Chapter 19: Cyndia Appears

"Here's the deal," Pegasus said, "You resurrect Cyndia, and we let Marik live." A guard pointed a gun at Marik's still unconscious figure. Bakura stared at the gun with horror while Pegasus laughed maniacally.

"And when you can move again, don't even try anything, I have a shield spell around him that will make you bounce back like you hit a Plexiglas wall. But don't worry," Pegasus said with a wicked smile, "The bullet can easily go through the shield into Marik's heart. Isn't that wonderful?"

Bakura growled. "Just peachy," he responded.

Pegasus walked around Bakura, "Unfortunately, this spell can only be done under a new moon, so we'll have to wait for a while. Fortunately for us though," Pegasus said with a smile, "A new moon is tonight, isn't that just magnificent?"

Bakura didn't say anything.

Pegasus started laughing maniacally, "It's the perfect plan Bakura! Since you're a vampire you have magic, and because you're a vampire you'd normally live forever, which means when you resurrect Cyndia, she'll live forever as well! She'll never leave me again! No longer will I have to live in agony and torment, she will be here with me once again, and I won't have to fear death taking her away from me either! And, I'm almost confident that Cyndia will turn into a vampire as well, and I will most definitely be her Blood Pack, after all, we're perfect for each other! It's perfect!" Pegasus was sounding more and more like a madman with each word, "Normally, I probably wouldn't be able to make a vampire read the spell, but," Pegasus grinned evilly, "you have a Blood Pack! You have to do what I say to protect him! Your vampire instincts won't allow you to just let Marik die like that, you'd rather die instead, isn't that right Bakura?" Bakura didn't say anything, "Of course it's right! I've read the book, I know what's up, I know you won't let anything happen to Marik, I know, and that was your downfall! If only you weren't quite so protective of him, I wouldn't have found out. Too late now." Pegasus laughed maniacally, making Bakura snarl and grip the bars that caged him tightly.

"Well, I'll let you alone for now, maybe Marik will wake up before you die," Pegasus chuckled as he put Bakura back in his cage and made the bars reappear.

"Wait," Bakura called to Pegasus.

Pegasus turned, "Yes? What is it?"

Bakura looked straight into Pegasus' eyes. "If I resurrect your dead wife, you have to give the Millennium Eye to Marik."

Pegasus laughed, "Of course, of course! After Cyndia's alive again, I won't have any use for it anyway, of course your friend can have it!" Pegasus walked up the stairs, but the guard stayed and just blended into the shadows. Bakura didn't care, Bakura barely noticed him. All he could think about was that Pegasus was right. He would do anything for Marik. Even die. But was it just because Marik was his Blood Pack? Or was it something more? This was what made Bakura think hard. Bakura looked over at Marik. Even if he didn't fully understand why he didn't want Marik dead, he knew he'd still die for him, he'd still protect him.

His heart sunk. Looks like he was going to die tonight, he didn't know if he wanted that. But if he didn't die, then Marik would, and he knew he didn't want that. He never wanted that. Ever. Just thinking about Marik bleeding as much as he had sent him pain, pain so powerful that he couldn't think of anything else. What would happen if Marik actually died?

Bakura didn't want to think about it.

Marik had been in dreamland all through Pegasus telling Bakura about his death sentence. He had mainly been dreaming about the past, but not his horrid childhood, no. He had been dreaming about all the fun he had had since he ran away. He finally had a friend that wasn't family (even if said friend wouldn't admit to it), he was going to help vampires be an accepted part of society, and he had even celebrated Halloween and actually got to eat his candy. He had had some fun, even if he did have some bad experiences, (i. e. the getting drunk and having to wear a dress and heels) but the good outweighed the bad.

He had just been dreaming about when he had watched the stars with Bakura, when reality began to edge away his dreams. He slowly opened his eyes, to find he was back in the cage. He sat up (surprised that he didn't have a headache) and looked around, then he felt something wet on his stomach. He looked down and gasped. All the blood on his pajamas surprised him. "What the…" he remembered how he had been tasered and stabbed in the stomach. He blinked, Shouldn't I be dead then… He looked around, and saw Bakura leaning against a wall looking depressed. He walked over to the bars, "Hey, Bakura," he said, "What happened?"

Bakura turned his head woodenly, like he was being forced to. His expression looked lifeless and devoid of all emotion. "We got locked up again," he said simply.

"I figured that much, I mean, what happened to my wound? Shouldn't I have a gaping hole in my stomach right now?"

Bakura took a while before speaking. "I healed you," he said like it wasn't a big deal.

However, to Marik, this was a big deal, "You healed me?" he asked, "But, how? And with what?"

Bakura averted his gaze from Marik as if he couldn't look at him anymore, "I just drank some of your blood and your wound healed up."

Marik blinked, "You mean like what you did with my finger?"

"Yeah. Like that."

"Oh…" Marik decided to ask more about these healing powers later, "Do you know what Pegasus is going to do to us?"

Bakura winced as if something had hurt him. "… I have an idea…"

"Let's hear it."

Bakura didn't speak for a long time. "He… wants -" Bakura was cut off by Pegasus coming in and saying, "I'll tell you what I want! It's the least I could do for my biggest fan." Marik rolled his eyes, Bakura just looked like he wasn't interested in anything anymore.

"You see Marik," Pegasus said, "I want Bakura to resurrect my dead wife!"

Marik stared at him, then his eyes got wide as he realized what that statement meant. He turned to Bakura. "No." Bakura didn't say anything, he didn't even glance up. "No," Marik repeated as a whisper, though he wasn't sure why. "No, no! Bakura you can't die!" Bakura still didn't look at him.

"Don't worry Marik-kun," Pegasus said, "You have until tonight to say your goodbyes, better make them good!" He laughed once again before leaving.

Marik stared at Bakura. "You… You're not really gonna resurrect her… are you?"

Bakura turned away so Marik could no longer see his expression. "What other choice do I have?"

Marik felt like ten ton weights. He didn't want Bakura to die, he didn't want that. He was his only friend, he was the only person he had really opened up to, he was the only person he felt comfortable to be around, he was… he was… He was someone he didn't want to die! "No, you can't die!"

Bakura turned toward him with an angry expression, "Would you rather die?"

Marik took a while to answer. Would he rather die? He thought about it. He really didn't know… Would he be willing to die like that? Would he be willing to die for Bakura? Marik thought about it, but he didn't need to think hard, he had already known the answer. "… Yes…" he whispered.

Almost immediately, Bakura put his head down and bit his bottom lip. Marik… would die for him? The thought made him feel happiness and pain at the same time. He was happy that Marik liked him enough to do that, and he felt pain because he didn't know if he could live without Marik anymore… What's happened to me? Bakura wondered, I used to be so strong… independent from everybody, everything! So why… what's different about this boy…? He looked up into Marik's beautiful violet eyes and said, "I'm glad you'd die for me… but that won't be necessary."

"You can't read that spell!" Marik said trying to choke down the fear and sadness he was feeling.

"… Look, I don't say this often - actually, I never say this, count yourself special - but, I'm sorry Marik, I'm reading that spell. I've made up my mind."

"No. No. No!" Marik repeated the word over and over, as if that would somehow change the stubborn Thief King's mind. He felt like his entire world was crashing down on top of him. Bakura was going to die. He had made that very clear. But did that mean Marik had to like it? Of course not. In fact, he hated it, he hated everything about it. Just the thought of Bakura being dead made him feel pain even more powerful than any of his horrible childhood memories could ever hope to accomplish. And considering his dad… That was a lot. "You can't die Bakura, you just can't. You can't…" Marik could feel tears threatening to cascade down his cheeks. He hadn't cried since he was ten, and had promised never to cry again, but this made him want to cry, out of frustration, despair, anger, and most of all, agony.

Bakura looked away again, "I can die, same as everybody and you know it Marik." Secretly, Bakura was very pleased that Marik was so sad about his death, and because he figured he was going to die anyway, he said, "I'm glad you care so much about me. I always thought no one would care when I die… That was one of the reasons I put my soul inside the Ring in the first place."

"Of course I care about you 'Kura," Marik said, managing to keep his tears at bay and his voice from sounding too choked up, "We're friends, right?"

Bakura turned to look at Marik, pleased after hearing his nickname one more time, and he smiled slowly and softly, "Yeah… And I couldn't have asked for a better one."

Marik smirked, "You're certainly being nicer."

"Dying can do that to people."

Marik's smirk was gone in a flash, "I still don't agree with you dying."

Bakura sighed, "End of discussion Marik… One way or another, Pegasus is going to resurrect his dead wife, and I don't want you getting hurt again."

"I'll manage," Marik said with a hint of desperation.

"Just like you managed that knife in your stomach?"

Marik cringed, "I'll be more careful."

"They have guns."

Marik gripped the bars tightly, "You're not dying!" he shouted, "You're not! We'll get out of this, I know we can… We'll find a way… We'll -" Marik stopped speaking when Bakura put his index finger to Marik's lips.

"Listen," he said, still with his finger against Marik's lips, he found that he liked this position, "I don't really want to die, but…" he smirked, "I've avoided death for 5,000 years, I'm sure Death is pretty pissed about it. He's probably going to throw a party… What I'm saying is, my time has come."

"No!" Marik said, he wasn't going to take this lying down, how could he? How could he take the death of his only friend lying down? Marik stared at Bakura. "You're. Not. Dying," Marik said forcefully.

Bakura dropped his hand and gripped the bars as well. He didn't know what else to say, if him dying made Marik this upset, was it really worth it? I mean, if he was actually going to be so sad when he died, should he really go through with it? Maybe they could get out of this mess… Maybe… Bakura felt dread settle into his stomach. He knew there was no way out of this, how could there be? Pegasus was dead set on getting his wife back from the Angel of Death, and, let's face it. Marik would soon forget him anyway. He'd collect the rest of the Items, and then live the rest of his life. He might grieve for a week or two, or a month, maybe even a year, but he'd get over him eventually. He'd get over the sadness… Bakura felt like crying too now, although he didn't.

Bakura retreated back to the corner of his cell. "Pegasus said he'd give you the Millennium Eye when his wife's resurrected." Marik stared at Bakura in horror. "So you can keep collecting them… tell Yugi to fix his girlfriend problems… and if they ask, tell them why I'm not there. Oh," Bakura looked up, "and get a job as an artist or something when you're all done with this, you have talent. Use it."

Marik felt like he wouldn't be able to speak his throat felt so clogged, he managed to whisper, "Stop saying things like that… You're not leaving yet!"

Bakura decided not to say anything, and Marik didn't say anything either.

"Almost time boys!" Pegasus' cheerful voice came down the dungeon stairs to un-cheerful ears. Both boys were sitting in the corners of their cells, not knowing what to say. Marik really wanted to say something, and not just because he hated silence, but because he didn't want Bakura to go through with this. He didn't want Bakura to die, he didn't. He didn't know if he could handle it, he didn't know if he could live without Bakura… Funny how he never had a friend before, and the one friend he had made was going to die after just a couple of months of being friends. I guess that old saying was right: Life is a bitch.

Bakura wanted to say something too, he wanted to say so many things… And thoughts kept dancing through his head, mostly of the tan boy in the next cell over, but some (and I mean a very little amount) were of his old life and how he had never felt this sad and sorry about leaving the world before. He had never felt as bad as he did right now, ever. And that was saying something.

So it was to this cheery mood that Pegasus descended down the stone steps holding his dead wife bridal-style. He laid her down on a flat stone pedestal which was next to the cells. Then a guard stepped forward with a large, thick, old-looking book. It had a brown leather covering and seemed pretty dusty, for when Pegasus took it from the guard he blew tons of dust off of it right away. Pegasus placed it on a stand and opened it up to a certain page, "How are you feeling Bakura?" he asked happily, after all, his wife was finally being resurrected, finally! After all this time! And he wouldn't have to fear death taking her away either! He laughed happily, not caring that Bakura hadn't responded and just glared at him. "How about you Marik? My biggest fan." Marik glared at Pegasus fiercely, in fact, there was a spark of fire in his eyes just like Bakura had before.

Pegasus sighed, "Now boys, there is no need to be so hostile! Why can't you be happy for me?" He was met with silence. "Well, the moon is almost up, and then we can start the ritual! Bakura," Pegasus made a signal with his hands, and the guards unlocked Bakura's cell door and were going to grab him, but then he raised his hands and the guards stopped, remembering what this guy could do as a cat.

Bakura stood up and said, "I may be about to die, but I will not be handled like a common object," his eyes glinted, "I used to be a king! It's time I started acting like one and face the world with dignity." He paused, not making any moves towards the door, and then he turned to Marik, "You have no comment?" Marik didn't say anything. "Oh come on!" Bakura said exasperated, "You're not even going to say anything about the 'king' part?"

Marik stared at him, "How can you joke around like this?"

Bakura shrugged, and without saying another word, walked out of his cell. He walked up to Pegasus and stared him straight in the eye. "Remember your promise?"

"Of course Bakura, I'm a man of my word."

Bakura scowled, "Yeah, whatever," he said. He walked over to the book with his head held high. He looked at the text, surprised that he could read it clearly.

"Well," Pegasus said, "I admire your wanting to keep your dignity, but just in case you try to run away…" Pegasus lifted his hands and waved them around, they started glowing, and then Bakura was surrounded by bars once more.

"What was the damn point of walking out of my cell if you were just going to put more bars around me?" Bakura asked, his temper getting the better of him.

Pegasus shrugged, "No point really, I just wanted to see what you'd do. Start reading!" As if to accent his words, a guard pointed a gun at Marik. Marik stared at the gun, and then back at Bakura. He stood up and clutched the bars. He was still dressed in his blood-stained pajamas, and his eyes looked terrified. He had seen this before - in a dream. His dreams had been warning him! They had told him that this was going to happen… He just hadn't noticed then. Suddenly a cold wave swept over Marik. He had already seen Bakura die once, he wasn't prepared to see it again. He could feel panic rising in his throat as the moment when Bakura would actually, die, edged closer and closer. Marik's throat felt dry.

Meanwhile, Bakura was trying to look anywhere else except at Marik right now as he started to read the spell. Most of what he said wasn't any known human language, and yet he spoke it well. Not as well as his native language, but well enough. But even though he could speak them well, they were difficult to say, he didn't want to say them, he didn't want to leave, there was so many things he hadn't done yet…

Pegasus was blending into the shadows as Bakura read on. He felt the need to hide his smile, since everyone else seemed so depressed at the moment.

Marik was watching Bakura. He was saying words that were barely distinguishable, and if Marik didn't know any better, it looked as if he would have cried, if Bakura was the type to do that. Marik gripped the bars even tighter, "No!" he screamed, "Stop! Don't!" Marik's words were accented with hysteria and fear, and the painful sadness that comes from the knowledge of losing a loved one. But Bakura didn't stop reading, even though he was choking up a lot. He had to do this, he had to, or else Marik would die… But Marik either didn't get this or he didn't care because he kept shouting at Bakura to stop.

Of course, eventually Bakura did stop, but as soon as he stopped speaking the spell, he fell to the floor, dead. Marik's vision went blurry, and he could feel hot tears coming down his cheeks. His words were filled with even more hysteria and emotion as he said, "No! Stand up! You can't die!" He looked down and then to his side as he heard Pegasus' evil laughter fill the air. "It's too late Marik," he said, "Bakura is dead." Then he ran towards his wife Cyndia, and the magical bars around Bakura vanished. "Awake Cyndia! You are free! You are alive once more! Break away from the binding chains of death and join me in the free living world!" He knelt before her and grabbed her hand, waiting for her eyes to open.

Marik however, had eyes for no one but Bakura as silent tears slid down his face. He couldn't believe that Bakura was really… dead… Marik looked down with his eyes closed. He felt a crushing sadness like a black hole where his heart should have been, taking all of the joy and happiness he had ever experienced into a place where he couldn't remember it anymore. And then he heard his cell door unlock. He looked up, and saw the guard that he had met when he had first got off the boat holding keys and looking at him with a sad smile. "You've been through a lot. You deserve this much." He opened the door, and Marik ran forward and kneeled before Bakura. "Bakura… why… Why?" Marik shut his eyes tight, and then he leaned forward, his original plan to put his ear to Bakura's chest to see if he was really… dead… but his head didn't move towards his chest. Instead, he found himself gently putting his lips to Bakura's. As if that would make the former Thief King wake up.

After a few seconds, Marik lifted his head back up, and kept staring at Bakura. And then he almost had a heart attack, because Bakura's eyes began to flutter open. He stared up at Marik, who looked as if he was about to say something, but then Bakura put his finger to Marik's lips again (making Marik blush slightly) and then moved that finger to his own lips, signaling to be quiet. Marik smiled, and this time, happy tears began falling from his cheeks.

Bakura thought that he had never seen a more beautiful sight. It didn't even matter to him that he couldn't feel any part of his body. It didn't matter that he could feel himself slowly slipping back into unconsciousness, and eventually death. Marik… he thought, I… I love you… Bakura closed his eyes. I love you Marik… Bakura tried to say his thoughts out loud, seeing as he wouldn't be here much longer, but he found that he couldn't speak. Literally. He couldn't move his mouth to form words or force sound through his throat. And then he felt a sort of fatigue come over him, and his eyes started to close again. He could barely hear Marik say, "No, Bakura! Don't leave again!" through his foggy haze. But he did, and that made him smile right before his consciousness faded out of him.

Meanwhile, Pegasus' smile was fading because his wife should have awakened now, but she still looked as dead as always. "No," he whispered, but then his voice began to raise into an agonized scream, "No, no, no! The spell should have worked! Why is she not waking up! Cyndia! Cyndia!" Pegasus didn't understand, Bakura had said the spell, she should be alive! Why wasn't the spell working?

Allow me to answer that question.

You see, even though Bakura could read the spell just fine, it was the first time he had seen the spell, seen such words before. And you can't just read something you've never seen before perfectly on the first try. So, because of this, he had mispronounced a word, which means the spell would not work, and that was why Cyndia was still dead at this point in time. Now, why was Bakura currently on the floor at this point? Well, spells get upset when they aren't said properly, and make the spell-speaker pay for that crime. I mean, the spell thought that it would actually be used after so many years of un-use, and then it got mispronounced! The indignity! It was severely upset about this, and had taken out it's anger on Bakura. Leaving poor Marik to feel down-hearted.

However, the spell was not a total loss, Cyndia did in fact appear to Pegasus.

"Pegasus darling, why do you cry so?" Pegasus heard his wife's beautiful English voice from above him. Pegasus glanced up, and all the breath was taken out of him. His wife looked absolutely stunning. She was dressed in a flowing white dress with lace all around it. The more you looked at it the harder it was to really distinguish what the dress looked like exactly, but you could always see lace. Her hair was like golden liquid, flowing down her hair in a wavy waterfall of beauty. But the most stunning thing about her was the beautifully large wings protruding from her back. They came out and pointed up with puffy down feathers and long, firm, flight feathers while the contour feathers gave the angelic whiteness to her. "I'll ask you again Pegasus," she spoke again, with that so angelic voice of hers! It sounded as if a choir of angels was singing behind her to dramatize her already pure voice. "Why do you weep?"

"Cyndia!" Pegasus cried out in English, happy again to see his wife, "We can finally be together again! Come down and join me on Earth!"

"Is that why you weep?" Cyndia said quietly, "Because I'm not alive anymore?"

"Of course I weep for you, but you're here now! I won't be lonely anymore!"

Cyndia bent down and gently placed the back of her hand against Pegasus' cheek. "Pegasus, darling, you must understand, I am not meant for this world anymore."

Pegasus' smile faded, "How can you say that Cyndia? You're here, you're here right now! Of course you're meant for this world!"

Cyndia looked at him with sad eyes, "Pegasus, sweetie, I died. You must move on."

"No!" Pegasus screeched and stepped backward, "Don't say that! You must come back! I can't live without you anymore!" Pegasus looked down with tears brimming his eyes, "The only thing that kept me going… Was the hope that it was all a dream, that you didn't really die, and that I had just had a nightmare. A very vivid nightmare. But eventually, I realized that was false, and then… I kept hoping, that I could resurrect you…" he looked up at her again, "You must come back! Please Cyndia!"

The beloved wife floated gracefully towards Pegasus and enveloped him into a hug. To Pegasus, it felt as if pure light and goodness were enveloping him. "Dear," came Cyndia's remorseful voice, "Eventually, all beings must die… That's just how the world is. You can't avoid it," she looked into her lover's eyes, "And all I ask, is that you live a long and happy life," a tear started to form in her eye, "Okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Long… and happy…?" Pegasus repeated, "How can I live happily knowing I'll never see you again?" Pegasus asked, "How can you expect me to even keep living?"

"Honey, I'll always be with you, even if you don't see me, I'll always be there. Remember the promise you made to me, before I died?"

"Of course I remember!" Pegasus started crying now, "But how can you expect me to keep it!" The promise that they are talking about, was that Pegasus would try to get over her death, and live his life normally… "How can I live normally? You were my life! You were my 'normal!' I can't live without you!"

Cyndia had tears flowing down her eyes now. "I know it's hard… but you must keep on living! Life is too precious to waste on sadness, please, don't weep over me anymore… I'm in a very beautiful place, if that makes you feel better."

"No! You can't leave!" Pegasus looked down, "You can't leave…"

Cyndia kneeled down in front of Pegasus and grabbed his chin to make him look at her. "Pegasus, can you promise me something?"

"Of course, I'd do anything for you Cyndia."

She stroked Pegasus' head, "Get rid of the Eye, okay? It's caused you nothing but pain and sorrow."

Pegasus was about to say something, but then he realized that maybe Cyndia was right… He reached up slowly and took out the Millennium Eye and threw it against the wall. His eye immediately started bleeding and he bent down and covered his now empty eye socket with both of his hands to try and stop the bleeding. Cyndia stared at him sadly for a second, and then moved Pegasus' hands away and waved her hand over the socket. Once she had done this, Pegasus' eye started glowing, and he could feel a healing sensation go over his eyes, calming and soothing the pain that had resided in his eye. She smiled, "I think you'll look very handsome in an eye patch."

Pegasus managed to smile, but it was gone in an instant as he realized that he would probably never see Cyndia again. And her next words confirmed this: "I must take my leave now Pegasus."

"Can't you stay just a little longer?" Pegasus asked desperately.

"No, I've already done too much…" she smiled, "Just keep living, okay?" She started floating upwards, until eventually she disappeared beyond the ceiling. Pegasus stared at where she had gone through, feeling like his entire world had just left him again. He looked down, and then stood up in a flurry. "I'm sorry Cyndia," he whispered, "But I can't live without you, I have to see you again, I have to be with you again…!" he walked towards his guard and took the gun from him and pointed it at his head. The guard was too stunned to do anything except stare in horror as his boss was about to kill himself. "I will see you again!" Pegasus said as he gripped the handle tightly. He was about to pull the trigger, when he felt the gun be knocked out of his hand. He turned to see an angry Marik in red and purple striped pajamas soaked in blood.

"What's the matter with you!" the tan Egyptian cried in Japanese, "You shouldn't kill yourself just because your wife died! What about what she just said? Do promises mean nothing to you?" Marik gripped Pegasus by his collar, "Keep your promises! Where would this world be if people didn't keep their promises? Besides, it's not like she's asking you for much, she just wants you to keep living!"

"How can I live without her?" Pegasus countered back with tears in English, seeing Cyndia had shaken him up, and he had not noticed the language change, "How could you understand my pain?"

Marik loosened his grip on Pegasus' collar, "You're right, I don't understand you're pain, I've never lost my wife, or a family member," Marik's eyes hardened, "But because of you, I lost possibly the only friend I've ever had. You don't see me pointing a gun to my head do you?" Pegasus was about to say something, but Marik shook him, "Besides! It's not like she made you promise anything difficult, all she wants is for you to keep living!" Marik let go of Pegasus collar and looked down, shielding his eyes from Pegasus' view. "Besides, think about this from Cyndia's point of view. If you had died and Cyndia was sad, would you want to see her like that? If she was holding a gun to her head, would you want her to go through with it?" Pegasus stared at Marik, and then looked down. Pegasus felt like crying, he felt like his world had collapsed, been shoddily put back together, and then had exploded into a million splintering pieces. He felt like crap, he felt like there was no way the world could get worse, but then he started thinking about Cyndia, and what Marik had said about him being in her position…

He wouldn't want Cyndia to be sad, especially not over him, it would make him feel guilty… And he certainly didn't want her to… k-ki- Pegasus couldn't even think about it, the mere thought of Cyndia, his beautiful Cyndia, holding a gun… And at that moment, Pegasus understood. At that moment, everything seemed to make sense, he realized that all of the things he had done to try and see Cyndia again had been… naive. Cyndia was right, eventually everyone died. It was just a fact of life. He looked up at the sky. Wait for me Cyndia, he thought, wait for me… I'll meet you when my time comes. At that moment, he could have sworn that he saw Cyndia smiling at his reverie. He was just sad that it had taken the death and hardships of two innocent people to make him realize this.

After a while, Pegasus said quietly, "You're right Marik. I've been selfish, I've only been thinking of myself… of what I wanted. I should have thought of this rationally. I was just blinded by my sadness…" Pegasus sighed. "I know nothing could ever make you forgive me for killing your friend, but I hope you learn from my mistake."

"Yeah, well," Marik walked to the right and picked up the Millennium Eye, "I've got my own promise to keep." He threw it up in the air and caught it. He felt tears come to his eyes, and he felt heavy. He looked at Pegasus, "Could you help pay for the funeral?" he asked, his voice choked up with emotion. After helping Pegasus move on, the fact of Bakura's death finally caught up with him and made him feel like crawling into bed and crying. Pegasus seemed to understand, he walked up to Marik and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Of course… It's the least I could do. If you want, you could stay here for a while, you probably don't want to travel right now, do you?" Marik shook his head, not trusting his voice. Pegasus nodded and walked up the stairs, motioning his guard to follow. He figured Marik would want some alone time, when Cyndia died, he remembered not wanting to talk to anybody.

After Pegasus had left, Marik stared off into space, and then turned around to look at Bakura again. The albino's still body brought tears to his eyes, and he quickly wiped them away with the back of his hand. He would not cry, he would not cry… Bakura wouldn't want that. Marik walked up to Bakura and turned him over onto his back. Pure white hair covered his face, and Marik gently brushed it aside… and then promptly fell backward. Bakura's eyes had stared to flutter open again. And he sat up groggily and put his hand to his head, he had a splitting head ache-putting him in a bad mood-and he was having trouble remembering what happened.

"Bakura!" Marik cried out in happy surprise, "A-are you alive…?"

No, I'm undead, of course I'm not alive you idiot! Bakura opened his mouth to say, but found that he couldn't speak. He tried saying something else, but found that he just, couldn't. It was if his vocal cords decided to take a vacation or something, and his throat didn't even hurt, his voice was just - gone! Bakura looked at Marik, and tried to make his eyes say, "I can't talk." But when he looked at Marik he had to hide how startled he was. Marik, no matter how hard he tried not to cry, had tears running down his cheeks and he was smiling one of the biggest and happiest smiles he had ever seen. Marik ran forward and enveloped Bakura in a hug. "Don't scare me like that ever again!" Marik said, managing to keep his voice from choking up. Bakura blinked a couple times, wondering what the hell had happened, but then he wrapped his arms around Marik, and he couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot.

Now if you'll allow me to explain.

You see, even thought the spell had been severely pissed off, it hadn't killed Bakura, it had only weakened him. A lot. Which is why he had collapsed to the ground, and why he had been unconscious and dead-looking for a while. In fact, Bakura was still pretty weak, he wasn't sure if he could stand up, at least not without help. Bakura didn't like help. It made him feel weak and pathetic and like he wasn't good for anything, he had always done everything himself, and that wasn't going to change now. But as he stood there, hugging Marik, he felt that maybe getting help wasn't so bad after all… And then he remembered what he had thought when he had been slipping in and out of unconsciousness, "I love you Marik." Bakura closed his eyes. He had started going into denial mode, there was no way he loved anyone besides himself… there was no way…

Fuck it, Bakura thought, better to just face the facts, I'm… I'm in love… He didn't know how he felt about this, did this change who he was? How could he ever look at Marik the same way again? Would this change anything?

As Bakura's brain started doing what it does best - making him think about things he'd rather not - Marik pulled away from the hug, still smiling like an idiot, tears dried to his face, and then Bakura realized that his new-found realization hadn't changed much, probably because he had been in love with Marik before, and only now realized it…

Bakura gripped Marik's blood-soaked pajamas and felt like laughing. Red and purple Marik, really? He wondered why he hadn't noticed before… Marik looked down at the pajamas and his smile diminished a bit. "I should probably change…"

You think Marik?

Marik stood up and offered a hand to Bakura. Bakura didn't take the hand at first, instead trying to stand up himself, and found that he had been right. He couldn't stand up. He reached up and took Marik's hand, hoping that the ecstatic shock he got from it would go away eventually. Bakura took a step, and immediately started to fall again. Marik caught him just in time and put Bakura's arm around his shoulders to help him walk. Bakura couldn't help but wonder, Why does this have to happen to me now? But didn't complain, especially when Marik slipped his arm around Bakura's waist to help him walk better.

They walked up the stairs, and Marik started wondering why Bakura hadn't said anything since he had found out that he hadn't died. Wasn't he happy that he wasn't dead? Wasn't he happy to see him? Marik looked at Bakura, "Aren't you going to say something?"

Bakura stared at him dully, What do I see in this boy? he wondered, and was slightly shocked when his subconscious came back with practically a list of what he saw in this boy. Hm… so my mind's been holding back on me… That's interesting, he thought as he tried to dispel the list. Meanwhile, Marik was just getting why Bakura was silent. "Can you speak?"

Bakura shook his head, wishing desperately that he could speak right now and retort with a sarcastic comment.

"Oh…" Marik said. I wonder how long that will last… Marik wondered.

When Marik and Bakura reached the first floor, they saw Pegasus walking towards them wearing a new black eye patch. He stopped dead in his tracks, a shocked expression on his face. For a minute, Marik feared that Pegasus would be angry that Bakura had lived while Cyndia had died… But his fears were quickly forgotten hen he saw Pegasus smile. "Wonderful!" he cried, "So Bakura didn't die after all! I had been wondering why he had died, seeing as the spell hadn't worked… Ah well, who cares!" he fast-walked forward and hugged them both. "I'm so sorry for how I acted, do you forgive me?" he looked at Bakura, who stared back, wondering if he should forgive him, after all, if Marik had been the one who had died… Yeah, he forgave him. But how could he say that? He decided to nod, and Pegasus smiled even brighter, making Bakura wonder, Was this guy really sad before? How can he smile so much?

"He can't speak right now," Marik decided to tell Pegasus.

Pegasus nodded, "Probably a side-effect from the spell, spells are kind of like medicine actually. I remember one turned my hair pink for an entire week! It was awful! It totally clashed with my red shirts." Bakura snickered and Marik tried unsuccessfully to hide his smile by asking, "How long until he'll be able to speak again?"

"Hm… It's hard to say for sure… I'd say a couple days."

Bakura stared at him, A couple days? You say that like it's nothing. Marik noticed Bakura staring, and Marik decided to say, "I think Bakura's trying to say that if you got a peg-leg and a parrot we could call you Peggy the Pirate." Bakura dug his elbow into Marik's rib, but not that hard, and gave him a glare, making him let out a little giggle. He was just so happy that Bakura was alive, he was in such a good mood right now!

Pegasus smiled, "I suppose, but the peg-leg would have to be oak, I would not be caught dead wearing anything else." This comment made Bakura wonder further if Pegasus was actually sad, but in actuality, his mind was just kind of disoriented. During the past day or two, he had acted like a madman, tried to resurrect his Cyndia - again, met and talked to his dead wife as an angel, and had realized that everything he had done to try and resurrect his dead wife had been, well, just plain idiotic in his new-found opinion. The whole ordeal had made him feel exhausted, and made him feel unlike himself, but he also felt a little relieved, he now felt like he was ready to really accept the fact that Cyndia had moved on to the next world… besides, she was in a very beautiful place she said.

Marik just smiled and nodded, still in his good mood, and then started walking back towards the ship. Bakura's head began to bob, and he tried to stop it from resting on Marik's shoulder, but then figured, Why the hell not? and rested his weary head on Marik's shoulder. Unfortunately for Marik, this made him realize just how close they actually were, and made his face heat up.

But he didn't mind that much.

Ugh, it so goes against my nature to write sadness… Read it? No problem. Critique it? Sure. But write it? You're crazy.

I hope you liked this chapter, I kept thinking I was going to fast and kept going back and adding more detail and adjectives to try and fix it… I hope I did a good job. I also tried very hard to keep them in character, but I think I failed. Aw well, I like this chapter, wanna know why? Because… BAKURA FINALLY ADMITTED HIS FEELINGS! XD Now I just have to work on Marik… (Evil laugh)

Anyway, please tell me what you didn't like, or if something bothered you about the chapter and I'll try to fix it cause I want to make this story as good as it can be, and your input is important to me. And other than that, I tend to think whatever I write is utter crap, so reviews make me want to keep writing.

~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~

That's What Cheese Said: No offense, but I'm kind of glad that my writing made you cry, that must mean I'm good at writing =) or at least I hope… I'm glad you liked the chapter! And yeah, Pegasus just watched as Bakura drank his blood…
'Kura-kitty's awesome XD And that's so funny that your mom just left you, "Oh, my daughter's just randomly dancing, better not investigate" XD

Bec: I also feel warm and fuzzy by how many reviews this story now has =) Thanks for caring. And I think you're the only one who got the point of "A witch is a girl!" but I don't really care. And yes, Marik was doing all those sweet moves while in his pajamas, isn't that hilarious? XD I was wondering how many people would catch that… And yes, Marik can pull things from hammer space, just like any one who has a Millennium Item can, just like Bakura's clothes and the Ring just magically disappear when he goes into cat-form.
For some reason, I just imagine Bakura realizing he likes Marik before Marik realizes he likes Bakura, I don't know, it just seems right to me. Maybe cause Marik's lived in a tomb for most of his life…
Also, for Pegasus' story, I kind of just re-read the part were he tells what happened and copied it down -_-" I did change some things though, so that it would make more sense to my story. Also, the book never really specifies what happens if you're unworthy of the other Millennium Items, so I just assumed it was the same.
And the (1) mark was meant for both, I didn't feel like making a (2) and saying the same thing.