Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Return To Paradise ❯ Never Let You Go ( Chapter 45 )

Never Let You Go

Bakura opened his eyes as a single beam of light slipped through the opening in the curtains. He rubbed his eyes and shivered with a chill.

“Ryou, you're freezing!”

Ryou didn't answer.

Bakura looked down at Ryou, a smile on his face. The yami smiled. “You're so beautiful.” He kissed Ryou's forehead and shivered. “Ryou?”

Bakura gently touched Ryou's cold shoulder and he felt his chest seize. “Sweet Osiris…”

Bakura placed two fingers on the side of Ryou's neck.

No pulse.

Bakura tried to tilt Ryou's chin upwards, but the body was stiff. “Oh gods….Ry.”

Bakura bit his lip as his eyes filled with tears. “No….please no.”

“Blessed Osiris.” Bakura gently shook Ryou's shoulder again. “Ryou…open your eyes, angel.”

Ryou remained still, a peaceful smile on his face.

“Ryou….my Light,” Bakura closed his eyes tightly and buried his face in Ryou's hair. “I love you, Ry. Sweet Osiris, know that I love him!”

Bakura caressed Ryou's cheek softly as he clutched onto Ryou's body. “My beloved angel.” Bakura's fingertips lightly brushed against Ryou's cheek.

A quiet knocking sounded on the door. “Who is it?”

“Isis, Spirit of the Millennium Ring.”

The door opened slowly and Bakura looked up at Isis, his eyes were filling with tears.

“Isis, he's gone.” Bakura clutched onto Ryou and sobbed, kissing Ryou's white hair.

Isis looked down. “So it has happened. Ryou has died.”

Bakura rubbed his cheek against Ryou's soft, white hair. “He's dead…my precious angel is dead. My everything, my world, my beautiful Ryou is dead.”

Isis stepped towards the side of the bed and looked down at Ryou's body. “He did not die in pain, Bakura.”

Bakura pet Ryou's hair lovingly as he began to sob. “I thought when Ryou and Malik had died that only Ishtar and I would be alone again. Isis, I…I never thought I would do this, but, I need you to get the scroll.”

“Do you mean the scroll of-?”

Bakura nodded. “I can't live without him, Isis. I cannot face an eternity without the one I love.”

Isis smiled. “I will return.”

Bakura closed his eyes tightly and buried his face in Ryou's hair, crying. “Ryou. Why?”

Bakura's POV

I cradled Ryou's body against me. Ryou's hair is so soft. So many times was it unfurled against a pillow and draping down his shoulders, giving him an angelic appearance. I kissed those lips on so many occasions. I love those lips.

I gave those lips one last kiss. Those lips are cold.

I cradled Ryou against me, afraid to let him go. I love him so much. Ryou has been a part of my afterlife that I cannot relinquish easily.

I will have him back.

I gripped onto Ryou tightly as I felt myself shiver. My connection with Ryou has been severed. The other half of my soul is missing, gone, dead.

My shivering couldn't stop. My muscles felt as if they were set ablaze. Someone had grabbed my heart and was squeezing it. If my heart actually did beat, this would have been even more painful. I began to quietly sing a song I had sung to myself five thousand years ago as I languished in Yami's dungeon.

The Hymn to the Dead.

Isis returned with the scroll I needed. I now understand why Marik brought Aten back from the grave. He couldn't live without his son as much as I couldn't live without Ryou. I slipped from Ryou's arms and slowly walked towards the door.

“Isis, stay here with Ry. I have to travel to the Underworld first before I do this.”

“Why, Spirit? Resurrect him now.”

Bakura sighed. “If Ryou does not wish to be resurrected, I will allow him to rest. I will respect his wishes. Perhaps if Marik had asked his son the same question, he could have avoided much pain. Do not let the Ishtars in here. I'm counting on you.”

Isis bowed her head. “I will do as you say.”

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

Bakura landed on lush, fertile grass. The yami stood rubbing his ass. “Damn it, I keep telling Marik we need to put pillows there or something! Getting to the Land of the Dead shouldn't be a pain in the ass.

“Bakura!” a voice called to him from nearby. Bakura smiled as he saw Ryou run towards him, his arms wide open, smiling.

“Ryou! My Ryou!” Bakura opened his arms and wrapped them around Ryou when the hikari threw himself at his yami. Bakura kissed Ryou's tender lips and his cheeks. “I love you, Ry!”

Ryou kissed Bakura's lips hungrily and held his yami close. “I'm sorry, baby. I tried to call to you, but my mother had told me what had happened.”

Bakura caressed Ryou's cheek. “Baby, I have something serious to ask you.”

A splash in the water took Bakura's attention. He turned his head and saw a little boy with white hair playing in the water. He looked up at Bakura and smiled.

Bakura looked at the child and held onto Ryou tightly. “Thien…”

Ryou smiled. “Mother told me who he is.” Ryou looked at Bakura with a happy smile. “He's played in the Nile for five thousand years. He misses his father.”

Bakura watched the toddler run towards him and smile. The boy hugged Bakura's leg and rubbed his cheek against Bakura's knee.

Bakura released Ryou and kneeled before the boy. “How are you, my child?”

The child nodded quietly with a grin. The boy reached out and touched Bakura's cheek.

Bakura reached for the child slowly and cupped the boy's cheek in his hand. “I'm sorry, Ilthien. I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe. I couldn't protect you from the pharaoh's fury.”

The little boy stepped towards his father and hugged him tightly. Bakura brought the child into his arms and hugged him.

“Ryou, I have a serious question to ask you.”

Ryou rubbed the child's back and looked into Bakura's chocolate-brown eyes. “What is it, baby?”

“Ryou,” Bakura kissed Ilthien's forehead and looked at Ryou. “Do you wish to join me?”

“Join you? Where?”

“I offer you which has been bestowed upon me. Immortality.”

Ryou bit his lip nervously. “Immortality? Live forever with you?”

“I can understand if you do not wish to live forever, Ryou. I need you by my side. Without you, my soul feels incomplete. I have lost my confidant. I have lost my best friend. I have lost my lover.”

“Yami, we never discussed this.”

Bakura cuddled the child against him. “We can spend an eternity together, Ry. We will not die. We shall become immortal. However, if you wish to remain here in the Fields, I will not stop you. I will simply go home and inform the Ishtars and our daughter of your death.”

Ryou sighed. “What about Aten and Robbie? Can we perform the spell on them? Heaven will be able to have her fathers.”

“What about Yami Aten?”

“Yami Aten has been destroyed. Without the Light, the Darkness cannot survive.”

Bakura looked around. “We should ask them. If they do wish to accept our offer, Marik and I will have to exhume their bodies. Their bodies should still be intact.”

“What about Marik?”

“He will have his son back. I'm sure he wouldn't complain. Besides, he feels very guilty about killing him.”

Ryou nodded. “Aten bears him no ill will. He had to kill Yami Aten. Killing the Light gave the Darkness nowhere to go.”

Ryou and Bakura found the teens sitting beside a bubbling fountain. Aten waved to his mother and step-father.

“Father Bakura! Hello!”

Bakura smiled when he seen the teens. Ilthien jumped from Bakura's arms and ran to Aten. The child made clicking sounds with his tongue at Aten. The Egyptian teen chuckled and pat the boy's head.

“Aten, how are you feeling?”

“Death is exhausting, but otherwise, Robbie and I are fine.”

Robbie nodded. “How are my parents? Are they alright?”

“Your mother and father are crushed, Robert. Your father is heartbroken, to be honest.”

Robbie looked down sadly. “I was afraid of that. Mom lost all her kids. They were hoping to have at least me live until I reached my twenty-first birthday. I guess that never happened.”

“Robbie, Aten, I have come to ask your mother to accept undeath and live with me for eternity in the mortal world.”

Robbie's eyes widened. “Really? What did you say, Ryou?”

“I haven't answered yet,” Ryou said. “I wanted to know if you would want the same.”

Aten took Robbie's hand. “That is a difficult decision.”

“If Mom and Dad are missing us, Aten, maybe we should consider it. We have Heaven up there. She needs us.”

Aten sighed. “I know Heaven means a lot of you, Robbie.”

“What about Yami Aten?”

“Only one soul can live in Paradise. My father destroyed him.”

Robbie sighed. “My parents would be happy to have us back and we would be together.”

“My father would be happy to have me back.”

Ryou looked at Bakura and caressed the yami's cheek. “Yami, I accept your offer. I know you have always viewed your immortality as a curse, but perhaps together we will make it the best curse you have ever experienced.”

Bakura chuckled. “That's an interesting way of putting it.”

“Do you think my parents would object to having us around the house until they die?”

Aten shrugged. “I doubt it. We can take care of them like they took care of us.”

Robbie looked at Bakura. “Alright, Bakura. You have a deal.”

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

A bright light filled the room, blinding both Bakura and Isis. Bakura and Isis watched the trembling figure in the bed. The frozen corpse's eyes shot open and gasped sharp for breath.

Bakura rolled the scroll. “This the worst part of becoming immortal-taking the first breath. It hurts like a bitch.”

Ryou panted heavily for breath as Bakura took his hand. Ryou looked up at Bakura and began to cry. Bakura leaned over and hugged Ryou. “Shh, baby. It's over now. Easy there, baby. Deep breaths. Good boy. That's it.”

Ryou clasped onto Bakura tightly. The gasping figure trembled violently as he gripped onto Bakura. “Cold.”

Bakura tucked Ryou under the covers. “I know. Stay under the blankets until your body temperature rises. You've been dead for hours.”

“I will get some soup for him.”

“Get something simple like broth. We don't want to shock him.”

Bakura laid beside Ryou and caressed the hikari's cheek lightly. “It's all right, Ry.”

Bakura kissed Ryou's forehead. “We'll have an eternity together, Ry.”

Ryou looked into Bakura's eyes. “I love you, yami.”

Bakura smiled. “I'm not your yami anymore. We are equals.”

“Baby, there's something I want to do before we bring back Robbie and Aten.”

“What's that, angel?”

Ryou swallowed and licked his parched lips. “I want to find my father in the Shadow Realm.”

“Ryou? Are you feeling alright?”

Ryou nodded. “Aten will not know peace as long as my father remains in his state of Undeath. We must eliminate him so Aten can enjoy his afterlife. As his mother, I owe it to him.”