Calai'di: Nachzes, you never got back to me on this one. I'll just hope that you're still reading it and that you read this. And that everything's okay.

Warning: Definate shonen-ai and cursing.

Chapter 6: In the Present, the Past is Repeated

Ryou's legs almost gave out several times as he approached the golden gates of Elysium. In fact, he'd nearly turned back twice on the way there, but then he thought of how disappointed Bakura would be if he couldn't even get to the realm, and that pushed him further on. But his mouth grew dry and legs like Jell-O as he neared the giant gates, memories of what had happened the last time he'd been here flooding through his mind. It had been ten years ago, just after he'd died…

Dying had been the happiest moment of his life. He'd welcomed it gratefully, knowing that as soon as he got to the other side, he could join Bakura in Bakra and stay there forever. In fact, he'd thought of suicide a few times just to get there sooner, but Bakura had stopped him every time. Yet this time there was nothing either of them could do; the bomb had landed directly on Ryou's house. He died instantly.

The next thing he knew, he was standing amid millions of other souls on what seemed like gray clouds. Most of the other shades were calling out to their one god, a god Ryou now knew never existed (1). He shook his head in disbelief, wondering who could have first had that idea; though he also felt sorry for them, knowing it would be a shock when they got sent to Osiris's or Anubis's realms for judgment. Nearby, he heard a small group of magicians crying out for Yami to take them to Elysium; he watched them for a bit before turning his own head to the sky.

"Lord Bakura, Ryou's here!"

Some of the magician shades nearby stared at him like he was nuts, but he just smiled sweetly back at them and turned his gaze up into the sky again, sure that Bakura would come soon.

But Bakura was not the only god to hear Ryou's cry.

As he stood waiting, he saw a golden chariot drawn by silver horses descend out of the sky to land right in front of him. He gazed at it with wonder but didn't move toward it, perceiving that it couldn't possibly be Bakura. A figure near the front shifted to face him, and he gasped.

"Hi Ryou, long time no see," said Yami, smiling pleasantly at him.

He bowed and smiled back. "Hi Yami," he greeted happily; he hadn't hated the god at the time. "Are you here for Yugi and the others?"

"Yes, them…and you."

The pit of Ryou's stomach went cold. "I'm waiting for Bakura."

"You can't join him," Yami stated coldly. Ryou stared up at him with confusion and fear.

"Yes, I can. Of course I can," he said, mostly to reassure himself.

"I'm afraid you can't, Ryou. It's not possible. He'd tell you that himself if–"

"I would not!"

Ryou turned at the familiar voice and smiled to see Bakura standing behind him. Most of the shades close by edged away from the dark god, but Ryou cheerfully leapt into his arms.

"Bakura, I knew you'd come for me!" he exclaimed elatedly.

Bakura stared sadly at him and shook his head. "You can't come with me right now."

Ryou's face fell. "But why? I could possibly be your most faithful–"

"I know. And normally that would count for a lot, but–"

"You can't enter his realm," Yami finished for him. He gestured for Ryou to come closer, so the boy grudgingly let go of his god and stepped forward. Yami sprinkled a sliver power over Ryou's head, and he suddenly felt an itch on his back and a strange white glow covered him. "See?" Yami said, pointing at the glow. "Your aura's too pure."

"Well, it sure as hell is now!" Bakura exclaimed angrily, trying to pull Ryou back to him, though he couldn't seem to get past the glowing aura. "What the fuck did you do that for, Pharaoh?!"

"What happened?" Ryou asked fearfully, glancing between them. Yami reached behind the hikari and pulled forward a mass of feathers.

"You're an angel, Ryou."

"I…what?" Ryou groped behind his back and, to his amazement, his hands encountered pure white wings. Reaching up to his hair and face, he felt that he'd changed to look like a late teen again, instead of the 32-year-old he had been. But his wonder was soon gone as he noticed that Bakura hadn't touched him yet. "Bakura? What's wrong?"

"I can't touch you," was the yami's solemn reply.

"What?!" Ryou reached his hand forward to grasp Bakura's hand, but it flew backwards from him before they even met, causing Bakura obvious pain. Ryou turned angrily on Yami. "What's gong on?! Why can't I touch Bakura?"

"You are a being of the light; he is a being of the dark," Yami answered as if that would explain it. Then, noticing from Ryou's expression that it didn't, he went on, "As a being of light, you can't touch demons like him. It's impossible. It also means you can't enter Bakra because only beings of dark can enter there. But–" he suddenly caught Ryou's wrist in a death-grip– "Only beings of light can enter Elysium unless I say otherwise. So you're welcome there."

"Why could I touch him before?!" Ryou demanded, trying to wrench his arm out of Yami's grasp.

"Because your angel side hadn't been released yet," Bakura answered sadly. "Guess who just released it?"

Ryou's eyes filled with resentment as he stared at Yami. "You made it so that Bakura and I can't be together?!"

"It's for your own good, Ryou–"

"My own good?!–"

"–You'd never be happy–"

"What do you mean I'd never be happy?!" He stared angrily into Yami's violet eyes. "I'll tell you where I'd never be happy! With you!" Yami looked like he'd been smacked in the face as Ryou went on, "When have you ever offered me protection?! When did you ever go through with it?! At least Bakura cared enough to always be there for me!"

"I'm sure that's why you're dead," Yami said quietly.

"Well at least he cared enough to keep me from dying until now!" Ryou twisted his arm out of Yami's grasp and turned to face Bakura. "Bakura, isn't there anything you can do?"

"I…don't know," Bakura admitted quietly. In an instant, Yami had Ryou hand again and was pulling him onto the chariot.

"Good enough for me!" he said happily. "Yugi can't wait to see you, Ryou!"

"No! Yami, leave me alone!" But no matter how much Ryou complained and struggled, he was still pulled up onto the chariot, and it started to pull away. Ryou broke free of Yami's grip and turned to jump off just as two doors on the back of the chariot snapped shut. "No! Bakura, help me! I want to stay with you! I love you!"

"I'll try, hikari," Bakura promised quietly as the chariot disappeared. "I'll get you back."

The next four days were thoroughly miserable for Ryou; he felt lonesome and betrayed and scared, but most of all, angry. He couldn't help thinking about his inability to enter Bakra or even touch Bakura. And he knew that Yami was responsible for it. Ryou's hated for Yami grew a hundred fold for each day he was detained, the loathing swelled in his heart until, on his third day in Elysium, he locked both Yugi and Yami into their bedrooms and tried to run away. But Yami had been right. When Ryou finally found his way to Bakra, trying to enter caused him so much pain that he collapsed and almost fell unconscious, unable to move except away from the realm. His angelic soul couldn't take the evil that consumed and radiated from Bakra, but he was determined to do something. Yet before he could think of anything he might be able to do, he was back in Elysium and Yami was standing before him, annoyance clear on his face.

Ryou blinked with surprise. "How…did I get back here?"

"I summoned you back here," Yami answered, his voice surprisingly even. "I need to ask you something."

"Fine," Ryou spat, now aware that Yami wasn't likely to let him leave anytime soon.

"What in the name of Ra could have possessed you to lock both me and Yugi in our rooms?"

"Yugi, so he wouldn't get in my way, and you–" all the hatred and malice that had been growing in his heart seemed to explode– "you because I hate you! No wait, I despise you!"

Yami looked shocked at this information, but he remained quiet and allowed Ryou to go on. "I want to be with Bakura, Yami! I hate you, and I hate being here! I can't stand it anymore! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE!"

"Ryou, we both told you, you can't–"

"Oh, shut up, Pharaoh!" Ryou exclaimed. "Bakura will figure out a way for me to be with him, and if he doesn't, I will! Maybe if I hate you enough, I'll turn into a demon, and then I will be able to join him! Until then, you'll just have to live with the fact that I hate you and I always will! I will never forget what you did to me, and I will never forgive you!"

Yami stared at him sadly and shook his head. "Then we'll just have to wait to see if that happens. I'm not letting you go."

"What?!"

"I'm sorry that you hate me–I probably would too if I were in your situation–but I don't want to let you go. I can't. I…I love you."

Ryou's eyes narrowed at the god. "You…what?"

"I know I shouldn't, but…ever since I first saw you–"

"Yami! You have your own hikari!" Ryou scolded. "And I have my own yami. Who, by the way, loves me very much, thank you! So I'll thank you to keep your hands to yourself and find Yugi and blow off a little steam on him or something." He turned away and walked off, arms crossed defiantly. To tell the truth, he wanted to blow off a little steam, but Yami wasn't the one to lash out on at the moment. The god seemed to sense that Ryou didn't want to yell at him anymore and cautiously ran up behind him.

"Ryou, will you at least listen to me?"

"No. Leave me alone, Pharaoh. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

"Ryou…" Yami turned the hikari around quickly and kissed him gently, trying to make him understand his feeling, but Ryou quickly pushed him away.

"If you ever do that again," he warned softly, "I will not hesitate to try and kill you. Now leave me alone."

This time when the angel turned away, Yami didn't try to follow. Ryou angry like this was scary, and he didn't really feel like being subjected to whatever the boy might do. And he was right; the god did have his own hikari to play with. Yami sighed and walked off into the inner working of his palace, hoping that maybe Yugi could help him cool off a bit.

Ryou stayed in a secluded section of the palace for the next day, trying to calm down and wondering about his own feelings. He couldn't believe he could hate someone so much, but Yami was proof that he could. And he didn't only hate the god, he feared him. He was afraid that Yami loved him so much that he'd never be allowed to go to where he really belonged, Bakura's side. He was afraid that Yami might make advances on him before he figured out how to escape. He was afraid that Yami was looking for him right now. And he was afraid that he might never be able to leave Elysium, that he'd be trapped here forever.

The day after his angry outburst, he was pacing about in a forgotten hallway when Yugi appeared, panting, glancing back nervously. He grinned when he noticed Ryou and rushed forward, grabbing the angel by the hand.

"Ryou, Bakura's here! He wants to see you!"

Ryou wouldn't let himself get excited, thinking it was hopeless. "I can't touch him. There's no point–"

"No, Ryou…" Yugi sighed exasperatedly, "you don't get it! He said he can take you back with him!"

"Really?" Ryou exclaimed happily. In an instant, he'd appeared, with Yugi, in Yami's Receiving Hall, and he gave a gleeful cry as he saw Bakura standing there, holding a silver chalice in one hand. It took all of their self-control to keep from running to each other.

"Guess what, Ryou? Pharaoh was wrong about who can enter my realm," Bakura said, his voice a little horse. Ryou figured the two gods had been yelling at each other only moments before. Then Bakura's words sank in and the boy stared at him quizzically.

"What do you mean, Bakura?"

"Any god can enter any realm."

The two hikaris' eyes lit up. They glanced at each other once before Ryou answered, "I'm…a god?"

Bakura smiled enigmatically, and Yami suddenly cried, "No!" He scowled at Bakura, obviously close to grabbing Ryou and dragging him away. "Thief, you know you can't do that!"

"No, but the Ennead can," Bakura replied, still smiling. He noticed Yami's distressed expression and scowled at him, clearly wondering what had gone on for the last four days. He returned his attention back to his hikari, an apologetic look on his face now. "I got really close to getting it, but the stupid vote was off by one. So you're not a god." He smiled comfortingly at the angel, wiping the forming confident look off Yami's face. "But I found out a better way. Come here, Ryou."

Ryou ignored Yami's fidgets and stepped forward, making sure to stay far enough away from Bakura so as not to hurt him.

"Ryou," Bakura began, his tone suddenly very serious, "I want you to be completely honest. Do you want to be with me?"

"Of course," Ryou said immediately.

"Forever?"

The boy thought for about a second. "Yes. I think forever would be perfect."

"NO!" came Yami's anguished cry, but neither white-haired male paid attention.

"Good." Bakura reached into his pocket, brought out an eyedropper, and drew a small amount of red liquid into it from the chalice. Handing it to his hikari, he said sternly, "Drink three drops of this. Only three drops. And then you can come back with me. I'll even carry you there if you want."

Ryou felt a slight twinge in his fingers as he took the dropper, though it wasn't enough to make him drop it. "What is it?" he asked, holding the dropper above him to let it catch the light.

"It's blood," Bakura replied. "Or, more specifically, my blood–"

"No!" Yami exclaimed suddenly, catching both of their attention this time. "Bakura, you can't do that to him! He…he wouldn't be Ryou anymore–"

"What'll happen to me?" Ryou asked, unaware of Bakura's true nature at the time.

"You'll turn into a vampire–well, a half vampire, anyway," Bakura said simply. He suddenly turned on Yami, fire in his gaze. "Besides, what's it to you what happens to my hikari, Pharaoh? It's only by some fluke that he's here in the first place!"

"Um, Bakura…"

"If the reason is what I think it is–"

"Bakura?"

"–then you'd better hope every other god is on you side, because I will have to–"

"Bakura!"

"What?"

"What do you mean I'd be a half vampire?" Ryou asked nervously.

"Exactly what it sounds like, a half vampire." Clearly, this explanation didn't work for Ryou, so Bakura sighed and went on: "See, I'm a vampire. Yeah, bet you didn't know that. And when a human drinks a vampire's blood, he turns into a vampire too. Ah–" he held up a finger to stop what the angel was about to say– "I know; you're dead and an angel. Doesn't matter, same rules apply, only a little differently. Normally, a human requires quite a bit of blood to change, but that amount decreases considerably if you're already dead. Only six drops of blood are needed to change a shade to a vampire, nine to change an angel (2). But I doubt you want to be a full vampire; it would change who you are, and I don't want that. So only three drops should change you to a half vampire."

"Three isn't half of nine, yami," Ryou said bluntly. "Four and a half is."

"But you can't have a half a drop," Bakura argued back. "Besides, if the hate that I felt radiating from your soul when I first showed up says anything, three drops might even be to much." He looked pleadingly at his hikari, wishing they could touch each other. "Please, Ryou? You just said you wanted to be with me forever. This is the only way."

Ryou nodded and tilted his head back, holding the eyedropper above his mouth. They heard Yami cry out miserably as three crimson beads fell into the angel's mouth. Ryou suddenly screamed as well and collapsed, twitching uncontrollably on the floor, crying out in pain. Bakura cringed as he watched his fallen angel; he knew what it was like to go through this transformation, and he was sorry Ryou had to experience it as well. After about a minute, the boy fell still and silent, his breathing coming in labored gasps. Bakura crouched down and gathered Ryou into his arms, smiling as the boy wrapped his arms around his neck. But as he turned to leave, Yami caught his shoulder, staring down at Ryou with what looked like sympathy.

"Wait, Bakura–"

"Pharaoh, Ryou belongs with me. He is my hikari, not yours, and now he is also a being of darkness–"

"Odd to call him a 'hikari', then, isn't it?"

"I'm not in the mood, Pharaoh. Now let me leave."

Yami let go of his shoulder and turned away. "Tell him that if he ever does come back, he'll find a very warm welcome."

"I…I won't…" said a soft voice. Bakura instantly silence it with his lips, sharing his days of loneliness with Ryou in ways he could never use words to express.

"Shhh, quiet Ryou, you need your strength–"

"Y-yami," Ryou whispered, "c-call me hikari, p-please. I-it let's me f-forget…"

"Okay, just be quiet, hikari–"

"A-and Ph-pharaoh," Ryou went on, shifting his gaze back to Yami before instantly looking away, "y-you should kn-know, I'm not coming back." Then he snuggled up against Bakura, smiling contentedly. "L-let's go h-home, yami."

'I'm not coming back', Ryou remembered, as he stared up at Elysium's golden gates. He'd stayed true to that promise until now, never wanting to return to Elysium. If he ever wanted to talk to Yugi, they'd always meet somewhere between their two realms, but never in Elysium. And now as he stared up at the looming gates, bile rose up in his throat, matching the butterflies in his stomach. After ten years, here he was, looking at the memories he'd always hoped to forget. But his promise to Bakura was more important than his fear of Yami; Bakura was more important than his fear of Yami. And yet, he couldn't help but notice that his legs were shaking uncontrollably as he approached the guard that was standing near the gates.

"Yeah, what do you want?" the guard asked rudely. Ryou gulped and remembered that he definitely didn't look like he would belong in this realm.

I never wanted to come back… He thought, swallowing heavily. But I love you, Bakura…I love you more than life itself…that's why I'm here…

Ryou summoned up his courage and took a deep breath. "I'm here to see the Pharaoh."

1) Those are my beliefs, and in this story, it's true. I don't want to offend any monotheistic people reading this.
2) Heh, I have no clue if an angel can be turned into a vampire. But Ryou could here, so there.