Jaazi: I love my reviewers! Anaraz, Puffin, Vixenia, Hathors-Favorite, Punkergirl-Aira, Chibikuro Rose-sama, Firezone12, AtsushiChan, Atemu's Lover, DreamCherry66, Kajidragon1625, Jade Cade, Shinigami, Icy Sapphire15, Fear of Falling, HappyDevil, I am a Catlover, Dartz'LoyalServant, O.owickedo.O, Asaake, AnGeloOfMErCeY94, Millennium Girl, Freak09, Hikari's DS, Dehctiweb, Thief-Joelle, LunaBakura-chan, Amanda.p..
Hathors-Favorite: O.o You like t-shirts, don't you? So do I! Evil? What do you mean again? (shifty eyes) Should I be scared?
AnGeloOfMErCeY94: Actually, I read somewhere that in the first season of the original Yugioh anime (not the icky dubbed version that 4Kids made) Ryou's eyes were actually green! And I've always liked green eyes…so pretty! I kinda liked the idea of green-eyed Ryou, hope you don't mind!
Hikari's DS: Bakura wished he could tell Ryou how he felt without having to worry about his bad-guy image. Chibi Bakura never had to worry about his 'image'. He was too innocent and pure to care.
Jaazi: Your reviews make me feel all fuzzy inside!
KK: More fluffy cuteness in this chapter!
DJ: (sarcastic) Oh, goody.
Disclaimer: If I owned Yugioh, I'd be a very talented Japanese man with lots of money. I am not Japanese, I am not a man, and I don't have money. What does that say to you?
Previously
Ryou was very pretty, and his hair was sooo shiny, in Bakura's opinion. Ryou held his hand and led them out the door. Bakura practically skipped his way towards the park.
Chapter Three: Fun at the Park!
Bakura was talking excitedly to Ryou. His cranberry-red eyes wide in astonishment. He kept asking questions and saying 'ooooh, pretty!' or 'Ryou look at that!". Just like a typical four-year-old would do. He was also clutching Ryou's hand happily, tugging it every now and then to get Ryou's attention. For some reason, Bakura loved having Ryou's attention.
"Hey, Ryou? Where's all the sand? There's no sand around here," Bakura asked, glancing around at the scenery.
"It's not normal for there to be lots of sand here," Ryou answered kindly. Bakura tossed the idea around in his head before answering.
"Oh... Ryou? Why is the ground made of rock? It's very hard!" Bakura said, stamping his little foot on the concrete sidewalk, glaring at it. Ryou suppressed a giggle.
"I don't know, it just is," Ryou replied. He couldn't help but think how cute chibi Bakura looked when he glared.
"Oh… Ryou? Where are we going?" Bakura asked.
"We're going to the park so we can play together!" Ryou said cheerfully.
"Oh…Ryou? What's a park?" Bakura asked. Ryou blinked. Bakura didn't know what a park was?
"You'll see once we get there. It very fun. There's slides and swings and a sandbox! You'll enjoy it very much," Ryou reassured him.
"Okay! If you say so…Ryou?" Bakura said, somewhat shyly, causing Ryou to glance at him.
"Yes, Bakura?" Ryou replied. Bakura had a slight blush tingeing his face.
"…never mind…are we there yet?"
"Yep!" Ryou grinned.
Bakura's eyes went as wide as saucers when he saw the playground. It was sooo shiny! The slide was glinting in the sun and the swings flashed silver whenever they were swung. The sand was kinda sparkly, too. Bakura grinned and ran to the swing set where other boys and girls were playing.
Bakura eyed the swing suspiciously, and watched how the other children were using them. He, being the observant boy that he is, quickly figured out how to used it. He struggled bit trying to get on the swing, but Ryou picked him up and set him down on the swing comfortably. Bakura smiled up at Ryou, cranberry eyes shining in giddiness.
"Push me! Please," He added 'please' as an afterthought. Ryou was having trouble getting used to the polite Bakura. The Bakura he knew wouldn't say please for the life of him.
Ryou smiled warmly at the young Bakura. He began to push the swing gently, causing Bakura to giggle happily. Ryou couldn't help but laugh along with him. This Bakura was very endearing.
"Higher!" Bakura cried.
After a few minutes of swinging very high into the air, he asked Ryou to stop. Bakura immediately bounced off of the swing and jumped into Ryou's arms.
"That was so much fun! Did you see me, Ryou? Did you? I was so high up, I could almost reach out and touch Ra! I was flying!" Bakura giggled as he buried his face into Ryou's neck.
"Yes I saw. How's it feel like to fly?" Ryou asked.
"It makes you feel…free. Like, you can do stuff and not get in trouble!" Bakura answered.
Ryou was making his way towards the sandbox. Bakura was still in his arms, laughing and smiling. As they were walking, someone called out his name.
"Hi Ryou!"
Ryou turned to see who called him. He recognized them instantly. Who else would have spiky tri-colored hair?
"Hello, Yugi, Yami." Ryou greeted politely.
"What a coincidence seeing you here! Would you like to stay with us? We wouldn't mind, right Yami?" Yugi inquired.
"Of course not…as long as that idiot Tomb Robber doesn't come," Yami muttered the last bit darkly.
Yugi and Yami were so surprised in meeting Ryou that they hadn't noticed the child in Bakura's arms. That is until Bakura brought his face close to Yami's.
"What's that funny-looking thing on your head?" Bakura asked, tugging on one of Yami's golden bangs, "Is that your hair?"
Bakura's eyes were wide with wonderment. He had never seen such weird hair before! Yami huffed indignantly. How dare that child call his hair funny-looking?
"Of course it's hair! And it's not funny-looking! It's very nice, unlike that scruffy white mop of hair of yours!" Yami scowled.
"Hey! I like my hair! It makes me look like a wolf!" Bakura bared his fangs, which were still abnormally sharp, and growled ardently(1). He snapped his jaws at the Pharaoh.
Yami nearly yelped and jumped back. That little kid nearly bit off his nose! Yami's eye twitched in annoyance. He had just jumped away in fear from a child! He, the mighty Pharaoh, was startled by some random little boy! Yami was looking murderous, shooting the little kid death glares.
"Who's that little guy, Ryou?" Yugi asked, noticing Yami's murderous mood.
"Oh, he's…he's, uh," Ryou didn't think he should tell Yami about Bakura getting chibi-fied. Bakura, for sure, would not be pleased when he returned to normal and found out that his worst enemy had seen him in 'a moment of weakness'.
"I am Khalid Zahrah B'kra!" chibi Bakura said softly, a hint of a blush on his face.
Yami snorted, trying unsuccessfully to hold back laughter. Chibi Bakura glared at him, a hint of a pout beginning to form on his lips. Yugi looked at Yami oddly.
"What's so funny, Yami?" asked Yugi.
"It's…his name…," Yami struggled to say with a straight face.
"What about his name?" Ryou demanded.
He didn't like the way Yami was laughing at chibi Bakura. Ryou set chibi Bakura down next to him. Ryou put his hands on his hips and gave Yami a fixed stare. Yami immediately stopped laughing when he saw Ryou glaring at him.
"Er, yes. Khalid means 'eternal', and it is a name for a boy. Zahrah, on the other hand, is a girl's name which means 'flower, beauty, or star'. So, put them together you get either 'eternal flower', 'eternal beauty', or 'eternal star'. Very feminine names…" Yami said, with a slight laugh at the end.
"Hey! It's not my fault! Mommy liked that name!" chibi Bakura screamed angrily.
Chibi Bakura stomped up to Yami. Yami looked down at the boy, smirking slightly. Chibi Bakura let out an angry yell and slammed his foot down on Yami's. Yami yelped in pain and hopped on his uninjured foot. He spouted a few Egyptian curses, too. Bakura laughed at Yami before running off to the sandbox.
"That little…argh!" Yami yelled angrily. Yugi was blushing embarrassedly.
"Ryou, I'm so sorry! Please excuse Yami's very. Rude. Behavior!" Yugi said, emphasizing the last three words. Yami had the decency to look ashamed. He bowed his head slightly at Ryou.
"Yes, Ryou. Please forgive me. I was wrong to pick on your…uh…" Yami stammered, realizing he didn't know what relation the little boy had with Ryou.
"He's my…my cousin. Yeah, he's my cousin…my distant cousin from…England. Yes, he's staying with me while his parents are out at a dig-site with my dad," Ryou lied quickly.
Yugi and Yami glanced at each other uneasily. Ryou shifted nervously, did they believe him? He wasn't the greatest liar around. Yugi grinned in acceptance, but Yami was staring at Bakura, who was currently building pyramids in the sandbox.
"Well, he's very cute! I should've known you two were related because of the white hair and all," Yugi said cheerfully.
The three of them were now sitting on a bench near the sandbox so that Ryou could watch over mini-Bakura and still be able to talk to his friends.
"So," Yami started, "where's the tomb robber anyway?"
"I…really don't know. I mean, he's usually sleeping all day and out all night. I heard him come home last night, but when I woke up this morning, Bakura was gone," Ryou said with a sad sigh.
After staying and chatting for a while, Yami and Yugi got up to leave. Yami was still throwing Ryou and Bakura suspicious glances but said nothing. As soon as they left, Ryou went to the sandbox to take Bakura home. It was then he noticed that Bakura had become quite…popular.
In the sandbox were a few pyramids and what appeared to be a palace type building. Bakura was standing on the ledge of the sandbox talking animatedly. There quite a few little boys and girls sitting around him. Listening attentively.
"…and then the King of Thieves is going to go to the mean Pharaoh's castle-place and challenge him! The King of Thieves gets his most trusty monster, Diabound!" Bakura told the children.
"Hey! I thought your friend was Diabound(2)!" a dark haired boy cried out. Bakura pouted at the fact that he was interrupted.
"Yeah! I'M going to be the King of Thieves! My monster is the best!" Bakura bragged, showing off what appeared to be empty air. The children, however, cried out in delight, admiring the supposed monster.
"The King of Thieves will use his trusty Diabound and defeat the evil Pharaoh's weak monster. Then the King of Thieves will take over the throne treat the people nice. Not like the meany Pharaoh," Bakura finished with a flourish.
A little girl looked a little down. She soon made her disappointment known.
"But what about his princess?" she asked. Bakura blinked confusedly.
"Huh?" he asked. The girl sighed impatiently.
"All kings have a pretty-ful princess that they love forever and take care of them forever and ever and ever!" the small girl said, several other girls nodded in agreement. "So, where's your princess?"
"Erm, my princess? I…I…" he stuttered, blushing madly. Ryou giggled softly and decided to save Bakura from further embarrassment.
"Bakura, time to go home!" he said. Bakura all but ran into Ryou's arms.
"Um, bye!" he cried out waving to his new crowd of admirers.
Ryou and Bakura were at home, lying on the couch watching television. Or as Bakura called the 'magic box with pretty moving pictures'. Ryou was lying down on his back on the couch. Bakura was sitting cross-legged on his stomach watching the TV intently.
Ryou was watching chibi Bakura's features. It was funny, really. He looked exactly like the normal, sadistic, thieving Bakura only…not. After awhile, Ryou's curiosity got the better of him.
"Bakura…you were telling those other kids a story, right?" Ryou asked suddenly.
"Yeah! It was fun, they all really liked my story!"
"Could you tell me your story?"
"Really?" Bakura asked excitedly, "You really want to hear it?"
Bakura blushed again as Ryou nodded. He didn't know why, but he was very glad Ryou wanted to listen to him. If he told the story, Ryou's eyes and attention would be on him and him only. He felt positively giddy.
"This is a story my mommy tells me every night before I got to sleep. It's my favorite! The story is about us, me, mommy, daddy, and all the other poor people at home. Mommy made it up, she said it was my story.
"Once upon time, 'cause that's how all stories start, there was thief. He was the best-est thief of forever! No body could beat him. The meany Pharaoh's guard people couldn't never catch him! Anyway, the thief saw that the meany Pharaoh was always being not nice to the people and he didn't like it. The Pharaoh didn't give the people like us any food or gold or nothing.
"The thief knew he could be a good-er king that the Pharaoh, 'cause he was the King of Thieves and he knew how to take care of his people. So, one day the King Thief got his strongest, best-est monster to the Pharaoh's place. He gets his monster to duel the meany Pharaoh's monster. King Thief's monster beats up the meany Pharaoh's monster.
"Then, King Thief gets to be Pharaoh. When he's Pharaoh, he makes sure that everyone gets treated nice. He makes sure every person has food and water and gets to see the healer when they need to. Then the poor people won't be poor anymore. King Thief then…uh, then gets a princess that he will love forever and ever," Bakura finished, hiding his face in his hands. Bakura peeks his cranberry colored eyes through his fingers.
"Who's the King of Thieves? You never said his name," Ryou said cautiously. Bakura grinned happily.
"I'm going to be the King of Thieves! Then I will be the Pharaoh and be able to give Mommy nice clothes and pretty shiny things and Daddy would never have to steal food ever again. They'll live in the palace with me!"
"That's so nice of you Bakura!" Ryou said, giggling at Bakura's giving and caring nature.
Bakura yawned and laid down on top of Ryou. His little body curled into Ryou's warmth. He snuggled Ryou like a kitten would. Bakura lifted his head and brought it close to Ryou's. Their faces were so close that their noses were touching. He blinked his red eyes sleepily.
"Ryou? C-could you be…?" chibi Bakura paused.
"Could I be what?" Ryou asked quietly.
"Could you be my princess?" Bakura asked timidly, turning pink. When Ryou failed to answer, he hastily added, "I'll get you pretty things, sparkly jewels, and anything you want…please?"
Ryou stared at the chibi in shock. Did he have any idea what those words could mean? If the normal Bakura had said them…he would've happily agreed. Even if it meant actually wearing a dress…which he would probably be able to pull off, if chibi Bakura's opinion were to be taken seriously.
Meanwhile, chibi Bakura watched Ryou's face as he waited for an answer. The longer he waited the more saddened he became. He should've known better than to think that Ryou would actually want to be his princess. He started to climb off of Ryou, if Ryou didn't want to be his princess then he shouldn't bother Ryou.
"Bakura, don't leave. I'll be your prince…-cess. I'll be your princess," Ryou internally winced. He must admit, he was rather feminine looking.
Bakura beamed happily. They went upstairs and went to bed. Bakura curled in Ryou's arms, both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
TBC
(1) I gotthe 'is that your hair?' thingfrom a story I read, called The Pharaoh, the Thief, and the Moral Rant of DOOM. In other words, it's not mine, I did not create it.
(2) Diabound, I know, is Bakura's ka or whatever. But here, it's his imaginary friend, okay?
Jaazi: Third chapter finally up! Sorry it took so long!
KK: Review Please!
DJ: What KK means to say is…REVIEW NOW, DAMMIT! (gets pulled away by Jaazi and KK so that she won't frighten away the readers)
Jaazi: Just do as KK asked…it sounds nicer that way…