WARNING: This chapter has lemon! This chapteris why the story is rated R. I debated putting up a link to another site, but the lemon scene really doesn't go above R. Still, if you don't like these kinds of scenes, you can stop reading where it says "epilogue." The actual story ends there; the epilogue is just an added fluff/lemon scene with Yami and Seto. Anyhow, you have been warned!

This is the last chapter of the fic. Thanks so much to everyone who has read this and supported it. I appreciate all of your reviews, especially those of you who take the time to leave nice long ones. Those are great!

Note: A couple of you mentioned the fact that I don't use Atemu and Seth as their pastnames. I actually did this for a reason. The AE part of this fic, though it's similar to the manga, is a lot of what I made up myself. It's alternate reality, so to speak. Anyway, I decided to use the same names throughout so that Yami's flashbacks would seem more fluid, slipping back and forth between the past and present. It also makes the two times seem more similar, enhancing Seto's fear that the past would repeat itself. (At least, that's what I was going for... lol)

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

Chapter 9

"Ah-choo!"

Well, it seems that I was right from the beginning. A nighttime visit to the beach in the middle of November is most definitely not romantic. After Seto's and my late-night indiscretions yesterday, my body was rubbed sore and red and sand had collected in my hair – as well as other, much more painful parts of my anatomy – and I still couldn't get rid of it all, even after several long showers. Plus, I had developed a terrible cold.

"Ah-CHOO!" I sneezed violently once again and reached for the box of tissues beside the bed so I could wipe my swollen, red nose; but the box fell to the floor as my hand roughly bumped against it, and my precious tissues rolled under the bed and out of my reach.

I groaned and leaned back against the pillows, deciding to just breathe through my mouth.

Eventually, however, this became impossible, since my throat was also coated with an uncomfortable layer of phlegm. But I was too exhausted to move, so I merely threw an arm tiredly across my eyes and called for Yugi. "Yugi!" I croaked. "Would you come here please?"

A rustling sound came from the next room, so I assumed Yugi heard me, and I relaxed a little more against the pillows, my arm still sprawled across my face and my mouth hanging agape with my noisy, rattling breaths. Until I heard cruel laughter, that is, and sat straight up in surprise.

"Ha! Pharaoh, you look like you got run over a few times," the white-haired intruder snickered.

"Bakura, what are you doing here?" I groaned, flopping back against the mattress. "Where's Yugi?"

"He went to the store, and asked Ryou and me to watch you while he was gone," Bakura answered smugly.

"He asked you to watch me?" I croaked disbelievingly.

"Well, actually he asked Ryou. I was just generous enough to volunteer my help."

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay… Well, then you can help by reaching under the bed and getting my box of tissues."

Surprisingly, Bakura complied, though he made a show of moving as slowly as possible and taking out a wad of tissues to needlessly blow his own nose before handing me the box. I glared, but thanked him when I could finally breathe through my nose again, at least for a little while. Smirking at my thanks, Bakura sat on the edge of the bed and stared at me contemplatively. I glared at him again and made a halfhearted attempt to kick him off the bed, but I was too exhausted to move my leg far enough, so I just rolled over so that my back faced him and tried to ignore him.

I really hated being sick.

"The priest wore you out last night, then, huh?" Bakura observed nonchalantly.

I rolled back over to face him. "Yugi told you?" I questioned sulkily, waiting for the teasing to start.

But Bakura rolled his eyes. "In case you've forgotten, I was the one who drove you to his office in the first place." Here Bakura wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I groaned. "Besides," he continued, "I remember Egypt, too; and if Kaiba's half as crazy about you as Seto was, then…" The tomb robber trailed off, waving a hand in a wide, sweeping gesture, and despite myself a stupid grin suddenly popped up just under my stuffy nose.

At least, until I remembered who I was talking to, and then it dropped off my face immediately.

"Wait a minute!" I protested. "How did you know about Seto and me? You were too busy trying to kill me to spend time snooping into my love life! And for that matter, why have you suddenly started acting nice? Just because you wanted to get into Ryou's pants? Are you going to try to murder me again as soon as my back is turned? You know, it's because of you that Seto and I had to go through all that in the first place! You… you…"

A sudden fit of coughing mixed with several violent sneezes interrupted my righteous tirade, and Bakura sat quietly observing me until it was over. Then, when I raised watery crimson eyes to glare at the thief, he just silently handed me a tissue. "You're right," he said bluntly.

"About what?"

I paused momentarily to blow my nose.

"…that you're going to try to kill me again?" I continued, balling up the tissue and tossing it into the overflowing garbage can by the bed.

Bakura wrinkled his nose in disgust. "No. That it's my fault Seto had to suffer."

I leaned back against the pillows and regarded him in confusion. "I'm surprised you admitted it – though you left out what you did to me."

"I didn't do anything to you," he retorted.

"Besides the multiple attempts to kill me," I shot back dryly.

"Whatever. What you went through was nothing compared to what Seto did," Bakura snapped angrily, jumping up from his seat on the bed and glaring furiously at me.

For at least the second time in two days I was speechless. I stared up at the tomb robber as he glared at me in righteous anger on Seto's behalf… It was a little surreal, to say the least. "Bakura…?" I asked tentatively, "Do you know what happened to him?"

Bakura's glare faded into a thoughtful gaze as he watched me a moment longer before finally nodding. He sat down on the edge of the bed again.

This was it – my moment of triumph. The Sennen Ring hadn't amplified my powers, it had multiplied them exponentially, and soon all of Egypt would be shrouded in darkness until the pharaoh finally admitted defeat and conceded the throne. If I didn't kill him first, that is.

But then, just as the wall of darkness reached its peak, it shut off. Just like that – no warning – it was as if someone had put a stopper on my powers. I concentrated harder, trying once again to summon the shadows, but nothing happened. I was completely cut off. Sunlight seeped back into the world, but a chill ran down my spine despite the return of its heat. I had never been without my powers…

I froze in fear. The sun's light seemed to cling to me, glistening on my white hair and making me stand out, more obvious and vulnerable than I had ever been. So, I panicked and ran for the only place I truly knew, knew well enough to hide even without my protective shadows.

The tombs of the pharaohs.

There I stayed, slowly realizing that I had indeed lost my powers, as over the next few days every attempt to summon the familiar darkness ended in complete, abject failure. Even the Ring I had stolen from that priest, Mahado, offered me little power. It was as if it had been blocked by some incredibly powerful force; no doubt the efforts of the Pharaoh.

He was dead, I knew that much.

They brought his body in the day before; one of the most lavish mummies I'd ever seen. Perhaps in a few days I would loot his tomb, once I had gained the confidence to go outside without my Shadow powers… I fingered the sharp edges of the Ring. Maybe I could still eke some power from the Item…

A slight sound behind me caught my attention, and I pressed farther against the wall, hiding in an alcove in the stone as a tall, slim person wearing formal robes swept by, carrying a torch and an elaborately carved box. Treasure! I decided to follow him.

He glided smoothly through the corridors, his stance straight and proud but for a tiny slump in his shoulders that bespoke of suffering, and I continued to follow him until he stopped in the wide, high-ceilinged chamber where the pharaoh lay amidst his mounds of glistening gold treasure. I hid in a shadowy corner of the room while the man approached the sarcophagus and reverently traced the carved image of the pharaoh's face, before he placed the box atop the sarcophagus and knelt beside it.

As he slid to his knees I caught a glimpse of brilliant blue eyes. It was that priest… Seto… the Pharaoh's favorite. What was he doing?

Seto knelt there a long moment, staring silently at the floor, before he spoke in a cracked, husky voice. "Hello Yami. I brought you your Puzzle." The Sennen Puzzle! I almost rushed across the room to grab it right then, but froze in my tracks when I remembered I didn't have my powers anymore. Scowling, I settled back against the wall to wait for Seto to leave.

He was speaking again. "It was shattered, you know; the moment you… But I picked up all the pieces. I made them wait to finish the burial until I picked up…all the pieces…" Seto's voice cracked and tears flowed down his cheeks in torrents, but he kept speaking, choking out the words in a thick, clouded voice. "I knew you would've wanted your Puzzle, so I made them wait… But… Yami… That wasn't the only reason, you know. When they brought you here yesterday there were so many people here – do you know how many people love you, Yami?"

My brow furrowed. That was at least the third time he'd called the pharaoh by name. I'd thought that stupid, arrogant king was too full of himself to ever let anyone do that… I took an involuntary step forward, irresistibly drawn by my curiosity.

"So many people loved you – still love you," Seto croaked. "I couldn't get close enough to talk to you… But I had to – Yami, I had to tell you! You…you… left… before I could tell you… I love you, too. I love you so much. I'm sorry I didn't say it before, when I had the chance. I'm sorry I ran from you for so long – I was just worried about what other people would think, you know? But I don't care anymore. I don't. If I ever got another chance, if the gods ever granted me another chance to be with you, I wouldn't hold back for a second. I would tell you I love you, whisper it in your ear every second until I knew you really believed it; I would hold you; make love to you every day…"

Seto burst into harsh sobs, his body convulsing as he sank even lower on his knees, the fingers pressed tight against his face hiding his tears. I involuntarily stepped even closer, my eyes wide and my mouth hanging open in wonder. So the priest and the pharaoh were together! And Seto seemed completely broken over it. I had never seen anything like this…

I must have made a sound, because Seto jerked up as if burned and leapt to his feet in one smooth, fluid motion. "Tomb robber!" he hissed, glaring at me through eyes still wet with tears, and brandished his Sennen Rod threateningly. "What are you doing here? Did you come to rob Yami's tomb before he's even properly buried!"

I stared back at him levelly. "Actually, yes. And to steal the Sennen Puzzle, in particular," I answered dryly. It was the truth – at least, the truth minus the part where Seto's love confession left me feeling distinctly… unsettled. Then, since Seto looked like he was about to attack me, I waved a hand to summon enough shadows to escape.

Nothing happened.

Oh holy Ra. I forgot my powers were gone.

I spun on a heel and rushed toward the exit to lose myself in the catacombs' labyrinth before Seto could find me, but he was too quick. He held up his Sennen Rod and I froze in my tracks. Seto slowly made his way over to where I stood, stopping directly in front of me so that he towered over me from his impressive height. His eyes flashed; his expression shifted from one of misery to one of pure fury in a matter of seconds. "You did this to him," Seto growled.

With the Rod's magic holding me frozen in place it was hard to speak, but I managed to bark out a rude retort. "It looks like he did it to himself."

The pain flickered back into Seto's gaze for a moment before the fury returned, stronger than ever. "Would you like to know how it feels?" he snarled nastily. "I think that would be a fitting punishment for you – to endure what you put Yami through…" With that, Seto raised the Rod once more and closed his eyes, focusing intently, and the Ring around my neck began to glow. It shone brightly for a brief second before I was engulfed by my beloved shadows.

The last image that passed through my mind before the darkness overtook me was Seto, kneeling and broken beside the tomb of his beloved.

"That's how I got trapped in the Ring," Bakura finished quietly, staring distantly at the floor.

Tears were spilling from my eyes in immeasurable torrents while I tried vainly to catch them with the last, soaked tissue from the box. "Oh, Seto," I murmured softly, burying my face in my hands.

"There's no use crying about it anymore," Bakura said tonelessly. "It's over now. You did what you had to do – you didn't have a choice. And Seto got what he wanted; you two have another chance. If Kaiba is anything like the priest I saw that day, he's not going to give up on you. I never saw anything like that… I still can't get it out of my head. It made me want to feel even half that strongly about someone, because I figured the joy must be even stronger than the heartbreak – that it would be worth the pain, in the end – and it was true. When I'm with Ryou I think I know, just a little, how Seto must have felt…"

I lifted my head from my hands, feeling a tiny grin begin to creep over my face. "So you really think Seto and I have a chance?"

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. When he finds out you're sick he'll come in here with soup and medicine, driving us all crazy until you get over your pathetic little cold. Then before you know it he'll be asking you to move in."

I laughed a little. "I don't know; Seto doesn't really seem like the type to…"

A knock on the door interrupted me. "Yami?" Ryou's voice called. "Kaiba's here. Do you feel well enough to see him?"

"Of course!" I answered, hastily wiping my face and shoving aside the remnants of used tissues cluttering the mattress.

"See, what did I tell you?" Bakura said smugly as he rose from the bed to open the door; and sure enough, Seto stood in the doorway holding a bag from the local drugstore. He and Bakura exchanged suspicious glares as they passed each other – and Bakura shot me a meaningful wink behind Seto's back before he disappeared down the hall.

Seto sat on the bed beside me, kissing me slowly on the lips for a long moment before I broke away. "You'll catch my cold," I muttered mournfully.

He shot me a grin. "So?"

Before I could think of a response to that, Seto spoke again, setting the bag on my nightstand. "I brought you some tissues and cold medicine; I thought you might need it," Seto said. Then he turned and studied my face carefully. "You look red… How are you feeling?" he asked.

A slow smile spread over my face and I leaned in and kissed him once more. "Much better now."

BEGINNING OF LEMON HERE!

Epilogue

I hung the last of my shirts in the elaborate walk-in closet and shut the door with a sigh. "Finally finished, thank goodness," I mumbled. I stared at the door for a second longer. Then I glanced around the empty room. No one was around…

I opened the closet door again and stepped inside, observing the wondrous sight once again of my clothes hanging side-by-side with Seto's. They just looked so right together, and I had the curious feeling that this was where they belonged – together, just like Seto and me.

Was this what love was?

I laughed. I was being ridiculous. But still, I couldn't deny that I liked seeing my things stored next to Seto's, liked the sense of permanence that it gave me. Plus, this way a little of his scent might rub off onto my clothes. Smiling ironically to myself, I stepped forward and pulled out one of Seto's shirts, a long-sleeved white button-up, and buried my face unapologetically in the soft fabric, inhaling his spicy, musky scent.

I should have known he would catch me.

"What are you doing?"

I dropped the shirt, letting it fall into a crumpled mass on the floor as I whirled to face the intruder. It was Seto, of course, staring at me with a bemused smirk etched across his flawless face.

"Nothing," I muttered, my face reddening under his gaze.

"Something you like about my shirt?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really?" A teasing lilt crept into Seto's voice and he inched toward me predatorily as he spoke. He stopped when he hovered painfully close to me, near enough for me to feel the heat radiating from his skin and to automatically shift toward the comforting warmth; but before I could move he leaned even closer, smirking as his face gradually approached mine. One strong, slender hand brushed along my side until it came to rest on my hipbone, his smirk shifting into a seductive grin as our eyes met, his breath now ghosting tantalizingly along my cheek.

I smiled and lifted my chin to meet Seto's lips – but he turned his head and merely reached down to pick up his shirt. "You shouldn't leave this on the floor, it'll wrinkle," Seto chided matter-of-factly.

Then he hung up the shirt and walked away.

After a moment of standing in the middle of the closet, staring after him, I scowled and stomped into the bedroom after Seto. "Kaiba! Don't tease me like that!"

He didn't answer, just crossed his arms and stared at me expectantly. "Fine!" I sighed. "I was smelling your shirt." My face burned as Seto grinned at me again, that familiar cloudy expression spreading through his brilliant blue eyes.

"Why?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Shut up, Kaiba."

"Don't call me Kaiba. And I was just asking a simple question." He strode toward me once again as he spoke, the slow sway of his long, lean legs conveying a vastly different meaning than the so-called simple words. My throat suddenly went dry.

"I… I…"

"Hmm?" Seto murmured.

This time I didn't even try to answer, just stared stupidly at the slim brunet as he closed the distance between us, his arms slipping around my waist and tugging me flush against his chest, while my own arms wrapped familiarly around his neck. I rose to my tiptoes – before Seto could tease me anymore – and pressed my lips against his firm, warm mouth, closing my eyes at the sparking tingle of excited nerves running across our joined lips.

Seto sighed, a deep-throated murmur that vibrated through the chest so achingly close to mine, and as I deepened our kiss his murmur turned into a full-fledged moan, the sound sending a shiver along my spine and turning my limbs to jelly in sudden anticipation. I opened my eyes and locked gazes with the brilliant blue orbs of my gorgeous lover, just as he broke the kiss and slowly pulled away.

Our eyes stayed locked on each other for a long moment, examining each other; maybe just burning the moment into our memories. Or – well, I can't speak for Seto, but I know that I felt that same curious sense of wonder as I had while looking at our clothes hanging side-by-side in the closet. This was forever. Bakura had – amazingly – been right, and not long after I'd gotten over my cold, Seto had proposed. We were engaged now…

And today I'd just started moving in my things. But I got the feeling I wouldn't be leaving again.

"I love you…"

The words slipped unbidden from my lips as I continued staring at Seto, and my mind almost didn't even register the fact that I'd said them as my hands closed the sparse distance between us once again, sliding slowly down his smooth chest to fumble at the hem of his black turtleneck. I leisurely tugged at the shirt, letting the tips of my fingers scrape across the hot, firm skin of Seto's stomach as I pulled the fabric over his head, smiling to myself when he raised his arms to help me.

I stood there for a second and let myself admire his slightly pale yet perfectly muscled chest before I cautiously reached out to him once more, tracing formless patterns across the hot skin with my cold palms and tweaking the hard nipples that rose firm under the base of my thumb.

Seto hissed, a deep shudder running through his lean body, and suddenly this limited contact wasn't nearly enough for either of us.

I rose to my tiptoes and crashed our lips together once again, only to break away almost immediately when Seto's fingers scrabbled at my shirt, furiously tugging at the offending garment and pulling it over my head. As soon as the crumpled fabric dropped aimlessly to the carpet my lips melded against Seto's once more, even as my hands fumbled with the clasp of his tight black pants, unzipping them and slipping daringly inside the fabric. My fingers splayed along his hipbones for a brief second before they crept underneath the elastic of his boxers, inching forward until they cupped his already hard arousal.

Seto hissed again, against my mouth; and, still not breaking contact with my lips, reached down and drew my hands away from their exploration. I mumbled something in disapproval, pulling away from our kiss to glare at him slightly, but Seto interrupted me. "Bed," he said shortly.

I grinned and started to make some sort of reply – though I was never very sure about what exactly I wanted to say – but he cut me off again, this time with another deep, nerve-shattering kiss, and when Seto grabbed my hips I hopped up and wrapped my legs around his waist, gripping his neck once more for support. With me clinging to his middle, trailing wet kisses down his neck and sucking purposefully at that tender spot at the hollow of his collarbone, Seto made his way to the bed, breathing raggedly.

He dropped me at the foot of the bed and I obediently let go of him, only to reach for his waistband again, lightly stroking his arousal through the thin fabric. Seto's breath hitched in his throat and his eyes glazed over with that heart-stopping cloudy expression as I slowly tugged the cloth down his slender, creamy thighs, exposing the firm, delicate skin beneath.

I started to caress that hot skin, relishing every whimper that came from my blue-eyed lover as my fingers threaded and stroked his hard member; but, displaying self-control I didn't know he had, Seto gently placed a hand atop mine and stopped me before I could bring him to release. "No," he murmured.

I blinked in surprise. "But you said…"

Seto smirked. "Off," he ordered, pointing at the leather pants barely constraining my own harsh arousal.

I had to grin, but I obeyed – as if I would really protest – and tugged off my pants, while Seto moved over to the nightstand beside the bed and rummaged around in one of the drawers. As Seto fiddled with the bottle of lubricant I stretched out on my back across the bed, running a hand across my chest and feeling the excited crash of my thundering heart under my fingertips. Every time we did this; even now, when Seto had asked me to stay with him forever, being with him still made my heart race and my nerves splinter, from anticipation of the inevitable euphoria as well as the fear that somehow all this would come crashing to a halt; that I would lose him.

But of course, Seto always reassured me just in time.

"You're so beautiful, Yami," he murmured lowly as he parted my thighs, spreading kisses in a thick trail toward that burning, anxious part of me that throbbed and twitched under his touch; until finally, agonizingly, Seto took me in his mouth and snaked his tongue meticulously along the hot skin.

I cried out in ecstasy, alternating between gripping his shoulders and fisting my fingers in the hair at the base of his scalp as he added his fingers to the detailed dance of his tongue; the lube-covered digits slipping inside me, one, then two, then three, scissoring and scraping against the tiny bundle of nerves that made me cry out once more as white sparks flashed across my field of vision.

At my cry Seto pulled away and I whimpered at the sudden burst of cold air hitting the flesh where his warm, wet mouth had been; but before I could miss the sensation that much he withdrew his fingers, replacing them with his throbbing, pounding member as he sheathed himself inside me. My breath caught in my throat. "Seto…" I moaned.

He started to move, his hard flesh pummeling against that bundle of nerves and sending up white sparks to flash across my eyes once more. Our breaths turned ragged, and I clawed helplessly at Seto's back as he kept pounding a steady rhythm inside me and lifted a shaky hand to grasp at my erection and stroke me at the same rapid pace; until, finally, the waves of heat coiling at the base of my stomach under his careful touch reached a frantic pitch and exploded, sending white fluid spraying onto Seto's stomach as I gasped feverishly at my release.

The rippling aftershocks of my orgasm sent Seto over the edge not long after, and the two of us collapsed beside each other on the bed, tugging the sheets up over us and settling down to sleep, not caring that it was only about two o'clock in the afternoon. Seto wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close against his chest, so that my head fit snugly in the crook of his shoulder, my ear pressed just over the steady thud of his heartbeat.

"…love you…" Seto mumbled, yawning, a minute or two later, and I closed my eyes with a smile, knowing somehow that I would remember this moment forever. After all, some things never leave a person.