Shadow: This chapter is full of hints – and I think it has an evil cliffie. (wails) I couldn't help it! I've been really busy, and this chapter just would not be written. So saying, there's only one more chapter left to go, and then you'll get all the answers. I promise.

Warnings: Shonen-ai pairings (boy x boy) - mostly Prideshipping (YY x SK) but with hints of Darkshipping (YY x YB).Angst, and character death.

Disclaimer: I wish.

Flashbacks and other thoughts are in italics.

Thoughts that take place in italic sections are in bold italics.

People, there's a reason I put this in 'Angst.'

Both sides of the border

Charm

Myth, legend, and tale oft told on a dark and stormy night would hold that not all people move on when their earthly time is done. All of them have their reasons for returning, most of them never having left in the first place. Ghosts, spirits, spectres, phantoms…all of these are names given to the dead that just won't pass through the final gate to their destiny.

But what reason do these people have for staying behind…? Some, perhaps, are afraid of the last death, from which there can never be a return. Others may have returned to impart some wisdom the other side has granted them to their loved ones, others yet still vowing to complete some task before reaching the bliss of eternal peace. More simply refuse to believe they are dead, and are greedy for what little semblance of life they can achieve.

And then…there are those who life cursed. Those who suffered before death, or were taken swiftly away by that which walked beside them all their lives. Those who had untimely deaths. Such spirits of this sort are often confused; bewildered, continuing to do the daily tasks they did while they were alive, unaware of their own passing. Children have continued to play even though their homes were burnt down with them inside, innocent laughter ringing through the crumbling ashes of once stately manors. Kings and Queens have walked paths they trod hours before their execution, ghostly pipers piping songs from hundreds of years ago over a city sleeping from age-old melodies.

It is always something that ties a soul to the earth; that holds it fast against the ever-shifting current of life and death; be it pain, memories, another soul or sheer stubbornness. Some want to stay, some long to go…

It's all about the individual, I guess.

Months of dreams and hopes, wishes and longing, love and pain, rage, grief and sorrow…all of it culminated here. It was a cycle, and at last events had come a full circle.

"Seto…"

Blue eyes stared at him, the tall body of Seto Kaiba perfectly unmoving, shock still and staring at the youth he would've married.

"He still loves you, you know."

Bakura's words, Bakura's voice, all of Yami's secret hopes for the past three months in six, simple words.

He took a step away from the tree, one hand outstretched to his lover. "Seto…?" The pharaoh stopped a metre away from his companion, ruby irises soft. "Speak to me, please."

Eyes the colour of sapphires strayed past him, falling upon the white marker that had materialised from the shadows when midnight fell, the moon's light causing the pale stone to glow in the darkness.

"Don't look at that." Tanned hands took alabaster ones, lightly tugging on them. "Seto, look at me."

Wordlessly, Kaiba glanced down to where their fingers were tangled, slim digits curled around his own. Lashes flickered, doubt shadowing a usually bright gaze.

"…Yami…?"

Swallowing, the once King of Games nodded. "Yes, Seto. It's me."

Morning, and the summer sunshine spilled into the kitchen where Yami was clearing up his breakfast things, dumping the dirty dishes and glassware into the sink. He was humming as he worked, some song that had been on the radio the other day in Seto's car, a catchy tune that had stuck in both his and Mokuba's heads and resulted in both of them near driving their shared loved one mad.

"Not that thing again…" A groan halted Yami's song, a smile curving onto the former pharaoh's face as his boyfriend downed his traditional mug of coffee he had every morning – black-, and moved around the table that separated them to pull his lover into a hug.

"Good morning…"

Seto snorted. "Those words should never been in the same paragraph never mind the same sentence."

"Just because you-mm…"

Yami's words were cut short, mouth covered by Kaiba's in a hard kiss. They broke for air, breathless.

"Mmm…" Lashes flickered open, Yami's lips still curved in a smile. "What was that for, Seto Kaiba?"

"I felt like it." Kaiba's expression was languid.

"How utterly selfish of you." Ruby eyes gleamed with amusement. "What if I didn't want that kiss?"

His lover smirked, pulling him closer again. "Then, please, permit me to take my gift back…"

"Nooo…." Laughing, Yami wriggled out the brunette's grasp, patting the other lightly on the cheek. "I'm going out, remember?"

Kaiba wrinkled his nose. "With the geek squad? Yami-"

"Sweetheart, they're my friends."

"But-"

A quick kiss on the lips silenced the CEO, Yami looking at him seriously. "They're my friends, Seto, and I love them dearly. I'm going out…I should be back around six, alright?"

Kaiba sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Fine…I'll try to be home from work about then, we could have dinner together? Mokuba too? It's been a while since we ate as a 'family'."

The former pharaoh smiled. "I'd like that."

Bakura damned Yami with every breath he could muster in his body, then, after suddenly realising what the hell he was actually saying, prayed swiftly to all deities out there to take his words back again.

Yami had gone…somewhere. Which was really specific, he knew, but Bakura couldn't really narrow down his search much. There was a blanket of magic coating his Ring that he couldn't penetrate, and he was…well, lost in a patch of trees. Yami had given him the slip and if Ryou ever found out he'd never live it down.

'Damn…'

Kaiba's touch was…wondering, fingers tracing the other's skin as if he couldn't believe Yami was really there. Yami, in turn, was wrapped around him, burying his face in his lover's shoulder.

The brunette's voice was husky. "…Yami, you're so cold."

A visible shudder ran through the royal youth's frame at his words, slim body pressing closer to the CEO seeking comfort and heat. "Then warm me please, I beg of you."

Digits trailed higher, brushing the pharaoh's throat, nose and forehead.

"Your skin is smooth…"

Numbly Yami nodded, twisting his head to the side so he could kiss the brunette's palm.

Ruby eyes were filled with emotion. "I missed you…"

"I know;" lips traced the curve of his jaw, travelling up to the soft skin behind his ear, "God, I know. I've wanted you every day you were gone…" Fingers shadowed the soft contours of his neck, slim digits encountering the fine chain that hung there. "…You're wearing your necklace?"

Another nod. "I've never taken it off. I wore it on the day of the funeral…"

Kaiba inhaled sharply, the sound loud against Yami's ear. "Don't – Yami, never – don't speak to me of that. Talk of anything but that."

His companion nodded dumbly, reaching up to place a chaste kiss on Kaiba's lips. A chaste kiss that soon deepened, however, when the brunette slid a hand around the back of Yami's head to hold him in place, the hot warmth of the other's mouth sending a wave of dizzying shock and pleasure down the slender monarch's spine.

"I take it you're off home now?"

"I – what?" Yami turned around from where he had been walking, happily anticipating returning home to the mansion, to see Bakura right behind him. "Where the hell did you come from?"

The albino shrugged. "I saw you saying goodbye to your hikari, mine and the other dweebs."

"So you followed me?"

"That's about it, yeah."

Yami frowned. "Just…why, exactly? Don't you have anything better to do than bother me?"

Bakura stared at him. "Pharaoh, you're meant to be smart. Why bother asking that?"

"Forgive me for assuming you had some sort of life…" Yami turned away, already beginning to walk off, "goodbye, Bakura."

The albino seemed to fight an internal battle for a few moments. "….Yami, wait!"

Again, the King of Games halted. "What now, tomb-robber?"

Bakura bit his lip.

There was silence for a few moments.

"…Bakura?"

"…It doesn't matter." The thief shook his head, white hair flying around his face before settling in its usual spikes. "Have a nice night, Yami, and enjoy midsummer with Kaiba."

Yami looked at him, puzzled. "I…thankyou." Crimson eyes warmed slightly. "I'm sure I shall."

Kaiba broke the kiss, pale cheeks flushed with heat, hair in disarray and panting for breath.

Yami watched him quietly. "Are you alright?"

Surprise shone in blue eyes, then sudden realisation. "Oh, Yami…"

The pharaoh shushed him. "Mery-i…you know I love you, don't you?"

"And I you more." Seto's words were soft. "I always have. But Yami, this…am I dreaming?"

"If you are dreaming, I am dreaming too…" Their hands were twined. "Stay with me."

The moon was beginning to sink, pale light beginning to dim. Time seemed to shift around them, and it was rapidly counting down against them.

"…Is this even real?"

Yami grabbed the other's head, forcing sapphire away from the distractions in the changing worlds around them, to stare straight into ruby.

A hash, hard kiss, voice barely above a whisper:

"This is Samhain, Seto. This is All Hallow's Eve for a long as the midnight hour is here. This is my world, and this is your world, and here both combine until one. This is as real as you and I make it."

It hurt.

Bakura had grown used to hurt over the eons, losing his family, his friends, his life all in one sickening blow. Everything he had known had been wiped away when he had been but a child.

But watching the one he'd fallen in love with find happiness with another?

It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and ripped his heart apart in front of his eyes.

But…wasn't that kind of what someone was doing…?

He'd watched as Yami was taken away from him the year before, the Halloween party ending all his hopes in one, swift blow. Then the pharaoh had moved into the Kaiba mansion with his former priest. Then there had been the accident…at midsummer earlier that year, and Yami had pined after Seto for God's knows how long.

And, through it all, Yami had managed to thoroughly break what was left of his spirit.

Why did he bother trying to help someone who hated him? Bakura didn't know, he didn't really care any longer. He liked to see Yami smile…it had been so long since the pharaoh had done that, properly.

Only Yugi and Kaiba had ever truly made him smile, and, since Yugi was technically part of Yami anyway, only Kaiba really counted. Only Kaiba made Yami smile…

He loved Yami, but he couldn't let the pharaoh have his way. Not in this.

"I thought you loved him."

Chill words snapped apart the fragile quiet Seto and Yami held, sapphire and ruby startled and staring at the slim wraith who had – seemingly – appeared from thin air beside them.

"Bakura." Kaiba frowned. "What are you doing he-?" The brunette halted mid-sentence – the thief had just looked up.

Brown eyes were shadowy pits, dull and empty and lifeless. It was as if Bakura was dead inside, his soul defeated and fleeing before the encroaching night.

In contrast, Yami had never seemed more vibrant to Kaiba, the former pharaoh alight with the inner fire he had always admired.

"Ignore him." Yami's tone was dismissive. He knew the thief would've found them eventually, he'd just hoped for it to be a little later…

Bakura snorted. "You can't ignore me for forever, Yami, nor can your lover there. It is almost one, and your allotted time is almost done. The Priest must leave."

"No." Instinctively, both Yami and Kaiba's hands tightened on the other.

"Seto, stay with me!"

Blue eyes warmed, the brunette giving an almost imperceptible nod.

Bakura's voice was acid. "What about Mokuba?"

Kaiba faltered.

'Stay with me.'

No words were spoken, the breeze carrying the voice and twining it with the night air.

A pointed look from the tomb-robber. "It's almost one."

'Please, don't leave me alone. I can't bear it here alone…'

"Seto-"

"Yami, you can't meddle in this!" Bakura angrily cut the other short. "Don't you already realise what you've done? People die for a reason!"

The pharaoh's words were soft. "…There is no reason in madness."

The moon sank a little lower.

'The light is fading.'

Blue eyes strayed once more to the marker, the innocent stone beneath the tree beside the lake.

He hadn't wanted to be buried in a church graveyard.

"Let him go." Once more, Bakura was quiet. "It's not yet his time."

Silence.

"He has people who love him. If you love him, let him go."

Blue eyes looked into brown, then back into crimson. "Yami…"

"…It is almost one, and your allotted time is almost done. The Priest must leave."

Slowly, Yami disentangled himself from his companion. "Mery-i…" Ruby eyes spoke more than any words could.

"Seto Kaiba…I love you."

Kaiba smiled, expression warm and loving. Gently, he placed a chaste kiss on Yami's lips, and then on his brow. "I love you too."

And stepped back.