Fallen Crystal Moon – Gentle hugs are fine. Ryo wishes me to tell you he appreciates them. And that is win, Bakura's fail and epic Matrix moment in the same chapter.
KATZUNITED-MEOW- – Yes, Yami is an idiot. I really do like Yami, he was my first Yugioh crush, but when I'm actually writing I make him seem like a retarded dick. I don't mean to, I swear! As for the gender, that's a secret to all but me and my muses.
LexisCullen-Bitch-In-Trainingx – We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
sorathestar – Thanks. Glad one person doesn't mind my lazy editing timeframe wise. In all honesty I don't have nine months of plot, so I gotta do something. And yes. I hate twins. They're just plain lazy.
Yamibakura1988 – Thank you :D
ani – I try to keep my stories as cannon and in character as possible. Not that I haven't read some great originals and OOCs, but they're just not for me. As for mood swing extremes…don't ever join one of my RPs. I have Ryo switching from tears to hitting Bakura over the head before you can blink. I have fun with it, but that's beside the point.
Tootsieroll90 – I love the clock part :D What I want to know is what Ryo actually threw at Yugi. Bakura didn't return the clock to him…
Don't own Yugioh. Never will. Blah.
Ryo was quiet after Yami and Yugi left. He looked down at his feet and touched his stomach a lot. He gave one word answers to anything Bakura said.
At first Bakura brushed it off as just a mood swing, but come dinner time he realized it was something else. Ryo poked at his food silently, not eating any of it.
"Ryo…" Bakura finally said after several minutes of tense silence. "What's wrong? You haven't eaten anything."
"'m not hungry," responded Ryo without emotion.
"Ry, you're always hungry," pointed out Bakura. "This baby is making you eat like Jou."
Ryo simply shrugged. Bakura was beginning to get frustrated. Without a word, Ryo stood and picked up his full plate. Depositing it in the sink, he turned and went slowly up the stairs. Bakura heard the bedroom door click shut. Sighing, he began to clear his own plate.
Then came the fear. Pure, unrelenting fear so powerful that it froze Bakura where he stood. His plate shattered on the floor where it was dropped, but Bakura was already halfway up the stairs, battling mentally with the terror Ryo had kept bottled up the entire day and was finally taking him over.
"Ryo!" he cried, banging open the door. Ryo was curled in a fetal position in the corner of the bed, his face buried in his knees. He was shaking and the fear coming across the mind-link had not lessened.
"Ry? What's wrong?" asked Bakura, sitting down on the bed next to him. Ryo seemed not to hear him. "What's wrong!" he repeated.
Ryo looked up. His eyes were blank and dilated with fear. "B-Bakura," he whispered.
"I'm here, Ryo. What's wrong? What scared you?" His tone betrayed that whatever has scared his light would be swiftly dealt with.
"I-I was just thinking about what Yami told me and…and," he broke off and swallowed, "and, Bakura…h-how's the baby going to get here?"
"You're going to give birth to it, Ryo," said Bakura firmly. "You're going to bring our child into the world, and I swear on the ruins of Kul Elna that I will be there to help you through it all the way." He wrapped an arm around Ryo, squeezing his shoulder and holding his other shoulder with his other hand.
"Th-thank you, I-I'm so happy to hear you say that, but-but that's not what I'm asking," said Ryo quietly, turning to face his lover. "I-I don't a birth canal or anything…how's the baby going t-t-to get here?"
Bakura's mind was working rapidly to come up with an acceptable answer. All that came out of his mouth was, "Well…um…uh…you see…uh…that is to say…"
"You don't know, do you?" asked Ryo, even more quietly. His stutter had left. Bakura was silent a moment too long and Ryo's eyes filled with terrified tears.
"Bakura…am I gonna die?" Ryo's voice was so quiet that Bakura's ears had to strain to hear it in the silent room.
"Of course not!" said Bakura. "Listen to me, Ryo. All three of us are going to live through this and we will watch our child grow up together!"
"You're lying," Ryo whispered.
"Ryo, I would never—"
"You're lying!" Ryo said, his voice high-pitched and terrified.
"No! Ryo, I'm not—"
"YOU'RE LYING!" Ryo shrieked, pushing away from Bakura and moving to the center of the room.
He stood there, bent over slightly. One fist was pressed to his heart while the other moved to his mouth, biting his knuckle until it bled. His eyes were wide and dark with fear. Cold sweat broke out all over his body. He swayed, his knees barely able to support him. His breath came in gasps, but he couldn't seem to get enough air.
"Ryo!" yelled Bakura, moving to his side. The boy was shaking so violently that Bakura could feel it just by being near him. "Ryo, tenshi, calm down!"
Ryo didn't even hear him. His heart was beating so loud he was sure it could be heard throughout the house. And it was so fast. Ra, why was it beating so fast!
"Ryo! It's okay!" shouted Bakura, saying the only thing that came to mind.
Ryo couldn't get enough air. He was beginning to feel lightheaded, which only served to increase his panic. He was breathing so fast; why couldn't he get enough air?
Bakura saw that Ryo had begun to hyperventilate and realized that Ryo had to calm down and fast. "Ryo, tenshi, you gotta calm down!" he grabbed Ryo's shoulder.
Ryo felt someone grab him and felt the urge to run. He tried to shake the hand off but it held him tightly. He tried to breathe deeper, but that only increased his lightheadedness. His chest hurt. His heart was still beating so fast he swore it would burst out of his chest. He felt faint and sick to his stomach. He didn't even notice the tears streaming down his cheeks to drip onto the carpet. There was no thought in his mind. He did the only thing he still knew how to do. A breathless scream ripped through him. The hand on his shoulder left.
Bakura jumped over the bed in his haste to get the Ring. The pure terror coming across the mind-link almost immobilized him. Ryo screamed again, mixing with the lack of air to give him a headache, as Bakura reached under the bed and pulled out his things-Ryo-doesn't-want-to-see-anymore box. Ripping it open, he grabbed the Ring from the top and put it around his neck, almost tripping on his way back to Ryo.
He didn't know if this would work. Ever since he had gotten his own body there hadn't been a need to try. But if there were ever a time to try, now was it. He grabbed Ryo's arm and pressed Ryo's hand to the Ring. Praying to the Gods that this would work, he took control of Ryo's body.
Ryo was drowning. There was nothing but black, terror, and screaming. The intensity of Ryo's fear hit Bakura like a blow. Forcing himself back, he pushed his soul into the hallway between soul rooms.
There was only one door. There would be, as his soul no longer inhabited Ryo. He thrust the door open and ran in. Ryo was huddled in the middle of the room. He was silent, but screaming echoed around the room as well as the frantic beat of his heart.
Bakura ran to Ryo and crouched down next to him. "Ryo, you gotta calm down! It's okay!"
Ryo didn't notice him. Then Bakura heard another sound under the rapid heartbeat and screaming. A second heartbeat under the first, much fainter and slower than it should be.
"Ryo, please, calm down!" Bakura yelled. "Ryo, you're hurting the baby!"
Ryo's eyes snapped up to Bakura's face. His cheeks were soaked with tears. "Bakura?" he whispered. "Oh, Gods, my baby…"
"I'm here, Ryo," said Bakura firmly. "I'm here and I'm not leaving you. You and the baby are gonna be fine, but you need to calm down!"
"Bakura!" Ryo cried, his voice breaking as he threw himself on his yami. Bakura held him tightly as if Ryo would be lost if he let go. The screaming faded away and the heartbeats slowly returned to normal.
Bakura wasn't aware of releasing control of Ryo's body. He just noticed Ryo fall as his knees would no longer support him. Bakura sat so that his back was against the bed and pulled Ryo into his lap. Ryo folded his legs, knees against his chest, and gripped Bakura's shirt as if he would never let go. Bakura wrapped his arms around him.
"Shh, it's okay, Ry. It's okay," shushed Bakura softly, stroking and nuzzling Ryo's hair. He was still trembling and he still had tears in his eyes. "I'm here. I'm here."
With a quiet sob, Ryo buried his face in Bakura's chest, fresh tears soaking the older one's shirt.
Bakura held him as he cried, as he shook with sobs, whispering quiet reassurances that he was there and everything was going to be okay. After a long while, Ryo stopped trembling so violently and his sobs dissipated into occasional hiccups.
He cried himself to sleep like that, nestled in Bakura's safe embrace. Bakura stayed awake. He sat up all night, watching over Ryo as if he would vanish if he looked away.
"Panic attack," said Yami matter-of-factly over the phone the next morning.
"What?" asked Bakura. Ryo was still sleeping on his lap. His back and neck were stiff from sitting against the bed all night.
"Ryo had a panic attack," said Yami. "Heart palpitations, hyperventilation, lightheadedness, nausea, weak knees, blank mind, the need to escape, chest pain, trembling, you know you can stop me at any time."
"Oh my Gods," whispered Bakura, glancing down at Ryo still sleeping fitfully against his chest. "There was something else too. When I was in his soul room, I heard the baby's heart. It was really faint and slow."
There was a pause on the other end. "Slower than Ryo's?" he finally asked.
"Yes."
"I'm coming over," said Yami seriously before hanging up.
Bakura sat there with the phone at his ear for a few seconds before hanging up and shaking Ryo awake.
Yami arrived in record time. Barely five minutes had passed before the door bell rang. Ryo, sleepy but awake, got off Bakura so that the older one could answer the door.
Bakura opened the door and Yami pushed past him. "Where's Ryo?" he asked, ignoring Bakura's angry noise.
"Did you drive here?" asked Bakura, knowing that the former Pharaoh hated being behind the wheel.
"Yes, I did, now where's Ryo?" Yami repeated.
"I'm right here," said Ryo, starting down the stairs while rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"I need to look at the baby," Yami said quickly, grabbing Ryo's hand and pulling him to the couch. He then proceeded to give Ryo and the baby the most thorough exam yet. After almost twenty minutes, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"The baby's fine," he said. "Tomb Robber, kitchen, now."
"Who are you to tell me what to do in my house?" asked Bakura, but he followed Yami anyway.
"Why did Ryo have a panic attack?" asked Yami as soon as the kitchen door closed.
"Well, gee, I don't know," said Bakura. "Maybe because someone said the wrong thing and freaked him out with thoughts of labor?"
"I commend you for calming him down," said Yami, catching Bakura by surprise. "Severe panic attacks can be fatal."
Bakura stared in shock. "What?"
"Not only that, but a fetus's heart always goes faster than the mother's. If Ryo's heart was going faster, not only is that not good for Ryo, but it could mean that the baby is dying."
Bakura's eyes widened in horror. "What are you trying to say?"
"You almost lost the baby, Bakura. If you hadn't calmed Ryo down when you did you would have. And if it had gone on for even five more minutes, you would have lost Ryo too."
Ryo is twelve weeks along.