Disclaimer – Still don't own them . . . but I will soon wield the Millennium Ring! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Author's Notes – Here's another chapter for you all . . . and some review responses.
MarikIshtar77 – hehe, no, I don't think Bakura would mind the age . . . I'm still 4000 some odd years younger than he is grin Now, if only I could conjure him up . . .
Lilmatchgirl007 – it's the trust issues with Bakura, and the fact that he's still struggling to believe he could fall in love with someone who's been his enemy for five thousand years. As for me . . . gee, you couldn't tell? grin
NekoAi – Torturing the audience? Who me? grins Yes, I love doing that, I must admit. It keeps people reading : ) Of course, torturing my fav. characters is much more fun.
Helix1047 – Redemption right now is being somewhat stubborn, but I am slowly typing out pieces of it. It's a case of too many story ideas floating around in my head. I'm trying to clear them all out as much as I can. As for Grav . . . I wanted to make a ahem less graphic version for those innocent readers who can't read graphic sex on this site. All my fics end up on my website at some point.
Kasugai gummie – I agree, I did slip with the characterizations a bit in the last chapter. It was frustrating, but I couldn't seem to get them to come out any other way. Pacing did seem a little choppier than usual for me as well, but I was very distracted while writing (three kids tend to do that to a person). I'm glad you liked it anyway.
To everyone else who reviewed – Thank you for putting up with my nasty cliff-hanger habit. Hope you all continue to enjoy the story, and if you're bored, you can always go check out my other fics : ) I also write InuYasha and some FFVII stuff, all of which can be found on this site or my personal website. See my profile : )
And now, on with the story. Two more chapters left . . . plenty of time for them to pull their heads out of their asses, ne?
Chapter 10 – On the Tenth Day of Christmas – Ten Muttered Curses
Bakura awoke, cold and huddled into a ball, in the Shadow Realm. For a moment, he couldn't remember how he'd gotten there, nor why he was naked in the first place. The pounding in his head told him he'd imbibed too much alcohol again . . . but even under the influence, he'd never managed to wake up in the Shadow Realm, of all places.
The tight pull of skin across his chest as he moved to stand was the first clue. He ran his fingers over the pale skin, flakes of snowy 'stuff' falling away with the touch. What in the . . .? The briefest scent of the desert and sandalwood drifted to him, and his eyes shot open wide as his memory came flooding back to him . . . bringing with it an even worse headache as well as the desire to suddenly be sick.
"Yami . . ." he whispered. He glanced around, confused. He remembered everything now, and the one thing that he remembered most clearly was falling asleep with the Pharaoh as a pillow and a bed warmer. Where had the Pharaoh gone? And why had he left in the first place? Unless . . . red-brown eyes widened in shock and horror as a thought came to him. What if Yami had smelled the alcohol on his breath . . . and thought that Bakura's actions were due to the drink alone?
"Oh shit," he muttered, his heart in his throat as he gathered up his clothes and threw them on hastily before stepping out of the Shadow Realm. It was morning in the real world, and the hallways of the complex in which the party had been held were long deserted and silent in the early dawn light. He slipped through them and out the doors easily, heading toward the Game Shop. He needed to see Yami and explain that last night wasn't just the tequila.
Dark? 'Kura? Where are you? Ryou sounded exasperated with him . . . which meant he'd been out of contact.
I'm here, hikari, he replied, still stalking towards the store where Yugi and Yami lived. Nothing was going to stop him from doing this . . . to hell with his nerves and his fear of getting hurt. He'd done enough to Yami that he'd never be able to repay.
There you are! Cripes, you've been out of contact for hours! I'd begun to worry that both of you had gone missing! Bakura's heart skipped a beat and he stopped in his tracks, tuning in more clearly on what Ryou was saying.
What do you mean, 'both of us'? he asked, suddenly wary. His heart pounded painfully, and he hoped desperately that Ryou wouldn't tell him what he was afraid to hear.
Yami's missing . . . is he with you? Ryou asked. Yugi called this morning and said he'd found the Puzzle in Yami's bedroom on the bed . . . but that he hasn't seen the Pharaoh since last night, when you went out after him. There was a pause before the boy continued. Did something happen between the two of you?
You could say that, he returned, quickening his steps after redirecting his route to take him home. I'll tell you when I get there . . . I need a warm shower and warmer clothes. I'm going after him. This was his fault . . . damn him and his need for liquid courage! He'd gotten what he'd most desired . . . and had gone about it the totally wrong way, as usual. He only hoped . . . that Yami would listen when and if he found him again.
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"Anubis take me!" he snarled, pacing the living room a few hours later. After a shower and changing, he'd planned on going straight out the door . . . only to be stopped by Ryou. A grueling question and answer session had followed, and in the end, he'd gotten exactly what he deserved, although from a completely different person. Ryou had actually slapped him.
Now he was trapped in the house while the rest of the group hunted the city for Yami. He'd tried to explain to Ryou that it had been a mistake, that he hadn't done that to Yami because he was drunk, and even his hikari hadn't wanted to listen to him. So here he was, stalking around the house, calling himself every name and laying every curse he could think of on his head for being so utterly and completely stupid. He couldn't leave and start his own hunt for his love . . . if he did and the others came back, he would be proving that his motives were less than pure about this, as everyone already suspected. There were few times in his life that he thoroughly regretted his image as a heartless tomb robber . . . this was one of them.
He'd thought about using his Shadow Magic to track the missing Pharaoh down, but it would have been a wasted effort, and he knew it. Yami would be shielding from that kind of thing at this point. Damn it, but he wanted to go find the man and explain everything . . . or in the more literary sense, pour his heart out onto the floor for Yami to step on. He was sure that was what was coming . . . it was what he deserved after all.
He flopped onto the couch, leaning over to place his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his bent knees as he stared at the floor. Ra help him, he needed to find Yami. This pain wasn't one he could simply ignore and hope would go away. He literally felt physically ill . . . worse even than the sickness he'd gotten after being trapped in that pine tree. His heart felt like a leaden weight in his chest. It hurt to even breathe at this point.
Bakura desperately hoped that the others found Yami . . . and soon. Before he did something on his own to end this pain.
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Yami huddled in an empty warehouse near the docks, crimson eyes staring blankly before him, his arms wrapped around his legs, chin resting on his raised knees.
How had it come to this? How had he been so stupid? This wasn't like him . . .he wasn't weak like this. Love apparently did strange things to one, made one act totally out of character and beyond the normal boundaries that one built around one's soul. Rather than hiding, he should have been out there, living this new life to it's fullest and enjoying his friends and their antics. Instead, he'd fled from all of them, unwilling to let them see this glaring weakness in his eternal armor. He'd even cut off Yugi . . . something he'd never thought he would do, ever.
He'd had everything he'd wanted, only to have it snatched brutally away from him by the truth. Bakura had been drunk. He should have known it before it went as far as it had, but he'd allowed his hopes and dreams to blind him to that glaringly obvious fact.
King of Games was his title, but when it came to games of the heart perhaps he was not the master after all. That's he'd been that foolish and blind did not sit well with him . . . and the fact that he still held some small gem of hope within him did not help that feeling. How could he possibly still hope that Bakura loved him after what had happened last night.
Images flashed before his eyes, and he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block them out. He'd been so tender . . . so giving and warm! How could that have been a lie? Was the thief really that great an actor that he'd even managed to fool the King of Games? Or had he jumped to conclusions that had cost him the very thing he sought to gain?
Ra damn him, this uncertainty was not him! What, by all the gods, was wrong with him? Left adrift on the roiling sea of his own turbulent and confusing emotions, he struggled to find something – anything to latch on to, to stabilize himself and his mind. His link with Yugi was there, waiting for him to open it up . . . but he didn't want to. Yugi and Joey's relationship had just begun . . . he didn't want to taint that newly formed jewel with his problems.
He'd lost track of time sitting here in the dark, and he knew that the others would be worried about him. Strangely, he couldn't summon up the will to move. It was as if his body had simply stopped responding to him. Perhaps it was because of the conflict within him . . . on one hand, he wanted to return to the warmth and comfort of his aibou and their friends, on the other he wanted to hunt down the Tomb Robber and demand an explanation for the previous night.
That shadow of despair and pain still lingered however, and he would not let that drag Yugi down into the depths with him. So he stayed away, curling even further into a ball as the night outside deepened, and wished that the turmoil within him would simply end.
Slowly, he became feverish as his temperature dropped farther and farther, reacting to the cold that was enveloping the warehouse he'd stashed himself. Freezing and hallucinating badly, Yami stood shakily and wandered away . . . towards home.
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"Yami?" Yugi called as he walked into the house they shared with his absent grandfather. The strange, eerie emptiness seemed to mock him with its silence . . . it had never felt so lonely and less like home when Yami was with him. He wandered the silent house sadly . . . until he arrived upstairs and found the bathroom light on. He was sure it had been off when he'd left with the others. He scrambled down the hallway, hoping he would find his other there, safe and unharmed.
He got part of his wish . . . Yami was collapsed in a bathtub full of water, fully clothed. He was still shivering uncontrollably, his eyes rolled back in his head as visions flickered before the dulled crimson eyes. Yugi slid across the slightly wet tiled floor, falling to his knees beside his water logged dark and reaching out to take hold of one golden hand. He winced at how cold Yami's flesh was, and then checked the water. It was hot . . . so hot that he pulled his hand back sharply and frowned at it before glancing at his dark again. His hand shouldn't have been so cold in this hot of water . . . He reached up and lay the back of his hand across Yami's forehead, pulling back with a his as he felt the raging fever that was consuming his other.
He scrabbled to his feet and rushed to his room for the phone, dialing Joey's number hurriedly.
"Joey!" he said, before the blonde could even get a word out. "I need you to come over here, right away! It's Yami . . . he's here, but he's in bad shape!"
"I'm on my way," the blonde said, and hung up. Yugi dialed the rest of his friends to let them know that Yami was at least home . . . safe, however, remained to be seen.
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It was nearing nine when Ryou finally came through the door to the house. Bakura was on his feet in an instant, his bone weary body staggering slightly as he jerked it upright through sheer will alone. He'd spent the last half-dozen hours in a near constant state of worry and despair, something that he would have been disgusted with if he had been himself and not this emotional wreck.
"Did you find him?" he croaked, red-brown eyes staring into his hikari's back desperately as the boy kicked off his shoes and hung up his jacket. He flinched when the usually warm chocolate eyes turned on him . . . they were nothing more than frozen chunks of mud at this point.
"No, we did not," Ryou said. He studied his dark carefully, noting the weary slant of shoulder and the pain filled eyes that stared at him. He tilted his head to one side consideringly . . . if Bakura had truly been playing a game with Yami, he wouldn't have looked so concerned. "Bakura . . . do you really care? Or are you just this good of an actor?" He got one moment of stunned disbelief out his dark before the mask came down, and the Tomb Robber stood in front of him again.
"You didn't believe me last time, why should you believe me now?" he growled, spinning away to stalk back into the living room. Unfortunately, his balance was not what it usually was, and he staggered into one wall, catching himself with one hand before he fell against it wholly. That, more than anything, spoke volumes to the young hikari about the state his dark was in, and the frozen mud bled back into warm chocolate as he moved to help the slightly taller man.
"I believe you now, 'Kura," Ryou murmured, sliding a careful arm around his dark's waist. "It's just . . . well, it was so hard to believe, and it happened so fast . . . you really do love the Pharaoh." Bakura sighed, an involuntary nod escaping him as Ryou helped him to the couch, where he sank into it's depths wearily.
"Yes, I love him," he whispered, staring at his hands as they lay in his lap. "I love him, and I've made a complete mess of things by letting my pride get in the way and not just saying it straight out. Now I've driven him away . . . where is he, Ryou? Where the hell has he gone? I need to make this right . . ."
Ryou moved to hug him, and jumped slightly before giggling at himself when the phone rang. He answered it, his body growing more tense with each word that the other person said before hanging up the phone. He turned to Bakura, only to find that his dark had passed out. Smiling softly at the involuntary show of weakness . . . Bakura would never forgive himself for it, if he found out . . . Ryou leaned down and arranged the lean body into a more comfortable position before pulling the afghan off the back of the couch and tucking it around his yami.
Telling him that Yami had been found would have to wait.
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Yugi sighed in relief as Joey stepped through the door in the kitchen, giving his boyfriend a hug before leading the way up to the bathroom.
Joey stopped in the doorway at the sight of Yami . . . Yugi had managed to get his clothes off, covering his dark modestly with a washcloth before leaving him to sit. He'd continually changed the water as it got cooler . . . by now Yami had stopped shivering as violently, but his skin temperature was still much cooler than it should have been, and Yugi could not move him by himself.
"He's in very bad shape, Yug," Joey murmured, before stalking across the towel covered tiles to kneel beside the prone, unconscious Pharaoh. "We need to get him out of this tub and into a bed. Your grandfather has an electric blanket, right?" Yugi nodded. "Bring it, and every blanket you have, to your room. We'll set up a nest on the floor . . . it's the only thing that will be big enough to hold all three of us." Yugi looked at him askance for a moment before going to do as he'd been told, leaving his dark in the blonde's capable hands.
Joey grabbed a couple of dry towels before stripping himself down to nothing in order to lift Yami from the tub. Cradling the slim, lithe form in one arm, tucking it against his body carefully, he wrapped the towels around the golden body before stalking to Yugi's room. His love had already begun setting up all the blankets . . . a thick layer of them covered one corner of his room, near the heating vent. He lay Yami down on the bed, briskly rubbing the former Pharaoh with the towels to dry him before bringing him over to the forming nest and depositing him in it, quickly helping Yugi arrange the rest of the blankets, and plugging in the electric one before sliding under them and pulling the golden form in close, almost to the point of spooning him.
"Yugi, strip and get in on the other side . . . . between the two of us and the blankets, we should be able to get his core temperature back up. Wait . . . on second thought, get some water and some liquid fever reducer while you're at it." Yugi left, returning moments later with all the requested items. He watched as Joey forced some of the medicine and the water down his dark's throat before asking his questions.
"Joey . . . why are we getting naked and into a bed with Yami?" he asked, slightly embarrassed by the thought. Yes, he was comfortable around his dark, but he'd also been attracted to him for a very long time, and having his dark and his new boyfriend naked in bed with him was beyond temptation, as far as he was concerned.
"Yugi . . . Yami has hypothermia. Skin contact is best in this kind of scenario, unless we take him to the hospital. And we can't do that. We're all he's got, Yug . . . now get in here!" Put that way, Yugi stopped worrying about the impropriety of it all and stripped down to his birthday suit before sliding in behind his dark, pressing his own pale, warm flesh against the golden back and tucking his knees in so that the entire line of their bodies was pressed tightly together.
"Will he be okay, Joey?" he asked quietly, nuzzling into the back of his dark's neck lovingly. He heard Joey sigh in the darkness.
"I don't know, Yugi," he whispered. "I really don't know."
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Yugi awoke several hours later to the abrupt movement of a body next to his. The brush of bare skin caused him to flush before he remembered exactly why they were all bare. He raised his hand to flick on his desk lamp, rising up on one elbow to look at his dark. The crimson eyes were still tightly closed, and the flush of fever still danced across the golden cheeks and proud brow, but his body temperature appeared to have even out.
"Bakura . . ." Yami moaned, tossing his head slightly. Yugi sighed, wrapping his arms around his dark in a gentle embrace as he snuggled back into the warm expanse of flesh that was Yami's back.
Ryou had told them all what had happened between Bakura and his other. At first, he'd been as angry as the rest, but once that anger had burned down a little, he'd really gotten to thinking about it. Yami had been so out of sorts here lately . . . this business with Bakura had thrown him for a loop, and he'd been off-balance and on edge ever since it had started. Could his dark have over-reacted? Yes, the fact that Bakura had been drinking was rather incriminating evidence against the thief . . . but from Yugi's rather limited experience with alcohol, being drunk usually only lowered a person inhibitions. He didn't think Bakura would have had sex with his dark unless he'd really wanted to do so in the first place.
If that was the case, then maybe the Tomb Robber really did love the Pharaoh, and just hadn't been able to make a move without a little help. Love did strange things to people, after all . . . the fact that Yami had been so emotional here lately was proof of that. That analytical mind that Yami prized so much seemed to have simply short circuited somewhere along the way.
Maybe it was time he stepped in and did something to help the two spirit's along. Sighing, he reached for the phone and dialed the number from memory, hoping he was doing the right thing.
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Bakura jumped as the phone rang, reaching for it blindly as he blinked the exhaustion away.
"What?" he snarled into the phone, the weariness in his voice making it hard for him to sound threatening, but he hated being awoken, especially at some ungodly hour.
"Bakura?" Yugi's voice came from the other end of the line. Bakura sat straight up, hope flickering across his face before he shut it down.
"Yes, Pharaoh's runt?" he growled, trying to keep the hope out of his voice. Was Yugi calling about Yami? Had the Pharaoh been found? "My hikari is asleep, and I don't feel like waking him. Leave a message . . . I'll make sure Ryou gets it." Yugi sighed.
"Actually," he murmured, "I called to talk with you." Bakura blinked in shock, sagging back against the couch cushions. Why the hell would Yugi want to speak with him?
"Why?" he said unconsciously, puzzlement evident in the question.
"Because I don't think that everyone is right about what happened last night," Yugi replied quietly. "I do think you had been drinking . . . but I don't think that's the only reason you had sex with my yami. I think you've come to love him as much as he's fallen in love with you, and that's the real reason why you moved on him last night. You drank to help you make your move on him, and Yami over-reacted."
Bakura sighed, shifting against the couch cushions as he relaxed. Finally, someone believed him other than his light. But if Yugi believed him, why was the Pharaoh's light calling him? Unless . . .
"Have you found Yami?" he asked, trying to keep the desperate hope out of his voice.
"He's here, Bakura," Yugi said. A long sigh escaped the thief's lips before he heard the underlying concern in the lights voice. "But he's . . . well, he's not in very good condition. When I got home, he was in the tub with hypothermia. We've managed to take care of that, but he's still running a high fever. I'm . . . worried about him." He sighed. "He's been really off-balance since this all started, and I've never seen him like this. The two of you need to talk this out . . . but I'm afraid for him. With how emotionally unstable he's been lately, he may not try to fight this off."
Bakura ran a pale hand through his snowy locks, red-brown eyes closing at the pain in the other's voice. While usually he wouldn't have cared, in this case he was talking to the person Yami held most dear, which meant he had to care.
"Should I come over?" he asked, dreading the answer. He wanted to go . . . wanted to be by Yami's side, but at the same time he was afraid. He hated to admit that, even to himself, but after last night . . . would Yami even want to see him when and if he awoke?
"Not tonight," Yugi replied quietly. "Get a solid night's sleep . . . and come over in the morning with Ryou. I think . . . that it will help, if you're here."
Bakura sighed and agreed quietly before hanging up the phone. Lying down on the couch again, he stared at the ceiling. What exactly would he say to Yami when the Pharaoh awoke? 'I'm sorry' simply wouldn't cut it.
Frowning, he determined that he would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he would take Yugi's advice and get some sleep. Tomorrow morning would come faster if he did . . . and hopefully he would find the answers he was looking for in his dreams.
'Two days until Christmas,' he thought wryly. 'I could use a really good Christmas present at the moment.'