Alright everyone this is the last chapter! Vamp told me it needs an epilogue but what do the rest of you think? If you do think it needs something else added tell me in a review and if you have any idea what else it needs i'd like to know because i have no idea what i could do to finish it off. Apart from maybe making Bakura's hair grow back.

Chapter 15

"Do you think Ryou's going to stop being sad anytime soon?"

"You know the answer to that," Seto said stoically as he twirled a strand of Jou's hair around his finger.

Jou sighed. "Poor Ryou."

Just then there was a knock on their inn-room door. Seto stood up and went to answer it. To his surprise he found Ryou flanked by a stranger. Seto automatically became suspicious. "What's going on?" he asked coldly.

Hearing the tone of Seto's voice made Jou sit up. To his surprise he saw Ryou smiling. The shock of seeing the boy look happy nearly stopped him noticing the one stood next to Ryou. This, however, did not happen since it was the stranger that answered Seto's question.

"Ryou tells me you are his brother. I only wanted to escort him back safely in-case someone else tried to rape him."

Seto quickly went into protective brother mode. "Ryou, are you alright? You weren't hurt were you?"

"I'm fine Seto; Akefia saved me before they could do anything," Ryou said reassuringly.

Seto returned to being suspicious. "You know each other?"

"You wouldn't ask for the name of your rescuer?" Akefia asked, giving Seto a challenging sneer.

Seto growled. "My brother is now safe so you may leave," he said curtly.

Akefia glared at him but took the hint. He stopped, however, when Ryou shouted, "Wait!"

Ryou turned to Seto imploringly. "You can't send him away like that after what he did for me. Can't he stay for awhile? Please Seto, please!"

Seto looked between the two. Something was going on here. This morning Ryou was still lost in his world of gloom and now he was suddenly knocking on his door with a beaming smile. Coincidence? Hardly.

Seto then made the mistake of looking straight into the sparkling green eyes. Seto was going to kill whoever taught Ryou how to look so pathetically cute. It was the same look his first brother use to give him when he wanted something.

Seto looked up at Akefia. With visibly effort he asked, "Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Akefia smirked. "I'd love to."

In the end Akefia stayed for more than dinner. Much to Seto's annoyance he spent the night sleeping on the floor in Ryou's room. Then, he spent the rest of the days before they left with Ryou. After that Ryou even went as far as to ask if Akefia could come with them on their travels. It was with great reluctance that Seto said yes.

The morning of the day they were to leave Jou asked why Seto was allowing a complete stranger to spend so much time with Ryou. Seto's answer was, "He's not a stranger to Ryou." When Jou didn't get it Seto spelled it out for him. "It's Bakura."

This shocked Jou and confused him even more. "But if you knew it was him why did you let him sleep in Ryou's room? Weren't you worried that they would sleep together or something?"

"Of course I was worried!" Seto shouted. "I hate him being here and I hate that he's coming with us but if it gets Ryou to actually talk to me then I'm just going to have to deal with it aren't I? I hated seeing Ryou so depressed."

Jou smiled and pulled Seto into a hug. "You're not such a bad guy after all are ya?"

"Stop yapping puppy or I'll have to put you on a leash."

Jou let the dog comment pass. "Are you going to tell them that you know?"

Seto smirked. "As soon as we get to the next town I'm going to tell Bakura to take a bath. It'll be fun to watch him squirm as he tries to come up with an excuse not to."

"Why wouldn't he want to take a bath?"

"Because he darkened his skin colour by covering himself in mud."

Jou nodded in recognition. He then frowned. "Should you really do that? I mean, he was hiding his identity because people might recognize the scar and white hair. What if someone recognizes him?"

"By that time we'll be too far south for anyone to have his description," Seto assured him.

Jou grinned. "It's going to be interesting when you reveal that you know his secret."

"It will be if you don't give it away in the mean time," Seto said seriously.

Jou frowned. "I'm not going to give it away." And so started another of their arguments.

Ryou sighed contently as he snuggled closer to Bakura. Moments ago they had arrived at a new town. They had headed straight for the nearest inn and all but collapsed into the beds that were as comfortable as clouds compared to the rough ground they had been sleeping on for the past few days.

Ryou purred as Bakura's fingers caressed his neck. Bakura smiled, his eyes only partially open. It was bliss to be able to hold Ryou like this again. During the journey they had stayed separate and he had missed the nights at the old inn when he had embraced Ryou so tightly to stop him escaping. But now they were away from the prying eyes of Seto and Jou and they could relax.

"How long do you think it will take for them to find out?"

Bakura considered the softly spoken question. "I think they already know. Jou was staring at me the day we left and I think Seto may have known from the start." Ryou nodded. Bakura pulled Ryou's slim body along his so that their faces were inches apart. "It doesn't matter," he whispered. "They can't separate us; not now. If they can't see that we love each other then they are truly blind."

Ryou smiled and pecked Bakura's lips. "I love you."

"I never doubted that you didn't."

Ryou laughed softly. "Aren't you going to say you love me back?"

"Why should I say it when I can show you how much I love you?"

Ryou blushed. "Not when they're in the next room."

Bakura chuckled, his tongue protruding to skim over the surface of Ryou's cheek. "I wasn't intending to get that intimate. I was thinking more along the lines of this." Bakura's mouth bridged the gap between them. Running his tongue along Ryou's bottom lip he warned him of his intentions before pushing those beautiful lips apart to probe the familiar crevices.

When they broke apart they stared at each other for awhile, their breathing shallow and harsh. "I like the way you show your love," Ryou eventually whispered.

Bakura's fingers reached up to touch Ryou's cheek. Ryou leaned into the touch that sensually moved down from his cheek to his neck, from his neck to his collar bone, from his collar bone down his chest to come to rest on his hip. "Just wait until we're truly alone; then I'll remind you what real loving is like."

Ryou smiled his sweet smile as his eyes closed and his lips once again connected with his true love's.

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