Yoh began to wake up late the next morning. He was back at home, in bed. His pillow was warm and comfortable and he snuggled into it a bit more. The pillow murmured something and moved. Hold on, that wasn't right... er...

Yoh's eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly, blinking the remains of sleep out of his eyes. He realised that he was not in his bed at all, but still in the stone cell, which was now lit by sunlight streaming through the barred window. Looking round, he realised that what he thought had been a pillow was actually Amimdamaru, who was clutching him tightly, keeping him warm. The samurai was still fast asleep.

Yoh had never seen his friend look so carefree, or so beautiful. Heck, Yoh had never seen his friend sleep before. Every pain line in the older man's face had gone, he looked totally relaxed. The young shaman stared at Amidamaru for a while, knowing that he would not get another chance. He had given up trying to suppress the need to have Amidamaru hold him, and now it was actually happening he felt like a huge load had been removed from his shoulders.

Of course, when Amidamaru woke up, Yoh would have to pretend that this never happened. Why would the brave young samurai want to be with him, an untrained, lazy shaman? Of course he would want to go off with some long dead spiritual female. Wouldn't he...?

Yoh reached up to brush a stray lock of pale hair from his friend's face and Amidamaru woke with a start. Yoh withdrew his hand quickly as Amidamaru yawned, blinked sleepily and stretched as much as he could with the restricting chains still binding his wrists. The young samurai's breath caught as agonising pains shot from several wounds that were jolted in the progress.

"Morning, Amidamaru." Yoh said in a falsely cheerful voice. "Breakfast?" He gestured toward the stale bread and thin soup.

"No thanks, Yoh." Amidamaru gasped. Yoh frowned.

"I know you said that you can't die, but don't you think you should eat something? I mean, you can still technically starve, can't you?"

"I don't think I can manage eating yet... I may have some... internal injuries..." The samurai panted. Yoh could see from the sudden closed expression on Amidamaru's face that he would learn no more about why the other man was not eating, so he wisely dropped the subject and passed his friend a beaker of water.

Amidamaru drained the beaker greedily, his throat dry with dehydration. He smiled his thanks as he passed the empty cup back to Yoh. The young shaman placed it back on the tray and stared at it for a moment before rising and stretching.

"Where are you going?" Amidamaru asked.

"Stretch my legs." Yoh mumbled in reply. The samurai smiled ruefully, looking sadly down at the fetters that attached him to the wall. He longed to stand up properly... more than anything, he longed to be free... to leave this place of carnage and torture...

"Hey – Amidamaru, look!" Yoh called. Amidamaru raised his head slowly, warily. Yoh beckoned frantically in the direction he had suddenly come running back from.

"What is it, Yoh?" The samurai's voice was tense. If anything threatened Yoh... well, he would do his best to protect his friend but he knew that he would not last for long.

"A door!" The young shaman panted. "On the other side of the basement!"

"Are you sure?" Amidamaru asked sharply, suddenly alert.

"As plain as the blood on your face, buddy." Yoh shook his head as though trying to clear it. "There's a door there. Wooden, rotted but quite strong."

Amidamaru looked down at the floor again.

"You would not be able to open it." He said expressionlessly, masking his disappointment. It did not matter to him if he were left behind, as long as Yoh got out...

"I know, but... who the hell has a back door to their basement?" The young shaman asked incredulously. Amidamaru shrugged. He was no expert on basements and Yoh might as well have been talking about computers and HTML code (whatever the hell that was). Amidamaru understood none of it. He had been dead for 600 years, he didn't need to understand... now, though, he would have to make an effort... presuming he got out...

"Yoh, it doesn't make a difference to you." He said, his voice laced with the disappointment he felt. "You cannot open the door in the state you are in."

"I wouldn't leave without you anyway, Amidamaru." Yoh replied defiantly. Amidamaru shook his head.

"Don't be foolish, Yoh, please. If the situation arises... you will have to flee and leave me here."

"Never."

Amidamaru raised his eyes skyward in despair.

"Yoh, I can't move. I'm attached to the wall, remember? And I will not let him touch you!" especially not the way he touched me... The young samurai shuddered involuntarily.

They stared at each other angrily, stuck in a conversational deadlock.

"Ah, what's the point arguing?" Yoh waved his hand dismissively and looked away. "It's not as though it will happen. Face it, Amidamaru. We're stuck in here."

That's what I am afraid of. The samurai closed his eyes and swallowed. I will not let him do to you what he's done to me, Yoh.

Yoh's eyelids drooped. He flopped down next to Amidamaru, who looked up with some levels of anxiety.

"Are you alright, Yoh?"

"Just feel a little dizzy, that's all." Yoh's head sank into the soft, bloodstained material of Amidamaru's once-white robe. Amidamaru watched him worriedly.

He did not need Yoh falling ill.

---

The food supply had dwindled down almost in to non-existence. Amidamaru had lost count of the number of days he and Yoh had been imprisoned. His external injuries were not healing as he would have liked them to; they were still open, occasionally oozing blood.

Yoh was faring much better than he. It seemed the shaman had come down with a slight fever, but he was well on the road to recovery. But it was not the illness that Amidamaru worried about most.

It was the return of their captor that scared him. The day that the voodoo came back could not be far away. The food was almost gone, that in itself was not a good sign. In the past few days, Amidamaru had eaten little and he knew that he would only last for a few minutes if it came to a full out fight for Yoh.

There were footsteps outside the door. Amidamaru tensed, clutching Yoh closer to him. The chains rattled ominously.

The footsteps outside the door stopped and there was a sudden silence, followed by some whispering. Then, all at once, the door exploded in a flash of light.

Amidamaru threw one arm up to shield his eyes while the other held Yoh protectively. The blinding light cleared. There was a silhouette of a boy about Yoh's height... a boy with his hair worn in a single spike... a boy with a Kwan Dao.

"Ren!" Amidamaru gasped in shock, his voice hoarse with mistreatment. "Ren, Bason! Over here!"

Tao Ren and his spirit, the Chinese warlord Bason, looked over at the semi- conscious samurai who was holding his shaman protectively in his arms. Yoh stirred.

"Oh, hey Ren... welcome to the party..." he yawned sleepily. Ren paused, his Kwan Dao half raised, as Yoh rose, stretched and walked over to the middle of the room.

"Stretch out your arms." The Chinese shaman ordered Amidamaru, who complied silently. With a single downward swipe, Ren sheared away the shackles at the wall. Amidamaru was left with a broken length of chain swinging from the manacle on each wrist. He was free – free!

Yoh was laughing. Laughing with pure, untainted happiness. The word resonated through his mind. Freedom. They were free! The voodoo could not attack Amidamaru any more, they could go home!

"Will you get a grip on yourself?" Ren hissed. Yoh fell silent and looked up at Amidamaru, who was being inspected by a tearful Bason. The Chinese spirit was running his spectral hands over Amidamaru's chest, giving a quiet sob every time they passed over a wound or passed straight through the samurai. Bason had not expected his friend to be alive and solid.

Then – footsteps! Upstairs! Amidamaru looked around, fear written on his face. The voodoo had returned! And, by the sounds of it, he was heading down into the basement!

"This way!" Yoh hissed, pointing towards the other door he had found so many days before. Ren and Bason blasted it open and Yoh dashed through after them, Amidamaru bringing up the rear. The samurai could hear the voodoo's angry shouts behind him. Glancing back, he saw the other man wildly swinging an axe.

They were haring down a long, underground corridor, Ren blasting obstacles out of the way. Yoh stopped to wait for Amidamaru, who caught up with him, staggering terribly.

"Amidamaru!" Yoh panted "You're limping!"

"It is an old wound!" The samurai spat, embarrassed that he had shown a weakness.

"Old wounds can still hurt!" Yoh snapped, and Amidamaru saw the glistening in his friend's eyes as they grew moist. "You of all people should know that!"

"I know." The samurai answered. He glanced fearfully over his shoulder at the voodoo, who was gaining. "Go. Run. I'll catch you up."

"Don't do anything stupid!" Yoh pleaded, taking off in the direction taken by Ren and Bason. Amidamaru started after him.

The samurai moved as fast as he could, alternatively limping and dragging his injured leg. Suddenly his good leg gave way under the strain and he stumbled, his head catching a glancing blow on the rock wall. He fell to the floor, momentarily stunned.

A shadow cast over him... he looked up, gritting his teeth and rubbing his head... the voodoo was back and he looked livid.

The voodoo swung with the axe and Amidamaru rolled out of the way just in time, the axe head imbedded in the floor by his own head. With a roar, the voodoo withdrew it for another swing, which Amidamaru only just dodged. He was tiring, he could not last. Pain from his injuries was blurring his vision.

As though from far away, he could hear the cries of his friends. They must have come back for me... I don't want them hurt because of me... He struggled towards the yells, leaning heavily on the wall, using it for guidance.

The voodoo saw that his quarry was going to escape. He saw Ren and Bason ready to fight, with Yoh calling Amidamaru to him. There was no way he could win against all of them, as weak as two of them were. His mind, usually quick and calculating, was consumed with rage. He swung the axe blindly, wildly.

Amidamaru heard the shrieks from his tormentor and turned his head briefly. That was all the voodoo needed. With a primeval screech of fury, he swung the axe at Amidamaru's unprotected head. The deadly blade caught the samurai just above his right eye and he was thrown back with a heartrending cry of pain. He lay in a pool of his own blood, unmoving, not breathing.

The voodoo's snarl of triumph turned into a whimper of fear as Yoh, yelling Amidamaru's name desperately, descended on his head. Ren watched urgently, trying to get a clear shot for an attack with his Kwan Dao, but before he could interfere Yoh had slammed the voodoo's head down on the floor. The last thing the man saw before he lost consciousness was a swirling blackness coming to engulf him, as it had engulfed Amidamaru moments before.

Yoh knelt by his fallen friend, shoulders shaking. Glistening tears escaped his eyes and splashed on to Amidamaru's lifeless body, soaking into his samurai robes. Very soon the soft material was sodden with mingled fresh blood and tears. Yoh placed his hand gently on one of the manacles that even now was locked around Amidamaru's wrist.

Ren and Bason watched uncertainly, knowing that it was no longer their business. Whatever Yoh and Amidamaru had been through in captivity, they had obviously formed a new, special bond.

Suddenly, Yoh keeled forward, landing on top of Amidamaru, drenched in the samurai's blood. A whisper escaped his lips as he, too, lost consciousness, the fever weakening him to such an extent that he could no longer remain awake. One final thought crossed his mind.

What a price to pay, just to gain freedom.