---I am ending this quicker then I expected, but I need to get this over with. This has gone on unfinished for to long. Plus, I'm trying to finish up all my stories so I don't have to worry about them when I'm writing my book. That is right! I am writing a book. I hope to be published by next summer. Isn't that grand?
Warnings: Nothing.
Disclaimer: I don't own it.---
Chapter Thirteen
In the End
Atemu carefully laid Ryou down, standing over his bed. Yugi sat on the edge of the bed as they both watched and waited patiently.
Ryou made no movement of any kind. A grim look crossed Atemu's features. Yugi noticed it.
"What if it's too late?" Yugi voiced the question that was on both their minds. Atemu did not answer; there was no way to answer the question.
Silence fell over them as they waited. They were not sure what they were waiting for, but any sign that Ryou was going to be all right would have eased their minds. A lifetime seemed to pass before Bakura appeared again.
"He's going to be well," Bakura said solemnly. Yugi smiled.
"That's good," Atemu said with a small smile that quickly faded, "You didn't do this to him…"
"Would I save him if I had?"
"Then who?"
"Marik," Bakura said simply. He did not need to say anymore, they all knew what the blonde was capable of. Bakura reached out, stroking Ryou's head softly. "I never thought I'd be saying this to you Pharaoh… but, thank you."
Atemu raised an eyebrow curiously at the spirit, but without another word Bakura lifted Ryou into his arms and left.
A year had past since Malik's untimely death. A familiar snow fell around the young teen as he stood before a small gravestone. The soft flakes caught in his long white hair, making it shimmer in the setting sun.
It had been a tough year for Ryou. Everything had changed so fast, it was hard for him to deal with it. He was slowly recovering. Nevertheless, there was one thing he could not let go.
"I tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter," Ryou sang quietly as he knelt in the snow in front of Malik's grave, "I had to fall, and lose it all, but in the end, it doesn't even matter."
"Ryou."
Ryou stopped singing when he felt a pair of arms clasp him from behind.
"Come, its cold."
"Bakura…" Ryou whispered, "He was the only person I could love."
"I know, Ryou," Bakura said nuzzling Ryou's soft hair, "I know."
"I didn't even get to give myself to him," Ryou said, "You took that away from me."
"I only did that to protect you."
"What?"
"I took you so no one else could," Bakura said, "Like Marik."
"Thank you, yami."
"You're welcome, hikari," Bakura sighed, "Now come, Atemu invited us over for hot coco."
"Ok."
Bakura let go of Ryou and they stood up. Bakura took Ryou's hand into his own and they walked together into the sunset.
FIN
---well that's it, there is no more---