Chapter 20: The Journey Back

Bakura was waiting in the boat's bedroom while Marik packed up their things. Marik had insisted that Bakura rest while he did the work, seeing as how Bakura could hardly stand at the moment. Although, he didn't think that was particularly fair, if he drank some of Marik's blood, he probably would've been fine.

Anyway, before this, Pegasus had wanted to talk to the boys. He apologized again for the things he had done, and asked if he could do anything for them. Marik had asked him if he had a sextant, and he said that he actually did have one. What were the odds of that?

"Think of it as an early Christmas present," Pegasus had said, making Marik freeze and making Bakura face-palm himself.

"… Did you say Christmas?" Marik asked, his voice a forced calm.

"Well, yes, it's early November, Christmas is about a month away(1)."

Bakura tried to send Pegasus a look that said, "Why did you tell him it was almost Christmas?" But it didn't get through, instead Marik smiled brightly and looked at Bakura mischievously, "So, what're we doing for Christmas 'Kura?" Bakura merely shrugged, wanting to kiss that gorgeous smile… He was going to have to be very careful from now on.

After Marik's realizing it was almost Christmas, he went to go change out of his blood-stained pajamas which made Bakura grateful. The smell of the blood had started to make him go crazy, he wasn't sure how much longer he could've lasted.

After Marik had left, Pegasus took out a little corked bottle from his pocket and handed it to Bakura. "Here, I think you might need this." Bakura took it and looked at it. There was no label, so he had no idea what it was supposed to be used for. He looked at Pegasus with a raised eyebrow, which made Pegasus chuckle. "It's a special potion," he said, "This potion is to only be drunk if you have two souls inside your body," this made Bakura's eyebrows raise in surprise. "This potion will separate the two souls, and form another body around the second soul. Now, its' true that there are certain rules of magic that forbid you from creating life, but this potion doesn't create life, it merely forms a… vessel… around the life already living. You see, the Soul is the Life, the body is merely a, container if you will, for our pleasure." Bakura looked at Pegasus, then back at the potion. With this, he could be separate from Ryou… The thought sent his stomach into a knot, though he wasn't really sure why. He looked back up at Pegasus, wishing he could ask who came up with this potion, because it seemed kind of useless. Pegasus seemed to understand Bakura's curiosity, because he said, "You're probably wondering how someone came up with this potion, what purpose does it serve? Well, it was made by a witch who's body had been burned in a fire, but her soul had traveled into another person. She controlled her - for lack of a better word - host's body to try and get her another body, and voila! This potion was born!" Bakura kept staring at Pegasus, willing his eyes to ask, "How did you know I would want this?" It took Pegasus awhile, but he finally got it. "I knew you would want this because I read your mind earlier. I wanted to get a better understanding of… You and Marik. I must say, you two fascinate me." He didn't go any further than that. Bakura looked at the potion again before quickly shoving it into his pocket as Marik walked back to them. He didn't want Marik to know about the potion just yet…

So it was like this that Marik and Bakura had taken their leave. Bakura was lying down on the bottom bunk (he wasn't sure if he could've climbed the ladder) and was doing heavy thinking while Marik was piloting the boat. Bakura was currently trying to sort through his confusing thoughts. He kept taking out the potion and thinking… What if he just drank it now? Then he and Ryou could be separate, and Ryou would probably let him still live in the house, he seemed nice enough. Plus, his life would be easier if he had his own body. Bakura uncorked the bottle and held it up to his lips. It would be so easy to just drink it right now, but, one thought kept haunting him… It was just the way Ryou looked at Marik. He didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit. And if Ryou had his own body… Bakura put the cork back on the potion, his eyes twitching slightly. He sighed, and he stared off into space. He should probably be resting, he had been thinking too much lately, and he didn't want Ryou to take over again.

His eyes widened as he realized something. Ryou… Wait a minute… Maybe… could it have been? It couldn't possibly… but it makes sense! Bakura had a feeling he knew how Ryou had managed to wake up and take over. Lately, Bakura had been thinking way too much, wearing him out. Not physically, Bakura wouldn't have been worn out physically by something like that, he was a vampire after all, but he had been worn out mentally! His mind had been too overworked, which must have lessened his hold on Ryou! And when Ryou had taken over and took the ring off… Bakura had been sleeping inside the Millennium Ring, and he remembered feeling really rested when he had come out again… Bakura smiled. Well, if that was the case, then he would just have to sleep more, and that should take care of that problem. But… Bakura looked at the potion again. Wouldn't it just be easier if I didn't have to try and retain Ryou? Wouldn't it be easier if we each had our own body? Bakura rubbed his temples, wondering what he should do. He wanted his own body, but he also didn't want Ryou to… A picture of Ryou and Marik laughing and smiling together shot through his brain and he wished he could cry out in frustration, but he still couldn't speak.

He lay back down on the bed, decided that he wouldn't think about Ryou or the potion anymore. This proved easier than he had thought, since his mind seemed even more determined to torture him as he had now realized he liked Marik. More than just friends. He started hitting his head against the wall as pictures of him kissing Marik entered his head.

Okay, Bakura may have realized he like Marik, but he didn't know what to do about it. I mean, he had thought he was straight, and yet he was attracted to Marik. His tan skin, his muscular stomach, his succulent lips…

Bakura back-tracked his thoughts.

What could he do about it? What if he couldn't act like he normally did? What if he blushed when Marik does or even says something? What if Marik looks at him with those gorgeous violet eyes and Bakura did something he'd regret?

Bakura had to back-track his thoughts again.

He had never liked a boy before, he had always been attracted to females. He didn't know what to do. He absolutely hated not knowing what to do. But it wasn't like he couldn't really do much anyway, he was pretty sure Marik only liked him as a friend.

But now Bakura wondered…

What does Marik think of him? Obviously he liked Bakura, or he wouldn't have been so happy when Bakura had revealed that he wasn't really dead. Bakura stared at the steps leading above deck. Thoughts of Marik crept back into his mind, probably wanting nothing more than to torture him further.

Why does the world hate me…? he thought.

Meanwhile, Marik was up above deck, piloting their way back home. Marik found himself whistling sometimes, and had to force himself to stop. He was still on a happy-high. But even with how happy he was, he couldn't help but feel the entire episode with Pegasus had been rushed at the end. After he had found out Bakura had still been alive, it had seemed as if the world had gone in fast-forward mode. Before that, it seemed as if the world had gone into slow-motion as he watched his friend die, and only now did it seem as if someone had clicked "Play." He barely remembered Pegasus apologizing again, but he did remember forgiving Pegasus. After all, he was pretty sure if someone as important to him as Cyndia was to Pegasus, he would have done probably the same thing. He understood where Pegasus had been coming from, even if he'd never experienced it, and he just hoped that Pegasus actually would be able to move on this time. He hoped that he would be able to be happy simply because it seemed to Marik that Pegasus had been through so much sadness in his life. But whenever Marik thought about it, he got a good feeling that Pegasus was going to be all right from now on.

However…

One thought kept pestering him, he tried to put it to the back of his mind and just forget about it, but it kept resurfacing to the front of his mind. The thought that wouldn't leave him alone was this: "Why did I kiss Bakura back there?"

He remembered that when Bakura had appeared dead, he had felt just plain panic. And he had wished that Bakura had still been alive when he had kissed him, so that Bakura would know that he cared.

Marik felt his face heat up, and he tried to shake his head to get rid of the unwanted color.

He had just wanted to show Bakura that he had cared, that was it, nothing more… Just to show… friendship…? Marik found himself thinking in a question, and that made him frustrated. I only like Bakura as a friend! Nothing more, nothing less! was what Marik told himself, but something in the pit of his stomach told him otherwise. Actually, it wasn't in the pit of his stomach, it was upwards more, near where his heart was.

Marik hit himself in the head to clear his mind. He tried to pay attention to what was around him instead, but this didn't work as effectively as he had thought it would. Images of the white-haired boy entered his mind. His sarcastic smirk, his scowl, his mischievous grin, his glare, his smile… Curse his need for perfection of detail! He remembered drawing Bakura with each of those faces, and he had no intention of taking them out anytime soon. Even though he knew that Bakura would still make fun of his for it. He didn't like throwing out his drawings, even if he thought that they sucked.

Marik drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. He kept thinking about how he felt when he thought Bakura had died. He had felt like his world had fallen apart. His only friend… dead… the thought had made him frustrated at life, and also extremely sad. There were so many things he had never gotten to tell Bakura, so many unanswered questions…

For instance, he knew nothing of Bakura's past life, which he probably should know at least a little bit of, seeing as Bakura knew some of his. He knew nothing about what he liked to do, other than kill, but he thinks Bakura's getting over that now. He had never got to really explain how glad he was that Bakura was here with him, helping him collect these Items. He was sure that this adventure would have been a lot more boring without Bakura here, and a lot more lonely too. And he had never been able to tell Bakura that he lo-

WHAT WAS I JUST THINKING? Marik screamed at himself.

'You were just thinking that you lo-' Marik's inner self started to say, but was interrupted by Marik.

No I wasn't!

'I didn't even get to finish my thought.'

I knew what you were going to say, and you're wrong!

'Denial much?'

I'm not in denial!

'Sure about that?'

I CAN'T BE IN DENIAL IF THERE IS NOTHING TO DENY! he screamed at himself. Then he cursed himself, he really needed to stop arguing with himself. It would help if he could talk to someone about his problems, but who could he talk to? His family was out of the question, he didn't want them to know where he was, and he couldn't talk to Bakura about his thoughts, considering he was the thing he needed to talk about in the first place.

Marik sighed. I need more friends…

'Oh, so I'm not good enough?'

You're. Me.

'So? Lots of people figure there problems out by talking to themselves about it.'

Name one person!

'I'm you, I only know what you know, so I don't know.'

Exactly!

'Maybe you should get more friends.'

Marik sighed. Why does he do this to himself? Just then he thought of something. He had more friends. Sure, they weren't great friends, but they were his friends. Marik smiled as he thought about Yugi. He could probably talk to Yugi about his problems, after all, Yugi always seemed eager to help with anything. But there was a slight problem…

He'd probably just think Marik was in lo-

Lalala, I wasn't thinking anything!

'You're a terrible liar.'

Shut up!

Surprisingly, his inner self did shut up. But now he kept thinking about something else. Ryou.

He didn't really know Ryou that well, but he felt like Ryou was a good person. He seemed like a good listener, and he seemed to want to help Marik with collecting the Millennium Items, why wouldn't he want to help with his problems as well? The more Marik thought about it, the more it seemed as if Ryou was the only person he could talk to about his problems. After all, he was pretty sure that Ryou didn't immediately assume that they were a couple, he would probably offer good advice. There was just one problem…

Ryou and Bakura were the same person.

Well, they weren't technically the same person. They had different personalities and souls, but they shared the same body. The whole concept still confused Marik to no end. How does that even work? He got that one soul goes into the Millennium Ring while the other controls the body, but… how do they decided who controls the body? And, why - how - had Ryou taken over if Bakura hadn't wanted him to? And for that matter, how had Bakura taken over if Ryou hadn't wanted him to? Marik's head started spinning. He'd ask Bakura about it later. When he could talk. Marik sighed, and then a thought made him freeze.

Did Bakura remember Marik kissing him?

Marik's face heated up. W-well, if he does, I'll just say that I thought he had won our bet… yeah, that could work… Marik desperately tried to think of something else.

It was just then that Bakura decided to see if he could stand up without feeling faint (seeing as he probably wasn't going to be able to sleep much). When he felt that he could, he started walking. He smiled, happy that he could finally move again. He tried speaking again. Nothing. He sighed, put on his day attire, and started walking up the stairs. He wondered if Marik would hug him again. He smiled, and when he saw Marik sitting quietly, piloting the boat, decided to have some fun. Bakura crept as quiet as a mouse towards Marik, and then tapped him on the shoulder. Marik jerked and turned around, and Bakura couldn't help but notice that Marik's face was read. "Hey Bakura," he said, "I take it you're feeling better?"

Well, I'm obviously feeling better or else I wouldn't be walking now would I? Bakura wished he could say. Sometimes Marik could be a real idiot.

As Marik waited for Bakura to say something, he realized that Bakura probably couldn't speak still. "You're still mute?"

Bakura nodded and Marik sighed. Then he asked, "Who do you think won the bet anyway?" He asked because he wanted to see if Bakura did remember the kiss.

Bakura pretended to ponder the question by putting his hand up to his chin. Then he smirked and pointed to himself. Marik's face turned red. Does that mean he remembers? Dammit, I wish he could speak! Bakura just started laughing, figuring Marik's face was red because he would have to kiss him. The truth was, he didn't remember Marik kissing him at all, but Marik didn't know that.

"What!" Marik finally said, "There's no way you knocked out more guards than me!"

Bakura raised one of his eyebrows as if to say, "Oh really?"

"I'm pretty sure I took more out, cause you were a cat, you could only handle one person at a time, where as I was fighting multiple people at a time."

Bakura visibly laughed. You didn't see me after you had been stabbed! he felt like saying. He was pretty sure that he had taken care of more than twenty guards during that time.

"What's so funny?" Marik asked.

Bakura pointed at Marik.

"Me?" Bakura nodded. "But I'm telling the truth! You just don't want to be a cat for an entire day do you?"

Bakura shook his head, wishing that he could say what was on his mind at the moment. Because at the moment, the fact that Marik didn't want to kiss him annoyed him. What was wrong with him? He was good-looking. And why was Marik's face so red?

Marik smirked and said, "I thought you were a man of your word?" Bakura nodded. "Then you have to honor turning into a cat!" Bakura rolled his eyes and held up his index finger to say, "One moment," before walking back down below deck. He came back a moment later with paper and a pencil. He shoved the paper at Marik, on the sheet was written, "I won. End of story."

"It isn't "end of story" until I say it is!" Marik responded, handing the paper back to Bakura. Bakura wrote something else on the paper, then handed it to Marik. "What's wrong Marik? Afraid you lost? Afraid of kissing me? Baby. I thought you were a man of your word?" Marik looked up at the now-smirking Bakura. The words written on the page kind of relieved him, if Bakura was saying he was afraid of kissing him, that means he doesn't remember that he had kissed him before.

"First off," Marik said, handing the paper back to Bakura, "I'm not afraid I lost. Second, I'm not afraid of kissing you," those words made Bakura smile slightly, "And third, I am a man of my word, and my word is that you lost!"

Bakura visibly sighed and wrote something else on the paper. He handed it to Marik, wishing very badly that he could talk right now and get his point across better.

"Why do you even want me to be a cat anyway?"

"Because I know you hate it."

Bakura scowled and wrote angrily, "That's a stupid reason."

"Isn't that the reason you want me to kiss you?"

"Yes, but that's my thing. You can't steal it."

"Really? Well I guess you'd know what can and can't be stolen, seeing as you are the Thief King."

Bakura smirked, "That's right!" he wrote proudly.

Marik smiled, "How about we say we tied." The words had come out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Bakura thought about it. "Then what about the wagers?" he wrote.

"We'll just do both of them."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. Then he shrugged and went to go get the other chair on the top deck. He put it right next to Marik's chair and decided to help pilot the boat. After all, plane's had co-pilots, why not boats too? Bakura leaned back, glad that he wasn't able to answer questions at this point in time. Then Marik asked something that he hadn't been expecting.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Marik asked casually.

Bakura blinked a couple times, then sat up straighter and stared curiously at Marik. He shrugged, then leaned back in his chair again. No one had ever asked him what he wanted for Christmas. Mainly because he had never celebrated it before. Other than through Ryou, but that didn't really count, since the presents hadn't actually been for him. Then a thought struck Bakura.

Has Marik ever been asked what he wanted for Christmas? Bakura's guess was, probably not. Bakura almost felt like writing the question on a piece of paper, but then an idea popped into his head. The perfect gift for Marik. Bakura smiled and closed his eyes.

The rest of the boat ride had been uneventful. Other than Bakura wondering if he should take the potion or not and Marik in heavy denial, nothing really happened. The only thing worth mentioning about the rest of the trip is something that Marik and Bakura weren't even aware of. And that thing is Ryou.

He was still in the Ring, and he had been sleeping during Pegasus' castle, but now he had awaken in the Ring, and he was viewing the world through Bakura's mind. He had decided that he wanted to know everything about Bakura, seeing as he was controlling his body at the moment. He also wanted to see if his family was all right…

So he began to search through Bakura's memories.

Searching through memories is a lot like sticking your hand in water and trying to pull something out. Only, in this case his whole body was going through a cool, rippled substance, and it was like he was viewing a movie, only he was in the movie (2). And when he tried to exit the memory, the movie started to get blurry and far away and he could feel himself going backward through the water-like substance.

He searched through the memories while Bakura was asleep though, leaving Bakura wondering why he had dreamed about his past, but he just assumed it was because dreams were confusing. Anyway, Ryou learned some interesting stuff. He learned that Bakura absolutely hated it when people cried. He learned that Bakura was a sucker for kids, and with this Ryou could infer that Bakura actually could care about others. He learned that Bakura actually kind of liked Ryou, but he just didn't think of it much. (That had kind of surprised him, and he had decided not to search any further on that subject). He had also learned what had happened on Pegasus' island(the resurrection thing surprised him quite a bit), and the most notable thing he had learned: Bakura finally admitted that he loved Marik. Ryou couldn't help but grin at that fact, and with this new information, he felt just a little bit better about Bakura being in control. After all, you couldn't be all bad if you couldn't stand people crying. However, there was one thing that was really surprising, Bakura didn't seem to remember much about his life in ancient Egypt. It seemed he remembered that he used to be the Thief King and that he had pillaged many villages and had stolen a lot from the Pharaoh, but it seemed he didn't remember much of his childhood, either that or Bakura had tried to forget about it. The latter seemed more likely.

This made Ryou curious. What did Bakura want to forget? Did he have a bad childhood? If that was the case he didn't really want to intrude, but he still wanted to find out. Ryou tried to see if he could find even one thing about Bakura's childhood, but he couldn't find anything. After searching for a while, Ryou began to feel sleepy. Bakura had been right, he just needed to get more sleep to keep Ryou at bay, and now that Bakura was napping more, Ryou began to feel more tired. He felt himself propelled out of the memory, through the filmy, liquid substance, and then sleep clouded his mind and sent him back into sub consciousness.

So after Ryou had gone through the memory search, Marik and Bakura arrived home feeling like the ride home had been much shorter that the ride over. And when they first stepped into the home, the plopped down on the couch and relaxed, the boat trip had actually worn them out a little, and they were glad to be back in the comfort of their home again.

Marik had insisted that they decorate for Christmas(3), but Bakura said that he didn't want to have to decorate his home just to have to take it down again. So the house was bare - for now. Marik was determined on decorating the house sometime, but he felt pretty worn out, and figured, "What's the rush?" Marik also decided to get a job so that he could have his own money and so that he could buy Christmas presents. However, Marik didn't want Bakura to know about the job, so whenever he went out to work, he just said he was going out to see the town. Bakura hadn't really cared that much to investigate further. And once when Marik went off to work, Bakura went out to buy Marik's Christmas present. He felt pretty proud of himself for thinking of the gift. What was the gift? You'll find out later.

But, whereas Bakura had found the perfect gift, Marik had no idea what to get Bakura. He hadn't really ever showed an interest in anything specifically, and Marik had no idea what to get a former Thief King. "A snow globe?" Marik had once thought, then decided that was dumb. He could get him precious jewels, to remind him of his past, but Marik didn't have enough money for that… And Bakura still wouldn't tell him what he wanted. In truth, Bakura wanted to see if Marik knew him well enough, and he also liked to see Marik so worked up over this. Besides, he still couldn't speak. He couldn't speak until exactly one week later, and by that time Marik had given up on asking Bakura what he wanted for Christmas. Besides, Bakura didn't really know what he wanted anyway. The only thing that came to mind was a Christmas kiss. Bakura smirked. Marik probably wouldn't give him that, of course they had tied on the bet…

So, Marik and Bakura got ready for Christmas, each in their own way, until one week later when Anzu and Yugi came to visit them to work out their problems - once and for all.

And what took place will forever be remembered by all.

Lol, sort-of cliff hanger again ^^ This chapter was kind of just a filler, but I felt it was important.

(1): Remember, the boat thing took three/four days after Halloween, so it would be early November right now, and not December… I need to get working on my Christmas special…

(2): Basically, it's a lot like Harry Potter XD

(3): I'm pretty sure Marik and Bakura don't celebrate Thanksgiving, so that's why Marik wants to put up the decorations so early.