Chapter 4

Touzokuoh led her down the halls of the hut. To her surprise it was larger on the inside than it looked out on the desert. They stopped at the end of a hall where a stone door stood right in front of them. He unlatched the lock and pulled her inside. She stood in awe at the sight of the room. Crimson drapes hung across the window and a transparent red canopy hung over the bed that was covered in crimson sheets.

Miew looked at him in shock, "who's room is this?"

Touzokuoh smirked, "it used to belong to my father." He sat on the bed and pulled her into his lap, "this is where my father confessed his love to my mother."

Miew grazed her hand across the velvet sheet, "it's beautiful…"

He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "it's also where my father first made love to her as well…" Miew's face flushed red.

She looked at him, "w-what are you saying?"

He smiled at her, not a smirk but a genuine smile, "be mine, Miew? I'd do anything to have you. I love you."

A smile completely covered her face as she hugged him, tackling him back onto the bed, "yes! Yes! I love you, Touz! I want to be your woman! Your wife!"

Touzokuoh's hands played in her hair, "Miew…I'd love to live peacefully with you. But my record won't let me. I tell you this to warn you…if you become my wife…we'll be on the run non-stop. Do…do you want that?"

Miew smiled and kissed his neck, "I told you, Touz…I'll be happy as long as I have the one I love and my children with me…be that on the run or peacefully in another country…I love you…and want to be with you…"

He held her in his embrace and kissed her head, "in the short time I've know you…no one…not even my own mother showed so much compassion…"

Miew smiled more to herself than to him, 'why? Why must I love a thief? The dangers…the risks…I worry…Ra, protect him…protect my thief…'

-

-

Touzokuoh pulled her slumbering body closer to him. His. This one word ran through his mind several times that night. He loved her. He wouldn't let anyone have her. His past goals didn't seem important anymore. He had his woman, his love. He wanted to give her a happy life. A peaceful one with no interference of Pharaoh Atem. But could he give it to her?

He could. The Sennen ring that one of the priests wielded would allow him to. He wanted the ring more than ever now. The power of it called to him.

"Touz?" Miew's voice broke the silence of the room.

Touzokuoh smiled, "call me Bakura…when you say 'Touz' it reminds me of the irritating tone Dire gives me."

Miew smiled, "Bakura…"

Touzokuoh, now Bakura, smiled back, "now what?"

She giggled and kissed his hand that was entwined with her own, "promise you won't leave me…"

Bakura kissed her neck sending a chill down her spine, he knew her weak spot, "I promise…I'd never even think of it." Miew watched as he got out of the large bed they rested in and got dressed.

Miew sat up covering herself with the sheets, "where are you going now?"

Bakura smirked, "to get Marik and Dire. I told them we'd leave today."

Miew looked down, "but…you said…"

He walked over to her and lifted her chin, "I said I'd stall til the next day. I never said I wouldn't go. Now trust me. I have to leave before the sun rises and the desert gets too hot."

"take…take me with you," Miew said hesitantly, "I want to see my sister and Menat again. Please?"

Bakura smirked, "fine. Besides, I'd like to meet your sister. She's your family, right?"

Miew smiled and hugged him, "thank you, Bakura…"

A man about 19, piercing violet eyes, and shoulder-length sandy blonde hair walked into the room with a smirk on his face. "if you two are done, we need to head out," he said eyeing Miew who had herself covered in the sheets.

Bakura cocked an eyebrow at the man, "enjoying what you see of my fiancé, Marik?"

Marik scowled and turned away, hiding his blush of embarrassment, "no. You planning on getting married? I thought you were against all that settling down mess."

Bakura smirked and kissed Miew's cheek, "people change, Marik. Sometimes for the better." Miew smiled at his answer. He had changed. She knew he was cunning, deceitful, and maybe even womanizing. But she noticed a loneliness in his eyes long before she knew it.

"get dressed," he told her, "we're leaving."

Marik turned to his friend, "she's not coming with us, is she!"

"yes. Besides, she has family back at the palace."

"but what if she rats on us?"

Miew glared at him, "why would I do that?"

"I don't know!" Marik snarled, "do I look like I'm you? How do we know you won't run to the pharaoh as soon as our backs are turned?"

"I'd never!" Miew defended, "I want to see my sister and friend! I have no business with the pharaoh!"

"as if! We all know that if you're a servant of the pharaoh you're like his puppy!" Marik snapped, "your bitch-ass is no different!"

"stop it!" Bakura sneered at his friend, "enough! Miew's not like that!"

"you've grown soft, Touzokuoh," Marik glared at him, "you're no longer the killer I once looked up to."

"all for the better," Bakura defended, "now let's just leave! The sooner we get to the palace, the sooner we can claim our prize and get back!" Miew looked at her lap as Marik stormed out of the room. Bakura sighed and turned to Miew, "sorry about that. Marik's like that. he's a kid on the inside, really."

Miew started to tremble, "Bakura…what if he's right?"

Bakura blinked, "what are you talking about?"

She looked up at him with tear-stained eyes, "what if Hereret or Menat tell the pharaoh? Or worse, the six priests find out?"

Bakura sat next her and pulled her close to him, caressing her arms, "don't think that way. If they do find out we'll find a way out. We always do."

"but…what if my sister wants me to return to the palace?" Miew hugged him around the waist.

"I'd never let you go back. I'd rather suffer seven thousand deaths…my desert cat…I love you too much…"