The next day was Saturday, and both Atem and Mana had the weekend free to spend with each other. After the trouble with Yugi's hand, Mana figured it would be easier to stick around for the rest of the day, or at least until Ryou came home from work, just in case Yugi did himself another injury. Thankfully, the day passed without Yugi having any more accidents, and the apple turnovers he'd baked were utterly delicious. True to his word, he sent some down to Malik as thanks for giving them his first aid kit.

Mana stayed the night – the cosy apartment felt like a second home to her now. Ryou and Yugi had welcomed her into their lives with open arms, and if it weren't for her cats, she probably would have lived there full-time, but it was nice to have the space at her own apartment when she needed it. She and Atem understood and respected their privacy and boundaries; nothing had been rushed between them.

And yet…on this lazy Saturday morning, as Mana lay in bed with her childhood friend turned slightly awkward boyfriend, she wondered what it might be like to explore each other further.

Still asleep, Atem had rolled over so his back was to Mana, but she didn't mind as she scooted closer and draped an arm round his waist, nuzzling her cheek between his shoulder blades and letting his body heat soak into her. Sleeping in the same bed was normal for them now, but their clothes always stayed on, and they'd gone no further than a few suggestive touches while kissing. There was no doubt in Mana's mind that Atem was the man she wanted to be with, but she knew his nervousness, his reluctance to ruin what had been a very good friendship in the days of Ancient Egypt…she wouldn't bring the thought up until she knew he was completely comfortable entertaining it.

And until then…coffee called. Mana pressed one last kiss onto Atem's back, and clambered out of bed. She could hear the shower running, but that was fine, she'd taken one before turning in for the night. She rubbed her eyes, located her slippers by the door, and shuffled out to the kitchen, following the smell of the percolator.

She found Ryou sitting on the kitchen counter, munching toast with one hand while he tapped at his phone with the other. "Good morning," he smiled as Mana wandered in.

"Morning, Ryou," Mana smiled back.

"Atem still asleep?"

"Yeah, he's out for the count right now." She poured herself some coffee and leaned on the counter beside Ryou. "I'll stay another few hours, then I need to get back and...ugh...do some cleaning."

Ryou laughed softly. "I seem to be the only one who actually enjoys cleaning."

"You're nuts."

"Well, I mean...I can't exactly deny that," he grinned.

Mana sipped her coffee with amusement in her gaze. Ryou had been nothing short of amazing since she'd met him - such a sweet young man.

A faint clicking sound caught her attention, but she didn't pay it too much mind until the heavy thud of the front door banging open, and a grouchy voice calling out, "Oi, Yadonushi!"

"Bakura?" Ryou frowned as he jumped down off the counter, abandoning his toast as he padded through to the living room. Mana groaned in exasperation, remaining firmly in place.

"The girl, is she here?" she heard Bakura ask.

"Mana? Yeah, but what's -"

Ryou's words were cut off by the sound of heavy boots across the floor, and then Bakura was standing in front of Mana, grabbing hold of her wrist and pulling. "Come with me."

"Wait, what - !"

Bakura didn't give her time to respond, promptly dragging her past a bewildered Ryou and straight out of the apartment. Mana glared reproachfully over her shoulder at Ryou at his lack of assistance before Bakura yanked her over to the elevator and jabbed a button on the wall.

Mana finally managed to wrench her arm away. "You had better tell me right now what the hell is going on!" she thundered. Bakura just rolled his eyes pointedly. "Bakhure, are you even listening to me?!"

"Quit calling me that, would you?" Bakura muttered. "Look, I need to talk to you, so just shut up and get in the damn lift when it gets here."

Mana huffed irritably and leaned back against the wall, wrapping her arms round her middle. Her pyjamas, while not the most revealing pair she owned, certainly left little to the imagination, and she couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious at the amount of cleavage and leg on show. Bakura didn't seem to take any notice of her state of undress, however, continuing to jab at the button for the lift until it finally arrived and he pointed for her to get in.

The pair were silent the whole ride down, the quiet only broken by the occasional long exhales of breath from Bakura blowing smoke from his lungs. He'd lit up a cigarette the moment the lift doors closed behind them, and Mana wrinkled her nose, but said nothing, just wanting to get away from the situation as fast as she could. He flicked the butt away into a corner when the lift juddered to a halt, earning another disapproving glare from Mana which he ignored as he tapped his foot, waiting for the lift doors to open.

"Where are we going?" Mana asked.

"Round the back," Bakura replied. "Won't be overheard there."

"What is so important that you had to drag me outside?"

The doors slid open, and Bakura lit up another cigarette, not replying to Mana. She growled in the back of her throat and kicked the floor with her toe, knowing perfectly well she appeared to be throwing a sulk; in her defence, she was cold, confused, and in the presence of the very man that murdered her master and had a hand in summoning Zorc into the world. Bakura paid her no more attention than he might pay a fly on the wall, instead striding out to the fire exit and barging the door open with his hip. Mana could have just turned on her heel and headed straight back up the way she came, back to delicious coffee and Atem's warm bed, but annoying as Bakura was, she figured she might as well hear him out, so with a resigned sigh, she followed him outside.

Bakura had settled himself on top of a half-crumbling wall, cross-legged and puffing away on his cigarette with a displeased expression. Mana stopped in front of him and poked him in the chest. "Okay, buster. Explain what this is all about. Now."

Bakura looked down at her prodding finger, blinking slowly. "Well, that's better than being slapped, I suppose."

"You deserved that, and you know it."

"Yeah, I'm an asshole. Sue me, why don't you." Bakura exhaled a puff of smoke over his shoulder. "Can we get to the bit where we scream profanities at each other, so I can go back home and forget about all this?"

"Um, you're the one who grabbed me."

A pink tinge darkened Bakura's cheeks as he tapped ash from the end of his cigarette. "…Let me finish this, and then we'll talk."

Mana rolled her eyes. "Fine." Pushing herself away from the wall, she moved to sit down on the step below the fire exit door, wincing at the damp cold that spread through the thin fabric of her pyjama shorts.

The silence that followed spread onwards like the chill in Mana's buttocks – prolonged and irritating. Bakura ended up lighting one cigarette after another, seemingly never content with the amount of toxins he drew into his lungs, but Mana didn't fail to notice how his hands quivered, or how his pale eyes wandered restlessly. He's nervous, she realised with a pang.

Finally, Bakura spoke. "…A lot has happened since…you know…"

Mana scowled. "That changes nothing. Do you have any idea how much hurt you caused?"

"I'm perfectly aware that I fucked up majorly in the past, but what's done is done."

"You killed my master in cold blood!" Mana hissed. "You stole from royal tombs, and from the Pharaoh's court. You invited a monster into our world and almost killed us all. Your actions cost Atem his life!"

"I know!" Bakura shouted. "You don't need to remind me, okay?! Fuck, it's hard enough living with this without everyone yelling at me about it every five seconds!" He ground the butt of his cigarette into the wall and drew his knees to his chest. "I can't apologise. I can't ever do that, because it would all be a lie. I wanted my people to rest, and I wanted the Pharaoh to hurt as much as I did. So yes, I broke into his father's tomb, and countless other tombs before that. But I had to survive somehow. Thieving was all I knew, and I was a child, Mana! As shit as things were for me, I still wanted to live! I brought Zorc into the world because if I couldn't bring my people home, nobody else deserved to be on this rotten earth!"

The sudden tears shining in Bakura's eyes took Mana completely aback. "I-I don't…" she stammered. "I don't understand – your people? You…wanted them to…?"

Bakura sighed. "Of course…you didn't know." He reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, found the box empty, and chucked it aside with a muttered curse. "The Items, they…they were made from the flesh and blood of my people. Akhenaden gave the order to storm my village, slaughter the people, burn everything to the ground." His arms came around his knees now, fingers digging in tightly. "I watched as my mother and father were thrown into a cauldron of forbidden magic, along with the rest of them. Thus, the Items were born."

His gaze turned on Mana, bright and watery though his tears never fell. "I'm the only one who survived," he whispered hoarsely. "I was just a child who wanted his family back, who wanted to fight and live on to keep their memory alive. And I was prepared to do that however I could, so I could bring them home."

Mana couldn't look at Bakura, his words a heavy weight on her heart. Mahad had spoken briefly of a sacrifice for the Items to come into their possession, but this…this was beyond reasoning. My master…he knew this had happened. He knew, and he never said a word. I-I don't…I can't believe all this happened under our noses…where was the justice in this?!

"B-Bakhure, I…"

Bakura shook his head. "That might have been my name once, but I don't want to hear it anymore. I need to leave the past behind, Mana. It's the only way I've been able to live with the guilt and the trauma these last few years. Hate me if that's what helps you sleep at night, but I won't give a fuck, because I know I did what I had to do. I failed in the end, but your dumbass boyfriend finished the job when I couldn't, and now I know my people can rest, I've no business with revenge."

He wiped his eyes with the cuff of his hoodie and snorted, the usual derisive tone creeping back into his voice. "Whatever you think of me and what I did, I'll still be living my life without any regrets, knowing they'd be proud of me, and wanting me to move on."

As quickly as Bakura's tears had dried up, Mana's eyes filled. She dabbed them away, refusing to cry in front of him, but the simmering anger in her core began to die down as she realised she couldn't carry on like this any more than Bakura could. How could she, when the former King of Thieves had all but bared his soul to her? If this was his redemption, then so, too, could it be the catalyst for Mana to reconcile with her own past.

"I can't forget," she said quietly. "I can't forget as much as you can't apologise. There's no use hating you for the rest of my life, but maybe I can forgive you. You deserve that much, for what you've told me today." She stood, brushed off her shorts, and turned on her heel, preparing to leave. "I'm going back upstairs now, okay? I need some time to think."

Bakura nodded. "I understand."

She took the stairs this time. With her back turned, only then did Mana allow herself to cry the millennia of grief wrapping cold fingers around her heart.