Author's Notes:

Sorry, as you can see I am running slightly behind. With tennis and the first marking period in general I've just been busy. Luckily, I don't do any sports in the winter so hopefully I can try and get back on track.

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing…

Plan: Get Ryou and Bakura Together

"What if Yami's mind crushes both Bakura and Iona and Seto can watch Bakura heal while I kill that b*tch?"

"That's one of your better ideas." Yami muses, to which Marik grins.

"Better or saner?" Seto interjects, but even he can't fully deny that it had been one of the blond's better ideas.

"We could always try simply telling the truth."

"And where would that get us? One angry demon and one angry mongrel." The word is spat out with such anger and distaste that even Yami and Marik lose their bearings for a moment.

Quickly recuperating, Marik adds his own two cents on the topic. "Plus it's boring."

"Then what do you suggest, Seto?" Yami challenges.

"We show him Ryou."

"What do you mean by show?" Yami questions skeptically.

"Last I've heard Ryou and Bakura are in the middle of mating, so simply bringing them together should work." Seto explains smoothly.

"Who said that?"

"Bakura."

The group of boys fall into a comfortable silence, content in their decision. No one bothers to consider how to get Ryou and Bakura back together; they just know they will.

~.~

Now, believe it or not, someone completely incapable of taking care of him or herself

is not fit to be in line for a crown of any sorts. So, unlike how useless or wimpy or pathetic an angel may tend to be, the royalty are much competent. Ryou has never been more appreciative of this fact.

The angel dodges left and right as he feels the half'n'half's mysterious powers trying to grab him. Sure, there were almost a million half'n'halfs in the Angel and Demon Realm combined, but no one actually knew what their powers were.

Mai had been a gifted healer among other things, but obviously that wasn't all that the half'n'halfs could do. And as Duke cuts through the air like a knife in butter, shooting bolts of what can only be considered grayish energy, Ryou decides that once he is king, he is going to set up a whole division dedicated to studying half'n'halfs and finding ways to treat them better.

"Why are you doing this?" Ryou screams, turning around quickly to throw a ball of pure energy at the pursuing half'n'half.

The Prince's question is ignored as another two bolts of gray energy fly towards him, each one missing by only a hair. A groan escapes the Prince's lips as he turns to face his friend. Where are his friends, his soldiers? Why is he being left to fight this on his own? They are flying right above the Angel Camp; surely someone should be seeing this and coming to his rescue. But the angel has no such luck as once again, he is forced to shoot another ball of energy at his pursuer. Duke chuckles as he dodges the attack easily, flying even faster and closing the distance between the two even more.

Ryou tries flapping his wings furiously, but that injury from his father just won't let him. One's wings are never the same after they've almost been ripped off. Plus, demon wings are aerodynamically faster than angel wings. It'd only be a matter of moments before Ryou would be captured, perhaps to the deepest abyss of wherever the half'n'halfs resided.

Spotting a clearing in the woods, Ryou turns sharply, diving down until he's beneath their canopy and is weaving in and out of the trees. Duke follows, dodging the trees more efficiently than Ryou ever could. However, the angel cannot allow himself to get bogged down by these thoughts as he suddenly dives between a narrow opening in between a row of maples and oaks.

Unperturbed, Duke easily crosses the opening and remains on his heels, getting closer with every passing second. Another two bolts of gray energy whizz by him. These ones are larger, but they miss him, crashing into the trees before him.

The trees erupt in flame, blocking the angel's way. He had been so close, so close to the dome. The place where, once Duke was out, could no longer enter.

A blast of energy hits the angel square in the back, singeing his wings and knocking him out of the sky. Ryou falls to the ground, his back a ball of fire as he lands. But he can't let this get to him, he can't let them win.

The boy is back on his feet and running through the forests, shooting his own bolts at the half'n'half. The flames slowly eat at the trees, their dry bark bursting ablaze as the flames hungrily devour the wood.

"Ha! The great Angel Prince having to resort to walking, like a mere human." Duke taunts, flying closer to the Prince.

Frantic brown orbs search the burning brush. He can't simply run into it, he'd risk the chance of not only burning, but killing himself. Turning to face his tormentor, Ryou holds his ground.

The prince was supposed to have been killed the first time around, but he survived. Then, Duke set about to capturing him instead. Now though, the chase has been going for too long, and he's quickly losing patience.. "Shame, I could've simply captured you. Now I'll have to kill you." With that, Duke fires a stream of energy.

Ryou wanted to be smart and sassy and say something about cheesy one-liners. But there is a time and place for that and this is certainly not it. He quickly fires his own stream.

Ryou's power greedily devours and absorbs any and all light energy being shot into it and redirects it back to the half'n'half, whose stream has now taken on a color similar to a demons. With another surge of power, Ryou throws the half'n'half back.

"Okay, now how to get past the giant wall of fire?" The boy muses as he stares at the mounting flames. Duke would be back soon, and time was quickly running out.

~.~

"We need to attack now, before the angels have a chance to regroup." Iona whispers into Bakura's ear, polished nails fingering a specific figurine.

Bakura stares at the board before him. Every move, every action done by either angels or demons is represented on the board. He has everyone's positions, but that's it; all he has are positions. He doesn't know their plans (although his studies show that Angel Generals are the most uncreative, conservative, bunch out there), and he didn't know actions. He can't even control the angels'; pieces, or any piece not tied in with the dark. But he could see them, and that's what counts. He can see the newer, stronger dome that has gone up in place of the fallen one. The war is merely a game of chess: he controls the black pieces as Ryou controls the white.

"Can you move that piece?" Bakura asks, nonchalantly gesturing to the Yugi piece.

Iona flicks the figurine, but it remains rigid. She uses two fingers to knock the piece over, but she can't. She then grabs the piece, trying to rip it from it's place. Nothing happens. Frustrated, the woman slams her hands on the wooden board and proceeds to kick it. The chess board, for all it's worth, doesn't flinch.

"Calm down, Iona, I assume that means only Ryou or a pure angel can move it." Bakura murmurs, dismissively picking up Duke's piece and moving it further from Ryou.

"Can't have you hurting my little angel now, can I?" Bakura smirks as the piece is moved even further from Ryou.

Iona sneers at the figurine representing the angel. However, she is a lady and above such petty things like rivalry, especially when she's winning the competition for Bakura's affection. So, as she slides into Bakura's lap once again, she makes sure to purr suggestively into the demon's ear, nibbling it a bit just for emphasis. "Why do you still care about him?"

The Demon King brushes off the question, watching as Ryou's figurine disappears from his square, promptly re-appearing on an adjacent one.

"He passed the fire." Bakura states.

"Yes, he did." Iona agrees, running thin fingers through Bakura's messy hair.

A swishing of the tent door alerts the duo to a visitor outside.

"Come in," Bakura calls, waving his hand at the door.

It is Seto who walks in, his stride calm and confident as always. Iona glares at the Advisor. All of Bakura's friends have it out for he; understandably so, but still, she can't have her cover blown just yet.

"What would you like?" Iona spits at the blue-eyed demon.

Seto brushes her off with a simple eye roll.

"Bakura-" Seto starts.

"That's King Bakura to you." Iona is quick to cut in, imperiously correcting the Advisor. Seto glares at her, daring her to continue.

"Half-breed, may I remind you that until you have successfully mated yourself to the king, you are insignificant compared to any one of the castle's advisors or guards." Seto lashes back.

Bakura raises his hand, cutting off anything Iona might say before she has the chance.

"Both of you behave. Remember, I am the one in charge here. Iona, shut up for a moment. Kaiba, you're an Advisor. You have no right to speak to my mate like that." Bakura barks at the two. Iona winces, whimpering into the demon's chest, although she turns her head to smirk at the Advisor.

"May I continue?" Seto finally asks, a bit more submissively.

"Of course," Bakura responds, as though he hadn't just scolded the two moments ago.

"Prince Ryou has requested a meeting with you tonight."

"Is he giving up already?" Iona chortles. Bakura nods in thought, watching what he can only assume to be the Prince interacting with his friends.

"Perhaps, he says this is to be a one-on-one meeting. He will bring no one with him and he demands that you do the same." Seto continues.

"Demands?" Bakura questions, looking over to Seto. "Ryou isn't the type to demand anything of anyone."

"I assume one of his advisors wrote it, probably the mutt." Seto adds the last part under his breath, but Bakura catches it and chuckles.

"Well, Seto, tell them to prepare dinner for two." Bakura commands with another flippant wave of his hand. Seto leaves the room, leaving the two lovers to themselves.

Iona is silent for a moment, watching as the tent flaps closed. She turns her attention back to the man whose lap she's seated upon and sighs.

"What do you intend to do tonight?" Iona questions, running her fingers through Bakura's hair once again. Bakura doesn't answer; instead, he watches the Ryou figurine closely. His hands clench the rails of the chair in thought and frustration. Seeing this, Iona frowns, "Bakura?" Once again, she is brushed off in favor of watching the figurines.

~.~

"Hey Ryou, Bakura just sent his confirmation." Yugi greets as Ryou stumbles into the one of the relaxation tents.

"I've set out clothes for you to– my god, Ryou, what happened to you!" Anzu shrieks, running to the limping angel and pulling him to the closest makeshift couch.

"Your wings, can you retract them?" Malik asks, gently grabbing one of them. His question is met with silence though, as Ryou has already fallen deep asleep

"Guys, we need a healer…" Anzu mumbles, running her fingers over the burnt parts of her Prince. Ryou winces in his sleep, but doesn't wake up.

"At least we know he's only sleeping." Joey purses his lips in consternation.

"Yeah, but he has a meeting with Bakura tonight. He needs to be in good enough condition to take care of himself." Anzu whines.

"We're forgetting one crucial question," Malik points out, "Who did this?"

Author's Notes:

So um, yeah, hey!

Review Please!