A/n: This chapter is also remarkably short. And rushed. And poorly written. Like everything else I do, ne?

I feel so bad about the length, though! Sorry people... I'll make up for it. I mean hey, it's an early update at least.

Man, when I started reposting this story, I'd had it completed except for the last chapter. I was toying with trying a totally different ending than my first attempt, but figured I could still at least end in that chapter.

I ended up adding a bunch of craziness that I didn't expect to on the fly... so it may seem a little off. This chapter, for example, was completely unexpected. It's mostly just a filler... teehee, my baaad.

He was so cold.

The light was fading.

'But this... I wanted this... didn't I?'

He couldn't see.

He couldn't hear.

All he could feel was the cold.

'I'm not struggling... not fighting it...'

Every second seemed to be a year, each darker and colder than the last.

'...Then why doesn't it just take me?'

It was always there, this cold place inside of him.

It had grown.

It wanted to hurt him.

It was trying to kill him.

...But what was stopping it?

Suddenly, as though emerging from too long a stay underwater, Ryou started coughing. The cold lingered on him like wetness, but also like wetness gradually lifted.

He could feel again. Warmth partially surrounded him, and he nestled towards the source, feeling the warmth spread. It was a person, he suddenly realized. He was leaning into their chest, and their arms were tightening around him...

'But who-'

Ryou opened his eyes.

"...Yami?"

Acting on instinct, Bakura had reached out and caught the staggering soul before it came into impact with the ground. Almost immediately upon Bakura's touch, Ryou seemed to strengthen. The light slowly brightened as he clung to Bakura's shoulders for balance, looking up at him with those incredible eyes.

"Yami," he repeated.

It would seem that the light would clash with the dark, but it was not so when Bakura held Ryou. The light simply passed through the darkness, creating a misty gray between them.

"You caught me," Ryou realized.

"You fell," Bakura pointed out in his defense.

Ryou opened his eyes and rose slowly to his feet, limping to the door of the room he had found himself in. After managing to stumble home he immediately headed for bed, searching mildly before falling back into unconsciousness for the same comfort he had felt in the midst of gray- in the dark soul's arms.

He never would have thought Bakura could be so... gentle...

Ryou's eyes closed wearily, letting sleep clear the events of the day from his mind. Bakura sat still in his dark soul room, staring at his hands and craving the touch of the light.

A/n: Bleh. Short. Do doo do do plunk-ah do doo do do plunk-ah do doo do do... sigh.

By the way, I noticed that someone brought up Ryou's sisters in the reviews. I kind of didn't know/forgot about them... so in this story they just don't exist. Makes life simpler for me.

REVIEWERS ARE LOVED!