(smirk) You guys are so awesome. Nine reviews in two days. I'm updating again. It was my first day back at school and I need something to cheer me up: YOU GUYS! Yay!

Thanks for the huge amounts of support you guys wrote to me about my...issues. I'm grateful, truly.

Anei Aikouka: You like Bakura's struggle for a reason? I always wondered what he'd do if he ever just gave up on obtaining all the Millennium items. (shrugs) This is the result, in my opinion. Thanks for the support with my issues. Review again! Love ya!

Satra: You approved of the donut scene? I love it! (cackles) Wanna know what'll happen when they all get back together? Well wait no longer! Guess what! guess what! My brother bought me a "teach yourself serbian" thing for x-mas! Yay! I'm gonna leave American society in the freakin' dust and learn something! hahaha! Review again, dear! Love ya!

blackalbino: (more giant hugs) Aww! I'm loved! Yay! Heh. You think Yami should be smacked? Don't worry, he's got some remorse in that spikey head of his...a little...Let's go to Jou's metaphorical coffee shop together! (grins happily) Review again! See you at the coffee shop! Dibs on the black forest donuts! They're MINE!

Bluegrass Elf: I think the Jou/Bakura interactions are my favorite. I like Marik/Bakura interactions, but there's just something magically humorous when little Jou and our demonic thief are put in a room...or shower...together. (cackles)...O.o...ooo that sounded dirty now that I look at it...review again! Love ya!

dragonlady222: Sorry for our little tomb robber? Glad Yami's got some remorse?...wait, you want them to help each other? (smirks) Welllll...something along those lines...thanks for the support with my issues. Mmm...depression meds. Review again, dear! Love ya!

Ryou VeRua: (cackles) oh you missed a chappie? Hehe! I'm so fast at updating. It's pathetic of me really...sorry, there won't be much Ryou in this chappie...he doesn't play a very big role in the rest of the story. Oh he's there, just not the center of attention. Don't worry. There will be much more focus on our darling hikari in the sequel...I think...o.O...Review again! (kowtows)

Dreaming Child: Umm...actually, I don't think my situation will tone down...it's been going on for a few years now...eight, actually...it's just worsening is all. (smiles grimly) I've got my parents on my side finally...after a four year struggle...(sighs)..sorry, I'm blabbering...(pops happy pills into mouth) Don't know how I'd make it without these things...O.O...ooooohhh...the colors are pretty...Review again! Love ya! (hugs)

Wishfull Thinker: I like that poem. It's--as you said--sad. (grins) I'm glad you enjoyed the donut scene. It's one of my personal favs. Yup, Bakura remembers what happened while his 'past self' was in control...verrrry interesting...Review again! (kowtows)

Freak in the Shadows: I'm a good person at heart? (blink) Yay! (is content now) What religion? Catholic. (afew of my aunts and uncles giving me trouble are Reformed Christian) but the majority are Catholic. It's a hell of a pain. They're completely fine with other religions as long as none of their own convert over to one. (rolls eyes) Oh the insanity of it all. Some are extremely unhappy with my new choice of religion I'm looking into. (cackles) My parents aren't very happy with those relatives...wow. I've gone off on a bit of a drabble thing, haven't I? My apologies. Review again! (bows)

Shattered

A broken heart

Can't easily mend;

A fragile egg of glass,

Hollow and thin.

A kiss cannot

Heal the wounds,

Kind words

Unfold a tightened grudge.

It is a drawn out procedure;

Picking the shards up

Piece by piece.

Often the healer

Will be cut in the process.

It's a painful thing,

Mending a broken heart.

Chapter 17: Reunited

Bakura sighed as rays of the morning sun slipped through the blinds on the front curtains. He'd hardly gotten any sleep during the night. His mind had been plagued by all the late occurrences. Reliving his past in his soul room had reawakened old grudges, old wounds. He'd wanted to put it all behind him, where a past should be kept. However, it was now obvious it was not going to stay there, not until he'd finished what he'd started.

The yami buried his head in the pillow, not wanting to face the world yet. His entire frame tensed as someone pounded on the door. In moments Jou was in the room, looking about bewildered.

"Wat! It's seven in the mornin' fer crying out loud!" the boy yawned angrily, striding for the door.

"Emphasis on 'loud'," Bakura muttered, turning his head to watch.

"Shut it," Jou growled, gripping the doorknob and yanking.

"HI GUYS!"

Bakura tumbled off the sofa as Jou froze in complete shock. The whole group stood outside the door, crammed in the narrow hallway of the building. Yugi and Honda were in front, the former positively beaming.

"Guys, wha…do you have any idea what time it is!" Jou stated, running a hand through extremely disheveled blonde hair.

"Hell yeah," someone muttered. Marik squeezed through.

"Oh. You." Jou growled.

Marik glanced around the blonde to the thief who was sitting up from the floor, a dazed look on his ashen face.

"There you are!" the boy grinned, racing over and wrapping his arms around the tense form.

"Can we come in, man?" Honda said in exasperation, striding in without an answer.

"I…uh…" Jou stuttered as they all filed in.

"It's good to see you on your feet and with all your limbs intact," Mr. Mutou smiled warmly.

"Jou, what happened? You're hurt!" Anzu cried in distress.

"I'm fine," Jou replied.

"Your eye! It's all swollen…and your arms!" the girl continued, motioning to the bandages.

"Who was it that attacked you?" Honda asked, turning to glare at the tomb robber who was being held in a tight embrace by Marik.

Jou bristled. "It wasn't him; don't even think it." He stopped in shock. Why did he feel so protective of the yami all of a sudden?

Honda looked at him in surprise. The others looked at each other, uncertain of what to say. Yami stepped forward.

"Then…who?"

"Torrda," Jou said darkly, watching Honda's face contort into a fierce look at the name.

"Who?" Yugi asked in confusion.

"Old gang rival," Honda grimaced. He walked over to Jou. "You're okay, though?"

Jou nodded. "Sure. What are you all doing here, though? I thought Bakura and I were going to come to you."

"We couldn't wait," Yugi laughed cheerily.

Everyone stood quietly. It was an awkward silence. No one knew where to begin.

"Well, why don't we whip up some breakfast and fill each other in on what's been going on," Mr. Mutou suggested.

They all nodded, put slightly at ease.

"So…Let me get this straight. Bakura saved you?" Honda asked in disbelief as they bustled about the small kitchen.

The thief and Marik were in the living room. Everyone figured they needed time to talk. To everyone's surprise, Ryou stayed in the kitchen with the rest of them, silent, diligently scrambling eggs.

Jou nodded. He didn't want to talk about the alley. He didn't want to talk about what he'd woken up to. As far as the others knew, Torrda and his gang were still alive. And Jou had every intention of leaving them with that notion.

"So…how'd you two get along? Did you have to chain him to a chair or something?" Anzu asked curiously as she and Yugi washed some pans. Honda snorted.

"No…it was pretty tense at first…" Jou replied quietly. "But, after a while it was fine…even cool at moments…" Everyone turned and stared at the blonde who's back was to them all as he mixed the pancake batter.

"You're joking, right?" Honda said incredulity.

"I know it sounds crazy…but it was fine."

"That's good," Mr. Mutou smiled, the only one who didn't seem completely bewildered.

"Okay, now I want to ask some questions."

"All right, Jou," Yugi nodded.

"How'd you get his memories back? What exactly did you do?"

Yami cleared his throat. "Well, Marik and I entered Ryou's side of his link with Bakura. From there it was just a matter of performing the spell and opening Bakura's soul room door a bit to let it in. The rest was just a matter of the spell working."

Jou felt his muscles tighten. 'The rest was just a matter…'? They really had no idea what kind of affects the spell could have…and did have.

"So, you just assumed it wouldn't do anything bad to him?" he growled unintentionally.

The others all turned. Yami looked at him with surprise.

"We couldn't be certain, Jou," the yami said with slight unease "But we figured we had to risk it in order to get him back."

"He was fine…the 'past' Bakura, I mean," Jou continued. "He'd of been all right eventually even without his present memories. It would just have taken a little time for him to adjust."

"What is with you?" Honda asked the question that was on everyone else's minds as well. "You're acting like Yami, Marik, and Ryou committed some horrible offense."

Jou glowered at the batter. "They risked his life…even his soul…doesn't that mean anything to anyone besides me?"

"You're acting like he's a saint or something," Honda scoffed. "Jou, he killed a mother and her children!"

Jou looked up, eyes dark. "I know."

Honda looked at him in shock. "How could you know?"

Jou felt the anger in him rising. "I don't mean that I knew about that particular incident…I mean I know what he was capable of."

"What do you mean by that, Jou?" Yami asked softly, stepping forward and resting a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

Jou slowly turned to face him. His normally cheerful brown eyes were dark and somber.

"Yami, just what did you do in the past to make him hate you so much?"

Everyone froze. Yami looked like he'd been hit by a truck. He stared in astonishment at the boy.

"What…what brought that question on?" he finally whispered.

"Does it matter?" the blonde asked, turning back to the batter.

"I…." Yami paused, assembling his thoughts. "Jou, you know I have no recollections of the past."

The boy nodded, still not looking up.

"Is the food ready yet?" Marik asked, peeking through the doorway.

"Soon soon," Mr. Mutou waved his hand.

"Good. I'm starving," the young Egyptian grinned, striding over to Ryou and draping an arm around the boy's shoulder. He stopped, glancing around the dismal room. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing," Ryou spat, storming out of the room.

Marik turned to glare at everyone. "What'd you do now?"

"I…" Yami began helplessly, watching the blonde Egyptian's retreating form.

Without a word, Jou followed, leaving the others in stunned silence. He entered the living room where Bakura sat alone, staring at the wall as if in a trance. The blonde strode over and sat down next to him on the couch.

"What do you want?" the thief asked tersely.

"Does a guy need permission to sit on his own couch?" Jou growled in reply. "Where are Ryou and Marik?"

"Hallway," Bakura shrugged.

"Aren't you going to see what's wrong?" Jou pressed.

"I don't believe that concerns you," Bakura replied darkly.

"I can't believe you!" Jou screamed, standing up. "How can you be like this!"

"You act surprised," Bakura replied dully.

"Ryou cares about you! He risked his damn life to bring you back!" Jou whispered fiercely. "Why don't you care about him?"

Bakura stared back, silent.

"You should have seen how he protected you; how grief-stricken he was when we thought we'd lost you," Jou continued.

"I didn't ask for his concern or pity," Bakura hissed, eyes dancing. "And I don't see what this has to do with you."

"He's my friend. God, I can't believe I just defended you in there! You're nothing but a bastard! A cold, heartless BASTARD!" Jou shrieked, storming to his room.

Bakura sat in the stillness of the room, eyes dark. 'All this anger you've bottled up for all these years…it destroys everything else that you are. You'll become an empty shell with only a single goal in life.' Jou's voice echoed and Bakura realized for the first time that it really was too late.

It had been a week since the incident, and Marik hadn't left Bakura and Ryou. He knew they both needed his support right now. To be honest, he didn't want to leave. At night when he had nightmares of Bakura dying, he would wake with a jolt; but all he needed to do then was glance over at the sleeping form next to him on the bed for reassurance.

"Kura, time to get up," Marik grinned, pouncing on the form on the bed.

"Umph!" the thief groaned as the blonde landed on him.

"Come on, don't make me get a bucket of water," Marik laughed, striding out of the room.

Ryou sat on a chair at the kitchen table reading the newspaper. It was a Saturday morning…well, technically it was the afternoon by this point.

"Any good comics?" Marik asked as he waltzed in.

Ryou smiled, shaking his head. "You know, Marik, maybe you should read something besides the comic section…"

Marik looked at the boy, aghast. "How could you even suggest that!"

Ryou snickered. They both turned as Bakura entered the room, a lit cigarette in hand. His white hair was disheveled.

"Well, good afternoon, sunshine," Marik grinned.

"Marik, if you ever call me that again I will stick your own hand as far down your throat as it will go and use it to rip out your intestines," the thief muttered groggily, slumping down in a chair.

"Touche," the blond smirked, holding out a cup of coffee to the thief.

"Black?"

"As black as coffee can get," Marik said amusingly, looking away in disgust as the thief took a huge sip. "So do we have any plans for the remainder of the day?"

"Oh shut up."

Ryou looked on with delight. He loved to watch the interactions between the two. Marik was closer to his yami and anyone else. It was something Ryou was rather jealous about.

'I should just be happy he has someone he can lean on,' the hikari thought as he watched them.

"Kura, what have I told you about smoking in the kitchen?...Hell, what have I told you about smoking in general?" Marik asked in exasperation, snatching the cigarette from his friend's fingers.

Bakura scowled, taking another sip of coffee. Ryou hid his smile with his hand.

The phone in the next room rang. Ryou jumped up and went to answer it.

"Seriously, Kura, you need to quit this crap," Marik continued his lecture, opening the kitchen window above the sink and tossing the cigarette out.

"Just get off my back, Marik. I don't need this right now," the yami sighed wearily.

The blonde walked over and sat across from the thief. "You can talk to me; you know that."

Bakura sighed. "I…"

"Yugi's on the phone. He says they want us to come over to the game shop. He says it's important," Ryou announced walking into the room, device in hand.

"It's most likely a party. Those people are social freaks," Marik sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"We'll be over in 15 minutes," Ryou grinned, answering into the phone.

Marik and Bakura jumped to their feet.

"Ryou!" Bakura yelled in exasperation.

"Yes. All right, Yugi," the hikari smiled.

"Give me the phone NOW!" Marik ordered advancing on the boy.

Ryou giggled, racing through the living room and locking himself in the computer room. Marik banged on the door.

"Ryou! Ryou open this door this MINUTE!"

"I'll settle this," Bakura muttered, coming up beside him. The ring glowed.

"What's going on?" Yugi asked in confusion from his end of the line.

"Marik and my yami are being…difficult," Ryou smiled leaning against the door.

"Are you going to be able to get them to come?" Yugi continued.

"Don't worry. Marik's easy enough to convince. I just have to get him away from Bakura. My yami's very…"

"Very what?" a sinister voice suddenly spoke.

"Ack!" Both hikari's jumped.

"Tomb Robber?" Yami asked, quickly taking over.

"Well well, look who decided to join in the conversation."

Ryou listened nervously. He should have known better. Bakura was tapping into the phone with the Millennium ring.

"What do you want?" Yami growled.

"What the hell are you talking about? You're the ones who called here," Bakura pointed out smartly.

'Fair enough' Yami thought. "All right, let me explain what's going on. We have a…proposition for you three..."

"What kind of proposition?" Bakura asked suspiciously.

Yami sighed. He should have known the thief would be difficult. "One that we want to propose face-to-face. Get your ass over here."

"Oh is that the way you're going to…!" Bakura began ranting.

"Bakura please!" Ryou implored, desperate to settle the rift between the spirits.

"Bakura, listen to me," Yami continued. "I…I'm sorry for what I did…and for what I did to you in Egypt…whatever I did. I don't know what happened in the past, but…I'd like to put it behind us."

Bakura chuckled ominously. "Oh how thoughtful. That's easy to say when you have no idea what even happened."

Yami took a breath. "But I'm going to."

Bakura bristled. "Oh? Does this involve messing with my head again?"

"No. I swear, it has nothing to do with you…well, not really. It's more of…Just get over here." Yami hung up without another word.

"Well?" Marik asked impatiently, standing next to the tomb robber as the ring's glowing ceased.

Bakura stood silently. Ryou cautiously opened the door to the computer room, glancing out anxiously at his yami. Marik was quite irked at having missed the entire conversation.

Bakura took out a cigarette from his pocket, lighting it up and inhaling a whiff of smoke. "Let's go see what the pompous pharaoh and his fan club want."

Oh the suspense! On to the climactic bloody ending! Mwahaha! Knives and more! Stick around! The drama's starting up again!

Review!