by Lady Falcon
Notes: Based off Wingleader Sora Jade's one-shot of the same name. And yes, I have her permission to write this. :D She doesn't like yaoi, but since I'm her cousin she decided to indulge me. ^^ This isn't exactly yaoi anyway, mostly just fluffy shonen-ai. And humor. There are far too many angsty Darkshipping fics, in my opinion. :p This one is angsty at times (especially near the beginning), but is mostly humor.
The chapters alternate between Yami no Bakura (Bakura) and Yami no Yuugi (Yami) POV during part 1. Part 2 is completely third person POV, and that's where the real humor begins to come in. ^_^
Summery: The year is 2075. Almost 80 years have passed since Battle City. The hikaris are dead, but somehow Yami and Bakura are still alive, and always eighteen. After Yugi's and Ryou's deaths, they go their separate ways to grieve. But they need each other more than they think, because reincarnation's a lady dog, and evil is even worse.
Couples: The main couple, of course, is Yami/Bakura, with hinted-at past Ryou/Shizuka, Seto/Isis, Jou/Mai, and Yugi/Anzu, and eventual Yugi/Ryou/Malik and possibly Ryuuji (Otogi)/Seto and more Jou/Mai.
Warnings: shonen-ai, some angst, death at the beginning, mostly silly humor.
Oh, yeah, and it's kinda essential you read WSJ's one-shot before attempting to read this, otherwise you'll get really cunfuzzled. Enjoy!
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Part 1: Separate
Chapter 1: Yami no Bakura: Death
"Bakura..."
I jerked from a light doze, eyes wide. In front of me on the bed lay my Ryou, his brown eyes open and tearing up. Sniffling like a child, the hikari held out a trembling hand toward me. "Bakura, please hold me."
I was too stunned to speak, but obediently moved to sit on the side of the bed and gathered my aging hikari into my arms. Ryou shuddered and leaned against me, his bony hands clutching at my shirt as I stared down at him in shock.
Over the past 80 years, Ryou had grown older, as mortals are prone to do. He'd eventually gotten married, had several children of his own. Somehow, I stayed the same. I still look eighteen, even today when Ryou is old and looks as if a light wind could shatter him. I've always been with him, always. His wife knew about me from the beginning, and his children grew up accepting me for what I was, a leeching but somewhat caring spirit, and my existence has always stayed a family secret. When Ryou grew too old for me to pretend to be his brother, I pretended to be his son. Now, I play act as his grandson.
However, almost seven years ago, now, both my Ryou and the pharaoh's Yugi began to... forget. Ryou and Yugi had stayed close all their lives, and their children are good friends too. The Motos know of my existence as well, and Ryou's kids know about Yami, who is also still youthful, like me.
Ryou's children and Yugi's children got together and decided that Yami and I weren't enough to care for our hikaris, so they had Ryou and Yugi checked into a nursing home, where they've been slowly wasting away ever since. Yami and I moved into an apartment together soon after, and we come every day to visit Ryou and Yugi. Don't take that wrong, the pharaoh and I aren't together or any bullcrap like that. Our hikari's kids have lives of their own, and their spouses and children don't know about Yami and I, so it just seemed to make sense that he and I move in together and share expenses.
It's hard. It's hard watching Yugi and Ryou slip away from us like this, and knowing there's nothing we can do... More often than not, these days, our hikaris don't even know who we are.
"Don't leave me, Bakura..." Ryou whispered, snapping me out of my thoughts. His frail body was shaking like a leaf, and I was afraid to hold him any tighter lest he break. "Please, don't leave me."
"I won't," I promise, soothing his hair back from his face. No longer the shining snow white it was in youth, now his hair is limp and gray, though as thick as ever. "I'm right here. I'll always be here."
The Ring, which hung from its cord around my neck, began to shine brightly. Since Yugi and Ryou had come to this place, Yami and I took charge of our Items, though we were a little surprised we were able to do so. Ryou reached out to touch the Ring, and sighed, leaning against me.
When he didn't breathe in again, I felt the tears begin to trickle down my cheeks. I hugged Ryou against me, sobbing quietly as I waited for the Ring to return me to my prison of eternal darkness. When I stayed stubbornly solid, I only began to cry harder.
Dammit! I don't want to be here without Ryou! That was my one purpose for not going on to the afterlife years ago! I tried to will myself into my soulroom, but the way was blocked. For the first time in nearly 90 years, I was alone in my head, without even Ryou's comforting presence in the back of my mind. He was really gone.
I don't know how long I cried, but at some point the nurses and doctors on the staff came in and managed to pry me away from Ryou's body. I wanted to stay with him, and I kicked and screamed and bit until I felt a familiar pair of arms wrap themselves around me. Then I just collapsed against Yami Yugi and sobbed my heart out, no longer caring what the stupid pharaoh did or didn't see. He just hugged me close, petting my hair and murmuring comforting words in Egyptian. Sometime around then Ryou's oldest son, Luke, found us. He joined our little huddled embrace, tears rolling down his face.
Luke was something of a character. He and I had always been close, moreso than me and Ryou's other two sons or his daughter. I knew from the moment he was born that Luke was something special, and so he proved to be. He had Shadow Powers nearly as strong as Ryou's, and Ryou had often said that when he died he wanted Luke to have the Ring. Didn't look like that would be the case now, though, not if I was actually mortal. Luke was married to (of all people!) Seto and Isis Kaiba's daughter, Maia. Maia was the one exception to the "spouses don't know about the spirits" rule, since she'd grown up with us as well.
"What am I going to do...?" I moaned, leaning a tear-streaked face against Luke's shoulder. "He's always been there... Why aren't I dead too?!" Luke could only shrug, and Yami stayed silent. He had no answers for me either.
No one did.
Eventually Luke and Yami managed to drag me from the hospice, and took me back to the apartment Yami and I shared. Maia joined us, and after what seemed to be an eternity my tears began to slow. I was laying in bed in my room, huddled under the covers like a scared child, trying to make sense of this new and harsh world.
Why? Why hadn't I been banished back into the Ring, like I had after the deaths of each of my previous hosts? What was so different this time?
"I'm right here. I'll always be here."
My own words came back to haunt me. Had I somehow done this to myself? It wasn't fair! Why couldn't I be dead too?!
I curled up in a tighter ball, my eyes squeezed shut, trying to will myself into oblivion. Somehow I knew that trying to commit suicide would be futile. If the Ring had enough magic to sustain me and keep me young, it certainly had enough magic to prevent my willful death. I was half tempted to throw the damn thing out the window, but I honestly didn't want to know what would happen if I did.
Sitting up in bed, my eyes felt painfully dry. What the hell? They'd been gushing fountains an hour ago. Shaking my head to clear it, I got to my feet and wandered over to sit down next to the window, staring out at the stars and the full moon. It was so beautiful out tonight...
The moonlight spilled across me and I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the glass of the window. I was his mirror image. Pale skin, white hair, murky brown eyes, Ryou and I were just alike. But now he was gone, my beautiful moonlit hikari. I felt out of balance, off center somehow. Like I was flailing on the edge of a chasm and my only lifeline had just been cut.
Without realizing it, I reached out mentally to touch Ryou's presence, only to find it wasn't there. I swallowed another sob, my eyes burning with unshed tears. A presence nudged the edge of my consciousness and I grabbed onto it, only to find that it wasn't the one I wanted.
It was Yami.
"Daijobou ka?" He asked quietly, leaning against the doorway of my bedroom. I knew without asking that Luke and Maia were asleep on the couch bed, and that Yami himself hadn't been able to sleep, probably because he sensed my distress. Over the years, he and I had formed a bond to each other. It was no where near as strong or developed as a yami-hikari bond, but it was still there. Usually we kept it blocked out, but apparently tonight I had let my defenses slip.
"What the hell do you think?" I asked, not looking at him. My voice was rough from surpressed tears, and I could feel his sympathy as he crossed the room to kneel in front of me. Taking my chin in his hands, he tilted my face up to make me look at him.
"Bakura, I know you're hurting, but we're friends, right? It's okay for you to open up to me. I..." I could feel his pain. "I know what it's like."
"No you don't." I whispered, my fists clenched. "But you will."
He flinched, and nodded. He knew as well as I did that Yugi couldn't last too much longer. It was only chance that Ryou had been the first of the two to die.
I studied him as he let go of my chin and turned to face the window, looking out at the landscape I'd abandoned only moments before. The moonlight washed out his hair, turned his bangs a softer yellow than they normally were. His skin was milky and flawless, and it made me think of Ryou's. Before I could stop myself I reached out one trembling hand to trace the curve of his jaw. He closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, and I felt his breath beneath my fingers. Then his eyes opened again, and he turned to face me. I was almost startled to see amethyst eyes instead of chocolate ones, and I jerked my hand back involuntarily.
For a moment we just looked at one another, and then Yami's eyes darted away from mine, and he nodded. He understood. I almost smiled, then. I should have guessed he'd understand.
"I'll always be waiting." he said softly, looking out the window again.
"No you won't." I answered, taking one of his hands in mine. "When you're alone, with no soulroom and no hikari to turn to, the darkness will consume you and you'll have to go, like me."
His eyes seemed to flicker. "You mean I'll run away."
I flinched, and squeezed his hand before letting go. "Yes. You'll run away." I stood up and moved toward the door.
"Bakura."
I stopped, but didn't turn. "Yes?"
"You know as well as I do that we'll find each other again. It always seems to come back to the two of us, time and again. This isn't good bye."
I smiled a little. "I never said it was." And then I walked out, leaving him behind bathed in moonlight.
Yes, I ran away. I ran from death, I ran from grief, I ran from memory. And I think, a little bit, I was running from him, too.
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And there you have it, chapter one! ^^ Like I said, the first few chapters are really angsty, but then it gets into full-blown humor, so just hang tight.