A/N: Hello darlings! Thanks for everyone who wished me luck on my French test. It was hard. :( I guessed like 1/3 of the words. For one question I thought I wrote: I catch a big lion, but instead I wrote: I hide a big lion. :D

Warnings: This is a talkey, talkey chapter, so nope.

Things will be explained! Yay!

Disclaimer: Don't wanna (do these anymore).

Yeah I know the title is lame, but I can't help it.....I think I go hiding with that big lion. :D

9. Third Option

"'Be a good hikari and no one has to die.' After saying that he got up and left," Yami told. "I followed him soon, but when I got outside he had disappeared."Yami sipped coffee from his mug. Ah, it felt so damn good after being without it for like two weeks.

"And the girl?" Marik asked.

"Dead," Yami said bluntly. "Nailed to the wall with kitchen knives."

Marik groaned in annoyance and burrowed his head into the back of the couch, where he was standing.

"I missed all the fun," he complained.

Ryou and Malik who sat in front of Marik on a couch patted him absent-mindedly Ryou to the hand, and Malik to the head. It was supposed to be a comforting gesture, but it meaning was lost because neither Ryou nor Malik turned his gaze from Yami.

Yugi stared at Yami too, from an armchair he was sitting on, near Ryou's side of the couch. He was disbelieving and just a little disappointed. When Yami had came home, he found both Ryou and Yugi awake and concerned. And the trouble duo, Malik and Marik were back from Egypt too, waiting for him. Perfect, just perfect. So Yami had told them everything, every conversation he and Bakura had, as well as he could, every plan he had made, every time Bakura had shot his plans down by revealing a new aspect to the matter.

Yugi leaned his face to his hand and started talking:

"So let me get this straight," Yugi began. "Bakura told what was wrong with you, something about being off-balance, but instead of telling us what it was, you stole Ryou's Ring and gave it to Bakura, so he could help you kill someone. And after Bakura had 'taught' that to you, it was your turn, but you couldn't, or you did not have the time to kill the girl and you almost died."

"I'm sorry," Yami said, though he found out to his surprise that he really wasn't.

Yugi just nodded.

"Now you're here, and alive. What happened?"

"I guess it's possible," Malik said, after thinking for a long time.

"What is?" Ryou asked, turning to face Malik.

Malik shrugged, still looking at Yami.

"If we add everything we know, and everything Yami told us, it's possible that Yami is now Bakura's hikari," he answered. " And Bakura is his yami."

Ignoring the gasps and the priceless looks on both ex-hikari's faces, blond-haired Egyptians tilted their head and gave Yami an evil smile.

"You were very lucky, pharaoh," Marik said "Finding an exact opposite to your soul is not an easy task."

Yami ignored the information that Marik either accidentally or on purpose gave him.

"You knew about this," he accused instead. "Both of you."

"We did not," yami and hikari opposed in unison.

"Sure we knew about the balance, and the killing-thing..." Marik stated.

"But this 'third option', "Malik shook his head," I'm not sure even Bakura knew about this. I..."

"Can you sense him?" Ryou interrupted suddenly, standing up from the couch, full of determination.

Yami blinked.

"Can you sense him?" Ryou repeated. "Can you sense Bakura?"

"I.... uh..." Yami stammered. "He shut our Mind Link."

Our Mind Link. Wow, that felt weird.

Ryou waved his hand indifferently.

"I don't mean that. I mean can you tell where he is?"

Yami closed his eyes and tried. He could feel him, his presence.

"Yea," Yami murmured. "He's not so far away. That direction," he pointed, and everybody turned to look. "He's moving, farther away from us. That's all I can tell. I can't tell what he is thinking or feeling, just where he is."

Yami opened his eyes. Ryou collapsed back to the couch. He looked relieved for reasons only him, and maybe Bakura, could understand.

Yami raised his eyebrows at Ryou but let it be. He was not in the curious mood. He was pretty tired really. The coffee helped. He sipped his coffee and turned to look at Yugi.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

He was really concerned how Yugi took the news. That boy had really cared about Yami.

"I.... I don't know," Yugi said. "What happens to us now?"

Yes, what happens to the ex-hikaris? Yami didn't know.

"You're free," Malik answered. " Not whole, but free."

"Free," Ryou murmured and an odd smile appeared on his face.

Yami didn't even want to know, so he ignored Ryou, and concentrated on two Egyptians.

"Malik, if the soul, mine and Bakura's happen to get off-balance, which one of us will die?"

"I don't know," Malik admitted.

"Why don't you ask Bakura?" Marik suggested, a playful and evil smile on his lips. He had raised his head, after hearing the conversation. "He knows."

"Not funny," Yami said, glaring at Marik.

"But he's right," Malik said. "Bakura's Ring can put a living soul into an object. He knows a lot about souls."

Yami crossed his arms on his chest, indicating that this piece of conversation was over. Marik, who was bored again, and not allowed to kill, burrowed his head to the pillow he had snatched from Ryou's lap.

"Hey, Yami. Have you tried to get into Bakura's soul room?" Yugi asked, suddenly very curious.

Before Yami could even answer, Ryou shook his head and said:

"No way. Bakura keeps his door always locked. Nobody can get into his room, if he doesn't want them to."

"Oh," Yugi said, losing all interest and sinking back to his chair.

"Yami you should talk to Bakura," Malik suggested. "It's the best way to get answers for the questions you have. I'm sure he will give them to you. You're his hikari after all."

Marik, who was probably smirking against the pillow (Yami could almost hear it, that psychotic grin), let out a smothered, but acceptive mumble.

"Since you're now one soul, you could even try to get along," Yugi said.

Yami sighed tiredly and stood up.

"I'll go then," he said.

Marik's smothered shout followed Yami to the door:

"I want to talk to him too! Bring him back with you, will you?"

Yami shut the door behind him, looked around, until he found the direction and started walking.

Yami found Bakura easily. He was leaning against the railing and looking for something, from the ocean. Occasional gust of wind, or a car passing by didn't seem to startle him. Yami crossed the road. As soon as he was next to him, Bakura started speaking:

"A soul moving spell."

"What?"

"That it was. I thought about it. That was the spell you used. A spell which allows the caster to put his soul into someone else, into someone's body. Usually the new soul devours the original soul, giving it's owner immortality as long as he remembers to change the body when it gets too old. But you don't need that, do you?" Bakura turned to look Yami. "You're already immortal, and since your soul is only a half, you can't eat my soul. We're stuck like this."

Casually Bakura leaned his chin against his hand, and waited for Yami's answer.

"I did not know the meaning or the purpose of the spell, when I casted it," Yami said.

Bakura clicked his tongue.

"Shadow Magic did," he explained." It tried to save you. But haven't anyone told you not to cast spells, if you don't know what they do?"

"It worked," Yami remarked. "I'm alive."

"Yeah, and it's all about your ass again, isn't it?" Bakura muttered." Every spell has some kind of an aftereffect. And moving your soul into another vessel. It's risky business. You might feel a little strange. "

"Like?" Yami raised his eyebrows.

"A little hikarish. Like a good guy. Like you care."

"Pfft," Yami let out a small disbelieving sound . "Like I would ever care about you."

Bakura smiled, actually smiled. A smile that was nothing, it had no emotion in it, just a plain smile.

"I know," he said. " and you know I can't really ever forgive what you did to me."

Then he turned to look at the sea again. Yami examined Bakura. His thinness, his sickly pale skin, the scars on his skin. Bakura's clothes were still a little bloody, but he had obviously tried to wash the blood away. One black lock, Yami noticed, one black lock of hair against all the white. It was originally from Yami's hair. One white lock, that was what Bakura gave Yami. It was like a gift; 'Now we're one soul, and so I give you one lock of my hair', and stuff. Yami was happy that nothing else had changed in him.

"The island," Yami said after a long pause." I know."

Yami leaned against the railing.

"So what are you doing here anyway?" he asked.

"Are you trying to be friendly with me, Pharaoh? I thought you didn't want to be hikarish."

"I'm just curious."

Yami shrugged, knowing that even though Bakura didn't see the gesture, he felt it.

"I'm looking for a thing, that was taken away from me," Bakura told.

"And what is that?" Yami asked.

Bakura chuckled.

"Like I would ever tell you that," Bakura said. " I hate you."

That proclamation of hatred, serious but said with an amused tone, made Yami chuckle too.

"I know," he said, and he didn't lie.

They were both silent, staring at the blue depths of the ocean, Bakura looking for something that was his, but missing and Yami thinking.

"I wonder how can Marik and Malik keep their balance," Yami said.

Bakura raised his gaze.

"I mean they're both pretty evil, most of the time."

"They do it depending on situation," was all that Bakura said. He was clearly indicating that everything involving Marik and Malik was not his business. But right now he was willing to give his hikari any answers he needed.

"What about our soul?" Yami asked, flinching only slightly at the 'our soul'. "If it goes off-balance, which one of us will die?"

Bakura gave him a creepy smile. Creepiest one Yami had ever seen, and quite frankly he hated that smile.

"It depends," Bakura said, his eyes gleaming madly.

"On what?"

"On who was first."

"Well, do you know?"

Bakura shook his head.

"You'd better be a good boy. Let's not take any risks." His voice was full of mischief.

Yami just nodded. He had got his answer. It was time to move to the next matter.

"That night, when you held that ball in your hand. It was my... our soul wasn't it?

Bakura nodded.

"Kinda," He said. "It was more like a replica. A real soul, of course, is not an object, is never an object. It does not have form, it does not have boundaries."

"So in order to observe it, you had to make it boundaries."

"Exactly."

"Can you show me?"

Bakura didn't expect that. He blinked. Once. Twice. Then he nodded.

He stretched out his hand, closed it and opened it again.

Of course, a person who can not read or write shouldn't need words to use magic. Still it amazed Yami, when the ball just appeared on Bakura's palm. Yami tilted his head, as he examined the small object. Bakura motioned him to hold out his hand. Yami did so and Bakura dropped the ball onto his hand.

"It's light, " Yami said, making sure that his fingers didn't touch the ball.

"That means neither one of us feels guilty about what we do, or did," Bakura said and turned away.

Yami stared at the ball. At first it seemed like it was foggy gray, but it illuminated light. And if you looked very closely, you could see many different colors in it, mostly black and white though. The colors moved, so it wasn't really a ball. It was just a bunch a tiny bits of colors, or tiny bids of a soul, moving around. A whole soul, or two halves.

For a long time Yami didn't move, holding the ball in his hand, trying to figure out what every color meant.

Then suddenly Bakura's cold hands closed Yami's hand around the ball, and it disappeared.

Yami raised his gaze to meet Bakura.

Bakura immediately let his hands drop back to his sides.

"We should get back to Yugi's place," he said and turned around.

When Bakura was crossing the street, Yami caught a thought, one single thought through their Mind Link

'I can't get away from this without talking.'

A/N: *Is hiding with the big lion* You don't know where I am!