hey people....if u're reading this, thanx for sticking with me...
i could fill this page with excuses for why i didn't update, but that would be a waste of yours and my time. i'll just say i'm very deeply sorry for not updating in a while. i'll do my best to be a lot more consistent, but as this is an extremely busy time for me, the only promise i'll make is what i said before - that i will not simply leave this story unfinished if it is within my power to do so.

and now that i've finished being all boringly theatrical...
u can go ahead and read this saddly short chapter.....(i know i know).... it's hardly my best, but i just felt that i really needed to post something and let y'all know i'm still here...

Part 1 (Chapter 18) – Return

"Kira!" The boy's eyes suddenly snapped open, taking in all that was around him in a moment of surprise. It was the garden once again - its shadow plants and mists filled the space around him, giving the realm a rather solemn and intimidating effect, even more so than usual.

"So glad to see you're finally awake, hikari." The last word was spat in distaste, a mockery of its meaning. The boy didn't have to turn to see who stood behind him. "After all," the taunting voice continued. "That is what you are, isn't it? My light and the greatest curse of my being."

"It wouldn't have to be that way," the other suggested faintly.

"Oh, but it does," the more menacing voice growled. "Control must be maintained, at all costs."

"Even at the risk of a life?"

"Even at the sure sacrifice of a life."

"So why am I still alive?"

There came a sigh, "Ah, the one obstacle of my latest endeavor. Until I find a way to break this bond without any damage to my own spirit, we are stuck with each other."

"A pity, isn't it? You would rather I be dead."

"Something like that, yes."

"So, why exactly were you here, waiting for me to wake up?" The boy asked once again.

"Good question," the dark spirit smirked. "I was just securing you here. I won't risk the chance of having you rescued."

"Why is that such a big deal to you?"

But the dark spirit only smiled and vanished.

"Ryou!"

The white-haired boy was below me. My voice seemed strangly delicate as I floated somehwhere above his still, sleeping form. I recieved no reply.

"Where am I?" Mist swam in around me, and I felt myself drowning in its thickness. Ryou's form faded to a single outline in the fog.

'Forget him.' Another voice entered my mind. 'Go back to the world in which you belong.'

A curtain of black suddenly dragged across the sea of mist beneath me, taking Ryou from my sight and leaving me hanging above an empty darkness. Something had closed both within my mind and beyond what it could imagine. I couldn't help but cry out from the finality of that moment.

"Kira?"

I looked up; the name was so familiar. A golden eye pierced the darkness.

"Kira."

A black shadow hung over me, claws of darkness digging into my shoulder, and a swirl of colors before my eyes.

"Kira!"

"Huh?" Groggily Kira felt her true eyelids lift. It was as though ages had passed since she had last used them. Light penetrated her vision, making it impossible to see until a shadow entered Kira's region of sight, sillouetted in the glow from above. "Wh...where am I?"

"The hospital," the voice spoke. It was simple and solemn, yet an intense amount of relief flowed through those two words. "You were calling out in your sleep."

"Was I?" Kira's mind struggled to register everything as information flowed through it.

"Do you remember all that happened?" the person above asked softly.

Kira squinted, trying to get a better look. "Yugi!" She sat up suddenly on a burst of energy, then realized she didn't have any to spare. Her head throbbed as blood rushed up to it, and her vision faded for a moment. However, before Yugi could stop her, Kira had thrown her arms around his shoulders, trying to maintain a grasp on the reality she had finally returned to. "Thank you. For everything."

"How's she doing?"

Yugi glanced at his friends still waiting outside the room. "Much better."

"That's a relief," Tea grinned, a whole-hearted smile.

"You know, I never actually found out quite what happened to her," Joey pointed out.

Yugi sighed, "It's a long story."

"Why am I not surprised?" Tristan asked.

"Well," Yugi began, walking down the hall, motioning them to follow, "You remember when I explained about Bakura, the evil spirit inside Ryou?"

Joey nodded, "Do we ever. Just the thought still gives me the creeps. I look at him, and every day he seems more and more evil."

Yugi frowned, "Sad to say, but true. Well, for some reason Bakura decided that Kira was a threat to him. She has some special abilities, though it doesn't seem like she has any real magic. But whatever it is, she can enter the shadow realms, and that's where Bakura would plot against her. He sent an evil spirit to possess her, kinda like a lesser version of himself. That's why she's been so strange lately."

"Poor Kira," Tea mourned.

"So what happens now?" Tristan wanted to know.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure," Yugi sighed. "Yami and I reached them in the shadow realms before Kira died, but I don't know what we're going to do next. We'll have to confront Bakura though sometime soon. It won't be easy."

"Well don't go scaring us like Kira, Yug'." Joey slung an arm around the other boy's shoulder. "Whatever you do, take care of yourself."

"I will," Yugi whispered softly. It reassured his friends, though Yugi couldn't shake his own uneasiness. The four of them made the rest of their way home in silence, mostly because of the all-around lack of sleep.

What is going to happen, Yami? Yugi asked the darker spirit from within his mind.

I can't say for sure, though you were right about one thing. We will have to confront Bakura, and soon.

And what about Kali?

She'll have to choose sides. Either way, we have to be ready to protect Kira again.

And Ryou? What do you think has happened to him?

I wish I knew, hikari.

Do you really think Kira might have some destined role in freeing him?

There's something unique about her – I won't deny that – but I can't promise you anything, hikari.

I'm just so worried.

I know. But try to get some sleep. We'll need all the energy we can get.

"Soon," Yugi murmured, drifting off. For him, it couldn't come soon enough.