Juu56: Wow. These chapters are coming along really well!!!

Okay, I don't know what happened, but this chapter turned incredibly depressing really, really fast. Sorry to Bakura lovers; I love him too, but he's really mean in this chapter. I gave him a good reason though, or at least I tried. Next chapter should be a bit happier!!!!!

Reviews; thanks to:

Sarah: Yes, it is probably going a little fast, but then I'm writing all these chapters out by hand before I type them.

angentpudge: I won't kill anyone; promise. Basically, Yami and Yugi are together, and all else should be explained in this chapter.

Kou-Andrea: I'm finishing, I promise. And all will be revealed next chapter. I hope.

(anonymous): I'll write more, or at least I'll try. Writer's block is bad……

Jessie: I'M SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *sob* I'll write as fast as I can.

Kichigai: Thank you, Becca-chan. You always give me too much credit. *blush*

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Chapter 3

The bond re-established itself almost immediately, and Yami was only out for a moment. Still, that moment in which he had been without Yugi, he'd felt…lost. There had been only darkness; without his hikari, there had been nothing left to live for.

He had to find him.

The one thing the snapping bond had told him was that Yugi had been wrenched out of this dimension - likely to the Shadow Realm - quickly and suddenly; probably painfully as well. That was bad; unless special precautions were taken, Yugi couldn't live long in the Shadow Realm.

There were a limited number of people that could take or send someone to the Shadow Realm. It had to be Ryou's Yami. Had to be.

Growling, Yami brought himself to the Shadow Realm.

*

When Yugi woke, he could hardly breathe. He was surrounded by blackness on all sides; he seemed even to be lying on it. He felt that he was tied to some sort of table; he could feel the hard surface beneath him and feel the roped chafing his wrists, but he couldn't see anything.

Not until Bakura walked into his line of sight, that is.

When breathing became easier, Yugi could tell that something was off about him; his eyes looked darker, and he seemed almost evil. It took a moment for Yugi to realize what it was. Ryou's Yami was back.

Yugi's head hurt abominably; he understood the term "splitting headache" for the first time. And that head injury from a couple weeks ago was coming back to haunt him. He was so tired…

A hard slap brought him back to reality. He looked up to see if Bakura was angry - he had a reputation for being nasty when he was - but he was still grinning widely. He looked almost insane.

"I had to take you to the Shadow Realm to break your bond with that stupid Pharaoh," Bakura stated calmly - an explanation for why he had been unconscious, and why his head hurt.

/Yami?/ he asked tentatively, to see if Bakura was telling the truth. The spirit was a tomb robber, after all…

//Yugi? Thank Ra! Where are you?!// The voice was frantic.

/I don't know. It's dark, and Ryou's Yami is here…He said he broke the bond!/ To his shame, he felt himself start to cry.

//It's all right, Yugi,// Yami comforted. //He did, but it re-established itself; it's too strong to stay permanently broken from just a little wrench.// He tried to sound nonchalant. //Are you all right?//

/Yeah…I think so…Yami, I can't talk anymore; Bakura will figure it out. I'll help you find me the best I can./ Thinking hard, Yugi used his feelings - love, relief, anger, fear - to make the bond easier for Yami to follow. He just hoped Yami would figure out what he was doing…

*

Yami could have fainted with relief when he heard Yugi's voice in his head. He did smile with grim satisfaction as he brought himself back from the Shadow Realm, as Yugi confirmed that it had been Bakura; and he was startled when he felt the line Yugi was laying for him. He wasn't too far; just a couple of blocks away, really. Yami started running.

It really wasn't very far; the signal lead him to a small, abandoned warehouse. (Why is it always and abandoned warehouse? he muttered irrelevantly.) Rather than pause to think what should be done, as Yugi might have, he rushed headlong inside the building.

The doors weren't locked; it was good thing. Yami barreled through them and stopped cold. Someone was screaming. Somehow, he didn't think it was Bakura. Yami ran forward.

It was dark, but Yami could see perfectly. Yugi was strapped to a table, arching upward in pain. Bakura, strangely, had stopped whatever torture he may have been inflicting and was crouched down, holding his head and muttering angrily. Yami dismissed him as unimportant, and ran to Yugi.

He was bleeding, but not much, from several shallow cuts in various places on his body. Looking into his mind, Yami knew what was wrong.

In the short time Bakura had been with him, he'd managed to halfway destroy Yugi's mind. According to what Yami was reading, Yugi's mind had been forcefully twisted to make him believe he was completely worthless. No wonder he'd been in pain.

And Bakura must have been completely insane.

That was the only explanation. You never messed with someone else's mind; all manner of things could go wrong. Bakura knew that as well as Yami; either he was insane, or he just didn't care anymore. Either way, he was dangerous, and must be taken care of.

Later. Right now he didn't matter; only Yugi mattered. Yami grabbed the little one, snapping the ropes carefully with one firm yank. Cradling the Yugi in both arms, Yami turned. Now he would worry about Bakura.

But it seemed he didn't have to. Bakura had neglected to form another body, much like Yami did with Yugi, so that he didn't have to struggle to keep control of Ryou's. Ryou had apparently managed to break away from Yami and form his another body, and he seemed intent on talking his dark's ear off with a lecture on kindness.

"It's not nice to torture people, Yami," he was saying; it sounded absurd. Yami walked over, interrupting the conversation.

"What in the name of Ra were you thinking?!" he burst, forgetting that Yugi was still conscious in his arms. He felt the little one shudder and seem to literally shrink in his arms, and looked down.

Yugi was completely terrified. Yami's eyes were dark with anger - like a bloody midnight…he shuddered again. Gently, carefully, Yami pulled his aibou closer. Yugi latched on to him immediately, like a frightened child might with a parent or sibling.

Yami's eyes lightened again, back to normal, and he kept himself in control when he spoke again. "What were you thinking, Bakura?"

To his endless surprise, Bakura looked down. "That I have nothing left to lose." The words were so soft that Yami could barely hear him.

Ah. Now he understood; he'd thought something similar just a few minutes earlier…

Ryou looked at him in shock. "You have me! What would I do without you, Yami?"

"I just…I…"

"Ryou," Yami interrupted. "Keep him under control. If he ever does anything like this again…"

Ryou nodded, eyes bright with understanding. Trusting Ryou, if not the boy's dark, Yami turned and left. It looked like they had a relationship to work out. For now, he needed to worry about Yugi.

*

He got Yugi home without incident, and set about tending the physical wounds. That damage wasn't hard - a bath and some bandages later, all of that was taken care of. The mental damage was a different matter.

It was clear that Yugi at least still trusted him; that was a good sign. Now, to see if he could put at least some of Yugi's mind back in order…

First things first; Yugi didn't seem to really know him; he just trusted him instinctively. Yami had to make him know people first.

Yami's connection with Yugi was such a close one that the danger of entering his mind, while still present, was minimized. Another very good thing.

Bakura hadn't erased any thoughts or memories - he hadn't had time. Instead, he'd done something far more dangerous and painful; he's twisted Yugi's mind, so that the thoughts that had been buried had been brought to the front, and all other thoughts had been pushed to the back and walled away. What Yami had to do was twist everything back into place.

It was harder than it sounded. If he didn't want to cause extreme pain - which he didn't - he had to insinuate himself carefully into Yugi's mind and gently bring the twisted thoughts back into order. It would take a while, and it was dangerous work.

Danger didn't matter. He set to it.

*

Yami didn't need sleep, and Yugi had already fallen asleep. By the time Yami was even halfway finished, it was already morning. He took a break to inform the school that, "My…friend had taken ill. He may be out for a while," then continued.

He'd done well so far. Yugi remembered who everyone was, and he no longer believed he was evil and worthless. Unfortunately, he was still scared to death of both Bakura and Ryou, terrified of the dark, and extremely vulnerable, in the sense that he'd believe almost anything anyone told him. That was definitely bad.

But when Yami re-entered his hikari's mind, he saw that there was little he could do about any of those issues. He could decrease the fear of the dark, and convince Yugi that Ryou wasn't back, but that was about it. With a sigh born half of exhaustion, half of sorrow, he pulled out of Yugi's mind again.

*

When Yugi woke the next morning - he slept straight through the day - he insisted that he would go to school. Yami was against it - strongly - but Yugi was recovered enough to be stubborn, at least to his other half. Finally, Yami himself simply insisted that if Yugi absolutely must go, Yami would go with him. The little one agreed almost immediately, and Yami almost cried.

Before, he would have argued that he'd be fine.

*************TBC************

Wow. They get shorter and shorter. Hopefully the next one with be a little longer; I don't know. The next one might take a little longer, though; sorry.

Now, then, on to more pressing………BUTTERFLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *runs off to chase butterfly*

*comes back, panting* Sorry ^_^*. Anway, like I was saying, I had better go write the next chapter!!!!!!!!!!