SS – Hello. I hope you didn't come just to read the excuses. I'm here to say that I don't want to leave this undone. No matter how many mistakes there are or how horrid the plot became, it deserves to be finished. Excuses of any kind can be found in my profile.

There's a large italicized section near the bottom, that's a flashback. Also, I haven't been in contact with my beta for a while, so this hasn't been proofed at all. I'll try to reach her for the next one, so please excuse any spelling mistakes loitering around.

DISCLAIMER: I do not take any claim to the anime Yugioh; I am merely using the characters to express ideas for no profit.

Sent to Save Me – "Cliffnotes" version

In the sequel to "Angels Watching Over Me," Yugi learns to live his life with his guardian angel, Yami, and his tag-a-long friends Harlon and Kelina. The story focuses on Yugi's friend, Ryou, who is being abused by his alcoholic mother. Bakura, Yami's acquaintance, endeavors to get out of the drudgery of caring after multiple charges by volunteering to help Ryou in an attempt to become his permanent guardian.

Bakura makes his first (and largest) mistake by accidentally letting Ryou know that his plan to help him was to kill his mother. So, after much scolding from Yami and observing Ryou's guarded behavior towards him, Bakura changed his plan. Within a week, he promised to cure Ryou's mother and leave, so long as Yami doesn't interfere. As he puts this to action, Ryou reconsiders Bakura's actions and decides that he doesn't want him to go.

While this happened, Harlon and Kelina were assigned to intervene in Bakura's mission. Harlon began by bewitching Ryou's Duel Monster deck, causing the top card to activateduring any of three predetermined hourly intervals (monster cards will attack, and the designated effect of whatever magic/trap card will occur). As Bakura left to proceed with the next part of his plan (which included the use of a video camera to prove the mother's abusiveness) Ryou busies himself by drawing monsters from his deck, the top card being the Headless Knight. This is the moment when Harlon's trap activates, and Ryou is face to face with said Duel Monster.

Sent to Save Me
Chapter 8

Hard as it was to come face to face with one of his own Duel Monsters, it was happening right now. Only, the Headless Knight had no face. Really, Ryou would have laughed if only his situation didn't look so bleak.

"God…oh God…" he shuffled backwards until his foot connected with the door. Keeping his eyes locked on the menacing suit of armor, his hand fumbled for the knob. And then he remembered that the door opened into his room, so as he pulled, it didn't go anywhere.

"Ba-Bakura…Bakura…"

The monster came to a halt before him with a loud clank, and oh-so-slowly raised the heaving metal sword, ready for a swift kill. Ryou could see his reflection mirrored on the shiny surface of the blade. He pulled on the knob again, harder, causing the bottom to run into his feet, effectively knocking him to the ground.

Ryou glanced up at the sword and watched as the knight finally brought it down. He hurriedly brought his arms up to defend himself.

"Bakura!"

"Damn it!"

Phasing through the door, Bakura rammed into the knight and forced it to the ground. The floor shuddered.

Lifting his arms by a fraction, Ryou's shaky eyes landed on his guardian, who was wrestling to get away from the slow, but powerful suit of armor. The smile was on his face before he could stop it.

"Bakura!"

Said angel quickly got up and formed an energy sphere in his hand. "Don't you dare move, Ryou or I'm going to kill you!"

Ryou scooted himself into the corner, aware of the death threat but still sporting his grin.

"And didn't I tell you to put your monster cards on the bottom!" He launched his attack, only to haveit bounce off of the torso of the monster and out the window into…god knows what (something that went boom apparently). "Figures…" Bakura snorted. He prepared another attack, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke.However, as soon as it regained it's footing, the monster turned and went for Ryou again. "Hey!"

Ryou's eyes widened considerably. "W-Wait! Wait a minute!" He went for the door as the sword came down where he sat. It was a lot quicker now.

"Do not turn away from me!" Bakura ran for the knight once more, but this time, instead of tackling it (which would surely push it into Ryou), he phased into it. Almost immediately, the creature stopped.

Grasping the doorknob firmly, the boy turned with an alarmed look on his face. "B-Bakura!"

Echoes of cursing and sounds of resistance escaped from the top of the monster. And just as it took another step, blinding streams of light filtered from the knight's joints and holes. There was a bit more rumbling and then the creature exploded in a myriad of light and dust, with only the card left floating to the floor.

Ryou let go of the knob and cautiously walked around the card. Where had Bakura gone? Was he all right? He slowly looked around the room, hoping for some sign of the other boy.

Phasing in behind his charge, Bakura dusted himself off, obviously not very pleased with what he just had to do. "Damn spell,"

Ryou spun around, a mass amount of relief building up behind those chocolate-colored eyes.

"I swear if I ever find out who put that bloody hex on your deck—" he was cut off.

"You're all right!" Ryou caught his guardian, ironically, unaware, and hugged him.

It's not like he was never hugged before, but coming from Ryou, it would be his first genuine one, not to mention the first he ever returned…sort of.Bakura awkwardly patted the boy on the head andgently pushed him away. He didn't mind what Ryou had done; however, it was something he was not used to receiving. He coughed and tried to reassure him.

"O-Of course I'm all right. No monster that weak, or any monster for that matter, could defeat me," he stated a-matter-of-factly. "Besides, in case you've forgotten, I'm dead. It's not like it could have killed me."

Ryou looked down at the floor. "It could have killed me…"

Bakura tried not to hear those words. He turned around and bent down to pick up the card, an object that hepreviously believed was only capable of bringingharm in the form of a papercut.But no,this was asuit of armor that could have easily weighed 200 pounds; if it had decided to simply body slam Ryou the boy would have died from asphyxiation, if not from damage to his vital organs.

"So…thank you,"theyounger boymumbled, his gaze still fixed on the suddenly captivating floorboards.

Sighing, Bakura walked over to the desk and tucked the card away near the bottom of Ryou's deck. "You don't tell your teacher 'thank you' after he finishes a lesson, do you?"

The boy gingerly raised his head, a bemused expression in his eyes.

"I'm your guardian. It's my job and responsibility to protect you," he shrugged and placed the deck in the open drawer. "Besides, it wasn't a big deal."

Ryou shifted his eyes from the blackened spot in the middle of the room to the rather large dent in the corner from the sword and back to Bakura. Furrowing his brows, he released his breath and smiled. "I do thank my teachers," he stated.

Bakura scoffed at him. "No you don't."

"Yes, I do."

The guardian walked over to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the bed. Sitting him down, he began healing the fresh cuts he received in the scuffle. "You're a stubborn little git who just has to get in the last word, aren't you, Ryou?" Anyone, even Yami who was trapped within the puzzle, could have heard the unprecedented genuine humor that laced his words.

His charge certainly did. "Yes, I suppose I am," he replied, a soft smile once again gracing his lips.

ooo

"You are such an idiot, Harlon," Kelina scolded the boy beside her. "I just know that Yanazi is going to clip our wings for this."

"Relax. Everything turned out fine, Ryou isn't dead or anything," he countered.

"Hush your tongue! Heaven forbid something like that should happen to such an innocent boy," she picked up her pace, visibly miffed at her companion.

"I was only kidding…" he jogged a bit to keep up with her as they entered the Elysium Circle. "And technically we didn't do anything wrong, so he really can't find fault in us."

Kelina restrained herself from slapping him. "He told us to slow down Bakura's progress, not to put his charge in more danger!"

Harlon shushed her as they approached their final destination. "I did slow him down. It's not my problem if it's too challenging a task for Bakura to manage," he brought his finger up to his lips and whispered: "Now no more yelling! We're about to enter the head Elder's quarters."

Although she knew that it was rude to raise her voice within the Elysium Circle, Kelina figured that Harlon simply didn't want her to blame him, again. Keeping her anger in check, she too, crossed the threshold and approached Yanazi, the head Elder.

The Elder was standing near the window of the circular room, his hands behind his back. Just as his title suggests, Yanazi was well into his years in both life and time as the leader. He stood a good six inches above them and only four or five of the short hairs on his head still retained an ounce of the rich black color that he was born with.

"Head Elder," the two said in unison as they gave a polite bow.

"…Harlon, Kelina…" he acknowledged them. His voice was deep and worn, just as an old tree's would be if it could talk.

Kelina was the first to speak. "Yanazi, we came per your call to report the status of our assignment."

Harlon rolled his eyes, just a minute ago she was ready to go Amazon on him and now she was worse than a prim schoolgirl. Terribly fascinating what the female race was capable of. He stood up straight alongside her and decided to contribute to the exhilarating conversation, lest he be forgotten. "As you requested, we have casted a continuous spell in order to hinder Bakura's mission. It shall last until he has effectively cured his charge's mother."

Yanazi continued to stare out the window, almost as if they hadn't said anything at all.

Kelina glanced at Harlon, who only shrugged in response. "We realize that it was foolish to cast such a spell without your permission, but so far, Bakura has been able to handle the situation, so we view it as a successful intervention." At the word "foolish" she had nudged Harlon forcefully.

He glared daggers at her. 'She thought it was successful? She certainly did not think it was successful a minute ago!' he thought.

"Ah yes, the spell…" Yanazi whispered as if it were a memory reminisced. Both angels turned their attention to the head Elder as he spoke those few words. "That was quite a hex you did, Harlon," he addressed the boy directly, still not looking in their direction.

"Uh…" he turned to Kelina, but she shook her head at him. "T-Thank you, Yanazi."

"It was quite amazing," he added.

Harlon's confidence shot up and he grinned. "Thanks a lot!"

"Yes," Yanazi began to face them. "It was amazingly stupid!" he yelled.

"Heh!" Harlon shrank back and Kelina sighed heavily.

Yanazi wasted no time approaching them, although the majority of his anger was directed towards Harlon. "I am extremely disappointed in you, boy! What in the name of all that is good were you thinking?" His tone demanded answers and absolutely no foolishness. There was no way out now.

"I-I…I was just doing as you told requested, sir…"

'Stooping to calling him 'sir' Harlon? Yea…I guess I'd do that, too…' Kelina thought. It was bad enough to be reprimanded by a friend, but by the head Elder? Oh…what a poor soul…

Yanazi continued his rampage. "I was sure that I had made it clear that whenever I assign missions they are to involve no excess violence or trouble than necessary!"

Harlon scrambled to regain some ground in his argument. "I-I know that! That's why I figured that Bakura would realize what was going on and…and you know, solve it," he took a breath. "And, he did actually…"

Kelina couldn't believe how much he was pushing it. "Don't make things worse, you idiot!" she whispered harshly.

Yanazi pulled her into the fray. "And where were you, Kelina, when he performed this spell of his?"

She cursed mentally. "I…I was with Yugi…"

The head Elder rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yugi? I was sure that Yami was more than happy to take care of him. Are you telling me that he was busy with something else?"

'Damn! I can't get Yami involved. If I said the wrong thing, he could be pulled back here!' She corrected her previous statement. "No! I wanted to look after him! After all…you did send Harlon and me to help Yami…"

"True, but then I gave both of you a new assignment. In case you don't understand, that alleviates you from your previous one," Yanazi stared at both of them, clear disappointment in his eyes. "And I put both of you on this because I thought that you'd keep each other in check," Sighing, he headed for his desk. "It appears that I was wrong."

Harlon and Kelina looked at each other and then to Yanazi. Fighting against an Elder was apparently useless.

He paused, collected his thoughts, and then delivered his judgment. "I will reserve your punishment for later," Yanazi rested his elbows on the desk and folded his hands together. "For now, we have to hasten our progress," his gaze demurely shifted to a glowing orb resting in a bowl of water on the windowsill.

Cautiously, Harlon and Kelina did the same. They knew what it was and what it was for, but not in context with what was happening now.

"Continue with your mission; however, if there are any more slip-ups, not only will I find out, I will be sure to clip your wings for it."

The boy's shoulders stiffened considerably. 'He can be so frank with things like that…it's a little disconcerting…' he faulted when Kelina jabbed him in his side again. "What!"

She motioned her head in Yanazi's direction. It appears he was waiting for confirmation.

"Oh! Right!" He made a quick bow and Kelina did the same.

"You're…both dismissed. Please leave now," his voice was tired and a bit lackluster compared to when they had come in. It was expected.

"Yes, sir!" They replied in unison before quickly walking out of the room. The doors closed behind them.

ooo

Ryou knew that Bakura was familiar with Egypt, but he didn't know that his guardian knew the language. His father taught him a little; however, Ryou was sure that what Bakura was saying right now wasn't anything along the lines of, "Yes, I would like more water." or "Can you please show me where this tomb is?" From the colorful way that he was gesturing, it was probably a curse.

He suppressed a laugh and continued his chore. All fifty-two of his cards were strewn about on his bed and he was going through the tedious task of not only separating them into monster, magic, and trap, categories, but also into star level and type. Bakura did not want to take any more chances with his deck.

"Are you finished yet?" The older boy asked for the umpteenth time in the past half hour.

Ryou sighed and gave his head a slight shake. "No, not yet," he looked up from the pile of four-star monsters he held in his hand and met Bakura's waiting gaze. "You said that you wanted me to be careful, right? Well, I'm double-checking." In all honesty, Ryou still wanted to draw some of these creatures so he was surreptitiously slipping a few between the magic cards near the top. If Bakura expected him to sit on his bed all day and meditate while he was off doing god knows what, then he could fly back to Egypt and take his curses with him.

"I just want you to finish before it happens again," Bakura said as he continued his pacing, his arms tightly crossed. "From what I gather, it occurs at least twice a day on the hour. It's a spell, and it causes the top card to activate."

Ryou fingered his Reborn the Monster card gingerly and wondered how he knew that. He had only been attacked this once, right? He leaned back and asked him. "Who told you that?"

Bakura tilted his head towards the window. "I have my sources."

The younger boy gave a nod, albeit still curious. He quickly placed another monster underneath his Change of Heart and stacked all of the piles together. "All right, I'm done."

"Good, now lock it away and don't touch it until the week's over." Bakura said without missing a beat. He kept his eyes trained on the scene outside, waiting for his charge to do as he had instructed.

As Ryou walked back to his bed after putting his deck away he stared at his guardian's back. Wasn't he going to do anything?

"I'll continue my plans tomorrow," he said after a minute. "I don't want to leave you alone with that deck just yet."

Ryou never thought that Bakura would be so worried over nothing. "I did put the harmless magic cards on top, you know. If you don't believe me, then you can look yourself."

"It's not that," he replied.

"Then it's…" the boy left his sentence unfinished, hoping that Bakura would complete it.

He never did.

ooo

Yugi sighed again and dropped the puzzle next to him. It was no use. After hours of combined efforts, Yami was still trapped within the puzzle. His parents had gotten up a while ago, and even though Yugi was tempted to ask them for their advice, he thought against it. His mother sort of knew Yami, but it was just too complicated. The prospect of asking his grandfather when he returned from his trip was another option; however, just because he knew what Yami really was didn't mean that he would have an answer.

In conclusion, they were in a rut.

Yugi stretched out on his bed and pushed the puzzle around a bit. Harlon and Kelina hadn't been around lately; he was hoping they would know what was going on. He was worried about where they had gone off to, but not as much as he was about Yami.

"Yugi?"

Thankfully they could still communicate through their special mind link. It was comforting to hear his guardian's voice (as long as he didn't start hearing other voices in his head).

"What is it Yami?"

"Have Harlon and Kelina returned yet?"

"No…" he turned over onto his stomach and tugged the puzzle so that it sat between his hands. "I'm kind of worried about them."

"You have no need to be worried, they can take care of themselves." Within the puzzle, in his room, he sat down and leaned against the wall. "They were probably called away on an assignment," he concluded.

"An assignment?" Yugi echoed. "But I thought that their job was to help you."

Yami spared a laugh. "Ever since we left the hospital, I can't say that it's been extremely difficult looking after you, Yugi. Yes, they are here to help me; however, should Yanazi need either one for another mission, he won't think twice to call them away."

The younger of the two absentmindedly played with the puzzle, moving it around and tracing the lines of the pieces. "Yanazi…you said that he's the head Elder, right?"

"Yes, that's right. He's the one who assigned me to you," he said fondly.

Yugi laughed. "Oh yea! You told me that he pushed you right out of heaven!"

Yami winced, his pride taking a hit. "…Oh, I told you that, did I?"

"Yup! That was funny…" he replied, his voice thick with amusement.

"For you maybe…" he mumbled.

Yugi paused then as he traced the symbol on one of the sides of the puzzle. Ryou had given this to him to cheer him up way back when he was still sick in the hospital…where he had met Yami. His fingers found the rope that he tied around it and slowly slid the cord around his neck.

"…We only had each other back then," he whispered.

Yami looked up. Even though he knew he wouldn't see his charge, it felt better when he turned in the general direction of where the sound came from. "Yugi?"

He smiled. "Back when I was in the hospital, and my friends were away, I only had you to keep me company."

Yami nodded. "That's right."

"This is just like that. Harlon and Kelina aren't here, and," Yugi wiped his hand across the front of the puzzle, admiring how it still retained its shine. "And it's just the two of us…talking…"

"It's what we do best, I think," Yami wasn't quite sure where Yugi was taking this conversation, so he listened and tried to catch up.

"I think we'll be ok. I mean, it'd be nice if they came back and all but…if it went back to this, I wouldn't mind," he said.

"And does that include me staying within the puzzle?" His guardian inquired.

Yugi was prepared to say 'no' and was surprised when that's not what came out of his mouth. He closed his eyes and thought about it. Before, when he was sick, he needed Yami to be there, physically, so that he could confirm his existence. Yami was really there for him in a way that his friends and family couldn't be, and that made him so real. It made Yugi feel safe.

Now he was better. His friends were here. His family…he had a whole one again. And he had not one, but three guardians upon his return. That was probably what had made him take Yami for granted (at least slightly). It's no wonder he was so scared when they were initially unaware of how to get him out of the puzzle. The loss of Yami's physical presence had made him think that he wasn't here at all anymore.

"Yugi? Are you all right?"

Yugi glanced down at the puzzle. He may not be sitting next to him, watching over his shoulder, but Yami was still here. It's been weeks since he had been in the hospital and now he knew better. Yami didn't have to be here physically for him to be real. Just talking, hearing his voice (even if it was in his head), that was pretty real to Yugi.

"Yami, we are going to be ok, even if you are stuck in the puzzle."

His guardian smiled. "Is that so?"

"Yea. Well, if you could come out that'd be great, but this…" he fell onto his back, the puzzle an inch or two from his head. "This is good."

Yami laid his head against the wall, closing his eyes. "I think so, too, Yugi."

ooo

Ryou finished the last button on his nightshirt as he walked out of the bathroom. It was pretty late, he figured, as he suppressed a yawn and continued down the hallway. His eyes skittered across to the railing, drawing his body over as well. He craned his neck slightly until his mother was in view. She was out cold on the sofa, a dark, unmarked bottle her only company on the table next to her.

He turned away and walked briskly to his room, intent on keeping his promise to Bakura to stay where it was safe. Letting him go through with dinner earlier was already pushing the limit. At first it was assumed that it would only be Ryou and his father at the table, but a little into the meal, his mother came down the stairs (not the least bit woozy either) and joined them.

"I hope you've set a spot for me," she announced with a smile.

Both Ryou and his father stared at her at the bottom of the staircase. The boy was shocked. When did she get well enough to manage a sentence without a bottle of alcohol inone hand and painkillers in the other?

His father onlywelcomed her with a warm smile. "Oh course we have, dear. I'm glad to see that you've got your appetite back."

Alarms went off in Bakura's head. He almost let himself out of the ring until Ryou quickly grabbed it and restrained him. The light 'clink-clink' from the metal caught the woman's attention. That was probably the first time that his mother had noticed the foreign object. She eyed it curiously as she pulled up a chair next to him. After sitting down, she reached out to touch it. Ryou's heart was pounding just as much as Bakura was cursing.

"My, Ryou, where did you find such a thing?" she asked, her voice stable and not revealing any bit of intoxication she might have been under.

"I-In Egypt…during one of father's digs…" he mumbled.

She turned the object around and ran her finger through the spikes, causing them to jingle as they lightly connected with each other. Ryou held his breath.

"Hm…stunning," she whispered. Then she cupped her son's cheek and smiled before receiving her dinner plate from her husband.

Bakura was seething. She had touched not only his ring…but his charge.

She had touched Ryou

The ring physically shook.

Ryou hurriedly pressed it against his chest, feigning a laugh when his father asked if anything was wrong. Oh, don't open that can of worms…

"It's nothing father, really…" he said. His father nodded and continued the conversation he was having with his mother about if she was really feeling all right or not.

A minute or two passed before the ring stopped shaking and he was able to go back to his dinner.

Ryou sighed. He could still feel the warmth from where her hand had held its place on his face. Giving his head a shake, he stopped himself from touching his cheek and continued on his way. The last time his mother had made contact with him…she had slapped him. And he could still feel the sting from that. Those were the scars that wouldn't ever fade…no matter how many times he tried to forget them.

As soon as he crossed the threshold to his room, he practically stumbled onto his bed, face first. This was not a good night.

Bakura noticed his strange behavior and closed the door behind him. Something was definitely wrong, and he was fairly positive that his guardian magic wasn't going to be the solution to it. Unfortunately, he hated the alternative way of going about solving a problem.

"Ryou…"

He was going to have to talk to him about it.

"Ryou, listen…"

The boy summoned a bit of energy to turn his head so that his guardian was partly visible. His white locks were obscuring most of the view. "Bakura?"

"Listen," he faltered, and Bakura did not like it. "Listen, tomorrow I'm going to investigate the deck issue,"

Ryou's eyes barely managed to give the drawer that held his deck a glance. A sigh escaped his lips and he nodded. "All right."

It wasn't where he had wanted to go, but it was something. "I want you to stay in your room, so don't do anything stupid," he said as crossed his arms. He really wasn't good at this. "I'll try to be back soon,"

Ryou lifted his head off of the comforter and he assumed a sloppy sitting position. His curious eyes searched Bakura's face. Was he worried about him…again?

Bakura had felt those eyes on him before. They always found something about himself and it unnerved him. He tried to clarify. "I'll be back soon to intercept the next activation," he turned away. "Magic card or no, we wouldn't want anymore accidents, would we?" His tone was curt and didn't expect an answer.

Ryou let his head drop a bit as he silently complied. He liked his room, but this was getting ridiculous. His hands found the ring and he held it briefly before placing it on his nightstand. What he wouldn't give to be back out on a dig with his father, or just out in general…like when Bakura and he had gone and found the ring together.

All right, "found" wasn't the right word. How about when Bakura practically led him to it and only needed his assistance in the form of his belt and as a sturdy anchor while he went down to retrieve it from the tomb? Yea, that's a bit more accurate.

Ryou was surprised when he heard his own laugh and quickly bit his lip. Bakura stared at him with a "What in the world are you laughing about all of a sudden?" expression. His charge crossed his legs and allowed a nervous chuckle to escape. Well, an explanation would be more effective than simply letting Bakura think that he was crazy.

"I just thought about when we found that ring," he motioned to the golden object. "Good times, huh?"

There was an eerie amount of silence after that. Ryou was sure that the guardian had remembered and had just decided not to respond to such a childish reminisce. It was pretty silly to bring it up.

But then… "Hm, if that's what you want to call a good time…" Bakura muttered.

Ryou straightened up and wondered if this was turning into a conversation or not.

"It was just something that I wanted to get back," he concluded.

"Why?"

"…I had lost it a long time ago," he said, his tone almost emotionless. "And before I could go and find it, I had died."

Ryou closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine how anyone could state something like that so simply, as if it was as important as what day of the week it was. He had died looking for it? For that circle of gold?

'He must have found it in his afterlife…that's probably how he knew exactly where it was when he was leading me through the tomb.' Chocolate eyes slowly revealed themselves and settled on Bakura's back. He wasn't sure if he was going to get an answer for this next question…

"H-How…" he wasn't the most tactful person in the world, so he tried to rephrase it. "How did you…I mean, if you don't mind telling me…how did you--"

"I was murdered."

…

Or as Ryou sworn he could have said with the same amount of concern: "Today's Tuesday."

Bakura was so detached from what he was saying; Ryou was beginning to think that dying had meant nothing more to him than moving onto the next phase of "life." It was unsettling. It really was. And he had no idea how to respond to something like that.

Thankfully, Bakura seemed to take a hint as he faced his charge and noted his wide eyes. "Look, it's not as if I appreciated being…that I liked dying," he said, trying to put a bit of feeling back into his formerly dial-tone voice. "I haven't been "alive" for a really long time. In that span, I've been able to get over things. Don't…well, just stop thinking about it, all right?"

There was more hope of getting water from a rock than expecting a quick response and a smile from Ryou. This was a rather large pill to swallow. And presently, Bakura could have used one for the headache that was starting to form in the back of his head. He sat down next to his charge and tried again.

"It wasn't a big deal," he began. "After a year or two I had made my peace with it. It's not like I was a celebrated man back then. I was just a thief,"

Ryou blinked, his expression incredulous. "You robbed people?"

Bakura could hear Yami's snickering already.

"Yes…but…" he sighed. "It's in the past, ok?" His eyes met Ryou's and the boy gave up on it. "What I'm trying to say is, when I ascended, I was able to forget what had happened and leave the past to itself," he rested his elbows on his knees and gave a light shrug. "You should do the same."

They sat there, in that awkward silence for what seemed like hours. Ryou was beginning to wish that he had never said anything. He had just learned a little more than he had really wanted to know about his guardian and now things would never be the same.

Oh, what a night it was.

And before he could stop himself, another question somehow presented itself. "What was it like?"

Bakura shifted his weight a little and rested his chin on his hands. What was there to tell? "Well, the human's perception of clouds, white, and lots of bright lights isn't too far off. Just put all of that into a long hallway with a handful of people going about their own business with a big door at one end and a railing or entrance at the other, and you've got yourself heaven on a postcard."

Ryou brought his hands together in his lap and tried to picture it. He had no right to say anything (since he never saw it), but that didn't sound like heaven to him. Somehow, he had envisioned a larger space with harps and angels. What Bakura had told him sounded more like a school hallway that led to the principal's office.

"You don't like it, do you?"

The boy was taken aback hearing that from his guardian. He was never one to ask for someone else's opinion of what he had said.

"Yami doesn't either," he leaned back, taking the pressure off of his arms. "That's why he believes that there's more than one heaven, or that we're in one part, and can't get to the other," he straightened up and deepened his voice.

"Heaven is what we expect and embodies what we want. It's no more real than our dreams and just as satisfying."

Bakura laughed off the impersonation and shrugged. "That's what Yami says…or something like that. I can't tell you how many ideas he has about heaven," he glanced at Ryou. "However, I can tell you that I've had the misfortune of hearing every single one of them."

"Did Yami get there before you?" The boy asked.

"A week or two before…and I was already acquainted with him. There was nothing better to do than listen to him preach," he concluded, appearing neither contented nor irritated.

Ryou began to hope. "Does that mean that you'll be upset when you return?" His guardian stared at him. "You know, when you're done here…you'll just return won't you? But if you dislike it up there, won't you be upset?"

Bakura raised his brows a bit. "Oh, I won't be up there for long," his head fell back a little. "As horrible as I am with this, Yanazi will probably send me out to look after some other poor soul."

Hope danced out the window.

Ryou leaned in. "Y-You'll get a new charge?"

Bakura faced him. "Probably, why?"

"W-Well…" he quickly shied away, suddenly preferring to look at the door than the other boy. "You don't seem to like being a guardian; you shouldn't have to take up a new charge," he mumbled.

"As if it was up to me," he scoffed. "It's my job now. It would appear that fate didn't have enough fun with me in my previous life, so it's milking my second one for all it's worth."

Ryou nodded. "I suppose…" he didn't feel like keeping up this conversation anymore. It certainly wasn't making him feel any better. It simply confirmed that this was the worst night of his life. He forced a yawn and rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. "I-I'm kind of tired, Bakura," he muttered, uncrossing his legs and moving to get under the covers. "I think I'll go to sleep early, today."

The other got up and stretched a bit. "Fine, it has been somewhat of a taxing day," he replied.

"…" The covers hid most of his face from view, especially after he turned to face the wall. Honestly, he was a little exhausted. "Good night."

Bakura walked over to the door and turned off the lights. The shades on the window were parted slightly, allowing a sliver of night light to stream in. It was pretty late. He was ready to return to the ring and map out tomorrow's plan, until a briefglow caught his eye; aglow that was seeping through the space above the desk drawer. Making his way over, he tugged on the drawer so that it barely opened. He didn't want to disturb Ryou.

It was happening again - the activation of another card. 'Let's see which one he put on top,' Once the light died down, Bakura saw that Change of Heart was the first card face up on the deck. He grinned. 'So he did know what he was doing,' Confident that the card was harmless, the guardian closed the drawer and phased into the ring.

Ryou buried his head deeper into his pillow and turned over. His sleep was already restless. What a way to end possibly the most difficult night of his life thus far.

ooo

1. I'm taking creative license with Bakura's death and the conceptions of heaven. That's simply how I want to incorporate them in the story.

SS – Questions and comments are welcome, although some of the answers maybe found in my profile. Thank you for reading.