Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ The Yami Virus ❯ My Fallen Angel ( Chapter 45 )

I do not own Evanescence's "Understanding". It's a very good song and very appropriate with cool organ music.

Kanika: Ryou's lifeforce must not have been strong enough. Besides, Mortal life is short, so mortal life runs out much quicker. As far as Bakura dying, he'll be back.

chaos queen: *laughs* I don't know why the sexy suffer. But, Ryou's going to at least try to stay strong for his kids.

Lully Chan: *hands monster pack of tissues for this chappie and hugs*

Lady Elfskye: I love your reviews!

Shadow of Light: Yeah! You won't kill me!

aspiker: The instruments of destruction are harmless….unless people track me down.

Pharaoh Yami's Princess: Another yami bites the dust….don't worry. It won't be permanent.

Moshi Moshi Neko: Hato chiisai is one of my favorite, too. *hands box of chocolate for chapter*

Elizabeth Marie Rose: I can't find the mp3 to "Last Breath." I can only find "My Last Breath". *hugs various plushies*

Valea: Well, choose your implement of destruction, but only kill me after you read the chappie and listen to the song. Then you'll really kill me.

Mariku182: I don't mind Yami. I always thought there was another side t Yami. I do plan Anzu at the Art Museum later. The hubby made me and the wife chocolate chip cookies! So, I do have chocolate.

anubiset: *hands tissue and hugs you* I'll have to give you more hugs next review response…that is, if people don't knock down my door and hunt me down like a dog, I'll give you more hugs.

I Is Me: I found the mp3 to "My Last Breath" but I can't find the mp3 to this song.

Seto lover and Bakurasgirl worshipper: You'll have to use the weapon of destruction on me. What implement of destruction are you going to use against me?

My Fallen Angel

Intro:
You hold the answer deep within your own mind.
Consciously you've forgotten it.
That's the way the human mind works.
Whenever something is too unpleasant,
too shameful for us to entertain we reject it,
we erase it from our memory, but the imprint is always there.

Ryou waited downstairs for Seto to arrive. Seto stepped into the house, seeing Ryou's eyes wide and glassy with tears.

"He's dying, Seto. He won't last the hour."

Seto opened his arms and he embraced his friend. "It's going to be okay, Ryou. No matter what happens, you will not be alone."

Joey hugged Ryou and kissed his forehead. "Is anyone else here?"

Ryou sniffled. "Everyone is here. Tristan. Otogi. Even Yugi. I'm glad you both are here."

Mokuba, Jaimen, and Hayden stepped behind Seto and Joey. All of them hugged Ryou tightly.

We wash it all away,
we wish it all away,
we hope it all away,
can't cry it all away.

Seto watched as Ryou lead them upstairs. Ryou was facing the unthinkable….the death of his yami….the death of half of his soul.

Nothing he or anyone could say could make any of this easier for the sniffling angel climbing the stairs.

The pain that grips you
The fear that binds you
Releases life in me

Ryou kneeled beside Bakura's side of the bed. The yami laid in the bed, his chest barely rising and falling with each shallow, dying breath. Ryou took his yami's cold pale hand. Bakura opened his eyes slowly, taking in a quick, painful breath.

Painful moaning emanated from the figure in the bed, yet the figure remained motionless. Only the slightest twitch of a finger or an eye alerted the group to some type of life left in the being on the bed.

In our mutual shame we hide our eyes
To blind them from the truth that finds a way to who we are

"With all that I have done….with all that I had said to you….with all the pain I have caused you, you remain at my deathbed? I was a monster….why are you here?"

Ryou kissed Bakura's hand. "Because I love you, yami. I love you so much, my dearest."

Please don't be afraid
When the darkness fades away

Bakura looked into his husband's brown eyes. His eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "I'm…..afraid, Ryou."

Ryou kissed Bakura's hand. "Don't be afraid, sweetheart. I'm right here beside you."

The dawn will break the silence screaming at our hearts

"We watched the sunrise. That was what we always have done. Remember before my heart surgery, you held me in the chair and rocked me?" Ryou sniffled. "You held me so gently."

My love for you still grows
This I do for you
Before I try to fight the truth my final time

"I love you, Bakura. Nothing could ever stop what I feel for you. Nothing could take me away from you." Ryou closed his eyes tightly, several tears escaping. "Not even death can stop the love I have for you."

We're supposed to try to be real.
We feel alone when we're not together, and that is real.

"I need you to be whole, Bakura. Without you, my life will be empty. I will be incomplete."

Bakura lifted his hand weakly to touch Ryou's face. "You made me whole, my beautiful angel."

Can't wash it all away
Can't wish it all away
Can't cry it all away
Can't scratch it all away

Ryou wiped away a tear on his face and one running down Bakura's cheek. Nothing he could do could help his yami. He had given Bakura all the energy he could. He couldn't deplete himself anymore.

Ryou couldn't wish his yami healthy. Nothing he could do could help his dying yami.

He was helpless.

Lying beside you
Listening to you breathe

Bakura's breaths became shallow. Marik could hardly tell Bakura was breathing.

The dying yami laid weakly on the mattress, his body slowing down.

The light that flows inside of you burns inside of me

"You are a part of me, Bakura. That will never change."

Hold and speak to me
Of love without a sound

Ryou brought Bakura's upper body into his arms. The hikari held Bakura against him, stroking his cheek and rocking him slowly.
Seto took Joey's hand and squeezed it. He could feel Ryou's pain…his heartbreak.

Ryou never needed to tell his yami how much he loved him. It was all in this one act of consolation.

Tell me you will live through this and I will die for you

Bakura's eyes opened slightly. "Take care of our daughter, my love."

"Please don't die on me, Bakura. Please, gods, don't take him from me," Ryou sobbed as he prayed.

Cast me not away

Bakura's body began to twitch with the subtle spasms of impending death. Bakura whimpered as he held onto his Light.

His brown eyes looked into the watering eyes of his other. "Ryou…..promise that you will not let go of me. Don't let go of me until the end."

Aria sniffled at his side. Seto moved to the edge of the bed and put his arm on her shoulder.

Say you'll be with me
For I know I cannot bear it all alone

"Please don't tell me you're going to leave me, Bakura. I can't….I can't live without you."

You're not alone, honey, Never. Never.

Can't fight it all away
Can't hope it all away
Can't scream it all away
It just won't fade away

Can't wash it all away
Can't wish it all away can't can't can't
Can't throw it all away
Can't scratch it all away

Bakura turned his head. "Daughter…..my little Aria."

Aria kneeled closer to her father. "Daddy? Are…Are you really going to leave me?"

Bakura shook his head. "No, my precious Aria. I will never leave you. You are my flesh. You are my blood. You are the best daughter anyone could ever have." Bakura weakly raised his hand to stroke his daughter's face. A renegade tear found its way down Bakura's cheek. "I love you so very much…..my beautiful Aria. My darling….little Aria."

Can't fight it all away
Can't hope it all away
Can't scream it all away

"Aten," the dying yami moaned as his body was wracked with another twitch. "You may not be my child, but, I want you to know, I have always considered you the son I will never have."

Aten brushed Bakura's white hair from his face. "I love you, Daddy Bakura. I'm…I'm going to miss you."

"Death is only a gateway to another existence, Aten. Mortal bodies may die….but it's how we live our lives…that gives our death meaning. Never forget that, son."

Oh get it all away
Oh get it all away

Bakura held onto Ryou weakly. "My Light….I….I'll be waiting for you….at the edge of the River Nile. My soul….my soul will wait for yours to join me in everlasting paradise."

Ryou slowly shook his head in disbelief. "Don't die, baby. You can't leave me."

But the imprint is always there, nothing is ever really forgotten

"For all I've done," Bakura whispered, "death is what I deserve. Nothing can take away my wrong-doings or the sins I have committed. Nothing can take away the pain I have caused everyone around me."

Bakura looked up at Seto. "I'm sorry, Seto Kaiba. I'm a jerk. I have always treated you unfairly. For that, I am truly sorry."

The tired eyes turned to Joey. "Joey…….what I did to Ryou was no better than what your father did to you. I deserve my eternal punishment. I ask forgiveness and redemption."

Joey stepped closer. "I'm not the one you have to ask for forgiveness from, Bakura. Redemption? I can't give that either. I wish I could. If it was me at those pearly gates, I'd forgive you a million times over."

Tristan and Otogi stepped forward. "Bakura, you just need to rest, buddy. Conserve your strength."

Bakura blinked. "I'm sorry for being an asshole to you both. Yugi, though I've always seen you as a rival in my search for the Millennium Items back in Duelist Kingdom and Battle City, I never thought you were all bad. It's a pity you had to be stuck with a yami like the pharaoh. I never thought there was a mean streak in you, Yugi."

Bakura's head fell on Ryou's chest, his chest barely rising and falling.

Because I'm dying too,

Aten put his hand on Bakura's leg. He looked at the black candle beside the bedside. "Goodbye, Daddy Bakura. May Ra tate you home."

becauseI'm dying too,

Aria sniffled as she kneeled beside her father. "I love you, daddy," Aria sobbed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

becauseI'm dying too,

Marik leaned down to kiss his dying lover on the forehead. "I love you, Itemri. May Osiris have mercy on your tortured soul."

Marik lit the black candle by the bedside.

becauseI'm dying too,

Malik kissed Bakura's cheek. "Go to sleep, Bakura," he whispered.

Bakura's eyes lifted to look his husband. "Most of all, Ryou, I'm sorry."

becauseI'm dying too

Bakura's eyes blinked and closed slowly. "Finally…..a chance to die in my own bed."

Bakura's eyes closed and a cold breath hit Ryou's face.

The yami's head fell limp against his hikari's chest.

Bakura laid still.

Bakura didn't move.

Still.

Bakura didn't breathe.

Still.

Bakura……..was dead.

Ryou shook his head as Aria sobbed loudly.

"Bakura? Bakura, baby, answer me. Bakura! OH, GODS NO!"

Ryou buried his face in Bakura's grey hair, tears flooding his cheeks. "I can't live without you! You're my other half! I need you, Bakura!"

Marik put his hand on Ryou's shoulder gently.

"He can't be dead! Bakura! Baaaaaaaaaakuuuuuuuuuuuraaaaaaaaaa! How could you die on me?! I love you, Bakura! My fallen angel……"

Aten touched Bakura's leg and to his amazement, the leg went flat below the sheet.

Bakura's body started feeling light.

Ryou watched in horror as Bakura's skin rotted and crumbled into dust on the sheets. In Ryou's arms was no longer the body of his husband, but a skeleton.

Ryou's hand raised to trace the jawbone of his lover. "My angel."

Marik watched as Bakura's two ribs snapped in half. One of the vertebrae in Bakura's neck snapped. Ryou felt a piece of bone hit him. Part of the back of Bakura's skull shattered.

Aria's eyes widened with horror. "Daddy?"

Ryou cradled the skeleton against his chest. "Sleep, my fallen angel. Sleep."

Part of Bakura's hip broke in half.

"DADDY!" Aria shrieked as part of her hand was covered in the dust that was once Bakura's skin.

Malik turned to Seto. "Seto, get Aria out of here."

Seto picked up the little girl, struggling against Seto and sobbing.

"Seth, let me go! My daddy! He's dead! Seth!"

Seto carried Aria out of the room, trying to close his ears to Aria's pleas which echoed his name from the past.

Aria kicked and wailed loudly as she was carried down the stairs.

"My daddy is dead! Daddy! I want my daddy back! Daddy!"

Aten watched his mother rock the skeleton in his arms. Aten reached in and grabbed a pile of dust that was on the covers. The dust crept through his fingers and the tears filled his eyes.

A tiny whimper came from the boy. "He's dead?"

Aten let out a loud wail and started to cry on Bakura's skeleton.

Joey grabbed Aten. "Let's go downstairs, Aten."

"Daddy Bakura! Why did he have to die, Unkie Puppy? Am I going to die lite that? I don't want to die!"

The blond carried the crying Egyptian boy out of the room.

Bakura's hair fell off of the skeleton.

Marik kneeled beside Bakura's bones. "Itemri….."

Malik listened to the children crying. "Ryou, Aria and Aten are downstairs crying."

Ryou looked up and rested Bakura's skeleton on the bed. "You're right. I can't leave them crying."

Marik kissed Bakura's cheekbone and followed Ryou downstairs.

Ryou reached out for Aria. Aria sobbed into Ryou's shoulder.

The white-haired hikari sat down and Joey put Aten on Ryou's other lap.

"It's okay, children. It's going to be okay. Shhh…my angels. Mommy's here."

Seto welcomed a sobbing Joey into his arms. Tristan was holding a crying Otogi in one arm and a sobbing Yugi on the other.

Ryou rocked the two children on his lap and looked up at Marik.

Malik had his arms wrapped around Marik's waist, tears falling from his eyes.

"Sweet Ra, don't let you be next to leave us, Marik," Malik pleaded.

Marik wrapped his arms around Malik, squeezing him tightly. The blond yami clenched his eyes shut and buried his face in Malik's neck to prevent anyone from seeing him cry.

Marik pulled Malik into the kitchen, tears streaming down his face.

"Marik, what are we going to do with Bakura's body? The dust we can collect, no problem, but what are we going to do about the skeleton?"

Marik sat at the kitchen table, his heart breaking as he heard the two children sobbing in the living room. "It's not exactly a good idea to have a skeleton hanging around the house. We need to bury him somewhere."

Malik crossed his arms. "What about with Rhea? Ryou's mother."

Marik growled. "Steven was buried there."

Malik looked into the other room. Aria's little face was turning red from crying without breathing.

Marik sighed. "Well, Bakura and I dug Steven's body up. And the last time I heard, they couldn't identify Steven's body after we dug it up. Steven shouldn't be buried with Rhea."

Malik turned to his yami. "I think we should take the kids."

Marik shrugged. "It's never too late to teach the kids how to dig a grave."

Malik raised an eyebrow. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way to Ryou. But, you're right."

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

Marik and Seto held Aten and Aria while Ryou cleaned up his bed with the help of the others. They wrapped Bakura in a blue sheet. They carried Bakura's bones outside wrapped in the sheet. They put the bones in the trunk.

Otogi and Tristan helped Malik to clean up the dust left behind from Bakura's skin and organs.

Ryou refused to vacuum his husband's remains off the bed. It took Ryou, Tristan, Otogi, and Malik a while to clean the dust off of the sheets. They carefully collected the dust into a bag and put it with the body outside.

Ryou kept a lock of Bakura's gray hair in his jewelry box.

It was dark when they went to Rhea's grave. Marik and Seto carried the body towards the grave.

Aten and Aria carried flowers in their hands.

Marik and Seto put the bones on the ground and Ryou kneeled at the foot of his mother's grave.

"Hello, mommy. I came to put Bakura's remains where they belong."

Marik held up the Millennium Rod.

"Sacred earth split in twine,

receive and bless this body of mine."

The grave split open. Soil and earth split apart to make room for the deceased.

Ryou and Marik put Bakura's bones into the grave. As Bakura's daughter, she put the dust into the grave.

"I love you, daddy," she whimpered, holding onto Aten's hand.

Both children threw in the flowers.

Aten kneeled before the open grave. Marik kneeled before his son.

Aten stretched his hand over the grave and spoke in Ancient Egyptian, much to Seto and Joey's amazement. His Egyptian was flawless.

Marik spread his arms over the grave and muttered more Ancient Egyptian.

When the father and son were done, Seto raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell did you two just say?"

Aten kept kneeling. "It's from the "Boot of the Dead." It's a payer for my Daddy Bakura to not be a pissoner of the Underworld."

Marik said, "The prayer goes like this: 'O exalted one who is praised, great of souls, great and powerful ram, who strikes dread into the gods, crowned upon his great throne, who makes a way for the glorified spirit and soul of the Osiris Ani, I am prepared; I am a prepared spirit; I have made a way to the place where Ra and Hathor are.' Hopefully it will make sure that Bakura can get out of the Underworld."

Aten and Malik stepped back from the grave and Ryou kneeled down, putting a hand on Bakura's leg bone.

"I love you, Bakura. Together forever, angel."

Ryou stepped back and Marik stood over the grave. He raised the Millennium Rod to the grave.

"Take this body of my lover

With soil and green do his body cover."

The soil poured over Bakura's bones and grass reappeared over the grave.

Aten and Aria clutched onto Ryou's jeans. Seto approached Ryou, but the hikari shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Seto. If you hug me, I'm going to cry. And right now, my children need me. I can't cry now."

Seto backed away and Ryou took his children's hands, leading them away from the grave.

Malik kneeled in front of the grave. Tristan, Otogi, and Yugi walked away with Seto and Joey.

Marik dropped the Millennium Rod and buried his face in his hands. Malik stood beside him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Marik sobbed loudly, his cries muffled by his palms. "Itemri….why did you have to leave us? Why did you leave me?"

Malik squeezed Marik's shoulder. "He's not in pain anymore, yami."

Marik turned and buried his face in Malik's stomach. "He was my lover….he was my friend. And now he's dead."

A drop of rain fell on Malik's arm. He looked up and saw the clouds hovering overhead. The weather forecaster had predicted a clear night. But, Malik knew what had happened. Marik's mood was influencing the weather again.
Marik's sorry had turned the clear night into rain.

Marik heard a tiny sniffle by his side. Marik turned and saw Aten standing beside him.

Marik looked at his son, the gravestone right behind Aten.

"Daddy," Aten whimpered, putting a consoling hand on Marik's cheek. "Daddy Bakura is with Osiris. He's happy. If he's not with Osiris, he's in heaven with Robbie's baby brother."

Marik's eyes watched Aten stand in front of the grave.

Then it hit him.

He would have to bury Aten there when his heart would eventually fail him.

Marik, unable to take the vision of laying his son's body in the grave, turned and brought Aten close to him.

"I love you, baby boy…..Sweet gods, I love you!" Marik hugged Aten tightly against him.

Aten turned his head and kissed Marik's cheek. "Don't try, daddy. I know Daddy Bakura would not want you to shed tears. I don't want you to try lite this for me, daddy."

Marik clenched his eyes as more tears ran. He held Aten close to him, hesitant to release his son.

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

In The Underworld……….

Bakura walked into the chamber. Ammut and Anubis stood in the chamber. He had remembered reciting this same prayer five thousand years ago. It had been one of the prayers that he had recited in the Shadow Realm, believing to be dead. He stood up before the gods. "Behold, I am in thy presence, O Lord of Amentet. There is no sin in my body. I have not spoken that which is not true knowingly, nor have I done anything with a false heart. Grant thou that I may be like unto those favoured ones who are in thy following, and that I may be an Osiris greatly favoured of the beautiful god, and beloved of the Lord of the Two Lands, I who am a veritable royal scribe who loveth thee, Ani, whose word is true before the god Osiris."

The god lifted up his hand. In it appeared Bakura's heart.

Bakura took a deep breath. "My heart, my mother; my heart, my mother! My heart whereby I came into being! May nought stand up to oppose me at my judgment, may there be no opposition to me in the presence of the Chiefs; may there be no parting of thee from me in the presence of him that keepeth the Balance! Thou art my KA, which dwelleth in my body; the god Khnemu who knitteth together and strengtheneth my limbs… Let not that which is false be uttered against me before the Great God, the Lord of Amentet."

Thoth took the feather of Maat and put it on the scale. Anubis watched intently as he placed the heart on the other scale.

Bakura held his breath as Osiris appeared. Then the scales tipped. Bakura's heart was heavier than the feather.

Bakura's jaw dropped and he fell to his knees before Ammut. "My Lord! Please! Do not feed my sprit to Ammut!"

Osiris looked down at the tomb robber, angrily. "I do not ordinarily watch the weighing of the heart, Bakura Osiris Itemri. But it is your weighing which has taken my interest."

"My Lord…My god…Please do not let Ammut devour my soul! I have made offerings to you throughout my life and during my afterlife. I have worshipped you all of my days and nights! Your Grace, please do not let me perish for eternity in the jaws of Ammut!"

Osiris approached Bakura. "You have been ripped from the Underworld once before, Bakura Osiris Itemri. Is this not true?"

Bakura lowered his head. "You are correct, my lord."

"When you were torn from this world, you had been given a host."

"Yes, sir."

Osiris glared down at the yami. "You had beaten him, have you not?"

Bakura nodded. "Yes."

"You have raped him."

Bakura lowered his head. "Something which I deeply regret, my lord."

"You have made him bleed…to satisfy your own pleasure."

Bakura closed his eyes. "Yes. My lord. While I am guilty of those crimes, I have tried to make amends with my hikari."

Osiris turned away from Bakura. "You expect to heal four years of abuse with eight years of kindness?"

Bakura sighed. "No. I cannot erase what I've done to Ryou. Nothing can give him those four years back."

Osiris turned to Bakura. "I should have Ammut devour you completely. But, you have given offerings in my honor. Instead of feeding you to Ammut, I will not allow you into paradise. I will allow you to work off your sins. Your spirit will service the pleasures of another. You spent your afterlife pursuing your own pleasure at the sacrifice of someone else's pain. Now, you will suffer for someone else's pleasure."

A bright light filled the room.

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

Bakura opened his eyes and felt his wrists and legs bound. He struggled to move. "Ryou? Help!"

The door to the chambers opened and Yami stepped into the room.

Bakura's heart sank. "Oh, sweet Isis…."

Yami grinned. "Welcome back to me, Tomb Robber."

Yami sat beside him. Bakura looked down and noticed to his horror that he was naked.

Yami put his hand on Bakura's chest and slipped down, towards Bakura's length.

"It's been five thousand years since we played, Bakura…..Let's play."

Updates: Wednesday