' Yami? Yami are you there?' Yugi asked through their link. Yami didn't answer and he sighed, shrinking to the ground. He let his hand linger on the glass still closing him off. " So close…" he whispered helplessly.

" They're sleeping," Ryou said absently. He was staring at where their friends were but he wasn't consciously paying attention to Yugi or the situation they were in. He was worrying about Bakura staying out of trouble. Pictures of the world crumbling to pieces under Bakura's rule kept flashing through his mind on repeat. Yugi looked back at him as he sat down and sunk deeper into his dark thoughts of returning to a world of chaos.

" Ryou?" Yugi crawled over to where he was. " Are you going to be okay?" Ryou didn't respond, his stare remaining distant and his face expressionless. Yugi looked down. " This is all my fault. I'm sorry I got you into this." Ryou shifted his gaze to Yugi and put a hand on his arm.

" No. I'm fine. Really. I didn't want you to be here alone." Yugi smiled.

" Thanks Ryou." It went quiet a few minutes and Yugi looked back at the lifeless bodies in the distance, the smile fading quickly. " You're right," he said, thinking about Ryou's earlier statement. " They ARE sleeping. Does that mean that Marik's 'game' is nothing more then an illusion that we were creating in our minds? So was any of it…real?"

" Nothing in the shadow realm is…" Ryou looked up, hope returning to his eyes. " Yugi. The barrier…it's just in our heads." Yugi stood up.

" So all we have to do is believe that it's not there." He pulled Ryou to his feet as Ryou nodded.

" There's nothing real here, so there's nothing that can hurt us…right?" He looked to Yugi for reassurance.

" Right!" Yugi cried cheerfully. He led Ryou over to where the invisible wall had been and reached out a hand to touch it but nothing was left there to touch. Yugi jumped up excitedly and pulled Ryou toward the others.

" So how do we get them out?" Ryou asked. As soon as the words were out of his mouth they smacked into another wall. Yugi turned to look at him disappointed.

" It's our doubt and our fear that keeps us from reaching them," he said. Ryou blushed.

" I'm sorry. Sometimes, I just can't help it." He shrugged and Yugi sighed.

" You just have to believe," he said, turning back to the others. ' Yami. I know you're there.' Yugi concentrated all his energy on making contact with the spirit, who was now so close he could almost touch him.

" Yugi?" Yami said aloud, causing everyone to look over. " I thought I just heard Yugi…but that's impossible." He shook his head and they all went back to battling over Tristan's sanity.

" This is getting redundant," Kaiba said exasperated. He waved to Tristan as if dismissing him. " Untie him," he said bitterly.

" Seto," Mokuba looked up at him fearfully.

" I'll be fine. Don't worry." He locked eyes with Tristan as Tristan smiled victoriously when Tea untied him.

" Thanks," he said rubbing at his wrists. Tea just nodded in response. Mokuba gripped Kaiba's hand as Tristan stretched out his arms exuberantly.

" Yami, do you think…" Tea turned to find Yami gone. She blinked in confusion. " Did anyone see him leave?" They all shook their heads and gave her looks of bewilderment.

" He couldn't have gone far," Joey said looking through the trees for any sign of him.

" He shouldn't have gone at all. That's so unlike him," Tea said joining the search briefly.

" Maybe Marik kidnap…"

" I think we've heard enough of your Marik ideas," Kaiba interrupted. Joey glared at him.

" I'd like to hear you come up with something good then. Why else would he just leave us here?"

" Maybe he got tired of hearing Tea whine."

" Hey, I do NOT whine! Why do people keep saying that?"

" Maybe because it's true," Mokuba said under his breath. She huffed and put her hands on her hips in objection.

" You little brat! I heard that!" Mokuba hid behind his brother as best he could.

" Hey, watch who you're calling a brat!"

" Uh, guys. I think we're missing the main problem here," Joey tried to bring their attention back to Yami's disappearance but nobody seemed to be paying attention anymore. Joey sighed and took another quick scan of the woods. " Well I still think he wouldn't have gone far," he said before walking away from the group, making sure he was never out of earshot of their fighting. Tristan was the only one who noticed.

" Yugi?" Yami woke up to Yugi hugging him like he'd been gone for thousands of years.

" I thought…I don't know what I thought but you're here," Yugi said hugging him tighter.

" What about the others? Should we wake them up here or back in the real world?" Ryou broke into the happy moment. Yami took a minute to register exactly everything that had just happened then studied the other bodies around him.

" Where's Joey?" he asked bringing Yugi back into reality. He pulled back and looked around.

" Why wouldn't he be here?" he asked, crawling around Yami in a circle.

" He must be somewhere else. Let's get everyone else back and then worry about Joey," Ryou said looking to Yami. " You do know how to get us out right?"

" But what if Joey's in danger? Here." Yugi handed Yami the millennium puzzle. " You get them out and I'll go look for Joey."

" But Yugi…" Yami started. Ryou stood up.

" I'll go with you," he said confidently. Yugi studied him in awe.

" Are you sure Ryou?" Ryou nodded. " Alright. Good luck Yami. Get everyone back safely ok?"

" Yugi…" Yami started again.

" No. I've made up my mind. I'm not leaving until I've recovered ALL of my friends." Yami nodded reluctantly.

" Then keep your luck. I think you'll be needing it more then I will."

Joey heard something move behind him and he whirled around, ready to attack if needed. Tristan stood there and just smiled, looking at him nervously.

" I just thought I'd help you out since…" he looked back toward where the others were. " Well you know."

" Thanks Tristan." Joey didn't make a move to continue his search, a part of him was afraid to turn his back on his friend. ' Why does everything here seem wrong? I mean what kind of person am I to doubt all the people I care about?' Joey sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. " So, any ideas?" he asked, looking over Tristan for any sign to believe or not believe his insecurities. Tristan shrugged.

" I don't know. Maybe your friend is right and he just got tired of listening to everyone. God knows I am," he responded. Joey nodded but didn't say anything. He started to turn but something in Tristan's statement struck him.

" My friend?" He looked up in time to see Tristan swing something at him. He ducked and covered his head but the object that was being used to attack him fell to the ground with a clatter and when he looked up again Tristan was gone…and the others' yelling had stopped. " Tristan?" He looked to where the group had been. " Guys?" He walked back to the spot where he'd left them. " Anyone?" He looked around starting to get scared. ' What's going on around here?' He scratched his head and tried to think but his head started to get fuzzy and he closed his eyes trying to pull himself back together.

" What took you so long?" Bakura snapped when Yami appeared, bringing with him Tea, Tristan, and both Kaiba brothers, all still sleeping from what he could tell. Bakura looked at them all and then growled at Yami. " Where's Ryou and the little runt? I have a bone to pick with him." Yami stood up but didn't say anything. " Don't tell me you LEFT him in the shadow realm." Bakura stepped over Tristan's body to grab Yami by the shirt. " Do you have a death wish?"

" No, but I think you might," Yami returned, unfazed.

" If anything happens to him, I'm going to cut you open and paint pretty pictures with your insides. Do you understand?"

" That might be kind of hard considering…" Yami's face twisted in pain and he pushed Bakura away with one hand, grabbing his arm with the other. He knelt to catch his breath and Bakura smirked.

" Looks to me like I won't have to. Your hikari seems to be doing it for me." Yami scowled and sent him one last glare before disappearing back into the shadow realm.

" Are you okay?" Ryou asked, helping Yugi back to his feet. Yugi took in a deep breath and looked at his arm, wincing at the sight of blood.

" It's just a scratch. It just caught me off guard. Do you think it'll come back?" Yugi asked looking around for any sign of the shadow that had attacked him.

" I don't know but the longer we stay here the harder it will be to get out. It'll only get worse."

" Then we need to hurry. If only it wasn't so dark," Yugi looked up at the surrounding shadows that only seemed to grow darker the longer they stayed.

" And that we knew where we were going," Ryou added. Yugi brought his eyes back to Ryou. He apologized for his negativity for the millionth time it seemed. The worst part was that Yugi was starting to believe it was hopeless too. He didn't know how much more of the shadows he could take.

" There should be street signs in here," he said trying not to get frustrated or lose the remaining hope he had. Ryou smiled a little.

" I think anything would help at this point," he said.