Damn plot hole! Neither we nor my beta noticed that mistake. Oh well, like you said it was magic.

This week on A Very Bakura Christmas, Bakura learns about snow. I hope you all enjoy this heartwarming tale. PS. I know it sounds corney but that's not my problem!
Chapter 5

Bakura groaned as he regained consciousness. He opened his eyes and turned his head to the side. Ryou was lying next to him still asleep. They both must have rolled over during the night to be this close together.

Ryou's head was turned towards Bakura slightly and Bakura was able to get a good view of Ryou's pretty face. Bakura had to resist the urge to reach over and touch the boy's soft skin since he wasn't sure if Ryou was a light or deep sleeper.

Bakura sat up and yawned, shivering slightly as the cold air touched his tan skin. He stretched out his arms and looked towards the covered window. The light that was seeping out from under the material looked strange. Bakura frowned and walked over to investigate. He pulled the curtain back a fraction and gasped.

Bakura hesitantly backed away to the bed and Ryou. He leaned over when he reached the bed and poked Ryou's shoulder. "Kid," he whispered urgently. "Kid, wake up."

Ryou made a small noise of protest and scrunched up his face but refused to open his eyes.

"Damn it Kid, this is no time to be cute!" Bakura shouted, his nervousness making his temper flare.

Ryou partially open an eye and asked sleepily, "What's wrong?"

Bakura glanced back towards the window and then turned back to Ryou. In a low, quiet voice he said, "The world has turned white."

Ryou blinked up at him, his sleep-fogged brain not understanding what the thief was trying to tell him. Bakura soon remedied this by grabbing the boy's wrist and dragging him over to the window. Ryou pulled open the curtains and looked out. Outside the sky was a depressing grey colour while the ground (as Bakura had said) was white.

"Oh," Ryou said calmly, still in a sleepy daze, "it snowed."

"What do you mean 'it snowed'?! How can you be so calm – the ground has turned white!?" Bakura shouted.

Ryou turned to him and calmly explained, "The ground hasn't turned white it's just been covered with snow." He was met with a blank look and elaborated. "When it gets really cold rain water freezes and turns to snow. When it gets warmer the snow will melt and turn back to water."

Bakura blinked and looked out the window. "So…This happens often?" he asked.

"Yes, in the winter, around this time of year. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed."

Ryou left Bakura starring out the window and returned to the still warm bed. He pulled the blankets around his small frame and closed his eyes.

"What…What does snow feel like?"

Ryou opened his eyes and looked over at the Egyptian. Bakura turned his gaze from out of the window to Ryou, a curious look on his face. Ryou smiled at the thief's innocent curiosity. Sleep could wait.

"Why don't I show you."

When Malik reached Ryou's apartment building he couldn't believe his eyes. He quickly ran closer to the two figures that were both well wrapped up in coats, hat, scarf and gloves. They were both standing next to what appeared to be an unfinished snowman.

Malik's suspicions were confirmed when he got closer to the two and could make out the double t crossed scar on one and the soft brown eyes of the other. Bakura and Ryou.

They appeared to be discussing what Malik had correctly called an unfinished snowman. Bakura was wearing an incredulous and disbelieving look while Ryou seemed to be amused and was smiling.

"Why the hell is this thing supposed to have a carrot for a nose? If it's supposed to be human why use a carrot? People don't have carrots for noses! By the way what is a carrot?"

Ryou began to laugh, transforming the look on Bakura's face from questioning to proud and joyful.

Malik grinned as he finally came into speaking range. "You two seem to be enjoying yourselves. I now see why you didn't answer when I called."

Ryou stopped smiling and looked slightly anxious. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to worry you."

Bakura also stopped smiling when he saw Ryou's change of expression. He glared at Malik for making Ryou sad.

"No, Ryou, there's no need to apologize. You didn't worry me – I just assumed that you were still asleep."

An uneasy silence settled over the three of them until Bakura (remembering something Ryou had said earlier) grabbed a handful of the snow that had been used to build the snowman and threw it at Malik. It hit the blonde straight in the face.

Malik stumbled backwards slightly before wiping the snow from his face. "You are dearly going to regret doing that tomb robber," he said in a semi-dangerous voice. Semi-dangerous because it was a threat but it was also made in jest.

"Bring it on," Bakura replied confidently and coolly.

Ryou – seeing where this was going – tried to back away quietly without being noticed. But Bakura noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye and looked sideways at Ryou. "And where are you going pretty one?" he asked casually.

Ryou froze and gave an intelligent, "Err…" in response.

Bakura grabbed another handful of snow and repeatedly tossed the snowball a few inches into the air and then caught it again in the same hand. "We wouldn't want to leave you out of the fun now would we?"

"That's alright – you really don't need to-" but Ryou wasn't able to finish his sentence for he was promptly hit in the face by Bakura's snowball.

Malik saw his chance and threw the snowball he had made at Bakura who ducked and threw a second snowball. And so the snowball fight began.

"I hate snow. It's horrible and cold and wet. I'm glad it never snowed in Egypt."

"Me too."

It was now the afternoon and the snowball fight had ended. The three combatants were now sitting in Ryou's living room drinking hot chocolate and recovering from their epic battle.

Suddenly Bakura stood up and strode out of the room. Ryou turned round, a puzzled look on his face. "Bakura?"

"Bathroom!" the thief shouted as the door closed noisily.

Ryou turned back round, a small smile gracing his features. Malik chuckled. "I see that you and Bakura are getting on pretty well," he commented.

Ryou's smile faltered and he looked away. "Most of the time we do," he replied softly.

Malik frowned slightly and edged closer to Ryou who was sitting on the sofa while he was in the chair. "Ryou, is there something you want to talk about?"

Ryou nibbled on his bottom lip for a moment before he started his tale. "It's just that…Last night Bakura came into my room and got in bed with me. The first thought I had was that he was going to rape me. He didn't actually do anything though!" he said quickly, seeing the angry expression starting to form on his friend's face.

"So what happened then?" Malik asked, his concern for his friend starting to transform into anger.

Ryou blushed and looked down at the floor. "He told me not to worry; he was only there because his bed was too cold. He pulled me to his chest but when I struggled he let me go and moved to the other side. We then just kind of went to sleep. He woke me up this morning when he saw the snow and thought something bad was happening."

"So what you're trying to say is that you're trying to trust him but when he pulls stunts like that you start to wonder if you're doing the right thing."

Ryou nodded.

Malik ran his fingers through his hair, his anger gone. "The thing is Ryou, I can't tell you whether to trust him or not since I have doubts myself. I mean, I like Bakura and so far he's not tried to do anything wrong. He might've joked about but there's nothing wrong with pulling a few pranks – I do it all the time.

"It's just that there's always a chance that he'll snap or reveal that he's been playing us the whole time. But hey – who am I to talk? I also tried out the whole super villain, world domination thing too and I've turned out alright…Sort of."

Ryou smiled as Malik started to turn his serious speech into a joke.

"Anyway, the point is that I can't tell you what to do or think. All I can say is that Bakura was alone with you the first night and if he wanted to do something to you he would most likely of done it then – before he got attached to you. He seems to genuinely like you Ryou. The only way to find out if he's really trustworthy is to trust him – give him an opening and pray nothing happens."

There was silence for a moment before Malik said teasingly, "What I want to know is: would you mind if he did try to make a move?"

Ryou's face turned scarlet and he cried, "Malik!" indignantly.

Unfortunately the conversation was forced to end there as the bathroom door was heard opening and a pair of footsteps made their way back towards the two teens.

Night had fallen and both Bakura and Ryou were changing for bed. The things that Malik had said earlier were running non-stop through Ryou's head, badgering him to make a decision.

Ryou was slightly comforted by the fact that Malik also didn't trust Bakura completely because it proved that he wasn't paranoid. But at the same time it also made him more nervous. It was good that he wasn't being paranoid but bad that his fears may actually be real.

The other thing that comforted him was what Malik had said about Bakura being more likely to have done something already if he had wanted to do anything. If he had wanted something he would've taken it and threatened Ryou that if he told anyone about what the thief had done his life would be forfeited. If he'd been threatened Ryou knew that he would've just obeyed.

Ryou stood at the entrance to his room watching Bakura who had just come out of the bathroom. Bakura looked like he too was wondering what he should do next.

Bakura looked towards Ryou and their eyes met. Ryou could detect no hint of malice or untrustworthiness in the thief's eyes. He had made his decision.

"Bakura," he started nervously, "it's…It's awfully cold tonight. Would you like to sleep in my room?"

The thief looked slightly taken aback for a moment but then relaxed and smiled. "Are you sure you're alright with that little one?" he asked softly.

Ryou was stunned for a moment. The softness in Bakura's face and voice completely transformed the thief and Ryou was ashamed that he had ever thought Bakura would do anything to hurt him. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to be close to Bakura.

"Yes," Ryou answered quietly, as if he were in some sort of daze, a light blush covering his cheeks.

Bakura continued smiling in the same soft manner as he followed Ryou into his room. They both climbed into bed and lay on their backs in the centre.

Bakura was having an internal battle with himself. He so desperately wanted to hold the teen next to him, wanted to touch and kiss every inch of his skin. Ryou had offered to share his bed. Did that mean he was alright with Bakura touching him? Or was it just that he didn't want to tell Bakura to sleep in his own bed?

The only reason that he hadn't already jumped the boy was because he didn't want to scare him away. He was terrified of being rejected. The mental wounds would be even worse if he knew that he was the one who had been the cause of the rejection.

Bakura looked over at Ryou and saw that he wasn't asleep yet. He looked so beautiful laying there, his chest rising and falling gently, his soft lips parted invitingly… Bakura mentally shook himself. Sleep was never going to come at this rate.

Bakura turned on his side and draped his arm over the boy's waist, slowly pulling him so that his back would be against the thief's chest, ready to stop if Ryou gave the smallest sign that he wasn't happy.

Thankfully Ryou didn't protest. He just whispered a quiet, "Goodnight 'Kura," when Bakura had him in a comfortable position.

Bakura froze when he heard the nickname. But then he chuckled and let his eyes drop closed, the delectable scent wafting from Ryou's hair helping to quicken Bakura's fall into unconsciousness.

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