Just in case anyone gets confused over dates or anything, timeline-wise, the manga ended in March 1999. In this story, it's a little over halfway through the year 2001.

"M-Marik? Ryou…?" Bakura whispered. His eyes were wide and questioning, glittering like jewels in his gaunt face. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Ryou pulled the comforter off Marik's bed and knelt to drape it over Bakura, concealing his nakedness. "You're in Egypt," he told him gently. "In Luxor, to be precise. We brought you back from the Shadow Realm."

Impossible…how?"

"Now, come on, Bakura, you should think better of me. You taught me all your shadow party tricks, after all." Ryou bared his teeth in an amused grin.

"We stole the Ring," Marik said quietly. "We stole the Ring and Ryou used it to drag you out."

Bakura's expression was that of utter shock. Confused and disoriented, he allowed Ryou to help him to his feet, clutching the comforter around him with a shaking hand.

Marik's heart was hammering madly at the sight of his former partner in crime, but he'd be damned if he showed how he felt. He turned on his heel to walk to the other side of the room, opening his wardrobe and pulling out a few items of clothing. He was taller than Bakura by a few inches, but they were of a similar build so his clothes would fit him well enough. "Here, put these on," he told him, placing black sweatpants and a grey shirt onto the bed. "Ryou, could you help him? I'll go and put some tea on or something."

"Sure thing, Marik," Ryou smiled.

Marik could feel Bakura's eyes fixed on him as he hurried from the room. He wondered how much explaining they'd have to do when Bakura was aware enough to comprehend them. He looked so dazed, I'm surprised he even recognised us at all.

Shaking his head, he flicked the kettle on – Ryou drank so much tea whenever he visited that Marik had gone and bought a kettle to accommodate him – and set about gathering mugs, finding several scattered about the kitchen and living room. He couldn't help smiling in amusement. I swear Ryou is 70% tea these days.

Soft footsteps alerted him to Ryou and Bakura entering the kitchen. Bakura looked a little more himself now he was dressed and alert, gazing at his surroundings curiously. Ryou followed behind, looking pleased. "Sit down," Marik said to Bakura, indicating the tiny table carelessly shoved away in the corner. Bakura quirked an eyebrow at him, but pulled up a chair and sat nevertheless. Marik placed a mug of tea in front of him and dropped into another chair, leaving Ryou to hoist himself up onto the counter, watching them with bright eyes as he swung his long legs back and forth.

"You two had better start explaining why I'm here," Bakura muttered, running a hand through his unruly hair. "One minute I'm trapped in that damned darkness, and the next, I'm naked in Marik's bedroom. You say you stole the Ring? Tell me how that went down."

Ryou took a sip from his tea. The way he looked at Bakura was akin to the way someone might look at a leaf on the floor – commonplace, normal, something you see every day. Nothing shocked or frightened Ryou anymore, not even the reappearance of the spirit that had terrorised his teenage years.

"Well, the Millennium Items were excavated recently," he told Bakura. "It's been all over the news, you know. They're all on display at the museum in Cairo, but something just…didn't sit right with Marik and I about it all. So…"

"So we broke in earlier this morning," Marik piped up, Bakura looking at him with surprise, "and we switched the Ring with a fake. Turns out Ryou is quite the expert hacker."

Bakura turned his deep brown gaze on his hikari. "You, breaking into a museum and pilfering a priceless artefact? I'm almost proud of you."

"Thanks," he winked. "I learned from the best, after all." Marik noted with amusement that he left out the fact he panicked like a dog without its ball the instant he'd even set foot inside the museum.

Bakura chuckled softly at that. "You've changed a lot, kid. I thought you would be a snivelling little wimp forever, but look at you!" He leaned forward, observing Ryou intently. "Are those…muscles I see? You work out now?"

"Uh, sometimes." Ryou gave his arm an experimental flex, but he was blushing a little at the scrutinising stare. "They didn't really pop up until last year."

"Damn, how long has it even been?"

"Two years. We're twenty now, well, I'm just about to turn twenty-one."

"So it must be August or thereabouts?"

"Yup. The 29th, to be precise, year 2001."

Bakura looked rather impressed, chuckling again as he turned away from Ryou. He reached out his hands to wrap securely round his mug, closing his eyes at the warmth seeping into his skin.

Marik took this opportunity to take a proper look at Bakura, now he was in good lighting. He really was thin, almost like he was wasting away before their eyes. His silver hair was a wild mess, his skin grey, dry and lifeless. The Shadow Realm clearly had not been kind to him. "You look like hell," he told him.

Bakura's eyes snapped open. "I've definitely been better," he murmured.

Marik nearly fell out of his chair in shock. No snarky comeback? No biting sarcasm? Who is this guy and what has he done with Bakura?

Bakura seemed to register the surprise on Marik's face, and he sighed, bringing his mug to his lips. "Sorry, did you expect me to snap some witty remark at you? Maybe later, Marik. I'm absolutely exhausted. A few hours' sleep and I'll be insulting you just the way you like it."

"You can take my bed tonight," Marik offered immediately. "Ryou's only here for another day or so. He can take the couch till he goes back to Japan."

"I feel so privileged," Ryou smirked, still swinging his legs. "But what about you?"

"Floor's fine. I've slept on much worse in my time. Tomb-Keeper beds are made from only the very finest rough-hewn rock." He and Bakura laughed, both of them knowing all too well the primitive comforts they had been subject to as children.

Ryou smiled at their camaraderie, before sliding off the counter and pulling out his mobile. "Excuse me…I'd best give Yugi a call. It must be nearing midnight in Domino now. I'll be back soon." Waving a hand at Bakura, he left the room. Marik heard the apartment door close with a soft snap a few moments later.

Bakura watched him go with a confused expression. "What's so important that he has to leave?"

"Ah, well…he probably wants to dirty talk Yugi or something." Marik gave Bakura a wry smile. "Ryou and Yugi have been seeing each other for, oh…just over a year now. I know, hard to believe, right? They're really happy though. It's great to see. Ryou's so sweet and precious, I'm glad he has someone to look after him."

Bakura blinked a few times, mouth slightly open. "You're fucking kidding me."

"Nope."

"The way you're speaking about him, anybody would think you wanted to look after him."

"What? No! Well, yes, but not like that. I'm not interested in Ryou, he's just my friend."

Bakura grunted in reply, lapsing into quiet thought. Marik gazed at him, draining the rest of his tea, ignoring the burning in his throat. The uncomfortable feeling in his chest, however, was harder to ignore. There was so much he wanted to say, to do. The urge to let himself go and just spill everything was becoming unbearable.

But he held back. His voice no more than a whisper, he said, "Bakura…I missed you so much."

Bakura's eyes raised up to meet Marik's, mahogany to lavender. There was an uncharacteristic softness playing around the former thief's expression, but his body language was tense and unsure of the meaning behind Marik's words.

"Is that why you brought me back?" he asked. "Because you missed me?"

"No, I just…it was so unfair." Marik balled his hands into fists. "Ryou told me everything. How he knew all your plans, how he helped you make your final Shadow Game…and he told me what Yugi saw in the Memory World. Your past. Everything that happened to you as a child. Don't you think it was so fucking unfair that all you wanted was to finally give the ghosts of your people the rest they deserved, and then you got flung back into nothingness while the Pharaoh got to parade himself into the afterlife? It wasn't fair!"

"Marik," Bakura murmured. "Marik, calm down. The Items were returned to the Millennium Stone, weren't they?" He closed his eyes briefly, a faint smile playing around his lips. "I can sense it…I can sense that they're resting now. That's all I wanted. My purpose is fulfilled, and Zorc is gone. I don't know what I'll do with myself from here on out, but I won't deny that having a body of my own is a nice little welcome gift." He raised a hand and laughed softly. "Though, really, you could have thought to bring me back in my original body. This pale thing looks too much like Ryou."

"Ryou never saw you in your original body," Marik replied. "He could only work off what he already knew."

And in any case, you're fucking gorgeous like this.

Bakura finished his tea and rubbed his eyes wearily. "Look, Marik…I appreciate you and Ryou bringing me back, but I'm worn out to fuck, so I'm turning in for the night. Your bed better be comfortable, because I don't think I've actually slept in two years."

Without waiting for a reply, he pushed his chair back and left the room. A few moments later, Ryou trailed back in, looking cheerful. "What a day it's been!" he exclaimed. "You know, I really didn't think that we'd pull it off, but we did! Can you believe it?"

"Why are you so happy?" Marik asked incredulously. "I'm surprised you even agreed to any of this. Bakura put you through hell when he possessed you. All your scars were his doing."

Ryou just shrugged. "Things are different now. We knew that if we did this, he'd no longer be contaminated with Zorc's influence. We knew he'd be different, even if just a little." He dropped down into the chair Bakura had just left. "And I know how you feel about him. You deserve a chance to tell him, just as much as he deserves to live his life without a corrupted soul."

Marik grinned. "You're too nice for your own good, you know that, Ryou?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if I should just be a dick sometimes, you know, balance it out a little, but I like being nice and helping people. It's bloody sickening, but it's me."

"I like "bloody sickening" Ryou," Marik laughed. "Come on, Bakura's gone to bed. Let's play some games or something."

"Ooh, that sounds good." Ryou's face lit up and he dashed into the living room, turning on Marik's PlayStation and inserting Medal of Honour. Marik followed him in with an armful of assorted snacks, and together they laughed, joked and gunned each other down in endless deathmatches till they grew bored and tried to outrace each other on Crash Bandicoot Warped time trials instead. Ryou reigned supreme, having spent a ridiculous amount of time playing it back in Japan.

Afterwards, they watched the recently released The Mummy 2, pointing out any historical mistakes in the film that they might find. Marik began drooping around halfway through the film, and ended up with his head in Ryou's lap. Ryou smiled down at Marik and lifted his head up to slide a cushion underneath him, settling his head back down.

I'm sure I was supposed to…take the floor…ah, damn it, Ryou is so comfy. I bet Yugi uses him as a pillow all the…all the time…

Marik awoke with a start around 7 o'clock in the morning, realising he'd dozed off completely on Ryou. He glanced up at the mass of pale skin and white hair above him, seeing Ryou snoozing with his head on his arm, legs curled up to the side and the pillow having shifted, but Marik's head was still atop it. Joints cracking, Marik sat up and stretched, wincing at the sharp pains that ran across his stiff back, aggravating the scars that mutilated his bronzed skin. I need a shower.

The blazing hot water did little to ease the pain in Marik's back, but it would do for now; he knew he'd probably forget about it for most of the day until evening. He dried off, tying his damp hair up into a ponytail, drenched his back in oil, and crept quietly into his room to find clean clothes.

Bakura was still sound asleep in Marik's bed, on his side with a pillow held close to his chest. The covers had slipped below his waist and his shirt had ridden up, exposing a delicious strip of skin at his midriff. Below that, his hipbones jutted out alarmingly, and Marik made a mental note to ensure Bakura started eating properly to put weight back on. Stick-thin or not, he's still so beautiful, Marik thought as he opened a drawer, pulling out a pair of boxers. Before he could slip them on, he felt a deep gaze fixed firmly on him, and he looked back up to see Bakura smirking at him, eyes half-lidded. "Giving me a show?" he asked sleepily. "Really, Marik, you didn't need to return the favour."

Marik blushed violently and yanked his boxers on, turning away to find some trousers. "I thought you'd sleep a while longer. Besides, this is my room. I can be naked in here if I want to be."

"Oh, to be sure." Bakura's eyes slid closed again and he rolled onto his stomach. "Don't mind me, I'm going back to sleep anyway. Unless you want to flash me again, in which case, sure, I'll get up for that."

"What makes you think I'd indulge you in that?" Marik snapped.

"No reason at all," Bakura chuckled. "You were definitely taking a risk coming in here with no clothes on though. I could have been awake for hours for all you knew. Perhaps you wanted me to see you naked."

"Shut up, don't flatter yourself." Marik tugged on a pair of loose linen trousers, remaining shirtless to let the oil on his back sink into his skin. "You're back to normal then. You were right, some sleep sorted you right out."

"Mm." Bakura let out a yawn.

"I'll let you sleep some more."

"Thanks."

Gods, Ryou was right, he really has changed. Marik grinned to himself as he left the bedroom and went to the kitchen, putting the kettle on. He knew Ryou would be up and about soon, and would require copious amounts of caffeine in order to function. At the same time, he pulled a bowl of pre-cooked ful, the traditional Egyptian breakfast dish, from the fridge and tossed it into the microwave.

At the clattering of the microwave door shutting, Marik heard Ryou heave himself off the sofa, and a few moments later he padded into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "Morning, fluffball," Marik smiled, handing him a strong mug of tea.

"Mm…thanks," Ryou murmured. Marik resisted the temptation to laugh, realising Ryou sounded just like Bakura. When the ful was heated through, he put some aside for Bakura, and divided the rest between himself and Ryou.

"I need to head down to the market," Marik told Ryou as they ate. "I'm a little nervous, considering we did just steal a priceless artefact, but we're far away from Cairo, and I don't think we were spotted."

Ryou wiped his mouth delicately. "What do you need?"

"A few more bits of food, maybe some clothes and necessities for Bakura. I don't know what he plans to do now, but I at least want him to stay here for a few days while he settles back into normal life."

"Sounds good. He'll probably stay with you a long time, if I'm honest…if you can accommodate him, anyway. Your apartment is pretty small."

"He can carry on sleeping in my bed for the time being."

"What about you though?" As Marik got up to put his empty bowl in the sink, Ryou indicated his back, still glistening with oil. "Sleeping on the sofa must be hard on your back. You really should be in your own bed."

"What, with Bakura?"

"That's what you wanted, right?" Ryou giggled.

"Well, yeah, but…" Marik ran a hand over his face and groaned. He sat back down and buried his head in his arms. "Ryou, how did you and Yugi even approach each other with all this? What am I supposed to do?"

An affectionate smile brightened Ryou's pretty face, and he leaned back in his chair. He recalled to Marik how he'd been able to see the deep loneliness in Yugi's eyes ever since Atem departed to the afterlife. He knew Yugi needed someone to talk to, who understood what he had been through. They began to spend more time together, first as friends, growing ever closer, until the day Ryou presented Yugi with his very own Monster World diorama.

He had recreated the ceremonial duel between Atem and Yugi, made every tiny little figurine for the people that were present, even Atem's priests and his friend Mana. To top it all off, there were figurines for every single card they had used, amongst many others that Ryou added in. Yugi had been astounded that Ryou remembered so much, and Ryou had admitted he didn't know if it would work as an actual campaign; he'd made it more as a display piece. But Yugi wanted to play, he wanted to try it. So, one on one, they played. Ryou used Yugi as the boss piece, and Yugi played as Atem. He figured chance might be on his side; maybe he could rewrite the events of his memory.

But no matter how they played, the events played out the same way. They played it several times that night, trying to change the flow of the game, but in the end, it was always the same. Yugi won, and Atem passed on. Even down to the cards that were drawn, everything was the same.

Ryou had expected Yugi to get upset, to cry, to lament that there was nothing he could ever have done. But to his surprise, Yugi had smiled. "I never thought moving on would be this hard…" he had whispered. "But, Ryou…with you by my side, it's getting easier."

And Ryou, unable to hold himself back anymore, had kissed him…

"Alright, alright, no more!" Marik laughed. "You're going to make my teeth rot with all this sweetness!"

"Sorry," Ryou grinned.

"So…you're saying I need to make a nerdy game board for Bakura, and then he'll fall in love with me?"

"No," replied Ryou. "I'm saying you should just get to know him more personally. You two barely spent a week together during Battle City. There probably isn't much you do know about him, and the same with him about you."

"Hmmm, I suppose you're right."

"Listen. If he's up to it, you should spend the day together. Why don't you take him out with you today?"

"Like a date?"

"Not a date. Just a chance to understand each other better."

"Okay then." Marik suddenly smiled. "I know just where to take him."