Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Not Who They Used To Be ❯ Final Chapter ( Chapter 8 )

A/N - Final chapter at last! It should wrap up pretty much everything between Ryou and Bakura. Also, look for a short chapter that I will be posting on mediaminer.org sometime, it's a short SetoxYami lemon. Please r/r!

Not Who They Used To Be, Final Chapter

Bakura was startled awake, not knowing he had fallen asleep, when the phone rang. He quickly got up and answered it, hoping it wouldn't bother Ryou.

"Hello?" He asked quietly.

"Bakura? How is he?" It was Yugi and Bakura sighed with relief.

"Sleeping still I think," Bakura responded. On the other line, Yugi sighed.

"How are you holding up? Joey and I could come over if you like," Yugi offered, trying to help but Bakura declined his offer.

"Sorry Yugi, but I need to take care of him myself, he needs to know that I won't hurt him," Bakura explained. There was a pause as Yugi decided whether or not the answer was a good enough one to keep him from coming over anyway. He sighed again and agreed, telling Bakura to call him if he needed anything before hanging up.

Bakura put the phone down and walked back over to Ryou, resuming his earlier vigil over the young boy. He was relieved to see that he was still asleep and hadn't been awakened by the phone.

As his mind drifted off, he realized that it would be easier if he had the phone sitting next to him instead of running to get it every time it rang.

Getting up once again, Bakura grabbed the cordless phone and brought it with him, once again watching over Ryou.

After a few hours of silent watching, Ryou slowly began to wake, his eyes fluttered open and he looked around, finally looking at Bakura. Bakura gave him a small, rare smile and stayed quiet, not wanting to scare him. Ryou simply stared at him, then got up and dazedly walked to the bathroom, locking himself in. Bakura sighed sadly and decided to wait until he came out by cooking some breakfast for the two of them. He didn't go to too much trouble; he had a feeling that Ryou probably wouldn't eat very much.

About ten minutes had passed before Bakura heard the bathroom door open and Ryou walked into the kitchen. It was a good thing to see that Ryou's eyes were no longer blank, but he was obviously still in pain.

"Are you hungry, Ryou?" He asked gently, hoping not to startle him. Ryou stared at the table and nodded, but barely, Bakura almost didn't see it. Ryou looked ashamed - as if he had done something terrible.

"...I'm sorry, Bakura," Ryou whispered. Bakura nearly dropped the plate he was holding in shock; his eyes widened and he quickly turned to Ryou; he masked the hurt he felt when Ryou didn't call him 'Kura like he usually did.

"What do you mean? Why would you be sorry?" Bakura asked, placing the food in front of Ryou. Ryou stared at it, but didn't eat it. Bakura gently prodded him into it by handing him a fork so he could eat the eggs, but all Ryou did was poke at it.

"What I did to you, I'm so sorry," Ryou sniffed and Bakura quickly wrapped his arms around him.

"Don't apologize, Ryou, if anything I should be apologizing; I couldn't save you," he said, holding back his tears so that he didn't make things any worse for Ryou.

"But I shouldn't have let him...I should have stayed hidden and told Yugi not to answer the door...I could have prevented it all but I didn't because I'm so stupid," Ryou said, his voice was so full of self-loathing that Bakura felt his heart break in two.

"Please don't say such things; no one thinks that, you were the victim, Ryou. Don't blame yourself," Bakura said, he grabbed the fork and slowly began feeding Ryou, as the boy had nothing to say to Bakura after that.

Once the plate was empty, Bakura stood and took the dishes to the sink, placing them in there and filling the sink with water. He washed the dishes, every once in a while looking over at Ryou who seemed especially interested in his hands that were placed neatly on his lap.

"Was there anything else I could get you, Ryou?" Bakura asked.

"No thank you, 'Kura," Ryou said. Bakura smiled softly - he'd remembered to say 'Kura, hopefully that meant he was slowly feeling a little better, maybe he had gotten to him. Bakura quickly finished the dishes and walked back over to Ryou, helping him out of his chair, Ryou gratefully accepted his help and stood, leaning on him as he walked to the couch where he'd slept and sat down. Bakura turned to leave; he figured that Ryou should have some time alone, but instead the smaller boy grabbed hold of the bottom of his shirt, preventing him from leaving.

"Please stay with me, 'Kura?" Ryou sounded so small that Bakura immediately sat next to him, hoping that by being there he would help him. Ryou timidly took the remote off the table and turned on the TV, then handed the remote to Bakura. Bakura looked at him, questioningly until he realized that Ryou was trying to be nice to him, as if he was afraid of disappointing him. Bakura moved closer and held Ryou against him, wrapping his arm around him and pulling the blankets over them.

"You don't have to act like you're worried I'll be disappointed, Ryou. Nothing you do could disappoint me," Bakura gave him a tiny squeeze of reassurance and handed the remote back to him, placing it in his small hand and wrapping his fingers around it. "You choose," Bakura whispered and kissed the top of Ryou's head, laying it on his shoulder. Ryou seemed to meld into Bakura's side after that and started flipping through the channels for something to watch, he eventually turned to some made-for-TV movie and stopped, looking up at Bakura for approval. It wasn't of Bakura's taste, but if Ryou wanted to watch it, then it was fine with him. He smiled in answer to Ryou's silent questioning and was delighted to see the edges of Ryou's cracked lips turn upwards just slightly; he hated it when Ryou looked so sad. Bakura held him closer and turned to watch the TV, resting his cheek on top of Ryou's head; he fell asleep not long after, tired from such little sleep.

[Ryou's POV]

I'm glad 'Kura isn't mad at me. After what happened with Seto, I was so worried that I had hurt him and I lost myself. I was wrapped up in my thoughts and then this morning when he spoke to me, I felt my heart lighten just slightly. I was and am still terribly hurt by what happened with Seto, but as long as I have Bakura, I know I'll be able to get over it. At first, it may have seemed like no one would be able to help me, but in reality I just had to blank out for a while so I could get over it. Having others around me at that time wasn't going to help me and the only person that can other than myself, is 'Kura.

When we sat down to watch TV, I was nervous, even though he had told me it wasn't my fault, I still felt like I had hurt him and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to make him happy instead of always disappointing him. It seemed I had done that so often that I wanted to make it up to him. Then once again, he changed my mind as he told me that nothing I did could disappoint him. I relaxed into the soft hold he had on me, I had missed it because I had worried I would never know what it was like again.

I know that right now he is sleeping. He must have stayed up most of the night watching over me, which was another reason I felt I had done something wrong but right now I'm not so worried. Gently, I switched my position and laid down on the couch, pulling 'Kura over me like a blanket; luckily he remained asleep. He was surprisingly comfortable like this and not heavy at all. He seemed to notice the change and began making himself more comfortable; he slid down between my back and the couch, arms wrapped around me and his head still resting on mine. I smiled and pulled the blanket up more to cover us up to our shoulders and soon I fell asleep as well.

I woke up a little while later when the phone rang. It was on the floor by the couch, so I guess 'Kura had moved it over when he was watching over me. It was a good thing too because I didn't want to disturb him, he was completely stuck between me and the couch, one arm and one leg wrapped around me and his head buried in my hair. I picked up the phone and answered, surprised that my voice sounded so scratchy and sad.

"Hello?" I asked. There was a long pause on the other end but I knew someone was there because I could hear them breathing.

"...Ryou?" It was Yugi and it didn't surprise me, he was always worrying about his friends, it made a small smile cross my lips.

"Yeah, it's me. Hi, Yugi," I said.

"Y-you're all right!" Yugi sounded so full of relief that it almost made me want to cry from all the guilt I felt; I hadn't meant to make anyone worry so much about me. I choked back a sob and I immediately worried Yugi again which only made it worse and I started crying softly. It woke 'Kura and I felt him take the phone from me.

"Who is it?" he asked, he sounded a little upset at Yugi, thinking he had upset me. Bakura spoke for a few seconds, telling Yugi that it was all right and he would call back later; Yugi must think it's his fault and it's not surprising but it didn't help my tears. 'Kura threw the phone back onto the floor and rubbed my back gently, not saying anything. It was good, I needed to cry and I think he knew that. I cried until I had no tears left and the whole time 'Kura rubbed my back and held me comfortingly. Once I had finished, he pulled me closer and kissed my head, wrapping his arms around me. I smiled softly and put my hands over his, falling asleep soon after.

It seemed I would be better soon thanks to him.

One week later and I feel much better than I thought I would. Since that first time, I cried more often just so I could get everything out and each time, 'Kura was at my side, comforting me. I was really grateful for it and a few days passed before I decided to let him know how much.

'Kura had almost immediately said no but explained before I could think he didn't want me. He told me that he didn't want me to do it just because I wanted to thank him, he wanted me to be ready so I told him that I was more ready than I was ever going to be and he couldn't argue. So, very gently, he made love to me and I forgot about Yami and Seto and imagined it as my first time - the way I wanted it to be. It was more than I had ever expected, 'Kura was even gentler than I thought possible and I was glad I had let him.

I was now sitting with him on the couch, the two of us curled in a blanket together, eating and watching TV. We had met with the others earlier that day so we could talk. We all needed to get over everything and the others needed to know that I was all right. I was glad to see them, I missed them and as much as I love 'Kura, I needed the company of the others. I yawned and cuddled against 'Kura, handing him the bowl of popcorn.

"Tired, Ryou?" He asked and I nodded against him, closing my eyes. He chuckled softly and wrapped an arm around me, allowing me to fall asleep against him instead of moving me to be alone in bed because I know he is far from tired.

"I love you, 'Kura," I said quietly, he squeezed me gently and kissed the top of my head, he seemed to be doing that often.

"I love you too, Ryou," his soft voice responded. With that gentle reassurance, I fell asleep, the fear of anything bad happening finally gone and allowing me a good rest at last.

[End]

A/N - I hope you liked it...Sorry if there was anything missing, if there was please let me know. I'm glad to have finally finished this ^^;

~Happy 'Lil Slasher~