Last chapter! Next comes the epilogue--which is basically a chapter after the last chapter. But it's more epilogue-y than chapter-y, so it is an epilogue. Make sense? No? Too bad. It makes sense to me. :P.

Sorry for the delay on this one. My excuse is... I'm incredibly lazy.

Someone please notice the specialness of the verbs in the first section. Please.

Disclaimer: YGO is not mine. It is my sister's.

...Just kidding.

It actually is mine.

...Still kidding. It's Kazuki Takahashi's. And he rocks.

Malik was shaking. He was shaking because of nerves, still riled up from what he'd said. And he was shaking from exhaustion, because he'd run all the way here.

Now he sat in a guarded position. It hurt to be here—hurt a lot—but that was good; that was Malik felt he deserved.

How could you say those things? How could you let them out? You pathetic weak stupid…

Malik let the self-hatred that he'd held at bay for so long flood his mind, let it suffocate him.

You're so pathetic! Can't you control anything! Can't you even control what you say! Pitiful, worthless, disgusting person…

He was submerging himself in the pain, in the guilt, as if that could achieve the punishment he deserved. But he knew it couldn't. He'd known for a long time that there was nothing, no punishment he could suffer that was great enough to clear his soul.

They should never have forgiven me. Never. I don't deserve any forgiveness. They should have never forgiven me, or tried to help—Isis and Rishid either—

Oh gods they're going to tell them what I said! Malik gritted his teeth and hugged his knees tighter as a new wave of pain drowned his heart. Somehow his anger at his siblings faded away in front of the fear of their reactions. After all, what had he been doing for the past month but hiding the truth from them? They would surely be just as angry with him as he was with them.

They're going to hate me. They're going to be so disgusted with the weak, pathetic person that I am. The realization only increased Malik's self-hatred. Why can't you be someone who makes your siblings proud! Who makes them happy

He had tried. He had tried to keep the disgusting part of him hidden, tried to keep it down. But in the end, it had built up and spewed out of him uncontrollably.

Pathetic. I'm so pathetic.

Jonouchi had run, too. A little more inclined to physical activity than Malik, he wasn't quite as exhausted when he reached the dock. It was still a few moments, though, before he could catch his breath to shout, "Hey!"

The Egyptian, sitting hunched up with his head in his knees, twitched slightly at the sound of Jonouchi's voice, but did not lift his head.

Jonouchi watched Malik for a few seconds. "Why did you come here, Malik?" When Malik made no response, Jonouchi came a little closer and asked, "Are you trying to punish yourself?"

Finally Malik gave a shudder and raised his head. He stared at the deformed ironwork above him and shuddered again. "I'm… very sorry…" he said. "About… what I did here."

Jonouchi glanced at the ironwork as well. The explosion that had dropped the anchor and disfigured the iron bars was one of the first things he remembered clearly from that incident. But as he stood here, with Malik sitting in front of him so pitifully, Jonouchi found that he wasn't really angry, and that he was able to say, "Don't worry about it. It's fine."

Malik looked at him with wide eyes. "It isn't 'fine'!" he insisted. "How… how could it ever be fine! What I did here… what I did to you… It's inexcusable, unforgivable. You said… you even said you'd never forgive me. You said that many times!"

"So I changed my mind," Jonouchi replied, shrugging. "What's wrong with that?"

"I don't deserve forgiveness!" Malik turned his head away. "I don't deserve the forgiveness of any of you. I don't want you to… I don't want you to forgive me, because the things I did…"

"Hey," Jonouchi interrupted. "We're the ones you wronged, right?"

Malik nodded; he had to agree with that.

"So it's up to us to decide what you deserve for the pain you've caused us." Jonouchi sat down next to Malik. "And in case you haven't noticed, we've forgiven you."

Malik was silent for a few moments. Then he said quietly, "You don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Don't you realize that everything I said back there was true?"

"Yeah, I know that. So what?"

Malik shot Jonouchi a disbelieving look. "Didn't you hear me? I said I hated you, you know—I said I hated all of you, and the Pharaoh…"

"You haven't been acting like you hated us."

"An 'act' is exactly what it was," Malik snapped. "I was keeping that part of me… hidden."

Jonouchi let a brief silence hang in the air before he asked the important question, the one he'd come here to ask: "Why?"

Malik buried his head in his arms again. "Because I hate that part of me," he said, his voice muffled. "I hate… the stupid person I am."

Jonouchi rolled his eyes. "You're not a stupid person. Sure, you did some stupid things, but you've gotta move on. Why hold onto it? You've been forgiven and everything."

"But why did you forgive me?" Malik asked. "I really… don't understand how you can…"

Jonouchi shrugged unconcernedly. "Mostly, I think, we're just following Yuugi's lead. And he's certainly fine with you."

"But he's the one I hurt most," Malik said. "So why's he so… 'fine' with everything?"

"That's just how Yuugi is. He sees the good in everyone," Jonouchi answered, smiling wryly. When Malik still looked doubtful, Jonouchi continued, "It's kinda weird, isn't it? I really used to… hate him for that. I thought he was so dumb…"

Malik stared at Jonouchi in disbelief. "What? You used to hate Yuugi?"

"Thought he was pretty darn annoying," Jonouchi answered succinctly. "Used to pick on him regularly."

"But… but the strength of your friendship was enough to break the power of—" Malik broke off very suddenly and buried his head in his arms. "Sorry," he said jerkily. "Sorry. I shouldn't… talk about……" He paused for a second. "It's just… you guys get along so well…"

"People change, right?" Jonouchi said. "Once I accepted who Yuugi was, and accepted his kindness… I was able to change myself a lot. Still, it took me a while… I didn't even understand why he wanted us to be friends." Jonouchi smirked lightly as Malik's surprised eyes met his. "Sound familiar? So… you could probably change, too, if you would just accept that the past is behind you…"

"But it's not that simple." Malik sighed, hiding his eyes again. "I… I don't have the courage… to change. I don't even have enough courage to say that I want to change. I'm too afraid of… the new pain… and the new hardships that would bring. All I can do is tell myself that I should change, and just keep hating my pathetic self…"

"Why should you hate yourself?" Jonouchi asked. "Your siblings… Isis and Rishid don't hate you. They love you, and they know everything about you."

"They don't know this," Malik said. "They think I've changed. I never let them find out about the… the disgusting person I am."

"We told them what you said, you know," Jonouchi said. Malik hunched over more tightly, but Jonouchi continued, "No, listen. When they heard, they were worried—about you. They were sad that they had let you suffer alone. Malik, they realize… they know it's not easy to change. And right now, they're sitting in Bakura's apartment, worrying about you. They're waiting for you to come back. They're waiting to hear your voice."

Malik didn't answer, didn't lift his head.

"Malik, let's go back," Jonouchi prompted.

There was a long silence. Finally, Malik said very quietly, "Okay."

How long has it been since Jonouchi left? Rishid wondered. It felt like hours, but Rishid didn't trust his time judgment. At most, he guessed, a half-hour had passed.

But that was still a long time to just sit and wait. Yuugi and the others had long since found other things to do and disappeared to different rooms. Rishid and Isis, however, had not moved from the dining room chairs in which they sat since Jonouchi had left.

Rishid glanced over at Isis. She was staring straight ahead with her hands folded in her lap and her lips pursed, as she often did when she was anxious and trying not to let it show.

"Isis-sama," Rishid said softly, and Isis turned to look at him. Her eyes were worried. "Jonouchi will bring Malik-sama back soon," Rishid assured her, although he had no proof that what he said was true. He just didn't want Isis to worry so much.

Isis forced a small smile. "You're probably right," she agreed.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Rishid could do to assure himself either. He was concerned for Malik as well, concerned for the boy's safety and for his happiness. It was torturous to have to sit and wait; Rishid would have greatly preferred to have gone with Jonouchi. But the Japanese boy had forbidden that, so Rishid had to wait and trust that Jonouchi truly knew where Malik was.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes had passed, Bakura's doorbell rang. The white-haired boy answered it, and in a few seconds he appeared in the dining room, Jonouchi behind him.

"Did you find him?" Isis asked at once.

"Yeah," Jonouchi answered with a comforting half-smile. "And I got him to come back. He's outside, waiting for you guys."

Rishid exchanged a quick glance with Isis, and without speaking they stood and went to see their brother.

Malik stood on the sidewalk in front of the apartment building, waiting for Rishid and Isis to appear. He was not without anxiousness—in fact, it was difficult for him not to pace back and forth.

What if they're angry? What if they're disgusted? What if they hate me? The questions filled his mind. And there was another that overpowered the rest, one that made Malik's heart pound in fear: What if I can't control what I say to them?

They were coming out of the building now. Malik nervously bit his lip and lowered his eyes as his siblings drew near.

"Malik-sama, are you all right?" Rishid asked.

Face reddening, Malik simply nodded in response. Isis reached out to take his hand, but he pulled away, hunched over guardedly.

"Malik, what's wrong?" Isis inquired in concern. When Malik didn't answer for a moment, Isis pressed, "You can tell us now, right? Tell us what's wrong. We'll listen."

Trembling, Malik shook his head. I can't. I can't let those things come at you. I don't want to hurt you I don't want to hurt you I don't want… Malik took a few steps backwards.

"Malik-sama…!"

Again Isis reached out to him. "Malik, are… are you still angry at me?"

Malik shook his head vehemently, looking up for a moment to meet his sister's eyes. But the pain in them was too much for Malik to bear, and he quickly looked away again.

"Then what's wrong, Malik-sama?" Rishid asked. "Why won't you speak to us?"

Malik only shook his head, back and forth with a steady motion.

"Malik…" Isis sounded hurt, and Malik flinched. "Malik, we only want to hear your voice. Please… I want… I want to hear your voice again, Malik, please…"

Full of self-disgust, Malik kept shaking his head. Pathetic. Coward. Can't you make your siblings happy? he berated himself. But he was too afraid that he would lose control again, and he didn't think he could bear that.

"Please, Malik…" Isis begged. "I want you to tell me what's wrong, so I can help you fix it. I don't care… what you say. There's nothing you can say that will make me hate you. I just want to hear you speak. Please…" Her voice almost broke. "Please, Malik…"

Something hot and prickly was pressing at Malik's eyelids. It was not until a sob choked its way out of Malik's throat that he realized he was crying. "I'm sorry…" he whispered. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…" He repeated it over and over, crying as Isis and Rishid each took one of his hands.

"There's nothing for you to apologize for, Malik-sama," Rishid told him.

Malik shook his head and tried to pull away from them, from their gentle care and the forgiveness that he could never deserve. "I'm sorry," he sobbed again.

"You are already forgiven," Isis said firmly, wiping tears out of Malik's eyes. "Stop crying, brother," she added, and her voice sounded strange.

Malik quickly looked at her face and was surprised to see tears in her eyes as well. "Don't cry!" he exclaimed in distress. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm…"

"Shh," Isis said, pulling Malik into a hug. "I'm crying because I'm happy. Malik, I'm so happy… to hear your voice."

It took Malik a long time to get his sobs under control, but his siblings stood there with him, holding onto him, waiting.

When the tears had finally exhausted themselves, Malik felt… depleted. Everything had come pouring out of him again, uncontrollably and against his will. But this time, there was no terrible feeling of shame or self-disgust at what he'd released. There was only a tremendous… relief.

Slowly, he began to explain. "I didn't want you two to find out," he said in a very small voice, his eyes averted. "I didn't want to let you see the… weak, cowardly person that I couldn't… change or erase, so I tried to hide that shameful part of me, but…"

"There was no need to hide that, Malik-sama," Rishid said, his voice sad. "It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"But the two of you adjusted so easily," Malik protested. "It seemed like… It seemed like you had completely forgotten all of the pain of the last five years, but I couldn't do that. I can't… I can't even…" He stopped abruptly, his face crumbling uncertainly. Once he said that, there would be no taking it back. They would know.

"Can't what, Malik?" Isis questioned softly.

"I c-can't even… stop… hating him," Malik answered, almost inaudible. "My hatred for the Pharaoh just won't… go away." He was shaking, and he felt certain that Isis or Rishid or both would drop his hands and step away from the disgusting creature that he was.

But they didn't. After a few frozen seconds, Malik raised his eyes fearfully, searching his siblings' faces for shock or repulsion.

He found only love.

Rishid tightened his grip on Malik's hand. "Malik-sama, nothing vanishes that easily," he said gently. "For Isis-sama and me, too, there have been things from Battle City that are still… painful. But ignoring or hiding the pain does not lead to healing… does it, Malik-sama?"

Malik shook his head. "Because it… it tries to come out anyway," he mumbled. "That's what happened. I tried to hold it… m-my hatred… back, but it got stronger and stronger until I couldn't stop that feeling without closing everything else off too, so that's… what I did. And soon everything just… came out anyway." He sighed deeply. "I'm sorry I'm not… strong enough to—"

"Malik, didn't we say to stop apologizing?" Isis asked with a tiny smile on her face. "There's no need to. It's not that you're weak; you're just trying to carry too much by yourself. From now on, as long as you'll tell us when something's too hard for you, we'll help you, and we can be strong together."

"But I need to learn to stand on my own—"

"Malik-sama, this is different," Rishid said. "No one should have to suffer without someone there to comfort them."

Looking into the loving eyes of Rishid and Isis, Malik finally smiled in gratitude. He felt strangely empty, but empty in the sense that he could be filled with something new. Something better.

The Ishtars never returned to Bakura's apartment that afternoon. They stayed outside until the sun set, sitting together on the pavement.

Talking.

Yay? Anyway... Yeah. If anyone has any last questions, ask them in your review and I will answer them when I put up the epilogue! And... I swear I had more to say... Hmm... well, I guess not. OH YEAH review talk time!

Jieli: Your reviews are so detailed :) Thank you! Were you right about where Malik went?

T. Lei: Yup, Joey to the rescue all right! Thanks for reviewing!

Redemmo: Dingding, we have a winner! Thank you for reviewing :)

Chibi Cheesecake: Lots to say here ne XD. Let's see... I'm relieved that you liked the part with Rishid understanding Malik's gestures... I was very worried that it would end up seeming like a corny game of charades O.O;;. And don't worry about clogging up my inbox. I love having my inbox clogged with reviews :). Though I was surprised... "Wah! Eleven!" I said. Mou, you didn't know where he was? I'm surprised at you... ;) Thank you for all of your reviews, they made me so happy :D

By the way, would anyone be interested in seeing some of the random planning/bloopers/etc from this story, posted along with the epilogue? It'll be pretty random, I promise... But only if people are interested.