Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Hope lost, and found? ❯ Caring ( Chapter 5 )

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~Recap

Everything in the room was quiet until…~

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Chapter 5

Caring

…Bakura spoke up quietly, "My voice is back"

Yami nodded, "That's good, is it hurting?"

Bakura looked like he wanted to say no but, "Actually it does," he admitted still in that oddly quiet voice. He tried to stifle a yawn but he couldn't. Yami smiled, "You can sleep in a minute but you have to eat first"

Isis waved frantically from the background, Seth murmured to Yami, "His voice is not alright, if he isn't careful he'll lose it again. And he'll probably lose it even if he is careful."

Bakura nodded sleepily, "Whatever you say…" he mumbled, quite clearly not taking in a single word of what was being said. Yami shook his head, and walked back to the bed. He dumped Bakura ungracefully on the bed which woke him up soon enough, spluttering and calling out to Yami, "Why exactly did you feel the need to throw me like a sack of potatoes, Pharaoh?"

Strangely enough Yami was still smiling. He turned his back on Bakura and went to the table to get one of the plates of food, he didn't answer Bakura. He took a slice of peach and held it out to Bakura "Eat," he softly commanded. Bakura looked from the fruit to Yami and surprisingly did what he said; he took the slice from Yami's fingers and ate it up quickly. "Not so fast," Yami chided, "You might choke." Bakura simply glared at him, then stuck his tongue out. Seth sat down on the bed holding his forehead in his hands, Isis went on watching the curious scene unfold and Yami burst into laughter. When his laughter lessened he held out a piece of pear, Bakura stubbornly shook his head and turned away. Yami stared at his back thoughtfully for a moment then kept the pear back on the plate and moved towards Bakura who didn't see him because his back was turned. He sat just behind him and asked him, "Bakura? Are you by any chance ticklish?" Bakura turned in surprise and was starting to say, "Why do yo…?" and Yami started tickling him, he moved to the spot that seemed most sensitive, `His scalp…?' Yami wondered surprised. Finally when Bakura was nearly crying from laughter and he himself was sore in many spots from being hit by a stray arm or foot, Yami stopped. He grinned down at a new Bakura, he was relishing in the beautiful laughter that still spilled from him at intervals. He tried to stand up again and Yami shot up and swept him into his arms, off the ground. "Don't do that," Yami snapped, "It's dangerous, you don't have enough energy to support yourself!" Bakura sniffled, by this time Isis had already shoved Seth out and followed him out herself. Yami ignored it and kept him carefully on the bed. Bakura curled up into a fetal position and small sounds slipped out even though he was obviously trying to muffle them. Yami sighed and lay down beside him, he pulled Bakura towards himself and hugged him from behind, "It's alright, I'm sorry for shouting." he murmured things into the hair of the smaller boy who turned around and fell asleep for neither the first time nor last time in Yami's arms. Yami sighed once more, "I love you Bakura" The boy in his arms stirred but didn't wake up and Yami slowly extracted his limbs from the other boy's and with a last glance left the room. He walked through the cold halls to the warmth of the outside sun. He strolls along and eventually reaches the `North side' as they had christened the most beautiful part of the garden. He went to the wilder part and sat down behind a tree where he was less likely to be found. With his feet folded up and his head between his knees, Yami tried to think. `I said I loved him…more than once in fact. And I do. I know I do.' he sighed and shifted to a more comfortable spot. He leaned over to smell a lily and felt himself calm down instantly. "So what do I do?" he murmured unconsciously, "Tell him? But he hates me! And I thought I hated him" he uttered the last part as an afterthought. He fingered the petals of the lily he had been sniffing. Sounds of footsteps came from the direction of the palace; Yami looked up and saw Seth. Neither of them said anything, Seth sat down cross-legged beside Yami. Quietly they watched the sun set, "I didn't realize it had been so long," Yami spoke up. "Neither did I," Seth replied. The silence was comfortable; Yami stretched his arms and broke the peace, "Why are you here? Did Isis send you?"

Seth nodded, "She wanted me to tell you something, but I don't think I need to."

"Is it about Bakura?"

"Yes"

"She knows I love him?"

"Yes"

"Does she know when?"

"No, but we both know it must be before this final fight took place"

"Is that necessary?" Yami asked glancing at him once

"You didn't send him to the Shadow Realm." Seth replied without looking at him

"No…I didn't" he mumbled to himself, "Why didn't I?"

The sun had finished setting, Seth conjured up a ball of fire and told Yami gently, "We have to go, you must face Bakura sometime." Yami nodded and wordlessly followed him inside. Once they were inside they heard a lot of people talking, suddenly one person called out higher than the others, "Pharaoh! The Mother Healer wants you!"

Seth and Yami exchanged a look and started hurrying towards the middle wing where the living quarters of the healers were situated. They burst into Isis' room together. Isis turned around and motioned for them to be quiet. Seth nodded but Yami didn't seem to have even seen it. Like a zombie he walked towards the white bed. With silvery hair and pale ashen cheeks, the patient on it nearly melded into the bed. There were marks to show that he had recently been in a fight but the most obvious mark was the knife slash on one cheek. Isis went and stood next to him; Yami turned sideways and mouthed `how?' the horror could only be seen in his eyes. They didn't seem to blaze quite as easily as before. Seth stepped forward and took one hand of each and pulled them out of the room. "We'll be able to talk more easily now," he explained when they were outside

Yami nodded and turned to Isis again, "How?" he asked again

Isis seemed to have aged ten years, "An assassin had come into your room. He apparently poured poison in the food that you two had not eaten. After that he tried to take the Puzzle, Bakura woke up while he was doing so. He fought with the man, he won but the man was nearly twice his size. He paid the prize, he cares a lot more for you than you thought, Pharaoh."

Seth interrupted, "That means he knew that if Yami was separated from the Puzzle he would die? But he didn't know about the spell connecting him to Yami?"

Isis nodded yes. "Will he die, Isis?" Yami asked

"No," Isis gently replied, "But he might be in shock for some time. He had not recovered enough from his previous experience, physically or mentally to face through this."

"He could have died," Yami whispered with his head in his hands. Then he suddenly looked up, "And the assassin? Have you caught him?" his eyes blazed in an unearthly way. Isis frowned, "Yes, but. Yami!" she exclaimed when he ignored her and started walking away purposefully towards the dungeons, Seth ran and caught him from behind, "Listen, and then do whatever you want," he said coolly.

Yami released himself from Seth and folded his hands; frowning, "Yes?" he asked Isis his voice as cold as nothing seen in the hot lands of Egypt. Isis shivered mentally, "Bakura needs to recover, right now he's only holding out because you're alive and well. That's all good and well but it all means that you have to go on being strong for him. If you start hating and try to shut yourself off then you'll probably close the connection with him as well."

"And then only Ra himself can save him," Seth finished

Yami looked helplessly from one to the other but they looked stolidly back at him. He sighed, "What can I do? I feel this rage inside me that I couldn't help him. It was my fault that he got hurt anyway!"

Seth softened, "It's your fault that he's alive right now. If it weren't for you he would have had more than three chances to die already."

Isis added her agreement. "Now come on, you have to eat and then go to sleep. You'll probably have a hard day tomorrow."

Yami shook his head stubbornly, "At least let me stay near Bakura. Trade rooms with me Isis, please?"

Isis sighed, "But contact me if it looks like there is going to be a problem"

Yami nodded, "I will."

"And you still have to eat," Seth added. To their surprise Yami agreed willingly. Seeing the look on their faces, "Since I'm sharing my strength with Bakura I have to eat properly for him to get better. Enjoy the willingness while it lasts"

"Oh, we will" Seth and Isis replied in unison, grinning. Yami smiled suddenly remembering how they all got into the habit of speaking together. Seth looked at him curiously, "Share the joke, Yami."

"Do you remember the time we played hooky and every time anyone asked us what we were doing, we answered together and from different parts of the palace?"

Seth started smiling and Isis giggled, "Oh yes, and one of the more obnoxious ones grew so irritated that…"

"He nearly blew up everything within fifty meters." finished Seth chuckling

"Rather unlucky for him since he was in my father's room, no?" said Yami sniggering.

In a few minutes the three were laughing out loud and reliving memories, "That really cheered me up," Yami said when they had finally stopped laughing. Isis nodded while Seth looked around, "What's wrong Seth? Afraid that someone will find out that the big cold-hearted priest was spanked when he was young for having too many candies?" Yami teased

"No. I'm more worried that everyone will find out that our Pharaoh, Ra on earth started crying because an ant came near him" was the reply

"I didn't start crying, there was something in my eye," protested Yami

"Oh, of course! That must have been what happened," said Seth sarcastically.

They were walking towards the kitchen now to pick up some food. In a few minutes they were back in the corridor standing behind the dark brown door. They had been arguing until Yami shook his head and told them that he was sure they were in ear-shot of Bakura, they couldn't risk waking him up. "The pain," Isis had explained, "would be much more obvious if he's awake. I don't think he could take It." she had added, "Or anyone else for that matter". They went inside with quiet, muffled steps. Isis sat in the healer's chair beside the bed, Seth sat in the visitor's chair a safe distance away but Yami sat right on the bed beside Bakura. For a moment he seemed lost in thought while fondling Bakura's face but then he came to himself and smiled at the other two. He turned to his food and ate it up quickly. He asked Isis, "What if he has a nightmare or something?"

Isis looked troubled, "He might but I can't give him a potion for that, some of the pain reducing potions I`ve given him would react very badly with that"

Yami said, "Can I contact him telepathetically?"

Isis looked at him curiously, "Well, by all known records you should be able to…but why?"

Yami blushed, Seth had looked up from his food and was scrutinizing him carefully, "No reason," he said

Isis was very interested by now but decided to leave it be, Seth was a different matter, "Oooh, the wittle Pharaoh is in wuv" he said putting on a fake baby accent to tease Yami. Yami glared at him and said, "So what if I am?"

Seth stopped and once again looked at him carefully, "So what if you are?" he answered shrugging. Soon the other two left to go to sleep and Yami was left alone with Bakura.

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Yea! I didn't put a cliffy Congratulate me. Anyway, I won't be here from the 21st of December to the 31st so I can't update then, alright? Please read and review.