AN: I do not own YGO! Okay. This is the last chapter. Please enjoy.

Chapter Eleven: Gift

Ryou certainly didn't feel dead…maybe. He looked up at Kura, who was screaming his name. The whip hadn't hit him; it had hit Bakura. "Thank…you…" All he did was smile shakily before everything turned black.

Marik rammed his motorcycle into the hulk of a man. He wasn't finished. His bike laid uselessly on the ground next to the fallen man but he didn't care as he picked up Ondruw and slammed him down onto the motorbike.

Bakura had never felt so helpless as he did now. Stroking the child's face as if to revive the boy, the white-haired teen felt tears streaming down his cheeks. When Marik kneeled next to Bakura, he handed the child's body to him and slowly turned around to face the beast that he could do so many things to at the moment.

"Why?" Bakura asked, his eyes glistening. "WHY?" He blocked the oncoming punch and rammed a knee into Ondruw's gut. "What did he ever do to you?"

Ondruw fell into the mud again before he struggled to get to his feet. After a bit of a struggle and a few blows, Ondruw lost his temper. "Because he stole my wife!" He tried to punch Bakura again, but to no avail. "She only talked about him, only praised him, everything was about that ungrateful brat!" Blindly, the brute flailed at Bakura.

The blows all hit, but Bakura couldn't feel anything. Ryou had suffered for this pig's own greedy reasons. What kind of father was he? Was he even a father? Finally parrying one blow to his head, Kura knocked the man out with a kick to the head.

"Bakura, something's wrong with Ryou!" Marik shouted. The boy in the Egyptian's arms was pale…too pale…and it wasn't from blood loss.

"The hospital." Bakura swept up Ryou and looked for his bike.

"I'll stay here until the police get here," Marik said, his teeth clenched. "Then I'll catch up with you." Bakura looked at him with gratitude in his eyes. "I'll make sure he gets what he deserves," Marik added with a small smile.

Nodding his thanks, Bakura jumped onto his bike and rode. Hard.

-Yamazaki Hospital-

The teen paced across the waiting room again, trying to get his thoughts organized, but he couldn't. Ryou had been in the ER for a long time. Something was wrong, but none of the doctors had come out yet. A nurse had tried to stop him but had backed off when she saw his steel eyes. Bakura was about to break into the ER soon if someone didn't tell him what the hell was going on.

"Are you the child's guardian?"

Bakura turned towards the voice. "Yes," he said quickly. It was half-true, for now at least. "Is he okay? What the heck is taking so long? Can I see him?"

The senior gray haired gentleman held up a hand. Sternly, he pointed to two seats in an office down the hall. "In there, please. A little privacy is good, yes?"

Bakura swallowed hard as he followed the man into the room. Taking a seat, he stared hard at the doctor.

Without wasting his time, the doctor explained and asked, "I'm Dr. Gono. Are you the abused boy's guardian?" By the death glare that Bakura gaze him, the doctor knew the answer. "No offense meant, young man. Now…" he cleared his throat. "The child has suffered from severe physical child abuse. Not only from his wounds, but from the poison."

"What poison?" Bakura blurted.

The doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "A poison was injected in a form of a pill, we believe. Because it has been in his system for far too long…there has been…complications."

"Complications?"

Dr. Gono sighed again. "Please, allow me to explain the boy's condition." Bakura just continued to glare at him. "As you are well aware of, the child shows signs of many beatings. Not only lashes, scars, bruises, burns, and welts, but something else as where. It seems as if he has been exposed to a toxic…a fatal one. It is a poison that-"

Bam! The door burst open.

A nurse ran into the room. "I'm sorry, sir," she gasped, panicking. "But…the child has woken up and won't settle down. He cannot be sedated! He's thrashing wildly."

"Yes, yes, I know!" the doctor said hastily. Bakura shot up from his seat and demanded to know which room Ryou was in.

The terrified nurse stuttered, "402."

Pushing past both of them, Bakura ran down the hall and open a flight of stairs. I've got to get to Ryou! He nearly ran into an old man in a wheelchair and a lady with crutches. Actually murmuring apologies under his breath, he ran on until the door with the number 4, 0, and 2 stood in front of him. It was open and it seemed as if all hell had broken loose inside. He hurried in and saw at least five shouting doctors trying to hold down a child in a white hospital gown.

"KURA!"

Bakura shot forward and thwarted the doctors away. They quickly retreated, but not without yelling up a ruckus. Bakura ignored them and sat down on the edge of the massive bed. He pulled Ryou into his lap, protectively shielding him with his arms.

"Leave them for now," Dr. Gono's voice boomed over all the noise. He stood in the doorway, calmly looking at the scene. His assistants and associates walked out, trying to argue. Dr. Gono would have none of it. When the door closed, Ryou grabbed Bakura tighter.

"Kura," he said, more relaxed now. "Kura."

Bakura just sat there and stroked the child, whispering to Ryou his apologies. Ryou shook his head and just smiled at him.

"I promise," Bakura said, "that he'll never touch you again. Know why?" Ryou shook his head. "Cause you're gonna live with Marik and me. All the official stuff is already being taken care of by Mrs. Tomoki."

Ryou buried his head into Bakura's chest.

They stayed like that for quite a time. Marik eventually came in, and Ryou's face brightened even more. The news of Ryou's father being thrown in jail for a lifetime was shared, and that was when the doctor walked in.

"I'm sorry to intrude," he said, grabbing their attention. "But…have you told them, child?"

Ryou looked away from all of the adults, just burying his head into Bakura's chest.

"Told us what?" Marik and Bakura both inquired.

The doctor's gaze softened. "The poison that was injected was extracted quite a few hours too late. As a result, his bronchia tubes will be weakened. Thus, not only can he not overexert himself, he must stay away from air pollution, toxics, and overbearing stenches."

Silence. The doctor closed his eyes as he continued. "There is no cure for this, at least here in Domino. The drug has been banned for quite some time, and so no cure was in high demand. I am sorry."

"Damn…I was too late. It's my fault…"Ryou heard Bakura whisper. The boy bit his lower lip and clenched Bakura's shirt tighter as Dr. Gono politely bowed and walked out.

"It'll be okay. Right, Kura?" Ryou asked catiously, trying to sound cheerful. "It's not your fault." When Bakura didn't respond, he looked over at Marik for help. But the Egyptian wasn't doing so hot, either.

"Bakura, pease…say something…" Ryou begged, the fear of guilt creeping back to him. "Kura, it's not your fault."

The sound of Ryou's voice brought him back to his senses, only barely. When Ryou's eyes connected with Bakura's, he saw confusion and the feeling of being lost. Then they reeled into focus, and Bakura shakily smiled.

"We'll find a cure," Bakura said, looking at Ryou. "There's gotta be one." He eyed the bandages before inspecting the child himself.

"You don't have to, Kura. I'm fine."

"No, we'll move away from here…won't we?" Bakura glanced over at his Egyptian friend, who had his head in his hands. Bakura looked back at Ryou and held him close. "Marik and I planned to move a long time ago. Father's intervening too much, anyhow."

Ryou slowly nodded. "Where to?"

The white haired teen gave it some thought. "A place without too many factories. Clean air, good water, all that stuff."

"We'll find it," Marik said. "A place where you don't have to suffer just to breathe."

-Teishin Manor-

The coughing wouldn't stop. His throat felt as if it was on fire, and his eyes were burning, blurring his vision. Someone placed something cool against his lips, and Ryou knew it was water. He quickly drank as much as he could before he went into another hacking fit.

Bakura felt helpless as Ryou's body shook in his arms. It had been a month since they left the hospital, but Ryou wasn't doing so well. The only thing that seemed to help was a special medicine made from herbs that were shipped to Domino.

When the coughing stopped, Ryou moaned quietly, collapsing into Bakura's arms.

"Have you found anything yet, Marik?"

"Bakura, you won't believe this." Marik's vigorous words caught Bakura's attention.

"What is it?"

His eyes glinted. "Egypt. The medicine and herbs are from Egypt." Marik let it sink in before he launched his second set of good news. "Better yet, the plant's supposed to be some god's favorite flower. Because of that, it's considered sacred so it's everywhere." Marik grinned. "Clean air, open fields, everything."

"Have you ever been to Egypt?" Bakura asked Ryou.

Ryou's eyes suddenly glimmered with enthusiasm and he softly giggled. Bakura could feel his excitement course through his small body. "I've never been there before."

"Egypt it is."

-Epilogue-

"It's pwetty…" Ryou breathed, looking down.

"Yeah?" Shielding his eyes from the scorching sun, Bakura smiled when he saw. "You're right."

"Let me see! Let me see!" Marik placed his hands on Ryou's shoulders and glanced down. "Wow! That's really something."

"How much?" Bakura asked. When the vendor told him the price, Ryou blushed.

"Kura, it's fine."

But Bakura ignored him. He pulled out his wallet, only to be shoved sideways. The stunned teen took one look at his attacker and scowled. Marik handed the amount of gold needed to the merchant before he himself was pummeled.

"Marik, you didn't-"

"Does it matter? It's your money either way."

"Argh." Bakura placed Ryou on the ground. "Try it on, little guy."

The child's eyes glittered with pleasure as he tried it on.

"Looks good."

"They found it near a temple." Bakura, Marik, and Ryou turned toward the vendor, who continued. "It was amidst much rumble, and a few shards of glass and sand, but there it laid, unscratched. A good deal, huh?"

The white haired teen nodded before leading them away, back to the hotel.

"Do you like it, Ryou?"

"Yes! Thank you so much!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Better than perfect."

Laughter. "That's good. I guess the medicine's working, then."

"I believe that means we're staying."

"Really?"

"Yeah…you need the medicine, it's awesome here, Marik's enjoying himself. Heck, I'm content. It should be fine. Mom's in the hospital here, right? And dad's somewhere on a business trip."

"Thank you…for everything, Bakura…Marik."

"No, thank you."

Giggling.

"Just don't lose that necklace, will you?"

"Yeah, it would be a shame to lose that…after all, it must be a great treasure since it was found near a temple."

"It's got a pyamid on it. Does that mean it coulda been a farow's?"

"That sounds about right. Wonder what those five arrows are for?"

"Who cares? Looks good on you, Ryou."

"Tanks."

---

AN: The millinium items do not hold any power in any of my stories. Please keep that in mind. I hope that ending was okay, even thought it was a bit rushed…please R&R! And thank you for reading this!