Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chances ❯ The Judgement ( Chapter 10 )

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh!!

AR: *looks outside and sighs dreamily* The last bit of snow melted last week, but then a new snowstorm came yesterday, along with freezing rain. So now we have three inches of snow under a sheet of ice!!! It's so sparkly and pretty and cool-looking. Plus, SNOW DAY!!!!! *coughs* So to speak, anyway...even my cherry blossom tree has a thin layer of ice on the branches!!

Diane: ^_^ I like looking at the icicles, they're long and pointy and sparkly!! *breaks one off and starts licking it*

AR: oO;; u've destroyed the best icicle!!

Diane: *shrugs* Oops...

~!@#$%^&*)(_+~!@#$%^&*)(_+

The days seemed to crawl by for Bakura, for there seemed to be nothing to help him take his mind off of his beloved hikari. Then again, he did not want to ever let his mind wander off of Ryou. He was slightly afraid of forgetting his love.

It was silly for him to think of that of course, but he couldn't help but be afraid.

He was starting to have nightmares that when he died, Ryou would run up to him and throw his arms around him, kissing him frantically. But then he would look at him blankly, and say that he didn't know him. The crushed look on Ryou's face in his dreams were what made him the most afraid.

The blue forget-me-nots tried to survive, but they eventually died, and Bakura carefully plucked off the petals to scatter in the winds. He watched as they danced on a chilling breeze, a indication that winter was almost upon them. The petals themselves seemed to be snowflakes drifting about.

A few days later, while the first fluffy snow fell, Bakura was in a small cafe drinking his expresso. He stared out the window, watching the snowflakes fall to the ground and gradually build up. It was amazing how such a beautiful thing like snow could fall at this time in his life.

Painfully he remembered how Ryou would just sit at the front stoop of their house and watch the snow fall, until he got too cold or it got too dark. It would catch in his already white hair, or his long eyelashes, or his pink tongue when he stuck it out. Bakura used to think it was childish of him to do that, but he secretly liked the way he looked after he got into the house. Rosy-cheeked, curled up by the fireplace so that he could warm up faster, a content smile on his face, sometimes he would fall asleep there and then Bakura would carry him up to his room.

'Oh gods, I miss him, even though I know that he's in heaven somewhere now,' he thought tiredly. Paying his check, he started walking around downtown Domino, wondering what he should do now. His cell phone started ringing when he was staring at a weaponry shop window, and he fumbled to pull it out of his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Bakura, it's Malik."

"Really? It doesn't sound like you, Ishtar." That was true, his voice was deeper than before, but it didn't have the insane quality to be Marik either. Plus, it sounded slightly stiff and awkward, which was unlike Malik.

"I need you to meet me at your house, right now."

"Why?"

"There's no time to explain. Just come, and then I'll tell you the whole story then. Alright?"

"Alright, fine," Bakura sighed, "But this had better not be a waste of my time, Ishtar."

He hung up immediately and started back towards his street, contemplating what one of his more trusted friends had asked for him to do. Why go to his own house? Why not go to Malik's house? And how did he know that Bakura wasn't at home?

He frowned slightly, there was something strange going on, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He still didn't know when he reached his house and opened the door. He was slightly surprised when he saw Malik sitting comfortably on one of the couches, but then shook it off.

"So, what's wrong, Malik?" he asked casually as he shed his coat and tossed it to the floor. Something flitted across Malik's eyes as he stood up.

"I am not Malik Ishtar."

Bakura's eyes widened and he whirled around when he unsheathed his dagger. He made no attempts to advance, and instead only stared at the albino with blank lavender eyes.

"Who are you?" he growled. He shrugged, and inspected the sharpness of the blade's edge.

"I am no longer living, so I had to use your friend's body in order to fufill Reaper's request. I must say, this friend of yours has a lot of weapons for a mortal."

His guard only went down a notch. "You know Reaper?"

"Yes. I find her a fascinating young creature, such happiness and carefree feelings, yet she kills swiftly and silently like myself. Must be why I became her friend in the first place." He grinned a sadistic smile, and licked the blade lightly.

"But we're getting off-topic. Now, Reaper told me that I must kill you, but it must look like a suicide. A bit on the simple side, but I can pull off anything. Anyway, how would you like to be killed? Quick with little pain or drawn out and bloody?"

Bakura grinned, whoever this guy was, he liked. "Drawn out and bloody."

Silently the spirit that was posessing Malik grabbed his wrist and sliced it to the bone, and Bakura watched fascinatedly as the blood immediately poured out in thick streams. The spirit repeated the action several times, so that there were five uneven cuts on each wrist, each one pouring out a dazzling amount of blood. Bakura ran his finger across one, licking his coppery tasting blood off. When he started feeling light-headed, he sat down on the couch, not caring that the blood was staining it's surface.

"Would you like to deliver the final blow?" the spirit asked, holding out the dagger, a small amount of blood on the edges. Bakura accepted it from him, pausing before the blade entered his chest.

"What will happen when I die?"

"I was given strict orders to take you to the judgement hall. Reaper and Ryou will be waiting there," he replied.

Brightened up by that fact, Bakura shoved the dagger deep within his chest, piercing his beating heart and causing blood to spurt out immediately. He didn't flinch at all, and instead sighed, sinking down deeper into the soft cushions. The blood showed a dark red against the cream colored couch.

"Can I see...what you really look like? And tell me your name..." he said softly, his breathing getting ragged and harsh. He nodded, then let Malik's body fall to the floor unconcious. For a few moments, there was only a dark haze that slowly took the form of a human, then gave way to startling details.

His skin was literally an ashy gray, and his eyes were as black as shadows. He gave off an aura that spoke of death, destruction and chaos, and his mouth was always in a mysterious smile. Had blood-red hair that rippled down to his earlobes, and wore black robes that draped from his shoulders and trailed down past his feet, with holes in it for his jet-black wings to go through. Bakura could see the hilt of a sword handing from his belt, and was sure he had plenty more weapons hidden in his robes.

"They call me Gabriolis, the Fallen One," he said, voice deep and rich [1]. Bakura nodded, then closed his eyes for the last time. His body when limp, and then his soul slowly rose, and stood next to the dark angel. It was such a strange sight, one almost completely black, and the other almost completely white.

"Take me to my hikari now, I am ready," he demanded, and Gabriolis just laughed, a chilling sound.

"Then get ready for a rough trip." Without warning he grabbed Bakura by the waist and flew up like a rocket taking off. They easily passed through walls and other material things, and in a matter of minutes Domino City was just a speck on the ground below. Bakura felt his stomach lurch, but he didn't scream or make any kind of noise. His mind was only locked on seeing Ryou again.

~!@#$%^&*)(_+

"Ryou?"

Reaper cautiously poked her black-haired head into his bedroom, curious when she saw that Ryou was sitting on the window seat with the window wide open.

"What are you doing?"

"It's snowing," he said quietly. Indeed it was, and there was already a thin layer of white powder on the ground below.

"I love it when it snows, and I love watching it fall. It always seemed magical..." He trailed off, and then reached over and shut the window firmly.

"Well, I came in here to let you know, that the judging of your soul is in twenty minutes. Be prepared," she cautioned. He nodded absentmindedly.

So the day had come, the day that Ryou would finally know if he would go to heaven or not. But Bakura still hadn't come back. And Ryou had been fast loosing faith, even though Reaper had been gently urging him to keep on believing.

Sighing sadly, he slowly tugged on a sweater over his T-shirt and went in search of the only friendly face in the castle. Grim was doing a very good job at avoiding him and not looking at him as little as possible. Unfortunately, she had to accompany them when they had to go to the judging.

"Rules and policies of the afterlife," Reaper whispered apologetically in his ear. "The people who helped finish the soul's business must attend his judging of the souls."

He nodded weakly to her, he didn't really register what she was saying anyway. His stomach seemed to have the butterflies for some reason.

Ryou loosely held the dark haired girl's hand, while she snapped her fingers with her other hand, eyes closed to concentrate on thought. With a small pop, they both vanished, reappearing in front of a giant stone building.

"Welcome," she said, smiling happily, "to the Hall of Judgement."

Even though Ryou still felt nervous, he was also in awe of the place. It was made entirely of white marble, and there were so many people dress in long trailing white robes. On the right half, there was a golden winged angel that was herding certain people to a giant door that led outside, and probably to the gates of heaven, Ryou assumed. On the left half, there was a black winged demon that was wiping blood away from the corners of his mouth, picking up people and tossing them carelessly through a door that was painted to look like it was on fire.

"Those are the messengers from both realms that help people along the path to their certain destinations," she explained. She pointed to the narrow hallway in front of them, filled with people waiting patiently in line for something.

"And this hallway leads to the judging room, where the four supreme angels make the judgement of your soul. The wait actually isn't as long as most people think it is, because all they do is take a vote on who wants you in heaven and who wants you in hell.Usually it's unanimous, or else one angel overrules another."

"NEXT!!" A voice boomed, and Ryou jumped back a little. Reaper gave a little cough to cover up a snicker. The first person in line went through the white doors and closed it shut. The black haired girl turned her attention to Grim, who suddenly popped up next to her.

"Well, at least the line isn't as bad as it usually is," she said, looking at where they were standing. "Sometimes it's near the front door, or way outside past the steps."

"Yeah," she agreed, "lucky that Ryou's judging was on a not so busy day."

Silence remained between the three people, watching as the line in front got shorter and shorter, while the line behind them started getting longer and longer. Finally when Ryou was standing in front of the white doors, and the male voice shouted for the next person to go in, Grim opened the door for all of them, and Ryou silently walked in. He barely heard Reaper whisper good luck to him, or see Grim shut the door to the small but cozy room.

It was furnished with leather chairs and dark stained oak wall panellings, and four people were sitting behind a long polished table. Three of the four were male, with handsome faces and comforting airs to them. The fourth was a female, beautiful and willowy, with a graceful look to her. Grim and Reaper sat themselves comfortably in the leather chairs closest to them, while Ryou just sat on the edge of his chair uncomfortably. He had the vague wish that Bakura was here to hold his hand, or whisper it would go alright.

"There is no need to be afraid, mortal, we're only going to ask a few questions, and then decide. Now, let's get started, shall we?" The man on the furthest right of the table said, the engraved gold nameplate proclaiming "Archangel Micheal".

"What is your name?"

Ryou's throat seemed to be stuck. "R-Ryou Bakura," he managed to rasp out.

The second man, his nameplate said "Angel Gabriel", flipped through a enormous book, and finally paused at one certain spot.

"Found it, let's see...not bad I suppose. Good soul, good heart, although abuse and pain always seem to come back into your life...commited suicide and then got reincarnated?"

"Girls?" the third man quieried, his said "Angel Daniel", and Reaper spoke first.

"If you may or may not know, Ryou carried the Millennium Ring, which contained a yami spirit, who called himself Bakura. He was from Ancient Egypt, then was imprisoned within the Item for tomb robbing."

Grim started speaking as well. "Bakura at first was very nice to Ryou, but then somehow found a way to create his own body. He took advantage of it and started beating Ryou. It got worse as the months passed, but he wouldn't stop, and Ryou didn't want to tell anyone."

"He was pushed to the edge, and that's when he commited suicide. But as you know, only souls with unfinished business are reincarnated, until they finish it with the help of an Angel of Death or any other angel. And Ryou did have unfinished business...with Bakura."

Ryou half-listened to his tale from their views. It was so strange that they were so acurate in their describing, and they had only known each other for about a week and a half, more or less.

"Ryou loved Bakura, but didn't tell him before he died. He was afraid to do so, because he thought that his yami would reject him, or abuse him even more. And that's why he got reincarnated at Ruki Bakutena, and you can guess what happened in the rest of the story," Reaper finished. Grim's eye twitched for a moment, but then she gave a little fake sneeze to cover it up.

"And what of Bakura?" Gabriel asked. Grim shrugged.

"He's still living on earth as far as we know, we haven't kept contact since then."

Micheal started to say, "Alright then, let us vote now. Who thinks that Ryou should belong to heaven?"

Then Gabriolis burst in, one hand helping an unsteady Bakura walk straight. Ryou whirled around in surprise, Reaper hid a delighted smile by pretending to be shocked, and Grim growled deep in her throat. The Micheal and Daniel looked slightly annoyed, and Gabriel stood up angrily and slammed a fist on the table.

"Gabriolis, how many times have we told you to stop interrupting a judging?!"

"Sorry Gabe," he replied wickedly, "but you did write a law, just for me, saying that if I have killed a mortal, then I must bring him here ASAP. So I'm just following the law."

The blonde haired angel glared at him, but slowly sank back down into his chair and ordered the dark skinned to stand by Reaper, who immediately started whispering something to him, a broad grin lit upon her face. It was actually very funny to look at, because Reaper only managed to be as tall as his shoulders.

Meanwhile Bakura seemed to get a bit stronger and managed to make it over to Ryou to give him a small kiss, wrapping an arm around him, whether it be for comfort or for support.

"I told you I would be back," he whispered. Ryou blinked, then smiled and buried his face into his shoulder. Grim's eye was twitching freely now, and she had to excuse herself from the room. The archangel cleared his throat loudly to catch everyone's attention.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted, who here thinks that Ryou should belong to heaven?"

All four voices agreed, and Ryou was allowed to go outside, but he had to wait for Bakura to be dealt with. Ryou reluctantly left, but left it open a crack so that he could listen.

"Reaper, you may go too, Ryou's judging is over," Micheal said, waving his hand away, but she shook her head.

"I helped Bakura a little bit too, and he's my friend, I want to stay and watch."

"Fine, do whatever you wish," Daniel said, an edge to his voice, like his tolerance and patience was wearing thin.

"Now then, since it was Gabriolis who killed this mortal, we're on an entirely different way of handling things."

Bakura looked aprihensive, and Reaper quickly explained as best as she could.

"Gabriolis has the power to kill anyone, and a small side effect of sending anyone he has killed to hell. He killed you, and so that means that you must go to hell."

"But innocent people were going there, and the angels were getting concerned, so they came up with the idea that if you can prove that you're worthy of heaven, then you won't burn in hell," the red haired angel said, and all of the supreme angels nodded.

"You may start now."

There was only silence as Bakura's mind thought quickly of reasons why he shouldn't go to hell. It was hard though, because he knew what he had done was bad, maybe even evil sometimes, and he probably should go to hell to burn, but it would probably be more agony to never get to see Ryou again.

"Come on Bakura," Ryou breathed, his heart racing as he waited anxiously for someone to speak first.

"I want, no, NEED to go to heaven, simply because of one reason," he finally answered.

"And what might that be?"

"Ryou," he said simply. All of the angels looked slightly interested.

"Continue please."

Bakura paused, then started speaking again. "Reaper or Grim might of told you about Ryou's past, about how I abused him every day. That's true, I admit that almost every night I abused him."

Ryou's brow furrowed, what was Bakura doing? Telling them that could possibly send him down to hell!!

"I guess it started when I got my own body, and I got this stupid notion that I was invincible now that I could do whatever I want, on my own. I hate relying on others, and when I saw Ryou, I-I wanted him to know the pain I felt. All of those years imprisoned within the Millennium Ring, were like torture. So I tortured him.

I felt really guilty afterwards when I saw him lying on the floor, shaking and bruised in most places. But for some reason I also felt so powerful and good, and it was intoxicating. I wanted to stop, trust me I did, but...I couldn't controll it, that natural high was just so addicting.

Soon it became a nightly ritual, sometimes for no reason, and sometimes for anything that pissed me off that day.

But then I realized one day when I was by myself, that it was wrong hurting my innocent hikari like that. Then I also realized that I cared about him, and that I was falling for him. That fact only made me afraid, and soon that became another reason why I hurt him so badly. I was afraid of rejection, so I protected myself by distancing myself from him, and hurting him.

I only hurt myself, having Ryou cringe in fear when I approached, making him bleed, causing him to commit suicide..." Bakura's head lowered down, ashamed and guilty. But after a moment, his head rose back up again, and he continued speaking.

"But thanks to Reaper and Grim, they helped me change. They helped me realize that Ryou loves me back, and we can finally get what we both want, each other. So you see, I really do have to go to heaven. I don't want Ryou to cry because of me again."

"They're soulmates," Reaper piped up, "and the law says that one soulmate cannot be in hell while the other is in heaven."

The fourth angel, whose name was Joan, finally spoke. "Well then, I guess that means you'll get what you want, Bakura. Go on, walk with your soulmate to the gates of heaven."

He bowed respectfully to them, and then quickly ran out to tell Ryou. Since his hikari already knew what had happened, he didn't expect Ryou to leap on him, wrapping his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck. He stumbled backwards until he was leaning against a white marble wall, hardly noticing since he was being kissed so fiercely and passionately. They paused to catch their breath for a moment, then continued their steaming lip-lock.

"Were you eavesdropping on us, Ryou?" Bakura finally said after his hikari decided to stop. Shyly Ryou nodded, and Bakura pretended to be disapproving.

"Tsk, tsk, shame on you, hikari. For that you should be punished tonight, in my bedroom." He winked and smirked seductively, watching Ryou's face flushed pink.

"But first, one good kiss deserves another..."

Ryou didn't object when Bakura pinned him against the wall, roughly pressing soft lips against his. Bakura pressed himself closer to his warm body, mentally smirking when he heard his hikari moan when he rubbed his inner thighs.

"Hey you two, this is a public place. I don't think most people would enjoy watching you two making out," a voice said, and Bakura broke away to glare at Grim. She shoved her hands into her jean jacket and sighed, looking at both of them straight in the eye. It was hard to look away from her silver gaze.

"Look, I'm sorry about freaking out and separating you two. My therapist says that I'm too uptight about life and that I should forgive and forget. So, if you'd like, we could forget about the whole incident and start over. What do you think?"

Bakura was about to say something rude, but Ryou elbowed him and gave him a look. Quickly he answered before Bakura could say anything else.

"Sure, why not?"

Grim smiled briefly, then turned around and sighed when she saw her sister chatting happily with a serious-face Gabriolis, and shuddered involuntarily.

"I seriously don't know how she can stand to talk to that rebel. I would spend most of my time praying that he won't chop off my head."

"Reaper, we should go soon!" she called out, and Reaper rolled her eyes. Gabriolis just smiled and patted her head, making her stick her tongue out at him.

"Good-bye, little Reaper. I have to go too, duty calls. Don't kill yourself on the job, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she called over her shoulder. "And stop calling me little!! I'm only a few hundred years younger than you!!"

Quickly she caught up with her sister and the two pale boys, who were following the gold-winged angel outside. She greeted the angel with familiarity, and soon the two were talking about everyday affairs while Grim trailed behind them, and Bakura and Ryou were at the end, holding hands and just enjoying each other's company.

Soon a gleaming gold gate came into view, open and welcoming. If you listened closely, you could hear a welcoming chorus of heavenly voices. Ryou wanted the twin sisters to go in with them for a moment, but Reaper politely refused.

"We could if we wanted to, but we don't exactly have the greatest memories of being in heaven, and I'm sure there are several angels that wouldn't like to see us again. However, you two can come visit us whenever you want, you're always welcome."

She kissed both Ryou and Bakura on the cheek, and Grim just simply smiled and said good-bye to them, waving to them as they slowly made their way to the golden gates.

Bakura let out a small startled cry as something seemed to explode from his back when he walked through the gates. His eyes widened considerably when he saw that a pair of long elegant wings had ripped holes through his shirt, the feathers a dull silver color like pewter. Ryou, on the other hand, had wings that were the color of golden wheat that was ripe and ready for the harvest. They had a hint of glitter or something in them, and it suited Ryou perfectly.

"You're perfect now," Bakura said in an awed-voice, but was shook out of it when Ryou timidly drew himself closer for a kiss.

"So are you..."

~ For all of eternity they stayed at each other's side, and there is nothing more to say, other than their love never faded or wavered once.~

~!@#$%^&*)(_+

AR: So this is the last chapter...and to all reviewers, thank u for reading!! Hope ur happy, VampssAmby10210!!!!!

Diane: And to Demented Marik, yeah, I suppose Angel-chan did get a little sappy....no, a LOT sappy towards the end, (this chapter proves it) but she's a sucker for happy endings.

AR: *whacks Diane* u are NOT helping at all, Diane. Anyway, that's how I am, I like to go angsty at the beginning, then give the story a decent ending. But one of these days I will do a full angst story, with a tragic ending to boot. Then maybe it'll get my friend Chaos Angel off my back...

Diane: *glares at AR* It had better not be R/B...

AR: *whistles innocently* I don't know what ur talkin' about, Diana-chan. Ja ne, minna-san!!