Hey! I'm switching things up a bit and going into third person. I figured it might be easier, especially for this chapter, which is ALLLLL between our two main characters. There's lots of bouncing back and forth, and I figured if I did this, it would be easier to follow. If you think I should keep it, please tell me; if you like it better in first person, I'd appreciate it if you told me. I want this to be a comfortable read for everyone. Enjoy!

Within his bedroom chambers, Bakura sat on the edge of his bed in a deep and troublesome thought as the girl who plagued his thoughts, unbeknownst to him, stood but a few feet away from his door, hoping it would open.

She doesn't trust me. Well, why should I give a damn? She's never done anything for me…and even if she had, I wouldn't care…I don't care! She's just as guilty as I am, collaborating with Marik. Her sins may not be equal to my own, but they exist, nonetheless.

"Bakura?" prodded a voice through the slit beneath the door, "The finals start in an hour or so…" the Spirit didn't respond, he didn't even flinch. "Are you going to come out and get ready, or whatever it is you do? You know I don't know how to duel, so I can't speak the lingo…

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me after I hit you, so just hear me out. I'm sorry. I'm worried about you – everyone is worried about you! You can't duel in this condition, for Ryou's sake…"

Ah, she's thinking of my Light. How typical. The Spirit thought bitterly in reaction to the pain in his chest; however he neglected to hear Lucy say "for Ryou's sake… and yours."

"Are you going to stay in there all night?" Lucy inquired. No answer came. "Are you going to talk to me at all…?" Her voice was sounding desperate, and Bakura knew it. A part of him wanted to open the door. Just to see her. Just to tell her to go away…but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He dismissed her concern as concern for Ryou, and nobody else. He held his tongue under cover of darkness.

Her voice could no longer be heard, to which Bakura was thankful for. Finally…some miniscule amount of peace…

Not a moment after, another voice could be heard within the Spirit's mind.

"I don't think you understand everything," Ryou said with a hint of sympathy in his voice. "You don't know what's going on in her head, or what she's going through right now, right?"

Not sensing the question to be worth a valid response, he merely grunted, though mostly from annoyance rather than a response.

"She's trying, at least, to follow her morals. Lucy is very loyal. Working for Marik has put her in danger, and you know it. She's not even concerned about that! She seems to be more distressed about everyone else's wellbeing—"

"I thought I locked you in your Soul Room," Bakura snarled.

"I can still feel your emotions," the boy replied, "Whatever emotions are strong enough for me to feel…"

Bakura knew the boy felt his anger as his own. Their connection had grown so much that emotions could be shared, if they were strong enough. It seems I can no longer hide my temper from my Light…very well.

"And what exactly is your point?" he snapped at his lighter half.

"Well," Ryou began defensively, "Lucy is a good friend – a good person. I believe she would never join Marik unless there was something she needed from him…she doesn't seem to like him much either. My point is, I believe you're judging her actions a little too soon to be certain of what kind of person she is."

Bakura's emotionless façade never faltered, but his curiosity suddenly rose to a new high. Why is she working for Marik? What could she possibly have to gain from him?"

The frustrating twinge in his chest resonated to Ryou's spirit. Wait…this isn't anger…no, it can't be…is he…jealous?

Thankfully the Spirit hadn't heard this questioning accusation. Shutting the connection, Bakura had leaned back on his bed, getting comfortable, if only for a moment.

Although he would never admit it, some of the Spirit's energy was drained after the duel with Bonez. Not much from the duel, of course. Bonez was a feeble opponent. It was more due to the transportation to and from the Shadow Realm. As powerful as the Spirit may be, his Shadow Magic took a toll on him in addition to the injury on his arm and trying to impersonate Ryou. The body was weak, and the Spirit was tired, having endured another restless night.

Bakura dared to glance at the clock to discover he had 40 minutes until they were called down. As reluctant as he was, he knew he had to do some preparation for the finals; however he didn't want to face Lucy.

Cracking the door open, he saw her still body on the couch. She must be sleeping, he thought as he quietly approached the table at the other side of the room.

But the closer he came to the couch, the louder the song became.

"…All of the gems in the world,

The pearls in the sea,

And all the finest gold

Aren't richer than your soul;

It's as precious as can be.

Despite the passing sands of time,

Just tell me that you're mine.

And as we age, our demons race,

But I won't fear or cry.

With my heart gone,

I'm left to sing along

To my Thief's lullaby.

My heart is yours, not to sell

Nor bargain, barter, or deny

Until your hair is silver-white

Or 'till your heart is mine."

Bakura had listened intently to her singing before he acknowledged his presence. "Who are you singing to?"

"OHMYGOD!" Lucy screamed and jumped off the couch, falling on the floor. "Ow…crap, that hurt! What the hell, Bakura?!" she screamed.

Not able to contain himself, he laughed at her situation. "Don't like an audience?" he teased, offering his hand to help her up.

"No. I'm fine," she said, pulling herself up.

"Is that a song from an actual artist?"

She glared up at him, "No, actually," she sounded offended, "I wrote it…after having one of my dreams…" she faced the wall opposite him with an added "Hmph!" of frustration.

Bakura merely let out a grunt before turning away. A Thief's lullaby? It couldn't have been a dream about me again, could it? After all, I am the Thief King…or maybe in was something else entirely. Come on, Bakura. Get your head out of the clouds.

He sauntered over to the table left in the room. Lucy had interrupted his attempt to start preparing when she knocked at his door, and after she had walked in, he just couldn't find the will to focus.

He glanced over at the brunette, whose back was turned to him with her arms crossed across her chest. She's still upset? She must really be embarrassed… Bakura felt a smirk slide over his face.

"I need to prepare for the Finals," he announced, expecting her to turn to him, only to find that she didn't budge. Bakura groaned and spun back to his deck, "Suit yourself. I thought you wanted to learn how to play…?"

"I'll learn when the finals actually start," she said, stoic and motionless.

Bakura groaned, burying his face in his hands, "Stop being so stubborn!" he yelled, "Just because I caught you singing? Is this all about your pride?"

Finally she turned to him, her blue eyes shining in the darkened room. There was a pause between the two, their eyes locked, Bakura's glare looking threatening and stone cold, Lucy's blue orbs, empty. Not able to take his glare anymore, she turned to glance at a spot on the floor, her voice barely a whisper, "I'm sorry…I'm scared, and I feel really lost…I'm not even supposed to be talking to you. Marik forbade me—"

"And yet here you are. In my room," he grimaced, "Screw what Marik says. This is your life, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but—"

"So you should be making your own decisions, unless you want to be one of Marik's puppets?"

Lucy's eyes widened, but she was silent. The Spirit took that as a sign of disgust, and merely shrugged it off.

"Come here," he summoned her. She sighed, but obeyed him.

He explained to her how the game was played, giving a brief introduction to the monsters themselves before moving to magic and trap cards. "These can make or break your deck, depending on who's using them and how they're being used."

Lucy listened, trying to take in as much information as she could. She would ask questions and quickly picked up on the basics, impressing her teacher.

"You know," Bakura began with a new spark in his voice, "Duel Monsters originated in ancient Egypt."

Lucy's face lit up, making Bakura feel strangely proud, "Really?"

"Mm-hmm. Only, we didn't use cards…"

"Oh?" she asked, "Then how did you fight?"

"We used Shadow Creatures that were extracted from the souls of humans. It was done on the Pharaoh's command…quite the painful experience if your spirit monster is forced out rather than summoned out…"

In the midst of his rambling, Bakura hadn't thought about Lucy's level of comprehension to the ancient methods. When he looked over, her mouth was open and her eyes were wide, and were shining. "Yugi's Yami…? The Pharaoh? But he's so nice…" she looked away, "Why would he hurt people like that?"

"Once the monsters were extracted, they were locked away to later be used by either the Pharaoh himself or his council…" his voice softened as he spoke.

A nagging voice entered the Spirit's mind, "That's not very empathetic. Why did you say that? She's confused enough as it is! You're not helping her!"

"Oh?" retorted the Spirit, "I thought I was doing just that. She should know the details between us if she is to make a choice."

It brought Bakura satisfaction to shed a new light on the "beloved" Pharaoh, but seeing Lucy in such a somber mood reminded him what it was like to feel betrayed. He began to feel strange; some unknown feeling in his chest made his heart feel heavy and his palms sweaty. The satisfaction left, leaving an aftertaste of regret in the back of his throat, which the Spirit hadn't felt in millennia.

Not knowing exactly how to respond to the emotions of either person in the room, he tried turning the subject back to the game. "Anyway, um…like I was saying," he fidgeted with his hands, "your monsters are essentially soldiers. To start off a duel, you have to summon a weaker monster before a stronger monster. Usually weaker monsters are sacrificed in order to summon a stronger monster. Other times there are rituals…" his voice trailed off when he looked over to find Lucy staring out the window.

"Do you want to learn or not?" he sounded as if he were caught between a jest and a scolding, "Pay attention, Lucy."

She smiled as she turned to him, "I think I've gotten the idea of it." She looked into his eyes for a few seconds before Bakura broke their connection, turning his attention to his favorite monster, Dark Necrofear.

He felt his palms begin to sweat as he fiddled with his fingers and shook his leg in an attempt to steady himself. Why is she looking at me like that? And why am I reacting like this? Ra, this is insane…

"Bakura?"

"Mm?" he mumbled, avoiding her gaze.

"Where do – did – the Shadow Creatures come from?"

"They were, uh…born in the Shadow Realm. The greater the sins and anger of the person, the stronger the creature within them."

She was silent for a moment before grabbing a few cards on the table, "I think…when I was little, I had nightmares of being in the Shadow Realm…"

"Really?" he asked, slowly shifting back towards reality.

"Yeah…it was dark everywhere. Like, such a deep purple, you'd think it was black. Maybe it was black? I don't remember. It was just hard to see through; it was foggy. These creatures," referring to the cards in her hand, "look a lot like them…"

She continued to stare at them for what seemed like hours, while Bakura was watching her behind snow-white hair. "In one nightmare, I was trapped, running on for eternity in any direction, only to end up back where I started…and back to what I was running from."

The Spirit's curiosity grew as he balanced his head on his hands, elbows propped up on the table. He was beginning to finally get comfortable with her presence, yet his body still seemed restless about it. "This really big…demon-like thing," she gestured a large amount of empty space with her hands, "was after me. It had these crimson eyes that seemed to grab my soul and squeeze every last drop of my life out of me. I felt like I was suffocating from the inside. Its voice was like gravel, and it made me sick, just hearing him. He said that I need to join him once again, that it was my destiny…" She looked up at Bakura before continuing, "Then I was pulled out."

"Pulled out?" Bakura's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, "But how?"

"I felt a grip around my waist and it just…pulled me out. Next thing I know, I'm sitting upright in my bed, drenched in sweat and panting."

Bakura just stared past her, afraid to look at her again – afraid those…feelings would come back to him. "You're not afraid of the dark, are you?"

"No, why?"

"That's all the Shadow Realm is. It's just…an eternity of darkness," he dared a glance at her, a calmness in her eyes. "Oh, I almost forgot the monsters that tear away at your soul in one of the worst forms of pain and torture imaginable."

She turned her head away and slowly inched out of her seat. "Why do you do that?" she murmured, standing and walking to the couch.

"I don't quite know what you mean, my starling."

Both of their heads snapped up at the name. Where the hell did that come from? They both thought, Lucy nearly asking the question aloud. Bakura didn't give her much time to before he continued, "After all that I've done for you within the past hour: letting you stay with me, teaching you not only the card game, but history as well. What could I have done wrong?"

My starling… she thought. Her heart was racing, a new sense of warmth flooding her being. She shook herself from her thoughts. "It's like…you almost try to comfort me, then you push me away. I don't know why you do that."

The Spirit rolled his eyes, mumbling, "You mortals and your emotions…"

She sauntered back over to his side, poking him in his shoulder, feeling the tight, tense muscle beneath the bit of sleeve he wore. "So…I'm your starling, huh?" her mocking voice tempting Bakura to run, but where to? He couldn't leave his room.

"I don't know where that came from," he said honestly, "Let's just forget about it."

"I kinda like it. Well, more than 'my dear,' anyway…"

There was a long pause between the two. Bakura inhaled, taking in Lucy's scent. She…she smells like…orchids. He felt himself relax in the familiar scent, reminiscing the last time he had ever seen an orchid, before he walked the path of a murderer and a thief.

"Oh," Lucy's perky voice popped up, but with shyness to it, "I forgot to thank you…for letting me stay here."

"It's fine. Just stay out of my—"

Before he could finish, she kissed him. A light peck, so soft and gentle, he wouldn't have believed he had been kissed if his eyes weren't open.

When she took a step back, she saw the look on his face: the shock-filled horror that was the after effect of her mistake. She blushed furiously. A part of her felt like she had been shot with an arrow through the chest. Quickly turning her face so he wouldn't see, and so she wouldn't have to look at that face anymore, "I'm so sorry…" she murmured while trying to get away from him as quickly as she could.

But she was stopped.

Nearly tripping on herself, she bounced back a bit from the force holding her still. A firm grip on her arm kept her within two feet of Bakura.

With her face still flushed, Lucy dared a glance back at the man keeping her still. "What…was that?" he asked through heavy breaths. Is he panting?

"I-I…I don't know what c-came over me. I—"

With enough force to pull a muscle, Bakura spun her back to face him. Leaving her with no time to protest, he brought his lips to hers, moving his free hand to the base of her jaw.

What's going on? Lucy thought, hesitant with the kiss, Why is this happening? Since when do I go kissing people? Especially Bakura…

Bakura… her thoughts dwindled into nothing as she focused on the man in front of her, reveling in the feeling of her rapid heartbeat, and the ability to feel his.

Finally she closed her eyes, and let herself succumb to the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Fully aware of such positive feedback, Bakura moved his hand off of Lucy's arm to the small of her back, bringing her closer to him, deepening the kiss.

It was electric.

The heat radiating off of his body offered a new comfort to Lucy, one she had never experienced before. She pushed herself as close to him as she could, and as she did, a deep sound resonated in Bakura's throat, encouraging her, as he moved his hands about her back. Lucy, in turn, began to roam about his body: the hard, sturdy shoulders with muscles lining down his back, the softness of his shirt, the smell of sandalwood emanating from him, his hair tickling her cheek…

"Attention finalists!" a booming voice erupted from the speakers next to the door to the hall, shocking them both out of the kiss, "Dinner will be served in 10 minutes! Grab your decks and Duel Disks and prepare yourselves. After the feast, the Battle City Finals will officially begin!" The speakers clicked off, meaning the voice was gone.

Turning to Lucy, Bakura smirked, "Well, I suppose I've done enough...preparation for the duels…"

"Where did you…How did you…?" Lucy stuttered, hoping for an explanation to the kiss.

Bakura stared at her, perplexed, "Is that not what you wanted?"

"No. I-I mean yes! No, wait…" she sighed, slapping her forehead, "What just happened?"

"Haven't you ever been kissed before?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"…No, actually…that was my first kiss." She moved back towards the couch. Bakura's eyes followed her until she stopped.

He turned to grab everything he needed, then came back to her, "If it helps, I've never heard a woman ever tell me I'm a bad kisser."

Is he actually giddy right now? Lucy thought. "Well, I must have been okay if you're so peppy right now."

"Don't ever call me that again," he said, his face suddenly serious, "I am not, nor will I ever be 'peppy,' got it?" she nodded, while trying not to laugh, "And I'm more keen for the duels. My plan is flawless…the Pharaoh's Puzzle shall soon be mine…"

Bakura walked to the door leading to the hallway. "Are you going to stand there for the rest of the tournament?" he asked, noticing she hadn't moved.

"You go ahead. I'll be down in a bit…" Bakura arched an eyebrow. "Seriously, go eat. I'll be down soon. I'm not that hungry anyway."

The Spirit shrugged, "If you insist…"

He walked out the door, leaving her in his room, "…my starling."

SURPRISE! I kept telling myself "I have to make them kiss this chapter. There has to be a way to do it without totally crushing the original characterization of these two!" I still don't know if I did it right, so you tell me! I really hope you like it. And yes, I am following plot for a little bit. Next chapter, you know what's coming, but then I'm gonna try to switch it up…considering Bakura is going to be unconscious for most of the finals, and then he goes to the Shadow Realm/Yugi's Millennium Puzzle…weird. Yeah, I may switch that up. I really want to get to ye olde Egypt, when everyone travels back in time. Hopefully within a few chapters, that'll happen.

Anyway, rate, review, share, whatever. Stay awesome! And thanks so much for reading!
~Mina