Note: Short weird ending chapter. Sorry, no lemon! Yes, there will be a sequel when I get around to plotting it out.

Brave New World 9

Yami Bakura POV

I do not know how long I slept in his arms, but the first thing I see when I finally open my eyes is the smooth skin of his chest. He is awake, I can tell from the way he is breathing, and I expect that he is watching me. I let him stare and close my eyes again, curling closer and feeling his arms wrap around me. Just because.

The crushing weight of this world pressing in on me does not seem so impossible to escape today. He will let me hide here in his mansion, in his arms. He is sheltering a thief, and suddenly it is not because he wants something from me.

It is just because.

I came so close to going back to the Ring, but he came and bought me back. For the first time since I was given this new life I think that this can work. If he really cares for me, if he will really let me stay and just be his lover with no price… I think that I can live like this.

He moves a little and brushes my forehead with the back of one hand gently, testing to see if I have a fever. I do not know how long I have slept, but I feel better. There are still doubts because that is the way I am, but it is easier to ignore them now.

"No fever." He says, pleased. I look up at him and he stops moving for a moment, staring at me. Then he gently touches my face and his eyes are warm.

"You're so beautiful." He whispers, and I do not know what to say because his voice still makes me weak, even now. "How do you feel?"

I stare up at him for a long moment, thinking about everything that has happened, then smile a little.

"Better." I like his arms around me. I am only mortal now… I am allowed to be weak. He is the only one that would ever know, anyway. "It is true, you will keep me?" I ask, and he laughs slightly.

"Yes. But the way you say it makes you sound like a pet. I just want you here with me."

"I think that I would like to be your pet." I say, although I would never let anyone else hear me say that.

Kaiba…no, Seto, laughs at that.

"Good, because I'd like to keep you forever." He tells me. I am not used to …this. I like it when he says things like that, but I will not admit it out loud.

"Did you really think I'd prefer Yami over you?" He asks.

"Yes." I honestly thought that the pharaoh would be better for him than I am, but he chose me anyway.

"He annoys me." Seto growls, and I cannot help but laugh a little. I did not know he still felt that way.

"You called him here." I point out, leaving out that I thought he would ask the pharaoh to do what I could not.

"Only because I was worried about you, and he knew more about you than I did. I thought he could help, but as usual he only ended up making things worse." He frowns, and I can tell that the pharaoh will not be visiting much anymore. "He kept calling you all these things, thief, grave robber… If I hadn't been so concerned about you I would've thrown him out. Probably through a window."

I raise and eyebrow at him, amused and confused.

"I am a thief. Or…I was." I inform him, and he shakes his head.

"He's not calling you that again, not in front of me. Maybe I'll start calling him 'Yugi' again, that seemed to annoy him."

His fingers trace my tattoo idly, his thumb running over it as I lay curled against him.

"Do you think that I am weak?" I ask. I know that he thinks I need to be protected – mostly from myself – but that is not the same.

"No. I've seen you fight, I know how strong you can be and that you're intelligent enough to think your way out of almost anything. I liked the way you always had a plan, then two more for if the first one failed. But, some things are just too much to handle alone." He says, then moves so that I am on my back and he is leaning over me.

"I…" I begin, then pause and look up into his eyes. "You say all these things to me, good things, and I do not know how to say them back to you." I tell him quietly. There are many things I want to tell him, but he is much better at this than I am. I do not know how to make the words sound right, I have never had a lover that I wanted to keep forever. After all, I lived less than twenty years in Egypt and most of that was spent stealing from tombs and fighting the pharaoh.

He smiles down at me, and I wonder how many people besides me get to see that.

"Say what you think."

I look up at him for a long moment and try to remember all the things I want to tell him.

"I am glad that I am here, with you. I do not want to be anywhere else." I tell him, hoping he understands all that I mean when I say that. I think he sees, because he leans down and his lips meet mine in a slow, perfect kiss. I do not just lie here anymore, instead I snake my arms behind his neck and pull him down a little, deepening the kiss into something less innocent.

When we break apart for air I do not let him up, instead I lean to whisper in his ear.

"We can do this… just for what it is, now?" I ask, because something weak in me needs to be reassured. I am sure that I never had such complex emotions as a spirit, but I do not care because I did not have him then, either. He cares about me, and I think it will take me a long time to completely get used to that.

"I'd like nothing more." He murmurs back, his breath warm at my neck. His hand slides up my thigh, but he pauses for a moment.

"Are you sure you're up to this? If it's too soon…"

He would wait, I know. I am ready, though, because I have wanted this since the first night he bought me here.

"I am not that weak." I smirk slightly, and he laughs. He takes his time undressing me and touching every part of me, much like the first time we did this. Now, though, I can let myself feel it.

I can enjoy this now, because I have no reason not to.

The End.

Note: Yeah, the ending kinda sucks. It turned out to be the M-preg that wasn't, but I promise to do a sequel because I just quit one of my stupid jobs and I'm gonna have more time on my hands over Xmas. In the meantime I have plenty of fics to finish, so I hope you enjoyed this one.