Ryou slammed the door to his apartment with equal rage.

"I should never have gotten the pharaoh involved…" Ryou cried, brushing a few tears out of his eyes. "I'm sorry, yami… I was just trying to help… And… I didn't know how!"

There was, of course, no response from Yami Bakura, but that didn't stop Ryou from talking. He paced across the floor of his living room, with both the key and the ring hanging around his neck.

"I know you really meant what you said in the shadow realm." Ryou sighed. "I don't believe a word that the pharaoh said! Really, I don't! Please, listen to me… I… You're not useless to me, yami…"

He pleaded and pleaded, but the soul room door still remained tightly locked.

"Don't make me come in there!" Ryou finally snapped, sounding a lot like his own mother. "Yami! I've got the millennium key! You can't keep me locked out! I'm giving you fair warning!"

And with that, Ryou plopped down on the couch, taking off the ankh. It felt warm in his hands.

"If you won't come out, then I'm coming in!" he shouted, and pointed the end of the key at his forehead, mimicking what Shadi did earlier. A quick flash of light later, and Ryou's human body was unconscious. His soul materialized inside his mind, just outside of his yami's dark soul room.

The stone walls of his mind sent a shiver down his back. He had seen the inside of his own soul room plenty of times, but it didn't feel quite like this. It was sparse, and looked a bit decrepit, but at least it was sunny and warm. This hallway looked like the inside of a tomb.

He approached his yami's room with a little trepidation. Carefully, he knocked.

"Go away!" he heard Bakura shout from inside.

"It's me." Ryou called out, trying to push the door open. It took a few minutes, but he eventually succeeded. "And I'm not going away!"

The door opened to reveal a vast stretch of darkness.

"Yami?"

"I said, go away!"

"And I said no!" Ryou shouted back. "You need more light in here!"

With his request, it being his mind after all, the soul room quickly lit up. His earlier suspicions were correct. It was the inside of a tomb, complete with various treasures, a sarcophagus, and probably a few curses thrown in just for kicks. Yami Bakura, leaning against the same staircase as before, quickly buried his eyes with his arms. He let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Don't do that!"

"Sorry…" Ryou whimpered, and the lights dimmed a bit. He was still completely visible, but at least the light wasn't as harsh. Yami Bakura slowly uncovered his eyes.

"I blocked you out!" Yami Bakura growled. "Why are you here!"

Ryou answered by holding up the millennium key. Yami Bakura's jaw dropped.

"How did you get that!"

"I took it." He quickly answered, and dropped down to Bakura's level. The yami's eyes were still glued to the item that he had been unable to steal. "Look at me! Not at the ankh!"

He slid the item under his striped shirt. It was only then that Bakura's gaze drifted away from the golden treasure. Ryou watched his yami's expression, and felt his anger start to fade into exhausted sadness.

"That's… that's really all I am to you… isn't it?" Ryou finally asked.

Bakura was taken aback.

"I'm just a tool to get the items, aren't I?" he continued. "That's why I'm useless now, isn't it?"

Bakura didn't move.

"The pharaoh… was right…" Ryou's hair drooped over his eyes. "Wasn't he?"

Again, the yami gave no response. After a few minutes of silence, Ryou stood up.

"If that's what you really want… you can have it…" Ryou finally sighed. He reached into his shirt, and pulled out the ankh again. It glistened in the light that he created for the soul room. He looked directly into Bakura's eyes, and dropped it squarely into his lap. "That way, I can't ever come back…"

Bakura looked at the item in his hands. He could feel the immense power running through it. It was a power he hadn't felt in millennia.

"Goodbye, yami…" Ryou turned his back, and started to walk towards the door.

"Ryou…" Bakura whispered under his breath, glancing back and forth at the millennium item and his hikari.

The boy paused a moment at the door. He didn't want to look back one last time, but he couldn't stop himself. As he glanced over his shoulder, he saw Bakura struggling to move. The spirit couldn't get up, but he was at least trying to turn to the side. Ryou watched as he lifted the item behind his shoulder, and threw it as hard as he could. The ankh skated across the stone floor, coming to a rest by Ryou's feet.

"Ryou… please…" Bakura gasped. "Please don't go…"

The hikari turned around. Had Bakura just given up a millennium item? The pharaoh would never have believed that, even if he were standing here watching right now. He slowly walked back to his yami.

"I… I… I'm sorry…" Yami Bakura let out a long sigh, trying hard to look his lighter half straight in the eyes. Given the position he was in, it was difficult.

Ryou instantly fell to his knees, and wrapped his arms around Bakura. Tears streamed freely from his eyes as he embraced his dark. Yami Bakura had the same reaction.

"It's okay, yami… It's okay…" he whispered. "I'm here."

After a long embrace, Ryou finally looked up. It was the first time he noticed that Bakura was also crying.

"Yami?"

"What's going to happen now?" he finally replied, his voice quivering. Ryou was right all along. His yami was afraid, if not actually terrified.

"We'll figure something out…" Ryou answered, trying to smile. His yami wasn't angry with him… he was only angry with himself.

"But… Ryou… it's hopeless… even in your body… I'm still a worthless cripple…"

"You're not worthless, yami…" Ryou tried to console him with another hug. "It's just… it's just my turn to be strong now. That's all… We really don't even know if the paralysis is permanent. It might not be! For now, you'll just…you'll just have to depend on me…"

Bakura nodded weakly.

"Can you do that?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Why not?" Ryou asked.

"The king of thieves doesn't depend… on anybody…" he trembled.

"That's just because… the king of thieves has never had anyone who cared about him." Ryou whispered back, grabbing Yami Bakura's hand tightly. When his yami shivered more, he tightened his grip. "But there's a first time for everything… isn't there?"

The yami slowly nodded.

"I guess so…"

"We'll just have to get used to this." Ryou leaned back against the staircase, and snuggled next to his yami. Bakura felt the warmth of his hikari radiating against his right side. It had a peculiar calming effect. "One baby step at a time…"

"But what about you?" Bakura finally asked.

"What about me?"

"What happens to you when I'm in control?" Bakura continued. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh…" Ryou thought back. "No. It doesn't hurt. It feels numb, but it doesn't hurt."

"So you loose all feeling too?"

Ryou nodded.

"And it's still numb for a few minutes after you leave. But it goes away." He added. "After a few more minutes… it's like there was never any difference."

"But it can't be good for you, Ryou." Yami Bakura finally sighed. "What if I hurt you somehow? I'm not an idiot… unlike that pharaoh… I've read what you've read in school. I've heard what you've heard. I know how bad this is."

Ryou froze. His yami really was concerned. It wasn't a lie after all. His yami really was trying to protect him by staying in his soul room.

"Ryou… It's hard to breathe when I'm in your body. Some of the muscles that control that must also be paralyzed. The swelling could permanently damage your spinal cord. Then you'd be no better off! The changes in blood pressure could easily damage several parts of your body... not to mention there's the embarrassment of what happens if I'm not able to control your bowels or bladder…" Yami Bakura blushed as he continued to list his concerns, all while Ryou sat amazed at how much his yami had actually remembered from that health class last year. "It's just… it's just too risky for you, Ryou…"

"Yami… if things are just as real to you in here as they are to me, then those problems affect you too. Whether you're in my world or in here."

"But at least… this way… only one of us has to suffer…" Again, Ryou took his yami's hand.

"No." Ryou replied sternly. "I'm not letting you think that way."

Bakura glanced in his direction.

"There are plenty of paraplegics in the world. And yes, there are serious problems, but they manage just as well as Yugi or me or anyone else…" Ryou attempted to console his yami. "You can still live a normal life! Well, as close to normal as a five thousand year-old spirit probably can…"

That last remark made Yami Bakura chuckle a little.

"But… what about you? I can't just go switching in and out of your body… One minute you're paralyzed. The next minute you're up walking around like nothing happened…" Yami Bakura sighed. He used to spend days running around Domino City as his hikari, and rarely did anyone ever notice the difference. "You'll have to…"

"No… You'll have to give me plenty of warning if you want to come out." Ryou smiled. "And for those who already know there are two of us, this probably wouldn't be too big of a shock for them…"

"You're really… not… ashamed… about this? About me?" Yami Bakura finally asked, starting to cry again. Ryou was shocked. Was that what he was really concerned about this whole time?

"You're my yami. I love you." Ryou answered. "Why would I be ashamed of you? I… I stood up to the pharaoh, didn't I?"

That also made Bakura smile.

"And you managed to get the millennium key away from Shadi."

"I have to give it back, you know."

Yami Bakura gave a small pout.

"Who's the yami here?" Ryou smiled brightly, and hugged Bakura again. "Since I stole it… maybe you should give it back!"

"What!"

"Just kidding! Just kidding!" Ryou giggled. "But I have some errands to run in my human form. So I'd better get going. Just… yami?"

"Hm?"

"Please don't close your mindlink when I get out. I don't like it when I can't feel you." Ryou whispered. "It's as though… part of me is paralyzed…"

Yami Bakura nodded, and Ryou disappeared into the light.