Love is Sweet, Jealousy is Bitter (part 2)

x.x.x

"Shiroi, I have a problem."

"I'll say. In about twenty seconds, I'm going to bite your head off for waking me up in the middle of the night. Even if you are my sister."

Midori huffed, grabbing Shiroi's tail and giving it a hard pull. "Get up, you lazy scaly-ass, this is serious. And it is not the middle of the night, it's almost noon."

"Same difference." Shiroi yawned, glowering at his little sister. "I swear to god, if you tell me you're in labor-"

"It's still too soon for that," Midori said, absentmindedly rubbing her belly. "No, it's not that at all. It's… it's Seto, actually."

Shiroi did a long, leisurely cat-like stretch, before turning his attention to her. "What about him?"

"Well, it's actually more about Bakura. You know, the tomb robber? The one with the Millennium Ring?"

"Yeah, I know him." Shiroi narrowed his ice-blue eyes at her. "Look, I'm certain there's a point in here somewhere, so do you mind getting to it?"

"I need you to talk to him."

"WHAT?" Shiroi grit his teeth, his tail swishing into the wall, leaving a dent where it hit. "Are you entirely psychotic? You know I can't do that. I've been breaking enough rules as it is! For one thing, you know we're not supposed to appear to mortals unless in dire emergencies. For another thing Bakura is not my mortal. My job is to protect Yami. If you need somebody to talk to Bakura, go get his Guardian."

"That's just it!" Midori said. "Bakura doesn't have a Guardian!"

Shiroi paused, blinking at her, then frowning. "What?"

"Well, he's a tomb robber, right? It's a sin to steal from the dead. So his Guardian abandoned him. Standard procedure, when a mortal is… less than worthy of protection."

"All the more reason why I shouldn't go talking to him," Shiroi pointed out.

"Please, Shiroi!" Midori said. "Don't make me beg. You know you can't refuse me when I beg!"

Shiroi glowered at her. "Why me?"

Midori folded her arms. "You said it yourself. You break a lot of rules. One more little thing isn't gonna get you fired. Especially if you get results."

"…and?"

Midori sighed. "And… I already asked Gin, Kin, Hansha, even Slypher and Ra. They all said no."

Shiroi groaned. "Even Ra knows enough to say no to this stupid idea…"

"Actually, Ra said 'poop,' but I think he meant 'no,'" Midori said. "Please, Shiroi? I really, really need you to do this."

"Why?"

"Because Bakura stole Seto's soul! And now he's gonna do something just… awful!"

Shiroi paused, looking thoughtful. Midori was right; Shiroi really would break any rules necessary to protect his mortal. But he had his own problems protecting Yami. Seto was supposed to be someone else's problem to deal with. Still… he couldn't just not help someone when they needed him…

"Couldn't you talk to Bakura?" Shiroi finally said.

"I would," Midori said quietly. "But do you really think Bakura would listen to a pregnant woman? He barely listens to his own conscience, why should he listen to me?"

"Why should he listen to me?"

Midori smiled her best you'll-do-this-because-you-love-me smile. "Because you're a big scary Blue Eyes White Dragon," she said. "And because he has no Guardian at all to protect him. If he doesn't behave, there's no one in the entire Shadow Realm that would fault you for squashing him like a bug."

Shiroi huffed softly. "You. Owe. Me. BIG."

"Oooh, I just knew you'd say yes!" Midori waved a hand, opening a portal into the mortal realm. "Hurry up now. You don't have much time."

x.x.x

Something was wrong. Bakura could feel it even before he opened the door to his room. The pointers dangling from the Millennium Ring clanged together with a soft musical tone, indicating that there was… something waiting on the other side of that door. Something with as much power as a Millennium Item.

Bakura eyed the door warily. Did he really want to bother with whatever was in there? He slowly drew his hand back from the doorknob. In his experience, unknowns were more than likely very dangerous.

But this unknown seemed to already known he was there. Bakura heard the click of the lock, and the door slowly creaked open. It seemed to want to talk to him. Bakura lightly touched the Millennium Ring, letting it reach its powers out into the room, probing the waiting darkness. Is it powerful? Bakura asked the item silently.

Yes, the Millennium Ring indicated.

Is it dangerous? was Bakura's next thought.

Yes, the item answered immediately. After a short pause, it answered again. No.

Bakura frowned. The Millennium Ring really wasn't the best item to use to test unknowns like this. If he had one of the others, the Millennium Eye, perhaps, he would be able to learn more. He tried a last time, hoping the Ring could at least give him something more to go off before confronting this unknown. Will it hurt me?

The little pointers clanged together, giving a mixed, confusing response. The answer was, if Bakura interpreted it correctly, Not if you behave.

Well, that was probably the best answer he was going to get out of the thing. Bakura pushed the door open further, stepping into the darkness of the room. He flipped the light switch, and the light flared on… for only a brief second, before it made a pop and the room was plunged into darkness once more. The bulb had burned out.

But in that fleeting moment the room had been lit, Bakura caught a glimpse of a coiled form, gleaming white scales, and very angry blue eyes.

"Tomb Robber," greeted a voice in the darkness. It seemed to echo, far more than it should in the tiny room.

Bakura concentrated, calling up golden light from the Millennium Ring, enough to light up the room. Or what was left of the room. The meager furniture floated lazily in space, suspended in the cavernous pocket of Shadow Realm darkness Bakura had unknowingly walked into.

The Blue Eyes White Dragon uncoiled itself from its lounging position, gliding forward toward the tomb robber. Bakura stepped back, expecting to run into the wall, but the wall was no longer behind him. Nothing was behind him any longer, save for the swirl of black and sapphire light of the Shadow Realm.

"What do you want?" Bakura asked, glaring up at the dragon, unable to help but note how very large the beast's mouth was, how easily it could bite him in half.

The dragon's sharp teeth gleamed in the darkness as it grinned, then calmly examined its claws absentmindedly. "Want? I only want to talk to you, little tomb robber. About Seto."

Bakura froze. Seto. Seto, whose soul he had sealed within the Blue Eyes White Dragon card. Of course the dragon was here to talk to him, he had offended it! He hadn't even thought about it, but all the old tales agreed that dragons were ridiculously easy to offend…

"Have you ever heard of the Guardians, little tomb robber?" the dragon continued casually.

"I wasn't aware I had a Guardian," Bakura said.

"You don't," the dragon assured him. "But Seto does. Several, in fact." His soft laughter would have been reassuring, if Bakura wasn't so certain the dragon meant to eat him. "All Blue Eyes White Dragons, of course. You didn't even consider they may be… upset at what you have done, did you?"

Bakura frowned darkly at the dragon. "I am not releasing Seto. He's mine."

The Blue Eyes was silent for a moment. "You think he is yours, do you?" it finally said. "Just because you have stolen his soul, because his body obeys any command you give? You think these things make him yours?"

"Yes," Bakura answered, somewhat confused. "Don't they?"

The dragon chuckled, lowering his head to look Bakura in the eyes. "You know they do not. You can feel it, you are frustrated by it. You want all of Seto, and for some reason, you find you do not have it all."

"What else is there?" Bakura demanded. "His body, his soul, they're mine. What else is missing? Why does he continue to defy me, despite all I have taken from him?"

"Because," the dragon said patiently, "his heart is still his own. You may hold his soul, you may command his body, but in his heart, he is free to hate you for it. And so, little tomb robber, you do not own as much as you think."

That was unacceptable, Bakura decided with sudden determination. That Seto could withhold anything from him could simply not be allowed!

"You are the great thief, are you not?" the dragon asked, sounding amused. "Stealing Seto's heart should be a delightful little challenge for you." The Blue Eyes turned, forcing Bakura to duck as its tail swung over his head. The creature sauntered back into the darkness, the Shadow Realm swallowing him up in its folds, so that not a singly gleaming scale could be seen. The energy of the Shadow Realm rippled suddenly, depositing the furniture once again on the floor, as the darkness flowed away like water. Bakura found himself once again standing in the tiny room aboard Pegasus' ship, the moonlight through the window lighting the tiny space.

Bakura rubbed his forehead, trying to forget the dragon and what he had said. Did it even matter that he did not all of Seto, body, soul, and heart?

He remembered his own words to Seto. "You don't really mean that, do you. You don't really believe it."

"No," Seto answered honestly. "I don't."

Yes, Bakura decided. It mattered very much.

x.x.x

"You idiot!" Midori snarled at Shiroi the moment he returned. "What the hell were you thinking? I told you to make him release Seto's soul!"

"He will," Shiroi said, smiling in amusement. "When he's ready to."

"I can't believe you," Midori said, leveling a glare at her brother, her icy blue eyes dark with her fury. "What the hell makes you think Bakura is ever going to let Seto go on his own?"

"Because, little sister, the tomb robber is going to fall in love."