That realization hit Ryou hard. Everything had been said and done. There was nothing he could do to stop his yami from going after the pharaoh now.

He could see it all play out, just as his yami wanted it to. Yami Bakura would enter the tablet, just as he had been scheming. He would play the greatest shadow game of all time, and banish the pharaoh into the shadow realm for sure. Yugi would be gone, and the rest of his friends would likely be destroyed in the process. And the spirit of the millennium ring would finally have his revenge. He would have the one thing he always wanted.

By the time Ryou finished sighing, he knew the spirit would already be gone.

But regardless of this, Ryou found himself too restless to stay in the confines of his soul room. Sitting idly by was one thing. Watching that revenge take place, however, that was something he'd rather not do.

So Ryou walked out into the hall that separated the two soul rooms. Surprisingly, the door to his yami's soul room was still open. He thought he had heard it slam shut, but it must have been just the metal door striking the frame and bouncing back open.

Unable to really stop himself, he peeked inside.

He was surprised to see his yami still there, sitting in a dark corner.

"… Yami?"

He looked up slightly, but then let his gaze fall back to the musky stones.

"What the fuck do you want?"

Ryou wasn't sure how to answer that. A direct, 'Why aren't you running after the pharaoh and attempting to kill my friends?' didn't seem appropriate for the situation.

"Are… you all right?" he ventured a few more steps closer before stopping.

"I still hear them, you know. I still hear their voices, every fucking night. Screaming as they're burned alive, their skin and bones melted into fucking pieces of gold. The pharaoh, cursing my existence. I don't think I'll ever stop hearing it."

"Maybe… maybe you shouldn't."

"You're even dumber than I thought." he spit in Ryou's direction. "Even if I do get all seven items, even if I do avenge my family, what's the point of it all? The screams. Their agonizing screams. You're right. They'll never go away. Never!"

Ryou just stood there.

He could hardly believe it. His yami felt just as trapped as he did.

"You… you could fit through that window… Yami, if… if you could get up there… and… and maybe move one stone…" Ryou whispered.

Yami Bakura sighed. He didn't know what his pathetic host was trying to say. There was only one way out of the soul room, and that was through the door into Ryou's mind. There was no window. What a stupid thing to say.

Then suddenly, something dawned on him.

Ryou wasn't talking about the soul room. He was talking about something different entirely.

"That… was you, in the dungeon. That day. Wasn't it…" He looked up.

Ryou nodded weakly. It was.

"… And it was you in the ice cream parlor… wasn't it…" Ryou whispered weakly.

His yami couldn't help but nod. It was.

And it became clear. They weren't just investigating each other's memories. They were really there. Over the course of time, they had influenced each other's lives in countless ways. They had even managed to save each other from certain death. They just didn't know it until now.

Not until some things, as it were, simply became unforgotten…

And that was why neither light half, nor dark half, was ever truly alone. Wherever one went, the other somehow followed.

Yami Bakura thought about it for a while. Eventually, he let a weak smile escape his lips.

"Just, always appreciate them." He whispered, thinking about everything that had just happened. The advice he gave to Ryou in his childhood suddenly made sense in a whole new way.

Ryou bent down, staring into his yami's deep brown eyes. All this time they had been fighting each other, when they were truly more alike than either of them realized. And despite the quests for revenge, the bouts of Monster World turned shadow game, and everything in between, they still needed each other. They were two halves of one whole.

"… Maybe… we should…appreciate them." he whispered, smiling weakly. Gently, he put his hand over his yami's and squeezed. "Maybe… we should."

Yami Bakura sat there for a minute. He could feel his window of opportunity close. His chance for revenge had ended, for now. But he didn't feel as bitter as he thought he would.

"Okay… fine." He replied weakly. Whether his host liked it or not, another chance would probably come. But for now, this prospect seemed… all right. "Maybe we should…"

Ryou just smiled.

"… okay…"