a Light from Beyond:
Phantom Laughter, a Brush of Wings
There were only a few minutes before midnight.
Bakura glanced at the clock and sighed. Soon, he would be alone again.
Amane saw his gaze fixed on the clock; she reached up a hand, touched his face. He looked down at her.
"Don't be sad, Ryou. You're not alone." She smiled at him. "I'll always be with you, even when you can't see me. Like…like a guardian angel. I'll be there for you. Always."
Bakura smiled back at her, tears coming unbidden and unwanted into his eyes. He hugged her to him tightly, never wanting to have to let go, never wanting to say goodbye.
"Thank you, Amane," he whispered. "I love you."
"I love you too, Ryou," she answered, clinging to him. She whispered reluctantly, "Goodbye."
He swallowed, and finally said it, "Goodbye."
\\\
The Spirit looked on as his host hugged his sister farewell. It was eleven fifty-nine. The siblings had not moved for at least three minutes, having already said goodbye, and not willing to actually let go. He was tapping his foot impatiently, his arms crossed.
"C'mon, c'mon. This won't last forever. Time's almost up."
He glanced again at his host, seeing the tears streaking Bakura's face, the tight hold of his arms, and the happy, yet sad look on his face. The Spirit sensed the turmoil in his mind: joy for the time he had been given, tinged and clouded with sorrow that it was over; a fear of being alone again.
His glare faded, and his look softened to one of almost fondness, an empathetic, knowing look. Robbed early of family, the forgotten orphan always finds strength in the memories that remain.
He whispered, "Happy birthday, Ryou."
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Amane never moved, she just disappeared.
Bakura sighed, and lay back down slowly, wondering if it was all just some cruel illusion the Spirit had created for his amusement. As Bakura settled his head on the pillow, he felt the slight crush of soft petals. He sat up and carefully felt his head, feeling intertwining stems and leaves.
"Amane," he whispered. He smiled. Standing, he went over to his desk and carefully removed the flowers from his head. He gently placed the crown on his desk, arranging it to encircle the picture of his sister.
He went back to his bed and covered up; he whispered to the darkness, "Good night, Amane." He fell into a peaceful sleep.
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Bakura woke and stretched at the buzz of his alarm. The memory of the paper waiting for him ensured he got up immediately and hurried through getting dressed and ready for school.
Sitting down at his desk to finally work, Bakura picked up his pen and reread through the paragraph he had written the previous night. He frowned. The paragraph sounded terrible and stilted. With a sigh, he set that sheet aside and pulled out a new, clean sheet.
His gaze strayed over to the wooden frame sitting on his desk. He looked into the bright eyes of Amane, and he smiled back at her. Purple and white flowers lay in a circle around the frame, still looking fresh, a ward against the darkness. Smiling still, Bakura returned to his paper, scrawling words quickly, riding on the wave of sudden inspiration.
The paper was finished after only twenty minutes of straight writing. Bakura looked at the clock; he still had time before he had to head to school. He placed his paper within his folder and stowed it into his bag. That done, Bakura stood, left his bedroom, and dropped off his bag by the door for when he would leave.
Exiting his apartment, he made his way downstairs to buy a paper.
On his return to his apartment, he went immediately to his chair and starting scanning the headlines.
"Something good must've happened today," he told himself. His eyes were drawn to one particular heading almost immediately, "Girl and Dog Rescued from Fiery Death." He sat for a moment, scanning the other headlines, then returned to the cover story. "At least it has potential…they were saved, after all."
He finished the article with a smile on his face.
He glanced at the clock and stood; it was time to leave. Locking the door behind him, Bakura left his apartment and began his walk to school, the wind whipping his clothes and hair wildly.
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About halfway to school, Bakura tripped over an upraised piece of concrete and sprawled painfully across the sidewalk.
Grumbling to himself about his own clumsiness, Bakura picked himself up. Papers flew past him, carried by the wind. Bakura reached down to retrieve his backpack, suddenly noticing that he had forgotten to shut it, and his folder had fallen out.
Crouching beside his bag, he stuffed his folder back into his backpack, realizing with shock that the papers that had flown so swiftly by him were his assignments.
With a groan over his own forgetfulness and bad luck, Bakura got up and quickly headed down the sidewalk, following the wind, grabbing at paper as he went.
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"Oh, dear," Bakura said under his breath, staring up the tree in front of him. Perched on a branch high above his head and still fluttering in the wind was the last assignment Bakura needed to retrieve. It was the first page of his paper that was due today. "Maybe I should just call it late and rewrite it tonight…"
Bakura sighed. The paper was a large part of his grade…and, as he suddenly recalled, his teacher did not accept late assignments. He continued to stare at the paper, biting his lip.
Setting down his bag, he slowly pulled himself up onto the lowest branch. His hands shook slightly.
Years ago, when he had still lived with his family, Amane had loved to climb trees. Of course, once she got up so high, the parents wanted her to come down. Since it was reasoned that the adults would break the branches and cause both child and parent to fall, it was always Bakura who had been sent up to 'rescue' her. Him, the only one in the entire family who as afraid of heights. Amane had always ended up helping him down.
Swallowing loudly, Bakura forced his hands steady as he continued up the tree. He was about halfway to the paper, and the wind was picking up. As he felt the tree swaying, he prayed it could handle both him and the wind.
Continuing to inch his way upward, Bakura held tightly to the rough bark and avoiding small branches.
His foot slipping against the bark, Bakura grabbed frantically at the closest branch and held on tight. He hung there, swinging from a branch, his feet unable to find purchase in the near-vertical trunk.
"Oh…" Bakura moaned, noticing the seemingly far drop to the ground. He shut his eyes tightly and clung to the branch with all his might.
An old memory surfaced of when he had been sent up to retrieve Amane from a tree in their yard. He had slid down part of the tree and had clung to the trunk desperately, shutting his eyes to rid himself of the dizzying view of the ground. Amane had calmly climbed down to him.
"Open your eyes, silly. You can't expect to climb down blind."
Bakura forced his eyes open, took in a deep breath, and took in the situation.
"You have to stay calm. Everything will be fine as long as you don't panic."
Resisting the urge to look down again, Bakura carefully began sliding his hands over the branch, inching towards the trunk.
"If you're scared, Ryou, just take my hand."
They had made it down the tree together.
Bakura gritted his teeth and reached out his arm to grasp the trunk. He released the branch, wrapping his other arm tightly around the trunk.
He glanced down, looking for the closest branch. It was a few feet below his feet. Bakura took in a deep breath.
Amane had laughed in her delighted, childish way, "Relax, Ryou. This is the fun part."
"Fun," Bakura whispered, his mind still in memories. "Yeah, right." He loosened his grip slightly, allowing himself to slide down the trunk until his feet met the next branch. As he slid, it was as if he could feel Amane's small hand over his, trying to comfort him. But that was just his memory playing tricks on him.
Hastily, Bakura finished his decent to the ground, sighing with relief once his feet were on solid ground. He threw one last glance at his paper on the branch, flapping slightly in the wind, as if it waved to him, then he bent to pick up his bag.
A sudden gust of wind battered into him, and then all wind died just as quickly. His assignment, freed by the strong gust, fluttered lazily to his feet and waited to be picked up. Bakura quickly snatched it and shoved it into his backpack; the wind picked back up after he shut his bag.
From within the gusting wind, it seemed to Bakura that someone was laughing. In his mind, the memory finished replaying itself.
They had reached the ground, with only a few scratches; Amane smiled at him, her face lit up as she exclaimed, "That was fun! Let's do it again sometime, okay, Ryou?"
Bakura headed towards the sidewalk to hurry to school. He glanced back only once; looking up into the branches of the tree and beyond.
Like…like a guardian angel. I'll be there for you. Always.
He whispered to the giggling wind, "Thanks, Amane."
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After a long, but normal, day of school, Bakura relaxed in his apartment, letting his mind wander; he had finished his homework and eaten dinner an hour ago. Yawning and stretching, he left his chair to get ready for bed.
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As he pulled back the covers and lay down, Bakura looked back out into the darkness of his room. It was as if someone was there, but he could see nothing. Pulling the covers close around him, he sighed as he thought over the day.
I'll always be with you, even when you can't see me.
He whispered into the darkness as he drifted into sleep, "Good night, Amane."