A/N: Different author's note font, I know. Thanks so much to all who reviewed! You are all helping me improve, and I appreciate that.

Court12: Sorry, but Serenity's reasons will be revealed later. Keep reading, and it will be found out soon enough!

Darkness began to fall unknowingly to Ryou. Time was always at the back of his mind; he had been to this place so many times before that he had memorized the path back home.

After a few hours, Ryou finally noticed how black the sky had become. The moon was full this night. The white light that shone onto the earth was just enough for him to barely see the trees around him.

He rose to his feet and swiped off any kind of dirt that made its way onto his clothes. With a deep breath, he started walking on the ever so familiar trail. He was not afraid of walking home at night without something to illuminate his surroundings.

He began sauntering down into the trees, recognizing each and every tree he passed, every blade of grass as well. After about what seemed like ten minutes, he heard a small, distant noise.

Thump Thump Thump

The sound of little feet echoed throughout the area. Ryou halted and listened carefully. Was it a squirrel? No, squirrels couldn't possibly make that much noise. A rabbit?

Ryou shook his head and continued the long walk home. His feet carried him further, each step bringing the sound closer. The noise became louder and louder with each second. He began to hear small breathing. Panicked breathing. This was certainly not a tree-dwelling rodent. It was a person, a girl, to be precise.

He stopped once again. Who was this female, and why were they frantically running out in the middle of nowhere at a time like this? Was this person drunk? Mentally insane? Or perhaps just in distress?

The moon was full tonight, shining exactly enough light to see the outline of the figure running towards him. Whoever this girl was, she was obviously crying.

"I…I'm…sorry…I…don't…want…live…please…forgive…me…"

Her words were barely comprehendible, but Ryou figured out the main point of why she was so upset. He watched her come closer to him. She was quite a fast runner.

Before he knew it, her body had slammed against his, almost knocking him over. The girl let out a small scream of surprise, and took a few steps backward. He could hear her heavy breathing, the speed increasing as she became more terrified.

"Who…who are you?"

Ryou heard this voice before… Soft, shy…

"Serenity?"

Her eyes lit up with surprise. Realization had struck her as well.

"Bakura?"

He nodded. "Heh, yes. What brings you here?"

Serenity looked down. She grew quiet, and Ryou mentally slapped himself. Joey's funeral was today, wasn't it? Bollocks!

After a long moment of pure silence, Serenity's eyes met his eyes once again. "Why are you here?"

Ryou felt a pang of guilt at how he made this grief-stricken girl relive the recent death of her older brother. Her brother was a friend of his—not terribly close, yet he still was enough of one to be considered worth something to him.

"Just taking a walk," he told her. Serenity wiped her face with her hand. She sniffed, and though her tone made an effort at being happy, she still sounded as if she had been crying. There was no doubt she had been.

He lowered his voice. "I…I heard about your brother," he said compassionately. Serenity looked down. "I'm…very sorry." Ryou could see how hard it was for her to keep from crying.

"His funeral was today," she spoke softly. Her head rose. "How come you weren't there?"

"I didn't get an invitation; I couldn't have known it was today," Ryou informed her. One little lie...

Her hazel eyes widened in shock. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "We all made sure we invited you! Maybe the envelope it came in got lost or something… I feel so bad…"

His face softened. "Don't feel bad… I can't imagine how rough it is for you already." Serenity's lip began to curl as a tear rolled down her cheek. She was quiet, until she started sobbing again.

"I'm sorry…" she bawled, wiping her tears with her hand. "Y-you…probably think I'm s-stupid…"

"Oh, no!" Ryou promised. "Never! I understand, really. Besides, if I were you, I'd be doing the same thing."

"Really?" Serenity sniffed.

"Close," he smiled, and she let out a small laugh. "Where are you staying? I mean, without your brother…"

"I know what you mean. I have been staying with Mai since he died," She paused, clearly struggling. "But for the past couple of days I tried going back to his apartment. I have an even harder time there than at Mai's, where I couldn't sleep at all. At least there, she stayed up with me. I just…I can't go back home… and I don't want to be a burden to Mai, after all she's done for me. I don't know what to do." More tears flooded her terrified face.

Ryou looked at her with sympathy. He knew what it was like to lose someone important to you; he hadn't seen his dad in years while his mother and sister had long since passed away.

"Would you like to stay with me?" He asked her as she lifted her head, bewildered. "My apartment isn't too far away from here."

Serenity shook her head. "I…I couldn't—"

Ryou interrupted her. "Yes, you can. Think about it: you're out in the middle of nowhere in the dark, with no knowledge of how to get back home, and no place to stay." He looked at her sternly. "I insist."

Serenity stared at him blankly. After what seemed like minutes, she finally broke the silence. "Thank you…"

He grinned. "Anytime. Now, follow me." Serenity did as told, and he led her through what seemed like an endless area of trees. Ryou made sure she was close behind each step of the way.

After what seemed like hours, the two finally reached civilization. "We're almost there," he told her, leading her to a very large apartment complex. They climbed up the stairs until they reached room 601. Ryou pulled out a key and opened the door, and allowed Serenity to enter first.

He turned on the light switch, illuminating the main room where a TV, couch, and two chairs stood, neatly arranged. Ryou noticed Serenity gaze at practically everything in sight.

"It's so…clean," she commented admiringly.

"I'm a neat freak," he admitted, heading into the halls. Serenity followed him until they reached a small room with a bed and nightstand. "This is where you can sleep for tonight. If you need anything, I'll be up for a little while in my room, which is the only one across from this one." After making sure she was alright, Ryou let her have her privacy.

-

Serenity sat on the bed, clutching her knees to her chest. She was tired, yes, but inside she knew she would not be able to fall asleep once again. This insomnia was catching up to her during the day, causing the simplest things to feel extremely overwhelming.

She was thankful for Bakura's kindness. She could not imagine what would have happened if he were not to have been there. She wanted to escape, to be alone, to not be a burden to those around her. She was Joey Wheeler's only sister, making her a living reminder of his life and death as well. She would forever cause everyone around her that knew him pain. Tears filled her eyes again. The crying she had done seemed endless—just the thought of her brother set them off.

Serenity was amazed at exactly how far she had run. She had never done this before in P.E. If only her teacher had been able to see her. Her legs ached the entire way, but she kept going. It was the poignant feeling in her heart that motivated her to keep going. She ran away from civilization, away from everything. Now, she was once again reunited with the world around her, in a guest room of one of her brothers' friends.

She tried to redirect her mind by looking at the four walls near to her. Frames with photos and pictures hung on the white walls, each with one of three people. One had a girl about the age of thirteen, another carried the image of a woman in her late twenties or early thirties, and the last person included was a man with blue hair, who looked like he was in his fifties. She inspected each one of them carefully, until she spotted another picture. This one, unlike the others, was not a photograph, but drawn by what seemed like a small child.

What seemed like a girl and a boy were drawn on the white piece of paper. Words that read "To Ryou" and "Love, Amane" were written messily above and below the two characters.

Serenity couldn't help but wonder who this Amane girl was. Could she be a relative of his? Perhaps the younger girl in the picture? All of the people in the pictures could pass as family members of Bakura.

She sighed softly, and laid her head on the pillow. She grasped the end of the pillow with her hand for comfort and began weeping into it once again.