Heyla, I live. I have renewed contempt for the 4Kids dubbers after going through various episodes. The memory arc is getting better with the voices, but they need to just go back and redo the entire Doom Saga and half of Battle City. Anybody else hate Mai's new voice? I wanna just smack it with a shovel…
Okay, enough ranting from me. Sorry 'bout that. Review thanks to UnknownDarkMystery. And also to Anei Aikouka. I took your suggestion and fixed it. Thanks for letting me know. That's what I'm looking for on this site, real feedback of my work.
Chapter 6 - Christmas Day
Christmas morning dawned slow and peaceful.
Bakura made his way downstairs feeling far better than he had the night before. It really wasn't so bad. After all, he could always spend Christmas with his yami, right?
As he sat on the couch finishing his breakfast, he stared at the Christmas tree. Somehow he had a positive feeling about today. Well, it was Christmas after all.
He looked up to see Yami Bakura sitting next to him, a strange glint in his eye. Bakura swallowed and cleared his throat. "So…"
Before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a knock on the front door. He stood, confused. "It's eight in the morning. Who on earth…?"
He opened the door to reveal a very familiar face, tired, but smiling brightly.
"Hello Bakura."
Bakura was frozen in shock. "F-Father?" Then the trance snapped.
"Father!"
He threw his arms around his father, who laughed lightly and hugged him back. "Merry Christmas, my boy! Good lord, you've grown."
Bakura dried his eyes on his sleeve while his father couldn't see, then tore himself away to let him inside. "But- you said that you wouldn't be able–"
The older man shook his head, rustling snow from his hair. "It was quite strange. For some reason, my flight made an unscheduled stopover in Domino. From what I understand this city was miles from our route, so why we stopped I've not the slightest idea. But I thought 'What the hell, let the rest of the team deal with the transfer, they don't have families of their own. I'm going to spend Christmas with my son.' So I got right off the plane and came home."
Bakura led him into the living room, leaving his suitcase in the hall. They could unpack it later. "I'm glad you did. I've missed you so much."
His father chuckled. "I've missed you too, my boy. I see you've decorated the house." He eyed the tree in amusement. "That's quite a lot of presents you have there."
"Yes, most of them are just empty boxes. I thought it looked rather bare. This one, though-" he stooped and picked up a bright red box, "This is for you." He handed it to the older man who smiled and began to tear off the paper.
As his father opened the gift, something on the pile of presents caught Bakura's eye. He slowly lifted up a small green card. He hadn't seen it before, and he certainly hadn't put it there.
It was a plain little card with no words. On the front there was simply a picture of two pine trees, a small one nestled up against a taller, protective tree.
Him and his father.
On the inside there were just two printed lines: "To" and "From".
To: Bakura.
From:
There was no name, only a simple sketch of the Millennium Ring.
Bakura blinked back tears. Thank you, yami. Thank you so much.
The older man put an arm around his shoulders and his son hugged him tightly. "Merry Christmas, Father."
"Merry Christmas, Bakura."
This Christmas, Bakura reflected as he settled into bed that night, had been one of the best of his life. He had had such a wonderful day and yawn he had learned to really appreciate the time he could spend with his father…
Yami Bakura materialized silently beside his host's bed and just gazed down at him, watching the figure dreaming peacefully. His hikari had fallen asleep with a smile on his lips for the first time in ages. His snowy-white hair framed his face in such a way that he looked almost like a young angel.
One so innocent…
Sometimes, I wish that you would simply disappear…
Yami Bakura stared hard at him, fixing the picture into his memory, being sure to catch every little detail.
After tonight, it would be all he'd have left.
One more chapter to go. You heard me. Reviews and opinions keep me motivated.