Disclaimer: Full disclaimer on first page.

(.........) Yami's thinking

/........./ Hikari's thinking

"........." Normal speech

'.........' Normal thoughts

(A/N: .........) Author's Note

Normal Writing: Common Time

Italic Writing: Dream/memory.

From now on, most of the story will be dream sequences. I will have parts with Ryou, but most of it will be the memories.

Chapter Six

Ryou spent his time in school thinking hard on how to raise the subject to Yugi. He really needed help with this, he was over his head in Yami Bakura's memories. He had to tell someone.

School passed slowly, with Ryou barely paying attention. When it let out, he walked with his friends to the Kame shop.

He was once again thinking on the dream memories he had been having, when someone shouted in his ear.

"RYOU!"

"Huh? What?" Ryou jumped, spinning towards Joey, who had shouted at him.

"About time you listened." Joey answered in reply.

"Jeez, did you have to yell?" Ryou muttered, wincing at the ringing in his ears.

"Well, if you didn't listen the first three times, that was the only thing I could think of." Joey said, slightly apologetic. Three times? Ryou must have been deeper in his thoughts than he realized.

"I was just thinking. What did you want?" Ryou glanced at his friends. Yugi, Tristan and Joey were standing there, watching him with varying degrees of concern.

"I had asked what your problem is. You've been spaced out and more quiet than usual all day." Yugi said, moving closer to his friend.

"Is it Bakura?" Yugi pressed.

- - - - - - -

Running through the sand, avoiding those who chased him.

Bakura looked back, ducking into his secret hideout as the guards ran past.

The traders he lived with will never know what he did at night.

- - - - - -

"Ryou!"

"Huh? Oh, right. Well.......it does have something to do with Bakura." Ryou muttered, flushing with embarrassment at spacing out again.

"What is he doing?" Yugi's voice was deeper, showing that Yami had come out to see what Ryou was going to say.

"Nothing bad. No, nothing. But...........can we talk once we reach your house?" Ryou pleaded. He didn't want to confess this standing on the streets.

"Okay." Yami said, but the look in his eyes showed that Ryou was not going to evade any of his questions once there.

They walked in silence, Ryou trying to stop the rush of memories that were now flooding forth, and the others watching his struggle with confusion and worry.

- - - - - - -

Running again, this time through the market place.

He had just pick pocketed a high noble, and the man was mad.

If the traders found out he was stealing, they'd turn him in to the Pharaoh.

He better not let them find out.

- - - - - - -

Ryou blinked away the last fading bits of the memory as he reached the Kame shop. They went inside and they sat down.

"Okay, Ryou. What is going on?" Yami demanded. If that Tomb Robber was causing trouble for Ryou again............

"Dreams." Ryou said, deciding to get right to the point.

"Dreams?" Joey repeated, confused.

"What do you mean, Ryou?" Yami asked, eyeing the white haired hikari intensely.

"Well....ah, it started a few nights ago. I've been getting dreams about Bakura's past, and it has been.......distracting." Ryou said, staring at the table for such a weak excuse.

"That's all?" Yami asked, quite surprised.

"Well, his memories are not the best!" Ryou snapped, glaring at Yami, who looked even more surprised.

Ryou sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Sorry, Yami. But his dreams have shaken me, and he has gotten a bit quieter. I would say depressed." Ryou whispered. All at the table could hear his concern for the evil spirit, and could tell that he loved Yami Bakura like a brother.

Ryou closed his eyes and stood, leaving the Kame shop. He had given them his reasons, which was all he could do.

But now he had homework to do, so he must do it.

- - - - - -

Bakura smiled.

The guards had finally figured out where he lived, and had confronted the traders.

He was lucky that Heklatis, a close friend of his, had been the only one there at the moment.

It was also lucky that Heklatis preferred his own sex over women, and all the guards were men.

Heklatis would do almost anything for Bakura, who he had taken to loving as a son, (instead of a lover.)

That was much to Bakura's relief, too. He had no wish to be that intimate with anyone, man or woman.

The guards questioned Heklatis harshly, while Bakura hid. The trader took it in stride, smiling and nodding. He was not a bad looking man, and could use that to his effect.

So Heklatis behaved in a feminine manner so much that the looks of extreme comfort and disdain on the guard's faces were very obvious.

Bakura was hard pressed to stifle his giggles.

Heklatis flounced about, saying all that he would that Bakura was not here, and that the traders had run him off days earlier.

Heklatis dropped not-so-subtle hints about his preferences and he flirted with them outrageously.

Finally, they could take it no more and fled the area at a fast walk, sweating and disgusted.

Once they were gone, Bakura laughed.

Heklatis smiled at him, and his grin set Bakura off again.

"Oh – Dear Gods! Did – you – see their – faces?" Bakura howled, tears running down his face.

Ryou, standing invisible to them in the background, blinked at the sight of his normally fierce yami howling with laughter at the antics of the trader.

"As if I would touch any of them!" Heklatis said cheerfully.

Bakura just laughed there in the sand.

- - - - - -

Ryou awoke in the morning, relieved that the dream had not been too bad. It was actually quite amusing.

He went to school in a better mood, with Yami Bakura unspeaking and sullen in his soul room.

Ryou enjoyed school that day, and his friends noticed the change. They were a bit cautious about him, thinking he was still nervy like the other day, but they relaxed around lunch.

"I take it you're doing better today, Ryou?" Joey asked, stuffing a whole slice of pizza into his mouth.

Ryou ignored the fact that he was chewing noisily with his mouth open and nodded.

"Nothing too bad last night." He said, and grinned. "Actually, pretty funny."

"Funny? Funny and Yami Bakura don't go together, Ryou." Tea said, curling her lip in disdain at Joey before throwing a napkin at him as he continued on his pizza.

"Well, it was. To me." Ryou said, frowning at her.

Yami Bakura said nothing during this exchange, which Ryou felt odd.

He was worried. Bakura was not this quiet for a reason.

For some reason, the words 'the calm before the storm' came to mind.

- - - - - - -

Yami Bakura swiftly took control of Ryou's body after school.

He pretended to be Ryou until he was away from them, and then reverted to his own self.

He entered the house and, without turning on the lights, collapsed on the couch to think.

So much was going on. Not only was he getting his memories back, he was helpless to stop them from appearing to Ryou in his dreams. His memories were sending him into a depression, for things he had so longed to forget were being remembered.

/Yami?/

Ryou's voice came timidly over their mind link.

(Why do you keep me, Ryou?) Yami Bakura thought back.

Ryou was startled by this sudden question, completely unexpected.

/What?/ Ryou said. If Ryou wanted to get rid of Yami Bakura, he wouldn't be able too. Before Battle City it was because Yami Bakura would come back, and force Ryou to take the Ring. Now? Now........now it was love. Ryou loved Bakura like the brother he had never had.

Yami Bakura heard those thoughts.

(If you get rid of the Ring, I will not return. I will not force you to take it.) the Tomb Robber thought back, sincere in his words.

/Yami.........why do you say this? No. Even if you promised not to come back, I would not get rid of the Ring./ Ryou whispered across their bond.

There was silence, then.....................

(No Good without Evil. No Love without Hate. No Innocence without Lust. I am Darkness.)

(A/n: I do not own that quote from the movie Legend.)

/Yami?/ Ryou whispered, frightened. There was no answer.

Yami Bakura released his control on Ryou's body, and locked himself into his soul room.

- - - - - - - - -

Anger. Pure rage.

The traders had found him out. Heklatis had tried to defend him, but was now humiliated and chased off as well.

He ran.

They chased.

But they did not know the desert like he did.

- - - - - - - - -

Ryou snapped awake. That was not good. The image of a small Bakura running across the sands with a group of angry men waving swords and knives at him terrified the boy.

Unable and not wanting to go back to sleep, Ryou went and started watching TV.

Without realizing it, he dropped off after twenty minutes.

- - - - - - - -

Hunger.

Bakura was hungry.

There was food before him. In the stalls of the market place. In the homes around him.

He could risk getting caught to get some.

Or he could starve.

Steal. He would go and take some of that fresh bread from the bakery that was so appetizingly set out in front of him.

He began to move, heading forwards.

But a hand grabbed him and hauled him into the shadows.

Bakura snapped around, and came face to face with –

"Malik!" Ryou whispered.

The older Bakura, the one Ryou was so familiar with, walked up beside him from wherever he had been.

"Yes, Malik. Known back then as Mariku." Bakura whispered.

"Let go of me!" Bakura hissed, trying to twist away.

The boy who held him was the same age, but looked more like a proper Egyptian.

"No. It would be a sure death for you to steal from around here. Guards crawl around every where." The sandy haired boy said, not relenting or releasing his grip.

Bakura sighed. "But I need food." He whispered.

He started in surprise as a chunk of cheese was shoved into his hands, as well as a skin of water.

The boy sat back. "Eat, drink. Then I shall take you to my father. He is a Tomb Keeper, and we can house and shelter you."

Bakura devoured the cheese and drained the water skin.

As the boy stood to lead the way to his father's dwelling, Bakura grabbed a hold of his wrist.

"What is your name?" He asked, not wanting to go and not know who he owed this generous offer too.

Tomb Keepers were valued by the Pharaoh, to guard and keep the secrets of all the Tombs. They were wealthy, and to take in an orphan like him showed trust and generosity.

"I'm Mariku."

- - - - - - - - - - -

The next day Ryou spent a lot of time watching Malik. To think he had been in Ancient Egypt when Bakura was, and that they had met and become friends like they did now.

Who said we were friends? Yami Bakura's voice whispered to him. It was the first time the Tomb Robber had talked to him since the dream last night.

/Well.....I, uh, I just assumed you were, since you seemed grateful and he was nice and kind and everything........./ Ryou gulped, hoping Bakura was not too mad.

Hmmm. Yami Bakura mused, and went silent.

"What are you looking at?" Malik's irritated voice cut through Ryou's thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Malik. Just thinking." Ryou whispered, not looking at Malik. The Egyptian and Yami Bakura might be friends, but Ryou did not know how he was thought of by Malik.

"Ryou? What is the matter?" Malik asked, tilting his head slightly.

/He looks like Marik when he does that./ Ryou thought, and heard Yami Bakura's whispered agreement.

Ryou was deciding if he should tell Malik about the dreams.

Yami Bakura snorted in disbelief. (You did not hesitate to tell your friends, so why do you hesitate to tell mine?)

Ryou gulped and whispered and apology across their mind link. Yami Bakura was right.

So he told Malik everything, including the dream he had last night.

Malik just sat and listened, not saying anything until it was over.

"I knew my ancestors lived back then. The tradition of being a Tomb Keeper has gone on for about that long." Malik's face reflected brief pain, and Ryou remembered how his father had tattooed his back with the Pharaoh's Secret when he was young. "But I didn't know I resembled that ancient ancestor enough that you would recognize him as me."

Ryou nodded, and grinned shyly at Malik. He actually wasn't that bad, considering what he had done with his Millennium Item.

Malik grinned broadly back, and it seemed that the two could become just as good of friends as Yami Bakura was with him.

- - - - - - - -

Goth-girl: Lol, I thought it was fun.

Dinah: Thank you for telling me the village's name! Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Anime Crazed: I don't think he can help but show Ryou. I don't know, I didn't think that far. Huh, interesting. Thanks for your review!

Tamashiipurizuma: Thanks a lot for your review!

Invader Kas: Thanks for all of your reviews! I know Kaiba was a little out of character by all the running and shouting, but I thought it would make it a bit more humorous to change him like that.