Hey everyone! This was originally going to be the last part but so many things happen that it would have been too long. Therefore I'm going to split it into two. And then of course I came up with another idea so there are going to be six chapters. As you can tell from the summary.

And as for wondering what I can do now…don't be surprised that something major happens. After all it was obvious they weren't going to be happy together. Hehe, just call it the authoress causing problems for the little innocent ones…

But before I spoil the plot, I'm going to reply to some reviewers!

Sami Ryou's Hikari – A new reviewer! That always makes me happy. Thank you, you lifted my spirits and now I'm going to continue so that everyone can find out what happens at the end. But although the fact Yugi and Mai liking it may be a good thing, Yugi isn't really that fussy. As long as it's got YY x Y in it, she's happy. And Mai will usually agree with her. But now I'm putting myself down so I'll shut up and let you read the next part.

Yugi and Mai- Hey, don't worry about the late review, it's perfectly understandable. Thanks for the compliments but the YY x Y fluff won't happen until the next chapter. Which I have to finish first…

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or the name Fettuccini (Care Bears). The only things that are mine are the story and the OCs Harry, Silas, Susie, Jenkins and George Smith.

Warning: As a reminder from the first chapter, this is a yaoi story (male x male) so if you don't like it then please don't read and then complain. This part will have no dialect but instead has some place names. These are explained at the end so look out for the numbers in brackets. No swearing but there will be horrible sex stuff with Joey so be careful.

Note: "Blah" is speaking, #blah# is thinking/blah/ is emphasis, xxxxxx is a change of scene and xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx is a change of viewpoint/passing of time.

So let's get on with the third part of 'The Variety Show'!


Part three: A Christmas Requiem

Time passed in its usual fashion, shifting and changing the places and people in the world as events rolled by them, affecting them in different ways. Even the richest people are no exception to this law and soon most of the nobles came to realise how much they cared about the teens they looked after. They were human beings after all who had concerns and they tried to do their best to care for their welfare. They wanted to make them happy, to see them smile at the little things /they/ had always taken for granted. Like being 'normal'. They had never realised how badly others treated you if you didn't look like you were supposed to. Most of them could get away with it but Ryou fared no such luck. Although he had recovered and now could go out in the Sun more often, he didn't dare to for fear of the things he would hear said about him. Malik tried to support him but Ryou would just shut himself off from the rest of the world and refuse to talk about it.

The person who had it the worst though was Joey. His 'master', as he had been forced to call Lord Kaiba, didn't want him to be happy and he didn't care much about his welfare either. The others tried to soften the blows that Kaiba landed, mentally and emotionally, but they knew it was dangerous to get too involved as he had a nasty temper and was not tolerant of people trying to tell him he was doing something wrong. Anyway, the thing was just an animal as far as he was concerned.

Now the trees outside were covered in snow and fires crackled merrily in the houses, keeping their occupants warm. The inhabitants of one particular house were currently chatting and laughing, as well as trying to get a certain Lord /very/ drunk…

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"How many has he had now?" Yami whispered worriedly to Duke who held a bottle of brandy in his hand.

"I'm not sure…but I think this might be the shot that tips him over the scales…" Yami reluctantly held out a tumbler and Duke poured a generous shot before handing it over to Kaiba. "Here you go Kaiba…" He took it, staring blearily at it for a moment before downing it in one go. He remained sitting for a few seconds and then promptly keeled sideways on to the sofa fast asleep.

"And it's a new world record! Kaiba falls asleep after just four shots of brandy!" Malik said excitedly, having watched the whole scene out of the corner of his eye.

"Master…?" Joey asked, kneeling in front of him, a frown on his face.

"Stop calling him that Joey! There's nothing wrong with him, he's merely had a little bit too much to drink. Serves him right, claiming he had a stomach of steel." Duke tisked as he placed the bottle back on the table. "He'll sleep for the rest of the evening and when he wakes up in the morning he'll have forgotten what happened the night before. Don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Joey said hesitantly and when Duke nodded his head, he smiled and stretched loudly. "Then we should put him away."

"You're joking right? Do you know how much he weighs? He takes the whole 'living rich' thing far too seriously, what with the amount he eats." Duke grabbed his legs and lifted them onto the sofa. "He'll be fine like this."

"When are you going to tell him?" Malik suddenly heard whispered in his ear and he whipped around, only to be faced by Bakura. He wondered what he was talking about for a moment when he saw Bakura staring pointedly at the two people sitting on a sofa, one reading a book to the other: Ryou and Marik. He could feel his heart swell at the thought of Ryou, his gentle little angel. He loved him so much but he hadn't told him, instead pouring his feelings out to Bakura, who had surprisingly understood. And now he was bringing the subject up…

"Tonight." Malik said abruptly, quickly coming to the decision that he couldn't put it off any longer if he wasn't going to go insane.

"Then we had better be going…" He heard someone else murmur and realised that it was Yami. How did he know about him and his feelings for Ryou? He was obviously a lot more aware for his age than they first thought. "Come little one, it is your bed time." He said to Yugi, who frowned at being called this, although he would never admit to liking it in the back of his mind.

"What? But it's only ten O'clock and I'm fourteen!" He exclaimed and Yami laughed at the cuteness of Yugi when he was angry. He always bounced a lot…

"Which means it is /well/ after your bedtime." Yugi pouted at this and Yami shrugged his shoulders. "I have seen you shut your eyes half a dozen times at least in the last minute." He explained before picking Yugi up, smiling when he felt his arms go around his neck. "Goodnight everyone." Yami whispered before walking out of the room with Yugi, who had already dozed off again.

"You know, they are a really sweet little couple…" Bakura commented to Malik and he started at this, not expecting something like that to come from him.

"Yes, I guess they are…" He replied before bringing his attention to Ryou who was saying something to the room in general.

"I'm a bit tired too so I'm going now." Seeing his chance to talk to Ryou, Malik made a similar excuse before leaving with Ryou next to him.

Thoughts swam around Malik's head as he thought about how he was going to tell Ryou about his feelings. Should he just kiss him or say it subtly? Starting off gently would be a good idea for the moment…

"What were you reading to Marik?" He asked, remembering the two of them sitting on the sofa.

"'A Christmas Carol' by Dickens. I'm not really sure if he understands it all but he seems to enjoy it anyway. Maybe because it's nearly Christmas and it's something new to him." Ryou replied neutrally, not pointing out that he had never had a Christmas before either. At least not for a long time…

"Yes, Christmas is always nice…" Malik said vaguely and Ryou stopped, puzzled by the way he was acting. So he decided to go for the plunge. "Do you enjoy being here with the others? With me?"

"Of…course I do but…I don't understand, why are you suddenly asking me this?"

"Because…" Malik stepped forward so that Ryou's back was against the banister before gently cupping his face with his hand. "I want you to stay with me forever…" He whispered, bringing his head closer to Ryou's, kissing him…

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryou all but screamed, pushing Malik away from him as he shook from head to toe in fear. What had he done to deserve that…?

"I…I love you…" Why did Ryou look so afraid? Surely he wanted this as well? Didn't he feel the same way? Malik couldn't concentrate properly, there were so many questions going around his head…

"No you don't!" Ryou snapped, turning around and gripping the banister in his anger. "You just wanted to take advantage of me." He muttered, flinching when he felt something touch his cheek: his own tears. He felt so betrayed… "I'm just someshe-sheet (1)to you, aren't I? I trusted you!" His voice was rising and he choked back a sob, still not daring to face Malik.

"But…" Now he had made Ryou cry, he had hurt him, just because of his own /stupid/ feelings! He had promised to always put Ryou first and now he was mad at him. The person he cared about the most in the whole wide world…

"Do you love me?" He sounded so detested, so abhorrent at the suggestion that Malik quickly realised that Ryou couldn't handle the truth now. He didn't want to lie to him but if it meant him being happier than he would otherwise, then he was willing to put away his heart, for him…

"No, I don't." Those words felt like he was being stabbed at his soul, his very reason for living but he said them anyway, they /had/ to be said.

"Then I have to go-"

"Is that not what you wanted me to say?" Wait, he didn't think this would happen, what did he mean by having to leave? Where was he going to go? He certainly couldn't be considering Fettuccini…

"I don't know, I don't know. Please don't ask me, just let me go…" He pushed himself away from the banister and started to walk back down the stairs, trying to avoid Malik's eyes. He didn't want to know what he was thinking, he didn't want to give himself an excuse to stay here…

"Will you be gone forever?" He had to say those words so that he would know; he didn't want to be in doubt for the rest of his life, to wait for something that would never happen… Ryou didn't say anything, now starting down the stairs and Malik assumed he hadn't heard him. Not that the answer would have mattered, he would have waited for all eternity if necessary until he returned.

"Wait Ryou!" He heard a shout from a room and saw Yugi standing at the doorway, looking a lot more awake than he had before. "We promised each other that we were going to stay together." He bounded down the stairs until he was level with Ryou and stared at him, able to see his eyes where Malik couldn't. He wondered what they looked like…

"And you're not going without me. I made that promise too, remember?" People seemed to be coming out of the woodwork, now Tristan was there too, walking towards Ryou.

"Yugi, what are you doing awake? I thought you were asleep." Ryou said, ignoring their comments about him leaving.

"Well your yelling woke me up! Anyway, you're trying to ignore what I just said!"

"You're not coming with me…" Ryou muttered, striding to the entrance as everyone else watched on.

"Ryou you could lock us up and we'd still come with you because we don't break promises so don't try and be all noble on us!" Tristan said loudly, catching up with him and grabbing his arm. "Some people…"

"Ryou…?" He turned around and saw Marik staring at him with wide eyes. His speaking had improved while he was here although he had more trouble with reading. He knew what was going on, Bakura had talked to him about Malik and he thought Marik hadn't really understood but he did. He just felt sad for Malik…

"Marik I have to go but look after Joey please? He's going to need you more than he needs us…" They looked over at Joey but he didn't notice their gazes, seeming to be in his own world.

"And you're needed too/he'll/ need you rest of his life." Marik replied and Ryou was eerily reminded of what Malik had said to him. But how could he know about that?

"No one needs me Marik except for Fettuccini."

"Don't go back Ryou, he doesn't deserve you." Marik snapped, shaking his head. "We need you make us laugh but I understand why you go. Not too long though?" Ryou didn't reply to this, instead hugging Marik tightly before turning away, a wall of silence to anything else said to him.

"Yugi, if you are going then I want you to have this." Yami knelt down beside Yugi and he watched as Yami took his hand and placed something in it, curling his fingers around it afterwards. "Maybe you will remember me sometimes." He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe you will come back one day…" He whispered to himself, making sure he didn't cry in front of him. He knew that Yugi's friends were the most important thing to him and he wasn't going to get in his way.

"Of course I'll remember you, don't be silly! As if I could forget." Yami smiled at this, that was why he loved Yugi, he was always so cheerful.

#Why I…love him? Do I?# There was no point in thinking about this now that he was leaving. But still…

Yugi opened his hand and stared at the ring, a simple gold band which seemed to say so much, before looking at Yami kneeling on the floor in front of him, his eyes bright and he threw his arms around him, burying his face in Yami's shoulder. He felt Yami bringing him in closer and sighed, closing his eyes.

"I'll miss you…" Yami heard those words and his heart fluttered slightly. "I'll come back one day, I promise. As soon as we get Ryou to realise the truth." He added and Yami nodded his head, watching as Yugi stood up straight and went to the door to where Ryou was.

They left, although they didn't know where they were going to go or what would happen to them once they got there. Everything seemed to be against them, including the weather: cold and still. They saw people's tracks in the snow as they made their journeys and wondered where they would end up. They merely followed Ryou, not looking back to see the door closing behind them, cutting off the light of their friends.

"Thank you for the drink by the way /Duke/." The six of them spun around at the voice and saw Kaiba standing at the doorway of the drawing room, looking slightly annoyed to say the least.

"That's quite all right." Duke replied with a grin and just as Kaiba looked like he was going to kill him, he looked at the clock, hearing the bell sound. "Oh would you look at how late it is…I think it's time I went on now."

"Hmm, Christmas tomorrow. Well early Merry Christmas to everyone then." Kaiba said, surprisingly happy at his words but then he frowned, looking around. "Where are the others? Surely they are not asleep already are they?"

Their attention was brought to Malik who had started crying, thinking of Ryou being out there at Christmas when it was so cold and dangerous. Yami went over to comfort him but he stood up suddenly, running up the stairs and slamming his bedroom door shut.

"What did I say?" Kaiba asked but no one replied.

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Harry wandered the streets of London, letter in hand, trying to find the person he had been paid to give the envelope to. He thought back to the conversation he and Master Yami had had, where he had been handed this letter and told to give it to a boy called Yugi. He didn't ask how they were related; it wasn't his job to pry into others' business. He had been a friend of Yami's grandfather while he was alive and used to take Master Yami around London when he was little, able to blend in better than the aristocrats were. This skill was well used, with some of the upper class asking him to send things where it would have looked suspicious if they had gone instead.

The main problem was that Master Yami had no idea where Yugi and the others were, merely assuming they were still in London. So although Harry was having to do a lot of searching, at least he was being paid well for it. Which was important, especially as he was getting too old for most work now. It was just lucky he knew London and its inhabitants as well as he did. Which meant it wouldn't be too hard to find someone who had seen a midget, albino and contortionist together.

"Hello Harry…" Hmm, the slimy voice instantly brought images of greasy black hair, a long black, dirty coat and a hooked nose. It could only be Silas.

"Hello Silas." He said with resignation, that man was always causing trouble wherever he went; it was like he had a curse or something. But he was useful for finding out information about what was going on so he might know where this Yugi was.

"I've heard a few things recently…" He started and Harry sighed, passing over a coin, which he took greedily. This was how it went; he would talk but only for a price. "There seems to be a ruffle going on amongst the brothels." Harry wasn't quite sure how this was related to his search but he gave some more money anyway. "Yes, there's rumours going around that men are looking for new flesh, young male flesh…that is."

"And?" Harry still wasn't making the connections and so gave yet another coin, hoping that Master Yami was going to pay him /extremely/ well. He couldn't afford to keep doing this.

"Well there's one that looks a lot like your master…" He hinted and Harry's eyes widened, finally realising what he was trying to say. "And a pale one too… I can understand of course, they're such pretty little things." Harry growled and grabbed Silas by the collar, bringing him up to eye level.

"Where are they?" He snarled, tightening his grip when it looked like he was going to ask for more money. "And no lies."

"All right!" He yelled and was instantly dropped. He brushed himself down before leering up at Harry. "They're not too far from here actually, up Haymarket (2)."

"What the hell are they doing there?"

"I don't know, that's just where they were last seen. They might have moved by now of course, that was a couple of days ago." It was obvious Silas wasn't going to say anything else so Harry left him to whatever, no doubt /illegal/ activity he had been engaging in.

Being in the Haymarket was bad; no wonder they had been noticed by brothel owners. But the thing about men wanting 'male flesh', as Silas had so poetically put it, seemed unusual to Harry. There weren't many male prostitutes, at least not in this part of London; there just wasn't any demand for them. Which must mean that something big was happening (3)… But he could contemplate on this matter later. The most important thing was to now get to Haymarket and ask around the residents for the location of Yugi and hope he wasn't too late.

xxxxxx

"Yes, I know who you're talking about. Short little freaky squirt with those queer friends of his; usually hang around Windmill Street (4). I've heard the rumours about them and I'm not really surprised they've come about if they insist on hanging around /there/." Harry was talking to Susie, one of the local girls and he had apparently hit the jackpot. Now he had a street name, not a nice one but it was the best he could have hoped for.

Thanking her with a few coins, he moved onto Windmill Street and almost straight away spotted the three of them sitting together down an alleyway. By now it was late afternoon and Harry's feet ached, only serving to remind him that he wasn't getting any younger. Standing quite near them, he managed to catch Yugi's eye and wondered at the similarity to Master Yami.

#Maybe they're brothers? But Master Yami has no brothers; I've known his family long enough to know that.# His thoughts were interrupted by a small voice.

"Excuse me sir, can I help you?" Damn, no wonder there was so much interest in him, he was so naïve! But there was something familiar about him, like he had heard that voice before. He couldn't wonder about it now though, he had to get them to move on.

"I was asked to deliver this to you by someone you know." He handed over the letter and Yugi took it, staring at the blank front.

"Who is it from?"

"Read it and find out." Harry wasn't sure if Yami wanted his name mentioned so didn't mention him, just in case. "Another tip, I'm not sure what's written inside but I can tell you that you should move out of here, maybe even out of London."

"Out of London? Why?" Yugi asked, shock evident in his voice. Where would they go if they had to move?

"Because you're getting a lot of what I would call 'unwanted' attention. If you want to see my master again or stay with each other you will heed my advice." Yugi seemed to look out onto the street where heavily made up women walked up and down, occasionally accosted by smartly dressed men. "Yes, I'm talking about that." Harry added, guessing that was what Yugi was looking at.

"Thank you for telling me-" He stopped suddenly and blushed. "I'm sorry sir; I didn't hear what your name was. Or your master's name."

"My name is Harry, my master's name is not important." Yugi looked slightly disappointed when he heard this and Harry smiled comfortingly. "But maybe the letter is about meeting up with them."

"Yes, maybe…" Yugi took something out of his pocket and stared it at for a moment before replacing it. "Thank you for giving this to me."

"That is quite all right Master Yugi but now I must go before the night falls." Harry wrapped his coat tighter around himself and Yugi nodded his head in agreement.

"Yes, we should be going too. Goodbye, maybe we'll see each other again." Yugi said cheerfully, watching as Harry disappeared back out of the alleyway, dodging the passers-by on the street.

"Yugi, what was that about?" Tristan asked when he turned back to them.

"He gave me a letter and told me to read it, said it was important." Yugi bit his lip, remembering the other thing Harry had said. "And apparently there's some people who've noticed us…bad people…" He whispered and the others could only imagine what this meant.

"So what does the letter say?" Ryou said and Yugi looked at it once more, hoping, wishing that it was from whom he thought it was from. Well, there was only one way to find out… He ripped it open and his eyes scanned along the lines so fast that he had to reread it to understand what it said.

Dear Yugi,

I hope this finds you in safe hands and that Tristan and Ryou are good too. I am sorry if you did not want to hear from me again but I thought that you should know we will all be moving to our country estates soon as the London season is now over.

If you did wish to come and find me again, it would be best if you went to Lord Kaiba as he is the nearest to London. He is located in Bedfordshire, around 40 miles from London.

I must go now, I seriously doubt this letter was wanted in the first place but I had to. I hope you can understand.

Yami.

"And that's it…" Yugi ended once he had read the letter out to them. For some strange reason, reading the last paragraph hurt Yugi a lot. #Why does Yami think I don't want to hear from him?# He hadn't read that bit out to them, somehow he didn't think they would understand.

"Well maybe if they're moving to the country and we aren't safe here then we should go to them." Tristan suggested and Yugi nodded his head in agreement, desperate to see Yami. Ryou however didn't say anything and Tristan turned to him. "Ryou?"

"I-err…" He looked up at their faces and saw the pain in Yugi's eyes. He knew that deep in his heart, Yugi had never wanted to leave, only doing so because of him. #I've been so selfish, they don't need to be here with me… I'll go with them to Lord Kaiba's mansion and then move on somewhere else…#

"It sounds like a good idea to me…" Yugi said quietly, hoping to get a reaction out of Ryou. He hated seeing him look so sad and thoughtful all the time.

"Yes, let's go and find the mansion. It'll be safer if we keep moving than if we stay here at least." Ryou said and this seemed to set them on their journey.

As they left the alleyway, they felt eyes on them and quickened their pace, afraid that someone might catch up to them. Yugi held the letter tightly in his hand, the thought running through his mind that Yami had held this, it had a trace of his spirit on it and he tried to envelop it, to make it a part of himself. He continued to follow Tristan, wondering what was going on with not just Yami but the others too. Especially Joey and Marik…

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Joey and Marik held each other as they waited for Lord Kaiba to come. It had happened nearly every night, he would come and try and split them up, take Joey away to do horrible things to him and had only been stopped so far by the fact that Marik refused to let go. But somehow they knew tonight would be different, that they could no longer put it off. And that scared them…

"Marik, I don't want to go…" Joey whispered, burying his face in Marik's chest while he gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"I never let you go willingly, he never have your soul…" Marik replied and Joey looked up to smile at him…until they heard the door slam open.

"Where are you mongrel?" Joey cowered away from the person that voice belonged to, the voice that haunted him in his sleep, taunting and cursing. But he caved in, it was his nature…after all, he was just a dog.

"Yes master?" Joey breathed, sitting up on the bed, head bowed in respect as usual. The perfect image of a cowering slave…

"Get here now and you-" He stopped and pointed at Marik. "Do not even think of getting in the way. I have had it up to here with your pathetic attempts to protect the animal!" He shouted and Marik glared in response, putting his arms around Joey.

"I won't let you near him; you want do bad things to him!" Marik kept a tight hold on the paralysed Joey while Kaiba stepped forward quickly, grabbing Joey's arm and pulling him away from Marik.

"And what authority do /you/ have to say something like that to me?" Kaiba said smugly before dragging Joey out of the room.

"BAKURA!" Marik screamed, running after them. "BAKURA!"

"What the hell is happening here, it sounds like there's a war going on!" Bakura commented blearily as he stepped out of his room, unable to ignore the wail-like cry of Marik. Then he saw the people standing in front of him. "Change of subject, what the hell are /you/ doing Kaiba?"

"Do not even think about trying to do anything Bakura…" They stared at each other in silence before Bakura bowed his head slightly. You didn't want to get on the bad side of Kaiba; he had a nasty habit of not going away once you had wronged him.

Marik saw the look of defeat on Bakura's face and shook his head madly from side to side, unable to believe that he wasn't going to do anything about it. He had protected them before but now… Bakura took the shaking Marik into his arms, trying to console him, rocking him back and forth gently so that he wouldn't notice that Kaiba had gone. Not that he would have been able to do anything anyway…

"Shush Marik…" He looked down at the tear-streaked face that still managed to have the air of defiance about it.

"Why didn't you do anything? Why you just let him go?" He demanded quietly and Bakura sighed, knowing that Marik wasn't going to understand. This could take a while…

xxxxxx

Joey was practically thrown into the room and immediately turned around in order to see where Kaiba was and what he was going to do. He couldn't afford to take his eye off him…

"Now then /dog, you are going to do as I say or I promise I will make your life even more miserable than it already is…" Kaiba hissed, taking a step forward.

"How? I don't think it can get much worse!" Joey snapped before realising the position he was in and that talking back at the master probably wasn't a good thing.

"Well at the moment you have Marik. But you know, that can change quite easily…" Joey gasped, backing away from the obviously insane man in front of him. "That is it, keep going…"

Wondering what he was talking about, Joey risked a quick glance behind him, only to stop suddenly when he saw the bed. Surely he didn't mean he wanted him to…get on it? That only ever ended in one thing and Joey didn't want that to happen to him.

"You know, you are just delaying the inevitable…" Kaiba whispered, taking a few steps so that he was lot more closer than Joey would have liked.

"No, I would have to say that I'm quite happy here." Joey said bravely, trying to keep the stutter out of his voice. He didn't really want the master to find out how frightened he was.

"Well, I am not happy here. In fact, I think /here/ would be a lot better." He suddenly swept Joey up in his arms and quickly placed him on the bed, sitting back slightly, enjoying this game of breaking the thing.

"Now, I wasn't quite expecting it would go like this…" He tried to make a joke out of it and when Kaiba started laughing, so did he.

"Oh you are so funny little puppy but that is not going to save you."

Joey gulped as Kaiba swooped forward, pushing him into the bed with his weight and grabbing his arms, pinned them above him and fiddled with something for a moment before Joey heard two clicks. Nothing else happened and so Joey opened his eyes, wiggling his hands slightly at the same time. He felt something slide against the wood of the bed and a horrible thought suddenly struck him. Something that involved handcuffs…

"You really suit being chained up you know. So much more easier to get at…" And with that, he lowered his face towards Joey's body while he lay there, waiting for it to end…

He gasped when he felt a hand snaking upwards to his shoulders, pausing to stroke his neck before ripping the flimsy shirt covering his chest. He could feel the hairs rising on his body and looked away, he hated seeing himself, it was a reminder of what he was in Kaiba's eyes…

"So it is not just on your face then…" He allowed a moment to feel the softness of the hair that ran down his neck, chest and stomach, stopping when he reached his navel. "Shall we see if it goes down here too?"

"No, don't…" Joey cried out, trying to wind away from his touch, failing because of the weight on his legs.

"Are you sure? I would really like to know what is down there…" And with that Kaiba roughly pulled down Joey's trousers, smirking when he saw that hair did indeed go further down. He glanced up at Joey, his smile increasing when he saw the look of discomfort on Joey's face. "Do not worry; I will be seeing this many more times. Anyway, I am bored of being nice now so just close your eyes, it will soon be over."

Kaiba quickly undressed, not noticing the shivering figure underneath him before finally allowing himself to kiss his prized possession. The contrast of his smooth lips and fuzzy face tingled Kaiba's senses for the first time in his life and he yearned to feel it again, to feel more than just their lips together. He pressed his body against his once more before grabbing the mongrel's hips and finally conquering what was his.

The friction, the heat, the hot blood running down himself was what Kaiba got as a welcome and he paused once he was fully inside to gauge the situation. He hadn't imagined it like this, he had always thought that once he started he wouldn't be able to stop himself but that was simply not the case. In fact he wanted to turn to the animal and see what was happening with him. Hmm, something was definitely wrong in his head…

His thoughts were broken when he noticed warmth on its face and the smell of sharp, tangy salt. He saw the screwed up concentration and the wet tracks and leaned on his elbows, looking down at the face that refused to return his gaze.

"Am I hurting you?"

Joey's eyes opened suddenly, panicked when he heard the question. He was trying so hard to avoid the current agony he was in but it obviously wasn't good enough. He had to say something or the master would be mad at him…

"No…" He replied, making an effort to look into the master's eyes.

"You are lying." Joey thought for a moment, trying to think of how to persuade him but nothing came.

"It's just the handcuffs rubbing my wrists." He eventually said and Kaiba leant even closer.

"You are lying again and I do not like that."

"I'm not…" Joey moaned, trying to turn away from him. "Please! Just don't hurt me!" He looked up at his face but he merely continued to stare at him. "PLEASE!"

Kaiba was taken aback by the sudden vigour in Joey as he kicked and yelled, trying to get away from him. Kaiba quickly lifted himself away from Joey's legs and undid the handcuffs, helping him to sit up afterwards. After realising he was free, Joey did the first thing that came into his head: get as far away from the master as possible.

Kaiba watched him leap off the bed with a tinge of sadness, increasing as he saw Joey rattle the door handle and realising it was locked, run into the corner where he hid, rocking back and forth. He grabbed a blanket lying at the end of the bed and holding it out in front of him, he crept towards Joey so he wouldn't scare him.

"No master, please don't hurt me!" Joey wailed, looking up and noticing him knelt beside him.

"I do not want to hurt you; I just want to stop you from getting cold." Kaiba explained, offering the blanket to prove his words. Joey took it hesitantly and wrapped it around himself, smiling slightly afterwards.

"Thank you master."

"Joey, I want you to stop calling me that. Just call me Seto." He was putting a lot of trust in Joey; no one ever said his first name in front of him without facing dire consequences. But Joey was closer to him than anyone else, which was odd because he never noticed it before.

"Yes Master Seto."

"No, you just say Seto. Do not say master." Kaiba reiterated, wondering if Joey would understand.

"But…you're master. I can't call you something else master."

"Stop saying that! Why can you not get it through your thick skull?" He snarled, only for Joey to yelp before stumbling backwards along the wall again. #Well done Seto, you have done it now…# He silently berated himself, knowing Joey wouldn't go near him again.

"I'm sorry, I try so hard master-" He clapped his hand over his mouth, knowing he had said the bad word again. He stared at Kaiba for a moment before bursting into tears. "Please, don't get me on the bed again…"

"I will not Joey; I just need you to calm down for a minute."

"Yes…Seto." He said slowly, nodding his head as he wiped the tears away with a hand.

"See, you can do it." Kaiba said, praising Joey and he gave a lop-sided smile. "Now, I am going to open the door so you can go back to your room. Is that good for you Joey? We will talk whenever you want to. I promise I will not do anything else."

When Joey nodded his head, Kaiba stood up, pausing for a moment to stretch his legs before unlocking the door and opening it. He then stepped away from Joey's path, allowing him to practically run out of the room before closing the door and collapsing on his bed.

The Lord stared at the ceiling blankly, trying to collect his thoughts on what had just happened and what he was going to do now. Would Joey ever trust him again? Did it matter? His mind should have been saying no but it wasn't, in fact it seemed to be the most important thing of all, that Joey liked and trusted him. He didn't understand though, why did he suddenly start feeling like this about some worthless old dog?

He was surprised when he heard a soft knock on the door and after making some noise of acknowledgement, it opened and Kaiba saw Joey standing there, looking a little nervous. He stepped into the room, shrouded in darkness when he closed the door and he went over to the bed, stopping a few feet away in respect.

"Joey…?" Kaiba prompted after he had stood there for several minutes without saying anything.

"Can I stay here tonight?" He suddenly asked, withdrawing more into himself as he said so he'd be protected against the abuse he was sure to get.

"Yes…of course you can but…" Kaiba hadn't expected him to be willing to talk to him after being so afraid a moment ago. Something big must have happened. "Can I ask why? What about Marik?"

"He's asleep…and I didn't want to disturb him…and…Bakura…" Joey whispered, his voice so soft Kaiba wondered if it was going to break. Then what he said suddenly clicked.

#Huh, I /knew/ Bakura had a soft spot for him.# He smirked at this news but quickly removed it, seeing Joey's large eyes staring at him, like a frozen animal. "I just wondered. Come on then, you must be tired…" But still Joey didn't move, he just continued to gaze at him. Kaiba was just about to get annoyed when he paused to think. #There must be something about me…# He looked down at himself, blushing just slightly when he saw he was still naked. Obviously Joey thought he was going to try something.

#Somehow, him blushing makes this situation seem slightly better.# This thought cheered Joey up, although not enough to get any closer. Not until he put something on…

Kaiba quickly put on his earlier abandoned clothes and then turned to Joey again, to make sure he had this approval when he noticed that he still only had the blanket, although he didn't look too cold…

"Do you want to put your things on too?" He said gently and Joey smiled slowly, shaking his head as though he was just about to fall sleep.

"No, sleep would be just fine…" He murmured in reply before finally getting into the bed, snuggling into the pillows before closing his eyes.

Kaiba pondered on the innocence of him and how he could achieve it so easily, despite what had happened to him when he suddenly realised how tired he was too. So he followed Joey's example and got into bed too, smiling when he felt the warm body lying beside him, although he was careful not to get too close to him. But that didn't matter as he felt Joey move towards him anyway, eventually lying near enough to be able to leach some heat off Kaiba before settling down once more and going to sleep.

xxxxxx

"Come on Marik..." Bakura had decided to leave the explanation for now; Marik was obviously not in the mood to listen.

So instead, Bakura led him back to his room, pulling back the covers and helping him in to bed. Marik's sobbing had decreased and now his eyes were red from all the crying he had done. After wiping the tears away, Bakura stood up to leave but Marik grabbed his hand, forcing him back down.

"No, don't go! I no want be here on my own!" A fresh set of tears started to fall down his face and Bakura shifted closer, trying to comfort him.

"Shush Marik; I will not go if you do not want me to." Bakura whispered, squeezing his hand in reassurance. Marik remained silent for a while and Bakura thought he was finally falling asleep when he suddenly sat up, startling him.

"Bakura, I hear what's happening and I no want to. He do nasty things to Joey..." He clapped his hands over his ears as though he was trying to hide from the noises. "Please say something."

"What would you like me to say?"

"Anything! Just...something."

"Well, now is as good a time as any to tell you some things I probably should have mentioned before." Marik heard the tone in Bakura's voice and frowned, not understanding. "I mean, do you know why you are here?" That was an odd question; of course Marik knew why he was here.

"Because you bought me from master."

"No, that is how you got here. I mean why?"

"Because...I don't know. But that no matter as long as /you/ know why." Marik smiled, trying to make an increasingly depressed looking Bakura to smile or laugh.

"If you had the chance to go back, back to before Fettuccini, would you take it?" Bakura suddenly asked and Marik's face screwed up as he saw flashes of running and puffs of warm air floating in front of his face. He wasn't sure whether remembering all of this was a good thing or not but now it was at the front of his mind.

"There was snow you know…" He said softly, scooping up air in front of him as though to show this. "It was so pretty and perfect. Now, there no snow." He glanced around the room and sighed, seeing how humid everything was compared to where he had been before. But then his eyes rested on Bakura, his wary expression and he wondered: snow or Bakura? "Snow goes…" He said aloud, gasping quietly when he realised he had said it aloud.

"Yes, it does." Bakura's eyes fell onto the sheets and he shifted closer. "Things change Marik, like…why you are here."

"What?"

"Erm…well the reason Fettuccini took you was because I asked him to find someone like you." Marik sat still for a moment, taking this in. He was here because of what he was, not /who/ he was. This new revelation surprised Marik and he rested his head on his hand, refusing to look at Bakura.

"Oh." He couldn't muster the energy to say anything else, and Bakura hurried on with his explanation.

"But as I said, things change. I know you think-"

"But you don't…" Marik whispered, feeling smaller by the second. "My thoughts are secret. You know…nothing…"

"I am sorry if that is how you feel. I know…" He paused and thought about what he was going to say. "I have just said something that is bad but I had to tell you the truth, or what was the truth. It probably will not change things but I…really like you."

Marik looked up at this, gazing at the slight blush on Bakura's cheeks. His last words filled his mind, making him question once more how he felt about Bakura. He was angry with him, he had felt betrayed, he had lost his trust in him. But now…everything had suddenly lurched again in the opposite direction to his previous feelings. He still felt a small amount of confusion though, what had he exactly meant?

"Like…Malik likes Ryou?" Marik questioned, joining Bakura in his blushing.

"I-"

Marik crawled forward and wrapping his arm around Bakura's neck, pulled him down to kiss him, his lips like butterflies against Bakura's skin. He felt the wings and captured them, feeling their shape and texture, the coolness they produced as they fluttered. He held them for a moment before letting go; watching them drift away as he finally looked once again at the owner of this delicate creature. The moment of peace he felt was broken by the sudden, unexpected question.

"Well how about now?" Marik said in all sincerity and Bakura smiled to himself before taking his hand.

"I love you Marik." He stated, pulling him into a tight embrace. Marik snuggled into the warmth, dragging Bakura down onto the bed so they were staring at each other, side by side.

"Good…" Marik said before briefly kissing Bakura on the lips and pulling the covers over them. "Love you too."

xxxxxx

Joey woke up the next morning and frowned, feeling something holding onto him. He quickly realised Kaiba's arm had slid across him, pulling him closer than before, tickling him slightly every time he moved. Joey put his hand across his mouth to stop himself from laughing as he continued to study the person lying next to him.

Kaiba's frame overall was relaxed, holding none of the usual stiffness that Joey had seen every day as he had watched him, afraid of what he might do if he made the wrong move. It had all culminated last night when he had… Joey squeezed his eyes shut; knowing that the tears were going to fall if opened them again.

#Why am I here? Lying here like this? I should hate him but my mind keeps saying that he's good, that he didn't want to hurt me. But he did, otherwise he would never have…# He heard rustling nearby and his eyes snapped open, instantly concerned by the cause of it.

"I am sorry Joey; I should never have let you sleep here. You did not want it and I forced you, against your will." Kaiba got out of bed and went to a cupboard, opening the doors and peering into it before picking out some clothes and travelling across to the en-suite bathroom. "You can go back to Marik now; I will not say anything to you again."

Kaiba walked into the bathroom but quickly realised that because he had woken up so early, there was no hot water ready for him but he didn't feel like going down and demanding any. So instead he sank to the floor, arms around his knees, hugging himself as he thought about what he had done. He hadn't felt anything like this since he had been adopted by Clarence all those years ago, suddenly arriving in a big house, alone and not knowing what was happening. Joey had probably felt like that too when he had first come and /he/ had hardly helped matters, ordering around and humiliating him as much as possible merely for his own amusement.

He wondered what Joey was doing now, although he quickly realised that it shouldn't really matter to him anymore since he would never want to be near him again. He ignored the knock on the door, knowing that whoever it would eventually go away, too scared to actually go in. How had he let it get like that…?

"Kaiba, what happened?" He was surprised when he saw that it was Bakura, he had assumed his appalling actions last night would have put him off for life. But he was here anyway… "Joey is sitting on your bed and he is really upset. He will not stop crying, he is saying that you keep changing your mind but he will not tell us about what."

Kaiba just about acknowledged the fact that Bakura was now sitting next to him before sighing and burying himself back in his misery, not noticing the look of sincere concern on the Duke's face.

"Please say something. They are both getting hysterical out there; I think they are trying to out cry each other." Kaiba looked up in puzzlement. "Marik and Joey."

"Oh." He stopped, thinking about what Bakura had just said. "I thought Joey would have been happy, not having to talk to me anymore." Bakura quickly took this into account before hitting the Lord just hard enough to get his full attention.

"Look, Joey is really confused; he does not know what he is supposed to think about you anymore. He should totally hate you but that is just not in his nature and he cannot handle it. I do not know exactly what happened but you must have been slightly nice to him and now you are being so cold and it is not helping him." Bakura sighed and rubbed his face with his hand. "And now Marik is crying too because Joey is sad and you are the only person who can make him happy again."

"But I do not know what to do. I said I was sorry, I told him that he did not have to talk to me again, that he could stay with Marik from now on! What else can I do?" Kaiba stood up, facing away from Bakura. "I cannot make him happy; all I have done so far is tried to make his life as miserable as possible."

"But that does not seem to matter to him, he just wants to be able to decide something but he cannot if you keep changing your attitude towards him. Just go in there and see what he says."

"What if he does not though? He could just sit there in silence…" Kaiba moaned, resting his head against the wall, banging it lightly.

The door opened and Kaiba was aware of someone sitting in front of Bakura, crying as they were embraced by him: Marik.

"Please…he won't stop." Kaiba heard Marik sniffle quietly. Suddenly Kaiba decided to go out there: somehow it was up to him to do something about this whole mess and obviously Joey wasn't going to do anything until they talked. Which meant that Marik wasn't going to stop either and that would upset Bakura, who would moan at him… It was one big vicious cycle.

"Stay in here for now please." He requested before walking towards the door and shutting them off from what was about to happen.

Kaiba stood for a moment to watch Joey sitting on the bed, head bowed, every part of him perfectly sculpted as the Sun glinting in from the window lit up his golden hair. He looked like a statue, made to be admired and he did so until he heard a quiet whimper from the figure who turned to stare at him with wide doe eyes. Seto sat on the bed beside him, legs folded underneath, and he waited for Joey to say something.

"Where's Marik? I thought you said you were going to leave me…" Joey whispered and Kaiba frowned. Why the hell was Bakura telling him to be here if this was all Joey was going to say?

"I did but Bakura said you were upset!" Kaiba breathed in deeply to regain his composure, glancing at Joey. "Just tell me what you want."

"I want-" Joey stopped, frowning slightly. "I want you to tell me the truth."

"The truth about what?"

"Everything. Everything to do with you and how you feel. Do I repulse you that much?" Kaiba was stunned at the last question, where did Joey get that idea from? And why did his feelings suddenly matter?

"Joey, you do not repulse me. I do not know why you think that, but you do not. My actions have been…" Kaiba winced slightly as he thought about what he had done to him. "Well, they have been pretty appalling and I do not really have an excuse for them. Even if I did, you probably would not want to hear it anyway. Things have been odd since last night, I realised then that I have been missing the whole point really. It is hard to describe what I mean…"

"Tell me what your excuse is. There must a reason…is there?" Joey said, looking so innocent with the sheet just covering him as his hands rested in his lap.

"I only know that I have always been like this. There is not really anyone in my life to whom I am close to and when I saw you, I just saw you as something to control. It is not really an excuse though…" Joey seemed to frown in agreement with his last statement.

"So how do you feel about me now?" Joey took one of Kaiba's hands and placed it on his chest, near his heart, watching him carefully to see his reaction. He kept still, feeling the warmth which Joey radiated through the hair. He knew Joey was waiting for him to show some sign of repulsion but to be honest, he found Joey the most fascinating person he had ever met. A person, not just an object.

"I just want you to give me a second chance. So that I can prove how much you mean to me." He hesitantly removed his hand from Joey's chest but he didn't seem to notice, wondering whether he should fight against what he knew to be a genuine attempt at being nice.

"More than your pride?"

This question caused Kaiba to seriously pause and consider how he could answer without appearing to be sarcastic or inflaming Joey's obvious vulnerability which caused him to be oversensitive to everything said. In the end, he came to the conclusion that it was impossible to please Joey so he did his best.

"I am sorry Joey; I don't know how to answer that. But I know that sometimes I make mistakes, as is obvious here." He stood up and started to pace in front of him. "I was meant to control you, to bend you to my will but I realised that it is impossible to do that to someone who has managed to change your thinking so dramatically that he does not know what to believe anymore. To be that person Joey, you have to mean a lot; I cannot believe that you are less important than my pride when you were the one who broke it." He stopped at this and sagged onto the bed again; facing away from Joey so that he wouldn't see that sight that he had let no human ever see: the shining tears ready to fall and stain his prefect, cold mask. "My words mean little though. There is no comparison between them and you…"

He stiffened slightly when he felt warm arms envelop him from behind, keeping his head bowed when Joey slid himself closer so that he was sitting to the side of Kaiba, peering underneath his fringe to see what he was trying to hide. When he saw the silvery track sliding down, forming cracks in the marble of his face, he lifted his face slightly with his hand so he could look at him properly.

"Thank you, Seto…" Joey whispered before pressing his lips to Seto's, desperate to warm up the stone coldness of his mouth and break the spell that had been cast upon him. Just the way Joey said his name was shattering to his senses…

Seto pulled away; confused about what was happening to him, how Joey could want to be near him now he was showing how vulnerable he was. Everyone else in his life had told him that weakness was bad but for some reason, Joey was bathing in it, exposing it more than Seto could even consider possible without facing some form of retribution. Joey stared at him, able to work out what was going through him as he kissed him again.

"Seto, showing emotion isn't weak. Please don't hide from me…" He saw the hope in Joey's eyes and the wall finally crumbled away, leaving Seto free to show his emotions.

He savoured the taste on Joey's lips, the warmth of their bodies so close together and he thought the moment would last forever until he heard a quiet cough from the corner of the room. Looking up sharply, he saw Bakura and Marik standing there together, giving each other knowing looks as they walked through the room.

"Just thought we should leave before things get too heated round here…" Bakura said cryptically, shaking his head slightly as they neared the door.

"/Please, I am not the one who has a penchant for leather!" Kaiba retorted, ready to face Bakura in whatever battle came next while Marik and Joey just rolled their eyes.

"No, you just prefer the /natural/ look." Bakura commented, looking pointedly at the two of them sat on the bed wearing very little.

"Right, that is it!"

And with that Kaiba leapt off the bed, running after Bakura out of the room. Joey could feel himself blushing slightly at the reference Bakura had made and quickly searched around for the night shirt which had been discarded last night, getting up to find a pair of trousers he could wear to make himself feel better. Once he was done he finally had time to appreciate the fact that Seto and Bakura were acting like children. He turned to Marik and laughed as he headed towards the door to see what would happen next.

"Does he /really/ like leather?" Joey said to Marik and he pouted, putting his hands on his hips.

"You trying to say I already know the answer to that?" Marik replied in mock huffiness and Joey burst out laughing, finally leaving the room and one very confused Marik, who eventually followed.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You don't suppose that person gave us the wrong directions just to give himself a laugh do you?" Tristan said in his usual upbeat manner as they trekked across yet /another/ field. They didn't realise it was possible for there to be so much land used just for food.

The three of them had been going for a month now, zigzagging towards Bedfordshire as they followed people's directions, usually ending up in some strange little village with an odd name and just as disturbed inhabitants. And as you can imagine, a month with no proper food or a wash or any of the things they had started to get used to was starting to have an effect i.e. they were very hungry and smelled quite a bit. But they had kept themselves going by thinking about seeing their friends again. Apart from Ryou that is. He felt a sick feeling growing inside of him every day, knowing that it couldn't be too much longer before they got there and when that happened, he would have to leave them again. Because there was no way he could see Malik again, not without more time to think anyway.

"Please don't say that, I swear if the next village we see has pitchfork wielding maniacs I'm going to grab one and stick it where the Sun don't shine!" Yugi growled, causing Tristan to laugh at the mental image. After all, the thought of Yugi successfully brandishing a pitchfork seemed very unlikely.

"I'll look forward to seeing that." Tristan said cheerfully and Yugi glanced at him, wondering if there was a hidden sub-text to that. "Talking of villages, look over there!"

They followed Tristan's finger to the horizon and noticed that houses were indeed suddenly appearing. From the looks of things, it seemed to be like every other place they had stopped at and they resigned themselves to the fact they would have to do some running pretty soon. But they had to find out how far away they were and this was the only way…

"Ryou, do you want to wait outside for us?" Yugi asked him, knowing that Ryou's morale was very low and he didn't really need to hear the words said about him.

"If that's fine with you…" He replied quietly, as though he hadn't been listening to Yugi's words but he left it at that, there was no point in trying to stir Ryou out of his despair.

"Of course it is. We'll go in, ask around and meet you over there where that stone wall is. We won't take too long…" He merely nodded his head before diverting from their current path, feet dragging in the grass.

"Yugi, we're going to have to do something soon. We must be nearing the place and Ryou still hasn't talked about what happened. I mean, he's going to have to be prepared for when we arrive." Tristan said, sighing as he watched Ryou walk away.

"I get the feeling he isn't going to come with us. I think he's going to leave soon and go somewhere else." Yugi didn't want to think about this but he had realised this soon after they had left London. "But we can worry about that as soon as we've worked out where we are."

Soon they were walking on a cobbled street running through the centre of this small community of houses but not many people were around. It wasn't that early and they wondered where everyone was. But that was soon forgotten when they saw a hansom standing by an inn, the driver idly sitting atop. He was bound to know where the Kaiba estate was if he travelled around these parts regularly.

"Excuse me sir?" Yugi said politely once they had reached the front of the hansom. The man glanced down and saw them, wondering who they were and the lives they led. He met a lot of people in his line of work and he always tried to guess some things from their appearances. For instance, these two boys looked like they didn't have a permanent home, maybe they were street urchins. What would they want with him?

"Yes, young boy?"

"We were wondering if you could tell us the way to Lord Kaiba's estate please." Now this definitely was a surprise. Why would they want to know where it was? No matter, it wasn't really any of his business.

"Well, if you take this road out of the village that way, you can follow it straight to the estate. It will branch off the left after about ten miles down; you can see it from the road." He said, somehow feeling good when he saw the looks of happiness on their faces.

"Thank you sir! Thank you very much!" The other boy repeated the sentiments and they started off down the road, planning to head back to where Ryou was and tell him the good news.

As they walked away, the driver continued to ponder on the two boys and what they were doing. Very few people went to Kaiba's mansion, least of all working class. He tried to think of a reason they might want to go and remembered the rumours of Lord Kaiba visiting a circus freak show and buying one of the exhibits. Could they possibly be friends? They didn't look like freaks though; admittedly the boy who had talked was a bit on the short side but apart from that…

Making his mind up, he lifted the reins and started to move slowly, hoping he would find them and offer them a ride there. It wasn't like he was going to be very busy at this time of day. And they looked like they could do with it; there was no way they were going to make another ten miles. Luckily he found them walking down the side of a house and he stopped the hansom.

"Excuse me you two!" They heard him and turned around, walking back a few steps to hear him better. "If you're going that way then I will take you there!"

"Are you going to his mansion too?" The little one asked and the adult smiled at the innocence of him.

"No but you look like you could do with some help." He explained and yet again, grins were splashed across their faces.

"Are you sure sir?" He nodded his head. "That would be so great!"

"I'll go and get Ryou." Tristan said quickly, turning around and running back to where the stone wall was.

Soon the three of them were standing by the hansom and the driver hopped down to open the door for them. After all, all customers should be treated with respect. His thoughts about them being related to the exhibit had been confirmed when he saw Ryou but apart from this had no real opinion of them. But it seemed they were having an argument…

"Yugi, I don't want to go. I can't, not yet at least. Please, you have to understand…" The albino, Ryou he thought his name was, said.

"Look, I know you might be scared but he was telling the truth you know. And you can't run away forever, eventually you'll have to face him!" Yugi said, knowing he had to do everything possible in order to get him to come.

"But how do you know he was telling the truth? I'm still not sure." Ryou shook his head. "And anyway, that's not the point! You never had to be here and I know you miss Yami and I'm not going to get in the way of that."

"Ryou, we came with you because we're your friends and we're not going to leave you now. We would never leave you out here on your own, you know that." Tristan argued, stepping closer to him.

"I know and that is why this is so hard. But you have to go back to the mansion and I have to stay here until I figure out what to do." Ryou's voice started to break, he didn't realise leaving his friends would have such an effect on him.

"But we might never hear from you again! And what about Marik and Joey? They'll be heartbroken when they hear that you've gone."

"I've still got to do it though." Ryou said, turning away from them. "I'll come back…one day. When I know the truth for sure."

"Ryou, you should have realised the truth by now! He loves you!" Yugi yelled at Ryou's retreating figure but got no response, he had shut himself off once again, just like he had done back in London…

"Come on Yugi, there's nothing we can do now…" Tristan said, tugging Yugi's arm to get him to move.

"But Tristan, we can't leave him!" Yugi snapped, trying to pull himself away.

"Yes but he isn't going to listen and us hanging around him isn't going to help either! He won't move too far from here, he still doesn't know exactly what he's doing. Come on, he'll come back, I know he will." Yugi sighed at Tristan's words, knowing that they were true but still feeling hurt.

"Fine, let's go." He whispered, getting into the hansom after Tristan, not allowing himself to look back at Ryou.

The driver got back onto his seat, mulling over what had just happened and vowed to keep an eye out for the boy. This whole thing really had nothing to do with him but he felt that somehow, he was going to be needed sometime soon. He shook his head and lifted the reins, the horse moving into action and they headed off towards the Kaiba estate.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

'Eventually you'll have to face him!'

Yugi's words swam around Ryou's head and he sighed, flopping forward in defeat. Now it came down to it, he couldn't leave. He wanted to but a part of his mind told him that he was being too quick; he hadn't given anyone a chance to get close enough to help him, especially Malik. He was constantly suspicious of his intentions, that was now obvious in his mind.

But what was he supposed to do about it now? He couldn't just turn up on the doorstep and expect to be welcomed with open arms, Yugi had made it pretty obvious how disappointed everyone was going to be when they realised he wasn't coming back. Maybe they thought he wasn't coming back and had just forgotten about him. He hoped that wasn't the case, he didn't want that to happen to him.

'Will you be gone forever?'

He must have hurt Malik so much with his actions, why the hell did he have to lash out at everyone all of the time? Malik didn't want him to be gone forever and it must have taken some time to build up the courage to tell him how he really felt…

'And you're needed too/he'll/ need you rest of his life.'

How blind must he have been for everyone else to notice Malik's feelings apart from him? He had been too busy trying to keep his independence, pushing him away constantly and still he came back because he had cared. And now…

He had to go back. To put Malik's mind at rest if no one else's.

Ryou stood up and left the shade of an abandoned barn he had been sheltering in, pausing slightly when he saw the light outside and how brightly everything was lit. But he pushed on, now was not the time to be selfish and put his needs before everyone else's. And anyway, he had been coping with the Sun not too badly recently.

xxxxxx

"Malik…I can't do it anymore…I can't…go…any further…" He breathed before collapsing at the side of the road, feeling completely weightless. He tried to lift his head up, to find shelter but his body couldn't cope with anything else and shut itself down, Ryou leaving the world…

xxxxxx

A man sat atop his hansom, travelling along the road and he paused in his scanning of the land to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief. The Sun was shining brightly and there was no wind to bring relief to any poor soul who happened to be outside on this day. Like him. He sighed and continued to stare forward, sighing in relief as he saw the village in the distance with shade. Maybe he could go into the inn and get a drink.

He was jerked back into reality though when he felt his horse Mabel rear up suddenly and he quickly looked around to see what could have possibly caused this disturbance. When he couldn't make out anything obvious, he leant forward to pat her neck.

"Whoa Mabel, what's wrong?" He was answered by the horse pawing at the ground, lowering her head to sniff at something lying in the ditch.

He jumped down from the hansom and knelt down to have a closer look, nudging Mabel aside to see properly. When he finally realised what, or rather who, it was, he gasped and shook his shoulder slightly, trying to get some sort of reaction out of him. When he didn't respond, he did the only thing he could think of doing: picked him up and placed him comfortably in the carriage before setting off as fast as he could for the Kaiba estate.

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Malik stared out of the window despondently, wondering if there was any point in him even being up today. After all, he hadn't done so for the last couple of days. But the others, well Kaiba mainly, had dragged him out this morning and told him that he was going to join them today for a trip around some of Kaiba's lands. He had excused himself though, not feeling in the mood. They relented, appreciating the fact that at least he had got up and had been gone for a few hours now. He wasn't sure of exactly what they were doing but since Yugi and Tristan had arrived, he and the other Lords had been here too.

He watched a hansom drawing into the main entrance and wondered who it could be. After all, few people came in and the next gathering wasn't for another two days. There weren't supposed to be any deliveries either…

The driver practically leapt down from his seat and ran towards the entrance. Malik wondered why people always rushed around unnecessarily, he couldn't think of anything that would make him want to run like that. Apart from one… But there was no point in thinking about him now; it was an accepted fact that he wouldn't be coming back…

Malik looked out of the window again to take his mind off him and was surprised to see that a butler had now come out and they were standing by the hansom door, looking in and avidly discussing something at the same time. By now Malik's interest had definitely been caught and he saw the driver get in and pull something out while the butler ran ahead into the mansion, he could hear him yelling but he wasn't paying attention to the words. No, he was more concerned about what the driver had.

Ryou. Lying in his arms like Malik had done when he had first taken him in. His angel, so cold and still…

He ran for his life then, shooting past the butler, not caring to hear what he said, he only wanted to see Ryou again, to hold him… But something suddenly obstructed him. The driver, and more importantly Ryou were there in front of him, so near, yet he couldn't move. He watched, as though through another's eyes as the butler stood beside him, telling him something before taking Ryou from the man's arms and going back up the stairs. Malik watched the body spin around and the eyes swivel upwards to the butler's retreating back and they continued to watch, unmoving. Malik wondered why they weren't doing anything when it suddenly occurred that it was him who controlled this body. That he was talking about himself.

He stalked the butler up the stairs and found him in his bedroom, laying Ryou on his bed before stepping back and turning to him.

"Master Malik, do you want him here?" He realised from the urgent tone in his voice that he had been trying to talk to him for some time but had got no response and was starting to get worried.

"Yes, keep him here please." Malik's voice came out at barely more than a whisper as he came over and sank down onto the bed next to Ryou, staring down at him.

"Then I will leave you for the moment and tell the others that he has come back." He replied before leaving the room, a twinkle in his eye and a slight smile on his face.

Malik felt his forehead, checking to see if he was hot but suddenly pulled back, afraid of what would happen if Ryou woke up. So instead he closed the curtains before lifting and pulling the covers over Ryou, fluffing up the pillows so that he would be more comfortable. But after that, he couldn't think of anything else to keep him busy so he finally focused on Ryou's body and what had happened to him.

He looked small and grey, like he had aged suddenly and he was so thin too. Everything was dull, even his eyes probably were, although he couldn't see them. And he had done this: he had driven Ryou away with his feelings. All Ryou had wanted was a home but Malik had tried to take it further, to make their relationship into something that wasn't possible. And now Ryou had paid the price… He shook his head suddenly. There was no point in thinking like that; the most important thing now was to get Ryou better. Then he could worry about his feelings…

He felt something pull his arm and looking down, saw that Ryou was awake. And he was so glad that his eyes were still as alive as they had been before. Ryou pulled his arm again, hard enough so that Malik was forced downwards until he was leaning on his elbows, a lot closer to Ryou than was probably good for himself. He attempted to sit up until he realised that Ryou was trying to say something. So he stayed where he was, listening.

"I tried…to go after them…to get to you. I didn't want to be selfish but…I couldn't do it…" His voice was so small, like himself, and it was obvious it was taking a huge amount of effort for him to do this. There wasn't any point in stopping him though, he was too stubborn.

"Ryou…?" He couldn't quite understand what he was trying to say when he realised how close they were. He could feel Ryou's breath, short and sharp compared to his own, tickling him.

"Malik, do you love me?" This sudden question caused Malik to hesitate slightly, remembering what had happened last time he had told him his feelings. He nodded slightly, not sure of what else to do and so Ryou's next words caused even more surprise. "Tell me then."

"God, I love you so much..." Malik whispered fervently, before lying down on the bed properly and kissing Ryou on the lips.

Ryou responded shyly, not sure of what to do and so Malik decided to take control of the situation, moving slightly so he was more comfortable before kissing Ryou again, only this time he was able to get inside his mouth. He shivered at the noises Ryou was making, touching his tongue with his own as he deepened the kiss. He could feel Ryou's arms around his neck as he tried to get closer, arching his back as he moaned in pleasure. Their bodies were pressed closer together, as were their lips but suddenly Ryou pulled away, gasping for breath as he shut his eyes.

Malik realised that he was tired and sat up again, watching as Ryou put his fingers to his lips, smiling at the tingling sensation he felt. Malik laughed quietly and grinned at the happy look on Ryou's face. He murmured something incomprehensible before opening his eyes, blushing slightly as he realised Malik was staring at him. Malik smiled in reassurance as he brushed Ryou's hair away from his rather shiny face, grinning when he saw Ryou yawn, his face going even redder as he covered his mouth.

"Come on, sleep now. I'll be here to watch over you." Malik said, standing up to tuck Ryou in but was stopped when Ryou pulled back the cover and patted the spot beside him.

"Stay with me please…" He said and Malik nodded his head, taking off his jacket before getting in, surprised by the tight hug Ryou was giving him. "I need to feel something real."

Malik was just about to question what he meant by that when he realised that Ryou had already drifted off into sleep, resting against him. Malik put an arm around him, keeping them close together before closing his eyes too. He was never going to let go…

xxxxxx

"There had better be a good reason for you interrupting us Jenkins. I distinctly remember requesting that you tell everyone I was busy." Was the greeting the butler got when he found the group sitting under the shade of a tree while Kaiba pointed out different features.

"I thought that the young masters would like to know that master Ryou has come back." He was used to his master's personality by now and didn't especially worry about the acidic tone of his voice.

"What! Ryou's come back?" Yugi said, standing up. "Where is he? Can we see him?" He looked to Yami as though asking for his permission.

"He is currently with master Malik and-"

"How is he? How is Malik feeling?" Yugi interrupted, really starting to get excited by now.

"He was a bit shocked but I think he is a lot happier now."

"Thank goodness, I was fed up of him wallowing around." Kaiba said, getting a shove in response from Joey. They hadn't told the others about their relationship yet but it was plainly obvious that they were at least getting on better now. "All right, I am happy Ryou has come back."

"Come on, let's see him!"

The four teenagers ran ahead of the others, desperate to see their friend while the nobles considered the important question of what would happen now that Ryou had come back. They all knew he hadn't arrived with Yugi and Tristan because of Malik but obviously he must have had a change of heart or he wouldn't be here.

"I hope things work out between them, seeing Malik depressed all the time is not good for the soul!" Duke said excitedly, picking up his pace a little bit.

"Yes but it is not actually allowed…" Kaiba pointed out, trying to see if he could finally get their viewpoints on the whole thing. He didn't necessarily care what they thought of him and Joey but Joey did and he said that he would be careful until he knew how they felt. Well now would the perfect time…

"It's just disapproved of! And anyway, I think they'd look like a cute couple!" Duke clapped his hands together before hugging himself and the others all sighed, hoping that this was all just a very bad dream and they weren't really facing a Duke who was acting like a little girl.

"Duke has a point. Maybe Ryou could help ground Malik a little and stop him from doing all these reckless things." Yami argued and when Duke heard that someone else was backing him up, he turned around so he was walking backwards, a huge grin on his face.

"See? If /Yami/ thinks it's a good idea then it must be! After all, he's sensible!"

"Unlike you." Duke frowned when he heard Kaiba's words and glanced over his shoulder, only to nearly smack into a tree. "Please walk the right way or you will damage something."

"Yes, like your head. And you know you cannot afford to kill off any more brain cells or you will not have any left." Bakura said cheerfully, causing Duke to growl and stalk towards him. "Um, maybe we should hurry up a little bit…"

Bakura screeched a second later as he started running full pelt towards the mansion, Duke following closely behind him and glancing at each other, Kaiba and Yami started running too, if only so they could get there before a major fight started between them.

They found everyone standing outside the door, peering in carefully as they discussed something but apart from this doing little else. Yami and Kaiba arrived, looking into the room themselves, pausing when they saw Malik and Ryou sleeping together. So this was what everyone else was standing out here for.

"Aw, I can't believe they got together! And they're even sweeter than I thought they could be!" Duke squealed, getting smacked on the arm by Bakura in response.

"Shush, you will wake them up with your big mouth!" He hissed and they all looked over nervously, hearing movement from the bed.

Malik opened his eyes and frowned for a moment, trying to remember what had happened. Then he saw Ryou lying next to him and it all came back to him, causing him to look over Ryou to make sure he was fine before looking for the source of what woke him up. He stared at the group standing at the door, not quite sure what to do when it suddenly occurred to him that they wanted to see Ryou.

Sitting up quickly, he went to get out of bed when he felt Ryou stirring, opening his eyes and looking up at him blearily.

"Where are you going?" Ryou asked, noticing Malik was sat up, trying to find his jacket.

"I'm just going to get some things for you and the others have come to see you. Can I leave you with them while I get a bath ready for you?" Malik said and Ryou nodded his head, smiling at the thought of finally getting clean.

"Of course. Can you help me sit up?"

Soon Ryou was propped up against the headrest, a blanket around his shoulders to keep him warm and Malik smiled at him, giving him a quick kiss before going over to the door where the others were standing, trying to restrain the teenagers from running into the room and hugging Ryou to death.

"Can we go in and see him?" Yami asked, taking control of the situation.

"Of course you can. I don't know how awake he is but stay with him as long as you like. I'm going down to get a bath sorted out for him so I'll be back up in about five minutes." They nodded their heads in understanding and so Malik set off down the stairs to find a maid.

As he reached the bottom he saw Jenkins talking to a maid and the man from earlier, the one who had brought Ryou in. He suddenly realised he hadn't said thank you yet and clearing his throat, caught the attention of the three people. Instantly they stood to attention but relaxed again when he waved his hand.

"I was just about to send a maid up to see if there was anything you wanted my Lord." Jenkins told him and he nodded his head.

"Yes, I was going to get a bath sorted out for Ryou as well as some clean clothes. He hasn't said anything about eating yet though." The maid curtsied in acknowledgement before leaving to do these things.

"And this is the driver of the hansom that found master Ryou, a Mr George Smith." Malik stepped forward and held out his hand, smiling when he saw the look of awe on the driver's face.

"Thank you so much for finding Ryou and bringing him back here, you don't know how much this means to me." Malik said sincerely, shaking the man's hand. "How did you manage to find him?"

"Well I was the one who took the two other boys here, Yugi and Tristan. They were having an argument with Ryou because he didn't want to come with them. So I thought I would try and keep an eye out for him if he stayed in the village where I mainly work. I was travelling along the main road one day when my horse suddenly stopped and started looking at something at the ground. When I saw it was Ryou, I picked him up and took him here." George explained and Malik grinned, he could have kissed the man!

"Well I'm very glad you picked him up, he means a lot to me."

"As long as things work out between you two…" George said, shrugging off the thank yous. "Is he going to be fine? I wasn't sure you see because he wouldn't wake up."

"Yes, I think he just fainted from the heat. He's quite sensitive to the Sun you see and his body probably just couldn't cope with it."

"Seeing as he's fine now, I think I'll be going." He tipped his hat and bowed slightly. "Good day my Lord." And with that he left the house, feeling like he had achieved something today. After all, it wasn't every day you saw a noble happy about being given something that wasn't material…

xxxxxx

"Ryou…?" Yugi said softly as they came into the room, doing all he could to hold himself back from squeezing Ryou to death. After all, he might not appreciate it in his state. However, when Ryou turned and smiled at him, he couldn't hold himself any longer and launched himself onto the bed, pulling Ryou close to him. "I missed you so much!"

"H-Hello Yugi!" Ryou said tightly, wincing just slightly at the pressure Yugi was putting on his ribs. "Yes, I missed you too…" He whispered, also putting his arms around Yugi.

"Yugi, you're hogging Ryou! We want to hug him too!" Joey said, pouting slightly and Yugi laughed nervously, moving away. Ryou had roughly one second to breathe freely before being crushed once again, this time by both Marik and Joey.

"A-Ah, Marik…Joey…too tight!" Ryou managed to cough out but Marik merely stared at him, frowning.

"But you've been gone a long time." He replied quietly, almost looking angry. "You weren't going to come back…" Ryou barely noticed that Marik was talking in full sentences now, slightly scared by the underlying anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-" He stopped, unable to think of anything to say. His mind was completely blank… What could he have said anyway? Nothing would have been good enough for Marik.

"Don't worry about it Ryou, we're just glad you're back. Please don't cry…" Ryou quickly wiped his face, he hadn't realised he was crying. He smiled at them, relaxing slightly as they loosened their grip on him.

"So…" Duke suddenly said, trying to look the picture of innocence as he sat down on the bed. "You and Malik got together eh?" He smirked at the developing blush on Ryou's face and sighed happily. "Aw, he's blushing! That's so sweet!"

The others sighed as one while Duke continued to babble to himself about Ryou and Malik being a couple, the former wondering if sinking into a nice big hole in the ground would make him feel any better. Luckily he was saved by the arrival of the latter, who listened to Duke for approximately one second before hitting him around the back of the head.

"Duke, shut up before Ryou bursts a blood vessel!" Malik snapped before turning to him. "You tired?" Ryou shook his head and Malik sat down next to him, stroking his back gently with his hand.

"It's really good to see you all again." Ryou said happily, leaning his head on Malik's shoulder. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Well…" Joey said quietly, glancing at Kaiba. "Um, me and Seto are…" His voice died away, embarrassed at all the people staring at him.

"Getting on a lot better than before." Kaiba finished, taking Joey's hand and squeezing in reassurance. The others looked puzzled, trying to work out exactly what they meant when they realised that Duke had finally stopped ranting to an invisible audience and was now staring at them.

"Wait…you're together too?" They nodded their heads and Duke's face nearly cracked with the huge smile on his face. "That's so cute! Everyone's getting together! Now if only someone else could make a confession, then it would be absolutely perfect! It would be-"

"Hmm, is it worth giving Duke a heart attack by telling them?" Bakura murmured and when Kaiba heard this, he smirked silently before clearing his throat.

"Well if it helps Duke, Bakura and Marik have been wanting to tell you something for a little while now…" Kaiba watched with amusement as Duke's eyes lit up and he clasped his hands together, squealing loudly.

"Wait, you two are a couple too? Oh this is just too much!" Duke sighed happily before sinking down onto the edge of the bed, completely overwhelmed by everything that had happened.

"So…you're all not bothered by this?" Bakura said carefully, hesitantly sitting next to Marik.

"Of course not! I mean, why would we? We know you're perfectly normal (5)." Tristan said in his usual ineptness and Yugi sighed, shaking his head at Tristan's lack of subtlety.

"What he means is that we're very happy for you."

"What? Of course that's what I mean! Was that not obvious?" Joey and Marik shook their heads slowly and Tristan laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Oh…"

"Never mind Tristan, we got the basic drift. I'm just glad we don't have to hide this anymore." Bakura said with obvious relief and the others nodded in agreement.

Yami smiled along with the others but inside he felt his heart ache with never to be said feelings. /He/ was sitting there, right in front of him, but he felt so far away…

#I wish I did not have to hide anymore either…#


Well here are the explanations for places etc. (Just a note to say I lost the book that was my main source for research so these may not be 100 percent accurate)

(1) She-sheet - Male prostitute

(2) Haymarket - This is an area in London near Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square which was famed for prostitutes and brothels.

(3) Silas here is hinting at what was to become the Criminal Law Amendment Act. This increased the age of consent for sex from 13 to 16 as well as banning all forms of male relationships. It was only then that male prostitutes started becoming more common.

(4) Windmill Street - This is one of the most famous streets in the Haymarket where prostitutes visited the restaurants and theatres in search of customers.

(5) They used to believe back in the Victorian times that homosexuals were mentally ill and that it was a disease. In fact, it has been classified as a mental illness by the World Health Organisation up until 1992. Little fact for you there.

In case you're wondering about the kissing scenes, I found them in amongst a rather mature looking bit of cheddar and what I think used to be half a chicken (Sorry there Lia Xaragi, had to borrow your joke). I'm very sorry about all the corny bits, definitely not like how I imagined it.

So as usual, please review and I'll see you in a couple of weeks' time for the next part, which is light and not too serious.

S. Chensu xxx.

P.S. Anyone noticed something about the titles yet? If you know what I'm talking about, please mention it in your review and make me happy!