out of conciousness, shivering almost uncontrolably. Bakura was getting worried about her.

Sliding her carefully off his lap he built up the fire as best he could, laying Amoura so that she was as close as she could be without getting burnt. Bakura bit his lip as he noticed for the first time that her coat was soaked from her tumble down the hill and the time she'd been laying in the snow. After only a moment's thought Bakura reached down to undo the coat, sliding it gently out from around her. He then quickly took off his own coat, putting it on Amoura. It was too big for her, but at least it was drier than her own.

Bakura shivered as the cold slapped him in the face through the reletively thin sweatshirt he had on under his coat. Rubbing his hands up and down his arms and blowing on frozen fingers, he pulled on Amoura's wet and too-small coat, for all the good it would do him. He leaned back against the wall with a groan, propping his feet up on a rock next to the fire to at least try and warm them a little.

"Horus," he whispered softly through chapped lips, his eyes drifting closed. "God of Winds and Mortal Men, Isis, Lady of Ladies, Hathor, Goddess of All That is Lovely... Protect Amoura, see her through this, please, no matter what... Anubis, I beg you, stay away from her this night, even if you have to take me in return...

"Please... Just let Amoura live..."

~*~

Yugi and Tea were giggling again. Yami just rolled his eyes and tucked his hands behind his head. "What now, you two?"

All three of them were stuffed onto the couch bed, which was made for two but could fit three in a pinch (especially when two of them were smaller than average). They were cuddled under about five blankets, with Yugi in the middle, Yami to his right, and Tea to his left. The fire had long since died down, and while they did have a couple logs left, none of them wanted to get out of the cozy bed to go put one in. The blankets and their close quarters were doing their jobs.

"Your hair tickles, mou hitori no boku!" Yugi said, grinning up at his yami and brushing a few loose strands of Yami's hair away from his nose as he did.

Yami rolled his eyes again. "I'm not the one who chose to keep it in three foot spikes for years and years, now am I?"

"They were not three feet!" Yugi said indignantly, though he was still grinning. "And besides, my hair's nice and short now. How come yours stays long? I thought you were supposed to look just like me?"

Yami looked thoughtful. "Actually aibou, no. It's you who was born to look like me. I'm the preincarnate, you're the reincarnate. And even with that aside, haven't you noticed how much more... well, mortal I'm becoming? Bakura and I were discussing it this afternoon. I stay out of the Puzzle much longer now than I did even a year ago."

Yugi blinked in surprise. "Gosh, you're right. I can't even think of the last time you were in your soulroom."

"That's because it's getting harder and harder for me to go back, aibou."

Yugi's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"It's a concious effort for me to retreat to the Puzzle now, whereas when you first got it, I went back almost automaticly after every duel. Bakura thinks that the need for the Pharaoh is passing, and therefore I'm being given my own body to live my own life. He also mentioned something about keeping balance for his mortal body, but I didn't get a chance to ask him what he meant."

"That's bizarre..." Yugi said thoughtfully. "But it sounds about right. We'll have to ask Ryou whenever we see him next."

Yami chuckled. "That poor man. He's been all over the world in just the last couple weeks."

Yugi grinned. "Yeah, about the only place he hasn't been is here!"

"Keep it down you two," Tea muttered from Yugi's other side. "I'm trying to get some sleep."

Yugi glanced at his watch in surprise. "Midnight already? Gosh, with all the clouds all over the place, I hadn't even noticed the sun had set." He smiled and snuggled down under the covers, laying his head against Yami's shoulder. "Good night Yami, g'night Tea."

"Good night Yugi," they chorused, settling down into their own possitions. After a while Yami started to snore softly, but Yugi lay awake, plagued by the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

~*~

"...kura...Bakura...Dangit Bakura, wake up! ...Wakie wakie... Bakura... Oh blast it all. THOMAS!!!"

Bakura jerked awake, his brain still fogged by sleep (if, indeed, he'd been asleep and not unconcious). He blinked his eyes blearily, trying to focus on the two figures standing before him. He actually felt rather like he was drunk, his head was weaving, his eyes refused to focus, and his hands and feet had gone numb. He blinked hard, finally bringing the "visitors" into focus. Even as his heart identified them, his frozen brain was wondeing how they could wear so little clothing in such weather.

One was tall and wiry, decidedly male, bare footed, and bare chested. Plain tarnished silver bracelets adorned his arms, and a single pendant hung around his neck, enscribed with the Eye of Horus. He wore a white pleated kilt with a ragged hem, tied around his waist with a strip of purple cloth. His long white hair was tied back into a low tail with another strip of the same cloth. His face was fine-boned, almost femenine in its delicacy, which only worked together with the kohl[3] make-up he was wearing to accentuate his vibrant green eyes.

The other, much shorter than her companion, was a female, her long light blond hair hanging in her brown eyes. She wore a short skirt that tied between her legs, serving as something halfway between loincloth and pants. An ill-fitting and dirty shirt covered her upper portions, slipping off her left shoulder to reveal the beginning of a shallow scar, which evidentually continued diagnolly between her breasts and down to her right hip. She was bare footed as well.

"But..." Bakura whispered, his eyes wide. "But you can't be! You're..."

"And you almost are, Thomas." the man said, crossing his arms over his chest with a kind smile. "So how about it. Isn't it about time?"

"My name is Bakura." Bakura said fiercely, glaring at his twin brother. "And no, I am not just going to roll over and play dead just because you two came to fetch me. For all I know, I could be hallucinating."

This seemed to amuse Jonathon, and his smile widened. "Suit yourself," he said, shrugging. "Believe whatever you like. But you prayed to Anubis, and Anubis has answered."

Bakura's eyes widened. "H-he's really taking me?"

"In exchange for sparing her." Jonathon nodded his head toward Amoura. His green eyes were sad as he looked at Bakura. "I know there's things you've left undone, ank[4], I'm sorry."

"She's very pretty, isn't she?"

Both men turned their attention to the woman, who was standing quietly and looking down at Amoura, who was also asleep, with a queer expression on her face. Bakura started at the sight of her. "Anjil, I-"

His wife smiled at him, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's all right Bekhura, I understand. Five thousand years is a long time to wait. I don't mind that you've fallen in love with another."

Bakura nodded. "But I'll always love you, Anjil."

"And I you." It was barely a whisper.

"Come on Bakura," Jonathon said softly, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We haven't the time to waste. They're all waiting on us, you know. Mother and father, and our cousins, and the little sister that mother was carrying when she died, and everyone else. They can't wait to see you again, to have you... to have you home again."

"How... how is it possible?" he whispered.

"The gods are not as unforgiving as the priests always said." Anjil said quietly. "Horus saw it all, and saw the priests were in the wrong, not the villagers of Kuru Eruna. He championed their case to Anubis, and all were let into Paradise. They're waiting for us. Aren't you ready to come home, Bekhura?"

Bakura swallowed, wondering when tears had come to his eyes. He no longer felt the cold of the snowy mountain top, but instead the great heat of the Sahara, the cool waters of the Nile running across his feet, the lotus and bullrushes tickling his elbows. He could hear their laughter, just on the edges of his ears. His cousins yelling for him to come and play with them, his mother calling him in for supper... The voice of one little girl with white hair, never given a chance at life when the priests cruelly pushed her into death...

And he almost went. He almost stepped into the water, let Jonathon lead him to the far bank. But he stopped.

"I..." Bakura's voice failed him, and he could only move his hand to stroke Amoura's hair. His eyes were on the ground, though his mind and heart were torn two ways. For five thousand years he'd thought all his people, his family and friends, were devoured by Ammit. Now he knew they were all well, and were waiting for him. Oh, how he wanted to see them again...

But there was Amoura to think of, and Ryou. What would they do without him here? And Yami and Ishtar, why should he go to his afterlife and leave them behind?

Slowly he let his hand drop away from Amoura's hair to lay still on the stone floor. His eyes were still downcast, refusing to look up at Anjil or Jonathon, lest it weaken his resolve. He missed them all, Jonathon especially. But...

When he did speak, it was barely more than a whisper.

"I am home."

~*~

Eventually Yugi did drift off to sleep, though it wasn't a very pleasent one. Dreams plagued the short hikari, until finally all his tossing and turning awoke Yami. The ex-pharaoh sat up, blinking in the pitch dark cabin. "Nnguh?"

Yugi muttered something in his sleep and flipped an arm around Yami's neck, catching the spirit off guard. "Ack! Yugi, Yugi let go!"

Yugi awoke with a start and sat upright, his breathing heavy. "Zombie snowmen!"

"Nani, aibou?"

Yugi blinked and rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his pajama top. He yawned and then looked over at Yami. "I'm sorry Yami, I didn't mean to wake you. I keep having weird dreams..."

"Weird how?" Yami asked, putting an arm around Yugi's shoulders and half-pulling the smaller boy onto his lap. "Weird like Kaiba belly-dancing weird, or weird like invading Shadow Monsters weird?"

Yugi shuddered. "Definately the first kind, although thankfully not that... disturbing. Zombie snowmen, 20-foot pink poodle, creepy monkey ninja guy, stuff like that. The stuff you know shouldn't be scary but somehow is."

Yami raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I dunno. I find zombie snowmen very scary."

Yugi laughed a little, careful not to wake Tea. "You would." His smile faded, and he looked at Yami seriously. "Yami... Something's wrong. I don't know what, but I can just feel it..." he bit his lip. "Bakura said something had happened to Ryou. Yami, I'm scared..."

Yami put his arms around Yugi and pulled him into a hug. "Oh aibou... I wish I could reassure you, but I'm afraid I can't. Whatever this is, I can feel it too. Something's... wrong. Out of place somehow..." He stopped, his eyes widening slightly in shock and fright. "A-aibou, did you just feel that?"

Yugi looked just as scared, and clung to his "big brother". "Freezing cold breath on the back of your neck?"

Yami nodded mutely.

"Oooooh yeah, I felt it."

In the silence and darkness following Yugi's statement, as the two Motos clung to each other in the cold cabin, they clearly heard the voice that was whispering in their ears.

"They will cry, but their tears will come too late. There is no redemption for the ones who choose to walk in the shadows."[5]

Yugi squeaked, and for a moment he and Yami stared at each other, their eyes wide and fearful. "A gh-ghost?" Yugi asked, his eyes looking like they were almost ready to pop out of his head.

Yami's eyes were worried. "No Yugi," he said softly, his hands clutching at the blankets. "That sounded like Bakura."

Someone put a hand on Yami's shoulder, and at that point both the Motos began to scream bloody murder.

(Thanks to Ebony Kuroneko for the idea! *hugs*)

~*~

Amoura yawned widely, sitting up and glancing around the room. To her surprise, she found that she was in her own bed in France. Yunet was curled up at the foot of her bed, purring. Amoura pushed the blankets off, staring in confusion down at her soft pink nightgown. Had it all been just a dream? The vandelism of the Arc, their trip to Switzerland, the snowstorm... What was going on?

Sliding off her bed, Amoura opened the curtains at her window to look out across Paris. The sun was shining, it had to be late in the morning. People were going back and forth along the street beyond their front gate. Two children she didn't recognise were running across their front lawn, a shaggy dog chasing after them. They were laughing and yelling, and Amoura could hear them even through the closed window. But... that was wrong. This was most definately the house she'd grown up in, but it wasn't supposed to be in Paris. It was in the outskirts, and Amoura had never been able to see any of downtown Paris from her bedroom window. What was going on?

Still very much confused, Amoura turned back around and headed for the door. Maybe Grandmama or mother would know what had happened. Or Yami, he always seemed to know what was going on. ....Except when he was drunk, that is.

Passing by the mirror that hung over her dresser, Amoura stopped and stared. She wasn't nineteen anymore, she looked... older... Not old old, but grown up. Her mother's age, maybe.

Her eyes wide, Amoura just stared at her reflection, reaching a tentative hand up to touch her own face, to see if what she was seeing was really real. She was startled out of her reverie by a gentle knock on her door. "Amoura, are you in there?"

She jumped and spun around. The voice was deep, very much masculine. "A-ah, who is it?"

To her horror the door knob began to turn. Before she could barracade the door and demand why a strange man was in her house, the door had opened and Amoura found herself staring at the most gorgeous man she'd ever seen. Short silver-white wavy hair, big brown eyes, the most amazing body...

And she realized with a jolt that it was Bakura. Bakura in his thirties, but still very much Bakura.

What the hell was he doing in her house?!?

"Oh good, you're awake," he said, a grin splitting his face and making Amoura's heart thump treacherously. "Could you come down and help me give the monsters breackfast? Jon's in the shower, or I'd make him do it."

Apparently someone nearby had overheard Bakura's comment, because another masculine voice from down the hall called, "What about Ramses and Dezi?"

"They're outside," Bakura called back, pulling his head out of the bedroom to glance off to the left. "I could always get you to help."

"No way," the other voice said, finally coming into view and leaning in the doorway next to Bakura. "Hey sis, you sure slept late. I thought you'd never get up."

"Amoura!" Bakura said, stepping into the room with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "Yunet's shedding all over the blankets again. I keep telling you we should get a new comforter, one that cat hair wouldn't show up on, but nooooo..." Picking up the cat and dodging her claws, Bakura set her down on the floor and nudged her with his foot, sending her scurrying out the door.

For the moment Bakura's words didn't register, as Amoura was just staring at the green-haired grinning man in front of her. "Julien?"

"Who else would I be?" her brother asked, confused. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Ah... I zuppose..." Amoura said. "Er, lead the way Bakura..."

Bakura shrugged, exchanged glances with Julien, and headed for the stairs that led down to the first floor. Julien peeled off and headed for the front door, while Bakura continued on into the kitchen. After a moment's debate, Amoura followed Bakura, and then stopped in shock. The wall that had previously been there, that seperated the kitchen from the diningroom, was completely gone. Now there was only a waist-high counter there. If Bakura noticed her stop, he gave no sign, and went straight for the huge table in the middle of the diningroom. At either end of the table a high chair was set up, and one of the other chairs had two phone books in use as an improvised booster seat.

Sitting on the phone books was a little girl of about four, with curly green hair and bright brown eyes. The two high chairs were occupied by two small children of about a year old, most likely twins, a girl and a boy, who were thouroughly engrossed in the Cheerios scattered across their high chair trays.

"Daddy!" the four-year-old squealed, holding out her arms to Bakura. He picked her up and tossed her into the air, catching her again as she came down.

"Good morning," he said, giving her a kiss and setting her back onto her chair. "How's my little lotus bud this morning?"

She giggled. "Fine. Uncle Julien says you're going to make us pancackes!"

"Pancakes?" Bakura pretended to frown. "You don't like pancakes!"

"Yes I do!" the girl giggled. "And so do 'Wen and 'Ret!" she pointed at the twins.

Bakura rolled his eyes dropping his silly facade. "Amanda, don't call them 'Wen and 'Ret. They do have proper names, you know."

"Okay, fine." the little girl, Amanda, pretended to pout. "Brewen and Maharet. There. Happy now daddy?"

Bakura's lips curved up into a smile. "Much." He turned to glance back at Amoura. "Hey 'Moura, you coming?"

"Yeah Mommy, come sit down by me!" little Amanda said. "Daddy's making pancakes!"

Bakura disappeared into the kitchen, and Amoura went forward to sit by the little girl, her eyes alight in wonder. "I'm... your mama?"

Amanda nodded, seemingly more intrested in poking her fork through the table cloth than talking to her mother.

"And... You were named after my grandmother?"

Another nod.

Oh boy. Now for the twenty-gazillion dollar question. "And... Zat man in zere is your father?"

Another nod, and an odd look. "Are you okay mama?"

Great. Now even a four-year-old was questioning her sanity. "Oui, just a little tired..."

Amanda perked up, dropping her fork. "Are you pregnant again mommy? Daddy says you always get real tired when you're pregnant."

"Oh Ra, I hope not..." Bakura said, leaning against the counter that seperated the kitched from the diningroom. "Five times was quite enough, thank you very much." He glanced slyly at Amoura. "Although, accidents are sometimes good things..."

Amoura found herself blushing, but was saved from further humiliation as Julien's voice could be heard through the open kitchen window. "Dezi! Ramses! Food's up!"

Twenty seconds later the front door banged open and two more kids barreled into the room, Julien following more slowly behind them. The first of the children to enter was a little girl, about nine, with long light green hair pulled back into pig tails. She was wearing a pair of overalls, and although her hair and eyes were Amoura's, the face clearly belonged to Bakura.

The other one, a boy of about eleven, was the spitting image of his father, from his spiky silver-white hair to the bottoms of his bare feet. "Dad!" he yelled, running over to Bakura as the girl took a seat on Amoura's other side. "Dad, can Dezi and I give Pharaoh a bath after breakfast?"

"I don't see why not," Bakura said, shrugging. "Make sure it's okay with your mother."

The boy, Ramses (leave it to Bakura to pick a name like that, though it did have a certain charm), turned to her. "Please mom?" he asked. "He's real dirty, especially after he helped us dig for treasure!"

Amoura's mind raced. Pharaoh... Pharaoh... Knowing Bakura like she did... She decided to take a chance. "Sure, you may give zee dog a bath." She held her breath, watching their faces, but it seemed she'd guessed right. She let out the breath she'd been holding in a quiet sigh.

Bakura emmerged from the kitchen carrying a huge plate piled with pancakes. "Hey Julien, go get Jon for me, okay?"

Julien nodded, pushing himself off from where he'd been leaning against the door frame. He walked casually to the base of the stairs and then cupped his hands around his mouth. "JONATHON RYOU BAKURA!!!!!!" he yelled. "Get your butt down here before your sisters and brothers eat all the food!!!" There was an answering "okay" from somewhere upstairs and Julien sauntered back to the table, grinning and sitting down on Amoura's other side.

"You didn't need to shout, Uncle Julien," Dezi said, speaking for the first time. She and Ramses jumped forward at the same time, grabbing several pancakes each as Bakura set the plate down in the center of the table. "Hey dad, school's almost out for the summer. Where are we going to go on vacation this year?"

"Well," Bakura said, grinning slightly. "I'll tell you, but we have to wait for Jon."

Ramses and Dezi nodded, and Amanda blinked before shrugging and reaching for the pancakes herself. "I'll get it for you, Amanda," Amoura said, reaching forward to give the little girl, her daughter, her breakfast.

Bakura frowned slightly at the two older children, as they dug into their breakfasts with a vigor. "Ramses Kaeru and Desirée Kathrine, wait for your brother." Dezi and Ramses pouted, but obiediantly if sulkily put down their forks.

It was a couple minutes later that the allusive Jon finally entered the diningroom. He was dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, and had obviously just gotten out of the shower, as his dark hair was still wet and he had a towel hanging around his shoulders. For a moment all Amoura could do was stare. She'd been expecting another son somewhere around Ramses's or Dezi's age, nine or ten. But this boy was fifteen, at least! His hair was easily the darkest out of all the children, looking almost black, and just like all the rest of his siblings, his eyes were brown.

"Hi mom," he said, leaning over to kiss Amoura on the cheek before plopping into a chair between Bakura and Ramses and reaching for the pancakes. "Sorry I'm late."

Amoura looked around the crowded table, her eyes wide. It was dominated by green, as everyone but Ramses and Bakura shared the Letazaut green hair. Ramses, however, could easily have been mistaken for a much younger version of his father. If not for the faint scar that still showed up on Bakura's cheek, he and Ramses would have been identical.

Jon leaned over to say something to Ramses, who started giggling like only eleven-year-old boys can. Dezi put her hands on her hips, demanding to know what was so funny, which only made Ramses laugh harder. Jon grinned, and Bakura chuckled a little, as if he was in on the joke. Little Amanda was carrying on an animated conversaion with her little brother Brewen in his high chair, although he didn't seem to be paying attention in the least. Julien had gotten up to get a jar of what looked like baby food out of one of the cabinets so he could feed the other twin, and suddenly let out a shriek as Maharet spit strained beets all over his shirt. This was a family, Amoura realized as she watched them laugh and talk. Her family.

"Tell us now, daddy!" Dezi shreiked, bouncing slightly in her seat. "Tell us!"

"Yes daddy," Julien mimicked, clapping his hands together. "Tell us where we're going on vacation!"

Bakura shot Julien a slightly annoyed look, but then cleared his throat and grinned. "I am happy to announce," he said. "That we will be spending almost the entire summer... in Japan."

"Japan?!" the entire family chorused at once, and then broke into excited chatter.

"All right! Irene and Raff, here I come!" Jon exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air triumphantly.

"Uncle Yami and Uncle Yugi!" Ramses said, his eyes shining in excitement. "They can give me more new Duel Monsters cards!"

"I'll be there for Shelley's birthday this year!" Dezi said happily. "I haven't seen her since Christmas!"

"Kai!" Amanda squealed, clapping her hands. "Kai-chan!"

Bakura's grin widened and he said loudly "But that isn't all." Slowly the talking dimmed, and all eyes were on him again. "...We're going to Japan so your mother and I can look into houses, so we can finally move back to Japan."

His announcement was met first with silence, and then with ringing cheers.

Amoura watched all this in a sort of half-detached way. She knew none of it was real, but she wished to every god that it was... Her and Bakura together, married with children, and apparently with Julien living in the attic... It was all she'd ever dreamed of. Children, beautiful children, even if there were rather a lot of them. If only... If only her future really could be just like this...

"Amoura,"

The quiet voice cut through the noise in the room like a knife. Amoura gasped in recognition and spun in her seat, although none of the rest sitting at the table seemed to notice. Behind her, in the doorway, stood a tall figure she hadn't seen in years. His broad shoulders cast a long shadow, but to Amoura they weren't imposing in the least. His face seemed to be slightly in the shadow, but she knew it as well as her own.

"Papa!"

She stood up from her seat, and suddenly realised that she was nineteen again. Turning, she looked over her shoulder to see the scene at the dinner table begin to melt away, and she fixed each small face in her minds eye. Jon and Ramses, Dezi and Amanda, Brewen and Maharet... And Bakura, and Julien. Someday... someday she'd see them again, just like this. Someday.

She turned back to her father, blinking back sudden tears. "Oh papa..."

Her father's face softened, and he went down on one knee and spread his arms out, just like he had when she was younger. "Come here, m'girl," he said fondly. She ran to him then, and threw her arms around him. He hugged her close, and she could smell his aftershave, just like always. Even his beard felt the same, rough against her cheek. He was even in uniform. It was like he'd just come home after two years on the job.

"Oh papa," she sobbed, burying her face in his shoulder. "Papa, why'd you 'ave to go? I miss you zo much!"

"I miss you too Amoura," he said softly, stroking her hair with one calloused hand. "I'd give anything to have you and your mother and Julien back. But not..." his voice dropped softly. "Not this."

Amoura pulled away from him, sniffling slightly. "Papa? Vat do you mean?"

The familiar Parisian home had disappeared by now, and they stood in a landscape of twisting shadows. If she listened closely, Amoura was sure she could hear the rush of wind and the lapping of waves, somewhere far away. It was beginning to get colder too. Gradually the water sound seemed to get louder, until suddenly Amoura saw.

They were standing not ten feet from the edge of a rushing, roaring river. On the other side, or maybe just on a huge island in the middle, was a huge city. It was built almost entirely of sandstone, though in the center a huge white marble palace rose. The river surrounded the cite like a moat, and then went crashing off to the north and to the south. Way off on the northern horrizon was a soft golden glow, and off to the south there was a reddish hew to the sky. At the north and south ends of the city were docks, which housed rowboats and steamers and ships of seemingly all kinds. Directly in front of them was a wide, golden, arching bridge, apparently the only way into the city.

Amoura gasped. "Vere are ve?"

"This is the city of Roshai. It's populated by demons and spirits who do not wish to move on to the afterlife yet, like myself. Most would call it Purgatory. This is where the Fires of Destiny, Waters of Love, and Shrine of All Knowledge are."

Amoura's eyes widened slightly. "Papa, vhy are ve 'ere?"

Her father turned to her and smiled kindly, stroking her hair fondly. "Not for the reasons you think, I assure you. We're here to meet someone. Ah, here they come."

Amoura looked up to see three figures approaching from the opposite direction, and she gasped in recognition. "Bakura!"

The white-haired man looked up in surprise, and rounded accusingly on the man standing beside him. "You said she would be spared!"

The man winced slightly, holding up his hands in defence. "Neither of you are dead yet, Bakura. Calm down. She's here so we can dispence with the formalities."

Amoura was at Bakura's side now, her father following behind her. "What formalities?" she asked. "Who are you?"

"My name is Jonathon," the man said. "I'm Bakura's brother, or at least I was five thousand years ago. This is Anjil, she's..." he stopped.

"She's my wife." Bakura said quietly.

Amoura stared at Anjil numbly, remembering Bakura's stories of his life in Egypt. She'd only sort of half-believed them, at least until now. "You're 'is vife?"

Anjil smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, I am. Or was. Bekhura has a new life now... Maybe it's time he found someone new to love..." Amoura's eyes widened, and for a moment a brief look of understanding passed between the two very different women.

"What formalities?" Amoura repeated softly, looking away from Anjil and toward Bakura and her father.

Bakura bit his lip and looked away from her eyes. It was Anjil that answered. "Bekhura made a deal with Anubis. His life in exchange for yours."

Amoura's eyes widened in shock. "Vhat?!?"

"We'd both die otherwise Amoura!" Bakura said sharply, looking her in the eye. "This way at least you can survive."

"But what's the use of surviving if you're not there?" Amoura cried, grabbing him by the arm as if she could physicly hold him in life. "I couldn't live vithout you!"

Bakura looked surprised. "Do you... do you really mean that Amoura?"

"Mais oui..." Amoura said, slipping into her native French without even noticing. "Bakura, the whole reason I took you up to zee spot father and I vound vas so I could tell you, but I chickened out... Bakura, I love you. How could I ever go on, knowing you'd traded yourself for me?" Tears welled up in her eyes, and Bakura had to look away from her, lest his own tears begin to fall.

"Amoura... I have to do this. I refuse to let you die if there's a way I can let you live. I love you so much... It's almost funny. I haven't said those words in so long, and yet I mean them with all my heart..."

Amoura clung to him, her face buried in his coat. Bakura looked over at Jonathon, who just shrugged helplessly. Anjil was standing silently by Bakura's twin, a slightly misty look in her eyes. Amoura's father stood a small distance away, watching his daughter whistfully and thinking of all he'd missed and all he would miss in the future. As it was, it was only Jonathon that noted the two imposing figures approaching from over the bridge to Purgatory. He let out a sort of muffled squwak and dropped to one knee, bowing his head in deferance. As soon as they realized who was approaching, Anjil and Amoura's father did the same.

Bakura and Amoura stared at them momentarily before they too turned to look at the bridge, where the two figures were just stepping off onto solid ground. Amoura gasped in shock and fright, and Bakura had to fight the urge to drop to his knees like his brother and wife had.

Both standing at over seven feet tall, the two made imposing figures. One was bone thin, swarthed in dark robes. The other was broad shouldered and muscular, dressed in the fine garb of an Egyptian god. Far from the hokey wooden masks the sem priests [6] used to wear, the jackel's head on his shoulders was most definately real.

Anubis and Death had arrived.

~*~

"Guys! Calm down, calm down, it's just me!"

Slowly Yugi stopped screaming and ventured to open one eye. "T-tea?"

Tea rolled her eyes as Yami too stopped shrieking, his eyes wide. "Who else would it be? Jeez, you guys are really jumpy tonight. What's the matter?"

Yami shook his head, running a hand through his tangled hair. "It's just a feeling I've got, Tea, but a very bad one"

"Me too," Yugi said, nodding. "Something's wrong, I can just feel it."

Tea shivered. "Stop being so creepy. What is it that's got you so spooked?"

Yugi hunched his shoulders, as if his neck still prickled. "Cold breath down the back of our necks!"

"It was just a draft..." Tea sounded unsure. "You must have been dreaming."

Yami shook his head. "It was no dream. We heard Bakura whisper in our ears. Didn't we Yugi?"

Yugi nodded vahemantly and dived under the covers as if he could hide. "It was like a gh-ghost!"

Tea's eyes were wide by now. She glanced out the window and blinked. "It's beginning to get light, and it looks like for the most part it's stopped snowing. Why don't you just go down to the lodge and ask Bakura what's going on."

"Yes..." Yami muttered, throwing aside the blankets. "Yes, that's a good idea." He shivered as he stepped out of the bed and on to the cold floor. Yugi and Tea soon followed. Thankfully the cabin door opened inward, as they'd never have been able to push it out with three feet of snow on the other side. They bundled up and found snowshoes in the closet, which they strapped on to their boots. So attired, they were ready to face the snowy world.

Tea, being the tallest of the three, boosted Yami and Yugi up and out the door onto the top of the newly fallen snow before scrambling up herself. Then they headed downhill toward the lodge, occasionally slipping on brief patches of ice that had formed over the snow. Once Yami fell clean into a snow bank, and had to be pulled out. He grumbled about "demon possessed snow" all the way down to the lodge, with Yugi and Tea unsuccessfully trying to cover up their snickers.

The scenery was beautiful, as it almost always is after a snow storm. The sky was a clear, crisp blue with the sun just beginning to peak over the snow-coated tree tops, marking the time as roughly six thirty a.m. It was quiet, save for the occasional 'plop' of snow falling off tree branches, or an infrequent bird call. All around them the snow glittered a pure, unblemished white.

They reached the lodge a short time later and pushed open the doors, sliding down the small snow bank that tumbled in with them. Several people were sitting around the main room, talking and laughing. It seemed Bakura and Amoura weren't the only ones to get stranded at the lodge. Neither of them, however, were in sight.

Yami snickered and elbowed Yugi in the ribs. "I told you so. They're probably getting to know one another better in one of the bedrooms right now."

Yugi gagged and blushed at the thought of that, and Tea rolled her eyes. "Knock it off you two." She left the two of them playfully fighting each other by the door and headed for the front desk, where the manager sat behind the counter. It was the same man who'd been here for nearly the past twenty years, and who knew the Letazaut family personally. He was the one Amoura had spoken to a few days earlier to get the key to the family cabin.

"^Bonjour monsieur,^" she said in halting French. "^Is Amoura Letazaut and Yami Bakura here?^"

The manager shook his head, a slight look of surprise on his face. They'd all been in and out of the lodge these last couple days, and he recognised Tea as one of Amoura's friends. "^Non, I have not seen them since yesterday afternoon. Is something wrong?^"

Tea's eyes widened. "^They didn't come in here when the snow storm hit?!^" The manager shook his head, and Tea's knees buckled under her, forcing her to sit down heavily on the floor. Yami and Yugi noticed this and hurried over, their eyes wide.

"Tea?" Yugi asked, kneeling beside her as the manager hurried out from around the desk. "Tea, what's wrong?"

"^They must still be out there!^" Tea said, ignoring her two non-French speaking friends for the moment and looking at the manager. "^They went out skiing last night, and didn't come back! We'd assumed they took shelter here!^"

The manager gasped in alarm, and patted her arm briefly before hurrying away, shouting in French for someone to go to the mountain patrol station nearby and order a search party formed. Meanwhile, Yami was gently shaking Tea, who'd suddenly began to sob. "Tea, talk to us! What's wrong?"

"Am-moura and Bakura," she choked, throwing her arms around Yami's neck, him being the closest person to her. "Th-they never made it here. They're still out on the mountain somewhere!"

Yugi and Yami exchanged shocked looks over Tea's head, and Yugi rubbed the back of his neck again, remembering the feeling of cold breath and Bakura's whispered words. He couldn't be...

Yami pulled Tea to her feet, helping to guide the shuddering woman toward the couches around the fire place. A lot of the men who'd been sitting around before had sprung into action, pulling on coats and scarves to get ready to go out with the search parties. Several women were as well, but most of the women were staying around the fire talking in low, concerned voices. A couple had their heads bowed in prayer. Yami, through gestures and a few halting words in French, made them understand that Tea was a friend of the missing people. The women nodded in understanding and gathered around Tea, offering her what support and comfort they could. Yami started to turn away when Tea's voice reached him.

"Y-yami, where are you going?" She sounded a little panicked, as if she was afraid he would be lost in the snow too. Sighing, Yami turned back to kneel in front of her.

"Tea, Yugi and I are going to go out with the search parties. We can't just sit here waiting for them to be found. You'll be all right here Tea, and we'll be back as soon as we find them."

Tea shuddered, but tried to put on a brave face and nodded. "I-I'll e-mail and call everyone, to let them know what's happening. Is Shaadi's cell number still on your caller i.d. from when Bakura" she stumbled a little over the name "C-called him?"

"I think so." Yami dug his cell phone out of his pocket and tossed it to Tea. "We'll be back soon, I promise." She nodded again and Yami ran to join Yugi, who was already bundling up to head outside.

"We'll find them," Yami repeated quietly to himself, trying to keep his own fear at bay. Stupid tomb robber, they'd been through so much, he couldn't kick the bucket now. "We've got to."

~*~

From: lovingfriendship@hotmail.com

To: Ryou (secondsight04@hotmail.com); Shen-san (pyramidobsessor413@hotmail.com); Joey (blackdragon007@hotmail.com); Malik (tombkeeper@egypt.net); Isis (ancientpriestess22@egypt.net); Gwen (pixistix303@aol.com); Duke (dice-boy88@industrielillusions.org); Madame Amanda-san (amletazaut@française.com); Tristan (ribbonchanslover@japan.net); Kaiba (doubleceo@kaibacorp.org)

Subject: Snow Storm in the Alps

As you guys probably already know, Yugi, Yami, Amoura, Bakura, and I have been staying at a cabin in the Alps for the past week or so due to some stupidness on the part of Yami. Weather's been all screwy lately, and last night a blizzard came through that dumped nearly four feet of snow on us. Yugi, Yami, and I are all okay, we were in the cabin when the snow hit.

But Bakura and Amoura were outside skiing. We assumed they made it back to the lodge and waited out the night there, but a few minutes ago we found out they never came in to the lodge, so they have to still be out in the snow somewhere. Yami and Yugi have gone out with the search parties, and hopefully they can find them before it's too late.

A lot of you guys will be getting phone calls from me too, but I just wanted to send out e-mails in case the blizzard took down some phone lines, or messed with the cell phone reception.

In the famous words of Yami, we've made it through worse stuff then this before, and we can make it through this too. I'll keep you updated and let you know as soon as I find out anything.

Yours, Tea

~*~

"Bakura! Bakura, answer me!"

"Amoura, where are you?"

"Stupid tomb robber..." Yami muttered, lowering his hands from where they'd been cupped around his mouth. "I'll beat him to a bloody pulp for making me worry like this..." He clenched his hands into fists, grounding his teeth together in frustration, fear, and worry. "Bakura!!" he screamed, raising his fist to shake it at the sky. "You'd better not be dead again or I'll kill you!"

Yugi looked at Yami worridly, a frown gracing his gentle face. Although Yami and Bakura both tried not to show it, the two of them were fast friends, almost brothers. Yami was clearly worried about Bakura, although he tried not to show it. "Yami..."

The two of them and about five other Frenchmen were scouting some of the higher slopes, shouting for Amoura and Bakura. The blizzard would have washed away any trace of them passing, so they had to rely on the hope that one or the other of them was concious enough to answer their calls. Yami and Yugi communicated with the Frenchmen with broad, charade-like gestures and the few French words they knew.

Yami sighed deeply and ran a gloved hand through his hair. "I'm really worried Yugi. Bakura's not any more used to the cold than I am, this must be torture for him. And I'm afraid he'll do something stupidly chivolrous, like give his coat to Amoura. That idiot..." he was muttering almost to himself again, like he'd forgotten Yugi was there. "Baka baka baka... Baka fellahin... Hebrew idiot! Baka baka baka... Chikusho fellah... Shimatta baka slave-boy..." [7]

Yugi blinked. Yami must be really worried if he was beginning to mix up his languages. Yugi winced slightly as Yami cursed Bakura again, alternating between Japanese, Arabic, and English. Yami's tirade was cut short, though, when one of the Frenchmen who'd gone ahead shouted back at them. The rest of the group broke into a run (or at least as close as you could get on snowshoes) and caught up to him around a slight bend in the path. He was pointing excitedly at one of the trees, against which a pair of ski poles were leaning. The Frenchman carrying the radio immediately called back to the lodge, which was the base of operations, to report that they'd found something.

Yami and Yugi, meanwhile, along with one of the Frenchmen, had pushed through the tree barrier to stand on a cliff that overlooked a forest valley below. The view was beautiful, but none of them stopped to admire it. Yami ran toward the edge, bending over to stare downward, although he could see no hint of either of his friends. "Amoura!" he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. His echo bounced around the valley, throwing his calls back at him. "Bakura!! Are you down there?"

Yugi moved forward to stand next to Yami when his toe hit something buried under the snow. He cried out in surprise and kneeled down to dig out whatever it was. He gasped and turned pale as soon as he saw. "Y-Yami!"

Yami turned back from the edge to see what Yugi wanted. "Yug-" he saw what Yugi was digging out from the snow and gasped. It was Bakura's skiis, but Bakura wasn't attached to them. That meant he must be barefoot somewhere, the idiot! But it also meant he had to be close.

"The cliff!" Yugi and Yami exclaimed in unison. They scrambled back to the edge and looked over it, at the steep but short climb down to the bottom. They exchanged silent glances, their faces hardened, and then they shucked their snowshoes, which would only get in the way. Yami grabbed on to Yugi's wrists to steady him as the hikari slid himself off the edge of the cliff and scrambled for foot holds. A moment later Yami followed him down, despite the protests and shouted warnings of the Frenchmen.

Yugi reached the bottom with little incident, and although Yami slipped and fell the last couple feet to land in the snow, he was unhurt. After a moment of consultation, Yugi started out to the left and Yami the right, both of them following the cliff face. Bakura and Amoura couldn't have gotten too far away from it, especially if one or both of them had fallen off the cliff and been hurt.

Yugi had only gone about fifty yards when he heard Yami shout for him. Yugi immediately did an about face and ran as fast as he could in the deep snow, back the way he'd came. He found Yami franticly pulling branches and small bushes away from the front of what looked like a cave. "I swear I heard something inside moan!" Yami said, his eyes wide and very worried. Yugi began helping to pull the branches back that were piled across the entrance, and within a few minutes, just as several of the Frenchmen finished sliding their way down the slope, Yugi and Yami were able to step into the cave.

It took them a moment to adjust to the dim light after the bright sun reflecting off the snow outside, but after a moment they were able to step cautiosly forward, approaching a bend in the cave. They rounded the corner, and Yugi couldn't help the small scream that burst out of him.

Amoura was laying next to the remains of what looked like a small fire, shivering uncontrolably and wrapped up in Bakura's coat. Her right leg was twisted into an unnatural possition, most probably broken at least once. She moaned again and rolled her head to the side, exposing blue lips and a too-pale face.

But it was Bakura that frightened the Duo of the Puzzle. He lay sprawled out on Amoura's other side, his hand stretched toward her as if he'd been trying to reach her and fallen. He was perfectly still, his lips and the skin around his eyes tinged an unhealthy blue.

Several Frenchmen carrying two collapsable stretchers pushed past the two stunned Japanese, and it was only then that they heard the deep-throated purr of several snow mobiles outside and the whir of an approaching helicopter. When the men lifted Amoura to put her on the stretcher, trying to be as careful as they could, she cried out in pain and her eyes snapped open. Yugi and Yami were at her side instantly, and though she fainted again almost immediately after, both of them were quite relieved that she was still very much alive.

Amoura was carried out quickly to the helicopter to be careflighted to the nearest hospital as soon as she and Bakura were both on board. When the French paramedics went to lift Bakura onto the stretcher, his limbs were stiff and heavy, his skin icy to the touch. They exchanged meaningful glances, and Yugi and Yami both tried to fight down their fear. Bakura just couldn't be...

But even when he was jarred slightly as he was loaded on the helicopter, he didn't wake up.

~*~

To anyone who happened to glance their way, they just appeared to be asleep. They'd managed to get seats next to each other on the first available flight, mostly due to the prominance of the Ishtar family in Egyptian society, and they were now a little over two hours out of Cairo. It would be at least three more before they landed in Paris to pick up Valeraine, Madame Amanda, and Julien and then boarded a connecting flight to Switzerland.

Ryou was sitting nearest the window, with Serenity next to him. His left hand was curled around her right, and they were leaning against each other. Their eyes were closed, but every now and then the muscles of their faces would twitch, as if they were dreaming. In reality, both were meditating.

Before leaving the dig, Fate had promised to meet Ryou at the Heart of the World so they could discuss some things and Ryou could ask at least some of the ten thousand questions he still had. Once settled on the plane and preparing to enter the Heart, Ryou had insisted that Serenity come with him. She'd tried to disuade him, as that would tire him out even more, but he'd insisted. He claimed it was so she could hear what Fate had to say too, but Serenity suspected it was because at the Heart of the World he had his sight, and would be able to really see her. Actually, it was a mix of both these reasons.

When Serenity blinked her eyes open she found herself standing on a barren field, about the size of an American football field. Nothing grew around the edges except short, coarse grass and a few stunted bushes. In the middle stood a small mound with what looked like a very small tree shoot growing out of it. Ryou was still beside her, his hand in hers. Rotating above them was the earth, dotted with millions of tiny points of light that shimmered like many colored gems on blue and green velvet.

Serenity realized with a start that she was seeing peoples' auras, just like Ryou always did.

Ryou turned toward her with a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth, his eyes alight with the sparkle of sight. She smiled back, but he nearly didn't notice, as he was busy drinking in the sight of her standing there before him. His eyes swept over her body and then centered in on her face, absolutely taken with how beautiful she'd become.

Pulling her close to him, Ryou forgot that they were flying to Switzerland to possibly see Bakura die, forgot that they were here to meet with Fate, forgot all except the girl, no, the woman in front of him. "Oh koibito..." he murmered, running his fingers through her hair. "I know I never get to tell you, but you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

Her cheeks grew hot at the praise and he grinned, leaning closer to nibble at her ear. "How about we continue what we started several days ago, hm?" Serenity blushed redder, but Ryou just grinned and leaned in to kiss her. Despite her slight embarrassment, she had no trouble at all putting their thoughts into action.

"Awwww, you two are so cute..."

They jerked apart and turned to face Fate, who was standing behind them with a wide smile on her face, as if she knew very well she was interrupting something. Then her grin dropped and she frowned. "Ryou Emerson Bakura, her feeding you medicine is one thing, but you're both much to young to be kissing like that normally!"

Serenity blushed again, and Ryou looked at the goddess with a pained expression on his face. "Mother..."

"It's true." Fate said, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're both practicly still children."

"Mother, I'm turning twenty next month!" Ryou said, his voice slightly whiny. "Why can't I kiss my own girlfriend?"

"Because you're not a legal adult yet, and I'm still your mother, so you still have to do as I say." Fate said.

Serenity looked on in slight amusement. It certainly hadn't taken Ryou and Fate long to adjust to the usual mother-son relationship. Though Serenity had never seen a mother and her son act quite like this before.

Ryou made a face. "I don't see you contradicting Bakura chasing after Amoura!"

"I'm not his mother." Fate answered smartly.

Ryou blinked, suddenly reminded of why they were there in the first place. "That's one of the things I meant to ask you about, okaa-san." he said. "Yami and Bakura said that you, Angeline Bakura, were reincarnated from Anjil, Bakura's wife. But how could that be? You said you lived in ancient Egypt, but you never said anything about dying, and I think you would have mentioned having any lovers other then dad, especially if it was Bakura." Ryou wrinkled his nose slightly at how wrong that seemed, and Fate chuckled slightly.

"Ahhh, I see you've gotten to the heart of the matter right away, as usual Ryou. It's a long story, but I'll give you the condenced version. Yes, I did live in ancient Egypt during the reign of Atemu I and Ramses I. That would be, if you were curious, Yami and his son-in-law. After Yami died, his adopted daughter Shahi married a priest's son named Ramses, who then took the throne."

"Wait!" Ryou cried, blinking in surprise. "Shahi was Bakura's daughter, wasn't she! She ruled as Queen? Good gods, Bakura will go spar when he finds out..."

Fate just smiled at him and continued her story. "The other Elementals and I lived among them, just like normal people. But after Akhenaton usurped the throne from Ramses, and the Eighteenth Dynasty began to decline..." she shrugged. "We decided it was best to move on. Akhenaton was too ambicious. We didn't want the Puzzle, or any of the Items, to fall into hands that could possibly use them for evil. [8]

"So we hid the Items, and charged the Abdul and Ishtar lines with their protection. Then we took leave of the world and built our fortress in the Shadow Realm. That's where we've been ever since, waiting and watching and occationally interferring.

"As a goddess, I can freely travel between dimentions and realms. In a sence, I'm actually everywhere and everywhen at once, though it's a bit more complicated than that. Anyway, in most other realms the Anjil of ancient Egypt was indeed reincarnated as Angeline Bakura, including in this one. But I'm not Angeline Bakura. Angeline Bakura was killed when she was barely ten years old, which is obviously a problem. Time told me this, and told me I had to be Angeline Bakura so that something connected to the future of all the realms could happen. Obviously, he meant your birth, although he didn't tell me what, exactly, I was supposed to be doing.

"After you and your sister were born, I expected to stay mortal and raise you. Unfortunately, there was an uprising in another dimention that I had to help stop. So I faked my own death, and then contacted Yami, who had just been released from the Puzzle at the time, and told him about your powers so if you came into them while I was away at least Pharaoh would know what was going on."

Ryou blinked. "This is beyond strange..."

Fate chuckled. "Well, out of all the realms I've visited at one point or another, this has got to be one of the weirdest..."

"Tell us about some of the others!" Serenity said. "What are they like? How is this realm so different?"

Fate looked thoughtful. "In most other realms, Yami and Bakura are mortal enemies, or at least rivals. This is probably the only realm I've heard of where they actually get on well with each other, let alone being good friends."

"Really?" Ryou asked, chuckling. "I can believe that."

"Another thing is you two," Fate continued. "Most of the time Serenity Wheeler either falls in love with Duke Devlin or Seto Kaiba, or sometimes Tristan Taylor. There's only a bare handful of worlds where she falls for Ryou Bakura."

Ryou and Serenity blinked in surprise, then grinned at each other cutely.

Fate looked sad momentarily. "And in most other realms, or at least the ones where his spirit lingers on, Mahaado is sane. This realm always seems to get the worst of it..."

Ryou shuddered slightly at the mention of Mahaado. "Yeah mom, sure, whatever you say."

Fate's frown cleared, and she chuckled. "But then again, this realm has been lucky, too. In other worlds I've been to, Yugi's dead, or sick, or insufferably hyper. I've been to realms where Yami Moto has gone Shadow Mad, where the Millenium Items have been destroyed or tainted beyond belief, or where war rages constantly. I've been to worlds where Ryou Bakura is a mage, or a murderer, or a sci-fi geek. And this is the realm I call home."[9]

Serenity gasped slightly at Fate's descriptions. "A murderer?!"

Ryou was more amused. "A sci-fi geek?"

Fate smiled wryly. "Some realms are different indeed. Most other Ryou's would never believe that it would be possible for one of them to be a telepath, or to be beaten so hard he went blind. It's all a matter of circumstance and choice."

"But you're the goddess Fate," Serenity pointed out. "Isn't it like your job to mess with peoples lives so they can say 'it was fated to happen'?"

"Not exactly," Fate said softly. "I just make sure what should happen does. It's Time that tells me what, exactly, I should do, and heaven knows where he gets his visions from. We only follow orders."

Ryou nodded slowly in understanding. "Fate and Time, sister and brother, the duo that controls the ebb and flow of events."

Fate nodded as well, and then paused. "I don't think anyone knows, Ryou, but I may as well tell you. If you want to be technical you and Yami are second cousins."

Ryou started to nod his agreement, then paused to do a double-take. "What?!"

Fate shrugged. "I wasn't the only Elemental to become mortal for a few years and have children. Time is Yami Yugi's grandfather, which makes Yami your second cousin. Actually, Time had two sons, one of which was Priest Seto's father, but he's dead now so it doesn't matter much."

"Wait," Ryou said, his head spinning in confusion. "Yami and Kaiba are cousins? And I'm their dads' cousin?!"

"Pretty much."

"Is there anything else I should know about?!" Ryou asked, his voice squeaking a little as he hit high notes he hadn't been able to since he was thirteen. "No bastard sons of Death or unknown daughters of Passion?"

Fate looked thoughtful. "Well, I'm pretty sure Malik must be decended from that daughter Hatred had a couple hundred years ago, but I can't be sure because we never kept track of her bloodline..."

Ryou groaned, putting his hands over his ears and shutting his eyes. "I don't need to hear this! Not tonight! I didn't need to know I'm a murderer in some random dimention! I didn't need to know Malik might be the offspring of a god! I didn't need to know I'm an ancient pharaoh's cousin!!" He groaned and then laughed, although it was a bitter laugh that made Serenity and Fate exchange worried glances. "Bakura will have a fit..." He sobbed deeply, thinking of Bakura, and Serenity moved forward to wrap her arms around him. For once she was the anchor, and he the one on turbulent waters.

Fate gazed at them sympatheticly, and then stepped forward to gently rest a hand on Ryou's shoulder. "The plane's landing, my son. It's time."

~*~

Madame watched with intrest as the passengers began to disembark from the plane. From what Tea had said when she called, it shouldn't be too hard to spot Bakura's little brother. Apparently, they looked exactly alike.

Madame and Valeraine, Amoura's mother, were sitting on hard plastic chairs in the Paris international airport, ready to board the plane bound for Switzerland as soon as they met up with Ryou Bakura and Serenity Wheeler, who were supposed to be coming in from Egypt on this flight. Valeraine was bouncing Julien on her knee in a detatched, worried sort of manner. The servants had wanted to come too, but Madame had said no, someone had to stay at the house to stave off the reporters. And besides, Amoura was going to be just fine, from the preliminary reports the doctors had released. It was the other one everyone was worried about...

Except Valeraine. A mother's concern was always for her daughter, no matter how trivial the hurt. Madame sighed and patted her daughter-in-law on the shoulder without taking her eyes from the masses of people leaving the plane. "^She'll be fine, 'Raine, it's only a broken leg and a surprisingly mild case of hypothermia... Ah, that must be them.^"

A white-haired man who could only be Ryou Bakura and a slightly younger girl with ginger brown hair where just emmerging from the plane, both of them carrying duffel bags. Madame was immediately stricken with how utterly exhausted Ryou looked. His white hair hung in his eyes and looked like it hadn't been brushed properly for at least several days. Dark bags hung under his dulled eyes, and he was leaning heavily on the obviously worried woman. As they got closer, it was clear that the woman was scolding Ryou. "...And you didn't have to take me with you, because I just knew you'd overdo it, but nooooo you said..." She fell silent as Ryou made a slight chopping motion with one hand.

"I assume you're Amoura-chan's family?" Ryou asked after a minute.

Madame started to nod, and then caught herself as she remembered Yugi telling her once that Bakura's little brother was blind. "Yes, that's us. I'm Amanda Letazaut, this is my daughter-in-law, Valeraine, who's Amoura's mother, and this is Julien, Amoura's brother."

"It's a pleasure." the girl said. "I'm Serenity Wheeler, and this is my koibito, Ryou Bakura."

Ryou nodded and tried to surpress a wide yawn. "I'm sorry, please forgive my rudeness. I've been... ill lately, and I'm not fully recovered yet."

Madame looked alarmed. "Goodness, what are you doing flying halfway across the world then?!"

Serenity shot Ryou a dirty look, causing him to sweatdrop and laugh sheepishly. "That's what I keep asking him..."

Ryou shook his head firmly, then stopped when the motion made him dizzy. "He's my brother." he said firmly, repeating what he'd been telling Serenity for the past twelve hours. "Yami no mou hitori no boku. I know he'd go to hell and back for me, so I think I can handle a couple airplane flights."

"Not if you fall over," Madame said, truly concerned. "Come, they just called our flight. I'm not sure how long this trip will be, it can't be much more than an hour, but at least you can rest." Ryou smiled weakly at her and nodded, allowing Serenity to guide him in the direction they were going. He wasn't just leaning on Serenity for balance. His powers were still so dim from his near-death experience that he could barely sence anything within five feet of him. He was, quite literally, walking blind.

The flight was longer than anticipated, but Ryou was unable to rest. Julien seemed to think he was Bakura, and insisted on sitting on his lap. Ryou smiled a little as Julien hugged a stuffed bear he'd brought along, babbling something in a language only other two-year-olds could understand. Serenity, sitting beside the two of them, was absolutely enchanted.

"Oh Ryou, he's so adorable!" she cooed, engaging the little boy in a happy game of patty-cake. "He looks just like Amoura!"

Ryou chuckled slightly, his anxiety for the moment leaving him. "I've never seen either one of them, Sere."

Serenity blushed. "Oops, you're right. He sure seems to like you Ryou."

"Nah, he likes Bakura. I look just the same to him. Whoops, watch out Julien, you need to stay on my lap please."

Serenity giggled. "Still, I think you're very good with kids." Her face took on a dreamy expression. "I wonder what our children will be like..."

Ryou's eyes nearly popped and his face turned a deep scarlet. "Ano..."

Serenity blinked. "Gah! Did I say that outloud? I'm sorry Ry', I was just day dreaming, I didn't mean to, and-"

She was thouroughly cut off as Ryou leaned over to kiss her. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, and they didn't part until Julien giggled and tugged on Ryou's pony tail. They separated reluctantly, and Ryou gave his girlfriend a sort of crooked half-smile. "Daughters, I think."

"Mmm?" Serenity asked, still drifting around on Cloud Ryou.

"I think we'll have daughters."

Serenity smiled, blushing happily. "And sons too, I'd hope."

Ryou pretended to think about this, and then nodded. "Sons too."

Both of them giggled quietly, and then turned their attention back to Julien.

~*~

"^Oh my baby! My poor Amoura!!^"

Amoura's eyes snapped open as she suddenly found herself engulfed in a hug about three sizes too big for her. She squeaked in surprise, and then yelped in pain as her mother inadvertantly jostled her broken leg, which was casted and elevated in front of her. "Mama!"

Amoura and Bakura were in the same hospital room, mostly because Amoura had refused to be separated from him, and had kicked and screamed when the doctors had tried to take her to a different room. Afraid she would injure herself further, they had decided to indulge her. As it was, it was almost like there were two different rooms anyway. Amoura lay nearest the door, swathed in blankets, with her head poking out at one end and her casted leg at the other.

She'd awoken again during the flight to the hospital, and had been mostly awake since then. Yami, Yugi, and Tea had been in to see her a couple times, but their visits had been distracted and downcast, with all of them constantly turning to look toward the other bed.

Bakura lay near the window, hooked up to a respirator, a heart monitor, several I.V.s, and a score of other machines Amoura had no names for. He too was covered in blankets, and was nearly hidden by the numerous wires and tubes connected to him. The only sign he was in the bed at all was the shock of white hair splayed out on the pillow. Every second she was awake Amoura lay and listened to the heart monitor, willing it to keep beeping.

Bakura hadn't woken up yet. Not even once.

Valeraine let go of her daughter, sniffling as she soothed Amoura's hair back from her face. Amoura felt sudden tears brim up in her eyes as she looked at her mother, and then past her to where Madame was standing with Julien in her arms. "Oh Maman... Julien... Grandmama..." Everything mounted up, and she burst into tears. Valeraine put her arms around her, hugging her daughter close.

Ryou stood in the doorway, as frozen as Bakura was. His heart thundered in his chest, and his breath came in quick gaps. He didn't hear Amoura's sobs, or Tea and Serenity talking quietly to Madame. When Yami put a hand on his shoulder, Ryou didn't even feel it.

Bakura's aura was so faint, so fragile... It was almost like if a big gust of wind came along, it would just go out...

"Ryou?" Yugi asked hesitantly, exchanging a worried look with Yami. The look on Ryou's face was one Yugi hadn't seen in a long time, and one that chilled him to the bone. Ryou didn't just look scared, he looked terrified.

As if Yugi's voice had snapped him out of some sort of self-imposed trance, Ryou practicly sprinted to the other bed. He banged his shin against Amoura's bed on his way past, cursed, and then dropped to his knees beside Bakura.

"Oh Bakura..." Ryou whimpered, burying his face on the blankets covering the other man. "Oh Bakura, please, open your eyes... Onegai, Bakura..."

Serenity started to step forward to comfort him, but Yami put a gentle hand on her arm to hold her back. "Let him," he said quietly, his eyes sad. "Just let him alone for awhile Serenity, there isn't anything you can do."

The girl nodded sadly and retreated to sit beside Tea on a small couch in the corner of the room. The two girls began to talk quietly together. After a few minutes Amoura's tears were reduced to sniffles, and her mother pulled away from her slightly, patting her on the back and calming her in French. Madame came to perch on the edge of the bed, and Julien crawled up to sit next to his sister. Yugi and Yami leaned on either side of the door, silently watching over Ryou, who still kneeled next to his brother, as silent and still as if he'd been frozen himself.

"Amoura,"

The green-haired girl blinked and looked up as Ryou said her name, though he didn't move from his kneeling possition. "Oui, Ryou?"

Ryou's fists clenched around the blankets on Bakura's bed, the only visible sign of his inner emotions. "What happened?" he asked.

Yugi and Yami exchanged glances. Ryou's voice was flat, hollow. It was as if all life and feeling had been drained out of him. Some would have mistaken it for cold-heartedness, but both Puzzle holders saw it for what it was. Ryou had told Yugi once that emotions were a dangerous thing for a telepath to have. If made angry, a telepath easily had the power to slaughter dozens. In grief, who knew what a telepath could do? The duo realized that Ryou was carefully holding himself in check, forcing himself to keep his tears bottled, for fear of what his powers might do to himself and those around him if he fully gave himself over to grief.

A mournful telepath could easily take his own life.

Amoura glanced at Madame, the only one in the room who spoke Japanese and didn't know about Bakura's past history, and bit her lip. Then she sighed and gave up. "I vell down zee cliff, and Bakura came down after me and carried me into zee cave vhere Yugi and Yami vound us. 'E must 'ave built a zmall vire, but I vas asleep, or unconcious. I vas dreaming too, though I do not remember exactly about vat. But I do remember zat Papa vas zere. 'E took me to a place called Purgatory, where Bakura vas vaiting for us..."

~*~

"(You are Bekhura, the tomb thief, Holder of the Millenium Ring, are you not?)"

The voice was a deep rumble, with slight traces of canine growls, and he spoke in Egyptian. Dispite all the claims he'd made over the years that he didn't worship the Egyptian gods, Bakura found himself in awe of Anubis. Concious that Amoura had no idea what he was saying, Bakura answered as best he knew how.

"(All except the last one, m'lord,)" Bakura said, bowing his head in deferance. "(I am not Ring Holder, my hikari is.)"

"(Your light,)" Anubis's canine lips pulled back in something halfway between a sneer and a smile. "(The one you beat.)"

Bakura winced, but could not deny the accusation. "(Yes, m'lord...)" he whispered. Behind him he heard Anjil gasp, and Amoura asking what they were saying, but neither Jonathon nor Anjil answered the French girl.

Anubis seemed to ponder this answer, glancing down at a scroll he held partially unrolled in his hands. "(And yet here it says that you sacrificed your life for this same hikari. How we did not meet then, I am not sure.)"

"(Nor am I, actually,)" Bakura said wryly. "(You would have to ask Pharaoh Atemu.)"

Anubis nodded. "(And now you wish to sacrifice your life again, this time for this girl?)"

Bakura closed his eyes, silently praying that Ryou and Yami and Amoura would forgive him. "(Yes.)"

Anubis's eyes seemed to stare into Bakura's very heart of hearts, and whatever he found there must have surprised him greatly, for he seemed taken aback momentarily. "(You have regrets.)"

"(Yes,)" Bakura said, opening his eyes again and surprised to find himself blinking back tears. "(My hikari is now my brother, and I am afraid for what my death may do to him. We've come to love and rely on each other these past years, and my passing will wound him deeply. I only hope that Fate can see him through, and his sweetheart will give him a reason to live on.

"(My pharaoh is now my friend, and I don't think he'll forgive me for passing on to Paradise without him. Both of us have lingered far too long past our times, but he won't be happy to see me go. I can only pray that he will live his life with his own hikari, and join me in time, and not do anything rash.

"(My... my companion is now my love. I-I would do anything for her, even this.)" His last line was spoken as a whisper as he turned to face Amoura, who was confused and afraid. "(Let her live, Anubis, and take me in return.)"

Anubis stared at him for a moment longer, the expression on his jackal's face unreadable, and then nodded. Death snapped his fingers, and a Bakura felt a sudden, empty void inside even as Amoura disappeared back into the realm of life.

"(Done.)"

~*~

"And zat is it, really," Amoura said, shrugging. "I do not know vat zay vere zaying, but Anjil and Jonathon seemed pretty shocked."

Yami frowned deeply. "Lord Anubis... This does not bode well..."

Yugi put a hand on his Yami's arm and pointed at Ryou. The telepath was trembling, and beginning to glow around the edges. Quickly Yami shut the door, while Yugi hurried to Ryou's side. Madame and Valeraine stared at the white-haired telepath in shock, and Amoura quickly assured them that she'd explain later. Maybe by then she could come up with some sort of story.

"Ryou..." Yugi went to put a hand on Ryou's shoulder and the telepath turned on him, growling in an almost savage way. When he realized it was just Yugi, he calmed somewhat, and pointed stiffly toward the end of the bed. "Read them to me."

[Cue music: Brother Under the Sun - Brian Adams]

Yugi was taken aback. "Wha-?"

"Bakura's charts. Read them to me!"

Yugi gulped. Ryou's eyes were wide and wild, his breath coming in quick, sharp gasps. Much longer and he might start foaming at the mouth. A telepath's mind was a very powerful thing, but all the power made it dangerously unstable. Fate-sama had said that telepaths were almosy 40% more likely to lose their mind than normal humans. Ryou had warned them it might happen to him some day, but none of them had wanted to believe it. But now Yugi realized that Ryou was losing his grip on reality, beginning to go crazy. If they lost Bakura now, hell only knew what Ryou would do to himself and those around him...

Moving down to the foot of the bed, Yugi nearly groaned aloud, darting a panicked glance toward Ryou. The charts were in French, a language Yugi couldn't read. "Ano..."

There was a rustling of silk beside him, and he glanced up to see a worried-looking Madame Amanda. "Yami Destin Bakura," she read, shooing Yugi back toward Ryou. "Birthdate: September 3rd. Age: 20. Severe hypothermia and frostbite in all major areas of the body. Severe shock, mild concussion, no broken bones. Amputaion of hands and feet if makes it through the night." Madame glanced up at Ryou and sputtered to a stop.

Yugi and Yami both had ahold of one of Ryou's arms, trying to drag him away from Bakura's bed. He struggled against them, screaming and cursing and glowing a bright white. The Motos wrestled him to the ground and tried to pin the hysterical telepath down as he struggled. Tea had quickly locked the door and pulled all the blinds so no one outside could see exactly what was happening.

"Ryou," Yami grunted, trying to hold him down. The telepath was surprisingly strong for someone who not so long ago had been dying from a magical poison. "Ryou, there's nothing you can do! You're much too weak to heal him!"

"It could kill you if you tried!" Yugi agreed, tears welling up in his big violet eyes. "Please Ryou-"

"I don't care!" Ryou screamed, tears dripping down his cheeks as he thrashed from side to side, trying to throw the two smaller men off him. "I won't let him die, not when I have the power to save him! I won't!"

I had a dream of a wide open prairie.
I had a dream of the pale morning sky.

Summoning all the strength he could muster, Ryou threw both Puzzle holders across the room. Yami crashed into Madame with a deep 'omph!', and Yugi landed on the couch that Serenity and Tea hastily vacated as he flew at them. Valeraine gasped and slumped over in a faint, but for the moment no one paid her any attention. Amoura was still holding Julien, who kept alternating between being facinated and frightened by the display of power.

Before anyone else could step forward to stop him, Ryou was again beside Bakura's bed. This time he threw the covers aside, heedless of the alarms the machines began to give off or the fact that this would surely bring hospital personnel running. Ignoring everything around him except the man in front of him, Ryou grabbed one of Bakura's stiff, frozen hands in his. Leaning over to place a soft kiss on Bakura's forehead, the glow around Ryou intencified as the little hikari poured all his heart and soul into this possibly suicidal healing.

I had a dream that we flew on golden wings,
And we were the same, just the same, you and I...

~*~

"(So where are we going?)" Bakura asked.

Anjil, Death, and Amoura's father had left them soon after they crossed the golden bridge into the city. Anubis and Jonathon were walking on either side of him, leading him who knew where. For the moment, Jonathon and Bakura were still speaking ancient Egyptian. After all, why would an Egyptian god like Anubis know Japanese?

It was a surprise to Bakura just how big the City of Roshai was. Spirits and demons hurried past on every side, going about their business, none of them stopping to give any of the others a second glance (although many bowed to Anubis on their way past, and quite a few more gave him a wide berth). It was almost like a human city in that aspect, although most earth cities didn't include six-armed demons and spirits that looked like black blobs wearing masks. Bakura looked around as they passed, and found that it really was almost a human city. Houses sprang up on either side of the streets, intermixed with businesses, public baths, and museums from every era of history. It looked like some families were housing members that had been here since ancient Greecian or Roman days. Strangely though, only a few Egyptians walked the streets. Stranger still, all of them seemed to know Jonathon.

'Most of our kind have already passed to Paradise.' Jonathon had told him when they first entered the city. 'Even Purgatory becomes dull after several thousand years. The only Egyptians here are those that directly serve the gods.'

"(We're taking you to be judged, may Osiris be merciful.)" Jonathon said. "(Your body will not truly be dead until you've passed down the River Styx to your final destination, either north to Paradise or south to Damnation.)"

Bakura surpressed the urge to shudder. All his long life he'd feared Osiris and his 42 judges, for surely his past sins would condemn him to hell. He would never be able to stand before them and truthfully recite the perscribed speech. "I have never killed. I have never lied. I have never hurt those undeserving..." "(Can't I just linger, as you have, Jona?)"

Anubis shook his great doggy head. "(No. You, Bekhura, have lingered far, far too long as it is. And dispite your friendship with the Pharaoh, you cannot linger.)"

Bakura sighed and dropped his head in defeat, and Jona patted him sympatheticly on the shoulder. "(You will be tried in the Waters of Love and the Fires of Destiny, and then taken before Osiris in the Shrine of All Knowledge, which lays beneath the marble palace in the center of the city. The Palace itself is a sort of a control center for all that goes on here and in heaven and hell. The Palace staff work together with the Elementals to make sure all goes as it should.)"

"(The Palace staff?)" Bakura asked, confused. "(What, like cleaning ladies?)"

Jonathon gave him a strange look. "(I think you've been mortal too long, my brother. The Palace staff are the gods and goddesses and demons which choose to take up residence here in Roshai, as opposed to other dimentions, such as the Elementals Shadow Realm palace. Most of our Egyptian gods hang out here, along with the Greek and Roman deities. There's a couple of the Hindu and Shinto gods around too, I think, but it's mainly us Egyptians. There's a whole slew of demons and spirits though. Some good, some not. Anyway, they're all under the command of the Trinity.)"

"(The Trinity?)"

Jonathon nodded. "(Lord Osiris, King Yama, and Lord Zeus. They run most everything in Roshai. Lord Ra is Keeper of Paradise, and Hades and Ammit jointly are Keeper of Hell.)"

"(Sounds pleasent...)" Bakura muttered, half under his breath. "(What is this, a secret agent society?)"

"(Something like that.)" Jonathon said. "(We do use spies occationaly, to keep watch on what the Enemies are doing.)"

Bakura was about to answer when Anubis suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning to look up at the highest tower on the Palace, a strange expression on his doggy face. "(Something is happening,)" he growled, the hair on the back of his neck beginning to rise. "(Come.)"

Follow your heart - little child of the west wind.

They reached the Palace in a matter of minutes and got past the guards with no trouble. Strangely, the guards seemed as reverent of Jonathon as they did of Anubis. Bakura made a note to ask his twin about that.

Inside, the Palace had the feel of a smoothly run business. Demons and creatures undescribible worked in all matter of rooms that were only glanced into briefly as Anubis hurried them past. They took several flights of stairs leading up, and eventually came to what seemed to be an atrium. Directly across from the staircase was a huge set of golden double doors, which were standing open at the moment. In the shadows beside them, Bakura could just make out the outline of a much smaller door that apparently led to a very steep, very narrow stair. This had all the look and feel of a private staircase, and Anubis was making right for it.

As Jonathon grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him foward, Bakura couldn't help but stare into the room past the double doors. Deceptively, it wasn't very big, and was mostly taken up by a huge desk and a large padded chair. Someone who looked for all the world like a toddler was jumping up and down on the desk, apparently yelling at the two men who stood in front of him with their backs to Bakura.

One of the two men was short, maybe even shorter than Yami, and was dressed entirely in black, with a white scarf. The other man was taller, and had long red hair that from the back reminded Bakura a little bit of Ryou's. As if sencing their passing, the red-head turned slightly to glance over his shoulder at them, revealing bright green eyes.

"Huh..." Bakura muttered as Jonathon dragged him up the stairs. "He really looked familiar..."[10]

They emmerged onto the rooftop of the tower, the wind snatching at their hair and clothes. What looked almost like a pane of glass hung in the air near the edge of the tower seemingly without support. Anubis stood in front of it with another god, apparently the one who summonded him, at his side. This god was dressed nearly the same as Anubis, but it was not a jackal's head on his shoulders, nor a human's head, but instead the head of the sacred white falcon.

Bakura cried out in surprise as Jonathon calmly dropped to one knee, bowing his head before the falcon god. A moment later Bakura joined him, his pounded-in fear of the gods over-powering the fact that he'd never really believed they existed, until now anyway.

Horus appeared confused for a moment, and glanced at Anubis, who shrugged. The falcon god turned back toward the two kneeling men, and would have sweatdropped if he could. "(Jonathon, you know there is no need to bow before me.)"

Jonathon smiled crookedly as he climbed to his feet, pulling a confused and slightly scared Bakura up with him. "(I know m'lord, I thought I'd just set an example for my brother.)"

Bakura snatched his arm out of Jonathon's grasp. "What in hell's name are you talking about?!" he hissed at his twin in Japanese.

Jonathon shrugged self-conciously. "I told you all the Egyptians around here directly served the gods. I'm something along the lines of Horus-sama's high priest, although we're no where near formal enough to give ourselves titles like that."

"We?"

Jonathon looked annoyed. "All us Egyptians. We all serve one or maybe two gods, but we take orders from them all. I am and always will be a Horus man."

"And Anjil?"

"She serves Lady Isis and Lady Hathor both."

"(From the sounds of it, you two are arguing.)" Anubis said, slightly amused. "(But we have no time for it, I'm afraid.)"

Jonathon and Bakura stopped hissing at each other and blinked at the god of embalming. "(Lord Anubis, what do you mean?)" Jonathon asked after a moment.

Horus and Anubis turned back to face the glass-like thing, and Horus began to chant a spell under his breath. Jonathon and Bakura stepped up beside the two gods just as the glass began to cloud over. After several moments, a picture began to form as the mist cleared away. Bakura cried out in shock, his eyes widening.

It was his body, laying in a hospital bed with any number of tubes and wires stuck into it, but that wasn't what had startled Bakura. Amoura lay in another bed nearby, with little Julien sitting beside her. Tea was just helping Yami and Madame off each other, and Serenity and Yugi were watching Ryou with wide eyes, horrified and helpless. It was Ryou that had made Bakura cry out.

Ryou had constructed a glimmering golden shield around himself and Bakura, so that no one could interfere. He kneeled hunched over the bed, his aura streaming around him in raged flames, and flowing down his arms into Bakura. The Ring hung heavy on its chain around his neck, bouncing and swaying every time Ryou jerked or went into a spasm of coughing or screaming. He was using far too much energy, Bakura saw that right away. In fact...

Ryou didn't even have any magic or spirit energy left. He was too tired from Mahaado's poison, too drained and exhausted. His magic had long ago run dry, the last of it was probably in the shield around him.

He was healing Bakura using his own life energies, and he knew it.

"RYOU!!!" Bakura yelled, looking like he wanted to dive through the screen. "Ryou, you can't! I'm not worth it!"

Follow the voice that's calling you home.

"(What's Ryou doing?)" Jonathon asked, his eyes nearly as wide as his brother's.

"(The Child of Fate is attempting to heal Bekhura.)" Anubis rumbled. "(But he is far too weak. If he insists on continuing, he may indeed save Bekhura's life dispite the agreement Bekhura and I have made. But the Child will die in the attempt.)"

Numbly Bakura watched as Ryou threw back his head and screamed, the pain of literally using up his own life being nearly too much for him. But still the Blind One grit his teeth, letting all of himself flow out through his hands. Bakura clenched his fists. Stupid stubborn hikari... "Ryou..."

Bakura fell to his knees, tears gathering in his eyes as he saw Death appear in the corner of the hospital room, invisible to everyone there. He was holding his scythe at ready, and looked almost sad, insomuch as a skull can look sad. Although none of the mortals could see the Elemental, Ryou senced him. The telepath turned slightly, blinking tears out of his blind eyes. Death said something, and Ryou shuddered slightly. Then, to Bakura's horror, Ryou nodded firmly.

Bakura clenched his fists until his nails bit into his palms, causing small trickles of blood to run down his hands. Ryou... How could he be so stupid... What was the use in dying just to save a worthless tomb thief? Bakura choked on his breath as Death raised his scythe, and Ryou let himself fall against Bakura's bed, a faint look of peace on his face. He knew he'd saved Bakura, even if it meant his own death.

"Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!"

Jonathon shut his eyes at Bakura's scream, biting his lip until it bled. Suddenly he looked up at Horus with pleading eyes. "(Please... Please Horus...)"

Horus looked thoughtfully down at where Bakura was sobbing on his knees, and then slowly nodded. "(So be it.)"

Anubis scowled slightly at Bakura escaping him once again, but at Horus's command he snapped his fingers. Bakura stared at the magic glass in shock as Death seemed to jerk halfway through bringing his scythe down on Ryou, stopping just before the tip of the blade would have hit squarely between Ryou's shoulder blades. With a releived sigh the Elemental stepped back and vanished. "Wh-what...?"

Jonathon smiled as he stepped forward to lay his hands on Bakura's shoulders. "Love conquers all, otouto." Then he pushed, sending Bakura tumbling forward and through the glass, which shattered as he hit it. Then both glass and grave robber were gone, and Horus began to cast a spell that would summon another glass so the trio on the tower could continue to watch.

Anubis scowled at Jonathon, crossing his massive arms over his chest. "(There will come a day when you cannot help him, Hebrew.)" the god growled. "(And then he will finally be mine.)"

Jonathon smiled at him. "(Oh, I know. But today is not that day.)"

Follow your dreams, but always remember me,
I am your brother under the sun.

~*~

Serenity screamed as Ryou collapsed, the shield around him flickering into non-existance. She was at his side in an instant, with Yugi right behind her. She dropped to her knees and pulled him so he was laying on her lap, his head craddled against her shoulder. Yugi kneeled next to them, and a moment later Yami completed the small ring.

"Ryou," Serenity yelled, shaking him by the shoulders. "Please Ryou, open your eyes! Speak to me!"

Yugi felt for a pulse, and was relieved to find a strong if erratic beat under his fingers. A moment later Ryou moaned, his eyelids fluttering slightly as he crawled his way back into conciousness. He was quickly aided the rest of the way as Serenity slapped him sharply on the cheek, her sorrow evaporating instantly into anger. "Ryou Emerson Bakura, don't you dare ever scare me like that again!" she said, blinking back tears.

"I shall endevor not to..." Ryou muttered, raising a hand to rub at his red cheek. Suddenly he froze, blinking in apparent confusion. "I-I'm alive?"

"I hope so," Yugi said, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

Serenity had burst into relieved tears as soon as Ryou spoke, and the telepath's hair was becoming very damp indeed, not that he minded. Much. Tea was sitting on the edge of Amoura's bed, both of them sniffling happily, Tea with Julien on her lap. Madame was fanning the fainted Valeraine and muttering something in French under her breath.

"But..." Ryou trailed off. "But I saw Death. I felt him come for me..."

"Maybe Anubis desided to be merciful." said a low, rasping voice from behind them. "Hallo Pharaoh."

We are like birds of a feather,
We are two hearts joined together.

Serenity and Yugi both shrieked and jumped at the sound of the voice, and Yami started in surprise. Ryou just sighed happily, pulling himself up so that he was leaning against Bakura's bed, his hand stretched out just enough that it rested lightly on top of Bakura's. His other arm lay folded in front of him, serving as a pillow as he rested his head on it.

"You're going to turn this beautiful white hair gray, otouto, if you keep making me worry like that." Bakura smiled as Ryou burst into tears, and he gently pulled his hand out from under Ryou's so he could stroke his brother's hair. "Now now, don't cry Ryou, I'll be okay now. Don't cry..."

We will be forever as one,
My brother under the sun.

Slowly Ryou's sobs desended into hiccups, and then to a calmed silence as he was lulled into an exhausted sleep. Bakura's mouth quirked up in a smile as he continued to pet Ryou's hair, turning his gaze lazily around the room. His hands and feet still hurt with frostbite, but not nearly the excruciating pain it had been before.

Amoura was hugging Julien happily, tears of joy running down her face as the little boy protested loudly to the affectionate treatment. Serenity looked like she wanted to be the one holding Ryou, but she'd backed off, knowing she'd get her chance eventually. Madame was just helping the recently recovered Valeraine into a chair. Tea and Yugi were chattering happily to each other, and Yami was just staring at him with an expression halfway between amazed and angry on his face.

Bakura grinned at Yami, softening his expression as he saw the worry that had been carefully hidden in the pharaoh's eyes. "Did you miss me pharaoh?" I know you missed me, pharaoh.

"Feh, why would I care about the fate of a tomb robber?" Of course I did, tomb robber.

"Admit it pharaoh, you were worried!" You care.

"Of course I wasn't!" Of course I do.

"Your eyes say different, pharaoh." Thank you pharaoh.

"Hn. It's your imagination." Anytime. [11]

The two smiled slightly at each other, and Bakura thought back to Anubis's words. Hmph. Friendship with the pharaoh indeed.

Wherever you hear the wind in the canyon.
Wherever you see the buffalo run.
Wherever you go, I'll be there beside you,
'Cause you are my brother, my brother under the sun...

Suddenly everyone became aware of banging and yelling on the other side of the door. Bakura sighed and shifted as much as he could with Ryou asleep against him. "And those would be the doctors and nurces brought running by my otouto's stupid antics. Better let them in before they call the police, pharaoh."

Yami nodded and did as bid, climbing to his feet and walking over to calmly answer the door. A flurry of doctors and nurces rushed in. A couple ran over to check on Amoura, but most of them froze in the doorway, staring at Bakura, who waved jauntily. "Bonjour!"

The doctor who was apparently in charge sputtered incoherantly for some time, and then managed to choke out, "^B-but you were almost dead, monsieur!^"

Bakura smiled softly, looking down at the slumbering Ryou. "^Sometimes all it takes is a brother's love...^"

Several doctors were approaching him now to check over him, and one of them reached for Ryou. He was quickly stilled by Bakura's glare. "^Do not touch the boy.^" he almost growled. "^Let him sleep.^"

The doctor's eyes widened and he nodded, hastily beating a retreat to the other side of the bed. Bakura smiled smuggly and allowed himself to be poked and prodded and pulled as the doctors checked his vitals, his I.V.s, his frozen hands and feet. Only when they came near Ryou did he snarl and growl at them.

We are like birds of a feather,
We are two hearts joined together.
We will be forever as one,

The lead doctor was frowning slightly, talking to Madame in rapid fire French that Bakura could only half-follow. He heard his name a lot, and something about removal. Well good, maybe he could go home then. After several minutes Madame nodded and came over to kneel down next to Bakura, absently brushing a hand over Ryou's hair. "Er... How should I say this... Bakura, do you have your father's phone number?"

"No, but I have the number of a phone where you can reach him. Why?"

"Ano..." Madame frowned. "You're not a legal adult yet, so they still need parental consent to operate on you."

Bakura nearly hit the ceiling. "Whaaaat?!?"

Madame winced and looked pleadingly over at Amoura, who sighed slightly. "Bakura, R'ou 'ealed you a lot, but not enough. Instead of losing your 'ands and feet, you'll just be losing fingers and toez."

Bakura's eyes widened, and he twitched slightly. Numbly he rattled off the number to Shaadi's cell phone, and Madame made the call since Shen didn't know a speck of French. Yami came over to sit on the edge of Bakura's bed, snickering slightly.

"Well now, this is amusing."

"Shut up pharaoh."

My brother under the sun...
Under the sun...
Under the sun...
My brother under the sun...

[End music]

Ryou sighed happily as he made his way back to the lands of awakedness. He was laying on something hard, but his head was pillowed by pure softness. Ah... This was the life...

"Ryou?"

He grunted softly, snuggling against his pillow. That sounded like Serenity, but he wasn't ready to wake up just yet...

"Ryou! Get off you pervert!"

Ryou's eyes snapped open to discover it wasn't a pillow he'd been snuggling against. He sat up quickly, blushing bright red as Serenity stared at him with a mixture of embarrassment, anger, and pleasure. "S-Serenity! I didn't mean to, I swear! I didn't know you were my pillow! GAH! I mean-"

Serenity giggled, still blushing. "Just don't tell Joey," she said, winking at him coyly.

Ryou nodded sheepishly, finally taking in his surroundings. "Where are we?"

"Some sort of a spare lounge room. Yami, Yugi, Madame, and Valeraine are off finding something to eat, but they desided not to wake you. Tea and Julien are still in talking to Amoura. Yami and I carried you in here when the nurces took Bakura off to surgery."

"Surgery?" Ryou squeaked. "What for?!"

Serenity sighed. She hadn't been looking forward to having to tell Ryou this. "Apparently, you were able to heal a lot of the damage in his hands and feet, but not all of it. He's still going to lose a couple fingers and toes, although the doctors aren't sure exactly how many."

Ryou groaned and lay back on the couch he and Serenity were sitting on. "He's going to love this..." he muttered, running a hand through his tangled hair. He made a face. "How long has he been in there?"

Serenity glanced at her watch as she rummaged through her purse, looking for something. "About an hour and a half. He should be coming out any time. Aha!" She held up the hair brush triumphantly, and handed it over to Ryou. "Here."

Ryou smiled at her wryly, pulling his long hair over his shoulder so he could get at it. "Thank you koibito." He dutifully began to work his brush through his hair, grimacing as it caught in the snarls.

Serenity just sighed and shook her head. "You hair is so soft and thick, Ryou!" she said. "It's just not fair..."

Ryou chuckled, but it turned into a hiss of pain as one of the tangles gave way, leaving a whole hunk of white hair in the brush. He snickered and held it out toward Serenity. "Want some?"

Serenity whacked him gently on the shoulder and laughed. "No, you goon!"

Ryou smiled softly, then sighed and put down the brush, leaning his head back against the wall. He rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles, then let his hands drop limply into his lap. "Serenity..." he said faintly. "Do you think Bakura would mind too terribly much if I went back to sleep?" He didn't give her a chance to answer as he slowly tipped over. Serenity grinned softly and slid out from under him, letting him lay out flat on the couch. He murmered something, and then fell into a real sleep.

Serenity pulled up a chair to sit next to him, absently reaching forward to brush a strand of hair off his face. And there she kept watch over him, all through the long day.

~*~

It wasn't twenty minutes later that Bakura was brought back to his room, his left hand and both feet wrapped in bandages. His right hand, however, still had all its fingers and seemed to be the only one to escape the surgeon's knife. Amoura was the only one there at the time, Tea having taken Julien to find some food. Bakura hadn't been knocked out for the surgery, only numbed and heavily doped up. As the doctors bustled around him, hooking him back up to various monitors and I.V.s, he hummed off key to himself, staring fuzzily out into space. Once the doctors had all left, Yami poked his head in.

Seeing only Amoura and Bakura, the ex-pharaoh came in, sauntering up to Bakura with a cocky grin on his face. "Well now tomb robber, I heard you donated a few things to medical science today. Congradulations! May I call you Frodo?"

"Lay off 'im, Yami." Amoura said, crossing her arms from the other bed. "'E's going to 'ave enough trouble once 'e comes out of it anyvay."

Yami just shrugged, still smirking. "All I'm saying is, now that he's only got nine fingers, can I safely consider him a hobbit?"

Amoura rolled her eyes. "Leave 'im alone. It's not 'is fault 'e's missing a finger and toes. If anyzing, it is my fault..." She looked down, and Yami came over to pat her on the shoulder.

"It's no one's fault." he said kindly. "We all had a part to play. He's lucky. If Ryou hadn't been here, he probably would have died..." The pharaoh swallowed, trying not to think about what life would be like without the loud, obnoxious tomb robber who was quickly becoming something of a best friend.

Amoura nodded, her eyes still down-cast. Yami grinned at her mischeiviously. "Hey, there's a lot of girls head over heels in love with Frodo. Maybe it's the fingers...?" He had no chance to finish as he ducked the pillow Amoura threw at him and fled the room, laughing.

Amoura shook her head, smiling at the pharaoh's antics. Then she looked over toward Bakura, and her gaze softened. "Yami is right about vone zing, Bakura. Nine fingers are very zexy." she giggled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I love you Bakura..."

Bakura, still half in the daze of morphine, grinned giddily.

"An' I loff you!"

~*~

[1] - Starlings are actually not black birds, their wing and chest feathers range anywhere from dark blue to dark green, and have a slightly irridecent sheen to them. I actually think they're rather pretty birds, though annoying. -_-;

[2] - In the original version, there was no cave and Bakura just dragged Amoura under a pine tree. Then I realized neither of them would probably survive that, and I kinda need them, so I changed it. ^_^;

[3] - kohl - The black or dark green paste the Egyptians used to outline their eyes and eyebrows.

[4] - ank - Ancient Egyptian, literally 'brother'. Not to be confused with ankh, which is the hieroglyph for life.

[5] - Those lyrics are part of Purgatory, by Pat Benatar. Intrestingly enough, that's also Jonathon's theme song.

[6] - Sem priests are the priests that did the embalming and carried out all the rituals that sent the spirit of the mummy on to the afterlife. Often the high priest who oversaw the embalming would wear a wooden or plaster jackel-headed mask to represent Anubis.

[7] - :p Yam-Yam's funny. Okay, let's see... Baka is Japanese for idiot, and chikusho and shimatta are both Japanese curse words. Fellah and fellahin are Arabic for peasent (fellah is the singular, fellahin is the plural). The mixing up of the languages thing is a sort of inside joke. :p When I get really flustered or upset, I'll call my teachers "Madame/Monsieur Sensei" and not even notice.

[8] - Some people see Akhenaton, the Heretic Pharaoh, as a hero and a leader. I don't. I tend to see him as the reason the Eighteenth Dynasty died, the reason the greatest period of Egyptian history ended, and a bloody idiot too. *grins* Oh yeah, notice how I'm swiftly re-writing Egyptian history here? :D

[9] - *snickers* Okay, let's see, realms cameoed... The mentions of Yugi being dead, the Shadow Mad Yami, and a realm constantly at war are allusions to Shadow Turned Light and its companions, by High Crystal Guardian. The sick Yugi, insufferably hyper Yugi (loff!), and sci-fi geek Ryou all belong to Ebony Kuroneko, from our many RPs. :p The mentions of an insane murderer Ryou and realms in which the Items have been destoryed or tainted are plugs for my fic Void Behind My Eyes. And, finally, the mention of Ryou-the-mage springs from the countless YGO/HP X-overs on this site. :p

[10] - Yes, for those of you curious, I did just cameo Hiei, Kurama, and Koenma, from Yu Yu Hakusho (and also, coincidentaly, they're my three favorites). :p I really couldn't help it. Bakura saying that Kurama looked familiar is a slight allusion to a story I once started (but never finished) in which Bakura and Yoko Kurama were old friends, half-brothers, and partners in crime. *shrug* If anyone would like to give me some detailed info on Kurama and Hiei's past (or websites where I can find said info), I just may get back to working on it again. Oh yes, and for any of you that actually read these notes, you get a tad extra info. :p You might want to keep what you know about Roshai now in the back of your mind. This place will most definately be showing up again in the future.

[11] - This is a little hard to explain. It's like... Yami and Bakura have their own language for talking to each other, that only they can understand. What was in quotation marks was what they said, but what was in italics was what they meant. Got it?

()()()()()

WSJ: 0__0

Ryou: Jeez SJ, this is the single longest piece of writing you've ever done!

Amoura: Oui, not even "Zee Child 'Oo Zuffers" is zis long!

Bakura: *glaring darkly at WSJ*

WSJ: ^^; Well, that was amusing... *laughs nervously and scoots away from Bakura* Everyone review!

Chibi-Malik: *wanders in and holds up two mugs of... something... for SJ's inspection* Mosshead?

WSJ: *grins and nods at him* Yup, they're all ready. Run off and deliver those for me, would you CM?

Chibi-Malik: ^o^ Mosshead! *runs off*

Ryou: *confused* What was that?

WSJ: *cackles and rubs her hands together* Coffee laced with rat poison.

Amoura, Ryou, & Bakura: O_o; Whaaaat?!

WSJ: *snick* For Brood's director-baka and the girl plaing the role she deserves. :p I may not live close enough to protest the director's casting, but I can "send my love". *cackles again*

Bakura: v_v That's it, I am SO out of here...

Amoura: Right behind you!

Ryou: Wait for me!

WSJ: *waves* Reviews please!! And I expect LONG ones! *chases after muses*

God bless minna-san!