Sorry it's been so long. I just got back from Hong Knog. Thank you for all your reviews! we are nearing the end, and the story's going to get really uncharastically sweet and a bit corny. Hope you don't mind... The characters are going to get major OCCness.

So. Enjoy!

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Walk With Me

Chapter V

Recovery

Nothing is ever easy. Life is tough. But having just one person to lean on can reduce your burden by more than half.

"You should take it easy." Bakura fussed, hovering like a mother hen, as his younger foster-brother attempted to sit up for the first time in weeks.

Yami sighed. "'Kura onii-chan, I'm fine." He carefully pushed himself up, propping himself on his pillows. Despites his words, however, he still had to take a few deep breaths at the end of his feat.

"Careful, you don't wanna do anything bad to yourself…"

"Aww, Bakura, lay off him." Marik sighed, slightly annoyed by this amazing show of care Bakura was giving. He kinda wished the older boy would go back to being his usual uncaring self. All the fussing was driving up a wall.

"I'm fine." Yami gave an innocent smile. Then, seeing that Bakura wasn't really buying it, he added, "Really!" In what he hoped was a convincing tone.

"You still have a long way to go." The doctor said, coming into the room just in time to catch that last sentence. "Though I must say, you're a strong boy. You're recovering very well, and doing much better then we had expected."

"By the way," he added, nodding towards the door. "You have a visitor."

The door opened, and a familiar woman walked in.

"Kira-san?!" Joey yelped, jumping up in surprise.

She laughed. "Oh, now, what it is with the –san? It may have been years, but aren't we still friends?"

Joey blushed. "Of course…Kira-kun."

Ryou jumped up and went to hug her. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too, kiddo." Kira smiled, looking around at her former charges. "You've all grown so much."

Marik stood, Malik beside him. "Sure have! Look! I'm almost as tall as him, now!" he laughed, nudging the taller teen.

"How'd you find us here?" Bakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A friend of yours called. Seto Kaiba. I believe his name was." Kira smiled. "He said to tell you he'd come by later. He's got good news."

"Oh?" Bakura asked, cocking his head. He had all but forgiven Seto and Yugi now, after so long. The two had proven themselves worthy friends.

"Yes." Kira nodded. She freed herself from Ryou's hug and walked over to the bed.

"Yami-chan, how're you feeling?" She asked softly, brushing away his bangs.

"All right." He smiled softly at her. Then he grinned. "You wouldn't believe how many times I've had to answer that question."

Kira chuckled. "Judging by the way Bakura was acting, I can't say I'm surprised."

She smiled affectionately at the youngest of her former charges. "I can't believe you're so grown up now. To me, you'll always be the little boy we named."

Yami blushed.

"He'll always be a kid to me." Bakura announced, ruffling the younger teen's hair.

"Kira, are you here to take us back?" Ryou asked, hope shining in his brown eyes.

"No, though I wish I was. I've never had others that quite replaced you six." Kira sighed wistfully. "But I can be happy knowing you'll go to a good home."

"How do you know?" Bakura asked gloomily.

"I do. Trust me." Kira winked.

Bakura narrowed his eyes slightly, but didn't say anything else.

"Now, tell me, how've you all been doing?"

A couple hours later, Seto and Yugi arrived.

"It's official." The CEO announced proudly, walking into the room and throwing a bunch of papers onto the bedside table.

"What's official?" Joey asked blankly, voicing his foster-brothers' question.

"You are now all officially under my care." Seto grinned.

There was a pause.

"Excuse me?" Bakura finally squeaked, staring at the CEO as though he had grown a third head.

"Perhaps I phrased it the wrong way…" Seto muttered. He cleared his throat and explained, "You see, I went to the people in charge and got permission for you all to live at my house. It wasn't as hard as you might think. I may be young, but I have a whole bunch guards and maids and what not. It's how my brother and I get to stay together in our own place. The government agreed to let you all stay together and live at my place."

"You knew!" Yami spoke up after a moment, looking at Kira.

"Yes." The woman smiled. "And I'm happy for all of you. It's a new beginning to a wonderful new chapter in your lives."

How was it? Short? I know. Sorry. This was originally a longer chapter that I decided to cut up into two.

Please review! Thanks!

P.S. One more chapter to go!