Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Anything For You ❯ The Outdoors ( Chapter 20 )

Silver Fang: Thank you.

Lupusdragon: The cops seemed to know Ryan. Maybe that's why they didn't press the issue. They'll be back, though.

Lunara Moonbeam: I LOVE Ryou's hair. Steven cut it to show dominance over his son (and also control). But also because he tried to ask for help..punishable offense.

Starfire: My email address is on my profile. Feel free to email me.

Gralnak: We next see Ryou after everything has happened. In a short answer ….Yes. tim did that to Ryou.

Heatherchan: Yeah, you're right about Ryou, Jessica, and Tim. We see Ryou after.

Dragondreamer: Hmm…the answer is yes…which question did I answer? Only YOU know….

AMT: *bows down to cheese-power * Steven is soooooooo gonna pay!

Negacat: Oh…Steven will die…and I'm thinking of having a voter poll on how Steven dies…Reviewers can donate implements of destruction to Bakura and Marik.

The Outdoors

Aten sat in the living room with Steven and Ryan. Aten watched as the men poured wine and laughed. He sat by the window watching the woods and looking for the rabbit that he saw the day before.

"Here, bunny wabbit….where did you go?"

Aten put his hand on the glass and sang quietly to himself:

You are my sunshine

My onee sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gay

You nebber no beer, how mush I lob you

So don't take my sunshine away….

Aten looked hard for the rabbit repeating his song over and over again. Steven came over to him.

"Boy, what are you looking for?"

"I'm wooking for my bunny wabbit."

Steven takes Aten's hand and leads him away from the window and sits him on a chair by the fireplace. Steven sat on the couch and Aten shifted off of the chair.

"Look what I can do!"

Aten proceeded to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with hand motions.

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Went up the water spout

Down came the rain and

Wassed the spider out

Then the sun came out and dwied up all the wain

Then the itsy bitsy spider

Went up the spout again

Aten jumped and clapped at his song. Steven reached over to the table and threw a pencil and paper over his shoulder onto the floor behind him.

"Whatever, kid. Sit down and draw…Stay out of my way," Steven said unenthused and rolling his eyes.

"You no wike my song?"

Steven glared at Aten. "Go draw, kid."

Aten looked up at Ryan. "Did you wike my song?"

"As much as I love a finger up the ass, kid…now go draw."

Aten shifted his gaze between the two men giving him dirty looks. Aten disappeared behind the couch drawing and signing quietly:

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands
If you're happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Aten turned around to Steven and Ryan. "Do you have any cwayons?"

"Kid, do you know when to be quiet?"

"I need a wed crayon for my pisher."

Ryan stepped beside Aten. "Do you really need something red to color that paper with?" Ryan clenched his fist tightly.

Aten nodded. "The horsie wants to be wed."

"Make the horsie another color, kid. What horse is colored red?"

The men laughed as Aten returned to his drawing.

"I not make a pisher for Unkie Seto in a long time…maybe I should make him a pisher!"

Aten drew a picture of a Blue Eyes White Dragon. Along the side, he drew the glyphs. Underneath the picture, Aten wrote: To my Unkie Seto and Unkie Puppy…I wuv you!"

Aten stood up and saw a bunch of envelopes sitting on a coffeetable. Aten grabbed the pile of bills and the bills fell to the ground. Aten found a return envelope for the electric bill and folded his paper. Aten looked at the envelope and held the pencil. He didn't know how to address a letter. On the outer part of the envelope, he wrote: KibaCorp. Unkie Seto….Pwease give to him. Fwom Aten Bakari Ishtar."

Aten ran to the door and put it outside.

Aten walked away and the letter came back in. He heard it and pushed it out again.

Aten grabbed the envelope and stuck his hand outside the window. "Give this to Unkie Seto…"

The little boy stood by the door waiting for the letter to slip through the door. When it didn't, he turned away and returned to the room.

"Anyway, Cinetti was such a great guy," Steven said as Aten tugged on his pants. "What, kid?"

"I wanna pway," the chibi said with large, wide eyes. "Can you pway with me?"

Steven gulped his drink. "I'm busy, kid."

Aten returned to the pile of papers on the floor and drew a picture of his mother.

***Aten's POV***

I drawed a nice pisher of my mommy for him. My mommy woved my pishers. I wonder where my mommy was. My mommy weft the kishen with the lady who held me and that meanie-boy! I no like him. He mean. I no like meanies. They scawy.

When my mommy came into the wiving woom, I weft my paper and pencil…I ran to my mommy and wapped my arms around his legs.

"Mommy! You're back! I missed you!"

Mommy no look down at me. Mommy walked slowly to the window. He looked like me after I pway too hard. He no could walk wight. Maybe he wan too fast. I do that..when Aria chases me awound the back yard, my wegs get sore and I become all wimpy. That must be what mommy did. He wan too fast.

I went to mommy and hugged him again. Mommy never walked by me before. I wonder why mommy no see me.

"Mommy? Mommy?"

****************

Ryou looked out of the window to the outside world which seemed nothing more than a distant memory. The outside……the safe outdoors….no safety inside. Trapped.

The white-haired boy closed his eyes as his father's laughter glided across the room with Jessica and Tim's entrance. Why was he laughing? Why? Did he know what Jessica and Tim planned? From the look on Steven's face…dazed oblivion….probably from the wine. But Tim and Jessica blocked the only route of escape. Escape.

Aten ran to his mother and laid a gentle hand on Ryou's thigh. Ryou's gaze remained on the outside….fixed. Looking. Searching. Praying. Hoping…to see Bakura and Marik.

"Mommy? Mommy?"

Aten's quiet voice echoed somewhere in Ryou's brain. It didn't register. All that registered was….

// It's either you or Aten, Ryou…you have the choice. // that came from Jessica's lips.

\ You almost got us caught! \ Tim's voice cracked as loud as his slaps to the cheek.

"Mommy?"

Ryou looked down at Aten, still with his long hair, looking up at him with his face flushed with concern. Ryou had just sacrificed himself…thrown himself in harm's way to protect this little chibi from the abuse of Tim. As Ryou looked into Aten's purple and brown eyes, he was reminded of what he was fighting for. Why he substituted himself for Aten. Because he loved his son.

Ryou looked down at Aten with a blank stare. The little boy stepped in front of him and lifted his arms up into the air.

"Mommy, can you hold me? Pick me up."

Ryou took Aten's tiny hand in his own and looked at how different it was from his own. Marik had beautiful dark skin…his offspring was no different. The gold in Aten's hair almost sparkled as the light came in through the windows. Ryou looked at his own hands….his wrists now marked with bruises and a cut.

"Mommy? Pick me up? Can you hold me, mommy?"

Ryou ran his hands to under Aten's arms to pick him up. For a moment, Ryou stared Aten in the eyes….reminding himself of what he just did for the love he bore his son. He put the tiny chibi on his lap as Aten reached for Ryou's shirt. When he clasped onto the material, Aten nuzzled his cheek into Ryou's chest.

"I love you, mommy," Aten said curling up to Ryou's chest.

Ryou buried his face into Aten's hair squinting his eyes letting the tears fall one by one.

"I love you, too, my angel…my beautiful little boy."

*************

Bakura looked at the scenery pass as they drove to the diner on the news. His mind drifted to the possibilities…was Ryou hurt? How was his heart standing under the stress? Was he taking his medication? It was ingenious how Ryou helped him find the letter in the ventilation system. The letter was removed from his picket againa nd he looked at the red stain on the corner. Marik's eye floated down to the paper for a glimpse as they rode down the highway.

"Penny for your thoughts," Marik said changing langes.

"I wonder what that bastard is doing to his son. I know he has him and I feel…something is wrong. But without the link, I can't say for sure."

"But you have the ring back. Why can't you feel him?"

"There's a block on the link. I'm not sure if he even knows where he is. I just have this instinct…this feeling something is wrong…but Ryou isn't or can't tell me."

Bakura paused as his finger grazed over the stain. "Ryou hasn't closed the link in a long time. The last time he closed the link is before he went for his heart operation. He told me he didn't want me to feel hwo…uncomfortable he was. My Ryou…Marik…we have to find him."

"We will, Bakura. Even if I have to chase him for the rest of eternity, I'll find him. I'm not going to give up on Aten. Steven isn't going to have his eyeballs left when I'm done with him. I will be the last thing he ever sees in his mortal life." Marik shook his head. If Steven thinks he can get away with this, he is mistaken…terribly mistaken…Exit 427.."

Marik pulled off at the exit. The road lead to a wooded area when they saw a diner sign in the distance. The yamis curled their lips and narrowed their eyes. Marik pulled into the diner and Bakrua jumped out of the car.

Marik gripped the Millenium Rod and slammed the car door. Bakura sniffed the air.

"No blood here."

Bakura and Marik stepped into the diner and sat down at one of the booths. A waitress came over and Bakura looked up at her. "We want the waitress who identified Ryou Bakura and Aten Ishtar."

Marik added a `please' as Bakura barked his demand. The waitress left and the lady who identified Ryou approached the table.

The woman looked at the two and looked especially at Bakura. "You look just like him…is he your twin?"

"Do you still have that drawing?" Marik asked wanting news of Aten and the mysterious drawing.

"The police took the original..I have the copy. Hold on." The waitress ran behind the counter and handed the copy to Marik. "We kept it in case anyone came to inquire about the boys."

Marik looked at the picture and the concluding, "I love you, daddy." Marik dropped the paper on the table and buried his face in his hands. "My son…Aten."

The waitress leaned to Marik. "He was your son? He was a real cutie."

Marik looked up at her trying to contain himself. "He's my only son. I just…want to hold my boy."

"They headed north. That is all we know."

"Didn't anyone notice them leaving?" Bakura asked almost irritated.

"The cooks are in the back. Me and the others were serving the customers. We never have any problems with people leaving without paying."

Bakura and Marik ordered something to drink and Marik pulled out the map. "There's nothing to the north but woods. That rat found himself a nice place to hide. Miss, are there homes in this wooded area?"

"There are some, but not many. There's one house that's a half hour, one hour and there are townhouses just outside the boundaries of the woods. There's a few cabins in the woods, too. You could try there."

The waitress left.

Bakura sighed. "That's a large area to search. This is like finding a golden hairpin buried in the desert with no metal detector.

Marik nodded and sighed himself. "That makes this look impossible. We can do this. We'll have to check all the homes we see and leave no stone unturned."

Bakura looked at the map seeing the amount of hiding space where Steven could be hoarding Ryou.