Chapter 24: Promises

Rya looked up wearily at Yami. "I lost. I'm sorry...Yami," she whispered. Her entire form started falling off the platform.

"Rya!" Yami screamed as he tried to get down off his platform. Rya's body was falling to the floor, fast.

"Don' worry Rya, we got ya!" Joey called out as he and Yugi ran to catch her. Luckily they got there in time without Rya getting hurt. "Come on, Rya! Wake up!" Joey begged.

Everyone but Lisa rushed to Rya's side to see what condition she was in. Kaiba stated that she needed to get back to the mansion and be treated. Rya's eyes opened just barely to see everyone surrounding her. She felt someone take her into their strong arms, and knew instantly who it was. She looked up to see Yami holding her tightly to him.

"I'm so sorry Rya," he whispered. "I never wanted you to get hurt."

"Yami," Rya whispered, wanting to be in his arms forever. Only to feel him be torn away from her.

"You remember our agreement. Now you two can never speak to each other again. Let's go Yami, we have a date to plan!" Lisa said and started dragging him off.

"No!" Yami yelled prying his arm out of her grasp. "I don't care about that stupid wager! I'm not going to leave Rya for a pathetic human being like you!"

Lisa didn't seem all that affected by his outburst. "Yami, you of all people are always saying you should keep your promises. You were always the gentleman, and that's what attracted me to you in the first place. So unless you want to be like all those other men out there who simply break their word, then be my guest."

Yami was now at a loss for words. He did make a promise, and he knew he had no choice but to go through with it. Lisa took him by the arm and started dragging him off with a triumphant smile on her face. Yami looked back at the girl he truly loved, and saw her getting further and further away from him.

"Yami..." Rya whispered as she tried reaching for him. Until all strength left her and she passed out entirely.

"Rya!" Yugi cried.

Kaiba bent down and lifted her into his arms. "Calm down, she'll be fine. We just need to get her back to the mansion," he said and carried her to the limo as the others followed.

Rya had a dream on the way back to the mansion. Darkness surrounded her completely, until a little ball of light started coming towards her. "Who's there?" she called out being nearly blinded by the light. Suddenly, someone took her hand in theirs. Rya whipped around and found that it was Yami. He was smiling softly at her, with his beautiful eyes gazing at her lovingly. Rya clutched herself to his chest and cried. He held her to him tightly, rubbing her back soothingly up and down. Rya had finally pulled away, only to feel Yami loosen his grip on her and pull away further and further. His smile was gone, now with a sad look in his eyes. "Yami? Yami! Yami come back!" Rya cried trying to run after him, never getting any closer. Pretty soon, he was out of sight completely. Rya fell to the ground with tears flowing down her cheeks. Her tears fell to the floor, each one being bigger than the last, creating a huge puddle beneath her. After a while, the puddle of tears grew larger and larger, almost like an ocean. The water grew deeper, and wilder as the waves consumed Rya and pulled her under. She felt she couldn't breathe, and did the only thing that came to mind. She cried out his name, "YAMI!" and sank farther and farther into the deep ocean of her tears.

Rya woke up with a start, finding herself back in her room at the mansion. She remembered her dream and shivered, until she realized that the duel was not a dream. I lost. I can't believe I lost. Now I'll never see Yami again! Just like in her dream, tears poured down her face. She clutched her knees to her chest and cried into them. A soft knock landed on her door, and revealed a sad looking Yugi.

"Hi Rya. We were wondering when you were going to wake up," he said softly as he walked in. He hated to see her cry like this, but he knew she had a very good reason to. "It's been about a day since we brought you back here. Yami asked me to stay here with you to give him an update on how you were. He's been calling about every five minutes asking how you're doing," Yugi chuckled lightly hoping to lighten the mood. It didn't work since Rya simply looked back down at her knees. Yugi walked up to the bed and sat beside her. "I'm really sorry, Rya." Rya instantly started crying again as Yugi gently hugged her, allowing her to cry into his shoulder.

"It's not fair Yugi. I love him and now...now I'll never see him again." she cried.

"Rya I'm sure there's something we could do. Maybe we can convince Lisa to change her mind." Yugi reassured her. They both knew that would never happen, though it was a nice thought. "Did you want to call Yami and speak to him yourself?" Yugi asked. Rya pulled back slowly and limped over to the window. It was raining heavily, making everything seem worse.

"I gave my word that if I lost the duel, I would never see nor speak to Yami again. Yami gave his word as well, and I don't want him to break it. I know he has his honor, and I don't want him to taint it because of me. Next time you speak to him, please tell him I'm sorry I disappointed him." Rya said softly, and slowly walked into the connected bathroom and shut the door. Yugi bowed his head and let out a sigh.

You didn't disappoint him, Rya. He thought and went back downstairs.

A/N: Awww, poor Rya. You guys have no idea how surprised I was with the number of reviews from the last chapter. I'm glad that a lot of you are still with me on this story. Now a lot of you brought up the good point about Kaiba still being in the duel, but that will all be explained in the next chapter. Hopefully that will be up soon. Until then, thank you all soooooo much. :)